Portraits of Youths in Quran and the History of Islam
Hanzala Ibn Aamir
He Was Such A Determined Lad That He Exchanged His Bridal Couch For The Bed Of Martyrdom
Sometimes a green shoot sprouts even from a rock and vegetation grows in arid and salty lands once in a while. Who can understand the perfect power of Allah? He created the living from the dead and the dead from the living.
It is possible that believing children are born to polytheist and infidel parents, which is not beyond the power of Almighty God…Abu Aamir was a Christian and he was a friend of Abdullah Ubayy the greatest hypocrite in the history of Islam. He was among the most powerful nobles of Medina . During the period of ignorance (Jahiliyya) Abu Aamir was famous by the title of “the Monk” (Rahib). Hanzala was the son of this fellow.
When the propagation of Islam initiated by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) enveloped the whole of Medina , Abu Aamir consulted Abdullah Ubayy, the hypocrite to find out a way to counter Islam because the fire of animosity and jealousy flamed in the hearts of both these men. Today we find that the hidden enemies of Islam have laid traps all around to cause harm to this one and only true religion of
God. However, such elements came into being since the early days of Islam in the form of Abu Aamir and Abdullah Ubayy. Thus the duo of Abu Aamir, the monk and Abdullah Ubayy the hypocrite were potentially very dangerous to the Muslim community. Let us study this situation in brief.
The two claimed to be the most respected personalities of Medina . They had also deviated some of the people of their tribes from Islamic faith. Whatever they claimed about their religion and beliefs used to be opposed to reality. They only exhibited their fraud and deceit in the circle of Islam and that is why they were labeled as hypocrites in the history of Islam. Also, it was regarding these fellows especially that the Almighty Allah revealed the Quranic chapter of ‘Munafiqoon’, on His beloved Messenger. The Surah exposed the machinations of such hypocritical elements in the Islamic society. The Quran denounced them and prophesied that they belong to the lowest compartment of Hell. Abdullah Ubayy had outwardly accepted Islam but Abu Aamir remained firm on his original faith. He never gave up intrigue and conspiring against Islam. When the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) had gone on the expedition of Tabuk, these two fellows built a mosque of their own and invited people to attend therein. That is, they had opened a shop of their own posing as a mosque in competition of the Prophet’s mosque.
When the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) returned from the Battle of Tabuk and was informed about this mosque he immediately ordered that this center of mischief and corruption must be demolished and razed to dust. Thus that so-called mosque was razed to the ground. When Abu Aamir learnt that his life was in danger, he fled to Mecca and
united with Abu Sufyan. He was present in the Battle of Uhad in the 3rd year of Hijrah. Then he returned to Mecca . Later he migrated to Byzantine lands and was favored by the Roman King, Hebeclus, and lived in great comfort and luxury. When he died in the 9th year of Hijrah the King transferred all his property to his companion, Kinana Abdul Yalil.
As mentioned before, Abu Aamir had a son named Hanzala, who was exactly opposite of his father. He was a sincere and devoted youth of the Muslim community. When Abu Aamir fled to Mecca , Hanzala married Jamila, the daughter of Abdullah Ubayy, the hypocrite. The amazing thing about this episode is that though their fathers were deadly foes of Islam, this young couple was absolutely devoted to Islamic values and imbued with the teachings of Quran. They were prepared to give any sacrifice for the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and the manifest religion of Islam.
The intrigue and fraud of Abdullah Ubayy had reached such a level that outwardly he claimed to be a Muslim and mingled with the other Muslims, but he secretly contacted the Jews of Bani Nuzayr and Bani Quraiza and leaked the secrets of the nascent Muslim community. He used to instigate the Jews to organize a new confrontation against the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.). He used to hatch new plots everyday and even on the day Muslims were departing for the Battle of Uhad he absented himself and instigated 300 Muslim soldiers to defect towards hypocrisy. All these people were double-faced. That is, apparently they were something and in reality they were altogether different. Due to his instigation those three hundred militiamen refused to go to the battle. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) was compelled
to take the battleground with only 700 soldiers. By this Abdullah Ubayy intended to weaken and defeat the power of Muslims. This backstabbing was aimed at the destruction and annihilation of Islam.
Hanzala had married Jamila on the very day the battle was announced. After his wedding Hanzala came to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and sought his permission to participate in Jihad. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) accorded him the permission. When Hanzala was leaving the next day, his wife asked him to swear before four women of the Ansar community that he has married Jamila and spent the previous night with her. Thus it was to announce that Jamila was the wife of Hanzala and no more a virgin. The aim in taking four women as witnesses was that the testimony of two women equals that of a man.
Thus Hanzala left his house early the morning next day. Since no water was available for the ritual bath after sexual intercourse Hanzala departed for the battlefield in a condition of ritual impurity (Janabat), though he was very much ashamed to do so. When he arrived in the battlefield he saw Abu Sufyan astride a horse with the polytheistic people surrounding him from all sides.
Hanzala attacked with great ferocity and determination and slashed at the legs of Abu Sufyan’s mount. The legs severed, the horse came to the ground bringing with it Abu Sufyan also. But he got up quickly and began to flee. Hanzala chased him but someone shot a spear at him that pierced his back. Though injured, Hanzala wanted to finish off his quarry but the spear had gone very deep and his strength was seeping away. Thus the valiant youth fell down in the
vicinity of the corpses of other martyrs like Hamzah and Abdullah Ibn Hazm. Finally this newly married youth embraced martyrdom and bid adieu to the transient world.
The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) has said that he saw the heavenly angels giving bath to Hanzala with the water of heaven. That is why from that moment Hanzala came to be referred as the “one bathed by the angels”.
Yes, this was a youth who belonged to the family of Abu Aamir, the monk who was such a valiant young man and had such deep regard for the religion of God that he gave up the pleasures and comforts of his newly married life and departed for the battlefield early the next morning even though he could not obtain water to perform the ritual bath. Thus, what is so amazing if he was martyred in the way of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and given a ritual bath by the angels with heavenly water?
Later, the people inquired with Jamila the widow of Hanzala what the matter was. Why she had persuaded Hanzala to make a statement in the presence of four women? Jamila said, “When the dawn was about to break I dreamt that the sky had split, and that Hanzala was entering through this gap. When he went inside, the gap closed. I concluded from this vision that Hanzala would be martyred. I asked Hanzala to make the statement so that if I were widowed people would know that the child that would be born to me was fathered by my husband, Hanzala.”[1]
After that episode the days passed away soon and a male child was born to Jamila, whom she named Abdullah. In the
[1] Biharul Anwar Vol. 20, Pg. 55, Al-IsabahVol. 1, Pg. 36
year 63 Hijrah, Abdullah ibn Hanzala was sent by the people of Medina to Sham, where he saw that the most corrupt man in the world, Yazid ibn Muawiyah was occupying the throne. Yazid was engrossed in different types of vices and sinful activities.
Taking note of the situation he returned to Medina and exhorted the people of Medina to rise up in revolt against the government of Sham. They broke up the chains, opened the prison gates and freed the prisoners. They demolished some of the prison buildings also. When Yazid was informed of this he dispatched a huge army against Abdullah ibn Hanzala in Medina to suppress the revolt. Abdullah ibn Hanzala was killed in this battle and the revolt of Medina ended.[1]
[1] Usud al-Ghaba, Vol. 3, Pg. 3
