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This news reached almost every tribe around Makkah. Everyone wanted to get this reward promised by Quraysh.
This least known of this journey. And his name is Abu Sahal Buraidah ibn al-Husayb. .Burayda bin Husaybرضي الله عنه was one of those bounty hunters. He was the leader of the Sons of Sahm. He took about 80 men with him and started to search for Rasulullahﷺ. Finally, he found them near a place called Amini. Rasulullahﷺ saw Buraydaرضي الله عنه, and his men coming toward them. However, he did not panic. For, he trusted in Allahﷻ with all his heart. He asked Burayda, "Who are you?" When he received the answer "Burayda", he said to Abu BakrBuraydaرضي الله عنه,, "We have felt relieved." Then, he asked Buraydaرضي الله عنه, about his tribe. BuraydaBuraydaرضي الله عنه, said, "I am from the tribe of Aslam." Rasulullahﷺ asked, "From which clan of Aslam?" Burayda answered: "From Sons of Sahm." Rasulullahﷺ always interpreted things favorably.
He interpreted his name, his tribe, and the clan he belonged to favorably. He thought they would not harm him. "Burayda" reminded the meaning of coolness and "Aslam" of salvation. Buraydaرضي الله عنه, did not know whom he was talking to. However, he admired his perseverance courage and speech. He wanted to know him and asked him who he was. Rasulullahﷺ answered, "I am Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, who was the son of Abdul Muttalib." Then he invited him to become a Muslim. The torch of belief started to burn in the heart of Buraydaرضي الله عنه, and his face started to brighten with the light of belief. He uttered kalima ash-shahada at once and became a Muslim. The people who were with him followed him.
He was neither the first nor the last of those who came to kill Rasulullahﷺ but who became believers.
Rasulullahﷺ spent the night there. In the morning, Buraydaرضي الله عنه came and said to Rasulullahﷺ, "O Messenger of Allah! It is not appropriate for you to enter Madinah without a flag." Then he removed his turban and tied it to the end of his spear. He walked carrying it beside Rasulullahﷺ until he entered Madinah. Buraydaرضي الله عنه . remained in Madinah for a while and returned to his hometown.
Buraydaرضي الله عنه migrated to Madinah in the 6th year of the Migration. For this reason, he could not join the battles of Badr, Uhud, and Khandaq. He participated in the Treaty of Hudaybiyya. He was also present in the Pledge of Ridwan. He took part in the conquest of Khaybar and Makkah too. Then, he joined some expeditions under the command of Khalid Al Walid رضي الله عنه . and Ali Ibn Abu Talib رضي الله عنه. He participated in all of the other battles with Rasulullahﷺ.
Buraydaرضي الله عنه . was a Companion with virtues. He obeyed Rasulullahﷺ regarding every issue. He had a separate place in the eye of Rasulullahﷺ. He could enter into the presence of Rasulullahﷺ easily.
Burayda رضي الله عنه . lived in Madinah until the death of Rasulullahﷺ. After that, he left Madinah like the other Companions and settled in Basra.
Buraydaرضي الله عنه . said, “Blood of jihad runs through my blood vessels. I will spend my life on horseback." For this reason, he joined the armies of conquest during the Era of the Caliphs. He fought heroically. He died in 63 H. Buraydaرضي الله عنه . narrated 164 hadiths from Rasulullahﷺ. Two of these hadiths are as follows:
"Do not say 'master' to hypocrites. For, if they become masters and are regarded to be superior to others, you will attract the wrath of Allah Almighty."
"He who misappropriates, who provokes a woman against her husband and a slave against his master is not one of us."
Abu Sahal Buraidah ibn al-Husayb رضي الله عنه ., or al-Hasib. So Buraidahرضي الله عنه . is the least known of this group, and I want to talk about why I'm talking about him for a moment. How long was Rasulullahﷺ in Makkah calling the people to Islam? A decade. Over a decade, right? And it was demoralizing. The public called Rasulullahﷺ. It was demoralizing to the Muslims, of course, to be persecuted, to be run out between the Muslims that fled to Abyssinia, the Muslims that were beaten to death in Makkah, the Muslims that were starved to death in the boycott, the Muslims that are now fleeing to Madinah.
Rasulullahﷺ leaves Mecca after this decade with not that many followers, right? And on top of that, Ta'if He went to Ta'if Alaihi Wasallam and he didn't find the reception that he was expecting from Rasulullahﷺ. And the Rasulullahﷺ is still thinking with the heart and mind of da'wah, of calling to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So as he's going through the desert here and proceeding, and Allah is protecting him from these enemies, Rasulullahﷺ is not just thinking about protection, he's still thinking about the message, Rasulullahﷺ. He's always wearing that banner of da'wah, Rasulullahﷺ. So he has passed through the house of Umm Ma'bad رضي الله عنه .
Rasulullahﷺ has escaped, or rather Suraqa رضي الله عنه has escaped Rasulullahﷺ in this regard. And Rasulullahﷺ is at another point in his journey and they're finally starting to get close to Madinah. Obviously, the exhaustion of the journey, the tiredness of the journey, and SubhanAllah you're at that last stretch and Rasulullahﷺ sees a tribe. Now the chief of that tribe has a very imposing presence and it's late at night, it's dark. And this could be it, right?
He found him and after this entire journey, someone's finally going to get that bounty from Rasulullahﷺ being taken back to Makkah. So Rasulullahﷺ as this man approaches, you know SubhanAllah the way that you carry yourself, it's not like Suraqa where Rasulullahﷺ makes dua against him or things start to happen to him supernaturally. Rasulullahﷺ just carries himself in a very interesting way. And Rasulullahﷺ before the man can ask him, who are you?
Rasulullahﷺ says to him, who are you? And that is a way of actually owning the conversation, right? Because of the pursuit, the one who's running away is going to start to flee in a different place. But if he says, who are you? Then that shows that there's nothing to worry about. So Rasulullahﷺ starts the conversation with him and says to him, remember Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه is right next to him. Like this can end at any moment, someone can say, oh you're him? There's my hundred camels. So the man responds and he says, my name is Buraida. My name is Buraidaرضي الله عنه . Now what do you call cold, cool water?
Barat, right? Buraida comes from the same root word. So Rasulullahﷺ is asking, what's your name? He says, my name is Buraida. So Rasulullahﷺ turns to Abu Bakrرضي الله عنه . Like, look at the way he's owning the conversation Rasulullahﷺ. And he says, yeah, Abu Bakrرضي الله عنه. Our affair just got cool and rectified. Right? So he used the play on the name of Buraidaرضي الله عنه and said things are good now. This was the same thing Rasulullahﷺ said when he saw Suhayl Ibn Amrرضي الله عنه and he said, Suhayl's name comes from easy.
Our affair just got made easy. Even though Suhaylرضي الله عنه was not an easy negotiator. But Rasulullahﷺ found optimism in all of these things. So look at the way the conversation is proceeding in the middle of the desert. And Rasulullahﷺ says, who do you belong to? So SubhanAllah, look at how the conversation has started. Like this man means no harm to us. Alhamdulillah, we're good. Like we're travelers and we found goodness. So Buraidaرضي الله عنه now said, and who are you? He said, I am Muhammad Ibn Abdullah. Rasulullahﷺ did not shy away. Rasulullahﷺ, I am Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, Rasulullahﷺ. And I have come with a message of Islam.
What's Islam? And Rasulullahﷺ gives him da'wah in that moment. Think about it now, you've got a desert, you're a fugitive, and you just revealed your identity and you're completely calm, and composed. And now you're telling this message to these people in the middle of the desert. Rasulullahﷺ tells them what Islam is. One God, the Lord of the heavens and the earth. And I am his messenger who's receiving divine revelation. And my people have run me out of Makkah and I'm going to another people. And Buraidaرضي الله عنه here's Rasulullahﷺ, and Buraidaرضي الله عنه is a simple man. He says to him, how do I embrace your religion? How do I become one of you? So he says, you say, ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammad Rasulullahﷺ. He said, ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammad Rasulullahﷺ. And Buraida رضي الله عنه. says, hold on. And he goes and he talks to his people, 70 people. And he tells them about Islam and all 70 of them follow their chief. So now on the way from Makkah to Madinah, SubhanAllah, Buraida رضي الله عنه.and his people have all become sahaba in a moment.
Meaning subhanAllah, all of Makkah with its pain and its persecution and its trouble from the relatives of Rasulullahﷺ. And now you have all of these people who are embracing Islam and captivated by Rasulullahﷺ. And they stayed with Rasulullahﷺ. They learned the basics of Islam. Rasulullahﷺ has a jama'a now in the middle of nowhere of 70 people Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But again, he was close to Madinah. And Buraidaرضي الله عنه. says to Rasulullahﷺ, where are you headed? You know, you should stay with us for some time.
Rasulullahﷺ explains that he's headed towards Yathrib at the time, which of course becomes Madinah, and that the people are waiting for him in Quba. Buraidaرضي الله عنه. takes off his turban and he ties it to the staff of Rasulullahﷺ. He said you should enter it with a standard, right? You should enter it with this banner. And Rasulullahﷺ takes it and Banu Sahm, this tribe of Buraida رضي الله عنه. remains Muslim and they will join Rasulullahﷺ sometime after Uhud. So Buraida will join Rasulullahﷺ as a companion as well. And this tribe of people Rasulullahﷺ in one moment embraces Islam in a way that no group of people in Makkah embraced Islam with all of that da'wah and that trouble, which shows you, Rasulullahﷺ, you never stop giving da'wah and you never underestimate the person right in front of you. Never underestimate the moment. Never underestimate the person who's right in front of you and the influence you can have on that person. SubhanAllah, that's 70 people that were saved from the fire in a moment with Rasulullahﷺ.
And Buraida رضي الله عنه. , he goes on to become a person. From the simple conversation of halakafil Islam, do you want to learn about Islam? Buraida رضي الله عنه. becomes a confidant to Rasulullahﷺ. If you remember, if you go back and you listen to the biography of Juwayriya رضي الله عنه., Buraidaرضي الله عنه. was the one who Rasulullahﷺ sent to Ban al-Mustaliq to basically ask around and ask what was happening. Why? Because Buraidaرضي الله عنه. was not known to the people of Makkah, nor was he known to the people of Madinah, and he wasn't known to Ban al-Mustaliq, so he was the perfect spy.
So he just went around to Ban al-Mustaliq and he asked, you know, what's going on here? And he learned as a spy that they were going to attack Rasulullahﷺ. They were planning to launch a surprise attack on Rasulullahﷺ. So he becomes a trusted confidant of Rasulullahﷺ. His being anonymous actually suits the mission that he would be given.
He goes on to become a great mujahid to fight in multiple battles, and he is one of the people, who is subhanAllah so beautiful, he's one of the people that Rasulullahﷺ allowed to be a flag bearer on the day of Fatih Makkah, on the day of the conquest of Makkah. So you got people like Talha رضي الله عنه. and these lofty companions from Makkah coming back, and then you have this unknown man from the desert, Buraidah رضي الله عنه. , walking proudly in front of the army alongside Rasulullahﷺ. And by the way, he also goes on to become a narrator of hadith, and so some of the hadith from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari رضي الله عنه that we mentioned were narrated by Buraidah رضي الله عنه.
Buraidah رضي الله عنه.narrates about 30 to 40 hadith from his own رضي الله عنه on behalf of Rasulullahﷺ. Buraidah رضي الله عنه. was one of those who went to Tabuk, and the rest is history. And subhanAllah, we learn through his story another type of profile, the person who you look past. One of the messages that Allah Azawajal gave Rasulullahﷺ was to not look past people. You don't look past people.
Rasulullahﷺ could have easily seen this man as a nobody in the middle of the desert that he just needs to be from. But instead, he goes on to become a great companion of Rasulullahﷺ, and his people are saved from the fire as well. So just to recap on this journey of the hijrah of Rasulullahﷺ, it started off with Rasulullahﷺ leaving Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه in his bed, and the humiliation of the mushrikeen. And Rasulullahﷺ, accompanied by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq رضي الله عنه , Amr ibn Fuhayrah رضي الله عنه , and Abdullah ibn Urayqat رضي الله عنه .
And by the time Rasulullahﷺ got to Madinah, he had a miracle that was performed in the house of Umm Abad رضي الله عنه . He had a prophecy of the most powerful man in the world, the most powerful kingdom coming into or under al-Islam, and he had a tribe larger than any tribe that would have embraced him in Makkah in a moment, in the middle of nowhere, before he gets to Madinah. Rasulullahﷺ
And then he enters into Quba' alayhis salatu
was-salam. In each one of these incidents, there's a great lesson, and
Buraidah رضي الله عنه would go on to pass away as well, as a Muslim, and is
buried in al-Madinah. Allah
. with all of the
companions of Rasulullahﷺ. Allah. allow us to be amongst those who are received by Rasulullahﷺ
at his hell, and that can behold him with that description of Umm Abad رضي الله عنه , and that can be given the Bushra by him, the way he gave the Bushra to Suraqah رضي الله عنه , and that can be by his side and enter into Jannah in his ranks, the way that Buraidah رضي الله عنه entered with his ranks into Makkah. Allahumma ameen. you
Allahﷻ
Allahﷻ
Rasulullahﷺ
Rasulullahﷺ
رضي الله عنه
Allahﷻ
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Allah.
