The Felicity of Faith
Al-Risala (English), August 1990, p. 9
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
The Felicity of Faith
1990 8 August 9-10 The Felicity of Faith (813) “I bear witness that you speak the truth. O, my nephew, communicate the message of truth to the people. By God, even if I were offered all that is under the heavens, I would not forsake this religion.”
When the Prophet was commanded by God to admonish his nearest kinsfolk (26:214), it was to his uncle, Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib, that he conveyed the divine message. But since Hamza attached great importance to the religion of his forefathers, it took him several years to understand the truth of Islam. In fact, it was only in the sixth year of prophethood that he finally embraced Islam.
Yet Hamza proved to be one of those through whom God strengthened His religion. How was it that Hamza came to acquire this position? It was the result of his having taken really decisive action.
Hamza was very fond of hunting and, one day, when he had just returned from a hunting trip, still carrying his iron bow, he was accosted by a woman who told him that she had just seen Muhammad by Mount Safa where Abu Jahal was insulting him and abusing his new religion. Infuriated, he rushed straight to the Kabah. Upon entering the mosque, he immediately went up to Abu Jahal and hit him so hard on the head with his bow that it drew blood. Then Hamza declared: “You! Enemy of my nephew! Listen! My religion is the religion of Muhammad!” With these words, he declared himself converted to Islam. (Abu Jahal belonged to the Banu Makhzoom tribe and Hamza belonged to the tribe of Banu Hashim.)
When Hamza came home to his people, they reviled him for abandoning his religion. How disgraceful it was to have forsaken the path of his forefathers. How shameful to be cut off from all his relations for the sake of a nephew. Having to listen to such taunts, he now found himself in a dilemma. Perhaps, having been overcome by family pride, he had made a mistake. (According to the tribal system, an insult to any member of the clan was considered an insult to the whole clan. This would result in a vendetta.) He remained restless the whole night. The next morning, he set off for the Kabah in the same state of restlessness. Once there, he prayed to God in all humility: “Whatever I have done, my God, if it were by your guidance: make its truth clear to my heart. Otherwise, let me find a way to extricate myself from this plight.”
The following day, when he met the Prophet, he said to him, “O, my nephew, I am in a quandary and I do not see a way out of it. I do not know whether I have acted under God’s guidance or whether I have deviated from the true path. Please make it clear to me. o, my nephew, it is from you that I want to hear the truth.” The Prophet heard him out, then he gave him his advice. He warned him of God’s displeasure and gave him good tidings. Then God made him affirm in his heart the faith he had embraced. Hamza then uttered these words: “I bear witness that you speak the truth. 0, my nephew, communicate the message of truth to the people. By God, even if I were offered all that is under the heavens, I would not forsake this religion.”
After this episode, Hamza became the Prophet’s companion in the full sense of the word. In the days prior to Islam, he had been a rich man, but after accepting Islam he became impoverished. He was obliged to leave his home town for Medina, and had to wage war on his own people under the banner of Islam. He continued to do so until he was martyred in the battle of uhud. Till his last breath he remained faithful to the Prophet. Till the very end, his faith in God was undiminished.
This is the great good fortune that came to Hamza. But such felicity was not his without his having done something to earn it. His sense of prestige had been turned to good account in promoting God’s religion, and when Satan sowed the seeds of doubt within him, he did not yield to the temptation. Instead, he prayed in all earnestness to God. He also sought clarification of his misgivings from the Prophet. When all was made clear to him, he gladly acknowledged the truth. He not only accepted it with an open heart, but he patiently bore all his losses and difficulties, never deviating from the true path.
This was the sacrifice made by Hamza as a result of which Muslims all over the world remember him to this day in the Friday sermon as ‘sayyid ash-shuhada’ (the great martyr) thus acknowledging the high position he had attained in Islam.
