Abdullah ibn Suhayl

ProfileAbdullah ibn Suhayl

Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the elder son of Suhayl ibn Amr, the chief speaker of Quraysh, and the brother of Abu Jandal and of Sahlah, who was married to Abu Hudhayfah. According to the early biographies, he was about sixteen when the revelation began, and accepted Islam early and in secret, and told his father so when he was about eighteen or nineteen.

According to the early biographies, one night before he said anything openly, he met Umar, who was not yet a Muslim, in the valleys of Makkah, and each asked the other what had brought him out. Abdullah asked whether a man can live with two hearts, one for himself and one for the people, and Umar told him that if it was Islam that troubled him, he should follow his conscience and bear what came of it, and that Umar would oppose him but respect him, while a coward would be small in his eyes. According to the early biographies, Abdullah told his father that he had left their idols, and when his father threatened to kill him, to deprive him of his inheritance and to imprison him, Abdullah answered that what is with Allah is better and lasting. His father drove him out of his house.

According to the early biographies, Abdullah migrated to Abyssinia, and came back to Makkah on the rumour that Quraysh had accepted Islam. His father then imprisoned and tortured him. According to the early biographies, he pretended to give up Islam to get out, and in secret helped the Muslims.

According to the early biographies, when Suhayl went out to Badr, he took Abdullah with him, thinking that he had given up Islam, and before the battle Abdullah left the Quraysh army by night and joined the Prophet ﷺ. According to the early biographies, his father was taken prisoner, and Abdullah, who loved him, was grieved to see him bound, and took part in the talks for his ransom.

According to the early biographies, at the Conquest Suhayl hid at home, and sent Abdullah to ask the Prophet ﷺ for his safety, and the Prophet ﷺ gave it.

The Prophet ﷺ said that the intercession of a martyr will be accepted for seventy members of his family (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih). According to the early biographies, Abdullah went out to the wars after the Prophet's ﷺ death, and was killed at Yamamah, in the fight against Musaylimah. According to the early biographies, his father and his brother Abu Jandal found him among the dead and embraced and wept for him, and his father said that he hoped his son would intercede for him first.

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