Khabbab ibn al-Aratt

ProfileKhabbab ibn al-Aratt

Khabbab (may Allah be pleased with him) was an Arab of Banu Tamim from Najd. According to the early biographies, he was taken as a young boy when a raid on his tribe left the men dead and the women and children carried off, and he was sold from owner to owner until a woman of Makkah, Umm Anmar, bought him. She saw that he was clever and strong, and had him trained as a swordsmith so that he could earn money for her. He became skilled, with his own workshop where the nobles of Quraysh had their swords made and sharpened, and he was known for his honesty, though he did not keep what he earned. He said that he was a blacksmith before Islam (Sahih al-Bukhari).

According to the early biographies, he was among the first six or seven, and at most ten, to accept Islam, and he did not hide it. When the Prophet ﷺ began to call people, Khabbab went straight to him, took his hand and pledged himself before the call had spread among even the weak of Makkah. His mistress sent her brother Siba' ibn Abd al-Uzza with some young men to find out if it was true, and Khabbab told them that he believed in Allah, that he rejected their idols and that Muhammad ﷺ was His servant and messenger. They beat him with the iron bars of his own workshop until he was unconscious in the street. According to the early biographies, they then starved and whipped him, put him in armour in the sun, and laid burning coals on his back until the fat of his flesh put them out. Umm Anmar herself combed his head with a red-hot iron. He was a young man of some sixteen to eighteen years, with no clan to protect him. According to the early biographies, years later Umm Anmar was struck with an illness of the head and, trying to relieve it, burned her own head in the same way. According to the early biographies, Siba' was killed by Hamzah at Uhud (see Sahih al-Bukhari, where Hamzah kills Siba' in single combat).

He told how, in those days, he and others went to the Prophet ﷺ, who was leaning in the shade of the Ka'bah, and asked whether he would not ask Allah for help. The Prophet ﷺ answered that among the nations before them a man would be put in a pit and sawn in two, or combed with iron combs that took the flesh from his bones, and it would not turn him from his religion. He said that Allah would complete this religion until a rider could travel from San'a to Hadramawt fearing only Allah, and the wolf for his sheep, but that they were in a hurry (Sahih al-Bukhari). He also told how al-As ibn Wa'il owed him money for his work, and refused to pay unless Khabbab denied Muhammad ﷺ. Khabbab said that he would not until al-As died and was raised again. Al-As answered that he would then have wealth and children and would pay him there, and verses of Surah Maryam about the one who denies the signs of Allah and says he will be given wealth and children were revealed (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim).

According to the early biographies, he was in the house of Fatimah bint al-Khattab and her husband Sa'id ibn Zayd, teaching them the Quran, when Umar arrived in a rage on his way to kill the Prophet ﷺ. He hid, Umar beat his sister, then was moved by what he read, and Khabbab came out and told him that he hoped Allah had answered the Prophet's ﷺ prayer for him. The Prophet ﷺ had prayed that Allah strengthen Islam through whichever of Abu Jahl or Umar was dearer to Him, and Umar was the dearer (Jami at-Tirmidhi, graded hasan). He emigrated to Madinah and fought in the battles with the Prophet ﷺ. He told that those who emigrated with the Prophet ﷺ had their reward due from Allah, that some of them died without taking any of it in this world, and he named Mus'ab ibn Umayr, who was killed at Uhud and left only a short cloak, so that when they covered his head his feet showed and when they covered his feet his head showed. The Prophet ﷺ told them to cover his head and put idhkhir grass over his feet (Sahih al-Bukhari).

Khabbab lived on, and later became wealthy. Qays ibn Abi Hazim visited him when he was ill and cauterized in seven places, and he said that his companions who had died had left without their reward being reduced, while he had so much wealth that he knew no place for it but building, and that had the Prophet ﷺ not forbidden praying for death, he would have prayed for it. When Qays came again, Khabbab was building a wall and said that a Muslim is rewarded for whatever he spends, except on building (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, he was afraid that his reward was being given to him early, and wept at the thought. According to the early biographies, in Umar's time Umar had him sit next to him and asked him about his sufferings, and Khabbab showed him his back, and Umar was shocked to see that there was no flesh left, only scars. According to the early biographies, Khabbab died in Kufa and was buried outside it, and Ali, returning from Siffin, stopped at his grave and prayed for him as a man who had accepted Islam willingly, emigrated willingly and lived as a fighter in the way of Allah.

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