When the Sahaba Met a Racist King Virtual Khutbah

When the Sahaba Met a Racist King

Virtual Khutbah by Omar Suleiman

Opening

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.

Introduction: The Importance of Addressing Racism

In the midst of all of the important conversations that are happening right now in our community, inshallah ta'ala I pray that we are all able to grow. Obviously, one of the things that is being discussed is the racism that goes unchecked in our own communities.

I wanted to use this opportunity, this particular moment, to speak about a very special incident in Islamic history to help us understand the shift of mindset that the companions of the Messenger of Allah experienced in the midst of all that was happening. To speak about the shift in their thinking and then how they were able to articulate that shift in their thinking, both internally with those who had not undergone the tarbiyah, the process of purification and mentorship and character building that they had gone through, and those that lived outside of their context and in neighboring nations of the world.

Lessons from Early Islamic Conversations

Some of the greatest lessons in what Islam was meant to bring to the world come through those initial conversations between rulers and the ambassadors, the emissaries of Muslims, as they were going out to meet these different rulers and leaders in the world. They were forced to encapsulate in just a few sentences what Islam meant to them, what Islam meant to the world, and what it was to mean particularly to that group of people now being approached with Islam.

Examples of Early Encounters with Racism

The initial conversations between the sahaba, the companions that had lived with the Prophet and undergone that transformation, reveal important lessons:

The Opening of Mecca

In Fath Mecca, racist comments were hurled towards Bilal radiallahu anhu as he ascended the Kaaba to make the adhan for the first time. These people had not been in the presence of the Prophet and undergone what the Prophet had put the companions through to purge that evil disease from their hearts and from their societies.

The Incident Between Abu Dharr and Bilal

The famous incident between Abu Dharr radiallahu anhu and Bilal radiallahu anhu, where Abu Dharr insulted Bilal. Many scholars point to the fact that Abu Dharr was not amongst those that were present with the Prophet for all of that time. When he came back on the hijrah to join the Muslims on the migration, he had not gone through the tarbiyah, the character building yet, that the Muslims had gone through. He hurled what was very common in the days of ignorance at Bilal radiallahu anhu when he said,

The Story of Um Haram bint Milhan

I'll start with a story that many of you may have heard. The story is one in which the Prophet visits the house of Um Haram bint Milhan radiallahu anha.

Um Haram bint Milhan is the aunt of Anas ibn Malik radiallahu anhu, the sister of Um Sulaym radiallahu anha. She's one of the first to accept Islam from Medina. She's an Ansari woman, and one of the first to accept Islam in Medina, and was very close to the Messenger. Some of the narrations say she was his sister through ridaa (through breastfeeding), so the ties of kinship had been established as well.

The Prophet's Dream

The Prophet once fell asleep on a visit to the home of Um Haram bint Milhan radiallahu anha. He took a nap and woke up smiling. When she asked what caused him to smile, the Prophet said he had a dream where he was shown some of the people of his ummah traveling through the seas to spread Islam. The Prophet described them

Um Haram immediately asked the Prophet to pray that she be amongst them. The Prophet recognized her sincerity and said,

The Fulfillment of the Dream

Later, Um Haram traveled with the companions on battle. She was with the Muslims that went to Cyprus, traveling on ships. As she got to Cyprus and got off the ship, she tripped and fell and died as a result of that fall, becoming the first of the Muslims to die in Cyprus. They still have a tomb for her today in Cyprus that is marked and well-known. She passed away in Cyprus in the year 27 after hijrah.

Ubadah ibn Samit: The Forgotten Hero

Her husband was Ubadah ibn Samit radiallahu anhu, and he was the person that brought Islam to her in the first place.

The Problem with How We Discuss Black Companions

Before I talk about Ubadah ibn Samit, I want to address one of the problems with how we talk about black sahaba, black companions. A few years ago, I did a lecture called "Black and Noble," a long class on some of the black prophets and companions that are often not spoken about. This scholarship comes from classical sources:

• Ibn al-Jawzi wrote

• Imam al-Suyuti wrote about great black scholars and prophets in history

• Sheikh Dawood Waleed compiled a book on black nobles

The Exoticization Problem

One of the problems with how we talk about Bilal radiallahu anhu in particular is that we exoticize Bilal to a point that we leave some of those other companions out. When people watch the movie Al-Risala (The Message), Bilal stands out as if he's this lone black companion of the Prophet. This gives us a distorted image of the early Muslims.

We leave out people like:

• Um Ayman radiallahu anha, the mother of the Prophet after his own mother

• Usama ibn Zaid radiallahu anhu, the first commander of the Muslim army

• And many others who were surrounding the Prophet in important positions

Ubadah ibn Samit: His Remarkable Background

Ubadah ibn Samit radiallahu anhu is the man I want to focus on today. He was:

• The husband of Um Haram bint Milhan

• A companion of the Prophet who served as a leader, judge, scribe, and warrior

• One of the first Ansar who participated in both Bay'at al-Aqaba pledges

• Someone who accompanied the Prophet in every battle

• One of the scribes of revelation

His Physical Description

Ubadah ibn Samit had an imposing presence:

• He is described as

• Very tall and very handsome

• A person of extreme beauty with defined features

• Extremely strong - it's mentioned that his forearm was too big to be grabbed by two hands

• He had an incredible command of speech - when he spoke, everyone in the room would naturally be silenced by his eloquence

The Historic Encounter with al-Muqawqis

The Delegation to Egypt

In the year 641 CE, Ubadah led the first delegation under 'Amr ibn al-'As radiallahu anhu to Egypt (Masr). As part of the overall battles between the Byzantines and the Muslims, there were 10 men serving as a delegation to speak to the ruler of Egypt, a man by the name of al-Muqawqis.

The Egyptian king al-Muqawqis came out to meet this delegation representing the large army of Muslims. Ubadah radiallahu anhu stepped forward as the leader of this delegation.

The Racist Reception

This was not something these people understood a Roman-installed leader seeing a very black man leading this army. Al-Muqawqis disrespected him in many ways:

1. First, he looked around Ubadah to suggest this couldn't be the actual leader

2. Then, realizing Ubadah was actually the leader, he said:

The Companions' Response

The response from the other companions was:

(And verily to us, both black and white are the same. No one is superior to the other except by their religion)

This reflects the Quranic principle:

Al-Muqawqis Continues His Racism

Al-Muqawqis still refused to acknowledge Ubadah directly and said: "How could you accept this black man to be the best amongst you where he should be the least amongst you?"

The companions responded: "Even though he is black, he is the best in status amongst us. He is the foremost amongst us and the wisest. We do not deem blackness as something that is bad amongst us."

The Final Insult and Ubadah's Response

Al-Muqawqis finally resigned himself to speaking to Ubadah but said: "Come forward, oh black man, and speak gently because your blackness scares me. If you speak harshly, you'll scare me even more."

Ubadah's Powerful Response:

Ubadah radiallahu anhu came forward and said: "I've heard what you said. I heard everything that you just said about me and everything that you said to the people around me. But if you're scared of me,

"But nevertheless, I would not be scared if 100 men of my enemy would face me all at once. And the same is true for each one of them. Each one of us is willing to fight 100 of you."

Ubadah acknowledged his age, saying his youth was gone, but he would still fight as many as they put forward.

Ubadah's Speech About Islamic Values

Ubadah then gave a long speech explaining that Muslims are not people who fight out of desire to accumulate wealth, but people who fight to please Allah. They don't care about gold or spoils - they fight for something more noble.

Al-Muqawqis' Reaction

As al-Muqawqis heard Ubadah's speech, he said to those around him:

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Lessons for Our Community Today

The Real Transformation

Dear brothers and sisters, I shared this incident for many reasons. It's not enough for us to simply cling to the stories of Bilal and one or two others and say that Islam has done away with these things. It has to be a shift in mindset from within the community.

Key Points:

• Listen carefully to the experiences that people have had in the community, particularly black people's experiences of racism

• The only way we can give Islam to the world as a solution is if we are applying Islam as a solution to racism within our community right now

• Ubadah ibn Samit was not speaking to the resentment of those behind him - the people behind Ubadah spoke on his behalf, repelling the racism

• The other companions made it clear: "This is what Islam has done for us"

The Prophet's Final Message

This reflects how the Prophet's words in his farewell address penetrated their hearts:

(There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, nor of a non-Arab over an Arab, nor of a white person over a black person, nor of a black person over a white person, except by taqwa) - This reflects the authentic hadith recorded in Musnad Ahmad

Our Responsibility Today

When we post empty quotes to the world, when we use Malcolm's words from Hajj while ignoring Malcolm's politics post-Hajj, when we say Islam is a solution to the world but are not living that solution within our Muslim community, we must ask ourselves: What do we do better?

No amount of conversation will change things unless our hearts are open to those conversations and we start asking ourselves how we can contribute to living the reality we see from the companions as a result of the Prophet's presence.

Conclusion

We have the message of Muhammad amongst us, and that message should have the same effect on us, bi idhnillahi ta'ala.

Final Du'a

We pray that Allah expel this disease of racism and all of its political, social, cultural, and theological manifestations. We pray that it be expelled from our masajid, from our community lives, from our family lives, from our systems - expelled in all of its monstrosity in the most meaningful way. May we be able to usher in the Muhammadan spirit, that way of the Prophet that transformed his community first to our own community, and then bring that to the world around us as well.