Chapter 20
Abu Dharr was passing his days at Rabzah in utter solitude and loneliness. There was nobody to look after him too to inquire about his condition. He had no means of solace. Had his family been with him he would not have felt his loneliness so painful. They were still in Syria and Abu Dharr was driven out of Syria to Medina and then banished to Rabzah.
Abdul Hamid Jaudatus Sihar writes that when Mu'awiyah came to know that Uthman had exiled Abu Dharr he sent his wife (with others) to Rabzah. When Abu Dharr's wife came out of her house she had only a bag with her. Mu'awiyah said to the people,“Look at the belongings of the preacher of austerity”
. At this Abu Dharr's wife said,“It contains a few coins and not dirhams or dinars and those too, only to suffice for the expenses”
. When the wife reached Rabzah she saw that Abu Dharr had constructed a masjid there.
Various historians have mentioned the construction of a masjid by Abu Dharr at Rabzah. We find its mention in the books of Tabari, Ibn Athir and Ibn Khaldun. In the Arabic copy of Tabari there is a sentence that“Abu Dharr had drawn a line of a masjid”
there and at that place he used to offer his prayers, just as today also people collect some earth in a jungle and name it a masjid. It was not a proper masjid, nor was it possible for him to construct a masjid like the one of today. According to Abdul Hamid during the days of Hajj when people passed through Rabzah they offered prayers in the masjid of Abu Dharr. This means that, that was not a populated place. If there had been a population there it would have been mentioned in some book of history that the people of that place offered prayers in that masjid, just as a mention is found of the pilgrims offering their prayers in it.
Allamah Subaiti writes that Abu Dharr was in a state of loneliness and was passing his days in such a condition at Rabzah that no human being could be seen there except an occasional wayfarer who sometimes passed that way. There was not a place where he could take refuge. There was a tree under which he lived. There was no arrangement for his food. There were poisonous grasses all around, and they caused his and his wife's death”
.
After that the author adds that the reason to send Abu Dharr to such a place was only to stop his speeches, so that nobody could hear him, since he had a charm in his tongue. Whenever he spoke, he spoke the truth, which shook the foundations of the government.
In short, Abu Dharr was leading his life at Rabzah with his family in extremely straitened circumstances. There was no sympathizer there. But those honest men who had loved and reverence for him in their hearts used to go to see him. According to the historian Waqidi, Abul Aswal Duayli says:“I wished with all my heart to visit Abu Dharr and ask him why he was turned out. Therefore, I went to him at Rabzah and asked him if he had come out of Medina of his own free will or he had been forcibly expelled. “He said, “Brother! How to tell you that when I was sent to Syria I thought that I had gone to a place which was an important place of the Muslims. I was happy there but I was not allowed to stay there and was called back to Medina. When I reached there I consoled myself with the idea that was the place to which I had migrated and where I had received the honour of companionship of the Holy Prophet. But, alas, I was turned out of that place also and now I am where you see”
. After that he said,“O Abul Aswad! Listen to me. I was sleeping in the Prophet's masjid one day”
. By chance the Holy Prophet came in. He woke me up and said,
“O Abu Dharr! Why are you sleeping in the masjid?”
Abu Dharr: The sleep overwhelmed me and suddenly I went to sleep.
The Prophet: Tell me what you will do when you are turned out of this masjid?
Abu Dharr: I will go to Syria then, because signs of Islam are found there. It is also a place of Jihad.
The Prophet: What will you do when you are turned out of that place also?
Abu Dharr: I will draw my sword at that time and will behead the man who turns me out.
The Prophet: I give a far better advice to you.
Abu Dharr: What is that advice?
The Prophet: You should let yourself be dragged when you are dragged, and that you should accept what is told to you, and should not fight.
O Abul Aswad! According to the Prophet's advice I listened to them and accepted what they said. I still listen to them to accept what they say. By Allah, He will take revenge on Uthman for what he has done to me and he will be proved the worst sinner in my case when he reaches in the court of Allah”
.
The narrators of this authentic tradition are highly reliable and trustworthy as written by Allamah Amini in his book“al-Ghadir”
.
Somebody asked Abu Dharr during his stay at Rabzah,“O Abu Dharr! Do you have any wealth?”
He said,“My wealth is my deeds”
. He also said,“By wealth I mean the wordly wealth and I want to know if you have any wordly wealth or not”
. Abu Dharr said,“I never spent a day or a night with treasure or the wordly wealth with me. I have heard from the Holy Prophet that the treasure of man is his grave i.e. the wealth of the world is nothing, but the conduct of man must be good, because this will be of use at every place especially in the grave. The wealth of the world remains in the world, and the good conduct benefits you in the Hereafter”
.
Allamah Majlisi quoting Shaykh Mufid narrates from Abu Amamah Bahili
that Abu Dharr after reaching Rabzah wrote his tragic experiences to Huzayfah bin al-Yaman,
the companion of the Holy Prophet who was probably at Kufah. In that letter he has given some pieces of advice and described his troubles and hardships. He writes:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful My dear Huzayfah,
I write to you to fear Allah in such a way that your crying exceeds limits. O brother! Renounce the world for the sake of Allah. Keep yourself awake the whole night in the worship of Allah, and give your body and soul to hardship in the way of Allah. These are the useful practices. O brother! It is necessary for a man, who knows that the person with whom Allah is displeased will have to remain in Hell; to turn away from the worldly comforts, keep awake all the night for Him and suffer hardship in the way of Allah. O brother! It is essential for the man, who knows that the pleasure of Allah is a message to live in Heaven, to try constantly to seek His pleasure in order to get deliverance and success. O brother! One should not mind the separation of his family for the pleasure of Allah. Only the pleasure of Allah is the security of Heaven. If Allah is pleased all our affairs will be accomplished and the Hereafter will be agreeable. But, if Allah is displeased it is difficult for us to have a happy end. O my brother! A person, who wishes to be in the company of the Prophets and saints in the Heaven, should mould his life as I have done, and should act upon what I have mentioned above. O Huzayfah! You are one of those people to whom I feel pleasure to tell of my pains and sufferings. In fact I console myself by telling you what befalls or has befallen me.
O Huzayfah! I have seen the tyranny of the tyrants with my own eyes, and have heard their offensive words with my own ears. Hence, I was compelled to express my views on those disgusting talks and to tell them that whatever was being done was absolutely wrong. I did accordingly, and consequently those unjust people deprived me of every kind of privilege. They expelled me from city to city and drove me from place to place and they separated me from my brothers and kinsmen. O Huzayfah! They wreaked havoc upon me and worst of all they deprived me even from visiting the shrine of the Prophet.
O Huzayfah! I am putting before you my sufferings, but I am afraid lest this expression of mine should turn into a complaint against Allah. Huzayfah! I admit that whatever decision my Lord and Creator takes in my case is right. I bow my head before His command. May my life be sacrificed in His way. I am desirous of His pleasure. I am writing all this to you so that you may pray to Allah for me as well as for the devoted Muslims.
Peace be on you”.
Abu Dharr
It is not known how Abu Dharr sent this letter to Huzayfah bin al-Yamin. When Huzayfah read this letter his eyes were filled with tears. He recalled the traditions of the Holy Prophet concerning Abu Dharr. What moved him most was Abu Dharr's exile and loneliness. He picked up the pen with extreme anguish and wrote a reply to this letter.
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
My dear Abu Dharr,
I received your letter and came to know your affairs. You have scared me of my return on the Day of Judgment and have persuaded me to do certain things, for the improvement and betterment of myself.
O brother! You have always been a well wisher of mine as well as of all the Muslims and have been sympathetic and kind to all. You were always anxious for the welfare of all. You always showed the people the path of virtue and forbade them to do the evil. Of course, guidance is the exclusive right of Allah. He gives deliverance to whom He likes and deliverance depends upon His pleasure. I pray to Allah for His general forgiveness and widespread blessing for myself, for the chosen and the common men and for all the people of this ummah I have come to know of those surprising facts, which you have mentioned in your letter, that is, your banishment from your hometown, your abandonment in a strange land without friends and supporters, and your having been thrown away from your house.
O Abu Dharr! The news of your sufferings has broken my heart into pieces and the sufferings which you are experiencing at the moment are extremely saddening. But, I am sorry to say that I cannot do anything from here. Would that I had purchased your calamities for all my money. By Allah, had it been possible I would have sacrificed all that I have for you. O Abu Dharr! Alas! You are in troubles and I cannot do anything. By Allah if it had been possible for me to share your troubles I would have certainly done it. How painful it is that I cannot meet you.
It is difficult to reach you. If these cruel people make me equal partner with you in your troubles I am willing to take upon myself your hardships. But, alas, it cannot be this way.
O Abu Dharr! Do not be worried. Allah is your supporter. He is seeing all these matters. Brother! It is necessary for both of us, you and I, to invoke Allah and request Him for the bestowal of good reward and for deliverance from punishment for us. O Brother! The time is approaching near when you and I will be called in the presence of Allah and shall be leaving soon.
O brother! Do not be worried at the troubles you have been facing and do not be alarmed. Pray to Allah to grant you its recompense.
O brother! I consider death is far better for us than to live here. Now it is necessary for us to leave this transient world, because soon disturbances
will come in succession one after the other. These disturbances will go on mounting and will crush up the virtuous people of the world. Swords will be unsheathed in these disturbances and death will surround men from all sides. Whosoever raises his head in these disturbances will certainly be killed. No tribe of all the tribes of the towns and the deserts of Arabia will remain unaffected. At that time the cruellest will be considered the most revered one, and the most pious one will be looked down upon. May Allah save us from the evils of that time.
O Abu Dharr, I pray for you all the time. May Allah keep us under His mercy and protect us from haughtiness in worship. He is a great disposer of our affairs. We always expect His generosity.
Peace be upon you”.
Huzayfah
Scholars say that Abu Dharr was spending his days with his family at Rabzah when suddenly his son Dharr fell sick. There was no physician in that deserted place to approach for treatment except trust in Allah. At last the disease aggravated till the time of his death approached. The distressed mother took up his head from the sand and put it on her knee. The son breathed his last. The mother and sister started bewailing, Abu Dharr was deeply shocked but his trust in Allah consoled him. He controlled himself and didn't weep. As it was a desert there were no arrangements for funeral. History does not tell us at this point how Abu Dharr buried his son, but it is known from an authentic source what he did after burial and how he expressed his feelings in words.
Muhaddith Ya'qub Kulayni writes:“When Abu Dharr's son Dharr died Abu Dharr put his hand on Dharr's grave and said, “O my son! May Allah have mercy on you. You were a very able son of mine. You have died while I am happy with you. You should know that, by Allah, I did not suffer any loss by your death and I do not need anybody except Allah. O son! If there had been no consideration for the horror after death I would have been happy to wish to replace you in the grave. But now to my mourning your death has kept you off mourning (for me). By Allah, I did not weep on your death but what you have suffered makes me weep. Would that I had known what was asked of you and what you said in reply. O Allah! I have excused my rights which he owed to me. O my nourisher! I pray you to excuse whatever rights he owned to you. My Lord! You are more forgiving than I.”
Shaykh Abbas Qummi writes in his book 'Safinatul Bihar' (vol. 1 p. 483) that the words uttered by Abu Dharr on the grave of his son Dharr were also uttered by Imam Ja'far Sadiq (a) on the grave of his son Isma'il.
Abu Dharr had not yet forgotten the death of his young son when his wife also left him for ever. According to Allamah Abdul Hamid Abu Dharr and his family members were passing their days in such a condition that they had no proper arrangement for food except that they got a little piece of meat now and then out of the camel slaughtered for the government officials
. They generally used to eat grass or other such things in those days. One day Abu Dharr's wife ate some poisonous grass by which she contracted a fatal disease and died
. Abu Dharr also fell sick.
After the death of his wife Abu Dharr felt more lonely. He had only a daughter with him. When the people residing around Rabzah came to know of Abu Dharr's sickness some of them came to see him. According to the statement of Abu Dharr's daughter they said to him.“O Abu Dharr! What are you suffering from and what do you complain of?”
Abu Dharr replied,“I have complaint against my sins”
. They said,“Do you desire something?”
He said,“Yes I desire to have Allah's mercy”
. They said,“If you like we can call a physician”
. He said,“Allah is the Absolute Physician. The diseases as well as the remedy are in His power. I don't stand in need of a physician”
. He was certain of his death.
Majlisi, on the authority of Sayyid Ibn Taus, quotes Mu'awiyah bin Tha'labah as saying:“When Abu Dharr's condition deteriorated at Rabzah and we got its information we left Medina for Rabzah to see him. After inquiring about his condition we desired him to make his will. He said that he had expressed his will, whatever it was, before the Commander of the Faithful”
.
We asked,“By the Commander of the Faithful do you mean Caliph Uthman?”
He said,“Never! By the Commander of the Faithful is meant one who is the rightful Commander of the Faithful. O Ibn Tha'labah! Listen to me! Abu Turab, (The Father of the Earth) Ali is he who is the blossom of the earth. He is a divine scholar of this ummah. Listen! You will see many abominable things in the world after his death)'. I said, “O Abu Dharr! We see that you make friends with those whom the Holy Prophet loved”
.
Now we want to say something about the place Rabzah where Abu Dharr was confined and he was not allowed to go out of its bounds.
Scholars and historians agree that Rabzah is situated at a distance of three miles from Medina near Zate Araq on the way to Hijaz and at that time it was not more than desolate wilderness. Shaykh Muhammad' Abdoh writes in the footnote on page 17 of vol. 2, of Nahjul Balaghah that Rabzah is a place near Medina where the grave of Abu Dharr lies. Ibn Abil Hadid says that Abu Dharr's exile to Rabzah was one of the causes which led to the revolt of the Muslims against Uthman.
There is no doubt that Abu Dharr achieved the highest rank of faithfulness. He kept in view till the last moments of his life that he had promised to the Prophet to speak the truth and not to mind any reproach for the sake of truth. Shah Walyullah Dehlavi writes that it was the practice of the Prophet that he took oath of allegiance of different kinds from different people i.e. to go on Jihad, to renounce innovation, to establish the Islamic laws, and to speak the truth. (Shifa'ul 'alil)
The oath that he had taken from Abu Dharr was that of speaking the truth. Abu Dharr acted according to the oath of allegiance after fully knowing its implications, and why should he have not acted so, when he had the conviction, which admitted of no doubt, that whatever he was doing was in absolute conformity with the Will of Allah and the intentions of the Holy Prophet
. In this respect he never cared for the mightiness of the government nor was he scared of his getting into troubles. He tolerated every kind of oppression and bore every kind of discomfort but did not stop from speaking the truth, till he was twice sent into exile. His last exile was without a parallel.
He lay confined in a desolate desert. To say nothing of a house for shelter, he had to stay under the shade of a tree, without any arrangement for food and without a place to reside, rest or sleep in. But with his lofty courage and determination Abu Dharr bore with cheerfulness all the hardships for the pleasure of Allah. His wife and young son having died, the time had now approached when he was waiting for his own departure in that desolate place with his only young daughter with him.
Alas! The last day of Abu Dharr's life approached in that desolate place. He was in prayers and his daughter was restless and anxious in view of her father's condition and approaching end. There was no man, not even an animal in sight. The moment was near for the angel of death to come, for the humanity to cry, and for the daughter to be deprived of her fathers love. She had not only seen but was still observing the helplessness of her father for whose love she became emotional again and again.
We here reproduce the tragic story of Abu Dharr's death as related by his daughter, in the light of Majlisi's writing. She says:“We were passing our days with untold sufferings in the wilderness. It so happened one day that we could not get anything to eat. We kept on searching round the jungle but could not find anything. My ailing father said to me, “Daughter! Why are you so much worried today?”
I said,“Dad! I am extremely hungry and weakness has overtaken you also on account of intense hunger. I have tried my utmost to get something to eat but could not find anything so that I might feel honoured before you”
. Abu Dharr said,“Do not be worried. Allah is the great disposer of our affairs”
. I said,“Dad! This is correct but there is nothing in sight for the fulfilment of our needs. He said, “Daughter! Hold me by the shoulder and take me to such and such direction. Perhaps we may find something there”
. I held him by the hand and started in the direction he had asked me to go. On the way my father asked me to make him sit on the ground. I seated him on the hot sand. He gathered some sand and lay down with his head upon it.
As soon as he lay down on the ground, his eyes began to revolve and he got into the agony of death. Seeing this I started crying hoarsely. Then keeping control over himself he said,“Why do you cry, daughter?”
I said,“What else shall I do, then father?”
It is a desert and not a single man is seen here. I do not have a shroud for you and also there is no grave digger here. What will I do if you breathe your last in this desolate place?
He wept at my helplessness and said,“My daughter! Don't be worried. That friend of mine in whose love and in whose children's love I tolerated all these hardships had informed me of this event in advance. Listen! O my dear daughter! He had told before a group of his companions on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk that one of them would die in a desert and a party of companions would go for his funeral and burial. Now, none of them is alive except me. All of them have died in populated places. Only I am left over and also in a desolate wilderness. I have never seen such a desert land where I am lying in the agony of death. My sweet daughter! When I die cover me with my cloak, and sit down on the way leading to Iraq. A party of believers will pass by that way. Tell them that Abu Dharr, the companion of the Prophet, has breathed his last. Hence please arrange his burial”
.
He was talking to me when the angel of death looked at his face. When my father looked at him his face flushed and he said,“O the angel of death! Where have you been uptil now? I have been waiting for you. O my friend! You have come in the hour of my great need. O the angel of death! May that man, who is not happy to see you never get deliverance. For Allah's sake take me soon to the most Merciful Allah so that I may be relieved of the hardships of the world”
.
After that, he addressed Allah and said,“O my Nourisher! I swear by Your Being, and You know that I speak the truth that I never abominated death and always wished to meet You”
.
After that the sweat of death appeared on the forehead of my father and looking at me he turned his face away from the world for ever. We are for Allah and to Him we shall return”.
The daughter of Abu Dharr continued,“When my father died I ran crying to that path which led to Iraq. I was sitting there waiting for the coming party. Suddenly it occurred to me that the dead body of my father was lying alone. So I ran up to the dead body. Again I came back to the side of the path lest the party should pass by and I might not inform it. Thus I came and went several times.
Now suddenly I saw some people coming on camels. When they drew near I went towards them with tears in my eyes and said to them, “O companions of the Prophet! A companion of the Prophet has died”
. They asked me who he was. I replied,“My father, Abu Dharr Ghifari”
.
As soon as they heard it they got down from the camels and accompanied me weeping. When they reached the place they cried and were very much shocked at his sad demise and busied themselves with his funeral rites.
The historian A'tham Kufi states that the party which was going to Iraq comprised Ahnaf bin Qays Tamim, Sa'sa'ah bin Sauhan al 'Abdi, Kharijah bin Salat Tamimi, Abdullah ibn Muslimah Tamimi, Hilal bin Malik Nazle, Jarir bin Abdullah Bajali, Malik bin Ashtar bin Harith etc. These people at once washed Abu Dharr and arranged for his shrouding. After the burial Malik bin Ashtar standing by the side of the grave delivered a speech which referred to Abu Dharr's affairs and a supplication about him. After the praise of the Almighty Allah he said:
“O Allah! Abu Dharr was a companion of Your Prophet and a believer in Your Books and Your Prophets. He fought very bravely in Your way, remained steadfast to Your Islamic laws and never changed or distorted any of Your commands”
.
“O my Lord! Seeing some contraventions of the Book and the tradition he raised his voice and drew the attention of those responsible for the ummah towards making improvements, as a result of which they tortured him, drove him from place to place, humiliated him, turned him out of the country of Your dear Prophet and put him to extreme hardships. At last he breathed his last in a state of utter loneliness in a deserted place”
.
“O Allah! Grant Abu Dharr a big portion of those heavenly blessings which You have promised for the believers and take revenge on one who has banished him from Medina and give him full deserved punishment”
.
Malik Ashtar prayed for Abu Dharr in his speech and all those who were present there said“Amin”
{May it be so).
Anyway, when they had finished with the funeral ceremonies, it was evening and they stayed there overnight. They set off the next morning”
. After Abu Dharr's burial these people left Rabzah but his daughter stayed there according to his will. After some days Caliph Uthman called her and sent her home
.
Abu Dharr's daughter was however still near her father's grave at Rabzah with a mind to stay there for a few days more when one night she saw Abu Dharr in her dream sitting and reciting the Holy Qur'an. She said,“Dad! What happened to you, and to what extent have you been blessed by the Merciful Allah?”
He said,“O my daughter! Allah has bestowed on me limitless favour, has given me every comfort and granted me everything. I am very happy with His generosity .It is your duty to be busy in the worship of Allah as usual, and not to let any kind of pride and haughtiness come to you”
.
Scholars and historians are unanimous that he died on 8th Zilhajjah, 32 A.H. at Rabzah. His age at the time of his death was eighty five years.
Notes
0%
Author: A Group of Muslim Scholars
