SUHAIB'S BARGAIN FOR PARADISE
Written by Aslam Hussain (www.islamiclessons.com)

From time to time, many teenagers and adults alike leave everything behind and take the long journey to Hollywood to make it to the ‘big screen’ – the dream of a life time! They woud bargain anything for it. Only a few acquire it. But it still doesn’t stop so many from giving up everything for their little 'paradise'. This is a story of a Muslim, a Roman Companion of the Prophet, who embarked on a different journey and left a legacy of a wise bargain as he did ‘make it big’ in a different and yet everlasting way!




A contemporary Australian artist dropped out of her school at the age of 10 and took up a career in music and attained “success” of a kind. Contrast this to another person. He left his country and traveled seeking a big success too! This man is Suahib Ibn Sinaan al Rumi, a companion of the Prophet. One of the best accolades in the Quran were said to have been revealed in praise of his heroic sacrifice. What follows is an account of this achievement.

Suhaib, the Roman, lived in the Roman Empire in the life time of the Prophet (pbuh). He experienced life in the Roman Empire with all its riches, power and privileges, but he found some things missing therein. He wasn’t happy with it. He heard from the priests, of a messenger that was about to be sent to mankind, by their Creator.

According to the reports, he left his comfortable home, the Roman Empire, and traveled all the way to the desert where he was told the Messenger of God will come. He wanted to follow the Message of God for he owed it to Him.

He settled in Makkah for his big time of the eternal pleasure of paradise and the Hereafter. When he settled in Makkah, once again with the blessings of Allah, he “made it big” in business. Suhaib was a good businessman, he made a lot of money and he became very rich very quickly in Makkah.

When the Prophet Muhammad proclaimed his prophet hood, Suhaib became a Muslim and having become a Muslim, he was one of the companions of the Prophet. He got what he traveled their for. Suhaib was not only a Muslim but also a rich businessman!

But a test was to come that would require him to choose which of the two he loved more?

Then the persecution of the Pagans of Makkah started and intensified on the Prophet and the Muslims in Makkah. As the persecution intensified many of the Muslims started to migrate to Medina following the directions of the Messenger. Can u imagine if you are settled in a city and you have a business, you have got all the contacts for your business and you are doing really well and it is flourishing. Can you imagine yourself in that situation having to leave it all for Allah and His religion?

He set out to migrate to Medina, but on the way the Pagans stopped him. The Pagans objected that his wealth he had earned it with them in Makkah, they are not going to let him leave with it.

So what does Suhaib (ra) do?

His choice for him was very clear. Not like those who travel from Australia to ‘make it big’ in Hollywood, for him he wanted ‘the big’ of the Hereafter. So all that wealth that he had, all that business that he had, all the property that he had, he offered everything of it to the Pagans in Makkah in exchange for them to let him go forth to Medina to be with the Messenger of God for whom he migrated their inititally.

They accepted his ‘sale offer’.

Something we can realize from this. If we acquire the wealth we build up here in this life in a halal way that is good and one of the blessings of Allah. When we need to put it fourth in charity or for a good cause that pleases Allah, we should not hold back because whatever wealth we spent in the way of Allah here, to please Allah, that little wealth is actually an investment for the eternal good of the Paradise. It will be returned to us at least ten times more up to seven hundred! It even opens more doors to good – either financial or just peace of mind – in this life.

When he left Makkah, companions came out to greet him and welcome him into Medina. They informed him that Allah revealed an Ayah in the Quraan. An Ayah from surah Baqarah wherein Allah says in this Verse in the Quraan: ‘And amongst people are those who (or is the one who) sells his own self (his life), in order to seek the pleasure of Allah, And Allah is kind to His slaves.’ Allah’s slaves, like the companion Suhaib (ra), he sold all his life earnings twice to gain the pleasure of Allah, first to search for the Messenger and leave the Roman Empire to the deserts of Arabic and again to migrate, to be with the messenger of God.

Notice Allah says: ‘Allah is kind and gentle to his slaves’, every one of us is a slave of Allah and we are proud to be called the slaves of Allah. We do not regard it as a matter of pride to be called Slaves of Allah, because that is what we are, He owns us, He created us, He runs our lives every minute, every second and He can do what He likes and from His mercy and His compassion He does what is good for us.

Allah says in the next Ayah: ‘O you who have believed, enter into Islam (submission) entirely/completely every one of you.’ This companion actually left the pleasures of the World for the pleasure of Allah wherein is his own pleasure ultimately. This he did not once but twice.

‘O you who believe enter into submission to Allah completely’ to acquire peace with yourselves and with those around you, ‘and do not follow the footsteps of the shaytan.’

Just like footsteps on the sand by the beach, there are the footsteps of the shaytaan, which are the sins that he encourages us to do. If we start to do one sin, a small sin, that takes us to the next step of the shaytaan. Another sin, that takes us to another step of the shaytaan. Yet another sin, until it takes us to that big hole, the hole that has no bottom to it. That pit which is called hellfire or Jahannam.

The first example is one I read on the website Islam Q&A. It was a question posted by a sister; I think she was probably in one of the Arab countries. Her husband was a very religious man, even in his appearance you could see that he was. He had Internet installed in his house and began spending time in his room on the net. Then he would go into his room and lock the door behind him and spend some time on it initially.

Then, as she reported to the sheikh in her question, he started to stay longer and longer inside that room locked up. To the extent that he would spend hours and hours a day in that room and would not come out. Before she used to have a good relationship with her husband, and now after he started doing whatever he was doing in that room their relationship deteriorated and his behavior towards her and the kids worsened, to the extent that when she started to object to what he was doing he just simply said to her if you don’t like it you can leave. Then he shaved his beard. Eventually, he stopped being that religious person he once was. This is where the footsteps of the shaitan take a person.

Another example is the fitnah of mobile phones. The girls and the guys exchange each other’s numbers then start to send sms messages to each other. Initially it might be something simple but with one message after another, it opens up the doors to Haram of all sorts.

Friendship is another area where we could easily be following the footsteps of the shaytaan. Some might tend to think that it doesn’t matter as long as that person is Muslim by name. Initially time for the prayer comes and they look at you weirdly so you feel like.. Oh no I can’t pray in front of them they think that I am a bit crazy. So you start to slip away and pray somewhere else. Then the next step of the shaytaan, you get busy with your mates with something and then you think oh I can’t go away and pray now I think ill pray a bit later. Then you start delaying your prayer until the next step of the shaytaan where you start to actually leave the prayer because you are embarrassed. Then from the prayer you start other things, step-by-step and because of those friends we could do so much wrong. This is what Allah is saying to enter into Islam completely, entirely and do not follow the footsteps of the shaytaan.

If we make sure we do every little thing right in Islam, as soon as we are aware of it we never open the door to be following the footsteps of the shaytaan. If we are religious genuinely and we have knowledge of the religion then if we did start following the footsteps of the shaytaan it is that knowledge that can easily come in very quickly and stop us from doing the wrong thing. That is why it is good to be always acquiring the knowledge of the religion and to do a lot of good because the more good you do and the more knowledge you have of the religion the more difficult it is for you to slip off the right way and to follow the footsteps of the shaytaan.

That is where the importance of good friendship lies.

Here I want to make an important point. A bad friendship can lead us to a lot of wrong and hell but at the same time it is also good for us to make good friendship. As you get older, you start to get busy in life, you get married and you start to have kids. You don’t have much time so you might now stop making friends with other brothers/sisters. Going to work in the morning, coming home late in the evening; they have no friendships with good pious Muslim brothers/sisters. This is not good. This is not healthy for them socially, emotionally, religiously nor for their eman. Why? Because as human beings we are social beings. We need the company and as Muslims we also need the imaan boosters. One of the ways is to have good friends.

Do something good islamically, remind each other of what is good, encourage each other to enter into Islam completely all of us together and remember to be like the companion Suhaib (ra) who sold himself and everything he had in this life and he entered completely into Islam and he did what pleased Allah, He is kind and gentle to His slave and in exchange and more so from His mercy He gives us the pleasure of the eternal good of Paradise. To multiply the good endlessly, He also makes it easy to do other good things in this life – socially, financially and religiously!

Suhaib sacrificed for Allah when he left the pleasures of the Roman Empire, thereafter, Allah facilitated for him yet another migration to get even more of the ‘big time’!