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At-Tufayl
ibn Amr ad-Dawsi
At-Tufayl ibn Amr was the head of the
Daws tribe before Islam began to spread in the Arabian
Peninsula. He was very well known for his great generosity
and good deeds. He used to feed the poor, comforted those
in pain and he always granted shelter to refugees.
He was very interested in literature and was himself a
sharp and sensitive poet, capable of expressing the most
delicate emotions.
The struggle between the noble Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and
the disbelieving Quraysh tribe was reaching its peak at
the time when Tufayl decided to leave his village in
Tihama in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and set out
for Makkah.
Tufayl found himself in the middle of this battle without
taking any precautions. He was aware of what was going on
in Makkah but he never thought he would become part of it.
From this point on we will let Tufayl tell us his story
himself:
As soon as I reached Makkah the Quraysh leaders came up to
me and greeted me warmly. They also gave me a large house
to stay in. Their leaders and notables then gathered and
said:
"O Tufayl, you have come to our town. This man who
claims that he is a Prophet has ruined our authority and
shattered our community. We are afraid that he would
succeed in undermining you and your authority among your
people just as he has done with us. Don't speak to the
man. On no account listen to anything he has to say. He
has the speech of a wizard, causing division between
father and son, between brother and brother and between
husband and wife."
After hearing what they said to me I decided not to
approach this man, or speak to him or listen to anything
he had to say.
The next day I went to the Sacred Mosque, and when I
entered it, I saw Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) standing near the
Kabah. He was praying in a fashion that was much different
from ours.
Despite all the precaution I had taken, I heard the speech
he was saying. It was so beautiful that I said to myself,
"What are you doing, Tufayl? You are a perceptive
poet. You can distinguish between the good and the bad in
poetry. What prevents you from listening to what this man
is saying? If what comes from him is good, accept it, and
if it is bad, reject it."
I stayed in the mosque until Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) left
for his home. I followed him as he entered his house, and
I entered behind him and said, "O Muhammad, your
people have said certain things to me about you. By God,
they kept on frightening me away from your message so that
I even blocked my ears to keep out your words. Despite
this, God caused me to hear something of it and I found it
good. So tell me more about your mission."
On hearing this Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) recited to me Surah
Al-Iklaas and Surah Al-Falaq. I swear by God, never in my
life did I hear such beautiful words. Neither was a more
noble or just mission ever described to me. Thereupon, I
stretched out my hand to him in allegiance and testified
that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the
messenger of Allah. This is how I embraced Islam.
I stayed in Makkah for a while to learn the teachings of
Islam and to memorizing parts of the Holy Quran. When I
took the decision of returning to my people, I said to
Prophet Mohamed (PBUH): "O Rasulullah. I am a man who
is obeyed in his tribe. I am going back to them and I
shall invite them to Islam . . ."
When I went back to my tribe, the first two I invited to
Islam were my father and my wife and both of them accepted
what I had to say and immediately embraced Islam.
I then invited the whole of Daws tribe to become Muslims.
They were all slow in responding, except Abu Hurayrah. He
was the quickest to respond to the invitation of Islam.
On my next visit to Makkah Abu Hurayrah was with me.
“What have you left behind?” the Prophet asked
me
."Hearts with veils over them obscuring the Truth,
and firm disbelief. Sin and disobedience have won over the
Daws."
On hearing this Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) stood up and made
wudu and prayed with his hands raised to the heavens
saying:
"O Lord, guide the Daws, guide the Daws, guide the
Daws."
Then he turned to me and said:"Go back to your
people, befriend them, treat them gently and invite them
to Islam."
I stayed in the land of the Daws inviting them to Islam
for quite a long time. Then I went to Prophet Mohamed
(PBUH) and along with came eighty families who had
embraced Islam and who were strong in their faith. Prophet
Mohamed (PBUH) was pleased with us and he gave us a
portion of the booty after the battle of Khaybar. We said
to him, "O Rasulullah, make us the right wing of your
army in every battle and make our efforts
acceptable."
Tufayl stayed with Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) until the
liberation of Makkah. After the destruction of the idols
there, Tufayl asked for Prophet Mohamed’s (PBUH)
permission to put an end to the worship of Dhu-l Kafayn,
the chief idol of his people, and Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)
accepted.
Tufayl went back to Tihama and he set fire to the idols.
When the people who had not embraced Islam yet saw that
Tufayl was not harmed after burning the idols they all
became Muslims.
Tufayl remained faithful to Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) during
his lifetime and after his death.
After the noble Prophet passed away Tufayl placed himself
in the service of the Khalifah Abu Bakr. During the Riddah
wars, he led a contingent of his people against the
impostor Musaylamah.
In the battle of al-Yamamah that followed, At-Tufayl ibn
Amr, the dear companion of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), fought
under the flag of Islam with all he had of power, but he
died in the battlefield after a long life full of
worshiping and fighting to spread the light of Islam.
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