The Illustrious Sahaabah The Illustrious Sahaabah of Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
Hazrat Khaalid bin Sa’eed bin Aas (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was among the first people to embrace Islam.
Below is the incident of how Hazrat Khaalid bin Sa’eed (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) embraced Islam:
Before embracing Islam, Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) dreamt that he was standing at the edge of a pit filled with fire. His father, Sa’eed, wanted to push him into the fire. Suddenly, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) appeared and held him by the waist to prevent him from falling into the fire. He then awoke from the dream with a shock saying, “By Allah, this dream is a true dream!”
He then proceeded to Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and related the entire dream to him. Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “I wish well for you, and hence I will give you good advice. The person whom you had seen saving you in your dream was Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). Go to him and embrace Islam. If you embrace Islam and follow Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), then Islam will save you from the fire of Jahannum. However, it appears as though your father will die on kufr and fall into the fire of Jahannum.”
Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then went to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) who was in an area of Makkah known as Ajyaad, and enquired, “O Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! What are you inviting us towards?” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) replied:
أدعو إلى الله وحده لا شريك له وأن محمدا عبده ورسوله وتخلع ما كنت عليه من عبادة حجر لا يضر ولا ينفع ولا يدري من عبده ممن لم يعبده
“I am inviting you towards Allah who is alone and has no partner, and verily Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is His slave and messenger, and I invite you to forsake the worship of idols that neither have the ability to benefit nor harm nor do they even know who worships them or who desists from worshipping them.”
Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then professed before Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) saying, “I testify that Allah is alone and you are His true messenger.”
Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) became extremely happy with the Islam of Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu). Nevertheless, after embracing Islam, Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) went into hiding.
When the father of Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) learnt of him embracing Islam, he sent his other sons, who had not embraced Islam, as well as Raafi, his freed slave, to find him. On finding him, they caught him and brought him before his father.
On seeing him, his father swore him, rebuked him, hit him and beat him with a stick in his hand so severely that he broke the stick on the head of Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu). He then said to Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), “You are following Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), whereas you see that he has opposed his people, speaks ill of our deities and criticizes our forefathers (for worshipping idols).”
Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) responded, “By Allah! Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is absolutely true in what he is saying and I will continue to follow him!”
Hearing this, his father was angered even further and said, “I will cut off your food and drink!” To this, Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “If you deprive me of food, then surely, Allah Ta‘ala will provide me with sustenance.”
Upon this, his father expelled him from his house and said to his children, “Nobody should speak to him! If anyone of you speak to him, I will give him the same punishment that I gave to Khaalid!”
Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) subsequently left his father’s door and came to the door of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) showed great honour to Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who remained with Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).
Once, the father of Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) fell seriously ill. In his illness, he took a vow saying, “If Allah allows me to recover from this illness, I will not allow the deity of Muhammed to ever be worshipped in Makkah Mukarramah.”
On hearing this, Hazrat Khaalid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) made dua to Allah Ta‘ala saying, “O Allah! Do not allow him to recover from this illness (since he does not wish to accept Islam and is determined to oppose Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)).” As a result, his father died in this illness. (Mustadrak Haakim #5082, 5083 & Istee’aab 2/423-424)
