SuhaybAr-Rumi or SuhaybIbnSinan Al-Nimr was one of the early reverts to Islam and was among the revered companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). He belonged to the Nimr family in Najd and had affiliations to Anizza tribe. One day his mother took him for a picnic, however happiness turned into sadness as the Romans raided and took Suhayb as prisoner only to be sold as a slave in their market. His days of luxury and pomp were gone in a moment and he was forced to live the life of a slave with no freedom and no choices. He lived the life of a slave for around 20 years during which he was transferred from one owner to another. He always had the desire to escape from the situation of misery and used to long for the opportunity to escape. His longing came to an end and one day he managed to escape from the shackles of slavery and headed straight to Makkah. It was in Makkah that he got the title Ar-Rumi because of his Greek accent.
One day while travelling for trading, he heard that Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, was preaching a new religion to the people. Suhayb got curious to know about it and desired to meet the Messenger. He went to Dar al-Arqam, where Muslims used to meet and found his friend Ammar there. They both entered the house and enquired the Messenger about the message he was preaching. After listening to the words, they both became glad and showed willingness to embrace the faith.
There is a very important lesson one can take from the story of Suhayb. He was the one who spent early years of life in the Byzantine Empire, where he saw all sorts of injustices and inequality and when he heard the message of Islam from the Messenger, his heart testified that this must be the truth that had come from his Lord. He once said about the Byzantine society, “A society like this can only be purified by deluge.”Hence even in him being taken as a prisoner of war and then sold as slave in the Byzantine market was the plan of Allah to make the path of faith easy to comprehend for him.
His days of slavery made him a tough man, both physically and mentally. The physical and mental toughness was nothing short of the prerequisite for accepting Islam as the very claim of acceptance was met with stiff resistance and physical torture. His mental stiffness could be understood from his firm resolve to meet the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) even though he was threatened by the people. When he asked who Muhammad was and where he stayed, he was told, “(He stays) in the house of al-ArqamibnAbi al-Arqam. Be careful however that no Quraysh sees you. If they see you they would do (the most terrible things to you). You are a stranger here and there is no bond of asabiyyahi (tribal affiliations) to protect you, neither have you any clan to help you.”
When the Quraysh learnt about the reversion of Suhayb, they began persecuting him along with other reverts. However, it was the physical fitness which he developed during the years of slavery that became his strength and he endured everything with ease and patience. His sufferings seemed to end when the Messenger gave the orders to migrate to Medina and Suhayb had plans to migrate along with the Messenger and Abu Bakr. However his plan failed as the Qurash got to know about it and they stopped him from migrating. One of the claims of the Quraysh was that Suhayb had earned all his wealth while being in Makkah and hence he could not leave the city along with all wealth because he owed all of the wealth to the city itself.
He again started to long for joining the Messenger in Medina and began to form a strategy to migrate to Medina as the men of Quraysh were guarding him. One night he pretended that he had some stomach problems and went out repeatedly in order to respond to the call of nature. The guards became a little relaxed, meanwhile Suhayb armed himself and mounted on a mount and headed for Medina. When the guards realised that he had gone, they followed him in order to catch him. It was at this moment Suhayb confronted them and shouted from one of the hills, “Men of Quraysh! You know, by God, that I am one of the best archers and my aim is unerring. By God, if you come near me, with each arrow I have, I shall kill one of you. Then I shall strike with my sword.”
The guards replied, “By God, we shall not let you escape from us with your life and money. You came to Makkah weak and poor and you have acquired what you have acquired.”
“What would you say if I leave you my wealth?” he asked. “Would you get out of my way?”
“Yes,” they answered.
It was with this deal that Suhayb migrated to Medina. On seeing Suhayb, the Messenger of Allah p became happy and said, “Your transaction has been fruitful, Oh Abu Yahya. Your transaction has been fruitful.” He repeated it three times.
One of the many qualities of Suhayb was that he was very generous whenever it came to giving. Even Umar, the second caliph, noted his generosity and remarked, “I have seen you giving out so much food that you appear to be too extravagant.” Suhayb replied, “I have heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘The best of you is the one who gives out food’.”
He enjoyed great respect among the rightly guided caliphs as well. It was Suhayb who was given the charge of leading Muslims in prayers and taking care of the affairs of the Ummah during the time when Umar was on his death bed. By the time the Muslims did not choose the caliph, Suhayb looked after the affairs. Hence this shows his leadership quality and managerial skills.
There are innumerable lessons that one may take from the life of Suhayb. If we look at his life the initial years had been spent in slavery and even when he came back to his own land he was persecuted for following his faith. He was even prevented from migrating, yet all this only increased his faith and he never got deterred from practising the faith and worshipping Allah.