Khabbab ibn al-Aratt (ra)

Among the first ten Muslims — an enslaved Arab swordsmith, tortured for his faith, and later a teacher of the Quran. It was in his mistress’s house that Umar was taught, and Khabbab who brought Umar to Dar al-Arqam.

Torture (EP 014)

His mistress Umm Anmar and the Quraysh burned his back with the very iron he used to forge swords. The Prophet ﷺ made du’a for him; Umm Anmar was afflicted and later died after being cauterized — an instance of al-jaza min jins al-amal (the reward matches the deed).

“How long?” (EP 014)

It was Khabbab who came to the Prophet ﷺ in the Ka’bah’s shade and asked, “How long must we endure? Will you not pray for us?” The Prophet ﷺ answered that earlier believers were sawn in two and combed with iron yet did not turn back, and promised: “a rider will travel from Sana’a to Hadramawt fearing none but Allah — but you are being hasty.”

Later

Taught the Quran (including to Umar’s sister Fatimah), fought in the Medinan campaigns, and received high pay under Umar’s stipends. On his deathbed (37 AH) he wept — not from fear, but that he had lived to enjoy worldly comfort his martyred companions never tasted.

Cross-references

Muhammad ﷺ · Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) · Dar al-Arqam (House of al-Arqam) · Bilal ibn Rabah (ra) · Ammar ibn Yasir & the Family of Yasir (ra)

Sources

• S004 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 014 (torture, “how long”), EP 015 & 018 (Dar al-Arqam, teaching Umar’s sister).