See My Swords And My Arms

When Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Hadhrat Rib'ee bin Aamir (may Allah be pleased with him) went to attend the talks with the Iranians and were entering the palace, Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) was still wearing his old clothes, which may also have been untidy after a long journey.

When he reached the gates of the palace, the doormen stopped him saying,

"You cannot go and see our king looking like that!" 

They then gave Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) a long garment to wear. To this, Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

"If I have to wear that to see your king, then I would rather not go and if I have to go, then I will go in my own clothing. If he does not wish to see me in these clothes, then I do not wish to see him either. I shall then rather go back."

The doorman then sent a message saying that strange people have arrived who do not want to wear our clothing to enter. As he waited, Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) started to mend the strips of cloth that covered the broken parts of his sword.

Looking at the sword, the doorman said,

"May I have the look at that sword?" 

when Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) handed it over to him, the doorman laughed,

"Are you going to conquer Iran with that?" 

Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) then said,

"You have only seen the sword but have not seen the arm that uses the sword." "Then show me your arm," the doorman said.

"If you want to see my arm," Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "You must fetch the strongest shield you have." 

The doorman then brought an iron shield that they new could never be damaged by a sword. "Now bring someone to hold it" Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) said.

When one of the soldiers held the shield, Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) struck it so forcefully with his sword that it broke into two pieces.

The soldiers watching were stunned and sent a message inside the palace that such strange people have come who break shields in half with their swords.

It was the custom of the Iranians that the king usually sat on a throne while everyone else stood. However, when Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived, he said,

"We do what our Nabi (peace be upon him) taught us and amongst his teachings was that one person cannot be sitting while the others stood and spoke. Either you have chairs for us aswell or you stand like the rest of us."

This made the king furious and he gave the command that Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) be sent away with a pot of sand on his head.

Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) took the sand and put it on his head. As he left, he said to the king, "You have already given us the sand of your territory."

Now the Iranians were very superstitious people and every little statement worried them. They therefore thought it is a terrible thing that they had given their land away to the Muslims.

The king therefore sent someone to get the pot back. How could he get it back from someone like Hadhrat Rib'ee bin Aamir (may Allah be pleased with him)?

Hadhrat Rib'ee (may Allah be pleased with him) got away with the sand because Allaah had already decided that the Muslims should capture the land of the Iranians.

Lesson: The person who believe that Allaah is the Most Powerful and has power over all things will never fear anything else. He knows well that none can do him any harm because everything in the skies and earth are in Allaah's control.

Children! We must never be affraid if we hear about the miliary power of the non-Muslims or of any of their achievements because we must remember that both their lives and our lives are all in Allaah's control.

In fact, Allaah will put fear in their hearts if we remain firm on the Sunnahs of Rasulullah (peace be upon him).