Hudhaifa Ibn Al-Yamman: A hero of faith and strategy

When Hudhaifa Ibn Al-Yamman was appointed as the governor of Madaa’in, people came out in great numbers to greet him and were immensely aston-ished to find such a humble and grace-ful ruler.

He told them something memorable, as they gathered around him “Beware of sedition”. Upon being asked what this means, he revealed that it was the gates of rulers. When someone is admitted in the presence of a ruler, he falsely agrees with whatever is said and commends the ruler for what he has not done; that is sedition.
Hudhaifa was not only talented but trustworthy. He detested hypocrisy and deceit. He was one of the several companions of Prophet Muhammad who learnt his manners under the Prophet’s guidance. Hence, he was straightforward and clear.

The thing that distinguished him from the rest of the Sahabas was his ability to read faces and recognize evil. There-fore, he devoted his time to groom his capabilities in that area. He once nar-rated that all the Sahabas used to ask the Messenger of Allah about good while I used to ask him about evil for the fear that it would overtake me. [Bukhari: 3606]
Even Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) used to consult his intelligence and insight in selecting men during his caliphate.

Furthermore, he was a man of strong character and intense loyalty.
An example of this is when Hudhaifa had the misfortune of seeing his father mistakenly killed in the battle of Uhud by fellow Sahabas. Although devas-tated, he only prayed for mercy and forgiveness for those who attacked his father unknowingly. The incident grieved the Sahabas a lot. When the news reached Prophet Muhammad, he demanded that the blood money be paid but Hudhaifa humbly refused and distributed it as alms among Mus-lims.

The companions of the Prophet were constantly tested with hardships one after the other. One such incident is reported by Hudhaifa during the battle of Khandaq (Trench). He mentioned that particular night was dark and ter-rifying, the wind blew so strongly that it could uproot mountains. The atmo-sphere was that of deep fear and anx-iety. It had been a month of ongoing siege and the Sahabas had reached the highest level of hunger and cold. The Quraish and their Jewish allies were outside Madina and Prophet Muham-mad wanted one of his Companions to penetrate in the enemy camps and bring news of recent developments.

No one volunteered upon asking, so Prophet Muhammad picked Hudhai-fa who later on candidly admitted that he had no choice but to obey because of the severe circumstances. Here he displayed his genius, even under the pinch of hunger and exhaustion. As he penetrated the enemy ranks, he heard Abu Sufyan alerting his troops to be aware of Muslim scouts. The camp’s fire was out due to violent wind and the whole area was enveloped in dark-ness. Abu Sufyan told his troops to ask the name of the person sitting next to each soldier. Hudhaifa hurriedly asked the soldier next to him what his name was, thus securing his position with-out any fight. Hudhaifa brought back the good news to Prophet Muhammad upon his safe return to Madinah.

Nevertheless, he showed great hero-ism on battlefields. Hudhaifa is con-sidered one of the three or five Saha-bas who invaded all cities of Iraq. The Battle of Nahawaand concluded in Persian’s overwhelming defeat due to his brilliant strategy. He once helped the Muslims of Madaa’in find a suit-able place to settle in and his search brought him to Kufa, hence laying the foundation of a future inhabitant city.

He would perpetually tell his fellow Sahabas that “Your best are not those who neglect this world for the last, nor those who neglect the last for this world. The best are those who take from this and that.”

[Men and Women around the Messen-ger, Khaalid Muhammad Khaalid, Dar Al Manarah, 2003, pg.: 154–162]