Just Bliss

Assha’bul Ukhdood

Before the advent of Islam, there was a good king Bakht Nasar who ruled a large kingdom in Yemen. He was also a believer. His kingdom was serene and peaceful. But, after his death, Dhu Nuwas took over his kingdom. Dhu Nuwas was evil and corrupted. Dhu Nuwas, the last Himyarite King of Yemen, by religion a Jew, who persecuted the Christians of Najran and is, said to have burnt them to death. He seems to have lived in the latter half of the sixth Christian century, in the generation immediately preceding the Prophet’s birth in 570 A.D. He established a new religion, which made him the God. Whenever the people rebelled or protested, he made his sorcerer demonstrate his ‘magic powers’. By his magical tricks the people got scared thus didn’t revolt against the king. The sorcerer felt that he was getting old and needed an apprentice. Therefore, the king held a competition to find the perfect student for the sorcerer. The winner was a poor boy about 15 years old. Every day, he went to the king’s palace to get training from the sorcerer. This continued for a very long time. One day, the boy took a different route to the palace. The boy heard a beautiful voice while he was passing by a cave. The boy was drawn to this lovely sound and went into the cave. The person who was reciting holy verses was a religious monk. The boy asked what he was reciting. The monk offered to teach him that Allah is the supreme power and all praise is to Allah.
The boy went to the monk’s cave to be taught truthful ethics in the morning, and to the palace afterwards to learn black magic from the sorcerer every day. One day, on his way to the palace, he saw a huge, sleeping beast blocking the road. Since he lived on a mountain, there was no way around it. There was also a large crowd looking for a way around it. They knew that he could somehow move the beast. So the boy tried witchcraft first. It didn’t work. Therefore, he made dua’a to Allah (S.W.T.). It was something along these lines:
“O Allah, if the path of the monk is right, then let me kill this beast with this pebble.”
After saying this, he threw the pebble at the beast. The beast died. Now he was sure that the path of Allah (S.W.T.) was correct.
He stopped going to the palace to learn sorcery. He spent all of his spare time learning from the monk. The king got outraged because the boy stopped going to the palace to work as the king’s sorcerer. People felt his absence too. Therefore when they met him they asked him to solve their problems and cure them. He refused to cure, rather told them to make dua’a. One of the King’s courtiers was blind, so he went to the boy to get his vision back. The boy told him to make dua’a. The courtier got his sight back after dua so instantly became a believer. The King noticed the courtier’s eyesight and asked him how he got his eyes cured. The old man told the King that “my lord cured me.” The King was furious. “I didn’t cure you”, he roared. The old courtier smiled and said, “No, Allah cured me.” The King tortured him more to know who told him about Allah. The courtier told him about the boy. The King sent guards for the boy. The boy was tortured to find out who told him about Allah (S.W.T.). The King found out about the monk. The King ordered that the monk and the courtier be cut in half headfirst in front of the boy. The two deaths shook the boy. His closest friend and an innocent courtier were murdered right in front of him.
The King asked the boy to turn away from Islam. When the boy refused, the King ordered his guards to take the boy up to the highest mountain and toss him down. After reaching the tip the guards told him that he had two choices – to die or to turn away from Islam. The boy chose none and instead, he made dua’a to Allah (S.W.T.) to save him in any way He wishes. Allah sent a giant gust of wind that blew off the guards. They fell to their deaths. The boy was tired and sore, but still alive. He could have escaped; he went back to the palace. The moment the boy walked in King knew something was wrong. “Where are the guards? He asked.” The guards are dead.
The boy asked the king to turn to Islam, but the King declined. The King was angrier than ever before. He yelled for his guards to do something even more horrid. The boy was put in a boat and sent far out to sea. The journey was lengthy and dangerous. He was asked the same question. Turn away from Islam, or die. Again, the answer was none. The boy made dua. Suddenly there was a massive storm. Giant waves crashed against the craft. Soon the boat broke by a mammoth wave. Both of the guards drowned, but the boy grabbed on to a piece of wood and drift back to the shore. The boy went back to the King. King got really crazy. He was desperate to kill the boy. The boy asked the king again: “Will you turn to Islam?” The king refused.
So the boy asked the King to gather as many townspeople as he could. Then, tie the boy to a tree. Lastly the King must say loudly before shooting:
“In the name of the Lord of the boy”
So, with the boy all tied up and an arrow notched, the king shoots. As he didn’t say the words so the arrow flew but missed the boy. The people were stunned. When the king said the words, “In the name of the Lord of the boy” and shot again, the boy was killed. The people realized that the King, their god, couldn’t even kill without saying “In the name of the Lord of the boy.” So the people began to revolt. They chanted “We believe in the Lord of the boy” The King ordered for a giant pit to be dug with wood to put it on fire. Every person was asked the same question; to turn away from Islam, or die. Every single one of them chose death. That day was incredibly sad. Almost 20,000 people died. But it was happy too. That day, 20,000 people went to heaven. Those entire upright and true believers are mentioned as Assha’bul Ukhdood in Soora Al-Buruj aayut no.4 in holy Quran. May Allah help us lead a virtuous life. Amen
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My grandson Noor Syed a student of grade 6 was given to write essay on surah Al-Buruj by his teacher in NJ in USA. He is an outstanding student of his class mashaAllah n recently got First position in English literature in America. I have no reservations to confess that I learnt this story from him. So I thought of sharing with my friends.