As is mentioned in ‘Sahīh Muslim,’ [13]:
Bilāl, ‘Ammār, and Suhayb came across Abū Sufyān on the day Makkah was conquered, and they said some insulting words to him. They said: “By Allāh, the swords of Allāh did not reach the enemies of Allāh as they should have.”
So, Abū Sufyān – the commander of jāhiliyyah who took over after the killing of Abū Jahl, the one who took over the leadership of Makkah until it was conquered, the one who took it upon himself to try to negotiate with the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) on the day Makkah was conquered, the one who took over the leadership on the day of Uhud, when he stood atop Mt. Uhud yelling: “May Hubal be exalted! This day is for Badr!” – they said to him: “By Allāh, the swords of Allāh did not reach the enemies of Allāh as they should have.”
Abū Sufyān became angry and went to complain to Abū Bakr. So, Abū Bakr came to
reprimand them harshly, saying: “Do you say this to the leader of Quraysh?”
Abū Bakr then went off to inform the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) of what Bilāl, ‘Ammār, and Suhayb had done. Abū Bakr strained to hear just one word from the mouth of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) – one word of rebuke for them out of the desire to win the heart of Abū Sufyān, or to at least catch a glimpse of anger on the Prophet’s face for the anger of the leader of Quraysh, whose house was a place of safety for those who entered it on that day. Instead, the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) applied the scales and said: “It might be that you made them angry, and made your Lord angry as a result.”
O Allāh! What exaltation?! What sky?! What greatness?! What a blessing that has raised this slave from the level of being like an animal in the scales of jāhiliyyah to the level of having the Lord of Glory become angry for his sake?! “Indeed, Allāh has men whose wishes He carries out, and it might be that a dirty, disheveled man would have his oath fulfilled by Allāh.” [14]
I say that when Abū Bakr heard these words from the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him), he was shaken: he might have angered Allāh by angering Bilāl! So, he went back to Bilāl and ‘Ammār to reconcile with them, saying: “My brothers! It might be that I angered you.” They said: “May Allāh excuse you,” causing his emotional stress to be relieved and his heart to be relaxed.
Story # 2 [on the same day (as story #1) of the Conquest of Makkah]
Everywhere, the call of ‘Allāhu Akbar’ shook all that stood before it. Three of the leaders of Quraysh were sitting with each other: ‘Itāb bin Usayd, Abū Sufyān bin al-Hārith, and al-Hārith bin Hishām. al-Hārith – one of those who were pardoned by the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) that day – said: “Praise be to Allāh who took the life of Hishām before he could witness a day like this.” A second man said: “He did not find except this black one to climb the roof of the Ka’bah?”
And Abū Sufyān said: “As for me, I will say nothing.”
This is the scale of the people. He praised Allāh that his father died before seeing a black man on top of the Ka’bah, and on the same day, another scale says: “If you have angered Bilāl, you have angered your Lord.” The heavens and the Earth shake if this slave is angered, and the corners of the Earth shudder if his face were to frown in sadness.
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SOURCES:
[13] Sahih Muslim (2504)
[14] Muslim (2622 & 2854), and a similar wording was related by at-Tirmidhī (3854) and al-Mundhirī in ‘at-Targhīb wat-Tarhīb’ (4/147 and 148).
In ‘Sharh Sahīh Muslim’ (8/346), an-Nawawī explained this hadīth, saying: “This
means that if he swore that something would occur, Allāh would make it occur out of honor for him, by fulfilling his request and protecting him from having violated an oath. This is due to his great status with Allāh, even if he is worthless in the eyes of the people. It has also been said that his oath is his supplication, and the fulfillment is this supplication being answered, and Allāh Knows best.”
[15]Ibn Hishām’s ‘as-Sīrah an-Nabawiyyah’ (3/286)
Original Source: The Scales of Allah, Abdullah Azzam.
Download Book Link; http://www.kalamullah.com/Books/the-scales-of-allah.pdf
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16054375/The-Scales-of-Allah-abdullah-azzam
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