Big city, with bright lights. Cars flash in fast lanes. Young Muslims are getting ready to hit the “night scene”. Branded shoes and designer clothes in place, clutching the latest mobile gizmos and sporting the trendiest watches, their perfume smells of – more than anything else – money.
You can see them “hanging out” in groups, lolling in the bright lights of a megamall, lingering aimlessly in hyper shops, watching people go by, sharing a joke, and laughing raucously.
You can see them racing cars dangerously late into the night, music blasting from the stereos, startling passersby while they laugh in their faces. A standard sight.
Each time you see this all-too-familiar scene, just think of someone. Someone who lies buried in the blood-wet earth of ‘Uhud, feet covered by scented grass and his body covered only by a square woolen sheet that was not even sufficient to cover him completely. Someone who was his mother’s pampered son, he wore the best clothes his rich mother’s money could buy, and his perfume scented the streets he walked through. The talk of Makkan matrons and maidens in their plush salons, the toast of his peers in the city’s clubs, the most flamboyant young man of the Quraish, who left a life of pleasuring the Self to gain the pleasure of Allah: Mus’ab Bin Umair Bin Hashim Bin Abd Munaf who was also known as Mus’ab Al-Khair.
Mus’ab was only a youth when he heard of the new Prophet who had arisen among the Quraish and his message of monotheism. Makkah talked of very little else in those days. His curiosity piqued by all the talk, Mus’ab decided to approach the Prophet (peace be upon him) on his own to determine the truth of his Message.
One night, instead of joining his friends in their customary revelry, Mus’ab made his way to the house of Al-Arqaam Ibn Al-Arqaam which came to be known as Dar Al-Arqaam among the Muslims. It was here that the Prophet met with the growing band of Muslims, away from the eyes of the Quraish. It was here that the companions talked over the future of their faith, heard and recited newly revealed portions of the Qur’an, and prayed behind the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Allah.
That night, Mus’ab sat down among the gathering of the faithful and heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) recite verses of the Qur’an. From that moment on he forgot forever his life of luxury and indolence while discovering the key to eternal life.
