JOWAIBIR AND ZALFA

"How
beautiful it were if you could marry and establish a
family, ending this forlorn and isolated life? You could fulfil
your natural urges and also she could help you in your temporal and spiritual
needs and goals."

"O
Messenger of Allah, I have neither wealth nor beauty; nor I have a noble
descent or lineage. Who will marry me? And which woman likes to be wife of a
poor, short, black and ugly man like me?"

"O Jowaibir! God has changed the individual's worth through
Islam. Many people were high-placed in the pre-Islamic society and Islam
brought them down. Many were despised non-entities and Islam bestowed them with
honor and high rank and brought them up. Islam abolished the un-Islamic
discrimination and pride of lineage. Now all people irrespective of their color
and origin are equal. Nobody has superiority over others but through piety and
obedience to Allah. Among the Muslims, only that person would be higher than
YOU whose virtues and deeds are better than you. Now do as I tell you."

These words
were exchanged one day between the Prophet and Jowaibir
when the Prophet came to see the people of "Suffa".

Jowaibir was a native of "Yamamah"
where he came to know about the Prophet and the advent of Islam. He was poor,
black and short, but at the same time intelligent truth seeking and a man of
determination. He came to Medina to look at Islam from
near; in a short time he embraced Islam. Since he had neither
money, house nor any friends, he temporarily was accommodated along with
other poor Muslims in the Mosque by permission of the Prophet. When it was
revealed unto the Prophet that the Mosque was not a place of habitation, it
became necessary to shift them elsewhere. The Prophet selected a site outside
the Mosque and erected a shed for them. The place was named as "Suffa" and the residents were known as "Ashab-e-Suffa" - all of them poor from places far away
from Medina.

The Prophet
came to visit them one day. Noticing Jowaibir among
them he decided to bring him out of this forlorn life. It was beyond the fancy
of Jowaibir to own a house and have a wife in his
condition. And that was why he replied to the Prophet as to how it was possible
for anyone to accept him in matrimony when the Prophet advised him to marry.
But the Prophet removing his doubts explained to him the changes brought about
in the social outlook of the people by Islam.

After bringing
Jowaibir out of his inferiority complex, he directed
him to the house of Ziad ibne
Lubaid to request him for his daughter's hand in
marriage.

Ziad was one of the wealthiest persons of Medina and commanded high
respect among his tribes. When Jowaibir entered his
house, he was surrounded by his relatives and some of his tribes-men. Jowaibir took a seat, paused for a moment and then raising
his head said, "I have brought a message from the Prophet. Do you like to
hear it confidentially or openly?"

Ziad: "A message from the Prophet is an honour
to me, better you tell it openly."

"The
Prophet has sent me to request you for your daughter for myself".

"Did he
himself make this suggestion to you?"

"I don't
speak on my own accord. Everybody knows me, I am not a liar"

"Strange!
We don't give our daughters to persons of unequal status nor outside our tribe.
You go back I shall go to the Prophet and have a talk with him myself."

Jowaibir left the house murmuring, "By God, whatever the Qur'an teaches and whatever is the purpose of the prophethood of Muhammad is totally against what Ziad says."

Those nearby
heard the murmurings of Jowaibir. Zalfa,
the lovely daughter of Ziad, and the beauty queen of Medina, heard these words of Jowaibir. She came to her father and asked:

"Father,
what was that man who just went out saying? And what did he mean?"

"He had
come to ask for your hand in marriage and was claiming that the Prophet had
sent him for this purpose".

"Isn't it
possible that he had really sent him, and thus your rejection may amount to
disobedience of the Prophet's order?"

"What do
you feel about it?"

"I feel
you should bring him back before he reaches to the Prophet, and then go
yourself to find out the truth."

He brought Jowaibir back to his house with due respect, and then
himself hurried up to the Prophet. When he saw him he said:

"O
Messenger of God, Jowaibir came to my house and
brought such and such a message from you, I would like to inform you that our
custom is to give our daughters to persons of equal status and belonging to our
tribe, who are all your helpers and companions."

"O Ziad, Jowaibir is a Faithful man.
That dignity and honor which you are talking about has now been abrogated.
Every Believer man is equal (for marriage purpose) to every believer
woman."

Ziad returned to his house and explained the matter to his daughter.
She said, "Please do not reject the proposal put by the Prophet. This
matter concerns me. I accept Jowaibir whatever his
condition may be. If the Prophet is pleased with it, I am also pleased."

The wedding
was duly soleminized, Ziad paid "Mahr" (Marriage) from his own wealth and offered good
articles to the pair. They asked the bridegroom, "Have you got a house
where to take the bride?" He said, "No, I had never thought that I
would get a wife and settle in domestic life. It was the Prophet who came
suddenly and had a talk with me and sent me to Ziad's
house".

Ziad arranged for him a house equipped with complete household
effects, and transferred the bride superbly adorned with ornaments and
perfumes.

Night came. Jowaibir did not know where was the house
meant for him. He was guided to the house and led to the bridal-chamber. When he
saw the house and its equipments and looked at the dazzling bride, his past
came to his mind and he said to himself, "How poor I was when I entered
this city. I had nothing - neither money nor beauty, neither any lineage nor
family - now God made these affluences available to me through Islam. Indeed it
is Islam that has brought such changes in the social outlook of the people
beyond any imagination. How grateful I am to God for bestowing upon me all
these Blessings!"

In spiritual
ecstasy he went to a corner of the room; spent the night in recitation of the Qur'an and prayer. It was dawn when he came to himself and
then decided to fast in gratitude to God.

When women
came to see Zalfa in the morning they found her
untouched. They kept the matter secret from Ziad. Two
nights and days passed in the same manner. He was fasting during days and
praying during nights. The women of the family of the bride were worried. They
thought perhaps Jowaibir was impotent and had no need
for a woman. At last, they put the matter before Ziad.
He informed the Prophet; the Prophet; called Jowaibir
and asked,

"Don't
you have any desire for woman?"

"Incidentally,
I have very intense desire of that kind".

"Then why
didn't you go near your bride?"

"O
Prophet of God, when I entered the house I found myself amidst that affluence.
A state of gratitude and devotion took me over. I thought it necessary to offer
thanks and prayers to Allah before doing anything. Tonight I shall go near my
wife."

Jowaibir and Zalfa lived a most happy
life. When the call for a Jihad (Holy war) came, he participated in it with the
enthusiasm typical of a brave Muslim, and achieved martyrdom under the banner
of Islam.

After his
martyrdom, Zalfa was the most saught
after woman for a wife and people were eager to pay the greatest Mahr for her.