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Suhayb Ar-Rumi ( Part One)
was the fondling son of Sinan ibn Malik, a governor appointed by the Persian emperor on one of the Persian empire states. He lived a luxurious life in his father's palace and his parents lavished him with much care and love. At that time the unbroken enmity between the Roman and the Persian Empire was the worst. One day his mother decided to take him with her in a visit to her family, there were many guards with them, on their way they were intercepted by a Roman battalion which killed the guards and took the young boy captive among many others. What was supposed to be a relaxing and enjoyable day turned out to be a terrifying experience that was to change the course of the young Suhayb's life forever. In Constantinople, the capital of the Roman Empire, the little boy was passed from a slave master to another; he spent his first twenty years in slavery, during this period he forgot the Arabic accent and learnt the Greek accent fluently. His inner nature was something different from the others', the aura he lived in was repugnant to him as oppression was prevalent, he wished so much to leave it and that is why at the first opportunity Suhayb escaped from the bondage of slavery and headed straight for Makkah which was a place of refuge or asylum ( other sources say that he was sold as a sleeve in Mekka). There people called him Suhayb "ar-Rumi" or "the Byzantine" because of his peculiarly heavy speech and his blond hair. His slaveholder emancipated him for his brilliance. He engaged in trade and prospered. In fact, he became quite rich. It was then that rumors were carried to every corner of the small city that Muhammad claims that he was a prophet. His name and his call always cropped in every speech in the quiet town. True that our man has already gained his freedom and even indulged himself in trade which earned him some good wealth but there was a still another kind of freedom that he aspired for. Such freedom that all free souls aspired for; it was breaking the bonds that entangle one's soul into the reins of infidelity and disentangling one from the deplorable soul crushing superstitions.
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