Prophet Aramaya ibn Halqiyah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him, was one of the many Prophets sent down to guide the Israilites. Sins and immorality had become prevalent amongst them. The Israilites had also killed many Prophets sent down to guide them, like Zakariya, Yahya and Shu'ayb ibn Mazham, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon Them. Prophet Aramaya was sent to admonish the Israilites and guide them to the straight path.
But when Prophet Aramaya conveyed to the Israilites the message of Allah, the Israilites did not believe him. Instead, they accused him of lying. “You are lying and fabricating a grave lie against Allah, claiming that there will come a time when Allah’s land and His places of worship will be devoid of His books and devoid of anyone to worship Him and affirm His Oneness. So who would worship Him when there is no worshipper, place of worship or book in the land? You have fabricated a grave lie against Allah and you must have gone insane!” they said in anger and disbelief. Prophet Aramaya was then imprisoned in a tight cell.
But the imprisonment of Allah's Prophet would not be merely ignored. Allah sent the tyrant ruler Bukhtanasar to Al-Quds. He arrived from Babil with his troops and invaded the territory of the Israilites. He was a harsh and stern man. Bukhtanasar's siege of Al-Quds went on for a very long time. Eventually, the Israilites' leader, Zadaqiyah, had to agree to Bukhtanasar's terms and surrender his kingdom to him. He then allowed Bukhtanasar to rule over the Israilites. Bukhtanasar subjected the Israilites to the rule of ignorance, and he killed a third of the population and another third was taken captive. He left behind the elderly, weak and the handicapped, whom he trampled with horses. He destroyed the main worship place of the Israilites and burned the Tawrah. Bukhtanasar captured the young boys (sus) and sold them off as slaves, while he paraded the young women bareheaded in the marketplace. Al-Quds suffered a lot under his rule.
After he did what he did, a voice said to him, “The Israilites have a man who warned them of what has befallen them, and he described you to them and told them what you would do to them, that you would kill the men of fighting age, take their children captive, destroy their places of worship and burn their synagogues. But they disbelieved him and made accusations against him, so they beat him, tied him up and imprisoned him.” Bukhtanasar felt surprised after hearing this, and so he ordered that the cell of the man be opened. And the man was none other than Prophet Aramaya.
Bukhtanasar asked Prophet Aramaya about what he had said, and the Prophet confirmed it. Bukhtanasar then asked if the Israilites had disbelieved him, beaten him and imprisoned him, and Prophet Aramaya confirmed what he had said. Bukhtanasar felt a little sympathy for the Prophet, so he said, “What a bad people they are who disbelieved in their Prophet and rejected the message of Allah! Will you join me, and I will honour you and take care of you, and if you want to stay in your own land, I will grant you protection?”
Prophet Aramaya replied to him, saying, “I have been under the protection of Allah all my life, and have never been without it for a moment. If the Israilites had not chosen to disregard Allah’s protection, they would never have feared you or anyone else, and you would never have gained any power over them.” Hearing this, Bukhtanasar decided to leave Prophet Aramaya alone.
Prophet Aramaya returned to his homeland of Al-Quds. When he returned, he saw it was all destroyed and ravaged! He was tired, so he fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that the city of Al-Quds had been rebuilt. The new ruler of it was Vishtaspa, and Bukhtanasar had died peacefully. It was revealed that Prophet Aramaya had slept for a hundred years! And so, He said, “I know, now, that Allah is able to do all things.”
It is said in the Holy Qur'an, “Allah grants wisdom to those whom He wills; and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted much good. Yet none except people of understanding take heed.” [Surah al-Baqarah, verse 269]
Source:
Al-Tabari's Tarikh, volume 1, pages 538-539
Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah by Ibn Kathir, volume 2, pages 361-372
Tarikh Dimashq by Ibn Asakir, volume 8, pages 29-41
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