THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD (Sallalahu Alayhe Wassalam) THE MAKKAN PERIOD

THE LIFE OF

MUHAMMAD

(Sallalahu Alayhe Wassalam)

THE MAKKAN PERIOD

IMAM ANWAR AL AWLAKI

Transcribed by Maria Iqbal

For the most updated – edited version please visit

 www.slavesofrahman.com

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The Holy Quran:  Surah Al Ahzab

Chapter 33: Verse 45 & 46

            

O Prophet (Muhammad SAW)! Verily, We have sent you as witness, and a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner. And as one who invites to Allah by His Leave, and as a lamp spreading light. (Through your instructions from the Qur’an and the Sunnah the legal ways of the Prophet saw).

PREFACE

The life of Muhammad Sallalahu Alayhe Wassalam (saw) introduces the Makkan Period of the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad saw, the final Messenger of Allah and the greatest human being to walk on the face of the earth.

In this series, Imam Anwar Al Awlaki, author of the best selling series The Lives of the Prophets, eloquently presents the Makkan Period of the life of Muhammad (saw) in a detailed manner, deriving valuable lessons from it, thus making it relevant to our modern times.

This series is primarily based on Ibn Kathir’s book on Seerah. Imam Al Awlaki describes the stories of the golden era of Islam in a dynamic style and installs in the listeners the deep love for the beloved of Allah Subhana Wataalaa.

Imam Anwar Al Awlaki was born in New Mexico in USA. His parents are from Yemen, where he lived for 11 years and received the early part of his Islamic Education.

Imam Anwar Al Awlaki has served as in Imam in Colorado, California and Washington DC. Currently he resides in Yemen.

INTRODUCTION

Duas

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

O Allah Open my heart, ease my task and remove the impediments from my speech so that they may understand what I say.

We ask Allah Subhana Watala to bless this gathering, We ask Allah Subhana Watala to benefit us from what we learn, we ask Allah Subhana Watala to teach us that which will benefit us, we ask Allah Subhana Watala to make us of those who follow the way of Rasool Allah saw and love him and we ask Allah Subhana Watala to make us of those who will be with him in Jannah.(Ameen)

Definition of Seerah

The word Seerah has a linguistic meaning which means a path. Walking is called Sair, when you walk from one place to another it is called sairtu Ful an  is walking.

So it is a path which a person takes during his life time. The  Hans dictionary gives the translation of Seerah as conduct, comportment, demeanor, attitude, behavior, way of life, attitude, position, reaction, way of acting and biography, all of these are meanings of Seerah. Seerah could be the biography of any person, not just prophet Muhammad (saw), however we have used the word so much with Muhammad (saw), that when we say Seerah, we almost all the time are referring to the life of Muhammad saw. However, we can say the seerah of Abu Bakar , Seerah of

Omar (ra) and so and so. So Seerah is a biography of a person, their life.

In this situation we are studying the life of the greatest, Muhammad (saw)

 

Importance of Studying Seerah

What is the importance of studying Seerah?

No 1: History of Islam

The life of Muhammad (saw)is the history of Islam. You are studying the concise history Islam. By studying the life of Muhammad (saw). In his Seerah you would find situations and incidences that would help us in everything that we would need to know in our life of dawah. So we are not just  studying the biography of a person, we are studying the history of our religion.

Muhammad ibn Saad ibn waqas,  -Saad ibn Waqas  is one of the ashra-e-mubasharah, he is one of the 10 given glad tidings of paradise. His son Muhammad would say that our father would teach us the battles of Rasool Allah, he would teach us the seerah of Rasool Allah and he would tell us that these are the traditions of your fathers, so study them. They used to refer to Seerah as maghazi. Maghazi means battles. The latter part of life of Rasool Allah was spent in maghazi. So they would use the word maghazi to refer to the whole life of Rasool Allah.

Ali bin Hussain ibn Ali bin Abi Talib-   the grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib would say we were taught the Seerah of Rasool Allah like we were taught  Quran. That is how important Seerah was for them. They would study it like they studied Quran.

And that makes sense, because if you want to study the life of Musa (as) where do we go, where do we study It from? From Quran! If we want to study the life of Isa (as) we  go to  Quran, but if we want to study the life of Muhammad (saw), his life, even though there are bits and pieces of it mentioned in the Quran, but we don’t have that many details about Muhammad (saw) in the Quran as we have about Musa (as). So the life of Rasool Allah saw ,for us,  to study it we go to Seerah. All of the anbiya, their lives were recorded in the Quran  with the exception of  Muhammad (saw). So to study the life of Muhammad (saw) we go to Seerah. When we want to learn about the anbiya, we go to the Quran. But when we want to learn about Muhammad saw, we go to Seerah, again even though there are some references about him in the Quran.

No 2: Love

The second reason to study Seerah is to develop the proper love of Muhammad saw in our hearts. Loving  Muhammad saw is Ibadah. Its part of our religion to love Muhammad (saw)

Love for Muhammad saw

Muhammad saw says: “None of you will attain true faith until you love me more than your parents, your children and the whole world”   (Bukhari, Book of Belief, Hadith 14)

We don’t really become true believers until we love Muhammad saw more than any thing else. So it is part of Islam to love Muhammad (saw).

Omar bin Khattab (ra) he came to Rasool Allah saw and said…. He was a very honest and a straight forward person. So went to Rasool Allah saw and said O Rasool Allah I love more than everything except my self” I love you more than anyone except my self”

Rasool Allah saw told him “until you love me”, meaning you don’t really attain the complete faith until you love me more than your own self. So Omar bin Khattab came back and said” O Rasool Allah, Now I love you more than my own self” Rasool Allah saw said “Al aan eman ” “ Now you have attained the complete faith”

The Ummah today loves Muhammad saw. If you ask any Muslims Do you love Muhammad saw, they would say yes.

But the love can not be very deep and sincere unless you know the person. If you have shallow information about someone, you can’t really love them a lot. To love a person you need to know them more. And this is especially true with Muhammad saw. Because the more you know him, the more you would be impressed with his personality, the more you would love him. So even though Muhammad saw, among the Ummah today with the shallow information that the masses of Muslims have about him, even though they still love him, but we can not truly have deep love for Muhammad saw unless we know him. You know the Sahaba ra, the more they knew him, the closer they got to him, the more they would love him.

Amr bin Al As, for example- He was one of the staunchest enemies of Muhammad saw. He was one of the top plotters against Islam. Amr bin Al As, he later become a Muslim, and when he was passing away, Amr bin Al As started weeping, he was crying on his death bed, so his son Abdullah bin Amr told him Oh My Father, Dint Rasool Allah saw give you the glad tidings of this, didn’t he give you glad tidings of that. It is reported in the hadith that Rasool saw said “Aamana amr” That Amr bin Al As has attained faith. So this is a witness from Rasool saw that Amr bin Al As is a momin. Not only a Muslim, but he is at the higher level of Momin. So his son was trying to give his father the glad tidings that you are a true believer. Rasool Allah saw has given you all of these glad tidings, how come you are crying now before your death.

 Amr bin Al As- he turned around and said: I have gone through  3 stages in my life. At the first stage, the most despised man to me was Muhammad saw. And my desire was that I could get hold of him and kill him. That was my desire. That was my wish, my aspiration- to kill Muhammad saw. He said that if I had died at that time, I definitely would have been in the hell fire. He said that then Allah put the love of  Islam in my heart and I went to Muhammad saw and said O Muhammad , I want to become Muslim. Extend your hand so I can pledge allegiance to you. Amr bin Al As says Muhammad saw extended his hand forward and I pulled my hand away. So Amr bin As, he had Rasool saw extend his hand and when Rasool saw was ready to put his hand in his, Amr bin Al As pulled his hand away. Rasool Allah saw told him “What's wrong” Amr bin Al as said, I have a condition to make. Rasool Allah saw asked him, what is your condition? . He said, my condition is that you pardon me, you give me clemency. Because Amr bin Al as knew, the things he had done in the past, the great crimes he had committed against the Muslims, is sufficient for his execution. So he wanted to make sure that Rasool saw would not hold him accountable for what he did in the past.

So Rasool Allah saw smiled and he said: Ya Amr “ Arabic”  Don’t you know that Islam erases everything before it and Hijrah erases everything before it and Hajj erases everything before it.”

Amr bin Al said so I became a Muslim. He said that at that stage, Muhammad saw, who was my worst enemy, became the most beloved person to me in this world. He said that I loved him so much, I respected him so much, and I couldn’t even get a full glimpse of his face. When ever I would see him, I would stare downwards. He said I had so much love and respect for him that I couldn’t even get a full glimpse of his face. And if you would ask me today to describe him to you…I couldn’t. He said that if I had died during that stage, I would have hoped to be in Jannah.…There are other parts of this hadith, but what concerns us now is that Amr bin As, when he got to know Muhammad saw, when he became close to him, Muhammad saw, who was his worst enemy became his most beloved friend.

Sohail bin Amr was sent by Quraish, to negotiate with Muhammad saw before Sulah Hudabiya. Sohail bin Amr was an international negotiator; he had been to the courts of the Persian emperor, the Roman emperor, the emperor of Abyssinia. He was a well connected man. And now Quraish sent him to negotiate with Muhammad saw.

So he went into Madina and he came in and he had first hand experience with how the Sahaba ra treat Muhammad saw. So Sohail bin Amr went back to report to Quraish. He told them, he said I have visited the Roman emperor I have visited the Persian emperor, iv visited najashi(Negus), the king of Abyssinia, but I have never  in my life seen a leader that is so loved by his followers , so much respected  by his followers, like Muhammad saw. I have seen nothing like it in the world. The Roman emperor, the Persian emperor, Najashi of Abyssinia, even though they have all the powers, strength and empires, I have never seen a people love their leader so much like the Sahaba ra loved Muhammad saw. He said I saw amazing things. Muhammad saw would be making wudu, and the Sahaba would be watching, to grab the water dripping from his body. So he told them, do what ever you want, these are the people who would never give up their leader. The Sahaba, they would never give him up. They would give their lives first. They would sacrifice everything for him.

So if we want to love Muhammad saw, we need to learn more about him. I have already said that even though, among the masses of Muslims, we know people don’t have much information about Muhammad saw, they don’t know a lot about his Seerah, coz its not part of the curriculum that schools in the Muslim world teach, never the less even though, we are ignorant about him and his life, he is still the most beloved figure that ever lived in humanity. His name is the most common name in the world. How many people in the world are naming Muhammad? There is no other person that ever lived in history who had so many people named after him like Muhammad saw.

When I was in college in the US, we had an imam, he was from Nigeria. And he was a hafiz and he was our imam in the small town in US. His name was Muhammad Al Ashr. The word ashr means the 10^th. So for a long time I assumed that Al- Ashr is his last name. Muhammad Al Ashr. One day I went up to him and asked what Al Ashr is? Is that the name of the tribe or the clan? He said no. He said my father would name every male boy that was born as Muhammad. All of this children, he would name Muhammad. So to distinguish between us he had to number us. So there was Muhammad the first, Muhammad the 2^nd, Muhammad the 3^rd, I am Muhammad the 10^th. So his father doesn’t want to deal with any other name. All of his children are going to be Muhammad. And in Pakistan and India you would have Muhammad Haroon, Muhammad Suleman…every body Muhammad. There is No one in history that had an Ummah love him so much, like the Ummah loved Muhammad saw. He is the most beloved figure in history.

So what would be the situation if we studied his life. I mean how much love would we have then for Muhammad saw? His name was the most frequently mentioned names. Around the clock, there will be minaret that is calling to prayer and is mentioning the name of Muhammad saw. Around the clock. Coz Muslims now are world wide. So in every time zone you have Muslims. So every minute of the day, there will be a Moaazan saying “Ashhadu La ilaha il Allah, Ashhadu ana Muhamamadar Rusool Allah” His name is mentioned around the clock.

And by the way, the name Muhammad means the praised one. And there is no one who is praised like Muhammad saw. I mean his name really fulfills its meaning. He is the praised one, he is always praised. When ever we hear his name, what do we say? “Sallalahu Alihe Wassalam”

So we want to develop love for Muhammad saw, and the way we can do it is by studying his life, we will love him more, the more we study about him.

Allah tala says “Say: If  your fathers, your sons, your  brothers, your wives or your   kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight … are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fâsiqûn (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah) (Surah Taubah: 24)

So the ayah is stating that our love for Allah and his messenger and striving in the cause of Allah and his messenger should be paramount to everything else. Our fathers, our sons, our brothers, our mates, our kindred, our wealth, everything. To love our messenger and Islam should be the dearest thing to every one of us.

No 3: to follow the Best Example

Ibn Hajar says who ever seeks the preeminence of the hereafter, the wisdom of this life, just purpose, and the embodiment of morality and character, let him follow Muhammad saw the Prophet of Allah. So Muhammad saw is the embodiment of “Khuluq”- The perfect character. And by studying his Seerah, we will be more able to follow his way.

No 4: Understanding Quran

There are some ayats in the Quran that are independent of the circumstances of revelation. Like for example, the ayats about the Akhira, Ar-raqaik . These are independent of the circumstances. But then there are some ayats that are dealing with events that were happening in the time of Muhammad saw. So you would have some ayats revealed prior to an event, some ayats revealed concurrent with an event and some ayats revealed after an event.

Seerah would give us the explanation of these ayats. Like for example Surah tul Ahzab. Many ayats of surah tul ahzab were revealed regarding the battle of Al-Ahzab. Many ayats in  surah Al Imran were revealed relating to an event that happened in the time of Rasool saw. So you have a major section of Surah al Imran, which was a dialogue between Muslims and Christians, based on the Christian delegation that came from Najran to visit Rasool Allah. These ayats were revealed to support Rasool saw in his dialogue with the Christians. And the latter part of Ale Imran is dealing with Ghazwa e Uhud. Now the details of the Ghazwa are not mentioned in the Surah. So how can we understand these ayats? By going to the Seerah.

No 5: His life (Muhammad saw) illustrates the methodological steps of the Islamic movement.

Rasool Allah saw went thru stages; he went through steps started by a secret dawah. And then it became public. And then later on Jihad. So it went through stages. These stages are important for Islamic movement to learn and study.  Name missing  He says.. “And we believe that this methodological progression of the prophet’s life is divinely directed. For Allah has guided his prophet and all of his steps, and it was not a result of a reaction to an emerging circumstances. So these events that happened in the life of Rasool saw were not haphazard. They were planned by Allah Subhana Wataala. So that they would be a guidance for us, in our attempts to establish Islam again. So it is very important for us to see the stages that Rusool Allah saw went through and the progression of his dawah.

Rasheed rida says that were it not for the education and training, verbal direction would not suffice. For the Seerah taught them how to be guided by the Quran and trained them to be just and moderate in all matters. So, we have Quran and Sunnah which are verbal teachings, but how do we apply these verbal teachings? It is by looking at the application of Rasool saw and the Sahaba (radiAllahu Anhum). So they took this verbal teaching into action and that is something that only the Muslims have, I mean the followers of all other anbiya have lost ____ of the Seerah of their anbiya, but with us we know  how the Quran was being practiced, we know how the Sunnah of Rusool Allah saw was being practiced and applied.

There is an ayah in the Quran which says that you can continue eating and drinking at night time of Ramadan until the white string is distinguished from the black string. One of the Sahaba, he took this literally. What he did was that he had a string under his pillow… and he would eat and then he would uncover the string , he would pick up the pillow, he wouldn’t see the string, so he continued eating … and he would keep on doing that and then he went to Rasool saw and said this is what I have done. Rasool saw laughed and he said that it doesn’t mean you take a string in your room and you take a look at it. It means the white string which is the first emergence of light in the horizon that is what is meant by it. So Rasool saw taught this Sahabi how to apply that ayat, because I could get a dark room with no windows alright and I have a string with me and it would be noon time and I still can not see it and I continue to eat. So the application of the ayats and the hadith of Rasool saw are shown to us in the life of Muhammad (saw) and the life of the Sahaba.(RadiAllahu Anhum)

No 6: Studying Seerah is Ibadah

We are not doing this to entertain our selves. This is ibadat. There is Ajr, there is reward in studying this. We are worshipping Allah by coming together and studying the life of Muhammad saw. This is the halaqa of zikr. This is the session of zikr where we come together and talk about Muhammad saw , we are worshipping Allah Subhana watala. And we expect that this is a gathering which is surrounded by angels, in which Allah subhanawatla will shower us with his mercy and tranquility and we be mentioned in a gathering better than this. So it is ibadat and Allah subhana Watala says “Say if you do  love Allâh then follow me (i.e. Muhammad saw)  Allâh will love you  and forgive you  of your sins. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."(Ale Imran 3: 31)

No 7: Developing a Muslim Identity

There is a global culture that is being forced down the throats of everyone on the face of the earth. This global culture is protected and promoted. Thomas Friedman, he is a famous writer in the US, he writes for the New York Times. He says, the hidden hand of the market can not survive without the hidden fist. Mc Donalds will never flourish without Mc Donald Douglas- the designer of F15s.

In other words, we are not really dealing with a global culture that is benign or compassionate. This is a culture that gives you no choice. Either accept Mc Donalds, otherwise Mc Donald Douglas will send their F15s above your head. It is very intolerant culture, that can not co exist with anything else. It uproots every other culture on the face of the earth. Just cuts the roots of it. And you have a quote here by Alexander Sofzen. He is a famous Russian Historian writer. He says To destroy a people, you must sever their roots. So its really a destruction of the people of the earth because every other culture is being demolished. So this is not a global culture that will co exist with others, it will replace others. And the only ideology that is standing up to this global culture is Islam. But still, as Muslims and especially Muslims living in the west, we are suffering from a serious identity crisis. I mean you would find that even though the brother or the sister would be practicing Islam, but the identity it self, the Islamic identity itself is lost. I mean person would have more in common with the rock star or a soccer player then they would have with the companions of Rasool Allah saw. You would find that our youth know more about pop stars than they know about the Sahaba of Rasool saw . Infact even sometimes more than the Anbiya. How many of our youth know the names of all of the Anbiya of Allah? How many of our youth know the names of the Sahaba ra. But ask the same person to name the soccer players on their favorite team or their best basketball players and they would go down the list. So there is a serious identity crisis that is going on among Muslims.

And the way we can counter that, they way we can develop the Muslim identity is:

Steps to Develop Muslim Identity

No 1: By having a strong study of Islamic history. Which is made up of the lives of Prophets of Allah. The life of Muhammad saw, the life of the Sahaba ra and then learning in general, the Muslim history after that. So that’s No 1. You develop an identity, by having an attachment with history. Because our history, is our umbilical cord. This is our life line. We are an extension of an Ummah. We are not separated; we are not severed from our roots. We are a part of a glorious Ummah that we need to study about.

No 2: By being part of the world wide Muslim Ummah. Our local identity should not over ride our Muslim identity. So my identification with Britain or America or Pakistan or Kuwait or any other country should not over ride my Islamic identity. See this “nation/state” concept is something that Islam came to abolish. We have our loyalty to Allah Subhana Watala and to our religion. And we are part of a world wide Ummah. Therefore we need to study; we need to learn about our Muslim brothers all over the world. What happens in Palestine should concern every British Muslim. What happens in Kashmir should concern every American Muslim. What happens in every part of the Muslim world, should concern me as if it is happening within my own house. So these are the two important elements in building an identity.

No 1: Having a deep understanding of your History

No 2: Being part of the Ummah and caring about the Ummah.

And again the saying of Alexander ________ “To destroy a people, you must first sever their roots”

We don’t want our roots to be severed.We want our roots to be deep. Studying the life of Rasool Allah saw is the most important thing we can read in our history.

No 8: The Life of Muhammad saw is a Testimony of his Prophet-hood.

The greatest miracle of Muhammad saw is Quran and Muhammad saw had many other miracles. But just studying his life in itself is an evidence of his Prophet hood.

Here we have a man, who for forty years was leading a normal life. The outstanding thing about the life of Muhammad saw in the first 40 years was his morality and character. But Rasool saw did not show any signs of aspiration to power or influence. None of that at all. Rasool saw was leading a normal life and then suddenly after the age of 40, Rasool Allah saw brings about the greatest change that the world has ever seen. That’s an irony. That’s a miracle. Rasool Allah saw was illiterate. He could not read or write. And then he presents the world with the greatest book, ever produced. And we could go on and on… the list of ironies of things that are only explained if Muhammad saw was a messenger of Allah. Who had divine help. Otherwise its impossible. There is no  way to explain the Seerah , except to admit that he was a nabi from Allah. It is impossible for a person to achieve, what Muhammad saw achieved without being assisted by Allah Subhana Watala through revelation. So it’s a testimony of his prophet hood.

There you have Muhammad saw leading a normal life for the first 40 years. Then suddenly he becomes a political leader, military leader, religious leader, head of a large house hold, law maker, teacher, Imam and go on and on the list of the things that Prophet Muhammad saw used to do. All of this was done within a span of 23 years. Impossible!

Which would lead to the next point that

No: 9 We are studying the life of the Greatest

We are studying the life of the greatest man that ever set foot on this earth. Muhammad saw is the greatest. And what ever bench mark you want to use for greatness, he would still come out the greatest. Micheal Hart, he’s a US Author, he wrote a book called the The 100 Most influential People that lived in history. After studying the lives of leaders through out history, it became clear to him that Muhammad saw is the undisputable greatest man that ever lived.

He is the greatest and in his introduction he feels compelled to respond to what the readers of the book might think because he is mostly writing for a non Muslim audience. So many people would question his choice of Muhammad saw , so therefore in his introduction he writes, he says “ My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the worlds most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others. That he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.” And then he goes on to say that it is this unparallel combination of secular and religious influence, which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.”

So Micheal Hart is compelled by the facts. I mean there is no doubt that Muhammad saw is the greatest.

But then he has to apologize to his readers, I mean he has to say that this is out of my hands. I mean there is no way I could put anybody else  in front of him. Muhammad saw is the greatest. In fact, if we take Muhammad saw as a military leader, just that aspect of his personality, he would still come out the greatest. If we only take Muhammad saw, only the religious aspect of his life. He would still be the greatest. Muhammad saw as a political leader, he would still come out to be the greatest. So even if you dissect the different aspects of life of Muhammad saw and take them piece by piece, by just taking one piece alone, he would still be greater than anybody else that ever lived. So we are studying the life of Al-Mustafa. Mustafa means “the one who is chosen” Allah subhanawatala chose him. Al-Mustafa al khalqi He is chosen out of all the creation of Allah.

There might be some other reasons, why studying Seerah is important.

Sources for this Course

Seerah of Ibn Kathir.

 Ibn Kathir, he did not write a book called Seerah. Ibn Kathir wrote an encyclopedia of history. Called bidaya wan niaya. Called The beginning and the End. And it is literally the beginning and the end.

 He started from the beginning of creation and went all the way until people enter Jannah and hell. One of his volumes is about the life of Rasool Allah saw. Another volume is about the Prophets and another is about Khalifa Ar Rashida. Khilafa Muwaya  , Khilafa Abbasia. And he went all the way upto his times. The last volumes is called Al Fitan. Signs of the day of judgment and then the day of judgment and Jannah and hell.

So we are going to be taking his part of Seerah as a primary source. We will talk a little bit on why I have chosen ibn kathir to be our primary source.

Sahiah As Seerah ibn Nabawuya is the second book that I have used in compilation of these notes by Ibrahim Al Ali .

Science of Seerah and Science of Hadith: The Difference

 Traditionally, Seerah was a separate science from hadith. Even though there are some areas where they cross each other, there is over laying, over lapping between them. But traditionally Seerah had a different set of rules compared to hadith.

Scholars of hadith were very stringent, very strict in their rules. While scholars of Seerah, were more liberal, more flexible. The reason is, when they were dealing with hadiths and drawing ahkam and drawing rulings, they wanted to make sure they were basing the rulings on hadiths that were sound. They do not want us to worship Allah based on weak sources. So that’s why they applied very strict rules to hadith.

However, when it came to Seerah, they were more flexible in their rules, because they saw this as history which does not affect ahkam. It does not affect rulings. There is no ahkam based on it. So imam Ahmed bin Hanbal, who is a scholar of hadith, he says when we talk about history we are more flexible. So you would find that writers of Seerah would accept narrations ,they wouldn’t normally accept if they were dealing with  hadith. So that’s one track that was followed by our early scholars.

The Seerah of Ibn Ishaq was written according to these rules. The Seerah of Al Maqraizi, ibn Saad, all of these early scholars of Seerah, they followed these flexible rules in narration.

Recently, there was a new trend among some of our scholars. They wanted to apply the rules of hadith on Seerah. Why?

These scholars said now we are living in a time when the history of Rasool saw is ahkam for us. In time of imam ibn Hanbal, Khilafa was established, so when they studied the life of Rasool saw, they were studying to learn general lessons from it, but it wasn’t to guide them in methodology of a movement. Because Islam was already established.

But now we need to go through the Seerah and learn rules from it. On how to do dawah and how to establish Islam again. So it’s becoming similar to fiqh applied to us. Therefore they say we should apply the same rules of hadith on Seerah.

The second book which is Sahih Seerah ibn nabawiya is based on the rules of hadith. So what these scholars did, they went into Bukhari, they went into Muslim, they went into Sunnan Abi Dawood, they went into these books of hadith and they gathered the bits and pieces that were referring to Seerah. And they constructed the Seerah of Rasool Saw based on Hadith. So rather than going to the book of Ibn Ishaq, they would go to Bukhari. Rather than come to Maqrizi or other earlier scholars or ibn Hisham, they would go to Muslim. Saeed Hawa has written a book based on hadith, its called the asas ul Suna. This book we mentioned by Ibrahim Al Ali which is called Sahiah Seerah ibn Nabawiya. And there are  few other books  also following this line.

Now the reason why I chose ibn Kathir as our primary source is because ibn kathir, he combined both in one book. So he would draw information from the books of Seerah and he also draw information from the books of hadiths. So you would find him narrating from Bukhari and narrating from Ishaq. That’s why you would find the Seerah of kathir unique.

Just one draw back with the Seerah of Ibn Kathir is that it is a bit complicated and cumbersome to use, because he would mention all of the chain of narration, sometimes he would not stick to a chronological order and some times he would bring in information that seems to be contradicting. But it is an excellent source and Alhamdulilah, it is now present in the English language.

It has been recently translated by MC Gothic.  A professor in the US, it is a very good translation. Other books we might not be using, some of them, I have got quotations from them.

We have Manhaj Al haraqi by Moid Al  Ghabban. The thing about this book is that the author  tried to  draw movement lessons from Seerah. So he would divide it into Secret stage, public stage, then he would go through the Hijrah and then different stages of Jihad. So he tried to construct a movement work line from Seerah. It is a recently written book.

Then you have Fiqh as Seerah by Muhammad Ghazali. (rahimullah) This book has tarbiya lessons.

There is another book by the same name Fiqh As  Seerah by Al Buyti. Muhammad saeed Ramadan Buyti. And Al Buyti emphasizes on fiqh. He draws many fiqh lessons from Seerah.

And then there is a book called Al Ghuraba by Sheikh  Salman Auda. And it is dealing with Hadith saw Tariiq Il Al Madina by Muhammad Al Abda, which is lessons drawn from Seerah and Fiqh As Seerah by Al Buyti.of the Strangers. And he tries to draw co relation with the strangers in the time of Rasool and the strangers now. Al Asas al sunna, we talked about this by Saeed Hawa and  then At

Arabic Terminologies

 Sallalahu Alihe Wassalam: means May the  peace and blessings of Allah be on him. This is what we say when we hear the name of Muhammad saw. Now the Hukum of saying it : It is mandatory to say it the first time you hear the name of Muhammad saw. Any other time after that, it is recommended. So in this lecture, the first time you hear the name of Muhammad , it is mandatory to say Saw. Any other time after that as long as we are in the same gathering, it is recommended. So this is the hokum of Salat salam ala Muhammad saw.

Rasool Allah: The word Rasool Allah means the Messenger of Allah.

Jahiliya: Is the ignorance of the Pre Islamic era. So Jahiliya is a time period but it is also conduct. Whenever you have a time that resembles the pre Islamic era, it is called jahiliya. And you will find that Syyed Qutub uses this word a lot in reference to the times that we are living in. he says that there is a lot of resemblance between it and the early jahiliya. So jahiliya comes from the root word Jahal, which is ignorance. So it is the time of ignorance. The absence of the  message. Even if the message is there and the people are not following it, it is a jahiliya.

Eman: Faith

Jannah: Paradise

An Naar: Hell fire

The last section is discussing the difference between hadith and Seerah scholars. We talked about this. Hadith scholars were more stringent in their narrations because of basing their rulings. Seerah scholars were less stringent because they want us to get the stories, so they were flexible in their narrations. We mentioned that we are using a combined approach. So I will be using hadith and in the situations where there is no hadith, we will fill in the gaps by referring to Seerah.

So this is the introduction to the series. Inshallah o Tala the next session will start talking about some background history.

Sallalahu Alihe Wasalam Ala Muhammad waashabihe wasalam

Introduction Transcribed by: Javeria Aqeel

CD 2

BACKGROUND HISTORY

  Usually scholars, who write about Muhammad (saw), they do not start with his birth, rather would start way before that. They would talk about his father, Ibrahim (as). Starting with the story of Ibrahim (as), Hajar and Ismael. Ibrahim (as), his wife and his new born son travelled in to Hijaz. Ibrahim took them to present day Mecca. At that time it was a dead valley, but the place where Kaaba was built was sacred since the day this World was created. Ibrahim (as) left his wife and son Ismael there along with some water and a bag of dates. He then walked away.

  Hajar (as) knew that Ibrahim (as) was going to leave them, but she didn’t expect him to leave her in such a place in the middle of the desert. So she followed him and said, “Ibrahim, are you going to leave us in a place where there is no cultivation and there is no one living?” Ibrahim (as) did not answer back. She asked him again, he didn’t answer... She asked him a third time, he didn’t answer back, and then Hajar (as) said, “Did Allah tell you to do so?” Ibrahim (as) said, “Yes.” She said, “Then Allah will take care of us, Allah will not neglect us.” So Hajar was saying that if this was a command of Allah, then she had trust in Allah, even if that meant living in the middle of nowhere.

  Ibrahim (as) left, and when he reached at a place where he could not see them anymore, he turned around and faced the direction of Al- Kaaba and he made dua to Allah, his dua is in the Quran (Ibrahim: 37)

Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your sacred House, our Lord, that prayer they may establish. So make hearts among the people incline toward them and provide for them from the fruits that they might be grateful.

  The usual Maslow hierarchy needs, the pyramid, is that the foundation is the physiological needs. So the that is the bottom of the pyramid, the most important need for humans, then comes social needs, then spiritual, and finally the peak is self actualization, So as a human being you want to fulfill you physical needs, then you want to have a social life, and after this you want to have a faith according to Maslow, and finally self actualization.

  But According to Ibrahim (as), the pyramid is inverted. The first thing asked for ‘that prayer they may establish’ . So the first thing that he mentioned was spiritual needs, and then he said ‘make hearts among the people incline toward them’, so then he asked for love for them be put in hearts of people, this was for his family’s social needs. And finally he asked for their physical needs; provide for them from the fruits. But even when he asked Allah to give them fruits, he connected it with worship and said, ‘that they might be grateful’.

  Ibrahim (as) then left, Hajar made use of the small amount of food left with them, but obviously after a short while, they ran out of food. Hajar (as) was breast-feeding Ismael and her milk was drying up, because she was thirsty and hungry. Ismael (as) then began to cry, due to hunger. Hajar could bare seeing her baby cry in pain so she let him, in search of food. She started climbing a hill, which was later called As-Safa. She climbed and looked left and right if she could see anybody in the horizon. But she saw no one, so she would climb down the hill, and when she would reach the valley, she would tuck up her clothes and run, and then she would climb another hill, which was later called Al-Marwa, she would reach the top and look and at the horizon and see if she could find anybody.

  He son was twisting and turning in pain, while Hajar (as) was running up and down these hills, and she did this seven times. The seventh time when she reached the top of the hill, she heard a sound. She was looking around to see where that sound is coming from and to her amazement she saw that the sound was coming from beneath the feet of Ismael (as). Jibrael (as) descended and dug up the well of Zam Zam.  The water was coming out beneath his feet. Hajar (as) was rushing in happiness to the source of the water. Because the desert was obviously dry, she was making a pool to contain it, in fear that the water would be absorbed by the desert. Rusool Allah (saw) said, when he was narrating this story, he said, “May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismael. If she would have left the water alone, it would have been a flowing river.” If she would have left the miracle without interfering, it would have been a flowing stream.

  What was Hajar (as) feeling when she was running up and down those hills. Her heart must have been broken, she might have been crying because of the pain and suffering of her son in front of her eyes. Hajar (as) was a believing, righteous woman. Allah (swt) was testing her, and He had hid for her something for the future. So she not knowing of what will happen next must have been in real pain. Rusool Allah (saw) said,  when he was mentioning the story of Hajar going up and down As-Safa and Marwa, “And that is why we go between As-Safa and Marwa.” So we are following the footsteps of Hajar (as) till this day. If Hajar knew that a time will come when people will come from all around the World in millions to follow her footsteps, she would have run up and down As-Safa and Marwa with a big smile on her face.

  So we need to realize that at times we are put through situations, but we really don’t know what Allah (Swt) has in store for us. When we get into difficult situations, let us remember that Hajar went through this, and because of her Tawwakul in Allah, she was provided by something much better.

  Now there was water In the desert, and that means an attraction for forms of life. Birds were beginning to harvest over the well. There was tribe called Jurhum, who were nomads of that particular area. Jurhum was a tribe that moved out of Yemen. There were  many vast immigration that happened from Yemen at different times. One of the stories is in the Quran, of a kingdom called Saba. The people of Saba were the first to build a dam, and because of that dam they had a year round source of water, so even though there was not much rain in Arabia, but because the dam they had a year round souce of water. And because of this water supply, in the middle of Arabia there was a kingdom of Saba holding a huge population. And it is mentioned in the Quran, that because of their wealth and cultivation they didn’t feel any pain in travelling. Because they had a continuous series of colonies, so that means places to rest and eat were easily available. But because of their disobedience in Allah’s message Allah destroyed their dam, which flooded the area, so you had a huge immigration which caused the spreading of people out of Yemen, into An-Najd, Al- Hijaz, Iraq, Ash-shaam, Medina, etc.

  So Jurhum too was one of thes tirbes that ended up moving out of Yemen into Hijaz. Allah knows best, they might have moved out of Yemen before or after the flooding of dam. Jurhum were familiar of the area of Mecca, and they knew that there was no water in that area. So when they saw birds hovering in the sky, they wondered what is going on in that area, so they sent one or two people to investigate the matter. They returned with the news that there is a well in that area. Jurhum went into the area where Zam Zam is located and they asked Hajar a strange question and they got an even more strange answer. They asked, “Can we settle in this place?” The reason why this question is strange is because this is a tribe of warriors, and they were taking permission from this lonely woman who was with her child. They could’ve just pushed her out of the way. But they were kind to ask. And she responded, “Well if you want to stay, I have a condition and that is that the water belongs to us.” So she being a lonely woman with no protection what so ever is negotiating in a situation in which she could have been kicked out, and she wouldn’t be able to have done anything about it! They agreed.

  Rusool Allah (Saw) says, “Deep in heart, she wanted them to stay.” She wanted to have company, but she just wanted to a better deal. So they stayed in the place that became known as Mecca. Ismael (as) grew up with them, and he adopted their language; Arabic. Ibrahim (as)’s was from Iraq, and they used to speak a different language in Iraq at that time. Ismael (as) married a woman from that tribe, so this was the beginning of the lineage of Rusool Allah (saw). Jurhum had the political leadership in Mecca. Later on Ibrahim (as) came, and he built Al-Kaaba wit Ismael (as). The religious leadership in Mecca was with Ismael, and it continued along with his descendents. So Jurhum never had the religious authority over Al-Kaaba.

  Jurhum stayed in Mecca for a very long time, they became corrupt, tyrannical, so Allah (swt ) sent on them Khuza’a. Khuza’a kicked them out of Mecca. Khuza’a was another tribe that left Yemen and entered Hijaz kicking Jurhum out. Jurhum before they left, did two things; they dumped the well of Zam Zam, and they erased all of it’s marks. Secondly they stole the treasures which were inside Al-Kaaba. Khuza’a now became the new leaders of Mecca, while the descendents of Ismael by that time had already increased in number, branched out, and spread all over Arabia But there was one branch that remained in Mecca, and that branch was Quraish. Hence Quraish was one of the many different tribes, who descended from Ismael (as). So Quraish was living in Mecca; however it was ruled by Khuza’a.

  One of the leaders of Khuza’a was Amr bil Laqi Al KHuzai, and we will talk about him later when we talk about the religious background of Arabia. The head of Quraish Qusayy bin Kalab, he was able to unify Quraish and to lead a revolt against Khuza’a. He was able to drive them out completely from Mecca. And for the first time all powers including political and religious were under the authority of Qusayy.  He controlled the guardianship of al-Kaaba (Al Hijaba), he controlled Siqaaya and Nifaada which is the provision food and water to pilgrims. For us this may sound trivial, but for them it was considered great honor to provide food and water to the guests of Allah. What this responsibility enailed was that all other Arabs who came for pilgrimage would be hosted by the people of Quraish. He also had control over An-Nadwa, An-Nadwa was the assembly of Quraish, it was like their parliament. Qusayy controlled over Al-Luwa, Al-Luwa was the banner of war, in other words he was the one who had the power to declare war. These were the authorities that Qussay bin Kalab had, he was the absolute ruler of Mecca.

  When Qussay bvin Kalab died, these different types of authorities were split among his children The grandson of Qussay, Amr, ended up inheriting form his father the provisions of Al-hajjaj, providing them with food and drink. Amr did something new in feeding hajjaj, rather than providing them with soup, he started crushing bread into the soup. So the food had gotten better, now the process of crushing in Arabic is called ‘Hashm’. So he was nicknamed Hashim. This was the great-grandfather of Rusool Allah (saw). Hashim married in Al-Madina, and then he went to Palestine for business and then he died and was buried in Ghazza. His wife became pregnant and she gave birth to a child named ‘Shayba’. Shayba means old man. Why would anybody name their child old man?? That’s because he was born with some gray hair, hence the name. His mother stayed with her parents in Medina, because his father passed away. Shayba was brought up by his family in Medina.

  One day a man enters medina, his name is Al-Muttallib, Al Muttallib is Hashim’s brother. Al Muttallib went to claim his nephew, saying that he wants to because Shayba was living in Medina. Shayba was around 8 years old. The mother’s side refused to give him up, but then Al Muttallib convinced them by saying that he belongs to the noblest family of Quraish, he has to go back and learn about his heritage, family, and start assuming responsibilities in Mecca. Eventually they agreed.

  Al Muttallib entered Mecca with this child, and nobody had ever seen him before. In those days, slavery shopping was common. You go out to buy a slave, since this boy was new, people assumed he was a slave of AlMuttallib, so they called him Abdul Muttallib, and this is a grand father of Rusool Allah (Saw). His real name is Shayba but they thought he was a slave so they called him Abdul Muttallib.

  We will now talk a bit about Abdul Muttallib, now remember that the well of Zam Zam has been unknown for 300 years plus ever since Jurhum had filled it up and erased all the marks. Abdul Muttallib saw a dream, someone comes to him and says, “Dig, tayyba” Tayyba means ‘pure’. Abdul Muttallib in his dream responded in his dream and said, “What is Tayyba?” He doesn’t hear a response. That was the end of the dream. The following night the same voice told him in his dream, “Dig the precious.” Abdul Muttallib says, “What is the precious?” He doesn’t hear an answer back. The third night, the voice comes to him and tells him, “Dig Zam Zam.” Abdul Muttallib asks, “And what is Zam Zam?” The voice responds, “Zam Zam, it will never fail or dry up, it will water the grand pilgrim, it lies between the dung and the blood, near the nest of the crow with the white leg and the ant’s nest.”

  Abdul Muttallib was unable to decode all of these symbols which seemed obscure to him. The next day Abdul Muttallib was going around Al-Kaaba and he saw dung and blood, there was a camel that was slaughtered in that place and they left it’s insides, and the blood on the other side. Then he saw a crow with a white leg in the same area, and there was a colony of ants. Abdul Muttallib realized that this is where the well of his grand father is. So he called his son Haris, and they started digging.

  Now the well of Zam Zam is not very far from Al-Kaaba so when ppl saw them they said, “What are you doing? Why are you digging next to Al-Kaaba?” People kept on protesting but him and his son Al- Haris kept on digging. They kept on digging and digging and people kept on protesting. They could not understand why we was doing this. Eventually they left him alone. In a while they heard Abdul Muttallib shout, he was praising Allah. They came rushing.  And do their amazement they found that Abdul Muttallib had uncovered the rim of the well of Zam Zam.

  All the leaders of Quraish came and said, “Yes, This is the well of our grand-father Ismael.” So what they meant was that the well belongs to all of them, so they should share. Abdul Muttallib said, “I was the one who saw the dream, I was the one who uncovered it, it belongs to me and me alone.” They refused saying that they are all descendents of Ismael (as), so it belongs to all of them. Abdul Muttallib refused to give up, and they kept on insisting. When they were unable to solve the dispute and were about to go to war for it, someone suggested, “let’s solve the dispute by going to the witch of Banu Saad.”

  Banu Saad had a witch who claimed to have connection with the spirits, so they went to consult her. So they travelled to this witch and they were told that she has relocated and went to Syria. They then started their journey towards Ash-Shaam, and on the way they ran out of water. They were in the middle of nowhere in the desert, Abdul Muttallib told them, “if we’re gonna die here, let’s atleast dig our graves, and whenever one of us dies, the rest could put him in the grave and cover him, so atleast in the end we’ll be left with one person uncovered rather than have all of us die exposed.” So they all dug their graves and they were waiting inside their graves, waiting for death. Then Abdul Muttallib said, “This is not right, for men like us to wait for death. Let’s do something, let’s go and search for water.” They agreed and they went to different directions in search for water.

  After a short while, Abdul Muttallib found water, so they came to them and said, “If Allah has saved you in this desert and provided you with water, and Allah has shown you a dream in which you uncovered the well of Zam Zam. This is surely an indication that it’s a blessing for you, and it belongs to you. We give up our claim, it’s all yours. Let’s go back.”

  When the whole incident happened, and they pressured him to share the well of Zam Zam, Abdul Muttallib felt weak because he only had one son to defend him. In tribal societies your strength is based on how many men you have on your side. You could only count on your relatives; sons, brothers, uncles etc. So Abdul Muttallib said, “Oh Allah, if You bestow me with 10 sons, I will sacrifice one of them for Your sake.” Allah (swt) then did bless him with 10 sons and 6 daughters. Then it was time for him to fulfill his promise to Allah. They these arrows next to Hubul (their large idol), they believed these arrows were divine. So Abdul Muttallib had every name of his son on these arrows. And it came on Abdullah, he did it the second time, it came on Abdullah, third time again on Abdullah.

  So Abdul Muttallib took Abdullah with him, next to Al-Kaaba and he was ready with a knife to slaughter him. Abu Talib, one of the elder sons of Abdul Muttalib, went to his father and said, “We cannot allow you to kill your son.” And then the maternal relatives of Abdullah came and said, “We are not going to allow you to kill our son.” People were coming and telling Abdul Muttallib, “If you do it, then it will become sunnah for the Arabs after you.” Because Abdul Muttallib was their leader, so if he did something, it would become a trend after that. Abdul Muttallib said, “This was a pledge that I made to Allah, I cannot give it up.” This ended up in a dispute, and how did they decide to solve the issue? They decided to go to the witch.

  They went to the witch and told her the situation, she said, “Alright, come back to me tomorrow, so that I can consult my spirits.” They came back the next day and she had an answer for them. She said, “What is the retribution that you pay to a person that was killed?” They said, “10 camels.” She said, “Then put 10 camels on one side, and put Abdullah on the other side and cast arrows, if it points towards the camels, then slaughter the camels, if it points towards Abdullah then add another 10 camels.” They agreed and went back.

  They did exactly what the witch said, the arrow pointed towards Abdullah, they added another 10 camels, it pointed towards Abdullah. The number of camels increased all the way to upto 100, finally it pointed towards the camels. People of Quraish said, “Finally we can release your son, Abdul Muttallib said, “Not yet, we’ll have to do it another time.” They did it another two times and it was consistently pointing towards the camels. So they slaughtered 100 camels, and he had to pay for it all, and Abdul Muttallib was a very generous man, he refused to take any of that meat. He gave it out, and there was so much meat that even though people took so much but there was still enough to feed the birds and the beasts. Later on it became famous among the Arabs that Abdul Muttallib is the one who fed the humans and the animals, he is the one who even fed the birds in the sky.

  Now the people of the Quraish were right when they told Abdul Muttallib, that if he killed his son, it would become a tradition among Arabs after him. Because when he sacrificed 100 camels for his son, the blood-money among them changed from 10 camels to a 100 camels. This tradition was kept and reserved by Islam, even though today it isn’t given in camels, the blood money is given in money. So the blood money still today is 100 camels, however it is calculated in terms of currency.

  Abdullah and Amina are the parents of Muhammad (saw), later on they would tell him that, “You are the son of the two sacrificed ones.” Who are they? Ismael and Abdullah.

CD 3

     We will talk about the religious background in Arabia, so that we know the background in which Muhammed (saw) lived. Obviously they started on tauheed because of the da’wah of Ismael (as), he was their prophet. So the Arabs of Arabia started of as Muslims. So what went wrong? In the time of Rusool Allah (saw) they were three religions in Arabia; idol worshipping, Judaism, and Christianity. Let’s talk about how these religions entered Mecca.

     Amr bin Luhai Khuzai, was the leader of Khuza. He was a very generous, strong, and well-respected leader among his people. They admired him so much that his words were taken as law. Amr traveled to Ash-Shaam (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan) and finds these idols. He asks the people about them. They told him that, “These are intermediates between us and Allah.” They told him how they go to different idols for different problems, and how these idols would appeal on their behalf to god. Amr bin Luhai Khuzai was amused by the idea, he thought that this is what the people of Arabia need. They need someone to appeal for them to their Lord.

     Amr bin Luhai Khuzai asked the people of Ash-Shaam to give him and idol so he could take it back to his people. They gave him a pretty big idol called Hubal, he carried Hubal with him back to Mecca, and he established it next to Al-kaaba in Haram. He told his people these will intercede on your behalf to Allah.   Mecca was the center of Arabia, the religious authority of Arabia, bringing an idol to Mecca was bringing up this new innovation in religion. This bidda was spreading like wild fire since it spread from the religious center, Mecca. Also because Amr bin Luhai Khuzai was really respected by people that was another reason why people were willing to follow him.   This now became a business; idols were made in Mecca, and exported to other tribes. Every tribe would come to Mecca, and go back with an idol of theirs. They started making portable idols which can be easily carried.

      If you remember once Umer (ra) was seen crying and laughing, he was asked why he was crying and laughing. He said, “The reason why I was laughing was because I remembered in the time of Jahilliya, I was traveling and I wanted to pray. But then I remembered I forgot to bring my god with me. So I tried to think of a way to pray. I had some dates with me, so I molded the dates in the form of an idol and I worshipped it. Later on that night I became hungry so I ate my idol. That’s why I’m laughing.” So he was looking back and realizing the foolishness of the idol worshippers. This is how Islam changes people. It is a miracle of Islam, it raises people from nothing to a great person.

     Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad asked in his book about Umer bin Khattab (ra), “Who would Umer bin Khattab be without Islam?” He said, “Maybe he could’ve been a leader of his clan, or maybe he could have been a prominent leader of the Quraish, or to extend it further he might have become the leader of the Quraish. But the most likely scenario was that Umer bin Khattab would have died at a young age, he used to drink a lot before Islam. He would’ve died as an obscure figure. But with Islam, not only did he become the leader of Arabia, but he became the leader of 2/3^rd of the World. He is the greatest man that ever lived in history.

     Anyway so idol-worshipping became common, there were all kinds of idols for various purposes. Al-Kaaba was polluted with idols, it was surrounded by 360 idols. Shirk was now in every direction. From one idol, it turned into a huge exporting business with widespread shirk. That is how the religion of Ismael (as) changed.  Rusool Allah (saw) says, “I have seen Amr bin Luhai Khuzai dragging his intestines in hell-fire.” This is because he was the first man to introduce idol worshipping in Arabia.

What about Judaism?

      The king of Yemen Kabban Akhad was traveling to do business in Ash-Shaam. When he passed Medina, he left his son there. So he could do business there, till he returns from Syria. The people of Medina killed his son, so when Kabban Akhad came back and heard of this news, he decided to destroy Medina.  So he attacked, and his army was overwhelming compared to the small army of Medina. If Kabban wished, he could have crushed them all, but two Jewish rabbis came out of Medina.

    But first let’s talk about how did Jews get there in the first place. When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, the Jews dispersed. Some came down to Arabia, in search of the Promised Land where the Prophet will be sent. They hand signs of the awaited prophet in their books. They saw these signs in Medina in few other places. So they settled in Medina; Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadhir, and Banu Quraiba. So these two Rabbis came out, went to Kabban Akhad, and said, “This place is protected by God, if you attempt to destroy it, Allah will destroy you.” They were able to convince him. Kabban not only agreed to withdraw his army and stop attacking Medina, but he also was impressed by their religion and wanted to become Jewish himself. He invited these Jewish Rabbis to go with him to Yemen. They agreed and Kabban Akhad became Jewish.

     On Kabban’s way back to Yemen, the tribe of Huwazun, had a problem with the Quraish. Huwazun wanted to create problems between Kabban Akkad and Mecca. The people of the tribe succeeded. Kabban was now contemplating attacking Mecca. The two Jewish Rabbis told Kabban that Mecca was another town protected by Allah, and that instead of attacking Mecca, he should go in Mecca and make tawaaf around Ka’aba. Kabban asked the Rabbis to go with him for tawaaf, but they refused. They reason was that they were scholars and they said that it wasn’t appropriate for Jewish scholars to make tawaaf around Ka’aba while it’s surrounded by idols. So Kabban went in and made tawaaf, he was also the first person to clothe Al-Kaaba. He would clothe it once a year. Previously they would place one cloth over another. They thought that the cloth was holy so it cannot be removed. This went on till the weight of the cloth on Kaaba became heavy. They eventually decided that they will have to start taking the cloth off. Kabban Aqqad then went with these Jewish rabbis to Yemen, and they were given freedom and encouragement to spread Judaism among the Yemeni tribes. Many of the tribes did accept Judaism. So there were two types of Jews in Arabia; ethnic Jews in Khaibar and Medina, and there were Jews by conversion in Yemen. So the Jews in Yemen were ethnically Arab but they adopted the Jewish faith. So at one point in time Jews did preach their religion, though they do no do that now. That was how Judaism was introduced into Arabia.

What about Christianity?

     When Isa (as) was sent, some of his followers dispersed in the land. Christianity started dividing into many sects very early, and eventually many became disbelievers. However they were very few believers here and there, who were able to retain the Christian faith. The true message of Isa (as), which was pure monotheism.

      One of these Christian men, made it into Yemen, and started preaching in the area of Nadran. The religion was spreading secretly and slowly. By that time Kabban Akkad was dead. King of Yemen was his son, Dhu Nawaas. News of this new religion reached the king. He banned this religion and crucified the followes.

     Then there was the story in Sahih Muslim, of the king and the young boy. Many scholars would attribute this story to Dhu Nawas and the Christians in Yemen. The story is that the king used to deal in magic, and he had a sorcerer as his advisor. This sorcerer was becoming old in age, and he told the king, “I might pass away any moment so I need to train someone to take my place.” They tried to find a very bright and intelligent young man, they hand picked one as an apprentice with this sorcerer.  So the boy was supposed to leave very early fro his house every morning, go, and study with the sorcerer ad come back home at night. One day, on his way to the sorcerer, this boy saw a worship place and he heard prayers coming in from this place. The prayers seemed different, so he decided to visit this place. It was a church of Tauheed, preaching the true religion of Isa (as). This boy was very impressed with what he heard but he was supposed to be studying with the sorcerer, so he asked the priest what he can do. The priest told him to come to him every morning and study with him, and then go to the sorcerer. If the sorcerer asks why he is late then the priest told the boy to tell him that my parents delayed me. The priest also told the boy to visit him on the way back home, and if the priest told him to tell his parents that the sorcerer delayed him, if they ask why he was late.

     The boy continued doing this for a while. One day in the marketplace certain beasts entered the marketplace and created chaos and no one was able to stop them. This young boy said, “Oh Allah! Today I want to know whether the path of the priests or the path of the sorcerer is the truth. Oh Allah show me the truth.” So everyone was attempting to kill this beast and no one succeeded. This boy picks up a rock and he said, “Oh Allah, if the path of the priest is true, then kill this animal.”

     He threw the rock and it killed the animal immediately. He went back and reported this to the priest. The priest told him, “My son, today you have attained a very high status. Therefore you will be tested.” No one can reach such a high status without being tested by Allah. Allah has brought us on this Earth for a test, and everyone will be tested according to their level.

     Rusool Allah (saw) says, “The ones who go through the most difficult tests are the anbiya and then it goes down according to your level.” So this priest was telling the young man that he will be tested. He also said, “When you will be tested, do not disclose my name.” This was because the dawah of the priest was a secret; he didn’t want his name to be disclosed. This was not out of fear, but for security of the dawah.

     The associate of the king was blind and he came to this young man to cure him. So this young man was now an expert and people were coming to him for help. When the associate went to the young man, the young man told him, “I cannot heal you but Allah can heal you.” Then he healed the associate of the king. So the blind was now healed, he went to the king, and the king then asked him, “Who cured you?” The man said, “Allah.” The king said, “And do you have a god other than me?” The man said,” Yes, Allah is my Lord and your Lord.” The king tortured this friend of his, and told him to disclose the name of the person who taught him this. Under the persecution the man told the king that it was the young boy who taught him this. They then brought in the boy, they started to torture him, and the boy under duress and pain did give up the name of his teacher, the priest. He could not sustain the pain and sufferings that they were inflicting on him. Eventually they brought in the priest and told him to give up his religion, the priest refused. So they brought a saw, they placed it on top of his head, they cut him into two, and he never left his religion. This was the courage that the priest had.

     They were now left with the boy. The king ordered the boy to be thrown from the top of a cliff. This boy prayed, “Oh Allah! Take care of them the way you want.” He left everything up to Allah. They carried the boy, and when they reached on the top of the cliff, the cliff started to shake and all of the soldiers fell down except the boy. The boy walked back and entered into the palace of the king. The king then appointed another group of soldiers to take him into ship so that they could throw him in the deep waters. They were on this boat and the boy made the same dua again, “Oh Allah! Take care of them the way you want.” The boat turned over and they all drowned except the boy. He then went back to the king.

     The king was ready to appoint another group of soldiers to take him away, but he told the king, “Wait, you are not going to be able to kill me, unless you do what I tell you.” The king asked, ‘What is it?’ The boy said, “You tie me to a tree and you gather everyone and you bring an arrow and you say, ‘Bismillah, the Lord of the boy’, then you will be able to kill me.” So the boy told the king the prescription of how to kill, and this is one of the many evidences given for the justification of what is referred to as suicide bombers. These are one of the evidences that are given to say that it is allowed. Obviously there are restrictions of WHEN it is allowed and WHERE, but the conduct itself, of a person giving up his own life for Allah (swt) is a valid one. This is because the boy told the king how it is possible to kill him. The boy did it for a noble cause.

     The king followed the instructions of the boy. The king publicly killed the boy saying, “Bismillah, the Lord of the boy”, the arrow hit right on the boy’s head. But the result of that action was that everyone who attended became Muslim. So the boy did this for dawah, he gave up his life so that everyone would live, because a person is dead without Islam. The advisors of the King told him, “What you were afraid of happened.” The whole purpose of killing this boy was getting rid of his religion, and there was the king stuck with his whole nation becoming Muslim. Dhu Nawas instructed his soldiers to dig trenches. After they would dig trenches they would fill them with wood and ignite them. Anyone who would refuse to give up Islam, would be pushed into the fire. They would bring loads of people and burn them alive. These were people who held firm to their faith, they didn’t give in.

     And then, Rusool Allah (saw) says, “There was a woman with her child in her arms, and she walking towards the fire, then she hesitated for a while, but the infant spoke, ‘Oh mother, be patient because you are following the true path.’ And she jumped in the fire.” Rusool Allah (saw) says, “There are three who spoke in young age.” This infant was one of them.

     This story is talked about in Surah Al-Buruj. Even though these people were burned alive, they cease to exist, and the king seemed to have won, but Allah (swt) said in Surah Al- Buruj (85:11) for the believers, “… That is the great attainment.” That is interesting, how come Allah calls this a victory while these people were burned alive? Victory is for them because they held firmly their faith till the last moment. Entering Jannah is victory, so all the shaheed, even though they might have been killed brutally (e.g. Hamza (ra) ), have won.

    

     There is one person who survived. This person traveled all the way to visit the Roman Emperor. He went to the Roman emperor because the Roman Emperor was Christian. These people would be from different Christian sects, because by that time the Romans might have adopted trinity and the divinity of Isa (as). So this man went and told the emperor what they have been though, and asked for his help. The Roman Emperor said, “We are too far from Yemen, but what I could do is send a message to the Negus of Abyssinia and he can help you.” The Najashi of Abyssinia was also Christian. So the Roman Emperor sent the message.

     The Negus then sent an army lead by a general named ‘Aryat’ and Aryat invaded Yemen and fought with Dhu Nawas. Dhu Nawas, when he lost, he committed suicide. He jumped into the Red Sea. The Abyssinian was then ruling over a part of Yemen, and they did this as a revenge of the Christians who were killed by the Jews of Yemen. Aryat ruled over Yemen for a while. One of his army generals staged a revolt against him and the Abyssinians in Yemen were divided now, groups were with Aryat and the other group were with the new leader called ‘Abraha’. These groups were fighting.

     Aryat told Abraha, “If we kill each other, the people of the land will take over, so how about we have a one on one fight?” Abraha made a secret agreement with some of his security guards. That if they see him losing, they will jump in to help. Aryat was described as a tall and thin man and Abraha was short and chubby. So they were people surrounding them, while they were fighting. Aryat was able to strike Abraha from the top and he chopped off his nose, when that happened the security guards came in and they killed Aryat.

     Abraha now took over, and he was the one who was ruling Yemen. Abraha wanted to change the religion of the people and force them to become Christian, and since the Arabs were attached to Al-Kaaba, he decided to build a counterpart of Al-Kaaba in Yemen. He thus built a huge cathedral called, ‘Al-Qullais’ and this building was described as a wonderful piece of art. This cathedral was built to compete with Al-Kaaba. One man didn’t like this idea of the cathedral, so he went into Al-Qullais, and he defecated and then he took his stool and spread it all over the walls, then he ran away. Abraha got so furious that he decided that he must get rid of Al-Kaaba. Abraha mobilized an army and marched towards Mecca, there was some resistance along the way; one of the chiefs of a tribe, his name was ‘Nufail’, he resisted but he was defeated and captured as a prisoner of war.

     When Abraha reached At-Taif, the people of At-Taif assisted Abraha and one of them offered to be a guide for Abraha, this man’s name was Abu Raghaadi. Abu Raghaadi went with the army but immediately after the army left Taif, he died. The Arabs were so upset with Aryat, they built a monument on the place of his death, that they would stone, because of his betrayal. Abraha made it to the outskirts of Mecca. They were some shepherds and camels grazing there, Abraha took possession of them. They were the possession of the grand-father of Rusool Allah (saw), Abdul Muttallib.

     Abdul Muttallib came out of Mecca to meet with Abraha. Abdul Muttallib happened to be a friend of Nufail, who was captured as a prisoner of war. Nufail during the journey, became friends with a man called ‘Unais’. Unais was a very important figure of Abraha’s army; he was the pilot of the elephant. So Abdul Muttallib came to Nufail and told him that he wanted to meet with Abraha, Nufail told him that he will arrange a meeting through his friend Unais. Unais arranged a meeting with Abraha, and Abraha welcomed Abdul Muttallib.  Abdul Muttallib walked in. He was described as a man with a very strong presence; people would be in awe of him by just seeing him. When Abdul Muttallib entered Abraha held him in high esteem, even though they hadn’t event talked as yet.  When people would come to meet Abraha, he would sit on a very high throne, and people would sit down, under his feet. When Abraha saw Abdul Muttallib, he didn’t feel comfortable at all, having Abdul Muttallib sit under his feet, but he also could allow Abdul Muttallib to sit with him on his throne. So what he did was, he came down from the throne and sat with Abdul Muttallib on the floor and he told the interpreter to ask Abdul Muttallib what he wants.

     Abdul Muttallib straight away told the interpreter, “Abraha has taken possession of 200 of my camels, and I want them back.” Abraha responded, “When I saw you, I had so much respect for you, but I have lost it all. I am coming to destroy your honour and the honor of your fathers; I am coming to destroy the center of your livelihood. I am coming to destroy Al-Kaaba, and you are asking me about camels?”  Abdul Muttallib responded, “I am the owner of the camels, so I am responsible for them and this house belongs to Allah, and Allah will protect it.” Abraha ordered Abul Muttallib’s camels to be returned back to him. Abdul Muttallib went back to Mecca and he told the people of Mecca “Do not fight, withdraw out of Mecca.” So Abdul muttallib gave his people clear instructions. They all went up to the mountains, and Abdul Muttallib was the last person to leave, and before he left he was hanging the clothes of Al-Kaaba on the handle of the door of Al-kaaba and he was praying to Allah (swt) to protect this house, then he left.

     Abraha now issued instructions to the army to march forth, but the elephant refused to move, when they turned the elephant to a different direction he would run but when they turn it towards Mecca, he would sit down. This was a miracle of Allah, but it is said that this man Unais, released himself from chains and spoke in the ear of the elephant and said, “This is the house of Allah, do not attack it”, and he ran away. Whatever the reason was the elephant did not move.

     They started beating the elephant, and poking it with their spears, and the elephant was bleeding but it refused to move. Eventually they decided they were going to have to leave the elephant. They moved forward, Allah (swt) sent towards them an army of soldiers. Anything can be a soldier of Allah; water, wind, animals. Allah sent an army of birds, every bird carrying with it missiles that were sent on the army of Abraha, that destroyed them all. This event was recorded in Surah Al- Fil

These are the events up to the year in which Rusool Allah (saw) was born. Rusool Allah (saw) was born in the year of the Elephant.

CD 4

       The situation in Arabia and in the world was very desperate, at the time of Rusool Allah (saw). It needed the light of guidance. It wasn’t entirely evil people around the world did retain some good qualities,  and Al- Buzi talks about some of the good qualities that the disbelievers of Arabs had at he time of Rusool Allah (saw). He mentions characteristics like; like generosity, hospitality, fulfilling of a pledge, pride, and denial of shame and injustice, firm will, determination, perseverance, and a pure and simple life. These are the aspects which Islam took advantage of.

     The sahabah (ra) contained these qualities, so they were successful in spreading the religion. Their generosity and hospitality before made them welcomed in the nations they would go to after coming to Islam. The people around the world would welcome them, they were seen as despised people, and people saw them as liberating army that would free them from hardships. This happened in the case of Egypt and Syria, they were ruled by the Romans, when the Muslims came they were seen as people who came to liberate them.

     Also the sahabah (a) didn’t care for power and authority, in many cases they would, train the people of the country to be leaders and then hand over the leadership to them. The sahabah were out to call people to Islam, not to rip their resources unlike the Europe powers. The sahabah were reliable, they would fulfill their pledges, and people could count on them. These were qualities that were very important for da’wah that is why Allah (swt) chose that area to host the last message. It wasn’t a haphazard decision that Allah chose Mecca over all the other areas of the world. The people at that time had qualities which made them the fittest to carry the message.

      Rusool Allah (saw) was born in the year in which Allah (swt) destroyed the army of Abraha. There are many stories and miracles that happened at the time of Rusool Allah’s (saw) birth but many of them are weak so we are not going to discuss them.   When Rusool Allah’s (saw) mother Amena was pregnant, Abdullah his father was on a journey to Ash-Shaam. But he ended up dying close to Medina, and he was buried there. So Abdullah died before the birth of his son. Rusool Allah (saw) was born and his mother saw a light that is coming out of her, and that light is reaching towards Ash-Shaam, and that was interpreted as a light of the message of Muhammed (saw) reaching to the world. Allah (swt) says that, “Allah knows best where to place his prophet hood.”   

     Imam Ahmed narrates a hadith that people were saying different things about Muhammed (saw) for example they said that Muhammed (saw) was like a green tree growing in a desert. What they were trying to say is that he was the only person who was good in his clan. So Ibn Abbas said: “Certain things that people were saying reached the messenger of Allah so he mounted the pulpit and asked, ‘Who am I?’ They replied and said, ‘You are the messenger of Allah’, he replied, ‘I am Muhammed bin Abdullah bin Abdul Muttallib, Allah divided the creation and made me part of his best creatures, He made them all in to two groups, placing me in the better of them, He created tribes and placed me in to the best one, He divided them in to clans and placed me in the best one, and the best of you both in clan and in spirit.”

     Rusool Allah (saw) was saying that he wasn’t a good person among a bad group of people; rather he was the best from among the best.   Rusool Allah (Saw) also says, “Verily Allah chose Kinaana from amongst the descendants of Ishmael and He chose the Quraish from among Kinaana and he chose Banu Hashim amongst the Quraish and He chose me from the tribe of Banu Hashim.”  Rusool Allah (saw) says in another hadith, “I was the product of true marriages not fornication from Adam right on up to when my father and my mother had me. I was not at all tainted by the fornication of the Jahilliya.” In the time of Jahilliya, immoral acts were very common; even then Rusool Allah’s (saw) ancestors were not part of zina.

    

     The famous names of Muhammed (saw) are; Muhammed and Ahmed, but he has some additional names. The name that was given to him by his family was Muhammed (saw); Abdul Muttallib his (saw) grandfather gave him (saw) that name. The named ‘Muhammed’ means the one who is eternally praised. People praise Muhammed (saw) for his character his actions, his personality, and he is the embodiment of praise. Muhammed (saw) is praised day and night; there is no human being in history that is praised as much as Muhammed (saw) is praised. Allah Zaujal has fulfilled the meaning of his name.

     The name Ahmed and Muhammed come from the same root word, ‘Hamd’. Hamd means ‘praise’. Muhammed means the person who draws praise so he is praised; Ahmed means that, ‘he praises’ Allah. So Rusool Allah (saw) praises Allah, more than anyone.There are some other names of Muhammed (saw), which we know through Ahadith, one of his names is Al-Hashir. Al-Hashir means: the gatherer to Whom humanity will be resurrected in his wake. The prophet (saw) will be the first to be resurrected among the creation then mankind will follow him.   ‘Al-Muqqaffi’, ‘the successor’, for he Muhammed (saw) is the last of the Prophets and messengers and there shall be none succeeding him. ‘Al-Maahi’, ‘the eraser’ that erases and eradicates Kufr. There is no prophet that will succeed in eliminating Kufr entirely except Muhammed (saw). This mission has not been fulfilled yet because his ummah are still carrying on this mission. The eventually victory of Islam, will be the moment of time when the whole world will be Muslim. That would be carried on by the ummah of Muhammed (saw) under the leadership of  Isa (as). So Muhammed (saw) is the one who will be successful in erasing Kufr.   One of his other names is nabbiyyin Mulhuma, ‘The Prophet of the Fiercest Battles’. Now mulhuma is the fierce battles and also the series of battles. This name of Rusool Allah (saw) has more than one interpretation: it could mean that his ummah is the best in terms of Jihad. There is no ummah that fought Jihad like the ummah of Muhammed (saw). The other meaning that could be drawn from his (saw) name is that the future of humanity after Muhammed (saw) is full of fierce battles. And that was seen in the form of WWI and WWII. The time of Muhammed (saw) is till the Day of Judgment, so the events that are happening now, also support this meaning.

    

     Rusool Allah (saw) was initially nursed by his mother, and umm Ayman, whose name is Baraka. Umm Ayman was an Abyssinian woman who lived in Mecca, she later on became Muslim. Rusool Allah (saw) married her to his emancipated slave, Zaid bin Harith.  It was the tradition among the urban Arabs to send their children to grow up in the desert. They used to believe that the desert is a pure, healthy environment for them to grow in. The desert was hot and dry, a very unsuitable environment for bacteria to grow in. They also believe that this will strengthen their character because of the harshness. So the children would be sent out of the city and into the desert. That also happened with Muhammed (saw). Muhammed (saw) was brought up in the land of Banu Sa’d.

  Halima Sadia narrates to us this story, she came with her friends to Mecca so that they could take with them children to nurse. For them this was business. These Bedouin women would come into Mecca and would try to adopt or nurse some children. That particular went she went to Mecca, was a harsh year due to famine. They were very poor. They went around houses of Mecca looking for children to nurse.

Muhammed (saw) was presented to each and every one of them, and they all declined to accept him. This was because he was an orphan. They were saying, “What good is an orphan? Who will pay us, if his father is dead?” They thought his (saw) mother won’t be able to pay them much. Halima says,

     “At the end of the day, all of my friends were going back to their camps with children except myself. I found no one to take with me. At night I told my husband that, ‘I am going to go tomorrow morning and accept that child called Muhammed, since we have no one else, I am not going to go back empty handed.’ My husband agreed.  Next morning I went to Muhammed’s (saw) mother, Amina bint Wahb. I said that, ‘I accept to take your child.’ The night before we couldn’t get any sleep because our camel was not providing any milk, because of the famine, and the hunger, I wasn’t able to provide my own child with milk. So he would cry throughout the night and keep us awake.

     As soon as I carried Muhammed (saw) and took him back to my camp, my breast immediately welcomed him, and provided him all the milk that he needed. And the milk was enough for my son. And that was the first night we were able to get a full night of sleep because my son wasn’t able to sleep for quite a few nights.  And then my husband went out to milk the camel and it was providing so much milk that my husband came back and said, ‘Oh Halima, you have brought us a blessed soul.’”

So at this point they were still camping at Mecca, and were ready to go back to the desert. Halima said,

     “When we were coming to Mecca, I was riding a donkey that was so old and weak, it was slowing down the whole group, and it was annoying everybody else. When we were going back, my donkey was the fastest, among the group. My friends were asking me, ‘Is this the same animal you brought with you when we came to Mecca?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ They said, ‘By Allah something is going on.’”

Now they were back to their land. Halima said,

     “Me and my husband would send out our goats to graze. They would come back full, we would milk then whenever we want. While everybody else in our tribe, their animals were hungry without any milk.” People had started to complain to the shepherds, ‘Why don’t you graze the animals in the same place Halima is grazing hers’.’ Halima said, “So they would take their animals, after us, following us to the same place, yet ours would come back full and theirs would come back empty.” “The child was growing up, and we were seeing the blessing of Allah on all of us, because of him. And God went on blessing us this way and we recognized it. Then he reached 2 years of age, he was already growing up a very fine boy. Not like the other children, I swear by the age of 2 he was a sturdy boy.”

     At the age of two it was time for Muhammed (saw) to be returned. So they went to Mecca and told Amina that they want to keep Muhammed (saw) with them. They loved Muhammed (saw) and knew that he (saw) was blessed. They gave many excuses to Amina, things like it is better for Muhammed (saw) to stay in the desert. They tried until Amina agreed. So Halima took Muhammed (saw) back to the desert.  One day Muhammed (saw) was playing with his foster brother. His foster brother came in rushing and said, ‘My brother from Quraish!’ They asked, ‘What happened to him?’ He said, ‘Two men dressed in white, came down and knocked him to the ground and then they opened up his abdomen.” Halima said, “Me and his father went rushing, and we came to see Muhammad (saw) his color was pale, and we asked him what happened, he said, ‘two men came and opened my chest, and they took out something from it.’” Halima loved Muhammed (saw) a lot; she didn’t want anything to harm him, especially when he (saw) is under her supervision.

     Halima rushed back to mecca, went to Amina, and said, “Here is Muhammed, you can now have him. We have now fulfilled our responsibility.” Amina said, “How come you are bringing him back when you were so interested in keeping him?” They replied nothing. Amina insisted on knowing what happened. Halima said, “She kept on questioning us, until we eventually told her.” Amina responded, “Are you afraid for him, that Satan might hurt him? By Allah that will not happen, when I was pregnant with him, it was the lightest pregnancy, and when I delivered him, his birth was unlike any other child. And when he came out, I have seen light that was reaching to Ash-Shaam. So the protection of Allah is with him, and I am sure that he will have a great future.”

     Now Muhammad (saw) was back with is mother in Mecca. Amina passed away when Muhammed (saw) was 6 years old. He (saw) was now without a father and mother. He was adopted by his grandfather Abdul Muttallib, who raised him up and Abdul muttallib passed away when Muhammed (saw) was at the age of 8. Muhammed (saw) was then taken care of by his uncle, Abu Talib, who protected him, helped him, and supported him for the next 40 years in the life of Muhammed (saw).

This was the early years of Muhammed’s (saw) life. We will talk about a few events that happened before Prophet Hood.

    Rusool Allah (saw) was protected by Allah; he would not commit sins which were usual and normal amongst his people. Allah (swt) would keep him (saw) away from those sins. Rusool Allah (saw) narrates an example of this, he (saw) says:

     “I was a shepherd, and one day I told my friend, who was also a shepherd with me, I told him, ‘tonight I want to go in to Mecca to attend the parties my peers attend.’ I wanted to go and see what they were doing. So I told my friend to take care of my flock until I come back. He agreed.   I went into Mecca, and I arrived at the place where they were having this party and soon as I was hearing the music, Allah (swt) struck my ears, so I fell asleep. By the time I woke up the party was over.  The next day, I decided to attend another party. I went into Mecca with the same arrangement with my friend. I went into Mecca and as soon as I reached the place and I was hearing the music, Allah (swt) struck my ears again, and I fell down asleep. I woke up after the party was over, and I realized that this is a sign to me from Allah.”

Another example mentioned by Zaid bin Haritha, who was a servant of Rusool Allah (saw). Zaid narrates:

     “There was a brass idol called Isa’f and Na’ila, which the polytheists would touch as they performed tawaaf. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘don’t touch it.’”  So Rusool Allah (saw) told Zaid, not to touch it. How did Rusool Allah (saw) know then, that he wasn’t supposed to touch it? It was hidaayah from Allah (swt). Zayd continued, "Well, as we went round (again) I told myself I would touch it to see what would happen. When I did so, the Messenger of God (SAAS) asked me, 'Were you not forbidden to do that?'" Zayd then stated that, “The messenger of Allah never saluted an idol, right up to when Allah The All Might honoured him and He gave him the Revelation.”

     Rusool Allah (saw) never prayed to an idol, never touched the idols in the sense of worship. He (saw) had a natural dislike towards idol- worshipping, and he even applied those rules to his family. He (saw) told him servant, Zaid not to be involved in idol-worshipping. That is why Ali ibn Talib (ra) never worshipped an idol, since he was raise up in the house of Muhammed (saw). When Abu Talib was poor, Rusool Allah (saw) offered to take care of his son, Ali bin Abu Talib.

     Allah (swt) was guiding Muhammed (saw) towards some of the ibaadat that no one else knew about. Among the people of Quraish, during Hajj they would be the only people not to participate in Arafaat. They are different rituals of Hajj, there was tawaaf, Sayi, standing in Arafat, and camping in Mina. The people of Quraish would do all the rituals except the standing in Arafat. Why? Because they would consider it out of the boundaries of Al-Haram. They thought it was outside the boundaries of the sacred place. All the other Arabs would go, Quraish would say, ‘We are the dwellers of Al-Haram, how can we go outside of Al-Haram.’ They would stop at the borders of Arafat. Al-Mutam bin Jubair, lost his camel, and he went looking for it. He ended up looking for it in Arafat, to his amazement, he finds there Muhammed (saw). He says, “Isnt he from among the people of Quraish? What is he doing in Arafat?” Allah (swt) was guiding Muhammed (saw) by fitrah.

      The first profession of Rusool Allah (saw) was a shepherd, and Rusool Allah (saw) says, “Allah has not sent a prophet that was not a shepherd of sheeps.” His companions then asked, “And you?” He (saw) said, “Yes, I used to herd sheep, with compensation from the people of Mecca.” Every prophet has been a shepherd. It is striking that Allah (swt) has trained all of his anbiya, by going through this line of work.

What are the lessons that the Anbiya learned by being shepherds of sheeps?

·         The most important lesson that they learned, is responsibility. Rusool Allah (saw) says, “You are all shepherds and you are all responsible for your herds.” For example the imam is responsible for the muslims, the man is responsible for his household, etc. Everyone is responsible for something or the other.

     A shepherd usually works for somebody else, who owns the flock. So they are hired by someone else, meaning that shepherds are answerable to someone else. Now a shepherd, cannot go back to the owner and say, ‘I am sorry I lost one of your sheep.’ It doesn’t matter what the sheep did, the shepherd is responsible, even if it isnt his fault. Regardless for whether the sheep obey or not, the shepherd is responsible.

     It is a very important lesson for the leader. You are responsible for your herd. The anbiya of Allah will be one day accountable for their people.

·         It teaches them patience. Taking out sheep to graze takes time, the sheep take their own time, they are slow, so the shepherd has to wait. Sometime the sheep might start fighting, or even playing with each other , the shepherd has to be patient. A shepherd cant really talk to them and say that, ‘we are getting late’, or something similar, the sheeps will take their own sweet time. Shepherds usually leave in the morning, and come back at sunset.

     So the anbiya learnt to be very patient with their people. Look at what Musa (as) had to go through with his people. It was unbearable, but Musa (as) was a shepherd longer than any prophet, he was a shepherd for ten years. When he left Egypt and got married, Shuaibh told Musa (as) to work for him for 8 or 10 years. The ayat in the Quran didn’t not state whether Musa (as) worked for 8 or 10 years, but Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to know. So he (saw) asked Jibrael how longer Musa (as) worked. He said, “He worked the most complete and perfect term.” In other words 10 years.

     Nuh (as) spent 950 years in da’wah and he was still patient with his people. He tried every different way, “I tried publicly, and privately. I tried night and daytime. I tried every way and they were rejecting my message.”

·          Protection: the shepherd protects the flock from various dangers. There are wolves and other beasts, and even diseases. Shepherds continiuously ensure that they are no dangers to the flock

 The anbiya of Allah, tried to protect their people. They protected them from physical and psychological dangers. In Medina at night, there was a commotion suddenly. So some of sahabah immediately picked up their weapons, climbed on their horses and raced towards the source of the sound. They went there and to their amazement they found Rusool Allah (saw) already on his way back telling them that everything was fine. So even though these sahabah were so swift in getting there, Rusool Allah (saw) yet reached before them.  Rusool Allah (saw) has warned us about every danger possible that could afflict us. He even told us of events in the future. E.g. Dajjal.

·         These animals are closer to Earth, and their sight is very limited. Sheep can only see so far, any small obstaclee can block their view. But a human standing tall has a much more longer view, so the shepherd can detect danger much before the sheeps will. The shepherd can before hand warn the sheeps.

     That is the same situation of the anbiya with their people. The anbiya warn of dangers much before the danger approaach thier people. They have the clearest vision and the longest view. The anbiya know what is good for their people. The analogy of prophets and people, is like someone sitting next to a fire at night and all these insects get attracted to the fire thinking it is light. They do not know that they if they go near it, it will burn them.

     So Rusool Allah (saw) says, “The analogy of me and you; I’m like somebody standing next to this fire and you are attrracted to it, and you are jumping in it, while I am grabbing you by your clothes and dragging you away and you are releasing yourselves form me jumping into the fire.” The prophet sees the danger and we don’t.

     To protect the sheep the shepherd might hit some of the animals, not because he wants to hurt them, but to save them. So whenever, a messenger of Allah, stands up and gives a staunch warning, it is not because they are rude or insensitive, but it is because they care for their people. When Rusool Allah (saw) stood on the pulpit of masjid and said, “I am warning you hell fire!” “I am warning you hell fire!!” “I am warning you hell fire!!!” His voice went up and up an up, the narrator of the hadith said, “The people in the marketplace could hear Rusool Allah (saw) in the masjid.”

·         Simplicity: A Shepherd lives a very simple life. He cannot have accessories of life in the desrt, he cannot take his mercedes benz, refrigerator and tv in the desert. Even if he is a rich man, he cannot carry such things out in the desrt while he is shepherding. They need to keep themselves light to be able to fully take care of the animals. Shepherd also eats very simple food, and lives in a simlpe accomodation.

·         It teaches them to get accustomed to different environments; it could be scorching heat, raining, windy, or freezing cold. Shepherd is the last to take cover, he needs to protect the flock first. So Rusool Allah (saw) would travel a lot, due to da’wah and battles, and would have to face different climates.

·              Closeness to the creation of Allah. It pulls you out of the artificial world. You are out in the desert with the creation of Allah, close to nature. The life that we are leading could leave some harmful scars on our hearts and our way of thinking. Living in this concrete world where everything is artificial, where eveything is against the natural disposition of our creation. We were created from Earth, we are part of nature. Living in this artificial world is keeping us away from comtemplating  on the creation of Allah.

     The Quran refers to so many creations of Allah; the sun, moon, stars, heavens, montains, rivers, plants, cow, mosqutio, clouds, rain etc.. all of this is mentioned in the Quran, but why did Allah mention these? Because His creation is a mirror, of the attributes of Allah. If we want to learn about the attributes of Allah, we should look at his creation.

     A anbiya of Allah were thus given time to contemplate about Allah’s creation.

      These were some of the lessons anbiya learned by being shepherds. But how come specifically shepherds of sheep?? Why not camels. Or cows?

     Sheep are very weak animals, much weaker than camels or cows, therefore they need more care and protection. Because of this weakness they could easily fall prey. And when Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to warn us from Shaitan, he (saw) brought in his experience and he said, “Stick with the jamaah, because the wolf eats from the stray sheep.” So that was Rusool Allah (saw) learned being a shepherd that the wolf only attacks the sheep that astrayed, it doesn’t attack the flock.

     We are weak as these sheep, when it comes to Shaitan. Shaitan can tempt us and attack us.There is also another imporant point. That is the fact that we are affected by the environment we live in. Shepherds of sheep are different than shepherds of camels or any other animal. Why? Because they are dealing with a different animal. Sheep tends to be very compassionate, and they are weak. So the shepherd of sheeps learns to become merciful and kind with them. Sheeps are very fragile animals; you cannot be harsh with sheeps.

     So the Anbiya of Allah learnt to be compassionate with their followers. But when it comes to  camel for example, camels tend to be arrogant animals, so their shepherds cannot be soft with them, because they then take advantage of you. With the camel you need to meet that arrogance with strength, that makes the shepherds of camel tough and they could be rude. What you do affects you. Teachers for example get fatherly qualities. Doctors lose their ability to write or it could also be said you personality affects your profession, because people with certain charracterisitcs tend to choose their profession accordingly. That profession would then push them further in their traits. As Muslims we need to be careful of what kind of work you do, keeping in mind that your work will affect you.

    

     Ibn Hajar one of the classical scholars who wrote the most prominent commentary on Sahaih Bukhari. He was a scolar in hadith, fiqh and aqidah. There are other commentaries but none of them reached the level of Fath Al-Bari by Ibn Hajar. His commentary on the above mentioned hadith is:

“The wisdom behind having the Prophets as shepherds before Prophet Hood, is that they may become skilled in herding a flock, as they will be resposible for their respective nations in the future. In herding, one attains forbearence and mercy and it endues patience. For when a shepherd is obliged to gather his flock, and herd it from one area to another at once, knowing the traits of all, all the while protecting the flock from predators. He has thus atttained the skills necessary to lead a nation and protect it from its enemies both within and abroad. Thus the Prophets learned patience when leading their people and attained an understanding of the different natures of people, they learned to show kindness to the weak and resolve with the dominant.

     The reasons for which Allah (swt) had chosen the sheeps for the Prophets as opposed to the communal cows or camels, is that they are animals that are weak and need extra guidance and attention. Sheep are more difficult to maintain as a flock, because of their potentity to go astray and wander away. This is a kin to human traits within a society and it is the divine wisdom of Allah, to train these prophets accordingly. The prophet (saw) mentioning of this humble traits shared by all prophets, attests to his humiliy to Allah.”

Another current writer comments on this, Muhammed al- Abdahu, he states,

“This faith excels through the free-thinkers, the courageous, the intelligent, and those who are just and one cannot encompass it except by distancing themselves from lowly character. It is therefore incumbent upon Muslims to take on the pure characteristics embodied in humanity’s natural disposition.

     This was the example that was sought by the early Khalifa Umer bin Khattab (ra), when he pleaded with his people to toughen up and learn how to ride a steed. He feared for his people the longing of this life and adopting the reprehensible characteristics. This does not mean that one must abandon urban living in order to achieve the stated objectives. But it does mean that one should abandon those things in their life that turned them away from the difficulties of this message.”

     Muhammed A-lAbdahu is commenting on Rusool Allah (saw) living as a shepherd in the desert and also Rusool Allah (saw)  was brought up in the desert in the early years of his life. He gave the example of Umer (ra), when he was a khalifa, he could get the best of  what this world could offer, but he still lived a simple life, and he was warning the Muslims, and telling them to  toughen up. This was because this message at times demands, a momin to go through some difficult situations and a momin should be ready for that.

     Da’wah is one aspect. A Da’i cannot be sincere and whole heartedly invbolved in da’wah, if they cannot have patience and be willing to get involved in situations that might be difficult.

     The next important event that happened during the early years of Rusool Allah (saw), was a pact called ‘Hulf al-Fudool’. The story behuind this is that, there was a man who came from Zabid, in Yemen, to do business in Mecca. His merchandise was taken by, Al-As bin Wail, who promised to pay him back. He was going to sell it and pay him back. Al-As after a while refused to pay this man, he was taking advantage of the fact that, that man was a foreigner.

     Al-As expected this man to just walk away, but the man stood up for his right. He went to a public place in Mecca, and he started calling the people of Quraish. He was telling them, “I was oppressed in your land, all you people, who are going to stand up for my right, will you allow this oppression to happen in you land?” He said a few emotional words, so some of the clans of Quraish decided to meet together to bring about an agreement, on protecting the rights of the weak of Mecca.

     One of these families was the family of Rusool Allah (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) at the time was a young boy, but he said, “My uncles took me with them, to attend this meeting.” The meeting was held in the house of Abdullah bin Jadaan. It was symbolic to hold this meeting in his house, because he was a very generous man, and he was a person who would stand up for people’s rights. They wanted to honour him by holding this meeting in his house. They made an agreement, that they all would stand together to protect the rights of the oppressed.   This happened before Prophet Hood, it was a pact between mushrikeen. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “I witnessed in the house of Abdullah bin Jadaan, a pact made that I wouldn’t have exchanged it for the choicest herd, and if it had been suggested after Islam, I would have responded positively to it.”

     So Rusool Allah (saw) would have agreed to such a pact had it formed after Islam, even it was between disbelievers. There is a very important lesson to learn form this. That is, muslims should stand for what is right no matter what. Muslims should stand for the right, needy, the oppressed regardless of their religion.

     An incident happened later, decades after the death of Muhammed (saw). The matter was between Al Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib and Al-Waleed bin Uqba bin Abu Sufyan, who was the governor of Medina. Because Al-Waleed was the governor, he taking advantage of his position, he took away some property that belonged to Al-Hussain. Al Hussain went to Al-Waleed and said, “You either give me back what belongs to me, otherwise I’m going to walk into the masjid, and invite the people to Hulf A- Fudool. I will remind them of Hulf Al- Fudool.”

     Now, Abdullah bin Zubair was with Al-Waleed at that time, and he said, “and I too swear by Allah, that if he does invoke it, I’ll draw my sword and stand there with him, until he gets his justice, or we’ll all die together.” Later some other people heard of this like Abdur Rahman bin Uthman bin Ubaid, and others who gave similar statements. Al-Waleed realised that this could be dangerous so he gave back what belonged to Hussain. The reason why this is being mentioned is to show that Muslims would let someone be wronged. Here you have people under a particular leader, Al- Waleed bin Utba. Nevertheless these people stood up against their leader to stand up for what are right.

     Sheikh Muhammed Ghazali comments on this, he says, “This pact shows that, no matter how dark right becomes, and oppressive dictators become, noble characteristics will still remain in certain people who stand up for justice and ‘birr’ (righteousness). Allah has made cooperation in enjoining good, an obligation upon muslim, which He has called to in the verse of surah Maaidah (5:2)

…And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.

     So for a group of Muslims to enter into a treaty or a contract, such as the afore mentioned,  is made permissible because it is only a reinforcement for an islamic obligation. However this by definition must be dissimilar to the situation of Masjid Baraa, where the cooperation turns into a nationalisitc or lethist strategy to exclude Muslims. As for the Muslims contacting people of other faiths in order to remove oppression or face an oppressor, this becomes permissible for them, if there is in it the welfare for Islam, and Muslims in the present and the future. The basis for this is esssentially the prophet’s (saw) willingness to answer the call of the pact even after Islam.”

      

CD 5

     The next important event is the marriage of Rusool Allah (saw) to Khadija. Khadija was a well-known and prosperous woman of Mecca. She was an elderly woman who wasn’t married. She used to hire a man to travel for her and do business, because the trade of the people of Mecca used to depend on traveling to Yemen and Syria. Allah Zaujal describes that in SURAH QURAISH (106:1-2)

For the accustomed security of the Quraysh

Their accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer –

     So they had a journey in winter and a journey in winter; Khadija would hire men to work for her. She happened to hire Muhammed (saw) after hearing about his honesty. She had a servant accompany Muhammed (saw), her servant’s name was Masara. Muhammed (saw) went to Syria, did the business and came back   Masara reported to his master, he said, “I went to Khadija and told her, ‘This man’s trustworthiness and honesty is amazing, outstanding.” So he was praising Muhammed (saw). Khadija (ra) became very interested in Muhammed (saw), his character was admirable. Khadija (ra) who was a wealthy woman, wanted to marry Muhammed (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) agreed. Rusool Allah (saw) was 25 and she was 40 years old. The difference was 15 years. Rusool Allah (saw) never married anyone else before Khadija (ra) passed away.

     Rusool Allah (saw) had six children from Khadija (ra); Zainab, Ruqayya, Umm-e Kulthum, Fatima, Al-Qasim and Abdullah. None of them ended up having descendants except Fatima (ra), and that is from where the offspring of Rusool Allah (saw) is continuing. Rusool Allah (saw) loved Khadija (ra) a lot, he (saw) kept his loyalty to Khadija (ra) even after she passed away. He would always remember her and always mention her name, and that sometimes would cause jealousy among the other wives of Rusool Allah (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) had a lot much love, and admiration for Khadija, because she was the one who stood up and supported him, when everybody else betrayed Muhammed (saw).

     Aisha (ra) was the most beloved to Rusool Allah (saw) after Khadija (ra) and she too would sometimes feel jealous. It says in Bukhari that Aisha said, “I did not become jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet (saw) except khadija, and I had not seen her.” The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to at times slaughter a sheep and say, ‘send it to the friends of Khadija.’” So not only did Muhammed (saw) remember her, he kept on maintaining the relationship with the friends of Khadija.  Aisha (ra) said, “And one day I angered him, when he said, that by replying out of jealousy of Khadija, he (saw) said, ‘I have been given by Allah her life.’”   In another hadith narrated by Ahmed At-Tirmidhi, Aisha (ra) said, “The Messenger of Allah used to many times not leave his home, without praising Khadija, one of the days he praised her, and out of jealousy, I said, ‘Was she not but an elder woman, that Allah has replaced her for you with what is better.’ He became angered and said, ‘No! By Allah, he did not replace me with anyone better. For she had faith in me, when the people rejected, she believed me, when the people belied me. She made comfortable with what she had, when the people denied me and Allah has blessed me with children from her.’”

     So Rusool Allah (saw) would become angry if anyone would say anything against her. This also shows an aspect of the personality of Rusool Allah (saw), his loyalty with the people who were close to him. This is years after Khadija passed away, Rusool Allah (saw) would always remember his old friends; Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalllib, Musab ibn Umair, Khadija (Ra). Before Rusool Allah (saw) passed away, one of the last things he did, was go and visit the cemetery of his friends who died in the Battle of Uhud. 70 companions of his died in the battle of Uhud, when Rusool Allah (saw) felt he would be leaving duniya soon he went to the cemetery and made dua for them ,and in that dua he was saying to them that, ‘soon we will meet.’

     Khaidja (ra) was a special person, when she was alive, Jibrael descended on Muhammed (saw) and said, “Khadija is going to approach you now, and she is carrying for you some food. When she arrives, tell her, that Allah is giving her salaam, and tell her, that I am giving her salaam.” That is how special she was. Allah Zaujal sends down Jibrael (as) to say salaam to her, and then Jibrael added his salaam as well.  And then Jibrael (as) says, “And give her the glad tidings of her palace in Paradise.” So she was granted a place in Paradise. Khadija (ra) was one of the four greatest women that ever lived. Rusool Allah (saw) says, “That the greatest women that ever set foot on this Earth are four; Mariam bint Imran, Khadija bint Khauwaylid, Fatima bint Muhammed, Aasiya bint Muzahim.”

     The greatest among them is Mariam (as). Allah says in Al-IMRAN (3:42)

And [mention] when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds

     Second best is Khadija (ra), then Fatima bint Muhammed (ra) and the fourth one Asiya bint Muzahim (ra). All of these women had something to do with a prophet. Two of them were the ones who brought Anbiya and one was the wife of a prophet, and one was the daughter of a prophet.

      Rusool Allah (saw) reached the age of 25, he was known as chaste in an environment that was corrupt, and the reason why this is important to mention is because the professional enemies of Islam, try to attack Rusool Allah (saw) as a person. They talk about his marriage to Aisha (ra), they say that he married 12 women and they try to accuse Muhammed (saw) of being a womanizer. So let’s look at the marriage life of Rusool Allah (saw).

1.      In an environment where adultery and fornication was widespread. There was this hadith narrated by Aisha, in which she talks about the four different types of relationships that existed between men and women at that time. One was the traditional marriage, legal brothels in Mecca which had flags for anybody who is interested, another type was where a woman could sleep with a group of men upto 10 and then if she becomes pregnant then she can call these men and choose anyone to be the father, they also had a relationship in which a man would allow his wife to sleep with another man for noble lineage.

      So it was quite a corrupt environment, Rusool Allah (saw) managed to stay away from any kind of relationship till the age of 25. He was a virgin till 25.

2.      At the age of 25, he chooses to marry a woman, who is 15 years older than himself, and she is a widow, or divorced. Rusool Allah (saw) being a member of a noble family could have chosen for himself any woman in Mecca. If he was interested in these desires, he would have chosen for himself a young woman to marry, rather than marry a lady who is 15 years older than him.

3.      Rusool Allah (saw) remains with Ayesha (ra) until the age of 50. We know that men with strong desires towards a woman would be from a young age till around the age of 50. That is when the desire remains the strongest. Rusool Allah (saw) remained only married to Khadija (ra) till she was alive, and lived a very happy married life with her. So for Rusool Allah (saw) to be only married to Khadija from the age of 25 to 50 completely destroys any absurd accusations.

4.      After Khadija (ra) passed away, Rusool Allah (saw) remained a bachelor for 2-3 years. Later on he marries another widow, Sawdah (ra). The reasons for him marrying her, was because Sawdah (ra) was in Abyssinia, she came back to Mecca and her husband passed away. Rusool Allah (saw) out of his care for his companions married her.

     Sawdah (ra) too was very old in age, we know this because later on in Medina, Sawdah (ra) ended up giving up her night to Aisha (ra), because she was very old.

     Within the last ten years of Rusool Allah (saw), he ended up marrying many women, to the extent that when he died he left behind nine widows. So why did this change occur?

1.      To forge alliances with different tribes. The Messenger of Allah (saw) devoted ALL his efforts for the promotion of Islam. Everything that he would do, even his decisions in marriage would be based on the benefit of Islam. Whatever Rusool Allah (saw) did in his life was to promote the religion of Allah, he wouldn’t do anything to purely satisfy his desires.

     So Muhammed (saw) often married to bring different tribes closer to Islam, like in his (saw) marriage to Juwairiya. The entire tribe of Banul Mustaliq ended becoming Muslim.

2. Caring for his companions: like the example we gave of Sawdah (ra).

3.      Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to strengthen his ties, with his closest companions. Rusool Allah (Saw) had a strong brotherly feeling towards his companions, so he (saw) wanted to add family ties to this Islamic brotherhood. Rusool Allah (saw) and his (saw) companions were together in moments of ease and hardships, they had spent time on the battlefields, and traveled together.

     So Rusool Allah (saw) married the daughter of Abu Bakr (ra) and he (saw) married the daughter of Umer bin Khattab (ra). Rusool Allah (saw) wedded his own daughter to Uthman bin affan, and when this daughter of Rusool Allah (saw) passed away, he wedded Usman (ra) to another of his daughters. Later she passed away, Rusool Allah (saw) said, “If I had 99 daughters, I would marry them to Uthman bin Affan one after another.” And Rusool Allah (saw) married his daughter Fatima (ra) to Ali bin Abu Talib. So now he had family ties with all of them.

4.      Conveying the religion: We are to follow the sunnah of Rusool Allah (saw). He had a sunnah as a statesman, as a teacher, as an Imam, as a military leader, as a family man, as a husband! We have 100s of companions to narrate to us what sort of a leader he was, or how he was at battlefields, or as a teacher or an Imam. But how many do we have to tell us how his family life was? Rusool Allah (saw) did not have many children that survived, only Fatima.

     So who would convey to us his family life? His wives of course, if Rusool Allah (saw) only had one wife,

• it would be very difficult for her to recall every aspect of the family life, if one forgets the other rmembers.
•  Since she is only one, she could have been easily discredited, because there is only one source. There are many vicious attacks being directed at Abu Huraira (ra), because the enemies of islam know that if they destroy the credibility of Abu Huraira (ra) then they can easily destroy over 5000 saying of Rusool Allah (saw).
• The family life of Rusool Allah (saw) is one of the most important aspects of his sunnah because it relates to everyone of us. Not every one of us, will be an Imam, or a statesman, or a teacher. But almost every person in the ummah will be a member of a family. So how will they learn how to conduct their lives with their family without knowing how Rusool Allah (saw) was with his (saw) family?

     Therefore had many wives, so they could convey to us this body of knowledge of how Rusool Allah (saw) acted in his private life. Many of the sunnah narrated relating to how Rusool Allah (saw) ate, sat, treated his servants, spend his nights, or how he treated his wives were narrated by his wives.

     We should remember that Allah Zaujal has sent Muhammed (saw) as a living embodiment of Quran. His sunnah needed to reach to us. That is why he (saw) was excluded from the ruling of having four or less wives. This was done by Allah Zaujal as a protection of His religion.  The two most controversial marriages of Muhammed (saw) are his marriages to Aisha and Zainab bint Jahsh. These are the most targeted by people. The reasons are that Aisha (ra) was 6 when she married Rusool Allah (saw) and she was 9 when the marriage was consummated. While the marriage to Zainab is controversial because Zainab was the wife of Rusool Allah’s (saw) adopted son. So let’s look at these cases.

     SubhanAllah, it so happens that these two particular marriages that are targeted are the only two marriages of Rusool Allah (saw) that were divinely instructed. None of the other marriages of Rusool Allah (saw) were instructed by Allah. Allah Zaujal commanded the marriage to Zainab in SURAH AHZAB in (33:37)

And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, "Keep your wife and fear Allah ," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished.

     And the marriage to Aisha (ra) was divinely inspired through a dream Rusool Allah (saw) had. This dream is mentioned in Bukhari. Rusool Allah (saw) says, “Jibrael came to me and I saw you (Aisha) covered in a silk curtain, and when I would uncovered you, I saw you and Jibrael told me, ‘this is your wife, in duniya and Akhirah.’” Rusool Allah (saw) saw this dream twice. We know that the dreams of the anbiya are revelations.

     Two types of people attack these marriages; one is the Muslims with weak faith, they wonder how Rusool Allah (saw) could do something like that. The reply to them would be that, it was Allah’s will! As a Muslims don’t they believe they Allah’s command has to be followed?! His (saw) marriage to Aisha (ra) was an exceptional case, and that it isn’t allowed in our case. These were divinely commanded, therefore there is no right to question this.

     For the non-muslims who attack Rusool Allah’s (saw) character, the response to them would be that, your problem is not really that Rusool Allah (saw) married Aisha (ra). Your problem is that you don’t believe Muhammed (saw) is the Messenger of Allah. The issue of marriage to Aisha (ra) is just an excuse to attack Islam. Even if Rusool Allah (saw) didn’t do it, he would still be attacked. So the problem is deep-rooted, if everyone believed Muhammed (saw) is the prophet of Allah, then there would be no right to question the Creator of all the worlds. Allah owns nothing to us, we own everything to Him. So it is pointless to argue with the enemies of Allah, about his (saw) marriage to Aisha (ra), because they don’t accept Muhammed (saw) as the messenger of Allah. When the Quraish used to accuse Muhammed (saw) of various things, Allah Zaujal revealed in surah Al-An’am

We know that you, [O Muhammad], are saddened by what they say. And indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allah that the wrongdoers reject.

     They are not disbelieving Muhammed (saw), they are disbelieving the message of Allah, they are attacking Muhammed (saw) because he is the Messenger, they are not attacking his personality just because of his personality, but because  he (saw) is  conveying the message of Allah. Now, why was the marriage of Rusool Allah (saw) to Aisha (ra) so important? One of the greatest blessing of Allah on us as Muslims is that Rusool Allah (saw) married Aisha (ra). Some people, who have doubts in their hearts, because Aisha (ra) was 6 years old, do not realize that it would have been a disaster on the ummah, if Rusool Allah (saw) did not marry Aisha (ra).

     Aisha (ra) had a mind of a scholar; she was MashaAllah very bright and intelligent. She was very inquisitive in nature. Aisha (ra) describes herself and says, “The companions of Rusool Allah (saw) used to hear the hadith of Rusool Allah and they would immediately follow it, while I would ask Rusool Allah (saw) questions about it.” Aisha (ra) being the wife and the most beloved of Rusool Allah (saw), had this informal relationship with the Messenger of Allah, so she would question him. While the others were very respectful, they would dare question Rusool Allah (saw).

     Someone who had an intimate relationship with Rusool Allah (saw) had been needed so that she question Rusool Allah (saw) about certain statements of Rusool Allah (Saw). We’ve talked about Amr bin Aas, he said when he was dying, “If you would ask me to describe to you Rusool Allah (saw), I wouldn’t be able to do so because I had so much love, admiration and respect for him, I lived with him for years, and I would even look him straight in the eye.”  But Aisha (ra) was very young and had an intimate relationship with Rusool Allah (saw), she would question, and sometimes even argue with Rusool Allah (saw), no one else could afford to do that. So we learned so much because of that, Aisha (ra) is one of the top scholars of islam. She is the fourth from the top seven narrators of the hadith of Rasool Allah (saw).

1. Abu Huraira
2. Abdullah bin Umer
3. Anas ibn Malik
4. Aisha (ra)

     If you open any book of fiqh, it is impossible to go through a book without the reading of Aisha’s (ra) name. Her narration and opinions are there in every fiqh. So the marriage to Aisha (ra) was the best thing that happened.

     This marriage was also a surprise to Abu Bakr (ra). When Rusool Allah (saw) went and proposed to Abu Bakr about Aisha (ra), Abu Bakr Siddiq was surprised. He (ra) said, “I am your brother.” Meaning we are very close in age. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “You are my brother, and your daughter is appropriate for me.” This was a command from Allah Zaujal, we do not know what is good for us and what isn’t… Allah knows what we do not know.

     Rusool Allah (saw) did not marry any virgin women except Aisha (ra), and Rusool Allah (saw) never married anyone who is young except Aisha (ra). It was an exceptional case. If you want to look at Rusool Allah’s (saw) marriages initiated by him then look at the marriages except those to Aisha (ra) and Zainab. We forgot to mention Umm e Habiba (ra), she is the one who migrated to Abyssinia, and her husband Ubaidah bin Jahsh converted to Christianity, and she went through a miserable time being the daughter of Abu Sufyan.   Later on her husband passed away, Rusool Allah (saw) sent a letter with Amr bin Umayya Ad Dhamri, to An-Najashi, asking An-Najashi to marry him (saw) to Umm e Habiba (ra). Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to marry her, because he (saw) had sympathy for her, he (saw) wanted to marry her even though she was hundreds of miles of away. He (saw) wanted to take care of her, and also she was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, so Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to bring the staunchest enemies of Allah closer to Islam, he wanted to soften their stance. When Abu Sufyan heard of his daughter’s marriage to Rusool Allah (saw), he was happy that this marriage took place even though he was the leader of the Quraish. He said, “And who is better to marry than Muhammed (saw).” Abu Sufyan knew the lineage of Muhammed (saw), and that is how he looked at it. He was proud that his daughter is married to a member of Banu Hashim. His issue with Muhammed (saw) was because of religion, so that softened Abu Sufyan.

     Another marriage was to Umm e Salama (ra). Umm e Salama (ra) also was one of the ones, who made hijrah to Abyssinia, when they came back they went to Medina. Later on Abu Salama passed away; Rusool Allah (saw) married Umm e Salama. SO he would take care of the wives of his companions who died; these are old women but Muhammed (saw) is the father of this ummah. He (saw) was a caretaker of this ummah, even though he didn’t have a direct blood-relation with anyone, he (saw) still felt that he’s their father. He would take care of the needy, the hungry, and the helpless.

     And important event occurred during the prophet hood of Muhammed (saw). A flood had affected the structure of Al-Kaaba. Al-Kaaba was located in a low valley between mountains. Mecca was flooded, so cracks formed in Al-Kaaba. So the people of the Quraish felt the need to rebuild Al-Kaaba again. Al-kaaba has been rebuilt five or four times depending on who was the first to build. There is a difference in opinion on whether Ibrahim (as) was the first or Adam (as) was. However the majority opinion is that it was Ibrahim (as) was who first built it.

     The ones who say that Adam (as) was the first one say that they are not contradicting Quran because Quran says in surah BAQARAH (2:127)

     And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing.

    

     They say that Quran states that Ibrahim was raising the foundations of the house, meaning there was already something there, for them to raise. So they say that the foundation of the House was established in the time of Adam (as).  But the common belief is that Ibrahim (as) built it. However there is no dispute in the holiness of this House.

     We have references of quite a few anbiya (as) who have visited the House of Allah. There is this hadith that states that Hud (as) visited Al-Kaaba, there are hadiths that states that Saleh, and Nuh (as) visited Al-Kaaba. Also ahadith tells us that when Isa (as) comes back on Earth, he will make Hajj. So its either Adam (as) or Ibrahim (as) who built the Kaaba, but it was the first House that was built for the remembrance of Allah. AL-IMRAN (3:96)

     Indeed, the first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Makkah - blessed and a guidance for the worlds.

     So let’s start counting from Ibrahim (as). Ibrahim (as) built it the first time. The second time it was built was when Mecca was flooded as we mentioned before. The people of Quraish wanted to build it, so for that they had to tear it down. But none of them agreed to make that move. They were all waiting around Al-Kaaba with their equipment but no one wanted to go ahead and start breaking it down, that is how much honor and respect they had for Al-Kaaba even though at the time they were mushrikeen. They feared Allah actually; they believed something terrible will happen if they broke it down. And one of them said that he will be first to do it, so in the morning he gathered his sons and they started to bring the rocks of Al-Kaaba down and while doing this were saying, “Oh Allah, don’t be afraid all what we want is good.” Notice their false understanding of the divinity of Allah (swt). They thought they were trying to make God calm by saying that. Allah (swt) knows what’s in our hearts, we don’t have to tell Him what we intend. They thus believed in Allah, but did not understand the attributes of Allah.

     They walls of Al-Kaaba were then bought down, now it happened that the Roman ship had crashed on a port on the Red Sea close to Mecca. So they brought some of the wood on that ship and there was a Roman builder on that ship, they had him help them built Al-kaaba. This was the first time they made the ceiling of Al-kaaba from wood, which they took from that ship. The People of Quraish knew that money from interest was no good, and they decided that they were only going to use halaal money for making Al-Kaaba. They will not take money from interest or prostitution, because at the time prostitution was a common business. Men would hire their slave girls as an income, but they would do all this knowing that this money is no good. Since they ran short of funds, they ended up shortening Al-Kaaba from one side. They made a square rather than a rectangle to save money. The area of Al-kaaba which they left out was what we refer today as Al-Hijr. Al-Kaaba also had two gates, they made it one, and they raised the doorstep, so now you had to climb to get to the door.

     Rusool Allah (saw) in a hadith talks to Aisha (ra) and says, “Don’t you know, that your people had insufficient funds for the expenses, if it were not for the fact that your people were only recently unbelievers, I would have torn down the kaaba and made for it one door on the east and the other on the west. And I would have included the hijr area within it.” When Rusool Allah (saw) entered Mecca he (saw) was thinking about reconstructing Kaaba on the original foundation. But then he told Aisha (ra): “The reason I’m not going to do this is because your people just became Muslim, their Islam is soft, their imaan is weak, and it might be for a fitnah for them, if I reconstruct Al-Kaaba.”

Lesson

  The daa’ia needs to take the condition of the people into consideration. Even though Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to build the Kaaba, he didn’t because he didn’t want anything to affect the imaan of the people. Abdullah bin Musud says, “If you tell the people something that is beyond their comprehension, understanding, or imaan it might be a trial for some of them.” Sometimes we throw out information on a particular subject which is absolutely true and valid but because the people are not ready for it yet, it sometimes backlashes at them.

     Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Your people (Quraish), the reason why they made the door of Al-kaaba high is because they wanted to have control of who would go in and out.” It was an issue of authority or power. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “If I would rebuild it, I ould lower the gate and I would make for it two gates, so that the people come from one side and leave from the other.”

     Rusool Allah (Saw) participated in the rebuilding the Kaaba, and at that time he was roughly 35 years old. The people of the Quraish were building the Kaaba, they reach the holiest part which was, ‘the Black Stone.’ Dispute erupts among the Quraish, regarding who will have the honor to place the Black Stone, in its spot. When they were rebuilding Al-Kaaba, every tribe took responsibility of building one side of it. But the problem arose of placing the Black Stone. Banu Abdul Dar gathered all of their men and came in front of Al-Kaaba with a pot of blood, and they placed it in front of everyone and they all stuck their hand in the blood and pulled it out. In other words they were telling everyone that this is what will happen, if we don’t place the Black Stone in its place. It’s like pledging to die and to fight. That wasn’t enough to deter others, another tribe got their own pot of blood, and they did the same thing. The rest did the same; the issue couldn’t be solved for four or five days. The eldest man among them, Umayya said, “Let’s agree that the first man to walk in towards Al-Kaaba will be given complete authority in judging between us.”

      The first person to walk in was Muhammed (saw). They all stoop up and said, “The truthful and the trustworthy, we all agree.” They all had agreed that they would give complete authority to the first person to enter, but they were very happy and relieved that, the person was Muhammed (saw). They knew he will not be biased. So they gave him complete authority.

     Rusool Allah (saw) asked them to bring piece of cloth, he (saw) picked up the black stone, and he (saw) placed it on this cloth. Then he asked a representative from each clan to hold the cloth from one side. They all then raised it up together in the same time; therefore every tribe participated in lifting the black stone. When they all raised it, Muhammed (saw) with his blessed hands picked up the Black Stone and placed it in its place. So it was Rusool Allah (saw) who put the Black Stone in its spot. This was the second time Al-Kaaba was built.

     Rusool Allah (saw) had said that if it wasn’t for the new Muslim, he (saw) would have rebuilt Al-Kaaba on the foundations of Ibrahim (as). Years later Abdullah bin Az-Zubair became the ameer of Mecca, he knew of this hadith, because Aisha (ra) was his aunt. Abdullah bin Az-Zubairs’s mother was Asma bin Abi Bakr, the sister of Aisha (ra). He decided to rebuild Al’Kaaba on the original foundations, because the Muslims there are not new Muslims anymore, they can now handle the situation. Az-Zubair wanted to rebuild Al-Kaaba especially because Al-Kaaba was burnt, Al Hajjaj bin Yousuf As-Saqafi  had laid siege On Mecca. AT that time there was a war between Abdullah bin Az-Zubair and Banu Umayya in Syria.  The army general of Banu Umayya had laid siege to Mecca, one of the catapults had hit Al-kaaba, and it caused some damage and fire. That damage could have been fixed without tearing down AL-kaaba, but Abdullah bin Az-Zubair wanted to take advantage of this, so that he could rebuild Al-kaaba on the original foundations, which he did. He fulfilled the description given my Rusool Allah (saw) in the hadith. That he (saw) would lower the gate, have a door towards the east and the west, and expand the size of Al-Kaaba towards the Hijr. So this was the third time Al-Kaaba was rebuilt.

     Abdullah bin Az-Zubair lost  the war and was killed. Al Hajja bin Yusuf took over, the khalifa at that time Abdul Malik ibn Marwan was not familiar with this hadith of Rusool Allah (saw). So he gave his commands to take back Al-Kaaba back to the way it was before Abdullah bin Zubair, the way the Quraish had built it. After the khilafah of Banu Umayya, Banu Abbas were the family of khulafah. One of the khulafa of Banu Abbas was thinking about rebuilding the Kaaba, on the original foundations. He consulted Imam Malik, Imam Malik told the Khalifa, “We don’t want Al-Kaaba to be a toy in the hands of Kings, and they keep changing its size every now and then. Even though the plan of Rusool Allah (saw) and his desire was to build it on the foundation of Hazrat Ibrahim, but lets keep it the way it is and not change it anymore.” This was a very wise advice from Imam Malik, which the khalifa followed. The Kaaba that we have today was built on the foundations of Quraish.

     But Alhumdullilah that is something good. Why? If Al-Kaaba was built on the original foundations of Ibrahim, we would have been deprived the chance of praying inside Al-Kaaba. But since it is shortened, that area which is enclosed by the semi-circle is actually part of Al-Kaaba. So when we pray in that area, it is as if you have prayed inside Al-Kaaba. We know that Rusool Allah (saw) prayed inside Al-Kaaba, when he (saw) opened Mecca. Over the time, the height of Al-kaaba has increased, but the size of it has remained constant. The stones by which Al-Kaaba is built from are remnants of the original stones, which were used by Ibrahim (as), but not all of them. Some other were introduced later by the Quraish and others.

     That Black Stone was the original stone that was used by Ibrahim (as). There are many stories of the black Stone. Some say it was originated from Jennah. There is an authentic hadith that says the Black Stone was white, but then it turned black because of the sons of Adam. There is another hadith that says that the Black Stone is the right hand of Allah, on Earth. Thus it is a very special stone; it is the only part that is kissed in Al-Kaaba and the only part of Kaaba that people point it out at a distance. Some people point out to the Yemeni corner, which is wrong. We can touch the Yemeni corner when passing by but one should not point towards it or greet it at a distance that is only for the Black Stone.

This was the history of Al-kaaba.

     The Prophet (saw) would leave Mecca, and spend time in the cave of Hira. In a mountain that is fairly close, a few kilometers away from Mecca. Rusool Allah (saw) would take with him provisions, and would stay in solitude in this cave worshiping Allah. From the cave it is said that you were able to Kaaba in those days. So Rusool Allah (saw) would spend days and nights continuously worshiping Allah before prophet hood. So he knew Allah (swt). This was a chance for Rusool Allah (saw) to reflect on the creation of Allah. This was training for him (saw) from Allah, because contemplation and reflection purifies the heart.

     Saeed Hawwa, comments on this, he says, “Solitude was the tradition of some who seek the guidance of Allah, with the remembrance of Allah, in worship. It was used to illuminate the hearts and remove its shadows by disconnecting it from its heedlessness and desires. Some would advise this in the beginning of the journey to belief as this was the example of Prophet of Allah (saw) when he spent time in solitude before and at the beginning of his apostleship.”

     As a Muslim, you are recommended to spent time alone in dhikr. For example early in the morning, after Asr, or between Asr and Maghrib on Friday. So you spent time alone remembering Allah. The scholars gave given a lot of benefits from this habit, however one should not reach the extremes by leaving the society completely, there should be a middle road where you spend some time with people, but you also spend time alone. Qiyam ul-Layl is a chance for solitude, praying at night alone, when everybody is asleep. So this time would be just between you and Allah, and there is an element of sincerity there, that might not exist in other ibadat, which are done collectively.

     Scholars say that too much of socializing, too much laughing, too much attachment to duniya obscures the heart and throws a veil on it. The way to purify the heart is by spending some time alone with Allah. Allah (swt) says about Tafakkur in SURAH AL-IMRAN (3:190)

Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.

Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

     So Allah (swt) is saying from people, the one of understanding will contemplate on the creation of Allah.

CD 6

     The time preceding the Prophet Hood of Muhammed (saw) was a time of darkness; however there were some glimpses of light here and there. But there were very few people who had a sense of right and wrong, whose hearts directed them to the truth. We will talk about a few of these examples.

      One of them was Zaid bin Nufail. Zaid bin Nufail went out in search of truth outside Mecca. He was from the Qurasish. Anyway he went to the jews and inquired about their relgion but he decided not to follow it, and then he went to the Christians and inquired about their religion and decided not to follow it, in the end he came to learn about he way of Ibrahim (as), Al- Hanifiya, worshipping Allah alone. Thus he became a hanifi, a follower of Ibrahim (as). Zaid bin Naufal was a lone voice in this sea of darkness in Mecca. Asma bint Abi Bakr said that, “I have seen Zaid bin Amr ibn Naufal, leaning his back against the Al-kaaba, saying, ‘Oh tribe of Quraish, by Him in Whose Hands is Zaid’s soul not one of you apart from myself follows the religion of Ibrahim.’”     Because the people of Quraish used to claim, that they are the ones following Ibrahim (as). He would also say, “Oh God! If only I knew the way most favored by You, I would worship you by it, but I don’t know.”

     So SubhanAllah, he knew the truth, he believed in Allah, but he didn’t know how to apply it. He didn’t have the shari’ah to follow. There were people like Zaid in every time; people who knew there is just one God, people who believed in Allah, and want to worship Him, but they haven’t been exposed to how they should worship. In fact some reverts have been through such an experience  Who always knew in their heart that Allah is one, Who has no partners, they would also be able to recognize what is right and what is wrong, but they wouldn’t know how to worship Allah, until they knew about Islam. It is amazing how many things Zaid knew by his natural disposition, like he would not participate in the killing of girls. In fact whenever he heard that a father was about to kill his daughter, he would go to that father and say, “Give her to me, I will take care of her, when she grows up you can take her back or if you wish give her to me.” So he would adopt many of these girls.

     Also Zaid would refuse to eat the meat that was slaughtered in Mecca, it is mentioned that once a meal was presented to Rusool Allah (saw), some meat. Rusool Allah (Saw) refused it, and he passed it over, and it was given to Zaid bin Naufal and he said, “I don’t eat from this meat, which is slaughtered for your Gods.” He would go to the people of the Quraish and would criticize them for slaughtering their sheep in the names of their gods. Zaid would say, “Sheep are created by God, and he would bring down the water from the skies the water that makes vegetation grow from the Earth. So why do you slaughter them in the name of gods other than Allah, denying all of that and venerating them?”

     Zaid ibn Amr ibn Naufal died prior to the Prophet Hood of Rusool Allah (Saw), his son Saeed was one of the believers. Saeed ibn Zaid was one of the ten who are given the glad tidings in Jannah. Saeed ibn Zaid (ra) went to Rusool Allah (saw) and inquired about his father, he wanted to know what will be the faith of his father because he died before Prophet Hood. Rusool Allah (saw) told Saeed that, “your father will come one the Day of Judgment as a nation alone.” Rusool Allah (saw) has given Zaid ibn Amr (ra) glad tidings of Jannah, and also said that on the Day of Judgment Zaid ibn Naufal will be standing by a nation by himself.  One the Day of Judgment people will be divided into nations, and every nation is lead by a Prophet, so you’d have the nation of Musa, Isa, Nuh, Ibrahim (as) and Muhammed (saw). Because Zaid ibn Naufal was not part of a particular nation of a Prophet, he would come on the Day of Judgment as his own nation. He (ra) will have the honor of standing alone on the Day of Judgment and Allah (swt) will grant him Jannah, because he knew the truth and he worshipped Allah (swt) the best he could.

     Another example is Waraqa ibn Naufal he was the cousin of Khadija (ra). Waraqa was a christian, and he was a lettered man, who would copy some of the scriptures of Christianity and study from it. He was a believer in one God, so there were Christians who believed in one God, and who didn’t attribute divinity to Isa (as). Waraqa ibn Naufal was the one Khadija consulted when Rusool Allah (saw) first received the revelation. Immediately after that Waraqa ibn Naufal passed away. So people wondered what would happen to Waraqa. Some were saying that he would go to hell-fire because he died before Rusool Allah (saw) started preaching the message, even though he (saw) had received the message but he didn’t preach it then yet. Rusool Allah (Saw) said, “I have seen him in a dream, and he was wearing white clothes, if he was a man in Hell-fire, he wouldn’t be wearing white clothes. Later on Rusool Allah (saw) had another dream in which Waraqa bin Naufal had two guardians in Paradise. So he was in Jannah, because he had the right belief.

     The next example is the story of Salman Al-Farsi (ra). Ibn Abbas (ra) went to Salman Farsi when he was old, and requested Salman to tell him his story. So Salman narrated his story to Ibn Abbas (ra).  He says, “I was a Persian man from Esfahan, from a village called Jay, and my father was the headman of the town and I was striving and taking pain in the religion of Magian (they worship fire). I took pains to be a good Magian, and he grew in the relgion until I became the keeper of the fire.”

     His duty was to light the fire and then never let it go off, so they had this fire in the temple of fire in every village. The fire needs a certain keeper to ensure that it remains burning. That was Salman’s duty, this was supposed to be a high position in their religion.

     He said, “My father owns a large farm, one day he was busy constructing a building of his and he wanted me to go out and take care of business in the farm. My father loved me so much he closeted me in his house that he would not let me leave.” So his father wanted to send him out for some work, he said, “Oh my son, you know how dear you are to me, if you are late, then I would be so concerned about you. And you are more important to me than the farm or my building, so please come early.”  Salman Farsi literally said, “I was kept in his house like a slave girl.” So he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere. Anyway Salman Farsi left on that day to go and do business with his father. He said, “I passed by a church for Christians, and I heard them pray. So I wanted to go and investigate. I didn’t know much about people because I never left home. This was something new to me and I came to realize that this is another religion and some people are praying in a different fashion. So I decided to go in and investigate, I was quite impressed by their method of prayer. I ended up staying with them until sunset, and I neglected my father’s work.”

     He said, “My father was so worried that he started out sending people to find me, I came back late and my father said, ‘Oh my son, didn’t I tell you not to be late? What happened?’” Salman Farsi said, “I passed next to a church of Christians and I went in to see their prayer, and I forgot to do the job you asked me to.” His father told him, “Oh my son, their religion is no good, and your religion and the religion of your fore-fathers is better.” Salman Farsi responded to his father and said, “No, their religion is better than ours.” So now the father of Salman Farsi was extremely worried. He ended up chaining his son and imprisoning him at home. He put chains on his legs. He was so terrified that his son would change his religion that he ended up chaining him.

     When Salman Farsi was at the Church he asked the church members, “Where is the center of your religion?” Meaning where did it originate from. They said, “From the Holy land, As-Shaam (Palestine)” When Salman was chained, he managed to send out a message to the church members that, “If you ever receive or know of a caravan that is in town from Ash-Shaam, let me know.” So a caravan did come in, and they send him the message. Salman Farsi was able to release himself and run away, and he went with this caravan all the way to the Holy Land, in search of the truth. He arrived in Syria and he asked about the most learned man for this religion. So he wanted to go and study under the greatest. He was told to go to a bishop in a particular church.

     He went to the bishop and told him his entire situation, and said that he wanted to study from him. The bishop told him, “Your welcome and you can stay with me in the Church.” So Salman Farsi ended up staying in the church. Salman Farsi said, “This man used to ask the people to donate, and then he ended up keeping it for himself. He was such an evil man and I hated him so much.” Nevertheless he remained with him, and when the Bishop died, the Christians of that Church wanted to have a burial for him, and Salman Farsi went and told them that this was an evil man. They said, “How dare you say that?” He said, “I’ll show you the proof.” Salman Farsi took them to the place where this man used to hide all the money and he pulled out seven containers fill with gold and silver.  Salman Farsi said, “The people were so angry, they ended up crucifying his dead body, and stoning him.” Then they appointed someone in his place. Salman Farsi says about this particular man, “Then they brought another man to take his place, and I never saw a man who did not attend the five prayers, who was better than he, nor more ascetic, nor more enthusiastic about the after life, nor more about the day and night. I loved him as I had never loved before.”

     Salman Farsi ended up spending time with this man, learning from him, studying religion, and worshipping. This man was old and death was approaching him, Salman Farsi said, “I went to him on his deathbed and I told him, ‘you know my story, and how I cam all the way to study this religion, and now since the decree of Allah is befalling you, who do you entrust me to, to continue my studies?’” He told him, “My son, I don’t know anyone who has done as I have, people have either died, or changed, or abandoned most of their prior practices. Except for one man in Mossul, he practices as I do, so join him.”

     So Salman Farsi travels all the way from Ash-Shaam, Palestine, or Syria to Iraq, in search of knowledge. He went to this bishop of Al-Mossul, he told him, his story, and he told him that he was recommended to Salman, by the bishop in Ash-Shaam. Salman asked, “Would you accept me to be with you?” The bishop said, “Yes of course, you can be my student.” So Salman Farsi spent time with him. But this person was also an old man and he was approaching death. After a short while he was dying so Salman Farsi told him, “I came to this person and he recommended you to me, now you are passing away, who do you recommend?” He said, “I don’t know of anyone who’s following the same path of ours, except the bishop of Nisibis.” So then Salman Farsi traveled all the way from Mossul to Nisibis.

     He went to the Christian man there, and he told him how he ended up there. Salman Farsi then spent time with the bishop of Nisibis, but then this man was approaching death too. This was a dying breed; they were dying one after the other and were leaving no one behind them to carry on their religion. The bishop of Nisibis said to Salman Farsi on his deathbed, “I don’t know anyone who is following our way except a man in Ammuriyah (Byzantine). Salman Farsi then traveled all the way to Turkey.

     In Ammuriyah in addition to his studies and participation in the worship services, he started a business; he eventually accumulated wealth to purchase some sheep and cows. When death was approaching his teacher in Ammuriyah, Salman Farsi again asked who he recommends to study with. He responded and said, “My son, I don’t know anyone, who is as we were to whom to send you to. But the time is near for a Prophet, being sent with Ibrahim’s religion, who will come forth in the land of the Arabs. He will move to refuge to somewhere with date palms growing between two scorched rockey plains. He has signs that are unmistakable. He eats things given to him as gifts, but not alms, and between his shoulders there is the seal of the Prophet Hood. If you can go there, do so.”

     So now the scholar of Ammuriyah who was saying that there is no one left who follows their path, the ones who believed in the true message of Jesus have passed away. Therefore it is time for a new message to come, the world needed guidance. The signs of Rusool Allah (saw) given to Salman Farsi were;

1. will travel to a place which grows palm trees and is between two rocky tracks.
2. He doesn’t accept sadaqah, but accepts gifts
3. Sign on his back between shoulders, there is a sign showing the seal of the Prophet Hood.

     Salman Farsi said, “I was trying to find a way to reach the land of the Arabs. Until I met some merchants from the tribe of Kalb, I asked them to carry me with them, and I will pay them all the money that I had. ‘My cows and my sheep are yours. Just take me to the land of the Arabs. Just take me to the land of the Arabs’”

     The story of Salman Farsi is an amazing story of someone who is searching for the truth. They agreed and they carried Salman Farsi with them, when they reached to Arabia, to a place called Wadi-Ul-Qura, these merchants ended up betraying Salman. They sold him as a slave to a Jewish man. If you get into slavery that’s it, you’re stuck, nobody will believe you if you say you are a free man. So they claimed he was a slave, and ended up selling him. This Jewish man took Salman to Wadi Ul-Qura, Salman said, “When I saw Wadi ul-Qura I thought this was the place that was described to me. Then a cousin of my owner, a Jew of Banu Quraiyza visited my master, and he purchased me.” Where do Banu Quraidha live? In Medina, so Salman went to Medina with his new master. Salman Farsi said, “In the name of Allah, as soon as I reached medina, I knew this was the place.” Medina was rich in palm trees and was between two rocky tracks; Al- Harra Al- Gharbeya and Al-Harra Al-Shaqiya. This was the natural protection of Medina as will be seen in Battle of the Trench. Then from the south Medina was protected by the trees.

     Salman Farsi said, “Rusool Allah (saw) was sent and he spent years in Mecca and I had no idea about it because I was busy in the toils of slavery.” So Salman Farsi had no idea that Rusool Allah (saw) was already preaching the message. Salman Farsi said, “One day, I was working on top of a palm tree and my master was sitting under the palm tree. One of his cousins cam to him and he was angry and said, “My God damn the children of Qayla! They have assembled in Quba in support of a man who came from Mecca, who claims to be a Prophet.” Children of Qayla was the name given to Aus and Khazraj.  Salman Farsi said, “When I heard that, a chill went down my spine and I started to tremble, and I was almost going to fall down from the palm tree and land on my master.”

  Salman Farsi had been waiting for this moment for years; he had given up every thing for this. Salman Farsi left his home, his family and went to an unknown place in search of truth. He left Persia, went to Ash-Shaam, then went to Turkey, then Iraq, and landed in the land of the Arabs. The land of the Arabs was a very secluded area which didn’t have contact with the outside world; the Persians and Roman were far away. Salman lived in this foreign secluded land alone as a slave! You can imagine the feelings of homesickness that such a person would have.

     Finally he heard the news he had been waiting for, for years. He said, “I came running down the tree, and I went to the man and I was questioning him.” Salman said, “My master grabbed me and punched me in the face, he said, ‘It’s none of your business, go back to work.’” Salman said, “Later on, that evening, I prepared some food and I traveled to Quba.” Quba was outside Medina. Salman farsi said, “I took some food with me and I went to visit Rusool Allah (saw) at night. I came in and I said to Muhammed (saw), ‘I heard that you are a very good man, and that you have companions who are strangers and needy, so I have brought you this food as charity and I think that you are the one who deserves it most.’ I handed it to him.”

     Salman Farsi said, “Rusool Allah (saw) received the food from me and then he told his companions to go ahead and eat, but he didn’t join in with them.” So this was the first sign that Rusool Allah (saw) does not accept charity for himself.  Salman Farsi said, “I went back, later on I prepared some food and I went to Rusool Allah (saw) and he was already on his way to medina. I went up to him, I greeted him and said, ‘Last time I presented you with food and I told you that this is charity, and you refused to eat from it, so I want to honor you with this gift.’ I handed the food to Muhammed (saw), he invited the companion to eat and he (saw) joined in with them.”

     Salman said, “I went to him and visited him when he was in Cemetery of Medina. He was following a Janaaza, I went to Mohammed (Saw) and greeted him. I went around him to see the sign on his back. Rusool Allah (saw) sensed that I was trying to look for something that was described for me. So Rusool Allah (Saw) uncovered his back, he threw away the cloak that was covering his back and right there in front of my eyes was the seal of Prophet Hood.”

     Salman said, “When I saw the seal of Prophet Hood on his back, I fell down and I prostrated myself to Muhammed (saw). I started kissing his feet and I was crying. Rusool Allah (saw) immediately told me to stand up.” Rusool Allah (saw) did not accept prostration for him. Rusool Allah (saw) then told Salman to tell him (saw) his story. Salman Farsi narrated his story to Muhammed (saw). Salman Farsi said, “Rusool Allah (saw) told me, ‘I want you to narrate this same story to my companions.’” The story of a man who was searching for the truth. Salman Farsi said, “I narrated my story to them just like I am narrating to you Ibn Abbas.” Salman Farsi said, “Because I was a slave, I ended up missing the Battle of Badr, and the Battle of Uhud. And then Rusool Allah (saw) told me one day, ‘Oh Salman, free yourself from slavery’” Mukaatuba was a deal between the slave and the master, that the slave would work a certain time and generate a certain income and ransom themselves. Salman Farsi went to his owner and said that he wanted to be free. His owner told him, “You have to plant for me 300 palm trees and they all have to survive, and you pay me 40 ounces of gold.”

     So Salman went to Rusool Allah (saw) and told him (saw) about the demand. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Don’t worry.” Then Rusool Allah (saw) gathered the sahabah and told them, “help your brother.” Salman Farsi said, “Some of them would bring 30 seedlings of palm trees, some of them bring 20, some 15, everyone would bring as much as they can, until I had 300 seedlings.” Rusool Allah (saw) told him, “When you collect the 300 seedlings, go and dig the holes for them, do not plant them, come and tell me first.” So Salman Farsi dug the holes and then told Rusool Allah (saw). Salman said, “Rusool Allah (saw) by himself would go and carry the seedlings and plant them one by one with his own blessed hands. None of those 300 palm trees died.”

      Now Salman Farsi had to pay forty ounces of gold, and he had no clue how he was going to pay. Later on, one day a small amount of gold was given to Rusool Allah (saw). The messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Where is your Persian brother?” So they went to call Salman Farsi. Rusool Allah (saw) said to Salman, “take this gold and free yourself.” Salman Farsi said, “Oh Rusool Allah (saw) what would this do?” The amount of gold was insufficient. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Take it, and it will be enough.” Salman Farsi said, “I weighed, and it turned out to be 40 ounces exactly. Then I was free and I never missed anything with Rusool Allah (saw) after that.”

     The first battle in which he participated was Al-Khandaq. He was the one who came up with the idea of the trench.

Lessons

  Who is the first man Salman Farsi ended up studying with? The Bishop of Syria. Salman Farsi said about him, “So I joined him, but he was an evil man, demanding alms from his people and whatever they collected he would store away for himself and not give to the poor. Eventually he had gathered seven jars of gold and silver. I hated him mightily, for what I saw him doing.” Here you have a person who was in search for the truth, and he ends up meeting a person who has all the qualifications of turning him away from islam. But the zeal of Salman Farsi was very strong. Nowadays we find our actions as Muslims to be the reason why people turn away from Islam. That is true to a certain extent, but if somebody is sincere in finding the truth, they should realize that the people are not necessarily representing the truth.

     Salman Farsi did not reject Christianity because the man he met was such a corrupt person. He instead stuck with him and further went in search of truth. Allah later rewarded Salman for his steadfastness. Salman ended up studying with the best man he had ever met. He said, “Then they brought another man to take his place, and I never saw a man who did not attend the five prayers, who was better than he…” What Salman Farsi meant was this was the best man Salman had ever seen before meeting the Muslims.

We learn things from this, Allah says in Surah Muhammed (47:17)

And those who are guided - He increases them in guidance and gives them their righteousness.

1.       So the only the ones who are in search of guidance will get it. But  you have to put in some effort, and when you do, the reward from Allah is much greater than what you put in. If you walk towards Allah, Allah will run towards you, but you have to take that first step. Salman Farsi was eventually guided by Allah, even though he was at a land that was hundreds of miles away.

2.       We shouldn’t let anybody make us feel down because they are not doing the right thing. That has nothing to do with the religion. Salman Farsi realised that, that is why he didn’t lose hope or start doubting the religion just because of one corrupt bishop. There were remnants of true believers before Rusool Allah (saw), but they were dying without leaving anyone behind. That is why the world was thirsty for the message of Muhammed (saw).

3.       The Muslim community must be supportive of its new members. Muhammed (saw) himself helped and asked the Sahabah (ra ) to help Salman Farsi. Muslims have a duty to take care of the needs of the new muslims, many times these needs are financial. This is also part of da’wah, because da’wah is not only free words, but also that you should be responsible for the new comers. Notice that many new Muslims were people who were in need, like Bilal (ra) was freed by Abu Bakr (ra). Many early muslims were slaves, who were in need of great help. Such people are in need of support in their initial stages and the risk is that if they don’t get help in these critical stages they could apostate. There is a study done in America, which says that quite a significant number of reverts, end up leaving Islam. They are kicked out from their families, their social life, so they are in need of social belongings.

     Rusool Allah (saw) said: Do the good deeds before several things happen, and one of them is ‘poverty that will make you forget.’ If a person is walking around with an empty stomach, the last thing he will think about is spirituality and knowledge. These are things that are part of the program of da’wah.

CD 7

The Glad Tidings of the Muhammed (saw) before his Prophet Hood

     There is a hadith by Ibn Ishaq, narrated by Salama bin Waqsh, he said, “We had a Jewish neighbor from Banu Abdul Ashhal and he came out of his house one day to us. At that time I was the youngest of my household, I was wearing a fur gown I had and I was lyinig in it in the courtyard of my family’s house. The Jew talked about the Resurrection, Day of Judgment, the reckoning, the scales, Paradise and Hell-fire. This he told to polytheists, idolaters who did not believe in life after death. They replied, ‘common now, you really think people can be sent after their death to a place where there is Paradise and hell, where they will be punished for their deeds?’, ‘Yes indeed, by Him by Whom oaths are sworn anyone going into that fire will prefer being placed in the hottest oven in the house and having it covered over him, and he being let out of it, the next day.’

     They asked, ‘Good Gracious what proof is there?’ He said, ‘A prophet is being sent from the hereabouts in these lands’, and he gestured over towards Mecca and Yemen. ‘When will we see him?’ They inquired, he looked over at me, I being the youngest one there, and he said, ‘If this lad lives through a normal lifespan, he’ll live through this time.’” Salama went on to say, “And a day and a night had scarcely passed, thereafter until God send the Messenger of Allah, who lived among us, and so we believed in him (saw). But he the Jew disbelieved in him (saw), out of evil and envy.” So this Jewish man who was well versed and he knew that there was a Prophet coming from the direction of Mecca, he was aware of Hell and Heaven and he knew that the time for the arrival of the Prophet was very near. However when the Prophet was sent, this man refused to follow him.

     There are many narrations similar to this attitude of the Jews. Many Jews knew about the coming of the Prophet, in fact many Jews were there in Medina, because they were expecting the arrival of the Prophet. When the Arabs of Medina would dispute; the Jews would tell the tribes of Aus and Khazraj that: one day there is going to be a Prophet sent among us and when that happens, we are going to kill you like the people of Ad were killed.

     SubhanAllah this turned out to be a preparation of Aus and Khazraj of the coming of the prophet by the Jews. When Aus and Khazraj met Muhammad (saw) in Mecca, they immediately believed, because they knew that this was the person they Jews use to talk about. In fact after their meeting, they went back to their tents and said, “This is the man, the Jews have been threatening us with, let’s follow him first.” This means, before the Jews accept Islam and attack them. So they were kind of in a hurry to believe. The Jews refused to follow Mohammed (saw).

      There are some glad tidings of Muhammed (saw) in the present day Bible. Obviously the Bible went through series of developments and changes, so not all of the glad tidings that were there exist, but still there is a significant number that are there, which are a sufficient indication.

     In the Book of Deuteronomy (18:18): I God will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee (Moses), and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

      This Prophecy fits Muhammed (saw) like a glove, and it fits no one else. Allah is saying that He will send a prophet like Moses. Now who was the Prophet that resembles Moses the Moses? Christians claim that this is talking about Jesus. Let’s see.

1. Moses had parents, Muhammed (saw) had parents, while Isa only had a mother
2. Moses and Muhammed (saw) had children, while Isa never had children.
3. Moses was born in a natural way, Muhammed (Saw) was born in a natural way, but the birth of Isa (as) was a miracle.
4. Moses and Muhammed (saw) were accepted by their nations, while Isa was rejected. It says in the Bible: He Jesus, came unto his own, but his own received him not
5. Moses and Muhammed (saw) were kings or rulers on Earth, they had the power to inflict capital punishment. We know in our shari’a that only the sultan can enforce the hudood. It cannot be enforced by a scholar or any other Muslim. Both Muhammed (saw) and Musa (as) had power. But when a case of a crime was brought to isa (as), he refused to inflict punishment, he said, John (18:36)“My kingdom is not of this world.”
6. Muhammed (saw) came with a new law, the law of Quran. Musa (as ) came with new law and that is law of the Torah, while Isa (as) came to follow the law of Musa (as). He says:, “ I came to follow the law, dot by dot, dot by dot, letter by letter.” He also said in Mathew (5:17-18): “Seek not that I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill, for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one title shall in no wise pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
7. Musa (as ) has lead his people for hijrah in a mass exodus out of Egypt to the holy land, Muhammed (saw) too has made his people do hijrah, and Isa (as) has never made hijrah. One of the most important events in the history of Rusool Allah (saw) was hijrah; it was the beginning of our calendar, which was when we start counting history from. The hijrah of the Jews out of Egypt is also a very important event; in fact many of their celebrations are based on the hijrah.
8. Both Musa (as) and Muhammed (saw) were victorious against their enemies. Moses won against Pharaoh, and Muhammed (saw) won against those who fought him. Isa (as) had never won in the worldly sense, in fact the Christians believe that he was killed.
9. Musa (as) and Muhammed (saw) died a natural death, the Christian belief that Jesus was killed, while Muslims believe that Isa (as) was elevated, but either way it was not a natural death.
10. Musa (as) and Muhammed (saw) are buried in the ground. While the Christians believe Jesus was buried and then resurrected, while the Muslims believe he was never buried to start with.
11. We can use a belief of the Christians to prove them wrong, They Christians believe that Isa (as) was like Moses (as) and they also claim that Isa (as) is god, so how can a prophet and god be like each other? While the Muslims say Muhammed (saw) was a prophet.
12. Muhammed (saw) became a prophet at the age of 40, and the Bible states that Moses (as) became a prophet at the age of 40. The Bible states that Isa (as) became a prophet at the age of 30.
13. Christians claim that Jesus was resurrected after his death, while none of the followers of Muhammed (saw) and of Moses (as) believed that they were resurrected.

  Therefore Muhammed (saw) was like Moses (as). No one after Moses (as) resembled him more than Muhammed (saw).  Now we have determined that this prophecy of Moses (as) did not apply to Isa (as). Could it be referring to someone else from the jews? Since Moses (as) was talking to the Jews. No it cannot be anyone from the Jews. It says in the Book of Deuteronomy (34:10): And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses

     This statement makes it clear that no one from Bani Israel will be similar to Moses (as). None of the prophets of Bani Israel were comparable to Moses. So who is it? The prophecy says, ‘prophet from among their brethren... ’, so in the prophecy itself it excludes the Jews. The brethren of the Jews are the Arabs, the Children of Ismael. The prophecy goes on to say, ‘and will put my words in his mouth…’ , in other words this prophet will not be speaking of his own, but he will be speaking the words that will be put in his mouth. This exactly fits the situation of Muhammed (saw). Allah says in SURAH AN-NAJM (53:3)

Nor does he speak from (his own) inclination

  Muhammed (saw) spoke the words which were put in his mouth by Allah via Jibrael (as). The bible is different, Christians claim that the Bible was inspired by God, but the words are the words of men. They admit that the Bible has many authors; the books are named after these authors.

     The final part of the prophecy states that, “and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”  Meaning he will not withhold any information. Allah says in the Quran in SURAH AL-MAIDAH (5:67)

O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. Indeed, Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.

     So if Muhammed (saw) had withheld even one word from the people, then Muhammed (saw) would not have fulfilled his role. He (saw) delivered everything he received, even if the verse was criticizing an action of his, like for example in SURAH ABASA when Rusool Allah (saw) ingnored a blind man while he was talking to a noble man of the Quraish.

The Prophet frowned and turned away

Another example of such a verse was in SURAH AT-TAHREM (66:1)

Prophet, why do you prohibit [yourself from] what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

We find another prophecy in ISIAH (29:11-18)

     Section of these verses says, “And the book is delivered to him that is not learnt, saying‘read this’ and he says, ‘I am not leared…’” This is obviously talking about Muhammed (saw). Muhammed (saw) was unlettered, and he gave the exact same response to Jibrael (as) in his first encounter with revelation. The Bible talks about the major events of the life of the last Prophet, and this indeed was a major event of the life of Muhammed (saw).

     Going back to the prophecy, the first verses revealed in the Quran were in SURAH AL-ALAQ (96:1)

 Recite in the name of your Lord who created -Created man from a clinging substance.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous –

Who taught by the pen

Taught man that which he knew not

     What is more interesting is that, if you go back to the original language, Hebrew, of the bible, the word ‘read’ is ‘qara’.  So it is the exact same word as Arabic. The prophecy continues… before the time of this man who will receive the book (Muhammed saw), the people would be forsaking the words of God for ‘the precept of men.’ That is exactly what happened, Jesus (pbuh) came to confirm the religion of Musa (as) and then they had St. Paul coming in and telling the people other wise. Jesus (pbuh) told the people to circumcise, Paul says that you don’t have to circumcise. Jesus says, ‘I came to fulfill the law letter by letter, dot by dot, word by word.’ Paul said no you do not have to fulfill the law. So they left the law of God, for the law of man, this was the fulfillment of the prophecy.

     This hjirah also mentioned in the Bible in Book of Habakkuk (3:3): “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.”

     So it mentions two locations ‘Teman’ and ‘Paran’. Teman is according to the Hasting’s dictionary of the Bible, is an oasis just north of Medina. So Teman stands for Medina. Paran is the main of Mecca, this is because the Bible says Hajar and Ismael were left in Paran, and obviously we know that Hajar and Ismael were left in Mecca.

    This means that the verse is saying God came from Medina, and the Holy one coming from Mount Paran, which is Mecca. Where did Islam spread from? Islam spread from Medina not Mecca. When Rusool Allah (saw) was making dawah in Mecca, Islam was contained, the Muslims were very few. Rusool Allah (saw) left Mecca because of the restrictions there; he wasn’t able to spread Islam. So God came from Teman, means the guidance of Allah came from Medina.

     The verse says, the Holy one came from Paran, the Holy one is Muhammed (saw), who came from Mecca. Then it says, his glory covered the heavens and the Earth was full of his praise. Muhammed’s (saw) name means praise, and the earth today is full of his praise, this cannot fit anyone more than Muhammad (saw), because no person in history is praised as much as Muhammed (saw) is praised. So this prophecy fits Muhammed (saw) perfectly. Muhammed (saw) made hijrah to Medina, and that is from where Islam spread and the world is full of his (saw) praise.

 In Book of Deuteronomy (18:21): “And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?”

     So here the Bible is giving the test to know whether a man is speaking on behalf from God or not. It tells how to distinguish a liar from one who is telling the truth. It goes on to say…

(18:22): “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

     If a prophet says something and claims that this is coming from Allah, and that statement does not come true, then those words are not spoken by the Prophet, therefore everything a prophet says will happen.  We find many scientific verses in the Quran which are proved to be true by modern science. This shows the truth of Al-Quran. There might have been scientific verses in the books prior to the Quran which proved to be correct but you would also find errors in other verses of those books. This is because they are written by man. Quran has not error, no contradictions.

In Book of Isaiah (21:7): “And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed”

     Christians say that the ‘chariot of asses’ is Isa (as) because he was the one who would ride a donkey. Who was the prophet, who would ride a camel? Is there any other Prophet, who was known to ride a camel other than Muhammed (saw)? This is a prophecy that is talking about Jesus (as) and Muhammed (saw). It continues to say…

Isaiah (21:9): “And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.”

     Where is Babylon? In present day Iraq, the prophecy is saying that this army will destroy all the false gods of Babylon and will erase all of the images therein. Which army would go into Iraq? The only army which fits this description is the army of Umer bin Khattab (ra) that was sent to Iraq and they had eliminated the false gods therein. Another fulfilled prophecy.

Hijrah mentioned in Isaiah (21:14): “The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.”

(21:15): “For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.”

     Muhammd (saw) and other Muslims made hijrah and the Ansar supported them with their bread. This verse is talking about the brotherhood of the muhajireen and theAnsar.

Book of Isaiah (21:16): “For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail”

Isaiah (21:17): “And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it.”

     Who is Kedar? Let’s let the Bible speak for itself. It states in Genesis (25:13) : And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam

     So Kedar is one of the sons of Ismael (as), in the bible when it talks about the princes of Kedar, it talks about the arabs. The people of Quraish are descendants of Kedar. Let’s go back to the prophecy Isaiah (21:16-17). What is the prophecy talking about? We just spoke about hijrah in verses Isaiah (21:14-15). What is the event that happened one year after hijrah? Notice it says that the glory of Kedar will fail. Meaning the Quraish and the residue of archers will be killed, or killed. This is referring to the Battle of Badr. The battle of Badr occurred in the second year of hijrah. In the battle of badr, all of the most brutal leaders of Quraish were killed; Abu Jahl, Umayya bin Khalaf, Uqba bin Abi Muaith and more.

Isaiah (11:1) There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
                     And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

          (11:2) The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
                     The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
                     The Spirit of counsel and might,
                     The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

     Who is Jesse? According to the biblical encyclopedia: “Jesse is Ismael, the changes which proper names undergo in the mouths of small children account of a large number of these particular abbreviations.”

     For example, who could guess that the names; Bob and Dick arose out of Robert and Richard? Anyway Jesse stands for Ismael. So if we read the two verses by replacing Ismael with Jesse, then this prophecy would fit perfectly for none other than Muhammed (saw).

Deuteronomy (33:1)                    

  Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

(33:2) And he said:

      “The LORD came from Sinai,
      And dawned on them from Seir;
      He shone forth from Mount Paran,
      And He came with ten thousands of saints;
      From His right hand
      Came a fiery law for them…”

     So now Musa (as) is speaking to the children of Israel before his death, he is giving them a prophecy. He’s saying that the Lord came from Sinai. Sinai is where the message of Musa came from. So this is referring to himself. Seir is for the message of Isa, Seir is this place of mountains in Palestine. Where Isa (as0 lived, Mount Paran is Mecca, so it is talking about Muhammed (saw). This is is similar to Surah AT-TIN (95:1-4)

By the fig and the olive : A tin is figs, figs is associated with Palestine, and olive is referring to Musa (as) and Isa (as).

And [by] Mount Sinai: This is again referring to the message of Musa (as) and Isa (as).

And [by] this secure city [Makkah], : The city of Mecca, meaning Muhammed (saw).

We have certainly created man in the best of stature;

     With this prophecy Musa (as) is talking about his message which was the beginning of dawah and how Isa (as) will carry it further. But then it will ‘shone forth’, meaning rise from Mecca. The fulfillment of this message will be from Mecca. It goes on to say, ‘And He came with ten thousands of saints’, who are these 10,000 saints? They are As Sahabah (ra), when they opened Mecca. Fath e Mecca was done by 10,000 of Rusool Allah’s (saw) companions.  ‘Right Hand’ stands for truth, justice, and strength, so the prophecy states that: “From His right hand Came a fiery law for them…”

Rusool Allah (saw) is also referred to as the ‘Comforter’ in the Bible

In John (16:7-16), it states

7. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

 8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

 9. Of sin, because they believe not on me;

 10. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

 11. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

 12. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

 13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

 14. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

 15. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

 16. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

These were some of the places in the bible which talk about Muhammed (saw).

CD 8

      Rusool Allah (Saw)  used to spend long periods of time in ghar e hira, one day he was visited by the angel Jibrael (as). Jibrael (as) came to Muhammad (saw) in his angelic form and not in the form of a man as he did at times.  In the hadith of Jibrael (as) narrated by Umer bin Khattab, he says, “A man with very dark hair and very bright white clothes and we didn’t even see any traces of travel on him.” So he has come in the form of a man but in this particular situation Jibrael (as) came in the form of an angel, and that happened twice.

     Jibrael (as) came to Muhammad (saw) and told him, “Iqra” … recite. The word iqra has two meanings, one of them is read and the other is recite. In this situation it means ‘recite’.  Muhammad (saw) responded and said, “I cannot read”. Jibrael (as) grabbed Muhammed (saw) and squeezed him and then he released Muhammad (saw) and said, “Iqra”. Muhammad (saw) responded again, “I cannot read”. So Jibrael (as) held him a second time and pressed him hard again and said “Iqra”. This happened three times until Jibrael (as) eventually recited the first verses of the Quran, Surah Al-Alaq [96:1,2,3,4,5]

Recite in the name of your Lord who created (1) Created man from a clinging substance(2) Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous (3)-Who taught by the pen (4)Taught man that which he knew not(5)      

     This was the first encounter between Rusool Allah (saw) and angel Jibrael (as). The messenger of Allah was terrified by that incident. He went back home and he immediately went to his wife Khadija and said, “Wrap me in a garment! Wrap me in a garment!” Rusool Allah (saw) was shivering, he was feeling cold so he was asking his wife to wrap him up. Rusool Allah (saw) was afraid because of what happened, also because Rusool Allah (saw) disliked anything that had to do with gin and spirits or sorcery.  He was afraid that what happened to him is similar to what happens to sorcerers. Muhammad (saw) explained the incident to his wife, Khadija (ra). She responded and said, “No, Allah (swt) will never forsake you, because of your righteousness; you support the needy, you help the poor, you are generous towards the guests. What happened to you cannot be from satan.” Thus because of the prior conduct of Muhammad (saw), Khadija (ra) knew that Allah (swt) would protect him.

     Then Khadija (ra) took Rusool Allah (saw) to her uncle and in some narrations it is her cousin, Waraqa bin Nufail. Waraqa was a man who became Christian, he was a lettered person, and he had scrolls from the Bible from which he would study. Waraqa asked Muhammad (saw) to narrate the entire event. Waraqa responded and said that, “This is the Greatest Angel, Jibrael, who descended on Musa.” Waraqa bin Nufail immediately knew that this is the angel Jibrael and that he had revealed on to Muhammad (saw) a revelation similar to what was given to Musa (as). And we can see that Waraqa made a coalition to Muhammad (saw) and Musa (as), back to what we were saying. And then Waraqa bin Nufail said something interesting, he said, “And I wish that I was young, when your people will drive you out of your land.” This was a surprise to Rusool Allah (saw), he said, “They will drive me out of my land? How could that happen?” Rusool Allah (saw) had every right to question what Waraqa was saying because Muhammad (saw) was the most beloved and admired man in Mecca. Muhammad (saw) belonged to the noblest family in Mecca, Banu Hashim, he was in no quarrels with the people to give them any reason to drive him out of Mecca and lastly the kind of culture he was living in, it was unacceptable to drive someone out of his own land. In the tribal societies, the only way to survive in the harsh environment of the desert was to hold on together, hence there was extremely loyalty within the tribes.

     Anyway Waraqa bin Nufail responded to Rusool Allah (saw), he said, “Anyone who has presented to his people with something similar to this, they would drive him out of his land, they would take him as an enemy.” Waraqa was a wise man who studied history; he knew exactly what happens when truth and falsehood collide. He knew that even though Muhammad (saw) was admired by his people, but because he will call them to Islam, this is what will happen to him. What Waraqa bin Nufail said turned out to be true. These words of Waraqa were an early warning to Muhammad (saw), for what was coming ahead; that it will not be easy…

   We talked about the first verses of the Quran and that the first words given to Muhammad (saw) was ‘iqra’. What does that mean for us? It means that the Muslims… we are an ummah that reads, studies, an ummah that learns. This one word had changed an entire illiterate society and made them the scholars of the world. At that time the followers of Muhammad (saw) were illiterate but these words inspired them to learn, and within a very short time the Muslim ummah became the most educated, scholarly nation on the face of the earth. The number of scholars that this ummah has produced is unsurpassed. When you look at the quality of these scholars, you find uniqueness; they don’t resemble the scholars from any other nation.

  Take for example the memory of Al-Bukhari; his ability to memorize over a quarter of a million hadith, or Shafi who  said that when I open a book I have to cover one page, because I memorize everything and I don’t want the information on the two pages to mix; photographic memory. Or the scholar Al-Wafa bin Aqeel, who wrote an encyclopedia of 300 volumes. Unfortunately it didn’t survive; the original copy was in the library of Baghdad which was sacked. It was the power of the word ‘iqra’ which brought this change in the ummah.

    Now with Rusool Allah (saw) the situation was different. Rusool Allah (saw) did not learn how to read and write. For him the word meant ‘recite’… to recite and repeat the words of Allah (swt), for us it means that we have to learn how to read and write. Why? Because Allah (swt) wanted to Rusool Allah (saw) to be illiterate, it was part of the decree of Allah Zaujal. Allah (swt) says in Surah Ankabut (29:48)

And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt.

  So Allah (swt) says that Muhammad saw did not learn any scripture before Quran, and he did not have the ability to read and write. So Rusool Allah (saw) was illiterate. Now why would Muhammad (saw) have to learn to read and write after Islam, what purpose would it serve? For us reading is our key to knowledge, but Muhammad (saw) was being taught by Jibrael (as). There is nothing that books would offer Rusool Allah (Saw) when he is receiving the knowledge directly from Allah. So ‘iqra’ means ‘recite’ in his case, but for us it means ‘read’. Allah makes a promise is Surah Qalam:

Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe,

  When Allah (swt) makes an oath of something that means it is important. So Allah made an oath in the name of the pen, and it is mentioned that in the battle of Badr, the unbelievers who were the prisoners of war were offered freedom if they taught ten believers how to read and write, so that was the importance that Islam gave to knowledge. We are an ummah of knowledge, scholarships but unfortunately today we are lagging behind in our duty. If we don’t have an interest in studying then the least we can do is to make sure that our children don’t inherit this. There was a study done on children who love to read and those who don’t, they were trying to find the difference in upbringing between them to find out why some love to read and some don’t. They found some common characteristics among the children who love to read, they are ;

1 There parents are people who love reading. The early years of development in the child is the process of imitation, so when the child sees his parent with a book he/she will automatically start playing with books and magazines even though he/she isn’t able to read yet. The child would love to imitate. So in your house infront of your children you should read, so you can give them a good example.

2 They grow up in a print rich environment, a house which has many books, or a library. So they have access to book.

3 They have their own a library.

4 There parents will often take them to bookstores

                      

5 These are children who watch little or no tv

  These are some useful tips for parents. Now we’ve been talking about developing the skill of reading, however this doesn’t mean you read everything. There are some forms of reading which might be harmful in the early stages of development. Once in the early days of Medina Rusool Allah (saw) saw Umer bin Khattab reading some scrolls of Torah. Rusool Allah (saw) became so angry that his face became red and he (saw) criticized Umer bin Khattab (ra) for reading from the Torah, but that wasn’t a permanent ban. It was only in the early years until the Muslims developed solid foundation, and then later on that order was abrogated. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “I have prohibited you from reading the stories of Bani Israel but now I am allowing you to read it however don’t believe in it, and don’t disbelieve in it.” In other words there might be many statements which have no verification via the Quran or hadith then we should not believe in it or reject it.

  In any curriculum you need to burden the student only as much as it can absorb. Rusool Allah (saw) knew that Torah would be detrimental for their early education process. Ibn Masood (ra) says “if you speak to the people something they cannot comprehend, it might be a fitna for some of them.” So not any type of reading is beneficial, we should waste our time and energy on comics or fiction books. In Islam we know that some knowledge is beneficial and some isn’t. Rusool Allah (saw) would often make the dua, “Oh Allah indeed I ask you for beneficial knowledge, and I seek refuge in You from knowledge that doesn’t.”

  We also know this from Surah Baqarah, when the two angels came down to teach the people magic; Harut wa Marut. The angels were teaching them magic. So this was about the first verses revealed to Muhammad (saw).

  Ibn ul Qayyam talks about the types of revelations. Ibn ul Qayyam is a fascinating scholar, he was the most famous of the students of Ibn Thamiya. Ibn ul Qayyam says that the first category of revelation is the period of true vision. This was the way Muhammad (saw) started receiving revelation. For six months before receiving the revelation, Rusool Allah (saw) used to frequently see dreams. He (saw) would see a dream in the nighttime and he (saw) would see the fulfillment of the dream during the day time. This went on for six months!

FIRST TYPE OF REVELATION

  Rusool Allah (Saw) says about dreams that the true dream is one out of 46 parts of Prophet hood. Rusool Allah (saw) saw these dreams for 6 months, and Rusool Allah (saw) Prophet hood was for 23 years. The ratio of 6 months to 23years is 1:46.  Dream is something even the believer could see not only the Prophets, but the difference is that in the case of the Prophets, dreams are a form of revelation. With us, Rusool Allah (saw) told us that we have three types of dreams;

1.       A true dream- this is a dream that will occur as it was seen, or it will be interpreted.\

2.       Dream from Shaita – Rusool Allah (saw) says, “it is a dream from Shaitan and he wants to inflict harm on you.”  Rusool Allah (saw) says, “If you ever see such a dream then seek refuge in Allah from Shaitan and don’t tell that dream to anyone.” Why? Because that is what Shaitan wants to happen, he wants us to get worried and roam around telling people. Rusool Allah (saw) told us to not tell anyone, and forget about it.

3.       You think about something in the daytime and you dream about it at night – So its something that we think of frequently then we dream of it.

SECOND TYPE OF REVELATION

  It is when the angels inspire Rusool Allah (saw) but Jibrael does not appear in front of Muhammad (saw). An example of this is when Rusool (saw) said, “The noble spirit (Jibrael) revealed to me, ‘no sole will perish until it exhausts its due course, so fear Allah and gently request Him, never get so impatient to the words of disobedience of Allah. What Allah has can never be acquired through obedience to Him.’”

THIRD TYPE OF REVELATION

  This is when the angel appeared in front of Muhammad (saw) in the physical form of a human being. The example of this would be hadith Jibrael. When Jibrael (as) came in the form of a man. He (as) was seen by Muhammad (saw) and the other companions.

FOURTH TYPE OF REVELATION:

  Angel came to him like the tall of a bell and this was the most difficult form because the angel used to seize Muhammad (Saw) tightly, making him sweat even on the coldest day. Jibrael (as) would descend on Muhammad (Saw) thus was making him feel the weight. Muhammad (Saw) would hear the voice of a ringing bell, and that might be the vibration of the wings of Jibrael (as). There is this hadith that says, “When Allah swt reveals His command, the angels have got so much khushoo, they start shaking their wings, and the sound of the moving of the wings is like dragging a chain over a rock bed.”

 

  When Jibrael would come to Rusool (saw) in this form, the weight of Muhammad (saw) would increase. And if Muhammad (saw) is riding a camel at that time then the camel would be forced to get down on its knees because of the extreme weight. Zaid ibn Haritha said, “I felt the weight of the knee of Rusool Allah (saw) which was almost going to crush my thigh.” What actually is so heavy, are the words of Quran.

FIFTH TYPE OF REVELATION

  When the angel appeared in its original form, this happened twice and is mentioned in Surah Najm (53:13)(53:14)

  And he certainly saw him in another descent (13)  At the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary (14)

  Jibrael (as) in his original form had wings that would cover the horizon, infact Rusool Allah (saw) said that, “Where ever he would look, he would see the wings of Jibrael in front of him.”

FINAL TYPE OF REVELATION

  Allah (swt) would speak to Muhammad (saw) directly, with out any intermediary. This occurred in AL-Mairaj. This was the same type that used to happen with Musa (as). So these were the types of revelation.

  Rusool Allah (saw) was initially instructed to keep the message private; he was only to invite his very close associates. The first person to believe was Khadija (ra). Lets talk about Khadija (ra). What made her special? How come she was one of the greatest women who ever lived? Was it her career? Her Knowledge? What made her among the four greatest women; Khadija (ra), Fatima (ra), Mariam (ra), and Asiya (ra)?

  The things that are common between all these women:

1.         All of the four had a solid spiritual heart, their emaan was powerful. Their faith in Allah reached the level of conviction. They reached such a state where nothing can bring doubt to the heart. Their hearts had absorbed emaan to a level where it makes their emaan unshakeable. They had more yaqeen in what they believed rather than what they saw or heard.

  For example Asiya (ra), the wife of Pharaoh had all what a worldly lady would want; wealth, servants, power, a rich and popular husband. She was willing to give up all of this for the sake of Allah. Allah (swt) had given her the best place to live on Earth, but she said that she wants a house in Jannah! Surah At-Tahrem (66:11)

And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."

  Asiya (ra) did not want the wealth of this World. She also did not want anything to did with Pharaoh and his deeds. This showed the depth of her faith. Now keeping in mind that Asiya (ra) was living in a very evil and corrupt environment, nevertheless she was able to overcome all of her surroundings and attach her heart to Allah. We can say the same about the rest of the women.

2.         The second thing common in all four is that all of them were either good wives or good mothers. This is something that might not be taken well by feminists. These four great women were not great because of their activism, career, or their knowledge. Asiya (ra) and Mariam (ra) both raised up two of the greatest Anbiya of Allah Musa (as) and Isa (as) respectively.  Khadija (ra) was outstanding because of her support for her husband, Muhammad (Saw). It wasn’t because she was a business woman, rather because she was an excellent wife who supported her husband whenever he needed her.

                   Fatima (ra) was an exceptional wife too. To give an example; Ali bin Abi Talib heard that Rusool Allah(saw) received some servants, so he and his wife decided that they will ask Rusool (saw) for one servant, because of the tough time that Fatima (ra) went through working at home. When they reached Rusool Allah (saw) wasn’t there so they spoke to Aisha (ra), and told her their purpose of coming. They told her of the hardship Fatima (ra) was suffering from work. Rusool Allah (saw) was told by Aisha (ra) so he (saw) went to the house of Ali and Fatima. Ali bin Abi Talib narrated this hadith and he said that, “Rusool Allah (saw) came in and we were already in our bed. As soon as we saw Rusool Allah (Saw) we stood up. Rusool Allah (saw) said, ‘remain where you are’ (so they remained lying down). Rusool Allah (saw) came and he sat between me and Fatima, so he was touching both of us, in our bed.” Rusool Allah (saw) loved Fatima (ra) so much that he once said, “Fatima is part of me, what hurts her, hurts me. And what pleases her, pleases me.” This was his only surviving child, and he loved her dearly, he (saw) wanted the best for his daughter. Rusool Allah (saw) had the ability to give them a servant, but did he do that?

                  Rusool Allah (saw) said, “I have something better for you than a servant, before you go to bed, say ‘SubhanAllah’ 33 times, Alhumdulillah 33 times, and Allah u Akbar 33 times. That is better for you than a servant.” Rusool Allah (saw) knew she was the daughter of the best of the best. He (saw) knew that Fatima (ra) used to work till her hands became harsh, and the skin on her hands became harsh, nevertheless he preferred to give her this tasbeeh as a gift.

  Ali bin Abi Talib later said that, ‘Fatima was working so hard, she was using the stone mill until her hands became harsh and rough. She was drawing water out of the well until it left marks on her neck, she would clean the house until her clothes became dirty, and she was cooking until it affected her face.’ This was the daughter of the greatest man that ever lived. This is what made her among the four greatest women. In terms of knowledge Aisha (ra) was superior than Khadija (ra) and Fatima (ra), nevertheless Aisha (ra) does not have the same level as Fatima and Khadija (ra).

  So Khadija (ra) was the first to believe, and she supported Muhammad (saw) till her last breath. The first slave to become Muslim was Zaid bin Haritha, the first child to become Muslim was Ali bin Abi Talib, and the first free man to become Muslim was Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra). Now there is an old discussion among scholars on who was the first man to become Muslim, some say Abu Bakr (ra) and some would say Ali bin Abi Talib. Ibn Hajar al-Askalani tries to resolve the dispute. He says that the first to accept Islam was Abu Bakr (ra) because Ali bin Abi Talib was never a non-muslim to become a Muslim, he never embraced the religion of people of Mecca, since he was brought up in the house of Prophet hood. Anyhow, let us continue,

  Abu Bakr was more beneficial than the people mentioned above because he was a wealthy and a highly respected chief of the Quraish, He was admired for spending his wealth fi sabilillah. Abu Bakr was a prominent member of the society who used all of his resources for the benefit of Islam. He used all of his wealth, knowledge, sources, for the service of Muhammad (saw). He proved to be a missionary for Islam. That is why he was called ‘Siddiq’, he was the first to believe. Siddiq means the one who believed, people rejected Rusool Allah (saw), Abu Bakr accepted him. It was said that everyone hesitated accepting Islam except Abu Bakr, as soon as it was presented to him, he accepted it. He never gave a second thought about Islam, he was the one who came with all of his wealth, he was the first free man to believe in Muhammad (Saw), he was the one who first believed in Mairaj, he was the one who accompanied Rusool Allah (saw) in the difficult journey of AL-hijrah.

  There is a hadith talking about the loyalty of Muhammad (saw) to his earliest followers: Abu Darda narrates that: a feud happened between Abu Bakr and Umar. (These two were the advisors of Muhammad (saw) they were very close to him). Ali bin Abi Talib said, “I would see Rusool Allah (saw) enter with Abu Bakr and Umer, he would leave with Abu Bakr and Umer, he would sit with Abu Bakr and Umer, wherever we would see Rusool Allah (saw) we would see Abu Bakr on one side and Umer on the other.” These were his two advisors. But still Rusool Allah (saw) had special loyalty to the ones who were with him from the early days. So this dispute happened between Abu Bakr and Umer, Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Allah sent me to you and all of you said, ‘you lie’, except Abu Bakr who said, ‘you spoke the truth’, and he dedicated himself and his fortune to me, will you then leave this friend of mine to me? Will you then leave this friend of mine to me?”

  The early stage of dawah in secrecy was over with the verse: Ash-shuara (26:214)

And warn, [O Muْammad], your closest kindred.

  This verse was revealed to Muhammad (saw), and after this Muhammad (saw) went out and stood on Mountain of As-Safa and he called out, ‘wa subaha!’ Wa Subaha is like sounding the alarm, the sirens. This word is used for emergency, when the situation is very critical. So everyone who heard Rusool Allah (saw), ran towards the source of the voice and the ones who could not go sent people who would report back to them. When everyone gathered Rusool Allah (saw) asked them, “If I tell you that there is an army behind this mountain that is about to ambush you, would you believe me?” They said, “We have never heard you lie” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “I am here to warn you of a severe punishment that will befall you if you don’t believe.” These were the first words that Rusool Allah (saw) chose to tell the Quraish. This was very straight forward and to the point. Muhammad (saw) did that because Allah (swt) told the Anbiya that there duty is ‘balaagh mubeen’ meaning to convey the message plainly.

  This means that your message of Islam should not be confusing, altered, obscured, or sugar-coated. Unfortunately many times we make da’wa we confuse the listener, but Rusool Allah (saw) would not leave any doubts with the listener. The listener would know that if he believed there is Jannah and if they don’t then its Hell-fire.

  Anyway Rusool Allah (saw) called the people, and they came thinking it was something urgent and important (and it was.) Abu Lahab responded and said, “May evils befall the rest of your day, Is this why you called us?!” Abu Lahab was very upset, he was angry… Why? Because he had to come leaving his work during the official business hours listen to something unimportant according to him. For Abu Lahab leaving work for talk on after life, religion, and spirituality was a waste. He was thinking only materially, since he thought he could have made more money during that time. Abu Lahab was not the only one thinking that, he was speaking on behalf of a lot of people. People don’t want to waste time talking about religious matters; they only want to spend their time for things that will benefit them for this World. People are not willing to spend time to know what will save them in their after life. Allah swt revealed the surah Al-Masad (111:1-

                               May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he (1) His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained (2)

  Allah (swt) says that his wealth will do him no good. The people who rush after wealth in duniya, duniya will do them no good, if they don’t live it in the light of Islam. This surah is a miracle of the Quran, because it says that Abu Lahab and his wife are in hell-fire. These ayat were revealed when they were alive, if Abu Lahab and his wife wanted to prove the Quran wrong, they could have become Muslims, but they remained disbelievers till the day they died. This surah talks about an event that didn’t happen yet.

CD 9

THE REACTION PART 1

The first verses revealed to Muhammed (saw) were the verses of Surah Alaq (96:1-6)

     These were the first ayats that were revealed, after this  the revelation stopped for a while and the whole initial encounter of Rusool Allah (saw) with revelation and the pause after that was done to make Rusool Allah (saw) love and miss the descending of revelations.

     We mentioned that the manner in which the revelation came was that Rusool Allah (saw) was squeezed and the command would be repeated three times. So anyway Rusool Allah (saw) during the pause missed revelation so much, there is a narration in Bukhari that Rusool Allah (saw) missed the revelation so much that he would go to the top of the mountain an attempt suicide.

     The ayats that were revealed after Surah Alaq were ayats from Surah Muzzammil and Surah Muddassir. There is a difference in opinion on which was the first, but it is agreed upon that these were the second and third set of ayats, even though we don’t know which was second or third.

     These ayats formed the manual book for the da’ia, the one who is calling to Islam. We can summarise it in Iqra, Kum, Kum. These were the first ayat to train the early Muslims in da’wah.

Iqra:

Qum:

Qum:

     So you have ‘Iqra’, which is the command to recite and learn, then you have the second verse of Surah Muzzammil, which commands to pray at night, and lastly the second verse of Surah Muddaththir commands to stand up and warn. The first lesson is to learn, study, to gain knowledge in religion. The next step is to apply it to you, and then tell it to others. Ibn Al-Quyyum says, “You don’t attain the complete imaan, until you go through the stages of learning and teaching, and propagating the message of Allah zaujal.”

     So the first stage is ‘iqra’ only then you can teach ‘Qum fu undhir’. Now learning and warning or teaching needs something else to go along with it, and that is ‘ibaadah’. Forms of nawaafil that you do like ‘qiyaam ul-Layl’. Qiyamm ul’Layl was mandatory on all the early Muslims for a few years, and then that ayat was abrogated for everyone except Muhammad (saw), he had to pray Qiyam ul-Layl until he died. All these factors; learning, teaching, and worship complement each other. All three assist in building a complete Muslim personality.

     The work of propagating and teaching could be draining on the heart, so you have this element of ibaadah, where a person prays to Allah (swt) standing in the middle of the night. This ibaadah softens the heart of the da’I and prepares him/her for the rest of the day. Such things can also be said about ‘dhikr’. Ibn Al Quyyum talks about his Shaikh Ibn ul Qaymiah, he says, “Everyday after Salaah Fajr, he would go out to the fields in the outskirts of Damascus, and he would just sit there mentioning the name of Allah, making dhikr until sunrise. So we once asked him why he would do that on a daily basis so Ibn ul Qaymiah said, ‘this is my breakfast, if I don’t have it my body will fail me. This is food for my soul; it gives me energy for the day. If I don’t have my energy for the morning, I am going to be weak for the rest of my day.’

     Rusool Allah (saw) was strengthened by this ibaadah of Qiyam ul-Layl, and it was also Allah made this mandatory on the early Muslims, because of the unique circumstances they went through. The difficulties they faced were harsher than other person from the ummah had to face afterwards. That is why they had to go through this intensive training, plus they are the core group. The sahabah (ra) are the foundation on which Islam was built on, so they had to be very strong. This core group which is small in number; less than a hundred, who went through this training, but soon these people became so strong that wherever they were put they had an immediate influence on the people surrounding them. The Ansar became Muslims, on the last half of da’wah of Rusool Allah (saw), but because the muhajireen lived with them in the initial stage, the Ansar learned a lot by their company. So this bond of brotherhood that Muhammed (saw) created helped the Ansar on their religious aspect, while the ansar helped the muhajireen in the financial and social support that they needed. The muhajireen (ra) had this light in them that would eminate and affect the whole surroundings. WE should remember these three words; Iqra, Qum, and Qum.

     What was the response of the people of Quraish, to the da’wah of Rusool Allah (saw)?

They responded in various ways at different and stages, but these are the different responses that the people of Quraish showed to Muhammed (saw).

1. Mockery
2. Insulting and harming the Messenger (saw)
3. accusations or character assassinations
4. deforming or defaming the message
5. bargaining or negotiating with Rusool Allah (saw)
6. Temptations
7. Setting challenges
8. putting Muhammed (saw) under pressure
9. jealousy and hatred
10. persecution
11. assassination attempts

 Let’s begin with the first one. Allah (swt) says in Surah Al-Furqan (25:41)

And when they see you, [O Muhammad], they take you not except in ridicule, [saying], "Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a messenger?

1. So they would say that: Didn’t Allah have anyone better to send as a Messenger? They would make fun of Rusool Allah (saw) and mock him. Even though Rusool Allah (saw) belonged to the noblest family and he had the most outstanding character in Quraish, they made fun of him because he (saw) was not the wealthiest or most the powerful. People are attracted to the ones who wealth or the ones who have power. When the Bani Israel went to their Prophet (as) and said, ‘We want you to appoint a king over us, so that we could fight Jihad.’ The king appointed Talut, ads their leader. Bani Israel refused to accept him, because Talut wasn’t wealthy, and they thought there are people more prominent among them fit to be king.

     When Rasool (saw) went to At-Taif, one of the men told Muhammed (saw), “Didn’t Allah find someone better than you as a Prophet?” So they would mock Muhammed (saw).

2. People of Quraish would insult and harm Muhammed (saw). In Sahih Muslim, Abu Huraira narrates:

      Abu Jahl came to some of the leaders of The Quraish who were sitting next to Al-Kaaba and told them, ‘Are you allowing Muhammed to rub his face in the dirt? If I see him do that, I will trample over his neck and I will rub his face in the dirt.’ Muhammed (saw) did come and started to pray, so Abu Jahl started to go to fulfill his threat. So he walked upto Muhammed (saw), and Muhammed (saw) was in sujood. Suddenly they saw Abu Jahl falling back and he was waving with his hand, like someone was trying to oppose danger that was about to befall him. Abu Jahl came back and they asked what happened. He said, “What do you mean what happened? Didn’t you see what happened?” They said, ‘We didn’t, there was nothing, all what we saw is you falling on your back and waving your hands.’ Abu Jahl said, “There was a trench infront of me and there was fire and wind and terror.” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Those were the angels, if he would have ccome any closer to me, they would have torn him into pieces.”

     Uqba bin Abi Muit one day came to Rasool Allah (saw) next to Al-Kaaba, and he grabbed his clothes and started wrapping them around the neck of Rusool Allah (saw) trying to choke him. Abu Bakr (ra) stepped in and pushed Uqba bin Abi Muait away and he said, “Do you want to kill a man just because he says, ‘My Lord is Allah’?”

  Now some people don’t mind being hurt, insulted, or humiliated by others. They aren’t sensitive at all, but the anbiya of Allah were very sensitive, since they all had great dignity, and were respectable people. Rusool Allah (saw) used to get very hurt, but he would just ignore. He would not respond or fight, he would just go on with his work.

   Another incident narrated by Bukhari is that Rusool Allah (Saw) was praying next to Al-Kaaba, and Abu Jahl came to the leaders of Quraish who  were also sitting next to Al Kaaba. He told them, “So and so has slaughtered a camel, who will go and pick up the contents of the abdomen of the camel and dump it on Muhammad during salah?” The most evil among them Uqba bin Abi Muit, took the challenge, he went and grabbed the insides of the camel and came. He waited till Rusool Allah (saw) got into the position of sujood, then when he did, he dumped it over him. Rusool Allah (saw) continued with his sujood, as if nothing happened, and then his daughter Fatima (ra) saw this. She ran upto him and started picking all of the dirt of the shoulders of her father. When Rusool Allah (Saw) finished his salah, he made a dua publicly infront of the people of Quraish. He said, “Oh Allah punish Abu Jahl, Utba bin Rabi’a, Shayba bin rabi’a, Al Walid bin Utba, Ummayya bin Khalaf, and Utba bin Abi Muit.” Rusool Allah (saw) made dua against 7 people, but these are 6 names, this is because Abdullah bin Masood, the narrator of this hadith said he forgot who the 7th was. Abdullah bin Masood said, “I have seen with my own eyes, all of these men killed in the battle of Badr.” That was the fulfillment of his dua.

3. Accusing Muhammad (saw) or character assassination: They used to call him names. Surah (15:6)

And they say,"O you upon whom the message has been sent down, indeed you are mad.

  Other than calling him mad, they would call him, magician, liar.. They used whatever slandering term they could possibly use. They wanted the assassinate his character by doing this, they wanted to destroy the message. Allah says in Al- Anam  (6:33)

We know that you, [O Muhammad], are saddened by what they say. And indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allah that the wrongdoers reject.

  Allah (swt) is saying that they are not rejecting Muhammad (saw). Deep in their heart they knew that Muhammad (saw) is honest but they simply wanted to reject the message. This takes us back to the words of Waraqa bin Nufail. In the early days, he told Muhammad (saw), “You will be driven out of your land.” Rusool Allah (saw) was shocked to hear this, because he knew that he was very much admired and loved my the people of Mecca. But Waraqa said, “Anyone who would present to his people a message similar to yours would be fought.”

  The market place in Mecca was not only a place for doing business, but they would also have things like poetry or speeches competition. So it was also the cultural center. The best of these poems or speeches would be hung on the wall of Al kaaba, they are called Al Mualluqat, ‘The hanged poems’. Rusool Allah (Saw) would enter these market places and speak to the masses. Imam Ahmed narrated that Rabi’a bin Haddad says that, “I saw the messenger of Allah in the market of Zulmajaz, and he was saying, ‘O you people say, there is no God but Allah, and you will prosper’” Muhammad (saw) would meet new people and repeat the same message. Rabi’a said, “There was a man following him, and whoever Rusool Allah (Saw) would speak to, this man would go and speak to them and say, ‘Don’t believe him, he’s a liar.’” That man was Abu Lahab. Rabi’a bin Haddad said, “I asked who this man was, they said this is his uncle Abu Lahab.” Rabi’a bin haddad wasn’t from Mecca.

  Imagine how it was so difficult for Muhammad (saw). Whatever Rusool Allah (Saw) would wind up, Abu Lahab would unwind. WE gain encouragement by seeing the fruits of our actions. We have to be rewarded one way or another; otherwise we won’t have motivation to go on. In our work, if we have no sort of reward it would be difficult for us to go on. There are forms of reward; financial, recognition, support from leaders or worker. But if everything is against you, it will be impossible to go on. Rusool Allah (saw) and many of the anbiya continued non stop even if they got nothing in return. Nuh (as) for example did da’wa to his people day and night, publicly and privately and he got no response. He saw no fruits of his efforts and he did da’wa for 950 years.

  Another example narrated by Bahiqi, right before the season of Hajj, Al Walib bin Mughaira, who was the elder of Quraish at the time, addressed a meeting with the leaders of the community. He told them that, “the season of Hajj is approaching and that the delegation of the Arabs will soon start pouring in. Let’s unify our opinion regarding this associate of yours, and let’s not contradict each other.” Al Walid was saying that since many people will come in Mecca for pilgrimage soon, Muhammad (saw) will approach them, so they wanted to have a unanimous statement on what they would say to the people about Muhammad (saw). They don’t think it would make sense if some say he is a liar, some say he is a sooth sayer, some say he is a magician etc.

 

  The people said to Al Walid, “You tell us what you think, we will abide by it.” Walid said, “I want to hear from you.” People said, “We will say he is a sooth sayer.” He said, “No, he is no sooth sayer, i have seen sooth sayers, he doesn’t engage in the rhymed mumbling done well they use.” They said, “Let’s say is crazy, possessed by spirits.” Walid said, “He is not crazy, we have seen and known those who are crazy, and he has none of their choking erratic movements and mumbling.” So that didnt make sense. They said, “Let’s claim he is a poet.” Walid said, “No, he is no poet, we know poetry in all its metrical forms and what he speaks is not poetry.” Walid in another narration says, “I am the most expert among you in poetry, i know all of it’s forms, and Quran is not poetry.” They said, “Let’s claim that he is a sorcerer.” They said, “No, he is no sorcerer, we have seen sorcerers and their magic and he doesnt do any of their tying and untying.”

  So basically they mentioned all of their options, and Al-Walid bin Mughaira said, “It won’t make sense.” They said, “Well, what are we going to say?” Walid thought about it and he said, “By God, there is splendour in what he speaks in essence, he is like a palm tree gives much fruit, all you have been saying will not be believed, the closest thing is for you to say is, this man is a sorcerer who comes between a man and his religion, a man and his father, a man and his brother, a man and his wife, and a man and his tribe.” That is when Allah (swt) revealed the ayat in AL-Mudaththir (74:18-25)

 

Indeed, he thought and deliberated. (18) So may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated. (19) Then may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated (20) Then he considered [again]; (21) Then he frowned and scowled; (22) Then he turned back and was arrogant (23) And said, "This is not but magic imitated [from others]. (24) This is not but the word of a human being." (25)

4. Deforming the message: An Nadhir bil Haris went to Persia, specifically to learn stories. He would call people and say, “come to me, I have better stories to tell.” He was telling people that Muhammad (saw)’s message is too about stories.. Just fables. Allah (swt) says in Surah Al-Furqan (25: 5)

And they say, "Legends of the former peoples which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon."

  So he was saying that what Muhammad (Saw) speaks are just fabricated tales. Who knows what really happened to Musa (as) or with other anbiya of Allah.

5. Bargaining and negotiations: The people of Quraish came to Muhammad (Saw) and said, “Let’s make a deal, we will agree to worship Allah for one day, and you worship our gods for another day.” Rusool Allah (saw) told them that he would never agree to such a thing. They came back to him some time later and they said, “We have a better offer to make, we will worship Allah for a week and you worship our gods for one day.” Muhammad (saw) said, “No.” They came back again thinking it was a better offer, they said, “We will worship Allah for a month, and you give us just one day.” Rusool Allah (Saw) said, “No”. Allah (swt) revealed the ayat, “They would wish that you would compromise so that they could compromise with you.” Their religion was man-made so they obviously could compromise, they have a choice. But Muhammad (saw) had no choice.  Even if they had said give them one day out of a year, and they would worship Allah for a year less one day in return, Muhammad (Saw) could not compromise.

                                                                                

Say, "O disbelievers, (1) I do not worship what you worship (2) Nor are you worshippers of what I worship (3) Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship (4) Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship (5) For you is your religion, and for me is my religion."

They tried many ways of bargaining but it would never work with Muhammad (saw). This aggravated them further, but Muhammad (Saw)’s point was that he is just a messenger, he cannot meddle with Allah’s religion.

6. Allurement and temptations and 7. Challenges. The following points out to both, 6 and 7.

  Narration by ibn Ishaq, Ibn Abbas (ra) said that, “The leaders from Quraish met next to Al Kaaba. They sent for Muhammad (saw0 to speak with him, they said, “we want to exhaust all different ways, we don’t want to give him any excuse.’” They sent someone to call Muhammad (Saw). Ibn Abbas (ra) said, “Muhammad (saw) came rushing..” Why? Because he was hopeful that they might just have had a change in heart and take a softer stance. When he arrived there, they said to him, “Oh Muhammad! We sent for you to reconcile with you.” So it started with a nice statement. They said further, “By God, we know of no Arab man as ever brought his people as much trouble as you have. You have revolved the four bearers, criticized the religion, ridiculed the values, cursed the gods, and divided our community. Every unpleasant thing possible you have done to make a rift between you and us.”

 

  In another narration they said, “We have never seen a person who has brought so much evil on his people like you have.” Then they started to throw out temptations to Muhammad (saw). They said, “O Muhammad, if you are presenting us with this message because you are in need of money, we will collect for you money, until we make you the wealthiest among us. O Muhammad, if you are coming up with this religion because you are seeking power, we will appoint you as a King over us. O Muhammad, if you are presenting us with this religion because you are desiring women, we will choose for you the best ten women in Quraish, and marry them all to you. O Muhammad, if you are presenting us with this message, because you are obsessed with demons, we will spend whatever is needed to cure you, even if we have to exhaust all of our wealth in the process. Tell us what you want.”

  Rusool Allah (saw) responded and said, “What you have said, does not apply to me, I have not brought you my message seeking your money nor honor among you, nor sovereignty over you. God has sent me to you as a messenger, He has revealed the document to me and has ordered me to bring you good news and warn you. I have brought you a message from my Lord, and I’ve given you counsel, if you accept what I have brought to you, then that is for your good on Earth and in the Hereafter. If you reject it, I will await God’s decision, until He decides between me and you.”

  They said to him that, “if you are turning down all of our offers, then you know how narrow our land is, how poor we are, and how difficult our life is. So how about you go to your Lord who has sent you, and you tell Him to move these mountains away, just level them to make some space. And why don’t you ask Him to make some rivers flow in Mecca, like the rivers of Syria and Iraq. We want to have rivers like what others have. We also want you to go to your Lord and tell Him to bring back to life some of our forefathers and we want you to bring back to life Qussay bin Kalab, because he was a true Shaikh, and we want to ask him, if what you are saying is true or not. And then Muhammad, if you do that and our forefathers agree to what you say, then we’ll follow you.”

  Muhammad (Saw) responded and said, “This is not why I have been sent, I have only brought you from God what He has sent me with. I have informed you of what I was sent to convey to you, if you accept it then that is your good fortune on Earth and in the Hereafter, if you reject it, I must wait patiently for God’s decree and for Him to judge between us.”

  They continued and they said, “Well, how about if you then ask your Lord, to send down an angel, who will witness to your truth. And also we want you to ask Him, to give us some castles, gardens, treasures of gold and silver and then how about you do this: Why don’t you tell Him to fulfill your needs because we see that you are seeking a livelihood just like we are.” So they were taunting him that if  Muhammad (saw) is so close to God, then how come he (saw) is earning money just like everyone else.  So they were telling Muhammad (saw) to prove that Allah is close to him, by asking for wealth.

  Again Muhammad (saw) said, “I am not going to do so, I am not going to ask such things of my Lord. That is not why I have been sent to you, God has sent me to announce and warn, if you accept my message then that is your good fortune here on Earth and afterlife. IF you reject it then I must be patient and leave the matter upto God until He decides between myself and you.” They said, “Well then fine, ask your Lord to bring down the punishment that you have been promising us.” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “That is upto God, if He wishes He will do that to you.”They commented and said, “O Muhammad, doesn’t your Lord know these questions that we are asking you? How come He is not helping you give an answer? We know who is teaching you all of this, you are being taught this Quran of yours by a man in Yamama called Ar Rahman and we are never going to believe in that man called Ar- Rahman.”

  The Quraish had just made up this story of this so called man ‘Ar Rahman’. One of them said, “Worship the angels who are God’s daughters.” Another said, “we will not believe you until you bring us God and the angels before us.” They all just mocked at Muhammad (Saw) and insulted him, and then they left. One of them came back to Muhammad (Saw), his name was Abdullah ibn Ummayya. One might think that this man Abdullah ibn Ummayya felt sorry for Muhammad (Saw), and probably wanted to apologize. Abdullah came to Muhammad (saw) and said, “O Muhammad, your people have offered you the best offers, and you turned them down, and then they ask you to perform miracles for them and you refused. They asked you to bring down punishment on them, and you didn’t. Now tell you what, I am not going to believe in you until you bring the ladder that goes all the way upto the Heaven and then you climb it while I am watching you. Then you go upto Allah and you ask Him to write down for you a letter stating that you are His prophet and have Him sign it, and then we want that document to come down accompanied by four angles to be witnesses that you are a messenger from God, and you know what, even if you do that I think I am not going to believe you.”

  This was the environment Rusool Allah (saw) was working in, he was dealing with these types of people.  Rusool Allah (saw) went back him regretful at his failure. He had went to meet them with a good expectation that they might just become Muslim. He thought his people changed because of the way he was invited but he was let down.

CD 10

  We are continuing with the response of Quraish towards Islam

8. They would try to put Muhammad (saw) under pressure, every way they could. They were consistent and even used Rusool Allah (saw) uncle Abu Talib to build pressure. In this narration Aqeel, son of Abu Talib narrates and says that these people went up to Abu Talib and told him that this nephew of yours is disrupting us in our meetings and in our mosques. Tell him to stay away from us. Abu Talib told Aqeel, ‘Go and call Muhammad for me.” Aqeel said, “I found him in kenas..” Kenas means a very small room or a tent, anyhow Rusool Allah (saw) came to meet his uncle Abu Talib. His uncle said to him, “Your people are complaining that you are disrupting and disturbing their meetings, so why don’t you stop?”

  Abu Talib was not speaking to Muhammad (saw) in the tone of an order, but rather he was giving advice of what he thought was better for Muhammad (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) in response looked at the sky and he told Abu Talib, “O my uncle, do you see the sun?” He said, “Yes”. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “I am no more capable of stopping that than you are of getting me a flame from it.” This was Rusool Allah (saw) life, and his mission, it was impossible for him to leave it. In another narration Rusool Allah (saw) said, “If they put the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left hand, I will not give up this matter until Allah (swt) judges or I lose my life.” This narration is weaker than the previous one. His uncle responded, “O my nephew you are telling the truth, I believe you, go ahead and continue.”

  So Abu Talib believed Muhammad (saw) that he cannot give this up. Abu Talib agreed to support him. The point being that the Quraish tried everything to stop Muhammad (saw).  When Muhammad (saw) asked the sahabah to flee to Abyssinia from persecution, the Quraish sent a delegation to Abyssinia to ask Najashi to turn the Muslims over. The Muslims then were not a threat to Quraish politically or economically. So what made them follow them? They wanted to pull out the roots of Islam, they wanted this message to be destroyed.

9. Jealousy and hatred- Walid bin Mughaira a leader of Quraish said, “if Allah wanted to choose a prophet, how come he didn’t choose me? I am healthier and wise, older than Muhammad.” A similar statement was made by a man in At-Taif. The two prominent towns of Hijaz were Mecca and At-Taif, Allah (swt) revealed the ayat from Surah Az-Zukhruf (43:31)

Al- Mughira bin Shuba, who was from At-Taif  was visiting Mecca, and he said, “My first contact with Rusool Allah (saw) happened, one day when I was walking with Abu Jahl on the streets of Mecca and we ran into Muhammad (saw). So he walked up to us, and he spoke to Abu Jahl and said, ‘Why don’t you follow me, believe in Allah, and Islam?’ Abu Jahl responded my saying, ‘O Muhammad, when are you going to stop cursing our gods? If you want us to testify that you have fulfilled your mission, we will testify for you, and if I knew you were telling the truth I would have already followed you.’ Muhammad (saw) left. Abu Jahl looked at me and said, ‘I know that he is telling the truth, but there is something holding me back, the descendants of Qusair said, We want the authority of AN-Nadwa (assembly of Quraish), we gave it to them, we want the authority of Hijaba (guardianship of Al-Kaaba), we gave it to them, we want the authority of Andilwa (banner of war), we gave it to them, we want the authority of Rifada and Siqaya (providing pilgrims with food and water), we gave it to them, and now when we started picking up and competing with them, they said we have a  Prophet among us, how can we compete with that? By God we will never accept this.’”

  Abu Jahl was saying that this is a matter of competition or power struggle between us and the family of Rusool Allah (Saw), he knew that they could not compete with Rusool Allah (Saw) in the matter of Prophet hood, but they also don’t want to let them win. The element of jealousy and hatred was preventing Abu Jahl to accept Islam. That is why it is often mentioned in the Quran that the ones who are the most outspoken in rejecting the message of the Prophets are usually the ones in power, and they don’t want to give that power up.

10. Persecution:  in the early days Muhammad (saw) was accused, humiliated, ridiculed, insulted, harmed but he was not persecuted. That was part of the protection of Allah towards Muhammad (Saw). Allah (swt) had protected Muhammad (saw) through his uncle Abu Talib, and this protection of Allah went on even after Abu Talib passed away. It was the followers of Muhammad (Saw) who were persecuted, but these persecutions used to hurt the Messenger of Allah, because he cared about them.  

  In one statement of Ibn Ishaq he says that, “They would wrap them up in shields of iron and leave them in the sun to burn.” Now the strongest among the sahabah in his fight from the persecution was Bilal (ra). The more they would persecute him, the stronger he would become. He was asked, “How come when you are tortured you would say, ‘Allah is One, Allah is One’?” Bilal said, “Because I found out that when I would say, ‘Allah is One’, it would make them angry. This statement would anger them the most and that is why I would say ‘Allah is One’ The statement of Ibn Ishaq is that Bilal sold himself to Allah (swt). In fact when Bilal (ra) would say ‘Allah is One’, Ummayya bin Khalaf would become angry and as a result he would increase the punishment, and Bilal would say it even louder.

  There were different forms of torture; the persecution was not limited to the slaves or servants, even some of the nobility were tortured. Uthman bin Affan who belonged to Banu Ummayya, a noble family of Quraish, was wrapped in a carpet and then they would jump over him. Another case was the persecution of the slaves, Summaiyya and her family, by the hands of Abu Jahl. Yasir and Summaiyya were killed by the hands of Abu Jahl. In one narration, Abu Jahl threw a spear in her private part killing her, all of this was a mental and physical torture for their son Syedena Ammar (ra) who was being tortured and saw his parents die like that. Ammar bin Yasir buckled under this pressure, he spoke some words against Muhammad (saw). Later when he woke up from all that pain he sadly went to Muhammad (saw) and narrated the incident to Muhammad (saw). Allah (swt) revealed an aayat dealing with this particular situation saying that one is excused to speak some words with the tongue under this torture if the heart is firm on imaan. This is because Allah (swt) does not overburden a person.

  The severest in punishment was Abu Jahl, he was their leader in evil. Ibn Ishaq states, “That sinner Abu Jahl was the one who incited the men of Quraish against them, when he heard of a man of status and influence who had accepted Islam, he would insult him by saying, ‘you have abandoned the religion of your father, a man better than you, we will depreciate your values, divide your opinions, and destroy your reputation.’ If the Muslim were a merchant he would say, we will by God boycott doing business with you, and we will ruin you. If the Muslim was defenseless Abu Jahl would beat him up and incite others against him, may Allah damn and punish him.”

  Umer bin Khattab (ra) had a slave girl who he used to torture her, and sometimes he would stop and say, ‘Don’t think I’m giving you a break because I’m having sympathy on you. The only reason why I stop is because I’m tired, otherwise I would continue.’

11. When the attempts of Quraish of character assassination failed, they tried to assassinate the character. They tried to destroy the message by distorting the image of the messenger, and when that didn’t work they tried to eliminate the messenger, these attempts occurred after Abu Talib passed away. They knew that they couldn’t get away with assassinating Rusool Allah (saw) during the life of Abu Talib. Allah (swt) says:

      

And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners.

  So the attempts were made by Quraish but Allah (swt) would protect him. We’ll talk about one of these events, when we talk about hijra. So these were the various methods (mentioned in ayah) used by the Quraish at one time or another during the era of Mecca to get rid of Muhammad (saw). What was the response of Muhammad (Saw) to all of this?

  In Al Bukhari Khabbab bin Araq, who was one of the sahabah who went through a lot, went to Rusool Allah (saw), while the messenger of Allah was leaning his back towards Al-Kaaba. He walked up to Muhammad (saw) and said, “Oh Rusool Allah, why don’t you make dua for us?” That’s all that he said, but the statement implies that they are going through severe hardships, so ask Allah to ease the pain. Khabbab bin Araq went through a lot, one day when Umer bin Khattab was the Khailfa; Umer (ra) was asking all of the people around to talk about their experiences in Mecca. So when the turn came for Khabbab to speak, he didn’t say anything, all that he did was life his shirt and exposed his back. Umer bin Khattab said, “I have never seen something like this, what happened to you?” Khabbab ibn Araq had deep holes in his back. He said, “When I was in Mecca, the people of Quraish would bring some rocks and burn them over fire, until they turned red, and then they would lay them on the hot, in the desert of Mecca and they would throw me on top of it. So these rocks would burn through my flesh, and I would hear the burning of my flesh, and could smell my fat.”

So Khabbab bin Araq really had a lot to complain about, but what was the response of Muhammad (saw)? Rusool Allah (saw) sat straight and his face turned red and then he said, “A believer who were those who were before you, used to be combed with iron combs, that would separate their flesh and nerves from their bones, but they would never desert their religion. And they would bring one of them and place a saw on top of their heads and they would be cut into two halfs, and yet they would never give up their religion. In the name of Allah, Allah will give His religion victory until a traveler will go from Sanaa all the way to Hudrumoot fearing no one but Allah.”

 What can we learn from this hadith?

1.       Rusool Allah (saw) is asking us to be patient, even if we are going through a lot, don’t give up.

2.       Allah (swt) has some laws, just like there are laws of nature, history, sociology, and also for the establishment of religion. We have to go through all the stages, there is no exception. They had to go through what the nations before them went through. Rusool Allah (saw) wanted his ummah to be the best of nations, if the people before were patient then he would want his ummah to be more patient, if the people before him were strong then he wants his ummah to be stronger. Rusool Allah (saw) wants his ummah to be the best on the Day of Judgment. So we should all live up to his expectations, Rusool Allah (saw) wants to see us on the Day of Judgment and be proud of us. In one hadith Rusool Allah (saw) says, “I want you to get married and to multiply because I want to be proud of your numbers on the Day of Judgment.”

3.       Rusool Allah (Saw) said, Allah will complete his religion until a traveler will leave from Sanaa to Hudrumoot fearing no one but Allah. How come Rusool Allah (saw) living in Mecca chose these two places?  How come Rusool Allah (Saw) mentioned two places which are in Yemen? People were so insecure in Mecca, how come Rusool Allah (saw) didn’t mention Mecca as a reference point? There is something interesting in his choice. Yemen used to be and still is a tribal society, and in the time of Rusool Allah (saw), all of that area was covered by armed tribes who had constant wars between themselves, and they were rivals. When Islam entered into Yemen during the time of Rusool Allah (saw), Islam made the whole area peaceful.

Subhanallah now that people are getting away from Islam and don’t have Islamic rule, that same area between Sanaa and Hudrumoot today is one of the most insecure areas in Yemen. If someone wants to travel a particular route crossing these two places, then forget about travelling if you are not armed. This shows that under Islam, there is true peace.

  Another example to know how Rusool Allah (saw) used to deal with these situations of the people of Quraish. The people of Quraish got together one time and said, ‘Lets find someone who is an expert in poetry and magic to go and meet Muhammad (saw) and tell us how to deal with him.’ So they decided they will send Utba bin Rabi’a, who was supposedly an expert in these areas.

  Utba bin Rabi’a went up to Muhammad (saw) and said, “Tell me O Muhammad, who is better you or Abdul Muttallib?” Now this question was a set up, in the society of Arabia there was a lot of respect and glorification of ancestry, and the family of Rusool Allah (saw) was from the nobility which was respected not only by Muhammad (saw) but by everyone in Mecca. It was not tolerated to speak against any one of such noble people. When Utba asked Muhammad (saw) about his father and Abdul Muttallib, Rusool Allah (saw) remained silent. So Utba said, “If you claim those men to be better than you, the fact is they worshipped the gods you have criticized, and if you claim to be better than them then speak so we can hear what you say. By God, we have never seen any fool more harmful to his people than you, you have caused division and dissension among us, criticized our religion, and so disgraced us in the eyes of the Arabs that they rumor is current among them that there is a magician or a sorcerer amidst Quraish.”

  Now Utba is blaming Muhammad (saw) for the rumor that there is a magician amidst Quraish. Who started this rumor to start with? It was the leaders of Quraish who started calling Muhammad (saw) a sorcerer and magician. Utba was now blaming Muhammad (saw) because there own act was a cause of embarrassment to themselves. Then Utba said, “By God it seems all we have to await is for a cry of a pregnant woman, for us all to be at one another with swords, till we wipe ourselves out.” What he meant by this is that in a very short time we might be fighting each other because of what you have brought. Utba was saying that Muhammad (saw) had caused disunity among the people of Quraish.

  Then Utba offered Muhammad (Saw) status, wealth whatever he wants so they could bring an end to Islam. We should note that Rusool Allah (saw) allowed Utba to go on with this non-sense, without interrupting him. Rusool Allah (saw) was a very good listener, even if all what Utba was saying didn’t make any sense, Rusool Allah (saw) was calmly listening. When Utba finished Rusool Allah (saw) asked him, “O Utba, are you done?” He replied , “Yes”. Rusool Allah (saw) did not respond to Utba with his own words, instead he recited an ayah from the Quran, “In the name of God, most Beneficient, most Merciful…

Ha Meem (1) A revelation from who is the most Merciful and Beneficent (2) A Book whose verses have being detailed in an Arabic Quran for a people who are aware (3)

  Rusool Allah (saw) kept on reciting further until he reached a verse that states (41:13)

But if they turn away, then say, "I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt [that struck] 'Aad and Thamud.

  In one narration it says that when Rusool Allah (saw) was mentioning this ayah, Utba placed his hand over the mouth of Rusool Allah (Saw) and urged him to stop because this ayat was threatening them with punishment and Utba knew in his heart that Muhammad (Saw) is truthful, everything he says come true, so Utba said, “I ask you in the name of the relationship between us, to stop.” In another narration it states that Utba went back to the people and he told them that, “He recited from the Quran and I did not understand anything he was saying, except  he threatened us with a punishment like the punishment of Ad and Thamud.” The people said, “Woe to you! He was speaking to you in Arabic and you didn’t understand him?!” Utba said, “In the name of Allah I did not understand what he was talking about.”

  The lesson to learn from this is that Rusool Allah (saw) dealt with different situations in different ways and plenty of times he would use the Quran to respond to what people would say. That teaches us that we should use the concepts of Quran in our da’wa, what could be better to use than the words of Allah Zaujal.

   I will now talk about the story of Domad Al Azdi was a man from Southern Arabia. He came into Mecca and he heard some of the people in mecca saying that there is a man among us who is obsessed with jinn. They were referring to Muhammad (Saw), Domad used to heal people who were obsessed with jinns. Nomad Al- Azdi went up to Muhammad (saw) with sincere intentions to offer his help. He said, “I heard that you are obsessed with jinns, I am offering my service. If you want I can help you.”  Rusool Allah (saw) was a compassionate man; he understood that this man must have heard some wrong information. Rusool Allah (saw) started by mentioning the words of the khutba tul haijr which he would say before a speech, “Praise be to God, we praise Him and seek His help. Whomever God leads aright, no one can lead astray, Whomever God leads astray, no one can lead aright. I bear testimony that there is no God but Allah alone, Who has no associates.”

  The words of the khutbah in Arabic rhyme and sound quite eloquent. Domad interrupted Rusool Allah (saw) and said, “O Muhammad! Can you please repeat those words again?” Rusool Allah (saw) repeated those words again. Damaad said, “I have never heard something like this, these words are so wonderful, they are going to reach the depths of the ocean.” Meaning these words are going to have influence. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Then pledge allegiance to me.” He immediately extended his hand and said, “Ashsh hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashsh hadu  anna Muhammadur Rasulullah.” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “How about you pledge for your people?” He said, “And I will pledge for my people.” SubhanAllah this man came to heal Rusool Allah (saw), Rusool Allah (saw) healed him J

  SubhanAllah years later, Rusool Allah (saw) sent an army that passed next to the village of  Domad. The leader of the army asked them, “Did you take anything from these people?”  One man from the army said, “Yes, I have taken away from them a strong camel.” The leader of the army said, “Give it back because these are the people of Domad, and Rusool Allah (saw) has given them protection.”

  Another story is of a man called Amr bin Absa, who was from Arabia. Amr bin Absa speaks about himself, it is mentioned in Sahih Muslim. He says:

  “in the time of Ignorance, I had belief in my heart that the religion of my people is false. I had no belief in worshipping idols. I knew deep in my heart that this is wrong. And the one day I came to know that there is a man in Mecca, preaching a new religion, so I immediately went on my camel to meet him. I came in, I had to sneak in and secretly meet him (that is how difficult the conditions were in Mecca, that a person from outside mecca could not meet Muhammad (saw) publicly). Then I met Rusool Allah (saw) and I asked him, ‘What are you?’ He said, ‘I am a Prophet.’ I asked, ‘What does that mean?’ He said, ‘I was sent by Allah.’ ‘What did He send you with?’ He said, ‘He sent me with a message of worshipping Him alone, associating no gods with Him, and to destroy idols.’ ‘Can I follow you?’ Rusool Allah (saw) said, ‘You cannot follow me now, don’t you see my situation? But go back to your people, and when you hear that I prevail then come and see me.’” Rusool Allah (saw) knew that he will prevail.

  Amr bin Absa said, “I left and I would constantly ask about news, any thing that relates to Muhammad (saw). I would always ask the travelers, ‘What is happening with Muhammad (saw)?’ Until one day I heard that Muhammad (saw) has migrated to Medina and he has been victorious, so I went to meet him in Medina. I approached Muhammad (saw) and I asked him, ‘Do you know me?’ (this was years after he met Rusool Allah (saw), and even when he did, it was for a very short time.) Rusool Allah (saw) said, ‘Yes. You are the man who came and met me in Mecca.’”

  This is one of the leadership qualities; one should know his followers well. Just like how Sulaiman (as) realized that one of the birds in his army, Al Hud Hud was missing.

  Amr bin Absa said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach me of that knowledge which Allah has taught you. Tell me about Salah.” Rusool Allah (saw) explained to him how to pray and then Amr said,” Teach me about wudu.” Then Rusool Allah (saw) taught him about wudu.

CD 11

The Early Immigrants Part I

  We move on to the Imam Ahmed’s version of the story of Abu Dharr (ra). Abu Dharr (ra) stated that me, my brother and my mother left our land of Ghifaar because our people used to be disrespectful towards the Al Ashr ul Haram. Al Ashr Ul Haram are the four months which the Arabs used to consider sacred and this would give them a break from warfare. So they would not allow killing during those four months, it was a firm tradition among them that you do not break the sanctity of these four months.

  The people of Ghifaar were different, they were professional raiders of caravans, and they didn’t really care about these sacred four months and all this kind of stuff. They were Bedouins who raid would caravans, steal, kill, and they didn’t follow any rules or customs. They thus had a bad reputation in Arabia. Abu Dharr (ra) before Islam disagreed with this style of his life of his people, so he along with his family left Ghifaar. They went and visited his uncle, who used to be a member of a different tribe, they stayed with him. Abu Dharr says, ‘He used to be very generous and hospitable to us.’ But then his uncle’s relatives were becoming jealous of the fact that his uncle was treating them so well. So the relatives went up to his uncle and said to him, “When you are absent Anna Unais (Abu Dharr’s brother) visits your wife and he is interested in her.” The uncle quite naively went up to Abu Dharr and Unais and mentioned to them what he heard. Abu Dharr was very upset when he heard this and said, “All the good that you did to us, you have cancelled it. All of your hospitality and kindness is gone, after this accusation of yours.” They immediately packed up and left.

  Abu Dharr said, “My uncle was quite sorry and regretful for what he has done and he wrapped up himself in a cloth and he was crying, but we were so angry, we just left.” Their family then settled in a place close to mecca, Abu Dharr says, “My brother Unais went to do some business in Mecca, and he met a man who claims to be a prophet .” So Unais came back and said, “I found a man who was preaching a new religion, worshipping Allah alone.” Abu Dharr said, “And that time, I had already worshipped Allah for three years and revoked all of the worshipping of idols.” SubhanAllah these people follow their fitrah which tells them what is false and what isn’t.

  Abu Dharr says, “I have been praying to Allah for three years.” He was asked, “How were you praying to Allah?” He said, “I would pray to which ever direction Allah would point me to and I would pray in whatever way Allah would guide me to, and I would pray at night until I fall asleep, and only the sun would wake me up in the morning.” Abu Dharr asked his brother Unais, “What does he teach?” So Unais mentioned some of the teachings of Islam that he learned from Rusool Allah (saw). Then he asked him what they people say about him. Unais said that they claim he is a magician, sorcerer, liar, and etc. Abu Dharr said, “You haven’t satisfied my hunger, I want to go and investigate the matter myself. What the people say might not necessarily be right.”

   Abu Dharr did not rely on the ‘CNN’ of Mecca,. He decided to go and find out himself. Abu Dharr says, “I went into Mecca and asked the first man I saw infront of me, I told him, ‘can you please guide me to Muhammad?’ That man immediately started called the people of Quraish and they immediately started pelting me with stones, rocks, whatever they could get their hands on until I fell unconscious. By the time I woke up I was like Nusub Ahmer.’

  Nusub Ahmer  was the stone on which the people of Quraish slaughtered their animals for idols.. so the stone would be soaked with blood. Abu Dharr then said, “I went to the well of Zam Zam, I drank water and I washed the blood of my body and then I went next to Al-Kaaba.” In the narration of Imam Ahmed it says he stayed there for 30 days not knowing where to meet Rusool Allah (saw) and Abu Dharr says, “I did not have any food for the entire period except for drinking the water of Zam Zam.” Physicians can tell us today that it is possible to survive with just water for 30 days, but the surprising part is that Abu Dharr says, “And I started picking up weight until I was getting folds on my stomach.” So Abu Dharr was gaining weight Abu Dharr states that he then saw two women making tawaaf and they would touch Isaaf and naila on every turn.

  What is the story of Isaaf and Naila? Isaaf and Naila are a man and a woman who were in love and they couldn’t get married and they had a date to meet next to AL-Kaaba and they intended to fornicate next to the house of Allah. Allah (swt) turned them into stones on the spot. After the passage of some time the mushrikeen of Quraish started worshipping them. This is how Shaitan traps you in evil, darkness over darkness. Idol worshipping began because of erection of statutes of the righteous people who passed away. Shaitan came to the people of Noah (as) and told them after the righteous men passed away, ‘Why don’t you erect statutes of these righteous men so that they would remind you about Allah?’ So the people did exactly that, and after a few generations he started telling them to worship the statutes.

  Anyway Abu Dharr despised idol worshipping. So he threw out a comment, he said, “Why don’t you make one of them have intercourse with the other?” Either the women did not understand what he said, or they didn’t believe what they heard so they continued with the tawaaf. When Abu Dharr saw that his statement didn’t deter them from what they were doing, he threw out an even cruder comment and im not gonna mention it! But after he said it, the women were sure of what they heard and they immediately started running and screaming down the streets of Mecca, and they ran into Muhammad (saw) and Abu Bakr (Ra).

  Muhammad (saw) asked, “Whats wring with you?” They said, “That heretic over there!” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “What is the matter with him?” They said, “He spoke a word that fills the mouth.” That means a word that is unspeakable or is very bad. Rusool Allah (saw) went to meet this man, Abu Dharr (ra) and they started to converse. Rusool Allah (saw) asked Abu Dharr, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am from Ghifaar.” Rusool Allah (saw) placed his hand on his forehead. Abu Dharr said, “Rusool Allah (saw) was surprised and amazed to see somebody from Ghifaar coming to Mecca in search of the truth.” This is because Ghifaar is a place where nobody follows any rules or customs, and the people raid caravans without respecting the sacred months. So here is a person coming from Ghifaar to Mecca in search of truth and on the other hand the people of Mecca were rejecting Islam even though they were the ones who had religious authority. Abu Dharr said, “I felt that he might have disliked that I mentioned that I am from Ghifaar. So I extended my hand to pull his hand from his forehead, Abu Bakr slammed my hand and told me to put my hand down.” The conversation continued and Abu Dharr (ra) ended up embracing Islam.

  Rusool Allah (saw) told Abu Dharr (Ra), “Keep your imaan secret.” Abu Dharr (ra) went out the next day instead of keeping his imaan a secret , he went out in front of the people of Quraish, “Ashhadu laa ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammad ur Rusoolullah.” He didn’t care about the consequences, he said, “They gathered around me and then they beat me up so bad, I was going to die until Abbas bin Abdul Muttallib came in and said, ‘Do you know where this man is from? He is from Ghifaar.’ Immediately everyone ran away.” He did the same thing the next day, and the third day, and every day the same thing would happen people would start beating him up until Al- Abba would come and tell the people that this man is from Ghifaar. Al Abbas said, “Do you know that if this man gets killed by you, then none of your trade will reach safely to Syria.”

  Rusool Allah (saw) then told Abu Dharr (ra), “Go back to your people and convey the message to them. And when you hear that I prevail come to me.” Now Abu Dharr spent quite a short time with Rusool Allah (saw), he probably hadn’t learnt much from Rusool Allah (saw). Maybe a few verses and hadith here and there. Abbu Dharr went back to his people and he started giving them Da’wa. Gradually people were accepting islam in Ghifaar. He said, “By the time Rusool Allah (saw) made hijrah, almost half of my tribe was Muslim. And then we decided to go and visit Rusool Allah (saw) and the rest of the tribe had said, ‘When Rusool Allah (saw) arrives and when we go and meet him, we will become Muslim.” So now the whole tribe eventually became Muslim.

  One day when Rusool Allah (saw) was in Medina and they saw that the horizon was dust cloud, that was a sign of an army approaching. Some of the sahabah approached there weapons thinking that an army was approaching them. But Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Be Abu Dharr.” And the prophecy of Rusool Allah (saw) was true, it was Abu Dharr along with the entire tribe coming to pledge their allegiance to Rusool Allah (saw).

  Now there was rivalry between two tribes; Ghifaar and Athlam. When Athlam heard than Ghifaar became Muslim and have pledged their allegiance to Rusool Allah (Saw), they immediately went to Rusool Allah (saw) and said, “We are the ones to become muslim.” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Ghifaar! May Allah forgive them, and Athlam, may Allah give them peace.” All of this happened MashaAllah, by the work of one man. Was this man a scholar? NO, he just knew a few ayat, and later on learnt a lot. But at that stage he started, he knew very little. The last people expected t o accept Islam in Arabia became Muslim.

LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF ABU DHARR

1.       The ones who search for guidance, Allah will give it to them. Abu Dharr investigated the matter and Allah Zaujal showed him the truth

2.       Rusool Allah (saw) told us to convey even one verse. Whatever you know, share it

3.       Abu Dharr set a great example of courage. He wasn’t afraid of the fact that he was a foreigner in Mecca. He was a proud Muslim.

4.       Verifying the Truth- Just because people in Mecca called Muhammad (saw) a sorcerer, liar, or a magician, he didn’t believe them. Abu Dharr decided to find out for himself. Allah has given us a mind, and intelligence, we should use it, don’t just follow.

5.       Rusool Allah (saw) says in a hadith, “Do no belittle any good deed, even if it is as small as smiling in the face of your brother.” Whatever good there is we shouldn’t consider any of it to be insignificant, because you never know that that small deed will make a difference on the Day of Judgment. Abu Dharr (ra) knew very little of Islam, and all that he went and did was propagate the message. Maybe he never expected that his whole tribe will accept Islam, along with the whole tribe of Athlam. But it’s our job to throw the seed and Allah will make it grow. There is a hadith, “A person might speak a word that will please Allah and they don’t pay attention to it, but Allah (swt) will raise them up levels because of that. And a person might speak a word that will anger Allah and because of that they will be thrown in hell-fire.”

   We move on to the Hijrah to Abyssinia. There were to migrations to Habasha. First one happened in the fifth year following revelation and it was composed of a small group 12 men and 4 women. The second migration was of a larger group, it was composed of 83 men and 18 or 19 women.

  When the first group went to Al-Habasha, they heard a rumor, that the people of Quraish have become Muslim. Rusool Allah (saw) received the Ayat of Surat ul-Najm, which he recited to the people of Quraish. These ayahs had  a major impact on the Quraish.  When the last ayah was recited which is an ayah of sujood, Rusool Allah (saw) and the Muslims made sujood, and the kuffar made sujood with them. This incident was the origin of the false rumor that people of Quraish became Muslim. So the people who first migrated to Habasha, came back to Mecca to find out that it was a false rumor.

  When Rusool Allah (saw) saw the pain and sufferings that his companions were going through, he said, “Why don’t you go to Al-Habasha? Because therein is a king who is just and he does not oppress anyone.”  This King’s name was An-Najashi, who was Christian. So the second migration to Habasha happened. The first to leave were Uthman bin Affan, and his wife the daughter of Rusool Allah (saw). After they left the second group came in, so they left mecca. But that doesn’t mean the people of Quraish would them alone. The Muslims in Abyssinia were no threat to Mecca politically or economically, nevertheless, they did not want to leave the Muslims alone. The people of Quraish sent a delegation to An—Najashi to ask him to turn over the Muslim. And who did they choose for this mission? Amr bin Aas and Abdullah bin Rabi’a, in another narration it was Amr bin Rabi’a instead of Abdullah bin Rabi’a, but the central figure here is Amr bin Aas.

  Amr bin Aas was a diplomat and a very important man of the Quraish who had wide connections; he was in fact friends with the kings of the World at that time. He was also a master mind in plotting and planning, conspiracies against the Muslims especially. So basically he was the right person to choose by the Quraish. Amr bin Aas went to Najashi, and the plan was that he was going to go and meet the top officials first, and give each one of them gifts, or in other words; bribe. He was then going to present to them his case by saying that: In your land there are some fools who ran away from Mecca, we want you to turn them over. So the plan was to work things out with the top officials before he meets with Najashi, because then when Najashi will consult with his officials, they will all speak in favor of Amr.

  This is exactly what Amr did, he went to all the officials, gave them gifts, spoke to them and he also said to them, “I prefer that you hand us over these people, without having them meeting Najashi.” This was because the words of the Muslims are very effective, in truth they feared the Quran.  Anyhow, Amr then went to Najashi and told him that, there are some fools among us, who came to your land. We know them, they left our religion and they also don’t follow yours … He went on and on and eventually said that we want you to hand them over to us. Now all of the officials were already there and they were supporting Amr bin Aas.

  An-Najashi said, “No, I will not hand over people who sought refuge in my land, until I hear their side of the story.” This was why Rusool Allah (saw) told the Muslims to migrate to habasha, he knew that An-Najashi was a just and a man of principles. An-Najashi called the Muslims to come and meet him. Muslims received the message and they were told that Amr bin Aas has met with An-Najashi and that An-Najashi wants to meet you. Hearing this the Muslims had a shura (advise). They decided that Jafir bin Abi Talib was to be their spokesman, and that they were going to speak the truth. They went in front of An-Najashi, An-Najashi asked them, “What religion are you following? You left the religion of your people, you didn’t join my religion, and you didn’t join any religions of the World.  Who are you?”

  There is a hadith narrated by Umm e Salama (ra), in which the entire speech that Jafir Bin Abi Talib gave in front of An-Najashi is narrated, Jafir, the cousin of Rusool Allah (saw) said, “ Oh king! We were a people of polytheism; we worshipped idols, ate the meat of animals that had died, offended rules of hospitality and permitted rules forbidden as in the shedding of one another’s blood and so on.  (if you notice Jaffar has begun his speech with an intro telling the King what a chaotic situation they were in, he told An-Najashi the background of their situation) We completely ignored matters of right and wrong and so God sent to us a Prophet from amongst ourselves, whose honesty and trustworthiness we knew well (Then he established credibility of Muhammad (saw) by mentioning that Muhammad’s (saw) good character was known by everyone) He summoned us to pray to God alone and without associates, told us to respect rights of kinship, to honor rights of hospitality, to pray to God, The All Mighty and Glorious, to fast for Him and to worship none other than Him. (Here Jafir informed of the concept of Tauheed in Islam, and the morals that Islam teaches.) And so he called us to God to affirm his oneness, to worship Him, and to tear down all the other stones and idols that our forefathers had worshipped apart from Him. He ordered us to be truthful in our speech, to keep others trust, to respect kinship ties, and hospitality rights, and to abandon things forbidden and the shedding of blood. He forbade us to do anything immoral; to tell lies, to misuse the funds of orphans, to make false accusations against woman of virtue. He ordered us to worship God and to associate no other God with Him. He told us to pray, to give alms, and to fast.” Then he enumerated for  An-Najashi all aspects of Islam.

  Jafir had mentioned all the good teachings of islam that no person of good character could deny to be good. Jafir made it clear to An-Najashi that islam does not teach evil, and that its teachings are not immoral. Also he mentioned four pillars of islam. The speech was also very brief and to the point.

  Lastly Jafir said, “And so we believed in him and trusted him, following him in the instructions he bought from God. We worship God alone without a partner and associating no one with Him. We forbade what he has forbidden and considered permitted what he had allowed us, but our people aggressed against us and harmed us, seeking to draw us away from our faith, to return us to the worship of idols instead of God and to have us again consider permissible the abominations we had previously allowed. When they treated us with violence and persecution, they seized us and prevented us from following our religion, we left our country and chose you above others. We desired your hospitality and hoped we will not be harmed in your domain, Oh king.”

  The mentioning of the persecution, was helpful in bringing mercy into the heart of An-Najashi, also this story must have also reminded the persecution of Isa (as) and his followers went through, because this was a man who was steeped in his religion. The ending of Jafir was amazing, very effective.  Hearing all this, An Najashi said, “Did you bring anything with you, from what he (Muhammad (saw)) brought?” So now he wanted to hear the Quran. Jafir bin Abi Talib recited some ayahs from the Quran. Which ayah did he choose? He could’ve recited ANY Ayat, but he chose the verses from Surah Maryam.

  Umm e Salama says, “I swear, An-Najashi wept so hard, his beard was soaked, and all his bishops cried so hard they wept their Bibles.” So it must’ve been an effective and emotional recitation.

 

CD 12

  An-Najashi (Negus) refused  and so the delegation from Quraish left. Amr bin Aas threatened that he will make them come back and bring an end to the Muslims. Amr bin Aas’s partner (whoever it was, there is a difference in opinion) told Amr not to say that, he reminded him that the Muslims are still their relatives. The partner said that if they are not handing over the Muslims then they should simply go back to Mecca. Amr bin Aas said, “No, I am going to come back tomorrow and tell the king that they say that Jesus is a slave.” Amr did go back the next day and told Negus that the Muslims do not believe that Jesus (pbuh) is son of God, and that he is a slave. Amr bin Aas did not believe Jesus (pbuh) is God too, but he just wanted to cause fitna. So An-Najashi became quite concerned, since he was religious and he didn’t want any fitna in his land, thus he recalled the Muslims again.

  The Muslims decided the same thing again that they were going to say the truth no matter what happens, and again Jaffir bin Abi Talib was the spokesman. When they arrived, An-Najashi asked, “What do you say about Isa?” They said, “We say that he is a Messenger of Allah, he is the word of Allah, casted on Mariam (Mary) the chaste and virgin.” The Negus said, “There is no difference between what you say about him, and what I say about him.” Immediately the bishops started making commotion, they were angry about how can An-Najashi approve of such a thing. The Christians of Abyssinia were Orthodox Christians who believed in the divinity of Jesus (pbuh), so the priests didn’t like what they heard about Muslims believing that Jesus (pbuh) was a slave. An-Najashi stood and said, “Say whatever you want to say, these people are going to be free in my land.”

  Umm e Salama says that, “Amr bin Aas and his partner were left with disgrace, because An-Najashi drove them out and even gave them back their gifts.” The first thing that An-Najashi asked them when they came from Mecca was, “What did you bring me from your land?” Amr bin Aas said, “I bought you some leather products.” And leather products were An-Najashi’s favorites. So even though An-Najashi and Amr bin Aas had a relationship of friendship, when it came to principles, An-Najashi stood by the truth.

LESSONS FROM HIJRAH

1.       What were the reasons of this hijrah, how come the Muslims fled  their land and went to Abyssinia? How come they left the best place on the face of this Earth, Mecca?” Rusool Allah (saw) allowed them to leave so that they could free themselves from this physical persecution. Ibn Hazam says, “When the number of Muslims increased and the persecution increased, Allah allowed them to migrate.”

2.       To safeguard their faith- not everyone would have been able to handle the torturing. Some people would give up their imaan, not everyone has the strength of Bilal, or could resist what Khabbab bin Araq went through. So if a person fears the safetly of their religion then they should go somewhere else. Rusool Allah (saw) says, “The believer should not humiliate themselves, by facing harm which he is not able to handle.” So if something is too much for a person to handle, then that person should not put himself in such a situation.                                                                     

  To give an example, there was once a man who came to Rusool Allah (saw) with pure gold the size of an egg. He gave it to Rusool Allah (saw) and said, “This is sadaqah and it is all what I have.” Rusool Allah (saw) was upset and said, “One of you would come and give up all of their wealth, and after that they would come and ask me for assistance.” So Rusool Allah (saw) did not want this person to give up all of his money and then ask for help. Thus give what you are able to give. But then we know that Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) at one point in time had given up all of his wealth to Rusool Allah (saw) and Rusool Allah (saw) praised that. How come the response was different? Rusool Allah (saw) knew that Abu Bakr (ra) can handle the situation. He can give up all of his wealth, and he will not get down to the level of begging. However not everyone is like Abu Bakr (ra), so for other people, they shouldn’t put themselves in a difficult situation which they are not able to handle.  Ibn Ishaq says, “The Muslims then left towards Abyssinia, fearing for their faith.”

3.         There is a quote by Syed Qutb, he says, “It would not be correct to say, that they had gone there for reasons of personal safety alone. For they included some of the most powerful and wealthiest of the Prophet’s followers and of his fellow tribesmen.” The majority of them were from the tribe of Quraish including Jaffir bin Abi Talib, and a number of them were young men who were accustomed to providing protection to Prophet Muhammad (saw), such as Zubair bin Awwam, Abdur Rahman bin Auf, Uthman bin Affan etc. They were women belonging to some of the most prominent families of Quraish such as Umm Habiba, daughter of Abu Sufyan. Umm Habiba would never had been persecuted in Mecca, no one would have been able to touch her, since she was the daughter of the leader of Quraish.

  Thus this migration was also to shake the religious, and social foundations of Quraish’s most noble and powerful families. There could be no greater insult or threat to the Quraish dynasties, seeing their most powerful and noblest sons and daughters running away for consciences and religious reasons, leaving their cultural heritages and tribal homeland behind. So to make the people from the wealthiest and strongest families leave their homes, according to Syed Qutb was to embarrass the Quraish.  The position the Quraish had in Arabia was not because of the strength of their army rather it was because of the values and respect they had, and them being the guardians of Al-Kaaba. So for people to see that the noblest of their people left Mecca, for their and their religion’s safety was such an embarrassment for the Quraish

4.         According to another author Munir al Ghadwan, his view is that Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to have secondary base outside of Mecca. So that if something happens in Mecca, atleast their religion can survive somewhere else.  And then since the number had increased, the Muslims could spare, dividing into two groups; one group stays in Mecca, and one group would leave and stay in Abyssinia.

  This migration to Al-Habasha was a migration of a Muslim minority living amongst Christian majority. It was a pre-dominantly Christian country. But when it comes to An-Najashi, we don’t have any personality, similar to him in the west. We don’t find any deeply religious leader who is just. Maybe at one moment in time, the laws and constitution of the west were somewhat close to the personality of An-Najashi, but that has pretty much changed now.

  Unfortunately there are not a lot of narrations that survived, dealing with Al-Habasha, and dealing with the Meccan era in general. There are a few reasons for that;

1.       The documentation of hadith was not allowed till the Muslims were in Medina. This was because Muhammad (saw) didn’t want his words to mix with the Quran.

2.       Our early scholars weren’t very interested in Mecca, compared to their interest in Medina. Why? Because all of the laws and issues relating to the Islamic State were  learned in Medina. The early scholars couldn’t really relate to Mecca, because they were living under Islamic law. So everything needed to be learnt from the ten years of Medina, not Mecca.

  Now we need to focus more on the 13 years Rusool Allah (saw) spent in Mecca, because of the significant percentage of Muslims around the World, living as minorities. There a lot of fiqh for these minorities that needs to be learnt from the 13 years in Mecca.

  How come Rusool Allah (saw) chose Abyssinia to start with? Why not Syria or Iraq or any other place?

1.       The first reason is stated in a hadith in which Rusool Allah (saw) says, “Go to Abyssinia because therein is a king who does not oppress anyone.” So justice was a primary reason why Muslims went to Al-Habasha.

2.       Also because the Arabs were familiar with Al-Habasha because the Quraish used to do business with Abyssinia, thus there was already an established commercial relationship. Rusool Allah (saw) was at a very early time exposed to Abyssinian culture because his first nurse was from Al-Habasha, Umm e Aiman, who took care of Rusool Allah (saw) and breast-fed him. In one narration it states that, Umm e Aiman presented Rusool Allah (saw) with food and he (Saw) asked what it is, so she said it was an Abyssinian dish which she wanted him to try.

Her culture and language was Abyssinian. Her accent was purely Abyssinian. According to Ibn Saad when she would want to say, ‘Salaam ullahi Alaykum’ (peace be upon you) she would say, ‘Salaam ullaaahi Alaykum’ (no peace on you). So Rusool Allah (saw) would tell her to JUST say ‘salaam’.

  Rusool Allah (saw) remained very close to her all his life. He married her to his adopted son, Zaid bin Haritha.

3.       The Abyssinians were Christians, and the Muslims used to see the Christians the closest to them compared to the idol worshippers of Quraish or the Magians of Persia.

4.       Now what was the language of communication between Jaffir and An-Najashi? Probably Arabic, there are some narrations which state that An-Najashi lived for a few years in Hijaz, so he spoke Arabic. Even if he didn’t live in Arabia, because of the established commercial ties between Arabs and Abyssinians, it is possible that the Abyssinians spoke or understood Arabic. This makes more sense because if Negus wept when he heard the Quran being recited then he probably did understand what the verses meant, and having an interpreter translate the ayat would unlikely have such an impact on him.

  An-Najashi did become Muslim, however he was not apply any of Sharia law in his land. In fact Najashi’s reversion to Islam was kept a secret, and he could secretly learn about Islam from Jafir bin Abi Talib. So when An-Najashi passed away, Rusool Allah (saw) said in al-Bukhari, “On this day a righteous man died in Abyssinia, so lets pray for him.” So Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to pray namaz e janaza for him. Rusool Allah (saw) knew the exact day when An-Najashi died, which means that Jibrael (as) informed Muhammad (saw) of his death. Thus it must have been an important event. In another hadith Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Ask Allah to forgive him.”

LESSONS FROM THE NARRATIONS

1.       The firmness and the steadfastness of the Sahabah (ra). They held tight to their principles, they didn’t compromise them, even though they knew they could be in danger. They went to An-Najashi and told him that they believe Isa (as) is the servant of Allah. They had decided beforehand that they were going to speak the truth no matter what happens, for them their religion came first, not their lives.

2.       They would not give in to the local traditions that would contradict Islam. However if would not contradict islam, then they would adopt it. It was the tradition of the Abyssinians to make sujood, whenever they would come to meet the Negus. Amr bil Aas had said to Najashi, “Beware when these people come to meet you, they will not make sujood for you.” And when they came in, indeed Amr bil Aas was right, they didn’t make sujood. An-Najashi became angry and asked them why they didn’t make sujood like everybody else. They said, “We do not make sujood to anyone but Allah.”

3.       When you say that muslims in Mecca had a jama’a and an ameer, someone who wants to argue against this concept can say that; obviously they had a jama’a and an ameer, Rusool Allah (saw) was there. What about in Abyssinia? Were the Muslims there weak, who did whatever they want to do? Or were they organized under one banner and a common leadership? What’s common in all the narrations is that the Muslims in Abyssinia were organized, and they worked together under one leader; Jaffir bin Abi Talib. This tells us that Muslims wherever they are, have to live in an organized fashion. Islam is not an individual, spiritual thing that you do on your own. Many of the rituals are on a collective level to teach us the spirit of jama’a.

4.       You can see the extent of participation of the Muslim women. The role of Muslims women has always been of primary importance. The first Muslim was a woman, the first martyr was a woman, they had roles in jihad, jama’a, learning and teaching. The problem is that people are at two extremes, on one hand it is ok for men and women to mix and laugh etc. On the other hand even a woman’s voice should not be heard in public. Let us take an example of the time of Muhammad (saw0 to see the relationship of men and women then.

  This part is related to the migration to Al-Habasha. When the Muslims came back to Medina, during the 7^th year of hijrah. the wife of Jifir bin Abi Talib, Asma bint Umais went to visit the daughter of Umer bin Khattab, Hafsa, who was the wife of Rusool Allah (Saw). Umer bin Khattab (ra) also went to visit his daughter. When he entered he saw someone there, so he asked, “Who is this woman?” Hafsa said, “This is Asma bint Umais.” Umer bin Khattab (ra), “Is this the Abyssinian woman, is this the woman who came from the sea?” He asked that because they had to cross the sea to get into Medina. Hafsa said, “Yes.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) told Asma, “We made hijrah before you, and therefore we have more right to Rusool Allah (Saw) than you do.” Asma was quite angry by that statement and she said, “No you are not closer to Rusool Allah (saw) than us. You were with the Messenger of Allah, he was feeding the hungry among you, teaching the ignorant among you, while we were in a distant despised land.” So Asma meant that they were not too happy there, being so far away from the Messenger of Allah. Then Asma said, “I am going to go, and let Rusool Allah (saw) know, what you are saying now. I will not add or subtract anything to it.” She went to Rusool Allah (saw) and said, “This is what Umer said to me.” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “And what did you say?” Then she repeated her response. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “No, Umer and his companions do not have more rights than you do to me, they have the reward on one hijrah, and you have the reward of two hijrah.”

  Asma said, “When Rusool Allah mentioned this hadith to me (mentioned above), The sahabah who were in Abyssinia, Abu Muslim and Ashary and his friends would come to me in large groups all trying to learn this hadith of Rusool Allah (saw) from me, there was nothing better for them in the world than this hadith.”

   First of all Umer bin Khattab was speaking to this woman, they had a straightforward conversation. Also Asma later taught other sahabahs this hadith. So this was the nature of the relationship that existed. But if you look at all these instances, you would find that there was an element of formality in their dealings. You wouldn’t find any incident where they would joke and laugh with each other. They knew their limits.

  Umm e Habiba (ra) is an example of the participation of the early muslim women. First let us keep in mind some factors.

-          She was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, so for her to leave her luxurious life and migrate was a big sacrifice.

-          Abyssinia was a foreign land for her.

-          When her husband reached Abyssinia, he became an apostate. He became a Christian. Ubaidullah bin Jahsh went through different stages in his life, he kept on flipping back and forth before Islam. He would keep on switching between religions, so eventually when he reached Habasha, he became Christian. The most influential person on a woman is her husband, Umm e habiba went through a hard time dealing with the situation. So obviously they had to separate.

  Keeping all of the above factors in mind Umm e Habiba was strong, steadfast, and was able to hold firm to her religion.

What is the ruling on hijrah?

1.       If a Muslim is unable to establish the essential practices of Islam, then they must go somewhere else.

2.        if a Muslim is facing some problems which make life difficult on that land then he is permitted to leave to another land of Islam seeking relief.

3.       It is forbidden to make hijrah, if by leaving the Muslim neglects an Islamic duty which no one can replace him with.

What is the ruling on living among non-muslims?

  It is the consensus of Muslim scholars that it is not allowed, and the ahadith are very clear, “I have nothing to do with a Muslim who lives among the ones who associate gods, besides Allah.” This is one hadith of many different narrations.

  However the scholars gave exceptions. They said, if a person is propagating the message of Islam and is practicing Islam freely then that is an excuse for them to stay. They also gave TEMPORARY excuse for somebody who is doing business or seeking knowledge. Therefore it is not allowed for us to live in non-muslim environments, unless we are fulfilling our responsibilities of da’wa. Otherwise we are accumulating sins by default.

  Da’wa does not mean that every single person needs to do the same thing, we mean the da’wa in a comprehensive way. Anything that serves the message of Islam is da’wa. It could be relief work, charitable, work or even teaching Muslims.

  Uthman ibn Muduoon was one of the muhajireen who were in Abyssinia, he came back to Mecca and since he left he had to enter Mecca, with some protection. He got protection of Walid bin Mughaira, who was one of the elders of Mecca. Uthman ibn Muduoon entered into Mecca and he saw that every other Muslims is being persecuted except for himself. This didn’t make him happy, he rather felt jealous! He thought everyone else is going through this purification of their sins except me. So he went to Walid and told him that he doesn’t need his protection and so he gave it back. Walid said, “Why my son are you doing that?” Uthman said, “I want the protection of Allah, I don’t want your protection.” Walid said, “Well I have my protection to you publicly, you have to give it back publicly.” So they went to Al-Kaaba and Al-Walid bin Mughaira said, “Uthman bin Mubuoon has given me back my protection.” Uthman bin Mubuoon said, “Yes, I did find Walid bin Mughaira to be a very trustworthy and honest man but I want to be under the protection of Allah and Allah alone.”

  Later on he was sitting in a gathering around one of the most famous poets of Arabia; Mubaid. Mubaid was reciting some of his poetry and he said, “Everything save God is vanity.” Uthman said, “Yes you are right.” Now this was a gathering where there were a lot of people, and then he continued and said, “And all pleasures must fade.. “ Uthman interrupted and said, “That’s wrong, the pleasures of Paradise never fade away.” Mubaid being a famous respected poet of Arabia was kind of shocked how someone from the audience could respond to him like that, so he said, “Oh men of Quraish, those who sat with you used to be not so insulted, when did this come about?” One man from the audience said, “Don’t worry about it, this is one of the fools who follow the religion of Muhammad. Don’t take it to heart. “ Uthman responded and they had a fight. The stood up and he punched Uthman in his eye.

  Al-Walid bin Mughaira saw this and he came to Uthman and said, “There was no needs for your eye to go through that suffer, you were under my protection, why did you give it up?” Uthman ibn Mubuoon said, “No, not so. I swear the only problem is that my good eye is in need of what the other one suffered for God’s sake. Actually I am under the protection of One stronger and more capable than yourself, O ibn Abd Shams” Al Walid said, “You want to come back to my protection?” Uthman affirmed, “No, I want to be under the protection of Allah.”

  Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) did not make hijrah to Abyssinia but he was suffering in Mecca, so he requested permission from Rusool Allah (saw) to allow him to migrate. Rusool Allah (saw) allowed him. Abu Bakr (ra) left Mecca, and when he reached Yemen he met with Syed al- Haabish. Al- Haabish was a tribe that used to live close to Mecca.  Abu Bakr met with ibn Dughanna, ibn Dughanna said to him, “Abu Bakr, where are you heading towards?” Abu Bakr (ra) said, “My people have offended me, beated me badly, thus forced me to leave.” Ibn Dughanna said, “Such a person like you, is an asset to his people, you are not a person to leave, and you are not a person to be driven out of your land. Because you aid those who are in distress and you are kind towards the needy. Go back you are under my protection.” He took him to Mecca and he went in front of the people of Mecca and said, “Abu Bakr is under my protection, how you can drive out such a person from your land? He is an asset for you. You drive out a person like Abu Bakr? He is under my protection.”

  The people of Quraish came to ibn Dughanna and said, “Well we accept your protection, but we are not going to allow Abu Bakr to worship publicly, so please make sure that he doesn’t.” Ibn Dughanna came to Abu Bakr and said, “Your people don’t want you to offend them, so don’t worship publicly.” Previously Abu Bakr would pray outside in front of everyone. Aisha (ra) said, “My father used to be a man with a very soft heart, and when he would recite the verses of Quran, he would cry.” So he would have all the kids, women, and men were attracted to this khoshoo of Abu Bakr. This drove the people of Quraish crazy, they felt that this will be a fitna for their people.

  So ibn Dughanna told Abu Bakr (ra) not to worship publicly and Abu Bakr (ra) agreed. For a while Abu Bakr (ra) prayed in the privacy of his home, but then he had an idea. Abu Bakr decide d to make a mussallah in the ‘thanaa’ of  his house. Thanaa is an open area of the house, so even though he was worshipping inside his house, but people could see it from outside. The same problem occurred, people would gather watching him pray, being amazed by the khushoo Abu Bakr siddiq (ra) had. The people of Quraish were furious, they went to Ibn Dughanna, and they said, “We told you, we don’t want him to worship publicly.” Ibn Dughanna went to Abu Bakr and spoke to him about it, Abu Bakr (ra) responded, “I’ll give you your protection back, i don’t need it. I’ll be under the protection of Allah.” And he did end up giving the protection back of Ibn Dughanna.

LESSONS ON STORY OF ABU BAKR (RA)

1.       When Ibn Dughanna asked him why he was migrating from his land, Abu Bakr (ra) said, in one narration, “I want to travel in the land, in order to worship my Lord.” So Abu Bakr was migrating only for the purpose of worshipping Allah. He wasn’t travelling to do business or for any other worldly interests.

2.       What does Ibn Dughanna, know about Abu Bakr? Abu Bakr had a reputation of a righteous person who cared for the needy, provided for the poor, stood by what’s right… He had all the values which any decent person in this world would appreciate. This should be the character of the Muslims wherever they are. It is these qualities which made Ibn Dughanna offer protection to Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra).

3.       His salah was a da’wa. Publicly practicing rituals of Islam is da’wa. Openly doing, hajj, praying, opening fasts etc. Let people see how it is to be a Muslim. Quraish were furious because they knew that openly praying would attract people to islam, since there is a uniqueness in the rituals that Allah (swt) prescribed us to do.

4.       Pub licize the message: The enemies of Islam wouldn’t mind if we pray in our cublicles, but they will resist if you practice in public, but that is exactly what we should do. We want to attract the good among all people to become Muslim, the good heart will be attracted by good things.

CD 13

MAJOR EVENTS

  Hamza bin Abdul  Muttallib was a hunter, often he would go out and hunt in the desert, an when he would come back he would narrate the stories of his expedition. One day when he was out hunting, Abu Jahl approached Rusool Allah (saw) and started cursing him, Rusool Allah (saw) was silent as he would not respond to ignorant words. Allah (swt) has told Muhammad (saw), “Stay away from the ignorant...” A  Muslim should not be sidetracked by trivial issues and should not turn da’wa into a personal matter. If insults are directed towards a person because he is calling people to Islam, then he should not take it personally. Allah (swt) says:

We know that you, [O Muhammad], are saddened by what they say. And indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allah that the wrongdoers reject

  Abu Jahl then threw a stone at Muhammad’s (saw) head, which caused him to bleed. A slave girl saw that, and when Hamza came back from hunting she told him. Hearing this, Hamza became very upset, when he heard that this happened to his nephew, Muhammad (saw), even  though hamza was a disbeliever at that time. But because of the relationship between Hamza and Muhammad (saw), Hamza felt as though an attack on Muhammad (saw) was an attack on himself. So Hamza walked up to Abu Jahl who was with other leaders of Quraish in front of Al-Kaaba. Hamza just came back from hunting and he was still carrying his bow with him, and he walked up straight to Abu Jahl and he hit him with his bow and said, “Take it, and I am now following the religion of Muhammad.” When Hamza said this, he didn’t say it with conviction, he said it out of pride, to anger Abu Jahl. After striking Abu Jahl, blood started to flow out of the head of Abu Jahl, seeing this Banu Makhzoom stood up to fight Hamza, but then Banu Hashim stood up to protect Hamza and they were about to fight until Abu Jahl interfered and said, “No, leave Hamza alone because I did shamelessly attack his nephew Muhammad.”

  When Hamza went back home, there is a narration that states that, he was surprised at what he himself did. When his emotions calmed down, he started to assess the situation, and when he did, he thought that he was in trouble. He was asking himself whether he should become a Muslim or not. He thought that if he withdraws then that would be dishonoring his word, because he already told Abu Jahl that he had become a Muslim. In their culture it wasn’t considered right to change their opinion just like that. So it was difficult for him to back out but then at the same time, it was difficult for him to commit because he never really thought about it.

  Hamza said, “I spent my whole night praying to Allah, asking him to guide me to the truth, and to tell me if I have done the right thing or not.” One thing to notice is that, these people used to worship Allah (swt), when they would make dua, they would ask Allah, yet if you ask them why they are worshipping other gods, then they would say that they are intermediaries. They were in a state of confusion.

  Early morning Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib says, “I woke up and I had my heart filled with love of Islam, so I went to Rusool Allah (saw) and I told him that, ‘I am a Muslim’.” This was one of the greatest moments for Rusool Allah (saw) to now have his dear uncle Hamza on his side. So this is how Hamza (ra) became Muslim. Thus Abu Jahl probably thought he was harming Islam, by hurting Muhammad (saw) but that was the cause for Hamza (ra) to become Muslim.

  This is the fazal of Allah (swt), you never know what will be the cause of good. Ibn Ishaq says, “The Islam of Hamza was out of pride, but then it turned into sincerity.” One scholar said, “I started studying Islam, to show off, argue and to debate, but then after that, the knowledge of the religion of Allah humbled me and I became sincere. So I started by the wrong intention but then down the line my intention was rectified and corrected.”

  Umer bin Khattab (ra) was a staunch enemy of islam, we mentioned how ruthless he was in persecuting the Muslims. One day, Laila, the wife of Amr bin Rabi’a met Umer bin Khattab, Umer (ra) told her, “Umm e Abdullah, where are you heading?” She said, “You have maltreated us, and oppressed us, so I’m going to leave to one of God’s countries, to worship my Lord.” She was leaving towards Abyssinia. Umer bin Khattab (ra) told her, “May peace be with you.” That was a very strange statement to come from Umer bin Khattab, because he never showed sympathy towards any Muslim. His response shocked Umm e Abdullah. That was the end of the conversation between them, Umer bin Khattab had left. When her husband came she told him what happened and what Umer’s concerned response was. Hearing the response, her husband started laughing and said, “Are you expecting that Umer will become a Muslim?” She said, “Maybe, why not?” he laughed and said, “Umer will not become a Muslim, until the donkey of his father does.” This was the impression of Umer bin Khattab (ra).

  Umer bin Khattab (ra) narrates, “I used to love drinking, I was in love with whine, and I had some drinking partners whom I would meet every night. We used to meet in a place in Hazura, so I went that evening to meet my friends..” When he reached this pub sort of place he didn’t find anyone, there was no one there. It was too late in the night. He said, “So I decided to go to the wine dealer, but I found his shop closed. I went around looking for other options, I didn’t find anyone. Since the pub is closed and the liquor store is closed, then why not go and make tawaaf around Al-Kaaba?” Umer bin Khattab said, “I went to make tawaaaf around Al-Kaaba, there was no one there but me and Muhammad (saw) and Rusool Allah (saw) did not sense my presence.” Who else could be praying at that hour other than Muhammad (saw).

  In one narration, Umer bin Khattab  (ra) said, “I wanted to sneak and attack him.” And in another narration he wanted to listen to what he was reciting. He said, “Rusool Allah (saw) would pray with Kaaba in front of him towards the direction of Jerusalem.” Therefore he would be praying towards the wall of Al-Kaaba that had the corner with the black stone. Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “I went from behind between the clock of Al-Kaaba and the Kaaba.” So Umer had his back towards al-Kaaba and he had the clock of AL-Kaaba over him. Umer (ra) said, “I was sneaking behind al-Kaaba until I was right in front of Muhammad (saw) nothing was between me and him except the clock of AL-Kaaba, but he could not see me. And I was able to hear his recitation, he was right in front of me, and he was reciting from Surah tul Haaqqa. I just froze in my chest, listening to the wonderful words of Quran, and then I told myself, ‘These must be the words of a poet.’” The next ayah that Rusool Allah (saw) recited of Surah tul Haaqqa was, “These are not the words of a poet, little do you believe.” Umer (ra) said, “I was shocked and said to myself, ‘These must be words of a sooth sayer’” The next ayah was, “These are not words of a sooth sayer, little do you remember.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “That was the first step in bringing me towards lslam.” So from then on the foundation of kufr in the heart of Umer bin Khattab (ra) was cracked.

  Nevertheless his heart was still filled with hatred of Rusool Allah (saw) and the Muslims. One day Umer bin Khattab (ra0 decided that he was going to bring an end to this misery and dis unity among the Quraish. He decided to go and kill Muhammad (saw) no matter what happens. Umer bin Khattab (ra) had this dedication; he believed that he needs to rid his people from the Saabieens, as they would call Muslims. He found out that Muhammad (saw) was with forty of his followers in Dar ul Arqam, he picked up his sword walking down the streets of Mecca alone. Now Umer bin Khattab knew that he would be killed if he tries to kill Muhammad (saw), but he was determined to do it. Walking down the streets of Mecca, he met with one of his relatives who was Muslim in secret, Naaim. So Naaim saw Umer bin Khattab (ra) and he saw evil and anger in his eyes. He asked, “Umer where are you heading?” He said, “I am going towards Muhammad to kill him.” Naaim had to then think something on the spot, so he said, “Why don’t you take care of your household first?” Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “What’s wrong with my household?” Naaim said, “Your sister has become Muslim.”

  By saying that, Naaim had put Umer’s (ra) sister and her husband in danger. Why would Naaim do such a thing? He did it because, he wanted to save Muhammad (saw). Umer’s sister Fatima was the wife of Saeed bin Zaid bin Amr bin Nufail. Saeed (ra) was one of the ten who was given the glad tidings of Jannah. Umer bin Khattab (ra) changed course and now he was heading towards his sister’s house. Khabbab bin Araq was teaching Fatima and her husband Quran. So Khabbab had this scroll with him and he was reciting to them from Surah Taha.

  When they heard the footsteps of Umer bin Khattab (ra) Khabbab went into hinding and Fatima took the scroll and she hid it under her thigh. Umer came in and said, “What was that sound that I heard?” They said, “We didn’t hear anything.” Umer bin Khattab said, “Yes, I did hear you recite something, tell me what it was.” Then he said, “And I have heard that you have become Muslim”, and he immediately attacked Saeed bin Zaid and he started punching him. Fatima interfered and rose up to defend her husband, Umer bin Khattab hit her in her face.

  When Umer (ra) saw blood flowing out of the face of his sister, he became very sorry, and he apologized. She said, “I have become Muslim, and my husband is Muslim, do whatever you want.”Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “Give me that scroll you were reading.” She said, “No.” Umer (ra) swore in the name of his gods that he will return it back to her. Fatima said, “You are polytheist and you are impure.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) went and he washed himself and he came back. Then she gave him the scroll and Umer bin Khattab recited the first verses of surah Taha.

Ta, Ha (1) We have not sent down to you the Qur'an that you be distressed (2) But only as a reminder for those who fear [ Allah ] (3) A revelation from He who created the earth and highest heavens (4) The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established (5) To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth and what is between them and what is under the soil (6) And if you speak aloud - then indeed, He knows the secret and what is [even] more hidden (7) there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names (8)

  When Umer bin Khattab (ra) finished reciting he said, “These are wonderful words.” When Khabbab bin Araq heard that, he came out of hiding and said, “Oh Umer! I hope that God will choose you, because I heard the messenger of Allah yesterday, making dua saying, ‘Oh Allah! Guide one of the two Umers; Umer bin Khattab or Umer bin Hishsham.’ And I hope that you are the one Allah will select.”

  Rusool Allah (saw) just a day before had prayed to Allah to guide one of the two Umers; Umer bin Khattab or Abu Jahl. Rusool Allah (saw) asked Allah to strengthen Islam, with one of these two men. Umer bin Khattab (ra) told Khabbab, “I want to become Muslim, where can I meet Muhammad (saw)?” Khabbab told him, “Go and meet him in Dar ul Arqam.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) went to Dar ul Arqam and he knocked on the door. At that time Rusool Allah (saw) was holding a secret meeting with the sahabah. These secret meeting were held because the movement of Islam in Mecca was not public.

  One of the companions stood up and he peeked through the door. He told Rusool Allah (saw). In the narration it says that the sahabi was frightened and surprised, he said, “Umer bin Khattab is outside and he is carrying his sword too.” This sahabi was understandably afraid. Now who in that gathering offered to open the door? Who had the courage to face Umer bin Khattab? The first person who stood up was Hamza bin Abdul Muttallib, Hamza said, “Oh Messenger of Allah, if Umer has come for a good reason, we will reciprocate. But if he has come with the wrong intentions, then I will kill him with his own sword.” Rusool Allah (saw) told Hamza, “No, I will open the door for him.” Rusool Allah (saw) went and he opened the door.

  Now Umer bin Khattab (ra) was one of the tallest men of Quraish. When Umer (ra) was Khalifa, they received some pieces of cloth from one of the Islamic states. Umer (ra) distributed these cloths evenly; he gave everyone one piece. When Umer bin Khattab stood to give Khutba, he had two pieces on, he said, “Listen everybody!” Salman Farsi stood up and said, “We will not listen and we will not obey.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “How come?” Salman Farsi said, “Because you have given each one of us, one piece, and you are wearing two pieces.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) did not respond, he told his son Abdullah to stand up and respond to what Salman is saying. Abdullah bin Umer stood up and said, “My father is a very tall man, very well built, one piece of cloth would not be enough for him, so I gave him mine.” Salman Farsi said, “Now we will hear and obey.” This was the standard of justice that they had…

  Anyway Rusool Allah (saw) opened the door for Umer bin Khattab (ra). Rusool Allah (saw) was described as medium height and medium built, while Umer bin Khattab was very well built, in fact he used to wrestle as a child in Mecca. So now we can imagine Rusool Allah (saw) in front of this huge man, Rusool Allah (saw) dragged Umer (ra) with his clothes and dragged him in and he put him down on his knees and he said, “Oh Umer! When are you going to stop, are you waiting for Allah to strike you with a thunderbolt?” Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “Oh Messenger of Allah! I have come to become Muslim.” Now this happened near the gate and all of the sahabah were in a different room, so they didn’t hear or see anything.

  When Umer (ra) said that, Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Allahu Akbar!” All of the sahabah heard this and realized that Umer became Muslim. They were so happy with this news that they made a takbeer so loud, that they immediately had to disperse, because it was heard by the people of Mecca.

  The Islam of Umer (Ra) was a turning point in the history of Islam in Mecca. Abdullah ibn Masood says, “The Islam of Umer was victory, his immigration to Medina was help to Islam, and his reign was mercy.” Abdullah ibn Masood says, “We were never able to pray in front of Al Kaaba publicly until Umer became Muslim.” So the Islam of one person changed the situation of all of the Muslim community. Abdullah ibn Masood also says, “We used to conceal our Islam until Umer became Muslim, then we would proudly proclaim our Islam.”

  It is mentioned in one of the narrations of seerah, that when Umer became Muslim, Rusool Allah (saw) lined up the Muslims in two ranks. One rank was headed by Hamza and the other rank was headed my Umer, and they went down the streets of Mecca marching publicly, proclaiming their religion while Rusool Allah (saw) was walking between the two ranks.

  When Umer bin Khattab (ra) became Muslim, he asked, “Who has the biggest mouth in Mecca?” Who can publicize this news? Umer bin Khattab (ra) didn’t want to take this step by step, he wanted everyone to know that I became Muslim. They told him; Jamil Ajjumaai. Abdullah bin Umer said, “At that time I was young but I can still remember everything I saw.” He said, “I followed my father and he went to Jamil.” Umer bin Khattab (ra) said to Jamil, “You know what I did?” Jamil said, “what?” He said, “I became Muslim.” Abdullah bin Umer said, “Immediately as soon as Jamil heard the news, he stood up dragging his gown behind him and he went running towards the mosque (Al Kaaba), and he went in front of everyone and started screaming to the top of his voice, ‘O PEOPLE OF QURAISH!! Umer has become a Sabian!’” When Umer bin Khattab heard that he used the word, ‘Sabian’, so Umer bin Khattab (ra) corrected him by saying, ‘No, I have become a Muslim.’, but this man didn’t hear anything he was saying, he was going around publicizing the news.

  Umer bin Khattab (Ra) said, “People started flowing towards me.” Abdullah bin Umer said, “So the people surrounded my father from every direction, they were beating him, and he was beating them. They were fighting for hours until the sun was right on top of their heads and it was too hot for them to continue.” Then Umer bin Khattab (ra) went home, people had surrounded his house, they wanted to kill Umer bin Khattab (ra). The news for them was a shock and major disappointment. Abdullah bin Umer said, “My father was at home, and then a man came, he asked my father, ‘What is wrong?’” Umer bin Khattab said, “These people want to kill me.” The man said, “No, they will not kill you”, and he stood outside and said, “Leave the man alone, doesn’t he have the right to choose the religion, he wants to believe in? I am giving him protection.” Abdullah bin Umer said, “Immediately the people left.”

  Abullah bin Umer said, “And then later on I asked my father in Medina, ‘Who was that man who came and helped you?’” Umer bin Khattab (ra) said, “Oh my son, that was Al-Aas bin Waail.” Al Aas bin Waail was the father of Amr bin Aas, he wasn’t a Muslim. The tribe of Umer bin Khattab was not very strong, but they were allies with the tribe of Al-Aas bin Waail.

LESSONS ON THE ISLAM OF UMER BIN KHATTAB (RA)

1.         We get to know of the leadership qualities that a leader should have in the example of Rusool Allah (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) knew the traits of people very well. He made the dua asking Allah to guide Umer bin Khattab, or Abu Jahl for a reason. Umer bin Khattab and Abu Jahl had some traits that qualified them to be outstanding leaders. Abu Jahl used to be called by his people Abul Hakm, which means ‘father of wisdom’. But because his intelligence did not bring him to Islam, he was named ‘Abu Jahl’ by Rusool Allah (saw). These two men had determination, and commitment to a cause. If they believed in something, they were willing to work for it until the end. They were strong and brave men, who would rise above everyone else in difficult situations. Rusool Allah (Saw) was looking at these personal qualitites, which made him make that dua.

2.         Another leadership quality we learn from Rusool Allah (saw) is that he had a deep understanding of his people and how to cure their diseases. Umer bin Khattab’s heart was filled with hatred towards the Muslims, so as soon as Umer bin Khattab (ra) became a Muslim, Rusool Allah (saw) knew where the disease was and how to cure it. It is narrated that Rusool Allah (saw) placed his hand on the chest of Umer bin Khattab (ra) and said, “Oh Allah, cure his heart from hatred”,, and he made that dua three times.

3.         The third lesson is that: “The best of you in Jahiliya, are the best of you in Islam, if they understand”. So Rusool Allah (saw) means that the people who have good personal qualities before Islam, will become the best Muslims, if they understand the religion.

  Ibn Hajjar states that, “When Quraish saw that some of the believers have gone to live in a different land and were safe (in Abyssinia) and that Umer has embraced Islam, they realized that Islam was beginning to rapidly catch on. They then decided that there would be no solution other than to kill the Prophet (saw).” This situation leads them to the signing of the embargo against Muhammad (saw), because Quraish now had officially requested Banu Hashim to hand over Muhammad (Saw), to kill him. Obviously Banu Hashim refused, and so the result was; an agreement between the various tribes of Quraish to boycott Banu Hashim and Banu Al Muttallib.

  The embargo started in the month of Muharram in the seventh year after the message began, and the agreement was that no one would deal with Banu Hashim and Banu Al Muttallib, no trade would be conducted between them, and no one would marry of them or to them, until they hand over Muhammad (saw). The tribes were surrounded because Quraish wanted to ensure that no food would reach to Banu Hasim and Banu Al Muttallib. Al Muttallib had very close relationship with their bretheren from Banu Hashim, and they stood by them in that difficult moment. The document of this emargo was posted inside Al-Kaaba. Things became quite severe, Banu Hashim and Banu Al Muttallib were suffering hunger and it is reported by Saad bin Abi Waqas, “We were so hungry that we used to eat leaves of trees.” Most of the people in the in Banu Hashim and Banu Al Muttallib weren’t even Muslims. So this embargo was against everyone in these two tribes regardless of their religions, and they all went through such a hard time, only because they refused to hand over Muhammad (Saw).

  Hisham bin Haris was a relative of Banu Hashim from his maternal side, he was the most enthusiastic in refusing the terms of the embargo. Hisham bin Haris would load a camel with food, and take it in top of the hill that was overlooking the commune of Banu Hashim, he would then set the camel free, so that it would go down the hill and end up among Banu Hashim.

  Hisham bin Haris went to Zuhair bin Abi Ummayya, and he,  Zuhair, “Does it please you, that you are eating well, and dressing well, while your own uncles are in a situation of distress? On my part I swear that if these people were the uncles of Abul Hakm, he would not have done so.” Zuhair bin Abi Ummayya was also a relative of Banu Hashim from the maternal side. So Hisham was telling Zuhair that if these people were Abu Jahl’s uncles then he would not have treated them this way. So then why should they accept such a situation?? So Hisham was talking about Abu Jahl’s double standards.

  Zuhair ibn Abi Ummayya responded and said, “Shame on you, Hisham. Who am I, but one man?? In the name of Allah, if I had another person beside me, I would go about abrogating that document.” Hisham said, “Well there is a person with you.” Zuhair said, “Who is it?” Hisham said, “Myself.” Zuhair said, “Then find us a third person.” Hisham set off to find a third person, he went to Al Mutan bin Udayy. He said, “Mutan, are you pleased to have two clans of Banu Abdul Manaa suffer, while you look on in agreement with Quraish about it? By God, if you enabled them to do this, they will soon be treating you the same way.” Al Mutan said, “Well what am I able to do? I am just one person.” Hisham said, “There is one person with you.” He asked who that was, Hisham said, “Myself.” Al Mutan said, “How about you find us a third person?” Hisham said, “I did.” Al Mutan asked who that was, Hisham said, “Zuhair ibn Abi Ummayya.” Al Mutan said, “Find us a fourth.”

  Hisham went to Abul Buktari, and said to him the same thing, and Abul Buktari said, “We need more people.” Hisham said, “we are now four.” Abul Buktari said, “Go and find us a fifth.” Hisham went and got a fifth person who was, Zamaa bil Aswad. Now they said that all five will meet at night in Al Hujoom, all of them met and agreed that the next morning they were going to set about destroying this document, but they were going to make it seem as if it was spontaneous.

 So next morning Zuhair ibn Abi Ummayya goes with special clothes (a gown), he made tawaaf, that was the time at which the assembly of Quraish meets. The assembly Is held in An Nadwa close to Al-Kaaba. Zubair went and stood right above the assembly of Quraish, and he said to them, “O people of Quraish! Does it please you to eat well and to dress at will, while Bannu Hashim and Banu Al Muttallib are going through distress? I swear in the name of Allah, I am not going to take a seat, unless that document is torn apart.” Now a second person from the five stood up as if this all was spontaneous and that nothing was pre-decided. The second person from the five said, “Yes! I never agreed to that document, from the day it was written.” Then a third person stood up and said, “I swear that I have nothing to do with such a document, and I don’t want to be part of such an agreement.” Then the fourth person stood up and spoke against embargo. Finally Hisham bin Haris stood up and spoke.

  Now Abu Jahl stood up and said, “This is something that you planned at night.” But this statement was too late, things were already getting out pf control and Al Mutam bin Udayy went into Al-Kaaba to tear the document, and SUBHANALLAH, he goes in to find that the document was already eaten up my termites with the exception of the words, “In the name of our Lord.”

  So the embargo ended after two or three years.

LESSONS

1.         We saw in this event that 5 people made a difference. The whole embargo was abrogated due to the efforts of 5 people. Actually it all started by Hisham bil Haris, he had an idea in his mind then he set about to implement it and he recruited the few people around him, finally bringing an end to this oppressive agreement. This shows us the value of organization, five people came together and had an organized plan, and they were able to bring an end to the embargo. This is the value of working together in an organized unitary way. Brother and sisters, this religion needs actions! You need to take the first step, like Hisham bil Haris.

  One group of scholars say that Muhammad (Saw) became a Prophet when he received the revelation of ‘iqra’, and he became a Rusool, when he was given the revelation of ‘Qum Fa andhir’. That is one view, because there is a difference between Nabi and Rusool. Nabi (Prophet) is a person who receives revelation from Allah, but it isn’t necessarily a mandate on them to propagate the message, however a Rusool (Messenger) is a Nabi, who is commanded by Allah to propagate the message.

  When Rusool Allah (Saw) was revealed ‘iqra’ he was a Nabi, because he wasn’t commanded by Allah to propagate the message, until he was given the revelation of ‘Qum fa aandhir’ (Stand up and warn), that is when he became a Rusool, according to the opinion of some scholars.

  So you can notice that the first command Allah (swt) gave to Muhammad (Saw), that made him a Rusool was to STAND UP. And even if the Muslims are standing up or lying down, they are not relieved from their duties, “The ones who remember the name of Allah, standing up, sitting down, and when they are lying on their beds…” As a Muslim you need to continue doing something. Umer bin Khattab (ra) used to make this dua, “Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you, from the strong disbeliever, and the weak believer.”

  We cannot expect the situation of our ummah to change unless we do something about it, no supernatural force will come and set things straight.

2.         The miracle of the termites eating the document: The issue comes here of the soldiers of Allah, “No one knows of the soldiers of Allah but He.” Who would imagine that termites would be soldiers of Allah??!

  Another miracle of Rusool Allah (saW) was the wrestling of Rusool Allah (saw) with Rukaana. Rukaana was the strongest wrestler in Mecca, he had never ever lost a wrestling match. Rukaana came to Muhammad (saW) and he said, “Would you challenge me?” Rusool Allah (saw) amazingly accepted the challenge. Rukaana being a disbeliever obviously wanted to humiliate Muhammad (saw), and probably wanted a chance to get his hands on Muhammad (saw). The deal was that whoever wins will get a 100 sheep. So this incident happened before betting was haraam. They started to fight and Rusool Allah (saw) was able to turn Rukaana upside down and throw him on the ground. Rukaana couldn’t believe what happened, he stood up again and he tried to fight another time, Rusool Allah (Saw) did the same thing to him again. Rukaana tried a third time, and then he lost.

  Rukaana then said, “Muhammad, no one has ever put my back on the ground before you. And no one was more hateful in my sight before this, than you. But now I testify that there is no God but Allah, and that you are the messenger of Allah.” Rusool Allah (saw) got the 100 sheep, but then he gave it back to Rukaana and he said, “Keep the sheep.” This shows the strength that Rusool Allah (saw) had, he had the strength of 30 men.

  Third miracle was that the people of Quraish were continuously asking for a sign, as if Quran was not sufficient. Even though the Quran is the best miracle there has ever been. Anyway Allah (swt) revealed to Muhammad (saw) through Jibrael, “If they’re asking for a sign, We’ll split for them the moon.” Rusool Allah (saw) called the unbelievers and said, “The moon will be split.” The non-believers gathered at night and right before their eyes, they saw the moon split into two and then it came back together. This is a very unique miracle, and it is firmly established from Bukhari, Muslim, and the Quran. Allah (swt) says in Surah Al-Qamar (54:1-2)

The Hour has come near, and the moon has split [in two] (1) And if they see a miracle, they turn away and say, "Passing magic.” (2)        

  They accused Muhammad (saw) of performing magic, this was not an optical illusion. This miracle could be attacked by casting doubt on this incident. For example it could be asked, “How come other people in other parts of the World did not see it?”Well to respond to that:

1.       The world is in different time zones; half of the world was day time, so we can cross out half of the World. Within the other half, it was probably very late at night, so many didn’t see it.

2.       Or it could be that the moon is not apparent to them in their particular area because it has already set or because of weather. So that would eliminate parts of the half of the world which has night.

3.       Now the part of the World that had a chance to see the moon: Usually you don’t find people staring at the sky at night. People tend to ignore what‘s going on above them, unless they are told to look up. So the moon when it split, it is possible that they didn’t see it because they simply didn’t look up.

4.       in those days documentation was weak, many events in history happened without anybody caring to write them down. So there remains a possibility, of some people seeing it, but they didn’t document it. There are  some scholars who say that this event was documented in India and China. They say that there are some old writing in China that say that, a certain event happened the year the moon was split. So they use it as a reference point to document history.

5.       It is mentioned by some astronomists, that there appears to be a long divide that goes around the moon. If that is true, then it is a clear sign of the splitting of the moon, however this information needs to be verified.

  Al Khattabi. One of the classical scholars sais, “The splitting of the moon is a great sign that cannot even be compared to signs given to prior messengers. This is because it was witnessed in the vastness of the universe and traversing beyond the laws of nature. With this the confirmation of the Prophet (SaW)’s message was by coponderance.”

  Another miracle; there was continuous rivalry between the Roman and the Persian Empire. They were the superpowers of that time. Persian Empire included parts of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, maybe parts of Pakistan, and up north. Byzantanian Empire included Turkey, parts of Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. In one critical battle between the two Empires, the Persians defeated the Romans. The people of Mecca were very happy to hear this, while the Muslims were sad. The reason is because the pagans felt more close to the Persians, because the Persians used to worship fire. So the mushrikeen felt a connection. While the Romans were Christians, who are obviously People of the Book, who are closer to the Muslims. Anyhow the pagans were going around in Mecca and saying the Muslims, “Just like the Persians defeated the Romans, we will defeat you.  Allah (swt) revealed a verse

          

Alif, Lam, Meem (1) The Byzantines have been defeated (2) In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome (3) Within three to nine years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice (4) In the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful (5)

  So here Allah (swt) has promised that the Romans will win within 10 years. Abu Bakr (ra) learned these verses and went to Abu Jahl. He said, “I want to bet with you, that the Romans will win.” Abu Jahl said, “Give me a time frame.” Abu Bakr said, “less than ten years.” They had a bet on 100 camels. Abu Bakr (ra) obviously was willing to bet on anything, since he believed in the Quran.  Allah (swt) says Within three to nine years, To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice (4) In the victory of Allah…  What do you understand by this verse? The Romans will win, and the Muslims will be happy because Allah gave them victory. Let’s see… Eight years passed and the Romans won, and the news reached the Muslims, they didn’t really care much about it. How come? Allah says that day Muslim will rejoice, and now they received the news but the news is of secondary concern. SubhanAllah this is because the day they received the news was the day of Battle of Badr. And the victory at the battle of Badr, overshadowed everything else. That was a day of true happiness.

  The pagans used to say that they will defeat the Muslims like the Persians defeated the Romans, but the complete opposite happened. Romans won and the same day, the Muslims won J. But the miracle doesn’t end here,  the words of the ayah were that the Byzantines have been defeated in ‘Adnal Urdh’. Adna has two meaning in Arabic, one meaning is nearest and the other is lowest. The meaning ‘nearest’ was adopted by early  scholars, because the nearest land to the Arabs was Ash-Shaam, but now in the light of science, there is a new meaning of this verse. The place the battle occurred is the lowest point on the face of the Earth.

CD 14

A few months after the end of the embargo, about six months later the man who had supported the messenger of Allah (saw) was now on his death bed leaving this world. Abu Talib was dying and Mohammad (saw) was by his side. And the messenger of Allah told his uncle “Ya Am, oh uncle say La ilaha illAllah, say that there is no God but Allah. Give me this word so that I can witness for you on the Day of Judgment, give me something in my hand so that I can argue on your behalf on the Day of Judgment. All that I want from you is to say La ilaha illAllah.”

                            Sitting on the other side was who? Abu Jahl, SubhanAllah it’s amazing where ever you go in the See rah you will find this man in front of you causing problems, leading in Evil, where ever you go in See rah you will have Abu Jahl just standing right in front of you, he was relentless in his efforts to fight the Rasool Allah (saw), he did not give up until the last moment. Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abe Umair were sitting on the other side Abu Jahl interjected and said “Oh Abu Talib are you going to die on a religion other than the religion of Abu Mutalib? Are you going to denounce the religion of your father?”  Rasool Allah repeated again “Oh my uncle say La ilaha illAllah” and Abu Jahl continued interrupting, and that went on until Abu Talib pronounced his last words he said “I am dying on the religion of my father Abu Mutalib.” Those were his last words, this is a narration in Tirmizi and Bukhari, (and there is another narration in Muslim).

                            Abu Talib passed away and the messenger of Allah said I am going to continue to pray to Allah to forgive him, Allah then forbid him from doing so, now that was a very difficult time for Rasool Allah (saw), remember Abu Talib was the one who raised up Mohammad (saw), he sponsored him, he took care of him at the age of eight, so he was the one caring for him in his childhood and then he is the one who stood beside him in his Adulthood. And Abu Talib was supporting, defending, protecting, Mohammad (saw) for over 42 years. It started at the age of eight and it went on till Rasool Allah was at the age of fifty. So we can say Abu Talib had given most of his life, spent most of his time in the defense of Mohammad (saw), so it was a difficult time for Mohammad (saw) to see his uncle, his dear uncle die as a disbeliever. So Mohammad (saw) said I am going to ask Allah to forgive him and he asked Allah to forgive him until Allah revealed the verse,

Surah At Tauba (9:113)

It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.

So Rasool (saw) was forbidden from doing that.

In a narration by Muslim Rasool Allah was telling his uncle to say La ilaha illAllah, his uncle responded by saying  “if it were not for Quraish insulting me and saying that it was the fear of death that made me say it I would do so and please you.” Abu Talib knew it would please Mohammad (saw), he knew how much it would hurt him to know his uncle died as a disbeliever, so Abu Talib SubhanAllah-e was even sympathetic to Mohammad (saw) in this case, he said I would have said it just to please you, but I don’t want the news to get out to the people of Quraish that I only did it out of fear of dying. So it was a matter of honor and dignity for him not to say it and that’s when Allah (sat) revealed the verse

Surah Al Qasas (28:56)

“You cannot give guidance to those whom you love but Allah gives guidance to the one’s He wills.”

So guidance is not in the hand of anyone except Allah (sat), even the Prophet of Allah (saw), his mission is to convey the message not to convert. Converting the heart of a person is in the hands of Allah not in the hands of people. And therefore in Islam coercion in faith is not allowed

Surah Al Baqarah (2:256)

There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.

Because this is something beyond our ability, you cannot coerce something on the heart of a person, so it should be a matter of choice for the people, they should be free to choose their faith, and that is how they will be held accountable in front of Allah (sat), it is because of the freedom that they have.

So now Rasool Allah (saw) is dealing with this tragic event that happened to him. Two months later Khatija (R.A) dies, Rasool Allah is still dealing with the death of his uncle and here his beloved, the person dearest to him dies. This year was called the year of sorrow, and this was the 10^th year after Rasool (saw) received revelation. It was the most tragic time on Mohammad (saw) because the two most influential people in his life who helped him with his message Hazrat Khatija (R.A) who supported Rasool Allah (saw) with psychological support in addition to financial support due to her business, and Abu Talib who offered Mohammad (saw) with physical support. So suddenly these two pillars that he was standing on collapsed. So this is not called the year of sorrow because Rasool (saw) lost two dear people but also because this was such a setback, to the preaching of the message.

Rasool Allah (saw) who had freedom of going around preaching the message was now being blocked because his uncle passed away, and when Rasool (saw) who would go home to find comfort with his wife Khatija (R.A) would go home and find no one, Rasool (saw) remained unmarried for two or three years.  So it was a very difficult time on him. Some scholars say there is wisdom in this happening at the same time, and that is to increase the dependence of Muslims on Allah. So rather than the message being protected by Abu Talib and supported by Khatija, now there would be more reliance on Allah (sat) because there was no one else, no one around Rasool (saw) to give him the same support, so this would increase the tawwakul the Muslims have on Allah (saw). This is the account given by some scholars.

Allah (sat) revealed the Surah called Surah Ash Sharh

 

With difficulty comes ease.

Rasool (saw) went through this most tragic time in his life, so it was followed by one of the best blessings given to him by Allah, because the size of the calamity the bounty that followed it was great. Rasool Allah (saw) narrates and this hadtih is in Bukhari: (similar in Muslim and musnad imam Ahmad and most of the books of narration):

“while I was in al hatheem, or Al- Hijr (semi circle area close to Al-Kaaba) he was there at night) I received a visitor, an angel, who came and opened my abdomen, and pulled out my heart, and then my heart was placed in an golden basin filled with faith /emaan, and my heart was placed in it and washed and then replaced. And then I was presented an animal smaller than a horse, larger than a donkey.” (Anas ibn Malik narrated this hadith and one of his students a tabaeen asked is this animal Barak? He

Replied yes.) “This animal would take a stride as far as it can see” so the messenger of Allah(saw) was trying to describe to us the speed of this animal this animal would place its hove’s at the extent of its site with one leap, so it was an extremely fast beast, you just see the earth wrapping in front of you. “Jibreel told me to mount this animal and then he would guide me,”

Rasool Allah said in a Hadith related by Muslim “Jibreel took me to Jerusalem. And I tied my mount at the gate of the masjid and then I entered and prayed two rakaat. “                                                                      And it states that rasool Allah (saw) was an Imam, and the people who were following him were the Prophets.  Then rasool Allah (saw) said “I was led by Jibreel, up in the heavens. (He said) we made it all the way to the gates, of the lowest Heaven. Jibreel knocked on the gate so the gatekeepers said, who is it? Jibreel said it is Jibreel, and who’s with you? Mohammad (saw) was he given the permission? Jibreel said yes, they responded by saying he is welcome and his arrival is a pleasure. And they opened the gates.” So you see no one can make it through unless they have permission, unless they have clearance.                     They opened the gates and Rasool Allah (saw) said “I went in, and I found there in my father, Adam (AS),” Rasool Allah (saw) said Jibreel introduced him to me and said “ this is your father Adam (AS), greet him. So I said Assalamualaikum, Adam (AS) saluted me in return and said Walaikumassallam. And then Adam (AS) said welcome to my pure son. Welcome to the pure Prophet (saw)”                                                

when I think of this meeting I try to imagine the pleasure both the Prophets had. Now imagine Adam (AS) I meeting the brightest and greatest of his children, Mohammad (saw) he’s meeting him for the first time. After thousands of years now Adam (AS) has the chance to meet his greatest son, and imagine Mohammad (saw) meeting his father Adam, imagine him in front of you greeting you. It must have been such a pleasurable moment, and they might have wished to sit down and have a pleasurable conversation but remember Mohammad (saw) is on a tight schedule he has a lot waiting ahead of him. So Jibreel carried Mohammad (Saw) and they went up to the gates of the second heaven. They reached the gate and same thing happened they asked who is it Jibreel said it is Jibreel who is with you, Mohammad (saw) is he a nabee? Was he given the Risallah Prophet Hood, he said yes they opened the door and Mohammad (saw) said “I went in and I met Jesus and John, The two cousins,  Eesa (AS) and Yahyah (AS). Yahyah is referred to in the Christian literature as john the Baptist. Rasool Allah (saw) said and I exchanged greeting with them.” and what are the greetings in Islam on the Umbia? Assalamualaikum peace be upon you.

 Went on ahead to the third Heaven knocked on the gate went through, and I met with Joseph, Yusuf (AS), “ and Rasool Allah (saw) said “ he has been given half of beauty” so if you were given a big block of beauty half of it was Yusuf (AS). “We made it to the fourth Heaven, went through and I met with Idrees (AS). And Allah (sat) says “We have raised him to a very high status”, he was in the fourth Heaven. “We went to the fifth Heaven and therein I met Haroon, Aaron (pbuh).  And then I went to the sixth Heaven and I met Moosa (AS).” And his meeting with Moosa (AS) was an eventful meeting SubhanAllah. Some scholars say Quran is almost the story of Moosa. He is mentioned so frequently there and his personality is so outstanding. Whenever the name of Moosa (AS) is mentioned something important is going to happen. Rasool Allah (saw) passed by Moosa (AS) and Moosa started to weep.

After they greeted each other and Moosa welcomed Mohammad (saw) Moosa Started to weep. When asked why was he weeping he said “A young man was given Prophet Hood after me and he will have more of his followers entering Paradise than mine.” Up until that moment Moosa had the largest following than any Prophet. The children of Israel were the largest believing nation. But now there was a new world record by the Ummah of the Mohammad (saw). So Moosa (AS) cried, he wept and you see there was a competition between the prophet and Mohammad (saw) but it was not a competition of jealousy and envy it’s a compassion competition and you will see that in the upcoming conversation between the prophet Mohammad (saw) and Moosa(AS).  Rasool Allah (saw) said then I went up to the seventh Heaven and I went in and met my father Ibrahim (AS) and I exchanged salaam with him. Then Rasool Allah (saw) said “then I was presented with Bait- ul-Mamur” and in one narration it is said that Ibrahim (AS) was standing with his back to Bait-ul-Mamur. What is Bait-ul-Mamur? It is mentioned in the Quran Allah Taala swears on the Bait-ul-Mamur. Just as we make Tawaaf around the Kaaba and it is the first house on earth established for the worship of Allah. The same thing is to be said about Bait-ul-Mamur so as here the Muslims will visit the Kaaba the angels will visit the Bait-ul-Mamur. Rasool Allah (saw) says the Bait-ul-Mamur is visited by 70,000 angels’ everyday and they never come back to it again.

Do you understand the implications of that? So Rasool (saw) says everyday a new group of 70,000 angels come every day, how many angels are there? And for how long has this been going on? For how many thousands or millions or billions of years?  It puts us human beings to shame I mean we say we are over

populated here on earth six billion of us. Who are we compared to this massive creation of angels. Rasool (saw) says the skies are moaning and they are justified in moaning after every space equivalent to four fingers there are angels bowing down in ruku or prostrating in sujud worshipping Allah (sat). So this is a vast huge creation that makes us the world of human beings seem insignificant. By the way the narration where Ibrahim (AS) is resting with his back to Bait-ul-Mamur is significant because he built the Kaaba on earth so when Allah took away his soul He made him rest against Bait-ul-Mamur the house of the angels.

Then Rasool Allah (saw) said “I saw Sidra-tul-muntiha, I travelled further and I reached Sidra-tul-muntiha” Sidra-tul-muntiha is a lote tree, but it is muntiha, muntiha means the end, it is the end of the Heavens.  Beyond that you reach the afterlife, you have the Heavens you have Allah’s throne you have wal Kursi, so Sidra-tul-muntiha is the end of the universe created by Allah (saw), one over the other. And then you have Sidra-tul-muntiha and then beyond that you enter into a different world so Rasool (saw) reached to that muntiha and Rasool (saw) saw four river emanating from it. And he asked Jibreel what are these rivers, and he said two of them are apparent and two of them are hidden. The apparent one’s are the Nile and aphratus, and the hidden one’s are the two rivers of paradise.  What it means by the Nile and the Euphratus  is that because these rivers are so blessed in the world there is an equivalent of them up there. And that tree is so close to paradise that you have two rivers of paradise passing from under it. Now in size compared to the seven Heavens   the lowest Heaven which we are in compared to the one above it is like a ring in the dessert, and the second compared to the third is like a ring in the dessert. And on and on until we get to the seventh Heaven and the seventh Heaven compared to the Kursi is like a ring in the dessert.

 Now this lower Heaven Compared in size to the Kursi, we don’t even know how vast it is. All of the world we know today is within the seventh Heaven because Allah (sat) says We have Adorned the lowest Heavens with stars so all of the stars are located within the lowest Heaven, and we haven’t even been able to reach to the end if the creation of the stars. So it is a vast creation and Rasool Allah (saw) got a chance to go through all of it, was an amazing journey. After Rasool (saw) passed the sidra-tul-muntiha this tree he went further up and he made it all the way and he met with Allah (sat) and that was the combination of this trip, he reaches to the heights and he met with Allah (sat) directly. Allah (sat) then prescribed Mohammad (saw) fifty daily prayers.

Rasool Allah (saw) said “I descended and on my way I met Moses, Moosa (AS) who asked me what did Allah tell you?” he said “Allah has prescribed 50 daily prayers on my nations.” Moosa (AS) said your people will not be able to handle that I have tested people before you and I have experienced the children of Israel for a very long time go back to your Lord and tell him to reduce it tell Him to relief you. Mohammad (saw) took this senior advice and he went back to Allah (sat) and he said relief me of some of the prayers. Allah (sat) released him by ten. Mohammad (saw) went down. Moosa (AS) said what happened he told him, he said go back, ask Allah to give you a further reduction. Went back again, 10

were reduced. Descended, Moosa (AS) asked him what happened he said Allah reduced them to 30 Moosa said go back again. Mohammad (saw) goes back another time, they were reduced to twenty, Moosa (AS) said go back, and they reduced to 10, Moosa told Mohammad (saw) to go back another time, Mohammad (saw) went back and it was reduced to five. He goes down reports it to Moosa (AS), Moosa said “oh Mohammad I have experience with people, I have dealt with the children of Israel, your nation will not be able to handle it, go back and tell Allah to reduce them further, Mohammad (saw) said “I am so ashamed, to go back to Allah, and ask him for a further reduction, I cannot.” 

So you see the difference between the personality of Mohammad (saw) and Moosa (AS), Moosa wouldn’t have minded arguing with Allah for it, Moosa (AS) was the one who asked Allah (sat) that I want to see you. Allah (sat) has already gave him the blessing of speaking to him and he wants more, and then obviously we know what happened to him, he collapsed. Moosa (AS) was the one who punched the angel of death and knocked his eye out. So Moosa (AS) was a strong man and all the Umbia of Allah SubhanAllah are the same in darjaat but their personalities are different. So Mohammad (saw) did not go back and he heard a voice saying that is a prescription on you, five daily prayers but you will receive the reward of fifty.

Rasool Allah (saw) made it back to the dunya on the same night, Rasool Allah (saw) went to Umme-Aymen and he told her about what happened, he said “I have been to Jerusalem and back In this night” she said “oh messenger of Allah do not tell anyone this. Nobody will believe it, it’s impossible.” Now Umma Aymen believed him but she said that people will not. The kuffar of Quraish will not.  The journey towards Jerusalem used to take one month Rasool Allah (saw) made it within one night. Not only to Jerusalem but to Jerusalem, back and not only that but to the seventh Heavens. Umma Aymen told the prophet (saw) to not tell his people that. Rasool Allah (saw) said “I will, I will convey the message, regardless of what the people will say. It’s part of my mission and I will tell them what happened. Your responsibility is to convey.

 Rasool Allah (saw) obviously realized the weight of this news and how difficult it would be and he went out and he was quiet and somber, he started to speak to some people, and then the news reached to Abu Jahl, and Rasool Allah (saw) was sitting in the masjid, quiet and worried about the consequences. So Abu Jahl came to Mohammad (saw) and said “oh Mohammad, anything new?” Mohammad (saw) said “yes!” Abu Jahl said “what?” Rasool Allah (saw) said “this night I visited Jerusalem and came back” Abu Jahl said Jerusalem? Mohammad (saw) said yes. Abu Jahl said “oh Mohammad! If I would call your people right now and bring them here, would you tell them the same thing you just told me now?” Mohammad (saw) said “yes I would.”

Abu Jahl went happy, running calling the people of Quraish “oh people of Quraish! Come forward” and he gathered them and he brought them forward. And when they were all present he told Mohammad (saw) “oh Mohammad (saw) can you please tell your people what you just told me a moment ago.

Mohammad (saw) without hesitation said “I have been to Jerusalem and back, the previous night.” The narrator of the hadith said people started hooting, clapping and whistling. They made a big joke out of it. Imagine the crowds; laughing whistling, clapping and they were falling on each other. So some of the seasoned travelers who use visit Jerusalem and had been there asked Mohammad (saw) to describe the mosque, describe Jerusalem to us. Rasool Allah (saw) said I started describing and then I became vexed. Rasool Allah (saw) had not spent a long time there and he couldn’t remember every single detail of the place.

 Then Rasool Allah (saw) said Allah showed me Jerusalem and I described it to the people stone by stone, brick by brick, and they said that he has given an excellent accurate description. But there was another thing mentioned in another narration by Ibn- Ishaaq, when Rasool Allah (saw) was on his way back to Mecca he passed by a caravan belonging to the people of Quraish in the night, and they had lost a camel of theirs, and because Rasool Allah (saw) was up in the air he was able to see it, so he called them and said your camel is in this place, they didn’t know where the voice was coming from, then he drank some of their water and he didn’t know the description of the caravan.

So Rasool Allah (saw) said also as proof is your caravan here is the description, they had lost their camel and I also drank some of their water, in such and such container, and the caravan was headed by a camel, and  he described the camel and he described the load on the camel. And they immediately sent some of the people to meet the caravan outside Mecca before it came in, and the person found the description to be accurate and they did lose and camel and found it because they a heard a voice coming from the sky and also that they missed some of their water. And these were all signs that were given to them but these weren’t sufficient for them to believe. Now the story of the Miraaj was so difficult to handle that it caused some of the week Muslims to apostate, it was so difficult to grasp. But that is the amazing thing about these miracles that Allah (sat) would show his Umbia. Lessons to be learned from al-isra-ul-miraaj;

1.The event of opening the chest of Mohammad (saw) has occurred more than once. It occurred once when he was with Salima Sadia, when he was a child. And it occurred a second time on journey of Al-isra-wal-miraaj. By the way Isra means travelling at night, the meaning of miraaj is ascending.

2.  The conversation of Mohammad (saw) with Moosa (AS) when Allah prescribed the fifty prayers to Rasool Allah (saw) he accepted it. But when he went down to Moosa (AS) he told him your nation will not be able to handle it. So Moosa is speaking out of experience, and that is the value of experience. Some time knowledge does not suffice you have to have experience. Moosa told Mohammad (saw) that I have more experience with the people; you are new in this I have spent most of my life dealing with

  the most difficult of people Bani Israel, they won’t be able to handle it go back and get it changed. Moosa learned this through experience, experience is better than knowledge. When Moosa met with Allah (sat) in the journey of the fourty days. Allah told Moosa (AS) that in your absence your people worshipped the calf.

Allah (sat) that your people have gone astray. And they deviated due to the samari who made for them a calf out of gold. So Allah told Moosa (AS) everything that happened. Moosa (AS) just received the ten tablet from Allah so he had them in his hands, and he was told by Allah that your people have deviated. So Moosa already knew when he went back and saw his people, what did he do? He threw the talets on the sand. How come his response was difference when he saw it compared to when he heard it. Because seeing something is not like hearing it. So Moosa (AS) is telling Rasool Allah (saw) that I have dealt with people, I have first hand knowledge, your people cannot handle this this is too much. Moosa (AS) told Mohammad (saw) that even five prayers is too much for them. And SubhanAllah Moosa was right, how many muslims don’t even pray the five daily prayers. How many pray some and leave the rest. But may Allah (sat) bless Moosa (AS) for  getting it reduced to five and making it easy on us. If it would have been ffifty imagine how difficult it wouldve been, we are barely doing the five, what would be the situation if we had to do fifty. So we owe it to Moosa (AS) and we need to thank him immensley for that.                                                                                                                                                                          So the competition between the Umbia like I said is a compassionate competition, so Moosa (AS) wept when he saw Preophet (saw) because he knew that he had a larger following population, that didn’t make him not give him advice. So you see how eager Moosa was to help us, and how eager he was to

give Rasool allah (saw) advice, so they loved each other, theUmbia loved each other. So their competition was a competition of love, of each other.  So Moosa (AS) kept telling him to go back and get a reduction.

         

  Rasool allah (saw) was shown a vision of the Day of Judgements of the followers of different Prophets. He said some followeres have 10 followers some had five, some had one and prophet(saw) even saw prophets with no followers at all. Imagine a prophet coming on the Day of Judgement alone. They spent their whole life in Dawa and no one responded, Nobody. Then he saw a huge population and thought it was his, but it was actually Moosa (AS)’s and so we know Moosa (AS)’s Ummah is the largest after Rasool (saw).

3.  The importance of Salah. There is no command that was prescribed on us in Heavens, except Salah. Every other ritual that we have was prescribed on Earth. Jibreel revealed the Ahkamaat to Mohammad (saw) here on Earth with the exception of Salah. It was reserved to be given to Mohammad (saw) in this special one to one meeting between Allah and Mohammad (saw). Allah prescribed it in a direct conversation between Him and his Prophet (saw), without any one in between. Even when allah prescribed the prayer to Bani Israel, Allah prescribed the prayer in a direct conversation between him and Moosa(AS) in a direct conversation on Mount Tur. In the Ayat in Surah Taha 20:14

                         

Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.

And those were the moments when Moosa (AS) became Prophet, so he was given the commandment of prayer immediately when he became a prophet at the age of forty, first Lailaha illallah and then prayer.  So that is the importance of Salah. Rasool Allah (saw) said “the difference between the believer and the disbeliever is the discontinuation of Salah.” Even not praying on time is a sin; Surah Maryam (19:59)

But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil

Allah (sat) promised hell fire to ones who have lost their prayers. Ibn Abbas interprets this ayat as losing their prayers does not mean they do not pray rather it means they prayed half time. Ibn Khattab says that if one person has left their farz prayers intentionally they have left the folds of Islam. Obviously these scholars have two opinions in the light of the hadith of disbelief of those who do not pray. But the end result is that prayer is the most important ritual in the fold of Islam. It is the one thing no one is excused from. If you don’t have the means you are excused from hajj if you are unwell or weak due to old age you are excused from fast if you do not have the wealth you are excused from giving zakaat.

But there is no situation where you are excused from prayers. If you can’t pray standing up pray sitting down. If you can’t pray sitting down pray lying down, if you can’t pray lying sown pray with your finger, if you can’t do it with your eyes, but there is no situation where a person is excused from prayer, Even when a battle is going on, Salah has to be observed. Salaah is the only ibaadah for which there is no excuse of not doing it. Muslims scholars say that a person who is spying on the enemy and cannot pray, he can pray with his fingers. 

4.This Journey reveals to us the importance of the Holy Land, Jerusalem and its surroundings. Al (swt) says in Surah Isra (17:1)

Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-îaram to al-Masjid al- Aq§a, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.

 Jerusalem was promised to the believers, Ibrahim (as) was promised that his descendants (believers among them) will be given the guardianship of Jerusalem. This promise was fulfilled through the Prophets of the Children of Israel. Musa (as) was also promised Jerusalem, even though Moses did not see the fulfillment of his promise during his lifetime, but it occurred in the lifetime of his successor, Yusha bin Noon, the Prophet  Joshua. The Chiildren of Israel remained in that land, as long as they remained as the bearers of truth, but when they deviated from the true message of Allah, and they fought the Prophets, killed prophets in fact, attempted to kill Isa (as) Allah (swt) stripped away the land from them and gave it to the other branch, descendants of Ismael. It is now the land of Muhammad (saw) and his ummah, so that land is promised to the believers.  Now the torch is being carried by the seal of Prophet Hood, Muhammad (saw). Even though Muhammad (saw) will not open Jerusalem in his lifetime, he must visit it; he must go and receive the keys. The symbolism of this journey of Rusool Allah (Saw) going to the masjid and leading the anbiya in a prayer, is to show that now Muhammad (saw) is the inheritor of the message of the Prophets, he is the leader of the sons of Adam, and the land that was under the custodianship of the Prophets of Bani Israel is now transferred to the followers of Muhammad (Saw). Just as how musa (as) did not see it in his lifetime but the promise was fulfilled at the time of his successor, Joshua, Muhammad (saw) also did not see it in his lifetime and it happened at the time of Umer bin Khattab (ra). The man about which Muhammad (saW) said, “If there was a Prophet after me, it would be Umar.”

  When the Muslims reached to the gate of Jerusalem, even though the religious and political leadership of Jerusalem could not fight the Muslims, they said, “We will surrender, but we cannot surrender to anyone but the Khalifa of the Muslims. He must come here and take the keys with his own hands.” SubhanAllah, Umer bin Khattab travelled all the way from Medina, to Jerusalem and received the keys of Jerusalem. So now Muslims are the ones who have the promise of the Holy Land.

5.Which we mentioned, “With difficulty comes ease.” Rusool Allah (saw) went through some very difficult moments in the 10^th year of his revelation, so Allah “(swT) gave him this blessing, journey of Al Isra; to have Jibrael (as) as a guide to take his through, to meet with the Anbiya of Allah, and to go on this journey to a real wonder land. From one place to another and then he entered into Jannah. Rusool Allah (saw) saw the river of Al Kauthar which was given to him. Jibrael (as) told him, “This is your river Al Kauthar.” So it was such a bounty that Allah had given to Muhammad (Saw). You never know what Allah has in store for you. If Allah (swT) says, “With difficulty comes ease.” Then we should believe in that promise. With every difficulty a Muslim goes through, Allah (swt) is reserving for him something, whether for this world or afterlife, so a Muslim should never give up.

6.The position of Abu Bakr: When the people of Quraish were joking around, laughing clapping. Abu Bakr was not present there, when he was entering Mecca, someone went up to him and asked, “Do you know what happened? Muhammad claims that he went to Jerusalem and he made it back.” Abu Bakr said, “IF he said it, then it is the truth.” He did not just accept the information, he said, “IF HE SAID IT…” That is also the explanation of authenticity of hadith, a hadith narrated by just anyone is not accepted, and we make sure that Muhammad (saw) did say it. This is the difference between us and the people of the Book. People of the Book have accepted pretty much everything that was given to them, even though it was separated from the original source for a few centuries, so they have a blind faith But the Muslims used the science of verification where they studied the lives of thousands and thousands of men and women; to see whether they are truthful people or not. Second part is, “THEN IT IS THE TRUTH.” This was the character of Abu Bakr (ra), and that is why he was called ‘Siddiq.’ Whatever Rusool Allah (saw) said, he believed.

  When we use the word ‘heaven’ it seems that we are referring  to Paradise. The problem Is that in the English language heaven and paradise are synonyms, but in Islamic terminology they are not. Heaven is the sky above us, that is part of the temporary world, that will be destroyed on the day of Judgment. Paradise is referring to Jannah, the permanent abode for believers. So Rusool Allah (saw) met the anbiya in the heavens above us.

  Now that Rusool Allah (Saw) has lost the protection of his uncle Abu Talib, and his efforts of da’wa in Mecca were being blocked, he then tried to search for other alternatives. Rusool Allah (saw) made a journey to At Taif, and he was accompanied by Zaid bin Haritha (ra). They went to A Taif and Rusool Allah (saw) went to the leaders of At Taif, the tribe of Thaqeef, and these were three brothers. He presented the message to them, and asked them for support and help. These three men responded in a horrible and miserable way, the first one of them said, “I am going to tear apart the clothing of Al Kaaba, if Allah has sent you as a Prophet.” The clothing of Kaaba was sacred to them. The second among them said, “Did not God find anyone better than you to send?” And the third one said, “I cannot speak to you, I jut cant speak with you, and I don’t think I am qualified to speak to you, and if Allah has not sent you as a messenger and you are lying then it is not appropriate for me to speak to a liar.”

  When Rusool Allah (saw) heard their response he said, “Well if you don’t want to accept my message, atleast keep this conversation that we had secret.” Rusool Allah (Saw) did not want the news to reach Mecca that he was turned down by the people of Thaqeef, because it would only add to the persecution of the people of Quraish towards the Muslims. But they were such evil men, they went to the fools, slaves, and servants, among them and they asked them to revile Muhammad (saw) scream at him.  They pelted them with rocks, chasing them away, Muhammad (saw) and Zaid bin Haritha had to run out of At Taif. Zaid bin Haritha (ra) was shielding Muhammad (Saw) with his own body. They ran out and took shelter in a farm that belonged to two men from Thaqeef. Rusool Allah (Saw) was exhausted, his feet were bleeding and he was hurt because of the way he was treated by the people of Thaqeef

  SubhanAllah Allah (swt) sent help for Rusool Allah (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) was very hungry at the time, the two owners of the farm who belonged to Mecca, told their servant Abbas, who was a Christian, to go and bring some grapes to give to Muhammad (saw). They felt sympathy for him, even though they were two of his staunchest enemies, but because they were in a foreign land (Thaqeef) in a different territory, they felt sympathy and they decided that they should stand up for their tribesman. So they thought atleast they can give him some grapes. Abbas carried the grapes to Muhammad (saw) and presented them to hm. Muhammad (Saw) said, “Bismillah”. Abbas was surprised and he asked Muhammad (Saw), “These words are not said by people in this land.” Muhammad (Saw) was able to imply that he is a foreigner, and follows a different religion. Muhammad (Saw) asked, “Where are you from, and what is your religion?” Abbas responded by saying, “I am a Christian man from Meenawa in Iraq.” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “So you are from the village of the pious man Yunus son of Amittai …, The Prophet of Allah.” Abbas said, “And how do you know about Jonah son of Amittai?” Rusool Allah (Saw) said, “He is my brother, he was a Prophet and I am a Prophet.” When Abbas heard this he immediately bent down and started kissing the feet of Rusool Allah (saw) and then he kissed his hands and head.

  Now the two owners of the farm saw this, they looked at each other and said, “Look, he has already corrupted our slave.” Muhammad (saw) would do da’wa wherever he is and these two men who felt sympathy towards Muhammad (saw) are now regretting it. When Abbas came out they asked, “What is wrong with you? How come you were kissing his hands and head?” He said, “On all Earth there is no man finer than him, he told me something that know one other than a prophet can know.” They said, “Don’t let this man, let you leave your religion, because your religion is better than his.” They didn’t know anything about Christianity, but it was the kufr in their hearts that would make them say anything to keep people away from Islam.

CD 15

IN SEARCH OF A BASE

  LESSONS FROM THE JOURNEY TO AT TAIF

1.       Zaid ibn Haritha was the one who was protecting Rusool Allah (saw) from the rocks that were being thrown at Muhammad (saw). Zaid ibn Haritha was using his own body to protect Muhammad (Saw). In the Battle of Uhud, we have similar stories of sahabah using their backs to protect Muhammad (Saw) not from rocks but from arrows. This was the level of sacrifice that the sahabah (ra) had. We might not have a chance to protect Rusool Allah (saw) with our physical bodies but we can make that up by defending his message through protecting his honor by teaching others of the life of Muhammad (Saw). Abu Muslim Kholani, one of the greatest of the taabaeen said, “Do the companions of Rusool Allah (Saw) think that we will let them have Rusool Allah (saw) for themselves? No, we are going to compete with them. We want to get our share of the messenger of Allah.” So we might be centuries away from the time of Muhammad (saw), we obviously couldn’t help in all the battles in which Muslims fought, but there is still a lot that we can do. What we do, might not be as great as what Zaid did or what Talha (ra) did at the Battle of uhud, but atleast we can try. We should learn and then teach people the life Muhammad (saw), so we could develop love for him, and eventually inshaAllah, we would want to follow his footsteps.

2.       When Rusool Allah (Saw) was speaking to the people of At taif, no one responded to him. They all rejected him, but remember what he said, “Do good, because you never know what the outcome will be.” Rusool Allah (saw) was chased out of At taif, so he might have thought that his words did not really leave an effect on them. But among the crowd to which Rusool Allah (Saw) was speaking to was a child, his name was Khalid Al Udwan. He was a member of the tribe of Khateef. He said, “I said I was standing there listening to the speech of Rusool Allah (saw) in the fair grounds of At Taif, and I heard the messenger of Allah recite Surah ul- Tariq and I memorised it then, when I was still a disbeliever and when I became Muslim, I already knew that Surah.”  So here Muhammad (saw) was giving a speech to an audience where the adults didn’t care about what he was saying but there was a child in there who memorized the surah while it was recited by Muhammad (Saw), and years later Rusool Allah (saw) saw the harvest of this effort.

3.       We talked about what happened between Rusool Allah (saw) and Abbas, the Christian. This was an example of Da’wah through action. Rusool Allah (saw) started by saying Bismillah. A small Islamic act was the cause of the Islam of Abbas, because Abbas had never heard It before. When he asked about it, that opened up a conversation between Muhammad (Saw) and him, which ended in Abbas believing in the Prophet hood of Muhammad (saw). So sometimes small acts might lead people in being inquisitive about Islam, and then studying about it, and may even then become Muslim. It was the sahaba’s behavior and character which lead to many people coming to Islam because of them.

  Now Rusool Allah (Saw) had to leave At-Taif, he was rejected. We said earlier with difficulty comes ease. Rusool Allah (saw) had a hard time in At Taif, Allah (swt) followed it with a blessing. Rusool Allah (Saw) was reciting Quran in the desert. Some Jinn happened to be in the area, they were attracted to the message. They came to Rusool Allah (saw) and learnt from him some verses of the Quran and ended up becoming Muslim.

  Jinn is a world of creatures that have intelligence, live with us on Earth, they have a life structure like us. They have clans, families, nations; they speak different languages, and follow different religions. The only difference is that they are made from fire, and we are made from clay, they see us, but we don’t see them. So anyway these Jinn came to Rusool Allah (Saw) and became Muslim, now there might have been more than one incident where Jinn have come to Rusool Allah (saw) to become muslim. The story is mentioned twice in the Quran one is in Surah tul Jinn and the other is in Surah tul Ahqaf. The verses of Surah tul Ahqaf (46:29)

And [mention, O Muْammad], when We directed to you a few of the jinn, listening to the Qur'an. And when they attended it, they said, "Listen quietly." And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners (29) They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path (30)

  One commentator of the Quran explains this following question. He asks, “How come the Jinn said that, we have heard something that was revealed after Musa, and they didn’t say after Isa?” His explanation was that these jinn were Jewish, so they were following the message of Musa (as), so when they heard the Quran, they said that the Quran was after the revelation of Musa. This commentator says that these Jinn actually were from Yemen, where they were some Jews. This is one way to look at the verse; it is not necessarily the only view.

  The Jinn continued to say…

O our people, respond to the Messenger of Allah and believe in him; Allah will forgive for you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment (31) But he who does not respond to the Caller of Allah will not cause failure [to Him] upon earth, and he will not have besides Him any protectors. Those are in manifest error." (32)

    So this was an example of something good that happened to Rusool Allah (saw) after a hardship; At Taif. Rusool Allah (saw) now has to enter Mecca again. This was not easy, especially since the message had reached in Mecca, that Rusool Allah (saw) had went to preach in At-Taif. Now Rusool Allah (saw) has to seek the protection of someone in order to enter his own town. Rusool Allah (saw) camped outside of Mecca, trying to find some protection. Rusool Allah (saw) sent a message by a man named Uraiqut, to go to Al Akhnas bin Shuraiq.

  Akhnas bin Shuraiq was living in Mecca; he was an ally of the people of Quraish, even though he wasn’t one of them.  When Al Akhnas received a message from Muhammad (saw), he said, “Since I am an ally, I cannot go over my authority and give protection to somebody who is from the tribe whom I am an ally of.” So he turned down the request. Muhammad (saw) sent the same message to Suhail bin Amr. Suhail bin Amr said, “I cannot give you protection because the clan of Amr bin Luayi cannot give protection to somebody who is from Ka’b bin Luwayi.” Rusool Allah (saw) tried the third time, and this time he sent the request to Mutam bin Udayy. Mutam bin Udayy did accept the request and Muhammad (saw) went and spent the night at his house.

  Early in the morning Al Mutam asked 6 or 7 of his sons to carry their swords, put on special clothes, then to go out surrounding Muhammad (saw) escorting him to Al- Kaaba. When they reached their, they took a seat watching Muhammad (saw) make tawaaf. Abu Sufyan came to Mutam and told him, “Are you giving him protection, or are you following him?” Al Mutam said, “I am only giving him protection.” Abu Sufyan said, “If that’s the case, we will accept your protection.”

  So Rusool Allah (saw) was giving da’wa in Mecca under the protection of Mutam bin Udayy. After the death of Abu Talib and Khadija (ra), Rusool Allah (saw) noticed the stalemate of the position in Mecca, even though some people were trickling to Islam, but generally it was a stagnant state. The messenger of Allah felt the necessity of finding an alternative base, somewhere where he can have the freedom of propagating the message. Muhammad (saw) was actively pursuing this goal by meeting the Arab delegates during the season of Hajj, because that is the time when people from all over Arabia gather to one location; Mecca. Rusool Allah (Saw) would devote those days in visiting the camps of these Arabs, introducing himself and asking for protection and support from the leaders. He (saw) would say, “I don’t wish to force any of you, to do anything, any of you, who agree to what I ask, may do so, but I would not compel anyone not so wishing. All I want is to guard myself against those who want to kill me, so that I may fulfill my Lord’s mission, and carry out whatever decree he wishes, regarding myself and those who support me.”

  But not one of them accepted him, every one of these tribes reached to the following conclusion: “The man’s own tribe knew him best, how could we accept as suitable for us someone who has subverted his tribe and whom they have expelled. Since his tribe did not accept him, they know best.” That was the conclusion. These were the words of Az-Zuhri. Az Zuhir was one of the early Muslim scholars, he was the one given the responsibility of compilation of hadith, he was appointed by Umar bin Khattab. Ibn Ishaq narrated the story of Rusool Allah (saw)’s visit to the tribe of Kinda.” He said, “Muhammad (saw) went to them he gave them da’wa, they refused.” Rusool Allah (saw) next went to a tribe or clan called Banu Abdullah, the sons of Abdullah. Rusool Allah (Saw) went to them explaining islam, and then he told them, “and look at how Allah has chosen for you a good name, you are the sons of Abdullah.” But they turned him down as well. Next Rusool Allah (saw) went to the tribe of Banu Hanifa and they treated Rusool Allah (saw) so badly, Az Zuhri says, “None of the Arabs gave him so rude a rejection as they did.” And SubhanAllah the same people, Banu Hanifa are the ones who years later leaded the worst revolt ever against Muhammad (saw). It happened right before Muhammad (saw) died and it ended at the time of Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra). This revolt was lead by Musailamah Kadhdhab, he was the man who claimed Prophet hood.

  Next Rusool Allah (saw) went to the camp grounds of the tribe of Banu Amr bin Saasa. Banu Amr bin Saasa’s leader Baihara bin Faraas met Rusool Allah (saw) and heard his words, he was so impressed that he said, “I swear, if I were to have this brave man of Quraish, I could eat up the Arabs with him.” Baihara was thinking politics. Baihara saw that Muhammad (saw) possessed qualities that were unique. Baihara told Muhammad (saw), “If we were to follow your orders and then Allah gives you victory against those opposing you, will we have power after you are gone?” Muhammad (saw)’s response was that, “The earth belongs to Allah, and He will give power to whomever He wishes.” Rusool Allah (saw) meant that this is not important, all power belongs to Allah. The man responded, “Are we to present our throats to the Arabs for your defense? And then if God gives you victory, see power go else where than to us?” So he then turned down the offer of Muhammad (saw). Banu Amr bin Saasa went back to their homeland. There was an old wise elder man among them, who wasn’t able to do pilgrimage because of his age. But whenever the people would come back, this man would ask them about what happened. So when they went back, they told him that, “We met a young man, the grandson of Abdul Muttallib from the Quraish, he claimed to be a prophet, but we rejected him.” This old man said after putting his hand on his forehead, “Could your mistake be put right? Can its consequences be reversed? I swear, no descendent of Ismail, ever made such a claim falsely. It must be true. Where did your good judgment go?”

  This man was saying that none of the descendents of ismail (as) have ever claimed to be a Prophet that means that this is not something among the Arabs. The Arabs don’t know the concept of Prophet Hood, to falsely claim it. The Arabs are an illiterate nation. So he said that what Muhammad (saw) was saying must be true. Then this wise old man wanted to know if their mistake can be rectified.  There is another narration by Abu Naeem, Abu Hakim, and Bahiqi. Ali stated this fascinating conversation of Abu Bakr Siddqi (ra).

  Ali sais, “When God ordered His messenger to present himself to the tribes of the Arabs, he left along with myself and Abu Nakr for Mina.” Mina is where the camps are set. So Rusool Allah (saw) is visiting these different Arab tribes. Rusool Allah (saw) used to always be in the company of Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra), because Abu Bakr (ra) was an expert in genealogy. He knew the history of the tribes, their names, legends, and other information. This was an asset that Rusool Allah (saw) was taking advantage of. Plus Abu Bakr was a well known man.

  Anyway, Ali bin Abu Talib (ra) says, “Abu Bakr (ra), went forward and made his greetings, he was in the very vanguard of good, and an expert in genealogy.” He went up to this particular clan, Abu Bakr (ra) walked up to them and when Ali (ra) is saying that he was ‘vanguard of good’, it means that Abu Bakr was above everyone else in any good.  So Abu Bakr was the one who walked up to these men, he greeted them and then he said, “From whom do you people come from?” They said, “We are from Rabi’a”. The tribe of Rabi’a was in the north-east part of Arabia. Rabi’a was a large tribe, that is why Abu Bakr wanted to know a bit more. Abu Bakr (Ra) thus said, “Are you from the forehead, or are you from the limbs (branches or lower part of the tribe)?” They said, “we are from the greatest mainstream of it.” Meaning they are the best. Abu Bakr (ra) wanted to verify that claim, so Abu Bakr started a conversation…

  He said, “is Awf of you, of whom it was said, there is no free man in Awf’s valley?” This man, Awf was from the tribe of Rabi’a and he was a very strong man. He was so strong that everyone in the valley was very submitive to him, that people ended up saying that there is no one free in his valley. They said, “No.” “Does Bustan bin Qais, Abul Luwa, and Muntahil Ahya belong to you?” They said, “No.” “Is Al Haukadhan bin Shuraiq, the killer of Kings, and the robber of their souls, a kinsman of yours?” “No.” “Is Jassas bin Murra, the protector of honor and the defender of the neighbor from you?” They said, “No.” “Is AL Muzdalaf, he of the mea turban from you?” “No.” “Are you related to the kings of Kinda?” “No.” “Are you realted to the kings of Lakham?” “no.” Abu Bakr (ra) then said, “So you are not from the main stream, rather you are from the branch.” This is how detailed Abu Bakr Siddiq’s (ra) knowledge was about these people. 

  Now, a young man (his beard was beginning to sprout) from Rabi’a stood up, his name was Darfal. He jumped up and grabbed something of Abu Bakr’s camel reciting, “Those who ask of us, will be asked of. As for the burden of proof, we neither know it, nor bear it as responsibility.” He then said, “Hey you! You asked and we replied, hiding nothing from you, we want to ask you something, who are you?” Abu Bakr said, “I am a man from Quraish”, The youth commented, “Well said. You are a people of leadership and nobility. The vanguard and guide of the Arabs. What part of Quraish are you from?” Abu Bakr (ra) said, “I am from Banu taim bin Murra.” Banu Taim are small clans in Quraish, who aren’t very known for any special uniqueness.” The young man said, “You have shown the target shooter where the bull’s eye is.” He further said, “Is Qusayy bin Kalaab, he who killed in Mecca those tribes who conquered, a kinsman of yours? That man Qussay, who drove the rest of them away, and brought his own people from all over and settled them in Mecca? Took over the temple and set Quraish in the dwellings? The man who was therefore known as the ‘unifer’? And about who a poet spoke the verse, Was it not your father who was called unifier, by whom God brought together the tribes of Fir?” Abu Bakr said, “No, we are not of the Munaaf, the ultimate giver of advice.” “ Abul Ghadaaray, the great leader, Abi Us Saak?” Abu Bakr said, “No.” “And Amr bin Abdul Munaaf Hashim, who prepared bread and meat into the dish, for his people and all of Mecca? Was he not of you? The one of whom the poet said, Amr al ula prepared the thareed (Arabic word) for his people, while the men of Mecca were desitiute and under famine. To him they attribute both the journeys, that of the winter and that of the summer. Quraish was as an egg, which was split open to have it’s best part, it’s yolk as Abdul Manaaf. They are the wealthy as is no other known, and they are those who say, ‘Come on in’ to the guests. They are those who strike down pure white cheats, those who protect the innocent with their swords. They’re fine for you if you stay at their abode, they will protect you from all ills and accusations. So is he of you?” Abu Bakr said, “No.”

  Then the youth continued, “You must be related to Abdul Muttallib, venerable man of much praise, controller of the Mecca caravan, and the feeder of the birds in sky and the wild beasts, and the lions of the desert. Whose face shines forth like a moon in the dark night?” Abu Bakr said, “No.” “Then you must be of those who have the privilege of Ifada.” “No.” “Perhaps of those who have the privilege of Hijaba.” “No.” “Then those who have the privilege of Nadwa.” “No.” “Then you must be of those who have the privilege of Siqaaya.” “No.” “Are you then of those who have the privilege of providing Rifaada?” “No.” He was answering no to all of these questions. This was too much for Abu Bakr (Ra), so he just turned around and tried to leave, and he pulled the brittle out of the youths hand. The young man recited a line of poetry, he said, “Your flood has met a greater flood that is coming from me, once it will crack and another time, it will go over it.” Then the young man said, “Well I swear, our brother of Quraish, if you had continued to hold out, I would have proven to you that you belong to the lowest class of Quraish not the elite.”

  Rusool Allah (saw) came over smiling after this interesting conversation. Ali told Abu Bakr, “Well this Bedouin has turned out to be a disaster for you.” Abu Bakr (ra) said, “Yes, and there is never a catastrophe without another that follows and calamity is compounded by words.” Ali (ra) continued and said, “We went to a meeting, and you can see calmness and dignity in the people. We wanted to greet them. Abu Bakr went to them and asked them ‘where are you from?’, they said, ‘we are from Banu Shaibaan.’” Abu Bakr reported to Rusool Allah (saw) that, “ these are people who have experience and power.” So Abu Bakr (ra) went to the group leaders which were Mufrooq bin Amr, Haani bin Qubaisa, Mussanna bil haris, and Nauman bin Shuraiq. The person who was closest to Abu Bakr was Mufrooq bin Amr. He was described as having two braids that came to his chest. Abu Bakr asked them, “How many are you in number?” Mufrooq replied, “We are more than a 1000 strong, and a few men cant beat a thousand as they say.”  Abu Bakr asked,“How would protection be with you?” He said, “We go to the limit and all people have their limit.” Abu Bakr also asked, “And how is it, when you are at war with your enemy?” He asked  this because he was trying to assess their strength. They said, “When we meet in battle, we are the angriest of man, we take greater pride in our speed than our sons, care more for our swords than our camels, victory rests with Allah, sometimes we are victorious, sometimes other are victorious over us. You seem to be a member of Quraish?” Abu Bakr replied, “Yes.” Then Abu Bakr said, “Have you heard of the messenger of Allah?” Mufrooq said “we have heard that he says he is the messenger of Allah.” Then Mufrooq wanted to hear from Rusool Allah (saw), as Abu Bakr had paved a way for a conversation. Muhammad (saw) came in, Mufrooq said, “What do you propound, oh brother of Quraish?” Then Muhammad (saw) started speaking, he said, “I call upon you to bear witness that there is no God but Allah alone, Who has no associates, and that I am the messenger of Allah. I ask you to shelter and protect me, until I carry out what Allah has ordered me to do. Quraish came out against Allah’s commands and have denied His messenger. They have sided with wrong against right, but Allah is All Powerful, All Praised.”

  Mufrooq liked the words of Rusool Allah (saw). He asked him to say more, Rusool Allah (saw) recited for him some ayats from Surah Anam, Mufrooq then said, “And what else do you propound, oh brother of Quraish? I swear these are not words of any earthly mortal, if they were, we would know them to be.” Rusool Allah (saw) recited ayat from Surah An- Nahl. After Rusool Allah (Saw) had explained the message of Islam, Haani bin Qubaisa said, “We have people behind us, and we cannot speak for them.” He liked what he heard, but he could not commit without consulting his people. Mufrooq also said, “I consider that abandoning a religion and following you in yours because of one meeting we’re having with you, which had no introduction nor follow up, and without our giving it full consideration, nor examining what the consequences would be of what you suggest, that would be a lapse in rash judgment, and inadequate consideration of consequences.”

  Thus there was a difference of the meeting with different tribes. The ansar had immediately accepted, because their ground was prepared. Haani bin Qubaisa of Banu Shayba, said that there is neither introduction nor follow up, we can’t just convert right now. Let us also see the response of the other leader, Haritha. Haritha was a religious leader, he said, “I heard, and I liked what you said.” So they were all impressed, he went on to say, “I was impressed by your words, but our answer should be that of Haani bin Qubaisa. For us to leave our religion and follow you after one sitting with us, would be like us taking residence between two pools of stagnant water. One Al Yamaama, and other As Samawa.” Rusool Allah (saw) did not understand what he said, he said, “And what might those pools of stagnant water be?” Al Mussanna replied, “One of these is where the land extends to the Arab world, and the other is that of Persia and the rivers of Kisra. We would be reneging on a pact that Kisra has place upon us, to the effect that we would not cause an incident and not give sanctuary to a trouble maker. This policy you suggest you for us is such a one thing that King’s dislike, as for those areas forging Arab land, the blame of those asking would be forgiven, and excuses for them would be acceptable. But for Those areas next to Persia, those so acting will not be forgiven and no such excuses would be accepted. If you want us to help you and protect you in whatever relates to our territories alone, we would do so.”

   Basically the land of Banu shayba was bordering the Persian Empire, their military leader knows the contracts between them and the Persian Empire, Mussanna said, “We have an agreement between us and the Persians, that we will never give sanctuary to a trouble maker, and this religion of yours in something that Kings do not like.” So he realized from the meeting with Rusool Allah (saw), that this is something that Kings do not like, because Kings want authority in their hands, without being answerable, while Islam is a religion that frees people. He refused to offer protection from the Persian side, but he was ready to offer protection from the Arab side. Rusool Allah (saw) responded by saying, “Your reply is in no way bad, for you have spoken eloquently and truthfully but God’s religion can only be engaged in by those who encompass it from all sides.” Rusool Allah (saw) did not want to have half a deal, he wanted to complete protection; absolute commitment.

  What we can learn from this is that in our negotiations, we need to keep in mind that the religion of Allah needs to be held in high esteem, we cannot bargain and negotiate in it. If an agreement does not fulfill Islamic terms, we don’t have to get involved in it. Rusool Allah (saw) did not agree to the offer, even though he knew how desperate his situation was in Mecca, he badly needed to leave mecca. Nevertheless that situation didn’t make him enter into an agreement that was half hearted. This is where you leave your trust on Allah.

  Ibn Ishaq goes on with the story of Al Ansar. Who are al-ansar? When Al Aus and Khazraj became Muslim, they were called Al Ansar. It means ‘the protectors’. Al Aus and Khazraj were the two Arab tribes that were living in Medina and they are descendants of the branch of Kahtan. Arabs were divided into Adnan and Kahtan. Kahtan are the Arabs of yemen and Adnan are the descendents of ismael (as). Al Aus and Khazraj were neighboring three jewish tribes; Banu Nadhir, Banu Qainuqa, and Banu Quraida. Madina was unique, it offered protection from three sides, there were two rocky tracks on the east and west which were inaccessible for armiesto cross, and then there were the trees of the farms of Medina towards the south. So the only direction left from which Medina could be attacked was from the north.

  Rusool Allah (saw) visited the camp of Khazraj in Hajj. When he entered, he asked them, “Who are you?” They said, “we are from Al Khazraj.” Rusool Allah (saw) asked, “Are you allies with the Jews?” They said, “Yes.” Rusool Allah (saW) said, “Can I speak to you?” They agreed. They sat down and Rusool Allah (Saw) invited them to Islam. SubhanAllah, they were very eager to hear what Rusool Allah (saw) was saying. They immediately accepted, and said to Rusool Allah (saw), “We have left our own people, for they have such discord and dissension between them, not found in any other. Perhaps God may unite them through you. We will go forth among them and invite them to you, presenting to them this religion, we have accepted from you. If God should unite them around you, then no one will be dearer to us than you.”   This immediate acceptance of Islam, by this small group of 6 people from Khazraj, is something to think about. How come they weren’t resistant to the message of islam? Why didn’t they act like the other Arab tribes? There are a few reasons.

1.       The people of Medina were in a constant warfare among themselves, Aus and Khazraj were fighting for ages. The people were yearning for peace, so when these men heard the message of Rusool Allah (saw), they thought maybe Allah will unite them through Muhammad (saw).

2.       Monotheism was naturally appealing to them, because they were neighbors of the Jews. Arabs always used to consider the religion of the Jews superior to theirs. Why? Because the jews were learned people, they had scripture, teachings, and knowledge. While the religion of the Arabs was based on myths. Their culture was despised, such as killing of daughters. If it wasn’t for the arrogance and prejudice of the Jews the Arabs would have been Jews. They used to treat Arabs as if they were of lower class.

3.       At times when there used to be a conflict between the Arab and the jews, the Jews would say, “That this is a time of the Prophet that will appear, and when he comes out, we will follow him, and we will kill you like the people of Ad were killed.” So the Arabs knew that around this time a prophet was expected according to the jews. Thus the Arabs of Aus and Khazraj were prepared for this message. They knew about Tauheed.

4.       A few years before Hijra of Rusool ALlha (Saw), a battle called Bua’ath occurred between Al Aus and Khazraj. This was a very violent war killing most of the leadership of that time, of both tribes. These people were then looking for leadership. When they heard Rusool Allah (saw), they were looking forward to have them as their leader.

  These elements made Medina a very fertile ground for the growth of Islam. There is a statement by Aisha (ra), she said, “The war of Bua’ath was preparation by Allah (swt) for the migration of Rusool Allah (saw). There leaders were killed.” Usually people who are most resistant to the message of truth, are the leaders of society. Al Aus and Khazraj lost their leaders, thus they didn’t have that hurdle. Ibn Ishaq says, “One way by which God facilitated their acceptance of Islam was that the Jews were there with them in their country, these were followers of the scripture and men of knowledge, though they themselves were polytheists and idol worshippers, they had previously attacked these jews and their territories and whenever disputes have arisen the latter had told them, ‘a Prophet will now be sent, he is coming. We will follow him, and give you the same fate as that of the people of Ad’”  “You might dislike something but in it is a lot of good for you.” This was of Bua’ath that happened between Al Aus and Khazraj, was very bloody killing many of their people. Even though this war was the source of a lot a harm to the tribes, but it was one of the reasons that brought them closer to Islam.

  Anyway, so these 6 men accepted Islam, and they told Rusool Allah (saw), “we’ll go back to our people and start preaching the message.” They made an appointment with Rusool Allah (saw), to meet him next year in the season of Hajj. A year passed by, and the season of Hajj had approached. Instead of 6, 12 people had come back, 6 original men and 6 more. The earlier 6 were all from Al Khazraj, in another narration it was said that 5 were from AL Khazraj and one was from Al Aus. In the following year, 10 were from Al Khazraj and 2 were from Al Aus. They came to Rusool Allah (saw), and gave him pledge of allegiance, and it was called, ‘The Pledge of Allegiance of the Women’. Even though none of them were women, but then why did they keep that name? Because it did not include within it’s terms any pledge of fighting. The terms of the pledge were:

  We pledge to the Messenger of Allah on the night of the first meeting at Aqabah, that we would not associate any other God with Allah. We would not feel towards fornication, kill our children, make false accusations, nor disobey him in anything good. He told us, “If you keep to this, you shall have Paradise. If you give up any of this, and you are punished for it in this world then that will provide atonement for you, but if it is overlooked until Judgment Day, it will be up to Allah to decide whether to punish or to forgive you.” This was the pledge that women would give to Rusool Allah (Saw). There is a fiqh issue to be dealt with here. If you noticed here that these are major sins:  feel towards fornication, kill our children, make false accusations, nor disobey him in anything good. Now Rusool Allah (saw) says here that if punishment is fulfilled in this world then they are forgiven of the sin however if the punishment is not given in this world, then it is up to Allah to either forgive or punish.

  Rusool Allah (saw) appointed Musab bin Umair to go and teach the people of Medina Islam. He was like an ambassador, teacher and even scholar. Musab bin Umair (ra) came from a wealthy family of Quraish, he was the most spoiled young man in Mecca before Islam. He used to wear the most expensive clothes and he would have the best perfume. His mother used to take care of him, she was a very wealthy woman who didn’t have many kids. When Musab became Muslim, his mother boycotted him, she stood against him. SubhanAllah Musab bin Umair went from a rich family to a status of poverty, his life became tough and harsh. Musab bin Umair (ra) was killed in the battle of Uhud, when he was buried he didn’t even leave behind enough money to buy a coffin. When Musab bin Umair was fighting in the battle, he had on him one piece of cloth which was not sufficient to cover him, they said, “Whenever we would cover his face, his feet would appear, and whenever we would cover his feet his face would appear, so we went to Rusool Allah (saw) and said, ‘What can we do?’” Rusool Allah (saw) told them to cover his face and then to use some tree leaves, to cover his feet.

  Musab ibn Umair was given the difficult task of being the personal representative of Rusool Allah (saw) in Medina. He left Mecca to reside in Medina. Since Al Aus and Khazaraj were enemies, Musab had to lead them in Salah, because none of them would accept praying behind an imam from the other tribe. One day Musab bin Umair (ra) was with Assaad bin Zuraara. Assad was the one who was hosting Musab bin umair. So they went to visit some of the Muslims in this garden. They would sit there, and the Muslims would go to them to learn. Musab bin Umair (ra) would hold sessions (Halaqas) for them.   They happened to go to this neighborhood of Medina that was part of Al Aus’s territory. The majority of the Muslims then were from Al Khazraj, while Islam was not growing very rapidly in Al Aus. Musab was trying to create inroads within Al Aus, so they went to this area of Al Aus and sat there. The leaders of Al Aus were close by Saad ibn Muadh and Usaid bin Khubair. Saad bin Muadh spotted Musab bin Umair and Assad bin Zurara, Saad told Usaid bin Khubair, “I want you to go to those two men and tell them, ‘we don’t want them around misguiding the weak and foolish among us. And if it wasn’t for the fact that Assad bin Zurara was my relative, I would have done that my self.”  Assad bin Zurara was from Al Khazraj but he was a cousin of the head of Al Aus, thus he was Alhumdulillah the right man to host Musab bin Umair (ra). Anyway, Usaid bin Khubair went up carrying his spear towards Musab bin Umair and Assad bin Zurara, Assad bin Zurara saw him coming so he told Musab bin Umair that Usaid is a leader of his people, do your best with him, because if he becomes Muslim, many will follow him. Musab bin Umair said, “If he listens, I would.”

   Ibn Khubair came and he stood above them, carrying his spear, he spoke to them in a very harsh tone, “We don’t want you around here, misleading the weak and the ignorant among us. And if you care about your lives, you better get out of here, otherwise this is my spear.” He threatened them, one of the attendees of the Halaqa said, “Well you are the one who is misleading us…” the attendee started an argument. Musab bin Umair (ra) responded calmly by saying, “How about you sit down, and you hear what I say? If you like it you can accept it, if you don’t you can reject it.” Usaid bin Khubair said, “Fair enough.” He then sat down. Musab bin Umair started reciting to him ayat from the Quran, giving him da’wa, explaining Islam. Assad bin Zurara said, “Even without him speaking a word, we were able to see Islam entering his heart because of the calmness on his face and the radiance of light coming out of it.” When Musab bin Umair finished with his session, Usaid bin Khubair said, “What does one have to do to join your religion?” Musab bin Umair told him, “Wash yourself and you come and pray.” Usaid did that, he came and said, “Now I am going to send you a man, if he becomes Muslim, all of his people will follow him.” Usaid bin Khubair went to Saad bin Muadh. Saad saw Usaid and he said, “I swear by Allah, that he is coming to us with a different face than the one he left us with.” Arabs knew farasa. Farasa is the art of reading the face, and it is reported that Ash Shaafi went to Yemen to learn this art. Saad bin Muadh asked, “What happened?” he said, “Everything is fine, don’t worry about it, there is a slight problem that Banu Haris (A branch of Al Khazraj) wants to kill Assad bin Zurara because they know that he is your cousin.” Usaid bin khubair made up the whole story, it wasn’t true. He made up this story because he wanted Saad bin Muadh to go and meet Musab bin Umair. Saad bin Muadh stood up angry and he said, “They want to kill my cousin?!” He picked up his spear and left saying, “You haven’t done me any good.” Saad went there with anger on his face. Assad bin Zurara saw this and said, “Musab this is the leader of his people, do the best you can.” Saad bin Muadh looked at the meeting and he realized that Usaid’s story was fabricated, because Assad and Musab didn’t look terrified.

  Saad bin Muadh came and told Assad, “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you bringing this man to my territory? You are taking advantage of this relationship with me; you want to mislead the ignorant and the weak among us?” Musab bin Umair responded and said, “How about you sit down and hear what I have to say, if you like it you can accept it, if you don’t you can reject it.” Saad bin Muadh agreed and he sat down. Notice here that the people of Medina were open minded, they didn’t have the sense of hostility that existed in Mecca, they were willing to listen. So Saad ibn Muadh heard what Musab ibn Umair (ra) had to say, and when he was done Saad ibn Muadh accepted Islam. After his acceptance, the first thing that Saad bin Muadh did was that he went to his people and said, “What is your opinion of me?” They said, “You are the wisest among us, you are our leader.” Saad ibn Muadh said, “Well none of you speak to me, and I will speak to none of you until you become Muslim.” The narrator of the hadith said, “By the end of that evening, every house among Banu Ashshad was Muslim.” The whole clan of Banu Ashshad was a branch of Al Aus. Finally a huge breakthrough was made within Al Aus