The Life of the Prophet
Muhammad
(Peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him)
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In the name of
Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful
All Praise is due
to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the [One Who] Sustains the Heavens and
Earths, Director of all that is created, who sent the Messengers (may the peace
and blessings of Allah be upon all of them) to rational beings, to guide them
and explain the religious laws to them with clear proofs and undeniable
arguments. I praise Him for all of His bounties. I ask Him to increase His
Grace and Generosity. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship
except Allah alone, who has no partner, the One, Who Subdues, the Generous, the
Forgiving. I bear witness that our leader Muhammad is His servant and
Messenger, His beloved and dear one, the best of all creation. He was honoured
with the Glorious Qur’an that has been an enduring miracle throughout the
years.
He was also sent with his guiding Sunnah that shows the way for
those who seek guidance. Our leader Muhammad has been particularised with the
characteristic of eloquent and pithy speech, and simplicity and ease in the
religion. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the other Prophets
and Messengers, all of their families and the rest of the righteous.
The Life of the
Prophet
Muhammad
Peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him
By
PROFESSOR. ZEESHAN AMJAD
Index
How It All Began................................................................................................... 3
The Children of Ishmael..................................................................................... 7
The Promise At Zamzam................................................................................... 9
The Elephant Refuses To Move.................................................................... 11
The Prophet Is Born.......................................................................................... 13
A Time With Halimah....................................................................................... 15
The Orphan's Childhood.................................................................................. 17
The Prophet's Marriage................................................................................... 19
The Coming of The Archangel Gabriel..................................................... 22
The First Muslimsr............................................................................................ 24
The Troubles Begin............................................................................................ 27
The King Who Believed.................................................................................... 29
The Cruelty of Quraysh.................................................................................... 32
The Year of Sorrow............................................................................................ 35
The Night Journey And The
Ascent To Heaven................................... 37
The Treaty of ‘Aqabah...................................................................................... 39
Al-Hijrah................................................................................................................. 41
Arrival In Yathrib............................................................................................... 44
The Battle Of Badr............................................................................................. 46
Uhud-Defeat Comes From Disobedience................................................ 50
The Battle Of The Trench............................................................................... 54
The Treaty Of Hudaybiyah............................................................................. 59
The Invitation....................................................................................................... 63
Entry Into Mecca............................................................................................... 68
The Lesson Of Pride At The
Valley Of Hunayn..................................... 72
Tabuk-The Test Of Faith................................................................................. 75
The Farewell Pilgrimage.................................................................................. 78
The Prophet’s Death......................................................................................... 82
GLOSSARY........................................................................................................... 84
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How It All Began
Nearly four thousand
years ago, in the Sumerian town of Ur in the valley
of
the river Euphrates, lived a young man named Abraham. The people of Ur had once
worshipped Allah but as time passed they forgot the true religion and started
praying to idols, statues made of wood or clay and sometimes even of precious
stones. Even as a small child Abraham could not understand how his people, and
especially his father, could make these images with their own hands, call them
gods, and then worship them. He had always refused to join his people when they
paid respect to these statues. Instead he would leave the town and sit alone,
thinking about the heavens and the world about him. He was sure his people were
doing wrong and so alone he searched for the right way. One clear night as he
sat staring at the sky he saw a beautiful shining star, so beautiful that he
cried out: „This must be Allah!' He looked at it in awe for some time, until
suddenly it began to fade and then it disappeared. He turned away in
disappointment saying: I love not things that set. (Qur'an 6.77)
On another night Abraham
was again looking at the sky and he saw the rising moon, so big and bright that
he felt he could almost touch it. He thought to himself: This is my Lord.
(Qur'an 6.78) But it was not long before the moon set as well. Then he said,
Unless my Lord guide me, I surely shall become one of the folk who are astray.
(Qur'an 6.78) Abraham then saw the beauty and splendor of the sunrise and
decided that the sun must be the biggest and most powerful thing in the
universe. But for the third time he was wrong, for the sun set at the end of
the day. It was then that he realized that Allah is the Most Powerful, the
Creator of the stars, the moon, the sun, the earth and of all living things.
Suddenly he felt himself totally at peace, because he knew that he had found the
Truth.
When he said unto his
father and his folk: What do you worship? They said: We worship idols, and are
ever devoted to them. He said: Do they hear you when you cry? Or do they
benefit or harm you? They said: Nay, but we found our fathers acting in this
manner.
He said: See now that
which you worship, You and your forefathers! Lo! they are (all) an enemy to me,
except the Lord of the Worlds. Who created me, and He guides me, And Who feeds
me and waters me. And when I sicken, then He heals me. And Who causes me to
die, then gives me lift (again) And Who, I ardently hope, will forgive me my
sin on the Day of judgement. (Qur'an 26.70-82)
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One day, while all the
townspeople were out, Abraham angrily smashed all the idols with his right hand
except for one which was very large. When the people returned they were
furious.
They remembered the
things Abraham had said about the idols. They had him brought forth before
everyone and demanded, 'Is it you who did this to our gods, 0 Abraham?' Abraham
replied, But this their chief did it. Ask them, if they are able to speak.' The
people exclaimed, 'You know they do not speak.' 'Do you worship what you
yourselves have carved when Allah created you and what you make?' Abraham
continued, 'Do you worship instead of Allah that which cannot profit you at
all, nor harm you?' (Qur'an 37.95-6)(Qur'an 21.66)
Finally, Abraham warned
them, Serve Allah, and keep your duty unto Him; that is better for you if you
did but know. You serve instead of Allah only idols, and you only invent a lie.
Lo! those whom you serve instead of Allah own no provision for you. So seek
your provision from Allah, and serve Him, and give thanks unto Him, (for) unto
Him you will be brought back.(Qur'an 29. 16-17)
The people of Ur decided
to give Abraham the worst punishment they could find: he was to be burnt to
death. On the chosen day all the people gathered in the centre of the city and
even the King of Ur was there. Abraham was then placed inside a special
building filled with wood. The wood was lit. Soon the fire became so strong
that the people were pushed back by the flames. But Allah said: “O fire, be
coolness and peace for Abraham”. (Qur'an 21.69)
The people waited until
the fire had completely died down, and it was then that they saw Abraham still
sitting there as though nothing had happened! At that moment they were utterly
confused. They were not, however, moved by the miracle that had just happened
before their very eyes.
Still Abraham tried to persuade his own
dear father, who was named Azar, not to worship powerless, un-seeing,
un-hearing statues. Abraham explained that special knowledge had come to him
and implored his father, 'So follow me and I will lead you on the right path. 0
my father! Don't serve the Devil.' But Azar would not listen. He threatened his
son with stoning if he continued to reject the gods of Ur. He ordered Abraham
to leave the city with these words: 'Depart from me a long while.' Abraham
said, 'Peace be upon you! I shall ask my Lord's forgiveness for you. Surely He
was ever gracious to me.‟ (Qur'an 19.43-7)
Imagine how terrible it must have been for him to
leave his home, his family and all that he knew, and set out across the
wilderness into the unknown. But at the same time, how could he have remained
among people who did not believe in Allah and who worshipped statues? Abraham
always had a sense that Allah cared for him and he felt Allah near him as he
traveled. At last, after a long hard journey, he arrived at a place by the
Mediterranean Sea, not far from Egypt. There he married a noble woman by the
name of Sarah and settled in the land of Palestine. Many years passed but
Abraham and his wife were not blessed with any children. In the hope that there
would be a child, and in keeping with tradition, Sarah suggested that Abraham
should marry Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid. Soon after this took place, Hagar
had a little boy named Ishmael. Some time later Allah promised Abraham another
son, but this time the mother of the child would be his first wife, Sarah. This
second son would be called Isaac. Allah also told Abraham that from his two
sons-Ishmael and Isaac-two nations and three religions would be founded and because
of this he must take Hagar and Ishmael away from Palestine to a new land. These
events were an important part of Allah's plan, for the descendants of Ishmael
would form a nation from which would come a great Prophet, who would guide the
people in the way of Allah. This was to be Muhammad (pbuh), the Messenger of
Allah (pbuh). From the descendants of Sarah's child, Isaac, would come Moses
and Jesus.
So it was that Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael left
Palestine. They traveled for many days until finally they reached the arid
valley of Bacca later to be called Mecca), which was on one of the great
caravan routes. There was no water in the valley and although Hagar and Ishmael
only had a small supply of water left, Abraham left them there knowing Allah
would take care of them. Soon all the water was gone. The child began to grow
weak from thirst. There were two hills nearby, one called Safa and the other
Marwah. Hagar went up one hill and looked into the distance to see if she could
find any water, but found none. So she went to the other hill and did the same.
She did this seven times. Then sadly she returned to her son, and to her great
surprise and joy she found a spring of water bubbling out of the earth near
him. This spring, near which the mother and child settled, was later called
Zamzam. The area around it became a place of rest for the caravans travelling
across the desert and in time grew into the famous trading city of Mecca.
From time to time Abraham traveled from Palestine to
visit his family and he saw Ishmael grow into a strong young man. It was during
one of these visits that Allah commanded them to rebuild the Ka'bah-the very
first place where people had worshipped Allah. They were told exactly
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where and how to build it. It was to be
erected by the well of Zamzam and built in the shape of a cube. In its eastern
corner was to be placed a black stone that had fallen to earth from heaven. An
angel brought the stone to them from the nearby hill of Abu Qubays. Abraham and
Ishmael worked hard to rebuild the Ka'bah and as they did so they prayed to
Allah to send a Prophet from among their descendants. And when Abraham and
Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): 'Our Lord!
Receive this from us; Thou, only Thou, art the All-hearing, the All-knowing;
Our Lord! And make us submissive unto Thee and of our seed a nation submissive
unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship, and turn toward us. Lo! Thou, only
Thou, art the Relenting, the Merciful. Our Lord! And raise up in their midst a
messenger from among them who shall recite unto them Thy revelations, and shall
instruct them in the Scripture and in wisdom and shall make them grow. Lo!
Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty, Wise. (Qur'an 2.127-9) When the Ka'bah was
completed, Allah commanded Abraham to call mankind to pilgrimage to His Holy
House. Abraham wondered how anyone could hear his call. Allah said, 'You call
and I will bring them.' This was how the pilgrimage to the Ka'bah in Mecca was
established and when Muslims make the pilgrimage today they continue to answer
the age-old call of Abraham.
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The Children of Ishmael
Over the years Ishmael's
children themselves had children. His descendants
increased and formed tribes which spread out all over Arabia. One of these
tribes was called Quraysh. Its people never moved away from Mecca and always
lived near the Ka'bah. One of the duties of the leader of Quraysh was to look
after those who came on pilgrimage to the Ka'bah. The, pilgrims would come from
all over Arabia and it was a great honor to provide them with food and water.
As time passed, however,
the Arabs stopped worshipping Allah directly and started bringing idols back
with them from the different countries they visited. These idols were placed at
the Ka'bah, which was no longer regarded as the Sanctuary of Allah, as Abraham
had intended it. It was, however, still respected by the Arabs. Around this
time the well of Zamzam disappeared beneath the sand. Also at this time,
Qusayy, one of the leaders of Quraysh, became ruler over Mecca. He held the
keys of the temple and had the right to give water to the pilgrims, to feed
them, to take charge of meetings, and to hand out war banners before battle. It
was also in his house that Quraysh settled their affairs. After Qusayy's death,
his son 'Abdu Manaf, who had become famous during his father's lifetime, took
over the leadership of Quraysh. After him came his son Hashim. It is said that
Hashim was the first to begin the two great caravan journeys of Quraysh, one in
the summer to Syria and the north, and one in the winter to Yemen and the
south. As a result, Mecca grew rich and became a large and important centre of
trade.
One summer Hashim went
north to buy goods to sell in Yemen. On his way he stopped in Yathrib to trade
in the market and there he saw a beautiful woman. She was Salma', the daughter
of 'Amr ibn Zeid, who was from a much respected family. Hashim proposed
marriage to her and was accepted because he was an honorable and distinguished
man.
In time, Salma' gave
birth to a beautiful son and as some of his hair was white they called him
Shaybah, which in Arabic means grey-haired'.
Mother and son stayed in
the cooler, healthier climate of Yathrib, while Hashim returned to Mecca, but
he would visit them each time he took his caravan to the north. During one of
these journeys, however, Hashim became ill and died. Shaybah, a handsome,
intelligent boy, grew up in his uncle's house in Yathrib. He was proud of being
the son of Hashim ibn 'Abdi Manaf, the head of Quraysh, guardian of the Ka'bah
and protector of the pilgrims, even though he had not known his father, who had
died while Shaybah was very young.
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At Hashim's death his
brother al-Muttalib took over his duties and responsibilities. He traveled to
Yathrib to see his nephew, Shaybah, and decided that as the boy would one day
inherit his father's place, the time had come for him to live in Mecca. It was
hard for Salma', Shaybah's mother, to let her son go with his uncle but she
finally realized that it was for the best. Al-Muttalib returned to Mecca,
entering the city at noon on his camel with Shaybah behind him. When the people
of Mecca saw the boy they thought he was a slave and, pointing at him, called
out „Abd al-Muttalib', 'Abd' being the Arabic for 'slave'.
Al-Muttalib told them
that Shaybah was not a slave but his nephew who had come to live with them.
From that day on, however, Shaybah was always affectionately called Abd
al-Muttalib. On the death of al-Muttalib, who died in Yemen where he had gone
to trade, 'Abd al-Muttalib took his place. He became the most respected member
of his family, loved and admired by all. He was, however, unlike those Arabs
who had given up the teachings of Abraham.
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The Promise At Zamzam
The well of Zamzam, which
disappeared when the Arabs placed idols at the
Ka'bah, remained buried under the sand. Thus, for many years the people of
Quraysh had to fetch their water from far away. One day 'Abd al-Muttalib was
very tired from doing this and fell asleep next to the
Ka‟bah. He had a dream in which he was
told to dig up Zamzam. When he woke up he was puzzled because he did not know
what Zamzam was, the well having disappeared many years before he was born. The
next day he had the same dream, but this time he was told where to find the
well.
'Abd al-Muttalib had one
son at that time, and together they began to dig. The work was so difficult
that „Abd al-Muttalib made an oath to Allah that if one day he were to have ten
sons to help him and stand by him, in return he would sacrifice one of them in
Allah's honor. After working for three days they finally found the well of
Zamzam. Pilgrims have been drinking from it ever since. The years passed by and
'Abd al-Muttalib did have ten sons. They grew into fine, strong men and the
time came for him to keep his promise to Allah. He told his sons about the
promise and they agreed that he had to sacrifice one of them To see which one
it would be, they decided to draw lots, which was the custom of Quraysh when
deciding important matters. 'Abd al-Muttalib told each son to get an arrow and
write his own name upon it and then to bring it to him. This they did, after
which he took them to the Ka'bah where there was a man whose special task it
was to cast arrows and pick one from among them. This man solemnly proceeded to
do this. On the arrow he chose was written the name of 'Abd Allah, the youngest
and favorite son of 'Abd al-Muttalib. Even so, the father took his son near the
Ka'bah and prepared to sacrifice him.
Many of the Quraysh
leaders were present and they became very angry because 'Abd Allah was very
young and much loved by everyone. They tried to think of a way to save his
life. Someone suggested that the advice of a wise old woman who lived in
Yathrib should be sought, and so 'Abd al-Muttalib took his son and went to see
if she could decide what to do. Some of the Meccans went with them and when
they got there the woman asked, 'What is the price of a man's life?' They told
her, 'Ten camels', for at that time if one man killed another, his family would
have to give ten camels to the dead man's family in order to keep the peace
among them.
So the woman told them
to go back to the Ka‟bah and draw lots between
'Abd Allah and ten camels. If the camels
were chosen, they were to be killed and the meat given to the poor. If 'Abd
Allah was picked then ten more camels were to be added and the lots drawn again
and again until they finally fell on the camels.
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„Abd al-Muttalib
returned to the Ka‟bah with his son and the people of Mecca. There they started
to draw lots between „Abd Allah and the camels, starting with ten camels. „Abd
al-Muttalib prayed to Allah to spare his son and everyone waited in silence for
the result. The choice fell on „Abd Allah, so his father added ten more camels.
Again the choice fell on „Abd Allah, so they did the same thing again and
again, adding ten camels each time. Finally they reached one hundred camels,
and only then did the lot fall on the camels. „Abd Allah was saved and everyone
was very happy. 'Abd al-Muttalib however, wanted to make sure that this was the
true result so he repeated the draw three times and each time it fell on the
camels. He then gave thanks to Allah that He had spared „Abd
Allah's life. The camels were sacrificed
and there was enough food for the entire city, even the animals and birds. 'Abd
Allah grew up to be a handsome young man and his father eventually chose
Aminah, the daughter of Wahb, as a wife for him. It was a good match for she
was the finest of Quraysh women and 'Abd Allah the best of the men. He spent
several months with his wife but then he had to leave her and travel with one
of the caravans to trade with Syria. On his way back to Mecca from Syria 'Abd
Allah became ill and had to stop off in Yathrib to recover. The caravan,
however, continued on its way and arrived back in Mecca without him. On hearing
of 'Abd Allah's illness, „Abd al-Muttalib sent another son, al-Hareth, to bring
'Abd Allah back to Mecca, but he was too late.
When he arrived in Yathrib „Abd Allah was dead.
Aminah was heart-broken to lose her husband and the father of the child she
would soon give birth to. Only Allah knew that this orphan child would one day
be a great Prophet.
The Elephant
Refuses To Move
Abrahah, who came
from Abyssinia-a country in Africa-conquered Yemen and was
made vice-regent there. Later, he noticed that at a certain time of the year
large numbers of people would travel from all over Yemen and the rest of Arabia
to Mecca. He asked the reason for this and was told that they were going on
pilgrimage to the Ka'bah. Abrahah hated the idea of Mecca being more important
than his own country, so he decided to build a church of colored marble, with
doors of gold and ornaments of silver, and ordered the people to visit it
instead of the Ka'bah. But no one obeyed him.
Abrahah became angry and decided to destroy the
Ka1bah. He prepared a large army led by an elephant and set off towards Mecca.
When the Meccans heard that he was coming they became very frightened.
Abrahah's army was huge and they could not fight it. But how could they let him
destroy the Holy Ka'bah? They went to ask the advice of their leader, 'Abd
al-Muttalib. When Abrahah arrived outside Mecca, 'Abd al-Muttalib went to meet
him. Abrahah said, 'What do you want?' Abrahah had taken Abd al-Muttalib's
camels, which he had found grazing as he entered Mecca, so „Abd al-Muttalib
replied, 'I want my camels back.' Abrahah was very surprised and said, 'I have
come to destroy your
Holy
Ka‟bah, the holy place of your fathers, and you ask me about some camels?' 'Abd
al-Muttalib replied calmly, „The camels belong to me; the Ka‟bah belongs to
Allah and He will protect it.' Then he left Abrahah and went back to Quraysh
and ordered them to leave Mecca and wait for their enemies in the mountains.
In the morning Abrahah prepared to enter the town.
He put armor on his elephant and drew up his troops for battle. He intended to
destroy the Ka'bah and then return to Yemen. At that moment, however, the elephant
knelt down and refused to get up, no matter how much the soldiers tried to get
it to move by beating it.
But when they turned its face in the direction of
Yemen it immediately got up and started off. In fact, it did the same in any
other direction, but as soon as they pointed it towards Mecca it knelt down
again. Suddenly, flocks of birds appeared from over the sea. Each bird carried
three stones as small as peas and they dropped them on Abrahah1s army. The
soldiers suddenly fell ill. Even Abrahah was hit by the stones and fled in fear
with the rest of his army back to Yemen, where he later died. On seeing their
enemy flee the Arabs came down from the mountains to the Ka‟bah and gave thanks
to Allah.
After this, Quraysh gained great respect and became
known as 'the people of Allah', and the year in which these events took place,
570A.D, was named the 'Year of the Elephant'. In that year Allah had saved the
Ka'bah and he would soon bring forth a Prophet from among Quraysh. In the Name
of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful: “Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt
with the owners of the Elephant? Did He not bring their stratagem to naught,
And send against them swarms of flying creatures, Which pelted them with stones
of baked clay, And made them like green crops devoured (by cattle)? (Qur'an
105.1-5)
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The Prophet Is Born
One day, while travelling
north, one of the Arab tribes from Mecca met a hermit
in the desert. Some of the men stopped to speak with him. Hermits were known to
be wise and the Arabs often asked their advice. The hermit asked where they had
come from. When they replied that they were from Mecca, he told them that Allah
would soon send a prophet, who would come from their people. They asked the
name of this prophet and the hermit answered that his name would be Muhammad
and that he would guide them to a new way of life.
Meanwhile in Mecca,
Aminah, although saddened by the loss of her husband, felt especially well and
strong as she awaited the birth of her baby. During this time she dreamt of
many things. On one occasion it was as if a great light were shining out of
her, and on another she heard a voice telling her that she would have a boy and
that his name would be Muhammad. She never forgot that voice but she told no
one about it.
On Monday, the twelfth
day of Rabi al-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant, Aminah gave birth to a son.
Allah sends man many signs when one of His chosen Prophets is born and on that
twelfth day of Rabi al-Awwal in the year 570 A.D, many such signs were seen.
Some were seen by Jewish scholars who had read in their scriptures of a coming
Prophet. One of these learned men in Yathrib, for instance, saw a brilliant new
star he had never seen before as he studied the heavens that night. He called
the people around him and, pointing the star out to them, told them a Prophet
must have been born. That same night another Jew was passing by the meeting place
of the leaders of Quraysh in Mecca. He asked them if a baby boy had just been
born and told them that if it were true, this would be the Prophet of the Arab
nation.
Aminah sent news of the birth to her
father-in-law, 'Abd al-Muttalib, who was sitting near the Ka'bah at the time.
He was very happy and began at once to think of a name for the boy. An ordinary
name would not do. Six days came and went and still he had not decided. But on
the seventh day, as he lay asleep near the Ka‟bah, 'Abd al-Muttalib dreamt that
he should give the baby the unusual name of Muhammad, just as Aminah herself
had dreamt. And the child was called Muhammad (pbuh), which means 'the Praised
One'. When 'Abd al-Muttalib told the leaders of Quraysh what he had named his
grandson, many of them asked, 'Why did you not
choose
the sort of name that is used by our people?' At once he replied, 'I want him
to be praised by Allah in the heavens and praised by men on earth.
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A Time With Halimah
Like many other women in
Mecca, Aminah decided to send her son away from
the city for his early years to the desert where it was more healthy. Women
from the desert used to come to Mecca to collect the new babies and they would
then keep them until they developed into strong children, for which they were
well paid by the parents.
Among the women who
traveled to Mecca to fetch a new baby at the time Aminah's son was born, was a
Bedouin woman called Halimah. With her was her husband and baby son. They had
always been very poor but this year things were harder than ever because there
had been famine. The donkey that earned Halimah on the journey was so weak from
hunger that he often stumbled. Halimah's own baby son cried all the time
because his mother could not feed him properly. Even their she-camel did not
give them one drop of milk. Halimah did not know what to do. She thought to
herself, 'How can I possibly feed another baby when I haven't got enough milk
even for my own son?'
At last they reached
Mecca. All the other women of the tribe to which Halimah belonged, the Bani
Sa'd, found a child to take back with them, but not Halimah. The only baby left
was Muhammad (pbuh). Usually the father paid the wet-nurse but Mohammed‟s
father was dead. So no one wanted to take him, even though he was from one of
the noblest families of Quraysh. Halimah did not want to take him either, but
she did not want to be the only woman to go back to her tribe without a baby to
bring up. She asked her husband whether she should take Muhammad (pbuh) or not.
He advised her to do so, adding, 'Perhaps Allah will bless us because of him.'
They started on the return journey and as soon as Halimah began to feed
Muhammad (pbuh) her milk suddenly increased and she had enough for him as well
as her baby son. When they were back home, everything began to change.
The land became green,
and the date trees, one of their main sources of food, gave lots of fruit. Even
the sheep and their old she-camel began to give plenty of milk.
Halimah and her husband
knew that this good fortune had come because they had the new baby, Muhammad
(pbuh), whom they had come to love as if he were their own son.
When Muhammad (pbuh) was
two years old, Halimah took him back to his mother. She pleaded with Aminah,
however, to let her keep him for
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a little longer, and to her great joy
the mother agreed. During his time with Halimah's family in the desert,
Muhammad (pbuh) played with her children and together they would take the sheep
out to graze. At other times, however, Halimah would often find him sitting
alone. It is said that on one occasion, two angels came to Muhammad (pbuh) and
washed his heart with snow. In this way Allah made his heart pure for He
intended Muhammad (pbuh) to be greater than any man ever born and to become the
Seal of the Prophets.
In the Name of Allah the Beneficent, the
Merciful
“Did We not expand thy
breast for thee And eased thee of thy burden
Which weighed down thy back; And exalted
thy fame? So truly with hardship comes ease, Truly with hardship comes ease. So
when thou art relieved, still toil And strive to please thy Lord. (Qur'an
94.1-8)
When Halimah finally
took Muhammad (pbuh) back to Aminah, he was a healthy, strong boy. Later he
would look back with joy on the time he had spent with Halimah, and he always
thought of himself as one of the Bani Sa'd.
The Orphan's
Childhood
Muhammad
(pbuh) returned to live with his mother in Mecca when he
was
about three years old. Three years later Aminah decided to take her son to
visit his uncles in Yathrib. She told her maid, Barakah, to prepare everything
they would need for the long journey, and then they joined one of the caravans
going there. They stayed in Yathrib a month and Muhammad (pbuh) enjoyed the
visit with his cousins. The climate there was very pleasant and he learned to
swim and to fly a kite. On their way back to Mecca, however, Aminah became ill
and died. She was buried in the village at al-Abwa not far from Yathrib.
Muhammad (pbuh) returned sadly to Mecca with his mother's maid He was now six
years old and had lost both his father and mother. He was then adopted by his
grandfather, „Abd al-Muttalib, who loved him dearly and kept him by his side at
all times. It was the custom of 'Abd al-Muttalib to sit on a blanket near the
Ka‟bah.
There he was always surrounded by people who had come to speak to him. No one
was allowed to sit on the blanket with him, however, except his grandson
Muhammad (pbuh), which shows how close they were to each other. Many times 'Abd
al-Muttalib was heard to say: 'This boy will be very important one day.'
Two years later 'Abd al-Muttalib became ill and
Muhammad (pbuh) stayed by him constantly. 'Abd al-Muttalib told his son, Abu
Talib, to adopt Muhammad (pbuh) after his death, which he did. Abu Talib had many
children of his own, but Muhammad (pbuh) immediately became part of his family
and the favorite child. The time came for Quraysh to prepare a caravan to go to
Syria. Abu Talib was going with them and he took Muhammad (pbuh) along. It was
Mohammed‟s first journey to the north. After days of travel, the caravan
arrived at a place near Syria where the Romans used to come to trade with the
Arabs. Near this marketplace lived a monk called Bahira‟. His cell had been
used by generations of monks before him and contained ancient manuscripts.
Bahira' saw the caravan in the distance and was
amazed to see that over it was a large white cloud. It was the only cloud in a
clear blue sky and it appeared to be shading one of the travelers. The monk was
even more surprised to see that the cloud seemed to follow the caravan but
disappeared when the person it was shading sat down under a tree.
Bahira‟
knew from the scriptures that a prophet was expected to come after Jesus and it
had been his wish to see this prophet before he died. Realizing that what he
had just seen was a miracle, he began to think that his wish might, after all,
come true.
The monk sent an invitation to the Meccans to come
and eat with him. The Arabs were surprised because they often passed by and
Bahira‟ had never invited them before. When the group was all together for the
meal, the monk said, 'Is this everyone?‟ 'No', someone said, 'a boy was left
watching the camels.' Bahira‟ insisted that the boy should join them. The boy
was Muhammad (pbuh). When he arrived Bahira‟ said nothing, but watched him all
through the meal. He noticed many things about his appearance which fitted the
description in the old manuscripts. Later on he took him aside and asked
Muhammad (pbuh) many questions. He soon found out how he felt about the idols
in the Ka'bah. When Bahira tried to make him swear by them, as the Arabs used
to do, Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'There is nothing in this world that I hate more'.
They talked together about Allah and about Mohammed‟s life and family. What was
said made
Bahira
certain that this was indeed the Prophet who would follow Jesus.
Then the monk went to Abu Talib and asked him how he
was related to Muhammad (pbuh). Abu Talib told him that Muhammad (pbuh) was his
son. Bahira replied that this could not be so because the boy was destined to
grow up an orphan, and he ordered Abu Talib to watch over Muhammad (pbuh) with
great care. There are many stories told about
Mohammed‟s
youth. Some tell of how he used to take the family's sheep to graze and was
always kind to them. While they grazed he would sit thinking about the
mysteries of nature. Unlike those around him1 he never worshipped the idols and
never swore by them.
He also wondered why people were always struggling
for power and money, and this saddened him and made him feel lonely, but he
kept his feelings to himself. He was a quiet, thoughtful boy, and rarely played
with other boys of his age. On one occasion, however, Muhammad (pbuh) went with
some of the boys to a wedding in Mecca. When he reached the house he heard the
sounds of music and dancing but just as he was about to enter he suddenly felt
tired and, sitting down, fell asleep. He didn't wake up until late the next
morning and thus missed the celebrations. In this way Allah prevented him from
doing anything foolish for He was keeping Muhammad (pbuh) for something much
more important
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The Prophet's Marriage
By the time
Muhammad (pbuh) was twenty-five he was famous for his honesty. He was
respected by everyone, even the elders of Mecca. The purity of his nature
increased with the years. It seemed he had an inner knowledge that other people
did not have. He believed in one God-Creator of the world-and he worshipped Him
with all his heart and with all his soul. Muhammad (pbuh) was the finest of his
people, the most kind, truthful and reliable person in Mecca. He was known
among Quraysh as 'the trustworthy' (al-Amin) because of the good qualities
Allah had given him. He spent many quiet hours in a cave in Mount Hira, not far
from Mecca, thinking about Allah. Among Quraysh was a respected and wealthy
woman named Khadijah. She was involved in trade and on hearing of Mohammed‟s
reputation, sent for him and asked him to take her goods and trade with them in
Syria. Muhammad (pbuh) agreed and left for Syria with one of Khadijah's
caravans. With him went her slave, Maysarah, and they spent a great deal of
time talking together. Maysarah soon came to admire Muhammad (pbuh). He thought
he was quite different from all the other men of Quraysh.
Two unusual events took
place during this journey which puzzled Maysarah very much. The first happened
when they stopped to rest near the lonely home of a monk. Muhammad (pbuh) sat
under a tree while Maysarah was busy with some work. The monk came up to
Maysarah and asked, 'Who is the man resting under the tree?' 'One of Quraysh,
the people who guard the Ka‟bah', said Maysarah. 'No one but a Prophet is
sitting beneath this tree', replied the monk. The second event occurred on the
journey back to Mecca. It happened at noon, when the sun is at its hottest.
Maysarah was riding behind Muhammad (pbuh) and as the sun grew hotter he saw
two angels appear above Muhammad (pbuh) and shield him from the sun's harmful
rays. The trading was very successful and Muhammad (pbuh) made more profit for
Khadijah than she had ever received before.
When they arrived back
in Mecca Maysarah told Khadijah everything about the trip and what he had
noticed about Mohammed‟s character and behavior.
Khadijah was a widow in
her forties and as well as being rich and highly respected she was also very
beautiful.
Many men wanted to marry
her but none of them suited her. When she met Muhammad (pbuh), however, she
thought he was very special. She sent a friend to ask Muhammad (pbuh) why he
was not married. Muhammad (pbuh) said that it was because he had no money, to which
the friend replied: 'Supposing a rich, beautiful and noble lady agreed to
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marry you?' Muhammad (pbuh) wanted to
know who that could be. The friend told him it was Khadijah. Muhammad (pbuh)
was very happy, because he greatly respected Khadijah. He went with his uncles,
Abu Talib and Hamzah, to Khadijah's uncle, and asked his permission to marry
her. The uncle gave his permission and soon after, Muhammad (pbuh) and Khadijah
were married.
Their marriage was a
joyful one and Muhammad (pbuh) and Khadijah were well suited. Their life
together, however, was not without some sadness. They were blessed with six
children, two sons and four daughters. Sadly their first born, a son called
Qasim, died shortly before his second birthday, and their last child, also a
son, only lived for a short time. Happily, their four daughters-Zaynab,
Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah-all survived.
For a few years Muhammad
(pbuh) lived a calm and quiet life as a merchant in Mecca. His wisdom benefited
many people. One such time was when Quraysh decided to rebuild the Ka‟bah. It
was a difficult decision for them because they had to knock it down before
rebuilding it and the people were afraid that Allah might be angry with them
for knocking down His sanctuary. At last one of the wise old men of Quraysh
decided to begin, then everybody followed him. They worked until they reached
down to the first foundation that Abraham had built. As soon as they began to
remove the stones of this foundation, however, the whole of Mecca began to
shake.
They were so afraid that
they decided to leave these stones where they were and build on top of them.
Each tribe brought stones and they built the Ka'bah up until they reached the
place where the black stone was to be set. They then began to argue about who
should have the honor of carrying the black stone and lifting it to its place
in one of the corners of the Ka'bah.
They almost came to
blows but fortunately one of the men offered a solution. He suggested that they
should be guided by the first person to enter the place of worship. They all
agreed and as Muhammad (pbuh) was the first to enter everyone was pleased, because
they all trusted him. They told him the cause of the argument and he asked them
to bring a large cloak. They did as he asked, and after spreading the cloak on
the ground he placed the black stone in the centre of it. Then he asked a man
from each tribe to hold one edge of the cloak and together to raise it to the
height
where the stone should be see. When this was done, he took the stone off the
cloak and put it into place himself. This story shows how all Quraysh respected
and trusted Muhammad (pbuh) and how, by his wisdom and good sense, he was able
to keep the peace.
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The Coming of The Archangel Gabriel
Muhammad (pbuh) believed
that there was only one Allah, Creator of the
sun, the moon, the earth, the sky, and of all living things, and that all
people should worship only Him. Muhammad (pbuh) would often leave the crowded
city and go to the cave in Mount Hira'. He liked to be alone there, away from
all thoughts of the world and daily life, eating and drinking little. In his
fortieth year, Muhammad (pbuh) left Mecca to spend Ramadan, the traditional
month of retreat, in the cave. In the second half of Ramadan, Allah began to
reveal His message for mankind through Muhammad (pbuh). This first Revelation
occurred as follows. The Archangel Gabriel came to Muhammad (pbuh) in the cave
and commanded him to 'Read'. Muhammad (pbuh) replied 'I cannot read.' At this
the Archangel took Muhammad (pbuh) in his arms and pressed him to him until it
was almost too much to bear. He then released him and said again 'Read.' 'I
cannot', replied Muhammad (pbuh), at which the Archangel embraced him again.
For the third time the Archangel commanded Muhammad (pbuh) to read, but still
he said he could not and was again embraced. On releasing him this time,
however, the Archangel Gabriel said:
“Read: In the Name of
thy Lord who createth, Createth man from a clot. Read: And thy Lord is the Most
Generous Who teacheth by the pen, Teacheth man that which he knew not. (Qur'an
96.1-5) Muhammad (pbuh) repeated these verses, just as the Archangel had said
them. When the Archangel was sure Muhammad (pbuh) knew them by heart, he we
away. Now that he was alone Muhammad (pbuh) could not understand what had happened
to him. He was terribly afraid and rushed out of the cave. Perhaps the cave was
haunted? Perhaps the devil had taken a hold of his mind? But he was stopped by
a voice from heaven which said; '0 Muhammad (pbuh) you are the Messenger of
Allah, and I am Gabriel.' He looked up at the sky and wherever he turned he saw
the Archangel Gabriel.
In a state of confusion
he returned home to Khadijah. When his wife saw him she became very worried as
he began to shiver, as though in a fever. He asked her to wrap him in blankets,
which she did. After a while he recovered sufficiently to tell her what had
happened at Hira'. Khadijah believed all that he told her and with great
respect said: 'Be happy, 0 son of my uncle and be confident. Truly I swear by
Allah who has my soul in His hands, that you will be our people's Prophet.'
Muhammad (pbuh), the Messenger of Allah, was eased by her faith in him, but
after all that had happened he was exhausted and felt fast asleep.
Khadijah left the Prophet (pbuh) sleeping and went
to see her cousin, Waraqah Ibn Nawfal, to ask him what he thought about all
that had happened. Waraqah was a very wise man who had read many books and had
become a Christian after studying the Bible. He told Khadijah that Muhammad
(pbuh) had been chosen by Allah to be His Messenger. Just as the Archangel
Gabriel had come to Moses before and had ordered him to guide his people, so,
too, would Muhammad (pbuh) be the Prophet of his people. But Waraqah warned
that all the people would not listen to the Prophet and some would mistreat his
followers. He must, however, be patient because he had a great message for all
the world. From that day on, the Archangel Gabriel came often to the Prophet
(pbuh) and the verses he taught him, the message from Allah to man, were later
written down, and are known to us as the Holy Qur'an.
The First
Muslims
After
that momentous day in the month of Ramadan, Revelation came
again
and again to the Prophet (pbuh). He understood now what he had to do and
prepared himself for what was to come. Only a strong and brave man, helped by
Allah, can be a true prophet because people often refuse to listen to Allah's
message. Khadijah was the first to believe the Prophet (pbuh) and accept as
true what he brought from Allah. Through her, Allah made things easier for the
Prophet (pbuh). Khadijah strengthened him, helped him spread his message, and
stood up to the people who were against him.
Then Revelation ceased for a time. The Prophet
(pbuh) was upset and unhappy, thinking that Allah had left him, or that he
might have angered Allah in some way so that Allah no longer thought him worthy
of His message. However, the Archangel Gabriel came back to him and brought
this surah, or chapter, of the Qur'an:
In the Name of
Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“By the morning hours, And by the night when it is
stillest, Thy Lord hath neither forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee, And verily
the Last will be better for thee than the First. And verily thy Lord will give
unto thee so that thou wilt be content. Did He not find thee an orphan and
protect thee? Did He not find thee wandering and guide thee? Did He not find
thee destitute and enrich thee? Therefore the orphan oppress not, Therefore the
beggar drive not away, And as for thy Lord's blessing, declare it”. (Qur'an:
93.1-11)
The Prophet (pbuh) began to speak secretly of
Allah's message to those Who were close to him and whom he could trust. At that
time Mecca was going through hard times. There was very little food to be had.
Abu Talib, the Prophet's uncle, who had taken care of him after his
grandfather's death, was finding it very difficult to feed his large family.
The Prophet (pbuh) said that he and another uncle,
al-'Abbas, who was a rich man, would each bring up one of Abu Talib's children
in order to help him. The Prophet (pbuh) took „Ali and his uncle took Ja‟far.
One day, when the Prophet (pbuh) was outside the
city, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him. The Archangel kicked the side of a
hill and a spring of water began to flow out. He then began to wash himself in
the running water to show the Prophet (pbuh) the ritual ablution to be made
before prayer. Then the Archangel showed him all the positions of Muslim
prayer-the various movements and things to be said with each
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movement. The Prophet (pbuh) returned
home and taught all these things first to Khadijah and then to his followers.
Since then Muslims have continued to purify themselves before prayer by
performing the ritual ablution and have followed the same movements and prayers
first performed by the Prophet (pbuh). To begin with, though, only the Prophet
(pbuh) and his wife knew of these things. Then one day „Ali entered the room
and found the Prophet (pbuh) and Khadijah praying. He was puzzled and asked
what they were doing. The Prophet (pbuh) explained to him that they were
praising Allah and giving thanks to Him. That night 'Ali stayed up thinking
about all that the Prophet (pbuh) had said; he had great admiration and respect
for his cousin. Finally he came to a decision and the next day he went to the
Prophet (pbuh) and told him that he wanted to follow him. Thus Khadijah was the
first woman to embrace Islam, the teachings which the Prophet (pbuh) brought
from Allah, and
„Ali was the first young man. Shortly
after they were joined by Zayd ibn
Harithah, a slave, freed
and adopted by the Prophet (pbuh).
The Prophet (pbuh) began
to leave Mecca with 'An in order to pray. One day Abu Talib happened to pass by
and when he saw them he stopped and asked them what they were doing. The
Prophet (pbuh) told him that they were praying and following the same religion
as Abraham. He explained that, like Abraham, he had been ordered to guide the
people to Allah's truth. Abu Talib looked at his son, 'Ali, and said: 'Muhammad
(pbuh) would never make you do anything that was wrong. Go with him.
But I cannot leave the
religion I now follow and which was followed by my father.' Then he turned to
the Prophet (pbuh), saying, 'Even so, I promise you, Muhammad (pbuh), that no
one will hurt you as long as I am alive.' And with that Abu Talib went on his
way. At about this time the news of Muhammad (pbuh) being the Prophet reached
an honest, wise, and respected merchant of Mecca called Abu Bakr. He knew
Muhammad (pbuh) well and believed he could never lie, so he went to find out
for himself if the story were true. The Prophet (pbuh) told him that he had
indeed been sent by Allah to teach everyone to worship the one true Allah. On
hearing this from the Prophet's own lips Abu Bakr knew it to be the truth and
became a believer instantly. Later the Prophet (pbuh) was reported to have said
that everyone he ever invited to accept Islam showed signs of disbelief and
doubt, except Abu Bakr; when he was told of it he did not hold back or
hesitate. Because of his wisdom, honesty, and kindness people had always turned
to Abu Bakr for advice. He was, therefore, a man of some influence and through
him many people came to Islam. Among these was Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas as, the
uncle of Aminah, the Prophet's mother. The night before Abu Bakr came to visit
him and tell him about Islam, Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas dreamt that he was
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walking in darkness. As he walked he saw
the moon and when he looked at it he saw 'Ali, Abu Bakr, and Zayd, the
Prophet's freed slave, beckoning to him to come and join them. When Abu Bakr
told him about the Prophet's religion, he understood the meaning of his dream
and went at once to the Prophet (pbuh) and declared himself a Muslim. He
understood that to be a Muslim means to submit oneself to Allah's Will and to
serve only Him. Another person brought to Islam by Abu Bakr was Bilal. One
night Abu Bakr went to the house of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, one of the most
important men of Quraysh. Umayyah was out and Abu Bakr found only Umayyah's
slave, Bilal, at home. Abu Bakr talked to the slave about Islam and before he
left, Bilal, too, had become a Muslim. The number of people following the
Prophet (pbuh) began to grow. Sometimes they would all go out of the city to
the mountains around Mecca to hear him recite the Qur'an and to be taught by
him. This was all done very secretly and only a very few people knew about Islam
in those early days.
The Troubles
Begin
Three
years passed and one day the Archangel Gabriel came to the
Prophet
(pbuh) and ordered him to start preaching openly to everyone. So the Prophet
(pbuh) told the people of Mecca that he had something very important to tell
them. He stood on a hillside in Mecca, called Safa, and they gathered around to
hear what he had to say. He started by asking them if they would believe him
were he to say that an army was about to attack them. They answered that indeed
they would, because he never lied. He then told them that he was the Messenger
of Allah, sent to show them the right way, and to warn them of terrible
punishments if they did not follow him in worshipping only Allah and none
other. Abu Lahab, one of the Prophet's uncles who was among the listeners,
suddenly stood up and said, 'May you perish! Did you call us here just to tell
us this?' At this, Allah sent to the Prophet (pbuh) the following Surah:
In
the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
“The Power of Abu Lahab will perish, and he will
perish. His wealth and gains will not save him. He shall roast at a flaming
fire, And his wife, the carrier of firewood Will have upon her neck a rope of
palm-fibre”. (Qur'an 111.1-5)
Then the crowd dispersed and the Prophet (pbuh) was
left alone. A few days later the Prophet (pbuh) tried again. A feast was
prepared in his house for all of his uncles. After the meal he spoke to them
and said, 'O sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib! I know of no Arab who has come to his
people with a better message than mine. I have brought you the best news for
this life and the next. Allah has ordered me to call you to Him. So which of
you will help me?' All the men kept silent. Then 'Ali, his cousin, jumped up
and said: 'O Prophet of Allah! I will help you.' Then the men all got up and
left, laughing as they went because only one young boy had agreed to help the
Prophet (pbuh).
His message ignored by most of the people and his
uncles, the Prophet (pbuh) continued to meet his friends secretly in a house
near the hill of Safa. There they prayed together and he taught them about the
religion of Islam. But even though they kept to themselves, they were sometimes
abused by those who would not believe. From one such incident, however, an
unexpected conversion to Islam took place. One day, when the Prophet (pbuh) was
returning home, speaking with his followers, he met Abu Jahl, a leader of
Quraysh, who hated the Prophet (pbuh) and his teachings. Abu Jahl started to
insult him and to speak spitefully of Islam, but the Prophet (pbuh) made no
reply and went on his way.
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Later, Hamzah, one of
the Prophet's uncles, who was a strong and brave warrior of whom people were
quite afraid, heard how his nephew had been insulted. Filled with rage, he ran
straight to the Ka'bah where Abu Jahl was sitting among the people and struck him
a violent blow in the face with his bow. Hamzah then shouted, 'Will you insult
him when I follow his religion, and I say what he says? Hit me back if you
can!' Some people got up to help Abu Jahl but he stopped them saying, 'Leave
Hamzah alone, for by Allah, I have insulted his nephew badly. 'From that moment
on Hamzah followed the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh) and with his conversion
to Islam Quraysh realized that the Prophet (pbuh) had a strong supporter and so
for a while they stopped persecuting him. Soon, however, the leaders of Quraysh
became angry again, when they saw that the Prophet (pbuh) was going ahead with
his teaching. A group of them went to his uncle, Abu Talib, who had promised to
protect him. They told him to ask the Prophet (pbuh) to stop attacking their
gods and their way of life, and in return they would let him do as he wished
with his religion.
After a time they saw
that there was no change, so they went back to Abu Talib and this time they
told him that if he did not stop his nephew, they would fight them both. Abu
Talib was very upset by this quarrel among his people, but he could not break
his word to his nephew. He sent for the Prophet (pbuh) and told him what had
happened, saying, 'Spare me and spare yourself; do not put a greater burden on
me than I can bear.' The Prophet (pbuh) thought that his uncle might abandon
him and that he would no longer have his support, but nevertheless he answered,
'0 my uncle, by Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my
left in return for my giving up this cause, I would not give it up until Allah
makes Truth victorious, or I die in His service. Abu Talib was deeply moved by
this answer. He told the Prophet (pbuh) that he would support him for as long
as he lived and encouraged him to go on spreading Allah's message. From that
time on, however hard the leaders of Quraysh tried to convince Abu Talib to
stop protecting his nephew, he always refused to listen to them. In order to
get rid of the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers, his enemies started
persecuting those Muslims who were poor or weak, or had no powerful friends.
One such person was Bilal, the slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. His master would
take him out into the desert, tie him up, and leave him in the sun with a large
stone on his chest. Fortunately Abu Bakr was passing by one day and saw Umayyah
torturing Bilal, so he bought him from his master for a large sum of money and
then set him free. But not all persecuted Muslims were as fortunate as Bilal.
Many suffered, but all of them endured it patiently, knowing that they were
doing the right thing and that their reward in the life to come would be
greater' than any happiness they could find on earth.
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The King Who Believed
As the number of the
Prophet's followers increased so the enemies of the
Muslims
grew more and more angry. At last some of the Muslims decided to go to another
country in order to live in peace. It was only five years since the Archangel
Gabriel had first come to the Prophet (pbuh) and two years since the Prophet
(pbuh) had spoken out in public. The Muslims asked the Prophet (pbuh) to allow
them to leave Mecca. He agreed, saying 'It would be better for you to go to
Abyssinia. The king there is a just man and it is a friendly country. Stay
there until Allah makes it possible for you to return. The Muslims prepared for
the journey. They decided to wait until night so that they could leave without
being seen. The first sixteen left Mecca and, after reaching the shore of die
Red Sea, crossed over to Abyssinia. Another eighty-three men and nineteen women
followed, all hoping to be welcomed by the king and people of that country.
This was the first hijrah, or migration, in Islam.
The Meccans were furious
when they discovered that these Muslims had secretly left the city for among
them were the sons and daughters of many of the leading families of Mecca. The
anger of the Meccans was even greater when they found out that the Muslims had
been warmly welcomed in Abyssinia. The leaders of Quraysh decided to send two
men to the Abyssinian king in hopes of persuading him to send the Muslims back.
These were 'Amr ibn al-'As, a very clever speaker, and „Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi‟ah.
Before they met this king, they gave each of his advisers a gift, saying: 'Some
foolish men from our people have come to hide in your country. Our leaders have
sent us to your ruler to persuade him to send them back, so when we speak to
the king about them, do advise him to give them up to us.' The advisers agreed
to do what the Meccans wished.
Amr ibn al-'As and 'Abd
Allah ibn abi Rabi'ah then went to the king and presented him also with a gift,
saying: 'Your Highness, these people have abandoned the religion we have always
followed in Mecca, but they have not even become Christians like you.' The
royal advisers, who were also present, told the king that the Meccans had
spoken the truth and that he should send the Muslims back to their own people.
At this, the king became angry and said, 'No, by God, I will not give them up.
Those who have come to ask for my protection, settled in my country, and chosen
me rather than others, shall not be betrayed. I will summon them and ask them
about what these two men have said. If the Muslims are as the Meccans say, I
will give them up and send them back to their own people, but if the Meccans
have lied I will protect the Muslims.' 'Amr was very
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upset by this for the last thing he
wanted was for the king to hear what the Muslims had to say. The king then sent
for the Muslims. When they entered, they did not kneel before him as was the
custom of the Abyssinians. 'Why do you not kneel before our king?' they were
asked by one of the advisors. 'We kneel only to Allah', they replied. So the
king asked them to tell him about their religion.
Ja'far ibn abi Talib,
Ali's brother and a cousin of the Prophet (pbuh), was chosen to speak for the
Muslims. He replied, '0 King, at first we were among the ignorant. We and our
ancestors had turned from the faith of Abraham, who, with Ishmael, rebuilt the
Ka‟bah and worshipped only
Allah. We used idols in our worship of
Allah; we ate meat that had not been killed in the right way; we did not
respect the rights of our neighbors; the strong took advantage of the weak. We
did terrible things of which I dare not speak. This was our life until Allah
sent a Messenger from among us, one of our relatives, whom we have always known
to be honest, innocent, and faithful. He asked us to worship only Allah, and to
give up the bad customs of our forefathers. He asked us to be truthful and
trustworthy, to respect and help our neighbors, to honor our families, and to
put a stop to our bad deeds and endless fighting. He asked us to look after
orphans. He ordered us not to slander or speak evil of women or men.
He ordered us to worship
Allah alone and not to worship anyone or anything else alongside Him. He
ordered us to pray, to give alms, and to fast. We believe he is right and
therefore we follow him and do as he has commanded us.
The Meccans began to
attack us and come between us and our religion. So we had to leave our homes
and we have come to you, hoping to find justice.'
The king, who was a
Christian, was moved by these words. „Amr had to think quickly of a way to win
the argument. Cunningly he said to the king, 'These people do not believe in
Jesus in the same way as you'. The king then wanted to know what the Prophet
(pbuh) had said about Jesus. Ja'far replied by reciting a Surah from the Qur'an
which tells the story of Jesus and his mother Mary. These are a few of the
lines he recited:
In the Name of Allah,
the Beneficent, the Merciful
“And make
mention of Mary
in the Scripture,
when she had
Withdrawn from her people to an eastern
place, And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our spirit and
it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. She said: Lo! I seek refuge
in the
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Beneficent One from thee, if Thou
fearest God. He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on
thee a faultless son. She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath
touched me, neither have I been unchaste? He said: 'Even so thy Lord saith: It
is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him revelation for mankind
and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. And she conceived him, and she
withdrew with him to a far place. Then she brought him to her own folk,
carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an monstrous thing. Oh
sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.
Then Mary pointed to the child (Jesus); But they said, 'How can we speak to one
who is still in the cradle, a young child?' He said, 'Lo, I am Allah's servant;
He has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet.
He has made me Blessed,
wheresoever I may be; and He has enjoined me to pray, and to give alms, so long
as I live, and likewise to cherish my mother; he has not made me arrogant,
unblest Peace be upon me, the day
I was born, and the day I die, and the
day I am raised up alive!” (Qur'an 19:16-33) . When the king heard this, his
eyes filled with tears. Turning to his advisers, he said, 'These words have
surely come from God; there is very little to separate the Muslims from the
Christians. What both Jesus and Muhammad, the Messengers of Allah, have brought
comes from the same source.
So the Muslims were given the king's permission to
live peacefully in his country. 'Amr was given back the gift he had presented
to the king and the two Meccans returned home, bitterly disappointed.
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The Cruelty of Quraysh
The leaders of Quraysh
became increasingly worried about the way the people
of Mecca were being divided by the Prophet's teachings. Finally, „Umar ibn
al-Khattab, one of the nobles of Mecca, decided that the only way to silence
the Prophet (pbuh) was to kill him. Having made up his mind, he set out at once
to look for him. On his way he met a man who saw at once what „Umar was going
to do and said: 'Why don't you look a little closer to home before going to
kill Muhammad? Don't you know your own sister Fatimah is a Muslim?' 'Umar was
shocked. He could not believe this was true. He went at once to his sister's
house. When he arrived outside the house he heard Fatimah and her husband Sa‟id
reading aloud surah Ta Ha, a chapter from the Qur'an. Hearing her brother's
voice at the door, Fatimah quickly hid the scroll with the surah written on it
among the folds of her dress. „Umar stormed into the room and demanded, 'What
is this nonsense I heard?' Fatimah denied everything.
„Umar then lost his temper and attacked
Fatimah's husband shouting, 'They tell me that you have joined Muhammad in his
religion!' Fatimah tried to defend her husband and „Umar hit her too. Then she
admitted, „Yes, we are Muslims and we believe in Allah and His Messenger and
you can do what you like!'
Seeing her faith and
courage, „Umar suddenly felt sorry for what he had done and said to his sister,
'Let me see what I heard you reading just now so that I may understand just
what it is that your Prophet has brought. Fatimah gave the scroll to him after
he had washed to make himself clean and pure before touching it, and had
promised to give it back to her afterwards.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Merciful
“Ta Ha We have not
revealed unto thee (Muhammad) this Qur'an For thee to be distressed, but only
as a reminder Unto him who fears a Revelation from Him who created the earth
and the high heavens; the Beneficent One Who is established on the Throne; To
Him belongs Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth And all that is between
them, and All that is underneath the soil.
If Thou speakest aloud
Be thou loud in thy speech, yet Surely He knows the secret (thought) And that
yet more hidden. Allah There is no god but He To Him belong the Most Beautiful
Names”. (Qur'an 20: 1-8) . As he read, 'Umar suddenly knew that these were the
most beautiful words he had ever heard and that this religion must be the true
one. With his sword still in hand, he went straight to the Prophet's house and
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knocked loudly at the door. One of the
Prophet's closest followers looked out. There stood 'Umar who was known for his
courage and strength. When he saw 'Umar so excited and with his sword in hand,
he was afraid for the Prophet's life. But the Prophet (pbuh) asked him to allow
'Umar to come in and to leave them alone together. The Prophet (pbuh) asked
'Umar why he had come, to which he replied: 'I have come to swear that there is
no god but Allah and that you, Muhammad, are the Messenger of Allah.' As he
spoke these words, his hand still held the sword with which he had intended to
kill the Prophet (pbuh). This same sword' would now be used to defend the
Prophet (pbuh) and the faith of Islam. At that time, whenever Muslims wanted to
perform the ritual encircling of the Ka'bah, known as tawaf they had to do it
secretly and in fear. 'Umar, however, was very courageous. As soon as he had
declared his faith, he went directly to the Ka'bah and in broad daylight made
the circling of the Sacred House before the astonished people of Mecca. No one
dared to say anything. But now the leaders of Quraysh became even more alarmed
and began to see Islam as a threat to the whole life of the city of Mecca. They
grew more and more furious as the numbers of Muslims increased until finally
they, too, decided as 'Umar once had, that the Prophet (pbuh) would have to be
killed.
On hearing of these
plans, Abu Talib, the Prophet's uncle, immediately sent a message to all the
sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib, asking them to protect their nephew, and this they
agreed to do. When Quraysh realized that they could not kill the Prophet (pbuh)
because of this protection, they decided instead to avoid him and his followers
completely. A declaration to this effect was hung at the Ka‟bah. It stated that
no one in the city was allowed to have anything to do with the Prophet (pbuh)
and his people, or even to sell them any food or drink whatsoever.
At first the Muslims
found some support among the Bani Hashim, the branch of Quraysh to which the
Prophet (pbuh) belonged. Some of these people were not Muslims but showed
loyalty to their kinsmen by suffering along with them. However, life grew more
and more difficult and food was scarce. The hatred of the rest of Quraysh for
the followers of the Prophet (pbuh) grew so great that when his companions
tried to buy supplies from a caravan passing near to Mecca, Abu Lahab, one of
the Muslims' worst enemies, offered ten times the price of the goods to the
merchant. By doing this he managed to stop the Muslims, from buying what they
desperately needed. During the years of this terrible treatment, a wonderful
thing happened. Instead Of Islam becoming weaker, it grew stronger. Allah sent
more and more Revelations. It was as though the Muslims were being strengthened
and cleansed by the
hardships
they suffered and were being tested in their faith. Each year at the time of
the pilgrimage to Mecca, people tame from all over Arabia. These pilgrims saw
the terrible cruelty and injustice of Quraysh towards the Muslims, and many of
them were sorry for the Prophet's followers. Quraysh began to feel ashamed of
their harsh treatment, especially as many of the Muslims were their cousins and
close relatives. Finally, at the end of three years, they were convinced that
the time had come to put an end to the persecution of the Muslims, and they
decided to take down the notice hanging at the Ka‟bah. To their astonishment,
the sheet of paper had been completely eaten up by worms, all except the words,
'In Your Name, O Allah', which had been written at the top of the paper.
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The Year of Sorrow
The Prophet (pbuh) and
his followers went back to a normal way of life
but
the years of hardship had made Khadijah very weak. She became ill and soon
afterwards she died. Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) lost his beloved wife and friend,
the first person to accept Islam and support him. She had been a refuge from
all his troubles and, through her good-heartedness, the best company in his
suffering. He had loved her very much. This happened in 619 A.D., the year
which became known as the 'Year of Sorrow'. Soon after this, the Prophet
Muhammad's uncle and protector, Abu Talib, also died. Abu Talib had been one of
the most respected men in Mecca-one of the elders of Quraysh. Even though he
had never been a follower of Islam, he had protected the Prophet (pbuh) against
his enemies. Not only was this a sad occasion for the Prophet (pbuh) but also a
dangerous one. According to Arab custom anyone who is under the protection of
another is safe so long as his protector lives. Now, with the death of his
uncle, the Prophet's protection was gone.
The Prophet's enemies
rejoiced to see him so sad, without a wife to console and comfort him, and
without his uncle to protect him. They began to treat him worse than ever
before. Even small children insulted him. One young man actually threw some
filth on the Prophet's head, but the Prophet (pbuh) went home without making
anything of it. When one of his daughters rushed, weeping, to wash it away, he
comforted her saying, 'Do not weep my little girl, for Allah will protect your
father.' Abu Talib had been the Prophet's last tie with Quraysh and the Prophet
(pbuh) now felt that Islam could make no further progress in Mecca because the
hearts of Quraysh were closed against him. He decided, therefore, to travel to
Ta'if where he hoped to find support. He walked all the way to the town, which
was seventy kilometers away. There he spoke in all the places where people
gathered, but no one listened to him. He met the leaders of the three most
important tribes but they would not listen either. Not only did they take no
notice of what he said, but they laughed at him and ordered their slaves to
insult him and pelt him with stones.
Sadly, the Prophet
(pbuh) left the city and found a quiet place near a wall on the edge of town
where he could be alone. There he prayed to
Allah in these words: “ O Allah, to Thee
I complain of my weakness, helplessness and lowliness before men. 0 Most
Merciful, Thou art the Lord of the weak, and Thou art my Lord. To whom wouldst
Thou leave my fate? To a stranger who insults me or to an enemy to whom Thou
hast
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given power over me? If Thou art not
angry with me, I care not what happens to me. Thy favor alone is my objective.
I take refuge in the Light of Thy countenance by which the darkness is
illumined and on which this world and the other depend, lest Thy anger descend
upon me or Thy wrath light upon me. It is for Thee to be satisfied until Thou
art well pleased. There is no power and no might save through Thee.” The wall
near which the Prophet (pbuh) was sitting belonged to a garden owned by two
brothers. When they heard his prayer, they were very sorry for him and sent one
of their slaves to him with a dish filled with grapes. Before he began to eat,
the Prophet (pbuh) said 'Bismillah'-'In the Name of
Allah.' The servant, whose name was
„Addas, was very surprised at these words, which he had never heard before. 'By
Allah', said „Addas, 'this is not the way the people of this country speak.'
'Then from what country do you come, 'Addas, and what is your religion?' asked
the Prophet (pbuh). 'I am a Christian from the Assyrian town of Nineveh', he
replied. 'From the town of that good man Jonah, son of Matta', added the
Prophet 'How do you know about him?' asked „Addas. 'He is my brother-he was a
Prophet and I am a Prophet', answered the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). „Addas
bent down and kissed the Prophet's head, his hands and his feet, because now he
saw that he was truly a Prophet. The Prophet (pbuh) then walked back to Mecca.
He was now able to put up with everything patiently for he knew that Allah
would never leave him. His journey to Ta'if had not been in vain for „Addas,
the Christian, had become a Muslim, and this was to he the beginning of great
changes.
The Night
Journey And The Ascent To Heaven
One night as the Prophet
(pbuh) lay sleeping in the same spot where 'Abd
al-Muttalib
used to sleep, next to the Ka‟bah, he was woken by the
Archangel Gabriel. Later
the Prophet (pbuh) described what happened: 'I sat up and he took hold of my
arm. I stood beside him and he brought me to the door of the mosque where there
was a white animal for me to ride.' The Prophet (pbuh) told of how he mounted
the animal and, with the Archangel Gabriel at his side, was transported from
Mecca to the mosque called al-Aqsa, in far away Jerusalem. There the Prophet
(pbuh) found Abraham, Moses, and Jesus among a group of Prophets. The Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) acted as their leader, or imam, in prayer. Then he was brought
two jugs, one containing wine and the other milk. He chose the milk and refused
the wine. At this, the Archangel Gabriel said, 'You have been rightly guided to
the fitrah, the true nature of man, and so will your people be, Muhammad. Wine
is forbidden to you. The Prophet (pbuh) also related how they passed through
Heaven's gates and saw countless angels. Among them was Malik, the Keeper of
Hell, who never smiles. Malik stepped forward and showed the Prophet (pbuh) a
view of Hell and the terrible plight of those who suffer in that place. Then
the Prophet (pbuh) was taken up by the angels, through the seven Heavens, one
by one Along the way he again saw Jesus, Moses, and Abraham, and the Prophet
(pbuh) said that he had never seen a man more like himself than Abraham. He
also saw John, called Yahya in Arabic, Joseph or Yusef, Enoch, that is Idris,
and Aaron. At last he reached the Lote Tree of the Uttermost, the sidrat
al-muntaha where no Prophet had been before. Here
the Prophet (pbuh)
received Revelation of what Muslims believe.
“The Messenger believeth in that which hath been
revealed unto him from his Lord and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in
Allah and His Angels and His Books and His Messengers-We make no distinction
between any of His messengers-and they say: We hear, and we obey.
Grant us Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the
homecoming”. (Qur'an 2.285) , Then he was taken into the Light of the Divine
Presence of Allah, and was instructed that Muslims should pray fifty times a
day.
The
Prophet (pbuh) recalled: “ On my way back I passed by Moses and what a good
friend to you he was! He asked me how many prayers had I been ordained to
perform. When I told him fifty, he said, 'Prayer is a serious matter and your
people are weak, so go back to your Lord and ask Him to reduce the number for
you and your community.' I did so and He took away ten. Again I passed by Moses
and he said the same again; and so it went on until only five prayers for the
whole day and night were left.
Moses
again gave me the same advice. I replied that I had been back to my Lord and
asked him to reduce the number until I was ashamed, and I would not do it
again. He of you who performs the five prayers faithfully, will have the reward
of fifty prayers.
On the morning following these events and the
Prophet's return to Mecca, he told Quraysh what had happened. Most of them
said, 'By God! This is ridiculous! A caravan takes a month to go to Syria and a
month to return! Can you do that long journey in a single night?' Even many
Muslims were amazed by this and wanted the Prophet (pbuh) to explain. Some ran
with the news to Abu Bakr who said, 'By Allah, if Muhammad (pbuh) himself has
said so, then it is true. Remember, the Prophet tells us that the word of Allah
comes to him directly from heaven to earth at any hour by day or night, and we
believe him.
Isn't that a greater miracle than what you are now
doubting?' Then Abu Bakr went to the mosque and listened to the Prophet's
detailed description of Jerusalem. He commented, 'You tell the truth, 0 Prophet
of Allah!' From then on, Abu Bakr was honored with the title 'al-Siddiq‟, which
means 'he who gives his word to support the truth'. Others also began to
believe the Prophet's story when he went on to describe two caravans he had
seen on his way back to Mecca. He told the doubters where he had seen the caravans,
what they were carrying and when they would arrive in Mecca. All that the
Prophet (pbuh) had said was born out when the caravans arrived at the time he
said they would, carrying all that he had described.
“Glory be to Him, who carried His servant by night
from the Holy Mosque to the Far distant place of worship, the Neighborhood
which We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs, He, only He is
the All-hearing, the All-seeing”. (Qur'an 17:1)
By the Star when it setteth, Your comrade is not
astray, neither deceived, Nor does he speak of his (own) desire. This is naught
but a revelation revealed, Taught him by one mighty in power, very strong; he
stood poised, being on the uppermost horizon, Then drew near and came down, two
bows'-length away, or nearer, Then revealed to His servant that which He
revealed. His heart lies not of what he saw; What, will you then dispute with
him what he sees? Indeed, he saw him yet another time By the Lote- Tree of the
utmost Boundary Near which is the Garden of Abode When there covered the Lote-
Tree that which covered; his eye turne not aside, nor yet was overbold. Verily,
he saw one of the greatest signs of his Lord.(Qur'an 53:1-18)
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The Treaty of ‘Aqabah
In
Yathrib there were two main tribes, the Aws and the
Khazraj. Both were very powerful, they
were always at war with one another, and both worshipped idols. Also in Yathrib
were many Jews who, unlike the Arab at that time, knew that there was only One
God, and worshipped Him. They had told the Arabs many times that a Prophet
would be coming to them. The time came for the pilgrimage to the
Ka‟bah, and several people from Yathrib
were going, among them six men from the tribe of Khazraj. They had heard about
the Prophet
Mohammed‟s preaching and thought that
must be the Prophet the Jews had told them about. So they decided to go speak
to him during their stay in Mecca. They met the Prophet (pbuh) at a spot known
as „Aqabah, near
Mecca, and invited them to sit with him.
He explained to them what Islam meant recited to them from the Qur'an. When
they heard the Qur'an recited touched their hearts so deeply that they became
Muslims and on leaving Mecca they promised to return the following year. When
they reached Yathrib carrying Islam in their hearts, they told their relatives
and friends what they had heard from the Prophet (pbuh) and many more people
became Muslims.
A year passed and the
pilgrimage season came around again. Twelve important men from Yathrib went to
Mecca to meet the Prophet (pbuh) and promised faithfully to serve him and Islam.
In return, the Prophet
(pbuh) sent one of his friends, Mus‟ab
ibn 'Umayr, with them to teach the
Qur'an and instruct them in their new
religion. Another year passed and still more Muslims came from Yathrib to Mecca
for the pilgrimage. On this occasion a secret meeting with the Prophet (pbuh)
was arranged to be held at night. Seventy-three men and one woman from Yathrib
came, and the Prophet (pbuh) arrived with his uncle, al-„Abbas. During this
meeting the men from Yathrib offered to protect and defend the Prophet (pbuh)
and his followers if they would come to live in Yathrib. This promise of
protection came to be known as the Treaty of „Aqabah.
The treaty was most
fortunate for even though Islam was growing in Yathrib, the Muslims in Mecca
were still suffering. The Prophet (pbuh) therefore told his friends and
followers to go to Yathrib where they would be safe, and most of them took this
opportunity to leave. Despite all this suffering the Prophet (pbuh) was not
allowed to fight his enemies, for Allah had told him to forgive those who
insulted him or would not listen to his message. But the Quraysh had closed
their minds so utterly to the word of Allah, and grew so hard-hearted towards
the Prophet (pbuh)and his followers, that Allah gave permission to the Prophet
(pbuh) to fight those who tried to harm him or his companions.
“Permission is given unto those who fight because
they have been wronged; And Allah is surely able to give them victory; Those
who have been driven from their homes unjustly only because they said: Our Lord
is Allah”.(Qur'an 22.39-40)
Quraysh began to fear the Prophet (pbuh) for they
realised that he was now strong enough to fight them and had been given leave
to do so by Allah. They also knew that he now had the people of Yathrib to help
and protect him.
Seeing that the Muslims were leaving the city, they
decided to kill the Prophet (pbuh), before he, too, left Mecca to join his
followers in Yathrib. In this way they hoped to put an end to Islam once and
for all.
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Al-Hijrah
The Breaking of
All Connections with One's Home, for the Sake of Allah Alone. After his
companions had left for Yathrib, the Prophet (pbuh) stayed in Mecca, waiting
for permission from Allah to leave the city. Abu Bakr and Ali stayed with him.
There were also some Muslims whom Quraysh had not allowed to leave. Abu Bakr
kept asking the Prophet (pbuh) to allow him to go to Yathrib, but the Messenger
of Allah (pbuh) kept saying, 'Do not be in a hurry; it might be that Allah will
give you a travelling companion.' The leaders of Quraysh assembled in the house
of their ancestor, Qusayy, as was customary when they had an important decision
to make. They had to find a way of getting rid of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),
before he was able to join his friends in Yathrib. As they were busy arguing,
the Devil appeared at the door in the form of a noble and handsome old man.
When they saw this elderly gentleman standing there, they asked him who he was.
He said he was a Shaikh from the mountains who had heard what they meant to do
and thought he might be able to help or advise them. They thought he looked
like a wise man, so they invited him in.
Each leader then started
to put forward ideas about what should be done, but none of them could agree
about which was best, until AbuJahl told them his plan. This was that each clan
should provide a strong, young warrior, each of whom would be given a sword.
All the young warriors would then wait outside the Prophet's house and together
attack him as he came out. In this way they would be rid of him but as the
blame for killing him would fall on all the clans, the Prophet's family would
not be able to seek revenge.
When he heard this, the
Devil in the disguise of the old man, said, 'That man is right; in my opinion
it is the only thing to do!' The leaders of Quraysh then left to carry out
their plan to murder the Prophet (pbuh).
“And when the
unbelievers plot against thee, to confine thee, or kill thee, or to drive thee
out, they were plotting, But Allah was (also) plotting; and Allah is the best
of plotters”. (Qur'an 8.30)
Before the night fell,
on which Muhammad (pbuh) was to be killed, the Archangel Gabriel came to him
and said, 'Do not sleep tonight in your own bed.' The Prophet (pbuh) understood
what was going to happen, so he told „Ali to lie in his bed and wrap himself in
the blanket that the
Prophet (pbuh) normally used, promising
that no harm would befall him.With the coming of darkness the young men of
Quraysh had gathered outside the Prophet's house, waiting for him to come out.
After he had
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made sure that 'Ali was safe, the
Prophet (pbuh) left the house. At that very moment Allah took away the sight of
the warriors so that they could not see the Prophet (pbuh), who took a handful
of dust, sprinkled it on their heads and recited these verses:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Merciful
“Ya Sin By the Wise
Qur'an, Thou art truly among those sent On the straight path; A Revelation of
the All-mighty, the All-wise, That thou may warn a people whose fathers were
never warned, so they are heedless. The Word has already proved true of most of
them, yet they do not believe. Lo! We have put on their necks collars of iron
up to the chin, so that they are made stiff-necked. and We have put before them
a barrier; and We have covered them so they do not see”.(Qur'an 36.1-9)
The young men waited the
whole night and were furious when, in the morning, they saw „Ali instead of the
Prophet (pbuh) coming out of the house. I They realised that their plan had
failed completely. In the meantime, the Prophet (pbuh) went to Abu Bakr's house
and told him, 'Allah has told me that now is the time for us to leave Mecca.'
'Together?' asked Abu Bakr. 'Together', the Prophet (pbuh) replied. Abu Bakr
wept for joy, because now he knew that the travelling companion he had been
promised was the Prophet (pbuh) himself.
Then he said,'O
Messenger of Allah, these are the two camels which I have kept ready for this.'
And so, the two of them left for a cave in Thawr, a mountain to the south of
Mecca where they intended to hide.
When they were out of
the city the Prophet (pbuh) looked back and said, 'Of all Allah's earth, you
are the dearest place to Allah and to me and if my people had not driven me out
I would never have left you.'
When Quraysh found out
that the Prophet (pbuh) and his companion had gone, they set out after them,
searching in every direction. Three days later they finally reached the cave
where the Prophet (pbuh) and Abu Bakr were hiding, but a strange and wonderful thing
had happened. A spider had woven its web right across the entrance to the cave
and a dove was nesting with her mate nearby. As the Meccans stood in front of
the cave, with only the spider's web separating them from the fugitives, Abu
Bakr began to fear for their safety. He whispered to the Prophet (pbuh), they
are very close. If one of them turns we will be seen.' But he was comforted by
the Prophet's reply: “What do you think of two who have with them Allah as
their third? 'Grieve not, for verily Allah is with us”.
(Qur'an 9.40) . After a
few moments the search parry decided that no one
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could have entered the cave recently, or
the spider's web would not have been complete and the dove would not have
nested there, and so they left without searching inside. Three days later the
Prophet (pbuh) and Abu Bakr thought it safe to leave the cave. Abu Bakr's son,
'Amir, had arranged for three camels and a guide to help them continue their
journey to Yathrib. 'Amir would ride behind his father. The leaders of Quraysh,
meanwhile, returned to Mecca and offered a reward of one hundred camels to
whoever captured the Prophet (pbuh). Among those who went in search of him was
a famous warrior. He was, in fact, the only one to catch up with him, but
whenever he came close, his horse would suddenly sink up to its knees in the
sand. When this had happened three times, he understood that the Prophet (pbuh)
was protected by a power stronger than anything he had known, and so he went
back to Mecca. On arriving there he warned everyone against continuing the
search, relating what had happened to him.
“If you do not help him,
still Allah has helped him already, When the unbelievers drove him forth, (he
second of two, When the two were in the Cave, when he said to his companion,
"Grieve not; surely Allah is with us." Then Allah caused His peace
and Reassurance to descend upon him, And helped him with hosts you cannot see,
And He made the word of the unbelievers the lowest; While Allah's word is the
uppermost; Allah is All-mighty, All-wise”. (Qur'an 9.40)
The Prophet's journey
from Mecca is called the hijrah, or migration. It was really the first step
towards the spread of Islam throughout the entire world, and Muslims begin
their calendar from the year of the hijrah
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Arrival In Yathrib
When the people of
Yathrib heard that the Prophet (pbuh) had left Mecca
and
was on his way to their city, they anxiously awaited his arrival. Each morning
they would go to the edge of the city to see if he were coming. Finally, on
Monday, September 27, in the year 622 A.D., someone saw him in the distance and
shouted to everyone, 'Here is Muhammad! (pbuh) the Messenger of Allah has
arrived!' All the Muslims went out to greet him, shouting, “Allahu Akbar”!
Allah is Great! Muhammad the
Messenger of Allah has arrived!' The
women and children sang songs to show how glad they were to see him. The
Prophet (pbuh) entered the city with his friend Abu Bakr. Most of The people
there had not seen him before and as they gathered around they did not know
which of the two was the Prophet (pbuh), until Abu Bakr got up to shield him
with his cloak from the burning sun. Yathrib would now be Called al-Medina,
which means, The City.
The Messenger of God
(pbuh) stayed in Quba', which is a place at the entrance of Medina, for three
days. On the first Friday after his arrival the Prophet led the congregation in
prayer. After this many of the wealthiest men invited him to come and live with
them and share their riches. But he refused and, pointing to his she-camel,
Qaswa', said, 'Let her go her way', because he knew that his camel was under
Allah's command and would guide him to the spot where he should stay. They let
the camel go until she finally knelt down beside a house belonging to the Bani
an-Najjar, the tribe to whom the Prophet's mother was related. This house was
used as a drying-place for dates and belonged to two young orphan boys named
Sahl and Suhayl. They offered to give it to the Prophet (pbuh) but he insisted
on paying them for it, and so their guardian, As‟ad the son of
Zurarah, who was present, made the
necessary arrangements.
The Prophet (pbuh)
ordered that a mosque and a place for him to live be built on the site. All the
Muslims worked together to finish it quickly-even the Prophet (pbuh) joined in.
It was here that the Muslims would pray and meet to make important decisions
and plans. The building was quite plain and simple. The floor was beaten earth
and the roof of palm leaves was held up by tree trunks. Two Stones marked the
direction of prayer. At first worshippers faced Jerusalem, but Soon after the
direction of prayer was changed towards the Ka‟bah in Mecca.
After the building of
the mosque, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to strengthen the relationship between
the people called the Muhajirah or Emigrants, who had left Mecca with him, and
the people of Medina, who
were
known as the Ansar, or Helpers. Each man from Medinah took as his brother a man
from Mecca, sharing everything with him and treating him as a member of his own
family. This was the beginning of the Islamic brotherhood. In the early days of
Islam, the times for prayer were not announced and So the Muslims would come to
the mosque and wait for the prayer so as not to miss it. The Prophet (pbuh)
wondered how to tell the people that it was time for prayers. He discussed it
with his friends, and at first two ideas were put forward; that of blowing a
horn as the Jews did, and that of using a wooden clapper like the Christians.
Then a man called „Abd Allah ibn Zayd came to the
Prophet (pbuh) and told him he had had a dream in which he had seen a man
dressed all in green, holding a wooden clapper. He had said to the man, 'Would
you sell me your clapper in order to call the people to prayer?' The man had
replied, 'A better way to call the people to prayer is to Say: "Allahu
Akbar, Allah is Most Great!" four times, followed by "I bear witness
that there is no divinity but Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah, Come to prayer, come to prayer, Come to salvation, come to
salvation. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar! There is no divinity but Allah!"'
When the Prophet (pbuh) heard this, he said it was a
true vision from Allah. He sent for Bilal, who had a beautiful, strong voice,
and ordered him to call the people to prayer in just this way. Bilal did so and
soon after 'Umar came out of his house and told the Prophet (pbuh) that he had
seen exactly the same vision himself.
The Prophet (pbuh) replied, 'Allah be praised for
that.' The adhan, or call to prayer, which came to 'Abd Allah ibn Zayd in his
dream and was performed by Bilal on the instruction of the Prophet (pbuh), is
the one we still hear today being called from the minarets of mosques all over
the world.
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The Battle Of Badr
The Muslims who had gone
to Medinah, had left all their belongings behind
in Mecca and these had been taken by their enemies. Thus, when the Muslims
heard that Abu Sufyan, one of the leaders of Quraysh, was on his way back to
Mecca from Syria with a large caravan of goods, they decided that the time had
come for them to retrieve some of their losses. The Prophet (pbuh) gave the
Muslims permission for this attack and everyone began to get ready for the
raid, for it had been revealed:
“Permission to fight is
given unto those who fight because they have been wronged; and Allah is surely
able to give them victory” (Qur'an 22.39)
“The Revelation had
mentioned that a thing most serious with Allah was to turn (men) from the way
of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in the Holy Mosque, and to drive his
people from there…for persecution is worse than killing”. (Qur'an 2.217)
The retrieval of their
goods, however, was not their only reason for wanting to attack the caravan.
The Muslims did not think they should simply remain safely in Medinah; they
wanted to spread the message of Islam. They thus felt that if Quraysh wanted
freedom to trade in safety, then the Muslims must also have freedom to believe
in Allah, to follow His Messenger (pbuh), and spread His Word. It was,
therefore, thought that the best, and only way to get Quraysh to understand
this was to attack what was most important to them-a caravan.
Abu Sufyan, in the
meantime, heard about the Muslims' plan and quickly sent a message to Quraysh
in Mecca, telling them that the caravan was in danger and asking for help. As a
result nearly all Quraysh came out to help him defend the caravan. There were a
thousand men and two hundred horses. The women also went along to cheer the men
on with their singing. Unaware of this, the Prophet (pbuh) set out with his
followers. It was the month of Ramadan and the Muslims were fasting.
There were only three
hundred and five of them, most of them Ansar, men from Medinah. With them they
had three horses and seventy camels, on which they rode in turns.
They arrived in the area
of Badr, some distance from Medinah where they made camp and waited for news of
the caravan. Then they heard that Quraysh had set out from Mecca with a strong
army. The situation had suddenly changed. They were no longer going to make a
raid on a
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caravan-they were going to have to fight
Quraysh. The Prophet (pbuh) gathered his men around him to find out what they
wanted to do. First
Abu Bakr, and then „Umar, spoke for the
Muslims who had come from
Mecca. They said they would obey the
Prophet (pbuh). But the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to hear the opinion of the Ansar,
because he did not want to force them into doing something they did not want to
do. Sa‟d Ibn Mu‟adh, one of the leaders of the Ansar, got up and said, we
believe in you and we swear before all men that what you have brought is the
truth.
We have given you our
word and agreement to hear and obey. So go where you wish, we are with you even
if you should lead us into the sea!
The Prophet (pbuh) was
greatly encouraged by these words and so it was agreed to fight. Abu Sufyan
learned where the Muslims were camped. He changed the course of the caravan and
quickly took it out of their reach. He then sent word to Quraysh telling them
that the caravan was safe and that they should return to Mecca. But the leaders
of Quraysh were proud and stubborn men. They refused to return as they had made
up their minds to show everyone how powerful they were by destroying the
Muslims.Now there was a wadi, or valley, at Badr, with wells on the side
nearest Medina, and it was here that the Muslims took up position facing the
valley with the wells behind them.
Quraysh meanwhile placed
themselves on the other side of the valley. The Muslims then dug a reservoir,
filled it with water from one of the wells, and made a barrier around it. Then
they stopped up the wells. In this way the Muslims had enough drinking water for
themselves, while the Meccans would have to cross the valley and fight the
Muslims in order to get water. The night before the battle, while the Muslims
slept peacefully, a heavy rain fell.
“When He made the slumber fall
upon you as a reassurance from
Him and sent down water from the sky
upon you, in order that He might purify you, and remove from you the fear of
Satan, and strengthen your hearts and make firm (your) fret thereby”. (Qur'an
8.11) On the morning of Friday, the 17th of Ramadan, 2 A.H., (March 17th, AD),
the two armies advanced and drew closer to one another. The rain been heavier
on the side of Quraysh, making the ground soft and difficult. On the side of
the Muslims, however, the rain had backed the sand down hard, making it easy
for them to march. The Prophet (pbuh) preferred the men to fight in ranks. As
they prepared to march he noticed someone had stepped out in front of the
others.
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The Prophet
(pbuh)prodded him in the side with an arrow, saying, 'Stand in line!' The man,
Sawad, exclaimed, 'You have hurt me, O Messenger of Allah! Allah has sent you
to be just and good.' Prophet (pbuh) lifted his shirt and said, 'Then do the
same to me. The man approached and kissed him on the spot instead, saying, '0
Messenger of Allah, you see what is before us and I may not survive the battle.
If this is my last time with you, I want the last thing I do in life to be
this.'Shortly after he went into battle, Sawad died a martyr. Having examined
the ranks, the Prophet (pbuh) then went to a shelter made of palm branches from
which he could command the battle. Abu Bakr stayed with him, while Sa‟d ibn
Mu'adh, with several of the Ansar, stood outside guarding the hut. When the
Prophet (pbuh) saw the enormous Quraysh army descending the hill into the
valley, with all their banners and drums, he began to pray for the help which
Allah had promised him. These were some of his words. '0 Allah, here come
Quraysh full of vanity and pride, who oppose Thee and call Thy Messenger a
liar. O Allah, if this little band (the Muslims) perishes today, there will be
none left in the land to worship Thee.'
“When ye sought help of
your Lord and He answered you (saying): I will help you with a thousand of the
angels, rank on rank. Allah appointed it only as good tidings, and that your
hearts might thereby be at ease. Victory cometh only by the help of Allah. Lo!
Allah is Mighty, Wise”. (Qur'an 8. 9-10)
At first the battle
began in single combat when one of Quraysh swore that he would drink from the
Muslims' reservoir and then destroy it, or die in the attempt. Hamzah, the
Prophet's uncle, came forward to face him and killed him. Three of the most
important men of Quraysh then stepped forward and gave out a challenge for
single combat. The Prophet (pbuh) sent out 'Ali, Hamzah, and „Ubaydah ibn
al-Harith, to face them. It was not long before Hamzah and „Ali had killed
their opponents.
As for 'Ubaydah, he had
wounded his enemy but was wounded himself, and so his two companions killed the
wounded Meccan and carried 'Ubaydah back to the safety of the Muslim ranks.
After this, the two armies attacked each other and fighting broke out all around.
The sky was filled with arrows. The Muslim army held its ground against the
great army of Quraysh and even though the Muslims were much fewer in number,
they gained a great victory, destroying the Meccan army and killing most of its
leaders. Among the leading Meccans who died were Abu Jahl and Umayyah ibn
Khalaf, who was killed by his former slave, Bilal. Seeing that their leaders
were nearly all dead, the remainder of Quraysh retreated. The Prophet (pbuh)
sent word to Medinahto tell them
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of the victory. He then gathered up the
spoils of war and divided them equally among the Muslims. Some of the Meccans
had been taken prisoner and the Prophet (pbuh) gave orders that they should be
treated well until their relatives from among Quraysh came to fetch them.
“Ye (Muslims) did not
slay them, but Allah slew them and thou (Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst
throw, but Allah threw, so that He might test the believers by a fair test from
Him. Lo! Allah is All-hearing, All-Knowing”. (Qur'an 8.17)
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Uhud-Defeat Comes From Disobedience
When the survivors of
the defeated Quraysh at Badr to Mecca gathered to
speak with Abu Sufyan. They said, 'Muhammad has best men, so help us to fight
him so that we may avenge those we have lost.' In order to do this it was
agreed that everyone who had had a share in the caravan should put his profits
towards the cost of a new army, which would be three times as big as the one at
Badr. Among those who joined the new army was an Abyssinian slave called
Wahshi; who was known for his accuracy with the spear. His master, Jubayr ibn
al-Mut‟im, said to him, 'Go with the army and if you kill Hamzah, the uncle of
Muhammad, in revenge for my uncle's death, I will set you free when Hind, Abu
Sufyan's wife, heard about this she sent a Wahshi to say that she would clothe
him in gold and silk if he would carry out his master's wish, for she, too,
wanted Hamzah dead because he had both her father and brother.
While the Meccans made
their plans, the Prophet's uncle, „Abbas, one the few Muslims still living in
Mecca, sent a letter of warning to the Prophet (pbuh) in Medina. He told him
that Quraysh were setting out with a huge arm for Uhud, a place just outside
Medina. On receiving this timely warning the Prophet (pbuh) gathered his
companions around him to discuss what they should do. He thought it would be
better to wait for the enemy inside city rather than go out to meet them,
because it would be easier to defend Medinahfrom inside the city walls. But the
young Muslims were go out and face Quraysh. They said, '0 Prophet of Allah,
lead us out against our enemies, or else they will think we are too cowardly
and too weak to fight them.' One of the rulers of Medina, „Abd
Allah ibn Ubayy, however, agreed with
the Prophet (pbuh) and advised him to remain in the city, saying, 'Whenever we
have gone out to fight an enemy we have met with disaster, but none has ever
come in against us without being defeated.'
But when the Prophet
(pbuh) saw that the majority were in favor of going out to meet Quraysh, he
decided to do so, and after the Friday prayer he put on his armor.
The Muslims then set out with one
thousand men in the direction of Mount Uhud which overlooks Medina. The enemy
was camped on the plain below the mountain where they were laying waste the
crops of the Muslims.'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy was angry that the Prophet (pbuh) had
not followed his advice and after going part of the way, turned back for
Medina, taking one third of the entire army with him. This left the
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Prophet (pbuh) with only seven hundred
men to meet the enormous Meccan army, which numbered three thousand.
The remainder of the
Mus1ims went on until they reached the mountain of Uhud. There the Prophet
(pbuh) ordered them to stand in ranks in front of the mountain, so that they
would be protected from behind. He then positioned fifty archers on top of the
mountain, giving them the following order: 'Keep the Meccan cavalry away from
us with your arrows and don't let them come against us from the rear, whether
the battle goes in our favor or against us. Whatever happens keep to your
places so that we cannot be attacked from your direction, even if you see us
being slain or booty being taken.' When the Muslims were in position, the
Prophet (pbuh) held up his sword and said, 'Who will use this sword with its
right?' This was a great honor and many men rose to claim it, but the Prophet
(pbuh) decided to give it to Abu Dujanah, a fearless warrior. Then the battle
commenced. The Muslims were well organized and had the advantage, because
although Quraysh had more than four times as many men, they were tired from
their journey and thus not ready to fight. As a result, the Muslims were able
to make a surprise attack, led by Abu Dujanah, who was wearing a brilliant red
turban. As the fighting increased the Quraysh women, led by Hind, began to beat
their drums to urge their men on. They called out poems to encourage their men
to be brave. 'If you advance, we hug you, spread soft rugs beneath you; if you
retreat, we leave you. Leave and no more love you.'
Abu Dujanah said: 'I saw someone urging
the enemy on, shouting wildly, and I made for him, but when I lifted my sword
against him he screamed and I saw that it was a woman; I respected the
Apostle's sword too much to use it on a woman.' That woman was Hind. As usual,
Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle, fought with great courage, but while leading the
Muslims in a fierce attack, which nearly defeated the Meccans, he was suddenly
and cruelly struck down by the slave Wahshi. Later, Wahshi told how it
happened: 'I was watching Hamzah while he was killing men with his sword. I...
aimed my spear until I was sure it would the mark and hurled it at him. He came
on towards me but collapsed and fell. I left him there until he died, then I
came and took back my spear. Then I went back to the camp because I did not
want to kill anyone but him. My only aim in killing him was to gain my
freedom.'
The Quraysh warriors
were soon scattered and forced to retreat. It looked as though they had been
defeated! Seeing this, forty of the fifty Muslims archers on top of the
mountain ran down from their position to collect booty, for the Quraysh army
had left many of their belongings behind. The archers rushed to take what they
could, forgetting the
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Prophet's orders. Khalid Ibn al-Walid,
Commander of the Quraysh cavalry, saw what' happening and quickly turned his
men around and ordered them to attack the Muslims from behind. The Muslims were
taken completely by surprise. The Quraysh then began attacking from both sides
at once. Many Muslims were killed and instead of winning they began to lose the
battle.
To add to the confusion,
it was rumored that the Prophet (pbuh) had killed. When the Muslims heard this
they were at a loss to know what to do. Then a man named Anas called out,
'Brothers! If Muhammad (pbuh) has been killed what will your lives be worth
without him? Don't think about living or dying. Fight for Allah. Get up and die
the way
Muhammad (pbuh) died!‟ and on hearing
these words the Muslims took courage.
There had been several
cavalry attacks on the position held by the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions
and the Prophet's cheek had been badly gashed. As the Meccans closed in again
he called out, 'Who will sell his life for us?' At this, five Ansar got up and
fought until they were killed, one by one.
Their places were soon
taken, however, by a number of Muslims who drove off the attackers. Amongst the
defending Muslims was Abu Dujanah who put his arms around the Prophet (pbuh)
and made himself into a human shield. Throughout the remainder of the battle he
held on to the Prophet (pbuh), but as the fighting drew to a close he suddenly
let go. Abu Dujanah was dead, killed by the many arrows in his back that had
been aimed at the Prophet (pbuh). With the defeat of the Muslims, Quraysh were
at last avenged. As they left the field of battle Abu Sufyan called out to his
men, 'You have done well; victory in war goes by turns-today in exchange for
Badr!' When he heard this, the Prophet (pbuh) told
„Umar to answer him, saying, 'Allah is
Most High and Most Glorious. We are not equal. Our dead are in Paradise and
your dead are in Hell!' The Muslim soldiers then followed the departing Quraysh
part of the way to make sure they were not going to attack Medinah.
After the enemy had
left, the Prophet (pbuh) made his way around the Battle-field to see the extent
of the Muslim losses. Many of the most faithful Muslims had been killed. Among
the dead, the Prophet (pbuh) found the body of his closest friend and uncle,
Hamzah, who had been killed by the slave, Wahshi. At the sight of this, the
Prophet (pbuh) said, 'There will never be a moment as sad for me as this.'
Hamzah's sister, Safiyya, came to pray and ask forgiveness for her brother,
saying 'We belong to Allah and to Allah we are returning.' After the Prophet
(pbuh)
had
prayed over the many dead, he said, 'I tell you that no one has been wounded in
Allah's cause but Allah will remember him and on the Day of Resurrection will
raise him from the dead. Look for the one who has learned most of the Qur'an
and put him in front of his companions in the grave.' They were buried where
they had fallen as martyrs.
Of them Allah says:
“Do not think that those, who
were killed for Allah's sake are dead.
Nay,
they are alive. With their Lord they have provision. Jubilant (are they)
because of that which Allah hath bestowed upon them of His bounty, rejoicing
for the sake of those that have not yet joined them because they have nothing
to fear or grieve over”.(Qur'an 3.169-170)
It is said that the Prophet (pbuh) swore that no
Muslim who had died for his beliefs would want to come back to life for a
single hour, even if he could own the whole world, unless he could return and
fight for Allah and be killed a second time. The Muslims realised that their
defeat had been caused by their disobedience to the Prophet (pbuh). The Qur'an
tells us that the Muslims had been tested by Allah at Uhud and had failed but
that Allah forgave them their weakness.
“Some of you there are that desire this world, and
some of you there are that desire the next world. Then He turned you from them,
that He might try you; and He has forgiven you; and Allah is bounteous to the
believers”. (Qur'an 3.145)
People living nowadays should learn from the lessons
learned by the early Muslims at Uhud. Disobedience to the Prophet (pbuh) and
love for the things of this world caused their defeat. The same can happen to
us as well. Even if we have no battle like Uhud to fight, we can still die for
Allah's sake by fighting what is bad in ourselves. When the Prophet (pbuh) came
back from a battle he said to his men, 'We have returned from the lesser war to
the greater war.' He meant by this that the struggle that goes on within every
human being to become a better person is the more difficult battle.
The Battle
Of The Trench
When
the Prophet (Pbuh) first arrived in Medinah, the Jews who were
living
there had welcomed him. The Prophet (Pbuh) had returned their greeting, as he
wished to be on good terms with them. An agreement was also reached between the
Muslims and the Jews, which gave the Jews the freedom to practice their
religion and which also set out their rights and their duties. Among these
duties was that in the case of war with Quraysh, the Jews would fight on the
side of the Muslims.
Despite this agreement, however, some of the Jewish
tribes, who resented the Prophet's presence in Medinah, soon began to cause
trouble amongst the Muslims. They tried to set the Muslim Emigrants from Mecca
and the Ansar against each other. The troublemakers were given many warnings
but they continued to be a nuisance. In the end, the Muslims had no choice but
to drive them from Medinah. A new agreement was offered those Jews who remained
but the trouble did not end there. One of the Jewish tribes, the Bani Nadir
plotted to murder the Prophet (Pbuh) but their plan was discovered and they,
too, were exiled from the city. Knowing that they could not defeat the Muslims
themselves, some of the leaders of the exiled Jews secretly went to Mecca to
enlist the help of Quraysh. Knowing what the Meccans would like to hear, they
pretended to believe in the same things. They said that they thought that the
old Arab tradition was better than the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)
and that they believed that the Quraysh religion of worshipping many idols was
better than the Prophet's with only one God. Then the Jews told them that if
all the Arab tribes attacked Medinah, the Jews inside the city would help to
defeat the Prophet (Pbuh) and Islam once and for all.
The leaders of Quraysh were pleased to hear all this
and seizing on what seemed to them a very good opportunity, agreed to the plan
and began to gather together a formidable army. In the meantime in Medinah,
only one Jewish tribe, the Bani Quraydhah, refused to betray the Muslims.
Eventually the Muslims learned of the preparations
being made for war in Mecca and of the plotting of the Jews within
Medinahitself. The betrayal of the Muslims by the Jews did not surprise the
Prophet (Pbuh), who said of them: 'The hearts of the Jews have become closed to
the truth. They have forgotten what Muses taught them long ago that there is
only one God.'
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“The likeness of those
who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness
of the ass carrying books. Evil is the likeness of the people who deny the
revelations of Allah. And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk”. (Qur'an 62.5)
The Muslims wondered how
they could defend Medinah. They heard that Abu Sufyan was coming to attack them
with an enormous army which included many other Arab tribes, as well as
Quraysh. What were they to do with only a single week to prepare? The Prophet
(Pbuh) and his men knew that it would be impossible for them to fight off all
these tribes! The only thing they could do was to stay inside the city and try
to defend it as best they could. Now among the people of Medinah was a Persian
named Salman, who had to live in the city some time before the Prophet's
arrival there. As a convert to Christianity he had traveled to Medinah after
Christian sages had told him that a Prophet would be born in Arabia. On
arriving in he was, however, sold into slavery by the merchants with whom he
had traveled. Later he became a Muslim, gained his freedom and became a member
of the Prophet's household.
When the people gathered
to discuss a plan of action against the approaching enemy, Salman was present
and it was he who suggested that they should dig a trench around the city. The
Prophet (Pbuh) thought this a good idea, so the Muslims set to work, although
it was in the middle of winter. They worked day and night, digging the trench
as quickly as possible. The Prophet (Pbuh) himself carried rocks and when the
men were tired he gave them the will to carry on. Someone later recalled how
beautiful he looked, dressed in a red cloak with dust upon his breast and his
dark hair nearly reaching his shoulders. There was little food at this time and
the men were often hungry as they worked.
On one occasion,
however, a little girl gave some dates to the Prophet (Pbuh), which he spread
out on a cloth. The men were then called to eat and the dates kept increasing
in number until everyone had been fed. Even after everyone had eaten their
fill, the dates continued to increase so that there were more than the cloth
could hold. Similarly, there is the story of the lamb, that has come down to us
from one who was there: 'We worked with the Apostle at the trench. I had a
half-grown lamb and I thought it would be a good thing to cook it for Allah's
Messenger. I told my wife to grind barley and make some bread for us. I killed
the lamb and we roasted it for the Prophet (Pbuh). When night fell and he was
about to leave the trench, I told him we had prepared bread and meat and
invited him to our home. I wanted him to come on his own, but when I said this
he sent someone to call all the men to come along. Everyone arrived and the
food was served. He blessed it and invoked the Name of
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Allah over it. Then he ate and so did
all of the others. As soon as one lot were satisfied, another group came until
all the diggers had eaten enough, but still there was food to spare.
On March 24, 627 A.D,
Abu Sufyan arrived with more than ten thousand men. The Muslims numbered only
three thousand. Quraysh and their allies surrounded Medinah but between the two
armies was the long, wide trench.
The Prophet (pbuh) and
his men stayed behind this trench for nearly a month defending the city against
their more powerful enemy. Many times warriors tried to cross the trench and
enter the city, but each time they were pushed back by the Muslims. The Muslims
were afraid that if any did manage to cross over, the Jews inside Medinah would
join forces with them and the Muslims would be beaten. The Jewish tribe of Bani
Quraydhah, who had stood by the, agreement with the Muslims, were pressed by a
Jewish emissary from the enemy without, to break their promise. Eventually they
agreed to do so and when the news of this reached the Prophet (pbuh) and his
companions they were greatly troubled. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, the leader of the tribe
of Aws, was sent by the Prophet (pbuh) with two other men to find out if this
were true. When they arrived in the part of Medinah where the Jews lived, they
found were even worse than they had previously thought.
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, whose
tribe was closely allied with the Bani Quraydhah, tried to persuade their
leader not to break the treaty with the Muslims, but he refused to listen. This
meant that the Muslims could not relax their guard for one moment, for they
were now threatened not only by the enemy beyond the trench, but by the Bani Qurayzah,
within the walls of the city.
Things became more
difficult for the Muslims day by day. It was extremely cold and food began to
run out. To make matters worse, the Bani Qurayzah began openly and actively to
join forces with the other Jews and cut off all supplies to the Muslims,
including food. The enemies of Islam then planned how to capture Medinah.
The situation looked
desperate and the Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah to Allah to help the Muslims
defeat their enemies. That very night a sandstorm blew up which buried the
tents of Quraysh. The storm continued for three days and three nights making it
impossible for the enemy to light a fire to cook a meal or warm themselves by.
On one of these dark nights the Prophet (pbuh) asked
one of his men, Hudhayfah Ibn al-Yaman, to go on a dangerous mission. The
Prophet (pbuh) told him to make his way across the trench to the enemy camp
where he should find out what they were doing. With much difficulty Hudhayfah
crossed the trench and made his way to a circle of Quraysh warriors talking in
the darkness. He sat near them, but as there was no fire, no one noticed him.
He then heard Abu Sufyan's voice: 'Let us go home!' he said. 'We have had
enough. The horses and camels are dying, the tents keep blowing away, most of
the equipment has been lost, and we can not cook our food. There is no reason
to stay!'
Shortly after hearing this Hudhayfah made his way
quickly and quietly back across the trench and the next morning the Muslims rejoiced
to find that what he had overheard had come true-Quraysh and their allies had
gone away! The siege of Medinah had ended in a great victory for Islam. But
this was not to be the end of the difficulties, for the Archangel Gabriel the
Prophet (pbuh) and told him that he should punish the Bani Qurayzah for
betraying him and the Muslims.
On hearing this, the Prophet (pbuh) ordered the
Muslims to march against the Bani Qurayzah as they hid in their fortress. The
Muslims besieged them for twenty-five days until they finally gave in. On
surrendering, they asked the Prophet (pbuh) to let someone judge their case,
and he agreed. He also allowed them to choose who would give the ruling. The
man chosen to judge the Bani Qurayzah was Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, leader of the Aws, a
tribe which had always protected the Qurayzah in the past. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh who
had himself been wounded in the battle, decided that the Jews should be tried
by their own Holy Law, according to which anyone who broke a treaty would be
put to death. As a result all the men of the Bani Qurayzah were executed and
the women and children made captive. If the Jews had succeeded in their pact,
Islam would have been destroyed. Instead from that day on, Medinah became a
city where only Muslims lived.
Very soon after peace had been restored to Medinah,
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh died of his wounds. It was said that the Archangel Gabriel came
in the middle of that night and said to the Prophet (pbuh) '0 Muhammad, who is
this dead man? When he arrived, the doors of heaven opened and the Throne of
Allah shook.' The Prophet (pbuh) got up as soon as he heard this, but found
that Sa'd was already dead. Although he had been a heavy man, the men who
carried his body to the grave found it quite light. They
were
told that the angels were helping them. When he was buried, the Prophet (pbuh)
said three times 'Subhan Allah!' (Glory be to Allah!), and 'Allahu Akbar!'
(Allah is Most Great!). When asked why he did this, he replied, 'The grave was
tight for this good man, until Allah eased it for him.' This is one of the
rewards that Allah gives to martyrs and good Muslims.
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The Treaty Of Hudaybiyah
Ouraysh had tried to
destroy Islam but had failed. The number of Muslims
grew and their armies increased from three hundred at the battle of Badr, seven
hundred at the battle of "Uhud, to three thousand at the battle of the Trench.
After the annual fast of Ramadan, the Prophet (pbuh) had a dream, which
indicated that the Muslims should go to Mecca for the pilgrimage. One thousand
and four hundred Muslims got ready to go with him on the Lesser Pilgrimage
called 'the `Umra'. They dressed in white and went unarmed to show Quraysh that
they had come to make the pilgrimage and not to fight. When Quraysh heard that
the Prophet (pbuh) was on his way, they sent troops with Khalid Ibn al-Walid to
stop the Muslims from entering the city. To avoid meeting this small army the
Prophet (pbuh) changed his route and led the men through rugged mountain
passes. When they reached easier ground he told them, 'Say, we ask Allah's
forgiveness and we repent towards Him 'At Hudaybiyah, south of Mecca, the
Prophet's camel knelt down and refused to go any further. The Muslims thought
she was either stubborn or tired, but the Prophet (pbuh) said: 'The same power
that once stopped the elephant from entering Mecca is now stopping us!' He then
ordered them to make camp, which they did, although they all hoped they would
travel on to the sacred Ka'bah the following day.
On setting up camp, the
believers were dismayed to find that the springs were almost dry. When he heard
this the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) instructed a man called Najiyah to take the
bowl of water in which he had performed his ablutions, pour it into the hollows
where the small amount of spring water lay, and stir it with his arrows.
Najiyah did as he was told and the fresh water gushed up so suddenly that he
was hardly able to get out of the way in time.
Messengers were sent to
Quraysh to tell them that the Muslims had come only for the pilgrimage, to
worship Allah at the Holy Ka'bah, and that they wanted to enter the city
peacefully. But Quraysh took no notice. Finally, the Prophet's son-in-law,
'Uthman Ibn Affan, a wise and respected man, was chosen to go, and the Muslims
settled down to wait and see what news he would bring back. After they had
waited a long time, the Muslims became very worried. At last they decided that
he must have been killed. A state similar to that of Revelation then came upon
the Prophet (pbuh). He gathered the Muslims around him under an acacia tree and
asked them to swear their allegiance to him, which they did. This pact, which
is mentioned in the Qur'an, became known as the Treaty of Radwan (which means
Paradise). Shortly after, `Uthman Ibn Affan
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returned and the Muslims were relieved
to see that no harm had come to him. Some Meccan warriors tried to attack the
Muslim camp but were captured and brought before the Prophet (pbuh), who
forgave them when they promise to stop attacking the Muslims. Soon after this,
official messengers came from Quraysh and talks began for a peaceful
settlement. A man called Suhayl ibn 'Amr was sent by the Meccans to work out a
treaty. When the Prophet (pbuh) asked 'Ali to write 'In the Name of Allah, the
Most Gracious, the Most Merciful', on the top of the page, Suhayl objected,
saying 'Write only: bismik Allahumma (in Thy name, 0 Allah). I don't know him
as al-Rahman (the Most Gracious), al-Rahim (the most Merciful).' The Prophet
(pbuh) agreed and dictated: 'This is a treaty between Muhammad the Messenger of
Allah and Suhayl ibn 'Amr.''Stop!' cried Suhayl, 'I don't believe that you are
Rasulallah (the Messenger of Allah). If I thought you were Allah's Messenger, I
wouldn't be fighting against you, would I?' Calmly, the Prophet (pbuh) agreed
that he should be referred to in the treaty as Muhammad', son of 'Abd Allah.
The Muslims were very upset at this, and 'Umar furiously cried out, 'Are you
not Allah's Messenger, and are we not Muslims? How can we accept such treatment
when we are right and they are wrong? This will make people laugh at our
religion!' But the Prophet (pbuh) knew what was best and the Treaty of
Hudaybiyah was signed.
In this treaty the two
sides agreed to stop fighting for a period often years. It was also agreed that
the Muslims should go back to Medinah immediately but that they could return
the following year for the pilgrimage. This pilgrimage would last three days.
In addition, the treaty allowed Muslims wishing to leave Islam and return to
Mecca to do so.
It also permitted
Meccans to leave and become Muslims provided they had the permission of their
guardians. The Muslims agreed to send any Meccan who did not have their
guardian's permission back to Mecca.
Suhayl's son had come
with his father with the idea of joining the Prophet (pbuh) but when the treaty
was signed he was, of course, forced to return to Mecca. He cried bitterly. The
Prophet (pbuh) said, '0 Abu Jandal, be patient and control yourself. Allah will
provide relief and find a way out for you and others like you.'
The majority of the
Muslims were very disappointed when they heard the terms of the agreement and
thought that it should not have been accepted. They did not realize that this
was in fact a great victory for the Prophet (pbuh), which Allah would later
confirm in a Revelation. The agreement made sure that the following year they
would enter Mecca peacefully, and in time would result in Muslims becoming
stronger and
more
respected throughout Arabia. At the time the treaty was signed the Muslims
could not have foreseen that the number of people who would travel to Medinah
to become Muslims in following year would be greater than in all the years
before. Before the Muslims departed, they followed the Prophet's example of
making sacrifice and either shaving or cutting their hair. Even though they
were unable to visit the sacred mosque, their pilgrimage was accepted by Allah
because it had been their true intention.
On the return journey to Medinah, the 'Victory'
chapter of the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh). It begins:
In the Name of
Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“Surely We have given
thee (0 Muhammad) a clear victory, That
Allah
may forgive thee of thy sin That which is past and that which is to come, And
may complete His blessings upon thee, And may guide thee on the right path, And
that Allah may help thee with mighty help”. (Qur'an 48.1-3)
Now most of those who left Mecca to join the Prophet
(pbuh) without the consent of their guardians and were turned back by him as
agreed, Did not in fact return to Mecca, but lived instead in groups along the
seashore. Then they were joined by others who had left Mecca but these groups
began to endanger Quraysh caravans which were passing by and disrupted their
trade because of this, Quraysh told the Prophet (pbuh) that if he wanted to
take these new Muslims, they would not ask for them to be returned. The young
men, therefore, joined the Prophet (pbuh) and the people in Mecca and Medinah
grew more at ease with one another. The young men from the seashore were
shortly followed by those Muslims who were still living in Abyssinia, and soon
the numbers of believers in Medinah had doubled.
About this time, Khalid Ibn al-Walid, the great
warrior who had defeated the Muslims at Uhud, set out from Mecca for Medinah.
Along the way he met 'Amr Ibn al-'As, the clever speaker who had pursued the
Muslims when they fled to Abyssinia. 'Amr, who had attempted to find asylum in
Abyssinia, had just returned from that country, the Negus having urged him to
enter Islam. He asked Khalid, 'Where are you going?' Khalid replied, 'The way
has become clear. The man is certainly a Prophet, and by Allah, I am going to
become a Muslim. How much longer should I delay?' 'Amr Ibn al-As answered, 'I
am travelling for the same reason. So they both traveled on to Medinah to join
the Prophet(pbuh). The two men were, however, worried about meeting the Prophet
(pbuh) because of having fought against the Muslims in the past.
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Therefore, 'Amr came
before Allah's Messenger he said, 'O Prophet, will my past faults be forgiven
and no mention made of what has gone before?' The Prophet (pbuh) replied, 'Amr,
Islam wipes away everything that happened before, as does the hijrah.'
A year after the signing
of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Prophet (pbuh) was able to lead two thousand
pilgrims on the 'Umra. Quraysh vacated Mecca and watched the rites from the
hills above the city. The agreed period of three days was observed, after which
the Muslims returned to Medinah.
The
Invitation
The
peace which the Treaty of Hudaybiyah guaranteed for ten years
meant
people could travel from all over Arabia to visit the Prophet (pbuh) and a
great many came to declare their Islam. Also, during this period the Prophet
(pbuh) decided that the time had come for his message to be taken to other
countries, so he sent trusted companions with letters, telling of his message,
to the leaders of the most powerful nations of the day. It is recorded that he
said, Allah has sent me as a mercy to all men, so take the message from me that
Allah has mercy on you.‟ It is also recorded that some time before, when the
Prophet (pbuh) was digging before the Battle of the Trench, three flashes of
lightning had blared forth from a rock he had been striving to remove. These
flashes had shown him the fortresses of the civilizations to the South, East,
and West which were soon to come into Islam.
Now at the time the Prophet (pbuh) sent out his
message. Abu Sufyan and some other members of Quraysh were trading in Syria, a
province of the Eastern Roman Empire (later to be called Byzantium). Also, at
about this time the Emperor Heraclius, ruler of this Empire, had a dream, and
sadly told visitors to his court in Syria: „I saw our Empire fall and victory
go to a people who do not follow our religion.' At first he thought this must
refer to the Jews and he even had it in mind to kill all the Jews living under
his rule fit then an envoy from the governor of Basra arrived with a message
for the Emperor: 0 Emperor Heraclius. there are some Arabs in the city who are
speaking of wonderful happenings in their country', and he then told of what he
had heard about the Prophet (pbuh).
On hearing this Heraclius commanded his soldiers: Go
and find me someone who can tell me more about this.' The soldiers, however,
did not find those who had been talking about the Prophet (pbuh), but instead
found Abu Sufyan and some of his companions and brought them before the
Emperor.
Heraclius asked, 'Is there anyone among you who is a
close relative of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?' Abu Sufyan replied, „I am.‟ So
the
Emperor
addressed all the questions to him, thinking he would know the Prophet (pbuh)
best. He said, 'Tell me what is the Prophet's position in your tribe" Abu
Sufyan said, 'he is a member of our most respected family. Did anyone before
him say the kinds of things he says?' the
Emperor
went on. „No.‟ was the reply.' And was he ever accused of lying or cheating?'
„Never.‟ And then the Emperor asked: „And what about his ideas and opinions,
and his powers of reasoning?‟ „No one has ever had
cause
to doubt him or find fault with his reasoning‟, replied Abu Sufyan. „Who
follows him, the proud or the humble?‟ „The humble.‟ „Do his followers increase
or decrease?‟ „They increase‟, said Abu Sufyan, „none of his followers leave
him.‟ The Emperor then turned to other matters and asked: „If he makes a
treaty, does he keep it?‟ „Yes‟, Abu Sufyan replied. „Did you ever fight
against him?‟ inquired the Emperor. To which Abu Sufyan answered: „Yes.
Sometimes we won, sometimes he won, but he never broke his word in any
agreement.‟ The emperor then asked: „What does he say people must do?‟ „To
worship one God‟, said Abu Sufyan. „He forbids people to worship as their
fathers worshipped, and says they must pray to Allah alone, give elms, keep
their word, and fulfil their duties and responsibilities.‟ Abu Sufyan had
spoken the truth even though he was an enemy of the prophet (pbuh), and did not
become a Muslim until the very end of his life. But he was afraid to lie before
the members of his caravan who were also there with him. The meeting ended with
these words from the Emperor: „I see from this that he is indeed a prophet. You
said that his followers don not leave him which proves they have true faith,
for faith does not enter the heart and then go away. I knew he was coming and
if what you say is true, he will surely conquer me. If I were with him now, I
would wash his feet. You may leave now.‟
It was not long after this that
the messenger, Dihyah, arrived at the
Syrian
court bearing the Prophet Mohammed‟s letter which said, „If you accept Islam
you will be safe and Allah will give you a double reward. If you do not, you
will have to live with results of your decision.‟ Heraclius grabbed the letter.
He was so upset he could hardly control himself. He said to Dihyah, „I know
your master is a true prophet of Allah. Our books tell of his coming.
If I were not afraid that the Romans would kill me,
I would join Islam. You must visit Bishop Daghatir and tell him every thing.
His word is more respected among the people than mine.‟ So Dihyah related the
message to the Bishop and when he heard it, Daghatir said, „Yes, your master
whom we call Ahmed is mentioned in our scriptures.‟ He then changed from his
black ropes into white ones and went and spoke to the people gathered in the
church. ‟O Romans, a letter has come to us from Ahmed, in which he calls us to
Allah. I bear witness that there is no
Divinity
but Allah and that Ahmed is his slave and messenger.‟ (Ahmed is another name
for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).) But on hearing this the crowd grew angry and
attacked Daghatir, beating him until he was dead.
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Heraclius was afraid
that the same thing would happen to him, so he spoke to his generals from a
balcony saying, „O Romans! A man has written to me calling me to his religion I
believe he is truly the prophet we have been told to expect. Let us follow him
so that we can be happy in this world and the next.‟ The Romans cried out in
anger when they heard this, so Heraclius quickly said, „I was only pretending;
I wanted to see how strong your faith was. I am pleased to see that you are
true to your religion.‟ Heraclius then suggested that they attack or give land
to the
Muslims in order to maintain peace, but
the Romans refused. Realizing that he could do no more, and knowing that one
day Islam would conquer Syria, Heraclius left the province and returned to
Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Roman Empire.
As he rode away he
turned around to look back and said, „Goodbye for the last time, O land of
Syria!‟ Meanwhile, another of the Prophet‟s messengers arrived at the palace of
Chosroes, the Shah (or king) of
Persia, where he was told by the royal
guard: „When you see the Shah, you must bow and not lift your head until he
speaks to you.‟ To this the Prophet‟s messenger replied, `I will never do that.
I bow only to Allah.‟ „Then the Shah will not accept the letter you bring‟,
they said. And when the time came for the messenger to see him, the Shah was
indeed very surprised to see the man holding his head high and refusing to
kneel respectfully before him like everyone else. Nonetheless, the Shah still
read out the letter:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Most Merciful
“From Muhammad,
Messenger of Allah to Chosroes, Shah of Persia.
Peace be upon those who follow the
truth, who believe in Allah and His Prophet and who testify that there is no
divinity but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger. I ask you in the Name of
Allah, because I am His Messenger, to warn your people that if they do not
accept His Message, they must live with the consequences. Become Muslim and you
will be safe. If you refuse to tell them you will be to blame for the ignorance
of your subjects”.
The Shah was furious
when he read this and tore the letter into little pieces. When the messenger
returned to Arabia and told the Prophet (pbuh) what Chosroes had done, the
Prophet (pbuh) said, 'May Allah also tear his kingdom into little pieces.' And
several years later it happened just as the Prophet (pbuh) had said it would.
As with Syria and Persia, a messenger was also sent to the Negus (or King) of
Abyssinia, with the following letter:
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“Peace. Praise be to
Allah, the King, the All-Holy, the Peacemaker, the Keeper of Faith, the
Watcher. “He is Allah, there is no divinity but
He, the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One,
the All-peaceable, the Keeper of Faith, the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller,
the All-sublime.
Glorified be Allah from all that they
associate with Him”.(Qur'an 59.23)
And I testify that
Jesus, son of Mary, is the spirit of Allah and His Word which He cast to Mary
the Virgin, the good, the pure, so that she conceived Jesus. Allah created him
from His Spirit and His Breath as He created Adam by His Hand and His Breath. I
call you to Allah, the Unique, without partner, to His obedience, and to follow
me and to believe in that which came to me, for I am the Messenger of Allah.
Peace be upon all those who follow true guidance.
The King of Abyssinia
was a very wise man, and was thought by the world to be a good Christian. He
had, of course, already heard of the Prophet (pbuh) and his religion from the
Muslims who had sought refuge in his country years before. He was deeply moved by
the letter and when he came down from his throne it was not just to show his
respect but also to declare that he was already a Muslim. He answered the
Prophet's letter with one of his own. “To Muhammad the Prophet of Allah from
the
Negus al-Asham, King of Abyssinia.
Assalamu aleikum 0 Prophet of Allah wa rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu.
There is none like Him
who has guided me to Islam. I received your letter, O Messenger of Allah. Some
of your followers, as well as your cousin Ja'far, still live here. I believe
you arc truly the Messenger of God and reaffirm the pledge of allegiance I made
to you some time ago before your cousin Ja‟far, at whose hand I joined Islam
and surrendered to the Lord of the Worlds.
A fourth messenger had,
in the meantime, traveled by boat to Alexandria to meet the Muqawqis, the ruler
of Egypt, who was a Coptic Christian. In his letter, the Prophet (pbuh) invited
the Muqawqis to accept Islam, because Christian who believed in the message of
Jesus should also believe in him, for he had come with the same message from
Allah. It read:
In the name of Allah, the
Beneficent, the Most Merciful,
“From Muhammad, son of 'Abd Allah
to the great Copt.
Peace
he upon whoever follows the Truth. I beseech you to accept Islam. Become a
Muslim. Allah will reward you twice.
If
you refuse, you will carry the blame for not allowing your people to share in this
blessing”. The Muqawqis showed respect for what the letter said. He treated the
messenger well, and sent many presents with him for the Prophet (pbuh), but he
did not become a Muslim. Although only Abyssinia responded to the Prophet's
call to Islam, all was not lost, for a few years later Persia, Syria and Egypt
all became Muslim countries.
Entry Into
Mecca
Despite
the improved relations between Mecca and Medinah after the
signing
of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the ten-year peace was to be broken by Quraysh
who, with their allies, the Bani Bakr, attacked the Khuza‟ah tribe. Now Khuza‟ah
were allies of the Muslims and when the Prophet
(pbuh)heard
of the attack he immediately ordered his men to prepare for war. When they were
ready he told them that their destination was Mecca and, as he did not want any
fighting within the walls of the city, he told them they must move quickly and
take the enemy by surprise. In this way the Meccans would not have time to
prepare for war and, being surrounded would have to surrender. The Muslims
would then be able to take the city without injury or loss of life to anyone.
When the Muslim army, which numbered ten thousand,
set out for Mecca it was the month of Ramadan in the eighth year of the Hijrah.
Many of the men kept the fast, even though they were not obliged to because
they were travelling. Everyone was jubilant because they were going to Mecca,
especially as some of them had not seen their homes in the city for eight long
years. In the meantime, the Prophet's uncle, al-'Abbas, had decided that the
time had come for him and his wife to leave Mecca and join the Prophet (pbuh) in
Medinah. They did not, however, have to go far as after a distance of only
twenty-five kilometers they came across the Muslim camp. When the Prophet
(pbuh) saw them he said, 'Uncle, your emigration is the last emigration. My
prophecy is the last prophecy.' Al-'Abbas then joined the army and his wife
went on to the safety of Medinah.
Night fell and the Muslims made fires to light their
camp. The Meccans, looking out of the city, were amazed to see the many fires,
and Abu Sufyan went all over Mecca trying to find out whose camp it was.
Suddenly he saw al-„Abbas riding towards him from the direction of the fires.
He was returning as a messenger of peace from the Prophet (pbuh) and said to
Abu Sufyan, 'The Muslims have come with a large army.
They do not wish to fight, only to enter the city.
It would be better to surrender and not fight. Come under my protection and
meet the Prophet (pbuh).' Abu Sufyan agreed, and got up behind al-Abbas, who
was riding the Prophet‟s white mule. It was still night as they entered the
Muslim camp. Each time they passed a fire, someone would call out, 'Who goes
there?' None of them recognized the stranger as the leader of their enemy but
all knew al-„Abbas and so let them through. As they passed by 'Umar, however,
he immediately recognized Abu Sufyan and yelled out, 'Abu Sufyan! The enemy of
Allah!' He ran after them intending to kill his
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enemy but al-„Abbas made the mule go
faster. They reached the Prophet's tent just before „Umar who rushed in after
them quite out of breath.
'Umar begged the Prophet (pbuh), '0
Messenger of Allah, let me end the life of Abu Sufyan, this enemy of Islam, who
has led the Quraysh armies in their attacks on us!' Al-„Abbas interrupted,
saying, 'I have sworn to protect him during his time here whereupon the Prophet
(pbuh) told his uncle to take Abu Sufyan to his tent for the night.
In the morning Abu Sufyan was taken to
the Prophet (pbuh) who said, 'Abu Sufyan! Have you not yet realized that there
is no divinity but Allah?' To this Abu Sufyan replied, 'If there had been
another he surely would Have helped me by now.‟ „Shame on you, Abu Sufyan',
responded the Prophet (pbuh), 'it is time you realize that I am truly Allah's
Messenger.' After a moment or two, Abu Sufyan, who remembered how
„Umar had not been allowed to kill him,
replied: 'I can see you are a generous and forgiving man but I still cannot be
sure of that.' At this, al-
„Abbas, who had been standing nearby
turned to him and said: „Believe as I do now.' Abu Sufyan stood quietly for a
moment, then in a calm, clear voice swore in front of everyone, there is no
divinity but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.'
The Prophet (pbuh) then
told Abu Sufyan to go back to Mecca and tell the people that the Muslims would
enter the city the next morning. Before he left, however, al-'Abbas suggested
to the Prophet (pbuh) that as Abu Sufyan was a proud man, it would be good to give
him an honorable position. The Prophet (pbuh) took this advice, saying to Abu
Sufyan, 'Tell the people that when we enter, anyone seeking refuge in your
house will be safe.' This was a great honor for Abu Sufyan.
In addition, the Prophet
(pbuh) told him to assure the Meccans that those who remained in their own
homes or at the Ka‟bah would also be protected.
Abu Sufyan returned
quickly to the city. He made straight for the hill Hagar had climbed in her
search for water and from which the Prophet (pbuh) later spoke, and called upon
Quraysh to come to him. Abu Sufyan then spoke to the people, '0 people of
Mecca, the fires we saw all around us were the camp fires of Muhammad and his
men. He has come with a strong army and there are too many for us to fight. It
is best, therefore, to surrender. Anyone who stays in my house, or in his own
home, or at the Ka'bah will be safe.'
Early next day, the Muslims entered Mecca from all
sides. They had been ordered to cause no harm unless anyone tried to stop them
entering. When the Prophet (pbuh) arrived, he got off his camel, bowed down on
the ground and thanked Allah for this victory. When the unbelievers saw this,
they knew that the Prophet (pbuh) had come in peace. People began leaving their
homes and running towards the Ka‟bah. When they arrived there, they found the
Prophet (pbuh) performing the ritual encircling of the Ka'bah, the tawaf on his
camel, surrounded by the Muslims. When he had finished, he said, 'There no
divinity except Allah and He has no partner. Men and women of Quraysh be not
proud for all are equal; we are all the sons of Adam, and Adam was made of
dust.' Then he recited this verse to them:
“O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female,
and have made you nations and tribes so you may know each another. Surely the
noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is
All-knowing, All-aware”. (Qur'an 49.13)
After this he said to them: 'O Quraysh, what do you
think I am going to do to you?' The people thought carefully before answering
because they knew that according to the laws of war they could all be taken
prisoner. They also knew, however, that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was
generous, so they replied, „You will treat us as a kind nephew and a generous
brother would.'
To this he replied with the words used by the
Prophet Joseph when his brothers came to Egypt: 'God forgives you and He is the
Most Merciful of the merciful.' Later the Prophet (pbuh) went to the hill of
Safa and there the crowd followed him and surged forward, taking his hand one
by one, to declare themselves Muslim. He then turned to the Ka'bah and,
pointing his staff at the three hundred and sixty-five idols which were placed
there, recited from the Qur'an:
“… Truth has come and falsehood has vanished away.
Lo! Falsehood is ever bound to vanish”. (Qur'an 17.81)
At this, each idol fell over onto its face. Together
with his followers the Prophet (pbuh) then proceeded to purify the Ka'bah,
after which he ordered Bilal to climb on top of it and perform the call to
prayer. Since then the call to prayer has been heard five times a day in Mecca.
The Ka'bah, the House of Allah, has served the
purpose for which it was built by Abraham thousands of years ago, as a
sanctuary for the worship of Allah, our Creator, and Mecca continues to be the
spiritual centre of Islam.
On the day Mecca was conquered, the Prophet (pbuh)
addressed the people saying: 'Allah made Mecca holy the day He created heaven
and earth and it is the Holy of Holies until the Resurrection Day. It is not
lawful for anyone who believes in Allah and the Last Day to shed blood therein,
nor to cut down trees therein. It was not lawful for anyone before me and it
will not be lawful for anyone after me.
Indeed it is not lawful for me except at
this time, only Allah's anger against his people makes it permissible. Mecca
has now regained its former holiness. Let those here now go forth and tell
others.'
The Lesson
Of Pride At The Valley Of Hunayn
Islam
flourished in Mecca and the Muslims became stronger and
stronger.
But south of Mecca lived a tribe of warriors called Hawazin, who had not become
Muslim. They made an agreement with another tribe from Ta'if, called Thaqif to
fight the Muslims and destroy them before they could spread their religion
throughout Arabia. The Thaqif, who were known for their courage, soon won the
support of other tribes living around the Ta'if area, especially when such
tribes were told: „Look what has happened! If Quraysh, the largest tribe of
all, have fallen to Muhammad, it is only a matter of time before the same will
happen to the rest of us. We should strike now before the Muslims are
established in Mecca and have the support of Quraysh.' The Chief of one of
these tribes, a fearless warrior called Malik Ibn „Awf, was chosen as the
leader. He put forward a plan: 'You should all go out to battle accompanied by
your families, your tents, your sheep and goats, for with all your belongings
at stake, none of you will dare give up the fight.'
Everyone agreed with Malik except an old, blind man
called Dorayd. He had been a great warrior in his day and because of his
experience and valuable advice still accompanied the men into battle. 'I don't
like Malik's plan', he insisted. 'If a man is so cowardly as to leave a battle,
then he will leave his family as well. The women and children will be a great
worry to us and if we are defeated all our wealth will fall into enemy hands.'
But Malik ignored this advice and stuck to his original plan. When the Prophet
(pbuh) heard what the enemy tribes were planning, he found himself forced to
fight and ordered his army towards Ta‟if. He had twelve thousand men and the
enemy only four thousand. The Muslims were proud of their strength and as they
looked around at their number, said to themselves, 'We will never be defeated!'
On hearing this the Prophet (pbuh) knew that the Muslims had become too proud
and because of this would not succeed.
He warned them, 'Look to
Allah and not to your own strength.‟
The time for battle came. The Muslim army advanced
along the Hunayn path, a narrow way in the rugged mountains, towards the valley
where the Hawazin and the other tribes were waiting. It was very early morning
and not yet light. The Muslims were unaware that, under cover of darkness, the
Hawazin warriors had already climbed up the mountain and were waiting for them.
As soon as all the Muslims were trapped in the narrow passage-way below, the
Hawazin ambushed them. First they threw rocks down upon them and then attacked
with arrows and swords.
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In surprise and fear,
the Muslims started to retreat. The Prophet (pbuh) was bitterly disappointed to
see them fleeing in terror but he stayed firmly in his place with Abu Bakr,
'Ali, his uncle al-„Abbas, and a few companions at his side. Al-'Abbas then called
to the Muslims to return and not to abandon the Prophet (pbuh). Ashamed at what
they had done, and seeing the Prophet (pbuh) facing the enemy almost alone, the
Muslims quickly returned to fight. Then Allah sent His angels-the hosts ye
cannot see-to their aid. A fierce battle followed. The Muslim warriors
advanced, attacking furiously, driving the Hawazin back from the path into the
valley, where the fighting went on long and hard. At the end of the day the
Muslims won but not before having learned a hard lesson about the danger of
pride.
Just as the old man had
predicted, the defeated enemy fled, leaving their families and possessions to
be captured. Later all the leaders of the tribes except one came to ask for
them back and to declare their acceptance of Islam. The Prophet (pbuh) forgave
them and returned their families to them, but not their belongings. The one
exception was the leader of Hawazin. He fled to Ta'if, where he sought
protection in the castle, but the Muslims pursued him and surrounded the city,
which they besieged for about three weeks.
They tried to break into
the castle but after losing many men in the attempt the Prophet (pbuh) ordered
a withdrawal. The story did not end there, however, for shortly afterwards
Hawazin and most of the other tribes came to Mecca and declared themselves Muslim,
including Malik Ibn Awf, who had led them in battle and whom the Prophet (pbuh)
now made their leader.
After the battle of the
Hunayn Valley, the Prophet (pbuh) distributed what goods had been taken between
the people of Quraysh and the other Bedouin tribes. The Ansar from Medinah, who
had been his only support during the long hard years before the conquest of
Mecca, received nothing. They felt angry about this and went to the Prophet
(pbuh) to complain. He said to them, what is this I hear of you? Do you think
badly of me? Did I not come to you when you did not know the truth and Allah
guided you; when you were poor and Allah made you rich; when you were enemies
and Allah softened your hearts? Are you covetous for the things of this world
that I must use to gain people's trust so that I can then lead them to Islam?
Surely for you Islam is enough? Are you not satisfied that while some men take
away flocks and herds you take Allah's Messenger back with you to Medinah?' On
hearing this, all the men felt very contrite and began to weep then with great
humility and reverence their spokesman said: 'We are indeed well pleased to
have Allah's
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Messenger as our gift in this life.‟
Perhaps we could ask ourselves the same question. Are we not blessed to have
the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the Book, guiding us in what really matters for
ever and ever? Is this not so much more important than thinking about the
momentary pleasures of the day?
Shortly after this the
Ansar left for Medinah accompanied by the Prophet (pbuh). He could have stayed
among his own people and lived out his days in Mecca, but he returned as he had
promised, to live among the people of Medinah, which was a great blessing for
them.
“Allah gave you victory
on many fields and on the day of Hunayn, when you exulted in your great numbers
it was of no help to you, and the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for you;
then you turned back in flight; Then Allah sent His peace of reassurance down
upon is Messenger and upon the believers, and sent down hosts you could not
see, and punished those who did not believe. Such is the reward of
disbelievers. Then afterwards Allah will relent toward whom He will; for Allah
is Forgiving, Merciful”. (Qur'an 9.25-27)
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Tabuk-The Test Of Faith
News of the
growing power of the Muslims, as more and more of Arabia followed the
Prophet (pbuh), eventually reached Heraclius, Emperor of the Eastern Roman
Empire. The Romans saw the uniting of the Arabs in Islam as a possible threat
to their Empire and the Emperor's advisors and generals, therefore, decided
that the best thing to do would be to attack the Muslims from the north and
east at the same time and destroy Islam once and for all.
Two years had passed
since Heraclius had told them of the Prophet's letter asking them to submit to
Islam, but just as then, they were in no mood now to listen to such ideas. When
the Prophet (pbuh) heard of the Romans' plans, he decided that it would be
better to meet the Roman army in Tabuk, some 500 kilometers form Medinah on the
route to Syria, than to await an attack on Medinah. One reason for this
decision was that the Prophet (pbuh) felt that if the Muslims were defeated at
Medinah, the city as well as the army would be taken, which would mean the end
of Islam. This was a very hard decision for him to make because not only was
Tabuk a very long way away, but it was also harvest time and a particularly hot
year. Added to this was the fact that the enemy had an enormous army. Now at
this time there were some people living in Medinah who were not true believers.
They were called 'hypocrites' because they pretended to believe but hid what
was truly in their hearts. When the Prophet (pbuh) everyone to war, these
hypocrites tried to create fear and doubt among the Muslims, saying 'How can we
hope to defeat the Romans whose great empire stretches over vast areas of the
world? And even if we could, we will not get the chance because the long
journey and the heat will defeat us first. In any case, our crops and fruits
are ready to be harvested; how can we leave them? We will be ruined if we do!'
All that the hypocrites
said severely tested the Muslims. Who would continue to fight for his religion
against such odds? Who would have the courage to give his wealth to help equip
an army? This test of faith would indeed show who the true Muslims were. On
this question, Allah revealed the following verse:
“O you who believe! What
aileth you that when it is said unto you:
Go forth in the way of Allah, you are
bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Do you take pleasure in the life of
the world rather than in the Hereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is
but little in the
Hereafter”. (Qur'an 9.38)
To form and equip an army the Prophet (pbuh) needed
a great deal of money and despite all that the hypocrites had said, many
Muslims, especially the Prophet‟s close friends, were willing to help. 'Uthman
Ibn „Affan, for instance, generously provided horses and arms for ten thousand
soldiers and Abu Bakr gave all that he had in the world. „Umar, too, gave a
great deal, and in this way the Prophet (pbuh) was able to equip an army of
forty thousand soldiers.
Finally everything was ready but just as they were
about to leave, seven more men came to the Prophet (pbuh) to ask if they could
go with him. Unfortunately, he had to refuse because there were no animals for
them to ride. The seven men were so upset that they wept as they left. With
nothing more to be done, the army moved off, but just then several spare camels
were found. On learning of this, the Prophet (pbuh) sent for the seven men, who
were overjoyed to find that they could join him in his fight.
By now the Romans had heard that the Muslims were
coming out to meet them. They felt even more sure of victory when they heard
this because they believed that it would be quite impossible for an army to
cross a waterless desert in the scorching summer sun. Even if by some miracle
the Muslims succeeded, they would be so exhausted that it would be easy to
defeat them.
As it happed the heat was so intense and the journey
so difficult that several Muslims did turn back. The Prophet (pbuh) and most of
the others, however, continued until they finally ran out of water. The
expedition now seemed hopeless as the men grew thirstier and thirstier. The
Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah for help and, as he finished his prayer, the
first drops of rain came splashing down. The rain continued to fall until all
the Muslims had drunk their fill. That night they slept soundly for the first
time in days, refreshed by the water and confident that Bilal would wake them
as usual for the dawn prayer. But Bilal slept so deeply that he did not wake
up. It was the first time that the Muslims had missed a prayer and they were
very upset. The Prophet (pbuh), however, was not angry with Bilal and told the
Muslims that they need not be upset because they had not intentionally missed
the prayer.
The Prophet (pbuh) and his army continued their trek
across the desert and finally arrived at the oasis of Tabuk. When they got
there, however, they were surprised to find that the Roman army had retreated
in fear on hearing of the miraculous crossing of the desert by the Muslims. The
Prophet (pbuh) waited at the oasis for a while but when it became
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apparent that the Romans were not going
to fight, he gave the order to return home. The enemy was not pursued because
the Prophet (pbuh) only fought when attacked. The long march to Tabuk had been
yet another test of faith for the Muslims. Even so, there were still some among
those who made that heroic journey who were hypocrites, pretending to be
sincere while being enemies of Islam in their hearts. No one could have
suspected that anyone who had made that journey across the desert with the
Prophet (pbuh) would be an enemy of his.
Realizing this, several
hypocrites plotted to kill the Prophet (pbuh) by pushing him off the top of a
high, rocky passage that ran between the mountains of „Aqabah. Before the army
reached this rocky passage, however, Allah warned the Prophet (pbuh) about this
wicked plan. The Prophet (pbuh), therefore, ordered the entire army to travel
through the valley while he and his two guards went by way of the cliff. As the
plotters approached, he shouted to them so that they could see that he knew of
their plan, whereupon they quickly ran back to the army and tried to hide among
the rest of the soldiers.
Later, the Prophet
(pbuh) gathered his followers around him and told them what had happened. He
picked out the men who had plotted against him and even told them the exact
words they had spoken to each other. Some of the Prophet's companions said that
these men should be killed, but the Prophet (pbuh) forgave them. As soon as he
arrived back in Medinah, the Prophet (pbuh) went to the mosque and prayed. Many
of the hypocrites and the lukewarm who had not gone with him to Tabuk came to
give their reasons for not having done so. Three men of spiritual value who had
not joined the army were subjected by the Prophet (pbuh) to the discipline of waiting
for Allah's forgiveness. For fifty days no one spoke to them. Finally, Allah
revealed a verse to the Prophet (pbuh) which declared that these three men were
forgiven:
“Allah hath turned in
mercy to the Prophet, and to the Muhajirin and the Ansar who followed him in
the hour of hardship. After the hearts of a party of them had almost swerved
aside, then He turned unto them in mercy. Lo! He is full of Pity, Merciful. And
to the three also (did He turn in mercy) who were left behind, when the earth,
vast as it is, was straitened for them, and their own souls were straitened for
them till they understood that there is no refuge from Allah save toward Him.
Then He turned unto them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto
Him). Lo! Allah! He is the Relenting, the Merciful. O you who believe!
Be careful of your duty to Allah, and be
with tile truthful”. (Qur'an 9.117-119)
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The Farewell Pilgrimage
The Prophet (pbuh) had
become the most powerful leader in the whole of
Arabia.
After the idols in the Ka'bah had been smashed and Quraysh had become Muslim,
most of the other tribes of Arabia came to declare their Islam. The year in
which they came was later to be called the Year of Deputations. As each tribe
joined Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) sent his men to teach them about
their new religion. Many people also came to Medinah to question the Prophet
(pbuh) himself. One tribe sent a man called Dimam, who was large and strong. On
arriving in Medinah, he went straight to the mosque, where the Messenger of Allah
(pbuh) was sitting with some of his companions, and stood over the Prophet
(pbuh). In a loud, rough voice he asked, 'Which of you is the son of 'Abd
al-Muttalib?' When the Prophet (pbuh) answered him Dimam went on, 'I am going
to ask you a hard question, so do not misunderstand me. I ask you to swear by
Allah, your Allah, the Allah of those before you and the Allah of those who
will come after you, has He sent you to us as a messenger?' 'Yes, He has',
replied the Prophet (pbuh). 'Has Allah instructed you to order us to serve Him;
to pray these five prayers; to pay alms; to fast; to make the pilgrimage and to
follow the other laws of Islam)?' continued Dimam. When the Prophet (pbuh)
answered that Allah had indeed instructed him in this way, Dimam became a Muslim
and, as he left, added, 'Then I will do the things we are told to do and avoid
the things we are forbidden-no more and no less.` As Dimam mounted his camel to
leave, the Prophet(pbuh) told the people around him, 'If this man is sincere,
he will go to Paradise.' When Dimam reached his people they all thought he had
gone mad but by nightfall, after he had finished speaking, there was not among
them that had not accepted Islam.
When the time came for
the yearly pilgrimage, it was proclaimed that the prophet (pbuh) would be going
to Mecca. The Muslims flocked to
Medinah from all over
Arabia to join him on his journey to the Ka‟bah.
As the tribes arrived they camped around
the city until they finally numbered more than thirty thousand.
The Prophet (pbuh) went
out with his family and friends to pilgrimage, but before setting off, he led
all the Muslims in prayer. After the prayers, the Prophet (pbuh) got on his
camel and headed towards Mecca followed by the pilgrims, all of whom, for the first
time in centuries, worshipped Allah, the One God. The Prophet (pbuh) and his
companions were deeply moved by the sight of the huge number of Muslims
accompanying them to Mecca, carrying no arms, and fearing no one. They could
not help but remember their original flight from Mecca when they had been so
few in number and were forced to leave in order
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to avoid the anger of Quraysh.
Throughout the journey the Muslims repeated a prayer taught to them by the
Prophet (pbuh) which he in turn had received from the Archangel Gabriel. This
prayer, the talbiyah, has been part of the Hajj ritual ever since. It is in
answer to the call Abraham was commanded to make when he and Ishmael finished
building the
Ka‟bah.
Labaik Allahumma
labaik, labaik la sharika laka labaik in al-hamd wa al-ni'amatu laka wal-mulk,
la sharika laka. Here
I am, O Allah, at Thy service.
Here I am, Thou art without partner, here I am. All Praise and blessings are
thine, and Dominion! Thou art without partner!
After ten days the
pilgrims marched at sunset through the same pass by which they had entered on
the Day of Conquest of Mecca. When they reached the Ka‟bah, the Prophet (pbuh)
stood before it in prayer, then he and all the Muslims walked around it seven
times saying their prayer aloud. Next, just as Abraham had done, they went
towards the Mount of Mercy at 'Arafah, which the Prophet (pbuh) ascended on a
camel. From the mountain he led the people in prayer and then spoke to them as
they stood assembled on the vast plain below.
What the Prophet (pbuh)
said is known as the „Farewell Sermon‟, because it was the last speech the
Prophet (pbuh) made before he died. He said, 'surely you will meet your Lord
and He will question you about your works.' He asked the Muslims to take their
guidance from the Qur'an and from his own example. This, he said, was the best
way to live. He ordered them to cease living in the way they had before Islam.
Revenge, one of the
oldest traditions in Arabia, was ended forever; usury was prohibited; property
was to be respected. Things which previously were forbidden during the four
sacred months of the year were now forbidden at all times. He then commanded,
'Know that every Muslim is a Muslim's brother', which was a completely new idea
to the tribes who had so often quarreled in the past. He also said, 'Allah has
given everyone his due-exactly what each one deserves. After each point the
Prophet (pbuh) asked, 'Have I explained it well? Is it perfectly clear?'
Everyone answered, 'Yes.' For these were the people who would have to pass on
the Prophet's message and instructions to those who were unable to be present
that day and to future generations. The Prophet (pbuh) said, 'I have left you
two things. If you hold on to them you will be saved. They are Allah's Book and
the words of your Prophet.' He then asked, 'Have I not conveyed the message?'
The multitude shouted out, 'By Allah, yes!' The Prophet (pbuh) ended, '0 Allah!
Bear witness to that.'
“… This day those who disbelieve are in despair of
(ever harming) your religion; so do not fear them, but fear Me! This day I have
perfected your religion, for you, and I have completed My favor unto you, and
have chosen for you as a religion AL-ISLAM”. (Qur'an 5.3) Many Muslims started
to shed tears, knowing that if the Prophet (pbuh) had completed his message,
his life must be near its end.
After spending the rest of the day of „Arafah in
prayer and contemplation, the Muslims began to complete the pilgrimage by
returning to Mecca with the talbiyah prayer still on their lips. The first
night of the return journey was spent at Muzdalifah. Here they gathered
pebbles, which they carried with them the next day to Mina. There they stood
before a huge rock and stoned it in remembrance of Abraham's meeting with the
Devil in that very place. When Abraham received the order from Allah to
sacrifice his son Ishmael as a test of his faith, the Devil had tried to
convince him not to do it. He came to Abraham at Mina, as he was on his way to
carry out Allah's command, but Abraham took some stones and hurled them at the
Devil to drive him away since the casting of stones at Mina on the Prophet's
'Farewell Pilgrimage', this has become another ritual which Muslims perform on
the annual pilgrimage to remind them that they, too, must continue to drive the
Devil away when he tries to prevent them from being obedient to Allah. After
throwing the stones, the pilgrims sacrificed sheep and camels and gave the meat
to the poor. In this way the great faith of Abraham was remembered, for when he
had been ready to sacrifice Ishmael, Allah had sent a sheep in his place. The Muslims
then completed the pilgrimage by again circling the Ka‟bah seven times. They
then cut their hair and nails and changed out of their white clothes to show
they had returned to their daily lives. Before returning to Medinah, the
Muslims spent three nights in the valley at Medinah where the final
preparations were made for the journey home.
As for the Prophet (pbuh), he made one final visit
before leaving Mecca. This was to the grave of his devoted wife, Khadijah, who
had been the first person to believe in Allah's Revelation through him. The
Prophet (pbuh) knew that this would be the last time he would see the grave, or
Mecca, because during the pilgrimage he had received the chapter of the Qur'an
called 'Help', form which he knew that his death was not far away.
In the name of
Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“When Allah's help and triumph comes And thou seest,
mankind entering the religion of Allah in troops, Then hymn the praises of thy
Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him. Lo! He is ever ready to show mercy”. (Qur'an
110.1-3)
The
Prophet’s Death
One Night,
shortly after his return to Medinah, the Prophet(pbuh) woke up at midnight
and asked his servant‟ Abd Allah to saddle his mule. They then left the house
and went to the Baqi al-Gharqad, the burial ground of the Muslims. There the
Prophet (pbuh) stood in the front of the graves and, as though he could see the
Muslims buried in them, spoke to them and prayed over them. Later, ‟Abd Allah
reported, ‟The Prophet (pbuh) told me that he was ordered to pray for the dead
and that I was to go with him.‟
After the Prophet (pbuh) had prayed he turned to
„Abd Allah and said, „I can choose between all the riches of this world, a long
life and then
Paradise,
or meeting my Lord and entering Paradise now.‟ „Abd Allah begged him to choose
a long, rich life, followed by Paradise, but the Prophet (pbuh) told him that
he had already chosen to meet his Lord now rather than remain in the world. The
following morning the Prophet (pbuh) awoke with a terrible headache, but
despite this he had led the prayers at the mosque. From what he said afterwards
to the people assembled there, they understood that his death was near. The
Prophet (pbuh) praised his best friend, Abu Bakr, who had begun to weep, and
told everyone that he knew they would all meet again at a pool in Paradise. He
added, however that although he was sure they would always worship Allah alone,
he feared that the pleasures of the world would attract them, and they would
begin to compete with one another for material possessions, forgetting
spiritual things. Soon after the
Prophet
(pbuh) requested that he be moved to the room of A‟isha, one of his wives. As
the days passed his fever grew worse, until one day he was so ill that he could
not even get to the mosque, which was next to where
A‟isha lived.
The Prophet (pbuh) told A‟isha to tell the Muslims to let
Abu
Bakr, her father, lead the prayer, which made them very sad for this was the
first time anyone had taken the Prophet's place.
Later, on the 12th day of Rabi
al-Awal, in the 11th year of Islam (June
8th
632 A.D.), the Prophet (pbuh) heard the voices of the people in prayer. With
great effort he got up and looked from his door at all the Muslims who were
assembled in rows behind Abu bakr; he smiled with great satisfaction. Abu Bakr
saw him and stepped back to give the Prophet (pbuh) his place. The Muslims were
happy, thinking he was going to pray with them as before, but the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh), who looked radiantly beautiful that day signaled to them to
continue on their own. He prayed in a sitting position at the right of Abu
Bakr, after which he went back inside and lay his head on 'A'ishah's lap. He
was in such pain that his daughter Fatimah cried out in pity. Then the Prophet
(pbuh) said,
'There
is no pain for your father after this day; truly, death has appeared to me. We
must all suffer it till the Day of Judgement.' As he lay there, A'ishah
remembered that he had once said, Allah never takes a Prophet to Himself
without giving him the choice.' Then she heard the Prophet (pbuh) speak. His
last words were, 'Nay, rather the Exalted Communion of Paradise.'
A‟ishah then said to herself,
'So, by Allah, he is not choosing us!'
When
the people in the mosque heard that the Prophet (pbuh) was dead, they were
filled with grief. „Umar could not, and would not, believe it, and exclaimed
that it was not true. Abu Bakr then went out and spoke gently to the people,
saying 'All praise belongs to Allah! 0 people, whoever worshipped Muhammad,
Muhammad is dead. But for him who worships Allah, Allah is living and never
dies.'
He
then recited this verse from the Qur'an which had been revealed after the
battle of Uhud:
In the name of
Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“Muhammad is but a messenger, messengers (the like
of whom) have passed away before him. Will it be that, when he dies or is
slain, you will turn back on your heels? He who turns back does no hurt to
Allah, and Allah will reward the thankful. No soul can ever die except by
Allah's permission and at a term appointed.
Who so desires the reward of the world, We bestow on
him thereof; and whosoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We bestow on
him thereof We shall reward the thankful”. (Qur'an 3.144-145)
After this the people pledged their loyalty to Abu
Bakr, whom the Prophet (pbuh) had chosen to lead the prayer. Abu Bakr accepted
and concluded what he had to say with these words: 'Obey me so long as I obey
Allah and His Messenger. But if I disobey Allah and His Messenger, you owe me
no obedience. Arise for your prayer, Allah have mercy upon you!' The people
rose and asked him; 'Where will the Prophet (pbuh) be buried?' Abu Bakr
remembered that the Prophet (pbuh) had said, 'No Prophet dies who is not buried
on the spot where he died.' And so the Prophet (pbuh) was buried in a grave dug
in the floor of A'ishah's room, in the house next to the mosque. The spot
became known as the Haram al-Nabawi and Muslims from all over the world go
there to pray and to give their blessings and greetings of peace the Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh). And Lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. And Lo! thou
art of a tremendous nature. (Qur'an 67. 3-4)
GLOSSARY
Abd
Allah Abd al-Mulib's youngest
son. Father of the
Prophet
Abd Allah
Ibn One of the rulers of Yathrib
before the
Ubayy Hijrah. He
became a Muslim but secretly
plotted with the Meccans against
the
Prophet.
Abd
Al- Son of Hashim. He
took the place of his
Muttalib father as the head of Quraysh. He
dug the
well of Zamzam.
Abd Allah
Ibn Was sent with Amr Ibn al-'Ass to
Abu
Rabiah Abyssinia.
Abdu
Manaf Son of Qusayy; took over
as leader of the
Quraysh after his father's death.
Abrahah King of Yemen who came to Mecca
with a
big army to destroy the Kabbah.
Abraham The founding father of the three
(Ibrahtm) monotheistic (worshipping one God only)
religions-Judaism,
Christianity and Islam.
The descendants of his son Ish
maci
(fsma'ii) formed the tribe of
Quraysh,
which is the tribe of
the Prophet
Muhammad
Abo
Bakr A rich and much
respected merchant of
Mecca. The first man to
believe in the Prophet
and embrace Islam. He
was the Prophet's
closest friend and
companion.
Abu
Dujanah One
of the great Ansar warriors. lt was he
who died Shielding the
Prophet with his
ownbody during the
battle of Uhud
Abujahl One of the important men of
Quraysh.
Violently opposed to
Islam, he did many things to harm
the
Prophet. He was killed at Badr.
ABU
LAHAB: One of the
Prophet Mohammed‟s
uncles, who was a great enemy of
Islam.
He is referred to in the Qur'an
in Surah cxi.
Abu
Sufyan One
of the leaders of Quraysh who led the
unbelievers in their fight
against the
Prophet. He finally became a
Muslim. His
wife was Hind.
Abo
Talib The Prophet's uncle,
father of 'Ali, one of the
respected men of Quraysh He took care of
the
Prophet after his
grandfather died and
continued to protect him until
his own death.
'Addas A Christian
servant of one of the big tribes
of Ta'if and the only person from
this town
to believe in the
Prophet ~ at the time of
his first visit there.
Adhan Call to prayer.
'Aisah The Prophet's wife and daughter
of Abu
Bakr.
Al-'Abbas One
of the uncles
of the Prophet
~.
Converted to Islam and joined the
Muslims
just as they were about
to enter Mecca.
Ali Son of
Abu Tilib. First
cousin of the
Prophet. 'Ali later
married Fatimah, the
youngest daughter of the
Prophet.
Allahu
Akar Phrase meaning
'God Allah is Great'.
Alms Money,
clothes or food given to the poor.
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Aminah
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Aminah bint Wahb. The
motherof the Prophet.
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'Amro Ibun
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An important
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and clever
man
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from
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Al'ass
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Quraysh;
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was
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sent to Abyssinia to bring
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back the
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first
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Muslim emigrants.
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Later
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became one of
the great Warriors of Islam.
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Ansar
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The inhabitants of Medinah who
became
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Muslims and
asked the Prophet to
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come
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and live with
them.
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Apostle
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Person sent to teach men about
God.
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Wa Aleikum
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Phrase used by the Muslims in
greeting,
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Assalamu
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meaning: 'May
the Peace, Mercy and Grace
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Rahmatullah
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of Allah be upon you.
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Wa Barakatuiiu
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Bah1ira
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A monk who lived in the
desert on the
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Quraysh
caravan route to Syria.
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Bani Hashim
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The
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branch
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of Quraysh
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to
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which the Prophet belonged.
Bani Qurayzah A
Jewish tribe who were living in Yathrib at the time the Prophet arrived
there. Several times they betrayed their Covenant with
the Prophet, forcing him to fight
them.
Bedouin Nomadic Arabs of
the desert, usually shepherds.
Bilal The
Slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. He
became a Muslim against
the will of his
master and was
persecuted cruelly but
never lost his faith.
Later he became the
first mu'adhdhin (the
person who calls the
adhan).
Bismillah The phrase meaning 'In the Name of Allah
the Merciful, The
Compassionate'.
Booty Things captured
from an enemy in war.
Buraq Animal ridden by
the Prophet Muliammad ~
on his ascent to heaven (the Isra' and
Mi'raj).
Caravan A group of travellers, usually
merchants
with their goods.
Clan Large family or
tribe.
Congregation Gathering of people for prayer.
Convert To change from one state into
another,
usually said of
religion.
Copt An Egyptian
Christian.
Descendants People originating from a certain person
(children,
grandchildren, etc.).
Destined Fated, already decided by God.
Famine Scarcity of food.
Fast To go without
food and water, e.g. the
month of Ramadan.
Fitrah The pure
original nature God gave to man.
Gabriel (Jibril)
The
Archangel who conveyed the
Revelation of the Quran
to the Prophet from
Allah.
Graze To
feed on grass, as sheep do.
Guardian One who is responsible
for someone (e.g. a
child)? A place, or
thing.
Hadith An account of what the Prophet ~
said or
did, or his silent
approval of something said
or done in his presence
Hagar Abraham's second
wife and mother of his
(Haajar) first son
Ishmael.
Halimah A Bedouin woman from Bani Sa'd,
who
cared for the Prophet
during his early
childhood.
Hamzah The Prophet's uncle; one of the
bravest
and strongest of the
Muslims. Fought at
Badr and was killed in Uhud.
Has
Him Son of Abdu
Manif. Organized the caravan
journeys of Quraysh to Syria and
Yemen.
As a result Mecca grew rich and
became a
large and important
centre of trade.
Heraclius Emperor of the Eastern Roman
Empire.
Hermit A holy man who lives far away
from
people.
Hiurah The flight from Mecca to Medinah;
emigration
Hind Abu Sufyin's
wife.
Imam A man who leads
the Muslims in prayer.
Ishmael The first son of Abraham from his
wife
(Isma'il) Hagar. Settled in Mecca where he
helped
his father rebuild the
Kabah. From his
descendants came
Quraysh.
Islam Religion
revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad.
Ja'far Ibn Abu A
cousin of the Prophet and brother of Ali,
Tallb he
was the spokesman of the Muslims who
emigrated to Abyssinia.
Khadijah The Prophet Mohammed‟s
first and only wife until her death. She was the first to believe in the
Prophet and to accept as true the Message he brought from Allah.
Khalid Ibn
Al- A great warrior, very skilled at
warfare. He
Walid planned the defeat
of the Muslims at Uhud,
but later converted to
Islam and fought
even more strongly for his new
faith.
Martyr One who dies in the cause of God.
Maysarah Khadijah's slave. Accompanied the
Prophet
on his journey with Khadijah's
caravans.
Minaret Tower from which
the call to prayer is
made.
Mosque Building in which Muslims pray.
Muslim One who submits to God, usually
referring
to the followers of the
Prophet Muhammad.
Oasis A small area in
the desert where water and
trees are to be found.
Paradise Place to which the souls of good
people go
after death
Pilgrimage Journey to a holy place, e.g. Hajj
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