CD 7
BY: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Some of the Glad Tidings of the Coming of Rasul Allah (saw)”, before his prophethood
Ibn Ishaq said: Salamah bin Salam bin Waqsh relates: “We had a Jewish neighbor from Banu Ábd Al-Ash hal and he came out from his house one day to us. At that time I was the youngest of my household. I was wearing a fur gown and was lying in it in the courtyard at my family’s house. The Jew talked about the resurrection, the Day of Judgement, the Reckoning, the Scales, Paradise and Hellfire. This he told to polytheists who did not believe in any life after death. They replied: ‘Come on now, do you really think people can be sent after their death to someplace where there is a Paradise and a Hell where they will be punished for their deeds?’ ‘Yes, indeed’, he replied ‘and by Him by Whom oaths are sworn, anyone going into that Fire would prefer to be burnt in the hottest oven in the house and having it covered it and he being let out of it only next day.’ They said: ‘But what proof is there?’ He said: ‘A prophet is being sent from the hereabouts in these lands.’ And he gestured over towards Makkah and Yemen. ‘When will we see him?’ He looked over me, me being the youngest at that time, and said ‘If this lad lives a normal life span, he will live to this time.’ Salamah said: “A day and night scarcely came to pass thereafter and sent the Messenger of Allah who lived amongst us and so we believed in him.” However, this man didn’t believe in the Prophet (saw) when he was sent even though he knew of the prophecy in their scriptures out of envy.
In the Present-Day Bible –
Deutronomy 18:18 “I (God) will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, Moses, and will put My words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” This prophecy fits Muhammad (saw) perfectly and no one else.
Musa (as)
Muhammad (saw)
Ísa (as)
1. They both had parents
Only had a mother
2. They both had children
Never had any
3. Both were born in a natural way
Miraculous way
4. Accepted by their nations
Rejected by his nation
5. They were kings or rulers (they can implement death penalty)
He wasn’t a ruler
6. Both came with a new law (Torah and Qurán)
He followed the law of Musa
7. Both led them in Hijrah (mass exodus)
Never left his land
8. Both were victorious against their enemies
Never won (in the worldly sense)
9. They both died a natural death
He was killed (Christians), We believe that he was elevated
10. Buried in the ground
Never buried
11. No claim to divinity
They believe that Jeses was divine
12. Became prophets at the age of 40
30 yrs. Old
13. No claim to be resurrected after death
Christians claim he was resurrected after death
It could not have been a Jew because it is stated in Deutronomy 34:10 “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses.” The prophecy states “a prophet from among their brethren” so this excludes the Jews (from the progeny of Ishaq), and points to the Arabs (from the progeny of Ismail).
“and will put My words in his mouth” This prophet will be speaking not of out of his own will, but the words will be from Allah. “(Muhammad) is not speaking on his own”(An-Najm). All of the Qurán are the words of Allah revealed to the Prophet (saw). The Bible is different for they claim that it was inspired by God but written by men. Dr. Grams Grojy (author of “Human yet Divine”) “Yes, the Bible is human…those books have been passed through the minds of men, are written in the language of men, were penned by the hands of men, and bare in their style, the characteristics of men.” The Qurán is different, it is by Allah and Muhammad (saw) was the one only speaking it. It is the words of Allah put in his mouth.
“and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” He will not withhold any information. It is stated in the Qurán: “O Prophet of Allah convey everything that you have received and if you don’t do so then you have not conveyed the message.” Even when it was verses criticizing an action of his (Surah Abasa, at-Tahreem).
Isaiah 29:11-18 “And the Book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying ‘Read this!’ and he says: ‘I am not learned.’ Before the time of this man who will receive this Book, the people will be forsaking the words of God for the precept of man. ”
These were the exact same words that occurred between Jibril (as) and Rasul Allah (saw) during his first revelation. The first verses revealed of the Qur’an were: “Read in the name of your Lord who created man from clot. Read and your Lord is the most Bountiful who teaches man by the pen, who teaches man that which he knew not.”(Surah Alaq) The word ‘read’ in original Hebrew is ‘Qara’, exactly like Arabic.
Jesus came to fulfill the law and Saint Paul came and told them otherwise, such as circumcision by Jesus but Paul says not to, Jesus said to fulfill the law letter-by-letter, word by word, but Paul says you don’t have to. They left the law of God and followed the law of man.
Habakuk:3 “God his guidance came from Timan and the Holy One from Mount Taran, His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise.”
Timan/Tayma’ is an oasis just north of Madinah, Taran refers to Makkah, where Hajar and Ismail were left by Ibrahim. Islam spread from Madinah, after Rasul Allah (saw) left from Makkah due to persecution. So guidance from Allah came from from Madinah but the Holy One (Rasul Allah) was from Makkah. Muhammad means ‘the most praised’ and unto this day, the world is full of his praise. This prophecy fits the Prophet Muhammad exclusively and no one else.
Deutronomy 18: 21-22 “And if thine say in your heart ’how shall we knowthe word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord if the thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing that the Lord has not spoken but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Thou shall not be afraid of him.”
Everything that a prophet says will come to happen. Qur’an, the words of Allah given to the Prophet (saw), contains miracles that we discover everyday. There might have been scientific verses in books the preceded Qur’an but there are mistakes since man writes them. In Qur’an there are no contradictions nor mistakes, it contains both future events and no errors. For it to be from God, everything has to be true, and this applies only to the Holy Qur’an. Proof: Challenge of the Qur’an.
Isaiah 21:7 “And he saw a vision, he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels.”
Christians believe that “a chariot of asses’ refer to Isa (as) because he was known to have ridden on donkeys. And so ‘a chariot of camels’ can only refer to Rasul Allah (saw) for he was known to have ridden camels. This was a prophecy that mentions both Prophets Isa and Muhammad (saw).
Isaiah 29:9 “And behold! Here cometh a chariot of men with a couple of horsemen and he answered and said: ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen!’ and all the graven images of her gods he has broken unto the ground.’
Babylon is in present-day Iraq, the prophecy is saying that this army will destroy all of the false gods of Babylon and erase all the images therein. This army refers to the army sent by ‘Umar bin al-Khattab to Iraq and they had succeeded in opening Iraq and eliminating all the idolatry therein.
Isaiah 21:14-15 “The inhabitants of the land of Timan/Tayma’, brought water to him that was thirsty. They prevented with their bread him that fled for they fled from the drawn sword and from the bent bow and from the grievousness of the war.”
Muhammad (saw) made hijrah and the Ansar supported him with bread.
Isaiah 21:16-17 “For thus the Lord said unto me, within a year according to the years of a higher land, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail. And the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished for Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”
Kedar – These are the names of the sons of Ismail by their names according to their generations, refers to the Arabs and the people of Quraish are descendants of Kedar (pronounced Qeedar in Arabic).
This prophecy refers to the year that happened one year after Hijrah – Battle of Badr (2 AH).
All of the leaders of Quraish were killed, who were the most brutal were eliminated (Abu Jahl, Omaiyyah bin Khalaf, ‘Uqbah bin Abi Mu’ayt, and others)
Isaiah 11:1-2 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of council and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”
Jesse – refers to Ismail, contraction of his name.
This cannot fit on anyone except Rasul Allah because he was the most prominent descendant of Ismail (as).
Deutronomy 33:1 “And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Sear unto them, he shined forth from Mount Taran and he came with 10,000 of saints from his right hand went a fiery law for them.”
Sinaa’ (Sinai) was where the message of Musa (as) came from, thus referring to himself. Sa’eer (Sear) stands for Isa (as) since it refers to a series of mountains in Palestine. Mount Taran (Makkah) refers to Rasul Allah (saw).
In this prophecy Musa (as) talks about his message, and how Isa will carry it further but then it will rise from Makkah, the fulfillment of the message.
10,000 saints refer to the Companions when they liberated Makkah.
The right hand stands for truth, justice, and strength.
John 16:7-14 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for me to go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. Of sin, because they believe not of me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Of Judgement, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you to all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that he shall speak and he will show you things to come and he shall glorify me for he shall receive from mine and he shall show it to you.”
Refers to Rasul Allah (saw).
Fear ALLAH Wherever You Are!
The Obedient
Thursday, 29 March 2007
CD6-Time Preceding the Prophethood of Rasul Allah (saw)
CD6
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Time preceding the Prophethood of Rasul Allah (saw)
It was a time of darkness, however, there were some glimpses of light here and there. Humanity was in dire need of guidance. But there were some individuals who had a sense of right and wrong and their hearts directed them to the truths.
Zayd bin ‘Amr bin Nufayl – went out in search of truth and out of Makkah, he was from Quraish. So he went to the Jews and inquired about their religion, but decided not to follow it. He did the same to the Christians, and he also decided not to follow it. At the end, he came to learn about the way of Ibrahim (as), al-Hanifiyyah, worshipping Allah alone. He became a Hanifi, a follower of Ibrahim (as). He was a lone voice in the sea of darkness in Makkah. Asma’ bint Abi Bakr said that she saw Zayd leaning against the Ka’bah speaking to the people of Quraish that none of you is following the way of Ibrahim except myself. People at that time were claiming they were the inheritors of Ibrahim, but Zayd would tell them this. He would also say: “O God! If I only knew the way most favored by You, I would worship You by it.” He would not participate in the killing of girls that existed in Makkah, he would even go to the father who plans to kill his daughter and tell him to give him his daughter and that he would take care of her. He refused to eat the meat slaughtered in Makkah. He died prior to the prophethood of Rasul Allah. His son, Sa’eed (one of the ten who were given the glad tidings of Paradise), inquired about his father. Rasul Allah (saw) told him that “your father will come on the day of Judgement as a nation alone.” It is an honor for him to stand as a nation alone and Allah will grant him Jannah because he knew the truth and worshipped Allah the best he could.
Waraqah bin Nawfal – the cousin of Khadija (ra), he was a Christian, a lettered man and used to copy the scriptures of the Christians and studied from them. He was a believer in one God, and there were still some Christians who believe in Tawheed and would not attribute divinity to ‘Isa (as). He was one of them, and he was the one Khadija consulted when he first received the revelation. Immediately after that Waraqah passed away, and people wondered his fate. They said he would be in Hellfire but Rasul Allah (saw) said: “I have seen him in a dream and he was wearing white clothes. If he was a man in Hellfire, he wouldn’t be wearing white clothes.” Later on Rasul Allah (saw) saw another dream and saw that Waraqah had two gardens in Paradise. So he was in Jannah for he had the right belief.
Salman Al-Farisi – Ibn Abbas (ra) went to Salman Al-Farisi in his old age and requested Salman to tell his story. He said: “I was a Persian man from Isfahan (Iran), from a village called Jih. My father was the head man of the village and I was striving and taking pains in the religion of Magian (belief in good and evil and worship fire). He grew in the religion until he became the keeper of the fire, lighting it and never letting it die. My father owned a large farm, one day he was busy constructing a building of his and wanted me to go out and take care of business in the farm. My father loved me so much he closeted me in his house and would never let me leave. But he told me ‘O my son, you know how dear you are to me if you are late I would be so concerned about you and you are more important to me than my farm or my building. So please come early.’ I was kept in his house like a slave-girl, not letting me go anywhere. I passed by a church and I heard them pray, and I went in to investigate. I never knew much about people since I wasn’t allowed to leave home. So this was something new to me and that I came to realize there was a new religion. I was quite impressed by their method of praying and I ended up staying with them until sunset and I ended up neglecting my father’s work. He became so worried about me that he sent people to search for me. I came back late and my father said ‘O my son, didn’t I tell you not to be late, what happened?’ He related the events and told his father that their religion is better than Magian. His father got even more worried that his son would change his religion that he chained him in the house and imprisoned him. While in shackles, he was able to send a message to the church telling them to inform him if there was a caravan going to ash-sham.
He went with this caravan all the way to the Holy Land in search of the truth. He arrived in Syria and asked about the most learned man of Christianity. He went to the Bishop and told him he wanted to study with him. Salman said that this man used to ask the people to donate and keep it to himself. He was an evil man and he hated him so much but he stayed with him. When the bishop died, the Christians wanted to have a burial for him but Salman exposed his evil deeds and led them to where he used to keep the money he wrongfully took. This angered the people and they ended up crucifying him instead. They appointed someone in his place, and he said about this man “I have never seen a man who attended to the five daily prayers such as this man, nor more ascetic, nor more devoted to worship day and night. I loved him as I had never loved before.” Salman ended up studying under this man, worshipping, in the church but death was approaching this man. Salman went to him at his death bed, asking where he could seek knowledge next but the bishop told him he didn’t know anyone on the same path as he is now except for one man in Mosul. So Salman traveled from Ash-Sham to Mosul in Iraq in search of knowledge. When he went to this man, he was accepted to be his student. But he was also an old man, approaching death, so Salman asked him for a recommendation again. He told him to go to the bishop in Nasibi.
He traveled there and spent time with the bishop of Nasibi. After he died, Salman traveled to Turkey and started a business and accumulated enough to buy sheep and goat. When he was dying he told Salman that the time has come for a prophet to be sent with Ibrahim’s religion who will come forth in the land of the Arabs. He will move to refuge to somewhere with date palms growing between two scorched rocky plains. He will have signs that are unmistakable. He will eat things given to him as gifts but not alms, and between his shoulders there is a seal of prophethood. If you can go there, do so.
So he looked for someone to transport him and found a caravan going there and told them that he would give them all his money and possessions if they would just bring him with them. They agreed and carried him and when they reached a place called Wadi-al-Qura, they betrayed him and sold him as a slave to a Jewish man. He was purchased by a relative of his master who live in Madinah. He relates: “I was taken from Wadi-al-Qura to Bani Quraydah and as soon as we saw Madinah I knew this was the place. One day, I was working on top of a palm tree and my master was sitting and said that one of his cousins came to him while being angry, cursing the children of Qayla (name attributed to Al-Aws and Khazraj) they have assembled in Quba in support of a man who came from Makkah who claims to be a prophet.
When I heard that a chill came down my spine and I started to tremble and I almost fell from the palm tree and land on my master.” Now he has heard the news he has been waiting years for. He said: “I came down the tree and I went to the man and I asked him questions. My master grabbed me and punched me in the face and me told me that it was none of my business and to get back to work. Later on that evening, I prepared some food, and I traveled to Quba and went to visit Rasul Allah at night. I went in and I told him ‘I heard that you are a very good man and that you have companions who are strangers and needy. So I have brought you this food as charity and I think that you are the one who deserves it most.’ Rasul Allah (saw) received the food from me and then he told his companions to go ahead and eat but he didn’t join in with them.
(Sign #1) I went back and later on I prepared some food to bring to Rasul Allah (saw) and he was on his way back to Madinah. I went up to him and greeted him and told him ‘Last night I presented you with food and told you that it was charity, and you refused to eat from it. So I want to honor you with this gift.’ I handed the food to Rasul Allah (saw) and he invited the companions to come in and eat and he joined with them.
(Sign #2) And then I went to him and visited him when he was at Baqi’ (cemetery of Madinah) and he was following a Janaazah. I went up to him and greeted him and then I went around him to see the sign on his back. Rasul Allah (saw) sensed I was trying to look for something that was described for me. So he uncovered his back, throwing off the cloak that was covering his shoulders. And right there in front of my eyes was the seal of the prophethood.
(Sign #3) When I saw the seal of the prophethood on his back, I fell down and prostrated myself to Prophet Muhammad (saw) and I started kissing his feet and I was crying. Rasul Allah (saw) immediately told me to stand up and he told me to tell him my story. And Rasul Allah told me to narrate the same story to his companions. I narrated my story to them just like I am narrating it to you now, Ibn Abbas. Because I was a slave, I ended up missing the Battle of Badr and Uhud, and the Prophet (saw) told me one day ‘O Salman, free yourself from slavery.’ Slaves can ransom themselves from slavery by making a contract with their masters to fulfill a certain amount of obligation.
His master told him to plant 300 palm trees that must survive, and you pay me 40 ounces of gold. So I went back to Rasul Allah (saw) and told him that this is a huge amount for me to pay. And Rasul Allah (saw) told him ‘Don’t worry’ and he gathered the Sahaba and told them to help their brother. Some of them would bring seedlings of palm trees until I had 300 seedlings. Rasul Allah told me that when I have collected 300 seedlings I should dig the hole for them but not to plant them and to go to him and tell him first. When he did so, he informed the Prophet (saw) and the Prophet (saw) would carry the seedlings and would plant them one by one with his own blessed hands. None of those 300 palm trees died and they all grew and survived. Now he had to pay 40 ounces of gold, and later on a small amount of gold was given to Rasul Allah (saw) and asked for Salman. He therefore told him to take this gold and free himself from slavery.
When he saw the gold, it seemed insufficient but when he took it to his master it weighed 40 ounces exactly. And he said: “And then I was free and I never missed anything with Rasul Allah (saw) after that. The first battle he participated in was the Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq) and he was the one who came up with the idea of digging the trench.
The first man Salman studied under was evil and corrupt, and these are characteristics that could have made him turn away from seeking knowledge. Nowadays, we say that our actions are a reason why people are turning away from Islam. It’s true to a certain extent but if someone is sincere in their search for the truth, the truth is one thing and people’s actions are another. Salman did not reject Christianity due to the character of this man, he stuck with him and remained and rewarded him later on, by letting him by the side of the best man he had ever known.
We learn two things from this:
Allah states in the Qur’an that the ones who searches for guidance, Allah will give it to them but you have to look for it. If you walk towards Allah, Allah will run towards you, if you take one step towards Allah, He will take many steps towards you, but you have to take that first step. Salman was searching for it and got it. We shouldn’t be let down when we see someone not doing the right thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with the message itself. There were remnants of true believers before Rasul Allah (saw) but they were dying and didn’t leave anyone behind them.
The Muslim community must be supportive of their own brothers as the Sahaba freed Salman. We should take care of the needs of the new reverts, for this is part of Da’wah, being responsible for the people who joined your ranks. The risk is that if they don’t get help during those critical periods, they could apostate. These reasons are:
Many of them are stripped from social belongings, neglected by their families, and rejected by their friends. They are in need of a social belonging and a new association.
Some of them come with dire financial needs and if they don’t get them, they get sidetracked and instead focus on fulfilling these needs than learning about Islam.
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Time preceding the Prophethood of Rasul Allah (saw)
It was a time of darkness, however, there were some glimpses of light here and there. Humanity was in dire need of guidance. But there were some individuals who had a sense of right and wrong and their hearts directed them to the truths.
Zayd bin ‘Amr bin Nufayl – went out in search of truth and out of Makkah, he was from Quraish. So he went to the Jews and inquired about their religion, but decided not to follow it. He did the same to the Christians, and he also decided not to follow it. At the end, he came to learn about the way of Ibrahim (as), al-Hanifiyyah, worshipping Allah alone. He became a Hanifi, a follower of Ibrahim (as). He was a lone voice in the sea of darkness in Makkah. Asma’ bint Abi Bakr said that she saw Zayd leaning against the Ka’bah speaking to the people of Quraish that none of you is following the way of Ibrahim except myself. People at that time were claiming they were the inheritors of Ibrahim, but Zayd would tell them this. He would also say: “O God! If I only knew the way most favored by You, I would worship You by it.” He would not participate in the killing of girls that existed in Makkah, he would even go to the father who plans to kill his daughter and tell him to give him his daughter and that he would take care of her. He refused to eat the meat slaughtered in Makkah. He died prior to the prophethood of Rasul Allah. His son, Sa’eed (one of the ten who were given the glad tidings of Paradise), inquired about his father. Rasul Allah (saw) told him that “your father will come on the day of Judgement as a nation alone.” It is an honor for him to stand as a nation alone and Allah will grant him Jannah because he knew the truth and worshipped Allah the best he could.
Waraqah bin Nawfal – the cousin of Khadija (ra), he was a Christian, a lettered man and used to copy the scriptures of the Christians and studied from them. He was a believer in one God, and there were still some Christians who believe in Tawheed and would not attribute divinity to ‘Isa (as). He was one of them, and he was the one Khadija consulted when he first received the revelation. Immediately after that Waraqah passed away, and people wondered his fate. They said he would be in Hellfire but Rasul Allah (saw) said: “I have seen him in a dream and he was wearing white clothes. If he was a man in Hellfire, he wouldn’t be wearing white clothes.” Later on Rasul Allah (saw) saw another dream and saw that Waraqah had two gardens in Paradise. So he was in Jannah for he had the right belief.
Salman Al-Farisi – Ibn Abbas (ra) went to Salman Al-Farisi in his old age and requested Salman to tell his story. He said: “I was a Persian man from Isfahan (Iran), from a village called Jih. My father was the head man of the village and I was striving and taking pains in the religion of Magian (belief in good and evil and worship fire). He grew in the religion until he became the keeper of the fire, lighting it and never letting it die. My father owned a large farm, one day he was busy constructing a building of his and wanted me to go out and take care of business in the farm. My father loved me so much he closeted me in his house and would never let me leave. But he told me ‘O my son, you know how dear you are to me if you are late I would be so concerned about you and you are more important to me than my farm or my building. So please come early.’ I was kept in his house like a slave-girl, not letting me go anywhere. I passed by a church and I heard them pray, and I went in to investigate. I never knew much about people since I wasn’t allowed to leave home. So this was something new to me and that I came to realize there was a new religion. I was quite impressed by their method of praying and I ended up staying with them until sunset and I ended up neglecting my father’s work. He became so worried about me that he sent people to search for me. I came back late and my father said ‘O my son, didn’t I tell you not to be late, what happened?’ He related the events and told his father that their religion is better than Magian. His father got even more worried that his son would change his religion that he chained him in the house and imprisoned him. While in shackles, he was able to send a message to the church telling them to inform him if there was a caravan going to ash-sham.
He went with this caravan all the way to the Holy Land in search of the truth. He arrived in Syria and asked about the most learned man of Christianity. He went to the Bishop and told him he wanted to study with him. Salman said that this man used to ask the people to donate and keep it to himself. He was an evil man and he hated him so much but he stayed with him. When the bishop died, the Christians wanted to have a burial for him but Salman exposed his evil deeds and led them to where he used to keep the money he wrongfully took. This angered the people and they ended up crucifying him instead. They appointed someone in his place, and he said about this man “I have never seen a man who attended to the five daily prayers such as this man, nor more ascetic, nor more devoted to worship day and night. I loved him as I had never loved before.” Salman ended up studying under this man, worshipping, in the church but death was approaching this man. Salman went to him at his death bed, asking where he could seek knowledge next but the bishop told him he didn’t know anyone on the same path as he is now except for one man in Mosul. So Salman traveled from Ash-Sham to Mosul in Iraq in search of knowledge. When he went to this man, he was accepted to be his student. But he was also an old man, approaching death, so Salman asked him for a recommendation again. He told him to go to the bishop in Nasibi.
He traveled there and spent time with the bishop of Nasibi. After he died, Salman traveled to Turkey and started a business and accumulated enough to buy sheep and goat. When he was dying he told Salman that the time has come for a prophet to be sent with Ibrahim’s religion who will come forth in the land of the Arabs. He will move to refuge to somewhere with date palms growing between two scorched rocky plains. He will have signs that are unmistakable. He will eat things given to him as gifts but not alms, and between his shoulders there is a seal of prophethood. If you can go there, do so.
So he looked for someone to transport him and found a caravan going there and told them that he would give them all his money and possessions if they would just bring him with them. They agreed and carried him and when they reached a place called Wadi-al-Qura, they betrayed him and sold him as a slave to a Jewish man. He was purchased by a relative of his master who live in Madinah. He relates: “I was taken from Wadi-al-Qura to Bani Quraydah and as soon as we saw Madinah I knew this was the place. One day, I was working on top of a palm tree and my master was sitting and said that one of his cousins came to him while being angry, cursing the children of Qayla (name attributed to Al-Aws and Khazraj) they have assembled in Quba in support of a man who came from Makkah who claims to be a prophet.
When I heard that a chill came down my spine and I started to tremble and I almost fell from the palm tree and land on my master.” Now he has heard the news he has been waiting years for. He said: “I came down the tree and I went to the man and I asked him questions. My master grabbed me and punched me in the face and me told me that it was none of my business and to get back to work. Later on that evening, I prepared some food, and I traveled to Quba and went to visit Rasul Allah at night. I went in and I told him ‘I heard that you are a very good man and that you have companions who are strangers and needy. So I have brought you this food as charity and I think that you are the one who deserves it most.’ Rasul Allah (saw) received the food from me and then he told his companions to go ahead and eat but he didn’t join in with them.
(Sign #1) I went back and later on I prepared some food to bring to Rasul Allah (saw) and he was on his way back to Madinah. I went up to him and greeted him and told him ‘Last night I presented you with food and told you that it was charity, and you refused to eat from it. So I want to honor you with this gift.’ I handed the food to Rasul Allah (saw) and he invited the companions to come in and eat and he joined with them.
(Sign #2) And then I went to him and visited him when he was at Baqi’ (cemetery of Madinah) and he was following a Janaazah. I went up to him and greeted him and then I went around him to see the sign on his back. Rasul Allah (saw) sensed I was trying to look for something that was described for me. So he uncovered his back, throwing off the cloak that was covering his shoulders. And right there in front of my eyes was the seal of the prophethood.
(Sign #3) When I saw the seal of the prophethood on his back, I fell down and prostrated myself to Prophet Muhammad (saw) and I started kissing his feet and I was crying. Rasul Allah (saw) immediately told me to stand up and he told me to tell him my story. And Rasul Allah told me to narrate the same story to his companions. I narrated my story to them just like I am narrating it to you now, Ibn Abbas. Because I was a slave, I ended up missing the Battle of Badr and Uhud, and the Prophet (saw) told me one day ‘O Salman, free yourself from slavery.’ Slaves can ransom themselves from slavery by making a contract with their masters to fulfill a certain amount of obligation.
His master told him to plant 300 palm trees that must survive, and you pay me 40 ounces of gold. So I went back to Rasul Allah (saw) and told him that this is a huge amount for me to pay. And Rasul Allah (saw) told him ‘Don’t worry’ and he gathered the Sahaba and told them to help their brother. Some of them would bring seedlings of palm trees until I had 300 seedlings. Rasul Allah told me that when I have collected 300 seedlings I should dig the hole for them but not to plant them and to go to him and tell him first. When he did so, he informed the Prophet (saw) and the Prophet (saw) would carry the seedlings and would plant them one by one with his own blessed hands. None of those 300 palm trees died and they all grew and survived. Now he had to pay 40 ounces of gold, and later on a small amount of gold was given to Rasul Allah (saw) and asked for Salman. He therefore told him to take this gold and free himself from slavery.
When he saw the gold, it seemed insufficient but when he took it to his master it weighed 40 ounces exactly. And he said: “And then I was free and I never missed anything with Rasul Allah (saw) after that. The first battle he participated in was the Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq) and he was the one who came up with the idea of digging the trench.
The first man Salman studied under was evil and corrupt, and these are characteristics that could have made him turn away from seeking knowledge. Nowadays, we say that our actions are a reason why people are turning away from Islam. It’s true to a certain extent but if someone is sincere in their search for the truth, the truth is one thing and people’s actions are another. Salman did not reject Christianity due to the character of this man, he stuck with him and remained and rewarded him later on, by letting him by the side of the best man he had ever known.
We learn two things from this:
Allah states in the Qur’an that the ones who searches for guidance, Allah will give it to them but you have to look for it. If you walk towards Allah, Allah will run towards you, if you take one step towards Allah, He will take many steps towards you, but you have to take that first step. Salman was searching for it and got it. We shouldn’t be let down when we see someone not doing the right thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with the message itself. There were remnants of true believers before Rasul Allah (saw) but they were dying and didn’t leave anyone behind them.
The Muslim community must be supportive of their own brothers as the Sahaba freed Salman. We should take care of the needs of the new reverts, for this is part of Da’wah, being responsible for the people who joined your ranks. The risk is that if they don’t get help during those critical periods, they could apostate. These reasons are:
Many of them are stripped from social belongings, neglected by their families, and rejected by their friends. They are in need of a social belonging and a new association.
Some of them come with dire financial needs and if they don’t get them, they get sidetracked and instead focus on fulfilling these needs than learning about Islam.
CD5-The Marriage to Khadija (ra) and Reasons of Marriages
CD5
By:Imam Anwar Awlaki
The Marriage of Rasul Allah (saw) to Khadija (ra)
Khadija was a well-known and prosperous woman in Makkah, not married, and elder in age. She has a business of trading from Makkah to Ash-Sham. In Surah Al-Quraish, it documents their journey going from Makkah to Syria and coming back, one in the winter and the other in summer. Khadija hired men to work for her and take care of her business and she hired the Prophet Muhammad (saw) since she heard of his honesty. She had her servant, Maisarah, accompany the Prophet (saw) during his journey. When he went to Ash-Sham and back, Maisarah told Khadija that the Prophet’s trustworthiness and honesty is amazing, and she was praising Rasul Allah. Khadija became interested in him and thought his character was admirable, so she said that she wanted to marry Rasul Allah (saw) and he agreed.
He was 25, and she was 40, and he never married anyone else before Khadija passed away. All of the children of Rasul Allah were from Khadija (Fatima, Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, al-Qaasim, and Abdullah). Rasul Allah loved Khadija so much and his loyalty even after she passed away by always remembering her and always mentioning her and that sometimes would cause jealousy among the other wives. He had so much respect for her because Khadija was the one who stood up for him and supported him when everybody else betrayed him.
Aisha (ra) would sometimes feel jealousy and said: “I did not become jealous of any of the wives of Rasul Allah except Khadija. And I had not seen her. The Prophet (saw) used to slaughter a sheep and would send the meat to the friends of Khadija. And one day I angered him by replying out of jealousy, and Rasul Allah said ‘I have been given by Allah her love’. In another hadeeth, Aisha said: “The Messenger of Allah used to not leave his home without praising Khadija, one of the days he praised her and out of jealousy I said ‘was she not but an elder woman that Allah has replaced for you with what is better?’ He became angered and said ‘No, by Allah, He did not send me a replacement with someone better for she had faith in me when the people rejected, she believed me when the people belied me, she made comfortable with what she had when the people denied me, and Allah has blessed me with children from her.”
This also shows us an aspect of the character of Rasul Allah, about his loyalty to those whom he loved. Before Rasul Allah (saw) passed away, one of the things he did was go and visit the cemetery of his friends who died in the Battle of Uhud. There were 70 companions, and when he felt that he was about to leave this world, he went to the cemetery and made dua’ for them, and he mentions in that dua’ that soon they will meet. He missed them so much that he wanted to be close to them and to join them together in Jannah. He had a strong relationship with the Sahabah and Khadija who stood with him in moments of difficulty.
Khadija was a special person. Jibril descended to Rasul Allah (saw) and said: “Khadija is going to approach you now and she is carrying some food. When she arrives, tell her Allah is giving her salaam and tell her that I am giving her salaam.” And then Jibril said: “and give her the glad tidings of a palace in Paradise.” Khadija is one of the four greatest women that ever lived. Rasul Allah (saw) said that they are Maryam bint ‘Imran, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Fatimah bint Muhammad, and Asiyah bint Muzah. All of these women had something to do with a Nabi. Two were mothers of the prophets (Maryam was the mother of ‘Isa (as) and Asiyah brought up Musa (as), Khadija was the wife of Rasul Allah, and Fatimah was his daughter.
Refutations to the claims of the enemies of Islam to smear the reputation of Rasul Allah (saw)
1. Rasul Allah (saw) reached the age of 25 and he was known as chaste in an environment that was corrupt. Aisha (ra) relates that there are four relationships between men and women in Makkah at that time. One was marriage, or brothels that were legal in Makkah and they have flags to indicate, women would sleep with men up to 10 and she can call this men in and can pick any one for the father of her child, a man would allow his wife to sleep with a noble man so that they would have a noble lineage. He was able to stay away from all of these corruptions until he got married to someone older than him and a widow.
2. He could have chosen for himself any women from Makkah. But he chose Khadija and remained to be married until he was 50 years old (25 years together) and it is a clear indication that he was noble and honorable in his intentions.
3. Khadija passes away and he remains a bachelor for 2-3 years. Later on he marries another widow, Saudah (ra). Reason for him marrying her was that her husband died and she was in Abyssinia. Out of his care for his companions he married her to provide for her. In the last ten years of his life he married many women and left behind 9 wives when he passed away.
Reasons for his marriages:
1. To forge alliances – when we study the marriage life and look at his life comprehensively, he devoted all of his efforts for the promotion of Islam, even his decision of marriage. He married them to bring the tribes closer to Islam like his marriage to Juwairiyah which ended up making the whole tribe of Banu Mustalaq Muslims.
2. Caring for his Companions – like the example of Saudah (ra).
3. Rasul Allah wanted to strengthen his ties with his closest companions – he had a strong brotherly feeling towards them. The relationship he had with the Sahaba was so strong and they were together through hardship and ease. So he married the daughter of Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab. And he married his daughter to Uthman. When his daughter passed away, he gave his other daughter. And when she passed away, Rasul Allah (saw) said: “If I had 99 daughters, I would marry them to Uthman one after another.” He married his most beloved daughter, Fatima, to Ali bin Abi Talib.
4. Conveying the religion – we are to follow his Sunnah as a statesman, imam, teacher, military leader, and as a family man. Rasul Allah (saw) did not have many children, so the wives would be the ones who would be able to convey to us how he was with his family. If he had only one wife, it would be difficult for this wife to recall every aspect of the family life of Rasul Allah, and she could easily be discredit because she was only one source. His family life is one of the most important aspects of his Sunnah for it relates to every one of us. Therefore, he had multiple wives so that they could convey to us this body of knowledge of how the Prophet (saw) conducted himself in his private life. Therefore it was important for Rasul Allah to have multiple wives and why he was excluded from the limit of four or less due to his special circumstances as a protection of His religion.
The most targeted marriages of Rasul Allah (saw) were his marriages to Aisha (ra) and Zainab bint Jahsh (ra). Aisha because he married her at the age of 6 and consummated the marriage at the age of 9, while Zainab was the wife of his adopted son and then Rasul Allah (saw) married her later on.
It just so happens that these marriages are the only two marriages that are divinely instructed. His marriage to Zainab was instructed in the Qur’an in Surah Al-Ahzab. “When Zayd left her, We commanded you to marry her.” And the marriage to Aisha was divinely inspired through the dream he saw, as he says: “Jibril (as) came to me and I saw you (Aisha) covered behind a silk curtain, and when I would uncover you I saw you and Jibril told me ‘this is your wife in Dunyah and in Akhirah’.” And he saw this dream twice, and as we know all dreams of the prophets are revelations and true.
The marriage to Aisha was so important because one of the greatest blessings of Allah to us as Muslims is that Rasul Allah (saw) married her. It was one of the best things that happened to us. She had the mind of a scholar, very bright and intelligent, and had an inquisitive nature. Aisha says of herself: “The companions of Rasul Allah used to hear the hadeeth and immediately followed it, while I used to ask Rasul Allah questions about it.” Being the wife and most beloved had this informal relationship with Rasul Allah (saw) so she could afford to question him and ask him while the others wouldn’t dare do that. But Aisha being young and playful, Rasul Allah could say something and she could ask and could argue. She became one of the greatest scholars of Islam. She comes fourth in the list of the top narrators of ahadeeth.
1. Abu Hurayrah (5000+)
2. Abdullah Ibn Umar (2600)
3. Anas bin Malik
4. Aisha (2200)
· Other marriages of Rasul Allah include Umm Habibah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan who was in Abbysinia and whose husband converted to Christianity. Later on, her husband passed away and Rasul Allah (saw) sent a letter to Najashi for him to marry Umm Habibah because Rasul Allah had sympathy for what she went through. Rasul Allah (saw) also wanted to soften the stance of his enemies since Abu Sufyan was happy that this marriage took place. He said: “And who is better to marry than Muhammad?” Abu Sufyan knows the lineage of Rasul Allah, from Banu Hashim so he was proud and happy his daughter married Rasul Allah.
· Umm Salamah was one of the ones who made hijrah to Abyssinia and came back to Madinah and when Abu Salamah passed away, he married her to take care of the wives of his companions. He was the caretaker of this ummah.
· An important event happened during his life. A flood happened and affected the structure of Al-Ka’bah, located in the low valley of the mountains. The flood caused cracks in the walls of Al-Ka’bah, so they rebuilt it. Al-Ka’bah has been built and re built 4 or 5 times depending on who was the first to build it. There is a difference of opinion of whether it was Ibrahim or Adam. However, the majority opinion is that it was Ibrahim. Those who say it was Adam don’t contradict the Qur’an since it is mentioned that Ibrahim was raising the foundations of the House, meaning that there was already something there for them to raise it. But the common belief amongst our scholars is that it was Ibrahim. However, there is no dispute about the holiness of the place since the earth was created. And we know that it was the first house to be built for the remembrance of Allah. “First House established for My worship is the one in Bakkah (Makkah).”
1. Ibrahim built it
2. When Makkah was flooded, the people of Quraish wanted to rebuild it. They had to tear it down but none of them agreed to make that move. They were waiting with their equipment but no one moved because of the honor and respect they had for Al-Ka’bah even though they were Mushrikeen at that time but they feared Allah and thought it was dangerous. One of them said that he and his sons would do it so they came in the morning and started tearing it down whilst saying to Allah not to be afraid and that they only want good. This is a wrong concept they held about the greatness of Allah, since Allah knows what’s in their hearts. They brought wood from a Roman ship that had crashed and this became the first roof of Al-Ka’bah to be built.
The people of Quraish knew that money from interest was no good, and they made a decision that they will only use pure money. They ran short of funds so they shortened it from a rectangular shape to a square to save money. The area of al-Ka’bah which they excluded was the area of Al-Hijr, an enclosed area in a semi-circle that used to be part of the original building of Al-Ka’bah. It also used to have two gates and they made it one, and raised the doorstep, which means that you had to climb to get into it. Rasul Allah says, while talking to Aisha: “Don’t you know that your people had insufficient funds for the expenses, if it were not for the fact that your people were recently unbelievers, I would have torn down the Ka’bah and made for it one door in the east and one door in the west and I would have included the Hijr area within it.” When he opened Makkah, he wanted to restructure Ka’bah in its original foundations, but then he told Aisha that the reason why he wasn’t going to do this is because your people just became Muslim, still soft and eman is weak so it might become fitnah for them.
· There is an important lesson to be learned here and it is that the Da’ee has to keep in mind the condition of the people into consideration. Abdullah bin Mas’ood says: “When you tell the people something that is beyond their comprehension, or understanding, or eeman, it might become a trial for some of them.”
The reason why the Quraish made the door high is so that they could control who comes in and out of the Ka’bah, it was a matter of show of power.
Rasul Allah (saw) participated in the rebuilding of Ka’bah and reached to the holiest part of the Ka’bah, which is the black stone. They had a dispute about who would have the honor of placing the black stone because every tribe wanted to contribute. But every tribe wanted to put the black stone until they sought a resolution by Ommaya, the oldest man among them. He had a suggestion and said that let’s agree that the first man to walk in towards Al-Ka’bah will be given the complete authority in judging between us. They all gathered and waited for the first person to come, and it was the Prophet Muhammad (saw). They all stood up and said: “The truthful and the trustworthy, we all agree.” They knew of his fairness and they were pleased with this turn of events.
Rasul Allah (saw) told them to get a piece of clothe, and he placed the black stone in the middle of it and asked a representative from each clan to hold the cloth from one side, and they all raised it up together at the same time. Therefore every one of them participated in the lifting of the black stone, and when they reached the place where the black stone is situated, he picked up the black stone and placed it there. So it was rasul Allah who put the black stone in its spot.
3. Years later, Abdullah bin Zubair became the Amir of Makkah, and knew of the hadith regarding the structure of Al-Ka’bah that the Prophet (saw) wanted when the Ka’bah was burnt during the war between ibn Zubair and Bani Umayya. That damage could’ve been fixed without tearing down the Ka’bah but he wanted to take advantage of it and build the Ka’bah on its original foundation and fulfill the description stated by Rasul Allah in the hadeeth which he did.
4. Ibn Zubair was killed and Hajjaj bin Yusuf took over and the khalifah at that time Malik bin Marwan was not familiar with this hadeeth so he gave his commands to rebuild the Ka’bah to the way it was before Ibn Zubair rebuilt it. So the Ka’bah was shortened again according to the way the people of Quraish built it. After the khilafah of Bani Umayya, Banu’l Abbas took over and one of the member was thinking of rebuilding the Ka’bah again back to its original foundations (rectangular) and he consulted Imam Malik, but he told the Khalifah that “we do not want Al-Ka’bah to become a toy in the hands of kings. They keep changing its size every now and then, even though Rasul Allah’s wish is to keep it on the foundations of Ibrahim, but let’s keep it and not change it anymore.” It was a very wise advice from Imam Malik and the Khalifah followed it.
· The Ka’bah that we have today is built on the foundation of Quraish. But this is something good because if it was built on foundations of Ibrahim, we would’ve been deprived of the pleasure of praying inside the Ka’bah but since it is shortened, the area of the semi circle is still part of Al-Ka’bah and if we pray there it would be like we prayed inside the Ka’bah. And we know that the Prophet (saw), when he conquered Makkah, prayed 8 rak’ah inside Al-Ka’bah. So now we have the chance to pray inside al-Hijr and it would be counted as if you prayed inside the Ka’bah.
· Over the time, the height of the Ka’bah increased but the size of it remained the same. The stones that the Ka’bah are built of some of the stones that were used by Ibrahim (as). Other ones were introduced later but the Black Stone has never changed since the time of Ibrahim.
· There were many stories about the Black Stone, and there is an authentic hadeeth that the Prophet (saw) said: “the Black Stone was white but it turned black due to the sins of the sons of Adam.” And another one that states that it is the right hand of Allah on earth. It is very special and honored and respected and the only part of Ka’bah that is kissed and pointed from a distance.
· The Prophet (saw) would leave Makkah and spend time in the Cave of Hira’ in a mountain that is fairly close to Makkah. He would take some food and stay in seclusion in this cave worshipping Allah. From the cave, you can see Al-Ka’bah. He would spend nights and days there worshipping before prophet hood. It was a chance for him to reflect and contemplate on Allah and Allah was also training him through these moments of reflection for they purify the heart. Sa’eed Hawwa comments on this and says “Solitude was a tradition of some who would seek the guidance of Allah with the remembrance of Allah and worship. It was used to illuminate the hearts and remove its shadows by disconnecting it from its heedlessness and desires. Some would advice this at the beginning of the journey to belief, as this was the example of the Prophet when he spent time in solitude before and at the beginning of his prophethood.” As a muslim, you are recommended to spend some time alone in dhikr, remembering Allah.
· One should not go to extreme of going away from society completely or to indulge into the society completely. We should go through the middle road, by spending some time with people and socializing while also spending time alone between us and Allah. Qiyam-ul-Layl is a chance for solitude, praying at night alone and the sincerity is pure for the sake of Allah. It purifies the heart, and it is known that too much laughing and socializing obscures the heart and veils it. Spending some time worshipping Allah in solitude is the cure for this. Allah said: “Behold! In the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and the alternation of the night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding, men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides. And contemplate the wonders of creation in the Heavens and the Earth with the thought, ‘Our Lord not for naught has Thou created all this. Glory to You and give us salvation from the chastisement of the Fire.”
By:Imam Anwar Awlaki
The Marriage of Rasul Allah (saw) to Khadija (ra)
Khadija was a well-known and prosperous woman in Makkah, not married, and elder in age. She has a business of trading from Makkah to Ash-Sham. In Surah Al-Quraish, it documents their journey going from Makkah to Syria and coming back, one in the winter and the other in summer. Khadija hired men to work for her and take care of her business and she hired the Prophet Muhammad (saw) since she heard of his honesty. She had her servant, Maisarah, accompany the Prophet (saw) during his journey. When he went to Ash-Sham and back, Maisarah told Khadija that the Prophet’s trustworthiness and honesty is amazing, and she was praising Rasul Allah. Khadija became interested in him and thought his character was admirable, so she said that she wanted to marry Rasul Allah (saw) and he agreed.
He was 25, and she was 40, and he never married anyone else before Khadija passed away. All of the children of Rasul Allah were from Khadija (Fatima, Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, al-Qaasim, and Abdullah). Rasul Allah loved Khadija so much and his loyalty even after she passed away by always remembering her and always mentioning her and that sometimes would cause jealousy among the other wives. He had so much respect for her because Khadija was the one who stood up for him and supported him when everybody else betrayed him.
Aisha (ra) would sometimes feel jealousy and said: “I did not become jealous of any of the wives of Rasul Allah except Khadija. And I had not seen her. The Prophet (saw) used to slaughter a sheep and would send the meat to the friends of Khadija. And one day I angered him by replying out of jealousy, and Rasul Allah said ‘I have been given by Allah her love’. In another hadeeth, Aisha said: “The Messenger of Allah used to not leave his home without praising Khadija, one of the days he praised her and out of jealousy I said ‘was she not but an elder woman that Allah has replaced for you with what is better?’ He became angered and said ‘No, by Allah, He did not send me a replacement with someone better for she had faith in me when the people rejected, she believed me when the people belied me, she made comfortable with what she had when the people denied me, and Allah has blessed me with children from her.”
This also shows us an aspect of the character of Rasul Allah, about his loyalty to those whom he loved. Before Rasul Allah (saw) passed away, one of the things he did was go and visit the cemetery of his friends who died in the Battle of Uhud. There were 70 companions, and when he felt that he was about to leave this world, he went to the cemetery and made dua’ for them, and he mentions in that dua’ that soon they will meet. He missed them so much that he wanted to be close to them and to join them together in Jannah. He had a strong relationship with the Sahabah and Khadija who stood with him in moments of difficulty.
Khadija was a special person. Jibril descended to Rasul Allah (saw) and said: “Khadija is going to approach you now and she is carrying some food. When she arrives, tell her Allah is giving her salaam and tell her that I am giving her salaam.” And then Jibril said: “and give her the glad tidings of a palace in Paradise.” Khadija is one of the four greatest women that ever lived. Rasul Allah (saw) said that they are Maryam bint ‘Imran, Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Fatimah bint Muhammad, and Asiyah bint Muzah. All of these women had something to do with a Nabi. Two were mothers of the prophets (Maryam was the mother of ‘Isa (as) and Asiyah brought up Musa (as), Khadija was the wife of Rasul Allah, and Fatimah was his daughter.
Refutations to the claims of the enemies of Islam to smear the reputation of Rasul Allah (saw)
1. Rasul Allah (saw) reached the age of 25 and he was known as chaste in an environment that was corrupt. Aisha (ra) relates that there are four relationships between men and women in Makkah at that time. One was marriage, or brothels that were legal in Makkah and they have flags to indicate, women would sleep with men up to 10 and she can call this men in and can pick any one for the father of her child, a man would allow his wife to sleep with a noble man so that they would have a noble lineage. He was able to stay away from all of these corruptions until he got married to someone older than him and a widow.
2. He could have chosen for himself any women from Makkah. But he chose Khadija and remained to be married until he was 50 years old (25 years together) and it is a clear indication that he was noble and honorable in his intentions.
3. Khadija passes away and he remains a bachelor for 2-3 years. Later on he marries another widow, Saudah (ra). Reason for him marrying her was that her husband died and she was in Abyssinia. Out of his care for his companions he married her to provide for her. In the last ten years of his life he married many women and left behind 9 wives when he passed away.
Reasons for his marriages:
1. To forge alliances – when we study the marriage life and look at his life comprehensively, he devoted all of his efforts for the promotion of Islam, even his decision of marriage. He married them to bring the tribes closer to Islam like his marriage to Juwairiyah which ended up making the whole tribe of Banu Mustalaq Muslims.
2. Caring for his Companions – like the example of Saudah (ra).
3. Rasul Allah wanted to strengthen his ties with his closest companions – he had a strong brotherly feeling towards them. The relationship he had with the Sahaba was so strong and they were together through hardship and ease. So he married the daughter of Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab. And he married his daughter to Uthman. When his daughter passed away, he gave his other daughter. And when she passed away, Rasul Allah (saw) said: “If I had 99 daughters, I would marry them to Uthman one after another.” He married his most beloved daughter, Fatima, to Ali bin Abi Talib.
4. Conveying the religion – we are to follow his Sunnah as a statesman, imam, teacher, military leader, and as a family man. Rasul Allah (saw) did not have many children, so the wives would be the ones who would be able to convey to us how he was with his family. If he had only one wife, it would be difficult for this wife to recall every aspect of the family life of Rasul Allah, and she could easily be discredit because she was only one source. His family life is one of the most important aspects of his Sunnah for it relates to every one of us. Therefore, he had multiple wives so that they could convey to us this body of knowledge of how the Prophet (saw) conducted himself in his private life. Therefore it was important for Rasul Allah to have multiple wives and why he was excluded from the limit of four or less due to his special circumstances as a protection of His religion.
The most targeted marriages of Rasul Allah (saw) were his marriages to Aisha (ra) and Zainab bint Jahsh (ra). Aisha because he married her at the age of 6 and consummated the marriage at the age of 9, while Zainab was the wife of his adopted son and then Rasul Allah (saw) married her later on.
It just so happens that these marriages are the only two marriages that are divinely instructed. His marriage to Zainab was instructed in the Qur’an in Surah Al-Ahzab. “When Zayd left her, We commanded you to marry her.” And the marriage to Aisha was divinely inspired through the dream he saw, as he says: “Jibril (as) came to me and I saw you (Aisha) covered behind a silk curtain, and when I would uncover you I saw you and Jibril told me ‘this is your wife in Dunyah and in Akhirah’.” And he saw this dream twice, and as we know all dreams of the prophets are revelations and true.
The marriage to Aisha was so important because one of the greatest blessings of Allah to us as Muslims is that Rasul Allah (saw) married her. It was one of the best things that happened to us. She had the mind of a scholar, very bright and intelligent, and had an inquisitive nature. Aisha says of herself: “The companions of Rasul Allah used to hear the hadeeth and immediately followed it, while I used to ask Rasul Allah questions about it.” Being the wife and most beloved had this informal relationship with Rasul Allah (saw) so she could afford to question him and ask him while the others wouldn’t dare do that. But Aisha being young and playful, Rasul Allah could say something and she could ask and could argue. She became one of the greatest scholars of Islam. She comes fourth in the list of the top narrators of ahadeeth.
1. Abu Hurayrah (5000+)
2. Abdullah Ibn Umar (2600)
3. Anas bin Malik
4. Aisha (2200)
· Other marriages of Rasul Allah include Umm Habibah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan who was in Abbysinia and whose husband converted to Christianity. Later on, her husband passed away and Rasul Allah (saw) sent a letter to Najashi for him to marry Umm Habibah because Rasul Allah had sympathy for what she went through. Rasul Allah (saw) also wanted to soften the stance of his enemies since Abu Sufyan was happy that this marriage took place. He said: “And who is better to marry than Muhammad?” Abu Sufyan knows the lineage of Rasul Allah, from Banu Hashim so he was proud and happy his daughter married Rasul Allah.
· Umm Salamah was one of the ones who made hijrah to Abyssinia and came back to Madinah and when Abu Salamah passed away, he married her to take care of the wives of his companions. He was the caretaker of this ummah.
· An important event happened during his life. A flood happened and affected the structure of Al-Ka’bah, located in the low valley of the mountains. The flood caused cracks in the walls of Al-Ka’bah, so they rebuilt it. Al-Ka’bah has been built and re built 4 or 5 times depending on who was the first to build it. There is a difference of opinion of whether it was Ibrahim or Adam. However, the majority opinion is that it was Ibrahim. Those who say it was Adam don’t contradict the Qur’an since it is mentioned that Ibrahim was raising the foundations of the House, meaning that there was already something there for them to raise it. But the common belief amongst our scholars is that it was Ibrahim. However, there is no dispute about the holiness of the place since the earth was created. And we know that it was the first house to be built for the remembrance of Allah. “First House established for My worship is the one in Bakkah (Makkah).”
1. Ibrahim built it
2. When Makkah was flooded, the people of Quraish wanted to rebuild it. They had to tear it down but none of them agreed to make that move. They were waiting with their equipment but no one moved because of the honor and respect they had for Al-Ka’bah even though they were Mushrikeen at that time but they feared Allah and thought it was dangerous. One of them said that he and his sons would do it so they came in the morning and started tearing it down whilst saying to Allah not to be afraid and that they only want good. This is a wrong concept they held about the greatness of Allah, since Allah knows what’s in their hearts. They brought wood from a Roman ship that had crashed and this became the first roof of Al-Ka’bah to be built.
The people of Quraish knew that money from interest was no good, and they made a decision that they will only use pure money. They ran short of funds so they shortened it from a rectangular shape to a square to save money. The area of al-Ka’bah which they excluded was the area of Al-Hijr, an enclosed area in a semi-circle that used to be part of the original building of Al-Ka’bah. It also used to have two gates and they made it one, and raised the doorstep, which means that you had to climb to get into it. Rasul Allah says, while talking to Aisha: “Don’t you know that your people had insufficient funds for the expenses, if it were not for the fact that your people were recently unbelievers, I would have torn down the Ka’bah and made for it one door in the east and one door in the west and I would have included the Hijr area within it.” When he opened Makkah, he wanted to restructure Ka’bah in its original foundations, but then he told Aisha that the reason why he wasn’t going to do this is because your people just became Muslim, still soft and eman is weak so it might become fitnah for them.
· There is an important lesson to be learned here and it is that the Da’ee has to keep in mind the condition of the people into consideration. Abdullah bin Mas’ood says: “When you tell the people something that is beyond their comprehension, or understanding, or eeman, it might become a trial for some of them.”
The reason why the Quraish made the door high is so that they could control who comes in and out of the Ka’bah, it was a matter of show of power.
Rasul Allah (saw) participated in the rebuilding of Ka’bah and reached to the holiest part of the Ka’bah, which is the black stone. They had a dispute about who would have the honor of placing the black stone because every tribe wanted to contribute. But every tribe wanted to put the black stone until they sought a resolution by Ommaya, the oldest man among them. He had a suggestion and said that let’s agree that the first man to walk in towards Al-Ka’bah will be given the complete authority in judging between us. They all gathered and waited for the first person to come, and it was the Prophet Muhammad (saw). They all stood up and said: “The truthful and the trustworthy, we all agree.” They knew of his fairness and they were pleased with this turn of events.
Rasul Allah (saw) told them to get a piece of clothe, and he placed the black stone in the middle of it and asked a representative from each clan to hold the cloth from one side, and they all raised it up together at the same time. Therefore every one of them participated in the lifting of the black stone, and when they reached the place where the black stone is situated, he picked up the black stone and placed it there. So it was rasul Allah who put the black stone in its spot.
3. Years later, Abdullah bin Zubair became the Amir of Makkah, and knew of the hadith regarding the structure of Al-Ka’bah that the Prophet (saw) wanted when the Ka’bah was burnt during the war between ibn Zubair and Bani Umayya. That damage could’ve been fixed without tearing down the Ka’bah but he wanted to take advantage of it and build the Ka’bah on its original foundation and fulfill the description stated by Rasul Allah in the hadeeth which he did.
4. Ibn Zubair was killed and Hajjaj bin Yusuf took over and the khalifah at that time Malik bin Marwan was not familiar with this hadeeth so he gave his commands to rebuild the Ka’bah to the way it was before Ibn Zubair rebuilt it. So the Ka’bah was shortened again according to the way the people of Quraish built it. After the khilafah of Bani Umayya, Banu’l Abbas took over and one of the member was thinking of rebuilding the Ka’bah again back to its original foundations (rectangular) and he consulted Imam Malik, but he told the Khalifah that “we do not want Al-Ka’bah to become a toy in the hands of kings. They keep changing its size every now and then, even though Rasul Allah’s wish is to keep it on the foundations of Ibrahim, but let’s keep it and not change it anymore.” It was a very wise advice from Imam Malik and the Khalifah followed it.
· The Ka’bah that we have today is built on the foundation of Quraish. But this is something good because if it was built on foundations of Ibrahim, we would’ve been deprived of the pleasure of praying inside the Ka’bah but since it is shortened, the area of the semi circle is still part of Al-Ka’bah and if we pray there it would be like we prayed inside the Ka’bah. And we know that the Prophet (saw), when he conquered Makkah, prayed 8 rak’ah inside Al-Ka’bah. So now we have the chance to pray inside al-Hijr and it would be counted as if you prayed inside the Ka’bah.
· Over the time, the height of the Ka’bah increased but the size of it remained the same. The stones that the Ka’bah are built of some of the stones that were used by Ibrahim (as). Other ones were introduced later but the Black Stone has never changed since the time of Ibrahim.
· There were many stories about the Black Stone, and there is an authentic hadeeth that the Prophet (saw) said: “the Black Stone was white but it turned black due to the sins of the sons of Adam.” And another one that states that it is the right hand of Allah on earth. It is very special and honored and respected and the only part of Ka’bah that is kissed and pointed from a distance.
· The Prophet (saw) would leave Makkah and spend time in the Cave of Hira’ in a mountain that is fairly close to Makkah. He would take some food and stay in seclusion in this cave worshipping Allah. From the cave, you can see Al-Ka’bah. He would spend nights and days there worshipping before prophet hood. It was a chance for him to reflect and contemplate on Allah and Allah was also training him through these moments of reflection for they purify the heart. Sa’eed Hawwa comments on this and says “Solitude was a tradition of some who would seek the guidance of Allah with the remembrance of Allah and worship. It was used to illuminate the hearts and remove its shadows by disconnecting it from its heedlessness and desires. Some would advice this at the beginning of the journey to belief, as this was the example of the Prophet when he spent time in solitude before and at the beginning of his prophethood.” As a muslim, you are recommended to spend some time alone in dhikr, remembering Allah.
· One should not go to extreme of going away from society completely or to indulge into the society completely. We should go through the middle road, by spending some time with people and socializing while also spending time alone between us and Allah. Qiyam-ul-Layl is a chance for solitude, praying at night alone and the sincerity is pure for the sake of Allah. It purifies the heart, and it is known that too much laughing and socializing obscures the heart and veils it. Spending some time worshipping Allah in solitude is the cure for this. Allah said: “Behold! In the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and the alternation of the night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding, men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides. And contemplate the wonders of creation in the Heavens and the Earth with the thought, ‘Our Lord not for naught has Thou created all this. Glory to You and give us salvation from the chastisement of the Fire.”
CD4-The Background of Arabia/Events Leading to Prophethood.
CD4
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
The situation in Arabia and the world was very desperate. It wasn’t entirely evil, people around the world still had good qualities. Al-Buti mentions some of the characteristics of the Arabs in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) like generosity and hospitality, fulfilling of a pledge, justice, firm will and determination, perseverance and deliberateness, pure and simple life. These were the aspects taken advantage by Islam. The Sahaba due to these qualities made them successful in spreading the word of Islam. The Sahaba were seen as a liberating army that would free them from servitude, like in Egypt and Syria. They also didn’t care for power and authority, they would train among the local people leadership and give the power back to them. They wanted to spread islam and not to conquer for power and take advantage of people and their wealth. They were strong and powerful and were true to their word, and that it why Allah chose that particular area to be the birthplace of Rasul Allah (saw) and to carry the eternal message of Islam.
Rasul Allah (saw) was born in the year of the Elephant, the year in which Allah destroyed the army of Abraha. Miracles during the birth of the Prophet (saw) are usually narrated weak but there are some authentic narrations. When his mother, Aminah, was giving birth, Abdullah was traveling to Ash-Sham but he ended up dying close to Madinah and he was buried there, and died before the birth of his son. Rasul Allah was born and his mother saw a light that was coming out of her and reaching to Ash-Sham. This was interpreted as the light of the message of Islam reaching to the world. Allah chose the best to be His messenger, Rasul Allah. Certain statements reached the Prophet (saw) and he mounted the pulpit and asked: “Who am I?” they replied and said: “You are the messenger of Allah.” And he replied: “I am Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul Muttali, Allah divided the creation and made me part of the best creatures. He made them all into two groups, placing me in the better of them, divided them into tribes and put me in the best of them, subdivided into clans and placed me in the best one. I am the best of you in clan and in spirit.” Rasul Allah said he is not one good man amongst evil people but he is the best from among the best around him. Rasul Allah (saw) also said: “Verily Allah granted eminence to al-Kinanah from the descendants of Ismai’l and he granted eminence to the Qurais from al-Kinanah and he granted eminence to Bani Hashim from al-Qurash, and he granted me eminence from the tribe of Banu Hashim.” He also said: “I am a product of marriage and not fornication from Adam right on up to when my father and my mother had me. I was never tainted by the fornication of al-Jahiliyah.”
The famous names of the Prophet (saw) that we know are Muhammad and Ahmad but there are additional names.
1. Muhammad – named by his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. It means “to be eternally praised”. Allah has fulfilled the meaning of his name, no other person has been praised as much as the Prophet Muhammad (saw). He is praised day and night.
2. Ahmad – come from the same root ‘hamd’ which means praise. It means “he praises” Allah. He was the most among us who praised Allah the most.
3. Al-Haashir – “The gatherer” to whom people will be resurrected in his wake. The Prophet is the first to be resurrected on the DOJ and then followed by others.
4. Al-Muqaffi – “The successor” for he was the last of the prophets and messengers and there shall be none succeeding him.
5. Al-Maahy – “The eraser” the one who erases and eradicates kufr. There is no prophet who will succeed in total eradication until the time of ‘Isa by the Ummah of Muhammad (saw) under his leadership.
6. Nabi ul-Malhamah – “the Prophet of the fierce battle”. Makhamah is a fierce battle and a series of battles. He was named so because his Ummah are the greatest in terms of Jihad. Also, it could be that the future of humanity after him will be that of fierce battles, like WWI and WWII.
· Rasul Allah (saw) was nursed initially by his mother and Umm Ayman (Barakah), an Abyssinian woman who lived in Makkah. Rasul Allah married her to his emancipated slave, Zayd bin Haritha. It was a tradition among the urban arabs to send their children to grow up in the desert, believing that it is more pure and a healthier environment to live in, as well as strengthen the character of the children due to the harshness of the desert. The Prophet was in the land of Banu Sa’d. To continue, refer to the book about Halimah and what happened when she chose the orphan child (Prophet Muhammad) and the blessings thereafter and the first cleaning of his heart and when he was returned to Aaminah.
· His mother died when he was 6 yrs. old, so now he lost his father and mother. Abdul Muttalib adopted him and he passed away when he was 8. Now he was taken care of by Abu Talib who helped him and supported him for the next forty years of his life.
Important Events leading up to his prophethood
Rasul Allah (saw) was protected by Allah, he would not commit sins which were usual and normal amongst his people. He narrates an example: “I was a shepherd and one day I told my friend tonight I want to go into Makkah to attend the parties my peers attend. So I told him to take care of my flock until I come back. I went and arrived to the place where the party was and as soon as I heard the music, Allah stuck my ears and immediately I fell asleep. By the time I woke up, the party was over. The next day, I decided to attend another party and the same thing happened. And I realized that it was a sign to me from Allah.” Zaid narrates: “There was a brass idol which the polytheists would touch as they would perform tawaaf. The prophet told him not to touch it. As I went around the Ka’bah I wanted to touch it just to see what would happen. When I did so, RA said were you not forbidden to do that? The Prophet (saw) never saluted an idol until when Allah gave him the revelation.” It was guidance coming from Allah, and he had a natural dislike for idol worshipping. He also influenced his family such as Zaid and Ali so they never worshipped idols.
The people of Quraish participated in all rituals of Hajj except participating in the day of Arafah. This is because Arafah was considered outside the boundaries of the sacred place. So all Arabs would go to Arafah except the people of Quraish saying that they are the dwellers of Al-Haram, how can we go outside of it? So they would stop at the borders of Arafat. Mut’am ibn Jubair lost his camel and ended up searching for it in arafah and to his amazement he finds the Prophet (saw). This is an indication that Allah was guiding the Prophet (saw) to the fitrah and the rituals of hajj.
The first profession for Rasul Allah (saw) was shepherding. He said: “Allah has not sent a prophet except that he was a shepherd.” And his companions asked: “And you?” the Prophet said: “Yes, I used to herd sheep, with compensation from the people of Makkah.” Allah has trained all of his prophets going through this line of work. Lessons that they learned from being shepherds specifically of sheeps/goats (ghanam):
Responsibility – The Prophet (saw) said: “You are all shepherds, and you are all responsible for your herd. The Imam (leader of the Muslims) is responsible for the Muslims, man is responsible for the household, woman is responsible…” Shepherds are usually hired to tend the flock, they don’t own it but by someone else, therefore they have to report to a higher authority. Therefore, the shepherds have a responsibility of making sure that the sheep remain safe even if the herd is not responsible for themselves. This is a valuable lesson for a leader. And the prophets of Allah will be held accountable for their Ummah’s actions.
Patience – taking out sheep to graze, they take their time and they are slow so you have to wait and be patient. Shepherds usually just sit on the rock and look over the sheep while they graze, leaving in the morning and coming back at sunset. The prophets learned to be patient with their people, as Musa (as) was with Bani Israil and his experience being a shepherd for 10 years helped him deal with their disobedience. Nuh for 950 years, he tried all ways to bring his people to the call of Tawheed.
Protection – the shepherd protects the flock. There are various seen or unseen dangers (woleves, beasts, diseases), all of these the shepherd have to consistently make sure no danger comes to the flock. The prophets of Allah tried to protect their people from physical and psychological dangers. In Madinah, a commotion was heard so some of the Sahaba prepared with their horses and weapons. On the way there, they saw that the Prophet (saw) was already on his way back telling them that everything was fine. So eventhough the Sahaba were so fast and swift, the Prophet (saw) already checked things out and made sure that everything was in order. He used to warn us about Shaytan, of all dangers that could afflict us, and even events in the future (Dajjal). The Prophet (saw) said: “I have warned you about Dajjal more than any prophet before you. And if he comes us while I am amongst you, I will take care of that. If he comes out after I pass away, then everyone is responsible for their own protection.”
Sensing and detecting danger before it approaches the flock - These animals are closer to earth and sight limited, sheep can only see so far. Any small obstacle will block their view, but the human being standing up tall has a longer view and from that vantage point can see danger while it is approaching, while the sheep cannot. Because the shepherd is standing up, the first to notice the danger is the shepherd and he will give an advance warning to the flock. That is the case of the prophets of Allah, and they have the clearest vision, and the longest view, and the best vantage point that none of us has. And they know what is good for us. The Prophet (saw) said: “The analogy of me and you is like someone sitting next to a fire at night, and like moths you are attracted to it and jumping towards it while I’m grabbing you by your clothes dragging you away and you are forcing yourselves towards it.” The Prophet (saw) was inviting people to Jannah but they were insisting on Hellfire. And the shepherd might hit some of the flock but not because he wants to hurt them, but because he wants to save them. If we see the prophets addressing the people sternly and directly, it is because they care about their people. When the Prophet (saw) stood on the minbar and said: “I am warning you Hellfire! (in such a high voice that the people in the markets could here his voice, and repeating it over and over again).
Simplicity – a shepherd lives a very simple life. He eats simple food, accommodation, and teaches them to get accustomed to different environments and climates. He is the last to take cover, taking the animals in first and protect them. It teaches them to get accustomed to different to different ways of life.
o Closeness to the creation of Allah – it pulls you out from the artificial world, and brought them close to nature. Living our lives in this artificial world is against our natural disposition, we were created from this earth and we are part of it. Keeping us away from this nature, it also keeps us from contemplating on the creation of Allah. The Qur;an mentions the mountains, birds, seas, and other creations and He mentions these to draw our attention to these creation for they are a mirror to His abilities and attributes. If we want to learn of His wisdom, greatness, and all of His names, we find some of their reflection in all of His creation. A shepherd is given the chance to contemplate on nature, and the prophets of Allah took advantage of this opportunity.
Sheeps – why was it specific to them for all prophets? Because they are very weak animals, weaker than cows or camels. Therefore they need more protection, more care, and because of this weakness they could easily fall prey. When Rasul Allah (saw) wanted to warn us from Shaytaan, he brought in his experience and said: “Stick with the Jama’ah, because the wolf eats from the straying sheep.” So he learned as a shepherd that when a sheep strays, a wold will target the one that is alone and we are weak as these sheeps as we are weak towards shaytaan. Another lesson to learn is the fact that we are affected by the environment we work in. Our work leaves permanent influence in our personality. Shepherds of sheep are different from others because sheep tend to be very compassionate, very merciful, and weak, so the shepherd learns to become kind and merciful to them since they are fragile animals they cannot be harsh towards them. What we do affects us, like teachers tend to have a different personality than doctors and so forth. The influence is both ways.
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani is one of the classical scholars, he wrote the most prominent commentary on Al-Bukhari. He was prominent in areas of Hadeeth, Fiqh, Aqeedah. His work, Fath-ul-Bari, gained the most prominence amongst the commentaries on Bukhari. He comments on this hadeeth, “The wisdom behind having the prophets as shepherds before prophethood is that they may become skilled in herding a flock, as they will be responsible for their respective nations in the future. In herding, one attains forbearance and mercy and imbues patience for when a shepherd is obliged to gather his flock and herd it from one area to another at once, knowing the traits of one and all the while protecting the flock from predators he has thus attained the skills necessary to lead a nation and protect it from its enemies, both from within and from abroad. Thus the prophets learned patience when dealing with their people and attained an understanding of the different natures of people, and learned to show kindness to the weak and resolve with the dominant. The reasons for which Allah chose them the sheep as oppose to the communal cows and camels, is that they are animals that are weak and need extra guidance and attention. Sheep are more difficult to maintain as a flock because of their propensity to go astray and wander away. This is akin to human traits within the society and it is the divine wisdom of Allah to train His prophets accordingly. The Prophet (saw) mentioning of this humble trait shared by all prophets attests to his humility to Allah.
Muhammad Al-Abda, a writer, comments on Rasul Allah’s living in the desert and being brought up there and states “This faith excels through the free-thinkers, the courageous, the intelligent, and those who are just. And one cannot encompass it except by distancing themselves from lowly character. It is therefore incumbent upon the Muslims to take on the pure characteristics embodied in humanity’s natural disposition. This was the example sought by the early Khalifa, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, when he pleaded with his people to toughen up on how to ride the steed. He feared for his people the longing for this life and adopting reprehensible characteristics. This does not mean that one must abandon urban living in order to attain the stated objectives, but it does mean that one should abandon those things in their life that turn them away from the difficulties of this message.”
Half Al-Fudoul – there was a man named Zabeed who came from Yemen and he came to Makkah to do business. His merchandise was taken by Al ‘Aas bin Wa’il and promised to sell them and pay him back. He refused to pay this man and took advantage of the fact that he was a foreigner. He told him, I’m not going to pay you. He expected this man to just walk away but he stood up for his right and went to a public place in Makkah, and started calling the people of Quraish and told them: “I was oppressed in your place and are you people who will stand up for my rights or would you allow oppression to take over your land?” Some of the clans of Quraish decided to meet together to bring about an agreement in protecting the rights of the weak in Makkah. Among these families was the family of Rasul Allah (saw), his uncles. He was a young boy then, but he was in the meeting. It was held in the house of Abdullah bin Jad’an, a generous and kind to others, and he was the person who would stand up for what is right. This happened before prophethood. They came together and decided to have an agreement between non-believers. Rasul Allah said: “I witnessed in the house of Abdullah bin Jad’an, a pact made that I wouldn’t have exchanged it for the choicest herd, and if it had been suggested after Islam, I would’ve responded positively to it.” The important lesson to learn from this is that Muslims should side with what is right, no matter what the source it. Muslims should stand for human rights, for the oppressed, needy, no matter what their religious background is. The man was given back what belonged to him after that.
An incident happened afterwards during the period of The Umayyad Dynasty, when Al-Waleed bin Utbah bin Abi Sufyan, the governor of Madinah abused his power and wrongfully took the property of Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib. What Hussain did was he went to Al-Waleed and told him to give him back what belongs to him otherwise I am going to walk into the masjid and invite the people to Half Al-Fudoul. Abdullah bin Az-zubair was there with Al-Waleed at that time and said that he would stand there with his sword until Hussain gets his justice or we will all die together. Other people heard that and gave similar statements. Al-Waleed realized that it could become dangerous and he gave back Hussain what was rightfully his. This shows that Muslims should not allow anything wrong to happen in front of us and protect our brothers even if we have to give up our lives for it.
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ghazali states: “This pact shows that no matter how dark life becomes, and oppressive dictators become, noble characteristics will still remain in noble people who stand up for what is right. Allah has made cooperation and enjoining good an obligation which he has called to in the verse: “and cooperate in virtue and taqwa and do not help one another in sin and transgression.” So for a group of Muslims to enter into a treaty or a contract such as the aforementioned is made permissible since it is only a reinforcement of the Islamic obligation. However, this by definition, must be dissimilar to the Masjid Ad-Diraar where the cooperation turns into a nationalistic or elitist strategy to exclude Muslims. As for the Muslims contracting with the people of other faiths in order to remove oppression or to face an oppressor, this becomes permissible for them if there is in it a welfare for Islam and the Muslims in the present and the future.”
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
The situation in Arabia and the world was very desperate. It wasn’t entirely evil, people around the world still had good qualities. Al-Buti mentions some of the characteristics of the Arabs in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) like generosity and hospitality, fulfilling of a pledge, justice, firm will and determination, perseverance and deliberateness, pure and simple life. These were the aspects taken advantage by Islam. The Sahaba due to these qualities made them successful in spreading the word of Islam. The Sahaba were seen as a liberating army that would free them from servitude, like in Egypt and Syria. They also didn’t care for power and authority, they would train among the local people leadership and give the power back to them. They wanted to spread islam and not to conquer for power and take advantage of people and their wealth. They were strong and powerful and were true to their word, and that it why Allah chose that particular area to be the birthplace of Rasul Allah (saw) and to carry the eternal message of Islam.
Rasul Allah (saw) was born in the year of the Elephant, the year in which Allah destroyed the army of Abraha. Miracles during the birth of the Prophet (saw) are usually narrated weak but there are some authentic narrations. When his mother, Aminah, was giving birth, Abdullah was traveling to Ash-Sham but he ended up dying close to Madinah and he was buried there, and died before the birth of his son. Rasul Allah was born and his mother saw a light that was coming out of her and reaching to Ash-Sham. This was interpreted as the light of the message of Islam reaching to the world. Allah chose the best to be His messenger, Rasul Allah. Certain statements reached the Prophet (saw) and he mounted the pulpit and asked: “Who am I?” they replied and said: “You are the messenger of Allah.” And he replied: “I am Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul Muttali, Allah divided the creation and made me part of the best creatures. He made them all into two groups, placing me in the better of them, divided them into tribes and put me in the best of them, subdivided into clans and placed me in the best one. I am the best of you in clan and in spirit.” Rasul Allah said he is not one good man amongst evil people but he is the best from among the best around him. Rasul Allah (saw) also said: “Verily Allah granted eminence to al-Kinanah from the descendants of Ismai’l and he granted eminence to the Qurais from al-Kinanah and he granted eminence to Bani Hashim from al-Qurash, and he granted me eminence from the tribe of Banu Hashim.” He also said: “I am a product of marriage and not fornication from Adam right on up to when my father and my mother had me. I was never tainted by the fornication of al-Jahiliyah.”
The famous names of the Prophet (saw) that we know are Muhammad and Ahmad but there are additional names.
1. Muhammad – named by his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. It means “to be eternally praised”. Allah has fulfilled the meaning of his name, no other person has been praised as much as the Prophet Muhammad (saw). He is praised day and night.
2. Ahmad – come from the same root ‘hamd’ which means praise. It means “he praises” Allah. He was the most among us who praised Allah the most.
3. Al-Haashir – “The gatherer” to whom people will be resurrected in his wake. The Prophet is the first to be resurrected on the DOJ and then followed by others.
4. Al-Muqaffi – “The successor” for he was the last of the prophets and messengers and there shall be none succeeding him.
5. Al-Maahy – “The eraser” the one who erases and eradicates kufr. There is no prophet who will succeed in total eradication until the time of ‘Isa by the Ummah of Muhammad (saw) under his leadership.
6. Nabi ul-Malhamah – “the Prophet of the fierce battle”. Makhamah is a fierce battle and a series of battles. He was named so because his Ummah are the greatest in terms of Jihad. Also, it could be that the future of humanity after him will be that of fierce battles, like WWI and WWII.
· Rasul Allah (saw) was nursed initially by his mother and Umm Ayman (Barakah), an Abyssinian woman who lived in Makkah. Rasul Allah married her to his emancipated slave, Zayd bin Haritha. It was a tradition among the urban arabs to send their children to grow up in the desert, believing that it is more pure and a healthier environment to live in, as well as strengthen the character of the children due to the harshness of the desert. The Prophet was in the land of Banu Sa’d. To continue, refer to the book about Halimah and what happened when she chose the orphan child (Prophet Muhammad) and the blessings thereafter and the first cleaning of his heart and when he was returned to Aaminah.
· His mother died when he was 6 yrs. old, so now he lost his father and mother. Abdul Muttalib adopted him and he passed away when he was 8. Now he was taken care of by Abu Talib who helped him and supported him for the next forty years of his life.
Important Events leading up to his prophethood
Rasul Allah (saw) was protected by Allah, he would not commit sins which were usual and normal amongst his people. He narrates an example: “I was a shepherd and one day I told my friend tonight I want to go into Makkah to attend the parties my peers attend. So I told him to take care of my flock until I come back. I went and arrived to the place where the party was and as soon as I heard the music, Allah stuck my ears and immediately I fell asleep. By the time I woke up, the party was over. The next day, I decided to attend another party and the same thing happened. And I realized that it was a sign to me from Allah.” Zaid narrates: “There was a brass idol which the polytheists would touch as they would perform tawaaf. The prophet told him not to touch it. As I went around the Ka’bah I wanted to touch it just to see what would happen. When I did so, RA said were you not forbidden to do that? The Prophet (saw) never saluted an idol until when Allah gave him the revelation.” It was guidance coming from Allah, and he had a natural dislike for idol worshipping. He also influenced his family such as Zaid and Ali so they never worshipped idols.
The people of Quraish participated in all rituals of Hajj except participating in the day of Arafah. This is because Arafah was considered outside the boundaries of the sacred place. So all Arabs would go to Arafah except the people of Quraish saying that they are the dwellers of Al-Haram, how can we go outside of it? So they would stop at the borders of Arafat. Mut’am ibn Jubair lost his camel and ended up searching for it in arafah and to his amazement he finds the Prophet (saw). This is an indication that Allah was guiding the Prophet (saw) to the fitrah and the rituals of hajj.
The first profession for Rasul Allah (saw) was shepherding. He said: “Allah has not sent a prophet except that he was a shepherd.” And his companions asked: “And you?” the Prophet said: “Yes, I used to herd sheep, with compensation from the people of Makkah.” Allah has trained all of his prophets going through this line of work. Lessons that they learned from being shepherds specifically of sheeps/goats (ghanam):
Responsibility – The Prophet (saw) said: “You are all shepherds, and you are all responsible for your herd. The Imam (leader of the Muslims) is responsible for the Muslims, man is responsible for the household, woman is responsible…” Shepherds are usually hired to tend the flock, they don’t own it but by someone else, therefore they have to report to a higher authority. Therefore, the shepherds have a responsibility of making sure that the sheep remain safe even if the herd is not responsible for themselves. This is a valuable lesson for a leader. And the prophets of Allah will be held accountable for their Ummah’s actions.
Patience – taking out sheep to graze, they take their time and they are slow so you have to wait and be patient. Shepherds usually just sit on the rock and look over the sheep while they graze, leaving in the morning and coming back at sunset. The prophets learned to be patient with their people, as Musa (as) was with Bani Israil and his experience being a shepherd for 10 years helped him deal with their disobedience. Nuh for 950 years, he tried all ways to bring his people to the call of Tawheed.
Protection – the shepherd protects the flock. There are various seen or unseen dangers (woleves, beasts, diseases), all of these the shepherd have to consistently make sure no danger comes to the flock. The prophets of Allah tried to protect their people from physical and psychological dangers. In Madinah, a commotion was heard so some of the Sahaba prepared with their horses and weapons. On the way there, they saw that the Prophet (saw) was already on his way back telling them that everything was fine. So eventhough the Sahaba were so fast and swift, the Prophet (saw) already checked things out and made sure that everything was in order. He used to warn us about Shaytan, of all dangers that could afflict us, and even events in the future (Dajjal). The Prophet (saw) said: “I have warned you about Dajjal more than any prophet before you. And if he comes us while I am amongst you, I will take care of that. If he comes out after I pass away, then everyone is responsible for their own protection.”
Sensing and detecting danger before it approaches the flock - These animals are closer to earth and sight limited, sheep can only see so far. Any small obstacle will block their view, but the human being standing up tall has a longer view and from that vantage point can see danger while it is approaching, while the sheep cannot. Because the shepherd is standing up, the first to notice the danger is the shepherd and he will give an advance warning to the flock. That is the case of the prophets of Allah, and they have the clearest vision, and the longest view, and the best vantage point that none of us has. And they know what is good for us. The Prophet (saw) said: “The analogy of me and you is like someone sitting next to a fire at night, and like moths you are attracted to it and jumping towards it while I’m grabbing you by your clothes dragging you away and you are forcing yourselves towards it.” The Prophet (saw) was inviting people to Jannah but they were insisting on Hellfire. And the shepherd might hit some of the flock but not because he wants to hurt them, but because he wants to save them. If we see the prophets addressing the people sternly and directly, it is because they care about their people. When the Prophet (saw) stood on the minbar and said: “I am warning you Hellfire! (in such a high voice that the people in the markets could here his voice, and repeating it over and over again).
Simplicity – a shepherd lives a very simple life. He eats simple food, accommodation, and teaches them to get accustomed to different environments and climates. He is the last to take cover, taking the animals in first and protect them. It teaches them to get accustomed to different to different ways of life.
o Closeness to the creation of Allah – it pulls you out from the artificial world, and brought them close to nature. Living our lives in this artificial world is against our natural disposition, we were created from this earth and we are part of it. Keeping us away from this nature, it also keeps us from contemplating on the creation of Allah. The Qur;an mentions the mountains, birds, seas, and other creations and He mentions these to draw our attention to these creation for they are a mirror to His abilities and attributes. If we want to learn of His wisdom, greatness, and all of His names, we find some of their reflection in all of His creation. A shepherd is given the chance to contemplate on nature, and the prophets of Allah took advantage of this opportunity.
Sheeps – why was it specific to them for all prophets? Because they are very weak animals, weaker than cows or camels. Therefore they need more protection, more care, and because of this weakness they could easily fall prey. When Rasul Allah (saw) wanted to warn us from Shaytaan, he brought in his experience and said: “Stick with the Jama’ah, because the wolf eats from the straying sheep.” So he learned as a shepherd that when a sheep strays, a wold will target the one that is alone and we are weak as these sheeps as we are weak towards shaytaan. Another lesson to learn is the fact that we are affected by the environment we work in. Our work leaves permanent influence in our personality. Shepherds of sheep are different from others because sheep tend to be very compassionate, very merciful, and weak, so the shepherd learns to become kind and merciful to them since they are fragile animals they cannot be harsh towards them. What we do affects us, like teachers tend to have a different personality than doctors and so forth. The influence is both ways.
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani is one of the classical scholars, he wrote the most prominent commentary on Al-Bukhari. He was prominent in areas of Hadeeth, Fiqh, Aqeedah. His work, Fath-ul-Bari, gained the most prominence amongst the commentaries on Bukhari. He comments on this hadeeth, “The wisdom behind having the prophets as shepherds before prophethood is that they may become skilled in herding a flock, as they will be responsible for their respective nations in the future. In herding, one attains forbearance and mercy and imbues patience for when a shepherd is obliged to gather his flock and herd it from one area to another at once, knowing the traits of one and all the while protecting the flock from predators he has thus attained the skills necessary to lead a nation and protect it from its enemies, both from within and from abroad. Thus the prophets learned patience when dealing with their people and attained an understanding of the different natures of people, and learned to show kindness to the weak and resolve with the dominant. The reasons for which Allah chose them the sheep as oppose to the communal cows and camels, is that they are animals that are weak and need extra guidance and attention. Sheep are more difficult to maintain as a flock because of their propensity to go astray and wander away. This is akin to human traits within the society and it is the divine wisdom of Allah to train His prophets accordingly. The Prophet (saw) mentioning of this humble trait shared by all prophets attests to his humility to Allah.
Muhammad Al-Abda, a writer, comments on Rasul Allah’s living in the desert and being brought up there and states “This faith excels through the free-thinkers, the courageous, the intelligent, and those who are just. And one cannot encompass it except by distancing themselves from lowly character. It is therefore incumbent upon the Muslims to take on the pure characteristics embodied in humanity’s natural disposition. This was the example sought by the early Khalifa, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, when he pleaded with his people to toughen up on how to ride the steed. He feared for his people the longing for this life and adopting reprehensible characteristics. This does not mean that one must abandon urban living in order to attain the stated objectives, but it does mean that one should abandon those things in their life that turn them away from the difficulties of this message.”
Half Al-Fudoul – there was a man named Zabeed who came from Yemen and he came to Makkah to do business. His merchandise was taken by Al ‘Aas bin Wa’il and promised to sell them and pay him back. He refused to pay this man and took advantage of the fact that he was a foreigner. He told him, I’m not going to pay you. He expected this man to just walk away but he stood up for his right and went to a public place in Makkah, and started calling the people of Quraish and told them: “I was oppressed in your place and are you people who will stand up for my rights or would you allow oppression to take over your land?” Some of the clans of Quraish decided to meet together to bring about an agreement in protecting the rights of the weak in Makkah. Among these families was the family of Rasul Allah (saw), his uncles. He was a young boy then, but he was in the meeting. It was held in the house of Abdullah bin Jad’an, a generous and kind to others, and he was the person who would stand up for what is right. This happened before prophethood. They came together and decided to have an agreement between non-believers. Rasul Allah said: “I witnessed in the house of Abdullah bin Jad’an, a pact made that I wouldn’t have exchanged it for the choicest herd, and if it had been suggested after Islam, I would’ve responded positively to it.” The important lesson to learn from this is that Muslims should side with what is right, no matter what the source it. Muslims should stand for human rights, for the oppressed, needy, no matter what their religious background is. The man was given back what belonged to him after that.
An incident happened afterwards during the period of The Umayyad Dynasty, when Al-Waleed bin Utbah bin Abi Sufyan, the governor of Madinah abused his power and wrongfully took the property of Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib. What Hussain did was he went to Al-Waleed and told him to give him back what belongs to him otherwise I am going to walk into the masjid and invite the people to Half Al-Fudoul. Abdullah bin Az-zubair was there with Al-Waleed at that time and said that he would stand there with his sword until Hussain gets his justice or we will all die together. Other people heard that and gave similar statements. Al-Waleed realized that it could become dangerous and he gave back Hussain what was rightfully his. This shows that Muslims should not allow anything wrong to happen in front of us and protect our brothers even if we have to give up our lives for it.
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Ghazali states: “This pact shows that no matter how dark life becomes, and oppressive dictators become, noble characteristics will still remain in noble people who stand up for what is right. Allah has made cooperation and enjoining good an obligation which he has called to in the verse: “and cooperate in virtue and taqwa and do not help one another in sin and transgression.” So for a group of Muslims to enter into a treaty or a contract such as the aforementioned is made permissible since it is only a reinforcement of the Islamic obligation. However, this by definition, must be dissimilar to the Masjid Ad-Diraar where the cooperation turns into a nationalistic or elitist strategy to exclude Muslims. As for the Muslims contracting with the people of other faiths in order to remove oppression or to face an oppressor, this becomes permissible for them if there is in it a welfare for Islam and the Muslims in the present and the future.”
CD3-The Background of Arabia
CD3
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
The Background of Arabia
Objective: To know the environment in which the Prophet (SAW) lived in.
The Arabs started with Tawheed due to the da’wah of Ismail. There were three religions at the time of the Prophet (saw) in Arabia, i.e. Idol-Worshipping, Christianity, and Judaism. How did these three religions come into existence?
Idol-Worshipping
· ‘Amr Al-Khuza’I, the leader of Khuzaa, was generous, strong, and respected by his people. His words were taken as law. He traveled to Syria (Ash-Sham, center is Jerusalem) and finds idols, he asked the people about them and they told him they are intermediates to God when we ask Him. They appeal to God in their behalf. ‘Amr then agreed that this is exactly what they also need in Arabia. He asked for an idol to take home, and he was given Hubal.
· He then took it to Makkah and established it near Ka’bah and told his people that it would intercede on their behalf to Allah. Makkah, being the spiritual center of Arabia, became the platform from which idol-worshipping was exposed to people. It then became common and spread all over due to the position of Makkah and of ‘Amr.
· It then became a business, wherein people in Makkah will make idols that travelers can carry with them home (‘portable idols’). It evolved to be made in different shapes and sizes, for different purposes. ‘Umar once related how, during the time of ignorance, he was traveling and forgot to bring his ‘god’ with him. And so he made one out of dates and when he got hungry, he ate it. Knowing the vital role that ‘Umar (r.a.) played later on in Islam, it just goes to show the miracle of Islam, having turned people from nothingness to great figures throughout history.
· Al-Ka’bah is now surrounded by 365 idols, and polytheism became so widespread all over Arabia. The Prophet (saw) said: “I saw Al-Khuza’I trailing his intestines in Hellfire because he was the first person to change the religion of the Arabs.”
Judaism
· The King of Yemen, Kabban As’ad, was traveling to do business in Ash-Sham and passed by Medina. He left his son in Medina for him to do business there, but the people of Medina killed his son. When he came back and learned about it, he decided to destroy Medina and attacked it. His armies were large in number and would have been enough to destroy it.
· The Jews then have settled in Medina due to their belief, as mentioned in their scriptures, that their Prophet will immigrate to a land which resembled Medina, since they saw all the signs point to Medina being the correct place. There were three tribes: Banu Qaynuqa’, Banu Nadeer, and Banu Quraydah. They are known to be Ethnic Jews from Khaybar and Medina.
· Then two rabbis came out and told As’ad that this land is protected by God and that if he tries to destroy it Allah will destroy him. They convinced As’ad and made him withdraw from attacking, and even embraced Judaism and invited these two rabbis to Yemen and they agreed.
· On his was back, Banu Hawazim were having problems with Quraysh and were starting a fitnah between As’ad and Makkah. The rabbis again told him that this land (Makkah) is also protected by Allah and that he shouldn’t attack it, instead, he should enter it and make tawaf. He did so, and he became the first person to clothe Al-Ka’bah, and he used to clothe it once a year. They used to clothe it by adding one over the other each year, since they consider the clothing of the Ka’bah to be sacred and couldn’t remove it, until it became so heavy that they decided to take it off and keep just one clothing at a time.
· As’ad and the rabbis then proceeded to Yemen and he gave them freedom to preach to the Yemeni tribes and many of them embraced the Jewish faith. They are known to be Jews by Conversion.
Christianity
· When ‘Eesa (as) was sent, his followers dispersed throughout the land and very early on, it was already divided into many sects. These sects then became disbelievers and misguided, however, there were some believers here and there who were able to preserve the true message of ‘Eesa (Tawhid). One of them reached Yemen and started preaching in the area of Najran and the religion was secretly and slowly spreading.
· By this time, As’ad was already dead and his son, Dhu Nawwas, took over his reign. News of this new religion reached him and he banned it and he persecuted the followers. In Sahih Muslim, where it relates the story about the ‘boy and the king’, many scholars relate this incident to Dhu Nawwas as the king. Also in Surah Al-Buruj, Allah described their sacrifice as victory, and it is the fact that they were able to hold on to Islam until their last moment, and were able to attain Paradise. That is the true essence of winning, although they lost a temporary battle in dunya.
· From the ‘People of the Trench’, there was one who survived, and he traveled to the Roman Empire, since they were also Christians although from a different sect. He sought help from the emperor, and the emperor sent a message to An-Najashi, and he sent an army led by a general named Ariat. Ariat invaded Yemen, and defeated Dhu Nawwas, who committed suicide eventually. They said that he was on his horse and just jumped into the Red Sea and killed himself. Now the Abyssinians ruled over parts of Yemen as a revenge for those Christians who were killed. Ariat ruled over and was strict, and one of his generals staged a coup against him. The Abyssinians were then divided between followers of Ariat, and that of Abraha and they were fighting.
· Ariat told Abraha to have a one-on-one fight, and Abraha agreed. But he made a secret agreement with his security guards that if they see him losing, they should come and help him, otherwise to leave him alone. Ariat was tall and thin, while Abraha was short and chubby so Ariat was able to strike him on his head and cut off his nose. When that happened, the bodyguards jumped in and killed Ariat.
· Abraha now took over and ruled over Yemen. He wanted to change the religion of the Arabs and force Christianity upon them. So knowing their attachment to the Ka’bah, he built a huge cathedral (Al-Qullays) in San’aa to compete with Al-Ka’bah. One man didn’t like this idea and went into Al-Qullays and desecrated it. Abraha became furious about this and decided to destroy Ka’bah.
· There were some resistance on the way, like the general Nufayl, but they were all defeated. Nufayl was then captured as a prisoner of war. They went on to Ta’if and they assisted Abraha, and one of them offered to be his guide to Ka’bah, Abu Raghal. Abraha made it to the outskirts of Makkah and took possessions of the camels that were grazing there. 200 of these camels belonged to Abdul-Muttalib. So Abdul-Muttalib came to Abraha and met with him. Nufayl, a friend of Abdul-Muttalib, became friends with Nuwais, an important member of the army and a pilot of the elephant, and arranged the meeting through Nuwais.
· Abdul-Muttalib was an impressionable man and Abraha looked at him with esteem, although they haven’t spoken to each other yet. He came down from the throne and sat with him on the floor. Abdul-Muttalib then asked that his camels be returned to him. Abraha then said that he has lost respect for Abdul-Muttalib since he was coming to destroy Ka’bah and he was asking about his camels. Abdul-Muttalib said that he was the owner of the camels, and that he was responsible for them. But the Ka’bah belongs to Allah and He will protect it. Abraha then gave him back his camels.
· When he went back to Makkah, Abdul-Muttalib told the people not to fight and that they should withdraw to the mountains. When Abraha finally came with his elephants, the elephants would not attack it. It is said that Nufayl whispered to the ear of the elephant that this is the house of Allah and that it should not be attacked. The elephant refused to move even though they poked and speared it, so they decided to leave it behind.
· Anything can be the army of Allah, like water or wind, as mentioned in the ayah “And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except He.” So He sent on the army of Abraha birds carrying missiles and destroyed them all. And this event was recorded in Surah Al-Fil.
· These were the events that happened that led up to the year that the Prophet (saw) was born, in the same year of the Elephant.
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
The Background of Arabia
Objective: To know the environment in which the Prophet (SAW) lived in.
The Arabs started with Tawheed due to the da’wah of Ismail. There were three religions at the time of the Prophet (saw) in Arabia, i.e. Idol-Worshipping, Christianity, and Judaism. How did these three religions come into existence?
Idol-Worshipping
· ‘Amr Al-Khuza’I, the leader of Khuzaa, was generous, strong, and respected by his people. His words were taken as law. He traveled to Syria (Ash-Sham, center is Jerusalem) and finds idols, he asked the people about them and they told him they are intermediates to God when we ask Him. They appeal to God in their behalf. ‘Amr then agreed that this is exactly what they also need in Arabia. He asked for an idol to take home, and he was given Hubal.
· He then took it to Makkah and established it near Ka’bah and told his people that it would intercede on their behalf to Allah. Makkah, being the spiritual center of Arabia, became the platform from which idol-worshipping was exposed to people. It then became common and spread all over due to the position of Makkah and of ‘Amr.
· It then became a business, wherein people in Makkah will make idols that travelers can carry with them home (‘portable idols’). It evolved to be made in different shapes and sizes, for different purposes. ‘Umar once related how, during the time of ignorance, he was traveling and forgot to bring his ‘god’ with him. And so he made one out of dates and when he got hungry, he ate it. Knowing the vital role that ‘Umar (r.a.) played later on in Islam, it just goes to show the miracle of Islam, having turned people from nothingness to great figures throughout history.
· Al-Ka’bah is now surrounded by 365 idols, and polytheism became so widespread all over Arabia. The Prophet (saw) said: “I saw Al-Khuza’I trailing his intestines in Hellfire because he was the first person to change the religion of the Arabs.”
Judaism
· The King of Yemen, Kabban As’ad, was traveling to do business in Ash-Sham and passed by Medina. He left his son in Medina for him to do business there, but the people of Medina killed his son. When he came back and learned about it, he decided to destroy Medina and attacked it. His armies were large in number and would have been enough to destroy it.
· The Jews then have settled in Medina due to their belief, as mentioned in their scriptures, that their Prophet will immigrate to a land which resembled Medina, since they saw all the signs point to Medina being the correct place. There were three tribes: Banu Qaynuqa’, Banu Nadeer, and Banu Quraydah. They are known to be Ethnic Jews from Khaybar and Medina.
· Then two rabbis came out and told As’ad that this land is protected by God and that if he tries to destroy it Allah will destroy him. They convinced As’ad and made him withdraw from attacking, and even embraced Judaism and invited these two rabbis to Yemen and they agreed.
· On his was back, Banu Hawazim were having problems with Quraysh and were starting a fitnah between As’ad and Makkah. The rabbis again told him that this land (Makkah) is also protected by Allah and that he shouldn’t attack it, instead, he should enter it and make tawaf. He did so, and he became the first person to clothe Al-Ka’bah, and he used to clothe it once a year. They used to clothe it by adding one over the other each year, since they consider the clothing of the Ka’bah to be sacred and couldn’t remove it, until it became so heavy that they decided to take it off and keep just one clothing at a time.
· As’ad and the rabbis then proceeded to Yemen and he gave them freedom to preach to the Yemeni tribes and many of them embraced the Jewish faith. They are known to be Jews by Conversion.
Christianity
· When ‘Eesa (as) was sent, his followers dispersed throughout the land and very early on, it was already divided into many sects. These sects then became disbelievers and misguided, however, there were some believers here and there who were able to preserve the true message of ‘Eesa (Tawhid). One of them reached Yemen and started preaching in the area of Najran and the religion was secretly and slowly spreading.
· By this time, As’ad was already dead and his son, Dhu Nawwas, took over his reign. News of this new religion reached him and he banned it and he persecuted the followers. In Sahih Muslim, where it relates the story about the ‘boy and the king’, many scholars relate this incident to Dhu Nawwas as the king. Also in Surah Al-Buruj, Allah described their sacrifice as victory, and it is the fact that they were able to hold on to Islam until their last moment, and were able to attain Paradise. That is the true essence of winning, although they lost a temporary battle in dunya.
· From the ‘People of the Trench’, there was one who survived, and he traveled to the Roman Empire, since they were also Christians although from a different sect. He sought help from the emperor, and the emperor sent a message to An-Najashi, and he sent an army led by a general named Ariat. Ariat invaded Yemen, and defeated Dhu Nawwas, who committed suicide eventually. They said that he was on his horse and just jumped into the Red Sea and killed himself. Now the Abyssinians ruled over parts of Yemen as a revenge for those Christians who were killed. Ariat ruled over and was strict, and one of his generals staged a coup against him. The Abyssinians were then divided between followers of Ariat, and that of Abraha and they were fighting.
· Ariat told Abraha to have a one-on-one fight, and Abraha agreed. But he made a secret agreement with his security guards that if they see him losing, they should come and help him, otherwise to leave him alone. Ariat was tall and thin, while Abraha was short and chubby so Ariat was able to strike him on his head and cut off his nose. When that happened, the bodyguards jumped in and killed Ariat.
· Abraha now took over and ruled over Yemen. He wanted to change the religion of the Arabs and force Christianity upon them. So knowing their attachment to the Ka’bah, he built a huge cathedral (Al-Qullays) in San’aa to compete with Al-Ka’bah. One man didn’t like this idea and went into Al-Qullays and desecrated it. Abraha became furious about this and decided to destroy Ka’bah.
· There were some resistance on the way, like the general Nufayl, but they were all defeated. Nufayl was then captured as a prisoner of war. They went on to Ta’if and they assisted Abraha, and one of them offered to be his guide to Ka’bah, Abu Raghal. Abraha made it to the outskirts of Makkah and took possessions of the camels that were grazing there. 200 of these camels belonged to Abdul-Muttalib. So Abdul-Muttalib came to Abraha and met with him. Nufayl, a friend of Abdul-Muttalib, became friends with Nuwais, an important member of the army and a pilot of the elephant, and arranged the meeting through Nuwais.
· Abdul-Muttalib was an impressionable man and Abraha looked at him with esteem, although they haven’t spoken to each other yet. He came down from the throne and sat with him on the floor. Abdul-Muttalib then asked that his camels be returned to him. Abraha then said that he has lost respect for Abdul-Muttalib since he was coming to destroy Ka’bah and he was asking about his camels. Abdul-Muttalib said that he was the owner of the camels, and that he was responsible for them. But the Ka’bah belongs to Allah and He will protect it. Abraha then gave him back his camels.
· When he went back to Makkah, Abdul-Muttalib told the people not to fight and that they should withdraw to the mountains. When Abraha finally came with his elephants, the elephants would not attack it. It is said that Nufayl whispered to the ear of the elephant that this is the house of Allah and that it should not be attacked. The elephant refused to move even though they poked and speared it, so they decided to leave it behind.
· Anything can be the army of Allah, like water or wind, as mentioned in the ayah “And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except He.” So He sent on the army of Abraha birds carrying missiles and destroyed them all. And this event was recorded in Surah Al-Fil.
· These were the events that happened that led up to the year that the Prophet (saw) was born, in the same year of the Elephant.
CD2- The Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma'il
CD2
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Usually the authors who write about the Prophet Muhammad usually start with writing about what happened before him, about a few thousand years. Here we start from Ibrahim, and Ismai’l and Hajar, the ancestors of the Arabs.
The Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma’il
Ibrahim and his wife Hajar and new-born son Isma’il traveled to Hijaz, and Ibrahim took them to present day Makkah. It was a dead valley then, but the place of Ka’bah was already holy and sacred since the world is created. They arrived and in the place where Zamzam is, Ibrahim left his wife and son with some water and a bag of dates. He then turned away and left. Hajar followed him and asked him three times: “Ibrahim, are you going to leave us in a place wherein there is no cultivation and no one living?” and when Ibrahim didn’t answer she asked: “Did Allah tell you to do so?” and Ibrahim said, “Yes.” So she said: “Then Allah will not neglect us. If this is a command from Allah, then I trust that He will take care of us.” Ibrahim left and when he reached to a place where they couldn’t see him anymore, he turned towards Al-Ka’bah and made dua’: “O Allah! I’m leaving my offspring in infertile land, next to your sacred House, so that they may establish prayer, put love in the hearts of people towards them, and provide them with fruits, so that they may be grateful.”
In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the foundation of the pyramid (basic human needs) has physiological needs (food and shelter) as the most important, then social needs (friends/belonging), then spiritual needs (religion), and at the end self-actualization. According to Ibrahim (as), the pyramid is inverted. The first thing he asked for is spiritual needs and then he asked for the social needs, and then physiological needs, but even when he asked Allah to provide them with fruits or worldly things, he also connected it to worship. And therein we find the true sense of self-actualization when Allah becomes everything for us and we do everything for His sake.
And then Ibrahim left and Hajar made use of the small amount of food until they ran out of food. She was breastfeeding Ismai’l and then her milk was drying up and Ismai’l started to cry. Hajar couldn’t stand seeing him in agonizing pain so she left him and started climbing a hill (As-Safa) to see if she can see anyone in the horizon, then she would climb down the hill until she reaches the valley and tuck up her clothes and ran to another hill (Al-Marwa) until she reached the top to also look for anybody. During this her son is still suffering, as she continued to go back and forth the hills until the seventh time, she reached the top and she heard a sound. To her amazement, she saw that the sound was coming from beneath the feet of Ismai’l. Jibril (as) descended and started digging the well of Zamzam and the water is coming from beneath Ismai’l’s feet. Seeing this, she made a pool around the water thinking that it would be absorbed by the desert if she didn’t do so. Rasul Allah (saw) said: “`May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismail, if she had left the water alone, it would have been a flowing river.”
Think for a moment about the feelings of Hajar while she was going up and down the hills. Her heart must have been broken, crying because of the pain and suffering dying in front of her eyes. She was a believing and righteous woman and Allah was testing her and hiding for her something in the future. At that time, as a mother she was in extreme pain, but just imagine if Hajar was resurrected at the time of Hajj and she would have a chance to see what Muslims from all over the world are doing. Rasul Allah (saw) said: “And that is why we go between As-Safa and Al-Marwa.” So we are following her footsteps and if Hajar knew that she would’ve gone through everything with a smile on her face.
What we learn from this is that as believers, when we undergo certain trials we have a different mindset, a certain feeling, but we don’t know what Allah is hiding for us in the future. Just as Allah gave Hajar this honor in this dunya, we can just imagine what He will give her as a reward in al-Akhirah. So when we go through trials, we should always remember that Hajar went through this and honored her.
Similarly, Musa (as) also is narrated to have told his family when he saw that fire that he would go to it to bring them light and warmth and guidance since there would be people who could give them directions to Egypt. But Allah relates that when he went there Allah spoke to them, and rather than him going back with light for that night, he came back with light for humanity and guidance not to Egypt but to Jannah. He was given prophethood then and there. “I am Allah, there is no God besides Me, worship Me and establish prayer in My name.”
In the desert, when you have a source of water, different forms of life are attracted. There was a tribe called Jurhum, a nomadic tribe of that area. They come from Yemen, the birthplace of the Arab people and their language was Arabic. Their history relates back to when there were people who built the first dam in the world, and had a year-round source of water and source for irrigation. Because of their wealth, they didn’t feel any pain in traveling, wherever they would go there will be people. These people, due to their arrogance said, “we want to feel the pain of traveling like everybody else and make it difficult for us.” So Allah made it difficult for them, and for their rejection of Allah their dam was destroyed and so the people migrated to some other places and they were scattered all over. Jurhum was one of these tribes who moved out and went to Hijaz. They were familiar with the terrain of Makkah and knew there weren’t any water in the area. But when they saw there were birds hovering over the sky, they wondered what was going on in that particular area. Two men went and came back and reported that there is a well in that area. Now Jurhum went to the place where Zamzam was located and they asked Hajar: “Can we settle in this place?” and she said: “if you want to stay, I have a condition and that the water belongs to us.” They agreed and Rasul Allah said: “Deep in her heart she wanted them to stay since she was lonely.” And Jurhum ended up and settled there.
Ismai’l grew up with them and learned their language (Arabic), Ibrahim was from Iraq and spoke Aramaic. Ismail married a woman from among them and thus began the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Jurhum had the political leadership in Makkah, while the religious leadership belonged to Ismai’l and his descendants. Jurhum stayed in Makkah for 2000 and they became corrupt and tyrannical so Allah sent them Khuzaa’. And Khuzaa, also from Yemen and came to Hijaz, kicked them out of Makkah. Jurhum before they left did two things: First, they filled the well of Zamzam with sand and they erased all of its marks. Second, they stole all the treasures inside Al-Ka’bah. Khuzaa’ now became the new leaders of Makkah, while the descendants of Ismai’l already branched out and spread all over Arabia. But one branch remained in Makkah, the Quraish, who are also known as the descendants of Adnan.
The leader of Khuzaa’ was ‘Amr bin Luhyy al-Khuzaa’i and the leader of Quraish was Qusai bin Kilab. He was able to unify Quraish and to lead a revolt against Khuzaa’ and was able to drive them out completely from Makkah. Finally, a descendant of Isma’il now combine both the political and religious leadership in Makkah. Not only that but Qusai consolidated all the authorities and different aspects of power in his hands. He controlled Al-Hijaba, the guardianship of Al-Ka’bah, controlled siqayah and ifadah (providing food and water to the pilgrims), contolled an-nadwa (assembly or parliament of Quraish), held control over al-liwaa’ (banner) and had the power to declare war. He was the absolute ruler of Makkah.
When he died, these powers were split among his children. The grandson of Qusai, named ‘Amr ended up inheriting providing food and water to the pilgrims. He did something new in feeding the hujjaj. Instead of feeding them soup, he started crushing bread into the soup, an upgrade to their meals. The process of crushing the bread is called Hasham, and so he was called Haashim as a nickname and this was the great-grandfather of Rasul Allah (saw). Hashim married from Al-Madinah and went to Palestine to do business and died in Gaza. His wife became pregnant and gave birth to a child who was named Shaybah (old man), due to him being born with some grey hair. And they stayed in Madinah by his family there. One day, Al-Muttalib, Hashim’s brother, came to Madinah and claimed Shaybah his nephew. He wanted to take him back to Makkah, and convinced the family that he comes from a noble family of Quraish and that Shaybah has to come back and learn his heritage and responsibilities. Al-Muttalib brought Shaybah into Makkah and since he wasn’t seen ever in Makkah, they thought he was a slave and started calling him ‘Abd-ul Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Three important events that occurred with Abdul Muttalib. First, the well of zamzam has been lost for over 300 years now ever since the Jurhum covered it before they got expelled from Makkah. So he saw a dream and tells him to “dig taibah (pure)”. The following night, the same voice tells him to “dig the precious”. The third night, the same voice tells him to “dig zamzam” and the voice told him “it will never fail or dry up, it will water the grand pilgrim, it lies between the dung and the blood near the nest of the crow with the white leg and the ants’ nest.” They were symbols and Abdul Muttalib was unable to decode all of these symbols. Then he went around the Ka’bah and saw dung and blood, a camel was slaughtered and was left with its insides and the blood and he saw a grow with a white leg in the same area and a colony of ants. And so he realized that this is where the well is. He called his son, Harith and started digging. Suddenly, the people heard Abdul Muttalib shout, praising Allah, and they found that he had uncovered the rim of zamzam. The Quraish then said that this well belongs to our father, Ismai’l and so we should all share. Abdul Muttalib said that he was the one who saw the dream, and he was the one who uncovered it and so it belongs to him and him alone. They said that we are all descendants and it belongs to all of us. When they were unable to solve the dispute and on the brink of war, someone suggested to go to the witch of Bani Sa’d for consultation. They searched for her in Syria and along the way they ran out of water. And so they went in different directions in search of water. After a short while, Abdul Muttalib found water, and they said that “If even in this barren desert Allah saved you, and you saw the dream and uncovered the well of Zamzam, this is surely an indication that it is a blessing for you and it belongs to you.” So they gave up all their claims and they went back.
Abdul Muttalib, since he only had one son at that time, prayed to Allah and said that if he was given ten sons, he will sacrifice one for His sake. And Allah blessed him with 10 male sons and 6 daughters. When he had 10, now it’s time for him to fulfill his promise. They had arrows next to Hubal and cast lots and leave their decisions in this random way. Abdul Muttalib had the names of his sons on all the arrows and it came upon Abdullah. The second and third time, it also came on Abdullah’s name. So Abdul Muttalib took his son, and took him next to Ka’bah to slaughter him but both sides of his family tried to convince him not to do it since it would become a sunnah thereafter since he was their leader. Abdul Muttalib said that this was a pledge that he made with Allah and that he cannot give it up.
To solve this dispute, they decided they had to go to the witch again. They went to the witch and told her the situation and she told them to come back the next day so she can consult her spirits. They came back the next day with an answer. She asked them what was the retribution that you pay to a person that was killed (diya). They said ten camels, and so she said to put 10 camels on one side, and Abdullah on the other and cast a lot. If it points towards the camels, slaughter them, and if it points to Abdullah, then add another ten camels. They agreed and went back and did it. They threw the arrows and pointed towards Abdullah until 100 camels were on one side and finally it pointed towards the camels. Abdul Muttalib wasn’t convinced and cast the lots second and third time until it was consistent on the camels. So he slaughtered 100 camels and refused to take any of the meat, and it was so much that it was enough to feed the humans and animals.
Now the people of the Quraish was right in saying that if Abdul Muttalib sacrificed his son the rest will follow because after that incident the diya was changed from 10 camels to 100. And this tradition is kept by Islam until this day, however, it is calculated in currency but based on that concept.
Abdullah and Aaminah were the parents of Rasul Allah (saw), and he was known to be the son of the two sacrificed ones, Ismai’l and Abdullah.
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Usually the authors who write about the Prophet Muhammad usually start with writing about what happened before him, about a few thousand years. Here we start from Ibrahim, and Ismai’l and Hajar, the ancestors of the Arabs.
The Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma’il
Ibrahim and his wife Hajar and new-born son Isma’il traveled to Hijaz, and Ibrahim took them to present day Makkah. It was a dead valley then, but the place of Ka’bah was already holy and sacred since the world is created. They arrived and in the place where Zamzam is, Ibrahim left his wife and son with some water and a bag of dates. He then turned away and left. Hajar followed him and asked him three times: “Ibrahim, are you going to leave us in a place wherein there is no cultivation and no one living?” and when Ibrahim didn’t answer she asked: “Did Allah tell you to do so?” and Ibrahim said, “Yes.” So she said: “Then Allah will not neglect us. If this is a command from Allah, then I trust that He will take care of us.” Ibrahim left and when he reached to a place where they couldn’t see him anymore, he turned towards Al-Ka’bah and made dua’: “O Allah! I’m leaving my offspring in infertile land, next to your sacred House, so that they may establish prayer, put love in the hearts of people towards them, and provide them with fruits, so that they may be grateful.”
In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the foundation of the pyramid (basic human needs) has physiological needs (food and shelter) as the most important, then social needs (friends/belonging), then spiritual needs (religion), and at the end self-actualization. According to Ibrahim (as), the pyramid is inverted. The first thing he asked for is spiritual needs and then he asked for the social needs, and then physiological needs, but even when he asked Allah to provide them with fruits or worldly things, he also connected it to worship. And therein we find the true sense of self-actualization when Allah becomes everything for us and we do everything for His sake.
And then Ibrahim left and Hajar made use of the small amount of food until they ran out of food. She was breastfeeding Ismai’l and then her milk was drying up and Ismai’l started to cry. Hajar couldn’t stand seeing him in agonizing pain so she left him and started climbing a hill (As-Safa) to see if she can see anyone in the horizon, then she would climb down the hill until she reaches the valley and tuck up her clothes and ran to another hill (Al-Marwa) until she reached the top to also look for anybody. During this her son is still suffering, as she continued to go back and forth the hills until the seventh time, she reached the top and she heard a sound. To her amazement, she saw that the sound was coming from beneath the feet of Ismai’l. Jibril (as) descended and started digging the well of Zamzam and the water is coming from beneath Ismai’l’s feet. Seeing this, she made a pool around the water thinking that it would be absorbed by the desert if she didn’t do so. Rasul Allah (saw) said: “`May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismail, if she had left the water alone, it would have been a flowing river.”
Think for a moment about the feelings of Hajar while she was going up and down the hills. Her heart must have been broken, crying because of the pain and suffering dying in front of her eyes. She was a believing and righteous woman and Allah was testing her and hiding for her something in the future. At that time, as a mother she was in extreme pain, but just imagine if Hajar was resurrected at the time of Hajj and she would have a chance to see what Muslims from all over the world are doing. Rasul Allah (saw) said: “And that is why we go between As-Safa and Al-Marwa.” So we are following her footsteps and if Hajar knew that she would’ve gone through everything with a smile on her face.
What we learn from this is that as believers, when we undergo certain trials we have a different mindset, a certain feeling, but we don’t know what Allah is hiding for us in the future. Just as Allah gave Hajar this honor in this dunya, we can just imagine what He will give her as a reward in al-Akhirah. So when we go through trials, we should always remember that Hajar went through this and honored her.
Similarly, Musa (as) also is narrated to have told his family when he saw that fire that he would go to it to bring them light and warmth and guidance since there would be people who could give them directions to Egypt. But Allah relates that when he went there Allah spoke to them, and rather than him going back with light for that night, he came back with light for humanity and guidance not to Egypt but to Jannah. He was given prophethood then and there. “I am Allah, there is no God besides Me, worship Me and establish prayer in My name.”
In the desert, when you have a source of water, different forms of life are attracted. There was a tribe called Jurhum, a nomadic tribe of that area. They come from Yemen, the birthplace of the Arab people and their language was Arabic. Their history relates back to when there were people who built the first dam in the world, and had a year-round source of water and source for irrigation. Because of their wealth, they didn’t feel any pain in traveling, wherever they would go there will be people. These people, due to their arrogance said, “we want to feel the pain of traveling like everybody else and make it difficult for us.” So Allah made it difficult for them, and for their rejection of Allah their dam was destroyed and so the people migrated to some other places and they were scattered all over. Jurhum was one of these tribes who moved out and went to Hijaz. They were familiar with the terrain of Makkah and knew there weren’t any water in the area. But when they saw there were birds hovering over the sky, they wondered what was going on in that particular area. Two men went and came back and reported that there is a well in that area. Now Jurhum went to the place where Zamzam was located and they asked Hajar: “Can we settle in this place?” and she said: “if you want to stay, I have a condition and that the water belongs to us.” They agreed and Rasul Allah said: “Deep in her heart she wanted them to stay since she was lonely.” And Jurhum ended up and settled there.
Ismai’l grew up with them and learned their language (Arabic), Ibrahim was from Iraq and spoke Aramaic. Ismail married a woman from among them and thus began the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Jurhum had the political leadership in Makkah, while the religious leadership belonged to Ismai’l and his descendants. Jurhum stayed in Makkah for 2000 and they became corrupt and tyrannical so Allah sent them Khuzaa’. And Khuzaa, also from Yemen and came to Hijaz, kicked them out of Makkah. Jurhum before they left did two things: First, they filled the well of Zamzam with sand and they erased all of its marks. Second, they stole all the treasures inside Al-Ka’bah. Khuzaa’ now became the new leaders of Makkah, while the descendants of Ismai’l already branched out and spread all over Arabia. But one branch remained in Makkah, the Quraish, who are also known as the descendants of Adnan.
The leader of Khuzaa’ was ‘Amr bin Luhyy al-Khuzaa’i and the leader of Quraish was Qusai bin Kilab. He was able to unify Quraish and to lead a revolt against Khuzaa’ and was able to drive them out completely from Makkah. Finally, a descendant of Isma’il now combine both the political and religious leadership in Makkah. Not only that but Qusai consolidated all the authorities and different aspects of power in his hands. He controlled Al-Hijaba, the guardianship of Al-Ka’bah, controlled siqayah and ifadah (providing food and water to the pilgrims), contolled an-nadwa (assembly or parliament of Quraish), held control over al-liwaa’ (banner) and had the power to declare war. He was the absolute ruler of Makkah.
When he died, these powers were split among his children. The grandson of Qusai, named ‘Amr ended up inheriting providing food and water to the pilgrims. He did something new in feeding the hujjaj. Instead of feeding them soup, he started crushing bread into the soup, an upgrade to their meals. The process of crushing the bread is called Hasham, and so he was called Haashim as a nickname and this was the great-grandfather of Rasul Allah (saw). Hashim married from Al-Madinah and went to Palestine to do business and died in Gaza. His wife became pregnant and gave birth to a child who was named Shaybah (old man), due to him being born with some grey hair. And they stayed in Madinah by his family there. One day, Al-Muttalib, Hashim’s brother, came to Madinah and claimed Shaybah his nephew. He wanted to take him back to Makkah, and convinced the family that he comes from a noble family of Quraish and that Shaybah has to come back and learn his heritage and responsibilities. Al-Muttalib brought Shaybah into Makkah and since he wasn’t seen ever in Makkah, they thought he was a slave and started calling him ‘Abd-ul Muttalib, the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Three important events that occurred with Abdul Muttalib. First, the well of zamzam has been lost for over 300 years now ever since the Jurhum covered it before they got expelled from Makkah. So he saw a dream and tells him to “dig taibah (pure)”. The following night, the same voice tells him to “dig the precious”. The third night, the same voice tells him to “dig zamzam” and the voice told him “it will never fail or dry up, it will water the grand pilgrim, it lies between the dung and the blood near the nest of the crow with the white leg and the ants’ nest.” They were symbols and Abdul Muttalib was unable to decode all of these symbols. Then he went around the Ka’bah and saw dung and blood, a camel was slaughtered and was left with its insides and the blood and he saw a grow with a white leg in the same area and a colony of ants. And so he realized that this is where the well is. He called his son, Harith and started digging. Suddenly, the people heard Abdul Muttalib shout, praising Allah, and they found that he had uncovered the rim of zamzam. The Quraish then said that this well belongs to our father, Ismai’l and so we should all share. Abdul Muttalib said that he was the one who saw the dream, and he was the one who uncovered it and so it belongs to him and him alone. They said that we are all descendants and it belongs to all of us. When they were unable to solve the dispute and on the brink of war, someone suggested to go to the witch of Bani Sa’d for consultation. They searched for her in Syria and along the way they ran out of water. And so they went in different directions in search of water. After a short while, Abdul Muttalib found water, and they said that “If even in this barren desert Allah saved you, and you saw the dream and uncovered the well of Zamzam, this is surely an indication that it is a blessing for you and it belongs to you.” So they gave up all their claims and they went back.
Abdul Muttalib, since he only had one son at that time, prayed to Allah and said that if he was given ten sons, he will sacrifice one for His sake. And Allah blessed him with 10 male sons and 6 daughters. When he had 10, now it’s time for him to fulfill his promise. They had arrows next to Hubal and cast lots and leave their decisions in this random way. Abdul Muttalib had the names of his sons on all the arrows and it came upon Abdullah. The second and third time, it also came on Abdullah’s name. So Abdul Muttalib took his son, and took him next to Ka’bah to slaughter him but both sides of his family tried to convince him not to do it since it would become a sunnah thereafter since he was their leader. Abdul Muttalib said that this was a pledge that he made with Allah and that he cannot give it up.
To solve this dispute, they decided they had to go to the witch again. They went to the witch and told her the situation and she told them to come back the next day so she can consult her spirits. They came back the next day with an answer. She asked them what was the retribution that you pay to a person that was killed (diya). They said ten camels, and so she said to put 10 camels on one side, and Abdullah on the other and cast a lot. If it points towards the camels, slaughter them, and if it points to Abdullah, then add another ten camels. They agreed and went back and did it. They threw the arrows and pointed towards Abdullah until 100 camels were on one side and finally it pointed towards the camels. Abdul Muttalib wasn’t convinced and cast the lots second and third time until it was consistent on the camels. So he slaughtered 100 camels and refused to take any of the meat, and it was so much that it was enough to feed the humans and animals.
Now the people of the Quraish was right in saying that if Abdul Muttalib sacrificed his son the rest will follow because after that incident the diya was changed from 10 camels to 100. And this tradition is kept by Islam until this day, however, it is calculated in currency but based on that concept.
Abdullah and Aaminah were the parents of Rasul Allah (saw), and he was known to be the son of the two sacrificed ones, Ismai’l and Abdullah.
CD1-The Importance of Studying Seerah
CD1
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Definition of Seerah
Linguistically it means a path a person takes during his lifetime. It also means conduct, comportment, demeanor, behavior, way of life, attitude, position, reaction, way of acting, and biography. Seerah can be a biography of any person, not just the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). However, we have used it with him so much, that we automatically refer it to his life.
Importance of Studying Seerah
1.The life of Muhammad is the history of Islam, we are studying a concise history of Islam by studying Seerah. We will find situations and incidences during his life that would help us in everything that we would need to know in our way of Da’wah. So his life is really the history of our religion. Muhammad bin Sa’ad bin Abee Waqqas said: “Our father would teach us the battles of the Prophet (saw), he would teach us the seerah and he would tell us that these are the traditions of our fathers, so study them.” They used to refer to Seerah as Maghaazi, which means battles since the later part of the Prophet’s life was spent in Maghaazi. Ali bin Hussain bin Ali ibn Abi Talib said: “We were taught the Seerah like the way we used to be taught Qur’an.” That was how important studying Seerah was for them.
2. It is to develop the proper love of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) in our hearts. Loving him is worship, part of our religion. He said: “One of you does not attain true faith until you love me more than you love your parents, your children, and the whole world.” Umar once came to the Prophet (saw) and said: “Oh Rasul Allah, I love you more than anyone except myself.” Rasul Allah told him: “You will not be able to attain the perfect eman until you love me more than your own self.” He then came back and said: “O Rasul Allah, now I love you more than my own self.” Rasul Allah said: “Now you have attained the complete faith.” To love a person, you need to know them more and not just a shallow understanding about them. And this is especially true with the Prophet Muhammad (saw) because once you know him, the more you also love him. ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, before his death, was weeping and his son Abdullah reminded him of how the Prophet (saw) gave him the glad tiding of this and that. He turned around and said: “I have gone through three stages of my life.
The first stage was that the most despised man to me was Muhammad (saw), and my desire was that I could get my hands on him and kill him. If I had died at that time I would have been in Hellfire but Allah put the love of Islam in my heart and I went to the Prophet and I said that I want to become a Muslim. Extend your hand so that I could become Muslim. When the Prophet (saw) did so, I pulled my hand away and said that he has a condition to make that the Prophet (saw) pardon him for his great crimes against the Muslims. The Prophet smiled and said: “O ‘Amr, don’t you know that Islam erases everything before it, and hijrah erases everything before it, and hajj erases everything before it.” And so I became Muslim. At that stage, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) became the most beloved person to me in the whole world. I loved him so much and I respected him so much that I couldn’t even catch a full glimpse of his face. If I had died in that stage, I would’ve hoped to be in Jannah.
Sohail Ibn Amr, a well-known negotiator, was sent to the Prophet (saw) and came back saying: “I visited the Roman emperor, Persian, Najashi, but I have never in my life seen a leader that is so loved and respected by his followers like Muhammad (saw). I saw amazing things, such as when the Prophet (saw) would be making wudhu and the sahabah would be rushing to grab the water dripping form the body. So do whatever you want but these people will never give up their leader.” Until now, he remains the most beloved figure in the whole of history. The name Muhammad means the ‘Praised One’, and it really fulfilled the meaning. “Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight … are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” (9:24)
3. To follow the way of the Prophet (saw). Ibn Hazm says: “Whoever seeks the preeminence of the Hereafter, the wisdom of this life, the just purpose, and the embodiment of morality and character, let him follow Muhammad, the prophet of Allah.”
4. Understanding Qur’an. Seerah gives explanation for some ayaat in the Qur’an.
5. His life documents the methodological steps of the Islamic Movement. He went through stages, starting with the secret da’wah, and then public, and then later on, Jihad. These stages are important for Islamic movements to learn and study. Qur’an and Sunnah are verbal teaching and we see them applied in Seerah. Hadeeth about the black string and white string.
6. It is ‘Ibaadah. There is reward in studying Seerah, wherein each gathering is a circle of Dhikr that angels attend.
7. Developing a Muslim identity. Global culture is forced on us, protected and promoted. Thomas Friedman says that “the hidden hand of the market cannot survive without a hidden fist.” McDonald’s will never flourish without McDonald Douglas, the designer of F15’s. This means that the global culture that is being promoted is a culture wherein there is no choice but to follow. You either accept McDonald’s or McDonald Douglas will send their F15’s. It is a very intolerant culture that cannot exist with anything else. Alexander Szoltsen, famous historian writer, says that “to destroy a people you must first sever their roots”. The way we can counter this and develop a Muslim identity is 1.) Study Seerah which is made up of the lives of the Prophets, the Prophet Muhammad, the Companions, and the great figures of our history. 2.) Not to override our local identity to our Islamic identity. What happens in other muslim countries should concern us like it’s happening to us.
8.The Life of Muhammad is a testimony of his Prophethood. We get to know the miracles (the Qur’an), and how he became the political leader, military, religious, lawmaker, teacher, imam, head of a large family, and all he used to do within only 23, which is impossible for any other. This shows that we are studying the greatest man to have ever walked the earth. Michael Hart, author, wrote a book about 100 most influential people that ever lived in history and chose the Prophet Muhammad. He states that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) was the only one who was supremely successful in both religious and Secular level. Al-Mustafa, a name of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), which means “The Chosen One”.
Sources of Studying Seerah
Two primary sources for this course:
1. Seerah of Ibn Kathir, from Al-Bidaayah wan Nihaayah (the beginning and the end), where one of the volumes is about the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
2. Sahih As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah by Ibrahim Al-Ali.
Other Books:
Minhaj Al-Haraki by Muneer Al-Ghadban –tried to construct a curriculum for Islamic movement.
Fiqh As-Seerah, Muhammad Al-ghazali – has tarbiyah lessons
Fiqh As-Seerah, Ramadan Buti
Ghurabaa’, Salman Al-‘Awdah
Al-Asas fis Sunnah, Saeed Hawwa
At tareeq fil Madeena, Muhammad Abda
Terminologies:
Sallah Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him)– first mention is mandatory, and then recommended.
Rasul Allah – Messenger of Allah
Jahiliyah - Ignorance of the Pre-Islamic era, time period and concept and refers ignorance of the message of Islam
By: Imam Anwar Awlaki
Definition of Seerah
Linguistically it means a path a person takes during his lifetime. It also means conduct, comportment, demeanor, behavior, way of life, attitude, position, reaction, way of acting, and biography. Seerah can be a biography of any person, not just the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). However, we have used it with him so much, that we automatically refer it to his life.
Importance of Studying Seerah
1.The life of Muhammad is the history of Islam, we are studying a concise history of Islam by studying Seerah. We will find situations and incidences during his life that would help us in everything that we would need to know in our way of Da’wah. So his life is really the history of our religion. Muhammad bin Sa’ad bin Abee Waqqas said: “Our father would teach us the battles of the Prophet (saw), he would teach us the seerah and he would tell us that these are the traditions of our fathers, so study them.” They used to refer to Seerah as Maghaazi, which means battles since the later part of the Prophet’s life was spent in Maghaazi. Ali bin Hussain bin Ali ibn Abi Talib said: “We were taught the Seerah like the way we used to be taught Qur’an.” That was how important studying Seerah was for them.
2. It is to develop the proper love of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) in our hearts. Loving him is worship, part of our religion. He said: “One of you does not attain true faith until you love me more than you love your parents, your children, and the whole world.” Umar once came to the Prophet (saw) and said: “Oh Rasul Allah, I love you more than anyone except myself.” Rasul Allah told him: “You will not be able to attain the perfect eman until you love me more than your own self.” He then came back and said: “O Rasul Allah, now I love you more than my own self.” Rasul Allah said: “Now you have attained the complete faith.” To love a person, you need to know them more and not just a shallow understanding about them. And this is especially true with the Prophet Muhammad (saw) because once you know him, the more you also love him. ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, before his death, was weeping and his son Abdullah reminded him of how the Prophet (saw) gave him the glad tiding of this and that. He turned around and said: “I have gone through three stages of my life.
The first stage was that the most despised man to me was Muhammad (saw), and my desire was that I could get my hands on him and kill him. If I had died at that time I would have been in Hellfire but Allah put the love of Islam in my heart and I went to the Prophet and I said that I want to become a Muslim. Extend your hand so that I could become Muslim. When the Prophet (saw) did so, I pulled my hand away and said that he has a condition to make that the Prophet (saw) pardon him for his great crimes against the Muslims. The Prophet smiled and said: “O ‘Amr, don’t you know that Islam erases everything before it, and hijrah erases everything before it, and hajj erases everything before it.” And so I became Muslim. At that stage, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) became the most beloved person to me in the whole world. I loved him so much and I respected him so much that I couldn’t even catch a full glimpse of his face. If I had died in that stage, I would’ve hoped to be in Jannah.
Sohail Ibn Amr, a well-known negotiator, was sent to the Prophet (saw) and came back saying: “I visited the Roman emperor, Persian, Najashi, but I have never in my life seen a leader that is so loved and respected by his followers like Muhammad (saw). I saw amazing things, such as when the Prophet (saw) would be making wudhu and the sahabah would be rushing to grab the water dripping form the body. So do whatever you want but these people will never give up their leader.” Until now, he remains the most beloved figure in the whole of history. The name Muhammad means the ‘Praised One’, and it really fulfilled the meaning. “Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight … are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). And Allah guides not the people who are Al-Fasiqun (the rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” (9:24)
3. To follow the way of the Prophet (saw). Ibn Hazm says: “Whoever seeks the preeminence of the Hereafter, the wisdom of this life, the just purpose, and the embodiment of morality and character, let him follow Muhammad, the prophet of Allah.”
4. Understanding Qur’an. Seerah gives explanation for some ayaat in the Qur’an.
5. His life documents the methodological steps of the Islamic Movement. He went through stages, starting with the secret da’wah, and then public, and then later on, Jihad. These stages are important for Islamic movements to learn and study. Qur’an and Sunnah are verbal teaching and we see them applied in Seerah. Hadeeth about the black string and white string.
6. It is ‘Ibaadah. There is reward in studying Seerah, wherein each gathering is a circle of Dhikr that angels attend.
7. Developing a Muslim identity. Global culture is forced on us, protected and promoted. Thomas Friedman says that “the hidden hand of the market cannot survive without a hidden fist.” McDonald’s will never flourish without McDonald Douglas, the designer of F15’s. This means that the global culture that is being promoted is a culture wherein there is no choice but to follow. You either accept McDonald’s or McDonald Douglas will send their F15’s. It is a very intolerant culture that cannot exist with anything else. Alexander Szoltsen, famous historian writer, says that “to destroy a people you must first sever their roots”. The way we can counter this and develop a Muslim identity is 1.) Study Seerah which is made up of the lives of the Prophets, the Prophet Muhammad, the Companions, and the great figures of our history. 2.) Not to override our local identity to our Islamic identity. What happens in other muslim countries should concern us like it’s happening to us.
8.The Life of Muhammad is a testimony of his Prophethood. We get to know the miracles (the Qur’an), and how he became the political leader, military, religious, lawmaker, teacher, imam, head of a large family, and all he used to do within only 23, which is impossible for any other. This shows that we are studying the greatest man to have ever walked the earth. Michael Hart, author, wrote a book about 100 most influential people that ever lived in history and chose the Prophet Muhammad. He states that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) was the only one who was supremely successful in both religious and Secular level. Al-Mustafa, a name of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), which means “The Chosen One”.
Sources of Studying Seerah
Two primary sources for this course:
1. Seerah of Ibn Kathir, from Al-Bidaayah wan Nihaayah (the beginning and the end), where one of the volumes is about the Prophet Muhammad (saw).
2. Sahih As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah by Ibrahim Al-Ali.
Other Books:
Minhaj Al-Haraki by Muneer Al-Ghadban –tried to construct a curriculum for Islamic movement.
Fiqh As-Seerah, Muhammad Al-ghazali – has tarbiyah lessons
Fiqh As-Seerah, Ramadan Buti
Ghurabaa’, Salman Al-‘Awdah
Al-Asas fis Sunnah, Saeed Hawwa
At tareeq fil Madeena, Muhammad Abda
Terminologies:
Sallah Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him)– first mention is mandatory, and then recommended.
Rasul Allah – Messenger of Allah
Jahiliyah - Ignorance of the Pre-Islamic era, time period and concept and refers ignorance of the message of Islam
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