Chapters
Chapter-I Islamic Movement and Pre-Islamic Scenario - 2
1. Importance of Islamic Movement
2. Distinctive Features of the Islamic Movement
3. Roman Empire
4. India
5. Jews
6. Conditions of Arab
7. Arabian Traits for Islamic Movement
8. Difficulties in Reforming Arabs
Islam or the message of Muhammad (PBUH) is the magnificent reformatory movement of the world. The same movement that has been launched by several other prophets in all times and every part of the world. This movement reformed not only the spiritual but all aspect of human life which has no parallel. This is a holistic movement encompassing simultaneously the spiritual, moral, social, economic and political aspects of human life, and no aspect of human life is out of the purview of this movement.
Importance of Islamic Movement:
There has been innumerable reformatory and revolutionary movements in the world. But Islamic movement is the most distinctive features. How this movement emerged? How was it presented? What reactions did it evoke? Such questions arise to every one who is introduced to the movement. Replies to these queries are not so simple. Rather related academic questions lead to understanding a movement that has the capacity to resolve the issues that still confront the humanity. This movement makes one realize the actual meaning of loss and profit and the realities of the eternal life that is the ultimate destination of a man.
The movement gives a complete code of worldly life that adorns not only the eternal life but shapes worldly life in a manner that one gets rid of all the complexities of life that had always bothered the mankind.
This is the distinction of Islamic movement that has drawn the attention of every student with a view to observe and understand the movement and the claim that it makes about itself.
A large number of books has been written and shall continue to be written and with their help a clear introduction of Islamic movement is available. But as the perception of light can not be separated from the lamp and the feeling of fragrance can not be separated from the flowers, the understanding of such a magnificent movement cannot go without the prime mover of the movement. As such whenever there is a reference to this movement people demand to know the life and events of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) .They also demand the meaning and the interpretation of Holy Qur'an, the real source of this movement, which is quite natural.
Distinctive Features of Islamic Movement:
The greatest service to humanity is to instil values and moral training. To eradicate evils and to present before them a complete code of life by following that one could succeed in life in its true sense, Many people have worked for it in their own way. But most of them chose a specific field of reformers for this purpose and dedicated themselves in their chosen area. Some adopted morality and spirituality while others tried to adorn the civilization. Some entered the vast meadows of politics. But those reformers who decided to reform the whole life of the human beings where none other than Prophets (PBUH) of God.
It is the greatest favour of the Creator of this universe that the teachings and message of the last prophet and details of his life has been protected and preserved in an unparallel manner. The biography of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was penned in a way that no other historical records could get such authenticity. Moreover, the coverage and comprehensiveness of it is such that every event of his life, his dealings, the manners of his sitting, walking, eating habits, style of sleeping and getting up and the style of smiling and speaking are minutely described. In short, the details that are not available about the greatmen of past one or two centuries are available about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) even after 1500 years of time.
Before we study the events of Prophet's (PBUH) life, we should keep one thing more in our minds that every work is valued with reference to the circumstances in which it was done. Favourable circumstances soon lead a movement to flourish. It takes sufficient time for an ordinary movement to gain ground and when someone rises for a cause, the masses show sympathy for the movement. In this way, the movement gets a momentum. For instance, take any freedom movement, people are against the atrocities of the foreign oppressors and develop a hatred towards them and if a man of courage
Nobody can gange the real importance and the greatness of the task entrusted to the inviter to Islam i.e. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) unless he glances the then prevailing conditions in Arabian Peninsula as well as in the rest of the world.
Global Condition at the Time the Call to Islam was Given : The essence of Islam is Tawheed (Oneness of God). But this was the very light that the Arabs and the whole world was deprived of . The human mind was devoid of the true concept of Tawheed. It is a fact that thousands of prophets (peace be upon them) before Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) illuminated every corner of the world with the message of unity of god. But to the misfortune of humanity it had forgotten the true message and has started including the moon, sun, stars, jinns, angels, gods and goddesses, mountains, rivers, animals other human being into the folds of divinity. Thus he entangled himself in worshipping innumerable mortal objects and deprived himself of the calm of worshipping one God.
There were two super powers on the face of the earth at that time. They were Persia and Rome. Persians were following zoroastrianism which had its effect from Iraq to India. Romans had faith in Christianity. The whole Europe and African continent were under the impact of Christianity. Hindus and Jews were also two important religious sects. Everyone used to claim to be on the right path.
Worshipping of stars was common in Iran. The kings and elites also had religious status and they were prostrated before. The people used to sing songs in their praise. In short, Persia was bereft of the concept of Tawheed.
Roman Empire : After the cessation of Greek empire, Romans were considered to be the super power of the world but by the end of 6th century A.D. this empire had reached at the brink of its downfall, maladministration, fear of foes, restlessness within the
India : India was passing through Puranic age. This was considered as the darkest period in Indian history. Brahmanism was once again gaining ground and Buddhist were almost perished. Polytheism had crossed all bounds. The number of deities was touching 33 crore mark. It is said that in Vedic ages, idol worship was not in practice, but it had become common in temples. The priests were the personification of moral degradation. Masses were vulnerable targets for these priests. Casteism had ruined the whole society. In the begining there was no such social discrimination but the casteism had distroted the entire social fabric in a manner that defied all senses of judgement. The gentry was given privileges on hereditary and family grounds. Consuming liquor was very common. Monastic life was considered essential part of religion. Superstitions and fantacies were on their peak. Innumerous ritual and faith in spirits had made the human life as blind. Every extraordinary thing for them was god. To prostrate before every mighty or strange thing was their religion. There were innumerable deities and goddesses. Women priest and devdasis (woman slaves) were submerged in the mire of moral degradation. All these heinious acts were going on in the name of religion.. Women were put at stake in gambling. Ploygamy was a common practice. Widows were deprived of all worldly comforts. This inhuman attitude of society used to compel a woman to lay on the pyre of her husband. Female genocide was common due to fear of defeat and insult and this inhuman act was a matter of boasting for them. Naked women and men were worshipped. They used to loose sense after consuming liqour. In short, from moral religious and social point of views, this land of Allah was a hotbed of satanic activities.
J e w s: Being the bearer of the A l l a h ' s Deen (religion) jews were the ones to bring submerged in the quagmire of sins. Their long history was replete with heinious acts. They were too sinful to bring about any reforms. They martyred a number of prophets
Condition of Arabian Peninsula: Let's have a glance over Arabia, the land from where the Holy Prophet launched his movement and underwent all kinds of miseries and hardships.
A major part of Arabia, i.e., Valley of Qura, Khaiber and Fadk were inhabited by the Jews. They were at the helm of power in Madinah as well. Rest of Arabia was engaged in polytheistic activities. They used to worship trees, idols, stones, stars, angels and jins, even though concept of one God was there and they used to regard Him as the greatest of gods. But this belief had become so faint that they continued worshipping the "smaller gods",. They were of the view that their day-to-day problems were solved by these deities., so, they were mostly engaged in offering sacrifices and votive offerings before these deities. They used to take solemn pledges in the names of these deities. They used to think that they can please Allah by pleasing these "smaller gods".
These people used to regard the angels as the "daughters of Allah" and the jinns as close relative of Allah and partner in divinity. They used to seek their help. They had carved out idols of these "partners" in divinity and used to worship that if they found a beautiful stone, they would start worshipping it, if they don't get anything they would make a mound of clay, sprinkle goat milk over it and an idol was ready. These were innumerable idols in Arabia. They used to worship stars as well. Among stars, they used to prefer sun and moon. Jinns and ghosts were also worshipped. Several tales were prevalent about them. All polytheistic superstitions were there in Arabia.
A long with these religious distortions, infightings were also common. Trifle issues used to result into wars among tribes that used to last for generations. No other nation could come at par with them in gambling and consuming liquor. Their poetry was nothing but praise of wine and the consequent obscene activities. They were beasts in human form due to their obsession for usuary, plunder, cold bloodedness, shedding blood, fornication and other dirty acts. They use to bury their daughters alive. Exposure was so common that naked men and women used to make rounds of K'aba in the name of religion. In short, Arabs had touched the bottom of mire of sins. They had submerged their religion, morality, social values politics and their all in this mire.
Arabian traits for Islamic Movement : Not only Arabia rather the whole world was engulfed in such a darkness of misguidance. Then the world desperately needed the guiding light which could dispell this darkness and show the right path to Allah's deviated slaves. Why was Arabia chosen by Allah Almighty to dispel this darkness, needs a serious thinking:
Allah Almighty had chosen Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the last messenger for guidance and light and the message of invitation (to Islam) was to spread in the whole world. It is apparent that this gigantic task could not be completed by an individual so, it was a must that the Holy Prophet organize a group of reformers who could carry this mission on even after the Prophet leaves the world. The qualities required for this grand task were commonly found in Arabs. In addition to it, the geographical location of Arabia such that it lies in the central part of inhabited world. So,. it was easy to convey this message (of Islam) to the surrounding regions. Another cogent reason was that Arabic language had the potential that was required for the vastness of topic. In this way, Arabic language had an upper hand over other languages. The greatest virtue of Arabs was that they had never been under any foreign rule. They were not acquainted with the evils of slavery. They had Persian and Roman empires around them, but these empires could not make them bow to them. They were extremely chivalrous and fearless people. They used to pay no heed to dangers. Wars were their favourite pastime. They were full of fervour and strong will power. They were free of malice. They had sharp memory, had the ability to learn the finer things fast. They were generous and had self esteem and self respect. The difficult desert life style had made them practical in their approach and if once accepted a thing it was difficult for them to confine themselves to its appreciation from a distance. Rather they used to rise and involve their life in their chosen task.
Difficulties in Reforming Arabs: The above mentioned qualities made Arabs a nation, due to which Allah decide to entrust them with the responsibility of spreading the true message. On the other hand the miseries that Holy Prophet faced in reforming these people were no less. As stated earlier that to evaluate a work it is essential to look into the circumstances in which it had been done. So, the flourishing of Islamic movement is the greatest achievement in terms of circumstances in which this movement was launched. So, the way the Holy Prophet prepared this nation for Islamic cause is nothing but a miracle.
Without putting forth these adverse situations one can not guess the real greatness of this grand reformatory task accomplished by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The obstacles that hindered the Holy Prophets are mentioned here:
Arabs were an illiterate nation. They had no concept of Allah's qualities, importance of the message, meaning of revelation, understanding Allah's Book, concept of life hereafter and the real meaning of Ibadat (worshipping). These people were blind followers of their ancestral customs and rituals. Islam brought the true concept of Tawheed which was contrary to their beliefs. All polytheistic evils had taken roots in them. Superstition had taken away their wits. Infightings were their prominent features. They had lost the power of reasoning and thinking seriously. Their thinking was limited to wars and revenges. Their main occupation was loot and plunder. So, when the Holy Prophet invited them to Islam, they became amazed and exasperated. This invitation (Islam) was against their ancestral religion and beliefs. Islam demanded them to lead a peaceful life. It proclaimed that loot is unlawful. It further demanded them to give up negative thinking, bad habits and unlawful activities to gain livelihood. So, it was an uphill task to persuade these people to give up what they were practising for centuries. In short, the prevailing conditions in Arabic and rest of the world, Arabs and their habit and tendencies apparently nothing was favourable for the movement. But when the result came, it appeared that the Islam like a tornado took over the entire Arab. And this is the miracle that generates a desire to know each and every aspect of the Holy Prophet's life. The following chapter will take you face-to-face with this great personality and its achievements.
1. Lineage
2. Birth
3. Fostering and Childhood
Lineage : The name of Prophet Muhammad's father was Abdullah s/o Abdul Muttalib. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the sixtieth branch of Prophet Ibrahim's (peace upon him) geneological tree. The name of Prophet's dynasty was Quraysh. This dynasty was the distinguished one among dynasties of Arabs. Many persons like Nadr, Fahr and Qusai Bin Kalab from this dynasty were prominent in terms of honour and wealth. Qusai was appointed as the trustee of the sanctuary of K'aba in his time, this added to their honour. Qusai did some commendable jobs like providing Hajis with drinking water and food. Later on, these works were carried on by his successors. The trusteeship of K'aba and making proper arrangements for Hajis, got this dynasty an honourable and distinguished place amongst other dynasties of Arabs. so much was the reverence of this dynasty that nobody dared to touch the caravans of this clan. Quraysh were comfortable in taking their merchandise from one place to another.
Abdul Muttalib had ten or twelve sons. But five of them gained fame due to their association with Islam or heathensim. One of them is Prophet Muhammad's father Abdullah, second is Abu Talib, though he did not embrace Islam but acted as Prophet's guardian for a long time. Hazrat Hamzah and Hazrat Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) were the third and fourth respectively who embaraced Islam and gained a high status in Islamic history. Abdul Mutallib's fifth son was Abu Lahab who is notorious for his anti-Islamic activities.
Abduallah got married to the Wahab Bin Abd-Manaf's daughter Aamna, She was an eminent personality in Quraysh tribe. Abdullah was 17 years of age at the time of tying nuptial knot. He stayed with his inlaws for three days as was their custom. Then, he set off for Sham (Syria) for commercial purpose. On his way back to Makkah, he had serious illness and died in Madinah. Hazrat Aamna was pregnant at this time.
Birth : It was the blessed morning of 9th day of Rabi-ul-Avval, the day was Monday (corresponding to 20th April 571 A. D.) that the Mercy for the Worlds, opened his eyes on this blessed land. This was the light which was to dispell darkness of the world and to bestow the message of guidance to the humanity. This message was last till Doomsday
Fostering and Childhood : First of all Hazrat Aamna suckled him and then Abu Lahab's maid Saubiya suckled the infant. It was customary for Arabs to sent their infants to rural areas for lactating and upbringing, so that, they may get the full of fresh air of suburbs and learn the eloquent way of speaking Arabic. Bedouins were regarded more eloquent than those living in towns. Women from rural areas used to visit the towns to take babies with them for suckling and fostering. So, after a few days, some women form Havazin tribe came to Makkah. Halima Sa'adia was among these ladies. This is the lady who got the honour of suckling Muhammad.
She came back to Makkah after two years to handover Muhammad to his mother Aamna. But Makkah, at that time, was reeling under epidemic, so, Hazrat Aamna sent her back with Muhammad . In this way, Muhammad stayed with Hazrat Halima for six years.
When Muhammad attained the sixth year, his mother Aamna took him to Madinah. Perhaps she went there to visit her husband Abdullah's grave or to meet her relatives in Madinah. She stayed there for one month. When she was going back to Makkah, she became ill and died at a place called Abwa. She was buried at the same place.
Muhammad's grandfather Abdul Muttalib shouldered the responsibility of grandson's upbringing. He always kept gandson with him. But he died after two years. Before leaving this mortal world, he entrusted Muhammad to his son Abu Talib who performed his duty well. Abu Talib and Prophet's father Abdullah were from the same mother. Abu Talib had a deep love for Muhammad. He used to avoid his own children for Muhammad's pleasure. He used to take Muhammad with him wherever he went.
Muhammad, at the age of 10 or 12 started grazing the goats with other children. Grazing the quadrupeds was very common occupation of children even the ones from noble families used to graze goats.
Abu Talib was a trader. According to the rules of Quraysh, he used to visit Sham once a year. Prophet was in the twelfth year that Abu Talib intended to go to Sham (Syria). He did not want to take Muhammad with him due to the inconveniences of the desert journey. But as he was setting off, Muhammad hugged him and insisted to accompany him. So, the affectionate uncle took the nephew with him.
1. Battle of Fijar
2. Hilful Fudul
3. Construction of Holy K'aba
4. Trade
5. Nikah
6. Unusal Events
Battle of Fijaar : A neven ending series of wars was on in Pre-Islamic period. Battle of Fijaar is one of these fierce and bloody battles, This battle was fought between Quraysh and Qais tribes. As the Quraysh were justifiable, Prophet Muhammad sided with Quraysh tribe. But he raised his hand on none. Qais tribe dominated the battlefield, but, they were overpowered by Quraysh tribe. The war ended on a compromise.
Hilful Fudul : The endless serie0s of wars destroyed hundreds of households. There was no clam in life. After the battle of Fijar was over, some peace-loving people came forward and launched a reformatory movement. One of prophet's uincle Zubair proposed that we should take some concrete steps to keep the situation under control. So, the elderman of Quraysh tribe sat face-to-face and a treaty was reached. It read :
We will eradicate restlessness from within the land.
We will provide protection to travellers.
We will help the destitute.
We will stretch a helping hand to oppressed people.
We will not let any oppressor to operate from within Makkah.
The Prophet Muhammad was also present there and he joined the treaty and loved it. So, once in his prophecy time, he said, "If I was offered with red camels for breaking this treaty I would have not accepted. If I get a fresh call for such a treaty, I will be there."
Construction of Holy K'aba : K'aba was a roofless construction. The walls were not very high, the building was in low-lying area. The rain water used to flow towards this direction. So, a dam was built to stop the inflowing water but this dam was too weak to
The new building of K'aba was roofed. But due to the insufficient construction material, a part of land was left out and new foundations were laid. This left-out part is today known as Hatim.
Trade : Arabs and Quraysh in particular were traders for ancient times. Prophet's uncle Abu Talib was also a trader. So, the Holy Prophet also adopted the trade as his profession. Prophet's journey with his uncle gained him a lot of experience. So, when the prophet started that business, the people found him an honest person in dealings and people started investing money in his trade. Keeping of the words, fair in dealing, righteousness and honesty, all these qualities made him extremely respectable among Quraysh. The people started calling him Sadiq (true of words) and Ameen (trustworthy). The Prophet made several tripes to Syria, Basra and Yemen for commercial purposes.
Nikah (Matrimonial rites) : Hazrat Khadija was a rich and prestigious lady of Makkah. She was a remote cousin of Prophet Muhammad. She got married two times but both the husbands died and now she was a widow. She was a decent and well-mannered lady having high moral status. People used to call her Tahira (chastel lady). She was very rich. She used to operate her business through hired traders.
Prophet Muhammad was 25 years old at this juncture. He had made several commercial trips. He had established himself as man of high moral status and a trustworthy trader. So, Hazrat Khadija sent a man to Prophet Muhammad and asked him to take her merchandise for trade. She offered handsome remuneration for it. Prophet Muhammad accepted the offer and set off for Basra with her merchandise. He performed his job
At the time of marriage, Hazrat Khadija was 40 years old and had two sons and one daughter from her earlier husbands.
Unusal Events : Prominent personalities generally show signs of their bright future right from their birth. These are the persons who do some reformatory work in a particular field but the personality who was to be entrusted for providing guidance to the whole world and to reform each and every aspect of human life, must show such signs in abundance. Such extraordinary events regarding Prophet Muhammad's life are mentioned in numerous biographies. But here we are mentioning a few authentic events :
Prophet Muhammad ordered that, "while I was in my mother's womb, she saw a dream that a light originated from her body which illuminated the palaces of Syria". There are many narratives prevalent in this regard that in those days jews and christians were waiting for the arrival of an incoming Prophet and used to give prophesy about him.
Another incident is related to Prophet's early childhood. Some construction work was on inside the sanctuary K'aba, children along with elders were fetching bricks. Prophet Muhammad was also among these children. Prophet's uncle asked him to untie his leg-sheet and put it on shoulder in order to avoid the friction by bricks which was causing burning sensation. In Arabia, such behaviour was not uncommon even the elders felt no shame in exposing their bodies. But as Muhammad did this, he fell unconcious due to the feeling of nakedness and his eyes wide open. When, he came back to senses, he was uttering these words, "my leg-sheet, my let-sheet". The people around him tied the leg sheet around his waist. When Abu Talib asked about the reason of his felling unconcious, he replied that, "I saw a man in while clothes who asked me to cover my body from naval to knee." Most like it was the first hidden voice that prophet had heard.
Story telling was very common in Arabia. They used to gather around fire at night and a story teller take the centre stage and narrate the concocted stories throughout the night. Once Muhammad also intended to be there but it happened so, Muhammad halted at a
Prophet Muhammad was a child and Makkah was the centre of idols. There were 360 idols in K'aba and his elders were priests. But Muhammad never bowed before these idols nor he took part in politheistic rituals. As far as such polytheistic customs were concerned, Prophet Muhammad never sided with Quraysh nor with his clan.
1. Cave Hira
2. First Revelation
Now Muhammad started feeling a revolution in his mind., His heart started inclining to worship Allah in soilitude and to ponder over the religious and moral degradation among his people. He used to think that my people have made these idols their god. Their moral condition is worst. He used to think of ways to eradicate these evils. He wanted to show them the right path. He used to ponder over the ways that how to worship the Creator of this boundless universe. Such thoughts used to hover over his mind. He used to spend hours in solitude pondering over these thoughts.
Cave Hira : There was a cave at a distance or three miles from Makkah. Muhammad used to stary in this cave for hours worshipping Allah. He used to take eatables with him, when he run out of eatables he used to come back to his house for provisions or Hazrat Khadija used to fetch eatables for him.
First Revelation : One day Muhammad was busy in worshipping Allah as usual. It was the month of Ramzan that an angel sent by Allah, appeared before him. This angel was Hazrat Jibril (peace be upon him), who has the most elevated place among angels and who has been bringing Allah's messages to prophets. Hazrat Jibril appeared and asked the prophet, "read". Prophet Muhammad replied that "I am illiterate". Hearing this Hazrat Jibril started pressing the Prophet so much so that he got tired. Then, Hazrat Jibril loosened his grip and asked him "read". But Prophet Muhammad again denied, then Hazrat Jibril pressed him the third time and after loosening his grip, he asked the prophet to say:
Proclaim! (or read!) In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, who created -Created man, out of a leech like clot:
Proclaim! And thy Lord is the most Bountiful He Who taught (the use of ) the pen,--
Taught man that which he knew not. (Q. 96:1-5)
This was the first revelation. The Prophet Muhammad came back to his house, having a trembling heart*. He asked Hazrat Khadija, "Wrap me in a blanket, wrap me up in a blanket." She wrapped him up in a blanket. When Prophet Muhammad felt clam, he told
The Cave Hira, He further added that, "my life is in danger". Hazrat Khadija solaced him and said, "no! never, there is no threat to your life, Allah will not disgrace you, you take care of your relatives, load yourself with the burden of others, help destitutes and feed them, entertain the travellers. You suffer on behalf of others for sake of justice." After these pacifications, she took the Prophet to Waraqa Bin Naufal, an elder Christian priest. He used to recite Taurah. Hazrat Khadija (May Allah be pleased with her) narrated to him the whole incident of Cave Hira. Hearing all this, Waraqa said that, "This is the Gabriel**. (Jibril who knows the hidden secrets) who used to bring messages for Musa also. I wish that I were alive when your people would banish you." The prophet asked, "will my people force me to leave the native land" Then, Waraqa further added that, "the guidance you brought was brought by several other messengers before you but all of them had been targeted by their people. If I remain alive till that time, I will help you". But Waraqa died after sometime.
Prophet Muhammad used to visit Cave Hira and pray there. Six months passed over the first revelation, this gap helped the Holy Prophet to overcome the effect of the first experience. Now, the Holy Prophet was curiously waiting for the descending of second revelation. Hazrat Jibril used to visit the Hoy Prophet to pacify him and assure him that he has been selection to shoulder this responsibility of conveying the message of Allah to his slaves. After some time Hazrat Jibril (peace be upon him) started frequenting the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
1. Commencement of the Invitation to Islam
2. Two phases of the Message
3. Life of Makkah
4. Four Phases of Makkan Life
5. Secret Invitation
6. Impact of Qur'an
7. Rectification of Beliefs
8. Salahs (prayers) in Hiding
9. Traits of Believers of this Period
10. Proclamation of Invitation to Islam
11. Opposition to the Invitation
12. Reasons for Opposition to Islamic Cause
13. Opponents' Compulsions
14. Dealing with the Opponents
15. Masses Pay Attention to Invitation
16. Offer from the Opponents
17. Trial and Test
18. Migration to Abyssinia---5 Prophethood
19. Muslims in the Court of Negus
20. Negus Embraces Islam
21. Hamza Embraces Islam
22. Umar Embraces Islam
23. Confinement in the Valley of Abi Talib
24. Pace of the Call to Islam
25. Extreme Oppression and Cruelty
26. Preaching Outside Makkah
27. Night of Jinn
28. Islam in Madinah
29. Intensity in Opposition
30. First Oath of Allegiance at Uqba
31. Second Oath of Allegiance at Uqba
The second revelation in Cave Hira was the initial ayahs of Chapter Al-Muddasssir:
O thou wrapped up (in a mantle)! arise and deliver thy warning! And thy Lord do thou
This was the begining of prophecy. Now the Holy Prophet got the word, "rise and show the path of success and prosperity to the deviated humanity and warn them that there is no way of success but the slavery of Allah. Whoever will tread on this path of slavery, will succeed. Warn them of the deadly end in hearafter in case they deviate from the right path. The basis of human life is the slavery of Allah and admission of his greatness and magnificence. In this way the human life can be consecrated from all apparent and hidden desecrations. Worsipping someone other than Allah the basic deviations that destroys a human being. Humans should behave well with each other without having any greed ulterior motives.
Phase of Spreading the Message : Henceforth the period of the invitation to the movement starts. We can devide this period into two parts. The first one is the period that is called Makkan period and the second one is post-migration Madinite period. The first period spans over 13 and the second over 10 years respectively.
Life of Makkah : The Makkan period of invitational work is very significant from the point that it was the period during which Islamic seeds were sown in. This is the period which produced personalities that took the world by storm to establish Islam.
Makkan period is scantily mentioned in available books on history and prophet's biography. To gaugee the importance of this period one must go through that part of the Holy Qur'an which was revealed during stay Makkah. These chapters throw proper light on the nature of invitation, prevailing condition, detail of events, arguments regarding Tawheed and hereafter, instructions for character building, and the details regarding the struggle between Islam and heathenism and the fervour of protagonists of Islamic cause. The Holy Qur'an plays a decisive role in providing all these details. We are mentioning some of these events briefly:
Four Phases of Makkan Life : The part of Holy Prophet's life in Makkah prior to migration can be divided into four major segments according to the various phases of struggle between Islam and atheism.
First Phase : This phase spans over three years when the invitational work was done secretly. Second Phase : It spans over two years. When the Holy Prophet proclaimed his prophecy, the people laughed at him, showered him with allegations and revile
Third Phase : When this sapling grew into a plant and all atrocities met rough weather, then, the neophytes were targetted. This phase spans over 5 or 6 years and muslims underwent excessive callourness throughout this period.
Fourth Phase :After the demise of Abu Talib and Hazrat Khadija, the Holy Prophet and his companions suffered the worst of calmities and agonies. This period spans over three years.
First Phase
Secret Invitation : After conferment of Prophethood the first stage was to decide as to whom the message of praying only one God should be given first. We have already briefly mentioned about the prevailing social conditions in Arabia. It was a hard test for the Holy Prophet to say something which was contrary to the beliefs and customs of Arabs. So Prophet Muhammad decided to invite those who were close to him and knew about the righteousnessand piety of Muhammad. It was not possible for them to contradict Muhammad. Hazrat Khadija (May Allah be pleased with her) was the closest to the Holy Prophet them there were Hazrat Zaid and Hazrat Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with them) Hazrat Ali was his cousin, Hazrat Zaid was Prophet's slave and Abu Bakr was a close friend of his. All these were enjoying the Prophet's decent company for years. So, the Holy Prophet conveyed the message to Hazrat Khadija and then to rest three. All of them listened to the message and certified it as if they had already embraced Islam. These were the first four muslims. The Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Zubair, Hazrat Abdur Rehman Bin Auf, Hazrat Sa'ad Bin Abi Waqas and Hazrat Talha entered the folds of Islam on the persuation of Hazrat Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with them). In this way, Islamic invitation started like a secret mission and the number of muslims started increasing.
Impact of Qur'an : The chapter of the Holy Qur'an that were revealed in this period were based upon phrases and short sentences. The style and arrangement of words are superb. The literary impact was such that entered the hearts of listeners. Everyone who used to listen to these ayahs wanted to recite them again and again.
Rectification of Beliefs : These chapters of the Holy Qur'an were describing the realities of heareafter and the true concept of Tawheed and had such arguments that used to
Along with the convincing presentation of the concept of Tawheed, and life hereafter Prophet Muhammad was also being prepared to take on this grand job of spreading the message of Islam. He was also being guided about the modalites of accomplishing this job.
Salahs (prayers) in Hiding : Till now, all the activities were secret. Secrecy was uppermost priority in Islamic circle. Prophet Muhammad used to perform salah in the valley of a mountain. It happened one day that Prophet Muhammad along with Hazrat Ali was performing salah in mountain pass. Then, Abu Talib, Prophet's uncle, appeared on the scene. He kept watching this new way of praying with astonishment. When the salah was completed he asked, "What is this religion?" Prophet Muhammad replied, This is the religion of your grandfather Prophet Ibrahim." Abu Talib said, "I can't adopt it but you are allowed to follow it, nobody will resist you."
Traits of Believers of this Period :This was the period when embracing Islam and siding with Prophet Muhammad was like putting one's life at stake. The persons who embraced Islam in this period has some qualities that prompted them to advance in this field. These people were fed up with polytheistic rites and were looking for the true guidance. These people were pious and believed in good moral values.
The invitation to the movement continued for three years secretly. But how long? How long the clouds could conceal the sum which was to illuminate the whole world with the light of guidance. So, the movement entered the second phase.
Second Phase
Proclamation of Invitation to Islam : Now the guidance came from Allah to proclaim openly the invitation to Islam. So, one day Prophet Muhammad climbed mountain Safa
It was an open call to message of Islam. Now, Allah's Prophet declared openly the task that was assigned to him and the message to which he was inviting them all. The prophet has proclaimed that Allah is the sole Creator and Owner of this universe. He created man and He is the master of all creatures. The man's place is nothing more than being Allah's slave. It is man's duty to serve Allah and Obey His commands. Allah has bestowed the honour of being a supreme creature to man, so, he should not make partners in Allah divinity. Akkah is the Creator, Ruler and Cherisher of the whole universe and its creatures. No one other than Allah, deserves to be worshipped, or to be obeyed and adored. Allah has bestowed some powers to man. This worldly life is a time-bound test. When the time of this test will be over, the man must go back to his Lord. Then, Allah will decide his fate according to the good or bad deeds performed by that man. The proclamation by Prophet Muhammad was not an ordinary one. The Quraysh and other people were extremely angry with the Holy Prophet because he had hurt their "religious sentiments". Everyone in Makkah was talking about the invitation given by Muhammad and his claim of prophecy. A few days later, Prophet Muhammad asked Hazrat Ali to make arrangements for a feast. All members of Abdul Muttalib's (Prophet's gandfathe) clan were invited to this feast. Hamza, Abu Talib and Abbas all were there. When the eating was over, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) stood up and addressed the gathering, "I brought the thing which is sufficient for both this world and hereafter. Who will help me in conveying this message?" It was a tense moment because the "help" meant that the helper will have to face the enmity of the whole Arabia. All he gets for helping Muhammad was the success in hereafter and the honour before his Lord. No other benefit was in sight. The silence dominated the gathering. And then, to everyone's surprise, Hazrat Ali rose from hihs place and said, "Though I have a sore eye (his eyes were soring), my legs are thin and weak, but I will
Opposition to the Invitation : There were forty plus muslims in Islamic group. So, Prophet Muhammad proclaimed Tawheed within the sanctuary of K'aba. For polytheists of Makkah it was the greatest insult. This proclamation evoked a furore. All of them fell avidly upon the Holy Prophet. Haris Bin Abi Hala rushed to rescue him. But he succumbed to multiple wounds of swords and got martyrdom for the sake of Islamic cause. The Holy Prophet managed to escape and the tumult was somehow subsided.
Reasons for Opposition to Islamic Cause :This open invitation to Islam was most perplexing for Quraysh and they were opposing the call vehemently. K'aba was the source of honour and dignity for Makkah and the Quraysh were the trustee and caretaker of K'aba. So in a way, Quraysh were ruling the whole Arabia from the religious point. People used to seek their counsel in affairs regarding religion and regard them reliable. So, the first target of Islamic invitation was the very religion led by Quraysh. It was obvious that the blind faith in ancestral religion does not let the believers to listen to the word of guidance. This was the reason that polytheists used to get exasperated on hearing the message of guidance. Quraysh elites and men of power were viewing the downfall of their "religious dominance" , in case this new faith (Islam) takes roots. So, everyone of them was opposing the call to Islam with as much force as they had. Quraysh were also engaged in activities which were contrary to their religious status. The polytheistic religion did not prohibit them from these wrong doings and they were enjoying a lofty status among their people. The masses used to avoid their misdeeds due to the status and dignity enjoyed by them.
The Holy Prophet Muhammed on one hand used to describe the evils of idolatry and invite the people towards pure Tawheed, he used to make them realize the day when they will be presented before their Lord and will be questioned about their deeds. On the other hand he used to describe their evil customs and warn them of their deadly end if they did not accept the true message (Islam). The Holy Prophet used to expose the weakness of their basic values and its result. This used to incite the respectable peoples amongst Quraysh, because they had no courage to give up their evil acts nor they could justify their actions. so, they used to feel that they were being disagraced before their won people who were criticizing them behind their back. This was enough to make them perplexed. The Holy Qur'an was also warning these idolators of painful chastisement. These Ayahs were presented in a simple manner, but the people used to know clearly, as
These cogent reasons were enough to oppose the Islamic movement and it was possible for those powerful people to physically annihilate the small groups of Muslims to settle the score once for all. But Allah willed otherwise, these handful neophytes were selected as the protagonists of Islamic movement and they were chosen to spread Islam in the length and breadth of the world. So, these were some compulsions which prefented Quraysh from taking this extreme step.
Opponents' Compulsions : The battles in near past had broken Quraysh. They were so frustrated with wars (after the war of Fijar) that they hated any further war. This small number of muslims comprised of men from different tribes and their killing meant declaring a war aginst all these tribes. In those days, the killing of one person from a tribe meant the disgrace of the tribe, so these people used to take revenge. So, a single murder used to take revenge. So, a single murder used to result into the loss of hundreds of people. sine it was feared that the whole Makkah will turn into a battlefield, Quraysh decided to adopt some other ways to curb this movement.
They started making fun of the movement and its followers & tried to incriminate them wrongly. They showered the protagonists of Islamic movement with abuses. They invented novel ways of false propaganda. They called him insane and mad, awarded him the titles of poet and sorcerer. They used to disturb the gatherings where the Holy Prophet used to invite the people to Islam.
Dealing with the Opponents : The part of the Holy Qur'an that was being revealed in this period was full of instructions to cope with this situation. The objections of opponents were met with proper replies. For example, in chapter Al-Qalam, Allah Almighty has pacified the prophet :
Thou art not, By the grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. Nay, verily for thee is a reward unfailing : and surely thou hast sublime morals. Soon with thou see, and they will see, which of you is afflicted with madness. Verily it is thy Lord that Knoweth best, which (among men) hath strayed from His Path: and He knoweth best those who receive (true) guidance. So obey not to those who deny (the truth). Their desire is that thou shouldst be pliant: so would they be pliant. Then leave Me alone with such as reject this message: by degrees shall We draw them on little by little from directions they perceive not. A (long) respite will I grant them: truly powerful is My plan. Or is it that thou dost ask
This chapter is a specimen from the Holy Qur'an that was revealed in this Makkan period of Islamic movement. It was made crystal clear that the inviter to Islam was neither a soothsayer not a sorcerer. Compare the qualities of the Holy Prophet with the characteristics of poets, sorceres and soothsayers. There is no similarity between the Holy Prophet and those wrong doers.
Masses Pay Attention to Invitation : Quraysh's anti-Islamic propaganda was causing curiosity in the hearts of people. they wanted to see and listen to Holy Prophet's sermons so as to know the reality. The visitors to K'aba or the traders who used to visit Makkah, started visiting Holy prophet secretly. Deeply touched by Prophet's compassionate being and divine ayahs, these people, on return to their home towns, used to invite others to Islam in their respective regions.
A large number of people from adjoining areas started pouring in Makkah only to have a glimpse of Holy Prophet. Hazrat Abu Zarr's (May Allah be pleased with him) incident is a good example. Ghifar tribe was located on the route used by Quraysh to reach Sham (Syria). When the word about the prophet reached in this tribe, Hazrat Abu Zarr got curious to meet the Holy Prophet. First, he sent his brother Anees to Makkah to collect information about the Holy Prophet and his preachings. Anees did as his brother asked him and told Hazrat Abu Zarr that "the person (the Holy Prophet) bears a moral character, teaches good manners and invites the people to one God and the ayahs, he recite, are quite different from poetic words."
Abu Zarr could not calm down his desire to meet the Holy Prophet. So, he got ready for the journey to Makkah.
When he reached Makkah, he got frightened and could not ask anyone about the Holy Prophet. When he was in the sanctuary of K'aba, he met Hazrat Ali (May Allah be pleased with him). He stayed for three days with Hazrat Ali, only the he could collect enough courage to describe the motive of his journey to Makkah. Hazrat Ali took him in the benign presence of the Holy Prophet. As a result of this meeting, he embraced Islam. The Holy Prophet ordered him to go back to his people but the effect of Tawheed had ward off all his fears and anxieties, so he reached in the sanctuary and called out
Hearing this, the people from all directions fell upon him. Allah Almighty sent Hazrat
Hazrat Abu Zarr, when back among his people, invited his people to embrace Islam, half of the tribe responded positively to his call and embraced Islam. Aslam tribe was located in the vicinity of Ghifar tribe. The people of this tribe also embraced Islam. In this way Islamic invitation started spreading. The spread of Islam was tormenting the infidels of Makkah. So, some elites and other privileged people called on Abu Talib to complain about the Prophet. They told Abu Talib that "Your nephew insults our idols, calls our ancestors deviated people and term all of us foolish and wrong doers. So, either you persuade him or permit us to settle the issue once for all." Abu Talib realized the gravity of matter, he knew that he can't face the Quraysh single handedly. So, he said to the Holy Prophet, "My dear nephew! don't load me with the burden that is unbearable for me." The Holy Prophet realized that now Abu Talib is retreating, so he said calmly to his uncle "By God, if these people put the sun on my one hand and moon on the other, I will not fight shy from fulfilling my duty. Either Allah will accomplish the task or I will sacrifice myself for this noble cause." This determination and bold decision encouraged abu Talib and he said to the Holy Prophet, "Go on, nobody would be able to harm you."
Offer from Opponents : Abu Talib was the last hope for Quraysh but he disappointed them so Quraysh decided to use a soft option to finish this new movement. They sent Utba Bin Rabi' to Holy Prophet. Utba asked the Prophet, tell us Muhammad, do you want marry in a decent family? Is amassing wealth your target? We can provide you all this. We are ready to give Makkah under your rule and we will fulfill all other demands as well. But give up your invitational work."
The adversaries' mentality was too low to reach the height and loftiness of Islamic movement. For them, material purposes were a must for a movement. They could not imagine that this person was doing all this to please his Lord and he was obeying the commands of his Lord. They knew that a person puts his life at stake for the sake of wealth and power. They did not know that some people do this for the success of eternal life in hereafter. So, Utba was confident that his offers will prevent Muhammad from doing his invitation work. But the Holy Prophet recited a few ayahs from Holy Qur'an to elaborate Tawheed, invitation (to Islam) and his prophecy.
Hearing this reply, Utba went back to Quraysh chiefs and he was impressed with Prophet Mohammad he told the chiefs, "The divine ayahs recited by Muhammad are not
Now Quraysh were left with one and only option. It was to use full aggression against Islamic movement to curb it. So, Quraysh decided to inflict all kinds of hardships. They resolved to tease and torture Muslims as and when they find an opportunity.
Third Phase
Trial and Test : Until now, the Islamic invitation resulted into three forms:
Some fortunate person had embraced Islam and were ready to serve the Islamic cause at every cost.
The majority of infidels had rejected the invitation due to their blinkered vision, selfishness, misconceptions and the blind faith in their ancestral religion. i.e. idolatry. These infidels were opposing the movement.
The Islamic invitation was spreading outside Makkah and Islamic circle was expanding gradually. Henceforth the struggle between the new Islamic movement and ancient Jahilityat (ignorance) begins. Those who wanted to cling on to their old religion were, determined to erase this new Islamic movement with all available resources. They inflicted all kinds of atrocities and cruelties on Muslims and tried their best to take them away from Islam. This is the period which saw the extremities of Quraysh's oppressions and endless series of atrocities and inhuman punishments.
We all are aware of the hot and dry climate of Arabia. The infidels used to force Muslims to lie on the burning sand, they used to press their hearts with stones. They used to brand them with hot iron rods, dip them into water, relentlessly beat them. In short they crossed all limits.
Historians have copied some incidents of these cruelties. We are mentioning a few below:
Hazrat Khabbad (Rad.) was Umme Ammar's slave. Only six or seven persons had embraced Islam until now, he followed the suit and became the target of Quraysh's atrocities. One day, they laid him on burning coals and a man put his leg on his chest so that he may not turn from one side to other till the coals cooled down under his back.
Hazrat Bilal (Rad.) was Umayya Bin Khalf's slave. Umayya used to make him lie on burning sand at the time of midday. He used to put a heavy stone on Hazrat Bilal's chest and say to him "deny Islam otherwise you will die one day in thie sand." But Hazrat Bilal (Rad.) even in this painful condition used to utter "Ahad Ahad" ("the One, the One"). Umayya used to a rope around his neck and handover the other end to urchins who used to drag him from one corner of the city to another.
Hazrat Ammar (Rad.) was from Yemen. He was one of the courageous men who embraced in this early stage. When he embraced Islam, Quraysh used to make him lie on burning sand and beat him mercilessly till he fainted.
Hazrat Labniah (Rad.) was a maid servant. Hazrat Umar (Rad.), before he embraced Islam, used to beat her mercilessly till he himself used to get tired but this pious lady used to repeat the words, "If you don's embrace Islam, Allah will punish you."
Hazrat Zubaira (Rad.) was also a maid servant in Hazrat Umar's clan. Once upon a time, Abu Jahal beat her so much that she lost her eyesight.
In short, Muslims were facing all kinds of inhuman punishments. But Quraysh despite all these inhuman acts could not divert a single Muslim from Islam.
When atrocities were inflicted upon these helpless Muslims, people used to get attracted towards them. The patience and endurance of Muslims forced them to think as to what was the thing that was giving power to these Muslims to cling on to their new religion. These infidels used to acknowledge that the dealings of these Muslims was fait and ideal and their Lord and they will not worship anyone other than Allah and they will follow His commands. This firm-footing on part of these Muslims used to put a question mark before many of them. Apparently this is the common matter for us nowadays and we are astonished that why those Muslims were tortured too much. The reason behind it is that neither we know the complete meaning of the word "Rab" nor we put before us all aspects of Ibadat (worship). But infidels knew the meaning of "Rab" i.e. Allah Almighty. They also knew the vastness of "Rab" and "Ibadat". So, both, assertive and listener knew that"
There is no god but Allah. So, the man should be thankful to him. He should pray and prostrate before him. No one deserves worshipping other than Allah.
There is no master but Allah. So, the man should accept His slavery. The slavery and subordination to anyone other than Allah is not proper.
There is no ruler but Allah. So, it is proper for man to obey Him and be thankful to Him.
Islam was the proclamation that was ceasing the "divinity" of idols. These idols were being worshipped for a long long time. Islam was an open revolutionary call against idolatry, so no religious leader or tribal chief was ready to tolerate it. More and more people were getting inclined to Islamic movement to watch it from close quarters. They were feeling a clemency in their hearts for these protagonists of Islamic movement. Atrocities on men of truth always provided ladder to success. So, on one hand the Quraysh were increasing the atrocities and on the other hand Islamic movement was spreading. There was not a single house in Makkah which was bereft of Islam. This flourishing of Islamic movement was adding to the worries and anger of opponents. In a matter of days their brothers, nephews, sisters, brother-in-law, sons and daughters had embraced Islam. In addition to it they were ready to cut off all their mundane relations for the sake of Islam. This was a vital blow for these infidels. Moreover, all the new entrants to Islam were the cream of Arabian society, their wit, moral values and general human qualities were well known. This kind of conversions used to compel the masses to ponder over the authenticity of Islam and the Holy Prophet. They wanted to know that what was the thing which fuelled their spirits so much that they (Muslims) were even ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Islam. They (infidels) witnessed that Islam has added to their (Muslims') piety, truthfulness, moral values and fair dealings. All these things were creating the grandeur of Islam in their hearts though many of them did not accept Islam.
Migration to Abyssinia, 5 Prophethood: The Holy Prophet had entered the sixth year of prophecy and he realized the continuance of Quraysh's oppressions. Though he was sure that the Quraysh would not be able to turn away even a single Muslim from Islam but as the hardships were out of their endurance and performing Islamic duties was becoming almost impossible in Makkah, the Holy Prophet Muhammad decided that some Muslims should migrate to Abyssinia which is located on the eastern coast of Africa. A just and kind Christian king was at the helm of affairs in Abhyssinia. This migration on one hand, provided solace a golden opportunity to spread Islam in far off areas.
So, the first batch of 11 men and 4 women got ready for migration. It was the month of Rajab in 5 Prophethood, these people reached the port, two people embarked on ships.
The migrations got relief in Abyssinia and they started living in peace. When the news reached the Quraysh, they became very angry and decided to sent a delegation to the king of Abyssinia (Arabs used to call him Najashi -Negus) to request him for the extradition of these Muslim migrants. Abdullah Bin Rabi'a and Amr Bin Al-Aas were selected as emissaries. They set off for Abyssinia. In Abyssinia, they first met the popes of Negus. They told the popes that these migrants are following a new religion, when we dealt them rudely, they took shelter in your country. They requested the popes to recommend their case before the king and ask him to extradite these migrants.
Muslims in the Court of Negus : When Negus was presented with extradition request, he sent for Muslims and asked them, "what new religion you people have invented?" Muslims had chosen Hazrat J'afar Bin Abi Talib as their representative. J'afar was Hazrat Ali's brother. In reply to Najashi's question, Hazrat J'afar delivered a lengthy speech elaborating the Islam and faith in Allah. The gist of this speech is as follows:
"O king! we people were groping in the darkness of misguidance for centuries. We were worshipping hundreds of idols in place of one God. We used to eat dead animals. Fornification, plundering, thefts and mutual fights were our occu-pations. Every powerful man among us, used to feel pride in dwarfing the weak . In short we were beast in human form. Then, Allah showered us with His mercy. He sent a messenger among us, who is a human like us. We are aware of his
geneology. He is extremely noble, decent, trustworthy, truthful and a pious person. Friend and foes, all acknowledge his nobility. This messenger invited us to Islam and asked us to give up worshipping idols. He asked us to acknowledge Allah as the owner and Master of our souls and possessions. He asked us to pray only for Allah, speak truth, give up blood shedding, give up usurping orphan's wealth, help our neighbours, avoid fornification and other dirty acts, spend our wealth in the way of Allah and that way is to help destitutes. We have faith in this messenger, we gave up worshipping of idols and all evil doings. So, our people (infidles) started oppressing us and forcing us to reconvert to their old religion (i.e. idolatry). These two persons (Amr and Abdullah) have come here to take us back to Mekkah for forcing us to reconvert."
Negus, after hearing all this, asked Hazrat J'afar to recite something of Allah's message
Negus Embraces Islam : The other day Quraysh played another trick. They reached the court of Negus and requested him to ask these Muslims about their belief regarding Hazrat Isa (peace be upon him)." These Quraysh knew that Muslims call Hazrat Isa (peace be upon him), son of Miriam instead of son of God which is contrary to the belief of Christians. When Najashi comes to know this, he will, get angry with Muslims. Negus again sent for the Muslims. When confronted with this question, Muslims first hesitated but Hazrat J'afar replied, "we will say what is truth regardless of consequences."
So Hazrat J'afar replied in the court, full of courtiers, that, "Our Prophet has told us that Hazrat Isa was a devotee and prophet of Allah." Hearing this Najashi picked a straw from the ground and said, By God! whatever you said, Isa was not more than that by the size of this straw." In this way Quraysh's this trick too met with failure. Najashi allowed Hazrat J'afar (Rad.) and his companions to stay peacefully in Abyssinia and certified the peophecy of Hazrat Muhammad and embraced Islam, Najashi's name was As hama. When he died, the Holy Prophet performed funeral prayer in absentia for Najashi. Almost 83 Muslims had migrated to Abyssinia until now.
Hamza Embraces Islam : In Makkah, on one hand was the Quraysh's oppressions and on the other hand was the patience and steadfastness of Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Amid this struggle, the gentry of Makkah was embracing Islam. Hazrat Hamza was prophet's uncle, but he had not embraced Islam yet. The merciless behaviour of infidels with Prophet Muhammad was soul-shattering, not only for his relatives but for strangers too. One day Abu Jahal showed extreme disrespect to the Holy Prophet. Hazrat Hamza was out on hunting. When he came back, one of his maid servants narrated this incident to him. Hazrat Hamza got incensed, took his bow and arrow and reached the sanctuary and lambasted Abu Jahal angrily and said, "I have embraced Islam."
Though he uttered these words overwhelmed with his love for Prophet Muhammad but his heart was still not ready to leave the ancestors" religion, he kept thinking all the day long. At last the call to truth dominated him and Hazrat Hamza embraced Islam. This incident dates back to 6 prophethood. After a few days, Hazrat Umar also embraced Islam. This is a very important event in the invitational history of Islam.
Umar Embraces Islam : Before he embraced Islam, Hazrat Umar was a bigoted enemy of Islam. The Quraysh chiefs were increasing dayby-day in opposing Islam and the caller to Islam. On the other hand mercy and love for these people used to overwhelm prophet, who used to pray to Allah for providing guidance to these deviated enemies. Abu Jahal and Umar both were hide-bound enemies of the Prophet but when all the attempts to take these two in Islamic circle failed, the Holy Prophet made a plea in the presence of Allah Almighty that, "O my Lord, from Abu Jahal and Umar, whoever is dearer to you, honour him with Islam." After a few days Hazrat Umar got the divine help to embrace Islam. The derail are as follows:
Hazrat Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) himself narrates that, "One night, I came out of my house with the intention to tease the Holy Prophet. The prophet, was going to Masjid Haram (sacred mosque), he entered the mosque and started performing the prayer. I was all ears. The Holy Prophet recited Chapter Al-haqqa. I was amazed to listen the divine words. The order and diction of words was superb. It came to my mind that he (Holy Prophet) is a poet. As soon as this idea crossed my mind, the Holy Prophet recited these ayah:
(That this is verily the world of an honoured messenger; It is not the word of a poet : Little it is ye believe!)
As I heard these ayahs, it came to my mind at once that this person (the Holy Prophet ) came to know what was in my mind. This person is a soothsayer. Then, the Holy Prophet recited this ayah:
(Nor it is the word of a soothsayer :
(This is ) a message sent down from the Lord of the worlds.)
The Holy Prophet recited this Surah till end and I felt that Islam is nesting in my heart. "But as Hazrat Umar was a seasoned man of firm nature, he overcame this emotional feeling and kept on moving on the path of enmity with Islam. One day fueled by frenzy, he left his house with the intention to do away with Prophet Muhammad (Allah saves us). On his way he met Naeem Bin Abdullah. Naeem asked him, "where are you going?" Umar replied, "Today I want to settle the issue with Muhammad Naeem asked him to have the knowledge of what is happening in his own house, he told him that his sister and brother-inlaw had embraced Islam, hearing this, Umar took turn and reached his
"Verily I am Allah : There is no god but I : So serve thou Me (only), and establish regular prayer for my remembrance.
Overwhelmed with the efficacy of the Holy Qur'an, Umar called out : There is no god but Allah
He intended to meet the Holy Prophet Muhammad and set off straight on. This was the time, the Holy Prophet was staying with Arqam. When the companion saw Hazrat Umar coming with a naked sword, they hesitated but Hazrat Hamza (peace be upon him) said, "Let him in, better if he is with sound intention, otherwise I will behead him with his sword itself". Hazrat Umar entered the house, the Holy Prophet Muhammad advanced and got hold on his garment and ordered, "Tell me Umar what brought you here?" Overawed, Hazrat Umar replied with extreme humility "To have faith." The Holy Prophet spontaneously called out "Allho Akbar" and all the companions followed the suit.
The Apostle raised the cry of "Allah-o-Akbar" and all the companions followed suit.
Islamic group became more powerful after Hazrat Umar embraced Islam. Till now Muslims were not able to perform their religious duties openly and it was almost impossible to perform congregational prayer in K'aba. But things changed after Hazrat Umar's embracing of Islam. He made his embracing (of Islam) public though it evoked a furore, but at the end of the day muslims started offering congregational prayers in K'aba. Their party became more powerful. The whole world witnessed that the invocation of Prophet Muhammad resulted in a manner that today after fourteen hundred years back. The history is a deponent of the unparalleled honour and dignity bestowed by Allah, through Hazrat Umar to Islam.
Confinement in valley of Abi Talib in 7 prophethood : With the Islamic movement gaining momentum, the chiefs of Quraysh tribe were getting perplexed and they were charting out plans to crush this movement. So, all the tribes intrigued untidily and reached an agreement which read; nobody will establish links with Prophet Muhammad and his dynasty, nobody will transact with them, no one will meet them and give them eatables until they handover Muhammad to them for slaining. This written agreements was put up at the gate of K'aba.
Now Bani Hashim were left with two options, either to handover Prophet Muhammad to infidels or be ready to face the consequent calamities as a result of this economic and social boycott. So, Abu Talib, with the whole dynasty of Bani hashim, moved to a mountain valley which was a legacy of Bani hashim. In this mountain pass these people along with Prophet Muhammad passed a harsh period of three years. Sometimes, they used to chew leaves to put off the fire of belly. Intensity of hunger compelled them to boil the dry leather and eat it. Children's wailing due to hunger was a matter of joy for hard-hearted Quraysh oppressors. But there were some people who sneaked in some eatables.
Bani Hashim remained in this pathetic condition for three years. At last, God softened the hearts of these oppressors. They themselves, took the initiative to break the agreement. Clemency entered the hearts of these people one by one. Abu Jahal and some of his like people were put aside and they were allowed to come out of the valley in 10th prophethood.
Pace of the Call to Islam : As stated earlier, the details of the struggle of Makkan period are rarely mentioned in the books of history and biography of prophet. So, the details of the work of call to Islam and its movement continued during this economic and societal boycott and what were the impacts of this movement, are not found. The revelation of Qur'an was on. The text, instructions and teaching of surahs (Chapter) of this period are an evidence of the hardships faced by this movement.
The sermons, revealed by Allah Almighty, during this long and regorous struggle, were full of fervour and efficacy. These sermons describe the religious duties of faithfuls and directs them to follow it. They also tell how to elevate their personal character to heights. To practise piousness, and elevate it is highly stressed upon. Moral elevation and improvement in behaviour have been stressed in theses sermons. A collective sense
The courage of Muslims has been motivated with the promises of success and tidings of heaven. Sustenance on the rough and hard uneven path of religion and struggle with courage in the path of Allah have been given prominence. Inculcating a passion for laying their lives and all kind of sacrifices enabled them to face any difficulty and bear every hardship.
On the other hand, adversaries and the ones who renounced the religion of Allah (Islam) had been warned continuously of their deadly end. They had been admonished by stories of those nations who adopted the path of negligence and denial and ultimately met their deadly end. Arabs, themselves knew all about these people, their attention have been drawn towards the ruins of those devastated settlements, they used to pass by. Then they were presented with the concept of Tawheed (oneness of God) and the realities of the Day of Judgment with such clear signs that they used to witness with their own eyes in their surroundings. Polytheism and its evil were made clear. They were warned of the consequences of waging a war against Allah. Estrangement in life due to the denial of Doom's day, were described openly. The loss of humanity pointed out. All these advices were logically presented and affected the hearts.
Adversaries and atheists were given proper replies to their objections. The suspicions created by them were cleared. In short all the confusions that had and that they used to create, have been wiped off, but the hostility and enmity continued piling during this period.
Fourth Phase
Extreme Oppression and Cruelty : Prophet Muhammad came out of valley of Abi Talib and got a temporary relief from affliction of Quraysh. Abu Talib died a few days later and then Hazrat Khadija (Rad.) left this mortal world. Prophet Muhammad used to call this year, "the year of sorrow". Opposition of Quraysh and their tormenting intensified after the deaths of these two. This was the hardest time for Islamic Movement. Now Quraysh started tormenting muslims and Prophet Muhammad with utmost cruelty.
Preaching Outside Makkah : Almost all Makkan elites and good people had joined Islam. So, Prophet Muhammad decided to go out of Makkah to spread the message of
Different tribes used to come to Makkah at the time of Haj, Prophet Muhammad used to go to each tribe and call them to embrace Islam. Likewise he used to visit the fairs and taking the advantage he used to address the gatherings and put before them the concept of Islam. Abu Lahab and some other of his kind from Quraysh used to accompany Prophet and urge the people not to listen to his sermons. They use to say, "See don't listen to him, he has deviated from the right path and tells lies. the Prophet Muhammad at these occasions, used to narrate those ayahs of Qur'an which enter in to the hearts of people who often used to embrace Islam. Prophet Muhammad's such visits yielded multi-faceted success. Now, the call to Islam was not strange rather it became familiar in remote areas. People who ultimately embraced Islam became the active members of Islamic movement and started the work of spreading and inviting towards Islam in their respective regions.
Night of Jinn : Jinns are a creature out of God's numerous creation. They like human beings possess the qualities of intention and discretion. On this basis they are entitled to God's message. It is obligatory for them to have faith in oneness of God (Tawheed), prophecy and the Day of Judgment. To follow the commands by Allah, is a must for them. Based upon this, there are good and evil Jinns among them.
There has been different views about the existence of Jinns, there used to be lot of talks amongst Arabs about Jinns. They were worshipped their help was sought. Spiritualists used to claim friendship with them. Several kinds of stories were prevalent regarding
Prophet Muhammad was spreading the complete religion bestowed by Allah Almighty and the world was at the receiving end. To follow this religion, was the duty of human beings as well as of Jinns. Once upon a time Prophet Muhammad was on his mission of spreading Islam and going to a popular fair Ukaz. On this way to Ukaz he stayed at Nakhla at night. In the morning Prophet Muhammad along with some of his companions was offering Namaz (prayer) and reciting Qur'an. At the same time a group of Jinns passed by there. They listened to the Qur'an. This incident is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an chapter Al-Ahqaf, like this :
Behold, We turned towards you a company of Jinns listening to the Qur'an when they stood in the presence thereof, they said, "listen in silence!" When the (reading) was finished they returned to their people, to warn them. They said, O' our people! we have heard a book revealed after Musa, confirming what came before it . It guides to the truth and to a straight path . "O' our people hearken to the one who invites (you) to Allah, and believe in him . He will forgive you from a chastisement grievous.
Prophet Muhammad came to know of this incident by a revelation. The details of this incident are mentioned in the "Chapter Jinn". Islam in Madinah in 10 Prophethood : Islam was spreading in the farthest area of Arabian Peninsula. It entered madinah also. Jews had inhabited Madinah for a long time. They built their castles near Madinah. Aus and Khazraj were two brothers whose native land was Yemen, but for a long period they had settled in Madinah. Their progeny later developed into two big dynasties which were called Aus and Khazraj the same people, who were later called Ansar. These people too had built castles in Madinah and its suburbs. These people, from the faith were idol-worshippers. But, due to the interaction with Jews, they were familiar with the concept of prophethood, revelation, divine books and the beliefs regarding Doom's day. They had nothing of their own, so they were impressed by Jews and used to listen them. They head Jew erudites saying that a messenger is due to come in this world and whoever will accompany him, will be successful. The followers of this messenger will overcome the
Prophet Muhammad routine was, that during the time of Haj he used to go to the chiefs of tribes. He use to make them familiar with the message of Islam. It happened in 10th year of the prophethood that Prophet gave a call to join Islam and recited some verses from Qur'an before some people of Khazraj dynasty. This recitation affected their hearts and they understood that, this was the Prophet about who Jew scholars had said that a messenger was due to come. They looked at each other and said, 'Lest it be not happen that Jews take a lead over us in accepting the faith in this messenger". Saying this, they accepted Islam. They were six in number. In this way, it was the entry of Islam in Ansars of Madinah and the settlement which was due to become, which ultimately became the cardinal point for Islamic movement.
Intensity in Opposition : Enmity and struggle increases with the expansion of every movement. But the tempest that Islamic movement's expansion brought was a hard test for the supporters of this movement. So, on one hand, the Islamic movement was expanding and on the other hand, the conditions that (Prophet) and his followers were facing got bad to worse. Quraysh chiefs had decided that they would harass Prophet Muhammad to an extent that he will give up giving the call to Islam. All major chiefs of Quraysh were the neighbours of Prophet and some were his great foes. These people used to lay thorns in Prophet's path, make fun him while he offered Namaz. While he was prostrating, they used to put tripe on his neck. They used to roll the sheet around his neck and pull it so relentlessly that his blessed neck would become red with marks on it. They used to incite lads who abused him and clapped. When he used to deliver a sermon, they used to disrupt it and say, this is a lie. In short, they used to adopt every possible and abominable trick to annoy and harass him.
The revelations descended by Allah on his messenger, in this period, had all the means of guidance to cope with this kind of situations. Supporters of Islamic movement were being told that apparently, the hardships faced by truth, should not be considered as permanent. The worldly life is full of these kinds of odds. And the genuine test of success is not the worldly life but it is the life after the day of Judgment. There is no doubt in it that the life after death will be better for those who will adopt a life full of fear of God.
The Prophet Muhammad was being addressed and told, "Though we know, whatever is happening to you, is extremely painful but these people, really falsifying not you but they are falsifying Me and this is not something new. Prior to this, My messengers have
First Oath of Allegiance at Uqba in 11 Prophethood : Twelve men came in the presence of
Prophet Muhammad and took the oath of allegiance and expressed the desire that they want someone who can teach them Islamic rules. So, Hazrat Mus'ab bin Umair (Rad.) was sent with them. He used to visit each and every house in Madinah. He used to recite ayahs of Holy Qur'an before them and invite them towards Islam. One or two men used to embrace Islam daily. Slowly, Islam started spreading outside Madinah. The chief of Aus tribe Hazrat sa'ad bin Ma'az also embraced Islam on the invitation of Hazrat Mus'ab. The whole Aus tribe followed him and converted to Islam.
Second Oath of Allegiance at Uqba in 12 Prophethood : Seventy two men came the next year and converted to Islam in the presence of Prophet Muhammad . They did not tell their companions about it . They promised to be with Islamic movement whatever the circumstances be Prophet Muhammad selected twelve out of these 72 persons and appointed them as chiefs. Nine of these twelve were from khazraj tribe and the rest three were from Aus tribe. They promised Prophet Muhammad :
They will worship only Allah.
They will not steal .
They will not commit fornication.
They will not kill their children.
They will not bring false allegation against anyone.
They will not fight shy from any of the Prophet Muhammad's commands.
After their taking oath of allegiance, Prophet Muhammad said to them, if you comply with these conditions, then, there is tiding of heaven for you, otherwise your matter is in the hands of Allah, He can forgive you or chastise you.
In the meantime, when these people were taking oath, As'ad bin Zararah (Rad.) stood up and said, "O brethren! Do you know the meaning of taking this oath? Keep it in your mind, this is like declaration war against Arabs and non-Arabs." All of them replied, yes we are taking the oath keeping everything in mind. Some other persons also made the same kind of enthusiastic speeches. An agreement was reached between these neophytes and : Prophet Muhammad According to this agreement if Prophet Muhammad came to Madinah, these people would stand by his side till the last gasp. At this junture Hazrat Bar'a (Rad.) he said, "We have been brought up under the shadow of swords."
1. Splitting of the Moon
2. Night of Me'raj
3. Importance of Me'raj and Signs for Future
4. Dethroning of Jews
5. Warning to Infidels of Makkah
6. Fundamentals of Islamic Society
7. Indications for Migration
8. Importance of Supererogatory Prayer
9. Characteristics of Invitation in this Period
10. Dependence on Allah and Patience
11. Qur'an is a Miracle
12. Decisive Talk
13. Preparation for Migration
In terms of religion, a miracle means the things which Allah shows before the eyes of people to prove the claim of a messenger's prophethood. There is a peculiarity in it, that it is against the law of the Nature. For instance, fire burns but it does not burn, the sea flows but it becomes clam, the tree remain fixed at its place but it starts moving, the dead body become alive or the stick turn into a snake etc. In this world, the real cause of every function is God's omnipotence and His intention. So, there are certains rules for some function which happens, continuously. In the same way, some functions which are under Almighty's omnipotence, may happen, contradicting the normal principles, and when Allah wills, they happen.
Most of the Prophets had been bestowed miracles to prove their prophecy. But these miracles rarely caused the infidels to have faith and belief. Taking place of miracles is beyond reasoning. So, when the people denied a prophet even after a miracle, they have been chastised by Allah and have been erased from the face of the earth. Infidels of Quraysh, used to ask the Prophet Mohammad to show miracles. This demand of theirs was being dilly-dallied because it has been the method of Allah that if the nations are shown a clear miracle, then they would be left with one two options---have faith or be perished, but Allah Almighty had not willed to kill them, yet. That is why, this demand of them was being evaded continuously. But ten long years had passed over the invitations to Islam and it had crossed all bounds to persuade the infidels. So,
Splitting of the Moon : Splitting of the moon is a very important of the miracles of the Prophet Mohammad in ending the arguments of the infidels of Makkah. Hazrat Abdullah bin Masood (Rad.) narrated this incident which is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim. He was present at the time of occurrence, he himself witnessed the moon, splitting into two halves. He says, "We were with Prophet Muhammad in Mina and saw that the moon splitting into two parts. One of its two pieces moved towards the mountain. The prophet said, "Be a witness" but as stated earlier that it is not necessary that miracles cause infidels to have faith in Allah rather it is so, that miracles are demanded by those who have their hearts filled with denial and obstinacy. In this way, they look out for excuses. But those who have the ability to have faith and those who are not entangled in vested interests and selfishness, for them the Prophet's self and his preachings are not less than miracles. They take the initiative in accepting the truth. So, after the splitting of moon, the infidels said, "O! this is magic and such things happen by the power of magic for a long time." In this way, these people did not get guidance but a sin added to the list of their sins that they falsified Allah and his messenger after such an open sign. Night of Me'raj : Me'raj means climbing up. Prophet Muhammad has used this word to describe his celestial sojourn, so this journey is called "Me'raj". The other name of this journey is Asra'. Asra' means night journey. Because the Me'raj was a
The duties of Prophet (peace be upon him) was inviting, propagating and firm-footing on the path of religion. This required solid faith and belief. So, it was essential for them to witness those realities with their own eyes. Then whatever they say, they say it forcefully and with emphasis before the people. They say to the people that, "you are denying a thing only on the basis of analogy and suspicion, but we are describing the truth which we have seen with our own eyes. You have suspicion, but we are describing the truth which we have seen with our own eyes. You have suspicion, we have knowledge. So, angels appeared before most of the Prophets (peace be upon them). The prophets have been made to see hell and paradise and what happens after death has been shown to them in their worldly lives. Me'raj or Asra' in one of such incidents. During this journey Prophet Muhammad witnessed all those realities, which are believe by a Muslim, without seeing, only on the words of Prophet.
What is the exact date of Me'raj, is not known. But by putting forth different version, historians say that this incident occurred one and a half year prior to Hijrat (migration). If we see the versions of Bukhari and Muslim, the complete detail is as follows:
One morning Prophet Muhammad dictated that previous night my Lord honoured me. I was sleeping when Jibril (peace be upon him) came and woke me up and took me to the sanctuary of Ka'ba. Here, he slit my chest and washed it with the water of Zam Zam (Zam Zam is a blessed well near Ka'ba) and filled it with faith and wisdom. Then, he presented before me an animal to ride which was a little smaller than mule and was white in colour. Its name was Burraq. It was very fast. As I rode it, it took no time and we were at the entrance of the mosque. I offered the prayer of two rak'at (a bending of torso from an upright position, followed by two prostrations). Then, Jibril (peace be upon him) extended two bowls to me. One bowl was filled with wine and the other one was with milk. I took the bowl containing milk ad denied the bowl of wine, Jibril, seeing this, said, you adopted the religion of nature by accepting milk bowl.
After that, the journey to the skies, started. We reached the first sky (sky of world, Jibril said to the custodian angel to open the gate. He asked, "Who is he with you?" , Jibril (peace be upon him) told him, "He is Prophet Muhammad." The angel asked, Has he been invited?" Jibril replied positively. The angel opened the gate and said, "Such a personality is welcome." When we enter in, we met Adam (peace be upon him). Jibril said to me, "He is your father (remote ancestor of human race) Adam, salute him. I
Here in the seventh heaven, Prophet Muhammad observed a lot of things. He also conversed with Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty imposed fifty prayers (Namaz) in a day and night. When Prophet came back after these observations, he met Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). He asked, "Say what have you brought from God's place?" Prophet Muhammad said, "Fifty prayers in a day". Moses said , "Your followers will find it too much, go back and ask Him to lessen them." So, Prophet Muhammad went back and pleaded God and got a part slashed. But Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) sent him back again and again and got a slash every time. At last this number came down to five prayers in a day and night. Musa (peace be upon him) was still not satisfied and asked him to get some more slash, but at this point Prophet Muhammad said, "Now, I am feeling too shy to utter a word. The voice of Allah Almighty came, "We slashed the number from 50 to 5 but those who will perform five prayers a day will get the reward of fifty prayers".
Prophet Muhammad got two other gifts from God, one of them is last ayahs of chapter Baqra which describe the Islamic beliefs and the completion of faith and has the tiding that the period of hardship is about to over. Second good news was that whoever will avoid polytheism, will be absoluted.
In this jouney , Prophet Muhammad saw hell and heaven and what would happen after death and what kind of situations one had to pass according to one's deeds, it was all portrayed before his eyes. When Prophet descended back to the Dome of Rock, he saw a gathering of Prophets (peace be upon them). They all performed congregational prayer. Prophet Muhammad was the Imam (leader) of the prayer. Then, he came back to his
Importance of Me'raj and Signs for Future : When Prophet Muhammad narrated this incident in the morning, the infidels of Quraysh called him a liar (God save us). Those who had faith in Prophet they certified each and every word and said, "We regard the words of Prophet as true". So, this incident of Me'raj was a test for people's faith ad verification of prophecy and on the other hand it was a means of witnessing the innumerable hidden truths for Prophet Muhammad. Simultaneously it was prelude to the in coming revolution, the Islamic movement was to face soon. The details of this indication are found in chapter Bani Israel mentioning the Me'raj. The open signs found in this chapter are as follows: Dethroning of Jews :Bani Israel were still the heirs of Allah's religion and were authorized to give the world; the message of Allah. But they did not fulfill this duty. They, themselves became a victim of worldly evils and they were in no position to perform the duty of speading Allah's religion. So, it was decided to handover this noble cause to bani Isma'il. Prophet Muhammad was commissioned out of this dynasty. Until now Bani Israel had not been addressed directly. Now, they were told through chapter Bani Israel, "you had committed too much sins and had been tried two times prior to this, but you did not mend yourselves. And now, after the commissioning of this Prophet Muhammad you have a chance. If you follow him, you will succeed." It was a great tiding for those who were leading a miserable and humiliated life in Makkah. This tiding proved to be true later on.
Warning to Infidels of Makkah : Infidels of Makkah crossed all limits in committing atrocities and they repeatedly used to say that if he is the Prophet of Allah, why it is that they have not been chastised though he (Prophet) warned us. They were told that Allah does not punish a nation having no prophet. When a messenger is sent among them, the elites and upper caste people oppose the movement of truth. The ordinary people cooperate with them except a few who have the ability to understand the truth and come forward and accept it. Then the struggle start in the two groups of people, ultimately help comes from Allah. Time is fixed for such help. But since the man is hasty in nature he sometimes asks things that are not good for them, rather they are evil. He does not think that actions of Allah Almighty are all fixed in terms of time. Ponder over day and night, they are the signs of Allah, and come after the other, on a fixed principle. Have a look at past history, so many nations after Noah (peace be upon him) have been perished. God is fully aware of the conditions of his followers. He rewardes them according to their merits. So, the infidels of Makkah should keep it in their minds, the attitude that they adopt towards the invitation of Allah's messenger, will determine the
Fundamentals of Islamic Society : Islam's difficult time was about to be over and society based upon Islamic principles, was in the offings. So, the gift of the fundamental principles for Islamic way of life, was associated with the event Me'raj. These principles later served the Islamic system as the guiding principles. They are:
There is no god but Allah. None should share with Allah in His right to devotion, life, obedience and sovereignty.
Parents should be respected and obeyed (but if there is clash between parent's obedience and obedience of God, then, parents are not to be obeyed).
Rights of relatives, poors and travellers should be accomplished. Right of one human being on other should not be ignored, without accomplishing other's right, no society can survive.
Don't be an extravagant. Abuse of divine blessings is a satanic act. A society in which, people either spend lavishly or become miser, can never be a prosperous society. A middle way should be adopted in spending or stocking the wealth.
Don't kill your children, fearing the poverty. God provides sustenance, he arranges it . Don't kill your off springs due to immense poverty. It is a very bad act and equivalent to suicide for the society.
Don't approach fornication. Not only avoid this dirty act, but also end those stimulants which provoke for this heinous act. The society which will not be free from this curse, will undermine itself and will soon meet its deadly end.
Don't kill anyone without a reason. The society, not providing the guarantee of life, can never be a prosperous society. Peace is the essence of every civilization. So, providing security of life and property is a basic need.
Behave with orphans in a good manner. Weak people and those who can't defend their rights, deserve help. The society which can not defend the rights of such people, can not progress.
Fulfill your promise. You will be questioned about it. Here we mean mutual accords and promises of people and the pledge, one takes while having faith in God.
Balance your scales and correct your measures while weighing and measuring. Fair dealing and peaceful co-existence are must for a peaceful society. Where, there is mistrust among people and they generally snatch each other's rights, there will be no mutual trust and prosperity in the society.
Do not persue a thing, about which you have no knowledge. Do not form a new opinion on hearsay and speculation but base it on knowledge, otherwise it will result in a mess. An ideal society should be devoid of this evil. The man should always keep it in mind that he will be questioned on all his senses, heart, mind and eyes.
Do not behave proud and arrogant. They lead to deterioration in moral values. A man into this evil is extremely detrimental for the society. It is necessary for congenial relations, that people do not regard others as inferior and of lower to themselves and do not treat him in an inhuman manner.
Inidications for Migration : It has been the procedure of Allah Almighty that when He sends a messenger to a nation, He grants them chances to listen to the invitation of messenger, understand it and accept. Few accept this invitation but the majority having a vested interest to continue blind pursuit of their ancestors and that carnal desires, refuse to accept this invitation and resolve to oppose it. There comes a time, when it become clear that those who have the ability to accept the truth (Islam), have accepted it and none is left in their nation who would listen to the invitation and would ponder over it.
At this stage, the people ask for miracles and often they are obliged with miracles. So, Prophet Muhammad was also asked for miracles. Miracles appeared form his holy self but the non-believers kept on denying them. So, it was decided that Prophet should desolate this nation so that they could be punished. This chastisement comes in the form of natural powers of sky or earth, like, earthquakes, floods or storms. And sometimes faithful begets this punishment. Allah Almighty explained this method in chapter Bani Isra'el and ordered clearly that these infidels will soon be at the extremity of callousness and will force prophet to migrate from Makkah. And if it happened so. Allah also warned that they too would not be able to live peacefully. This had been the practice with all messengers sent by Allah earlier and this custom would remain unchanged.
Importance of Supererogatory Prayer : A long with these conditions, God directed the
The obstinate objections of the infidels of Makkah were met with proper replies. In this way they have been satisfied. Then, events related to Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) have been mentioned for their admonition.
Characteristics of Invitation in this period : The chapters of Qur'an which were being revealed in this period, according to the conditions, have the following characteristics :
Dependence on Allah and Patience : It is human nature that when he struggles for something and the result are not in accordance with his expectations, he gets disappointed. This is the most delicate stage for the supporters of the invitation of truth (Islam). If they, God forbid, get disappointed, then, this is the greatest failure for them as well as for their mission (of Islam). A firm faith is required at this stage for a strong-footing, leaving everything on Allah and concerted efforts with complete reliance on Allah. In this last period. Allah Almighty descended particular instructions. After 12 years of continuous struggle, the result could have been discouraging for a low-spirited person. After such a long time hardships that muslims continued to face was to strength the hearts of faithfuls and make them firm on the path of righteousness.
In this regard, the text of chapter Ankaboot (spider) is a good example. The faithful have been told clearly in it that testing and trial are must in the way that you have adopted. This is the touchstone which tests the claim of faith and distinguishes between truth and false. But this test of faithfuls, does not mean that infidels are really gaining ground; they should keep this in their minds that they can't win against Allah. At last, the truth will prevail. But there is a condition that those having faith, prove themselves worthy of Allah's help by showing patience and persistency. Muslims have been told about the impeding hurdles in their way. But they need not to be disgusted. Allah's slaves who raised themselves for Islamic cause, came across the same circumstances. They were reminded Prophet Noah's (peace be upon him) incident that how he faced the hostility of his people for nine and half years, with patience and firmness. Similarly, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Lut, Prophet Shoaib, Prophet Saleh and Prophet Musa (peace be upon them) came across more or less the same conditions. At last, the truth prevailed
Qur'an us a Miracle :It has been mentioned earlier that when the infidels asked for miracles, Prophet Muhammad and other muslims used to desire, "would that something miraculous happen causing these people to believe. The advice from Allah Almighty in response to this desire, has also been mentioned earlier. On this occasion, Allah Almighty clearly indicated the greatest miracle bestowed to the last Prophet Muhammad. He told, "you people demand miracles, you should go and see that miracle which is everlasting and has means of guidance for every person who has wit and wisdom. This miracle is Qur'an". This is the reality that Qur'an is the greatest miracle out of the miracles, bestowed to Prophet Muhammad.
Chapter Ankaboot, which was descended in this period described that everyone knew that Prophet Muhammad neither knew to read and write nor he got education, but despite this, the ayahs he had been reciting, were so eloquent and full of wisdom i.e. the Holy Qur'an. No body could bring forth such a work. What a wonder, an illiterate person is flowing the sea of eloquece before them. So, why did these people want to miracle. Tell them that the happening of miracle is on the discretion of your Lord. I am here to warn you of your end. You should ponder over the divine ayahs which I read out to you, are not they enough evidence of my prophecy? Ponder over these ayahs, you will come to know that they (ayahs) are entirely source of mercy and advice.
Prophet Muhammad himself termed the Holy Qur'an as the greatest miracle. He ordered that "Allah Almighty has bestowed each and every prophet, so many miracles that caused masses to believe. But the miracle I have been bestowed with is revelation (the Holy Qur'an) which has been revealed upon me, so, I hope that on the Doomsday, my followers will be in majority." Qur'an is a perennial miracle, other miracles were temporary miracles. They are over now. But this miracles will be here till the Day of Judgment and will continue to attract people towards it. The Holy Qur'an is full of rhythm of words, eloquence, rhetoric and concealed truths and foretellings . No human mind could reach them. Its power of efficacy, rules and teachings are so useful that till date no better system of life could come forth for human society. Despite the vastness of the topic, it is free of contradiction and metaphorical differences. The person who was reading out these ayahs, was an illiterate person. All these things were great arguments in proving the Holy Qur'an a miracle. These arguments even today are enough for us to feel satisfied over the Prophecy of Prophet Muhammad.
Decisive Talk : The speciality of chapters of this period is that the infidels were being addressed decisively in a manner that the time of persuation was over. This is the last chance, accept the truth or get ready to face the consequences.
So, it was told, "I (prophet) am unwavering on a clear guidance, coming from my Lord, but you people are disbelieving it and you are inviting the chastisement. But I tell you that, I don't possess that thing you are hastening for . It is up to God. If it would have been in my hand the matter would have been settled by now. Allah has the knowledge of hidden things. He knows the time of occurrence of different things. He can chastise you at His will. Then, he further advise, the people who took the religion lightly and were lustful in worldly life. Leave it with them. But keep on reading out Holy Qur'an to them, if they do not still believe you tell them, to do whatever they wanted to do, he (prophet) was acting to his capacity. Soon they will come to know that who was on the right track"*.
This is the specimen of the style of Qur'an. Apart from it, this style is apparent in revelations of this period and in a sense, it was a proclamation that the matter was in the decisive phase.
Preparation for Migration : The Chapter of this period also indicate towards migration so, it was advised in chapter Ankaboot (spider) that "O' my slaves, always be in my service, even if your motherland becomes narrow due to My slavery do not bother, my land is very vast." It means, do not cut off the relation of slavery with Allah, though you have to desert your homeland. Death is the greatest fear for every animate, so, believe it that everyone is to die and you will come back to Me. So, if you die in My way, there is nothing to fear. Whoever is accompanied with wealth of faith and good deeds, will be accommodated in gardens where lakes will be flowing beneath them ad it would be his eternal abode. How good this reward is for those who are pious. These righteous people keep their feet fixed on the path of Allah in worse to worst conditions and they keep relying on Allah in their struggle period.
Then, it was told that the second fear in leaving one' native land was of monetary deficit. Their faith was strengthened by telling them that the matter of providing sustenance was in the hands of Allah. There are so many animates, but they do not load themselves with sustenance. Allah provides them with sustenance and feed them. So, why do you get disappointed of His providence or do you think that he will not provide you with sustenance.
Apart from it, in one of this period's chapter Bani Israel, invocation for migration was taught. It was like this, "O' my Lord! take me to a better place and take me out of Makkah in a good manner and give us victory over foes. O' prophet, proclaim that the truth prevailed and the false erased. The false was to be erased".
In short, this and many other indications are found in this period's chapters. These chapters, on one hand, were indicating towards the incoming storm and on the other hand were drawing attention towards the preparedness that was required to cope with these conditions. Some other characteristics were firm belief in life hereafter, uprooting the worldly delicacies, keeping in mind the requirements of genuine Tawheed, dependence and solid faith in Allah, presenting the divine advices without lessening or adding, and to offer prayer to get strength for all these purposes. The muslims were being trained and were also being advised to propagate Islam in these hard times.
1. Migration of Common Muslims to Madinah
2. Counsel for the Killing of Prophet Muhammad
3. Departure from Makkah
4. Sojoum to Madinah
5. Journey to Madinah
6. Arrival in Madinah
7. Stay in Madinah
8. Construction of Nabavi Mosque
9. Fraternization
In Islamic terminology migration means to leave one's native land and travel to some other place only to accomplish the requirement of religion. It is not proper for a Muslim to cling on to a place for the sake of trade, house, property or for the proximity of near and dear when, living an Islamic life and propagation of Islam were not allowed.
This is to be understood that a faithful Muslim can live in a country governed by infidels, only on two conditions. First one is that he keeps struggling for the dominance of Islam and changing the infidel regime into an Islamic system. Muslims were continuously working for the same cause in Makkah and they were braving all atrocities for this cause. The second condition is, that, he does not find a way out or he has no other place where he can lead an Islamic life and could work to bring an Islamic system. B ut when he finds a place where he could perform his religious duties, as were the hopes with Madinah, then only those who are extremely handicapped or helpless or not able to take the journey due to illness or poverty, deserve exemption.
Migration of Common Muslims to Madinah :After sufficient propagation of Islam in madinah, Prophet Muhammad granted permission to common muslims, who were being victimised by infidels stepped up their oppressions and tried their best to keep these migrating people in the claws of their atrocities. But muslims, at this juncture, preferred to endanger their souls, wealth and children for the sake of Islam. Temptations and pressures could not resists them. Slowly, a sizable number of companions (May God be pleased with them) reached Madinah. Now Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Ali (Rad.) were there in Makkah with Prophet Muhammad or there were some muslims who were unable to trevel due to poverty.
Counsel for the Prophet Muhammad's killing : With the advent of thirteenth year of prophecy a lot of companions (May God be pleased with them) had migrated to Madinah. It was a matter of worry of Quraysh when they observed that muslims were getting powerful in Madinah and Islam was spreading there. So, they started charting out plans to abolish Islam. They had a fixed place "house of counselling" for discussing local issues. All senior chiefs, representing each tribe, gathered there and discussed the ways to abolish this movement. Some of them were of the view that Prophet Muhammad should be chained and confined in a lonely house. But others rejected this idea and said, the companions of Prophet Muhammad would rescue him ad they may defeat us. Some others opined that Muhammad should be banished. But this was also rejected on the ground that wherever he will go, his words will attract people and they will follow him and movement will gain momentum. At the end, Abu Jahal said, that, select a youth from every tribe and make a group, this group will kill Prophet Muhammad . In this way all tribes will be involved in his murder and it will not be possible for Hashim dynasty to wage a war single handedly against all the tribes. All gave assent to this plan and a night was fixed for this purpose and it was decided that on that night the gang of youths will besiege the house (of prophet) and when he steps out in the morning, they will kill him.. Arab used to avoid entering anybody's house at midnight.
Allah Almighty made Prophet Muhammad aware of this secret plan and this was the time that Prophet got the order, through revelation, to migrate from Makkah to Madinah. So, Prophet Muhammad consulated Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq two or three days prior to the migration and it was settled that Abu Bakr (Rad.) will acoompany Prophet Muhammad. Camels for this journey were also arranged. Departure form Makkah : Prophet Muhammad called Hazrat Ali, on the very night that had been fixed for Prophet's murder by infidels, and told that I have gotten the command for migration. Tonight I will set off for Madinah. I have been entrusted with the deposits of many people. return these deposits in the morning to them and lie on my bed tonight, so that they may get satisfied about my presence in the house.
Infidels of Makkah were thirsty of Prophet's blood but despite this, they used to regard him trustworthy and honest and used to entrust with him their wealth and belongings.
Infidels besieged Prophet's house at night . When the night deepened, Prophet came out of the house calmly and satisfactorily and he was reciting the ayahs of Chapter Yaseen*. Then, he uttered, "Sha-htil Wajuh" (May God deface them) and threw a fistful of dust
Sojourn in Cave Saur : The son of Hazrat Abu Bakr (Rad.), Hazrat Abdullah was a minor at that time. He used to stay with them at night and in the morning he would come to Makkah and collect informations about the plannings of infidels and convey these informations to both the elders. Later at night, a slave of Abu Bakr (Rad.) used to fetch goat milk or some food. So, these two stayed there for three nights.
70/ 151In the morning, when infidels came to know that Prophet Muhammad has migrated from Makkah, they became worried and started looking for him here and there. At one time, they reached case Saur where Prophet Muhammad and Abu Bakr (Rad.) were hiding. Abu Bakr got perplexed, hearing the sound of footsteps. He was not worried for himself but he was worried for the safety of Prophet Muhammad lest somebody may harm him. Prophet Muhammad, seeing his condition, solaced him clamly and said:
Do not panic, Allah is with us (chapter Tauba)
And it happened so. By the decree of Allah, some signs* appeared at the entrance of cave. The infidels saw them and thought that nobody has entered the cave.
The infidels also announced a reward of 100 camels for the person who arrests Prophet Muhammad dead or alive. A lot of people set off in search of Prophet after this announcement of reward.
Journey to Madinah :On the fourth day, Prophet Muhammad came out of the Cave Saur and travelled throughout the night and day. For this journey Abu Bakr (Rad.) had trained two fine she-camels. A guide had also been appointed. On the way to Madinah, second day, when the rays of sun were falling straight, they halted near a cliff to take rest. There, they met a shepherd who gave them milk to drink. Suddenly, as the Prophet Muhammad was to depart, a man named Saraqa bin Ja'sham saw him. This man was out in search of Prophet Muhammad, to get reward., He galloped his horse, the horse stumbled and fell down. He tried again to attack Prophet Muhammad. As he advanced this time, by God's omnipotence, the legs of his horse submerged upto knees in the ground. Now, Saraqa panicked and sensed that this was something extraordinary. He
Arrival in Madinah :The news of Prophet's arrival in Madinah had spread before his arrival. The whole city was eagerly waiting for his arrival. Children and elders used to come out of the city in the morning everyday and would go back in the afternoon. And then, one day that blessed occasion arrived, where these people were waiting for. They saw the rising dust ad the whole city resounded with Takbeers (praise of God). Everyone became happy. Qaba is a place near Madinah, at a distance of three miles. There was an Ansar settlement. The family of Amr-bin-Auf was most distinguished. Kulsoom bin Alhadam was the officer of this dynasty. He was a lucky person that Prophet Muhammad honoured him and agreed to be his guest. Prophet Muhammad stayed at his house in Qaba. Hazrat Ali who followed Prophet Muhammad by a gap of three days, reached Qaba and stayed here. Prophet Muhammad reached Qaba in the thirteenth year of prophethood, on 8th, in the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal (corresponding to September 20, 622). During his stay at Qaba, Prophet Muhammad wanted to build a mosque so, he laid the foundation with his blessed hand along with other companions (May God be pleased with them) constructed the mosque. After a few days Prophet Muhammad set off for Madinah. It was Friday. By early afternoon they reached Bani Salim locality. It was time for Zuhar (early afternoon) prayer. Prophet Muhammad gave his very first Friday sermon and performed the very first Friday prayer under his leadership (Imamat). Every devoted person was wishing to accommodate Prophet Muhammad to get honour. Every tribal would plead, "My lord this is your house, please stay here." Everybody was laying the red carpet and every one was full of enthusiasm. On the terraces, women were singing:
"The full moon has appeared from the valleys of mountain vide
Thanking the God is obligatory for us As long as worshippers pray"
Innocent girls were playing on the small tambouring and singing :
We are the daughters of Najjar dynasty
What a good neighbour is Prophet Muhammad
Prophet asked these girls, "Do you have affection for me?" these girls said, "Yes".
Stay in Madinah :Who will get the honour to host Prophet? This was an unsloved mystery. Prophet Muhammad ordered, "The house where my she-camel will halt, I will stay in". Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari got this honour. Ayyub's house was near Nabavi mosque. It was a twostoreyed house. Abu Ayyub offered upper storey but Prophet Muhammad preferred lower storey to facilitate interaction with people. Abu Ayyub (Rad.) and his wife shifted to the upper storey.
Prophet Muhammad stayed in the house for seven months. Then, Prophet Muhammad shifted to the newly constructed rooms near Nabavi mosque. Within a few days Prophet's relatives also arrived in Madinah.
Construction of Nabavi Mosque :After settling in Madinah, the most important thing was the construction of a mosque. There was a fallow land near Prophet's staying place which belonged to two orphans. They were paid and the land was acquired. The construction of mosque became a reality. Prophet used to work at the site as a labourer and fetch stones. This mosque was built on a simple style. Mud bricks were used for walls and dry date leaves for thatched roofs and date trunks were used as pillars. The Qibla (direction in which muslims turn in prayer) was in the direction of Dome of Rock (Baitul Muqaddus) bacause till now it was the qibla for muslims . Then, the direction of qibla was changed to K'aba, the same change took place in nabavi mosque too. The floor with stones.
In one corner of mosque, was a covered platform called Suffa. This was a staying place for homeless muslims.
After the completion of mosque, Prophet Muhammad got some rooms constructed near the mosque for his holy wives. These rooms were also made of mud bricks and had thatched roofs.
The size of these rooms was 7 x 10 feet. The roofs were 6 feet high, blanket curtains were hanging on doors.
The prosperous Ansar neighbours used to send milk to prophet or sometimes curry etc. The life was going on with these scantly provisions.
Fraternization :All those muslims who left Makkah were unemployed, some of them had to leave their belongings in Makkah. They managed to rescue their souls only. Though
Muhammad sent for some Ansars and ordered them, "These migrants are like your brothers, then he called out an Ansar and a migrant buy their names and ordered, both of you are brothers now" and in this way a brotherhood was established among these neophytes. These sincere slaves of Allah, considered each other more than brothers rather they were best friends. Ansars declared all their movable and immovable properties and made these migrants, their partners of fifty-fifty. Earnings from orchards, crops, utensils, house, property, in short, every thing was divided among them and the plight of these homeless migrants transformed into properity. Some of them started business and bought shops. Some adopted other professions. In this way, these migrants became settled businessmen and traders. This is the loftiest example of brotherhood and sacrifice.
1. Pacts with Jews
2. Hypocrites (pretenders to Islam)
3. Change in the Direction of Qibla
Prior to migration, polytheists of Makkah were being given invitation to Islam. It was a new thing for them. after migration Muslims came across Jews, they were convinced of Tawheed (oneness of God), Prophecy, hereafter, angels and revelation etc. Being disciples of Prophet Muso (May God be pleased with him) they were bound to accept divine laws. In principle, their religion was itself Islam towards which Prophet Muhammad was inviting. It was another thing that the negligence for centuries created innumerable evils in them. Their life was bereft of genuine divine laws and bounds. Passing time created innovations and un-Islamic customs in their society. They had Taurah (the book revealed on Musa), but they had amended it an iterpreted the divine laws with ulterior motives and elucidations. They had a feebel relation with Deen (religion) of Allah. Their society had such deep-rooted evils that had made them incorrigible. They were in no position to listen to a reformer sent by Allah and regarded him their greatest foe and tried best to silence him. Though, these people, according to their origin, were "muslims", but they were too spoiled to recall their genuine religion.
Therefore, Islamic movement had two motives, first one was to impart the basic knowledge of Islamic principles ad second task was to rejuvenate the spirits of these people with Islam, who were "defaced muslims". Now muslims from all diredtions were heading towards Madinah. With these migrants and Ansars of Madinah, a small Islamic state was taking its shape. Now Islamic movement had an agenda based upon, the invitation of principles, reformation of beliefs and moral teachings, reformation of mode of life, administrative laws ad laws to reforms mutual relations. So, this agenda was strictly followed.
The other notable point was that till now, Muslims were spreading to Islam among infidels and undergoing the oppressions of infidels. But a small Islamic state had taken in shape, surrounded by hot beds of infidelity. Now it was not a matter of teasing and annoying rather they all (infidels) were collectively trying to erase this party of muslims from the face of the earth. They were fearing that if this Islamic Centre gained momentum, they will find no ground under their feet to stay. Therefore, it had become
Propagate Islam with a gush of fervour and prove its genuineness with arguments, and to change public opinion about Islam.
Prove the misconception of adversaries' beliefs with arguments so that the person having reasoning ability, may not find it difficult to reach the reality.
Make proper arrangements for those who had migrated to his new Islamic state, leaving behind their properly and business. They should be armed with such power of faith and morality that in case of poverty, hunger and restlessness, they could face the happenings with great patience. They should not be stumbled in facing worse to worst conditions.
Muslims would be enabled to face the adversaries with full might despite weakness and lack of means. The genuineness of Islam and dependence on Allah would help them to stay in the battlefield.
Fill the protagonists of Islamic cause with such a passion that they may uproot every hurdle that comes in the way of establishing an Islamic system of life.
So, Prophet Muhammad paid attention towards these point, after making arrangements for Nabavi mosque, and some other important buildings and providing permanent shelters for migrants. A major part of chapter Baqra was descended in this peirod, and same point were stressed upon in this part of the chapter.
Pacts with Jews : Madinah city was surrounded by jew settlements. It was the need of hour to invite these jews to Islam and establish political contracts with them, because infildels of Makkah were not sitting idle after the migration of muslims. When these infidels realized that, muslims were becoming a well organized group in Madinah, they started charting out plans to raze this Islamic Centre (Madinah) forcefully. So, it was obligatory for muslims, to establish political contacts clearly with jews living around Madinah. So,. that it may be assessed whether in case of war with polytheists of Makkah, they will get the support of these jews. So, muslims started negotiation with tribes living between Madinah and the coast of Red. Sea. Some tribes agreed that they will be non-alligned in case of Quraysh or any other tribal attack on Madinah. Some other tribes agreed attack on Madinah Someother tribes agreed that they will help muslims in time of need.
Hypocrites (Protenders of Islam) :The issue of hepocrites was an important one among the issues that Islamic Movement was confronted with. In the last stage of Makkan period, some people who joined Islamic group and regarded the invitation to Islam as true, found it difficult to cut off their relations with their people due to the weakness of faith. The prohibitions of relations, trade or cultivation often used to hinder them from fulfilling Islamic duties. But now, some atheists, in the garb of hypocrites joined Islamic groups, just to create disturbances. Thus, there were some people who used to pose as muslims. Their hearts were not convinced to Islam. But the majority of their tribe convinced to Islam. But the majority of their tribe or dynasty embracing Islam compelled them to join the muslims. There were some other opportunists who had plunged into Islamic groups to gain worldly privileges and on the other hand, they had good relations with atheists. They were of the view that if Islam dominates heathenism they will get amnesty within Islamic circle and if infidelity wins, their interest will be safe. These hidden enemies were a matter of concern for Islamic movement and it was not easy to bring them out. How these mischievous people were dealt with, will be described later. At this time it was the need of hour to identify politheists and separate them from true muslims. It was greatly felt that those bigots who were still following anti-Islamic customs or whose faiths was weak should be separated from muslims, because Islamic movement was passing through a critical phase.
Change in the Direction of Qible: Dome of Rock was still the qibla for muslims. Muslims used to face it while performing prayer. Jews, too, used to face it while offering prayer. It was 2 A. H.and the month of Sh'aban the God descended the order to change the qibla from Dome of Rock (Baitul Muqaddas) to K'aba. Prophet Muhammad who was performing the prayer at that time, turned his face towards K'aba. It was a very important event of Islamic history. The divine words describe the importance of this event, "We made K'aba, your qibla, the reason behind it is that let it be known as to who is a disciple of Prophet and who is going to turn back." It was also the proclamation of the fact that jews, who were still the bearer of the responsibility to give the world moral and spiritual guidance, have been dethroned because they did not fulfil their duty and did not value this belssing. From now on this responsibility is being entrusted to muslilms and they will fulfil this responsibility.
The impact of this incident was to the people whose hearts were berefit of faith, criticized the Prophet Muhammad and their status among muslim became clear. In this way many such muslims deserted Islamic group and to a greater extent, muslim group got rid of such useless people.
1. Peril for Quraysh
When some people of Madinah became disciple of Prophet Muhammad at Uqba in Makkah anad invited him to come to Madinah with his disciples, it was feared that this this Bai'at (ritual to become a disciple) was in a sense, a big challenge from the people of Madinah to the whole Arabian Nation. So one of the disciples Abbas bin Ubadah (Rad.) addressed his companions and said, "Do you know the meaning of this oath? You are waging a war against the whole world by becoming his disciple. So, if you are thinking that you would hand over this person to enemies when you sense your wealth was in danger or your nobles were in the jaws of death, leave him right now.
Because, then it would be defamation of this life and hereafter and if you are true in your intentions you intend to remain faithful to him right now. Because, then it would be defamation of this life and hereafter and if you are true in your intentions you intend to remain faithful to him even if you lose your wealth and your nobles, then invite him and hold his hands. Believe it this would be virtuous for life and hereafter. "On this occasion all the delegates collectively announced, "We are ready to endanger our lives and our elders for the sake of this persons. Now a time had come to test the people of Madinah in their claim.
Peril for Quraysh : The migration of Prophet Muhammad and muslims to Madinah
Conspiracy of Quraysh : Abdullah bin Ubai was a chief in Madinah Prior to migration, people of Madinah wanted to make him their king. But when people of Madinah started embracing Islam and Prophet Muhammad along with other muslims migrated from Makkah to Madinah, this scheme failed and Abdulah Bin Ubai lost all his hopes. People of Makkah wrote him a letter which read, "Your people have given shelter to our enemy, we swear by Allah, either you fight with his and sent him out of Madinah or we will escalate you and kill your men and take your women under slavery ". This letter proved to be a sop for Abdulah Bin Ubai's broken hopes. But Prophet Muhammad convicned him at the right time and asked him, "Will you fight you own brethren and sons." As the majority of Ansars had accepted Islam, so Abdullah shunned his evil designs.
At that very time a chief of Madinah, S'ad Bin M'az went to Makkah to perform Ummrah (off-seasonal "minor haj"). At the entrace of Haram (the K'aba close) he met Abu Jahal. He (Abu Jahal) said to him "you gave shelter to our apostates (muslims) and expect that we will let you circumambulate in this sanctuary. If you had not been the guest of Umayya Bin Khalf, we would have not spared you." Hearing this S'ad replied, "I swear by God, if you hinder me from doing this (tawaf) I will desist you from passing through Madinah, on your way to Syria, In a way, it was a proclamation that if Quraysh did any mischievous thing, they will have to close their commercial route which passes by Madinah.
Pressure on Quraysh :Quraysh had evil designs on Islamic mofement and were trying their best to abolish this movement, so, in order to make them look down and raze them, Muslims had no other option except grabing this key way to close the trade of
Hazrami's Murder : During this very period, Prophet Muhammad continued to remain alert about his surroundings so as to know the type of conspiracies that Quraysh were hatcting against him. It was second year of migration in the month of Rajab, Prophet Muhammad sent a group of thirteen muslims, under the leadership of Abdullah Bin Hajash, towards Nakhla. This place (Nakhla) is situated between Makkah and Ta'if. Prophet ordered, while handling over a letter to Abdullah, "open it after two days". Abdullah opened it after two days, the message was, "stay in Nakhla and get information about Quraysh and inform me." Accidently, some Quraysh traders were coming back from Syria through this route to Makkah. Abdullah attacked them, in which one person Al-Hazrami was killed and two were arrested with a lot of booty. Abdullah came to Madinah and narrated this to the prophet and presented him the booty. Prophet Muhammad expressed extreme displeasure and ordered, "I did not allow you to loot and kill." He did not accept the booty as well. The person killed and the two arrested were elites of Makkah. This incident provoked Quraysh and set a trend of revenge henceforth.
War at Badr: It was second year of migration, the month of Sh'aban (February or March 623 A.D.) a very large caravan of Quraysh, having merchandise worth 50 thousand guineas, was passing the region which was under the control of Muslims. There were 30 to 40 guards with caravan. Abu Sufian was the leader of caravan, sensing the fear of attack by muslims, he send a messenger towards Makkah to bring reinforcement. This man, when reached Makkah, raised an alarm that "the caravan is being looted by muslims, rush for the help." The merchandise belonged to many of those in Makkah. It became a common issue, so, all the major chiefs set off for a battle and an army of one thousand enthusiastic youths marched towards Madinah with pomp and show. They had determined to settle the issue once for all to avoid these day-to-day troubles. These people had the desire to save their wealth, severe enmity, passion o f bigotry in their hearts. In short, they were rushing towards Madinah with a frenzy and splendour.
Escalation by Quraysh : Prophet Muhammad was fully aware of these developments. He anticipated that if Quraysh succeeded in their evils designs on muslims and defeated
Preparedness of Muslims : After making this decision Prophet Muhammad gathered all migrants and Ansars and informed them with all that has happened. In the north of Madinah was a mercantile caravan and from the western side, the army of Quraysh was advancing . God told prolphet asked them, who they wanted? In response to this query, most of the companions expressed the desire that the caravan should be attacked first. But Prophet had a different picture before his eyes, so he repeated his question. Then, one of the immigrants, Maqdad-Bin-Amr (Rad.) stood up and said, "O' the prophet of Allah, we are with you, act according to God's comand. We shall never say no to you, as Bani Israel had said to their prophet "Go away, you and your Lord will fight (enemies), we are sitting here*." But before reaching a final decision, it was necessary to know the opinion of Ansars. So, Prophet Muhammad directly addressed them and repeated his question. Then S'ad Bin M'az stood up and said, O' prophet of Allah! we have complete faith in you and we have certified you prophecy. We have witnessed that whatever you have brought, is true. We have taken solemn oath to obey you, so, O' prophet of Allah! do what you want to do. We swear by Him (Allah) Who has sent you with truth that if you take us to sea and enter into it, we will dive into it with you. No one of us will turn his back. We will be firm-footed in the battlefield. We will exhibit true devotion and if God willed we will please you by our valour and courage. So, depending on the omnipotence of Allah, take us with you."
After these speeches, it was concluded that the army of Quraysh will be attacked first. It was not an easy task. Muslims were less in number and poorly armed. They were a little more than 300 in number, only two or three of them possessed horses and only 70 camels, only sixty muslims had chain armours. So, most of the muslims were frightened and they were of the view, as if they were knowingly going in the jaws of death.
Just as your Lord ordered you out of your house in truth, even though a party among the believers disliked it . Dis-puting will you concerning the truth after it was made manifest, as if they were being driven to death while they see it. Behold! Allah promised you one of the two parties that it should be yours. You wished that the one unarmed should be yours. But Allah willed to establish the truth accor-ding to his words, and to cut off the roots of unbelievers. That He might establish truth and prove falsehood false. Distasteful though it be to those in guilt.
March (of muslims) for Madinah : Despite this lack of means, on 12 of Ramzan in the year 2 A.H.,Prophet Muhammad with faith in Allah, marched with three hundred muslims from Madinah in south west direction. The army of Quraysh was advancing from the same direction. Prophet reached Badr on 16 of Ramzan.Badr is the name of a village which is situated at a distance of 80 miles in the south west direction of Madinah. On reaching here, they came to know that army of Quraysh had reached the other end of the valley. Prophet Muhammad asked muslims to camp here.
On the other hand, Quraysh were heavily armed. Their army consisted of more than one thousand soldiers and almost hundred commanders. They had a very good supply of provisions. Utba-Bin-Rabi'a was the supreme commander of their army.
After reaching the vicinity of Badr, Quraysh got the information that their mercantile caravan is out of the reach of muslims. Hence the chiefs of Zohra and Adi tribes said, "it is not necessary of fight now" but Abu Jahal did not acknowledge them. People of Zohra and Adi tribes went back due to this and the rest of the army kept advancing.
Battlefield : Quraysh were best positioned in the battlefield, the ground was solid. But muslims were on sandy part of battlefield. All took rest at night. But Prophet Muhammad kept praying throughout the night and on 17 of Ramzan, after offering Fajr prayer, Prophet addressed muslim soldiers and told them about Jihad (holy war). Then, Prophet Muhammad arrayed the troops according to the strategy of war. Fasts had been imposed in this very year. And it was a strange test of muslims that they, in their very first month of Ramzan, were going to fight an army which was three times more powerful than them. Two pleasant things happened that night which were the symbol of God's grace. One thing was that muslims enjoyed a sound sleep and woke up refreshed in the morning, secondly it rained this very night which hardened the sandy land. The part where Quraysh army was camping, became muddy and their feet used to get
Commencement of War: When both armies came face-to-face it was a strange sight. On one side, were 313 poorly armed muslims who had full faith in Allah, and on the other hand were well armed one thousand infidels who had come with a determination to silence the voice of believers completely. At this occasion Prophet Muhammad extended his hands for prayer with extreme humbleness. He prayed,. "O' God they are arrogant Quraysh and they are here to falsify me. O' God send your help which you promised me. O' God ! if these handful muslims die, then, who will pray you."
The migrants in this war were in a difficult test, they were going to face their own brothers, sons and relatives. Their fathers, sons, uncles and brothers were in the range of their swords. They were sheding the blood of their own dear ones. Only those who had taken full allegiance to Allah, could prove themselves worthy of this trial. They were determined to establish relations only with those having faith and abandon the rest. But Ansars were evenly balanced in this trial. Untill now, their "guilt", in the eyes of atheists and polytheists of Arab, was that they had given shelter to muslims, their arch-rivals. But now, they were helping Islam openly and had drew their sword against atheists of Makkah. This meant that the whole Arab was now the enemy of Madinah. The population of Madinah was not more than one thousand. But the affection for Allah and Prophet Muhammad and faith in the hereafter enabled them to take such a frastic step. Nobody could dare to put his wealth, property and dependants in danger with the enmity of whole Arabia.
Defeat to Quraysh : This was an stage in faith (iman) that undoubtedly brought help from Allah. so, God helped this weak party of 313 muslims and gave Quraysh a back-breaking defeat. About 70 people of Quraysh died in this battle and an equal number was taken into custody. Those killed, included all major chiefs. Among them Shaibah. Utba, Abu Jahal, Zam'a, Aas and Umayya etc. are worth-mentioning. The killings of their chiefs broke the morale of Quraysh. Among muslims, six migrants and eight Ansars got martyrdom .The prisoners of war were distributed among the companions of Prophet and they were being directed to behave well with these prisoners. So, the companions provided them with all facilities, though they themselves suffered on some occasions. This good behaviour made their hearts soft for Islam. This was the greatest success for Islamic movement. Later, some of these prisoners were released for ransom
Consequences and Impacts of the Battle of Badr : Battle of Badr was an important one from the point of tits consequences and impacts. In fact, it was the first instalment of punishment for atheists, from Allah, for denying the invitation to Islam. This battle made it clear as to who deserved the survival more? Islam or heathenism (certainly Islam) and how the things will take shape in future. This first battle in Islamic history is called a grand one. Detailed commentary on this battle is there in different from the one given by kings and generals after they win a battle.
The characteristics of these comments compel us to have a glance over them. These comments throw light on the nature of Islamic movement and the programme of training for muslims;
(1) As stated earlier, wars were the hobby of Arabs in pre-Islamic period. They were keenly interested in the booty of wars. Often this lust of wealth used to cause a battle among themselves. But Islamic concept of war was beyond wealth and booty and it was necessary to make muslims realize this very concept. Battle of Badr was first of its kind which tested muslims, whether the concept of Islamic war and moral values had settled in their minds or the concepts and motives of pre-Islamic wars was still there in their hearts. After battle of Badr, some people kept the booty in their own possessions, as it was a pre-Islamic tradition but some others who remained busy in chasing infidels or giving protection to Prophet Muhammad got nothing. This led to uinpleasantness among them. The time had come that the booty is not the reward of war. Take it as "Infaal" viz a gift from Allah which is given in addition to remuneration. The genuine reward for fighting in the way of Allah, will be bestowed by Him on the Day of Judgement. What you get here, is not an individual's property rather it is a bonus. So, the question of possession this bonus does not arise. All this (booty) belongs to Allah and his prophet. The distribution principles were constituted in this regard. It was a great moral reformation. Muslims were told to draw swords only for the reformation of moral degradation and to unchain the slaves of Allah from the slavery of idols. A true muslim never uses his sword to gain worldly benefits rather he uses it when he sees that the evil powers are trying to gag him and then he (muslim) uses his power to curb those who become obstacles in reformation through invitation and propagation. So, a muslim should not aim at material benefits that one gets in the preliminary stage of this cause.
Obeying the commands is as important as the presence of soul in the body. So, the stress was given on obeying the command unhesitatingly. So, at the time of distributing the body, complete obedience was asked for and muslims were told that all belongs to Allah and His Prophet and their decision about it is final and all should comply with their decision.
It is a trend that most of the (un-Islamic) movements describe the achievements of disciples and activists with exaggeration to boost their moral and incite their emotions to gain familiarity and popularity. This kind of exaggerations motivate them to offer sacrifices. After getting victory in battles or gaining achievements they present titles and medals to their heroes and protagonists and bestow rewards. They make arrangements for the upgradation of their status, in order to please them so that, they may show their valour time and again. This kind of rewards inspire others to gain high status like them. Islamic movement has a different trend. Despite the fact that 313 poorly -armed muslims defeated the army of one thousand heavily armed infidels, while they had inadequate means and provisions, they (muslims) were told that, don't think that this is your achievement. It was the virtue of Allah's mercy that enabled you to defeat and make the enemies flee from the battlefield. Their original power is dependent on Allah and not on means of physical strength. They should always have faith in him while facing the foes in the battlefield. At the very time of attack, Prophet Muhammad threw a fistful of sand towards the enemies saying, "Shahtul Wujooh" (May God deface them) and after that Muslims swooped down the enemies and their feet lost the ground. This could be an opportunity to gain popularity for others. But neither Prophet Muhammad did something like that nor his disciples. But Allah Almighty made it clear in Qur'an and told muslims that, "you did not kill them rather Allah killed them." And Prophet Muhammad was told, "you did not throw (dust) but Allah threw it" and the quotation from Qur'an, "Allah did all this to make muslims pass through this test successfully.*" Muslims were made to understand that Allah arranges all affairs of the world and what ever happens in the world, is the result of His command and intention. A muslim always have trust in Allah and obey Allah and His messenger in whatever the circumstances are. Here lies his test.
Jihad (holywar) is the touchstone in Islamic movement which ultimately examines every protagonist of the movement. When struggle between Islam and healthensim reaches to an extreme where a believer has no choice but to enter the battlefield, in order to carry on his religious duty of invitation (to Islam) and propagation, then, there is no way out of the arena. If a person flees from battlefield, leaving his duty to serve the cause of
(a) Life is dearer to him them the cause of the battle. (b) He has no faith that life and death are decided by Allah and nobody dies until He wills, and when He wills nobody can dilly-dally. (c) Some desire other than Allah's pleasure and success in hereafter is flourishing in his heart. It means that he did not devote himself for establishing the Deen (religion) of Allah. If any of the above things find place in one's heart then, his faith is not complete. So, on the occasion of this first and important battle, all muslims were told that a true muslim never shows his back in the battlefield. Prophet Muhammad ordered that there are three sins which mars every good deed. They are (i) polytheism (ii) usurping the rights of parents and (iii) fleeing from war, being fought in the way of Allah.
Unnecessary interest in mundane relations also hinders a person from advancing in the way of Allah. wealth and progeny become obstacle in this path. So, Allah Almighty, at this occasion defined the real status of wealth and offering, "Know that your posessions and your progeny are but a trail and that it is Allah with whom lies your highest reward.*" Allah Almighty put believers in trial by bestowing wealth whether they use it fairly or not. Or to see whether the wealth stops him from putting his life at stake for the cause of Allah or make him tardy in terms of struggle for Islam. In the same way, progeny is the second option (paper) of his exam, on one hand a believer is to pay their (children's) rights in a way that the qualities. Secondly it is to see that the natural affection for offspring bestowed by Allah , may not hinder a believer from treading the path of Allah.this is the dual trial regarding wealth and progency that every believer should be well prepared for.
(6) Patience is the essence of every movement. But for Islamic movement, it is as necessary as the presence of soul in the body. This quality was given prominence in Makkah for muslims who were passing through inevitable circumstances. But the situation there was that muslims were left with no option but enduring the atrocities. Now, the Islamic movement was entering the second phase. It was feared that muslims may commit excesses. That is why muslims, in these changed circumstances, were being asked to increase and maintain this quality (of patience). In divine words, "O' you who believe! when you meet a force be firm and call Allah in remembrance much (and often) that you may prosper. Obey Allah and His messenger; And fall into no disputes, lest you lose heart and your power depart and be patienta and preserving : For Allah is with those, who patiently preserve."
Following guidelines are part of "Patience".
Desires and emotions to be kept under control.
Haste, panic and fear should be avoided.
Avarice and improper passions may not be in one's heart. Act coolheadedly and decisively.
One should not retreat while facing hardships and dangers.
Ire, fury and provocation may not victimize one for wrong doings.
One should keep his cool while facing hardships and miserable conditions.
Excessive eagerness to achieve the target should not compel one to act according to an immature plan.
Worldly benefits may not lure the muslims to incline towards these benefits. Muslims were required to give the test of their patience through some other modes also, in the changed circumstances.
Sometimes, the passion to achieve the target, dominates one's heart. Placed before this passion, one does not take adequate care of truth and justice and justifies his lapses. But Islamic movement which is absolutely based upon fundamentals of truth, does not allow its disciples to step over truth and justice. So, muslims at this critical juncture of struggle between Islam and heathenism, were being advised to reach political pacts with adversaries in addition to the instructions regarding their moral training. The essence of these instructions is that muslims should never make victory, defeat or material benefits a base to breach their pacts. They should always have trust in Allah and respect these pacts with complete honesty even if it compels them to refrain from helping their own brethren.
These are some of the chief characteristics of the comment given on battle of Badr in Holy Qur'an. This comment on the war of Badr is an evidence of the distinction of Islamic movement over other movements and how this (Islamic) movement trains its disciples.
Battle of Uhad
Reasons; though muslims came back victorious from Badr but it was like the stirring of hornet's nest. Battle of Badr was the first war between muslims and infidels and muslims faced them fiercly and defeated them. This incident cautioned the whole Arabia against , muslims and the arch rivals of this movement got infuriated. The relatives of deceased Quraysh chiefs were also waiting in wings to take revenge. A single murder used to cause battles for many generations and those killed at Badr were not ordinary people, their blood was very costly. The signs of a storm were apparent. Jew tribes who had aligned with muslims, infringed the pacts. They despite having belief in God, prophecy, hereafter and divine books, attached their sympathies with polytheists of Quraysh. They openly started inciting polytheists for war against muslims especially the chief of Bani Nuzair tribe K'ab Bin Ashraf showed extreme meanness and severe enmity. So, it became clear that Jews will have no regard of neighbourhood and the pacts reached with muslims and Prophet Muhammad . Now, this small town of Madinah was surrounded by enemies on all sides and their financial condition was very weak. Now, after the war they were facing many more problems.
All major chiefs of Makkah had vowed to take revenge and they were amid the flames of frenzy. Jews further blowed the fire of revenge and incited the infidels of Makkah for a war against muslims. Hardly one year had passed that news started trickling in Madinah that polytheists of Makkah are ready with a very strong army to launch a massive attack on Madinah.
Quraysh's Advancing : In the first week of shavval 3 A.H., Prophet Muhammad sent out two men to collect information. They came back and informed that the army of Quraysh had reached the vicinity of Madinah and their horses have wiped off a pasture of Madinah. Now, Prophet discussed the matter with his companions, whether to face Quraysh from within Madinah or should we fight outside Madinah? Some companion opined that we should face them staying within Madinah but some youths who were keen to get martyrdom, insisted that the battle should be fought in the open. So, this insistence made prophet's mind to fight in the open.
Cheating by Hypocrites :Quraysh camped on the hill of Ohad near Madinah. Prophet Muhammad after a gap of one day i.e. on Friday after offering Friday namaz marched with one thousand companions towards Ohad. Abdullah Bin Ubai, a hypocrite, was among these companions and he was a deadly enemy of ,muslims. Several hypocrites who were under the influence of Abdullah were there. So, Abdullah along with three
Enthusiasm of Muslim Youths : On this occasion Prophet Muhammad reviewed his companions and sent back minors. Two minor named Raf'e and Samrah were among muslims, when minors were being separated, Raf'e stood on his toes to look longer in height. This trick paid and he was included. But Samrah could not get the permission.
On being rejected, Samrah said, "you included Raf'e so I should also be granted permission because I defeated him in wrestling bout. So, to test his calm, a wrestling competition was held between them. Samrah defeated Raf'e and was included in the army. This is a small incident but enough to estimate their spirit to sacrifice the lives in the way of Allah.
Orderly Arrangement of Army : Ohad mountain is at a distance of 4 miles from Madinah. Prophet Muhammad arrayed the army in a manner that on the backside was mountain and they were face to face with Qyraysh army. There was a mountain pass on the back from where muslims could be attacked. So, Prophet deployed fifty arrowmen there under the leadership of Abdullah Bin Jubair and directed them, "Let no one come through this pass and never move from this position even if you see that preying birds are piercing our bodies.
Equipmenet of Quraysh : Quraysh were well equipped this time. They were almost 3000 in number, all well-armed. It was a custom of Arabs that women used to take part in wars to encourage their army and the soldier used to fight fiercely thinking that if they lose war, their women will be disgraced. On this occasion of Ohad, several women were present with Quraysh army. Many of their women had lost their sons and relatives in the battle of Badr. These women had pledged that they will quench their thirst of revenge with the blood of the enemies.
Commencement of War : Quraysh army was well trained. When the war started, the women started playing on tambourine and started singing encouraging songs to provoke the sense of honour so that the soldiers may recall the sorrow of Badr's deceased soldiers and their zeal of revenge may get strength. In the begining muslims were dominant and killed several soldiers of Quraysh and their army scattered. Muslims took
Quraysh's Attack from the Backside : Khalid Bin Waleed, who was commanding a cavalry unit for infidels did not let this opportunity slip from his hands. He took a turn and attacked muslims from the backside. Abdullah Bin Jubair along with a few soldiers tried to stop the ambush but they could not. The enemies swoop down muslims and those infidels who were fleeing the battlefield also came back and attacked muslims from both sides. This situation panicked muslims and the changed radically. Muslims scattered and starting running here and there. amid this hullabaloo, the rumour that Prophet Muhammad got martydom, spread. Thir rumour made muslims lost their presence of mind and they lost all their hopes.
Aid from Allah and Victory : At this time ten to twelve companions had escorted Prophet Muhammad who was wounded. The companions took Propheet to a cliff and other muslims got the information that Prophet Muhammad is safe and sound and present in the battlefield. All gathered around Prophet but Allah knows what happened on this occasion that infidels turned back and left the battlefield without completing their victory.
When they moved out of battlefield, they said to each other, we missed a golden opportunity to crush the power of muslims, we lost it and came back. They halted at a place and discussed whether to attack Madinah again but they could not dare to do so and went back to Makkah. Prophet Muhammad was also of the view that enemies may come back, so he gathered muslims and ordered to chase the infidels. It was a critical situation but those having a true faith, got ready to take the risk and Prophet Muhammad chased the enemies upto a place is at a distance of 8 miles from Madinah. But when they came to know that Quraysh have gone back, they all came back to Madinah.
Reasons for Early Defeat and Training of Muslims :The early defeat of muslims in Ohad's battle was due to hypocrite's plannings and tricks but there were some weakness on behalf of muslims as well. They could not get the proper training. It was their second chance of fighting in the path of Allah. That is why they committed some mistakes. They were guilty of negligence from their duty, disobeying the commands and collecting
Dependence on Allah : When muslims went out for fighting infidels, their number was about one thousand, while the number of enemies was 3000. Then, 300 hypocrites deserted them and they were only 700 left compared to 3000 infidels. They had insufficient arms and their one-third army had already cheated them. At this point some people gave up hope. The only force that enabled muslims to get ready for fight was that of Allah Almighty. The solace given by Prophet Muhammad to muslims is mentioned by Allah Almighty in Holy Qur'an, "Remember when two of your parties showed cowardice; though Allah was there to protect them, and the faithfuls should trust Allah. Afterall, Allah had helped you at Badr, when you were very weak. Thus you should show your gratitude to Allah. Remember when prophet was telling the fiathful, "Is it not enough for you that Allah helped you with three thousand angels (specially) sent down? Yes, if you remain patient and act in obedience of Allah. He would help you with five thousand angels when the enemies raid you at your doorstep. Allah has told you this as a message of hope for you, and as an assurance to you. There is no victory except from Allah, Exalted, the Wise. "Muslims were made to understand that a muslim should not rely upon their physical power, the source of their genuine power is faith in Allah and dependence on His aid.
Infatuation of Wealth :If there is no stimulus to energise human being then, successive failures lower the morale. Muslims were defeated in Ohad. This could have resulted in the lowering of the morale. So, muslims were guaranteed victory if they did not panic and show courage and should remain unwavering on their faith and fulfil its requirements. Do this part of yours and leave the rest on Allah, surely He will drive away you worries and sorrows. "So, lose not hearts nor fall into despair. For you would ultimately gain victory if you are true in faith and fulfil its requirement. In so far the small problems and temporary defects are concerned they are also faced by the other group. When they do not bother, when you are on a right path.
You are desirous of paradise but do you think that you will get it as such. You have not been tested yet by Allah as to who will sacrifice himself for Allah and who will endure
The Real Motive of Islamic Movement : Every movement has a central figure which is the essence of the movement., But principle based movements' survival and progress never depends on an individual rather they depend on the truth and firmness on those principles. It is not difficult to understand the importance of the noble prophets (peace be upon them) for such Islamic movements. But to establish that this movement is based upon principles and its survival and flourishing depended purely on the power of those principles which Islam puts forth, it was necessary to tell muslims lest they may think, they will rise for the cause of Allah only till the prophet is alive and when they are deprived of his direct guidance they will adopt some other way. So, when the rumour of Prophet Muhammad 's martyrdom spread in the battlefields of Ohad, some muslims lost their heart and they thought that it was of no use to fight without Prophet. To rectify this assumption they were told that, "Prophet Muhammad is not more than a messenger of Allah. Many prophets had passed away before him. If he died or was slain, will you then turn back on your heels? If any one did turn back on the heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah; but Allah (on the other hand) will swifty reward those who (serve him) with gratitude*." It is not necessary that to follow and to establish the truth (Islam) that you have consciously chozen for yourself that Prophet will be always with you. It is a barter of your own success and prosperity. If you remain steadfast you will gain. The real power of this Deen (religion) is the truth it represents. It's progress neither depends on your efforts nor on any personality.
The Root of Weakness : The root of all human weakness is death. They were reminded at this hour that fleeing the death is of no avail. No one dies before the time of his death, fixed by Allah. Nobody can live or die after or before this fixed time. So fear not the death. What one should worry is to see whether he was serving the right purpose of his life? We should think whether we are spending our life according to Islamic laws. If one seeks the material things he gets in his life time. But one, who works for the reward in hereafter, Allah will reward him for his good deeds. This opportunity should be availed by these who have had the blessings of embracing Islam, following its duties and establishing the truth (Islam). They should put forth their best for the cause. They will get good reward in the form of eternal success. Those who thank Allah for His blessings and best of bestowals.
After Ohad's Defeat : Except one or two tribes, the whole Arabia was against the surging Islamic movement. This movement was affecting their ancestral religions and customs.
Breach of Promise by Tribes :(1) Muharram 4 A.H, a tirbe named Jofed of Qutn region intended to attack Madinah. Prophet Muhammad sent a small party under the leadership of Abu Salmah to face them. The attackers turned to heels and fled away.
After that in this very month a tribe Lahyan of Kohistane Arna intended to attack Madinah. Abdullah Bin Anis was sent to repulse them. Their chief Sufyan was killed and his men fled away.
Safar 4 A.H., the chief of Kalab tribe Abu Bara' came in the presence of Prophet Muhammad and said, "send some preachers with me, I and my people want to listen to Islamic preachings." Prophet Muhammad sent 70 companions with him. Most of them were from As-habe-Suffa*. These companions were killed by the chief of the tribe Aamir Bin Tufail and his aides. It was a shocking incident for Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad used to curse against these killers after Fajr salah throughout the month. Aamir spared one of these 70 companions saying, "my mother took a vow to free a slave. Go away I free you for this vow." When Amr Bin Umayya was returning to Madinah, he met two men of Aamir's tribe. Umayya killed them and got the sop that he at least took some revenge. When Prophet Muhammad came to know this incident he disliked it because he had promised immunity to this tribe and these killings were against this resolution. So, he ordered to pay blood-money for these two persons.
In the same way two more tribes did the same thing. Prophet, on their request, sent 10 companions with them to impart religious education, but these oppressors breach the promise. Seven of these ten companions got martyrdom by fighting these infidels and three were taken into custody. Khaib and Zaid (may "Allah be pleased with them) were among these prisoners. The enemies sold them out in Makkah. Khaib had killed Haris Bin Aamir of Quraysh in the battle of Ohad. The son of Haris bought Khaib so that he may kill him to take revenge. They martyred him after a few days. Similarly Safwan Bin Umayya bought Hazrat Zaid and martyred him.
Such kind of prodding was on from neighbouring tribes and the adversaries were
Opposition of Jew Servants and Saints : Prophet Muhammad had reached various pacts with jew tribes when he migrated to Madinah. These tribes, through these pacts were assured that they and their properties would be protected. They would have the freedom to practise their religion. Despite these pacts, the growth of Islamic movement was making them perturbed and they had reasons for it :
Until now jews had a upper hand from religious point of view. All other tribes use to regard them worth-honouring but with the advent of Islam the hollowness of false religiosity and professional god-fearing was being exposed. Prophet Muhammad's preachings were making the people understand the real meaning of religiousness and piety. So, the trade of these savants and saints was facing a "recession".
Open criticism on the dealings of jews especially their scholars and pious people, was being revealed through Holy Qur'an. For example, "(they are fond of ) listening to falsehood of devouring anything forbidden*." and, "You will see many of them, racing each other in sins and transgression and their eating of things forbidden. Evil indeed are the things they do. **"
"They took usury, though they were forbidden and that they devoured men's wealth wrongfully. We have prepared for those among them who reject faith, a grievous chastiement.*" Such warnings are present in Al-Baqra, Al-Ma'eda and Aale Imran chapters. These warnings used to make them angry and they indiscriminately used to start tormenting muslims.
(3) With Islam spreading rapidly, they were fearing that they would have to give in to Islam one day or the another. Battle with Bani Qainqa' : After the battle of Badr jews first took its notice, as they feared that Islam would become a powerful religion. So, just after Badr, in Shavval in the year 2 A.H., jew tribe Bani Qainqa' declared a war against muslims and infringed the pact that they had with muslims. The instant reason for this battle was that a jew molested a muslim woman. Her husband killed a jew in anger. The jews retaliated and killed this muslim. Prophet Muhammad tried to assuage the matter. But jews replied that we are not like Quraysh who fled away from Badr, we will give you tooth-breaking reply. So, jews, disregarding the pact, announced the war. So, Prophet Muhammad retaliated. Jews confined themselves in a fort. After a siege which lasted 15 days it was settled that jews be exiled. So, 700 jews were banished.
K'ab Bin Ashraf's Murder :K'ab Bin Ashraf was a famous jew poet. He composed verses after the battle of Badr, that were very provoking against muslims in Makkah. Poets used to have a lot of influence during those days. He composed two elegies of Quraysh's deceased in Badr and recited them in Makkah in a manner that made everyone wail and cry. Then, he came to Madinah and recited satirical verses about Prophet Muhammad and incited people through different means. On one occasion he invited Prophet Muhammad for a feast and hatched a conspiracy to kill him. Prophet discussed this situation with his companions and with his assent Muhammad Bin Muslimah murdered K'ab in the month of Rabiul Avval, in the year 3 A.H.
Banu Nuzair's Expulsion : Banu Nuzair committed several breaches and conspired many times to assassinate Prophet Muhammad. They had been inciteds for this purpose by Quraysh also. When they became a nuisance, Prophet Muhammad ordered to lay a siege around their fort which lasted for 15 days. At last they agreed to vacatethe fort with as much belongings as they could carry on their camels. According to this agreement manyof their chiefs took the way to khaibar. They carried almost all essential items with them.
Now both the enemies of muslims joined hands, they were polytheists of Arabia and jews. They started charting out plans and decided to attack Madinah unitedly. In the begining, whenever information of attack trickled in, Prophet Muhammad went out with muslims to face them but the enemies turned to their heels and ran away. On one occasion in Muharram 5 A.H., he chased them upto Zatur Riqa' and second time in Rabiul Avval in the year 5 A.H., he chased them upto Domatul Jandal.
Battle of Ahzab*
People of Banu Nuzair tribe reached Khaibar. Here they hatched a dire conspiracy against muslims. They instigated nearby tribes against muslims and made Quraysh agree for a battle and told them, if we attack them untidily, we can crush this movement. Quraysh were already prepared for a war. So, a grand army of almost 10000 soldiers from various tribes of jews and infidels of Makkah, was constituted.
When Prophet Muhammad came to know that infidels are preparing to attack Madina on such a large scale, he counselled his companions. Hazrat Salman Farsi (Rad.) was of the view that it is not proper to fight with such a large number in open fied. So, we should choose a proper place for us and dig trenches around that place so that , the
Digging of Trenches : Madinah was surrounded by houses and oasis on three sides, only oneside was open. Prophet Muhammad deployed three thousand companions on digging a trench. This digging started on 8 the Zu-Q'ada 5 A.H. Prophet Muhammad himself dug the ground and gave ten yards of land to everyone for digging. These 3000 muslims dug this 5 yards deep trench in 20 days. Prophet Muhammad himself took interest in digging the trench. During the digging a rock became a hurdle, it was too hard to break. Prophet Muhammad came forward and hit the rock with a violent blow of pickaxe, the rock shattered to pieces. This was also a miracle of Prophet Muhammad.
Infidel's Attack : The infidels divided their army in their contingent and attacked Madinah from three sides. This fierce attack has been depicted in the Holy Qur'an like this, "Behold! they came on you from above you and from below you, and behold, the eyes swerved and the hearts gaped upto the thro-ats, and you imagined various (vain) thoughts about Allah, in that situation were the believers tried. They were shaken as by a treme-ndoous shaking."
This was the time of trial. On one hand was biting cold, lack of provisions, continuous starvations, sleepless nights, restless days, fear of life hovering, wealth and offspring being the target of enemies, and a strong army of enemy at offence. All these things were horrifying. But the believers remained steadfast with power of faith. It was not a matter to bear for those with a weak faith and those who were hypocrites, so, these hardshipos exposed them and they started complaining. "Allah and his messenger promised us nothing but delusions" .(chapter Al-Ahzab, ayah 12). They started offering excuses to save their lives, "O' people of Yathrib, come back, today you have no place" (chapter al-Ahzab, ayah14). They asked Prophet Muhammad to grant them permission to stay in their houses and protect them as their houses are unsafe. But those whose faith was firm and who were true in their claim of faith, their condition was different. They said when they saw this strong army, "This is what Allah and His messenger had promised us. And it only added to their faith and zeal in obedience. Among the believers were the men who have been true to their covenant with Allah. Of them some have died and some (still) wait but they have never changed (their determination) in the least". (chapter Al-Ahzab, ayah 22-23).
This siege lasted one month and it was so intense that muslims used to starve for 3 times a day. The siege was adding to the hardships and miseries. The infidels could not
Aid from Allah Almighty : The prolonging of the siege was lowering the morale of infidels. It was not an easy task to provisions to 10000 soldiers. And the inclemency of weather was unbearable. In the meantime the violent stormy wind uprooted their tents. The whole army got scattered. This storm was chastisement from Allah for infidels and a cause of blessing for muslims. Allah Almighty has described it as his favour :
"O' you who believe! Remember the grace of Allah (bestowed) on you when there came down on you hosts but We sent agianst them a hurricane and forces that you saw not but Allah sees all that you do."
The infields could not brave this condition and their power broke. First it were jews who evaded and when Quraysh remained desolate, they found it better to go back. The clouds of hardships that were hovering over Madinah drove away and this heppened only with the virtue and hidden help from Allah. This battle is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an and the aspects of muslims training and admonition have been mentioned here :
Dependence on the Virtue of Allah :The real power rests with Allah, it is the faith of a believer. Whatever happens is due to His will and pleasure. A believer does not regard his achievement a result of his power or his efforts rather he regards it, as the reality is, Allah's virtue. In Ahzab , the army of 10000 infidels could not inflict the harm to muslims and they went back disapponted. It was such an occasion that muslims might have thought that this victory was due to their course of action (digging the trench) so it was a good opportunity for muslims to feel proud. But Allah Almighty, at this occasion, ordered to save muslims from this weakness, "O' you believe! Remember the grace of Allah on you, when there came down on you hosts. But we sent against them a hurricane force that you saw not. But Allah sees (clearly) all that you do."
This is the mental training required for the protagonists of Islamic movement. A believer should always have faith in Allah. He should keep it in mind that God is the true accomplisher and with this they should keep on advancing to establish the Deen (religion) heedless of the might and power of opponents.
Trial of Claim of Faith :A muslim is tried of his faith in the times of calamities. He himself knows the degree of his faith and others can also see how deep they are in water. In ordinary circumstances, it is difficult to estimate that how far one can go in making efforts to get his goal. Often one mistook him. But when there is a hard time it is easy t differentiate between pure and impure. The same thing was done by Ahzab battle. A sizable number of hypocrites and those with a feeble faith were mixed with muslims and it was necessary that muslims should idetify them. So, when the digging of trench started, these people were exposed. Continuous digging, working for 24 hours regardless of rest, and facing such a strong army and then remaining firm in an atmosphere charged with fear and harassment. These were the hardships which differentiated between true muslims and hypocrites. The hypocrites called out, the Prophet promised us victory but now the defeat is imminent, we understood that, "Allah and His messenger pronised us nothing but delusions"(chapter Al-Ahzab, ayah 12). Some of them started offering excuses and left the battlefield on the pretext of saving their houses. But those whose faith was stern, took these things in a different way. When they saw the enemies coming down on them they called out, "This is what Allah and His messenger promised us and Allah and His messenger told us what was true. And it only messenger told us what was true. And it only added to their faith and their zeal in obedience." (chapter Al-Ahzab, ayah 32).
The Root of Weakness : Fear of life and loss of prperty are man's greatest weaknesses. Islam asks a muslims to have faith faith in Allah and His qualities. The basic belief is that life, death, profit, loss and everything is from Allah. Nobody can change the life into death of profit into loss. This very belief and faith is the basis if muslim's strength. The weakness of one's faith will be apparent in one's faith will be apparent in one's deeds. So, it was told clearly to muslims. Say, "running away will not profit you if you are running away from death or slaughter and even if, no more than a brief respite will you be allowed to enjoy". Say, "who is it that can screen you from Allah. If it be His wish to give you punishment or to give you mercy. Nor will they find for themselves, besides Allah, any protector or helper"(chapter Al-Ahzab, ayah 16-17). If this belief is in one's heat then why he will turn away? A man should always test his faith. More often he remains in darkness about himself. When a test in there, he gets correct estimate about himself.
Prophet : the Worth-Following Model :
Amid the mentioning of this war, muslims were directed that the life of Prophet Muhammad is a worth-following specimen for you. But thosse who have belief in the rewards of hearafter and meeting with Allah, can be right person to profit themselves and those who recall Allah more often. The specimen of Prophet's patience, dependence on Allah, determination, perseverance, is enough for believers to keep their hopes aloft, strengthening the heart in inevitable circumstances and dependence on Allah with complete perseverance and it is a specimen that the believers can follow till the end off this world. Those who are determined to establish Islam should stroll on this path. This specimen is to be put before them at every turning of life. This is the guiding light for them.
Banu-Quraizah's Slaughter :It is mentioned earlier that Prophet Muhammad had signed several treaties with jew tribes. The jews honoured these treaties in the beginning but they started to breach them later. Due to these breaches, Banu-Nuzair had been banished. But Banu-Quraizah dmade a new agreement and Prophet allowed them to live with peace in their castles.
At the time of Ahzab battle, many jew tribes provoked Banu Quraizah and they joined the confederate forces. They paid no heed to the treaties reached with Prophet Muhammad. When the battle of Ahzab was over, Prophet Muhammad first of all paid heed to Banu Quraizah and decided to punish them for the breach of the treaty. They made this breach, at a critical time when the whole Arabia surged over muslims and apparently it was felt that muslims had no escape. Banu Quraizah had proved that they were snake of grass. They made agreements with muslims, satisfied them but deceived them at the time of need. They joined others to annihilate muslims. So, their castles were besieged. And the siege lasted for a month and at the end of the day Banu Quraizah surrendered. It was decided, in accordance with the rules in Torah, that those who were fit for war should be slaughtered and the rest should be arrested. Their wealth and belongings was forfeited. 1400 persons were slaughtered including a woman whose guilt was that she dropped a stone from the fort a muslim and killed him..
Hudaibhiyah Treaty
K'aba was the original centre of Islam. Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma'il (peace be upon them) had constructed it when Allah ordered them so. Muslims were away from this centre for six years. Haj was an important component of the basic tenants to Islam. So, now muslims' ardent desire was to visit K'aba for Haj.
Journey to Visit Holy K'aba : Arabs used to engage in wars throughout the year but they used to announce a ceasefire (truce) for four months to provide a safe passage to people for visiting K'aba. In the month of Zu-Q'adah in the year6 A.H., Prophet Muhammad intended to visit K'aba. A large number of companions were also curious for this felicity of visiting K'aba. So, 1400 muslims got ready for the journey. They performed initial ritual of sacrifice (animals) at Zul-Halifa. It was a clear indication that their intention is just to visit K'aba. They are not going to attack infidels of Makkah. Despite this Prophet Muhammad sent a man to bring information regarding Quraysh's intentions. He brought the news that Quraysh have gathered all tribes and announced that they will not let Prophet Muhammad enter Makkah. Be ready for a confrontation. They started deploying their army outside Makkah and were ready for a fight.
Negotiations with Quraysh : The Holy Prophet got this information but he kept moving and halted at Hudaibhiyah, a place near Makkah. Hudaibiyah is the name of a well and the village is also named after it. Chief of Khazah tribe met the Holy Prophet here and informed him about the preparations of Quraysh. Prophet ordered him, go and tell them that we are here to perform Umrah. We do not want to fight and just want to visit and circumambulate the Holy K'aba. Quraysh got this massage. Sosme mischievous persons said "We need not listen to his message." But a sobre man named Urvvah said, "No, you believe me and I will go and talk Muhammad. So, Urvah came to Prophet Muhammad but the matter could not be settled. In the meantime, Quraysh sent a detachment to attack muslims. These soldiers were arrested but the Holy Prophet showing mercy, forgave them and they were released later. It was decided that Hazrat Usman (Rad.) should be sent to Makkah for negotiations. He went to Makkah and negotiated with Quraysh but they remained adamant that muslims will not be allowed to visit the Holy K'aba rather they detained Hazrat Usman.
Bai'atur Rizwan :The word spread here that Hazrat Usman has been martyred. This news made the muslims restless. The Holy Prophet hearing this news, ordered that now it is a must to take the revenge of his blood. Saying this the Holy Prophet sat under an Acacia tree and discussed the matter with his companions (May Allah be pleased with them) that we will take revenge at any cost. This resolution enthused with a strange spirit amongst muslims. All of them, overhelmed with the desire to get martyrdom, got ready to take revenge from infidels. This oath is termed as Bai'atur Rizwan and is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. At this occasion, Allah Almighty has expressed His pleasure for those lucky persons who pledged with the Holy Prophet Muhammad .
Treaty of Compromise : Quraysh got the information about this oath and the spirited muslims. On the other hand, muslims came to know that the news of the killing of Usman (Rad.) was wrong. Quraysh sent Suhail Bin Amr as their envoy for negotiations. These negotiations lasted a few hours and at last the conditions for compromise were settled. Hazrat Ali (Rad.) was called in to scribe the treaty. When he wrote that this treaty is from Muhammad Rassollullah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the envoy Suhail objected to this and said that the word "Rasooullah" (prophet of Allah) should not be written, we disagree to this. So, the Holy Prophet sustained his objection and deleted word "Rassolullah" with his holy hand and ordered, "By God! I am Allah's prophet, whether you believe it or not." The conditions of this treaty are as follows:
Muslims would go back this year.
They will come next year and stay only for three days.
They should not carry arms. Only a sheathed sword will be allowed on the condition that it will not be unsheathed.
The muslims who are still in Makkah, will not be allowed to got to Madinah and if any muslim wants to come back to Makkah, he will not be stopped from doingso.
If an infidel or a muslims goes to Madinah (from Makkah) he will be extradited but if a muslim goes to Makkah, he will not be extradited.
All other tribes of Arabian peninsula will be free to align themselves with muslims or infidels.
The tenure of this treaty will be 10 years.
Apparently all these conditions were against the interests of muslims and it was felt that muslims compromised with these conditions.
Hazrat Abu Jandal's Issue: It is a matter of chance that as the scribing of treaty was in the offing, the son of Suhail, Abu Jandal managed to flee from Makkah and reached the place Hudaibiyah. He was chained, he fell down before muslims and narrated his woes he was facing as he accpeted Islam. Abu Jandal pleaded the Holy Prophet and said, "rescue me from the claws of infidels and take me with you." Suhail objected and said that this is against the treaty, you can not take him to Madinah. It was a testing time, on one hand there was a neophyte who was being tortured for accepting Islam and was
Until now there was a war like situation but now muslims and nonmuslims started interacting. They started establishing commercial and ancestral relations. Non-muslims use to come to Madinah fearlessly and stay there for months and interact with muslims. In this way they found an opportunity to view the Islamic movement from close quarters. They were being affected strangely. They were finding muslims, for whom they had hatred and anger , much better than their own people in moral values, dealings and behaviour. They found that muslims, who were their arch rivals, had no malice and enmity with them rather they hated their wrong beliefs and customs. Every word of muslims was full of sympathy and humanity. Despite many battles, that were fought between them, muslims were nicely behaving with them. They (infidels) used to discuss their objections and doubts regarding Islam with muslims and get satisfactory answers. They realised their errors and their misconceptions about Islam faded away. So, within two years of this treaty, a large number of people embraced Islam even some major chiefs of Quraysh were affected by Islam and they abandoned infidels and embraced Islam. Khalid Bin Waleed and Amr Bin Al'as entered the folds of Islam in this period. The sphere of Islam was expanding and it was all set to overwhelm the world. The leaders of infidels were taking it as on end to their Jahili beliefs* Quraysh were feeling that they were losing ground against the Islam. They found no other option except to
1. Letter to khosrau of Rome
2. Dialogue with Abu Safyan
3. Letter to King of Persia (Iran)
4. Letter to Negus and Aziz of Egypt
5. Letters to Emperors
Treaty of Hudaibiyah provided satisfaction to the Holy Prophet. Now, he decided to pay some more attention to invitation and propagation of Islam.
One day the Holy Prophet Muhammad addressed the companmions and ordered, O' people ! Allah has sent me in the world as a messenger of mercy (my message is for all and it is a mercy for the whole world). Now do not contradict me like the apsotles of Christ. Go! and convey the message of truth (Islam) toall."
In this very period i.e, in the end of 6 A.H, Prophet Muhammad wrote invitation letters to many ekmperors and these letters were delivered to emperors of several nations by his companions. The speciments of some of these letters, whose details are available in the history, are as follows :
Letter to Khosrau of Rome delivered by Wahya Kalbi (Rad.)
Letter to Khosrau Parvez king of Persia delivered by Abdul Bin Khuzefah (Rad.) Letter to Aziz-e-Misr (egypt) delivered by Hatib Bin Abi Balt'ah (Rad.)
Letter to Negus (Najashi) king of Abyssiania delevered by Umar Bin Umayya. Letter to Khosrau of Rome : The letter sent to the kind of Rome was as follows:
With the name of Allah, The most beneficient and merciful
On behalf of Muhammad, who is a slave and messenger of Allah , to Hercules the King of Rome
May Allah grant him salvation who follows the guidance. After this I invite you to Islam. Be a faithful and obedient slave of Allah to get salvation. He will reward you in two folds. But if you do not obey Allah, then the sins of your people will also be on your shoulders (because of your denial, the invitation to Islam would not reach them).
O' the bearer of a Holy Book! come towards the thing which is common between us that we will not worship
anybody except Allah. nor shall we attribute anyone his lord except Allah. But if you turn down this offer
(Islam, we clearly say) be a witness that we are muslims(that is we obey Allah and worship Him)
Dialogue with Abu Sufyan: Wahya Bin Kalbi delivered this letter to Haris Ghassani in Basra who was the governor of Syria appointed by Khosrau of Rome. He despatched it to Khosrau. Khosrau read the letter and ordered his men to bring an Arab before him. In those days Abu Sufyan was in this region on a commercial trip. His men presented Sufyan in the court. Their conversation is as follows:
Khosrau : What kind of dynasty, the caller to Islam belong to ? Abu Sufyan : He belongs to a noble dynasty. Khosrau : Had anybody claimed prophecy in this dynasty before him?
Abu Sufyan : No, never. Khosrau : Are the people who accepted this faith, rich or poor? Abu Sufyan : They are poor people. Khosrau : Is the number of disciple is increasing or decreasing? Abu Sufyan : The number of disciples is increasing continuously.
Khosrau : Has anyone of you people found him telling a lie?
Abu Sufyan : No never
Khosrau : Does he break his promise?
Abu Sufyan : He never say anything contrary to his commitment and resolution.
He reached a fresh treaty (of Hudaibiyah). It is to see whether he keeps his words in this regard.
Khosrau : Have you ever fought against him?
Abu Sufyan : Yes, we fought a battle.
Khosrau : What was the result?
Abu Sufyan : He defeated us twice and we defeated him once.
Khosrau : What does he teach?
Abu Sufyan : He asks to worship only one God, never make a companion to Allah. Offer salah, to pious. speak truth, behave with each other with compassion and mercy.
After this conversation he said, "Prophets are always born in noble dynasties. If someone else in his dynasty had claimed prophecy then it was possible that his claim was influenced by his family. And if there had been a king in his dynasty the it might be understood that he was doing all this to get the reigns of power. When it is proved that he never told a lie then how it is possible that he might have concocted such a great lie about God (that he is the Prophet of Allah). This is also a fact that the early disciples of any Prophets are from poor sections of the society. A true that Prophets never cheat or deceive. You say that he insists on salah (prayer), piety and God-fearing. If all this is true, I am sure some day or other his empire would engulf my empire too. I had the knowledge that a prophet is due to come but I had not imagined that Arab would get this honour. If I could go there, I would have washed his feet."
These comments of Khosrau exasperated his countries, popes and scholars and it was feared that they might not revolt against him. This fear engulfed light of guidance emerging in the heart of Khosrau. It is a fact that wealth and authority always become a hurdle in accepting the truth.
Letter to King of Persia (Iran) : The specimen of the letter to the king Khosrau Parvez is as follow :
"With the name of Allah, the most beneficient and most merciful. from Muhammad, the prophet of Allah to the king Khosrau of Persia. Peace be upon him who follows guidance and have faith
in Allah and His prophet and gives the witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the messenger, sent by Allah for the hum-an beings so that I may warn everyone of his deadly end (due to disobeying Allah). You, too become an obedient and loyal slave of Allah . You will be in peace otherwise the burden of Zoroastrians will be on your "shoulders".
Khosrau Pervez was a king of pomp and show.
To him the style of letter was very painful. The letter had the name of Allah, then the
The governor of Yemen sent out two men in the blessed audience to request him for paying a visit. In the meantime the son of Khosrau killed him and captured the power. When these two men were presented in the blessed audience., they were unaware of the murder of their King. Allah Almighty had informed Prophet Muhammad about this murder . So, the Holy Prophet Muhammad informed them of this incident and commanded them, "go back and tell your governor that Islamic rule will expand to the capital city of Khosrau's empire." When these men went back to Yemen, they knew that the information regarding the murder of Khosrau was true.
Letter to Negus and Aziz of Egypt : The same kind of letters were sent to the king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and the King Aziz of Egypt. Negus, in response to the letter, wrote back, "I give witness that you are the true messenger of Allah" Negus embraced Islam in the presence of Hazrat Ja'far who had migrated to Abyssinia.
Though king Aziz of Egypt did not accept Islam but he gave respect to the bearers and sent them back with gifts.
1. Policy of Escalation on Enemy
When Banu Nuzair were banished from Madinah they setteled in Khaibar. Khaibar is situated in the north-west of Madinah at a distance of 200 miles. They built a few castle in Khaibar.
Khaibar was the largest centre of Islam's adversaries and a constant danger for Islam. These very jews stimulated the tribes for the battle of Ahzab. They did not succeed in this conspiracy. But they did not give up hope and remained busy in hatching conspiracies to harm muslims. In order to achieve this purpose they conspired with various tribes of Arabs especially Quraysh and instigated the Hypocrites of Madina to step up their undermining of Islam from within so that Islam is banished forever by an external attack. All these efforts of jews were in the knowledge of Prophet Muhammad. He tried his best to reach a proper agreement with jews in order to make them give up their anti-Islamic activities but to no avail. The jews did not give up conspiring. They even lured other tribes that if they agree to launch a joint attack on Madinah, they will start giving half of the produce of their oasis to them every year. In short, as a result of these Intrigues, many tribes gave in to the temptation and agreed to launch a joint attack on Madinah.,
Policy of Aggression on Enemy ; Until now muslims were fighting for their defence, everytime the enemy escalated war on them., they used their weapons to defend themselves. Allah Almighty helped them and they defeated the opponents. But now the things were changing and it was the nbeed of the hour that where ever a danger to Islam emerges, it should be curbed before it could galvanise itself into a big force against Islam. A defensive war is needed for the protection and establishing of Islam, but when necessary an offense against the enemy is also a must. Islam is a system of life, a complete code of life and to safeguard it , it in not enough to defend in case of an attack by the anti-Islamic forces. Rather, it is also essential to make efforts to undermine anti-Islamic systems, to establish Islam.
After the battle of Ahzab Islamic movement had entered a phase where defensive wars were not sufficient. The time had come to plunge into the arrays of enemy to remove their threat. That is why the Holy Prophet, after the battle of Ahzab, said, "Now it will not be so that people attack us, rather we will come out to attack them.*"
Attack on Khaibar : The time had come to curb the mischief of jews. So, Prophet
A.H. to prevent the likely attack of jews. There were 1600 soldiers with him, out of which only 200 were cavaliers and remaining were infantry. There were 6 forts in Khaibar housing 20000 soldiers. When, it became certain that these jews wanted to fight and they will not agree for any pact or compromise, Prophet Muhammad gave an address to there companions and urged them to put their lives at stake for the sak of Allah. After a siege that lasted for 20 days, Allah gave victory to the muslims. 93 jews were killed and 15 muslims embraced martyrdom in this war. A strong jew wrestler named Marhab was killed by Hazrat Ali (Rad.). it was a great incident for muslims, as jews were very proud of his stength.
After the victory, the jews made he plea that if muslims leave their fields in their possessions they will give half of the yields to muslims. Their after was accepted by the Holy Prophet . In coming years, to get this 50 percent yields, muslims rulers made justice with jews which won over the hearts of jews. The officers used to pile up the crops into two equal heaps and allow the jew farmers to choose their share.
Training of Muslim Society : Post Ohad (battle) scenario depicts the extent of dangers that Islam was facing. To appreciatae these dangers, the battle of Ahzab and its consequences are enough. This was a period of dilemma but Prophet Muhammad, on the one hand was acting like an alert general to settle these issues and on the other hand, he was training the protagonists of Islamic movement in his capacity of their patron and a moral guide. Rules and regulations for this new Islamic society were being enacted. If we go through chapter "Nisa" and chapter "Ma'edah" that were revealed during this period, we come to know that prominence was being given on building Islamic character and rules and regulations for muslims societry.
Chapter Nisa' descended on defferent occasions in 4 and 5 , A.H . It can be easily guaged how Prophet Muhammad was organising this new muslims society on the new moral values, etiques, social values and mode of life and rectifying the new Islamic society from Jahili customs. Muslims were being bestowed clear instructions as to how they should organise their social life as well as their individual life on the principles of Islam. They were told the principles to organize the family, they were being given clear instructions about Nikah (matrimony) and divorce. Many evils were being rremoved from the society by determining the rights of men and women. The protection of
Islamic movement could have never succeeded against falsehood had it lacked the reformation on these aspects. Protagonists of Islamic movement should always keep their individuals status high only in terms of their moral alone but Muslims should present an ideal society which would prove its supremacy over non Islamic Society. To attain this purpose, imitation or conscious efforts were not needed rather it comes naturally when the protagonists become God-fearing and kind. The prophet's reformatory and revolutionary movement is distinguished from all other movements from this point of view. A prophet pays more attention to the education, training and rectification of his disciples than his anxiousness to propagate the Deen. This exclusive quality is mentioned in the text of Chapter Nisa'. On one hand laws regarding society, urbanization and mortality are described and on the other hand the aspects of invitation (to Islam) and propagation are also illustrated. Polytheists and people of Books are being invited towards the true religion (Islam).
After compromise of Hudaibiyah, chapter Ma'edah was descended in the year 7, A. H. Due to the conditions of Hudaibiyah, muslims could not perform Umrah in this year. Rather it had been settled that Prophet would come next year to visit K'aba. So, at this juncture, rules and rituals regarding the visit to K'aba were told and they were taught not to commit any excess even if the infidels were commit the same.
Uptill the revelation of Sura Maeda, the condition of muslims had changed. This was not the time that Islam was surrounded by enemies on all sides as the post-Ohad condition were. Now Islam had a power of its own and the Islamic state had expanded. The tribes surrounding Madinah upto a distance of 150 to 200 miles had given in and the constant danger of jews to Madina had faded now. The jews who were still there had accepted the subordination to State of Madina. It had become clear that Islam was not a collection of some beliefs which in general terms is called a "religion" which is related only with one's heart and brain. Rather, Islam is a complete system of life, which encircles all aspects of human life like society, politics, peace and war. And it was also crystal clear that
Muslims had developed a culture of their own by now, which was distinguished from others. Their moral values, mode of life, transactions, in short the whole structure of their life was taking shape in accordance with Islamic principles. They had an apparent supremacy on other. They had their own rules and regulations regarding civil and criminal matters; had their own courts. They had their ways of dealings and commercial transactions. They had a complete law for inheritance. They had laws about Nikah, divorce and Hejab (veil) and other similar matter. Even, they had clear instructions regarding etiquette, behaviour and relationships. All these things made the Islamic society and Islamic way of life, distinguished from all other non-Islamic societies. And this was all due to the continuous efforts and training being imparted by Prophet Muhammad that was resulting in increasing virtue in the life of Muslims. Capter Ma'edah contains manners and rituals for Haj journey, distinction between 'Halal' & 'Haram' (prohibited) in eatables, rules of ablution, bath and dry ablution, prohibition of liquor and gambling as unlawful, instructions regarding witness, emphasis on justice etc. All those aspects which were essential for re-construction of Islamic society, were being paid full attention.
Performing Umrah : According to the conditions of Hudaibiyah treaty in the year 7, A.H., Prophet Muhammad along with a large number of muslims visited K'aba and performed Umrah. The companions of Prophet were charged with a strong feeling of hapiness the enthusiasm. This scene fanned and flames of envy and bigotry in the hearts of infidels of Makkah. Now, they found the same Hudaibiyah treaty, which was heavily in their favour, as insignificant.
Conquest of Makkah
Breach of Hudaibiyah Treaty : According to the countenance of Hudaibiyah treaty, Arab tribes were free to align with muslims or Quraysh. So, Khaza'h tribe entered in all alliance with muslims and Banu Bakr tribe allied themselves with Quraysh. For around one and a half year this agreement was followed but thereafter, a war broke out between Khaza'h and Banu Bakr tribes which were traditional enemies of each other. This all happened when Banu Bakr launched an attack on Khaza'h. Quraysh helped Banu Bakr launched an attack on Khaza'h. Quraysh helped Banu Bakr tribe as they were angry with
So, Khaza'h tribe under compulsion, informed Prophet Muhammad of this cruelty and sought help on the basis of the pact that they had with the Prophet. When the Holy Prophet heard the miseries of Khaza'h, he got shocked. He sent an envoy to Quraysh asking them to stop this blood-bath and he set three conditions :
Khaza'h tribe should be paid blood-money for their deceased. Or
Quraysh stop backing Banu-Bakr tribe. Or
Breach of Hudaibiyah treaty should be announced.
In reply to these conditions one amongst Quraysh Qazta Bin Umar, said, "We accept only the third condition." After the envoy set-off, Quraysh got worried and sent Abu sufyan as an envoy to get Hudaibiyah treaty renewed. But Prophet Muhammad on the basis of his knowledge of the situation and their attitude of Quraysh till now had no confidence and he did not accept the proposal of Abu-Sufyan
Preparations for Attack on Makkah : The Holy K'aba was the centre of Tawheed (oneness of God) and purity that was build by Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) with the sole purpose to worship Allah. But this centre of Tawheed was still in the possession of infidels and had become the greatest centre of polytheism. The Holy Prophet was the caller to that very religion that was brought of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and was a protagonist of Tawheed. From this angle, it was the need of hour that this centre should be cleaned from all descriptions of polytheism. But until this time the circumstances were not favourable for this purpose. But now the Holy Prophet assessed that the time had come that this House of Allah be preserved for His worship alone and this House be purified from all the evils of idolism. So, the Holy Prophet sent messages to all ally tribes with whom he had alliances. All this was done secretly so that the Quraysh may not get the wind of it. When all preparation for the attack were completed, Prophet Muhammad marched towards Makkah on 10 of Ramzan in 8, A.H. A grand army comprising of 10,000 venturesome soldiers was with him. The allies were joining in his way to Makkah.
Abu Sufyan's Arrest : When Islamic army neared Makkah, abu Sufyan who was stealthily assessing the army, was arrested and presented before the Holy Prophet. This
Entry into Makkah :Now the Holy Prophet ordered Khalid Bin Waleed to enter Makkah from one side and instructed him not to kill anyone, and was allowed to kill only in case some one attacks. The Holy Prophet entered from the other side. Some Quraysh tribes shot arrows on Khalid's army and martyred three muslims. Khalid had to retaliate. Thirteen attackers were killed and the rest took to their feet. When the Holy Prophet got the information of this attack, he sought explanation from Khalid, but when he knew the reality, the prophet said, "Allah willed so." On the other hand Prophet Muhammad entered Makkah without facing resistance and nobody was killed by his army.
Proclamation of Amnesty in Makkah : The Holy Prophet as he entered Madinah, announced amnesty to all those persons:
who shuts his door and stays inside.
who enters the house of Abu Sufyan.
who takes shelter in Holy K'aba.
But 6 or 7 persons were exempted from this amnesty, as they had exceeded the limits in opposing the Islam and whose slaughter was a must.
The Prophet Muhammad entered Makkah in a grand style that his banner was a white colour and the flag was of black colour. There was a helmet on his head covered with black turban. The Holy Prophet was reciting chapter "Inna Fatahna" (we made you victorious) loudly. He was so much bet on his camel, due to fear of God and humility, that his blessed face used to touch the back of the camel.
Entry into the Sanctuary of K'aba : When the Holy Prophet entered the Holy K'aba, the
Post Victory Sermon : After the conquest of Makkah the Holy Prophet gave a very important historical sermon. Some portions of the sermon are quoted in "Ahadis". He said:
"There is no god but Allah. There is no partner of Allah. He made true His promise. He helped his slave and dispersed all groups single handedly. Listen you people all glories, killings of past and revenges and all blood-money are under my feet. Only the supervision of Holy K'aba and quenching the thirst of Hujjaj are exceptions. O' people of Quraysh !
Now Allah has erased the Jahili arrogance and proud of lin-eage . All of us are the progeny of Adam who had been created out of soil."
Then, the Holy Prophet recited these ayahs from the Holy Qur'an :
"O' mankind ! we created you from a single (pair) of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each ot-her. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you and Allah has f u l l k n o wl e d g e and is well-acquainted."
This is the style of speech delivered by the Islam's greatest conqueror. It has no expression of anger, no hatred, nor it contains the mention of achievements and there is no praise for the protagonists of Islam. Whatever the praise, it has, is only for Allah. Nothing happens but with His virtue.
Taking revenge of murder was very important for Arabs. Often these revenges used to
General Amnesty : The gathering which was being addressed by the Holy Prophet included many head strongs of Quraysh and those who included had pledged to finish Islam and also those who had tormented muslims so much that they were compelled to leave their mother land. It included those who had usurped the properties of muslims. It also included those who had abused Holy Prophet and laid thorns on his path and those who threw garbage on him and had even tried to kill him. It included killer or Holy Prophet's uncle, who had taken out his liver and chewed it up. It included also those who had slaughtered neophytes (muslims), only because they announced surrender before one God. Prophet Muhammad looked at all of them and said, "Do you know, how I will deal with you?" These people had seen the way, the Prophet entered Makkah and how he dealt with situation. They immediately called out,
"You (the Holy Prophet) are a noble brother and the son of a noble brother".
Hearing this, Prophet Muhammad ordered, "today I remit all your sins, you all are free."
Prophet Muhammad did not ask infidels to vacate the houses they had usurped. Rather, he asked migrants to give up their claims.
This extraordinary behaviours of Prophet Muhammad made Quraysh tyrants to fall on to his feet. They proclaimed that,
"You're the true messenger of Allah not a conqueror and your invitation is nothing but truth."
This was the scenario of the conquest of Makkah. It was not a victory over land, property
Battle of Hunain
Impacts of the Conquest over Makkah : Prophet Muhammad's merciful behaviour and the interaction between muslims and infidels resulted into a wide acceptance of Islam by a large number of infidels. On the other hand this victory shunned the misconception of all tribes about the prophecy. They realized that the inviter to Islam (the Holy Prophet) was not hungry of power or wealth rather he was the messenger of Allah and the characteristics of Islam were before their eyes. The whole Arab realized the reality of this invitation (to Islam) and those who had the capacity is their heart, knew that this was the truth, nothing but truth. so, just after the victory over Makkah, delegations from various tribes started pouring to embrace Islam. This situation for those who still had over Makkah, delegations from various tribes started pouring in to embrace Islam. This situation for those who had anger and hatred against Islam, was uncomfortable. The flames of bigotry and opposition flared in their hearts. Hawazan and saqeef were two tribes leading in this aspect. These people were very fond of wars. The spread of Islam made them extremely perplexed. They understood that they were the next target. The chiefs of these two tribes discussed the gravity of the matter and decided that whatever may happen, muslims ought to be challenged to prevent this danger from spreading further, otherwise they would themselves perish. They chose Malik Ibne Auf Nazri as their king and started preparations for war. They also aligned with many other tribes with themselves.
Battle of Hunain : When the Holy Prophet was apprised of these developments, he counselled with his companions and it was decided to suppress this increasing menace in time. So, on 10 of Shavval in the year 8, A.H., the Holy Prophet set out with a strong army of 12000 soldiers to curb this danger. Muslims were sure that the enemy will take to feet, seeing the strong and well-armed army. So, some of the muslims started exaggerating, "No one can dominate us" But it is against the dignity of muslims to feel proud of his power but should always rely on Allah and His virtues. Allah Almighty has ordered in the Holy Qur'an,
"Assuredly Allah did help you in many battlefields and on the day of Hunain. Behold your great numbers elated you but they availed you naught. The land for all that, it wide did constrain you and you turned back in the retreat. But Allah pour His calm on the messenger and on the believers and sent down forces which you saw no. He punished
Hunain is the name of valley between Makkah and Ta'if. This battle was fought here. When the muslims army entered the valley, the enemy soldiers started shooting arrows on them relentlessly from the surrounding hillocks. Muslims were not ready for this ambush. Their arrays got dispersed and for some time they lost the ground. Many Beduin tribes turned their back in retreat, most of them were those who embraced Islam in the recent past and their spiritual training was incomplete. Amid this chaotic situation, the Holy Prophet remained steadfast and used to call muslims to show valour. This steadiness of
the Holy Prophet and the firmness of a large number of companions around the prophet reinforced muslims and then everyone of them proved that he was a valourous soldier. Allah Almighty has termed this patience of the Holy Prophet and his companions as his calm (state of satisfaction and tranquility) bestowed by Allah to him. As a result, the tide of war turned in favour of muslims and they had a comprehensive victory over infidels. Seventy infidels were killed and thousands of them were taken into custody.
Persuit of Foes and Benediction :The rest of the infidels army took refuge in Ta'if. This place used to be considered a safe place. The Holy Prophet gave them a chase and laid seige around Ta'if. Ta'if had a strong find, famous fort, in which the infidels had taken refuge. The seige lasted for 20 days and when the Holy Prophet Muhammad was sure that the enemy was broken and they were not in a position to offer any resistance, lifted the seige and humbly made request to Allah for Saqeef (tribe) that Allah guide them and make their minds to surrender to him (the Holy Prophet). So was the prophet's compassion and mercy that used to compel him to pray even in the favour of his enemies.
Battle of Tabuk
Struggle with Roman Empire : To the north of Arabian Peninsula, was Roman Empire. Even before the victory over Makkah, the relations with Romans started getting sour. Prophet Muhammad had sent a delegation of Muslims to invite those tribes living in the north near the border of Syria. Most of these people were Christians and were under influence of Roman Empire. These tirbals killed 15 delegates, and only the leader of the delegation k'ab Bin Ghafari managed to escape and reached Madinah. Prophet Muhammad in this very period sent message to Islam to Sharjeel, ruler of Basra, but he
The most impressive incident was that a commander of the Roman army, Foroha -Bin -Amr Aljazami, got attracted towards the teachings of Islam and became a muslim. And then he gave a strong proof of his faith, as when Caesar of Rome asked him either to reconvert to his previous religion i.e., christianity and get reinstated or be ready for execution. But, he spurned his rank and status and announced that the success in hereafter is dearer to him than the mundane leadership. So, he was killed: This incident was such that thousands of the people understood the real importance and moral strength of Islam and they realized that it was not easy for them to cope with the surging flood of this new movement.
War preparation by Ceasar : The next year, Ceasar started deploying his army on the border of Syria to take revenge of the battle of 'Motah'. He started collecting troops from his subordinate troops from his subordinate tribes. Prophet Muhammad was apprised of these preparations. It was a critical situation for Islamic movement. A little slackness at this hour would have spoiled every thing. On the one hand all those Arab tribes who were defeated recently in Hunain and Makkah would have rebelled. And on the other hand the hypocrites of Madinah, who were continous by conspiring with anti-Islamic forces would have created problems from within. This would have resulted in a very difficult situation for the movement and organisation. And then it would have been difficult to face a powerful attack by Roman Empire. It was feared that Islamic movement would have succumbed to these three attacks. Keeping all these things in mind the Holy Prophet with his God gifted sagacity and vision and decided to clash with mighty Caesar, because at this juncture lack of courage would have spoilt the entire
Decision to Face the Enemy : To prepare for a at this hour war was a very difficult test for the muslims. There was a famine in the country., the summer season was on its peak, the crops were about to be ripen, and the armoury was insufficient. The journey was very long and the fight was with a very strong power. Despite this situation and fully appreciating the difficulties, the Holy Prophet declared a war and clearly told where to go and for what purpose.
This should be kept in mind that till that time Islamic movement was openly facing the external enemies who had weakened after the defat of the war of 'Hunain and Makka' but the internal enemies i.e., hypocrites were being avoided and this was because the movement was not so stable as to face internal and external enemies, simultaneously. Moreover amongst the hypocrites, all were not of same category. They included many, who still had a weak "Imam" or had doubts about Islam and need a reprieve for the time being to get rid of their scepticism. So, that ultimately only those are left who deliberately wanted to harm Islam. So, for a long period these people were made to understand with clemency and rudeness. Resultantly, those who had a little faith ultimately adopted the right path. All these issues were settled. Muslims had overpowered their opponents to a large extent. Now, they were starting their struggle with the mighty outside powers. So it was necessary to crush the internal enemies first, as there was an apprehension that to that they will conspire with the outside enemies to herm the muslims.
Exposure of Hypocrisy : It was necessary to expose hypocrites and to unveil their faces, which were covered with the mask of treachery and betrayal so that their real faces, which were covered with the mask of treachery and betrayal so that their real faces are shown to the society. They should be deprived of any say in the matters of muslims which they were enjoying by posing themselves as muslims. So, the declaration of the war of Tabuk proved very usefull in unveiling these so called "muslims". All the true believers got ready for Jihad (holy war) when the money was needed they brought out their belongings and presented it
. And when some of them could not accompany the Holy Prophet, due to lack of conveyance, they broke into tears, out of desperation. In this way, it became clear ass to how many were sincere amongst the muslims. In comparison, all those who had no faith got frightened with the declaration of War. They started offering different excuses and
Departure for Tabuk : In Rajab in the year 9, A.H. The Holy Prophet left makkah with 30000 strong army. There were ten thousands camel riders. The number of camels was so low that many used to take turns in riding them. But the believes showed extreme sincerity of faith, obedience for the Holy Prophet curiosity to lay their lives in the way of Allah. Allah Almighty liked it and gave them their target., without a blood-bath. When they reached Tabuk, they came to know that Caesar has withdrawn his army from the border and there was none to fight. Actually it was so that when Caesare, came to know that muslims despite knowing about his army are on their way to Tabuk, he thought if fit to call back his troops because he had seen the chivalry of muslims in the battle of Motah, when 3000 muslims calashed with a strong army of 2 lac Romans. And now when he came to know that Prophet Muhammad was himself coming with an army of 30000 soldiers, he decided not to confront this flood (of muslims) last it may not happen that the things may turn upside down Ceasing his creadibility.
Stay at Tabuk : This retreat of Caesar was enough for the Holy Prophet and instead of Chazing him, he preferred to stengthen his influence in this area. He stayed there for 20 days. During this period many small states situated between Islamic State and Roman Empire were made to accept subordination to Islamic government, till now they were under Roman influence. These states agreed to pay tax to muslims. And the tribes whose loyalties were with Romans until now, became helper of Islamic government.
Conspiracy of Hypocrites : When, the Holy Prophet departed for Tabuk, all those Hypocrites who were not muslims but had joined the Islamic Movement for their selfish molvies were left behind in Madinah. They were sure that the muslims will not come back safe from this expedition. Some will succumb to inclemency and hardships of weather and the rest will be slaughtered by the strong army of Caesar. These hypocrites had also built a mosque (Zarrar mosque), where they used to meet avoiding muslims and used to discuss their anti-Muslim agenda. On this occasion, they hatched numerous
But the Allah willed otherwise and that time was hopes of coming closer when all the hypocrites were going to be shattered completely. So, when the news of the warless triumph of the muslims reached the enemies, they suffered a heavy blow. The lost all hopes.
Return from Tabuk: After returning from Tabuk Prophet Muhammad had programmes before him :
Implementations on a clear policy about hypocrites and to develop a system of complete safeguard for their conspiracies.
Training of true believers and the completion of task of their character building, without which it was not possible for them to shoulder the ensuing great responsibility of the affirmation of truth.
Proclamation of the clear political theory of Darul-Islam (house of Islam) on which the his new Islamic state was to be built.
Dealings with Hypocrites : Prophet Muhammad was on his way to Madinah, that Allah Almighty revealed Sur'a Taubah and gave his Prophet many directions, which he was to follow on his return to Madinah. Till now, the hypocrites were dealt with a soft-hand policy on the basis of which their excuses for not going to Tabuk were accepted. Allah Almighty ordered the Holy Prophet to change this moderate policy and deal with them strictly. If they offer financial aids for toe proving their false claim of faith, it should not be acepted. If any one of them dies , the Prophet should not offer his funeral prayer. Muslims should not deal with them sincerely and friendly on the basis of individual or blood relations.
Conspiracies of Abu Aamir : Before coming of Prophet in Madina, a charistian monk Abu Aamir was very famous, due to his sainthood and knowledge. The people had firm belief in him. When, the Holy Prophet came to Madinah, this monk should have taken initiative and embraced Islam. But the misconception of knowledge and God-fearing and the show of traditional and customary piety hinders one's way and do not let him follow the light of true guidance. The same thing happened with Abu Aamir. He felt that his professional piety and showmanship would no longer be safe and he would not be
In the begining, Abu Aamir thought that it was transitory glory and people would no longer desire such piety and sanctions. But when Quraysh were defeated in Badr, he got incensed and he used all his energies in his to incite Quraysh and other tribes against Islam and whatever mukslims faced in Ohad and Ahzab battles was the result of the efforts of the gentleman. This christian left no stone unturned to conspire with polytheists and tried his best to put off the lamp of Tawheed (oneness of God). But when the verdict of Allah came clearly that "this lamp could not be put off with blows" and that Islam would be the most dominant religion of the whole Arab, then, this "God-fearing monk" became extremely restless. Now he set off for Rome to warn the Caesar and ask him to do whatever he could to face his surging flood of Islam.
Zaraar Mosque: A gang of polytheists of Madinah was involved with Abu Aamir in his anti-Islamic activities. These people use to hatch conspiracies to harm Islam. So, on the advice of Abu Aamir some of these polytheists to build this separate mosque and it became the centre of their anti-Islamic activities.
There were two mosques in madina. At that time one was Qaba' mosque in one corner of city and second was Nabavi mosque situated in the centre of the city. So, no third mosque was required but these polytheists put forth the excuse that some elderly and physically-challenged people find it very difficult to go to these two mosques and hence the need for this third mosque. They pleaded with the Holy Prophet to once lead a prayer so that the mosque may become blessed one. Prophet Muhammad had replied, "now I am busy in preparations for Tabuk, put in on my coming back." But when the Holy Prophet was on his way back to Madinah, Allah Almighty decended those Ayahs and prohibited where in he was clearly to offer prayer in this mosque and he was told that this place was being used as a centre to conspire against muslims and was not a proper place for the Prophet to offer prayer. So, the Holy Prophet Muhammad ordered some men to go and demolish of this mosque this mosque prior to his arrival in Madinah . The demolition of the mosque was an open declaration of muslim's future agenda against the Hypocrites, which was followed scruplously later on.
Compleltion of Believers' Training : Now the Islamic movement was entering the phase of international struggle and it was the time, when these Arab muslims were going on a mission to convey the message of Allah to the non muslims world. At this juncture, even a minor weakness could have resulted in a major hindrance for muslims. So, at this
K'ab's incident : When Prophet Muhammad was preparing muslims for Tabuk, I too used to intend to accompany and start preparing but the laziness used to overpower me and I used to say that there is a plenty of time and it will take no time to get ready, when their comes. The matter remained pending, when, the time of departure came and I was not ready. I thought "let the army move, I will start one or two days later and will join them. In short, I could not go due to laziness.
When I used to see that the people with whom I was left behind were either hypocrites or those who were physically challenged, then, I used to feel ashamed and feel pity with myself.
When the Holy Prophet Muhammad returned back from the journey he as usual first, offered two rak'at prayer in the Mosque. Then, he sat to meet. Now, the hypocrites started narrating their excuses and tried to convince the Prophet of their compulsions. They were a little more than eighty persons. Prophet Muhammad listened to their concocted tales and accepted their apparent excuses and left their matter to Allah, and forgave them. Now it was my turn. I advanced and saluted him. The Holy Prophet looked at me smiled and said. "Tell me what hindered you?" I humbly said, "If I were present before a man of world, I might have made him agree by concoction. But regarding you, it is my faith that if I make you agree by offering excuses, then Allah
After this the Holy Prophet passed the order that nobody would talk to all three of us. Those two confined themselves in their houses. But I used to come out and offer congregational salah, move in the markets but nobody used to talk to me. I used to feel that the world had changed. I am a stranger here and had no acquaintance. I used to go to mosque for prayer and salute the Prophet and keep waiting that he replies me or not. While offering prayer, I used to glance the Prophet stealthily, how he looks at me. But the situation was so that as long as I was offering the prayer, he use to look at me but when I finished the prayer he used to distracts. One day out of perplexion I went to my cousin brother and childhood companion Abu Qatadah and got onto the wall of his garden and saluted him but to my worry he did not reply to me. I said, "I make you swear by Allah and ask you, do I not have ardent love for Allah and His prophet? He remained silent. I again asked, no reply. Then, on third time he just said, Allah and His messenger know better." At this reply I broke into tears and got down the wall.
During these very days, I was once passing by the market that a Syrian gave me a letter of Emperor Ghassan. I opened the envelope and read, "We heard that your master is torturing you, you are no mean person nor you are such to be wasted. Come to us, we will wroth you." I said, "another trouble" and at the same moment threw the letter into the fire.
Forty days passed in this manner when suddenly the word came from the Holy Prophet, "desert your wife too" I asked, "Do I divorce her?" I got the reply , "No, just leave her."
I sent my wife to my inlaws and said, "wait till Allah sends his verdict."
On the fiftieth day, after offering morning prayer I was sitting on the rood of my house. I was feeling very uneasy that suddenly someone called me and said, "Congratulations K'ab Bin Malik!" Hearing this, I fell into prostration as I knew that the word for my forgiveness has come. Then, there was a melee, everyone was competing with other for greeting me that my penitence has been accepted. I rose and moved towards Nabavi
I humbly said, O' Prophet of Allah! it is a part of my penitence that I give all my wealth in charity." He said, "retain some, it is better for you." According to it I retained my property in Khaibar and gave the rest in charity. Then I promised Allah that the truth for which Allah forgave me I will remain steadfast on it throughout my life. So, I never say anything willingly contrary to the rules and I am hopeful that Allah will save me from this in future." Features of Muslim Society: The details of this incident depict the scenario of the venerable companions' society and some of its characteristics, which are such that every muslim should emulate him. It tells what kind of temperament Islamic movement provides to its protagonists.
First of all, the thing that comes ahead is that when there is a struggle between Islam and heathenism, it is time of believers' hard test. A minor negligence can spoil the achievements of whole life. And if a believer leaves the movement at this juncture, whether with a bad intention or not or it is his first mistake of life, it is feared that this negligency may not spoil his lifetime worships and good deeds. There is no room for a believer that he, in such a case, support heathensim in place of Islam. If a muslim acts in an unIslamic way, it gives boost to anti-Islamic powers. This situation becomes more critical when Islamic movement exists against these evil movements and the believers use their capabilities for a non-Islamic cause.
Secondly, when it is time to fulfil one's duty, negligence is not a proper thing. A person wastes his time and the excuse of laziness foes not benefit him that he was not doing it with a bad intention.
The situation, here is that on one hand the hypocrites are offering excuses, and every one knew that they were telling lies but the Holy Prophet Muhammad forgave them because they were not expected to show sincerity. On the other hand there are true believers who have given proofs of their faith and sincerity many times before this, they do not like to concoct. They admit their errors straightforwardly. But they are dealt so rudely that the whole society boycotts them, not because that there was any doubt about their sincerity but why they did an act similar to those of hypocrites. The interesting thing in that the way, the disciples bear it and the way the whole party follows commands, all aspects are matchless. The punishment is rigorous but there is no anger
This is a specimen of the obedience for Prophet which the Holy Qur'an preaches to its disciples. Such devotion for its leader or a
chosen autonty is essential, for these working for a religion. The guilty believer sees that the hypocrites are telling lies but they are being forgiven and he who spoke the truth, got a severe punishment. But this does not evoke any anger or displeasure in him. He endures the punishment for 50 days but, even for a single moment this does not come to his mind that he is being victimized and his previous achievements are being undermined or his faith and sincerity was being doubles. Though he does not have an ill-intention nor his heart is bereft of the ardent love for the Prophet and for Allah. He did not hatch any conspiracy, in the group nor did he spread any disqust among two people. He did not try to spread dissension in the party nor he tried to form a new group. Rather, he endured all mental torture calmly and waited eagerly for the word of His forgiveness. This was the exemplory behaviour due to which Allah almighty declared the word of forgiveness in a very pleasant manner. This is the greatest success that Allah bestows this virtue to whom He wants.
Reality of the Claim of Faith : Claim of faith and Islam devolve a lot of responsibilities upon a muslims. For explaining it , it was clearly reminded that the reality of this claim is that "Allah Almighty has purchased of the believers their person and their goods for their ?(in return) is the garden (of paradise)" (chapter Taubah Ayah-111). If a believer does not have this explanation of faith in his mind, he will always show laziness in attending to the religious duties. Allah Almighty has termed the faith as a covenant which a believer has with Allah. According to the covenant, a believer in a way sells his person and goods to Allah and in return accepts the Allah's promises that in the ever-casting life, after death, he will give him paradise.
In view of this promise, everything that a man has belongs to Allah. He created every thing and He is the owner of all, so what a slave has that he can sell to his Master. So, there is no question of buying and selling, but Allah has bestowed a thing to every slave of His ad left it to his discretion as to how he uses it and this is the freedom to intend and choose. It is on the discretion of the slave regard his person and goods as his possessions or the property of Allah, as is the reality. Allah has given him the will power to choose what he wants and he is free to take the path of piety or the path which leads to the mire of sins. But a true believer always take these things as the bestowal of Allah's virtue and he uses all his resources to serve the cause of Allah and his slaves. He keeps in his mind the reality that whatever he has is to go back to Allah and he is not sovereign about it use.
This little freedom of will and discretion is the grace of Allah Almighty that He calls it sale and purcase. If a slave uses his powers for a noble cause and the deposit which has been entrusted to him, he does not defalcate and uses the deposit as directed by the master then, his Lord will bestow him in his eternal life, the endless blessings in the heaven. And the person who accepts this demand of Allah and determine to serve his whole life in Allah's cause and will be ready to take heaven in the hereafter, is a true believer. And his such dealing that Allah termed as sale and purchase is in fact of the recognition of his faith. And the person who acts contrary to it and uses his person and goods for the purposes contrery to the will of Allah, in a way he does not accept the Allah's deal, which amounts to denied of Allah.
At the time of battle of Tabuk, the Holy Prophet ordered all those who declared them as true believers and in a way all these people were these who has struck the deal with Allah, described above. But when their claim was tested, some of them retreated and did not live upto the expectations. They abstained from the way of Allah. Most of them were hypocrites and whose claim of faith was false, and they had embraced Islam die to some compulsion or purpose. But there were some others who committed this mistake just because of laziness. So, these people were openly criticized and were told plainly that just acknowledging the Gold and His oneness, is not faith. Rather faith is the admission that God is the sole possessor of our souls and our possessions. And if a person acknowledges the God I such a way and spends his wealth for other purposes, he infect proves that, he is false in the claim of faith. So, all the believers should pur forth this reality of their claim of faith and they should not fight shy of struggling for the cause of Allah.
Believers' Religious Training : In the beginning of Islamic movement, the people who used to incline to the movement were those who used to convert to Islam by heart, after pondering over all the aspects. But when Islam started spreading rapidly, hordes of people started embracing Islam and it was apparent that among them, only few knew Islam completely. Most of the people used to accept Islam without learning its fundamentals. Apparently these mass conversions wee adding power to Islam. But when a group, does not fulfil the requirements of Islam or not ready to abide by the sanctions imposed by Islam then, such a group becomes a cause of weakness for Islamic system. The same thing happened at the time of battle Tabuk. So, in order to save the Islamic movement from this inner weakness, a very important instruction was given that some people from among these neophytes must come to the centres of Islam i.e, Makkah and Madinah and learn true Islamic spirit and their details. They must absorb the true islamic spirit into their souls and back home they must make arrangements for training of other neophytes. So that, all of them may know these basic rules imposed by Allah and all of them may develop true Islamic sense in them.
This general awareness move was not just aiming at educating the people to read and write. Rather its aim was to develop and understanding of Deen and the sense of discrimination in them to distinqued between Islamic and unIslamic ways of life. The main purpose was to develop a proper sense of Deen and education was only a means to an end and was never an end in itself.
Clear Declaration of Darul Islam's Policy : After the success of Tabuk, the hopes of those having evil designs on Islam, had shattered. So, now they were left with no choice but to take shelter in Islam. And if they do not benefit themselves much at least, their future generation may develop in true Islam.
At this time, the entire Arab was under Islamic rule and there was no mighty opponent before them. Now the time had come to clearly announce the internal policy of Islamic State. So, it was announced in the following from :
(A) The polytheism should be erased completely from Arabian peninsula. The ancient polytheistic system should be abolished completely and replaced with pure a Islamic Centre. For this purpose, the polytheists should be avoided and all treaties with them should be abrogated. So, in the year 9, A.H. at the occasion of Haj the Holy Prophet made it announced by Hazrat Ali (Rad.) before the general gathering of Haji's that:
No such person would enter the paradise who refuses to accept Islam.
No polytheist should come to perform Haj, after this year.
No nude person will be allowed to circumambulate the Holy K'aba.
The treeaties of the Holy Prophet with those who did not breach them, will continue on the same terms and conditions for the duration, it was originally envisaged.
But those who infringed the treaties and conspired against the Islamic movement, were informed that only four months were left for them. During this period either they should decide their fate through a battle with muslims or leave the country, or they can embrace Islam conscientionsly and enter the Islamic system.
The administrative affairs of the Holy K'aba will be handed over to muslims. Polytheists will have no say in it and they will not be allowed to perform any polytheistic ritual in the Holy K'aba. Rather, the polytheists would not be allowed to come near the Holy K'aba.
1. Departure for Haj
2. Sermon of Haj
3. Indisposition
4. The Last Sermon and Instructions
5. Departure to Allah Almighty
6. The Last Haj and Demise
Departure for Haj : In the tenth year of migration, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) intended for Haj. It was announced that the Holy Prophet is proceeding for Haj. This news spread throughout the Arab. The whole Arab gushed forth to perform Haj with Prophet Muhammad on this auspicious occasion. In the end of ZiQa'da , the Holy Prophet departed from Madinah and on 4th of Zil Hij reached Makkah in the morning. First of all, he circumambulated the Holy K'aba and then performed two rak'at prayer at place of Ibrahim. Then he went onto mountain Safa and from there to Marvah. During this period he kept on praising Allah and praying. After performing Tawaf (cimcumambulation) and the Sa'I (effort of climbing Safa and Marvah) of Safa and Marvah, on Thursday 8th of Zil Hij the Prophet stayed with all muslims in Mina. The next day on 9th Zil Haj, after performing morning prayer the Holy Prophet headed for Arafat (vast expanse twelve miles from Makkah, where major haj rite is performed). Here at Arafat, the Holy Prophet read out the historidcal sermon of Haj depicting the Islam with all its grandeur and splendor. The salient features of this sermon are as follows:
Sermon of Haj : "Listen O' people , all Jahili* customs are under my feet. Arabs and non-Arabs are equal. All of you are Adam's offsprings and Adam was created out of clay (soil)."
All of you muslims are brethen for each other "Slaves are your slaves, give them what you eat and wear yourselves".
All Jahili revenges have been nullified (nobody has right to take revenge of old murder). First of all I rescind the revenge of the blood of Rabi'a Bin Alhar's son"
All jahili usuries have also been revoked (nobody has right to demand usury) First of all I remit my dyansty's usury of Abbas Bin Abdul Muttalib.
Have the fear of Allah regarding women's affairs. Both of you have liabilities towards each other. Your goods and your blood is respectable for each other till Doomsday. In the same manner in which this day, month and this city is sacred.
I am leaving a gift among you, if you follow it firmly you will not go astray and that gift is the Holy Book of Allah (Qur'an).
After this the Holy Prophet described some fundamental divine laws and asked, addressing the people" "What will be your reply before Allah when you will be asked about me?"
The venerable companions (Rad.) said, "we will that, "You conveyed Allah's message and fulfiled your duty." The Holy Prophet raised his finger towards the sky and repeated three times, "O' Allah be a witness." At this very occasion these ayahs were descended :
Today I accomplished the Deen for you and gave you complete blessing and approved Islam as a religion for you.
At this time of Haj, the Holy Prophet taught the believers how to perform rituals for Haj and ordered them, "Learn all rituals, I do not know whether I will be here next time (of Haj)."
He also told the Muslims on this occasion :
It is must for everyone who is present, to convey all this (message) to those who are not present here.
Indisposition : It was 18th or 19th of Safar in the year 11, A.H. that the Holy Prophet felt some uneasiness. It was Wednesday. Till Monday it took the shape of serious illness. Holy Prophet continued to lead prayers till he had the capacity to do it. The last prayer that he had was that maghrib (post sunset prayer). He had head-ache, came with a handkerchief ties on his forehead and recited the Sura' "Wal mursalate urfan in the prayer". The Holy Prophet could not come at the time of Isha' (night prayer) due to weakness and asked Abu Bakr to perform the duty of Imam (leader) for next few days. The Last Sermon and Instructions : One day the Holy Prophet felt better, he took a bath and came to the mosque and gave a sermon. This was the last sermon of Prophet's life. The Holy Prophet ordered: "Allah has bestowed a man, the power to choose earthly blessings or whatever Allah has (in hereafter).
But He chooses the blessings of hereafter. "Hearing this, Hazrat Abu Bakr (Rad.) understood that towards whom, the Holy Prophet is signalling, he broke into tears. The Holy Prophet kept on saying : I am most grateful to Abu Bakr for his company and wealth. If I could make someone my friend among my disciples it could be Abu Bakr. But the relation of Islam is enough for friendship.
And listen O' people, the nations prior to you, started worshipping the graves of their messengers and saints. I forbid you from doing this.
Do not attribute lawful and unlawful to me. I differentiated between lawful and unlawful according to Allah's will.
And during the illness one day the Holy Prophet addressed his family members and said, "O' the daughter of Allahs' messenger, Fatima and the aunt of Allah's messenger! Safia do something which benefit you on the Day of Judgement. I can not save you from Allah.
One day he was feeling severe pain, sometimes he use to cover his face with sheet and somtimes use to turn it, in this very condition Hazrat Ai'sha (Rad.) heard him uttering these words, "May God's curse be on jews and christians. They worshipped the graves of their messengers.
Prophet Muhammad had entrusted some guineas with Hazrat Ai'sha. At this time of indisposition the Holy Prophet asked, "Ai'sha where are those guineas? Will Muhammad meet Allah as a distrustful? Go, and give them as charity in Allah's way.
Departure to Allah Almighty : The indisposition used to get relieved sometime and sometimes it used to get aggarated. On the day of demise i.e., Monday, the Holy Prophet was apparently feeling at case, but as the day advanced the fainting the Holy Prophet was uttering these words :
With those to whom, Allah bestowed His reward.
Allah is the greatest companion.
Now I need no one but the greatest companion.
While uttering these words, the Holy Prophet's condition started worsening and the
The year of demise is 11 A.H., the month was Rabiul Avval and the day was Monday. Generally it is known that the date was 12th but there are certain dispute on it. In accordance with the research of Maulana Sayyed Sulaiman Nadvi, it was the first day of RAbiul Avval.
The next day the obsequies were completed and the holy body was entrusted to the earth in same room. Where he had expired.