Transcripts of Lectures

Transcript – Beyond Guantanamo

2011-10-27T10:01:00.002-07:00

Transcript – Beyond Guantanamo
Dear Brothers and sisters, Assalamoalaykum wa rehmatullah wa baraakah. Ibn-e-Taymiyyah it was related that when he was being transported in Alexandria and being sent to prison, a bystander saw him and said, “My master this is the time for patience,” ibn-e-taymiyyah looked at him and said “Rather this is the time to be thankful. By Allah such joy and happiness are descending upon my heart at this moment that if it was divided between the people of Shaam and Egypt there would be some left over. And if I had that amount in gold and distributed it, it would not equal even the tenth of the blessing that I am experiences now.” Later, on Monday the 6th of the month of Shaban, year 726 Hijri he was again arrested on orders from the ruler and was ordered transferred to the citadel prison in Damascus. When he first learnt of this he said, “I was waiting for this and this contains great benefit.” When he was later in the prison he said, “If this prison was exchanged for its weight in gold I would not consider it to be enough to repay this blessing I am in and the good that it has brought me.” When he entered the ground of the citadel prison, Damascus he stood up and looked at its walls and recited the verse
            
So a wall will be put up between them, with a gate therein. Inside it will be Mercy, and outside it will be torment." (Al-Hadid: 13)
So, my dear brothers and sisters and all of the attendees of the caged prisoner event for this year, these are the words of Ibn-e-Taymiyyah, a prisoner. A prison can be place of a blessing or a place of wrath, it is a place of blessings for those who are patient with the decree of Allah, for those who make the best out of it, for those who ponder and contemplate and use the time for good and it could be a wrath for those who are not patient and who are not content and happy with the decree and destiny that Allah has chosen for them. MY words to you are going to be from the prisoners to the prisoners, so really they are not my words but I have compiled together some of the words said or written by prisoners and I send these words to the prisoners. Prisons can be houses of wisdom and prison can be a chance for man to get away from the aspect of the world that make a person overwhelmed and preoccupied and can be a chance for contemplation and thinking.
I would start with an open letter from the incarcerated brothers in Belmarsh prison, UK says;
In the name of Allah the most kind, the most merciful to whom belongs all praise and honor, To all our honorable brethren and sisters worldwide. May Allah’s peace and grace be upon on you. We your brothers at belmarsh prison and on behalf of the brothers captive across the UK specially those who are deprived of any form of communication with the outside world collectively and with one voice would like to say thanks to Allah that we have you out there and thanks to you for being what you are. We praise your undivided attention, care and love which touched our hearts and brought tears of joy to our eyes. We value every word of comfort and advice surely Allah makes best of his servants the instruments of His Blessings. All your letters and post cards and artworks are being gathered and preserved for Historical records.
Our praise and admiration extended foremost to all the children who continually wrote to us and then to all those who tirelessly and zealously campaigned for us, organized websites, arranged meetings, held demonstrations and made speeches in propagation of the truth. To our staunch friends who unwavering in their grace and belief are un-swayed by the political whims and influx of climate fluctuations which strive to cast the die of your valor on the golden pages of history that future generations may honor you and drive lessons from all your courage self-sacrifice and care, May Allah reward you manifold.
We often ponder what we may have done to our great men of knowledge; the magnanimous learnt those who enjoy a great deal of respect within the Muslim community that we have not have heard of them unless through media interviews and scholars whom are conversant with the Holy Quran and the book of traditions and well versed, the enlightened intellects and intellectuals and those whom are rightly known as the leaders of Muslims in the UK and Europe have we misunderstood their duties or are their duties other than what the Holy Book commands have we becomes invisible in their eyes or insignificant in their attention. Does not rank impose obligations surely we have been noticed by children. Would one prefer the shades of the spider’s webs to the light of the truth, then to what benefit is this abandonment and to whom and to what wisdom this silence, that it has become our duty to bring to their attention their unintentional negligence. Please do accept our apologies in advance if we may have been hasty.
Your Sincerely,
Your Brothers,
Belmarsh Prison.
25th Nov, 2005

Dear listeners one of the things that I regret now that I have left the US is that I have not spent time visiting my brothers behind bars. I realize my mistake now because I have been through it, it means a lot for a prisoner to know that there are people with him and thinking about him and traveling such a long distance only to visit them for the sake of Allah and Allah alone. Following is a letter from Baber Ahmed along the lines of what I mentioned, we sometimes neglect our duties to our fellow Muslims until we fall into their trials and realize the importance of standing in support of the oppressed.
Baber Ahmed says in December 2001 a handful of Muslims alleged as terror suspects were arrested and detained indefinitely. Few amongst the Muslims in the UK bothered to even say something including myself let alone make a stand. In fact, those who are not even Muslims made a stand first and began to speak out. However, when in December 2004 three years later the House of Lords, unanimously ruled that detention without trial was illegal and disproportionate, all of sudden Muslims began to appear from everywhere and openly support the now victorious cause, whilst it is improper and un-Islamic to question the intentions of these Muslims and why they remained quiet when their efforts were most needed, it is wholly correct to say that this group is not the same in rank as those Muslims who supported this cause when it was un-popular, unfashionable and frowned upon. The same thing happened with the Guantanamo detainees. In early 2002 the first images appeared of Muslims being transported to Guantanamo bay hooded, shackled, deprived of senses and bare footed. Reports began to emerge how US soldiers were throwing Qur’ans in toilets and female US interrogators were smearing menstrual blood on the faces of the Muslims detainees yet there was a deafening silence from the majority of the Muslims until when it was announced in March 2004 that five Britons would be coming home from the Guantanamo bay suddenly statements of support began to appear from everywhere once victory has been declared and their ordeal was over. Unfortunately, this state of affairs represents reality. We are not there to support clear cut causes for fear of being adversely labeled as extreme, unpopular or unfashionable but then what is the point of supporting a cause once it triumphs and becomes famous and popular. Allah the Almighty works in wondrous ways sometimes when we are hesitant to support even our own causes Allah forces us to support them whether we like it or not. A few days ago an Algerian detainee known as A was released from Wood Hill prison after having spent 3 years and half in prison without charge or trial. Shortly before he was released I said to him brother I don’t know if I will ever see you again but in case I don’t I wanted to take this opportunity to ask for your forgiveness. He asked me forgiveness for what I replied 3 years ago I watched on TV as you and several others were arrested and unjustly detained without trial but I didn’t do anything because I didn’t care. Now I am in prison and you are going home and tomorrow those Muslims who didn’t do anything about me they will be in prison and I will go home and then those who do not do anything about them, they will be in prison whilst the others will go home and so on. Having said this I embraced him. A few days later he went home but I remained in prison.
So dear listeners let’s take heed by these words of advice and do something let’s remember the sayings of Rasoolullah Sallal-lahu-alaihay-wasalam
F’kul aynee (Arabic)
“Release the prisoner”
Let’s remember the sayings of scholars who said that if a Muslim is incarcerated in the west it becomes an obligation on the Muslims of east to free them if such happens to a Muslim in east then it is an obligation on the Muslims in the west to do likewise.
Let’s remember the sayings of Rasoolullah Sallal-lahu-alaihay-wasalam who said that The Ummah is one and they are like a built wall and they are like one body
Dear listeners the following is a Poem by Sheikh Abu-Muhammad al Maqdisi who has spent a major portion of His life behind bars and still is in Jordan, a scholar whose scholarship is manifest through his works, I say this because we live in times when scholars could be manufactured, governments can promote certain scholars, media can promote certain scholars and they become famous and when they become famous and their word is taken seriously while there are many scholars out there who are more scholarly and are steeped in Islamic knowledge yet nobody knows them because the media and governments are against them. Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi has written this poem from in Arabic so obviously some of the eloquence is lost in translation but still there are some beneficial meanings and words which we could contemplate upon in the translations of his poems. He says
Dear Brothers who dwells in these prisons
To you I write with distresses
If to Allah you hold fast
Then what harm the misfortune of time will do to you
Beware dear brother of (making) corrupting your thought
Regarding the promise of the Deity Mighty and Strong
Verily he has promised the believers with salvation
As he saved Yunus alaihay-salam from the dark depths of the belly of the fish
Dear Brother before you pass the ancient ones
Remember, These prisons are but like those prisons.
Did not Yusuf alaihay-salam dwell in them for a phase?
And Musa (alaihay-salam) the tyrants threatened him with it?
And such was the Messenger of the generous Deity
To imprison him the pagans plotted
So my Lord saved him through his Hijrah and in the company of that trust worthy friend
And in the footsteps the believers traversed
Like Ahmed that firm Imam and
Likewise was Ibn-e-Taymiyyah was blessed with it
In the fortress of Shaam as a prisoner he dwelt
Hundreds of thousands of the true faithful dwelt for a time in these prisons
be not week, Dear Brother nor lose Hope, when your time comes, nor submit
Strengthen yourself by remembering the Deity, most Supreme
And Hasten in memorizing the manifest book
That is for your heart a secure stronghold
And this is for your spirit
And assisting provisions
These are hardships soon they will all cease
And remaining from it will be various fruits and benefits
So if they intimidate you and they threaten you
Never weaken or soften to them
And even if they insult you and they torture you
And if they beat you submit not
You are not the first to be tortured
For a mighty religion and a manifest legislation
Nor are you alone on this path
For there are countless caravans throughout the years
If an eid passes by and a son is born
And months rotate while you are imprisoned
Do not grieve O brother of the righteous Ones
Of departing from family and losing children
And if they forbid you from their visits
And likewise their letters never appear
So if this for a Lord and Religion
Then where is the patience?
Where is the certainty?
And where are your past speeches?
Regarding the wait of the millah of the trust worthy Messenger
That intimate friend went willingly to slaughter his son, A clear trial
On a magnificent noble day like today without any anxiety
He put him down upon his forehead
So my lord saved him through his goodwill
And ransomed him with a fat sheep
But you, your sons are in a carefree life
and diversion and amusement
and a secure home
yet you have not been asked to slaughter them
rather merely for a patience of a temporary separation
for verily they are in the care of a merciful Lord
and you are in solitude with him and faith
for the pleasure of a Lord and assisting a religion
life and all children become insignificant
for the pleasure of a Lord mighty and generous
the prisons come perfumed
and the bitter comes sweet

Following are poems by professor Sami Al-Oryaan who is incarcerated in the U.S’;

Innocent

He’s been indicted,
the general decided,
the paper incited,
He must be guilty

The agents presumed,
prosecutors consumed,
the Judge assumed,
we’re sure he is guilty

The bigots are infused,
TV is amused,
The public is confused,
But trust us, He is guilty

Doesn’t matter what we saw,
We’ll simply change the law,
Call it the final straw,
We think he is guilty

We have him on a call,
It may be to congressional Hall,
Our goal is to make him fall,
Because we believe he is guilty

The trial would be perfect,
When guilty is the verdict,
Even if the evidence is suspect,
Never mind, we find him guilty

Darioni spoke his mind,
To people of every kind,
Justice may be blind,
But its hard to find because he is innocent

------------------------------------------------------------

Strip search

His body was built
His head was bald
His heart was dead
His face was cold
His eyes were fierce
Mustache was thick
He lifted up his finger
I was his pick
Take off your jumper
And shirt and boxers
But I have only been to the library
Have not seen or met anybody
Strip, you’re going to strip
And don’t you dare move your lip
Take off your jumper
And shirt and boxers
Open your mouth
Show me your tongue
Give me a cough
Deep from your lungs
Hold your buttocks
And bend over
Turn around
Lift it up
And stay sober
The routine is to humiliate
To scar and intimidate
His search took an eternity
In the name of security
He strip you of your dignity

--------------------------------

Shake down

They came Monday morning In front of my door
Five C.Os and one L.T at six foot and four
Come up, shut up, cough up they said
Turn around, back up, and hold down your head
They joked and laughed, It’s time for a shake down
Control, destroy, and don’t you dare frown
Contraband, contraband, he yelled from the side
My heart just sank he found my hide
Extra blanket, extra sheet, Boxers he has thrown
Plastic spoon, Peanut butter and a picture he has drawn
My heart was beating, Faster than before
If he finds it my life isn’t the same anymore
Seconds and minutes were passing like years
Frustrated, worried and crying without tears
Undaunted they left, the cell upside down
Startled it looked, like a tornado hit town
But I calmed and laughed, And thanked the Lord
My Pencil is safe, And mightier than the sword

-----------------------
This is a letter by a prisoner named Masood khan, actually this a speech that he delivered in court, its concise and brief, he says
Bismillah, All praises are due to Allah the Most merciful. I wasn’t going to give this short statement here today but decided that as I should never despair from my Lord’s mercy, I should likewise never despair from enjoining what is justly right and forbidding what is justly wrong. Truly our Lord is oft-forgiving and merciful and in this short life provides ample opportunities to turn to him and to correct our affairs before it’s too late. I therefore enjoin upon myself and upon everyone to fear God as he should rightly be feared and to know that God is swift in responding to the supplications of the oppressed. I’ve come to realize that it is truly through trials and hardship that one comes to know and love his creator. I can therefore, honestly say that in this blessing of hardship I am not the one who has been hurt but sadly those who have brought on this injustice have only hurt themselves. In closing I would like to say thank you again to the community and our supporters, for everyone’s ongoing support for us and others, May God protect and reward them abundantly.

Following is a piece title a moment of aspiration by Rashid ramday
                        
and I am commanded to do justice among you, Allâh is Our Lord and Your Lord. For us Our deeds and for you Your deeds. there is no dispute between us and you. Allâh will assemble us (all), and to Him is the final return. 42:15

From every transient moment that decay rose
but the hope flourished to blossoms on the bow of faith in thousands,
Whispering in silence I am in the hands of God, safe.
Doors slammed shut, screeching steel on their pivotal pins,
resonance of wet stones against my soul
One by one the last moredis clangs
The silence commands, I walk in two steps
walls of jaded cell enclosed
depressing my heart
I freeze inside the belly of this cold monster
A gate opens in my mind,
the fragrance of rose and jasmine fill the air,
my father arches his back,
the weight of distance and the dust of time on his brow
He smiles and his smile reminiscent of happy moments parks the lights that he pace
silken beard like clouds, a question why?
lachrymose pearls in his eyes
O my soul! my mother runs behind
Breaths of air, fresh, brush my hair
Arms stretched to heaven to embrace
Those soft hands that once combed my hair and dressed me up for school
She never missed a kiss on my face
Allah go with you my son
Such a grace till the day was done
And my little sister races to reach me at once
With bright shining eyes, blush of rose on her cheeks
Calls my name aloud
Reach my hand out to grasp a single touch
Life is such
My dream shatters in the voice of the jailer who shouts
Clear all, checking through the flapping hole
My eyes travel through windows to a file of great steel bars
The view of the exercise yard in sized of squares of equal size
By the mesh cases of rusted hope painted in red dupe
Like a jigsaw just about to fall apart
I pick up the Holy Book begin to recite
O Allah! I am in your hands,
firm my feet on rock, I am on sand
a moment in a decade of time

Another prisoner Abdullah Sani Faras As-Sulaimi Al-Onaizi from Guantanamo Bay writes this letter to his brother , dated 17th of January 2003;

The heart longs and the tears glisten as Allah has destined us to be apart but all praises are due to Allah, sins have been closed the slave in layers, so I ask the lord to forgive my sins and accept my repentance and to wipe away my wrong doings for He is the one who always forgives. The prisoner returns to His Lord as fast as a stream. Our All powerful Lord certainly guides the conscience and restores the defeated then the anxiety goes as The Almighty replaces one set of circumstances with another. My Brother I reassure you that I am under the care of Allah and in good health and well being. My Brother let me tell you that the best of tradesmen is the one who transforms his lose into profit, His bad times into good and his tragedies into gains. By remembering Allah’s rewards and taking advantage of time. Our role model in this after our Prophet Peace be upon him is in the righteous believers before us from them Ibn-e-Taymiyyah, May Allah the most high have mercy on Him who used to say whilst in prison in the fortress of Damascus “If I were to give in charity the worth of this fortress filled with gold it would not be enough to thank Allah for the blessings this imprisonment has brought. He also once said, “A prisoner is one whose heart is in prison from his Lord and a captive is the one who is captive to his desires”. Some of Gnostics used to say, “If the Kings and their sons knew the degree of happiness we carry in our hearts they would fight us for it with their swords.” Another said,”How pitiful the people of this worldly aboard are they leave it without tasting the best of it.” And when asked what is the best of it, he said,”Knowing Allah, loving Him and Remembering Him.” Another said, “there are times when I say if those in heaven are living like this then they are in a very pleasant life.” So rest assured my brother I say to you as the poet said before, “Put chains on my hand and burn my chest, yet you cannot siege my mind for a moment, the light is in my heart and my heart is in the hands of my Lord and my Lord is my helper and keeper.” All praise due to Allah under all circumstances and Allah willing these are only a few days and we will meet soon. I see some good news Insha-Allah. My Brother, by Allah I urge you to be kind to our parents and you must be conscious of Allah and seek his approval at all times and be patient about this trial we are going through.

Sani Faras As-Sulaimi Al-Onaizi
Guantanamo

I’ll close with a poem by Babar Ahmed.

Beyond the mask and beyond the front
Beyond the name and beyond the image
Beyond the rhyme and beyond the prose
Beyond the metaphor and beyond the rhetoric
Beyond the campaign and beyond the publicity
Beyond the words and beyond the speeches
There is a caged Bird
There is caged bird whose only wish is to be bird again
There is a caged bird that yearns to fly free again
And soar over the mountain tops and glide through the valleys
There is a caged bird that is no better than any other bird
And no different to any other bird
There is a caged bird whose wings have been cut
And voice has been muted
Whose only desire is to be a bird again
That’s why the caged bird sings

Dear listeners we ask Allah Azza wa jal to accept from us our fasting during this blessed Holy Month of Ramadan and I would like to close this talk of mine by encouraging you to give that which belongs to Allah Azza wa Jal but he decided to give it into your hands to give some of it for the sake of assisting and freeing your brothers behind bars.

Seventeen Rules of Dream Interpretations:

2011-10-27T10:01:00.001-07:00

Seventeen Rules of Dream Interpretations:

Dreams and Dream Interpretations
by Imam Anwar al-‘Awlaki

Seventeen Rules of Dream Interpretations:

Ibn Qutaybah ad-Dinawari رحمه الله says in his book about dream interpretations, “There is nothing in which people deal with from the different sciences that is more obscure, delicate, exalted, noble, difficult and problematic than dreams because they are a type of revelation and type of Prophethood.”

Narrated Anas bin Malik رضي الله عنهAllah's Messenger صلى الله عليه و سلمsaid, "A good dream (that comes true) of a righteous man is one of forty-six parts of prophet hood." [Sahih al-Bukhari]

Some scholars tried to give explanation to this ratio of 1:46. We have no way to find out that if their explanation is correct or not. Prophet hood of Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم extended from 40 to 63 years meaning for 23 years. We know from Seerah that six months before becoming a Prophet, Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلمwas seeing dreams that would come out to be true on a very frequent basis so much so that he would see a dream one night and it would come to be true the next morning. So the ratio of 6 months to 23 years is 1:46.

1) There are 3 types of dreams: Imam at-Tirmidhi رحمه الله narrates from Muhammad Ibn Sirin رحمه الله who narrates from Abu Hurairah رضي الله تعالى عنه that Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “There are three types of dreams: 1) True Dreams 2) A dream in which a person is speaking to himself (i.e. whatever you were thinking about in the day time, you see at night) 3) A dream from shaytaan in which he wants to make you sad ”

In one hadith it is mentioned that one should stand up and pray and in another the he should not mention it to anyone.

Abu Salamah رضي الله عنه once said, “Sometimes I would see a dream that would be heavier on me than carrying a mountain. But since I heard this hadith I wouldn’t care about the bad dream I would see.”
Narrated Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri رضي الله عنه: The Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, "If anyone of you sees a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to others; but if he sees something else, i.e., a dream that he dislikes, then it is from Satan, and he should seek refuge with Allah from its evil, and he should not mention it to anybody, for it will not harm him." [Sahih Muslim]

Q1) A question arises, is every dream that a believer sees good?
A1) Al Muhallab رحمه الله says, “Most of the dreams of the righteous people are good dreams because sometimes a righteous person could see a dream that is meaningless but that is not very frequent because shaytaan’s control on them is very weak. And the opposite is true with other people because shaytaan has a stronger grasp over them. People are of the categories:
1) The Prophets: all of their dreams are truthful and but sometimes they need interpretation. The good dream is divided into 2 categories:
a) Direct dream: something one would see in a dream and the exact scene repeats itself in day-time when you are awake and this dream does not need interpretation.
b) A dream the comes in symbols and it needs to be interpreted.

2) The righteous: most of the time their dreams are truthful (most of them need to interpreted) and sometimes their dream are direct.

3) Rest of the people: most of their dreams are not true but some of them could be true.” [Fath al-Bari bi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari]

2) Do not mention the dream for interpretation except to a scholar or a person who would advise you sincerely.

Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “You should not mention this dream to an envious person…”

There is also evidence for this in the Qur`an: (Remember) when Yûsuf (Joseph) saidto his father: "O my father! Verily, I saw (in a dream) eleven stars and the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves to me." He (the father) said: "O my son! Relate not your vision to your brothers, lest they arrange a plot against you. Verily! Shaitân (Satan) is to man an open enemy! {Surat al-Yusuf, ayatyn 4-5}

3) Seeing Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم:

Narrated Anas رضي الله عنه the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, "Whoever has seen me in a dream, then no doubt, he has seen me, for Satan cannot imitate my shape. [Sahih al-Bukhari]

Q2) There is an issue here, what if a person sees Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم and he feels that it is him but his description in the dream if different than the one we know of from ahadith. So is the person in the dream Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم?
A2) Az-Zuhri رحمه الله says that Ibn Sirin رحمه الله said, “If you see him according to his description.” An-Nawawi رحمه الله, however, has a contrary view and he says, “As long as you felt in your dream that the person you saw was Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم then it is him even if he comes in a different form.” Ibn Taymiyyah رضي الله عنه supports the view of Ibn Sirin رحمه الله

4) A repetition of a dream is a sign of its truth. It does not matter if the same person sees the dream more than once or more than one person.

‘AbduLlah ibn ‘Umar رضي الله عنهما reported that some people were shown the Night of Qadr as being in the last seven days (of the month of Ramadan). The Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, "I see that your dreams strengthen each other that Night of Qadr is in the last seven nights of Ramadhan so whoever searches for it, would search for it in the last seven days (of Ramadan)." [Sahih al-Bukhari]

Also the dream about Adhan when 2 Sahabah ضي الله عنهما saw the same dream.

5) Q3) When is the most expected time to see a righteous dream? At night or day time? Are all the times equal (whether seen at the beginning of the night or end of the day)?
A3) Ibn Sirin رحمه الله said, “Dreams of day time are equal to the dreams of night.” [Sahih Muslim]

6) Ibn Battal رحمه الله said, “Dreams are of two types: a clear evident dream like somebody would dream about himself giving dates to someone and during the day time he would give somebody dates. This type of dream doesn’t need any interpretation. Secondly, a dream that comes in symbols and this type you would understand its meaning unless you get it interpreted by a person who has knowledge and experience dream interpretation because sometimes the symbols are very delicate and sophisticated.”

Like the dream Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم saw in which he was drinking milk from a vessel and when some of it was remaining, he gave it ‘Umar رضي الله عنه. Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم interpreted it as knowledge. This means that Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم absorbed the knowledge and he mentions that the milk was so much that it started flowing beneath his nails. So he had so much knowledge in him, that it started flowing from him.

7) Dreams can be about the past or the present or the future.

8) True dreams increase towards the end of times.

Ibn Sirin رحمه الله said,” I heard Abu Hurairah saying, ‘Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “When Time approaches, the dream of the believer rarely would lie.’” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

“When Time approaches…”is explained in two different opinions:

1)Al-Khattabi رحمه الله said, “The meaning of ‘When Time approaches…” is the time of night and the time of day. When the time of night approaches the length the time of day, then the dreams of the believer will be true. These are the two times when flowers open up and when fruits are ripe. The scholars of dream interpretation actually state that these are the two time when the dreams are most likely to be true.”

2)Al-Qurtubi رحمه الله says, “What is meant by this hadith, and Allah سبحانه و تعالى knows best, is the end of times and it is talking about the group of believers that will be with ‘Isa ibn Maryam عليه سلام after he kills dajjal.”

Ibn Abi Jamrah رحمه الله says,” The reason why the believer sees true dreams at the time is because the believer will be ghareeb (stranger) as was mentioned in the hadith, ‘Islam began as something strange and it will return to the way it began being strange so give glad tidings to the strangers so give glad tidings to the strangers.’”

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani رحمه الله comments on all the opinions by saying, “Whenever the times are difficult for the believer, he will see dreams that are true frequently because he needs help. When the believer is alone, when the times are difficult, when you don’t find people supporting on truth, then Allah سبحانه و تعالى will inspire you to give you glad tidings through the good dreams you would see and this is to give the believers in those difficult and testing times gives the believers strength, it gives them confidence, it gives them hope so they would see a lot of dreams that would come true.”
For example the brothers who are doing Jihad feesabiliLlah see a lot of dreams that come out to be true because they are being tested by Allah سبحانه و تعالى thus He assists them.

9) Most of the times, if the dream is a glad tiding from Allah سبحانه و تعالى it would take a long for it to occur while if it is a warning it would occur swiftly.

For example Yusuf عليه سلام’s dream took a very long time for it to happen around 40 years. Some scholars say this is because Allah سبحانه و تعالى gives the believer glad tidings early on to give him confidence and hope, to inspire him in his life. While if it is a warning, you would see it and it would occur very soon so that it would be the reason of fear in your heart.

10) Dreams are glad tidings and warnings but can not be used as a source of Shari‘ah.

Ash-Shatbi رحمه الله says regarding this, “Benefit of the dream in giving the believer a glad tiding or warning not in legislation and judgement or rulings.”

11) If one sees a dream that is very long like a movie or someone is chasing you and it never ends then most likely that dream doesn’t mean anything. True dreams are short and concise.

12) The dream of a believer pleases him but it does not make him proud or over confident.

Ibn Muflih رضي الله عنه mentions in his book Adaab ash-Shar‘iyah, “Ibrahim al-Humaydi was righteous man and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal visited him so Ibrahim told Imam Ahmad, ‘My mother has seen a dream for you where she saw this-and-that for you,’ and then he mentioned Jannah. Imam Ahmad said, ‘My brother, Sahl ibn Salamah, people used to see dreams for him similar to what you mentioned and in the end he ended up shedding blood so the dream pleases the believer, it doesn’t make him boastful.”

13) Dream interpretation is not certain but presumptive and Allah سبحانه و تعالى says in Surah Yusuf: “And he said to the one he presumed to be saved…” {ayah # 42}

Ibn Kathir رحمه الله mentions in his An-Nihayah wal Bidayah that there was a caliph (not a good one) of Ibn ‘Abbas who saw dream that he was climbing a dream with 28 steps. So he had that dream interpreted. The one who interpreted his dream told him that the meaning of this dream is, “You will rule for 28 years.” But he died six months later. He died at the age of 28 so the steps were representing his age not the time for his rule.

There was a woman who dreamt that her daughter would break three banners (flag carried in war time). So she went to Ibn Sirin رحمه الله and he interpreted that dream saying, “If her dream is true, it means that she would marry three noble men all of them would be killed.” When her daughter grew up, she married Yazid ibn al-Muhallab who was a great leader in ‘Iraq and he was killed. Later on, she married ‘Amr ibn Yazid at-Taymi and he was killed. Her third marriage was with al-Hasan ibn ‘Uthman ibn ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf رحمه الله, the grandson of the Sahabi ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf. She had an argument with him and she told him, “In the Name of Allah, you would be killed.” He asked her the reason and she told him about her dream. He said, “Alright, I am going to divorce you since you think I am going to be killed now!” Finally, she married al-‘Abbas ibn ‘AbdiLlah ibn Harith ibn Nawfal ibn Harith ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib and he was killed.

One man saw in a dream, during the plague, that caskets were coming out of his house and the number of them was equal to the number of his family. So, he interpreted the dream that his entire family would be killed in the plague. And the dream started to manifest itself. His family were dying one after the other and all the bodies were coming out of his house exactly how he saw in his dream until he was the last member of his family left so he was pretty sure that he would be killed by the plague because his dream was, until now, true. But a thief came into his house and was struck by the plague, he fell ill in his house, he died and he was the last body to leave the house and not the person who saw the dream.

14) It is haram and a great sin to claim that one has a seen a dream whilst he has not seen it or to lie in it.

Narrated ‘AbduLlah ibn ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه that the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “Whoever claims to have seen a dream that he has not seen, would be told to tie between two hairs on the Day of Judgement.”

15) A dream could be seen by a person but it could be for someone else.
Al Hakim and ‘AbduLlah Ibn Mubarak narrate that someone saw a dream for Abu Jahl that he became a Muslims and pledged allegiance to Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. But this never happened. So this dream was for his son, ‘Ikrimah رضي الله عنه who became a Muslim and pledged allegiance to Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم later on.

A dream was seen for Usayd bin Abil ‘Aas that he became the governor of Makkah and he never did but his son ‘Attab became the governor of Makkah.

16) Same symbol in a dream could mean different things for different people

For example: A man came to Ibn Sirin رحمه الله and told him that he had seen himself in a dream giving Adhan. Ibn Sirin رحمه الله replied, “You will make Hajj.” Another man came with the same dream and Ibn Sirin رحمه الله replied, “You are a thief!” Ibn Sirin رحمه الله was asked the reason of him giving different interpretations of the same dream to different people and he said, “Because I saw in the first man’s face righteousness and Allah سبحانه و تعالى says in the Qur`an that Ibrahim عليه سلام made adhan calling people to Hajj so I interpreted this mean that this person would make Hajj. Whilst I saw evil on the face of the other man and Allah سبحانه و تعالى says in Surah Yusuf, ‘then a crier cried: ‘O you (in) the caravan! Surely, you are thieves!’ so I interpreted it to mean that this person is a thief.’”

17) Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “A dream is hanging on the leg of a bird (and in another narration on the wing of the bird) as soon as it is interpreted, it happens as it was interpreted.” So some scholars say that if you take your dream to a scholar, it would happen as it is interpreted by him so that’s why you must take it to a person who has knowledge about dream interpretation and or a person who would give you a sincere advice and not to the person who is envious so if the dream is interpreted it would happen as he interpreted. However, there is a difference of opinion regarding this issue. And Allah سبحانه و تعالى knows best.

Transcripts of lectures

2011-10-27T10:00:00.001-07:00

Right click, and select save link as to download the transcripts.

The Battle of Hearts and Minds

Transcribed by Dar Al Murabiteen publications

The Dust will Never Settle Down

Transcribed by Dar Al Murabiteen publications

Constants on the path of Jihad

The Meccan Minority

Understanding the Qur’an

Allah is preparing us for victory

Story Of the Bull

Chapter 1 Life of Muhammad saw by Imam Anwar Al Awlaki

Median Period Transcription CD 1-5

Taken from: Blog Airevag

Anwar_Al_Awlaki_-_State_of_the_Ummah.pdf

Details about Transcripts Info

2009-07-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahBrothers & sisters in Islam,

this image has details regarding the number of lectures,CD'S,Part's & Languages in which transcripts are done,Inshallah this page will be regularly updated .

WORK UNDER PROGRESS
Hoor Transcribing hereafter series in EnglishHoor Transcribing Tafseer of Ayat al kursi in English
Maryam on April 28th,i'll inshallah transcibe the following in english:- Giving and investing in the hereafter-The Quran: The book of Tolerance
CLICK HERE - DETAILS PART 2 These are the lectures already available in english,details of these transcribed in other languages will be recorded.Inshallah.

Links of Transcripts

2009-07-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Abu Bakr series.

http://anwar-alawlaki.wordpress.com

Umar Ibn Khattab
http://www.geocities.ws/ssjr05/umar.html

“Suicide or Martyrdom” into Bahasa Indonesia, (http://c4kra.multiply.com/journal/item/178/)

The Battle of Hearts and Minds in German:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/14587408/4c2bf639/sharing.html
Some Transcriptions in GermanGERMAN
Die Schlacht der Herzen und Köpfe (The Battle of the Hearts and Minds)http://ia341221.us.archive.org/3/items/SchlachtDerHerzenUndKpfe/DieSchlachtDerHerzenUndKoepfeSoft.pdf
Allah bereitet uns auf den Sieg vor (Allah is preparing us for Victory)http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5688038393945653973
pdf of it:http://www.archive.org/details/AllahsVorbereitungAufDenSieg
(Parts of a lectures)Vertrauen in die Gelehrtenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT7vbqRsojw
Wie konnten die Sahaba ihre Feinde besiegen?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZTYDyhKT4
Der neue Goldrauschhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE2aJOVgC2A
Kḥālid bin al-Walīdhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4gTT4CIQNU
translations from his Blog:
Gegen Regierungsarmeen in der muslimischen Welt kämpfen (Fighting Against Government Armies in the Muslim World)http://www.ahlu-sunnah.com/viewtopic.php?p=57272#p57272
Die Abstimmung über die Sharia in Somalia (The Voting for Sharia in Somalia)http://www.ahlu-sunnah.com/viewtopic.php?p=57322#p57322

Details about Transcripts Info

2009-06-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallah
Brothers & sisters in Islam,this image has details regarding the number of lectures,CD'S,Part's & Languages in which transcripts are done,Inshallah this page will be regularly updated .

WORK UNDER PROGRESS

Hoor Transcribing hereafter series in English

Hoor Transcribing Tafseer of Ayat al kursi in English

peace on April 14th, 2009 at 11:59 am # Battle of Hearts and Minds” into Urdu.

Fidaa on April 14th, 2009 at 11:31 pm # Life of Muhammad. I am translating it into Malay.

Maryam on April 28th,i'll inshallah transcibe the following in english:
- Giving and investing in the hereafter-
The Quran: The book of Tolerance

CLICK HERE - DETAILS PART 2 These are the lectures already available in english,details of these transcribed in other languages will be recorded.Inshallah.

Paradise 2

2009-05-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Paradise II
A lecture delivered by Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Alhamdulillah Wa Salatu Wa Salaamu Ala Sayyidina Muhammad Wa Ala Alihi Wa
Sahbihi Wa Salim
A'udhu Billahi Minash-shaytanir-Rajeem
I will start with a brief comparison between Jannah and Dunya because our problem is Dunya
that is what is keeping us away from Jannah. So let’s put them on the scale and see which one
outweighs the other. There are four areas of comparison.
Number one is Quantity; the quantity in Dunya and in Akhirah. Allah aza wa jal says:
(Surah An-Nisa 4:77)
The enjoyment of this world is very little and Akhirah is everlasting. So in terms of the quantity
of what you get in Dunya compared to the quantity of what you get in Jannah; there is no
comparison. In fact, this might be the right time to talk about the lowest level in Jannah.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam tells us the story of this man who spent a long time in
hellfire burning in there. You could even call it eternity he has been there for a very long time.
Allah aza wa jal admitted him to leave, to get out of hellfire. So this man comes out of Jahannam
and he is in this waste land between Jahannam and Jannah. So there is this territory between
Jahannam and Jannah that is desolate, it is a waste land.
So this man is in the middle of this nowhere and he is so happy that he is there. Even though
there is nothing in there to be happy with. But he said TabarakAllahu; he is blessing Allah aza
wa jal and praising Allah aza wa jal for saving him out of Jahannam even though he is in this
waste land but it is better than Jahannam. In other words, the understanding that I get from his
statement in this hadith is that he was happy to be there, that is good enough for him.
But then RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says this man will see a tree in the horizon. So
there’s actually nothing in this land and all that is sticking out of it is a tree far away in the
horizon. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says this man will say O Allah can you please
allow me to go next to that tree so that I can eat from its fruits and drink from its water, because
since there is a tree there must be some water.
Allah aza wa jal will say O son of Adam what will make me know that you won’t ask me for
something else. This man will say O Allah I promise you that I am not going to ask for anything
else all that I want is to go next to that tree. Because he has been asking Allah in Jahannam to
get him out and Allah granted him that dua, and now he wants to get to this tree. So Allah aza wa
jal allows him to go next to that tree. So he is sitting there and he is very happy now that he is
eating from the fruits of this tree.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says Allah will allow him to see another tree in the
horizon that is bigger and looks better. So this man will say O Allah I ask you to please allow me
to go next to that tree. Allah aza wa jal will tell him O son of Adam didn’t you promise me that
you are not going to ask for anything else. This man said O Allah this is the last time I am not
going to ask for anything else, just allow me to go there please. Allah aza wa jal allows him to go
to that tree and this is the second tree.
While he sees a bigger tree, again he would break his promise and say O Allah please allow me
to go there. And Allah aza wa jal will tell him again O son of Adam didn’t you promise me not
to ask for anything else. He will say O Allah that is it. And this hadith is sahih, it is in Muslim.
You might be wondering how would Allah aza wa jal keep on responding to the wishes of this
man, I mean how merciful was Allah aza wa jal. He would go to the third tree and he is sitting
there.
Why are the trees growing? Why are the trees getting bigger? Because he is getting closer to
what? To Jannah. So even though this land is outside of Jannah, Jannah is so blessed that the
blessing is even getting out of it. And now the trees are growing even though it is very close to
Jahannam.
So he is under this third tree. But now way in the horizon he can see a fourth tree right next to
the gates of paradise. He will say O Allah I want to go there please O Allah just let me go there.
So Allah aza wa jal will allow him to go to this fourth tree.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says now under that tree he is able to hear the voices of
the people of Jannah and he is able to listen to their enjoyment and fun. You can even tell how
happy the people of Jannah are by listening to their voices. Listening to the noise that is coming
out of Jannah, even though it is far away but it is sufficient to tell how much fun is going in
there.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says and this man is seeing something that he has no
patience to deal with. And now he is saying O Allah just allow me to go in the gate. Now he has
made it to Jannah he just wants to sneak through. But then Allah aza wa jal will tell him O son of
Adam what will please you, would you be happy if I give you equivalent of the earth and
everything in it. This world and everything in it. He will say O Allah that’s enough for me. Yes I
would be pleased.
In one narration it says that Allah aza wa jal will tell him O my servant I will give you double
that. I will give you three times the earth and everything in it, four times. When Allah aza wa jal
says five times the earth and everything in it this man will try to stop Allah aza wa jal, O Allah
that’s enough, that’s enough, that’s enough. Allah aza wa jal will then say O my servant I will
give you ten times the world and everything in it and then I will give you whatever will please
your heart and satisfy your eyes.
And in another narration Allah aza wa jal will tell him I will give you the earth and everything in
it. And then Allah will tell him and ask whatever you want. Ask from me right now whatever
you want. So this man will ask. He will keep on asking and asking until he runs out of wishes.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says and Allah will remind him with some other things.
O my servant why don’t you ask for this and that. And Allah aza wa jal will keep on reminding
him. And then Allah aza wa jal will tell him all of that which you ask for I will double it for you.
This is the lowest level in Jannah.
Now let’s start with the beginning because we can’t deal with the rest. It is becoming too
astronomical for us to deal with. So let’s just start with the world and everything in it. Because
then you are going to have to measure everything in light years. Just the world and everything in
it.
You are living here in the UK. You know how expensive property is in London. And you have a
home that is enough for a bird and that is a quarter of a million to purchase if it is in prime areas.
It’s so expensive even though it’s raining everyday. At least in San Diego we used to pay a
premium for the weather. Here in London you are paying all of this money for what? And you
would have someone having this apartment and it is worth £300,000 or something. And they are
very happy they think that this is the top of the world; I mean I own a property in Central
London. And that person is working so hard, is neglecting religious duties just to purchase a
house or purchase this apartment. Very small piece of land.
No one owns all of London. Let alone owning all of England or all of the British Isles. And no
one will ever own Europe or the whole world. It just won’t happen. No matter how skilled you
are. No matter how blessed your Rizq (sustenance) is. No matter how hard you work. You are
just not going to make it. So it’s not possible in Dunya but it’s possible in Akhirah. Why not
shoot for the guaranteed? The lowest level of Jannah is equivalent to the earth multiplied by ten,
that’s the lowest. In terms of quantity. Now we are not dealing with quality yet, that’s the next
point. Here we are dealing with quantity; it is ten times the earth and everything in it. So this is
how superior Jannah is to Dunya. That’s number one: Quantity.
Number two: Quality. So we dealt with the quantity part. Let’s look at the quality part.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says in a hadith Mutafaq Alayh (agreed upon by the
scholars). Saut is a whip, a stick; one foot by a few inches that’s it. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi
wa sallam says the area occupied by that stick in Jannah is better than the world and everything
in it. So a property in Jannah, which is one foot by one inch, is more worthy than the world and
everything in it. And again the hadith of RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam were the scarf
on top of this women in Jannah is better than the world and everything in it. If you have ten
times the world and that small piece of land is better than the world; that is why I am saying we
are dealing with astronomical figures you can’t even talk about it. It’s beyond our
comprehension. So in terms of quality Jannah is much better.
And then number three. There are certain pleasures that do exist in Dunya and there are pleasures
in Jannah. But the difference between the two is that everything in Jannah is pure, whilst every
pleasure that exists in Dunya is contaminated. You can never have pure pleasure in Dunya. Allah
aza wa jal has made Dunya in a way that you get a sample of both. You get a sample of pleasure
and a sample of pain. So that you will get a glimpse of what it is like in Jannah and what it is
like in Jahannam.
So for example it’s rare to find somebody who never felt the pain of burning of fire. Almost
every one of us one moment in time have felt that pain whether it is boiling oil or it is a flame.
But I wonder if there is anyone in here who has never experienced that sensation of burning. Is
there anyone who didn’t feel it? At one point of time you must have hurt yourselves in a way that
would give you an experience of how it feels to burn. So Allah aza wa jal is giving you a glimpse
of what it is Jahannam. And then RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam tells you that the naar
of Jahannam is seventy times the naar of Dunya.
And then Allah aza wa jal allows you to enjoy food in Dunya. You enjoy happiness. You enjoy
some other pleasures that are available in this Dunya, to get a glimpse of how it is in Jannah but
it is not the real thing, why? Because it is contaminated. This earth is not good enough to be a
reward for the believer and it is not bad enough to be a punishment for the sinner. It is
somewhere in between.
So the pleasures of Dunya are contaminated, there is nothing pure. Take for example food. Yes
you enjoy eating, you prefer certain dishes. But if you think about the process of eating and all of
the impurity that it contains. First of all you can’t have a lot of food because then it is detrimental
to your health. Plus even in one sitting you can’t have much of it because you are full that is it
you can’t have anymore. But in Jannah you can have as much as you want. Also here in Dunya,
the ones who can afford all of the good food are the ones who cannot eat it, they have high blood
pressure, they have cholesterol they have all of these problems. And the ones who cannot afford
and can eat it, cannot get it.
And then the whole process of eating and drinking if you think about it just imagine for a
moment that the entire digestive tract was made transparent. So now you are eating food you
have a mouthful. And you are chewing that food. And it is transparent and people can see it and
they are seeing this food mixing with saliva and then they see it being swallowed like a ball. And
then they see how it is mixed with all of the digestive fluids in your stomach and how it is
breaking apart.
In addition to being transparent there are some pores for the exact smell that exists in there to
come out so it has sight and also the other sense of smelling. Would you ever eat with anybody
else? Would you ever join in a part or respond to an invitation? How could you handle food if
you have seen right in front of your eyes what is happening to it? Would you ever enjoy a meal
in your life? It’s gruesome; however, all of this is masked for us to at least be able to eat.
If you also think about the process of reproduction, which is a very pleasurable thing for people
and that is why it is leading towards so many sins because of the pleasure involved in that
process between man and woman. Ibn ul Jawzee, he says if one thinks about what happens
during that process they wouldn’t do it. They wouldn’t get involved in anything relating to it
because if you think about what is happening it is a very gross procedure without getting into
anymore more graphic details, but I think you get the point and this is supposed to be one of the
pleasures of ad-Dunya.
You have wealth it comes with some problems. Everything in Dunya. Health; one day you are
going to become ill. Young; one day you are going to become old. You have free time now
tomorrow you are busy. There is no pure enjoyment in Dunya. It is all contaminated while in
Jannah it is a hundred percent pure. The food that you eat will come out as musk there is no
urination, no defecating.
And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says about al-hoor al-‘ayn and the women in Jannah
they don’t go through the menstrual period. As man and woman all of the bodily fluid that we
have are different in Akhirah, they are going to be different in Jannah.
For the rivers if water remains stagnant it changes in colour and taste.
Allah aza wa jal says:
The water never changes.
Milk if it’s set for a long time it changes.
The taste never changes.
(Surah Muhammad 47:15)
Asl (honey) is purified. The wine does not make you drunk. It does not cause you any headache
and all of the problems of alcohol in Dunya. So in Jannah everything is pure, it is pure
enjoyment.
The fourth comparison is Time. How much time can you enjoy yourself in Dunya and how much
time in Akhirah. As I just mentioned you could be staring at your wife for forty years. In Dunya,
forty years is your life time. So Dunya is temporary. What you have is temporary and what Allah
has is permanent.
You can live a hundred years in Dunya. In Akhirah it is eternal life. Again an easy mathematical
equation; the ratio of Dunya to Akhirah is a hundred divided by infinity and the answer is zero,
that is Dunya. Therefore it is really insanity to prefer Dunya over Akhirah. For a Muslim who
knows about this Haqq (truth) how could you afford to live like somebody who doesn’t?
Someone who knows the truth about Jannah and knows the truth about Jahannam. How could
your life be equal to the one who does not know this? It doesn’t make sense at all. So let’s wake
up and let’s strive for Jannah and seek refuge in Allah from Jahannam.
There are a few other issues to cover. Who is the first one to enter into Jannah? RasulAllah
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says I will come to the gates of paradise and they are closed and I
will knock on those gates. And the gatekeeper will say who are you? I will say I am Muhammad
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. The gatekeeper will say I was given instructions not to open for
anyone before you.
The gatekeeper is waiting next to the gate right now and he will not open the gates for any one
but Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. He was given clear orders to open for Muhammad
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
And who is the first one to enter from this ummah? RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says
in a hadith by Abu Dawud. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says Jibrael came to me and
grabbed my hand and took me to the gates of paradise and told me that these are the gates your
ummah are going to come through. Abu Bakr as-Siddiq said O RasulAllah I wish that I was there
with you. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says O Abu Bakr you are going to be the first
one of my ummah to enter through that gate. You are going to be the first one to walk through
those doors.
So the first one to enter into Jannah is RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam followed by the
Anbiya of Allah aza wa jal and then it will be Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radhiAllahu anhu.
There will be a special group of people who will enter into Jannah without going through al-
Hisaab, the account. Basically they are going through the back doors and everybody else is being
held throughout the processions of the Day of Judgment. And these people are going to be
escorted straight to the gates of Jannah and will enter before everybody else. What is the number
of this group? Seventy thousand.
The story of this, RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said that I was shown the Day of
Judgment. So I saw a nabi coming with a group of followers. And then I saw another nabi with
ten followers. And I saw another nabi with five followers. And I saw a nabi with two followers.
And a nabi with one follower. Imagine this, a nabi; a prophet of Allah striving all of their lives,
calling to La Illaaha Ill Allah and in the end they only have one follower. It is very difficult.
Because we get motivated when we see the fruits of our efforts, but when you see that everything
you are doing is going towards a dead end, it is very difficult for you to go on. But the Anbiya of
Allah had this determination.
Nuh alayhi sallam for nine hundred and fifty years is giving dawah to the same people and he
never gave up. So a nabi will come on the Day of Judgment with one follower. RasulAllah
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said I saw some Anbiya alone. No followers whatsoever.
And then RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said and then I saw an ummah, huge nation.
And I told Jibrael this must be my ummah. Jibrael said no that is not your ummah that is the
ummah of Musa alayhi sallam. So the largest ummah after the ummah of Muhammad sallallahu
'alayhi wa sallam is the ummah of Bani Israel, the children of Israel.
And then RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said Jibrael told me to look at the horizon, so I
saw people covering the horizon and then he told me to look at the other side and I saw people
covering the horizon, they are covering the mountains and the valleys all over. He said I was
very impressed by the way they look. Jibrael said this is your ummah. And along with them
seventy thousand will enter into Jannah without going through the reckoning.
Now RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam asked for more. In Musnad Imam Ahmad, there is a
hadith, RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said I asked for more. Allah aza wa jal gave me
with everyone of these seventy thousand, seventy thousand and then three handfuls of Allah to
go along with that. So seventy thousand multiplied by seventy thousand is 4.9 billion. It is going
to be a large number who will enter into Jannah. Now every one of these seventy thousand will
make Shafa'a for seventy thousand and that is how they will enter into Jannah.
In another hadith that says that Fuqara al-Muhajireen; the poor among the Muhajireen are going
to be the first to enter into Jannah, how come? Well the gatekeepers had the same question.
When these Fuqara al-Muhajireen want to walk into Jannah the gatekeepers will stop them.
They will say how come you made it so early. These Muhajireen will say why are we going to be
held accountable when we were carrying our swords on our shoulders and we were fighting in
the sake of Allah until we died. In other words, they didn’t have any businesses; they didn’t have
any wealth to be asked about.
See, two of the major questions that you will be asked on the Day of Judgment is your wealth;
how did you make it? And how did you spend it? Somebody who doesn’t have wealth will not
have to go through that. So these Muhajireen who are poor will make it so fast because there is
not much to ask them about. They spent their life fesabilillah, fighting for Allah aza wa jal. So
they will make it very early on. Now this not to say that the fuqara; the poor are always better
than the rich. This is talking about something specific. It is talking about the timing of entering
into Jannah. They will make it five hundred years before the rich. But when the rich come in
some of them could be in a higher level than these poor.
So the level in which you will be placed in Jannah is based on different factors than the timing of
entering Jannah. So a person who enters Jannah early might end up being in a lower level and
somebody who comes in late might end up being in a higher level. It is just a matter of how long
it will take to go through your account.
Another point, Jannah is not a payment for your actions. You have to keep that in mind. You are
not buying Jannah with your deeds because whatever you do is not worth an inch of Jannah. It is
mentioned in a story, we will mention the story for the benefit of it not necessarily the accuracy
of the narration.
There was somebody from Bani Israel on the Day of Judgment. He will see all of his good deeds,
a huge amount of good deeds. And then he will be asked. Do you want to enter Jannah according
to your deeds or through the mercy of Allah? He will say I want to enter Jannah through my
deeds. Because he has a big amount of good deeds.
So the angels will be instructed to place all his good deeds on one side of the scale and his eyes
on the other side. And he’s eyes would outweigh everything else that he did. How come? If you
think about it these eyes are with you twenty four hours a day. While your ibadah is less than that
because no matter what you do you are going to commit sins, you are going slack, right? But the
blessing of seeing is with you all the time. So with all of your worship you are not even able to
keep up with paying the bills for your eyes. Let alone for your ears. For your mind. For your
health. For your wealth and everything else that Allah has given you.
So RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says no one will enter Jannah with their deeds. They
said even you RasulAllah. He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said even me unless Allah will have
mercy on me. So no one will enter Jannah except through the mercy of Allah aza wa jal. It is not
a payment for what you did. Because what you did will not even purchase for you a small piece
of land in there.
Next point: regarding our sisters, some issues regarding women. Sometimes when we talk about
al-hoor al-‘ayn, sisters feel jealous. Married sisters will say how comes now my husband will get
two al-hoor al-‘ayn. I was able to guard him in this Dunya and prevented him from getting
married and now here he gets into Jannah and he has two other wives. Without getting into a
detailed explanation of this, to make it simple, in Jannah you will get whatever you want.
Everyone will be satisfied in Jannah. You will be satisfied, man or woman. You will be happy
and it cannot get better for you.
The feeling that you will have in Jannah is that you have the maximum and there is nothing that
could make it better. So the sister needs to be assured that in Jannah there is nothing that she
could request that would make it better for her. Allah aza wa jal will make her happy. That is for
men and women. You will get whatever you want.
Another issue regarding a married couple; your wife in Dunya is your wife in Jannah. Now if the
man passes away before the wife and she marries someone else what will happen in Jannah?
There are two opinions. One opinion is that the wife will get to choose between her husbands in
Dunya. The other opinion which is the stronger opinion that the wife will marry her last husband.
And the reason why I say it is the stronger opinion; Abu Darda radhiAllahu anhu, when he was
passing away he told his wife if you want to be my wife in Jannah then don’t marry anybody
after me because I heard RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam say that the wife will marry her
last husband.
The last point: no matter how much we describe Jannah, no matter how much we talk about it, no
matter how much you try to imagine it you will not be able to realise the real thing. RasulAllah
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, after he gave a detailed explanation of Jannah he said in Jannah are
things an eye has never seen and an ear has never heard of and a mind cannot imagine. So
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam was telling the Sahabah that after all of this description I
have given you, you will not be able to fathom the real thing. It is beyond your imagination. How
come? Your mind is only capable of imagining things that you can relate to in Dunya. You start
your life with a blank memory as a child. And then you gain information through the five senses,
your eyes, your ears, you collect information.
So you can find that an infant; everything is new to them. They are staring at everything around
them. Sometimes you would find that something very trivial would catch their attention. Why?
Because everything is new for them. That’s how they build up their database. And we are limited
with our experiences. We can only think about things we can relate to in Dunya.
There is this experiment that was done on a tribe that never saw snow. There is a tribe
somewhere in the forest, they never experienced snow. So some anthropologists tried to explain
snow, what snow is to this tribe. And after all of their explanation when they presented them
with real snow they did not recognise it. Why? Because their database does not include anything
similar to it. So no matter how hard you try to think about Jannah, it is going to be very far away
from the reality. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is just trying to bring it closer to you.
But the colours, the texture, the sights, the voices you will hear in there are entirely different.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says that your wives in Jannah will sing for you in a
voice that was never heard before, nobody has ever heard. So Jannah is an entirely different
level.
We ask Allah subhana wa ta’aala to grant us Jannah Ameen.
Nasrullah aza wa jal
Allahumma inni as'alukal jannata wa ma kharraba ilaiha min qawlin wa 'amal, wa na'udhu bika
minan naar wa ma kharraba ilaiha min qawlin wa 'amal
O Allah! I seek from You the Jannah (Paradise) and any such deed or word which may bring me
closer to Jannah. I seek refuge from You from the Hell-fire and from any such deed or word
which may bring me closer to the Hell-fire
Wa Sallallahu Ala Sayyidina Muhammad Wa Ala Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa Salim
Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika ash-hadu an laa Illaaha illaa anta astaghfiruka wa atoobu
ilayk
How perfect You are O Allah, and I praise You. I bear witness that none has the right to be
worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance
Transcribed by Niyaa for www.an-najwa.com

Paradise 1

2009-05-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Paradise
A lecture delivered by Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki
Alhamdulilah Wa Salatu Wa Salaamu Ala Sayyidina Muhammad Wa Ala Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa
Salim
Al-Jannah let’s do this rather then talk about the details of al-Jannah. Lets take a tour in Jannah
and let’s send somebody to go and visit Jannah for us, unfortunately we can not attach a
camcorder to that person to get a live feed from our tour guide but imagine that you are there,
actually imagine that this tour guide is yourself.
So let’s start on this journey to the land of wonderland. Some of you might have read the novel
Alice in wonderland, this is the real wonderland; Jannah in it are things that an eye has never
seen and an ear that has never heard and a mind that cannot even imagine.
So the first thing that will happen is that you will pass and we ask Allah aza wa jal to make
everyone of us among the people of Jannah. So you are going to be placed in al-Kantara before
Jannah. Kantara a river or a stream and the final purification process will happen in this al-
Kantara. So anything between you and the other people of Jannah anything that happened
between them will be sorted out in this Kantara. And now you are coming from Yawm Al
Qiyamah, which is fifty thousand years long you’re exhausted you’re tired. So you want
something to eat, so you will be served a treat.
What is the first thing that you will eat as soon as you get into Jannah? Fish liver. Now I don’t
know if you particularly like fish liver or not but subhanAllah that is the first meal you will have
when you get into Jannah.
There is a hadith in Sahih Muslim, Thauban, the servant of RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa
sallam, he said a Jewish rabbi came to Prophet Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and said
salaamu alayka (peace be upon you) Oh Muhammad. So Thauban said I pushed him until he was
about to fall down. So the rabbi said how comes you are pushing me. I said because you didn’t
say RasulAllah (messenger of Allah) how can you just say Muhammad. So the rabbi said we call
him by the name which he was named by his parents. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam
responded and said yes, my name which my parents gave me is Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa
sallam. So the rabbi said I came to ask you. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said will you
benefit if I answer you. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam doesn’t want to get involved in
an argument.
He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said you have some questions to ask, are you asking to learn. So
this man said I am going to hear with my ears; meaning I might benefit maybe I am not going to
benefit. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said go ahead and ask. Eventually he (the Jew)
said what is the treat when you enter into Jannah? RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said
the liver of the fish (or a whale but could mean either fish or whale).
Now brothers and sisters even if you are not particularly in love with fish you are going to like
this it’s different then any other fish you had but its going to be good and this is going to be the
appetiser. The main course will be according to the next question. He (the Jew) said and then
what will they eat after that. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said the bull that used to
graze from the plants of Jannah will be slaughtered for them. In other words, there is this bull
right now that is grazing in Jannah and it is fattening itself and preparing itself for you to eat so
it’s going around and eating from the plants of Jannah. So how would the flesh of this thing be
when it’s eating from the trees of paradise?
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said this is the main course. And the rabbi said and what
will they drink, what is the drink that will be served along with this food. RasulAllah sallallahu
'alayhi wa sallam said from the spring called Salsabeel. So this is the first thing that you will eat,
appetiser and then the main dish and then the drinks.
And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith that they will enter into
Jannah. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said as soon as you enter the gates of paradise
you will know the directions to your mansion better than you knew the directions to your house
in Dunya. Because that is where you are from, you’re from Jannah, right? Where was Adam
'alayhi sallam born, where did he live? In Jannah. You are his children so now you are going
back to your real home so your heart will guide you towards your address and you will know it
better than you knew your address in Dunya.
So now you’re rushing through the different streets of Jannah to make it towards your mansion
and as soon as you get there you see this huge palace which previously you have underestimated,
until you got there and seen what a place is awaiting for you and it is something that cannot be
described because the architecture is completely different then anything we have in Dunya.
Allah aza wa jal says: (interpretation of meaning) Mansions on top of each other. So here you
have rooms on top of each other, they are not next to each other they are hanging somehow over
each other and you have rivers flowing in between so it is an architecture that you can’t even
describe. And then you see that next to this mansion that you have another mansion which is
actually a tent, it’s not a palace it’s a tent but it is made out of a hollow pearl. RasulAllah
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says it is sixty miles wide that’s the tent in Jannah.
You want to have more of those? the prescription is simple; if you build a Masjid Allah will
build for you a palace in Jannah. And there is even something even easier; if you pray the 12
voluntary Sunnan of Salaah you will receive a palace in Jannah; two rakat before Fajr, four
before Zuhr, two after Zuhr and two after Maghrib and two after Isha. You got your mansion in
Jannah, it’s that easy.
But now something distracts you from taking a look at the design of your mansion you are
greeted with your wife in Jannah and as soon as she appears you will forget about everything
else you are not going to pay attention to the mansion, you are not going to pay attention to the
trees because you have seen something that has obsessed your vision. And Ibn al-Qayyim says
you will be there staring at your wife for forty years, Allahu Alim (Allah knows best) how he got
that number but it could be possible and that is al-Hoor al-‘Ayn.
And Allah subhana wa ta’aala has described al-Hoor, these are two gems and Allah aza wa jal
says (interpretation of meaning) they are like protected pearls. And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi
wa sallam says in Bukhari, if one of the women of Jannah shows up in Jannah to the people of
the earth and you are here on earth, RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says she would fill
that distance with light and she would fill it with her scent. And then RasulAllah sallallahu
'alayhi wa sallam says and the scarf that is on her head is better than the world and everything in
it. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is not talking about her just the cloth that is on top of
her, is better than the world and everything in it, and this hadith is in Bukhari.
So you enter into Jannah and she greets you and you spend some time with her talking whether it
is from Hoor al-‘ayn or your wife in Dunya. And then now you start waking up and you start
noticing other things in Jannah. So you are paying attention now to the furniture which Allah
subhana wa ta’aala has provided for you in your mansion.
Now you are not the one who designed the layout nor was it your wife. The layout of the
furniture in your mansion was designed by the angels and Allah aza wa jal says (interpretation of
meaning) the layout of the beds is very high the pillows are spread out. So even the layout of the
furniture not the just the fabric of it and the contents of it, is amazing. And then when you get
into the fabric and material of itself, Allah subhana wa ta’aala has described the furniture that
you will have in Jannah but remember that the quality in Jannah everything is different.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam once he received a gift a piece of cloth; silk. Now the
Sahabah radhiAllahu anhum coming from a very simple background they have never seen
something as sophisticated as this piece of cloth. So when RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa
sallam received this gift the Sahabah radhiAllahu anhum were grabbing it and holding it and it
was passing from one hand to another, and they are all touching it amazed at the quality of this
piece of cloth. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam smiled and told them are you amazed at
the quality of this cloth, the handkerchiefs of Saad bin Muadh in Jannah are better than this. Just
the handkerchief, the tissues are better than this piece of cloth.
Now you decide that you and your wife will go for a visit in Jannah to spend some time in this
mansion and now you want to go out and take a look at what is waiting for you in Jannah. There
are a lot of surprises for you. So you want to leave and an angel offers to accompany you to be
your guide. So you go with this angel to visit the different parts of your territory it will take you
a long time just to see what Allah has given you.
So you are going around and you smell this wonderful scent and you are trying to locate the
source of that smell and to your amazement you find out that this is coming from the dirt. The
dirt of Jannah is actually musk. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says the soil of Jannah is
very fine, white in colour pure musk (Muslim). So it is very fine and white in colour snow white
and it is musk that is the soil of Jannah.
You continue with your journey and you hear the flow of water so you ask the angel to take you
there and you go and visit this river of yours and there are cups there waiting for you. So you
drink from this water and you are sitting there just drinking. The angel tells you that this river
belongs to you. And you are drinking from that river and you don’t want to go anywhere just
drinking from this water, so the angel tells you if you want you can just sit here and drink as
much as you want but you have another river, how about we go and visit it.
So you jump up and decide to go with the angel, you and your wife to visit this other river. You
get to this other river and to your amazement it is not a river of water but it is something else it is
a river of milk. And the colour and taste of it does not go sour because of time. It does not expire
it is always fresh. So you sit there and start drinking from that river. Again you want to take
advantage of time before the expiration date and the angel tells you don’t worry it will be fine.
Even if you come a month from now it will still be fresh. So you are drinking from that river and
you don’t want to go anywhere else.
And the angel tells you it is up to if you want to stay here you can but you have a third river. So
you decide that you want to see this other river that is reserved for you and you find out that it is
not water not milk but it is khamr, its wine. It is pure enjoyment. So you drink from it and again
the same thing is going to happen and then the angel tells you that you have a fourth river
waiting for you. So now you go and visit this fourth river which is pure honey.
(Surah Muhammad: 15)
These four rivers were mentioned in the Quran in Surah Muhammad verse fifteen. So you drank
a lot of water, wine, milk and honey. The angel offers to take you to the source, the origin of
these rivers. Which RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says there is a sea of water, a sea of
milk, a sea of wine and a sea of honey and out of these seas the rivers come out. And these rivers
pass through the territory of everyone in Jannah. So within your territory, part of the river will be
owned by you.
And now you are noticing the trees of Jannah and the guide offers to take you to see some of the
famous tress of Jannah. Everything in Jannah is interesting but there are some special trees in
there. You will see this tree and the trunk and the branches are all gold. You will see a tree it is
all silver. So the angel offers to take you to Shajarat Tuba, a tree in Jannah called Tuba.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says about Tuba, that the tree of Tuba, it will take you a
hundred years to cross it. And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says the fruits of this tree
produce the clothes of the people of Jannah.
So you go to this fruit and you just pick up brand new clothes. So you grab for yourself a
garment and you are leaving and your wife is grabbing the first, the second and the third taking
all of the clothes she could get, while the guide is waiting for you.
And then the guide will take you to the greatest tree of all and that Sidratul Muntaha. Sidratul
Muntaha is a tree of Sidr. Sidr is a tree that exists in Dunya, it is a tree that grows in Arabia and
it is a special tree. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said the one who cuts down a sidr tree
will be thrown in hellfire head first. So it is a special tree and it is also the highest tree in Jannah,
it is right under the throne of Allah aza wa jal.
In the journey of al-Isra wal-Mi'raaj, RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam got to see Sidratul
Muntaha. And he sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said that I saw this tree and then the light of Allah
came over this tree so it was covered with colours that I cant even describe. And it is mentioned
in Surah Najm, so this is the tree that is on the top of Jannah.
(Surah Najm: 14-15)
Now these trees are loaded with fruits, they are year round. There is never a season where you
won’t find fruits and no one will be prevented from eating the fruits of any tree. And there is
going to be a pair of everything, so there is two types of oranges, mangoes, two types of
everything. And if you eat an orange today, if you eat an orange tomorrow it will have a different
taste and its better. So Jannah is not the same, Jannah is always improving everyday is better
than the day before.
How can you increase your share of the trees of Jannah? Again it is quite simple. When
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam met with Ibrahim alayhi sallam in al-Mi'raaj. Ibrahim
alayhi sallam told Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, Oh Muhammad give your ummah
my salaams. This ummah is so blessed that the Anbiya of Allah aza wa jal want to give it salaam.
Ibrahim alayhi sallam, the first thing he tells Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam when he
meets him; is give your ummah my salaam. Why? Because this is a special ummah you are the
best ummah brought forth from mankind. And when Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam
passed next to Musa alayhi sallam in the Mi’raaj; Musa alayhi sallam cried. They told Musa
alayhi sallam how comes you are crying. He alayhi sallam said because a young man who was
given prophethood after me; nevertheless more of his ummah will enter Jannah than mine.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says I wish that you will be one quarter of Jannah and
then RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said that I wish that you would be one third of
Jannah. And the Sahabah said Allahu Akbar. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said I wish
that you would be half of Jannah. And then the Sahabah said Allahu Akbar. And then in the end
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said you will be three quarters of the people of Jannah.
The ummah of Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is three quarters of the people of Jannah,
this is the greatest ummah that ever existed.
How can you increase your share of trees again? Ibrahim alayhi sallam said give your ummah
my salaam and then he alayhi sallam said tell them that the trees of Jannah are SubhanAllah
Alhamdulilah Laa Ilaaha Illa Allah wa Allahu Akbar.
You remember those automatic antennas that as soon as you turn the radio on the antenna would
just pop up, you have that in some car models. So you say SubhanAllah you will have a tree
grow for you in Jannah. Alhamdulilah Laa Ilaaha Illa Allah wa Allahu Akbar a tree will grow it
is that easy, continuously make this dhikr. SubhanAllah Alhamdulilah wa Laa Ilaaha Illa Allah
wa Allahu Akbar.
Now you want to have some more food, you really didn’t have anything after that meat that you
had as soon as you entered into Jannah. So your tour tells you; you can have it wherever you
want, you can have it in the mansion, in the tent, in the gardens it is up to you. So you make an
order and you ask the tour guide what is available. The tour guide points everything around you
is yours. And you see this bird that looks healthy and nice, so you point to that bird and as soon
as you point it is right there on your dish roasted and ready to go. You thought that it was going
to take some time for the cook to prepare it but you just point to it and it is right there ready to
go.
So you have some of this meat and you drink from which ever river you want. If you don’t want
to have anything from you river at the time you can order some Salsabeel. You can order from
any of the other springs of Jannah, it is all yours. So you had a nice meal.
By the way when it comes to the wine of Jannah it is different than the wine of this world.
People when they drink in Dunya they get a jolt of pleasure but it comes with many
consequences. The four negative aspects of khamr in dunya are number one; you become drunk.
Number two; it could cause a headache. Number three; vomiting. And number four; increase in
urination.
Ibn Abbas radhiAllahu anhu says that the khamr of al-Akhirah is purified of these four things.
So it is pure enjoyment. You drink it, it makes you very happy and it gives you a pleasure but it
doesn’t come with the defects of khamr in Dunya.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam was once describing a river in Jannah and he said that he
saw birds drinking from this river. And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said the necks of
these birds are like the necks of camels. Now the camel has a very long neck, so these birds are
huge. When Umar ibn Al-Khattab radhiAllahu anhu heard that he said these birds are having fun
drinking from this river. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said the ones that are going to
eat these birds are going to have more fun. So yes these birds are having fun but if you eat that
bird you are going to enjoy it more. So that is the food of Jannah.
And now you are beginning to notice the fine details of Jannah. In the beginning you were still
obsessed with the major things that you are seeing; the palace, your wife and all that and now
you are starting to notice the fine details of the things in Jannah. So you are noticing the plates
and the cups, you notice that you are presented with wine in a cup made of silver but it is a
different and unique type of silver because it is transparent. Now how could silver be
transparent?
Crystal-clear, made of silver. They will determine the measure thereof (according to their
wishes).
(Surah Al-Insan: 16)
It is transparent nevertheless it is made of silver. So how could you get this transparent silver?
This tour has taken a few decades to finish. Don’t think that that is an exaggeration because
along the way you ran across a rose that looked quite beautiful so you spent a few years staring
at it. You see in Jannah there is no time limit on anything you are there for eternity, so why rush
things?
You want to sit in front of this rose and just stare at it for a hundred years, what’s the problem
you don’t have any work, no appointments. And there is no time limit on anything. You want to
spend a few months drinking from your river. You want to spend a few years talking to your
wife. It is all up to you. You do whatever you want, there is no time constraints whatsoever in
Jannah.
So now decades have passed since you entered into Jannah and you will suddenly hear an
announcement. Every single citizen of Jannah is summoned to appear next to the barrier that
separates between Jannah and Naar. So all of the people of Jannah gather next to this barrier and
when everybody is there both of the people of Jannah and the people of hellfire, they are all
called.
The angels will come forth and they are bringing with them death. And death will come in the
form of a ram. And death will be placed between Jannah and Naar and then the angels will
slaughter it and kill it. So this is the death of death. And the people of Jannah will be told that it
is pleasure and you will never die. And the people of hellfire will be told it is punishment and
you will never die. It is eternity for both of you.
And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says that is one of the greatest moments for the
people of Jannah. When they will realise that this blessing is endless and that there is no death
that will follow them. One pleasure following the other.
So now you will request an appointment with RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and you
will go and meet Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and you will spend a few years with
him, again Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is not in a hurry, you are not in a hurry.
Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam would love to meet you if you are part of his ummah
and you are in Jannah, just as you would love to meet him sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
Remember that Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam cares for you so much that his wives are
called Ummahatul Mu’mineen the mothers of the believers. He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is the
father of the ummah and his wives are the mothers of this ummah.
And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam has said it to the Sahabah radhiAllahu anhum I wish
that I can meet my brothers. So he sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is eager to meet you. And then the
Sahabahs’ radhiAllahu anhum said aren’t we your brothers. And then he sallallahu 'alayhi wa
sallam said you are my Sahabah my brothers are the ones who will come and they have never
seen me.
So just like RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is so eager to meet you, you are also eager to
meet him and you can spend a few years with him talking about whatever you want. And then
you will meet Umar ibn al-Khattab radhiAllahu anhu. You will meet Musa alayhi sallam and
Adam alayhi sallam. You will ask Umar ibn Al-Khattab radhiAllahu anhu about his Khilafah.
You will ask Musa alayhi sallam about his experience with Firaun. You will ask Adam alayhi
sallam all of the questions that you had in Dunya that were not answered. And these meetings are
limitless and you can have them whenever you want wherever you want.
And We shall remove from their breasts any deep feeling of bitterness (that they may have), (So
they will be like) brothers facing each other on thrones.
(Surah Al-Hijr: 47)
Allah aza wa jal says we have taken out of their hearts all ill feelings, they are brothers sitting on
these cushions. All of those ill feelings that existed between you and your brothers will be taken
out. So you will love everyone in Jannah and you will have no problems with anyone in Jannah
even if that person happened to be your enemy in Dunya.
RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says their hearts are so close to each other as if it is one
heart. Everyone in Jannah has one heart as if it is one heart that is how the hearts are compatible.
So part of the fun that you will have in Jannah is meeting your brothers even the ones that you
didn’t know. You want to be introduced to everyone in Jannah.
You want to meet the Muslims of Bani Israel. You would want to meet the Hawareyin, the
followers of Isa alayhi sallam. You want to meet the few who were with Nuh alayhi sallam. You
want to meet everyone and you could do it.
You will be introduced to a pair of gardens that you have. RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa
sallam says you will have two gardens everything in them is gold and you will have two gardens
everything in them is silver. The trees, the cups, the plates, everything.
Now we talked about the general, common pleasures that everyone likes but sometimes there
could be something you have a particular interest in. Will those desires be fulfilled? If for
example you happen to be somebody who loves Xbox that is something that will be given to you
in Jannah if you wanted it.
There is a particular brand of car that you love; you want to own this particular car, is that
something that could be fulfilled in Jannah? The answer is yes. If you have any special needs or
requirements in Jannah they will be fulfilled and the evidence is in Sunnah. RasulAllah sallallahu
'alayhi wa sallam says (actually I don’t have the exact text for this hadith). A man in Jannah, one
of the people of Jannah will say oh Allah I want to own a farm, I want to plant trees. He just
loves farming. Allah aza wa jal will ask him oh my servant aren’t you enjoying the pleasures that
I have already given you. He will say yes but I love farming and this is something in my heart
that won’t be satisfied unless I’m farming.
Allah aza wa jal will tell him then you can own a farm. So he will be given this farm and he will
be provided with a seed. As soon as he throws the seed it will immediately grow up and the fruits
will grow and they will be harvested right there on the spot. When RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi
wa sallam was mentioning this story there was a Bedouin who was there and he was laughing.
This Bedouin said this man who wants to farm in Jannah must be somebody from Medinah.
Who would want to farm in Jannah, for the Bedouins they weren’t into farming the Bedouins
were shepherds and the people of Medinah used to be farmers. So this Bedouin is laughing and
he is saying this man must be from Medinah. This Bedouin does not know there are a lot of
people around the world who love farming even more than the people of Medinah. But this is an
example of a wish that will be fulfilled for you in Jannah in case you have that special desire. If
you love hunting, fishing whatever you want will be fulfilled.
The day of Friday is a special day in Dunya and it is also a special day in Jannah. RasulAllah
sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says that the people of Jannah every Friday will go to a gathering
place and they will be seated according to how close they were to the Imam in Khutbah tul
Jummah. So it is a reserved seating you can’t just go and pick a seat, it is reserved according to
where you used to be in the masjid in Jummah. The closer you were to the khateeb on Jummah
the closer you will be to Allah in that gathering because that gathering is between the people of
Jannah and Allah aza wa jal. And that is when the people of Jannah will get to see the face of
Allah aza wa jal.
And RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says that this is the greatest pleasure they will be
given, it is to see the face of Allah aza wa jal. Now RasulAllah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam says
that the people of the lower levels in Jannah will get to see Allah aza wa jal once a week on
Friday but the people who are in Al-Firdaus a’aala with get to see Allah aza wa jal twice
everyday, once in the morning and once in the evening. This is Al-Firdaus a’aala.
And then Allah subhana wa ta’aala says that the last daa’wah of the people of Jannah will be
Alhamdulilah Rabbil Alamin, praise be to Allah, this is their dua, this is the final dua. There is
nothing else that they want everything was fulfilled. So al-akhirah wad daa’wahum
Alhamdulilah Rabbil Alamin. The last daa’wah will be Alhamdulilah praise be to Allah, thank
you oh Allah.
In Jannah there is no stress, there is no pressure, there is no hatred, it is pure enjoyment. Now the
people in Jannah are not eating because they are hungry and they are not drinking because they
are thirsty and they are not clothing themselves because they are naked. They are eating for pure
pleasure and drinking for pure pleasure and wearing clothes for pure pleasure. There is no feeling
of hunger in Jannah and there is no feeling of thirst, that feeling of thirst was eliminated in
Yawm al Qiyamah when you had a drink from al-Hauth.
And the hunger is satisfied by the initial meal that they had when there were entering into
Jannah. So the sole reason they eat is to enjoy it. Plus there is no responding to the call of nature,
there is no urination in Jannah. People in Jannah do not defecate, why? Because everything that
they eat comes out as musk from the pores of their body. Therefore you can eat as much as you
want and you can drink as much as you want for the sole purpose of pleasure, just enjoying the
taste and the flavour.
Our brief and short tour of Jannah is over; I hope that this would increase your desire to actually
be there. There are some other issues that we would like to cover regarding Jannah but we will
take a break inshaAllah ta’aala.
Sallallahu Ala sayyidina Muhammad Wa Ala Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa Salim
Transcribed by Niyaa for www.an-najwa.com

THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD CD 1

2009-05-18T15:16:00.001-07:00

THE LIFE OF
MUHAMMAD
(Sallalahu Alayhe Wassalam)
THE MAKKAN PERIOD
IMAM ANWAR AL AWLAKI
CD -1: Transcribed by Javeria Aqeel
Recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha
The Holy Quran:Chapter 1
The Holy Quran: Surah Al Ahzab
Chapter 33: Verse 33 & 34
O Prophet (MuhammadSAW )! Verily, We have sent you as witness, and a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner. And as one who invites to Allâh by His Leave, and as a lamp spreading light.(through your instructions from the Qur'ân and the Sunnah the legal ways of the Prophet saw ).
PREFACE
The life of Muhammad Sallalahu Alayhe Wassalam (saw) introduces the Makkan Period of the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad saw, the final Messenger of Allah and the greatest human being to walk on the face of the earth.
In this series, Imam Anwar Al Awlaki , author of the best selling series The Lives of the Prophets, eloquently presents the Makkan Period of the life of Muhammad (saw) in a detailed manner, deriving valuable lessons from it, thus making it relevant to our modern times.
This series is primarily based on Ibn Kathir’s book on Seerah. Imam Al Awlaki describes the stories of the golden era of Islam in a dynamic style and installs in the listeners the deep love for the beloved of Allah Subhana Wataalaa.
Imam Anwar Al Awlaki was born in New Mexico in USA. His parents are from Yemen, where he lived for 11 years and received the early part of his Islamic Education.
Imam Anwar Al Awlaki has served as in Imam in Colorado, California and Washington DC. Currently he resides in Yemen.
INTRODUCTION
Duas
In the Name of Allah, the Companionate, the Merciful.
O Allah Open my heart, ease my task and remove the impediments from my speech so that they may understand what I say.
We ask Allah Subhana Watala to bless this gathering, We ask Allah Subhana Watala to benefit us from what we learn, we ask Allah Subhana Watala to teach us that which will benefit us, we ask Allah Subhana Watala to make us of those who follow the way of Rasool Allah saw and love him and we ask Allah Subhana Watala to make us of those who will be with him in Jannah.(Ameen)
Definition of Seerah
The word Seerah has a linguistic meaning which means a path. Walking is called Sair, when you walk from one place to another it is called sairtu Ful an is walking.
So it is a path which a person takes during his life time. The hans dictionary Gives the translation of Seerah as conduct, comportment, demeanor, attitude, behavior, way of life, attitude, position, reaction,. way of acting and biography, All of these are meanings of Seerah. Seerah could be the biography of any person, not just prophet Muhammad (saw), however we have used the word so much with Muhammad (saw), that when we say Seerah, we almost all the time are referring to the life of Muhammad saw. However, we can say the seerah of Abu Bakar , Seerah of
Omar (ra) and so and so. So Seerah is a biography of a person, their life.
In this situation we are studying the life of the greatest, Muhammad (saw)
Importance of Studying Seerah
What is the importance of studying Seerah?
No 1: History of Islam
The life of Muhammad (saw)is the history of Islam. You are studying the concise history Islam. By studying the life of Muhammad (saw). In his Seerah you would find situations and incidences that would help us in everything that we would need to know in our life of dawah. So we are not just studying the biography of a person, we are studying the history of our religion.
Muhammad ibn saad ibn waqas, -Saad ibn Waqas is one of the ashra-e-mubasharah, he is one of the 10 given glad tidings of paradise. His son Muhammad would say that our father would teach us the battles of Rasool Allah, he would teach us the seerah of Rasool Allah and he would tell us that these are the traditions of your fathers, so study them. They used to refer to Seerah as maghazi. Maghazi means battles. The latter part of life of Rasool Allah were spent in maghazi. So they would use the word maghazi to refer to the whole life of Rasool Allah.
Ali bin Hussain ibn Ali bin Abi Talib- the grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib would say we were taught the Seerah of Rasool Allah like we were taught Quran. That is how important Seerah was for them. They would study it like they studied Quran.
And that makes sense, because if you want to study the life of Musa (as) where do we go, where do we study It from? From Quran! If we want to study the life of Isa (as) we go to Quran, but if we want to study the life of Muhammad (saw), his life, even though there are bits and pieces of it mentioned in the Quran, but we don’t have that many details about Muhammad (saw) in the Quran as we have about Musa (as). So the life of Rasool Allah saw ,for us, to study it we go to Seerah. All of the anbiya, their lives were recorded in the Quran with the exception of Muhammad (saw). So to study the life of Muhammad (saw) we go to Seerah. When we want to learn about the anbiya, we go to the Quran. But when we want to learn about Muhammad saw, we go to Seerah, again even though there are some references about him in the Quran.
No 2: Love
The second reason to study Seerah is to develop the proper love of Muhammad saw in our hearts. Loving Muhammad saw is Ibadah. Its part of our religion to love Muhammad (saw)
Love for Muhammad saw
Muhammad saw says: “None of you will attain true faith until you love me more than your parents, your children and the whole world” (Bukhari, Book of Belif, Hadith 14)
We don’t really become true believers until we love Muhammad saw more than any thing else. So it is part of Islam to love Muhammad (saw).
Omar bin Khattab (ra) he came to Rasool Allah saw and said…. He was a very honest and a straight forward person. So went to Rasool Allah saw and said O Rasool Allah I love more than everything except my self” I love you more than anyone except my self”
Rasool Allah saw told him “until you love me”, meaning you don’t really attain the complete faith until you love me more than your own self. So Omar bin Khattab came back and said” O Rasool Allah, Now I love you more than my own self” Rasool Allah saw said “Al aan eman ” “ Now you have attained the complete faith”
The Ummah today loves Muhammad saw. If you ask any Muslims Do you love Muhammad saw, they would say yes.
But the love can not be very deep and sincere unless you know the person. If you have shallow information about someone, you can’t really love them a lot. To love a person you need to know them more. And this is especially true with Muhammad saw. Because the more you know him, the more you would be impressed with his personality, the more you would love him. So even though Muhammad saw, among the Ummah today with the shallow information that the masses of Muslims have about him, even though they still love him, but we can not truly have deep love for Muhammad saw unless we know him. You know the Sahaba ra, the more they knew him, the closer they were to him, the more they would love him.
Amr bin Al As, for example- He was one of the staunchest enemies of Muhammad saw. He was one of the top plotters against Islam. Amr bin Al As, he later become a Muslim, and when he was passing away, Amr bin Al As started weeping, he was crying on his death bed, so his son Abdullah bin Amr told him Oh My Father, Dint Rasool Allah saw give you the glad tidings of this, didn’t he give you glad tidings of that. It is reported in the hadith that Rasool saw said “Aamana amr” That Amr bin Al As has attained faith. So this is a witness from Rasool saw that Amr bin Al As is a momin. Not only a Muslim, but he is at the higher level of Momin. So his son was trying to give his father the glad tidings that you are a true believer. Rasool Allah saw has given you all of these glad tidings, how come you are crying now before your death.
Amr bin Al As- he turned around and said: I have went through 3 stages in my life. At the first stage, the most despised man to me was Muhammad saw. And my desire was that I could get hold of him and kill him. That was my desire. That was my wish, my aspiration- to kill Muhammad saw. He said that if I had died at that time, I would definitely would have been in the hell fire. He said that then Allah put the love of Islam in my heart and I went to Muhammad saw and said O Muhammad , I want to become Muslim. Extend your hand so I can pledge allegiance to you. Amr bin Al As says Muhammad saw extended his hand forward and I pulled my hand away. So Amr bin As, he had Rasool saw extend his hand and when Rasool saw was ready to put his hand in his, Amr bin Al As pulled his hand away. Rasool Allah saw told him “Whats wrong” Amr bin Al as said, I have a condition to make. Rasool Allah saw asked him,what is your condition? . He said, my condition is that you pardon me, you give me clemency. Because Amr bin Al as knew, the things he had done in the past, the great crimes he had committed against the Muslims, is sufficient for his execution. So he wanted to make sure that Rasool saw would not hold him accountable for what he did in the past.
So Rasool Allah saw smiled and he said: Ya Amr “ Arabic” Don’t you know that Islam erases everything before it and Hijrah erases everything before it and Hajj erases everything before it.”
Amr bin Al said so I became a Muslim. He said that at that stage, Muhammad saw, who was my worst enemy, became the most beloved person to me in this world. He said that I loved him so much, I respected him so much, I couldn’t even get a full glimpse of his face. When ever I would see him, I would stare downwards. He said I had so much love and respect for him that I couldn’t even get a full glimpse of his face. And if you would ask me today to describe him to you…I couldn’t. He said that if I had died during that stage, I would have hoped to be in Jannah.…There are other parts of this hadith, but what concerns us now is that Amr bin As, when he got to know Muhamamd saw, when he became close to him, Muhammad saw, who was his worst enemy became his most beloved friend.
Sohail bin Amr was sent by Quraish, to negotiate with Muhammad saw before Sulah Hudabiya. Sohail bin Amr was an international negotiator; he had been to the courts of the Persian emperor, the Roman emperor, the emperor of Abyssinia. He was a well connected man. And now Quraish sent him to negotiate with Muhammad saw.
So he went into Madina and he came in and he had first hand experience with how the Sahaba ra treat Muhammad saw. So Sohail bin Amr went back to report to Quraish. He told them, he said I have visited the Roman emperor I have visited the Persian emperor, iv visited najashi(Negus), the king of Abyssinia, but I have never in my life seen a leader that is so loved by his followers , so much respected by his followers, like Muhammad saw. I have seen nothing like it in the world. The Roman emperor, the Persian emperor, Najashi of Abyssinia, even though they have all the powers, strength and empires, I have never seen a people love their leader so much like the Sahaba ra loved Muhammad saw. He said I saw amazing things. Muhammad saw would be making wudu, and the Sahaba would be watching, to grab the water dripping from his body. So he told them, do what ever you want, these are the people who would never give up their leader. The Sahaba, they would never give him up. They would give their lives first. They would sacrifice everything for him.
So if we want to love Muhammad saw, we need to learn more about him. I have already said that even though, among the masses of Muslims, we know people don’t have much information about Muhammad saw, they don’t know a lot about his Seerah, coz its not part of the curriculum that schools in the Muslim world teach, never the less even though, we are ignorant about him and his life, he is still the most beloved figure that ever lived in humanity. His name is the most common name in the world. How many people in the world are name Muhammad? There is no other person that ever lived in history who had so many people named after him like Muhammad saw.
When I was in college in the US, we had an imam, he was from Nigeria. And he was a hafiz and he was our imam in the small town in US. His name was Muhammad Al Ashr. The word ashr means the 10th. So for a long time I assumed that Al- Ashr is his last name. Muhammad Al Ashr. One day I went up to him and asked What is Al Ashr? Is that the name of the tribe or the clan? He said No. He said my father would name every male boy that was born as Muhammad. All of this children, he would name Muhammad. So to distinguish between us he had to number us. So there was Muhammad the first, Muhammad the 2nd, Muhammad the 3rd, I am Muhammad the 10th. So his father doesn’t want to deal with any other name. All of his children are gonna be Muhammad. And in Pakistan and India you would have Muhammad Haroon, Muhammad Suleman…every body Muhammad. There is No one in history that had an Ummah love him so much, like the Ummah loved Muhammad saw. He is the most beloved figure in history.
So what would be the situation if we studied his life. I mean how much love would we have then for Muhammad saw? His name was the most frequently mentioned names. Around the clock, there will be minaret that is calling to prayer and is mentioning the name of Muhammad saw. Around the clock. Coz muslims now are world wide. So in every time zone you have Muslims. So every minute of the day, there will be a Moaazan saying “Ashhadu La ilaha il Allah, Ashhadu ana Muhamamadar rasool Allah” His name is mentioned around the clock.
And by the way, the name Muhammad means the praised one. And there is no one who is praised like Muhammad saw. I mean his name really fulfills its meaning. He is the praised one, he is always praised. When ever we hear his name, what do we say? “Sallalahu Alihe Wassalam”
So we want to develop love for Muhammad saw, and the way we can do it is by studying his life, we will love him more, the more we study about him.
Allah tala saya “Say:If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives or your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight … are dearer to you than Allâh and His Messenger, and striving hard and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allâh brings about His Decision (torment). And Allâh guides not the people who are Al-Fâsiqûn (the rebellious, disobedient to Allâh) (Surah Taubah: 24)
So the ayah is stating that our love for Allah and his messenger and striving in the cause of Allah and his messenger should be paramount to everything else. Our fathers, Our sons, Our brothers, our mates, our kindred, our wealth, everything. To love our messenger and Islam should be the dearest thing to every one of us.
No 3: To follow the Best Example
Ibn Hajar says who ever seeks the preeminence of the hereafter, the wisdom of this life,just purpose,and the embodiment of morality and character, let him follow Muhammad saw the Prophet of Allah. So Muhammad saw is the embodiment of “Khuluq”- The perfect character. And by studying his Seerah, we will be more able to follow his way.
No 4: Understanding Quran
There are some ayats in the Quran that are independent of the circumstances of revelation. Like for example, the ayats about the Akhira, Ar-raqaik . These are independent of the circumstances. But then there are some ayats that are dealing with events that were happening in the time of Muhammad saw. So you would have some ayats revealed prior to an event, some ayats revealed concurrent with an event and some ayats revealed after an event.
Seerah would give us the explanation of these ayats. Like for example Surah tul Ahzab. Manay ayats of surah tul ahzab were revealed regarding the battle of Al-Ahzab. Many ayats in surah Al Imran were revealed relating to an event that happened in the time of Rasool saw. So you have a major section of Surah al Imran, which was a dialogue between Muslims and Christians, based on the Christian delegation that came from Najran to visit Rasool Allah. These ayats were revealed to support Rasool saw in his dialogue with the Christians. And the latter part of Ale Imran is dealing with Ghazwa e Uhud. Now the details of the Ghazwa are not mentioned in the Surah. So how can we understand these ayats? By going to the Seerah.
No 5: His life (Muhammad saw) illustrates the methodological steps of the Islamic movement.
Rasool Allah saw went thru stages; he went through steps started by a secret dawah. And then it became public. And then later on Jihad. So it went through stages. These stages are important for Islamic movement to learn and study. Name missing He says.. “And we believe that this methodological progression of the prophet’s life is divinely directed. For Allah has guided his prophet and all of his steps, and it was not a result of a reaction to an emerging circumstances. So these events that happened in the life of Rasool saw were not haphazard. They were planned by Allah Subhana Wataala. So that they would be a guidance for us, in our attempts to establish Islam again. So it is very important for us to see the stages that rasool Allah saw went through and the progression of his dawah.
Rasheed rida says that were it not for the education and training, verbal direction would not suffice. For the Seerah taught them how to be guided by the Quran and trained them to be just and moderate in all matters. So, we have Quran and Sunnah which are verbal teachings, but how do we apply these verbal teachings? It is by looking at the application of Rasool saw and the Sahaba (radiAllahu Anhum). So they took this verbal teaching into action and that is something that only the Muslims have, I mean the followers of all other anbiya have lost ____ of the Seerah of their anbiya, but with us we know how the Quran was being practiced, we know how the Sunnah of rasool Allah saw was being practiced and applied.
There is an ayah in the Quran which says that you can continue eating and drinking at night time of Ramadan until the white string is distinguished from the black string. One of the Sahaba, he took this literally. What he did was that he had a string under his pillow… and he would eat and then he would uncover the string , he would pick up the pillow, he wouldn’t see the string, so he continued eating … and he would keep on doing that and then he went to Rasool saw and said this is what I have done. Rasool saw laughed and he said that it doesn’t mean you take a string in your room and you take a look at it. It means the white string which is the first emergence of light in the horizon that is what is meant by it. So Rasool saw taught this Sahabi how to apply that ayat, because I could get a dark room with no windows alright and I have a string with me and it would be noon time and I still can not see it and I continue to eat. So the application of the ayats and the hadith of Rasool saw are shown to us in the life of Muhammad (saw) and the life of the Sahaba.(RadiAllahu Anhum)
No 6: Studying Seerah is Ibadah
We are not doing this to entertain our selves. This is ibadat. There is Ajr, there is reward in studying this. We are worshipping Allah by coming together and studying the life of Muhammad saw. This is the halaqa of zikr. This is the session of zikr where we come together and talk about Muhammad saw , we are worshipping Allah Subhana watala. And we expect that this is a gathering which is surrounded by angels, in which Allah subhanawatla will shower us with his mercy and tranquility and we be mentioned in a gathering better than this. So it is ibadat and Allah subhana Watala says “Say if you do love Allâh then follow me (i.e. Muhammad saw) Allâh will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."(Ale Imran 3: 31)
No 7: Developing a Muslim Identity
There is a global culture that is being forced down the throats of everyone on the face of the earth. This global culture is protected and promoted. Thomas Friedman, he is a famous writer in the US, he writes for the New York Times. He says, the hidden hand of the market can not survive without the hidden fist. Mc Donalds will never flourish without Mc Donald Douglas- the designer of F15s.
In other words, we are not really dealing with a global culture that is benign or compassionate. This is a culture that gives you no choice. Either accept Mc Donalds, otherwise Mc Donald Douglas will send their F15s above your head. It is very intolerant culture, that can not co exist with anything else. It uproots every other culture on the face of the earth. Just cuts the roots of it. And you have a quote here by Alexander Sofzen. He is a famous Russian Historian writer. He says To destroy a people, you must sever their roots. So its really a destruction of the people of the earth because every other culture is being demolished. So this is not a global culture that will co exist with others, it will replace others. And the only ideology that is standing up to this global culture is Islam. But still, as Muslims and especially Muslims living in the west, we are suffering from a serious identity crisis. I mean you would find that even though the brother or the sister would be practicing Islam, but the identity it self, the Islamic identity itself is lost. I mean person would have more in common with the rock star or a soccer player then they would have with the companions of Rasool Allah saw. You would find that our youth know more about pop stars than they know about the Sahaba of Rasool saw . Infact even sometimes more than the Anbiya. How many of our youth know the names of all of the Anbiya of Allah? How many of our youth know the names of the Sahaba ra. But ask the same person to name the soccer players on their favorite team or their best basketball players and they would go down the list. So there is a serious identity crisis that is going on among Muslims.
And the way we can counter that, they way we can develop the Muslim identity is:
Steps to Develop Muslim Identity
No 1: By having a strong study of Islamic history. Which is made up of the lives of Prophets of Allah. The life of Muhammad saw, the life of the Sahaba ra and then learning in general, the Muslim history after that. So that’s No 1. You develop an identity, by having an attachment with history. Because our history, is our umbilical cord. This is our life line. We are an extension of an Ummah. We are not separated; we are not severed from our roots. We are a part of a glorious Ummah that we need to study about.
No 2: By being part of the world wide Muslim Ummah. Our local identity should not over ride our Muslim identity. So my identification with Britain or America or Pakistan or Kuwait or any other country should not over ride my Islamic identity. See this “nation/state” concept is something that Islam came to abolish. We have our loyalty to Allah Subhana Watala and to our religion. And we are part of a world wide Ummah. Therefore we need to study; we need to learn about our Muslim brothers all over the world. What happens in Palestine should concern every British Muslim. What happens in Kashmir should concern every American Muslim. What happens in every part of the Muslim world, should concern me as if it is happening within my own house. So these are the two important elements in building an identity.
No 1: Having a deep understanding of your History
No 2: Being part of the Ummah and caring about the Ummah.
And again the saying of Alexander ________ “To destroy a people, you must first sever their roots”
We don’t want our roots to be severed.We want our roots to be deep. Studying the life of Rasool Allah saw is the most important thing we can read in our history.
No 8: The Life of Muhammad saw is a Testimony of his Prophet-hood.
The greatest miracle of Muhammad saw is Quran and Muhammad saw had many other miracles. But just studying his life in itself is an evidence of his Prophet hood.
Here we have a man, who for forty years was leading a normal life. The outstanding thing about the life of Muhammad saw in the first 40 years was his morality and character. But Rasool saw did not show any signs of aspiration to power or influence. None of that at all. Rasool saw was leading a normal life and then suddenly after the age of 40, Rasool Allah saw brings about the greatest change that the world has ever seen. That’s an irony. That’s a miracle. Rasool Allah saw was illiterate. He could not read or write. And then he presents the world with the greatest book, ever produced. And we could go on and on… the list of ironies of things that are only explained if Muhammad saw was a messenger of Allah. Who had divine help. Otherwise its impossible. There is no way to explain the Seerah , except to admit that he was a nabi from Allah. It is impossible for a person to achieve, what Muhammad saw achieved without being assisted by Allah Subhana Watala through revelation. So it’s a testimony of his prophet hood.
There you have Muhammad saw leading a normal life for the first 40 years. Then suddenly he becomes a political leader, military leader, religious leader, head of a large house hold, law maker, teacher, Imam and go on and on the list of the things that Prophet Muhammad saw used to do. All of this was done within a span of 23 years. Impossible!
Which would lead to the next point that
No: 9 We are studying the life of the Greatest
We are studying the life of the greatest man that ever set foot on this earth. Muhammad saw is the greatest. And what ever bench mark you want to use for greatness, he would still come out the greatest. Micheal Hart, he’s a US Author, he wrote a book called the The 100 Most influential People that lived in history. After studying the lives of leaders through out history, it became clear to him that Muhammad saw is the undisputable greatest man that ever lived.
He is the greatest and in his introduction he feels compelled to respond to what the readers of the book might think because he is mostly writing for a non Muslim audience. So many people would question his choice of Muhammad saw , so therefore in his introduction he writes, he says “ My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the worlds most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others. That he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.” And then he goes on to say that it is this unparallel combination of secular and religious influence, which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.”
So Micheal Hart is compelled by the facts. I mean there is no doubt that Muhammad saw is the greatest.
But then he has to apologize to his readers, I mean he has to say that this is out of my hands. I mean there is no way I could put anybody else in front of him. Muhammad saw is the greatest. In fact, if we take Muhammad saw as a military leader, just that aspect of his personality, he would still come out the greatest. If we only take Muhammad saw, only the religious aspect of his life. He would still be the greatest. Muhammad saw as a political leader, he would still come out to be the greatest. So even if you dissect the different aspects of life of Muhammad saw and take them piece by piece, by just taking one piece alone, he would still be greater than anybody else that ever lived. So we are studying the life of Al-Mustafa. Mustafa means “the one who is chosen” Allah subhanawatala chose him. Al-Mustafa al khalqi He is chosen out of all the creation of Allah.
There might be some other reasons, why studying Seerah is important.
Sources for this Course
Seerah of Ibn Kathir.
Ibn Kathir, he did not write a book called Seerah. Ibn Kathir wrote an encyclopedia of history. Called bidaya wan niaya. Called The beginning and the End. And it is literally the beginning and the end.
He started from the beginning of creation and went all the way until people enter Jannah and hell. One of his volumes is about the life of Rasool Allah saw. Another volume is about the Prophets and another is about Khalifa Ar Rashida. Khilafa Muwaya , Khilafa Abbasia. And he went all the way upto his times. The last volumes is called Al Fitan. Signs of the day of judgment and then the day of judgment and Jannah and hell.
So we are going to be taking his part of Seerah as a primary source. We will talk a little bit on why I have chosen ibn kathir to be our primary source.
Sahiah As Seerah ibn Nabawuya is the second book that I have used in compilation of these notes by Ibrahim Al Ali .
Science of Seerah and Science of Hadith: The Difference
Traditionally, Seerah was a separate science from hadith. Even though there are some areas where they cross each other, there is over laying, over lapping between them. But traditionally Seerah had a different set of rules compared to hadith.
Scholars of hadith were very stringent, very strict in their rules. While scholars of Seerah, were more liberal, more flexible. The reason is, when they were dealing with hadiths and drawing ahkam and drawing rulings, they wanted to make sure they were basing the rulings on hadiths that were sound. They do not want us to worship Allah based on weak sources. So that’s why they applied very strict rules to hadith.
However, when it came to Seerah, they were more flexible in their rules, because they saw this as history which does not affect ahkam. It does not affect rulings. There is no ahkam based on it. So imam Ahmed bin Hanbal, who is a scholar of hadith, he says when we talk about history we are more flexible. So you would find that writers of Seerah would accept narrations ,they wouldn’t normally accept if they were dealing with hadith. So that’s one track that was followed by our early scholars.
The Seerah of Ibn Ishaq was written according to these rules. The Seerah of Al Maqraizi, ibn Saad, all of these early scholars of Seerah, they followed these flexible rules in narration.
Recently, there was a new trend among some of our scholars. They wanted to apply the rules of hadith on Seerah. Why?
These scholars said now we are living in a time when the history of Rasool saw is ahkam for us. In time of imam ibn Hanbal, Khilafa was established, so when they studied the life of Rasool saw, they were studying to learn general lessons from it, but it wasn’t to guide them in methodology of a movement. Because Islam was already established.
But now we need to go through the Seerah and learn rules from it. On how to do dawah and how to establish Islam again. So it’s becoming similar to fiqh applied to us. Therefore they say we should apply the same rules of hadith on Seerah.
The second book which is Sahih Seerah ibn nabawiya is based on the rules of hadith. So what these scholars did, they went into Bukhari, they went into Muslim, they went into Sunnan Abi Dawood, they went into these books of hadith and they gathered the bits and pieces that were referring to Seerah. And they constructed the Seerah of Rasool Saw based on Hadith. So rather than going to the book of Ibn Ishaq, they would go to Bukhari. Rather than come to Maqrizi or other earlier scholars or ibn Hisham, they would go to Muslim. Saeed Hawa has written a book based on hadith, its called the asas ul Suna. This book we mentioned by Ibrahim Al Ali which is called Sahiah Seerah ibn Nabawiya. And there are few other books also following this line.
Now the reason why I chose ibn Kathir as our primary source is because ibn kathir, he combined both in one book. So he would draw information from the books of Seerah and he also draw information from the books of hadiths. So you would find him narrating from Bukhari and narrating from Ishaq. That’s why you would find the Seerah of kathir unique.
Just one draw back with the Seerah of Ibn Kathir is that it is a bit complicated and cumbersome to use, because he would mention all of the chain of narration, sometimes he would not stick to a chronological order and some times he would bring in information that seems to be contradicting. But it is an excellent source and Alhamdulilah, it is now present in the English language.
It has been recently translated by MC Gothic. A professor in the us and it is a very good translation. Other books we might not be using, some of them , I have got quotations from them.
We have Manhaj Al haraqi by Moid Al Ghabban. The thing about this book is that the author tried to draw movement lessons from Seerah. So he would divide it into Secret stage, public stage, then he would go through the Hijrah and then different stages of Jihad. So he tried to construct a movement work line from Seerah. It is a recently written book.
Then you have Fiqh as Seerah by Muhammad Ghazali. (rahimullah) This book has tarbiya lessons.
There is another book by the same name Fiqh As Seerah by Al Buyti. Muhammad saeed Ramadan Buyti. And Al Buyti emphasizes on fiqh. He draws many fiqh lessons from Seerah.
And then there is a book called Al Ghuraba by Sheikh Salman Auda. And it is dealing with Hadith of the Strangers. And he tries to draw co relation with the strangers in the time of Rasool saw and the strangers now. Al Asas al sunna, we talked about this by Saeed Hawa and then At Tariiq Il Al Madina by Muhammad Al Abda, which is lessons drawn from Seerah and Fiqh As Seerah by Al Buyti.
Arabic Terminologies
Sallalahu Alihe Wassalam: means May the peace and blessings of Allah be on him. This is what we say when we hear the name of Muhammad saw. Now the Hukum of saying it : It is mandatory to say it the first time you hear the name of Muhammad saw. Any other time after that, it is recommended. So in this lecture, the first time you hear the name of Muhammad , it is mandatory to say Saw. Any other time after that as long as we are in the same gathering, it is recommended. So this is the hokum of Salat salam ala Muhammad saw.
Rasool Allah: The word Rasool Allah means the Messenger of Allah.
Jahiliya: Is the ignorance of the Pre Islamic era. So Jahiliya is a time period but it is also conduct. Whenever you have a time that resembles the pre Islamic era, it is called jahiliya. And you will find that Syyed Qutub uses this word a lot in reference to the times that we are living in. he says that there is a lot of resemblance between it and the early jahiliya. So jahiliya comes from the root word Jahal, which is ignorance. So it is the time of ignorance. The absence of the message. Even if the message is there and the people are not following it, it is a jahiliya.
Eman: Faith
Jannah: Paradise
An Naar: Hell fire
The last section is discussing the difference between hadith and Seerah scholars. We talked about this. Hadith scholars more stringent in their narrations coz of basing their rulings. Seerah scholars less stringent coz they want us to get the stories, so they were flexible in their narrations. We mentioned that we are using a combined approach. So I will use hadith and in the situations where there is no hadith, we will fill in the gaps by referring to Seerah.
So this is the introduction to the series. Inshallah o Tala the next session will start talking about some background history.
Sallalahu Alihe Wasalam Ala Muhammad waashabihe wasalam
SubhanaKalahuma Wabihamdik,Ashaduan La ilaha ila inta, nastaghfiruka wana tubu ilaik
1

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfxct2b8_86hchgx3gv

The Madinan Period 1,2,3,4,5 CD

2009-05-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

1
The Madinan Period
The Hijrah to Medina
CD#1
Insha’Allah Ta’ala we’ll start with the hijra of Rusool ullah (pbuh). I have already covered in the past the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Mecca. So Insha’Allah in these sessions we’ll talk about the early stage of Medina,and we’ll start with Al-hijra, but before that just a word on Seera. The books of seera are concerned with what usually historians are concerned with, and that is the history of politics and the history of the military engagements. When it comes to the Ikhlaaq of Rusool ullah (pbuh) you’ll find those in the books of Hadith, if your interested in the the SHAMAYA of Rusool ullah (pbuh), which are issues related to his character, you’ll find those in the books of SHANAYAS. However the books of seera usually cover the political and military aspects of the life of Rusool ullah (pbuh) and that’s why many of us scholars call seeras MAGHAZI, maghazi means “status”. However we’ll try to bring in the verses of Quran that relate to the event that were happening at the time of Rusool ullah (pbuh), because Quran would comment on events that happened in the time of Rusool ullah (pbuh). Sometimes the ayat of Quran would precede an event, sometimes the ayat of Quran would come concurrent with an event and sometimes the ayat of Quran would come to comment on an event. So for example you have Ghazwat ul Anfal, which was revealed, talking about the Battle of Badr and what happened therein, for the battle of Uhud you have the end of the Surah Al-Imran which relates the story. Surah tul Hashr talks about the battle of Banu Nadir, Surah Munafiqun and Surah Al-Nur relates the battle of Bani al-Mustaliq and also Surah Al-Ahzab relating what happened in the battle of the Trench. So we’ll try to bring in these verses that relate to these events in seera. We’ll start with the hijra of Rusool ullah (pbuh). Allah zaujal revealed ayat in Mecca talking about al- Hijra. Allah Zaujal says: Az- Zumar (39:10)
Say, "O My servants who have believed, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good, and the earth of Allah is spacious. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account."
So Allah Zaujul in this ayat says “waardu Allahi wasiAAatun” the earth of Allah is spacious, meaning that if you are suffering oppression in Mecca then you can move somewhere else where you will be able to apply and live according to the religion of Allah Zaujal.
Mujahid was one of al- Muffassirun, one of the Imams of tafsir, he says commenting about this ayat, he said “make hijra in the land and fight in the way of Allah Zaujal and stay away from the idol worshipping” and Atta one of the early scholars of this ummah, he said “if you are invited to do a sin then run away” so we should run away from sins and these two quotes are in the tafsir of Ibn Kathir. Allah Zaujal also says: An-Nahl (16:41)
Allah Zaujal says “And those who emigrated for [the cause of] Allah after they had been wronged - We will surely settle them in this world in a good place; but the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if only they could know”
so notice here, Allah Zaujal is promising the ones who make hijra for His sake and the ones who have been oppressed. Allah promises them that He will settle them in this world in a good place, so what does this mean? What does this mean, when Allah Zaujal says that We will settle them in this world in a good place? Some of the scholars of tafsir said if we look at the al-muhajirun, the ones who moved out of Mecca and went to Medina. They all later on became a leader of a state or a leader of an army so Allah Zoujal gave them a better status in this World than what they had in Mecca, But Allah Zoujal says ‘but the reward of the Hereafter is greater’ so Amar bin Khattab when he became khalifa and he would give money or gifts to the muhajirun he would tell them “This is a gift from Allah for you in this World but what Allah has reserved for you in the Hereafter is even greater.” And the scholars say whoever leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah Zaujal will give him something better. Allah Zaujal says: An- Nahl (16:110)
” Then, indeed your Lord, to those who emigrated after they had been compelled [to renounce their religion] and thereafter fought [for the cause of Allah ] and were patient - indeed, your Lord, after that, is Forgiving and Merciful”
So hijra has a very high status in islam. Have you ever asked yourself the question, where did they stay, when they moved from Mecca to Medina? Did they check in to hotels? Or, did they stay in refugee camps? No, they stayed in the houses of Ansar, and that’s why we call them ‘ansar’. That’s why we call them the ones who gave victory to islam. Ansar means they gave support, they gave victory to the religion of Allah. Their houses were open for the muhajirun, even though they were very modest houses for example Al- Hasan Al Basri says that “I entered into the rooms of Rusool Allah (pbuh) and I could touch the ceiling with my own hand and when Rusool Allah (pbuh) would pray in the room of Aisha, he would have to touch her, so that she would move her feet away so that he can make sujood.” Every, every wife of Rusool Allah (pbuh) had a room, that was it just one room, you know they didn’t have a kitchens, living rooms, and a balconies, bedrooms, basement, etc. Every wife of Rusool Allah just had one room, it was that small. So for example in the house of Habib ibn Usa, Talhah ibn Ubaydullah his mother and Suhayb that’s where they stayed. Hamza stayed in the house of Sa’d bin Zurra, Saad bin Khaitan all of the bachelors stayed in his house so they called it the house of bachelors. Ubaida ibn Haris and his mother Tufayl ibn Haris, Tunayl bin Amr, Al Hussain bin Haris, all of them stayed in the house of Abdullah ibn Salama. So one thing that you learn is that being generous and being supportive of muslims is one of the signs of emaan, it was one of the signs of al- ansar (ra).
There were two hijras, one to Medina and the other to Habasha. So what’s the difference the difference between the two? When it comes to the hijra to al- Habasha, they went there flee persecution but they didn’t become part of the society in Abyssinia, they weren’t really part of the society, rather they were secluded. Therefore there ability to change the society was hindered. They were like refugees in Abyssinia and that’s why when they left Abyssinia they didn’t leave a strong Islamic impression behind. However the Hijra to Medina was a hijra to establish the Islamic community, so there’s a big difference between the two.
Some of the virtues of Medina:
Rusool Allah (pbuh) asked Allah to make them love Medina so he said “Oh Allah, make us love Medina like we love Mecca or more” Rusool Allah (pbuh) made duas that Allah Zaujal gives barakat in Medina , this hadith is in Bukhari, “Oh Allah double the barakat (double the blessings) of Medina compared to what you have given Mecca” It was Ibrahim Allayhissalaam asked Allah to give barakat in Medina. So Rusool Allah (pbuh) is asking Allah Zaujal to double the blessing in Medina.
Medina is protected from dajjal. Rusool Allah (pbuh) says that there are angels on every entrance to Medina protecting it from dajjal.
There is a special reward for being patient on the hardship of Medina, because, it was difficult to live in Medina at that time. It was very hot and the environment was harsh so Rusool Allah (pbuh) says in Sahih Muslim, “Anyone who is patient on the hardships of Medina, I will be his intercessor on the Day of Judgement, I will intercede on his behalf on the Day of Judgement”.
There is a special blessing of dying in Medina, Rusool Allah (pbuh) says, “Whoever is able to die in Medina then let it be so, because I will intercede for you on the Day of Judgement” and this hadith is in Muslim.When Amr ibn Khatab became khalifa, he wanted to die in Medina and he also wanted to die as a shaheed. So he made a dua to Allah saying, “Oh Allah, I want to die as a martyr in the town of Your Prophet” so his daughter Hafsa said, “Oh my father, how can you become a shaheed in Medina when it’s safe? Medina is the capital of the muslim empire if you want to die as a shaheed you need to go to Iraq; you need to go to Syria, not in Medina”. Amr bin Khattab said, “If Allah wants something to happen, He will make it happen”. So not only did Amr die as a shaheed in Medina, he died in as a shaheed in the mosque of Rusool Allah (pbuh) while praying.
Medina is also the refuge of emaan. Rusool Allah (pbuh) says in Bukhari that, “Emaan seeks refuge in Medina or goes back to Medina like a snake would go back to his hole”. Medina cleanses it self from the impure or the unclean. Rusool Allah (pbuh) says in Muslim, “In the name of Whom my soul is in His hands, nobody leaves Medina because he doesn’t want it anymore, except that Allah will replace him with someone better than him” and then Rusool Allah (pbuh) says that “Medina cleanses itself from the people who are impure or the people who are evil” and Rusool Allah (pbuh) says “the Day of Judgement will not occur until Medina drives out all of the evil people in it like the fire will drive out the impurities of iron”.
Allah Zaujal protects Medina, Rusool Allah (pbuh) says, “Whoever plots against the people of Medina, Allah will make him dissolve like salt dissolves in water”, and this hadith is in Bukhari.
And Medina also is sacred so Rusool Allah (pbuh) says, “You are not allowed to cut down trees in Medina, your not allowed to hunt in Medina, your not allowed to carry weapons in Medina, because of its sanctity”. So these are some of the blessings of Medina.
Before Rusool Allah (pbuh) decided to make hijra, the people of Mecca plotted against him. They came together and they started discussing how to deal with the Islamic problem. Some of them suggested that we should throw Muhammed (pbuh) in jail. The response was that it is not a good idea because if we throw him in jail his followers will come and take him out, they’re going to revolt against us. So the second suggestion was to exile him, drive him out of Medina. They rejected this stating that his talk is very sweet, so he’s going to deceive other people, and eventually they will believe him and then they’re going to come back to challenge us. So the third suggestion was that of obviously no one other than Abu Jahl he gave the idea of killing Rusool Allah (saw), and said, the way to do that would be to appoint a strong man from every clan, give him a sharp sword, and then have them all strike Muhammed at once, so that his blood will disperse among the different clans of Mecca, so that the family of Rusool Allah (pbuh) will not be able to seek revenge and then they will ask for blood money and we will be happy to pay to them. They said this is the suggestion we adopt. And Allah Zaujal says: Al – Anfal (8:30)
“And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners.”
So they plan to execute Prohet Muhammed (pbuh), they wanted to assassinate him, but Allah Zoujal will protect him. Allah Zoujal told Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) to recite the following dua, this is an ayat in surat al- Isra: (17:80)
And say, "My Lord, cause me to enter a sound entrance and to exit a sound exit and grant me from Yourself a supporting authority."
So to ‘cause me’ to enter a sound entrance is to go to Medina and to exit a ‘sound exit’ is to leave Mecca, ‘and grant me from Yourself a supporting authority’, because Allah Zoujal is teaching Muhammed that this religion is supported by authority. Rusool Allah (saw) says that “Allah Zoujal sometimes could support this religion through authority in ways that Quran can not support the religion.” And that’s why khilafah was a very important concept to the muslims. Infact the sahabah met to decide the issue of khilafah before they buried Rusool ullah (pbuh) as we mentioned in the story of Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra).
Rusool Allah (pbuh) set out to prepare for hijra, Aisha Raziullah unha said that, one day at midnoon in the house of Abu Bakr, “we saw a man approaching us and he was masked”, he covered his face, so Abu Bakr Siddiq saw that it was Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), he said ‘Prophet Muhammed wouldn’t come at this time except if its something important’ this was because it was at noon and people ususally sleep at noon. So Rusool ullah (pbuh) came in and he said, “Oh Abu Bakr had everyone in your house leave?” Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) said, “The only ones who are in my house are your family oh Rusool ullah.” Meaning my family is like yours, you can trust speaking in the presence of my family because they’re like your own family. So Rusool ullah (pbuh) said, “I was given permission to leave and make hijra to Medina.” Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) said, “Oh Messenger of Allah, can I be your companion?” Rusool ullah (pbuh) said, yes. Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) started to weep, Aisha Raziullah anha said, “I never saw somebody weeping because of pleasure, because of joy, like my father that day.”
Now I just want to stop right here and say, this was not an entertaining journey. Abu Bakr knew very well that he was risking his life, by being the companion of Rusool Allah (pbuh) on hijra. So how come he is crying of joy? When he knows that he is putting his life on the line. Brothers and sisters this shows you the level of sacrifice, that Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) is willing to go to and it shows you that he is so happy, to sacrifice for Rusool ullah (pbuh). His heart was not trembling he was not afraid, he was instead crying of joy knowing that he could be killed. But this shows you the love that he had for Rusool ullah (saw).
Rusool ullah (pbuh) appointed Ali ibn Abu Talib to sleep on his bed, and this is another sacrifice because Ali ibn Abu Talib was also risking his life. But these were the sahabah of Rusool ullah (pbuh), this is how far they were willing to go. Rusool ullah (pbuh) and Abu Bakr left Mecca.Rusool ullah (pbuh) loved Mecca very much, he looked back and said, “ In the name of Allah, you are the most beloved land to Allah, and if it wasn’t that I was driven out from you, I wouldn’t have left. I wouldn’t leave Mecca if I had the choice.” But he was driven out of it. The journey started and Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) for sometime would walk ahead of Rusool ullah, and then for sometime he would walk behind Rusool ullah. So the messenger of Allah noticed this and asked Abu Bakr, “How come sometimes you walk infront of me and sometimes you walk behind me?” Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) said, “When I remember that somebody could anguish you infront of us, I would walk ahead of you, and then I remember that somebody could be pursuing us, I walk behind you.” Then Rusool ullah (pbuh) said, “Oh Abu Bakr would you rather have harm happen to you or to me?” Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) said, “Oh messenger of Allah, I would rather have happen to me, and not to you.” And then they reached the cave so Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) went in to check the cave to make sure there were no snakes, scorpions, or ambushes, and then he told Rusool ullah (pbuh) to come in. When they were in the cave, the kuffar of Quraish succeeded in following their tracks until they reached to the mouth of the cave. Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) told Rusool ullah (saw) “Oh Rusool ullah, if one of them would stare right under their feet, they would see us.” They were right there at the mouth of the cave. Rusool ullah (pbuh) with all confidence, he said, “Oh Abu Bakr, what do you think about two men if Allah is the third?”, “Abu Bakr how would you regard the safety of two people who had Allah as their third companion?” You know what stopped them from entering the cave? It was the web of a spider. Allah Zaujal says about the web of a spider: Al-Ankabut (29:41)
“ … the most feeble of houses is the house of a spider…”, with one finger you could tear down the whole web, so this feeble weak web was the soldier of Allah, what stopped the disbelievers from entering into the cave, and this shows us that Allah Zoujal can choose sometimes the weakest of His creations to be His soldier. This story of the web of the spider is an agreeable narration, it is hassan. Allah Zoujal reveal this ayat later on after the hijra. This ayat is in Surah Taubah, where Allah Zoujal is speaking to the sahaba and telling them, “If you do not aid him now , Allah has already aided him.”.
That day when Abu Bakr was the only companion of Rusool ullah (pbuh) and the kuffar surrounded the cave, none of the sahaba were around and Allah didn’t need them to support the prophet. Allah sais : At-Tauba (9:40)
“If you do not aid the Prophet - Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us." And Allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allah - that is the highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.”
The angels of Allah were the unseen soldiers, however the spider was the seen soldier. Now they stayed in the cave for three days, during those three days Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr, would spend a day in Mecca, listening to the conversations about Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and Abu Bakr. He would spend the nights with Prophet Muhammed (saw) and Abu Bakr. He would tell the servant of Abu Bakr, Amir ibn Fuhayrah, to follow him with his sheep. There was a double purpose for this, the sheep would provide milk to the prophet and Abu Bakr, and the sheep would also cover the tracks of Abdullah and Amir. Thus no one will know where they went. This procedure went on for three days. The guide, Abdullah bin Uraiquit, then showed up, he was a mushriq, but the Prophet (saw) hired him because he had an alliance with the people of Quraish. So he was responsible for showing them a different route, from Mecca to Medina, than what people usually take. They began their journey to Medina, not following the regular route. They followed the coastline until they reached Medina.
The people of Quraish had a bounty on the capture of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and Abu Bakr, hundred camels for each dead or alive. They had sent their messengers to the bedouin tribes in the desert to inform them of the reward. These tribal people were the experts of the roots of the desert. One of the heads of the Bedouin tribes, Suraqa ibn Malik, said, “I was sitting in the gathering of my people, when a man showed up and said, ‘I saw two men in the horizon and I think that these are the two men the Quraish are looking for’, I told him no, these two men were here a while ago, they just left. I told him that to deceive him, but I knew that those two were Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and Abu Bakr, but I told him that because I wanted the camels for myself.” So Suraqa stayed in the gatherings for a while, so that they wouldn’t be suspicious, and then he went to his house and told his servant to go and prepare his horse, and to hide it, he then left from the backdoor. He carried his spear which was’ ‘dragging on the ground’. This was because spears are long; he didn’t want anyone to see it. He mounted his horse and went towards the direction where that man thought he saw Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and Abu Bakr go. Later the guess turned out to be correct. Suraqa was now only few meters away from becoming a millionaire. Abu Bakr was looking back while Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was reciting the Quran, Muhammed (saw) never looked back, and he was confident; he knew that with the help of Allah victory was in their hands. Abu Bakr was very concerned, not for himself but for the safety of Muhammed (pbuh). Abu Bakr told the prophet (pbuh) that there was someone pursuing us. Rusool Allah (pbuh) then made a dua, and the horse of Suraqa sank in the sand, causing Suraqa to fall of the horses back. Suraqa’s greediness insisted on following them nevertheless. He tried again but he fell off his horse again, he claimed that this never happened to him before. The third time it happened to him, he said a cloud of dust exploded in my face from the front. Suraqa then knew that Allah was supporting this man. Suraqa then asked them to grant him peace. Suraqa who was pursuing Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was now worried about his own survival Suraqa said, “Write for me a warrant of security.” Thereupon the Prophet (saw) ordered ‘Amir Ibn Fuhayrah to write the warrant which he wrote on a piece of tanned leather or bone. Suraqa preserved the document as a memento of sorts. (SubhanaAllah 8-9 years later he was arrested when Muhammed was laying Siege to Persia, Suraqa was a captive; he took this paper out, which saved his life.) Suraqa went back to Mecca he discouraged the Quraish on finding Muhammed; he did this on Prophet Muhammed request. So eventually Suraqa became a guardian for Muhammed, who was before an enemy.
Rusool Allah (pbuh) and Abu Bakr visited the tent of Umm Ma’bad, a woman of Khuza’a. She was a very generous woman, anyone who would pass by she would feed them. But when the prophet (pbuh) and Abu Bakr reached there, she didn’t provide them with anything. Rusool Allah (pbuh) asked her if she had anything to spare. Her response was that if she had anything, you wouldn’t have had to ask. Apparently Umm Ma’bad owned a ewe but it was weak and her udder had dried up due to drought. Rusool Allah (pbuh) asked if he could milk the ewe, she allowed. Rusool Allah (pbuh) asks for a big container, knowing that she had no milk. He touches the sheep and starts milking it, the milk flows out, till the vessel is full. He first gives Umm Ma’bad some to drink then everyone else until everyone was satisfied. Rusool Allah (pbuh) was the last to drink, he said, “the servant of the people is the last to drink.” Rusool Allah (pbuh) left some milk for Umm Ma’bad. When Abu Ma’bad came back home with his flock of sheep, he asks his wife where did the milk come from? She said a blessed man visited us and he was the one who milked the ewe. He asked her to describe this man to her. Umm Ma’bad gave the description of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), which remains until this day the best of the descriptions ever given of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), even though she only met him once.
And I’ll read to you her description of Rusool Allah (pbuh) she said, “I saw him to be a man of evident splendor, fine in figure, his face handsome, slim in form, his head not too small, elegant and good-looking, his eyes large and black, his eyelids long, his voice deep, very intelligent, his brows high and arched, his hair in place, his neck long and his beard thick. He gave an impression of dignity when silent and of high intelligence when he talked, his words were impressive and he was decisive not trivial not trite, his ideas like pearls moving on their string. He seems the most splendid and fine looking man from a distance, and the very best of all from close by, medium in height, the eye not finding him too tall nor too short, a tree branch as it were between two others but he was the finest looking of the three. The best proportioned, he was the center of his companion’s attention. When he spoke they listened well and if he ordered they hurried to obey. A man well helped, well served, never sullen, never refuted.”
Her husband said, “This man must be Muhammed, the one who Quraish are pursuing, if I meet him I will pledge allegiance to him and become Muslim.” Umm Ma’bad had already pledged allegiance to Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), thus she became Muslim.
Some lessons from hijrah
The concept of hijrah: there are two types of hijra the figurative hijrah and the literal hijrah. The figurative hijrah is as was mentioned in a hadith in Annasai, “Hijrah is to leave what Allah Zaujal dislikes.” So this is the figurative hijrah, it is to emigrate from the state of sin to the state of obeying Allah Zaujal. Allah Zaujal says in the Quran, “stay away from impurities” make hijrah from impurities, from idol worshiping from evil, and this type of hijrah is mandatory on everyone. All of us have to leave from the state of sin to the state of obedience. Then we have the literal hijrah, and that is to move from one land to another, you move from the land of evil to the land of good. Examples of that are the hijrah of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and the sahabah or the hijrah of the man from the children of Israel who killed a hundred people and then he went to consult a scholar, the scholar told him that, Allah will accept your repentance but you have to move from this town of evil, and move to another where people will support you in worshipping Allah Zaujal.
The first lesson: Hijrah can cause an economic boom. For example, the muslim Grenada, the last Islamic state in Andalusia; the Christian north, Spaniards started taking over, conquering Islamic land, the muslims started migrating to southern Spain. The population boom of the south reached over 2 million, but these men were skilled, causing Grenada to flourish. It eventually became the wealthiest state in all of Europe.
Now we have a surge of Muslim minds immigrating to the western world, so the Muslim land is deprived of their abilities.
The second lesson: When Rusool Allah (pbuh) for the first time was exposed to revelation, he came down from the cave trembling and worried. He went to his wife Khadija Raziullah unha, and told her to wrap him in a garment, that is when the verses of Muzzammil and Muddassir were revealed. Khadija suggested going to her uncle Waraqa ibn Naufal, who was a wise old man who had studied the early scriptures. Waraqa asked Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), “Oh nephew what do you see?” Rusool Allah (pbuh) explained to him what happened, Waraqa said, “This was the angel Jibrael, who used to come down to Musa, and how I wish I were a young man again. I hope I will be alive when your people exile you.” This last statement was a shock to Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), we should keep in mind that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was the most beloved man of the Quraish. Rusool Allah (pbuh) asked Waraqa, “Are they going to exile me?” He affirmed he said, “No one has ever received what you have, without being treated as an enemy, if I’m alive when your time comes, I will give you every help.” Thus Waraqa Ibn Naufal has been speaking of the reality of the history of da’wa. Whenever a person declared the truth of Islam, people rebelled. Allah Zaujal says about the people of Thamoud: An-Naml (27:45)
“And we have certainly sent to Thamoud their brother Saaleh, saying, ‘worship Allah’ and at once they were two parties conflicting.” [27:45]
So Saaleh was in a very similar position to Muhammed (pbuh), he was much respected amongst his people, but when he started to preach the message of Allah Zaujal, the people split in to two conflicting groups. And that is why the Quran is called ‘Al Furqan’, the Criterion; it separates the good and the evil, splitting the society in to two. The Battle of Badr is called ‘Furqan’ for the same reason.
13 years later, what Waraqa had predicted did happen, Allah Zaujal says: Al-An’am (6:112)
“And thus have We made for every prophet an enemy from among the criminals. But sufficient is your Lord as a guide and a helper.”
So every prophet has enemies, that is sunnah of Allah Zaujal.
The third lesson:
We can notice from the hijrah of Rusool ullah (pbuh) the elaborate planning, that went into it. Rusool ullah (pbuh) first visits Abu Bakr at noon, all masked. Then when he entered the house he asked Abu Bakr, to clear his house to maintain secrecy. Third, he had Ali bin Abu Talib sleep on his bed. Fourth, the camels were ready and prepared, Fifth, they left under the cover of darkness from the backdoor. Sixth, they hired a guide. Seventh, Medina is north of Mecca, but just to decieve the disbelievers , they headed south. Eighth, they hid in the cave for three days Ninth, Abdullah would gather information during the day, and provide them with information during the night. Tenth Amir bin Fuhayra brings them food.
Rusool ullah (pbuh) went to and extreme extent to ensure his safe journey to Medina, even though he knew that Allah has promised to protect him, after all he is the Messenger of Allah. But he did this to teach us that as a muslim we have to do our best, this is ‘ahsaan’. Thus this is how we should conduct, and plan our islamic work.
The fourth lesson of the hijrah of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) is the role of women:
How do we hear the story of hijrah? Whether its from Sahih Muslim or Bukhari, it was narrated my Aisha Raziullah unha. All of it was peserved by her. Asma bint Abi Bakr, the sister of Aisha, she tore her griddle to put food into it, to send it to Prophet (saw) and her father, Abu Bakr. Later she suffered because of hijrah, as Abu Jahl and some men from the Quraish came and knocked on the door of Abu Bakr. Asma opened the door, Abu Jahl asked her where her father was, she said I don’t know, in response Abu Jahl slapped her hard on her face. She remained patient for the safety of the Prophet (saw) and her father. Another thing to notice here is that she lied, but it is allowed to lie for the protection of a muslim. The father of Abu Bakr, her grandfather , was a blind man, he came in and he said, “ I see that my son has caused you two sufferings, one, by him leaving, and two by him not leaving you behind any money.” Asma was very creative she went and filled a sack with some rocks, and put it in the hands of her grandfather, to show that her father has left them a lot of money. Her grandfather was satisfied by this, she did this to keep him calm.
The fifth lesson from hijrah is to choose a companion wisely. RusoolAllah (pbuh) chose Abu Bakr Siddiq RaziAllah anhu, he was the best companion that Rusool Allah (pbuh) could make. Abu Bakr (ra) loved Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), his love was genuine and not just lip service. He cried when he found out that he would have the honour of being the Prophet’s (pbuh) companion for hijrah. Abu Bakr was a wise man who RusoolAllah (pbuh) could trust, Abu Bakr was willing to sacrifice his life for the life of RusoolAllah (pbuh). This can be made out by the way Abu Bakr checked the cave before Muhammed (pbuh) entered. This incident was narrated by Amr bin Khattab. When Amr bin Khattab became Khalifa, he heard that some people gathered to discuss, who was better, Abu Bakr or Amr? On hearing this, Amr rushed towards them and said to them, “One day in the life of Abu Bakr is better than the entire family of Amr.” He then narrated this story of hijrah. And said that, that one day of hijrah is not only better than the life of Amr but better than the life of the entire family of Amr’s. This event shows us the recognition that the sahaba had of the high status of Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra).
The sixth lesson: A lot of what Rusool Allah (saw) did during that stage was done in secrecy, he did this to preserve islam and muslims. But a balance needs to be kept between secrecy and da’wa. Da’wa by nature is a public outward act, so how do you keep a balance between giving da’wa and protecting your organisation? In hijrah we find examples of both. Related to secrecy, Ibn Ishaaq says, “And as I had been told, no one knew of the departure of the Messenger of Allah except Ali bin Abu Talib and Abu Bakr and his family.” These were the only people who knew about the hijrah of RusoolAllah (saw). When RusoolAllah (saw) and Abu Bakr were travelling and they would need some people to help, Abu Bakr was a known man while RusoolAllah (saw) was not known outside of Mecca. Abu Bakr used to travel a lot due to his business, because of that he was familiar to most of the people in villages, towns etc. Rusool Allah (saw) didn’t travel much, as most of his da’wa was done in Mecca, except Taif. Although people had heard of him, no one knew what he looked like. Anas ibn Malik said, that Abu Bakr was a known man so people would come to meet him, then they would ask Abu Bakr who was the man with him, Abu Bakr would reply, “This man is a guide, and he is showing me the path.” Now what people would obviously think he was saying was that, he was guiding Abu Bakr through the desert but what he really meant was that this man is guiding him towards Allah. But he said it in this manner to protect the identity of Rusool Allah (saw), because of his fear of endangering Rusool Allah’s (saw) life. At the same time Abu Bakr is not lying. This is what you call Tauree. This is the secrecy part.
But when it comes to da’wa the identity needs to be exposed. So when Rusool Allah (saw) met Buraidah Aslami, he did introduce himself as the last and final Messenger, and did give him da’wa and Buraidah became muslim. Buraidah joined Rusool Allah (pbuh) in 16 out of his 19 battles. Rusool Allah (saw) also came across two thieves. They were also given da’wa, they too became muslim. When RusoolAllah (saw) asked for their names they said, “Our name is the Al Muhanan” , Al Muhanan means ‘the dishonoured ones’, RusoolAllah (saw) disagreed declaring them as the honoured ones. Another example of da’wa was when RusoolAllah (saw) met with a shepherd. RusoolAllah (saw) asked this shepherd for some milk. The shepherd, explained how none of his goats have milk at the moment. RusoolAllah (saw) asked the shepherd if he would allow him to milk it. On his allowance RusoolAllah (saw) did milk it, as a result milk started to flow out. After everyone drank , first the shepherd and then Muhammed (saw) and Abu Bakr, the shepherd asked, “For heavans sake, who are you? I never saw the like of you.” RusoolAllah (saw) responded, “Do you think you can keep it secret, if I told you?”, so the man said, “yes”, RusoolAllah (saw) said I, “I am Muhammed, the messenger of Allah.” The shepherd asked if he was the one the Quraish say, claims to be a sabian. Sabian was a degrading accusation, that the people of Quraish would level towards the muslims. They would call them ‘Assabiun’ rather than ‘muslims’. RusoolAllah said, “Yes, they do say that.” The man said, “I bear witness that you bring the truth and that only a prophet could do as you have. I am your follower now.” RusoolAllah (saw) told him, “You can not be that right now, come and join us, when you hear that I have declared my self openly.” RusoolAllah (saw) does not mean that you can not be a Muslim right now, he meant that he could not join the islamic ja’maa at the moment, because RusoolAllah (saw) is still at that secretive stage. Thus by these examples the balance betweem giving da’wa and the secrecy of RusoolAllah’s (saw) identity can be understood. RusoolAllah(saw) only declared his identity to those people who he thought would respond to da’wa.
The Seventh lesson:
When RusoolAllah (saw) told Abu Bakr that, he had been given the permission for hijrah, and Abu Bakr was ready to join him, Abu Bakr told Muhammed (saw) that, “Here are two camels for hijrah.” RusoolAllah (saw) replied that he will take the camel but, he’ll pay for it. Thus it’s important for the da’i to be financially independent. When a scholar is on the government pay roll, there’s a conflict of interest when that scholar is giving a fatwa on any issue that relates to the government. When the scholar is dependant on the government then automatically the scholar will be hesitant to do anything against the will of the government even if that means favouring falsehood. An example of this is when we hear scholars giving fatwas, that it is allowed to have interest banks. Thus to prevent this evil, there should be financial independence of such Islamic figures.
RusoolAllah (saw) and Abu Bakr were travelling in the desert at the peak of the summer season. It was a very hot weather. The guide took them down the Valley, and Quba to the Banu Amr bin Auf, it was Monday the 12th of Rabi ull awwal, the heat was extreme, the sun had almost reached its peak. The Ansar would go out of Medina everyday in the morning, in the anticipation of meeting RusoolAllah (saw) and greeting him, but when the heat would become extreme, they would go back indoors. So one day, just like their practice, they went early in the morning waiting for RusoolAllah (saw), and when he didn’t show up they went back in. There was a jew who was climbing on one of their high buildings, and he saw Muhammed (saw) and Abu Bakr approaching all dressed in white. The reason why they were dressed in white was that when they had reached the valley of Reem, they met Zubayr bin Awwam (ra), who was accompanying a trade caravan of Muslims returning from Syria. He presented the Prophet (saw) and Abu Bakr (ra) with sheets of white cloth. Anyway this jew after spotting them, called out: “O people of Arabia! What you have been waiting for has arrived!” The Ansar lifted their weapons and rushed to greet the Prophet (saw). The reason why the ansar grabbed their weapons was that it was their tradition, they would do this whenever they would greet an important guest.This was also a sign, that they were willing to offer him protection. This is still a tradition in some tribal societies. Rusool Allah (saw) and Abu Bakr arrived at the outskirts of Medina called Quba, where people started greeting them. Rusool Allah (saw) stayed in Quba for 14 days, during which he built the mosque of Quba, the first masjid in islam. This masjid is special, if you make wudu at your place and pray 2 rakats in the Masjid of Quba Quba then we get the sawaab of one umra. Rusool Allah (saw) stayed in a house called, the house of bachelors, all of the men in there were bachelors. He stayed in the house of Sa’d bin Khathima. He stayed there because he had a lot of visitors, he didn’t want to burden a family with all the havoc. While he stayed there, Rusool Allah (saw) sent messengers to Medina, asking them permission for their entrance. They in response sent for the Prophet (saw) a large delegation, which came and met Rusool Allah (saw) and said, “Come in, you are safe, and you will be obeyed.”
Rusool Allah (saw) was not going to Medina as a guest but rather as a leader. Allah zaujal also says:
SURAH AN-NISA (4:64)
“Every Messenger that We have sent, We sent them to be obeyed …”
So the people are under a duty to follow the Messenger’s of Allah. It was an amazing day when Rusool Allah (saw) entered into Medina, there was a huge celebration. People were greeting him. The men came out armed, the Abyssinians were dancing with their spears, women stood on their rooftops, children flooded the streets just to catch a glimpse of Rusool Allah (saw).
Anas ibn Malik (ra) says, “ The Messenger of Allah did come, and his companion. They were amongst the town people. Even the old people came out to greet them, climbing on top of houses and shouting, ‘which one is he?!’”, Anas Ibn Malik says, “We never saw such a sight before.” People were very happy the Rusool Allah (saw) had arrived. Anas Ibn Malik (ra) said, “I witnessed the day he entered among us and I witnessed the day he died, and I never saw two days as those. I never saw two days like that in my life.” Anas Ibn Malik (ra) sais in another narration, “I witnessed two days. One day was the brightest and best day in my life and that was the day, Rusool Allah (saw) and Abu Bakr came into Medina. The other day was the darkest day and the worst day in my life, and that was the day in which Rusool Allah (saw) passed away and I have witnessed both of them.”
So dear brothers and sisters the best day that Medina had ever had, was the day Rusool Allah (saw) had entered Medina and the worst day Medina has ever witnessed was the day Rusool Allah (saw) left them. Rusool Allah (Saw) was offered to stay in every house in Medina, but Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to stay with Banu Najjar, this is because Banu Najjar were his relatives. Hashim married a woman from Banu Najjar, Banu Najjar are from Khuzruj. Their for Abdul Muttalib, his maternal uncles were from Medina, from Banu Najjar. Rusool Allah (saw) wanted said he wanted to stay with Banu Najjar, then he asked them which house of Banu Najjar was closest to him. Abu Ayyub Ansari responded, that his house was. Rusool Allah (saw) thus stayed with Abu Ayyub. Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to stay on the lower level, while Abu Ayyub was trying to convince him to settle on the upper floor. The reason for this was because peole visited Rusool Allah (saw) often, so it was more convenient for everyone for him to stay in the lower level. Finally Abu Ayyub agreed. Aby Ayyub sais, “We had a container filled with water that fell. We were afraid that the water wuld drip on Rusool Allah (saw) so we used our blanket, and me and my wife only had that blanket. We used it to soak up the water and we had to sleep without that blanket.” This is the generosity that the sahaba (ra) were willing to offer to Rusool Allah (saw).
Another example of the generosity of the people in Medina: Zaid bin Thabit (ra) sais “The first gift made to the Messenger of Allah, after he took up residence in the home of Abu Ayyub was brought to him by myself. It was a big wooden bowl filled with bread crumbled up with milk and butter. I told him that my mother had sent him the bowl. He commented, ‘may Allah bless her’ then he called over his companions and they ate, then a wooden bowl came from Sa’d ibn Ubada, it was bread mixed with meat gravy.” Zaid bin Thabit sais, “not an evening went by without there being, at the door of the messenger of Allah, three or four people, who would come one after the other, carrying food. He remained there in the home of Abu Ayyub for seven months.” These were mostly poor people, who were giving up their food for the messenger of Allah. People loved Rusool Allah (Saw).
A few young girls went out on the streets, and they were singing, “We are girls of the Banu Najjab. How wonderful if Muhammed were our neighbor!” Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Allah knows, that my heart loves you all.” This was the relationship between the people of Medina and Rusool Allah (saw). Allah Zaujal had chosen the Ansar, to be the ansar of Rusool Allah (saw). Towards the end of the Prophet’s (saw) life he said, “If it wasn’t for hijra, I would consider myself to be a member of al-ansar.”
What was the situation of Medina like when Rusool Allah (saw) migrated? There were five tribes living in Medina. Three of them were jewish and two were Arab. The three jewish tribes were; Banu Nadir, Banu Qurayza, and Banu Qaynuqa. Banu Qaynuqa lived in the center of Medina, the market place, they had a business of jewellery. They were previously settled in the outskirts of Medina but were driven out by a war between them and the other jews. Both Banu Nadir and Banu Qurayza lived in forts in the ouskirts of Medina. They had about 59 fortresses in which they lived in. They had a fighting force of about 2000. The two arab tribes were; Al-Aus and Al-Khazruj. They had a fightimg force of about 4000. One tribe lived in the north while the other lived towards the south inside Medina. So Medina was a sort of a city full of many villages, with areas specified for each tribe. The livelihood of the people of Medina was dependant on agriculture. They had palm groves for which the farmers would need money throughout the year, until the time of harvest. The jewish tribes would lend the arabs money who would charge interest on the loan. This created some conflict or bitter feelings between the arab and the jews. This was the situaion prior to the advent of Islam .When islam cam , Medina had muslims , pagan worshippers and jews .. thus there were different ethnic groups. Rusool Allah (saw) had to be very careful while dealing with these people.
There were some people who were not happy of Rusool Allah’s (saw) presence, to give an example of the complicated situation that existed due to the various ethnic groups is that, once Rusool Allah (saw) was riding on his donkey and he went towards a gathering which included arabs, muslim and non-muslim, and jews. When he went there his donkey caused some dust, Abdullah bin Ubayy (who later became the head of the munafiqeen) said, “Keep your dust away from us.” Rusool Allah (saw) did not respond to that, Rusool Allah (saw) started to preach islam to them. When he was finished, Abdullah bin Ubayy said, “Don’t come and bother us in our meetings with your talk. Stay home, and whoever comes to visit you, then tell them your stories.” Abdullah ibn Rawaha, who was a muslim said, “No! We want him to come to our meetings and talk to us.” People then started shouting and arguing, it seemed like a battle was going to occur. Rusool Allah (saw) started to calm them down. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Sa’d didn’t you see what Abdullah bin Ubayy did?” Sa’d asked him what happened and then he responded to Rusool Allah’s response, “Oh Rusool Allah, Abdullah bin Ubayy was a man whom his people was almost going to appoint him king over them, when you arrived. So he feels that you have stripped him of his kingdom.” So Sa’d was explaining how it was understandable that Abdullah was against Rusool Allah (saw), because the tribe of Khazraj was about to appoint Abdullah bin Ubayy as the king over them. So this was the situation that Rusool Allah (saw) was dealing with.
CD #2
When Rusool Allah (saw) reached Medina, he had four projects to work on.
The masjid
Establishing Brotherhood
A covenant that would govern the relationship between the various groups in Medina.
The establishment of the army
1ST PROJECT
THE MASJID
The masjid was the first thing Rusool Allah (saw) worked on when he arrived to Medina. It is to be noticed that the first thing that Rusool Allah (saw) worked on in Qubaa was also a masjid. The reason why it was the first project he launced is because al-masjid is the center of learning for the muslims. The Rusool Allah (saw) had Dar ul Arqam in Mecca and then he was going to built a masjid in Medina which would expand the functions of Dar ul Arqam.
Dar ul Arqam was a secret location where the muslims would meet to pray and teach. But since Rusool Allah (saw) now had established an islamic state, nothing needed to be kept a secret anymore rather they built a mosque called “Masjid-e-Nabvi”.
How did they choose the location for the mosque?
Rusool Allah (saw) was riding his camel and people were pulling it towards their direction. Rusool Allah (saw) said, “Leave it, because it is being commanded by Allah.” The camel while going through the streets of Medina stopped at a particular location which was a field for drying dates. This field belonged to two orphans in Medina. After the camel chose his location, Rusool Allah (saw) said, “This is our place.” This would be the location for the masjid and the Prophet’s (saw) living quarter.
Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to buy the area, but the orphans refused to sell, they said they wanted to give the land to Rusool Allah (saw). The building of Masjid-e-Mabvi began. They built it from mud-bricks and the roof was palm leaves. When it would rain the drops would fall right on top of their heads. The floor was just sand. Even though it was very simple, it was the most blessed masjid , this was where the first generation graduated from. Rusool Allah (saw) also took part, along with the sahaba, in the building of the masjid. The poet among them said, “If we sit down while the messenger of Allah is working, that is a misguided act on our behalf.” Rusool Allah (saw) even carried the bricks for the masjid.
Some lessons from the building of the majsid
First lesson: The masjid was the first thing Rusool Allah (saw) did. Allah Zaujal says:
Al-Hajj (22:41)
“[And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer…”
So when Allah Zaujal grants them authority in the land the first thing they did was establish salah. By establishing a masjid they are establishing the center of salah.
Second lesson: Rusool Allah (saw) taught the sahabah through practice. Our beloved Prophet (saw) worked side by side with the sahabah, he did not give orders from a high place. This explains the role of leaders in islam.
Third lesson: Specialisation is respected in islam, people should do what they believe they are good at. This we can tell because when the Prophet (saw) and the sahabah were building the masjid-e-Nabvi, there was a man from NAJD who was with them. This man was a builder. He asked Rusool Allah (saw) if he should join them in carrying the bricks. Rusool Allah (saw) refused, instead he asked the builder to make the mixture for the bricks and make them.. Thus Rusool Allah (saw) asked him to do this because the builder needed to focus on doing what he was best at. This indicates that in our islamic work, everybody does not have to do the same thing. Everbody does not need to be a good da’I, imam, or a scholar. Allah has given everyone different gifts, people should be allowed to utilise these gifts to their full. A good leader will be able to recognize these gifts and advise his followers on how to strengthen these gifts. But keeping in mind that these gifted abilities should be used for the benefit of Islam.
What is the role of the masjid?
Allah Zaujal says in the Quran:
Al-Nur (24:36)
“[Such niches are] in mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings”
Al-Nur (24:37)
“[Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about”
AL-NUR (24:38)
“That Allah may reward them [according to] the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account.”
This tells us that the masjid is just a building, the real essence of the building are the people inside the building. That is the spirit of the Masjid. The Quran talks about men who are in the houses of Allah, these men are not distracted by money, or making a living. Although they indeed do run businesses or they do earn for a living, but when they are present in the house of Allah, they are busy with the remembrance of Allah only. Thus the primary role of masjid is that it is a place for salah and zikr.
The masjid is the center of learning. In Mecca it was Dar ul Arqam and Masjid-e-Nabvi in Madina. These were the places where Rusool Allah (saw) would give his khutbas, talks, and lectures. Also the sahabas would sit in circles and sit together to study the Book of Allah.
Rusool Allah (saw) says, “If people come together in the house of Allah, studying the book of Allah Zaujal and reading it. Allah will give them four things; Safina (tranquility), rahma (mercy), angels will surround them, and Allah will mention their names in a gathering better than theirs.”
The masjid is a place for muslims to meet. It plays a vital role in their social life. Muslims who pray jama’a would meet five times a day. This would strengthen the bond of brotherhood between them. They also meet on juma’a and this word like jama’a means congregation. Congregation means an assembly of people gathering.
The masjid was a dwelling for the traveller and the poor. There was a place called Ahl ul Sufa which was built for such people in the masjid.
The masjid was the place where the armies set out from. The banners or the standards of war will be handed out inside the masjid.
The masjid was a place for da’wa. When the chirstians from Yemen visited, they stayed inside the masjids. They stayed there, so that they can see the muslims pray and have discussions with Muhammed (saw). This tells us that non-muslims should be allowed to enter masjids.
We talked about how the masjids of Rusool Allah (saw) and Masjid-e-Nabvi were simple. They didn’t have all that fancy decorations.
So what is the ruling on such decorations?
Scholars say that ‘tashheed’ is allowed while ‘zakhrufa’ and ‘naksh’ is not. Tashheed means having good quality building material for the building itself. So after the masjid was first built from mudbricks, it was rebuilt with stones etc. the roof was replaced by wood and all this is allowed. However there is a difference in opinion about the decoration of the masjid. Some say it is haraam and some say it is mukroo. Even the ones who say it is muqroo, they say that if someone designates money to be used as a ‘waqf’, trust for a masjid, it is haraam to use that money to decorate the masjid. The money must be put in for the building of the masjid. This is because substance is more important that symbol.
The Masjid-e-Nabvi was simple (mud bricks) but the best of people graduated from there, and now you have huge, magnificent buildings but this merely shows how much money was thrown into this.
Virtues of Masjid-e-Nabvi
Rusool Allah (saw) sais in a hadith narrated by Bukhari, “One salah in my masjid is better than 1000 salah in any other masjid except the Masjid ul Haram (Ka’aba).” Which means if you pray Isha once in Masjid-e-Nabvi, it is as if you prayed Isha for 83 years in any other masjid. This is the amount of blessing you get by praying in Rusool Allah’s (saw) masjid.
Rusool Allah (saw) also sais, “You should not travel to visit a masjid, except if it is one of three masjids; Al- Masjid ul Haram (Ka’aba), Al-Masjid ul Aqsa (Jerusalem), and this Masjid of mine (Masjid-e-Nabvi).”
Rusool Allah (saw) sais, “There is a garden from the gardens of Paradise between my house and my pulpit, and my pulpit is on my Lake Fount (Al-Kauthar)” Book 30:112
Azaan
Abdullah bin Zaid, one of the sahabah of Rusool Allah (saw) saw a dream, at the time the Masjid-e-Nabvi’s construction was complete. After the completion of the masjid they were now thinking of ways of how to invite people to prayer. Some of the suggestions were to; use a bell like the Christians or blow a horn like what the Jews in Medina ould do. So Abdullah bin Zaid (ra) saw a dream; he saw a man carrying a bell, who Abdullah asked how much he would sell that bell for. The man then asked him why he wanted it. Abdullah responded in the dream, that he wanted it to invite people to prayer. The man then asked him if he could suggest something better. Abdullah asked what it was. The man told him to say:
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
Ash-hadu Al La ilaha illAllah
Ash-hadu Al La ilaha illAllah
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar RasoolAllah
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar RasoolAllah
Hayya’a ala-salaah
Hayya’a ala-salaah
Hayya’a alal-falaah
Hayya’a alal-falaah
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
La ilaha illAllah
Then the man waited for a while, he then said to Abdullah and told him that when you have to make Iqama you say:
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
Ash-hadu Al La ilaha illAllah
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar RasoolAllah
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
La ilaha illAllah
Abdullah bin Zayd later, related this dream to the Prophet (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) realized that this dream was meant to be fulfilled. He then asked Abdullah to teach the words to Bilal, who had a strong and beautiful voice. When Umar (ra) heard the new prayer call, he hurried to the mosque and said that he had heard this call in his dream. When more than one person sees the same dream, it is an indication that it is a true dream. Azaan has become one of the most prominent symbol of islam. It is the most outwardly or public symbol of islam.
In the beginning the direction of the Qibla was towards north. This was because they used to pray towards Jerusalem. A few months after hijrah the Qiblah changed from the north towards the south, the exact opposite direction facing towards Mecca.
Regarding Ahl us-Suffa
When the Qibla was towards the north, the people had built a shed to provide shade, and the place underneath it, was called As-Suffa. The definition of As-Suffa according to Ibn Hajr is that As-Sufa is a place at the back of the Masjid-e-Nabvi, it is shaded and it was prepared for the foreigners. The ones who don’t have any family or any place to stay. Abu Huraira, who was also an ahl al-Suffa says (in Bukhari) about Ahl al-Suffa that, Ahl al- Suffa are the guests of Islam, they are the ones who don’t have any family or wealth to fall back on. So they live in this place called As-Suffa. Now not everyone who lived there was forced to live there, because of their condition.
Some of them volunteered to join Ahl al-Suffa like Abu Huraira, who had enough wealth, but he chose to devote his time to studying and therefore he lived with the people of As-Suffa. He sais about himself that, some people comment that ,how come Abu Huraira narrates more hadith than the muhajireen and the ansar? They wondered this because Abu Huraira was late in becoming a muslim. Abu Huraira narrated more hadith than anyone else. So Abu Huraira explains how the brothers from the muhajireen were busy with business, while he used to follow Rusool Allah (saw) with an empty stomach. He said that he was poor and had nothing but he would follow Rusool Allah (saw) all the time. So he would attend when the muhajireen were absent and he would remember, when they would forget. Then he would explain that the ansar were busy with their farms. He said that he was a poor man and that he would remember what they wouldn’t.
Because Abu Huraira devoted all his time to studying he had time to review all the hadith of the Prophet (saw). Infact Abu Huraira said that he splits the night into three parts. One part for sleeping, one for praying, and one for reviewing the ahadith of Rusool Allah (saw) that he would hear throughout the day. The muhajireen and the ansar were busy with business and farms. Abu Huraira had nothing to occupy himself so he chose to join Ahl al-Suffa so he could study with Rusool Allah (saw) full time.
One source of livelihood for As-Suffa was the sadaqat that Rusool Allah (saw) sent to them. When Rusool Allah (saw) receive sadaqat he would send it to them. Also when he would receive a gift he would take some of it and give them the rest. Rusool Allah (saw) did not accept sadaqat for himself. Rusool Allah (saw) would encourage the sahabah who are well-off to invite the people of As-Suffa. One of the Ansar said that his father was among the people of As-Suffa. Rusool Allah (saw) ordered the sahaba to invite the Ahl ul-Suffa to their houses and so the sahabah came and invited some until 5 of them were left. Then Rusool Allah (saw) told them to go to that ansar’s house and he fed them.
Rusool Allah (saw) says that whoever has food enough for two people should take a third and whoever has food enough for four people, such a person should take a fifth of sixth person with him. These sahaba, who were told to invite these people, were not millionaires. Rusool Allah (saw) asked them to invite a third when they have food enough for just two people.
This tells us that sacrifice and generosity has been part of Islam since the beginning.
Allah Zaujal has repeatedly revealed ayats be kind to the orphans, the poor, the needy, being generous towards guests etc. All of these are ibadaat that have been encouraged from day one. So we should accept that being a muslim does demand sacrifice, and this we have to do, to seek the pleasure of Allah Zaujal Giving is big part of sacrifice.
Fatima (ra) was the daughter of Rusool Allah (saw), the most beloved to the messenger of Allah (saw). Fatima had to do all of the hard work at home. This even caused her hands to become injured and coarse. Ali ibn Talib told her that her father has received slaves, and then he advised her to go ask Rusool Allah (saw) for a servant. So Fatima (ra) goes to Rusool Allah (saw) and asks for a servant, Rusool Allah (saw) responded to his daughter, that I am not going to give you and leave the people of As-Suffa with hungry stomachs, because they don’t have any money. I don’t have any money to spend on them, so I’m going to sell these slaves and use that money to give to Ahl us-Suffa. This tell us how much concern Rusool Allah (saw) had for Ahl us-Suffa.
It should not be thought that Ahl us-Suffa would just sit and eat free food, and that they don’t do any work. These were actually very active people in ibadat, these were true monks. They had immense knowledge, who were scholars, mujahideen, many of them became Shuhadah. For example one of the scholars who graduated from among the ranks of Ahl us-Suffa was Abu Huraira (ra), the most prolific narrator of the hadith of Rusool Allah (saw). Another member of Ahl us-Suffa was Hazrat Huzafia ibn Yamaan (ra), who narrated most of the ahadith about the end of time. Shuhada from among Ahl us-Suffa were Sufwan, Habib bin Isaaf, Hareem , Harifa ibn Nauman, Sarem bin Umair were shuhadah at the battle of Badar. Hanbala the one who was washed by the angels was a shaheed in Uhud. There were also some shuhadah from As-Suffa in Hudaibiyah and various other battles. They would also try to earn for a living my collecting date seeds and selling them as animal feed. They would try to make a living, but due to the difficult conditions in Medina they were forced into poverty.
The number of Ahl us-Suffa rose and decreased depending on the conditions. But on average they were 70. They used to live 24 hours at the back of Masjid-e-Nabvi. They were obvioulsy active in studying because they were close to the center of learning, Masjid-e-Nabvi, which was the university of islam. That is why these people have narrated a lot of ahadith.
The is a lot of importance of having a social welfare system in islam. People would stay at As-Suffa and eat at the houses of al-Ansar. To take care of social needs is also a part of da’wa. Ubadah ibn us-Samet (ra) said that, “Rusool Allah (saw) would become busy, so he would turn over the new muslim to us.” He also said, “If a new muhajir (new muslim) would come to Rusool Allah (saw), and if Rusool Allah (saw) is busy then he would send him over to one of us to teach him Quran., Rusool Allah sent to me a man, he stayed with me at home, and I would feed him as a member of my own family and then I would teach him Quran.”
Da’wa to them includes feeding and taking care of the muhajir. They were aware that these muhajir had left everything they own behind, thus were in need of help.
Rusool Allah (saw) wanted the muslim society to become organized, so he appointed representatives over these groups. Abu Huraira (ra) was Areef, areef is someone who represents people and would express, or convey the people’s need to the leader. So Abu Huraira (ra) was the representative of Ahl us-Suffa. If Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to give a message to Ahl us-Suffa, then he would convey it through Abu Huraira (ra).
2ND PROJECT
ESTABLISHING BROTHERHOOD
Allah Zaujal says in Al-IMRAN (3:103)
“And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.”
Allah Zaujal also sais in AL-ANFAL (8:63)
“And brought together their hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have brought their hearts together; but Allah brought them together. Indeed, He is Exalted in Might and Wise.”
Allah Zaujal is telling Muhammed (saw) that it is Allah, that brought the hearts of the muslims together. And that even if Muhammed (saw) had spent all the money in the world, he couldn’t have done this. This tells us that it is not possible to buy the hearts of men. This was a favour of Allah Zaujal to unite the hearts of the muhajireen and the ansar making them brothers.
Allah Zaujal says about al-Ansar in AL-HASHR (59:9)
“And [also for] those who were settled in al-Madinah and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful.”
From this Ayat, we know that Allah has protected the Ansar from stinginess in their souls. These ayar are talking about brotherhood in general, but the brotherhood between the muhajireen and the ansar is unique. According to As-Sohaili some people said that this brotherhood started 5 months after hijra, some say 9 months after hijra, while others say it was established as soon as Masjid-e-Nabvi was built.
This brotherhood was like as if the muhajireen and the ansar were blood brothers. Even the rules of inheritance would apply to them as if they were blood-brothers. An example of this , was the bond between Sa’d bin Rabi’a and Abdur Rahman bin Auf. Abdur Rahman was one of the muhajireen, he is one of the ten who were given glad tidings of Jannah. Abdur Rahman bin Auf stayed in the house of Sa’d bin Rabi’a, an ansari.
Narrated Ibrahim bin Sad from his father from his grand-father:
Abdur Rahman bin Auf said, "When we came to Medina as emigrants, Allah's Apostle established a bond of brotherhood between me and Sad bin Ar-Rabi'. Sad bin Ar-Rabi' said (to me), 'I am the richest among the Ansar, so I will give you half of my wealth and you may look at my two wives and whichever of the two you may choose I will divorce her, and when she has completed the prescribed period (before marriage) you may marry her.' Abdur Rahman replied, "I am not in need of all that. Is there any market-place where trade is practiced?' He replied, "The market of Qainuqa." Abdur-Rahman went to that market the following day and brought some dried butter-milk (yogurt) and butter, and then he continued going there regularly. Few days later, 'Abdur Rahman came having traces of yellow (scent) on his body. Allah's Apostle asked him whether he had got married. He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet said, 'Whom have you married?' He replied, 'A woman from the Ansar.' Then the Prophet asked, 'How much did you pay her?' He replied, '(I gave her) a gold piece equal in weigh to a date stone (or a date stone of gold)! The Prophet said, 'Give a Walima (wedding banquet) even if with one sheep.' "
(Sahih Bukhari Book 3 Volume 34 Hadith 264)
These brothers would also advise each other. An example of that would be the brothers Salman and Abu Ad-Darda.
Narrated Abu Juhaifa:
The Prophet made a bond of brotherhood between Salman and Abu Ad-Darda’. Salman paid a visit to Abu Ad-Darda' and found Um Ad-Darda' dressed in shabby clothes and asked her why she was in that state. She replied, "Your brother Abu Ad-Darda' is not interested in (the luxuries of) this world." In the meantime Abu Ad-Darda' came and prepared a meal for Salman. Salman requested Abu Ad-Darda' to eat (with him), but Abu Ad-Darda' said, "I am fasting." Salman said, "I am not going to eat unless you eat." So, Abu Ad-Darda' ate (with Salman). When it was night and (a part of the night passed), Abu Ad-Darda' got up (to offer the night prayer), but Salman told him to sleep and Abu Ad-Darda' slept. After sometime Abu Ad-Darda' again got up but Salman told him to sleep. When it was the last hours of the night, Salman told him to get up then, and both of them offered the prayer. Salman told Abu Ad-Darda', "Your Lord has a right on you, your soul has a right on you, and your family has a right on you; so you should give the rights of all those who has a right on you." Abu Ad-Darda' came to the Prophet and narrated the whole story. The Prophet said, “Salman has spoken the truth."
(Sahih Bukhari Book 3 Volume 31 Hadith 189)
Salman was a muhajir but not from Mecca, he came from Persia to Medina in search of the Prophet (saw). But still he was made the brother of Abu Ad-Darda by Rusool Allah (saw).
The Ansar were thus very co-operative and giving towards the muhajireen.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Ansar said (to the Prophet), "Please divide the date-palm trees between us and them (i.e. emigrants)." The Prophet said, "No." The Ansar said, "Let them (i.e. the emigrants) do the labor for us in the gardens and share the date-fruits with us." The emigrants said, "We accepted this."
(Sahih Bukhari Book 5 Volume 58 Hadith 126)
Though the agreement was that the muhajir will do half of the work, that didn’t happen and that the Ansar ended up doing most of the work!
The muhajirun came to Rusool Allah (saw) and said, Oh Messenger of Allah, we have never seen people like this, they comfort us when they are poor and they are generous when they are well off, they work in their farms and then they split their harvest with us.
Then, Narrated Anas ibn Malik:
The Immigrants (Muhajirun) said: Apostle of Allah! The Helpers (Ansar) got the entire reward. He said: no, so long as you pray to Allah for them and praise them.
(Dawud Book 41 Hadith 4794)
This now tells us the value of being grateful. If you can not give then we are obliged to thank the person who is generous to us, and pray for him/her. To wish good for others is a part of becoming a Muslim. Of course Allah deserves to be thanked the most!
The bond of brotherhood was in pairs between the muhajireen and the ansar. And this lasted till the situation of the muhajireen improved. Once their conditions improved the brotherhood of the pairs dissolved, but the general brotherhood of the ummah remained. The inheritance laws now only apply to blood relatives.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:75)
“And those who believed after [the initial emigration] and emigrated and fought with you - they are of you. But those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] in the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah is Knowing of all things.”
A new community was developed in Medina, based on a new bond. Usually in Arabia the recognized bonds were; blood relationships, economical relationships. But then a community was born based on faith.
It was mentioned that in Medina there were Arab pagans, Arab christians, muslims and then there were jews. This multiethnic society caused some conflicts or disputes in the city. One example mentioned was when Rusool Allah (saw) went in a gathering to do da’wa and war was about to break out between the muslims and Ka’afir.
When Rusool Allah (saw) was trying to establish an ummah based on imaan ,Allah Zaujal revealed ayat asking muslims to first break down your previous alliances.
Allah Zaujal says in AT-TAUBA (9:23)
“O you who have believed, do not take your fathers or your brothers as allies if they have preferred disbelief over belief. And whoever does so among you - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.”
Thus Allah Zaujal is now telling the muslims that you need to terminate the relationships of loyalty that you have with your tribes, if they are not muslim.
And Allah Zaujal says in AL-MUMTAHINAH (60:1)
“O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection while they have disbelieved in what came to you of the truth, having driven out the Prophet and yourselves [only] because you believe in Allah , your Lord. If you have come out for jihad in My cause and seeking means to My approval, [take them not as friends]. You confide to them affection, but I am most knowing of what you have concealed and what you have declared. And whoever does it among you has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.”
AL-MUMTAHINAH (60:2)
“If they gain dominance over you, they would be to you as enemies and extend against you their hands and their tongues with evil, and they wish you would disbelieve.”
AL-MUMTAHINAH (60:3)
“Never will your relatives or your children benefit you; the Day of Resurrection He will judge between you. And Allah , of what you do, is Seeing.”
The muslims then had to follow new rules. The former alliances with tribes needed to end. This was about the relationship of the Muslims and non-muslims in general. There were also some ayat revealed related to the relationship of the muslims and the People of the Book (jews and Christians). This is because in Medina there were also people of the Book. The Arabs in Medina had this on-going relationship with the Jews; neighbourly, economical or political. Allah Zaujal revealed ayat to deal with this issue.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-MAIDAH (5:51)
“O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.”
This Ayat tells us that if a muslim has allied with the People of the Book, then he will become a disbeliever., he will become one of ‘them’.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-IMRAN (3:100)
“O you who have believed, if you obey a party of those who were given the Scripture, they would turn you back, after your belief, [to being] unbelievers.”
AL-IMRAN (3:101)
“And how could you disbelieve while to you are being recited the verses of Allah and among you is His Messenger? And whoever holds firmly to Allah has [indeed] been guided to a straight path.”
Thus again the muslims are being warned that, if they follow the ways of the Jews and Christians in Medina then they will become disbelievers.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-BAQARAH (2:120)
“And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, "Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance." If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper.”
All the relationships of loyalties have been cut off.
An important aqeedah of islam is that, it first asks us to negate then it affirms. Like when a muslim says, ‘la ilaha illAllah’ , the first part is , ‘there is no god..’ , thus it first asks you to disbelieve in all the gods that you previously believed in, then ‘..but Allah’ thus your faith in Allah is then established. Precisely similarly, Allah here asks muslims to first break their ties with the disbelievers and then affirms Who muslims loyalty should be towards.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-MA’AIDAH (5:55)
“Your ally is none but Allah and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed - those who establish prayer and give zakah, and they bow [in worship].”
AL-MA’AIDAH (5:56)
“And whoever is an ally of Allah and His Messenger and those who have believed - indeed, the party of Allah - they will be the predominant.”
A new community is established based on faith, this community is the ‘party of Allah’.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-FATH (48:29)
“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks, delighting the sowers - so that Allah may enrage by them the disbelievers. Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward.”
Virtues of Al-Ansar
Narrated Al-Bara:
I heard the Prophet saying (or the Prophet said), "None loves the Ansar but a believer, and none hates them but a hypocrite. So Allah will love him who loves them, and He will hate him who hates them." (Sahih Bukhari Book 5 Volume 58 Hadith 127)
Another hadith mentioned in Bukhari is that Rusool Allah (saw) said that if the ansar take one path and the rest of the people would take another path, I would follow the path of al-Ansar and if I hadn’t made hijra, I would consider myself a member of the ansar.
Narrated Musa bin 'Uqba:
'Abdullah bin Al-Fadl told me that Anas bin Malik said, "I was much grieved over those who had been killed in the Battle of Al-Harra. When Zaid bin Arqarr heard of my intense grief (over the killed Ansar), he wrote a letter to me saying that he heard Allah's Apostle saying, O Allah! Forgive the Ansar and the Ansar children. The sub narrator, Ibn Al-Fadl, is not sure whether the Prophet also said, and their grand-children." Some of those who were present asked Anas (about Zaid). He said, "He (Zaid) is the one about whom Allah's Apostle said, 'He is the one whose sound hearing Allah testified.' (Sahih Bukhari Book 6 Volume 60 Hadith 429)
In another narration Prophet (saw) said that people will increase and the ansar will decrease then Rusool Allah (saw) says accept from the ones who do good and overlook mistakes, he then said, in the name of Allah I love Al-Ansar, the Ansar have done their part , now it is your turn. Prophet Muhammed (saw) is telling us that the Ansar have done their duty and now it’s the Muslims turn to their duty.
This was about the 2nd project of Rusool Allah (saw) in Medina: establishing a community based on brotherhood. We should keep in mind that shaitan is always trying to disunite us. Muslims need to be aware of this wuswusa and fight it. We need to be aware that shaitan is constantly plotting to break this bond of brotherhood among muslims.
And that is why Allah Zaujal says in AL-ISRA (17:53)
“And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy.”
3RD PROJECT
COVENANT THAT GOVERNED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNITIES IN MEDINA
A covenant is called ‘al ‘waheeqa’, or the document. This document governed the relationship of the communities of Medina
It is narrated by ibn Ishaq, “This messenger of Allah wrote a contract between the immigrants and the helpers in which he expressed conciliation.”
THE COVENANT
In the name of Allah The Merciful , The Beneficient
-This is a document from Muhammed, the unlettered Prophet, between the believers and muslims of Quraish, and Yathrib and their followers, allies, and supporters. Establishing that they are one nation apart from all others.
-The immigrants from Qurasih will maintain their current practice and will honour blood money contracts between themselves and will treat their weaker members with kindness and justice.
-The Banu auf shall maintain their current practice and honour their former blood money contracts , each party treating their weaker members with kindness and justice among all believers.
(Then a reference was made to each clan of the helpers and to the families of each home. He went on to say … )
-The believers shall not leave anyone among them burdened by debts without giving him in kindness and paying for him any randsom, money, or blood money he owes.
-A believer will not ally with any freed man of a second believer against that man.
Pious believers act against any of their own people, who practice evil, or seek to bring harm,sin, aggression, or corruption among believers. Believers will unite against anyone doing this,even if he being one of their own sons.
-No believer shall kill any believer for any disbeliever, nor shall he help a disbeliever against a believer.
-Allah’s proptection is all one, the least of them can offer protection to others.
-Believers are allies to one another excluding others.
Meaning we are a nation excluding everyone else.
-Jews who become Muslim, shall receive help and equality. They shall not be mal-treated nor will others be helped against them. Peace for all believers.
-No peace shall be accepted for any one believer, to the exclusion of others, the entire community is responsible if an individual failed to carry out his duty when the battle is for Allah’s cause.
-Among them equality and justice must prevail.
-In every expedition we engage in, riders shall take turns on their mounts.
-Believers shall avenge one another for blood-shed in Allah’s cause.
-Believers who are pious are well-guided on the straightest of paths.
-No polytheist shall be allowed to offer protection, for the property or persons of Quraish. Nor try to interfere with any believer.
-Anyone who has clearly aggressed against and caused the death of any believer, shall be subject to retaliation, unless the dead person’s executor can be satisfied. Believers as a whole shall take action against him and no excuse will be acceptable.
-It shall not be permissible for any believer who has accepted what is in this document, and who believes in Allah, to give help or shelter to any wrong-doer. Any believer who does this shall be the object of Allah’s curses and anger on Judgement Day. And neither compensation nor excuse will be acceptable.
-Any matter in which you disagree must be refered to Allah All-Mighty, and Glorious is He and to Muhammed (saw).
-The Jews shall pay expenses along with the muslims, so long as they are allied in war-fare.
-The Jews of Bani Auf and muslims would live together as two separate nations. The jews will have their religion, the Muslims their own. This applies to their freemen and to them themselves, except for those who commit sins and are unjust. Such persons only harm themselves and their families.
-What applies to Bani Auf shall also apply to the Jews of Banu Najjar, Banu Harith, Banu Sa’ada, Banu Jishum, Banu ul-Aus, Banu Thaaluba, Banu Jifna, and Banu Shutaiba.
The close associates of the Jews shall be viewed as themselves, none of them shall go to war without Muhammed’s permission. However he is not thereby constrained from taking revenge for injury.
-Whoever attacks another may do so to protect himself and his family, but act not unjustly. For Allah condemns such acts.
-The Jews shall bear their own expenses, the Muslims theirs.
-Both nations must help one another, against any who fight those who adopt this document. They must give one another advice and consult one another. Do good and avoid evil.
-A man is not held blameworthy on behalf of his allies.
-Help must be given to those wronged.
-The center of Yathrib shall be a sanctuary for those who agree to this document.
-One’s neighbor shall be treated as oneself, without being harmed.
-No property shall be encroached upon without the permission of its owner.
-In the case of any dispute or incident occurring between those agreeing to this document and involving consequences likely to be harmful, the matter must be refered to Allah, and to Muhammed the Messenger of Allah.
-Allah acknowledges what is very good and pious in this document, the Quraish and their allies are not to be helped or given protection.
-Those accepting this document must help one another against anyone attacking Yathrib, if they are called upon to make peace, to do so, and keep it, then they will be making peace. If they make a similar demand then is is up to the muslims to agree, if the warfare is over the faith.
-Each participant shall receive whatever portion is due to him from his own side’s winnings.
-This document will not provide protection to people who are wrong-doers or unjust.
-Whoever goes to war will be safe, or whoever leaves will be safe, whoever stays in the town will be safe except for those who have sinned or have been unjust. Allah provides protection for those who are good.
CD #3
We talked about the covenant which governed the relationship between the various communities; polytheist arabs, Muslim arabs and the jewish tribes of Medina.
Comments on the covenant
Here you have a faith based community, an ummah based on faith, this was an unusual concept among the arabs, who used to base their unity on the relationship of blood. Rusool Allah (saw) came up with this new concept, which says that we are brothers because we are believers. A statement in the covenant was that ‘Believers are allies to one another excluding others’. Thus we are excluding everyone else. This might be one of the reasons why Rusool Allah (saw) gave many orders to distinguish the muslims from the jews. There are many obvious distinctions between the pagan worshippers and the muslims whereas there are some similarities between muslims and the People of the Book. Muhammed (saw) wanted to keep the muslim identity distinct. You will find that there are many ahadith ordering muslims to be different than the jews in Medina.
For example Rusool Allah (saw) noticed that the jews of Medina did not pray in leather socks so Rusool Allah (saw) allowed muslims to pray in leather socks. The jews in Medina would not dye with henna so Rusool Allah (saw) instructed muslims to dye their hair with henna. This is for men. Another incident :
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
When the Prophet arrived at Medina, the Jews were observing the fast on 'Ashura' (10th of Muharram) and they said, "This is the day when Moses became victorious over Pharaoh," On that, the Prophet said to his companions, "You (Muslims) have more right to celebrate Moses' victory than they have, so observe the fast on this day." (Sahih Bukhari book 6 Volume 60 Hadith 202)
Therefore Rusool Allah (saw) meant that we, as Muslims, are closer to Moses because he was a Muslim too. Rusool Allah (saw) started the tradition of fasting on the 10th of Muharram called Ashura, however before he passed away, he said that if he lives till next year than he will also fast the ninth of Muharram. Thus he was going to fast the ninth and the tenth to distinguish the Muslims from the Jews who would only fast on the 10th of Muharram.
This document was establishing authority of Rusool Allah (saw) who entered Medina as a guest. Rusool Allah (saw) was invited there, but he was actually there to be followed.
Allah Zaujal says in AN-NISA (4:64)
“And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allah…”
So Rusool Allah (saw) was meant to be followed and he was establshing his authority by the will of Allah Zaujal, through various means and one of them was this covenant. All of the first four projects of Rusool Allah (saw) which were; The masjid establishing brotherhood, a covenant that would govern the relationship between the various groups in Medina and the establishment of an army, all four contributed to the establishment of the authority of Muhammed (saw), the one who was sent by Allah to bring people out of darkness and into light.
So it is mentioned in the document that if there is any matter in which you disagree must be refered to Allah All-Mighty, and Glorious is He and to Muhammed (saw). The only name of an individual mentioned in this document, is that of Muhammed (saw). Any matter of dispute that occurs between the jews and the arabs, among the arabs, between a citizen of Medina and an outsider. All of these matters need to be referred to Allah and the Messenger of Allah. This meant that now Allah’s rule will prevail in Medina, along with the sunnah of Muhammad (saw).
This was agreed by everyone in Medina, muslims, and non-muslims.
Relationship with the Jews:
It is clear form the covenant that Rusool Allah (saw) was extending a hand of tolerance towards the people of the book. You find that this document considers Jews to be citizens of Medina, thus citizens of an Islamic state.
They were granted religious freedom, they were allowed to worship according to their teachings and it was the responsibility of the Islamic state to protect them. On the other hand the Jews were required to support the Muslims against any enemy that attacked Medina. They were also required to give sincere counseling to the Muslim state, and never conspire against it, and to never withhold information that was necessary for the security of the Medina. Also nobody was allowed to leave Medina, without the permission of Rusool Allah (saw). The Jews were under a duty to refer to Muhammed (saw) in any dispute that might arise between them and the Muslims.
This was where the relationship of the Jews and the Muslims started, however from there on, their relationship only went downhill. The reason for this was the response of the Jews of the Muslim presence in Medina. But from the Muslim side, Muhammed (saw) tried live peacefully in Medina via the covenant (by giving them protection, equal rights, and freedom); however the Jews did not let this happen.
Establishment on the sanctity of Medina
Mecca was considered to be ‘haram’ by the Arabs. Haram is a sanctuary, it was holy. Rusool Allah (saw) did the same with Medina. It is mentioned in the document that the center of Yathrib is a sanctuary for everyone in this covenant.
This includes not cutting down trees; they are not allowed to hunt, and they are not allowed to fight or carry weapons within the boundaries of this area.
These were a few comments regarding this covenant.
Some of the sahabah were held back from doing hijra, so they came after Rusool Allah (saw) came to Medina. One of these sahabah was Suhayb Ar-roomi (ra). Suhayb (ra) was imprisoned by the Romans in one of the wars between the Romans and the Arabs. Suhayb ended up growing up among the Romans and he acquired their language. Thus he would have a roman accent when he would speak Arabic. He was sold from one master to another ending up in the hands of Abdullah ibn Judan.
Abdullah ibn Judan was a wealthy man in Mecca, who freed Suhayb (ra). Suhayb (ra) was a bright, intelligent, and an active person. He started his own business, and soon acquired wealth. When he wanted to make hijra, he dug up a hole, hid his wealth somewhere, and then left. Some of the people of the Quraish followed him, and told him that, “you came to us as a, poverty stricken beggar, with us you grew wealthy and acquired status, and now you want to take yourself and your money away? By Allah we will not allow this to happen.” Suhayb asked them if he could pay for his freedom, they said then they said, “Then we will allow you to go.”
In another narration it said that when Suhayb (ra) saw the Quraish following him, Suhayb drew out 40 arrows, and threatened that he will stick each arrow into them, and after the arrows finish he said he would draw out his sword and fight and then the Quraish will know that he is a man. He then demanded, that he be let go, in return for his money.
This story of Suhayb (ra) represents an immigrant who went to Mecca, settled their, earned his living and gained a status. But when he wanted to leave Mecca (hijra) for the sake of Allah, he faced hindrances. The Muslims in the west today should take heed in the story of Suhayb Ar-Rumi (ra).
The muhajireen who moved from Mecca to Medina, were feeling homesick. They wanted to go back to Mecca. Infact Bilal (ra) used to say, “May Allah curse Utba bin Rabi’a, Shayba bin Rabi’a, Ummayya bin Khalaf, because of whom they were driven out of Mecca into this land of diseases.”
Medina had swampy land, due to which a lot of diseases such as malaria, or fever were common.
Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, umm al-muminin said, "When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Madina, Abu Bakr and Bilal came down with a fever. I visited them and said, 'Father, how are you? Bilal, how are you?'" She continued, "When Abu Bakr's fever worsened he would say, 'Every man is struck down among his people in the morning - death is nearer than the strap of his sandal.'" When it left Bilal, he raised his voice and said, 'Would that I knew whether I will spend a night at the valley of Makka with the idhkhir herb and jalil herb around me. Will I go one day to the waters of Majinna? Will the mountains of Shama and Tafil appear to me?' " ' A'isha continued, "I went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and informed him. He said, 'O Allah! Make us love Madina as much as we love Makka or even more. Make it sound and bless us in our sa’ and mudd. Remove its fever and put it in al-Juhfa.' “(Malik Book 45 Hadith 45.4.14)
In another narration when Aisha when to visit, even Amr bin Fuhayra was down with fever and when she asked him how he also did not reply and would say, “I have found death before tasting it, a coward has his demise right above him. Every man fights hard with all his power, as a bull protects its skin with its horns.”
Abu Bakr was talking about death, Bilal (ra) speaks about Shama and Tafil which are two mountains in Mecca, and Amr talks about his death. All of these men are homesick and they want to go back to Mecca. These people were forced out of their homes and went into a place in which they didn’t really to CHOOSE to live in. After that you become sick!! It is understandably a horrible feeling. They also didn’t have their family around, to have someone to take care of them. So Rusool Allah (saw) felt very sorry for the sahabah (ra) and made the dua, mentioned in the hadith. And SubhanaAllah due to the dua, the muhajireen ended up loving Medina more than anyplace in this World.
In fact when they opened Mecca Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra), Uthman (ra), Bilal (ra) all chose to stay in Medina. And the fact of the matter is that everyone who has faith is his/her heart will love Medina. Until this day there is a special feeling in the hearts of believers when they enter the city of Rusool Allah (saw). When you enter Mecca, and see the huge pillars masjid ul-haram you have this feeling of magnificence but when you go to Medina which is flat, unlike Mecca which is mountainous, you have a different feeling than what you feel in Mecca. In Medina you experience a feeling of tranquility. You feel at peace. It is a beloved place for any believer. This is due to the barakat of the dua of Rusool Allah (saw).
The first new-born in Medina was Asma bint Abu Bakr (ra), she says, “When I immigrated I was at term, when I came to Medina, I stayed in Quba and gave birth to him there (Abdullah bin Zubair).” She then took him to Rusool Allah (saw) and placed the new born in his lap. Rusool Allah (saw) called for a date, which Rusool Allah (saw) chewed and then he placed the chewed date into the mouth of Abdullah bin Zubair. Asma said that the first thing that entered the baby’s mouth was from the mouth of Rusool Allah (saw). Rusool Allah (saw) then prayed for Abdullah and blessed him. Asma said that Abdullah was the first baby born in Islam.
Narrated Asma:
That she conceived 'Abdullah bin Az-Zubair. She added, "I migrated to Medina while I was at full term of pregnancy and alighted at Quba where I gave birth to him. Then I brought him to the Prophet and put him in his lap. The Prophet asked for a date, chewed it, and put some of its juice in the child's mouth. So, the first thing that entered the child's stomach was the saliva of Allah's Apostle. Then the Prophet rubbed the child's palate with a date and invoked for Allah's Blessings on him, and he was the first child born amongst the Emigrants in the Islamic Land (i.e. Medina).
(Sahih Bukhari Book 5 Volume 58 Hadith 248)
Thus this shows that the sahabah considered the beginning of Islam in Medina, because that was where the first Islamic state had formed. As if the first 13 years spent in Mecca was a preparation for this. Asma did not say first child born after hijra or first child born in Medina. This was the first child born in Islam.
Islam only became complete when Muslims started living together in a Muslim society in a Muslim state, following the Rules and Regulations of Allah Zaujal. This makes US realize that we are missing a lot!
Abdullah ibn Salam (ra) was the most knowledgeable rabbi in Medina. When he heard of the Coming of the Prophet (saw), he decided to go and meet him. In one narration of Imam Ahmed Abdullah ibn Salam says that when he saw the face of Rusool Allah (saw), he knew that this was not the face of a liar.
SubhanAllah truth shined out from the face of Rusool Allah (saw). As mentioned Abdullah ibn Salam was a rabbi (scholar ), he wanted to test Muhammed (saw) whether he was the true messenger or not. These rabbis knew of signs related to the upcoming prophet.
Narrated Anas:
When the news of the arrival of the Prophet at Medina reached 'Abdullah bin Salam, he went to him to ask him about certain things, He said, "I am going to ask you about three things which only a Prophet can answer: What is the first sign of The Hour? What is the first food which the people of Paradise will eat? Why does a child attract the similarity to his father or to his mother?" The Prophet replied, "Gabriel has just now informed me of that." Ibn Salam said, "He (i.e. Gabriel) is the enemy of the Jews amongst the angels. The Prophet said, "As for the first sign of The Hour, it will be a fire that will collect the people from the East to the West. As for the first meal which the people of Paradise will eat, it will be the caudate (extra) lobe of the fish-liver. As for the child, if the man's discharge precedes the woman's discharge, the child attracts the similarity to the man, and if the woman's discharge precedes the man's, then the child attracts the similarity to the woman."
On this, 'Abdullah bin Salam said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and that you are the Apostle of Allah." and added, "O Allah's Apostle! Jews invent such lies as make one astonished, so please ask them about me before they know about my conversion to I slam . “The Jews came, and the Prophet said, "What kind of man is 'Abdullah bin Salam among you?" They replied, "The best of us and the son of the best of us and the most superior among us, and the son of the most superior among us.”The Prophet said, "What would you think if 'Abdullah bin Salam should embrace Islam?" They said, "May Allah protect him from that." The Prophet repeated his question and they gave the same answer. Then 'Abdullah came out to them and said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah!" On this, the Jews said, "He is the most wicked among us and the son of the most wicked among us." So they degraded him. On this, he (i.e. 'Abdullah bin Salam) said, "It is this that I was afraid of, O Allah's Apostle. ( Sahih Bukhari Book 5 Volume 58 Hadith 275)
In the incident mentioned above when Abdullah ibn Salam, claimed that Gibrael an enemy of the Jews, Rusool Allah (saw) in response recited the ayat in Surat ul Baqarah (2:98)
“Whoever is an enemy to Allah and His angels and His messengers and Gabriel and Michael - then indeed, Allah is an enemy to the disbelievers.”
You this can not pick and choose who you like and dislike. All of the angels are mad by Allah and they all obey Him. There is no such thing as an enemy or friend angel. Rusool Allah (saw) was correcting this error in Abdullah ibn Salam’s aqeedah.
Another thing to note is Rusool Allah (saw) answer to the the second question. Now fish liver might not be a very desirable meal in this world, but things in Jannah will be different. Things may seems similar but are actually very different in Jannah. The answer to the third question is now scientifically proven. Now science says that if the gene of the father is dominant in the child then the child will resemble the father, and the same goes for the mother if the gene of the mother is dominant in the child. This is what Rusool Allah (saw) is saying because the genes are carried in the fluid; sperm of the man and egg of the woman.
The way the Jews had changed their opinion of Abdullah ibn Salam shows the extent to which they lie. Incidents such as this one, are what contributed to the deterioration of the relationship of the Muslims and the Jews. Jews were stubborn on refusing that Muhammed (saw) as the messenger of Allah, and Islam is the true and final religion. Also they would often talk against the Islamic state behind the scenes.
In an authentec narration Ibn Abbas (ra) says that when Abdullah ibn Salam, Thalaba ibn Saya, Usayd ibn Saya , Asad ibn Ubayd and some other jews became Muslim, the other rabbis of the jews said that these people who have followed the religion of Muhammed (saw) are the most evil among us. They thought that if they were righteous they would not have left the religion of their fore-fathers.
Allah Zaujal says in Surah AL-IMRAN (3:113)
“They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allah during periods of the night and prostrating [in prayer].”
AL-IMRAN (3:114)
“They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds. And those are among the righteous.”
AL-IMRAN (3:115)

“And whatever good they do - never will it be removed from them. And Allah is Knowing of the righteous.”
Allah Zaujal is saying that not all the people of the book are disbelievers, some of them did accept Islam. Allah praises people such as Abdullah ibn Salam in these ayat. These ayat will apply to any christian or jew who reverted to Islam and not only that but practiced Islam.
A very important event occurred 14 months after the hijra of Rusool Allah’s (saw), and that was the change of the Qibla. In Mecca Rusool Allah (saw) would pray towards Jerusalem BUT the Ka’aba would come in between, thus he would be facing the Ka’aba and Jerusalem. But when they moved to Medina Ka’aba was then in the opposite direction of Jerusalem. Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to face the Ka’ba but he didn’t dare ask Allah Zaujal about it. Then in Medina Allah Zaujal revealed ayat telling the muslims to face the Qibla of Ibrahim (as), the Ka’aba. Rusool Allah (saw) prayed towards the new Qibla, and one of the sahabah who was with him went back to his people who were a few miles outside of Medina. He saw that they were praying Asr towards Jerusalem, while they were in salat, he said, “I bear witness that I just prayed with Rusool Allah (saw) towards Mecca.” They all turned in their salah, towards Mecca. This shows the obedience they had for Rusool Allah (saw) and the trust that was present among the muslim community.
But this event also caused some controversy, in fact it was a very controversial event. Allah Zaujal revealed over 40 ayat in Surat ul-Baqarah dealing with this issue alone!! Ibn-ul-Qayyum says that this was a test from Allah Zaujal for the people and of them, the mushrikeen. The mushrikeen said about Rusool Allah (saw) that: ‘he has reverted back to our Qibla and he will revert back to our religion’ because the Ka’abah was the Qibla of the pagan worshippers in Arabia. Ibn-ul-Qayyum said that it was a test for the hypocrites who said that Muhammed (saw) doesn’t know what he’s doing, and that he changes his mind. It was a test from Allah Zaujal for the Jews, who said about Muhammed (saw), ‘he has left the Qibla of the anbiya before him and that shows you that Muhammed is not a prophet of Allah.” The jews considered Jerusalem to be the Qibla of the anbiya. Also it was a test for the believers to see if there are firm in following Rusool Allah (saw), in other words to see if they change the Qibla with him or not. Thus it was a trial from Allah Zaujal for these four groups.
Allah Zaujal revealed AL-BAQARAH (2:142)
The foolish among the people will say, "What has turned them away from their qiblah, which they used to face?" Say, "To Allah belongs the east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path."
Who is the one who created Ka’aba, Mecca, or Jerusalem? All of it belongs to Allah Zaujal... as the ayat says ‘to Allah belongs the east and the west’... therefore it is up to Allah Zaujal to decide, towards which direction He wants his followers to pray. He has the authority to tell where to face. The Jews would say Allah can not change His mind, either the first Qibla was right or the second was right. They would then go on to say that if the first Qibla is right then your prayers now is wasted and if the second Qibla is right then all your previous prayers are wasted. In response to this claim by the Jews, Allah Zaujal revealed another ayat.
AL-BAQARAH (2:143)
And thus we have made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you. And We did not make the qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger from who would turn back on his heels. And indeed, it is difficult except for those whom Allah has guided. And never would Allah have caused you to lose your faith. Indeed Allah is, to the people, Kind and Merciful.
Ibn Kathir comments on this and says,”likewise We have made you the best of nations, the very essence of the World. The most noble of all groups, the most honorable of the ancient and the high born , so that you may be witnesses on the Judgement day against those who have combined against you, and so that they may give testimony on that day to your great virtue.”Allah makes it clear in this ayat that a believer’s prayers towards Jerusalem will never be wasted, thus rejecting Jew’s idea that if a person died before this revelation, then all of his/her prayers are wasted.
AL-BAQARAH (2:144)
We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muْammad], toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-îaram. And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture well know that it is the truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do.
AL-BARARAH (2:145)
And if you brought to those who were given the Scripture every sign, they would not follow your qiblah. Nor will you be a follower of their qiblah. Nor would they be followers of one another's qiblah. So if you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, indeed, you would then be among the wrongdoers.
AL-BAQARAH (2:146)
Those to whom We gave the Scripture know him as they know their own sons. But indeed, a party of them conceal the truth while they know [it].
AL-BAQARAH (2:147)
The truth is from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.
AL BAQARAH (2:148)
For each [religious following] is a direction toward which it faces. So race to [all that is] good. Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you forth [for judgement] all together. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.
AL-BAQARAH (2:149)
So from wherever you go out [for prayer, O Muhammad] turn your face toward al- Masjid al-îaram, and indeed, it is the truth from your Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
AL-BAQARAH (2:150)
And from wherever you go out [for prayer], turn your face toward al-Masjid al-îaram. And wherever you [believers] may be, turn your faces toward it in order that the people will not have any argument against you, except for those of them who commit wrong; so fear them not but fear Me. And [it is] so I may complete My favor upon you and that you may be guided.
In ayat # 150, Allah Zaujal states an important concept ‘fear them not, but fear Me!’ … People might blame or criticize things that are Islamic or righteous. In every generation, there have been some people who criticize various factors of Islam. Now they say Islam is oppresses women, at one point they might say that Islam gives too many rights. There are some who say Islam is a religion of violence and so on and on and on…
Allah Zaujal tells the believers to fear Allah and not such people. We should do what Allah Zaujal wants from us and forget about what people say. The ayat says ...’I may complete my favour upon you…’ every new command that comes from Allah, is a favour from Allah.
This was the incident of the changing of the Qibla which was very controversial in it’s time, in fact it was a test from Allah.
Rusool Allah (saw) was developing the economic system of the new Islamic state so he an area next to Masjid ul-Haram to be the Medina market place, the central market of Medina. Rusool Allah (saw) devoted this place for the market and he said that this is the market place of Medina, so no taxes will be levied. Thus it was a tax-free market place.
Once the prices were very high so the sahabah came to Muhammed (saw)…
… Narrated Anas ibn Malik:
The people said: Apostle of Allah, prices have shot up, so fix prices for us. Thereupon the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah is the one Who fixes prices, Who withholds, gives lavishly and provides, and I hope that when I meet Allah, none of you will have any claim on me for an injustice regarding blood or property.
(Dawud: Book 23 Hadith 3444)
Thus Allah is the one Who gives rizq, the price will be according to the supply and demand, thus He is the one Who fixes the prices. The Apostle of Allah refused to interfere in Allah’s work. This shows the freedom given by the Islamic economical system, which does not place restrictions on how people buy and sell in their trade.
Then Allah Zaujal revealed ayat on the rulings of fasting in AL-BAQARAH (2:183)
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
So the purpose or wisdom behind fasting is taqwa so that we may become righteous.
We are still within the first 2 years of hijra …
Rusool Allah (saw) also married Aisha’a (ra) during that time or actually the consummation of his marriage to her happened then. The actual marriage itself happened towards the end of Rusool Allah’s time in Mecca when Aisha was 6 years old and the marriage was consummated in Medina when she was 9 years old.
The age of Aisha’a was very young, this is an issue that many raise against Islam and the prophet of Allah (saw) saying that your prophet married a child. The wisdom behind all of Rusool Allah’s (saw) marriages was covered in the Meccan period. One point to add here is that Rusool Allah (saw) was 54 years old when he married Aisha’a, but he was young even though he was 54.
When Rusool Allah (saw) met the delegation of the tribe of Rabi’a, at that time he was 50 years old, the head of the tribe went back to his people and referred to Muhammed (saw) as a ‘young man’. It was because of his strength and active attitude by which his age could not be told by looking at his face.
Another incident was that when Anas ibn Malik was narrating the story of hijra when Rusool Allah and Abu Bakr (ra) were walking in the desert and people recognized Abu Bakr (ra) but not Rusool Allah (saw) because they didn’t know what he looked like. Anas referred to Abu Bakr as an old man who was known while Rusool Allah (saw) was a young man who wasn’t known. A comment by Ibn Hajar aluf Kalam 45:10 regarding this is that Abu Bakr’s age showed on him, or that the way Abu bakr (ra) looked was according to his age, he did not look younger or older. While Rusool Allah (saw) appeared to be a young man even though he was 2 years elder to Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra).
This was a point to be mentioned regarding Rusool Allah’s (saw) marriage to Aisha’a. We know from the Sunnah, that Rusool Allah (saw) used to race Aisha’a.
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
While she was on a journey along with the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him): I had a race with him (the Prophet) and I outstripped him on my feet. When I became fleshy, (again) I had a race with him (the Prophet) and he outstripped me. He said: This is for that outstripping.
(Dawud: Book 14 hadith 2572)
In this hadith the word fleshy means when Aisha became heavier. And the adorable part of this hadith is when Rusool Allah (saw) he said, ‘this is for that outstripping.’ Meaning this is a sort of tit for tat, for the time when Aisha’a won.
Thus Rusool Allah (saw) was a very healthy and active individual. And he needed to be all that, to complete his mission being the Messenger of Allah Zaujal.
The Ghazwat (Battles)
Before we start talking about the battles, first a bit about Jihad will be spoken. This is important because during the ten years in Medina, Rusool Allah (saw) had participated himself in 19 battles and he had sent out over 55 expeditions in which he didn’t take part. So if we add there had been over 70 battles within 10 years. This is about 7 battles per year. Battles take time to prepare; you have to finance, mobilize and organize the army… then time is spent in reaching the destination and then time is spent in coming back. So this was actually a huge burden on the Islamic state. The question is why Rusool Allah (saw) devoted so much time and energy to this.
Another reason why this needs to be discussed is that this issue is has become very controversial today. There is a major misconception on what Jihad really means, and what is the objective and wisdom behind it.
The word Jihad itself means ‘struggle’ it comes from the word ‘Juhd’ which means exerting effort. So the linguistic meaning of the word is to exert effort or to struggle. This word later on carried a specific Islamic meaning. There are words in Arabic which had a linguistic meaning but then Islam gave a new meaning to those words. For example the word ‘salah’ in Arabic originally means supplication but now it carries a new meaning and that is prayer. This word now is a terminology in Islam. Jihad fi Sabi lillah later carried a new meaning and that is ‘to fight’ the enemies of Allah Zaujal, who object to His religion. According to all the four mazahib it means, ‘to fight in the path of Allah.’
Every war is an act of injustice and is evil with the exception of fighting in the path of Allah Zaujal. So every blood shed is evil with this exception, which is that the ONLY war which is allowed is to fight in the path of Allah.
And the evidence for this is an ayat in Quran, AL-NISA (4:76)
Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah , and those who disbelieve fight in the cause of Taghut. So fight against the allies of Satan. Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak.
In this ayat Allah is saying that there are two types of war. One type is fought for Allah by the believers and the second type of war is for Taghut which is fought by the disbelievers. Taghut means anything worshipped other than Allah or it could mean those transgressors who assert the divine right of governship.
Thus if believers fight for Allah then that is a rewarding act and those who disbelieve fight for Taghut. It doesn’t matter what the disbelievers state their objective to be, it will always be evil. Even if they say that it is fought for freedom from aggression it will still be evil. The ONLY war which is righteous is the war fought under the banner of ‘la ilaha illAllah’. Islam is against all types of aggression except if it is done for the sake of Allah… Islam is not a violent religion.
Allah is the Creator, therefore He is the only one Who has the right to designate the permissible and the impermissible, or what is preferable over the other. For example the 7 days of the week, they are all equal from a scientific point of view. However Allah Zaujal has told us that Friday is preferred over the rest of the days of the week. There is no difference between the month of Ramadan and the rest of the months in terms of the solar system, however Allah Zaujal has picked Ramadan to be the most preferred month of the year, the same goes for the first 10 days of Zil-Hujja in terms of the reward for the good deeds done during those 10 days. Even last 10 nights of Ramadan are special and out of those 10 nights, the odd ones and out of those odd ones He chose laila tul Qadr to be the best night of the year. It is something that Only Allah has the right to do.
The purpose of Jihad fi sabilillah is to free the people from the slavery of one another, and to become the servants of Allah Zaujal. So it is much better to be a slave of The Creator rather than to be a slave of creations (rock, idol, human being etc). It is also to bring the people under the blessed rule of Islam, whether they become Muslim or not, because in Islam you cannot force someone to become a Muslim. However there is an increased chance of more people coming to Islam if people live under the Islamic rule.
Rusool Allah says in a hadith that Allah Zaujal is amazed by people, who are dragged into Jannah in chains.
A scholar commented on this hadith and said that these people are dragged into Islam even though they don’t want it, and that becomes a reason for them to enter into Jannah.
In general people are not interested in hearing about religion. If you announce to non-muslims that there will be a lecture on Islam, then people are not going to show up. Even if they do show up they won’t really give you much of a response, but if you make an announcement that whoever shows up will get Rs. 2000 then people are going to rush for the lecture and eventually there will not be enough seats. This situation is not only with the non-muslims but even the Muslims. The masjids are packed for Juma’a but only about 10% of those come for Fajr. Even here if you make an announcement that whoever shows up for Fajr will get a 1000 rupee note then everybody will come.
To conclude people are least interested to talk about religion and that is why when Rusool Allah (saw) called on the people of Mecca and gathered them
He then said, "I am a warner to you in face of a terrific punishment." Abu Lahab said (to the Prophet) "May your hands perish all this day. Is it for this purpose you have gathered us?" (Sahih Bukhari: Book 6 Volume 60 Hadith 293)
Abu Lahab was upset because he closed his shop and went to listen to Muhammed (saw), he thought that there was something important that Rusool Allah (saw) had to say, even though it was important, but Abu Lahab did not think so. When it turned out to be a matter of religion he became furious.
That is when the ayat of Surat Al-Masad were revealed (111: 1-5)
Allah says that Abu Lahab’s wealth and children will not benefit him; this wealth was what prevented Abu Lahab from listening to Muhammed (saw) preaching Islam. It was because he had to close down his shop that is why he became upset.
Anyway when the sahabah fought fi sabi llilah and bought people under the rule of Islam that is when they listened. The people listen to the sahabah attentively because they now ruled and had some authority. The sahabah had a chance to do daw’a as a government and not as a preacher. This was when people in multiples entered Islam. In Mecca when Rusool Allah (saw) was giving daw’a, only a few people were interested, nevertheless when Rusool Allah (saw) established an Islamic state the people, the tribes, and other nations were listening and taking it seriously. That was when people became Muslim in thousands. By the end of 13 years in Mecca Rusool Allah (saw) had followers in hundreds, nevertheless in Medina the Muslims increased in thousands every year! So in Fatah Mecca Rusool Allah (saw) had an army of 12,000 or 10,000, in Hajja tul Wida 90,000 and when he passed away the ones who prayed his salah janaza were over 114,000.
So what are the stages that Jihad went through? Ibn ul Qayyum says in Zaad-ul-Maad, that in the beginning Jihad was prohibited, it was not allowed. Rusool Allah (saw) used to tell the Muslims to be patient because they were not given the permission to fight. So in the beginning it was patience, and then in the second stage Jihad was merely allowed, it was not instructed, commanded, or obligatory, it was just allowed.
Allah Zaujal revealed the ayat in surah AL-HAJJ (22:39)
Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.
Thus here permission was given to them. Now the following stage, as Ibn ul Qayyum says is, then they were commanded to fight the ones who fight them. This was the third stage and the ayat for that is the following:
Surah AL-BAQARAH (2:190)
Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.
So here the command came from Allah Zaujal to fight the ones who are trangressors. Then came the final stage, in which the final law was revealed by Allah Zaujal for the ummah. Ibn ul Qayyum says about this stage that the Messenger of Allah was instructed to fight all the disbelievers.
SURAH AT-TAUBA (9:36)
…And fight against the disbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively…
There is also a hadith narrated by over 20 sahaba of Rusool Allah (saw) and that is:
Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives an property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah." (Sahih Bukhari: Book 1 Volume 2 Hadith 24)
These were the four stages of Jihad fi sabi lillah
Objectives of Jihad
Some ayat in Quran give us the objectives of fighting fi sabi lillah
Promotion of Islam: To fight until Allah Zaujal’s religion prevails
Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:39)
And fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah
For the protection of rituals and worship places
Allah Zaujal says: AL-HAJ (22:38)
Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed. Indeed, Allah does not like everyone treacherous and ungrateful.
AL-HAJ (22:39)
Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory.
AL-HAJ (22:40)
[They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is Allah ." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.
Notice here that Allah Zaujal is saying , ‘were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, and synagogues, and mosques…’ People are checked by fighting, this is called sunnat-ul-mudaafa’ah. Allah has governed the lives of men, if it wasn’t for this fighting, churches, synagogues, and mosques would have been would have been demolished. The reason why churches and synagogues are mentioned is because we are not the first nation to fight in the path of Allah. The first nation to fight fi sabi lillah was Bani Israel. For the previous nations before Bani Israel fighting was not prescribed. Allah would destroy the anbiya’s enemies through miraculous events, thus the believers did not have to be involved in fighting themselves. The followers of Musa (as) were the first nation to fight in the path of Allah. Because they were the ummas which fought in the path of Allah (jihad), synagogues and churches were protected. And ofcourse mosques are protected because the ummah of Muhammed (saw) also practices this act of worship (Jihad).
AL-HAJ (22:41)
[And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give zakah and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allah belongs the outcome of [all] matters.
Protecting the World from corruption, thus when you fight fi sabi lillah it is not destruction but rather a form of protection for the World.
Allah Zaujal’s ayat makes this very clear canceling the efforts of Shaitan to try to make evil seem good, and good seem evil. The ayat of Quran cleanses our hearts from the corruption caused by the media.
Allah Zaujal says in AL-BAQARAH (2:251)
… And if it were not for Allah checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but Allah is full of bounty to the worlds.
Test for mankind, it is a trial. Our entire existence in this world is a test from Allah Zaujal and fighting in His path is a part of that test
Allah Zaujal says in SURAH MUHAMMAD (47:4)
…That [is the command]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others…
Thus armed struggle is a test for the believers and a test for the disbelievers. Allah is testing the patience of the believers and whether they can sacrifice for Allah. The biggest sacrifice that a believer can give for Allah Zaujal is to sacrifice his soul and wealth. It is also a test of whether you fear Allah more or His creations more.
It actually tests most of what you call ‘Amaal Quloob’, the deeds of the heart. These diseases of the heart appear when the time of the sacrifice of comes. For example the munafiqeen blended very well with the Islamic society, but their reality was only exposed in the various battles. That is why Allah Zaujal says about them:
Surah AT-TAUBA (9:126)
Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice…
The average of the ghazwat of Rusool Allah (saw) was around one or two per year, and in each battle their hypocricy would be exposed.
To punish and humiliate the enemies of Allah Zaujal
Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:60)

And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.
Allah Zaujal also says in SURAH AT-TAUBA (9:14) and (9:15)

Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people

And remove the fury in the believers' hearts. And Allah turns in forgiveness to whom He wills; and Allah is Knowing and Wise.
And Allah Zaujal says in Surah AL-ANFAL (8:17) and (8:18)
And you did not kill them, but it was Allah who killed them. And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allah who threw that He might test the believers with a good test. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
That [is so], and [also] that Allah will weaken the plot of the disbelievers.
The sixth objective is to expose the hypocrites
Allah Zaujal says in AL-IMRAN (3:179)
Allah would not leave the believers in that [state] you are in [presently] until He separates the evil from the good. Nor would Allah reveal to you the unseen. But [instead], Allah chooses of His messengers whom He wills, so believe in Allah and His messengers. And if you believe and fear Him, then for you is a great reward.
Thus the way you can separate the evil from the good is by fighting fi sabi lillah. These ayat were revealed after ghazwa-e-Uhud, because Abdullah bin Ubay withdrew, along with his troops which formed 1/3rd of the army.
It is a defense against the aggression of the enemies of Allah. These enemies plan to transgress against the ummah.
Allah Zaujal says in AN-NISA’A (4:84)
So fight, [O Muhammad], in the cause of Allah ; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you] that perhaps Allah will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allah is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.
CD#4
In Mecca the believers were not allowed to fight back, even thought the Kaafir had used all forms of aggression against the muslims. It wasn’t easy for the Arabs to restrain themselves from fighting, they were tribesmen they didn’t have an anti-war background. They were no peace activists in those days like Martin Luther King or Gandhi. Generally if you fight against a tribesmen then, then he would fight back. So for for them to restrain themselves from fighting was very difficult. But it was a test of their patience.
When the permission for fighting can Abu Bakr (ra) said that i knew there was going to be fighting, ultimately we would have to fight, there is no way we could get out of this situation except by fighting in the path of Allah.
The permission was given during the early days of Medina. Some say the permission was given before hijra but the actual practice of it started from Medina.
To fight against the enemies of Allah Zaujal, demanded preparation. That is why Rusool Allah (saw) trained the muslims to fight. This training took two forms; physical and spiritual training. This would now lead us to the fourth project.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MUSLIM ARMY
The word army isnt really accurate because they weren’t any professional soldiers, it was more of a militia rather than a professional army. It says in the american dictionary that a militia is a citizen’s army as the state from a body of professional solidiers. So they weren’t any prefessional soldiers in the time of Rusool Allah (saw). Everyone who fulfilled five requirements was expected to participate in Jihad fi sabi lillah. There requirements were:
Islam
age of puberty
sanity
to be free of defects (that would prevent a person from being able to participate)
financial ability
Financial ability was important because Rusool Allah (saw) did not have the ability to sponsor every fighter. Everyone had to finance themselves.
Also it says that the militia is the whole body of physically fit male civilians legible by law for military service. So the word militia suits more than the word army.
So Rusool Allah (saw) was preparing the troops spiritually. Allah was doing the same thing via an ayat of Quran in Surat AT-TAUBA (9:111)
Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah ? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.
Then Allah teaches them to be patient in AL-IMRAN (3:140) (3:141)(3:142)(3:143)
If a wound should touch you - there has already touched the [opposing] people a wound similar to it. And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people so that Allah may make evident those who believe and [may] take to Himself from among you martyrs - and Allah does not like the wrongdoers –
And that Allah may purify the believers [through trials] and destroy the disbelievers.
Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while Allah has not yet made evident those of you who fight in His cause and made evident those who are steadfast?
And you had certainly wished for martyrdom before you encountered it, and you have [now] seen it [before you] while you were looking on.
These were examples of ayat in which Allah was preparing the Muslims. There are some ahadith for the same purpose.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." He replied, "I do not find such a deed." Then he added, "Can you, while the Muslim fighter is in the battle-field, enter your mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast?" The man said, "But who can do that?" Abu Huraira added, "The Mujahid (i.e. Muslim fighter) is rewarded even for the footsteps of his horse while it wanders bout (for grazing) tied in a long rope."
(Sahih Bukhari: Book 4 Volume 52 Hadith 44)
Thus the reward of the mujahid is greater than fasting and praying continuously. Fighting with the disbelievers is more virtuous than Jihad-un-Nafs. Praying and fasting is part of Jihad un-Nafs. When the Muslims came back from Battle of Tabuk, Rusool Allah (saw) said to Muadh bin Jabal that if you want I will tell you about head of the affair, its pillar and its peak. The head of the affair is Islam and its pillar is salah and its peak is Jihad fi sabi lillah. This tells us that the peak of Islam is to fight in the path of Allah.
Narrated Salim Abu An-Nadr:
The freed slave of 'Umar bin 'Ubaidullah who was 'Umar's clerk: 'Abdullah bin Abi Aufa wrote him (i.e. 'Umar) a letter that contained the following:--
"Once Allah's Apostle (during a holy battle), waited till the sun had declined and then he got up among the people and said, "O people! Do not wish to face the enemy (in a battle) and ask Allah to save you (from calamities) but if you should face the enemy, then be patient and let it be known to you that Paradise is under the shades of swords." (Sahih Bukhari: book 4 Volume 52 Hadith 210)
It has been narrated on the authority of Zaid b. Kbalid al-Juhani that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Anybody who equips a warrior (going to fight) in the way of Allah (is like one who actually) fights. And anybody who looks well after his family in his absence (is also like one who actually) fights.
(muslim: Book-20 Hadith-4668)
There is also a hadith in Muslim in which it says that ribat (to station or stay in) for one day in the path of Allah is better than praying and fasting for one entire month.
All of these Ahadith were for the purpose of preparing the muslims spiritually for whats coming. The muslims were being prepared to face enemies from every direction. Rusool Allah (saw) was telling them about the virtues of Jihad. There was also the physical preparation, and that is military training.
The sahabah were not told to go jogging or lift weights, there lifestyle was active anyway so there was no need for them to be told to be physically fit. They were active because of the type of work they used to do. It wouldn’t make sense to tell a farmer, who works from fajr till late in the day, to go jogging after farming. However in the areas where the muslims were lacking, Rusool Allah (saw) did specify for example swimming.
The arabs of Mecca and Medina were far away from the sea. They never really got the chance to swim, thus Rusool Allah (saw) told them to swim.
Rusool Allah (saw) also trained them for target shooting, marksmanship. In his tafsir of the ayat in AL-ANFAL (8:60), he said strength is marksmanship and he repeated that three times.
And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged.
Narrated Uqbah ibn Amir:
I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) say: Allah, Most High, will cause three persons to enter Paradise for one arrow: the maker when he has a good motive in making it, the one who shoots it, and the one who hands it; so shoot and ride, but your shooting is dearer to me than your riding. Everything with which a man amuses himself is vain except three (things): a man's training of his horse, his playing with his wife, and his shooting with his bow and arrow. If anyone abandons archery after becoming an adept through distaste for it, it is a blessing he has abandoned; or he said: for which he has been ungrateful.
(Dawud: Book 14 Hadith 2507)
In a similar narration there are four exceptions instead of three in which the fourth one is learning how to swim and teaching it to others. So these four things are ibadah of Allah Zaujal, and any other form of entertainment is a waste of your time.
So from these teachings we can notice that, there was what you call an absolute war. Where there is a total mobilization of the society gearing all of its resources towards the militarization, on order to defend the society. This entire process was happening in the time of Rusool Allah (saw).
Rusool Allah (saw) told Muslims to fight the unbelievers with your wealth arms and tongues all geared up to defend the newly formed Muslim state.
This time was a very difficult time for the Muslims. The Quraish were threatening them. For example as soon as Rusool Allah (saw) made hijrah to Medina the Quraish sent a letter to Abdullah bin Ubayd telling him that the people of Medina have given sanctualy to ‘assuba’ . They used a degrading term for Rusool Allah (saw). They also gave them the option that you either hand Rusool Allah (saw) over, or the Quraish will kill them and leave their wives as widows and your children as orphans. So they were threatening the people of Medina.
Another example is when Sa’d ibn Muadh went to visit Mecca, he was friends with Umayya bin Khalaq since Jahiliya. Sa’d went to Umayya and asked him for a suitable time when he could make tawaaf around the Ka’abah. A time when the people around are few. They waited for it to get late then they went to make tawaaf. Abu Jahl saw them. Abu Jahl came and asked Umayya who the man with him was. Umayya said that he is Sa’d bin Muadh. Sa’d bin Muadh was well-known, he was the head of Al-Aus, which was one of the two tribes in Medina who became Muslim. Abu Jahl told Umayya that he does not approve of Umayya helping this man make tawaaf when his people have given sanctuary to Muhammed (saw).
Sa’d ibn Muadh then warned Abu Jahl, that if he will prevent him form making tawaaf then Sa’d will prevent his caravan from reaching their destination. This was because the Quraish caravans used to pass Medina. This shows the constant effort by the Quraish against Rusool Allah (saw) and the sahaba (ra). Thus the militarization was to protect the Muslim community.
After Rusool Allah (saw) received the permission to fight from Allah. Rusool Allah (saw) started sending out what you call ‘saraya’. In the books of seerah you have saraya and ghazwat. So you ghazwat Uhud or Badr and then there is Sarayah Abu Ubaidah. Sarayah is when the militia was sent out, without Rusool Allah (saw) participating in them. While a ghazwat is an army which is led by Rusool Allah (saw). This is the difference. The linguistic meaning of ghazwat is an army of conquest, while sarayah’s is just army.
The first ghazwa in which Rusool Allah (saw) participated in is called ghazwat ul abwa. The army went out, but there was no fighting. Then Rusool Allah (saw) sent out a sariya lead by Ubaidah ibn Harith, there were 60 muhajirun, who were on foot. They would walk at night and hide during the day. During the sariya arrows were exchanged but no one was killed. The first one to shoot was Sa’d bin Abi Waqas (ra). He said that I’m the first one to strike an arrow in the path of Allah.
Then there was sariya lead by Hamza bin Abdul Muttallib. The militia comprised of 30 muhajirun, but this time they were riding camels. They went out to raid a caravan full of belongings of Quraish, this caravan had many guardians. Anyway no fighting occurred because one of the tribesmen in the area had a peace agreement with Muhammed (saw) and Quraish. He ensured that no fighting occurred. When this happened, Abu Jahl went back to his people and warned them that Muhammed (saw) is after them. Abu Jahl also said that Muhammed (saw) is like an angry lion because they had driven his people out of Mecca like insects driven off the back of a camel. So he told his people to be careful, and that Muhammed (saw) is out there waiting to lay his hands on their caravans and them.
There was another ghazwat called Ghazwat Buwat. They also had set out to intercept a Quraish trade caravan, but could not find it.
In Ghazwat Al Ashira too, they went to pursue a caravan but could not find it. Then there was Sariya Sa’d bin Abi Waqas and Ghazwat Badr Oola. All of these took place within the first two years of hijra, before the Battle of Badr.
Then another sariya happened and this one is important because of the consequences of it, and this Siriya was the Sariya of Abdullah ibn Jahsh (ra). This was a small group of sahabah (ra) who were sent out to pursue a caravan belonging to the Quraish. Abdullah ibn Jahsh, the leader, was handed a letter by Rusool Allah (saw). That letter was sealed and Rusool Allah (saw) told Abdullah not to open it, until after two days. So Rusool Allah (Saw) told him to go to a such and such place and then read the letter after two days. Abdullah ibn Jahsh (ra) opens the letter after two days and it states in there Rusool Allah (saw) had instructed Abdullah ibn Jahsh to go to this place, which was between Mecca and Taif, and ask the members of the sariya to follow him, but it should be optional for the members to follow him. So this was a voluntary sariya. Probably the reason was that this was a risky operation. They had to go deep into the territory of the Kuffar. Now they had to raid the caravans of the Quraish which were between Mecca and Taif, previously they had been trying to raid caravans passing by Medina. This was a risky operation as they would be very far from their base, Medina. Abdullah ibn Jahsh told the members about the letter and said that he would go and that whoever wishes can follow him. It was voluntary on all of them including Abdullah ibn Jahsh. They all were willing to go with Abdullah ibn Jahsh. None of them stayed behind. This tells us how willing they were to fight in the way Allah. It also differentiates between someone who fights for greed, power or any other worldly purpose and someone who fights for the sake of Allah.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh (ra) and his men eventually do spot the caravan of the Quraish which was lightly guarded, there were only four guards. The caravan was within a striking distance. But there was a dilemma. That time, it was a day of the sacred month out of the four sacred months in which arabs did not fight. It was the last day of the month of Rajab, which is one of the sacred months. The Muslims agreed to follow this and took this seriously. The question arises; why not just wait for another day? But the problem was that if they wait for another day then this caravan would enter within the sacred limits of Mecca, where they are not supposed to fight either. Either way they would be violating either the sanctity of the four months or the sanctity of the limits of Mecca. They decided to go ahead and attack in the month of Rajab. They shot the arrows and one of the four guards was killed, AlHadrami, one ran away and two were taken prisoners and the whole caravan was taken into the hands of the Muslims. They then went back to Medina.
This was breaking news, everyone was talking about it. The Quraish made a big deal about it; they took this opportunity and milked it as far as possible. They went around saying that; Muhammed and his people are violating the sacred months, they are shedding blood, and they are taking prisoners, and stole our wealth during the holy months. This news was spread throughout the country. When these men came back Rusool Allah (Saw) said that; I didn’t tell you to fight during the holy month, I didn’t give you those instructions. The Muslims were reproaching the sahabah asking them who told you to attack during the holy months? The men of the sirya were in a very difficult situation, they were very worried. They were very concerned about how this would seem to Allah Zaujal. Rusool Allah (saw) refused to take the prisoners and the caravan. These sahabah must be very desperate; they went out there and risked their lives and all that they did was not being accepted, everyone was upset with them. The Quraish were taking advantage of this… and then ayat from the Quran were revealed SURAT AL-BAQARAH (2:217)
They ask you about the sacred month - about fighting therein. Say, "Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-îaram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allah . And fitnah is greater than killing." And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from His religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever - for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally.
‘They ask you about the sacred month-about fighting therein.’, so then people started asking about the ruling of the fighting during the sacred months. Allah said that what Abdullah and his men did was a great sin, thus fighting in the sacred months was a great sin. Then Allah puts everything into perspective, He sais that what the sahabah did was a sin but then Allah Zaujal lists four other sins.
Averting people away from the path of Allah- the people of Quraish were standing in the way of people in becoming Muslim.
Disbelief in Allah- that too is a great sin, which the Quraish were committing
Preventing access to Masjid ul-Haram- The Muslims were not allowed to go to Mecca
Expulsion of the people therefrom- the muhajireen were driven out from Mecca by the Quraish.
SubhanaAllah Allah says that these four sins are greater than what Abdullah ibn Jahsh did. Allah Zaujal thus put things in perspective.
Ibn Ishaac says, ‘the people of Quraish will seduce a Muslim until he gives up Islam.’ This Ayat was clearing up the minds of the people. It indicates what Abdullah ibn Jahsh did and then asks them to look at what the people of the Quraish have been doing for 13 years. Allah does not want the Muslims to make a big deal about what Abdullah ibn Jahsh did and forget about the sins of the Quraish. Even though what Abdullah ibn Jahsh did was wrong, but what the Quraish had been doing outweighs all that.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his followers were relieved that atleast Allah mentioned the sins of the Quraish, and gave clarity to the issue. Abdullah and his followers were now eager for some credit, so they went to Rusool Allah (saw) even thought the ayat says that it was a sin too. Allah then revealed the following ayat (2:218)
Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah - those expect the mercy of Allah . And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
SubhanAllah, Allah then says that Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his followers can expect the mercy of Allah. Thus they can expect to be given the reward of a mujahideen.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his sariya were the first to take prisoners in the path of Allah, they were the first to take booty of battle in the path of Allah, and they were the first to kill a disbeiever in the path of Allah. This was an honour for them.
When these ayat were revealed Rusool Allah (saw) took the caravan and took the two men as prisoners. The people of Quraish came to ransom them. Two men of the sariya went to look for their camels. Rusool Allah (saw) said that he will only give the two prisoners back after the two men from the sariya come back. Rusool Allah (saw) was afraid that the Quraish might kill them. This shows the care that Rusool Allah (saw) had for his followers. This is how Muslims should be, they should never give one another up. After Sa’d ibn abi Waqas and and Utba came back, Rusool Allah (saw) released the prisoners in return of money. One of them, Al-Hakim Ibn Keisan became Muslim. He stayed back. Al Hakim died as a shaheed later on. While the other prisoner Othman Ibn Al-Moghira, went to Mecca and died as a disbeliever.
LESSONS FRON THIS SARIYA
The enemies of Allah will pick on a Muslim’s action and then try to blow them out of proportion. They might try to twist the truth in effort to present a Muslim in the worst form capable. So a Muslim needs to be aware of this, he/she needs to study the reality of the situation and put things in perspective. Just like what Allah did through these ayat of surah Baqarah.
So if Muslims are ever accused of being terrorists, or that Islam promotes violence then remind people that more than a million people were killed in Iraq, Palestinians have been suffering for over fifty years. Muslims in Kashmir, Chechnya, China, have been suffering for a very long time. The list can just go on an on and on. Bring these things up and it will become clear that EVEN IF the Muslims do something that is not justified it can never reach the level of violence and evil against the Muslims from the disbelievers.
THINGS NEED TO BE PUT IN THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE... Don’t be gullible and naïve, believing whatever the media says. The media is not on the truth’s side. The enemies of Allah are not on your side.
A Muslims needs to be aware, and should not just accept things as he/she hears it. Look at what the Quraish did at their time and look at what the enemies of Allah are doing to the Muslims today. Preachers, who are spreading the true Islam, are being thrown in jail, are killed, or are subjugated to threats. If Muslims try to present the truth then they are suppressed and restricted. Muslim blood has become worthless!
The care that Muslims should have for one another. The way Rusool Allah (saw) refused to hand over the prisoners until the Muslims returned, shows how we should treat each other.
A few lessons regarding the issue of sarayah in general
A few lessons regarding the issue of sarayah in general. These sarayah were to establish the military presence of Rusool Allah (Saw) in the Muslims. Rusool Allah (saw) sent sarayah in all directions to let people know that the Muslims have forces and are capable of using it. In the old tribal system of Arabia, if one tribe is weaker than another, then the stronger one would take advantage of that. Rusool Allah (Saw) would send out sarayah as a deterrent for others, for the Bedouins who surrounded Medina who still have respect for the Quraish in their hearts. This is because the Quraish was seen as the center of Arabia. They were the custodians of the Ka’aba, so the Quraish were held in high esteem by the rest of Arabia. Rusool Allah (saw) was trying to break that, he tried to tell the people that there was now a rival power in the area
Rusool Allah (saw) was winning over tribes and establishing alliances. During this time, Rusool Allah (saw) was allowed to establish alliances with the mushrikeen , and he did. This was done through these sarayah.
These sarayah were mostly for economical reasons. Most of the time the sarayah were sent out to raid the caravans of Quraish, that is because in the Islamic Fiqah, if the Muslim state is in war with another in the cause of Allah, then that makes the lives and the wealth of the enemy halal. So Rusool Allah (saw) was attacked the economical network of the Quraish and this was a serious threat to Quraish and this is what lead to the Battle of Badr. Because it all started as an attempt by the Muslims to take over the biggest caravan of the Quraish led by Abu Sufyan.
These sarayah was training for the Muslims, these sarayah were actually a great chance for the sahabah to experience and to learn. They would learns methods of reconnaissance, and learn how to ambush. They would get to know the area, and the tribes around them. So they were benefiting greatly from these expeditions. Overall they were quite successful. During this war which carried on between the Quraish and the Muslims, it is noticed that the Quraish did not have the tactic of sending out sarayah against the Muslims. This was pretty much an Islamic way.
Rusool Allah (saw) wasn’t totally secure in Medina. The number of Muslims was not that large. One night Rusool Allah (saw) couldn’t sleep, and he wished that someone could guard him during this night.
'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace he upon him) lay on bed during one night and said: Were there a pious person from amongst my companions who should keep a watch for me during the nightt? She said: We heard the noise of arms, whereupon Allah's Messenger (May peace is upon him) said: Who is it? And Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas said: Allah's Messenger. I have come to serve as your sentinel. 'A'isha said: Allah’s Messenger (May peace be upon him) slept (such a sound sleep) that I heard the noise of his snoring.
(Muslim: Book-31 Hadith-5925)
Ibn Hajar commented on this hadith and explained that this shows that Muslims should not be careless when care is needed. Rusool Allah (saw) felt that there was a threat then, and he wasn’t careless about it. He couldn’t sleep because he wanted someone to be his guard. Thus a Muslim should not be carefree.
He also said that the Muslims should protect their leaders, guard their Ulema, their military leaders.
The third thing he said was that Rusool Allah (saw) did this as a lesson for his Umma, that they should be careful and alert and this carried on until Allah revealed the ayat of surah AL-MAIDAH (5:67)
And Allah will protect you from the people..
Allah was telling Rusool Allah (saw) that he does not need a guard, Allah Himself takes the responisbility of the protection of His messenger. And that is when Rusool Allah (saw) came out and told Sa’d to go back.
The Muslims had a census. Rusool Allah (saw) ordered to count the number of souls that profess Islam. The total number of men of fighting age was 1500. The sahabah then wondered that if their number is 1500 then they shouldn’t be afraid.
The Quraish were sending out their major caravan to Ashsham, the caravan was headed by Abu Sufyan, one of the leaders of Quraish. Rusool Allah (saw) heard of this, he sent out spies to gain information on this caravan. Busaisah bin Umroo comes back, he enters the house of Rusool Allah (saw). At that time there was ony Anas (ra) and Busaisah at Rusool Allah’s (saw) house. Busaisah gives him the news that the caravan of the Quraish has been spotted at such and such place. (Having heard the news), the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) came out (hurriedly), spoke to the people and said: We are in need (of men); whoever has an animal to ride upon ready with him should ride with us. People began to ask him permission for bringing their riding animals which were grazing on the hillocks near Medina. He said: No. (I want) only those who have their riding animals ready. Rusool Allah (saw) wanted this to be a speedy operation. He could not wait for people to go get their rides; there was no time to wait for them to prepare themselves. That is why the people, who could go, were very few, some say there were 317 troops and some say there were 319, but it wasn’t more than that.
The purpose of this army was to take over the caravan of Quraish led by Abu Sufyan. Rusool Allah (saw) told the people that: This caravan is of the Quraish and will carry much wealth, attack it, may Allah present it to you. Abu Sufyan was very careful and as we mentioned earlier, Abu Jahl had already warned his people about possible attacks by Muhammed (saw). Thus Abu Sufyan too had sent out spies to gather the whereabouts of Muhammed (saw). Abu Sufyan reached Badr, which is 150 km from Medina. He held some camel manure in his hand and crushed it. He sensed that the manure had the animal feed of Medina in it. He figured out that Muhammed’s followers were pursuing him. Abu Sufyan sent out an urgent message to the Quraish, informing them about the threat to the caravan and called them to come and protect it. He sent the message with Amr bin Umayya Dhamri but before we talk about what Amr does when he hoes to the Quraish lets go back to Mecca.
In Mecca, Atika bint Abdul Muttallib, the aunt of Rusool Allah (saw) saw a dream. She saw that a man rushes into Mecca riding his camel and he screams to gather the people of Mecca around him. His camel stands on top of Al-Ka’aba and after that it stands on top of a mountain in Mecca. He then warns the people of Quraish that: In three days you will perish. This man then takes a rock and throws it from on top of the mountain; it explodes as it lands in the valley of Mecca. Every house in Mecca is hit by a fragment of that explosion.
Atika was worried about this dream so she told her brother Al-Abbas about it, but told Abbas not to tell anyone about it. Al-Abbas heard the dream and said that it was a vision, he told Atika to keep quiet about it. Now Atika told her brother not to tell anyone, however Al-Abbas the next came across his friend Waleed bin Utba, and told him about the dream. Al-Abbas tells Waleed not to tell anybody about it. Waleed bin Utba goes and tells his father and soon the news is all over Mecca. Al-Abbas said: I woke up early to make tawaaf around Ka’aba and there was Abu Jahl sitting with a group of Quraish leaders sitting and discussing the vision of Atika. When Abu Jahl saw Al-Abbas he asked him to join the discussion after his tawaaf. Abbas joined them after tawaaf and Abu Jahl said: How long has your family of Abdul Muttalib had this female prophet? Abbas pretended he didn’t know what Abu Jahl was talking about. Abu Jahl said that he was talking about Atika’s vision. Abu Jahl then sarcastically asked that: aren’t you Abdul Muttalibs satisfied with your men becoming prophets, has it got to be your women now? Abu Jahl then said that Atika gave the time of three days. Abu Jahl warned Abbas that the Quraish will keep a close eye on them for three days and if what she said is true, so be it. But if it turns out to be false then they will call him one of the biggest liars of Arabia.
So Abu Jahl here had insulted the Abdul Muttalibs, insulted the Al-Abbas and Atika claiming that they are liars. Al-Abbas went back home and every woman of Abdul Muttalibs visited and said: Have you agreed to let that dirty old reprobate attack first your men and then your women while you just listened? Didn’t anything you heard, offend you? Al-Abbas said: I would have done something but I never had a problem with him before. I swear I will confront him. If he repeats this, I will confront him for you. So after three days Abbas goes to haram and walks by Abu Jahl so that Abu Jahl can call him, and then he could get a chance to argue back and take revenge for what happened.
Al Abbas says: On the morning of the third day after Atika’s vision, I was extremely angry feeling that I have let him get away with something I should have put a stop to. I went into the mosque and saw him; I swear I was moving towards him to confront him, to get him to retract what he had said. He was a slight man with a sharp face, a sharp voice and a sharp gaze. When he hurried of towards the door of the mosque, I asked myself, ‘what could be the matter with the fellow?’ and whether he was doing this because he feared I was about to confront him? But actually he had heard something I had not; he had heard the voice of Damdam Ibn Amr Al-Ghafari, who was out in the center of the valley standing by his camel. The man, who was sent by Abu Sufyan, arrives three days after the dream of Atika. Damdam Al-Ghafari comes into Mecca in a scene. Just by looking at him it was enough to strike fear in the hearts of people. He came in and he cut the nose of his camel and he turns its saddle upside down, and he tears his shirt. He stands in the middle of the valley screaming calling to the people and saying, ‘Oh Quraish! The caravan! The caravan! Your goods being brought by Abu Sufyan have been raided by Muhammed and his men. I don’t think you can save them. Help! Help!’
Al- Abbas said: ‘and so all this diverted us from our personal conflict.’ This was an emergency situation now; everyone was trying to defend their caravan. The people of Quraish mobilize to go and fight Muhammed (saw) in order to protect their caravan.
Rusool Allah (saw) made shura (to consult) with the sahabah (ra), he asked for counseling from his troops. Abu Bakr (ra) spoke, Umar (ra) spoke but it seemed as if Rusool Allah (saw) didn’t take interest in what they had to say. Sa’d ibn Muadh said, that it seems Rusool Allah (saw) want the ansar to speak. Rusool Allah (saw) said yes. Sa’d bin Muadh said: O Messenger of Allah, if you want us to lead our horses towards the sea, we will do that, and if you want us to lead our horses towards Bark ul-Ghamad which was at the tip of Arabia, we will do so (muslim: Book 19 Hadith 4394). This made Rusool Allah (saw) very happy. The reason why Rusool Allah (saw) didn’t pay heed to what Abu Bakr (ra) and Umar (ra) had to say is because he wanted to hear what the ansar had to say because the pledge or allegiance that was given by Al-Ansar to Rusool Allah (saw) was to protect him, and this protection could possibly (not necessarily) apply only within the boundaries of Medina. But at that time Rusool Allah (saw) was leading an army outside of Medina to raid a caravan belonging to the Quraish. Rusool Allah (saw) wanted to know what the ansar were thinking. The ansar COULD have interpreted their agreement with Rusool Allah (saw) that the agreement to protect only applied within Medina. Rusool Allah (saw) was very glad with the attitude of Al-Ansar, and it shows us the understanding that the ansar had, about the importance of the protection of Rusool Allah (saw).
Rusool Allah (saw) heads forward but on his way he had to return some of the sahaba because they were too young to fight He returned Abdulla bin Umar Khattab (ra),he returned Al-baraa. This is in contrast with soldiers of today who would take any chance to escape fighting and who are just in the army because of all the free services they get like education. Rusool Allah (saw) was dealing with people who were very eager to fight fi sabi lillah.
It has been narrated on the authority of A'isha, wife of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) set out for Badr. When he reached Harrat-ul-Wabara (a place four miles from Medina) a man met him who was known for his valor and courage. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) were pleased to see him. He said: I have come so that I may follow you and get a share from the booty. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said to him: Do you believe in Allah and His Apostle? He said: No. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Go back, I will not seek help from a Mushrik (polytheist). He went on until we reached Shajara, where the man met him again. He asked him the same question again and the man gave him the same answer. He said: Go back. I will not seek help from a Mushrik. The man returned and overtook him at Baida'? He asked him as he had asked previously: Do you believe in Allah and His Apostle? The man said: Yes. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said to him: Then come along with us.
(Muslim: Book 19 Hadith 4472)
Financially the Muslims were going through a hard time, so every camel was shared by three men. These men would take turns. Rusool Allah (saw) like evrybody else shared a camel with two other sahabah. When their turn approached they would ask Rusool Allah (saw) if they could keep walking and Rusool Allah (saw) ride on the camel. Rusool Allah (saw) said to them that : You are not stronger than I am, and I am in need of reward just as you are.
So Rusool Allah (saw) was just like anybody else in the army. Rusool Allah (saw) went towards the direction of Badr to pursue the caravan, however Abu Sufyan was cautioned and he was able to divert the caravan and get away.
CD#5
Abu Sufyan was very alert, he himself was scouting the area, he passed next to the wells of Badr and he asked the people there, who were drawing water from those wells. He asked the people if they saw somebody here who seemed foreign or distinguished. They responded that they saw two men there, Abu Sufyan went to where their camels were and he then held some of the camel manure in his hand and he crushed it. He could tell by crushing it that the food of the camels was crushed dates, and that is the food of the camles in Medina. He recognized that these two men came from Medina; he rushed towards the coast changing his course thus was able to evade the Muslims. He sends a letter back to Mecca saying: You came out to do battle in order to protect your caravan, people and wealth. Allah has now saved these, so go back.
Abu Sufyan said that there was no point in fighting because the caravan was now free of threat. Abu Jahl said: By Allah we will not turn around until we reach Badr.
Badr was a place where the arabs would hold a fare and a market each year. Abu Jahl went on and said: We sill stays there three days, slaughter some camels eat well, drink whine, and entertainers will play music for us. The Bedouin will get to hear of our journey and our gathering there and they will respect us for it. Let us proceed ahead.
So for Abu Jahl this was nothing but a show of the strength of the Quraish. Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:47)

And do not be like those who came forth from their homes insolently and to be seen by people and avert [them] from the way of Allah . And Allah is encompassing of what they do.
So the people came out with insolence and arrogance. They wanted to boast there power and strength. Rusool Allah (saw) realised that the caravan is trying to get away and he thought that instead of facing around 40 men with the caravan they might have to face an army of thousand men.
Rusool Allah (saw) held a shura and asked the companions what they think. Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) stood and spoke, Umar (ra) did the same, then Maqdad said something and in response Abdullah bin Masood (ra) said: Al-Maqdad stood up and spoke some words, I would sacrifice the World to be the one who spoke those words. Al Maqdad stood up and said:O Messenger of Allah go forth to what Allah Zaujal has commanded you to do and we are not going to say like the children of Israel told Musa (as): Go and fight with your Lord we are going to stay here. Al-Maqdad went on to say: But we will fight infront of you, behind you, on your right, and to your left. And we will say ‘go forth and fight with your Lord, we will fight with you’.
On hearing this the face of Muhammad (saw) lit up, shined and then he stood up. These words of Al-Maqdad (ra) strengthened the sahabah, but that wasn’t the case with all of them Some of the troops were not prepared to fight a war. This is because they had left Medina with the intent to raid a caravan, though they were armed, they were not mentally prepared to face an army. That is why some were reluctant and inside their heart they wished they could just raid the caravan. It is to be noticed that the only way we know today what was in their hearts is via the Quran. Allah Zaujal knows what is in the hearts of people. Unlike a historian writing history, he can only write what he observes he can never know about the thoughts or feelings of people. So Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:5)
[It is] just as when your Lord brought you out of your home [for the battle of Badr] in truth, while indeed, a party among the believers were unwilling
Allah Zaujal is telling us that some of the believers were unwillling, (there was no other way we would have found out). By the way the people we are talking about here was part of the cream of Muslims, they were the best. Despite them being the cream, some of them were unwilling. This was because fighting is something disliked and this was their first time, some of them may not have had to face an enemy before. Obviously fear of fighting was also present. So understandaby fightins is something disliked. Allah Zaujal says in AL-BAQARAH (2:216)

Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.
Allah Zaujal then says in AL-ANFAL (8:6) and (8:7)
Arguing with you concerning the truth after it had become clear, as if they were being driven toward death while they were looking on.
Remember, O believers], when Allah promised you one of the two groups - that it would be yours - and you wished that the unarmed one would be yours. But Allah intended to establish the truth by His words and to eliminate the disbelievers
That He should establish the truth and abolish falsehood, even if the criminals disliked it.
In the ayat (8:7) Allah Zaujal talks about two groups, these are; to raid the caravan or to defeat the enemy. ‘And you wished that the unarmed one would be yours.’ People wanted the caravan, which had the money of the muhajireen in it.
So Allah had a plan, and the Muslims had a plan, but the plan of Allah was superior. The muslims wanted to raid the caravan and take over its wealth while Allah Zaujal wanted this battle to be the first meeting between good and evil, and for it to be ‘The Day of Furqan’, the criterion.
So Rusool Allah (saw) was gathering information on the whereabouts of the army of Quraish and also the whereabouts of the caravan. Rusool Allah (saw) met .
Then Rusool Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) stopped near Badr with one of his Companions, Ibn Hisham said this Companion was Abu Bakr, they stopped by an old man of the Bedouin and inquired about, Quraish and about Muhammad and his Companions and what he had heard about them. The old man said, “I won't tell you before you tell me which party you belong to.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said, "If you tell us we will tell you." The man said, "Should this be for that?" Yes, he replied. The man said, “I have heard that Muhammad and his Companions went out on such-and-such a day. If that is true, today they are in such-and-such a place, [referring to the place in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) actually was]; and I heard that Quraish went out in such-and-such a day, and if this is true, today they are in such-and-such a place.” Meaning the one in which they actually were. “When he had finished he said, ‘Of whom are you?’ the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said, “We are from Ma."
Then he left him, while the old man was saying, "What does 'from Ma' mean? Is it from the water of Iraq? Rusool Allah (saw) walked away so that the man would not ask him more questions. What he meant by his answer was that we are from water, because Allah Zaujal says in the Quran that man is created from water.
Rusool Allah (saw) got some valuable information on the location of the Quraish. This old man was reliable because he gave the precise location of Muhammad (saw) and his companions. The Messenger of Allah (saw) returned to his Companions and he sent Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Az-zubair and Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas with a number of his Companions in quest for news. They found a servant belonging to the army of the Quraish; they arrested him and took him along. When they reached Rusool Allah (saw) was praying. They asked him who he belongs to; he responded that he belonged to the army of Quraish The sahabah then beat him up badly and ask him about the location of Abu Sufyan, but the servant did not know where Abu Sufyan was. The sahabah then asked asked him who he knows about. He said that he knows the whereabouts of Abu Jahl, Abu Ummayya bin Khalaf, Utba bin Rabi’a and some other prominent members of the army of Quraish. They then would start beating him up to know about Abu Sufyan, so the man would agree to give information about Abu Sufyan, when the beating stopped he would then say that he doesn’t know.
Having completed his Prayer, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,"When he told you the truth, you beat him: and when he lied, you leave him alone.” So Rusool Allah (saw) said that when the man sais the truth that he doesn’t know, you beat him but when he lies that he will tell them, the sahabah leave him alone. And then Rusool Allah (saw) interrogated himself because the sahabah were not asking the right questions. The Messenger of Allah (saw) asked him how many are they, and he said, "Many," Rusool Allah (saw) wanted a more specific answer so he asked for the number, but he did not know; so he asked them how many camels do they slaughter every day, so the man said one day they would slaughter 10 camels and the next day they would slaughter nine, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, 'The people are between nine hundred and a thousand.” The actual number was 950 for the Quraish while the Muslim army was a little over 300. So the Muslims were 1/3rd of the army of Quraish! The muhajirun were 86 in number, Al-Aus were 61, and Al-Khazraj were a 170. The reason why Al-Aus were much fewer than Al-Khazraj was because the dwelling of Al-Aus was in the upper part of Medina and when Rusool Allah (saw) mobilized this army he said that the ones who have their rides ready can join the army. So due to the fact that Al-Aus lived a bit far away, they weren’t able to join the army.
In Bukhari Al-Baraa bin Aazib (ra) said: We the companions of Rusool Allah (saw), when we would talk about the battle of Badr, we would say that ‘the number of people who participated in the Battle of Badr is equal to the number of people who participated with Talut, after they passed the trial of the river. And the only ones who passed were the believers; we were al little over 310.’”
The fact there was a coalition between the muslims at the Battle of Badr and the Banu Israel who participated with Talut and the fact that Al-Baraa here mentions that these are the ones who pass the test and joined Talut tells you that the believers who were in the Battle of Badr were also the best. These were the ones who passed the trials of this world. So they are the best of the best. Rusool Allah (saw) had banners, flags, slogans, and battle cries; this was all to encourage the soldiers to fight. The banner for the army during the Battle of Badr was white and it was handed to Musab ibn Umair. Rusool Allah (saw) also had two black flags; one of them was called Al-Uqab, this was standard it was carried by Ali ibn abi Talib and the other black flag was given to one of the Ansar.
The entire army had only two horses one was with Zaubair and the other with Al-Maqdad bin Amr (ra). The Muslims had 70 camels; each camel as shared by three people. Rusool Allah (saw) shared his camel with Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Marthad Ibn Abi Marthab. They offered to give their turns to Rusool Allah (saw), Rusool Allah (saw) said to them that: You are not stronger than I am, and I am in need of reward just as you are. SubhanaAllah this was their leader and their teacher. Rusool Allah (saw) would not even let them give up their turns for him. This is why the sahabah loved Rusool Allah (saw) so much. No followers have ever, or will ever love their leader as much as they loved Rusool Allah (saw).
When Rusool Allah (saw) chose the location of the army Al-Habbab bin Al-Mundhir (ra) (one of the ansar) said: O Messenger of Allah! Is this the place about which Allah revealed to you, that; we should not advance beyond or stop before, or is this a question of opinion in warfare tactics?
Look at how al-Habbab stated the question … if this was a wahi from Allah, then Al-Habbab was satisfied but if it’s a question of tactics then Al-Habbab had something to say. Rusool Allah (saw) told him that it is a matter of warfare tactics. Al-Mundhir suggested that the army should go ahead till they get to the well of Badr and stop there, stop up the wells beyond it, and construct a cistern so that they would have plenty of water; then they could fight their enemy who would have nothing to drink. The Messenger of Allah (saw) agreed that this was an excellent plan and they acted accordingly.
The night before the battle started Rusool Allah (saw) saw a dream, and these are the dreams which the mujahideen fi sabi lillah see in which Allah Zaujal strengthens them. In the dream Rusool Allah (saw) saw that the army of Quraish very few in number than what it really was. Now why would Allah Zaujal make Muhammed (saw) see the Quraish army fewer than what it really was? Allah Zaujal wanted to strengthen the hearts of the believers. The army of Quraish army was three times more in number than the Muslims, their morale could have been weakened by this. If soldier goes to the battlefield knowing that they have no chance, he will be weak in the battlefield. Allah Zaujal is hence showing the Quraish as few in number. Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:43)
Remember, O Muhammad], when Allah showed them to you in your dream as few; and if He had shown them to you as many, you [believers] would have lost courage and would have disputed in the matter [of whether to fight], but Allah saved [you from that]. Indeed, He is Knowing of that within the breasts.
So the dream was to strengthen them, and this was the night before the battle. The following morning it rained, though it was not a rainy season. I
Ibn Ishaq said that the valley was soft brown; the water from the sky dampened the earth for the Messenger of Allah and his force but did not impede their progress but the Quraish had such rain fall upon them that they could not move ahead.
This was rain that showered on both; the Muslims and the non-muslims, but for the Muslims it dampened the Earth and made it firm while for the Quraish the Earth became muddy and sticky which impeded their progress. So subhanAllah, the same rain had differing effects on both sides. This was a miracle from Allah Zaujal also some of the Muslims woke up in a state of impurity because they had wet dreams. SubhanAllah, a Muslim does not feel comfortable in a state of impurity, he/she wants to purify themselves as soon as he/she can. So to spare the Muslims of this uncomfortable feeling, Allah Zaujal sent down water to cleanse them. This was spiritual cleaning in addition to the Earth becoming firm for them to march over. Allah Zaujal says in AL-ANFAL (8:11)
[Remember] when He overwhelmed you with drowsiness [giving] security from Him and sent down upon you from the sky, rain by which to purify you and remove from you the evil [suggestions] of Satan and to make steadfast your hearts and plant firmly thereby your feet.
Ali ibn abi Talib said about the night before the battle that all of the Muslim army was asleep; this sleep was a blessing from Allah as mentioned in the ayat ‘He overwhelmed you with drowsiness’. Usually right before the battle you would expect people to be anxious, tensed, worried, and afraid… but the sahabah (ra) were asleep! Ali ibn Abi Talib said that each one of the soldier was in deep sleep. SubhanaAllah that is why our scholars say that sleeping before a battle is a sign of emaan, while sleeping during salah is a sign of hypocrisy As Allah Zaujal says that when the munafiqeen go to pray they go in state of laziness. The scholars say that feeling drowsiness before or suring battle is a sign of emaan, because it shows the confidence of the heart.
Ali ibn abi Talib said that the only one who was awake that night was Rusool Allah (saw). SubhanAllah Rusool Allah (saw) was standing and making du’a.
As mentioned in the ayat, Shaitan was whispering to the Muslims about how they can fight when they are impure… Allah Zaujal removes such suggestions of Shaitan by cleansing the Muslims with rain. Thus this rain had served those purposes as mentioned by the ayat.
Allah Zaujal talks about the scene in AL-ANFAL (8:42)
[Remember] when you were on the near side of the valley, and they were on the farther side, and the caravan was lower [in position] than you. If you had made an appointment [to meet], you would have missed the appointment. But [it was] so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destined - that those who perished [through disbelief] would perish upon evidence and those who lived [in faith] would live upon evidence; and indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
What does ‘appointment’ mean in this ayat? Allah Zaujal is saying that meeting the army of Quraish wasn’t by appointment, the Muslims did not have an appointment with the Quraish and the Quraish did not make an appointment with the Muslims. The Muslims wanted the caravan but Allah Zaujal had set a date for the meeting of the Muslims with the Quraish. ‘If you had made an appointment [to meet], you would have missed the appointment.’ … the Muslims did not want to meet the Quraish nor did the Quraish want to meet the Muslims. Abu Sufyan and some other Quraish were telling the army to go back , some of the Quraish were afraid because they knew that they were fighting the Messenger of Allah (saw), but they were too arrogant to be his followers. This kind of kufr is called Kufr ul Istikbar, disbelief because of arrogance. And as we mentioned earlier many of the Muslims didn’t want to fight because they werent prepared for battle, they had left their homes with the intention of raiding the caravan.‘that those who perished [through disbelief] would perish upon evidence and those who lived [in faith] would live upon evidence’; This battle ground was the ultimate test of emaan and of Kufr.
Sa’d ibn Muadh (ra) had a suggestion to make, he went to Rusool Allah (saw) and suggested that a portico should be built for Rusool Allah (saw), and camels and guards should be ready for the Prophet (saw). Sa’d said that if Muslims won then that is what is desired but if the Muslims are defeated then he suggested that Rusool Allah (saw) should go back to Medina to join the people who are left behind, for they were just as deeply attached to Muhammed (saw) as they were. And then Sa’d said about the Muslims in Medina that had they known that the Muslims would be fighting they would not have stayed behind. Sa’d here was probably talking about Al-Aus, who wanted to join Muhammed (saw) but couldn’t. He then went on to say that Muhammed (saw) can go back and fight with the Muslims, to carry on his mission.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) thanked him and blessed him. Then a booth was constructed for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and remained there. Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) was his bodyguard.
Ibn Ishaq said that when the Messenger of Allah saw them (Quraish) coming forward into the valley from their position behind the sandhill at Aqanqal the Messenger of Allah said, “O Allah! Here come Quraish in their vanity and pride contending with you and calling your Messenger a liar. O Allah! Grant the help, which you have promised me. Destroy them his morning!” This was what Rusool Allah (saw) said when he first saw the army.
One of the Kuffar from Quraish was riding a red camel, looking at him Rusool Allah (saw) said, “If there is any good in any of them, it will be with the man on the red camel: if they obey him, they will take the right way.” Rusool Allah (saw) was referring to Utba bin Rabi’a. Why did Rusool Allah (saw) say this? … The Kuffar of Quraish had sent Umar ibn Wahab to scout on the strength and number of the Muslim army. Umar did do that and he went back to the Quraish and said that he said: O Quraish! What I saw was camels bearing deaths, there are people whose only aid and refuge are their swords. I swear I don’t foresee any of them being killed before he kills one of you and if they kill of you a like number as their own, what good will it be to live after that? Consider carefully.
Thus Umar ibn Wahab had gone and saw that the Muslim army was quite small, but when he looked in their faces he saw death. He saw men willing to die. Hakim Ibn Hizam goes to Utba bin Rabi’s, one of the prominent leaders of Quraish, and sais: O Utba! Shall I suggest something, if you do, you will carry the honour of this day unti l the end of time. Utba asked him what he wanted to say. Hakim said: You withdraw this force back to Mecca, you take care of the blood of your ally, Hadhrami. (Hadhrami was the guard of the caravan who died during the Sariya of Abdullah ibn Jahsh)
So another reason for this battle was to avenge the death of Hadhrami. Utba was an ally with Hadhrami, so Hakim was telling him to spare the battle and instead give the blood money of Hadhrami to the Quraish. Utba liked this idea; however they needed to get the agreement of Abu Jahl.
Utba then stands up and sais: Oh Quraish! By fighting Mohammed’s companions you will accomplish nothing, if you do attack him, each of you will always be looking at others who will always dislike looking back at you. You will be known to have killed their cousin or a member of their tribe. Go home, and leave Muhammed up to the other Arabs. If they kill him that will be accomplishing your aims and if otherwise, he will find you not to have been exposed to the risk of what you now plan.
So what Utba was saying is that to fighting Muhammed (saw) that would mean fighting their own people also that if the Arabs kill Muhammed (saw) then that is good, while if Muhammed (saw) wins then they won’t come and take revenge from the Quraish.
While Utba was speaking to the Quraish, Hakim ibn Hizam went to convince Abu Jahl. Hakim says what he has to say and says that this was the message from Utba. Abu Jahl says that: Utba didn’t find anybody else to send but YOU!? Hakim in response said that Utba could have sent someone else, but he wouldn’t have been a messenger for someone except for Utba.
And then Abu Jahl said: I swear his lungs are filled with terror when he saw Muhammed and his men, by Allah we will not return until Allah decides the issue between us and Muhammed, Utba is not sincere in what he says. He sees Muhammed and his men as fodder for camels awaiting slaughter and his own son is there among them He is scaring you for his own sake.
The meaning of the words of Abu Jahl ‘He sees Muhammed and his men as fodder for camels awaiting slaughter’… means that he was saying that the Kafir will slaughter the Muslims and that the disbelievers will win, Abu Jahl was saying that Utba is afraid because his son is a Muslim, so he doesn’t want his son to be killed. That is why Utba was trying to make everyone withdraw.
And then Abu Jahl goes to the brother of Amr bin Hadhrami and says to him that: Your ally, your protector, Utba wants to withdraw the army back, go and inspire the army to fight.
So the brother of Amr bin Hadhrami goes to the army and screams, “Woe to Amr! Woe to Amr!”… he marches infront of the army inspiring them to fight.
Ibn Ishaq says that the mood for warfare became heated, and the attitudes of the forces hardened and they became determined to fight, while Utba’s advice was ignored. Utba said, “That fellow with the filthy yellow backside will find out whether its me or him whose lungs are filled with terror.”
Not only did Abu Jahl sweep the entire army with anger but he also made Utba angry, and to prove Abu Jahl wrong he was the first one to stand forth and ask for a duel with a Muslim. This shows you how effective this devil Abu Jahl was.
Let’s stop here and comment on this Rusool Allah (saw) said about Utba that “If there is any good in any of them, it will be with the man on the red camel: if they obey him, they will take the right way.” So brothers and sisters among the camp of disbelievers there are voices of reason, there are men of wisdom, there are people who are moderate, however when it comes to it being a battle against Islam, when it is a religious war with the intention of defeating the truth, the religion of Allah … these voices of reason and moderation are swept aside while the voices of fanaticism and extremism gain the upper hand. This is important to mention because sometimes Muslims think that: since among the enemies of Allah there are people who are anti-war, moderate, or there are people who are supportive of Muslim causes then we think that such people’s voices will overcome the other voices of extremism that could be the case when the battle is between Kufr and Kufr. But we have to understand that when it comes to fighting with the anbiya of Allah Zaujal or the followers of the anbiya of Allah, the case is then different.
Abu Sufyan! Didn’t he urge the army to go back? Wasn’t he representing a voice of reason, didn’t Banu Zahra withdraw? Banu Zahra were lead by Akhnas bin Shuraiq, who refused to fight in the Battle of Badr. They refused to fight with their own brothers. Didn’t Utba and Hakim try?
Infact I will mention another incident, to show how the disbelievers are when it comes to Islam. Abu Sufyan’s son was taken a prisoner of war, by the Muslims. Abu Sufyan was told to go and ransom him but he refused, because the Muslims had killed one his sons, he refused to go and ransom the other. He preferred that his son stays there. The people of Quraish used to really respect and honor any pilgrim who would come to Mecca. This respect and honor was based on them showing generosity to the pilgrims. There was a Muslim member of one Arab Muslim tribe, who went to Mecca for pilgrimage, this Muslims was taken as a prisoner by Abu Sufyan.
Ibn Ishaq says: Quraish only ever treated well those who came as pilgrims. So this was the first time they violated that law, Abu Sufyan took that pilgrim as a prisoner. The family of the prisoner went upto Rusool Allah (saw) and told him about the situation. Rusool Allah (saw) eventually had to free Abu Sufyan’s son, then Abu Sufyan freed the pilgrim. The reason why this is important to bring up is because when the Kuffar, deal with the Muslims, they deal with them in a different standard.
So even if among the Kuffar, you have people who are wise, peace activists, moderate they change when it comes to dealing with Muslims. This is because Shaitan is out there convincing his followers that the followers of Islam need to be wiped off the face of the Earth.
So as we mentioned Allah blessed the Muslims with sleep the night before, and the earth was firm (due to the rain) for them to walk on. Allah blessed the Muslims with something else. Rusool Allah (saw) saw a dream that the Quraish were few in number, and when the Muslims actually confronted the Quraish, they still saw the Quraish as few!! SubhanAllah  …Allah Zaujal says in Al-Anfal (8:44)
And [remember] when He showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes, and He made you [appear] as few in their eyes so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destined. And to Allah are [all] matters returned.
So we’ve already talked about why Allah would make the enemy seem fewer in the eyes of the believer, but the above ayats also talks about how Allah made the Muslims seem few in the eyes of the disbelievers. Now why would Allah Zaujal do that? Allah gives the explanation in the same verse ‘so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destine.’ Allah wanted this battle to happen, so when the enemies heard the Muslims were few, it made them more eager and anxious to fight. This was because they thought that they had a greater chance to defeat the Muslims. But what this also did was make the Kuffar careless and overconfident. So this was like a bait, to bring them to fight. But once they truly realise the strength of the Muslims, it will be too late.
So what was the strategy of Muhammed (saw) in fighting? Rusool Allah (saw) used a tactic that wasn’t used by the arabs before. It might have been used by other nations but not the arabs. The arab method of fighting was Al-kurru wulfur , Al kuroo wulfur is to attack and withdraw, then attack again then withdraw… this happens repeatedly. This is a very disorganised attack.
However Rusool Allah (saw) employed the method of ranks. He would line up the army in one, two, three or four ranks depending on the number of troops. Rusool Allah (saw) had the first rank armed with lances and he would have the ranks in the back armed with arrows or archers. So the archers would fire from behind while the front rank would prevent the enemy or the cavalry from advancing. As mentioned before this was a new tactc for the Arabs. Allah says in Surat As-saf (61:4)
Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] structure joined firmly.
This method of fighting in ranks is called Zahf, which also probably emplyed by the Romans and the Persians. This method gives the leader a greater control over the army rather than just attacking and withdrawing in a disorganised fashion. And that is how Muhammed (saw) fought in the majority of his battles.
Rusool Allah (saw) also encouraged and inspired the army because that was instructed to him by Allah Zaujal. Allah says in AL-ANFAL (8:65)
O Prophet, urge the believers to battle. If there are among you twenty [who are] steadfast, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are among you one hundred [who are] steadfast, they will overcome a thousand of those who have disbelieved because they are a people who do not understand.
So Rusool Allah (saw) stands up infront of the army and says: Every man who fights them bravely and advances without retreating will have Allah give him entry into Paradise.
And in Muslim Rusool Allah (saw) stands up infront of the army and says, “Go forth towards the Garden the size of the heavens and Earth combined.” So one of the sahabah, Umair Bin Al Hamman said, “Oh messenger of Allah! Could a garden really be the size of the Heavens and the earth combined?” Rusool Allah (saw) said yes. Umair then said, “Fine fine”, Rusool Allah (saw) asked umair what made him say that, he replied, “Oh messenger of Allah! It is only my hope of being one of its people.” Rusool Allah (saw) told him that he certainly will be. So Umair bin Al Hamman stands up draws his sword, and then he had some dates which he took out from his pocket, and started eating those dates. Then Umair bin Al Hamman said, “If I live long enough to eat these dates, it would be a long life.”
Umair was so inspired by the words of Rusool Allah (saw), that he was in a hurry to die in the path of Allah. He was in such a hurry that he thought that if his life lasted till the time he finished his dates then that would be a long life! He then rushed in to the Battle.
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud:
From Sa’d bin Mu'adh: Sa’d bin Mu'adh was an intimate friend of Umaiya bin Khalaf and whenever Umaiya passed through Medina, he used to stay with Sa’d, and whenever Sa’d went to Mecca, he used to stay with Umaiya. When Allah's Apostle arrived at Medina, Sa'd went to perform 'Umra and stayed at Umaiya's home in Mecca. He said to Umaiya, "Tell me of a time when (the Mosque) is empty so that I may be able to perform Tawaf around the Ka'ba." So Umaiya went with him about midday. Abu Jahl met them and said, "O Abu Safwan! Who is this man accompanying you?" He said, "He is Sa’d." Abu Jahl addressed Sa’d saying, "I see you wandering about safely in Mecca inspite of the fact that you have given shelter to the people who have changed their religion (i.e. became Muslims) and have claimed that you will help them and support them. By Allah, if you were not in the company of Abu Safwan, you would not be able to go your family safely." Sa’d, raising his voice, said to him, "By Allah, if you should stop me from doing this (i.e. performing Tawaf) I would certainly prevent you from something which is more valuable for you, that is, your passage through Medina." On this, Umaiya said to him, "O Sa’d do not raise your voice before Abu-l-Hakam, the chief of the people of the Valley (of Mecca)." Sa’d said, "O Umaiya, stop that! By Allah, I have heard Allah's Apostle predicting that the Muslim will kill you." Umaiya asked, "In Mecca?" Sa’d said, "I do not know." Umaiya was greatly scared by that news.
When Umaiya returned to his family, he said to his wife, "O Um Safwan! Don't you know what Sa’d told me? "She said, "What has he told you?" He replied, "He claims that Muhammad has informed them (i.e. companions that they will kill me. I asked him, 'In Mecca?' He replied, 'I do not know." Then Umaiya added, "By Allah, I will never go out of Mecca." But when the day of (the Ghazwa of) Badr came, Abu Jahl called the people to war, saying, "Go and protect your caravan." But Umaiya disliked to go out (of Mecca). Abu Jahl came to him and said, "O Abu Safwan! If the people see you staying behind though you are the chief of the people of the Valley, then they will remain behind with you." Abu Jahl kept on urging him to go until he (i.e. Umaiya) said, "As you have forced me to change my mind, by Allah, I will buy the best camel in Mecca. Then Umaiya said (to his wife). "O Um Safwan, prepare what I need (for the journey)." She said to him, "O Abu Safwan! Have you forgotten what your Yathribi brother told you?" He said, "No, but I do not want to go with them but for a short distance." So when Umaiya went out, he used to tie his camel wherever he camped. He kept on doing that till Allah caused him to be killed at Badr.
Bukhari: Book-5 Volume-59 Hadith-286)
Even though Umaiya was a disbeliever, he sill believed Rusool Allah (saw), this shows that deep inside their hearts they knew that it was Rusool Allah (saw) was the last and final messenger. So Umaiya said that he would not leave Mecca, now when the call came to respond to the battle of Badr, Umaiya didn’t want to leave. So Abu Jahl brings him a mubkhura , mubkhura is this thing in which you burn the oudh . Abu Jahl made fun of him by saying that Ummaiya is an old woman, and that he should use this like old women do. Abu Jahl indicated that Ummaiya was a coward. Abu Jahl tried until he convinced Umaiya to go with him. Umaiya went back home to prepare for the journey. His wife asked him if he forgot what his friend from Medina (Sa’d) told him. He responded that he remembers but he will just go with the Quraish and then come back. Ibn Kathir said that whenever the Quraish would stop on their way, Umaiya would make the intention that it was their last stop, but he eventually ended up entering the fray of the battle himself.
So Umaiya ended up being captured by Abdur Rahman bin Auf. Abdur Rahman bin Auf narrated the story himself. He said that he had a bunch of coatnails with him as armor. Abdur Rahman had collected them one by one as booty. Umaiya sees him and says “O Abd Amr!” Abdur Rahman didn’t respond. Abdur Rahman and Umaiya were friends in Mecca and before Abdur Rahman became Muslim his name was Abd Amr. Abdur Rahman refused to listen to him when he called him by his previous name. So Umaiya said, “When I call you ‘Abd Amr’ you refuse to respond back, and I do not recognize Abdur Rahman so I cannot call you ‘Abdur Rahman’, so how about you choose a name for yourself just for me and you.” Abdur Rahman told Umaiya to go ahead and choose a name, so Umaiya have the name ‘Abdul ilah’, the servant of God. They agreed to this.
When Umaiya and Abdur Rahman were walking to the site of Badr, Umaiya asked Abdur Rahman, “who was that man, who had an ostrich feather across his chest?” Abdur Rahman ibn Auf said, “That is Hamza bin Abdul Muttallib.” Umaiya bin Khalaf said, “This is the man who ruined us.” So Hamza (ra) was truly the lion of Allah.
In another narration in Bukhari Abdur Rahman said that he had an agreement with Umaiya bin Khalaf that Abdur Rahman will take care of his business interests in Medina, while Umaiya will take care of Abdur Rahman’s business interests in Mecca. Abdur Rahman said that he didn’t respond when Umaiya called him ‘Abd Amr’ but then Umaiya said ‘Abdul Ilah’ so then Abdur Rahman responded. Umaiya asked Abdur Rahman if he wanted something better than the coatnails that Abdur Rahman had been carrying. Abdur Rahman asked him what that was. Umaiya said, “me and my son.” Obviously Umaiya was rich so his ransom would bring a lot of money.
Abdur Rahman said that he threw the armor from his hand and held Umaiya and his son, Ali. Thus Umaiya and Ali were Abdur Rahman’s prisoners of war. This was a good deal for Abdur Rahman because he would get the ransom. However someone spots Umaiya bin Khalaf, and that was Bilal (ra), the former slave of Umaiya. Bilal was tortured by Umaiya. So when Bilal saw him he screamed, “Umaiya! The head of the disbelievers”, Abdur Rahman said “hey Bilal! He is my prisoner.” Bilal says, “I will not live if he does.” Then Abdur Rahman tries to tell him that Umaiya is his prisoner. When Bilal realized that Abdur Rahman is not going to give Umaiya up, so then he goes to the ansar and tells them, “That man is Umaiya bin Khalaf, the head of the disbelievers. I am not going to live if he does!” Abdur Rahman said that the Ansar then attacked, he was afraid that they would catch them, so he left Umaiya's son for them to keep them busy but the Ansar killed the son and insisted on following Abdur Rahman and Umaiya. Umaiya was a fat man, and when they approached them, Abdur Rahman told him to kneel down, then Abdur Rahman laid on him to protect him by his own body, but the Ansar killed Umaiya by passing their swords underneath Abdur Rahman, and one of the Ansar even injured his foot with his sword. And the sub narrator said, “‘Abdur Rahman used to show us the trace of the wound on the back of his foot."
Abdur Rahman would then say, “May Allah have mercy on Bilal, he made me lose my armor and my prisoners. I lost them both.”
So that was what happened with Umaiya bin Khalaf who was an Imam of disbelief. Anas ibn Malik (ra) tells us the story of Al Kaleed he says: “The Messenger of Allah ordered on the day of the battle at Badr, that 24 of the chiefs of Quraish be thrown into a dirty refused laden old well.” So the 24 leader’s bodies were dragged into this place.
When they were pulling the body of Utba bin Rabi’a his son Huzaifa was watching, so Rusool Allah (saw) looks into his face and sees that he was sad. Rusool Allah (saw) asked Huzaifa if he was very upset at his father’s fate. Abu Huzaifa responded back, “I swear oh Messenger of Allah, I have no problem with my father’s fate, but I once knew him as a man of reason, judgment, and goodness and hoped those qualities would lead him to Islam. When I saw what his fate was and how he had died in disbelief, despite my hopes for him, I was saddened.” Rusool Allah (saw) then made dua for him.
The issue of guidance is in the hands of Allah, nobody can control it. Huzaifa was saying that his father was a wise man with reasoning, judgment and goodness. But things did not turn out as Huzaifa expected and that was the case with Abu Talib as well. Abu Talib the uncle of Rusool Allah (saw) had all these qualities; in fact he protected Rusool Allah (saw) during until the day he died. But Abu Talib did not become Muslim. So in the issue of guidance you can’t really tell who will be guided and who won’t. While Umar bin Khattab was so evil, but he became Muslim. There was even an incident in which one of the sahabiat was expecting Umar to become Muslim because he spoke to her softly; he said that the donkey of his father would become a Muslim before he does. And Umar (ra) became one of the best Muslims. So the issue of guidance is something under Allah’s control, we cannot judge anyone. We cannot say that he might become Muslims, and we also cannot say that someone won’t become a Muslim. At the end Abu Talib dies as a Kafir and Abu Sufyan dies as a Muslim. Abu Talib who supported Rusool Allah (saw) all of his life dies as a disbeliever while Abu Sufyan who fights Rusool Allah (saw) for most of his life ends up being a believer. So such issues should b left in the hands of Allah Zaujal.
And that is why Rusool Allah (saw) says, “You don’t guide the ones you want, the ones you love, the ones you like, but it is Allah who guides the one He wants.”
This incident of Huzaifa also tells us that our love should be for Allah only. Even though Huzaifa was very upset about his father’s fate, that sadness didn’t cause him to leave Islam, or to blame someone or something. Instead he accepted Allah’s will. We should be contempt with what Allah gives us or does to us. So we should do our best in da’wa but then we shouldn’t become overwhelmed or upset if they don’t become Muslim, we should Accept it as Allah’s will. If they do become Muslim, then say Allhumdullilah that Allah Zaujal has guided them.
So Rusool Allah (saw) ordered these bodies to be thrown into this well...
Narrated Abu Talha:
On the day of Badr, the Prophet ordered that the corpses of twenty four leaders of Quraish should be thrown into one of the dirty dry wells of Badr. (It was a habit of the Prophet that whenever he conquered some people, he used to stay at the battle-field for three nights. So, on the third day of the battle of Badr, he ordered that his she-camel be saddled, then he set out, and his companions followed him saying among themselves." "Definitely he (i.e. the Prophet) is proceeding for some great purpose." When he halted at the edge of the well, he addressed the corpses of the Quraish infidels by their names and their fathers' names, "O so-and-so, son of so-and-so and O so-and-so, son of so-and-so! Would it have pleased you if you had obeyed Allah and His Apostle? We have found true what our Lord promised us. Have you too found true what your Lord promised you? "'Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! You are speaking to bodies that have no souls!" Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, you do not hear, what I say better than they do." (Qatada said, "Allah brought them to life (again) to let them hear him, to reprimand them and slight them and take revenge over them and caused them to feel remorseful and regretful.")
(Bukhari: Book-5 Volume-59 Hadith-314)
So Allah made the bodies listen to this, just to add to their punishment.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfxct2b8_0dmx6229m

Umar Ibn Khattab CD 15

2009-05-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

اعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
الحمد لله الصلاة والسلام على سيدنا محمد وعلى اهله وصحبيه وسلم كثيراً كثيراً

Sa’d ibn Abi Waqas radhiAllâhu ‘anhu sent a representative to speak with Rustum [the army general of Persian Empire]. Rabiah Ibn ‘Amir radhiAllâhu ‘anhu was one chosen by the Sa’d to go and meet with Rustum. Rabiah Ibn ‘Amir he was very poor man. He was riding a short-legged horse hairy horse and his sword was wrapped in an old piece of cloth. He didn’t even have a proper sheath for his sword. And his spear the blade was tight to the stick with also some cloth. So his all assortment of weapon was messed up. And he was wearing clothes that are very inexpensive modest. Now the Persians have prepared for this meeting. It’s a high level meeting with Rustum and representative of the Muslim army. So they had Persian rugs, they had the throne set for Rustum and this throne was gold plated or possibly it was even pure gold and he had a dress of brocade on it was threaded with gold threads all over. And they had the royal guards on both sides of the carpet which Rabiah Ibn ‘Amir was suppose to walk over. It’s the proper protocol of such a high level meeting and Romans were use to this and Persians were use to this. And these two nations were at each other’s throats. Though it was something customary for them to do. And now that they were dealing with Muslims they thought that protocol shouldn’t change.
So the proper way of coming in Rabiah Ibn ‘Amir should come on a very nice handsome horse dress in some expensive clothes. He should be accompanied by, guards or at least group of advisors with him. He shouldn’t come down of his horse and walk on the carpet in a formal way then come and sit under Rustum. Rabiah Ibn ‘Amir is coming on his short legged horse and he goes straight onto the rugs riding his horse. So they stopped him, he carried on he didn’t listen and then he goes on tear apart two pillows that were there and he ties his horse to those pillows. And then he is walking with his weapons so the guards stop him at the entrance to the place where Rustum is sitting. They said you are not allowed to go there with arms. He said well I didn’t come here on my own but you are the ones who invited me so either you let me in with my arms or I am going to leave. They went and told Rustum, so he said let him come in. Rabiah Ibn 'Amir is walking with confidence and he is holding his spear with the blade pointing downwards and he is poking the rugs and he is making holes in them. So you can imagine that he is walking towards Rustum and Rustum is seeing this and Rabiah Ibn 'Amir is stabbing his special Persian rug with every step that he takes. Because Rabiah Ibn 'Amir didn’t want all of this pomp, he didn’t want this show and he was uncomfortable being there. They have done all those preparations to meet him. And here is the guest poking through the rugs with his spear. So that was the initial shock.
Rustum said, “ما جآء بكم” why did you come to our land? Rabiah Ibn 'Amir said,
” ان الله عبت حسنة نخرج العباد من عبادة العباد إلى العبادة رب العباد ومن ضيق الدنيا إلى سعة الدنيا والاخرة ومن جورل العديان إلى سعة الاسلام" [Rectify Arabic text incase there is mistake in it]
There is more to what eyes can see don’t make an impression on Rabiah Ibn 'Amir because of the clothes he has on or his short legged horse but wait until you see him speak, Rabiah Ibn 'Amir said “Allaah Azza wa jal has sent us to deliver you from worshiping the creation to worshiping the Creator of the creation and to deliver you from the constriction of this world to the vastness of this world and the after life and from the oppression of the religions to the justice of Islam. Allaah Azza wa jal has sent us to save you from worshiping each others.” What you doing now this servitude that exist among you Rustum sitting on throne rest of you sitting on the floor, the slavery, the servitude, Allaah Azza wa jal has sent us to deliver you out of that, to save you from this, from worshiping creation whether this creation is a man or a stone, whether its an animal or a planet, Allaah has sent us to save people deliver them from that to worshiping the Creator of everything and Allaah Azza wa jal has sent us to deliver you from the constriction of this life. This Dunya [world] is narrow to the vastness of this life and the after life. As a Muslim you have a broad perspective. You start seeing things in a different light. See without Qur’an you are living for today. You eat to live and you live to eat. But when you recite Qur’an it starts from the time of Adam and it ends with people entering into Jannah [garden] and Naar [fire]. You have the entire time span of the creation in front of your eyes. It starts infect from before the creation of Adam. It starts with the ‘خلق السماوات والارض’ [creation of heavens & earth] then you go to the story of Adam then you move to the story of Idrees and Noah and then you go on to the “انبياء” [Prophets] of Bani Israel Mosa alaihe salam [Moses] Isa alaihe salam [Jesus] and before that Ibrahim alaihe salam and Ismael alaihe salam Ishaq. It tells you of nations before Fira’on [Pharoah]. Tell you about "قوم" [nation] Salih Qoum [nation] Hud Qoum Shoaib and then it tells you about the time Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wasalam and then it talks about the future. It talks about the Day of Judgment, death, ‘الحساب’, al-Hisab [the accounting the reckoning] and then it talks about Jannah and Naar. So you know everything. Just look at how broad your perspective is compare to somebody who doesn’t know Qur’an, somebody who is not a Muslim .So; Islam delivers person out of narrowness of this world.
Ibn Taymiah were threatening him with jail and one time threatening him with execution Ibn Taymiah said, ”what can you do with me? My Jannah is in my heart. If you take me to jail I will make dhikr of Allaah, if you exile me out of my land I will make “تفكر” [Tafakur] contemplating creation of Allaah, if you execute me I would be a “شهيد”[shaheed]”. What can you do with me? ‘ما يفعلوا اذاء بى’ because I am not limited to this Dunya and living for Akhirah. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said,
"عجباً امر مؤمن ان امره كله له خير إن اصابته سرآء شكر فكان خيرًا له و ان اصابته ضرآء صبر فكان خيراً
له وليس ذالك لى عهد الى المؤمن"[please check if correction is needed jazakallahu khairun]
Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says “I am amazed with the situation of the believer if something good happens to him he thanks Allaah and its good for him and if something bad happens to him, he is patient and that’s good for him and that happens to no one but to the believer”. It’s a win [win] situation you can never lose. Something good you say Alhamdulilah you rewarded for that. You are enjoying the good and being rewarded for that. If something bad happens you say Alhamdulilah and you are patient and you accept the “قضا” [Qadha] of Allaah. You accept something being ordained by Allaah Azza wa jal and you say Alhamdulilah e Rubil A’alameen and you move on and you will be rewarded for that patience.
However, if somebody who doesn’t have Emaan if something good will happen they will say because I am very intelligent, I am skilled, I am knowledgeable and I know how to do things right. If something bad happens I have a bad luck. This is because of you, [you did it to me]. So it’s a lose [lose] situation. ’"ومن جورل العديان إلى العدل الاسلام
“From oppression of religions to the justice of Islam” Rabiah Ibn 'Amir is saying that every other religion is oppressive. Now ask Rabiah Ibn 'Amir about the names of the religions of theirs he wouldn’t known that. Rabiah Ibn 'Amir is a Bedouin coming out of Arabia; he doesn’t know other religions he wasn’t a student of comparative religions. But he has Emaan and Trust in Allaah Azza wa jal that Islam is truth, that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is seal of Prophets so he is speaking on behalf of everyone. Every religion is oppressive except Islam, so we are here to deliver you that into the religion of Allaah Azza wa jal.

Rustum said, “and what are you?” he said, “use to eat dead animals, you were so hungry use to run after dogs in desert”. Rabiah Ibn 'Amir said, “ we offer you three options, if you become Muslim we will leave you and your land and your people alone. If you refuse then you pay us Jizzya in a state of submission, if you refuse then the sword is between us and you”. Rustum said,” You need to give us time to think about it”. Rabiah Ibn 'Amir said,” We will give you three days”. Rustum said, ”No, we need more than that”. Rabiah Ibn 'Amir said,” The Sunnah, the way of Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is that we give our enemy three days to think about it and we will visit you during those three days, on the fourth day we will start fighting”. Rustum wanted more time to send letters to the Emperor to seek advice, from the noble men and elders of their Empire but he had only three days.
On the second day Mughira bin Shu’ba went to met with Rustum and he came in straight and he sat on the throne with Rustum. The throne was big so he sat next to Rustum so the guards came to pull him down, you are not suppose to sit on the same level as Rustum. Mughira bin Shu’ba said,’ that you are the people who worship each other but that is not how we Muslims do with each other but that’s not how we Muslims treat each other, we treat each other with equality”. See Sahaba radhiAllâhu anhum are giving the Kuffar lessons because they are living those meanings. See Sahaba were not talking talks, they were talking about things that they were practicing. They were practicing preaching their words had such a strong influence on the listeners. At-Tabari talks about how Rabiah Ibn 'Amir and Mughira bin Shu’ba effected the low class that were there servants, soldiers and security guards when they heard the statements of Muslims and how the Muslims treated each other with equality and the fact that there are not here invade the lands of others, just for love of power they are doing it for the sake of Allaah Azza wajal, to save people from darkness to light. That left a strong impression on them. They were thinking about Islam even before the battle started. Why? Because when you practice something it has a stronger influence when you preach something when you are not practicing. It is said one of the Salaf [earlier scholars] people came up to him and said,” people are owning too many slaves and its becoming problem and we want to encourage freeing slaves”. So first Juma’ah came he didn’t talk about it, second Juma’ah he didn’t talk about it, third Juma’ah he didn’t talk about it”. They said, ”May be he forgot” but before they go and visit him on fourth Juma’ah he did talked about it. Then he encouraged people to free slaves and they say the people left the Masjid and they were freeing the slaves left and right so they told him how come they waited for fourth Juma’ah to give this Khutba? He said because I didn’t want to ask the people to do something that I am not doing myself.” So I gathered enough money to buy slave myself and then I freed that slave and that’s I stood on the pulpit told people to do it because I don’t want to be of those who ‘اتأمرون الناس بالبروتنسون أنفسكم’ “you command others to do good while you forget doing it yourself”. I want to be of those who do what others ask others to do.
The battle of Qadissiya began and it was a long battle. Remember that the reputation of the Persians was that of very strong fighters. And they were putting up very stiff resistance in front of the Muslim forces. So the battle of al-Qadissiya lasted for few days [four days actually]. They start fighting in the morning and carries on fighting until darkness and they stop while its dark. First day was called Youm al-Armus and Sa’d bin Abi Waqas had some injuries and had a back problem. He had a sever back pain, so he was unable to participate in the fight himself though he was Amir of the army, so he had to stay in a high place where he can over see the background and give instructions but he himself was unable to participate. He told the Muslims to make four Takbiraat and to charge at the fourth Takbira. Before that he had a Qarai. Every army would have Qarai [a reciter of the Qur’an] and this Qarai would go around reciting Surat-ul Anfaal [Surat-ul Qitaal]. So he would go around recite the Surah [to every] obviously it was a large army so one person cannot recite Surah to every body. It would not be able to hear him so he would have to go around and recite the Surah and this would inspire the fighters to fight. Because this is the Surah of Qitaal [Surat-ul Anfaal]. So that prepared them emotionally, talks about jihad and talks about fighting, talks about the sin of retreating, it talks about the Ghana-em, it talks about the victories at the time of the Muslims Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam at Badr and the fighting started. What the army of Faris [Persians] did was that they sent fourteen elephants to charge against one segment of the Muslim army. They didn’t attack Muslim army at once, they focused on one segment and they sent fourteen elephants. And with each elephant you have four thousand soldiers [so we are talking about huge numbers] and they charged against Badeela. Now the Muslim army was divided according to their tribe. So we had Banu Asad, Banu Tamim, Badeela, an-Nakha’a, every tribe would be separate. The reason why they were separated according to their tribes because: this will inspire them to fight. When they are separated according to their tribes, whenever there is weakness you could tell from where its coming from? So you will know that the weakness is coming from that tribe. This particular tribe is not doing their job and this way people could be held accountable. However, when you have an infantry or cavalry is mixed, then whom could you hold responsible for the weakness that occurs? But once according to the tribes every one of the tribes doesn’t want reputation to be destroyed. They will make sure that Muslims are not defeated because of that. However, here we have a huge army attacking one small tribe. And it was such a powerful strike that it just completely pushed them back. So Sa’d bin Abi Waqas asked some of the other tribes to rush to the support and rescue their brothers Banu Asad jumped in.
One of the leading members of Banu Asad Subhan Allaah and look at how things turn around was Tulaiha Azdi. Tulaiha Azdi was a well-known fighter at the time of Jahiliya. He was a strong fighter in pre Islamic era. However, out of nationalistic pride he claimed to be Prophet during the time of Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam, he claimed to be a Prophet. And he was the leader of the army of Murtadeen. However, when Abu Bakr defeated him, he became a Muslim again and later on he will play a vital role in the Ghazwat in time of Umar ibn Khattab radhiAllâhu anhu. So here we have somebody who claims to be a Prophet but then turns around makes Tawbah and helps the Muslims. And this tells you the Allaah Azza wajal can forgive any sin [I mean what sin can be greater than claiming a Prophet?]. Tulaiha Azdi encouraged his men and told him you are called Azd [Azd mean lion]. You were given this name so you would be like lions. He would speak to them and encourage them. They were very helpful infect five hundred of them were killed. The day of Armus was over, the dead and the injured were carried over to the camp. And who is taking care of the hospital? If we call it so the women. The women were the ones taking care of the injured all of the casualties, they were the one who will administer the healing procedure, they are the one who would feed them, they are the one who would nurse the injured, and also the women did something else and that is burry the dead. They were the ones digging the graves, and burying the dead. So women in those days played a vital role with the Muslim Ummah. They were not secluded completely put on stand by they had a very important role [it even involved physical work digging graves and carrying the bodies] putting them its not something easy to do. But that role was delegated to the woman whether they were Sahabiyat or Tabeei’at.
Second day is Youm ar-*** Umar Ibn Khattab had asked for reinforcements to come from Ash-Sham. He wanted the army of Khaalid Ibn Waleed that went from Iraq to Sham to go back. For those of you who attended our series of talk on Abu Bakr you would remember we talked about a story of Khaalid Ibn Waleed rushing from Iraq to Syria to rescue the Muslims before the Battle of Yarmook. Now however, Umar Ibn Khattab was asking Abu Obaidah to send that army back and that army was about twelve thousand soldiers. Abu Obaidah did send the army back he kept Khaalid Ibn Waleed with him. He wants Khaalid Ibn Waleed to stay. And that army was sent and it was lead by Hisham Ibn Abi Waqas the brother of Sa’d bin Abi Waqas and was accompanied by a man. Whom Abu Bakr radhiAllâhu anhu said,” his voice alone is equal to one thousand soldiers” and this Sahabi is Al-Qa`qa` bin Amr. His voice in battle very deep and loud voice, his voice in battle Abu Bakr says its worth of one thousand soldiers. Al-Qa`qa` was the first one to arrive. He arrived in a small group hundred or so. So what he did in order to encourage the Muslims raise their moral he didn’t come with his hundred men at once, he split them into groups of ten and told them to go one after another Muslims keep on seeing those groups coming and they would think that we are receiving endless flow of reinforcements. So Al-Qa`qa` arrives and he just enters into the battleground and he is playing around with his spear and with his hands. He just immediately arrives goes to the battleground without taking any rest even though he came all the way from Syria to Iraq. He arrives when the battle was already ragging. And he enters into the battleground dancing with his spear in front of the Muslims. And then he challenges the enemy to send out Mubariza [its called dueling] one on one. So Al-Qa`qa` stands in front of the Muslim army and he calls enemy to send out al-Mubariz. So they sent out one of the five leaders because Al-Qa`qa` was an important leader among the Muslim army they sent out to them somebody of his equivalent status. Al-Qa`qa` killed him they sent the second one he killed him again, so he killed two of the five major leaders of the army. Al-Qa`qa` Ibn Amr carried on that day and he played very important role as an individual not as with reinforcement as an individual in weakening the enemy on the second day.
Al-Bab Ibn Jesh he also asked for al-Mubariza so both he and his opponent struck each other, he hit his opponent and open his chest then he cut his lungs so the man fell down dead while he was hit in the stomach, so his intestines came out, his gut just spilled out. So he fell down and he tried to put his intestines back. So he called down to Muslim soldiers to put my intestine back into my stomach please. So he put them in his stomach and he wraps something around his stomach and he stood up because he wanted to carry on fighting. He barely made thirty steps before he fell down dead. But Subhan Allaah even though he is in that extreme pain and just imagine [you know! I think some of few now feeling nausea] just because I am mentioning that. Its you know! Imagine your stomach [your guts] just spilling in front of you; you would want to be rescued nearest hospital as soon as possible. He said just put them back, I want to carry on. That tells you how attached they were to Allaah Subhana hu wa ta’ala and how attached they were to Shahaada. That why we keep on saying these men were on different level. Al-Khansa was the one of the greatest female poetess, she called her for son, men all of fighting age and she started narrating to them poetry encouraging them to give their lives for the sake of Allaah Azza wajal at the end of the day none of them came back. All of the four died and she was so happy making poetry praising them.
The third day Amwass the elephants only cure that Muslims were to cut down ropes that were holding down saddles, so the horses would be left without anybody on top of them. So what the enemy did is now they surrounded the elephants with security. Security guards because to protect the elephants will play the major role in the Persian army. So now that they were surrounded with guards becoming very difficult to cut down the ropes. Sa’d bin Abi Waqas went to Banu Tamim and said,” O Banu Tamim do you have a solution for this? There is anything that you could do? ” and he is going to the different tribes and telling them somebody come up with suggestion to get rid off this danger. We have been crushed because of these elephants. They just roll over the soldiers just crushing them under their feet. So one man said, “If you want to stop the elephants then strike their eyes and cut their trunks and lips that would completely neutralize these elephants”. So they decided to give it a try by started attacking the elephants the way they would do it is a group would attack some of them would get the security guards busy and then two of them would attack with his spears then hit the elephant in his eyes. They tried that and it did work. The elephant is obviously blind now and it doesn’t know in which direction it go though some of these elephants carried on killing Muslims and some of them carried on killing enemy soldiers. So there elephants went crazy but at least now it wasn’t all directed against the Muslims. Amir Ibn Ma’adia Ibn Maqrib another one who committed [Ridah] and was now allowed to join in the armies he told his people,” listen Banu Zabeed! I am going to leave right now, if you wait the time it takes to slaughter a camel you will find me dead, if you come before that you might find me alive fighting the enemy”. He said I am going go straight into the heart of the enemy army. So he went alone and after a short while they said, we need to go and find our man and if he is still alive? They went and they were amazed to see Amir Ibn Ma’adia Maqrib [Wallahu A’alim if this story is true [its from At-Tabaee]] but its amazing story and I am going to mention it, they said that he had a horse so his horse was killed. So what he did the man who was fighting against him killed his horse and he pursued him and he griped the leg of his horse and the horse couldn’t move. So Amir Ibn Ma’adia was holding the back legs of this horse and soldier sitting on the top is trying to hit the Amir but he cannot reach him. And when he saw reinforcement coming to help him so this soldier just ran away. So Amir Ibn Ma’adia Maqrib took out his horse and carried out fighting. But to have one man hold a horse not move its quite some power.
Then we have Lailut al-Hareer this is the fourth day the fight carried on until nighttime, the fighting carried on until midnight. It was the toughest day of al-Qadissiya and that is the one armed the enemy was putting up a last attempt. At the end Al-Qa`qa` Ibn Amir felt that they are pushing themselves to the limits and that they are going to almost break. So he and a group of strong men decided to charge and just slice the enemy and go straight to the camp of Rustum. They did that and they reached to the camp of Rustum the actual camp and when Rustum saw them he ran away but then one of the Muslim soldiers pursued him and was able to kill him, and that was the end of the Battle of al-Qadissiya.
The enemy was Hundred and Twenty Thousand [120,000] strong the Muslim army was Thirty Thousand [30,000] and out of those Eight Thousand Five Hundred [8,500] died as Shaheed. So we had huge number of Shuhadaa in al-Qadissiya. It was one of the toughest battles that the Muslims fought. Sa’d bin Abi Waqas sent a letter to Umar Ibn Khattab to give him the good news. He said,” now that Allaah has granted us victory over the Persians and treated them in the way in which he treated his co-religions who preceded them. Victory came after a long and violent people they confronted the Muslims with an army such as has never been seen before. Allaah didn’t allowed them to benefit from this but rather He deprived them of it and gave them to the Muslims. The Muslims pursued them on the canals, on the edge of the thicket and on the edge of the road. Sa’d bin Obaid the Qur’an reader and so and so and so and so were killed among the Muslims. Qarai of Qur’an was killed and also killed those whom we do not know but Allaah knows them when might fell they were whispering the Qur’an humming like bees they were lions among men and the real lions doesn’t resemble them Those who died among them were not superior to those who survived except by the virtue of martyrdom which has not been decreed for the later.”
The Muslims immediately after that went for Madain and al-Madain was the capital. Al-Madain was opened they carried on and they fought the battle of Jalola and then they went to Tastur, they opened Tastur. The battle of Tastur was a tough battle, so the Muslims went to al-Bara’ bin Malik and they told him to make a Du’a [supplication] for them because al-Bara’ bin Malik was [مستجاب الدعوة] Mustajabi da’wah [his du’a was accepted]. Al-Bara’ was companion of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam he was a very poor man, very simple. He was very decent, truthful and honest and had so much love for Allaah Azza wajal Messenger sallalahu alaihe wa salam said,”
رب اشعف ادبر إذا أقسم على الله ابراح
“There is a man with unpainted hair and he has dust over his clothes but when he makes an oath Allaah would fulfill that oath.“ so for example he says in the name of Allaah this is going to happen Allaah Azza wajal will make that thing happen because He loves him so much. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, “ one of them is al-Bara’”. One of these men is al-Bara’. Al-Bara’ was such a strong fighter with no fear in his heart. However, he had so much courage that it becomes dangerous. Umar Ibn Khattab when send al-Bara’ to join an army he would sent a letter with him to the leader of the army he would say,” I am sending you al-Bara’ Ibn ‘Azzib but I am telling you do not appoint him as a leader upon anyone because he would destroy them.” [ فإن هما اهلك كما مهلك] they will perish under his leadership [if you appoint him on anyone they are all dead]. In the Battle of al-Hadeeqa against Musailmah al-Qazzab [مسيلمة الكذاب] the Muslims were surrounding this fortress and they were unable to get in and the enemy was hitting them from above. The archers were striking Muslims al-Bara’ said just throw me in. Throw me! just throw me in. So they put him on a shield [he was sitting on the shield or standing on the shield] and they raised him up with their spears until he reached over the wall. He just jumped [and what he is jumping over?] an ocean of soldiers as far as he could see. But Subhan Allaah when he came down they saw a bird falling from the sky they just ran away. He succeeded in opening the gates, he opens the gates and Muslims get in and that is how they won. That is how they won! But he came out with eighty injuries in his body. Eighty injuries, so al-Bara’ was a man nothing could stop him.
So Muslims went to him on the day of Tastur and ask Allaah to give us victory. So it was getting so tight so difficult that they wanted Allaah to give them victory so al-Bara’ make a du’a for us. Al-Bara’ said, “O Allaah! Grant us victory and give me Shahaada, Grant us victory and grant us Shuhadaa and Allaah accepted both”. They were given victory and he was granted Shahaada.
The Persian Empire had an emperor Kisra and then under him would be kings. So he had different states this was a huge empire. And each state was ruled by a king. One of these states or kingdoms was ruled by Hurmazan. Al-Hurmazan was captured after the battle of Tastur. Al-Hurmazan before he gave himself up placed a condition on the Muslims that only Umar Ibn Khattab decides his fate. Otherwise, I am not going to give myself up. So they agreed, so they carried him to Madina and they had him wear clothes that you would wear as a king. So they take him to Madina with his crown full of jewelry gold and they were looking for Umar Ibn Khattab. They said where is Umar Ibn Khattab? So they said he was in the Masjid meeting a delegation that came from Kofa. They went to the Masjid they didn’t see anyone so they came out. And they went around so some kids playing in the Madina said, “What is wrong with you looking right and left as if you are lost?” they said where is Umar Ibn Khattab? They said he is in the Masjid sleeping. They go back to the Masjid and they find him sleeping in a corner of the Masjid alone. Wrapped in his clothes. So they walked up to Umar Ibn Khattab al-Hurmazan said,” where is Umar Ibn Khattab?” they said this is Umar Ibn Khattab. And they said be quiet as he is a sleep. He couldn’t held back and asked where are his guards? They said he doesn’t have any guards. He said he doesn’t have any clerics the chamberlains, advisors they said no. And by now people start together not to see Umar Ibn Khattab but to see al-Hurmazan. Because of the clothes that he was wearing and came from Persia. While Umar Ibn Khattab the Khalifah is sleeping in the Masjid no body goes there. The kids are playing in the streets, so they all came in and because of the commotion Umar Ibn Khattab woke up. And when he saw the Hurmazan he said is that the Hurmazan? They said yes. Umar Ibn Khattab said,” o Hurmazan what made you do what you did? Al-Hurmazan would make an agreement and then break it. Make an agreement then break it. Umar Ibn Khattab said what made you do what you did? Deceiving us one time after another. Al-Hurmazan responded by saying,” O Umar Ameerul Mo’mineen! I fear if I speak you would kill me. He said no I won’t carry on speaking. He said,’ O Ameerul Mo’mineen I am very thirsty. Umar Ibn Khattab said bring him some water. So they brought him some water in a cup. He held the cup in his hand and said,” even if I were to die because of thirst I wouldn’t drink out of that thing? Umar Ibn Khattab said bring him a better cup. So they brought him a better vessel. Vessel brought was made up of some wood or something, it was something that he saw very cheap and how could you drink out of this I would rather die to drink out of this thing. So they brought him a better container or cup or whatever, alright drink from this. He held in his hands and his hands were shaking he said Ameerul Mo’mineen I fear that you would kill me. He said,’ I am not going to kill you until you drink that water’. Al-Hurmazan held the cup in he spilled all the water in it. Umar Ibn Khattab asked bring him some more water he said,’ don’t bring me any water because I am going to drink anymore water, so Ameerul Mo’mineen has given me your words or peace, you have granted me security .’ Umar Ibn Khattab said, ”No I didn’t”. He said, ‘yes you did’ he said you are not going to kill me until I drink the water and I am not going to drink it. Umar Ibn Khattab said you tricked me but I am not going to be tricked by a non-Muslim. [Anas Ibn Malik radhiAllâhu said,’ O Ameerul Mo’mineen] Actually no Umar Ibn Khattab said no I didn’t no I will kill you. I will kill you. Anas Ibn Malik radhiAllâhu said, ’No Ameerul Mo’mineen you did grant him security. You did say that you are not going to kill him until he talks and you said you are not going to kill him until he drinks, so you did actually give him security.” Umar Ibn Khattab said I am not going to be deceived by him this is the person who killed al-Bara’ and al-Majda’ah. The Muslims said [Ya] Ameerul Mo’mineen you have granted him peace. Umar Ibn Khattab said I am not going to be the one who is tricked by non-Muslim. Al-Hurmazan said then I would become a Muslim ‘أشهد الله اله الا الله و أشهد أن محمد رسول الله’ Umar Ibn Khattab said,” You are free”. He lived in Madina and he was receiving a salary of two thousand Dirhams from the Khalifah. So this was one of the kings of Persia who has deceived the Muslims killed many of them played games with them but they kept to their words and Umar Ibn Khattab had to let him go.
The Persians were now gathering in another location in Nehwund. Nehwund is not a plan land it is a city surrounded by mountains. So its very well protected. But now they are mobilizing the army similar to the army of al-Qadissiya. An-Nuaman Ibn Makrum was appointed by Umar Ibn Khattab as his governor over Cuscar. An-Nuaman Ibn Makrum sends a letter to Umar Ibn Khattab saying,” there is a young man standing next to the prostitute who is very beautiful and she is putting on perfume and she is trying to seduce this man to commit zina. That young man is myself and the prostitute is Cuscar.” What he meant by that is you put me in such a situation that I am governor over this place it’s a Fitnah, it’s a Dunya and I don’t want any thing to do with it. And he said in the letter please remove me from my post and sent me out fi Sabeelillah to fight and jihad. I hope its clear what he said don’t want to have wrong understanding of what he meant. Analogy that he was giving, this town Dunya is like a prostitute and you have a young man and this woman is trying to seduce him so he is saying to Ameerul Mo’mineen to remove me out of this I don’t want to be part of this Dunya. A leader of the people and he doesn’t want all these send me fi Sabeelillah. Umar Ibn Khattab appointed him to lead the army that will fight now want to go fi Sabeelillah here you are the leader of the army that would fight against the Persians in Nehwund. The Muslims fought that battle and they won An-Nuaman Ibn Makrum because of his sincerity Allaah Azza wajal choose him and make him die as a Shaheed. Because Shahaada is not that something easily you can get, it is something that Allaah Azza wajal chooses this [ويتخذا منكم شهداء] Allaah Azza wajal says in Surah Ale-Imran “He chooses among you” it’s a selection process and Allaah Azza wajal selects because it’s a such a great honour.
They sent a letter to Umar Ibn Khattab saying that Shuhadaa are so and so and the others you do not know. Umar Ibn Khattab cried and he said,’ Allaah Azza wajal knew them so well that he choose them to die as Shuhadaa, so what does it matter if Umar Ibn Khattab doesn’t know.” Why would they need Umar Ibn Khattab to know that? If Allaah Azza wajal knew them so well and love them so well he choose them for this. This was the battle of Nehwund. Now Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says, “
فارس نطح او نطحتان ثم لا فار صبات و روم ذات قرون ما هلك منكم قرنٍ ظهرالها قرنٌ اخرة اصحاب سخر و بحر ايهات ايهات هم الناس هم اصحابكم ما ضام فى الايشاء خير [Please correct text for errors ]
Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said with: Persian Empire it would be one knock or two knocks and then there would be no empire of that but with the Romans whenever you break their horns another horn will grow in its place. [Whenever you break one of their horns another horn will grow in its place]. They are people who can fight on land and on sea and in mountains and they will carry on fighting you until the Day of Judgment.” According to this Hadith with the Persian Empire there would be two knocks two major battles. There are many other skirmishes other battles two major battles al-Qadissiya and Nehwund and then the Empire is over. So even though the fighting carried on before Qadissiya and after Qadissiya and after Nehwund but the Empire fell apart. It was Qadissiya then Nehwund and then Empire ceased to exist. However, with Roman Empire we would see whenever Muslim defeat them in one place they would show up in another and that’s why battle with the Romans carries on till the Day of Judgment. So after Nehwund what happened was Umar Ibn Khattab allowed his armies to go into the lands of Persian Empires [now that we talk about Persian Empires i.e. All Persian people]. The Persian Empire included many nationalities the Kurd lived under it, the Turks lived under it and the Turks are different nations. So it was very vast empire. And probably some of the nations of India lived under Persian Empire. So now its called [الانسياح العجم] the spreading in the land of al-‘Ajam and a you have battles like [حمدان] Hamadan and this was the first time Muslims fight at ***** they were also tough fighters Umar Ibn Khattab was so eager to hear the news. He received a letter saying that we are fighting against *****[49:54] Umar Ibn Khattab was so worried about that he was waiting for some news, so when a messenger came Umar Ibn Khattab asked him [اي بشير] are you coming with good news? Now are you Basheer? [Basheer means good news] that’s what Umar Ibn Khattab said, “Are you Basheer?” [but the thing is Basheer can also be a name of person]. So the man said,’ No I am not Basheer’. And he mentions his name. Umar Ibn Khattab says,’[ ابشيرٌا ام] are you coming with good news? And then the man goes straight and said yes [yes] I have a good news we have won against them. But it shows that Umar Ibn Khattab was so eager to know what was happening? And then Khurasan was opened. Its also a great land. Hirat is in Afghanistan and then [بلاد الاكراد] the land of Kurd. All of those lands were opened the result of battle of Nehwund.
Final lessons to go back to Rabiah Ibn 'Amir and whole approach of the Muslims to da’wah and Jihad Fi Sabeelillah you see I received few questions asking whether Islam was spread by the sword? There is that other question “there is no compulsion in religion then why were the battles fought?” I think this is the issue that you should have a clear understanding. Non-Muslim say didn’t Islam spread by the sword, true or not? Lets talk about what happened and then we will make judgment. The Islamic governments spread by force. The expansion of Islamic empire is done by force there is no question about that. The Sahaba went and fought took over other people land and that’s how Islamic Khilafah grew. However, when they take over land they would not force people to become Muslims so ‘there is no compulsion in the religion’ so they wouldn’t go to the people and would say, ’you must become Muslims’ because that’s something that we don’t have authority to do. Religion is in the heart and the person need to be convinced so that its spread by force or not it could be debated both ways. Khilafah was spread by force other lands were taken by force why? Because Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum the way they saw it the land belong to Allaah and only the rule of Allaah should be applied over it. So no non-Islamic system has the right to exist according to this so sahaabah and their understanding of the religion because Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says امرت عنه قاتل الناس اشهد الله اله الا الله] ] “I was instructed to fight the people until they say وان محمد رسول الله اشهد الله اله الا اللهestablish Salah and pay Zakah if they do that they have protected themselves from me”. Now we sometimes Muslims try to for the sake of da’wah we try to give an impression that there is no violence used whatsoever sahaabah were not involved in any fighting force anybody to give up there land and freedom or whatever. And sometime we could say things against the Sahaabah things that if the Sahaabah heard they wouldn’t be happy. Now I want to look at it as follows:
To see you are Muslim now and I am Muslim now how do we become Muslim? If the Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum went to the lands of our forefathers and they had stall and giving out pamphlets asking us to become Muslims [I am just telling an example] think about it. And saying please become Muslim, Islam is beautiful religion and it’s a religion of peace and they are trying to convince our forefathers to become Muslims. Most likely the response of our forefathers would have be pick up tomatoes and throw out on there faces and go back home. But the Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum did not do that. Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum went with armies and they went with dignity and respect of themselves. They didn’t humiliate themselves when they were giving da’wah. They were not knocking on every body’s door and saying please become Muslim. No the Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum would take over the land, take over the government and then they would go to the Masjid and if someone is interested in learning the Islam would find us in the Masjid. The Sahaabah radhiAllâhu Anhum would not run after begging people to become Muslims. That wasn’t what the Sahaabah did. And some of the stories mentioned about Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam are untrue. There is story that said the once there was very stormy night lightening and raining thunders in Mecca no body was on the streets of Mecca except Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam went knocking on the door of Abu Jahl and Abu Jahl said no one would come to me with this hour except there is great need. Abu Jahl opens up the door and find Prophet sallalahu alaihe wasalam soaked in rain and he is saying لا اله الا الله and then Abu Jahl shuts the door its not true.
Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam respected himself, he had dignity, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam would not put himself in such a situation. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam would go and speak to the leaders of Quraysh with dignity. He would say لا اله الا الله تفلحوا you will be successful. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam didn’t want to be abused, not want to be cursed. Sometime you think in da’wah you have to humiliate yourself and no Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam didn’t want that Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was very sensitive man. And when the Kuffar of Quraysh speaks against him that would affect him. And that is why Ayah of Qur’an came all the way to comfort him. And what happened in Taif was very upsetting to Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam would never belittle himself. Never put himself in situation to be humiliated. And if that ever happened it happened without his wish or desire. It happened because he didn’t have the strength but later on when he had the strength in Madina he never did that. And the Sahaabah radhiAllâhu the way they do the da’wah they would open up the land of the enemies and would give them three choices: become Muslims or pay us Jizzya or we will fight you. And if you don’t want to become Muslim you have to pay Jizzya in the state of submission [subdued]. And sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum would open the Halaqas in the Masajids. People would come to them actually, sahaabah doesn’t need to go around the people to become Muslims, people would come to them and the people would say, ”How can we become like you?” why? Because Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum had the upper hand Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum practiced what they preached they lived it and that attracted the people to them. So that was the way of Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum. Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhum were not the missionaries traveling from one land to other land with loud speakers talking in the streets and people are just passing by and not listening to them. Sahaabah wouldn’t not put them in such a situation.
A person doesn’t have to humiliate oneself for the sake of da’wah you don’t have to do that. Why? Because our role is not to convert others. Hidayah is in the hands of Allaah Azza wajal He will give it to Whom He wants. Your role is to give da’wah in very respected, dignified way and your role is to deliver the information and that’s it. And then you leave rest of it to Allaah Azza wajal Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was not able to convince his own uncle Abu Talib. However, he had people coming from far away like Abu Dharr coming to give him daya’ Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam asked him where was he from? “Ghaffar” reputations of Ghaffar were gangsters. They raid caravans in the desert. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said Subhan Allaah, Allaah give life after the death. [يهدى لمن يشآء] He gives Hidayah to Whom He wants.
So Rabiah Ibn 'Amir when he was talking to Rustum he was delivering the message as it is. You want to become Muslim that’s good for you , you don’t these are the consequences so I am presenting to you the way of the Sahaabah don’t think that what I am saying is we don’t do the da’wah the way we are doing it now. You should carry on the da’wah they way you can do it because that’s the only way you can afford it at this particular time. But the thing is I don’t like when people give a wrong impression what the sahaabah did. The way of Sahaabah was not like that and the best way and successful way we do whatever we are able to do. We might not be able to do the way Sahaabah did it because of some circumstance now but we have to have the right understanding of their approach and their method that we don’t end up talking against them. Then why I am saying that because, you know I am very proud if that is the case with my ancestors Sahaabah went by the sword killed whom ever my ancestors not wanted to become Muslims and told the rest to become Muslim otherwise pay the Jizzya and you have no future I am very proud of that. Because that saved me. If the Sahaabah went that other missionary way may be my ancestors wouldn’t have become Muslims and now I would have been in the Hell fire. I would rather have my ancestors killed, humiliated and have them been slaves for the Sahaabah and have one of them clean the shoes of Khaalid Ibn Waleed then be a free man ended up in Hell fire. We need to be happy and proud for what the Sahaabah radhiAllâhu anhu did for us and the way they did it, it was by their swords. That how they did it. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says on the day of Judgment the poor Muhajirin will knock on the gates of Paradise five hundred years before anybody else. So the angels will open the gates and ask how did you get here? The reckoning is still going on. The poor Muhajirin would say and what will Allaah ask us about? All our life we have been fighting fi Sabeelillah carrying our swords on our shoulders. We didn’t do any business we didn’t have any money spend or make what would Allaah Azza wajal ask us about? Our life was spent fighting fi Sabeelillah.
So we owe it to Sahaabah we need to thank them for what they did we pray for them for what they did for us Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says ‘some people would enter Jannah in chains’ what does that mean? That means some people would are brought as prisoners of war [PoW] dragged in chains until they become Muslims. They are saved from Hell fire but they are dragged Jannah in chains. That’s how they came to it.
صلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى اله وصحبيه وسلم كثيرَا كثيراً

29 Rabia II 1430
Friday April 24, 2009

Umar Ibn Khattab CD 4

2009-05-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

PART 4اعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين الصلاة والسلام على سيد الانبياء والمرسلين صلوات الله والسلام عليه

Umar Ibn Khattab’s Knowledge:

All of you want to learn Islamic knowledge. We have been saying that again and again that I want to learn. Brothers and Sisters are alike and are very eager to learn Islam and that’s a very good sign [الحمد لله ] this is one of the things that is found among the young generation and this was not something to be found in the generation of their fathers. The zeal and eagerness we have to learn today is definetly more than the generation before you. So that’s a good sign it’s a sign of the awakning of Ummah and it’s a sign that [الحمد لله] even though may be in other areas the situation is getting worse, politically its getting worse, however, when you want to assess a situation don’t look at the political realities or the economical realities but look at the human factor. If the people are improving then you will see the improvement in the other areas early on. Its the human resource factor that the most important factor in any change in human history. And that change [الحمد لله] is happening among many of the youth. So everybody wants to learn, they sign in for a courses and they go and study and they travel overseas. However, many of you are saying “we are not learning enough, we want to learn more.” Many of you are saying we are not given Islamic knowledge enough time, right?? You all feel that you want to do more. And what is holding you back from giving more time to studying Islam? You are busy! You have work to do! You want to make a living!! And if you are not trying to make living yet because your parents are taking care of your expenses, you are studying!!! You are going to college, university, and you are complaining that you don’t have enough time need to study Islamic Shari’ah [شريعة]. Right??
Now are you assuming that the Sahaaba didn’t have any work to do?? How come they were able to learn and you are not able to learn? You might say Oh we are living in 21st Century!!! Things are complicated now. And life had become very difficult. We have to work more. If that’s your assumption that you are wrong. Infact you have more time than the Sahaaba. The Sahaaba had to make a living none of them was born with a golden or silver spoon in their mouth. They had to work. Infact their commitment to work was more difficult than yours. You work now from 9:00 to 5:00 or from 8:00 to 4:00 [الله اعلم] Allaahu ‘Alum what your schedule is in this country but then you have Saturday and Sunday off. And after 5:00PM you go back home you are free. Well Sahaaba didn’t work in offices. Sahaaba were shepherds or they were farmers or they were businessmen. And as a shepherd you can not go to your cows and say O my cows see you next week I am not going to be here Saturday and Sunday you can’t do that. You have to feed them everyday. You can’t go to your farms and tell them your plans that I am going to be off for a month. I am taking a summer vaccations. Your plains if you don’t show up they will die. You have to be there for them everyday. And in those days business was tough. So you have to put a lot of effort and time. So how come the Sahaaba were able to do both? How come they were able to study from Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and at the same time they were able to make a living? You know the Sahaaba radhiAllaahu ‘anhum were very active they were farthest being lazy they were not living a benefits or the wellfares. Sahaaba radhiAllaahu ‘anhum they have to go out and make a living for them self. Yes some of them were poor like [اهل صفة] Ahl Suffa and if they had a chance to work they would work because we know that many of these Ahl Suffa they will go out to the area in Madina called [الغابة] al-Ghaba forest. They would go there cut woods for fire and sell it in Madina. So when there is work, they going to work. So there just wasn’t any work to do. That’s why they were unemployed. So how did they do it? How come we are failing today and they while they were successful in their endeavours. Lets see how Umar Ibn Khattab did?
Umar Ibn Khattab radiAllaahu ‘anhu had to take care of some business, he had some pieces of land. He had a partner among al-Ansaar. He made an agreement and they used to live on the outskirts of Madina suburbs. He made an agreement with his Ansaari companion that I am going to work on day and you go down to Madina and accompany Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam for the whole day. And then when you come back at night we meet and you report to me that eveything Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said. And then the next day I am going to go down to Madina while you pick up my work. So they work alternate. One day Umar Ibn Khattab will work and the Ansaari is studying and vice versa. What this meant Umar Ibn Khattab and his partner will end up doing double the effort. Double the work. Because Umar Ibn Khattab have to do his work and then his partners work and his partner has to do his work and Umar Ibn Khattab’s work. So this tells you something. As a Muslim we have to make a living just like the Kaafir. You know Allaah Azza wajal does not differentiate between Muslim and Kaafir when it comes to Rizq[رزق]. You all have to go out and work. Human beings, animals, plants, you have to make a living. Even when Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam wanted to teach us about Tawakul [توكل] what did Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam say?

لو انكم تتوكلون الله حقّ توكنه لو رزقتم كما ترزق طير تغدو فى ما سن وتروح بطنه
[Kindly, check for errors in the Arabic Text, and rectify them Jazakallahu khairun]
If you have the right Tawakul ‘alallah then Allaah will give you Rizq like he is giving the Rizq to birds. They leave in the morning hungry and they come back at night full.

Notice that Hadith did not say that the birds are staying at home, sitting on their nests. Holding remote control and watching TV. They went out early in the morning, they came back at night, working for the whole day and that’s Tawakul. That Hadith is the definition of Tawakul. So the birds had to do a lot of work from morning to sunset. But then they come back full. So when it comes to Rizq you have to work like everybody else. Just because you are a Muslim don’t think that you will be spoon fed. When it comes to Rizq in Dunya everybody has to go out and work for it. However, there is a difference between you and the Kaafir. The Kaafir all he wants to make a living in this dunya but as a Muslim you are making a living in dunya in order to take you to the Akhirah [آخرة] dunya for you is a bridge to Akhirah. So you have an additional effort which is your Akhirah and that means that in order to you as a Muslim to succeed you have to do the double the effort of a Kaafir. You can not be on an equal footings. You have to put in double the work. Doubel the time, double the effort. Because if you don’ t since you are holding the two items in your plate you end up failing in both.
So, if the system of Rizq today is so complicated demands a lot of effort from you. The only way for you is to succeed in both dunya and Akhirah is for you to cut off time from your entertainment, from your sleep, you have to do what you have to do. As a Muslim you can not afford to waste single moment of your life. [Not a Single Moment!]. A Muslim can not afford to waste anytime because the clock for you is ticking and it’s a count down. [For you it’s a count down] the way the Kufaar or some of the Kufaar see it is that we are in a fight with nature and every year that passes by we have won against nature. Atleast that was the perception in the old Europe it’s a fight between us and nature. You know in some societies they used to be in harmony with the nature for example the Native Americans, their world view is that we are in harmony with the nature. So they wouldn’t touch the environment because they believe that we all are one. However, in the western mind, it’s a chanllenge between us and nature to fight, and that’s why they celebrate birthdays. You find that birthdays is a big thing in the west. Why? Because in the old days when life was rough and you know when you had a few months in the year when you can not plan you cannot form in winter, so life for them was struggle. So when they live for another year they see that they had won against the forces of nature so they celebrate birthday. I have lived for another year and I have defeated the forces of nature therefore, I shall celebrate my birthday, but that’s not the world view of a Muslim. A Muslim believes that your life is already destined. You are not fighting with nature. Your life is already destined. Allaah Azza wajal has already ordained the exact time you will spend in dunya, so when a year passes by the way you should see it as a Muslim, you should see it that I am one year closer to my death. I am getting closer to my grave so it doesn’t make any difference whatsoever, for as a Muslim to bring a cake infront of you blow the candles and you are smiling so happy, when you are one year closer to your death. While you should be making [محاسبه] Mahasibah. You should be holding your self accountable for that year not celebrating and taking photos infront of a cake. You should be viewing it with seriouseness. I am closer in meeting Allaah Azza wajal what have I done? Did I have prepare myself for it? [حاسب انفسكم] one of the statements of Umar Ibn Khattab was:
حاسب انفسكم قبل ان تحاسب
Hold youself accountable before you will be hold accountable for your today. So if you want to succeed you going to have to find a formula like Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu did. Umar Ibn Khattab has narrated many Ahadith. One of them for example, is considered to be one quarter of Islam according to Imam Ahmad [امام احمد] . Imam Ahmad considers this Hadith to be one quarter of Islam. And which Hadith is that? It’s the first Hadith in [الاربعون النووية] al-Arba’on an-Nawwawia. What is the hadith?
انما الاعمال بنيات
Deeds are in accordance with intentions. This hadith was narrated by Umar Ibn Khattab radiAllahu ‘anhu. Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu has narrated many ahadith. That’s the [we still stalking about his virtues.]so that’s his knowledge.

His Deen [Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllaahu ‘anhu’s Deen]
In Sahih al-Muslim Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam have said, while I was asleep [we find that Subhan Allaah Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam have seen Umar Ibn Khattab in many dreams]. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam is saying,””
بين انا نائم رأيت الناس يعردون وعليهم قبسٌ منها ما يبلغ سبى ومنها ما يبلغ دون ذالك ومرّ عمر ابن الخطاب وعليه قميص يجرّه قالوا ماذا اولت ذالك يا رسول الله ؟ قالت دين
Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, while I was asleep, people were being presented to me. They were walking infront of me. And they were wearing clothes some of them had short clothes, some of them had long clothes. Some of them their clothes would only reached to their chest. And some of them would have clothes shorter than that. But then Umar Ibn Khattab passed infront of me and his clothes were so long that they were dragging on the floor. Is that a good sign or bad sign? You know we know in Sunnah you are not suppose to have your clothes dragging. The Sunnah is to have your clothes above the ankle. And here Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahun ‘anhu is dragging his clothes behind him. Way below the ankle. Well because it’s a dream and dreams needs to be interpreted. They asked Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam what is the interpretation of the dream? He said, I interpret that to mean the religion.
So, the clothes were representing the religion of the people. Some of them that their religion was so short that it only reaches to their chest. While the Deen of Umar Ibn Khattab was dragging behind him, it was so great. His religion was so encompassing that it was covering his whole body and then draggin on the ground. That’s the deen of Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu. An-Nawwawi says,””
قال اهل العبارة القميص فى النوم الدين وجره يدله على بقاء آثاره الجميلة و سنته الحسنه في المسلمين بعد وفاة الابتداء به
An-Nawwawi says,”that the scholars of interpreting dreams say that clothes in dream means religion and when the clothes are dragging behind you it means that your teachings your religious teachings will stay behind you and benefit the people.” So when his clothes are dragging behind him it means that his teachings will stay behind him for a long time. And people are going to benefit from it.
Another virtue of Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu and this is in al-Bukhari there were some woman in Quraysh who were with Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. And they were asking him so many questions and their voices were loud. The Hadith says,””
يكلمنه نستغفرنه عالية اصواتهن
They are asking him and they are asking him a lot and their voices were loud. And then comes umar ibn khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu. The woman go into hiding and there is suddenly mute. Umar ibn khattab came in and rasoolullah sallalahu ‘alaihe wasallam was laughing, umar bin khattab said, why are you laughing O Messenger of Allaah? Rasoolullah sallalahu ‘alaihe wasallam said, because of these women, their voices were very loud and asking me so many questions then when you come in they suddenly go into hiding and they are quiet. Umar ibn khattab said, O Messenger of Allaah they should be respecting you and then he goes to these women sand says.””
ياعدوات انفسهن
You enemy of youselves. You are raising your voices in the presence of Allaah and you fear me more than you fear Messenger of Allaah sallalahu ‘alaihe wsallam. They said, yes
نعم انت اخض اغلب
They said, yes because you are harsh and rough. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam laughed and said,”O Umar Ibn Khattab ”
اي هن لك يا ابن الخطاب ما رائك الشيطان سالك الفجل الا سلك الفجل آخر
O Umar Ibn Khattab whenever Shaytan sees you, you taking road, he would take another road. Shaytan could not come into your path. Two points on this hadith:
1. ibn hajar as-Qalaani he says this doesn’t mean that Umar Ibn Khattab is infallable, it doesn’t mean that Umar Ibn Khattab is not exposed to the Waswasah [وسوسة] of Shaytan. But it means that Shaytan has no way into Umar Ibn Khattab. And that Shaytan has hard time in dealing with Umar Ibn Khattab. And that Shaytan fears Umar Ibn Khattab,
2. second point: and you will see whenever we are talking about the Seera [سيرة] or the lives of Sahaab radhiAllaahu ‘anhum, its relating to the interaction between men and the women. And the culture of the women in that time. How was it in Madina? How was the life of women in Madinatu Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam? I think its fair to say that the women of Madina or the society of Madina was more conservative than the liberal Muslims of today. And its more liberal then the conservative Muslims of today. You will find them somewhere in between.

There wasn’t ineraction between men and the women, the would speak the voice of women was not seen as Awrah [عوراة] as we see in this hadith. They were talking with Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam not only talking with him but there voices were loud. And they would ask him and Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam will give, devote entire session women on weekly basis because they came to him and they said, that the men are taking all of your time what about us? So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam devoted some special time for the women and the women would also attend the sessions with the men. So they ended up in getting a good deal. Because they would also attend the Halaqat [حلقات\حلقة] in the Masjid. They used to attend in Musalla [مصلى] there wasn’t a barrier in those days, they would pray behind the men. Women used to serve in the Walayah [ولاية], invitations, they participated in Jihad [جهاد] with Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam, so I think there is a lot to learn if we go back to history and study the qualities of the society of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam in those days.
Again I think in my view, they were more conservative then the libral Muslims of today and they were more liberal then the conservative Muslims are. And they would carry on with their lives with [حكمه] modesty, and when they would be dealing with men they would be dealing with men in a formal way, it wasn’t in informal joking way or manner. It was in a formal way. So we needs to avoid the extremes today of going into the feminist ideology or realm or going to this conservative realm of where woman should stuck in that room not allowed to be seen by anyone, not to talk to anyone and not to learn anything and not to go to the Masjid, not to not not not…… we have to go back to the Seerah of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and to see how the society was then? That is the “Ideal Society”. Plus Umar Ibn Khattab go and give Naseeha [نصيحة] to the wives of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. A brother was telling me, how a brother will feel today, a brother goes and gives his wife a Naseeha? Obviously Umar Ibn Khattab had his daughter as Umahatul Mo’mineen [امهات المؤمنين] but he would aslo direct the talk to all of them.
We have already talked about his virtue of being [ ملحن هذه الامة او محدّث] Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says’
لقد كان فى ما قبلكم امم محدثون فى اي يكن امتى احد فانه عمر
Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, there were Mohadasoon in the nations before you and if there is going to be Mohaddas in my Ummah it would be Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu.

Umar Ibn Khattab was also seen in another dream by Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam, amazing dream and this is in al-Bukhari narrated by Abi Hurairah radhiAllahu ‘anhu, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said,”while I was asleep, I saw that I was drawing water from a well. [So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was drawing water int his bucket] and then Abu Bakr came after me and he drew out water once or twice and his drawing was weak May Allaah forgive him. [what Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam saying here is May Allaah forgive him he is not criticizing Abu Bakr he is making a dua’ for him May Allaah forgive him]. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, Abu Bakr he with drew water once or twice but it was weak. And then Umar Ibn Khattab came. And he withdrew water and he was so strong [فلم ارى عبقّري يفر فريع][Please correct arabic script,if correction needed] I haven’t seen a master who was givin out water like him until all of the people left and they were full and their animals too, water was going left and right.” Umar Ibn Khattab was strong he was just drawing bucket after another and pouring it and feeding the people. Whats the interpretation of this dream?
The scholars look back at our history and says this dream is talking about the Khilafah. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was the one who was running the affairs of Muslims so he was the one giving them water. And then Abu Bakr came after him and he was giving the people water but Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said it was weak why? Because Khilafah of Abu Bakr was little over two years a very short time, but then Umar Ibn Khattab came in and his Khilafah was long ten plus [10 +] and that was the golden era of Islam. That was when the blessings came down on the Ummah in terms of knowledge, in terms of spreading of knowledge, in terms of the Futohaat [فتوحات] the conquests, also when it comes to wordly aspects the administration of the Ummah and the insitituitions and the wealthwise the Muslims were starting to become very wealthy. So this Hadith is talking about the Khilafah of Umar Ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu. The word Aqqari [عبقري] means today Genius but it also means Master or Leader Nobleman.
In another dream; brothers and sisters dreams play an important role in the days of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam after Saalatul Fajr would turn around and he would ask the Sahaaba did any of you have seen a dream? And they would narrate their dream and he would interpret dreams for them and sometimes Abu Bakr would interpret the dream, so the dreams are Mubashiraat [مبشّرات] they are glad tidings that Allaah gives to this Ummah. So the early Muslims use to talk about the dreams, they would talk about the Fitan [فتن] they would talk about the events of end of time. This is not something like that you are not suppose to involve in obviously things need to follow the criteria of Sharia’a and for example somebody comes and says that in a dream I have seen the voice told me not to pray anymore. See the dreams do not change the Sharai’a. Dreams don’t make Haalal Haraam or Haraam Haalal. Dreams are Mubashiraat [a good news] glad tidings for you. Because sometimes shaytan comes to people and deceive them like that. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, “In my dream I visited Jannah and I saw a Rumaisa [رميسه] a wife of Abu Talha a woman from al-Ansaar and then I heard footsteps, so I asked who it was? I was told this was Bilaal and then I came near to a beauftiful palace and I saw a woman who was making a Wudu [وضوء] next to the palace. And I said whom this palace belongs to? I was told this palace belongs to Umar Ibn Khattab. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said I wanted to go into the palace and see it but then I rememberd your jealousy, so I walked away.” Umar Ibn Khattab was jealous that was his nature. He was very protective of his wives and daughters. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam knew that so he didn’t want to go next to his palace and he said because of your jealousy and Umar Ibn Khattab cried and he said, not from you O Messenger of Allaah. What does it mean when a woman is making Wudu outside of palace? I mean there is no Salah in Jannah so why would they make a Wudu? Whats the point of making a Wudu in Jannah? So this was the question posed by the scholars and an-Nawwawi or Ibn Hajar [Ibn Hajar actually] he said Wudu in Arabic one of the derivates of it is [وضاء] which means beauty. So this woman is making Wudu in Jannah to make herself more beautiful. So every time she makes Wudu she becomes more beautiful. So Wudu in Jannah is not for worship its not for Saalah but its to add increase to her beauty and thats why she is making wudu. Umar ibn Khattab radhiAllahu ‘anhu loved rasoolullah sallalahu ‘alaihe wasallam so much. In al-Bukhari umar ibn khattab goes to rasoolullah sallalahu ‘alaihe wasallam and says,
لا انت احب اليّ لكل شيئ الا من نفسى
O Messenger of Allaah I love you more than everything. Now Umar Ibn Khattab was very straight forward and honest. He said, O Messenger of Allaah I love you more than everything except myself. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam told him not until you love me more than yourself. Umar Ibn Khattab comes back and says O Messenger of Allaah now I love you more than everything including myself. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, now you have attained the Faith. You have attained complete faith when you love Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam more than everything including yourself.
Now today our understanding of love is that its an abstract feeling that you have in your heart and there is no implications to it. But that’s not how they used to understand love. For them love was a feeling and also an action. For them when you love somebody it means you will put them in high esteem, you will think about them a lot, and when you love someone more than yourself means that you will sacrifice yourself for them. So love was not a lip service that’s not what you say its not something that you claim you feel there are implications to it. When you are confronted with a situation where you have to make a choice between your interests and the person you love that is a test on whether you are more important or the other person. So if you love Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam more then yourself and you are confronted with a situation where you have to sacrifice for Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam yourself , if you sacrifice yourself for Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam that means you love him if you don’t then it means you really love yourself more.
Now we try to get away from the real implications of loving Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam by praising him and reciting poetry and feel good things to make us feel that you love him. And when we are put to the challenge time to really sacrifice for him we bail out. If you love Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam? You will consider his Sunnah to be more important than what the people think. You will consider his path to be more important than your own interests and when Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam asks you in a Hadith to do something you will be ready to do it no matter what the consequences are? That’s how you prove your love of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Not by singing a song about him. I am not saying praising Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam is Haaram don’t get me wrong sometimes people would jump conclusions. I am just saying that might be an easy way out for you to feel good that you love Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Making Salaah on Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam in the form of poetry or in form of Nasheeds [ناشيد] are absolutely fine but that’s not the criteria that proves whether you love him or not? It is the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam proves that not only loving Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam if you loving Allaah. Allaah Azza wajal says,””
ان كنتم تحبون الله فتّبعونى يحببكم الله ويغفرلكم ذنوبكم
If you claim that you love Allaah? In Surat ‘ale Imraan if you claim that you love Allaah then follow the Messenger of Allaah, Allaah Azza wajal will love you and forgive you.
So even if you want to show your love of Allaah Azza wajal you going to have to follow the way of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. And when we talk about the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam we just shouldn’t think about sunnah as the outward sunnah which is the part of the Sunnah but also how did he live his life? What did he spend his time doing in Madina? Did he spend his time fighting the enemies of Allaah? or did he spend his time [what did Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam do when he was in Madina?]. How did he spend those ten years? We should want to do the same like he did. He spent his time in Jihad Fi Sabeelillah [جهاد فى سبيل الله] , teaching in the Masjid, Qur’an and Hadith, and being an example for the Sahaaba that’s how he spend his time? Being an example teaching and fighting fi sabeelillah. That’s the sunnah of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. You want to talk about sunnah this is the sunnah of Rasoolullah salawatuhulahe wasalamu ‘aliahe and Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam loved them a lot too its not just one way. They both love each other ‘Amr Ibn ‘Aas radhiAllahu ‘anhu he went to Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and said who is the most beloved person to you? Rasoollulah sallalahu ‘alaihe wasallam said,”’Ayesha” ‘Amr said what about the men? Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said,’her father.’ ‘Amr said, and then whom? Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, “Umar Ibn Khattab”.
So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam loved Abu Bakr the most and then Umar Ibn Khattab comes next. He was given glad tidings of Jannah many times, one in Mecca which is the Ten [عشرة المبشره من الجنة] ‘asharat um-mubashira fi Jannah but also in Madina happened more than once, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was sitting in [بئرالعريس] bir al-‘arees you have a well and then quarding them and then it would be surrounded by a wall. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was sitting on the ring of the well, they would also have a pool next to the well to draw water to the pool that you can come and drink immediately you don’t have to draw water so that there would be a small water pool. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was sitting with his feet in that pool, ‘Abu Musa al-‘Ashari said, today I will going to be the guard for Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam not guard him in terms of protection but to make sure that nobody comes in except when they seek permission. So he sits on the gate and he hears somebody opening the gate, so he says, who is it? He says, Abu Bakr abu musa goes to Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and says Abu Bakr is outside should I allow him in? Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, yes, [وبشره بالجنة] wa bushri hu bil Jannah , yes and give him glad tidings of Jannah. So Abu Bakr comes in and says [الحمد لله] alhumdulillah and then he sits next to Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam on his right, and then Umar Ibn Khattab comes and he opens the gate abu Musa goes and he asks for permission Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, allow him in [وبشره بالجنة] wa bushri hu bil Jannah so Umar Ibn Khattab was given glad tidings of Jannah and said [الحمد لله] alhumdulillah and he sat to the left of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and then Uthman comes, so Abu Musa asks for permission for him, so Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam says, allow him in [ بشره بالجنة على بلووتصيبهم] wa bushri hu bil Jannah ‘ala balwa wa toseebohum give him the glad tidings of Jannah and that calamaty befall on him. So Uthman comes in and he says [الحمد لله ] and then he says [الله مستعان] Allahu musta’an Praise be to Allaah and then he said,[الله مستعان] Allaah is the one to give me help. Because there was a glad tidings and there was also a warning. A calamty befall on you. And this might be referring to the Fitnah that happened at the end of his Khilafah that ended with his own death.
Uthman came and there was no place near Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam to sit so he ended up sitting infront of them. Saeed ibn Musayyib says, we interpret that to mean Their Graves. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and Abu Bakr sitting next to him and that’s where they have been buried, Uthman ibn Affan there was no place for him so he was burried in al-Baqeey.
When Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was ill, it was the illness that ended up with his death salawatullahe sallamu ‘alaihe. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam told Ibn Zam’a to have somebody lead the prayer. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam according to this narration “have somebody leads the prayer”. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not specify Abu Bakr. Ibn Zam’a didn’t find Abu Bakr so he told Umar Ibn Khattab to lead the Salaah, the voice of Umar Ibn Khattab was loud. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam heard him in Salaah, he said,
يعب الله ذالك والمسلمين
Allaah Azza wajal rejects that and the Muslims reject that, and Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam repeated it again.
مر ابى بكر فيصلى بالناس
Tell Abu Bakr to lead the Salaat. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam is saying that it is not pleasing to Allaah and the Muslims to Umar Ibn Khattab lead the Salaat when Abu Bakr is around. Abu Bakr should be the one to lead the Salaat. So when Abu Bakr came back he was leading the salaat. Umar Ibn Khattab went to Ibn Zam’a and said,”Woe to you Ibn Zam’a! why did you do that to me? ” when you told me to lead the salaat I thought Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam told you to tell me to lead the salaat, if that wouldn’t have the case I would not lead the salaat. Ibn Zam’a said, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not tell me to tell you to lead the salaat, but when I didn’t find Abu Bakr I saw you the most appropriate person to lead the salaat.
So there are two things to learn from this hadith:
1. Number one: Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not specify to ibn Zam’a to have Abu Bakr to lead the salaat. Nevertheless, ibn Zma’a understood that it means Abu Bakr. Which sends a very clear message for the Muslim community, it was clear to them the Abu Bakr was their leader. That he is the one who should be the Imam. That’s number one.
2. Number two: Ibn Zama’a made a judgment if Abu Bakr is not around then one who should be Imam in his absence is Umar Ibn Khattab. So according to ibn Zama’a second in command is Umar Ibn Khattab. And for Muslims position of the Imam of Salaat is more important then leading them in dunya affaris. Because Imam in Salaat is Imam in Deen and for them Deen was more important then Dunya.So, they would appoint somebody to lead them in Deen, its obvious that the person would lead them in Dunya because for them Deen was higher than Dunya.
And this is one of the many evidances or indications that the Khilafah starts with Abu Bakr and then Umar Ibn Khattab. When Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam passed away, Abu Bakr wasn’t around he was in the as-Sanah, one of his wives in as-Sanah which was close to Madina. So he was not present when Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was passed away. The news spread and it was the greatest catastrophe that the Sahaaba every experienced. I mean, you will not be able to understand what the Sahaaba went through? Because for them Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was everything.
Sahaaba would go back home to their wives and children and then they would feel home sick. They are at home and they are feeling home sick. So, they want to go back to their real home, the presence of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. And they would say, ‘we would be completely different people when we are in your presence Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam.’
One of the Sahaaba said,”نافق حنبل” nafaqa hunbala I am an hypocrite, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam told him how come you said? He said, because Messenger of Allaah when I am with you, I feel in my heart to be closest to Allaah then when I go back home, and blend in with my kids and my family I feel different. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam told him, first of all he told him that its not a nifaq and then he told him,”if you would carry on in the same state you are in when you are with me the angels would come and shake your hands in the streets of Madina” but its [ساعة و ساعة الله] but its one hour for yourself and one hour for Allaah and hour for your family. That’s the destiny of Allaah for us as human. You have to split your time half. Sometimes has to go to work, sometimes has to go to family, sometimes has to go to Ibaadah[عبادة]. You can’t have it all going in one area this [رهبانية] rahbaniya life in monastaries is not something that is approved in Islam.

So it was a shock for Sahaaba some of them just sat down and couldn’t move, like Uthman he couldn’t speak. That’s it, he sat down and couldn’t speak. He couldn’t anything helpless. While Umar Ibn Khattab was carrying his sword roaming around then he went to the Masjid and he stands up and he gives a speech. He says “there are some Munafiqeens [منافقين] who are claiming that Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam had died, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not die, but he went to meet Allaah like Musa went to meet Allaah. And when Musa went to meet Allaah for forty days [بنو اسرائيل] Banu Israel said,”he died but then he came back.” And Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam will came back like Musa came back. And Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam will cut off the hands and feet of the people who claim that he died”. And he was saying, anybody who is saying that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is dead I am going to behead him with this sword.
Umar Ibn Khattab, his heart could not handle it, could not believe that Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam died. That was how difficult it was on them. A strong man like Umar Ibn Khattab for him to be shaken like this in such a way it tells you that Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam meant everything to him. Because he was not feeble, weak man he was very very strong man who had control over his emotions. So that shows you how dear Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was dear to Umar Ibn Khattab. His heart was telling him don’t believe it and his emotions overwhelmed his mind. Abu Bakr came back on his horse went straight to the house of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam died on the lap of ‘Ayesha, so he uncoveres Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and then he kisses him and cries, and then Abu Bakr says,”the death that was destined for you has passed, you will never die again” then Abu Bakr goes to the Masjid, while Umar Ibn Khattab is speaking telling the people that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not die. Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu said to Umar Ibn Khattab stay quiet. Umar Ibn Khattab was not listening, he was carrying on! So Abu Bakr ignored him, and stood aside and started speaking. So when people saw Abu Bakr speaking they left Umar Ibn Khattab and they came to him. Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu was very short and very brief in speech he made, he said,””
من كان يعبد محمدا ان محمدا قد مات ومن كان يعبدوا الله فإن الله حيى لا يموت وما محمد الا رسول قد خلت من قبله الرسل افان مات او فتل انقلبتم على اعقابكم ومن ينقلب على عقبيه فان يضر الله شيئا ]وسيجزى الله اشاكرين[
Whoever, was worshiping Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is dead and whoever, was worshiping Allaah, Allaah is alive and never dies.and then he recites to them an ayaat from surah ‘ale imran”that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is but a messenger if he dies, or he is killed are you going to go back on your heels?” Abu Hurairah said,”as if we heard this verse for the first time.” When Abu Bakr narrated this verse to us we all went around reciting that verse and carrying it to the people. And then there was the important event of choosing the Khalifah.

Event of choosing the khalifah:
Sahaaba were discussing it even before they burried the Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam passed away on Monday and he was burried on Wednesday. Now we know the Sunnah is to speed up the burial process. The sunnah is to burry the deceased as fast as possible. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam his Janazah was delayed for two days, he died on Monday and he was burried on Wednesday why? Because Sahaaba were busy in discussing the issue of Khilafah.
Saeed ibn Musayyib was asked about it how come they neglect the janzah and discussing this issue of Khilafah? Some people today might say what? That they were so busy with politics that they leave the Sunnah of janazah? Saeed ibn Musayyib said,”The Sahaaba didn’t want to be outside the Jamma’a of even part of a day ” living in a Jamma’a was so important to the Sahaaba they did not want a day to pass by without them being with a Jamma’a and with an Ameer, because you can not have a Jamma’a without Ameer. [there is no Jamma’a without Ameer] so they had to sort out who will be the Ameer first. And the fact that they put that in a greater priority then the burrial of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam tells you that their understanding was that the issue of Khilafah was critical and they delayed the Janazah to discuss that.
The Ansaar were discussing appointing the Ameer within their ranks. So the news reaches to Abu Bakr Umar Ibn Khattab and Abu Obaidah so the three men rush to Saqeefat [ثقيف] Banu Sa’da [بنوسعدة] a political shed belongs to Banu Sa’da. The Ansaar were meeting under it and they were discussing this issue. Abu Bakr Umar Ibn Khattab and Uthman and Abu Obaidah rushing. Umar Ibn Khattab said, I already prepared a speech. I already worked out a speech in my mind of some important points to be said, so I stand up and I wanted to speak and Abu Bakr stops me and he starts speaking. Umar Ibn Khattab said there was nothing that I wanted to say that Abu Bakr did not say and he aided more to it.
Umar Ibn Khattab said whole point of me preparing the speech was so that because may be Abu Bakr was shy of saying something may be he miss something so I wanted to do it for him. He ended up saying it and more. He said, I couldn’t have done better than that. The just of it was that the issue of Khilafah should be among the people of Quraysh the Muhajiroon. Which are the poor group of dawa’. The Ansaar had the different understanding since they are the helpers they are the one who assisted Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam they should be the leaders plus this is their town this is their land. And they were planning to appoint Sa’d bin Abi ‘Abadah as the Ameer. Abu Bakr told Sa’d bin Abi ‘Abadah, Sa’d did you remember one day we were sitting with Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said that khilafah is in Quraysh. Do you remember that? Sa’d bin Abi ‘Abadah said, yes I do remember that.
So he reminded him with that hadith and there were some discussions went on for example this suggestion by al-Hubaab al-Munzr [منّ امير ومنكم امير] lets have one Ameer from us and one Ameer from you. Umar Ibn Khattab said, you can not have two ameers in one house. So Abu Bakr to bring an end to this discussion that could end up causing Fitnah, he said, give [بيع] bai’ah to these two men, Abu Obaidah Ibn Jarrah or Umar Ibn Khattab. Give bai’ah to one of them either Umar Ibn Khattab or Abu Obaidah. Umar Ibn Khattab he jummed ahead and he grabbed the hand of Abu Bakr and said, ‘I give you the bai’ah’ that’s it he put them on the spot. You can not back out of it. The narrator said then they just jumped on Abu Bakr giving him bai’ah and they were about to step over Sa’d bin Abi ‘Abadah as Sa’d bin Abi ‘Abadah had a fever and he was sick. So they were about to step over him to crush him that’s how emotional they were and how bad they wanted to give bai’ah to Abu Bakr.
So this tells us Sahaaba radhiAllaahu ‘anhum in their disputes they were very honest and sincere and when they would realize that their opinion was not the right opinion they weren’t stubborn. These were the Ansaar who wanted to give bai’ah to Sa’d bin Abi ’Abadah are now jumping ahead to give bai’ah to Abu Bakr. So it wasn’t personal interest, it wasn’t jealousy, it wasn’t selfishness. They thought they had the right to claim to it when they realized that it belongs to Abu Bakr they gave him the bai’ah. Next day in the Masjid [because this was a private bai’ah in a private meeting] Abu Bakr walks in Umar Ibn Khattab goes and stands on the pulpit and he asks everyone in the Masjid to give a bai’ah to Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu.

Dear brothers and sisters! There is very important thing to learn here Umar Ibn Khattab was a man of initiative, he would take the initiative. There are sometime things that you can not do, its not right to come from you. Abu Bakr cannot go around people and telling them give me bai’ah and he did it. Sometimes we wait for our leaders to do everything. There are somethings that our leaders cannot do, either because they are uncapable of doing it, either because they don’t want to do it, or it could be because its not appropriate for them to do it. You need to have initiative and go and do it. Abu Bakr he did not call people to give him Khilafah he called people to give it to Umar Ibn Khattab or Abu Obaidah but Umar Ibn Khattab knew that it belongs to Abu Bakr so he took the initiative and he did it and then he did it in the Masjid again.
There is a lot of passiveness in the Muslims today we need to throw that behind and be proactive. Take the initiative, when there is something that is right and you are the one who could do it, go ahead and do it don’t wait. The leader was Abu Bakr but Umar Ibn Khattab went ahead and did it because if he seeks permission from Abu Bakr to do it Abu Bakr would refused. He went ahead and he put him on the spot and he gave him bai’ah. And then in the masjid he was recruiting the bai’ah soliciting the bai’ah from the people. He was a man of initiative and we need that trait that attribute today, we need it badly.

Some incidence that happened during the time of Abu Bakr’s Khilafah:
There was a man called Aswad al-Ansi [الاسود الانسي]in Yemen, he claimed to be a prophet. [this was a man in Yemen who claimed to be a Prophet]. During the last days of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam, Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam saw a dream where he is wearing two bracelets of gold and then he looked at them and they flew away from his hand. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said I interpret those to be liar of Yemen and lair of Yamamah. There were two men who claimed to be prophets in the times of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam. Aswad al-Ansi in Yemen and Musailmah Kazzab [مسيلمه كذاب] in al-Yamamah. They came in the form of gold so gold doesn’t mean good things in dreams. Whenever you see gold its not a good sign. In this dream it meant these two lairs, it also means the things that are fake, unreal, deceptive, these are all meanings of gold in dreams. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam blew them and they just flew away so that means that their Fitnah will go away. Anways aswad al-Ansi his Fitnah carried on passed the time of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and the same with Musailmah Kathab but then it was Abu Bakr who ended their Fitnah.
Aswad al-Ansi arrested a man in Yemen called Abdullah ibn Sowri [عبدالله ابن ثورى] and he was a Wali Allaah [ولى الله] pious man. His Kuniyah [كنية] was Abu Muslim al-Khawlaani [ابو مسلم الخولانى]. Aswad al-Ansi arrested him and he told him do you bear witness that I am the Messenger of Allaah? He said,’I cannot hear you’ he said, do you bear witness that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is the Messenger of Allaah? He said, Yes. So he makes sure that he doesn’t have hearing problems so he ask him again, do you bear witness that I am the messenger of Allaah? He replied I cannot hear you. Do you bear witness that Muhammad sallalahu alaihe wa salam is the Messenger of Allaah? He said, Yes. So aswar al-Ansi knew that he was playing games on him, so he ordered him to be burnt alive. They tied him up and they threw him in the fire the only thing that burnd on his body were the ropes that were tieing his arms, he came out untouched. He walked out of fire untouched. The deputies of aswad al-Ansi said,”this man will be a fitnah for us drive him out of the land.”this is a [كرامة] karamah send him out, so he was forced to leave Yemen and he went to al-Madina enters into Masjid Nabawwi [مسجد النبوي] this was during the khilafah of Abu Bakr he goes into the masjid Nabawwi and prays and Abu Bakr was sitting with Umar Ibn Khattab, Umar Ibn Khattab sees this foreign man coming and he never met him before. Umar Ibn Khattab walks to him after he finishes his Salaat and he said,”are you from Yemen? He said, Yes.” He said, what happened that man who was burnt in the fire and he came out free? He said, that man is Abdullah ibn Zowb Umar Ibn Khattab said I ask you in the Name of Allaah is it you? The man said, Yes. Umar Ibn Khattab embraced him and kissed him and then he took him to Abu Bakr as-Siddique and he had him sit between him and Abu Bakr and he said, praise is be to Allaah who did not allow me to die until he made me see a man who went through a miracles very similar to the miracle of Ibrahim ‘alaihe sallam.
First of all look at the amazing Farasah of Umar Ibn Khattab, he sees this man, never meet him before and he knows this is the man who was burnt in the fire by just looking at his face. An amazing farasah and then the second thing, and this is blessing of Allaah subhanahu wata’ala on this Ummah, there are men in this Ummah who are not Prophets but they are friends of Allaah [اولياء الله عزوجل] who went through Karamat that are similar that were given to Anbiya. Abu ‘Ala al-Hadhrami [ابوالاعلى حضرمي] we talked about him during our series on Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu he performed miracle similar to the miracle of Musa ‘alaihe sallam he walked on water. And here you have Abu Muslim al-Khawlaani he is burnt in the fire like Ibraheem ‘alaihe sallam and he comes out unscraped untouhed. So this is a blessed Ummah. This is the greatest Ummah. Abu Bakr radhiAllaahu ‘anhu had a reputation of very soft and compassionate man so the Bedoin of Arabia want to take advantage of that, these Bedoins were harsh and rough they are attached to Dunya and their profession was raiding caravans and oppressing others so they felt that this is a soft man we will take advantage of him. The name Abu Bakr means the young lively camel [abu Bakr young lively camel] its not his real name, his real name is Abdullah but this was his Kuniyah Abu Bakr which is the father of a lively camel or the one of the lively camel. So these tribes they use to make fun of Abu Bakr and they say,”Abu al-Haseer”[ابو الاحصير] the father of the infant camel to mean that he is weak. ‘Odaee ibn haatim will tell them a day will come when you will realize that he was [ابوالفهل الاكير] abu Fahl al-Akbar but he is a father of a great stallion, you will come to know that becareful. Anyway one of these tribes decided they don’t want to pay the Zakkah [زكواة] we are not going to pay to Abu Bakr. We use to pay to rasoolullah salallahu ‘alaihe wasallam and we are not going to pay it to abu bakr. Abu Bakr sends one army after another [one army after another] and they came to realize that he is serious that he is not going to leave them alone. And they were loosing big time. They eventually have to submit they came to Abu Bakr and what they wanted to do, they want to make a peace agreement. Abu Bakr Siddique said, I am going to give you two choices:

اما حرب مجلّيا او خطعة نخزي
[Please make correction accordingly for arabic script incase of errors]
I give you two options one a war of extermination and second a humiliating plan for peace agreement. They said we understand what war of extermination means he is going to wipe us out. That’s one option and the second option what do you mean by [خطعة نخزي؟] a humiliating agreement ? he said,
1. “I want you to hand over all of your arms and then you follow the tails of your camels.” To them even among the people of Jahiliyah in those days, a man without his arms is no different then the animals. If you don’t have weapons you are equal to a camel or a donkey or a horse. That was their perception in those days. So Abu Bakr is telling them you hand over all your arms and you follow the tails of your camels. You and your camels become equal.
2. Number two: the spoils of wars we took from you we are not going to hand them back and anything that you took from us you handed it over back to us.
3. Number three: you publically testify that the one you killed among us are going to Jannah and the ones killed among you are going to Hell fire. This is very humiliating thing for them to go around telling the people that the one who died among us are going to Hell fire and the ones whom we kill among them are going to Jannah and then he said,””
4. I want you to pay the blood money for the ones who you kill among us and we don’t pay you anything for the ones whom we killed among you.

And then Abu Bakr said, I need your advice. He is asking Umar Ibn Khattab. Umar Ibn Khattab said,”giving them a choice of war of extermination or a humiliating agreement I agree with that. Saying that they have to publically declare dead among them go to Hell fire and dead among us go to Jannah I agree with that.they pay us what they took from us and we don’t pay them back I agree with that. That they give up their weapons and that they follow their camels I agree with that. But when you say that we don’t have to pay them blood money and they have to pay us blood money the dead among us were Shuhada Fi Sabeelillah [شهداء فى سبيل الله] and their reward is on Allaah Azza wajal so we don’t want any money from them. These are Shuhada they don’t pay anything for that. Its an honour for them that they died Fi Sabeelillah.
So he agreed with everything except with this clause in the agreement. So Abu Bakr gave these Murtadeens [مرتدين] very different impression. He was very strict and he needed to be because this was al-Haq [الحق] this was the truth Fi Sabeelillah.

Another incident that happened:
There are two men from the ‘iradh the leaders of the bedoin clan. Al-‘Qra’a bin Haris [العقراء بن حارث و عيينه بن حسن] [‘Oayyna bin Hassan] these two men were trouble makers they used to cause a lot of trouble in the time of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam and they were ask late in out of Islam. When they see the dunya is on the side of Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam will go with them and whenever scale tilts to the Mushrikeens they would go with them. They were the people of dunya. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam wanted to win them over because they were prominent people in their tribes. So he was giving them from the Zakkah and he was giving them from the Ghanaim [غنائم] in order to win them over. And that is allowed in da’wah you can win over people by encouraging them even if money is involved. So Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam was given them to soften their hearts to get a commitment from them because he knows behind them are many people who would become Muslim if they became Muslim.
Thess two men came to Abu Bakr Siddique when he was a Khalifah and they said,”there is a waste land it doesn’t belong to anyone can you please give it to us so that we will use it as a place of a pasture for our cattle.” Abu Bakr Siddique didn’t see a problem with that, this land is a waste land, it doesn’t belong to anybody so why not? He sort [he made a Shura] with the Sahaaba who were with him. He consulted them, they didn’t see a problem with that. So Abu Bakr Siddique writes a document,”that this piece of land [we say in America “Title”, titled that this belongs to you] he wrote down that this land belongs to them and he writes down that Umar Ibn Khattab is one of the witnesses.” Now Umar Ibn Khattab wasn’t present. So he has a name of Umar Ibn Khattab and he gives this document to al-‘Qra’a and ‘Oyyaynah so they go to find Umar Ibn Khattab so that he can sign on it because his name is their so he has to sign it. He is one of the Shoohud [شهود] one of the witnesses. So to al-‘Qra’a and ‘Oyyaynah they go and they find Umar Ibn Khattab applying Tar [قطراع ] he use to apply Tar, its called in Arabic Qatraun. They use to apply to their camels to cure them from the flees. So they would apply this tar. So he is applying this tar to his camel working hard on his camel. Now the Sahaaba would do this type of work that now you may be assuming a servant be doing it but Umar Ibn Khattab was doing it himself.
So al-‘Qra’a and ‘Oyyaynah these are rough men they are from the desert they come to Umar Ibn Khattab and they say that we have this document from Abu Bakr the Khalifah and has your name on it and we want you to sign it. So shall we read or you read? He said, we you see I am busy so if you want to read so go ahead and if you want me to read it then you will have to wait until I finish. They said, alright we will go ahead and read it. So they read it, what does Umar Ibn Khattab do? He stands up and he grabs the document and he spits on it and he wipes everything in there. That’s it the title is gone. al-‘Qra’a and ‘Oyyaynah were angry were exploding and they were arguing with Umar Ibn Khattab. Umar Ibn Khattab told them Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam use to give you when Islam was weak today Islam is strong so go and work for yourself. You are not going to get anything for free Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam used to give you yesterday because Islam was weak we don’t need you now. They were fumming they went to Abu Bakr Siddique they were just steamed coming out of their heads. They said,”we do not know who is the Khalifah you or Umar Ibn Khattab?” who is making the decision? What did Abu Bakr say? Abu Bakr said, he is the khalifah if he wants. He is the khalifah if he wants.now you know when you are in a position in administration and somebody steps into your territory you become very very sensitive. He stirfores [1:03:49] they cause so much hatred in the hearts. You are stepping over my toes. You are getting into my realm of sphere of influence whatever, and fight starts Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu said, if he wants to become a khalifah he can be the khalifah. They were doing it for the sake of Allaah they were not doing it for their personal interests. Even though the khilafah is the greatest status that exists on the face of the earth. There is no status at all higher than the khalifah in the Muslim or non Muslim world. Khalifah is the highest. Nevertheless, they were so easy with it Abu Bakr didn’t have problem of giving it to Umar Ibn Khattab so you should be wondering today how come Muslims are fighting? We have nothing, we have no khilafah we have no wealth we have nothing and we are still fighting on these small territories. Its foolish it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. I mean you fight al-Khilafah they didn’t fight in the times of Sahaaba but then later on in times of Banu Ummaya and Banu ‘Abbas they were fighting on khilafah. Its wrong but atleast there is a reason for them to fight. You know that they are fighting on something big even though that was wrong. But now what are Muslims fighting for? NOTHING!! Its miserable. Abu Bakr said if he wants to become a khalifah he is a khalifah Umar Ibn Khattab comes in and he was angry. He comes to the khalifah and look at how he speaks to the khalifah,he said”this land does it belongs to you? Or it belongs to Muslims?” Abu Bakr Siddique rahdiAllahu ‘anhu said,”it belongs to the Muslims.” He said,”then how come you can give this to these two men?” Abu Bakr Siddique said,”I have made a Shura, I consulted the Sahaaba” Umar Ibn Khattab said,”you consulted these Sahaaba but did you consult all of the Muslims?” Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu said,”O Umar Ibn Khattab! I already told you before that you are more competent to do this job then me but you refused.”I already told you Umar Ibn Khattab I wanted you to become a khalifah you are stronger than me you are more competent then me but you are the one who refused. Can you imagine a leader to say that??? Can you imagine a president or a king or a prime minister saying that publically that you ought to be the leader you are better than me in the greatest democracy of the democracies you would not find that let alone in journey of the Islamic world. But Subhan Allaah [سبحان الله] that was the way of Sahaaba. [وكانوا عقل الناس تكلف] wa kanu ‘aqalanas takulufa that they were the least superficial. They were very simple, easy, straight forward and honest people. Abu Bakr says it publically infront of the people. Infront of al-‘Qra’a bin Haris and ‘Oyyaynah bin Hassan. I wanted you to become a khalifah but you refused. But these were men who were living for the Akhirah they were not living for the dunya. There minds were connected to Akhirah, their eyes were fixed on Jannah dunya to them was just a bridge. [عابر سبيل الله]’Abir Sabeelillah travel.

Finally, [جمع القرءآن] jama’al Qur’an:
During the Khilfah of Abu Bakr in [حروب الرداء] huroob ar-Rida specifically in the wars of Yamamah against Musailmah al-Kadhab hundreds of Sahaaba were killed and many of them were Hufaaz [حفاظ] of Qur’an [memorizers of Qur’an ] Umar Ibn Khattab goes to Abu Bakr and says,” لقد اذتحّر القتل ” death is going through the memorizers of the Qur’an and I am afraid that death will take them away in one battle after another battle so you have to compile the Qur’an. Upto that stage Qur’an was not compiled in one book. Qur’an if you want a mushaf [مصحف] it would be a huge sack of bones, pieces of wood, leaves and leather. They use to write it on the shoulder bone of camel because it was big plate. They would write it on a piece of wood they would write it on a piece of leather they would write it on a palm leaves. So the mushaf would be a huge sack and it wasn’t really compiled in one place and was spread around. every Sahaabi would have a one piece of it. Umar Ibn Khattab said, if the one who memorized the Qur’an are dead mushaf would be lost. So you have to compile it together. Abu Bakr Siddique said,’how you want me to do something that Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not do?’ [إنّما انا متبع] inama ana mutabi’a I am a follower I am not an innovator. Umar Ibn Khattab kept on argueing with Abu Bakr again and again until he convinced him. That this is the [مصلحع] masliha’ that this is a good thing to do and its not an innovation. Abu Bakr agreed and then they decided to appoint that task Zayd bin Thabit [زيد بن ثابت] one of al-Ansaar. Young man in his twenties, imagine this duty this huge project is hands over to Zayd bin Thabit.
So, Zayd radhiAllahu ‘anhu was summoned to come and meet the khalifah Umar Ibn Khattab was sitting next to Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu said,”Umar Ibn Khattab came to me and said that death is taking away the lives of many of the memorizers of Qur’an and we want you to be the one who compile the mushaf” Zayd said,”how to you want me to do something which Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam did not do?” Abu Bakr said that’s what I said but then Umar Ibn Khattab convinced me and they convinced Zayd. Zayd said,”if they had told me move a mountain from its place it would have been an easier task then what they have given me [the taks that they gave]. ” he felt that it was so heavy of a task so greater responsibility it would be easier for him to move a mountain from its place. However, he did it he did it perfectly and he combined the mushaf in one original copy that was left with Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu and that was the first compilation of Qur’an and then Uthman made copies of that original copies. So Uthman made copies of original copy that was made by Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu.

One comment to make one this:
Where were the hufaaz of Qur’an? Where were the memorizers of Qur’an? How come they were dieing? Where were they? THEY WERE IN THE LINE OF FIRE. the memorizers of the Qur’an were not hiding away in their Masajids pretending to be scholars leading the Salaat and staying away from trouble. Memorizers of the Qur’an in those days were in the line of fire. Salim mowla Abi Hudhazfah [سالم مولى ابى حذيفة] he was the one given the banner of war and they told him,”are you up for that challenge? Are you sure that you are able to do this task?” he said,”
بعث حمل القرءآن انا ان موتيت من قبل
[Please make correction in arabic script if needed]
I am the worse carrier of Qur’an if you are attacked from my side. How can I be a carrier of Qur’an if I allow you to be attacked from my side? That was the understanding that they had. If you are somebody who memorize the Qur’an you need to be on the front line. You need to be the one practicing the Qur’an. Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam said, “the time will come when people will memorize the Qur’an and it doesn’t go beyond their throats” All what they can do is to recite it. They don’t know what it means? And they are not practicing what it says. And these are very dangerous people. And Rasoolullah sallalahu alaihe wa salam warned us from them. Qur’an can be an evidance for you or against you. If you know it and don’t apply it that person ends up going into Hell fire.

So the hufaaz of Qur’an in those days were on the front line. And that’s why they were hufaaz of Qur’an. Haafiz of Qur’an means someone protecting Qur’an and you protect Qur’an by living it by promoting it and that what they were doing.

This was the life of Umar Ibn Khattab with Abu Bakr Siddique radhiAllahu ‘anhu insha Allaah tomorrow we will start with the Khilafah of Umar Ibn Khattab

صلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى اله و صحبه وسلم تسليما كثيرا
1430جمادي الاول 18
May 12, 2009