Fascinating fact 01
ENTRY OF ABU DHARR GHIFFARI رضالله عنه IN THE FOLD OF ISLAM
Quraysh’s plan was doomed to failure from the outset.
★ A man of the 【Bani Ghifar named Abu Dharr】 – his tribe lived to the northwest of Mecca, not far from the Red Sea -had already heard of the Prophet (ﷺ) and of the opposition to him.
★ Like most of his tribesmen, Abu Dharr was a【 highwayman】; but unlike them he was a firm believer in the Oneness of God, and he refused to pay any respect to idols.
★ His brother Unays went to Mecca for some reason, and on his return he told Abu Dharr that there was a man of Quraysh who claimed to be a Prophet and who said there is no god but God, and his people had disowned him in consequence.
Abu Dharr immediately set off for Mecca, in the certainty that here was a true Prophet.
★ When Abu Dharr arrives in Mecca, those of the Quraysh who manned the approaches told him all he wished to know before he had time to ask.
★ Without difficulty he found his way to the Prophet’s (ﷺ ) house. The Prophet ﷺ was lying asleep on a bench in the courtyard, with his face covered by a fold of his cloak.
★ Abu Dharr woke him and wished him good morning. “On thee be Peace!” said the Prophet ﷺ.
“Declaim unto me thine utterances,” said the Bedouin.
“I am no poet,” said the Prophet ﷺ “but what I utter is the Koran, and it is not I who speak but God who speaketh.”
“Recite for me,” said Abu Dharr, and he recited to him a surah, where upon Abu Dharr said:
“I testify that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
★ “Who are thy people?” said the Prophet ﷺ and at the man’s answer he looked him up and down in amazement and said: “Verily God guideth whom He will.”‘
★ The reason the Prophet ﷺ was amazed when Abu Dharr told him he was from Banu Ghifar was because it was well known that the Bani Ghifar were 【mostly robbers.】
★ Having instructed him in Islam the Prophet ﷺ told him to return to his people and await his orders. So he returned to the Bani Ghifar, many of whom entered Islam through him.
★ Meantime he continued his calling as highwayman, with special attention to the caravans of Quraysh. But when he had despoiled a caravan he would offer to give back what he had taken on condition 【that they would testify to the Oneness of God and the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ】
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Fascinating fact 02
PROPHET ﷺ TEACHES AN IMPORTANT LESSON IN DAWAH
Tufayl, a man of Daws, told afterwards how he had been warned on his arrival in Mecca against speaking to Muhammad ﷺ or even listening to him lest he should find himself separated from his people.
★ Tufayl was a poet and a man of considerable standing in his tribe. Quraysh were therefore especially insistent in their warning, and they made him so afraid of being bewitched that before going into the Mosque he stuffed his ears with cotton wool.
★ The Prophet ﷺ}was there, having just taken up his stance for prayer between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone.
His recitation of Koranic verses was not very loud, but some of it nonetheless penetrated Tufayl’s ears.
★ “God would not have it”, he said, “but that He should make me hear something of what was recited, and I heard beautiful words.
So I said to myself: I am a man of insight, a poet, and not ignorant of the difference between the fair and the foul. Why then should I not hear what this man is saying? If it be fair I will accept it, and if foul, reject it.
★ The Prophet ﷺ explained Islam to him and recited the Koran, and Tufayl made his profession of faith.
★ Then he returned to his people, determined to convert them. His father and his wife followed him into Islam, but the rest of Daws held back, and he returned to Mecca in great disappointment and anger, demanding that the Prophet should put a curse on them.
But instead the Prophet ﷺ prayed for their guidance and said to Tufayl:....“Return to thy people, call them to Islam, and deal gently with them.”
★ These instructions he faithfully followed, and as the years passed more and more families of Daws were converted.
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Fascinating fact 03
THE HARAASMENT BEGINS AND INTRODUCTION OF FIRAUN OF UMMAH..... ABU JAHL
In Mecca the steady increase in the number of believers brought with it corresponding increase in the hostility of the disbelievers.
★ One day when some of the chief men of Quraysh were gathered together in the Hijr, bitterly stirring up each others’ anger against the Prophet (ﷺ), it so happened that the Prophet ﷺ himself entered the Sanctuary.
★ Going to the east corner of the Ka’bah, he kissed the Black Stone and began to make the seven rounds.
★ As he passed the Hijr they raised their voices in slanderous calumny against him, and it was clear from his face that he had heard what they said.
★ He passed them again on his second round, and again they slandered him. But when they did the same as he was passing them the third time he stopped and said:
‘O Quraysh, will ye hear me? Verily by Him who holdeth my soul in His Hand, I bring you slaughter!”
★ This word and the way he said it seemed to bind them as by a spell. Not one of them moved or spoke, until the silence was finally broken by one of those who had been most violent, saying in all gentleness:
‘Go thy way, 0 Abu Qasim, for by God thou art not an ignorant fool.”
★ But the respite did not last long, for they soon began to blame themselves for having been so unaccountably overawed, and they vowed that in the future they would make amends for this momentary weakness.
🔥One of the worst enemies of Islam was a 【man of "Makhzum" named "‘Amr"】 and known to his family and friends as 【"Abu Hakam"】, which the Muslims were not slow to change into Abu Jahl, “the father of ignorance”.
🔥 He was a 【grandson of Mughirah and nephew of the now elderly Walid】 who was chief of the clan.
🔥 Abu Jahl felt sure of succeeding his uncle, and he had already established for himself a certain position in Mecca through his 【wealth and his ostentatious hospitality】and partly also through making himself feared on account of his 【ruthlessness】 and his readiness to take revenge on anyone who opposed him.
🔥 He had been the most indefatigable of all those men who had manned the approaches to Mecca during the recent Pilgrimage, and the most vociferous in his denunciation of the Prophet (ﷺ) as a dangerous sorcerer.
🔥 He was also the most active in 【persecuting the more helpless believers】 of his own clan, and in urging other clans to do the same.
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Fascinating fact 04
Allah ﷻ makes the firaun of the ummah (abu jahl )do a great favour... Undoubtedly He can make anyone do what He ﷻ wants
HAMZA رضالله عنه EMBRACES ISLAM
One day, despite himself, Abu Hakam, (abu jahl) one of the worst enemies of Islam indirectly did the new religion a great service.
★ The Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting outside the Mosque near the Safa Gate, and he was alone at this hallowed place when Abu Jahl came past.
★ Here was an opportunity for the Makhziimite to show that he at least was not overawed; and standing in front of the Prophet ﷺ he proceeded to revile him with all the abuse he could muster.
★ The Prophet ﷺ merely looked at him, but spoke no word; and finally, having heaped upon him the worst insults he could think of, Abu Jahl entered the Mosque to join those of Quraysh who were assembled in the Hijr.
The Prophet ﷺ sadly rose to his feet and returned to his home.
★ Scarcely had he gone than Hamzah came in sight from the opposite direction on his way from the chase, with his bow slung over his shoulder.
★ When Hamzah discovered how Abu Jahl had insulted the Prophet ﷺ his 【mighty frame now shook with anger such as he had never felt】, and his anger set free something in his soul, and brought to completion an already half formed resolve.
★ Striding into the Mosque he made straight for Abu Jahl; and, standing over him, he raised his bow and brought it down with all his force on his back.
“Wilt thou insult him,” he said “now that I am of his religion, and now that I avouch what he avoucheth ? Strike me blow for blow, if thou canst.”
★ Abu Jahl was not lacking in courage, but on this occasion he evidently felt that it was better that the incident should be closed.
★ So when some of the Makhziimites present rose to their feet as if to help him he motioned them to be seated, saying:
“Let Abu ‘Umarah be, for by God I reviled his brother’s son with a right ugly reviling.”
★ From that day Hamzah رضالله عنه faithfully maintained his Islam and followed all the Prophet’s (ﷺ) behests.
★ Nor did his conversion fail to have its effect upon Quraysh, who were now 【more hesitant to harass】 the Prophet ﷺ directly, knowing that Hamzah would protect him.
★ On the other hand, this totally unexpected event made them all the more conscious of what they considered to be the gravity of the situation; it increased their sense of the need to find a solution and to stop a movement which, so it seemed to them, could only end in the ruin of their high standing among the Arabs.
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Fascinating fact 05
*Quraish change their tactics... Utbah bin Rab'iah offer wealth, power, kingdom, everything to lure the Prophet ﷺ*
★ _In view of this danger following Hamzah’s entrance into Islam the Qurasyh agreed to change their tactics and to follow a suggestion, which was now made in the assembly by one of the leading men of 【‘Abdu Shams, "Utbah ibn Rabi’ah".
★ “Why should I not go to Muhammad,” he said, “and make certain offers to him, some of which he might accept? And what he accepteth, that will we give him, on condition that he leave us in peace.”
★ Word now came that the Prophet ﷺ was sitting alone beside the Ka’bah, so ‘Utbah left the assembly forthwith and went to the Mosque to meet the Prophet (ﷺ)
★ “Son of my brother,” Utbah ibn Rabi’ah said to the Prophet ﷺ, “thou art as thou knowest a noble of the tribe and thy lineage assureth thee of a place of honour.
★ And now thou hast brought to thy people a matter of grave concern, whereby thou hast rifted their community, declared their way of life to be foolish, spoken shamefully of their gods and their religion, and called their forefathers infidels.
★ So hear what I propose, and see if any of it be acceptable to thee.
If it be wealth thou seekest.....we will put together a fortune for thee from our various properties that thou mayst be the richest man amongst us.
If it be honour thou seekest..... we will make thee our overlord and take no decision without thy consent;
If thou wouldst have kingship....we will make thee our king
If thyself thou canst not rid thee of this sprite that appeareth unto thee.... we will find thee a physician and spend our wealth until thy cure be complete.”
When he had finished speaking, the Prophet ﷺ said to him: “Now hear thou me, 0 Father of Walid.”
“I will,” said ‘Utbah, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ recited to him part of a Revelation which he had recently received.
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Fascinating fact 06
UTBAH IS OVERAWED BY THE QURAN
★ Utbah was prepared to make at least a semblance of heeding, out of policy towards a man he hoped to win, but after a few sentences all such thoughts had changed to wonderment at the words themselves.
★ He sat there with his hands behind his back, leaning upon them as he listened, amazed at the beauty of the language that flowed into his ears.
★ The signs’ that were recited spoke of the Revelation itself, and of the creation of the earth and the firmament. Then it told of the Prophets and of the peoples of old who, having resisted them, had been destroyed and doomed to Hell.
★ Then came a passage, which spoke of the believers, promising them the protection of the Angels in this life and the satisfaction of every desire in the Hereafter.
The Prophet ﷺ ended his recitation with the words:
And of His signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon. Bow not down in adoration unto the sun nor unto the moon, but bow down in adoration unto God their Creator, if Him indeed ye worship whereupon he placed his forehead on the ground in prostration.
Then he ﷺ said: “Thou hast heard what thou hast heard, 0 Abu -Walid, and all is now between thee and that.”
★ When ‘Utbah returned to his companions they were so struck by the change of expression on his face that they exclaimed: “What hath befallen thee, 0 Abu Walid?”
★ He answered them saying: “I have heard an utterance the like of which I have never yet heard. Itis not poetry, by God, neither is it sorcery nor soothsaying.
Men of Quraysh, hearken unto me, and do as I say. Come not between this man and what he is about, but let him be, for by God the words that I have heard from him will be received as great tidings.
If the Arabs strike him down ye will be rid of him at the hands of others, and if he overcome the Arabs, then his sovereignty will be your sovereignty and his might will be your might, and ye will be the most fortunate of men.”
★ But they mocked at him saying: “He hath bewitched thee with his tongue.” “I have given you my opinion,” he answered, “so do what ye think is best.”
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Fascinating fact 07
PEOPLE FOLLOW THEIR LEADERS...PROPHET ﷺ WANTED LEADERS TO ACCEPT ISLAM
The followers of the Prophet (ﷺ) were continually increasing, but whenever a new convert came to him and pledged his or her allegiance, it was more often than not a slave, or a freed slave, or a member of Quraysh of the Outskirts or else a young man or woman from Quraysh of the Hollow, of influential family but of no influence in themselves, 【whose conversion would increase tenfold the hostility】 of their parents and elder kinsmen.
★ "‘Abd ar-Rahman", "Hamzah" and "Arqam" had been exceptions, but they were far from being leaders; and the Prophet ﷺ 【longed to win over some of the chiefs】, not one of whom, not even his uncle Abu Talib, had shown any inclination to join him.
★ It would 【greatly help him to spread his message】 if he had the support of a man like "Abu Jahl’s uncle, Walid", who was not only chief of Makhzum but also, if it were possible to say such a thing, the "unofficial leader of Quraysh."
★ One day an opportunity came for the Prophet (ﷺ) to speak with Walid alone.
★ But when they were deep in converse a blind man (Ibn Umm Makhtum), (who later on went on to become the second muezzin besides Hazrat Bilal in Prophet's ﷺ mosque) came past, one who had recently entered Islam, and hearing the Prophet’s voice he begged him to recite to him some of the Koran.
★ When asked to be patient and wait for a better moment, the blind man became so importunate that in the end the Prophet ﷺ frowned and turned away.
★ His conversation had been ruined; but the interruption was not the cause of any loss, for Walid was in fact no more open to the message than those whose case seemed hopeless.
A new Surah was revealed almost immediately, and it began with the words:
‘He frowned and turned away, because the blind man came to him’. (Surah Abasa)
The Revelation continued:
‘As to him who sufficeth unto himself, with him thou art engrossed, yet is it no concern of thine if puri fied he be not. But as for him who cometh unto thee in eager earnestness and in fear of God, from him thou art drawn away.
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Fascinating fact 08
THE YOUNG WERE MORE RECEPTIVE TO "THE MESSAGE"
The young and the less successful did not by any means all accept the Divine message forthwith; but at least complacency had not blocked their hearing against the sharpness and vehemence of the summons, which had broken upon their little world as with the notes of a clarion.
★ The voice that ‘Uthman had heard crying in the desert “Sleepers awake” was akin to the message itself and for those who now accepted the message it was indeed as if they had awakened from a sleep and had entered upon a new life.
★
The disbelievers’ attitude, past and present, was summed up in the words:
‘There is naught but the life of this world . . . and we shall not be raised’. To this came the Divine answers: ‘Not in play did We create the heavens and the earth and all that is between them.
and
‘Deem ye that We did but create you in vain and that ye shall not be brought back unto Us?’
★ For those in whom 【disbelief had not crystallized】, these words rang with truth; and so it was with the Revelation as a whole, which described itself as being a light and having in itself, the power to guide.
★ A parallel imperative cause for accepting the message was the Messenger himself, a man who was, they were certain, 【too full of truth to deceive and too full of wisdom to be self-deceived】.
The Message contained a 【warning and a promise】: the warning impelled them to take action, and the promise filled them with joy.
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Fascinating fact 09
PATERNAL AUNT STANDS UP AS DEFENCE AGAINST PATERNAL UNCLE
The Prophet’s (ﷺ) aunt Arwa now made up her mind to enter Islam
★ The immediate cause of her decision was her son Tulayb, a youth of fifteen, who had recently made his profession of faith in the house of Arqam.
★ When he told his mother she said: “If we could do what men can do, we would protect our brother’s son.”
★ But Tulayb refused to accept such vagueness. “What preventeth thee,” he said, “from entering Islam and following him? Thy brother Hamzah hath done so.”
★ And when she made her usual excuse about waiting for her sisters he cut her short, saying:
“I beg thee by God to go and greet him and say thou believest in him and testify that There is no god but God.”
★ She did what he had said; and, having done so, 【she took courage, and rebuked her brother Abu Lahab】 for his treatment of their nephew.
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Fascinating fact 10
TURMOIL IN THE FAMILY OF KHADIJAH R.A. AND PROPHET ﷺ
★ As to Khadijah’s relatives, no sooner had Islam become known in Mecca than her half brother Nawfal became one of its worst and most violent enemies.
★ This did not, however, prevent his son Aswad from entering the religion, which was for Khadijah a compensation for Nawfal’s enmity.
★ But it as a disappointment that her favourite nephew, the Shamsite Abu l -As, already for some years 【her son-in-law】, had not entered Islam as his wife Zaynab had done; and great pressure was now being put upon him by the leaders of his clan and others to divorce her.
★ They went so far as to suggest that he should look for the richest, best-connected and most beautiful bride available in Mecca, and they promised, on condition of his divorce, that they would unite their efforts towards arranging the marriage in question.
But Zaynab and Abu l -As loved each other deeply: she always hoped and prayed that he would join her in Islam; and he, for his part, firmly told his clansmen that he already had the wife of his choice and that he wanted none other.
(Love story of Hazrat Zainab and Abu al As is another fascinating story of separation , heart break and reuniting)
Verily thou guidest not whom thou lovest, but God guideth whom He will.
★ The truth expressed in this verse is repeated continually through the Koran. It helped to ease the weight of the Prophet’s (ﷺ) sense of responsibility,
★ But it did not prevent him from being sad at the averseness of his Makhziimite cousin ‘Abd Allah; and another such case, which perhaps caused him even more sadness was that of his uncle Harith’s son, Abu Sufyan, his foster-brother, cousin and one-time friend.
{ He had hoped that he would respond to his message, whereas on the contrary the message made a rift between them, and Abu Sufyan’s aloofness and coldness increased as time went on, perhaps through the influence of their uncle Abu Lahab.( Abu Sufyan's sister umm jamil was married to Abu Lahab)
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Fascinating fact 11
QURAISH SEEK HELP OF JEW RABBIS IN MADINA
At every assembly of Quraysh there was at least some discussion of what seemed to them their greatest problem; and they now decided to send to Yathrib to consult the Jewish rabbis:
★ “Ask them about Muhammad,” they said to their two envoys. “Describe him to them, and tell them what he says; for they are the people of the first scripture, and they have knowledge of the Prophets which we have not.”
★ The rabbis sent back the answer: 【“Question him about three things】 wherein we will instruct you. If he tell you of them, then is he a Prophet sent by God, but if he tell you not, then is the man a forger of falsehood.
1. Ask him of some young men who left their folk in the days of old, how it was with them, for theirs is a tale of wonder;
2. Ask him tidings of a far traveller who reached the ends of the earth in the east and in the west
3. Ask him of the Spirit, what it is. If he tell you of these things, then follow him, for he is a Prophet.”
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Fascinating fact 12
THE DELAY IN ANSWER TO THE 3 QUESTIONS
★ When the envoys returned to Mecca with their news, the leaders of Quraysh sent to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked him the three questions.
★ He ﷺ said: “Tomorrow I will tell you,” but he did not say “if God will”; and when they came for the answers he had to put them off, and so it went on day by day until 【fifteen nights】 had passed and still he had received no Revelation of any kind, 【neither had Gabriel come】 to him since they had questioned him.
★ The people of Mecca taunted him, and he was distressed by what they said and greatly saddened that he had not received the help he had hoped for.
★ Then 【Gabriel brought him a Revelation】reproaching him for his distress on account of what his people said, and telling him the answers to their three questions.
★ The long wait he had had to endure was explained in the words:
And say not of anything: verily I shall do that tomorrow, except thou sayest: if God will.
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Fascinating fact 13
THE WIISDOM BEHIND THE DELAY AND THE ANSWERS
But the delay of this Revelation, although painful to the Prophet (ﷺ) and his followers, was in reality an added strength.
★ His worst enemies refused to draw conclusions from it, but for those many of Quraysh who were in two minds it was a 【powerful corroboration of his claim】 that the 【Revelation came to him from Heaven and that he had no part in it and no control over it】.
★ Was it conceivable that if Muhammad ﷺ had invented the earlier Revelations he could have delayed so long before inventing this latest one, especially when so much appeared to be at stake?
★ The believers drew strength also, as always, from the Revelation itself.
★ When Quraysh asked for the story of the youths who left their folk in the days of old -a story which no one in Mecca had ever heard -they did not know that it would have a bearing on the present situation, to their own discredit and to the credit of the believers.
It is often called the story of the sleepers of Ephesus, for it was there, in the middle of the third century AD*, that some young men had remained faithful to the worship of the One God when their people had fallen away into idolatry and were persecuting them for not following them.
★ To escape from this persecution they took refuge in a cave, where they were miraculously put to sleep for over 300 years.
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Fascinating fact 14
IN THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS, WAS KNOWLEDGE WHICH NO EYES HAD SEEN
★ In addition to what the Jews already knew, the Koranic narrative told of details that 【no human eye had seen】, such as
1. how the sleepers looked as they slept their unwitnessed sleep in their cave throughout the centuries,
2. how their faithful dog lay with his front paws stretched over the threshold.
★ As to the second question, the great traveller is named Dhul-Qarnayn, he of the two horns. The Revelation mentions his journey to the far west and to the far east, and then answering more than was asked.....
It tells of a mysterious third journey to a place between two mountains
★ Here the people begged him to make a barrier that would protect them from Gog and Magog and other jinn who were devastating their land; and God gave him power to confine the evil spirits within a space from which they will not emerge until a divinely appointed day, when, according to the Prophet ﷺ they will work terrible destruction over the face of the earth.
★ Their breaking forth would take place before the final Hour, but it would be one of the signs that the end was near.
★ In answer to the third question, the Revelation affirmed the Spirit’s transcendence over the mind of man, which is incapable of grasping it:
They will question thee concerning the Spirit. Say: the Spirit proceedeth from the command of my Lord; and "ye" have not been given knowledge, save only a little.
★ The Jews had been very eager to hear what answers Muhammad ﷺ had given to their questions; and, with regard to this last sentence about knowledge, they asked him, at their first opportunity, "if it referred to his people or to them".
★ “To both of you,” said the Prophet ﷺ, whereupon they protested that they had been given knowledge of all things, for they had read the Torah in which was an exposition of everything, as the Koran itself affirmed.
★ The Prophet ﷺ answered: “That all is but little in respect of God’s Own Knowledge; yet have ye therein enough for your needs, if ye would but practise it.”
★ It was then that there came the Revelation about the Words of God,which express merely a part of His knowledge:
If all the trees in the earth were pens, and if the sea eked out by seven seas more were ink, the Words of God could not be written out unto their end.
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Fascinating fact 15
WHEN PERSECUTION REACHES ITS ZENITH...A BILAL IS BORN
The leaders of Quraysh had not bound themselves to take the advice of the rabbis, nor did the rabbis themselves recognise the Prophet (ﷺ), despite his having answered their questions beyond all their expectations.
★ But the answers served to convert others; and the more his followers increased, the more his opponents felt that their community and their way of life was in danger
★ They more resolutely organised the persecution of all those converts who could be ill-treated with impunity.
★ Each clan dealt with its own Muslims: they would imprison them and torment them with beating and hunger and thirst; and they would stretch them out on the sun-baked earth of Mecca when the heat was at its height, to make them renounce their religion.
The chief of Jumah, Umayyah, had an African slave named Bilal who was a firm believer.
★ Umayyah would take him out at noon into an open space, and would have him pinned to the ground with a large rock on his chest, swearing that he should stay like that until he died, or until he renounced Muhammad ﷺ and worship al-Lat and al-‘Uzzah.
★ While he endured this Bilal would say “One, One”; and it happened that the aged Waraqah came past when he was suffering this torment and repeating “One, One.” ("AHAD" "AHAD")
“It is indeed One, One, 0 Bilal,” said Waraqah. Then, turning to Umayyah, he said: “I swear by God that if ye kill him thus I will make his grave a shrine.”
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Fascinating fact 16
THE FIRST MARTYRS, THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS AND THE PERMISSION TO RENOUNCE DEEN BY LIPS AND NOT HEART UNDER TORTURE
Among the most relentless of the persecutors was Abu Jahl.
★ If a convert had a powerful family to defend him, Abu Jahl would merely insult him and promise to ruin his reputation and make him a laughing-stock.
★ If he were a merchant he would threaten to stop his trade by organising a general boycott of his goods so that he would be ruined.
★ If he were weak and unprotected and of his own clan he would have him tortured; and he had powerful allies in many other clans whom he could persuade to do the same with their own weak and unprotected converts.
It was through him that his clansmen tortured three of their poorer confederates, Yasir and Sumayyah and their son ‘Ammar'.
📍They refused to renounce Islam, and Sumayyah died under the sufferings they inflicted on her by the spear of abu jahl
★ However some of the victims of Makhziim and of other clans could not endure what they were made to suffer, and their persecutors reduced them to a state when they could agree to anything.
★ It was said to them: “Are not al-Lat and al-‘Uzzah your gods as well as Allah?” They would say yes; and if a beetle crawled past them and they were asked “Is not this beetle your god as well as Allah ?” they would say yes simply in order to escape from a pain they could not endure.
These recantations were on the lips, not in the heart.
★ But those who had made them could no longer practice Islam except in the greatest privacy, and some of them had no privacy at all.
★ There was, however, an example for them in the recently revealed story of the young men who had left their people and taken refuge in God rather than submit to worshipping other gods.
And when the Prophet (ﷺ) saw that although he escaped persecution himself many of his followers did not, he said to them:
“If ye went to the country of the Abyssinians, ye would find there a king under whom none suffereth wrong. It is a land of sincerity in religion. Until such time as God shall make for you a means of relief from what ye now are suffering.”‘
★ So some of his companions set off for Abyssinia; and this was the 【first emigration in Islam】.
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Fascinating fact 17
JAFER رضالله عنه RECITES SURAH MARYAM TO NEGUS
The royal interpreters translated all that he had said. The Negus then asked if they had with them any Revelation that their Prophet (ﷺ) had brought them from God and, when Ja’far answered that they had, he said: “Then recite it to me,”.
★★Ja’far رضالله عنهrecited a passage from the Surah of Mary, which had been revealed shortly before their departure:
And make mention of Mary in the Book, when she withdrew from her people unto a place towards the east, and secluded herself from them; and We sent unto her Our Spirit, and it appeared unto her in the likeness of a perfect man.
She said: I take refuge from thee in the Infinitely Good, if any piety thou hast. He said: I am none other than a messenger from thy Lord that I may bestow on thee a son most pure.
She said: how can not there be for me a son, when no man hath touched me, nor am I unchaste? He said: Even so shall it be; thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. That We may make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us; and it is a thing ordained.
★ The Negus wept, and his bishops wept also, when they heard him recite, and when it was translated they wept again, and the Negus said:
“This hath truly come from the same source as that which Jesus brought.” Then he turned to the two envoys of Quraysh and said: “Ye may go, for by God I will not deliver them unto you; they shall not be betrayed.”
★ But when they had withdrawn from the royal presence, ‘Amr said to his companion:
“Tomorrow I will tell him a thing that shall tear up this green growing prosperity of theirs by the roots. I will tell him that they aver that Jesus the son of Mary is a slave.”
★ So the next morning he went to the Negus and said: “O King, they utter an enormous lie about Jesus the son of Mary. Do but send to them, and ask them what they say of him.”
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Fascinating fact 18
THE REBELLION OF PEOPLE OF NEGUS, THE DANGER TO THE IMMIGRANTS AND HIS EXTRAORIDANARY HANDLING OF THEM
Meantime the news of what the Negus had said about Jesus spread among the people, and they were troubled and came out against him, asking for an explanation, and accusing him of having left their religion.
★ He thereupon sent to Ja’far and his companions and made ready boats for them and told them to embark and be ready to set sail if necessary.
★★Then he took a parchment and wrote on it:
“He testifieth that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger and that Jesus the son of Mary is His slave and His Messenger and His Spirit and His Word which He cast unto Mary.”
★ Then he put it beneath his gown and went out to his people who were assembled to meet him. And he said to them:
“Abyssinians, have I not the best claim to be your king?” They said that he had.
“Then what ihink ye of my life amongst you ?” “It hath been the best of lives,” they answered.
“Then what is it that troubleth you?” he said. “Thou hast left our religion,” they said, “and hast maintained that Jesus is a slave.”
“Then what say ye of Jesus?” he asked. “We say that he is the son of God,” they answered.
Then he put his hand on his breast, pointing to where the parchment was hidden, and testified to his belief in “this”, which they took to refer to their words.
★ So they were satisfied and went away, for they were happy under his rule, and only wished to be reassured; and the Negus sent word to Ja’far and his companions that they could disembark and go back to their dwellings, where they went on living as before, in comfort and security.
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Fascinating fact 19
UMAR رضالله عنه BEFORE ISLAM
★ When the two envoys returned to Mecca with the news that they had been rebuffed and that the Muslims had been established in the favour of the Negus, Quraysh were indignant and dismayed.
★ They immediately set about intensifying their repression and persecution of the believers, largely under the direction of 【Abu Jahl, whose nephew ‘Umar】 was one of the most violent and unrestrained in carrying out his instructions.
★ ‘Umar was at this time about 【twenty-six years old, a head strong young man】, not easily deterred, and of great resolution.
But unlike his uncle he was pious, and here in fact lay his chief motive for opposing the new religion.
★ Khattab had brought Umar up to venerate the Ka’bah and to respect everything that had come to be inseparably connected with it in the way of gods and goddesses.
★ It was all woven together for him into a sacred unity that was not to be questioned and still less tampered with.
★ Quraysh also had been one; but Mecca was now a city of two religions and two communities.
★ He saw clearly, moreover, that the trouble had one cause only. Remove the man who was that cause, and everything would soon be as it had been before.
★ There was no other remedy, but that would be a certain remedy. He continued to brood along these lines, and eventually the day came -it was soon after the return of the unsuccessful envoys from Abyssinia -when a sudden wave of anger goaded him to action, and taking up his sword he set out from his house.
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Fascinating fact 20
LOOPHOLES IN BAN AND THE EFFORTS OF SAHABA TO CIRCUMVENT IT
★ For the sake of mutual security the Bani Hashim gathered round Abu Talib in that quarter of the hoHow of Mecca where he and most of the clan lived.
★ At the arrival of the Prophet ﷺ and Khadijah with their household, 【Abu Lahab and his wife moved away】 and went to live in a house which he owned elsewhere, to demonstrate their solidarity with Quraysh as a whole.
★ The ban was not always rigorously enforced, nor was it possible to close all the loopholes owing to the fact that a 【woman was still a member of her own family after marrying into another clan】.
★ Abu Jahl was continually on the watch, but he could not always impose his will.
One day he met Khadijah’s nephew Hakim with a slave carrying a bag of flour, and they appeared to be making for the dwellings of the Bani Hashim. He accused them of taking food to the enemy and threatened to denounce Hakim before Quraysh.
★ Apart from help from unbelievers, the Muslims themselves of the other clans, 【especially Abu Bakr and ‘Umar】, contrived various ways of thwarting the interdiction.
★ *When two years had passed*, Abu Bakr could no longer be counted as a wealthy man. But despite such help there was perpetual shortage of food amongst the two victimised clans, and some times the shortage bordered on famine.
★ During the sacred months, 【when they could leave their retreat and go about freely without fear】 of being molested, the Prophet (ﷺ) frequently went to the Sanctuary, and the leaders of Quraysh took advantage of his presence there to insult him and to satirise him.
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Fascinating fact 21
ALLAH DRAWS A VEIL BETWEEN THE OPRESSOR AND THE RIGHTEOUS
During the times when the Quraysh insulted the Prophet (ﷺ) sometimes when he recited Revelations warning Quraysh of what had happened to former peoples, one particular Revelation, one of the very few that mentions by name any contemporary of the Prophet (ﷺ), had now come affirming that Abu Lahab and his wife were destined for Hell.
ISNT IT A MIRACLE THAT ABU LAHAB AND HIS WIFE UMM JAMIL STRIVED TO DENY QURAN, BUT WHEN A SURAH CAME IN THEIR LIFETIME, CONDEMNING THEM TO HELL, ALL THEY NEEDED WAS TO EMBRACE ISLAM AND PROOVE THE QURAN WRONG, BECAUSE HOW CAN ONE WHO EMBRACES ISLAM BE CONDEMNED TO HELL?
★ Umm Jamil heard of this, and she went to the Mosque with a stone pestle in her hand in search of the Prophet ﷺ who was sitting with Abu Bakr رضالله عنه
★ She came up to Abu Bakr رضالله عنه and said to him: “Where is thy companion?” He knew that she meant the Prophet ﷺ who was there in front of her, and he was too amazed to speak.
★ “I have heard,” she said, “that he hath lampooned me, and by God, if I had found him I would have shattered his mouth with this pestle.”
★ When Umm Jamil had gone, Abu Bakr asked the Prophet (ﷺ) if she had not seen him. “She saw me not,” he said. “God took away her sight from me.”
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Fascinating fact 22
THE BAN IS CHALLENGED
★ The ban on Hashim and Munalib had lasted two years or more and showed no signs of having any of the desired effects.
★ It had moreover the undesired and unforeseen effect of drawing further attention to the Prophet (ﷺ) and of causing the new religion to be talked of more than ever throughout Arabia.
★ But independently of these considerations, many of Quraysh began to have second thoughts about the ban, especially those who had close relatives amongst its victims.
The time had come for a change of mind to take place, and the first man to act was that same Hisham who had so often sent his camel with food and clothes for the Hashimites.
But he knew that he could achieve nothing by himself, so he sent to the Makhzumite Zuhayr, one of the two sons of the Prophet’s aunt ‘Atikah, and said to him:
“Art thou content to eat food and wear clothes and marry women when thou knowest how it is with thy mother’s kinsmen.
They can neither buy nor sell, neither marry nor give in marriage; and I swear by God that if they were the brethren of the mother of Abu Hakam” -he meant Abu Jahl -“and thou hadst called upon him to do what he hath called on thee to do, he would never have done it.”
★ “Confound thee, Hisham,” said Zuhayr. “What can I do? I am but a single man. If I had with me another man, I would not rest until I had annulled it.”
★ “I have found a man,” said Hisham. “Who is he?” “Myself.””Find us a third,” said Zuhayr.
★ So Hisham went to Muf im ibn ‘Adi, one of the leading men of the clan of Nawfal -a *grandson of Nawfal himself, brother of Hashim and Muttalib*:
★ “Is it thy will,” he said, “that two of the sons of ‘Abdu Manaf should perish whilst thou lookest on in approval of Quraysh ?
★ By God, if ye enable them to do this ye will soon find them doing the like to you.”
★ Mufim asked for a fourth man, so Hisham went to Abu Bakhtari of Asad, the man who had struck Abu Jahl on account of Khadijah’s bag of flour, and when he asked for a fifth man Hisham went to another Asadite, Zam’ah ibn al-Aswad, who agreed to be the fifth without asking for a sixth.
★ They all undertook to meet that night at the outskirts of Hajiin, above Mecca, and there they agreed on their plan of action and bound themselves not to let drop the matter of the document until they had had it annulled.
“I am the most nearly concerned,” said Zuhayr, “so I will be the first to speak.”
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Fascinating fact 23
QURAISH ATTEMPT COMPROMISE AFTER REVOKING OF BAN
▪ There was much relief in Mecca after the ban was lifted, and for the moment hostilities against the Muslims were relaxed.
▪ Exaggerated reports
of this soon reached Abyssinia, whereupon some of the exiles immediately set about making preparations to return to Mecca while others, Ja'far amongst them, decided to remain for a while where they were.
▪ Meantime the leaders of Quraysh concentrated their efforts on trying to
persuade the Prophet ﷺ to agree to a compromise.
This was the nearest approach they had yet made to him.
Walid and other chiefs proposed that they should all practise both religions.
▪ The Prophet ﷺ was saved the trouble of formulating his refusal by an immediate answer which came directly from Heaven in a surah of six verses:
Say: 0 disbelievers, I shall not worship that which ye worship, nor will ye worship that which I worship, nor have I worshipped that which ye worship, nor have ye worshipped that which I worship.
For you your religion and for me mine. SURAH KAFIRUN
▪ As a result, the momentary good will had already much diminished by the time the returning exiles reached the edge of the sacred precinct.
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Fascinating fact 24
THE EXILES RETURN TO BOLSTER THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY
Except for ]a'far and 'Ubayd Allah ibn jahsh, all the Prophet's cousins returned.
★ With them came also 'Urhrnan and Ruqayyah.
★ Abu Salamah and Umm Salamah could hope for nothing but persecution from their own clan, so before they entered Mecca Abu Salamah sent word to his Hashimite uncle Abu Talib, asking for his protection which he agreed to give, much to the indignation of Makhzum, "Thou hast protected from us thy nephew Muhammad," they said, "but why art thou protecting our own clansman?"
★ "He is my sister's son," said Abu Talib. "If I did not protect my sister's son, I could not protect my brother's son."
★ They had no choice but to allow him his rights of chieftaincy. Moreover, on this occasion Abu Lahab supported his brother
★ His hatred was diminished in any sense; but he wished to be on better terms with his family for the reason that after his elder brother's death he might normally hope to take his place as chief of the clan; and it may be that he now saw in Abu Talib signs that he had not much longer to live.
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Fascinating fact 25
UTHMAN R.A. AND HIS CONFRONTATION WITH POET LABID
★ Once poet Labid was reciting to Quraysh, and 'Uthrnan was present at the large gathering which had assembled to hear him.
★ At a level somewhat higher than that of the general giftedness of the Arabs for poetry, there were the many distinctly gifted poets like Abu Talib and Hubayrah and Abu Sufyan
★ But beyond these there were the few who were counted as great; and Labid was by common consent one of them. He was perhaps the greatest living Arab poet, and Quraysh felt privileged to have him amongst them.
★ One of the verses he now recited began: "Lo, everything save God is naught"
"Thou hast spoken true," said 'Uthman,
★ Labid went on: "And all delights away shall vanish."
"Thou liest," exclaimed 'Uthman, "The delight of Paradise shall never vanish."
★ Labid was not accustomed to being interrupted; as to Quraysh, they were not only astonished and outraged but also exceedingly embar-rassed, for the poet was their guest.
★ Uthman retorted with such' vehemence that the speaker came and hit him over the eye, so that his brow turned green;
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Fascinating fact 26
THE YEAR OF SADNESS
IN the year AD 619, not long after the annulment of the ban, the Prophet ﷺ suffered a great loss in the death of his wife Khadijah.
★ She was about sixty-five years old and he was nearing fifty. They had lived together in profound harmony for twenty-five years
★ She had been not only his wife but also his intimate friend, his wise counsellor, and mother to his whole household including 'Ali and Zayd.
★ His four daughters were overcome with grief, but he was able to comfort them by telling them that Gabriel had once come to him and told him to give Khadijah greetings of Peace from her Lord and to tell her that He had prepared for her an abode in Paradise.
★ Another loss followed closely upon the death of Khadijah, a loss less great and less penetrating in itself, but at the same time less consolable and more serious in its outward consequences. Abu Talib fell ill, and it soon became clear that he was dying.
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Fascinating fact 27
PROPHET ﷺ LONGED TO SEE HIS UNCLE ABU TALIB EMBRACE ISLAM
Uncle," he said, "say thou the words, that through them I may intercede for thee on the day of the Resurrection."
"Son of my brother," he said, 【"if I did not fear that Quraysh would think I had but said the words in dread of death】, then would I say them. Yet would my saying them be but to please thee."
★ Then, when death drew near to Abu Talib, '【Abbas saw him moving his lips and he put his ear close to him and listened】 and then he said:
"My brother hath spoken the words thou didst bid him speak."
But the Prophet ﷺ said: "I heard him not."
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Fascinating fact 28
ABU BAKR رضالله عنه PLANS MIGRATION TO ABBYSINIA
★ Having obtained permission of the Prophet ﷺ, he set out to join those who had remained in Abyssinia.
★ But before he had reached the Red Sea, he was met by Ibn ad-Dughunnah, at that time the head of a small group of confederate tribes not far from Mecca, allies of Quraysh.
★ This Bedouin chief had known Abu Bakr well in his days of affluence and influence, yet now he had the appearance of a wandering hermit.
★ Amazed at the change, he questioned him. "My people have ill-treated me," said Abu Bakr, "and driven me out, and all I seek is to travel over the face of the earth, worshipping God."
★ "Why have they done this?" said Ibn ad-Dughunnah. "Thou art as an ornament to thy clan, a help in misfortune, a doer of right, ever fulfilling the needs of others.
Return, for thou art beneath my protection."
★ So he took him back to Mecca and spoke to the people, saying: "Men of Quraysh, I have given my protection to the son of Abu Quhafah, so let no one treat him other than well."
★ Quraysh confirmed the protection and promised that Abu Bakr should be safe, but at the instigation of the Bani jumah they said to his protector:
★ "Tell him to worship his Lord within doors, and to pray and recite what he will there, but tell him not to cause us trouble by letting it be seen and heard, for 【his appearance is striking and he hath with him a way】, so that we fear lest he seduce our sons and our women."
★ Ibn ad-Dughunnah told this to Abu Bakr, and for a while he prayed only in his house and recited the Quran and there was quiet for some time
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Fascinating fact 29
PERSECUTION OF PROPHET ﷺ INCREASES AFTER THE DEATH OF ABU TALIB AND HE SEEKS HELP IN TA'IF
★ Abu Talib was succeeded by Abu Lahab as chief of Hashim; but the protection that Abu Lahab gave his nephew was merely nominal, and the Prophet was ill-treated as never before.
★ On one occasion a passer-by leaned over his gate and tossed a piece of putrifying offal into his cooking pot; and
★ once when he was praying in the courtyard of his house, a man threw over him a sheep's uterus filthy with blood and excrement.
★ Before disposing of it, the Prophet ﷺ picked up the object on the end of a stick and said, standing at his gate:
"0 sons of 'Abdu Manaf, what protection is this?"
★ He had seen that the offender was the Shamsite 'Uqbah,' stepfather of 'Uthman, Ru-qayyah's husband.
★ On another occasion, when the Prophet ﷺ was coming from the Ka'bah, a man took a handful of dirt and threw it in his face and over his head.
★ When he returned home one of his daughters washed him clean of it, weeping the while.
"Weep not, little daughter," he said, "God will protect thy father!
★ It was then that he decided to seek help from Thaqif, the people of Ta'if -a decision which eloquently reflected the apparent gravity of his situation in Mecca.
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Fascinating fact 30
Addas is surprised
★ Addas did as they had ordered, and when the Prophet ﷺ put his hand to the grapes he said: "In the name of God."
★ 'Addas looked keenly into his face; then he said: "Those words are not what the people of this country say."
"From what country art thou?" said the Prophet. "And what is thy religion?"
★ "I am a Christian," he said, "of the people of Nineveh."
★ "From the city of the righteous man Jonah, the son of Matta," said the Prophet. ﷺ
"How knowest thou aught of Jonah the son of Matta?" said 'Addas,
"He is my brother," was the answer. "He was a Prophet, and I am a Prophet."
Then 'Addas bent over him and kissed his head and his hands and his feet.
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Fascinating fact 31
Prophet ﷺ 's effort to returns to mecca is thwarted because he needs a protector (kafil)...Chief of mother's clan refuses protection.
The Prophet ﷺ was unwilling to return to the same conditions which only two days previously had impelled him to leave his home. But if he had a protector, he could continue to fulfil his mission.
★ The Bani Hashim had failed him, so his thoughts turned to his mother's clan "Zuhrah".
★ The situation there was abnormal, for by far the most outstanding and influential man of Zuhrah was Akhnas ibn Shariq, who was not strictly speaking a member of the clan, nor even of Quraysh.
★ He was in fact of Thaqif, but he had long been a confederate of Zuhrah, and they had come to consider him as their chief.
★ The Prophet ﷺ had already decided to ask for his help, when he was overtaken by a horseman also on his way to Mecca but travelling faster than himself, so he asked him to do him the favour of going, on his arrival, to Akhnas and of saying to him:
"Muhammad saith: Wilt thou give me thy protection, that I may deliver the message of my Lord?"
★ The horseman was well disposed, and even undertook to return with the answer, which proved to be negative, for Akhnas simply remarked that a confederate had no power to speak in the name of the clan with which he was federated and to grant a protection which would be binding upon them.
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Fascinating fact 32
Prophet ﷺ makes another effort to find a protector to return to mecca.
The Prophet ﷺ, who was by this time not far from Mecca, now sent the same request to Suhayl
★ His reply was equally disappointing, though the reason he ad-vanced for his refusal had nothing to do with his opposition to Islam. It was once more a question of tribal principle.
★ In the Hollow of Mecca his clan was distinct from all the rest as being descended from' *Amir the son of Lu'ayy,'* whereas the others were all descended from Amir's brother Ka'b.
★ Suhayl simply replied that the sons of'Amir do not give protection against the sons of Ka'b
★ The Prophet ﷺ now turned aside from the way that led to the city, and took refuge in the cave of Mount Hira' where he had received the first Revelation.
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Fascinating fact 33
Prophet ﷺ finally gets a protector
From cave hira he sent his petition to a leader more closely related to himself, Mut'im, the chief of Nawfal, one of the five who had organised the annulment of the ban, and Mut'irn immediately agreed.
★ "Let him enter the city," he sent back word; and the next morning, fully armed, together with his sons and his nephews, he escorted the Prophet ﷺ to the Ka'bah.
★ Abi Jahl asked them if they had become followers of Mu-hammad.
"We are giving him protection," they replied; and the Makhzii-mite could only say: "Whom ye protect, to him we give protection."
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Fascinating fact 34
Prophet ﷺ returns from Ma'iraj...The journey started sometime after night prayer at umm hani's house and concluded sometime before dawn prayer at her house.
When the Prophet ﷺ and the Archangel had made their descent to the Rock at masjid Aq'sa, they returned to Mecca the way they had come, overtaking many southbound caravans.
★ It was still night when they reached the Ka'bah. From there the Prophet ﷺ went again to the house of his cousin.
★ In her words: "A little before dawn the Prophet ﷺ woke us, and when we had prayed the dawn prayer, he said:
'0 Umm Hani', I prayed with you the last evening prayer in this valley as thou sawest. Then went I to Jerusalem and there prayed; and now have I prayed with you the morning prayer as thou seest.'
He rose to go, and I seized his robe wth such force that it came away, laying bare his belly, as if it had been but cotton cloth draped round him. '0 Prophet of God,' I said. 'Tell not the people this, for they will give thee the lie and insult thee.'
'By God, I will tell them,' he ﷺ said."
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Fascinating fact 35
Prophet ﷺ announces his journey of ma'iraj and Abu Bakr رضالله عنه gets the title of "Siddiq"
★ He ﷺ went to the Mosque and told those whom he met there of his journey to Jerusalem. His enemies were immediately triumphant, for they now felt they had an irrefutable cause for mockery.
★ Every child of Quraysh knew that a caravan takes a month to go from Mecca to Syria and a month to return. And now Muhammad ﷺ claimed to have gone there and back in one night.
★ A group of men went to Abu Bakr and said: "What thinkest thou now of thy friend? He telleth us he went last night to Jerusalem and prayed there and then returned to Mecca."
Abu Bakr accused them of lying, but they assured him that Muhammad was in the Mosque at that moment, speaking about this journey.
"If so he saith,' said Abu Bakr, "then it is true. And where is the wonder of it? He telleth me that tidings come to him from Heaven to earth in one hour of the day or night, and I know him to be speaking the truth.
He then went to the Mosque to repeat his confirmation "If so he saith, then it is true,"
📍 It was for this that the Prophet ﷺ gave him the name as-Siddiq, which means "the great witness of truth" or "the great confirmer of the truth".
★ Moreover, some of those who had found the story incredible began to have second thoughts, for the Prophet ﷺ described the caravans he had overtaken on the way home and said where they were and about when they might be expected to arrive in Mecca; and each arrived as predicted, and the details were as he had described.
To those in the Mosque he spoke only of his journey to Jerusalem, but when he was alone with Abu Bakr and others of his Companions he told them of his ascent through the seven Heavens, telling them a part of what he had seen, with more to be recounted later over the years, often in answer to questions.
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Fascinating fact 36
Prophet ﷺ goes to hajj pilgrims to invite them to islam in the year following year of sadness
IN the year which followed the Year of Sadness, the Pilgrimage fell at the beginning of June; and on the Feast of the Sacrifices the Prophet ﷺ went to the valley of Mina where the pilgrims camp for three days.
★ It had been his practice now for several years to visit the various groups of tents and to declare his message to any who would listen, reciting for them such verses of the Revelations as he felt moved to recite.
★ The nearest point of Mina to Mecca is 'Aqabah, where the road rises up steeply from the valley towards the hills in the direction of the holy city
★ It was "this year at 'Aqabah" that he came upon six men of the tribe of Khazraj, from Yathrib.
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Fascinating fact 37
THE ACCEPTANCE OF ISLAM BY 6 PEOPLE OF KHAZRAJ TRIBE OF YATHRIB
★ He ﷺ did not know any of the six people from Yathrib (madina) but they had all heard of him and of his claim to prophethood
★ As soon as he told them who he was their faces lit up with interest, and they listened to him attentively.
★ Every man of them was familiar with the threat of their neighbours, the Yathrib jews: "A Prophet is now about to be sent. We will follow him and we will slay you as 'Ad and 'Iram were slain"
★ When the Prophet ﷺ had finished speaking, they said to each other:
"This is indeed the Prophet that the Jews promised us would come. Let them not be the first to reach him!"
★ Then, after one or two questions had been asked and answered, each of the "six men testified to the truth" of the Prophet's message and promised to fulfil the conditions of Islam which he laid before them.
"We have left our people," they said, "for there is no people so torn asunder by enmity and evil as they; and it may be that God will unite them through thee.
We will now go to them and summon them to accept thy religion even as we have accepted it; and if God gather them together about thee, then no man will be mightier than thou."
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Fascinating fact 38
Abu Bakr رضالله عنه gives up his protection and The first hint of hijrah
About this time Abu Bakr decided to have a small mosque built in front of his house. It was surrounded by walls, but open to the sky, and there he would pray and recite the Koran.
★ But the walls were not high enough to prevent passers-by from looking over them, and often a number of people would stand there and listen to his recitation, while at the same time they would see something of his reverence for the revealed Book, which moved him to the depth of his being.
★ Umayyah now feared that the number of Abu Bakr's converts would be still further increased, and at his instance the leaders of Quraysh sent a deputation to Ibn ad-Dughunnah, reminding him of what they had said at the outset of his protection, and pointing out that the walls of Abu Bakr's mosque were not sufficient to make it part of his house.
★ "If he will worship his Lord within doors, then let him do so," they said, "yet if he must needs do it openly, then bid him absolve thee of thy protection of him."
★ But Abu Bakr refused to give up his mosque, and he formally absolved Ibn ad-Dughunnah of his pact, saying: "I am content with the protection of God."
★ It was on that very day that the Prophet ﷺ announced to him and to others of his Companions:
"I have been shown the place of your emigration: I saw a well watered land, rich in date palms, between two tracts of black stones."!
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Fascinating fact 39
"TORN asunder by enmity and evil the two tribes of yathrib desire a leader"
ABDULLAH IBN UBAYY IS ALMOST CHISEN AS THE LEADER OF YATHRIB (HE LATER ON BECAME THE LEADER OF MUNAFIQS AND ENEMY OF PROPHET IN MADINA)
★ In so describing their people, the six recent converts of Yathrib had not exaggerated.
★ The battle of Bu'ath, the fourth and most savage conflict of the civil war between khazraj and aws the two tribes of yathrib (madina) had not been altogether decisive; nor had it been followed by any peace worthy of the name but merely by an agreement to stop fighting for the moment.
★ The dangerously prolonged state of chronic bitterness fraught with an increasing number of incidents of violence had won over many of the more moderate men of both sides to the opinion that they needed an overall chief who would unite them as Qusayy had united Quraysh, and that there was no other solution to their problem.
★ One of the leading men of the oasis, 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy of khazraj, was favoured by many as a possible king.
★ He had not fought against Aws in the recent conflict but had withdrawn his men on the eve of the battle.
He was none the less of Khazraj; and it was exceedingly doubtful whether Aws would be capable of accepting a king who was not of their tribe.
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Fascinating fact 40
THE FIRST PLEDGE OF AQABAH
The six men of Khazraj delivered the message of Islam to as many of their people as would listen to them; and the next summer, that is, in AD 621, five of them repeated their Pilgrimage, bringing with them seven others, two of whom were of Aws.
📍 At 'Aqabah, these twelve men pledged (10 of khazraj and 2 of aws) themselves to the Prophet ﷺ, and this pledge is known as the First 'Aqabah.
In the words of one of them:
"We pledged our allegiance to the Messenger of God ﷺ on the night of the First 'Aqabah, that....
1. we would associate nothing with God
2. that we would neither steal
3. not commit fornication
4. nor slay our offspring'
5. nor utter slanders
6. and that we would not disobey him in that which was right.
And he ﷺ said to us:
'If ye fulfil this pledge, then Paradise is yours
and if ye commit one of these sins and then receive punishment for it in this world, that shall serve as expiation.
And if ye conceal it until the Day of the Resurrection, then it is for God to punish or forgive, even as He will.'
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Fascinating fact 41
THE FIRST AMBASSADOR OF ISLAM .....MUS'AB رضالله عنه
When the 12 reverts left for Yathrib the Prophet ﷺ sent with them Mus'ab of 'Abd ad-Dar who had by that time returned from Abyssinia.
★ He was to recite the Koran to them and give them religious instruction.
★ He lodged with As'ad, one of the six from khazraj who had entered Islam the previous year.
★ The rivalry between the descendants of the two sons of Qaylah was of long standing and Mus'ab had also to lead the prayer because, despite their Islam, neither Aws nor Khazraj could yet endure to give one another that precedence.
★ There had been none the less frequent intermarriages between the two tribes, and as a result of one of these..... "As'ad, the Khazrajite" "host of Mus'ab", was the first cousin of "Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, chief of one of the clans of Aws."
Sa'd strongly disapproved of the new religion.
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Fascinating fact 42
Sa'd ibn Muadh (who was later in life the famous judge of the fate of ba'nu Quraiza, the Jew tribe, which betrayed the covenant with Prophet ﷺ in the battle of Khandaq) wanted to erase islam from Yathrib
★ Mu'adh was angry, yet at the same time embarrassed, to see his cousin As'ad together with Mus'ayb and some newly converted Muslims sitting one day in a garden in the midst of his people's territory, in earnest conversation with members of his clan.
★ Determined to put an end to such activities, yet not wishing to be involved in any unpleasantness himself, he went to Usayd who was next in authority to himself, and said:
"Go thou to these two men who have come to our quarters to make fools of our weaker brethren"
(he was no doubt thinking of his younger brother, the now dead Iyas, who had been the first man of Yathrib to enter Islam!)
-"and drive them out; and forbid them to come to our quarters again.
If As'ad were not my kinsman I would save thee this trouble but he is my mother's sister's son, and I can do nothing against him."
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