*: May the peace blessings & Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an
The Boycott of the Muslims
The Quraish realised that something drastic had to be done to stop the spread of Islam and the activities of the Muslims. They were disheartened because they now saw that many prominent and noble people were now Muslims, including Hamza & Umer ibn al-Khattab. In addition, the Muslims were now operating as a distinct group in an organised fashion. Furthermore, there was now a distinct and separate group was based in Abyssinia. Hence the Muslims could not be ignored or wiped out so easily now.
So the leaders of Quraish formally requested Banu Hashim to hand over the Prophet* so that they could deal with him (that is to kill him). This went against all the known values in the society of Mecca and was an unprecedented request. Therefore, Banu Hashim refused to hand over the Prophet* and the Quraish then decided to start a comprehensive boycott of all the Muslims and the tribe of Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib - which included all the Muslims and not Muslims from these tribes. The boycott was like a siege and started in Muharram of the seventh year of Prophethood and its terms were that there was to be no dealing with both the tribes at all, no trading or marriage. The terms of the embargo were documented and pinned on the wall of the Kaaba.
They would stop people going in or out or taking any food supplies where the tribes were and guarded the entry points and exit points. This terrible siege lasted for about two or three years at the Muslims and not Muslims were suffering so much so that, it is reported, there used to eat the leaves of the trees and chew on animal hides. Even when they were allowed to enter Mecca during the pilgrimage seasons of the food would be of poor quality and priced very expensively.
Some of the non Muslims were against this boycott because it contradicted the values they held dear and in their society such as loyalty to the tribe and family. One of these people was Hisham bin Harith who would occasionally try to sneak food into the enclave where the tribes were staying or would send in a camel full of food late at night. He had relatives on his mother's side who were being boycotted. He later approached Zuhair bin Abi Umaiyah who he felt was sympathetic to Banu Hashim & Banu Muttalib and asked him if it pleased him that he could eat and drink whilst his uncles were in distress. If this boycott was against the uncles of Abu Jahl he (Abu Jahl) would never agree to the terms, and so is this not very hypocritical of them all? Zuhair replied 'Shame on you! I only one person and what can I do. You need to find someone else and then I will try to cancel this evil agreement.' Hisham mentioned he was on his side but was asked to finda third person. This was Mut'am Ibn-Adey who has asked by Hisham: ' are you pleased that two clans suffer and you look on in agreement with the suffering? By God, if you let them get away with this then they will treat you in the same way some day.' Hisham was asked to find another who was Abu-Al-Bukhturi Ibn-Hisham and later a fifth Zamaa bin Aswad who were then all agreed to meet secretly at night to devise a plan to cancel the boycott.
The next day Zuhair put on his ceremonial clothes and visited the Kaaba before approaching the Quraish in their meeting house (an-Nadwah) where he stated: "Oh Quraish, does it please you to eat well and dress at will while Banu Hashim & Banu Muttalib are after distress? I will not sit down until this evil document is torn up." Then one of the other co-conspirators stood up and agreed with him whilst denouncing the boycott. Then the third stood up followed by the fourth and fifth person. Abu Jahl view that they had conspired this but the public opinion had now swung against the boycott and everybody agreed to cancel it. When they went to retrieve the document they found that that all of it had been eaten up (by insects) apart from the opening sentence which stated ' in the name of Allah'.
Some lessons from this incident:
1. This highlights the importance of organised efforts for good
2. Great change can occur by a few people (although originally started in the mind of one person)
3. The importance of action - doing things not just talking about them
4. There is good in most people - where the non-Muslims conspired to overturn an evil against the Muslims because it went against their own values
5. The helpers of Allah come in all forms - with ants/termites eating the document
Hadith (Riyadh as-Salihin): On Steadfastness (dependable, reliable, patient)
Allah Almighty says, "O you who believe! Be steadfast; be supreme in steadfastness"
"We will test you with a certain amount of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and life and fruits. But give good news to the steadfast,"
"The steadfast will be paid their wages in full without any reckoning."
"But if someone is steadfast and forgives, that is the most resolute course to follow."
"Seek help in steadfastness and the prayer. Allah is with the steadfast"
"We will test you until We know the true fighters among you and those who are steadfast"
Abu Malik al-Harith ibn 'Asim al-Ash'ari reported that the Messenger of Allah* said, "Purity is half of belief. 'Praise be to Allah' fills up the balance, and 'Glory be to Allah and praise be to Allah' fills up everything between the heavens and the earth. The prayer is a light. Sadaqa is a proof. Steadfastness is an illumination. The Qur'an is a proof for you or against you. Everybody goes out and trades with his own self, either seting it free or destroying it." [Muslim]
Abu Sa'id Sa'd ibn Malik ibn Sinan al-Khudri said, "Some of the people of the Ansar asked for something from the Messenger of Allah* and he gave it to them. Then they asked him again and he gave to them until he had used up everything he had. He said, 'If I had anything more, I would not keep it from you. Whoever refrains, Allah will spare him from needing to ask. Whoever wants to be independent, Allah will make him so. Whoever shows fortitude, Allah will increase him in that. No one can be given any better and greater gift than fortitude.'" [Bukhari & Muslim]
Abu Yahya Suhayb ibn Sinan said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'What an extraordinary thing the business of the believer is! All of it is good for him. And that only applies to the believer. If good fortune is his lot, he is grateful and it is good for him. If something harmful happens to him, he is steadfast and that is good for him too.'" [Muslim]
Topic: Al-Qadhaa wal-Qadr
The Five Pillars of Islam are the five duties obligatory on every Muslim:
- Shahadah (Profession of Faith)
- Salah (prayers)
- Zakah (Giving to the poor and needy)
- Sawm (Fasting during Ramadan)
- Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)
The Six Articles of Belief (Aqeeda) for all Muslims are:
- Belief in God (Allah), the one and only one worthy of worship (tawhid)
- Belief in all the Prophets (nabi) and Messengers (rusul) sent by God
- Belief in the Angels (mala'ika)
- Belief in the Books (kutub) sent by Allah (including the Qur’ān)
- Belief in the Day of Judgment (qiyama) and in the Resurrection (life after death).
- Belief in Divine Fate & Destiny (Al-Qadhaa wal-Qadar).
We have covered in previous study circles the Five Pillars and most of the Articles of Belief or parts of them, other than Al-Qadhaa wal-Qadar. This is a difficult topic to grasp but an important one as it is part of our fundamental beliefs.
One way in which to understand this is to focus on what we (as humans) control and what controls us. This needs to be viewed with respect to our ‘Accountability’ – that is what we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement and what things Allah will not hold us to account for.
This topic today will not deal with the ideas that vexed many Muslims in olden times that even caused fighting between different groups of Muslims over their ideas. I will not be dealing with ‘who created actions’, nor fatalism; neither will I explore the ideas of groups like the Mu’tazilla, Ahl-e-Jabriyya or Ahle-e-Sunnah.
What I will focus is on intentions (niyah), reward & punishment and free will. As human beings we live in two bubbles:
1. One that we fully control
2. One that fully controls us
The things that happen in the first bubble are our actions that we think about (niyah) and then start. These things we have control over and undertake at our choice, or free will. These are things like eating or drinking; walking, praying or not etc. We make the intentions and then start the actions according to this. Allah will judge us according to this by rewarding us for the good things and punishing us for the bad things. We are accountable for our actions. We start the actions but the outcome is with Allah if he allows us to fulfil them. There is no excuse for committing sins and we cannot blame Allah or His knowledge of our actions for the choices we make. If Allah decides to write these down in a book (al-Lawh Mahfuz) that is His Wisdom and we do not act because it is written. Similarly, Allah has power over all things (His Will) and if He decides to allow our actions because of our choices (free will) they still happen in accordance with His Will but not because of it. The actions are still ours and we will still be judged.
Al-Qadhaa does not relate to this, but relates to the second bubble that we live in. In this bubble there are things which happen to us that we did not do nor control. These are things that we consider are from Allah and thus are Qadhaa. Hence, we are not accounted for these (rewarded or punished as there is no Free Will) but Allah will judge how we react to these. We may feel these are good or bad but must realise that they are from Allah and He is the Wise.
There are two parts to this bubble: one that are part of the universal laws that Allah has made (we cannot walk on water, fly unaided, change the colour of the eyes when born, grow to 100feet tall etc) and the second part that happens through/by other people but effects us (such as being a passenger in a train accident, or somebody kicking a ball at us or swearing at us as we walk by, etc). We did not start these actions nor had any control over them. Hence, we should consider these as being from Allah for each of us. Allah knows the Good & Bad in these actions.
Some scholars define Qadr as being the properties or innate attributes of material objects. For example, fire has the ability/property of burning with fire and a sharp knife as being able to cut, and a stone having some weight. These properties are not produced by the objects themselves but are given to the objects by Allah alone. When these properties are removed by Allah we see miracles: such as when Ibrahim* did not burn in the fire, nor when his knife would sacrifice his first-born son Ismail.
The Prophet* said: “if something befalls you do not say ‘if only I had done so-and-so’ but say Allah determined (qadhaa) this and He did what He willed.”
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