8 November 2009

Seerah of Muhammed*

*: May the peace blessings & Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Death of Abu Talib

About 6 months after the end of the boycott (embargo/siege) the Uncle of the Prophet* became very ill and was lying on his deathbed. He had supported the Prophet* for 42 years since the Prophet* was 8 years old and the Prophet* was very close to Abu Talib. Unsurprisingly, the Prophet* was at the bedside. Again, unsurprisingly, so was Abu Jahl on the other side.

The Prophet* would say: “oh my uncle! Say ‘la illaha illallah’ so I can witness for you on the day of Judgement.” Then Abu Jahl would say: “oh son of Abdul Muttalib! Are you going to die on another religion and denounce the religion of your father?” Abu Talib had mentioned to the Prophet* that if it were not for the Quraish insulting him (and his honour) after his death he would have professed Islam just to please the Prophet*. He was too proud to admit this up until the end and the exchanges between the Prophet* and Abu Jahl continue until Abu Talib spoke his last words before dying: “I am dying on the religion of my father Abdul Muttalib.”

The Prophet was distraught after losing someone so close and the Quraish were ecstatic with their propaganda coup claiming that the Prophet* could not even convert his Uncle. The Prophet* would then say that he would continue to ask Allah for the forgiveness of his Uncle Abu Talib unless he was forbidden from doing so. Indeed, Allah did send down a revelation stating: “It is not befitting for the Prophet and those that believe that they should invoke Allah for the forgiveness of the pagans even though they are relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are the companions of the fire.”

Other verses revealed to the Prophet* highlighted the fact that is was not the job of the Prophet* to convert the people but only to convey the message: “You cannot give guidance to those who love but it is Allah who gives guidance to the ones He Wills.” There is no compulsion in religion and people should be free to choose Islam and so judgement would be fair on the Day of Resurrection. Hence, Muslims have never had a history of forcing people to convert to Islam like the Christians used to convert people to Christianity.

Shortly after the death of Abu Talib, Khadija - the beloved wife of the Prophet* died. She had supported the Prophet* throughout his mission both emotionally and financially. She was 65 years old and this death, combined with the death of his uncle who had provided physical support to the message, made the Prophet* and Muslims very vulnerable to the Quraish. They had to become reliant solely upon Allah and develop ‘tawakkul-Allah’. This time was know as the ‘Year of Grief’ and later the Prophet* would say that they worst time of his mission was this period shortly after the death of these two. But Allah would then reveal a verse reassuring the Prophet* that ‘with every difficulty comes ease.’



Hadith (Riyadh as-Salihin): On Steadfastness

Suhayb reported hat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Among those before you there was a king who had a sorcerer. When he was old, he said to the king, 'I am old, so send me a lad to whom I can teach sorcery.' He sent him a lad for him to teach. When the boy was on the way, he came upon a monk. He sat down to listen to his words and liked what he heard. Whenever he went to the sorcerer, he would pass by the monk and sit with him. When he came to the sorcerer, the sorcerer would beat him. He complained about that to the monk who said, 'When you are afraid of the sorcerer, say, "My family kept me." And when you are afraid of your family, say, "The sorcerer kept me."'

"While all this was going on, he came upon a great beast which was barring the people's way and said, 'Today I will find out who is better, the sorcerer or the monk.' He took a stone and said, 'O Allah, if what the monk does is preferable to You to what the sorcerer does, then turn this beast aside so that the people can pass.' He threw it and killed the animal and the people went on. He went to the monk and told him and the monk said to him, 'O my boy, today you are better than I am. I see the point that your business has reached. You will be tested and, when you are tested, do not point me out.'

The boy used to heal the blind and the lepers and treat people for all their ailments. A companion of the king who was blind heard this and brought him many gifts. He said, 'All that I have gathered for you here is yours if you heal me.' He said, 'I do not heal anyone. It is Allah Almighty who heals. If you believe in Allah Almighty, I will pray to Allah to heal you." So he believed in Allah Almighty and Allah Almighty healed him.

He went to the king and sat with him as he used to do. The king said to him, 'Who has returned your sight to you?' He said, 'It was my Lord.' He said, 'You have a Lord other than me?!' He said, 'My Lord and your Lord, Allah.' So he seized him and did not stop torturing him until he pointed out the boy. The boy was brought and the king said to him, 'O boy, your sorcery has reached the point where you heal the blind and the lepers, and you do such-and-such and such-and-such.' He said, 'I do not heal anyone. It is Allah Almighty who heals.' He seized him and did not stop torturing him until he pointed out the monk.

The monk was brought and told, 'Renounce your religion.' He refused. He called for a saw and placed the saw on the centre of his head and split it until the two halves fell apart. Then the companion of the king was brought and told, 'Renounce your religion!' He refused, and the the saw was placed on the centre of his head and split it until the two halves fell apart. Then the boy was brought and told, 'Renounce your religion,' and he refused. He handed him over to a group of his companions and said, 'Take him to such-and-such a mountain, and take him up the mountain. When you reach its summit, if he has not renounced his religion, throw him off.' They took him and brought him up the mountain and he said, 'O Allah, save me from them in whatever way You will.' The mountain shook and they fell. He walked to the king and the king said to him, 'What has happened to your companions?' He said, 'Allah Almighty saved me from them.'

He handed him over to a group of his companions and said, 'Take him and put him in a ship and take him to the middle of the sea. If he does not recant, then throw him into it.' They took him and he said, 'O Allah, save me from them in whatever way You will.' The ship capsized and they were drowned. He walked back to the king and the king said to him, 'What has happened to your companions?' He said, 'Allah Almighty saved me from them.' He said to the king, 'You will not kill me until you do what I command you.' He said, 'What is that?' He said, 'You should gather the people together on one plain and crucify me on a palm trunk. Then take an arrow from your quiver and put the arrow in the centre of your bow and say, "In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy," and then shoot it. If you do that, you will kill me.'

So he gathered the people together on one plain and crucified him on a trunk and then took his arrow from his quiver and placed the arrow in the middle of the bow and then said, "In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy," and then shot it and the arrow struck his temple. He put his hand on his temple and then died. The people said, "We believe in the Lord of the boy." The king was brought and told, "Do you not see that, by Allah, your fear has brought about the very thing you were afraid of! The people have believed." So he commanded that a trench be dug with openings onto it and had fires lit in it. He said, 'Throw into it, anyone who does not renounce his religion or tell him to jump.' They did that until a woman came with one of her children. She hesitated to jump into it and the child said to her, 'Mother, be steadfast! You have the truth.'" [Muslim]


How we see ourselves as Muslims today

Allah mentions a story about Musa (Moses) in the Qur’an, after Musa had taken the children of Israel out of Egypt and on the way to the Holy Land. He wanted the people to go and fight to get the land that Allah had promised them. Allah says: “And when Musa said to his people: Oh people! Remember the blessings of Allah upon you, for He has designated Messengers & Prophets from amongst you, and kings from amongst you and He gave you that which He did not give to the other people around your time. Oh my people, Go to the Holy Land that Allah has promised you and do not turn your backs on the commands of Allah otherwise you will be the losers” and the people replied: “Oh Musa! In it (the Holy Land) are men who are exceedingly powerful, and we will not enter that land until they leave. If they leave we will enter the city. As long as they are therein we will not attempt to go to that city.”

The Bible contains the same story and has some additional information that does not contradict or disagree with the Qur’anic version. The Bible adds that the Jews said to Moses that the Holy Land contained ‘people who are exceedingly powerful, and to them we [the Jews] are like grasshoppers, and they see us the way we see ourselves’.

Here, despite having the power and might of Allah behind them, the followers of Musa (who had delivered them from the evil Pharaoh) refused to obey Musa’s commands partly because they had such a negative image of themselves. Their self-esteem and self-belief was very low. They did not value themselves nor believe strongly in their message and the power of their Lord.

Today, many Muslims see themselves in a similar way. We have a negative and apologetic opinion of ourselves and are always defending our beliefs, distancing ourselves from the evil actions of a few bad people. Our confidence in ourselves, beliefs and each other is low, and battered by the media constantly picking upon Muslims in the UK and abroad. How can we change this and start to feel good about ourselves and our Islam?

The media and politicians are always attacking Muslims and we often say that we cannot change it because they are too powerful. We are saying that we are like grasshoppers to them! This attitude is wrong.

Allah mentions in the Qur’an: “Pharaoh has indeed transgressed on the land. He made the people with dignity humiliated”. And in another verse, talking about evil kings: “And when the kings move into a locality they spread corruption and made the dignified amongst the most humiliated and dishonoured”.

These verses talk about how the ruling elite target those with some self-dignity and pride. This may be because those who have self-confidence may stand up to tyranny and oppression and stand up for their beliefs. These people will not ‘go with the flow’ but stand for what is right. These people are potentially rebellious to the ruling people.

How do we feel good about ourselves? The Western media & society tells us that if we look good we deserve to feel good about ourselves. It promotes physical beauty for both men & women: you have to be a certain figure, or have muscles, or dress in a suggestive skimpy manner to look attractive. There are many programmes that promote the physical look, and how to look better. Hence, we should get our self-worth and confidence from the way we look. This is how many adverts sell their products. The side effect is that if you do not look good you shouldn’t feel good about yourself. Thus, we see many people with eating diseases (such as anorexia & bulimia) or people may go to the extreme and start harming themselves because they don’t look or feel good. Those that can afford it then have cosmetic surgery whilst the others feel worse. Again, we are like grasshoppers to this onslaught! Some others then derive their self-belief from their place of birth (e.g., ‘English’), others from their skin colour (‘proud to be black’), or their football team, or their looks. And should we take pride in these things that we made little effort in – how hard did we try to be born where we were or to be ‘black’ or ‘asian’?! So, how did the early Muslims see themselves…

A few short lesser known stories can shed some light on this: Haakim bin Hizam was a non-Muslim and he gave the Prophet* a beautiful gown that had once belonged to the ruler of Yemen. The Prophet* wore this and Haakim said that he had never seen someone more beautiful and handsome as when the Prophet* was wearing this gown. The next day, whilst in the street of Medina he came across Ussama bin Zaid wearing that gown. Ussama was not known for his good looks! Haakim said that is must have been an honour for Ussama to wear the gown that had once belonged to the ruler of Yemen. Instead of being apologetic Ussama replied: ‘By Allah! I am better than that king, and my mother is better than his mother, and my father is better than his father because we say la illaha illalah whereas none of his family ever did’.

On another occasion, Ubaid ibn Samit had been invited by an emperor to talk and explain Islam. He approached on a horse and the courtiers said that he could not address the king on his horse. He said that he had been invited and he will address him as he sees fit. The emperor allowed Ubaid to enter and he was asked what the Muslims were about and what they wanted, Ubaid replied to the emperor’s face: ‘We came to take the creation of Allah out of serving other creatures to the worship of Allah; out of the injustice of other religions to the justice of Islam, and out of the narrowness of this life to the vastness of this life and the Hereafter’.

A quote from the last century goes: ‘no-one can make you feel inferior without your permission and consent’. That is, no-one can actually physically go inside your heart and force you to feel inferior unless there is something for them to feed off. As Muslims, we should be feeling positive about our deen (Islam) and positive about ourselves. Next week we will cover this topic in greater detail (I/A).