7 November 2010

7 November 2010

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

The start of the Battle of Badr
The Portico

Then Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to the Prophet and said: "O Prophet of God, let us build for you a shelter and put thy riding camels in readiness beside it. Then will we meet our enemy, and if God strengthen us and make us victorious over them, that is what we fervently desire. But, if not, then thou canst mount and ride to join those whom we left behind us. For as to some of those who came not out with thee, O Prophet of God, even our love for thee is not greater than theirs, nor had they stayed behind, if they had known thou wouldst meet with war. Through them God will protect thee, and they will give thee good counsel and fight at thy side." The Prophet praised him and invoked blessings upon him, and the shelter was fashioned with branches of palms.

Utbah trying to stop the battle
Umayr al-Hakim, a respected Quraishi, said to Utbah: “"Father ofWalid, thou art the greatest man of Quraysh, and their lord and the one whom they obey. Wouldst thou be remembered with praise amongst them until the end of time?"
"How shall that be?" said 'Utbah.
"Lead the men back," said Hakim, "and take upon thyself the cause of thy slain confederate 'Amr." He meant that 'Utbah should eliminate one of the strong reasons for fighting and pay the blood-wite to the kinsmen of the man who had been killed at Nakhlah, whose brother 'Amir had in fact come to take his revenge on the field of battle. 'Utbah agreed to do all that he said, but urged him to go and speak to Abu Jahl, the man most likely to insist on war. Meantime he addressed the troops, saying: "Men of Quraysh, ye will gain naught by fighting Muhammad and his companions. If you lay them low, each man of you will for ever.look with loathing on the face of another who hath slain his uncle or his cousin or some yet nearer kinsman. Therefore turn back and leave Muhammad to the rest of the Arabs. If they slay him, that is what ye desire; and if not, he will find that ye have shown self-restraint towards him."
He no doubt intended to approach 'Amir al-Hadrami at once with a view of paying the blood-wite for his brother, but Abu jahl was too quick for him. He taunted 'Utbah with cowardice, with being afraid of death for himself and also for his son Abu Hudhayfah, who was in the ranks of the Muslims. 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.Then he turned to 'Amir and urged him not to let slip his opportunity of revenge for his brother. "Arise," he said, "and remind them of thy covenant and of the slaying of thy brother." 'Amir leapt to his feet, and frantically stripping off his clothes, he began to utter cries of lamentation at the top of his voice. "Alas for 'Amr! Alas for 'Amr!" So the fire of war was kindled and men's souls were filled with violence and it was in vain for 'Utbah or anyone else to seek to turn them back.

Lining up to fight

The arab method of fighting was Al-kurru wal'-furh which is to attack and withdraw, then attack again then withdraw… this happens repeatedly. This is a very disorganised attack. The Prophet's* method of fighting was in ranks is called az-Zahf, which also probably employed 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 The Prophet* fought in the majority of his battles.

The Prophet* now drew up his army, and he passed in front of each man to give them good heart and to straighten the ranks, bearing an arrow in his hand. "Stand in line, O Sawad," he said to one of the Helpers who was too far forward, and he gave him a slight prick in the belly with his arrow. "O Messenger of God, you hurt me," said Sawad, "and God hath sent thee with truth and justice, so give me my revenge." "Take it," said the Prophet, laying bare his own belly and handing him the arrow whereupon Sawad stooped and imprinted a kiss where it was his due to place the point of the shaft. "What made thee do this?" said the Prophet. And he answered: "O Messenger of God, we are now faced with what you see; and I desired that at my last moment with you -if so it be -my skin should touch your skin;" and the Prophet prayed for him and blessed him. The spirit he infused into his men was clearly witnessed by the valour of ‘Umair, a lad of sixteen, who flung away some dates he was eating crying out: "These (the dates) are holding me back from Paradise." So saying he plunged into the thick of the battle and died fighting bravely.

A light slumber came upon him, and when he woke he said: "Be of good cheer, Abu Bakr; the help of God hath come to thee. Here is Gabriel and in his hand is the rein of a horse which he is leading, and he is armed for war."!

Umaiya bin Khalaf
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)
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 which is something 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.

Aswad al-Makhzuhm and Utbah
Aswad al-Makhzuhm strode ahead of the others, clearly intending to drink from the wells behind the Prophet's* lines. Hamzah went out to meet him and struck him a blow which severed one of his legs below the knee, and a second blow which killed him.

Then Utbah, still smarting from the taunts of Abu Jahl, stepped from the ranks and gave the challenge for single combat; and for the further honour of the family his brother Shaybah and his son Walid stepped forward on either side of him. The challenge was immediately accepted by 'Awf of the Najjar clan of Khazraj, who had been one of the first six of the Helpers to pledge themselves to the Prophet; and with 'Awf stepped forward his brother Mu'awwidh. The third to accept the challenge was 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah.
"Who are you?" said the challengers. When the men answered, 'Utbah said: "You are noble and our peers, yet have we no quarrel with you. Our challenge is against none but men of our own tribe." Then the herald of Quraish shouted: "O Muhammad, send forth against us our peers from our own tribe." The Prophet had not intended anything else, but the eagerness of the Helpers (Ansar) had caught him by surprise. Now he turned to his own family, since it was above all for them to initiate the battle. The challengers were two men of mature age and one youth. "Arise, O 'Ubaydah," he said. "Arise, O Hamzah, Arise, O 'Ali." 'Ubaydah was the oldest and most experienced man in the army, a grandson of Muttalib, and he faced 'Utbah while Harnzah faced Shaybah and 'Ali faced Wand.


Hadith

Nawawi's 40 Hadith ~ no.8 (Protection of Islam):

Abdullah bin Umer narrated that the messenger of Allah said: "I have been ordered to fight against people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammed is the messenger of Allah and until they perform the prayers and pay the zakat, and if they do so they will have gained protection from me for their lives and property, unless [they do acts that are punishable] in accordance with Islam, and their reckoning will be with Allah the Almighty."    [Bukhari and Muslim]

This is a very important Hadith but can be easily misunderstood. It reinforces the fact that Jihad is a core aspect of Islam and something that will continue until the Day of Judgement according to other Hadith. This Hadith must be taken into context and in conjunction with other aspects of Islam – such as the verse in Qur’an which states that ‘There is no compulsion in Religion’ [TMQ 2:256]. Muslims cannot force non-Muslims to become Muslims and in the history of Islam this was observed quite strictly. Islam is not tainted like other religions that forced others to convert: e.g., Christian conquests in North America, South America, the Spanish Inquisition etc. Dar-ul Islam (the land where Islam in implimented) has always tolerated its citizens practising other beliefs.

However, scholars have stated that this hadith refers to the situation where people are being denied the message of Islam. If there are obstacles to the Muslims spreading the word and message of Islam through peaceful dawah (invitation & teaching) and people are being prevented from hearing about the benefits of Islam, and getting to experience the Justice that comes with Islam, then it is permitted for the Amir / leader of the Muslims to remove those obstacles. If this cannot be done peacefully then he may have to resort to fighting. But the fight is not to convert people but to spread the word of Islam and the System of Islam so that people can actually understand the beauty of Islam better. This is not a recipe for all out war against all non-Muslims as history has clearly demonstrated that is not how to live.

The Prophet* also highlights the fact that both prayer  and Zakat are key essentials of Islam and people should not deny these, as did some people after the Prophet* died – hence Abu Bakr (ra) had to wage war against these people.

The rights of Islam are interpreted in many ways. Some scholars say that once a person has declared he/she is a Muslim then we accept that and do not delve into the matters of the heart or intention with these people. If people appear to do good actions that is fine. If people appear to do wrong actions then they should be punished by Islam according to the rules. Whether Allah forgives them or not is left for Allah to decide on the Day of Judgement and we should concern ourselves with how we implement the Law of Allah on earth and not accuse people of hypocrisy or insincerity. Hence, by declaring the Shahadah, the lives, property, wealth & honour of Muslims becomes immediately protected by the Muslim community and upheld by the rightful leader of the Muslims. The rights of Islam could also be interpreted as when a person declares Islam, they must then perform all the duties of a Muslim without missing anything out – of which prayer and Zakat are prominent examples. Hence Allah will reward His servant as needed. The ‘rights of Islam’ could also be interpreted as the laws of Islam that are implemented upon the Muslims by any rightful leader of the Muslims, which includes the Shariah and specific hudood punishments.

Homework: Talut and Jalut

One of the leaders of the children of Israel after Musa was Talut. He wanted to capture the Holy Land as promised to Musa through fighting and warfare. The followers of Musa refused to fight to get the land and so when that generation died a new generation of believers grew up. Talut took 80,000 fighting men to conquer the Holy Land and put the army through a series of tests to get a core dependable army that was firm on belief and Iman. After a long walk in the desert heat the army came across a river and Talut said that only those who didn’t drink (or only had 1 handful) were allowed to carry on. Some narrations say that only 4000 were left in the army!

Next he ordered them to face up to the people of Jalut (Goliath) who were known to be big, powerful and warriors. Many in the army declined to face the enemy, except for 314 hardcore fighters who had firm belief in Allah, and they would say that numbers are not important as sometimes small numbers can easily defeat larger armies. And for the duel with Jalut only 1 person stepped forward on 3 occasions – Prophet Dawud* who was a young boy of about 16.

Hence, the Sahabah would often compare those that fought at Badr with those in the army of Talut. True and firm believers. The best of the best !