23 January 2011

23 January 2011

Seerah of Muhammed*

*: May the Peace, Blessings & Mercy of Allah be upon him

TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Banu Qaynuqa Breach The Covenant

Seeing that Allah sided with the believers and granted them a victory and perceiving the Muslims’ awesome presence in Madinah, the Jews of Medina could no longer contain themselves or conceal indignation. They started a series of provocative and harmful deeds publicly. The most wicked amongst them were the tribe of Banu Qaynuqa, who lived in quarters within Madinah named after them. As for jobs, they took up goldsmithery, blacksmithing and crafts of making household instruments, that is why war weaponry was available in large quantities in their houses. They counted 700 warriors, and were the most daring amongst the Jewish community in Arabia, and now the first to breach the covenant of cooperation and non-aggression which they had already countersigned with the Prophet*. Their behaviour grew too impolite and unbearable. They started a process of trouble-making, jeering at the Muslims, hurting those who frequented their bazaars, and even intimidating their women. Such things began to aggravate the general situation, so the Prophet* gathered them in assemblage, admonished and called them to be rational, sensible and guided and cautioned against further transgression. Nevertheless they remained obdurate and paid no heed to his warning, and said: “Don’t be deluded on account of defeating some Quraishites inexperienced in the art of war. If you were to engage us in fight, you will realize that we are genuine war experts.”

In this regard, the Words of Allah were revealed saying: “Say [O Muhammad] to those who disbelieve: ‘You will be defeated and gathered together to Hell, and worst indeed is that place to rest.’ There has already been a Sign for you (O Jews) in the two armies that met (in combat — i.e. the battle of Badr): One was fighting in the cause of Allah, and as for the other (they) were disbelievers. They (the believers) saw them (the disbelievers) with their own eyes twice their number (although they were thrice their number). And Allah supports with His Victory whom He pleases. Verily, in this is a lesson for those who understand.” [3:12,13]

The answer of Banu Qaynuqa amounted, as seen, to war declaration. The Prophet* suppressed his anger and advised the Muslims to be patient and forbearing and wait for what time might reveal.

Uncovering the Muslim Sister

One day a Jewish goldsmith provoked a Muslim woman whose lower body become uncovered when he had tied the edge of the garment to her back whilst she was sat in his shop on the floor. A Muslim man happened to be there and killed the man; the Jews retaliated by killing that Muslim. The man’s family called the Muslims for help and war started. On Saturday, Shawwal 15th, 2 A.H., the Prophet* marched out with his soldiers, Hamzah bin Abdul Muttalib, carrying the standard of the Muslims and laid siege to the Jews’ forts for 15 days eventually forcing them to surrender after Allah cast fear into their hearts. Now, Abdullah Ibn Ubay was allied to the Qaynuqa and appealed to the Prophet* for leniency to be shown to them. Ibn Ubay grabbed hold of the top of Muhammad's* breast plate as he turned away, provoking his anger. "Let me go," the Prophet* said. Ibn Ubay replied: "No! [...] I will not let you go, until you have compassion on my friends; 300 soldiers armed in mail, and 400 unequipped, -- they defended me on the fields of Hadaick and Buath from every foe. Wilt thou cut them down in one day, O Muhammad’ As for me, I am one verily that fears the vicissitudes of fortune." At the same time, Ubadah ibn al Samit announced that he was disowning his Jewish allies in favour of Allah and His Messenger: “O Messenger of Allah, I have many close friends among the Jews, but I am disowning the friendship of the Jews and turning to Allah and His Messenger. I take only Allah and His Messenger for close friends.” After this, the Prophet* agreed to his request, and gave the Banu Qaynuqa three days to leave the city.

The Prophet* ordered that they should be expelled from Madina, and the one responsible for carrying out this order was Ubadah ibn al Samit. There is a clear difference between Abdullah ibn Ubay, whose heart was full of hypocrisy, and Ubadah ibn al Samit, whose personality had been refined under the teaching of the Prophet*, which had rid him of all traces of pre-Islamic tribal loyalty, Jahili Asabiyyah desires, and personal interests. He considered the interests of faith and gave them priority over his own interests. He was a good example of the conscientious and committed believer.

Banu Qaynuqa handed over all materials, wealth and war equipage to the Prophet*. The one responsible for seizing their wealth was Muhammad ibn Maslamah al Ansari. It was shared among the companions as booty, after one-fifth of it had been taken for the Messenger. After that they were banished out of all Arabia to Azru‘a in Syria where they stayed for a while and soon perished away. Some members of the tribe chose to stay in Medina and convert to Islam, possibly more out of opportunism than conviction. One man from the Banu Qaynuqa, Abdullah ibn Sailam, became a devout Muslim. 

The following verses were revealed concerning this affair:

Surah al-Maida: O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliya (friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Auliya of each other. And if any amongst you takes them (as Auliya), then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers and unjust). (51) And you see those in whose hearts there is a disease (of hypocrisy), they hurry to their friendship, saying: "We fear lest some misfortune of a disaster may befall us." Perhaps Allah may bring a victory or a decision according to His Will. Then they will become regretful for what they have been keeping as a secret in themselves. (52) And those who believe will say: "Are these the men (hypocrites) who swore their strongest oaths by Allah that they were with you (Muslims)’" All that they did has been in vain (because of their hypocrisy), and they have become the losers. (53) O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah, and never fear of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower. (54) Verily, your Wali (Protector or Helper) is none other than Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, - those who perform As-Salat, and give Zakat, and they are Rakiun (those who bow down or submit themselves with obedience to Allah in prayer). (55) And whosoever takes Allah, His Messenger, and those who have believed, as Protectors, then the party of Allah will be the victorious. (56) O you who believe! Take not as Auliya (protectors and helpers) those who take your religion as a mockery and fun from among those who received the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before you, nor from among the disbelievers; and fear Allah if you indeed are true believers. (57)

Hadith

Number 17 of Nawawi's 40 Hadith

Abu Ya'la Shaddad ibn Aus, reported that the Messenger of Allah*, said: "Verily, Allah has enjoined excellence (ihsan) with regard to everything. So, when you kill, kill in a good way; when you slaughter, slaughter in a good way; so everyone of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably." [Muslim]

This is a very important hadith about how to be a good Muslim. It encourages us to be the best we can be. It is not simply about treating animals with compassion or being efficient in slaughtering them, it contains much deeper meanings. Slaughter is chosen by the Prophet* to use as an example that people can relate to. However, we mustn’t forget the important rules of slaughter when searching for the deeper meanings: such as being good in every deed/action, perfecting our Islam and having good conduct at all times.

The hadith contains a principle and provides an example of applying that principle. This is a Prophetic method to enable Muslims to apply the same principle to other similar situations. It can also be said that providing the example is a way of explaining the principle so it is easily understood. Most of the forty hadiths collected by Imam Nawawi are of this nature. It was also previously mentioned that Muslims have a tendency of taking the example and forgetting about the principle. This may explain why Muslims are reminded of this hadith only once a year, during Eid ul-Adha.

The concept of ihsan was mentioned in Hadlth No. 2. Its general meaning is "doing something well" or "as well as possible." Several rulings are inferred from the opening statement: first, that Allah has made ihsan a duty incumbent upon all creation; second, that He has made it a duty toward all things and all creatures; and third, that He has made ihsan an obligation in all things, i.e., in every job or deed one performs.

Treating anmals well

Good treatment is ordained by Allah toward any person or animal that is to be killed lawfully, which means making the death as swift and easy as possible, sparing any unnecessary pain and anguish. After the mention of killing in general, the Prophet* specifically ordered ihsan in the slaughter of animals for food. The Prophet* gave various details concerning the proper way to slaughter in several narrations:

- The animal should be led gently to the place of slaughter, without frightening it or pulling it roughly.

- It should be offered water to drink if thirsty.

- The knife should be well sharpened to cause the least amount of pain, and it should be concealed from the animal before the moment of use.

- The slaughter should not take place in the presence of other animals, for even a dumb animal is aware of two things: its Lord and death, which it fears.

- It should be turned toward the qiblah if possible and the name of Allah mentioned over it at the time of slaughter.

- The throat should be cut with one stroke and deeply through the jugular veins so that death will come quickly. Then the animal should be left to toss about freely while the blood drains and should not be cut again before it is dead.

It is reported that a man said to Allah's Messenger*, "When I slaughter a sheep, I am merciful to her." He* replied, "If you are merciful to the sheep, Allah will be merciful to you.". ln a hadith related by al-Jabarani it is reported that once the Prophet* came across a man holding a sheep to the ground with his foot and sharpening his blade while the sheep looked at him. He* addressed him, saying, "Couldn't you have done it [i.e., the sharpening] before this? Do you want to cause her numerous deaths?!"  In another hadith the Prophet*, said: “Whoever shows mercy even when slaughtering a bird, Allah will have mercy on him on the Day of Judgement.” [Bukhari]  In another hadith, the Prophet*, related this story: “While a man was travelling, he felt very thirsty. He found a well and went down to have a drink. When he came out he found a thirsty dog. He said to himself, "This dog is as thirsty as I was." He then went back inside the well and used his shoe to bring out some water for the dog. Allah was pleased with him and forgave his sins because of he had done." [Bukhari]  The Prophet*, warned Muslims not to harm animals. He said: “A lady was put into the hellfire because of a cat. She tied up the cat and did not give her anything to eat nor did she allow it to look for food.” One more ruling concerning dealing nicely with animals is not to abuse the animals we use for achieving certain work (i.e. carrying things) and not to overburden them. The Prophet* was passing by a farm in Medina when he came across a camel. The camel approached the Prophet*, as if it was telling him something. The Prophet* asked about the owner of the camel and called upon him and told him, “Your camel is complaining that you overburden him with work, and gives him too little to eat.” [Abu Daud, Imam Ahmad]

Ihsan: Be the Best

Ihsan is a comprehensive concept. It denotes doing things completely, nicely and in a tasteful manner. It comprises four parts:

1. Sincerity (Ikhlas)

2. Completeness

3. Tastefulness (doing things in a nice manner), and

4. Correctness (doing things in the right way).

This concept is translated by commentators and interpreters as Excellence. Being a comprehensive concept, the term Ihsan cannot be translated word for word because there is no word in the English language that gives its exact meaning. Therefore, it is better to use it as it is.

Islam commands Muslims to practice and apply Ihsan in all that they do - hence it is an obligation.It has been mentioned in the Qur’an as well. Allah the Almighty says: "Verily, Allah enjoins Justice, and Ihsan and giving help to kith and kin,..." [16:90]  In Surah Al-Mulk (67), ayat 2 this concept is mentioned as one of two main purposes of human creation, Allah the Almighty says: "The One Who created death and life so that He may test you which of you is best of conduct." The concept of Ihsan means that a Muslim is a responsible person and a person of quality where he does things in a very good manner, in a complete sense, in a nice and tasteful way and is never satisfied with anything other than a quality job in all that he/she does, motivated by realizing that Allah prescribed Ihsan to everything and to all deeds.

The term ‘amalan in its selected form as mentioned in Surat Al-Mulk ayat implies any kind of deeds. It is not just the religious deeds (ibadah), but also all that we do which is lawful. It should be done according to the concept of Ihsan and we should exert our efforts to live up according to its implications. Hence, if we exert our effort to do / be the best in all things for the sake of Allah’s pleasure, we can get rewarding for our actions, such as:

- the way we look or dress

- the way we eat or sleep

- the way we form and keep relations with our friends & family

- the way we spread Islam (Dawah) or teach others

- the way we learn or do our homework !

These actions and good deeds can be considered as ibadah. The superlative form of the verb used in the same verse (ahsan) implies that all good deeds and actions that we do should be done in a competitive way. However, competition in Islam is not for achieving personal interest but rather for seeking the pleasure of Allah.

News Topic

Various News topics were touched upon, in brief, including stories about:
- A Cola company getting into trouble about its advertising and how it was misleading people
- A prominent British politician said that Islamophobia was now acceptable in Britain, and people would openly criticise Islam & the Muslims. This is wrong and people should be aware of its dangers
- The oppressive leader of Tunisia (a small Muslim country in North Africa) fled the country after people took to the streets against him
- Manchester University library says that it will digitally scan an old but very large copy of the Qur'an for people to access online