06 February 2011

06 February 2011

Seerah of Muhammed*

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

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

Zaid Bin Harithah Leads A Campaign On The Trade Routes Of Quraish:

This was the most successful campaign prior to Uhud Battle. It took place in Jumada Ath-Thaniyah, the year 3 A.H. Summer approached and it was high time for the Meccan trade caravans to leave for Syria. The people of Quraish whose lives depended mainly on a mercantile economy consisting of summer caravans to Syria and winter caravans to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), were now at a loss as to what route they would have to follow in order to avoid the backbreaking military strikes that the Muslims successfully inflicted on the polytheists.

Allah mentioned the journeys of the Quraish in a Surah (revealed in Mecca) about them: (It is a great Grace and protection from Allâh), for the taming of the Quraish, (1) (And with all those Allâh's Grace and Protections for their taming, We cause) the (Quraish) caravans to set forth safe in winter (to the south), and in summer (to the north without any fear), (2) So let them worship (Allâh) the Lord of this House (the Ka'bah in Makkah). (3) (He) Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear. (4)

The Quraish held a meeting to discuss the chances of escaping the economic blockade and decided to go along a trade route across Najd to Iraq. Furat bin Haiyan was appointed as a guide for the caravan. Safwan bin Omaiyah led the caravan along the new route. News of the meeting leaked out and it flew fast to Madinah by Sulit bin An-Nu‘man. The Prophet* immediately mustered 100 horsemen under the leadership of Zaid bin Harithah Al-Kalbi and despatched them to intercept and capture the caravan. They caught up with the camels at a place called Al-Qaradah. They took the polytheists by surprise and arrested their guide and two other men. Safwan and his guards fled away without showing the least resistance. The caravan was carrying silver and wares whose value amounted to 100 thousand dirhams. The booty was distributed among the Muslim warriors after one-fifth had been set aside for the Prophet*. Furat bin Haiyan embraced Islam out of his own free will. By blocking off the route to Syria this affected their trade to Yemen too as they had less goods to trade.

As a result of this episode, the Muslims foiled Quraish’s plans to find a new trade route. The economic siege laid to Mecca was thus consolidated and had a great impact on the trade economy of Mecca. The Meccans were terribly anxious and worried about their prospects of life now at stake with no hope whatsoever for any possible rehabilitation of commercial life or redemption of former prestige at the socio-political level except through two avenues categorically contrasting: Relinquishing all symbols of arrogance and all attitudes of haughtiness through reconciliation with the new status quo, and peaceableness with the Muslims; or launching a decisive overwhelming war with the aim of crushing down the military forces of Medina. It was apparent through the process of events that Quraish had opted for the second alternative. Loud cries were being heard everywhere in Mecca demanding immediate vengeance and quick retaliatory action. These movements on all levels constituted the direct preliminaries to the battle of Uhud.

Hence, some of the reasons for Uhud were:

Religious – Quraish wanted to stop the advance of Islam, and stop people becoming Muslims. The disbelievers ‘spend their wealth to avert people from the path of Allah’…The non-Muslims did that at the time of the Prophet* and are still doing it today!

Political – the status & reputation of Quraish was weakened. They had been very revered and looked up to by all other Tribes and so they wanted to regain that authority and respect

Social – Quraish wanted to wash away the shame of Badr

Economic – Pressure being but on Quraish to earn their living more creatively. They felt they were being under siege and all their money would dry up with time.

Hadith:

Hadith no 19 of Nawawi’s 40 Hadith: 

Abu al-Abbas Abdullah bin Abbas reported: One day I was behind the Prophet* and he said to me: "O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]:
- Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you.
- Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you.
- If you (have need to) ask, ask of Allah;
- and if you seek help, seek help from Allah.
- Know that even if the Nation (or the whole community) were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you,
- and that if they gather together to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." [Al-Tirmidhi]
In a version other than that of al-Tirmidhi it reads: "..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship." [at-Tirmidhi]

This hadith implies a very important advice and general ruling in Islam: Allah’s protection. Ibnu Rajab quoted one scholar as saying: “What a pity for the one who is ignorant of this hadith and has little understanding of its meaning.”

The Prophet* starts the hadith by getting the attention of Ibn Abbas by saying “O young man, I shall teach you some words of advice”. By saying “O young man”, Ibn Abbas knows that the Prophet* is talking specifically to him. And by following it with “I shall teach you…” Ibn Abbas knows how important the next words of the Prophet* are going to be. Hence, these words at the beginning have attracted the undivided attention of Ibn Abbas. This teaches us that when we give a talk or speech, it is important that we start with words that will grab the attention of the audience. This is to ensure that our words of advice (contained in our speech) do not fall on ‘deaf ears’.

The phrase “Be mindful of Allah” means:

- To observe or fulfil Allah’s obligations

- To adhere to His commandments

- To avoid His prohibitions

Some of the things we have to fulfil - to attain Allah's protection - include:

- The daily prayers (salah) – by praying in the best way we can and by performing it on time.

- Maintaining cleanliness and purity.

- Observing our oath – we have to be careful if we swear by Allah that we will do something, because we have to abide to this commitment we make.

- Guarding our senses – we should ensure that what we see or hear or say pleases Allah. We should fear Allah and not use these senses in the wrong manner.

- Ensuring that we do not consume, via food or drink, anything that is not halal.

- Observing that our dealings and transactions are halal.

If we are “mindful of Allah”, i.e. we observe and fulfil His obligations/commandments, “Allah will protect us”. There two kinds of protection from Allah:

1. Allah will protect or look after His servants in this world / in worldly matters. For example, our health and our senses. We will be enjoying Allah’s mercy and bounty for our sight, hearing and speech all of our lives – even as we grow old, Allah will still allow us to see and hear properly, or he will take care of our intellect and mental health. Another example is Allah will protect our family and our property, belongings and money. Also, if one is mindful of Allah during his youth, Allah will protect him during his adult years.

2. Allah will protect His servants’ deen (religion) and iman (faith). He will protect us from misunderstandings and being misled or influenced by misconceptions and self-desires. He will help us and give us guidance so that we are protected from negative influences. Allah will also protect our deen when we leave this world. When we leave this world, we will leave with iman for being a mua'min (believer). We will be protected from shaitan’s influence to lead us astray right at the very last moment in our life. We may not be aware of when Allah is protecting our deen. It may even cause us to be unhappy. There may be a situation where Allah prevents us from doing something (something which we want to do) – this is actually a protection from Allah, preventing us from a disaster or problem or from committing a sin.

If we are mindful of Allah, we will find Him close to us or beside us or in front of us. Allah is close to His servants (the mua'minin) by giving them guidance, support, help, protection, victory, etc. The other narration of this hadith states that if we become beloved to Allah during times of ease, He will know us during times of hardship. During our times of ease or prosperity, if we use it for the pleasure of Allah, He will be with us to look after us in our times of hardship, weakness, sickness, etc. Even in terms of receiving reward from Allah. If we are sick and are no longer able to do something which we used to do during our times of ease, we will be given the reward for that act.

Seeking Help from Allah

The statement in which the Prophet* tells Abdullah bin Abbas to “ask of Allah” and to “seek help from Allah” is the fundamental basics of Tawhid. This is something we say in every salah (“iyya ka na’budu wa iyya ka nasta’in”). This shows us the importance of du’a, the importance of continuously asking Allah for His support and guidance. We need to show our need for Allah and our total dependency on Him by performing such forms of ibadah.

Qadr

Allah has already written in Al-Lauhulmahfuz what is going to take place. There are events or occurrences that happen which we have no control over (e.g. being sick, losing someone we love, falling into hardship, etc.) and to face these events correctly we need to practice contentment (redha) which is the highest level of action required where we are pleased or contented with whatever Allah has chosen for us, whether it is positive or negative. The second highest level is tolerance (sabr), where we need to be patient and not panic or say anything that displeases Allah.

Al-qadar can be broadly broken down into two categories:

1. There are actions that take place which we do not have any control over. We have to surrender to the will of Allah and be patient.

2. There are actions that take place which we had control over. These events happen as a result of our recklessness, laziness, of not being alert, etc. Even though the minute these things happen they already become qadar, those who are responsible for the actions will be held responsible. Thus, whatever we do, we should do it carefully, completely and to the best of our abilities. For example, construction workers building a site, doctors taking care of patients, driving, etc.

Generally speaking, we are responsible for what we do, whether it is in worldly matters or whether it is in our ibadah. We should always strive to improve ourselves and to constantly tell ourselves that we can do better. Also, we should avoid things that can be avoided, e.g. avoiding disasters, avoiding trouble, etc. It doesn’t contradict with qadar if someone is sick that he seeks treatment. If we are faced with a problem, we should try our best to solve it or minimise it and not do things which will worsen the situation. Many Muslims tend to interpret this hadith (on qadar) negatively. We should understand qadar in a positive sense. We should differentiate between things which we don’t have control over and things which we do. Instead of just accepting things that happen as qadar, we should see how we can improve the situation and how we can avoid things which can be avoided. We should accept the fact that we are responsible for whatever we do and the choices we make.

News Topic:

Multiculturalism

We discussed David Cameron’s speech in Munich to the European Leaders where he criticised multiculturalism and Muslim extremists, and tried to connect terrorism with multiculturalism. Most people have criticised the Prime Minister for this speech, especially on the same day as the EDL march in Luton –and the fact that he did not criticise the EDL. A few points we talked about:

- What is multiculturalism? Britain has previously had a proud tradition of allowing people from overseas come to the UK and would not force them to give up their culture and way of life

- Some of the reasons why people criticise multiculturalism – include people living together and not mixing or understanding other communities

- Exploring the concept of a ‘melting pot’ where all cultures are mixed and the predominant one ‘wins’

- How people don’t criticise British or American people for setting up their own communities and not integrating into society when they live abroad, like in Spain, or Dubai or Iraq. Yet these same people criticise Muslims who have their halal shops in Small Health !

Conclusion: Muslims in the UK should do more to interact with other communities whilst maintaining their unique identity and view of life.