13 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
Pre-emptive warfare
During the next months the Prophet had warning of three projected raids on the eastern fringes of the oasis, two by Sulaym and one by Ghatafan, In every case he pre-empted them by marching out at once into their territory, and in every case they had news of his approach and vanished before he reached their point of gathering. But one of these expeditions was none the less remarkably successful. It was against the Ghatafani tribes of Tha'labah and Muharib, and this time the Prophet decided to follow the elusive Bedouin into their half hidden fastnesses in the hills to the north of Najd, with the help of a man of Tha'labah who entered Islam and offered his services as a guide. From the plain they ascended into the Muharib territory, and a sudden fall of rain drenched some of the men, including the Prophet, before they could take shelter. The Prophet withdrew a little from the others, removed his two wet garments and hung them on a tree to dry, while he himself lay down under the tree and was soon overcome by sleep. But all their movements and his in particular had been watched by many unseen eyes; and he woke to find a man standing over him with a drawn sword. It was none other than Du'thur, the chief of Muharib, who had himself been largely responsible for planning the projected raid of which the Prophet had had warning. "O Muhammad," he said, "who will protect you from me this day?" "Allah," said the Prophet, whereupon Gabriel, clothed all in white, appeared between them and, placing his hand on the man's chest, he thrust him backwards. The sword fell from his grasp, and the Prophet seized it. Gabriel vanished from Du'thur's sight and he realised that he had seen an Angel. "O Du'thur - Who will protect you from me?" said the Prophet. "Nobody," said Du'thur. "I testify that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God." The Prophet handed him back his sword, which touched the man deeply. They went together to the camp, and Du'thur was instructed in the religion. Then he returned to his people, and began to summon them to Islam -which astonished his tribe as he had gone to kill the Prophet* and now began preaching Islam!
Hasan is born
Fatimah gave birth to a son. The Prophet spoke the words of the call to prayer into the ear of the new-born babe. The Prophet* asked Ali what he was going to call his son. "Harb" replied Ali - which means 'war'. The Prophet* did not like harsh names like this and named him al-Hasan, which means "the beautiful" and "kind".
News of the Meccan Army
The moon reached its full, after which, a day or two later, came the anniversary of Badr; and in the last days of the month a sealed letter was brought to the Prophet by a horseman who had ridden from Mecca to Medina in three days. It was from his uncle 'Abbas, warning him that an army of three thousand men was on the point of marching out against Medina. Ubai bin Ka‘b read the letter to the Prophet*, who asked him to keep its serious contents secret. Seven hundred of the men were mailed, and there was a troop of horse two hundred strong. The camels were as many as the men, not counting the transport camels and those which carried howdahs for the women. The Prophet* dispatched other Muslims to verify this news. He hurried back to Madinah, convened a meeting with the Helpers and Emigrants and conducted with them serious consultations as regards the measures to be taken.
The whole of Madinah was put on the alert and all men were heavily armed even during prayer in anticipation of any emergency. A group of Helpers volunteered to guard the Prophet* and kept watchful eye all night at his door, amongst whom there were Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh, Usaid bin Hudair and Sa‘d bin ‘Ubadah. Lest they should be taken by surprise, armed groups of the Madinese began to police the entrances and roads leading to the city. To reconnoitre the movements of the polytheists, Muslim platoons began to patrol the routes for any probable enemy raids.
A Consultation Assembly for a Defence Plan
The scouting party of Madinah conveyed the news of the Makkan army step by step. Then the Prophet* held a head military consultation assembly to exchange views about the situation. He told them about a dream he had. He said: "By Allâh, I have dreamt of — I implore Allah to be a dream of bounty — cows slaughtered and that there was a groove at the pointed top of my sword, and that I had inserted my hand into an immune armour."
The interpretation of ‘the cows’ was that some of his men were killed, and ‘the groove at the pointed top of his sword’ was that a member of his House would be hurt. As for ‘the armour’ it was Madina. Then he offered a suggestion that his Companions should not go out of Madina and that they should encamp themselves within the city. He was of the opinion that the enemies should be left in the open to exhaust themselves and thus the Muslims would not risk a battle. But if they thought of attacking Madinah, Muslim men would be ready to fight them at the mouths of lanes; whereas Muslim-women would help from over the house roofs." ‘Abdullah bin Ubai — the head of the hypocrites; who attended the meeting as a chief of Al-Khazraj — supported the Prophet's* plan.
As a matter of fact his agreement was not based on the righteousness of the plan but rather on personal benefit. He did not want to fight. On the contrary he secretly aimed at being far away from fight. However it was Allah’s Will that he should be disclosed and disgraced in public — for the first time. It was His Will that the curtain which concealed their disbelief behind should be uncovered and pulled down. Allah’s Will enabled the Muslims to recognize the reality of those snakes that were creeping within their garments and inside the sleeves of their clothes. Thanks to Allah they recognized them in one of the most critical times of their lives.
Some of the best honourable Companions, who had missed Al-Jihad in Badr invasion, suggested that the Prophet* should go out of Madina and urged him to accept their point of view. One of them said: "O, Messenger of Allah*, for long time we have been looking forward to this day; and we have implored Allah to make such a day draw near. Thanks to Allah it is time to fight. So let us go out and fight our enemies lest they should think that we have lost heart and do not dare to fight them." Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib the paternal uncle of the Prophet*, who had already covered the ornaments of his sword with idolaters’ blood in Badr Battle, was ahead of those enthusiastics who urged him to go out and meet the disbelievers. He said to the Prophet*: "By Allâh, Who has sent the Book down unto you, I will not taste food till I fight them with my sword outside Madina." After weighing carefull the pros and cons of the issue, it was decided that the enemy should be resisted outside the city at Uhud. Although the Prophet had wanted to fight from within Medina - the decision was not one of strategy, revelation but choice. Hence it was the legitimate right of the people to exercise that choice and they did that in the Shura (Consultation) with the Prophet*. They were asked to fight from within the city walls or outside.
*: May the Peace, Blessings & Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an
Pre-emptive warfare
During the next months the Prophet had warning of three projected raids on the eastern fringes of the oasis, two by Sulaym and one by Ghatafan, In every case he pre-empted them by marching out at once into their territory, and in every case they had news of his approach and vanished before he reached their point of gathering. But one of these expeditions was none the less remarkably successful. It was against the Ghatafani tribes of Tha'labah and Muharib, and this time the Prophet decided to follow the elusive Bedouin into their half hidden fastnesses in the hills to the north of Najd, with the help of a man of Tha'labah who entered Islam and offered his services as a guide. From the plain they ascended into the Muharib territory, and a sudden fall of rain drenched some of the men, including the Prophet, before they could take shelter. The Prophet withdrew a little from the others, removed his two wet garments and hung them on a tree to dry, while he himself lay down under the tree and was soon overcome by sleep. But all their movements and his in particular had been watched by many unseen eyes; and he woke to find a man standing over him with a drawn sword. It was none other than Du'thur, the chief of Muharib, who had himself been largely responsible for planning the projected raid of which the Prophet had had warning. "O Muhammad," he said, "who will protect you from me this day?" "Allah," said the Prophet, whereupon Gabriel, clothed all in white, appeared between them and, placing his hand on the man's chest, he thrust him backwards. The sword fell from his grasp, and the Prophet seized it. Gabriel vanished from Du'thur's sight and he realised that he had seen an Angel. "O Du'thur - Who will protect you from me?" said the Prophet. "Nobody," said Du'thur. "I testify that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God." The Prophet handed him back his sword, which touched the man deeply. They went together to the camp, and Du'thur was instructed in the religion. Then he returned to his people, and began to summon them to Islam -which astonished his tribe as he had gone to kill the Prophet* and now began preaching Islam!
Hasan is born
Fatimah gave birth to a son. The Prophet spoke the words of the call to prayer into the ear of the new-born babe. The Prophet* asked Ali what he was going to call his son. "Harb" replied Ali - which means 'war'. The Prophet* did not like harsh names like this and named him al-Hasan, which means "the beautiful" and "kind".
News of the Meccan Army
The moon reached its full, after which, a day or two later, came the anniversary of Badr; and in the last days of the month a sealed letter was brought to the Prophet by a horseman who had ridden from Mecca to Medina in three days. It was from his uncle 'Abbas, warning him that an army of three thousand men was on the point of marching out against Medina. Ubai bin Ka‘b read the letter to the Prophet*, who asked him to keep its serious contents secret. Seven hundred of the men were mailed, and there was a troop of horse two hundred strong. The camels were as many as the men, not counting the transport camels and those which carried howdahs for the women. The Prophet* dispatched other Muslims to verify this news. He hurried back to Madinah, convened a meeting with the Helpers and Emigrants and conducted with them serious consultations as regards the measures to be taken.
The whole of Madinah was put on the alert and all men were heavily armed even during prayer in anticipation of any emergency. A group of Helpers volunteered to guard the Prophet* and kept watchful eye all night at his door, amongst whom there were Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh, Usaid bin Hudair and Sa‘d bin ‘Ubadah. Lest they should be taken by surprise, armed groups of the Madinese began to police the entrances and roads leading to the city. To reconnoitre the movements of the polytheists, Muslim platoons began to patrol the routes for any probable enemy raids.
A Consultation Assembly for a Defence Plan
The scouting party of Madinah conveyed the news of the Makkan army step by step. Then the Prophet* held a head military consultation assembly to exchange views about the situation. He told them about a dream he had. He said: "By Allâh, I have dreamt of — I implore Allah to be a dream of bounty — cows slaughtered and that there was a groove at the pointed top of my sword, and that I had inserted my hand into an immune armour."
The interpretation of ‘the cows’ was that some of his men were killed, and ‘the groove at the pointed top of his sword’ was that a member of his House would be hurt. As for ‘the armour’ it was Madina. Then he offered a suggestion that his Companions should not go out of Madina and that they should encamp themselves within the city. He was of the opinion that the enemies should be left in the open to exhaust themselves and thus the Muslims would not risk a battle. But if they thought of attacking Madinah, Muslim men would be ready to fight them at the mouths of lanes; whereas Muslim-women would help from over the house roofs." ‘Abdullah bin Ubai — the head of the hypocrites; who attended the meeting as a chief of Al-Khazraj — supported the Prophet's* plan.
As a matter of fact his agreement was not based on the righteousness of the plan but rather on personal benefit. He did not want to fight. On the contrary he secretly aimed at being far away from fight. However it was Allah’s Will that he should be disclosed and disgraced in public — for the first time. It was His Will that the curtain which concealed their disbelief behind should be uncovered and pulled down. Allah’s Will enabled the Muslims to recognize the reality of those snakes that were creeping within their garments and inside the sleeves of their clothes. Thanks to Allah they recognized them in one of the most critical times of their lives.
Some of the best honourable Companions, who had missed Al-Jihad in Badr invasion, suggested that the Prophet* should go out of Madina and urged him to accept their point of view. One of them said: "O, Messenger of Allah*, for long time we have been looking forward to this day; and we have implored Allah to make such a day draw near. Thanks to Allah it is time to fight. So let us go out and fight our enemies lest they should think that we have lost heart and do not dare to fight them." Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib the paternal uncle of the Prophet*, who had already covered the ornaments of his sword with idolaters’ blood in Badr Battle, was ahead of those enthusiastics who urged him to go out and meet the disbelievers. He said to the Prophet*: "By Allâh, Who has sent the Book down unto you, I will not taste food till I fight them with my sword outside Madina." After weighing carefull the pros and cons of the issue, it was decided that the enemy should be resisted outside the city at Uhud. Although the Prophet had wanted to fight from within Medina - the decision was not one of strategy, revelation but choice. Hence it was the legitimate right of the people to exercise that choice and they did that in the Shura (Consultation) with the Prophet*. They were asked to fight from within the city walls or outside.
Hadith:
Hadith no 19 of Nawawi’s 40 Hadith
Uqbah bin Amri Al-Ansari narrated that the messenger of Allah* said: "Among the words people obtained from the previous Prophets are: If you feel no shame, then do as you wish." [Bukhari]
Haya' can be translated as: modesty, shame, shyness or bashfulness. The word haya' is derived fro m the word "al-hayah", which means life, as if the person who has no haya'(modesty) is like a dead person. Islam encourages and treasures al-haya' or modesty. It is one of the most important characteristics that each and every Muslim should acquire and posses. The Prophet* mentioned that Haya was a unique characteristic of his Ummah.
The following are some hadiths which emphasize this great quality:
"Haya' (modesty) and Iman (faith) are two that go together. If one is lifted, the other is also lifted." [al-Hakim]
"Al-Haya' is part of Iman." [Bukhari and Muslim]
"Haya' does not produce but goodness." [Bukhari and Muslim]
3 interpretations
Due to the form of the text, it may be interpreted in many possible meaningful ways:
First interpretation: If you have no modesty, then do whatever you wish and Allah will punish you for what you do. This mode of expression is well known in the Arabic language, and it is used for threatening someone. See Qur'an in Surah Fussilat: ayat 40.
Second interpretation: If you are contemplating an act and it is an act such that there is no reason to be ashamed of doing it before Allah or the people, then you may do that act. Modesty is used as a criterion over whether or not to do a certain act. The command here is in the form of displaying permission.
However, there is a valid third interpretation that the command is not what is meant by this statement. Instead, it is a statement of fact. The meaning is: If a person does not have any modesty, then there is nothing to prevent him/her from doing anything.
Haya' is one of the most important factors that keeps a person from committing a sinful act. If a person has no haya', he/she will do almost anything. There are two aspects of haya': Natural haya' and acquired haya'. The later is attained as a result of knowing and realizing the Glory of Allah and His attributes.
There are many manifestations of haya':
- Having haya' towards Allah - a Muslim should feel ashamed to have Allah see him doing - or hear him saying - something that displeases Allah, especially when that Muslim is alone and out of the view of humankind.
- Haya' towards the angels - as they are noble and dignified creatures who witness the acts performed by humans.
- Haya' towards other humans - an essential characteristic that keeps people from harming one another and from performing indecent acts.
- Haya' towards the person him/herself - a person should be ashamed of him/herself when he/she performs acts that are shameful. If he/she notices that his/her haya' level is low he/she should improve it by remembrance of Allah, getting closer to Him, and fearing Him.
This great concept of haya' or modesty should be promoted through all possible means and at all levels and by everyone: educators, teachers, lecturers, parents, and du'at (preachers).
In today's society we see the opposite of Haya' in these Western countrues that we live in. Here the media is entertainment oriented. Entertainment is taking new destructive directions which negatively affect the concept of haya' a great deal. Reality TV shows (such as Big Brother, or I'm a Celebrity, even Strictly Come Dancing and other Talent Shows) intrude on the privacy and bare all to the viewing public. The newspapers and magazinews sensationalise all the private lives of people in details that are unnecessary - just to entertain. Then the society accepts these norms and even expects to intrude and strip away people's modesty. Unfortunately, Muslim societies are now following this trend...slowly.
Haya is not an excuse
Haya' can sometimes be abused as a justification for not doing something or giving up an obligatory act. For example, being silent or passive in the presence of falsehood or oppression for no reason except claiming haya'. Or using haya' as an excuse for not encouraging good or discouraging evil. Unless, for both of the above mentioned cases, there is another good reason for not doing these acts such as considering the most likely expected harmful consequences.
Another example of abusing haya' is to use it as an excuse for not seeking knowledge. In many Muslim cultures this matter is confused and misunderstood where there is a proverb or cliché that says: "There is no modesty in asking questions in religious matters". But this cliché is only practiced in a few certain sensitive issues. However when it comes to seeking knowledge in a classroom, the situation is different. Most Muslims become shy and use modesty as an excuse. Parents at home, teachers at school, even lecturers at Universities add to the problem where they may treat asking questions as a sign of not being modest. This attitude needs to be changed to the right, positive one.
Another example is using haya' as an excuse for not doing what is correct and allowed. You know that something should be done and it is good and allowed or is even a recommended or obligatory act. However, you simply give up and do not do it because of a claimed haya'. Not giving sadaqah (charity) to a needy in front of others, not taking away a harmful material from the street or the path of the Muslims, or not helping or giving a hand to a disabled or an elderly person to cross the street are some good examples of this phenomenon.
News Topics:
~ Some people had broken into the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and stolen some rare antiquities / treasures about a month ago. Many of these people had been caught but the treasures seemd to be lost. There were over fifty treasures missing. Why this happened is unclear at the moment due to the reports we have. However, as Muslims, stealing is forbidden. There are harsh punishments for people who steal and the Shariah (Islamic Law) is strict on the conditions when these laws can be applie. People will not usually be sent to jail for stealing food to feed themselves. This compares with the shocking statistic that a quarter of all prisoners in the world are in jails in USA. The USA jails about 1% of its population - and some people are in jail for 25 years for stealing cookies or a DVD (thanks to their 3-strikes-and-your-out rule). Islamic Law is far more just thatn this.
~There has been continued unrest in some Muslim countries - the most significant this week was the ousting out of power of Hosni Mubarak from the government of Egypt. Finally, the Western-backed corrupt ruler of Egypt (known as the Pharaoh to many of his people) left power to the military that he appointed and that is funded by USA. Let's hope the people get a better government now. We also talked about how the Prophet* took power in a bloodless coup in Medina:
- he planned the takeover carefully after Aqaba and staying in Quba
- had appointed 12 leaders from the tribes
- was escorted by military guards on entering Medina
- Tribal leaders had their (ceremonial) fighting gear on when he entered
- no blood was spilled and he took power
- then many of the people of Medina rejoiced by singing and dancing
~There has been continued unrest in some Muslim countries - the most significant this week was the ousting out of power of Hosni Mubarak from the government of Egypt. Finally, the Western-backed corrupt ruler of Egypt (known as the Pharaoh to many of his people) left power to the military that he appointed and that is funded by USA. Let's hope the people get a better government now. We also talked about how the Prophet* took power in a bloodless coup in Medina:
- he planned the takeover carefully after Aqaba and staying in Quba
- had appointed 12 leaders from the tribes
- was escorted by military guards on entering Medina
- Tribal leaders had their (ceremonial) fighting gear on when he entered
- no blood was spilled and he took power
- then many of the people of Medina rejoiced by singing and dancing
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