Seerah of Muhammed*
*: May the Peace, Blessings & Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an
The Tragedy of Ma‘una Well
Ma‘una Well tragedy, which was even more horrible than that of Ar- Raji‘, took place in the same month. Abu Bara’ — ‘Amir bin Malik — nicknamed ‘Spear Player’ came to the Messenger of Allah* in Madinah. The Messenger of Allah* called him to embrace Islam but he neither agreed nor refused. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, if you dispatch some of your Companions to the people of Najd to call them to Islam, I expect them to accept." "I am afraid the people of Najd will kill them." Said the Messenger. But he replied, "I will protect them." Seventy men were sent to them and Al-Mundhir bin ‘Amr, one of Bani Sa‘ida, nicknamed ‘Freed to die’ — commanded that group, who were the best and most learned in the Qur’an and jurisprudence.
They used to gather firewood to buy food for the people of ‘Ahl As-Suffah’ as charity by day and study, meditate on the meanings of the Qur’an by night. They kept on doing that till they arrived at Ma‘una Well. They stayed there and sent the Message of the Prophet* with Haram bin Milhan, the brother of Umm Sulaim to the enemy of Allah ‘Amir bin At-Tufail. ‘Amir did not heed the Message but rather ordered a man to spear Haram in the back. When the spear penetrated Haram’s body, he saw the blood and said: "Allahu Akbar! (i.e. Allah is the Greatest) By Lord of Al-Ka‘bah I have won!"
Then the enemy of Allah, promptly, called out Bani ‘Amir to fight the rest. Bani ‘Amir refused because they were under the protection of Abu Bara’. Therefore he turned to Bani Saleem for help. The people of ‘Usaiyah, Ri‘al and Dhakwan, who were folks of Bani Saleem, responded to his call. The Companions of the Prophet*, who were encompassed by idolaters, kept on fighting till they were all killed. The only survivor was Ka‘b bin Zaid bin An-Najjar who was carried wounded from among the dead. It was in Al-Khandaq (the trench) Battle that he was killed. ‘Amr bin Omaiyah was captured. ‘Amir set him free when he knew that he was of Mudar tribe but that was after he had cut his hair. He did that to fulfil a pledge of his mother’s to set a slave free from that tribe.
Returning to the Prophet* ‘Amr bin Omaiyah conveyed the news of the painful disaster, which resulted in the murder of seventy of the best believers, and recalled the tragedy of Uhud but with the difference that those of Uhud were killed in a clear war but those of Ma‘una were killed in a disgraceful treachery.
Shortly after, ‘Amr bin Omaiyah rested in the shade of a tree, and there two men of Bani Kilab joined him. When they slept, ‘Amr killed them both, thinking that by doing that he would avenge some of his killed companions. Then he found out that they had been given a pledge of protection by the Prophet*. He told the Messenger of Allah* what he had done. The Messenger of Allah* said to ‘Amr: "You have killed two people; their blood-money shall be a debt I have to discharge." He then engaged himself collecting their blood-money from the Muslims and their allies, the Jews. This very act was later to trigger the invasion of Bani An-Nadeer.
The Prophet* was so deeply moved by this tragedy and that of Ar- Raji‘ that he used to invoke Allah’s wrath against those people and tribes who killed his Companions. Anas reported that for thirty days the Prophet* supplicated Allah against those who killed his Companions at Ma‘una Well. This was the first time he recited Du’a Qanoot and he would do so every prayer, e.g., dawn prayer he would invoke Allah’s wrath against Ri‘l, Dhakwan, Lihyan and ‘Usaiyah. He would say, " ‘Usaiyah disobeyed Allah and His Messenger." Therefore Allah, sent down unto His Messenger a Qur’anic verse that we kept on reciting till it was abrogated later on: ‘Inform our folk that we have encountered our Lord and He is satisfied with us and we are satisfied with Him.’ So the Messenger of Allah* stopped his invocation.
Hadith:
Hadith 29 of Nawawi's 40 Hadith
From Mu'adh bin Jabal who said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed which will take me into Paradise and will keep me away from the Hell-fire." He said: "You have asked me about a great matter, yet it is, indeed, an easy matter for him to whom Allah Almighty makes it easy. (It is ) that you worship Allah without associating anything with Him, that you perform the prayers, that you pay the zakat, that you fast during Ramadan, and that you make the pilgrimage to the House."
Then he said: "Shall I not guide you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire; and a man's prayer in the middle of the night." Then he recited: "Who forsake their beds to cry unto their Lord in fear and hope, and spend of that We have bestowed on them. No soul knoweth what is kept hid for them of joy, as a reward for what they used to do". [Qu'ran, Surah al-Sajdah (32): Ayah 16-17]Then he said: "Shall I not also tell you of the peak of the matter, its pillar, and its topmost part?" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "The peak of the matter is Islam (submission to Allah), the pillar is prayer; and its topmost part is jihad." Then he said: "And shall I not tell you of the controlling of all that ?" I said:" Yes, O Messenger of Allah". So he took hold of his tongue and said: "Restrain this." I said: "O Prophet of Allah, will we be held accountable for what we say?" He said: "May your mother be bereft of you! Is there anything that topples people on their faces (or he said, on their noses) into the Hell-fire other than the jests of their tongues?" [Al-Tirmidhi]
This shows Mu'adh's eagerness to know about good deeds. This hadith is evidence that doing good deeds facilitates and leads to entering Paradise as it has been mentioned in the Qur'an: "This is the Paradise that you have made to inherit because of your good deeds which you used to do" (Surah al-Zuhkruf: Ayah 72). However, a person's good deeds are part of Allah's mercy and grace. Allah says: "But Allah who caused faith to be dear to you and have given it beauty in your heart, and has made hateful to you denial of the truth and all inequity and all rebellion against what is good" (Surah al-Hujarat (49): Ayah 7). So the meaning of this verse has been emphasized by this hadith. The performing of good deeds is a cause of entering paradise but they are themselves a gift from Allah.
The deeds that have been mentioned in this hadith have been emphasized in previous hadiths collected by Imam An-Nawawi, mainly Hadith 2, 3, 15 and 23. However, there are two additional good deeds mentioned in this hadith:
1. A man's prayer in the middle of the night. This includes:
a. Those who wake up during the night for dhikr, du'a, or praying tahajud.
b. Those who wait for the Isha' prayer and do not go to sleep until they perform Isha'.
c. Those who wake up for the Fajr prayer.
All these three groups have been mentioned in the Qur'an. People who stay awake throughout the night (busy in entertaining themselves) miss these blessed deeds. The three types of people are guaranteed and promised with the blessing from Allah in the Hereafter where there are unpredictable and unimaginable rewards.
2. Jihad where and when it becomes an obligation (this deed is not stated clearly in other hadiths). It is a great blessing that gets Muslims closer to Allah. Scholars say that jihad is the greatest act of worship and the most important deed after the obligatory acts. Through jihad, Islam is protected and preserved and became dominant, where other nations lived under its rule peacefully with their rights maintained.
In Hadith 15, the Prophet* quoted the importance of saying good things or keeping silent. In this hadith the Prophet* says it is because of the tongue saying bad things that people are thrown into the Hell-fire. Ibn Rajab states that this indicates that restraining and controlling our speech is the crucial matter of all good things. The one who controls his tongue controls all his affairs. In this hadith, we see the emphasis is on the negative side of the tongue, whereas in the previous hadiths, the emphasis is on the positive side of the tongue. This means that the tongue can be used in two ways: to say good things or to say bad things. Most people have the tendency to be lenient about this issue. Though Muslims know that saying bad things is prohibited, they still do so, saying things that displease Allah such as backbiting, slandering and spreading rumours. We will be held accountable for what we say. We will be rewarded for saying good things and we may be punished for saying bad things. Being cynical to others and saying things just for fun is something that a person is going to be accountable for. Even if a Muslim says things in the form of a cynical du'a (e.g. "May Allah guide him") or a joke to make fun of other Muslims and put him down, he will be held against this action. Even using gestures or attributes in a cynical way that can be interpreted that he is belittling a Muslim is considered a sinful act that displeases Allah.
Another thing that is related to this and is mentioned by the scholars is the story of a man (from an Israel tribe) that the Prophet* narrated: "There were two relatives or brothers. One of them was pious and righteous and the other one used to commit sins. The pious person always tried to remind the sinful one, but he did not do so in the appropriate way of making da'wa. One day while he was passing by the sinner he said: 'I swear by Allah that He will not forgive you!' Upon this Allah said: 'Who is putting himself higher than My Authority?!" So Allah forgave the sinner and held the pious one accountable for what he said even though he was righteous." This teaches us that we have to watch what we say especially when we are angry. Ibn Rajab says if the Muslim can control his tongue, he can control his other affairs. That is the wisdom that Muslims can get from this hadith.
Regarding the methodology of teaching and learning, this hadith sets forth a good example for Muslims to learn from. Mu'adh starts by asking a question, saying that he wants to ask about a matter that has him 'burning inside'. As a result of his question, he gets the reply. The Prophet* said: "Ask whatever you wish." He was open to any kind of questions. If someone has an inquiry regarding any matter, he should ask, and the person who has been consulted has to be open-hearted. The Prophet* later on in this hadith, guides Mu'adh in the form of questions: "Shall I not tell you...?" Asking questions from both sides (from Mu'adh, as a means to learn, and from the Prophet* as a means to teach) is one of the effective ways in the methodology of teaching and learning. If we want to learn we have to ask questions. If we want to teach, we have to communicate in this style and also ask questions. Asking questions will attract the attention of the listeners and will make them think about what is being said.
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Feedback Session:
Organising a Charity Event
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