07 August 2011

07 August 2011

Seerah of Muhammed*

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

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

Marriage to Umm Salamah

Umm Salama, whose real name was Hind, was the daughter of Umayya b. Mughira from Bani Makhzum tribe. Her husband Abd Allah b. Abd al-Asad, migrated to Abyssinia when he was subjected to the oppression and torment by mushriks (idolaters) because of his acceptance of Islam. He returned to Makkah upon the rumor that a lot of people from Quraish became Muslims; however, when he learned that the rumor was wrong, this time he migrated to Madinah undergoing a lot of difficult times. Hazrat Umm Salama was with her husband in both of the migrations to Abyssinia.

Umm Salama was widowed with her four children when her husband died in the forth year of the Hijrah as a result of his injuries in the Battle of Uhud.  Umm Salama told her husband just before his death, As I heard, if a woman deserving heaven, whose husband deserving heaven died, does not marry to someone else later, Allah certainly will bring her with her husband together in the heaven. In the same way, if a man deserving heaven, whose wife deserving heaven died, does not marry to someone else later, Allah certainly will bring him with his wife together in the heaven. Then she made the following offer to her husband: Then, let us promise to each other. Neither you will get married after me, nor shall I get married after you! However, Abu Salama did not accept that offer and he said: You listen to what I tell you, get married after my death. Then, he made the following prayer: O my Allah! Grant Umm Salama a husband, who is better than me, who will not look down on her and who will not hurt her after me!

When she finished the prescribed period of waiting Umm Salama, had rejected  the marriage offers of Abu Bakr and Umar previously. Later on, Our Prophet* made an offer of marriage to Umm Salama in order to take her and her orphan children under his protection. Umm Salama required being excused of that and said. I am both an old and a jealous woman. I also have children and I have none of my elders with me as a witness.

Our Prophet (pbuh) went to Umm Salama, who had given him that answer, and repeated his marriage offer himself. Then he said:  You say that you are an old woman. It is not a shame for an old woman to marry an older man than her. You said that you were the mother of the orphan children. Know that their livelihoods belong to Allah and His messenger. You say that you are a jealous woman. I will also pray Allah to eliminate it from you. You say that there are none of your elders beside you. There are none among them whether they are present here or not that will not consent to me.

The Prophet* give her as a gift for marriage what he had given Zaynab -  a cushion of leather stuffed with fibre, a millstone, a water-skin and two jars

Umm Salama, who was 44 years old when she got married to the Prophet*, died in the 59th year of the Hijrah at the age of 84. Abu Hurayra leaded her salatul-janaza (the funeral prayer) and she was buried in the Baqee Graveyard.  Umm Salama, who could read but not write, was among the ones who knew the Fiqh (Islamic Laws) well. The number of the hadiths she had related from Allahs Most Noble Messenger is 378.

Alcohol banned

 “O ye who believe! Intoxicants and Gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an Abomination – of Satan’s handiwork; eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.” [Al-Qur’an 5:90] When this was revealed the Muslim citizens of Medina immediately began to destroy and empty their alcohol containers into the street.  Even those who were guiltlessly enjoying cups of wine spat the alcohol from their mouths.  It is said that the streets of Medina ran with alcohol.

Dhatur-Riqa

Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ (rags) campaign took place in Najd ( a large area of tableland in the Arabian Peninsula) in Rabi‘ Ath-Thani or Jumada Al-Ula, 4 A.H. They substantiate their claim by saying that it was strategically necessary to carry out this campaign in order to quell the rebellious bedouins in order to meet the exigencies of the agreed upon encounter with the polytheists, i.e. minor Badr Battle in Sha‘ban, 4 A.H.

The rules relating to the prayer of fear which the Prophet* observed at Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ campaign were revealed.

The Invasion of Doumat Al-Jandal

The Prophet* was reported that some tribes, in the vicinity of Doumat Al-Jandal, on the borders of Syria, were involved in highway robbery and plundering, and were on their way to muster troops and raid Madinah itself. He immediately appointed Siba‘ bin ‘Arfatah Al- Ghifari to dispose the affairs of Madinah during his absence, and set out at the head of 1000 Muslims in late Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, 5 A.H. taking with him a man, named Madhkur, from Bani ‘Udhrah, as a guide.

On their way to Doumat Al- Jandal, they used to march by night and hide by day, so that they might take the enemy by surprise. When they drew near their destination, the Muslims discovered that the highway men had moved to another place, so they captured their cattle and shepherds. The inhabitants of Doumat Al-Jandal had also fled in all directions for their lives and evacuated their habitations. The Prophet* stayed there for 5 days during which he despatched expeditionary forces to hunt for the enemy personnel but they detected none. He then returned to Madinah but en route he entered into a peace treaty with ‘Uyainah bin Hisn. Doumat Al-Jandal is located at about a distance of fifteen days march from Madinah and five from Damascus. With this decisive and steady progress and wise strict plans, the Prophet* managed to spread security, control the situation and make peace prevail the whole area. He also succeeded in shifting the course of events for the welfare of the Muslims by reducing the incessant internal and external troubles. The hypocrites were silenced, a tribe of the Jews evacuated while the other continued to fake good neighbourliness and seemingly faithful adherence to the covenants, the desert bedouins subdued and finally the archenemy Quraish no longer keen on attacking the Muslims. This secure strategic attitude created optimum circumstances for the Muslims to resume their logical course in propagating Islam and communicating the Messages of the Lord to all worlds.

Conversation between the Prophet* and Jabir

Jabir also recounted how on the way back to Medina most of the troops went on ahead, while the Prophet and a few others were riding in the rear. But Jabir's camel was old and weak, and could not keep up with the main force, so that it was not long before the Prophet overtook him and asked him why he was so far behind. "O Messenger of God," he said, "this camel of mine can go no faster." "Make him kneel," said the Prophet, making his own camel kneel also. Then he said: "Give me that stick," which I did, and  he took it and gave him one or two prods with it. Then he told me to mount, and we went on our way, and, by Him who sent the Messenger with the truth, my camel outstripped his.

"On the way I conversed with the Messenger of God, and he said to me: "Wilt thou sell me this camel of thine?" I said: "I will give him to thee." "Nay," he said, "but sell him to me." jabir knew from the tone of the Prophet's voice that he was expected to bargain. "I asked him," said jabir, "to name me a price and he said: 'I will take him for a dirhem.' 'Not so,' I said, 'for then wouldst thou be giving me too little.' 'For two dirhems,' he said. 'Nay,' said I, and he went on raising his price until he reached forty dirhems, that is, an ounce of gold, to which I agreed. Then he said: 'Art thou yet married, jabir?' And when I said that I was, he said: 'An already married woman or a virgin?' 'One already married,' I said 'Why not a girl,' he said, 'that thou mightst play with her and she with thee?' '0 Messenger of God,' I said, 'my father was struck down on the day of Uhud and left me with his seven daughters, so I married a motherly woman who would gather them round her and comb their hair and look after their wants.' He agreed that I had made a good choice; and then he said that when we reached Sirar, which was only about three miles from Medina, he would sacrifice camels and spend the day there, and she would have news of our home-coming and would set about shaking the dust from her cushions. 'We have no cushions,' I said. 'They will come,' he said. 'So when thou returnest, do what is to be done.'

"The morning after we returned, I took my camel and knelt him outside the Prophet's door. The Prophet came out and told me to leave the camel and pray two prayer cycles in the Mosque, which I did. Then he bade Bilal weigh me out an ounce of gold, and he gave me a little more than what tipped the scales. I took it and turned to go, but the Prophet called me back. 'Take thy camel,' he said, 'he is thine, and keep the price thou wast paid for him.' "

Hadith: Nawawi’s 40 Hadith

Hadith no 30

It was narrated on the authority of Abi Tha'labah Al-Khushani Jurthum bin Nashir, that the Messenger of Allah* said: "Verily Allah the Almighty has prescribed the obligatory deeds, so do not neglect them; He has set certain limits, so do not go beyond them; He has forbidden certain things, so do not indulge in them; and He has said nothing about certain things, as an act of mercy to you, not out of forgetfulness, so do not go enquiring into these."  [Related by Al-Daraqutni]

What has been mentioned in this hadith has been used by all jurists or fuqaha' as a way of categorizing rulings of shari'ah. It is from this hadith that the rules of the five well-known categorizations are derived: The obligatory (wajib), preferable (mandoub), forbidden (muharam), hateful (makrouh), and the permissible (mubah). Not only is the meaning acceptable, this hadith is also used for categorizing rulings of shari'ah (ahkam).

The term Hukm Sharii, in Arabic, means the address of the Legislator related to our actions. Islam addresses all of our actions, whether they are permitted or not. Accordingly, all of our actions have to be guided by the Hukm Sharii.Many Muslims are too quick to conclude that something is either Haram (prohibited) or Fard (compulsory) after a quick reading of an Ayah or a Hadith. Not all commands in the legislative sources are Fard or Haram. the rules which are used to differentiate the types of Hukm Sharii are again related to Usul al Fiqh.There are 5 different categories of Hukm Shariah.They are:

1.Fard or Wajib (obligatory)

2.Mandoub (reccommended)

3. Permitted Actions (Mubah)

4. Makrooh (Disliked)

5. Haram (prohibited)

Also, not to ask too many questions - especially unnecessary ones. Refer to the story of the cow  and Banu Israel in Surah al-Baqara

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