22 April, 2012

Hudaibiyah Treaty broken, Hadith 42 Allah's Mercy

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Seerah of Muhammed*
*: May the Peace, Blessings and Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an

Banu Bakr and Quraish break the Treaty of Hudaibiyah
In the jays of Jahilliyah, some men from the tribe of Khuza’ah killed men from the tribe of Banu Bakr. The latter tribe sought revenge and the tit-for-tat cycle started.  According to the terms of the treaty of Hudaibiyah, the Arab tribes were given the option to join either of the parties, the Muslims or Quraish, with which they desired to enter into treaty alliance. Should any of these tribes suffer aggression, then the party to which it was allied would have the right to retaliate. As a consequence, Banu Bakr joined Quraish, and Khuza’ah joined the Prophet*. Khuza’ah were allies of Abu Talib and were already favouring the Prophet*, although not many of them were Muslims. They thus lived in peace for sometime but ulterior motives stretching back to pre-Islamic period ignited by unabated fire of revenge triggered fresh hostilities. Banu Bakr, without caring a bit for the provisions of the treaty, attacked Banu Khuza’ah in a place called Al-Watir in Sha'ban, 8 A.H. Quraish helped Banu Bakr with men and arms taking advantage of the dark night. Pressed by their enemies, the tribesmen of Khuza’ah sought the Holy Sanctuary, but here too, their lives were not spared, and, contrary to all accepted traditions, Nawfal, the chief of Banu Bakr, chasing them in the sanctified area - where no blood should be shed - massacred his adversaries.

The Bani Ka'b of Khuza’ah immediately sent a deputation to Medina to inform the Prophet* of what had happened and to ask for his help. When the aggrieved party sought justice from their Muslim allies, the Prophet*, as their leader, demanded an immediate redress for not only violating the treaty but also slaying men allied to him in the sanctified area. Three demands were made, the acceptance of any one of them was imperative:
a) to pay blood money for the victims of Khuza’ah,
b) to terminate their alliance with Banu Bakr; or
c) to consider the truce to have been nullified.

The Prophet reassures the Khuza’ah
This behaviour on the part of Quraish was clearly a breach of the treaty of Al-Hudaibiyah and was obviously an act of hostility against the allies of the Muslims, i.e. Banu Khuza’ah.
The Prophet* told them they could rely on him, and sent them back to their territory. He did not refer to and Security Council or Committee but gave an unequivocal response that most modern Muslim leaders wouldn’t even dream of! When they had gone, he went to A'ishah, who could see from his face that he was in great anger. He asked for some water to perform his ablution, and she heard him say as he poured it over himself: "May I not be helped if I help not the sons of Ka'b." On the morning of the third day Amr bin Salim Al-Khuza'i arrived in the company of forty horsemen to brief the Prophet* on the plight of his people and seeking the Muslims' help for retaliation. People of Medina then got to know that Quraish had breached the covenant.

Abu Sufyan humiliates himself in Medina
Quraish immediately realized the grave situation and feared the horrible consequences looming on the horizon. They immediately called for an emergency meeting and decided to delegate their chief Abu Sufyan to Medina for a renewal of the truce. On his way, he met the men of Khuza’ah returning home and he feared he was too late as he knew they had been to Medina by crushing the camel dung to find ground date feed – that only camels in Medina get. His fears were increased by the inscrutable demeanour of the Prophet. "O Muhammad," he said, "I was' absent at the time of the truce of Hudaibiyah, so let us now strengthen the pact and prolong its duration." The Prophet* parried his request with the query: "Has anything happened to break it on your side?" "God forbid!" said Abu Sufyan uneasily. "We likewise," said the Prophet, "are keeping to the truce for the period agreed upon at Hudaibiyah. We will not modify it, neither will we accept another in its place." He was clearly not prepared to say more, so Abu Sufyan went to see his daughter, Umm Habibah, hoping she might agree to intervene on his behalf. They had not met for fifteen years. The best place to sit was the Prophet's rug, but as he was about to take his seat she hastily folded it up from beneath him. "Little daughter," he said, "Do you think this rug too good for me, or am I too good for it?" "It is the Prophet's rug," she said, "and you are an idolater, a man unpurified and unclean." Then she added: "My father, thou art lord of Quraish and their chief. How is it that thou hast failed to enter Islam, and that you worship stones which neither hear nor see?" "Wonder of wonders," he said, "am I to forsake what my fathers worshipped to follow the religion of Muhammad? Evil has befallen you!"
 
Abu Sufyan tries the Companions
And, feeling that no help was to be expected from her, he went to Abu Bakr and others of the Companions to ask them to intercede on his behalf for a renewal of the pact, for he was now sure, although the Prophet* had not said so, that he considered the pact to have been abrogated by the recent fighting. But it would serve the same purpose as a renewal of the pact, that is, it would prevent bloodshed, if some man of influence would grant a general protection between man and man. Abu Sufyan suggested this alternative to Abu Bakr but he merely answered: "I grant protection only within the scope of protection granted by the Messenger of God."
Umer’s reply was that if he only had an army of ants he would wage war on Abu Sufyan! Finally Abu Sufyan went to the house of Ali, making much of their kinship, for they were both great-grandsons of the two brothers Hashim and Abdu Shams. But Ali said: "Alas for thee, Abu Sufyan! The Messenger of God hath resolved not to grant thy request; and none can speak to him in favour of a thing when he is averse to it." For the Companions knew well that the Revelation had said to the Prophet: Consult them about affairs; and when thou art resolved, then trust in God;' and they had come to know by experience that when the Prophet* had reached the degree of resolution he had clearly reached on this occasion it was useless to seek to deter him
 Abu Sufyan now turned to Fatimah, who was present, with Hasan sitting on the floor in front of her. "O daughter of Muhammad," he said, "bid your little son grant protection between man and man, that he may become forever the lord of the Arabs." But Fatimah replied that boys do not grant protection, and Abu Sufyan turned again to Ali in desperation and begged him to suggest some course of action. "I see nothing for it", said Ali, "but that thou thyself shouldst rise and grant protection between man and man. Thou art lord of Kinanah." "Will that help me?" said Abu Sufyan. "By God, I think not so," said Ali, "but I find nothing else for you to do." So Abu Sufyan went to the Mosque and said in a loud voice: "Behold, I grant protection between man and man, and I do not think that Muhammad will fail to uphold me." Then he went to the Prophet* and said: "O Muhammad, I do not think thou wilt disavow my protection." But the Prophet* merely answered: "That is what thou thinkest, O Abu Sufyan;"
Abu Sufyan turned his steps back to Mecca in a state of bitter disappointment and utter horror. There he submitted a report of his meeting with his daughter, Abu Bakr, 'Umer and Ali's reaction and the meaningful silence of the Prophet. The Meccans were dismayed and said that Ali had made a fool of him, but did not expect imminent danger.

Hadith 42 (of Nawawi's Forty Hadith)
Hadith 42: Allah's Mercy

From Anas who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah*, say: "Allah the Almighty has said: 'O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.'" [Al-Tirmidhi] 

There are three means or ways which enable a Muslim to be forgiven by Allah.

1. The first one is al-du'a which means to supplicate Allah.
Allah says in Surah Ghafir Ayah 60: And your Lord said: Call upon me, I will respond to you. The Prophet* said: "Supplication is the essence of worship" [Al-Tirmidhi]. The Prophet* also said: "Supplicate to Allah as if you are certain about His response." Supplication is guaranteed that Allah will attend to or respond to it when certain conditions are fulfilled. At the same time there are other things that a Muslim should avoid doing in order for his supplication to be answered. The conditions of supplication have been discussed in previous hadiths. The most important thing is the full concentration and attention of the heart and to have full hope that Allah will respond to that du'a and not to rush it. Muslims have to practice supplication frequently because it is a continuous process. Among the things that a Muslim asks Allah in his supplication are to forgive his sins, to be saved from the Hell-Fire and to be among those who enter Paradise. Muslims have to make du'a with full hope that there is a response. Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi: "I am as My servant expects of Me." [Muslim]. The Prophet* says in another hadith: "No Muslim who supplicates a supplication, that does not contain any sin or cutting of relations, Allah will grant him one of three things: either Allah will immediately respond to his supplication, or He may keep or store the answer for the Hereafter, or He will turn away from him an equivalent amount of evil or harm." The Companions asked what if they keep requesting Allah. The Prophet* replied: "Then Allah shall give you even both." [Imam Ahmad]. Supplication is the one-on-one quality time people have with their Creator – don’t rush it!

2. The second means that leads us to receive Allah's forgiveness is istighfar (seeking forgiveness) 
Even if someone has committed many sins. What is meant by seeking forgiveness is the istighfar that is linked to repentance which in turn also necessitates that the Muslim gives up committing sins and does not persist on doing them. Istighfar is a form of worship. The Muslim has to do and perform a lot of istighfar every day. Allah commanded us to make istighfar and praised those who perform istighfar. Allah says in Surah al-Zumar Ayah 53: O My servants, who have transgressed against themselves! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. There are many forms of istighfar. There is what the Prophet* taught his Companions to say. It is also narrated that the Prophet* used to seek forgiveness from Allah more than seventy times a day, and in some narration more than one hundred times a day. Consequently, Muslims are recommended and required to do istighfar and seek the forgiveness of Allah at least one hundred times a day. The best statement of forgiveness is the statement that is narrated by the Prophet* when he said: "O Allah: You are my Lord. There is no God but You. You created me and I am Your servant. I am following Your covenant and promise to the best of my ability. I seek refuge in You from the evils that I have done. I profess to You Your bounties upon me and I confess my sins. Forgive me for no one forgives sins except You." The Prophet* says: "Whoever says this statement with certainty concerning it in the daytime and dies that day before the evening, he is one of the inhabitants of Paradise; and whoever says this statement with certainty concerning it during the night and dies that night before the morning, he is one of the inhabitants of Paradise." [Al-Bukhari]
As for His statement: "O Son of Aadam, as long as you invoke Me and ask of Me" then this is in agreement with His statement: "I [treat My Slave] in accordance to what he supposes of Me, so let him deem of Me whatever he wishes". And it has been narrated that when a Slave commits a sin and then feels remorse, and says "O My Lord! I have committed a sin, so forgive me, for surely none can forgive sins except you!"; so Allah says "My slave knows that he has a Lord, Who forgives sins and [also] punishes for them. So I testify to you that I have forgiven him". Then [the slave] does the same a second time, and a third, and so Allah replies the same way each time. Then after that He says: "Do as you please, for I have forgiven you!", meaning when he commits a sin and then repents for it.

Know, that for the acceptance of Repentance there are three conditions:
- cessation from the sin,
- remorse for what has preceeded,
- and firm resolve not to return to performing the sin.
And if the sin involved taking the right of another person, then he must hasten to return his right and absolve himself from this transgression. And if the sin was between him and Allah , and a kaffaarah (expiation) is required for this sin, then it is also necessary that he fulfills this kaffaarah, and thus this becomes the fourth condition [for the acceptance of repentance]. And so, even if a person were to commit a sin many times in a single day, and then repent each time with its conditions, Allah would still forgive him. Istighfar is recommended to be practiced by true and close servants of Allah and every Muslim. They are recommended to do so in the morning, preferably after the Fajr prayers, and in the evening until the sunset. This should be part of the supplications that they perform day and night. Allah says in Surah al-Nisa' Ayah 110: And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's Forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

3. The third cause or means of seeking Allah's forgiveness is Tawhid.  
Tawhid means that a Muslim should worship Allah alone. Allah should be worshiped without associating or ascribing any partners with Him. Allah says in Surah al-Nisa' Ayah 116: Verily! Allah forgives not the setting up partners (in worship) with Him, but He forgives whom He wills sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah has indeed strayed far away. Tawhid, as the scholars say, melts away sins. Through fulfilling all the obligations of Tawhid, Muslims are going to be forgiven and rewarded. In a previous hadith in this collection of Imam Nawawi's Forty Hadith, we discussed the importance of the realisation of of the idea of Tawhid where Muslims have to love, fear, and glorify Allah the most. By Tawhid, Muslims seek refuge only in Allah and ask support and help from only Him. All of these great actions of Tawhid, which means that the heart becomes fully devoted to Allah, enable the Muslims to be true believers and Muwahideen. Only then Muslims will become enlightened, inspired, and their iman or faith will be strengthened and their sins will be forgiven. By realising the idea of Tawhid, the Muslim also minimises the chances of committing sins because his heart is fully devoted to Allah. Tawhid is the greatest essence of the Message of every Prophet. All the Prophets, peace be upon them, were sent with the Message of Tawhid - that is Allah is the only One Who deserves to be worshipped and to be totally obeyed. Unfortunately, many Muslims today do not observe the realisation of Tawhid. Many Muslims violate Tawhid, for example, there are some groups of Muslims that supplicate and slaughter for dead Muslims. By doing these acts of shirk (associating someone with Allah), they are violating the most important messages of Islam and that is the realisation of Tawhid. If we want to be good Muslims to Allah, we should follow the way that awliya' Allah (closer servants of Allah) followed. We should follow their ways and practices as mentioned in Hadith 38. They had good morals, they loved Allah, feared Him, had total belief or faith in Allah and his Messengers, and they were obedient to Allah and followed His instructions - this included performing good deeds. This obedience was based on fear of Allah, repenting to Allah and submission to His will. Moreover, they were characterised with devotion, honesty, and sincerity.

The realisation of Tawhid is very important for all Muslims. This is the last portion of the hadith. Moreover, it is the last hadith in Imam Nawawi's collection. This is very significant for us as Muslims since this last portion summarises the most important thing in Islam and that is Tawhid. It is a message from Allah to all Muslims to make sure that their Tawhid is sincere and pure. It is important to realise that they should not ascribe any partners with Allah. By doing so, they are assured that they will receive the forgiveness of Allah even if they have committed other sins. To realise Tawhid Muslims should fulfill all obligations towards Allah by fully submitting to His will, worshiping Him, obeying Him and following His guidance and revelation.

Virtues of Relating 40 (or more) Hadith

Taken From the Introduction to the Collection of Forty Hadith by Imâm an-Nawawî (d. 676 AH / 1299 CE)

All Praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the [One Who] Sustains the Heavens and Earths, Director of all that is created, who sent the Messengers (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of them) to rational beings, to guide them and explain the religious laws to them with clear proofs and undeniable arguments. I praise Him for all of His bounties. I ask Him to increase His grace and generosity. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah alone, who has no partner, the One, Who Subdues, the Generous, the Forgiving. I bear witness that our leader Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, His beloved and dear one, the best of all creation. He was honoured with the Glorious Qur'aan that has been an enduring miracle throughout the years. He was also sent with his guiding Sunnah that shows the way for those who seek guidance. Our leader Muhammad has been particularized with the characteristic of eloquent and pithy speech, and simplicity and ease in the religion. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the other Prophets and Messengers, all of their families and the rest of the righteous.

To proceed : We have narrated, through many chains (isnaad, pl. asaaneed) and various narrations, from Ali ibn Abee Taalib, Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood, Mu'aadh ibn Jabal, Abu ad-Dardaa, [Abdullaah] ibn 'Umar, [Abdullaah] ibn 'Abbaas, Anas ibn Maalik, Abu Hurairah and Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree - May Allah be pleased with all of them - that the Messenger of Allah* said : "Whoever preserves for my Ummah forty hadith related to the religion, Allah will then resurrect him in the company of the pious and the scholars." Another narration states : "Allah will raise him as an erudite and learned scholar". In the narration from Abu ad-Dardaa, it is stated : "On the Day of Resurrection, I will be an intercessor and witness for him". In the narration from Ibn Mas'ood it is stated that the Prophet* said : "It will be said to him 'Enter Paradise through any door you wish'".

The scholars (may Allah be pleased with them) have compiled innumerable works of this nature [ie. collections of forty hadith]. The first one that I know of who compiled such a work was Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak [a taabi'ee, rahimahu Allah]. After him came ibn Aslam at-Toosee, a pious scholar. Then came al-Hasan ibn Sufyaan an-Nasaa'ee, Abu Bakr al-Aajurree, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem al-Asfahaanee, ad-Daaraqutnee, al-Haakim, Abu Nu'aim, Abu Abd-ir-Rahmaan as-Sulamee, Abu Sa'eed al-Maleenee, Abu 'Uthmaan as-Saaboonee, Abdullaah ibn Muhammad al-Ansaaree, Abu Bakr al-Baihaqee and countless others both from the earlier and later times. I have turned to Allah for guidance and prayed to Him while compiling these forty hadith, following the example of those Imaams and guardians of Islam. The scholars have agreed that it is permissible to act in accordance with weak hadith that deal with the virtues of good deeds [ie not weak hadith that deal with rulings - ahkaam - or acts of worship]. Nonetheless, given that fact, I have not simply relied upon that [weak] hadith [mentioned above], in compiling this work. Instead, I am following the statement of the Prophet* found in an authentic hadith : "Let him who was present among you inform those who are absent". The Prophet* also said : "May Allah make radiant the man who has heard what I said, preserved it in his memory and conveyed it in the way that he heard it".

Scholars have compiled forty hadith on faith and belief (usool), on practical matters (furoo'), on jihaad, on austerity (zuhd), on etiquette (adaab), and even on sermons (khutbahs). All of these [collections] were concerning righteous aims. May Allah be pleased with those who sought them. However I have found it best to collect together forty hadith which are more important than all of those. These forty hadith incorporate all of those separate topics. In fact, each hadith is by itself a great general precept from the foundations of the Religion. Some scholars state that all of Islam revolves around these hadith. Some have said, about a particular hadith, that they are one-half of Islam, one-third of Islam and so forth.

I have committed myself to including only authentic hadith (saheeh or hasan) in these forty hadith. The majority of them are from Saheeh al-Bukhaaree or Saheeh Muslim. I have mentioned them without their chain of narrators in order for it to be easier to memorize them and thus more [people] will be able to benefit from them, Allah willing. After the hadith, I included a section on the meanings of the obscure expressions found in the hadith. Everyone who desires and looks forward to the Hereafter must be familiar with these hadith because they cover the most important aspects of the religion and offer direction to all forms of obedience of Allah. This is clear to anyone who ponders these hadith. I rely only upon Allah and I entrust my affair only to Him. To Him is all Praise and Grace, from Him is Guidance and protection from error.

Children's feedback:
Hadith 7: the Prophet* said: "Religion is sincerity". We said: "To whom?" He said: "To Allah and His Book, and His messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk"

Hadith 23: The Messenger of Allah*, said: "Purification is half of iman (faith). Saying 'Al-Hamdulillah' (Praise be to Allah) fills the scales. Saying 'Subhanallah wa al-Hamdulillahi' (Exhalted be Allah and Praise be to Allah) fills the space between the heavens and the earth. Salah (prayer) is a light. Sadaqah (charity) is a proof. Sabr (patience) is a shining glory. The Qur'an is an argument either for you or against you. Everybody goes out in the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying themselves."

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