30 September 2012

Summary
Seerah: Battle of Tabuk Return Journey
The Army of Islam at Tabuk and 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf leads the Prophet* in prayer
No-Show from the Romans at Tabuk so The Prophet* consolidates the Islamic State through treaties with the Christian Kings (agreeing to pay JIZYA)
Khalid bin Al-Waleed captures the King ‘Ukaidir who was hunting Bulls
Returning to Medina from Tabuk - Hadhaifa disrupts a plot to kill the Prophet*
The People Who lagged Behind made their excuses to the Prophet*
Destroying the Masjid of Dirar as Abu 'Amir al-Faasiq wanted to have a base to fight against Islam and the mosque provided a good cover for this. Allah revealed their plot.

Belief: The Miraculous Qur’an
Many claimed scientific miracles in the Qur’an
Qur’anic statements about the embryos
Limits of purely scientific interpretations as theory can change, unless established truth
Literary Miracle of the Qur’an (Qur’an’s Challenge)
Only the Qur’an has been able to synthesise these three elements Grammar (syntax), Poetry (Style) and Meaning in a written form


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

The Army of Islam at Tabuk
During the northward march it happened one day at dawn that the Prophet was delayed in making his ablution. The men were in lines for the prayers and they waited for him until they feared that the sun would rise before they had prayed. Then it was agreed that 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf should lead them, and they had already prayed one of the two prayer cycles when the Prophet appeared. 'Abd ar-Rahman was about to draw back, but the Prophet motioned him to remain where he was, and he himself joined the congregation. When they had uttered the greeting of Peace which ends the prayer the Prophet rose and prayed the cycle he had missed. When he had finished he said: "Ye have done well, for verily a Prophet doesn’t die until he hath been led in prayer by a pious man of his people."
Arriving at Tabuk and camping there, the Muslim army was ready to face the enemy. There, the Prophet* delivered an eloquent speech that included the most inclusive words. In that speech he urged the Muslims to seek the welfare of this world and the world to come. He warned and cherished them and gave them good tidings. By doing that he cherished those who were broken in spirits, and blocked up the gap of shortage and mess they were suffering from due to lack of supplies, food and other substances.

No-Show from the Romans at Tabuk so The Prophet* consolidates the Islamic State through treaties with the Christian Kings (agreeing to pay JIZYA)
Upon learning of the Muslims’ march, the Byzantines and their allies were so terrified that none of them dared set out to fight. On the contrary they scattered inside their territory. It brought, in itself, a good credit to the Muslim forces. That had gained military reputation in the mid and remote lands of Arabian Peninsula. The great and serious political profits that the Muslim forces had obtained, were far better than the ones they could have acquired if the two armies had been engaged in military confrontation. The Head of Ailah, Yahna bin Rawbah came to the Prophet*, made peace with him and paid him the tribute (Al- Jizya). Both of Jarba’ and Adhruh peoples paid him tribute, as well. So the Prophet* gave each a guarantee letter, similar to Yahna’s, in which he says: "In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. This is a guarantee of protection from Allah and Muhammad the Prophet, the Messenger of Allah, to Yahna bin Rawbah and the people of Ailah; their ships, their caravans on land and sea shall have the custody of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad, he and whosoever are with him of Ash-Sham people and those of the sea. Whosoever contravenes this treaty, his wealth shall not save him; it shall be the fair prize of him that takes it. Now it should not be lawful to hinder the men from any springs which they have been in the habit of frequenting, nor from any journeys they desire to make, whether by sea or by land."
The Prophet* dispatched Khalid bin Al-Waleed at the head of four hundred and fifty horsemen to ‘Ukaidir Dumat Al-Jandal and said to him: "You will see him hunting oryxes." So when Khalid drew near his castle and was as far as an eye-sight range, he saw the oryxes coming out rubbing their horns against the castle gate. As it was a moony night Khalid could see Ukaidir come out to hunt them, so he captured him — though he was surrounded by his men — and brought him back to the Prophet*, who spared his life and made peace with him for the payment of two thousand camels, eight hundred heads of cattle, four hundred armours and four hundred lances. He obliged him to recognize the duty of paying tribute and charged him with collecting it from Dumat, Tabuk, Ailah and Taima’.
The tribes, who used to ally the Byzantines, became quite certain that their dependence on their former masters came to an end. Therefore they turned into being pro-Muslims. The Islamic state had therefore enlarged its borders to an extent that it, touched the Byzantines’ and their agents’ borders. So we see that the Byzantine agents role was over.

Returning to Medina from Tabuk
The Muslim army returned from Tabuk victoriously, undeceived or wronged. That was because Allah had sufficed them the evils of fight. On the way back and at a mountain road, twelve hypocrites sought the Prophet’s life and that was while he was passing along that mountain road with only Ammar holding the rein of his she-camel and Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman driving it, at the time that people had already gone down into the bottom of the valley. The hypocrites seized that opportunity to seek the Prophet’s life. As the Prophet* and his two companions were moving along, they heard thrusts of people coming towards him from behind with their faces veiled. Hudhaifa, who was sent by the Prophet to see what was going on, saw them and stroke their mounts’ faces with a crook in his hand and Allah cast fear into their hearts. They fled away and overtook their people. However, Hudhaifa named them to the Prophet* and informed him of their intentions. So that was why Hudhaifa was called the "confidant" of the Prophet*. About this event Allah, the Exalted says: "And they resolved that (plot to murder Muhammad) which they were unable to carry out." [Al-Qur'an 9:74]
When his headquarters, Medina, began to loom at the horizon, the Prophet [pbuh] said: "This is a cheerful sight. This is Uhud, which is a mountain, we like it and it likes us." When the Medinese learnt of their arrival they set out to meet the army. Women, youths, youngsters and small children went out of town to celebrate their home-return wholeheartedly singing: "The full moon shone down upon us, through the traits of Al-Wada‘ Mountain. Thanks is due to us, as long as a supplicator invokes to Allah.."
The Prophet*’s march to Tabuk was in Rajab and his return in Ramadan. So we see that this Ghazwah took fifty days, twenty days of which were spent in Tabuk and the others on the way to and fro. Tabuk Invasion was the last one made by the Prophet*.

The People Who lagged Behind
Due to its particular circumstances, this invasion was a peculiar severe trial provided by Allah only to try the believers’ Faith and sort them out of others. This is Allah’s permanent Will in such circumstances. In this respect He says: "Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which you are now, until He distinguishes the wicked from the good." [Al-Qur'an 3:179] Lagging and hanging back from full participation in that invasion amounted to the degree of hypocrisy. Whenever the Prophet* was informed of a man’s lingering, he would say: "Leave him alone! If Allah knows him to be good He will enable him to follow you; but if he were not so, Allah would relieve us of him." Nobody stayed behind except those who were either hindered by a serious excuse or the hypocrites who told lies to Allah and His Messenger.
Some of those hypocrites’ lingering was due to an excuse based on forgery and delusion. Some others tarried but didn’t ask for an instant permission. But there were three believers who unjustifiably lingered. They were the ones whom Allah tried their Faith, but later on He turned to them in mercy and accepted their repentance. As soon as the Prophet* had entered Medina, he prayed two Rak‘a then he sat to receive his people. The hypocrites who were over eighty men [Fath Al- Bari 8/119] came and offered various kinds of excuses and started swearing. The Prophet acknowledged their excuses and invoked Allah’s forgiveness for them but he entrusted their inner thoughts and Faith to Allah.

Destroying the Masjid of Dirar
From that time on, hypocrites were no longer treated leniently or even gently by the Muslims. Allah not only bade Muslims to treat them severely but He also forbade them to take their gift charities or perform prayer on their dead, or ask Allah’s forgiveness for them or even visit their tombs. Allah bade the Muslims to demolish the mosque, which they verily appointed and used as a hiding place where they might practise their plots, conspiracy and deceit. Some Qur’anic verses were sent down disclosing them publicly and utterly so that everybody in Medina got to know their reality.
The demolition or burning of Masjid al-Dirar, also referred to as the Mosque of Opposition, the Mosque of Dissent, or the Mosque of Harm is mentioned in the Qur'an. Masjid al-Dirar was a Medinian mosque that was erected close to the Quba' Mosque and which the Prophet* initially approved of but subsequently had destroyed while he was returning from the Battle of Tabuk (which occurred in October 630 AD).
The mosque was built by twelve disaffected men from the Ansar on the commands of Abu `Amir Ar-Rahib (the Monk); a Christian monk who refused Muhammad's invitation to Islam and instead fought along with the Meccan non-Muslims against Islam in the Battle of Uhud.
This man embraced Christianity before Islam and read the Scriptures. During the time of Jahiliyyah, Abu `Amir was known for being a worshipper and being a notable person among Al-Khazraj. When the Prophet* arrived at Al-Medina after the Hijrah, the Muslims gathered around him and the word of Islam was triumphant on the day of Badr, causing Abu `Amir, the cursed one, to choke on his own saliva and announce his enmity to Islam. He fled from Al-Medina to the idolators of Quraysh in Makkah to support them in the war against the Prophet* . The Quraysh united their forces and the bedouins who joined them for the battle of Uhud, during which Allah tested the Muslims, but the good end is always for the pious and righteous people. The rebellious Abu `Amir dug many holes in the ground between the two camps, into one of which the Messenger fell, injuring his face and breaking one of his right lower teeth. He also sustained a head injury. Before the fighting started, Abu `Amir approached his people among the Ansar and tried to convince them to support and agree with him. When they recognized him, they said, "May Allah never burden an eye by seeing you, O Fasiq one, O enemy of Allah!'' They cursed him and he went back declaring, "By Allah! Evil has touched my people after I left.'' The Prophet* called Abu `Amir to Allah and recited the Qur'an to him before his flight to Makkah, but he refused to embrace Islam and rebelled. The Messenger invoked Allah that Abu `Amir die as an outcast in an alien land, and his invocation came true. After the battle of Uhud was finished, Abu `Amir realized that the Messenger's call was still rising and gaining momentum, so he went to Heraclius, the emperor of Rome, asking for his aid against the Prophet . Heraclius gave him promises and Abu `Amir remained with him. He also wrote to several of his people in Al-Medina, who embraced hypocrisy, promising and insinuating to them that he will lead an army to fight the Prophet* to defeat him and his call. He ordered them to establish a stronghold where he could send his emissaries and to serve as an outpost when he joins them later on. These hypocrites built a Masjid next to the Masjid in Quba', and they finished building it before the Messenger went to Tabuk. They went to the Messenger inviting him to pray in their Masjid so that it would be a proof that the Messenger approved of their Masjid. They told him that they built the Masjid for the weak and ill persons on rainy nights. However, Allah prevented His Messenger from praying in that Masjid.
Abu 'Amir urged his men to establish a stronghold and prepare whatever they can of power and weapons as he promised and insinuated to them that he will lead an army, backed by Heraclius, to fight the Prophet* and his companions, and defeat his message by expelling him from Medina. The Prophet* prepared himself to go to the Mosque, before he was prevented by a revelation about the hypocrisy and ill design of the builders of the Mosque. The Prophet* and the companions believed they were Hypocrites (munafiqs) and had ulterior motives for building the Al-Dirar mosque. Thus he ordered his men to burn it down upon their return and Abu 'Amir was given the name Abu 'Amir al-Faasiq. When the Prophet* came back from Tabuk and was approximately one or two days away from Al-Medina, Jibril came down to him with the news about Masjid Ad-Dirar and the disbelief and division between the believers, who were in Masjid Quba' (which was built on piety from the first day), that Masjid Ad-Dirar was meant to achieve. Therefore, the Prophet* sent some people to Masjid Ad-Dirar to bring it down before he reached Al-Medina.


Main Topic: Belief ~ The Miraculous Qur’an

Scientific Miracles of the Quran
Many people have studies the Qur’an and pointed to statements which are written in the Qur’an that modern-day science has verified as being true. They point out (correctly) that an unlettered person living in the desert 1400 years ago could not have known these scientific truths. The main elements mentioned are the verses relating to the formation of the human embryo in the womb, and other scientific statements. Some of these are listed below (taken from a website: http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/scientific_index.html).
The skies with 'woven' orbits
The tsunami effect in the prophet moses’s parting of the sea
The sun will eventually expire
Modern-day radar technology
The contraction motion that facilitates birth
The solidity of the atom and electron orbits
A red rose in the sky: the rosette nebula
Bone loss in old age
The helio-centric system
The ozone layer at the poles as the sun rises
Heart massage
The cloning of living things
The sun will expire after some time
The pulling motion that facilitates birth
The expanding earth
Quasars and the gravitational lens effect
Scientific facts in the story of the flood of nuh
The earth’s gravitational force
Aerodynamic forces and the flight programmed in birds
The miracle of fire and wood, that cannot be obtained artificially
Radio receivers on mountains
The wisdom behind the prohibition of blood in the qur’an
Fossilization and iron content
The mother’s womb with its secure protection
The sun’s hydrogen and helium content
Oxidation in the blood
The quivering and swelling of the earth
The coming of the universe into existence
The expansion of the universe
The end of the universe and the big crunch
Creation from hot smoke
The splitting asunder of "the heavens and the earth"
The creation of what lies between the heavens and the earth
The perfect equilibrium in the universe
The fine tuning in the universe
The structural differences between the sun, the moon and the stars
Orbits and the rotating universe
The sun's trajectory
The moon's orbit
Calculating the lunar year
The force of gravity and orbital movements
The roundness of the earth
The earth's direction of rotation
The earth's geoid shape
The diameters of the earth and space
The layers of the atmosphere
The protected roof
The sky made a dome
The returning sky
The layers of the earth
The earth disgorges its charges
The function of mountains
The movement of mountains
Different points in the rising and setting of the sun
Land loss at the extremities
The splitting earth
The miracle of iron
The formation of petrol
The relativity of time
Creation in six days
The truth of destiny
Duality in creation
Sub-atomic particles
Black holes
Pulsars: pulsating stars
The star sirius
Light and dark
Combustion without fire
The weight of clouds
The proportion of rain
The formation of rain
Rains which bring a dead land back to life
The formation of hail, thunder and lightning
The fecundating winds
The stages of wind formation
How the process of photosynthesis begins in the morning
The seas not mingling with one another
Darkness in the seas and internal waves
The region that controls our movements
Hearts find peace in the remembrance of allah
Forgiveness according to the morals of islam and its benefits on health
How prayer accelerates the treatment of the sick
Stress and depression: the results of not abiding by the religion
The birth of a human being
The creation of human beings from water
Creation from clay
The programming in genes
The menstrual period
Pregnancy and birth
The sequence in development of human organs
The formation of milk
Miraculous mixture: mother's milk
The identity in the fingerprint
The female honey bee
The miracle of honey
The date and its uses as described in the qur'an
The fig: a fruit whose perfection has only recently been revealed
Fish: a valuable source of nutrition
Pork and its harmful effects on health
The olive: a health-giving plant
Coronary by-pass surgery
Health benefits of movement, washing and drinking water
The existence of microscopic life
The existence of animal societies
Biomimetics: drawing inspiration from the design in living things
Locusts moving in swarms
Ant communication
The food cycle
The ears are active during sleep
The importance of movement in sleep
Reduced movement at night
Chest contraction with increasing height

Caution about scientific interpretations
However, a note of caution ~ many statements are vague and open to interpretation. Also, we know that scientific theory can change from age to age and will this invalidate the miraculous nature of the Qur’an? Theories are only theories, and the true miraculous nature of the Qur’an is its use of the Arabic language:

Literary Miracle of the Qur’an
“Read in the Name of your Lord” [TMQ]. These were the first few words of the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet Muhammad* over fourteen hundred years ago. Muhammad, who was known to have been in retreat and meditation in a cave outside Mecca, had received the first few words of a book that would have a tremendous impact on the world of Arabic literature.  Not being known to have composed any piece of poetry and not having any special rhetorical gifts, Muhammad had just received the beginning of a book that would deal with matters of belief, law, politics, ritual, spirituality,  and economics  in an ‘entirely new literary form’. This unique literary form was the cause of the dramatic intellectual revival of desert Arabs, and after thirteen years of the first revelation, it became the only reference for a new state in Medina. This new form of speech, the Qur’an, became the sole source of the new civilisation’s political, philosophical, and spiritual outlook.

The Qur’an’s Challenge
The unique literary form forms the backdrop to the doctrine of I’jaz al-Quran, the inimitability of the Qur’an, which lies at the heart of the Qur’an’s claim to being of divine origin. The Qur’an states, “If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our messenger, then produce one chapter like it. Call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful”;  and “Or do they say he fabricated the message? Nay, they have no faith. Let them produce a recital like it, if they speak the truth.”
According Qur’anic experts these verses issue a challenge to produce a chapter (surah) that imitates the Qur’an’s unique literary form. The tools needed to meet this challenge are the finite grammatical rules and the twenty eight letters that make-up the Arabic language; these are independent and objective measures available to all. The fact that it has not been matched since it emerged to this day does not surprise most scholars familiar with the Arabic language and that of the Qur’an.
The inability of any person to produce anything like the Qur’an, due to its unique literary form, is the essence of the Qur’anic miracle. A miracle is defined as “events which lie outside the productive capacity of nature”.  The argument posed by Muslim Theologians and Philosophers is that if, with the finite set of Arabic linguistic tools at humanity’s disposal,  there is no effective challenge; then providing a naturalistic explanation for the Qur’an’s uniqueness is incoherent and  doesn’t explain its inimitability. This is because the natural capacity of the text producer, or author, is able to produce the known literary forms in the Arabic language. The development of an entirely unique literary form is beyond the scope of the productive nature any author, hence a supernatural entity, God, is the only sufficient comprehensive explanation. 

The Arabic Qur’an
The uniqueness of the Qur’an lies in its use of the Arabic language – which was at its peak at the time of revelation – at the time of the Prophet*. The Arabs felt that they had reached the pinnacle of excellence for the language when Allah then sent the Qur’an – which dumbfounded the experts of Arabic language. We can get technical about the miracles (I’jaz) of the Qur’an but to put it in a simplistic way – the Arabic language has three main components: Grammar (syntax), Poetry (Style) and Meaning. These don’t all co-exist at their purest forms as only two can exist whilst sacrificing the third domain. Only the Qur’an has been able to synthesise these three elements Grammar (syntax), Poetry (Style) and Meaning in a written form. The challenge for any doubters is to study Arabic and disprove the rules of Arabic and the Qur’anic approach. It is possible to get more technical about this – but one needs to know Arabic to discuss these technical aspects of the miracle – outside the scope of our Study Circle! We will, however, touch on some aspects of this shortly, I/A.


Children’s Feedback:
Charity Event about the Rohingya Muslims being persecuted in Burma
99 Names of Allah

News Topic
Nil

HomeworkSeerah ~ Read the story (Hadith) of Ka'b ibn Malik and his experience of the Battle of Tabuk. What can you learn from this?
Belief ~ Who could have possibly wrote (authored) the Qur'an at the time of the Prophet?