05 December 2010

05 December 2010

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

Medina receives the news of victory
Abdullah bin Rawahah (to Upper Medina) and Zaid bin Harithah (to lower Medina) were despatched to Medina, to convey the glad tidings of victory to the Muslims there. There were different reactions. Rumour-mongers amongst the Jews and hypocrites (Munafiqeen) spread news to the effect that the Prophet* had been killed, and tried to impress their false assumption on the fact that Zaid bin Harithah was riding Al-Qaswa’, the Prophet*’s she-camel. This exposed some of the enemies of the Prophet*. Having reached different parts of the city, the two messengers imparted to the Muslims the happy news of victory, and gave accounts of the battle in order to establish the sense of reassurance deep in the hearts of the anxious, but now, joyous Muslims. They immediately started acclaiming Allah’s Name and entertaining His praise at the top of their voices. Their chiefs later went out of the city to wait and receive the Prophet* on the road leading to Badr.
 
Prisoners of war
The Prophet* advised his companions before the battle not to kill Al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib and Abu Bukhtari bin Hisham. He ordered the Muslims to capture, but not to kill them. Abu Al-Bukhtari bin Hisham had already done his best to restrain the Mecca from committing any act of folly against the Prophet* while the latter was still in Mecca. He also neither hurt nor was reported to have uttered anything repugnant with regard to the Prophet*. He was also among the people who cancelled the boycott taken against Banu Hashim and Banu Abdul Muttalib. Here, however, in the battle of Badr he insisted on fighting unless his compatriot was spared. Al-Mujdhir bin Ziyad Al-Balwi, with whom he was engaged in combat, replied that the other was not included in the Prophet*’s recommendation. The combat went on to end in Al-Bukhtari’s death.

When the war activities had been concluded, Mus‘ab bin Umair Al-Abdari saw his brother, still a polytheist, being handcuffed by a Ansari. Mus‘ab recommended that the Helper tighten the knot for the prisoner’s mother was wealthy enough to ransom her son. Abu Aziz, Mus‘ab’s brother, tried to appeal to his brother through the family ties, but the latter firmly replied that the Helper was more eligible for brotherhood than him.
The Prophet* told the Muslims to treat the prisoners well. The Muslims obeyed him to such an extent that the captors used to give the captives their bread (the more valued part of the meal) and keep the dates for themselves, or walk whilst some of the prisoners would ride the camels. This would embarrass some of the prisoners and helped others in seeing the greatness of Islam and to convert to Islam – something that accompanied many of the battles.

Revelation about the Prisoners

Prisoners of war were a new problem because it was a new phenomenon in the history of Islam. The Prophet* consulted Abu Bakr and Umer bin Al-Khattab as to what he should do with the prisoners. Abu Bakr suggested that he should ransom them, explaining this by saying: "They are after all our relatives, and this money would give us strength against the disbelievers, moreover, Allah could guide them to Islam." Umer advised killing them, saying, "They are the leaders of Kufr (disbelief)." The Prophet* preferred Abu Bakr’s suggestion to that of Umer’s stating that Abu Bakr was like Ibrahim and Isa, whereas Umer was like Nuh and Musa in the way they treated their followers. The following day, Umer called on the Prophet* and Abu Bakr to see them weeping. He showed extreme astonishment and inquired about the situation so that he might weep if it was worth weeping for, or else he would pretend to weep in sympathy.
The Prophet* said that a Qur’anic verse had been revealed rebuking them for taking ransom from the captives rather than slaying them: "It is not for a Prophet that he should have prisoners of war (and free them with ransom) until he had made a great slaughter (among his enemies) in the land. You desire the good of this world (i.e. the money of ransom for freeing the captives), but Allah desires (for you) the Hereafter. And Allah is All- Mighty, All- Wise. Were it not a previous ordainment from Allah, a severe torment would have touched you for what you took." [Al-Qur'an 8:67,68]
The previous revelation: "Thereafter (is the time) either for generosity (i.e. free them without ransom) or ransom." [Al-Qur'an 47:4] allowed them to ask for ransom - that is why no penalty was imposed. They were rebuked only for taking prisoners before subduing all the land of disbelief. Apart from this, the polytheists taken to Medina were not only prisoners of war but rather arch-criminals of war whom modern war penal law brings to justice to receive their due sentence of death or prison for life. The ransom for the prisoners ranged between 4000 and 1000 Dirhams in accordance with the captive’s financial situation.
In captivity, there was also an eloquent orator called Suhail bin Amr. Umer suggested that they pull out his front teeth to disable him from speaking, but the Prophet* turned down his suggestion for fear Quraish should retaliate in the same manner on one hand, and on the other for fear of Allah’s wrath on the Day of Resurrection. This also shows how the Muslims treated the prisoners – and all this compares differently to how the ‘civilised’ West treats Muslim prisoners – like the torture in Abu Ghraib in Iraq or Bagram in Afghanistan.
The most eminent of the captives was the chief of Amir, Suhayl, cousin of Sawdah and brother of her first husband. Others more closely connected with the Prophet were his uncle Abbas, his son-in-law, Zaynab's husband Abu l-Aas, and his cousins Aqil and Nawfal.
 

The sworn enemies of the Prophet*

Early next morning he set off for Medina with his army and the spoils. Two of the most valuable captives, that is those whose families could be relied upon to pay the full ransom of 4,000 dirhems, were An-Nadr bin Al-Harith and Uqbah bin Abi Muait. But these were two of the worst enemies of Islam because they had persecuted the Muslims in Mecca, and had deep hatred towards Allah and His Messenger*. An-Nadr bin Al-Harith had gone to Persia to learn tales from their ancient past to compete with the Prophet* when he would talk in public. He had been dispatched specifically to learn these stories and turn people away from Islam. Uqbah had thrown the intestines on the Prophet* and strangled the Prophet* so hard that said he felt that his eyes would pop. In a nutshell, they were criminals of war in modern terminology, and their execution was a lesson to oppressors. ‘Uqbah forgot his pride and cried out, "Who will look after my children O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet* answered, "The fire (of Hell). These two were at the forefront of oppression and lies against the Prophet and denigrating him and his message. This compares with the treatment the Prophet* insisted for the other prisoners of war, at that he ordered his followers to treat well, and even asked them not to kill certain non-Muslims during battle. One of the main lessons here is that Muslims should treat others appropriately – being kind and considerate to those that are kind with the Muslims.

Hadith

Number 11 of Nawawi's 40 Hadith: The Doubtful and Certain

On the authority of Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah*, and the one much loved by him, who said: I memorised from the Messenger of Allah*: Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt. [at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasai]

This hadith is related to some previous hadith but had a slightly different angle to it. As Muslims and strong believers we should stick to those things that we are certain about in our Islam - and if we have a good and strong understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah, then by doing the certain things our hearts will fill with peace and tranquillity. If we were to approach things that have some doubt then we would feel anxious and worry about whether this is a desirable thing. This does not apply to those Muslims who do not understand or practice Islam – as they feel no shame when they sin against themselves and Allah.

We must be strong to resist the whispering (Waswasa) of the Shaytan especially in acts of worship (Ibadah). We should consider what is right based upon what we know for sure and do not let the doubts from Shayton put us off doing the worship altogether. For example, whilst praying – if we forget how many Rakah we have prayed we should continue based upon how many we know for sure that we have prayed and not be distracted to give up the prayer. Likewise when doing Tawaf around the Kaaba. Also, when performing wudu we should assume that the water is pure unless we know for certain that is is impure.

Also, when we make the intention for an act of worship – we should be certain that the conditions are fulfilled. Hence, we can only start Ramadhan with the new moon sighting or after 30 days Shaban, or pray when we are sure that it is the right time for prayer.

We should try to live our life in certainties and not doubt or uncertainties.

News Topic

Wikileaks

A brief discussion about some of the information being made available through the Wikileaks disclosures. These include how little respect the puppet Muslim leaders have from their own people and how much these corrupt puppet rulers of Muslim countries are constantly ttrying to please the West ern countries (like America) rather than looking after the affairs of the Muslim people.

Homework from 5 December 2010:

1. Discuss the reaction in Mecca to the news of the great victory at Badr. Some peope welcomed it whilst others didn't....

2. What do you understand from the next (number 12) of Nawawi's 40 Hadith:

On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said : The messenger of Allah said: "Part of someone's being a good Muslim is his leaving alone that which does not concern him." [at-Tirmidhi and others]

3. News Topics from this week:

Any interesting news articles from the week that relate to Islam or the Muslims?
Bring a clipping or print out if you can...

4 October 2009

Seerah of Muhammed*

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


Private and Secret stage

Ibn Qayyum talks about types of Revelation (Wahi) to the Prophet* ~

1 – Dreams: Before prophethood there was a period of true vision = dreams that came true the next day for 6 months (True Dreams that will happen or need interpreting; Dreams from Shaytan; Meaningless Dreams)

2 – Angel inspires Muhammed* (but does not appear): The noble spirit revealed that no soul will perish until in exhausts its due course so fear Allah and gently request Him and never get so impatient to the verge of disobedience to Allah, what Allah has can never be acquired but through obedience to Him

3 – Angel appears to Muhammed* in physical form of human being: Hadith Jibreel

4 – Angel came to Muhammed* as a toll of a bell: hold him tightly and he would sweat profusely, feel the weight of the angel and the sound like a ringing bell (sound of beating wings like dragging a chain on rocks), bending of the camel or Zaid bin Harithah’s thigh being crushed

5 – Muhammed* would see Jibreel in his actual form: happened twice, his wings would cover the horizon

6 – Allah would speak to Muhammed* directly: al-Miraj


Gap in the early revelation and the Prophet*’s initial doubts, but then Muhammed* went about inviting only close friends & associates and studied in the House of Arqam

Khadijah - first believer, first woman (one of the four greatest women – Khadijah, Maryam, Aasiyah, Fatimah)
Ali - first child
Zaid bin Harithah - first slave
Abu Bakr - first free man (male convert) with no hesitation (as-Saddiq)


Public Stage

“And warn your tribe (O Muhammad) of nearest kindred” TMQ 26:214

Then Muhammed* openly declared Islam. Ali & Muhammed* put on a banquet for elders and then stood on Mount Safa’ and called ‘Yah-Subaaha’ to gather all the people for a critical announcement. In a straight-forward manner he said: “O people! Will you believe me if I say there is an army marching behind this mountain which is about to attack you? They all answered, 'Of course we would, we have not heard a lie from you throughout your life.' Muhammed* then said, 'O people of the Quraish! I warn you to fear God's punishment. Save yourself from the fire…' then Abu Lahab ibn Abd Al-Muttalib, broke the silence saying, 'Give our oath to you? May evil befall you for the rest of the day! Have you gathered us here to tell us such words?'

Hence Allah revealed: “May the hands of Abu Lahab perish, may he (himself) perish. His wealth avails him not, neither what he had earned. Soon will he roast in a flaming fire, and his wife, the bearer of the firewood, upon her neck a rope of twisted palm-fibre." (TMQ, 111:1-5)
Hadith (Riyadh as-Salihin): On Sincerity and having an intention for all actions, words and states, outward and inward

Abu Bakra Nufay' ibn al-Harith ath-Thaqafi said, "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'When two Muslims clash with their swords, then both the killer and killed are in the Fire.' I asked, "Messenger of Allah, I can understand this with regard to the killer, but what about the murdered man?' He replied, 'He also was eager to kill his companion.

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The group prayer of a man is some twenty degrees higher than his prayer in his business or his house. That is because when one of you does wudu' thoroughly and then goes to the mosque with no other object than that of doing the prayer, without being impelled by anything other than the prayer, Allah will raise him up a degree with every step he takes, and a wrong action will also fall away from him, until he enters the mosque. When he enters the mosque, he is in prayer the whole time he is waiting for it and the angels pray for him all the time he is sitting there, saying, 'O Allah! Show mercy to him! O Allah! Forgive him! O Allah! Turn towards him!' as long as he has not caused anyone injury and has not broken wudu'." [Muslim]

Abu'l-'Abbas 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas ibn 'Abdu'l-Muttalib said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in what he reported from his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, "Allah wrote good actions and bad actions and then made that clear. Whoever intends to do a good action and then does not do it, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, will write a full good action for him. If he intends to do it and then does it, Allah will write ten to seven hundred good actions multiplied many times over. If he intends an evil action and then does not do it, Allah will write a full good action for him. If he intends it and then does it, Allah will write one bad action for him."

Another Hadith on a topic we talked about last week:

The hairdresser of Pharaoh’s daughter: While she was combing the girl’s hair, the comb fell from her hand, and she, unconsciously, uttered the name of Allah. “You mean father, don’t you?” asked the girl. “No, Allah is my God as well as yours and your father’s,” replied the hairdresser, and, being affected by Musa (AS) as well as following the sorcerers’ example, she spilled out all that she has kept secret. Immediately, the girl told her father, Pharaoh, about this. Consequently, he ordered for her four children to be fetched. Then he asked her, “Do you have another god besides me?” “Allah is my God as well as yours,” she would reply. He kept asking her the same question before he boiled each of her first three children alive, and she would give the same reply. Until the youngest one, who was a baby, was left. She was about to revert when her baby spoke out and told her she is on the right path and she shouldn’t be afraid. Then, they burned them both. Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) narrates that, as he was making al-mi’raj, he smelt the sweetest scent ever. When he asked Jibril (AS) (Gabriel) about it, he told him that it’s the scent of Pharaoh’s daughter’s hairdresser and her four children.



Topic: The Purpose of Knowledge

In this Saturday’s The Guardian there is an interesting article about how the Universities in England about how the UK Government will focus funding in the Universities for courses that can demonstrate they can have commercial benefit and be productive to society. (see In search of the next Stephen Hawking: Physicists warn Britain risks losing the next generation of great minds http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/02/search-for-stephen-hawkings-successor) and so what is the place of knowledge in Islam and the West?

Understanding Western development:

After the decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century CE, European feudal states ("Dark Ages"), but the Muslims conquered Spain. Crusades then the Renaissance then the age of Enlightenment (18th Century) due to a weak Catholic Church and the increase in exploration and trade with the Old World nations, Capitalism slowly begun to replace feudalism and modern Science was starting to be developed and its findings were applied to technological advancements. The industrial revolution (19th Century), where changes in agriculture, transport and manufacturing caused a shift from an economy based primarily on manual labour to one based on industry. Political revolutions and the formation of nation-states, using Capitalist values.


Muslim Education

First & powerful words revealed to Muhammed* (and the Muslims) was Iqra (‘Read’ and‘Recite’)

“Read in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clot. Read, for your Lord is most Generous, Who teaches by means of the pen, teaches man what he does not know.” TMQ 96: 1-5


Muhammed* did not read to ‘read’ but to ‘recite’ as he had direct information from Allah. It was Allah’s plan to ensure Muhammed* was illiterate & unfamiliar with scriptures [‘If you had known scripture before this or were able to write then this would cause doubts in the ones who want to make doubts’ ~ TMQ 29:48].

Reading is the key to knowledge for Muslims but Muhammed* getting taught by Jibreel. Muhammed prioritised learning (e.g., Badr Prisoners of War asked to teach). But there is Knowledge that Benefits: Umer was reading the Torah and Muhammed* criticised him, but later after many years, Muhammed* said ‘I had prohibited you from reading the stories of Bani Israel but now I am allowing you to read it, but do not believe in it and do not disbelieve in it’; Furthermore, Muhammed* used to make du’a: ‘Oh Allah I ask that you give me knowledge that benefits and I seek refuge in you from knowledge that does not benefit’

Knowledge is developmental: need to feed the students what they can understand easily. Then examinations will test the people according to their level

The Muslim world historically excelled in education and made huge contributions to science and technology. It was the Abbasids that first formalised education in the Muslim world setting in motion what is considered the golden age of Islam by historians, where substantial development occurred in many scientific spheres. The Khulufaa' attracted to their courts men of science, poets, physicians and philosophers whom they supported. Learning progressed and developed with differences of creed, colour, race and tribe being no barrier to learning.


The Masjid (Mosque) served as the fundamental educational institution of early Muslims. However, as the demand for learning grew, the Madrassah - modern day college began to appear. Prior to this period education was taught in mosques in an informal manner. At this early stage, people seeking knowledge tended to gather around certain knowledgeable Muslims – shaykhs who began to hold regular religious education sessions - majalis. With the creation of Madrassah's the Jamia (university) emerged. The University of Al-Karaouine (Jami'at al-Qarawiyyin) in Fez, Morocco as the oldest university in the world founded in 859 and Al-Azhar University (Cairo) in the 10th century, offered a wide variety of academic degrees, including postgraduate degrees, and was the first fully-fledged university.

The Islamic form of education, was eventually emulated by the Europeans - of which many of the similarities stand till this day - the term Chair in a university, reflects the Arabic Kursi, upon which the ‘alim (teacher) would sit and teach his students. The modern doctorate in Latin is termed "a licence to teach" and had already developed long before it was transmitted to Europe, being a direct translation of the Arabic Ijazat at-tadris. A permission to teach was granted by an ‘alim, who had studied with an ‘alim after he had resolved a problem by issuing a fatwa, then defending it in front of a panel of ‘alims.

Even the modern day graduation ceremony resembles the Islamic ceremony. The robes worn today, were called Jubba tul faqih, and were given when an ‘alim received his ijazah. The early Islamic State also created the first public hospital (which replaced healing temples and sleep temples) and the psychiatric hospital, the public library and lending library, the academic degree-granting university, and the astronomical observatory as a research institute (as opposed to a private observation post as was the case in ancient times). The first universities that issued diplomas were the Bimaristan medical university-hospitals, where medical diplomas were issued to students of medicine who were qualified to be practicing doctors of medicine from the 9th century.

Sir John Bagot Glubb wrote "By Mamun's time medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. The first free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of Haroon-ar-Rashid. As the system developed, physicians and surgeons were appointed who gave lectures to medical students and issued diplomas to those who were considered qualified to practice. The first hospital in Egypt was opened in 872 AD and thereafter public hospitals sprang up all over the empire from Spain and the Maghrib to Persia."

Madrasahs were also the first law schools, and many have suggested that the "law schools known as Inns of Court in England" may have been derived from the Madrasahs that taught Islamic law and jurisprudence.


Islamic purpose for education and learning includes:

- Building the Islamic Personality (aqliya and nafseeyah) by planting the Islamic culture in the hearts and minds of students

- Preparing the future generation to become scientists, specialists in all fields of life (Islamic sciences and natural sciences) so that they give rise to the Ulema and specialists who will lead the Ummah to become a great nation


“And He has subjected to you the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; and the stars are subjected by His command. Surely, in this are proofs for a people who understand.” TMQ An-Nahl 16:12


“And He has subjected to you all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth; it is all as a favour and kindness form Him. Verily, in it are signs for a people who think deeply.” TMQ Al-Jathiyah 45:13