The teachings of Islam were so contagious that the people of the Aus and the Khazraj, awakened to interest, quickly attested their faith in it. Sad Ibn Muadh was the first to embrace, then Usayd Ibn Hudayr, the leader of Bani Abdul Ashhal, a clan of Aus followed suit. The wise and courteous stance of Musab Ibn Umary, together with the proper manner in which he presented Islam to them, convinced these people of the truth that is Islam. Then the remaining clansmen of Bani Abdul Ashal were led to accept the faith such that shortly thereafter, there was not a house of the Ansaar in which a man or a woman had not given his or her faith to Islam. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 436-38)
THE SECOND PLEDGE OF AQABA
In the next year, during Haj, Musab Ibn Umayr wen t back to Mecca with a number of Ansaar Muslims and other polytheists of Madinah. After the Ansaar had performed their pilgrimage, the Prophet (peace be upon him) met them at the previous years meeting place late in the middle of the night. At this time, there were seventy-three of them, including two women. The Prophet of God (peace be upon him) came accompanied by his Uncle, Abbas Ibn Abdul Muttalib, who had still not embraced Islam.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) talked to them, read some of the Quran and invited them to accept Islam. Then he said, I invite your allegiance on a condition that you would protect me in the same way as you would your women and children. They gave allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him) but demanded that he would not leave them nor return to his own people. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said in reply, I am of you and you are of me. I will fight against them that make war upon you and have peace with those that keep peace with you.
Thereafter the Prophet (peace be upon him) selected twelve of them, nine from the Khazraj and three from the Aus, as their leaders. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 436-38)
The Lessons And Examples Can Be Taking From This Period As Follows:
1. It is possible for a member of the caller's family, who does not follow his religion, to protect him. This is beneficial for the movement when it is weak It prevents the evildoers from threatening the reformer's life or inflicting harm upon him. From the bigotry and zeal of the tribe and family, a caller can benefit by protecting himself and his message as long as it is not conditional upon acquiescing and approving the wrong that the family is doing.
2. The pious wife, who believes in the message of truth, eases the difficulties for her husband if she shares in his anxieties and suffering; she then lessens his worries and puts courage into his soul to remain firm and continue his mission. In this way, she can contribute to the success and victory of the movement. The position of Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, with respect to Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) is the best example of the role a believing wife can exercise for the movement. She exemplified the role that the wife can play in the success of her husband and the message itself, and in his perseverance in the call. The loss of such a wife in the midst of the struggle is a huge casuality, concerning which her husband cannot help but feel grievously sad.
3. The grief over the death of a relative who is protecting the call of the truth, even though he does not believe in it and the sadness over the death of a sincere, believing wife is a necessary result of the sincerity of the movement. Appreciation for the ideal wife who sacrifices and supports the movement is also a incumbent. That is why, when Abu Talib died, the Messenger said, "May Allah have mercy on you and forgive you. I will continue to ask forgiveness for you until Allah forbids me from doing so." The Muslims, therefore, followed his example in asking forgiveness for dead, polytheist relatives. They did so until Allah revealed His saying,
"It is not befitting for the Prophet (peace be upon him) and those who believe to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it has become clear that they are people of hell-fire."
[Qur'aan 9: 113]
This stopped the Prophet (peace be upon him) from asking forgiveness for Abu Talib as it also stopped the Muslims from asking forgivenesss for their own dead polytheist relatives. The Messenger (peace be upon him) remained for the rest of his life remembering Khadijah's favors and asking Allah to have mercy on her; and he was dutiful to her friends. He was so devoted to her and her acquaintances that Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) was jealous of her even though she was dead. This jealousy was a result of the enormous praise which the Prophet (peace be upon him) lavished upon Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her). Al-Bukhaari gathered from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said, "I did not feel jealous of any of the Prophet's wives as much as I felt toward Khadijah. Although I did not see her, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to remember her very often and he would slaughter a sheep, cut it into parts and then send it to the female friends of Khadijah. I would say to him, 'It is as if there were no women in the world except Khadijah.' He would respond, 'She was so and so and I had children from her."
4. The Messenger's (peace be upon him) journey to Taif after the Makkans refused to follow him, is evidence of the absolute persistence in his soul towards continuing the message and is one that proves his conviction that it will finally be accepted. The search for a new arena to deliver the message after being confronted with obstacles in the old one, as well as Taif residents' incitement of its lads and fools to harm the Messenger (peace be upon him), are proofs enough that the nature of evil is the same everywhere. And it depends upon the ignorant or the ill informed to harm the propagators of salvation. In the bleeding of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) feet, we see in him the greatest example of the pain and persecution suffered by such a noble person for the sake of Allah. The supplication of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the garden which was an everlasting one, stresses the sincerity of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to his message and his persistence in continuing it regardless of the difficulties that lie ahead. To him, what matters was pleasing Allah. He was not concerned with satisfying the leaders and powerful people nor the masses or the ignorant. As he stated, "If you are not angry with me, I do not care." We find in this supplication the Prophet (peace be upon him) seeking strength from Allah by seeking refuge in Him, seeking His help when the hurt inflicted upon him intensified. We also see that the Prophet (peace be upon him) only feared Allah's displeasure and anger with him and not the displeasure of anyone else.
5. Within the Miracle of Israa and Miraj are many potent & salient points. However, only three of them will be mentioned here:
First, inherent within the miracle is the parallelism of the problems of Masjid Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, which is the farthest mosque and the area surrounding it, Palestine, to the problems of the Islamic world as a whole. Although Mecca became the center of the Islamic world after the message of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was revealed, with Mecca serving as the focal point in the unity of its goals, the defense of Palestine is the defense of Islam itself and is the duty of every Muslim in the world. Being negligent with respect to defending and liberating Palestine means being negligent towards an aspect of Islam, a sin for which Allah may punish every believer in Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him).
Second, the miracle symbolizes the loftiness of the Muslims and the obligation upon them to rise above worldly lusts and desires. They must distinguish themselves from other human beings by living up to the nobility of their role. They must always be of noble goals and purposes.
Third, the miracle indicates the possibility of going into outer space above the earth's gravity. Thus, our Messenger (peace be upon him) was the first astronaut in the history of the world. He proved that it is possible to go to outer space and return safely. Although it happened to the Messenger (peace be upon him) through a miracle, it is possible for others through technology and knowledge.
6. The imposition of prayers upon the Muslims on the night of the Israa and Miraj is an indication of the wisdom behind the legislation of the prayers. It is as if Allah is saying to His believing slaves, "If the Mi'raj (ascension) of your Messenger to the heavens with his body and soul is a miracle, let there be a mi'raj (ascension) in your life thru the five times daily prayer in which your hearts and your spirits come up to Me. Let it be a spiritual mi'raj for you through which you achieve elevation from your desires and lusts. Witness My Greatness, My Power, and My Unity. Let this be your motivation and guiding light to become the leaders of the earth, not by enslaving, oppressing and imposing, but by the way of goodness and morality, the way of purification, spiritual enlightenment, and by the way of salat (prayers)."
7. The Messenger's (peace be upon him) stance of presenting Islam to those who came for the pilgrimage is an evidence that the caller should not limit himself to propagating in his own bailiwick, among his own people. He must go to every place where people gather or to places where it is possible to gather people. He must not lose hope if they turn away from him time after time. Allah may prepare for him supporters who believe in his call and who come from places that he least expected them to emanate from. It is possible that those few, who have been guided by him on some occasions, might be of great assistance in spreading the message and the truth. Their support may lead to a final victory over evil and its supporters. The belief of the first seven people of the Ansar, who met the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the first meeting, initially led to the infiltration of Islam in Madinah which ultimately facilitated Islam's dominion over the place. This conversion led to the preparation and use of Madinah as a place of refuge for the oppressed believers in Mecca. Islam's supremacy over Madinah rendered the area as a suitable sanctuary for the oppressed emigrants from Mecca where they could centralize their existence and where Allah's Messenger could have a safe shelter. It was a place for him to establish his state and his dawah. From there he and his companions could immediately begin to resist idolatry and the polytheists through battles and confrontations which finally ended with the eternal victory of the believers and the perpetual demise of polytheism.
May Allah be pleased with the Ansaar from Aus and Khazraj for their great and endless favors to Islam, Muslims and the world.
Also, may Allah be pleased with their brethren, the emigrants, those who preceded them in belief and who, for its sake, had abandoned and sacrificed all their wealth and homes. And may Allah gather us with them in the inevitably pleasurable Paradise. Ameen.
-
-
Next : The Rejection
-
-
-
-
No comments:
Post a Comment