Ansariyan Publications

We are before the gift of Allah to the whole world; the great Prophet (a.s.) who said, “I am but a gifted mercy”.

Definitely, all sides of the human greatness have existed in the conducts, manners, maxims, and teachings of the Prophet (a.s.) that enrich intellect and make it fertile all the time; not an intellect of a certain age or a culture of a special milieu, but the intellects and cultures of all ages and all milieus throughout history.

The conducts of the Prophet (a.s.) have set the educational bases and the live methods of man’s behavior with himself, his family, and his society. These methods keep pace with man’s nature and changes of time, and react with life. They do not clash with the nature or the rules of the universe, but it will remain alive and man cannot find its like or alternative until Allah will inherit the earth and all that on it.

Prophethood is the gift of Allah to His people that carry out the rules of truth and justice and repair what deviates in the systems of their life. In any case, prophethood is not bound to the laws which people are bound to in choosing their rulers and leaders, but it is in the hand of the Great Creator Who has created the universe and given life. He is most aware of whomever He chooses for the guidance of His people, the reforming of their affairs, the rectifying of their behaviors, and the purifying of their souls.

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Since the first dawn of the history of mankind, Allah chose the best of His people to inform of His missions and spread goodness and love among all people. The prophets carried the mission of Allah and did all what they could in teaching and guiding their nations to better their lives that would assure to them happiness, dignity, and justice.

The last and master of the prophets, Prophet Muhammad (a.s.), as well, carried out the mission of his Lord after bearing all kinds of troubles and sufferings in the way of rescuing Allah’s people from the claws of ignorance and its sins. He caused springs of knowledge and wisdom flow to everywhere, and carried lanterns that lit the ways for all peoples, illuminated minds, and guided the deviants.

The important thing in the sending of prophets is the inviting of people to monotheism and to worship Allah alone with no partner. The faith in Allah is a base that all powers of good, safety, and peace are built on. He, who believes in Allah the One and Only, does not commit a sin, wrong, or aggression. Surely, all the disasters of wars and the calamities that afflict people result from the lack of the faith in Allah. Therefore, the invitation to the faith in Allah was the most important thing that all prophets kept on in their missions to the nations. You do not read the life of anyone of the prophets of Allah except that you see that the sincere invitation to monotheism and the true faith in Allah alone with no partner was the most prominent task in all the prophets’ missions.

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The mission of Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) was distinguished, in inviting to monotheism, with irrefutable proofs that relied on perceptible notions that could not be doubted or suspected. It did not involve in philosophical studies or other complicated arguments that that simple people could not understand. Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) avoided that and he relied on the perceptible proofs that existed in all phenomena in the universe and in the creation of man himself with his wonderful systems such as his brain, sight, hearing, perceiving…etc. These clear proofs have been mentioned in many verses in the Holy Qur’an .

It is worth mentioning that most of the Qur’anic verses that were revealed on monotheism and that refuted the thoughts of the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah; ignorance) were revealed in Mecca and not in Medina, because the people of Mecca were idolaters whereas Medina, which the Prophet (a.s.) took as his capital, was of little polytheism and atheism, and its people believed in Islam and defended it devotedly. In this good town, the Word of Monotheism was raised high and its lights extended to the nations of the world and the peoples of the earth.

The mission of the Prophet (a.s.) was not limited to monotheism and the other spiritual rites only, but also it included all phenomena and affairs of life. The Prophet (a.s.) had established the social systems for the individual, family, society, and state. He had, as well, set the foreign and interior policies of government which were based on pure justice and truth.

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The mission of Islam has extended to all sides of life and opened new horizons to reason. It has fully cared for knowledge and made it the base in every thing even the witnesses that should not depend on supposition. Islam has not permitted the imitation of one’s fathers in the concerns of beliefs, but one must follow knowledge and certainty in this matter to be certain of his beliefs before Allah and before himself.

From among what the Prophet (a.s.) was very careful for in his mission was to do away with poverty and put an end to neediness. He legislated (by the command of Allah) taxes such as zakat, khums, and the social insurance, and encouraged charity with all means. He established his economic systems on the goal of spreading ease among all people and preventing the monopolizing of wealth by some few people. He strictly prohibited the means that made wealth accumulate in the hands of a certain class of people. He prohibited usury, exploitation, monopoly of foods, injustice in dealings, and swindle. He legislated the law of inheritance that would prevent excessive wealth by not limiting the inheritance to the eldest child as the case in some western countries. Indeed, the Islamic economy can achieve easiness, in its wide notion, for all people.

From the legislations of Islam is the care for the general health and the making of medicine preventive. Islam has prevented the excessiveness in having food. Allah says, (and eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely He does not love the extravagant).[1] Excessiveness in having food has many bad complications. It causes stomach illnesses, fatness, and heart illnesses. If Muslims follow that in their life, they will not need to go to physicians, and medicine will be just protective to them.

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From the means that the Prophet (a.s.) has called for in this concern is cleanness which he has considered as a part from faith. Cleanness is not limited to one’s body only, but it includes what man eats, drinks, wears, and the place where he lives and works besides streets, stores, and all kinds of buildings so that to prevent the spread of diseases and epidemics.

As for the Prophet’s personality, it has filled the mouth of the universe with its highness, perfection, and virtue. In all stages of his life, the Prophet (a.s.) was the highest example of the human perfection in all senses of the word. Since his early youth, he was far away from amusement and nonsense. He did not mix with the youth of Quraysh who were sinking into debauchery and lubricity. He was the most truthful, best in retaining kinship, and most altruist, especially to the poor, of all people. His wife Khadija (may Allah have mercy on her) often said to him, “You retain kinship, carry food (to the poor), entertain guests, and help people in their calamities.”

A poet said about him,

“You have been created purified from every defect,

as if you have been created as you like.”

Indeed, Allah has created him for virtues, perfection, and high morals away from any kind of defect or error.

There was another thing in the Prophet’s personality that had exceeded the limit of description or praise; he had a great will and determination that no one had ever had throughout history. He alone undertook the mission of Allah and fought his relatives, on the top of whom was his uncle Abu Lahab, and most people of his society. He cared neither for them nor for their resistance. He remained withstanding before all their aggressions, and he announced his immortal word, “If I am given the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left one to give up this matter, I will not do until Allah will make it prevail or I shall die for it.” He remained high like a mountain. He did not delay even for a while in propagandizing for his principles and values until Allah made him win and then the word of monotheism went high in that idolatrous society. He destroyed their idols as he destroyed their ignorance, bad beliefs, bad habits, and bad traditions.

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The messenger of Allah (a.s.) announced his mission in the quarters of Mecca which was his homeland and whose people were known for their selfishness, haughtiness, and pride. And naturally, his mission clashed with their beliefs, traditions, habits, and desires. They were filled with rage and spite. Therefore, they agreed unanimously on putting out this light in its cradle. They resisted this mission with all their powers and abilities. The brutal men of power and authority from Quraysh, headed by their chief Abu Sufyan, fought him with all means they had, and he met from them all kinds of sufferings and troubles. They mocked at him and ordered their children to throw him with stones, ash, and dust. He sought protection against them with his brother and cousin Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) though he was very young then. Ali (a.s.) was always beside him chasing and preventing the children of Quraysh from harming him.

During the days of his ordeal, no one sided with the messenger of Allah except his uncle Abu Talib the faithful of Quraysh and chief of Mecca. Abu Talib reared the mission, believed in it devotedly, and did his best for it. He armed his sons to defend and guard the Prophet (a.s.). At the head of his sons was the immortal hero of Islam; Imam Ali (a.s.) who sacrificed his life for the Prophet (a.s.) and supported him in all situations and battles. So, Abu Talib and his children were the striking force that the Prophet (a.s.) sought protection in against the harms of Quraysh.

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Abu Talib believed in Islam, and its values and teachings went deep into his inners. It was he who recited:

“I have realized that Muhammad’s religion

is the best of religions of mankind.”

Abu Talib often and always encouraged his nephew (Prophet Muhammad) to keep on his mission and not to mind for the people of Quraysh and their resistance and harms. He said in one of his poems (addressing the Prophet (a.s.)):

“By Allah, they shall not reach you with all their crowds,

until I shall be buried in the ground.

So, reveal your mission openly feeling no fear,

And be delighted at that and rest in relief.”[2]

May Allah reward Abu Talib with all good for his devotedness and great efforts in safeguarding the Prophet (a.s.); otherwise, Quraysh would do away with him and with his mission since being in its cradle. In a coming chapter, we shall talk about some bright pages of Abu Talib’s jihad for the Prophet (a.s.) and for Islam.

The weak, the disabled, and slaves in Mecca believed in Islam and embraced its principles and goals. They were certain that Islam had come to free them from the severity and persecution of Quraysh. They were certain that they would be the masters later on and the tyrants of Quraysh would be submissive slaves to them.

Also some aware youth from Quraysh, who had good thinking and attentive minds, embraced Islam and a good group from the ladies of Quraysh believed in Islam too. They all scorned and mocked at the idols of Quraysh which were worshiped as holy gods. This thing made the people of Quraysh too much angry and they were filled with grudge that they began torturing those Muslims very severely. They concentrated the torment on the weak Muslims who had no tribe to protect them or an authority to resort to against the punishment of the masters of Quraysh. Yasir, Sumayyah, Ammar, Bilal al-Habashi, Khabbab bin al-Art, and Abdullah bin Mas’ud were from among those first Muslims who received much punishment from the arrogants of Quraysh. Abu Jahl invented, in torturing those weak Muslims, different kinds of severest torturing, but all that could not take them away from Islam. In fact, it gave them new natures in being more patient, stable, and certain. They were neither confused nor hesitated in what they had believed in.

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The Prophet (a.s.) permitted those who believed in his mission to emigrate to Abyssinia to worship Allah safely there. The Prophet (a.s.) remained in Mecca with some of his family and some other believers though they received severe harms and persecution.

When the Prophet (a.s.) was afflicted with the death of his uncle Abu Talib, he no longer had a strong supporter to resort to or one of authority that might protect him from the plots and assaults of Quraysh. Therefore, the people of Quraysh agreed on killing him. Their men surrounded his house with unsheathed swords waiting for the dawn to attack and do away with him. The revelation came down ordering him to leave Mecca. He went out under the darkness of night while no one of those forty men could feel him. He ordered his brother and cousin Imam Ali (a.s.) to sleep in his (the Prophet) bed, and Imam Ali (a.s.) responded delightedly to be the sacrifice for the messenger of Allah.

The Prophet (a.s.) set out towards Yathrib (Medina) whose crowds of people received him splendidly with joys and delights for he honored their country by his coming to it. He felt with them safety after fear, strength after weakness, and ease after suffering.

The Prophet (a.s.) did not sit passively in Yathrib even for a moment. He united the people of Medina and reconciled them with each other especially the two major tribes al-Owss and al-Khazraj who suffered enmity, grudge, and bloodsheds since long ago. The Prophet (a.s.) fraternized them with each other and removed enmity and spite from among them. The Prophet (a.s.) fraternized the Muhajireen (emigrants)[3] and the Ansar (supporters) as well and bound them by the bond of the Islamic brotherhood that was stronger than the brotherhood of kinship. He established a mosque (the Mosque of the Prophet) and took it as a center to his government and an institute to spread his teachings. Islam spread as fast as light and the great Islamic state was established. This state, after no long, extended to most sides of the world and the Word of Allah raised high among the nations and peoples of the earth.

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The Prophet (a.s.) changed the dark methods of life that were based on ignorance, aggression, and misery. He removed that terrible nightmare and spread instead light, knowledge, wisdom, safety, and ease.

This study sheds lights on some aspects of the great personality of Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) in whose holiness and greatness all men of knowledge and intellect have believed. The history of the Prophet’s life is full of treasures of thought, development, and creativity. Indeed, his life is a history of humanity in all its dimensions and affairs. Famous orientalists like Ernest Renan, Goldzieher, Stock Harjo, Gustave Lenon, and others have acknowledged that. Certainly, the civilization of Islam was established in Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, al-Qayrawan, Cordoba, Granada, and led to the spread of civilization in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin.[4]

Praise be to Allah Who has given us success in writing a big encyclopedia on the lives of the infallible imams; the imams of guidance and the lanterns of Islam, may Allah have blessings and peace on them. It has covered a great deal of their concerns and received acceptance and satisfaction from readers who showed their praise and gratefulness towards it. But, I found inside me a feeling of shortcoming and in my conscience blaming and scolding for I have not written about the life of their grandfather, the master of the prophets and the last of the messengers. And now, after the assistance and kindness of Allah, I begin a comprehensive study on the life of the Master of the Prophets and the great sufferings he had faced in carrying out the mission of his Lord among that society that had no ray of understanding and in saving it from the life of superstition and ignorance.

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In this study on Prophet Muhammad (a.s.), I do not mention the long isnad[5] that have been mentioned in the books of history and biographies, for there is no pleasure in that to the readers who like easiness and facility in the books.

Anyhow, the biography (of the Prophet) is full of fertile and fresh literature that satisfies reason and feelings and fits the life of all people, and it is not of a literature of a special age or a certain generation but of all ages and all generations. It has inspired geniuses and men of letters and they poetized it all or some of it like Ahmed Shawqi, the Egyptian poet, or prosed it like Taha Husayn and other old and modern writers. Anyhow, I depend in my studies on the reliable traditions that reason and logic accept and the methods of the scientific thinking match.

To be loyal, I have to offer my gratefulness to His Eminence Sayyid Ali the son of Allama ayatollah Sayyid Tahir as-Salman for publishing this book with its three volumes as a service to knowledge and to the nation and to present the genuine values and high ideals in the life of the Great Savior Prophet Muhammad (a.s.). I pray Allah to reward his efforts and satisfy his wishes, and He is the Giver of success.

Holy Najaf

Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi

2\5\1424 AH.

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[1] Qur'an, 7:31.

[2] Asna al-Matalib fee Najat Abi Talib, p. 25.

[3] “The Muhajireen” were the first Muslims who emigrated from Mecca to Medina and “the Ansar” were the people of Medina who believed in the Prophet (a.s.) and protected and supported him and his followers.

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[4] The Revolution of Islam and the Hero of the Prophets, p. 76.

[5] Isnad: chain of authorities which is an essential part in the transmission of a tradition.

3. Becca:

It was called so because it exhausted the arrogants if they disbelieved in it unjustly.[5] Allah says in the Qur'an, (Most surely the first house appointed for men is the one at Becca, blessed and a guidance for the nations).[6]

4. The Inviolable House:

Mecca has been honored and called “the Inviolable House” that Allah made a Qibla for all people. It is narrated that this House (the Kaaba) had been built before Adam (a.s.). Abul Waleed al-Azraqi narrated a tradition from Imam Zaynol Aabidin (a.s.) that he said, “Allah the Almighty has sent his angels and said: Build Me a building in the earth like the House (in the Heaven) in form and size. Allah has ordered all those in the earth from His creatures to circumambulate it as the inhabitants of the Heavens circumambulate the much-frequented House (in the Heaven), and this was before the creation of Adam.”[7]

The one who built this house (the Kaaba) and made it a center for worshipping Allah was Prophet Abraham (a.s.) and his son Prophet Ishmael (a.s.). It was the first House in the earth that had been taken as a place of worshipping Allah. Allah has said,

(Most surely the first house appointed for mankind is the one at Becca, blessed and a guidance for people).[8]

It is the most honored House that Allah has glorified and said about, (And when We made the House a pilgrimage for men and a (place of) security, and: Appoint for yourselves a place of prayer on the standing-place (for prayer) of Abraham. And We enjoined Abraham and Ishmael saying: Purify My House for those who visit (it) and those who abide (in it) for devotion and those who bow down (and) those who prostrate themselves).[9]

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Abraham (a.s.) asked Allah to grant Mecca security and endow its people with fruits. Allah has said, (And when Abraham prayed: My Lord, make this a region of security and bestow upon its people fruits, such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day).[10] Allah has imposed on His people the pilgrimage to this glorified House by saying, (and pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon people for the sake of Allah, (upon) every one who is able to undertake the journey to it).[11] Mecca has other names, as well, mentioned in the lexicons that one can refer to.

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[1] Qur'an, 6:92.

[2] The Encyclopedia of the Sacred Places; Mecca, vol. 1 p.11.

[3] Qur'an, 42:7.

[4] Qur'an, 95:1-3.

[5] The Encyclopedia of the Sacred Places; Mecca, vol. 1 p. 11.

[6] Qur'an, 3:96.

[7] Masalik al-Absar, vol. 1 p. 94.

[8] Qur'an, 3:96.

[9] Qur'an, 2:125.

[10] Qur'an, 2:126.

[11] Qur'an, 3:97.

Mecca lies in a barren valley surrounded by black mountains with no water source except the well of Zamzam and the water that is brought from other places. We shall talk about the economic life of Mecca in a coming chapter.

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[1] The Encyclopedia of the Twentieth Century, second edition, vol. 9 p. 327.

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[1] Mu’jam al-Buldan, vol. 5 p. 183.

They told the Prophet (a.s.) what happened, and he solved the problem in a way that satisfied all of the clans. He asked them to bring a garment and said to them, ‘Let every clan of you hold a side of the garment and you all will participate in this virtue.’ They lifted the Black Rock in this way and the Prophet (a.s.) received it from them and put it in its place. The people of Quraysh admired this behavior of the Prophet (a.s.) that kept them safe from fighting each other.

The tribe of Khuza’ah ruled in Mecca and managed the affairs of the Kaaba for about three hundred years or more. Then, the tribes of Quraysh attacked them and seized Mecca from them after a war. The guardianship over the Kaaba and the emirate of Mecca became in the hands of Quraysh until the advent of Islam. Quraysh dug many wells and established some projects to improve the economic life in Mecca. Qussay (Prophet Muhammad’s great grandfather) assumed the emirate and established in his house a building and called it “Dar an-Nadwa; club or council” which we shall talk about soon.

It is worth mentioning that once a dispute took place between Imam al-Husayn (a.s.) and al-Waleed bin Utba bin Abu Sufyan who was the emir over Medina appointed by Mo’awiya. Al-Waleed wronged Imam al-Husayn (a.s.) who said, ‘I swear by Allah, that either you treat me justly or I will take my sword and rise in the mosque of the messenger of Allah and then I will call for the Alliance of al-Fudhool.’ Ibn az-Zubayr was present. He said, ‘And I swear by Allah, that if al-Husayn called for it, I would respond to him until he would be treated fairly or we would die.’ Al-Musawwir bin Makhrama az-Zuhri and Abdurrahman bin Uthman bin Abdullah at-Tamimi said the same. When al-Waleed heard that, he submitted and gave back Imam al-Husayn’s right.’[2]

The religious life:

Idolatry was dominant in Mecca which was a fort for this belief that resulted from ignorance and shallow thinking. From the very devoted ones to the idols was Abu Sufyan the chief of the Umayyad family and one of the heads of Quraysh. He was very terrified when he saw the Prophet (a.s.) circumambulate the Kaaba and recite the hymn of Islam “Labaykallahumma labayk…”

He was very terrified and he cried out, ‘Exalt Hubal!’[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) replied to him, ‘O Abu Sufyan, Allah is more Exalted and more Glorious.’

More than three hundred idols were hung on the walls of the Kaaba. The people of Quraysh absolutely believed in those idols.

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[1] Buloogh al-Irab, vol. 2 p.272, the Encyclopedia of the Sacred Places; Holy Mecca, vol. 1 p.42.

[2] Al-Kamil fit-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 42.

[3] Hubal was one of the most important idols of Quraysh.

4. A nomad man:

Once, a Bedouin with his camels passed by the shore of Jeddah. There was an idol called Sa’d. He came with his camels to the idol that it might bless them. When the camels saw the bloods of sacrifices on the idol, they ran away here and there. The Bedouin took a stone, threw the idol with it, and said, ‘May Allah not bless you as god! You startle my camels.’ Then he tried his best until he gathered his camels again. He left while reciting:

“We have come to Sa’d that he may reunite us,

but he scattered us; so we are not from Sa’d.

Surely Sa’d is but a rock on the earth,

who can call neither for deviation nor guidance.”[3]

5. Khuza’a bin Abd:

Khuza’a bin Abd al-Muzani was the custodian of the idol of the tribe of Muzayna that was called Nahm. He apostatized the idol and went to the Prophet (a.s.) to be a Muslim.

6. Abdurrahman:

When Abdurrahman bin Abi Sabrah reached the advent of the Prophet (a.s.), he went to an idol called Faras and destroyed it. Then he went to the Prophet (a.s.) and became a Muslim.

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[1] Al-Aghani, vol. 8 p.68, al-Asnam (idols) by ibn al-Kalbi, p.35, as-Seera an-Nabawiyya by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p.88

[2] Shawahid al-Mughni by as-Sayyouti, p.109.

[3] Al-Asnam, p. 37.

‘By Allah, neither my father, my grandfather Abdul Muttalib, Abd Manaf, nor Hashim had ever worshipped an idol. They worshipped Allah and were offering prayers towards the House (the Kaaba) due to the religion of Abraham and were keeping to it…’[1]

This shows that the Hashemite family believed in monotheism and was not deviant from the straight path of Allah.

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[1] Kamaluddeen, p. 104.

When Allah granted the great conquest over Mecca to His prophet, there were three hundred idols or more hung on the walls of the Kaaba which the tribes of Quraysh worshipped away from Allah. Among their famous idols there were Na’ilah, Asaf, Manaf, Thul Khalasah, Thul Kuna, Thul Sharaf, al-Uqaysar, Nahm, Sameer, and others.[2]

The master of those idols was Hubal which was the god of Abu Sufyan; Mo’awiya’s father and Yazid’s grandfather. It was made of copper and tied with iron pegs on the wall of the Kaaba. Imam Ali (a.s.) got upon the Prophet’s shoulders, plucked this idol out, and threw it to the ground while the Prophet (a.s.) was reciting this verse (And say: The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished; surely falsehood is a vanishing (thing)).[3] Then, Imam Ali (a.s.) threw down the rest of idols and thus the Kaaba was purified[4] of those filths hung on the walls and taken as gods by Quraysh.

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[1] Sifat as-Safwah, vol. 1 p. 163, Musnad of Ahmad bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p.84.

[2] Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 2 p. 366.

[3] Qur'an, 17: 81.

[4] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 1 p. 60.

The people of Quraysh had two commercial journeys a year; one to Yemen in winter because it was warm, and the other to Sham in summer because it was cool. Without these two commercial journeys, the people of Quraysh could not live in Mecca which was safe from enemies because it had the Inviolable House of Allah.

Al-Kalbi, the historian says, ‘The first one who brought wheat from Sham was Hashim bin Abd Manaf (the Prophet’s grandfather).’

In Mecca, there were some very wealthy people among whom was Khadeeja (the Prophet’s wife). She invested her capitals in trade. The Prophet (a.s.) (before prophethood) worked with her monies in trade and got great profits. We shall talk about this in a coming chapter.

Abu Jahl’s mother had a shop of perfumes, Hind (Mo’awiya’s mother) sold goods for the tribe of Kalb in Syria,[2] and Abu Sufyan himself was the leader of the commercial caravans of Mecca.

Anyhow, Mecca was a commercial center and most of its merchants practiced usury in their dealings. Al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib was one of the usurers. He had great wealth from this way. From the very wealthy people of Mecca was Abdullah bin Jad’an at-Tamimi, some Umayyad families, al-Waleed bin al-Mugheerah al-Makhzumi, Abdullah the father of Umar bin Abi Rabee’ah the poet, and others. The wealthy class lived at utmost ease and luxury and had tens of slaves whereas great masses of the inhabitants of Mecca lived wretchedly.

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[1] Encyclopedia of the Sacred Places; Holy Mecca, vol. 2 p. 192.

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[2] Ibid., p. 190.

She told, ‘I saw a rider coming on a camel until he stopped at al-Abtah (mountain) and began shouting loudly: O people of perfidy, come on to your deaths! He said that three times. I saw that people crowded around him…then he took a rock and threw it. It dropped and when it reached the foot of the mountain, it broke into pieces. No house from the houses of Mecca remained except that a piece from that rock entered into it…’

Al-Abbas was terrified by that dream and he could not conceal it. He spread it among people. The news reached the Umayyads among whom there was Abu Jahl. They began mocking. Abu Jahl went to al-Abbas and said to him mockingly, ‘O bani[2]Abdul Muttalib, are you not satisfied that your men prophesy that now your women began prophesying?’

The vision of Aatikah came true that abasement and destruction afflicted the people of Quraysh. The battle of Badr took place and the tribe of Quraysh was defeated disgracefully. Killing, sorrow, and mourning entered all their houses.

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[1] The progeny of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.).

[2] Bani or Banu means “the tribe or family of”.

The history of the Prophet’s glorious family is full of virtues and nobilities. This family had undertaken the social services to people, and what increased its honor and high position was the Prophet (a.s.) who had had all virtues of this world.

The Prophet (a.s.) was not the pride of Adnan[2] and the glory of the Hashemites only, but also he was and is the pride, the glory, and the honor of the humanity throughout all the stages of history. It was he who had built the civilization of man and caused springs of knowledge and wisdom to gush out in the earth. Here, we talk in brief about some pillars of this great family:

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[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyya wel Aathar al-Muhammadiyya, vol. 1 p. 7.

[2] Adnan was the father of the Prophet’s tribe and Hashim was the grandfather of his (the Prophet) family.

He was at the top of honor and loftiness. Historian says that he satisfied the needs of wayfarers, gave rights to their people, protected the frightened, and these are the noblest qualities. When the month of Thul Hajja came, he made a speech before the people of Mecca encouraging them to serve the hajjis who came to the Kaaba. He said,

“O people of Quraysh, you are masters of the Arabs, the best of them in notability, the greatest in reason, and the noblest in lineages.

O people of Quraysh, you are neighbors of the House of Allah. He has honored you with His guardianship and favored you with His neighborhood away from the rest of the offspring of Ishmael. The visitors of Allah come to you to glorify His House and so they are your guests, and the worthiest to entertain the guests of Allah are you. Entertain His guests and the visitors of His House! By the Lord of this Building, if I had money enough for that, I would not ask you to that. I will take out of my lawful property, which no kinship has been deserted in, not been obtained by oppression, and not included any unlawful bit. Let whoever of you, who likes to do that, do that. I ask you by the sanctity of this House that let no anyone of you spend from his property on the entertainment of the visitors of the House of Allah except lawful money that has not been obtained wrongfully, and no kinship has been deserted by it, and has not been obtained by force.”[2]

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This speech shows Hashim’s deep faith in Allah and his precaution in avoiding properties that are taken wrongfully. When Allah chose him to His neighborhood (made him die), he died while with a calm soul, pure, and unpolluted with the sins of the pre-Islamic era.

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[1] In Arabic “hashim” is derived from “hashama” that means “to break into crumbs”, and thus “hashim” means ‘one who crumbles or breaks into crumbs’.

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyya wel Aathar al-Muhammadiyya, vol. 1 p. 11.

These verses are ascribed to him,

“All people blame the time,

whereas our time has no defect except us.

We blame our time but the defect is in us,

And if the time can speak,

It will dispraise us.

A wolf does not eat a wolf’s flesh,

While we eat each other openly.”[3]

__________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p.56.

[2] Bihar al-Anwar., vol. 1 p.4.

[3] Ibid., vol. 15 p.121.

After no long, water began gushing out and it flowed over the land to enliven Mecca, water its thirsty inhabitants, and refresh the economic life there. The news spread here and there like light, and all people; men and women, old and young, hurried to see that great achievement while Abdul Muttalib’s soul was full of joy and delight for that great conquest that provided the pilgrims of the Kaaba and the inhabitants of Mecca with the essence of life. His mention was raised high and all people everywhere praised his favor.

Abdul Muttalib said, “I have promised my Lord and I will fulfill what I have promised Him…”

Some other men tried to convince him to change his determination. They asked him to go to a diviner in Khaybar and to do whatever the diviner would tell him. Abdul Muttalib responded to them and went to the diviner. The diviner asked, “How much is the blood money among you?”

Abdul Muttalib said, “Ten camels (for a man).”

The diviner said, “Go back to your country and then offer a sacrifice for your man (Abdullah). Offer ten camels and draw lots on him and on the camels. If the lots fall on your man, then add other ten camels, and so on until your Lord will be pleased. When the lots fall on the camels, then you slaughter them and so your Lord will be pleased and your man will be saved…”

Abdul Muttalib went back to Mecca. He draws the lots on his son and camels, and in the tenth time the lots fell on the camels. People glorified Allah and cried out, “O Abdul Muttalib, your Lord is pleased.” Abdul Muttalib ordered one hundred camels to be slaughtered between the Safa and the Marwa,[2] and ordered a caller to call the people of Mecca to come to take some meat and they hurried from everywhere.[3]

Abdullah was saved from slaughter as his grandfather Ishmael had been saved before.

_____________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 162.

p: 36

[2] Safa and Marwa are two mountains in Mecca near the Kaaba.

[3] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 163.

Abdul Muttalib felt relieved from that burden oppressing him, and he said to Abu Talib, “Now, death is made light to me.” Then, he began kissing him (the Prophet) and saying, “I have not seen anyone more scented or more beautiful than you.”

“As for unlawfulness, death is better!

And the lawfulness is clear that I see.

So, how about the thing that you wish for?

A noble man protects his honor and faith.”[1]

He went on with his father who married him to Aaminah bint Wahab bin Abd Manaf. He stayed with her for three days and then he passed by Fatima al-Khath’amiyyah again. She said to him:

“O Youngman, by Allah I am not a woman of sin, but I saw in your face the light of prophethood and I wanted it to be in me,[2] but Allah refused except to put it where he wills. What did you do after me?” He told her that his father had married him to Aaminah bint Wahab and she showed her regret for the glory and pride she missed in some poetry she recited.

___________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Dahlan, vol. 1 p.30.

[2] The Prophet to be my son.

__________________

[1] The Life of Muhammad (a.s.), by Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal, p. 106.

_____________________

[1] Hayat ar-Rasool al-Mustafa (the life of the messenger), vol. 1 p. 100.

[2] The life of Muhammad, by Abdul Haleem, p. 476.

“Praise be to Allah Who has granted me this good boy.

While in cradle, he has been preferred to all boys.

I charm him by the House of pillars.”[4]

The Prophet’s uncles as well were very delighted for this birth. Abdul Muttalib was certain that his grandson would be an important man as he was told by some priests and diviners. He took him and circumambulated the Kaaba with him while thanking Allah for this great blessing.[1]

___________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p.158.

[2] The Life of Muhammad, by Haykal, p.70.

[3] Kashful Ghummah fee Ma’rifat al-A’immah, vol. 1 p.14.

[4] The margins of as-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 167.

[5] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 160.

____________________

[1] Ibid, vol. 1 p. 210.

[2] Rabee’ul Abrar, vol. 2 p. 339.

“Who are you?”

She said, “A woman from Bani Sa’d.”

He asked, “What is your name?”

She replied, “Haleemah.”

He said, “How great! Good luck and patience![3] They are two qualities that have the goodness of life and eternal glory. O Haleemah, I have a male orphan. I asked the women of Bani Sa’d (to suckle him), but they refused to accept him and they said that there was no good in an orphan. We seek dignity for him from his fathers. Would you suckle him that you may be delighted by him?”

Haleemah responded and Allah filled her heart with love and kindness to this orphan. The Prophet (a.s.) received love, kindness, and care from Haleemah that filled him with reverence to her and to her people. It is related to him his saying, “I am the most eloquent of those who speak Arabic, and I have suckled among the tribe of bani Sa’d.”

Haleemah saw signs and miracles from the Prophet (a.s.) that astonished her. She preferred him to her own children in care and kindness. After some months, she brought him to his mother In Mecca that she would be pleased by seeing him, but he was lost in the mountains of Mecca. She was very terrified. She went to Abdul Muttalib astonishedly to tell him of that. Abdul Muttalib, who was too astonished, went to the Kaaba praying Allah to bring his grandson back to him. Waraqah bin Nawfal and a man from Quraysh found the Prophet (a.s.) at the end of Mecca and brought him to his grandfather Abdul Muttalib who became delighted and relieved. Abdul Muttalib carried the Prophet (a.s.) on his shoulders and began circumambulating the Kaaba while praying Allah for him. Then, he took him to his mother.[4]

p: 44

Allah, in the Qur'an, refers to this blessing on the Prophet (a.s.) when he was lost by saying, (And He found you wandering, and He guided you).[5] After staying with his mother for some days, the Prophet (a.s.) went back with his wet-nurse, who feared for him from an epidemic widespread in Mecca, to her home.

Haleemah and the Prophet (a.s.) passed by Ukadh Bazaar. Some priest looked at the Prophet (a.s.) and cried out, “O community of the Arabs, kill this boy. He will kill the people of your religion and break your idols. He will dominate over you.” However, Allah saved the Prophet (a.s.) from the priest’s plotting and evil.[6]

______________________

[1] As-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 1 p. 97.

[2] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 1 p. 8.

[3] Sa’d in Arabic means “good luck” and Haleemah means “a patient and discerning woman”.

[4] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 167. It is mentioned in As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan in another way.

[5] Qur'an, 93:7.

[6] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 38.

____________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 39.

[1] Dala’il an-Nubuwwah (signs of prophethood), vol. 1 p. 90.

We said, “You wept and so we wept, O messenger of Allah.”

He said, “What did you think?”

We said, “We thought that torment would come down soon on us.”

He said, “It was nothing of that.”

We said, “We thought that your nation has been charged with what they would not be able to bear.”

He said, “It was nothing of that, but I passed by my mother’s tomb, offered two rak’as, and asked my Lord’s permission to pray Him to forgive her, but I was forbidden. So, I wept, offered two rak’as again, and asked my Lord’s permission to pray Him to forgive her but I was scolded severely, and therefore I cried loudly.”

Then, he asked for his mount and he mounted on it. It moved but little when Allah revealed this verse, (It is not (fit) for the Prophet and those who believe that they should ask forgiveness for the polytheists even though they should be near relatives…).[1] The Prophet (a.s.) said, “I make you witness that I am free from Aaminah as Abraham had disavowed his father.”’[2]

This narration shows the disbelief of Aaminah which is definitely untrue, for the prophetic family (ancestors) were on the religion of Abraham (a.s.) and no one of them had ever worshipped an idol. The master of the prophets was born in pure wombs, and this narration is one of the Israelite narrations that have no share of reality.

___________________

[1] Qur'an, 9:113.

[2] Al-Muntadham, vol. 3 p. 250, 251.

p: 48

_____________________

[1] Manaqib Abi Talib, vol. 1 p. 36.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid., p. 62.

“We have not seen you do to anyone else as you have done to her?”

He said, “There was no one after Abu Talib kinder than her to me. I clothed her with my shirt so that she would be dressed with the garments of the Paradise, and I lay in her grave so that (the punishment of the grave) would be made easy to her.”[4]

This lady did her best and spared no effort in serving the Prophet (a.s.); therefore, Allah had recompensed her for that by making her the mother of Imam Ali, the commander of the believers, the defender of Islam, and the protector of its values and goals.

_______________________

[1] Sharh Nahjol Balagha by Ibn Abil Hadeed, vol. 1 p. 14.

[2] Ibid.

[3] A’laam an-Nisa’, vol. 3 p. 113.

[4] Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 5 p. 515, Ma’rifat as-Sahabah, vol. 1 p. 279, al-Istee’ab (printed on the margins of al-Isabah), vol. 4 p. 269.

____________________

[1] Nowadays Damascus, but then, Sham encompassed the present Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Do not ask me by al-Lat and al-Uzza. By Allah, I hate nothing at all more than them.”

The priest understood that the boy’s belief was unlike the belief of the people of Quraysh who were submissive to idols, and so he asked him,

“By Allah, I ask you and you should answer me.”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Ask as you like!”

The priest asked the Prophet (a.s.) about his private affairs and he answered him. Then the priest looked at the sign of prophethood between the Prophet’s shoulders and he turned to Abu Talib saying to him,

“What relation between this boy and you?”

Abu Talib said that he was his son. The priest said, “He is not your son. This boy’s father could not be alive.”

Abu Talib said that the boy was his nephew and the priest said, “You are right! What about his father?”

Abu Talib said, “His father died when his (the Prophet) mother was pregnant with him.”

The priest said to Abu Talib, “You are right. Bring your nephew back to his country and beware of the Jews. By Allah, if they see him and know what I have known about him, they will plot evil against him. Your nephew will be very important one.”

When Abu Talib accomplished his trading in Sham, he hastened back to Mecca.[2]

The Prophet (a.s.), while yet a young boy, saw Sham and listened, with his uncle, to its people’s talks about Christianity and its beliefs and Judaism and its rituals and he preferred them to idolatry which the people of Quraysh embraced. He perceived that with his penetrating mind, for he was very intelligent and discerning in his youth.

p: 53

_____________________

[1] The priest asked by al-Lat and al-Uzza (two idols worshipped by Quraysh) as a matter of conformity with the people of Quraysh who worshipped idols.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 181, 182.

_____________________

[1] The life of Muhammad, by Haykal, p. 116, the History of Islam by ath-Thahabi, vol. 1 p. 54, as-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 1 p. 54.

[2] Work and the Rights of Worker in Islam, by Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi.

The Prophet (a.s.) said to his uncle, “As you like, uncle!”

Abu Talib went to Lady Khadijah and talked with her about hiring his nephew Muhammad (a.s.) to trade with her wealth. She welcomed him and responded to what he asked her for. Abu Talib came back to his nephew saying to him, “This is a livelihood that Allah has brought to you.”

Lady Khadijah provided Muhammad (a.s.) with much money and sent with him her servant Maysarah whom she asked to serve Muhammad (a.s.) and tell her of all events that would happen to him (the Prophet). When the caravan arrived in the bazaar of Busra (in Sham), the Prophet (a.s.) sat under a tree near to a hermitage of a priest called Nastura. The priest looked at the Prophet (a.s.) who was sitting in the shadow of the tree and he was astonished. He asked Maysara whom he knew since before, “Who is that man under the tree?”

Maysara said that he was a man from Quraysh.

The priest said, “No one sat under this tree after Jesus except a prophet.”

The priest hastened toward the Prophet (a.s.). He submitted and kissed the Prophet’s head and feet saying to him, “I believe in you and bear witness that you are the one whom Allah has mentioned in the Torah…”

The priest asked the Prophet (a.s.) to show him his shoulders. When he saw the sign of prophethood, he said to him, “I bear witness that you are the messenger of Allah, the Prophet that Jesus had brought good tidings about, and that you are the man of the pond, intercession, and the banner of praise…”

p: 56

Maysarah understood that and was astonished. He also saw the cloud that shaded the Prophet (a.s.) alone against the heat of the sun.

The Prophet (a.s.) got great profits in this journey. Maysarah said to him, “We have traveled forty times trading for Khadijah, but we did not get a profit more than this at all…”[1]

The Prophet (a.s.), with the caravan, came back to Mecca while Maysarah was full of admiration at the charismata and the miracles he saw from the Prophet (a.s.). He told Lady Khadijah about all that and about the great profits they got in that journey.

When the Prophet (a.s.) arrived in Mecca, Lady Khadijah received and welcomed him warmly. He talked to her about his successful journey, and she admired and regarded him too highly. She became certain with no doubt that he would be a very important man.[2]

___________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 54.

[2] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 1 p. 82, part one.

He said, “I have nothing to get married with.”

She said, “If I suffice you that, and if you are invited to beauty, wealth, honor, and adequacy, would you not respond?”

He asked, “Who is she?”

She said, “Khadijah.”

The Prophet (a.s.) accepted and the woman hurried to Khadijah to tell her that. Lady Khadijah became very delighted and she knew that she would get married to the master of all human beings. The appointment was decided and the Prophet (a.s.) asked his uncles to come for the engagement of Lady Khadijah. His uncles headed by Abu Talib and Hamza came to Khadijah’s house and were welcomed warmly by her uncle Umar bin Asad. Abu Talib made a speech before the attendants saying,

“Praise be to Allah Who has made us from the offspring of Abraham and the plant of Ishmael, and made for us an inviolable country and a visited House and made us masters over people.

Muhammad son of Abdullah my nephew is not compared with any young man from Quraysh except that he is preferred to him in piety, virtue, generosity, reasonability, glory, and nobility. If he has no much money, money is a transient shadow and a paid back loan. He has a will towards Khadijah and so does she. Whatever dowry you want I myself shall pay.”[1]

Khadijah’s uncle agreed and the bond of marriage was concluded between the Prophet (a.s.) and Lady Khadijah. The new life of the Prophet (a.s.) began and he lived with the best lady of Quraysh at all in reason, faith, chastity, and beauty. Lady Khadijah submitted all her wealth to serve the Prophet (a.s.) and she was too loyal to him in love and assistance.

p: 58

The Prophet (a.s.) lived with his wife at ease and Allah endowed them with all favors and blessings. The people of Mecca envied him his wife Khadijah who did not respond to any of the merchants and the notables of Quraysh who proposed to her many times, whereas she got married to Muhammad (a.s.) who had no wealth. Anyhow, the Prophet (a.s.) loved Khadijah too much. He saw in her loyalty, truthfulness, honor, and perfection, and she, as well, saw in him truthfulness, nobility, and perfection that no one from Quraysh had ever had.

__________________

[1] At-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 6 p. 253, I’jaz al-Qur'an by al-Baqillani, p. 234, Jamharat Khutab al-Arab, vol. 1 p. 77, Subhul A’sha, vol. 1 p. 213.

“You have known my position to the messenger of Allah in the close kinship and the special rank. He put me in his lap when I was child, embraced me to his chest, sheltered me in his bed, made his body touch mine, and made me smell his fragrance. He chewed food and then fed it to me. He did never find a lie in a saying of mine nor an error in a doing. I followed him like a young (weaned) camel that follows its mother. Everyday, he raised to me from his morals a banner and ordered me to pattern after it.”

Do you see how the Prophet (a.s.) was loyal to Imam Ali (a.s.) in love and kindness? He brought him up with his high moralities that he was distinguished by from the rest of prophets so that he would be a copy and an example of him in his (the Prophet) life and after his death.[1]

_______________________

[1] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) by Baqir al-Qurashi, vol. 1 p. 49.

In the history of the great personalities of the whole world there is no one that can be compared to Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) in his talents, geniuses, powers, and attributes. He raised the mission of his Lord whereas he had no force that could protect him against the tide of ignorance except his uncle Abu Talib the faithful one of Quraysh and his son the hero of Islam Imam Ali (a.s.)…The following are some of the Prophet’s attributes.

“By Allah O uncle, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand so that I give up this matter (the mission), I will never do until Allah will make it prevail or I shall die for it…”

The Prophet’s grandson Imam al-Husayn (a.s.), the father of the free, had inherited this aspect from his grandfather when he stood against the head of ignorance and injustice Yazid bin Mo’awiya, Abu Sufyan’s grandson, and said his immortal word,

“I do not see death except happiness and life with the unjust except boredom…”

The Prophet (a.s.) kept on his struggle until Allah granted him victory and then he firmed monotheism everywhere and saved mankind from idolatry and ignorance.

Here, we mentions some examples of his moralities.

Some Jewish man was too spiteful to the Prophet (a.s.). He exaggerated in harming him. He threw soil and ashes on him whenever he passed by his house. One day, the Jew became ill. The Prophet (a.s.) went to the Jew’s house. He knocked the door and the Jewish man’s wife opened the door. The Prophet (a.s.) said to her, “Your husband has accustomed us to some habit, but he stopped it and I suppose he is ill. Now, I am coming to visit him.” She permitted him in. when the Jew saw the Prophet (a.s.), he was surprised and said, “These are the morals of prophets.” He turned a Muslim and took away all spites from his heart toward the Prophet (a.s.).

When someone greeted the Prophet (a.s.) in the street, the Prophet (a.s.) did not leave until that person would leave first. If some man shook hands with him, he did not take off his hand until that man would take off his hand first.[3]

He did never say to anyone even one word that might tease or harm him, but he met people with nice and good statements.

One day, some man came to the Prophet (a.s.) but he hesitated and could not talk to him because of the Prophet’s gravity. The Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “I am but a son of a woman from Quraysh who ate jerked meat in Mecca.”[4]

He divided his time (of meeting) among his companions equally.[5] He met the old and the young, the free and slaves with smiles without showing any sign of anger towards anyone except when he saw a bad deed that was unlike what Allah wanted; then, anger appeared on him.

p: 63

Abdullah bin Umar narrated that the Prophet (a.s.) had never stretched his legs before anyone sitting with him at all. When someone sat with him, he would not leave until that one would leave first.[6]

Aa’ishah (the Prophet’s wife) narrated, “No one at all was better than the messenger of Allah in good manners. Whenever someone of his companions and family called him, he would say to him: At your service!”[7]

Aa’ishah said, “The Prophet’s morals were like the Qur'an whose meanings and attributes would not end.” These were just a few examples on the Prophet’s moralities that have filled the books of biographers and changed the course of history and established the government of Allah in the earth.

_______________________

[1] Qur'an, 68:4.

[2] As-Sunan al-Kubra, vol. 10 p. 192, Itthaf as-Sadeh al-Muttaqin, vol. 6 p. 17, Kashful Ghumma, vol. 1 p. 244.

[3] Sahih of at-Tarmithi, vol. 2 p. 255, Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 190.

[4] Tareekh Baghdad, vol. 6 p. 220.

[5] Rawdhat al-Kafi, p. 268, Mushkil al-Aathar, vol. 4 p. 299.

[6] Makarim al-Akhlaq, p. 15.

[7] Tafsir ar-Razi, vol. 15 p. 82 when interpreting this verse (And most surely you are with sublime morality) 68:4.

I have not seen with my eyes anyone like him before or after him.”[1]

_____________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 16 p. 237.

Thus, mercy, in the full sense of the word, appeared in his great soul towards his enemies who exceeded in wronging and harming him. He prayed Allah for and not against them.

One day, the Prophet (a.s.) was sleeping at midday. When he woke up, he saw a man standing with an unsheathed sword intending to kill him. The man said to the Prophet (a.s.), “Who can protect you from me?”

The Prophet (a.s.) said with confidence, “Allah is the one who protects me from you.”

The man was upset and the sword fell down from his hand. The Prophet (a.s.) took the sword and said to the man, “Who can protect you from me?”

The man said submissively, “Be the best taker (of the sword)!”

The Prophet (a.s.) pardoned the man who went back to his people while being astonished at the Prophet’s morals. He said to his people, “I have come to you from the best one of all people.”

Bujayr bin Zuhayr became a Muslim. His brother Ka’b knew about that and wrote to him a letter blaming him for that. At the end of the letter he mentioned some verses of poetry in which he scolded Bujayr and criticized Islam. Bujayr went to the Prophet (a.s.) complaining against his brother and mentioning his poetry to the Prophet (a.s.) who felt pain and announced that Ka’b was to be killed. Bujayr sent a letter to his brother informing him that the Prophet (a.s.) would pardon whoever came to him repenting and would not ask him about what he had committed before Islam. When the letter reached Ka’b, he resorted to his tribe asking them to protect him, but no one responded to him. He went to Medina and came to Imam Ali (a.s.) as guest. Imam Ali (a.s.) took him to the mosque and said to him, “This is the messenger of Allah. Go to him and ask for security!”

p: 66

Ka’b went to the Prophet (a.s.) saying to him, “O messenger of Allah, I am Ka’b bin Zuhayr.”

Some man from the Ansar jumped to him asking permission saying, “O messenger of Allah, let me alone with this enemy of Allah to cut his neck!’

The Prophet (a.s.) blamed the man and said to him, “Let him alone. He has come repentantly.”

Then, Ka’b began reciting his famous poem in which he declared his fear and asked the Prophet (a.s.) to forgive him. When he recited this verse:

‘Surely the messenger is a light that it is guided by it,and a strict sword from the unsheathed swords of Allah”

the Prophet (a.s.) offered to him his own garment as gift and welcomed him.

Once, Zayd bin Sa’nah, before being a Muslim, came to the Prophet (a.s.) to take back his debt from him. He drew the Prophet’s dress and took it off his shoulders and talked to him harshly. Umar scolded the man, but the Prophet (a.s.) smiled and said to Umar, “I and he are in need of something other than this. O Umar, you should ask me to pay back debt well and ask him to ask for debt in a good manner.”[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) paid back the man’s debt and gave twenty Sa’s[4] more, and that was the reason for him to be a Muslim. Then, he said about the Prophet (a.s.), “The much ignorance towards him does not increase but his patience.”[5]

p: 67

Another example on his high patience is that he pardoned Abu Sufyan who often and always fought and tried to kill him. However, when the Prophet (a.s.) pardoned Abu Sufyan, he was astonished and said admiringly, “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you. How patient, how kind (to kin), and how generous you are!”[6]

He also pardoned Wahshi (after being a Muslim) who had killed his (the Prophet) uncle Hamza. He announced a general amnesty to his enemies from the people of Mecca and said, “Go! You are the freed ones (tulaqa’).”[7]

Requiting a bad doer with kindness was from the Prophet’s nature that he had been created with, and by which he occupied people’s hearts. Some poet says about the Prophet (a.s.),

“His people met him with harshness but he overlooked,

and a patient one always overlooks.

He held people with understanding and patience,

for he was a sea that burdens did not tire him.”

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[1] Dala’il an-Nubuwwah (proofs of prophethood) by Ibn Na’eem, p. 134.

[2] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 7 p. 20, al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, vol. 11 p. 189.

[3] Sharh ash-Shifa’, vol. 1 p. 226, Manahil as-Safa, p. 17.

[4] Sa’ is a measure of capacity which is about three kilograms.

[5] As-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 9 p. 118.

[6] Majma’ az-Zawa’id, vol. 6 p. 166, Sharh ash-Shifa’, vol. 1 p. 29, Manahil as-Safa, p. 18, Sharh Ma’ani al-Aathar, vol. 13 p. 32.

p: 68

[7] As-Sunan al-Kubra, vol. 9 p. 118.

Once, he went to al-Ja’ranah (near Mecca). He divided monies there and people crowded around him while he was giving to them until they forced him to a tree and took his cloak. He said to them, “Give me back my cloak. By Allah, if I had as much as the trees of Tehama, I would divide it among you.”[6]

It is worth mentioning that the Prophet’s charity was not limited to the poor, but it included even animals. Once, ripe dates were offered to him and there was a sheep near him. He began eating the dates with his right hand and holding the stones with his left. He made a sign to the sheep and it came toward him and began eating the stones in his left hand. He did not throw the stones on the ground lest they would be dirty and the sheep might not eat them.[7]

Imam Ali (a.s.) described the Prophet’s liberality saying:

“He was the most generous of all people in giving, the most in forbearance, the most truthful one, the most lenient, and from the noblest tribe. Whoever sees him once reveres him, and whoever mixes with him thoughtfully loves him. His describer says: I have seen like him neither before nor after him.”[8]

It is worth mentioning that the Prophet (a.s.) undertook by himself the giving to the poor and he did not entrust that to anyone else. Aa’isha narrated that she had not seen the Prophet (a.s.) entrust his charities to anyone other than himself, but it was he himself who put the charity in the askers’ hands. Anyhow, the Prophet (a.s.) was the most generous one in goodness as ibn Abbas said.

p: 70

This aspect had been inherited by his beloved grandson Imam al-Hasan (a.s.) who did not know any value to money except to satisfy the hunger of a hungry one or to clothe a naked one with it until he was called as “the munificent one of the Ahlul Bayt” though all of the Ahlul Bayt were generous.

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[1] Jawahir al-Bihar fee Fadha’il al-Mukhtar, vol. 1 p. 41.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Muhammad the Perfect Example, p. 26.

[5] Ibid, p. 25.

[6] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 16 p. 430.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Sahih of at-Termithi, vol. 2 p. 286.

One day, Adiy bin Hatim[6] came to the Prophet (a.s.), and the Prophet (a.s.) took him to his house. He welcomed and received him warmly. He spread out to him a rug and asked him to sit on it while he himself sat on the ground. Adiy was astonished at the Prophet’s high morals and he declared reverently and admiringly, “I acknowledge that you do not intend to exalt yourself in the earth nor to make mischief” and then he turned Muslim.[7] Really, the Prophet (a.s.) was the highest example in every virtue that Allah has created in the earth.

_______________

[1] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 8 p. 407, al-Kamil fee adh-Dhu’afa’, vol. 1 p. 255.

[2] Jawahir al-Bihar fee Fadha'il al-Mukhtar, vol. 1 p. 50.

[3] Fat~hul Bari, vol. 8 p. 533, ad-Durr al-Manthur, vol. 1 p. 116, Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 4 p. 204.

[4] Sharh as-Sunna, vol. 7 p. 130.

[5] Sharh as-Sunna, vol. 7 p. 130.

[6] His father Hatim at-Ta’iy was famous for his unequalled liberality.

[7] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 4 p. 227, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 4 p. 125, 126.

One day, some man came to the Prophet (a.s.) and saw him sitting on a mat, which affected his body, and a pillow which affected his cheek. The man said painfully, “Neither Khosrau nor Caesar are satisfied with this! They sleep on silk and brocade while you sleep on this mat!” The Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “I am better than them both. What do I have to do with this life? The example of this life is like a rider who passed by a tree that had a shadow. He sat under it. When the shadow turned away, he went and left the tree.”

Aa’ishah narrated, “The messenger of Allah did never become satiated with bread for three successive days until he passed to his way (died).”

Ibn Abbas narrated, “The messenger of Allah and his wives spent successive nights hungrily finding nothing for dinner.”[2]

Aa’ishah narrated, “The bed that the messenger of Allah slept on was from leather filled with palm-tree fibers. He (Allah’s blessing be on him) died while his armor was mortgaged to a Jew in return for the spending of his family. He often prayed, “O Allah, make the livelihood of Muhammad’s family (as enough as) sustenance.”[3]

Some man from the Ansar offered to the Prophet (a.s.) a sa’ of ripe dates. The Prophet (a.s.) asked the maid that brought the dates to go in to see whether there was a plate in the house to put the dates in. She could not find any. Then, he swept a place with his dress and said to her, “Put them (the dates) on this ground!” Then he said, “By Him in Whose hand my soul is, if this world equaled to Allah a mosquito’s wing, He would not give anything from it to the unbelievers and the hypocrites.”[4]

p: 73

This is just a bit from the Prophet’s asceticism that his successor and guardian Imam Ali (a.s.) followed. He (Imam Ali) had divorced this life thrice until he left to the better world while leaving after him neither yellow (gold) nor white (silver). His whole intention during his reign was just to fulfill pure justice and truth caring for nothing else.[5]

_____________________

[1] Akhlaq an-Nubuwwah (moralities of prophethood), p. 286.

[2] Uyun al-Athar, vol. 2 p. 428.

[3] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 2 p. 446, Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 2 p. 539, Fat~h al-Bari, vol. 11 p. 16.

[4] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 16 p. 456.

[5] Rawdhat al-Kafi, p. 163.

[2] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 8 p. 350.

d. Regulating the rows of Muslims:

Bilal al-Habashi regulated the rows of praying Muslims and he patted on their hamstrings by his durrah (a dried bunch of date-palm fruit) to be orderly,[6] so that the prayer would be offered splendidly.

e. His much praying:

The messenger of Allah (a.s.) offered too many prayers. He found in prayer the greatest pleasure in his life for, in prayer, he talked with his Lord. His feet swelled because of his much praying. Aa’ishah said to him, “O messenger of Allah, why do you do so whereas Allah has forgiven you your previous and later error?” He said, “Do I not like to be a grateful slave?”[7]

Umm Salama narrated, “The Prophet offers prayer and then he sleeps inasmuch as his praying, then he offers prayer inasmuch as his sleeping, then he sleeps inasmuch as his praying, and so on until the morning.”[8]

Imam Ali (a.s.) narrated, “When these verses (O you wrapped up in your raiment! Keep vigil the night long, save a little)[9] were revealed to the Prophet, he began spending all the night in worshipping until his feet swelled. Then, he began lifting one leg and putting down the other. After that, Gabriel came down to him with this verse (Taha. We have not revealed unto you this Qur'an that you might be distressed).”[10]

f. His weeping in his prayers:

When Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) offered prayers, he wept because of the fear of Allah. Mutrif narrated that his father said, “I saw the messenger of Allah offer prayer while there was buzzing in his chest because of weeping like the buzzing of querns.”[11]

p: 76

Imam Ali (a.s.) imitated the messenger of Allah (a.s.) in his weeping in the prayer, and he, as historians say, approached to Allah with his heart and soul until he became unconscious.[12]

And so, all the infallible imams followed this way. They, as most of historians say, were true examples of turning loyally to Allah and fearing Him. This could be clearly seen in their prayers that manifested the fear of Allah and the weeping because of the submission to Him.

________________________

[1] Al-Muwatta’, vol. 1 p. 13, Sharh as-Sunna, vol. 2 p. 59.

[2] Sunna ibn Majah, vol. 1 p. 216, Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 1 p. 108.

[3] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 3 p. 129.

[4] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 2 p. 3.

[5] Kitab as-Salat (the book of prayer) by Ahmed bin Hanbal, p. 14, Sunan ibn Majeh, vol. 1 p. 259, trad. No. 791.

[6] Kitab as-Salat by Ahmed bin Hanbal, p. 14.

[7] Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 4 p. 1830, trad. no. 4557, Kitab at-tafsir in interpreting the verse 2 in the Sura 48.

[8] Sahih of at-Termithi, vol. 2 p. 152.

[9] Qur'an, 73:1-2.

[10] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 1 p. 273.

[11] Rawdhat al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 489, Sahih of Abu Dawud, vol. 2 p. 91.

[12] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.), vol. 1 p. 97.

From his coyness was that he did not declare the names of whom he disliked, but he said, “What about some people who say so-and-as…what about some people who do so-and-so…”[2]

He said, “When Allah wants to destroy someone, He takes coyness out of him. When Allah takes coyness out of him, you shall not find him except that he is hated and disdained. When you find him but hated and disdained, then fidelity is taken out of him. When fidelity is taken out of him, you shall find him disloyal and distrusted. When you find him but disloyal and distrusted, then mercifulness is taken out of him. When mercifulness is taken out of him, you shall not find him but cursed and damned, and when you find him but cursed and damned, then the noose of Islam is taken out of him.”[3]

He also said, “Coyness and faith are associated with one link; when one of them is taken out, the other one shall follow it.”[4]

The Prophet’s grandson Imam Zaynol Aabidin (a.s.) inherited this aspect from his grandfather and he was the coyest of people at his time. About this point, al-Farazdaq, the famous poet, recited,

“He overlooks because of his coyness and it is overlooked for his gravity,

that he is not talked with except when he smiles.”

_________________________

[1] Faydh al-Qadeer, vol. 5 p. 159.

[2] Tareekh al-Islam (the history of Islam), As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ath-Thahabi, p. 455.

[3] Sunan ibn Majeh, vol. 2 p. 1347, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 3 p. 119.

p: 78

[4] Ma’ani al-Akhbar, p. 410, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 71 p. 335.

The Prophet (a.s.) had attached to Allah with all his feelings and passions and this was due to his absolute knowledge of Allah the Almighty.

______________________

[1] Qur'an, 4:41.

[2] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 374.

[3] He might be Abdullah bin Mas’ud. (the translator)

[4] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 380.

It was infinite mercifulness that Allah had declared in the Qur'an. Allah had said about the Prophet (a.s.), (And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds).[3] Was there any mercy to people greater than the Prophet (a.s.) who raised the Word of Allah high in the earth which was the source of every mercy and blessing, and established a wonderful, developed system to reform the life of all human beings?

From his compassionate and mercifulness was that some people brought their newborn children to the Prophet (a.s.) to name them and to pray Allah to bless them. The Prophet (a.s.) took the babies and put them in his lap. It happened that some babies made water in the Prophet’s lap, and so some companions might shout at the babies’ families, but the Prophet (a.s.) said, “Do not make the baby cut his urination!” Then, the Prophet (a.s.) prayed Allah for the new born children, and their families became delighted while the Prophet (a.s.) went to wash his body and clothes.[4]

Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) was very merciful to his family and children. His servant Anas bin Malik said, “I have not seen anyone more merciful to his family than the messenger of Allah.”[5]

____________________

[1] Qur'an, 9:128.

[2] Sharh as-Sunna, vol. 13 p. 214, ash-Shafa, vol. 1 p. 255, Tafsir ibn Katheer, vol. 3 p. 259.

[3] Qur'an, 21:107.

[4] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 66 p. 426.

[5] Sahih of Muslim, Kitab al-Fadha’il, vol. 7 p. 76, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 6 p. 163.

p: 81

One day, an-Najashi’s[6] delegation came to him. He himself began serving them. His companions said to him, “We do that for you.” He said, “They honored our companions, and I like to reward them.”[7]

______________________

[1] Al-Adab al-Mufrad by al-Bukhari, p. 232, Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 4 p. 175.

[2] Al-Amali by ash-Shajari, vol. 2 p. 152, It~haf as-Sadah al-Muttaqin, vol. 6 p. 235.

[3] Abu Lahab was the Prophet’s uncle, but he harmed the Prophet (a.s.) too much until Allah cursed him in the Qur'an.

[4] Jawahir al-Bihar fee Fadha’il an-Nabiy al-Mukhtar, vol. 1 p. 48.

[5] Ibid.

[6] An-Najashi was the King of Abyssinia who had received and protected the first Muslim emigrants who had fled from the persecution of Quraysh.

[7] Dala’il an-Nubuwwah by as-Sayooti, vol. 2 p. 307, It~haf as-Sadah al-Muttaqin, vol. 7 p. 103.

Imran bin Hussayn said, “The messenger of Allah did not met a battalion (in a war), except that he was the first one to strike. When Ubay bin Khalaf saw him on the Day of Uhud, he began saying, ‘Where is Muhammad? May I not remain alive if he remains alive!’ When he saw the messenger of Allah, he attacked him, but some men got in his way. The Prophet ordered them to let him alone. He (the Prophet) took a bayonet from al-Harith and stabbed Ubay in his neck that made him about to fall down from his horse. He ran away back toward Quraysh while saying, ‘Muhammad has killed me.’ They said to him, ‘You are all right.’ He said, ‘If all people were there, Muhammad would kill them. Has he not said: I kill you? By Allah, if he spat on me, he would kill me.’ Then, he died in Serif (near Mecca).”[3]

The Prophet’s courage was beyond description. It was inherited by his grandson Imam al-Husayn (a.s.) who was one of the most courageous people. He was in the middle of the battlefield alone before that blind army who ran away before the Imam as goats run away when a wolf attacks them according to the historians’ words. When Imam Husayn (a.s.) was felled in the field of honor and dignity, that huge army feared and felt coward to approach him.

Anas narrated that the messenger of Allah (a.s.) said, “O Allah, make me live a poor and resurrect me with the community of the poor on the Day of Resurrection.” Aa’ishah asked him, “Why, O messenger of Allah?” He said to her, “They (the poor) enter the Paradise forty autumns before the rich. O Aa’ishah, do not reject a poor even by (giving him) a half of a date. O Aa’ishah, love the poor and approach to them, because Allah will approach you on the Day of Resurrection.”[2]

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[1] Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 2 p. 56.

[2] Sahih of at-Termithi, vol. 2 p. 56.

Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Allah the Almighty sent Muhammad (as prophet) and ordered him of patience by saying, (And bear patiently what they say and avoid them with a becoming avoidance).[1] He, blessings of Allah be on him, was patient towards the hardships he met from his people until Allah the Almighty granted him with the great victory.”

Allah has ordered his prophet to be patient by saying, (and bear patiently that which befalls you; surely these acts require courage).[2] Allah has educated him with these high morals to be a guide and educator to all human beings.

___________________

[1] Qur'an, 73:10.

[2] Qur'an, 31:17.

[1] Ash-Shafa, vol. 1 p. 223.

Khawwat bin Jubayr al-Ansari, before the advent of Islam, roved about houses and committed adultery with women. When he was asked what he did, he claimed that he looked for his lost camel. Khawwat became a Muslim at the hand of the Prophet (a.s.). After some time, he came to the Prophet (a.s.). The Prophet (a.s.) said to him humorously, “What about your lost camel?”

Khawwat replied politely, “O messenger of Allah, Islam has hobbled it.”[4]

One morning, the Prophet (a.s.) was somehow displeased. One of his companions said that he would make him laugh. He went to the Prophet (a.s.) and said to him, “May my father and mother die for you! I have been informed that when ad-Dajjal (charlatan ‘Antichrist’) will appear, people will be suffering hunger. He will invite them to meals. Do you see that if I shall live until that time, I shall devour from his porridge and when I shall be satiate, I shall believe in Allah and deny him, or I shall refrain from his food? The Prophet (a.s.) laughed and his laughing was just smiling. He said, “No, but Allah will satisfy you with what he satisfies the believers.”[5]

Once, he said to a woman from the Ansar, “Follow your husband for there is white in his eyes.” She joined her husband and said to him, “The Prophet (a.s.) says that there is white in your eyes.” Her husband said, “Do you not see that the white of my eye is more than its black?!”[6]

p: 88

The Prophet (a.s.) saw Suhayb, whose eye was sore and he was eating some dates. The Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “O Suhayb, do you eat dates in spite of your sore-eyedness?” He said, “O messenger of Allah, I eat them by my sound half.”

There are many other examples showing that the Prophet (a.s.) dealt with people with high moralities and infinite politeness and he humored them and met their natures and likings.

_______________________

[1] Nathr ad-Durr, vol. 2 p. 133, al-Mustadraf, vol. 2 p. 263.

[2] Qur'an, 56:36-37.

[3] Muhadharat ar-Raghib, vol. 1 p. 282.

[4] Nathr ad-Durr, vol. 2 p. 132, at-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 9 p. 362.

[5] Nathr ad-Durr, vol. 2 p. 132, at-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 9 p. 363.

[7] Muhadharat ar-Raghib, vol. 1 p. 282, Nihayatul Irab, vol. 4 p. 3.

Some of his companions said to him, “O messenger of Allah, how eloquent you are! We have not seen anyone more eloquent than you.”

He said, “What prevents me from that, while the Qur'an has been revealed in my tongue and in a clear Arabic tongue?”[3]

It is related that the Prophet (a.s.) said, ‘I have been given all eloquence’ and ‘Wisdom has been briefed to me’.

Anyhow, we shall mention some of his educational recommendations, speeches, and maxims which are signs of eloquence and rhetoric.

______________________

[1] Ihya’ul Uloom, vol. 2 p. 367.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 176. At-Tabarani mentioned the tradition in this way, “I am the most eloquent one of the Arabs; I was born in Quraysh and I grew up in Bani Sa’d, so how could solecism come to me?!”

[3] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 6 p. 230.

He was certain with no doubt that he would be the messenger of Allah for all human beings with their different races and languages. In the cave, he pondered deeply on reforming and guiding human beings and spreading knowledge and understanding among them all to get rid of their ignorance and bad habits.

____________________

[1] Hara’ is a mountain near Mecca.

[2] Qur'an, 26:3.

_________________________

[1] Iqra’ means ‘read’ in imperative form.

[2] Qur'an, 96:1-5.

[3] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 154.

Khadijah was very delighted. She hurried back to her husband to bring him that good news of Waraqah. She found him asleep, but suddenly he trembled and broke into sweat. It was Gabriel that came down revealing to him,

(O you who are wrapped up, arise and warn, and your Lord do magnify, and your garments do purify, and uncleanness do shun, nor expect, in giving, any increase (for yourself), and for the sake of your Lord, be patient.)[3]

Allah ordered him to rise and invite people to monotheism on which all powers of good and peace would be based and to warn them against the severe torment of Allah that He would afflict the unjust and the unbelievers with.

Khadijah asked him to go back to his bed, but he replied, “O Khadijah, the time of sleep and rest has gone. Gabriel has ordered me to warn people and to invite them towards Allah and towards His worship. Whom shall I invite and who will respond to me?”

____________________

[1] The Prophet’s surname.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 254.

[3] Qur'an, 74:1-7.

When becoming a Muslim, Imam Ali (a.s.) was seven years old, and it was said nine years.[3]

___________________

[1] Sahih of at-Termithi, vol. 2 p. 301, at-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 3 p. 12, Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 4 p. 17, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 6 p. 400, Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 55, Tareekh Baghdad, vol. 2 p. 18, and others.

[2] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib by Baqir Shareef al-Qurashi, vol. 1 p. 54.

[3] Sahih of at-Termithi, vol. 2 p. 301, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 6 p. 400, Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 55.

Al-Abbas said, ‘Yes, it is a wonder. Do you know who this young man is?’

I said, ‘No.’

He said, ‘He is my nephew Muhammad bin Abdullah. Do you know who this young boy is? He is Ali bin Abi Talib. Do you know who this woman is? She is Khadijah his (Muhammad) wife.

My nephew (he pointed to Muhammad) told me that his god, the god of the heaven and the earth, has ordered him of this religion on which he is. By Allah, there is no one on the whole earth on this religion other than these three ones.’”[2]

______________________

[1] Tahthib al-Kamal, vol. 20 p. 185. It is mentioned that “the Prophet became a prophet on Monday and offered the prayer in the Kaaba on Tuesday”.

[2] Khasa’is an-Nassa’iy, p. 3, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 309, at-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 8 p. 10.

Al-Abbas said, ‘This is my nephew Muhammad, the boy is Ali bin Abi Talib, and the woman is Khadijah.’

Ibn Mas’ud added, ‘By Allah, there is no one on the face of the earth that we know worshipping Allah by this religion except these three persons.’”[1] This was a virtue to Khadijah and Imam Ali (a.s.) that no one other than them had won.

______________________

[1] Majma’ az-Zawa’id, vol. 9 p. 222, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 7 p. 56.

Some other people asked the Prophet (a.s.) to describe Allah to them whether He was of gold, silver, or wood. Yes, it was this mean mentality that they had. However, the Prophet (a.s.) offered to them irrefutable proofs on the existence of Allah the Almighty, but they did not understand.

The weak, the disabled, and slaves believed in that new mission besides some persons of understanding and reason, but the mission remained secret covered with much concealment. It is worth mentioning that some famous companions believed in the mission in that period, such as Abu Tharr al-Ghifari, Salaman al-Farisi, Abu Bakr, az-Zubayr, Talha, and Umar bin al-Khattab.

The Prophet (a.s.) was certain with no any bit of doubt that Islam definitely would spread and prevail the earth. He said, “This matter (Islam) will reach what night reaches, and Allah will leave no house of adobe or hair except that this religion will enter it. A noble one is honored by it and a low one becomes low by it. Allah degrades disbelief by it.”[2]

______________________

[1] Qur'an, 109:1-6 (the Sura of al-Kafirun).

[2] Rabee’ul Abrar, vol. 2 p. 192.

“O children of Abdul Muttalib, by Allah, I do not know that a young man among the Arabs has brought to his people a thing better than what I have brought to you. I have brought to you the good of this life and of the afterlife, and Allah the Almighty has ordered me to invite you to it. Which of you shall support me in this matter to be my brother, guardian, and successor among you?”

All of them kept silent except Ali who said zealously, “I, O prophet of Allah, will be your vizier on it.”

The Prophet (a.s.) put his hand on Ali’s neck and addressed the attendants saying, “This is my brother, guardian, and successor among you. You should listen to and obey him.”

They began mocking saying to Abu Talib, “He orders you to listen to and obey your son!”[2]

The Prophet (a.s.) compared his invitation to monotheism with the invitation to the caliphate, viziership, and imamate after him, and he entrusted these positions to his brother and the gate of the city of his knowledge Imam Ali (a.s.).

Anyhow, these people lent the Prophet (a.s.) deaf ears and no one of them responded to him except his uncle Abu Talib and his son Ali (a.s.).

___________________

[1] Qur'an, 26:214.

[2] Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 63, Tareekh ibn al-Atheer, vol. 2 p. 24, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 159, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 1 p. 457-459. It is odd that ibn Katheer mentioned the event but he distorted some information in it. Please, refer to his Tafsir.

p: 99

Inciting the children to harm the Prophet:

The people of Quraysh ordered their children and encouraged them to harm the Prophet (a.s.). They threw stones, soil, and ashes on him. Quraysh did that to be excused before Abu Talib that it was their little children, who could not be punished, and not them who were responsible for that. The Prophet (a.s.) felt much pain and was too affected by the behavior of children. Imam Ali (a.s.), though very young then, accompanied the Prophet (a.s.) to protect him from the children. Imam Ali (a.s.) attacked children and beat them severely, and so they ran away. After that, when the Prophet (a.s.) went out and Imam Ali (a.s.) was with him, children ran away frightenedly.

Accusing the Prophet of madness:

Because the Prophet (a.s.) came with a new law unlike the habits and traditions of Quraysh, they accused him of madness, though he was the most knowledgeable of all mankind. They accused him of madness to frustrate his mission and prevent the public from following him and embracing his mission. However, they failed and the mission moved like light and reached all peoples and nations of the world.

Some men from Quraysh mocked at the Prophet (a.s.) and strove to tease and harm him, but Allah the Almighty ordered him to be fixed and not to pay attention to them. Allah revealed to him, (Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers).[1] Those men ran after the Prophet (a.s.) and mocked at him, but he raised his voice reciting, ‘in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful’ and they went back. Then, this verse was revealed to him, (and when you mention your Lord alone in the Qur’an, they turn their backs in aversion).[2]

p: 101

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[1] Abu Kabsha is said to be the husband of Halimah, the Prophet’s wet-nurse.

[2] Qur'an, 15:95.

[3] Qur'an, 17:46.

4. Al-Harith:

He was one of those who scorned at the Prophet (a.s.). One very hot day, he left his house to somewhere. His face turned black. When he came back home, his family could not know him for his black face and so they killed him.

5. Al-Aswad bin al-Harith:

He scorned too much at the Prophet (a.s.) until Allah made him perish. He ate a lot of salty whale meat and became too thirsty. He began drinking water until he died while saying, “The god of Muhammad has killed me.”

Ibn Mas’ud said, “By Him Who has sent Muhammad with the truth, I had seen those, whom he (the Prophet) had named, killed in the battle of Badr and then they were drawn to the well, the well of Badr and their carrions were thrown into it.”[1]

One day, the Prophet (a.s.) was in the Thil Majaz Bazaar inviting people to embrace Islam and saying, “Say: ‘there is no god but Allah’ and you shall be successful.” Abu Jahl was behind him throwing earth on him and saying to people, “Let this one not cheat you against your religion! He just wants you to leave the worship of al-Lat and al-Uzza (two idols).”[2]

Once, this villain tried to tread on the Prophet’s neck while he was offering the prayer, but he receded and when he was asked why, he said, “I saw that there was between me and him a terrible trench of fire and I saw winged angels.” This was told to the Prophet (a.s.) and he said, “If he approached me, the angels would snatch him part by part.” Then, these verses were revealed to the Prophet (a.s.), (Have you seen him who forbid a servant when he prays…)[3].[4]

2. Abu Lahab (the Prophet’s uncle):

Abu Lahab was one of the most spiteful enemies of the Prophet (a.s.) and the most daring and denying one against him. The Prophet (a.s.) suffered from him too much. He threw filth on the Prophet’s door because he was his neighbor. The Prophet (a.s.) removed the filth and said, “O children of Abd Manaf, what neighboring this is!”

p: 104

Abu Lahab’s wife Umm Jameel, who was Abu Sufyan’s sister, was not less than her husband in her enmity and grudge against the Prophet (a.s.). She often met the Prophet (a.s.) with abuse and revilement. Her grudge against the Prophet (a.s.) increased when the Sura of al-Masad (111) was revealed about her and her husband Abu Lahab. Allah has said, (Perish both hands of Abu Lahab, and he will perish. His wealth and what he earns will not avail him. He shall soon burn in flaming fire. And his wife, the bearer of firewood. Upon her neck a halter of twisted palm-fiber.)[5]

When the Prophet (a.s.) invited people to the faith in Allah, Abu Lahab addressed the people of Quraysh saying loudly, “Let him not cheat you against your religion and the religion of your fathers.”[6]

3. Uqbah bin Abi Ma’eet:

He had great grudge against the Prophet (a.s.) and was excessive in harming him. Once, he saw the Prophet (a.s.) offering the prayer inside the Kaaba. He put his garment around the Prophet’s neck and tried to throttle him, but Abu Bakr pushed him away from the Prophet (a.s.) and said to him, “Do you want to kill a man just because he says: ‘my god is Allah’ and has come to you with proofs from your God?”[7]

4. Al-Hakam bin Abil-Aas:

Al-Hakam bin Abil-Aas bin Umayyah was the father of Marwan. He scorned and mocked at the Prophet (a.s.). He walked behind the Prophet (a.s.) and made ridiculous gestures with his nose and mouth. Once, the Prophet (a.s.) turned and saw him do that. He said to him, “Let you be so then!” His mouth began quivering until his death.

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5. Umayyah bin Khalaf:

He was one of the most malicious and spiteful men towards the Prophet (a.s.). Whenever, he saw the Prophet (a.s.), he vexed and annoy him. Then, Allah revealed these verses about him, (Woe to every slanderer, defamer, who amasses wealth and considers it a provision (against mishap)…).[8] This villain was killed in the Battle of Badr.[9]

_____________________

[1] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 5 p. 180, Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 1 p. 65.

[2] Tareekh al-Islam, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ath-Thahabi, p. 151.

[3] Qur'an, 96:9-…

[4] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 18 p. 46, Dala’il an-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 1 p. 438, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 2 p. 270, Tareekh al-Islam, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ath-Thahabi, p. 151.

[5] Qur'an, 11:1-5.

[6] Tareekh al-Islam, As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah by ath-Thahabi, p. 151.

[7] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 1 p. 470.

[8] Qur'an, 104:1-…

[9] Dala’il an-Nubuwwah by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 2 p. 335, and other sources.

They said to him, “Muhammad prohibits adultery, usury, drinks, and gambling.”

He said, “Adultery has left me but I have not left it.” He became uneasy when they mentioned to him that Islam had prohibited wine.

Abu Sufyan said to him, “Would you accept what is better than what you want to do?”

He asked what it was and Abu Sufyan said to him, “You take one hundred camels and go back to your country. You wait for what we shall do. If we defeat him (the Prophet), you shall have taken your recompense, and if he shall defeat us, you can come to him.”

He said, “I do not hate this.”

Abu Sufyan collected to him from Quraysh one hundred camels, and the poet took them and went back to his country…and he could not be blessed by meeting the Prophet (a.s.). Abu Sufyan made him lose that blessing.[1]

Preventing people from embracing Islam:

Quraysh tried the best to prevent those who were willing to be Muslims from embracing Islam. One day, Marwan met Huwaytib and asked him about his old. When he told him, Marwan said to Huwaytib, “O sheikh (old man), your faith in Islam has been late and events have preceded you.”

Huwaytib said, “By Allah, I intended to embrace Islam more than one time, but your father hindered me from that every time. He said to me: You lose your honor. You leave your fathers’ religion for a new religion and be inferior.”[2]

Thus was the situation of the people of Quraysh at the head of whom were the Umayyads. It was a situation of absolute enmity to Islam and far grudge against the Prophet (a.s.). They followed all means to put out the light of Islam but they failed.

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Persecuting the believers:

The tyrants of Quraysh wreaked their wrath on everyone that believed in the Prophet (a.s.) and became a Muslim. They pursued the weak and slaves who had no supporters that could protect them against the oppression of Quraysh. Those weak and disabled people were the base and the strong fort of the Islamic mission. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Allah gives victory to this nation through its weak people; through their propagandizing, prayers, and devotion…”[3]

The men of Quraysh were excessive in scorning and oppressing those first Muslims. Allah has said about them, (Lo! The guilty used to laugh at those who believed, and when they passed by them, they winked at one another, and when they returned to their own followers they returned exulting, and when they saw them, they said: Most surely these are in error.)[4]

However, they remained no long until Islam destroyed them and did away with their ignorance and moldy minds, and then the weak and the disabled became the masters of the earth.

As an example, the tyrants of Quraysh tortured Yasirs’s family with unbearable torment. The Prophet (a.s.) passed by them when they were being tortured and felt great pain and pity for them. He said about them (Yasir, Sumayyah, and their son Ammar), “Be patient O Family of Yasir! Your promise is the Paradise.”[5]

Yasir and his wife Summayah were martyred under the pressure of torment, and their son Ammar remained receiving heavy torment. He could bear no more. Consequently, Quraysh asked him to abuse the Prophet (a.s.), and he responded unwillingly and they set him free. He hurried to the Prophet (a.s.) crying and feeling very sad. He told the Prophet (a.s.) what he did, but the Prophet (a.s.) wiped his tears and said to him, “If they do again (punish you), you do the same (to abuse).” Therefore, Allah revealed this verse, (He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is content with the faith).[6]

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Ammar’s soul was filled with faith and devotedness until he was martyred for the sake of Islam in the desert of Siffin with the leader of wisdom and emir of justice; Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.).

Bilal al-Habashi was another one from those who were tortured in the way of Islam. Umayyah bin Khalaf poured on him all kinds of torment. After leaving him hungry and thirsty for a day and a night, he took him out at midday and made him lie down on his back in the desert and ordered his men to put a heavy rock on his chest, and then he said to him, “It is so until you die or disbelieve in Muhammad and worship al-Lat and al-Uzza.”

From the other kinds of punishment against Bilal was that the men of Quraysh tied him with ropes and made their children draw him in the streets of Mecca. He did not care for all that, but he said: He is One. He is One.[7]

Anyhow, the steadfastness of those tortured ones astonished the tyrants of Quraysh and made them too angry. The most spiteful one of those tyrants against whoever became a Muslim was Abu Jahl who whenever knew that some man turned a Muslim, he went to him to scold him. If that new Muslim was a notable man in his tribe, he (Abu Jahl) said to him, “You have left the religion of your father who is better than you! We will confute your opinion, refute your belief, and degrade you.” If he was a merchant, he said to him, “We will stagnate your trade and deaden your capitals.” And if he was a helpless one, he punished him and incited others against him.[8]

p: 109

Sa’eed bin Jubayr narrated, “I said to Abdullah bin Abbas, ‘Did the polytheists punish the messenger of Allah’s companions to a degree that they were obliged to give up their religion?’ Ibn

Abbas said, ‘Yes by Allah. They punished a companion, starved, and made him thirsty until he was unable to sit erect because of the damage he had, and then he would respond to their ill will. Then they said to him: Are al-Lat and al-Uzza your gods away from Allah? He said: Yes. He said that just to save himself from their torment.’”[9]

________________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 26-28.

[2] Al-Bidayeh wen-Nihayeh, vol. 8 p. 76.

[3] Rabee’ul Abrar, vol. 2 p. 198.

[4] Qur'an, 83:29-32.

[5] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 6 p. 85, Majma’ az-Zawa’id, vol. 9 p. 293.

[6] Qur'an, 16:106. Al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir, vol. 1 p. 239, and Ibn Sa’d in his Tabaqat, vol. 1 p. 178, mentioned that it was revealed about Ammar.

[7] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 1 p. 494.

[8] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 320.

[9] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 320.

____________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 1 p. 496.

“I swear by the House of Allah that you have told lies!

We never give up Muhammad; we struggle and fight for him,

we support him until we are killed around him.

For him we ignore our wives and children.”

He added praising the Prophet (a.s.),

“And a white-faced, with whose face it is prayed,

so that the clouds bring goodness.

He is the shelter of the orphans and the guardian of the widows.

They know well that our son had never been a liar,

nor we care for absurdities.

I swear I love Ahmed as a passionate lover;

I sacrifice my soul for him,

I defend him with all I have…”[1]

Ibn Katheer commented on this poem saying, “It is a very great, eloquent poem that no one can compose except that one to whom it is ascribed. It is more perfect and more eloquent in delivering the meaning than all the (famous) Seven Poems (hanged on the wall of the Kaaba).”[2]

In any case, Abu Talib was too loyal in his love and protection to the Prophet (a.s.) and without him the Prophet (a.s.) would not be able to announce the principles and values he adopted in his immortal mission.

_____________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 1 p. 488, 491.

[2] Al-Isaba, vol. 4 p. 116, Usdul Ghaba, vol. 6 p. 287.

They went back disappointedly, and Abu Talib left spite filling their hearts against the Prophet (a.s.).

[2] Sharh Nahjol Balaghah, vol. 3 p. 272, al-Ghadir, vol. 7 p. 356.

[3] Al-Islamiyyat, vol. 7 p. 335.

Hamza became angry and lost his mind. He went to the mosque. When he saw Abu Jahl, he struck his head with his bow that wounded his head. He shouted at him, “Do you abuse him while I am on his religion? I believe in what he says. Refute me if you can do that!”

Some men from bani Makhzum rose to assist their fellow Abu Jahl who prevented them saying, “I had abused his nephew too impudently.”[1]

Hamza announced his faith and promised the Prophet (a.s.) to defend and protect him and to sacrifice himself for supporting Islam. When Hamza became a Muslim, the Prophet (a.s.) was relieved from much of Quraysh’s harm, because Hamza was very courageous and daring and most of people feared him. He announced his faith in Islam openly and withstood the tyranny of Quraysh.

____________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 311.

Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal sees that the purpose of the Prophet’s order to the Muslims to emigrate to Abyssinia was not the escape from the persecution of Quraysh, but it had an important political goal; it was to propagandize for Islam and to show the Muslims’ sufferings. I myself think that this thought is so far true, for the Prophet’s procedures were not, in any case, spontaneous, but they were intentional and they had important political purposes. The Prophet (a.s.) ordered the believers to emigrate to Abyssinia and not any other place such as Yemen that was near to Mecca, because the people and the rulers of Abyssinia were Christians and their divine books had brought good tidings about the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.). Therefore, they would be worthier of responding to Islam than the people of the towns dominated by idolatry and Judaism. Anyhow, the emigrants were safe, there, from the punishment and persecution of Quraysh.

The men of Quraysh were terrified by the emigration of Muslims to Abyssinia. They feared that events might develop against them and Abyssinia might be taken as a center for the Islamic mission. Therefore, they sent a delegation to the King of Abyssinia asking him not to protect the emigrant Muslims of Mecca and to deliver them back to Quraysh. They chose for the delegation Amr bin al-Aas and Abdullah bin Abi Rabee’ah and sent with them precious gifts. On the other side, Abu Talib sent a letter to the king of Abyssinia asking him to protect and be kind to the emigrant Muslims and he ended the letter with these verses of poetry:

p: 116

“I wish I knew what affairs of Ja’far among people there,

and of Amr and the kin enemies of the Prophet!

Did the goodness of Negus reach Ja’far and his companions,

or it was prevented by a seditious offender?

You know O Negus, glory be to you, that you are so generous,

that whoever resorts to you won’t be disappointed.

You know that Allah has given you great authority,

and every means of goodness,

that still keep to your high qualities.

And you are a fount of goodness,

that enemies and relatives can get its benefits.”[1]

Anyhow, the two deputies of Quraysh came before Negus, and one of them said to him, “O king, some silly young men from us have come to your country. They have abandoned the religion of their people and they have not embraced your religion. They have invented a religion that neither we nor you know it. The notables of their people from their fathers, cousins, and tribes have sent us to you that you may send them (emigrant Muslims) back to them, for they are more aware of them and of what they have done to and faulted them.”

The retinue of Negus asked him to respond to the delegation of Quraysh, but he refused and said, “I do not deliver them to them. How can I do that whereas they have come to my country and chosen me from among all others? I will inquire them (Muslims) about what they (the delegation of Quraysh) say. If they are as they say, I will deliver them to them and send them back to their people; otherwise, I will protect them against them.”

p: 117

When the emigrant Muslims appeared before Negus (and there were many bishops in the palace), he asked them, “What about this religion by which you have parted with the religion of your people and not embraced my religion or any other religion?”

Ja’far bin Abi Talib said, “O king, we were a people of ignorance; worshipping idols, eating dead animals, committing adultery, abandoning kinship, doing badly to neighbors, and the strong eating the weak. We were on that until Allah sent us a prophet from us that we know his lineage, truthfulness, loyalty, and virtuousness. He invited us to Allah; to believe in His oneness and to worship Him, and to abandon what we and our fathers were worshipping of stones and idols away from Him. He ordered us to be truthful in speech, give deposits back (to their owners), maintain kinship, be good to neighbors, and to refrain from sins and shedding of blood, and he prohibited us from adultery, vices, falsehood, eating up the properties of orphans, and accusing chaste women of adultery, and he ordered us to worship Allah alone without associating any partner with Him, and ordered us to perform prayer, zakat, and fasting…so we believed in and followed him in all what he had brought from Allah. We worshipped Allah alone with no partner, refrained from what he prohibited, and practiced what he permitted to us, but our people oppressed, tortured, and tempted us to renegade our religion and come back to idolatry away from Allah the Almighty, and to practice the vices we practiced before. When they wronged, persecuted, pressed, and tried to prevent us from our religion, we left to your country, chose you from among others, wished to be your neighbors, and hoped that we would not be wronged near you O king.”

p: 118

The king asked Ja’far, “Would you recite to me from what he (the Prophet) has brought from Allah the Almighty?”

Ja’far recited the Sura of Maryam from its beginning until he reached these verses, (Then she pointed to him. They said: How should we speak to one who is a child in the cradle? He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live, and (has made me) dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed. Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive.)[2]

These verses occupied Negus and the bishops’ hearts and affected their feelings that made them cry. Negus said to Ja’far, “This and what Jesus has brought come out of one niche. (he addressed the delegation of Quraysh) Go away! No, by Allah, I do never deliver them to you.” Then, he ordered his men to drive away Amr bin al-Aas and his companion.

Amr bin al-Aas became very angry and tried to plot against the Muslims. He said to Negus, “The Muslims say odd things about Jesus son of Mary.” Negus asked the Muslims about what they said concerning Prophet Jesus (a.s.), and Ja’far said, “Our prophet says: he (Prophet Jesus) is Allah’s servant, messenger, spirit, and word that He has cast to Virgin Mary.”

p: 119

Negus became too delighted. He drew a line on the ground and said to Ja’far, “There is nothing (different) between our religion and your religion more than this line.”

Negus was certain that Muslims were true and their opponents were false. He let Muslims live in Abyssinia and assured to them security against the harms of Quraysh. The deputies of Quraysh returned empty-handed, whereas the Muslims lived under the full protection of the king and became free in practicing their rituals. Umm Salama narrated, “When we arrived in the land of Abyssinia, we neighbored the best of neighbors; Negus who secured to us our religion. We began worshipping Allah the Almighty without being harmed and without hearing anything that we hated.”[3]

____________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 357.

[2] Qur'an, 19:29-33.

[3] Imta’ al-Asma’, vol. 4 p. 106, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 461.

Umar was regretful for what he did to his sister and was certain that Islam must prevail, and that there was no way to withstand it. He asked his sister to give him the book in which the Sura of Taha was written down. She told him that she and her husband feared for it from him. He swore by the gods he worshipped that he would give it back to her after reading it. She said to him:

“You are impure and on polytheism, and the Qur'an must not be touched except by a pure person.”

After bathing himself, she gave him the Sura of Taha. When he read it, he was overcome by the unequaled eloquence of the Qur'an and he felt nearing to Islam. He said to his sister, “How beautiful and honorable this speech is!”[2] He went to the Prophet (a.s.) and announced his faith in Islam. Muslims became delighted for they would be safe from his hostility.

[1] The Life of Muhammad by Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal, p. 155.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 367-370.

“O my nephew, you are to us, as you know, of honor in the tribe, and high rank in lineage. You have brought your people a dangerous thing by which you separated their unity, refuted their opinions, censured their gods and religion, and considered their past ancestors as disbelievers. Listen to me; I will offer to you some things to ponder on that you may accept some of them.”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Say, O Abul Waleed, I will listen.”

Utbah said, “O my nephew, if you want, by this matter which you have brought, money, we will collect to you from our monies until you shall be the wealthiest of us. If you want, by it, honor, we will make you the master over us that we shall not decide anything without you. If you want, by it, authority, we shall make you the ruler over us. And if this that comes to you is a vision that you cannot withstand, we will find you a remedy and spend from our monies until we shall heal you from it. Magic may overcome a man, but he can be cured from it.”

When Utbah finished his speech, the Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “Have you finished (your speech) O Abul Waleed?”

Utbah said, “Yes, I have.”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Would you listen to me?”

Utbah said, “Yes, I would.”

The Prophet (a.s.) recited,

(In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Ha Mim. A revelation from the Beneficent, the Merciful Allah. A Book of which the verses are made plain, an Arabic Qur’an for a people who know. A herald of good news and a warner, but most of them turn aside so they hear not. And they say: Our hearts are under coverings from that to which you call us, and there is a heaviness in our ears, and a veil hangs between us and you…)[1] The Prophet (a.s.) kept on reciting the Sura, and Utbah was astonished. Then the Prophet (a.s.) said, “You have heard, O Abul Waleed, what you have heard. It is up to you then.”

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Utbah went back to his people full of reverence to what he heard. Changing and astonishment appeared on him. His companions asked him what happened and he said:

“I have heard a saying that, by Allah, I have never heard like before. By Allah, it is neither poetry, nor magic, nor divination. O community of Quraysh, obey me and leave this man alone with what he is in. leave him alone! By Allah, to his saying that I have heard there will be a great influence. If (other tribes of) the Arabs do way with him, you shall be relieved from him by other than you, and if he prevails over the Arabs, then his authority shall be yours and his glory shall be your glory, and you shall be the happiest of people by him.”

They said to him, “He (the Prophet) has bewitched you O Abul Waleed.”

Utbah said, “This is my opinion about him. Do to him whatever you like.”[2]

They gave Utbah deaf ears and remained insisting on their deviation. They kept on resisting the Prophet (a.s.) with all means they had. If they had had a bit of reason, they would have responded to win glory in this life and in the afterlife. However, not many years passed when people began entering in the religion of Allah groups by groups…when the Islamic army attacked them and they remained at their houses surrounded by horror and fear until the messenger of Allah (a.s.) did them a great favor. He pardoned them and did not punish any of them for all the oppression and harms they did to him before.

p: 124

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[1] Qur'an, the Sura of Fussilat (41:1-5).

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 293, 294, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 6 p. 289.

The Prophet (a.s.) and the Hshemites remained in the Shi’b two years or more suffering indescribable exhaustion and hardship. They were in total isolation and all means of life were blocked before them.

Allah willed to save His messenger and his fellow believers from this disaster and grant them deliverance. Woodworms ate the document of the blockade hung in the Kaaba leaving only the name of Allah safe. Gabriel told the Prophet (a.s.) about that, and the Prophet (a.s.) told his uncle Abu Talib saying to him, “My Lord Allah the Almighty has sent the woodworm to the document of Quraysh, and it left every name that was of Allah safe in it (the document) and removed injustice, alienation, and falsehood.”

Abu Talib asked the Prophet (a.s.), “Has your god told you about that?”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Yes.”

Abu Talib set out to Quraysh saying to them, “O people of Quraysh, my nephew has told me so-and-so. Look at your document; if it is as my nephew has said, then give up our alienation and end what there is in it (the document). And if my nephew is untrue, I will deliver him to you.”

The men of Quraysh agreed and they hurried to the document. They found it as the Prophet (a.s.) had told. However, this only made them more insolent and more spiteful.[1]

The Hashemites remained in the Shi’b under the burden of the severe blockade suffering exhaustion until the news of the document that was eaten by the woodworm spread among all people of Quraysh. Then, some men of Quraysh headed by Zuhayr bin Abi Umayyah agreed to annul the blockade. Zuhayr made a speech before the people of Quraysh saying, “O people of Mecca, do we eat food and wear clothes while the Bani Hashim are exhausted neither is sold to them nor is bought from them? By Allah, I will not sit down until this unjust document will be torn.”

p: 126

Abu Jahl replied, “By Allah, it will not be torn.”

Some supporters of Zuhayr denied and opposed Abu Jahl who then said, “This is a matter prepared in the darkness (it is a plot)!”

The oppositionists won and Abu Jahl could do nothing. The blockade was broken and the Hashemites were free from the Shi’b. The Prophet (a.s.) left the Shi’b more fixed and determined inviting people to believe in Islam and reject idolatry. He enjoyed the protection of his uncle Abu Talib who encouraged him every moment to fulfill his mission. He said to him,

“So, reveal your mission openly feeling no fear,

And be delighted at that and rest in relief.

By Allah, they shall not reach you with all their crowds,

until I shall be buried in the ground.”[2]

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[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 16-17.

[2] Asnal Matalib fee Najat Abi Talib, p. 25.

Bayharah said, “Are our necks cut by the Arabs for you, and when Allah makes you prevail, the matter shall be to other than us? We are in no need of your mission.”[4] The Prophet (a.s.) went back and they did not respond to him too. Some men of this tribe told one of their wise old men about the Prophet’s invitation, and he blamed them and said, “By Him in Whose hand my soul is, no Isma’ili[5] had claimed it (prophethood) falsely at all. He is true. Where was your reason?!”[6]

The Prophet (a.s.) went to the tribe of Thaqif. He met three brothers from the notables of the tribe. He invited them to Islam. One of them said to him while he was tearing the clothing of the Kaaba, “If (it is true that) Allah has sent you?!”

The second one said to him, “Has Allah not found other than you to send him (as a prophet)?!”

The third one said to him, “I do not talk to you at all. If you are a messenger from Allah-as you say-then you are much greater than refuting your saying (by me), and if you fabricate lies against Allah, then I should not talk to you.”

The Prophet (a.s.) was too distressed. The people of this tribe asked him to get out of their land to anywhere he liked. They asked their children and slaves to abuse and insult him. People crowded around him in two rows and began shooting him with stones until they wounded his legs. He sat on the ground and could not get up. Two men of them caught him by his arms and made him get up. They again began throwing on him stones while they were laughing. His head was wounded and his legs bleeding.[7]

p: 128

____________________________

[1] Fat~h al-Bari, vol. 3 p. 695.

[2] Hayat ar-Rasool al-Mustafa, vol. 1 p. 236.

[3] Nihayatol Irab, vol. 12 p. 204.

[4] Al-Kamil fee at-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 61.

[5] A descendent of Prophet Ishmael (a.s.).

[6] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 66, as-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 2 p. 3.

[7] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 141.

______________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1, p. 142.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 147.

As for the place of the Night Journey and the Ascension, there are some different traditions about it. Anas bin Malik narrated that the Prophet (a.s.) had said, “While I was in the Inviolable Mosque (al-Masjidul Haram) half asleep, Gabriel came to me with the al-Buraq (the means by which the Prophet (a.s.) had ascended to the heavens).”[10]

Malik narrated that the Prophet (a.s.) had said, “While I was in the House (the Kaaba) half asleep, a gold washtub was brought to me full of wisdom and faith.”[11]

Umm Hani narrated, “On that night, the messenger of Allah spent the night with me in my house. He offered the Isha’ Prayer, and then he slept and we slept too. Before the dawn, he wakened us. When he finished offering the Fajr Prayer which we offered it with him, he said, ‘O Umm Hani, I offered the Isha’ Prayer with you as you saw me, and then, I went to Jerusalem and offered prayer in it, then I offered the dawn prayer just now as you saw.’”[12]

Abu Tharr al-Ghifari narrated that the Prophet (a.s.) had said, “I was in Mecca when Gabriel came to me and said: O the sleeping one, get up! Then, he held my hand and took me up to the Lower Heaven.”[13]

During the Ascension, Gabriel ordered the Prophet (a.s.) to offer prayer in Mount Sinai because Allah the Almighty had talked to Prophet Moses (a.s.) there. Then, Gabriel ordered the Prophet (a.s.) to offer prayer in Bethlehem because Jesus Christ (a.s.) was born in it. When the journey ended in Jerusalem, Gabriel took the Prophet (a.s.) down to the Mosque. He offered a two-rak’as prayer and the prophets offered the prayer behind him.

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[1] Qur'an, 17:1.

[2] Nihayat al-Irab, vol. 16 p. 293.

[3] Fiqh as-Seera, p. 145.

[4] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 1 p. 214.

[5] Tafsir of Rooh al-Ma’ani, vol. 15 p. 6.

[6] Hayat ar-Rasool al-Mustafa, vol. 1 p. 232.

[7] Nihayat al-Irab, vol. 16 p. 293.

[8] Seerat ar-Rasool, p. 101.

[9] Hayat ar-Rasool, vol. 1 p. 232.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid., p. 233.

[1] Hayat Muhammad, by Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal, p. 189.

[2] Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 1 p. 97.

Besides these wonderful scenes of his meeting with the great prophets (a.s.), Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) saw terrible scenes; he saw groups of people being punished severely. They were the ones who slandered and defamed innocent people (in the earth), and ones who ate the properties of orphans wrongfully, and ones who were usurers. The Prophet (a.s.) saw the severe punishment of those people just to inform his nation of the heavy sins those people had committed lest no one of his nation would follow the same way.[2]

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[1] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 1 p. 104, As-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 1 p. 146, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 48-49, Safeenat al-Bihar, vol. 1 p. 174.

[2] Safeenat al-Bihar, vol. 1 p. 176.

There is another tradition narrated in this way: The Prophet (a.s.) said, “When I was made to journey in the night, Allah the Almighty called me saying, ‘O Muhammad, your prophethood has come to an end, so who shall be to your nation?’ I said, ‘O my Lord, I tested Your creatures and I could find no one more obedient and more beloved to me than Ali bin Abi Talib.’ Allah the Almighty said, ‘O Muhammad, inform him that he is the banner of guidance, the imam of My guardians, and a light to whoever obeys Me.’”[2]

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[1] Safeenat al-Bihar, vol. 1 p. 176.

[2] Amali of as-Saduq, p. 286.

Historians say that the Prophet (a.s.) told Umm Hani (his wife and Imam Ali’s sister) about this ascension and wanted her to spread the news among the people of Quraysh, but she hesitated and felt fear for the Prophet (a.s.) from the tyrants of Quraysh. She said to him, “I ask you by Allah not to talk to Quraysh about it that those, who believe you, may disbelieve you.”

The Prophet (a.s.) paid no attention to her and he left. She asked her maid to follow after the Prophet (a.s.) to see what he was going to do. He went to some men from Quraysh in al-Hateem, between the Kaaba and the Black Rock. Al-Mut’im bin Adiy and Abu Jahl bin Hisham were there. The Prophet (a.s.) told them about his Night Journey to Jerusalim and his ascension to the Heaven. Abu Jahl began mocking at the Prophet (a.s.). He called people to gather together, and when masses crowded, he said to the Prophet (a.s.), “Tell your people about what you told me.”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “I was made to journey in the night to Jerusalem. A group of prophets were made to receive me there among whom there were Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (peace be on them). I led them in prayer and talked with them.”

Abu Jahl said mockingly, “Describe them to me!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “As for Jesus, he was neither short nor tall, somehow reddish as if pearls were flowing down of his beard. And as for Moses, he was big and tall as if he was from the men of Shanu’ah. And as for Abraham, by Allah he was the most of people in looking like me in shape and morals.”

p: 135

People disagreed; the believers believed the Prophet (a.s.) and others denied him. Al-Mut’im bin Adiy said to the Prophet (a.s.) denyingly, “Before this day, your matter was easy except this saying today. It proves that you are a liar. We beat the camels to Jerusalem a month in going and a month in returning, and you claim that you have gone to it and come back within one night!

By al-Lat and al-Uzza, I do never believe you and this, which you say, could not happen.”[1]

Thus, some circles of Quraysh denied the news of the ascension and did not believe it.

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[1] Encyclopedia of the Twentieth Century, vol. 6 p. 316, 317.

At-Tabari says that the Prophet’s ascension was by his soul and not body. He quoted that from Huthayfah who narrated, “The Ascension was a vision, and the Prophet’s body was not missed, but his soul was made to journey in the night.” At-Tabari quoted that from Aa’ishah and Mo’awiya too.[3]

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[1] Majma’ al-Bayan, vol. 9 p. 174.

[2] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 8 p. 229.

[3] Mafatih al-Ghayb, vol. 5 p. 266.

These are some of their justifications that I may answer them here:

If the Prophet’s ascension within one night was impossible, the descending of Gabriel from the Throne to Mecca in one moment would be impossible too, and the same would be said about the movement of the jinn and Satan. Allah had subjugated the wind to Prophet Solomon (a.s.) that it made a month’s journey in the

morning (till midday), and a month’s journey in the afternoon (till evening). Allah has said, (One who had the knowledge of the Book said: I will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye).[2] The throne of Balqis was in Yemen whereas Prophet Solomon was in Sham…what affirms this fact is what is said that the ray moves from the eye to the planets in the same moment. This proves that the ascension is possible in itself, but what makes it incredible is that it is a miracle and unusual, and this is not limited to the ascension only but it includes all miracles that are unusual to ordinary happening such as the cold and peacefulness of the fire to Abraham (a.s.).

As for the use of the Prophet’s ascension, it gave the Prophet (a.s.) great benefits. He saw the celestial world, the Throne, and all the wonders there which made him absolutely devoted to Allah the Almighty.

Anyhow, what I see is that the power of Allah the Almighty is much greater than to be described or limited. He is the Creator of miracles in the space and no one can keep them except the might of Allah the Almighty Who is the Creator of astonishing miracles, and the Prophet’s ascension to the outer space is one of the simplest and easiest things to Allah.[3]

p: 138

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[1] Qur'an, 17:60.

[2] Qur'an, 27:40.

[3] Encyclopedia of the Twentieth Century, vol. 6 p. 324, quoted from Nidhamuddeen al-Hasan an-Naysaburi in his Tafsir.

This is some of what Farid Wajdi has mentioned about the Night Journey and the Ascension (al-Isra’ wel Mi’raj). I think, after pondering, there is no place for these details after believing in the infinite power of Allah the Almighty, the Creator of all wonderful things that mind cannot imagine.

Anyhow, there were some things that faced the Prophet’s Ascension by his body such as the escaping from gravitation, the escaping from the atmosphere, the escaping from meteors, the matter of weightlessness, and some other things that some writers consider as obstacles facing the ascension, but the exceptional power of Allah that everything in the existence has submitted to refutes that…He, who ponders on the wonders of the creation of Allah the Almighty and His great wisdom, determines easily that the Prophet’s Night Journey and Ascension were by his soul and body.[2]

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[1] Encyclopedia of the Twentieth Century, vol. 6 p. 328, 329.

[2] The Prophet’s Ascension to the outer Space, (manuscript) by Kadhim Shareef al-Qurashi that we have made use of in this study.

The notables of Quraysh came to visit him. They said to him, “O Abu Talib, you are to us (respectable and honorable) as you know, and now has come to you what you see (death)…and you know what is there between us and your nephew. So leave him alone and take to him from us and take to us from him so that he may leave us alone and we leave him alone, and he may leave us to our religion and we leave him to his religion.”

Abu Talib sent for the Prophet (a.s.) who when came and knew what those men had intended, said to them, “One word that you give to me you shall prevail by it over the Arabs and the foreign peoples shall submit by it to you.”

Abu Jahl said, “Yes, by your father, ten words!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “You say ‘there is no god but Allah’ and you give up what you worship other than Him.”

Some of them denied that and said to the Prophet (a.s.), “Do you want, O Muhammad, to make the gods into one god?”

Those men of Quraysh were desperate of the Prophet’s response to them. One of them said, “This man will not give you anything of what you want.” They left while were angry and disappointed.

“I recommend you to glorify this building (the Kaaba), for in it there is satisfaction to the Lord, a means of living, and affirmation of settlement. Retain your kinship and do not cut it because the retaining of kinship is a cause of delaying one’s death and increasing his family. Refrain from oppression and help the needy! Keep to truthfulness in speaking and give deposits back to their owners, because it causes love among the near and honor among the public.”

He added, “I recommend you (to take care) of Muhammad because he is the loyal one in Quraysh and the truthful among the Arabs, and he has had all what I have recommended of. He has brought to us a thing that the soul has accepted and the heart perceived.

By Allah, as if I see the paupers of the Arabs, the people of countryside, and the disabled will have responded to his mission, believed his saying, and glorified his matter, and then he will advance by them and the heads and heroes of Quraysh will be subordinates and their houses will be destroyed, and then the cruelest one of them to him (the Prophet) will be the neediest of them to him, and the farthest of them to him will be the nearest one to him. The Arabs will give him their love and deliver to him their leadership. O community of Quraysh, here is your nephew! Be to him supporters and to his party protectors! By Allah, no one follows the path of Muhammad except that he will be successful, and believes in it except that he will be happy. If there is a space of time in my life and a delay in the term of my death, I will save him from troubles and defend him against disasters, but I acknowledge his witness and glorify his beliefs.”[1]

p: 142

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[1] Sharh Nahjol Balagha, vol. 2 p. 213, ad-Darajat ar-Rafee’ah, p. 61, Thamaratul Awraq, p. 294, Asnal Matalib, p. 20.

The people of Quraysh were excessive in oppressing the Prophet (a.s.) after his uncle’s death. They threw earth on him. One of them threw a placenta of a sheep on him while he was offering the prayer,[3] besides many other kinds of harming.

Anyhow, Abu Talib had done every Muslim a great favor by his services to the religion of Allah. It is nonsense to say that this great mujahid died while unbelieving. This was falsehood fabricated by the Umayyads and the Abbasids who were spiteful toward Imam Ali (a.s.) and the rest of the Alawids.

How would the Prophet (a.s.) be so sorrowful at the death of an unbeliever and how would he call that year as ‘the year of sorrow’? How could he pray Allah to have mercy on him and shed on him all kinds of respect and reverence if he was an unbeliever? How could he eat and drink in Abu Talib’s house whereas Islam considers the unbelievers as impure?

May Allah reward Abu Talib with the best of reward and resurrect him with His prophets and great saints.

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[1] Abu Talib and his Children, p. 103.

[2] Al-Kamil fit-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 34.

[3] Ibid.

Khadijah spent all her abundant wealth to serve Islam. She spent liberally her monies to spread the Islamic mission. When the Prophet (a.s.) and all his family of the Hashemites were home-arrested in the Shi’b and subjected to the severe blockade, she provided them with all what they needed throughout the period of the blockade. She offered all her wealth to Islam until she had nothing even a mat to sit on.

Because of her devotedness to Islam, Khadijah got a high position near Allah Who thanked her services and sent her a greeting via the Prophet (a.s.).[2] Allah has granted her with a palace in the High Paradise. In a tradition the Prophet (a.s.) said, “I have been ordered (by Allah) to bring good tidings to Khadijah that she shall have a house of reeds in the Paradise wherein there shall be neither noise nor tiredness.”

As for the Prophet (a.s.), Khadijah had occupied his passion and feelings and got an exalted position near him. He had great love and reverence to her. Aa’isha narrated, “When the messenger of Allah wanted to leave the house, he often and always mentioned Khadijah and praised her. Once, he mentioned her and I became jealous. I said, ‘Was she but an old woman that Allah has given you in place of her better than her?’ The Prophet became angry until the front of his hair shook of anger. He said, ‘No, by Allah! Allah has never given me in place of her better than her; she believed in me when people disbelieved, comforted me with her wealth when people prevented me, and He gave me children from her where he deprived me of children from other women (wives).’”[3]

p: 145

One day, Halah sister of Khadijah came to the Prophet’s house. When he heard her voice, which was like Khadijah’s voice, in the yard, he said, “By Allah, she is Halah.”

Aa’ishah could not control herself and she said, “What do you remember from an old woman from the old women of Quraysh?... She died since long, and Allah has given you in place of her better than her.”

The Prophet (a.s.) became very angry and he shouted at Aa’ishah, “By Allah, Allah has not given me in place of her better than her; she believed in me when people disbelieved, believed me when people accused me of lying, comforted me with her wealth when people denied me, and Allah granted me offspring from her when he did not granted me from wives other than her.”[4]

When the Prophet (a.s.) slaughtered a sheep, he said (to servants), “Take (some meat) to the friends of Khadijah!”

Once, Aa'isha said to him, “Why do you do that?”

He said, “I do like her beloveds.”[5]

Envy often overcame Aa'isha whenever she heard the Prophet (a.s.) praising Khadijah. She said, “I did never envy a woman like I did to Khadijah. The messenger of Allah (a.s.) did not marry me except after her death.”[6]

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[1] Al-Isabah, vol. 4 p. 273, al-Istee’ab, vol. 6 p. 275.

[2] Al-Isabah, vol. 4 p. 274, quoted from Sahih of Muslim and Mustadrak al-Hakim.

[3] Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 5 p. 485, al-Isabah, vol. 4 p. 275, al-Istee’ab, vol. 4 p. 278.

p: 146

[4] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 7 p. 134.

[5] Al-Istee’ab, vol. 4 p. 278.

[6] Al-Isabah, vol. 8 p. 62.

The Prophet (a.s.) was afflicted by the great loss of Khadijah who filled his life with satisfaction and tranquility, and relieved him from the persecution of the oppressors of Quraysh. He was very sad when she died.

Anyhow, he washed, enshrouded, and offered the prayer on her. He dug a grave for her and buried her in it.[1] The loss of Khadijah caused the Prophet (a.s.) a great sorrow until he called that year where also his uncle Abu Talib died in as “the year of sorrow”.

Death took Khadijah, who was the most loyal to the Prophet (a.s.), the most loving, and the best supporter to him and to his mission. Lady Khadijah died in the month of Ramadan when she was sixty-five years and after living with the Prophet (a.s.) twenty-five years.[2]

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[1] Ad-Durr al-Manthur, p.180.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 139.

They responded to the Prophet (a.s.) and announced their faith. They said to the Prophet (a.s.),

“We have left our people while there was enmity and grudge among them which had no like among other than them. May Allah reconcile them by you that you invite them to Islam and show to them the same that we have responded to. If they respond to you, then no one shall be more honored than you.”

Those men went back to their country. They announced their faith in Islam and began propagating it. They were twelve men; Abu Umamah As’ad bin Zurarah, Owf bin al-Harith and his brother Mu’ath, Rafi’ bin Malik, Thakwan bin Abdil Qays, Ubadah bin as-Samit, Yazid bin Tha’labah, al-Abbas bin Ubadah, Uqbah bin Aamir, Qutbah bin Aamir, who were from al-Khazraj, Uwaym bin Sa’idah, and Abul Haytham Malik bin at-Tayyihan who were from al-Ows.[1] After that, Islam spread in Yathrib (Medina) and monotheism shone there.

The text of the homage to the Prophet (a.s.) was as the following: “Not to associate with Allah anything as a partner, not to steal or rob, not to commit adultery, not to kill their children, not to fabricate falsehood, not to disobey Allah in any good deed…if they fulfill that, they shall deserve to be in the Paradise, but if they do not, their affair shall be up to Allah the Almighty; if He wills, He will pardon, and if He wills, He will punish.”[2]

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[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 178.

p: 149

[2] Ibid., p. 179.

Al-Abbas, who was with the Prophet (a.s.), rose and made a speech before the delegation of Medina saying, “O people of the al-Khazraj, Muhammad among us is as you know; we have protected him from our people who are on the belief of ours (the polytheists),[1] so he is honorable among his people and secure in his country. He has refused except to incline to and join you. If you see that you will fulfill what you have promised him of and will defend him against his opponents, then it is you and what you have undertaken, but if you see that you will leave and betray him after his coming to you, then since now let him alone, for he is in honor and security among his people and in his country…”

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[1] Al-Abbas (the Prophet’s uncle) was still a polytheist then.

The Prophet (a.s.) said to them, “I accept your homage on condition that you protect me as you protect your women and children.”

Al-Bara’ bin Ma’rur took the Prophet’s hand and said, “By Him Who has sent you with the truth, we will defend you as we defend our women. O messenger of Allah, accept our homage for, by Allah, we are people of war and arms. We have inherited that from one another.”[2]

Ibn Rawaha asked the Prophet (a.s.), “If we do that, what shall we have?”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “You shall have the Paradise.”

Then, Abul Haytham bin at-Tayyihan informed the Prophet (a.s.) about the danger of the Jews there. He said, “There is between us and the men (the Jews) ropes (relations) that we will cut. If we do that and then Allah make you prevail, will you go back to your people and leave us?”

The Prophet (a.s.) smiled and said, “But it is the blood the blood, and the destruction the destruction! You are from me and I am from you; I fight whomever you fight, and make peace with whomever you make peace with.”

This situation of the Prophet (a.s.) and the Ansar[3] was as the declaration of war against the Jews. Before these men paid the homage to the Prophet (a.s.), al-Abbas bin Ubadah had said to his people, “O community of al-Khazraj, do you know what for you pay homage to this man? You pay homage to him that you will fight against the red and the black of people. If you see that when your monies are exhausted and your notables killed, you will give him up, then from now you should let him alone. If you do (give him up), it shall be disgrace on you in this life and in the afterlife, and if you see that you are loyal to what you have promised him of exhausting the monies and killing of notables, then it will be the goodness of this life and the afterlife.”

p: 152

All of them cried out, “We take him in spite of the exhausting of monies and the killing of notables. O messenger of Allah, what shall we have if we fulfill that?”

The Prophet (a.s.) replied, “The Paradise.”

The text of the homage was as the following, “We have paid homage to the messenger of Allah that we listen and obey (him) in activity and laziness, and spend (money) in poverty and richness, and enjoin the good and prohibit the wrong, and say (the truth) for the sake of Allah fearing no blame of any blamer, and support the messenger of Allah when he comes to us in Yathrib as we defend our selves, souls, and children, and we shall have the Paradise.”[4]

This homage was called “the homage of ar-Radhwan”. Then, this verse was revealed, (Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility on them and rewarded them with a near victory),[5] and this verse, (Surely those who swear allegiance to you do but swear allegiance to Allah; the hand of Allah is above their hands. Therefore, whoever breaks (his faith), he breaks it only to the injury of his own soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with Allah, He will grant him a mighty reward).[6]

Women paid homage in Mecca by putting their hands in a vessel of water and taking them out. Allah has said about that, (O Prophet! when believing women come to you giving you a pledge that they will not associate aught with Allah, and will not steal, and will not commit fornication, and will not kill their children, and will not bring a calumny which they have forged of themselves, and will not disobey you in what is good, accept their pledge, and ask forgiveness for them from Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful).[7]

p: 153

When the blessed homage was completed, the Prophet (a.s.) asked the pledgers to choose from among themselves twelve chiefs to be guardians over their people. They chose nine men from al-Khazraj and three from al-Aws. The Prophet (a.s.) made As’ad bin Zurara a chief over these chiefs and said to them, “You are guardians over your people as they are, like the guardianship of the disciples to Jesus son of Mary, and I am a guardian over my people.”

This homage took place in the heart of night in the defile of al-Aqabah, and then the pledgers went to their beds until the morning wakened them.

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[1] Three days following the Day of Immolation during the hajj.

[2] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 1 p. 332.

[3] They were the Muslims of Medina who assisted and supported the Prophet (a.s.) and so they were called ‘Ansar: supporters’.

[4] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 203.

[5] Qur'an, 48:18.

[6] Qur'an, 48:10.

[7] Qur'an, 60:12.

Some men from al-Khazraj, who had not yet embraced Islam, swore before the people of Quraysh that nothing of that had taken place, while the people, who had paid homage to the Prophet (a.s.), hurried to leave Mecca soon to be safe from Quraysh’s harms.

However, the people of Quraysh were certain of the homage of the people of Median to the Prophet (a.s.), and so they followed after them but they only could reach Sa’d bin Ubadah in Athakhir (a place near Mecca) and al-Munthir bin Amr who both were from the chiefs (nominated over the people of Medina). As for al-Munthir, he could run away, whereas Sa’d was taken and his hands were tied to his neck with the ropes of his mount. They brought him back to Mecca while beating and drawing him by his hair.

Muslims began emigrating to Yathrib secretly[2] for fear of the oppression of Quraysh. This emigration was based on a deep thought that made the Ansar more active and determined to support Islam besides its great influence on the Muhajireen (emigrants) who felt safe and free there. The first one from the Prophet’s companions, who emigrated to Yathrib, was Abu Salamah Abdullah bin Abdul Asad al-Makhzumi, and then his wife Umm Salamah joined him after suffering too much from Quraysh. From among the other first emigrant was Aamir bin Rabee’ah with his wife Layla bint Abu Hathmah, Abdullah bin Jahsh bin Ri’ab with his wife and his brother Abu Ahmed Abd bin Jahsh, Ammar bin Yasir, Bilal al-Habashi, Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, Umar bin al-Khattab, with Ayyash bin Abi Rabee’ah, Hisham bin al-Aasi and other twenty riders.

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[1] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 1 p. 226.

[2] Nihayat al-Irab, vol. 6 p. 322, Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 342.

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[1] As-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 2 p. 208.

[2] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 1 p. 226.

The Prophet (a.s.) repelled the oppression and severity of Quraysh against him with being kind and charitable to them as Allah the Almighty had said to him, (Repel (evil) with what is best, then lo! he between whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend).[5]

5. patience

The Prophet (a.s.) armed himself with patience in fulfilling his mission, for Allah had ordered him of that. Allah has said, (And bear patiently what they say and avoid them with a becoming avoidance),[6]and said, (And be patient, and your patience is not but by (the assistance of) Allah, and grieve not for them, and do not distress yourself at what they plan),[7] and said, (So wait patiently for the command of your Lord, and obey not from among them a sinner or an ungrateful one).[8]

Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) suffered from the people of Quraysh the severest kinds of harms and distresses, but he did not mind. He tolerated all that for the sake of Allah and he kept on fulfilling his mission until Allah the Almighty granted him with the great victory over his enemies. Allah ordered him to imitate His Arch-Prophets who were patient with the hardships they met from their peoples. Allah has said, (So bear up patiently as as did the Arch-Prophets bear up with patience and do not seek to hasten for them (their doom)).[9]

6. warning the unbelievers against Allah’s punishment:

From the methods of the Prophet (a.s.) in his mission was his warning the society against the punishment of Allah the Almighty if people did not respond to him. He recited before them the Qur’anic verses that censured their disbelief and deviation. Allah has said, (And whoever does not believe in Allah and His Messenger, then surely We have prepared burning fire for the unbelievers),[10]and said, (and We have prepared for the unbelievers a disgraceful chastisement).[11] The Holy Qur'an has many verses warning the unbelievers against the torment of Allah and confirming that they will remain forever in the fire of the Hell under severe tortures.

p: 158

7. giving good tidings to the believers to be in the Paradise:

The Prophet (a.s.) always gave good news to the believers that they would win the Paradise with all its bliss. Allah has said, (Surely Allah will cause those who believe and do good deeds to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow),[12] and (Surely the righteous shall be in gardens and rivers, in the seat of honor with a most Powerful King),[13] and (Those who believed in Our communications and were submissive; enter the garden, you and your wives; you shall be made happy. There shall be sent round to them golden bowls and drinking-cups and therein shall be what their souls yearn after and (wherein) the eyes shall delight, and you shall abide therein).[14]

There are many other verses like these ones that the Prophet (a.s.) made use of in carrying out his mission and spreading his values and goals.

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[1] Qur'an, 16:125.

[2] Qur'an, 17:53.

[3] Qur'an, 2:83.

[4] Qur'an, 3:159.

[5] Qur'an, 41:34.

[6] Qur'an, 73:10.

[7] Qur'an, 16:127.

[8] Qur'an, 76:24.

[9] Qur'an, 46:35.

[10] Qur'an, 48:13.

[11] Qur'an, 4:37, 151.

[12] Qur'an, 22:14.

[13] Qur'an, 54:54-55.

[14] Qur'an, 43:69-71.

The coming down of water from the heaven that gives life to all creatures is also a clear sign on the existence of the Creator. Allah says, (Have you not seen how Allah has sent down water from the sky and has caused it to penetrate the earth as springs, and afterward thereby produces crops of different colors; and afterward they wither and you see them turn yellow, then He makes them chaff. Lo! herein verily is a reminder for men of understanding).[5]

The movements of winds and clouds between the sky and the earth are also signs proving clearly the existence of the Great Creator.

From the great signs of Allah the Almighty that prove His existence is the creation of man. Allah says, (And certainly We created man of an extract of clay. Then We made him a small seed in a firm resting-place. Then We made the seed a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made (in) the lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We caused it to grow into another creation, so blessed be Allah, the best of the creators).[6]

From the great signs of Allah the Almighty is this earth; our mother that supplies us with life and blessings and that has seas, rivers, mountains, and everything. Allah says, (And He it is Who spread the earth and made in it firm mountains and rivers, and of all fruits He has made in it two kinds; He makes the night cover the day; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect).[7]

p: 161

The signs that guide to the existence of Allah are uncountable. In every atom of the creatures there is a clear proof on the existence of Allah. The Prophet (a.s.) recited these verses, signs, and evidences before that idolatrous society, but no one believed in them except a very few.

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[1] Qur'an, 2:164.

[2] Qur'an, 36:40.

[3] Qur'an, 36:37.

[4] Qur'an, 36:41.

[5] Qur'an, 39:21.

[6] Qur'an, 23:12-14.

[7] Qur'an, 13:3.

[3] Qur'an, 37:5.

The messenger of Allah (a.s.) recited these verses to the unbelievers of Mecca and showed them irrefutable evidences on the existence and the attributes of Allah, but none responded to him, for they were occupied by total ignorance. Rather, they accused him of being a magician and a liar. They oppressed and fought him until Allah gave him the great victory over them.

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[1] Qur'an, 6:59.

[2] Qur'an, 6:3.

[3] Qur'an, 13:8-10.

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[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 244.

1. The Holy Qur'an:

The greatest miracle of Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) was the Qur'an that (falsehood can not come to it from before it nor from behind it). It was the firmest evidences on Muhammad’s prophethood and the truthfulness of his mission. The most eloquent men were unable to keep up with it nor could they compose a bit like it. Allah said, (Or do they say: He has forged it? Say: Then bring a chapter (sura) like it and invite whom you can besides Allah),[1] and said, (And if you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a chapter like it and call on your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful).[2]

Besides its wonderful eloquence, the Holy Qur'an has all kinds of knowledge and sciences. It includes civil laws, administrative decrees, war arts, and all other fields of life. It has no contradiction or conflict, and it has been kept safe from any forging. Allah says, (Do they not then meditate on the Qur’an? And if it were from any other than Allah, they would have found in it much discrepancy).[3]

If we notice the Bibles, we shall find in their editions contradictions and discrepancies while the Qur'an has been safe from all that, praise be to Allah.

The Holy Qur'an is a miracle in its legislations that keep pace with man’s nature and are not a bit different to the rules of the universe. Allah says, (Surely this Qur’an guides to that which is most upright).[4] The Qur’an’s teachings and rulings have been built on the mere justice and truth. Allah says, (Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and oppression; He admonishes you that you may be mindful).[5]

p: 166

2. The miracle of the Tree:

Imam Ali (a.s.) narrated, “I was with him (the Prophet) when the men of Quraysh came and said to him, ‘O Muhammad, you have claimed something very great that neither your fathers nor anyone from your family had ever claimed. We will ask you for something that if you respond and show it to us, we shall know that you are a prophet and messenger, and if you do not, we shall know that you are a magician and a liar.’

He said, ‘what is it?’

They said, ‘You call this tree until it is plucked out with its roots and then it stands before you.’

He said, ‘Surely, Allah is powerful over everything. If Allah does that to you, will you believe and acknowledge the truth?’

They agreed and he said to them, ‘I shall show you what you have requested though I know well that you do not submit to the truth, and I know that there are from among you some ones who shall be thrown into the well and some shall gather parties (against the Prophet and Muslims).’ Then he said, ‘O tree, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day (day of resurrection) and know that I am the messenger of Allah, let you be plucked out with your roots until you stand before me by the will of Allah!’

By Him Who has sent him (the Prophet) with the truth, it was plucked out with its roots and it came having great roar and sound like that of birds’ wings until it stood before the messenger of Allah (a.s.), and some of its branches touched my shoulders for I was at his (the Prophet) right side. When the men saw that, they said haughtily, ‘Order it that a half of it should come to you and the other half to remain in its place.’ The Prophet (a.s.) ordered the tree, and a half of it came wonderfully roaring until it was about to embrace the messenger of Allah (a.s.). They disbelievingly and insolently said, ‘Order this half to go back to its other half as it was.’ He ordered it and it came back as it was. I (Imam Ali) said, ‘There is no god but Allah. I am the first one to believe in you O messenger of Allah, and the first one to witness that this tree did what it did by the will of Allah to confirm your prophethood and exalt your mission.’ The men all said, ‘He is but a magician and liar; wonderful and expert in magic. Would anyone believe in your matter except one like this?’ They meant me (Imam Ali).”[6]

p: 167

No one of those ignorant people, who were occupied by falsehood, believed. Allah says, (and even if they see every sign they will not believe in it).[7] Yes, only Imam Ali (a.s.), whom Allah had purified from falsehood and uncleanness, believed.

3. The split of the moon:

Some polytheists, among whom were al-Waleed bin al-Mughirah, Abu Jahl, al-Aas bin Wa’il, al-Aas bin Hisham, al-Aswad bin Abd, al-Aswad bin al-Muttalib, Zam’ah bin al-Aswad, an-Nadhr bin al-Harith, and their like, met the Prophet (a.s.) and said to him, “If you are truthful, let you split the moon to us into two halves; one on Abi Qubays and the other on Qayqu’an.”[8]

The Prophet (a.s.) said to them, “If I do, will you believe then?”

They said, “Yes.”

The Prophet (a.s.) prayed Allah to do what those men wanted. It was no long when the moon was split into two halves; one on Abi Qubays and the other on Qayqu’an. The Prophet (a.s.) cried out, “O Abu Salamah bin Abdil Asad and al-Arqam bin al-Arqam, witness this!”

However, no one of them believed. Rather, they all said, “This is fabricated magic.”[9]

________________________

[1] Qur'an, 10:38.

[2] Qur'an, 2:23.

[3] Qur'an, 4:82.

[4] Qur'an, 17:9.

[5] Qur'an, 16:90.

[6] Nahjol Balagha, vol. 2 p. 158-159.

[7] Qur'an, 6:25.

[8] Abu Qubays and Qayqu’an are two mountains in Mecca.

[9] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 116-117, Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 4 p. 243, Sahih of at-Termithi, vol. 3 p. 211, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 413, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 2 p. 198.

p: 168

Ibn al-Bukhturi suggested, “Tie him (the Prophet) with iron chains and confine him behind doors. See what had afflicted the poets like him before such as Zuhayr and an-Nabighah and others who died in this way. Thus, he shall meet the same fate.”

The attendants did not agree on this suggestion and they said, “Muhammad’s companions definitely will know about the place of his confinement. They will attack the place and set Muhammad free.”[1]

Al-Aswad bin Rabee’ah al-Aamiry said, “We expel him from our country. When he leaves us, by Allah, we shall not mind wherever he goes or whatever he does. When he is away from us and we are free from him, we shall then repair our affairs and unity as they were…”

The old man of Najd refuted this suggestion saying, “No by Allah, this suggestion is not good for you. Do you not see his (the Prophet) nice speech and good reasoning and his prevailing over men’s hearts by what he says? By Allah, if you do that, you shall not be safe that he may live among a tribe of the Arabs and affect them by his sayings and speeches until they shall follow him. Then, he shall march with them until he shall defeat you in your country and subjugate you, and then he will do to you as he wants. So find an opinion other than this one…”

The attendants approved this saying and gave up al-Aswad’s suggestion. Then Abu Jahl bin Hisham addressed the men saying, “I have an opinion about him that I see you have not got to yet!”

p: 171

They asked what it was and he said, “I see that we should take from every tribe a brave young man and we give each of them a sharp sword. They should together go and strike him as a strike of one man and kill him. Thus, we shall be relieved from him. If they do that, his blood (murder) shall be divided among all the tribes, and then Bani Abd Manaf (the Hashemites) shall be unable to fight against all their people…”[2]

All the attendants approved and agreed on this opinion and said, “There is no (accepted) opinion other than this.”[3]

The men, who would carry out this crime, were chosen and the time of the attack against the Prophet’s house was appointed, but the Divine Will disappointed them. (And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is the best of planners).

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[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 125.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 126.

[3] Al-Kamil fit-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 28, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 126, Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 243.

When the light of morning came, the men attacked Imam Ali (a.s.) thinking that he was the Prophet (a.s.). Imam Ali (a.s.) drew his sword towards them and they were terribly surprised. They shouted at him, “Where is Muhammad?”

He said to them, “Have you made me a guard on him?”

They retreated taking with them disappointment and loss whereas the Prophet (a.s.) had slipped away safely. While he was moving toward Medina, the Prophet (a.s.) supplicated Allah with this supplication,

“Praise be to Allah Who created me when I was nothing. O Allah, assist me in the terror of life, troubles of time, and disasters of nights and days!

O Allah, accompany me in my travel, be my successor to my family, bless what You have endow on me, make me submit to You, affirm me with my good morals, make me, my Lord, love You, and do not make me in need of people!

O Lord of the disabled! You are my Lord. I seek refuge by Your Honorable Face to which the heavens and the earth have shone, and darks have been removed, and the affairs of the firsts and the lasts have been repaired, not to afflict on me Your anger or send down on me Your wrath. I seek Your protection from the disappearance of Your blessing, from Your sudden punishment, the change of Your soundness (to me), and from all Your wrath. I beseech You as possible I can, and there is no power and might save in You.”[4]

p: 174

__________________

[1] Qur'an, 36:9.

[2] Qur'an, 2:207.

[3] Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 4 p. 25, Noor al-Absar, p. 77, Tafsir ar-Razi, vol. 5 p. 223, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 348, Tareekh Baghdad, vol. 13 p. 191, Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 3 p. 4, Tabaqat ibn Sa’d, vol. 8 p. 35.

[4] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 234.

The Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “We are in no need of what you have.”[1]

The Prophet (a.s.) headed for Yathrib after he was saved from the villains of Quraysh. Abu Bakr was with him. They remained in the cave of Thour[2] for three days. Allah the Almighty sent a couple of pigeons to lay eggs at the bottom of the opening of the cave and a spider to spin its cobweb on the opening. The men of Quraysh wasted no minute in chasing the Prophet (a.s.). They, headed by Suraqa bin Malik who was an expert tracer, reached the cave. When Suraqa saw the eggs of the pigeons and cobweb, he said to his companions that if anyone entered the cave the eggs and the cobweb would be damaged. The Prophet (a.s.) was seeing and hearing them. He prayed Allah saying, “O Allah, blind their sights!”

Allah blinded their sights and they could not find the Prophet (a.s.). Abu Bakr was afraid, but the Prophet (a.s.) calmed him down and said to him, “Do not be afraid, for Allah is with us.”

Then, this verse was revealed to the Prophet (a.s.), (If you will not aid him, Allah certainly aided him when those who disbelieved expelled him, he being the second of the two, when they were both in the cave, when he said to his companion: Grieve not, surely Allah is with us. So Allah sent down His tranquility upon him and strengthened him with hosts which you did not see, and made lowest the word of those who disbelieved; and the word of Allah, that is the highest; and Allah is Mighty, Wise).[3]

p: 176

When the men of Quraysh was desperate of finding the messenger of Allah, they went back to Mecca. The Prophet (a.s.) had hired two camels; one for him and the other for Abu Bakr. When the men of Quraysh no longer looked for the Prophet (a.s.), the two camels were brought to him. He and Abu Bakr mounted the camels and set out toward Yathrib.

__________________

[1] Rawdhatul-Kafi, p. 263.

[2] It lies an hour-travel from Mecca.

[3] Qur'an, 9:40.

The notables, the chiefs, and all classes of Yathrib came to the Prophet (a.s.) welcoming and assuring him of their protection to him and defending his religion. The Prophet (a.s.) thanked and said to them, “You are the most beloved people to me.” He repeated this three times.[5]

The Prophet (a.s.) lived in the ground-floor and Abu Ayyoob lived in the upper floor. Abu Ayyoob felt embraced and very distressed. He said to the Prophet, “I never ascend a roof that you are under it!” It was from Abu Ayyoob’s great politeness, and so the Prophet (a.s.) turned to live in the upper floor.[6]

Abu Ayyoub and his wife served food and offered it to the Prophet (a.s.). They eagerly ate whatever remained in the dish that they might be blessed by it.[7]

Then, the Prophet (a.s.) built a house near the mosque with adobes and roofed it with palm trucks and fronds.[8]

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[1] A valley in Mecca.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 269.

[3] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 1 p. 172.

[4] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 495.

[5] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 275.

[6] Ibid., p. 278.

[7] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 144, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 2 77.

[8] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 141.

Most of the inhabitants of Yathrib, which the Prophet (a.s.) took as the capital of his state, responded to embrace Islam. They entered violent wars against the powerful forces of the enemies of Islam that were armed with the most modern arms of that time whereas the Muslim army had no weapons except strong faith and fixed beliefs. Nevertheless, Muslims could defeat the powerful enemies and Allah assisted His religion and honored His messenger, and soon the light of Islam moved to all directions.

It is worth mentioning that the inhabitants of Medina were not the same in their beliefs. There were true believers, hesitant Muslims, and a group of hypocrites who were apparently Muslims whereas their hearts were full of disbelief and grudge against Islam. In Medina, as well, there were the Jews who were the most dangerous enemies to Islam in the past (and are still so in the present). No plot was prepared against Islam except that they supplied it with arms and money. When that was clear to the Prophet (a.s.), he waged wars against them and warned Muslims against their evils. The last one of the Prophet’s instructions was to expel the Jews from the Arabia as al-Waqidi has mentioned.

Anyhow, most of the inhabitants of Medina were from the tribes of al-Aws and al-Khazraj. Many wars had broken out between them, but the Prophet (a.s.) put an end to their enmity and made them as brothers to each other.

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[1] Al-Eeman by ibn Mundah, p. 453, Sharh as-Sunnah, vol. 6 p. 288.

p: 179

By Him Who is truthful in His saying and has fulfilled His promise, there shall be no renege to that, for He the Great and Almighty says, (My word shall not be changed, nor am I in the least unjust to the servants).[1]

Fear Allah as to your worldly life and afterlife in secret and openness, for He says, (and whoever fears Allah, He will remit from him his evil deeds and will enlarge his reward).[2] And whoever fears Allah shall win a great winning; surely the fear of Allah safeguards against His aversion, safeguards against His punishment, and safeguards against His wrath. And surely the fear of Allah honors the faces, pleases the Lord, and exalts the rank.

Be careful and do not fall short of your duty to Allah. Allah has taught you His Book and made clear to you His path to know those who are true and those who are liars. So do good as Allah has done good to you, feud with His enemies, and strive in the way of Allah in the striving that is His right. He has chosen you and named you Muslims (that he who would perish might perish by clear proof, and he who would live might live by clear proof)[3] and there is no power save in Allah. So increase the remembrance of Allah and work for that which is after death, for whoever repairs what is between him and Allah, Allah will suffice to him what is between him and people that is because Allah determines for people and they do not determine for Him, and He has authority over people and they do not have authority over Him. Allah is great and there is no power save in Allah, the High, the Great.”[4]

p: 181

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[1] Qur'an, 50:29.

[2] Qur'an, 65:5.

[3] Qur'an, 8:42.

[4] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 2 p. 299-301, Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 116,117.

As for one’s father’s widow in the pre-Islamic age, she was considered as a part of inheritance. She was possessed by the elder son of that dead father. He could get married to her if he wanted, or otherwise, he married her to anyone and took her dowry to himself, or he would let her unmarried until she died.

As for the marriage of woman in general, it was controlled by the personal wishes of fathers, brothers, and other male relatives, whereas woman herself has no right to interfere in the affairs of her marriage. Males had full control on woman. They could, if they wanted, leave her unmarried until she died, or she would ransom herself.

Islam has liberated woman from all those ties and made no authority for anyone over her except her father (according to some jurisprudents) because he is more aware of men’s affairs than her, but on condition that he must realize her welfare; otherwise, he shall have no authority over her. This concerns a virgin, but as for a non-virgin, her father has no authority over her (as to her marriage).

_________________

[1] Qur'an, 16:58.

[2] Qur'an, 81:9.

Jeeb says, “Islam is the only religion that still has the ability to be greatly successful in uniting the discordant human races and communities in one front based on equality. When the discords of the East and the West are put to be discussed, it must be resorted to Islam.”

Jawaharlal Nehru says, “The theory of the Islamic brotherhood and the equality that Muslims believed in and lived with it had had a deep influence in the Hindus’ mentalities. The wretched, whom the Indian society had deprived of equality and human rights, were the most in submitting to this influence.”

Thomas Carlyle says, “In Islam there is a characteristic that is one of the noblest and most beloved characteristics; it is the equality between people.”[1]

_______________________

[1] The Political System in Islam, p. 205.

Imam Zaynol Aabidin replied to him saying, “Your letter has come to me where you blame me for my getting married to my freed slave and claim that there are in Quraysh well-qualified women by whom I shall have glory in affinity and noble offspring. There is no above the messenger of Allah an eminence in glory nor a nobility. She just was my bondmaid. She got out of me (out of bondage to me) by the order of the will of Allah the Almighty that I sought His reward by it, and then I got her back according to His laws. Whoever is pure in his religion nothing of his affairs shall harm him. Surely Allah has exalted by (the faith in) Islam the mean, repaired defects, and removed the blame. There is no blame on a Muslim, but the blame (in that matter) is the blame of the pre-Islamic age…”[2]

This is the clear logic of Islam. It has annulled all differences and barriers among Muslims. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “All of you are from Adam and Adam is from earth. Let some men stop glorying on their fathers or they shall be to Allah lower than dung-beetles.” He also said, “Allah has removed from you the defect of the pre-Islamic age (of ignorance) and the glorying on fathers. People are two men (kinds); one is dutiful, pious, and honored to Allah, and the other is dissolute, wretched, and ignoble to Allah.”[3]

Islam has established the rules of equality on the base of the sound nature preferring no people to others except by piety. Imam Zaynol Aabidin (a.s.) said, “Allah the Almighty has created the Paradise for whoever obeys Him even if he is an Abyssinian slave, and created the Fire for whoever disobeys Him even if he is a Qurayshi master.”

p: 186

The Prophet (a.s.) addressed his family saying, “O Bani Hashim, let you not come to me with your lineage saying: we are the progeny of Muhammad…when people come to me with their deeds.”

The Prophet (a.s.) resisted the vying in glory by ancestors that was widespread among the Arabs. One day, a black slave disputed with Abdurrahman bin Ouf (one of the chiefs of Quraysh) who was angry and said to the black man, “O son of the black woman!” When the Prophet (a.s.) heard that, he angrily said to Abdurrahman, “There is no preference for the son of a white woman to the son of a black woman except by the truth.”

2. Equality before the law:

One of the clear manifestations in the Islamic politics is the equality of people before the law where there is no preference for the strong to the weak or the wealthy to the poor. Once, the Prophet (a.s.) was begged to pardon a thief because of her noble family, but he refused and said, “Surely, those who were before you had perished because if a weak person from among them committed a sin, they punished him/her, and if a noble one committed a sin, they left him free. By Allah, if Fatima daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand.”[4]

Imam Ali (a.s.), during his caliphate, lost his armor and then he found it with some Jewish man who claimed it was his. Imam Ali (a.s.) brought the case before the judge who judged for the Jew. Imam Ali (a.s.) simply submitted to the judgment.

p: 187

During the reign of Umar, some Jewish man disputed with Imam Ali (a.s.). Umar said to the Imam Ali (a.s.), “O Abul Hasan, get up to stand up with your litigant.”

Imam Ali (a.s.) changed color. After the trial, Umar said to Imam Ali (a.s.), “O Abul Hasan, you might be angry that I asked you to stop with your Jewish opponent?”

Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “No, but I was angry because you called me by my surname (while it was not so with the Jew) and did not equal me to my opponent (did not regard the Jew equal to me). A Muslim and a Jew are equal before the truth.”

Islam has imposed on its followers to equalize the two opponents in courts. It is not right to prefer one to the other. It is worth mentioning to refer here to some wonderful pictures of equality in judgment.

1. Equalizing the litigants in greeting; a judge has no right to greet one of them and leave the other. If they both greeted him, he has to reply to them both.

2. Equalizing them in speaking; he is not to talk with one of them and give up the other.

3. Equalizing them in giving permission to come in to him; he is not to permit one of them and reject the other.

4. Equalizing them in regarding and respecting

5. Equalizing them in seating; it is not permissible to him to seat one of them in a good place and leave the other anywhere.

p: 188

6. Equalizing them in cheerfulness

7. Listening to the speaking of both of them; he is not to listen to one of them carefully away from the other.

8. Equalizing them in justice and fairness.

9. A judge has no right to prefer one of the opponents to the other in anything.[5]

This equality that Islam has adopted has no any like in the modern and all other systems.[6]

3. equality in taxes:

All Muslims are equal in paying the taxes that Islam has imposed like the zakat, the Khums, and others. They are not imposed on some people and some others are exempted from them.

4. equality in employment:

Islam has equalized all citizens in employment and posts. Whoever is well-qualified to a certain post is worthier of occupying that post. No certain class of people is preferred to another concerning certain posts.

___________________

[1] Qur'an, 49:13.

[2] The Life of Imam Musa bin Ja’far, vol. 1 p. 38-39.

[3] The Political System in Islam, p. 207.

[4] Al-Kharaj by Abu Yousuf, p. 50.

[5] Al-Lum’ah, the book of judgment, vol. 1 p. 366-367.

[6] The Political System in Islam.

This responsibility is one of the wonderful rules that Islam has fixed in its civilization that has announced the human rights.

__________________

[1] Qur'an, 52:21.

[2] Qur'an, 2:134.

As for the reality of the Islamic brotherhood, the Prophet (a.s.) said, “No one of you is a true believer until he wishes to his brother what he wishes to himself.”

The Prophet (a.s.) described the Muslim society as one body saying, “The example of believers in their mutual love and mercifulness is like the body when one of its organs suffers a pain, the rest of the body falls in fever and sleeplessness for it.”

Islam has considered the Islamic brotherhood as better and stronger than the tie of blood and kinship. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “A Muslim is a brother to a Muslim; he should not wrong, degrade,…him.”

The Islamic brotherhood is not just a mere passion, but it is a firm relationship extending to the deep of hearts and the inners of souls. It requires all Muslims to participate in joy and in sorrow. The Prophet (a.s.) had often declared that. Once, he sent some man to do something for him. The man was late. When he came back, the Prophet asked him why he was late and he said it was ‘clothlessness’.

The Prophet (a.s.) asked him, “Do you not have a neighbor who has two garments to lend you one?”

The man said, “Yes, O messenger of Allah.”

The Prophet (a.s.) was unpleased and said, “He is not a brother to you!”

Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “A Muslim is a brother to a Muslim; he is his eye, mirror, and guide. He should not betray, wrong, cheat, backbite, or tell him lies…”[1]

p: 191

Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) said, “A believer is a brother to a believer; he should not abuse, anger, or mistrust him.”[2]

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[1] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 174.

[2] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 167.

Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) said to one of his companions, “Give my regards to our followers and recommend them of the fear of Allah and that their wealthy should help their poor, their powerful should help their weak, their alive should attend the funerals of their dead, and to meet in their houses. If they meet each other, it shall be a life to our matter (imamate). May Allah have mercy on whoever livens up our matter.”[4]

There are many other traditions transmitted from the infallible imams inviting Muslims to keep on visiting each other.

4. Satisfying the needs of people:

Satisfying the needs of people causes more love and cordiality among people. The Prophet (a.s.) often and always encouraged that. He said, “Whoever moves to satisfy a need of his brother an hour in the night or in the day, whether he satisfies it or not, it shall be better to him than spending a month of worshiping in seclusion.”[5]

Safwan al-Jammal narrated, “Once, I was with Imam Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (a.s.) when a man from Mecca, called Maymun, came to him. He complained to him that he could not pay the rents. He (Imam as-Sadiq) said to me, ‘Go and help your brother!’ I went to satisfy the need of the Meccan man, and when I came back, Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) asked me, ‘What did you do to the need of your brother?’ I said, ‘Allah has satisfied it, may my father and mother die for you.’ Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) was delighted and said, ‘Surely if you help your Muslim brother it is more beloved to me than circumambulating the House (the Kaaba) for a week.’”[6]

p: 193

5. Helping a Muslim:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Whoever relieves a Muslim from a distress from the distresses of this life, Allah will relieve him from a distress from the distresses of the Day of Judgment. Allah is in the assistance of a servant as long as that servant is in the assistance of his brother.”[7]

Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) said, “Let no one of you think that when he pleases a believer that he pleases him only, but, by Allah, he pleases us, and in fact, by Allah, he pleases the messenger of Allah (a.s.).”[8]

These are some of the means that increase love and strengthen the relations among the members of the Muslim society, and consequently they lead to the unity and solidarity of Muslims.

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[1] Ibid., p. 475.

[2] Rabee’ul Abrar, vol. 2 p. 313.

[3] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 140.

[4] The Political System in Islam, p. 22.

[5] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 195.

[6] Ibid. p. 158-159.

[7] Al-Jami’ as-Sahih by at-Termithi, vol. 2 p. 189.

[8] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 151.

2. Backbiting:

Islam has prohibited backbiting. Allah says, (…nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, surely Allah is Oft-returning, Merciful).[2]

The Holy Qur'an has likened backbiting to the eating of one’s dead brother’s flesh. The Prophet (a.s.) often emphasized on the prohibition of backbiting. He said, “O folk of those who believed by their tongues and did not believe by their hearts! Do not backbite Muslims and do not look for their defects! Surely whoever looks for the defect of his brother Allah will look for his own defect until He will expose him in the heart of his house.”[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) also said, “Backbiting is faster in (destroying) a Muslim’s faith than a canker in his inners.”[4]

He also said, “No meeting is built by backbiting except that its religion is destroyed. Purify your hearings from the listening to backbiting, because the sayer and the listener to it (backbiting) are participants in sin.”[5]

3. Talebearing:

The Prophet (a.s.) has prohibited talebearing, for it leads to grudge, enmity, and quarrels among Muslims.

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “The most hated ones of you to Allah are those who practice talebearing, separate between lovers, and ascribe defects to the innocent.”[6]

He also said to his companions, “Shall I inform you of the worst of you?” They said, “Yes, O messenger of Allah.” He said, “Those who practice talebearing, separate between lovers, and ascribe defects to the innocent.”[7]

p: 195

Many other traditions have been transmitted from the infallible imams about talebearing. Muhammad bin Fudhayl said to Imam al-Kadhim (a.s.), “May I be sacrificed for you! Something that I hate is informed to me about one of my brothers and when I asked him about it, he denies it, though those who inform about him are trustworthy.”

The imam said to him, “O Muhammad, do not believe your hearing and sight about your brother. If fifty witnesses bear witness (about him), and says to you something else, you should believe him and deny them. Do not spread about him something that defames him and destroys his status, and then you shall be from those about whom Allah has said, (Surely those who love that scandal should spread respecting those who believe, shall have a grievous chastisement in this world and the hereafter).[8]”[9]

4. Irrelation:

The Prophet (a.s.) based the Muslim society on interconnection and love and he prohibited the absence of relation. He said, “If any two Muslims desert each other and remain three days without making peace with each other, they shall be out of Islam and there shall be no guardianship between them. Whichever of them precedes in talking with his brother shall be precedent to the Paradise on the Day of Judgment.”[10]

He also said, “It is not permissible for a Muslim to desert his brother more than three days.”[11]

5. Non-cooperation:

Islam has built the Muslim society on cooperation and prohibited the violation of it. Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) said, “Whoever refrains from assisting his Muslim brother and satisfying his need, he shall be afflicted by assisting one whom he shall be punished and not rewarded for.”[12]

p: 196

Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) asked his companions, “Why do you belittle us?”

A man from Khurasan said to him, “Allah forbids that we belittle you or anything of your matter!”

The imam answered him while being angry, “You are one of those who have belittled us”

The man said, “Allah forbid!”

The imam said, “May Allah forgive you! Did you not hear so-and-so, when we were in Qarn al-Jahfah, saying: ‘carry me on the mount for a mile. By Allah, I have been tired.’? By Allah, you did not raise your head to him. You belittled us. Whoever belittles a believer from among us belittles and neglects the sanctity of Allah the Almighty.”[13]

6. Harming and insulting:

Islam has prohibited the harming and the insulting of a Muslim. Many traditions were transmitted from the Prophet (a.s.) and the infallible imams about that.

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “A (true) Muslim is he whom Muslims are safe from his tongue and hand.”

He said, “It is not permissible for a Muslim to point to his brother with a look that may hurt him.”

He said, “Allah the Almighty has said, ‘He, who degrades my believing servant, resists Me.’”[14]

Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Whoever abases and despises a believer for his neediness and poverty Allah will expose him (the despiser) before the creatures on the Day of Judgment.”[15]

He also said, “Whoever despises a poor or not poor believer Allah the Almighty will be despising and hating him until he shall renounce his despising to him (the believer).”[16]

p: 197

7. Frightening and terrorizing:

Islam has prohibited the terrifying and terrorizing of any Muslim. The messenger of Allah (a.s.) said, “Whoever looks at a believer with a look by which he intends to terrify him Allah will terrify him on the Day where there shall be no shelter except His.”[17]

Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “He, who terrifies a believer by a ruler that a harm from him (the ruler) may afflict him but it does not afflict him, shall be in Fire, and he, who terrifies a believer by a ruler that a harm from him may afflict him and it does afflict him, shall be in the Fire with the Pharaoh and the family of the Pharaoh.”[18]

Islam has prohibited terrorism and promised terrorists to be in the fire of the Hell forever.”

8. Revilement:

From the high values of the Islamic education is the prohibition of revilement even toward the opponents of the religion. Allah says, (And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance).[19]

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Abusing a believer is apostasy, eating his flesh (backbiting) is disobedience, fighting him is disbelief, and the inviolability of his property is like the inviolability of his blood.”[20]

A man from Tamim asked the Prophet (a.s.) to recommend him of something. One of the Prophet’s recommendations to him was, “Do not revile people lest you earn enmity of them.”[21]

9. Watching of others’ slips and defects:

p: 198

Islam has surrounded the Muslim society by a strong fence to protect it from splitting and separating. From that which causes separation in the society is the watching of others’ slips and faults which Islam has insistently prohibited. Allah the Almighty says, (Surely those who love that slander should be spread concerning those who believe, shall have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter).[22] The Prophet (a.s.) said, “O folk of those who have become Muslims by the tongue and not by the heart, do not watch the slips of Muslims, because whoever watches the slips of Muslims Allah watches his slips and Allah will expose whomever He watches his slips.”[23]

Imam Abu Ja’far (al-Baqir) (a.s.) said, “The soonest of good in being rewarded for is beneficence, and the soonest of evil in being punished for is oppression. It is an enough defect for a man to see in people what he overlooks in himself, and to blame people for what he himself can not give up, and to hurt his companion with what does not concern him.”[24]

Imam al-Baqir (a.s.) said, “From that which makes one nearer to disbelief is that he befriends someone in religion and he watches his slips to censure him for them someday.”[25]

10. Degrading a Muslim:

It is not from Islam that a Muslim degrades and despises his Muslim brother. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “He, who spreads a vice, is as if he has committed it, and he, who censures a Muslim for something, shall not die until he shall be involved in it.”[26]

p: 199

11. Priding on lineages:

Islam has prohibited the priding on lineages for it leads the split of the Islamic brotherhood. People in Islam are equal as the dents of a comb; no one has preference to another except by piety and good deeds.

Once Uqbah bin Basheer al-Asadi had the honor of meeting Imam Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (a.s.) and began praising himself and his lineage. The imam said to him,

“Do not pride on your lineage before us. Allah has exalted by faith that whom people used to call ‘mean’ if he was faithful, and lowered by disbelief that whom people used to call ‘noble’ if he was an unbeliever. There is no preference for one to another except by piety.”[27]

Instead of priding on one’s ancestors one should pride on good deeds and assistance to others.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Qur'an, 24:19.

[23] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 264.

[24] Ibid., p. 332-333.

[25] Ibid, p. 264.

[26] Ibid, p. 265.

[27] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 247.

Goldzieher says, “Islam, in order to be a universal power, followed an intelligent policy. In the first ages, embracing Islam was not obligatory. Those, who believed in monotheism and took their laws from Divine Books like the Jews, the Christians, and the Zoroastrians could, if they paid the certain tribute, enjoy the freedom of rites and the protection of the Islamic state. Islam had gone with this policy to far distances. In India, for example, the old rites were practiced in the temples under the Islamic rule.”[5]

Dozy mentions the importance of the Islamic leniency when talking about the conquest of Andalusia. He says, “The conditions of the Christians under the Islamic rule did not lead to complaint as to what they were before. Add to that that the Arabs had much leniency. They did not weary anyone in the affairs of religion…and the Christians did not neglect this favor of the Arabs, but they approved the Arabs’ leniency and justice and preferred their rule to the rule of the Germans and the French.”[6]

Islam has obliged all Muslims to regard the right of others in their beliefs. No one is permitted to force anyone to embrace Islam. Allah has said, (There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error).[7] If a Muslim wants to argue with someone of another belief, he has to show him irrefutable evidences on Islam and show him through logic and clear proofs the defects of that someone’s belief. Either he submits to the truth or otherwise a Muslim has no right to use pressure and force to impose his own beliefs on him.

p: 202

From the manifestations of the full freedom that Islam has given to the followers of the other religions is that it does not impose on them the application of the Islamic rulings especially in the personal law, but they can refer to the rulings of their religions.

However, history has never mentioned that Prophet Muhammad (a.s.) had killed, punished, or imprisoned a follower of another religion or prevented him from practicing his rites.

2. The freedom of thought:

Islam has opened all horizons of thinking before the mind and invited it to set out in the universe and use all its activities to ponder on everything there and think deeply of all what Allah had created which would lead to the absolute faith in Allah the Almighty.

The freedom of thought, which Islam has invited to, calls for the intellectual development and the release from every superstitions and illusions that were widespread in the society of Mecca where idolatry was the most significant thing in that life of deviation. Allah has said, (And certainly We have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are worse. These are the heedless ones).[8]

The Prophet (a.s.) invited the Meccan people to waken their minds and free their thinking from all their bad habits and thought and from imitating their fathers blindly. Allah has said, (And when it is said to them: Follow what Allah has revealed, they say: Nay! we follow what we found our fathers upon. What! And though their fathers had no sense at all, nor did they follow the right way?)[9]

p: 203

Allah the Almighty ordered His prophet to address his people, who followed their idols in error, saying, (Say: Have you then considered that what you call upon besides Allah, would they, if Allah desire to afflict me with harm, be the removers of His harm, or (would they), if Allah desire to show me mercy, be the withholders of His mercy? Say: Allah is sufficient for me; on Him do the reliant rely).[10]

3. Civil freedom:

It means the giving of the full freedom to the individual in the field of work on condition that his work should not be impermissible in Islam such as the making of instruments of amusement, wines, and the like.

From the other fields of the civil freedom is the freedom of abode that every individual has the right to choose for himself an abode to live in on condition that it should not be ill-gotten. He is also free to live in any country he likes except that when his emigration is to non-Muslim country and that it is feared for him that he may lose his faith and become deviant; therefore, this emigration is impermissible to him.

_____________________

[1] Qur'an, 18:29.

[2] Qur'an, 88:21-22.

[3] Qur'an, 50:45.

[4] Qur'an, 10:99.

[5] Decisive Situations (Mawaqif Hasimah), p. 20.

[6] Ibid., p. 20-21.

[7] Qur'an, 2:256.

[8] Qur'an, 7:179.

[9] Qur'an, 2:170.

[10] Qur'an, 39:38.

_______________

[1] Qur'an, 11:18.

[2] The Political System in Islam, p. 169.

And I recommend you of the fear of Allah, the truthfulness in speaking, the fulfillment of covenants, giving deposits back (to their owners), avoiding betrayal, (I recommend you of) soft speaking, offering of greetings, observance of neighbors, being merciful to the orphan, doing good deeds, not relying on wishes, the love of the afterlife, the fear of Judgment (of the afterlife), , keeping to faith, understanding the Qur'an, controlling of anger, and being lenient.

Beware of abusing a Muslim, obeying a sinner, disobeying a just ruler, disbelieving a truthful one, or believing a liar. Remember your Lord at every rock and tree, and make to every sin a repentance; secretly when secretly and openly when openly.”

___________________

[1] At-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 1 p. 42-43.

When the Prophet’s attention to the honesty of governors and officials was spread among Muslims, they (governors and officials) refrained from accepting gifts. Historians mention that the Prophet (a.s.) sent Abdullah bin Rawahah every year to the Jews of Khaybar to estimate the fruit of their date-palms. Their villages were from the most important villages in Hijaz as to production. The Jews wanted to bribe him. They collected to him some of their women’s jewels and said to him, “This is to you, but you lessen (the estimation) to us and overlook in division.”

He angrily said, “O community of Jews, you are the most hated of Allah’s people to me, but this does not make wrong you. And as for the bribe you offer to me, it is ill-gotten that we do not eat.”

The Jews were astonished at his honesty and they said, “On this the heavens and the earth have been established.”[3]

___________________

[1] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 4 p. 360.

[2] The Wise Ways in the Legal Policy, p. 48.

[3] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 3 p. 369.

The Prophet (a.s.) also assigned certain quantities of food instead of money for some of his governors. When he appointed Qays bin Malik al-Arhabi on Hamadan, he assigned to him two hundred sa’s[2] of the corn of Nasar, and two hundred sa’s of raisins of Khaywan (in Yemen) and to be paid for his children after him as well.[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) sent governors to all the towns and villages that had believed in Islam. For example, he sent al-Muhajir bin Umayyah a wali on Sana’a’, Ziyad bin Labeed on Hadhramaut, Adiy bin Hatim on Tay, Etab bin Usayd on Mecca, Sa’d bin Abdullah bin Rabee’ah on Ta’if,[4] Amr bin Hazm al-Ansari on Najran, Bathan, the deputy of Khosrau, on Yemen, and after his death, the Prophet (a.s.) appointed his son Shahr bin Bathan a wali on Sana’a.[5]

_______________________

[1] The Political System in Islam, p. 175.

[2] Sa’ is a measure of about three kilograms.

[3] Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 4 p. 224.

[4] The System of the Prophetic Government, vol. 1 p. 242.

[5] Al-Isabah, vol. 2 p. 168.

The Prophet (a.s.) chose the deputies from among his companions and advised them saying, “Be loyal to Allah as to His people, for whoever is entrusted with any of people’s affairs, and then he is not loyal to them, Allah will keep him away from the Paradise. Set out and do not do as the messengers of Jesus son of Mary did.”

His companions asked, “O messenger of Allah, what they did?”

He said, “He (Jesus) asked them to do the same as I have asked you to do. As for those whom he sent to near places, they submitted and were pleased, but as for those whom he sent to far places, they hated the task and hesitated. Therefore, Jesus complained that to Allah.”[1]

Dr. Taha Husayn says, “Islam wants the caliphs and the governors to be loyal and be guards for people on their rights, properties, and interests to run them after consultation and agreement and to fulfil them neither haughtily, proudly, or selfishly, and to run them not as if they are masters preferred to the rest of people by any kind of preference, but as leaders whom people trust and see them reliable in running their affairs, and then they entrust them with these affairs optionally and satisfactorily but not forcedly and unwillingly. So whoever wants to refer to them in these affairs can refer to them, and if they find that they have erred, their duty requires them to go back to straightness, and if they find that they have deviated, their duty requires them to go back to the right path…in this way the Prophet (a.s.) acted until Allah chose him to his neighborhood.”[2]

p: 210

The following are some of his letters to important personalities of that time.

_______________________

[1] Sharh ash-Shafa, vol. 1 p. 641, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 5 p. 226, as-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 272.

[2] Al-Azhar Magazine, vol. 8, 9, the year 1384 AH, Mars 1965 AD.

Allah responded to the Prophet’s prayer and the authority of Khosrau was torn up by the Muslim armies after no long.

__________________

[1] Al-Bidayah wen-Nihayah, vol. 4 p. 269, Inimitability of the Qur'an, p. 110.

[2] Al-Kamil fit-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 80, Tareekh al-Ya’qubi, vol. 2 p. 61.

The king said, “Here I am!”

Dihyah said, “Do you know that Jesus offered prayer?”

The king said, “Yes, I know.”

Dihyah said, “So I invite you to the One Whom Jesus offered prayers for, and I invite you to the One Who has managed the creation of the heavens and the earth while Jesus was in his mother’s abdomen. And I invite you to this illiterate prophet whom Moses brought good news about and so did Jesus the son of Mary after him. Surely you have knowledge of that that does not need seeing or telling news. If you respond, you shall have this world and the afterworld; otherwise, you shall lose the afterworld and shall be participated in this world. Know well that you have a Lord Who destroys tyrants and change blessings.”[3]

The king asked the deputy, “Is there anyone from the people of this man who claims he is a prophet here?”

Abu Sufyan, who was not Muslim then, was among the attendants in the king’s meeting. The attendants referred to Abu Sufyan and said, “He is closer to the Prophet.”

Abu Sufyan came before the king who asked him (through his translator) the following questions:

“How is his ancestry among you?”

Abu Sufyan said, “He is of a high ancestry.”

The king asked, “Was anyone of his fathers a king?”

Abu Sufyan said, “No.”

The king asked, “Did you accuse him of lying?”

Abu Sufyan said, “No.”

The king asked, “Do the notables or the weak of people follow him?”

p: 213

Abu Sufyan said, “The weak.”

The king asked, “Do they increase or decrease?”

Abu Sufyan said, “They increase.”

The king asked, “Do anyone apostatize after embracing his religion?”

Abu Sufyan said, “No.”

The king asked, “Did you fight him?”

Abu Sufyan said, “Yes.”

The King asked, “How was your fight against him?”

Abu Sufyan said, “The fight between us has its ups and downs; sometimes he wins and sometimes we win.”

The King asked, “Do he betray?”

Abu Sufyan said, “No?”

The king asked, “How about his reason and mentality?”

Abu Sufyan said, “We could not defeat him in reason or opinion.”

The king asked, “On what does he enjoin to you?”

Abu Sufyan said, “He enjoins on prayer, zakat, chastity, and to worship Allah alone with no partner, to be loyal to covenants, and to give trusts back to their owners.”

The talk went on between the King and Abu Sufyan who, at last, was angry and he said painfully, “Abu Kabsha[4] has become so important that the king of Rome began revering him.”

The king of Rome welcomed and regarded the Prophet’s deputy. He offered Islam to the Romans, but they refused to believe in it. Then, he wrote the Prophet (a.s.) a letter in which he declared his faith in Islam and the denial of the Romans. He said in his letter:

“To Ahmed the messenger of Allah whom Jesus had brought good news about, from Caesar the king of Rome. Your book has come to me with your messenger. I bear witness that you are the messenger of Allah. We find you in the Bible where Jesus the son of Mary has brought us good tidings about you. I invited the Romans to believe in you, but they refused, and if they obeyed me, it would be better for them. I wished I were near you to serve you and wash your feet.”[5]

p: 214

The king of Rome announced his faith in Islam and that caused a deep influence in strengthening the morals of Muslims, besides that it found reverence to Islam in the Roman palace and in the church as well.

_____________________

[1] Qur'an, 3:64.

[2] As-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 2 p. 275, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 225, Subhul A’sha, vol. 6 p. 376, Mushkilul Aathaar by at-Tahawi, vol. 2 p. 397, al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, vol. 3 p. 384, Ahkam al-Qur'an by al-Jassas, vol. 3 p. 241.

[3] Ar-Rawdh by as-Suhayli, vol. 2 p. 355.

[4] It means ‘the father of the ram’. They referred to the Prophet (a.s.) by this surname that was of a man from Khuza’ah who rejected the worshipping of idols and therefore they likened the Prophet (a.s.) to him, or it is said that Abu Kabsha was the Prophet’s maternal grandfather.

[5] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 5 p. 163, as-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi, vol. 9 p. 122.

The letter to the ruler of the Copts has been narrated in another way:

“From the messenger of Allah to the ruler of Egypt. Allah the Almighty has sent me as a messenger and revealed to me a Book, a clear Qur'an, and ordered me to give proofs and warning and to confront the unbelievers until they believe in my religion and until all people embrace it. I invite you to acknowledge the oneness of Allah. If you do, you shall be happy, and if you deny, you shall be wretched. With greeting.”[2]

When al-Muqawqas read the Prophet’s book, he said to Hatib, “What prevented him, if he was a prophet, from praying Allah against whoever opposed and exiled him from his country to another one?”

Hatib intelligently answered, “Do you not bear witness that Jesus the son of Mary is a messenger of Allah, so why did he, when his people took him and wanted to kill him, not pray against them that Allah might destroy them, until Allah raised him to Him?”

The ruler of the Copts was astonished at this argument and he said to Hatib, “You are a wise man (coming) from a wise man!”[3]

In ar-Rawdh, it has been mentioned that Hatib said to al-Muqawqas, “There was a man before claiming that he was the highest god (he meant the Pharaoh), but Allah destroyed him as the punishment of this life and the afterlife. Allah had avenged by him (on others) and then He avenged on him. So learn a lesson from others and do not let others learn a lesson from you.”

p: 216

Al-Muqawqas said, “Here you are! Say what you want to say.”

Hatib said, “You have a religion that you should not give up except for what is better than it; it is Islam that Allah has made sufficient. This prophet invited people, but the severest of them against him were the people of Quraysh, and the most hostile to him were the Jews, and the nearest to him were the Christians. By my life, the good tidings of Moses about Jesus is not but like the good tidings of Jesus about Muhammad, and our call to you toward the Qur'an is not but like the call of the people of the Torah toward the Bible. Every prophet comes to a people from his nation, they have to obey him, and you are one of those who have attained this prophet, so you have to obey him…”[4]

Al-Muqawqas approved these words of Hatib that had a great influence on him. Al-Muqawqas sent to the Prophet (a.s.) some precious gifts among that was a bondmaid called Mariya whom the Prophet (a.s.) got married to and she bore him his son Abraham.[5] Among the gifts there was a physician to treat sick Muslims, but the Prophet (a.s.) asked him to go back to his country saying to him, “We are people that do not eat until we feel hungry and when we eat, we do not satiate (do not exceed in eating).”[6]

Al-Muqawqas sent the Prophet (a.s.) a letter saying in it,

p: 217

“To Muhammad the son of Abdullah from al-Muqawqas the ruler of the Copts. Peace be on you. I have read your book and understood what you have mentioned in it and what you invited to. I have known that a prophet has remained. I thought he would appear in Sham. I was kind to your messenger…”[7]

Hatib went back to Medina with the gifts and the letter of al-Muqawqas. When the Prophet (a.s.) read the letter, he said, “He adhered to his rule, and his rule shall not last long.”

Al-Muqawqas with a delegation from Thaqif:

A delegation from the tribe of Thaqif came to al-Muqawqas among whom was al-Mugheerah bin Shu’ba before being a Muslim. Al-Muqawqas asked them some questions about the Prophet Muhammad (a.s.). He asked, “What did you do to what he had invited you to (Islam)?”

They said, “No man from us has followed him.”

He asked, “What about his people”

They said, “The youth followed him and his opponents confronted him on many occasions.”

He asked, “What does he invite to?”

They said, “That we should worship Allah alone and give up what our fathers worshipped. He also invites to prayer and zakat and he enjoins on the retaining of kinship and the loyalty to covenants and he prohibits adultery, usury, and wines.”

Al-Muqawqas admired these values and said, “This is a prophet sent to the whole peoples. If he met the Copts and the Romans, they would follow him, for Jesus had ordered them of that. These attributes that you have described him (Muhammad) with were the attributes of the prophets before him. He shall prevail that no one shall be able to contend with him, and his religion shall prevail everywhere.”

p: 218

These words struck the delegation of Thaqif like a thunderbolt. They said, “If all people enter (with him), we will not enter with him (in this religion).”

Al-Muqawqas said, “You are in the play.”[8]

Al-Muqawqas did not believe in Islam until the Muslim armies invaded and occupied his country that submitted to the rule of Islam then.

________________________

[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by al-Halabi, vol. 3 p. 249.

[2] Futooh ash-Sham by al-Waqidi, vol. 2 p. 23, Jamharatur-rasa’il, vol. 1 p. 38.

[3] Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 1 p. 362, as-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 250.

[4] Sharh al-Mawahib, vol. 3 p. 348, Zad al-Ma’ad, vol. 3 p. 691.

[5] As-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 250, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 3 p. 321.

[6] Makateeb ar-Rasool (letters of the Prophet), p. 101.

[7] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 1 p. 26, as-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 281.

[8] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 2 p. 174.

Negus welcomed and revered the delegation. He put the Prophet’s letter on his eyes and announced his faith in Islam. He put the letter in a box of ivory. He sent the Prophet (a.s.) some precious gifts and a letter in which he declared his embracement of Islam. When the delegation went back to Medina, the Prophet (a.s.) became so pleased for Negus’s behavior towards the Muslims and his faith in Islam, and the Muslims’ morale was so high and firm for that. Negus sent a letter to the Prophet (a.s.) as a reply saying in it,

“Peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings be on you, O prophet of Allah. Peace be on you from Allah Whom there is no god but Him Who has guided me to Islam.

Your book has come to me, O messenger of Allah, concerning that which you have mentioned about Jesus. By the Lord of the heaven and the earth, Jesus is not different from what you have mentioned; he is as you have said. We have known what you have sent to us. We did welcome your cousin (Ja’far bin Abi Talib) and his companions. I bear witness that you are the messenger of Allah; truthful and confirming (of Allah’s decrees). I have paid homage to you and to your cousin and his companions, and submitted (become Muslim) at his hands to the Lord of the worlds.

I have sent to you my son Arha bin al-Adhkham bin Abjar. I do not own but myself and if you like me to come to you, I shall do O messenger of Allah, for I bear witness that all what you say is true. Peace be on you O messenger of Allah…”[2]

p: 220

__________________

[1] Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 1 p. 63, al-Bidayah wen-Nihayah, vol. 3 p. 83.

[2] The Collection of the Political Documents at the time of the Prophet and the Caliphate, p. 27.

____________________

[1] Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 292, al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, vol. 3 p. 50.

[2] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 1 p. 261.

He thought that the Prophet (a.s.) wished for rule and authority. He did not know that the Prophet (a.s.) had been sent by Allah to spread the word of Islam and its high values.

When the deputy came back to Medina and informed the Prophet (a.s.) of what had happened, the Prophet (a.s.) said, “If he asked me for a bit from the earth, I would not give him. May he perish and perish all that in his hands.”[4] And it was really so. The Muslim armies occupied his kingdom and the banner of Islam was raised in it.

______________________

[1] As-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 386, Subhul A’sha, vol. 1 p. 329.

[2] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, vol. 2 p. 177.

[3] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 9 p. 262.

[4] Al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, vol. 3 p. 440.

The task was successful and they both declared their faith in Islam willingly and satisfactorily and so the banner of Islam fluttered in Oman with no war or blood.[2]

___________________

[1] Al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, vol. 3 p. 440.

[2] As-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 284, at-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 1 p. 262.

“I am Muhammad bin Abdullah and I am the slave of Allah and His messenger.” Then he recited this verse, (Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that you may be mindful).[1]”

The two messengers went back to their master after they had believed the Prophet (a.s.) and believed in his mission. When they told Akhtham about what they saw and heard, he said to his people, “O people, I see that he enjoins on the nobilities of character and forbids indecencies. So be, in this matter, heads and not tails, and be in it first and not last!”[2]

Then, his people announced their faith and embraced the religion of Allah collectively.

Ziyad bin Jumhoor:

The Prophet (a.s.) sent one of his companions to Ziyad bin Jumhoor who was one of the notable personalities of the Arabs. He said in his letter to him,

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad the messenger of Allah to Ziyad bin Jumhoor; I praise Allah Whom there is no god but Him. I remind you of Allah and the Last Day. Let every religion that people have embraced be given up except Islam.”[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) sent many delegations to Some Arab personalities inviting them to Islam and he was confident that the Word of Allah must raise in the earth and Islam prevail allover the world. Prof. Muhammad Abdullah Anan says about these deputies and delegations,

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“The Prophet’s delegations and letters were a wonderful act of diplomacy. In fact, it was the first act that Islam had achieved in this field. Those delegations were clear as a proof that this Arab Prophet’s soul was full of faith and courage, though he was not saved yet from the persecution of his people, and he had no considerable authority yet or forces that might be feared. He dared confidently and courageously to invite Caesar the emperor of Rome, the great king of Persia, and other contemporaneous kings and rulers to embrace a mission that was still in its cradle then.

This intelligent diplomacy the Prophet (a.s.) undertook in addressing the kings of his time was not useless in all, and the Prophet (a.s.) undoubtedly did not expect that those powerful kings would respond to his mission while he was still struggling to spread it among his own people and tribe. However, those delegations were a complementary act to the prophetic mission where the old world that the Prophet (a.s.) turned to in his mission was based on very weak bases that were about to collapse in a time or another, besides that the old religions were loaded with corruption and weakness. Therefore, the Islamic mission, in its newness, simplicity, and powerfulness, was a phenomenon deserving to be studied and inquired into, and it was difficult for those of deep insight to perceive from behind this new mission powers that warned of explosion. And really that explosion was very soon that just a few years after those delegations Islam prevailed over the Arabia and the flow of the Islamic conquests moved to the heart of the Roman and the Persian empires, and the Arabs, the children of this new religion and the carriers of the Muhammadan mission, began working so rapidly in establishing the great Islamic state.”[1]

p: 227

The Prophet’s sending of deputies and delegations to the foreign countries and the local chiefs in the Arabia had a deep and active influence on the development of the Islamic state and it had a great influence in terrifying the great powers that were enemies to Islam. The meetings and clubs of Quraysh began talking about that and their fear of the Prophet and Muslims grew more and more.

____________________

[1] Qur'an, 16:90.

[2] Usd al-Ghabah, vol. 1 p. 213.

[3] Ibid., p. 215.

[1] Mawaqif Hasimah (decisive situations), p. 208.

“Praise be to Allah who has favor and grace on us and He is due of that. It is He Who has made kings and made us the most glorious of the people of the East, and granted to us abundant monies which we spend in good ways. There is none among people who is like us. Are we not the heads of people and the men of favor on them? Whoever vies in glory with us let him mention like what we have mentioned. If we want, we would say much more, but we feel shy to descant on what Allah has given and entrusted us with. I say this, and can you say better than our saying or show a matter better than our matter?”

Thabit bin Qays (who was a Muslim) replied to him saying, “Praise be to the Lord Whom the heavens and the earth are from His creation and Who has determined His decree on them, Whose Throne has held His knowledge, and Who has not decreed a thing except out of His favor and power. Then, it was from His power that He chose from His creatures a messenger who is the noblest of them in lineage, the most truthful in speaking, and the best of them in reason. Then, Allah the Almighty revealed to him a Book and entrusted him with His creatures, and so he was the choice of Allah from among all mankind. Then, the messenger of Allah called for faith and responded to him from his people and kin the Muhajirin who are the noblest of people in lineage, the kindest of them, and the best of them in deeds. Then, the first of the Arabs, who followed the messenger of Allah and responded to him, were we the people of the Ansar. We are the supporters of Allah and the ministers of the messenger of Allah. He (the Prophet) fought people until they would say: there is no god but Allah; so whoever believed in Allah and His messenger his properties and blood would be inviolable to us, and whoever disbelieved in Allah and His messenger, we would fight him for the sake of Allah and this fight would be easy to us. I say this and I ask Allah to forgive the believing men and the believing women.”

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Then, az-Zabriqan bin Badr recited a poem in which he glorified his tribe. After that, the Prophet (a.s.) asked his poet Hassan bin Thabit to reply to az-Zabriqan and he recited an eloquent poem where he praise Muslims and mentioned their virtues, courage, and mercy even to their enemies, and said it sufficed them that their leader was the Prophet (a.s.) who was the best one Allah had ever created. The argumentation between the poets of both sides kept on, and at last the delegation became Muslims and stayed with the Prophet (a.s.) learning the Qur'an and the teachings of the religion. The Prophet (a.s.) was very kind and liberal to them all that time.[1] It is worth mentioning that many delegations came to the Prophet (a.s.) and most of them turned Muslims at his hand.

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[1] Imta’ al-Asma’, vol. 1 p. 236, at-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 1 p. 419-423.

Among Muslims there were some famous teachers whom the Prophet (a.s.) ordered to teach Muslims writing, reading, the Qur'an, and the teachings of Islam. Sa’eed bin al-Aas, who was a scribe of nice handwriting, taught the people of Medina by the Prophet’s order.[1] Ibadah bin as-Samit taught writing and taught the Qur'an to some people of as-Suffah.[2] Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah was also a teacher. Ibn Tha’laba narrated, “Once, I met the messenger of Allah and said to him, ‘O messenger of Allah, would you send me to a man of good teaching?’ He sent me to Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah and said to me, ‘I am sending you to a man who will teach you well.”[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) imposed a certain ransom on the prisoners of the battle of Badr, and whoever was unable to pay the ransom had to teach writing and reading to ten children from the children of Medina. A prisoner was not to be released except after teaching the children, and thus writing and reading were widespread in Medina.[4]

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[1] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 5 p. 22, al-Bayan wet-Tabyeen, vol. 1 p. 161, Kashf ad-Dhunoon, vol. 1 p. 26.

[2] Majma’ az-Zawa’id, vol. 1 p. 64.

[3] Al-Istee’ab, p. 393 edition of India.

[4] Al-Istee’ab, printed on the margins of al-Isabah, vol. 2 p. 374. As-Suffa was a shed beside the mosque where homeless, destitute people lived.

[5] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 11 p. 237.

[6] The System of the Prophet’s Government, p. 131, quoted from al-Matali’ an-Nasriyyah fil-Usool al-Khattiyyah by Abul Wafa’ al-Hurini.

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The Prophet (a.s.) admired her speech and he said to his companions, “Have you heard a woman asking about her religion better than this one?”

They said, “No, O messenger of Allah.”

The Prophet (a.s.) kindly said to the woman, “O Asma’, you may go and inform the women, who have sent you, that one’s good wifing to her husband, her seeking of his satisfaction, and doing according to his acceptance equal all that which you mentioned.”

The woman left while she was delighted by the Prophet’s saying.[4]

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[1] Ant is the name of a certain disease.

[2] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 6 p. 372

[3] Refer to Tareekh Baghdad, vol. 14 p. 224, ad-Dhu’afa’ (the weak) by ibn Hayyan, vol. 2 p. 302, Shu’ab al-Eeman, vol. 2 p. 477.

[4] Al-Istee’ab, printed on the margins of al-Isabah, vol. 4 p. 237.

The Prophet (a.s.) asked his servant Thowban to take those men to the guest-house that Habib described as a big house with a garden of date-palms and that there were some Arab delegations in it.[2]

The Prophet (a.s.) also had assigned a house, which belonged to Makhramah bin Nawfal,[3] for the reciters of the Qur'an who came to Medina from other places.[4]

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[1] Al-Wafa’, vol. 1 p. 555.

[2] The System of the Prophet’s Government, p. 466, quoted from al-Iktifa’ by Ibn ar-Rabee’ al-Kila’iy.

[3] Uyoon al-Athar by ibn Sayyid an-Nas, vol. 4 p. 250.

[4] At-Tabaqat al-Kubra by ibn Sa’d, vol. 4 p. 150.

There are many traditions transmitted from the Prophet (a.s.) encouraging Muslims to practice agriculture. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “No man plants a plant except that Allah will record for him rewards as much as the fruit that comes out of that plant.”[3]

2. The encouraging of labor:

The Prophet (a.s.) encouraged labor in all permissible fields and he invited people to it because it is the most important element in production. Once, he took a worker’s hand and began kissing it before his companions saying, “This is a hand that Allah and His messenger love.”[4] The Prophet (a.s.) considered labor as honor and sacred struggle for the sake of Allah, and that Allah had not sent a prophet except that he was a laborer. Anyhow, Islam insistingly invites its followers to work and it dispraises unemployment and laziness.

3. The forbidding of usury:

Islam is too strict in forbidding usury and in determining severe punishment for whoever practices it. It has been mentioned in some traditions that “a dirham out of usury that a man knowingly eats is worse, near Allah, than thirty-six commitments of adultery.”

Islam has prohibited usury to build its economy on sound scientific bases that have no kind of injustice. Surely, usury is one of the worst means of gaining wealth and accumulating it by a certain group of people with no exertion or effort.

4. The prohibition of cheating:

Islam has prohibited cheating whether against the seller or the buyer. When cheating takes place in dealings, Islam gives the option to repeal the dealing and to give the cheated one his dues.

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5. The prohibition of monopoly:

Monopoly leads to the confusion of markets, excessive prices, and poverty. Therefore, Islam has prohibited it. Many traditions in this concern have been transmitted from the Prophet (a.s.); here are some of them:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Whoever monopolizes the foods of Muslims Allah will afflict him with leprosy.”[5]

He said, “No one monopolizes except a wrongdoer.”[6]

He said, “How bad a monopolizer is! When Allah cheapens prices, he will be grieved and when Allah makes them high, he will be delighted.”[7]

He said, “The importer to our market is like a mujahid in the way of Allah, and the monopolizer in our market is like a disbeliever in the Book of Allah.”[8]

Islam has legislated to confiscate monopolized goods and to price them in a way that does not disadvantage citizens. Jurisprudents have mentioned the period of monopoly and the (monopolized) goods that should be confiscated.

6. The watch of the market:

From the important actions in the Islamic economy is the watch of the market lest cheating happens or prices go high that may affect people.

7. Taxes:

Islam has imposed taxes to be paid to the poor and the needy such as the zakat of fitr that must be paid after the end of Ramadan by every Muslim; young or old, male or female. It is about three kilos of food or their price.

8. The zakat of monies:

This tax is obligatory on four kinds of food; wheat, barley, dates, and raisins when they reach a certain quantity (nisab; the definite minimum value) that is about eight hundred and fifty-five kilograms, and whatever exceeds that must be taxed. If the crops are irrigated by rainwater or flowing water, the amount of the tax is one tenth and if they are irrigated by a means, the amount of the tax is a half of the tenth. This tax is also obligatory on sheep, cows, and camels when they reach the nisab. It is also obligatory on (gold) dinars and dirhams. This tax is to be given to the poor of the same area and not to be taken abroad.

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9. The Khums:

There are many true traditions transmitted from the infallible imams of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) on the khums (fifth) that is obligatory on minerals, the treasures taken out of seas, and the monies mixed with ill-gotten monies.

10. The government’s responsibility:

The government is responsible for the struggle against poverty through some means like the preparation of jobs and equal opportunities for the citizens lest unemployment and neediness spread in the society, and the subsidy to those whose incomes do not cover their living, besides the payment of the debts of those who can not pay their debts. Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Whoever dies while there is a debt on him and his heirs cannot pay it, we are responsible for paying his debt.”

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[1] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 3 p. 1188.

[2] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 6 p. 378.

[3] Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 2 p. 727, Sahih of Muslim, vol. 3 p. 1228.

[4] Work and the Rights of Workers in Islam, p. 305.

[5] Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 2 p. 728.

[6] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 3 p. 1228.

[7] Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 2 p. 12.

[8] Al-Mustadrak ala as-Sahihayn, vol. 2 p. 12.

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[1] Al-Muntadham, vol. 3 p. 93.

[2] Al-Muntadham, vol. 3 p. 93.

[3] Ibid., p. 96.

4. Abdullah bin Arqam: he wrote the letters to the kings and he wrote for ordinary people their contracts and dealings.[5]

5. Ala’ bin Uqbah: he sometimes wrote for the Prophet (a.s.).[6]

6. Az-Zubayr bin al-Awwam: some historians mention that he was among the Prophet’s scribes.[7]

7. Mu’ayqeeb bin Abi Fatima: he recorded for the Prophet (a.s.) the spoils.[8]

8. Khalid bin Sa’eed: he scribed for the Prophet (a.s.) all affairs taking place before him. The Prophet (a.s.) sent him as an official on the charities of Yemen.[9]

9. Handhalah bin Rabee’: al-Ya’qubi mentioned him as one of the Prophet’s scribes.[10]

It has been mentioned that the Prophet’s scribes were about forty-two ones. Al-Mugheerah bin Shu’bah, Mu’awiya bin Abi Sufiyan, and Khalid bin al-Waleed were mentioned among the Prophet’s scribes, but we do not trust or rely on that, for these persons had a black history full of vices and sins and the Prophet (a.s.) knew well what there was in their inners and souls that were full of hypocrisy. So was it possible that the Prophet (a.s.) neared them to him and entrusted to them the writing of his letters?

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[1] Al-Istee’ab, vol. 3 p. 35.

[2] Al-Kamil fit-Tareekh by ibn al-Atheer, vol. 2 p. 103.

[3] As-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 327.

[4] Tareekh al-Ya’qubi, vol. 2 p. 80, as-Seerah al-Halabiyyah, vol. 3 p. 327, al-Kamil fit-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 176.

[5] Makateeb ar-Rasool (the Prophet’s letters), vol. 1 p. 21.

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[6] Sunan al-Bayhaqi, vol. 10 p. 128.

[7] Makateeb ar-Rasool, p. 31.

[8] Al-Kamil fit-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 199.

[9] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 4 p. 229.

[10] Tareekh al-Ya’qubi, vol. 2 p. 80.

2. They are one nation among people.

3. The emigrants from Quraysh are as they are;[1] they pay among themselves (to each other) blood-monies and ransom their prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

4. And Banu (family or tribe of) Ouf are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

5. And Banu al-Harith from al-Khazraj are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

6. And Banu Sa’idah are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

7. And Banu Jusham are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

8. And Banu an-Najjar are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

9. And Banu Amr bin Ouf are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

10. And Banu an-Nabeet are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

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11. And Banu al-Ous are as they were; they pay among themselves blood-money as before and every tribe ransoms its prisoners in a good manner and justice among the believers.

12. And the believers should not turn their backs to a needy, indebted one of a big family among them and they should give him in a good manner in ransom or blood-money, and that a believer should not ally with another believer’s ally.

13. And the pious believers should be together against anyone from them who oppresses, commits injustice, a sin, aggression, or corruption among the believers, and they all should be united against him even if he is the son of one of them.

14. And let a believer not kill another believer for an unbeliever, and let no an unbeliever be supported against a believer.

15. And the protection of Allah is one (the same); the farthest of them (the believers) is to be protected, and the believers are guardians to each other from among people.

16. And whoever from the Jews who follow us shall be supported and comforted, and shall not be wronged or aggressed by helping others against him.

17. And the peace of the believers is the same; no believer should make peace away from another believer in a fight for the sake of Allah except equally and justly among them.

18. And every troop that fights with us should be replaced by another.

19. And the believers are equal to each other as to their bloods in the way of Allah.

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20. And the pious believers should be in the best and straightest guidance…and that no polytheist should protect a property or a person of Quraysh and he should not be protected against a believer.

21. And whoever kills a believer for no guilt and intendedly, shall be bind by him until he satisfies the killed one’s guardian by reason, and that the whole believers should be against him and it is not permissible for them except to rise against him.

22. And it is not permissible for a believer, who has acknowledged what there is in this document and believed in Allah and the Last Day, to support or give protection to a heretic, and whoever supports or protects him then the curse and wrath of Allah shall be on him on the Day of Resurrection and no compensation shall be accepted from him (shall not be pardoned).

23. And whatever you disagree on you should refer it to Allah the Almighty and to Muhammad.

24. And the Jews should spend with the believers as long as they are in fighting.

25. And the Jews of bani Ouf are a nation with the believers; the Jews have their religion and Muslims have their religion, adherents, and themselves except he who wrongs or commits a sin that he shall not harm except himself and his family.

26. And the Jews of Bani an-Najjar shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have.

27. And the Jews of Bani al-Harith shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have.

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28. And the Jews of Bani Sa’idah shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have.

29. And the Jews of Bani Jusham shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have.

30. And the Jews of Bani al-Ous shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have.

31. And the Jews of Bani Tha’labah shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have except he who wrongs or commits a sin that he shall not harm except himself and his family.

32. And that (bani) Jafnah are a sept from (the tribe of) Tha’labah and they are like them.

33. And Bani ash-Shutaybah shall have the same as the Jews of bani Ouf have and piety is not like sin.

34. And the adherents of Tha’labah are like them.

35. And the retinue of the Jews are like them.

36. And that no one should go away except by the permission of Muhammad, and a vengeance of a hurt is not to be prevented, and whoever ravages he shall ravages but himself and his family, except he who wrongs, and Allah shall be satisfied with that.

37. And the Jews should undertake their spendings, and they should support each other against who fights the people of this document…and they should be loyal and benevolent to each other avoiding sin, and no one should sin against his ally, and support should be for the wronged.

38. And Yathrib is inviolable for the people of this document.

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39. And one’s neighbor is like oneself that he should not be harmed or sinned against.

40. And no woman should be given protection except by her family’s permission.

41. And whatever event or dispute taking place among the people of this document that it is feared to cause corruption should be referred to Allah the Almighty and to Muhammad the messenger of Allah.

42. And that neither Quraysh nor those who support it should be given protection.

43. And they (the people of the document) should support against whoever attacks Yathrib.

44. And if they are invited to peace, they should respond to it, and if they are invited to like that, then they should get it from the believers except those who fight the religion…every people should undertake their share that is before them.

45. And that the Jews of al-Ous, their adherents and themselves, have to undertake the same as that of the people of this document with piety from the people of this document, and piety only and no sin. No one commits except against himself and Allah shall be satisfied with what there is in this document.

46. And this book does not protect any unjust one or a sinner, and whoever goes away shall be safe, and whoever stays in Medina shall be safe except he who wrongs or sins, and Allah shall reward whoever is pious and fearing Allah, and (so shall) Muhammad the messenger of Allah.”[2]

p: 245

This document organized the social relations between the Muhajireen and the Arab tribes living in Medina and the Jews and the other tribes. Wellhausen has analyzed this document and said, “It has come down to us from the heaven.”[3] Prof. Lutfi Jum’ah, as well, has analyzed this document and discussed its contents and values.[4]

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[1] As they were in the state when Islam came.

[2] Tareekh ibn Katheer, vol. 3 p. 224-226, As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 2 p. 147-150, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 1 p. 271.

[3] The Revolution of Islam and the Hero of the Prophets, p. 706.

[4] Ibid.

____________________

[1] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 5 p. 277.

[2] At-Targheeb wet-Tarheeb, vol. 3 p. 596.

[3] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 3 p. 63.

[4] Nahj al-Fasahah, vol. 1 p. 324, quoted from al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, vol. 1 p. 128.

[5] Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 1 p. 493.

[6] Shu’ab al-Eeman, vol. 2 p. 50.

2. The father’s supplication for his children:

From the supplications that Allah responds to is the prayer of a father for his children because he prays eagerly, loyally, and from the deep of the heart. The Prophet (a.s.) said,

“A father’s prayer for his child is like the Prophet’s prayer for his nation.”[7]

3. One’s prayer for his brother:

The Prophet said, “The brother’s prayer for his brother secretly shall not be rejected.”[8]

4. The prayer of one who is far away for another who is far away:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “The promptest of prayers in being responded to is the prayer of one, who is far away (from his country and home) for one, who is far away (from country and home).”[9]

5. The prayer of an afflicted believer:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Avail the prayer of an afflicted believer.”[10]

6. The supplication at affection:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Avail the supplication at affection (godliness) because it is a mercy.”[11]

7. The supplication of one who is done good to:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “The prayer of one, who is done good to, for the good-doer shall not be rejected.”[12]

8. The Muslim’s prayer for his Muslim brother:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “The prayer of a Muslim secretly for his brother is responded to. There is an angel at his head entrusted with him that whenever he (the Muslim) prays for his brother in good, the angel says: Amen! And you shall get the same.”[13]

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9. Answered supplications:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “There are five supplications that are responded to; the supplication of a wronged one until he is made satisfied, the supplication of a hajji until he comes back home, the supplication of a warrior in the way of Allah until he comes back home, the supplication of a sick one until he recovers, and the supplication of a brother secretly for his brother; and the promptest of these supplications in being answered is the supplication of a brother secretly for his brother.”[14]

10. Supplications that are not rejected:

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “There are three (persons) that Allah has promised not to reject any of their supplications; a faster until he breaks his fasting, a wronged one until he is made satisfied (against the wrong-doer), and a traveler until he comes back home.”[15]

___________________

[1] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 3 p. 507.

[2] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 3 p. 367.

[3] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 3 p. 400.

[4] Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, vol. 4 p. 84, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 2 p. 305.

[5] Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 1 p. 29.

[6] Sunan of at-Tarmithi, vol. 1 p. 343.

[7] Mishkat al-Anwar, p. 163, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 98.

[8] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 98.

[9] Sunan of Abi Dawud, vol. 6 p. 343.

[10] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 103.

[11] Nahj al-Fasahah, vol. 1 p. 321, quoted from Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 103.

[12] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 98.

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[13] Nahj al-Fasaha, vol. 1 p. 322.

[14] Shu’ab al-Eeman, vol. 2 p. 46.

[15] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 99.

4. Doing good:

“O Allah, make me from those who when doing good become delighted and when doing bad ask for forgiveness.”[5]

5. Bliss in this life:

“O Allah, forgive me my sin, make my house (life) more comfortable, and bless my livelihood.”[6]

6. Good end:

“O Allah, make our end good in all the affairs and protect us from the disgrace of this life and the torment of the afterlife.”[7]

7. Protection:

“O Allah, protect me by Islam when standing, protect me by Islam when sitting, protect me by Islam when sleeping, and do not make an enemy or envier rejoice at my misfortune. O Allah, I ask you (to give me) from every good whose treasuries are in Your hand, and I seek Your protection from every evil whose treasuries are in Your hand.”[8]

8. Resurrection with the poor:

“O Allah, make me live as a poor, make me die as a poor, and resurrect me with the group of the poor. Surely the most wretched one is he upon whom the poverty of this life and the torment of the afterlife accumulate.”[9]

9. Reconciliation:

“O Allah, reconcile us with each other, conciliate our hearts, guide us to the ways of peace, save us from darkness into light, and keep us away from vices whether apparent or hidden. O Allah, bless our hearings, sights, hearts, spouses, and offspring, and accept our repentance, You are the Oft-Returning, the Merciful.”[10]

10. Sound faith and life:

p: 252

“O Allah, better to me my faith which is the protection of my affairs, better to me my life in which my living is, better to me my afterlife in which there shall be my resurrection, make living as increase to me in every good, and make death as relief to me from every evil.”[11]

11. Help at dying:

“O Allah, assist me against the hardships of death and the agonies of death.”[12]

12. Forgiveness:

“O Allah, forgive me my sin, ignorance, wastefulness in my affairs, and what You are more aware of than me. O Allah, forgive me my error, intention, joking, and seriousness and all that is in me. O Allah, forgive me what I have committed and what I shall commit, and what I have concealed and what I have disclosed.”[13]

13. Best qualities:

“O Allah, enrich me with knowledge, adorn me with patience, honor me with piety, and pretty me up with healthiness.”[14]

14. Fear of Allah:

“O Allah, share out to us from Your fearing what may hinder us from Your disobediences, from Your obedience what You may take us to Your Paradise by, and from certainty what may make the misfortunes of this life easy to us, and make us enjoy our hearings, sights, and power as long as You make us live, and make all that be lasting to us, and make our revenge on one who has wronged us, make us win victory over our enemy, do not make our affliction in our religion, do not make this life the most of our interest nor the end of our knowledge, and do not make one, who shall not have mercy on us, prevail over us.”[15]

p: 253

15. Seeking soundness:

“O Allah, You have created my self and You make it die. Its death and living are to You; so if You make it live, protect it, and if You make it die, forgive it. O Allah, I ask You for good health.”[16]

“O Allah, make me sound in my body, make me sound in my hearing, and make me sound in my sight. O Allah, I seek Your protection from disbelief and poverty. O Allah, I seek Your protection from the torment of the grave; there is no god but You.”[17]

16. More knowledge:

“O Allah, benefit me with what You have taught me, teach me what may benefit me, and increase my knowledge.”[18]

17. Good qualities:

“O Allah, I ask you for guidance, piety, chastity, and sufficiency.”[19]

18. Faith:

“O Allah, I ask You for good health with faith, faith with good morals, and success followed by deliverance.”[20]

19. Blessing of morning:

“O Allah, bless to my nation (their activities) in early morning.”[21]

20. The fear of Allah:

“O Allah, by Your knowing of the unseen and Your power over the creation, make me live if You know that life is better to me, and make me die if You know that death is better to me. O Allah, I ask You to make me fear You secretly and openly, and ask You for the word of loyalty in satisfaction and anger, and ask You for temperance in poverty and wealth.”[22]

p: 254

21. Good deeds:

“O Allah our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire.”[23]

22. The increase in good:

“O Allah, give us more and do not decrease (Your giving to) us, honor us and do not disgrace us, give us and do not deprive us, prefer us and do not prefer others to us, please us and be pleased with us.”[24]

23. Self-control:

“O Allah, do not entrust me to my self in the twinkle of an eye, and do not take away from me the good You have given to me.”[25]

24. Guardians of Muslims:

“O Allah, harass whoever undertakes something of my nation’s affairs and harasses them, and be kind to whoever undertakes something of my nation’s affairs and treats them kindly. And I seek Your protection from the whole evil.”[26]

25. Seeking goodness:

“O Allah, I ask You for the whole goodness that which I know and that which I do not know, and I seek Your protection from the whole evil that which I know and that which I do not know.”[27]

26. Soundness against diseases:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from leprosy, madness, and from bad diseases.”[28]

27. Safety from bad qualities:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from impotence, laziness, cowardice, stinginess, senility, cruelty, inadvertence, dependence, lowness, and misery. And I seek Your protection from poverty, disbelief, disobedience, dissension, hypocrisy, pride, and self-conceit. And I seek Your protection from deafness, dumbness, madness, leprosy, and bad diseases.”[29]

p: 255

28. Bad neighbor:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from a bad neighbor in the permanent abode (towns) because the neighbor of desert (Bedouin) often moves.”[30]

29. A cunning friend:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from a cunning friend whose eyes see me and whose heart watches me; if he sees a good deed, he conceals it, and if he sees a bad deed, he spreads it.”[31]

30. Knowledge and labor:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from knowledge that does not benefit, a deed that is not accepted (by Allah), and a supplication that is not responded to.”[32]

31. Debt:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from the dominance of debt, the dominance of opponents, and the gloat of enemies.”[33]

32. Enticement:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from the enticement of women and I seek Your protection from the torture of the grave.”[34]

33. Abomination:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from abominable morals, abominable desires, abominable deeds, and from diseases.”[35]

34. Bad day:

“O Allah, I seek Your protection from a bad day, from a bad night, from a bad hour, from a bad friend, and from a bad neighbor in the permanent abode.”[36]

35. At travel:

When the Prophet (a.s.) wanted to travel, he recited this du’a:

“O Allah, You are the companion in the travel and the successor in the family. O Allah, accompany us with loyalty and accept us with success. O Allah, cover to us the land and make the travel easy to us. O Allah, I seek Your protection from the hardship of the travel (the journey towards the afterlife) and the grief of the last abode.”[37]

p: 256

[28] Sunan of Abi Dawud, vol. 1 p. 346.

[29] Al-Mustadrak ala as-Sahihayn, vol. 1 p. 530, Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 188.

[30] Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 1 p. 572.

[31] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 185.

[32] Sahih of Muslim, vol. 8 p. 87.

[33] Sunan of an-Nassa’iy, vol. 2 p. 268, Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 2 p. 173.

[34] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 2 p. 189.

[35] Sunan of at-Tarmithi, vol. 5 p. 233.

[36] Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, vol. 67 p. 294.

[37] At-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 8 p. 116.

O Allah, avert from me the fates of every calamity, and the means of every hardship, and spread on me a shadow from Your mercy, vastness from Your favors, and a grace from Your pardon so that I do not like the hastening of what You have delayed nor the delaying of what You have hastened, that besides what I ask You to be my guardian to my family, children, and fellows as best as You be a guardian to any absent of the believers in keeping every honor, covering every sin, pardoning every disobedience, and repelling every affliction, and grant me for that the gratefulness to You, the remembrance of You, the good worshipping to You, and the satisfaction with Your decree of fate, O You the Guardian of the believers.

And make me, with all that You have entrusted me with and my children and what You have granted to me, be from the believing men and believing women who are in Your refuge that is not violated, in Your protection that is not assaulted, in Your neighboring that is not left, Your safeguard that is not broken, and in Your shelter that is not exposed, for whoever is in Your refuge, protection, neighboring, safeguard, and shelter will be safe and protected, and there is no power and strength except in Allah, the High, the Great.”[1]

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[1] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 4 p. 292-293.

“O Allah, You are Allah, and You are the Beneficent, and You are the Merciful, the Sovereign, the Holy, the Giver of peace, the Granter of security, the Guardian, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Superb, the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden, the Praised, the Glorious, the Beginner, the Restorer, the Loving, the Witness, the Ancient, the Highest, the Great, the Aware, the Truthful, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Grateful, the Forgiver, the Wise, the Lord of power, the Firm, the Vigilant, the Great, the Aware, the Rich, the Guardian, the Protector, the Lord of Majesty and Generosity, the Magnificent, the Aware, the Rich, the Guardian, the Judge, the Strainer, the Enlarger, the Just, the Loyal, the Guardian, the Truth, the Manifest, the Creator, the Bestower of sustenance, the Granter, the Forgiver, the Lord, the Trustee, the Kind, the Sustainer, the Bestower, the Lord, the Trustee, the Subtle, the Aware, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the Rewarder of deeds, the Exalted, the Near, the Responder (to supplications), the Sender, the Heir, the Vast, the Everlasting, the Alive, the Existing that does not die, the Eternal, the Light, the Forgiver, the Unique, the Vanquisher, the One, the Eternal, the One who neither begets nor is He Begotten, and there is none like unto Him, the Possessor of might, the Powerful, the Aware of the unseen, the Originator, the Inventor, the Strainer, the Enlarger, the Caller, the Assistant, the Repeller, the Harmful, the Benefiting, the Honorer, the Degrader, the Sustainer, the Giver, the Prominent, the Good-doer, the Kind, the Favorer, the Giver of life and death, the Doer of whatever He wills, the Master of the Kingdom; You give the kingdom to whomsoever You like, and take away the Kingdom from whomsoever You like, You exalt whomsoever You like and degrade whomsoever You like, in Your hands is all good, and surely You have power over all things. You cause the night to pass into the day and You cause the day to pass into the night, You bring forth the living out of the dead, and you bring forth the dead out of the living, and You give sustenance to whomsoever You like without measure. (O You) the One Who causes dawn to break, Who causes the grain and the stone germinate. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

p: 260

O my Lord! Whatever saying I have said, whatever oath I have taken, whatever vow I have vowed in this day of mine and this night; Your will is on all that, so that whatever You like may occur and whatever You do not like may not occur. So avert (affliction) away from me by Your power and might as there is no might or power save in Allah, the High, the Great.

O Allah! By these attributes that are accepted to You, send blessings on Mohammad and on the Progeny of Muhammad and forgive me, have mercy on me, accept my repentance, accept my deeds, improve my conditions, ease for me my affairs, increase my sustenance, and make me, by the Honor of Your Face, in no need of all of Your people, and save my face, hand, and tongue from asking other than You, and make to me deliverance and escape in my affairs, as You know and I do not know, and You have Power and I do not, and You have power over all things; by Your mercy O most Merciful of all the merciful, and send blessings on Mohammad and on his progeny the good, the pure.”[1]

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[1] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 4 p. 292-293.

_____________________

[1] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 4 p. 296-297.

You are Allah, there is no god but You the Lord of the worlds. You are the Creator and I am the creature. You are the Master and I am the servant. You are the Lord and I am a slave. You are the Provider and I am provided. You are the Giver and I am a beggar, You are the Generous and I am a miser. You are the Mighty and I am weak. You are the Noble and I am humble. You are the Rich and I am needy. You are the Master am I am the slave. You are the Forgiver and I am sinful. You are the Omniscient and I am ignorant. You are the Forbearing and I am hasty. You are the All-Merciful and I am mercified. You are the Curer and I am sick. You are the Responder and I am distressed. And I bear witness that verily You are Allah, there is no god but You, the Giver to Your servants (even) with no request (from them), and I bear witness that verily You are Allah, the One, the Peerless, the Unique, the Independent, the Single, and to you we must return. O Allah, have blessings upon Muhammad and his family the holy and pure, and forgive my sins, keep my faults concealed, and extend to me from You mercy and bounteous sustenance O the most Merciful of the merciful! All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds, and Allah is Sufficient to us and is the best Reliable, and there is no might and power save in Allah the Exalted, the Great.”[1]

p: 263

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[1] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 4 p. 289-300.

____________________

[1] Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 4 p. 301-302.

O You Who have singled out the everlastingness for Yourself and created for Your creation death and life, O You Whose doing is just a saying, Whose saying is a commandment, and Whose commandment is executed on whomever You like, I ask You by the Name by which Your friend (Abraham) had called upon You when he was thrown into fire and You responded to him and said, (O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham),[2] and the Name by which Moses had called upon You from the right side of the mountain, and You responded to him, and the Name by which You had relieved the distress of Ayyoub (Job), and accepted the repentance of Dawud (David), and subjugated for Solomon the wind to blow, and (subjugated) the Devils, and taught him the language of birds, and the Name by which You had granted to Zachariah Yahya, and created Jesus from the Holy Spirit with no father, and the Name by which You had created the Throne and the Divine Seat, and the Name by which You had created the Angels, and the Name by which You had created the jinn and men, and the Name by which You had created the whole creation and everything You wanted, and the name by which You had the power over everything, I ask You be these Names that You may give to me what I ask You for, and satisfy my needs.”[3]

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[1] It is said, as in traditions, that al-Sahira is a land in other where than this earth where people shall be resurrected.

p: 266

[2] Qur'an, 21:69.

[3] The Life of the Principal of Women Fatima az-Zahra’, p. 55-57.

________________

[1] The Life of the Principal of Women Fatima az-Zahra’, p. 58.

O Ali, there is no poverty worse than ignorance, no property more beneficial than reason, no loneliness more desolate than self-conceit, no assistance better than consultation, no reason like (good) management, no ancestry like good morals, and no worship like consideration.

O Ali, the plague of speech is lying, the plague of knowledge is forgetting, the plague of worship is slackness, the plague of generosity is the reminding of the favor, the plague of courage is oppression, the plague of beauty is the self-conceit, and the plague of ancestry is priding.

O Ali, Keep to truthfulness and let no lie come out of your mouth at all, and do not dare to commit any treason at all. Fear Allah as if you see Him. Spend your wealth and soul for the sake of your religion. Do keep to the good morals, and do avoid the bad morals.

O Ali, the most beloved deeds to Allah the Almighty are three things; he, who carries out what Allah has imposed on him, is one of the best worshippers, he, who abstains from what Allah has prohibited, is one of the most pious people, and he, who is satisfied with what Allah has given to him, is one of the wealthiest people.”

O Ali, there are three things that are from the nobilities of character; to maintain kinship with those who shun you, to give to those who deprive you, and to pardon those who wrong you.

O Ali, there are three saving things; to restrain your tongue, weep for your sin, and feel satisfied (and pleased) in your house.

p: 269

O Ali, the masters of deeds are three things; being just to people against yourself, regarding brothers (others) as equal (to you) for the sake of Allah, and remembering Allah at any case.

O Ali, there are three men that are from the guests of Allah; a man who visits his believing brother for the sake of Allah is one of the visitors of Allah and Allah surely is generous to His visitors and He grants them what they ask for, and a man who offers a prayer and then he anthems until the next prayer is the guest of Allah, and surely Allah is generous to His guests, and the performers of major hajj and minor hajj are delegations to Allah, and surely Allah is generous to His delegations.

O Ali, there are three things that their rewards are in this life and in the afterlife; the performing of hajj keeps poverty away, charity repels afflictions, and the maintaining of kinship prolongs one’s age.

O Ali, there are three things that if someone does not have them, his deeds shall not be right; piety that hinders him from the disobediences of Allah the Almighty, knowledge by which he refutes the ignorance of the fool, and reason by which he humors people.

O Ali, there are three men that shall be under the shadow of the Throne on the Day of Judgment; a man who wishes to his brother what he wishes to himself, a man who faces a matter but he does not act until he knows well whether there is satisfaction or dissatisfaction to Allah in that matter, and a man who does not censure his brother for some defect until he repairs that defect in himself, and whenever he repairs a defect in himself, he shall find another, and it is sufficient to man to be busy with himself.

p: 270

O Ali, there are three things that are from the gates of piety; generosity, good speaking, and patience with harm.

O Ali, in the Torah there are four things beside four things; he who is stingy with the worldly life is angry at Allah, he who complains against a calamity that has afflicted him, as if he complains against his Lord, he who comes to a wealthy person and makes himself low before him, the two thirds of his religion shall go away, and he who shall enter the Fire from this nation is one of those who have taken the signs of Allah as mere amusement and play.

There are four things beside four things; whoever prevails shall appropriate, whoever does not consult (others) shall regret, as you condemn (others) you shall be condemned, and poverty is the major death.

He was asked: is it the poverty of dinars and dirhams? He said: it is the poverty in religion.

O Ali, every eye shall weep on the Day of Judgment except three eyes; an eye that has remained sleepless in the way of Allah, an eye that has been lowered before the prohibitions of Allah (unlawful look), and an eye that has shed tears for fear of Allah.

O Ali, blessed is the figure that Allah looks at while weeping for a sin that no one has ever known except Allah.

O Ali, there are three destructive things and three saving things. As for the destructive things, they are; followed desires, obeyed stinginess, and self-deceit. And as for the saving things, they are; justice at satisfaction and angry, temperance in wealth and poverty, the fear of Allah secretly and openly as if you see Him (Allah), and if you do not see Him, surely He sees you.

p: 271

O Ali, there are three things that truthfulness is ugly in; talebearing, telling a man about his wife what he hates, and refuting someone intending to do good.

O Ali, there are four things that go in vain; the eating after being satiate, a lamp in the light of the moon, the planting in a moor, and the doing of a favor to one who is not fit for it.

O Ali, there are four things that are the promptest in being punished for; a man that you do him good and he rewards your good doing by doing you bad, a man that you do not wrong but he wrongs you, a man that you agree with him on something and you are loyal to him but he betrays you, and a man that you maintain kinship with but he turns his back to you.

O Ali, there are four things that whoever has had, his faith in Islam shall be perfect; truthfulness, gratefulness, modesty, and good manners.

O Ali, the littleness of asking people for needs is the present wealth, and the muchness of being in need of people is a basement and it is the present poverty.”[1]

2. In another recommendation, the Prophet (a.s.) said to Imam Ali (a.s.), “O Ali, every sin has a repentance except bad morals, for whenever their owner gets out of a sin, he falls into another.”[2]

3. The Prophet (a.s.) said to Imam Ali (a.s.):

p: 272

“O Ali, the best of jihad is when one does not intend to do wrong to anyone.”

O Ali, whoever people fear his tongue is from the people of the Hell.

O Ali, the worst of people is one whom people respect just to be safe from his impudence and from the harm of his evil.

O Ali, the worst of people is one who sells his afterlife for his worldly life, and worse than him is one who sells his afterlife for the life of other than him.”[3]

4. The Prophet (a.s.) said to Imam Ali (a.s.):

“O Ali, Allah the Almighty has removed by Islam the arrogance of the Pre-Islamic people and their priding on their fathers. Surely the human beings are from Adam and Adam is from earth, and the most honored one of them is the most pious.”[4]

5. The Prophet (a.s.) said to Imam Ali (a.s.):

“O Ali, I forbid you from three things; envy, stinginess, and pride.”[5]

6. The Prophet (a.s.) said:

“O Ali, he, who learns a science to compete by it with the fools, or to argue with scientists, or to invite people for himself, is from the people of the Hell.”[6]

7. The Prophet (a.s.) said:

“O Ali, care for four things before four things; your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your wealth before your poverty, and your life before your death.”[7]

8. The Prophet (a.s.) said:

“O Ali, make your manners good with your family, neighbors, associates, and companions and you shall be recorded near Allah in the high degrees.”[8]

p: 273

9. The Prophet (a.s.) said:

“O Ali, there are three things that are from the gates of piety; generosity, good speech, and patience with harms.”[9]

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[1] Tuhaf al-Uqool, p. 6-9.

[2] Musnad of Imam Ali, p. 47.

[3] Wasa’il ash-Shia, vol. 6 p. 333.

[4] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 53.

[5] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 53.

[6] Ibid., p. 54.

[7] Ibid., p. 49. It means to perform one’s obligations and to do good deeds during one’s youth before his old age, and when healthy before being ill…etc.

[8] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 67.

[9] Ibid., p. 62.

“O Qays, there is with glory lowness, with living death, and with this life an afterlife. Everything has a reckoner, over everything there is a watcher, for every good deed there is a reward, for every bad deed there is a punishment, and for every end there is a prescribed book, and you must, O Qays, have a companion to be buried with you who shall be alive while you shall be dead. So if he is generous, he shall be kind to you, and if he is villain, he shall deny you, and then he shall not be resurrected except with you and you shall not be resurrected except with him, and you shall not be asked except about him. So do not make him except good, because if he is good you shall be delighted with him and if he is bad you shall not feel aversion except from him; he is your deeds.”[1]

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[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. p. 111.

The Prophet said, ‘You shall suffer it as long as you live; therefore, give thanks to Allah, for I have read the Book of Allah that has been revealed to me and to those before me, and I have found those who would enter the Paradise not other than the patient.’”

Then the Prophet (a.s.) began advising Ibn Mas’ud with these recommendations that we mention just some of them. The Prophet (a.s.) said,

“O ibn Mas’ud, Allah the Almighty has said, (only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure),[1] and (These shall be rewarded with high places because they were patient),[2] and (Surely I have rewarded them this day because they were patient, that they are the triumphants).[3]

O ibn Mas’ud, this saying of Allah, (And He has rewarded them, because they were patient, with garden and silk),[4] and (These shall be granted their reward twice, because they have persevered),[5] and (Or do you think that you would enter the garden while yet the state of those who have passed away before before you has not come upon you; distress and affliction befell them),[6] and (And We will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits; and give good news to the patient).[7]

Some one asked, ‘O messenger of Allah, who are the patient?’

The Prophet (a.s.) said, ‘They are those who are patient with the obedience of Allah and with His disobedience, who have gained lawful gain, spent moderately, and done favors, and therefore they shall be successful and prosperous.’ Then, the Prophet (a.s.) said to ibn Mas’ud,

p: 276

‘O ibn Mas’ud, there appear on them (the patient) reverence, gravity, calmness, pondering, leniency, justice, learning, consideration, good management, piety, benevolence, abstinence, the love (of others) for (the sake of) Allah, the hatred for Allah, giving trusts back to their owners, justice in judgment, maintenance of true witness, supporting the people of the truth, resistance against sinners, and pardoning of mistakers.

O ibn Mas’ud, they are those who when being afflicted, they are patient, and when given, they are grateful, and when judging, they are just, and when speaking, they are truthful, and when promising, they fulfil (their promise), and when erring, they ask for forgiveness, and when doing good, they are delighted, and when the ignorant address them, they say: ‘Peace’, and when passing by what is vain, they pass by it with dignity, and who spend the night before their Lord, prostrate and standing, , and they speak to people kindly. O ibn Mas’ud, by Him Who has sent me with the truth, it is these who are triumphant.

O ibn Mas’ud, (Is he whose heart Allah has opened for Islam so that he follows a light from his Lord).[8] When this light comes into the heart, the heart is opened and dilated.’

One of the attendants asked, ‘O messenger of Allah, does that have any sign?’

The Prophet (a.s.) said, ‘Yes, the turning away from the abode of enticement (the worldly life), the turning to the abode of immortality, and the getting ready for death before its time. Whoever turns his back to this life, he does not wish for it and he leaves it for its people.’

p: 277

The Prophet (a.s.) added, ‘O ibn Mas’ud, the saying of Allah (He might try you, which of you is best in conduct)[9] means that which of you is more abstinent towards this life which is the abode of enticement, the abode of one who has no abode, and to which, that who has no reason, accumulates (wealth…etc.). Surely the most fool of people is he who wishes for this life. Allah the Almighty has said, (Know that this world's life is only sport and play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves, and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children, like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down; and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement)[10] and Allah the Almighty has said, (and We granted him wisdom while yet a child).[11] It means the asceticism in this life. Allah has said to Moses, ‘O Moses, the adorned ones shall not adorn themselves with any adornment more attractive to My eye like asceticism. O Moses, if you see poverty coming, you say: welcome to the sign of the righteous, and if you see wealth coming, you say: a guilt whose punishment has come sooner.

O ibn Mas’ud, (think of) of this saying of Allah the Almighty, (And were it not that all people would have become one nation, We would certainly have assigned to those who disbelieve in the Beneficent Allah (to make) of silver the roofs of their houses and the stairs by which they ascend. And for their houses doors (of silver) and couches of silver whereon to recline. And (other) embellishments of gold; and all this is naught but provision of this world's life, and the hereafter is with your Lord only for those who guard against evil),[12] and His saying, (Whoever desires this present life, We hasten to him therein what We please for whomsoever We desire, then We assign to him the hell; he shall enter it despised, driven away. And whoever desires the hereafter and strives for it as he ought to strive and he is a believer; (as for) these, their striving shall surely be rewarded).[13]

p: 278

O ibn Mas’ud, whoever longs for the Paradise hastens to do good deeds, and whoever fears the Fire gives up desires, and whoever expects death refrains from lusts, and whoever turns his back to this life calamities shall be easy to him.

O ibn Mas’ud, (think of) this saying of Allah the Almighty, (The love of desires, of women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and tilth, is made to seem fair to men).[14]

O ibn Mas’ud, Allah has chosen Moses by the talking to him, when the green of legumes could be seen in his abdomen because of his thinness, but when Moses went to the shadow, he did not ask except for some food to eat because of hunger.

O ibn Mas’ud, if you want, I shall tell you about Noah the prophet of Allah; he lived one thousand but fifty years inviting for Allah. In the morning he said: I shall not remain (alive) until the evening, and when the evening came, he said: I shall not remain until the morning. Therefore, his clothes were of animal hair and his food was barley.

And if you want, I shall tell you about Solomon; though he was a great king he himself ate barley and offered to people white wheat, and his clothes were of animal hair. When the night came, he hanged his hand to his neck and began offering prayers until the morning.

And if you want, I shall tell you about Abraham the friend of Allah; his clothes were of wool and his food was barley.

p: 279

And if you want, I shall tell you about Yahya (Prophet John); his clothes were of tree fibers and he ate the leaves of trees.

And if you want, I shall tell you about Jesus the son of Mary that is a wonder; he said: my sustenance is hunger, my sign is the fear (of Allah), my clothing is of wool, my mount is my two legs, my lamp in the night is the moon, my warm in the winter is the rays of the sun, and my fruits and nourishment are the legumes of the ground which beasts and cattle eat from. I spend the night while having nothing and when the morning comes I have nothing, but there is no one on the face of the earth wealthier than me.

O ibn Mas’ud, all that was from them (the prophets). They hated what Allah hated, deemed low what Allah deemed low and regarded insignificant what Allah regarded insignificant.

Allah praised them in His Book. He said about Noah, (Surely he was a grateful servant).[15]

He said about Abraham, (And Allah took Abraham as a friend).[16]

He said about David, (O Dawud! We have set you as a viceroy in the earth).[17]

He said about Moses, (And Allah spoke directly unto Moses).[18]

He also said about Moses, (and We brought him nigh in communion).[19]

He said about John, (And we gave him wisdom when a child).[20]

He said about Jesus, (O Eesa son of Mariyam! Remember My favor on you and on your mother, when I strengthened you with the holy Spirit, that you spoke to the people in the cradle and when of old age, and when I taught you the Book and the wisdom and the Torah and the Bible, and when you determined out of clay a thing like the form of a bird by My permission).[21]

p: 280

And He said, (surely they used to hasten, one with another in deeds of goodness and to call upon Us, hoping and fearing and they were humble before Us).[22]

O ibn Mas’ud, all that was because of what Allah had frightened them of, saying in His Book, (And surely Hell is the promised place of them all. It has seven gates; for every gate there shall be a separate part of them),[23] and (and the prophets and the witnesses shall be brought up, and judgment shall be given between them with justice, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly).[24]

O ibn Mas’ud, the Fire shall be for whoever practices a prohibited thing and the Paradise shall be for whoever turns his back to a permissible thing. Therefore, keep to asceticism because that is from what Allah prides on with the angels and by which He will come to you with His face, and the Almighty will have blessing on you.

O Ibn Mas’ud, after me, peoples shall come who shall eat variant kinds of foods, ride mounts, make up like the makeup of a wife for her husband, adorn themselves like women, and wear their (women) uniform like the uniform of arrogant kings. They shall be the hypocrites of this nation at the end of time. They shall be drinkers of wines, players of gambling, followers of lusts, abandoners of congregations, sleepers at time of obligations, and wasters of their boundaries. Allah the Almighty says, (But there came after them a generation, who neglected prayers and followed sensual desires, so they will meet perdition).[25]

p: 281

O ibn Mas’ud, they are like oleander; its flower is beautiful but its taste is bitter. Their speech is full of wisdom whereas their deeds are a disease that cannot be cured. (Do they not then reflect on the Qur’an? Nay, on the hearts there are locks).[26]

O ibn Mas’ud, what shall benefit one who enjoys the pleasures of this life when he shall be thrown forever into the Fire? (They know the outward of this world's life, but of the hereafter they are absolutely heedless).[27] They shall build houses, erect palaces, and decorate mosques, but their interest shall be not but the pleasures of this life which they shall be keeping to and involving into. Their gods shall be their abdomens (desires). Allah the Almighty has said, (And you make strong fortresses that perhaps you may last forever. And when you lay hands (on men) you lay hands (like) tyrants. So guard against (the punishment of) Allah and obey Me),[28] and said, (Have you then considered him who takes his low desire for his god, and Allah has made him err purposely and has set a seal upon his ear and his heart and put a covering upon his eye. Who can then guide him after Allah? Will you not then be mindful).[29]

He is not but a polytheist that makes his desires his religion and his abdomen as his god; whenever he desires any thing permissible or impermissible, he shall not abstain from it. Allah the Almighty has said, (and they rejoice in this world's life, and this world's life is nothing compared with the hereafter but a temporary enjoyment).[30]

p: 282

O ibn Mas’ud, their mihrabs are their women, their honor is their dirhams and dinars, and their purpose is their abdomens. These are the worst of evildoers; sedition is with them and to them it shall return.

O ibn Mas’ud, (think of) the saying of Allah the Almighty, (Have you then considered if We let them enjoy themselves for years?

Then there comes to them that with which they are threatened. That which they were made to enjoy shall not avail them).[31]

O ibn Mas’ud, their bodies are not satisfied and their hearts do not show reverence.

O ibn Mas’ud, Islam has started strange and shall return strange as it has started. So blessed are the strangers! Whoever of your offspring shall live in that time should not offer greetings in their meetings, not escort their deads, and not visit their sick ones, because they shall follow your law and appear with your mission, but they shall contradict your deeds, and so they shall die on other than your religion. They are not from me nor am I from them. Therefore, do not fear anyone other than Allah, because Allah the Almighty says, (Wherever you are, death will overtake you, though you are in lofty towers),[32]and (On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: Wait for us, that we may have light from your light…and the deceiver deceived you concerning Allah. So today ransom shall not be accepted from you nor from those who disbelieved; your abode is the Fire; it is your patron and evil is the end).[33]

p: 283

O ibn Mas’ud, whoever learns knowledge intending (the interests of) this life and prefers to it (knowledge) the love of this life and its pleasures shall deserve the wrath of Allah and shall be in the lowest abyss of Fire with the Jews and the Christians who have turned their backs to the Book of Allah. Allah the Almighty has said, (and when there comes unto them that which they know (to be the truth) they disbelieve therein. The curse of Allah is on the disbelievers).[34]

O ibn Mas’ud, whoever learns the Qur'an just for this life and its interests, Allah will prevent him from entering the Paradise.

O ibn Mas’ud, whoever learns knowledge but does not act according to it Allah will resurrect him blind on the Day of Resurrection, and whoever learns knowledge just for pride and fame wishing for the interests of this life Allah will deprive him of his blessing, depress his living, and leave him to his desires, and whomever Allah leaves to his desires shall perish. Allah the Almighty has said, (And whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make none sharer of the worship with his Lord).[35]

O ibn Mas’ud, let your companions be the righteous and your brothers the pious and the ascetics, because Allah the Almighty has said in His Book, (Friends on that day will be foes, one to another, except the Righteous).[36]

O ibn Mas’ud, keep to the fear of Allah and the performing of obligations, because He says, (He is worthy to be feared and worthy to forgive)[37] and says, (Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him; that is for him who fears his Lord).[38]

p: 284

O ibn Mas’ud, keep away from you what does not concern you and keep to what suffices you, because Allah says, (Every man of them shall on that day have an affair which will occupy him (to be headless of others).[39]

O ibn Mas’ud, beware to give up an obedience and go to a disobedience pitying your family, because Allah the Almighty says, (O people! Keep your duty to your Lord and fear a Day when the parent will not be able to avail the child in aught, nor the child to avail the parent. Surely Allah’s promise is the very truth. Let not the life of the world beguile you, nor let the deceiver beguile you, in regard to Allah).[40]

O ibn Mas’ud, beware of this life and its pleasures, lusts, and adornment, and the eating of the ill-gotten gains, and gold, silver, mounts, women, children, accumulations of gold and silver, cattle, and tilth, for that is the pleasure of the worldly life and with Allah there is the most excellent abode. (Say: Shall I tell you what is better than these? For those who guard (against evil) are gardens with their Lord, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and pure mates and Allah's pleasure; and Allah is Seer of the servants).[41]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not be self-deceit before Allah, nor be self-deceit by your prayers, deeds, piety, and worship.

O ibn Mas’ud, when you recite the Book of Allah and get at a verse that has enjoining and forbidding, repeat it with pondering and consideration and do not be heedless to that, because the forbidding means the avoiding of disobediences and the enjoining means the doing of goodness and benevolence. Allah the Almighty says, (Then how will it be when We shall gather them together on a day about which there is no doubt, and every soul shall be fully paid what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly).[42]

p: 285

O Ibn Mas’ud, do not deem a sin as insignificant or trivial, and avoid major sins, because when a servant shall look at his sins on the Day of Judgment, his eyes shall shed pus and blood. Allah the Almighty says, (On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil, it shall wish that between it and that (evil) there might be a long duration of time).[43]

O ibn Mas’ud, When it said to you: ‘Fear Allah’, do not be angry, because He says, (And when it is said unto him: Be careful of thy duty to Allah, pride carries him off to sin, therefore hell is sufficient for him).[44]

Historians mention that Abdul Melik bin Marwan, the Umayyad king, used to say, “Whoever enjoins on us the fear of Allah we will behead him.”

The Prophet (a.s.) added, ‘O ibn Mas’ud, make your hope little; when it is morning, you say: I may not remain alive until the evening, and when it is evening, you say: I may not remain alive until the morning. Get yourself ready for leaving this life, and love the meeting with Allah and do not hate His meeting, because Allah loves the meeting with whoever loves the meeting with Him and hates the meeting with whoever hates the meeting with Him.

O ibn Mas’ud, by Him Who has sent me with the truth, a time shall come to people when they consider wine as lawful…the curse of Allah, the angels, and of people in whole be on them. I am free from them and they are free from me.

p: 286

O ibn Mas’ud, one, who commits adultery with his mother, is easier to Allah than one who mixes with his money inasmuch as a grain of mustard seed out of usury, and whoever drinks an alcoholic drink a little or much is worse to Allah than one who eats usury, because it (wine)[45] is the key to every evil.

O ibn Mas’ud, when you do a doing, make it loyally for the sake of Allah, because He does not accept from His servants except the loyally done deeds. He says, (And no one has with him any boon for which he should be rewarded, except the seeking of the pleasure of his Lord, the Most High, and he shall soon be well-pleased).[46]

O ibn Mas’ud, leave aside the pleasures of this life, its foods, sweet, warm, cool, ease, and enjoyments and keep your self to abstinence from them, because you shall be asked about all that. Allah the Almighty says, (Then on that day you shall most certainly be questioned about the boons).[47]

O ibn Mas’ud, let this life and its pleasures not busy you, for Allah the Almighty says, (What! did you then think that We had created you in vain and that you shall not be returned to Us).[48]

O ibn Mas’ud, if you do a doing of benevolence and you intend by it other than Allah, then do not expect from Him a reward for that, for He says, (and on the Day of Resurrection We assign no weight to them).[49]

p: 287

O ibn Mas’ud, If people praise you and say that you fast in the day and spend the night in worship while you do not do so, then do not be delighted with that, because Allah the Almighty says, (Do not think those who rejoice for what they have done and love that they should be praised for what they have not done; so do by no means think them to be safe from the chastisement, and they shall have a painful chastisement).[50]

O ibn Mas’ud, do a lot of good deeds and benevolence, because both a good-doer and a bad-doer shall regret; the good-doer shall say: I wish I had done much more good deeds, and the bad-doer shall say: I have been neglectful. The proof of that is His saying, (Nay! I swear by the self-accusing soul).[51]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not advance sin and delay repentance, but advance repentance and delay sin, for Allah the Almighty says in His Book, (But man would fain deny what is before him).[52]

O ibn Mas’ud, beware of enacting a heretical norm, because if a servant enact a bad norm, he shall bear its sin and the sin of whoever practices it. Allah the Almighty has said, (and We record that which they send before (them) and that which they leave behind),[53] and (Man shall on that day be informed of what he sent before and (what he) put off).[54]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not lean on this life and do not trust in it, because you shall leave it soon. Allah the Almighty says, (So We turned them out of gardens and springs),[55] (And cornfields and palm-trees having fine spadices).[56]

p: 288

O ibn Mas’ud, consider the ancient nations and the tyrannical kings who had passed away, for Allah says, (and Aad and Thamud and the dwellers of the Rass and many generations between them).[57]

O ibn Mas’ud, be careful to give up sin secretly and openly, (whether) minor or major (it is), because Allah the Almighty sees you wherever you are and He is with you, so avoid them (sins).

O ibn Mas’ud, fear Allah in secrecy and openness, on the land and in the sea, in the night and the day, because He says, (Do you not see that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth? Nowhere is there a secret counsel between three persons but He is the fourth of them, nor (between) five but He is the sixth of them, nor less than that nor more but He is with them wheresoever they are).[58]

O ibn Mas’ud, take Satan as enemy, for Allah the Almighty says, (Surely Satan is your enemy, so take him for an enemy),[59] and He says about Iblis, (Then I will certainly come to them from before them and from behind them, and from their right-hand side and from their left-hand side; and you shall not find most of them thankful),[60] and (He said: The truth then is and the truth do I speak. That I will most certainly fill hell with you and with those among them who follow you all).[61]

O ibn Mas’ud, be careful not to eat impermissible thing, not to wear impermissible thing, not to take from impermissible thing, and not to disobey Allah, because Allah the Almighty says to Iblis, (And beguile whomsoever of them you can with your voice, and collect against them your forces riding and on foot, and share with them in wealth and children, and hold out promises to them; and the Shaitan makes not promises to them but to deceive),[62] and says, (therefore let not this world's life deceive you, nor let the deceiver deceive you in respect of Allah).[63]

p: 289

O ibn Mas’ud, do not approach any impermissible thing of wealth and women, for Allah the Almighty says, (And for him who fears to stand before his Lord are two gardens),[64] and do not prefer the worldly life to the afterlife by pleasures and lusts, because Allah the Almighty says in His Book, (Then as for him who is inordinate, and prefers the life of this world, then surely the hell is the abode).[65]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not betray any one in some money that he leaves with you or a trust that he entrusts you with, because Allah says, (Surely Allah commands you to make over trusts to their owners).[66]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not talk about anything except when knowing it that you have heard or seen it, for Allah the Almighty says, (And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these, shall be questioned about that),[67] and (Their testimony shall be written down and they shall be questioned),[68] and (When the two Receivers receive, sitting on the right and on the left. He utters not a word but there is by him a watcher at hand),[69] and (And certainly We created man, and We know what his mind suggests to him, and We are nearer to him than his life-vein).[70]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not worry about livelihood, for Allah the Almighty says, (And there is no animal in the earth but on Allah is the sustenance of it)[71], and (And in the heaven is your sustenance and what you are promised of),[72] and (And if Allah touch you with affliction, there is none to take it off but He; and if He touch you with good, then He has power over all things).[73]

p: 290

O ibn Mas’ud, by Him Who has sent me with the truth as prophet, whoever turns his back to this life and wishes for the trade of the afterlife surely Allah will trade for him behind his trade and make his trade profitable. Allah the Almighty says, (Men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from the remembrance of Allah and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of poor-rate; they fear a day in which the hearts and eyes shall turn about).[74]

Do not relieve your tongue from the remembrance of Allah, and that is by saying: glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no god but Allah, and Allah is great. This is the profitable trade. Allah the Almighty says, (…they hope for a gain which will not perish. That He may pay them back fully their rewards and give them more out of His grace).[75]

O ibn Mas’ud, make whatever you see by your eye and your heart admires it (make it) for Allah, for this is the trade of the afterlife; Allah the Almighty says, (What is with you passes away and what is with Allah is enduring).[76]

O ibn Mas’ud, love the righteous because man shall be (resurrected) with whom he loves, and if you cannot do deeds of benevolence, then love the ulama (scholars), because Allah the Almighty says, (And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, these are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the martyrs and the good, and a goodly company are they).[77]

p: 291

O ibn Mas’ud, beware to associate anything with Allah for a twinkle of an eye even if you are sawed by a saw, cut into pieces, crucified, or burned in fire. Allah the Almighty says, (And (as for) those who believe in Allah and His messengers, these it is that are the truthful and the faithful ones in the sight of their Lord).[78]

O ibn Mas’ud, be patient with those who make remembrance of Allah, glorify Him, often say ‘there is no god but Allah’, praise Him, do due to His obedience, and call upon Him in the morning and in the evening. Allah says, (And withhold yourself with those who call on their Lord morning and evening desiring His goodwill, and let not your eyes pass from them),[79] and (neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours, so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust).[80]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not prefer to the remembrance of Allah anything, because He says, (and certainly the remembrance of Allah is the greatest),[81] and (Therefore remember Me, I will remember you, and be thankful to Me, and do not be ungrateful to Me),[82] and (And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me),[83] and (Call upon Me, I will answer you).[84]

O ibn Mas’ud, Keep to calmness and gravity, and be easy, lenient, chaste, submissive (to Allah), pious, pure, dutiful, immaculate, purified, truthful, loyal, sound, right, reasonable, righteous, patient, grateful, faithful, god-fearing, worshipping, ascetic, merciful, knowledgeable, and aware (of religion). Allah the Almighty says, (Most surely Ibrahim was forbearing, tender-hearted, oft-returning (to Allah)),[85] and ( And the servants of the Beneficent Allah are they who walk on the earth in humbleness, and when the ignorant address them, they say: Peace. And they who pass the night prostrating themselves before their Lord and standing),[86] and (And they who, when reminded of the communications of their Lord, do not fall down thereat deaf and blind. And they who say: O our Lord! grant us in our wives and our offspring the joy of our eyes, and make us guides to those who guard (against evil). These shall be rewarded with high places because they were patient, and shall be met therein with greetings and salutations. Abiding therein; goodly the abode and the resting-place),[87] and (Successful indeed are the believers, who are humble in their prayers, and who keep aloof from what is vain and who are givers of poor-rate, and who guard their private parts, except before their spouses or those whom their right hands possess, for they surely are not blamable. But whoever seeks to go beyond that, these are they that exceed the limits, and those who are keepers of their trusts and their covenant, and who pay heed to their prayers; these are the heirs who shall inherit the Paradise; they shall abide therein),[88] and (Those shall be in gardens, honored),[89] and (Those only are believers whose hearts become full of fear when Allah is mentioned, and when His communications are recited to them, they increase them in faith, and in their Lord do they trust. Those who keep up prayer and spend (benevolently) out of what We have given them; these are the believers in truth; they shall have from their Lord exalted grades and forgiveness and an honorable sustenance).[90]

p: 292

O ibn Mas’ud, let the pity to your family and children not make you involve in disobediences and unlawfulness, for Allah the Almighty says, (The day when wealth and sons avail not (any man), except him who comes to Allah with a heart free (from evil)).[91] And keep to the remembrance of Allah and the good deeds, for Allah the Almighty says, (and the ever-abiding good deeds are better with your Lord in reward and better in expectation).[92]

O ibn Mas’ud, do not be from those, who guide people to goodness and enjoin them to do good, while they themselves are inadvertent to it. Allah the Almighty says, (What! do you enjoin people to be good and neglect your own souls?)[93]

O ibn Mas’ud, be careful to keep your tongue, because Allah the Almighty says, (On that day We will set a seal upon their mouths, and their hands shall speak to Us, and their feet shall bear witness of what they earned).[94]

O ibn Mas’ud, be careful of your hidden thought, for Allah the Almighty says, (On the day when hidden thoughts shall be searched out. Then will he have no might nor any helper).[95]

O ibn Mas’ud, beware of a day when the pages shall be laid open, and scandals shall be manifest. Allah the Almighty says, (And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, (yet) will We bring it, and sufficient are We to take account).[96]

p: 293

O ibn Mas’ud, fear Allah in secrecy as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, surely He sees you. Allah the Almighty says, (Who fears the Beneficent Allah in secret and comes with a penitent heart; enter it in peace, that is the day of immortality).[97]

O ibn Mas’ud, be fair to people against yourself, and be loyal in advising the community and be merciful to them. If you are so and Allah is displeased with the people of a village while you are among them and He wants to send down torment over them, He will look at you and be merciful to them. Allah the Almighty says, (And it did not behoove your Lord to have destroyed the towns tyrannously, while their people acted well).[98]

O ibn Mas’ud, beware of showing people that you are pious and reverent while between you and your Lord you keep on disobedience and sin. Allah the Almighty says, (He knows the stealthy looks and that which the breasts conceal).[99] O ibn Mas’ud, do not be from those who are strict to people while loose to themselves. Allah the Almighty says, (why do you say that which you do not do?).[100]

O ibn Mas’ud, when you do something, do it with knowledge and reason, and beware of doing something without good management and knowledge, for, exalted is He, He says, (And be not like her who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly).[101]

p: 294

O ibn Mas’ud, keep to truthfulness and do not let any lie come out of your mouth. Be just to people against yourself and be kind. Call people to benevolence, maintain relations with your kin, do not deceive people, and fulfill to them what you have promised them of, for Allah the Almighty says, (Surely Allah enjoins the doing of justice and the doing of good (to others) and the giving to the kindred, and He forbids indecency and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you that you may be mindful).[102]”[103]

[46] Qur'an, 92:19-21.

[47] Qur'an, 102:8.

[48] Qur'an, 23:115.

[49] Qur'an, 18:105.

[50] Qur'an, 3:188.

[51] Qur'an, 75:2.

[52] Qur'an, 75:5.

[53] Qur'an, 36:12.

[54] Qur'an, 75:13.

[55] Qur'an, 26:57.

[56] Qur'an, 26:148.

[57] Qur'an, 25:38.

[58] Qur'an, 58:7.

[59] Qur'an, 35:6.

[60] Qur'an, 7:17.

[61] Qur'an, 38:84-85.

[62] Qur'an, 17:64.

[63] Qur'an, 31:33, 35:5.

[64] Qur'an, 55:46.

[65] Qur'an, 79:37-39.

[66] Qur'an, 4:58.

[67] Qur'an, 17:36.

[68] Qur'an, 43:19.

[69] Qur'an, 50:17-18.

[70] Qur'an, 50:16.

[71] Qur'an, 11:6.

[72] Qur'an, 51:22.

[73] Qur'an, 6:17.

[74] Qur'an, 24:37.

[75] Qur'an, 35:29-30.

[76] Qur'an, 16:96.

[77] Qur'an, 4:69.

[78] Qur'an, 57:19.

[79] Qur'an, 18:28.

[80] Qur'an, 6:52.

[81] Qur'an, 29:45.

[82] Qur'an, 2:152.

[83] Qur'an, 2:186.

[84] Qur'an, 40:60.

[85] Qur'an, 11:75.

[86] Qur'an, 25:63-64.

[87] Qur'an, 73-76.

[88] Qur'an, 23:1-11.

[89] Qur'an, 70:35.

[90] Qur'an, 8:2-4.

[91] Qur'an, 26:88-89.

[92] Qur'an, 18:46.

[93] Qur'an, 2:44.

[94] Qur'an, 36:65.

[95] Qur'an, 86:9-10.

[96] Qur'an, 21:47.

[97] Qur'an, 50:33-34.

[98] Qur'an, 11:117.

[99] Qur'an, 40:19.

[100] Qur'an, 61:2.s.

[101] Qur'an, 16:92.

[102] Qur'an, 16:90.

[103] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 92-110.

Anyhow, Abu Tharr was preferred by the Prophet (a.s.) and was one of his closest companions; therefore, he offered to him these precious recommendations. Abu Tharr narrated, “One day in the morning, I went to the messenger of Allah in his mosque, and I found no one of people except the Prophet and Ameerul Mo'minin beside him. I seized the opportunity of that privacy in the mosque and said,

‘O messenger of Allah, may my father and mother die for you, recommend me with what Allah may benefit me by.’

The Prophet (a.s.) said, ‘Yes, and you are honorable, Abu Tharr! You are from us the Ahlul Bayt, and I will offer to you a recommendation that you may keep in mind because it is a combination of the ways and means of goodness. If you keep it, you shall have two shares (of reward).

O Abu Tharr, worship Allah as if you see Him; if you do not see Him, surely He sees you. Know that the first of the worshipping of Allah is the knowing of Him; He is the First before every thing that there is no thing before Him, the One that there is no second to Him, the Everlasting to no end, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and what there is in them and what there is between them, and He is Allah, the most Kind, the most Aware, and He is powerful over everything. Then, is the faith in me, and the acknowledging that Allah the Almighty has sent me to the whole people as a bringer of good news, a warner, an inviter to Allah by His permission, and a luminous light. And then, is the love of my progeny whom Allah has kept away uncleanness from them and purified them a thorough purification.

p: 297

O Abu Tharr, know that Allah, glory be to Him, has made my progeny among my nation as the Ark of Noah; whoever embarks on it shall be saved and whoever turns his back to it shall drown, and as the Gate of Hittah (of forgiveness) of the children of Israel that whoever enters it shall be safe.

O Abu Tharr, keep what I recommend you with and you shall be happy in this life and in the afterlife.

O Abu Tharr, there are two blessings that many of people are wronged in; good health and leisure.

O Abu Tharr, make use of five things before five things; your youth before your senility, your good health before your illness, your wealth before your poverty, your leisure before your business, and your life before your death.

O Abu Tharr, beware of procrastination in your hoping, for you are of your day and not the day after it. If tomorrow is for you, then be in tomorrow as you are in today, and if tomorrow is not for you, you shall not regret what you have wasted today.

O Abu Tharr, how many are those who receive a day but they do not finish it, and who wait for tomorrow but they do not reach it!

O Abu Tharr, if you think of death and its fate, you shall hate hope and its temptation.

O Abu Tharr, be in this life as if you are a stranger or a passerby, and consider yourself as one of the people of graves.

p: 298

O Abu Tharr, when you are in the morning, do not talk to yourself about evening, and when you are in the evening, do not talk to yourself about morning. Take from your good health before your illness, and from your life before your death, because you do not know what your name shall be tomorrow (alive or dead).

O Abu Tharr, beware that felling may fall upon you at the slip, and then the slip shall not be pardoned, and you shall not be able to return, and he, whom you leave (the heir) with what you leave (inheritance) shall not praise you…

O Abu Tharr, be with your age stingier than with your dirham and dinar.

O Abu Tharr, does one wait except for arrogant-making wealth, forgetful-making poverty, a corruptive illness, confuting senility, a finishing off death, the Dajjal (Antichrist) that is the worst, awaited absentee, or the Hour (Day of Judgment)? Surely the Hour is much more terrible and more grievous.

O Abu Tharr, the worst of people in position to Allah on the Day of Resurrection shall be a scholar that it is not benefited by his knowledge. Whoever seeks knowledge just to attract people to him shall not find the scent of the Paradise.

O Abu Tharr, whoever seeks knowledge to cheat people by it shall not find the scent of the Paradise.

O Abu Tharr, when you are asked about some knowledge that you do not know, you say: ‘I do not know’ and thus you shall be saved from its responsibility. Do not give a fatwa on that which you have no knowledge of, and thus you shall be saved from the torment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection.

p: 299

O Abu Tharr, some people of the Paradise shall see some people of the Fire and say to them: what has made you enter into the Fire while we ourselves have entered the Paradise by virtue of your discipline and education? They shall say to them: we used to enjoin goodness, but we ourselves did not do it.

O Abu Tharr, the rights of Allah, glory be to Him, are more greater than to be fulfilled by the servants, and the blessings of Allah are much more than to be counted by the servants, but be evening and morning repentant.

O Abu Tharr, you are in the passage of the night and the day in (gradually) decreased terms and preserved deeds, and death comes unexpectedly. Whoever plants goodness shall soon harvest goodness, and whoever plants evil shall soon harvest regret; every planter gets like what he plants.

O Abu Tharr, no slack one misses his fate and no greedy can get what has not been determined to him. Whoever is given good surely it is Allah Who has given it to him, and whoever is saved from an evil surely it is Allah Who has saved him from it.

O Abu Tharr, the pious are masters and jurisprudents are leaders and the association with them is an increase (of goodness). A believer sees his sin as if he is under a rock fearing that it may fall over him, and a disbeliever sees his sin as if some flies pass by his nose.

p: 300

O Abu Tharr, if Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, wants for some servant goodness, He makes his sins before his eyes materialized and the sin to him very heavy and great, and if He wants for some servant evil, He makes him forget his sins.

O Abu Tharr, do not consider the littleness of a committed sin, but consider the One Whom you disobey.

O Abu Tharr, the soul of a believer is more confused by sin than a sparrow when it is thrown into the trap.

O Abu Tharr, he, whose sayings conform to his deeds, shall be blessed, and he, whose sayings contradict his deeds, just censures himself.

O Abu Tharr, a man may be deprived of his livelihood because of a sin that he commits.

O Abu Tharr, leave what you have nothing to do with, and do not talk about what does not concern you, and store your tongue as you store your money.

O Abu Tharr, Allah, highly praise be to Him, shall put some people into the Paradise and give them until they shall be bored, and there shall be some people above them in the Highest Degrees. When they shall look at them, they shall know them and say: our Lord, they are our brothers that we were with in the worldly life; by what You have preferred them to us? It shall be said: How far! How far! They were hungry when you were satiate, thirsty when you quenched your thirst, they spent the night in worship when you slept, and they went (to jihad) when you were saved (peacefully).

p: 301

O Abu Tharr, Allah, highly praise be to Him, has made my delight in prayer and made prayer beloved to me as He has made food beloved to the hungry and water to the thirsty. When a hungry one eats, he shall be satisfied, and when a thirsty one drinks water, he shall quench his thirst, but I do not be satisfied whatever I offer prayers.

O Abu Tharr, whoever voluntarily offers twelve rak’as in a day and a night other than the obligatory ones there shall be a due right to him a house in the Paradise.

O Abu Tharr, as long as you are in the prayer, you are knocking at the door of the Mighty King, and whoever knocks at the door of the King much, it shall be opened to him.

O Abu Tharr, no believer gets up to offer the prayer except that benefaction is scattered on him from between him and the Throne, and an angel is entrusted with him to call out: O son of Adam, if you know what you get in the prayer and Whom you talk to, you shall not leave.

O Abu Tharr, blessed are the bannermen on the Day of Resurrection; they shall carry them (banners) and precede the people to the Paradise. They are the precedents to mosques in dawns and other than dawns.

O Abu Tharr, prayer is the pillar of the religion, and the tongue (remembrance) is greater, charity removes sin, and the tongue is greater, fasting is protection from the Fire, and the tongue is greater, jihad is honor, and the tongue is greater.

p: 302

O Abu Tharr, a degree in the Paradise is like what is between the heaven and the earth. A servant may raise his sight and a light shall glitter to him that shall be about to take away his sight; he shall be frightened by that and say: what is this? It shall be said to him: this is the light of your brother. He shall say: my brother so-and-so! We both worked in the worldly life and now he has been preferred to me as so? It shall be said to him: he was better than you in deeds. Then, satisfaction shall be put into his heart until he shall be satisfied.

O Abu Tharr, this life is the prison of a believer and the paradise of a disbeliever. No believer in it except that he is sad; and how does he not become sad where Allah, highly praise be to Him, has promised him that he shall enter the Hell and has not promised him that (when) he shall get out of it, and he shall meet diseases, calamities, and many things that depress him, and shall be oppressed without triumphing, wishing for a reward from Allah the Almighty? He is still sad in it (this life) until he leaves it, and when he leaves it, he shall resort to ease and honor.

O Abu Tharr, Allah, glory be to Him, has been never worshipped with anything like long sorrow.

O Abu Tharr, he, who has been given knowledge that does not make him weep, surely has been given knowledge that does not benefit him, because Allah has described the knowledgeable by saying, (Surely those who were given knowledge before it, when it is read unto them, fall down prostrate on their faces in obeisance; saying: Glory to our Lord! Verily the promise of our Lord must be fulfilled. They fall down on their faces, weeping, and it increases humility in them).[1]

p: 303

O Abu Tharr, let him, he who can weep, weep, and let him, he who cannot, make his heart feel sorrow and feign weeping. Surely a hard heart is far from Allah the Almighty, but you do not feel.

O Abu Tharr, by Him in Whose hand the soul of Muhammad is, if this life equaled near Allah to a wing of a mosquito or a fly, He would not give to the disbelievers in it a sip of water.

O Abu Tharr, Allah, the Blessed, the High, revealed to my brother Jesus (a.s.): O Jesus, do not love this life, for I do not love it, but love the afterlife because it is the abode of the Return.

O Abu Tharr, Gabriel brought to me the treasures of the world on a gray mule and said to me: O Muhammad, these are the treasures of the world, and nothing of your share near your Lord shall be decreased. I said: O my beloved Gabriel, I am in no need of them; when I am satisfied (with food), I thank my Lord, and when I am hungry, I ask Him.

O Abu Tharr, when Allah, glory be to Him, wants for a servant goodness, He makes him knowledgeable of the religion, abstinent in this life, and aware of the defects of himself.

O Abu Tharr, no servant becomes abstinent in this life except that Allah plants wisdom in his heart and makes his tongue utter it, makes him aware of the defects of life, its diseases, and its cures, and takes him out of it whole to the abode of peace.

p: 304

O Abu Tharr, when you see your brother abstinent towards this life, listen to him because he casts wisdom.

I (Abu Tharr) asked: O messenger of Allah, who is the most abstinent of people? He said:

It is he who does not forget graveyards and perishment, who leaves the further pleasures of this life, who prefers what lasts to what passes away, who does not consider tomorrow as one of his days, and who considers himself as one of the dead (getting ready to death).

O Abu Tharr, Allah, the Blessed, the High, did not reveal to me to accumulate wealth, but He revealed to me: (But hymn the praise of your Lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto Him). And serve your Lord until certainty comes to you).[2]

O Abu Tharr, I put on coarse clothes, sit on the ground, lick my fingers (after having food), ride the donkey without saddle, and let others sit behind me (on a mount), so whoever refrains from my Sunna is not from me.

O Abu Tharr, the love of wealth and honor is more harmful to one’s religion than two savage wolves in a pen of sheep that they attack and when the morning comes, they shall leave nothing in it.

I said: O messenger of Allah, do the fearers (of Allah), the fighters (in the way of Allah), the humble, the rememberers of Allah too much precede people to the Paradise?

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

p: 305

No, but it is the poor Muslims; they overstep people’s necks and the guardians of the Paradise shall say to them: stay where you are until you shall be judged. They shall say: for what shall we be judged? By Allah, we had no authority that we might give liberally or be just, nor were we given wealth that we might prevent or give, but we worshipped our Lord until He called us and we responded.

In this passage, the Prophet (a.s.) invited to asceticism in this life and not to pounce upon its pleasures and desires. And indeed, Abu Tharr the great companion followed this recommendation when he turned his back to this world and refused to respond to the Umayyad rule when great monies were offered to him, but he refused them and preferred the satisfaction of Allah until he died very poor and wretched in the worst spot of the desert in ar-Rabathah; and thus he was the leader of the poor and the wretched.

The Prophet (a.s.) added:

O Abu Tharr, this life is a preoccupation of hearts and bodies, and surely Allah, the Blessed, the High, will ask us about what He has afforded us of permissible boons, so how about the impermissible pleasures we have enjoyed?

O Abu Tharr, I have prayed Allah, highly praise be to Him, to make the sustenance of whoever loves me as necessary subsistence, and to give whoever hates me abundant wealth and children.

O Abu Tharr, blessed are the abstinents in this life, the wishers for the afterlife, who take the earth of Allah as a carpet, its soil as a bed, and its water as a flavor, and who take the Book of Allah as their symbol and His invocation as their garment…

p: 306

O Abu Tharr, the tilth of the afterlife is the good deed, and the tilth of this life is wealth and children

O Abu Tharr, my Lord has told me saying: by My glory and honor, worshippers do not get like what they get by weeping (for fear of Allah). I will build for them in the Highest Association a palace that no one shall participate with them in it.

I said: O messenger of Allah, which of the believers is more reasonable?

The Prophet (a.s.) said: The most of them in remembering death and the best of them in getting ready to it.

O Abu Tharr, when the light (of faith) enters the heart, the heart shall expand and dilate.

I said: what is the sign of that, may my father and mother die for you O messenger of Allah?

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

The returning to the Abode of Eternity, the turning away from the abode of temptation, and the getting ready for death before its coming.

O Abu Tharr, fear Allah, and do not show people that you fear Allah so that they may honor you while your heart is dissolute.

O Abu Tharr, two moderate rak’as (offered) with consideration is better than spending a (whole) night in worshipping while the heart is inadvertent.

O Abu Tharr, the truth is (heavy and) bitter and falsehood is light and sweet. Perhaps a pleasure of a moment may cause a lasting sorrow.

O Abu Tharr, judge yourself before you are judged because it shall be easier for your judgment tomorrow. Weigh yourself before you are weighed, and get prepared for the Greatest Show when you shall be showed. There is nothing hidden to Allah.

p: 307

O Abu Tharr, the example of him, who calls with no work, is like the example of him who shoots with no bowstring.

O Abu Tharr, Allah sets right, by the righteousness of a servant himself, his children and the children of his children, and preserves him in his house and the houses around his as long as he is among them.

O Abu Tharr, a good companion is better than loneliness, and loneliness is better than a bad companion, and the saying of good is better than keeping silent, and silence is better than the saying of evil.

O Abu Tharr, do not make friends except with the faithful. Let no one eat from your food except a pious one, and do not eat from the food of disobeyers.

O Abu Tharr, Feed your food to whom you love for the sake of Allah, and eat from the food of whoever loves you for the sake of Allah.

O Abu Tharr, Allah the Almighty is at the tongue of every sayer, so let man fear Allah and know what he says.

O Abu Tharr, avoid extra speech, and it is sufficient to you the speech by which you get to your need.

O Abu Tharr, it is enough for one as lying that he says all what he hears.

O Abu Tharr, nothing is worthier of being imprisoned than the tongue.

O Abu Tharr, from glorifying Allah is the honoring of an old Muslim, the active appliers of the Qur'an, and a just ruler.

p: 308

O Abu Tharr, he does not do (good deeds) who does not guard his tongue.

O Abu Tharr, do not be a censurer, praiser, defamer, or disputer.

O Abu Tharr, a servant still increase in being far from Allah as long as his morals are bad.

O Abu Tharr, a good word is as charity, and every step that you step towards prayer is charity.

O Abu Tharr, whoever responds to the propagandist of Allah and well maintains the mosques of Allah, his reward from Allah shall be the Paradise.

I said: May my father and mother die for you O messenger of Allah, how are the mosques of Allah maintained?

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

Voices should not be loud in them (the mosques), it should not be argued on falsehood, contracts of selling or buying should not be concluded in them, and you avoid nonsense as along as you are in them. If you do not do, then do not blame except yourself on the Day of Resurrection.

O Abu Tharr, Allah the Almighty gives you, as long as you are sitting in the mosque, for every breath you breathe a degree in the Paradise, and the angels pray for you and record to you for every breath you breathe ten good deeds and removes from you ten bad deeds.

O Abu Tharr, do you know what about this verse (O you who believe, be patient and excel in patience and remain steadfast, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, that you may be successful)[3] has been revealed?

p: 309

I said: I do not know.

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

About the waiting for a prayer after a prayer.

O Abu Tharr, the performing of wudu’ (ablution) at calamities is from penances and the much going to mosques is the bond (with Allah).

O Abu Tharr, Allah, the Blessed, the High, says: the most beloved servants to Me are the loving one another for the sake of Me, whose hearts are attached to mosques, and who seek the forgiveness of Allah in the early dawns; it is they that when I want to punish the people of the earth I remember them and give up My punishment against them.

O Abu Tharr, every sitting in the mosque is nonsense except three; the reciting of a praying one, the remembrance of Allah, or a seeking of knowledge.

O Abu Tharr, be in practicing piety more careful than your care for your deeds, because practicing piety does not decrease in value, and how does a thing that is accepted (by Allah) decrease? Allah the Almighty says, (Allah only accepts from those who guard (against evil)).[4]

O Abu Tharr, one does not be from the pious until he calls himself to account more than a partner when calling his partner to account. Let he know well wherefrom his food, drinks, and clothes are; whether they are well-gotten or ill-gotten?

O Abu Tharr, he who does not care that wherefrom he has obtained wealth, Allah does not care that wherefrom He throws him into fire.

p: 310

O Abu Tharr, let him, he who is pleased to be the most generous one of people, fear Allah.

O Abu Tharr, the most beloved one of you to Allah is the most of you in remembering Him, and the most generous one of you near Allah, glory be to Him, is the most pious one of you, and the most saved one of you from the torment of Allah is the most of you in fearing Him.

O Abu Tharr, the pious are those who fear Allah from something that is not feared from, fearing that they may involve in ambiguity (whether lawful or not).

O Abu Tharr, whoever obeys Allah the Almighty remembers Allah even if his prayer, fasting, and reciting of the Qur'an are little.

O Abu Tharr, the origin of the religion is piety and its head is obedience.

O Abu Tharr, be pious and you shall be the best of worshippers; the best thing in your religion is piety.

O Abu Tharr, the virtue of knowledge is better than the virtue of worshipping. Know that if you offer prayers until you become like bows, and you fast until you become like bowstring, that shall not benefit you except with piety.

O Abu Tharr, the people of piety and abstinence in this life are the real guardians of Allah.

O Abu Tharr, whoever shall not come, on the Day of Resurrection, with three (things) shall be a loser; piety that prevents him from what Allah, glory be to Him, has prohibited, patience by which he repels the ignorance of the fool, and good manners by which he humors people.

p: 311

O Abu Tharr, if you are pleased to be the strongest of people, then rely on Allah, and if you are pleased to be the most generous of people, then fear Allah, and if you are pleased to be the wealthiest of people, then be about what there is in the hands of Allah, glory be to Him, more certain that about what there is in your hands.

O Abu Tharr, if all people follow this verse, it shall be sufficient to them: (and whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah, He will make for him an outlet, and give him sustenance from whence he thinks not; and whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him; surely Allah attains His purpose).[5]

O Abu Tharr, Allah, highly praise be to Him, says: by My honor and glory, My servant does not prefer My desires to his desires except that I make his richness in himself, and (relieve) his griefs in his afterlife, and make the heavens and the earth assure his sustenance, and suffice to him his lose, and I will be (assistant) to him from behind the trading of every trader.

O Abu Tharr, if the son of Adam runs away from his livelihood as he runs away from death, his livelihood shall come to him as death comes to him.

O Abu Tharr, Allah, the Blessed, the High, does not look at your figures or properties, but He looks at your hearts and deeds.

p: 312

O Abu Tharr, piety is here. Piety is here (he pointed to his chest).

O Abu Tharr, there are four things that no one obtains them except a faithful; silence which is the first of worship, humility to Allah, glory be to Him, the remembrance of Allah at any case, and the littleness of properties.

O Abu Tharr, intend to do good deed even if you do not do it, lest you are recorded as one of the unmindful.

O Abu Tharr, beware of backbiting, because backbiting is worse than adultery.

I said: O messenger of Allah, what for?

He said: because one commits adultery and then he repents and Allah accepts his repentance, but backbiting is not forgiven until the one backbitten forgives it.

O Abu Tharr, reviling a Muslim is disobedience, fighting him is disbelief, eating his flesh (backbiting him) is from the disobediences of Allah, and the inviolability of his properties is like the inviolability of his blood.

I said: O messenger of Allah, what is backbiting?

He said: to mention your brother with what he hates.

I said: even if that which is mentioned is available in him?

The Prophet (a.s.) said: know that if you mentioned what there is in him, you backbite him, and when you mention what there is not in him, you fabricate against him.

O Abu Tharr, whoever repels backbiting from his Muslim brother surely Allah, glory be to Him, will save him from the Fire.

p: 313

O Abu Tharr, whoever his Muslim brother is backbitten near him and he is able to repel backbiting from him and he does that, Allah will assist him in this life and in the afterlife, and if he lets him down though he is able to repel backbiting from him, Allah will let him down in this life and in the afterlife.

O Abu Tharr, a talebearer shall not enter the Paradise.

O Abu Tharr, the practiser of talebearing shall not be relieved from the torment of Allah in the afterlife.

O Abu Tharr, he, who has two faces and two tongues (hypocrite) in this life, shall have two tongues in the Fire.

O Abu Tharr, meetings should be (held) with fidelity, and the disclosing of your brother’s secret is betrayal, so avoid that and avoid the meeting of the tribe.

O Abu Tharr, the deeds of the people of this life from Friday to the next Friday are shown to Allah on Monday and Thursday, and every faithful servant shall be forgiven except one who there is between him and his brother enmity. Allah says (to the angels): leave aside the deeds of these two until they make peace with each other.

O Abu Tharr, beware of deserting your brother, because one’s deed is not accepted because of desertion.

O Abu Tharr, I prohibit you from desertion, and if you have to do, then do not desert (your brother) more than three days, and whoever dies during them the Fire shall be worthier of him.

p: 314

O Abu Tharr, whoever likes men to stand for him reverently let him take his seat in the Fire.

O Abu Tharr, whoever dies while there is in his heart inasmuch as a whit of pride shall not find the scent of the Paradise except if he repents before that (death)…pride is that when you give up the truth and overstep it to other than it, and you look at people and see that no one’s honor is like yours and no one’s blood is like yours.

O Abu Tharr, most of those who enter the Fire are the proud.

O Abu Tharr, blessed is he who is humble to Allah the Almighty with no defect, who lowers himself with no misery, spends money that he has collected in no disobedience, is merciful to the needy and the wretched, and associates with the people of jurisprudence and wisdom. Blessed is he whose inward is right, whose outward is good, and who keeps his evil away from people. Blessed is he who works due to his knowledge, spends the extra of his money, and holds back the nonsense of his speech.”[6]

______________________

[1] Qur'an, 17:107-109.

[2] Qur'an, 15:98-99.

[3] Qur'an, 3:200.

[4] Qur'an, 5:27.

[5] Qur'an, 65:2-3.

[6] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 17, p. 74, al-Amali, vol. 2 p. 138.

Abu Tharr said, “O yes, the messenger of Allah.”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Keep (your duty to) Allah and He will keep you. Keep (obedient to) Allah and you shall find Him in front of you. Know Allah at ease and He will know you at distress. If you want to ask, ask Allah the Almighty. If you want assistance, seek the assistance of Allah, for the Pen has recorded what shall take place until the Day of Resurrection. If the whole human beings gather together to benefit you with something that has not been determined for you, they shall not be able to do that.”[1]

______________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 90 p. 424.

I recommend you of the fear of Allah, truthfulness in speaking, fulfillment of covenant, repaying of trusts, avoiding of betrayal, leniency in speech, offering of salutation, dutifulness to neighbors, mercifulness to orphans, good deeds, little wishing, the love of the afterlife, terrifying from Punishment (of the afterlife), keeping to faith, awareness of the Qur'an, suppressing of anger, and being kind.

Beware of reviling a Muslim, obeying a sinner, disobeying a just ruler, denying a truthful one, or believing a liar. Remember your Lord at every tree and rock, and seek repentance for every sin; secretly for secretly and openly for openly.

O Mu’ath, as I see that we shall not meet until the Day of Resurrection; otherwise, I will brief my recommendation, but I see that we shall not meet forever. Then, know, O Mu’ath, that the most beloved one of you to me is he who shall meet me in the same state that he leaves me in.”[1]

______________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 127.

____________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77, p. 129.

_____________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77, p. 136.

The Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “Do not be angry!”

The man asked, “More!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Accept from people what you accept to them from yourself.”

The man said, “More!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Do not revile people that you get enmity from them.”

The man said, “More!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Do not abstain from benevolence near its people (who deserve it).”

The man said, “More!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Endear yourself to people and they shall love you. Meet your brother with a smiling face. Do not be weary that your weariness may deprive you of this life and the afterlife. Wrap yourself (with loincloth) to the middle of the leg, and beware of loosing the loincloth and the shirt, for that is from pride and Allah does not like pride.”[2]

_____________________

[1] Qur'an, 12:108.

[2] Tuhaf al-Uqool, p. 41-42.

___________________

[1] Qur'an, 22:60.

[2] Qur'an, 10:23.

[3] Qur'an, 35:43.

[4] Tuhaf al-Uqool, p. 35.

The Prophet (a.s.) said to some other man asking for advice, “Keep to the despair of what there is in people’s hands because it is the lasting wealth.”

The man said, “O messenger of Allah, advise me more!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Beware of greediness, because it is the lasting poverty.”

The man said, “O messenger of Allah, advise me more!”

The Prophet (a.s.) said, “If you intend to do something, think deeply about its end; if it is good and reasonable, then you follow it, and if it is error, you give it up.”

Abu Tharr narrated that the messenger of Allah (a.s.) advised some man by saying to him,

“Decrease pleasures and then poverty shall be easy to you, and decrease sins and death shall be easy to you. Advance your wealth before you (spend it in good ways) and you shall be pleased to follow it. Be satisfied with what you have been given and your judgment (on the Day of Resurrection) shall be light to you. Do not busy yourself away from what has been obligated on you with what has been assured to you, because you shall not miss what has been determined for you, and you shall not obtain what has been kept away from you, so do not strive for what has already been determined, and strive for a property that shall not disappear in an abode that shall not be left to another place.”[3]

The Prophet (a.s.) recommended Muslims about women saying, “Allah the Almighty recommend you to be kind to women, for they are your mothers, daughters, and aunts.”[4]

p: 322

He also said, “Fear Allah concerning women, because they are as captives near you.”[5]

He said, “The best of you are the best to their women.”[6]

He said, “The best of you is the best to his wife, and I am the best of you to my wife. No one honors women except that he is generous, and no one insults them except that he is mean.”[7]

The Prophet (a.s.) gave a general recommendation for all Muslims saying,

“I recommend the present of my nation and the absent of them, and those that are in men’s backs and women’s wombs until the Day of Resurrection to maintain kinship even if (one of their relatives is) at (a distance of) a journey of one year, because this is from the religion.”[8]

He said, “I recommend you of the Book of Allah and my progeny, for I have asked Allah the Almighty not to separate between them until they would come to me at the pond (in the Paradise), and He has granted me that.”[9]

___________________

[1] Tuhaf al-Uqool, p. 47.

[2] Ibid, p. 56.

[3] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 187.

[4] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 16 p. 374.

[5] Musnad of Ahmed bin Hanbal, vol. 5 p. 73, Da’a’im (pillars of) al-Islam, vol. 2 p. 214.

[6] Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 1 p. 636.

[7] Kanzol Ummal, vol. 16 p. 408.

[8] Usool al-Kafi, vol. 2 p. 158.

[6] Ibid., vol. 1 p. 347.

p: 323

Blessed is he from among the believers who gains money with no disobedience and spends it in no disobedience and benefits by it the people of wretchedness, and who keeps away from the people of haughtiness, pride, and the wish for this life, who originate heresies unlike my Sunna, and follow other than my conduct.

Blessed is he who betters his manners with people, offers to them his assistance, and keeps them safe from his evil.”[1]

__________________

[1] Tuhaf al-Uqool, p. 29-30.

____________________

[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77 p. 117.

The Prophet (a.s.) said:

“O people, you have terms so regard your terms, and you have ends, so regard your ends. A believer is between two fears; an end that has been predetermined and he (the believer) does not know what Allah will do to him, and a term remaining that he does not know what Allah will judge on it. So, let a servant take from himself to himself, and from his life to his afterlife, and from youth before old age, and from life before death. By Him in Whose hand the soul of Muhammad is, there shall be no conciliation, and there shall be no abode after this life except the Paradise or the Fire.”[1]

______________________

[1] Tuhaf al-Uqool., p. 40.

______________________

[1] At-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 1., p. 38.

Blessed is he whose defects have busied him away from the defects of people, and who spends from wealth that he has obtained from no disobedience, who have been kind to people of neediness and wretchedness, and who associates with the people of jurisprudence and wisdom.

Blessed is he who humiliates himself, betters his morality, repairs his inward, and keeps his evil away from people.

Blessed is he who works due to his knowledge, spends the extra of his property, holds back the nonsense of his speech, whom the Sunna has included him and he does not exceed it to heresy.”[1]

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[1] At-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 1.

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[1] At-Tathkirah al-Hamduniyyah, vol. 1 p. 52.

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[1] Tuhaf al-Uqool, p. 59.

Then the Prophet (a.s.) said:

“By Him in Whose hand my soul is, if they see his (the Angel of Death) place or hear his speech, they shall be distracted from their dead one, and shall weep for themselves; until when the dead is carried on his coffin and his soul waving over the coffin calling: O my family and children, let this life not play with you as it has played with me. I have collected it (wealth) lawfully and unlawfully and left it to other than me who shall enjoy it whereas its sin and burden shall be on me. So beware of like what has come down!”[1]

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[1] Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 77, p. 188-189.

By Allah, you surely shall die as you sleep, shall be resurrected as you wake up, shall be called to account for what you do; shall be rewarded with good for good (doing) and with bad for bad (doing), and it shall be the Paradise forever or the Hell forever.”[1]

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[1] As-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 1 p. 272, al-Kamil fee at-Tareekh, vol. 2 p. 27.

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[1] As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 1 p. 300, Jamharat Khutab al-Arab, vol. 1 p. 55.

Fear Allah in the immediate and the delayed affairs (this life and the afterlife) of yours in secrecy and openness, because whoever fears Allah, Allah expiates his bad deeds and gives him a great reward, and whoever fears Allah shall win a great success. Surely, the fear of Allah keeps (one) safe from His detestation, safe from His punishment, and safe from His wrath. The fear of Allah honors faces, pleases the Lord, and elevates degrees. Do your best and not waste in your duty to Allah. Allah has taught you His book and clarified to you His way that He may know those who are truthful and know the liars; so do good as Allah has done good to you, show enmity to His enemies, and strive hard in the way of Allah, such a striving as is due to Him. He has chosen you and named you Muslims that he who would perish might perish by clear proof, and he who would live might live by clear proof, and there is no power save in Allah. Remember Allah too much and work for what is after today, for whoever repairs what is between him and Allah, Allah suffices him against what is between him and people that is because Allah judges on people and they do not judge on Him, and He has power on people and they do not have power on Him. Allah is great, and there is no power save in Allah the Great.”[2]

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[1] Qur'an, 50:29.

p: 335

[2] Tareekh at-Tabari, vol. 2 p. 115.

“It has not remained from this life as to what had elapsed, except like what has remained from this day as to what had elapsed (from it).”[1]

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[1]I’jaz al-Qur'an, vol. 5, p. 113.