• 6.1 Abū Tālib Dies
• 6.2 Khadījah Passes Away
• 6.3 Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj
  • 6.3.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Flies on Al-Burāq
  • 6.3.2 Rasūlullāhﷺ Visits Seven Heavens
  • 6.3.3 Rasūlullāhﷺ Tells the People of Quraish of his Journey
• 6.4 Lessons from Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj
  • 6.4.1 Opening of the Chest of Muhammadﷺ
  • 6.4.2 Conversation of Rasūlullāhﷺ with Mūsā
  • 6.4.3 Importance of Salāh
  • 6.4.4 Importance of the Holy Land – Jerusalem and its Surroundings
  • 6.4.5 With Difficulty Comes Ease
  • 6.4.6 The Position of Abū Bakr
• 6.5 Journey to At-Tā’if
  • 6.5.1 Lessons from the Journey of Rasūlullāhﷺ to At-Tā’if
  • 6.5.2 Jinn Listen to Qur’ān
  • 6.5.3 The Return to Makkah from At-Tā’if
• 6.6 In Search of a Base
  • 6.6.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Visits Camps of the Arabs
  • 6.6.2 Banū Kindah, Banū ‘Abdillāh, Banū Hanīfah all Reject Rasūlullāhﷺ
  • 6.6.3 Banū ‘Āmir Bin Sa’sa‘ah
  • 6.6.4 Abū Bakr’s Expertise in Genealogy
  • 6.6.5 Banū Shaibān
• 6.7 Al-Ansār
  • 6.7.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Invites Al-Khazraj to Islām
  • 6.7.2 Al-Ansār Accept Islām and Pledge Allegiance to the Messenger of Allāhﷺ
  • 6.7.3 Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair Appointed to Teach People of Madīnah Islām
  • 6.7.4 The Islām of Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh and Usaid Bin Khudair – A Huge Breakthrough

6.1 Abū Tālib Dies

A few months after the end of the embargo, about six months later, the man who has supported the Messenger of Allāhﷺ was now on his deathbed leaving this world. Abū Tālib was dying and Muhammadﷺ was on his side, and the Messenger of Allāhﷺ told his uncle, “Yā ‘Amm – O Uncle, say Lā Ilāha Illallāh. Say that there is no God but Allāh. Give me this word so that I can witness for you on the Day of Judgement. Give me something in my hand so that I could argue on your behalf on the Day of Judgment. All what I want from you is to say Lā Ilāha Illallāh.” Sitting on the other side was who? Abū Jahl. Subhān’Allāh, it is amazing, wherever you go in Seerah you would find this man in front of you causing problems, leading in evil; wherever you go in Seerah you will have Abū Jahl standing there right in front of you. He was relentless in his efforts to fight Rasūlullāhﷺ, he did not give up until the last moment. Abū Jahl and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Abī Umayyah were sitting on the other side. Abū Jahl interjected and said, “O Abū Tālib, are you going to die on a religion other than the religion of ‘Abdul Muttalib? Are you going to denounce the religion of your father?” Rasūlullāhﷺ repeated again, “O my uncle, say Lā Ilāha Illallāh,” and Abū Jahl continued interrupting. And then it went on until Abū Tālib pronounced his last words, he said, “Bal ‘Alā Millat ‘Abdul Muttalib – I am dying on the religion of my father ‘Abdul Muttalib.” Those were his last words. This narration by the way that I mentioned to you is in Al-Bukhārī, there is another narration in Al-Muslim, but let us first finish this narration in Al-Bukhārī. So Abū Tālib passed away. The Messenger of Allāh said, “I am going to continue asking Allāh to forgive him unless I am forbidden from doing so. I am going to keep on asking Allāh to forgive my uncle.”

You know, that was a very, very difficult moment on Rasūlullāhﷺ. Remember, Abū Tālib was the one who raised up Muhammadﷺ , he sponsored him, he took care of him at the age of eight, so he was the one caring for him in his childhood, and then he was the one who stood beside him in his adulthood. And Abū Tālib was supporting, defending, protecting Muhammadﷺ for over 42 years; it started at the age of eight, and it went on until Rasūlullāhﷺ was at the age of 50. So we can say that Abū Tālib has given most of his life, spent most of his time, in defence of Muhammadﷺ. So it was an extremely difficult time for Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, to see that his dear uncle is dying as a Disbeliever. So Muhammadﷺ said I am going to ask Allāh to forgive him, and he asked Allāh to forgive him until Allāh revealed the verse: It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the Polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are Companions of Hellfire. At-Tawbah: 113 It is not allowed for youto seek forgiveness for somebody who died on Disbelief. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was forbidden from doing that.

In this narration by Muslim, Rasūlullāhﷺ was telling his uncle to say Lā Ilāha Illallāh, his uncle responded by saying, “If it were not for Quraish insulting me and saying that it was only fear of death that made me say it, I would do so and please you.” Abū Tālib knew that it would please Muhammadﷺ, he knew how much it would hurt the Messenger of Allāh to know that his uncle died as a Disbeliever. So Abū Tālib, Subhān’Allāh, he was even sympathetic to Muhammadﷺ in this case, he said I would have said it just to please you, but I do not want the news to get out to the people of Quraish that I did it out of fear of dying. It was a matter of honour and dignity for him not to say it, and that is when Allāh  revealed the verse: Indeed, [O Muhammad], you do not guide whom you like, but Allāh guides whom He wills.
Al-Qasas: 56

Soguidance is not in the hand of anyone except Allāh  . Even with the Prophet of Allāh, his mission is to convey the Message and not to convert; converting the heart of a person is in the Hands of Allāh, not in the hands of people. And therefore in Islām, coercion in Faith is not allowed – Lā Ikrāha Fiddīn – There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the ReligionAl-Baqarah: 256

 –Because this is something beyond our ability; you cannot coerce something on a heart of a person. So it should be a matter of choice by people; they have the freedom to choose their faith, and that is how they would be held accountable in front of Allāh , it is because [of] that freedom that they have.

6.2 Khadījah  Passes Away

So now Rasūlullāhﷺ is dealing with this tragic event that happened to him. Two months later, Khadījah  died. Rasūlullāhﷺ is still dealing with the death of his uncle and here his dear wife, the most beloved person to him, passes away. This year was called ‘Āmil Huzn – The Year of Sorrow, and this was the tenth year after Rasūlullāhﷺ received Revelation. It was the most tragic time on Muhammadﷺ because he lost two of the most influential persons in supporting his Message; Khadījah  who offered Rasūlullāhﷺ with psychological support in addition to financial support due to her business, and Abū Tālib who offered Muhammadﷺ with physical support. So suddenly these two pillars which he was standing on collapsed. So this year is not called the Year of Tragedy [or] the Year of Sorrow just because Rasūlullāhﷺ lost two dear people, but also because it was such a setback to the preaching of the Message. Rasūlullāhﷺ, who had freedom in going around preaching the Message, was now being blocked because his uncle passed away, and Rasūlullāhﷺ, who would go home to find comfort with his wife Khadījah, would now go home and find no one; Rasūlullāhﷺ remained for about two or three years unmarried. So it was a very difficult time for Muhammadﷺ.

Some scholars would say that there was wisdom in this happening at the same time, and that was to increase the dependence of Muslims on Allāh. So rather than the Message being protected by Abū Tālib and supported by Khadījah, now there would be more reliance on Allāh  because there was no one else; no one around Rasūlullāhﷺ to give him that same support. So this would increase the Tawwakul – the trust, the Muslims have in Allāh ; this is a comment that was given by some of the scholars. Allāh  revealed a Sūrah called Al-Inshirāh, and in that Sūrah it says: Inna Ma‘al ‘Usri Yusrā – For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. Al-Inshirāh: 6

Rasūlullāhﷺ went through his most tragic time in his life, so it was followed with one of the best blessings given to him by Allāh. Because of the size of the calamity, the bounty that followed it was great.

6.3 Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj

6.3.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Flies on Al-Burāq

Rasūlullāhﷺ narrates – and this Hadīth is in Bukhārī; similar narrations are in Muslim and Musnad Al-Imām Ahmad, in most of the books of Hadīth these narrations exist – Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “While I was in Al- Hatīm or Al- Hijr,” and this is the semi-circle area close to Al-Ka’bah which is part of the original building of Al-Ka’bah, Rasūlullāhﷺ says he was there at night, the Messenger of Allāh said, “I received a visitor, an angel, who came and opened my abdomen and pulled out my heart. And then my heart was placed in a golden basin filled with Faith – Īmān. And my heart was placed in it and washed, and then stuffed and replaced. And then I was presented an animal smaller than a horse, larger than a donkey.” Anas Ibn Mālik was narrating this Hadīth and his student, one of At-Tābi‘īn, Al-Jārūth, asked Anas Ibn Mālik, “Is this animal Al-Burāq?” Anas Ibn Mālik said, “Yes.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “This animal would take a stride as far as it can see.” So the Messenger of Allāhﷺ is trying to describe to us the speed of this animal, and Rasūlullāhﷺ described it as [such] that this animal would place its hoofs at the extent of its side, it would take a stride as far as it can see. With one leap, it would wrap the distance equivalent to the distance it could see or look forward. So it was an extremely fast beast, very fast, swift; you just see the earth wrapping in front of you. [Rasūlullāhﷺ continues,] “Jibrīl told me to mount this animal and then he would guide me.” Rasūlullāhﷺ says in another Hadīth, and this Hadīth is in Al-Muslim, this portion was not mentioned in the Hadīth of Al-Bukhārī; you have bits and pieces of Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj mentioned in different Ahādīth, in Muslim Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “Jibrīl took me to Jerusalem and I tied my mount at the gates of the masjid, and then I entered and prayed two Rak‘ah.” And it states that Rasūlullāhﷺ was an Imām and the people who were following him were the Prophets.

6.3.2 Rasūlullāhﷺ Visits Seven Heavens

Rasūlullāhﷺ Meets Ādam : And then Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I was led by Jibrīl up in the heavens. We made it all the way to the gates of the nearest heaven. Jibrīl knocked on the gates, so the gatekeepers asked, ‘Who is it?’ Jibrīl said, ‘It is Jibrīl.’ ‘And who is with you?’ ‘Muhammad.’ ‘Was he given his mission?’ Jibrīl said, ‘Yes.’ They responded by saying, ‘He is welcome, and his arrival is a pleasure!’ And they opened the gates.” So you can see that no one can make it through unless they have permission, they have clearance. Jibrīl, being the Angel of Allāh who is going up and down the heavens with Al-Wahī, told them I am Jibrīl; so you can go through. Who is with you? Muhammadﷺ. Was he already given the mission? So they did not know yet that Muhammadﷺ was already a Prophet; when they were informed, immediately they opened the gates and said, ‘He is welcome, and his arrival is a pleasure!’ We are happy that he is here. They opened the gates and Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I went in, and I found therein my father Ādam .” The Messenger of Allāh said, “Jibrīl introduced me to Ādam and said, ‘This is your father Ādam, greet him.’ So I said, ‘Assalāmu ‘Alaikum’. Ādam saluted me in return and said, ‘Wa ‘Alaikumus-Salām.’ And then Ādam  said, ‘Welcome to my pure son, welcome to the pure Prophet.’”

When I think of this meeting, I try to imagine the pleasure and happiness that both the Prophets had. You know, imagine Ādam  is meeting the brightest and greatest of his children, Muhammadﷺ, he is meeting him for the first time. After thousands of years, now Ādam  has a chance to meet his greatest son. And imagine the surprise of Muhammadﷺ to meet his father Ādam, imagine you have Ādam in front of you and you are greeting him; it must have been such a pleasurable moment, and they might have wished to sit down together and have a conversation, but remember that Muhammadﷺ in this journey is on a tight schedule, he has a lot waiting ahead of him.

Rasūlullāhﷺ Meets ‘Īsā, Yahyā, Yūsuf, Idrīs, Hārūn and Mūsā :  So Jibrīl carried Muhammadﷺ and they went up to the gates of the second heaven. They knocked [on the gates and] same thing, they were asked [who it was. He said,] “Jibrīl,” “Who is with you?” “Muhammadﷺ,” “Is he a Nabï? Has he been given Ar-Risālah?” They opened the gates [and] Muhammadﷺ says, “I went in and I met Jesus and John,” the two cousins, ‘Īsā and Yahyā. Yahyā is referred to in the Christian literature as John the Baptist. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “And I exchanged greetings with them.” And what are the greetings of Islām and the Ambiyā’? Assalāmu ‘Alaikum – Peace be upon you; that is the greeting. “And then we moved ahead to the third heaven, knocked on the gates, went through, and I met with Joseph, Yūsuf .” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Wa Idhā Bihī Ūtiya Shatral Husn –He has been given half of beauty.” Soif you had a big block of beauty, half of it was with Yūsuf . “We made it to the fourth heaven, went through, and I met with Idrīs  .” And Allāh  says [about him]: Wa Rafa’nāhu Makānan ‘Aliyyā – And We raised him to a high station. Maryam: 57 – He was in the fourth heaven.

[Rasūlullāhﷺ continues,] “We went to the fifth heaven, and therein I met with Hārūn – Aaron, peace be upon him. And then I went to the sixth heaven, and I met Mūsā .” And his meeting with Mūsā was an eventful meeting. Subhān’Allāh, always Mūsā is surrounded with important events. One of the scholars said, “Qur’ān was almost going to be the story of Mūsā.” He is mentioned so frequently therein, and his personality is so outstanding. Whenever the name of Mūsā  is mentioned, there is something important that is going to happen. After they greeted each other and Mūsā welcomed Muhammadﷺ, Mūsā started to weep. When he was asked, “How come you are weeping?” He said, “A young man was given Prophethood after me and he will have more of his followers entering Paradise than mine.” Up until that moment, Mūsā had the largest following of any Prophet; the Children of Israel were the largest Believing nation up until that point, but now there was a new world record by the Ummah of Muhammadﷺ. So Mūsā wept, he cried. And you can see that there is competition between the Prophets, peace be upon them all, but you will notice that it is not a competition of jealousy and envy, it is a compassionate competition, and you will see that in the upcoming conversation between Muhammadﷺ and Mūsā .

Ibrāhīm  and Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr :  Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “And I moved up to the seventh heaven and I went in and I met my father Ibrāhīm  and I exchanged Salām with him. And then I was presented with Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr.” And in one narration it states that Ibrāhīm actually had his back kneeling towards Al -Bait Al-Ma’mūr. What is Al- Bait Al-Ma’mūr? Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr has been mentioned in Qur’ān: By the mount. And [by] a Book inscribed. In parchment spread open. And [by] the frequented House. At-Tūr: 1-4

 Allāh is making an oath in the Established House – Al-Bait Al -Ma’mūr. Al- Bait Al-Ma’mūr to the creation of the heavens is equivalent to Al-Ka’bah to us. Just as we make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah, and it is the first House on Earth established for the worship of Allāh, the same thing is to be said about Al- Bait Al-Ma’mūr. So you as Muslims will visit Al-Ka’bah; angels will visit Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr. Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “Al-Bait Al- Ma’mūr is visited by 70,000 angels every day and they never come back to it again.” Do you understand the implications of that? When Rasūlullāhﷺ says that every day a new group of 70,000 angels would visit the Established House, how many angels are there? If on a daily basis you have 70,000 angels visiting it, and they never come back again, how many angels are there? And for how long has this been going on? For how many thousands or millions or billions of years? So you multiply all of those days by 70,000; how many angels are there? It puts us human beings to shame.

We are saying that we have overpopulation on the earth [with] six billion of us; who are we compared to the world of the angels, this massive creation? Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “The heavens above you are moaning, and they are justified to moan, because on every space equivalent to the size of four fingers, there is an angel bowing down in Rukū’ or prostrating in Sujūd, worshipping Allāh .” All over the heavens above us, every position, every area or volume equivalent to the size of four fingers, is occupied by an angel worshipping Allāh, so this is a vast, huge creation that makes us, the world of the human being, seem insignificant. And by the way, in the narration that states that Ibrāhīm  was kneeling towards Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr, it is symbolic to have Ibrāhīm  in that position after he passed away, sitting next to Al-Bait Al -Ma’mūr, because he was the one who built Al-Ka’bah on Earth. So when Allāh took his soul away, Allāh  had him rest next to Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr, the House of the Angels.

Sidrat Al-Muntahā :  And then Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I saw Sidrat Al-Muntahā, I travelled further and I reached Sidrat Al-Muntahā.” Sidrat Al-Muntahā is a lote tree, it is a tree, but it is Al-Muntahā. Al-Muntahā is the end, so it is the end of the heavens. Beyond that, you get into the world of the Afterlife; you have Paradise, you have the Throne of Allāh, you have Al-Kursī, so Sidrat Al-Muntahā is the end of this universe created by Allāhﷺ. You have seven heavens, one over the other, and then after that you have Sidrat Al-Muntahā, and then you get beyond that into a different world. So Rasūlullāhﷺ reached to that Sidrah, and Rasūlullāh saw four rivers emanating from it, and he asked Jibrīl, “What are these rivers?” So he was told, “Two of them are apparent and two of them are hidden. The apparent ones are the Nile and Euphrates, and the hidden ones are the two rivers of Paradise.” What it means by the Nile and the Euphrates is that because these rivers are so blessed in this world, there is an equivalent of them up there, and that tree is so close to Paradise that you have two rivers of Paradise passing from under it. So again, you have the seven heavens one over another, and then after that you have Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr which is in the seventh heaven, and then after that you have Sidrat Al-Muntahā, and then beyond that you get into the world of Paradise and the Throne of Allāh .

Now, in terms of size, the lowest heaven which we are in, compared to the heaven above it, is like a ring in a desert, and the second compared to the third is like a ring in a desert, and the third to the fourth is like a ring in a desert, and on and on [it goes] until we get to the sixth [which] compared to the seventh is like a ring in a desert, and then the seventh heaven compared to the Kursī of Allāh, is like a ring in a desert. Now, this lowest heaven that we are living in, in terms of size, we do not even know how vast it is. All of the known universe today is within the lowest heaven, because Allāh  says: Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars. As-Saffāt: 6

 Soall of the stars are located within the lowest heaven, and we have not even been able to reach to the end of the creation of the stars; every now and then we are discovering new galaxies and new clusters and new stars. So it is a vast creation, and Rasūlullāhﷺ had a chance to go through all of it on that amazing journey.

Allāh  Prescribes Prayers on Muhammadﷺ :  After Rasūlullāhﷺ passed the Sidrat Al-Muntahā, this tree, he went further up and he made it all the way until he met with Allāh  , and that was the culmination of this trip; he reaches to the heights and he speaks to Allāh , directly. Allāh  prescribed Muhammadﷺ 50 daily Prayers. Rasūlullāhﷺ said “I descended, and on my way back I passed by Moses, Mūsā , who asked me, ‘What did Allāh tell you?’” He said, “Allāh has prescribed 50 daily Prayers on my nation.” Mūsā  said, “Your people will not be able to handle that. I have tested people before you and I have experienced the Children of Israel for a very long time, go back to your Lord and tell Him to reduce it.” Tell Him to relieve you. Muhammadﷺ followed this senior advice and he went back to Allāh  and told Him, “Relieve me of some of the Prayers.” Allāh  reduced them by 10. Muhammadﷺ went down.
Mūsā asked, “What happened?” Rasūlullāh told him. He said, “Go back. Ask Allāh to give you a further reduction.” He went back again; 10 were reduced. He came down, [Mūsā asked,] “What happened?” [He said,] “Allāh reduced it to 30.” [He said,] “Go back again.” Muhammadﷺ goes back another time; they were reduced from 30 to 20. Mūsā tells him, “Go back again.” They were reduced from 20 to 10; Mūsā told Muhammadﷺ, “Go back another time.” Muhammadﷺ goes back; it was reduced to five. He goes down, reports it to Mūsā, Mūsāﷺ says, “O Muhammad, I have experience with people, I have dealt with the children of Israel, your nation will not be able to handle it. Go back and tell Allāh to reduce them further.” Muhammadﷺ said “I am so ashamed to go back to Allāh and ask Him for a further reduction, I cannot.”

So you can see the difference between the personality of Muhammadﷺ and Mūsā. Mūsā would not have minded arguing with Allāh further, Mūsā  was the one who asked Allāh , “I want to see you.” Allāh  had already given Mūsā the favour of speaking to Him, [but] Mūsā wanted more, “Allāh, I want to see you.” And then obviously we know what happened; he collapsed. Mūsā  is the one who punched the Angel of Death and knocked his eye out. So Mūsā  was a very strong man and that was his personality, and Subhān’Allāh, the Ambiyā’ of Allāh are all the same in their Da’wah but their personalities are different. So Muhammadﷺ did not go back, and he heard a voice saying, “This is the prescription on you; five daily prayers, but you will receive the reward of 50.”

6.3.3 Rasūlullāhﷺ Tells the People of Quraish of his Journey

Rasūlullāhﷺ made it back to Dunyā on the same night. Rasūlullāhﷺ went to Umm Ayman and he told her about what happened, he said “I have been to Jerusalem and back in this night.” She said, “O Messenger of Allāh, do not tell anyone about that.” Nobody will believe it, it is impossible. Now, Umm Ayman believed it, but she said that people will not, the Kuffār of Quraish will not. The journey towards Jerusalem used to take one month; Rasūlullāhﷺ made it within one night, not only to Jerusalem but to Jerusalem and back, and he also went all the way to meet with Allāh . Umm Ayman  told him, “Do not tell your people about it.” Rasūlullāh said “I will. I will convey the Message regardless of what the people will say; it is part of my mission. I will tell them what happened.” [Allāh says:] “Fa-In Tawallaw Fa-Innamā ‘Alaikal Balāghul Mubīn – But if they turn away, [O Muhammad] – then only upon you is [responsibility for] clear notification.” An-Nahl: 82  Your responsibility is to convey. Rasūlullāhﷺ obviously realised the weight of this news and how difficult it will be, so he went out and was quiet and somber.

He started to speak to some people, and the news reached to Abū Jahl. Now, Rasūlullāhﷺ was sitting in the Masjid, quiet and worried about the consequences of this news. So Abū Jahl heard about it, he came to Muhammadﷺ and said, “O Muhammad, anything new?” Muhammad said, “Yes.” Abū Jahl said, “What?” Muhammadﷺ said “This night, I  visited  Jerusalem  and  came  back.”  Abū  Jahl  said,  “Jerusalem?” Muhammadﷺ said, “Yes.” Abū Jahl said, “O Muhammad, if I would call your people right now and bring them here, would you tell them the same thing you just told me now?” Muhammadﷺ said “Yes, I would.” Abū Jahl, happy and pleased, went running calling [the] people of Quraish, “O people of Quraish! Come forward!” And he gathered them and he brought them forth, and when they were all present, he told Muhammadﷺ, “O Muhammad, can you please tell your people what you just told me a moment ago?” Muhammadﷺ, without any hesitation said, “I have been to Jerusalem and back the previous night.” The narrator of the Hadīth says people started clapping, whistling, laughing; they made a big joke out of it. Imagine the crowds clapping, whistling, laughing, and they were falling on each other. So some of the seasoned travellers among them who knew Jerusalem and had been there asked Muhammadﷺ to describe the Mosque, “Describe Jerusalem to us.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I started describing, but then I became vexed.”

Rasūlullāhﷺ did not spend a long time there to remember every single detail of the place, but then Muhammad said, “Allāh showed me the Mosque of Jerusalem right in front of my eyes and I described it stone by stone, brick by brick.” And they said that he has given an accurate, excellent description. But then there was something else that was mentioned in another narration by Ibn Is’hāq. When Muhammadﷺ was on his way back from Jerusalem to Makkah, he passed by a caravan belonging to the people of Quraish at night, and they had lost a camel of theirs, and because Rasūlullāhﷺ was up in the air, he was able to see it. So he called them and said, “Your camel is in this place.” Now, they did not know where the voice was coming from. And then he drank some of their water and he also remembered the description of this caravan. He went back to Quraish and he told the people, “And other signs are that this caravan belonging to you, they lost a camel and I gave them directions to it, and you can ask them about it. And also, I drank some of their water in such and such container, and the caravan is headed by a camel…” and he described the camel [and] described the load on the camel.

So they immediately sent out somebody to go and meet the caravan before it comes into Makkah; it was still some distance away, and the person found the description to be accurate, and that they did lose a camel and they found it because they a heard a voice coming from the sky, and also that they missed some of their water. And these were all signs that were given to them, but that was not sufficient for them to believe. Now, the story of Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj was so difficult for some to handle, it caused some of the weak Muslims to apostatise, it was such a difficult thing for them to grasp. But that is the case with these amazing miracles that Allāh  would show his Ambiyā’.

6.4 Lessons from Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj

6.4.1 Opening of the Chest of Muhammadﷺ :

Number One: The event of opening the chest of Muhammadﷺ has occurred more than once; it occurred once when he was with Halīmah Sa’diyah when he was a child, and it occurred another time in the journey of Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj. By the way, the meaning of Al-Isrā’ Wal- Mi’rāj; Isrā’ means travelling at night, the meaning of Mi’rāj is ascending. Isrā’ is the journey of Rasūlullāhﷺ from Makkah to Jerusalem, Al-Mi’rāj is the journey from Jerusalem to the heavens. So the event of opening of the chest of Rasūlullāhﷺ happened more than once, and these are two incidences when it happened, and it could have happened again in addition to these two occurences.

6.4.2 Conversation of Rasūlullāhﷺ with Mūsā : 

Number Two: The conversation of Rasūlullāhﷺ with Mūsā  . When Allāh prescribed 50 daily Prayers on Muhammadﷺ, Muhammadﷺ accepted it, but when he went down and met Mūsā , Mūsā told him, “Your nation will not be able to handle it.” So Mūsā is speaking out of experience, and that is the value of experience. Sometimes knowledge does not suffice; you have to have in addition to knowledge experience. Mūsā told Muhammadﷺ, ‘I have more experience than you in dealing with the people; you are new in this, I have spent my whole life dealing with themost difficult people, Banī Isrā’īl. Believe me, they will not be able to handle it, go back and ask for a reduction.’ Mūsā himself learned this; [he] learned that experience is different than knowledge. When Mūsā went to meet with Allāh  in the journey of the 40 Days, Allāh told Mūsā that in your absence your people have worshipped the calf:

“And what made you hasten from your people, O Moses?” He said, “They are close upon my tracks, and I hastened to You, my Lord, that You be pleased.” [Allāh] said, “But indeed, We have tried your people after you [departed], and the Sāmirï has led them astray.” Tā-Hā: 83-85

Allāh  said that your people have gone astray and they deviated due to the Sāmirï, and he made for them a calf out of gold, so Allāh told Mūsā  everything that happened. Mūsā  just received from Allāh the 10 Tablets, right? 10 Tablets – Al-Alwāh, so Mūsā had the Tablets in his hands, and he was told by Allāh that your people have deviated, so Mūsā already knew. When Mūsā went back and he saw his people worshipping the Calf, what did Mūsā do? He threw the Tablets from his hand. Mūsā  already knew that; how come his response was different when he saw it compared to when he heard it? Because seeing something is not like hearing it. When Allāh told him that your people have deviated, Mūsā had the Tablets in his hand and nothing happened, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he threw the Tablets, it was a surprise for him. Laysal Khabaru Kal Mu‘āyanah – when you see something [it] is different than hearing it. Mūsā  is telling Muhammadﷺ that I have dealt with the people, I have had first-hand knowledge; your people cannot handle this, it is too much. And he kept on asking for reduction, and when it was reduced to five, Mūsā  told Muhammadﷺ [that] even five is too much for them, and Subhān’Allāh Mūsā was right, Mūsā  was right. How many Muslims [there are who] do not even pray the five daily Prayers? How many of them lapse and would pray some and miss others? But may Allāh reward Mūsā for making it easy on us, at least it was reduced to five, if it would have been 50 imagine how difficult it would have been. We are barely doing the five, what would be the situation if we had to do 50? So we owe it to Mūsā  and we need to thank him immensely for that.

When I said that the competition between the Ambiyā’ is a compassionate competition; Mūsā , even though he wept when he knew that Muhammad has a larger following than his, that did not hold him back from giving his advice, his valuable advice. So you can see how eager Mūsā was to help us, and how eager Mūsā was to give his advice to Muhammadﷺ, so they loved each other, the Ambiyā’ loved each other, so their competition was a competition of love of each other. Mūsā  kept on insisting and telling Muhammadﷺ, “Go back and ask for reduction.” And when Mūsā said that he [Muahmmadﷺ] has more people entering Jannah compared to me, I think we have already touched upon the visions that Rasūlullāhﷺ had of the Day of Judgement, seeing the different nations of the Prophets. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Some Prophets have 10 followers, some have five followers, I have seen a Prophet with two followers, I have seen a Prophet with one follower, and I have seen Prophets with no followers at all.” Imagine a Prophet coming on the Day of Judgement alone, they spent their whole life in Da’wah; no one responded, nobody. And then when he saw a huge nation he thought it was his followers, but then it turned out to be the followers of Mūsā, so that is the greatest Ummah after the Ummah of Muhammadﷺ.

6.4.3 Importance of Salāh :

The Third Lesson: The Importance of Salāh. There is no command – none whatsoever – that was prescribed on us in the heavens, except Salāh. Every other ‘Ibādah, every other ritual that we have, was prescribed on Earth; Jibrīl would reveal to Muhammadﷺ the Revelation on Earth, with the exception of Salāh, it was reserved to be given to Muhammadﷺ in this special one to one meeting between Allāh and Muhammadﷺ. Salāh is so important that Allāh  prescribed it in a direct conversation between Him and His Messenger Muhammadﷺ without anyone in between, everything else was a Revelation through Jibrīl with the exception of Salāh. That is to show you how important Salāh is, not only to Muhammadﷺ, [but] even when Allāh prescribed Salāh on the people of Banī Isrā’īl, Allāh  prescribed Salāh on Mūsā in the direct conversation that happened between Allāh and Mūsā in At-Tūr. In the Āyāt in Sūrah Tā-Hā, [Allāh says:]

Indeed, I am Allāh. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish Prayer for My remembrance. Tā-Hā: 14

And that was the moment in which Mūsā became a Prophet, so he was given the command of Prayer immediately when he became a Prophet. He was told first Lā Ilāha Illallāh, and then second, to pray, and that was when Mūsā was at the age of 40 and he received Revelation from Allāh, when Allāh spoke to him directly. So that is the value of Salāh. Salāh is the ‘Ibādah in which Rasūlullāhﷺ said [that] if the Muslim does not do it they have left Islām; Bainal ‘Abd Wal Kufri Wash-Shirk Tarkus-Salāh –Rasūlullāhﷺ said between a person and becoming a Disbeliever is discontinuing Prayers,” (Narrated by Muslim in Kitāb Al-Īmān ) [meaning] not praying. So that is how important Salāh is. Not only is praying important but even playing around with the time and not praying within the interval of time is a major sin. [There is] the Āyah that says:

But there came after them successors who neglected Prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil. Maryam: 59

Allāh promised Hellfire to who? Tothe ones who have lost their Prayers. Ibn Mas‘ūd gives an interpretation to this Āyah, he says losing their Prayers does not mean they do not pray, but it means they prayed passed time. It is the opinion of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb that if a person misses one Prayer intentionally without an excuse, they have left the fold of Islām. Obviously the scholars have two opinions in regard to the Ahādīth that state the Disbelief of the one who does not pray, but the end result is that Prayer is the most important ritual in Islām, it is the one thing no one is excused from. If you do not have enough money, if you do not have the ability to make Hajj, you are excused, if you are unable to fast because of old age or illness, you are excused, if you do not have wealth, you do not have to pay Zakāh, but there is no situation where a person is excused from Prayer. If you cannot pray standing up, pray sitting down. If you cannot pray sitting down then you pray laying down. If you cannot pray laying down because you may be paralysed or something, then with your finger. If you cannot do it with your finger then with your eyes. But there is no situation where a person is excused from praying. Even when the battle is going on, Salāh still has to be done, [as it is mentioned] in the Āyāt of Salātul Khawf. So Salāh is the only ‘Ibādah in Islām where there is no excuse of not doing it; there is no relief of it, it has to be done. The scholars have said that the Muslim who is spying on the enemy and cannot pray – this is our classical scholars – they said such a person can pray with their finger, but they have to pray, Salāh needs to be done.

6.4.4 Importance of the Holy Land – Jerusalem and its Surroundings

Number Four: This Journey reveals to us the importance of the Holy Land – Jerusalem and its surroundings. Allāh  says in Sūrah Al-Isrā’: Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haram –in Makkah – to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsā, – the furthest mosque in Jerusalem – whose surroundings We have blessed, –Allāh  says that that is a blessed land – to show him of Our signs. – Allāh has shown Muhammadﷺ many signs on this journey – Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing. Al-Al-Isrā’: 1

Jerusalem was promised to the Believers; Ibrāhīm  was given that promise that your descendants, the Believers among them, will be the guardians of Jerusalem, the Holy Land, and that was the promise that was fulfilled through the Prophets of the Children of Israel; Allāh  also promised Jerusalem to Mūsā . Now, even though Mūsā , Moses, did not see the result of that promise in his lifetime, but it occurred in the lifetime of his successor, Yūsha’ Bin Nūn, the Prophet Joshua. And the Children of Israel remained in that land as long as they were the bearers of truth, and when they deviated from the true Message of Allāh and they fought the Prophets and they attempted to Kill Jesus  and they killed other Prophets, Allāh  stripped away the land from them and gave it to the other branch, the descendants of Ismā‘īl; Allāh  gave that to Muhammadﷺ and his Ummah because now they are the ones who are carrying the torch of truth.

So that land is promised to the Believers, and since now the torch is being carried by the Seal of Prophets, Muhammadﷺ, even though Muhammad will not open Jerusalem in his lifetime, but he must visit it, he must go and receive the keys. And the symbolism in this journey of Rasūlullāhﷺ going to the Masjid and leading the Ambiyā’ in Prayer is to show that now Muhammadﷺ is the inheritor of the Message of the Prophets, and he is the leader of the sons of Ādam, and the land that was under the custodianship of the Prophets of Banī Isrā’īl is now transferred to the followers of Muhammadﷺ. And just as Mūsā did not see it in his lifetime but it happened in the lifetime of his successor Joshua, Muhammadﷺ did not see it in his lifetime and it happened in the time of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb , the man [regarding] whom Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “If there was a Prophet after me, it would be ‘Umar.”
So that was a blessing which Allāh reserved for ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb. And Subhān’Allāh, look at the divine destiny; when the Muslims reached to the gates of Jerusalem, even though the religious and political leadership of Jerusalem could not fight the Muslims and they had to give it up, they said, “We will surrender, but we cannot surrender to anyone but the Khalīfah of the Muslims; he must come here and take the keys with his own hands.” And Subhān’Allāh, that brought out ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb to travel all the way from Madīnah to Jerusalem because he is the one who will receive the keys of Jerusalem, and he went all the way there and he was the one who was given the keys to the Holy City. So now the Muslims are the ones who have the promise of Allāh, the promise of the Holy Land – Bait Al-Maqdis.

6.4.5 With Difficulty Comes Ease

Number Five: – Which we mentioned, Inna Ma‘al ‘Usri Yusrā – With Difficulty Comes Ease Al-Inshirāh: 6 Rasūlullāhﷺ went through some very difficult moments in the tenth year of his Revelation, so Allāh  gave him this blessing, the journey of Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj. And Subhān’Allāh, this was such a treat for Muhammadﷺ; there is no tourist journey with so many attractions as this journey of Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj, and to have Jibrīl  as your guide to take you through, and to meet with the Ambiyā’ of Allāh, and to go in this journey to the real Wonderland, from one place to another, and then you enter into Paradise, Jannah. Rasūlullāhﷺ, in that journey, he entered into Jannah, and he saw the river of Al-Kauthar which was given to him; Jibrīl  told Muhammadﷺ, “This is your river, Al-Kauthar.” So it was such a bounty that Allāh  has given to Muhammadﷺ, and that would bring [us] back to what we mentioned earlier that you never know what Allāh  is hiding for you. We mentioned that when Hajar  was running between As-Safā Wal-Marwā, she did not know – she was crying at the time – she did not know that this would be followed by the greatest nation, the Ummah of Muhammadﷺ. So when you are going through difficulties in this world, you do not know what Allāh is reserving for you. When Allāh  says: With difficulty comes ease, believe in that promise. With every difficulty you go through, Allāh  is reserving for you something; whether you get it in this world or the Afterlife, you are going to get it. So the Muslim should never give up, should never feel despair.

6.4.6 The Position of Abū Bakr

The Sixth Lesson: The Position of Abū Bakr. How did Abū Bakr receive the news of Al-Isrā’ Wal-Mi’rāj? When the people of Quraish were joking around, laughing, clapping, whistling, Abū Bakr was not present and he was coming into Makkah, and someone went and told him, “Do you know what happened? Muhammadﷺ claims that he went to Jerusalem and he made it back.” Now, what do you think the response of Abū Bakr was? Well, he did believe, but what did he say? That is an important thing to add. Abū Bakr said, “If he said it, then it is the truth.” Abū Bakr did not just accept the information that was given to him, he said, “If he said it, then it is the truth.” There are two things to learn; from the first segment, ‘If he said it’, and that is the science of verifying Hadīth. When our scholars study the lives of the narrators of the Hadīth, they want to discern whether Muhammadﷺ said it or not; we are not just going to accept anything that is said by anyone out there, we want to make sure that Muhammadﷺ did say it, and that is what makes a difference between us and the People of the Book. The People of the Book have accepted pretty much everything that came down to them, even if it was separated from the original source by a few centuries, so it is a blind faith, it is following Zann – Conjecture. But with the Muslims, no, they had this science of verification where they studied the lives of thousands and thousands of men and women, to look at their profile, whether these are truthful people or not, whether we can accept what they convey or not. So when people go back to Islāmic sources, they can feel at ease [knowing that] they are dealing with material that has been verified. “In Kāna Qālahā Faqad Sadaqa –If he said it, then it is the truth.” Sothat is the science of verifying Hadīth. The second part [of the statement] is; ‘Then it is the truth.’ And this is the characteristic of Abū Bakr As-Siddīq  and that is why he was called As- Siddīq – The Believer. Whatever Rasūlullāhﷺ says, I will believe him. I have faith in him. I have faith in everything that he says.

Terminology Issue – Heaven and Paradise:  Finally, there is a terminology issue. When we use the word ‘heavens’ or ‘heaven’, it confuses some to think that we are referring to Paradise. Now, that is a problem with the English language that these are synonymous – heaven and Paradise – but in Islāmic terminology they are not. Heaven is talking about the sky above us that is part of the temporary world that will be destroyed on the Day of Judgment. Paradise is referring to Jannah. Jannah is the permanent place of abode for the Believers. So whenever I am using the word heaven I am not referring to Paradise, I am referring to the sky above us. I will use, as a translation of Jannah, Paradise. So I hope this confusion is not in the mind of any one of you because I mentioned that the Ambiyā’ are in the different heavens, this is not talking about Paradise, it is talking about meetings that occurred with the Ambiyā’ in the heavens above us that are lower than Paradise.

6.5 Journey to At-Tā’if

Now that Rasūlullāhﷺ has lost the protection of his uncle Abū Tālib, and his efforts of Da’wah in Makkah were being blocked, he tried to search for other alternatives. So Rasūlullāhﷺ made a journey to At -Tā’if, and he accompanied with him Zayd Bin Hārithah . They went to At-Tā’if, and Rasūlullāhﷺ went to the leaders of At- Tā’if. Rasūlullāhﷺ, that was his method; he would go to the leaders of a community, who enter the house from the gate. He went to meet the leaders of At-Tā’if, the tribe of Thaqīf, and these were three brothers. He presented the Message to them and asked them for support and help. Now, these three men responded in a miserable way. The first one of them said, “I am going to tear apart the clothing of Al-Ka’bah if Allāh has sent you as a Prophet.” The clothing of Al -Ka’bah was sacred to them, so he is saying that I am going to tear it apart if Allāh has sent you as a Prophet. The second among them said, “Did not God find anyone better than you to send?” Is there not anyone out there better than you?! And the third one said, “I cannot speak to you, I just cannot speak to you, because if you are a Messenger from Allāh as you claim, then you are such an important person and I do not think that I am qualified to speak to you, and if Allāh has not sent you as a Messenger and you are lying, then it is not appropriate for me to speak to a liar.” When Rasūlullāhﷺ heard their response, he said, “Well, if you do not want to accept my Message, at least keep this conversation that we had secret, keep it private.”

Rasūlullāh did not want the news to reach to Makkah that he has been turned down by the people of Thaqīf, because it will only add to the persecution of the people of Quraish towards the Muslims, so he said, “Keep it private.” But they were such evil men and rude, what they did was they went to the fools among them and their slaves and servants and they asked them to go and revile Muhammadﷺ and scream at him. Imagine these crowds surrounding Muhammadﷺ, pelting Muhammadﷺ and Zayd Bin Hārithah with rocks, screaming at them, yelling, chasing them away; Rasūlullāhﷺ and Zayd Bin Hārithah had to run out of At-Tā’if. And Zayd Ibn Hārithah  was protecting the body of Muhammadﷺ, shielding him from the rocks that the people of Thaqīf were throwing. And they took refuge, they took shelter, in a farm that belonged to two men from Quraish, Ibnā Rabī‘ah.

So they went into this farm and they finally got away from the fools of Thaqīf, and Rasūlullāhﷺ was exhausted, his feet were bleeding, and he was hurt because of the way he was treated by the people of Thaqīf. Subhān’Allāh, Allāh  sent down help on Muhammadﷺ. He was very hungry at the time; the two owners of the farm who belonged to Makkah told their servant ‘Addās, who was a Christian, “Go and take some grapes to give it to Muhammadﷺ.” They felt sympathy for Muhammadﷺ even though they were two of his staunchest enemies, but now when they are in a foreign land in different territory, they felt sympathy towards Muhammad and decided that we should stand up for our tribesman, we should stand up for Muhammadﷺ, so at least let us give him these grapes. So they sent ‘Addās and they told him, “Take this plate of grapes and give it to Muhammadﷺ.”

‘Addās carried the grapes and he went to Muhammad and he presented it to him, Muhammadﷺ said, “Bismillāh – In the name of Allāh,” and he said it loudly. ‘Addās was surprised and he asked Muhammadﷺ, he said, “These words are not said by people in this land.” Arabs, people in this area, do not speak these words. The Messenger of Allāh, from these words of ‘Addās, was able to imply that he is a foreigner and he might be following a different religion, so he asked ‘Addās, “Where are you from and what is your religion?” And Rasūlullāhﷺ used to ask any people he would meet where are you from. So he asked ‘Addās, “Where are you from and what is your religion?” ‘Addās responded by saying, “I am a Christian man from Nīnawah.” Nineveh in ‘Irāq. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “So you are from the village of the pious man Yūnus Ibn Mattā – Jonah, son of Amittai,” a Prophet of Allāh. ‘Addās said, “And how do you know about Jonah, son of Amittai?” Muhammadﷺ said, “He is my brother; he was a Prophet and I am a Prophet.” When ‘Addās heard that, he immediately bent down and started kissing the feet of Rasūlullāhﷺ and then he kissed his hands and head. Now, the two owners of the farm from Quraish, when they saw that, they looked at each other and said, “Look, he has already corrupted our slave.” Muhammadﷺ would do Da’wah wherever he was, and these two men who felt sympathy towards Muhammadﷺ are now regretting it; we sent in our slave to take some fruits to him and he has corrupted our slave. When ‘Addās came back they told him, “What is wrong with you?! How come you were kissing his feet, hands and head?” He said, “On all [of] Earth, there is no man finer than him. He told me something that no one other than a Prophet can know.” They told him, “Do not let this man make you leave your religion, because your religion is better than his.” Now, what do the two sons of Rabī‘ah know about Christianity? But it is the Kufr that is in their hearts that would make them say whatever [it was that] would deceive the people.

6.5.1 Lessons from the Journey of Rasūlullāhﷺ to At-Tā’if

Doing our Part to Protect Rasūlullāhﷺ :  [First Lesson:] Zayd Ibn Hārithah was the one protecting Rasūlullāhﷺ from the rocks that were being thrown at Muhammadﷺ, so Zayd Ibn Hārithah was protecting Rasūlullāhﷺ, shielding him with his own body. In the Battle of Uhud, we have similar stories of Sahābah using their backs, not just to protect Rasūlullāhﷺ from rocks like in this incident, but to protect him from arrows; this was the level of sacrifice that the Sahābah  had. Now, we might not have a chance to protect Rasūlullāhﷺ with our physical bodies, so if we miss that chance, let us make it up by protecting Rasūlullāhﷺ through defending his Message, through protecting his honour, through teaching others about his life – Muslims and Non-Muslims; let us do our part. Abū Muslim Al-Khawlānī, one of the greatest of the At-Tābi‘īn, said, “Do the Companions of Rasūlullāhﷺ think that we will let them have Rasūlullāhﷺ for themselves? No, we are going to compete with them. We want to get our share of the Messenger of Allāh.” So even though we are living centuries past the time of Muhammadﷺ, so we cannot participate physically in helping him in his mission, but it is not too late, there is a lot that we could do that would resemble what Zayd Ibn Hārithah did on that day. It might not ever be as great as what Zayd Ibn Hārithah did or what Talhah did on the Day of Uhud, but at least we can try and do something. And when we study the Seerah of Rasūlullāhﷺ and we develop love for him, it needs to encourage us to go through the same footsteps that the students of Rasūlullāhﷺ went through.

Do Good – You Never Know what the Outcome Will Be : The Second Lesson: When Rasūlullāhﷺ was speaking to the people of At- Tā’if, no one responded to him; they all rejected him, but remember what we said; do good because you never know what the outcome will be. Rasūlullāhﷺ was chased out of At-Tā’if, so he might have thought that his words did not really leave an effect on them, but among the crowds Rasūlullāhﷺ was speaking to was a child, his name is Khālid Al-‘Udwānī, he is a member of the tribe of Thaqīf. He said, “I was standing there listening to the speech of Rasūlullāhﷺ in the fair-grounds of At-Tā’if, and I heard the Messenger of Allāh recite Sūrah At-Tāriq, and I remembered it then when I was still a Non-Believer. And when I became Muslim, I already knew that Sūrah.” So here you have Rasūlullāhﷺ giving his speech to adults; nobody cared about what Rasūlullāhﷺ said, but there was a child in there who remembered and memorised Sūrah At-Tāriq by listening to it from the mouth of Rasūlullāhﷺ in At-Tā’if, and years later, Rasūlullāhﷺ is seeing the harvest of the seed that he planted in At-Tā’if. So do good, because you never know what the outcome will be.

Da’wah through Action : Number Three: We talked about what happened between Rasūlullāhﷺ and ‘Addās, did we not? You remember ‘Addās the Christian? Over here we have an example of Da’wah through action. Rasūlullāhﷺ started by saying Bismillāh; an Islāmic act. This Islāmic act, even though it seems simple and small, was the cause of the Islām of ‘Addās, because ‘Addās never heard this before in this land of the Arabs; they do not say Bismillāh, they do not start in the name of Allāh, and that opened up a conversation between Rasūlullāhﷺ and ‘Addās that ended up with ‘Addās admitting the Prophethood of Muhammadﷺ and believing in him. So sometimes you might do something without paying attention, but it is attracting the attention of others around you, and that might open the door for them to have some curiosity, and that will be the beginning of their studying of Islām which might end with them accepting the Religion of Allāh. So sometimes our Da’wah could be indirectly through our action. And the reputation of the Sahābah  that they developed after Islām had a major role in attracting many of the other Arabs to Islām. So it was not necessarily their words, but it was their behaviour, their character, the way they changed in Islām.

6.5.2 Jinn Listen to Qur’ān :

Now Rasūlullāhﷺ had to leave At-Tā’if, he was rejected by the people in At-Tā’if, and we said earlier that with difficulty comes ease – Inna Ma‘al ‘Usri Yusrā . Rasūlullāhﷺ went through a difficult time, hardship, in At-Tā’if; Allāh  followed it with a blessing. Rasūlullāhﷺ was reciting Qur’ān in the desert and some Jinn happened to be in the area, and the words of Qur’ān attracted them and they came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and learned from him verses of Qur’ān and ended up becoming Muslim. What are Jinn? Jinn is a world of creatures that have intelligence, live with us on Earth, have quite a similar life structure like we do; they have clans, families, tribes, nations, they speak different dialects [and] languages, follow different religions, so they are pretty similar to human beings. The difference is that they were created from fire [and] we were created from clay, they see us and we do not see them.

But there are Jinn who are Christian, there are Muslim Jinn, there are Jewish Jinn, there are Jinn who speak Arabic, Jinn who speak English, Jinn who speak Russian, and they might even follow the customs of the land that they live in. And many of these supernatural or strange events that people talk about and you see on the front pages of tabloids – a citing of a UFO and all of those interesting things – might easily be explained as Jinn. There is an intelligent world [which] is living with us on Earth, and these haunted places and all of this can be explained easily by Muslims, it is not a big deal for us. You have all of this mythology that is surrounding these supernatural events, and you have a whole entertainment industry that is based on it; movies and stories and Halloween and all that stuff, when there is a simple thing behind it and that is that there is a world of creatures living with us who we cannot see; sometimes we might have sightings of them but most of the time we do not, while they have access to us and they can see us.

So these Jinn came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and became Muslim. Now, there might have been more than one incident in which Jinn came to Rasūlullāh and became Muslim, because the story of Al-Jinn is mentioned twice in Qur’ān; once in Sūrah Al-Jinn and once in Sūrah Al-Ahqāf. The verses of Sūrah Al-Ahqāf [are the following]: And [mention, O Muhammad], when We directed to you a few of the Jinn, listening to the Qur’an. And when they attended it, they said, “Listen quietly.” And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners. They said, “O our people, indeed we have heard a [recited] Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path.” Al-Ahqāf: 29-30

 One commentator of Qur’ān who gave Tafsīr asks this following question, he says how come the Jinn said that we have heard something that was revealed after Mūsā and they did not say after ‘Īsā? How come the Jinn brought up the name of Moses and did not bring up the name of Jesus? And his explanation was that these Jinn were Jewish and they were following the Message of Mūsā, so when they heard Qur’ān they said [that] this is a Revelation that is coming after the Revelation that was given to Mūsā. And this commentator says that these Jinn actually were from Yemen where there were some Jews. That is one way to look at the verse; it is not necessarily the only view, but it is also an indication that the Jinn would follow the customs of the people in their area. They [the Jinn] continued: “O our people, respond to the Messenger of Allāh and believe in him; Allāh will forgive for you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment. But he who does not respond to the Caller of Allāh will not cause failure [to Him] upon Earth, and he will not have besides Him any protectors. Those are in manifest error.” Al-Ahqāf: 31-32

So this was an example of something good that happened to Rasūlullāhﷺ after something that was difficult. This is mentioned to [have] happened after At-Tā’if.

6.5.3 The Return to Makkah from At-Tā’if

Rasūlullāhﷺ now has to enter into Makkah again. Now, getting in is not like leaving; you could leave easily but it is not easy to get into Makkah again, especially after the news reached to Makkah that Rasūlullāhﷺ has gone to preach his Message to the people of At-Tā’if. So now Rasūlullāh is not able to go into Makkah again, he has to seek the protection of someone in order to enter into his own town. So Rasūlullāhﷺ is now camping outside of Makkah, trying to find someone who would sponsor him and give him protection. He sent a message with a man named ‘Uraiqat to go to Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq. Now, Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq was living in Makkah [but] he was an ally of the people of Quraish even though he was not one of them. So when Al-Akhnas received the message from Muhammadﷺ, he said, “Since I am an ally of Quraish, I cannot give protection to someone who is from Quriash.”

I am only an ally, I cannot go over my authority and give protection to someone who is from the tribe [of] whom I am an ally of. So Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq turned down the request. Muhammadﷺ sent the same message again to Suhail Ibn ‘Amr. Suhail Ibn ‘Amr said, “I cannot give you protection because the clan of ‘Amr Bin Lu’aÿ cannot give protection to someone who is from Ka’b Bin Lu’aÿ.” Rasūlullāhﷺ tried a third time, and he sent this time a message, a request, to Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ. Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ did accept the request, and Muhammadﷺ went and spent the night at his house. Early in the morning, Al-Mut‘am asked six or seven of his sons to carry their swords and to put on some special clothes and to go out surrounding Muhammadﷺ and to escort him to Al-Ka’bah. When they reached there they had a seat, overwatching Muhammadﷺ while he was making Tawāf. So Abū Sufyān came to Al-Mut‘am and asked him, “Are you giving him protection or are you following him?” Al Mut‘am said, “I am only giving him protection.” Abū Sufyān said, “If that is the case, we will accept your protection.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ now is giving Da’wah in Makkah under the protection of Al-Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ.^xiv

6.6 In Search of a Base

6.6.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Visits Camps of the Arabs

Rasūlullāhﷺ, after the passing away of Abū Tālib and Khadījah, and seeing the stalemate that the mission reached in Makkah – even though there were still some converts trickling in, but overall it was reaching to a stagnating state and many avenues were being blocked – so the Messenger  of  Allāh  felt  the  necessity  of  finding  an  alternative  base, somewhere where he can have freedom to propagate the Message, and he was actively pursuing that goal by meeting with the Arab tribes, the Arab delegates, during the season of Pilgrimage, because that was a time when people came from all over Arabia to one location; Makkah. So Rasūlullāh would devote the days of Hajj to visiting the camps of the Arabs; he would visit every tribe in their campground and give them Da’wah and ask them for protection.

Az-Zuhrī states, “The Messenger of Allāh, would for the period of those years, present himself to the Arab tribes at each fair, speaking with each tribal leader but asking them only for their protection and support. He would say, ‘I do not wish to force any of you to do anything, any of you who agree to what I ask may do so, but I would not compel anyone not so wishing. All I want is to guard myself against those who want to kill me, so that I may fulfil my Lord’s mission and carry out whatever decree he wishes regarding myself and those who support me.’ But not one of them accepted him, every one of these tribes reached to the following conclusion: ‘The man’s own tribe knew him best, how could we accept as suitable for us someone who has subverted his tribe and whom they have expelled?’”

Since his tribe did not accept him, they know best; that was their conclusion. By the way, Az-Zuhrī is one of the early Muslim scholars, he was among the generation of At-Tābi‘īn or a little later than that, and he was the one who was given the responsibility of compiling Hadīth, which happened during the time of ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azīz. This was the first official project to compile the Hadīth of Rasūlullāhﷺ , and the one entrusted with this mission was Az-Zuhrī, and the one who appointed him to that position was the Khalīfah himself, ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Azīz. So again, these were the words of Az-Zuhrī.

6.6.2 Banū Kindah, Banū ‘Abdillāh, Banū Hanīfah all Reject Rasūlullāhﷺ

Ibn Is’hāq stated that Ibn Shihāb Az-Zuhrī said – again, relating to Az-Zuhrī – that Muhammadﷺ visited some of the tribes, and he narrates the story of [him] visiting the tribe of Kindah. [He says that] Rasūlullāhﷺ went to them, gave them Da’wah; they refused him. Rasūlullāhﷺ next went to a clan called Banū ‘Abdillāh – the sons of ‘Abdullāh. So Rasūlullāhﷺ went to them explaining Islām, and then he told them, “And look at how Allāh has chosen for you a good name, you are the sons of ‘Abdullāh.” But they also turned him down. Next Rasūlullāhﷺ went to the tribe of Banū Hanīfah, and they treated Rasūlullāhﷺ so bad [that] Az-Zuhrī says, “None of the Arabs gave him so rude a rejection as they did.” And Subhān’Allāh, the same people, Banū Hanīfah, are the ones who years later are going to lead the worst revolt ever against Muhammadﷺ, which happened right before he died and was only ended in the time of Abū Bakr As-Siddīq  , and this revolt was led by Musailamah Al-Kadhdhāb. Musailamah Al- Kadhdhāb was from the tribe of Banū Hanīfah, Musailamah Al-Kadhdhāb is the man who claimed prophethood, and this was the greatest revolt and one of the worst battles that occurred against the Muslim armies.

6.6.3 Banū ‘Āmir Bin Sa’sa‘ah

Next, Rasūlullāhﷺ went to the campgrounds of the tribe of Banū ‘Āmir Bin Sa’sa‘ah. Banū ‘Āmir Bin Sa’sa‘ah, when their leader Baiharah Bin Farās met Rasūlullāhﷺ and saw him and listened to his words, he became so impressed by what he saw, so Baiharah said, “I swear, if I were to have this brave man of Quraish, I could eat up the Arabs with him.” Now, Baiharah is thinking politics, he wants to recruit Muhammadﷺ; why? To conquer the lands of the Arabs, because he saw that Muhammadﷺ possessed qualities that were unique. So he told Muhammadﷺ, “If we were to follow your orders and then Allāh gave you victory against those opposing you, would we have power after you were gone?” So the response of Muhammadﷺ was, “ Al-Ardu Lillāh, Yūrithuhā May-Yashā’, Wal ‘Āqibatu Lil Muttaqīn –The earth belongs to Allāh, and He will give power to whomever He wishes.” In other words, this is not something that I can give you, it is something in the Hands of Allāh, and it is not a matter of authority and power, this is not a power-struggle. Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling him [that] this is a matter of religion, the earth belongs to Allāh. The man then responded and said, “Are we to present our throats to the Arabs in your defence, and then if God gave you victory, see power go elsewhere than to us?” He understood that standing up with Muhammadﷺ is a risk, and we are going to have to fight for it, [but] he was telling Muhammadﷺ that we are not going to sacrifice our lives and then see the power being transferred to someone else, [and he said,] “We will not have anything to do with you,” and he turned down the offer of Muhammadﷺ, he rejected the Message.

Banū ‘Āmir Bin Sa’sa‘ah went back to their homeland and there was an old man among them who was a wise elder of theirs. Because of his age he was not able to attend the Pilgrimage, but whenever they would come back he would ask them about the events that happened. So when they went back they told him, “We met a young man, the grandson of ‘Abdul Muttalib from Quraish, and he was claiming to be a Prophet and he came to us and we rejected him.” This old man said, after putting his hand over his forehead, “Could your mistake be put right? Can its consequences be reversed? I swear, no descendent of Ismā‘īl ever made such a claim falsely, it has be true! Where did your good judgment go?” This wise old man told them that none of the descendants of Ismā‘īl  has ever claimed to be a prophet, this is not something common among the Arabs, the Arabs do not know the concept of prophethood to claim it, the Arabs were an illiterate nation, they did not have a history of prophethood. The last Prophet they knew was Ismā‘īl  which was more than 2,000 years before that, so for them to claim prophethood is something that never happened. So this old man was saying, ‘It must be true, where was your good judgement?!’ And then he said, ‘Is this a mistake that can be rectified?’ Is this something that we can fix?

6.6.4 Abū Bakr’s Expertise in Genealogy

There is another narration by Abū Na‘īm and Al-Hākim and Al-Bayhaqī. I am going to have to read through this, it is quite long, but I find it a fascinating conversation, it shows the qualities of Abū Bakr As-Siddīq , ‘Alï is the one who is narrating this story. ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib says, “When God ordered His Messenger to present himself to the tribes of the Arabs, he left along with myself and Abū Bakr for Minā’.” Minā’ is where the camps are set, just like today in Hajj; that is where people spend the three days of Ayyām Tashrīq,that is where the tents are. SoRasūlullāhﷺ is visiting these different Arab tribes, and Rasūlullāhﷺ used to always accompany Abū Bakr with him because Abū Bakr was an expert in genealogy, Abū Bakr knew the history of the tribes, their names, their legends, he knew a lot about them and this was an asset that Rasūlullāhﷺ was taking advantage of, because Abū Bakr As -Siddīq was a walking encyclopedia when it came to the genealogy of the Arab tribes.

So Rasūlullāhﷺ used to always accompany Abū Bakr with him. Plus, Abū Bakr was a well-known man, he has travelled widely and he was known by the various Arab tribes. Anyway, ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib says, “Abū Bakr, God bless him, went forward and made his greetings. He was in the very vanguard of good and an expert in genealogy.” So he came to this Majlis – meeting, of this particular clan. Abū Bakr As-Siddīq  walked up to them. And when ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib says, ‘Wa Kāna Sabbāqin Ilā Kulli Khair – He was at the very vanguard of every good,’ ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib was telling us that in everything good you would find Abū Bakr ahead of everyone else; Abū Bakr was first. You know, [there is] the story when ‘Umar Ibn Al- Khattāb said, “Tonight I am going to do something that Abū Bakr did not do,” and he went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and gave him half of his money, and he said, “O Rasūlullāh, did anyone else come to you?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said “Yes, Abū Bakr came to me and he gave all of his money.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I will never compete with him after this.”

So ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib is saying that Abū Bakr is ahead of every good; [in] everything good, you will find Abū Bakr [there] first. He was the one who walked up to these men, he greeted them and then he said, “From whom do you people come?”

They said, “We are from Rabī‘ah,” the tribe of Rabī‘ah which was in the North-east part of Arabia; they may have been in the area of ‘Irāq. Rabī‘ah is a large tribe, Abū Bakr now wants to narrow it down a little further. They said, “We are from Rabī‘ah.”

Abū Bakr said, “A’min Hāmmahā Am Min Lawāzinhā?” It is translated here as, “From its mainstream or its branch?” Actually a more accurate translation will be, “Are you from the forehead…” – Hāmmahā means the forehead – “Are you from the forehead or are you from the branches?” The limbs, meaning you are from the lower parts of the tribe.

They said, “We are from the greatest mainstream of it,” meaning we are the best.

Abū Bakr As -Siddīq  wanted to verify that claim, to realise whether they are the elites of their people or they are from the laymen, so Abū Bakr started this conversation, he asked, “Is ‘Awf of you, of whom it is said, ‘There is no free man in ‘Awf’s valley?’” This man, ‘Awf, was from the tribe of Rabī‘ah, and he was such a strong man that everyone in the valley was so submissive to him [that] they ended up saying that there is no one free in his valley. And by the way, in the culture of pre-Islāmic Arabia, strength and power and sometimes even violence was viewed with respect; this is one of the things that Islām came to change, that oppression is not good.  So Abū Bakr asked, “Is ‘Awf of you, of whom it is said, ‘There is no free man in

‘Awf’s valley?’” They said, “No”.
“Does Bastān Bin Qais, Abul Liwā’ and Muntahal Ahyā’ belong to you?” They said, “No.”
“Is Al-Hawfazān Bin Shuraiq, the killer of kings and the robber of their souls, a kinsman of yours?”
“No.”
“Is Jassās Bin Murrah, the protector of honour and the defender of the neighbour, from you?”
They said, “No.”
“Is Al-Muzdalaf, he of the unique turban, from you?” They said, “No.”
“Are you related to the kings of Kindah?” “No.”
“Are you related to the kings of Lakhm?” “No.”

Abū Bakr said, “So you are not from the mainstream, but you are from the branch.” You can see the detailed information that Abū Bakr As-Siddīq  had about these people. Now, a young man from Rabī‘ah stood up, his name is Daghfal, his beard just beginning to sprout, meaning he was young in age. He jumped up and he grabbed the bridle of Abū Bakr’s camel reciting, “Those who ask of us will be asked of. As for the burden of proof, we neither know it nor bear it as responsibility.” He then said, “Hey you! You asked and we replied, hiding nothing from you. We want to ask you something; who are you?” Now it is our turn. You asked us questions, we answered, give us a chance to ask you. “So who are you?”

He said, “I am a man from Quraish.”
The youth commented, “Well said, you are a people of leadership and nobility, the vanguard and guide of the Arabs.” There is nothing to complain about; you are from Quraish, you are from the nobility.

Now let me narrow it down, “What part of Quraish are you from?”
Abū Bakr said, “I am of Banū Taim Bin Murrah.” Banū Taim Bin Murrah are a small clan in Quraish; was not famous, they were not known for any special strength or uniqueness.

So the young man said, “You have shown the target shooter where the bull’s eye is.” He said, “Is Qusaÿ Bin Kilāb, he who killed at Makkah those trying to conquer it, a kinsman of yours? That man Qusaÿ, who drove the rest of them away and brought his own people from all over and settled them in Makkah, took over the temple and set Quraish in the dwellings, the man who was therefore known as the Unifier, and about whom a poet spoke the verse, ‘Was it not your father who was called the Unifier by whom God brought together the tribes of Firr?’” Abū Bakr said, “No.”
“Were not ‘Abd Manāf, the ultimate giver of advice, and Abul Ghadārif, the great leader, of your stock?”
Abū Bakr said, “No.”

“And ‘Amr Bin ‘Abd Manāf – Hāshim, who prepared bread and meat into the dish…” – You remember when we talked about Hāshim? So he was now famous as being the one who started Ath- Tharīd – “…who prepared bread and meat into the dish, Ath-Tharīd, for his people and all of Makkah, was he not of you? The one of whom the poet said, ‘‘Amr Al-‘Ulā prepared the Tharīd for his people, while the men of Makkah were destitute and under famine. To him they attribute both the journeys, that of the winter and that of the summer. Quraish were as an egg, which when split open came to have its best part, its yolk, as the ‘Abd Manāf. They are the wealthy, as is no other known, and they are those who say, ‘Come on in’ to the guests. They are those who strike down pure white sheep, those who protect the innocent with their swords. How fine for you if you stay at their abode, they will protect you from all ills and accusations.’ Sois he of you?” Abū Bakr said, “No.”

Then the youth continued, “You must be related to ‘Abdul Muttalib, that venerable man of much praise, controller of the Makkah caravan, and the feeder of the birds of the skies and the wild beasts, of the lions in the desert, he whose face shines forth like a moon on a dark night?”
“No,” said Abū Bakr. Now remember, they called ‘Abdul Muttalib the feeder of the lions and the beasts and the birds because of the hundred camels that he slaughtered and refused to take anything of it.
“Then you must be of those who have the privilege of Ifādah?” “No.”
“Perhaps of those who have the privilege of Hijābah?” “No.”
“Then those with the privilege of Nadwah?” “No.”
“Then you must be of those who have the privilege of Siqāyah?” “No.”
“Are you then of those with the privilege of providing Rifādah?” “No.”

And he is answering no to all of these questions. Now, this was becoming too much for Abū Bakr, so Abū Bakr just turned around and tried to leave, and he pulled the bridle out of the youth’s hand. The young man then responded by reciting a line of poetry, he said, “Sādafa Darrus Saili Darran Yadfa‘uh, Fatāratan Yasda‘uhū Wa Tāra Yahdhibuh –Your flood has met a greater flood that is coming from me, once it will crack it and another time it will go over it.” So you thought that you have flooded me; I have shown you that I could send over you a greater flood. And then he commented, “Well I swear our brother of Quraish, if you had continued to hold out, I would have proven to you that you belong to the lowest class of Quraish, not to its elite.” Rasūlullāhﷺ came over smiling after this interesting conversation! And ‘Alï told Abū Bakr, “Well this Bedouin has turned out to be a disaster for you.” Abū Bakr As-Siddīq  said, “Yes, and there is never a catastrophe without another that follows, and calamity is compounded by words.”

6.6.5 Banū Shaibān

‘Alï then continued and said, “We went to a meeting where you could see calm and dignity in the people, and Abū Bakr went to them and greeted them and he asked them, ‘Where are you from?’ They said, ‘We are from Banū Shaibān.’” So Abū Bakr came to report to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “These are people who have experience and power.” So Abū Bakr  went to the group leaders which were Mafrūq Bin ‘Amr, and Hānī Bin Qubaisah, and Al-Muthannā Bin Hārith, and An-Nu’mān Bin Shuraiq. And the person who was closest to Abū Bakr As-Siddīq was Hānī Bin Qubaisah, and he was described as having two braids that came down to his chest. Abū Bakr asked him, “How many are you in number?” Hānī replied, “We are more than a thousand strong, and a few men cannot beat a thousand as they say.” And then he asked, “And how would protection be with you?” He said, “We go to the limit, and every people have their limit.” Abū Bakr then asked, “And how is it when you make war with your enemies?” Abū Bakr is trying to assess their strength. They said, “When we meet in battle, we are the angriest of men. We take greater pride in our steeds than our sons, care more for our swords than our camels. Victory rests with Allāh; sometimes He grants us victory, sometimes others victory over us.

You seem to be a member of Quraish?” So Abū Bakr replied, “Yes.” And then he said, “Have you heard of the Messenger of Allāh?” So Hānī said, “We have heard that he says he is the Messenger of Allāh,” meaning we do not yet know but we have heard that rumour. So then Hānī wanted to hear from Muhammadﷺ, after Abū Bakr has paved the way and opened a conversation. Now Rasūlullāhﷺ came in and he started speaking, and he spoke after Hānī asked him to, he [Hānī] said, “What do you propound, O brother of Quraish?” He said, “I call upon you to bear witness that there is no God but Allāh alone who has no associate, and that I am the Messenger of Allāh. I ask you to shelter and protect me until I can carry out what Allāh has ordered me to do. Quraish came out against Allāh’s commands and have denied His Messenger, they have sided with wrong against right, but Allāh is All Powerful, All Praised.” So Hānī, he did like the words of Rasūlullāhﷺ, he asked him for some more; Rasūlullāhﷺ recited to him some Āyāt from Sūrah Al-An‘ām. Hānī said, “And what else do you propound, O brother of Quraish? I swear these are not words of any earthly mortal; if they were, we would know them to be.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ recited Āyāt from Sūrah An-Nahl.

Anyway, after Rasūlullāhﷺ had explained the Message of Islām, Hānī liked what he heard, but then he said, “We have people behind us and we cannot speak for them.” We are just a delegation from their people and we cannot give a commitment now, we have to go back and consult our people. And he said words, he said, “I consider that abandoning our religion and following you in yours because of one meeting we are having with you, which had neither introduction nor follow-up, and without our giving it full consideration, nor examining what the consequences would be of what you suggest, that would be a lapse in judgment, rationalist, and inadequate consideration of consequences.”

So these people were very calm, they did not want to rush into judgement, they said we have to think it over, we cannot just leave our religion after one meeting with you. So you can see that there is a difference between these different tribes; with Al-Ansār they immediately accepted, because the grounds were prepared for them, but with Banū Shaibān they said, “There was no introduction to this and there was no follow- up, we cannot just convert right now. So let us go back to our people and consult them, but I want you to also hear the opinion of Al-Hārithah.” There were three leaders; one was religious, one was political, and the other one was tribal affairs. So Hānī spoke his opinion and now he wants to let Al-Hārithah speak. ¹⁰⁴ So Al-Hārithah said, “I heard and I liked what you said,” so they were all impressed. “I was impressed by your words, but our answer should be that of Hānī Bin Qubaisah. For us to leave our religion and follow you after one sitting with us would be like us taking residence between two pools of stagnant water; one Al-Yamāmah, and the other As-Samāwah.”

Rasūlullāh did not understand that, he said, “And what might those pools of stagnant water be?” Al-Muthannā replied, “One of these is where the land extends to the Arab world, and the other is that of Persia and the rivers of Khosrow – Kisrā. We would be reneging on a pact that Khosrow has placed upon us, to the effect that we would not cause an incident and not give sanctuary to a trouble-maker. This policy you suggest for us is such a one thing that kings dislike. As for those areas bordering Arab lands, the blame of those so acting would be forgiven and excuses for them be accepted, but for those areas next to Persia, those so acting would not be forgiven and no such excuses would be accepted. If you want us to help you and protect you from whatever relates to Arab territories alone, we would do so.” In case you did not understand what Muthannā is referring to here; the land of Banū Shaibān was bordering the Persian Empire, so their military leader who knows the contracts between them and the Persian Empire, Al-Muthannā, he said, “We have an agreement between us and the Persians that we will never give sanctuary to a trouble-maker, and this religion of yours is something that kings do not like.”

So look at his wisdom that he realised from his meeting with Rasūlullāhﷺ that this is something that kings would not really like, because kings want to have authority in their hands to abuse others and this is a religion that is to free people. He said, ‘We cannot offer you protection from the Persian side but we can offer you protection from the Arab side. So the land that is bordering the Arabs, we will promise you that we will protect you from them, but the area that is bordering Persia, we cannot promise you anything, we cannot stand in front of the Persian Empire, it is too much for us.’

Rasūlullāhﷺ responded by saying, “Your reply is in no way bad, for you have spoken eloquently and truthfully,” – you have been honest – “but God’s Religion can only be engaged in by those who encompass it from all sides.” Rasūlullāhﷺ did not want to have half a deal, did not want to have a compromised deal; Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted to have complete protection. Rasūlullāhﷺ said the Religion of Allāh needs to be surrounded from every direction; I want an absolute commitment to protect me, you cannot say that I am going to protect you from one side but not from the other.

What we can learn from this is that in our negotiations and in our deals, we need to keep in mind that the Religion of Allāh needs to be held in high esteem, and we should not bargain and negotiate in it, and we should not compromise its terms, and if the agreement does not fulfil the Islāmic terms, we do not have to involve in it. Rasūlullāhﷺ felt no need in joining an agreement even though he knew his situation in Makkah, he knew how difficult it was, and he knew how badly he needs to leave, nevertheless he did not want to enter into an agreement that was half-hearted, half way through, and this is where you put your trust in Allāh ; Rasūlullāhﷺ left it up to Allāh  and refused to accept that particular agreement from the people of Banū Shaibān.

6.7 Al-Ansār

Ibn Is’hāq goes on with the story of Al-Ansār. Now, who are Al-Ansār? When Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj became Muslim, they were called Al-Ansār, which means ‘The Protectors’. Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj were the two Arab tribes that were living in Madīnah, and they were descendants of the branch of Qahtān. You see, the Arabs divide into ‘Adnān and Qahtān; Qahtān are the Arabs of Yemen and ‘Adnān are the descendants of Ismā‘īl , so Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj were from Qahtān. They were neighbouring three Jewish tribes; Banū Qurayzah, Banū Qaynuqā’ and Banū Nadīr. Al-Madīnah was unique in that it offered a protection from three sides; there were two rocky tracks on the east and west which were inaccessible for armies to cross, and then there were the trees, the farms of Madīnah towards the south. So the only direction where an army can attack Madīnah is from the north, so it has this natural protection from three sides.

6.7.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Invites Al-Khazraj to Islām

Rasūlullāhﷺ visited the camp of Al-Khazraj in Hajj. When Rasūlullāh came in, he asked them, “Who are you?” They said, “We are from Al-Khazraj.” Rasūlullāhﷺ asked, “Are you the allies of the Jews?” They said, “Yes.” Rasūlullāhﷺ asked, “Can I speak to you?” They agreed. So they sat down and Rasūlullāhﷺ invited them to Islām. Subhān’Allāh, they were very eager to hear what Rasūlullāhﷺ said, and they immediately accepted, and they told Rasūlullāhﷺ, “We have left our own people, for they have such discord and dissension between them not found in any other. Perhaps God may unite them through you. We will go forth among them and invite them to you, presenting to them this religion we have accepted from you. If God should unite them around you, then no one will be dearer to us than you.” This immediate acceptance of Islām by this small group of Al-Khazraj, the number was six; how come it happened that way? How come the Ansār were not resistant to the Message of Islām like the other Arab tribes? There are a few reasons:

They were Yearning for Peace :  Number One: The people of Madīnah were in a constant warfare among themselves; Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj were fighting an age-old war between themselves. Imagine two tribes living in the same city and they are fighting with each other. So they were yearning for peace, and when these men of Al-Khazraj heard the Message of Rasūlullāhﷺ, they said, “Maybe Allāh will unite us through you,” we really need peace, we have been at each other’s throats for so long. That is one reason.

Monotheism was Naturally Appealing to them : Second Reason: The Aws and Khazraj had a natural [appeal to monotheism]; monotheism was appealing to them, because they were neighbours of the Jews, and the Arabs used to see the religion of the Jews being superior to theirs. Why is that? The Jews were learned, they had scripture, they had teachings, they had knowledge, while the religion of the Arabs was merely myths and idols and killing of their daughters. So if it was not for the Jewish prejudice and arrogance towards the Arabs, most likely Al -Aws Wal-Khazraj would have been Jewish, but the reason why they did not convert is because the Jews used to always treat them as if they are a lower class [people] and as if the Jewish religion is only suitable for the elites.

They Knew this was a Time of a Prophet : [Number Three:] And sometimes there would be conflicts between the Arabs and the Jews, so the Jews would say, “This is a time of a Prophet who will appear, and when he comes out, we will follow him and we will kill you like the people of ‘Ād were killed.” So number three, the Arabs also knew that this is a time of a Prophet. So the Arabs of Aws Wal-Khazraj were prepared for this Message, Allāh  had prepared them. They knew about the monotheistic religion of the Jews and they knew the value of Tawhīd – the Oneness of Allāh, they knew that a Prophet is coming, and they needed peace.

They were in Search of Leadership : And Number Four: A few years before Hijrah of Rasūlullāhﷺ, a battle called Bu‘āth occurred between Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj. This was such a violent war, it ended up killing most of the current leaderships of both tribes. So imagine having two clans with the majority of their leaders, their seniors, killed. So now you have a people who are looking for leadership; they do not have an established structure of leadership among them, so when they heard the Message of Rasūlullāhﷺ, they were looking forward to have him lead them.

So all of these were elements, when combined together, it made Madīnah a very fertile ground for the spread of Islām. There is a statement by ‘Ā’ishah  , she said, “The war of Bu‘āth was preparation by Allāh  for the migration of Rasūlullāhﷺ.” And she says, “Qutilat Sarawātuhum – Their leaders were killed,” because remember, we said that the people who tend to be the most resistant to the truth are who? The leaders of a society. Now Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj do not have that hurdle in front of them, their leaders were killed in the Battle of Bu‘āth. And Ibn Is’hāq says,

“One way [through] which God facilitated their acceptance of Islām was that the Jews were there with them in their country; these were followers of the Scripture and men of knowledge. Though they themselves were Polytheists and Idol-Worshippers, they had previously attacked these Jews and their territories, and whenever disputes had arisen, the latter had told them, ‘A Prophet will now be sent, his day is coming. We will follow him and give you the same fate as that of the peoples of ‘Ād and Iram.’”

So Subhān’Allāh, you can see how Allāh was preparing Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj for this great responsibility. Now, ‘Asā An Takrahū Shay’an Wa Huwa Khairullakum – But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good foryou. Al-Baqarah: 216

This war that happened between Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj and killed many of them, even though it caused a lot of bloodshed and harm to them, it was one of the reasons that brought them closer to Islām.

6.7.2 Al-Ansār Accept Islām and Pledge Allegiance to the Messenger of Allāhﷺ

So these six men accepted Islām and they told Rasūlullāhﷺ, “We will go back to our people and start preaching the Message.” And they made an appointment with Rasūlullāhﷺ to meet him next year in the season of Hajj. So a year passed by and now the season of Hajj approached. The six came back as 12. We had the original six, [now] in addition to them [were] six more Muslims. The earlier six were all from Al-Khazraj, [although] there is one narration that says five were from Al-Khazraj and one from Al-Aws. Now in the second year, there were 12; 10 of them were from Al-Khazraj and two from Al-Aws. They came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and they gave him pledge of allegiance and it was called ‘The Pledge of the Women,’ even though none of them was a female. These 12 were males, but the pledge of allegiance was called Bay‘atun-Nisā’ – the Pledge of Allegiance of the Women. Why? Because it did not include within its terms any pledge of fighting, the terms of the pledge were: “‘We pledge to the Messenger of Allāh, on the night of the first meeting at ‘Aqabah, that we would not associate any other god with Allāh, that we would not steal, commit fornication, kill our children, make false accusations, nor disobey him in anything good.’ Heﷺ told us, ‘If you keep to this, you shall have Paradise, but if you give up any of this, and you are punished for it in this world, then that will provide atonement for you, but if it is overlooked until Judgment Day, it will be up to Allāh to decide whether to punish or to forgive you.’” So you can notice here that the pledge includes them committing themselves to Islām and worshipping as individuals, but it does not include any terms relating to protection or fighting, and that is why it was called Bay‘atun-Nisā’. Why was it given this name? Because this was the pledge of allegiance that women would give to Muhammadﷺ.

Implementation of Hadd Forgives the Sin : Now, there is a Fiqh issue to be dealt with here. You notice here that these are major sins; stealing, fornicating, killing children, making false accusations; these are all major sins, and there is a Hadd – a punishment, prescribed. Now, Rasūlullāhﷺ says here that if the punishment is fulfilled in this world, that will forgive you of the sin, however, if the punishment is not done in this world, then it is up to Allāh to either forgive or punish. So if someone steals, and they are punished for their stealing by the cutting of the hand, then that forgives the sin, the sin is gone, but if the punishment is not implemented, on the Day of Judgement it is up to Allāh to forgive or to punish for that particular sin, and this relates to Al-Kabā’ir – the major sins.

6.7.3 Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair  Appointed to Teach People of Madīnah Islām

Now Rasūlullāhﷺ appointed Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair to go and teach the people of Madīnah Islām. You can call him an ambassador, you can call him a teacher, you can call him a scholar; he had all of these roles in one. Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair  came from a wealthy family in Quraish. Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair was the most spoiled young man in Makkah before Islām, he used to wear the most expensive clothes, he would have the best perfume, and his mother was taking care of him; she was a very wealthy woman and she did not have many kids, so she was taking very good care of them, and he became spoilt. He became Muslim. His mother boycotted him, she stood against him, and Subhān’Allāh, Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair who was wealthy, turned from wealth to poverty, from living a spoiled life to living a tough and harsh life. And when Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair  was killed in the Battle of Uhud, the witnesses of his burial said [that] he did not even leave behind enough money to buy a coffin. And obviously since he is a Shahīd he is not wrapped in any special clothes, but when he was fighting, he had on himself one piece of cloth that was not sufficient to cover him, so they said, “Whenever we would cover his face, his feet would appear, and whenever we would cover his feet, his face would appear. So we went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and asked him, ‘What can we do?’ He said, ‘Cover his face, and then use some tree leaves to cover his feet.’”

Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair was given this difficult task and major responsibility of being the personal representative of Rasūlullāhﷺ in Madīnah. So now Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair left Makkah and he went to reside in Madīnah. Since Al-Aws Wal-Khazaraj were enemies, Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair had to lead them in Salāh, because none of them would accept praying behind an Imām from the other tribe. One day, Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair  was with As‘ad Bin Zurārah who was his host; As‘ad Bin Zurārah was the one who was hosting Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair. So they went to visit some of the Muslims. They went into this farm, [this] garden, and they were sitting there and the Muslims were coming to them to learn; they would come and meet with Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair and he would teach them, he would hold Halaqāt – sessions for them in this place. They happened to go to a neighbourhood of Madīnah that was part of Al- Aws’s territory. Now, remember that the majority of the Muslims were from which tribe, Al-Aws or Al-Khazraj? From Al-Khazraj. So Islām now was spreading with speed among Al-Khazraj but it was not catching up with Al-Aws.

6.7.4 The Islām of Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh and Usaid Bin Khudair – A Huge Breakthrough

So now Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair was trying to make inroads within Al-Aws, so they went to an area that is in the land of Al-Aws and they sat there. The leaders of Al-Aws were close by; Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh and Usaid Bin Khudair. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh spotted Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair and As‘ad Bin Zurārah. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh told Usaid Bin Khudair, “I want you to go to those two men and tell them that we do not want them around misguiding the weak and foolish among us. And if it was not for the fact that As‘ad Bin Zurārah was my relative, I would have done that myself.” As‘ad Bin Zurārah was in a position that, Subhān’Allāh, prepared him to carry this role of hosting Mus‘ab. As‘ad Bin Zurārah was from Al-Khazraj, but he was a cousin of the head of Al -Aws, so on the mother’s side he was a relative of Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh, so he had ties to both tribes, both to Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh told Usaid Bin Khudair, “I want you to go and kick them out. And if it was not for the fact that As‘ad Bin Zurārah is my relative, I would have done that myself.” So now Usaid Bin Khudair went up carrying his spear towards Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair and As‘ad Bin Zurārah. As‘ad Bin Zurārah saw him coming and he told Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair, “This is a leader of his people, be sincere with him.” Do your best, because if he becomes Muslim, many people will follow him.

Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair said, “If he listens, I would.” So now Usaid Bin Khudair came and he stood above them carrying his spear, speaking to them in a very harsh tone.

He said, “We do not want you around here misleading the weak and ignorant among us. And if you care about your lives, you better get out of here, otherwise this is my spear,” [meaning] you can be killed. So he threatened them, and one of the attendees of the Halaqah said, “Well, you are the one who is misleading us,” and he started an argument. Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair responded calmly by saying, “How about you sit down and you hear what I say? If you like it, you can accept it, if you do not, you can reject it.” Usaid Bin Khudair said, “Fair enough,” and he stuck his spear in the ground and he sat down. Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair started reciting to him Āyāt of Qur’ān, giving him Da’wah, explaining Islām. As‘ad Bin Zurārah said, “Even without him speaking a word, we were able to see Islām entering his heart because of the calmness in his face and the radiance of light coming out of it.” We could see it on his face. And when Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair finished with his session with Usaid Bin Khudair, Usaid Bin Khudair said, “What does one have to do to join your religion?” Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair told him, “Wash yourself, and you come and pray.” Usaid Bin Khudair did that, and then he came back and he said, “Now I am going to send you a man; if he becomes Muslim, all of his people will follow him.”

Usaid Bin Khudair went to Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh. Now, Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh saw Usaid Bin Khudair and he said, “I swear by Allāh that he is coming to us with a different face than the one he left us with.” The Arabs had this Farāsah thing; Farāsah is the art of reading the face, and it is reported that Ash-Shāfi‘ī went to Yemen to learn this art, so it was an art that existed. And a Chinese Muslim brother said that also in China some people have this art. You look at the face of a person and you try to read what is in their hearts, what they are thinking about, what is going on with them. There is an incident when ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was Khalīfah, he saw a man passing by and he said, “This man is either a soothsayer or he has been a soothsayer in the past.” So they went and asked this man and he said, “Yes, I used to be a soothsayer.” So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb just knew it by looking at his face.

So when Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh looked at the face of Usaid Bin Khudair, he said, “He is coming back to us with a different face to the face he left us with.” Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh asked him what happened; Usaid Ibn Khudair said, “Everything is fine, do not worry about it. There is a slight problem however, and that is that Banū Al-Hārith want to kill As‘ad Bin Zurārah because they know that he is your cousin.” In case you do not remember the names, As‘ad Bin Zurārah is the man with Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair and he is the cousin of Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh. Usaid Bin Khudair said, “Banū Al -Hārith,” – this is a branch of Al-Khazraj – “want to kill As‘ad Bin Zurārah because he is your relative.” Usaid Bin Khudair made up the whole story; that was not true. The whole reason why he made it up is [because] he wants Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh to go and meet Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh stood up angry and he said, “They want to kill my cousin?!” He picked up the spear and he left and he said, “You have not done me any good!” And he went there, and you can see anger on his face, and he was carrying his spear. Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair saw him coming. As‘ad Bin Zurārah told Mus‘ab, “This is the leader of his people, do the best you can – Bi’isdiqullāha Fī.” Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh came, and Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh just took a look at the meeting and he realised that the story that Usaid Bin Khudair reported was fabricated, because it did not seem that they were terrified, it did not seem that there was a plot to kill As‘ad Bin Zurārah, otherwise they would have been acting differently.

So Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh realised that Usaid Bin Khudair has made up this story because he wants him to come and see what is happening. Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh came and he told As‘ad Bin Zurārah, “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you bringing this man to my territory? You are taking advantage of your relationship with me? You want to mislead the ignorant and the weak among us?” Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair responded and said, “How about you sit down and hear what I have to say? If you like it, you can accept it, if you do not, you can reject it.” Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh agreed and he sat down. Notice here that the people of Madīnah are open- minded, they do not have the sense of hostility that existed in Makkah, they were willing to listen. So Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh sat down. Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair – the choice of Rasūlullāhﷺ for this mission; Subhān’Allāh, he had the Hikmah – the wisdom, of a Dā‘iyah, someone who preaches Islām – he started giving Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh the Message. As‘ad Bin Zurārah said, “I could read in his face the fact that he wants to become a Muslim.” And when the conversation finished, Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh accepted Islām. And what was the first action Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh did? He went to his people and he asked, “What is your opinion of me?” They said, “You are the wisest among us, and you are our leader.” Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh said, “Well none of you speak to me, and I will speak to none of you, until you become Muslim.” The narrator of the Hadīth said, “By the end of that evening, every house among Banū Al-Ash’hal was Muslim,” the whole clan of Banū Ash’hal which was a branch of Al-Aws. So now a huge breakthrough was made within Al-Aws [too], so you have both Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj.