8. Establishment of the Islamic State

8.1 The Masjid

What was the first project that Rasūlullāhﷺ started when he reached to Madīnah? If we take the first four projects that Rasūlullāhﷺ started with in Madīnah, these four projects were:

The Masjid
Establishing brotherhood
A Covenant that would govern the relationships between the different people of Madīnah
The establishment of the army

8.1.1 Al-Masjid An-Nabawī

We start with the first project, and that is the Masjid. The Masjid was the first thing Rasūlullāhﷺ did when he arrived to Madīnah. And you can notice that it was the first thing that he did when he arrived to Qubā’; the first thing he did when he arrived to Qubā’ was to build the Masjid of Qubā’, and the first thing he does inside Madīnah is to build Al-Masjid An- Nabawī. This is because Al-Masjid is the centre of learning for the Muslims, and that is why it was the first project that Rasūlullāhﷺ started with in Madīnah. Rasūlullāhﷺ had Dār Al-Arqam in Makkah, and now he is building the Masjid which expands the role of Dār Al-Arqam. Dār Al-Arqam was the secret location where the Muslims would meet and pray and teach, but now since Rasūlullāhﷺ had established an Islāmic State, it was not a secret location any more, it was public, it was the Masjid Al-Masjid An-Nabawī.

How Location of Al-Masjid An-Nabawī was Chosen: How did he choose the location? Rasūlullāhﷺ was riding his camel and people were pulling it; everyone wants to pull it towards their direction. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Leave it because it is being commanded by Allāh.” So the camel was going through the streets of Madīnah and then it stopped in this particular location which was a field for drying dates; when dates become ripe, they need to be dried, and they would do that in an open place so that it would be exposed to the sun and the water inside the dates would evaporate. And this field belonged to two orphans in Madīnah, so when the camel chose this location, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Hādhal Manzil – This is our place.” This was the location of the Masjid and this was the location of his living quarters.

Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted to buy this area from the two orphans. They said, “No, we are going to give it to you O Rasūlullāh, we are going to give it to you.” There were some graves in there, graves of Mushrikīn. Rasūlullāh uncovered those graves and changed the location, and they started building Al-Masjid An-Nabawī. They built it from mudbricks, and the roof was palm leaves, so when it would rain, it would drop right on top of their heads; very simple. The floor was sand. Even though it was very simple, it was the most blessed Masjid; that is where the first generation graduated from. Rasūlullāhﷺ joined the Sahābah in the building of the Masjid, he was giving them an example of himself; joining and working, so the poet among them said, “La’In Qa‘adnā Wan-Nabiyyu Ya’mal, Dhālika Minnā Al-‘Amalul Mudallal –If we sit down while the Messenger of Allāh is working, that is a misguided act on our behalf.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ himself was carrying the bricks and building the Masjid with the Sahābah.

8.1.2 Lessons from Building of the Masjid

The Masjid is the First thing that Rasūlullāhﷺ Did : Number One: The Masjid is the first thing that Rasūlullāhﷺ did. Allāh says: Alladhīna Immakkannāhum Fil Ardi Aqāmus Salāh – [And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish Prayer. Al-Hajj: 41

SoAllāh had given Rasūlullāhﷺ and the Sahābah authority in the land; the first thing they did was to establish Salāh, and by establishing the Masjid they were establishing the centre of Salāh.

Role of the Masjid :[Number Two:] What is the role of the Masjid? Allāh says in Qur’ān:

[Such niches are] in mosques which Allāh has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings. [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allāh and performance of prayer and giving of Zakāh. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about – That Allāh may reward them [according to] the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allāh gives provision to whom He wills without account. An-Nūr: 36-38

So the Masjid [itself] is just a building, but the real essence of the Masjid is the people inside the Masjid, that is the spirit of the Masjid. So Allāh says [regarding] the Houses of Allāh, in them are men who are not distracted by commerce, they are not distracted by money, they are not distracted by making a living; they worship Allāh . They do make a living, they do work, they do business, but when they are in the Masjid, they are remembering Allāh ; Dunyā is not on their mind. So the Masjid is a place of Prayer and Remembrance of Allāh; that is the first and most important role of the Masjid; it is a place of Dhikr and a place of Salāh.

The Masjid is a Centre of Learning : [Number Three:] The Masjid is a centre of learning. Dār Al-Arqam in Makkah and Masjid An-Nabawī in Madīnah – that is where Rasūlullāhﷺ would give his Khutbah, that is where he would give his talks, that is where the Sahābah would come together in circles and study, studying the Book of Allāh. Rasūlullāhﷺ says in the Hadīth that if people come together in the House of Allāh, studying the Book of Allāh and reading it, Allāh will give them four things: 1) Sakīnah – Tranquillity, 2) Rahmah – Mercy, 3) Angels will surround them, 4) Allāh will mention their names in a gathering better than theirs.

The Masjid is a Place for Muslims to Meet: [Number Four:] The Masjid is a place for Muslims to meet, so it plays a social role. Muslims who pray Jamā‘ah would meet five times a day; that strengthens the bonds of brotherhood. They also meet on Jumu‘ah, and the word Jumu‘ah and Jamā‘ah mean Congregation – people coming together, it is a gathering.

The Masjid was a Dwelling for the Travelling and the Poor : [Number Five:] The Masjid was a dwelling for the travelling and the poor, and we are going to talk about Ahl As-Suffah and the special place that was built for them in the Masjid.

The Masjid was a Place where Armies Would Be Sent Out from: [Number Six:] The Masjid was a place where the armies would be sent out from, that is where the Luwā would be set; the banners or the standards of war would be handed out inside the Masjid.

The Masjid is a Place of Da’wah : [Number Seven]: Masjid is a place for Da’wah. When the Christians from Najrān in Yemen came to visit Rasūlullāhﷺ, where did they stay? They did not stay in hotels, they were not refused or banned from entering the Masjid; they lived in the Masjid. They lived in the Masjid so that they could see Muslims pray, they could hold their discussions and conversations with Rasūlullāhﷺ. So the Masjid plays an important role in Da’wah.

Ruling on Decorating Mosques : [Number Eight:] We said that the Masjid of Rasūlullāhﷺ, Al-Masjid An-Nabawī, was simple, it did not have all of those fancy decorations, so what is the ruling on those decorations to start with? The scholars say that Tashyīd is allowed while Zakhrafah and Naqsh is not. Tashyīd means having good building material, good building for the Masjid itself. So the Masjid of Rasūlullāhﷺ was made out of mudbricks, but later on they built it from stone, they had some pillars in there – that is allowed. Having a roof made out of wood in one of the expansions of Masjid An-Nabawī, that was allowed because these things happened during the time of Al -Khulafā’ Ar-Rāshidūn. But [when it comes to] the decorations of the Masjids, the scholars have a difference of opinion; some of them say it is Harām and some of them say it is Makrūh. Now, even the ones who say that it is Makrūh, they say that if someone designates money to be used as a Waqf – as a trust for a Masjid, it is Harām to use that money to decorate the Masjid, it needs to go towards the building of the Masjid. Abū Dardā’ for example, he says, “Idhā Zakhraftum Masājidakum Wa Zawwaqtum Masāhifakum Faddamāru ‘Alaikum –If you decorate your Qur’āns –the Mus’haf, and you decorate your Masjids, then you would perish,” because that is a sign of preferring symbols over substance. The Masjid An-Nabawī was simple; mudbricks, but the best men of this Ummah graduated from Al-Masjid An-Nabawī. And now we have huge buildings, magnificent, but what are the results? They merely show the sophisticated architecture and all of the money that was thrown into those buildings, that is about it.

Tarbiyah through Practice : [Number Nine:] Tarbiyah through practice. Rasūlullāhﷺ was teaching the Sahābah by practicing, he was building the Masjid with them, he was not just giving them instructions from a high place; he was joining them in the field and showing them what it means to be a Muslim.

Specialisation is respected in Islām : [Number Ten:] Specialisation is respected in Islām and people should be told to do what they are capable of doing and what they are best at; this is an important thing for the Muslim leader to learn. Because when they were building the Masjid An-Nabawī, there was a man from An-Najd who was with them, and this man was a builder, so he asked Rasūlullāhﷺ , “Should I join you in carrying the bricks?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “No, do not carry the bricks with us, you make the mixture for the bricks and make them.” This was because other people could carry the bricks, but he should focus on what he was best at, and that was making these bricks for them. If this man was carrying bricks, you would have people who were not as expert as he was mixing the bricks, so Rasūlullāhﷺ would devote him to this act and have other people carry the bricks. Therefore in our Islāmic work, not everyone has to do the same thing, not everyone needs to be a good Dā‘iyah, not everyone needs to become a scholar, not everyone needs to be an Imām; let people do what they are capable of doing because Allāh gives different people different gifts, and the good leader is the one who recognises the abilities of his followers and advises them on how to strengthen the gifts that Allāh has given them and how to take advantage of those abilities for the sake of the benefit of Islām and Muslims.

Virtues of Al-Masjid An-Nabawī : Rasūlullāhﷺ says in the Hadīth narrated by Al-Bukhārī, “Salātun Fī Masjidī Hādhā Afdal Min Alfi Salātin Fīmā Siwāhu Illal Masjidil Harām – One Salāh in my Masjid is better than one thousand Salāh in any other Masjid except Al-Masjid Al- Harām (Al-Ka’bah).” Which means that if you pray one ‘Ishā’ for example in Al-Masjid An-Nabawī, it counts as if you have prayed ‘Ishā’ for 83 years in any other Masjid. So if you are praying ‘Ishā’ every evening in another Masjid for 83 years, that counts as one ‘Ishā’ in Al-Masjid An-Nabawī; that is how much blessing there is in praying in Al-Masjid An-Nabawī. Rasūlullāhﷺ also says, “Lā Tushaddur Rihālu Illā Ilā Thalāthati Masājid; Masjidil Harām, Wa Masjidil Aqsā, Wa Masjidī Hādhā – Youshould not travel to visit a Masjid except if it is one of three Masjids; Al-Masjid Al-Harām (Al-Ka’bah), Al-Masjid Al-Aqsā (in Jerusalem), and this Masjid of mine (Al-Masjid An-Nabawī).”

And Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “Mā Bayna Baitī Wa Mimbarī Rawdatun Min Riyādil Jannah Wa Mimbarī ‘Alā Hawdī –Between my house and my pulpit is a garden from among the gardens of Paradise, and my pulpit is on my pool (Al-Kauthar).” [This is] the pool that Rasūlullāhﷺ would be given on the Day of Judgement, and this is in Al-Bukhārī.

8.1.3 Establishment of the Adhān :

‘Abdullāh Ibn Zayd, one of the Sahābah of Rasūlullāhﷺ, saw a dream. At the time, Rasūlullāhﷺ had finished constructing the Masjid An-Nabawī and now they were thinking about ways to invite people to the Prayer. So some suggestions were using a bell, similar to what the Christians do, another suggestion was to blow a horn, such as what the Jews of Madīnah would do. So ‘Abdullāh Bin Zayd saw a dream; he saw a man carrying a bell, so ‘Abdullāh Bin Zayd asked him, “O servant of Allāh, how much would you sell that bell for?” So the man asked, “Why do you want it?” ‘Abdullāh said, “To invite people to Prayer.” So the man said, “How about if I suggest something better?” He asked, “What is it?” The man said, “You say: Allāhu Akbar Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar Allāhu Akbar, Ash’hadu Allā Ilāha Illallāh, Ash’hadu Allā Ilāha Illallāh, Ash’hadu Anna Muhammad Ar-Rasūlullāh, Ash’hadu Anna Muhammad Ar-Rasūlullāh, Hayy ‘Alas-Salāh Hayy ‘Alas-Salāh, Hayy ‘Alal-Falāh Hayy ‘Alal-Falāh, Allāhu Akbar Allāhu Akbar, Lā Ilāha Illallāh.” And then the man waited for a while and he came back to ‘Abdullāh and said, “And when you want to make Iqāmah you say,

‘Allāhu Akbar Allāhu Akbar, Ash’hadu Allā Ilāha Illallāh, Ash’hadu Anna Muhammad Ar-Rasūlullāh, Hayy ‘Alas -Salāh Hayy ‘Alal-Falāh, Qadqāmatis-Salāh Qadqāmatis-Salāh, Allāhu Akbar Allāhu Akbar, Lā Ilāha Illallāh.’”

So ‘Abdullāh Ibn Zayd immediately went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and told him about the dream. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “It is a good dream, Inshā’Allāh. Ru’yā Haqq –This is a true dream. Gowith Bilāl and teach this to him because his voice is better than yours.” Now, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Zayd is the one who gets the credit for the Adhān, but Rasūlullāhﷺ did not allow him to make it, but he told him to have Bilāl do it because Bilāl had a better voice. So they both went together and ‘Abdullāh Bin Zayd was teaching Bilāl the Adhān that he was taught in his dream, and when he finished, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb came running and he said, “O Rasūlullāh! I saw that dream.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Alhamdulillāh.” Alhamdulillāh. And this is an indication that it is a true dream; when more than one person sees the same dream, this is an indication that it is a true dream.

So this is the story of Adhān, and Adhān has become the most prominent symbol of Islām. Nowadays you know that you are in a Muslim country or a Muslim town if you hear Adhān. So this is the most prominent expression of Islām, or it is the most outwardly or public symbol of Islām.

8.1.4 Ahl As-Suffah

What was the direction of Qiblah in the beginning? The direction of Qiblah was towards the north, because they used to pray towards Jerusalem. A few months after Hijrah, Qiblah changed from the north towards the south; the exact opposite direction, towards Makkah. In the direction of the old Qiblah, they built a shed – a roof that would provide shade – and the place under it would be called As-Suffah. So what is As-Suffah and who are Ahl As-Suffah?

As-Suffah and Ahl As-Suffah : The definition of As-Suffah according to Ibn Hajar is: “As-Suffah is a place at the back of Al-Masjid An-Nabawī, and it is shaded, and it was prepared for the foreigners, the ones do not have any family or any place to stay.” And in Bukhārī, Abū Hurairah says about Ahl As-Suffah, and he was one of them, “Ahl As-Suffah are the guests of Islām, they are the ones who do not have any family or wealth to fall back on, so they live in this place call As-Suffah.” Now, not everyone who lived there was forced to live there because of their conditions; some of them chose [or] volunteered to join Ahl As-Suffah such as Abū Hurairah, because it seems that Abū Hurairah did have wealth when he made Hijrah, but he chose to devote his time to studying, and therefore he lived with the people of As-Suffah. He says about himself, “Some people are saying, ‘How come Abū Hurairah narrates a lot of Hadīth while Al-Muhājirīn and Al-Ansār do not?’” Now, we know that Abū Hurairah was late in becoming Muslim, so how come he has narrated more Hadīth than everyone else? Abū Hurairah is number one in terms of narrating Hadīth compared to all of the other Sahābah; how come Abū Hurairah knew more Ahādīth than everyone else? So he says – he is giving us the explanation, he is giving us the reason, he said, – “My brothers from Al-Muhājirīn were busy with business, while I used to follow Rasūlullāh on an empty stomach. I had nothing, I was poor, but I was still following Rasūlullāhﷺ all the time. So I would attend when they were absent and I would remember when they would forget.” And then he said, “The Ansār were busy with their farms, and I was a poor man and I would remember what they would not.” Because he devoted his life to studying, he had time to review the Ahādīth that he would hear from Rasūlullāhﷺ, in fact he says about himself, “I split the night into three parts; one part I would sleep, one part I would pray, and one part I would review the Ahādīth of Rasūlullāhﷺ that I would hear during the day.” While the other Muhājirīn and Al-Ansār were busy, they had work to do; the Muhājirīn had business and the Ansār had farms, while Abū Hurairah had nothing to preoccupy him from studying, so he chose to be from among Ahl As-Suffah so that he could go and study with Rasūlullāhﷺ fulltime.

How People of As-Suffah Lived: How would the people of As-Suffah live? One source of livelihood for them was the Sadaqāt that Rasūlullāhﷺ would send to them. When Rasūlullāh would receive Sadaqah, he would send it to them, and when he would receive a gift, he would take some of it and give them the rest. Now, with the Sadaqah, you notice that I did not say that Rasūlullāh would take any of it, because Rasūlullāhﷺ did not accept Sadaqah. Rasūlullāhﷺ would [also] encourage the well-off Sahābah to invite them. One of the Ansār, Ya‘eesh Al-Ghifārī, he said, “My father was from among the people of As-Suffah. Rasūlullāhﷺ ordered the Sahābah to invite Ahl As-Suffah to their houses, so they came and every one of the Sahābah took some of us away until only five of us were left, and then Rasūlullāhﷺ told us all to go with him to his house and he fed us.” And in another narration, Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “Whoever has food enough for two people, should take a third with him, and whoever has enough food for four people, he should take a fifth or a sixth person with him.”

Sacrifice and Generosity was Part of Islām from Day One : I just want to comment here and say that you notice that sacrifice and generosity was part of Islām from very early on, in fact from Makkah, from day one. Allāh has revealed Āyāt about taking care of the orphan, taking care of the needy, being generous towards the guest; all of these are ‘Ibādāt that were encouraged from day one. So we should not think that being a Muslim does not demand sacrifice; there is no free ride; if we want Jannah, if we seek to please Allāh , we have to sacrifice for Allāh , we have to give, and giving was part of being a Muslim from day one. These Sahābah who were inviting others, they were not millionaires, Rasūlullāhﷺ was saying if you have enough food for two people, only two people, you take a third person with you, so he was telling the Sahābah to invite others to their houses when they only had enough food for two people.

Rasūlullāhﷺ would take care of them even though others would come to him for needs, an example was Fātimah , the daughter of Rasūlullāhﷺ, the most beloved to the Messenger of Allāhﷺ. She had to do all of the hard work at home until her hands were becoming injured and coarse, so ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib told her, “Your father has received some Sabī (Sabī are slaves), so go and ask him to give you a servant.” So Fātimah goes to her father and asks for a servant. What does Rasūlullāhﷺ say to his most beloved? What does he say to his daughter whom he can see her suffering? He said, “In the name of Allāh, I am not going to give you and leave the people of As-Suffah with hungry stomachs because they do not have any money, and I do not have any money to spend on them. So I am going to free (meaning sell) these slaves and I am going to use that money to give it to Ahl As -Suffah.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ was giving Ahl As -Suffah and preventing his own daughter Fātimah . That shows you how much Rasūlullāhﷺ cared for Ahl As-Suffah.

Contribution of Ahl As-Suffah : Now, [with] Ahl As-Suffah, you know, we should not think that Ahl As-Suffah are these people who are trying to take advantage of all of the freebies, free lodging and free food, and they just do nothing. These were very active people in ‘Ibādah, these were true monks, these were students of knowledge, these were scholars, these were Mujāhidīn, many of them became Shuhadā’. For example, among the scholars who graduated from the ranks of Ahl As-Suffah is Abū Hurairah , the most prolific narrator of the Ahādīth of Rasūlullāhﷺ. Another member of Ahl As-Suffah was Hudhaifah Bil Yamān, the expert of the Ahādīth of Fitan; most of the Ahādīth about the End of Time came to us through who? Hudhaifah Bil Yamān . And then for example, let us talk about Shuhadā’ from among Ahl As-Suffah; Safwān Ibn Baydā’, Kharīm Bin Fātiq Al -Azdī, Khabīb Bin Isāf, Sālim Bin ‘Umair, Hārithah Bin An-Nu’mān; [these were all] Shuhadā’ in the Battle of Badr. Hanzalah, the one who was washed by the angels, was a Shahīd in Uhud. Jurhud Bin Khuwailid [and] Abū Suraih Al-Ghifārī became Shuhadā’ in Hudaybiyyah. Thaqif Bin ‘Amr became a Shahīd on Khaybar. ‘Abdullāh Dhul Bajādain [became a] Shahīd on Tabūk. Sālim Maulā Abī Hudhaifah and Zayd Ibn Al-Khattāb, the brother of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb, were Shuhadā’ in Yamāmah. And they used to try to make a living if they could. Az-Zamakhsharī says that they used to gather the date seeds and they would crush them and then sell it as animal feed. So they would try to make a living but the conditions were difficult, the conditions in Madīnah in general were difficult, so they were forced into poverty.

Number of Ahl As-Suffah : What was the number of Ahl As- Suffah? Well, the number goes up and down depending on the conditions, but they would average about 70, so we are talking about a huge group of people. And they used to live fulltime in the back of Al-Masjid An-Nabawī. They were very active in study because they were close to the centre of learning, Al-Masjid An-Nabawī, which was the University of Islām, and that is why they have narrated a lot of Ahādīth.

Lessons from Ahl As-Suffah : Some points regarding Ahl As-Suffah:

Importance of Having a Social Welfare System : Number One: The importance of having a social welfare system. People would stay at As-Suffah and feed at the houses of Al-Ansār. So the Ansār as we mentioned, would invite them and take them to their houses. Rasūlullāhﷺ would do the same. Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, the well-off Muhājirīn, would do the same. So it is important to have this welfare system, and it is also part of Da’wah. ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit said, “Rasūlullāh would become busy, so he would turn over the new Muslims to us. If a new Muhājir (immigrant) would come to Rasūlullāhﷺ – (this is a new Muslim who just came into Madīnah. If he comes to Rasūlullāhﷺ) – and Rasūlullāhﷺ was busy, he would send him over to one of us to teach him Qur’ān. So Rasūlullāhﷺ sent to me a man. So he stayed with me at home and I would feed him as a member of my own family, and then I would teach him Qur’ān.” So Da’wah to them also involved taking care of these new Muslims who could not afford [to live in] Madīnah, because some of them would make Hijrah to Madīnah and they would leave all of their wealth behind. These could be wealthy people, but they sacrificed everything for Allāh and they came to Madīnah, so it is now the responsibility of the Muslim to take care of them. So ‘Ubādah was saying that Rasūlullāhﷺ sent this man over to him to teach him Qur’ān, but he also had to take care of his social needs, and this is very important in Da’wah; sometimes we have people who come from poor backgrounds becoming Muslim, sometimes we have people who had to give up their work because it is Harām, and then they have nothing; it is a duty of Muslims to be generous towards them and to take care of them in their first steps towards Allāh.

Organisation of Muslim Jamā‘ah : Number Two: Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted the Muslim Jamā‘ah, the Muslim society, to become organised, so he appointed representatives over these groups. So Abū Hurairah was an ‘Arīf; ‘Arīf is someone who would represent his people and would know them and would express their needs towards the leader. So Abū Hurairah was the representative of Ahl As-Suffah, so if Rasūlullāhﷺ had any instructions to give to Ahl As-Suffah or he wanted to hear their needs, it would occur through their representative Abū Hurairah , and this shows you the organisation that Rasūlullāhﷺ instilled in the Muslim Jamā‘ah. So it is important that we organise our Muslim communities wherever we are, [that] we organise according to the need. Now, we talked about the first project sponsored by Rasūlullāhﷺ in Madīnah and that was Al- Masjid; what are the other three? Because Rasūlullāhﷺ embarked on four projects as soon as he came into Madīnah; the first one was Al-Masjid An-Nabawī, the second one was the establishing of brotherhood between Al-Muhājirīn and Al-Ansār, the third was the covenant that would govern the relationships between the different communities in Madīnah; the Arabs and the Jews, and the foreign relations with the people of Quraish, and number four [was] the establishment of the Muslim army. These were the first four projects that Rasūlullāhﷺ embarked on when he immigrated to Madīnah. We talked about the first one, the Masjid, now we move on to the second.

8.2 Establishing Brotherhood

Brotherhood in Qur’ān : Brotherhood is very important in Islām. Allāh says: And hold firmly to the rope of Allāh all together and do not become divided. And remember the favour of Allāh upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allāhmake clear to you His verses that you may be guided. Āl ‘Imrān: 103

And Allāh also says: And brought together their hearts.

If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have brought their hearts together; but Allāh brought them together. Indeed, He is Exalted in Might and Wise. Al-Anfāl: 63

Allāh is telling Muhammadﷺ that it is Allāh Who brought the hearts of the Muslims together, and if you spent all the money in the world, you could not have done so. You cannot buy off the hearts of men; this was a favour from Allāh that he brought Al-Muhājirīn and Al-Ansār together and made them brothers.

Allāh says about Al-Ansār: And [also for] those who were settled in al-Madīnah and [adopted] the faith before them. (Sothis is the first quality of Al-Ansār; they settled in the home Madīnah. Their second quality:) They love those who emigrated to them… (sothey do not feel that these guests are a burden on them; they loved Al-Muhājirīn. The third quality:) …and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given… (the fourth quality:) …but give [them] preference over themselves… (Al-Ansār would give the Muhājirīn preference overthemselves) …even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful. Al-Hashr: 9

(Allāh has protected Al-Ansār from stinginess in their souls.)

Al-Muhājir and Al-Ansār – A Blood-Brother Relationship: These Āyāt are talking about brotherhood in general, but there is a specific brotherhood that we are talking about here, and that is the brotherhood between Al-Muhājirīn and Al- Ansār, which started, according to As- Suhailī, he says some people say that this pact of brotherhood started five months after Hijrah, while some say nine months after Hijrah, while some say it was established as soon as he built Al-Masjid An-Nabawī, so we are talking about immediately as he set in in Madīnah. What this brotherhood entailed was [that ] they were brothers just as if they were blood-brothers, meaning that even in inheritance the rules of inheritance would apply to them just as if they were blood-brothers.

Sa’d Ibn Rabī‘ah and ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf : An example of one of these brotherhood relationships between Al-Muhājir and Al -Ansār was that of Sa’d Ibn Rabī‘ah and ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf. ‘Abdul Rahmān Bin ‘Awf was a Muhājir from Makkah, he is one of the 10 who were given the glad-tidings of Jannah. He stayed at the house of Sa’d Bin Rabī‘ah. Sa’d Ibn Rabī‘ah told him, “O my brother, I am one of the most wealthiest men in Madīnah, I will split my wealth in half and give it to you. And I am married to two women; you can take a look at both of them and choose whichever one you want, and I will divorce her and after she finishes her ‘Iddah you can marry her.” This is the level of sacrifice that they were willing to go to. ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “BārakAllāhu Laka Fī Ahlika Wa Mālik –May Allāh bless your wealth and bless your family. Show me the way to the market.” So he said thank you, you can keep your wealth, and may Allāh bless it for you and bless your family, but I want you to show me the way towards the market. Sa’d Ibn Rabī‘ah did show him the way towards the market of Banū Qaynuqā’. ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf, Allāh had blessed his wealth, so very early on he was able to establish himself and he became very wealthy; he went in the market and he worked and he made some money.

One day, Rasūlullāhﷺ saw on him some yellow colour, Sufrah. This was a type of powder that women would use as makeup in Madīnah, so it was on the face of ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf, women’s makeup was on his face, so Rasūlullāhﷺ asked him, “Mā? – What is this? Did you get married?” ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “Yes.” So Rasūlullāh asked him, “And what did you give her as Mahr?” Meaning where did you get the money from? ‘Abdul Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “I gave her the size of a date seed in gold as her Mahr.” So he had already enough money to buy gold. Rasūlullāhﷺ then told him, “Awlim Walaw Bishāh – Make a Walīmah, even if you only slaughter one goat or one sheep.”

Salmān Al-Fārsī and Abū Dardā’ : These brothers would also advise each other. An example of that was the brotherhood between Salmān Al-Fārsī and Abū Dardā’ . Abū Dardā’ was an ‘Ābid – he was a worshipper of Allāh, and he was a Zāhid. Salmān Al- Fārsī came in and this was before Hijāb, and he saw that his wife was not taking care of herself in her dress, in the way she looks, [etc.], so Salmān told her, “What is wrong with you?” He was speaking to the wife of Abū Dardā’ and telling her [this] because she was a Mutabazzilah – Mutabazzilah means she did not take care of her looks, so Salmān was asking her, “Why?” She said, “Because your brother Abū Dardā’ is not interested in Dunyā.” Your brother Abū Dardā’ is not interested in Dunyā. So there was no need for her to look good in front of her husband because he was not really interested in anything regarding this world. When Abū Dardā’ came in, Abū Dardā’ brought him some food and told Salmān to eat, and he said, “I am fasting.” Salmān told him, “I am not going to eat until you also eat with me.” So he forced Abū Dardā’ to break his fast. And then when night came, Abū Dardā’ stood up to start his Qiyām Al -Layl. Salmān told him, “Go and sleep,” so he slept. And then he woke up and he wanted to pray, Salmān told him, “Go and sleep.” And then towards the end of the night, Salmān went to Abū Dardā’ and told him, “Now you can pray.” Abū Dardā’, the next day, went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and told him that this man had me break my fast, had me sleep at night, [etc.]. Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Sadaqa Salmān – Salmān was right.” Salmān told Abū Dardā’, and this was conveyed to Rasūlullāhﷺ , “Inna Li-Rabbika ‘Alaika Haqqā, Wa Inna Li-Ahlika ‘Alaika Haqqā, Wa Inna Li-Nafsika ‘Alaika Haqqā, Fa- A’tī Kulla Dhī Haqqin Haqqah. – Youhave obligations towards Allāh, and you have obligations towards your family, and you have obligations towards yourself, so fulfil the obligations of everyone.” Salmān Al-Fārsī here is giving Nasīhah to Abū Dardā’, because Salmān Al-Fārsī is more knowledgeable; the Muhājirīn spent years with Rasūlullāhﷺ and they had acquired all of this knowledge. I just want to note here that Salmān Al-Fārsī was a Muhājir to Madīnah in the sense that he came from Persia to Madīnah for the sake of finding the Prophetﷺ, but he did not come from Makkah, Salmān Al-Fārsī came from Persia. But he was the brother of Abū Dardā’; they were both made brothers by Rasūlullāhﷺ.

Sacrifice of Al-Ansār and Gratitude of Al-Muhājirūn : So the Ansār were very co-operative and sacrificing towards Al-Muhājirūn. In fact, Al-Ansār went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “Iqsim Baynanā Wa Bayna Ikhwāninannakhī – OMessenger of Allāh, split the palm grovesbetween us and the Muhājirīn.” They were offering Al -Muhājirūn half of their wealth. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “No.” So the Ansār said, “ Taqfūnanal Mu’nah Wa Nushrikukum Fith-Thamrah –Then you take care of the work inthe farms and we will split the harvests between us and you.” Rasūlullāhagreed and that was the deal, that the Muhājirūn will serve in their farms and then they will split the harvest in half. But even that did not happen; the Ansār, even though they said that we will have the Muhājirūn work, they ended up doing most of the work. So the Muhājirūn came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, we have never seen a people like this; they comfort us when they are poor, and they are generous when they are well-off, they work in their farms and then they split the harvest with us. We think that they would get all of the reward on the Day of Judgement and leave us with nothing.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “No, as long as you are grateful towards them and as long as you make Du‘ā’ for them.” As long as you are grateful, and this shows you the value of being grateful to Allāh and to His creation; anybody who does us good we should be grateful towards them, otherwise they will end up taking all of the Ajr and leave us without anything. And make Du‘ā’ for them; so if someone – and this is a habit that we should develop – if someone does you good, make Du‘ā’ for them, if someone has done you a favour, make Du‘ā’ for them, ask Allāh , and ask Allāh with sincerity. You know, sometimes we just do Du‘ā’, we just do it with the tongue and we do not really know what we are saying, ‘Oh, JazākAllāh Khairan! Oh JazakAllāh Khairān!’ but we have to say it sincerely – may Allāh reward you, may Allāh bless you, may Allāh give you, may Allāh give you Hasanah in this world and give you Hasanah in the Afterlife; this is part of becoming a Muslim, Man Lā Yashkuran Nās Lā Yashkur Allāh –The one who is not grateful towards people is not going tobe grateful towards Allāh.

This relationship of brotherhood [which] was in pairs – one Muhājir and one Ansār – carried on for a while until the situation of the Muhājirūn improved, and then it was dissolved, and the general brotherhood of the Ummah remained. So this specific type of brotherhood was dissolved and inheritance laws now only applied to the blood relatives. Allāh says: And those who believed after [the initial emigration] and emigrated and fought with you – they are of you. But those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] in the decree of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Knowing of all things. Al-Anfāl: 75

Birth of a Nation Based on Īmān :

One lesson to learn from this topic of brotherhood; a new community was being developed based on a new bond. In Arabia, the bonds that existed were the bonds of blood relationship, the bonds of economical relationships; but now a nation was born based on faith, it was a faith-based community. We talked about the complication of the situation in Madīnah, we said that you had Arab Pagan [idol] worshippers, and you had Arab Muslims, and then you had Jews, and [within] this multi-faith and multi-ethnic society there were some disputes [and] conflicts going on, and we mentioned the example of when Rasūlullāhﷺ went to give Nasīhah in this gathering of men in Madīnah and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ complained and said, “Do not come and bother us with your stories,” [and] war was almost going to break out. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was now building a nation, an Ummah, based on Īmān, therefore the former relationships needed to be dissolved. So the Āyāt of Qur’ān were being revealed to break down the former alliances. So Allāh says: O you who have believed, do not take your fathers or your brothers as allies if they have preferred Disbelief over Belief. And whoever does so among you – then it is those who are the wrongdoers. At-Tawbah: 23

So Allāh is now telling the Muslims that you need to terminate the relationships of loyalty that you have with your tribes if they are not Muslim. And Allāh says: O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection while they have disbelieved in what came to you of the truth, having driven out the Prophet and yourselves [only] because you believe in Allāh , your Lord. If you have come out for Jihād in My cause and seeking means to My approval, [take them not as friends]. You confide to them affection, but I am most knowing of what you have concealed and what you have declared. And whoever does it among you has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way. If they gain dominance over you, they would be to you as enemies and extend against you their hands and their tongues with evil, and they wish you would disbelieve. Never will your relatives or your children benefit you; the Day of Resurrection He will judge between you. And Allāh, of what you do, is Seeing. Al-Mumtahanah: 1-3

Sonow you have new rules, that these former alliances, the loyalty that you used to give to the tribes, needs to end.

Now, this is talking about the relationship between the Muslim and the Non-Muslim in general, but then there are some specific Āyāt that came to talk about the relationship of the Muslim with the People of the Book, the Christians and the Jews, specifically. Why? Because in Madīnah, now you have People of the Book, and the Arabs had this ongoing relationship with Al-Yahūd, whether it was a neighbourly relationship, or it was an economical relationship because of all the economical interest that existed between the two sides, or whether it was pacts of protection; [a] political relationship. So Allāh was revealing Āyāt to deal with that issue, Allāh says: O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allāh guides not the wrongdoing people. Al-Mā’idah: 51

Therefore the meaning of this part – he is [one] of them – is that a Muslim has become a Non-Muslim, a Muslim has disbelieved if he takes the People of the Book as allies.

And Allāh says: O you who have believed, if you obey a party of those who were given the Scripture, they would turn you back, after your Belief, [to being] Unbelievers. And how could you Disbelieve while to you are being recited the verses of Allāh and among you is His Messenger? And whoever holds firmly to Allāh has [indeed] been guided to a straight path. Āl ‘Imrān: 100-101

SoAllāh is telling the Muslims, if you follow the ways of the People of the Book who are living among you in Madīnah, you are going to become Disbelievers. And Allāh says – and Allāh is teaching us this rule; this is not talking about an exception, this is not talking about a particular period of history, Allāh is telling us about something that will remain constant until the Day of Judgement: – And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, “Indeed, the guidance of Allāh is the [only] guidance.” If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allāh no protector or helper. Al-Baqarah: 120

So now all of these relationships of loyalty are negated, so you have cut all of these relationships; now what? You are just like with Lā Ilāha Illallāh; it starts with negating and then it affirms. Lā Ilāha – There is no God, so it negates divinity from any deity. There is no one worthy of worship; that is how it starts. And then it affirms, after it negates the divinity of any deity, it of worship except Allāh. Same thing here, and this concept in Islām is called Al-Walā Wal-Barā’, which is an important article of ‘Aqīdah. After it negates the relationship [where] Allāh is saying that you should not take your fathers and your brothers as Awliyā’ except Allāh, you should not take the People of the Book as Awliyā’ except Allāh, so it negates all of these relationships. And then it affirms who our loyalty should be given to, Allāh says: Your ally is none but Allāh and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed – those who establish Prayer and give Zakāh, and they bow [in worship]. And whoever is an ally of Allāh and His Messenger and those who have believed – indeed, the party of Allāh – they will be the predominant. Al-Mā’idah: 55-56

[Allāh says:] Your ally is none but Allāh and His Messenger and those who have believed; these are the ones you should give your loyalty to. So now a new community was being established, a community based on faith. Allāh says: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh; and those with him are forceful against the Disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in Prayer], seeking bounty from Allāh and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torāh. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks, delighting the sowers – so that Allāh may enrage by them the Disbelievers. Allāh has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward. Al-Fath: 29

Virtues of Al-Ansār : We will talk about some of the virtues of Al -Ansār, the ones who sacrificed for Rasūlullāhﷺ. Rasūlullāhﷺ says in Bukhārī, “Lā Yuhibbuhum Illā Mu’min, Walā Yabghaduhum Illā Munāfiq. Faman Ahabbahum Ahabbahullāh Wa Man Abghadahum Abghadahullāh –Only a Believer would love them, and only a Munāfiq – a Hypocrite – would hate them. And whoever loves them, Allāh will love him, and whoever dislikes them, Allāh will dislike him.”

Rasūlullāhﷺ says in Bukhārī, “If the Ansār take one path and the rest of the people take another path, I would follow the path of Al- Ansār. And if it was not that I had made Hijrah, I would consider myself a member of Al-Ansār.”

Rasūlullāhﷺ says in Bukhārī, “O Allāh! Forgive the Ansār, and the children of Al-Ansār, and the children of the children of Al-Ansār, and the women of Al-Ansār.”

And Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “People are going to increase and the Ansār are going to decrease…” because now you have a lot of people becoming Muslim, so the ratio of Al-Ansār to the rest is going to become few, so Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “…except from the one of them who does good and overlooks the mistakes of the ones who commit them. In the name of Allāh, I love you. Al-Ansār have done their part, now it is your turn.” He was talking to the rest of the people and telling them Al-Ansār have done what they had to do, it is now your turn to fulfil your duties towards this Religion.

So this is the part regarding the second important project of Rasūlullāhﷺ in Madīnah, and that is establishing a community based on brotherhood. So I think it is clear from these Āyāt and what we mentioned the importance of developing brotherhood among the Ummah. Keep in mind that Shaitān is always trying to disunite us, so we have to fight this Waswasah, and we have to be aware that the Waswasah is there. We have to understand that there is someone plotting against us being brothers in order to fight that enemy Shaitān who is always trying to cause disunity among us; one single word Shaitān can use to cause a dispute between a Muslim and his brother, and that is why Allāh tells Muhammadﷺ: Wa Qul Li-‘Ibādī Yaqūlullatī Hiya Ahsan. Innash-Shaitāna Yanzaghu Baynahum. Innash-Shaitāna Kāna Lin-Nāsi ‘Aduwwam Mubīn – And tell My servants to say thatwhich is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy. Al-Isrā’: 53

Allāh is telling Muhammad (Pbuh), ‘Tell My servants to speak good, because Shaitān is there to cause disunity among them, and Shaitān is indeed your enemy.’ So Allāh is saying that he could take one of those words that you said and cause your brother to misinterpret it and then cause a problem. So be careful of what you say.

8.3 The Covenant Between People of Madinah

8.3.1 the Covenant [or] the Document.

The third project which Rasūlullāhﷺ started when he arrived to Madīnah was what is called Al-Wafīqah – the Covenant [or] the Document. This was a document that was written to govern the relationship between the different communities in Madīnah. I will read to you the terms of this agreement, it was narrated by Ibn Is’hāq, “The Messenger of Allāhﷺ wrote a contract between the Immigrants and the Helpers in which he expressed conciliation.” These are the words of Ibn Is’hāq, we will start with the terms of the agreement itself, it says:

In the name of Allāh, the Merciful, the Beneficent.

This is a document from Muhammad, the Unlettered Prophet, between the Believers and Muslims of Quraish and Yathrib and their followers, allies and supporters, establishing that they are one nation, apart from all others. The immigrants from Quraish will maintain their current practice and will honour blood-money contracts between themselves and will treat their weaker members with kindness and justice. The Banū ‘Awf shall maintain their current practice and honour their former blood-money contracts, each party treating their weaker members with kindness and justice among all Believers.

He then made reference to each clan of the Helpers and to the families of each home, mentioning the Banū Sa’d and the Banū Jusham, the Banū Najjār, the Banū ‘Amr Bin ‘Awf and the Banū Nābit. He went on to say, The Believers shall not leave anyone among them burdened with debts without giving to him in kindness and in paying for him any ransom money or blood-money he owes. A Believer will not ally with any freed man of a second Believer against that man. Pious Believers act against any of their own who practice evil or seek to bring harm, sin, aggression, or corruption, among Believers. Believers will unite against anyone doing this, even if he be one of their own sons. No Believer shall kill any Believer for any Non-Believer, nor shall he help any Non-Believer against a Believer.

So you can notice here that this concept of community based on faith is there. No Believer shall kill any Believer for any Non-Believer, nor shall he help any Non-Believer against a Believer. Allāh’s protection is all one; the least of them can offer protection to others. Believers are allies to one another, excluding others. Meaning we are a nation apart from everyone else.

Whatever Jews follow us, shall receive help and equality. They shall not be maltreated, nor will help be afforded others against them. No peace shall be accepted from any one Believer to the exclusion of others when the battle is for Allāh’s cause. Among them equality and justice must prevail. In every expedition we engage in, riders shall take turns on their mounts. Believers shall avenge one another for blood shed in Allāh’s cause. Believers who are pious are well guided on the straightest of paths.

No Polytheist shall be allowed to offer protection for the property or persons of Quraish, nor try to interfere with any Believer. Anyone who has clearly aggressed against and caused the death of any Believer shall be subject to retaliation for him, unless the dead man’s executor can be satisfied. Believers as a whole shall take action against him and no excuse for their not doing so will be acceptable.

It shall not be permissible for any Believer who has accepted what is in this document, and who believes in Allāh and Judgement Day, to give help or shelter to any wrongdoer. Any Believer who does this shall be the object of Allāh’s curses and anger on Judgement Day, and neither compensation nor excuse will be acceptable from him. Any matter in which you disagree must be referred to Allāh – Almighty and Glorious is He – and to Muhammadﷺ. The Jews shall pay expenses along with the Muslims, so long as they are allied in warfare. The Jews of Banī ‘Awf are one nation with the Believers; the Jews shall have their religion, the Muslims their own. This applies to their freed men and to themselves, except for those who commit sins and are unjust, such persons only harm themselves and their families. What applies to Banī ‘Awf shall also apply to the Jews of Banū Najjār, Banū Al-Hārith, Banū Sa’dah, Banū Jusham, Banū Al-‘Aws, Banū Tha’labah and Juthnah and Banū Shutaibah.

The close associates of the Jews shall be viewed as themselves; none of them shall go to war without Muhammad’s permission. However, he is not thereby constrained from taking revenge for injury; whoever attacks another may do so to protect himself and his family, but act not unjustly, for Allāh condemns such acts.

The Jews shall bear their own expenses, the Muslims theirs. Each must help one another against any who fight those who adopt this document. They must give one another advice and consultation, and do good and avoid evil. A man is not held blameworthy on behalf of his ally. Help must be given to those wronged. The centre of Yathrib shall be a sanctuary for those who agree to this document. One’s neighbour shall be treated as one’s self, without being harmed or sinned against. No property shall be encroached upon without the permission of its owner. In the case of any dispute or incident occurring between those agreeing to this document, and involving consequences likely to be harmful, the matter must be referred to Allāh and to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allāh. Allāh acknowledges what is very good and very pious in this document.

Quraish and those who helped them shall receive no protection. Those accepting this document must help one another against anyone attacking Yathrib. If they are called upon to make peace, and do so and keep to it, they will be making peace. If they make a similar demand, then it is up to the Muslims to agree, except if the warfare is over the Faith. Each participant shall receive whatever portion is due to him from his own side’s winnings. This document will not provide protection for anyone sinful or unjust. Whoever goes to war will be safe, or whoever leaves will be safe, whoever stays in the town will be safe, except for those who have sinned or been unjust. Allāh provides protection for those who are good and pious.

So this was the document that Rasūlullāhﷺ wrote to govern the communities in Madīnah. Inshā’Allāh Ta‘ālā, we will make some brief comments on this document.

8.3.2 Comments on the Covenant

We [have already] talked about the covenant; this document that was drawn up by Rasūlullāhﷺ to govern the relationships of the different peoples of Madīnah. We mentioned that you had Arabs who were Polytheists and Muslim and then you had the Jewish tribes of Madīnah. A few comments on that covenant:

Establishment of a Muslim Identity : It states [in the document] that Ummah Wāhidah Dūn An- Nās. It states that the Believers are Ummah Wāhidah Dūn An-Nās, which is Believers are allies to one another excluding others. So here you have the faith-based community, an Ummah established on faith, which was a novel concept to the Arabs who used to base everything on the relationship of blood. So now Rasūlullāhﷺ was coming up with this concept of ‘we are brothers because we are Believers.’ And not only that we are brothers, but we are brothers excluding everyone else; there is a special bond just because of us being Muslim, and that was a statement made in the document. So this might be one explanation of the reason why you find that there were many orders given by Rasūlullāhﷺ to distinguish the Muslims from the Jews for example. Now, obviously everything in Islām was distinguishing it from the Pagan [idol] worshipping religion of Arabia, but since there were some commonalities between the Muslims and the People of the Scripture, Rasūlullāhﷺ did not want that to overflow, he wanted the Muslims to keep a distinct identity. So you will find that there are many Ahādīth in which Rasūlullāhﷺ was ordering or instructing the Muslims to be different than the Jews of Madīnah. For example, you had the Jews of Madīnah [who] did not pray in leather socks, so Rasūlullāhﷺ said,

“Khāliful Yahūda Fa Innahum Lā Yusallūna Fī Ni‘ālihim Walā Khifāfihim– Act differently from the Jews, for they do not pray in their sandals or their shoes.” The Yahūd of Madīnah would not dye with henna, so Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Asbuhū Shaib Bil-Hinnā – Dye your hair with henna,” and this is for men. [Similarly], when Rasūlullāhﷺ came into Madīnah, he saw that the Jews would fast on the 10^th of Muharram – ‘Āshūrā’, so he enquired for the reason; the response was that this was the day in which Allāh saved Mūsā from Fir‘aun. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Nahnu Awlā Bi-Mūsā Minhum– Mūsā belongs to us more than he belongs to them.” [Meaning] Mūsā was a Believer, so we are part of him and he is part of us, therefore we should fast on this day, and Rasūlullāhﷺ started the tradition of fasting on the 10^th of Muharram which is called ‘Āshūrā’. However, before he passed away,ﷺ, he said, “La’In ‘Ishtu Ilā Qābil La’Asūmanna At-Tāsi’ – If I live until next year I am also going to fast the 9^th of Muharram.” So rather than only fast the 10^th, he was going to fast on the 9^th and the 10^th to distinguish the Muslims from the Jews who would only fast the 10^th.

Establishment of Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Authority: Second comment on this document: This document was establishing the authority of Rasūlullāhﷺ who just walked in as a guest. Rasūlullāhﷺ was invited to Madīnah, but Rasūlullāhﷺ was there to be followed. Allāh says: And We did not send any Messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allāh. An-Nisā’: 64

SoRasūlullāhﷺ was to be followed by the people, and he was establishing his authority by the will of Allāh through various means; one of them was this covenant. By the way, the four projects that Rasūlullāhﷺ started with in Madīnah – number one, the Masjid; the first thing that Rasūlullāhﷺ did when he went into Madīnah was build the Masjid, number two, establishing the brotherhood between Al-Muhājirīn and Al-Ansār, number three, this covenant, number four, the establishment of the Muslim army – all of these four were consolidating the foundations of this newly formed Islāmic State, and it was consolidating the authority of Rasūlullāhﷺ, the one sent by Allāh to bring the people out of darkness to light.

So, in the document it says, “Wa Innakum Makhtalaftum Fīhi Min Shay’ Fa-Inna Maraddahū Ilallāhi Wa Ilā Muhammad –Any matter in which you disagree must be referred to Allāh – Almighty and Glorious is He – and to Muhammad.” The only name mentioned in this document of an individual is that of Muhammadﷺ. Any matter of dispute that occurs between the Jews or the Arabs, or the Arabs among themselves, any matter of dispute that occurs between a citizen of Madīnah and an outsider, all of these matters need to be referred to Allāh and the Messenger of Allāh . So this was establishing the rule of Allāh in Madīnah; the governance of the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of Muhammadﷺ. This was agreed upon by everyone in Madīnah; the Muslims and the Non-Muslims, Arabs or Jews alike.

Relationship between Muslims and Jews : Third comment: The relationship between the Muslims and the Jews. It is clear from this covenant that Rasūlullāhﷺ was extending a hand of tolerance towards the People of the Book. You find that this document considers the Jews to be citizens of Madīnah, citizens of the Islāmic State. [Number one,] they were granted religious freedom and State protection, they were allowed to worship according to their teachings, and number two, it was the responsibility of the Muslim State to protect them. They were also required, on the other hand, to support the Muslims against any enemy that attacked Madīnah, they were also required to give sincere council to the Muslim State and never conspire against it, or to withhold information which was important to the security of the Muslim State, and also they were not allowed to leave; anyone was not allowed to leave from Madīnah without the permission of Rasūlullāhﷺ. And they had to refer to Muhammadﷺ in any dispute that might arise between the Jews and the Muslims. So this is how it started, this is how the relationship between the Muslims and the Jews started, however, from there on, it was always downhill, and the reason is, as we will see through these talks, [it] was [due to] the response of the Jews to the Muslim presence in Madīnah. But from the side of Rasūlullāhﷺ , this is how he approached it, this is how he dealt with the Yahūd in the early days of his immigration to Madīnah; he considered them to be citizens of the Islāmic State, and he offered them protection, and he gave them equal rights.

Establishing the Sanctity of Madīnah : The fourth comment: Establishing the sanctity of Madīnah. Makkah was considered to be a Haram by the Arabs – Haram is a sanctuary, it was holy – [and] now Rasūlullāhﷺ was doing the same with Madīnah. It says in the document, Inna Yathrib Harāmun Jawfuhā Li’Ahli Hādhihis-Sahīfun – The centre of Yathrib is a sanctuary for everyone in this covenant. And this includes not cutting down trees, they were not allowed to hunt, and they were not allowed to fight within the boundaries of this area or carry weapons. So these are a few comments regarding this covenant.

Some Sahābahs were Held Back from Hijrah : Some of the Sahābah were held back from Hijrah, so they came after Rasūlullāhﷺ. The majority made Hijrah before Rasūlullāhﷺ did, but some of them were held back, such as Suhaib Ar-Rūmi . Suhaib, when he decided that he was going to leave Makkah, he had some wealth. Suhaib Ar-Rūmi was imprisoned by the Romans in one of the wars between the Romans and the Arabs, they took him as a prisoner and they enslaved him. So he grew up among the Romans and he acquired their language, so he had this accent when he would talk Arabic. And then he was sold from one

owner to another, from one slave master to the next, and he ended up in the hands of ‘Abdullāh Bin Jad‘ān. ‘Abdullāh Bin Jad‘ān was a wealthy man in Makkah and he freed Suhaib. Suhaib was bright and intelligent and active, so he started a business and he acquired wealth. When he wanted to make Hijrah, he covered his wealth; he dug up a hole for it and hid it somewhere and he left. So some of the men of Quraish pursued him and they told him, “You came to us as a poverty-stricken beggar, with us you grew wealthy and you acquired status, and now you want to take yourself and your money away? In the name of Allāh, we will not allow this to happen.” You came to us broke, and now that you are wealthy you want to take your wealth and leave us? So Suhaib said, “What if I ransom myself and give you my wealth?” They said, “Then we will allow you to go.” In another narration, [it says that] when he saw them following him, he drew out 40 arrows and he said, “I am going to stick each one of these in each of you, and after I run out of arrows, I am going to draw out my sword, and then you will know that I am a man. I have left money in this particular place, you can go and take it and let me go,” and they agreed to let him leave. This story of Suhaib represents an immigrant who went into Makkah; he was an immigrant who went to Makkah, he was a foreigner, he settled there, he gained status and he made money, but when he wanted to leave for the sake of Allāh, they did not allow him to leave. Probably Muslims living in the West can take heed of the story of Suhaib .

Al-Muhājirīn Feel Homesick in Madīnah : The Muhājirīn who moved from Makkah to Madīnah, they were feeling homesick and they wanted to go back to Makkah. In fact it says that Bilāl used to say, “May Allāh curse ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah and Shaibah Bin Rabī‘ah and Umayyah Bin Khalaf who have driven us out of Makkah to this land of diseases.” Madīnah had swampy land, and because of this, you had a lot of, Allāhu A’lam if it was malaria or what kind of diseases, but they would catch a fever, and Madīnah was famous for this; people who would go there would catch a fever. Some scholars today say that it might have been malaria because of the stagnant water that was in these swamps. So ‘Ā’ishah said, “My father and Bilāl and ‘Āmir Bin Fuhairah caught this fever, so I went to visit them. So I said, ‘O my father, how are you?’ and he did not respond back, he was just reciting lines of poetry.” She went to Bilāl and asked, “Bilāl, how are you?” Same thing. ‘Āmir Bin Fuhairah; same thing. ‘Ā’ishah said, “These men do not know what they are saying.” And she went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and told him about what Abū Bakr was saying and what Bilāl was saying, reciting these lines of poetry, I could read to you some of them, [of] what Abū Bakr and Bilāl were saying. So for example Abū Bakr would say, “Every man might arise among his family, yet his death be closer than his sandal thongs.” So he was talking about death, thinking that he might be dying because of this fever, while ‘Āmir was saying, “I have found death before tasting it. A coward has his demise right above him, every man fights hard with all his power, as a bull protects its skin with its horns.” And Bilāl would say, “O how happy I would be to spend a night in a valley covered in fresh grass and verdure. Will I ever again descend to Majannah waters or see Shāma and Tufail?” Shāma and Tufail are two mountains in Makkah. So all of these men were homesick, they wanted to go back to Makkah. Bilāl, as I said, was saying, “O Allāh, curse ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah, Shaibah Bin Rabī‘ah and Umayyah Bin Khalaf alike, for them having forced us out into the land of pestilence.”

8.3.3 Rasūlullāhﷺ Makes Du‘ā’ for Madīnah :

Now, if you have experienced being a foreigner in a land, and I am not saying tourist; having a feeling of being a tourist is different, I am saying if you are driven out of your home, you are forced out of your home, and you are living in a place where you did not really choose to go to [but] you were forced to go there, it is a horrible feeling. And add to that you become sick and your family are not around and there is no one to take care of you. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was feeling very sorry for the Sahābah , and when ‘Ā’ishah came to her husband Rasūlullāhﷺ and told him about the condition of Bilāl and ‘Āmir Bin Fuhairah and her father Abū Bakr, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “O Allāh, make us love Madīnah like we like Makkah or more, and make it healthy and bless for us our food and drive out the fever of Madīnah to Al -Juhfah.” Juhfah is another place. Subhān’Allāh, due to the blessing of the Du‘ā’ of Rasūlullāhﷺ, the Muhājirīn ended up loving Madīnah more than anywhere else on the face of the earth. In fact, when they opened Makkah, did any one of them choose to move back to Makkah? Where did Abū Bakr choose to stay? In Madīnah. ‘Umar remained in Madīnah, ‘Uthmān remained in Madīnah, Bilāl did not go back to Makkah. Because of the Du‘ā’ of Rasūlullāhﷺ they ended up loving Madīnah more than anywhere else, and Subhān’Allāh, everyone who has faith in his heart, would love Madīnah. Until this day, there is a special feeling that a Believer has when they go to the city of Rasūlullāhﷺ. You know, when you go into Makkah, you have this feeling of magnificence; when you are driving through the streets of Makkah for the first time and then you end up seeing the huge pillars of Al-Masjid Al-Harām, you feel the greatness, the magnificence, of Al-Masjid Al-Harām, but when you go to Madīnah, which is flat, unlike Makkah which is mountainous, and you see Al- Masjid An-Nabawī from the distance, you have a different feeling; it is not a feeling of magnificence of the place, it is a feeling of tranquillity, you feel at peace. It is a beloved place to any Believer; this was due to the Barakah of the Du‘ā’ of Rasūlullāhﷺ.

‘Abdullāh Bin Az-Zubair – First Child Born in Islām : Who was the first new-born in Madīnah? Asmā’ Bint Abī Bakr says, “When I emigrated, I was at term. When I came to Madīnah, I stayed in Qubā’ and gave birth to him there (‘Abdullāh Bin Az- Zubair).” She then took him to Rasūlullāhﷺ and placed the new-born in his lap. Rasūlullāh called for a date which he chewed, and then he placed the chewed paste in the mouth of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Az-Zubair. So Asmā’ says, “So the first thing that entered the baby’s stomach was from the mouth of Rasūlullāhﷺ.” And then he prayed for him and blessed him. She says, “He was the first baby born in Islām,” and this is in Al-Bukhārī. Notice here she did not say the first baby born in Madīnah, but she said the first baby born in Islām. So the Sahābah considered that the beginning of Islām was in Madīnah because that was the beginning of the Islāmic State; as if the whole period of 13 years in Makkah was the preparation for that. So she did not say the first child born after Hijrah or the first child born in Madīnah, this was the first child born in Islām. Islām only became complete when the Muslims lived as a Muslim society in a Muslim State, ruled by the Law of Allāh . So this tells you that we are missing a lot.

‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām – Most Knowledgeable Rabbi in Madīnah : The most knowledgeable rabbi in Madīnah was ‘Abdullāh Bin Salām . When he heard of the coming of Rasūlullāhﷺ he decided to go and meet him, so he went to meet Muhammadﷺ. In one narration, the narration of Imām Ahmad, ‘Abdullāh Bin Salām says, “When I saw the face of Rasūlullāhﷺ , I knew this was not the face of a liar.” Subhān’Allāh, the truth shines out of the face of Muhammadﷺ. In this narration in Bukhārī, and also Al -Bayhaqī narrates it, ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām wanted to test Muhammadﷺ. These were Rabbis – scholars, they had signs for the upcoming Prophet. So he said, “I am going to ask you about three things that only a Prophet knows about. Number one, what is the first sign of the Day of Judgement? Number two, what is the finest food that the people of Paradise would eat? And number three , what causes a child to resemble his father or his mother?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Jibrīl Akhbarani Bihā Ānifan – Jibrīl told me the answers to your questions a short while ago.” ‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām said, “Jibrīl is our enemy among the angels.” So they had some angels who were friends and some angels who were enemies! Rasūlullāh recited the Āyah in Sūrah Al-Baqarah:

Whoever is an enemy to Allāh and His angels and His Messengers and Gabriel and Michael – then indeed, Allāh is an enemy to the Disbelievers. Al-Baqarah: 98

Youcannot pick and choose among the angels, all of the angels are created by Allāh, loyal to Allāh , and there is no angel that you should consider an enemy and an angel that is considered a friend. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was correcting this mistake in ‘Aqīdah that ‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām had. And then he proceeded to answer the questions of ‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām, he said, “Regarding the signs of the Day of Judgement, the first will be a fire that comes at people from the East and leads them to the West. As for the prime food of Paradise eaten by those that are there, that is a whale’s liver.” Now, a whale’s liver might not be our favourite dish in Dunyā! However, things in Jannah are different, so what we might not be fascinated with in Dunyā could be a special treat on the Day of Judgement. The answer to the third question, “And if the male’s liquid precedes that of the female, he will resemble the child; while if the female’s liquid precedes that of the male, she will resemble the child.” And this is scientifically proven now, that the child resembles the father if the genes of the father are dominant, while the child will resemble the mother if the genes of the mother are the dominant ones, and this is what Rasūlullāhﷺ is saying; the liquid of the father and the liquid of the mother, because these genes are carried through a liquid on both sides; the sperm of a man carries the genes from the father and the egg of the mother is also carried through a liquid. ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām said, “I testify that there is no God but Allāh, and that you are the Messenger of Allāh.” So he believed, he said, “These are the answers, and no one would know these except if he is a Messenger of Allāh.”

Jews are a People of Liars : So he became a Muslim, but then he said, and this is in the narration of Al-Bukhārī, “But the Jews are a people of liars; if they learn of my acceptance of Islām before you ask them about me, they will lie to you.” So ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām went into hiding while Muhammadﷺ invited the leaders of the Jews to come and visit him, so they came in and Muhammadﷺ asked them about ‘Abdullāh Bin As- Salām, “What do you say about ‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām?” They said, “He is our leader and the son of our leader. He is the most learned man among us and the son of our most learned man.” So that was their opinion of him; he is the most learned and his father was the most learned, and he is our leader and his father was our leader. So Rasūlullāh asked them, “What would you say if he accepts Islām?” They said, “God forbid! Oh he will never become a Muslim.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ told ‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām to come out of hiding. He came and he said, “O Jews, fear Allāh. By Allāh, other than whom there is none, you certainly know that he is the Messenger of Allāh and that he brings you the truth.” So now when he came out of hiding and he told them that you need to become Muslims, they said, “You are the worst of us and the son of the worst of us.” On the spot they changed their opinion about ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām , and he knew them well and that was why he said [that] you need to hear what they say about me before they know I have become a Muslim.

So you can see why the relationship between the Muslims and the Yahūd was deteriorating, it was because of such incidences; the refusal of the Yahūd to accept Muhammadﷺ, to accept the religion of truth, and the plotting that was happening behind the scenes against the newly formed Islāmic State.

Allāh Reveals Āyāt in Praise of People of the Book who Became Muslim : Ibn ‘Abbās says, and this narration is authentic, “When ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām, Tha’labah Ibn Sa’yah, Usaid Bin Sa’yah, Asad Bin ‘Ubaid and some other Jews became Muslims – and they became true Muslims and they were sincere in their Islām – the other rabbis of the Jews and the Disbelievers said, ‘These people who have followed the religion of Muhammadﷺ are the most evil among us, because if they were righteous they would not have left the religion of their forefathers.’” So Allāh revealed the Āyāt from Sūrah Āl ‘Imrān, [from] verse 113 to verse 115, Allāh says: They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allāh during periods of the night and prostrating [in Prayer]. They believe in Allāh and the Last Day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and hasten to good deeds. And those are among the righteous. And whatever good they do – never will it be removed from them. And Allāh is Knowing of the righteous. Āl ‘Imrān: 113-115

SoAllāh is saying that not all of the People of the Book are Disbelievers; some of them did accept Islām, such as ‘Abdullāh Bin As-Salām and the ones with him, and Allāh praises these and says that these are people who enjoin good, forbid evil, and hasten to do good deeds. So these Āyāt were revealed in praise of the People of the Book who became Muslim, and these Āyāt would apply to any Christian or any Jew who becomes Muslim. And for these, they will end up getting credit for their early years of believing in the old Scripture; they get double the reward as is mentioned.

8.4 Change of Qiblah

A very important event occurred about 14 months into the Hijrah of Rasūlullāhﷺ, and that was the change of the Qiblah. In Makkah, Rasūlullāhﷺ would pray towards Jerusalem but he would have Al-Ka’bah between him and Jerusalem, so he would be facing Al-Ka’bah and also facing Jerusalem. But now that he was in Madīnah, Al-Ka’bah is in the opposite direction of Jerusalem, so when he was praying his back was towards Al-Ka’bah. Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted to face Al-Ka’bah but he did not dare to ask Allāh about it. So Allāh revealed Āyāt in which the Muslims were told to now face the Qiblah of Ibrāhīm , to face Al-Ka’bah. Rasūlullāhﷺ prayed towards the new Qiblah, and one of the Sahābah who was with him went back to his people who were a few miles out of Madīnah, and he found them praying ‘Asr towards Jerusalem, so he told them, while they were in Salāh, “I bear witness that I just prayed with Rasūlullāhﷺ towards Makkah,” so they turned in their Salāh to face the new Qiblah. That shows you the obedience that they had to Rasūlullāhﷺ and also the trust that they had among them; they immediately turned in their Salāh and faced the new Qiblah.

But this event did not pass without causing controversy; in fact it was a very controversial event. So Allāh revealed over 40 Āyāt of Sūrah Al-Baqarah dealing with this incident alone. Ibn Al-Qayyim says, “This was a test from Allāh for the people; it was a test for the Mushrikīn because the Mushrikīn said, ‘He has reverted back to our Qiblah and he will revert back to our religion,’” because Al- Ka’bah was the Qiblah of the Pagan [Idol] Worshippers of Arabia. [They were saying] just as he reverted back to our Qiblah, he is also going to revert back to our religion. Ibn Al-Qayyim continues, “It was a test for the Hypocrites who said, ‘Muhammadﷺ does not know what to do, and he changes his mind.’ It was a test from Allāh for the Jews who said, ‘He has left the Qiblah of the Ambiyā’ before him, and that shows you that Muhammadﷺ is not a Prophet of Allāh,’” because they considered that Jerusalem was the Qiblah of the Ambiyā’. “And it was a test for the Believers to see if they would stand firm on the orders of Rasūlullāhﷺ and change the Qiblah with him or not.” So it was a trial from Allāh for all of these four groups.

We will recite some of the Āyāt revealed: The foolish among the people will say, “What has turned them away from their Qiblah, which they used to face?” And Al-Barā’ Bin ‘Āzib in an authentic narration says that ‘the foolish among the people’ refers to Al-Yahūd. Say, “To Allāh belongs the east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path.” Al-Baqarah: 142

Who is the One who created Al-Ka’bah? Makkah? Who is the One who created Jerusalem? It all belongs to Allāh. To Allāh belongs the east and the west, therefore it is up to Allāh to choose which Qiblah you face. Everything belongs to Him so He has the authority to tell you where to pray. Because the Jews were saying that Allāh cannot change His mind; either the first Qiblah was right or the second Qiblah was right. If the first Qiblah was right then your Prayers now are not accepted, and if the second Qiblah is right then your old Prayers are not accepted. So Allāh responded with this Āyah.And then the next Āyah says: And thus We have made you a medium (just) nation that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and

(that) the Messenger may be a bearer of witness to you. Al-Baqarah: 143

SoIbn Kathīr comments on this and says, “Likewise, we have made you the best of nations, the very essence of the world, the most noble of all groups, the most honourable of the ancient and the high born, so that you may be witnesses on Judgement Day against those who have combined against you, and so that they may give testimony on that day to your great virtue.”

Then Allāh says [in the same Āyah]: And We did not make the Qiblah which you used to face except that We might make evident who would follow the Messenger from who would turn back on his heels. Soit was a test. And indeed, it is difficult except for those whom Allāh has guided. It was difficult to change the Qiblah, but it was easy for the ones whom Allāh had guided. [He continues:] And never would Allāh have caused you to lose your faith. Yousee, because the Jews said, “What about the Muslims who died facing the old Qiblah? That means all of their efforts are wasted.” So Allāh says: And Allāh would never make your Faith (Prayers) to be lost (i.e. your Prayers offered towards Jerusalem). Truly, Allāh is full of kindness, the Most Merciful towards mankind. [Allāh continues:] We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muhammad], toward the heaven, ([because] heﷺ wanted the Qiblah to change) and We will surely turn you to a Qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward Al-Masjid Al- Harām. And wherever you [Believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in Prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture well know that it is the truth from their Lord. And Allāh is not unaware of what they do. Al-Baqarah: 144

And if you brought to those who were given the Scripture every sign, they would not follow your Qiblah. Nor will you be a follower of their Qiblah. Nor would they be followers of one another’s Qiblah. So if you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge? indeed, you would then be among the wrongdoers. Al-Baqarah: 145

Anyone who follows the People of the Book today, after he has already known the truth, he will be among the wrongdoers.

Then Allāh says: Those to whom We gave the Scripture know him (Muhammad) as they know their own sons. But indeed, a party of them conceal the truth while they know [it]. The truth is from your Lord, so never be among the doubters. For each [religious following] is a direction toward which it faces. So race to [all that is] good. Wherever you may be, Allāh will bring you forth [for judgement] all together. Indeed, Allāh is over all things competent.^{Al-Baqarah: 146-148}

So from wherever you go out [for Prayer, O Muhammad] turn your face toward Al-Masjid Al-Harām, and indeed, it is the truth from your Lord. And Allāh is not unaware of what you do. And from wherever you go out [for Prayer], turn your face toward Al-Masjid Al-Harām. (It is repeating the order again). And wherever you [Believers] may be, turn your faces toward it in order that the people will not have any argument against you, except for those of them who commit wrong; so fear them not but fear Me…

This is an important concept here; people might blame you for doing some things which are Islāmic, which you know are the truth. In every age and time, people pick on some things in Islām. You know, in one age they are going to say, ‘Well, Islām is oppression to women,’ in another age they will say, ‘Islām is giving too much rights to women,’ – it changes. In one point of time the people will say Islām is a religion of violence, Islām is this, Islām is that; Allāh is telling you fear them not but fear Me; do what Allāh wants from you – that is what counts – do what Allāh wants from you and forget about what the people are going to say.

…And [it is] so I may complete My favour upon you and that you may be guided. Al-Baqarah: 149-150

Every new order that comes from Allāh is a favour from Allāh. This was the incident of the changing of Al- Qiblah which was very controversial in its time, and it was a test; it was a test for all the people just as everything else is a test from Allāh to see if we will pass or fail, if we will accept it or not, [to see] how strong is our faith in Allāh .

Development of Economical System of New Islāmic State : Rasūlullāhﷺ was developing the economical system of the new Islāmic State, so he designated an area next to Al-Masjid Al-Harām to be the Madīnah marketplace, the central market of Madīnah. Rasūlullāhﷺ devoted this space to be a market and he said, “Hādhā Sūqukum, Falā Yuntaqasanna Walā Yudrabanna ‘Alaihi Kharāj –This is your marketplace, so no taxes should be levied on it.” So it was a tax-free market, because Kharāj is money that is taken by the government on merchandise. Soit was a tax-free market [and] Rasūlullāhﷺ did not want to fix any prices. Once the prices were skyrocketing, so the Sahābah came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “We want you to fix the prices, the items are becoming very expensive.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Innallāha Huwal Musa’ir – Allāh is the one who sets the prices, I do not want to interfere.” I t was a supply and demand thing; according to the supply and demand the prices would go up and down. Allāh is the One who gives Rizq, and Allāh is the One who sets the prices; I am not going to get involved in that. So this shows you the freedom that Islām has given in the Islāmic economical system that does not place restrictions on the flow of money and how people would buy and sell in their trade.

The Ruling of Fasting : Finally, the ruling of Fasting was in the second year of Hijrah – now we are getting into the second year of Hijrah, events that happened then – Allāh revealed the Āyah in Sūrah Al-Baqarah: O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous. Al-Baqarah: 183
So the purpose or the wisdom behind fasting is Taqwā -so that you may become righteous.

Rasūlullāhﷺ Consummates Marriage with ‘Ā’ishah : We are still within the first two years of Hijrah, we are talking about events that happened in that timespan. The consummation of the marriage of Rasūlullāhﷺ to ‘Ā’ishah also occurred at this time; the actual marriage itself happened towards the end of his time in Makkah when she was six years old and the marriage was consummated when she was nine, and that was when he was already in Madīnah. Now, I am sure the listeners would notice the ages here; marriage happening at the age of six, and then the marriage is consummated at the age of nine, which is quite young, and obviously this is one of the issues that some of the orientalists take against Islām, against the Prophet of Allāh; they say look at your Prophet, he married a child. I did talk about this issue when we were covering the Makkah period, I talked about the marriages of Rasūlullāhﷺ in general and the wisdom behind them; the wisdom behind him marrying ‘Ā’ishah at this young age, the wisdom of him marrying more than one wife, actually more than the limit of four that is binding on the rest of the Ummah, so you can refer back to that in my talks on the Makkah Period. I just want to add one point here, that Rasūlullāhﷺ was 54 years old when he married ‘Ā’ishah, but he was young even though he was 54 years old. When Rasūlullāhﷺ met with the delegation that was coming from the tribe of Rabī‘ah – at the time he was about 50 years old, that was when he was still in Makkah – the head of the tribe went back to his people and said, “Law Akhattu Hādhal Fatā La’alkaltu Bihil ‘Arab –If Itake with me this Fatā Iwill eat the Arabs with him.” Now, Fatā means young man, so even though Rasūlullāhﷺ was already a man of 50 years old, this man was calling him a young man; that was because of his strength and activeness. Rasūlullāh was vigorous and strong and his age did not really show on him. So he was saying that he was a Fatā. Then he said “La’alkaltu Bihil ‘Arab – I will eat the Arabs with him,” because he saw that he was a leader and he was a strong man.

Another incident; when Anas Ibn Mālik was narrating to us part of the story of Hijrah, he said, “Wa Kāna Abū Bakr Shaykhun Yu’raf Wa Kānar-Rasūlu Shābbul Lā Yu’raf –Abū Bakr was a Sheikh who was known while Rasūlullāhﷺ was a young man who was not known.” Sheikh is an old man, a senior, or an elder person is called a Sheikh. So Anas Ibn Mālik was saying that Abū Bakr was a Sheikh while Rasūlullāhﷺ was a young man, and we talked about this, we said that Abū Bakr, because of his travelling, people used to know him in terms of his face, while with Rasūlullāhﷺ people did not recognise his face even though he was the most known man of the Arabs at the time – because of his Da’wah everyone was talking about him – but they did not really see him so they did not recognise him. So when Abū Bakr and Rasūlullāhﷺ were travelling in the desert in the journey of Hijrah, people would come and greet Abū Bakr and they would ask him,

“Who is this man next to you?” So Abū Bakr would say, “He is a guide, he is showing me my path.” But the reason I am bringing this up again is [because of] the wording of Anas Ibn Mālik, he said that Abū Bakr was an old man who was known while Rasūlullāhﷺ was a young man who was not known.

Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalānī comments on this and he says, “Abū Bakr’s age showed on him,” so the way he looked was according to his age; he did not look older or younger, “while Rasūlullāhﷺ appeared to be a young man even though he was older than Abū Bakr As-Siddīq .” We know that Rasūlullāhﷺ was two years older than Abū Bakr As- Siddīq. So this is one point that I wanted to add regarding his marriage to ‘Ā’ishah. We know from the Sunnah that Rasūlullāhﷺ used to race ‘Ā’ishah. When they would travel, they would run and he would compete with her. ‘Ā’ishah said, “When we first got married, I would run faster than him, but then later on when I was getting heavier, Rasūlullāhﷺ would win against me and he would say, ‘Hādhihī Bi-Tilk – This is for that.’” Or tit for tat so to say, [meaning] you won last time and this time I won. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was very strong, very active, very healthy. Allāh had given him the strength that was needed to perform this most important and most difficult duty of all, and that was being the Messenger of Allāh .

8.5 Ghazawāt (Battles)

The next section we will move on to will be the Ghazawāt of Rasūlullāh – the Battles, but before that I want to state a few issues regarding the issue of Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh in general. It is important to comment on this issue specifically, because during the 10 years of Madīnah Rasūlullāhﷺ had participated himself in 19 battles, and he had sent out in addition to that over 55 expeditions of which he was not a part of, so if we add all of these together we come to over 70 battles within a timespan of 10 years, so we are talking about an average of seven per year. So [for] such a thing that took so much time from Rasūlullāhﷺ and the Sahābah, [this is something] we need to comment on. Keep in mind that one battle takes some time to prepare; it could take a few months to finance and mobilise and organise the army, and then to send it out and the time they spend on travelling and the time they spend coming back, so this was all a huge burden on the newly formed Islāmic State. So [for] such a thing that took so much time from Rasūlullāhﷺ and was devoted so much energy [to], the question is why? How come? The second reason is because this issue is becoming so controversial today, and we hear all of these different opinions thrown back and forth on what Jihād really means and what is intended by it, what are the objectives of it, what is the wisdom behind it, etc. So since we will be talking about the Ghazawāt of Rasūlullāhﷺ for quite a while, since it dominates the books of Seerah, especially in the Madīnah era, we need to make some comments on this issue before that.

8.5.1 Jihād – Its Meaning and Wisdom

So what does Jihād mean and what is the wisdom behind it? The word Jihād itself means Struggle, it comes from the word Juhud which means ‘exerting effort’. So the linguistic meaning of the word is to exert effort or to struggle. This word then later on carried a specific Islāmic meaning. You know, there are words in the Arabic language that had a linguistic meaning but then Islām gave a new meaning to those words. For example, the word Salāh in Arabic originally means supplication, but it carried a new meaning and that is Prayer. So now when you say Salāh, let us go and make Salāh, I do not think anyone will ask you, ‘Do you really mean the literal meaning of the word or do you mean the linguistic meaning of the word or do you mean the Islāmic meaning of the word?’ That is it; this word now is a terminology in Islām. Same thing with Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh; it carries a new meaning and that is to fight the enemies of Allāh who object to His religion. And this is the definition given by the four Madhāhib, it is to fight in the path of Allāh. So it carried on this new meaning and this is what it means if we mention the word unqualified.

Dear brothers and sisters, every war – absolutely every war – is an act of injustice and is evil, with the exception of fighting in the path of Allāh. So every war, every bloodshed, is evil, with this exception; the exception is that the only war that is allowed is fighting in the path of Allāhﷺ. And the evidence for that is the Āyah in Qur’ān in Sūrah An-Nisā’, verse 76, [where] Allāh says: Those who believe fight in the cause of Allāh, and those who disbelieve fight in the cause of Tāghūt. An-Nisā’: 76

SoAllāh is saying that there are two types of war; one war is fought for Allāh and the other war is fighting for Tāghūt, and the meaning of Tāghūt is false objects of worship, or it could mean those transgressors who usurp the divine rights of governship. So Allāh is saying that the Believers are fighting for Allāh, and that is a rewardable act and it is an acceptable act, and those who disbelieve fight in the cause of Tāghūt. It does not matter what they state the objective of their fighting is, it is evil, Allāh says it is evil. Whether it is a war of aggression, a war of imperialism, a war of colonialism, a war for one race to dominate another, or one ethnic group to dominate another, whether it is fought under the pretext of spreading democracy, whether it is fought under the pretext of freeing such and such people from oppression or dictatorship; it is all evil, and the only war that is designated as righteous is if it is fought under the banner of Lā Ilāha Illallāh – that is all.

So it is important to state this principle first, because you hear some people say that Islām promotes violence and Islām promotes holy war and Islām promotes war; that is not true. Islām is against all types of war, all types of bloodshed, all types of aggression, except if it is done for the sake of Allāh who created us, the One who has the right to tell us what is right and what is wrong. You see, Allāh created everything, therefore He is the only One who has the right to designate what is right an what is wrong, what carries preference over others, etc. For example, the days of the week are seven; they are all equal, there is no difference between Friday and Saturday and Sunday and the other days from a scientific point of view, they are all the same, however, Allāh has told us that Jumu‘ah is preferred over the rest of the days of the week. Since Allāh (swt) is the One who created these days, He has the right to tell us which one is better. There is no difference between Ramadān and the rest of the months of the year in terms of the Solar System or the rotation of the moon or the sun, [this] does not make Ramadān any different than any other month, they are all the same, they are all equal, however Allāh has designated Ramadān to be the most preferred month of the year. Allāh has chosen the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah to be the best days of the year in terms of the reward of the effort of good deeds done within those first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, just as He has designated the last 10 nights of Ramadān to be the most rewardable nights of the year, and then out of those 10 nights He chose the odd nights to be the best, and out of the odd nights He chose Laylatul Qadr to be the best night of the year.

So Wa Rabbuka Yakhluqu Mā Yashā’u Wa Yakhtar – And your Lord createswhat He wills and chooses. Al-Qasas: 68 Allāh creates everything, and then He chooses out of His creation what is given a preferable status over the rest. So it is something that only Allāh has a right to do. Same thing with war; it is all evil except what Allāh designates as good.

Purpose of Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh : So what is the purpose of Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh? It is to free the people from servitude to one another to becoming servants of Allāh . So rather than us being servants to a creation, whether that creation is a human being or a rock or an idol or a celestial body, Allāh wants us to be servants of Him. So that is actually freeing us from servitude to others who are not divine to being servants of Allāh . And it is to bring the people under the blessed rule of Islām, whether they become Muslim or not, because we know there is Lā Ikrāha Fid-Dīn – There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. Al-Baqarah: 256

People are not forced to become Muslim, however, they have more of a chance of becoming Muslim if they live under the rule of Islām, and that is why Rasūlullāhﷺ says in the Hadīth, “‘Ajiba Rabbunā Min Qawmin Iqtadūna Ilal Jannati Fith-Thalāthah –Allāh is amazed by people who are dragged into Jannah in chains.” One of the scholars who commented on this Hadīth said, “The meaning of this Hadīth is that these people are dragged into Islām even though they do not want it, and that becomes a reason for them to enter into Jannah.”

People are not interested in hearing about religion in general, you know, people want to hear about how to make money. If you announce to the Non-Muslims that there will be a lecture about Islām, people are not going to show up, or if they do show up you do not really get a huge response, but if you make an announcement that everybody who shows up will get a coupon for $50, people are going to flood to the lecture hall and there is not going to be enough seats for them. Why? Because you are offering them $50. This is not only with Non-Muslims, even with Muslims people do not show up for Salātul Fajr. You know, the Masjid is packed for Jumu‘ah, but then for Salātul Fajr you have a fraction of those, let us say 10%. However, if we make an announcement that anyone who shows up for Fajr will get a $20 bill, everyone will come, the neighbours are going to show up, everyone is going to come, people from far away are going to show up, and they are going to crowd the Masājid. Why? Because you are offering them $20. So people are not interested in hearing about religion, and that is why when Rasūlullāhﷺ first made his announcement in Makkah that he was a Prophet and he gathered the people of Quraish and he made it seem very urgent – and it was urgent, he was calling Wā Subāhā! This is like dialling 911, it is an emergency; that was how Rasūlullāhﷺ gathered the people – and then he told them, “Innī Nadhīrun Lakum Bayna Yaday ‘Adhābun Alīm! – I am warning you [of] a severe punishment from Allāh!” What did Abū Lahab say? “Tabbal Laka! A’li-Hādhā Jama’tanā?– May evil befall you, is this why you gathered us?!” Abū Lahab was upset because he closed his shop and came to listen to Muhammadﷺ and he thought that it was something serious according to him, and it turned out to be preaching about religion and he was very upset about it. That is when the Āyāt were revealed: Tabbat Yadā Abī Lahabiw-Watabb – May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he. And then Allāh revealed: Mā Aghnā ‘Anhu Māluhū Wamā Kasab – His wealth will not avail him or thatwhich he gained. Al-Masad: 1-2

What will his wealth do for him? This wealth which was keeping him away from Islām, which was preventing him from listening to the Message, which made him upset because Rasūlullāhﷺ gathered them, this wealth, what will it do for him on the Day of Judgement? Nothing. In fact, it will be the reason for his demise.

So when the Sahābah fought Fee Sabeelillāh and brought the people under the rule of Islām, then they were listening; now they were listening because the Sahābah were ruling over them so they had some authority to give the people Da’wah and the people were listening very attentively because now it was coming from the government; it was not coming from a preacher preaching on the corner of the street or in a marketplace holding a loudspeaker and people are just walking by closing their ears, now it was coming from a place of authority, and that is when the people entered into Islām in multifolds. In the beginning when Rasūlullāhﷺ was giving Da’wah in Makkah, only a few people were interested, however when Rasūlullāhﷺ established the Islāmic State, now the tribes were listening, other nations were listening, and they were taking it seriously, and that is when the people started becoming Muslim in thousands. Rasūlullāhﷺ [did Da’wah] for 13 years in Makkah, how many followers did he have? A hundred? 200? 300? However in Madīnah they were growing by the thousands every year. So in Fath Makkah Rasūlullāhﷺ had an army of 10,000, and in Hajjatul Wadā’ 90,000, and when he passed away the ones who prayed Salātul Janāzah on him were over 114,000. So you can see how the numbers were growing, because now there was authority.

Stages Jihād Went through : So what are the stages that Jihād went through? Ibn Al-Qayyim says in Zād Al-Ma‘ād,“In the beginning, Jihād was not allowed,” it was prohibited;Muslims were not allowed to fight. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Isbirū Fa’innī Lam U’mar Biqitāl –Be patient because Ihave not been given permission to fight.” So in the beginning it was patience which was called Kafful Yadd.

[Then came] the second stage. Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “And then it was allowed.” It was merely allowed; it was not instructed, not commanded, not obligated, it was allowed. And that is when Allāh revealed the Āyah:

Udhina Lilladhīna Yuqātalūna Bi’annahum Zulimū, Wa Innallāha ‘Alā Nasrihim Laqadīr – Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allāh is competent to give them victory. Al-Hajj: 39

Sohere you have permission [that] was given to them. Now, the following stage, as Ibn Al-Qayyim says, is, “Then they were commanded to fight the ones who fight them.” So this was the third stage, and the Āyah for that is 190 in Sūratul Baqarah, Allāh says: Fight in the way of Allāh those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allāh does not like transgressors. Al-Baqarah: 190

Sohere you only fight the ones who transgress against you. And then the final stage, and this is the stage that represents the final law of Allāh which applies to the Ummah, and that is as Ibn Al-Qayyim says: “And then the Messenger of Allāh was instructed to fight all the

Disbelievers.” Allāh says: AndfightagainsttheDisbelievers collectively as they fight against you collectively. At-Tawbah: 36

And there is also the Hadīth which is Mutawātir, it is narrated by Al-Bukhārī, Muslim and others, and narrated by over 20 Sahābï of Rasūlullāhﷺ, “I was instructed to fight the people until they testify that there is no God but Allāh and that I am the Messenger of Allāh, to establish Salāh and to pay Zakāh. If they do that they have protected their blood and their wealth, and Allāh will hold them accountable for their deeds.”

So these are the four stages that Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh went through.

8.5.2 Objectives of Jihād

So what are the objectives of Jihād? Why was Rasūlullāhﷺ fighting? Some Āyāt in Qur’ān tell us the objectives of fighting Fee Sabeelillāh.

Promotion of Islām: The first [objective] is the promotion of Islām. Allāh says: And fight them until there is no Fitnah and [until] the Religion, all of it, is for Allāh. Al-Anfāl: 39

Sothe first objective is to fight until all the Religion is for Allāh

Protection of Rituals and Worship Places: The second objective [is] the protection of rituals and worship places. Allāh says: Indeed, Allāh defends those who have believed. Indeed, Allāh does not like everyone treacherous and ungrateful. Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allāh is competent to give them victory. [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right – only because they say, “Our Lord is Allāh.” And were it not that Allāh checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allāh is much mentioned. And Allāh will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allāh is Powerful and Exalted in Might. [And they are] those who, if we give them authority in the land, establish Prayer and give Zakāh and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allāh belongs the outcome of [all] matters. Al-Hajj: 38-41

So notice here that Allāh is saying: And were it not that Allāh checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques. People are checked by fighting, this is called Sunnatul Mudāfa‘ah; this is a law of Allāh that has governed the lives of men. If it was not for this fighting, churches would have been demolished, synagogues would have been demolished, and mosques [would have been demolished]. Now you might have the question, why mention synagogues and churches? We are talking about Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh. The reason is, we are not the first nation to fight in the path of Allāh, and the first nation to fight in the path of Allāh were the Children of Israel. Fighting in the path of Allāh was not prescribed on Sayyidinā Sālih and his people, Sayyidinā Hūd and his people, Nūh and his people; with those Ambiyā’, Allāh would destroy their enemy through a miraculous act, they did not have to involve in fighting themselves. The first nation to fight in the path of Allāh were the Children of Israel, the followers of Mūsā. So because of them being an Ummah of Jihād, synagogues were protected and churches were protected, and mosques are protected because the Ummah of Muhammadﷺ are also practising this act of worship.

Protecting World from Corruption : The third objective [is] protecting the world from corruption. So rather than fighting Fee Sabeelillāh being a cause of corruption, it is a protection for the world, it prevents corruption. You see, the Āyāt of Allāh straighten out the misconceptions that we have, it clears them, because Shaitān is causing us to misunderstand reality; he makes us think that good is evil and evil is good, he has that ability of deceiving us; that is the whole point of him being the devil, it is to deceive people and to make Al-Ma’rūf Munkar and Al-Munkar Ma’rūf. So the Āyāt of Qur’ān undo the corruption that is caused in our minds because of the Waswasah of Shaitān, the Āyāt of Qur’ān cleanse our hearts from the corruption that is caused by the media and by the false authority that exists on Earth. So Allāh is telling us that Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh actually limits the corruption that exists on land, Allāh says:

And if it were not for Allāh checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but Allāh is full of bounty to the worlds. Al-Baqarah: 251

Test for Mankind : The fourth objective is that it is a test for mankind, it is a trial. Our existence in this world, as we have been mentioning, is a test from Allāh , and fighting in His Path is a part of that test, Allāh says: That [is the command]. And if Allāh had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others. Muhammad: 4

Soarmed struggle is a test for the Believers and it is a test for the Disbelievers; it is a test for the Believers because it tests their patience, it tests their sacrifice; the ultimate sacrifice that a Believer could give to Allāh is to sacrifice his soul and his wealth. It is a test of whether you fear Allāh more than the creation or you fear the creation more than Allāh. So it tests a lot of what is called A’māl Al-Qulūb – The deeds of the hearts. We might have a lot of diseases in our hearts, but these diseases do not show up until we are involved in this act of worship, then these diseases show up. So for example, many of the Munāfiqīn blended very well in the society, they were only exposed in the Battle of Badr and in the Battle of Uhud and the sequence of battles that followed that, and that is why Allāh says about them: Do they not see that they are tried every year once or twice… (At-Tawbah: 126) because the average Ghazawāt of Rasūlullāhﷺ per year were one or two. So their hypocrisy was showing up in these battles because that is the ultimate test.

To Punish and Humiliate the Enemies of Allāh: Number Five: To punish and humiliate the enemies of Allāh . Allāh says: And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allāh and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allāh knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allāh will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged. Al-Anfāl: 60

Allāh also says: Fight them; Allāh will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a Believing people. And remove the fury in the Believers’ hearts. And Allāh turns in forgiveness to whom He wills; and Allāh is Knowing and Wise. At-Tawbah: 14-15

And Allāh says: And you did not kill them, but it was Allāh who killed them. And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allāh who threw that He might test the Believers with a good test. Indeed, Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. That [is so], and [also] that Allāh will weaken the plot of the Disbelievers. Al-Anfāl: 17-18

Exposing of the Hypocrites: The sixth objective is the exposing of the Hypocrites, and we talked about this a bit. Allāh says: Allāh would not leave the Believers in that [state] you are in [presently] until He separates the evil from the good. Āl ‘Imrān: 179

Sothe way the separation happens is by fighting Fee Sabeelillāh. These Āyāt were revealed after Gazwat Uhud because ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ withdrew with one third of the army.

Defence against the Aggression of the Enemies of Allāh: The seventh objective [is that] it is a defence against the aggression of the enemies of Allāh who plan to transgress against the Ummah, so Allāh says: So fight, [O Muhammad], in the cause of Allāh; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the Believers [to join you] that perhaps Allāh will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allāh is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment. An-Nisā’: 84 SoAllāh did not say that Da’wah will restrain the military might of those who disbelieve, He did not say that involving in dialogue or discourse will weaken the military might of those who disbelieve; Allāh said that the way to weaken the military might of those who disbelieve is to fight.

8.5.3 Permission to Fight Granted

As we mentioned earlier, the Muslims were not allowed to fight in the beginning, the command was, “Isbirū Fa’innī Lam U’mar Biqitāl – Be patient because I have not been given permission to fight.” And they were wronged. We talked about all of the forms of oppression that the Muslims suffered from in Makkah, we covered that part in the talks of the Makkah Period. They used all [the] various forms of aggression against the Muslims. Now, for the Arabs to be restrained from fighting was not easy, you know; these were tribesmen, they did not have a heritage or an anti-war movement at that time, they did not have any peace activists in those days, they did not have the likes of Martin Luther King or Ghandi. A tribesman, if you transgress against him he will fight back. So for them to be restrained from fighting back and avenging for what happened to them was very difficult, but it was a test of their patience, and that was why Rasūlullāhﷺ was saying, “Isbirū! – Be patient!” It was testing them. But for example Abū Bakr As-Siddīq said, “Walaqad ‘Alimtu Annahū Sayakūnū Qitāl – I knew that there was going to be fighting,” ultimately we are going to have to fight; there is no way to get out of this difficult situation they we are in except by fighting in the path of Allāh, so he knew that it was coming along.

The permission was given during the early days of Madīnah, some say it was given before Hijrah, but the actual practise of it did not happen except in Madīnah. Now, to fight against the enemies of Allāh demanded preparation, so Rasūlullāhﷺ was now preparing the Muslim community and training it, and this training took two forms; one was spiritual training and the second was physical training or preparation. So this would lead us into the fourth project which is the establishment of the Muslim army. We talked about the establishment of the Masjid, we talked about brotherhood, we talked about the covenant, and now number four, the establishment of the army.

8.6 Establishment of the Muslim Army

Now, to state it this way; the establishment of the [Muslim] army, is not really very accurate, because there were not any professional soldiers, this was not a professional army, it was more of a militia. The linguistic definition of the word militia would fit the situation more. It says in the American Dictionary a militia is “a citizen’s army, as distinct from a body of professional soldiers.” Sothere were not any professional soldiers in the time of Rasūlullāhﷺ, everyone who fulfilled five requirements was expected to participate in Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh, and these requirements were:

Islām
Bulūgh –The age of puberty
Al-‘Aql –Sanity
As-Salāma Min Al-‘Uyūb – Tobe free of defects that would prevent a person from being able to participate, such as being blind or handicapped.
Financial ability, because Rasūlullāhﷺ did not have the ability to sponsor every fighter like a government would sponsor its army, they had to finance themselves.
Also it says that a militia is “a whole body of physically fit male civilians eligible by law for military service.” Sothe word militia suits it more than the word army.

8.6.1 Spiritual Preparation

Āyāt of Qur’ān Preparing Believers Spiritually: So Rasūlullāhﷺ was preparing them spiritually, and Āyāt of Qur’ān were also preparing them for that, for example Allāh says: Indeed, Allāh has purchased from the Believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allāh, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torāh and the Gospel and the Qur’ān. And who is truer to his covenant than Allāh? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment. At-Tawbah: 111

[And] Allāh is teaching them to be patient: If a wound should touch you – there has already touched the [opposing] people a wound similar to it. And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people (one day you win one day you lose) so that Allāh may make evident those who believe and [may] take to Himself from among you martyrs – and Allāh does not like the wrongdoers – And that Allāh may purify the Believers [through trials] and destroy the Disbelievers. Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while Allāh has not yet made evident those of you who fight in His cause and made evident those who are steadfast? And you had certainly wished for martyrdom before you encountered it, and you have [now] seen it [before you] while you were looking on. Āl ‘Imrān: 140-143

So these are examples of Āyāt in which Allāh was preparing the Muslims.

Ahādīth Preparing Believers Spiritually: Examples of Ahādīth: In Bukhārī, narrated by Abū Hurairah, “A man came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, ‘Yā Rasūlullāh, Dullanī ‘Alā ‘Amalin Ya’dilul Jihād – ORasūlullāh, tell me about something that is as virtuous as Jihād.’ Rasūlullāhﷺ said, ‘I cannot find any.’ And then Rasūlullāhﷺ told the man, ‘When the Mujāhid goes out in the path of Allāh, can you enter your mosque and pray continuously without any rest, and fast continuously without breaking your fast?’ So the man said, ‘and who could do that?’” Meaning that the reward of the Mujāhid is greater than fasting continuously and praying continuously. So the fighting of the Disbelievers is more virtuous than Jihād An-Nafs, because praying and fasting is part of Jihād An-Nafs, and Rasūlullāhﷺ is saying here that if a person is praying continuously and fasting continuously, they could not receive the rewards of someone who went out to fight in the path of Allāh.

When they were coming back from the Ghazwah of Tabūk, Rasūlullāhﷺ told Mu‘ādh Bin Jabal, “Inshi’ta Amba’tuka Bira’sil Amri Wa ‘Amūdihī Wa Dharwat Sināmihī –If you want, Iwill tell you about the head of the affair, its pillar, and its peak; the head of the affair is Islām, and its pillar is Salāh, and its peak is Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh.” So the most virtuous act, the peak of Islām, is fighting Fee Sabeelillāh.

Rasūlullāhﷺ says in a Hadīth in Bukhārī and Muslim, “Wa’lamū Annahul Jannata Tahta Dhilālus Suyūf –Realise that Paradise is under the shade of swords.”

Rasūlullāhﷺ says in Bukhārī and Muslim, “Man Jahada Ghāziyan Fee Sabeelillāhi Faqad Ghazā Wa Man Khalafa Ghāziyan Fee Ahlihī Bikhairin

Faqad Ghazā –Whoever finances a fighter in the path of Allāh has fought, and whoever takes care of the family of a fighter has fought.”

The reward of Ribāt, which is being stationed in the path of Allāh:

“Ribātu Yawmin Wa Laylah Khairum Min Siyāmi Shahrin Wa Qiyāmih –

Ribāt for one day in the path of Allāh is better than fasting an entire month and praying that month.” This is in Sahīh Al-Muslim

And in Al-Hākim, ‘Umrā Bin Al-Hasīm says that Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Muqāmu Ar-Rajuli Fis-Saffi Afdal ‘Indallāhi Min ‘Ibāditir Rajuli Sittīna Sanah –Standing in the ranks [before the battle starts, just standing in the ranks] is better than worshipping Allāh for 60 years.”

All of these Ahādīth were to prepare the people spiritually for what was coming. They were facing enemies from every direction, so Rasūlullāhﷺ was telling them about the virtues of fighting Fee Sabeelillāh .

8.6.2 Physical Preparation

Then you had the physical preparation, and that was military training. Now, the Sahābah did not need to be told to go jogging or go and lift weights, their lifestyle was active anyway so there was no need to tell them to be physically fit; they had an active lifestyle because of the type of work that they would do. A farmer going out in the farm and working from after Fajr until late in the day, it would not make sense to tell him to go jogging after that. So they were physically fit, so they did not need to be told to be fit. However in the areas where there were deficiencies, Rasūlullāhﷺ did specify [certain preparation], for example swimming. Because the Arabs of Makkah and Madīnah were far away from the sea and they were living in a desert, swimming was not a part of their life, so Rasūlullāhﷺ told them in some Ahādīth to swim. So the areas where there were deficiencies, Rasūlullāhﷺ did mention in Ahādīth ways to improve them in those areas.

Rasūlullāhﷺ also told them for example to train in terms of target-shooting, marksmanship. In his Tafsīr of the Āyah: Wa A‘iddū Lahum Mastata’tum Min Quwwah – And prepare against them whatever youare able of power… Al-Anfāl: 60

Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Alā Innal Quwwatar Rāmī, Alā Innal Quwwatar Rāmī, Alā Innal Quwwatar Rāmī –Strength is target-shooting, strength is target-shooting, strength is target-shooting.”

Rasūlullāhﷺ says in a Hadīth, “Everything that is not a Remembrance of Allāh is a waste of your time, except four things; walking between the targets, training your horse, playing with your wife, and learning how to swim and teaching it to others.” When they used to practise target-shooting, it was archery, they would place two targets; they would stand next to the first one and shoot at the second, and then they would walk to the second and pick up their arrows and then stand next to it and shoot at the first one. So Rasūlullāhﷺ says that this walking between the two targets is ‘Ibādah of Allāh . So these four things are ‘Ibādah of Allāh , and any other form of entertainment is a waste of your time.

So from these teachings, we can notice that there was what is referred to as absolute war, where there is a total mobilisation of the society gearing all of its resources towards the militarisation of the society in order to defend it – that process was happening in the time of Rasūlullāhﷺ. Rasūlullāhﷺ says in the Hadīth, “Jāhidul Mushrikīna Bi Amwālikum Wa Anfusikum Wa Alsinatikum –Fight the Non-Believers with your wealth, arms and tongues.” So it was a total effort; wealth, arms and tongues, all geared up to defend the newly formed Muslim community. I hope these points would clear some misconceptions or misunderstandings regarding what was happening in the time of Rasūlullāhﷺ.

We need to look at it in the context of the situation; it was a very difficult time for the Muslims, Quraish was threatening them, for example, as soon as Rasūlullāhﷺ made Hijrah to Madīnah, the people of Quraish sent a letter to ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ telling him, “You have given sanctuary to As-Subāh (As-Subāh was a deragotory term they would use), and you either give them up and hand them over, otherwise we will kill you and leave your women as widows and leave your children as orphans.” So they were threatening the people of Madīnah; it was not like Quraish were turning a blind eye to the Sahābah , they were taking this Hijrah lesson very seriously, so the threat was there. Another example is when Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh went to visit Makkah.

He was friends with Ummayah Bin Khalaf, so he went to Umayyah and said, “O Umayyah, I want to make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah so tell me about a time when it would be empty.” There would normally be crowds of people. So they waited until the late hour and then they went to go and make Tawāf. So Umayyah Bin Khalaf and Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh, who were friends in Jāhiliyyah, were making Tawāf, and then Abū Jahl saw them. So Abū Jahl came to them and asked Umayyah, “Who is this man with you?” Umayyah said, “This is Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh,” and Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh was well-known, he was the head of Al-Aws, one of the two tribes in Madīnah who became Muslim. So Abū Jahl told Umayyah, “I do not want to see you having this man make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah when they have given sanctuary to Muhammad and his followers.” So Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh responded back by saying, “If you prevent me from making Tawāf, I am going to prevent your caravans from reaching to Ash-Shām,” because the caravans of Quraish passed next to Madīnah. So they exchanged threats, but this shows you that the people of Quraish were plotting against Muhammadﷺ and the Sahābah, and that was why there was a militarisation effort going on in Madīnah, it was to protect the Muslim community.

8.7 The Beginning of Jihād

8.7.1 Sarāyā and Ghazawāt

After receiving permission from Allāh to fight – Udhina Lilladhīna Yuqātalūna Bi’annahum Zulimū – Permission [to fight] has been given tothose who are being fought. Al-Hajj: 1

–Rasūlullāhﷺ started sending out what is referred to as Sarāyā. So we have in our books of Seerah Sarāyā and we have Ghazawāt. So what is the difference between the two? So you would have Ghazwat Badr, and you would have Ghazwat Uhud, and you would have Ghazwat Al-Khandaq; on the other hand you would have Sariyyat Abū ‘Ubdaidah, Sariyyat ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh, Sariyyat Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās. The difference is [that] Sarāyā refers to the armies that were sent out by Rasūlullāhﷺ without him participating in them, while a Ghazwah is an army that is led by Rasūlullāhﷺ, so that is the difference between a Ghazwah and a Sariyyah. If you are reading a book of Seerah, you will run into this; Sariyyah and Ghazwah. So Rasūlullāhﷺ started sending out Sarāyā and he was leading Ghazawāt. Now, in terms of the linguistic meaning of the two words, Ghazwah and Sariyyah, Ghazwah means an army of conquest, while Sariyyah [means] an army but it does not really mean that it is involved in conquest or not. These are just the linguistic meanings of the words that are not really relevant when it comes to how the scholars of Seerah are using the two words.

Ghazwat Al-Abwā’ – The First Ghazwah : The first Ghazwah in which Rasūlullāhﷺ participated in is called Ghazwat Al- Abwā’, but no fighting occurred; this army went out but they not meet the enemy. And then Rasūlullāhﷺ sends out a Sariyyah led by ‘Ubaydah Ibn Al-Hārith. These were 60 of Al-Muhājirūn, all of them were Muhājirūn, on foot, there were no mounts, and they would walk at night and hide during the day. They exchanged arrows but no one was killed. So the first shots fired in Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh were in Sariyyat ‘Ubaydah Bin Hārith, and the first one to shoot was Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās , he said, “I am the first one to shoot an arrow in the path of Allāh.”

Sariyyat Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib : Then you have Sariyyat Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib. This was a Sariyyah led by Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib [with] about 30 Muhājirūn, but this time they were riding camels. This was a Sariyyah that went out to raid a caravan that belonged to Quraish, but the caravan was supported by a large number of guards. Anyway, no fighting occurred because one of the tribesmen in the area who had a peace agreement with Muhammadﷺ and with Quraish interfered and he saw that no fighting occurred. But when this happened, Abū Jahl was with the caravan, he went back to Quraish and he was giving a warning to his people and he said, “Muhammad is out there to get you, be careful. He is like an angry lion, because we have driven them out of their land like insects would be driven off the back of a camel.” So he is telling his people to be careful; Muhammadﷺ is out there and he is trying to lay hands on our caravans and on us, so be careful.

Other Sarāyā and Ghazawāt : And then there was another Ghazwah called Ghazwah Bu‘āt. They went to raid a caravan but could not find it. And then you have Ghazwat Al-‘Ashīrah; they also went to pursue a caravan but were not able to find it, these caravans were a bit elusive, they were trying to hide their tracks in the desert. And then you have Sariyyat Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās and Ghazwat Badr Al-Ūlā; all of these occurred within the first two years of Hijrah before the Battle of Badr.

8.7.2 Sariyyah ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh :

Then there is another Sariyyah that happened and this Sariyyah is quite important because of the consequences of it, and this Sariyyah is called the Sariyyah of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh . This was a small group of Sahābah who were sent out to pursue a caravan belonging to Quraish. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh, the leader of this Sariyyah, was handed a letter by Rasūlullāhﷺ. That letter was sealed and Rasūlullāhﷺ told ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh not to open it until after two days. So Rasūlullāhﷺ told him to go to such and such place, and after two days you open this letter and you read it. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh opens the letter after two days and it states in there, “I instruct you to go to such and such place,” and this place was between Makkah and At-Tā’if, “and to ask the members of your Sariyyah to follow you, but make it voluntary on them.” So this was a voluntary Sariyyah; you ask them if they want to join you or not. Probably the reason was because this was quite a risky operation; these men were going deep in[to] the territory of Al-Kuffār, they were going between Makkah and At-Tā’if. So now Rasūlullāh was not raiding a caravan that was passing next to Madīnah – you know, because the route that leads from Makkah to Syria passes next to Madīnah, so Rasūlullāhﷺ had the opportunity of intersecting those caravans – now Rasūlullāhﷺ was going after the caravans of Quraish which were between Makkah and At-Tā’if. So this was quite risky and they would be quite far away from their base Al-Madīnah, so Rasūlullāhﷺ makes this a voluntary Sariyyah.

‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh tells the members of his Sariyyah, “This is what Rasūlullāhﷺ says. I am going to go, and whoever wants to follow me it is up to you.” So it was voluntary on all of them including ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh. They all said, “We are willing to go with you, we are going to go,” because ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh told them, “Whoever wants to stay can stay, and whoever wants to go and die, you are welcome to come.” So they saw it as quite a risky operation. They said, “We are all willing to die Fee Sabeelillāh, we are going to go with you.” So none of them stayed behind. You can contrast this with all of the news of soldiers defecting from their armies, so you can see how some people are forced to fight while some people volunteer for it, and this shows you the difference between when someone is doing something for the sake of this world – for greed or for expansion of territory or for power – compared to when someone is doing something virtuous for the sake of Allāh. This again shows you the difference between fighting for the sake of Allāh and fighting for other reasons which we talked about in our previous session, that all war is evil except if it is fought for the sake of Allāh. So here, they all volunteered to go.

They do spot the caravan of Quraish; the caravan was lightly guarded, only four guards, and they were within striking distance, but they were in a dilemma; this was a sacred month. There were four months in the year in which Arabs did not fight, and this was agreed upon among them and they held this up in high esteem. They took these months seriously, they would not violate them and they would not fight in them. They were in the last day of the month of Rajab, which was one of the Sacred Months, so they were not supposed to fight. So you might ask the question, well why not wait for another day? Pursue this caravan and you just have one more day to go and then you will be in the month of Sha’bān and you can attack them. Well, there was another problem; if they wait for another day, this caravan would enter into the sacred limits of Makkah where they are not supposed to fight either. So either way they will be violating either the sanctity of the four months or the sanctity of Makkah, so it was a dilemma. They made Shūrā and they decided to go ahead and attack in the month of Rajab, in the Sacred Month. They shot their arrows; one of the four guards was killed, Al-Hadramī, one of them ran away, and two of them were taken prisoners and the whole caravan fell into the hands of the Muslims, so they drove them back to Madīnah.

This was breaking news, everyone was talking about it. Quraish made a big deal about it; they took this opportunity and milked it to the limits. They went around saying that Muhammad and his people are violating the Sacred Months, they are shedding blood, they have taken prisoners, they have stolen our wealth – all in the Holy Months! It says in Al-Bayhaqī, “Muhammad and his people have violated the Sacred Months, and they have shed blood, and they have taken our wealth, and they have taken our men prisoners.” So again, this was breaking news on all networks, splashing the front pages of every newspaper in the country; the Muslims are terrorists who are violating the sanctity of the Holy Month, shedding blood, and they went around spreading this news in Arabia and it was a big deal.

Well, when the men of the Sariyyah came back to Madīnah, Rasūlullāhﷺ told them, “I did not tell you to fight in the Holy Month, I did not give you those instructions.” And the Muslims were reproaching the Sahābah, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh and his people, they were telling them, “Who told you to fight in this Sacred Month?! Who told you to violate it?!” So Subhān’Allāh, these men of the Sariyyah were in a very difficult situation, they were worried, they were very worried [thinking] what have we done?! And what will this be considered in the Eyes of Allāh? And Rasūlullāh refused to take the prisoners and he refused to take the caravan, so you can imagine how desperate the Sahābah would be. We went out there, we risked our lives, and then here we are; all what that we have done is not accepted and everyone is upset with us, Rasūlullāhﷺ and the Sahābah alike. And Quraish were taking advantage of this and they made a big deal out of it. And then Āyāt from Qur’ān were revealed:

They ask you about the Sacred Month – about fighting therein. Sonow people are asking: what is the ruling of Allāh concerning fighting in the Sacred Month? So Allāh says: Say, “Fighting therein is great [sin],… Subhān’Allāh. So what ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh and his men did was a great sin. Allāh was saying that fighting in the Sacred Month is a great sin. But then what did Allāh say [after that]? …but averting [people] from the way of Allāh and Disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] Al-Masjid Al-Harām and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the sight of Allāh. And Fitnah is greater than killing.” Al-Baqarah: 217

Sohere Allāh is putting things into perspective, Allāh is saying that yes, what the Sahābah have done in violating the sanctity of the Sacred Month was wrong, it was a great sin, but then Allāh lists four other sins: Averting [people] from the way of Allāh –The People of Quraish on the other hand were averting people from the path of Allāh, they were standing between people and becoming Muslim, they were standing between them and becoming Muslim.

And Disbelief in Him – That is a great sin.

And [preventing access to] Al-Masjid Al-Harām –The Muslims were not allowed to go to Makkah.

And the expulsion of its people therefrom –And the Muhājirīn were driven out of Makkah.

Allāh says those sins are greater than what ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh did. So averting people from the way of Allāh is a greater sin than killing in the Sacred Month. Disbelieving in Allāh is a greater sin than killing in the Sacred Month. And preventing access to Al-Masjid Al-Harām is a greater evil in the Eyes of Allāh than fighting in the Sacred Month. And the expulsion of people from Makkah and forcing them out of their land is a greater sin in the Eyes of Allāh than fighting in the Sacred Month. So Allāh is putting things into perspective.

And then Allāh says: Wal Fitnatu Ashaddu Minal Qatl – And fitnah is greater than killing. Fitnah, seducing people away from Islām, is greater than killing. Ibn Is’hāq says, “The people of Quraish would seduce a Muslim until he gave up Islām.” Allāh says that is worse than fighting in the Sacred Month.

Then Allāh says about the Disbelievers: And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to Disbelief] and dies while he is a Disbeliever – for those, their deeds have become worthless in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the Companions of the Fire, they will abide therein eternally. Al-Baqarah: 217

This Āyah is clearing up the minds of people, it is telling them look at what ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh and his people did, and on the other hand, look at what the Kuffār of Quraish have been doing for 13 years. Do not just make a big deal about what ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh did and completely forget about the sins of the people of Quraish. Even though what ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh did was wrong, but what the people of Quraish have been doing outweighs all of that.

So when these Āyāt were revealed, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh and his followers were happy that at least Allāh had mentioned that the people of Quraish had committed greater sins, so now they were eager to get credit for what they had done. So now, if these Āyāt make them break even, or at least that is how it appears now, they went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and they wanted to get reward for what they had done! Even though the Āyah says that it was a mistake, it was a sin. So Allāh reveals the following Āyah in which He says: Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allāh – those expect the mercy of Allāh. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful. Al-Baqarah: 218

Subhān’Allāh! SoAllāh is telling them that you can expect the mercy of Allāh and expect to get credit for what you have done and expect to be given the reward of Al -Mujāhidīn. Not only that, but according to our scholars, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh and his Sariyyah were the first to take prisoners in the path of Allāh, they were the first to take booty of war in the path of Allāh, and they were the first to kill a Disbeliever in the path of Allāh, so they were the first in these three areas and that was an honour that was bestowed on them.

When these Āyāt were revealed, Rasūlullāhﷺ took the caravan and he took the two men as prisoners. Two of the members of the Sariyyah of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh lost a camel, so they went looking for it and they did not come back yet. The people of Quraish came to ransom the two prisoners, but Rasūlullāhﷺ told them, “Akhāfu An Takūnu Qad Asabtum Sa’d Ibn Mālik ⁽Also known as Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās.)Wa ‘Utbah Bin Ghazwān – Iam not going to hand over the prisoners until my two men come back, I fear that you might kill them.” So this shows you the care that Rasūlullāhﷺ had for his followers. He said I am not giving you your two men until my two men come back, and this is how Muslims should be, they should never give one another up. So when Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās and ‘Utbah Bin Ghazwān came back, Rasūlullāhﷺ released the two prisoners of Quraish; they were ransomed, the people of Quraish had to pay money to free them, and Subhān’Allāh, one of them, Al-Hakam Bin Kaithān, became Muslim and he stayed, he did not go back, and he died as a Shahīd later on, while the other, ‘Uthmān Bin Mughīrah, went back to Makkah and died as a Disbeliever.

8.7.3 Lessons from Sariyyah ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh:

The Enemies of Allāh Will Present you in the Worst Form : Number One: The enemies of Allāh are going to pick on your actions and they are going to try to blow them out of proportion, they might try to twist the truth, and they will try to present you in the worst form that they are capable of presenting you in. So the Muslim needs to be aware of that and needs to study the reality of the situation and put things in perspective just like these Āyāt of Allāh put things in perspective. So if Muslims are ever accused of being terrorists or that Islām is promoting violence, let whoever is saying that remember that hundreds of thousands of people were killed in ‘Irāq, that Palestinians have been suffering for over 50 years, that Muslims in Kashmīr, Chechnya, Philippines, and one can go on and on and on, have been suffering for a very long time. Bring these things up, and it will become clear that even if the Muslims do something that is not justified, [something] that cannot fall under justifiable resistance, it can never reach to the level of violence and evil that is committed against the Muslims from the Disbelievers, it can never reach to that level. More than a million have been killed in the sanctions that were laid upon ‘Irāq, more than a million. So things need to be put in the right perspective, and do not be gullible and naïve and just fall into what the media is saying, because the media is not on your side, and the enemies of Allāh are never going to be on your side. So the Muslim needs to be aware of the reality of the situation and not just take things as you hear it on the radio or TV, but look deep into what is happening and you will see the evil that is caused by the enemies of Allāh. Look at how, Subhān’Allāh, what Quraish did to Muhammadﷺ the enemies of Allāh are doing to the Muslims today. The preachers who are preaching the true Islām are being thrown in jail or killed or subjugated to threats, if Muslims try to present the truth as it is they are fought against and they are restricted, Muslim lands are taken as booty and milking cows for the enemies of Allāh, Muslim blood has become very cheap, in fact it has not only become cheap it has become worthless.

The Care that Muslims Should Have for one another : [The] second lesson [is] the care that Muslims should have for one another. Rasūlullāhﷺ refused to give up the two prisoners of war until ‘Utbah and Sa’d Ibn Mālik would come back.

8.7.4 Reasons for Sarāyā

And then a few lessons regarding the issue of Sarāyā in general.

To Establish Military Presence of Rasūlullāhﷺ and Muslims : [Number one:] These Sarāyā were to establish the military presence of Rasūlullāhﷺ and the Muslims. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was sending these Sarāyā north, south, west, [and] east to let the people know that the Muslims have force and they are capable of using it and this is a strong State so be careful, do not attack it. Because in the tribal system of old Arabia, if one tribe felt that the other tribe was weak, they would take advantage of that. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was sending out these Sarāyā as a deterrence to others, to the Bedouins who were surrounding Madīnah who still had the respect of Quraish in their hearts, because Quraish was seen as the centre of Arabia, of the noble men, they were the people who were the custodians of Al-Ka’bah, so they were held in high esteem by the rest of Arabia. Rasūlullāhﷺ was trying to break that and trying to let the people know that there is now a rival power in the area.

Winning Over Tribes and Establishing Alliances : Number Two: Rasūlullāhﷺ was winning over tribes and establishing alliances, and this was still in the stage where Rasūlullāhﷺ could establish alliances with Polytheists. We talked about the stages of fighting Fee Sabeelillāh, that in the final stage Rasūlullāhﷺ was instructed to fight all of the Mushrikīn, but we are still in the stage here where Rasūlullāhﷺ could establish alliances with these tribes, and he did with some of the Bedouin tribes surrounding Madīnah, he established alliances; this was done through these Sarāyā, [and] we can translate Sariyyah as expedition.

Economical Reasons : Number Three: These Sarāyā were mostly for economical reasons. Mostly, these Sarāyā were sent out to raid the caravans of Quraish. That is because in the Islāmic Fiqh, if the Muslim State is in a state of war with another, that makes the lives and the wealth of the enemy State Halāl. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was attacking the economical network of Quraish. And this was a serious threat to Quraish and this was what led to the Battle of Badr, because it started out, as we will see, as an attempt to take over the biggest caravan of Quraish which was led by Abū Sufyān.

Training for Muslims : Number Four: These Sarāyā were training for the Muslims. Now Rasūlullāh

is not fighting a tribal warfare, this is an army with a new identity, so these Sarāyā were a great chance for the Sahābah to experience and to learn. He would send out groups of 30, groups of 60; [in] many of these these Sarāyā they would learn reconnaissance methods, they would learn how to ambush, they would learn the area, they would get to know the tribes around them, so they were benefitting greatly from these Sarāyā, and overall they were quite successful. In this war that carried on for a few years between Rasūlullāhﷺ and Quraish, you would find that Quraish did not have a similar tactic of sending out Sarāyā against the Muslims, this was pretty much an Islāmic thing, and they were very successful and they were a serious threat to the people of Quraish.

Insecurity in Madīnah : Rasūlullāhﷺ was not totally secure in Madīnah; Madīnah was small and the number of Muslims was not that large. Rasūlullāhﷺ one night could not sleep, and he said, “I wish there was someone to guard me this night.” And suddenly he heard the sound of someone outside carrying his weapons, so Rasūlullāhﷺ asked, “Who is it?” And it turned out to be Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās, he came to guard Rasūlullāhﷺ.

Ibn Hajar gives us some lessons from this incident, he says, “This shows that the Muslim should not be careless when care is needed.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ felt threatened in Madīnah and he was not careless about it, he could not actually sleep that night because he wanted someone to be his guard. So the Muslim should be careful. Number two, he [Ibn Hajar] says. “The Muslims should protect and guard their leaders.” They should guard their ‘Ulamā’, they should guard their military leaders. Number three, he said, “Rasūlullāh did this as a lesson for his Ummah.” The fact that he was not able to sleep and then was asking for someone to guard him, this is a lesson to his Ummah that we should be careful, we should be alert, and this carried on until Allāh revealed the Āyah: Wallāhu Ya’simuka Minan-Nās – And Allāh will protect you from the people. Al-Mā’idah: 67

SoAllāh was telling Muhammadﷺ that you do not need to have guards, Allāh will protect you. And that is when Rasūlullāhﷺ came out and said, “Go back, Allāh has given me His protection.”

Books of Muslims

Easy Read of Great Islamic Books

8. Establishment of the Islamic State

8.1 The Masjid

8.1.1 Al-Masjid An-Nabawī

8.1.2 Lessons from Building of the Masjid

8.1.3 Establishment of the Adhān :

8.1.4 Ahl As-Suffah

8.2 Establishing Brotherhood

8.3 The Covenant Between People of Madinah

8.3.1 the Covenant [or] the Document.

8.3.2 Comments on the Covenant

8.3.3 Rasūlullāhﷺ Makes Du‘ā’ for Madīnah :

8.4 Change of Qiblah

8.5 Ghazawāt (Battles)

8.5.1 Jihād – Its Meaning and Wisdom

8.5.2 Objectives of Jihād

8.5.3 Permission to Fight Granted

8.6 Establishment of the Muslim Army

8.6.1 Spiritual Preparation

8.6.2 Physical Preparation

8.7 The Beginning of Jihād

8.7.1 Sarāyā and Ghazawāt

8.7.2 Sariyyah ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh :

8.7.3 Lessons from Sariyyah ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh:

8.7.4 Reasons for Sarāyā

8.1 The Masjid

8.1.1 Al-Masjid An-Nabawī

8.1.2 Lessons from Building of the Masjid

8.1.3 Establishment of the Adhān :

8.1.4 Ahl As-Suffah

8.2 Establishing Brotherhood

8.3 The Covenant Between People of Madinah

8.3.1 the Covenant [or] the Document.

8.3.2 Comments on the Covenant

8.3.3 Rasūlullāhﷺ Makes Du‘ā’ for Madīnah :

8.4 Change of Qiblah

8.5 Ghazawāt (Battles)

8.5.1 Jihād – Its Meaning and Wisdom

8.5.2 Objectives of Jihād

8.5.3 Permission to Fight Granted

8.6 Establishment of the Muslim Army

8.6.1 Spiritual Preparation

8.6.2 Physical Preparation

8.7 The Beginning of Jihād

8.7.1 Sarāyā and Ghazawāt

8.7.2 Sariyyah ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh :

8.7.3 Lessons from Sariyyah ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh:

8.7.4 Reasons for Sarāyā

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