FULFILLING ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS THE CONVERSION OF JARIR, SON OF ABDULLAH MU’ADH TEACHES THE ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS HOWSHAB IS TAUGHT THE ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS ABD QAIS AND THE ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS ALQAMA AND THE ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS LETTERS TO RULERS Hayatus Sahabah by Muhadith Kandahlawi (Kandhelvi) Rendered into current English by Khadeijah Abdullah Darwish (Anne Stephens) Free give away Acquired from Amazon’s Kindle Not for sale or resale by any third party ©2013 - www.Muhammad.com THE CONVERSION OF JARIR, SON OF ABDULLAH Jarir, son of Abdullah narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, called for him and (upon presenting himself he) asked, “O Jarir, what brings you here?” I replied, “I have come to embrace Islam at your hands O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, threw his shawl over Jarir and then turned to the Companions and said, “Give the honor that is due to the noble members of a community when they come to you.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, then said to Jarir, “O Jarir, I call you to bear witness that there is no god except Allah, that I am the Messenger of Allah, that you believe in Allah, the Last Day, predestination of good and evil, that you establish the obligatory prayer, and that you pay the obligatory charity (zakat)” I (Jarir) replied that I would comply with all of this and the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, never failed to smile at me each time he saw me. THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH TEACHES MU’ADH HOW TO CONVEY ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS praise and peace be upon him Abdullah, son of Abbas narrates that when the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent Mu’adh, son of Jabal to Yemen he said, “You will indeed meet people from the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). When you reach them, invite them to bear witness that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. If they obey you in this, inform them that Allah has made it obligatory for them to pray the five prayers during each day and night. If they obey you in this inform them that Allah has made the payment of zakat (obligatory charity) an obligation that is taken from the wealthy amongst them and given to their poor. If they obey you in this abstain from taking the best of their wealth (as charity) and beware of the curses of the oppressed because there is no barrier between it and Allah.” THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH CALLS HOWSHAB DHI DHULAYM TO FULFILL THE OBLIGATIONS OF ISLAM praise and peace be upon him Howshab Dhi Dhulaym narrated that when Allah granted leadership to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, he (Howshab) sent a letter with Abd Sharr and a party of forty horsemen to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. Upon their arrival in Medina Abd Sharr asked, “Which of you is Muhammad?” and someone pointed him out. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “What has brought you to us?” He replied, “I am willing to follow you if it is good.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him told him, “You must establish the prayer, pay the obligatory charity, safeguard the blood of people, enjoin good and forbid evil” Abd Sharr said, “This is indeed fine, stretch out your hand so that I may pledge my allegiance to you.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, then asked him his name and he replied that it was Abd Sharr (servant of evil). The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “No, rather you are Abd Khayr (servant of good).” Then the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, accepted his pledge of allegiance and replied to the letter of Howshab Dhi Dhulaym, who also embraced Islam. THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH CALLS UPON THE DELEGATION OF ABD QAIS TO FULFILL THE ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS praise and peace be upon him Abdullah, son of Abbas narrates that when a delegation from the tribe of Abd Qais met the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, he said to them, “Welcome to people who will neither suffer remorse nor humiliation (in both worlds because they had willingly accepted Islam). They said, “O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, the unbelievers from the hostile tribe of Mudhar live between yourself (in Medina) and us. Therefore we are only able to meet with you during one of the sacred months (during which they do not fight). We request you to tell us something that is excellent which, when we fulfill it, will lead us to Paradise and which we may call our people who have remained behind to.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “I order you to do four things and forbid you from doing four things. (The things I order you to do are) to believe in Allah by bearing witness that there is no god except Allah, to establish the (five) prayers, pay the obligatory charity (to the Islamic treasury). I forbid to you four things. Beverages brewed in utensils made from marrow and utensils covered in tar (drinks brewed in these utensils become intoxicants).” Another narration reports that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, added, “Always bear this in mind and convey the message to those of your people who remained behind.” THE REALITY OF BELIEF, PREACHING AND FULFILLMENT OF ISLAMIC OBLIGATIONS Alqama narrates that he was among seven people from his tribe who came to meet the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. They greeted the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and he responded to their greeting and when they spoke to him, he liked what they said. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “What are you?” They replied, “We are believers” whereupon the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “Every statement has a reality (to substantiate it). What is the reality of your belief?” They replied, “O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, fifteen attributes (are proof of our belief). Five are those which you have commanded us to do, five are those that your messengers have commanded us to do and five are those we have adopted from the ‘Time of Ignorance’ and still practice unless you forbid them to us.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “What are the five I have commanded you to do?” They replied, “You have commanded us to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His prophets and in predestination whether good or evil.” Then the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “What are the five my messengers commanded you to do?” The replied, “Your messengers commanded us to bear witness that there is no god except One, Allah, who has no partners and that you are the worshiper of Allah and His Messenger. Furthermore, they instructed us to establish the obligatory prayers, pay the obligatory charity, fast during the month of Ramadan, to perform the pilgrimage to the House (Ka’bah) if we are capable of doing so.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked, “And what are the attributes you have adopted from the ‘Time of Ignorance’?” They replied, “Expressing gratitude when enjoying good fortune, exercising patience when facing difficulties, speaking the truth during confrontation, believing the decrees of fate and not expressing pleasure when an enemy is afflicted by calamity.” (Addressing the Companions) the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, exclaimed, “Intellectuals and well cultured people! Their manners are close to those of the prophets because they are so excellent.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, smiled and said, “I will advise you with another five attributes so that Allah may complete your excellent attributes – never hoard that which you cannot eat, never build that which you cannot live in, never compete to achieve that which you will leave behind tomorrow, fear Allah to whom you will have to go before and to whom you shall be gathered, and concern yourselves with that to which you are heading and where you will live forever.” Suwayd, son of Harith narrates a similar hadith and says that he was one of seven people who went as part of a delegation to meet the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. When they arrived in his presence and spoke to him, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked them, “What are you?” They replied, “Believers.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “Every statement has a reality (to substantiate it) what is the reality of your belief?” They replied, “Fifteen attributes (prove the existence of our belief). Five are those which your messengers commanded us to believe in, five are those which your messengers commanded us to carry out and five are those we adopted from the ‘Time of Ignorance’ and still practice up until now unless you dislike them (in which case we are prepared to forsake them….” The rest of the hadith is similar to the one previously mentioned with the exception that “in the place of predestination of good and evil” he mentioned “resurrection after death” and instead of “not expressing pleasure when an enemy is afflicted by calamity, he said, “steadfastness when enemies rejoice at our misfortunes.” LETTERS OF RULERS INVITING THEM TO ISLAM The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent his Companions to faraway places and encouraged them to preach and not to engage in disputes. Miswar, son of Makhrama, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, went to the Companions and said, “Allah has sent me as a mercy to all mankind. Carry out this responsibility on my behalf and Allah will shower you with mercy.” Prophet Jesus also requested his disciples to do likewise (but they fell into dispute with one another), so do not fall into to dispute as they fell into dispute. Those who were being sent to far away places disliked it (whereas those who were to be sent not far away were prepared to take on the responsibility) whereupon Prophet Jesus supplicated to Allah concerning the situation. The following day Allah caused each of Prophet Jesus’ disciples to speak in the tongue of the people to whom they were being sent (to propagate the Religion). Prophet Jesus addressed them saying “Allah has made this task incumbent upon you, so make sure you carry your task to its fulfillment.” The Companions said, “O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, we will indeed take on the responsibility and carry it out on your behalf, send us wherever you wish. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, then sent Abdullah, son of Hudhafa to Chosroes the Emperor of Persia, whereas Salet, son of Amr was sent to Howdha, son of Ali, chieftain of Yamamah. Alaa. son of Hadhrami was sent to Mudhir son of Saawa the chief of Hajr and Amr, son of Al As was sent to Jayfar and Abad the two sons of Julunda who both ruled over Aman. In addition to these messengers, Dihya Kalbi was sent to Caesar (Heraclius, Emperor of Rome), Shuja, son of Wahab Asadi was sent to Mundhir, son of Harith, son of Abi Shimar Ghassani, and Amr, son of Umayyah Dhamri was sent to the Negus, (King of Abyssinia). All of those messengers returned to Medina before the death of the Messenger of Allah, except Alaa, son of Hadhrami who was in Bahrain. Historians mentioned that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, also sent Muhajir, son of Abi Ummayah to Harith son of Abd Kulaaal, Jarir was sent to Dhul Kulaa, Sa’ib was sent to Musalama, and Hatib, son of Abi Balta’ah was sent to the Maqowqis (the Christian patriarch of Egypt). Anas narrates that before the death of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, he sent letters to the emperors of Persia, Rome and Abyssinia as well as other rulers of the day inviting them to Allah, the Glorious, the Magnificent. May Allah be pleased with all the Companions.