THE PROPHET,’S INVITATION TO BURAYDA, SON OF KHUSAYB PARTICIPANTS OF A BATTLE COMPANIONS INVITATION ALI’S INVITATION TO THE JEWS OF KHAYBAR FARWA GHUTAYFI MISSION Hayatus Sahabah by Muhadith Kandahlawi (Kandhelvi) Rendered into current English by Khadeijah Abdullah Darwish (Anne Stephens) With supportive extracts from her Millennium Biography of Prophet, Muhammad praise and peace be upon him, Free give away Acquired from Amazon’s Kindle Not for sale or resale by any third party ©2013 - www.Muhammad.com THE PROPHET,’S INVITATION TO BURAYDA SON OF KHUSAYB AND HIS COMPANIONS AS HE MIGRATED TO MEDINA Asim Aslami narrates that during the Messenger of Allah’s migration from Mecca to Medina he met Buraydah, the son of Khusayb at a place called Ghameem. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, invited him to accept Islam and this he did together with approximately eighty families. Thereafter, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, led them in the Isha prayer. THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH’S JOURNEY TO TA’IF The people of Mecca knew that Abu Lahab, the new chief of the tribe of Hashim was not inclined to take action against those who perpetrated the bounds of decency against the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. Now the road was clear for all and sundry to abuse Prophet, Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, and his Companions, and so their persecution continued. It was now the month of Shawwal (June 619) ten years after the Prophethood. In hope of spreading the message of Islam and gaining the support of the influential tribe of Thakif, the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, accompanied by Zayd, Haritha’s son journeyed to Ta'if. Upon reaching the city he went directly to the house of Umair, who was considered to be the most noble of chieftains, but his invitation to Islam and request for support fell on deaf ears and Umair and his household rejected and mocked the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him,. Three brothers from the chieftains of Thakif - Abd Yalil, Masood and Habib - sons of Amr son of Umair Ath-Thaqafy met the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him,, and he invited them to Islam, and then sought their alliance. The hearts of the brothers were hard and unreceptive. One of them swore he would tear down the covering of Ka’bah if Allah had sent Muhammad as His Messenger. Another mocked the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, saying, "Couldn't Allah have found someone better than you to send!" As for the third brother he said, "By Allah, don't let me speak to you ever again. If you are as you claim, the Messenger of Allah, then you are far too important to speak with me; on the other hand, if you are lying, it is not befitting for me to speak with you!" The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, endured these harsh remarks with patience and as he was leaving the brothers, called their household and slaves together and encouraged them to hurl abusive statements at the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him,. The commotion attracted other members of the tribe who joined them, throwing stones and injuring the Prophet,’s leg. Zayd, while trying to shield the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, also sustained an injury to his head which bled profusely and so the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, sought the peace and quiet of an orchard several miles away from the town belonging to Rabi’as sons. The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, tethered his camel to a palm tree then sat down under its shade being confident of the support of his Lord started to supplicate to Him saying: “O Allah! To You alone I make complaint of my helplessness, the paucity of my resources and my insignificance before mankind. You are the Most Merciful of the merciful. You are the Lord of the helpless and the weak, O Lord of mine! Into whose hands would You abandon me, the hands of an unsympathetic distant relative who would sullenly frown at me, or to the enemy who has been given control over my affairs? But if Your wrath does not fall on me, there is nothing for me to worry about. I seek protection in the light of Your Countenance, which illuminates the heavens and dispels darkness, and which controls all affairs in this world as well as in the Hereafter. May it never be that I should incur Your wrath, or that You should be wrathful to me. And there is no power nor resource, but Yours alone.” THE NAZARENE SLAVE FROM NINEVEH Now the two sons of Rabi’a knew what had happened to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and their hearts softened a little toward him so they sent a young Nazarene slave by the name of Addas who was a follower of Prophet, Jesus, As Addas gave the dish to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, he looked up smiled and thanked him then took some grapes and before eating them said, "Bismillah". The pronouncement astonished Addas who said, "By Allah, this is not the way the people of this country speak." The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, looked up at him and inquired, "Which country do you come from, and what is your religion?" Addas replied that he was a Nazarene, a follower of Prophet, Jesus, peace be upon him, from far away Nineveh (Ninawah). The Prophet,’s heart filled with joy and commented, "From the town of the righteous man Jonah, the son of Mattal." Addas was even more surprised and asked the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, how he knew about Jonah to which he replied, "He is my brother, he was a Prophet, and I am a Prophet,." Addas' heart rejoiced and he bent over and kissed his head, then his hands and feet. Meanwhile, the brothers had been observing the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, from a distance and were disturbed when they saw Addas respecting the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, by kissing him and said to each other, "Look, he is already corrupting our slave!" When Addas returned to them they asked why he had acted as he did. Addas answered, "He is the finest man in this country and has told me things that only a Prophet, would know." To this the brothers exclaimed, "Do not let him seduce you from your religion - your religion is better than his!" The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, realized he could expect no help whatsoever from the people of Thakif, so he and Zayd mounted his camel and set off back to Mecca. In the years to come Lady Ayesha, wife of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, asked him if he had ever experienced a day harsher than Uhud. He told her that the most painful day for him was on the day of Aqabah when he sought the support of the son of Abd Yalil, the son of Kalal but had met with his rejection. He told her that after this bitter rejection he set out for Mecca and was oblivious of his surroundings until he reached Qarn Al-Manazil. He told her as he looked up he saw a cloud shading him then Gabriel spoke saying, “Allah has heard your people's words and sent you the angel of mountains to your assistance.” Then the angel of the mountain greeted him and asked his permission to bury Mecca between Al-Akhshabain, its two mountains. However, the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, told the angel rather than doing that he hoped that in the future their children would worship Allah alone. He and his Companions had suffered greatly under their hands yet none of their actions tarnished his ever caring, merciful disposition and concern for their welfare in this life and in the Hereafter. THE VALLEY OF NAKHLAH The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, and Zayd reached the valley of Nakhlah and stayed there for two days. As they offered the Fajr prayer a party of jinn came across them and they stopped to listen and were captivated by the beauty of the recitation of the Koran with its message and realized what they were hearing was not man made rather it was of a Divine nature. They returned to their folk and told them of their experience and what they had heard. Thereafter Allah revealed to Prophet, Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him: "Say: 'It is revealed to me that a party of jinn listened and then said: 'We have indeed heard a wonderful Koran, that guides to the Right Path. We believe in it and we will not associate anyone with our Lord. He - exalted be the Majesty of our Lord who has neither taken to Himself a wife, nor a son! The ignorant fool among us has spoken outrageously against Allah, we never thought that either human or jinn would ever tell a lie against Allah!'" Koran 72:1-5 When the Prophet, (salla Allahu alihi was sallam) was asked who drew his attention to the presence of the jinn in the valley of Nakhlah, he told his inquirer that it was a tree that had told him. The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, had received several Revelations that spoke not only of mankind but also jinn, in which both were given good news of Paradise and warned of the punishment of Hell. The jinn were created before humans and unlike the human, who was created from clay and whose father is Adam, the jinn were created from smokeless fire and their father is satan, the stoned and cursed. However, despite the fact that satan is the father of the jinn, there are among them believers. THE ROAD TO MECCA As the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, set off on the final stage of his homeward journey, the matter of the people of the Thakif’s refusal to accept the mercy of Allah weighed heavily upon the Prophet,’s mind. When the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, reached the Cave of Hira he rested and sent a Meccan from the tribe of Khuza’ah to Al-Akhnas Shuraiq’s son to seek his support. However Al-Akhnas was unprepared to make such a commitment as he was allied to the Koraysh and was not prepared to ally his tribe to Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. When the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, learned of Al Akhnas' refusal, his thoughts turned to Suhayl, Amr's son, so he asked the Meccan to return again to Mecca and approach Suhayl, but Suhayl also declined. The messenger returned to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, was sallam) with the disappointing news and this time he asked the Meccan to approach Al Mut’im, Adiyy's son, who, some time ago had retrieved what remained of the boycott document posted in the Ka'bah. Mut’im was agreeable, so the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, entered Mecca with his support where, fully armed, Mut’im stood near the Ka’bah with his sons and nephews and announced while the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, offered two units of prayer at the Ka’bah that he had allied himself to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, thereafter he escorted the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, to his home. Abu Jahl was among those present that day and asked, "Are you giving him your support, or are you following him!" "Support of course!" replied Al Mut’im. THE ANGER OF UTBAH One day, Prophet, Muhammad, praise and peace be upon him, Abu Jahl and some of the leaders of the Koraysh happened to be near the Ka’bah at the same time. In his usual way, Abu Jahl turned to some members of the tribe of Abdu Manaf and said in a tone that mocked, "Is this your Prophet, children of Abdu Manaf?" Utbah, Rabia's son replied in an angered tone saying, "What is wrong if we have a Prophet, or a king!" The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, overheard his reply and spoke to Utbah in a kindly way saying, "O Utbah, your anger was not for the sake of Allah, but on your own account." Then he turned to Abu Jahl and warned, "As for you Abu Jahl, a great affair will befall you. It will cause you to laugh a little, but weep a lot." Then he spoke to the leaders of the Koraysh saying, "A great affair will come upon you which you will indeed hate." Despite Mut’im's inclination toward the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, he did not embrace Islam and died shortly before the encounter of Badr. The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, was heard to say that if he had been alive and come to ask him for the return of captives from his tribe he would have granted it. ….. Abdullah, the son of Ja’far narrates that after his uncle Abu Talib passed away, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, traveled on foot to Ta’if to invite its tribesmen to Islam, but they did not accept. On his return journey, he shaded himself beneath a tree and offered two units of prayer and supplicated, “O Allah! to You alone I make complaint of my helplessness, the paucity of my resources and my insignificance before mankind. You are the Most Merciful of the merciful. You are the Lord of the helpless and the weak, O Lord of mine! Into whose hands would You abandon me, the hands of an unsympathetic distant relative who would sullenly frown at me, or to the enemy who has been given control over my affairs? But if Your wrath does not fall on me, there is nothing for me to worry about. I seek protection in the light of Your Countenance, which illuminates the heavens Hereafter. May it never be that I should incur Your wrath, or that You should be wrathful to me. And there is no power nor resource, except Yours alone.” (A more detailed narration from Zuhri will be quoted inshaAllah in the chapter concerning the difficulties borne for the sake of preaching). THE PROPHET,’S INVITATION TO THE UNBELIEVERS BEFORE ENGAGING IN A BATTLE Abdullah, son of Abbas narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, never fought any opponent until after he had told them about Islam and they refused. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, gave instructions to his Companions that before engaging a potential enemy in combat they must first gain their confidence and then invite them to Islam. Abdur Rahman, son of A’idh narrates that before the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, dispatched a troop, he would instructed them saying, “Gain the confidence of the people and do not attack them until after you have invited them to Islam. If you bring to me the residents of every brick or adobe home on earth as Muslims, it would please me more than your killing their men and bringing their women and children to me as captives.” THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH INSTRUCTS HIS COMMANDERS TO CONVEY THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM AND THE RULES OF COMBAT Buraydah narrates that whenever the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, appointed someone to be the commander of the Muslim troops, he would instruct him to fear Allah in his personal actions and advise him to be good toward those under his command. He would brief them saying, “When you face your unbelieving enemies, (first) invite them to accept one of three options. If they accept any of these, you may not engage them in combat. First, invite them to accept Islam. If they accept, you must refrain from fighting them. You should then call upon them to leave their residence and come to live with the Muhajireen (migrants from Mecca). Tell them if they do this they will enjoy the privileges of the Muhajireen and take upon themselves the same responsibilities of the Muhajireen. But, if they decline to move, preferring to stay in their homes, inform them that they will come under the category of Muslim villagers. The commands of Allah apply to all Muslims, but they will have no share in the spoils of war unless they fight alongside other Muslims. If they refuse this option, ask them to pay the Poll Tax (a tax levied against non-Muslims who agree to co-exist in peace). If they accept this, accept it and do not fight them. However, if they refuse even this, seek the assistance of Allah and fight against them. If you should lay siege to a fort and the enemy asks you to allow them to leave on the terms of Allah, do not allow it because they have no idea what the terms of Allah are. Rather, you should allow them to leave on your terms and you may then (justly) decide what the terms should be.” THE PROPHET,’S COMMAND TO ALI NOT TO FIGHT UNLESS THEY REFUSE TO ACCEPT ISLAM Anas, the son of Malik narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, appointed Ali, son of Abi Talb to be the commander of a troop to engage the enemy (at Khaybar). Ali had just departed, when the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent a messenger after him with the instructions to come alongside Ali and not to call out to him from a distance. He was told to tell Ali that he should not engage the unbelievers in combat until after he had invited the enemy to Islam and they refused. The son of Rahway was told by Ali that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, had sent him out (as a commander) and then told another Companion to go and join him, but not to call out to him from behind, and tell him that the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, commands him to wait for him, and that he should not fight anyone until they had been invited to accept Islam (and refused). Ali also mentioned that when the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent him out, he told him, “Never fight a nation until you have invited them to accept Islam (and they refused preferring to fight).” In Bukhari’s collection of hadith it is narrated that Sahl, son of Sa’d said that before the battle of Khaybar, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, instructed Ali to march at a moderate pace until they reached the fields of the Jews. And that upon reaching their field, Ali must invite them to Islam, explain the obligatory rights of Allah that are due from them which they must then fulfill. The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said, “By Allah! If Allah uses you to guide even just one person, it is better for you than (valuable) red camels.” THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH, praise and peace be upon him, COMMANDS FARWA GHUTAYFI TO CONVEY THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM Farwa, son of Musayk narrates that he went to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and asked, “Shall I not enlist those of my people who have progressed (accepted Islam) to fight those who have not accepted Islam?” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied, “Why not?” Farwa said that thereafter he had an afterthought and said, “No, (I will not be able to fight them) because they are the people of Saba and are extremely powerful and strong.” However, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, appointed me as the commander and instructed me to engage them in combat. Farwa said, “I had not long departed when Allah sent down a revelation to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, concerning the people of Saba. He turned to his Companions and asked ‘Where is the Ghutayfi person?’ The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, sent someone to my home, but he found I had already left so he rode swiftly and caught me up. I returned to present myself before the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and found him sitting surrounded by his Companions. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, then told me, “Invite the people to Islam. Receive those who accept but do not be hasty to do anything further to those who do not accept until you hear from me.” A Companion inquired, “O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, what is Saba? Is it a place or a woman?” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied, “Saba is neither a place nor a woman. Rather he is an Arab who has ten sons. Six of them settled in Yemen and the other four in Shams. Those who settled in Shams were Laghm, Judham, Ghasan and Amila. Those who settled in Yemen were Azs, Kindah, Himyar, Ash’ariyon, Anmar and Madh’hij.” The Companion then asked, “O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, who are the Anmar?” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied, “The Anmar are those who have among them the tribes of Khath’ and Bajedlah.” …. In another narration Farwa narrates that he went to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and asked, “Should I not take those of my people who have progressed (accepted Islam) to fight those who have not accepted Islam?” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “Yes, use those who progressed to fight those who have not.” As Farwa was leaving, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, called him back and said, “Do not fight them until you have invited them to accept Islam.” Farwa then asked, “O Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, tell me about Saba. Is Saba a valley, or mountain or something else?” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, replied, “No, he was an Arab who had ten sons….” The hadith continues as above. May Allah be pleased with all the Companions.