The Year of Sorrow was the most painful year in Prophet’s life, A siege that he and his fellow muslims recovered from, the after effects of the boycott took away two precious lives, he lost his faithful friend of 40 years and a beloved wife of 25 years, his biggest support, after the loss how he remained subtle, but did not give up the mission to accomplish, his faith in Allah swt, the unshakable belief, trust, and how Allah swt helped him accomplish his mission no matter how hard situations he faced, the revelation to him and the lessons we learn from every incident that happened to him, his Patience and forbearance is for his Ummah to learn and to Allah is our final return.
The Year of Saddness:
It was in 619 CE, the 10th year of Prophethood, Abu Talib, Prophet’s care-taker and uncle who stood by him like a protecting shield –the prop of his childhood, the guardian of his youth and in the later life a very tower of Muhammad’s defence, For 40 years Abu Talib had been Prophet’s most faithful friend.
Abu Talib had suffered greatly because of the boycott by the Makkans over Prophet (pbuh) and his companions. When the boycott ended, Abu Talib was feeble and very old by now and the boycott had badly affected his health, Muslims showed great respect towards this generous man who infact had great respect towards Prophet(pbuh) and the Muslims.
Although he did not convert to Islam even on his death bed, even till the end the Prophet requested him to accept Shahadah, but on the interruption of Abu Jahal warning Abu Talib not to leave the religion of Abdul Mutallib, Despite Muhammad’s efforts and his love for his uncle but Abu Talib died as a non-muslim. The prophet was saddened and grieved the death of this faithful friend of 40 years, he made dua for him and asked Allah to forgive him, He continued asking for forgiveness until Allah commanded him not to do so, when the verse was revealed,
” It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.” -Surat At-Tawbah: 113
Just two months later, the most beloved companion, a loving wife who stood by our prophet (pbuh), supported him, believed in him and the mother of his children Khadijah (RA) passed away, She was 65 and Prophet (pbuh) was 50 years old.
The loss of the Mother of the believers was one of the biggest losses of his life, for 25 years of his life had shared the toils and trials of life, especially the first few years of prophethood. He remained in seclusion and deeply mourned her death, When he spoke about her, he always had great love and respect towards her and once he had replied:
Once the Prophet (pbuh) mentioned Khadija near Aisha, Aisha responded: "She was not but a such and such of an old lady and Allah replaced her with a better one for you." He replied: "Indeed Allah did not grant me better than her; she accepted me when people rejected me, she believed in me when people doubted me, she shared her wealth with me when people deprived me, and Allah granted me children only through her.
As a result, he lost the two dearest people to him one after the other, they died at a critical stage immediately after the siege and when the Quraysh wanted to kill him.
The Attitude of the Prophet (pbuh) we learnt after these greatest losses:
1. Though the time was hard and grieving for him, he put his trust in Allah swt, it was a time when Prophet had no one else but Allah when He revealed the following verses:
“And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die, and exalt [Allah ] with His praise. And sufficient is He to be, with the sins of His servants, Acquainted” -Surat Al-Furqan: 58
“So rely upon Allah; indeed, you are upon the clear truth.” –Surat An-Naml: 79
2. The losses in his life happened for a reason such that no one would claim that Islam succeeded due to the help of any particular person, rather it succeeded due to the protection of Allah swt.
3. No matter how grief-stricken our Prophet (pbuh) was he continued his mission and he invited Makkans towards Islam, though their response was hostile, Prophet (pbuh) continued to preserve his mission and faced these challenges with Patience.
Prophet’s journey to Taif:
There were these two verses revealed that kept Muhammad’s confidence going, When Allah said,
“And be patient, [O Muhammad], for the decision of your Lord, for indeed, you are in Our eyes. And exalt [ Allah ] with praise of your Lord when you arise. –Surat At-Tur:48
[He is] the Lord of the East and the West; there is no deity except Him, so take Him as Disposer of [your] affairs.” –Surat Al-Muzammil: 9
Inspite of his sorrow our Prophet (pbuh) never gave up, he thought of spreading the message of Islam to a place called Taif which was more fertile and about 60kms from Makkah, He set out on a journey to Taif with his freed slave Zayd. He spent around 10 days in Taif, he spoke to the people of Taif but they bluntly disagreed, he even spoke to the nobles there, but he was mocked and insulted but he continued his mission. Some tried to chase him away, they threw stones and in one accident Zayd trying to defend got a stone hit to him and had his head injured badly, blood was flowing wounds that ran down his legs.
When they had travelled at a short distance they rested against one of the walls of a vineyard, A few Makkans recognized Muhammad (pbuh) took pity on him and sent some grapes through a servant Addas, The Prophet (pbuh) thanked Addas and ate the grapes saying Bismillah (In the name of Allah) Addas was impressed with these words, as the people of that land did not generally use them, The prophet (pbuh) inquired of Addas and got to know that Addas was from Ninevah, prophet (pbuh) replied, You belong to the city of Yunus? Addas surprisingle asks how do you know Yunus, Prophet (pbuh) replied he is my brother for the Prophets are but brothers. Addas kissed his hands before they departed.
Heart broken and depressed Muhammad (pbuh) set the way back to Makkah, Though Allah sent angel Gabriel with the angel of mountains and asked Muhammad’s permission to bury Makkah, Muhammad replied with a No, Instead asked Allah to give deviants the hidayath to worship Allah Alone ascribing no partners to Him. During Prophet’s stay there, Allah sent him a company of jinns who listened to him, reciting the Qur’an.
The Attitude of the Prophet (pbuh) and the lessons learnt from Prophet’s journey to Taif:
1. This incident is a magnanimous example of what a generous and loving nature Prophet (pbuh) possessed with him, despite being hurt deeply by the people he wasn’t angry with their ill-treatment instead he asked Allah to guide them.
2. Every Prophet is put on test, a word to the generation today who fear failure and give up easily on things, Its always Prophet’s example, Fail that you can succeed, Put your trust in Allah, he is the best disposer of all affairs, do not stand still, keep trying until you accomplish your mission.
3. Allah swt always has better plans:
a) The prophet (pbuh) targeted humans, but Allah wanted the jinn
b) The prophet (pbuh) targeted the nobles of taif, but Allah wanted the young servant Addas.
c) The prophet (pbuh) targeted the people of At-Taif, and Allah swt wanted the people of Madinah.
4. Prophet always looked for Allah’s happiness in what he did, he had no regrets on his journey to Taif as long as Allah wasn’t angry with him, for the youth of today, do not do anything that would displease Allah swt.
5. Prophet (pbuh) said: “Pray as you have seen me praying” –Sahih Bukhari, Vol 1: Hadith: 604, Turn to Allah always, its not we turn to Allah at the time of tests and trials, Always thank Allah swt for what He has blessed you with. Be content and happy for everything Allah has blessed you with.
Lessons of Life we (the Ummah) get to learn:
1. In our day to day life, we come across ups and downs, some make us and some break us, but never let any situation or circumstance completely break us, in any situation always remember the patience, the forbearance of the Prophet (pbuh) and the verses of the Qur’an where Allah is our only trust, our faith should be Unshakable.
2. Everything in life happens for a reason and only Allah swt the best of the planners knows the reason behind them, Lets all bear with patience whatever befalls us for Allah is the best of all the planners, and He is with those who put their trust in Him.
3. Be patient no matter what, and encourage others to be patient, Fear Allah so that you may succeed.
4. Show mercy towards the fellow human-beings such that Allah will have mercy upon you.
5. How Muhammad’s companions stood with him as pillars of strength, faced the hardships, boycott, siege and battles for Islam, Leadership should be respected in Islam.
6. When we read all the efforts the Prophet put in for Islam, lets question ourselves, what did we do till today? Are we doing something for Islam? Have we ever sacrificed anything in our lives for Islam? What is our message in this life? Instead of crying and cribbing at the number of stones the disbelievers pelted at him, he raised his hands in Du’a, this is an example to turn to Allah swt no matter how unbearable things are, no matter who comes in and goes away from our lives, to Allah is our final return.
JazakaAllahu Khayrahn...
