The Year of Sorrow of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and The Lessons of Life we get to learn...

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...

 

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab - What a scholar he was but portrayed so wrongly! Wake up people before you end up being judgemental...

After Prophet’s death, Islam was a majority religion by 18th century, this Era had Islam surrounded with corrupt practices like new innovations, Practices of Biddah, polytheism (shirk) was in large, invoking dead saints and prophets had become an ancestral tradition, During this period, i.e., 1115 A.H. In a small village called Uyaiyna, in Najd the central Arabia, in the family of Tameem, there was this birth of a smart, outspoken, religious scholar who changed the revolution of this corruption that happened in Islam.

Born into a family of religious prestige of scholars and jurists, this perhaps laid down an amicable foundation for Ibn Abdul Wahab, for his future advances in learning and dedication in faith. According to a few sources of literature we also learn that unlike other children Ibn Abdul Wahab wasn’t interested spending time in playing, He memorized Qur’an at the early age of 10 years. At the age of 12 his father found him qualified for the position of Imam and appointed him as an Imam. His father also got him married and gave him the permission to perform Hajj.

During his trip to Hajj he went to Madinah and stayed for 2 months, he had great interest in the study of Qur’anic Tafseer and Tauheed (Monotheism) , Because of his keen interest he was drawn towards the teachings of the two great scholars of Islam, Ibn Taimiyah and Ibn Al-Qayyim. He started writing books having being inspired by these two great scholars.

The study of Tauheed and Quranic Tafseer made him realize that the practices that were going on in the Muslim world were not according to the Qur’an and Sunnah. However he was too young to openly react to these practices and term them unislamic. He chose to increase his knowledge first and set out on travel, to attain knowledge.

Whilst travelling he got to study the different areas, the different practices and how people were blindly cocooned in following customs over Islam and had strayed away from the path of Muhammad’s teachings.

He set out to Hijaz for his studies, where he witnessed an academic environment unlike the one in Uyaiyna where only the study of Hanbali fiqh was available, there were scholars from different fiqh schools from across the world in Hijaz. Ibn Abdul Wahab studied under many scholars in Madinah, but he was close to two scholars, Abdullah Ibn Ibraheem Ibn Saif and Muhammad Hayaat Al-Sindhi, Infact Al-Sindhi had the greatest impact on Ibn Abdul Wahab, Both the scholars not only taught him but also set him on his path as a reformer.

His first scholar Abdullah was from Hanbali school of Fiqh, he had a fair idea of the practices of the people of najd, and often had it discussed with ibn Abdul Wahab, It was one day when Abdullah asked Ibn Abdul Wahab if he wanted to see the weapons he possessed for the people of Najd? Ibn Wahab replied in the affirmative and Abdullah took ibn Wahab to a house which had lots of books stored, and he said “These are the weapons” The people had strayed from Tauheed and they needed these weapons to get them back on the path of Tauheed.

A message comes out clear here: The strongest tool against the evil practices is true knowledge.
Ibn Abdul Wahab spent sometime with his second scholar Al-Sindhi who was a great scholar of Hadith in Hijaz, Al-Sindhi opposed innovations, polytheistic practices and called on Ijtehaad.  Once Ibn Wahab saw people supplicating and seeking refuge at the tomb of Prophet (pbuh) he asked Al-Sindhi as to what they were doing, Al-Sindhi replied: “[Moses added:] "Verily, these people will be destroyed for that which they are engaged in (idols-worship). And all that they are doing is in vain." –Surat Ar’af: 139

After having studies in Hijaz, he returned to Uyainah, he was in his mid-twenties when he was still not in a position to influence people and eradicate evil practices. He stayed in Uyainah for a year and set out to Damascus, the center for Hanbali fiqh and on the way reached Basra, the Shiite home. He saw different practices happening in Basra, he was exposed to more polytheistic practices, Infact during his stay in Basra he wrote his book “Kitab Al-Tauheed” He had a teacher by name Al-Majmoo’ee who supported him, and the arguments with the deviant sects got heated at times.

Many of the people in Basra did not like Ibn Wahab, but then he always said, All forms of worship should be directed to Allah Alone. He stayed in Basra for a long time and did not fear anyone except that he believed in the fear of Allah. This gave him the confidence to speak out and repel the doubts of the questioners. He returned to Najd after a long 25 years having travelled vastly across the Arabian Peninsula in search of knowledge.

He reached a place Huraimila in Najd where he started Public Dawah, He began to give out lectures in Mosque on Quran, Hadith and Fiqh, From the beginning he started objecting the innovative and polytheistic practices and people attended his lectures in large numbers. He revised his book “Kitab Al-Tauheed” here, With the death of his father, Ibn Abdul Wahab became a well known scholar at the age of 38.

There was a time when people of Uyayinah sought blessings from trees and bushes in the area. And there was a grave in their area, the grave of Zaid ibn-Al-Khattab who died fighting Musailamah, People went there to seek blessings and slaughterd animals there, within a short period of time Ibn Wahab removed these polytheistic practices. Initially the Ameer Muammar supported him but when warned by the neighboring Ameer Ibn Wahab was expelled out of Uyayinah.

Upon his expulsion from Uyiyanah he was invited by Muhammad bin Saud to settle in Diriyah, Both Saud and Ibn Wahab came into an agreement to get the Arabs back to the principles of Islam. When Saud declared: "This oasis is yours, do not fear your enemies. By the name of God, if all Nejd was summoned to throw you out, we will never agree to expel you." -Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia: 16 then Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab replied to him:"You are the settlement's chief and wise man. I want you to grant me an oath that you will perform jihad (Struggle to spread Islam) against the unbelievers. In return you will be imam, leader of the Muslim community and I will be leader in religious matters.” -Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia: 16

This agreement was confirmed by a mutual oath, Ibn Wahab agreed to handle the religious matters and Saud agreed to handle the political and military matters, this agreement has remained intact for the last 300 years and on.

Ibn Saud conquered Najd, and began the Salafi influence, eradicating the Shiite practices and propagating the practices of Ibn Abul Wahab this led them establish their first Saudi state. Thus, bringing a revolution in getting back the true principles of Islam, The principles and doctorines that our Prophet (pbuh) taught us, his companions practised and preached the Ummah of the Last Messenger of Allah, Lets together salute this legendary scholar Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab for his timeless efforts in reviving back the sahih teachings of Islam in the Holy Lands of Makkah and Madinah, Allahu Alhamdulilah.

May Allah swt grant him the highest ranks in Paradise, Aameen. May Allah swt prevent Ummatul-Muslimeen from deviating from the true practices of Islam, May Allah swt unite the Ummah on Tawheed, help us all in shedding our differences and get back together as we all together share the Shahadah, May Allah swt prevent people from being judgemental about others, passing judgements about scholars without having knowledge about anything! May Allah swt grant the polytheists the realisation of their sins and make them firm on Tawheed, Aameen summa Aameen Birehmatika Ya'arhamar-rahimeen...

JazakaAllahu Khayrahn!


 

Suspicious, Backbitter, Slanderer? Look at Allah's commands here!

As-salaamun alaykum varh beautiful people!
 
Am so sorry haven't been out with any new posts in the recent times, have just been busy with one thing or the other, I know the number of hits on my blog's always increase, it wouldn't have been possible without you all, Alhamdulilah.
 
Lets start with all that's in my mind, as we know Family, Relatives, Friends, Fun are great but sometimes all you need is a quiet corner and the Book of Allah, I bet no other thing on earth gives you the soothing inner peace as much as the conversation with your Lord, Winners keep striving hard and keep the convers getting better and better with your Lord, The ones who hardly touch this Glorious Book, Its a reminder Qur'an wasn't made for the shelf, It was for us! It was for us dear people! Take it, Read it, Convers with your Lord, See how much peace we shall find within, Alhamdulilah, If we still blink out, We are definitely the Losers!
 
Surat Al-Hujurat (The Chambers) is the 49th Chapter of the Holy Qur'an, This Surat is entirely different, If one gets to read this Surat one can find this chapter filled with laws that deal with social issues. The Surat is a collection of commandments and instructions sent down from Allah swt. Today's need for the Muslim world, To come out as a champ in this world is definitely needed but at the same time we need to hold some intellectuals for a peaceful life in this world and the Aakhirah...

We come across a few backbiters, slanderers, who have two faces, their behaviour is different in front of us and the opposite one behind our back, they backbite behind our back so much that they are unaware of who we are in the public (They take the other persons side and make us strangers, and immediately when the other person leaves they reach us in private with greetings) Astaghfirullah! Allah swt curses these people! They have their lives filled with misery, evil and torment, they suffer in this world and the hereafter! Allah throws away their prayers and their false show off devotion and their faces turn BLACK on the Day of Resurrection, Their good deeds are given away to the innocent soul who has been backbitten! The gravest Sin that is Haraam is BACKBITING!!!

Come on all of us! lets learn something from this beautiful Surat where Allah swt commands His slaves to obey certain laws that are so beneficial in Life:
 
The sixth verse of the Surat states:
 
"O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful"
 
In this Ayath, Allah swt says, O Mankind be sure of what you hear from anyone there, Verify things before we hurt and harm people by being ignorant to them, the one who filled our ears with a story just narrates it and moves off, then who suffers when truth is out? Its we! Its definitely we!
 
Lest we hear or see something clarify it with the believing slave, it hardly takes sometime to sit and ease situations than to have a long time regret, Remember its not the person alone we end up hurting, Infact we end up having sinned, we have disobeyed Allah swt who knows the right and the wrong for He alone is the All-Hearing and All-Knowing!
 
The tenth verse of the Surat states:
 
"The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy."
 
Muslims today are labelled to as Terrorists, Muslim countries donot support the other Muslim countries, Media plays the role of a Fasiq, gathers all false biased information and spreads false news, Muslims today suffer with this disease to blindly accept this information calling each other Terrorists! This is completely false people, If you donot want to get into this then stay away donot belittle or rebuke each other! This brotherhood and togetherness is losing out in the Muslim world, May Allah swt give us hidayath and ease this situation among His believing slaves, Aameen.
 
 The eleventh verse of the Surat states:

"O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule another people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule other women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by offensive nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after one's faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers."

Aint this true? When people achieve something big or large, no matter how much the richness is, no matter how much of power we possess, no matter how many kingdoms we own,  no matter how more of a dynasty rule we have, no matter how much brains we have! Stay humble, Stay calm, Never ever ridicule the ones who are not of that calibre, Nay!!! Donot compare, Donot rebuke, Donot point their weakness, Thank Allah swt for He has chosen us all to live a life of ease, a life of comfort, a life with something that keeps us engaged, a life that we may achieve, be happy and satisfied, Thank Allah swt for the peace and tranquillity, praise our Lord and feel blessed to what He has blessed us with.

The one you slander, rebuke and ridicule must be much better than YOU in the eyes of Allah swt! Who knows what? Do we know what Allah swt knows? No people! No!!! Stop degrading your fellow beings, Donot degrade the women you know, Women, donot underestimate or hurt other women, Donot address them offensively with foul names, We are Muslims, We stand before one Lord, We prostrate before Him and to Him shall we return, Leave these sins now! Nothing is more dearer to Allah swt than a believing heart that is humble and kind! Donot be arrogant, For Arrogance leads you to Hell, Why was shaytan thrown out of Jannah? He did not obey Allah, when Allah swt asked him to prostarte before Adam, He started making fun, And this arrogance led him to the Burning Fire! Donot be his companions in Hell!

The twelth verse of the Surat states:

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And  fear Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.

If one looks at the starting of this verse as a grammarian, Allah swt clearly states in a commanding action! that suspicion is Haraam for mankind! Astaghfirullah! Muslims are henceforth commanded! People get the word right there, Muslims have been Commanded!!! to exhort from this evil called Suspicion which corrupts ones collective life and spoils mutual relationships.

Narrated Abu Huraira: Prophet (pbuh) said, "Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales and donot look for other's faults and donot spy and donot hate each other, and donot desert (cut your relations with) one another. O Allah's slaves, be brothers!" - Sahih Al Bukhari, Vol. 8 Number 717

So why people? why we have to fall into a trap of shaytaan, the word suspicion in itself is a whisper from shaytaan, he whispers into our ears, creates confusion and ultimately he leads man to fight, hate and cut relations, Seek refuge from Shaytaan, Donot believe in whatever you hear, Our Almighty has stated in the Surat Hujurat donot believe in all that you hear and see, get proofs of things and then decide, reacting to situations instantly is the biggest sin you are doing! Man is comitting a sin that is Haraam on him! Our Lord has forbidden us, Let us all be aware dear believing brothers and sisters!

There is hate everywhere! There is jealousy everywhere! Everything leads to backbiting! People we are not supposed to point others faults, lest we point our finger at someone then be aware that Allah will expose our faults! Stay united, Stay brothers is what our Prophet (pbuh) asked his ummah to do.

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: Allah's Messenger (pbuh) mounted the pulpit and called in a loud voice, "You who have accepted Islam with your tongues but whose hearts have not been reached by faith, do not annoy the Muslims, or revile them, or seek out their faults; for he who seeks out the faults of his brother Muslim will have his faults sought out by Allah and he whose faults are sought out by Allah will be exposed by Him, even though he should be in the interior of his house." - Al Tirmidhi Hadith Number 1308

Further in the same verse Allah swt commands his slaves to refrain from the worst of the sins called Backbiting! Its Haraam on us people! Donot be jealous of one another, The major sins are indeed the cause for all the misery, evil and torment in this world and the hereafter! And the worst of all sins are those that are greatest in harm and danger to humanity, Among the majors of sins are backbiting and slandering!

Backbiting and Slandering are the biggest sins that are Haraam on us! They decrease our good deeds and increase the evil ones and lead to dishonour and ignominy! Backbiting is so widespread among people that it has become an issue of people’s meetings and an avenue for expressing their anger, misgivings and jealousy. Those who indulge in backbiting are hiding their own imperfections and harming others. They are oblivious of the fact that they are only harming themselves.

This is because the backbiter if the wrongdoer and his victim is the wronged, on the Day of Resurrection both the wrongdoer and the wronged will stand before Allah Who is the Just Judge and the wronged will appeal to Allah to avenge the wrong done to him, Allah will then give this wronged person from the good deeds of the person who wronged him in accordance with his wrong by backbiting his brother on a Day that no father will give his son any of his good deeds nor a friend to his friend. All will only be saying "My Deeds, Ain't gonna share"

We personally experience this sorts of Haraam sins in our society today, We humans are not angels to be pure and sinless, we are humans offcourse, Allah swt says in the Holy Qur'an "Mankind was created weak" An-Nisa: 28,

We do lots of sins, the small the big, the known the unknown, we do lots of backbiting, slandering, we suspect one another, Nay! people, its time we turn to Allah swt, Ask for Forgiveness, Strive hard not to repeat any of these grave sins.... Ever! Pray before you are prayed upon, Ask for Forgiveness before you are brought into account and left unreturned! Life is once, Its an examination, let us refrain from these Haraam sins of Backbiting, Slandering and Suspicion! InshaAllahu Khayr...

May Allah swt guide us on the siratul-mustaqeem and give us the hidayath to refrain and stay away from these grevious sins, May Allah swt bless us, our spouses, our parents with Jannatul-Firdaus, Aameen Summa Aameen Bi-rehmatika ya'ar-hamarahimeen!

JazakaAllahu Khayr, BarakaAllahu Feekum Wa'BarakaAllahu Feek!