Holy Prophet [P.B.U.H. & H. P]
LINEAGE
Mohammad (P.B.U.H.) is the son of ABDILLAH son of ABDIL MUTTALIB.
His mother is AMINAH daughter of WAHAB. He was born in the year of Elephant (570 A.C.) in the holy city of Mecca. He immigrated to YATHRIB (Al-Medina Al-MUNAWARA) where he passed away ten years later (10th year of HIJRA).
YEAR OF THE ELEPHANT
The holy QUR'AN refers to this event in the following verses:
{Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the fellows of the elephant? Did not He make their guile go astray? And He let loose upon them birds in flocks hurling against them stones of baked clay, and He made them like straw eaten up}. [The Elephant: 1-5]. Fifty-two years before the immigration to YATHRIB, a Christian army led by ABRAHA AL-ASHRAM left Yemen to invade holy Mecca and destroy the Sacred House, the KA'ABA. ABRAHA and his generals were riding elephants in order to scare the Arabs who were not familiar with such animals. The army wiped out whoever tried to fight it.
With the help of a treacherous man, ABI RIGHAL, ABRAHA found the route leading to Mecca, reaching the city's outskirts at night. He camped there in order to launch the attack in the morning.
The people of Mecca had no army to fight the enemy back, so they took refuge in the mountainous area outside the city in order to escape the enemy's atrocities. They prayed to Allah to safeguard His Sacred House, the first House of Worship set up on earth. The holy QUR'AN says: {Surely the first House appointed for men is one at BEKA (Mecca), blessed and a guidance for all people}. [AL-'IMRAN: 96].
In the next morning, the army set out to destroy the holy KA'ABA. Riding on his elephant, ABRAHA was bewildered when the elephant refused to move one step towards the holy city. They tried hard to make it move but in vain. The elephant would move in all directions except Mecca. Suddenly, flocks of birds carrying in their beaks small stones attacked the enemy's army. Confusion and fear spread among the troops who tried to run away. The stones killed and injured whoever they reached. Many of them died and many ran away to escape the deadly stones. The holy city was spared the attack.
This important event marks the year when Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) was born. It is called the Year of the Elephant.
Mohammed's (P.B.U.H.) mother, AMINAH BINT WAHAB, was of a noble family of good reputation, a family of purity and chastity. His father was the beloved son of ABDIL MUTTALIB who was the head of the QURAYSHI tribe. He enjoyed a sublime status and the respect of his people. ABDULLAH died few months before the birth of his son, the Messenger of Allah; hence, he (P.B.U.H.) remained in the custody of his grandfather. Newly-born it was an Arab custom to hire wet-nurses for their babies and send them to grow up in the country's open air so that they would enjoy a healthy life.
HALIMATU AL-AS'DIYYA agreed to have the orphan, Mohammed. He stayed with her till he was four years old. She brought him back to his mother who died two years later. When he was eight years old, his grandfather died; so, his uncle ABU TALIB took him in his custody and was eager to protect him. ABU TALIB was a merchant, and the people of Mecca used to make business journeys to the north: BILAD AL-SHAM (Greater Syria), and to the south to Yemen. The holy QUR'AN refers to these journeys in the following verses:
{For the protection of QURAYSH, their protection during their trading caravans in the winter and in the summer. So let them worship the Lord of this House Who feeds them against hunger and gives them security against fear}. [QURAYSH: 1-4].
Mohammed (P.B.U.H.), the young boy, accompanied his uncle during one of his journeys to AL-SHAM. When Mohammed twenty years old, he was well-known for his truthfulness and uprightness, hence he was called AL-SADIQ, AL-AMIN. KHADIJAH daughter of KHUWAYLID was of the noble and wealthy ladies of Mecca. She was also one of his relatives. When she heard about his uprightness, she entrusted him with her trade business. He excelled in the commercial experience and trading rules. KHADIJAH was impressed by his good morals and self-dignity. She married him and gave him full authority over her wealth and business.
With such potentials of will and youth, besides the wife's wealth, he took the side of the oppressed and helped the poor and the needy. His wife gave birth to six children, two boys: AL-QASIM and ABDILLAH, and four girls: RUQAYYA, ZAINAB, UMMU KULTHUM and FATEMA (as). The two sons died soon after birth prior to his Divine mission. He was patient and endured their death as being Allah's will and was pleased with His decision. He (P.B.U.H.) earned the people's great respect. They used to seek his help to solve their problems. They entrusted him with their trusts. They never heard him lie or cheat. The holy QUR'AN refers to his morals thus:
{And most surely you conform (yourself) to sublime morality}. [AL-QALAM: 4].
The people of that era used to worship idols made of stones, wood, or even dates (which they ate when they got hungry), but he (P.B.U.H.) worshipped none but the One God, "Allah Almighty", following in the footsteps of his great grandfather Prophet Abraham (as), father of all monotheists. Prior to his prophetic mission, Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) used to spend most of his time in the cave of HIRA on top of a mountain in north Mecca. He used to go there secretly and spend the whole month of Ramadan every year in prayer and worship of Allah.
THE DIVINE MISSION
On the 27th of RAJAB (lunar Calendar) (610 A.C), he was as usual in the cave lost in deep prayer and contemplation when the arch-angel JIBRIEL (Gabriel) appeared to him and ordered him to read. Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) was illiterate; he could neither read nor write. He was amazed at the order and said, "I cannot read". The angel repeated the order and he (P.B.U.H.) again expressed his inability to read. At the third order to read, the Prophet felt heavy pressure and could actually read what the arch-angel ordered him to read. The first chapter of the holy QUR'AN (according to the order of revelation) was revealed to him. That chapter says:
{Read in the Name of your Lord Who created (everything)' He created Man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is most honorable, Who taught (to write) with the pen; taught man he knew not…} [AL-ALAQ: 1-5].
Through that revelation, Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) was chosen as a Prophet at the age of forty. He was ordered to guide the idolaters and the infidels to the right path, to change the dark era of ignorance and infidelity into an era of knowledge and birth light of faith. The holy QUR'AN says:
{And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds}. [ANBIYA: 107]. The Messenger of Allah left the cave and hurried back to his home where he told his wife about the event. She immediately believed in his Divine mission. He was a bit confused but she encouraged him and was the first woman who swore allegiance to him. His cousin, Ali son of ABI TALIB, then ten years old, was the first male who believed in his mission. Ali, since an early age (when four years old), grew up in Mohammed's house because of hardship that befell his father ABI TALIB.
"WARN THE NEAREST KIN"
Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H.) used to perform prayer with Ali (as) on his right and KHADIJAH behind them. One day, ABU TALIB saw the three of them performing their prayers. He ordered his other son JA'FER to stand on the left of his cousin and perform the prayers. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) stepped forward and led the first congregational prayers in Islam.
For three years, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) invited people to Islam secretly. Then the QUR'ANIC VERSE: {And warn your nearest kin}, was revealed. He (P.B.U.H.), therefore, invited more than forty of his relatives to have lunch in his house. After they had eaten, he praised Allah then addressed the attendants saying, "O' sons of ABDIL MUTTALIB! By Allah, I know of no Arab youth who offers his folk better than I offer you. I offer you the good of this life and that of the one. Allah has ordered me to call you to His worship. Who among you supports me and thus becomes my brother, minister, and successor?"
No one answered him except Ali who was still a teenager. Ali stood up and said. "I do support you, O Messenger of Allah!". The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) repeated his question again and again, yet still no one answered him except Ali (as). Very few of the people of Mecca embraced Islam during the first three years of the underground mission.
CONFRONTING POLYTHEISM
During those days, people from far places came to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage, a ritual performed since Prophet IBRAHIM'S (as) era, when he was ordered by Allah to call people to perform it. The holy QUR'AN says,
{And proclaim among men the pilgrimage; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote place}. [Pilgrimage: 27]. Those pilgrims used to bring with them different stuff needed by the people of Mecca, so the city was a commercial center besides being a place of worship. The greatest concern of the wealthy people of Mecca was to increase their wealth. Indecency, immorality, killing the female infants, plundering the orphan's property, eating dead cattle, and giving false testimony spread throughout the city of Mecca.
The Prophet (P.B.U.H), through his call to Islam, ordered them to give up those bad practices. He ordered them to enjoin good and forbid evil. He wanted them to be kind to the orphans, to the widows, to the relatives, and to the neighbors.
He (P.B.U.H.) used to sit among the pilgrims who came from different places and to them. He advised them to give up the worship of idols which the infidels made out of stone or wood and which were fixed on the roof of the KA'ABA or inside it. he explained to them how those idols were powerless objects that could do them neither good nor harm. He invited them to worship only Allah Who is the Creator of everything and everyone. The arrogant of Mecca wondered: "What will happen if those people listen to Mohammed and give up the worship of the idols? Surely they will no longer come to Mecca, and we will suffer the loss".
Seeing Islam spreading among different tribes, the QURAYSHI leaders decided to speak to ABI TALIB, the Prophet's uncle, who was head of the HASHIMI family and the protector of the Prophet himself. They said to him: "O ABA TALIB! Your nephew Mohammed has degraded our gods, mocked our dreams, and ridiculed our beliefs…. He accuses our forefathers of deviation. Now, we are ready to give him whatever he wants to make him give up his call to the new religion. If you cannot stop him, we can see to it".
ABU TALIB said to them, "I will talk to him and see what he says". ABU TALIB conveyed QURAYSH'S message to Mohammed (P.B.U.H) who said, "By Allah, O uncle! If they put the sun at my right and the moon at my left to give up this matter, I would not give it up till Allah makes it manifest or I die for its sake". When ABU TALIB heard the Prophet's words, he warmly embraced him and said, "I swear by Allah, I will protect you and will not abandon you. Go on in your affair till you achieve victory".
The QURAYSHI leaders saw the failure of their efforts, so they resorted to tricks. They said to ABI TALIB: "Mohammed has caused divisions in our community, knocked our idols and encouraged our slaves to revolt against us. We cannot understand his behavior nor know his aim. If he is poor, we can make him rich. If he wants kingship, we can make him our king. We are ready to obey him on condition he stops this affair and leaves us mind our own business'.
On hearing them say such things, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) said to his uncle, "O uncle! I want nothing from these people. I only want them to believe in Allah the One, the Almighty. They should give up the worship of these useless idols which do not do them any good". The QURAYSHIS heard him and became more vexed. They decided to increase their atrocities against the Muslims. They demonstrated more hostility through torturing the Prophet's followers Even the Prophet's uncle, ABU LAHAB, became a deadly enemy of the messenger of Allah. Along with his wife, ABU LAHAB would block the Prophet's road, stone and even curse him. He used to ridicule and slander him in public; he even accused him of insanity and madness. Yet the infidels could not achieve their aim of stopping the spread of Islam. They often thought of killing the Prophet but were afraid of his uncles ABI TALIB and HAMZA, the bravest among them.
THE FIRST MUSLIM MARTYRS
The idolaters were careful not to harm some of the Muslims because they were afraid of their famous tribes, but most early Muslims were from among the poor and the oppressed slaves, hence their suffering was the greatest. One of them was BILAL IBN RABAH the ABYSSINIAN, one of the black people. His master threw him on the burning stones under the hot sun of Mecca. A large stone was fixed on his chest, and he was for many hours suffering from thirst and hunger. They ordered him to reject Mohammed's religion but he only kept repeating: "One God! One God!". They tied him with a rope and dragged him along the stony alleys of Mecca. BILAL was a true believer, hence torture could not change him; rather, it increased his faith in Allah.
Other oppressed Muslims were the family of YASSIR, his wife SUMAYYAH, and their son AMMAR. They had none to defend them, hence they suffered torture every day till YASSIR and his wife was blessed with martyrdom. AMMAR endured all torture and watched his parents pass away under torture. He never changed his belief but was forced to utter some words against Islam to spare himself death. Allah the Almighty excused him as in the QUR'ANIC verse: {…. Not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith…} [The Bee: 106]. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) painfully watched his followers being tortured. He was very sad. He prayed to Allah to help them through patience.
THE BAN
When the infidels of Mecca found that their plots to end the call to Islam were in vain, and that the new religion spread and gained new followers, they resorted to a mean plot. They imposed an economic and social ban on the Muslims. They wrote a document of four items as following:
1- No one was to sell to or buy from the Muslims
2- The enemies of Mohammed must be supported.
3- No one was to marry from the Muslims or be married to them.
4- Any kind of contact with Muslims was forbidden.
The document was fixed on the KA'BA'S gate for all to see.
It became quite impossible for the Muslims to live in Mecca. ABU TALIB suggested to his nephew that the HASHIMI family should take refuge in a valley near Mecca called SHI'B ABI TALIB. He held a meeting of the family members and said to them, "Mohammed will move to the SHI'B. Everyone of you is to protect him and support him to the end". The embargo lasted three years which were the most difficult for the Muslims. They could scarcely find someone to sell them food. Each one of them could not find even a date to eat but had to share it with another person. Ali (as) and his brothers used to bring some food secretly from Mecca. During the sacred months, the young men of the HASHIMIS could find some food and buy it. The QURAYSHI arrogant encouraged the sellers to increase the prices so that the Muslims could not find enough food to eat. ABU LAHAB used to shout in the market, "O people! Increase the prices! Don't allow the Muslims to buy what they need!"
What hardship it was! It was then the same as it is today when the arrogant forces, the enemies of Islam and Muslims, who always impose similar economic sanctions against the Muslim countries which refuse to bow to them. Every time there are people who take the opportunity and raise the prices of their stuff, such people are not considered believers at even if they call themselves Muslims.
Three years of that embargo could not affect the Muslims' morale, hence the embargo was in vain. Some QURAYSHI leaders regretted their people's stance, and little by little the ban came to an end. The Muslims were no longer afraid of going back to their homes in Mecca. Moreover, there was the Divine help. An earth-worm ate all the document except the part where the name of Allah was mentioned. When the people saw what had happened to the document, they were sure that Allah was displeased with them. Many of them became Muslims.
THE IMMIGRATION
A short time after the lifting of the embargo, the Prophet's uncle ABU TALIB died along with the Prophet's wife Lady KHADIJAH. The Prophet suffered a great loss since both were his main supporters. QURAYSH increased its pressure on the Muslims and on the Prophet himself. He advised his followers to immigrate to ABYSSINIA. He said to them, "There is a king there who does not do injustice to others".
A group of Muslims led by JA'FER, the Prophet's cousin, left Mecca for ABYSSINIA (Ethiopia).
QURAYSH conspired secretly to assassinate the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) on a certain night. He was informed of the conspiracy by Allah. He told Ali of his intention to immigrate to Medina since QURAYSH was planning to kill him. He asked Ali to sleep in his bed and be ready to meet the plotters. Ali slept in the Prophet's bed while the infidels besieged the house that night. The Prophet managed to leave the house unnoticed. When they attacked his bed, they were stunned to see Ali in his place. They became angry at their failure. The holy QUR'AN refers to that incident in the following verse:
{And when those who disbelieved devised plans against you, that they might confine you or slay you or drive you away, and they devised plans, and Allah, too, had devised plans, and Allah is the best of planners}. [ANFAL: 30]. The Prophet's immigration to YATHRIB (later called AL-MEDINA AL-MUNAWARA) was of a major impact on and importance for the Muslims. That year marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The people of AL-MEDINA rejoiced at the arrival of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.). They welcomed him outside the city at a place called THANIYYAT AL-WIDA.
He immediately ordered the Muslims to build a mosque as a center from which to carry out Islamic activity and a symbol of their unity. With the help of each other, they managed to build it within a short time. Every day, the Muslims met at the mosque to perform the daily prayers and to listen to the Prophet's instructions and guidelines. The second thing he achieved was creating brotherly ties between each Muslim and another. They no longer felt the hostility that led to quarrels. They became one solid community, full of awareness, watchful of their enemies, the enemies of Islam. They formed committees for different activities such as: to learn and teach the QUR'ANIC verses, to enjoin good and forbid evil. Some talked to people about Islam, some learned the religious instructions, and others cooperated in different activities.
THE BATTLE OF BADR
Following the immigration, Islam achieved power and spread widely. In the second year of HIJRA (immigration), the Muslims' army defeated the infidel army of QURAYSH at the battle of BADR. The Muslims achieved a major success and gained more followers and friends. QURAYSH'S feeling of danger increased. They mobilized their forces and attacked the Muslims but could not achieve victory in most of their attacks. Allah supported the Muslims who achieved victory through their sacrifices. Little by little, QURAYSH'S morale weakened, and the infidels no longer attacked the Muslims.
AL-HUDAYBIA PEACE TREATY
On the sixth year of HIJRA, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) decided to perform a minor pilgrimage, accompanied by his followers, to the holy House of Allah in Mecca. They set out and reached a place not very far from Mecca called AL-HUDAYBIA. When QURAYSH heard of his decision, they sent an envoy to discuss the matter with him. After some negotiating, both sides agreed tosing
a peace treaty which stated a ten-year truce during which the Muslims had the right to perform the pilgrimage. They agreed to return and perform the minor pilgrimage (UMRA) in the following year. The treaty included other statements that gave the Muslims the right to befriend the Arab tribes and to call them to Islam. The peace treaty was to the benefit of the Muslims as QURAYSH was no longer to bother them, hence it gave them the chance to spread Islam throughout the Arab peninsula and to other countries as well. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) wrote letter to the kings and rulers of those countries.
He called them to Islam and to the worship of Allah. He addressed the king of Persia, who was an arrogant snob. When that king received the Prophet's letter, he was so angry that he did not even bother to read it. he did not expect someone to dare to write him first. He dismissed the envoy from his court and made up his mind to kill the Messenger of Allah as soon as he could. However, Allah was aware of his intention and arranged for his end. Soon after that, he was murdered by his own son. The Prophet's letters addressed the rulers of Rome, Egypt, and other countries. Some gave polite answers and some were rude. Negus, the ABYSSINIAN ruler, along with his polite answer sent the Prophet special presents which his son carried. Many people became Muslims and friends or followers of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.).
A year after the AL-HUDAYBIA treaty, the Prophet ordered the Muslims to get ready for the pilgrimage to Mecca. According to the treaty, QURAYSH had no right to stop them but ordered the people of Mecca to leave the city and stay outside during the Muslims' three-day stay. The Prophet, together with 2,000 of his followers, performed the minor pilgrimage (UMRA). They went round the holy KA'BA and glorified Allah the Almighty. They stood in rows around it and performed their prayers. The rituals had a great impact on the people of Mecca who watched the Muslims. Some even expressed their wish to embrace Islam. The QURAYSHI leaders were angry and insisted that the Muslims should not stay more than three days. Some of the Muslims wanted to stay but the Prophet ordered them to leave according to the treaty's conditions.
The Muslims achieved a real victory when they uttered publicly in Mecca: "There is no god but Allah!" Only a few years ago, it was impossible for them to do so.
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Author: Yasin T. al-Jibouri
