Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 86 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (101) - Al-Alaa bin Al-Hadrami, may God be pleased with him - Part Three
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:15
Mawaddah Association is pleased
0:17
to present to you
0:19
"Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"
0:21
by Abd al-Rahman
0:23
Ra'fat al-Basha,
0:25
may Allah have mercy on him.
0:30
Al-Ala' ibn al-Hadrami,
0:32
may Allah be pleased with him.
0:51
The fleeing apostates sought refuge
0:53
in the sanctuary of Darin Island,
0:55
entrenching themselves behind the waves of the sea
0:57
that encircled it like a bracelet
0:59
around a wrist.
1:01
They then gave free rein to their desires,
1:03
settling comfortably into an aura of ease
1:05
and reassurance,
1:07
completely casting aside all caution and vigilance.
1:09
That was because they were absolutely
1:11
certain that the Muslim soldiers,
1:13
raised in the heart of the desert,
1:15
had never navigated the seas
1:17
nor were they accustomed to the decks of ships;
1:19
moreover,
1:21
they did not possess
1:23
a single vessel.
1:25
But al-Ala' ibn al-Hadrami
1:27
harbored within himself
1:29
a momentous and daring plan,
1:31
one that no commander had ever contemplated,
1:33
nor had it ever crossed the mind
1:35
of any Muslim.
1:37
He firmly resolved
1:39
to invade Darin
1:41
and vanquish the apostates who sought refuge
1:43
behind walls of water.
1:45
Al-Ala' was not unaware
1:47
that his soldiers, being sons of the desert,
1:49
harbored a profound fear of the sea
1:51
and dreaded its perils
1:53
with the utmost dread.
1:55
Nor was he in need of anyone to remind him
1:57
that he did not possess
1:59
a single ship to transport
2:01
even one of his soldiers,
2:03
let alone the fact that
2:05
he would require a vast fleet
2:07
to carry
2:09
this entire great army,
2:11
as well as floating bridges
2:13
across which he and his men
2:15
could cross to dry land.
2:17
All of this
2:19
was well known to al-Ala' ibn al-Hadrami,
2:21
and he also knew
2:23
that the island of Darin
2:25
lay at a distance from the shores of Bahrain
2:27
that sailboats would take
2:29
a full day and night to traverse.
2:31
Yet despite all of that,
2:33
he did not hesitate
2:35
for a single moment in executing
2:37
what he had resolved to do.
2:39
Once al-Ala' had thoroughly examined the plan
2:41
within his own mind through deep reflection and study,
2:43
and had carefully weighed
2:45
its strategy and measures,
2:47
he assembled his troops and stood among them
2:49
to deliver a sermon.
2:51
He praised Allah Almighty as He truly deserves to be praised,
2:53
lauded Him with the most sublime laudation,
2:55
invoked blessings upon His Prophet
2:57
Muhammad with the most complete blessings,
2:59
and saluted him with the purest greetings of peace.
3:01
He then informed the army
3:03
of his resolution to cross the sea
3:05
and attack the apostates
3:07
sheltering in Darin,
3:09
fortified behind
3:11
the walls of water.
3:13
He then surveyed the faces of the soldiers
3:15
and saw a hundred questions
3:17
hovering on their lips,
3:19
on the verge of bursting forth from their mouths.
3:21
So he closed off before them
3:23
any avenue of speech
3:25
lest a single word escape from any of them
3:27
that might weaken resolve
3:29
and stir doubts.
3:31
He continued, saying:
3:33
"Do not say, 'How can we do this?'
3:35
when Allah has already shown you signs on land
3:37
which, if you were to reflect upon them,
3:39
would make you certain of what awaits you
3:41
of His signs at sea!
3:43
Do not say, 'How?'
3:45
when Allah is with you!
3:47
Did He not fill the pool with sweet, pure water for you
3:49
in the heart of the Dahna desert,
3:51
quenching your thirst
3:53
and delivering you from destruction?
3:55
Did He not return to you the stray camels
3:57
that had wandered off in the barren wilderness,
3:59
lost in the open deserts,
4:01
so that you saw them with your own eyes
4:03
as though the angels of the Most Merciful were surrounding them
4:05
with their wings
4:07
and herding them straight to where you stood,
4:09
without you losing
4:11
a single measure of the provisions upon
4:13
their backs or a single sip
4:15
of the water they carried?
4:17
Thus He fed you against hunger,
4:19
secured you against fear,
4:21
and rescued you from destruction.
4:23
Truly, the God Who answered your supplication
4:25
when you called upon Him in the depth of the desert
4:27
in humble submission,
4:29
full of hope and trust,
4:31
will answer your supplication by His grace
4:33
when you call upon Him while
4:35
crossing the sea
4:37
to meet His enemy with sincerity and devotion!"
4:39
Then he concluded
4:41
his speech, saying:
4:43
"Prepare yourselves
4:45
and advance to meet the enemy of Allah
4:47
and your enemy!
4:49
Mount the backs of your riding beasts and your horses,
4:51
and cross upon them
4:53
the waters of the Gulf,
4:55
with the blessing and success granted by Allah!"
4:57
Thereupon, they had no response
4:59
except to say with one voice:
5:01
"Yes! Yes!
5:03
We shall do as you have commanded us,
5:05
O inspired commander!
5:07
By Allah, after the Dahna, we shall never fear
5:09
anything except Allah!"
5:11
The valiant warriors mounted
5:13
the backs of noble steeds
5:15
and purebred camels,
5:17
and directed their course
5:19
toward the seashore.
5:21
When the feet of their mounts
5:23
plunged into the water,
5:25
the pious, pure,
5:27
and faithful commander raised his hands toward the heavens
5:29
and said to his soldiers:
5:31
"Repeat after me!"
5:33
He then prayed:
5:35
"O Most Merciful of the merciful!
5:37
O Eternal Refuge, O All-Powerful!
5:39
O Ever-Living, O Sustainer of all existence!
5:41
“And (mention) Dhu'n-Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: There is no Allah save Thee. Be Thou Glorified! Lo! I have been a wrong-doer.” (21:87)
5:43
You alone, having no partner!
5:45
In You we have placed our trust,
5:47
by Your power we seek aid,
5:49
and in Your bounty and might we seek protection!"
5:51
He then crossed the sea before them
5:53
and ordered them to follow behind him,
5:55
so they followed him.
5:57
On that day, the Gulf
5:59
was at its calmest and at low tide,
6:01
and so
6:03
the horses and camels began striding
6:05
across its still waters
6:07
as though walking over smooth sand
6:09
covered only by
6:11
a shallow layer of water.
6:13
When the army reached the shores of Darin,
6:15
the soldiers leaped onto the land
6:17
like lions pouncing upon their prey.
6:19
They drew
6:21
their sharp swords from their scabbards
6:23
and proceeded to strike down
6:25
the heads of Allah's enemies with relentless force.
6:27
The apostates were completely bewildered,
6:29
stunned by their own plight and what surrounded them,
6:31
and stood dumbfounded at the sheer terror
6:33
of this frightening surprise.
6:35
They were utterly perplexed by these people,
6:37
unable to fathom
6:39
whether they had descended upon them from the sky
6:41
or surged forth from the earth,
6:43
for it was beyond their capacity
6:45
even to conceive
6:47
that they had come to them across the sea.
6:49
Within a single day
6:52
and night, al-Ala'
6:54
and his troops cleansed the island of the apostates,
6:56
span by span
6:58
and cubit by cubit,
7:00
sweeping it from coast
7:02
to coast, back and forth.
7:04
This was accomplished after
7:06
they killed the combatants
7:08
and took the dependents, women,
7:10
wealth, and livestock as spoils.
7:12
Then the victorious commander distributed
7:14
the spoils of war among his soldiers,
7:16
and each horseman received
7:18
two thousand [dirhams].
7:20
During their crossing of the sea, the Muslims did not lose
7:22
a single man, a single horse,
7:24
or a single camel,
7:26
except for a nosebag of a horse belonging to a man
7:28
from among the Muslims; so al-'Ala' himself returned
7:30
to retrieve it and gave it back
7:32
to its owner.
7:34
Moreover, on part of its march,
7:36
the faithful army passed by
7:38
the Christians of Hajar,
7:40
where a monk asked Ibn al-Hadrami for permission
7:42
to accompany them and seek protection
7:44
with them, and he granted him permission.
7:46
When the journey of the victorious army
7:48
came to its conclusion, with all the toil,
7:50
struggle,
7:52
and decisive victory it had achieved,
7:54
and after all the terrors and events
7:56
that had transpired along the way,
7:58
and all the divine aid and bounty
8:00
that Allah had bestowed upon them,
8:02
the monk's dormant feelings were deeply stirred,
8:04
and his slumbering faith was awakened;
8:06
thus, he declared his acceptance of Islam before the army
8:08
and its commander.
8:10
When he returned to his people, they said to him:
8:12
"Woe to you!
8:14
What drove you to abandon your religion
8:16
and embrace Islam?"
8:18
He replied: "Three
8:20
matters; and indeed, I feared
8:22
that Allah would transform me into a beast thereafter
8:24
if I did not submit as a Muslim."
8:26
They asked, "And what are they?"
8:28
He said: "What I heard
8:30
of their supplications before dawn,
8:32
the gushing forth of water for them
8:34
amidst the desert sands
8:36
where there was neither water nor tree,
8:38
and the subduing of the ocean waves
8:40
beneath their feet.
8:42
Thus, I became certain that they
8:44
were aided by the angels only
8:46
because they are upon the truth,
8:48
and that they truly stand upon the truth."
8:50
May Allah brighten the face of al-'Ala'
8:52
Ibn al-Hadrami,
8:54
for he lived as a striver in the cause of Allah
8:56
with both his tongue and his spear,
8:58
and he will forever remain throughout time
9:00
the first Muslim commander
9:02
to elevate the word of Allah
9:04
across the land.