Part of Treasures of the Prophetic Biography (series completed)
· Lesson 6 of 58
Treasures of biography | Sheikh Othman Al-Khamis | Episode (6) | The invitation of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, in Mecca
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Treasures of the Seerah.
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Chapter Two:
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The Da'wah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in Mecca.
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When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) reached
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forty years of age,
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Allah, Blessed and Exalted, bestowed His favor
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upon all of mankind
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by commissioning him (peace be upon him) as a Messenger,
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as a guide, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner.
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“And as a summoner unto Allah by His permission, and as a lamp that giveth light.” (33:46)
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Here is the Mother of the Believers, 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her),
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recounting for us the story of the start of his prophethood (peace be upon him).
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'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
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"The first form of revelation that came to him (peace be upon him)
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was true dreams during sleep.
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He never saw a dream except that it came true like the bright gleam of dawn.
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Then, seclusion became dear to him,
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and he used to seclude himself in the Cave of Hira',
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engaging in acts of devotion for a number of nights
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before returning to his family.
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He would then return to Khadijah and replenish his provisions for a similar period,
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until the truth suddenly came to him.
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The angel said, 'Read!'
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He (peace be upon him) said,
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'I cannot read.'
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He related,
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'So he seized me and squeezed me until I reached the limit of my endurance.
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Then he released me and said,
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"Read!"
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I replied, "I cannot read."
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So he seized me and squeezed me a second time until I reached the limit of my endurance.
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Then he released me and said,
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"Read!"
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I replied, "I cannot read."
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So he seized me and squeezed me a third time, then released me and said:
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“Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth,” (96:1)
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“Createth man from a clot.” (96:2)
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"Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen."'
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“Teacheth man that which he knew not.” (96:5)
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) returned with these verses, his heart trembling with fear.
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He entered upon Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (may Allah be pleased with her) and said,
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'Cover me! Cover me!'
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She said: 'They covered him until the terror departed from him.'
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He then said to Khadijah, after informing her of what had happened,
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'I feared for myself.'
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Khadijah said—
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and she was the reassuring pillar whom Allah chose for His Prophet (peace be upon him)—:
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'Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you.'
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Khadijah began this statement with a denial,
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followed by an oath:
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'By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you,'
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and reinforced it by adding 'never.'
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All of this demonstrates the profound trust this woman had in her Lord, Blessed and Exalted,
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and her true insight into Muhammad (peace be upon him).
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The reason upon which she built this conclusion
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is what she mentioned immediately thereafter,
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saying:
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'For you uphold the ties of kinship,
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you bear the burdens of the weak,
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you provide for the destitute,
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you honor the guest,
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and you assist those afflicted by genuine misfortune.'
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It is as if she were saying to the Prophet (peace be upon him):
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'Whoever possesses such noble virtues
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can never be disgraced by Allah under any circumstances,
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for these traits are qualities of sheer perfection.'
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She then took him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal,
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who was her paternal cousin.
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He had embraced Christianity during the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (Jahiliyyah),
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and he used to write the Hebrew scripture as much as Allah willed him to write.
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He was an elderly man who had become blind.
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Khadijah said to him,
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'O cousin,
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listen to your nephew.'
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Waraqah said to him,
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'O my nephew,
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what do you see?'
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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) informed him
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of what he had seen.
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Thereupon, Waraqah said to him,
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'This is the Namus (the angel Gabriel) whom Allah sent down upon Moses.
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Would that I were young and strong in those days!
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Would that I were alive when your people drive you out!'
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At that moment, the Messenger (peace be upon him) found it unlikely that his people would drive him out,
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seeing that his people loved him dearly
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and only called him 'the Truthful and Trustworthy'
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(peace be upon him).
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That is why he asked,
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'Will they really drive me out?'
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He replied, 'Yes;
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no man has ever brought the like of what you have brought without being met with hostility.'
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This is a crucial rule
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and a profound principle upon which Waraqah ibn Nawfal based his judgment,
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namely that all the prophets were harmed and faced hostility:
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some of them were killed,
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some of them were expelled,
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some of them were tormented,
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and some of them were terrorized;
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instances of this are numerous.
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He added,
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'And if I live to see your day, I will support you with mighty assistance.'
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Shortly thereafter, Waraqah passed away,
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and the revelation ceased for a period.
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The scholars estimated this duration to be six months,
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while some stated that it lasted up to three years.
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Waraqah ibn Nawfal (may Allah have mercy on him) is considered a Muslim,
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and it is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
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'Do not revile Waraqah,
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for I saw that he has one garden or two gardens in Paradise.'
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But was he a Companion?
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The correct view is that he was not a Companion,
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because he did not witness the active mission of the message;
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he died after the Prophet (peace be upon him) was commissioned as a prophet
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and before he began publicly conveying the message (peace be upon him).
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Treasures of the Seerah:
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The Alleged Suicide Attempt of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
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Al-Zuhri said:
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'Urwah informed me from 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said:
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"The revelation ceased for a while,
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so much so that the Prophet (peace be upon him)—according to what has reached us—became grieved
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with such sorrow that he repeatedly went out intending to cast himself down from the peaks of high mountains.
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But whenever he reached the summit of a mountain to throw himself off,
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Gabriel appeared to him and said:
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'O Muhammad, you are truly the Messenger of Allah.'
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Thereupon his heart would find tranquility,
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his soul would be reassured, and he would return.
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When the cessation of revelation became prolonged again,
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he would go out to do the same;
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and whenever he reached the summit of a mountain,
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Gabriel would appear to him and say the same to him."
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This addition is not from the words of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her);
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rather, it is from the words of al-Zuhri.
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He is among the Tabi'un
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and did not witness that event,
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nor did he mention which of the Companions narrated this to him.
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That is why he said, 'according to what has reached us.'
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The unbacked reports (balaghat) of al-Zuhri and others are categorized as severed (munqati') hadiths,
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and they are weak;
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thus, it is not authentic to attribute this to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
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Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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'Furthermore, the one who said "according to what has reached us" is al-Zuhri.
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The meaning of this phrase is:
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"Among what has reached us regarding the account of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
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in this story..."
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It is among the balaghat of al-Zuhri,
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and it is not continuously connected (mawsul).'
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Al-Kirmani said:
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'This is the apparent reality.'
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Shaykh al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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'Attributing this report to al-Bukhari
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is a grave error,
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because it gives the false impression that this story of throwing himself down is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari,
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which is not the case.'
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Once you know that this addition is unproven,
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it is only right to say
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that it is a denounced (munkar) addition in terms of meaning as well;
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for it is unfitting for the infallible Prophet (peace be upon him)
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to attempt to kill himself by hurling himself from a mountain,
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whatever the motive might have been.
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The forms of revelation are six, as stated by the people of knowledge:
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The first:
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True dreams;
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this was the beginning of revelation to the Prophet (peace be upon him),
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as 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
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'He never saw a dream except that it came true like the bright gleam of dawn.'
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The second:
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What the angel would cast into the heart of the Prophet (peace be upon him),
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such as his saying (peace be upon him):
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'The Holy Spirit breathed into my heart
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that no soul shall die
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until it completes its full provision;
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so fear Allah and be moderate in seeking it.'
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The third:
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That the angel would take the form of a man
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and address the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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until he comprehended what was said,
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as in the Hadith of Gabriel
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when he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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while he was among his companions—
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referencing the famous Hadith of Gabriel.
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The fourth:
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That it would come to him like the ringing of a bell,
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and this was the hardest form upon him,
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so much so that the forehead of the Messenger (peace be upon him)
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would drip with sweat on a bitterly cold day.
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The fifth:
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That he would see the angel in the actual form in which Allah, Blessed and Exalted, created him,
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and the angel would reveal to him whatever He willed,
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such as when Gabriel came to him in the cave.
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The sixth:
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What Allah, Blessed and Exalted, revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him) directly
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without the intermediation of an angel,
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as occurred during his Ascension (Mi'raj, peace be upon him)
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to the seventh heaven,
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where the daily prayers were ordained upon him.
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Treasures of the Seerah:
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How Polytheism Entered Mecca.
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The tribe of Khuza'ah were the custodians of the Sacred House before Quraysh.
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They inherited the custodianship over the House from generation to generation,
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and their guardianship of the House lasted for three hundred years,
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or, as some say, five hundred years.
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During their era, idols were first brought into Mecca,
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at the hands of their chieftain, 'Amr ibn Luhayy,
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whose word among them was treated like binding law
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owing to his esteemed status in their eyes.
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This 'Amr ibn Luhayy had traveled to the Levant,
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where he observed the people of the Levant worshipping idols.
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He asked, "What are these idols that you worship?"
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They replied, "These are idols we worship:
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we pray to them for rain and they grant us rain,
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and we pray to them for victory and they grant us victory."
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He said, "Will you not give me one of them
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so I may take it to the land of the Arabs that they might worship it?"
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So they gave him an idol called Hubal,
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which he brought with him to Mecca.
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He erected it and commanded the people to worship it, and they obeyed him.
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Thus he made light of his people, and they obeyed him;
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indeed, they were a defiantly disobedient people.
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The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
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"I saw 'Amr ibn Luhayy dragging his entrails in the Hellfire."
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The Arabs had previously adhered to the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him),
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but with the passage of time, they forgot much of the specific religious laws.
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This state of affairs continued—
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namely, the leadership of the Khuza'ah tribe over the Sacred House—
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until Qusayy ibn Kilab married the daughter of the chieftain of Khuza'ah.
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Thereafter, he enlisted the help of other Arab tribes to fight Khuza'ah,
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defeating them and expelling them from Mecca,
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whereupon Qusayy assumed the leadership;
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and Qusayy was from Quraysh.
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Among the rites that remained with the Arabs from the religion of Abraham (peace be upon him) was the Hajj pilgrimage.
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They would perform tawaf around the Ka'bah and sa'i between Safa and Marwah,
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stand at 'Arafat and Muzdalifah,
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and offer sacrificial camels.
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However, due to the long passage of time, they began to say in their talbiyah:
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"Here I am at Your service, O Allah, here I am at Your service.
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Here I am at Your service; You have no partner,
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except a partner who belongs to You—
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You possess him and all that he possesses."
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Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said:
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"If you wish to realize the extent of the Arabs' ignorance,
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read beyond verse 130 of Surah Al-An'am,"
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wherein Allah Almighty says:
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“They are losers who besottedly have slain their children without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah. They indeed have gone astray and are not guided.” (6:140)
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“They are losers who besottedly have slain their children without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah. They indeed have gone astray and are not guided.” (6:140)
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“They are losers who besottedly have slain their children without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah. They indeed have gone astray and are not guided.” (6:140)
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"inventing lies against Allah."
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“They are losers who besottedly have slain their children without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah bestowed upon them, inventing a lie against Allah. They indeed have gone astray and are not guided.” (6:140)
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Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"Among those practices were the false, corrupt rites they fabricated,
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which their chief, 'Amr ibn Luhayy—may Allah render him hideous—falsely deemed
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an act of public good and mercy toward beasts and livestock,
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whereas he was a lying fabricator in doing so.
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Yet despite this profound ignorance and misguidance,
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these ignorant, rabble-like followers succumbed to him."
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Allah (blessed and exalted be He) said:
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“Allah hath not appointed anything in the nature of a Bahirah or a Sa'ibah or a Wasilah or a Hami, but those who disbelieve invent a lie against Allah. Most of them have no sense.” (5:103)
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"The *bahirah* was a she-camel whose ear they used to slit,
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slitting it and dedicating her milk to false deities (*tawaghit*),
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while forbidding people from benefiting from her.
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As for the *sa'ibah*,
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it was a camel set free to roam,
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not restricted from any pasture or water source,
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nor ridden by anyone,
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being consecrated exclusively to the idols.
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As for the *wasilah*,
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it was a female camel that gave birth to a female offspring immediately following another female;
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if she gave birth to a male, it was dedicated to the idols.
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As for the *ham*,
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it was a stallion camel that had sired ten consecutive offspring from its spine;
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it was left alone, neither ridden nor barred from any pasture."
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Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) further stated:
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"Rather, they followed him in that which was far more disastrous
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and immensely greater:
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the worship of idols alongside Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He).
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They altered the true religion and straight path
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with which Allah had sent His intimate friend Abraham—
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namely, the pure monotheism of Allah, worshipping Him alone without partner,
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and the prohibition of polytheism.
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They corrupted the rites of Hajj and the landmarks of the religion
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without knowledge, proof,
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or any evidence, whether sound or weak,
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merely imitating the polytheistic nations that preceded them.
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The Arabs even took, alongside the Ka'bah, false deities (*tawaghit*) which they venerated as they venerated the Ka'bah itself.
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They appointed custodians for them—serving as attendants and gatekeepers—
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slaughtered sacrifices before them, and circumambulated them.
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Yet despite all this, they still recognized the virtue and superiority of the Ka'bah.
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As for Quraysh,
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they venerated Al-'Uzza and Hubal;
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Thaqif possessed Al-Lat;
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Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj venerated Manat;
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and the tribe of Daws possessed Dhu Al-Khalasah."