TO

THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH

AND AIlE PREPAUD .TO PACE IT
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ALL :RIGHTS RESD.YEO
by
'!'lIE PUBLISBEIS
First Edition 1980
Second Edition ........ 1995
Price Ra. 200/-,
All Correspondence to be addressed to:
ATIR-W-RABlIO '1'IWIVI
153-F" Block-II.
P .... C S.
lWlACIII
PAUStilI
ALLAM A ZlA-UD-DIN KlRMANI
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FODEWOBD
,To. the discerning., 'reader, 'this ",in ali 1ok
would Itself provide an explanation for the '9f
Its own- addition to the UteratUrealready
available on the reade:t has been
provided' with' a canvas wide eno'ilah to 'enable' biql
to haye a clear view':of the happel)ings the
Prophet's Ilfe and Immediately _fter' hlm'ln their ..
proper perspective. 1 hoPe 'he villl nnd the approach'
refreshingly free from emotlonallsm and obscuran;..
tlsin.:;:' i';
To me, history Is not an exercise to manlpu:","
late 'events In support of 'fond theories, but to
provide the reader, a plauslbletheorj' that ,may
explain, anir not' "explain away 'a 'ract of ,hlfJtol'Y.-
Wheliever I was faced witb an unhappy dilemma 'to ,
choose between' the sanctity' of tlie Prophet and tbe
authenticity of"s' 'parllcular '"tradition"; I
unhesitatingly made the only ' ,
"- . .' .
All references are" handy and" by ,and, large,
wlthto'':'ccess of an average reader. Not many
references, wlU,' therefore, be' found new, although
many of the inferences, I dare say, are likely to
strike one as novel. It Is' for the reader to agree
or not to 'aaree with me. As, tar as possible I have
scrupulously steered clear"of polemics.
'", .. '
J' have ,not bOthered' the reader with well-
known commdh-place- refe..-ences by notiCing them
individually_ ,Only when: I 'feft ,that an average
reader wai" 'likely to' be in need ofapointed
reference 'In "pport an assertion, hav,e I" na med the
relevant 'authority "and the, debt
adequately. I hav,estrUggIedall along: not 'allow
myself, to be awayb, a pre-cblicelved hotfon,
unwarranted'by the loglc" of 'facts . However, the
reader, too, is Invited to asiess the value of a
reference or Inference independently on merit only.'
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have liberally drawn on the learned studies
by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Nawab A'zam Yar Jang
ChlragbAlt, ",aulana Sulaiman Nadvl, Maulana
A$lam Maulana Tamanna 'Imadl, Maulana
Manailt ,4hs8.D Ge elaru , Dr. Hameed-uUah and
Maulv! 'MaiUDud Ahmad Abbasi. Their bold unconve-
ntional apprt,acb retlected In their researches was a
great source _. of encouragement to me In the
present undertalclng. This should not, however, be
... taken as a blanket acceptance of all their theories
and findings.
Works to, which one is 'obllged to refer
frequently or occasionally in a study like this have
been separately noticed in the Bibliography. In the
case of basic source of Information, indication has
been given of the period to which a particular
authority Mainly because of technical
reasons, only the translation of relevant quotations
has been given. The readers 'may please refer to
the actual text seriated section-wise at the end
under Textual References.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the debt I
owe to all those friends and well-wishers who went
tbtoUgh parts of the work, whUe still unde,.,..,ep8l'-
and were kind enough to bring its abort-
comings to my notice or to make helpful
su.-attans. I wish I could mention them all ItHUvi-
dually. i\t any rate" whatever contribution they
h-ave made by way ot advice and l1181stance will
, not go unrewarded In the Ultimate reckoning.
However, I take this opporttJDtty to t;!xpre8S
my cratUli(fe, In to my friend _,the late
Zabatr Siddiqi, to 0lJ cousin Captain Zaheer Alam
MIUN, who have been of such acreat, help In
cl ... the final cq;)1 *q my Idends, MAulana
TaSeen of tlie Maj11s-e-
t
llmee, Karachi and a
prottlisingscholar, Qa'ri Muhammad Tahir at-Makkl,
of . &faclta88h Mad,inetul Uloom, Karachi for the help
in checking certain references, and to Mr.
Atlfu4aln 91 the NlPA. and a few others forNleIr
constant and pe,rslstent encouraaement.
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CORTBN.TS
1
FOREWORD
1
I
PERSPECTWE
4
,
SYNOPSIS
8
'Pl{0LOGUE
11
1
1. Search for "the' Prophet" 17
J
2. The Arabian Scene. 24
3. Ideological Background 29
I
4. Birth-of an Epoch 40
I
I
5. Through the Crucible
47
8.
Lone Star in Heavy Weather 89
1
7. Society Versus Sanity 82
8. Tum of the Tide 104
I.' uneasy'
119
i
10. "The Great Stru,gle"
.. ;
'134
,
11. The Sword agatRit Swords-l . 146
Quralsb-Oi'fel\ted "Opposttion
12.
The SWOrd against Swords-2 171
Confrontation with Jews
I
1
Chrgtlans
13. Peace Offensive 189
14. Winds of ChaiDge 203
15. Truth Stranger Than Fict.lon 209
16. Finale of Grand Misston 220
j
17.
234 1
TIle Book of Allah
I
18.
The Glorious Legacy-2 257
I The Way of the Prophet
19. Traits arid Teadl
in
l8 276
1
20.
FamUy and Home Llfe-l 299
21.
FamUy arid Home Life-2
318
22. The Great Galaxy 338
' .
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EPILOGUE 357
I
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POSTSCRIPT 363

APPENDICES
I
l) Pen-picture of the Prophet
372
iO
Rationale of Islamic Ideology 373
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iii) Regimen for the Conformist 382
Iv) Renectlon on Islamic Pollty 384
v) Diagnosis of Decadence of Muslim 397
Society
vi) Kaleidoscope 412
thumb-nail sketches of
companions
vU) LEST WE FORGET 436
Food for Thought
TEXTUAL REFERENCES(Actual text 460
, sedated section-wise)
BIBUOGRAPHY 5'06
INDEX 515
NOTE
Wherever the Holy Quran has been quoted,the
Chapter(Surah) and the Verse (Aayab) have been
given in the Roman and Arabic notations respecti-
vely. The verses have been numbered accordingly to
Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall's "The Meumg of
the Glorious Koran", which Is easily available to
the reading public.
Transliteration Guide
For the convenience of the. general reader and
printer, the following scheme for transliteration has
been __ adopted in preference to the one generally
used by orientalists.
J=
d ... -..:.= t
J= dh
d:.= Q
.tt_
J =
Z
C
=
,

= th ..c
=
, t.
IJ'-U'" =
S
For example, 'Amar; 'Aamir; 'Umarj 'azeem or
'azim; a' zam; 'adhaab; dhikr; Ghazi or ghazl; Qaadi
or qadi; Vudoo; da'eef; ra'ees; Saa'il; Qaa'id;
Qaa'id ; 'aasim; 'aathim ; Thaabit; hadeeth; baseet;
etc.
BBBIRD TBB HBADUNIIS
(Chapter" Wise Summary Of Contents)
. .
1. SBA'ICB POR :"TBB P.R.OPBBTB
. The of' the
Rablplamml--Bibllcal references.
2. . THB ABABIAN SCENE
A small colony founded in "The wilderness":
,Blbllcalreference Ishmaelttes and their vocation
-the city-atate of Makkah-Tbe Prophet's abeestry.
r .' . . .
3. IDEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
Misconception about Pagan Arabia-Connotat-
Ions of JabDl,.,... and '''Ummlyyooaw':'cubical
sanctuary (Ita'bah) originally dedicated to Allah,
the Supreme Detty, becomes the rallying point-wide
spread belief in:Sbafa'ah
w
(fnterc_ion) comprom-
Ised the sense of ultimate accountabllity,was mainly
responsible tor plurality ot gods in superstitious and
'fatalistic society.-No ne", propagated by the
Prophet;' he' :tmphastzes his role as a "RtUninder"
and "Warner". ' '
'4. THB BlRTB-op AN EPOCH
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Prophet's birth among the Gentiles (-UDimIJ- ji
,000-) an epoch-making event in itself,synchronizes
with the "Year oftha Elephant"-old jealousy
between' the people of the Book of the southern
Arabia and the wUminlnOODw' of the north; ,the
, latter's prejudice against BAr-Rab .... n_Saratul Peel
explained. '
5. THROUGH THB CRUCIBLE
The 'Prophet, a posthumous child, brought up
by his grand-father Abdul Muttallb and his eldest
\ "
uncle Zubair bin Abdn Muttalib-Childhood-
Bohairah' smyth-discussion of the incident of
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"Sbaqqus 8adr., a vision most prQbably occurred in
the cave of Hlra just before the first revelation
was recelved--Adolescence--hls vocation before he
was called to prophethOod--marriage most probably
arranged by his aunt Saflyyah wife of AI-Avvaam,
brother of Kh,dijah-commonly accepted age of
Khadljah seems orlgin,ally motlvllted--Her afnuence
highly exaggerated. ..
6. LONE STAll IN HEAVY' WEATHER
His Innate aversion to pagan rites and rituals-
his frequent visits to Mount Hlra (now known as
"Mount of EnUghtenment")--call to prophethood-
First lesson In self-disctpllne--Suratud Doba expla-
Ined--Early converts.
7. 50ClETI YBIISUS SANITY
. Reformist movement launched by inviting
elders of his own clan- Meccan society sees challen-
ges In his mlsslon--mounting opposition; uncle Abd
Manaaf (Abu Talib) refuses to yield to pressure--
All's age - Story of Umar's conversion; it determ-
ines the 'probable, date of the Mi'raaJ incident----
Emigration to Ethiopia (HabibaJ--A vile canard,
Meccans' counter-propaganda-social boycott, rigours
of the abortive blockilde Lahb
succeeds Abu Taltb as chieftain, pursues vigorous
policy of containment..
8. TUBN OF TIlE TIDE
Persecution rouses wide-spread curiosity-----
interested MedinUes pledge safe asylum-story of
the Escape--The well-conceived hide .. .torles
of Udlme Ma'bad and Soraaqah dlscussed--short
stay in Quba-rousing 'reception in Madina),
, 9. UNBASI' COEXISTENCE
Cohesion and integration of the Aasaar of
Madlnah (tocal Collaborators) and the
(refugees ,from Makkahl--measures to promote
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peace' and . security oftha. town., and its adjoining
of Islamic: laid: Madinah
Pact makes Medlnltes. including the, Jews equal. and
fuU (*Um ... " V.blclab ...... )--
the .tatus Qf tbe people of "guaranteed
protectie,," 'dlaiBlmeel) compared. -
'. t...
pacts with the ,Jewish tribes
on the of the. town . iped separately--
Jews - institution- ofbaslc
disciplines for the "Neo- Muslims" - plSJChoiogical
significance of the change of Qlblah - ImpUcation
of the change of the pqanluni",solar calendar of
the Meccan. to the Isl.-mlc -lunar calendar of today.
-,
10. "TItB .GIlBAT 8TJlUOOLB
Connotation of Jebad in l8lam - Communityts
activist role - aggressive' designs. incite-
ment andprOYOOatioD - BatU. of Back forced on
Muslims - humane' ground rules and se1t-restralnts-
institution of ,slavery tolerated as a necessary evil;
measures for Its liquldatlonjrelevan1 verses of the
Quran.
11.TRE SWOBDAGAIMST. SWORDS-fl)
Terms and . .....,.. loosely and
Indiscriminately used by writers;' armed connlct
magnified by over-enthusiasts! - Battles of Badr.
Uh:ud, ttAJ-Ahzaab
tt
and HunalD discuaed - . War
prisoners of 8adr -. s.tmlln FarsFs legendary role -
deteate with the MeCCMS soupt by signing appar-
ently ,one-sided treaty: of Hudalbiyyah' - Meccans
t
cQIltinuedb.e1llaereDcy. them. of their
pr()ved leadership - Meccans' perfidy results in
their ultimate unconditional surrender - siege of
Ta-ef - internal challenge posed by "the Hypocri ...
tes".
12. THE -SWORD AGAINST SWORDS-(I)
The Jew" havin, second thoughts about the
sprawlin, community of "Neo-Muslims" Indulge in
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intrigues; Muslims' reverse in Uhud emboldents
them - aggressive - posture of perfidious Jewish
tribes called -for pUnitive action - bulk of the
defaultersexpeUed except those engaged in peace-
ful occupations; evacuees . allowed to Bell their
. property and carrywlth them whatev.er they could
-They carry lurid tales of the already alarmed Jews
of Khalbar fortresses who finance subversion -
Battle of Khalbar comprised a long-drawn series of
engagements - fantastic accounts of the fall of the
Qamoos fortress. '
Cbnfrontation with over-zealous Roman vassals
-The Quran has a word of praise for the benevo-
lent attitude of the Christians In general - Muslim
emissary killed by a bigoted Christian -prlnce-
Mautah operation a reprisal-emotionalism invites
debacle - Tabook expedition to queer the pitch of
the emboldened vassals' aggressive plans - No
definite involvement of the Christian community 8S
such historically proved.
13. PEACE OFFENSIVE
Drive to make the world safe for peace by
making Man's heart at peace with basic realities -
the global mission through various stages - Two
distinct roles prescribed for the Muslim community-
Umayyads' opposition highly exaggerated; no abid-
ing enmity between Umayyads and the Hashmites -
letters addressed to prominent personages of the
time Including the Heads of the two contending
world Powers - genuineness of certain . Epistles
discovered --inl; original, inc1udiftg the one addressed
to the Moqowqis, the chief of the Copfs,- which
alone belongs to the period under reference( 6/7
A.H.) -
14. WINDS OF CHANGE
Fall of Makkah electftOes the ';.en"re Arab
world--all roads lead to Madlnah--entertainment of
delegations, . 8 A.H. the t'Year of Deputafton"--no
vindictiveness noticeable--Myth of the Impl"et!!tfon
( .... ) that never place.
15. Dura S'tBANOBll' THAN PlCftON
Nature ot "stgus"or miracles dlacussed--The
popular account of the so-called "Miracle of the
splitting of the moon" (SIIaqqal, Qamar) ,highly
improbable -- some miracles or "signs" 'authentica-
ted by the, Quran, including lira, or MI'raaj, discu-
ssed. . "," .
16. PlRALB or TO :OItARD IIISSION
., . - . ';( .l
His last visit to Makkah, the 'ftrst and 'last
pilgrimage --, the famous sermon' of Arafaat .. -' 'a
dIspUted addiesS on way to Madlnah _.. hls iUness,
last days ... -' a doubtful episode repOrted. '. .
-:;. 1 ". '
17.' TIlE OLOBIOUS LBOA'eT': (1)
... : .', -. f .
.. ", The abiding of the Party of Allah
(-HIzbaDaII'I} . - .ne.. and Sbarl' ... differentia-
. ted; the for liter a menable to' Reason - Freedom of
discretion in meetl'iig dynail'lic challenges of enviro ..
nmeni:' structureot the' institution of z.aD,.t, for
examPle, 'Deeds constant re"appral$al. -
sis on codiftei:l pra"'Ctlces leads to regfmentatiQo.
" . , i
. The Holy Book, tts pragmatic arrangement --
pre-:requlsltes' for .,bt-abilng 'guidance from' it' -
likely' pitf8J.ls In anddeductton due to
semantic . difficultieS' subjective, 'motivated
approticli;certilln "the learDf!d"-what
cOdStitutes ... inteUect\lal . hereSy . -' U mar' s in
respeCt of "irregular" divorce ., '
18. THB GLOmOUS, LEGACY - (2)
;
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. . Hadeeth and SuDDah are not synonyms .. 4
corpus of "tracUtlons".JfIh8adeeth) a record .
of' Qstem :bullton certain
falltlclouS premises; . Its, . choice' of termino-
logy .. VabJe pair malt1QC,. a Jewish concept:'when
-Ix
a "tradition" over-steps' its limits: "Doctrine of
Intercession", erosion of QUlaole authority, di$tort-
ion of the' ' image of the Prophet - ostensible,
ru msy, basis of the, so-called wlallatJd bar'.t" and
Its celebration.
, 19. TRArrs AND TEACIDNGS
The Quran alone embodies the
character-pattern ClfU!y.a")01 -the' Prophet-glimpses
of his personality culled from the
corpUs of, trustworthy "traditions" - certain gross
slanders "traditionally" reported which create a
credibility gap between the "traditionisb" and, the
Muslims of average intelligence - what
-constitutes "Unah" (the charapter pattern);
personal likes and dislikes, even the habitual beha":
viour, reflecting .. ces, environmental, strains
and compulsions do not constitute "Sunnah" - For
example, "Aqeeqab", an old custom,is not ad ......
according to Imam Abu Haneelah - A P-rophet is
"near-infallible'l, or protested (ma'liPOmJ only In
two out of several distinct aspeets of his persona-
lity - bulk of the authentically reported teacblftIB
of the Prophet are of univers(l.l applicatiol'f and
traceable from the Quran as; weU, While most of
hisruUngs are 'relevant to' a 'particular context -
certaill conventional., In observance
and practice .. tSboClS - What constitutes
a, pernicious innovation (lIbld'8b")-
in religion a eorruptitlg factor"t. (Shah VaUuUab of
DeIhl) - 9c'J.heProphet and
the early' Caliphs "againsf,' creatirig" __ y
precedents:lftaraveeb" and the Prophet;, ani mll
sacrifice and the first two Caliphs. '
20. FAMILY AND HOME OPE -(1)
The 11 mit of Four wJv,lS' no basis The
Quran discourages ,polygatpy,"llioup sanctions
plurality difference - A blaspllepious'exerc ..
ise inrespecf of the Prophet's martial, status -
pertinent, details of his in T A.H.
he had as many as eleven at a tl me - ClrcumstaR-'
ces' that. ,point to motives of plurality other than
sex reported age of Ayeshah unrealistic: and
improbable. '
21. FA-'Y AND BOllE LlFB -(I)
'Homa life exceptionall, placid fora famfly,'of
that slza-famUy blckerlngs aRd. petty 'revelries
magnified by, gcalp-mongers- Hafsah and Ayeshah
taraets- of. ,motivated 'slander - exercise In,
discipline and austerity living misconstrued as . a J,
premium on poverty and asceticism - "Poverty is ,
my Pride" is no "tradition" but a later-day concoc-
tion - his own way of life not imposed on' wives
who were allowed freedom to' opt out and part
gracefully if they so desired "" tfteir option for the
harder way life entitled them to the special
status accorded to them by the Quran - Attach-
ment to Ayeshah explained - -campaign of calumny
against her master-minded by the "Hypocrites".
The com mon expression "Ahlul bait" miscons-
trued for political reasons by taking liberties with I',
idiom, grammar and the Quranic context - Attach-
ment to Fatimah - propaganda butld-up around herj
sons - The Prophet's male issues;. finality
prophethood hinted on the death of Ibrahim, the
last issue - The Prophet's grand-children and his
affection for all of then.
22. THE GREAT GALAXY
"Companions of the Prophet" a term loosely
defined and applied - basic fallacy In determining
the status ,and the IDter sa seniority - double
standards followed by writers - The Quran recogn-
izes only three prestigious categories: early
converts, those who took part in the Battle of
Badr, and those who participated in the mass oath-
-taking known as "bailor ridy_" - these distinct-
ions and the blanket amnesty accorded to the
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recipients exPlained In the context of the egalita-
rian society - strict dlsclpUneenforc8d on the hard
core of the commUnity .. tendentious reports about
certain front-rank "Companions" circulated by
political factions - "Hypocrites" or Opportunists
infiltrated as the community grew In stature and
innuence In Madlnah - The Prophet would never
act on mere suspicion; charitable view taken of
gross detault of even those with questionable
antecedents - oblique .Blblical references to the
Prophet's "Companions" - A parable of Jesus
(Peace be on him) portraying the Muslim society of
to-day. /
.................
xU
xiii
As we launch the second' edition of this
masterpiece ot research' on the' Ufe of the Hoi,
PJopIaet (peace be upon him) by the late ZlatMldla
KI:rmaIaI, vie bow our heads before the Almighty In
gratitude for the 'eagerness
the book was reeetved' by the dlacernlng public.
Scholars ot International repute such as A.K. Brohl
and Maulana Abdul' Quddus Hashml,r.tember Flqah
Committee ot the Rabita Ala m-e-Isla ml, declared'
the book' to be an extraordinary achievement.
Specially was the logical, analytical and
approach of the writer, which was above
the sectarian disputes running through Islamic
history. Although the late Ziauddln Kirmani was of
Fatlmid ancestry, he rejected even the exaggerated
adulation of the Fatimid Dynasty in view of soUd
Incontroyertible facts. Generally this respect for
truth was vlell appreciated but there still were
some ancestor-worshippers steeped in Shla prejudice
and sectarian rage, like "Syed" Dr. Rllwan Ali
Nadvi vlho were deeply displeased.
The late Klrmanl has stated In his book that it
is vuong to say that the HOly Prophet (peace be
uponhhn) \"las brought tip In hls,childhoodby Abu
He has adduced evidence 'from Baladhuri to
prove that andboybood of the Holy
Prophet' (peace be upon him) 'was' spent under the
loving care of his eldest uncle the venerable Zubair
bin Abdul MuttaUb. who was the head of the Banu
Hashl m ciano "Syed" Rlzwan, Ali "has . called this a
serious error and has cteclared that Baladhuri has
actually taken the opposite position.
The fact Is that the respected Rizwan' Ali may
be a book-vlorm but he Is sadly lacking in
historical inSight and analytical acumen. If we
. carefully consider all the scattered and

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xiv
contradictory traditions of those times on this
subject and read between the lines, the truth
becomes indubitably evident. The late Kirmani
Sahib did not get involved in the minutiae of this
controversy, went to. the heart of the matter and
proceeded further.
However, in view of the .objections, let us
place before ourselves all the dispersed traditions
and try to get to the bottom of the case. We shall
thus not only reach the hard historical facts but
also realize the extent to which the late Kirmani
Sahib laboured to sift the facts from fiction. It
will also become obvious that the only objection
that could be raised against the contents of the.
book Is most su{)erficial and hollow.
Before we consider this objection tn detail, let
us first keep in mind that the Holy Prophet (peace
be upon him), during his life in Makkah, passed
through the three successive periods of clan
leadership by his three uncles.
I-A: From his childhood to about the age of
twenty three or twenty four, his eldest uncle,
the venerable Zubair Abdul Muttalib was the
leader of the Banu Hasbmim clan. With his
the Holy Prophet. (peace be upon him) to be
at the age of ten went on trade excursion
from Makkah to Yemen. (Vide: "Seerat-e-
Halabl and Zalni Bahlaan's " Seerat-un-
Nabavia
ff
.)
1-8: Under the leadership of the same uncle, he
took part in the Battle of Fujaar. (Vide:
Seerat-e-Ibn-e-Hishaarn; fI Ansaab-ul-Ashraaf"
by Boladhuri, "Seerat-un-Nabi" by Alloma
Shibli. etc.)
l-C: Under the leadership of the same uncle,
u ~ ~ bin Abdul fJluttalib, he took part in the
xv
shortly after the Battle of Fujaar. This social
compact had such importance in the eyes of
the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) that
after he attained the status of prophethood,
he used to say that even today if anyone
invites me to form such a social compact, I
shall respond r9adOy. (VIde: "Tabaqaat-e-Ibn-
e":Sa'ad"; "Mustadrlk" of Hakim; "Seerat-un-
Nabi" by Shlbll etc.)
2-A: After the death of Zubair bin Abdul t.futtaUb,
his younger brother Abu Talib became the
head of the Banu Hashim clan. In this period
the young future . prophet sought the hand of
Abu Talib'. daughter Umm-e-Haani, for
marriage, which was refused by Abu Talib.
(Vide: "AI-Asaba"; "AI-Muhabbar"; "Taba<:,aat-
e-Ibn-e-Sa' ad"; "Tareekh-e-Tabari ";
"Tareekh-e-Ibn-e-Kaseer" etc.)
After that the father's-sister of our
beloved future Prophet negotiated his marriage
with her husbaDd's sister, Khadija, and the
wedding ceremony Y/as arranged by Amir
HalDZa, the uncle of the Prophet-to-bo. (Vide:
Seerat, Ibn-e-Hisham)
B: During the same period of the clan leadership
of Banu Hashim by Abu Talib, the high office
of prophethood Y/as divinely ordained for
Muhammad (peace be on him). Abu Tallb did
not accept the message and the teachings of
the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) and did
not declare his conversion to Islam, and this
weak attitude prevented other members of the
Banu Hashim clan from converting to Islam.
Nevertheless, according to tribal custom, Abu
TaUb supported the Holy Prophet (peace be on
him) against his enemies. The Prophet was
fifty yeara old when Abu Talib died without
declaring himself a Muslim.
1
\
!
I
\
1
\
,
j
\
I
I
I
1
I
I
1
xvi
3: After Abu Tallb, hlsyounger brother, Abu
Labab, became the" head of the clan,
according to" tribal custom. Far from
embracing Islam, he did not even remain
neutral like Abu TaUb. He was such an
inveterate' enemy of Islam that he did not
even care for tribal custom and ethics, and
left the Holy (peace be on him) alone
and friendless against his enemies. The
Messenger of God, therefore, had to nee to
Talf finding conditions here too unpropit-
ious, undertook the historic bljrat (migration)
to Madinah.
The historical record about these three clan
leaders of BanuHashim are so incontrovertible that
no historian has even questioned them.
NoW let us go Into the matter of the support
of the future Prophet during his childhood. On this
question, there are two views:
The first is that although Zubair bin Abdul
Muttallb was the head of the clan, It was Abu
TaUb who brought u!> the Holy Prophet (peace be
on him) as a child. Some say that Abdul
cast lots between the other two uncles to. decide
who should bring u{) the child while others say that
the child himself chose to live under the protection
ot Abu Tallb. Still others are of the vievi that
Abdul Muttallb hadwiUedon hlf,deathbed that Abu
Tallb should bring up the precious child.
The' second view' taken by some historians Is
that, in the words of Baladhurl, "Some narrate that
Zubatr had brought up the child up to his death,
and' after him Abu Tallh.
Baladlluri has presented both views' In his book
"Ansaab-ul-Ashraaf" but has supported the first
view. In favour of this view, Baladhurl' has argued
"h.,.. wfthln five vears of h d
xvii
Muttallb, the future prophet . had gone with Abu
Talib on an expedition to Syria, when the latter
was about eleven or twelve years old. So, how can
one say that Zubalr had broupt up the prophet as
a child? (" Ansaab-ul-Ashraaf" by Baladhuri, Vol: I,
page 85)
Thus, on the question as to . who r o u ~ t up
the prophet as a child, there are two views among
historians: one Is that this was done by Abu Talib
and the other is thatJt was the elder uncle, Zubair
bin Abdul. Muttalib. Now whoever accents one of
these two views will either do so on the basis of
some evidence, as Baladhuri has done, or si'mply by
blindly fo1lovling a traditional belief,' without any
evidence, as Illany writers do.
Alla rna Kirmani has preferred the second of
the two views of historians' presented. by Baladhuri
and has c.ountered the position taken by Baladhuri
in a:pport of the first. view on the ground that the
evidence on whose basis Baladhuri has preferred the
first view is wholly . concocted. Alla rna Kirmani has
quoted from the "Seerat-un-Nabl" of Allama Shibli
and Sulaiman Nadvi, Vol: I and IU, where both
th_e learned scholars have questioned the histori-
cally of this incident - namely, that the Pronhet as
a child went with Abu Talib to Syria when the
former Vias a child of eleven or twelve.
In. support of his stand, Allama Kirmani has
adduced the following facts: .
1. Both. Zubalr bin Abdul Muttalib and Abu
Tallb. were real uncles of the Holy Prophet (peace
be on him). Historians are agreed that Zubair was
also the head of the clan. Therefore, according to
tribal custom, the responsibility of supporting
helpless members ot the clan . was on the head o.f
the clan and not .on anYQne else.U was for this
very refl:8On that Zubair bin Abdul . Muttalib also
supported Amir Hamza apel AJ>bas. who were
orphaned by the death of their father Abdul
fifuttalib. Why then should Abu Tallb have been
xviii
entrusted with bringing up the young Muham<mad
(peace be upon him) in preference to Zubair?
2. The other reason is that Abu Talib was. a
poor man. As he was lame, he could not actively
seek his livelihood. fie could hardly support his own
children and It Is difficult to understand why this
additional responsibiUty should have been placed on
him.
3. The third reason is that Abu Tallb had no
special love for the future Prophet of Islam which
is proved by the fact that Abu Tallb refused to
give his daughter, Umm-e-Haani, In marriage to
the former. On the contrary, historians have quoted
many verses composed by Zubatr which show that
he loved the future Prophet from the latter's
childhood.
Allama Kirmani has not only adduced the
views of many historians In support of his stand
but has even quoted the exact words of these
historians, at the end of his book. <
We believe that this matter should be
considered from another angle too, of which the
details are given below:
1. The revered father of the Holy Pro:>het
(peace be upon him), Abdullah, had bequeathed to
his son a house, a slave woman named Umm-e-
Alman, some high pedigree camels and a herd of
goats; The' future Prophet, Muhammad (peace be
upon him) inherited all the above. (Vide:
"Tabaqaat-e-Ibn-e-Sa' ad" and "Seerat-un-Nabl" of
Allama ShibU etc.)
After the death of Abdullah, it was Umm-e-
Aiman who managed the household and for this
reason, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him)
always referred to her in later times as his
!'Mother after my Mother" or second mother.
xix
2. The future Prophet, Muhammad (peace be
upon him) was so intelligent from his very
childhood that if his erandfatber, Abdullah, or any
other elder of the famDy, lost or misplaced
something, they asked him, in preference to other
cbildren to look for the lost This Vias
because he did not quickly give up the search after
a half-hearted and report failure to his elders but
diligently looked everywhere and finally located the
article and brought it to his elders.
Once Abdul Mbttalib lost some call1els. After
the servants had failed to find them, the
grandfather sent this srandchild to look for them.
HOYlever, when the child Ylas late in returning, the
grandfather ,vas deeply worried and blamed himself
and sorely regretted why he sent such a young
child on the difficult errand. Agonizing thoupts of
possible dangers that might have best the child in
the hills and valleys of the wilderness came to the
grandfather's mind. He went to the Ka'aba and
circled It Ylhlle praying and beaeechin, t .. e Lord for
the saf(!ty of his grandchild. When the grandchild
returned after a while and gave the good news that
he had brought back the lost camels, Abdul
MuttaUb was in raptures. However, he resolved
never to send the chlld so far away ever again.
("The PoHtlcal Life of the Holy Prophet" by
. Dr. Hameedullah).
3. Probably during the Ilfetime of his grand-
father, towards the end, our beloved future Prophet
had taken upon blmself the responsibility of grazing
and tendin, his Bock of goats. It Is recorded in
Bukharl, Vol: I, page 301 (Pub. .by Ashah-ul-
Matabay, KarachI) that the Holy Prophet (peace be
upon him) recalled hOYI he used to graze his' goats
at Qarareet. Allama Jauzi has discuSsed this in
detaD and has pointed oUt that Qarareet is a place
in the environs of Makkah. Allama Aini has
commented on thlsHadltb quoted by Allama Jauzi
and has attested Its correctness.(Vil:. VI, page 631).
xx
In "Noor-un-Nabraas", this matter has been
discussed at still greater length and the same view
has been supported. ("Seerat-un-Nabl" by Allama
ShlbU, Voh I, page 178)
It Is recorded in "Tabaqaat-e-Ibn-e-Sa tad"
that once the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him)
was passing though . the forest. His. companions
started picking wild berries and eating them. The
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) told them that
those berries that turn dark are more delicious and
that this was his personal observation of the times
when he used to graze his own goats there.
("Seerat-un-Nabi" by ShlbiU)
From this It Is obvious that from a very
young age. the future Prophet had undertaken the
task of supporting himself and his elderly
housemaid, Umm-e-Aiman. Tending his portion
diligently, the future Prophet was able to multiply
his assets and then started taking part in tradinr.
with his uncle. That is why the Quran has declared
"Wa wajadaka-ai-lan fa aghna" (The Quran 8:93)--
. meaning "And we found you poor but made you
prosperous". This Quranis verse means that the
future Prophet had risen from his early days of
poverty to economic prOS!lerlty of a high standard.
This verse is sometimes construed to mean
that after he married Khadija, her wealth
turned him Into a rich man, abd that the Quran is
here emphaSizing the favour done to him by raising
him from poverty to riches. But it is ridiculous
consider the . Quranic verse as referring to the
wealth acquired through marriage because to self-
reSgectine man can take pride in riches possessed
by his wife. To construe this verse in such a
manner is not to honour the Holy Prophet (peace
be upon him) but to insult him. His uncle Zubair
bin Abdul Muttalib had in his verses prayed that
Muhammad. (the future Prophet) should not even
dependent upon his uncles, and as prayed
xxi
by the loving uncle, Zubalr, the Almighty saved the
future Prophet from the disgrace of dependence
'upon his uncles. Rather, from chUdhood to
manhood, he always helped his uncles and coopera"
ted with them.
This high-n.lrited child did exactly what a
noble person does, what a man, of supreme self ..
confidence, does, what a man lifted with qualities
'of leadership always does. In short, he did what
was worthy of the future final-prophet.
He did not pick the crumbs from the food-.
spread of any uncle.
He did not beg anyone for help.
He vias never burdened by anyone's
obligations.
On the contrary, independent of all, he earned
his bread by the sweat of his brow, and made his
Hvelihood by grazing his own goats. When he had
built up sufficient assets, he entered the field of
trading. '
Certainly, the boy who was to grow into 8
man of lofty and noble character had to be
endowed with such qualities.
Below are given the verses of his eldest
uncle, Zubalr bin Abdul Muttallb, who was the head
of the Bani Hashi m clan when the Holy Prophet
(peace be upon him) was yet a child:
"May t4uhammad(peace be upon him) this
sunlvlng sign of my dear brother Abdullah,
live in happiness."
"And may his happiness and wealth never
decrease. "
"May his abundant assets make him free of
any dependence on his uncle ;."
xxii
"And may he Uve so long that he should
grow old."
It Is evident from the above tbat if "support"
means economic support and sustenance, then God
Almighty kept the prophet-to-be free from
dependence on . any of his uncles. If however
"support" is taken to mean patronage and
supremacy of the clan, then no doubt he spent his
childhood, boyhood and early youth under the
patronage" and clan-supremacy of Zubalr bin Abdul
MuttaUb, who was the eldest of the clan and
specially affectionate towards Muhammad (peace be
on him). It was under the leadership of Zubair that
he took part in mUitary enterprises like the Battle
of Fujaar, or in social undertakings like the
compact called "Hizbul-Fudhul".
That is why the Holy Prophet (peace be on
him) always mentioned the name of Zubair and his
wife Aatika vlith great affection. He had such love
for Zubalr's son Tahir, who was the same age as
the Holy. Prophet (peace be on him), that he named
one of his own sons after Tahir. Both Zubair and
Tahir died before the ordainment of prophethood on
Muhammad (peace be on him). But the other son
of Zubalr. embraced Islam and rendered heroic
services to Islam. Whenever he came to the Holy
Prophet (peace be on him), the latter always
seated him beside himself and used to say, "He is
rpy mother's child" (Vide: "Asaba
tt
). The Holy
Prophet (peace be on hi m) also recalled the
kindnesses of his late uncle Zubalr and said "His
father was very kind to me." About this cousin he
used to say, "He is the son of my mother and
uncle and has much affection for me." ("Uyoon-al-
Asr" by Sayyed-un-Nass).
AI for Abu TaUb, he too was no doubt the
real uncle of the Holy Prophet (peace be on him)
just like Zubair but the former was not the head
. of the Banu Hashtn clan while Zubalr was alive,
and when after Zubair's death Abu Talib became
the head, the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) was
already' more than twenty. He was mentally and
ph)'Sically an adult and an active and able trader.
There was no need for him of any economic
guardianship beyond the overall headship and
patronage of the tribal head.
It has already been pointed out that In the
matter of economic support and sustenan.ce, the
Holy Prophet (peace be on him) In his childhood
and youth was never beholden to any uncle, by the
Grace of God. Rather, with his own meagre assets,
he supported himself and his housemaid, Umme
Ai man. This Is a historical fact based on Bukharl.
These were the prayers of his uncle Zubalr and this
Is also according to the verse of the Quran.
Additionally, It may be noted that Abu 'faUb
was In such economic straits that he could hardly
support his own children, let alone support another
child. . In fact, the tradlt ions that have been
invented In support ot the claim that Abu Taiib
. maintained and sustained the Prophet as a child,
actually prove the contrary, that the latter
economically helped the former and not vice versa.
In the commentary on the reputed book of the
Shlas, trNebj-ul-Blllagha
lt
by Ibn-e-Abi-Hadeed, it is
stated that Abu Tallb was 80 hard up that "I\ether
his children ate together or separately, 'they never
had their flD, whereas if the prophet-to-be ate
with them, they all ate to satisfaction. (Vol. III,
page 261).
In the oldest book of islamic history,
ttTabaqaat-e-Ibn-Sa'ad
lt
, it Is stated: "The fact was
that whether the famUy of Abu Talib ate together
or separately, they were never fully satisfied,
whereas if the prophet-to-be joined with them in
1he meal, they all t ~ to their heart's content".
(Vol: I, ItAkhbaar-un-Nabi
tr
).
A modern Shla biographer of Abu Talib has
recognized these facts in the following words: "A
--
xxiv
man of such limited means and of large famUy
once vias reduced to such straits that he had to
put his nephew on some earning job and thus make
both eneW'meet." ("Abu TaUb" by Momln Quraishl).
Against this Shia biographer it can be
objected as to why he sent his orphaned nephew to
earn a living by erazing someone's eoats, when his
own son TaUb was there too, older than Muhammad
(peace be on him) after whom he named Abu
TaUb. Then there was another son of Abu TaUb,
named Uqail, of' the same age as the future
prophet, but he too Vias not entrusted' with this
responsiblUty.
These anecdotes of barkat (blessln'!S)
connected with the acts of the prophet-to-be, if
they are taken in the sense of material benefits
and not s,irltual blessings, then It becomes clear
that iJluhammad (peace be on him) far from living
on the earnings of his uncle, actually supported his
uncle from his OVID earnings. This was accompanied
with heavenly P.l'ace and all the family ate to their
satisfaction. .
The. poverty of Abu TaUb Is so well known
that all narrators affirm that Abu TaUb was not
only penurious during the childhood of the future
prophet but remained in the same condition even
later. It was because of this that the Holy Prophet
(peace be on him) advised his equal-In-age and
rich uncle Abbas, that he should bring up one son
of Abu TaUb, namely Ja'afar, and that the Prophet
(peace be on him) himself would bring up the other
son, Ali.
It Is just possible that those suffering from
the prejudices of lineage and personage cult, have
Invented these absurdities, meaning to say that if
the Holy Prophet (peace be on hi m) brought up
their highest Imam, then the Holy Prophet (peace
be tim) too his childhood in the care of
xxv
Abu TaUb.
At the end of his article, the respected
"Syed" Rizwan AU Nadvi has stated that Zubalr bin
Abdul MuttaUb was a most contentious man and
writer of obscene satires, according to some recent
publication which he quotes. Rizwan. Sahib then
argues that the Holy Prophet (peace be on hi m) as
a child could not possibly be brought up under the
care of such an ill-tempered man and bitter
satirist. .
Rizwan All Sahib has quoted a contemporary
book of no recognized authority to prove his point
but has overlooked the writings of the old and
standard writers. A Shla commentator of "Nahj-ul-
B a l ~ g h a has written: "Zubalr bin Abdul Muttallb
was brave and gallant, handsome and Impressive, an
orator and a poet, a leader and a magnanimous
person". (Commentary of Ibn-e-Abi-Hadeed, Vol: III,
page 456)
Abu Tallb himself has declared in the ode or
elegy that he wrote on the death of Zubair:
Tears are falling on my cheeks :
Brief Is welUng up from my heart
On the death of this my brother
Who Vias noble and a leader of men
and of elevated status. /
He was the Chief of the chieftains of noble
fa mUles
He was a Chief himself and the descendant of
chiefs
Who had acquired all ancient nobilitY
and had strengthened the foundations of
gentility and nobility.
Qazl Sulel man Mansurpurl, author of the
famous Urdu Biography of the Prophet, "Rehmat-ul-
ll1 Aalameen", !!Itates:
xxvi
"He had exerted on end in connection with
the compact called 'HUr-ul-Fudul', which is proof
of his tender and merciful heart. Zubair was an
eloquent poet, the nominated successor of his
father". (Vol.2, page 96)'.
Rlzwan All Sahib also writes:
"Kilmani Sahib should have kept in mind the
hadlth narrated by Hauat Abbas given in Sahih
Bukhari in the chapter "The Account of Abi Tallb:
from Saht Bukharl (Vo1:6 , page 65, pub:
Cario).
There is also another Hadlth given in the
same chapter of Bukhari narrated by Abu Said
Khadri, while about Zubalr Abdul Muttalib there is
no Hadlth in any book",
Now, the cunning of this critic is noteworthy
. that he has given the Hadlth but has not given the
translation, so that the common reader may be
misled to think that this Hadith of Bulchari supports
the stand taken by the writer. The fact Is that this
Hadith has nothing to do with the maintenance of
the Holy Prophet during childhood. The background
of this Hadith is as follows: when Abu Truib died
in the tenth year of the Prophethood, he had not
left the Holy Prophet to the mercy of his enemies
but neither did he declare faith in Islam.
At this time, Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, the
uncle of the Holy Prophet (peace be on hi m) who
was equal to him in age, enquired of the Holy
Prophet (peace be on hi m) as to what benefit the
late Abu Talib had received from the Holy Prophet
(peace be on hi m) though the former supported the
latter, and was deadly opposed to the Prophet*s
enemies. The Holy Prophet (peace be on him)
tlHe lies in Hell oniy upto his ankles".
Another Hadith hal the following additional Ylords,
its effects reach upto the brain'. "If I were
xxvii
not there, he would have been in the lowest level
of HeU".
Secondly, it Is not clear whether this Hadith
is In praise of Abu Talib or In condemnation. The
fact Is that Abu Talib remained confirmed in his
Kufr (denial of faith) long after the announcement
of Prophethood and the religion of Islam and
despite the constant preaching and urBing of the
Holy Prophet (peac;e be on him), he died in the
same state of K.rr (faithfulness). This is nothing
to be proud of; rather it Is a matter of shame. It
Is amazing that the ancestor-worshipr,)fnF. and Shla-
biased critic finds praise for his ancestor in this
Hadlth which should have not been quoted by him.
The venerable Zubalr bin Abdul Muttallb
turned out to be far better. He neither lived during
the prophethood of the Holy Prophet (peace be on
him) nor remained confirmed in his faithlessness
(Kufr) to become liable to be thrown into Hell, as
his younger brother Abu Talib did. Rather, his noble
nature was rewarded in this way that after him, all
his progeny embraced Islam upon the revelation of
the true faith and became worthy of entering
Paradise. On the other hand, the elder son of Abu
Tallb, namely Tallb, died In. a stote of Kufr and
the other son Uqall too accepted Islam very late,
fhat Is at the time of the conouest of Makkah.
Only two of his children, Ja' afer and Ali, embraced
Islam right in the beginning by the beneficence of
their guardians, Abbas and MUhammad (peace be
on him) respectively.
2
It Is not for me to say how far I have
succeeded In presenting the saUent features of the
biography of a personage, revered by almost one-'
fourth of the ;mtire population of the civilized
world, cleared of all cobwebs that have unfortuna-
tely gathered round his hallowed name through the
ages. My only claim Is that with the easUy avail-
able bits of information scattered here and there, I
have pieced out a convincing narrative covering
almost all that was found educative as well as
authentic. It has been my endeavour to reclaim, as
far possible, the many-sided perSonality behind
an almost legendary name, from the heaps of
legend and sheer .. humbug. It was these that,
reportedly, drove H. G. Wells to make an apparen-
tly silly, but really meaningful, remark that he
beUeved in Islam _. Muhammad (peace be on
him). .
"Glory be to Allah who had guided us to
this. We would not (by ourselves) have
been led aright, had Allah not guided
us".
(AI-Quran: vil:43)
I hope this humble effort will help promote
the trend of liberalism in Islamic studies, open up
new vistas of basic research in the field of syste-
matic, as distinguished from scholastic, theology
and remove age-old shackles of the captive reader-
ship of the "laity".
In the end, I beseech all those "that have
higher gifts of grace than I", In . the words of
Willia m Tyndale:
3
Itto consider and ponder my labour that
they put their hands to amend it,
remembering that so is their duty. Por
we have not received the gifts of God
for ourselves only "
(Prologue to the First Printed
English New Testament)
KARACHI
January, 1980 A.D.
(Rabi-ul-Avval 1400 A.Ii.)
ZlAUDDIN KlRMANI
4 .
PERSPECTivE
(Date refer to tbe Christiaa Eraaad
lDdicate appI!Odmate time)
Prophet Abraham
Prophet Moses
Prophet Solomon
Builds "Haikal"(Altar)
Sri Krishina -
21st B.C.
l2th Century B.C.
10th Century B.C.
the age of Bh.gvad Geeta
Kingdom of Judah , Israel founded
Zoroaster
1000-500 B.C.
933 B.C.
(Zarathustra or Zerdusht)
Solon in Athens
Nabuchadnezzar conquers Egypt
Confucius (K'ang-fu-tsze)
Cyrus Conquers Babylon
Jews re-bulld Temple ("Haikal")
Roman Republic founded
Death of Gautama Buddha
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Death of Alexander
Asoka
Great Wall of China completed
Ceasar invades Britain
Roman Empire founded
HerOd rubuilds Temple
605 B.C.
594 B.C.
569 B.C.
551-478 BAC,
538 B.C.
536 B.C.
509 B.C.
488 B.C.
469-399 B.C.
426-347 B.C.
384-322 a.C.
323 B.C.
273-232 B.C.
211 B.C.
55 B.C.
27 B.C.
17-7 B.C.
FIrst CeotUl'J A.D.
Trial of Prophet Jesus
Nero's Rome burns
Ardasher, the Maglan founder of
. Sassanld dynasty becomes
of Kings"
33 A.D.
(or 29 A.D. as it
is now believed
that the Christ, was
born 4 years before
the Era).
64 A.D.
212 A.D.
5 .
Christian Council of Nice
Julian becomes Emperor
Eastern Roman Empire founded
First Invasion of Britain by Saxons
Justinian I, the jurist, becomes
Co-Emperor with Justin I
Khusrau (Chosroes I)Anaushirvan
("Anushak-Ruvan"-"Immortal Soul"),
325 A.D.
361 A.D.
395 A.D.
411 A.D.
521 A.D.
the Sassanide King 531-519 A.D.
THE PROPHET - 510-133 A.D.
Hurmuz, son of Anaushlrvan,
(Murdered by his general,
Bahram) 519-590 A.D.
Khusrau Parviz(Chosroes II) ,
son of Hurmuz 590-628 A.D.
Harisha in India 606-641 A.D.
Heraclius, son of Heraclius
Roman Emperor of the East 610-642 A.D.
The Prophet attains Persians conquer
Prophethood 610A.D. Aleppo' Damascus 611 A.D.
Conquer Jerusalem
and carry off the
Holy Cross 614/615 A.D.
The Prophet migrates
to Madinah
(Muslim Era
begins) 622A.D.
Mecca
-conquer Egypt
Battle of Issus:
Romans defeat

Persians
Capitulates 630A.D. Romans return to
(21st of Ramadan) Jerusalem and
restore the
616 A.D.
622 A.D.
Cross 624/625 A.D.
Persians. finally
defeated at
Mosul 821 A.D.
8
The Prophet's
demise 833A.D. YezdeJlrd becomes
king of lran(Yez-
dejlrd Pentan
Era begins) 632 A.D.
Jerusalem Capitulates
Conquest of Madayn
637 A.D.
(Ctesiphon) 638 A.D.
-Basrah and Kufah founded 638-639 A.D.
Treaty of. Alexandria 641 A.D.
Death of Caliph Umar 644 A.D.
as a result of murderous assault(1st of Muharram)
Muslim Navy's maiden action
(against Cyprus) 849 A.D.
Murder of Caliph Uthman - (656 A.D.
. Civil strife begins ,. (l8th of Dhil Hijjah)
Dellth of Caliph Ali (as a result
of murderous assault two or January 661 A.D.
three days before) (probably 11th of Ramadan)
Hasan bin Ali hands over
Caliphate to Mu'aaviyah
Makran and part of Baluchistan
annexed by Muhallab (Action
initiated in 644 A.D. by Hakam
bin 'Amar At-Taghlibee)
Kalat ("Qalqaan") invaded
Abortive siege of Constantinople
by Yazld bin MU'aaviyah
Conquest of Bokhara
Tragedy of Karbala
Tariq bin Ziyad invades
Spain
Muhammad bin Qasim
conquers Sindh
Muslim invade France
Fall of Umayyad Dynasty of
Caliphs (in the East)
Umayyad Dynasty in Spain
Haarun ur-Rasheed becomes
Abbasid Caliph
(July)661 A.D.
669-670 A.D.
. 671 A.D.
672-813 A.D.
614 A.D.
fOctober)680 A.D.
July, 711 A.D.
(Shavval 92 A.H.)
712 A.D.
720 A.D.
750 A.d.
, 156-1031 A.D.
188 A.D.
Western Umayyads' first
reverse In Spain
1
Fall of Jerusalem to Christians
(First Crusade)
Saladin (Salah uddin Ayyubi)
re-captures Jerusalem
(Third Crusade)
Mongols under Hulaqu sack
Baghdad
Constantinople falls to Muhammad II
(European Renaissance begins)

916 A.D.
1096 A.D.
1181 A.D.
1258 A.D.
1453 A.D
8
SYNOPSIS
The Prophet (peace be on him) was born in
the Year. of Elephant (Feel) 570 (probably, early
571) A.D. The month, the date and the day are all
unce!'tain. If one goes by the popular assumption
that the month was Rabi'ul Avval and the day was
Monday, then according to Mahmood ai-Falaki al-
Misri, the 9th and NOT the 12th could be his date
of birth.
- His father died a couple of months before his
birth.
- His mother died when he was just six.
- His grand-father died when he was hardly eight.
- His eldest uncle, died when the Prophet was
about 21. It was then that Abu Talib, his uncle,
took over as Chief of the Hashmites (Banu
Hashim).
- He was called to prophet hood in 610 A.d.
- His assignment, the standard guide-lines for all
to follow, was:
Fa ..........
"Va Rabbaka
fa Kabbir
n
"Va Thiyaabaka
fa tabbir"
Var-Rujza
fabjur"
- "Arisett(that Is, "take up
the challenge");
- "then warn" that is,
inculcate the sense of
accountability in the
people around");
- "and proclaim (by precept
as well as practice) the
majesty of the Lord";
- "and make pure ,thy
attlre
lt
(that Is, "make
sure of purity without") -
for it is one's outward
(exterior) that concerns
others. Hence its priority;
- "and keep away from(aU}
pollution" (that is, "make
sure of purity within");
-v. Ia tamaun
tastaktbIr
- "and never Cavour anyone
expecting mucb gain Un
return);
- "and for tby Lord (tbat Is,
"in tbe way of tbyLord"),
persevere patiently'!.
(lxxiv: 2-7)
- He married Kbadijab wben be was over 25 and
sbe was 28.
- Kbadijab died wben be was over 50.
- After Kbadijab's deatb be married a widow of
50, tbat is, about bis age.
- He migrated to Madinab in 622 A.D.
- He married 'Ayesbab wben be was over 52 and
sbe was 17/18.
- He took in all 13 wives, three oC wbom died In
bls Ufe time. Except 'Aayesbab and Maria, tbe
Copt, all were eltber widows or divorcees.
- About three years' before bls demise (that is, in
7 A.H.), he bad eleven wives at a time, includ-
ing Rebanab and Marla, the Copt.
- He had' four daughters and at least four sons.
All male issues died very young.
- All his issues were Crom his first wife, Khadijab,
except tbe last one Ibrabim, born of Marla tbe
Copt in 7 A.H. when tbe Propbet 'II" over 60.
-Of all operations military nature tbat be himself
undertook, tbere were only five pitcbed battles
or arl\Ded encounter-namely Badr, Ubud. Ahzaab
(or "Kbandaq") Kbalbar and Hunain.
- He performed bis first and last Hajj In 10 A.H.
(632 A.D.). .
- He breatbed bis last in Rabi' ul A vval, 11 A.H.
(633 A.D.) on Monday, the 1st (most probably).
- His basic duty as a Propbet was to ... .tbat
is, to inculcate tbe sense of accountability in
tbe care-Cree people around him:
10
" And guard yourselves against a Day
when a soul shall not avail another nor
shall a requital be accepted In her
behalf, nor shall Intercession profit her,
nor shall tl\ey receive helP (from any
quarter)"_
(11:123)
- . The Opening Sorah (Al-FMtiIIaIl) of the Quran
epitomizes the message delivered by him in the
form of a Revealed Prayer:
"In the name of Allah, At-Rahman the
Merciful. Glory be to Allah,the (sustain-
Ing) Lord of all worldly beings, Ar-
Rahman the Merciful, Master of the Day
of Judgment.
"To Thee (alone) we pledge our Implicit
obedlence and from Thee. do we seek
help .
"Lead us to the Straight Path - the path
of those (peoples) whom Thou hast
favoured and NOT of those who Incurred
Thy wrath,. NOR of those who went
astray". AMEN

11
PROLOGUE
The greatest paradox one comes across in the
study of the growth of religious thought among
communities is that, in spite of a clear recognition
of the inescapable truth of human frailty and
imperfection - from which alone they derived the
abstract concepts of perfection and tnfallibility----
people would conceive of the Supreme Bein'g as one
patterned on their wordly kings and lords, issuing
edicts from the throne and functioning only through
ministers, courtiers and other intermediaries, on
whortl they would depend for day-to-day administr-
ation.
What deepens the effect of the paradox is that
the sa me people would, on the other hand, require
of their Prophets, Apostles or "inspired
tt
reformers,
to be celestial beings, free from want and hunger:
And they said: What is the matter with
this Messenger or Prophet. He takes food
and roams about in market places.
(xxv: 7)*1
They would subject them to derision and ridicule
and say:
You are only a human being like us, and
we consider you among liars. So let a
bit of the heaven fall on us, if thou art
of the truthful.
(xxvi: 186-187)*2
So, of his people, ;the elders who disbel-
ieve4 said: What' is he but a mere
human being like you? He wishes to
establish his superiority over you.
(xxiii: 24)*3
0
All this was in spite of the fact' that these Proph-
ets or Apostles themselves would repeatedly declare
12
in unmistakable' 'terms that they were mere human
beings, possessing no super-human powers, except
that they were "inspired" and commissioned to
warn the people of their waywardness and to bring
good tidings for those who elect to follow the right
path:
Their Apostles would say unto them: We
are but human beings like you, but Allah
bestows His favour upon whomsoever He
wishes from a mong His slaves. It is not
for us to bring you a manifest authority
except with Allah's permission.
'-; (xiv: 11)*4
'God's instructions to His Prophets or Messeng-
ers, too, were to make the point further clear:
Say: For myself I have no power to
benefit or to hurt, except that what
Allah Himself wishes. Had I the knowle-
dge of what is not perceivable, I would
have abundance of wealth, and adversity
would not touch me.
(vii: 188)*5
Say: I do not say unto you that I have
treasures of Allah with me or the know-
ledge of what is not perceivable, nor do
I say that I am an angel. I only follow
wha t is inspired in me.
(vi: 50)*6
Say: J am not unique among the Prop-
hets. What do I know what will happen
to me or to you? I follow what is inspi-
red in me and I am but a plain Warner
(of the consequences of Disbelief).
(xlvi: 9)*7
On the principle that exa mple Is better than
~ r e c e p t these Messengers, Apostles or Prophets had
13
to be of flesh and blood to' serve as workable
models to mankind of what they were inspired to
preach.
DlSPlRAnON: Here the question arises: What is
"inspiration" (VaIa-,)'l In fact, it1s extremely
difficult to understand what exactly it is, let alone
comprehend the processes involved. Primarily It is a
receptive faculty endowed as an instinct even In
the one-cell a moeba at the lowest rung of evolu-
tion. It evolves into intuition with the development
of vital systems in a living being like all organic
processes. What we can propound with some confid-
ence is that It is more real than a dream, more
vivid than a vision, more precise than intuition. To
have some idea of Vah:-, in its pri mitive form, let
us reflect how fish learn swimming, how the
weaver-bird builds its nest and how a bee constr-
ucts its htv.e symmetrically. Allah declares:
And thy Lord inspired in the bee.
(xvi: 68).8
On the higher plane of creation its development
can be conceived with some plausiblllty from the
following verses of the Quran wherein the word
"Vah-," and its derivatives have been used:
We inspired the mother of Moses to
suckle him.
(xxviii: 7).9
And When I inspired the disciples (say-
ing:) Believe in Me and in My Messen-
ger
(v: 111).10
Verily devils inspire their minions to
dispute with you. (vI: 122).11
Dey its of mankind and Jinn inspire one
another with plausible nbs by way of
gdle. (vb 113).12
14"
We inspired him (Noah) to build a ship
under Our eyes and Our Inspiration.
(xxiii 27)*13
And He revealed ,unto His devoted ser-
vant what He revealed, (as clearly and
convincingly that) his heart did not lie
about what It saw. . . (lUi: 10-11)*14
PBOPBBTSa . This leads to the basic question: Were
these Prophets mere human beings with nothing to
distinguish them from the common run of mortals?
No! Far from that. Both coal and diamond are
mere carbon and generically belong to one and the
same famDy, but It is the amount of pressure
brought on the one that makes it so tnmspareatlJ
different from the other. What was obvious about
these Prophets was their selfiess devotion to a
subU me cause, their irresistible urge to proclai m
the truth In the most adverse situations and to
stand by It at all eosts:
And they preached (the gospel) of truth"
and fortitude. (CUb 3)*15
In fact, it is this distinguishing feature which
makes for their less obvious quality of Immanent
purity of thought and action. nLess obrious-
because one has to make an honest effort to disco-
ver It for oneself-an effort like the one to distin-
guish a diamond from a topaz or, say, lode-stone.
For, to recognize what is all too manifest does
nobody any credit. What makes a Prophet stand
head and shou1ders above the multitude is his
perceivably immaculate character evidenced by his
exemplary conduct prior to his claim to prophet-
hood. This Is the reason why God prompted Prophet
Muhammad (peace be on. him) to plead with his
people by saying:
Surely I have spent a life-time among
you before it (was revealed to me).Could
you not reason out for yourselves?
(x: 17)*16

..
15'
Here the people had to rely on their own judg-
ment. For It is a fact of nature that even the
purest of. the pure is not free from dross in its
natural state. One has to shift the grain from the
chaff. To an undiscerning eye, newly-mind gold is a
good as dirt. However, once the people shook off
their Initial prejudice and hesitance and took the
Prophet seriously, rather critically, God would, no
doubt, help them in their effort to recognize the
truth, by showing His Irrefutable signs for the
benefit of the discerning, yet wavering, few. For It
is God's promise that "We will certainly lead those
to Our paths who delve (or endeavour) in matters
concerning Us." (xxix: 69)*17
SIGNS: h e s ~ unsolicited but timely "signs", the
significant ,coincidence of which could not be
miss,ed by a keen eye, were looked upon as
miracles by the Believers. What was miraculous
about such a "sign" was its aptness in point of
time and context. The Quran has no word for a
'miracle' other than AaJah (a sign, a portent),and
significantly calls each one of its own verses as
n AaJah
n
The Bible, too, uses more often than not,
the word 'sign \ for a miracle.
Incidentally, the Gentiles of Arabia, descendants
of Ishmael son of Prophet Abraham, were described
with contempt by their distant cous Ins, the descen-
dants of Jacob son of Isaac (the Israelites, the
people of the Book) as "UMMlYYOON"(unlettered")
for, "they", as the Quran puts it, "Knew no Scrip-
tures but only conjectures" (ii:78)*18. However,
those who were metaphorically called UmmiJJOOB
(unlettered) were, at long last, blessed with their
first and rast Prophet, "An-Nabl-yul-umml", ("the
Prophet of the Gentiles") who, besides being
BterallJ "unlettered" Umml) hi mseif, was in his
own person, an Irrefutable "sign", unique in more
than one respect and manifest enough to be noticed
even by the blind of all tl me to come.
. Here I refer to a marvel of rare but apt
16
coincidence which, in itself, Is a miracle of the
highest order. Both the names of the Prophet,
Abmad and Muhammad, have the same root (Ha
Meem Daal). Hamd ("to glorify God"); and surpri-
singly enough, this was destined to be his life
mission. The name of a person proclaiming his life
mission Is certainly a very rare phenomenon.
Obviously, those who gave these names to the child
not possibly ,anticipate what the chfld,wasdestined
to proclaim forty years thence. The Surah Al-
Hamd, which prefaces the Holy Book,. in fact,
epitomizes the whole Quran, the entire Message he
brought. It would appear as if a great master, in
his great work, had chosen his Dramatis P8I'8OD8e
meaningfully and named them according to their
assignments. His father, Abdullah, could well have
been . named after anyone of the Arab Deities,
such as Abd-ul-'Uzza his uncle Abu Lahb's name,
or Abd Maara, his uncle 'Abu Talib's name. Is it
a mere colncidence that his father bears one of
the purest names that a moral could ever have,
that is, "Slave of Allah"? Similarly, the Prophet's
mother was named Aminah, a derivative of "Amn"
(peace), closely related in etymology to "Beman"
(Faith). His nurses, too, were to be sure, Haleemah
ff,C)m (forbearance) belonging to the tribe
Ba:nu 'Sa'd, hence incidentally called Sa'dlyah
. (auspIcious); . and another, Barkah (blessing), a
who was a slave-girl of his father, and
still another foster-mother, Thuvaibah (a "prized
object", or "of good morals"), a slave-girl of his
uncle Abu Lahb, Doesn't it make a remarkable
,setting for a sequence in a Divine Comedy?'

CHAPTER-l
SEARCH FOR "THE PROPHET"
About the tl me Jesus Christ was born,' the Jews
of Jerusalem expected a Prophet other than Jesus
and Elijah (Ilyas), as is evident from the folloYling
dialogue recorded in the NEW TESTAMENT:
There came a man, sent from _God,wbose
name was Joh_n .... And- this is 'the witness
of John, when the Jews sent unto him
from Jerusalem priests and Levites to
ask him, Who art thou? And he confe-
ssed, and denied not; and he confessed. I
am not the Christ. And they asked him.
What than? Art thou Elijah? And he
saith, I a m not. Art thou The Prophet?
He answered, No 1 am the v o i ~ of one
crying in the wilderness, Make straight
the way of the Lord And they asked
him, and said unto him, Why then
baptizest thou, if thou' art not the
Christ,. neither Elijah, neither the
Prophet?
(st. John: Chapter 1, verses 6.25)
Now who could be "the Prophet" referred to by
them? One would be surprised to learn that in the
English language, according to the Concise Oxford
Dictionary, "The Prophet" has somehow come to
mean "Muhammad".
GENTILES: In this connection the Quran has made
three startling claims: Firstly, it says: '.
The Prophet of the Gentiles (that Is, of
other than AHL-UL-KITAB) whom they
(Ahl-ul-Kitab) find recorded In the
Torah and the. Gospel they have with
them. (vii: 151)1
18
The expression AN-NABI-ut-UMMI" reters
primarily to the fact of the Prophet being born
among the Gentiles, metaphorically called Ummi:r-
:rcaa"- ("unlette'red"), who have no revealed book of
their own to read, though it was also a fact that
he was himself Dtenn:r lIunlettered" when called to
prophetheod. 'These "UmmlJ:rOOD" have" been refer-
red to in other verses of the' Quran also" e.g.
Among them are UmmlJ:rooa'lt( metapho-
rically "unlettered'!, ,that is, Gentiles),
who know no scriptures but only
tures. And they only guess. (ii:18)*2
.
And say' to those who received the Book
and the Gentiles (who have no BoOk to
read):' Are' you committed to' complete
obedience (to Allah)?
Secondly, it says:
Those whom, we gave the scripture
recognize hi mas" they recognize their,
sons. (U:146)*4
How does a father know whether a particular
. child is his own? More from circumstantial evide-
nce tnan' from any definite sign.
Thirdly, it pin-points thus:
And (recall) when Jesus' son of Mary
sald: 0 Children of Israel, verily I am
the Messenger of Allah unto you, confir-
ming that which is before me of the
Torah and Itl'lnglng good tlcJlDas of a
Messenger coming after me, whbse name
is "Ahmad" (the praised. one).
(lxb6)*S
It is worthy of note tbat the word "gospel"
. originally "good spel
ll
,mea}ling "goOd
19
BIBUCAL REFERENCES: Let us first examine the
Old Testament to sUbstantiate the Quranic claims
listed above:
1. Genesis (Chapter 21, verses 9.21):
And Sarah. saw the son Qf Hagar the
Egyptian, which she had borne unto
Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said
Yllto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman
and her son: for the son of this bondwo-
man shall not be heir with my son, even'
with Issac. And tlle thing was very grie-
vous in Abraham's sight on account of
his son. And God said unto Abraham.' Let
it not be grievous in thy sight because
of the lad, and because of thy bondwo-
man; in [Ill that Sarah saith unto thee,
hearken unto her. voice; for in Issac shall
thy seed be called, And also of the son
or the bondwoman will I make a nation,
because he is thy seed. And Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and took
bread and a bottle (or skin) of water;
and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on
her shoulder, and the Child; and her
away: and she departed and wandered in
the wilderness of . And the
water in the bottle was spent And she
sat over against him, and lift up. her
voice, and wept.. And God .heard the
voice of the lad;' and the angle of God
called to Hagar .outot heaven, and said
unto her, What thee, Hagar? fear
not; for God hath heard the voice of the
.lad where lte is! Arise, lift up the lad,
and hold 'hi m' in thine hand, tor I will
make him a aie-t' . nation. And . God
opened her eyes, and she saw a well of
water And God W88 with tbe lad, and
he grew, and he dwelt m the wilderness,.
.an . Arn' he dweIt,.m
. lh6 wi1demess of. Paraa ...
20
I have quoted rather extensively to bring out
how Sarah's nagging and mocking drove Abraham to
send Hagar and Isb.maelto the. wilderness (lithe
Valley with no vegetation" - Surab Ibrahim)"6 to
settle there, how the two suffered and how the
"lad" was promised a brilliant future. Perhaps Banu
Israel (children of Israel, that is, JacOb son of
Issac) were so accustomed to having Prophet's from
among themselves that they could not persuade
themselves to believe that there could be any
prophet from the progeny of the lad born of a
"'bondwoman" - that is, outside BanuJsrael, from
amonq those whom they called ummlYJoon"
("unlettered"), that. is, Gentiles with no Book of
their own to read. The passage also pin-points the
locale as "Paran", presumably Faraan, where. the
one and only Prophet from Ish maelites, brethren of
Israelites, appeared. Can it be denied that Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be on him) was the first as well
as the last Prophet Crom the progeny of Ish mael
(Peace be on him)? So there need be no confusion
. on that account.
2. Deeuterooomy: (Chapter 33, verse 2):
\
And he said, The Lord' came
<from Sinai. And rose up from Seir unto
. them; . He shined forth from Mount
Paran:- And he carne from the ten thous-
and of holy ones: At his right hand was
a fiery. law unto them. Yea, he lovetb
the peoples .......... ..
3. Ibid: (Chapter 18, Verses 18.20)
I will raise them up a prophet from
amoog their brethren, like unto thee
(Moses); and I will put my words in bi.s
mouth, and he shall speak unto them
that 1 shall command him. And it shall
come to pass that whosoever will not
hearken unto my words . which he shall
speak in my name, I wtIl require it of
I
\
21
him. But tbe.pMpbet, which sbaJl speak
a word presumptuously in my name,
; ~ wbleb I have not commanded blm to
speak, or that sbaJl -speak in the name
of other gods, that same p ~ t sbaJl
die ....
Now let us compare it with what the Quran has
to say on the subject:
"
a) He is Who hath sent a mong the
Gentiles (who have no Book of their own
to read) a Messenger or Apostle of their
own to recite unto them His revelations
and to reform them and to teach them
the scripture and wisdom, though hereto-
fore they were in utter confusion.
(lxii: 2)*7
b) Nor doth he speaketh on his own out
of fondness. It is naught but an inspirat-
ion with which he is inspired.
(liii:3-4)*S
c) And if he had imputed unto Us some
of .hi<; effusions, we would have certainly
taken hi m by the right hand and severed
his life artery. (lxix:44-46)*9
4. Habakkuk: (Chapter 3, Verse 3)

God came from Teman, And the Holy
One from Mount Paran (c.f: FARAN).
His glory covered the heavens, and the
earth was full of his praise.
Note: The word "Ahmad" means the "Praised One"
5. Haggai: (Chapter 2, Verse 7)
and I will shake all nations, and _ the
desirable thlnp of all nations - shall
come
22
As admitted by the translator in the root-note,
the underlined expression literally meant' in Hebrew
"the desire of all nations". And we know "Ahmad"
literally means "the praised one".
The rererences cited above are not in any way
exhaustive. Let us now turn to the New Testament
to get confirmation or the Quranis assertions rrom
the so-caned tIJojeelw.Here, too, the rererences
cannot be exhaustive: -
1. st. John: (Chapter 1, verses 19.25) has already
been quoted above to show that the Jews were
actually expecting a prophet other' than the Ctirist
or Elijah (nyu), the promised one, whom they
rererred to as "The Prophet". ' "
2. St. Lute: (Chapter 24. verse 49) quotes the
Christ as saying: .' , "
And behold, I send rorth the promise or
my Father upon you:
3. St. JobD: (Chapter 14, verses 25-30), too quotes
the Christ as saying: ,
These things have I spoken untd' you,
while yet abiding with you.But the
Comforter (Greek: "Puac1ete
W
) even the
Holy Spirit, whom the Fa.ther will send
in my, name, he shall te:ach you all
things aDd briDe to JOUr
an that 1 said .to JOu. Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you: not
as the world giveth, give I unto
you And now I have told you berore it
come to pass, that, when it is come to
pass, you may believe. I will no more
speak much with you, ror the prince or
the world
t. St. JalalI: (Chapter 16, verse 7)
'.
23
Nevert.heless I tell you the truth; It is
expedient for you that Igo away: for if
I go not away the Comforter (Greek:
Paraclete) will not come unto you; but
if I go, I will send hi m .unto you.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's presumption seems to be
correct that the Hebrew word Parkllt(ttFaarqaleet
tt
)
was originally translated into Greek as "perlklutos"
(or Perlclytos), meaniqg "Illustrious" (in Arabic
"Ahmad"); but later it was changed into Paraklet
(or Paraclytos) or Paraclete (meaning, comforter,
helper etc.),... probably by. mistake, which may be
due to any. one of tiie various circumstances descr-
ibed by the Rev. Horne in his work entitled "Criti-
cal study of thfi Scriptures", vide Sir Syed Ah med
Khan's Essays on the Lite of Muhammad, commonly
known as "Kbatabaat-i-Abmadiyyab")

24
CHAPTER-2
THE ARABIAN SCENE
Tbe local tradition supports the Jewi;Sh . accounts
that Hagar (HajiraIl) and her son Ishmael (Peace be
on them) had 'settled "in the wilderness" _. which
the Quran describes as 'fa ,valley 'of no, vegetation"
(xlv:37)*1 - near mount Paran (Iabal F ..... n). The
well shown to Hagar by God In her great distress
soon attracted various nomadic The most
prominent and powefrul among them, "as. Baau
Jorbam. They traced their descent from Elam
(Ee'.m), . known as Jorham the First, son of Shem
(Sam) son of Noah. Thus there grew it small
colony round the well at the slleof the
. present-day Makkah,whlch was then known as'
Pak';.... That the well' is still capable of being put
. to intensive use, is an inscrutablephel)omenon. and
probably d .sign for aU time:. to
.t\braham" on' one of .his visits to' :blS exiled family,
built, with the. help of his son, ttrst
sanctuory Allah
which further Pte of the
township, UmmulQura ("Moth., o( townsblp").'
, . .-',- .
Ishmael (Peace be o'n' hind' married' In' the tribe
of 8aDa Jwbam and ,had' a sOD' n..amed '.' Kedar
,(Q .... wbose on, ttade . 'because
of tlie ',ract ,. .. ated In-th,'heart oJ
. the Hijaz, provided' ali I milor,tant link between
'Yemen, Syria ,and Old
ft!qQi'cIs
,:r::
says: ' '. ' - , ' .'
.' . It aDd aUthe ',prine'"
tbey: ,were, the thy :!p: ,
_ and ra'Dis,' and goats,'Jn,.
were they thy merchants -
25
. .
SimUarly, it Is reported In the (Jeaesis (Chapter 37,
verses 24-27):
" ... and they took him (Joseph=Yoosuf),
and cast him into. the pit: and the' pit
was. empty, there was no water In 1t.
And' they sat down to eat bread; and
they lifted up their eyes and looked,
and, behold, a travelling company of
IshmaeUtes came from Gilead with their
camels bearing spicery and balm and
myrrh, ,going to carry It down to
Egypt And Judah said unto his brethren
Come and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be
upon him; for he is our brother, our
nesh".
Out of Kedar's dest'endants, in the 40 generat-
ion or so from Abraham (Peace be on him), was
'Adnaan the First, who ruled over the city of
with credit. It seems that at some stage,
there a'rose differences between IshmaeUtes (Banu
ismail)' and their mate,rnal relations, Banu Jurham,
and the latter banished Banu lima'" from Makkah
proper about 200 A.D. "BaDu Jurbam are credited
with having renovated the roofiess cubical structure
of the Baltullab (Ka'bab) raised by Ibrahim and
Ismail (Peace' be on them). However, early in the
5th A.D., one Qusayy bin Knaab In the
66th '!aeneration f.-om Ibrahim, the 16th generation
from 'Adnan the Second and, 6th generation down-
ward from Fabl, also called Quralsh - that Is, five
generations before Prophet Muhammad - regained
control of the city of Makkah. He made commol1
'cause with his co-laterals. of the BaDu K ...... ,
also called aQunllll ,.....11' ' 'against 8aDu BlIa
and Baaa Khoz __ .... who had established themse-
lves as In Makkah, arter wresting power fron:
Baa .".,...... who had' ruled there for at least l
couP. ' of' 'centuries .. ,It is said' that it, was BaDI
, Jodlaal who introduced idolatry In;' Ma1ckah In thE
. 2nd century A.D.
26
.
ANCESTRY: The genealogy of Prophet Muhammad
after ' Adnaan the Second, 20 generations before
the Prophet, Is accepted by aD,. but from 'Adnaan
upward (that Is, about 50 generations downward
from ibrahim, according to the calculation of Sir
, Syed ~ h m e Khan, there .a.e variations due perhaps
to certain slmDar names occurring now and then in
the genealogical tree. What Is, In fact, In dispute
Is tbe number of generations Intervening between
. Ibrahim and 'Adnaan. The Prophet's grandfather,
'Abdul Muttalib ('Aamir bin Haashlm') was the
grandson of Qusayy, who had regained control of
the city of Makkah for the Quralsh or Banu Fahr.
The SabeeIlMualim's tradition which on the autho-
rity of Vaatlitlah bin al';':Asqa, quoting the Prophet
himself, puts the whole thing In a nutshell.
Verily God chose Isma'll from the child-
ren of Ibrahim and chose Banu Kananah
'from the children of Isma'tl and chose
Quralsh from . Banu Kananah and chose
Binll Haashlm from the Quralsh and
chose me from Bani Haashim.2
Qusayy forged sOme sort of a coalition of tribes
to administer thtr affairs of the city-state of
Mukah. It was for, the nrst, tI me that the com mon
consent and cooperation' of the tribeS residing in
Makkah was sought in the management of its civic
affairs. He estabUshed n..-NadYah, a local
council, and 'made the maintenance of the
sanctuary of Ka''''' and the provision ofameniUes
for the pilgrims coming from far-off places a
prestigious assignment, which he allotted to Banu
Fahr orQuralsh,to which clan bit himself belonged.
The sanctuary had, 'by that time, acquired conside-
rable irRpOrtance and was looked uponas a very
prominent place of pilgrimage ,by bOth the nomad
and the -settled Arabs alike, irrespective of religion
hr creed, thrdugbOutthe Aublan 'peninsula. That is
the reaSon ,why the 111'!all sanctuary was crammed
to' capacity: with- idols a,", terra-cott_s or almoSt
aU' prominent tribal' detttea.Even the' 3ews and the
r
'.
21
Christians were as Is evidenced by
the reported presence of the terra-cottas of Ezra
('Uzair),. Jesus ('Isa) ,and Mary (' Aziaa').
THus,. the Quraish, already an lllustrious clan of
Banu Adnan, 'known for trade connections abroad,
acquired a commanding influence .over others by
virtue of being custodians of the Ka'bah, the
"House of Allah" , the only rallying point of all'
divergent, warring tribes. To ensure safe, hospi-
table journey for the caravaos, particularly those of
. the pilgrims, from every nook and corner, they
evolved an elaooratesystem of treaty alliances
with prominent tribes along -the .. various routes.
These stood them in good stead -in their seasonal
business trips, to Syria in. summer and to the
Yemen in winter, _ to which Allah alludes in Surab
Quraisb thus: _
Renect on the (traditional) bonds of
Quralsh, their treaty arrangements in
connection with their winter and summer
movements. (Cvi: 1-2)*3
For the successful operation of this useful
system of alliances to promote civility in a country
known for bloody feuds and brigandage, Allah bere
exhorts the Arabs - in general and the -Quraish 1n
particular to be thankful to the -tord of the "HouSe
(Ka'bah) andofCer 'complete to Hhn on
that account. *4 - . . - ,
Besides this elaborate country-wide arrange-
ment, the Arabs had had certain weU-
recognized -conventions stich as the one ensuring
peace and security during "forbidden"
bar "closed" for all warfare - and
allotted for pilgrimage ,or seasonal fal:rs at,
certain places during the year. The biggest falir was
at 'Ukaz near 'Arafaat'. One such convention_as
the famous, though short-lived;covenantknf\>wn .as
which was a sOrt of a "charter of
. human' ri ts" for the peODle of MakkAh. hnth tn ..
. ~ . . ,,""
.- .. '
28
'.: .
its citizenS ~ n d casual''visitors. It is s ~ i d that the
. pact, signed by the tribl[il chiefs during the rule of
Banu Jurham, was named . after the three of its
signatories ,bearing the na)ne Padl
. Any' contravention. of such convention by any
tribe or tribes was considered a heinous cri me
against the rest, warranting punitive action. A
battle fought for such a noble caust! was called
Harb.d.-Fijjar. In ope such battle, the Prophet, while
still in his teens, participated with his eldest uncle,
Zuball bin.' Abdil Muttalib, who had succeeded his
father as the chieftain of Banu Ha8$hlm.. The
Prophet used to recall the fact with some. pride
and is reported to have observed that he would
welcome a charter "like this, which had unfortunat-
ely fallen in desuetude and which his uncle Zubair,
along with I[i certain chieftain of Banu Taym,
wanted to revive after the successful conclusion of
the battle. Probably their efforts did not result in
a,lasting arrangement
........... , ......... .
29
CHAPTER-3
IDEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
Discourses on Isla m generally suffer from a
misleading conception that the Arabia of those days
was almost an insulated country, cut off from the
currents of world history and inhabited by people
untouched by civilization. Far from that, the
Arabian peninsula, in fact, by virtue of its geogra-
phical situation, occupied a central place where the
three continents of the Old World met in conjunc-
tion. It could ,not but be the focal point of the
soclo-political forces at work in the surrounding
countries. It was on the main world trade-route
from time immemorial.
It is,' however, correct that the region of
centrel and western Arabia excluding the narrow
littoral, that is, the region comprising Najd and
Hijaz, was at. a low level of clvilitation, not much
above a patriarchal, tribal society, due mainly to
the lack of material resources and its unkind
climate and terrain. For centuries the region had
developed a distinct individuality. Its introvert,
exclusive and vain people, deprived and depraved by
the compulsions of geography, suffered, by and
large, from an outlook on life which was both
materialistic and fatalistic. In a country providing
little for SUbsistence and in a society basically
individualistic in approach, torn by tribal jealousies,
te mpers were' generally short and explosive enough
to turn individual lapses Into tribal feuds, which
could 'easily develop into large-scale internecine
wars to continue for years together.
Most oftbe people of Arabia had some notion
of an unknown, invisible power responsible for their
coming into existence and controlling their lives.
Some of them, of course, had a hazy notion of the
aU ... powerful Allah of Ibrahim and Isma'il (Peace be
on them) and some sort of a belief In the
30
Hereafter (Al-Aatblrab) and the survival of the
soul after death. They, however, had no idea of
Prophets or revealed Books or a clear concept of
ultimate accountability. This Is perhaps what Allah
refers to, in different contexts, in the following
verses of the Quran:
(a) And of the people there are some who
say: we believe in Allah and the
Hereafter,. when (actually) they
believe not (in accountability).
(il:8)*1
(b) Surely they love the momentary (the
neeting) one and neglect a momentous
day ahead of them. (ixxvi:27)*2
(c) And among them are Gentiles who
know not scriptures but conjectures.
They only guess. (U:78)*3
INTERCESSION: They beUeved that good people
never die, they just "disappear" and leave their
bodies. They thought that their help, in distress,
could be invoked by certain devices in .thls world
and that their intercession (Shata' ab) with Allah
could ge't the blackest of their sins condoned in the
Hereafter. This repugnant idea was so Ingrained in
their minds that God denounced it vehemently and
repeatedly in the Quran. He posed the question:
Who is he that can intercede. with Him
without His permission. (1I:25S)*4
And why should one do so at ,all? Allah is a11-
knowing:
He knonweth what is in front of them
and what is behind them and they
comprehend naught out of His knowledge
except what He Himself wishes (to
convey). (ii:2SS)*S
31
Their concept of Allah (the Supreme Being) ... and
how they debased it ... has. been described In the
Quran For example, it says:
And most of them believe not In Allah
but that they associate partners with
Him (in His functions). (ldi:l06)*6
Mind you, to God alone belongs the pure
Faith. And those who take friends (patr-
ons) beside Him (say): We worship (that
is, adoringly serve) them not but that
they will bring us near unto Allah.
(xxxix:3)*1
They say: They are our intercessOrs with
Allah. Say: Would you be informing Allah
of some thing He knoweth not about
what is in heavens and in earth? He is
far from' that and above all that they
associate (with Him). (x:19)*S
It was their beliei in "intercession" that brought
in its train all manner of superstitions and. resulted
In licence and utter disregard' of the individual's
responsibility for his actions, however and
indecent, including some of th.e heinous crimes
against .humanity, such as burying alive their
female IsSues' out of a false sense of honour and
pride. Ttu!ir barbarian way. ot life, "JaahUlyyah"'-
here ".tebl" is antithetical. to "HBm" (politeness)
and not to "Bm" (knowledge) .. has been aptly
alluded to In the following verse pf the Quran:
And ye were upon the brink of an abyss
of fJ.re. He saved you from It (in time).
. (iil:l03)*9
It is these "Ummi"oon" or Gentiles who were
in dire need of a Nadbeer (Warner) and a Rasool
(Messenger) in' accordance With the avowed way of
Allah (Surmatunah):
32
there is not a people but a Warner
hath been among (xxxv:24)*10'
nAnd verny We raised in every people a .
. Messenger (with the injunction) that
they worship (adoringly serve) Allah and
have no truck with the devil (or false
gods)". . (xvl:3,6)*U
The Quran, therefore, to Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be on him) in, these words:
1fe. is that Who raised among the Gentl-
a prophet of their own. (lxU:2)*12
AI for the Arabs other than these Gentiles In
thf! ,regions of western and Central Arabia, there
had been of their own, such as Bud, of the
"'peopleknown ',as,' tAa-d. and . Saleh of the people
, ,kno'!'n as Thilmud ,(neither, of ,them mentioned in;
, , the \ scriptures) and Shu-' alb . (identified with
Prophet Jethro).
PEOPLE OF THE BOOK: Only the fringe of the
population of ,these regions was influenced by
Judaism, Christianity, orSabaism. These Sabians
(Aa-Saabe'aoa) professed to '. be,. the' followers of'
theft Prophet Seth (Sbeetb) 'and 'Enoch (son of Cain,
that Is Qaabeel): viele: Geaesis, chapter 4, verse
17. Enoch was, also. credited with a:reealed book
the .Bootol:lIloc::h.considered.ap6cry'phalby the
J.ews. These Saehaeeps (Sabians) belieVed, that the
course of an individual's life .was somehow contro-
lled by stars and planets and' that these could be
propitiated ,by certain prescribed practices and,
. rituals. '

As for' the Prophets in general, the Quran
states:
..
And verily We sent Messengers before
you; some C?f, them. are these We .narra-
teeS-, :to., you 'land some of them are those
I
I
I
33
We have not narrated to you. (xi:78)*13
So one could neither prove nor disprove 'whether
Enoch, Buddha, Krishna and Confucius t"K'uag-fu-
taze
lf
) for example, were Prophets or not. Obviously
one could not go by the legendary accounts of
these personages or their teachings or preachings
handed down by their disciples.
In fact, the Peoples of the Book were, in the
beginning, presumably as good "Musl!rgstt as their
Prophets taught them. tj) be but, baving gone astray
'..... later on by ignoring or glossing over' some of the
contents of the Books and the teachings of their
Prophets, they probably became as bad as most of
the present-day Muslims are - possibly better than
some of us. They could, therefore, be safely regar-
ded as bad "Muslims", say, "Faaslqooa" (transgre-
ssors), having corrupted or mutilated their
. Books beyond . redemption. There Is n9 doubt that
some of their beliefs, like some of ours at present,
bordered on polytheism (Shirk), and some of their
practices, too, smacked of idolatry.
And thou seest many of them vying
among themselves in sin and oppression.
(v:62)*14
Thus, these Peoples of the Book were no less in
need of a Muclaaktir (Reminder), Nadiaeel' (Warner)
and Raool (Messenger). For them God Himself has
explained the purpose for which Prophet Muhammad
was sent: .
And God intends to clarify (things) to.
you and lead you to ihe (prescribed)"
ways of those before you. (tv:26)*15
Accordingly, the Prophet was also instructed to
make the purpose further clear to them:
.
Says 0 People of the Book (Scripture),
come to (agreement on) a doctrine
,
....
34
which is (already) agreed among us and
among you alike, that we shall worship
(adoringly serve) none but . Allah, that
we shall not ascribe partners unto Him
in any matter and that none of us will
take other as lords beside Allah. There-
after if they turn away, then say: Bear
witness (to the fact) that we ale
Muslims (having surrendered wholly and
solely to Him). (tu:641.*16
The position of the believers in the last Prophet
and of these Peoples of the Books was also made
clear as to where they stand, thus:
Those who believe (in what is revealed
to you)and those who profess Judaism,
and Christians and Sabians - whosoever
believeth in Allah and the Last Day and
doeth right - surely their reward is with
their Lord and no fear shall come upon
them nor shall they grieve. (ii:62)*17
NO INNOVATIONS: It will be seen thus that
neither were the Arabs, as such, a people marooned
in a forlorn island cut off from the civlUzed world,
nQr was Islam something dropped by way of relief
from above. Islam had been the main stream of
religious thought since the days of Adam, the first
Prophet of Islam and ancestor of all the Prophets
(Peace be on them all). The Holy Quran confirmed
and endorsed much that was in the earlier Scriptu-
res and corrected at places certain factual mista-
kes that had crept in with the passage of time due
to many factors mainly because of translation and
re-translation of the original text. Besides, the
Quran .elaborated certain points which the followers
of the earlier Scriptures forgot, ignored or glossed
over. Thus, the Holy Quran, In this respect, is to
be looked upon as the Holy Book of Books - the
confiuence of all currents and under-currents of
the revealed Faith. Both its critics and apologists
. are, therefore, unnecessarily at pains to prove or

35
disprove the thesis that much of what Islam stands
for is rooted in Judaism, Christianity or Sabaism. It
is not a case of plagiarism but rather of the
Author revising and enlarging His own work.
It has never been claimed that what Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be on him) brought was a new
Faith (DeeD) or an entirely new code' of life
(Sbari'ab). On the contrary, the Quran made it
abundantly clear by stating:
Verily this is (already) in early Scriptu-
res. (Ixxxvii:18)*18
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) was also
reminded of the fact that:
Naught is said unto thee but that was
(already) said unto the Messengers
befcire thee. (xii:43)*19
What is to be noted is that the earlier Scriptu-
res, like the Quran itself, are described by Allah in
almost similar terms:
And before it, was the Book of Moses a
guide and a mercy. (xi:17)*20
Say: Who revealed the Book which Moses
brought (as) a light and guidance for
, mankind? (vh92)*21
Then We g ~ l e Moses the Books, which
preserved (tn it) all that was best, an
elaboration of every thing, a guidance
and a mercy. (vi:155)*22
And We gave him (Juses) the Gospel,
which has in it guidance and light, and
confirms what he already had with him
of Torah - a guidance and an admonition
for those who fear (Alla!)'s displeasure).
(v:46)*23
36
This should be enough to knock the bottom out
of' the erroneous thesis that the earlier Scriptures
were addressed only to a, particular, limited
community and had a limited purpose to serve,
whereas the Quran is "light and guidance for all
mankind", particularly for all God-fearing people
tllroughout the world. For example, it is argued
that of Jesus it has been said: 11 A Prophet unto the
chlldren of Israel". (iii:49)*24. But we forget that
of Prophet Muhammad, too, it has .been said:
It is He who raised a Prophet in the
Gentiles from among them. (lxU:2)*25
That you warn or Inculcate a sense of
accountability in (the people of) the
Mother of Townships (Makkah) and those
around it. (xUi:7)*26
And for every people there has been a
leader (to guide). (xiii:7)*27
DIFFERENCE IN APPROACH ONLY: It is not gener-
. ally realized as clearly as it should be that all the
Prophets brought, in substance, fundamentals of one
and the same Faith (DeeD) and that they diCfered
only in their approach, making allowance for the
average l'evel of Understanding of the peoples of
their times, that is, the mental stature of the age.
They were, in fact, com missloned to set up, in
their own land, ,a model breeding farm of 'humani-
sts' to serve as a nursery for the propagation of
certain abiding values for the healthy growth of
human society. With the expansion of the mental
horizon and the growth of the moral stature of
man, a code of life (Sbarl'ah) tailored to suit the
requirements of a particular generation had had to
undergo necessary alterations till man, as a species,
attained maturity and, with larger dimensions of
knowledge In terms of observation, comprehension
and communication, was adequately equipped to
. bring an adult approach to bear on various
problems of life confronting him in the context of
37
. FOI example, it must have been ages ~ f o r e
man, starting from concrete manifestions of the
invisible Supreme Being, was able to have an abstr-
act concept of Almighty God. The primeval man
could not possibly think of Him except in terms of
thunder, rains, sunshine etc. As a rule, aU knowle-
dge proceeds from the concrete to the abstract.
Philologically speaking, Sanskrit and Greek being of
the same family, it can be safely preslllled that
the deities such as Esbwar (Ether) Agal (Ignis =
fire) and KaH (Potash), for example, are relics of
the age when men worshipped the elements as
concrete manifestations of the Supreme Being
controlling the world. Even today a teacher cannot
help conveying to a student the notion of a geome-
trical point (having position but no magnitude), to
start with, except by representing it with a dot
which cannot but have some magnitude. Gradually
the latter comes to know that it is the movement
of this imaginary point that gives the concept of a
line, the movement of which, in turn, gives the
concept of a plane. Similarly, unless a student is
sufficiently advanced mentally to get at the
concept of infinity, one can define the parallel
lines no better than that they are lines which
never meet. It is only when the student makes
some headway in higher mathematics that he can
appreciate the fact that though parallel lines
certainly never meet on a plane, they do meet at
InflnJty. This rather longish diversion has been
allowed only to enable one to look at world relig-
ions in their true perspective.
NO DISCRIMINATION: No doubt Prophets, like all
men, differed not only in personal qualities and
capabilities but also excelled one another in some
aspects of their lives, as stated in the following
verse:
"or these Prophets, We have caused
some to excel others".
( ii:253)*28
38
~ u t at the. same time, we have been expressly
. instructed not to discriminate among them:
(They all believe and say:)
"We ,make no distinction between one
another of His Messengers". (11:258)-29
Moreover, Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him)
also Instructed Us:
"Do not make comparison among Apost";
les in merit
lt
. .
(SaIaeehaIr. Batbarl aacI Mlllllm).30
He is. further reported, again both by Bukhari and
Muslim,' to have made it stin more clear. by saying:
I would not even say that anyone exce-
lled Jonah, son of .trolttai. -31 .
The fact that the. Quran repeatedly confronted
the. People of the Book, with relevant references
from their own Books, showed that whatever' they
possessed of the Scripture, however much mutila-
ted,contained In 8ubstaftce at least the relevant
parts of tbe earlle.,. revealed Books. No doubt, as a
result of a great mix-up during the centuries that
had elapsed, the People of the Book were faced
with two problems: to s o r ~ out what was genuine
and what was apocryphal; and to distinguish what
was originally revealed from' what was 'quoted' as
revealed. For example, the four so-called Gospels,
forming part of the New Testament, were obviously
biographies of Prophet Jesus (Peace be on him) by
certain devoted writers, not necessarily conte mpor-
aries of Jesus (Yide: Encye10pedIa Brltamrlca).
"Gospel" is a corruption of the Old English "god
speI", meaning 'good tiding', and not 'God's word'
as one might guess. The word "Jnjeel" is from the
Greek word "Enapl", also meaning "good tidings".
The question naturally remains" unanswered: Where
. is tllat revealed Book, God's own word, or which
extracts were extensively quoted In these Gospels?
39
The next obvious question is: "Good tidings" of
what?
The Quran, however, offers the only answer
which can be substantiated by the Gospel St. John:
Chapter 14 and 16). It quotes Jesus (Peace be on
him) as telling his disciples about himself:
And (recall) when Jesus son of Mary
said: 0 Children of Israel, Verily 1 am
Allah's Messenger unto you confirming
that which is with me of the Torah and
bringing good tidings of a Messenger
coming after me and having "Ahmad"
(as) his'" name. (lxi:6)*32
As pointed out earlier, the Arabic word
"Ahmad"(meaning the "Praised One") is synonymous
with the Greek word "Periclytos" and the Hebrew
word "Parklit" (Paarqaleet), meaning "illustrious".
But it so happened that the learned English transl-
ators, in preparing the English version of the
Gospel of St. John, probably from, the Greek rather
than the Hebrew text, used in the word "Comfor-
ter" in Chapters 14(verse 16), 15(verse 26) and
16(verse7), to translate the Greek word "Parac1ete"
which was used in place of "Peric1ytos" by the
Greek translators of the Hebrew text

40
CHAPTER-4
THE BIRTH - OF AN EPOCH
The birth of a Prophet among the Gentiles
("UmmiYJOOII") of Arabia was in itself an epoch-
making event. It signified a sudden break in the
long, time-honoured tradition of Israelite Apostles.
The child destined to be the last runner in the
grand relay of the torch-bearers of Islam which
started with Adam (Peace be on him) was born in
one of the most respected clans, Banu Haashim, of
the most respected Arab tribe of the Quraish.
Although the clan of Banu Haashlm, was not proba-
bly as affluent, resourceful and powerful as their
sister-clans of Banu Makhzoom and Umayyah,
.. who handled foreign trade in peace and provided
--leadership in war, they were by virtue of
being the custodians of the Ka'bah (Baltullab)
under the family arrangements -of the Quraish. As
Prophet Moses (Peace be on hi m) was brought up in
the family of the Pharoahs, 9nly perhaps, to blast
the extreme despotism of the family, so was
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on him) born and
brought up among the custodians of the
Ka'baIa presumably to blast the institution of idola-
try and rid the II House of Allah" of all idols.
The Prophet's grand-father, 'Aamlr bin Haashim
- commonly known as Abdul Muttalib after his
uncle'S name, Muttalib, who brought him up after
Haashim's death - was regarded as the grand old
man of Makkah. It was not merely because he was
the chieftain of the clan looking after the Ka'bah
that he was chosen to represent the Meccans when
the People of the Elephant (As-haab ai-Feel) under
Abrahah Invaded Makkah. This showed the respect
and confidence Abdul Muttalib commanded in the
tribal hierarchy of Makkah because of his personal
qualities of nobility and leadership as well as his
family connections with the two most powerful
u
-
clans of Banu Makhzoom and Banu Umayyah. He
himself married into both these familles and also
gave two daughters to each of these '" marriage.
ABRAHAH'S IIIV.ASlON: Abdul Mullalib was over
seventy when. Abrahah (an Ethiopian corruption of
It Abraha mit , as per haps in BraUma in Sanskrit), a
Christian zealot, invaded Makkah to demolish the
Ka'bah. He was a Roman slave who, having l.ed an
armed rebellion against the king of Ethiopia
(ttHabshab
tt
) and having captured his Governor,
established himself in the Yemen. He built a great
Cathedral at San'aa and sought to wean the Chris-
tians from. the Meccan sanctuary in the North. This
was 110t the first abortive attempt by the Souther-
ners to deprive the Arabs of the North of this
privilege. While the Northerners believed in Allah
(IIAl-llaah
tt
) as the Supreme Deity, the Southerners
worshipped Ar-bhmaan" as the Lord of the earth
and the heavens - a name which the former (the
ttUmmiyyoma" of the North) generally did not know.
They wou14 rather abhor the na me out' of prejud-
ice, as is evidenced by the Quran:
,)
When' it was said to them, Pay homage
to Ar-Rahmaan, they would say, rAnd
what is Ar-Rahmaan? Should we pay
homage t" whomsoever you command us?
So it increased the! ...
(xxv:60)*1
The Supreme Deity was one and the same which
both worshipped in different names: The Quran
removes the misconception:
Call upon Allah or call upon Ar-
Rahmaan. By whatever name you call
Him, an the excellent names belong to
Him. (xvU:ll0)*2
Wh!le'. the> of Supreme
DeIty emphasized His quality of mercy,' the North,e-
"npre: IAirl Inn"p o.......n ....... Ie. ...... UI.. "' ........ t"' ....... h:.. 1", ",_
42
other deities). His .majesty and despotic powers.
They both had some sort of prejudice against each
other's Supreme Deity. It seems that tbis prejudice
dated back to long before King SolOmon who prefa-
ced his letter addressed to the Queen of Sheba
with the characteristic legend of "blsmWablr-
BahDUUiD Ir-Babeem" wherein Ar-......... ar-
Baheem was put in apposition to Allah in order to
remove all prejudice and misgivings on both sides.
vide: xxvii:30)
The word "ar-Rabmaaa" Is a substantive - prob-
ably an Arabicized version of the Hebrew word
to the Itqaaa of t Allamah
Syutl, volume 1, section (Hau') 38 - and not an
adjective derived from an old Semetic root-word
"Bahm" (mercy) as Is generally believed. It is this
misconception which is responsible for, a lot of
unnecessary and meaningless hair-splitting. in
a: ridiculous efforts to distingul$h 'between
Ar-Rabmaaa and .Af-:Raheem. vide: Sulaiman
Nadvi's Taareetb Ardul QUraD Vol. II. It is Signifi-
cant that the word. Ar-Ba'hmaaa has been singly
used as a SUbstantive in the Quran at least 51
times and only six times with an adjective, and
that, too, with only . Ar-Babeem, presumably to
emphasize the quality of mercy. in order to remove
any misgivings that others might have had. For the
'"ord Allah (al-Iluh = The Deity) has been used in
the Quran no less than 2698 times but rarely with
an adjective to qualify it.
The invasion led by Abrahah had, however, its
own significance. To terrorize the Arahst Abrahah
put a column or elephants at the head' of his army.
Probably the AJ:'abs had no idea of the animal. But
the stratagem designed to break the Arab resista-
nce was. set at naught by the Lord of the House
(Babbul Ka'bah). What actually happened to the
venture must have been still fresh in living memory
at the time the Surah At-Peel was revealed, after
more than forty years, to. the Prophet, who was,
. incidentally, born that very year, known thereafter
i
l
I
I
1
43
as "Aamul Feel" (the Year of Elephant), about 570
A.D. That is the reason why the said Surab, which
give the most graphic account of the battle in the
least possible words, opens with the words "Alam
Tara"("Didn't you see?"), although the Prophet
could not possibly be a witness to the event that
had taken place a couple of months before his
birth. It says:
Didn't thou see how thy Lord dealt with
the People of the Elephants? Did He not
bring their stratage m at naught and sent
over them swarms of birds, pelting them
with stones of hardened molten rock
(lava) and reduced them to chewed
stalks. (cv)*3
It is surprising that interpreters and commenta-
tors have been at pains to visualize what actually
had taken place. Apparently, what happened was as
follows: Swarm after swarm of vultures and kit-es
hovered over the elephants in low fight - not an
unusual phenomenon in itself on occasions of such
mass movements - striking them with small stones
of hardened lava. The elephants got alarmed and
took to hight in utter confusion, trampling over
the bodies of the soldiers in the rear as had
happened to Indian defenders during Alexander's
invasion. The decomposed remains of the bodies
devoured by the birds of prey lay there in the field
Cor days together.
Now the word Sijjee1, in the Quranic text, said
to be the Arabicised version of the Persian expre-
ssion "Sang-e-gil" vide: at-Itqa.. - Nau' 38) has
been translated by all translators without exception
as ,."baked clay". To app,reciate the beauty of the
expression, one has ter be informed that large
tracts of land in the HOaz and Najd are even today
strewn with black ftharraatft - a "Harrah" being a
patch of land covered .with crusts of hardened lava
(as a result of prehistoric volcanic activity) mixed
wi.th sand-stones (vide: Richard Burton's travelogue
44
entitled "PUgrimap to Maktab and aI-Madinah").
Thus, it should be evident that not only was the
whole affair a marvellous sign for both the invader
and the invaded, but that its description too as
conveyed to the reader by the Quran even now is
no less a marvel of descriptive composition.
DATE OF BmTH: It seems that the unforgettable
doom of the Southerners' adventure was to herald,
in a big way, the epoch-making advent of the last
Prophet, who was born only a few weeks after
what is known in Arabian history as the "Vaaqi'at-
':'':'ul-Feel'' (the "Incident of the Elephant"). The
Christian calendar year synchronizing with the
Arabs traditional Year of the Elephant, and hence
the birth of the Prophet, has now come to be
determined by historically recorded event of the
Prophet's migration of Makkah to Madinah in 622
A.D. Sine it is believed that he migrated 13 years
after he attained prophet-hood and received the
first revelation and that he was 40 years of age
when he received the first revelation, these add up
to 53 lunar years to be converted into about 52
solar years. Arter deducting 52 years from 622
A.D. we arrive at 510 A.D. as the year of his
birth; although certain authorities, on a more
plausible ground, put it at 511 A.D. because it. was
also in living memory that about that time there
was a . conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which
actually occured in 511 A.D. (March).
We have, of course, no reliable record of the
exact date of the Prophet's birth, not even the
month or the day. And this is understandable. It is
strange enough, though, that the exact date of his
death too is only a matter of surmise. What is
certain about the latter is that the month was
Rabi-ul-Avval and the day was a Monday. Mainly
on this ~ s i s t it is presumed on indifferent reports
- and on this there seems to be a near-consensus -
that his birth also took place on Monday and in the
month of Rabi-ul-Avval on the dogmatic assumption
. that, by a strange coincidenc.e, Rabl-ul-Avval, of
45
all months, and Monday, of all days, had a peculiar
association with all the major events of the
Prophet's Ufe. For example, it Is reported that on
his migration to Madinah, he. arrived at Quba, a
suburb of Madinah, in Rabi-ul-Avval. and on
Monday. On this presumption, the date of his birth
and death have been determined after meticulous
calculation by Mahmood al-Falaki al-Misri as the
9th and theist of Rabi-ul-Avval respectively, and
not the 12th of Rabi"1ul-Avval in any case. Unless
one is equally competent, it . is difficult to
challenge his findings.
'Was it by design that the Arabs, known for-
their strong memory, and particularly the disciples
of the Prophet, known for their love and devotion
to him, failed to remember even such a momentous
event as that of the death of their Prophet (Peace
be on hi m)? As for his birth, if Allah had so
desired He -WOUld certainly have made a mention of
his birth in the Quran in the sa me manner as He
recorded the event of the revelation of the Quran
itself thus:
The month of Ra madaan in which the
Quran was revealed. (11:185)*.
Presumably, the Messenger was not important as
the Message itself. This also indicates that neither
the Prophet's birth nor his death was ever observed
by the surviving members of his family or his
Companions.
It is to be noted that in those days Rabi-ul-
A vval was actually the first month of the Rabee'
(spring), for the Arabs before Islam, like the
Hindus, maintained a luni-solar calendar of seasonal
months, by periodically adding, that is, "inter-
calatinglt an extra 13th month in a particular lunar
year for the over-all adjustment of their calendar
to the solar calendar. SoR.madaan was the hottest
month of the year as its name indicates - Ramada
m.An!i: "to be burnin hotlt or "to be blasted b the
46
sun". It was after the abolition of the intercala-
tion (WNasee") - probably some time before its
open condemnation by the Quran In 9 A.D. - that
this month, as every other month, ~ s made to
rotate throughout the year by the formal adoption
of the lunar calendar

47
CHAPTER-5
THROUGH THE CRUCIBLE
The Prophet was a posthumous child. His father,
'Abdullah, died after a short illness in Madinah
where he had gone either on business or just to
meet his father's maternal relations; for his grand-
mother was of the Medinite Banu an-Najjaar. It
seemed as if it were by design that his mother,
Aaminah bint Vahab (of Banu Zabrab, a clan of the
Quraish), too, died on her way back home from
Madinah where she had gone with her child, six
years of age, to spend a month or so with Banu
an-Najjaar, among whom her husband was buried in
Darun Naabighah. And, again, when the child was
hardly eight years old, his loving grandfather, Abdul
Muttalib, too, died. The latter who had himself
been an orphan brought up by his uncle, Al-
Muttalib, after whom he was named (though his
real name was Aamir bin Haashim), too great pains
and personal care in bringing up the only issue of
his deceased son. Surely, all this bespeaks of
purposeful denial of undue reliance on worldly
resources and the usual means in the build-up of
the Prophet's personality and outlook.
Abdul Muttalib had, on the whole, almost a
dozen sons and half a dozen daughters born of
several wives. The Prophet's uncles, Abu Lahab
(real name, "Abdul 'Uzza" nick-named "Father of
Flame" because of his ruddy face), 'Abbas and
Ha z ~ (who was his foster-brother too as he was
also suckled by Thuvaibah, a slave-girl of Abu
Lahab) were all from separate mothers. Only Zubair
and Abu Taalib (real name Abd Manaaf, after a
pagan deity) were full brothers of the Prophet's
father, 'Abdullah, born of Faatimah bint 'Amar.
Since Abdul Muttalib was fast losing his sight
towards the end of his Ufe, Zubair, the eldest son
after Haarith who had died, looked after his
48
father's personal affairs and actually brought
up not only his younger half-brothers 'Abbas
and Hamzah t but also guided and keptby on
his orphan nephew, wbo was almost of tbe same
age as his uncle and foster-brotber. Hamzah.
" and about four years younger than his otber
uncle. 'Abbas. After the death of 'Abdul
Muttal1b. the sole responsibility. for providing
subsistence and sbelter to the orpban boy
devolved on Zubair t who succeeded his father
as the head of famlly as well as of the clan of
Banu Haashim. He was in business and used
to visit Yemen and Syria. He is reported to
have taken his nephew along with' him on cert-
ain occasions ("ride: lfaasDrb-ut-T .... aareekh.
by a well-known Shiah historian).
The Prophet used to refer to his aunt, 'Aatikah
bint Abi Vahb bin 'Amar, wife of Zubair, as
Ummi (my mother). It was Zubair's son, Taahir,
who was about the Prophet's age but died young,
after whom the Prophet named one of his sons to
commemorate his sentimental association or child-
hood with his' deceased cousin. Again, it was
I Abdullah "bin Zubair - not to be confused with his
wily name-sake - of whom the Prophet used to say
lovingly: "Verily he is my mother's son"*1 (vide:
Al-1saabaII by Ibn Hajar ' Asqalani, the famous
commentator of the Saheeh Bukbari. It is, however,
intriguing that biographers of the. Prophet seem
somewhat reluctant to refer to Zubair,ln particular,
by I)ame. Some of them do not even mention his
name while discussing the Prophet's uncles.
Zubair bin t Abdil Muttallb died when the
Prophet was In his early twenties. It was then that
Abu Taalib took over as the head of the family.
Due to his physical disability as a lame man [vide:
Al-Ma'aarlf by Ibn Quta1bahedited by Dr. Sarvaite
Okacha (Cairo, 1960), page 583] little is known of
his exploits as ,a chieftain of Banu Haashim after
his 'elder" brother, Zubair. Financially, too, his
position was so weak that his younger half brother
'Abbas took upon hi mself the upbringing of Ja' rar
. (known as Ja'far at-Tayyaar), ten years older than
49
, AU, who, too, was taken by the Prophet to his
house. Here he was brought up by Khadijah who,
incidentally, was destined to be his mother-in-law
after her death. Abu Taalib could hardly make
both ends meet and supplemented his meagre
family income by pursuing the sedate occupation of
preparing perfumes. This dismisses the reported
stories of his travels abroad to Syria and elsewhere
on business as most unlikely.
BOHAIRAH'S MYTH: One would not have taken
seriously one of the most popular stories, that of
the Bohairah Raahib, if it were reported only by
"Ahlos SI,8I''' (the Prophet's biographers), ,little-
credited with veracity, and not by Muhammad bin
'Isa Tirmidhi in his Jaame', one of his Sibaab
Sittsh (the six collections of the so-called "Sound"
traditions). As the story goes, Bohairah having met
Abu Taalib in Syria warned him not to proceed
further along with his nephew, who, according to
him, had all the promise of being the Prophet
whom the Jews were looking for. The story is
tenable neither on the ground of R1va,at(authority)
nor on the ground of mra,at (rational evaluation).
The tE.\il-end of the story is ludicrousl, absurd. It
says that Abu Taalib, on the advice of Bohairah,
sent back his young nephew with' Bilaal at the
of Abu Bakr. HistOrically, Abu Bakr
himself was two years younger than the Prophet
and BUaal was not. yet born. The famous critic
Imam Dhahbi, regards it as a mere 'concoction.
Abu ,Musa al-Ash'arl, the original narrator
(-RaayJfI) to whom Tirmidhi credits his report,
came from Yemen to Madinah where he embraced
Islam in 7 or' 8 A.H. after battle of Khaibar,
while the incident was said to have taken place
some fifty years before. The next narrator In the
chain of Asaaad (authorities) Is his son Abu Bakr
bin Abi Musa who was reported by Ibn Sa'd as a
""weak link, known to have reported nothing from his
, father'according to the tradftionists including ,Imam
. Hanba}. The' third' narrator fa Yunus bin Ishaq,
50
whose veracity was considered highly doubtful by
trsditlonalsts such as Shu'bah, Yahya bin Sa'eed bin
al-Qattan, and Abu Haakim. The case of the fourth
and last link in the short chain of narrators
(A_ad), Abdur Rahmaan bin Ghazvaan, was
perhaps the worst. He earned an adverse reputation
by being involved in several unbelievable ("Manaak-
eer") reports besides this one. For further informa-
tion, SeeratUD. Nabi by- 'Allamah Shibli and Syed
Sulaiman Nadvi (volume I It III) may be consulted.
UP-BRlNGDfG: On the authority of Muhammad bin
Ishaaq, the pioneer biographer of the Prophet, on
whom most of the later biographers relied, it is
generally accepted that Abu TaaUb brought up the
Prophet as hls guardian after I Abdul. Muttalib's
death. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, in his essays (in
English) entitled Kbutbaat-e-Abmadinab admits
that " Abdul Muttalib bequeathed hiS offices to
Zubair, his eldest surviving son, who transferred
them to his brother, Abu Taalib; but the later
finding the offices too expensive and onerous for
himself, gave them over to hl$ brother 'Abbas"
(page 305). But even he, In spite of his incisive
and critical mind, states later on that " after
the death of 'Abdul Muttalib, the guardianship of
Muhammad was undertaken by Abu Taallb,. the
uncle of the orphan " (Page 376)
To set the record straight, one can do not
better than to quote certain relevant in
a somewhat logical order, without any comments:
1. AasealHd-Asbraaf (devoted to the study
of pedigrees) by Ahmed bin Yahya bin
Jaabir al-Baladhuri (dies in 279 A.H.,
more than 30 years before At-Tabari):
"And Zubair was one of the admInistrat-
ors of Quraish and was older than
t Abdullah and Abu Taalib".*2
2. Tarib ul-Ya'qubi by Ahmad bin Abi
Ya'qub bin Ja'far bin Vahab bin Vadeh

I
I
51
(died in 284 A.H. more than 25 years
before At-TabarD: "And Abdul MUttalib
bequeathed administration and affairs of
the Ka'bah to his son, Zubair".*3
3. A-Raudul-Anaf (a learned commentary
on the Seerat Ibn HlsIIam by Abdul
Rahmaan Sohaili: "Zubalr was the eldest
of the uncles of the Prophet (Peace be.
on him) and it was he who used to
dangle the Prophet while he was a
child".*4
4. The learned Com mentary of Nahjul
BaJagbab by the famous Mu'tazillite,
Jbne Abdul Hadeed: " And Zubair bin
Abdil Muttalib had a son named, Taahir,
who . was one of the most pleasant
youths of Makkah and died young. And it
is after him that the Prophet (Peace be
on him) named his own son Taahirlt.*5
'5. Ibid: It And Abu TaaUb was hard of
money (financially poor)".*6
6. Tartkbul Ya'qubi, already mentioned (Vol.
Two, Page 14): "Ali bin Abl TaaUb said:
My father, despite being poor, became a
chiertain".*7
7. Ansaabul Asbraaf by Baladhuri (already
mentioned above): tI and some people
have reported that Zubair nurtured the
Prophet (Peace be on hhn) till he died
and that after him Abu Taalib nurtured
him. This is a mistake, for certainly
Zubair witnessed the (conclusion of the)
pact of HRrul Fudool and Allah's Messe-
nger was then over twenty".*8
Besides, if what is generally believed were true,
Abu TaaUb could not reasonably be expected to
. spurn the hand of his nephew and ward for his
daughter Hind, commonly known as Umme Haani,
52
tAll's full sister. It is reported by writers like Ibn
Sa'd, Ibne Jareer at-,Tabari and Ibn Hajar I Asqalani,
the famous com mentator of the Saheeb Bukharl,
that the Prophet, In his early did propose
to marry his cousin Hind and W/jS disappointed by
his uncle's rejection of the proposal in preference
for one Hubairah al- MakhzoomL
Here one may very well match the eminence of
above-quoted authorities with the status of those
biographers of the Prophet on whom later' writers
. have reverently relied. When one thinks of the
Sly. (Biographies of the Prophet)and the Magbazee
(accounts of his battles) the two names that come
uppermost In the mind are those of Muhammad bin
Ishaaq (popularly known as Ibn Ishaaq) and AI-
Vaaqidi. As for the the former, his vOluminous
work Kitabul Magbazl-was-Siy. (popularly known
as the Ibn Isbaaq) was not available for
centuries together and what we possessed of it was
the abridged version "prepared with great abllity
(popularly known as the Seerat Ibn Hisbaam) by
Abu Muhammad Abdul Maalik bin Hishaam (died
213/218 A.H.). It is said Ibn Hishaam the
work under Instructions from the I Abbaside Caliph,
AI-Mansoor, who had asked him to adapt Ibn
Ishaaq's voluminous work for the benefit of hls
young son. Ibn Hishaam revamped the entire work
of Ibn Ishaaq and made many additions and heavy
alterations. .
Muhammad bin Ishaaq (died 152/156 A.H.), a
disciple of the 'famous tradltlonist, Muhammad bin
Muslim bin Shahab az-Zuhri, was a contemporary of
Imam Maalik and was reported to bear a very
indifferent character. The well-known trationist,
Yahya bin Sa'eed bin al-Qattan, made a significant
remark about him, saying: "I bear witness that
Muhammad bin Ishaaq Is a confirmed liar
tr
.*9. His
contemporary Imam Maallk, who should have known
him personally, described him as "one of' the
greatest cheats".*10.
53
Here I may refer to a very intriguing' observa-
tion made by the learned compiler of the studious
work entitled: ItAsall-hus-Siyar", Abdul Raoof
Danapuri. He observes:
Traditionlsts, by and large, do not accept Imam
Maalik's criticism (of Ibn Ishaaq) and, perhaps, for
that very reason, made it a general rule that the
crit.icism of a person by a contemporary, of
whatever position or status, will not be accepted".
(Page 13). I wonder if the implication of this
sweeping assertion was fully appreciated. It
amounts to postulating that the word of a person
for or against a contemporary, whom he had reason
to know at first hand, should not be considered for
that very reason. Besides, an ultimate choice
between a man like Ibn Ishaaq and a man of Imam
Maalik's stature Is in itsel.f ridiculous beyond
words. Moreover, it is to be noted that Ibn
Hishaam, too, expressed repeatedly,' while editing
Ibn Ishaaq's work on Seerat, his doubts about the
veracity of Ibn Ishaaq in quoting others in his
work.
As for Abu 'Abdillah Muhammad bin 'Umar al-
Vaaqidi al-Madni (died 207 A.H.), he was an
eminent man of letters, noted for a nair for style
and dramatization. He wielded a facile pen and his
hearsay accounts are generally so vivid and graphic
that they read like fiction; but his scant respect
for veraci ty and his preference for dra matic effect
earned an unenviable reputation for him. Imam
Bukharl considers him to be one whose narratives
should not be relied upon.*ll. Imam Shaafa'ee
observes: "The books of al-Vaaqidl are all full of
-lies. He used to forge authort.ties.*12. Imam Hanbal
remarks: "He is a confirmed liar".*13 . Imam
Nasaee says: ItThe four confirmed liars well known
for attributing false statements to the Messenger
of Allah were al-Vaaqidee in Madinah, Muqaatil in
Khurasan ".*14.
54
, ThUs, it goes without saying that those who
"based their findings on the reports of these two
writers in fact built their castles on sand.
CHILDHOOD: As one can very well appreciate,
information in its true sense about the Prophet's
childhood and' early days is very, very meagre and
has to be carefully weighed and assessed in the
pursuit of truth. It is interesting to note that those
who had the shortest, association with the Prophet
in pOint of time are credited with most of the
reports about him. For example, Abu Hurairah, who
embraced Islam DOt more thaD three years before
the Prophet's demise has reported more than 5,000
"traidtions". Anas bin Mallik, who was eight years
of age when, in Madinah, he came to serve the
Prophet according to himself (wide: 8uDaJl' BaJbaqi)
*15, has more than 2,000 traditions to his credit,
even those concerning the Prophet's Mecca'n period.
Similarly, 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas was 'hardly ~ years
of age when the Prophet died, but he, too, r e p ~ r t s
more than 2,000 "traditions".
On the other hand, less than 15 "sound(Sabeedb)
traditions" are credited to Abu Bakr, the Prophet's
earliest associate and friend, and of these, only six
are "agreed", that is, acceptable to both Bukhari
and Muslim. Significantly enough, few reports have
been handed down to us by those who should -have
known the Prophet from his childhood, such. as' his
nurse, Umme Aiman (real name, Barkah), who had
accompanied him on his mother's last journey of
her life to Madinah and is supposed to have
served him also. In these circumstances. one
should follow the golden rule of being circumsp-
active rather than comprehensive in collecting
information about early life of the Prophet.
55
As one can gather, the upbrlning of the
Prophet as an orphan child was perhaps the
best possible under the circumstances. His
grandfather, , Abdul MuttaUb and later, his
uncle, Zubair, both men of means and resources
were fond of the child and took personal care
In looking after him.
No doubt He would roam about with the
boys of Banu an-Najjar, during the mother's
sojourn of a month or so In Madinah with her
father-in-Iaw's maternal relations. In this trip
his nurse, Umme Aiman, accompanied his
. mother. It is here, perhaps f that he learnt
swimming in a nearby pond (vide: Dr.
Hameedullah's valuable treatise "Baaool-e-Akram
Kl styul ztndagl") as well as archery in which
he always took pride. He had pleasant memories
of his Medinite play-mates, particularly of a
girl named Unaisah (wrongly described by Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan as his foster-mother
Haleemah's daughter).
There was a custom among the well-to-do
families of the Arabs of Makkah to entrust a child,
while less than a month old to a trust-worthy wet-
nurse from nearby Bedouin tribes for upbringing in
an undefiled environment, away from the humdrum
of town Ufe. Accordingly, Haleemah of Banu SaId,
. a clan of Banu Havazin, took him to her people
where he was brought up in unsophisticated surrou-
ndings a mong the boys of Banu Sa' d, and Banu
Havzazin. His foster-sister, Sheema, was very fond
of hi m and used to dangle him. She had, all her
life, a fond reminiscence of Jl bite she had had
from him at her back. She is said to have been
taken prisoner with others of Banu Havazin but was
set free along with the others when she showed 'the
sea" on her back as a mark of identification.
As was customar Haleemah nursed hi
56
for two years, bringing him to town periodically
every three or four months to enable the child and
the famUy to become familiar with each other. At
the end of the contracted period of two years, his
mother asked Haleemah, as a special ease, to take
the child back for a further period of two years
because of some epidemic, probably. of small-pox,
that had broken out in Makkah. It is believed that
small-pox first afflicted ,the world (particularly
Arabia) about that time in history (vide: Enc,clop-
aedia Britannica, under the title "Small-pox",
quoted by t Allama Sulaiman Nadvl, In his informat-
ive book "Tareekh Ardil Qunm" Vol.l, Chapter: As-
baabal Feel"'.
Reports of certain occurrences of an unusual
nature, such as Haleemah's cattle "growing fat and
yielding abundance of milk", have been recorded by
some biographers of the Prophet with a poor reput-
ation for veracity. These reports mayor may not
be as authentic as many similar reports in both the
New Testament and the Old. For example, st.
Matthew records:
But Jesus said unto them, They have no
need -to go away; give ye them to eat.
And they say unto him, We have here
but five loaves and two fishes. And he
said, Bring them hither to me and he
commanded the multitudes to sit down
on the grass; and he took the five
loaves, and the two fishes, and looking
up to heaven, he blesses, and brake and
gave the loaves to the disciples, and the
disciples to the multitudes. And they did
all eat, and were filled: and they took
up that which remained over of the
broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And
they that did eat were about five thous-
and men, beside women and children
(Chapter 14, verses 16-21)
SHAQQUS SAUD: One reported incide'lt deserves
51
more than a passing reference because of its
currency among all writers. The incident is what is
popularly known as the miracle of the "teaching
open of the breast" ("Sbaqqus SacIr"). The gist of
the story is that two angles - in one case, only
Gabriel (Jibreel) is specifically named - appeared
in the .. form of man, "operated upon him by rending
open his breast and washed his heart of
impurities". Both the time and the place of the
occurrence have been in dispute. Ibne Hajar
'Asqalani, famous commentator of the Sabeeh
Bukhari, in his characteristic way of resolving such
difficulties (known as "tatbeeq") adjudged that the
operation was probably repeated at different times
and places. He would not bother about judging the
conflicting reports on merits.
In fact, five separate stories of a conflicting
nature are reported with various chains of narrators
(Asoaad):
(1) At Haleemah's place, somewhere near
Taaef, wheQ the Prophet was four or
five years of age.
(2) In Makkah, when he was ten years of
age.
(3) When he was twenty years of age - a
mere variation of No.2 above. This . is
generally rejected off hand by tradition-
ists.
(4) When he was forty years of age and
received the first revelation in the cave
of Hlra, and
(5) At the time of Mi'raaj or Israa ("Asce-
nsion") when he was sleeping in the
Haram al-Ka'bab.
The first incident is referred to In report alleg-
edly crpditcrJ to several of Companions of the
58;
Prophet;-, but 'only', ,two reports, according to
'Allatnah ' ,Nadvl, are worthy of serious
consideration. ,The one Js recorded by Ibn Ishaaq
(among others) with, a 'chain of narrators starting
with 'Abdullah bin Ja'ffar. blnAbl Taalib - w,ho
was said to have been informed by Haleemah
herself - and ending on an unknown person
Jahm bin Abl Jahm. First of all, it could not be
,established that' Abdullah bin Ja'far; who was omy
, 'eiglat 01' Dine years old when the Prophet died and
bad come from Ethiopia a'fter 7 A.H., could ever
have met Nurse Haleemah. Again, it Is not certain
whether Haleemah accepted Islam or ever met the
Prophet afterwards though' her name does occur in
a story about the battle of Hunayn In a casual
reference to Banu Havazin's captives, including her
daughter .. Sheema.
The other 'report of the same incident is credi-
ted to Vaaqidl by his famous secretary, Ibn ,Sa'd,
more reliable than his master, without mentioning
earlier authorities on which the report was origina-
'11y based. More authentic than the above-mentioned
reports of this incident is the report, recorded by
Muslim, of Hammaad bin Salmah, who credited it
to Anas bin Maalik. What makes it suspect is the
fact that other more reliable disciples of Anas bin
Maalfk, while narrating the latter's story of the
Mi'raaj or "Ascension" (on the authority of the
Prophet himself), recorded In the Slhaah Slttsh,
refer to the sa me incident occurring inside the
Haramal X.'baII at the time of Ml'raaj. Besides;
Hammaad bin Salmah Is reported to have suffered
from weak memof)'.
The second inCident, at the age of 10, is refe-
rred to in a report credited to Abu Hurairah on
the alleged authority of the Prophet himself. But
nobody else knows anything about the narrator, one
Ma'aadh bin Muhammad, who claimed to be a
descendant of Ubayy bin Ka'b. He narrated the
story on'the authority of his own father and grand-
.father, all unknown to tradionists.
",
59
The report of the third incident listed above is
~ l i e v e d to be a variation of the reports of the
above-mentioned second incident,and has, therefore,
been rejected by all traditionists and biographers.
The fourth incident is supported by a report
credit to 'Ayeshah. But her more authentic reports,
recorded exhaustively by Bukhari, Muslim and Ibne
Hanbal make no mention of this particular incident.
A less authentic report of this incident is that of
Abu Dhar on the alleged authority of the Prophet
himself, which does not concern the happenings in
the cave of Hira but refers to some other place
about that time. It also materially differs in
accepted details from all other versions. Anyway,
to my mind this is the only suitable and meaning-
ful occasion of such a 'vision', if it occurred at all
in the generally accepted form.
Reports of the fifth incident in connection with
the accoun t of the Mi'raaj or Israa (" Ascension")
credited to Anas bin Maalik, are considered to be
"most authentic" and reported by Bukhari, Muslim
and Nasa-ee among others. For detailed information
on the subject, Seerat un-Nabi (Vol.lII) by Syed
Sulaiman Nadvi may be consulted with profit.
'Allamah Nadvi rightly questions the possibility of
a reported operation like this as believed by Ibn
Hajar 'Asqalani, unless the earlier operation was
considered unsuccessful. Holding on good authority
that the incident did occur and that there was no
room for any doubt, he decides in favour of the
last-mentioned incident as part of the happenings
on the occasion of the Ml'raaj.
With due deference, I beg to differ. In my
humble opinion, the most likely occasion was when
he received the first revelation in the cave of
Hira, listed fourth in the above list. It might just
be a vision shown before he received the first
revelation to convince the Prophet that whatever
was beiog revealed to him thereafter was free
',.nn\ Alf -wnrldlv DoHut' n ein actuall
60
received by a pure heart. It he had had a previous
experience or the visitation or celestial being, say
at Haleemahts place, he should not have been as
started and terror-stricken as we learn on good
authority that he was.
Some writers of repute, such as Muhammad bin
'Isa Tlrmidhl, relate this incident of IISbaqqus Sadr"
to the opening verse of the Surah Al-1nsbIrabb:
(xciv)*16. Apart from the fact that the name of
the surah itself suggests "expansion" (IDIIbiraabn)
rather than physical operation (ltT8IIbreeh"), why
should the meaning of the verb IISbarba' in this
verse be different from what according to the
Quran, Moses meant in his prayer? - "0 my Lord,
expand my breast and ease my task for me". (xx:
25-26}*11 :.. or what Allah meant in verse vi: 126,
wherein it is said: It And whomsoever Allah intends
to guide, He expands his breast for Islam". The
relevant verse quoted above from the Surah al-
IDtrbiraah may, therefore, be translated thus:
"Didn't We expand thy breast and relieve thee of
thy burden."
This, of course, is the literal translation of
nSbarba Sack". The breast being the traditional seat
of emotion and knowledge, the expression wouid
. idiomatically mean "to rid the mind of some
w o r r Y t ~ t'to make the mind at peace with someth-
ing", "to unfold a mystery", or "to resolve a diffi-
culty". Thus, the whole affair will appear to be
rather. a psychological than a physical phenomenon,
and in that sense, the most appropriate occasion
was when the Prophet was to have the firstexper-
ience of the Divine communication and needed to
be assured beyond doubt of the veracity of what he
was going to receive in the future.
ADOLESCENCE: The Prophet had little to worry
about so long as his loving uncle, Zubalr, was alive.
No doubt, the death of his mother and grand-
father, in otJ.uick succession and during his impressi-
onable age, had left an indeUble hnpresslon of the
61
.hard realities of life and prepared him for' taking
life seriously. It was only after uncle Zubair's
death, when he was already past the adolescent age
of twenty, that he must have first felt the rub of
Ufe. By then, he had gathered the workaday know-
ledge .of men and matter on his occasional excurs-
Ions with friends and famDy members to places like
'Ukza and Dhul Majaz where fairs were seasonally
held. He had also travelled abroad with his uncle
Zubair - and very unlikely with Abu Taallb as one
can see - and had seen far-nung places like
Yemen, Syria and perhaps Bahrain and Ethiopia
(Habshah).
It is quite likely that he had come across
occasionally here and there some God-fearing
people, singled out as ItBUDafaa
ft
who, on their
own, abstained from idolatry and led a clean life.
Similarly, it is equally possible that he might have
met some 'Christlan missionaries too, for at least
one stationed near 'Ukaz had treated him for an
eye t r o ~ l e In his childhood (Vide: ftBallool-e-Akram
KI Sly_ Ziodagift by Dr. Hameedullah, on the
authority of Ibnul Jowzl). Besides, we know Makkah
had quite a sprinkling of Arabs who had embraced
Christianity, Judaism or Sabaism through contacts
with foreigners. He might have been impressed by
their comparatively clean life, their self-discipline
and austerity.
However, it is certain that till he received his
first revelation, he was an unlettered person
(ltUmmtlt in the Uteral sense) and knew nothing of
Faith or Scriptures, as evidenced by the following
Quranic verses:
And thou could neither read from a book
before this nor could ye write with thy
right hand, otherwise the purveyors of
falsehood might have (some cause) to
doubt. (xxix: 48)*18
And thou had known neither the Scripture
nor the Faith. (xiii: 52)*19

82
He Is reported to have taken part In a certain
-BarIMd Fljaar" ("Battle of Perfidy"), a four-year
battle In which his foster-mother Haleemah's main
tribe, Banu Havazin, were pitched against the
Quralsh while he was still In his teens. He himself
Is reported to have once said that he helped his
uncle (obviously, 2;ubair) by picking up arrows for
him, but he did not relish or cherish afterwards his
partiCipation even in that inslgnlflcarit role. Luckily,
the lives of his grandfather and his uncle had been
clean enough by contemporary to provide
him with the necessary grounding for the task he
was destined to undertake. Meditative and accusto-
med to taking life seriously, he earned quite a
reputation for being straight, dependable and under-
standing. Allah Himself suggests afterwards to the
Prophet to refer to this part of his Ufe as an
evidence of the truthfulness of his subsequent claim
to
(Say) 1 have spent' among you a life-
time before this Can't you reason out?"
(x: 17)*20
PERSONAL STATUS: He had also been initiated into
business by his uncle, Zubair, and 86me of his
friends of other Meccan families and was already
known in business circles. It Is certain that he
started with partnership as distinguished from
broking, . and soon built for himself a position
financially sound enough to offer Khadljah as
dower-money some twenty camels (ride: Sohall"s
. Ar-Balldal ADat) or a sbm of 500 dirhams or so as
reported by an early historian. Abu Jalfar
Muhammad Habeeb in his informative book,
Kltab1ld .,..,.;.,.. Abu Taalib, In his address at the
marriage - an address of very doubtful authenticity
- Is alleged to have claimed these camels to be his
own. *21. But knowing as we do, on good authority,
of Abu TaaUbls financial position, the reported
claim Is wrongly attributed to him.
. It Is indeed Intriguing to note the that
63
the Prophet's biographers generally lay In their
accounts on the supposed poverty of the Prophet,
particularly before his marriage with Khadijah, and
even make a virtue of it by giving currency to his
alleged assertion, Al-Paqru Patbrl
lt
("Poverty is
my pride").' This so-called "tradition", to be sure,
is regarded by "traditionlsts", like Ibn Taimiyyah
and Mulla 'Ali al-Qaari, as a mere concoction. The
latter writers:
As for ,the tradition 'Poverty is my
pride' and that the Prophet took pride in
it, It is all baseless as explained by
trustworthy traditionlsts (wAl-Huffaaz
lt
)
like al-' Asqalaanl and others. (Al-Mirq-
aaf: Vol.10, page 12')*22,
It should be noted here that the QuralJ deseri-
bes 'wealth' thus: " Your wealth that Allah made
for you 'the mainstay" (lv:5)*23 it also speaks of
'Poverty' thus: "The devil promises you poverty"
(ii:268)*24. Besides, Allah refers to wealth pointe-
dly. as one of his "favours" In one of the early
Surabs thus: II And we found thee destitute, so, made
thee prosperous". (xciU:8)*25. Now, it is very un-
likely that Allah here referred to the wealth of his
wife rather than his own.
MABBlAGE: It is very unrealistic' to . suggest, as
most writers unfortunately do, that the Prophet
'. happened to come across Khadijah, his would-be
wife, in the course of business dealings or that
Khadljah, "t any stage, was in need of the services
of her friend, Nafeesah, to have her name
suggested to him as a suitable partner In Ufe. All
this is a silly attempt to introduce an element of
dra ma, if nothing else, into a life held so sacred
by these writers themselves. Apart from any other
'old family connections, KhadIjah bint KhuvaiUd
happened to be the sister-in-law of Safiyyab, his
aunt, the full sister of his beloved uncle, foster-
brother and playmate, Hamzah. It would be' no
. flight of the Imagination to suppose that 'the
64
Prophet was paying visits to his aunt's 4llace and
might have met Khadijah many times before he had
any business dealing with her. Mfndyou, there was
no purdaII (customary vell') In. those days. Being a
widow, as reported by wrlters, of one or two
husbands, she was living with her brother, Al-
I Avvaam bin Khuvai1id. We do not hear of any of
her children - reportedly two sons named Hala and
Hind, and perhaps also a daughter, from her earlier
husband or husbands - living with her at that time.
Her independence and affluence seems to have been
greatly exaggerated. It is very Hkely that Safiyyah,
being fond' of both Khadljah, her sister-In-law, and
her own nephew, played an important role, a possi-
bility hitherto ignored by early writers, In bringing
the two souls clo$er and even suggesting the union
of the two. Khadljah must have been feeling very
lonely In Ufe and pining for a home of her own
and so perhaps was the Prophet too, who, as we
can guess, Vias a most eligible, {:it'omising y'oung
man. I doubt if the overriding consideration on
either side at any stage could be monetary.
The lack of imagination on the part of early
writers, Vaaqldl and others, is betrayed by the
conspicuous . absence of all near .relations of the
Prophet, such as, HaIDZah, '.Abbas, Safiyyah, etc.,
except Abu Taallb alone, and particularly of
Khadijah's brother Al-' Avvaam, of all her relations,
in the graphic accounts they give of the engage-
ment or w.eddlng ceremonies. Luckily, the English
translation of Ibn Ishaaq's "Seerat Basal Allab" has
now been published by A. Guillaume (Oxford Unive-
rsity Press). It mentions that Hamzah went with
the Prophet to KhuvaiUd bin Asad and asked for
Khadljah's hand (page 127).
KBADIlAH'S AGE: Another unimaginative element
introduced in the story Is the unrealistic and most
Improbable disparity in the ages of the two contra-
cting parties. It is somehow believed as an undispu-
ted fact that at the time of the marriage,Khadijah
. was forty while the Prophet was twenty-nve. This,
...
65
I dare say, Is highly untenable on biological as well
as factual grounds., Presuming that the age of
menopause varies between forty and fifty, I
suppose, in an exceptionally hot country like
Arabia, It should be round-about forty-five. We
know Fatimah was' the youngest and last of the
several issues borne by Khadijah. It Is, therefore,
to be safely presumed that sbe was born when
Khadijah was about to enter the age of menopause.
About "the period during wblcb a woman is
sexually mature", Dr. Norman Here observes: " On
an.,average one can reckon witb a span of from 30
to 35 'yeats Climate strongly infiuences the date
of the first menstruation. As a rule puberty Is
reached earlier in lower latitudes as is also the
menopause", Encyclopedia of Senal Knowledge",
Encyclopaedic Press, London, page 127). Moreover,
in the case of Khadijah, another factor has also to
be taken Intc)" account Dr. Henry N. Guernsey,
M.D., in his book on Obstetrics (Boerick and Tafel,
U.S.A., 1881), writes: "Who have borne several
children in rapid succession consequently arrive at
the change of Ufe much sooner." (p.544).
If we accept Khadijahts age of menopause as 50
at the latest, Fatimah should be presumed to have
been born when the Prophet . (being 15 years
younger than Khadijah as reported) was only 35,
that is five years before he attained prophethood).
In that case 'Ali and Faatimah would be almost of
the same age, with a difference of a year or so,
which nobody accepts. According. to Sheikh
Muhammad Kulalni, a Shiah divine of great repute
and compiler of the most authentic collection of
Shiah traditions "Al-Kaaft", (U8OOl, Kitabal Hujjah,
baab 112), Faatimah was born five years after the
Prophet had attained prophethood that is, when the
Prophet was 45 and Khadijah, on the generally
accepted view of being 15 years older, should be
sixty or so - an unbelievable proposition.
If Faatlmah was born two years after the
66
Prophet had attained prophethood as Is generally
believed,' . that is, when the Prophe.t was about
Khadijah's age, in that case, should work out; at 57.
on the assumption that she was 15 years older than
the Prophet.
, -
Now,' on,> the other.hand, If we take the average
age of menopause round-about 45 in those regions
as pointed out earlier, we may safely presume that
Khadijah was not more than 45 when Faati mah was
born - and that was .. as claimed, two years after
the Prophet had attained prophethood. In that case,
the difference in the. ages of Khadljah and the
Prophet would be reduced to only three years or so
- that ls, when the Prophet was 42, Khadijah.Was
45. Thus, at the time of the marriage, the ages of
the couple would most probably be 25 and 28.
This estimate of her age" surprisingly enough,
tqllies with what an eminent writer, Shahabuddin
an-Novairi (died 733 A.H.), maintained. He .writes
" Khadijah was then 28 years of age, and it is
also said she was, 40". (Nlbaayatul Arab, Cairo,
part 16, page He is, in a way, supported by
a report. noticed qyan old historian, Abu Ja'far
'Muhammad bin Habeeb (died 245 A.H.), the author
of Kltabal 1IcJIaaIJbU. He records: .
'The day the Prophet married her, he
was 25 years of age and she was 40 and
it Is also said he was 23 and Khadijah
was .28 and her dower money was 12
Auqiyah". (page 79)*21. (one Auqiyah ;;.
one ounce in weight and 40 Dirhams in
value as a coin)'.
This 'is further corrobor,ated by Az-Zarqani in
his famous commentary of Al-Mayllllldb of AI-
Qastalanl. He cites the authority of AI-Mughalta-
ee:
It And it is also said . (she was) 28 years
of age as narrated by AI-Mughal-ta-ee
67
~ d other". (page 200, Volume one)*28.
Above all, according to Ibn Sa'd (died 230 A.H.),
'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, too, beld:
"Khadijab was 28 the day tbe Propbet
married her ... ". (At-T ...... t. Volume 8,
Fla-N .... ", page 10, Leyden Edition)*29
Tbe motivation of stretching the age of Kbadi-
jah to the edge of tbe period of menopause
becomes. clear . from the oblique suggestions made
later in support of a fantastic thesis that
Faatimah, alter Qaasim, was the only issue Irom
the Prophet, whUe other daughters - Zalnab,
Ruqayyah and Umme Kulthoom - were all from
Khadijah I s earlier husband or husbands! This runs
counter to the Quran wbich expressly uses the word
Baaaat (in plural, which in Arabic applies to more
than' nro) for the daughters of the Prophet. (xxxiii:
59)*30. We all know the Quran insists (as in the
case of Zaid bin Haarithah) that issues should be
r.eferred to their real parents only.
We find that K'hadijah, with her mature age,
understanding temperament and an adult approach
to married life, provided him with all that care
and circumspection which he had missed before
because . of the unfortunate death of his mother
whUe he was jqst a child. We notice them enter
married Ufe on a happy note which ran through the
entire span of their 2S-years union, which, in a
remarkable way, provides an' illustration for the
following verse:
"And 01 His signs is that He c r e t e ~ for
you Irom a mong you mates In order that
you get solace' in tbem and He caused
love and tenderness between you. (xxx:
21)*31.
n is this love and tenderness which he always
cherished alter Khadijah'. deatb. 'Aayeahah, his
68
favourite wife, is reported to have once remarked
that she felt never so Jealous as she did when the
Prophet spoke of .Khadijah in loving and glowing
terms. .
It looks. as if it were meant to be an eloquent
testimony to tbelr intense mutual love that all his
issues were born of Kbadljah, except Ibrahim, who
was from Marta, the Copt. To be precise, Khadijah
gave hhn at least four sons, If .not more, and. four
daughters. Of the sons, who all died very young,
Qasim, a toddler, provided bim with his favourite
nickname Abu! Qaastm. Inctdentally, about the rest,
there has been an unseemly controversy: 'Whether
there were none else except one .little-known
t Abdullah, wbo alone was variously named as
t Abdullah, Taalr and Tayylb, or there were, in
fact, two or three different persons thus named. It
appears that the Arabs had" a wonderful memory
wbich tailed only where it was least expected

89
CHAPl'ER-t
LONE STARIN HEAVY WEATHER
'The material status naturally added a new
dimension to his transparently simple and unostent-
atious life, characterized by an inborn sense of
and propriety' as reflected in his aloofness
from the reckless . revelries of the people around
him, his noticeable detachment trom the rites,
customs and practices of the day and his deep
disdain for the blind faith of his generation in the
follies and foibles of its forefathers. These revolut-
ionary traits coupied with his deep respect for the
basic loyalties to his Creator and his fellow-beings,
as could be inferred from his devotion to duty and
love of service to his people, must have marked
him out from the rest.
The peaceful home life seems to have given him
greater opportunity and scope for 'his insatiable
urge for peace within and peace without. It is
plausible that he might have been initially attrac-
ted by the monasticism - disowned and decried
later by the Quran nvii: 27) - because of its over-
emphasis on austerity, self-discipline and meditat-
ion. I am inclined to think that it is perhaps this
transitory phase of the Prophetts life to which God
makes a pointed reference in the verse:
tt And 'He found groping (for guida-
nce), so He showed the right path". ,
(sciii:7) *1
He would go out tor mUes, away from humdrum
of the town-life, to get some respite from its'
corroding He is reported to have been
spendil1g considerable time, sometimes for days
together, on a meagre diet, engrossed in introspec-
tion and meditation within a somewhat rectangular
cave near the top of the Mount Hira(now popularly
.............. act ".IAhAl- - "
70
Enllghtenment), more than 1000 feet h 19b, at a
dis.tance of two to tbree mUes from the Ka'bah,
off the road that goes to Mlna and Arafaat. It was.
about , mUe from Khadijah t s house. A visit to the
cave high up on the mountain, negotiable only by a
natural but difficult and circuitous pathway, would
give one the impression as it it were really meant
for deep meditation, for it has room enough for
just ol)e person to recline and roll about with ease.
and high enough tor a man. of average he Igbt to
stand to his legs. Incidentally, its entrance faces
the Ka'bah too. It should be educative torenect
for a while what an important role mountains have
played In history in the development of religious
thought allover the world through the ages. Man
has made them pleasure resorts and denied to
himself the lasting pleasure of that
experience which a discerning eye and a renective
mind could otherwise get out of them. I dare say
that a visit to a lonely and almost aband.oned hill
cannot but give quite a shake-up for a moment t.o
an honest, renective person in search of his soul.
He will find in the awesome serenity of his solit-
ude an irresistible challenge of the majesty of its
Creator. '
Before the Prophet was actually commissioned
to come out in open revolt against the corrupt
social order and to undertake a mission destined to
be world-wide, of setting things. right, he h.ad
attained the full stature of a respected and trusted
person (ameea) to whom people would entrust their
valuables and bring their problems for solution. A
interesting story is available of this period of
his life. He was about 35 when he is reported to
have actually prevented a tribal controversy from
developing into a bioody connagration.
As the story goes, the Ka'bah, never known to
be a strongly built structure, was once damaged
beyond repair as a result of a freakish .nood. The
Meccans resolved to rebuild it and allotted, by
'consenSus, a specific job to each tribe. However,
11
there arose a bitter controversy. with regard to the
prestigious job of installing the sacred Black stone,
a relic of Prophet Ibrahim's time, in its proper
place. All the tribes vied for the singular honour
and none was prepared to forego its claim. The
controversy assumed threatening proportion. Luckily
for aU, the Prophet happened to pass that ~ y
early next moming. And, lot on the advice of a
wise man among them, they unanimously decided to
refer the matter to him for arbitration. He hurrie-
dly surveyed the situation and hit upon a remark-
ably clever plan, clever not only for his age but
for any age for that matter. It cut the Gordian
knot and defused the explosive situation. He asked
them to spread a. sheet of cloth and invited the
representatives of aD the .tribes to hold it on all
sides. Placing. the sacred stoDe on the sheet, he
asked them to carry it to the place where it was
to be fixed. There he himself Ufted the stone and
put it in its right place.
By now, disceming people could, and actually
did, read from his face that he was shaping up for
a bigger role and a higher station in ute. A very
unusual proof of this was later provided by a
person as very intimate as his own wife - a rare
exception to the general rule that famUiarity
breeds contempt. There is no doubt that attainment
of prophet hood, as any human attainment for that
matter, is not, in the ultimate analysis, acquired by
individuals with their own effort but endowed as
Allah's favour to whomsoever He wishes. At the
same time, there is no doubt that one has to
qualify oneself in some measure for the privilege
by one's own conduct. He has to respond to his
inner urge, explore his hidden talent and develop it
with singie-minded devotion and perseverance by
canalizing aD his capabUities In a particular direc-
tion.
It is no disrespect to the prophets in. general
(Peace be on them). This is just to state a fact of
fife by way of illustration that I make bold to
72
point out that Sir Issac Newton, who was destined,
and I repeat deatIaed, to propound the Law of
Gravitation for the world, was certainly not the
only person in the world who ever noticed an apple
falUng from a tree, nor was James watt, who was
simnarly cIestIJaI to discover the power of steam
to run a locomotive, the first e v ~ to notice the
Ud being lifted up by the steam from a boiling .
kettle. In fact t all those who are ever destined or
commissioned by Allah to carry out a certain
assignment share, among them, three outstanding
qualities endowed by the Creat.or: dn observant eye,
a Challenging spirit, and a single-minded devotion
to a Particular abjectlY. In Ufe, assigned, of
course, by the Creator.
CALL TOPROPHETBOOD: The Prophet attained
prophethood when 'he Just paued the age of 40, a
mature age by any standard. We believe ont.Jle
authority of the Quran that he was the last and
nnal torch-bearer of Islam. This concept of the
First and the last in our calculation In the context
of the entire creation is, in fact, based on an
Illescapable illusion of thpe and space Inherent In
the phenomenon of aU human perception. We are so
designed that, ~ i t h the given mental framework,
we can perceive or locate an object only with the
help of the abscissa and the ordinate of time and
space. The fact of the matter, however, Is that all
creation came into being one for all with the
Divine nat "K.- ("Be"), at a point transcendental
beyond all time and space - I 'mean that geomet-
rical point of "eternity" with no dimensions In
terms of past, present and future. It is .for our
sake - because of oUJ' natural limitation of the
syndrome of time and space - that in the Quran,
too, a part of the film, so to say, of the creation
coming to life at one stroke, has been shown to us
In slow motion with the neeessaty sequence of time
and space. In the real metaphysical sense none
precedes another in creation though, no doubt, all
seem to us to perform their assigned parts in their
. appropriate time and sequencd. The whole concept
73
is too abstract to be appreciated, much less
comprehended, by those uninitiated in abstract
thinking required, say, in pure matbenatics.
He -was not yet forty when he began to have
strange experience of prior visions and dreams of
things to corne. He must have viewed this new
abnormal development with mixed feelings because
all manner of stories were current about devils and
sorcerers in the superstition-ridden society. The age
of 40 seems to be a very significant turn in life.
Prophet Moses (peace be on hi m), too, was corn mi-
ssioned at that very age. Speaking generally of the
people, the Quran, in the following verse, refers to
40 as the proper age when one attains full matur-
ity of body and mind.
"When he attaineth full strength (and
stature) and reacheth forty years".
{xlvi: 15).2
IncidentallY, on this basis, Ibn Khaldoon, the father
of sociology, propounded his theory of the rise and
fall of nations by taking every forty years in a
nationts life as the normal age of each distinct
"Jeel" (generation) in his celebrated "Al-Muqaddi-
mah". For a comparison in Bible, the Book of
Isaiah Ch.29:11-12 may be seen.
When the Prophet actually reached the optimum
age of 40, a very significant event did take place.
The story of how he was initiated into his destined
assignment has been told on good authority with
little variations by all writers and traditionists. As
t ~ story goes, once in the month of Ramadaan,
when he generally spent much longer time than
usual in meditation in the eave of Hlra, there
appeared all of a sudden a celestial being in the
form of a man. Rousing him from his deep, engro-
ssing reverie, the intruder (who later introduced
himself as Archangel Gabriel = Arabic JibreeI) held
him in a close, tight embrace and aceosted him as
one who was assigned the role of a' Prophet. He
74
. had hardly been able to compose hi mself when he
was enjoined to read. On pleading his inability to
do so, he was tutored to repeat, word by word,. the
first five verses of the Surah "AJaq., his first
revelation, beginning with "Recite in the name of
thy Lord who created tt(xcvi: 1-5)*3. These verses
significantly underline the role of the pen in disse-
mination of knowledge. In. some versions of the
story it is. also narrated that before the dialogue
started the Archangel laid the Prophet on the
ground, bent open his breast, took out his heart,
thoroughly washed off impurities and neatly
replaced it without causing. him any injury except,
of course, what was but natural, the horrors of a
most bizarre experience. .
Anyhow, the Prophet must have run halter-skel-
ter to his house and narrated the unusual happen-
ings, presumably in bated breath, to his spouse.
Being maturer perhaps in experience, Khadijah,
calm and self-possessed, consoled him by saying
that it could not be a devilish .prank and that Al-
mighty Allah could not ever mean any harm toone
who was by nature so good, so kind and so God-
fearing as be was. I quote her statement, reported
by Bukhari, as an eloquent testimony not only to
her own deep inSight into men and matter but also
to her implicit faith tn Allah Almighty and the
personal character of her husband. She is reported,
on good authority, to have said: "No by. Allah,
never will .Allah put you in any awkward situation
causing disoomfiture. Verily you do good to your
near relations; you are helpful to all and sundry;
you provide for the destitute, entertain the qJlest
and uphold the cause of the right even in adverse
circumstanceslt.(videl SaheebBuldaart)*4. Thus
Khadijah sums up succinctly her own esti mati on of
her }lusband - a rare and remarkable tribute to a
husband coming from a proverbially doubting wife.
For his satisfaction, she is reported to have
taken him to her cousin, Varqah bin Naufal, a
convert to Christianity. He was struck by the plain
and simple narration of a very unusual incident and
75
heartened him. by saying that to him the whole
affair was reminiscent of the queer things recorded
in the Scripture about holy penonages of the old.
incidentally, the Prophet'. naive reaction to the
bizarre incident contra-Indicated any possibUity of
his having had a similar experience before of a
celestial being'S visitation either in his childhood at
Haleemah's place or anywhere else.
PIBST LESSON: It seems as If he was given some
respite to recuperate from the after-effects of the
impact he had of the first ever vivid perception of
the Archangel or any celestial being for that
matter. For, we are told that for some days he
was not disturbed by any further visitations nor did
he receive any mysterious communication. No doubt
he would occasionally hear strange sounds as if
bellS were ringing at a distance or some one was
calling out from afar. Suddenly after some time he
would again come across strange beings on his way
back from Mount Hlra, his usual resort. He would
return home with a heavy stride, exhausted and
shattered, profusely perspiring, and would ask to be
covered with a blanket.
On one such occasion later on, while he lay
wrapped up, he was shaken by a sound from an
unknown quarter, addressing him -thus:
0, thou, wrapped up in folds, arise and
warn (that is, inCUlcate a sense of acco-
untability in the people), announce the
Majesty of thy Lord, keep thy clothes
clean of impurities, keep (thyself) away
from pollution (of all kind such as Idola-
try, pagan rites and rituals), and never
favour anyone expecting much gain (in
return), and persevere with thy Lord
(!xXiV: 1-7)*5
This was, In a way, a broad hint that he should go
slow with his worldly vocation of trade and busl-
. ness and pay more attention to purity within and
urit without. It was obviously the first lesson in
. 16
self-discipline.
Earlier, when such Inexplicable occurrences grew
more frequent, he was naturally alarmed and
thought of. being possessed by an evU spirit. In
utter disgust, he confided his mlsglvlnp to his wife
and expressed his fear. Ibn Hlshaam gives a very
amusing story, which I cite for all It is worth from
Dr. Hameedullah's treatise "1Iasu1 A.kanD Id SI,8IIl
Zi ...... As the story goes, Khadljah, In her
wisdom thought of a very' novel and intelligent
device to detect whether these strange visitations
were really devU-orlented or of celestial beings.
She advised the Prophet that when he had such a
visitor next tl me, he should come over to her ~ n d
sit rather close to her. Soon an occasion arose and
he did as advised. Coming closer, she asked if the
mysterious penon was stl11 there, and on being told
that he was, she drew stDl closer and,. behaving in
a rather intimate manner, repeated the earlier
question. On being told that as soon as she adopted
too intimate a posture and tried to make advances,
the strange figure, all of a sudden, evaporated in
thin air, she laughed heartily and assured the
Prophet that It could only be a good-natured celes-
tial being and not a devil or an evil spirit.
According to Ibn Ishaaq, perhaps on the
authority of his teacher Imam Zuhri, there was no
revelation or communication for almost three years
at a stretch after the first revelation received in
the cave of Hira and that this period was later
known as Patanh, the period of recession. This
does not tally with the accounts on record to the
contrary on equally good authority. It seems justifi-
able, therefore, to hold that for a few long months
he received no new revelation in the form of an
instruction or guidance, but this game of hide and
seek went on till he became quite at home with
the experience and the entire business became part
of his Ufe. At any rate, he did start receiving, bit
by bit, Instructions in self-discipline as exemplified
. by the above-quoted verse from Suratul Muddath-
thIr", as if he was ~ i n g gradually groomed for the
77
momentous tasks ahead. It is, of course, not.
possible to say definitely which particular instruc-
tions, and in what chronological order, were revea-
led during this period. However, by the import of
certain surabs and verses, people have been led to
guess that at least " Al-Muddathtblr" (ixxiv) -
which Ibn Jaabir believed tp be the first ever
revelation, even earlier than Suratul Alaq (xcvi),
popularly known as Iqra - and Surahs Al-Qalam
(Ixviii), Al-Faatlhab (1), and certain verses of
Surahs such as As-Sho'araa (xxvi), As-Sboora (xlii),
Al-Muzzammll (Ixxiii) , AI-Hijr (xv) and Al-Haaqqab
(Ixix) might have been .among the earliest revealed.
The Prophet had by now not only been accusto-
med to the visitation of the Archangel Gabriel but
had also become so attached to him that he would
badly miss the latter if he absented himself for
lohg. On one such occasion, during those days,
there seems to have occurred an inordinately long
period of recession or absence of communication.
The Prophet became so perturbed that he was
almost beside himself with the fear that perhaps he
had incurred the displeasure' of Allah or perhaps he
had forfeited His favours. It is in that context that
Suratud-Doba (xciii) was revealed to console him. I
may be forgiven for quoting the entire surah which
delineates three clear stages in the early life of
the Prophet, enumerates three divine Cavours and
identifies accordingly three obligations on his part:
"By the Forenoon and by the Night in
its deep silence: Thy Lord hath not fors-
aken .thee nor doth He despise thee.
Verily what is to follow is better for
thee than what hath preceded. In the
course of time, thy Lord will bestow on
those that which would please thee. Did
not He find thee an orphan so provided
shelter? (Is it not that) He found thee
groping (for guidance) so showed the
way and that He found thee destitute so
granted prosperity? Therefore,(in return)
78
be not harsh to the orphan,rebuke not
the enquirer ( .... Sea'el") and, . as for
the bounty of thy Lord,. let that be
discusse!1 pff and on". . (.xeiii)*S
ilis' to be the word
"As-Saa'el" in the' text here doeS. not mean a
"beggar" but in its literal sense an "Emquirer", for
it is DOt In the context of "He found theedestit-
ute"*7. But, as is evident, it is in the context of
"And He found thee groping for guid.nce
u
*8. Here,
In fact, three obligations are adSertation,
seriatim, with three aistinct favours.
It wlll be seen that the pointed reference to
the "Forenoon" and "the Night with its deep
silence" in this context is very apt and
underlines the rhytbm of life which, in the subse-
quent surab, has been clarified thus:.
Verily Ease is. with Adversity.
Certainly with Adversity (comes) Ease
(xciv: 5-6)*9
Froin the words "Vala to the
future in tbe Sarah quoted abov.e, .I am inclined to
infer that the . Surab precedes at least the verse
"And warn the nearest relatives of thy family" in
Surah xxvi, if not the verse "Arise and warn" in
Surah lxxiv also, in point of tt me in the chain of
early revelaHons.
E.6RLY . CONVERTS: In the beginning, just after the
verse "Arise and Warn" - that is, "Inculcq,te a
sense of accountabUity In the pec)ple'! - in Al-
Muddatbtidr Vias revealed, and- perhaps even before
the verse "And warn the nearest relations of thy
family" in Asb-Sbo'araa was revealed, the Prophet
presumably. took' Into his confidence the slave of
Khadijah, Zaid bin Haarithah (who, because of the
Prophet's attachment, was nick-named 'Zaid bin
Muhammad' and, incidentally, has had, among the
. Companions; the unique distinction of being referred
19
to in the Quran by name) and also his closest
friend, .4bu Bakr 'Abdullah bin 'Uthman, besides, .
of coune, his spouse and' nnt confidante,Khadijah.
I believe the prophet's cousin from his aunt
Safiyyah blnt ., AbdU MuttaUb, Zubalr bin Al-
'Avvaam (who was incidentally Khadijah's nephew),
was the youngest convert who came under the
direct innuence from the very beginning.
'Ali, at this stage, was a child of or six
years of age and could not be in a position to have
any say in the matter of choosing a particular way
of Ufe. Besides, a w8l'd would naturally follow his
guardian as a matter of course. There was no
question of persuasion or conversion. in his case. No
doubt it goes to 'Ali'..s credit tbat, after 10 to 12
years thence,' w1lim he was adult enough to use his
own 'discretion, he himself referred his cousin's way
of life to of his father's (Abu Taalib). Luckily
for him, Taalib, too, did not assert his right
and revoke his nephew's guardianship of his son, in
spite of the fact that he looked askance at his
nephew's drift. He could very well have taken back
his son.
Of this group of early confidants, or we may
say the first batch of converts, Abu Bakr, whose
sagacity was already known to people, proved a
live wire and, on his own, influenced a good few,
Including his friends 'Abdur Rahmaan bin 'Auf,
Talhah bin 'UbaldUlah and Sa' eed bin Zaid, husband
of Umar's sister Faatimah blntU-Khataab, and the
Prophet's own near relations, 'Uthmaan bin
'Affaan, a grandson of his aunt Umme HuRalm' al-
Baldaa, and a first cousin of the Prophet's mother,
Sa'd bin Abi-Vaqqas". When later the Prophet was
called. upon to come out in the open, these early
converts, together with early accessions. of
'Uthmaan bin Maz-'oon, Abu Ubaidah 'Aamfr bin
'Abdlllah al-Jarraah, Arqam and 'AbdlJUah bin
Mas'ud among men, and Faatimah bint il-Khattaab,
'Umar's sister and Sa'eed bin Zaidls wife, and
. Lubaabah bint il-Haarith, wife of the Prophet's
80
uncle ' Abbas and mother of Quthum bin t Abbas
among women, formed the nucleus of the new
budding community, wAlt-Snhlqcaa .. Analoaa
w
-
the only prestigious category named by the ,Quran
itself, which was later extended to Include "As-
....... Badrw who took part ill the battle of 8adr
In 2 A.H. To determine 'IDter _ seniority :tbls
category of 300 and odd souls is a futile exercise.
None of them was, at any rate, "protected"
from worldly temptation or sins. A number of
them, no doubt, were granted a sort of prior
amnesty in reward for the illustrious services
rendered to the Divine cause in most adverse and
trying circumstances. It Is not for us to dilate on
the nature or the rationale of this sort of blanket
amnesty. It should be sufficient for us to know
that "Allah was pleased with them and they were
pleased with Allah. That Is the greatest achieve-
ment" (v: 119)*10. No doubt, the laws of the
realm would apply to them .. In the case of ordin-
ary citizens, but common sense demands that their
personal status on that accDunt should at least be
weighed against the .bodY of evidence considered
ordinarily sufficient to condemn a person. However,
I feel that; In one or two cases In the time of the
second' Caliph, particularly in the case of Qudaa mab
bin Maz'oon, the husband of Caliph 'Umar's own
sister, Safiyyab bint Il-Khattaab, full justice was
not done to the recognized status of the accused,
probably due to the polltlcal pressure on the
Callph. '
For months the small circle of Ilke-
minded persons would meet In the house' of one of
the earliest converts, Arqa m, whose father is
merely described as Abdul Arqam. This house happ-
ened to be situated near the Ka'bah, while
Khadijah's house where the Prophet had shifted
after marriage was about two miles away. Slowly
but steadily this small, unassuming band of God-
fearing people, fired with missionary zeal to work
for a cleaner life and a new order of society, 'grew
J
I
81
into a sizable community. The vitality and vigour
of the new movement 'Can be judged from the fact
that the bulk of 'the early converts consisted of
sbives and free, men in their twenties, drawn from
every walk of Ufe, mostly from the elittramUies
of Makkah. "

82
CHAPTER-7
SOCIETY VERSUS BANlTf .
Some time towards the end of the Initial form-
ative period of three years or so, word was recei-
ved' by the Prophet to o m ~ out In the open and
take his near relations Into confidence. To quote:
And warn (that Is, inculcate a sense of
accountabruty In) the . near relations of
thy famny . and have thy tenderly care
for those of the believers who fo llow
thee. If they defy tbee say: I am quits
of what you do. And .puf thy trust in
the Mighty and the Merciful One.
(xxvi: 214:-217)*1
This, in effect, was to bring a hornets' nest
about one's ears. It invited trouble from the hard
core of the QuralSh who had been watching hi m
menacingly for quite some time. For he would
spend; perhaps, longer ti me than others in the
Hara .. but would scrupulously, and may be demons-
trably, keep himself away from all .pagan rites and
rituals usually performed by the Arab community in
general. As a matter of fact, once the Prophet was
actually molested by certain hotheaded people on
that account, and the Prophet's uncle and foster-
brother, Hamzah, having heard of it, ran to his
rescue and, in a temper, publlc::ly denounoed then
and . there all that was being prflctlsed In the
Hara .. and openly sided with his nephew. This
naturally Infuriated the Quraish as It was an open
challenge to their authority.
Under the divine Instructions, he formally laun-
ched his movement by inviting Banu Haashlm, his
own clan. Some thirty to, .forty prominent people
turned up, mostly his own near relations, and
assembled by the Mount Safa near the Ka'bah. He
reportedly opened his address with. a few words
83
about hi mself to establish his credentials as their
. well-wisher' and warned them against the general
waywardness of the people and the perils they were
heading He solicited their cooperation In
remodelllng the society on' the principle of purity
within and purity without. Most of the people kept
quiet, having, perhaps, nothing worthwhile to rebut
the thesis with, but some stood up in defiance. His
real uncle, , Abdul 'Uua - nick-named Abu Labab
("Father of Flame") because of his ruddy face; but
the word Labab (Flame) is metaphorically used for
"Hell fire" in the SuraIl Al-Yhab (cxt) ... who was
perhaps already disgusted and annoyed with his
nephew's 'cheeky' behaviour, lost his patience and
reacted rather violently. He and his wife ordered
their sons, I Utbah and I Utaibah to break the
engagement with the two daughters of the Prophet,
Ruqayyah and Umme Kulthoom.
The early writers report that t AU, in spite of
his young age of not more than eight or nine years
on any calculation, was present at the meeting of
the elders and that he was the only one who stood
up in support of his cousin and guardian and whole-
heartedly identified hi mself with the noble' cause.
To give a realistic touch to the obviously "dressed-
up" story, they report that he particularly emphasi-
zed, in his short address, the infirmity of his legs
and the eye trouble (ophthalmia) from which he
was suffering at that time.
Qui Sulaiman Mansurpuri, in his well-known
book wBahmatul Bl-t AJameea" (Volume one) quotes
Abul Fida, the historian, who lends colour to the.
account by adding that, having heard what I Ali had
to say, the Prophet turned to his old Abu
Taallb, and counselled hi m to follow henceforth the
advice of his son, 'All. Natur8nY the people had a
hearty laugh and understandably ridiculed the
Prophet. 'Allamab Shibll, for whose erudition and
I have very great respect, with his
characterIStic nourish of rhetorics, holds this
incident as "the most bafning spectacle of just two
84
. souls, including one only 16 years of age, deciding
the fate of the world" (Seerata Nabl, volume.
one). To me, not only the entire report is "bafn-
ing" but also the support lent by the 'AlIa mah to
this story already adjudged to be a baseless conco-
ction, aC,cording to Ibn Taimiyyah because of one
Abu Maryaril 'Abdul Ghaffaar bin Qaasim ai-Ansari,
a confirmed liar, according to Imam Dhahbl, Abu
Da-ood and other canpetent critics of traditions.
.AU'S AGE: Equally "Bafning" is 'Allamah ShibU's
assertion, by implication, that 'Ali' was 18 years of
age at the time. This incident is said to have
taken place in the third year after the Prophet
attained prophet hood. According to ' Ali's . own
assertion -Nabjul BaJa.,,- para 69;Khutbah
No.27), he in the battle of Badr when
he was not yet twenty (-Va IIa BaJagbtul
'lsIu:eea-). Since the battle was fought in 2 A.H.,
'Ali could not have been more than 18 years at
the time of Migration (al-Hijrah) and, therefore,
about six of age when the Prophet received
the first revelation. Thus, at the time the incident
under reference took place he would be hardly nine
years of age at the most. Moreover, his reported
address at the meeting, whatever be Its worth
according to critics of "Traditions", also underlines
the fact of his tender age.
Thus, the first public reaction was far from
heartening. However, the long period of ca mpaign
of rebuff and ridicule that followed could not break
the spirit of the Prophet either. Soon, as a next
step, the Prophet was called upon to go out . prea-
ching.
And thus We have inspired In thee an
"oration" in Arabic that '.Ie mayest warn
(or inCUlcate the sense of accountabU-
ity) in the (people of the) 'Mother of
Townships' (Makkah) and those around it
So, for that, summon (the people) and
stand firm as thou art commanded".
(xlii: 7-15)*2
85
MOUNTING OPPOSITION: Now the reaction became
more violent. His wayside meetings were disturbed
by hooligans; urchins were set at him to pelt
stones. Families and tribes tightened their hold on
their own people and ostracized or persecuted all
,those suspected of having sympathy for his cause.
For example, 'Uthman bin 'Affaan, who later
became the Third Caliph, was tortured by his uncle
when he came to know of his conversion. Mus'ab
bin 'Umair was turned out of the house for good
by his strict mother and was down and out for
quite some time. Bond-men and family associates
(Holafaa), for whom the new egalitarian movement
had a special attraction, were naturally worse off.
Bilal bin AI-Ribah, a negro, was one of those who
had such a rough treatment from his tough master,
Umayyah bin Khalaf al-Johmee,' that, while once
passing that way Abu Bakr took pity on him and
got him freed by paying off his price. 'Umar, on
that account, used to say of Abu Bakr that "he
was not only our chief but also a deliverer of our
'chief'" (alluding to Bilaa!). Incidentally, as luck
would have it, Umayyah bin Khalaf was killed by
his own ex-slave, Bilaal, i.n the battle of Badr.
Besides Bilaal, Khabaab. bin AI-Arth, Yaasir, his
son, 'Ammaar' and his wife Sumayyah were among
those who are even today remembered with feeling
for having been subjected to blood-curdling torture.
Yaasir and his small family suffered at the hands
of Abu Jahl (real name 'Umar bin Hishaam al-
Makhzoomi). Sumayyah has had the distinction o,f,
being the first woman martyred for the cause. Her
husband, 'Yaasir, too, died of torture' and was
perhaps one of the earliest martyrs among men.
This happened about five years after the advent of
Prophethood ..
In these circumstances, what steeled the will
and determination of the Prophet waS presumably
such heartening words of Allah as the following:
88
And be not grieved on account at them
and have thy tender care for the faith-
ful. And say: "Verily I am only a plain
Warner So proclaim what thou art
commanded and keep aside from those
who take partners beside Allah (Al-
Musbrikooa)". Verily We suffice thee (as
protection) against those who scoff.
(xv: 88-95)*3
Undaunted, he redoubled his efforts to increase his
sphere of infiuence. He would J>e seen preaching at
market places, at fairs, at public. meeting places
and on occasions of tribal festivities. He would
recite verses revealed to him in denunciation of
their false gods and o'bnoxious practices that had
crept into the Arabian society, sanctioned, of
course, by their forefathers in their supposedly
infallible wisdom. The Intrinsic literary beauty of
the verses and his recitation with feeling and
devotl.onwould hold the audience spell-bound.
A VILE CANARD: To divert the attention of the
people, the hoodlums would chuckle 'and clap and
even resort tp making miscbievous interpolations
and putting ludicrous words into his mouth. On one
such occasion, the Prophet was reciting from Surah
An-Najm (lill) with great effect on the audience
and as soon as he reached the verse:
Do you see aI-Laat and aI-'Uzza, and
Manat, the last of the trio. (llii:19-20)*
some smart fellow interpolated, by way of ridicule,
the words: "These are sublime, comely goddesses
and their intercession wlll certalnly be sought".*5,
and the people spread the news throughout Makkah
that the Prophet had, after all, come round and
compromised his position by paying homage 10 their
gods whom he had been hitherto denouncing. The
propagandists further added that the Prophet, on
reciting these verses, went to the extent at prostr-
ating himself in solemn veneration. Some of the
87
simple, half-baked converts were led to wonder if
that was really so and if the end of their persecu-
tion was soon to come about. So much so that the
rumour travelled to Ethiopia (HaNba
b
) and some of
those who had constituted the first party of
migrants to Habshah In the 5th year of the prophe-
thood, returned home misled by the baseless rumout
that some sort of conciliation had been brought
about In Makkah. They were, however, rudely
disappointed on their arrival in Makkah and soon
became a target of more severe persecution. At
last, they, along with others, migrated for the
second time to Habshah.
What is really amazing Is the gull1bfUty of our
learned. such as Ibn Ishaaq, Vaaqldi and
even Ibn Jareer who held, years after-
wards, that the stor.y had some basis, that the
Prophet did utter these apparently nonsensical
words. They gave currency to this humbug and, on
the basis of thiS, later writers of eminence, such
as Bazaar, Qadi, Ayaad and even Ibn Hajar
, Asqalani, propounded their astounding thesis that
Satan could take possession even of a Prophet's
faculties and Interpolate in the course of a verse
befng revealed. They, however, in their wisdom,
that Allah would of course, later on rectify
such lapses on the part of Prophet. Surprisingly, it
did not occur to them where their theory would
lead. For fuller treatment of this idiotic
"tradition", Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's learned. work
Khutabat-e-AbmadlYJah- may be read with profit.
The effect of such antics of 'the Disbelievers
could, at most, be only shortUved. The people were
soon disillusioned' when they noticed no change
whatsoever in the Prophet's attitude to their false
gods. The newly-founded community, on the other
hand, continued snow-balling with dany accessions
fJ'om all walks of life and posed a real threat to
the elite and those with vested Interests in
Makkah. The Meecans soon put their heads together
aod to bring pressure on Abu Taallb to use
88
his authority as' the head of the famDy as well as
the chieftain of Banu Haashim. Being convinced of
their case, he tried hla utmost, in his own way, to
bring round his recalcitrant nephew but found him
as adamant as, ever. It Is reported that
based his side pf the case on grounds of, common
sense and fair play as wen as his undeniable right
to follow the dictates of hla own conscience. As
the story goes, he declared 'that were the wealth
of tbe entire world, nay, even the sun and the
mooD, offered to bim in the bargain, he would
reject the offer off hand.
In esthnating the InOuence of Abu TaaUb, the
deputationlsts, ift, fact, counted without 'Abbas, who
had a great hold on his elder brother because of ,
the, former's physical and financial handicaps.
'Abbas, on the other hand, was. alre,.dy neutralized,
if riot actually converted under the Infiuence of his
wife, Lubaabah bint ll-Haarith and, hls ward and
nephew Ja'far, Abu T.aallb'$ son. Both of them had
been converted,. presumably not without his knowl-
edge. I am, inclined to believe that 'Abbas had
actually been convinced of the truth of the new
,Faitb but, being rather worldly wise, was not
ared to risk hls enviable position in the manage-
ment of the affairs of the Ka 'bah and in the
counsels of Banu Haashim, a position rendered all
. the more enviable by Abu Taalib's ineffectiveness
because of his handicaps.
'UMAR'S CONVERSION: The plan having fallen
throogh, the opponents now began to think of the
direct ae,tion alinlng at the liquidation of the
source of all their They were on the
lookout for a "tougb guy" to dispose of the Prophet
once for an. Apparently, none came fprward even
'for a handsome reward offered. The lack of pluck
In the youth of the time touched 'Umar bin 11-
Khattaab on 'the raw, and he .took upon himself to
do the job, as a public-spirited man, without any
monetary consideration or gain. As he is reported
to' have himself said later on, he took a sword and
89
set off from his house in a dashing manner. On his
way to the house of Arqam where the Prophet used
to spend, most of his ti me those days. he met with
an old friend who,' having noticed an unusual dash
in his gait, enquired curiously what the matter was.
On learning . of his violent intentions, the friend
laughed sarcastically and quipped, "Better take care
of your own sister and brother-in-law, Sa'eed bin
Zaid, than embark on such a lofty mission. For
both have already joined the rebels". Shocked to
hear this from a third person, he decided to
dispose of them first. He ran to the house of
Sa'eed bin Zaid and was taken aback when his own
sister, Faatimah, defiantly admitted in the face of
her strong-willed and short-tempered brother that
she and her husband had accepted the new Faith
long ago. He was, all of a sudden, denated and
was curious to know what made these sensible
persons so vulnerable to the wiles of a few adven-
turers of no standing His sister recited a few verses
from Surah xx, so the report says, and 'Umar, on
hearing them, was thrown completely out of gear
by their impact. Being highly impulsive, he decided
then alid there to embrace Islam and went straight
to the- Prophet to make a clean breast of the
whole business. The news of his conversion. spread
like wildfire and electrified the entire Arab
community.
Another story, also credited to 'Umar himself,
suggests that he had been, once before, shaken by
something mysterious about the utterances of the
Prophet. when he first happened to listen to one of
his wayside preachitlgs. The Prophet was reciting
from the Surah lxix. On hearing him for a while he
said to himself "Certainly he is a captivating
poet". As soon as the Idea crossed his mind, the
Prophet came to the vene: '.
This is the utterance of a respectable
Prophet and not that of a poet. How
little do you believe. (lxIX: 40-41)*6
90
struck by the aptness of the verse recited, 'Umer
said to himself,' "Certainly he is a' sooth-sayer or a
mind-reader". As soon as the new Idea nashed
through his mind, the Prophet recited the next
verse:
Nor is it the utterance' of a sooth-sayer
(or a mind-reader). How little do you
heed byway ofa leeson.(It is) just coming
down from tord of all mankind.
(lxlx: 42-43)-7
This completely noored hi m and he almost felt
convinc'e<J of the truth of the Prophet's claim. ~ u
he soon got over the feeling and dismissed him as
one possessed of some sort of a spirit - good, bad
or indifferent.
As reports have it, the Prophet, . too, had prayed
to Allah' to strengthen the community by the
conversion of one of the two 'Umars -' 'Umar bin
U-Khattaab and 'Umar bin Hishaam al-Makhzooml,
who is better known by his nickname of "Abu Jahl"
than by his original nlckna me of ' Abdul Hakan"
("Father of Authority")' - that is, the two Iron
men of the Arab community. Caliph 'Umar was,
thus, not only the answer to the Prophet's prayer
but. also Allah's own choice between the two.
Maybe this is what eamed him the title of "AI-
pauooqa - one who makes a clear-cut distinction
between two things or one who distinguishes or
separates right from wrong. This took place about
the 5th year of the Prophethood and some time
after the second migration of a group of Muslims
to Ethiopia.
InCidentally, it appears to me that the incident.
of Mi'raaJ (meaning, a ladder) orJaraa'("ascenslon
lf
)
took place some time before 'Umer embraced Islam
and certainly not two or three years before the
Prophet's migration to Medinah as many writers
beHeve. If Abu Bakr was confronted by the oppon-
ents with the apparently unbelievable account of
the incident narrated by the Prophet himself, there
91 .
was all the more reason that the newly-cQnverted
'Umar should have been teased by his many
erstwhile intimate friends among the unbelievers.'
He would certainly have had a very rough. time at
their hands on that account or he would have, at
any rate, played somesigntflcant role otherwise.
'But we find his name is not mentioned anywhere at
any stage in this episode, while Abu Bakr' is said to
have earned the title of II As-SlddIqll by his prompt,
confident and characteristic reply to the revilers to
the effect that if that was what the Prophet had
. said, he vouched for the veracity of each and
, every word of it. This incident wID be discussed In
detail in the chapter entitled: "TRUTH is STRANGER
THAN FICTION".
With the accession of 'Umar, the helpless
Muslim community turned a new leaf of its life.
Hitherto they had been meeting rarely outside the
house of AI-Arqam, near the Mount Safa, and
would dare not offer prayers In public. It is said
that it was 'Umar who Insisted that it was time
they to'ok up the challenge of the unbelievers and
threw all reserve overboard. He prevailed upon the
Prophet to give them permission to offer their prayers
openly and in. the Haram. This itself must have
created quite a stir, although the standard call for
prayers (adhaan) was prescribed much later In
Madlnah. There was some resistance on the spot
from those present at the Ka'bab, but it was
prevented from assuming any threatening proport-
ions merely because of the presence, very much in
evidence, of stalwarts like 'Urnar, HalDlah and Sa'd
bin Abi Vaqqas (Sa'd bin Maalik).
PRAYEBS IN EARLY DAYS; It is said that during
the early days, at least before ...... or Mf'raaj,
they used to offer prayers only twice a day - once
after day-break (Doba), called IICbabtli under
Persian Innuence, and then before sunset (' Aar) or
in the night before retiring ( ...... ). It cannot be
definitely said whether the Prophet was Initiated in
the matter of form and procedure of t ~ nr9VA1' hv
92
Gabriel (Jibreel) or, in the beginning, acted on his
own, inspired by the Jewish mode of worship,
following it for some time till he got specific
instructions through Jlbreel. Of course, no disres-
pect is meant to the Prophet by hazarding such a
$uggestlon. Does not the Quran speak of the earlier
Apostles thus? "It Is they whom Allah had guided.
So follow the guidance provided to them". (vl:91)*8
'. Even later, in matters in which he had no
specific guidance from Allah, he would generally
follow the well-established Jewish precedents and
make no secret of it but instruct his disciples also
to do the. same. For instance, much later at
Madinah, he ordered stoning (Al-Rajam) of the
adulterer in accordance with the Jewish traditional
law till he received specific Instructions on the
subject which are incorporated In the Quran.
Because of the lack of appreciation of this point, a
lot of confusion has been created by the traditlon-
Ists on the point of "stoning" being once ordered
though not prescribed in the Quran.
It is almost accepted that the prayer of those
days was not materially dissimUar to ours, except
that it consisted of only two Bak'aat and that,
probably, Surah Al-I'aatibah alone was being
recited which is not only the most
prayer in itself but was certainly one of the
earUest revelations forming the uncleus of the
Quran:
And we already given thee seven
of the oft-repe&:ted (verses, which cons-
titute the substance) and the Great
Oration. (xv: 87)*9
The period of confrontation had actually started
and the frenzy of the unbelievers now touched the
bolling point. Long before, their last atte mpt at a
compromise on the basis of the seemingly common
concept of Allah and an undertaking to be given by
the Prophet that he would give up denouncing their
93
gods as false gods, had been frustra ted by the
revelation of the Surah Al-K .. fIroon:
Say: 0 unbelievers, I worship not that
which ye worship nor do 'ye worship that
which I do. I am not going to worship
that which ye worship, nor wnt ye be
worshipping that which I do. For ye is
your faith and for me mine. (cix)*10
This had made it abundantly clear that their beUef
in their gods beside Allah, in fact, knocked the
bottom out of the basic concept of sovereignty of
Almighty Allah on which no compromise was
possible and, .therefore, peaceful co-existence was
not a feasible proposition in view of the fact that
Muslims would have no truck with those who t t r i ~
buted partners to Allah.
EMIGRANTS TO ETHIOPIA: The Prophet, having
realized that owing to the hardened att itude of the
Meccans, some people in his community were
facing great hardship in their homes and tribes, had
already advised those who found Makkah too "hot"
for them, to migrate to Ethiopia (HabsbaJI), which
to the best of his knowledge, was being ruled at
that time by a God-fearing, liberal Christian
monarch (entitled "Najaasbl"). The first party of
15 to 17 emigrants - including four ladies -consis-
ted, among others, of 'Uthmaan bin Affaan,
grandson of the Prophet's own aunt; with his wife
Ruqayyah, the Prophet's daughter; Zubair bin Al-
I Avvaam, Khadijah's nephew and the Prophet's own
cousin; 'Uthmaan bin Ma,z'oon; Abdur Rahmaan bin
I Auf and t Abdullah bin Mas' 000. Having set off
secretly by boats, they reached their destination
safely in the middle of the 5th year of the Prophe-
thood (about 613/614 A.D.). Only after a couple of
months, before they had hardly settled down, the
rumour of some sort of a reconciliation alleged to
have been brought about in Makkah reached them
and some of them returned home only to be disill-
. usioned. Thereafter a much bigger party ot seventy
94
to eighty people, including this time, Ja'far bin Abi
TaaUb, 'AU's elder brother, and his wife, Asmaa
bint 'Umais, also migrated to Habsbab with,
perhaps, an Introductory letter from the Prophet
addressed to the king" of Ethiopia. 'Uthman bin
, Affaan and his wife - Ruqayyah, dropped out this
time.
The Meccans having come to know of the new
move In time hurriedly sent a delegation, headed
by 'Amar bin al- 'Aas with valuable gifts for the
king. They first contacted the High Priest. and the
noblemen and asked them to exercise their innue-
nce on the monarch and get their request for
extradition of the "fugitives" accepted. The king,
true to his reputation, called the representatives of
the "fugitives" first, to hear their side of the case
as well as to know something about their Faith
before taking a dectsion. Ja'far bin Abi Taallb who,
incidentally, closely -resembled the _ Prophet - in looks"
as well as deportment, acted as- the spokesman and
ably pleaded his case. both on grounds of compass-
ion and freedom of conscience. In reply -to a
deUcate and sensitive question about the Christ and
the doctrine of Trinity, he Is said to have recited
some verses from the Surall Maryam (xix), which
left the King visibly moved. As the story goes, he
was not only fully convineed ot the fugitives' case
but also vouched for the truth of the Prophet's
claim. He dismissed the Meccan delegation and is
believed to have embraced Islam. He had hence-
forth the best of relations with the Muslims who
were perhaps regarded by the people there as
constituting one of the various sects of Christianity
This was a sort of diplomatic reverse for the
Meccans, which added insult to the injury which
the proud Arab nobility felt at home. Not long
atter, they had a bolt from the blue. 'Umar and
some notables belonging to various clans and tribes
joined the "rebels" causing a big gap in their
ranks. The hardliners among them found themselves
in a quandary. They could not take the risk of a
95
tribal connagratiop by resorting to direct action
against so widely spread elements. Nor could they
pressurize all clans and tribes to take action and
start a witch-bunt on such a wide scale. They had
been bitterly disappointed. in Abu Taalib wbo, in
fact, could not, eV,en if he Uk ed, carry his clan,
much less his own family, with him In taking a
tough line against his "troublesome" nephew and his
own younger brother, Hamzah, part(cularly when
'Abbas's benevolent neutrality to the cause was all
too evident. They could but take the line of
least resistance and on a two-fold plan of
complete soelal boycott and a total. economic
blockade of the clan of' Banu Haashimto punish
them for their lack of cooperation in suppressing or
ostracizing the "rebel group", particularly its ring-
leader.
THE BLOCKADE: The house of Banu Haashim was
'divi6ed against itself. It was no secret that
there was no love lost between the Prophet on the
one side and bis uncle, Abu Labab (Abdul 'Uzza)
and his two sons 'Utbah and "Utaibah on tbe other,
who had broken their engagement with the
Prophet's daughters, Ruqayyah and Umme Kulthoom,
to register 'their protest. So, in actual fact, the
brunt was to be borne mainly by the families of.
Abu Taalfb, t Abbas and Hamzah along with the
Prophet's small family. They were virtually ostrac- .
!zed and confined within their quarter of the town
near Mount Abu Qubais, known as Shu'b Bani
Haashim, wbich was, perhaps, later described as
"Shu 'b Abf Taallb" by the Meccans, only to under-
line the fact that the part of the quarter occupied
by .certain otber fa mUtes of Banu Haashim, not
black-listed,such . as the family of Abu Lahab and
his sons, were not to be blockaded.
Probably . the following verse was revealed during
or about this period: .
Say: I ask of you no wage or considera-
tion on that account except regard and
96
aftectlon In respect of kinship"
("al-Qurba"). (xUl: 23)*11
Here the word Is' "AJ.-QadNla (relationship, kinship)
and not "Dba" Qulbalaa (relations) which would
have rendered the verse seit-contradictory, for It
would, after all, mean some consideration ("ajrn),
very much literally and not just metaphorically. If
"relations" were meant at au, the verse could, at
that time, have some relevance only to Zalnab,
Ruqayyah and Umme Kulthoom. The last two had
been engaged to the Prophet's own c;ouslns, to
whom the appeal would be meaningless at that
time tor the engagement had already been broken.
Zalnab W8I married to an ,Umanad, Abul- t Aas, a
,near rel,tlon of 'Khadljah, who had given no cause
for sucK an appeal for they remained a happlly-
married couple all along. Long before,' Prophet's
Hud ..., Saallh, Lut ~ d Sho'alb, like all reformers and
honest people, had avowedly eschewed any conside-
ration In any form In return for any service rende-
red to the people. by declaring. .
I ask' pf you no wage or consideration.
My wage lione owes but the Lord of all
mankind., ,(xxvi: 109)*12
..
Besides, that would be contrary to Allah' 8 own
injunction:
Follow those who do not ask of you any
. consideration and it Is they who are on
the right path. (xxxvI: 21)*13
Reports handed down to US Indicate tha.t the
blockade 'commenced late in the 7th year of the
Prophecy and was lifted or abandoned early in the
10th year of Prophecy as a hopelelS bUll ness. No
doubt, the period W88 long, but the dates are not
quite, certain: It cannot, however, be denied that
both' the blockade and the social boycott caused
great' hardshfp to the people concerned. It appears,
. though, that' the picture presented in the accounts
91
on record has been painted In weird colours. To say
this" is not to minimize the misery of the people
affected. To blke a realistic view of the whole
affair, one cannot persuade oneself to believe that
the people had reaUy been reduced to' such " state
that they were forced "to eat the bark trees
'and boiled leather" as generally reported. The
obvious possibilities of blockade-running cannot be
Ignored when we know that, on the one hand, the
people blockaded Included 'Abbas. who was certainly
very resourceful and wielded considerable authority
In the affairs of the clty in general and, the_
Ka' bah In particular and, on !b_....atber- 'batro," the
sympathizers out,gde. ,.the- blOckade Included an Iron
man like .J Urfiar along with some of the top men in
-tlle'lr respective clans and tribes. The assumption is
also supported by the fact that, from making a
dent tn the resistance of the people coocerned even
after more than two the blockade itself had
to be abandoned unceremoniously.
Precious little our chronicles report on the
movement's slow but steady. progress or the
Prophet's missionary activities and the part of
,promoters Uke Abu Bakr, Harniah,. 'Umar and
others during this particular period, say, from the
7th or the 8th to the 9th orl-Oth year of the
Prophecy. The whole movement could not have
lapsed Into Inactivity all of a sudden.. Much less do
we hear of the. Prophet's . life. In short, the
reports of this period from these particular angles
are too few and too barren to yield a presentable
picture. All that we can guess is that during the
blockade he must have been giving more time than
was possible before, to his family at home. It
would be a fair guess that the more severe the
persecution grew the more publicity and the more
outside sympathy the cause must have received.
The emergence of a Prophet. in Makkah must have
made, by now, a big news even 'in distant lands.
Visitors to Makicah, particularly during the Hajj
season, must have carried back all manner of
, stories to their own people who must have been
98
curious to know more. on a visit to other
places must have been SUbJ:,t: to close question-
ing on the subject. Even e ries of the interes-
ted people migbt have co ... , to the city to coUect'
first-hand information.. '
Not long atter the littlng of the blockade, Abu
Taallb, a 'diehard by nature, . who was too proud to
accept the lead of Y9ungsters In maUer. of faith
and social conduct, died at a ripe age, and the
only umbrella he provided by virtue ot his respect-
able age, peace-loving nafure and a weakl\ess tor
clan-teeling, Vias lost to the Prophet f9f good.
What wQS more stunning was that, within a couple
ot months, the death of his devoted and beloved
wife, KhadiJah, too, deprived him ot the much-
needed solace that her tender care and sound
counsel had hitherto provided in the hardest times and
trying circumstances', for mOre tban twenty-five
years. This created a void which could never be
tWed In spite ot, the marriages that he later contr-
acted In the tradition ot the Biblical Prophets and
the usual custom ot his own age. We shall reter to
this phase of his life in its proper place. What is
to be noted here is that, in tbe polygamous society
he lived in, he enjoyed a monogamous life for more
.than twenty-tive year .... n the prime of his age, and
at that with a widow 'older in age. After a year or
so, mainly tor the sake of his young, unmarried
daughters, Faatlmah and Umme Kulthoom, who
needed some one to look after them, he was
obliged to Soodah bint Zam' ab bin Qais,
widow of Sukaan bin lAmar, who in her advanced
age was left uncared for in Ethiopia, where both
husband and wite had migrated.
ABU LAHAB'S TOUGH LINE: The 10th year ot
the Prophecy (about 620/621 A.D.) pr.oved particul-
arly eventful, though calamitous. Atter the litting
of the blockade, tbe Prophet seems to have been
spending more time ,outside Makkah than in town,
visiting nearby places such as and. I Ukaz and
ea mping-sites of Bedouin tribes wbo weremore receptive
99
and better behaved than the Meccans, Besides,
after the death of Abu Taallb, Abu Lahab took
over as chieftain of Sanu Haashlm and brought
pressure on the Prophet. He gave him two options:
either to leave Makkah or suspend his activities
within the city. The Prophet thus thought of exten-
ding his sphere of activity to an Important but
somewhat distant place, Taa-ef (about 75 mUes
from Makkah by the old customary track), known
for the prosperous and proud feudal lords. Taking
Zaid bin Haarithah with him, he ventured on an
exploratory mission on foot. The old Taa-ef was
about three mUes south-west of the present-day
Taa .. ef. The reception was more violent than expec-
ted. He was summarily dismissed as a seducer of
their youths and serfs, and taunted with such
re marks as: Could Allah not find a better person to
convey His message to us? Could not Allah's
messenger afford even an ass to carry him? Thus,
he was ridiculed, reviled and even brick b ~ t e d by
Banu Thaqeef and their hirelings. He returned
thoroughly disappointed, profusely bleeding and in a
very bad shape.
CHRISTIANS' GENIALITY: A Christian slave named
'Odaas, working In a garden In the suburb of Taa-
ef, took pity on him and offered him a bunch of
grapes. He was struck by the words of "Blsmillab
lt
("In the name of Allah") uttered by the Prophet
before partaking of what was offered to him. He
remarked: "Surely you do not belong to this place,
do you? "On being counter-questloned by the Prophet
about his own native place, 'Odaas mentioned
Nineveh (in Assyria, the northern part of Mesopot-
amia). The Prophet at once remarked: "You mean
the land of Yunus bin Matti (Jonah, son of
Amlttai)?" 'Odaas was astonished to hear this
name from him and eaprly enquired who he could
be, that knew that much In this part of the
country. On being told that he was also a Prophet
like Jonah, 'Odaas at once kissed him and knelt In
veneration. His idolatrous master, who had been
watChing from afar, Immediately summoned him'
100
and rebuked him for being taken in by a stranger
of doubtful credentials. This small Incident has
merited reference only because it underlines as
apparerit contrast between the approach of an
average God-fearing person and a care-free
idolater.
Once earlier, too, it Is reported, some twenty
Christian riders from Ethiopia or Najraan visited
Makkah and saw him in the Ka'bah. They asked a
few questions and he, in reply, recited a few
relevant verses from the Quran. They were so
impressed that they at once embraced the new
Faith. Those of the idolators present at the
moment, including Abu Jahl, were astonished at
their "gullibility" and,admonishing them for their
being so credulous and soft in. matter of faith,
quipped; "What could you see in him in so short a
time which we could not, for so many years? It was
this readiness among the Christians, by and large,
to recognize the truth as soon as it was perceived
in any quarter whatsoever which the Quran has
com manded thus:
Thou wilt certainly find the most vehe-
ment of all mankind in hostility to those
who believe, the Jews and those who
take partners (beside Allah). And thou.
wilt certainly find the nearest of them
in affection to those who believe, those
who say: "We are Christians". That is
because there are among them priests
and monks who are not proud. When
they listen to what hath been revealed
unto the Messenger, thou seest their
eyes overnow with tears because of
their recognition of the truth. They say:
'Our Lord! We believe (In Thee); inscribe
us among those who bear witness'. .
(v: 82-83)*14
Obviously, it did not mean that the Muslims and
the Christians would always have the best of relat-
ions. It onl underlined the basic relative ro ensit
101
or capacity, a mong the three mentioned in the
above verses for ready acceptance of the truth as
truth whenever it was found and for showing some
regard, affection or fellow- feeUng for those who
upheld it. Vicissitudes in a nation's Ufe, however,
bring about situations which tend to condition its
relations with others, and in the subsequent history
of Islam there have been occasions when Christians
proved to be the greatest enemies of the Muslims.
But it must be conceded that, in similar circumst-
ances, either of the two, the Jews and the idolat-
ors would have proved the bitterest. .
While returning from Taa-ef, d,-appointed and
shattered in spirit, the Prophet halted at a place, a
few mUes from Makkah, known as Nakhlah because
of its palm groves. Here, according to a report, a
.party of unbelleving JiDn (Genii) heard him recite
the Quran and embraced Islam without his knowing
it. The report is supported by the Quran itself:
Say: It Is revealed to me that a party
of Jinn listened and said: "We have
heard a wonderful oration showing the
right path. We have beUeved in it and
shall take none as partner beside our
Lord'. (lxxU: 1-2)*15
The GenU, to be sure, are elemental beings,
imperceptible Uke many other creatures, endowed
with the mobility of angela and the discretion of
Man and, therefore, responsible for their actions.
The JIDD had been in existence long before the
advent of Man, for at the time Adam was being
created, Iblees, a Jinn, was very much present and
. vehemently protested. Of Iblees, the Quran says:
And (Iook) when We said unto the
angels: Pay homage to Ada m. So they all
did pay homage but Iblees. He. was from
among the Jinn. So he rebelled against
his Lord's command. (xviii: 51)*16
102
IlECCANS' OBDURACY: Obviously, this piece of
information was conveyed. to tire Prophet to bolster
up his fagging spirit after his experience in Taa-ef,
that he should not lose heart, for he was soon to
get support from most unexpected quarters. The
Meccan period of the Prophecy had been a long
period of suppression, ridicule, persecution and
torture. The small community had been resisting aU
efforts of the. Meccans to contain Its reformative
movement. The Prophet had exhausted all means of
pleading with them *he cause of freedom of speech
and consclence. Of course, he could not accept any
formula of compromise which allowed good and evil
to co-exist in society. The Surabs and the verses
revealed during the Meccan period openly denoun-
ced the prevalent social evils, the utter disregard
of moral values and, what irked the" Meccans most,
their 'pernicious doctrine of Intercession (Sbafa'ab)
with Allab Almighty by thek false gods whom they
took as partners with Allah as well as their own
patrons or saviours (Waali,..W). Besides, ttiere were
pointed references to certain nations who led a
reckless Ufe, paid no heed to the Warners sent to
them and were as a result completely annihilated.
These Surahs and verses, on the other hand,' lald,
particular emphasis on the unlty and the exclusive
powers and prerogatives of Allah, on the respect
for an unstlnted obedience to parents in all matters
except open transgression of truth and justice, and
also on complete abstention from fratricide, adult-
ery and Idolatry.
As a matter of fact, it Is always the reckless,
luxury-loving, opulent class of people (w.atrlfCdl")
with vested Interests in a society that forms the
spear-head of opposition to all reforms or attempts
at founding an egalitarian society. The Quran
explains the main cause of the downfall and
complete annihilation of nations of old In the
following verse:
And when We wished to destroy a town-
ship We would send to its reckless,
lunry-Iovlng people our, Injunctions
103
which they would transgress. So the
verdict would take effect on that and
We would annihilate it completely.
(xvii: 16)*17
Again, the Quran more pointedly says:
And similarly, never before thee did We
send a Warner to any township but the
reckless, luxury-loving people- of that
place would say: 'We have found our
forefathers following a creed and we are
just following in their foot-steps'. The
Warner would say: I Even though I
brought something that provides better
guidance than that which you found your
forefathers following?' They would say
(in reply: 'We would (still) be disbeliev-
ing that which you have been sent
with. . (xliii: 23-24)*18
Of the people of Prophet Noah (Nooh), for
example, the Quran says: 'And We provided them
with ease and plenty in (this) worldly Ufe'
(xxiii:33 )*19. It appears that as far as the Meccans
were concerned, the ti me was not yet. ripe for the
liquidation of their hard core.
**********************
104
'CBAPrEa-a
TilUTH, () .. , TaE 'TIDE, '
About 3,00 mlles, y, from to
north, at a conjunctlcin: of caravan routes,' there
Was an old city which' isler came, to be ,known as
"MadiDatua NabI'" (the 1tProphet's City") and noVi
simply as Al-Madlaab. It is reported that the
original township, in anciEllt days, was named
"Taabit" which was popularly, called,,....... Later
the ,city was sometimes looaely retened to as
Yatbrib, which was, in fact, a nearby' village
which subsequently' part of thE! sprawling
town of M :The' - 'Mount 8,al' a" frequently
referred to in the 'Bible, 'formed the natUral bound-
ary of Madinah on: the.:' Being on the
trade route to, 8yrla and Palestine, its importance
even to the far-ort; Meccans could not be over-
emphasized. ' ,
Ethnically and' culturally, Madinahhada inotley
population - more than half consisted, of various
idolatrous Arab tribes and the rest were Jews
mostly of a different stock. The society was basi-
cally tribal. Vastly dirtering in faith; ideology and
outlook 'on life, the two' etl!nic groups gave the
outward appearance of one Medinite culture, disti-
nct from that of Makkah. Because of their long
association with' the 'People of the Scripture', the
Medinlte idolaters were neUher as' obstinate and
Intolerant as their Meccan counterpatts nor were
they as Ignorant of what a revealed religion ,stood
tor. If the Jews' had adopted' the Arabic language,
the Arabs, on their part, had' assimliated much of
the Jewish way of life and" their
outlook. The two predominant tribes of Aus and
Khazraj, later known' as Aneaar ("Help-
ers") played a dOlPinant role among the Arab
community, while ttle Jews comprised, three main
tribal ',branCbes - .... QaInocpia', Banu an-Nadeer
-and ,1Jaaa QurIzab. N.either the Arabs nor the Jews
105
were among tbemselves a bappy famBy. Individual
tribal interests conditioned tbe tribes' conduct in
times of crisis. THere were alliances of friendsbip
and non-aggression pacts on a bl-Iateral basis
among tbe individual tribes In tbe two etbnic
groups. One would very often find a tribe of tbe
Jews in support of an allied Arab tribe, pitted
against a Jewisb tribe sldlng wltb anotber conten-
ding Arab tribe.
The entire economy of Madlnab was controlled
by tbe Jews wbo almost exclusively provided artls ..
ans, businessmen, owners of big farms and money ..
lenders. Being on tbe .International trade route, tbe
Arabs, too, were Interested in trade and commerce
but, perbaps, not beyond retailing, broklng and
clearing. Tbey were given mainly to pastoral and
small scale agricultural pursuits. Owning business
bouses, tbe Jews Uved in castb!"like houses,' and
tbelr quarters, generally on tbe outskirts of tbe
town, were adequately fortified against marauders.
Ease and plenty beget vices of tbeir own. tbe Jews
were known fbr moral lassitude, and, later, proved
to be slippery customers too.
MBDIM1."rBS A'tTRAC"l'BD: Madlnab, wltb an Influen-
tial Jettlsb element in the population, was naturally
tblck wltb all manner of rumour and gossip about
the of a Prophet in Makkah, and tbe
people tbere were curious to know all about hi m-
During tbe Hajj season probably In tbe tentb year
of the (619 A.D.) after tbe Meceans
'
blockade of the PrOpbet's tamily bad been lifted,
the PrOpbet met with some Medlnltes of tbe
powerful tribe of Kburaj camping In ' Aqabab, a
place between the Mount IIlra and Mina!, Tbey
showed keen Interest in the cause, and six of tbem,
tncludlnl As' ad bin Zotarah and Raafay' bin Ma&ilk,
actually the Faith. The next year, some
of tbese new bl'oupt. tbelr trlendsl'tom
both the Kbataj and the Aus; tile twoclomfnant
h:J6liUOut Atib ttlbM ot Nadinab to meet the
Ptophet at tt,. aloe pJ.aee. they it .. a it_t-to-
108
.
heart talk. and about 12 to 15 persons, Including'
the convertl of the previous 'year. formed the
nucleus of the Muslim community in Madinah. They
promised all help in furtherance of the cause and a
safe aSylum to Its votaries. The, formally took an
oath of allegiance, later DOwn aner the name of
the pl4ee,' that Is, .. abll AqabaI'i. pledging their
ImpUclt faith In the cause of 1slam and their infiin-
ching loyaity to the Prophet.
The Prophet sent one of his trusted disciples,
Mus'ab bin 'Umalr to accompany the party to
provide the people ,wltb the neceary background
of tbe' ralth as weU as to promote ttl Interests in
Medinah. The new community there grew from
sttength . to strengtb and soon attained not only a
sizable but also a poaItlob In the town
after' the accession of Sa'd bin Ma'aadh, a
p'!werfUl" chieftain of a prominent clan of the tribe
'Ol-A& incidentally, be was a ftrst cousin of Astad
bin of the Kbazraj tribe. Thus, the next
year (821 A.D.), probably lhe 12th year of
the Prophecy, there came to Nakkeh, In the Hajj
8eUOil.. a . atro...... contlnaenl from Madlnah, who,
knowlli' Id1 .en . tbe Odds against which the
Prophet Will st:i1latlnl In Makkah, proposed the
ihlftiDI or, the centre of hia activities to Madinah.
As a practical man, the Prophet, once again, deman-
ded hm tbe representatives otthe Madinite
tribes ,aDd clans present a ftrm commitment before
actually shlftln, his beadquarters to Madinah, which
obvloull) beld olit better prospects tor the commu"
nit). Henceforth the "us1Im commullity of Madinah
came to be known 8S Atll. (Helpers).
CHANCiB of ul bttllC&1'1lk AI things stood in
Makkflb, no change or 'beart was expected of the
city's die-bard, and the only coune open to the
Gppresaed community .as to migrate, leaving their
hearths ltid bomes "In the way of Allah" -
....... Ila ltaIbl"" In the words of
Lut, ibrahim's (...... nbe:2.). The revela-
tions ot thll perlbet, It seemi, had been so designed
107
as to prepare the community mentally for this
Inevitable step. Of the parties. that had already
mlgra ted to Ethiopia, the Quran spoke thus:
And. those who migrated In the cause of
Allah after having been oppressed, We
shall verily provide them with a goodly
abode in the world, and surely the
reward of the Hereafter Is. greater, if
they only know - those who persevere
with fortitude and repose trust in their
Lord. (xvi: 41-42)*1
. The entire Sarah A!-'ADkaboot, perhaps about
the last of the 86 Makki Surahs, was well-suited to
the occasion and threw broad hints of the. course
open to the oppressed community. Incidentally, the
choice of the Sarah xvi and xxix, AD-Nahl (the bee)
and Al-'ADkaboot (the Spider), are suggestive
enough of the former's perseverance and its reward
in the form of a secure abode Uke a honeycomb
provided with nectar, as compared to the latter's
web, proverbial for its filmsiness and insecurity.
The significance of the two could not, probably, be
lost on the people divided in their minds before
taking a firm decision. Exhorting them not to lose
heart, the Surah Al-'ADkaboot cites examples of
other Islamic societies of old, founded by the
earlier Prophets, the persecution those people had
met with fortitude, and how they ultimately earned
wi th glory a haven of rest and peace. They were
exhorted to take heart and repose trust in Allah
for a better future elsewhere, if not "here at the
moment. They were told in so many words:
My slaves (devoted servants)who belteve,
verily My earth is spacious (enough). So
Me alone you serve. (xxix: 56)*2
Again, the" Prophet Lut (nephew) ot IbraJ:llm, Peace
be on both) was pointedly quoted as saying:
So Lut believed him (Ibrahim) and said:
Verily I am (going to be) a tugltive unto
108
my Lord. Surely He is Mighty and Wise.
(xxlxl 26).3
Wbat is significant, the Surah xxix even prescribed
beforehand a code of conduct for the Muslims in
dealing with the people of the Scripture. It was, in
a way, hinted that Madlnah was likely to be their
hav,en of peace. It says:
And contend not with the peopl!l of the
Scripture except In a manner-, that Is
better - save with such of them as
exceed the limit - and say: We believe
In 'what has been revealed to us as well
as what was revealed to you. Our God
and your God Is one (and the same), and
unto Him we surrender - Ankaboot.
(xxix: 46)4
MIGRATION, TO IfADlNAH: Having already given
permission to the people to migrate to Madinah,
the Prophet himself waited for a clear guidance
from Allah before taking the decisive step. The
virtual exodus, however surreptitious, aggravated
the 'situation, since the Meccans would not watch
this new development with equanimity. They tried
to make the migration as hazardous as possible.
The family members of the wife of an emigrant
would detain her on the plea that the husband had
no right to "seduce" his wife to .leave with him.
Similarly, the emigrant's famlly members would
snatch away the baby from the lap of the m'other
on the ground, that the issue belonged to the family
as a whole and the couple had no right to take the
baby away from the family.
The typical case of Abu Salmah has been widely
reported in detail, how a family of three (husband,
wife and child) rejoined in Madinah after a year or
so. Ariyhow, the bulk of the oppressed community
managed to get out of the clutches and made good
their escape to Madinah. There remained, besides
the few who could not afford migration, only the
Prophet, his old trusted friend Abu Bakr, and their
109
familles, including 'All, the only male member of
the Prophet's family looking after the family
because of the Prophet's pre-occupation In the
discharge of the pressing responsibilities of the
entire community. Thus, the Prophet himself was
waiting for the "green signal" from Allah, while
Abu Bakr was detained to make hi mself available
in emergencies as well as for the last-minute
arrangements.
When the Meccansreallzed the Imminent danger
of the powerful MedlnUe tribes of Aus and Khazraj.
being ultimately drawn Into the affairs, they
assembled In the Dana NadYab, their' community
centre, to -review the new situation. They decided
to dispose of, once for all, the real source of all
the trouble ..; the Prophet. After a thread-bare
discussion of the pros and cons of each . and every
suggestion put forth, a clever proposal from a wise
old man alDOng them met with the approval of all
those present. He suggested that representatives of
each and every tribe should get together and, in a
body, -make a fatal assault on the penon of the
Prophet, so that the Banu Haashim,seeking
revenge, should find themselves powerful' against
the combined might of all the tri
The Prophet and Abu Bakr had kept themselves
in readiness to leave any moment at the shortest
possible notice. 'All was to be left behind to take
care of the famny of the Prophet consisting of
young unmarried girls, Umme Kulthoom. and
Faatimah, and their elderly step-mother, Soodah.
One forenoon, the Prophet noticed shady movements
of nondescript persons about his house. It was a
sufficient signal for trouble. He decided then and
there to give them the slip and make a move at
once to Abu Sakr's place trom where they had
already planned to start off in the of the
night. There is no doUbt that he was under survei-
llance and that It was with lOme onuSual contriv-
ance that he could dOdp those keeping a watch. It
was certain that those put on the dltt, jOb would
110
not dare to violate the privacy of the house and
thereby throw a challenge not only to the tribal
sense of decorum but also to the sense of honour
. of the entire clan of Banu Haasbim. Their obvious
plan was to wait for tbe Prophet to. come out and
then to pick a quarrel with him to serve as an
excuse for their dastardly design. It, Is said that
while he came out of the house he recited the
verse: "So We covered them with a vell that they
would not see" - xxxvI: 9)*5. Reciting the' verse,
he took, a of dust, threw it in the face of
those posted in front of the house and made gOod
his escape - literally throwing duat in their eyes.
The Quran .refers to his miraculous escape in these
words:
.. And (recall the incident) wben tbe dis-
believers were plotting against thee to
confine thee, or to -klll or banlsb thee.
They plotted and so did Allab. AndAUab
Is the b8st employer of stratagems".
(vUh 30)*6
THE ESCAPE: All biographers are agreed tbat the
Prophet left for Abu Bakr's house late in tbe fore-
noon. It is not clear wby he should unnecessarily
have run the double risk of revisit ing the place
under surveWance only to step out again finally in
the evening,.as mentioned by au writers. SimUarly,
it Is difficult to tee any significance in tbeir
accounts of ' Ali's sleeping in' the Prophet's bed
that night. He was, at any rate, to sleep indoors
and it seems pointless to take It as a ruse, as the
writers would like us to believe. For it could dupe
only the inmates and not those .on watch outside.
At any rate, they would dare not the
privacy of the house. Moreover, those who were
shadoViing .the Propbet must have been men of less
tban . average intelligence if they could not sense
his absence from the house tlll the next morning,
as the '''dressed-up'' story would suggest.
I' WOUld, therefore, Uke to reconstruct the story
witb . the' little bits of information lying buried

111
under heaps of useless details In the accounts given
by our early biographers such as Ibn Ishaaq and Al-
Vaaqldi. I believe the escape had been planned long
before and with great care arid secrecy. Even
among the famUy only those were taken into
confidence whose association was necessary for the
execution . of the plan. The hideout had been selec-
ted with imagination in a direction opposite to
their real and known destination. Abu Bakr's son,
'Abdullah, and a trusted bond-man of his family,
'Aamlr bin Faheerah, had already been to. the place
and, presumably, done the needful to make the
hideout habitable. There was no point in leaving
the job to be done by the occupants in the night
and In a dark cave at that, as described in detail
In the obviously dressed-up story.
THft lODE-OUT: The Mount Thaur (over 1500 ft
. high), selected for the purpose, is higher than
Mount Hira and is situated to the south of Makkah,
off the old route to Yeman, at a distance of six
miles or so from' the Ka'bah, while their known
ultimate destination was Madinah, some 300 miles
to the north of Makkah. The cave lies about the
top of the mountain and is difficult to negotiate
even today. It should take a good three hours or so
to reach the cave. It should be evident; therefore,
that if they left Makkah on foot in the early part
of the night, then alone could they hope to reach
the cave well before the small hours. lt is
accepted by all, that the Prophet left for Abu
Bakrts place late in the forenoon and, I presume, he
left his house for good that very moment. At Abu
Bakr's place, there was little to be done by way or
preparation for the move. I believe it was on this
occaSion, and not later, that Abu Bakr's daughter
Asmaa, ten years older than t Ayeshah, hurriedly
put the minimum provisionsln a small bag and,
finding nothing better at halidat the moment, tied
it with a portion of her belt ("nltaaq"), which
earned her the proud title of "DbatUD Nitaaqain"
(lla lady with two beits"), from the PrQphet.
112
'. The Prophet along with Abu Bakr left the place
In the early part of the evening In view of the
distance and the terrain to be covered before day
break. I presume that the men posted at the
Prophet t s house came to know of his absence from
the house late in the evening and spent most of
the night' in combing the whole town from corner
to corner. They must have hastened to send riders
post-haste on their track in the direction of
Madinah. the expected destination, and the pursuers
were thus thrown very much off the track since
the hideout was in the opposite direction. This was
probably the last week of Safar. The day of depar-
ture 'Is repbrted to be Thursday or Monday.
The "fugitives in the way of AUah". spent prob-
ably three days and three nights in the cave in
great suspense. Even a lone passerby In the vicinity
of the mountain would startle them, so much so
that Abu Bakr, known for his coolness and compo-
sure, once actually lost his bearings and was at i ~
wit's end. It was the Prophet alone who had his
wits about him. He consoled his companion, and the
Quran has picturized the scene thus:
"If you do not help him (so what'l)AUah
llctually helped liim when those who dis-
believed diove him out, he being the
secGJld of the two (Recall' the 'incident)
, when the two were in the cave and he
said to his comrade: 'Grieve not, surely
AUah Is with us'. Thus AUah did send
down his peace and quletitude upon
him " (ix: 40)*7
IncidentaUy, this gave Abu Bakr (real name being
'AbduUah bin 'Uthmaan) the cherished title of
"Tbanl Atlmalo" (tithe second of the two") apart
from the unique distinction of having the Prophet's
companions In four generations -of his family viz
. hls old, near-bUnd father, Abu .. Qahaafa 'Uthmaan,
who accepted Islam later, on the faU of Makkah,
Abu Bakr himself, his sons and grandsons.
113-
J make bold to say that the early 'biographerS
betrayed lack of imagination when they narrated
graphic accounts of the daily, almoSt routine, visits
of 'Abdullah bin Abu Baler, his sister Asm',a', and
his famlly's bond-man, AaoUr bin Fabeerah, to the'
secret hideout without being noticed. by the Meccan
"hounds". Besides, J wonder if our learned writers
had the foggiest Idea ,of the height of the mountain
to be climbed, the distance to be covered and the
'time consumed' in an exercise Uke this, _and that,
too, as a daily routine. .
The stories of a spider having spread Its web
over the mouth of the cave to conceal the occup-
ants and a shrub, round the corner having spread
Its branches to enable a pair of pigeons to make a
nest and lay eas, were DOt at teat meatloned by
Ibia ...... m, who Is credited with the earliest bio-
graphy of the Prophet available to us. Such stories
generally emanated from Al-Kalbl,
bown I. their lertIle mlDdrl. It seems as if the
authors and their bUnd fonowers never visited the
cave themselves, otherwise ,they would have hardly .
felt the need for such "extra security measures".
To these was later added a baseless story of a
snake in one of the holes having bitten Abu Bakr
in the toe and the wound having been cured by the
Prophet with the application of his saUva. All this
mayor may' not 'be true, but the stories of the
routine visits of Abu Bakr's family members and
those of tbe spider's web being kept Intact and the
pigeon's nest undisturbed do not assort well apd
betray a poor Imagination and even a poorer
attempt at dramfItlzatba. J doubt if during 'their
short stay of, three days In the cave, the Meccans
could ever have thought of the Mount Thaur and
It.s cave, more than 1500 f,et off the route
to Yemen, In the sOuth, as a posalble hideout.
In the meantlme
t
Abu Baler's trusted and re-
man.' Aamlr bin J'abeerah, arranged for a
dependable and expert, guide to ensure their safe
qonduct to Madinah by lOme unfrequented' route.
He hired for the purpose the servleeaot 8 nnn-
*' ;
.. -
.. : ...... .
." .'
114
Muslim guide, 'Abdullah bin Areeqat, whom. he had
known intimately enough to vouch for bls trustwor-
thiness. The fact that .he was a non-Muslim render-
ed him doubly safe as an Insurance against any
suspicions of the passerby. As arranged, on the
fourth day, 'Aamir took the guide and two spare
camels, already ear-marked by. Abu Bakr and
properly groomed for the job, anel reached the
hideout by the evening, . just in time to start off on
their odyssey. .
Taking a westerly direction by way of a long
diversion, the party of four went on post-haste till
they by-passed the normal route to Madinah and
having it on their right at a good distance, procee-
ded towards the north along the Red Sea coast., It
took seven to eight long days to reach Quba, a
suburban town, about three miles to the south-west
of Madinah. It was reported by BukJlari to be
Monday, and probably it was the 8th day of Rabi'ul
Avval.
During their eight-day journey, two incidents of
very unusual nature have been reported. It is said
that, on their way, they once stopped for a while
at a tented dwelling of one Umme Ma'bad, whose
Sickly and dry she-goat yielded mWe more than
enough to feed the four hungry, tired fugitives to
the full. The story, mentioned only in such books
of traditions as are, incidentally, categorized by
Shah Valiullah as "Class-three" authorities (vide:
HujjatnJlahll Bull .... ), Is not reliable, since the
chain of narrators includes persons either altoge-
ther unknown or known for their untrustworthiness.
Besides, the authentic report of Abu Bakr recor-
ded by Bukharl makes no mention of any such
unusual incident. Maulana Sulaiman Nadvi mentions
this report in a chapter entitled: -Unauthentic
reports- in the Seeratun Nabl,volume three.
SOllAAQAH'S STORY: 'The other Incident is that of
one Soraagah (bin MaaUk) bin Jotham. He came to
know that a small party of t r ~ v l l r s was noticed
us .
on an unfrequented route speeding northward.
Attracted by the Meccans' offer of a haQdsome
reward for one who brought back the Prophet, dead
or alive, to Makkah, he went" out in hot pursuit on
a neet steed. As soon as he came .within sight of
the Prophet, the horse reared and was pinned to
the ground. Soraaqah asked for a "written" pardon.
The unusual request was granted and I Aamir is said
to have scribbled something on a. parchment on
l > e l ~ of t h ~ t Prophet. who prophesied ttle day when
Soraaqah would be wearing the royal bangles of
Kisra (ChosroesH It is further said that Soraaqah
later embraced Islam after the battle of Uhud and
that 'Umar during his Caliphate did actually make
him wear the gold bangles received in booty after
the battle of Qadissiyyah.
The two elements of the story are to be exam-
Ined separately: (a) Whether such an incident ever
occurred and 'Aamir scribed the pardon.(Bukhari
has vouched for its veracity); (b) Whether the
Prophet made any such prophecy which materialized
during 'Umar's caliphate.
As for (b), it is reported only by writers not
known for a critical approach to the material they
gathered from all and sundry. What is Interesting
to note is that Maulana Shibli, relying presumably
on books like Al-Istee-'aab of Ibn Abdll Barri,
casually mentioned in the Seerat-un-Nabt (Volume
one that it did happen as prophesied; but in his
other monumental work, -Al-Paaooq. ',he mentions,
Instead, "one comely person of Madinah named
Muhlim" to have been made to put on Nausher-
van's jewelry as ~ e l l as "to don various dresses
meant for various occasions, one by one, on his
person". In Al-Fauooq (Volume one), there is no
mention of Soraaqah.
IN QUBA: The small suburban town of Quba gave a
tumUltuous reception to the "fugitives" from
Makkah, whose arrival had long been awaited. Banu
r Amar bin 'Auf had the privilege of entertaining
116
the party In their quarter of the town. The news
spread like wUdfire and soon all roads led to
Kulthoom bin Hldm's house where the Prophet was
putting up. Eager visitors from Madlnah and nearby
tribes thronged the place In no time. He met them
In the house of Sa'd bin Khalthmah, which 'was
probably more spacious than Kulthoom's. Before
proceeding to Madinah, his ultimate destination, h.e
thought it advisable to walt and get himself peated
with the latest in Madinali. The first
thing he did during his stay in Quba ,was to lay the
foundation ot theflrst mosque in that part ot the
country, which, inCidentally he would generally
visit, even atter shifting to Madinah, on Thursdays.
The Quran reters to this mosque thus:
(It Is) certainly a mosque the foundation
of which was laid on piety from the
first day. . (Ix: 108)-8
According to Bukhari, he stayed in Quba 11 to
12 days-g.' This appears more likely than what
others report, that he stayed there just. for three
of . four days. Anyway, he left tor Madinah on
Friday either the 12th or the 19th ot Rabl'ul
A vval. It is reported that on the day he left for
Madinah, he offered the Orst congregational Friday
prayer in the open space In Banu Saallm bin 'Aut's
quarter ot the town. 'Ali could not have possibly
joined hi m in Quba, as Is generally believed It is
most unlikely that covering the entire distance of
300 mUes "on foot" as reported, 'All could have
managed to arrive in Quba only three days after
the Prophet's party. Besides, he cannot be expected
to have left behind the Prophet's famUy, consisting
only of. ladies, all alone. to add to the worries of
the Prophet. .
ENTRY INTO MADIlfAH: Madlnah must have worn
a festive look to receive the most revered visitor
of all time. The well-known song of Aasaar girls
welcoming him, .as recorded by all the writers,
, 1111 ' ...... 11__ A'
117
and veneration. Along with the Muslim community
(ADaaar), a sizable number ot curious Jews and
other prominent non-Muslim men of the town must
have been waiting eagerly to have a gU mpse of the
m'ost talked-of p r ~ n in that part of the country.
Escorted by the people from Quba, and probably by
the advance party of the Medinites, the Prophet
arrived in Madinah in the aftemoon of Friday. He
was no stranger to the place, since Danu al-Najaar
were his grandfather's maternal relations. Some of
them at least must have still had some recollect-
Ions of his visit as a boy of six accompanying his
mother more than 45 years before.Waiving offers of
hospitality from numerous quarters, he declared, to
the amazement of all, that the choice be left to
the camel. It stalked a While and ultimately
stopped by the house of Abu Ayyub Khalld bin Zaid
al-Ansaari (popularly known as Abu Ayyub Anssari),
who thus had the proud privilege of playing host to
the Prophet who chose the ground fioor for the
convenience of visitors.
An open space nearby was acquired for the site
of the mosque which was destined to play in the
near future, an important role in the destinies of
nations. By the side of the improvised mosque, a
small quarter was erected as a humble residence
for the Prophet which, incidentally he. never -chang-
ed. He put up at Abu Ayyub Ansaari's place for
seven to eight months, till the mosque and the
quarter were ready. This, however, does not mean
that the latter bore the expenses too for the stay.
In the meantime, the Prophet sent Zaid bin Haari-
thah and Abu Raafay' to Maltkah to bring his
famlly. His daughter Zalnab was not allowed by her
non-Muslim husband, Abul 'Aas bin Ar-Rabee', to
leave Makkah. Ruqayyah was in Ethiopia with her
husband 'Uthmaan bin Affaan. Thus, only Soodah
(the. Prophet's wife), Umme Kulthoom and
Faatimah, the young unmarried daughters, and 'Ali
were to be evacuated
. Madinah" no doubt, provided asylum to the
118
Prophet and his party, but it was not a bed of
roses. Neither would the Meccan persecutors leave
him alone, nor would the sceptical Jews, who
welcomed the Muslims at first as a stabilizing and
balancing element in the discreetly heterogeneous
and predominantly heathen society of Madinah. It
was here in Madinah that his capabilities as an
administrator, a statesman, a commander and a
strategist were actually to be tested. As the head
of a compact, polarized community having roots
both in the 'Aus and the Khazraj, the two domin-
ant tribes of Madinah, and perhaps enjoying the
sizable support of some individuals in the Jewish
too, who saw in .. the Muslims many
poJnts of affinity, he was destined to play a
dom.inant role in the affairs of the .city
****
119
. CHAPTER-9
UNEASY Co-EXJ8TENCE
The three-fold objective the Prophet set before
himself was the cohesion of diverse peoples in the
community drawn from two distant cities, Makkah
and Madinah, .the consolidation of the community's
position as a dominant factor in local politics and
the promotion of much-needed peace and security
of, the city and its adjoining areas. It was his
choice of priorities that marks him as a man of
great imagination, deep insight and high vision. In
his concept of society, the individual held the
pivotal position and formed the focal point of all
progress. By precept and personal example,he
impressed upon the people the basic truths that
without faith th$,-e was. nothing to hope for and
without hope thezfe was nothing to Uve for. Similar-
ly, he emphasized, as a fact of Ufe, that unless
there was unity and' there could be no
uriity and peace w,1thout. . .
The Meccan immigrants ("-IIRIIaaajIIooa), by and
large, were down and out akld had. to be materially
supported by the Medlnite comrades (al ...... r) so
long as they were' not actually assimUated into the
,civic .Ufe. The uneasy feeUng of Uving on charity,
however, !leighed heavllyon the cOlJScience of the
self-respecting lDu.b.a&jIrooD.It was to assuage this
corroding feeling, as welt as to. piomote greater
cobesion that the Prophet evolved a: .n6ft.1 concept '
of real brotherhood ( .. - ...... tlM.t) by. 'paidbg ,out
the Meccan me .. .,.... aDd the Medinlte "BlCr,
individually, as two brothers,' eacbtr"ting and
inheriting the other as a fuD brother. This was not
just a pious hope. It was being relfgloUllly.implemen-
ted . till laWI oflnberlt were reveal-
ed the battle of Badr. A loq UU of of the
persona 80 palred Is recorded in . tt81i!'teports. 'It '
, may or may DOt be very reliable, for '. OM <or two
cases -both of the pair belonged' to one and .the
120
same category, but it illustrates the poi.t clearly
, enough.
This is not . to say that there were no bickerings
or even jealousies later on between the MBI.. and
the .. liIaaajlloca. Human nature being what it is,
full brothers too have differences; some part ,as
brothers, while some even fight as rivals. It may
sound unbelievable, but it is a fact that a early a
the Prophet's time, there were in existence such
people arnong the Medinite, g., however small
in number, as occasionally allowed themselves to be
misled by the Jews and o t ~ vested interests and
actually protested against the "pampering" of th e
Meccan m ~ "at their expense". Eyen the'
Prophet was not spared the charge of nepotism- and
. favouritism! But the saner elements on both sides
always kept such mischief-mongers in cbeck and
exposed the designs of the enemies of Islam against.
the solidarity of the community.
FOUNDA110N OF ISLAIIIC POLITY: The small
compact community foundetl on a sound ideological
base was alone in a positi . t. provl4. the corner-
stone to a ny broad-based .civic !lulld-up enSuring
peace and security of the town. Thus side by side
with the organizational work of the community, the
Prophet addressed himself to the pressing need of
forging a common platform for the composite
population which could serve a an infra-structure
of a city-State guaranteeing baic civic rights to
its diverse people. Here some digression seems
inevitable by way of an explanation to resolve the
apparent antithesis between the : ideological and
territorial aspects of _tIoDalItJ. There is a lot of
confusion about the concept of "nationality", that
is, about .tbe eonnot.tion of the word "nation".
Text-boolC definitions have all been belied by' the
existence of 10 many "nations" living side by side,
particularly in the Middle .East, belonging mostly to
. the same racial stock, professing the same reltgion,
speaking! tbe sa me language and poMessing an
allDO. similar culture.
..
121
In fact, the word 'nation' has two distinct
connotations which should not be confused: the
sociological and the political. Socio}oglcally ..speak-
ing, a aattc. Is a definite set of people with a
. common outlook, sharing a common heritage and a
common destiny. In the ultimate analysis, however,
even if a people,among themselves, do not histori-
cally cherish a common past,. they must at least
cherish. a common destiny and share aspirations for
the future to form a aatiOD in . the sociological
sense. This SOCiological concept of national has
nothing to do with the political concept.. of a
nation, that Is, Statehood. In the political sense, a
nation is basically related to a territory in which,
by virtue of its numerical strength . or other
factors, it is in a position to determine its own
destiny, which, in political parlance Is called the
Rigid of SeIl-determiDatiaa. This rigid is, of
course, to be exercised by the entire population
inhabiting a territory. But the nature of the State
is determined by the dominant element in the body
politic.
To illustrate the point in the context of recent
history, we may refet to the situation in the sub-
continent of India. In the undivided India, as even
now in the present-day India, there have been
various nations in the sociolOgical sense, such as
Hindus, Muslims, C;::hristians, Sikhs, Parse es ,
"Shudras
n
of the Dravadian stock, etc. Of these
"sociological nations", only three, the Hindus, the
Muslims and the Sikhs were territorially so placed,
before partition, that they could form States or
natioas of their own in the political sense. Since
the Sikhs dropped out themselves or were somehow
made to forego their claim or right to Statehood,
only two sociological nations, the Hindus and the
Muslims, remained in the field to claim and assume
Statehood. This is, in a nutshell, the rationale and
the substance of the much-confounded and maligned
"Two-Nation Theory", which .has been only proved
rather than disproved by the subsequent creation of
Bangladesh as a separate entity rrom India.
122
The Muslim. community In MadinJlh, though
numerically not much, was otherwise, by virtue of
its compactness and ideological polarization, in a
position to form territorially a State on the basis
of a nationality in the polltical sense
and to dictate terms within the territory to ot .. ers
much superior in numbers. .
MADINAH PACT: Within a year or so, the Prophet
chalked out a Charter of Rights for the citizens of
Madinah, laying the foundation .of a city-State,
wherein various elements in the body polittc
pledged to cooperate on the principal of coexis-
tence in the common cause of security and welfare
. of the State. The text of the Pact signed by the
Prophet on behalf of the Muslims and by the repre-
sentatives of the non-Muslim tribes as well as the
Jews has been extensively reported by Ibn Hishaam,
Ibn Sa'd and others with certain minor variations.
Dr. Hameedullah, in his informative and scholarly
work, Al-Vatbaa-'eqas Slyaslnah (Cairo), has re-
constructed some 47 clauses of the Pact from the
available texts.
Certain provisions of the historic pact are
rearranged below in a particular order to bring ou t
in relief the salient features of the Muslim polity
in It$ earUest state:
1) "This is a document on' behalf of
Muhammad the Prophet, as between all
Muslims from the Quraish and the
Medinltes and those who follow them
and are thus attached to them and
strive with them.
U) 'They .form one community (nUmmatuD
Vaabldab") apart from other people.
iii) II And. the Jews of Banu t Auf form one
community ("Ummatun") alongwith the
Muslims. The Jews shall have their own
. religion and the Muslims shall hu'e their
123
own religion - their associates as well
as themselves - except one. who trans-
gresses or commits a wrong. He shall be
lnvlting trouble only for himself and his
own people.
lv) "And for the Jews of other (mixed)
tribes (named in the document)the rights
and obligations shall be the same as for
the Jews of Banl I Auf, except one who
transgresses or commits a wrong. He
shall be inviting trouble only for himself
and his own people.
v) "And the associates of the Jews shall be
considered at one with them (that is,
the main tribes).
vi) "A,nd the Jews and the Muslims shall
bear their own expenses. They shall help
each other against one who fights with
the people of this covenant. Among
them there shall be goodwill and sincere
counSel rather than foul play.
vii) "And the Jews and the Muslims shall
a l ~ expenses in the state of war.
vlll) It And it will be unlawful for the people
of this covenant to disturb the peace of
Madinah.
Ix) II And they shall help each other against
one wbo poses a threat to Madlnah.
x) "And none shall do wrong to his ally and
the aggrleved aIlall be entitled to all
help.
xi) .. And the idolater shall not render any
help in person or money, to an (Idolat-
rous) Quralsh (of Makkah) nor shall he
Intervene In his behalf against a Muslim.
124
xU) nAnd neither the (idolatrous) Quralsh nor
one who helps them shall be given asylum
or protection.
xiii) "And none shall (hereatter) dissociate
oneself from the contracting parties
unilaterally except with the permission
of Muhammad.
xiv) nAnd it there arises any new situation
or any dispute that may threaten its
violation, the matter Is to be referred
to Allah and Muhammad, His Prophet.*l
. This historic document is self-exp181)atory. What
Is particularly worthy of note is the position that
the Jews held in Madlnah. Apart from the main
Jewish tribes living on the outskirts of Yathrib (AI-
Madinah), the Jdolatrous tribes within the city, too,
had quite a sizable Jewish content which had to be
bound separately and expressly by this pact. Sepa-
rate alliances were, however, signed later on with
the main Jewfsh tribes ot Banu Qalnoqaa t , Banu
an-Nadeer ,nd Banu Quralzah, who were held
responsible, on subsequent occasions, for subverting
the loyalty of the MedlDlte tribes bound by the
Pact. The position. of the Jewish element in the
Idolatrous tribes seems to be somewhatslmllar to
that of the Sikhs In some of the old Hindu famnie.
of Slndb. Mostly, they were not SIkhs by profession
or conversion but by way ot superstition. Issueless
Hindus would take a vow to dedicate their first
issue to the Guru's ....... I presume some such
superstition or custom existed among the idolatrous
tribes 01 Madinah also. Por, In spite of this seem-
;inllY foreign .element, these idolatrous tribes
. funcUoaed peacefully as weU-knit social units.
. The seCORd point, worthy of note In tbls historic
Is . the most cathoUc basis of the Muslim
poDtJ that If noo-Musllms agreed, of their free
wW, to cooperate with the Muslims to promote and
. d.lead . a 1OCi.t, based on tbe soeio-economic
principles .n ...... 1:1 by Jalam, various religious
125
communities could co-exist In an Islam-oriented
ideological state as equal partners under a
covenant welding them into one political entity' and
guaranteeing full protection to the reUglon, culture
and personal law of each contracting community,
subject only to over-riding considerations of human
values, public morality and decency. The clear
expressions of "Ummatun V .... ida mID dooR an-
DaSS" in (Il) and "Ummatun ma'al-momlneen" in
(iii) in the above-cited document are of great
significance and worthy of attention of the stu-
dents of political scienceJt goes without saying that
the basic requirement for the success of any pact
is goodwlll and sincerity on the' part of the contrac-
ting parties. But in an arrangement like the one
envisaged, the success depended more on the gene-
rous treatment by the dominant element than the
technically correct conduct of other partners.
"DHllfMEES": Evidently, the position of these
convenanted non-Muslims (that is, parties to the
covenant) was basically and materially different
from that of the well-known class of Dbimmees,
who, after surrendering in .later wars, sought protec-
tion on the condition that they would not oppose
but would not cooperate either. an that account,
the laUer were exempted from compulsory military
service, and the defence of the realm was left to
be the responsibility of the supreme authority of
the State. In lieu of the obligation to render milit-
ary service in ti me of war and in return for the
protection C"clbimmah") of person and property
assured to them, these clbimmees were required to
pay a special tax, called "Jlzyah
n
As compared to
those contracting non-MuslimS (that is, parties to
the Pact), these CIli,mmees, no doubt, held an
inferior position of second-class citizens, constitu-
ting a speCial charge of the State. What is to be
noted here is' that the choice of the status was
their own. In fact, they themselves opted for that
pOSition, to which the Quran refers thus:
126
(Continue to) fight tlll they agree to
pay Jlzyala individually (per capita) and
(thus accept a status for themselves) as
inferiors. (ix: 29 )*2
This. of course. does not mean that they should,
on that account. be treated disparagingly or disgrac-
ed in public. as subsequently some learned Jurists .
inferred 'from the word which literally
means "srfiall. low. interior" and, in the present
context. refers to their own choice of an unequal,
low status il) the body politic. The derogatory
manner prescribed by later Jurists for the payment
of the capitation levy. far from winnin, over their
hearts by generosity (ataleeful quloob
a
), could only
harden them In their attitude of non-cooperation
and actually drove them into the position of a
potential fifth column.
None who is unbiased in his study ot the Quran
can subscribe to the view that Islam does not
tolerate dissent or that It considers one who does
not see his way to beHeving in Islam (perhaps
because of the way the Muslims themselves
practise it and the character they display) to be
more than tecbDlcally a Disbeliever and necessarily
an adversary, (unless, ot course, the latter choose$
to be pugnacious and refuses to tolerate a Belie-
ver): Let us quote. the most commonly known
verses only:
a) There is no compulsion in (the matter oC )
Faith. (Il: 256)*3
b) Thou art no warder over them(or keeper
ot others' conscience) (lxxxvUl: 22)*4
In other words, their religion is none oC your
business:
c) Say: Your talth is Cor you and mine
for me. (cix: 6)*5
127
mE JEWS: Arter setting hiS' own house In order,
the Prophet turned, with a decidedly better Image,
to the neighbouring tribes, particularly those on the
south and the south-west. The three main Jewish
tribes on the outskirts of the city were given the
top priority. He would personally visit them and
address their chiefs. He would recite some of the
Meccanvers,es referring,by name, to their Prophets
and their Holy Books. He would invite their atten-
tion to the comparatively recent offer of the
Quran:
Say: 0 People of the Scripture; come to
(an agreement on the basis of) the
doctrine which is already equally accep-
ted among you and us, that we shall
worship naught but Allah and that none
of us shall take others for lords beside
Allah. (ill: 64)*6
In his address to the Jewish tribes on the out-
skirts of Madinah t he would stress the poln ts of
affinity between the People of the Book, particu-
larlythe Jews, and the "Neo-MusUms" In the role
of reformists of' the old creed of Abraham and
Moses. But it seems that the inclusion of certain
names in the list of the Propbets the Neo-Muslims
stood by, 'particularly that of Jesus Christ (Peace
be on him) and presumably the Prophet's own claim
to a status simUar to that of Prophet Moses (Peace
be on him) irked their bigwigs, and the pragmatic
approach of the Quran and the Prophet had little
effect on them. Besides, the egalitarian outlook of
the Prophet's creed also stood in the way of
acceptance by the vested interests in the well-to-
do Jewish community.
Thus, his drive for substantial active support to
the avowedly "reformist movement" did not yield
the expected r ~ u l t s by way of accession to the
community beyond a few individuals from among
the People of the Book. Even Abu Ishaaq Ka 'b bin
Maanay', nicknamed "Ka'b Ahbaar", in spite of his
128
erudition and deep study of the Scripture, would
nQt readily and openly support the movement
which, presumably, he had every reason to believe
rath$" . than disbelieve. It was, perhaps, due to
counter-pressure that he' preferred to wait and see
till the time of the second Caliph, tUmar, when he
actually embr,ced Islam. It is' rather surprising to
note the way our learned wrlters, particularly the
commentators of thC!Holy. Quran and traditionists,set
store by his views and judgement mcertain references'
to "Isna'eU"aat" (3ewlsli lore and tradition) while
interpreting the Quran. I
Nevertheless, the Prophet did succeed in convin-
cing them of the utiHty of non-aggression alliance
on 1:he lines he had already signed with those living
within the town of Madinah. Separate pacts of non-
aggression and com mon defence were, thus, signed"
with Banu Qalnoqaa', Banu an-Nadeer and Banu
Quralzah. Encouraged by the of success
thus achieved, he approached, with more
confidence, the inDuential but Isolated unattached
idolatrous tribes Danking the 'routes to Syria/Palest-
Ine, Iraq and Mecca/Yeman. He visited an old town
of Vuddaan;' north-east of Raabigh, a caravan sta-
tion almost midway betwee'n Madlnah and Makkah
.and succeeded In getting an alliance of non-aggre-
ssion and common defence signed with Banu
Hamzah bin Blkr. Simnarly, he went to the west
Madinah. towards Yanboo', a 'caravan station more
than 100 miles from Madinah on the coastal route
to the north, and signed alliances of. a simnar
nature with Banu Mudiaj, Banu Dumrah and Banu
'Ushalrah at an old. settlement known as Dhul
'Ushairah, . S9uth ... east of Yanboo'. He did not,
however, make much headway In the north, where
Banu Fazaarah and Banu Ghaffaan posed a potential
threat demanding an ail-tirge vigil.
IHmATiON OP BASIC DISCIPLINES: The second
year of the IIIjrah (Migi-atlon) was a year of hectlc
activity devoted mainly to Intensive organizational
work. Till then, only the "8alaat" (prayer),
129
normally held in com munion, was obligatory for the
community. The number of dally prayers ordained
for specified portions of the day round the clock,
were raised from the original two (only in the
forenoons and the evenings) to. five as at present,
after the incident of the "Ascension" ("Israa" or
"MI'raaj) which, I presume, took place not one or
two years, as Is generally believed, but five to six
years before Migration (Al-Hijrah), at any rate,
before 'Umar bin ll-Khattaab embraced Islam.
AccorCting to "Umdatul Qearl, the commentary of
the Saheeb BukbarI by 'Ainee, the reported date of
the incident varies from two to eight years before
Hijrah.
The only innovation made towards the end of
the first year of the Migration was that the call
for prayers was prescribed and standardized in the
present form. The full-throated call, for the first
time, to the prayers, in the resounding voice of
Bllaal, must have been quite an event for the
town.
Fasting, which had already been a voluntary
exercise of self-discipline was now made obligatory
for all the people in normal health for the entire
month of Ramadaan, the month when the first
revelation was received in the cave of Hira. Appa- .
rently. it was on the pattern of the Jewish Lent,
but, in fact, this is an exercise generally found in
some form in all religions and is based primarily on
the principle that temporary deprivation promotes
realization of the real value of a thing and, there-
fore, a keener sense of appreciation and gratitude.
According to Ibn al-Atheer, Zakaat, an obliga-.
tory levy for the community's welfare and all-
round progress, wrongly described as a poor-tax,
was also ordained and made incumbent on the well-
to-do" members of the community. It would not be
out of place to mention" here that, in a" welfare
State,guaranteeing full employment and assuring
(Uovision of subslstencQ and shelter to all its citi-
. .
130
base4 on the islamic Ideology, all taxes levied by
the Government would of necessity come under the
term -7.akut- in its real .-ense, or this "pillar" of
Islam wC)uld have to be demolished altogether in a
welfare State.
A very important divine measure calculated to
make an impact ~ the psychololicil front was the
change of the Qlblah" the direction which every
Muslim wai required to tace in his dally prayers as
a procedural regulation. ThIs was obviously meant
to polarize the entire community to one tocal point
in space as part of dlscipHne and also as a symbol
of world-wide unity. TID late in 2 A.H. the Jewish
sanctuary in Jerusalem, the "Balbi- (altar) ot
Solomon, bullt in the 10th century B.C., described
by the Quran 8S "Al-1IasjIdId. Aqsa- had provided
the cardinal direction to the community's daily
prayers. A month or two before the- battle of Badr,
the change of the Qlblah to the Ka 'bah in Makkah
was ordained with immediate effect by a specifiC
revelation. It was Implemented by I Abdur Rahmaan
bin r Aut as soon as it was communicated to him in
the course of a' prayer he was leading in the
() ,
mosque now known as "1IaIjidal Qllalataln" (the
Mosque with the two Qiblahs).
As we all know, the city of Jerusalem, and
Syria too, due north, were traditionally associated
with the tombs ot several Prophets - Noah, David
and Solomon in Jerusalem, and Abraham, Lot, Issac
and Jacob (Peace be an all of themJ in Syria. The
Sabians, too, were known. to regard the Pole Star
as their Qlblah in that very direction. Perhaps in
view at all this, the use of the northerly direction
as tbe new communityts Qlblah, toward which the
entire community was -to prostrate itself at ,least
five times a day, was considered potentially full of
dangerous ImpUcations and Hke1y to be misunder-
stood In the prevalent idolatrous society. Moreover,
the Katbah being the first place of worship dedica-
ted to Allah, older than the Temple of Solomon,
end associated with the ,name of Abraham, the
131
illustrious monotheist,. had much more to commend
itself ideologically as a Qiblah for the Neo-MusUms
than the "Haikal" or the Temple of Solomon,' one
of Abraham t s descendants.
LUNAR CALENDAR; Perhaps a little digression
here will not be out of place. For we have now
entered a period of Muslim history replete with
chronologically recorded events, and unless we have
some idea of the luni-solar (Al-Kabee8ab) calendar
of the Meccans and how it differed from the lunar
calendar, we may find extremely baffling the
variation in dates given by different chroniclers,
who did not follow a uniform mett.od of reckoning
till 16 A.H. .beD the Hljrab calendar w .. officially
adopted. There were two main causes of
discrepancy. The first was the fact that the event
of the Hijrah - when the Prophet actually migrated
and eatered Madinah - took place OD 12 Rabl'ul
Anal and the Hijri calendar took retrospective
effect from the 1st of Mabarram (known long
before the year of Elephant as "Safarul-Avval
ft
),
the first month of the Arabian calendar - that is,
72 days earlier. Thus, in actual fact, the first' year
of the Hijrah was of 282 days only, instead of the
usual 354 days.
The second factor responsible for the discrepan-
cy was more basic. The pagan calendar was luni-
solar (Al-KabeesaIa) like the Indian calendar (Hindi
SBDvat) in the sense that it was basically a lunar
year of 354 days, that s ~ 11 days shorter than the
solar year, but to adjust it seasonally with the
solar year, every third year a 13th month (of 30
. days) was intercalate4 by the Pandits and Kabins,
which the pandits call fttaund" and the Arab Kahins
used to call ftAn-Nasee". Thus, in the solar, anti
therefore in the luni-solar calendar, months would
be seasonally fixed: - Babee' would always be a
month' of Spring, Safar a month ofAutumn, Jumaada a.
cold month of winter and BamadaaD a hot month
of sUf\lmer, as the names themselves suggest. But
132
rotate, throughout the year - Ramadaan may fall in
the spring season, in summer or in winter.
It seems the change from the luni-solar to the
lunar calendar, like the prohibition of liquor, was
effected . gradually. Both the sun and the moon
were generally mentioned by the Quran in the
Meccan and early Medlnite Surahs as means of
reckoning *7. However, in the Sarah X, a Meccan
Sarah, it was clearly and definitely stated that it
was the moon which was to determine the count of
months and years:
It is He who made the sun brightness
itself (or the source of light) and the
moon a light, and phased the latter with
stages that you may know the number of
years and (keep) the count. (x: 6)*8
It would appear that the change had been inti mated
when the Prophet was still in Makkah and the lunar
calendar was actually promulgated in Madinah. This
is the reason why in 6 A.H., when the Muslims
were not allowed by the Meccans to perform Hajj,
they had started from fJJadinah late in Ramadaan,
knowing that it was Dhu Qa' adah in Mecca accord-
ing to the Meccan calendar and that the Hajj was
to take p l ~ e only the next month.
Anyhow, the change was finally and officially
announced after the battle of Tabook (which took
place in Ramadaa" 9 A.B.), about the time the
Suratut Taubah was revealed in which the practice
. of intercalating a month (an-Naaee) was denounced
in the following terms:
Verily the intercala1ion (of a month) is
an innovation of (the days of) Disbelief
with which the Dis-believers were led
astray. They would make it lawful one
year and unlawful another year in order
to adjust the number (or complete the
133
thereby make lawful what was forbidden
by Allah. (Ix: 37).9
Here the reference Is to the manipulation of the
time-honoured convention by declaring, through this
device, any of the "forbidden" months (that Is,
"close" for warfare as "open" for warfare to suit
their purpose

134
CHAPTER-lO
-THE GUAT STRUGGLEn
The ten years of the Prophet in Madinah were
characterized by respiteless activity on diverse
fronts ideological, organizational, political,
diplomatic, etc. The main objective behind all this,
however, was two-fold: to make Madinah safe for
the community to grow in stature and prosper as
well as to make the community itself safe for the
Faith to thrive and permeate all sectors of human
activity. For, it was in Madinah that the commun-
ity was first faced with the ticklish problem of
opportunists and hypocrites Infiltfating its rank and
fUe. The programme before the Prophet was,
therefore, to take all emergent measures to keep
the community in perfect readiness to meet not
only the challenge posed to it and its Faith locally,
but also the challenge posed by neighbouring coun-
tries, to the promotion of the cause of human
values recognized by all religions.
It is these eternal "Do's" and "Don'ts" univer -
sally recognised in all civilized societies to which
the Quran refers as -al-lIa'rooP and -al-Muntar"
in the following verse:
Ye are the best community that hath
been raised (sent out) for mankind
(that) ye enjoin the known (values) -and
forbid what is abhorrent (to human
nature). (iii: 110)*1
What is to be particularly noted in the verse are
the words "enjoin" and "forbid", which assign the
community an activist rather than a passivist role.
Again, the expression "raised or sent out for man-
kind" makes It a forward-looking rather than an
inward-looking reformist movement in isolation
from the world around it.
135
All these activities in furtherance of the divine
cause are collectively known in Islam by the gene-
ric term "Jebad" (meaning endeavour, struggle,
campaign), which signifies both the struggle against
internal or external forces working against the
cause and to make preparations to meet all inter-
nal and external challenges. The latteJ:. in.cludes re-
grouping, planning, logistiCS, moral and material
armament and, as such, is regarded as more impor-
tant than the actual struggle itself. This is what
the Prophet presumably implied in the following
statement attributed to him: "We have now return-
ed to the greater struggle from the smaller
one"*2. This. is, however, in corroboration of what
the Quran also says:
So do not listen to the Unbelievers and
strive ~ g i n s t them by means of this
(the Quran) launching a great struggle.
(xxv: 52)*3
It is obvious that just as we talk today of a
IIpeace offensive" and "propaganda offensive", the
Quran regards the confrontation on the intellectUal
plane as a "great endeavour or struggle" (Jebadan
Kabira").
It betrays utter lack of proportion, on the part
of our early writers, particularly the Prophet's bio-
graphers, who being obviously more interested in
the Prophet's exploits of war than his exploits of
peace gave less prominence and coverage to wha t
the Quran calls the "great struggle" and the Proph-
et is reported to have described as the "greater
stroate". Voluminous war-narratives(Al-Maghaazi")
were devoted, not necessarily to the strategy of
wars but solely to lengthy accounts .of fighting, too
graphic to be true and too faclle to be scientific. I
may be excused if 1 steer clear of the plethora of
lengthy details in preference of a pragmatic descri-
ption of these engagements in order' to give an
adequate and fair idea of the Prophet's a pre-
occupations on that account.
136
JEOAn; To remove any lurking misconception about
JebacI or struggle, it seems advisable to refer to the
few Quranic observations and injunctions relevant
to the subject. We arrange them in a particular
order to facilitate the understanding of the subject
.In Its true perspective.
(a)
(b)
There is no compulsion In (the matter of
Faith. The right path has been made
clearly distinct from waywardness.
(ii: 256)*.
Unto you . your Faith and unto me,mlne.
(c.x: 6)*5
(c) 'And if your Lord had so wished, surely
all those who are in the world would
have believed. So, are you going to
force people that they become believers?
(x: 100)*6
(d) Permission (to fight) is given to those
against whom war has been made, for
they have been wronged (subj(!cted to
aggression) and verily Allah Is powerful
enough to give them success -. they are
thQSe who have been expelled from their
home without any valid reason(unjustly),
only because they said: Our Lord is
Allah. (xxII: 39-40)*7
(e) And fight in the cause of Allah with
those who fight you and do not Initiate
hostilities. Verily Allah loveth not aggre-
ssors. So kill them wherever you find
them and turn them out from where
they drove you out; tor subversion or
mischief is worse than killing.
(Ii: 190-191)*8
(f) And they will not cease fighting till
they make you turn back from your'
Faith, if they ~ a n (il: 217)*9
.
(g)
(h)
(I)
131
And give them fight till there is no
mischief or subversion and all Faith is
(meant) only for Allah.. (vill: 39)*10
And if they incUne towards peace, you
(too) incline towards it and have trust
in Allah, for He Is All-listening and All-
knowing. So if they intend to deceive
you, surely Allah is all too sufficient for
you. (viii: 61-62)*11
And had there' not been Allah's repelling
some people by others, certainly there
would have been pulled down convents
and churches and synagogues and mos-
ques in which Allah's name is oft-
remembered.... (xxii: 40)*12
These quotations hardly need any comment.
However, particular attention is invited to (c) and
(0 above which together clarify Islam's catholic
concept of JebacL
MECCANS' AGGRESSIVE DESIGNS: Unfortunately,
the Meccans were neither prepared to treat the
Prophet's migration to Madinah as gooQ riddance
nor could they rest in peace until the entire
Musllm community was liquidated. Their vindictive-
ness urged them to launch a relentless campaign of
vilification and .intimidation against the fugitive
Muslims. They would incite the tribes .in and around
Madinah not only to have no truck with them but
also to throw them out if possible. They saw in the
Prophet's defensive alliances of friendship and non-
aggression an attempt on his part at mounting a
big offensive against them. Our learned writers
unintentionally did great .njustice to the cause of
Islam by describing as gbazavaat (campaigns) his
early visit in search of peace to places like
Vuddaan or Abvaa, Bavaat, Dhulushairah, etc. form-
ing part of his peace offensive to seek the support
of the tribes in the ~ j o i n i n g areas like Banu
Dumrah aqd Banu Mudlaj for his security plan for
138
the area. The nature of these defensive alliances Is
. abundantly clear from one of the provisions, report-
ed by Ibn Sa t d, of the treaty with Banu Dumrah.
It Is as follows:
He (the Prophet) shall not fight Banu
Dumrah and the latter shall not. fight
him nor shall they gang up With others
against him, nor give any help to his
enemy. (Al-Tabaqaat) *13
It is inconceivable that, within less than a year
after the' Hijrah, the community was in a position
to take the offensive and undertake unprovoked
. military operations outside Madinah when the
PrOphet knew full well that the alliance with the
Medinltes was expressly defensive in character and
that he could not count on their help In any such
venture outside Madinah. It is, however, a fact that
a tew notable Medinites, too, accompanied the
Muslims on such occasions. Maybe the Prophet took
them with him that they might plead for 'him' and
,counter the Meccans
t
subversive propaganda. It will
not be irrelevant to mention an Incident which took
place within three or four months of these miss-
ions. The Prophet sent a party pnder t Abdullah bin
Jahsh to a place named Nakhlah to gather informa-
tion about the Meccans
t
reported activities in that
area. When the Prophet came to know of the party
having 'been involved in a chance encounter in
which a Meccan was killed, he was annoyed with
t Abdullah, rebuked him for acting beyond his orders
and paid the for the murder of tAmar
bin al-Hadrami.
It should be noted that the first pitched battle
against the Meccans was fought (tn Ramadaan, 2
A.H.) at Badr, some 96 mUes from Madinah and
about 155 mUes from Makkah by the old customary
route; the seconQ battle was fought (tn Shavval 3,
A.H.) at Uhud, about three mUes from Madinah and
about 250 miles from Makkah, and the third almost
the last major engagement with the Meccans along
139
with their allies was Gbazvatul 4bzaab (commonly
known as Ghazvatul Kbandaq, the "Battle of the
Ditch") in Shavval, 5 A.H., just at the very gates
of Madinah. It requires no more than average
intelligence to Infer who could be the aggressor
and who was on the defensive.
The over-laboured theory that the cause of the
first battle, that of Badr, was that the Muslims
had threatened to plunder a particular Meccan
I caravan carrying rich on its way from
Syria, and Abu Sufyan, the Master of the Cara van,
had to send an SOS to Makkah for urgent reinforc-
ement, is belied by the fact that the Muslims left
M.adinah on .the 12th of Ramadaan, 2 A.H., on all
accounts, while the Meccan reinforcement had left
Makkah at least four days before. If it was merely
a premonitory measure of Abu Sufyan, then the
Meccans had no business to take battle position
there and not. to return with the caravan to
Makkah when they saw that the threat did not
materialize. The fact of the matter was that they
were Itching for a fight with an unequal,. poorly-
equipped adversary. It is actually reported that the
Meccans were, among themselves, divided on the
issue. whether to return home or to give battle,and
that two tribes, AI-Akhnas and Banu Zahra,actually
left for Makkah and did not participate Anyhow,
the Quran sets the record straight:
(You would recall) when you were on
this side of the vaBe, and they on the
farther side, and the caravan was on a
lower place as compared to you. If you
had among yourselves so arranged (that
is, pre-planned), you would certainly
have failed to keep the appointment. But
(all this happened) so that God might
clinch the issue which was already (as
good as) accomplished. (viii: 42)*14

Incidentally. the two sides of the valley have
now come to be known as the "Udvatud DUD,a"
14.,
(this side of the valley) and the UdYatui Qusva
w
(the other side of the valley).
MUSUJIS' EXBMPLAIlY CONDUCT: There were
three maln causes of all these operations, expedit-
ions and battles: the Meccans' incitement and
provocation, the Jews' intrigues and' double-
crossing, and the abject betrayal and unilateral
revocation of treaty alliances by certain alUed
tribes. The opportunists and hypocrites (al-
M1IDIlfiqooa) generally played the role of the' fifth
column and served as agents provocateur. The
traditional ground-rules of the pagan Arabs or the
Jews were,' by and large, scrupulously followed by
the Prophet, except that the Muslims, on their own,
observed certain self-imposed restrictions, such as:
(a) They would not initiate an undeclared
war, as evidenced by the following.
"If thou fearest treachery trom a
people, throw back to them (the treaty)
and be quits with them. Allah loveth not
the treacherous". (vU1:58)*15
Abu Usayd reported that the Prophet
said: 'Do not unsheath your swords till
they tht!mselves engage you.
(AI-Badeau., Abu Da-oocl)*16
.
(b) They would stop fighting as soon as the
enemy sued for peace as can be seen
from the following verse:
And if' they incline towards peace, you
(too) incline towards it and have trust
in Allah. (vUi: 61)*17
(c) They would not kill or molest women,
children and the aged, as supported by
the following traditions:
141
Anas reported that the Prophet (Peace
be on him) said: Do not kill the aged,
the weakling, the young children and
women nor do you exceed the bounds -
(AbIJ Da--ood.)*18
It is reported by I Abdullah bin 'Umar
that the Prophet (Peace be on him)
forbade killing of women and children.
(ButIIarI aDd MuaIlm)*19
It is reported by Rlbah bin ar-Rabee I
The Prophet '(Pe,ce be on him) saw
people crowding over something, So he
sent a man to see what they had
crowded over. The man came and told
him: "Over a slain woman". Thereupon,
he sent a man and said: "Tell Khalid not
to kill a woman or a labourer (Batman).
(Abu Da-oocl)*20
No doubt, one comes across one or two rare
exceptions such as the case of a woman who was
slain on a definite charge of homicide. A Jewish
woman of Banu Quraizah killed a Muslim by throw-
ing a rock at his head.
(d) They would not mutilate the body of the-
slain, as is evident from the following:
It is reported by Sulaiman bin Bareedah
on the authority of his father that
whenever the Prophet (Peace be on him)
appointed a Com mander of an army an
expeditionary force, he would instruct
him to give battle but not to exceed the
bounds nor to act treacherously, not to
mutilate (the bodies) and not to a1ay
any boy. (Salaeeb MuUm)*21
(e) They would not resort to what is known
as the "Scorched-earth Policy". Once,
however, they had to cVt certain palm
142
trees (about seven or eight) of Banu an-
Nadeer which provided cover to the
enemy and the incident was 80 unusual
that It was not only reported by both
Bukharl, and Muslim but also mentioned
in the Quran:
"Whatever (tender or fruitless) plants ye
cut down or left standing on their roots,
it was by Allah I s permission 80 that He
might thereby confound the
transgressors". . (llx: 5)*22
In contrast, the Old Testament says:
Only the trees which thou knowest that
they be not trees tor meat, thou shalt
destroy..... .
D e a ~ Chapter 2 0 ~ verse -20). .
(f) They would lIpare the members ofa
family taken prisoner, the torments of
. separation:
'Abdullah bin Mas'ood reports that
whenever prisoners were brought, the
Prophet (Peace be on him) would give
the custody of'the entire famlly to one
person lest the family members suffered
from separation. (Ibn Maajala)*23
.
INSTITUTION OF SLAVBRY: As tor the holding of
captives to ransom or making them slaves, there
was, in fact, no other course open in those days
for the disposal of prisoners ot war except to
exchange them by mutual agreement or, falling
that, put them to the sword. In the absence of any
such institution as "concentration camps", the only
alternative to a wholesale mMSacre was to free
them on ransom as many as possible and distribute
the rest among the Muslims who would keep them
and feed them tn return for their labour. Any
. unilateral concession on that account would have
only been at the cost of the M,uslimprisoners of
war in the ,enemy's hands and would have deprived
the Muslims of a potent lever of pressure on the
enemy. The Quranis injunctions on the subject are
self':'explanatory: .
(a) So when ye meet the unbelievers (in
engagement), let there be smiting of
their necks till, having subdued them, ye
get firm assurance (for peace). After
that, let there be (a allow of) geaeroeity
or (a demaad of) reaaom until .the (state
of) war, with all its exigencies, is
terminated. (xlvii: 4).24
,(b) And of those you rightfully posses,
whosoever desires a (personal) bond (to
be executed in order to get freedom) let
it be execpted in writing for them if
you perceive in them any good, and
(even) give them out of the wealth of
Allah bestowed on you. Force DOt your
maids (slaYe-glrls) to whoredom that you
may have a aood time in tbe world, if
they intend' to presene chastity. And if
one forces them against their wish,' then
(as far as those helpless creatures are
concerned) Allah is All-forgiving and
Merciful. (xxIv: 33).25
(c) And also (prohibited are) women
. already married except those you
rightfully possess - (it is) a decree of
God . (binding) on you. (All) others,'
except 'these, are lawful to you, if you
so desire, by meani of your wealth,
chaste relatiOD8bip, not lust. In view of
the benefit you seek thereby from them,
give tbem tbelr dues (dower) as duty.
And. there is no blame on you if, after
the needful is done, you agree among
yourselves on something. Ve'rily Allah is
)144
Particular attention is invited to the italicized
portions in the above extract
. The expression "those your right hands
possessed" in the text (*25 and *26 above) idioma-
tically means "those YOIl rightfully or lawfully
possessed" and obviously e x l u ~ e s abduction,
immoral traffic and anti-social and illegal purposes
and practices, particularly those not sanctioned by
custom or tradition of the times. Its application is
wrongly confined to slaves only. In actual fact, it
is to be treated as a 'saving clause' to give legal
protection to all transactions and relationship which
had been permissible before a new law came into
operation. In other words, It merely indicated that
the injunction under reference was not to have a
retrospective effect. For example, it is reported
that, before his conversion to Islam, Abu Sufyan
had relations with the. mother of Ziyad, the
Governor. It was precisely "because of this legal
protection under the Quranic law that Mu'aaviyah
accepted Ziyaad's claim of being a child of Abu
Sufyaan, when the fact had been proved to his
satisfaction, not minding the stigma -It would mean
to the name of .his own deceased father. .
Besides these express injunctions, the Quran
goes further and declares the act of setting free a
slave to be not only a laudable act of virtue and
piety (vide Surah xc)*27 but also preferable even
tG making a routine of daily prayers:
It is no 'righteousness that you turn your
face towards East or West, but righteous
Is one who .spendS (his) wealth, despite
its love, on his klns-folk, orphans, the
needy, the wayfarer, those who ask, BDd
for the I'8D8Om of .yea. (it: 177)*28
Not only tflis, The Quran includes any expenses
on that account under the eight prescribed heads of
expenditure tor the" disposal of Zabel (vide:
. ix:60)*29. Moreover the uran employs It as a
145
or an act expiating certain kinds of crimes, wrongs
and . defaults, such as culpable homicide not
amounting to murder (YIde: Iv:92)*30, illegal divorce
(YIde: IvlU: 3)*31 and revocation of a solemn
pledge (YIde:. v: 89)*32. Apart from these Quranlc
Injunctions the Prophet's standing instructions were:
He who beat a slave as a punishment which he did
not deserve him, should set him free as. an
explative act.*33
As can be imagined, the safe custody of women
captives was quite a delicate qU.,.sttoDr -DO less
ticklish for the _ -morally. The Prophet's
prapatic-' approach to the question is' refiected in
- tlie following express instructions to his people:
Abu Musa reports the Prophet as saying
that he who had a slave-girl, educated
her, was good to her and then set ber
free and married her was entitled to
two rew(U'ds. (BukharI)*34
Any reports . or stories to the contrary - which.
are unfortunately in no small number In the works
of our learned writers - 'should be summarily
dismissed either as motivated concoctions or based
on the subjective interpretations of the writers' of
the ' Abbaslde period, or mere. garbled or highly
coloured and boastful accounts of the earlier
narrators.
It goes without saying, therefore, that a lot of
prejudice existing today against the Muslims, and
therefore against Islam, is due to what we
ourselves practise and demonstrate to the world as
Islam. In fact, our own character and conduct have
done much greater harm to the cause of Dllam than
the propaganda of its detractors.
*****************.****
146
CHAPTER-ll
THE SWORD AGADfST SWORDS-l
In a discussion Uke this we should, first of all,
distinguish between armed engagements or actual
battles ("'nat) and expeditionary operations or
patrolling skirmishes. (saraaya) necessary for
keeping clear of enemy activity or intrusion the
areas within the "spheres of lnnuence" established
through pacts and alliances. The writers of al-
..... 11 have unfortunately contused the issues by
adopting a very irrational distinction between the
two - that Is, the presence or the absence of the
Prophet himself in the operation to determine
whether. a particular incident was a "ghazvah"
(battle) or a Itsari"....1t (expedition). To them, it is
technically a Itgbazvah" (battle) if the Prophet's
partiCipation is estabUshed, irrespective of the fact
whether an armed conmct or even actual confron-
tation took place or not.
According to their accounts, the number of
suaaya varies from sixty to seventy-five and that
of Gbaznat from 19 to 21. But of the tradiUonists
(ltmobadditbocHl
W
) - as distinguisbed from abl-us-
Slyu of the Prophet) and abl-ul-
ghaazi (writers on the subject of his warfare) -
.Bukbari, on the authority of Zaid bin al-Arqam,
gives the total number of Gbalanat as 19, while
MusUm's tally, on the authority of .. Jaabir bin
'Abdullah, comes to 21.
BASIC CONPUSlON: As a matter of fact, some of
tliese engagements, classtried as did DOt
actuany result in aD armed caaflict, such as
Vuddaan or Abvaa, Bavaat, Dhul 'Ushairah,
Doomatul Jundal, Hudalbiyyah, 'Umra-tul-Qadaa
and even Al-Pat-b (fall of Makkah). Some are
doubtful cases - whether they can justifiably be
. as gbazanat at aU, according to their
own accepted. definition - such as Auiaas or
147
Mautah, in which the Prophet himself did not
participate. Besides, one or two have been counted
twice or thrice under different names such as
Gbanab Dbar ir-J,Uqaa'(or Anmaar) and Hunain
(also naned as Autaas and Havadn). Similarly,
there are a number ot sana,a which were not
military operations at all bat jat goodwin mlssloDS
or the cases where the people of a place
themselves invited Muslims tor a .specific purpose,
such as demolition of idols etc.
In short, if we scruttnize different lists of
Gbazavaat, the count of all armed -engagements
would hardly exceed ten. Nawab Azam Yar Jang
Maulavi Chirgah AU, in his learned book entitled
Al-A'zamul Kalaam 0 Tahqeeqft Jebad
B
limits their
number to onl, Ove - namely Badr, Ubud, Ahzaab,
Khaibar and Hunain. He argues that the armed
engagement with Banu Mustaliq (at Muraisee') is
"unauthentic" and not supported by any "sound
evidence", that the engagement with Banu 'Quralzah
was only part of the battle of Ahzaab, that the
expedition to Makkah (AI-Fat-b) did not Qivolve
fighting at all and the Meccans surrendered without
giving battle, and that the abortive siege of Taa-ef.
Uke the expedition to Autaas, was only a mopping-
up operation in continuation of the battle of
Hunain.
Anyhow, some idea of the magnitude of these
battles (Gbazavaat) in general can be had from the
fact that the total loss of life on both sides taken
together in any engagement seldom exceeded 115,
in spite of the fact that our early writers Oil such
subjects are known for their .figbt of imagination.
For example, they reported that in a single operat-
ion in which no fighting took place 400 to 900
Jews of Banu Q.uraizah, who bad surrendered after
a siege lasting 25 days, were slain. It is obviously
an exaggeration when compared to tbe inventory
given of the entire booty and also In view of tbe
tact tbat all ot these victims were kept for the
. night in one small houae. (vide SeeNt: Ibne Hisham
and Seeratun Nabl by '411amab Shiblf, Volume III).
14.8
Tbere were not more than four large-scale
battles witb tbe Meccans and otber idolatrous
tribes, besides, of course, tbe one non-military
surprise confrontation in connection witb tbe
Propbet's abortive attempt to perform Hajj Un
Dbee Qaatl,a, 6 A.H.) wbicb resulted In the Treaty
of Hudalblyyab and the otber 'bloodless military
operation against tbe Meccans wblch resulted in tbe
un-conditional, J,)eaceful surrender of Makkab.
1. BATTLE OF BADa (BamadaaD 2, A.B.)
We have already referred, in the previous
cbapter, ,to what led to the encounter and how tbe
Meccans finding tbe Muslims as a community still
lacking 'teetb', were itching for a fight to clench
the issue once for all. Thus, it was the first major
engagement with the Meccans to which tbe Quran
refers thus: "Allab has already given you the
victory at 8adr when you were looked down upon".
Uii: 123)*1
The battle was fought on the plain about one
mlle and a half to tbe west of the town named
Badr, about 96 miles from Madinah by the old
route. Tbe real cause was the'Meccans'
concerted effort to break through tbe Muslims'
bulld':"up of defensive treaties of friendship and
non-aggression and to remove the standing threat
to their free movement In tbe area which happened
to be on their northern trade route to Syria.
To suggest that tbe Propbet, baving learnt that
at some distance from Madinab a trade caravan
from Syria led by Abu Sufyaan was' beading for
Makkah, decided to waylay it. ,.Is ratber fantastic,
although moat of our Ieamed writer. baYe DOt ODly
assumed It bat aI80 ..... t to justify it in terms of
the present-,day international la\tl of belllgerency,
forgetting tbat there sbould be', at least some
distinction between a propbet and an ordinary
politician. Apart from moral considerations, it is
149
inconceivable that he could take such a precipitate
and perilous decision, knowing full well that
Muslims were yet to be rehabilitated in their new
surroundings in Madinah and that his new Medinite
allies were under no obligation, under the _ recent
pact, to support such a venture anywhere, let alone
one outside Madinah. Prudence had demanded a
pollcy of peace at all costs rather than a
deliberate provocation to the enemy who could do
great harm to those few Muslims in Makkah who
could not afford to migrate. Moreover, Meccan
trade caravans being usually accompanied by an
armed guard of AbabeesII sturdy Negroid
mercenaries living in a part of Makkah in a sizable
community and constituting a tribe of their own -
the encounter was not expected to be just a walk-
over.
The enemy was at least three times the number
of combatant Muslims, who were shabbily dressed
and poorly equipped for a pitched battle. Incidenta-
lly, 'Uthmaan bin ' Arran was left in Madinah
because of the serious illness of his wife,Ruqayyah,
the Prophet's daughter.
It so happened that it rained heavily before the
battle was joined. Since the Muslims had taken
position on that part of the valley which was sandy
and higher than the plain where the Meccans had
pitched their tents, all the rain water collected in
the field of battle on the side of the Meccans and
made the ground under their feet slippery,
hampering their free movement. On the other hand, .
the loose sand on the side of the Muslims settled
down and made the ground under their feet firm,
hard enough for easy movement. The advantage
that the Muslims had over the enemy because of
this has been referred to in the Quran "In the
following words:
And He sent down rain on you from -the-
heaven that He might pUrify you and
remove from you the pollution of Satan
150
(that is, presumably, fear, lack of trust
in destiny) in order to make your hearts
strong and (enable you thereby to) plant
your feet firmly (as compared to the
enemy) (viii: 11)*2
Apart from this, certain inexplicable things also
happened wtdch contributed no less to the outcome
of the battle. To these "signs of Allah" reference
will be made in the Chapter T R U T ~ IS STRANGER
THAN FICTION".
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS: The Muslims routed
the enemy, much superior in all respects, number,
arrangement, etc. The booty was distributed accor-
ding to the standing instructions already revealed in
the Surah AI-Anfaal (viii). Many were taken
prisoner. A number 'of them were those who were
the Muslims' own' kith and kin. Except a few with
a heinous past, aU were allowed ransom and those
who could read and write were asked to teach at
least ten Muslims how to read and write in lieu of
the ransom money. InCidentally, while this shows
the importance the Prophet gave to llteracy, it
also, a t the sa me ti me, indicates that he himself
could not haye remained "UUterate" an his Ufe
despitf' the obvious emphasis in the very first
revelation (vide: Surah A1aq' on reading and writing
and particularly on the role of thepenXhe Prophet's
own uncle 'Abbas bin Abdul MuttaUb and his own
son-in-law from the Banu Umayyah, Abut 'Aa ~ i n
Ar-Rabee't Zainab's husband, were among the
captives, but all were treated alike without discri-
mination.
Abul 'Aas, who was Khadijah' s nephew also, was
very fond of Zainab, the Prophet's eldest daught,r,
and in spite of the great pressure brought on him,
refused to divorce her, unlike Abu Lahb's two sons
who had broken their engagement to Ruqayyahand
Umme Kulthoom. When the Meccans arranged to
send ransom:, fQr their kith and kin held captive in
Madinah, Zainab, too, sent her necklace given to
151
her In dowry by her mother Khadijah, as ransom
for Abu! 'Aas. As soon as the Prophet spotted it,
the old associations were revived and he' was
visibly moved. On his explaining the situation, the
people decided to return it to Zalnab and set Abul
'Aas free. I presume there was sOme understanding
too behind the scene, for Abul 'Aas, on his return
to Makkah, lost no time in arranging to -send
Zainab to Madinah through the good offices of his
brother, Kananah bin Ar-Rabee', although he
himself embraced Islam, or we may say, formally
declared himself to be a Muslim, after four or five
years as the reports indicate, and joined his wife
wlttrout any formality.
Incidentally, it so happened that, of the 14
Meccan chiefs re.ponslble for the deciSion taken in
Dar-un-Nadvah, ~ f o r the Prophet's migration, to
kill hi m, eleven were killed in one day and the
remaining three, namely Abu Sufyaan, Jubair bin
Mut'im of Banu Naufal and Hukaim bin Hizaam of
Banu Asad, ultimately embraced Islam. The list of
the killed included Abu Jahl (' Umar bin Hishaam)
of Banu Makhzoom.
2. BA tTLE OF UHUD (Sbanal 3, A.H.)
Unud is situated about three inUes north of
Madinah. It is a small range of hills. The enclosed
graveyard lies by the side of the Jabal-ur-Romaat
(flHill of the Archers") originally called Jabalul
'Ainain -("the hill of two springs").
The Quralsh could not take the ignominy of the
defeat lying down. Abu Sufyaan collected an army
of 3000 strong. They were so sure of their victory
that they brought ladies of the noble families of-
Makkah with them to cheer them. The Muslims
could muster no more than 1.000 able-bodied
persons.' Abdullah bin Umar.Usamah bin Zaid and Zaid
bin Thaabit were not enUsted because of their
young age, their keenness and leal notwithstanding.
'152
In view of the overwhelming superiority of the
enemy, tbe. Muslims at first thought of allowing the
enemy to e9ter the city and giving them battle
there. The Prophet, too, is reported to have been
of the same view, but he was prevailed upon by a
number of infiuential Medlnltes, supported by the
young blood among the Muslims, to fight outside
Madinah. 'Abdullah bin Ubayy, the ring-leader of
the Opportunists or Hypocrites, who did not agree
to the revised - plan, deserted and left the field
along with his 300 men. With the remaining 700
men, the Prophet so arranged the field that the
Mount Uhud; about three miles north of Madinah,
lying east to west, protected his rear, and a party
of archers under 'Abullah bin Jubair Al-Ansari was
posted there' to seal the entry' from that side
through .the valley of QaMat. The Prophet' gave the
detachinent' expresi orders to stick to the' post at-
all costs' and not to abandon it on any account,
regardless of the vicisS.itudes of the battle. .
In the early part of the day, the battle
somehow tobk a definite turn in favour of the
Muslhns and. the enemy lost heart and retreated
towards the camps of their womenfolk. The party
of the Muslims posted by the Mount Uhud, seeing
the enemy thUs routed,deserted their post in. utter
disregard of the Prophet's standing instructions.
. They 'were out to collect the spoils. Kbaalid bin
Valeed, who commanded the rlgh.t wing of the
en_my, lost no time in taking advantage of the
serious lapse and out-nanking the Muslims made a
surprise aU,ack on the rear through the opening
thus created. This stratagem finally decided the
fate of the battle. In .the confusion created 1n the
. rank and file of the MUSUtnIJ, the enemy spread the
'- rlJmour that the Propn(!t had been' killed, which.
completely demoralized . the Muslims. About 70
Muslims were kllled and many ran away helter-
skelterfrom the f l e d ~ Seriously injure, with one
of his teeth broken, the Prophet wu miraculously
saved by Abu Dujaanah's bravery and rescued by
. 'AU, Talkall and AbU" 'Ubaidah bin AI-Jarrah.
153
Hamzah was killed, fighting bravely, by one Vahshi,
a Negro slave of a Meccan chief. He later
embraced Islam and was forgiven.
NOTABLE INCIDENTS: It is interesting to note a
very rare coincidence. One 'Umar bin Thaabtt,
better known as Asra m of Banu Ashhal, who had
been friendly with the Muslims but had refused to
accept Islam as his faith, somehow. suddenly felt so
strongly for the cause of the Muslims that he
plunged into the fighting and was fatally wounded.
The Muslims were surprised to learn from him that
he, on his own, had embraced Islam and fought on
their side. According to Abu Hurairah, he was
promised salvation and Paradise without having ever
had an Qccasion to offer a prayer. On the Other
hand, the same day one Medinite na.med Qazmaan
fought bravely on the side of the Muslims and was
seriously wounded. The people were all praise for
his bravery, but the Prophet felt very sorry for him
and did not seem to be impressed by
ance. It so transpired afterwards that he confided
on his death-bed that he had fought only because
of clan-feeling to uphold the honour of his people!
He could not at last bear the agony and committed
suicide. The Prophet is reported to have said that
he had seen the poor man heading for Hell. The
two incidents illustrate the Prophet's famous
saying: "Actions (are judged) by motives or Intent-
ions. (ButbaI'1)*3
It will remain a mystery why the Meccans did
not clench the issue and, instead, retired uncere m-
lil.oniously, announcing that they would be coming
back next year to meet at Badr to avenge that
defeat while the outcome was still in the balance.
The Quran sums up the situation and comments
thus:
And verily Allah made good His promise
unto you when you routed them. by His
leave, until your courage nagged and
you were divided among yo.elves in
154
the matter and disobeyed after you had
been shown what you longed for-some of
you desiring the world and some of you
desiring the Hereafter. He diverted you,
therefore, from them in order to test
you. (iii: 152)*4
And Muhammad is but a messenger.
Messengers have passed away before
him. If he died or was slain, would you
then turn back on your heels?
Uii: 144)*5
No less than sixty verses of the Quran refer to
this ba ttle. The Prophet . used to speak of Uhud:
"This is a mountain which loves us and we, too,
love it".*6
3. BATTLE OF AHZAAB: ("Legions"), popularly
known as Gbanat-ul KhaDdaq (The Battle of the
Ditch) - in Shavval 5, A.H.
This battle is called the "Battle of Legions"
(Abzaab) by the Quran - and one Surab is named
after it - because many idolatrous tribes other
than the Quraish (such as Banu Asad, Banu SuIai m,
Banu Fazaarah, Ashjad and Ghatfaan) and the Jews
of Banu Quraizah, in violation of the existing non-
aggression treaties with the Muslims, joined hands
and made common cause against the Muslims.
Against the joint army of more than 10,000 strong,
the Muslims could muster only about 3,000 able':'
bodied men.
After the bitter experience of the Battle Uhud,
the Muslims decided to defend themselves within
the city, which enjoyed natural protection, on
almost three sides, provided by the Hanaat, rocky
mounts formed by pre-historic volcanic activity in
the region, and the dense plantations owned. by
non-Muslims. The only side vulnerable to the enemy
aUack was north and north-west, which required
some protection. A deep and sufficiently broad

moat or ditcb to be dug from wbat Js known as
H8lIrat-ul Madinah (originally HSfrat-ul-Vaaqlm) on
the north-east to Mount Sal' a on' the north-west
was the only answer frGm the mUltary point of
view. Presumably, In view of this ob.vious strategic
advantage, the Prophet bad originally planned' to
fight the earlier battle (Uhud), too, within the city
but unfortunately was prevailed" upon by the
Medinltes and tbe over-zealous Muslims to abandon
the original plan. Tbls time reason prevailed and
the old plan was Hence a ditch was dug as
a defensive measure. The Prophet himself
supervised the work round the clock from an
Improvised hut erected on a htllock,whlcb nowadays
has a mosque to commemorate It.
A MY'.fB: It is popularly' believed that a newly-
converted Persian slave (better known as Salmaan
FaarBi) , who had joined the colnmunity about that
time, suggested the strategy of .dlgglng a ditcb as
a protection against a frontal attack . But neltber
Bukharl nor Muslim mentions the fact. However,
traditionally, Salmaan Faarsi,' as a person, has been
handed down' to us as an almost legendarJ
wlio is said to have died at the over-ripe age of
250 or 350 years - Shaikh' Valluddifl Muhammad. bin
tAbdtllah al-Kbateeb, of the .... tat-ul ... as .......
prefers tbe former figure in the ........ ' II Asma'ir
Rijaat". It' Is reported tb.t, before" embracing Islam
about the ti me of the Battle fOder reference, be
had been a Magi, a Christian ,-nd what not, and
was brought as a slave to Madlnah by a Jew after
the formerts extensive wanderings in Iran, Iraq,
Syria and Arabia in of the Prophet who
he bad been told "on authority" was living at
tbe ti me. My Intention is not to tax the intelligence
of the reader by such beUeve-tt-or-not details,
but to underline tbe fact that tbe atven to
Salmaan tor suggesting tbls of a
ditch, trepch. or moat rested on u authority no
better than the popular notion' about tile person
himself. It is difficult to uflderstand bow- a newly-
. converted Persian slave bought from a Jew .got
A,..,..,.!Ct!Ct tn hlah rnun.crllll ftAPtirnlAP'v nn' the It ....... .,.+ ...
156
question of defence at . that.
The word Is, no doubt; regarded as
the Arablclzed version of the Persian word Kaadah
(meaning, It does not, however, prove that
the idea of a' ditch, trench or moat was' altogether
unknown to the widely' trayened and worldly wise
. Arabs of Madlnah. Even a Meccan Sarah entitled
ItAl-BaroOJIt conveys It by the expression "as-bub-
01-11"""''' (people of the Trfl!nch), referring to
the Christian martyrs burnt alive' by the Jews under
Dhu Newas about a bundred years before the
Prophet. Our writers sometimes betray their own
ignorance by emphasizing the supposed "ignorance"
of the pagan Arabs. The word does
not mean Ignorance, but .......... and being
UDCOutb. It Is not, as pointed out earlier, an anti-
thesi!J of 'Bm (knowledge) but ot HiliD (forbeara-
nce, 'culture). It Is, however, possible that the
Medinites heard, for the first ti me, the word
ttKaadaII" being used for a "ditch" by Salmaan. It
is not historically established either that the
Persians in their long history, prior to the ti me of
the battle of Ahzasb, ever resorted to this strate-
gem in their own battles with the Greeks, the
Romans and others.
More plausible, there tore, seems the theory that
it was to the PJOpIiet long before the
event, presumably in Makkah, in a vision of the
battle itselt referred to in the Quran. In a Meccan
sUlah ItSaadIt (xxxviii) there Is the verse:
There lay vanquished an army consisting.
ot (various) legions. (xxxviii: 12)7
According to commentator Mujahld, this reters to
the Quralsh, who took the leading part (vlde:Saheeb
Butbari: Kltabat Taf8eer). In Sarah Al-Ahlaab, we
find the following:
..when the Believers saw the legions, they
JIlid: "This is what was promised to us
"by Allah and His Prophet! And wbat
157
Allah 8IId His Prophet bas .... d W88 true.
So this only added to their faith and
submission (to the will of Allah).
(xxxiii:22)*8
Dr. Hameedullah's valuable work Al-Vathaa'eq-us-
Siyaasi".ah" (published in Cairo) has a letter of
the Prophet . addressed to Abu Sufyan on the
authority of AI-Vaaqidi and Al-Maqreezi. I quote
from it for what it is worth: ff As for your query
about the ditch which we have made, as to where I
got the idea. Well, Allah the Exalted inspired
me " (Al-Vatbaa'eq: page 10)*9.
Although as usual, the Quraish under the leader-
ship of Abu Sufyan played the leading role through-
out as usual, but, in fact, the campaign was
master-minded by the Jewish leaders. of' Banu-
Nadeer (such as Ho-ayy bin Akhtab, Sallaam bin
Abil-Hoqaiq, Kanaanah bin ri-Rabee', etc.), who
had been earlier banished from the suburbs of
Madinah because of their intrigues and complicity
in the enemy activities in the area. As soon as the
Prophet got scent of the enemy's feverish activity
and was posted fully with its ramifications, he
ordered the digging of the moat according to plan
at top-speed. It took two to three weeks to finish
the job, by which time the enemy arrived. Facing
the moat, the Muslims took position along the
Mount Sal'a, having it on the rear.
The enemy, individually and severally, made
repeated attempts to cross over the moat, but
every attempt was repulsed. No large-scale hand-
to-hand encounter could take place. The engage-
ment in the form of a long-drawn siege lasted for
about a month, resulting in great misery for the
besieged. It is reported that on several occasions
the Muslims could not offer even their daily
prayers. Probably the injunction regarding the
" Salaat-ul-Harb" (prayers prescribed for war
emergency) was not yet revealed. That the Jews of
# Banu Quraizah, too, in violation of the existing
non-aggression pact, joined hands with the enemy
158
made the situation all the more serious. Being
close neighbours, they almost held the key to the
city.
NA'UM'S RUSE: The Muslims were really in a
tight corner and even the Prophet was very pertub-
ed over the hardship the women and Children were
facing. Suddenly it so happened that one Na'eem
bin Mas'ud bin 'Aamir who had had close relations
with the Jews of Banu Quraizah and had secretly
embraced lslam - none except the Prophet knew it
- offered his services and asked the Prophet if it
was proper for him to create discord among the
various elements that formed the invading army.
Prophet, in reply, merely quoted an old, well-
known Arab saying:' "War is (basically) a feint"*10,
implying that all tactics are essentially based on
guile to put off the adversary, and suggesting that
there was nothing wrong in tricking the enemy
when you knew you were fighting for a right cause.
Na'eem lost no time in contaetlng the Jews of
Banu Quraizah and said intimately: "You were less
than wise in making common cause with the
Quraish and Banu Ghatfaan against your neighbours.
Where is the that if the joint venture
goes wrong and fails, the two will not nee to their
homes and leave you at the mercy of Muhammad?
You had better demand some assurance and ask for
some of their prominent men as hostage". The
advice went home. Now he left them and went
straight to the Quraish and said. confidingly: "Look,
the Jews do not seem to intend playing the gameJ
They are likely to have a deal with Muhammad on
the understanding that they would hand over some
of you prominent people to him. You should better
be careful". Thus, he left them thinking and
weighing the possibilities. It so happened that
'Ikramah bin Abi Jahl approached Banu Quraizah, on
behalf of the Quraish and Banu Ghatfaan, to tie up
and arrange for a concerted attack the next day.
The Jews replied that the next day being the last
Saturday, they could not possibly break the
, 159
Sabbath, and acting on the advice of Na'eem they
also put in, the plea that tbey would like to ,have
hostages to ensure that they would not be left
alone in the event of a reverse. The, reply naturally
put- the Quraish on ~ r d and convinced them of
the veracity of what Na'eemhad confided to them.
This resutted in a lull on the battle front, none
wanting to take the initiative.
The fate of the battle was, however, sealed by
the intervention of Nature in favour of the
besieged. There was a heavy storm during the night
which played havoc with the enemy camps,pulling
down their tents and turning everything topsy-
turvy. The Quran refera to the Ineident In the
following words:
Remember Allah's favour unto you when
there! came hordes upon hordes against
you. So we sent against them a stormy
wind and such hosts as you did not see.
" (xxxiii: 9)*11
It was, perhaps, these "hosts" t invisible to the
Muslims theniselves, which gave an exaggerated
, Impression of their numbers to the enemy who lost
heart in the battle. The Quran says:
And Allah repulsed the Disbelievers in
all their fury; no good could accrue to
them. And Allah sufficed the Believers
in the encounter and Allah is All-
Powerful and Mighty. (xxxUf: 25)*12
..
The total loss -of life on both sides did not
exceed 12 dead, which is unbelievably low. Anyhow,
this inconclusive battle was the turning point' in the
life of the community. Henceforth they abandoned
the policy of passive defence followed so far,
which had yielded the Initiative to the enemy, and
now determined to adopt,a realistic forward policy
based on the dictum "Offence Is the best defence".
160
.. CONF1l0NTATJON AT JlUDAIBlYYAH
(Dhu Qa'dah 6 A.H.)
The battle of Ahzaab had demonstrated that the
Jews, were out to fish' in tro.ubled waters and that
in the event of a future joint ventUX'e, Madinah, by
its geographical pOSition, was to be strategically
sandwiched between the powerful Jewry of Khaibar
in the north and the Quralsh-oriented opposition in
the south. The Medinites would, therefore, have to
fight on two opposite tronts. The Prophet,ttierefore,
thought of a deteate with the Quralsh in order, to
be free to deal wifh the machinations of the more
,cunning adversary, the were reported to
be feverlsiily making preparations at Khaibar. fora
decisiY,e show-down. Earlier, he had speCially asked
Banu an' alUed tribe of Yamaamah, to
as ,usual urgently-needed grain to Makkah torelieve
the distress ot the ,people facing famine. This
gesture must have made a good impression on the
Meccans (vide: 'Sabeela Muslim). '
With', this purpose in view, he made ,known his
Vttentlon to visit the. Ka'baIl in the next Hajj
season after six yearS' self-imposed exile. He
invited his Medinite friends to accompany him, if
they so desired., To demonstrate his peaceful
Intention, 'he chose the season forbidden for
warfare, allowed his 'peopie to take with them only
such arms as were tradttionaUy permitted during
the Hajj and also invited the non-Muslim allies to
accompany him because they were known not to
have been committed to help 'him in an aggressive
operation, and that, too, at a distant place outside
Madinah.. '
He started in a big way, at the head of a big
party of 1300 to 1500, pilgrims in the latter half of
BalQidun ........ to the DeW .... calendar of
..... naIi. but, in, fact, In the latter halt of the Dhu
Qa'.... according to, the old, traditional pagan
calendar current in Makkah. The Quraish, who had
! come to know of the Medinites' large-scale
161
preparations, were naturally apprehensive of their
real intentions. They stopped the pilgrims' caravan
at Hudaibiyyah about ten mUes from
Although the val'ious emissaries sent out by the
Meccans returned convinced of the peaceful inten -
tions of the Prophet, the authorities in Makkah were
adamant and made it a matter of prestige. They
would not allow the Muslims to enter without
having obtained their prior permission.
OATH OP .APPIlOBATlON: The Prophet sent
'Uthmaan bin 'AUaan to argue With the Quraish
chiefs - particularly with Abu Sufyan, his
with whom he was expected to carry considerable
weight. He was, however, _In -negotiations
for an long - ttme and the Medinltes
jittery. To appease them the Prophet took
an oath from those present to stand by him through
thick and thin should anything untoward happen to
'Uthmaan. This oath-taking has been rather
graphically recorded in the Surab Al-Fat-h(xiviii)
,and is known as "bai'at-ur-Rtdvaan(The Oath of
Approbation), because a sort of prior amnesty was
declared by Allah indemnifying those who took the
oath on that occasion from any charge hi the
Hereafter in respect of "Whatever they did
afterwards"
Allah was pleased with the Believers
when they swore allegiance -unto thee,
beneath the tree,ancI He bew what was
In their bearts, and He sent down calm
of- reassurance on them and rewarded
them with a victory near at hand.
(xlviii: 18)*13
To include, 'Uthmaan among the beneficiaries of
this blanket indemnity, the Prophet took out his
one hand and placed the other over it, declaring
that it was on behalf of'Uthmaan. The tree
referred to above became a place of pilgri mage
afterwards, and it is reported that t Umar, in tais
. ti me, pulled it down because of that.
162
THE DETENTE: The crisis was, however, averted
by the handling of the situation by
Suhail bin Amar who had come to On
behalf of the Meccaos. He reassured the of
'Uthmaan's welfare and pleaded with him to take a
realistic view of the situation and serve the ',ecause
of a long-term peace by conceding to the Q;i1t8ish
their point of prestige and agreeing to go/)aek
that year with a no-war pact for the nett: ten
years coupled with a solemn pledge from... the
Quraish to allow him. free access thenexC'year.
The Muslims were greatly disappointed bt> the'
terms offered as they precluded them
homage to the Katbah that year. To. the
who went by appearances, unaware of the PrOphet t s
over .. all strategy, that was a considerable io.' of
face. The Prophet, who had been striving hart,'of a
detente with the Quraish, regarded it as aSQb$tan-
tlal gain and reaeWy accepted It. In the
of the Prophet took good care to ensure the -
zatlon of his ultimate objective and not ta: ,;be a
stickler for technical advantage here, and th$t., or
for petty points of
For example, the Meccaos objected use
of the word Ar-RaII ..... and would not agree to
the innovation of writing Blamm.h Ir-RaIIm_ fr-
Rabeem on the top of the document In preference
to their usual legend "Be-Iamob ("In
thy name, 0 Allah"). Simllerly they not
allow the use of the appellation .. .....,.<AUah
with the Prophet's name, ',which, tbey said> they
regarded as a gravamen. He yielded on botb:;these
pointS to the great annoyance of his own people.
Of all persons, 'Umer bin Il-Khattab almost lost
his balance and quipped: "Have we been fighting
for nothing all these years?" It Is reported' that,
when ' AU, who acted as a scribe, hesitated to
strike out the appellation, the ProphetblmseIt
deleted the words with his own hand and, according
to a repo.,t, wrote, or caused to be :"iitten
(Kablba) the words "bin I Abdfllah" after hfs:,name.
(Vide: Ash-Sbffaa by Qadi' Ayaad). The draft was
accordingly prepared. '
I
, i
: i
163
The main provlslons- the treaty*14 as
reported by early writers at:e being reproduced
below from Dr. Hameedullah's valuable work "Al-
Vatbaa-'eq-us-SlyasiJJab" published in Cairo).
Textual -References may be seen.
i) In Thy name, 0 Allah, This is what
Muhammad bin 'Abdillah and Suhall bin
tAmar have mutually agreed upon. 'both
have stipulated by a mutual agreement,
to give up Cighting in the interest of the
people for ten years. During this period
the people shall enjoy peace and h lId
their hands from
ii) That, of the companions of Muhammad,
who ever visits Makkah on Hajj or
t Umrah (occasionally to pay homage to
the Ka'bah) or to seek Allah's bounty
(that is, on business), his life and
property shall be protected. And, simila- .
rly, whoever of the Quraish visits
Madinah en route to Egypt or Syria,
seeking Allah's bounty (that is, on
business) his life and property shall be
P!otected.
iii) That whoever of the Quralsh comes over
to Muhammad without permission of his
guardian, the latter shall have to return
that person to them. But If one from
among those who are with Muhammad
comes over to Quraish, they would not
return that person to him.
iv) That anyone who would like to enter
into a (bilateral) pact or covenant with
Muhammad is at liberty to do so.
Similarly, anyone who. would like to
enter a (bilateral) pact or covenant with
the Quraish, can do so.
(Thereupon, Banu Khoza'ah at once
184
,
a bond or covenant with Muhammad.
And Banu Biler hastened to declare that
they bound themselves toa bond or
covenant with the Quralsh).
v) That . you shall return from us this year
and Shall not enter. Makkah agalllJlt our
wish, and that the next year . we would
go out to allow you to enter it along
with your companions' and that you could
stay here for three days with only those
. (on you) which a . traveller is
permitted to carry, keeping swords by
your sides. .
From the provisions quoted above, it should be
clear that the Quraish were all' along .keen to
safeguard their trade interests and to keep their
prestige among the sister-tribes, while the Prophet
was keen to earn their goOdwill by his own
exemplary conduct at any cost. It Is now for tbe
reader to assess the profit and loss of the parties
to the bargain. Anyway, according to the Quran it
was a virtual for it did lay the sure and
solid foundation for the ultimate victory ahead.
5. BLOODLESS CONQUEST TO MAKKAH
a punitive action (Ramadaan 8. A.H.)
As already mentioned in the text of the treaty
of Hudalbiyyah, Banu Khoza 'ah -: not to be
with the northern tribe 'of Banu Quda'ah
living in the neighbourhood of, Tabook - had opted
for an alliance with. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be
-on him) under the relevant clause of the Treaty. It
will' be recalled that the Prophet's great grand-
father, Haashim, father of t Abdul Muttalib, had
married in Banu an-Najjaar of Madinah, a clan of
Banu Khoza'ah of the soutbern Yemenite stock.
Tbis is the reaSon why Banu Khoza'ah claimed Ule
Prophet to be one of their kith and kin. Since they
exercised this option in his favour in preference to
their neighbours, the Quralsh, they were belng
18.5
account In clear violation of the relevant clause In
the Treaty.
It Is presumed that during his visit to Makkah
In Dhu Qa'adb 7, A.H.- (called tumra-tul-Qadaa
because of its being undertaken in pursuance of a
stipulation In the Treaty),the Prophet, who was
morally bound to help the. Banu Khoza' ah In their
hour of need, must have taken up the matter with
the Quralsh by way of quiet mediation. But it
seems that after his return. the Quralsh were
emboldened by his passive reaction. They encourag-
ed the Banu Bikr - who had opted for an alliance
with them at the time of the signing of the treaty
referred to above J. and had had a long history of
hostility against the Bani Khoza'ah - to pick a
quarrel and teach them a lesson for their audacity
in looking to the far-off Medinites for help.
-
The Banu Btkr planned to avenge an old tribal
murder, and the Quraish, in violation of the treaty,
went all out to give support to the Banu Blkr
against the Banu Khoza' ah. This resulted in consid-
erable loss of the side of the latter, who naturally
invoked the alliance and sought the Prophet's help.
Having failed to make the Quraish see reason
and observe beaty obligations, the Prophet with an
army of some 10,000 strong hastened to reach
Makkah and knocked at the doors of the city. The
Meccans were overwhelmed by the surprise reaction
of the Prophet to what they had hitherto regarded
as their internal affair. Their position had already
been weakened by the defection of certain
prominent persons. For example, a general like
KhaaJ.jd bin al-Valeed and a diplomat like lAmar
bin Al-' Aas had already embraced Islam. A
seasoned leader like Abu Sufyan had retired
because of serious differences with the Meccan
chiefs in regard to their. bellicose pollcy. They had,
therefore, no heart to put up a resistance and were
left with no option but to surrender unconditionally
and hand over the city without an encounter.
166
Barring a few stray assaults which resulted In some
casualties on both sides, it was on the whole a
bloodless victory.
The Prophet. entered Mecca triumphantly but
peacefully and declared' a' general amnesty In the
words of Prophet Joseph reported In the Quran:
Let there' be no (feat of) cencuretoday.
May Allah forgive you. . (xU: 92)*15
He honoured Abu Sufyan, in particular, because
of his gesture. of neutrality, and announced: ttHe
who took refuge with Abu Sufyen was safe and
protected
tt
He handed over the key of the Ka 'bah
to the old custodian belonging to the clan of Bannu
Shalbah who have had to this day, the proud
privilege of holding the key of the Ka'bab.
.. BATTLE OP DUNAIN - Idolaters Rear-guard
Action (Shavval 8, A.H.)
Hunain is a valley about ten miles from Taa-ef,
off the normal route to Makkah, near the fa mous
market-place Dhul Majaaz. The battle Is some.times
named after a mountain called Autaas, 20 to 30
miles north-east of Taa-ef, where the batHe was
actuallJ fougbL
The sudden collapse of the Meccans, the hard
core of idolaters' joint opposition, shook the
powerful nearby tribes - the Banu Havuln and. the
more Innuentlal trlbEt of Taa-ef, .Banu Thaqeef.
Within . a month of the fall' of Makkah, they
hastened to mount an Invasion on the city .with
about 5000 men. The Prophet was still In Makkah
when he learnt of their move. He came out with
12,000 strong to meet the enemy half way. Though
a rear-guard c t l ~ n of the Idolatrous tribes, the
battle that eDSuetl gre" . fierce and,. at first, tilted
against the MusUms because of their complacence
after the conquest of Makkah.
esumabl . the Muslims did not take the enemy
167
seriously, relying on their superiority In numbers.
The enemy, on the other having realized the
wealmelil of its position In time, decided not to
face the MusUms In a pitched battle but to
disperse small parties of archers behind thehl1ls
and hillocks to walt in ambush. The Muslims were
actually entrapped and were almost taken by
surprise. The hypocrites and opportunists among the
Muslims only made tbe confusion worse confounded.
This emboldened the enemy to come out In the
open. Here It was the presence of mind and the
. courageous 'leadership of the Prophet that made the
MusUms rally round in a determined attack and
earry the day. The enemy was routed in a face-to-
lace -encounter leaving an immense booty. The
Quran sums up the account In the following words:
Allah has given you victory on many
nelds and (even) on the day of Hunain,
when your numbers elated you but they
turned out to be of no avail to you. The
earth, . vast as it Is, was stral.tened for
you turned back in retreat. Thereupon
Allah, sent down his solace on His
Messenger and the Believers and sent
down' hosts you could not perceive, and
(thereby) punished those who
diibelleved ... (Ix: 25-26).16
It Is worthy of note that one success after
another soon made the MusUms more and more
complacent and selt-reliant and less and less
reliant on Allah. Because of this weakness having
crept in, their stock dropped down considerably In
no tI me, as Is evidenced by the following two
verses of one and the, same Surah (v1l1), referring
to different periods. .
. .
""8) I.t-
nd
It . there be amonl you a. hundred,
"they shall a thousand ot those
.' 'who disbelieve. (v1mlea '85).17"
,. . - .
.. ,c Now Allah leis ot you, tOf. He
...... knows that. there. Is weakness in yoP; so
168
if there be among you a steadfast
hundred, they shalt overcome two
hundred..... (verse 66)*18
SIEGE OF TAA-EF: The Muslims pursued the feel-
Ing enemy to the city wall of the fortified Taa-ef,
8.bOut 75 mUes from Makkah by the old customary
route, and' laid siege to the city which lasted a
month or so. The old Taa-ef was actually situated
about three mUes south-west of the present-day
It is that the Muslims there used.
for the time the advanced siege appliance of
the day, such as the C-testudO", a
primitive version of a tank, a wheeled structure
made of brick and stone to provide a constant
cover to besiegers) and the -mlajaraeeq("balllsta",
a wooden. structure used as an appliance to hurl
large stones to break through fortifications) newly
acquired from the Jews of Khidbar. The besieged
faced the blockade bravely and seemed determined
to stand a long siege. They caused considerable
loss of Ufe to the besiegers by the advanced
defensive technique of shooting arrow with fire
balls of .... -bitumen as warheads against the wooden
balllsta . ' '.
As soon as the Prophet was convinced that. it
was no use being locked In an abortive operation
against an adversary who had. no Initiative left, he
. raised the' siege with trust In Allah to be able to
achieve victories of peace rather tflan war. In
fact, It so happened that many. ot.,,,," the Banu
Thaqeef afterwards came to Madlnah on their own,..
to embrace Isiam. .
Retumlng from Taa-ef, the Propbet stopped at
Je'raanah, a .place beyond the outskirts of Makkah,
where the entire booty of the battle of HuRain had
already been collected for distribution. It is
that a deputation of Banu Sa'd, a clan of
waited on the Prophet. They
emili-aced Islam and pleaded that the womenfolk
and chUcken of the entire clan be set tree because
189
they W'C!re In a way related to Haleemah Sa'dlyah,
the celebrated wet-nurse of the Prophet. It is said
that-among the (:aptlves was the Prophet's foster-'
sister Sheema, who' established her identity by
showing the scar of the Prophet's bite on her back,
reminlscent of the old days. Since the matter
the entire Muslim' community, the
Propl'ij!t advised the deputationists to address their
request at the next prayer-time. Arter some
disct$sion the congregation conceded the request in
defetEmce to the wishes of the Prophet, who had
suppQHed the request in his personal capacity.
'. . .
INTBltNAL CHALLENGE: Here mention must be
made. of the rivalries that had, by that time,
sprung up between the Mubaajlrooa of Mecca and
theA.... of Madinah and were being fanned by
the hypocrites (nmUDaaflqoon.n) a mong the rank and
fileaf the Muslins. It Is reported that certain
ansaar, mostly hot-headed young
.'. took to the preferential treatment
. accorded to certain prominent Meccans in the
distrlbution of the booty by the Prophet with a
view to winning over the hearts of newly-converted
proud men among them. Presumably, the hypocrites,
who had been on the look-out for such an opportu-
nity,. kicked up quite a controversy which involved
men like Sa'd bin 'Ubaadah. This must have greatly
embarrassed the Prophet, but he handled the'
explOiive situation with tact and unction.
He . called an exclusive meeting of the ..... ,
and, addressing them, recapitulated all that the
ansaar had so far done for hi m personally and for
the cause he. stood by. Perhaps none a mong the
ansa ... could have stated their own case as ably as
he did. He asked the audience if they would like to
add something to what he had just mentioned. The
sobe,.. with one voice, dissociated
themSelves from the unseemly controversy
. addressed the young people pointedly
. andquipped:"Wouldn't you like to see the Meccans
r.arry back home their heard of cattle and you take
1'10
back tbe Prophet of Allab wltb you'" This psychol-
ogical approach and masterly stroke of rhetoric
completely floored tbem and they were very sorry
Indeed for tbe bue and cry tbey bad raised. What
is to be noted b .. e Is that whatev.. be gave out
on his own wltbout consultl.., tbe people .-.
generally .from tbe -m.ms- (Olle-fiftb) of the
booty customarily allocated to Allah and His
. Prophet, that Is, to the State. .

l
i
i
171
CHAPTER-II
TBI SWORD AGADIST SWOBDS-I
It wm be recalled tbat of tbe very first things
lbe PEopbet did as soon as be migrated to Madinab
was to bave not only a multilateral pact of friend-
ship wltb various elements in the population of
. Madinah including the Jews of the city proper, but
also to enter into separate bl-laterial, non-
aggression treaties of alUanee with three neighbou-
.' ring powerful Jewish tribes 0 r Banu Qainoqaa t ,
Banu an-Nadeer and Banu QOlaizah residing on the
outskirts of Madinah. It appears that tbe Prophet t s
respect and solicitude for Mary and Jesus (Peace be
on them) and, above all, his own claim to prophet-
hood ultl mate1y antagonized tbe Jews, who did not
Uke to see the new community take root and
thrive. .They soon Involved tbemselves In Intrigues
and gave active, but surreptitious, support to the
opposition led and Inspired by tbe Meccans.
The Prophet's peace offensive directed towards
the Jews in particular had started long before in
consequence of the Meccan Sur..., such as -Baal
Janel- (xvU), - AIIl-SbdDra- (xlii), - Al-Jaatbiyala-
(xlv), and the Madtnlte Surahs such as -Aale
'IIDI'MB-{ill) and - Al-Baqrala- (U), In which copious
appreciative reference,s were made to their reB'gion. '
and culture. Particular attention Is invited to the
pointed appeal in the following verse:
o People of the Scripture, come to (an
agreement on- the basis of) a doctrine
equally agreed among us as well as
among you that we shall worship (that
Is, pledge complete obedience to) none
but Allah and aScribe naught as partner
to Him and that none of us shall take
some of us for lords beside Allah.
(UI:84)*1 '
. ACTION AQAINST D1fS: The operation against the
112
Jews of Khaibar, more than 90 D)Ues due north of
. Madinah, was, in fact, the only major engagement
involving armed encounter. We shall refer to It as
its proper plaee.
1. AGADfSTBAHU' QADfOQAA t(Sllanal 2, A.B.):
.Pint of 'all, the Banu Qainoqaa' violated the treaty
. soon after . the battle of Badr. They molested -a
MusUm woman, which' touched off a violel!t
controversy. The Prophet Intervened, but faUed to
persuade them into abandoning their aggressive
posture. The Prophet laid. siege to their quarter
andt on their .unconditlonal surrender, ordered them
to le.ave the place within three days. It Is reported
that more than 700 Jews left for Palestine and
elsewhere, and the-rest, mainly artisans, labourers
and others engaaed in peaceful occupations, were
allowed to. stay on the condition that they w ~
cooperate with. the MusUms. Some of than actually
sided with ,the MusUms in some of the future
operations. even against the Jews (ride: Dr.
Hameedullah', valuable book .entitled .. ..,., ......
AknaI Kl .Sl,..t ZI....... Chapter "YIIbood Sal
T.'IIIIuqaat. on the authority of Tabaqaat by Ibn
Sa'd, Al-....... by Al-Sarkhasee and Al-Balhaqi's
S- Kubra).
a. AGADfST BAKU AN-HADEER (3 A.B., _me
moatbl after battle of m.d): The treatment meted
out to Banu Qainoqaa' had naturally enraged Banu
an-Nadeer, but some writers think that the
MusUms' reverse in the battle of Uhud enboldened
them to flout openly the existing treaty alliance
with the MusUms. The Prophet, taking with him a
few advisers, visited them to sort out the differen-
ces peacefully. but they unnecessarUy pro19nged
the discussions and, in the meantime, arranged for
the violent disposal of . the party by . surprise.
Sme1Ung something fil!hy about the whoJe business,
the Prophet left tlie inconclusive talks - rather
abruptly and returned. He loat no tl me in laying I
siege to their qUllrter on the southern border, of
Madinah amidst groves of palma providing excellent
113
cover to the prosperous Jewish settlement. Ultima-
tely, they surrendered unconditionaUy and were
ordered to leave their settlement with whatever
valuables, cattle, etc. they could carry with them,
except, of course, their weapons. They were
allowed to seU- out their lands if they so desired
and to recover, If possible on any mutually settled
terms, the moneys they h,d lent out. Most of those
expelled from Madinah settled In Khalbar, 90 mUes
due north.
3. AGADfST BANU. QURAIZAH (5 A.H. Arter
Sbanal): Apart from their past intriguers and
machinations, they nouted _ the existing bilateral
non-aggression treaty of alliance with the Muslims
and openly sided "ith- the Quralsh-led offensive and
participated in the Battle of Ahzaab. As soon as
the enemy had retired in utter confusion and
the Prophet laid siege to their
about three miles to the north-east of Madinah. It
Is to be noted that the Muslims were actively
assisted In their venture against the Banu Quraizah
by the Jews of Madlnah and the remnants of Banu
Qalnoqaa', because of Banu Quraizah's nagrant
betrayal. The siege lasted a fortnight or so, till the
enemy capitulated, surrendered their arms and
offered to abide by the arbitrament of Sa'd bin
M'aadah, one of the first few Medlnites who had
embraced Islam at Aqabah and was also the chief
of the powerful tribe of Aus, the old allies of the
Banu Quraizah.
Sa'd, who had been seriously' wounded in the
battle of Ahzaab, gave a verdict strictly in
accordance with the Jewish law laid down In the
Old Testament (Deatermaom" Chapter 20) and
awarded the more lenient of the two punishments
prescribed therein. Some 400 able-bodied men, it Is
said, were. done to death and the rest, along with
women-folk and children, were taken prisoner. The
punishment, if correctly reported without the
exaggeration usual in cases, seems rather
. harsh, but It Is certainly 18118 harsh than Its altern-
ative prescrlbeC:l by the Jewish law - to be Dreclse.
174
"thou shalt save allve nothing that breatheth"
(DeuteIoMIilJ. Chapter 20, verse 18).
The Quran refers to the incident "in the
following words:
And, of the people of the Scripture, who
sided with them (Meccans),' He brought
them -down from their fortification and
cast terror in their hearts-some (of
them) you _slew and some you took
prisoner - (uVlU: 26)*2
t. BA TTLB OP DAlBO (IIaIIamuD-Salar 7.A.H.):
Khaibar was the most prosperous settlement of the
Jews, more than 90 miles due north. of Madinah,
conSisting of 7 to 10 strong fortresses on bill-tops
commanding an area of more than nfty mUeS at
the outside. The evacuees of Banu an-Nadeer and
Banu from' Madinah, who had settled
tbere, made the place a hot-bed of intrigues
against the Muslims. It Is also reported that the
wealthy Jewry of Khaibar had been actually financ-
ing the Arab tribes to keep harassing the MusUms .For
example, one Dehya Al-Kalbi was travelling on
business and carried- a letter from the Prophet
addressed to the Roman Emperor. On his way to
he was way-laid by Banu Judhaam and his
-merchandise was looted. He retumed to Madinah
and complained to the Prophet. Maybe the disposal,
In quick succession, of their ring-leaders and arch-
intriguers, such as 'Ka' b bin Ashraf, Ho-ayy bin
Akhtab and Abu Raaray' (whose name was Salaam
bin Hoqalq), which will be referred to later
separately, had enraged the Jews and compelled
them to prepare for a strong, concerted action
against the looming danger to their hegemony.- The
Prophet, too, was not unmindful of the imminent
showdown with the Jews of Khaibar, who had been
itching for a nght. While returning from Hudalbly-
yah, the following verses of the SuraIlAl-Pat-h
(xlvlll) were revealed:
175
. God promised you the large amount. of
booty that you would acquire, and this
(news) He hastened to give you (before-
hand) and restrained the hands
from you so that it may be a sign for
the believers.... . (xlviii: 20)*3
This, It Is said, the Prophet Interpreted to refer
to the imminent action against the Jews of
Khaibar, and this Is the reason why he took with
him, in this partIcular expedition, only those men
who' had already participated in the Hudalbiyyah
incident. Before taking this extreme step, he is,
reported to have sent a letter with a messenger, in
Which he Invited them to Islam and referred to the
Scripture In his support.
,
After his return to Madinah, as soon as he got
confirmation of the' Jew.s' hectic preparations,... -tlle ..
Prophet left for Khaibar with -some 1400 It is
by Dr. Hameedullah, on the authority' of
Imam Abu Yusuf that a few Jews of Madinah also
participated in this action against their coreligion-
ists (vide: -Ruool-e-Alcarm KI SI,aasl ZlndagI-).
The Prophet advisedly pitched his camp' at Rajee'
to drive a wedge between the Jews of and
their sworn allies, the Banu Ghatfaan and the Banu
Fazaarah. He left a sizable force there in. camp
and moved the main army towards Khaibar,
creating an impression as if. It were but a detach-
ment of a big army camped at Rajee
t

Instead of taking advantage of their marked
superiority in numbers - the Jews are reported to
have been about 20,000 all told - and" engaging the
invaders itl' a face-to-face encounter, they foolishly
preferred a state of siege and dispersed their
strength in smaner units In order to defend all
fortress$8 at once from within. This yielded the
initiative to the b.eslegers who employed judiciously
their smaner force In tackling each fortress
separately.
116
Ultimately, the fortresses fell one by o ~ to
various company commanders, inctuding Satd bin
tUbadah, Mahmood bin Ma'slamah and Habaab bin
Mundhir. The only fortress 'that held out for
considerable time was AI-Qamooa. Mohammad bin
Maslamah, brotber -of Mahmood bin Matslamah who
had been killed by someone ott tbe neld by
surprise, was first com missioned to subdue it. He
could only maul the defending force aDd dispose of
its famous commander, Marhab. In a hand-to-hand
fight, he could not reduce the fortress. Tbe next
day, 'AU was commissioned tQ round off what
Mohammad bin Maslamah had left undone. 'Ali
brought about the collapse of the resistance of tbe
besieged force of AI-Qamoos. The status of
Mohammad bin Ma
t
slamah can be determined by
the fact that when, later on, the Propbet led the
Tabook expedition, he left bim in Madinah to
deputize for him, and tAli was left to look after
the family.
FANTASTIC ACCOUNT: In this connection, certain
popular stories, some too fantastic to believe, have
somehow found currency. t Ali is generally described
as "Paatelall-Kbaibar" (Conqueror of Khaibar) to
the virtual exclusion of manYothers who, in tbis
very campaign, had no less illustrious exploits to
tbeir credit. Tbere can, of course, be no doubt
about 'Ali's bravery - and swordsmanship which
almost matched those of h ~ elder brother, Ja'far
bin Abi Taalib, popularly known as "Ja t far-ut-
Tayyar (Flying Ja'far). But, in reading the account
of the battle given by certain writers, one gets the
impression that bistory has been mixed up with
legend.
The earliest biographer, Ibn Ishaaq, and
tttradltionlSts
tt
of the class of Balbaqee and Haaklm
went so far as to report that 'Ali, having dropped
bis shield in an encounter, immediately rent ,open
the main gate of the fortress - and used it as a
shield to continue the fight, and that t h ~ gate was
so- heavy that Abu Raafayt tbe narrator, along with
111
seven other men tried afterwards to tum it but
faUed to do so. Some go to the extent of saying
that 40 to 10 men tried to lift It but could not. It
Is no use wasting tllD,e on such fantastic stories, as
disceming writers h.ve already dismissed them as
worthless and absurd ( .......,. ... ) - ride: "Seerat-
_NabI" by t AIla mtlh Shibll and "AsaII-ImB-Slyar
by Maulana Abdur Ra'oof Danapuri.
Another story, given currency by Ibn' Jareer at-
Tabari and Ibn Ishaaq that ' Ali was specially'
com missioned after Abu Bakr and I Umar had, one.
after the other, failed to subdue the fortress of
AI-Qa moos Is highly tendentious. No doubt, ' Ali
was assigned the job of completing the unfinished
work of Muhammad bin Masbmah, but certain
statements forming. part of the story - that both
Abu Bakr and 'Umar had been tried before but
failed, that 'Umar blamed his men and they, in
turn, blamed him .(or the failure, and that the
Prophet thereupon had made known his intention to
give the banner ultimately to the one "who would DOt '
Dee . from batue4 - are highly irresponsible, to
put it mUdly. To lend colour as well as a touch of
romanticism, the narrator adds that, 'Ali was, at
the moment, s u r r r i ~ g from ophthalmia (armad)
but was instantly ctired by the application of the
Prophet's saliva.
Let us examine',lhe original report. Celebrated
historian At-Tabari's chain of' narrators ( ......... )
Is as follows:
'Auf narrated':to us on the authority of
Maimoon, fa'ther of I Abdullah that
I Abdullah bin,. 'Bareedah narrated it on
the authority ,of Bareeda tul-Aslami S
Now, however highly others might have thought of
'Auf who reported:t.his to Ibn Jareer, Imam Dhahbi
records (yide: ...,;."q,... al-B'tldu
J
, Vol.II) that at
least one critic ot"Jraditions reEded him as "a
thorough scoundrel-*6. And this scoundrel" quotes
178
Malmoon Abu t AbdlUah, who Is declared by another
critic Ibn Mo'een as "good for nothing"? and
whose reports are regarded by Imam Ahmad bin
Hanbalas " Unbelievable
n
8. As for t Abdullah bin
Bareedat ul-Allaml, t Allama Shlbli maintains that
his reports on his father t s authority are not
considered reliable. This Bareedat' ul-Allaml, father
of t Abdullah, who seems to have started the hare,
Is the same person whom Ibn Ishaaq, according to
Ibn. Hlshaam, refers to as Bareedah bin Sufyaan bin
Farvat it-Allami. He is, to be sure, untrustworthy'
(Saqit-ul-E'tibaar") according tQ Imam Dhahbee,
Imam Tahaavi, Imam Bukharl, Abu Da t ood and
Daraqutni - (ftde: Seerat-.-Nabl, Vol. I, by
t Allamah Shlbli and works of other eminent
writers).
KARRAB'S DISPOSAL: Just as it Is believed that
'Ali was the "sole conqueror" of Khaibar, it is also
generally supposed that t All killed Marhab, the
famous Jewish Chieftain and stalwart defender of
the fortress of Even traditionist Muslim
reports this In his SUeeb presumably on good
authority, although the claim has been hotly
contested ever since. The earliest biographer or the
Prophet, Ibn lsha8Q, on the authority of Jaabir bin
t Abdlllah, a known participant In the campaign,
gives the credit to Muhammad bin Maslamah, and
Ibn Hishaam (Seerat: part three) records:
Ibn Ishaaq said that he was told by
t Abdullah bin Sahl on the authority of
Jaabir . bin ' Abdillah ai-Ansari that
Muhammad bin Maslamah struck him and
kille. hlm 9
According to Ibn Qayylm, authorities of the calibre
of Musa bin 'Uqbah, Az-Zdhrl, 'Unah etc.
maintained, on the authority ot the statement of
Jaabir bin 'Abdlllah, that it was Muhammad bin
Masla mah who actually killed Marhab (ftde: Zacl-ul-
Ma'aad, part two, pages 188-189) as well as Asqh-
hUS-SlJar by Maulana Abdur Ra' oof Danapurl and
179
Seerat-_-Nabl, Vol. I, by I Allamah Shlbll).
If AI-Vaaqldi. another early biographer, is to be
believed, his uncredited story seems more plausible.
He says, it Is said (.Qeela.) that Muhammad bin
Maslamah severed both the legs of Marhab in one
stroke and fioored him, but it was I Ali who
beheaded him, and, on that account, claimed the
sword, the lance and the armour of the slain' as
was customary. But the Prophet decided that these
things actually belonged to Muhammad bin
Maslamah who had, in actual fact, 'over-powered
Marhab. AI-Vaaqidi also adds that the sword, with
the name of the owner inscribed on was the
proud possession of the d8$cendants of Muhammad
bin, Maslamah (vide: zad-al-Ma'aacI, part two).
Besides. this story of AI-Vaaqidl, by the way,
. confirms that Ali, before taking over the indepen-
dent command was fighting under the banner o,f
'Muhammad bin Maslamah. I hope the reader
appreCiates the necessity of setting the record
straight by devoting so much labour to the
elaborate treatment of such apparently insignificant
points as these. '
THB SBQUBL: This campaign -of Khaibar. took more
or less the whole month. It Is said that the last
two . fortresses, AI-Vateeh As-Solaalam,
surrendered on their own after AI-Qamoos had
fallen. The Jews surrendered their arms and.
valuables and were allowed .to leave the place if
they so desired. The booty included. apart from
other things, aeiged armament and appliances
developed by the Romans such as balllsta ("miDja-
neeq) and . a tank-like cart (deba .... "). which
the Muslims later on In their operation against
Taa-ef. Those .of the ,Jews who opted to stay on.
were allowed to keep their landed property at the
pleasure of the Muslims and to' continue to till the
land on the CQodition that they would share the
produce with the Muslims, as a community and not
Individually. probably on a 50-50 basis. This system
Gf land settlement is known as "utbMbirath"
180
after the name of Khaibar, where it was first
introduced. It should be noted, in particular, that
the treatment meted out to the Jews. by and large,
compared favourably with what they received at
the hands of the Christians in the Middle Ages. The
Jews were expelled from France in 1253 and from
England in 1290.
Jt was here in Khalbar that Ja' far bin Abi
Taallb with a party of early emigrants to Ethiopia,
including Abu Musa al-AshI ari (real name,
I AbduUah bin Qais), returned from that country and
reached Khalbar after the battle 8fKI had been won.
The Prophet embraced Ja'far, kissed bim on his
forehead and remarked: I wonder which of the two
events has made me more happy - the conquest of
Khaibar or Ja'far's arrival. (Seent: by Ibn
Hishaam: Part Four)*10.
After the conquest of Khaibar, the Jews of
Fldak and Vaadil-Qura capitulated without
encounter on the terms accepted by the Jews of
Khalbar, which seems to have set the pattern Cor
several treaties with others such as the peoples of
Maqna, Ealah, etc. afterwards.
CoofloDtatioD With CbrIstiaDs
Of the people of the Sc_riptue. the Christians were
regarded by the Muslims as the most favoured
people, as Is evidenced by the following emphatic
verses:
You shall certainly find, among all the'
peoples, the Jews and the Polytheists the
bitterest in animosity for the Believers,
while you shall find nearest of all
others, in love, to the Believers, those
who say: We are Christians. (v: 82)*11
It Is to be noted that the word "You shall certainly
find" in the future tense evidently impUes great
emphasis because of the well-known grammatical
I
181
device of "Lam at-Tateed" with "_Hoon utb-
tbaqee)ablt employed in the Arabic text. When the
Muslims were persecuted in Makkah, the Prophet
thought of only the Christians of Ethiopia
(Habsbah) who could be trusted to provide them
with a safe place to live in. Actually the Muslim
refugees did receive the fairest possible treatment
from the local people there, who, probably took
the m for one of the m any Christian sects. The
Prophet, too, is reported to have had the best of
relations with the HajasId (He.., the title of the
Ethiopian monarch) of his time. Moreover, before
the Muslims' migration to Ethiopia, the Meccan
Sorah "Ar-Rum" was revealed and opened' with the
following prophetic verse:
The Romans have been defeated in the
neary land, but they will, after their
defeat, be victorious within a few years
("Bid'a = less than ten'f). (xxx:2-3)*12
Chosroes II (Kb .... u Pantz, died in 628 A.D.)
defeated Heraculius (son of Heraclius), the Roman
Emperor . of Constantinople (Byzantium)and
Jerusalem fell to the Persians in 614/615 A.D. but
the Roman Emperor recaptured it in 624/6'25 A.D.
and gave a final crushing .defeat to the Persians at
Mosul in 627. As a pointer to the Muslims'
abiding solicitude for the Christians, the above-
quoted verse is self-evident, particularly when we
know that the Persians were helpeo both by the
Jews and the Arabs against the Romans.
It seems that the sudden deterioration in the
Muslims' relations with the Christians was brought
about by. the over-zealous Roman officials in Syria
who had just taken over after the complete
overthrow of the Persians in 627 A.D. at Mosul.
They must have become panicky because of the
Muslims' slow but steady penetration in the region,
particularly south and southwest of Syria. Maybe
their ears had already been poisoned by the Jewish
refugees frOmKhaibar as well as by certain fugitive
182
chiefs of neighbouring tribes such as Banu Quda' ah,
Banu Lakhm, Banu Kalb and Banu Tai, which
besIdes having quite a few Christian famWes among
them, had been for long under the innuence, or in
the pay, of the Romans. Ukaidar bin 'AbdiI Malik,
a Christian vassal of the Byzantine Emperor, and
ruler of the famous key town of Doomat-ul-Jundal,
the caravan junction of trade routes from Hijaz and
Iraq to Syria and Palestine, began harassing Muslim
travellers (viele: Dr. Hameedullah's book "Rasool-e-
Akram Kl Si' .... ZlndagI" quoting Mas'oodi's "At-
TanIJeeh").
The Prophet did not Uke to preCipitate matters
and merely tried to pressurize Ukaldar through ,.
certain neighbouring tribes which were expected to
have some innuence upon" him, because the Prophet
was not In a position to open a second front before
he had arrived af a settlement with the Meccans,
which he did later at Hudalblyyah in 6 A.H. It is
reported that once the Prophet had actually led an
expedition against Ukaidar (viele: Seerat Ibn
Hlshaam), but having learnt on his way of
movement round about Madinah did develop
Into the battle of Ahzaab), he immediately called
off the expedition and returned to meet the
challenge. It was in 9 A.H. (probably, in Sha'baan)
that Khaalid bin al-Valeed was sent from Tabook
and conquered He arrested
Ukaidar, who, It is said, was afterwards reinstated
in his position. However, hbJ ultimate fate is
disputed. It Is not certain whether he capitulated
and embraced Islam or ned and was killed after
being captured. His descendants claimed that he
had embraced Islam.
MAUTAAH OPBBATIOR(Jumaduloola 8 A .. B.): A
Christian prince of Banu Ghassan, Shorahbeei bin
'Amar, a vassal of the Roman "Emperor at Busra in
Syria, south-east of Damascus, killed, in nagrant
contravention of the established protocol even in
those days, an emissary of the Prophet, Haarith bin
JUmair, who had called on him some time in SA.H.
183
As soon as the Prophet came to know of it, he
despatched a force of about 3000 strong under Zaid
bin Haarithah with the instructions that If Zaid was
killed, Ja 'far bin Abi Taalib should take over and If
he, too, was killed then t Abdullah bin Ravahah
should assume command. On the way, it was learnt
that Shorahbeel had already collected some 100,000
neighbouring tribesmen and that Emperor Heraclius
was also nearby at the head of a considerable
reinforcement. This alarmed the expeditionary force
which halted to review the situation, for the
commanders of the expedition were hesitant to
proceed further unless they received firm instruc-
tions from Madi.ilah.
The last part ot the report that the Emperor
himself was there In" readiness to join battle was
highly improbable, considering his pre-occupalion at
home after carrying out a protracted campaign of
several years against the Persians and particularly
after the reported mission of Dehya al-Kalbi to the
Emperor in 6 A.H. with a letter from the Prophet
and the way he had been received with diplomatic
courtesies .1 consider, however, the timing of this
mission equally improbable, because the Emperor
Heraclius (son of Heraclius), was at the time
almost in t ~ throes of the long drawn-out war
with the Persians who were just defeated at Mosul
about that time (627 A.D.) and because the
reported text of the Prophet's letter inviting him
to accept Islam made no mention, even in passing,
of the war, not to speak of a congratulatory word
on its successful conclusion.
Anyway, on the highly emotional and unrealistic
advice of t Abdullah bin Ravahah that, at the worst,
they would be achieving martyrdom which was no
mean reward of a true Muslim, the army continued
. its march and camped at Mautah, south-east of
'Jerusalem, beyond Ma t aan in Palestine, then a part
of the Syrian province. In the fierce encounter, all
the three commanders named by the Prophet were
killed. Ja t far lost both his handS, one by one, in his
184
attempt to hold the banner aloft and earned the
posthumous titles of wDbal J_halD
ft
("Possessor
of two wings") and "At-Ta"aar
w
("on the wings to
heaven") on the basis of the Prophet's reported
vision. There,!lfter,' the army unaDlmously chose
Khaalid bin al .. Valeed as Its comm.-der, who very
ably saved the army from certain llquldation. 'He
succeeded in the army from a disastrous
battle with the minimum possible loss. Incidentally,
more commanders and officers were lost In this
battle than in any other campaign. The people who
knew. llttle about the odds their army had faced
greeted them, according to Ibn Ishaaq, with tbe
very uncomplimentary tribute of wParrar
ft
("runaway" .army), while the' Prophet, out . of
regard, came out to welcome the warriors, saying:
"No, it was not a "farrar", 'a, runaway army', but
karrar, 'an army ready to return to the charge'.
Moreover, according to Bukharl,on the authority of
Anas bin Maalik, the Prophet on this very occasion
complemented. Khaalid by calling him "the Sword of
Allah" ("sail'uDala
ft
) and regarded his successful
retreat in the cp-cumstances as, a virtual victQry
for the Muslims.
It seems, from the perusal of some of the
reported accounts of certain inc.dents, that a
section of the and. a gooa fe1ft{ among
the 8D8M' were not prepared to Corget the past of
both Khaalid bin al .. Valeed and 'Amar bin Al .. ' Aas,
and all manner of insinuations were made against
them to undermine their authority whenever the
.Prophet gave them a responsible; prestigious assign"
ment. I do not make this remark only with'
reference to thiS particular ,'incident but also, with
reference to other reported accounts such
as those of Amar bin al .. , 1\as t s conduct of the
operation (tn 8 A.H.) against the people of Dhat ..
ul"Solaasil, which, by the way, was nota gllanab
In the accepted senSe of the word, and also of
Khaalid's conduct in dealing with Banu Jadheema
after the conquest of Makkah. This is just to put
the unwary reader on . guard against"' motivated
185
calumnies in which our books on history generally
abound.
,
TABOOK EXPEDmON (Bajab to Ramadaa. ',A.H.):
Tabooks was a border town of the old Byzantine
province of Syria which at that time included
Palestine also. There Is at present a dilapidated
railway. station by this -name on the now defunct
Hijaz 'Railway about 350 mUes northwest of
Madinah, half way to Damascus. It Is reported that
the Prophet covered the distance in about a
month's time. The town was named after a spring
of that name.
After the Muslims' successful retreat from a
losing battle at Mautah, there had been persistent
rumours, and possibly threats too from the Roman
vassals, that having crushed their arch-enemies, the
Persians, the Roman Emperor was now preparing to
eliminate the threat posed by the Muslims from the
south. Presumably the Jews and the hypocrites
(nmunaaftqooaB) were more active than others in
carrying on a cold war by spreading rumours of an
imminent attack on. Madinah te demoralize the
Muslims. The times, too, were very propitious for
such an adventure by the Romans, for the Muslims
were in a very bad shape at that time because of
fagline conditions in Madlnah and its countryside.
Moreover, it was said to be the hottest summer in
Maqjnah for many decades. The Prophet, in his
w i s ~ ~ m decided on logistic grounds to carry the
war into the enemy country - firstly, because the
Syrian climate was expected to be less unkind than
the weather in Madinah and, secondly, because it
made no sense to wait in Madinah in the most
tense suspense and give battle there within a
country which was already famished and had little
to offer by way of material support. The move had
the further advantage of giving the enemy an
impression 'of the resiUence and self-reliance of an
army that had only lately extricated itself from a
disastrous battle.
186
This was one of' the most difficult decisions of
the Prophet's life. Incidentally, It 80 happened that
the campaign proved to be that last undertaken by
him. It was no easy Job to collect an army of
30,000 strong for a campaign of such a nature for
such a distant objective in such hostile weather and
under such adverse circumstances, and at the same
time to provide for the wherewithal for an army of
that size which would take about a month at the
outside to reach Its objective. This was,incldentally,
the largest army that the Prophet could ever
muster in a campaign. The effort appears particu-
larly remarkable when we take into account the
fifth-column activities of the hypocrites and
opportunists whose sizable presence In Madinahwas
no secret. These activities were referred to by'
Allah thus:
And they sai. Do not go out in the
heat. Say (to them): The heat of Hell Is
yet more intense if they only reasoned
out. (Ix: 81)*13
A very heart-warming display of the sense of
sacrifice and devotion to the cause was, however,
in evidence among the Faithful. It Is reported that
'Uthmaan's material contribution to the campaign
was perhaps the most substantial, comprising, so it
Is said; 900 camels and 100 horses, besides a good
amount in cash. 'Umar .declared that tie had
brought half of his entire belongings to donate to
the cause thinking, as he later confessed, that he
had at least once outbidden Abu Bakr. But the
latter came and placed all that he possessed in the
world at. the feet of the- Prophet. On being asked
what he had left at home, he declared smugly,
"(Blessings of) Allah and His Prophet".
Till today it has been anybody's guess whether
Emperor Hercllus really had any such Intention and
If so. wh.at prevented him from carrying It out.
Maybe it was a case of the over-zealous R-oman
vassals' thinking aloud or just a handiwork of the
187
Jewish propagandists designed to Involve the
ChristiallS In order to kill two birds with one stone.
As a. matter of fact, the Prophet, in his 350-mUe
march, found no trace of enemy concentration
anywhere, let alone enemy reslst'ance. In short, the
much talked-of Roman invasion' did not come oft.,
The Prophet camped at Tabook, near the spring of
that name, half way between Madinah and
Damascus, and utilized his stay there for more than
a fortnight in spreading out small parties and
detachments in the region toconsoUdate his
position through treaty' arrangements 'with the
Christian and Jewish tribes round about Tabook,
such as .Banu Tai and the p o p l ~ of Doomat-ul-
Jandal and Tal maa' , and those near the gulf of
'Aqabah, such as the people of Maqna and Ealah.
Unfortunately, the texts of the treaties handed
down to us by the Muslim, Jewish or Christian
writers are not above suspicion and seem, by and
large, to have been forged atter the pattern of the
treaty of Khalbar with certain obvious Interpolat-
Ions and apocryphal details. For a fuller treatment
,of the subject, Dr. Hameedullah's Al-Yathaa'eq-us-
Slyaslyab (Cairo) and "Basool-e-Akram Kl Slyasi
Zindagi" (KarachI) may prove informative.
NO DEFINITE INVOLVEMENT: From the above it
should be evident that, however much the 'Jews
might have tried to Involve the unwary Christians
in their own engagements with the Muslims, the
,Christians, on the whole, barring a few individual
" tribes which might have been the victims of the
Jewish machinations or of certain unavoidable
circumstances, were far from being belligerent.
Bigoted priesthood, as a cl1iss, no doubt, looked
askance at the rise of a priestless society which
was Ukely to encourage their captive laity to
challenge their authority and to take the Muslims
for one, of the so many Christian sects similar to ,
the Monophysites. Exceptions only prove what the
Quran had ruled long before In a Meccan SUrab in
the following words already quoted: -
188
You shall certainly nnd, a mong all
peoples, the Jews and the Polytheists the
bitterest in animosity for the Believers,
while you shall nnd nearest of all others t
in love, to the Believers, those who say:
'We are Christians... (9a 82).11
The expression "Who say: We are Christians" aptly
refers to the rank and file of the community as
distinguished from the organizced Churches, and is
worthy of n,ote. It is, perhapi, these organized
Churches to which the Quran refers thus:
And never wUl the Jews and the CbrIst-
laDs be satisfied with thee unless thou
fonow their creed (way of life).
(ii: 120).14
This explains why the Muslims are warned ~ g t n s t
their collusion:
o Believers: Take not the Jews and the
CbristIaDs for friends (or helpers). They
are friends (and helpers) to each other.
And he who, among you, aspires after
their friendship. is certainly of them.
(v: 51)*15
.**
189
CHAPTER-13
PEACE OFFENSIVE
Etymologically, the word -'Islam', (meaning
'submission) is derived from the root-word "8alm",
meaning 'Peace'. The Quran declares: "The Faith
recognized before Allah is Islam". (Ui: 19)*1. The
Quran further explains:
So set thy face to the faith wholly and
solely, (scrupulously adhering to) the
pattern on which Allah pattemed
mankind. Allah's creation admits of no
alteration. This Is the standard (firm and
straight) Faith, though most people do
not understand. (xxx: 30)*2
Thus, universal peace through a universal creed
of total submission to the will of the Creator of
the universe as renected in the laws of Nature is
what Islam, as a pristine Faith of Man, stands for.
As Is evident from history, all prophets (Peace
be on them all) had one and the same mission in
life to propagate certain abiding values
calculated to bring about peace in the world by
making Man's heart at peace with the basic
realities of Ufe. In doing so In their own land and
in their own time, they had to contend with almost
similar handicaps and impediments. Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be on him), the last Messenger
of the Creator to mankind, was no exception.
The nature of the mission and the various
stages in which it was to be implemented are
recorded in the Quran for the benefit of
posterity:
(a) 0 thou, wrapped up in folds, arise and
warn (that is, inculcate the sense of
accountabUity in the people), proclaim
190
majesty of thy Lord, keep thy clothes
clean of impurities and keep away from
pollution (that Is, keep thyself clean
both outwardly and inwardly).
. (lxxiv: 1-15)*3
(b) Warn (that Is, Inculcate a sense of
account.abUity In) thy family, the near
relations. (xxvi: 214)*4
(c) And thus We inspired in thee the oration
(Quran) in Arabic that thou mayest warn
(inculcate the sense of accountabUlty in
the people of) the Mother of Township
(that Is, Makkah) and those around it
. (xliI: 7)*5
(d) And We have not sent thee but to all
mankind as one who brings .gmd . tidings ..
(of salvation) and .(also) as a warner
(Inculcating a sense of accountablllty).
(xxxiv-Meccaa Sureb: 28)*6
(e) 0 Messenger, convey (propagate) what
hath been sent down to thee from thy
Lord. If thou didst not do it, thou would
not have conveyed His Message. Allah
will protect thee from the people
. (v: 67)*7
(f) And there should be among you a people
who Invite to virt.. and eajolo what Is
(commonly) recognized as good or right
and forbid what Is (commonly considered
to be as) abhorrent (repulsive).
(iii: 104)*8
Here the words 'invite' on the one hand and
'enjoin' and 'forbid' on the other are particularly
noteworthy and determine the two distinct roles' of
the community.
From the very beginning, the Prophet was being

191
harassed and oppressed by his own people, and his
mission was being continually interrupted by
violent, and even armed, opposition. A tendentious
impression, contrary to the facts, has been
assiduously created by most of our learned writers
that Banu Umayyah were the worst enemies of the
Prophet and his mission. In support of their fond
theory, they generally take up old clannish rivalries
e t w e e ~ . Banu Haashim and Banu Umayyah in their
writings and play up petty family differences
between the co-laterals' ignoring a basic fact of
life all too evident from the tribal history of
Arabia. It would certainly be a freak if a clan or a
tribe had no family feuds and no scores to payoff.
But such vicissitudes of family life normally
affected . their basic blood relationship only to a
point - at any rate, not to the point of no return.
UMATYADS' OPPOSlTION EXAGGERATED: As a
matter of fact, more Umaayads than Haashimites
figured among those who migrated to Madlnah with
the Prophet and also among those who had
previously migrated to Ethiopia (Habsbah).
Similarly, among those who participated in the
battle of Badr (Asbaab-al-Badd, more Umayyads
than Hashimites fought for the cause of Islam.
Barring four or five, all Hashimite notables,
including the Prophet's own cousins, fought on the
side of the Meccans. No doubt, the Umayyads at
that time masterminded the Meccan opposition
since Abu Sufyan, father of Mu'aaviyah, happened
to be the acknowledged leader of the Meccans. But
it should not be fotgotten that the Prophet's own
first cousins, Taalib and ' Aqeel, sons of Abu
Taalib, 'Utbah and 'Utaibah, sons of his uncle Abu
Lahb, .Naufal bin al-Haarith bin 'AbdU Muttalib,
Mugheerah bin al-Haarith (nicknamed Abu Sutyan
al-Haashimi, who was the Prophet's foster-brother
too), and ' Abdullah bin Umayyah, son of the
Prophet's aunt 'Aatikah, were all on the side of
the Meccans in the battle of Badr, Taalib, the
eldest brother of 'Ali, was actually killed fighting
. devotedly for the Meccans. Late in 8 A.H. or early
192
in 9 A.H., when abu Sufyaan and 'Abdullah, the
two last-mentioned cousins, fist met the Prophet,
he turned his face In disgust and did not even -like
to look at them.
There was no love lost, at least before the fall
of Makkah, between the Prophet and. his cousin,
t Aqeel bin Abi Taallb,. who had hastened to occupy
the Prophet's house as an .'evacuee property when
the Prophet migrated to Madlnah, and later sold it
to a brother of Hajjaj bin Yusuf. The Prophet
actually complained of his behaviour when he was
asked on the fall of Makkah if he would .like to
stay out In his own house. (wide: AsaII-bus-Slvar by
Maulana Danapurl, Seerat-_-Nabl by , Allamah
ShibU and JDa-ul-'UJOOII by the famous Shiah
. divine traditlonlst, MullaBaaqlr Majillsee)
. .
Few' Haashmltles were appointed by the- Prophet .
to any high office of responslbillty while
Umayyads, including Abu Sufyaan and his son,
Yuld, were appointed governon.
The Prophet- married his eldest daughter, Zainab,
. to _ an UmaYy'ad, Abut ,'Aas bin ar-Rabee.'. They
proved .a. happily-married couple and the Prophet
openly paid a tribute to Umayyad son-in-law
Wide: Sabeeh BatIuIrI, Dab DIdtr AiI-..... in-Nabl).
The second and the third daughten,. Ruqayyah and
Umme Kulthoom, were formally engaged to his
Haashimlte flnt cousins, 'Utbah and 'Utaibah, sons
of Abu tahb, but they broke the engagement to
spite the Prophet. Thereupon, the Prophet married
these daughten, one -after another, to 'Uthmaan
bin 1 Affaan, another Umayyad notable, who gave
him no cause for regret. The youngest daughter
was to I Ali, his own cousin and ward, but,
incidentally, that marriage remained a constant
source of anxiety and; sometimes, even ran upon
rocks.
It ls reported that once the Prophet actually
. threatened to' get them separated when tAli

193
betrayed hil intention of marrying Abu Jahl's
daughter, probably Ghaurra'. A(-"kqea.. the well-
known commentary of the ............ gives the
background of the report credited to AI-Misvar
bin Mikramah and recorded by both Bukhari and
Muslim, In which the Prophet Is reported, to have
said the Faatimah was hil own nesh and blood and
that whoever annoyed her and injured her feelings,
annoyed him and injured his Al-MlIqaat
records thus: .
"The Prophet (Peac.!!._ b.e-.oR- bim) - uld,
Banu H-'sbaam- bin Mugheerah (that is,
o the "famUy of Abu JahU have 80ught my
permission to marry their daughter to
. 'Ali bin Abl Taalib. Never, never shall I
permit that. Be it noted, it. Ibne Abi
Taalib (that is, 'All) intends (to do so),
he "should divorce my daughter and
marry his (Abu Jabl's) daughter ... l0
According to Bukhari's AJ-Jume'us Saheh
(Volume one), the Prophet further added: "I do not
forbid what is permissible nor do I declare perm iss-
i,ble what is forbidden. But, by Allah, daughters of
the Prophet of Allah and the enemy of Allah can
never live together (with one person)".U. The
Saheeh BuIdaarl also records a, fuller version
wherein the Prophet is reported to have compared
, Ali's conduct with that of Abul 'Aas, husband of
eldest daughter, Zainab.
"We are told by Abu! Yamaan that
Shoaib informed him on the authority of
Az-Zohrl to whom tAli bin Husain (that
is, Zaln-ul-Abedeen) narrated that AI-
Misvar bin Makhramahlaid that' All
wanted to marry abu Jabl's daughter. On
learning this, Faattmab went to the,
Prophet (Peace be on him) and said,
"Your people think that you wlll not get
angry Whatever happens to your
daughters.(This is the reason why) this
194
, AU is going to marry the daughter of
Abu Jahl. So the Prophet stood up and I
(that is, AI-Misvar) heard him say after
reciting the KaUmah, thus: 'After the
praise due. to Allah. I gave my daughter
to Abul 'Aas bin Ar-Rabee'. Whatever
he had told me he Uved upto it.
Faatimah is my nesh and blood, I dislike
what displeases her. By Allah daughters
of Allah's Prophet and Allah's enemy
cannot live together with one person. So
t AU gave up the idea of marrying".
(Dab dblIcr as-baar-ia-Nabl)*12
The well-known Shlah divine, Mulla' Baaqlr
MajUsee. in his book, JiJaatd.-'UyOCllD (Tehran, Vol
one, pages 16-11) refers. to this incident in some
detail, but adds that it was some 'vicious' person
(wYakay az IUlbqly .. ") who had conveyed this
information to Faatimah and that 'Ali assured the
Prophet that he had no such intention. I am afraid,
according to the Shiah. trationists, this was not the
only occasion when Faatimah had to make such a
complaint to the Prophet (Yide: Mulla Baaqir
Majilisee's same book, pages 65-66, quoting Abu
Dhar on the authority entitled wDa1u-sb-
Sbaraa'e)*13. The stoty as narrated does not merit
reproduction; but the fact remains that she felt
compelled to leave for her' father's house in a
huff.
I do not think that the Prophet demanded any
special status for his daughter or that Abu Jahl's
daughter carried any stigma because of her father's
sins. Reports of .Faatimah's worries because of
'Ali's meagre means indicate ,'All was not in a
position to keep two separate establishments.
Therefore, the plausible inference that one can
possibly draw from what the Prophet is reported to
have said on the occasion seems to be:
a) The unpleasant memories of the immedi-
ate past were most likely to bedevil the
195
delicate and brittle relation-
ship of the two ladies as co-wives of
one person.
b) Being 'Ali's erst-while guardian, the
Prophet was certain that ' Ali was
incapable of performing a feat of tight-
rope walking
c) Faatimah was likely to suffer in silence
because of her meek temperament and
submissive nature.
In . the end, in connection with the baseless
charge of the Umayyad's inveterate prejudice
against Islam, suffice it to say that, on the
contrary, it is Haashmite's unenviable distinction
that he and his family have been eternally
condemned by name in the Quran for their enmity
towards the' Prophet and his mission (vide Surah
cxi). Apart from being the usual form of the
customary curse; the expression "the two hands of
Abi Lahab"*14, may metaphorically, refer to his
two sons, 'Utbah and 'Utaibah, while there is an
obvious pun on the word "lahb" ("fiame", referring
hereto Hell fire), for Abdul 'Ulla was nick-named
"Aba Lahb" ("Father of Flame") because of his
ruddy face.
DIPLOMATIC DRIVE: After arriving at a detente
with the Meccans by signing the Treaty of
Hudaibiyyah on their own terms late in 6 A.H., the
Prophet felt somewhat free to embark on the final
phase of his world-wide mission to enlist the
support of the big powers of his ti me to the global
cause of founding a godly society based on the
pristine concept of the undisputed, unshared
supremacy of Allah. Geopolitically, Arabia, by
virtue oJ its central location, was at the crossroads
of the known world of the time and the meeting
place of diverse civilizations at diverse stages.
Arabia was, therefore, admirably suited for the
initiation of such a drive.
196
It is reported on good authority that, late in 6
A.H., or early in 7 A.H., at any rate after the
Treaty of Hudaibiyyah, the Prophet despatched
letters to various tribal chiefs and prominent
people of his ti me, including the heads of two
contending world powers fighting for supremacy for
years together, namely the Byzantine Emperor of
Constantinople and the Sassanian Monarch of Iran.
In these letters he invited them to Islam, the
Religion of Peace, and sought their cooperation in
giving effect to his grand concept of world peace
on the basis of submission to the will of the
Creator. About two hundred difCerent documents of
his time have been traced by now. and culled from
the pages of history or chronicles. One such
admirable collection, more comprehensive than any
other, is Al-Vathaa 'eq us-SiyuiYJah by Dr.
Hameedullah.
No doubt, some of these epistles and documents
are not free from apocryphal matter, including
certain anachronological details which detract from
the trust that historians of the stature of Ibn SaId,
AI-Baiadhuri and Ibn Jareer at-Tabari reposed in
them. However, the few that have been luckily
found in original parchment and have stood the
closest scrutiny by the unbiased experts include:
(1) An epistle addressed to the Najaashi
(Negus) of Ethiopia (Habsbabl;
(2) An epistle addressed to the Muqowqis of
Egypt - presumably the coptic vers ion of
the title of the Phylarch or Patriarch
(nmtreeqn) of Alexandria, who was the
de-facto Political head of Egypt;
Facsimile No.1 affixed to the title page
(3) An epistle addressed to AI- Mundhir bin
Sa ava, Arab Governor of Bahrein, a
province of the Sassanian Empire.
FacsimUe No.2 affixed to the title page
Not many other documents are credited with
191
that much authenticity, but they can safely be
regarded as trustworthy on the- basis of the strictly
historical data available. For a detailed discussion
of these particular finds, Dr. Hameedullah's other
book -BII8OO1-e-Atram Kl Sly .... Zindagi-(published
in Karachi) may be consulted.
The genuineness' of the above-mentioned finds
has been determined by the following factors taken
cumulati vely:
a) Estimated age of the parchment
b) Identical stamp of the Prophet, traditionally
reported to be of a round seal with a characte-
ristic three line inscription:
-mubammacl Basool-uUah- - Allah on the top,
Muhammad at the bottom and the word
"Baaool- in the middle - to be read from the
bottom. Incidentally, this particular arrangement
of the three words places God, Man and the
office of Prophethood precisely in their proper
position.
c) Certain characteristics in the style of workaday
writing of the ti me;
1) Complete absence of dots (-Nuqaat-), which
were not usually employed in the 1st century
Hijrah;
2) the scribing of the retters of lleem and
H.'e Dana simUar in shape to the hump-
like I Ay.' in the middle of the word. a
characteristic of that age.
3)the spilling-over of letters of the last word in
a line to the next line thus:
-Shareek-
J
split into (1) Shu (2) eat;
-BoaIIe bee-, split into (1) R (2) ooIabee;
nayte-, split into (1) Bay (2) Ka and soon
198
4)an additional loop (SbosIIab) in. scribing letters
like Ba, Ta, HOOD and Ya - a few instances
of which are still preserved in the Quranic
calligraphy.
5)deletlon of AUt Zaldab after the verbs in
plural like Qaaloo, Jaa'oo, etc., a few instan-
ces of which are stUl extant in the present
day copies of the Quran.
Moreover, there Is also a marked over-all
Similarity in style of writing of apparently different
scribes and a noticeable identical nature of stamps
on the documents found in far-off places. Besides,
barring slight understandable variations in reporting,
the text of these epistles remarkably tallies with
w ~ t has been handed ~ o w n to us by early histori-
ans and chroniclers.
All the three finds mentioned above do not
belong to the sa me period or form part of the said
"Peace Offensive" of 6/7 A.H. under reference.
Presumably the find No.1 (original Epistle addressed
to the Najaasbl and widely publicized), in which the
Prophet tried to disabuse the Najaashl's mind of
the Meccans' propaganda, by expressing, in clear
terms, his and his people's beliefs about the Christ
and Mary. . belonged to an eerUer date when
perhaps the name of the addressee. was not known.
It evidently differs in diction and Import from the
letters of the set he dispatched on this particular
occasion -(Iate in 6 A.H. or early in 7 A.H., after
the treaty of Hudaibiyyah). Similarly, the find No.3
(Original Epistle addressed to al-Mundhir bin Saava,
Governor of Bahrein, and recently discovered)
belonged to a much later period when he had
already embraced Islam and was actually acting as
Governor under the Prophet's instructions and had
then nothing to do with the Sassanian Empire under
which he had originally been functioning. ThUS, the
find No.2 alone is relevant to the subject under
discussion and is reproduced (in English) below:
I
~
199
In the name of Allah, Ar .. Rahmaan the
Merciful. This is from Muhammad, Slave
of Allah and His Apostle, to Al-
Maqowqis, the Chief of the Copts. Peace
be on those who follow the guidance.
After the due praise to Allah, I invite
you to the call of Islam. Accept Islam
(the reUgion of peace) and you will
attain peace. If you do, Allah will
doubly reward you. If you turn away, the
guilt of the Copts will devolve on you.
(Quoting from the Quran): '0 People of
the Scripture! Come to (an agreement on
the basis of) a doctrine equally agreed
among us and among you that we
worship (that is, pledge our implicit
obedience to) none but Allah and ascribe
none as partners to Allah (in sharing His
pterogative) and that none of us will
take some of us for patrons beside
Allah. So if they turn away, tell them:
Bear witness (to the fact) that we
surrender to His authority' (in other
words, we are Muslims)*15
Unfortunately, the documents of the period
under reference were undated and there is no way
of determining even the approximate date of a
document. It is believed that the Hijri calendar was
formally introduced in 16 A.H. by Caliph 'Umar
and the practice of dating documents d.id not
presumably exist during the time of the Prophet.
The Epistle quoted above, addressed to the
Maqowqis - presumably Phylarch Benjanin and not
Cyrus ('Qayroos') as certain writers presume - is
no doubt one of those Epistles which were dispat-
ched in 6/7 A.H. It bears a remarkable similarity
in style and diction to the texts or other letters
addressed on the occasion to the Byzantine Emperor
Herculius son of Heraclius *16, and to the Negus
QY name quoted by Historian Ibn Katheer as
reported (in 8ubtance) by Ibn Ishaaq *17. Since
these two Epistles are materially identical to the
200
one quoted above, they hardly need to be
translated.
The only notable difference is that in the letter
addressed to the Maqowqls, 'the Chief of the
Copts' (quoted above *15) it was stated that 'if
you turn away, the guilt of the Copts will devolve
on you, while the letter addressed to Heracllus,
'the Chief of the Romans' (reported by Tareekhul
Ya'qoobl and referred to by Bukhari and Muslim)
contained the warning: 'If you turn away, the guilt
of areeseeyeen (peasants) will devolve on you', and
In the letter addressed to 'the Najaasbl, AI-As-
ham, the Chief of al-Habsbab', the warning was
worded (in substance) thus: 'If you refuse, the guilt
of the Christians from among your people will
devolve on you'. As already hinted above, the text
. of this last-mentioned letter available to us is not
verbatim.
Here we find the express denunciation of the
doctrine of Christ being Son of God - the relevant
portion is underlined in the text cited under
"Textual References" at the end of the book *17.
Incidentally, the text of this letter addressed to
the Najaasbi, as reported by Historian Ibn Jareer
at-Tabari, seems to be an admixture of two
different letters dispatched on different dates and
addressed presumably to two different Najaasbls.
As can be seen, the missionary letters sent to
the Christian addresses were substantially simUar in
diction, while the one addressed to the Magi
monarch of Iran (presumbaly, Chosroes ('KIsra') II
of the Sassanian dynasty, namely Khusrau Parviz,
grandson of Anaushervan) was slightly different in
approach as is evident from the text reported in
substapce by At-Tabari, AI-Ya 'qubi and al-Qasta-
laanb
In the name of Allah, Ar-Rahmaan the
Merciful (This is) from Muhammad,
Apostle of AllAh. ~ \,.., I"'''MPOf'S
201
(ftKJsraft) the chief (of the people of
Fars Peace be on those who
follow the guidance, who have belief in
Allah and His Messenger. I invite you to
the call of Islam (or, of Allah). For
verily I am Allah's Messenger to the
whole of mankind to warn everyone
living that (Allah's) Word in regard to
Disbelievers 'shall come true. So accept
Islam (that is, the religion of peace);
you will attain peace. If you refuse (or
turn away), the guilt of the Magis will
devolve on you. *18
It is presumed -that in the documents of the
time, Najaashl, Muqowqis, Cbosroes, ("Kisra") and,
perhaps, Maalik and Haarltb too, were titles of
certain Heads of State and are not to be taken
Decessarily . as names of persons. The word 'Azeem
in the familiar appellations ('Azeemul Habsbah,
'Azeemul Qibt, 'Azeem 'Azeemo Pars) is a
generic name for the office of 'Head of State'
rather than the usual honorific "The Great".
Not all the emissaries of the Prophet achieved
success . in their missions, or were even duly
received:J>Y the dignitaries concerned. As already
mentioned elsewhere, Shorahbeel bin ' Amar,
Governor of Busra (in Syria), in utter disregard of
the universally accepted protocol, killed the
emissary, Haarith bin 'Urnair, whom the Prophet
had sent with a personal' letter. Khusrau Parviz
(Chosroes n) of Iran, who took it as an insult to
be thus addressed by "a commoner", tore the letter
in anger and disgraced the bearer of the letter. He
Is also reported to have ordered his Governor of
Yemen, Badhaan, to have the Prophet arrested and
sent to him in Madaa-en. In the meantime the
Chosroes was killed by his own son and Baaddan, on
the other hand, embraced Islam.
AI- Mundhir bin Saava, the Sassanian Governor of
. Bahrain, an Arab by descent, through whose good
202
offices the Prophet f s emissary conveyed the letter .
to the Chosroes, embraced Islam. As a Muslim
Governor of the erstwhUe Sassanian province, he.
served thenceforth as a light-house of Islam in that
region. The Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, son or
Heraclius, accorded a diplomatically correct recept-
ion to the emissary, but beyond that no definite
reaction is reported.
The Najaasbl of Ethiopia is, on the other hand,
reported to have accepted Islam and to have had
the best of relations with the Prophet. He is
reported to have solemnized in Ethiopia, by proxy,
the marriage of the Prophet with Umme Habeebah,
half sister of CaUph Mutaaviyah, whose husband had
turned Christian. He also arranged for her sare
conduct to Madinah. It is also reported on good
authority that the Prophet offered his funeral'
prayer in Madinah, by proxy, on his death in 9
A.H. However, the identity of this particular'
Najaasbi is in dispute among traditionists.
The Muqowqis of Egypt, the Monophysite
Phylarch (Patriarch) of Alexandria, reportedly
embraced Islam but would not risk his high position
by annoying the clergy with an announcement of
his conversion. The Prophet, used to receive
presents from him, including a mule, named
'Duldul', considered to be a rarity, as a species, in
the Arabia of the ti me. Maria the Copt (Mariah
QibtlJY8ll), one of the Prophetts wives, who gave
birth to Ibrahi m, his last issue, was also a present
from the Muqowqis.
No substantial or concrete results of the Peace
offensive other than these have been reported by
early writers. However, what anyone can see ror
himself is that the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia
survives to this day while the Magi Empire of Iran
was gone for good within a decade or so

203
CHAPTER-I'
WINDS OF CHANGE
The fall of Makkah as a citadel of Arab pagan-
ism and polytheism late in 8 A.H. gave Islam an
image and the Muslim community a stature that
none could ignore or afford to treat with indiffere-
nce. The event electrified the entire Arab world,
and tribe after tribe hastened to come to a sort of
friendly arrangement with the Muslims to partake
of the fruits of peace and prosperity promised by
Islam's new social deal. An roads let to Madinah,
as they say, and the year 9 A.H. came to be
known as the "Year of Deputations".
These tribal delegations were received without
an exception, with due dignity and decorum, regard-
less of the past conduct of the tribes to which
they belonged. The proceedings, according to the
records handed down to us, do not suggest in the
least the abject surrender of the tribal representa-
tives to any dictated terms. On the contrary, they
renect a remarkable spirit of accommodatiQn on
both sides. The deputationists would even haggle
about special concessions they sought for their
prinCipals, and the Prophet, on the other hand,would
reply with an open mind and a broad approach to
each and every point, putting up patiently with the
rustic behaviour and, sometlm.es, even rudeness
which almOst touched the susceptibWties of the
highly sensitive audience. From this point of view,
the lengthy reports of early writers about these
deputations sometimes make an interesting as well
as instructive reading.
Here the intention is not to give a detailed
account of. ttlese fifty and odd delegations or to
. attempt a resume of the reported discussions that
took place. The present sketchy treatment of the
subject is calculated to bring out in relief the
. Prophet's capacity for accommodatiqp. his sense of
204
priorities and his patient handling ot men and
matters.
The Prophet was particularly Impressed by a
seven-man delegation of the Banu Azd who, on
enquiry, turned out to be a God-fearing people who
had had some grounding In .the principles of the
new faith through the Prophet's representatives
earlier. The Prophet was very pleased to learn that
before they received instruction In the new creed,
they had already been brought up by their elders
on five basic rules of conduct: to express gratitude
when satisfied; to face adversity with fortitude; to
be at peace with the Creator's dispensation; to
remain faithful even in trying circumstances; and
never to rejoice at the enemy's misfortune. The
Prophet paid tributes to those who had inculcated
such admirable qualities in their younger generation
and said that he would like to add five more
precepts for their benefit:
1) Do not store what (you know) you would
not consume.
Ii) "Do not buDd what you have no mind to
occupy (yourself).
iii) "Do not quarrel about a thing that you
hAve to lose tomorrow at any rate.
iv) "Be mindful of Allah Whom you wlll be
facing (ultimately).
v) "Take interest In that which (you know)
you are going to put up with and for
good (Az-ZarqaaId (Cairo), part four,
page 65).1
A deputation of Banu Thaqeef of Taa-ef,
according to Traditionst Abu Da 'ood, insisted that
they should be exempted from offering obligatory
prayers, from paying Zakaat and fighting for the
cause of Islam. After a good deal of discussion, the
205
Prophet agreed to grant them exemption from the
last two obligations but was not prepared to
concede to the first request - that Is, exemption
from obligatory prayers, about which he Is reported
to have s81d: "There is no good in a religious
system wherein there is no bowing or reverential
prostration" - Surab Abl Daeood *2
Certain tribes sought licence for loose marriages
prevalent in their society, but the Prophet dismis-
sed the Idea by quoting from the Quran the
following verse:
Do not (even) go near (that is, avoid all
that approaches or leads to) adultery.
VerUy it is a foul act and a pernicious
way (of life). (xvii: 32)*3
To convey the I mplication of the expression "Do
not go near" ("1a taqraaboo
W
) it may be mentioned
that the Prophet, in his campaign for prohibition,
used to prohibit even the use of those particular
utens Us which were generally used in preparing or
drinking liquor.
The Prophet enquired from a deputation of
Banul-Haarlth It they could guess why they
generally had had the upper hand In all their
battles. They replied that it was so probably
because t ~ y had never been the aggressors but
that once they had been challenged, they never
faltered. The Prophet nodded. .
There is a reference In the Quran to a deputa-
tion of the Christians of Najraan who, in response,
to the Prophet I s letter of Invitation to Isla m
addressed to their High Priest or Bishop (Uaquf),
sent three of their wise men to enquire about the
tenets of Islam. The discussion centred round the
creed of the Monophysites who believed in the
composite nature of the Christ, neltber wholly
divine nor wbolly human. It Is said that the
following verses of the Sarah Aal 'Imra (Ui) were
206
revealed then and there in refutation of the dogma:
"Verny, with Allah, the slmWtude of
Jesus is as that of Adam, He created
him of dust, then said to him: tBet and
he was there. This is the truth (coming)
from thy Lord. So be not among those
who doubt. If some one disputes In the
matter (even) after' you have come to
know of it (for certaln), say: 'Come, let
us call our sons and your sons, our
women-folk and yours, (along with)
ourselves and yourselves, then let us
supplicate for Allah's intervention and
Invoke His curse on those who Ue
tt

(iil: 59-61)*4
OPPEROP tlJllPRECAftON: Since such matters as
involved bUnd faith could not be decided .one way
or the other by mere argument, the Quran sought
to invoke their own traditional way of resoivlng
such disputes In the last resort. When the best of
arguments would fall to bring conviction and
neither party would budge from its ripd stand, the
parties in dispute would, in the last resort,
mutually invoke divine arbitration by' solemnly
inviting God's wrath on the party persisting in a
deUberate wrong. This was known as ..... hP ....
(Imprecation) as" distinct from "1DIID8aZInIIi.
(debate) and _ ....... (discussion). "
Obviously, this was an offer .made o.n of
the entire Muslim community to the deputationists
to prove their own implicit faith in the" own
creed, their sincerity of purpose and comclentious
objection to the dogma. There. was DO paint in,
bringing out members of his own small famUy then
and there, since the three deputationists. 0(1 the
other side were on a visit aBalone, unaccompalned
by the sons and womenfolk. Moreover they
not in a position to commit their principals. on
their own without reference to them. Tbey could at
. best convey the challenge to the" people they
207
represented or to the Bishop who had deputed them
and assigned them a particular job. The current
story of his taking out his grand children, Hasan
I
and Husain, hardly five to six years of age, along
with their father and mother for the purpose, is a
. concoction. The fact of. the matter is
that the challenge was never accepted. Also, in
strict compliance with the Quranic offer, how could
the Prophet have left out his wives (ltnJsaa-'ana
n
)
altogether?
NO VINiuCTlVENESS: Once a ten-man deputation
waited on the Prophet, who asked one of the
if he had ever met him before. The
man was fiabbergasted and admitted that he was
the only surviving member of a party which, years
before in M,kkah, had been extremely rude to the
Prophet and that he was perhaps the most
vehement of all in denouncing him. He craved
forgiveness. The Prophet hastened to assure him
that 'once a person embraced Islam, all his previous
sins and foul acts stood condoned.
. -
When the Muslims came to have the upper hand
after long years of persecution, they were never
vindictive and always tried to bring round people by
persuaeion rather than coercion. Those who were
proud of their positions in their own society or
economically dependent on the powerful anti-
Muslim elements, were accorded special treatment
as whose hearts are. yet to be fully
recQncUed or set at rest". *5
There are less than ten individual cases in
-which capltal punishment was awardedonacharge of
espionage, torture of innocent Muslims and down-
rigbt treachery. Probably under the Influence of the
Jewish propaganda, some of our learned writers
have given undue pubUcity to the "quiet" disposal
in the I[lbsence of any established law courts and
also to avoid violent repercussions, of such
lncorrlgible war-mongers and war-criminals as Ka'b
bin -Ashraf and abu Raafey' SallaambinAbil
Hoqaiq.
208
As a matter of fact, heinous crimes were
forgiven as soon as one embraced Islam. The
classical example of this is that of Vahshi - a rare
case of a name echoing the personality - who
reportedly, kllled Hamzah, the Prophet's beloved
uncle. He was forgiven and, incidentally, he lived
long enough to repay the heavy debt he owed to
IslaIr: by killing Musailamah.the Imposter, during the
time of Caliph Abu Bakr. It Is all too well-known
how Abu Sufyaan, the erstwhile arch enemy of
Islam, was accorded a special privilege on the day
Makkah fell and how 'Ikramab bin Abi Jabl. who' fled
to Yamen and was brought back by his Muslims wife,
was forgiven for his past crimes. Not only this, but
people were expressly forbidden to call him
afterwards by referring to his father's nickname.
, Abdullah bin Ubayy, known for his highly
suspicious conduct was repeatedly charged with acts
of subversion and treachery but was always allowed
the beneflt 'Of .. doubt because he always professed
Islam and ostensibly worked for the cause

209
CHAPTER-IS
TRUTH STRANGER THAN PlC'l10N
Many readers must have missed the discussion
of the most popular subject ot the biographers of
the Prophet - I mean the miracles or "signs
n
to
which we just referred In passing in the
PROLOGUE. I own to the charge of relegating the
subject to such a low priority in the discussion of
the Ufe of the Proph,t. Although these Itsignslt,
popularly known as ttmiracles
lt
, do constitute
important fact of his Ufe, they ~ not actually
form part of his conduct as a Prophet nor did they
constitute a factor in the build-up of his personality
or character. We have already pointed out that
these so-called miracles were Allah's own ttSigns"
meant for the benefit of the discerning, yet
wavering, few a mong the unbelievers and that
prophets could neither cause them on their own at
will nor were they themselves capable of obUking
those of the people who demanded miracles from
them as a condition precedent to the recognition of
their prophet hood.
When these signs were meant for the entire
community of unbelievers, they were generally all-
too-manifest. .
We made the signs aU to clear for you,
if you only apply your reason. (111:118)*1
Generally speaking, the more unsophisticated the
people the clearer were the signs showed to them:
We gave Moses nine all-too-manitest
signs. . 'Cxvll: 101)*2
The clearer the "signs", the greater were the risks
in rejecting them and persisting in disbelief:
And We send not signs but to tore-
warm. (xvll: 59)*3
210
At the same time the p e o p ~ e also were warned:
h ~ day some of the signs 'of your Lord
come, the belief (having lost its utility)
may not avail a soul. (vi: 159)4
However, it was not for the people to make a
demand on prophets and make it a condition
precedent to acceptance of their prophethood:
"It was not for any prophet to bring a
sign except Allah's permission".
(xUl: 38)*5
The Prophet, too" was inttructed to declare:
Say: All signs are with Allah only: and I
am but a plain Warner". (xxix: 50)*6
"SHAQQUL QAMAR": This make the well-known
but undated miracle of the splitting asunder of the
moon ("sbaqqul Qamar") as traditionally reported
of our Prophet (Peace _ be on him), as highly
improbable. It would be stretctling'the point beyond
plausibility to trace it in the Quranlc verse: tIThe
hour drew night and the moon was rent asunder"
(llv: 1).7. For the expression "the hour" drew
nigh" obviously refers to the eve of the doomsday,
of which the Quran speaks thus: "When the heaven
Is split asunder" (Ixxxlv and IxxxU: 1).8. Here the
past tense merely underlines the fact of certainty
(of xxi: 1), as sometimes past events are narrated
In the 'historic present' to make an account vivid.
Past tenses in Surah Lahb (cxi) illustrade this point.
The miracle as it is popularly described today is
most Improbable, although there has been almost a
consensus on Its graphic description. The fact of
the _ matter is that only 'Abdullah bin Mas'ood's
report as recorded by Bukharl and Muslim is an
eye-witness account; others' are merely hearsay.
Su .. prislngly enough, 'Abdullah- bin Mas'ood does not
describe the incident as a soUclted "slgnl! but
. v,.pv """0 .. ,,,1 .... _...1
I
!
~
211
remarkable phenomenon witnessed in the presence
of the Prophet in Mina - that the moon was seen
split In tYlO. Ttlat is 'lias a "sign" or miracle
expressly shown by the Prophet to the Meccans on
thek demaad is probably a later development. For,
as already mentioned above - and earlier, too,
elsewhere - it was most unlikely for any prophet
to show a "sign" on demaact.
At any rate the fact remains that no disaster
befell those who rejected even this all-too-patent
sign and that, too, on their own demand. And this
was contrary to th'e "Way of Allah"('SUIUlat ullab')
expressed in the verse quoted earlier, viz: "Ancl We
send not Signs but to fore-warn'l. (xvii: 59)*3
Many a miraculous act of Jesus (Peace be on
him) was reported by way of an UDIOUcited sign in
the Bible and was confirmed by the Quran:

Verily I come unto you with a sign from
your Lord that I heal the one born blind
and the leper and I raise the dead by
Allah's leave. (iii: 49)*9
Here, mark the words "from your Lord" and "by
Allah's leave". In spite of all this, the Bible
reports instances when he refused to show any such
miraculous power to a people on their own demand
because of their disbeUef. For example, St.
Matthew (Chapter 13, verse 58) reports: "And he
did not many mighty works there because of their
disbelief", St. Mark (Chapter 8, verses 11-12)
reports: '
" And the Pharisees came forth, and
began to question with him, seeking of
him a sign from heaven, tempting him.
And he sighed deeply In his spirit, and
saith, why doth this generation seek a
sign? Verily I say unto you. There shall
be no sign given unto this generation.
And he left them."
212
ST. LUKB (Chapter 23, verses 8-10 reports:
"Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was
exceedingly glad he hoped to see some
miracle done by him. And he questioned
him In many words; but he answered him
nothing. And the chief priests and the
scribes stood, vehemently accusing
him "
SIGN OF SIGNS: The last Prophet's abiding "Sign"
for all time to come is the Quran, each verse of
which is a 'sign' -(Aayab). More than once
the Quran itself threw an open to the
proud Arab stylists to match it with their own
composition in diction and Import. But that
challenge has remained unaccepted. What was
patently miraculous about the Quran -a marvel of
literary composition displaying wide, all-embracing
awareness of comprehensible and incomprehensible
realities of Ufe and deep insight Into men and
matters - was that it was "produced" (as the Arab
agnostics would look at it) by one known to be
literally "unlettered" (UmmO, which fact Allah
Himself vouched for: .
" And thou wast not a reader of any
writing before ft, nor didst thou write
one with thy right hand, for then the
slanderers might have some cause to
doubt". (xxix: 48)*10
The Quran also made it further clear:
"Thou knewest not what Scripture was
nor what Faith was". (xlii: 52)*11
-THE ASCENSION-: What is popularly known as the
ml1raaJ (meaning "ladder") or fsraa (meaning ,
/ "journey by nighttt), on the other hand, hadj
obviously little to do wltn unbelievers, who
certainly had no means to confirm or deny what I
. was claimed. The graphic hearsay accounts of this
213
"night journey" through the heavens ylz Jarusalem
and the special treatment accorded to the Prophet
as a very important personage throughout this
educative excursion as reported by various
Companions of the Prophet, subsequenUy came to
form part of the Muslim lore which probably
inspired the great Florentine poet, Alighied Dante,
to write his DiviDe ComecIJ in the early 14th
century A.D., on the pattern of which our own
poet Iqbal, in our time, wrote the Jayald Nama.
Presumably the "Ascension" was meant to be a sort
of an object lesson for the Prophet himself to add
to his conviction by the actual demonstration of
what had been verbally revealed to him from time
to ti me. The purpose of the exercise given by
Allah Himself in the relevant verse of the Sorah
Bani Israel (xvii), apUy called Suratul-Israa also, is
"in order to show him some of our signs".
Glory be to Him Who ~ r i e d His
servant by night from the Sacred Mosque
to the far distant mosque the vicinity of
which We have blessed, in order to show
him some Our sings. (xvii: 1)*12
In other words, it was a "sign of sings" for the
Prophet himself rather than for others. Some such
exercise is indicated in the case of Prophet Ibrahim
also in the verse: If And thus did We show Ibrahim
the domain of the Heavens and the earth that he
might be among those fun, cODvJ.ncecl of the
truth". (vi: 76)*13
In the same Surah,. Bani Israa'eel or Al-Israa'
occurs the following: "And We made to the vision
We showed that a trial for the people" (verse:
60)*14. This suggests that it might as well have
been intended to be a testing sign for the small
community - to test their metUe in order to weed
out the waverers in view of the trying tasks ahead.
Here the words lt vision" (ar-IOO',a). and "trial"
("fttDatan") are worthy of note.
214
A "vision" of the ttlac;lder" (1I1'raaj) was
reported or Prophet Jacob (Ya,qub) in the Bible
. thus:
And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba,
and went toward and h_ lighted
upon a certain place, and tarried there
all night, because the Sun was set; and
he . took one of the stones of the place,
and put it under his' head, and lay down
tn that place to sleep. And he dreamed,
and . behold a ladder set up on the earth,
and the top of It :reached to heaven: and
beholdtbe angels of God ascending and
descending on it. And, behold, the Lord
stood above it, and said (GENESIS:
Chapter 28, verse 11)-1.3)
. The question whether It was a -"vision", as
presumably it was, or a fact of bodily ascerullon to
the heavens, as Is commonly believed, is the
point; as the unbelievers, In either case, would
have little to' do in' the entire business In which
they themselves were In no way Involved even as
spectators. What is certainly amazing Is that the
time and the place of the occurrence '9f the much-
talked or sign have remained altogether uncertain
ever since. However, what is certain about the'
time is that it occurred from less than a year to
eight years before the IIijrah ("Migration" to
Madlnah) - vide: SaIaeeb Bukharl's commentaries by
AI-' Asqalani-and AI-Alnee.
As for the place or occurrence, the tie is
between the Haram ,ul-Ka'bah and the Prophet's
residence.' .In the latter case, Qadi t Ayaad, in his
well-known book, As-Sbifaa, records two different
versions. In one, I Aaayesha is represented to have
said "I did not miss the Prophet's body" *15, while
in the other 'Umar tbllal-Khattab is represente"d
to have reported, quoting the Prophet himself:
\
I
I
I

I
215
Then I returned to Khadijah (80 soon)
that she had not yet turned herself on
the other side (that is, had not changed
her posture bythen)*16
Now, Khadljah might well have been alive then,
but 'Aayeshah was certainly married long after the
reported occurrence.
IBN ISHAAQ'S BLUNDER: Ibn Ishaaq, the earliest
biographer, on the other hand, has an astounding
story to narrate. 'Abdul Malik bin Hishaam who
abridged and edited Ibn Ishaaq's "Kltaab 01-
Magbaazi VaI-lUyar", records on the authority, of
Ibn Ishaaq what 'Ali bin Abi TaaUb'. sister, Umme
Haani, had to say on subject.
She says that Allah's Prophet, in his
'night journey' (Israa) was nowhere else
but in my house. He spent the night
with me in my house. He offered the
night-prayer ('Isba). Then he slept and
we slept too. A little before dawn he
woke up. When he said morning prayer,
we, too, said prayers with him-
(Iba Hlllauad*17
We know for certain that Umme Haani
embraced Islam much later - to be sure, after the
fall of Makkah - when her husband, Hubairah al-
a bitter opponent and reviler of the
Prophet, had ned to obllvion, never to be heard or
again. What business the Prophet then had to be
with her for the hole night, leaving his own famDy
at home, is beyond comprehension. We also know
for certain that the five dally pl'ayen including the
.'&Jr", were made obligatory alter the III'nai and
not belore.
What makes the story shocking is the fact that
the Prophet, In bis e.,I, tweaUes, had asked his
uncle Abu Taallb for the ..... of hll claugbter Hind
or Fatdchtab Oater known .s Umme Haani), but the
216
proposal wu# somehow turned .down and the laUer
was married to one Hubmah al- Makhzoomi (vide:
Tabaqaat by Ibn Sa'd and Ai-lsaabab by Ibn Hajar
'Asqalaani, author of Pat-hul-BaaIt, the well-known
commentary of SaIaeeb. Bukbarl). It shows how
amazingly careless were some of our celebrated
authors who would collect all sort of material to
garnish their works, which the later writers w ~ u l
blindly copy. It is actually this irresponsible report
which misled a man 0 f the st .. fure of a former
Arab Ambassador in Pakistan to assume that Umme
Haani was one of the Prophet's wives (vide: Aama-
ar-Besalaat (Cairo), page 76, by As-Salyid Abdul
Hameed al-Khateeb and Its officially sponsored
Urdu translation BesaaJato KbaattmiD NablJJeeD
which made matter worse by mis-translating "his
bed" mentioned in the book as "her bed"!)
Both Bukhari and Muslim report the most
- graphic of the versions of the incident by Abu
Dhar, one of the Prophet's well-known dISciples.
His narration of how the Prophet ultimately got the
number or obligatory prayers reduced from nfty to
five times a day after haggling with Allah on the
prompthl88 of Prophet's Moses, reads Uke a cock-
and-bull story and a flimsy fabrication giving little
credit to the two great compilers of 'traditions'
who selected It for inclusion In their works of such
great responsiblllty.
I supJ:X)se I need not offer an expltmation for
dilating on the subject of ftmi'raaJ
ft
at such length.
Perhaps it is neceSsary to point out t h ~ t it, is not
to disprove or deny the occurrence but to
deprecate the unrealistic way it has been played
up.
eDT ADf DlSCRUTABLE INCIDENTS: There are
many clear, unambiguous "signs" recorded in the
Quran, which unlike mi'raaj, did very much matter
to unbelievers who could not possibly have any
plausible explanation Why, on certain occasions,
. even the elements seemed to have conspired
217
against them at crucial moments. Some of these
are instanced below by way of illustration:
1. The circumstances of the' Prophet's safe
exit from Makkah.
"And (recall) when those who disbelieved
were plotting against thee to confine thee
or to kill or banish thee. They were
plotting but Allah was _ also plotting; and
Allah is -the best employer of stratagems".
. (viii: 30)*18
2. Some contrary incidents In the battle of
Badr - - before the battle started and
during the encounter:
a) Before the encounter:
. . .... ~
"And recall (the incident> when you met
them (face to face) and He made their
. numbers appear meagre. in your eyes and-
(on the o t h e ~ hand) minimized your
numbers in their eyes so that Allah
should bring about what was already
ordained". (xiii: 44)*19
(Here the stratagem was that the
Believers might not be so frightened by
the over-whelming number of the enemy
as to lose heart, and the Unbelievers, on
the other hand,' should become too
complacent _ to call for reinforcement
before the encounter).
b) During the encounter:
"There was a sign for you in the two
armies that met - One of them fighting
in the way of - Allah and the other
(army) of disbelievers, .seeing the former
as double their numben with their _ very
eyes".' CUi: 13)*20
c) Another incident in the mist of the
battle:
"And thou threwst not when thou didst
throw, but Allah (In fact) threw"
o (vIU: 17).21.
(This refers to the incident when the
Prophet, being hard pressed, threw 0 a
handful of pebbles at the enemy, who as
a result, were completely fiabbergasted
and too confounded to give fight). 00
3. An incident in the battle of the "Ditch"
(or a __ ." meaning "Leglons"h
"Remember Allah's favour unto you when-
there came hordes upon hordes against you
and We sent 0 against them a strong wind
and such hosts as you did not see".
o (xxxtU: 9)*22
4. An international prediction after the
Romans' defeat at the 0 hands of the
Persians:
"The Romans have been defeated in the
nearer land, and they will, a fter their
defeat, be victorious within a few years".
(xxx: 2-4).23
(The word "bld'a" used in the relevant
verse applles to l s ~ than ten).
Jerusalem fell to the Perstans in 614/615
A.D. and was regained by the Romans in
624/625. Historian Gibbon marvels at the
unpredicatable prediction made at a time
when"no prophecy could be more distant
from accomplishment '1
(Dedi. andFaB or the Roman Empire,
Volume 5).
219
5. A "portent" for all time was brought, to
light some time back. A mummy found in
a pyramid excavated in 1888 A.D. has
been declared to be the body of the
Pharoah of the time of Prophet Moses,
Peace be on him, 1300 B.C.) This brought
to light another historic "sign" of the
Quran described in the verses 91-93 of the
Sarah Y __ (Jonah). There it is mentioned
that Allah brought the Banu Israel safe
acrosS the sea and the Pharaoh and bis
hosts pursuing them were drowned. Wh1e
drowning, the Pharaoh repented and
exclaimed that he believed in Allah and
surrcmdered unto Him. He was told that it
was too late for him to do so, and a
declaration was made in the following
words:
n But this day We save thee in thy body
that thee mayst be a sign for those after
thee!n (x: 93)*24
This is just to give the reader an idea of the
nature of "Signs", shown by Allah to establish the
truth of the Prophet's prophet hood, and not to
attempt a discussion of the miracles as reported by
the Prophet's biographers. Their reports mayor
may not be factually true in details. The so-called'
"miracles" were essentially the "Signs" of Allah
(AayaataJlala") shown to whomsoever He liked in
His infinite solicitude for His crentures. One may,
therefore, dispute the fact of occurrence as
reported, but no true Muslim believing in Almighty
Allah's all-comprehensive powers could make bold
to question the paaibiUty.: of such an occurrence
however inexplicable it, may appear to reason.
Unless these reports were authenticated by the
Quran itself, they, as reported, might well have
renected the subjective approach of the believers
to certain occurrences which might have appeared
note .. worthy to certain people from a certain angle
. in a certain context. .
220
CHAPTER-IS
PINALB OP THB ORAND IIISSION
Death, according to the Quranlc conception, Is
only the end of Man's mission with a fixed dead-
. Une, and not the end of his journey fhrough the
universe. Deln, no respecter 'of anybody's fe91lngs
or wishes, Death Is always on time and never
'untimely'; ad the cliche goes. What travels In. the
"personality" rather than the person of Man. It is
the mere of the barrier of'seDles that we
know as death. This, in fact, Is Man's physical
death, which Is referred to In the following verse:
Every Uvlng being shall have the taste
of death. . (ill: 185)*1
But what crosses the barrier and survives, and
is sustalaed In the Hereafter, Is the '"personality",
built up brick by brick by Man himself with the
exercise ofbls own discretion in his' Ufe here.
Thus, the mot Ive fOJ'ce, the invisible soul, gathers
the necessary momentum, for the second leg of th,
journey, carrying hJm' through the Hereafter (-81-
AatIdrab-' by his UVin, a purposeful ute In this
world. Of course, the purpose of the Ufe. that he
lives here wlll determine his ultimate fate In the
Hereafter. A prisoner of Instincts with no Ideal in
life to govern It, deserves a fate no better than
that of an animal. This Is wh8.t the verse
purports to convey by stating the converse:
And refer not to those who are killed in
the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they ,.re
(vety much) living, though Ye know not.
. (II: 154)*2
Of co_e, It Is liDpOIJSible for us to envisage
what the life after death would be like. The state
of luspend$d animation, so to say, with complete
lack ot aware .... of wh,.t Is to happen to one's
221
self in the Hereafter and to one's friends and
associates left behind, has been metaphorically
described as death in the following verse:
And those whom they invoke beside
Allah ... are dead, lifeless (in the sense
that) they know not when. and where.
they are to be raised. (xvi: 20-21)*3
As we have already noticed, the year 9 A.H.,
the Year of Delegations as it is called, was
entirely devoted to the receiving and entertaining
of delegatiQns from far and wide, initiating them
into the rudiments of the creed and chalking out
for thema programme of propagation of the new
way . of life. So much so that the Prophet was .
almost pinned down to Madinah and could not even
leave for Makkah on . pilgri mage, made obUgatory
once . in a life-ti me with effect from that very
year . He sent Abu Bakr to deputize for him in
conducting and leading the Hajj cere monies to be
observed for the first time on an official level.
Thus, it was at the fag-end of his crowded Ufe-
during the last 13 or 14 months, to be precise -
that the Prophet (Peace be on him) found to
spare for tying up the loose ends of the institu-
tional framework of .the community and evolving
the. administrative pattern of the sprawling State,
which had, by then, acquired far-nung frontiers.
LAST VISIT TO MAKKAH: In the last week of Dhu
Qa'dah, 10 A.H. he left in the company of some
hundred thousand followers for Makkah to perform
his first and last. obligatory . Hajj. He reached
Makkah probably by the 4 th of Dhul Hijjah and the
regular ceremonies from the 8th. He is
reported to have addressed the congregation at
least on three occasions - once at ' Arafaat on
Friday, the 9th, and twice at M.lna on the 10th and
the 11 tho Unfortunately, these historic addresses
are somehow lost to' posterity almbstiJ'l their,
. entirety, and once would scan in vain the pages of
222
well-known standard collections of ttSound
tt
(Saheeb) traditions for the reliable text of even
that one which Is cOl'I),monly . referred to as
"Kbutbato HWat-D-Vldaa" - I mean, the sermon he
gave at t Arafaat, from the back of the camel he
rode on the day known as t Arafah, that is the 9th
of Dhul Hijjah. Ibn Hazm al-Andulusi, in his
treatise entitled. "HlJjat-al-Vldaan edited by Dr.
Mamdooh Haqqi, devoted a separate chapter to
-Khutbat-ur-Ba8oo1 Yaum t.Araftah" but surprisingly
omitted the text of the historic sermon - perhaps,
for want of an authentic version. The stray
sentences, found scattered here and there on the
pages of histOrical records only cause us a deep
sense of loss because of the profundity of what has
survived and is available to us.
It is difficult to explain this serious neglect or
omission on the part of those who, it Is claimed,
could reproduce by heart much more copious
statements of far less intrinsic value. It is all the
more baffling because it is reported that the
Prophet (Peace be on him) exhorted the audience,'
particularly on this occasion, to convey what they
heard from him to those who were not present on
the occasion. Bukhari records on the authority of
Abu Bakr that the Prophet concluded his sermon
thus:
Look! Those who are present should
convey it to those who are not present
Maybe some of those to whom it is
conveyed prove more mindful and careful
than those who hear it (from me).
(Dab BlJjat-D-Vldaa)*4
THE FAMOUS SERMON: Some of the learned
'writers have attempted to reconstruct the text of
his sermon at t Arafaat with the Ilelp of the tit-
bits of different addresses on different occasions,
which different narrators - surprisingly very few in
number and those, too, not from the front line of
Companions - could recall from memory. Obviously
223
such a jumbled account lacks both reality and
credtbUfty. One such attempt Is that by the
earliest biographer, Ibn Ishaaq, who cites no
authority (vide: $eerat by Ibn Blshaam, part Cour).
The most that one can gather from what is
recorded piecemeal on the subject . by eminent
traditionlsts like Bukharl, Muslim, Abu Da'ood etc:,
are the topics that the Prophet' touched upon in
these sermons - not particularly at ' ArarCat.
Incidentally, the few eye-witnesses quoted by the
trationists Include ' Abdullah bin ' Abbas who was
about 10 years oC age at the time, and J'ablr bin
'Abdillah who in his old age recalled the incident
on befng questioned pointedly by Muhammad al-
Qaaqir. One Abu Bukrah (Nutair bin al-Baarlth al-
Ansari) has been extensively quoted.
Anyway, some of the salient points which may
be deduced Crom all these sermons taken jointly
are given below:*S .
i) " 0 People Listen to me and ponder
over -it. I think you and J will never
again be gathered .in a meeting like
this... .
il) " your blood, your property and your
honour are as sacred and Inviolable as
this day, this month and this city of
your
iii) 1f SO he who has with him something
deposited in trust, should make It over
to one who had entrusted him with It
Iv) ": Look! Everything of t ~ pagan way of
life is (now) put down under my feet ...
v} " The clai m in respect of bloodshed in
the pagan days is (now) put down
vi) " All usury Is (now) put down; but you
are entitled to the principal you fnvest;
224
vll) " Your .bond-men! Your bond-men! Feed
them from what you eat and clothe
them with what you wear
viii) " Have the tear of Allah's
in regard to your women. Verny you
have a 'right over your ,wo'men-folk and
they, too, have a right over you
ix). " Obey those who are at the helm of
your affairs... .
x) " 1 have conveyed (what was to be
conveyed). I leave behind with you
something which if you held 'fast you
would never go astray afterwards - the
Book of AUah" (But Imam Maalik's
Mu'atta adds "and my way of conducting
arrairs")*S
It is widely reported that, on ,concluding the
sermon, the Prophet asked the audience: "Have I
conveyed It to you?", The people with one voice
"Yes, You have". Thereupon, the Prophet
is reported to have implored Allah to bear witness
to the fact.
One would certainly be disappointed to miss the
following oft-quoted,' epoch-making declaration,a
virtual mapa carta of and brotherhood, in
this historic sermon:
" No. Arab has 'a preference over a
non-Arab and no non-Arab has' a
preference over an Arab. All are the
,progeny of Adam, and Adam was (made)
of dust "*6
Surprisingly enough, this significant part of the
statement, corroborated in substance by the Quran,
is conspicuous by its absence In all authentic
reports at this particular sermon recorded by
. standard compilers of "Sound" traditions, such as,
225
Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da'ood, Tlrmidhl, etc., and
by" early biographers too, such as Ibn Ishaaq, Ibn
Hishaam etc. The latter half of the above quotat-
ion was recorded by Tlrmldhl and Abu Da'ood
separately without reference to this particular
occasion of HWat ul-Vidaa. The first half of the
quotation was, however, recorded by Ahmad bin
Hanbal on the authority of a ftTaabi'ee
lt
, who
credited it to a Companion of the Prophet who
happened to be present on' the occasion. Al-
Ya'qubi, a famous historian of the 3rd century' A.H.
is perhaps the earliest authOrity that records the
complete quotation in this particular context. (vide:
Syed Sulaiman Nadvi's foot-note in the Seeratun
Nabi, Vol. 1, Part 2, page 153, Second Edition,
1341 A.H.)
The Prophet returned to Makkah from Mina in
the morning of the 14 th after completing the last
rituals of the Hajj. InCidentally, during his stay for
the night at ItMuzdalifah
ft
he combined the two
prayers of magbrib and 'Isbaa as he had combined
.lobar and 'asr at 'Arafaat. It is here that he had
a sound sleep for the whole night probably for the
first time in his nfe, even missing the tahajjucl
prayers. It was a befitting finale of a strenuous
mission, it seems.
A DISPUTED ADDRESS: That very day he left for
Madinah. It is said that' after travelling a few
miles, he suddenly stopped for a while at a place
named Khamm by the side of a pool (ltgbadeer")
where he addressed those who accompanied him. In
that address, 1t is reported he absolved 'Ali from a
certain, presumably frivolous, charge levelled
against him by certain Yemenite pilgrims. It is not
clear precisely was the provocation for the
abrupt stoppage so soon. The Yemenite pilgrims had
had no to accompany Prophet that long
on his route to Madinah which was actually in the
direction opposite to theirs. They had presumably
voiced the complaint "efore the Hajj - say,
"between the 5th and 7th of Dhul Hijjah ud the
226
Prophet had had so many opportunities - in Mina
and 'Arafaat as well as in Makkah - to refer to
the complaint. Anyway, the Prophet is said to have
publicly dismissed the complaint here and defended
, AU in glowing terms. What is reported in this
connection by certain "tradition ista " including
Muslim and Tirmidhee, however, apparently exceeds
the limits of objective defence and assorts ill with
what the Prophet had been teaching and preaching
all his life.
In his earlier historic sermon, only four or five
days before, he had publicly declared that 'he was
leaving behind the Book of Allah' and, according to
some, had mentioned "his own way of conducting
affairs" also, for the guidance of his followers *5.
Here, In this address, he is reported - not on good
authority - to have said that he was leaving behind
"two weighty things" (" Atb-thaqaJaln") and
mentioned besides the Book of Allah his "family
members" ("Ahl Baitee" or "Itratl") also. This
popularly known " Hadeetb utb-'l'ha.qalain" as
propagated, Uke another equally popular badeeth:
" Ana Madlnat-ui-Bm. ", is hardly traceable in
"authentic" compilations of "sound traditions".
As regards the former badeeth, Muslim,
however, records a garbled report which jumbles
two separate sentences. After mentioning the Quran
as "the First of the two weighty things", it add "I
remind you of Allah In the matter of my
family"*7 Obviously the Secoad of "the two
weighty things", the SuDDab, (the way of the
Prophet) has somehow been omitted leaving the
preceding sentence incomplete. Presumably, what
the Prophet meant by this was: "in the matter of
my wives, I remls;ad you of the Quranlc demand of
due regard and respect for them as 'mothers".
As regards the latter badeeth, Tirmidhee, no
doubt, has a similar tradition which, Incidentally,
he has himself described as "weak" (da'eef) and
. "unbelieable" (Muakar). But the much talketl-of
expression "Madlnatul-'nm" is not to be found
there.
227
As for the oft-quoted observation in the same
address, made famous by sheer repetition, that "he
who loved me was to love 'AU alson.S, it' is, no
doubt, a significant addition to the basic require-
ments of a true Muslim, for he is expected to love
the Prophet more than his own nearest relations as
an article of Faith. Although this remarkable
statement of the Prophet has been reported by
almost all traditionists except Bukhari, it seems it
was not as widely known in the time of Ibn Ishaaq
(died in 152 A.H.). He records this particular
incident to have taken place before the historic
. sermon at ' Arafaat on the 9th and gives an
altogether different story on the basis of an eye-
witness account of Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri. The
narrator reports:
People complained of tAli (May Allah be
pleased with him). So the Prophet (Peace
be on him) stood admist us and
addressed. I heard him say: '0 People:
Do not complain of 'AU. By Allah, his
toughness is above reproach in matters
regarding Allah or the way of Allah I
(As-Seerat un NabaviJJah by Ibn
Hishaam)*9
Ibn Ishaaq may not be as reliable as, say, Muslim,
Tirmidhi and Abu Da'ood, but there is no reason
whatsoever why he should have suppressed the
current story altogether and substituted in its place
an altogether different version in the same context
which, incidentally, seems more plausible in point
of time and venue.
It is said that after the Prophet had finished his
sermon at t Arafaat, which sounded like a swan
song, the following verse was revealed:
Today, I ha.ve perfected (that is, given
the finishing touches to) your religion
for you,. and alao completed (that is,
given in full measure) My favour unto
228
you and ,have chosen aI-islam ("Submiss-
ion to the will of Allah") for you as
Faith. (v: 3)*10
This not only signified for all time the finality of
the Faith (religion) tailored for mankind, but also
signlll1ed the consummation of the Prophet's
mIsSion. The broad hint was not lost on the bulk of
the people who visibly moved as they read in
it the impending departure of the Prophet. Only the
discerning fevi,' however, had, already been
forewarned when, some time after the fall of
Makkah, the Surabo AD-Nasr (cx) was revealed and
concluded on a very significant note. To ,quote, it
says:
So chant the glory of thy Lord and seek
His forgiveness. Verily He is all-forgiv-
Ing (literally -Tanub- "the Ohe
to whom all return). (ex: 3)*11
LAST DAm Hardly seventy days had elapsed after
his return from Makkah.. that tile Prophet bade
farewell to the ,world. In the' seCQlld half of the
month of Safar 11, A.H., one of two days before
he was, taken ill, he ordered young Usaamah bin'
Zaid, whose father had been killed fighting the
Christian Arabs in the battle of Mautah, to' leave
ImDlediatelyfor Palestine at the head of an
expedition to finish the unfinished job. This
happened to be the Prophet's last official business
to which he anxiously referred several times during
his illness. In spite of the peremptory nature of the
order, the sudden lUness of the Prophet delayed its
execution and, in the meantime, there was a lot of
whispering going on about the inaptness of the
undertaking at such a juncture and the ineligibility
of a youth of Usaamah's age and experience for
such. a crucial assignment. At any rate, it was left
to the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, to carry out the
express wish of the Prophet despite considerable
opposition from the old guard.
,229
The fatal, illness that lasted not more than 13
days had started on a Wednesday with a shooting
headache accompanied by galloping fever. Unless
one knows for certain the date of his demise; it is
impossible to say with confidence which Wednesday
of the month of Safar it could be. Unfortunately,
all taditionlsts are silent on the point while
biographers hotly dispute a mong the mselves whether
it was the 1st or the 2nd, or the 12th of Rabi' ul
Avval. Why of all dates, the date of the Prophet's
passing away should be a matter of dispute is
difficult to explain, unless one taken it as a "sign"
of Allah to signify for all time the shirt of
emphasis from the Messenger to the Message itself.
Since it is certain that the 9th of Dhul Hijjah
(Yaum 'Arafaah) in 10 A.H. fell on a Friday and
the last day of the Prophet's worldly Ufe was
Monday, the 12th of Rabi'ul Avval Is chronologi-
cally out of the question, for on no account could
it fall 'on a Monday. As for the 2nd of Rabi'ul
Avval, reported on hearsay by two notoriously
unreliable narrators, namely,' Hlshaam bin
Muhammad bin Saa-'eb al-Kalabi and Abu Mlkhnif
al-Kufi, It could not be on a' Monday unJess we
assume that all the three intervening months of
Dhul Hijjah, Moharram and Safar were of 29 days,
which is most improbable, if not impossible. Thus,
it was almost certain, chronologically as well as
evidentially, that the Prophet (peace be 'on him)
expired on Monday, the 1st of Rabi'ul Avval, 11
A.H. in the early afternoon, after having been
taken ill on Wednesday night, 18/19 of Safar. (vide
'Allamah SibUi's "Seeratun Nabl" Volume one, part
2, and Maulana SU,laiman Nadvi's foot-notes).
Of this period of illness, the ,last seven or eight
days were ,spent in 'Aayeshah's chamber with the
concurrence of other wives. In the last three or
four days he flad several nts of unconsciousness
and delirium, and Abu Bakr had to deputize for him
and lead the daily prayers, for the Prophet himself
. had sO desired. The last prayer that the Prophet
230
had led was that df Maghrib, probably on' the last
Friday of his Ufe. Incidentally, in one of such fits,
people gave a drop or two, of a medicine he had
earlier refuied to take. When he recovered
consciousness and smelt It, he made all those
present partake of it!
Here one has to skip over a lot of details of no
consequence made available to us by the good
offices of early biographers and tradltionlsts. These
accounts merely registered senthrients and suffer
from subjective reporting. Of these, one cannot
help citing, two instances of some interest. tUmar,
the Iron Man, is reported to have been so stunned
by: the news of the Prophet's demise that, for, a
moment, he was completely beside He was
threatening people with an unsheathed sword tn his
hand to kill anyone who said that the Prophet was
dead: It was only Abu Bakr who could handle him
in that state of mind and bring him round.
Addressing the gathering, Abu Bakr is reported to
have said: "He who worshipped Muhammad should
know, once for all, that he Is dead and gone. But
he who worshipped Allah should remember that
Allah alone Is eternal and will ever Uve". Quoting
from the Quran, he added:
And Muhammad is 'only a Messenger.
There have been Messengers before him.
So if he' died or was killed, would you
be turning back on your heels? If any
one did, he would certainly not be doing
any harm to Allah... (ill: 144)*12
He further referred to what Allah had already
declared about the Prophet In clear terms:
"Certainly you will die (one day) and they, too,
shall die (sooner or later). (xxxix: '30)*13.
A DOUBTPUL EPISODE: Another instance which
merits mention Is 'the story, known as -Badeeth Ul-
QIrtaas-t nanated by t Ubaldul18h, son of 'Abdullah
bin 'Abbas, on the authority of his own father, who

I
231
was, incidentally, about 12 years of age at the
time when the reported incident took place. He
narrated that hIS father always rued the day when
the Prophet had asked during his Woess for a paper
(DQlrtaasD) to' write (DUJdubo Lakam Sbai-u
D
) or
to dictate something, so that the people after him.
"may not go astray"; but 'Umar intervened and
said: "He is probably in a delirium and not in a
proper frame of mind at the moment. The Book of
Allah Buffices us (BaaboDa Kitab1lDab)D. This,
according to 'Abdullah bin I Abbas, caused quite an
uproar In the chamber and the Prophet, in utter
disgust, ordered those present to clear out. Bukhari
and Muslim, too, thought it fit to include this in
their collections
. One would wonder why the old guard failed to
report the incident if it was of such importance as
I Abdullah bb1 'Abbas, of all Companions, is
reported to have made it out by lamenting over it.
For one Sulalman bin Abl Muslim al-Ahval reports
that' I Abdullah bin I Abbas wept bitterly when he
narrated the incident. Any oile who had intelligen-
tly followed the Prophet's last sermon or sermons
during the Hajj season, would have certainly found
I Umar's observation unexceptionable, to say the
least. Moreover, the incident is said to have taken
place on Thursday at the latest. If the Prophet telt
SC)) strongly about adding something to what he had
already conveyed publicly, he could have very well
done so in the next three or tour days that were
available to him.
This reminds the writer of an. apparently non-
serious observation of a learned person who, when
pressed hard to comment on what was described to
him .8 "impudence" of 'Umar, observed in a
lighter vein: "Probably the Prophet wanted to test
the intelligence and the power of comprehension of
those around hi m to make sure if they had fully
imbibed the spirit of his last sermon on the day' of
t Aratah and also if they duly grasped the import of
the last VE'rse of the Quran revealed to him
232
If Al-Y8Uma AklDltu lakum DeeUtum
lf
,. It . .seems
that only 'Umar passed the test with credit, while
others betrayed their Immaturity and lack ot
comprehension. . This must have disappointed the
Prophet who, in utter disgust, turned them out". It
seems to me the most fitting reply to one who
reads too much in the incident, it it did happen at
all as narrated.
LAST BITES: Preparation having been completed on
Tuesday, the burial took place in the middle ot the
Wednesday night to allow ample time to all an
sundry to participate in the tuneral,Streams ot
mourners paid homage by offering tuneral prayers
in separate batches throughout the day till late in
the evening. This series ot congregational prayers
was characterized by the absence ot a customary
Imam to lead them.
The decision regarding the place ot burial was
taken by Abu Bakr on the authority pt the
Prophet's own observation that apostles were to be
buried where they breathed their last.
According to various reports, ' Ali Bin Abi
Taalib, al-Fadl and Qutham, sons ot 'Abbas, 'Abdur
Rahmaan bin 'Aut, Aus bin Khauli al-Ansaari and
Shuqraan, a treedom ot the Prophet, descended into
the grave,. which had been prepared in the Medinite
style which provided a niche tor laying the body.
There is a report on record that al-Mughirah bin
Shu'bab. also entered into "the grave later to cover
an uncovered part ot the Prophet's leg. (Vide: As-
SeeratUD NabaYiyyah by Ibn Katheer, Part 4, Cairo,
1966).
However, motivated accounts suggesting, by
implication, the absence ot certain tront-Une
Companions ot the Prophet on the occasion,
underline their pre-occupation elsewhere in sorting
out differences among a section ot . the Ansaar
about the choice ot the Prophet's successor to nct
the ChIef Lxecuth e of
233
("Caliph"). These reports convey the Impression of
indecent haste on the part of the Hashimites who
did not care to walt for the elders of the
Community to participate as If It were a family
affair. All this Is certainly contrary to facts and
can only be interpreted as a leet-handed
compliment to the Prophet's f m i l y ~

234
CHAPTER-IT
THB GLORIOUS LBGACY-l
Students of sociology, particularly those
Interested in the history of religious com munlties,
wUl not fall to appreciate the miracle of the last
Apostle of Islam in transforming, in less than a
quarter of a century, a SOCiety, primitive, patri-
archal, proud and superstitious, steeped In utter
misery, both moral and material, into an enlight-
ened, forward-looking, God-fearing and egalitarian
SOCiety founded on what we now describe as
modern concepti of social justice, human rights,
collective responsibillty and internationalism. It was
quite an achievement, by any standard, to have
found and left behind, \ in such a short span of Ufe,
a virile nation of over half a mUlion people on a
conservative estimate, differing in stock and
culture but welded together and sustained by an
ideology which transcended all geographical
boundaries and ethnographical distinctions.
This nation has been repeatedly described In the
Quran as nHlzbuUabn (The Party of Allah). This
Party, aU-embracing in concept and global in
approach, was destined to give the lead to mankind
in the sense that It was charged with an activist
mission succinctly described in the following verse:
And from among. you, there should be
people who Invtte to goodness and enjoin
what is commonly. recognized 8S' right
(al-ma'roof) and- forbid what Is
abhorrent to human nature(-al-MDDkar").
It is these people who will .ttain their
destiny.' (iii: 104)*1
Here the two words . "enjoin" (IIYa'murooaa
n
) and
"Forbid" (IIYaDhallna
ll
) underline the' activist while
the word "invite" ("Yad'ooaa-) signifies the
. missionary role. InCidentally, the word "aI-ma'roof"
235
does not stand for merely "good" (aI-Kbafr/aI-birr)
but literally means "known as good" and similarly
"aI-lI_w" does not mean just "bad" or "evil"
but abborrellt to human aature". The two roles
referred to above are as distinct as are "human
values" in general from the characteristic "moral
values" of Islam.
The manifesto of the party, the Quran, laid
down not only the fundamental principles on which
the party was to be founded and the objectives It
sought to achieve, but also the methodology of how
to active those objectives. The fundamental
principles' and the objectives together constituted
the Faith (ad-Deen) which had always been the
same from Adam, the first Apostle of Islam (Peace
be on him). The methodology (asb-Sbari'ah) had,
however, been changing with the times from Book
to Book and people to people necessitated by
the gradual expansion in the mental horizon of
Man.
Here an important point is apt to be ignored.
There is no compUlsion in the matter of Faith in-
the sense that one is free to accept or not to
accept a particular ideology based on certain well-
defined objectives (ad-Deeo), since this part of the
Faith is amenable to reason. But once having opted
for the objectives, one is left with no choice but
to follCJN the prescribed methodoly (ash-Sbarl'ah)
for the achievement of these objectives as rigidly
and faithfully, even blindly so to say, as one has to
abide by the regimen specified by the physician
who gives the prescription. It is n9t tor the patient
to argue with the physician about the rationale of
his specific directipns.
It is very often overlooked that Islam did not,
in Makkah or elsewhere, seek to demolish the
pattern of the native culture of the people,
nlthough it did lend it a new colour' of its own.
the Quran described as "SifJghatullab" ("th('
!\'e of For example, the Hajj illustraLes
236
how It gave a new sense of direction to a basically
useful institution. No doubt, the Islamic movement
effected revolutionary cbanges in the way of life
of the people, but actually the movement was
evolutionary in process, as is evident from the way
'Prohibition' was' actually enforced and the
institution of slavery was sought to be abolished.
The Quranic teachings, testified by centuries of
experience of by-gone nations, are not dogmatic.
The . Quran exhorts the people to use their own
reason and com mon sense wherever the physical
sense or reason can be of any use, by. addressing
them time and again with expressions such as,"Yaa
ulal ....... ("0 People of inslght"), "Yaa ulal
aJbaah
lt
("0 People of reason"), "'t1l1D 1lOba"
(People . of Wisdom) etc. . Our eye-Sight is of use
only when there is light outside. Simnarly, our
reason or insight requires light from the outside to
see the realities of Ufe In their true perspective.
PRBEDOM OP DISCBETION: The Quran being the
last Book of Allah, its Shariah is for all time to
come and" therefore, embodies, besides a rigid
institutional frame-work and Inviolable guidelines, a
bunt-in provision for conective effort(
lt
a1-Qtebad")
to meet the day-to-day challenges of environmental
dynamism. It is' a moot point how far an
individual, or even the society as a whole, is to. be
allowed freedom of discretion within the rigid
institutional. frame-work as an anowance for
circumstantial . or environmental compulsions. All
are agreed however, that the Messenger of Allah,
in his dual capacity as a mentor and an executive
head of the people, had a right to take or suggest
necessary measures 'by way of adjustment. It is like
making by-laws under the substantive law. An
ove.r-whe1mlng majority concedes this right to the
first two Caliphs also.
The common-sense view, however, seems to be
that where an individual, -and nobody else, is
231
concerned, the individual Is free to use his
discretion within the institutional framework
prescribed, in accordance with the guidelines laid
down in the Quran. Where others too are
concerned, only the society can collectively be
allowed this- freedom. For example, according to
those who subscribe to this viewpoint, even in the
matter of obligatory prayers, it should be the
individual's right to decide if the occasion demands
a resort to "CJ.II8l''' (abridgement of the prayers), or
an unusual manner to offer them, that is, to say
prayers sitting or lying in bed, if necessary.
Similarly, it is the individual who should be
competent to judge w",ether the circumstances
really demand t h ~ he should offer two adjacent
prayers like zoIIr and .... , or ID8ghrib and 'Isba,
together. Again, it is the individual who alone can
be a judge if he is physically fit to fast or, when
fasting, whether he should break it abruptly for the
sake of, say, emergent chemo-therapy. Imam
Maallk was widely known to have seldom participa-
ted in Friday congregations for some undefined but
presumably cogent reasons of a personal nature. A
considerable section of learned opinion, however,
maintains that some of the recorded liberties in
this particular sphere were either peculiar to the
Prophet only or to the recorded situations only.
However, in the case of social obligations, such
as Zakaat, a small minority maintains that the pre-
conditions,the quantum and the mode of payment
can be determined by a Muslim society asawhole,
provided a _ suitable modus operaadi, capable of
inspiring confidence c ~ be evolved. A plausible
view is that even the -Rak'aat in different C)bltga-
tory prayers and the
v
' 21 1/2% levy of Zakaat
(obligatory contribution on the capital holding)
were fixed by the Prophet only for the sake of
uniformity and are to be adhered to only for that
reason, more as part of the common than of the
statute law. But certalnly to observe strictty the
same ratio in the values of silva and gold for the
purpose of determining the prescribed minimum
238
(-NiIaab") as obtained in the tl me of tlle Prophet
Is lesS than sensible.
To say that the Zakaat is a levy on o"e I s
savings ,is only a half-truth and not the whole
truth. Technically It certainly works out to be so
in the case of an unsophisticated society given' to
simple living. But to Insist on ,this narrow Interpre-
tatlonof the relevant Quranlc Injunctions In the
context of the present-day socIety wou ld be doing
violence to the spirit of the 'injunction and putting
a premium on ostentatious Uvlng. Unfortunately,
not much serious thought has been given by the
1
,jurists to this important basic religious institution
from tbe socio-economic point of 'Clew, and one
finds a lot of confusion in their works on this j
ptartdicUlart ,subjelct. Tthe blankdetthexemption
t
atlliswed "-,
0- ay 0 prec ous sones, an, e real es a e a
glaring example of .loose thinking on the, subject.
Common sense demands that the zakaat be
Interpreted and treated as a levy on' tbe "Surplus",
that is, in the, present day terminology, on an
Individual's "World Income" after deducting DOl'mal
expenses. Here' the State' will have to determine
the ItSurpius" by determining the nature of rebates
to be allowed on wbat are' to '-be regarded as
IDdIspeaible expenses on ~ h DOl'mal requirements of
an indiVidual belonging to a particular calling. The
Quranlc.' verse: "And they ask thee as to what they
should spend (In the way of Allah). Say! What you
can spare" (U: 219)*2 obviously refers to voluntary
contributions "in the w ~ y of Allah" which a person
of means is expected to make out of his savings
over and above the compulsory leVy (Zabat).
It couid not be without reason that even the
number of dally obligatory prayers has not, been
precisely prescribed In. the Quran and' that the
timings of such basic disciplines as the obligatory
prayers (as-Salaat) aDd fasting (-As-Saam-) are
left. to be determined by the natural phenomena.
The obvious result is that where a particular
239
phenomenon ~ c i t e d with a particular. discipline
does not DOr1II8IlJ' occur, the obligation in respect
of that particular discipline, too, should disappear
automatically. Any improvised means, such as a
watch, cannot serVe the purpose in determining the
things wher, there Is normally no regular sunrise or
sunset. The washing of both hands for example, is
an obligatory, essential part of ablutions
(lltvuctoo
W
), but not for a person who has lost one
of his hands. Would it not be foolish and wasteful
if such a person insisted, as a ritual, on pouring
water on an imaginary hand? On artificial satellites
today the whole sequence of our five daily prayers
would recur several times in a day!
REGIMENTATION: It is probably the over-emphasis
on the optimum uriinformity that led the early
traditionists to address themselves to the collection
and codification of the precedents of the time of
the Prophet and the early Caliphs for the benefit
of the later-day jurists. However laudable be the
motive and the effort, it resulted in some sort of
regimentation and the abridgment of the reasonable
right of the individual as well as society to decide
how best to do justice both to the law and the
objective compUlsions of a given situation at hand.
There is little doubt that, in the first hundred and
odd years after the Prophet (Peace be on him),
there was more freedom and scope for the exercise
of the individual's discretion than after the
codification of the so-called Islamic law practised
in the turbulent days that followed the murder of
Caliph 'Umar .
The earliest standard compilations of traditions
available to us, such as lIu'atta (Beaten Path) of
Imam Maalik (ai-Madani) and what Is known as the
Musnad (a collection of duly-credited traditions),
popularly ascribed to Imam Abu Hanlfah (al-Kuft)
compiled by his close discipline, Muhammad,' read
more like an archaeologist's study of the relics of
a by-gone people based 'on hearsay and surmises
. than an account or record of current practices ann
/
240
procedures followed in a Hving society. There
seems .no valid reason wby It should be a
debatable point whether, for example, the Prophet
used to raise his hands every time he uttered
nADallu-Akbitr- on the completion of a prescribed
movement in his daily prayers; whether he used to
say nAameeo
n
(Amen) loudly after reciting the
Surah Al-Paatibab and whether everyone In the
congregation, too, used to recite that. Surah in
silence when the Prophet would lead the prayers. .
After all, the Prophet left behind a multitude of
people in Madinah who had had the good fortune of
having the Prophet in their midst for more than 10
, ,
i
lorig years and also the privilege of ioffering !
prayers led by. hi m in person. If reports of thesej
variations are not unfounded, there should not be 1
so much fuss about the procedural divergencies
now.
Let us now examine separately,ln some detail,
the two things which the Prophet, according to the
Mu'atta, described as his legacy - the Book oC
Allah (The Quran) ahd his own -Smmabn (way or
path).
The Book of Allah
Although the Holy Quran is meant for the
guidance of all mankind, it lays down, at the
outset, four basis pre-requisites for obtaining
guidance, in the opening verses oC the Surah A1-
8aqarah:
This is the Book about which there
should be no doubt - a guidance Cor
those who fear Allah t s displeasure,
believe in the existence of what cannot
be perceived and perform as-SaJaat (the
obligatory discipline prescribed for all)
in an organized way and spend (on good
causes) out of that with which We have
provided them. (il: 2-3).3
241
The pre-requisites are:
1. Implicit faith In the veracity of the Holy
BO'ok;
2. Due care and circumspection born of fear of
Anah' s displeasure;
3. Readiness to accept as true what cannot, by
nature of things, be verified by sensory
perception;
4. Compliance with personal and social obligat-
ions.
ARRANGEMENT: With a little refiection it should
not be difficult to see that the Quranic text, as it
Is, has its own logical order. Sarah Al-Faatibab
comes first as a preface epitomizing the whole
Book. If Is immediately followed by Surah Al-
Baqarah with its characteristic opening verses
quoted above to fore-warn the reader and to spell
out pre-requisites of obtaining guidance from the
Book. InCidentally, this is the longest Surah of the
Quran and sums up the fundamental knowledge of
the Faith. This is followed by the SUrab Aal-e-
'Imran which provides . the background Information
of the Islamic movement. The last two Surahs (lfal-
Mu'awwizatain
lf
) are concluding supplications to be
aptly' preceded by one of the shortest Surahs, Al-
1kb
1
aas, summing up succinctly the unique and basic
concept' of ~ h unity of the Supreme Being to
whom all supplications are to be addressed. Could
there be a more meaningful and natural arrange-
ment than this?
The only natural and meaningful division of the
Holy Quran is that of chapters (surahs) and
paragraphs (rukoo). The later-day, popular, division
in thirty Fragments (al-Ajzaa' or 'parahs') - and
also in seven 'Stops' (manauU) - is both artificial
and arbitrary. It has no virtue other than Q
convenience to those who are used to the barren
exercise of completing the recitation of the entire
Holy Book as a mere ritual In a month or a week.
242
These fragments sometimes begin and end abruptly
and senselessly, leaving the subject and the
predicate of a sentence thrown wide apart and
rendering the remaining portion of the verse
meaningless. For example, the Faith Fragment,
named after the opening word "Val Mohsanaat"
leaves the predicate of the opening verse lett
behind in the preceding Fourth Frapent; while the
Seventh Fragment named "Va Idba Sametoo", the
Eleventh Fragment named "Ya'tadberooli" 'and the
Twenty-seventh Fragment na med "QaaIa fa DIU
Kbatbotum", leave the subjects of the sentences
behind in the preceding Fragments. Of course, to.
one who does not care much for the sense of what
one is reading as a mere ritual, it hardly makes
any difference.
According to the subject matter, ~ that the
Holy Book contains falls under three broad heads,
each head constituting roughly one-third of,. the
entire contents - the enunciation of the creed, the
injunctions and the relevant parts' of the history of
the rise and fall of by-gone peoples. Since it is not
a book on history, no importance has been given to
the historical sequence. For example, in the
narration of the story of the genesis of Creation,
mention has been made,., besides the Angels, of the
one 'named, lblees, who has been described as
"Kaana mla al-JIDD" ("was one of the genii"). This
gives a broad hint that before Man came into the
picture as a new speCies, there, had been a sister
species known as jima dominating the scene.
Nothing has been mentioned about the immense
intervening period between the creation of the
universe from nothing or, say, between the creation
of a living being from water, and the appearance
of Man on the scene. Since one of the shortest
SuraIIs, "AI-Mla_", is entirely and exclusively
devoted to the enunciation of the basic creed of
the unity and uniqueness of the Supreme Deity, it
has been rightly but metaphorically said that it
constitutes, in effect, one-third of the Holy Book.
In other words, it meant that this one, of' the
243
Quran sums up one-third. of the entire contents of
the Quran.
The verses of the Quran, in respect of their
import, diction and the technique of communicat-
ion, are broadly classified as.. (1) firm and
unambiguous (al-Mubkamat) and (2) lllustrative
and allegoric ("al-mutasbaabebaat") . which convey
imagery or describe concepts of immaterial objects
or feelings of bliss or torment which, being
imperceptible, can never be faithfully communica-
ted and adequately comprehended. One can convey
an abstract idea of an immaterial object, only with
the help of concrete concepts of perceptible.
objects. Our comprehension in all such cases can at
best be comparable to the classic example o'f a
blind man endeavouring to conceiv'e what an
elephant looked like, from the graphic description
given of Its different parts. It is almost impossible
for anyone to convey to others ""exactly what he
feels about his own pleasures or pains. It can only
be imagined what a problem it poses to describe
the concept of bUss or torment, and that too, of
the soul which, in itself, is incomprehensible even
by extra-sensory perception.
AIJ.EGOmCAL VERSES: It goes without saying that,
in conveying such impressions as best as possible to
the mind accustomed to the sensory percepti.on
conditioned by the time and space syndrome, one
cannot help employing, in the imagery, simUes and
metaphors derived from our daily experience of
com mon carnal pleasures and pains. for exa mple,
the graphic description of Paradise and Hell given
in the Surab Muhammad (xlvii) aptly opens thus:
"A parable of Paradise promised to those
who fear (Allah's displeasure): Therein
are streams of water which will not turn
turbid, streams of mllk which will not
change its taste and streams of wine'
with a navour (of its own) for those
who partake (of it) (Are they) like
those who are to abide in (Hell) fire
244
and are p ~ o v i e (only) with boiling
water to drink which will rend their
bowels? (xlvii: 15)*4
However, on the whole, the Quran is easy to
understand, particularly Its operative part, for it is
addressed to the common man through the Prophet.
This is evident from the following verse:
Verily We have made the Quran easy
enough for comprehension and complia-
nce. Is there anyone to take a lesson?
(ltv: 22)*5
According to the Quran, Paradise and Hell are
rather two states of BUss and Torment, beyond the
orbit of not only human perception but also time
and space. Allah Hi mself declares:
And verily 'We have
of all manner of
Quran for (the
mankind.
frequently made use
simUltudes in the
comprehension of)
{xvii: 89)*8
Speaking of the meads of Paradise, He puts all that
is to be said in a nut-shell by saying: .
In the flowering meadows of Paradise,
they would be getting, with their Lord,
whatever they wished. (xlii: 11)*7
Speaking of the fruits of Paradise, He says!
Every time they are served with fruits
for their sustenance, they say: Well, this
is' (but) what we were served with
before. For they are, in fact, given (for
their pleasure) things similar (to those
with which they were already familiar).
(ii: 25)*8
INTERPRETATION AND DEDUCTION: Firm and
. express verses of the category of al- Muhkamat
245
are as a rule unambiguous and should,by and large,
'Present no great difficulty in interpretation and
application. Yet motivated minds are sometimes
tempted to read too much in the simple, straight-
forward text which is hardly amenable to the
construction they put on it. It is a pity that even
learned commentators sometimes fail to realize
that in case or the Holy Book, motivated, subject-
ive interpretation or deduction may well amount to
sacrilege. Providentially, the Quran has its own way
or clarirying itself. The meaningful repetition in
which it abounds helps remove any reasonable doubt
that may occasionally arise in determining the
sense or an injunction. For instance, there is a
simple injunction (Iv: 58)*9 which lays down:
"Verily Allah commandetb you t ~ render back or
restore . i n ~ deposited in your custody on trust
(amaanaat) to those to whom they belonged (Oa
abU-ba)". Certain commentators, however, maintain
that the relevant verse actually means or purports
to mean that "the offices of trust" be made over
to those worthy of them. However, desirable this
instruction may be, the word "com mandeth" in the
verse in that case would be too strong a term in
the Quranic diction to be used in this context;
particularly when we know that a similar verse (ii;
283)*10 clarified it in so many words: "If one of
you entrusts something to another, let the trustee
render back or restore the thing so entrusted".
As rar as this particular verse (ii: 283) is
concerned, I dare say, it is so worded that it may
well be construed to mean that "a holder or an
orrice or trust should discharge the trust reposed in
him (conrorming scrupulously to the oath or
orfice)". This plausible construction would, however,
be contrary to the one they put on the former
verse (tv: 58) rather gratuitously.
The Quran may be aptly described as a Holy
Book or Books, for it incorporates all that was of
abiding interest and lasting value ror mankind ip
. earlier Books, as Holy as the" Quran. Besides, it
246
lays down the fundamentals of the pristine Faith,
. "lslam", Identifies the eternal' values necessary for
the healthy, self-sustaining society and determines
a code of conduct for a responsible individual In a
society that has mentally come of age. It is more
or less like a manual of ground-rules for the
conduct .of work-a-day business In any walk of life
and in any sector of human activity. It does not
claim to provide any special instruction peculiar to
any particular branch of knowledge, art, science or
humanities. For example, one interested in the
Political Science should not reasonably expect more
than mere sketchy outlines of Islamic Polity in the
modern sense of the terin.
It rightly clai ms to be a book of exceptional
literary excellence and eminence in the sense that
it employs superbly all literary techniques and
devices to bring home a particular point of view in
minimum words with maximum effect. It would be
a vulgar error to take a common-place idiom or a
simple metaphor literally. For example, the Quran
says: "Allah's hand is over their hand".(xlviii:10U
It would obviously be sheer stupidity to take it
literally. SfmUarly, the Quran says; "And when We
said to the angels: 'Bow (pay homage), they all
bow.ed (paid homage) except Iblees " (ii: 34)12.
Obviously, it could not mean that the celestial
beings were excepted to prostrate themselves
pbyslcaJl7. What was, in fact, required of them was
to pay homage to Adam, the First Man
representing the entire species yet in the womb of
Time.
Again, the Quran says:
Did you not see how Allah created the
seven (that Is, several) heavenly spheres
like large trays, one above
another. (lxxi: 15)13
'"
.It also says, "And each (or every thing) swims
. along in an orbit <of its own)" (xxxvi: 39)14.
247
Certainly it was not the purpose of the Quran to
prove or disprove whether the sun revolve round
the earth or -vice -versa; whether there were
exactly seven planets or more, and whether the sky
was really a vault of heaven . as it looks. The
beauty of the Quranlc polemics or style of
advocacy is that, it builds its own case or thesis
on adversary's own accepted theories. The Quran
would argue like this: "You say the sun revolves
round the earth. Accepted. But there ought to be
some one to make it revolve surely and steadily".
Thus, it would not involve itself into an unnecess-
ary controversy likely to side-track the main issue,
but would go direct to the point to clench the
issue.
What strikes one as a marvel of the Quranic
diction is the way it expresses the profoundest
tho'-lghts in the simplest terms capable of' conveying
a deeper meaning to the people of deeper under-
standing. For example, in the simple statement in
the above-quoted verse (xxxvi: 39) that "everything
swims along in an orbit of its own", every simple
word used - 'Everything', 'Swims' and 'Orbit' - is
capable or conveying a deeper Significance of wider
application in the context of the present-day
atomic theory. Even an atom of dead wood or
stone is no exception to the general rule
enunciated. An eminent homeoepath, in support of
the well-known homeoepathlc dictum:, "SimWa
SimWbus cureDtur" (that Is, "Uke cures like") used
to cite a simple verse of the Quran -15 which is
again in general terms. In its proper context the
verse (xvii: 84)*15 actually means "say: everyone
acts according to one's genius or disposition"; but,
no doubt, it may also literally mean "Everything
acts upon its like".
INTELLECTUAL HERESY: This last instarce, I dare
say, is a border-line case and should serve us
sufricient notice to be very careful not to let loose
our reason and anow it to run amo.k. To illustrate
,the point one is constrained to cite below a few
248
cases, by way ot a random sample, bordering on
'intellectual heresy':
a) That Adam (Peace be on him) was just a
'symbol' rather than a person, a human
being, and the whole incident described In
the Quran is just 'a parable or an allegory.
One wonders it the implication otsuch an
untenable theory' is fully realized. It would
not only strike. the name of a Holy
Prophet ott the list' of honour but also
bring into dispute the accepted posiUon of
an undisputed Prophet, namely Prophet
Jesus ('Isa Ibn Maryam). For the Quran
states: .'
The case of Jesus, in Allah's estimation,
is the very similitude of that of Adam
. (iiI: '59)*16
b) That the word "Near", in the context of
the well-known, in a way historic, incident'
in the Ufeof Prophet Abraham, does not
really mean 'Fire'(which it actually
means) but merely "opposition
tl
(whi,ch it
may metaphorically mean)! But it is not
realized that this Interpretation would rob
the following verse ot the Quran Dot only
ot its beauty ot diction but also ot its
meaning:.
We said: '0 Fire! Be thou cold, and
(just as much as can) keep Abraham
safe. ' , (xxI: 69)*17
Despite the word 'Harriquoohu' (meaning:
burn him) used in the verse. immediately
preceding the relevant verse. .
For it could also well have become cold
enough to prove as as
c) That "Jab8DD8.m"(Hebrew . word: "Gebenna),
249
the Hell, Is just the moribund condition of
whatever survives physical death or it may
simply Indicate the state of human
faculties being "set at naught". In other
words, the idea of "Torment" associated
with It has no real basis!
d) That the verse "Radi ADaho 'ADhum Va
Radu ADho" (actually meaning "Allah was
.,pleased with them and they were pleased
with Him.") means that the Divine law Is
in harmony with their efforts and their
efforts, in tum, are in harmony with the
Divine Law!!!
This gratuitous effort of reckless 'rationalizat-
ion' of Islam started with the Mu'tazUites in the
early second century A.H. and has continued to this
day. Not all of them are heretics. Many of them
are charlatans, not equal to the job they take upon
themselves. Some o.f them may be well-meaning
idiots. At any rate, by their efforts, a free-style
glossary of the Quran has come into existence
which Incorporates such lexicographical gems as
follows:
a) "PU Aret"
bY ,PIs Sam .. "
Me,ans "the economic life of the
community".
means "under universal laws".
(from Vaqaya,"orlginally
meaning to sCarp the hoof in
order to shoe a horse but
actually means to make one's
economic life consonant with
the universal laws"!!!
This Is Ilow Ialam Is being "repaired". How aptly
the following verse applies to such 'reformers':
And when it Is said to them: Do not
create misChief in the world: they say:
We are but reformers. (Ii: 11)*-11
250
ABERRATIONS OP THE LEABHED: There may be
certein lapses attributable to lack of comprehension
or sheer ignoranee. For example, some of the early
lexicographers, perhaps ot the non-Arab stock, in
ascertaining ttlfi! real connotation of the word
SaJu.t
lt
wrong derived it from the Arabic
'Sall" meaning 'the middle" of the back', which is
absurd beyond words. The word is certainly of
Hebrew origin, which means 'blQ,.ssing' J 'inv.ocation
of blessing' and 'synagogue' :.. a congregation or a
usual place of congregation. Similarly, the word
'Ar-Babmaaa' is not a derivative of the Arabic
word tRahm' bide: CHAPTER FOUR). If only the
lexicographers had known that the word is probably
the Arablcised version of the Hebrew word
"BaIdamaaa", our learned commentators of the
Quran would have been spared a lot of hair-
splitting in explaining (and the translators in
translating) the com mon verse of the Quran
known as " Bflmlllah". The word Ar-Babmaan is a
sUbstantive like 'Allah' and not an attribute; and in
this verse, it is In apposition to AIl.ah. Both 'Allah'
and 'Ar-Rahmaan
t
being 'Asm_ udb-claaat' (proper
nouns), should not be translated. The Quran itself
clenches the issue thus: "Say: Call Him Allah or
Call Him Ar-Rahmaan. .... (xvii: 110)*19.
As already pOinted out, at least 51 times Ar-
Rahmaan has been used in the Quran singly and
only 6 Umes with an adjective and that, too, only
-.Ar-ltaMe"'- (the mercituI). If both Ar-Babmaan
and Ar-Babeem were attributes, it would "be a
classical example of" both tautology and anti-
climax, for "Ar-Rahmaan" being followed by Ar-
Rabeem would be a case of the subli me being
followed by the common-place. The word 'Allah',
on the other 'hand, has been' used no than 2698
times in the Quran but rarely with an adjective.
The Gentiles ("UmmlJJOOD") of the North perhaps
regarded It Ar-Bahmaan" as a Deity of the people
of the South represented by the Queen of Sheba
and Abrahah in their own tl mes.
251
Some traditionlsts reported that the Quran was
revealed in sayen tribal dialects *20. If it Is
correctly reported, this is certainly not what it
should have meant. It may refer to the fact that
the Quran employs current words of seyera! slster-
languages, such as Hebrew, Aramaic, Coptic, etc. It
is the lack of appreciation of this fact that is
actually at the root of many such bona fide
mistakes which created a lot of difficulties in the
proper understanding of the Holy Book.
Apart from these, one sometimes notices, in a
reported variation in the reading of the Holy text,
an apparent atte mpt on ,.the part of certain
dialecticians to justify the unjustifiable. It is
perhaps not realized that to tamper with the sacred
text (ftlabreef tafzee
ft
) is more heinous than to
give a twist to the meaning of a verse to
accommodate a particular point of view.
SEMANTIC PROBLEM: These are some of the
glaring pitfalls in the understanding of . the Holy
Book by a novice accustomed the seeing through
borrowed glasses. For a proper understanding it is
desirable that one should acquire, as far as
possible, some knowledge of the earlier Holy Books,
however, unreliable their present texts may be, and
some acquaintance, however superficial, with.
Hebrew, besides familiarity with Arabic language
and Arab idiom and custom as well as the peculiar
diction of the Holy Book itself. As for the Quranic
diction, some idea of its peculiarity. can be
gathered from the following:
(a) The word "Andblr
ft
means "inculcate a sense
of accountability".
(b) The word ft'lbaadat" means "to. live a Ufe of
complete obedience".
:'..,
252
(c) The' word "' Aalameea"' (plural or r Aalaml)
means "inhabitants of this world", "peoples"
etc., as in verses xxix: 10 and 15; xxxvii: 79;
and xlv: 16. It is also. the plural of 'Aalam
-(world). In different contexts the word
"'aalameen" may mean "the worlds" or
"peoples" and "inhabitants of this world"
particularly the human beings and the "jinn"
since the Holy' Quran Is guidance for both. In
several . verses the meaning of the word can
only be "the peoples", or "the inhabitants of
the world" e.g. Surah Al-Jaatbiab, verse 16 "
36. Surah Al-taDkaboot, verse 10 " 15.
(d) The word "Muttaqooa" means "thoSe who are
mindful of or fear the displeasure of Allah".
(e) The Quran says:
(f)
(g)
(h)
"
"And there Is nothing fresh or dry but
(contained) in a book, that maketh (things)
plain " '(vi: 59)*23
It does not mean that it embodies all and
suacIrJ; what Is wants to convey is that
nothing that is worthwhile for
mankind, whether it is .. or old, has
escaped its notice.
Numericals, such as, "Sabia" (Seven) and
"Sab'eea" (Seventy) do not always stand for
numerical values. simply convey shades of
"plurality". For example, Sab'a means
"Several" and Sab'eeu means "numerous". .
The word "Yaum" may means Ita day" or "a
period",' according to the context.'
The words "Khalood" and "Kbaledoon" convey
the sense of "indeterminately long-lasting
beyond time and space", and certainly not the
of "eternal" or "ever-lasting".
253
(I) The word "al-Pisq" does not mean merely
"transgressing", but "to make bold to
transgress" divine injunctions.
(j) Similarly, the word "al-Kufr" does not mean
just "to disbelieve" but "to refuse to believe
what is made reasonably evident and, in
extreme c ~ e s to go to the extent of preven-
ting others from believing".
(ld The expression "aqeemus salaat" means to
organize prayers In a regular manner
. (1) The word "Aa-Sadaqab" , in the Singular,
. generally connotes "a voluntary contribution,
alms, etc.", while in the plural, "88-
Sadaqaat", generally means "community
levies" t collected and disbursed in an
organized system.
(m) The verb "sallamoo", means "Wish one peace"
or "make salutation to, or greet one"; while
the expression "saDamoo tasleema" always
means "submit in complete' submission" and
not just to recite the ullUal salutation "As-
Setemo 'AJaikum".
(n) Similarly, the verb "aalIoo 'ala" means "Wish
one good", and, therefore, if the context so
demands, may also mean "Identify with one's
cause". Let us refer to the following Quranic
verse:
"Verily Allah and His angels wish good
to the Prophet. 0 Believers: You too,
wish him good and submit In complete
submission (that is, fully subscribe to his
cause)" (xxxiii: 56)*24
254
. Incidentally, the usual devotional exercise, by
being known only by. Its e r s ~ a n name
"Darood", indicates the foreign origin of the
concept of reciting formulary salutation over
a rosary, instead of furthering the cause in
some practical form. Surely this could not be
the intention expressed In the above-quoted
Quranic verse unless we take the same word
in different senses In one and the same.
sentence! What about Allah and His Angels?
Do they do the same? In Verse 43 of Surah
Al-Ahzaab; the words "Huwallodhi YusaW
'alaytom wa moIaa'katubee" can only mean:
"He it is Who (Allah) and His angels wish you
(all believers) good"; not they recite darood".
(0) In the Quranic parlance, the concepts of
"baraam" and "halaal" are of wider applicat:"
ion than the same technical terms adopted by
our jurists. What is . forbidden is baraam,
whether the particular word is used or not,
and what is not expressly forbidden is .
"permitted" ("balaal") whether ,t is said in so
many words or not; whereas our fiqab
(jurisprudence) has a lot of things classified
as different shades of undesirables ("maboo-
baat") and desirables ("mastahlbaat"). Thus,
the Quranic classification of avaamir and
navaahi, that is, "do's" and "don'ts", is
simple enough and the description thereof is
given in express and firm verses 1&1-
mubkamaat). There is, therefore, no point in
arguing whether, in respect of a certain
forbidden thing,. the word "baraam" or
nbarrana" has been expressly used or not. We
are required only to see if a particular thing
falls under the Quranic "do's" or "don'ts",
and that should be enough for a true Muslim.
What some of the jurists (fuqaJaaa) describe
as Vujoob Indicates Allah's implied "intention
tf
reasonably inferable from the text of the
Holy Quran. It should not be a matter of the
wishful thinking of a learned person.
255
Barring very few exceptions, still fewer in firm
verses (al-mubkamaat), there are no semantic
problems that cannot be resolved by consulting an
ordinary, standard Arabic dictionary, and there
would hardly be any need to refer to the so-called
Quranic glossaries which. are Ukely to lead one to a
blind alley. For example, there Is no need to look
for any technical meaning of the expression
BBudoodulIab" which is actually used in the most
prevalent literal sense - "Limits of Allah, not to
be trespassed, transgressed or uceeded" .
'UMAR'S DECREE: According to the Quran's
injunctions, none is permitted to make arbitrarily
a "permissible" thing "obligatory" or "forbidden"
for all persons for all time to come as an amend-
ment to the statutory law of the Quran. The
. society may, however, collectively frame "certain
by-law in cases falling under "social oDllgatlons",
but only under express pre-conditions. The
staggered procedure of divorce expressly prescribed
in the verse (ii: 229) is obviously to protect the
interests of the weaker sex. Caliph I Umar could
not possibly make the weaker sex suffer because of
the offending behaviour of the other sex. In
violation of the staggered procedure prescribed in
the Holy Book .It would have been ultra 'Vires of a
Caliph or a Head of State to .issue an order which
ran counter to the express injunction of the Quran,
Islam's statutory law. Caliph 'Umar's order has
been widely misunderstood. His order purported that
the husband's future claim to the restitution of
conjugal rights under the law stood abrogated as a
result of his contravention of the relevant statutory
law. Bur" the wife was free to join her husband,
because the divorces pronounced at one and the
same time can only be counted as one divorce in
the light of the Holy Quran. If an amicable settle-
ment could be arrived at to her complete satisfac-
tion. Thus, the initiative rested with the wife
whose right remained intact. Either to join her
husband or to . get married to another man. after
completing the prescribed period of 'iddab.
156
Here Caliph 'Umar was certainly within his
rights, as the Head of State, to curb the existing
right or Uberty of a defaulting member of society
for taking unilateral action in regard to a social
obligation affecting the just rights of others. The
exact legal position of those jurists who, on the
basis of Caliph' Umar's order, give the verdict that
a, divorce "given" thrice at a time is irreY0C8ble
for all practical purposes, Is not quite clear. Do
they maintain that a pious MuSlim, duly elected by
a popular vote, as a Head of State, can amend the
statutory law embodied in the Holy Book? Could
the Prophet himself, for tbat matter, have done
tbat? Certainly not, in the face of what is
in the, Quran: "0 Propbet: Wby dost thou
ban what Allah has made permissible for thee?"
, (lxvl: 1)*25., Besides, 'Allamab Sulaiman Nadvi, on
the authority of, Imam Sbaafa'ee and Ibn Sa'd,
quotes the himself as having said:
Nothing could be declared ItHalaal"
(permissible) or ItHaraam
lt
(forbidden)
solely on my own I declared
as 'permissible' only what Allah had
already declared so in His Book, and I
. peclared only that thing as 'forbidden'
which Allah had already done so," (vide:
SeeratUD Nahl, ,Volume one, part two,
quotingMUID8.d ,Imam Shafa' ee, Kitabul
Umm and Tabaqaat (Ibn .. Sa'd).
In fine, every system has basic central concept,
or a point ,round which the entire system revolves.
The underlying purpose of Islam, as a creed or
Faith, is embodied in its very name - Cor the root-
word tlSalmtl means Peace. Therefore, in interpret-
ing any injunction of the Quran or any tradition of
the Prophet, the basic consideratioQ should be that
it is so interpreted that 1t does not connict with
the basic, central concept of 'Peace within and
Peace without' of the Islamic system. And this
consideration should, therefore, overrule all
interpretative constructions of a divisive and
fissiparous nature.
257
CHAPTER-II
TBB GLOBIOUS LBGACY-I
As we have already mentioned, the Prophet,
according to the Mu'atta, in his last public address
at ' Arafaat, exhorted the people to set store by
the Book of Allah and his own way of conducting
affairs, that is, his Sa_.... Here we should not
confuse the word Sannah - the way the Prophet
would act in a particular situation or, in other
words, his line of action - with < what we ca\l
Hadeeth ("Tradition"), that -is; a reported incident
from the life of the Prophet. Just as In geometry
one requires at least two poinq to draw a line, to
indicate a direction, a stray incident cannot
possibly determine a line of action.
The importance of Hadeeth as a valuable record
of historical interest cannot be denied. We can
hardly do without it. It provided, in spite of its
inherent deficiencies, a valuable record of
precedents. No lawyer can d() without case-law.
Our belief in the Quran being the < Book of Allah in
the real sense and "ot a book palmed off in His
name, rests only on the word of the Prophet in the
ultimate analysis and cannot logically derive its
sanction from the < authority of the Quran itself. In
that sense, the entire "Deea" may rightly be said
to rest on the Hadeeth; Otherwise, the Hadeeth
does not, in actual fact, form an essential part of
" Deen", for it cannot augment or abridge, amend
or abrogate whatever is contained in the Quran. In
this context; what is very significant is the use of
the word Hadeeth for 'lore' in the V9rse: "After
this (Book) what lore are they going to believe?"
(vii: ,185)*1
It is a. matter of common knowledge, and
accepted by all "traditionists", that the Prophet
himself, and the early Caliphs too, for one' reason
'or another, discouraged and even forbade the
258
. .
Hadeetb being committed to writing. If it were
really part of the -Deal-, the embargo, whatever
be its provocation, reason or context, amounted to
the suppression of some part of the DeeD. This
position is altogether untenable. For quite some
time there has been a concerted effort to cover up
this weakness of the case by pointing out that in
spite of this embargo certain front-line Companions
did collect and ~ m p t l e "traditions" even in the
time of the Prophet! Obviously, if they did so, they
were certainly contravening the Prophet's standing
instructions. This makes their case even worse,' to
say the least.
What is patently .absurd is to hold that what-
ever the Prophet said or did was not in his own
discretion but used to be revealed or dictated by
Allah, and that since this particular kind of
"revelation" was not to be recited ("VJlhye Gbair
Matloo-), it was not committed to writing. Apart
from the question why and when they were
committed to writing, the question ot questions is
. whether the denial to the Prophet of ordinary
discretion in every-day of Ufe does not reduce him
to a mere computer ("or a programmed machine)
or, at best, an angel. And could he, in that case,
be reasonably regarded as a model to be followed
by all human beings who have to use their own
discret ion and distinguish on their own between
right and wrong at every step in their work-a-day
business? . Besides, on several occasions the
Prophet's opinion or action was questioned by the
Quran Itself and sometimes he was even
reprimanded. .
No doubt the Hadeeth has its own place in the
curricula of Islamic learning, and the early
traditiontsts' enthusiasm fdr the subject and their
devoted industry in that special branch of research
deserve appreciation. But one is constrained to
observe that the time and labour lavishly spent in
this pursuit a century after the Prophet, could
perhaps have been more prontably utilized in the
I
I'
259
study of the Holy Quran 10 depth. After the 1st
century A.H.; the collection and study of the so-
called "traditions" ('Umul H&deetb") became such a
prestigious pursuit that interest in all other
branches of knowledge, moral or material, dwindled
into insignificance. So much so that sensible people,
like Sufyaan Thauri (died in 161 A.H.) had to call
a halt and admit.
If there were any good in this (pursuit
of) Hadeeth, should have been on the
decrease Uke all good things. (Ibn Abdil
Barr's Jaame'e BayaaD U-'Ume Va
Fazlibee, Cairo, Volume Two, page 125).
A "tradition" (Hadeeth) as handed down to us
consists of two parts - the chain of narrators
(It Asoaad
lt
) and the body of the text (Matao),
which, at any rate, conveys the sense and seldom
the actual words of the Prophet. Somehow almost
all "traditionists", with very few exceptions, seem
to have been concerned more with the first part
than the second, which, incidentally, seldom refers
to the context to furnish the necessary background
information. In evaluating a j'tradltion", their effort
is mostly, rather exclusively, directed to that
aspect which is known as Itrayaay.t
lt
, that is, the
scrutiny of the narrators, because the strength of
the chain proverbially lies in its weakest link. They
seldom pay due attention to the other aspect of
the "tradition" which is known as Itdlreayatlt, that
is, the examination of the text itself by the
com mon criteria ordinarily appUed to evidence. We
have already observed in several instances that the
most absurd things and damaging reports have been
thoughtlessly recorded even by eminent "tradition-
ists" Uke Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi on the
authority of those whom they regarded as
autllentic. It goes to the credit of our painstaking
traditionist (ltMubadditbooa
lt
) however, that, for the
purpose of scrutinizing the immense stock of
already collected, they laid the
, foundation of an entirely new branch of learning,
260
peculiar to the Muslims only, known as ,uUm-or-
rijaal" - that is, biographical studies of thousands
of narrators of traditions.
FALLACIOUS PREMISES: Unfortunately, however,
their over-enthusiasm seems to have defeated the
laudable purpose, and a number of anomalies crept
in, which detract from the value of their
researches. Books, like "Ibyaa ul-Uloom" of Imam.
Ghazzali and "Gbuyat-ut-TaalebeeD" said to be the
work of Shaikh Abdul Qaadir Geelani are stuffed
witb spurious "traditions" (Yide:".eezanul-E'tidaal"
Vol. 1, under "Haarlth bin Asad al-Mohasibi"). In
bullding up a system, they somehow started with
certain fallacious premises, such as their axiomatic
faith in the unquestionable veracity of all those
whom they loosely classified as "Companions of the
Prophet" - a subject we propose to discuss in some
detail in a separate chapter entitled "THE GREAT
GALAXY" - and the unreal technical distinction
they sought to make between "maudoo" ("counter-
feit", apocryphal) and "da'ee'" (weak, doubtful,
"tainted") "traditions". In view of the stern
warning of the Prophet himself not to attribute
anything false to him, common sense demanded
that if there had been any reasonable doubt in the
matter of attribution . of a particular Hadeetb
(tradition) to the Prophet, it should have been
dismissed off-hand as apocryphal. For it might just
have been a rumour and one might be running the
risk of befng charged with the offence of spreading
a rumour about the Prophet. Today, unfortunately,
the second half of the almost-stereotyped Friday
sermons is mostly made up of spurious,sometimes
ridiculous, "traditions".
Apart from this fallacious approach to the
sUldy, there are certain ill-conceived rules gov-ern-
ing the study which make matters worse. For
example, there has been a general licence in the
matter of acceptance of "traditions" in praise of
some one. This has been the main source of
. weakness exploited by the unscrupulous who minted

all manner of spurious traditions which not only
sky-rocketed certain personalities but also, in a
way, refiected adversely on others. What made
matters still worse was lack of due care, let
alone' extra care, in accepting traditions refiecting
on the character of others on the authority of
persons much inferior in status. What is a mazing in
this connection is the stipulation that an adverse
opinion of a person about a contemporary should be
discounted merely because of the two having been
contemporaries. This, in errect, puts a premium on
hearsay_ The most glaring example, aIready referred
to elsewhere in passing, is that the opinion of
"traditionist" of the stature of Imam MaaUk about
Ibn Ishaaq, a well-known tradltlonist-cum-
biographer, whom the former thought fit to
desirable as lia confirmed cheat"*3 was dismissed
orr-hand on the ground that the two were
(vide: Asalt-bus Slyar, MtJqaddimah,
page 13).
The terminology .. coined by the "traditionlsts"
for evaluating "traditions" is also very confusing
for a layman. For example, they describe a
Hadeeth as nsaheeb" ("sound) if it is handed down
to them by an unbroken chain of 'dependable'
persons, while a Hadeeth is technically nmasbhoor"
(well-known) if it was reported by at least three
independent narrators in every period from the
Companions of the Prophet downward. Thus, what
they tecbDicaJly call nsaheeh
n
("Sound") may not
be literally so and what is literally "mashhoor"
may not be tecbDically so.
Here it should be clearly understood that these
technical terms are employed strictly in respect of
that aspect of the Hadeeth only which is known as
rayaayat, that is, its first part, the chain of
narrators of that particular Badeetb. The substance
or the next (llmataa
ft
) of the Hadeeth is not taken
into account. Thus, a "tradition" declared sound
(nsaheela
ft
) because of the "soundness" of its chain
. of narrators rna not be necessarU sound in the
262
sense that it may be prime facie contrary to the
well-known tenets of Islam or the express injunct-
ions of the Quran, or that It may otherwise be
repugnant to reason and common sense. The
Hadeeth, II Actions are adjudged by motlves"*4, with
which the Sabeell Bukbari opens, is literally Masb-
hoar" (well-known) but the "traditlonists" known
that it is not tec
hn
ical1y so, for it was not
reported by at least three narrators in the lirst
two period - that Is, of the Companions and their
immediate followers (Tabe'c:aa). Again, the "well-
known" saying attributed to the Prophet, "Poverty
is my pride"*5" has been declared by the critics as
"counterfeit" (falsely attributed to the Prophet) -
Ylde: Mullah tAli Qari's -K1tab ul-Maudoo'att ul-
Kabeer".
It is, therefore, worthy of note that one who
questions the soundness of a particular Hadeeth
does not, in fact, question the authority of the
Prophet's word but the authority which credited it
to the Prophet. In other words, one may only be
expressing his lack of confidence either in the
person who classified it as "sound" (saheeII) or in
the veracity of some one in the long chain of
narrators. As well as know, the strength of a chain
Ues in its weakest link. Nobody, for example,
disputes the numbers of rIIk' .. t in daily obligatory
prayers or questions the quantum of 2 1/2' levy on
the capital holding. Who does not believe in the
aptness and soundness of the Prophet's observation
that 'i_=' (Hexcellence") lies in that one
worships Allah as if one sees Him or, at least, is
being seen by Him? Again, no Muslim has ever
denied" for example, the veracity of what the
Prophet has been qupted as sayins:
What Is Permlsalble is (made) manifest
and what Is Forbidden Is (a..o) manifest;
and between the two tbere are things.
which are unclear to, many people. So
whoever . te... clear or tbese (tricky)
unclear thinp, Ice . bis Paitb- and his
"
.-:..
263
character (honour) unsullied. And he who
strays into unclear things is like a
shepherd who grazes his herd round
about a preserve and thus, is likely to
trespass' on it Look! Allah's preserve in
this world of His is things forbidden by,
Him... (Sabeeb Bukbarl, Vol. one)*6
There is hardly any doubt that all such words of
wisdom fall under the category of 'Hikmat'
(wisdom) based on 'Baseerat' (intuition or insight)
with which the Prophet was certainly endowed by
Allah.
POINT AT ISSUE: What is at issue, however, is
whether a H&deetb or a body of "traditions" for
that matter, can augment, abridge or abrogate
express injunctions of the Quran. It is this
overriding position sometimes conceded to the word
of the Prophet which is unacceptable to many
sensible people. While they believe that no word or
action of the Prophet ever contravened, the
revealed word of Allah, they are not prepared to
accept the untenable dichotomy, on the Jewish
pattern, of the body of "revelations" into "Yabye
maUoo" (revelation meant for reciting) and "Yabye
gbair maUoo" (revaltion not meant for reciting).
This is how the Jews allowed the Torah to be
relegated by the Talmud to an inferior position.
Not all "traditionists" put it so bluntly. Most of
them aver that a badeeth merely supplements or
complements a Quranic injunction, which, in effect,
amounts to the admission that without the Hadeetb,
the Quran, and therefore the 'deea' itself, is
incomplete. What happens now is that, instead of
examining a particular badeeth believed to be
"sound" in the light of a relevant Quranic
injunction, ,there has been a concerted effort to so
interpret the relevant Quranic injunetion that the
particular "sound" bacleeth is somehow accommoda-
ted, even if the latter runs counter to the, obvious
context or the spirit. of the Quran as a whole.
284
DOCTRINE OF' INTERCESSION: PerhapS' the greatest
Clisservice done to Islam is to resuscitate the
pernicious of "lIbala'at" (intercession) and
to rebuild its edifice on slender foundation of the
expression 'IDa be 'JdImehlw. ("except with His
permission"), frequently occurring in the Quran.
The over-all pOsition is that the concept of "inter-
cession" is basically papn and has been forcefully
denounced by the Quran in. no' uncertain terms. For
, example, the following verses make the position
quite clear beyond any shadow of doubt:
"And be mindful of a day when no soul
shall avail another in the least and no
requital shall be accepted from it. Nor
shall int,rcession be of any benefit to
it. No help (of any sort from any
quarter) shall they receive" (ii:123).7
Again, in Surah lxxiv there is an unqualified state-
ment: "So the intercession of intercessors will not
avail them." -(Verse 48)*8
To one famUiar with the Quranic diction, the
expression wIQaa be 'Jclmlhl
w
("except with' His
permission") in certain verses seems to emphasize
the total negation rather than to allow an
exception which has, in fact, nowhere been spelled
. out in the Quran. In support of this view, . let us
. examine what is popularly known -as "Aayat 01-
Kuaee
w
. - which is virtually a combination of
verses rather than a single verse. The relevant
- is as follows: .
',- "'Who is there that can intercede in His
--presence _tbout His
(ii: 255).9
This actually follows the clear unqualified
statement in to tbe. day of Judgement:
"The Day "hen" tbere will be (permitted) no
transaction, . biendsbip nor intercession" (ii:
. 254).10. 'In the absence of any expressed or implied'
.'
'.,
I
"
..
265
permission (lIldIul") in respect of anyone in the
Quran itself, thE! expression "Ulaa be 'IdImIbI"
occurring in an interrogative of assertive
sentence, conveys the sense of "wltbout" rather
than seept with his permission". This is, in fact, a
rhetorical question (al-lstilbaamn1inkaari) a' device
to heighten the effect of negation, as is evident
from what immediately follows and points to the
absurdity and futility of intercession
,
... He knows. what is before them and '
what is behind them, and they cannot
comprehend anything out of His
knowledge except that which He Himself
wishes (to impart)... (ii: 255)*11
In this context, the verse under reference would
mean "Who could dare infiuence Him (on' the Day
of Judgement) wltbcMit His permission (which He
has granted to none)?" The obvious reply to such a
question would be: None whatsoever. For, Allah
needs no recom mendatlon or good word from any
one to _ add to His knowledge by way of
information. Maybe in impUed exception is meant
to cover a sort of permissible intercession by the
aggrieved in case of a breach of huqooqul 'Ibaad in
respect of which the consent of the aggrie+ed
. party is necessary for absolution. (of-lxxvlU: 38).
This Vers,. means: They will speak only when Al-
Rahmaail '"VW command them to speak and they
wilt only speak the truth. In the preceding verse
(37) of the same Surah, the words liLa
mlDha khltaabaa" invite particular attention. They
,mean: (on that day, no one will dare speak to
(address) Allah.
EROSION OF QUBANIC AUTHORITY: How far the
Hadeeth has been allowed to tresp8ss on the Quran
is evidenced by what follows:
a) There are traditions declared "sound"
. (aahsell) by' eminent traditlonllts. Uke Bukhari and
. Muslim, to the. effect that certain verses
266
of . the Quran lost their operative force and were
"abrogated
n
(-maMDOtb-) by other verses. At first
such verses were believed to be quite numerous,
but later on better sense prevaned and the number
was brought down to less than twenty. At last,
Shah Vallullah of Delhi, in his treatise entitled
- AI-Feu uI-Kabeer- made Ii further ettempt at
reconclling the seemingly irreconcilable verses and
declared that the "abrogation" (-DasIda-) applied to
only five verses! Even these five verses, I dare say,
wW be found, on a little more refiection, as fully
operative in their own context as other verses of
the Quran.
Some idea of the hollowness of the concept of
DaStb (abrogation) may be had from an anecdote
recorded in the Saheeh BuIchari: Kitaab-ut-Tatseer,
t Abdullah bin az-Zubair is reported . to. have
objected to the inclusion of a verse in the
"standard copy" of the text of. the Quran and
argued with Caliph 'Uthmaan that the <particular
verse had, in fact, been "abrogated
n
by another
verse which, surprisingly enough, happens to occur
earlier in the same Surah. The verse claimed to
have been abrogated is as fOllows:
And those of you who (are to) die and
leave wives behind, (should make) a
prior provision for (the maintenance of) ..
their wives for (at least) a year and not
to turn them out. If they (themselves,
choose to) go out, tbere is no blame on
you in respect of what they do for
themselves In a recognized manner ...
(ii: 240)*12
The above quoted verse was claimed to have been
"abrogated" by the following verse which actually
precedes the above-mentioned verse in the text:
And (as for) those of you who die
leaving wives behind, (their wives)
should k.eep themselves in waiting for
267
four months and ten days. When they
have completed their (prescribed) term,
there IS no blame on you in respect of
what they do for themselves in the
recognized manner... (ii: 234)*13
Unless we take 'Abdullah bin az-Zubair to be a
.man of less than average intelligence, the story has
to be dismissed off hand as a silly concoction, for
the two verses deal with different aspects of the
same subject and do not connict at all. What is
amazing in the story is that even Caliph 'Uthmaan
had nothing to offer by way of an explanation and
merely pleaded his inability to' remove any verse
from the text of the Holy Book on his own.
b) There are "traditions", recorded by Bukhari,
Muslim and other eminen,t traditionists, which cast
a renection on the authenticity of the existing text
of the Quran. These are credited to such eminent
Companions ot the Prophet as 'Abdullah bin
Mas'ood and Ubayy bin Ka'b. For example, it was
disputed, "on good authority", whether the last two
Surahs of the Quran, called It"u'awwidhataln
lt
actually form part of the Quran!!!
c) There are traditions in the standard
collections of "sound traditions" (Sebaab) which, by
way ot furnishing background information, refer
c'ertain verses of the Quran to particular occasions
(tlSbaaa UD-DUIOOl
lt
), mostly fictitious, to give a
slant or twist to the apparent meaniiags of these
verses. For example, a story known as ItHaddetb
JisBatl ("Tradition of the Garment") completely
changes the complexion and the import of what is
popularly known as tlAJat-ut-Tat-JleerIl (xxxiii: 33).
We shall refer to, It in some detail in. the chapter
entitled: FAMILY AND HOME UFE.
d) There are r p o r ~ recorded by eminent
traditioDists, such as, Bukhari and Muslin, which'
suggest tbat.tbere, are certain revealed verses, like
the tI Aayat ur RaJm'* (injunction regarding stonlog
268
of adulterers)' which now happen to be excluded
from the existing text of the Quran, though their
operation continues to be In force. Why and when
these were excluded from the existing Quran
nobody knows for certain. Caliph 'Umar is reported
to have said about the particular "verse":
'Umar is quoted as saying, " Verily
Allah sent Muhammad (Peace be on him)
as His Prophet and revealed the Book to
him. So In what was revealed there was
the verse relating to stoning "
(Butbarl Muslim) * 14
Imam Maalik's collection of traditions, entitled
Mu'atta, has a similar report in which 'Umar has
been quoted as saying:
"Had it Dot been that people would
charge me with augmenting the
(existing) Book of Allah, I would have
certainly written it - namely, 'when an
aged man and/or aged woman com mit
adultery, stone them'. Certainly we used
to recite it".
(Mu'atta, by Imam Maalilc)*15
It is also reported, "on equally good authority",
that 'Umar used to u ~ the day when people would
be questioning the sanction behind this partioular
punishment!
e) So-called authentic reports are available
through the good offices of our front-line
"tradltionists", which credit to eminent Companions
of the Prophet certain abaadeetb ("traditions")
running counter to the express Quranic injunctions.
For example, Bukhari reports that 'Abdullah bin
'Umar used to narrate a tradition of the Prophet
to the effect that a dead person is punished if his
relations .cry and lament over him. 'Aayeshah used
to refute it rightly by quoting the following verse
. occurring several ti mes in the Quran: "No soul will
269
(be made to) bear the burden of another". (vi:
165)*16. Similarly, 'Umar bin al-Khattaab, too, has
been reported by Bukharl to have given currency to
a tradition of the Prophet purporting that the dead
listen to us, although according to the Quran, it
was not possible (xxx: 52)*11 Allah expressly told
the Prophet: "Thou can not make those in graves
hear." (xxxv: 22)*18
The reported instance quoted In support of this
thesis In which tire Prophet did address the corpses
of . certain eminent leaders of the Meccan
Disbelievers piled in . a ditch after the battle of
Badr (vide: Saheeb 8ukbar - Kitaabul Magbaazi)
was merely a case of the Prophet's resort to a
rhetorical device, a figure of speech known as
Prosopopeia, when even inanimate objects are
sometimes addressed as living beings. Same is the
case of our usual salutation to the dead while
entering a grave-yard: "Peace be on you, 0 People
of graves"*19.
Again there are reports recorded both by
Bukhari and Muslim to the effect that, in spite of
the clear Quranic injunction permitting
-Tayammum as a substitute for the obligatory
bath (vide: SuraIIs Iv and v) 'Umar used to insist
that it was not enough. It Is not reported, however,
what he suggested a man should do in case he
could not lay his hand on water.. Should he go
without obligatory prayers so long as no water was
available?
CONSENSUS ON HEARSAY: Apart from this
random sampling of glaring traditional anomalies,
there are instances In which the IUDD8b has been
determined on the basis of frivolous, doubtful
incidents and has become part of faith. For
example, there is a belief that the 14th night of
the month of Sha 'baan Is particularly sacred
because Allah has ordained it to be the date for
'annual clearance', as it were, of the life accounts
. of His "slaves" - a date of general amnesty for
210
"those who appeal for mercy or for whom such
appeals are made. Hence its name Lalla tul-Bar'at
ft
(the Night of Acquittal or Amnesty). One would be
surprised to learn that this belief is based on a
sOlitary tradition (credited to 'Aayeshah, as is
usual in such cases), recorded only by Tirmidhi, one
of the six standard compilers of "sound" traditions,
and that he, too, was careful enough to append a
significant observation
. At-Tirmidhi purports to say: He did not come
across any other tradition to that effect. Bukhari,
his mentor, considered it questionable and pointed
to its weakness by saying that Yahya did not hear
from 'Urvah and Hajjaj bin Artat did not hear
from Yahya (Jaame
t
Tirmidbee: Abvaab us-
Saum)*20. Now, the question arises: why, despite
the specific warning of his mentor, Imam Bukhari,
. did Tirmidhi think it fit to include it and why \
should his collection be regarded even then as one
of the six standard collections of "sound" t"raditions
(saheeh)? Besides, why most of the present-day
leaders of religious thought insist on acting on it,
. knowing all that, is beyond comprehension. No
doubt, after the basic defects were pin-pointed, the
chain of narrators has been "duly repaired" so as
to make the tradition readily acceptable to second-
rate "traditionists". Later on, a tradition on the
subject has been reported on the authority of 'AU
bin Abi Taalib which' does not mention the
occasion. But fortunately the text remains almost
the same in substance.
.
The substance of Tirmidi's longish report*21 is
as follows:
'Aayeshah is reported to have said that on the
particular night, she did not find the Prophet (in
her chamber). She went out (in search of him). She
found him in (the graveyard) Baqee'. (Seeing her)
the Prophet observed if she was a.frald that Allab
and His Apostle were unfair to her. She said,. she
thought he had gone to some of his women (out of
271
Thereupon the Prophet said: " Allah the
Exalted alights on the nearest heaven during this
night in the middle of the month of Sha'baan
(every year) and forgives sins as numerous as the
hair of the sheep of (Banu) Kalb (known for its
luxuriant coat of hair)".
The dialogue as reported above in this so-called
'tradition' does no credit either to 'Aayeshah or, I
am afraid, .to the Prophet (Peace be on him). For,
if 'Aayeshah were not impudently inquisitive, - as
the report makes her to be - the Prophet would
have kept to himself this important piece of
information, presumably revealed to him by Allah!
To reinforce its credibility and also to lend
authenticity to this cock-and-bull story, some of
our learned com of the Quran make bold
to declare that the "Lallatul Mubaarikab",
mentioned in the opening verse of the Sorah Ad-
Dukhaan (xliv) actually refers to this particular
night of the month of Sha' baan as distinct from
"Lallatul Qadr" of the month of Ramadaan, in spite
of the clear description of the former given in the
verse itself: "By this Book that maketh things
plain, We it on a blessed night " (xliv:
1-3)*22. This obvious difficulty is being explained
away by sporting a novel suggestion that, before
the Quranactually started being revealed to the
Prophet in Ramadaan, the whole Quran was 'sent
down' a month before on "the nearest heaven"
("Sama-ad Dunya") and was held up there, nobody
knows why. The famous collection known a
'Misbkat' has this particular Hadeeth actually
recorded in the chapter entitled: "Dab Qiyame
Sbabre Bamadaan".
Anyhow, no significance attaches to this
. particular night of Sha 'baan except that the son of
Hasan al-' Askari, the 1Uh Imam of the 'Athna
I Ash art sect," was said to have been born that
night, and that he is believed by some to be the
12th . and last Imam describe as Mahdi (Inspired
. Guide) to reappear in the last days of the world
212
(Aakblr-uz-Zamaaa). People celebrate 'his birthday
by a display of fire-works and make a sweet
preparation of wheat nour and sugar (hal.ab) to
feed the fish which have somehow come to acquire
some religious' significance as couriers of supplica-
tions' or petitions' addressed to' the Imam. Inciden-
tally, he Is believed to reappear on that very night
shortly before the end of this world of ours.
MALIGNING mE PROPHET: To what extent the
traditions are allowed to play havoc with the
can be judged by two instances of a very delicate
nature which I have reluctantly persuaded myself to
quote for good reason: The Quran declares the
monthly of a woman as periods of suffering
(tldban) and enjoiqs:
They ask thee about manses: Say: It is a
sutfering or disabUity. So keep away
from wQmen during manses, and do not
go near them till they are clean.
(il: 222)*23
But both-, Bukhari and Muslim record the following
report on the authority .of one AI-Asvad quoting
I J{ayeshsh (as llsual):
He (the Prophet) would order me to put
on trousers ("Izaar"). Then he would
Indulge in "love-play" (from the verb
"muba.shtrat") while I was in manses,
(Al-Itflshkaat: Kitaabut Tahaarat, Baabul
Haid)*24
Bukhari has also another "tradition" on the
subject which says that it did not happen to
t Aayeshah alone but this was what the Prophet
used to do with his othe. wives also. ('Vide: Sabeeh
Bukbarl - Vol. 1 -, Cairo; Kltaabal Hald, Baab
Itfuba .... trat H-Haa'ed - page 136).
Similarly, the Quran enjoins Muslims to subject
, themselves to self-restraint as an exercise in self-
273
discipline during the month of Ramadaan and
abstain not only from eating and drinking during a
fast but also from indulging in certain carnal
pleasures, including what may be politely described
as ttindecent and unseemly Oberties" of sexual
nature. It says:
It is permitted to you In the night of.
fasts to. take unseemly liberties (ar-
Raftba) with your women. (U:187)*25

The following tradition Is recorded both by Bukhari
and Muslim, on the same quoting
'Aayeshah again:_ -
t Aayeshah has been quoted as saying:
'The Prophet used to kiss and indulge in
love-play while he was fasting' .(Sabeeh
Bukbarl, Vol. 3 (Cairo): Page 69)*26
Clarifying what constitutes "mubaasbirat" in
these "traditions", both Maulana Shabbir Ahmad
'Uthmaani and Muhiuddin An-Navavi offer a similar
explanation. I quote Maulana 'Uthmaani from his
Arabic commentary on Shaheeh Muslim*27. Refrain-
ing from giving a literal translationoC his observa-
tion, I content myself with conveying to the reader
only its sense: Indulgence in love-play even in the
crude and unseemly form is permitted during a fast
if it is confined' to the portion of the body over
... the navel and under the knee, besides, of course,
the usual kissing and hugging! (Fat-hul-Mulhim, Vol.
1, page 456 and Al-'Minbaaj, Vol. III, page 205)*28.
But this learned explanation obviously overlooks the
fact that all this at least attracts the Quranic
Injunctions prohibiting during a fast 'taking
unseemly liberties with women' in Ii: 187 and
enjoining 'keeplag away from women and not golag
near them' in Ii: 222. Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani, the
commentator of Sabeeh Bukhari in his superficial
explanation overlooks the same point.
It oU2ht to be intrUruin", to An I'I!lAtiPI'
274
why all sucb stuff was foisted on ' Aayeshah.
Obv.fously those who were reSpopsible for fabrica-
tingsuch damaging traditions to. subvert the Quran
certainly could have no love iost for ' Aayeshah.
But . what is disgusting is that they would not be
deterred from distorting the i mage of the Prophet
himself, of whom the Quran had. said: "Verily there
is an excellent character-pattern for. you (to
follow) in the Apostle of Allah". (xxxiii: 21).28
Let' us take a more glaring example. Muslim
records a tradition In "Kltaabat Taabah" of his
Sabeeb under the caption "Dab Baratte Haramln
Nabee", which purports to say that the Prophet's
"Umme VaJad" (that is, slave-girl having given
birth to a child), whiCh obviously refers to Maria
the Copt, was being implicated in an affair
("mattabim") with some one' named Maaboor,
probably her own cousin who had embtaced Islam.
Having COllle to ..know of the gossip, the Prophet
ordered 'Ali to' go and dispose .of the man.29.
Finding him perched upon a well, 'All pulled him
by his loin-cloth. This reveJlled that' he was an
eunuch30. So 'All spared the man and reported
back to' the Prophet, y ~ said nothing!
To a layman, a number of questions would
naturally arise from this report:
1. Was it right to react 10 violently to' mere
gQSsip?
2. Did the Prophet make any effort, befbre giving
this order, to find out the 'facts, at least giving
the accused a chance to explain his p<?sition?
3 . Were the due" processes of law undergone before
the peremptory order was issued?
4. Was it not a case of foliO,wing double standards
in meeting the normal requirements of justice?
W h a ere m or order of he Pro het
275
also based on a VahJe &balr maloOo (a revela-
tion not meant for recitation) whicb, inciden-
tally,proved wrong?
6. Had ' AU acted as ordered, who should have
been held responsible for the cold-blooded
murder of an innocent person?
7. Having received an order direct from the
Prophet, and not through a chain of reporters or
narrators, why should 'Ali, of an pe;l'sons, have
used his discretloll in the matter?
8. Why are we forbidden to use our discretion in
carrying out the supposed wishes of the Prophet
conveyed to us by a long chain of narrators of
questionable or unquestionable credentials?
9. Why was 'Ali, of all persons, given this
particular 'assignment?
10. On the basis of the facts narrated in this so-
'called "sound (saheeb) tradition" recorded ,by no
less a person than Muslim, what is expected of
us - to follow the character-pattern (ftUsvab
ft
)
of 'Ali or that of the Prophet?
Over and above these tim, the question of
questions is: How far can a man who gulps such
stuff without hesitation be relied upon' in other
matter? Our traditionists owe our younger
generation a reasonable answer to ~ c h of these
questions.
I feel lowe an explanation to' the reader. I
should not !:lave gone to that lengt.h in this chapter
as a biographer but for the fact that some of the
so-called "Sound (saheeh) traditions not only
present a highly distorted picture of our religion
but also renect adversely on the character of the
Prophet (Peace be on him).
276
CHAPTER-19
TRAITS AND TEACHINGS
An unbiased study of the life of the Prophet, as
it has been handed down to us both by friends and
foes, will bring out In bold relief the. following
facts: .
a) There is little doubt that he had com manded
the respect of all those with whom he came into
contact befor-ehe actually tOQk up the challenge of
the time Inherent in the vicious environment. This
Is the reason why the Quran held out his early Ufe
as a challenge. to his contemporaries who doubted
the truthfulness of his claim to prophethood or the
veracity of his word. It suggests to the Prophet to
confront the unbelievers thus:
Certainly I have spent amidst you a Ufe-
time . before it (is revealed to me) .
(Even then) can't you use your brains?
(x: 17)*1
b) No threat,' pressure or inducement could make
him give up his cause based on principles.
c) He would not stoop to further his cause by
questionable means.
d) He would stand up to all opposition, even the
worst persecution, and never would be provoked to
abandon the course of justice and tolerance.
e) He would not retaliate except when the
devotees of his cause were not allowed to live in
peace even elsewhere.
f) He would equally share trials and tribulations
with his companions. He . would not ask them to do
or endure what he himself was not prepared to do
277
g) He was magnanimous enough to forgive all
and sundry and would not take revenge even when
he came to power.
There are only some of the outstanding traits of
his character which even his worst enemies or
revilers have not been able to question. Any stray
reports to the contrary, however authentic they
may be claimed to be, should be dismissed off
hand.
It is reported that when 'Aayeshah was once
questioned about his character she merely observed:
"His character is {fully reflected in} the Quran"*2.
Perhaps nobody could put so much in so few words
- to be precise, . in one word. Certainly the Quran
portrays the Prophet as a human being with all his
strong and weak points. For example,'" if once or
twice he was actually pulled up for some Indiscre-
tion, he would also, by way of encouragement, get
a pat on the back probably for taking a charitable
v ~ w of things or a magnanimous line of action
thus: "Verily thou art (patterned) on a grand
character". (Ixviii: 4) *3
Now it is possible even for posterity to get for
practical purposes a true and faithful pen-picture
of the Prophet from the Quran itseU, which, in the
same way, depicts the, salient features of the lives
of other Prophets too. Unfortunately, our so-called
standard collections of traditions distorted the
image of the last Prophet (Peace be on him) in the
same way as the Scriptures available with the
People of' the Book had distorted the images of
some of the eminent Prophets mentioned in the
Quran {Peace be on them}.
GROSS SLANDER: One wopders how Bukhari and
Muslim, of aU "traditionists" could believe that the
Prop tiet, known. for kind-hearted ness, purity of
thought and refinement of taste, had recommended
the camel'. urine, of all curative agents, for the
. treatment of a jaundice-like disease of certain
278
people from the tribes of 'UkI and 'Urainu and
that when they were' subsequently caught, after
being' cured, In connection with a heinous ofience,
he ordered that they should first be blinded by
inserting a red-hot iron bar Into their ey.es and
then their bodies be mutilated! It is such -fantastic,
slanderous, stories which create the credibility gap
between the "tradltionlsts" and the present genera-
tion of Muslims of average intelligence and
education.. .
After the Quran refers to the character-pattern
of' . the Prophet thus: 'Verily, In the Apostle of
Allah, you have achar_acter-pattern good for V0tl
(to follow)" (xxxiii: 21)*4. Certainly the intention
cannot be to Invite us to go beyond the Quran to
get the character-pattern of the Prophet. In
respect of earlier Propbets too, the Quran says
exactly the same thing: "Verily, in them, you have
a good character-pattern for you (to follow)". (Ix:
6)*5. Are we then called upon to. search for their
"Uirf1Ih- (character;"pattern) In those "tainted"
Scriptures which stand corrected by the Quran? All
that we are required to know is, itl fact, to be
found In tbe Quran itself. Has not Allah said:
"What lore after this' (Book) are. they going to
believe? . (vii: 185)*6 The Holy Quran has used the
word 'H&deeth' here. The reader need to be
here of the cQnrllcting, and sometimes
positively damaging, accounts handed down to us in
respect of the life of the one who was meant to
be a model for' all people of all time to follow.
This is not to suggest whol4!Salerejectionof the
so-caned traditions handed to us. would
not, for that matter,' advocate wholesale repudiat-
ion of even the Scriptures' of 'the Pe,oples of the
Book; for, after all, the Quran itstUt frequently
draws on them and make pointed. references to
their contents. But no sensible person WOuld, at any
rate, totalreUance either on these
so-called "sound" traditions handed down to us as
. truth. These standard collections of the so-
279
called "sound traditions" of the Prophet are to be
treated almost in the same manner as a judge
would treat the file of a case which contains all
available material, dependable and undependable,
relied upon by the advocates on either' side. The
judge would, after all, have to form his own
opinion on his own assessment of the conflicting
evidence produced before him.
MISCONCEPTION OF SUNNAH: When we talk of
the character-pattern (Unab) of a person, we
generally take into account the traits of his moral
conduct and not his habits, his likes and dislikes, in
the ordinary sense, for these may well be endemic
in his' locale. Epoch-making personages who fought
relentlessly against the vitiated environment in
which they had been born, could not help
renecting, in their Uves, in some way or other,
traces of their environment and strains of the
races to which they belonged. Obviously, these
traces and strains do not, in themselves, as a rule,
constitute the Sunnab or the characteristic conduct
to be looked upon as a model. For example, there
is nothing religious about the ceremony' in
connection with the first shaving of an infact's
head, on old custom known as Aqeedah. Usttadhul
Hadeeth ~ w a r Shah of the Deoband school, says:
The correct position is that, according
to Imam Abu Haneefah, it is merely
desirable. And as for that which is
reported of him that it was not a
SuDD8h, what he probably meant was
that either it was not to be taken. as a
confirmed SUDDab or that it was not a
Sunnab (practice) enjOined by the
Prophet. (Aavaarul Mabmood Vol.2, page
186)*7 .
In fact, according to Imam' Muhammad, Imam Abu
Haneefah, on the authority of Ibrahim Nakh'ee and
Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyyah, actually maintained:
280
The I AqeedU was prevalent in the
pagan days, but after the- advent of
Islam this custom was discarded.
(Kitaabul Aatbaar)8
The fact of the matter is that certain innocuous
social custoins and idiosyncrasies of tbe people
around, did initially form the basis of the normal
behaviour of every reformer or Prophet. Shah
Valiullah of Delhi has discussed the subject in some
detail under the head BIrtifaqaatB in his own
terminology, which form the subject of the Third
Discourse (BDab-tIIB) in his erudite work' entitled
BHujjatul-la-bul . baallgbab
B
In the subsequent
"Discourse", while discussing various natural
hindrances with whic'h'one - has to
contend throughout Ufe, he observes that there are
moments even in the lives of pious and disciplined
people when environment and custom do seem to
lend colour to their normal behavi9ur.
Bukhari and Muslim, for- example, record a
tradition in which the Prophet is reported to have
commended BNatful Ibt
B
(tweezering - or plucking
the hair of the arm-pit). Some one noticed Imam
Shafa'ee employing a barber to remove the hair in
the armpit with a razor. On being que!ltioned about
"the innovation", the Imam, without Joining issue,
simply said: "I know the reported way of the
Prophet (Swmah) is to pluck the-ohair but I cannot
stand the pain". (Commentary on Sabeeb Muslim by
An-NavavU.9. ShnUarly, no sensible person would
probably object to the use of . ad,ntilrice instead
9f .... a tooth-stick made of a twig ('lUnaak
'
) _ on-
the ground that the Prophet, in his time, repeatedly
c()mmended its frequent use.
Nothing is, therefore,sacrosanct abOut the
peculiar type of clothes the Prophet used to wear
or _ even the com mon, basic. pattern of nte .
simple unsophisticated society in .wlUob he livecL As
a matter- of tact, our pteseritday blghly -iomplica-
ted,. science-oriented society - actually demands a
281
different kind of response to environmental challen-
ges. These responses should, no doubt, conform to
tile eternal values In the Quran. No sane
person today would prefer to ride a camel or a
mule only because the Prophet used to do so, or
object to the use of a car or a bus, particularly in
the performance of Hajj.
smrr OF EMPHASIS: Simllarly, to wear a beard,
for example, is as much away of life of" the
Prophets as that of the Pharaohs. This was" the
order of the day and there was no point in issuing
an ad hoc arder to that effect. If the Prophet
really 80 intended he would have simply forbidden
the shaving of a beard in 80 many words. We can
well imagine that -shaving must have been too
expensive those days to be made ,a regular
practice. This is the feason why the Prophet woulcl
recommended Butr (tweezering or plucking of--
hair) rather than Ba1-HaIaq- (shaving), except on
special ,occasions. Few followers of the Prophet,
could for that matter, afford that luxuliY Which, of
necessity,required the services of a barber. Let us
refer to what the Prophet, is reported to have
actually said on the subject. What has been handed
to us, in Slightly varied reports, is as follows:
Let the beard grow (or leave it
untr!q1med) and (or but) remove (or
trim)" the moustaches*IO.
- ,
\
- The intention of the Prophet is made quite clear by
the fonowing rider added by ,certain narrators._
And act contrary -to the (practice of)
the J.ews (Magis) or make yourselves
distinct from ,the Jews (/Magis) and the
idolators:*1, '
Anybody can inf.r -fro. the _reported words what
the Prophet impUed.. The context and the
diction -put -etnphasts c;m _hat they wererequlred to
'do with their, .lllOustaches rather than with tbeir
282
beards which in any case, would have worn as
otbers did. For he made his intention clear beyond
doubt' on other occasions, tor example, when he
iaid: "He who does not trim his moustaches 'Is not
ot us". (Al-Mtrqaat Vol.8, page 298)*12. Expressing
his intention effectively, he purported to say: "I
don't mind it you leave your beard untrimmed; but
make sure that you trim your moustaches in order
to make 4n obvious deviation trom what the
Jews/Magis do". It Is interesting to
,note that, the root-word wAfyn belongs to a
peculiar category ot words bearing opposite
such as nmaala
w
meaning a master as
well as a slave. Thus wAf.
n
means both "to let
grow" and "to make scare or erase". But here the
context demands that it should be taken in the
tormer sense. It Is, equally interesting to learn that
in the time ot Emperor Akbar, the Great Moghal,
who insisted, by a royal decree, on the shaving of
the beard, the learned men of this subcontinent
thought it tit to lay' more emphasis on wearing a
beard, than on the Prophet's pop.ted instructions
about the moustaches, probably in order to make
the Muslims of the subcontinent distinct from the
Hindus who generally shaved their beards. The
reader mayor may not agree to. this thesis, but
the point at issue is clear beyond doubt.
Anyway, one has to. be clear in one's mind as'
to wbat constitutes the SuImaIl of the Prophet
which is to be followed by the Muslims everywhere
for all time. to come. In the name of Sunnah, what
generally .. h8ppens Is that people demonstrate their
regard for the traits rather than the teacbings of
the Prophet by imitating him in those details of a
strictly personal natUH which ate of no
significance, and ignoring OJ glossing over those
express instructions which generally spell out social
Obligations. Certainly no self-respecting father
would relish the -idea of' being mimicked by his son
who would imitate his galt, the way he wore his
cap, his fads and idiosyncrasies like a copy-cat and
. would conveniently ignore his standing instrUctions,
283
percepts and teachings, his do's and don'ts. People
delude themselves and hoodwink others by sport ing
the classic apology that 'something Is better than
nothing'. The way the fraud is being perpetrated In
the name of the s..m.II and a distorted image of
Islam is being naunted to the world at large,
constrains one to observe that perhaps nothing is
better than something of this sort.
PURITANIC TABOOS: For example, one hears so
much in theological circles about the prohibition of
music in Islam. No doubt the reckless indulgence in
it, as in any other pastime, is most likely to'
cause 'diversion from duty' (wLaby) but it is
certainly not forbidden (wbaraam) nor is it
covered. by the expression "Idle talk" in the 6th
verse of the Surah Laqmaa (xxxU*13.
There are people who prefer Idle talk
only to mislead people from Allah's Path
without realizing (its consequences) and
regard It as mere fun. It is they for
whom there is a humiliating punishment.
(xxxi: 6)*13
'Allamah Shaukani quotes Ibn Hazm as saying:
No Hadeeth on the subject is sound;
whatever is there is apocryphal.
(NaU-ul-;-Autaar, Vol.8)*14
Sheikh 'Abdul Haq Muhaddith of Delhi, in his well-
known book w.adaarIj-ua-Nabuyat, e x p ~ e s s e d the
same opinion, which he described as the
traditinlsts' point of view as distinct from "the
extreme and partisan view" of the jurists based in
his opinion, on rank prejudice (wtatassub ya
teaaad
W
).
Similarly, . an average Muslim's disparaging
attitude towards a useful, lovable and faithful.
animal like a dog, Is probably ~ s e d on some casuaP
word of caution from the Prophet. Certainly, . a dog
284
could not be such a despicable thirig as to make
the angels leave in utter disgust the place where it
was to be found. If it were really so, the People of
Cave ("AII-baab ul-KabP) of all peraons, would
certainly not have kept one with them, and if they
had to for some special reason, the Quran could
not have left the matter at that, but would have
certainly mentioned the reason for our guidance
after having made a pointed reference to their pet
dog. On the contrary , the Quran, in the Surab Al-
Maa'edab (V) verse 4, has permitted by implication,
the keeping of hounds trained for hunting purposes.
BASIC' IIISCONCEmON: The fact of the matter is
that sometimes people confuse the various aspects
of the Prophet's personality his being a
Messenger, a Mentor, an Executive Head, a
common citizen, and a human being. Since Allah
alone is infallible, the 'Prophet, or any, prophet for
that matter, could only be "near-infallible" or
two of his aspects only -
that is, as a Messenger and a Mentor. Most of the
confusion results from the lack of comprehension of
the . subtle difference in .these capacities.. Two
examples will make it clear.. According to
, Abdullah bin t Abbas.. one Bareerah sought divorce
from her huSband, Mugheeth, and the Prophet told
her not to do so. She was intelligent enough to ask
the Prophet If he- meant it to be taken as a
command or merely as an advice. The Prophet said
that it was just his sincere advice. She si mply
thanked hi m and did what she thought best ("laa
Haajatalee feeh") vide: Sabeeb BuId1arL The
Prophet himself is to have said once:
To be sure, I am just. a human being. If
1 command you to doa thing which
pertains to YDur religion, you take it as
a command, and if I command you to do
a thing' on my own, well, I am just a
human being. (Sabeell Muslim - 'Kltaabul
Padaa-el").*15.
285
It is a widely known incident that once he advised
the people against the pollination of date - palm
probably he took it to be a mere superstition. As a
result, there was little or no crop of dates that
year. Thereupon, the Prophet admitted that he was
wrong in tiisjudgement and observed "You know
better your own affairs"*16.
GLARING INCONSISTENCIBS: The reader will be
interested to know that there are certain
instructions conta.ined in "sound" traditions which
the "traditionists" themselves take pride in flouting
on one pretext or another. I quote below just a
few at random:
1. There is a well-known tradition:
The Apostle of Allah said twice that he
who keeps fast perpetually (that is,
. continuously one after another) does not,
in fact, keep a fast"(Sabeeh ButbarU*17
The Prophet recommended to 'Abdullah bin tAmar
bin al Aas to keep preferably only three voluntary
fasts in a month; and if he were unnecessarily keen
to increase the number, he should, at the most,
keep a fast on alternate and not on consecutive
days. But there have been quite a few learned
men, including "traditionists", who have praised
certain people for being in the habit of keeping
fasts continuously (Daa'emas Sau ... ). .
2. 'Abdullah bin 'Umar reports that the Prophet
told him that one should take at least three to
seven days to complete the recitation of the
Quran. in his Sabeeb sums up the position
thus: "Some reports say tn three days,some say in
five days, and most of them agree on seven
days"*17. But the contravention of this instruction
is generally regarde,d, as an act of virtue.
3. Both Bukhari and Muslim repOrt the Prophet
as says:
286
Of the Apostles- of Allah, do not hold
a"ny one to excel any otber In merit. I
would not even say that anyone of
them was superior to 'Yunus bin Matti
(Probably, Jonah son of Amittai, a llttle-
known BlbUcalprophet, was .
But what is the. com mon practice today?
PBBNlClOUS INNOVATION: Literally speaking, a
"bld'ah" (innovation) can be good, bad or
indifferent, ' but In the technical sense any
Innovation after the days of the Prophet, which is,
by usage, looked upon as part of the DeeD or the
Sbari'ah, is a bld'aIa. There Is no dispute in so far
as an innovation in DeeD is concerned, for such
Incursions into the preserve of Allah have to be
repulsed rather than repudiated in any case. What
is the bone of contention between the two extreme
schools of thought is the innovation in the Sbari'ah,
that is in the methodology for, achieving the
objectives of the DeeD. It s,eerns almost impossible
to resolve this' dispute unless ootJt the
schools are prepared to take. a sensible view of
both the Sbarl'ah and the bid'ah. Common sense
demands that they revise their definition of bid'ah
In the llght of their own conduct. Most of the
controversy be resolved If they to
redefine bld'ah as something the .of;>servanceof
which, however desirable it may be, we make
obligatory or quals-obUgatory by usage or
consensus, in the sense that its non-observance is
regarded as a religious offence.
us examine tbelr present positions in some
detail as regards certain matters which happily
constitute the commonly agreed ground. Perhaps
few . people in either camp have realized the
Implications of their present positions. in respect of
what is known as Salatud Doha and what Is known
as Tarayeeb. Bukharl records a report that, on
being questioned about the. non-obligatory prayers
of "Doha" (com monly known In the indian sub-
,..",nHnan+ Alii "l'!hAARht"
287
declared that neither Abu Bakr nor tUmar ever
said this particular prayer and also added that as
far as he could say, the Prophet too dld not offer
it. ~ is also reported elsewhere that according to
'Abdullah bin 'Umar, the Prophet used to offer
four Rak'aat about this time whenever he returned
from a journey, and that 'Abdullah regarded the
contemporary practice to say it daily as an
innovation (bidtah). It may not be a Bldtah, in the
technical sense but it was certainly not the suDDah
of the Prophet either, in the real sense. If the
Prophet com manded this to Abu Hurairah, Abu Dhar
and others as reported, his commendation was not
known at least to Abu Bakr,'Umar and 'Abdullah
bin 'Umar. Even the narrator himself was not sure
of the fact, as is evidenced by his questioning.
INSTITUTION OF "TARAVEEH": Now let us take
the case of Taraveeh, where the intention of the
Prophet to the contrary is also reported but both
rival schools insist on the quasi-obligatory nature
of this prayer as a religious discipline. The reader
will try in vain to look up in any standard
collection of traditions to trace even the word
Taraveeb which simply means "taking rest for a
while". The "traditional" terms which usually cover
this religious discipline are "Salaat ul-lail" or
"Qlyaamo Sbahre Bamadaan". In the latter case, it
merely implied the Prophet's emphasis on "Salaat
ul-lail" during Ramadaan and nothing else. As for
"Salaat ul-laU" it refers, besides tisba prayers and
vitr, to a special prayer commonly known as
tabaijud which the Quran describes as "naafelatan
laka" ("made additional for you"). Thus, there is
no trace in the whole corpus of the ahaadeeth of
any prayer separate and distinct from Tabaijud.
Even if it were so, to make it congregational (al-
jamaa'ah) should be regarded, strlctly speaking in
the technical sense, as a bldtab. Incidentally, the
common practice of a continuous 'reciting of the
Quran in this prayer In such a manner as' 'to finish
the whole of it well within Ute month of
. Ramadoan, cannot but be a bidtah accnrt'Uiu, tn john
288 '
schools.
What has been reported on the subject of the
so-called -Tarayeeh- makes it quite clear what the
Prophet's own intention was and how far his
premonition was justified. The relevant traditions,
of unquestionable authority, have been suitably
arranged below to facilitate due comprehension of
the position without any outside help:-
(a) t Aayeshah reports that the Prophet of'
Allah (peace be on him) was saying. his
prayers in the mosque one night and the
people joined in. Again, the next night,
when he was saying prayers quite a
crowd gathered behind him. Thereafter
on the third or fourth day, they
assembled again but he did not turn up,
and 'in the morning told them 'I did
notice . what you. did, but. nothing
prevented' me from coming out to you
ekcept the fear that it might become
obligatory you' (perhaps he meant,
by YQur constant observance). And this
happeried in the month of Ramadaan
. (Mu'atta: Imam Maallk)*20.
Both Bukhari and Muslim record an almost similar
report credit to Zaid bin Thaabit, which begins and
endcJ thus:' .
The Prophet (Peace be on him) had
I mprovised an enclosure in the mosque
wherein he said prayers. for a few nights
till the, people nocked to hi m
(He said) I feared that it might be
made obligatory for you (by the Quran) ..
If an injunction were revealed to that
effect,you might not keep it up. So, 0
People, you say your prayers at home,
for it1s beUer for a man to say his
prayers .at home except the obligatory
Dravers.
289
The above report Indicates that the Prophet was
probably "EttekuP (self-Imposed
seclusion during the last ten days or so of
Ramaddan). What Is difficult to understand Is why
Allah should take the cue from the people. Perhaps
Z$id bin Thaablt misunderstood the sense of what
the Prophet actually said. Probably the Prophet had
said to the effect ilLest You should take upon
yourselves Its. observance as a religious obligation".
(b) Abu Hurairah reports that the Apostle of
Allah used to commend saying additional
prayers ("Tabajjud") during lYlJDadaafl
without glvinJ .. a -fipm -order in that
respect. {Ma'tta Imam Maalik - Muslim
-also credits his reports to 'Abu
Hurairah) *22.
(c) Abu Dhar reports: II We used to fast
8.long with the Prophet of Allah but he
did not say prayers with tis in. that
month. till there remained last seven
days when he said prayers with us tlll
one-third of the night passed. On the
sixth night (counting from the last) he
did not say prayerswith us. When It was
the fifth night (counting from the last),
he said prayers with us tlll midnight
(Tlrmidhee, Abu Da'ood and Nasa'ee)*23
(d) 'Abdur Rahmaan bi 'AbdU Qaari said:
One night In the month of Ramadaan, I
went along with 'Umar bin al-Khattaab
to the mosque. There were different
people acting differently - a man was
saying his prayers all alone" while
another was being joined by a party of
men. So 'Umar said "It would. be beUer'
If I put them all under a Qaari
(Reciter). Then he deci.ded to put them
all under Ubayy bin Ke'b. Once again,
one night I went out with 'Umar 'and
'IA waWt'e ...... Ift .. ""-.1-
290
prayers jointly with their Qaarl. 'Umar'
said: What a good iDIIovat:loo this is"
(SaIaeeb ~ and lIu'atta Imam
Maalik)*24.
What strikes one as rather odd is that 'Umar
himself did not practise what he proposed to
others. Anyway, this is about the best source
material available to us on the subject. The reader,
I hope, should now be in a position to form his
own opinion about the traditional definition of
"bid'ah
lt
which created so much bad blood between
Deoband and Bareilly Schools of thought in the
subcontlne,nt.
ANIMAL SACRIFICE: The reader will be interested
to learn that sometl,mes conscientious people would
purposely give up acting in a particular way the
Prophet did, if they felt that people would
unnecessarily insist, in course of ti me, on its
observance as a Stmnab..lmam Ibn Hazm records a
tradition narrated by Ash-Shu'bi and Sufyaan Ath-
Thauri among others:
'Hudhaifah bin Usaid al-Ghafaari said
that he saw that Abu Bkr and 'Umar
(may Allah be pleased vlfth them) would
not' sacrifice the animal lest they might
be followed by others
(Al-Mullalla, Vol.7 Page 358)25
Ibn Hazm quotes Ibrahim (an Nakha'ee) as saying:
Abu 'Avaanah, on the authority of
Ibrahim reports that 'Umar would
perform the Hajj and would not sacrifice
an anmal. (Similarly) our mentors (As-
haaboDa), too, who possessed silver and,
gold (enough), would perform the Hajj
but would not sacrifice an animal. (Al-
MubaDa, Vol.7, Page 375)*26
. Perhaps that is the reason why Imam MaaUk made
291
it optional even for the pilgrim (committed to two
special types of Hajj known as qlraan and tamatu')
to offer the animal sacrifice at Makkah or Mina as
he pleased. It is, at any rate, accepted as optional
for an ordinary pilgrim (ltmutrld
tt
), that is one not
committed to qir_ or tamattu', to make or do
away with the animal sacrifice.
Thus it will be seen that, in spite of the
precaution taken by Abu Bakr and 'Umar, the
regular practice of animal sacrifice, and that too,
on an annual basis, gained currency. So much so
that, in the course of time, Abu Huralrah was
reported of coOlS'e "not on good authority"", to have
said that the Prophet felt so strongly about' the
customary animal sacrifice' that he had once
remarked: "He who is well-off and does not
sacrifice the animal may not come to our
congregation" . (At-Moha1la: Ibn. Hazm, Vol.7)*2T.
Obviously, either Abu Bakr and 'Umar were ill-
informed on the subject or were not sufficiently
well-off!
Referring to this particular report credited to
Abu Hurairah, Ibn Hazm observes:
As for the badeethcredited to Abu
Hurairah, all that is worth nothing.' Both
of its chains of narrators have one
, Abdullah bin ' Ayyaash who is not
regarded as trustworthy. (At-Muballa,
Vol.7}*28 .
Ibn Hazm further adds:
Any t:eport quoting any Companion of
the Prophet :to the effect that the
animal-sacrifice is quasi-obUgatory or
necessary (yaajib) is not true. That it is
not necessary is established
(At-MuhaDa, VolT, page 358)*29
292
OVER-ENTHUSIASM: Shah Valiullah of Delhi, in his
well-known book "Hujjat uUaJa U-BaaB ...... " in its
chapter entitled "Dab ul I'tisaam bU kitaab .a8
SunaaIa", while discussing the main source of
corruption (Btahreeftt) in the deen lists among
others the following two fors:
1. "Tashaddud lid-deeD", that is, the urge to
follow the "PeeD" the harder way in preference to
the easier way, in spite of the fact that deeD is
(made) easy to. follow ("ad-DeeDo Yusnm"); and
2. "Ta'.ammuq ftd-deeD" , tllat is, one's over-
enthusiasm in reading too in a particular
plain injunction or instruction - at any rate, more
than what was intended prima facie.
The fact of the matter is that no one would
ever llke to corrupt one's own rellgion. 'What
happens is that well-intentioned people, in their
over-enthusiasm, foolishly try their hand at
Improving upon the given SbarI'ah and, as a result,
affect the tone and te mper of their religion. It is
just like a quack trying to improve the efficacy of
a prescription by effecting changes in
the' prescribed of its ingredients with the
help . of the information available about their
properties in a book on materia medica. The
Introduction of "rohbaaDlyJah" ("Monasticism") by
the Jews into the Sbad'" of Prophet Moses as a
sophisticated form of "taqft" is an apt example
.cited by the Quran, of such an innovation (bid'.).
The road to it is said, is paved with good
intentions.
The real test to determine whether an
innovation is technically a bld'ah (a pernicious
innovation in the Sbarltah) or not, is whether 'in
not doing a desirable thing, one has a feeling of
guilt also or merely a feeling of sorrow. The
moment. a sense of gullt becomes associated with
its non-observance, even a desirable thing
("mustablb") becomes a bld'ah however desirable
293
its observance may have been. Generally speaking,
the only sensible criterion for the adoption of a
new practice or way of life should be that it does
not violate the eternal Quranic values and does not
hinder the performance of a reUgious duty or
obligation. To illustrate the point rather than make
a suggestion, I would make bold to observe that a
bush-shirt, for exa mple, would perhaps appear to be
more suited to the Islamic wa, of life than a
sb.erYaDl which has to be taken off before one
performs the obligatory ablutions prescribed for the
daily prayers. It would be foolish to discourage the
adoption of anything permissible In the sense of not
being forbidden even by implication, or to declare
it as an outrageous innovation (Bld'ala) merely
because it Is not traceable In the Prophet's life.
It is reported that once t Adi bin Haatlm asked
the Prophet what Allah meant by saying: "They
took their learned m en an monks as lords beside
Allah" Ox: 31)*30, for the Jews and the Christians
never considered their "learned men" (alabaar) and
their, "people of piety" (WRobbaaaft) to be Divine
beings. The Prophet is reported to have quipped in
reply: "Why, do they not concede them the right to
declare a. thing permitted (HalaaI) or forbidden
(Haraam) on their own, and do they they not
accept their verdict as gospel truth? (Vide: Tafaeer
Ibn Katbeer. Part U).
GUMPSES OF PERSONALn'T: With this necessary
background, the reader, I hope, will gain consider-
able insight into the character-pattern of the
Prophet from the random Sample given below of
the .most prominent characteristics of his normal
conduct as a man and a mentor, culled from the
most trustworthy records
1. Abu Sa'eed al-Khudrt is reported to have
said that the Prophet was extre mely modest and
bashful like a young unmarried girl (MIDaJ.'azraa'
lee Khldrlba - "a virgin kept in seclusion") and the
people could read the resentment In his face -
29.
ride: SaIaeeIa BI*IuIri and SaIIeell Muslim.
2. 'Aayesbah Is reported to have said that she
never saw -the. Prophet burst Into laughter.' He
would, at the most, smUe - vide: Sabeela Batbarl.
3. Again," Aayeshah is reported to have said
that the Prophet would not go on 'speaking hastily
without a break. He WOUld, as a rule, utter
sentences distinctly, giving due pause to each -
vide: Sa ...... Bllkllari and SeIIeeII Muslim.
Anas bin Maalik reports that once the
Prophet, asked him to go and do a certain job.
Being young and rather free with the Prophet, he
said: "No, 1 won't go", although there was no
intention of disobeying him. Anas says he was
standing in a lane where boy. were playing, and
the Prophet came from behind, caught him by the
neek and smlllngly said, " Anas, you are going
where I told you, isn't it?" - SaIIeell M..urn.
5. The sa'me narrator reports that tbe Prophet
would never use harsh or foul language and that '
the utmost. he. would say in anger (tinclal mattabU)
to anyone was -turaba jabelllOlMlo" (Be his
forehead besmeared with dust) - ride: SaIleeb
BukIIari.
6. ' Aayeshah Is reported to bave said that as
far as possible the Prophet would alway. go in for
the easier alternative available and that he never
believed in paying off old scores (-m_taqelllllD Ie
.fsllaee
tl
) ~ ride: .SaIIeeIa Butbari and SaIleeb
Muslim.
7. Anal' bin . Maalik reports tbat tbe Prophet
would be the last to withdraw hia hand after a
hand-shake - vide: Jaame tTIrmIdIaL
8. . The Prophet is reporled to have Instructed
his two representatives, Ma'aadh bin Jabal and Abu
Musa aI-Ash'ari, whom he sent to Yeman as
instructors:
295
(See that you) make things easy (for the
people) rather than difficult, cheer
rather than scare them and cooperate
with each other. (SaIaeeII Bukbari and
Sabeeb Mus1lm)*31
9. Some one addressed him by saying "Ya
Kbairal Bad"ah" (no the best of the whole
world"). The Prophet at once stopped him IJy saying
"dbaaka Ibrablm" ("that was Ibrahim", only
Abraham deserved it) - vide: Saheb Bukbari.
10. Both Bukhari and Muslim report:
"'Umar quotes the Prophet as saying: Do
not lavish praises on me the way the
Christians did on the Son of Mary. Verily
I am just His slave (devoted servant). So
call me 'Slave of Allah and His
Prophet'.*32
11. Bukhari reports:
Abu Hurairah quotes the Prophet as
saying that he who believes in Allah and
the Hereafter shall not harm his
neighbour, and (similarly) whoever
believes" iit Allah and the Hereafter shall
entertain his guest with due honour.*33
12. Abu Da-'ood records in his S..-:
Sahl bin Sa 'ad quotes the Prophet as
saying: Be mindful of Allah's displeasure
in your treatment of these dumb
animals. Ride them only when they are
fit and sound and eat them only when
they are fit and sound.*34
13. Bu"khari records:
I Abdullah bin 'Umar quotes" the Prophet
as saying that woman "is the controller
296
of her husband's Imusehold. and his
children 3 5
14. Bukharl reports -the Prophet as ,saying:
Woman is like a rib. If you try to
straighten It, you will break It; and if
you want to make use of it, you will
have to put up with its bend 38
15. Bukharl reports:
'Abdullah bin' Amar bln-Il-' Aas quotes
the Prophet as saying, "Greet with peace
both whom you know and whom you do
not know 37
16. Abu Da'ood records:
, Aayeshah reports that once (her half
sister) Asmaa bint . Abl Bakr, called on
the Prophet while . she was dressed in
thin (revealing) clothes. The Prophet
turned his face away from her and
remarked, "0 Asmaa, when a girl comes
of age, it is not proper for her that any
part of her body be seen except this and
this", and he pointed to his face and
hands.38
17. Bukhari reports:
Abu Hurairah quotes the Prophet as
saying, "Beware of susplc.ion (based on
conjecture), for a suspicion (based on
conjecture) is the worst thing to talk
about Do not probe or pry into others'
affairs ... Uves as brothers, 0 Creatures of
Allah.39
18. Bukharl reports the ,,"ophet as saying;
A Muslim Is one from whose tongue and
hand (other) Muslim feel safe.*40
297
19. Bukhari report the Prophet as saying:
None of you can be Faithful in the real
sense, unless he likes for his brother
what he likes for himself. (Sabeeh:
Kltaabul Eemun)*41
20. Bukhari records: .
Abu Dhar reports that he heard the
Apostle of Allah say, t A person accusing
another of being a 'raasiq'(transgressor)
or a Kaaflr (Disbeliever) will only get
the evil thereof rebounded upon himself
if the other person is not what he
says.*42
21. Bukharl records:
Abu Bukrah (not Abu Bkr) reports that
he . heard the Prophet of Allah say: When
two Muslims meet each other with
swords, both the' murderer and the
victim will be consigned to Hell. I said,
"0 Apostle of Allah, this one is a
murderer, but what the victim?" He
said, 'Why, he, too, was keen on
murdering his companion. *43
22. Bukhari reports:
Jareer bin 'Abdullah quotes the Prophet
as saying that he who has no mercy for
others, should expect no mercy (from /'
Allah) for himself.*44
23. Bukhari reports on the authority of SaId bin
Abl Vaqqas:
Verily it Is better that you leave your
heirs wen-off than 'your leaving them
destitute, begging ot people.*45
298
It will be seen that the bulk of his teachings is
of universal application deducible from the Quran
itself. However, It is sad to reflect that, instead of
spotlighting the social aspects of bis teachings
available In abundance from apparently dependable
. sources, there is more emphasis today on things of
a topical and strictly personal nature having little
or no relevance to our conte mporary conditions.
What is more regrettable is that the material is.
generally collected from questionable sources and Is
often of a ~ y i s i v nature which can only encourage
centrifugal rather than centripetal tendencies

298
CHAPTER-20
PAMILY AND BOIIB LlFB-1
The home life of a person deserves the highest
consideration In the .evaluatlon of his personality. It
Is . bere that he Is off .hls guard, cut to his size,
and in truC' colours.' We can, therefore, safely
assert that a man Is as good as his home life. To
that effect, there Is a saying popularly attributed
to the Prophet: "The best among you is one who Is
"best (disposed) to his people (family)"t. Abu 'Isa
Muhammad bin 'Isa Tlrmidhee, in his Jaame',
records it in more explicit terms: "The best among
you are those who are best (disposed) to their
womenfolk"2.
The Prophet's home Ufe, in the real sense,
began at the age of 25 when he married Khadijah,
a widow older in age. Povidentially, it happened as
it should have, for her maturer approach to life
provided that elderly care, counsel and solace,
which as a motherless orphan the Prophet had
hitherto missed and which, inCidentally, he needed
most in that period of his life. We know how she
comforted him and stood by him devotedly when he
was distraught with the bizarre experiences of the
early days of his prophethood. If there were
I Aayeshah, or any other girl of her age, in place
of Khadijah of maturer age and experience, she
would have probably added to, rather than lessened,
his troubles in those stormy days of anxiety and
adverSity.
That 25 long years of the best part of his life
he spent devotedly with Khadijah and Khadijah
alone we, in itself, a rare testimony of their
mutual love and devotion in the polygamous society
of Arabia. Incidentally, all his Issues, except
Ibrahim, born of Maria, the Copt, were from
Khadijah. It was some tilne after Khadijah's. death,
, when he was well over fifty and in the midst of
the storm raised against bls mission, that he
married another widow of a mature age, Soodah, to
look after bls young daugbters, Faatimah, who was
not even 10 yet, and Umme KuUboom, whose
engagement bad been broken by t Utalbab bin Abi
Lahb only a few years before. -
After he had mjgrated to Madinah, the first
marriage he contracted was that with t Aayeshah in
2 A.H. Except for her and perbaps Maria the Copt,
preaented to bim by the Muqowqls, all his wives
were either widows or divorcees. At a tlme when
he was called -upon to address himself to the
serious probleu. of establishing a new social order
in the world, what be needed most was some kind
of homely diversion by way of respite, which the
exuberant . t Aayeahah, in tbe prime or ber youth,
was well. suited to provide, and in
that, perhaps, even Khadijah WOUld. not bave been
able to matcb her.
In days, the plurality of w.ives was the
rule ratber -than an exception. Historically speaking,
one wife -was a rarity ev. In the case of the
Biblical prophets.. Is evident. from the Old
Testament. In tact, biologically as well as sociolo-
gically, man bas ever been polygamous by nature
and a woman could not but be monogamous because
of ber social obliptions aad legal implications in
respect of tbe Issues resultlngfrom ber martial
contracts. How could society give ber the right to
foist an Issue of anyone else on wbomsoever she
chose arbitrarily? Far from lust, it seems it could
not even be mere normal sexual urge which
promoted the Prophet to have more than one wife
in tbe bectic days of tbe Medinite pertodor his
life. Incidentally, all the wives he took in Madinah,
except Maria. tbe Copt, remained Issueless; and
Ibrahim have born only at the fag-end or his Ufe,
late in 8. A.H. and died In 10 A.H. a year before
bis' own demise. To get some Idea of the Prophet's
pre-occupations of tbose days, let us bave a look
. at tbe following roup-and-ready cbart of his major
engagements, drawn on the basis of the hidn .. t ....
t
301
records handed down to us:
. Yean
1 A.H. Arrival in Madinah in Rabl'.ul Avval
necessary arrangements for the
community's s t t ~ m n t in a new place -
construction of the mosque.
2 A.H. Treaties with neighbouring tribes - Battle
of Badr In Ramadaan - Action against
Banu Qainoqaa' in Shavval.
3 A.H. Action against Banu an-Nadeer in Rabi'ul
A vval - Battle of Uhud in Shavval.
4 A.H. Action against various perfidious tribes-
against Banu Mustaliq in Sha'baan.
5 A.H. Battle 'of Ahzaab in Shavv81 - Action"
against Banu Quralzah in Dhu Qa'dah.
6 A.H. Treaty of Hudalbiyyah in Dhu Qa'dah ...
Peace campaign launched - Letters despat ...
ched to various chiefs and Heads of
States.
7 A.H. Battle of Khalbar from Moharram to' Safar
- 'Umratul Qadaa' undertaken according to
the. treaty of Hudaib'iyyah in Dhu Qa'dah.
8 A.H. Mautah Expedition in Jumadul oola
Conquest of Makkah in Ramadaan - Battle
of Hunain in Shavval - Siege of Taa-ef.
9 A.H. The year of Deputations - Arrival of more
than fifty delegations - Battle of Tabook
from Rajab to Ramadaan.
10 A.H. Administrative and social measures, tying
. '. of loose ends. . ' .. ' .
11 A.H. Demise in Rabl'ul Avval, the 3rd month of
302
As Is evident ftom the foregoing sample analysis'
of his major engagements Involving long, pains-
taking and time-consuming preparations, the tight
schedule allowed him very limited time and scope
for the enjoyment or home life in the real sense.
Within these obvious llmltations, he could at best
acquit himself . barely, thoup equitably, of his
responsibWties towards his farnUy. No doubt, it was
extremely hard on his wives' who naturally
demanded more attention and care than he could
afford to provide. Such demands at times distressed
him a lot. Once he suspended bis contacts with his
wives altogether for about a month and, on that-
account, gloom overtook the people around him, not
knowing what the matter was. At least, he was
instructed by Allah to make a generous offer to his
wives thus:
o Prophet! Say unto thy wives. If you
desire this wordly 'Ufe and its
embellishment, come on, I shall give you
what is due to you and part with you
with a gOod parting. But If you desire
Allah, . His Prophet and the abode of the
Hereafter, then. Allah has certainly
prepared for the good among you a
great reward. (xxxill:28-29)*3
. . .
He went round his wives, conveying the offer
and seeking individual option. It so happened that
everyone of his wives gave one- and only answer
but inSisted, in a spirit of innocuous rivalry, that it
should not be. qisclosed to others. Since they all
opted for Allah and His Prophet, Allah accorded
them a special status of being "motbers
ll
of the
Faithful (Umma .... tutum) and rewarded them
w.lth the declaration . that they were not
to be treated like ordinary women (xxxiii: 32)*4.
On that account, the' Prophet was forbidden to
divorce anyone of them, to have thereafter (7
A.H.) anyone else. as wife In place of anyone of
his wives who had already passed tbe test. Thus,
the following Injunction, 'in fact, denied the Prophet
303
a right which every one else enjoyed.
Hereafter it Is not permissible for thee
to take (other) women (as wives), nor
(is it permitted) that thou takest them,
even' though their beauty pleases thee,
except those thy right hand possessed
(that is, those you .... already rightfully
possessed) In place of thy wives.
(x!1tx1U: 52)*5
This gives the Ue to the baseless C"QI'ge- that-the -
Prophet enjoyed any special -privtrege in the matter
of taking as many wives as he wished.
QUBAN DISCOURAGES POLYGAMY: The relevant
verse from Surah An-Nisaa
t
Is as follows:
And -If you felif that you wiU not. ~
able to do (full) justice to orphans (that
Is, the unprotected and shelterless)
marry of the women those you fancy, in
twos, threes and fours (that is, In any
number). But if you fear' that you
cannot treat them. equitably then have
(only) one or (be content with) that
which your right hands p ~ e s s e d (that
Is, you already possessed rightfully). In
that case, It would be more likely that
you would not at unjustly. (tv: 3)*8
Here, In the first place, it should be noted that
the verse does not constitute an enabling clause,
bestowing any new right that one did not already
have In the polygamous society of tbe time, but,
taken as a whole, It is restrictive in sense and
application, particularly In view of the Quranlc
observation made later In the same surah: "And ye
will never be able' to deal equitably between
women (wives) however much ye wish"(tx:12)*1
The expression -Au Mea .".kat Almanokum- In
the text. lIterallv "
304
possessed", which, in fact idiomatically meant "Or
what you rightfully or lawfully possessed (at the
time)". This expression, as explained. earlier,
indic,ted that the new injunction was not to have
retrospective effect but gave protection to all
transactions, relationship which had been
permissible before the new law came. into
operation. It, in fact, covered all relationships
considered lawful among the pagan Arabs before
the advent of Islom.
Similarly; since there was no express injunction
in the Quran against Mut'ah - a marriage of
convenience, avowedly. temporary ab-initio,
presumably peunisslble even in the Jewish society
of time - the Prophet at first connived at It, or
might have even permitted it, sparingly and
grudgingly as a lesser evil till in the light of tile
verse xvii: 32, (And go not near fornication ), he
was clear in his mind that it transgressed the spirit
of the Quranic marital stat1Js and actually bordered
on debauchery. There are connicting' reports about
the ti me and occasion when it was. finally
prohibited for good. It appears most Ukely that he
decried it as' a bad institution of. Khaibar (1 A.H.)
and. prohibited it after the fall of Macca (8 A.H.).
At any rate, it was on the occasion of 'Umratul
Qadaa
'
(1 A.H.) or Hijjatul Vidaa
'
(10 A.H.) that a
final public declaration was made to that effect
for all time to come.
With reference to the word ItYataamalt(orphans)
in . the relevant verse cited above from Sunh An-
NIsaa', it should be particularly noted that what is
relevant to the context is their "lack of protection
or shelter" and not the age of the orphans. Thus,
the connotation of the word "Yataama need not
be restricted to refer to "orphan children" only but
reasonably extended to cover "those rendered
shelterless and unprotected" or, what is preferable,
the word Itaa-NIsaa' in the verse be taken to
mean the "women left with orphans".
305
It is the misreading of the Quran due to an
inexplicable lack of comprehension of the
expression "matbaa 8 tbulaathe Va Rubaa" in the
Sarah aa-Nillaa
t
(tv: 3) that the impression is
abroad that the Quran forbids more than four wives
at a. time. In actual fact, the expression does not
mean "upto four" as is popularly believed but
conveY$ the sense of "several" or "as many as you
Uke". Similar expressions occur elsewhere in the
Quran in different contexts which contra-indicate
the popularly accepted sense. For example, it is
said. in the SUrab Saba: " that you stand up for
Allah in twos and one by one (that is, singly and
collectively) " (xxxiv: 46)8. Obviously, it does
not mean that we are asked to offer prayers only
in pairs if we like and not collectively in a body
(Jamma'at). In fact the same expression has been
used in Surab Faatir (also called Sarah al-
Malaatekah) about angels thus:
messengers having wings in twos,
threes and fours (that is, several, that
is, as many as you think of). (xxxv:Ug
Here the.re is no ambiguity about the sense of
the Arabic idiom in the above quoted verse, since
no commentator of the Book takes tbe view that
angels have "upto four" wings at the most. All are
agreed that the expression simply connotes
"plurality" and not any fixe4 number. Otherwise,
the minimum would be two wives at a time and
ODe in exceptional cases. Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan
of Bhopal, a well-known savant. and traditionist of
his time, observes: "It is more proper to argue that
the prohibition of exceeding the limit of four is
based on the authority of Sunnab (tradition) and
not of the Quran" (Tatseer Pat-bul Ba,88O:
Vol.II)10.
It will not be out of place to mention that the
"tradition" most relevant to the subject, reporting
that one Qais bin Haarith, who happened to have
more than four wives at the time, was advised by
306
the Prophet' to' have only four and divorce the rest,
was dismissed by I Allamah" Sbaukaanl as- unreliable
on the ground that one 'of the narrators, Ibn Abl
Laila (Muhammad 'Abdur-Rehmaan). was not ,trust-
worthy (vide: Nall-w-Autaar Vol.S). Besides, from
the point of view of Diraayat (evaluation of the
text itself) as distinguished from "RavaaJ8t"
(evaluation of narrators), this "tradition" can not
be accepted as sound. much less, true. since Qais
bin Ha&rith had' had the legal protection of the
Quran in the saving clause "that which your right
hands possessed". that is, Dyou rightfully possessed"
at the ,end of the verse after the word tlone". (Fa
VaabidataD). Moreover, marriage is a contrac.t
which cannot be. nullified by one party in a self-
prescribed manner," without any .reason; for
otherwise the particular prescribed procedure of
divorce would become meaningless.
PLURAIJTY WITH A DIFFERENCE: However odd it
may sound in' the 20th century, the fact rematns
that the Prophet thought it fit to take divers
women as wives . from diverse tribes and societies,
presumably to bring into focus his own private life
from every angle possible and to provide for
posterity as much material as possible on inti mate
subjects and problems from the feminine point of
view for aU women, young or old, intimated or
uninitiated into the intricacies of married Ufe. Just
as tbere were numerous. men extensively reporting
on the public life of the Prophet so were there, it
seems, a convincing number ,of women, intimately i
associated with. him. to report purposefully on the
home life or so-called private :life of the Prophet
so that their accounts can .now meet the ordinary
requirements of the, law. of evidence as well as \
satisfy the demands of the traditionists. 1'1
Important issue. of religious importance concerning
women in could not be left to be
determined by one or two stray reports.
This is just a subjective appreciation of the 1
. plurality of wives in the case of the Prophet. There
307
. may well be some objective justification froPl other
points of view. For example, marriages have always
been, through the ages, potent means of cementing
relations between disparate tribes. Providentially,
among his wives, we find, on the one hand,
daughters of innuential tribal chiefs, such as Umme
Habibah ("RamIah", by name), daughter of Abu
Sufyaan, the powerful ~ u r f s h chief and Juvairiyah,
daughter of AI- Haarith bin Abi Durar, chief of
Banul-Mustaliq; and, on the other hand, women
belonging to the Jewish nobility like Safiyyah or to
the Christian community like Maria the Copt.
It is extremely distressing to note that from the
nauseating rubbish handed down to us on this
particular subject by our writers, it is almost
impossible to have any clear idea of his marital
status, of bow many wives the Prophet had after
all . We hang our heads in shame when we read
some of the wives and comments of Western
writers, Orienlatists, not altogether unjustified in
view of the material made available to them. They
take pains in bringing out well-documented pieces
of research, though very often highly motivated,
based on the works of our learned writers. Instead
of cursing ourselves we curse others, and brazen-
facedly demand proscription of their works lest our
captive intelligentsia should be seduced to think for
themselves.
BLASPHEMOUS EXERCISE: It is claimed that there
is consensus of the "traditionists" that the number
of the Prophet's wives was eleven in all. But
unfortunately their subsequent hair-splitting makes
nonsense of the so-called consensus. They
categorize, in their wisdom, the marital status of
the Prophet's wives into "UYaaj" (Wives), .umme
yalad" (a slave-girl, having given birth to a child,
presumably out of wedlock!) ftmUke ,ameen"
(slave-girl used as a keep!) and "Vaahibah
ft
- a non-
descript category, "one who made a gift of her
body to the Prophet"! I crave Allah's indulgence
for being driven to quote such blasphemous rubbish
308
about the holiest of the holy in order to rouse the
conscience of the captive Intelligentsia.
One would be shoCked to learn that, beside the
eleven agreed names of wives, there are several
others recorded by "traditionists" as intimately
BIIIOCIated with the person of the Prophet whose
marital status is still in dispute and has to-date
been debated upon. by "traditlonists" in all
seriousness. For example, Maria the Copt, who gave
birth to the Prophet's last issue,. Ibrahim, has not
been accorded the status of a wife! So is the case
of Rehaariah, a Jewess of Banu an-Nadeer, who,
according to Ibn' S' ad, was duly married to the
Prophet, but is generally held to be almost a keep!
There is a very interesting report about
Safiyyah recorded by a tradlUonist of the Nt&-
stature of Muslim. To quote it partially:
The people said: "There is no knowing
whether the Prophet has (formally)
married her or has taken her as an
"Umme Valad." (that is, Ita keep having
given birth to a child"). They said if he
kept her behind a screen ("Hljaab") she
was his wife and if he did not, she was
just an "Umme Valal". So when he
intended to ride the mount, he put her .
behind the screen (Sabeeh Musnm)U
This would seem to bave over-simplified the
matter. But the patent absurdity was presumably
overlooked by the learned "traditionist" and his
authorities or narrators, of describing a newly-wed
women' as the "mother of a child", to which she,
_incidentally, never gave birth before or aCter.
Besides, the so-called "sound (saheeh) report
quoted above raises a very pertinent question: Why
is it that this simple criterion was not to be
applied to Maria the Copt, who was not only "kept
behind the screen" but also gave birth to a child
recognized I>y the Prophet to be his legal issue?
309
Here . we should recall the Prophet's own precept
recorded by Bukharl on the authority of Abu Musa:
If one has a .. slave-girl and he gives her
training (how to read and write) treats
her well and then sets her free and
marries her, he will entitled to two
rewards.
{Saheeb Bukbari: Kitaabul 'nm)*12
It is all so disgusting. It is in moments like this
when one with an average intelligence Is left witt.
a simple choice between. the sanctity of the
Prophet and the authenticity of our "traditionists" I
however much respected for their learning, scholar-
ship, industry and piety they may be.
The fact of the matter is that, unfortunatelYI
the greatest obsession with the seemingly most
sedate and stoical of our writers is sex, whict
explains the avidity with which they seize upon all
street gossip and loose talk about the private lifE
of the most revered of persons and, in fact, give
colour to their accounts of the home life of the
Prophet. It is such stuff which has provided
munition to the enemy guns trained upon Islam and
its, Prophet.
It cannot be denied that no healthy social
system can afford to ignore the potentialities of
the creative power of sex in lite; but what is
perhaps not realized as fully as it should be is
that, like atomic energy, it is capable of being
cbannelled for constructive purposes as well as of
being released to cause elemental destruction. Sex
is not just the spice of life. It is a sheer necessity
upto a point, beyond which it becomes mere
vulgarity. How lightly the writers have treated this
aspect of the Prophet's life is typified by the
following instances which we would have dismissed
with the contempt they deserved, had they not
been recorded by some of the most eminent
rttraditionists" such as Bukhari and Muslim.
310
SLANDEROUS STORIES: It Is generally held thal
when the spoUs of the battle of Khalbar were
being distributed, Dehya Kalbi. obtained Safiyyah
daughter of a wen-known Jewisb chief, Hoyye blr
Akhtab, and wife ofanotber Jewish Chief
Kanaanah bin . AbU H()qaiq,as _ share. of
booty, witb tbe _ prIor- consentofta.e
People took -_t() it,because of her per$ona
status, and that she deserved none . excepl
the . Prophet hi mself. ("Ia taaJ.ebo. Dlaa Jake")
Bukhari' however, in his accounts of the conques
of Khaibar, records another.- version of the -
also, credited to Anas bin Maallk, whicb says:
When Allab caused the fort be
conquered -by him, some one mentioned
the beauty of Safiyyah, daughter of
Hoyye bin Akhtab, and that her husband
had been .kllled while she was still a
brIde. So the Prophet (Peace be on him)
chose her for himself.
(Saheeh BukharU*13
In this connection, it is interesting to note tliat
although as a name, was as common as
Zainab, certain writers maintain that "Safiyyah"
was not her real name and that her name was
Zainab, but she was called "SaDnab" .because,
from the word "Istafa" meaning "to choose", the
'master's share' in the booty was called "sati".ab"
(the first choice of the master). .
In a similar vein both Bukhari and Muslim
record almost a lurid story about one Juvainiah
(Bintul Ja.). They say that once wbile an Arab
woman "was being discussed", the Prophet asked
Usaid lito fetch her". When she was brought, the
Prophet "drew near her" and proposed to her by
saying: t'Give yourself up to me".14. She
disapproved the overture and withdrew herself in
disgust by saying: "I seek Allah IS protection from
thee!"*15. This purports to be the account of the
affair recorded by eminent "trQditionists". Here the
311
eminence of the "traditionlsts" is to -be weighed
against our reverence tor the Prophet. It Is left to
the good sense of the reader to Judge for himself
If our foregoing remarks, however harsh they might
have sounded at first, for the IrresponSible
reporting, were really gratuitous and un-merited.
FACTUAL POSITION: Appended below is a state-
ment giving a list or the Prophet's wives, thirteen
in number by a judicious and authentic reckoning,
with the requisite Information one would need for
due apprecla tion of the subject under discussion.
Particular attention Is Invited to the determination
or r Aayeshah I sage:
312
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313
1. Kbadijab Blnt Kbwailld
Sister-in-law of the Prophet's aunt, Safiyyah,
wife of Al-' A vvam bin Khwallld. The question of
her age has already been - discussed earlier (vide:
Chapter Five).
2. Soodab
Her maternal grand-father was maternal uncle
of 'Abdul Muttalib, the Prophet's grand-father. Her
husband Sukraan died in Ethiopia leaving her all
alone. The date of her death is disputed. More
reliable reports indicate that she died towards the
'end of 'Umar's caliphate, that Is, before 23 A.H.
3. 1 Aayesbab
Abu Bakr's daughter. Her age at the time of
marriage (2 According to some reports, one
year before the Battle of Badr, i.e., 1 A.H. The
author has relied on majority reports,was obviously
understated. With studied ignorance, shets supposed
to have been married at the ridiculously young age
of 9 and widowed at 18. Her recognized erudition
and mature mind, her deep insight into men and
matters, ber vast grasp and sound judgement on
religious and temporal affairs, all bespeak ,of ,long
years of grounding and sustained application before
marriage. we find two very amazing
statements, which go ill together, attributed to
'Aayeshah herself. According to Muslim, she is
reported to have stated that the Prophet "lived
with her as husband and wife when she was' a girl
of nine years
tt
*16. Now, even if it were plausible,
the other statement credited to her and recorded
by both Muslim and Bukhari, the two redoubtable
traditionists, . that "I used to play with dolls before
the Prophet
tl
*17, should sound much less plausible
for a girl of nine in a country like Arabia,
particularly when we are told on the authority of
Bukharl that a year later she was seen in the
battle Uhud (3 A.H.) carrying water-skins and
attending to the wounded and that even men, older
in age, were allowed /to accompany the army.
Valillddln Muhammad bin 'AbdlUah al-Khateeb,
314
well-known ,for his compilation of selected
traditions entitled lIJabkatul.".heeb, in his
treatise on nmur BIjaal entitled "A1-lkmal tee
AahDa Ir-JUjeal., mentions that 'Aayeshah was 10
years younger" than her sister Asmaa(known as
Dbaatun N1t88Q8ID), who died in ,13 A.H.at tbe
age' of about 100 years. Thus 'Aayeshah could not
be less' tban 11 in 2' A.H. when she was married to
the Prophet. Apparently she looked much younger
than her age. Any way, Histwian Ibn Katheer (died
in 113 A.H.) also corroborated VaJiuddin whUe
noticing the (Ieath of her half sist." Asmaa, ,under
"the year 13 A.H."*18. '
4.' Hatsab ,
--'Umar's daughter - 4 or 5 years older than
, Aayeshah - seven of her near' relat,iofts, (including
her' uncles and 'first' 'cousins) participated In the
battle- of Ba<4'. 'Marvan bin al-H.kam,as, qovernor
of Madlnah, 'led her funeral prayer in the time of
Mu' aaviyab ..
5. ZeIMb'(Sealor) ,
Nicknamed "Ummal .... ("mother' of the
needy") bee-Use of her 'phllanthropy, she was the
widow of 'Abdullah bin Jahsh,brother of Zainab
(Junior), who was martyred in the battle of Uhud.
EarUer she was married to 'Ubaldah bin al-Haarlth,
the first '
6. iliaci: ,(Umpae, Salmab)
Widow .of Abu Salmah 'AbduUa .... foster-brother
of both the Prophet and Hamzah, who'died as a
result of injuries sustained, in the battle of Uhud, '
leaving cbildren. The, date of ber death is not
certain. There, is wide divergence between the
dates reported. Some reports seem to be politically
motivated.
T. Zainab (Jaalor)
'The Prophet's fist cousin from his aunt
Umaimah, on the Prophet's desire, was first
. married to Zaid 'bin Haarlthah, Khadijah' s , slave
.
315
whom the Prophet had adopted,. long before
adoption was declared illegal by the Quran. She
was divorced by Zald. against the Prophet's advice,
because of temperamental maladjustment - one was
probably sutterlng from inferiority complex whUe
the other trom superiority complex. Thereupon,
after' much deliberation the Prophet decided to
marry her perhaps to compensate her for her
injured pride. Incidentally, Zaid later on, married
of her sisters, Hablbah blnt Jahsh.
This background should have given the lie to the
patently absurd, foul rumours spread by enemies, to
which our own gullible writers gave currency, that
once the Prophet visited Zaid's place in his absence
and was struck by the beauty of his wlte and that
Zaid came to know of the Prophet's IncUnatlon. So
on aftd so forth. It is urifair to condemn Western
writers when, of all our writers, Ibn .Jare,w; at-
Tabarl, by whose "authenticity" we generally swear,
considered it worthwhile to record this' In his
commentary on the Quran and gave a handle to
this absurd vile propaganda.
L Jnalrl,.aa
Daughter of Haarith bin Abi Durar, Chiet of
Banul MustaIlq, a clan ot Banu Khuzatah, married
to Musaafey bin Satvaan, who was presumably
killed In action: She was taken prisoner as a result
of the action against Banul-MushaUq. She pleaded
that because of her status, .she did not Uke to
serve as a slave-girl and asked a loan from the
Prophet to payoff her The Prophet oftered
her the option to live with him as husband and
wife If she so desired.
RamIM:(Umme Habibah)
Daughter of Abu Sutyaan, balt-sister of
Mu'aavi,ah and a first cousin of 'Uthmaan bin
, Artaan, she separated trom ber husband,
'Ubaidullah bin Jahsh, brotherot Zalnab (Junior)
. who, after having migrated to Ethiopia, turned
....... _-_.-
316
sister-In-law of both' Zalnab the senior and Zainab
the Junior. All biographers of the Prophet' are
agreed that she was married to the Prophet "by
proxy" in Ethiopia. The ruler of Habshah (Ethiopia)
married her to the Holy Prophet in his absence in
accordance with the latter's instructions.
lO.Reb .....
Widow of a Jewish' nobleman of Banu Quralzah.
Age is not known.
11. SalIn-
Born of a noble Jewish famUy which traced its
descent from Prophet Haaroon, and widow of
Kanaanah bin AbU Iloqaiq, a Jewish chief, she was
taken prisoner in the battle of Khalbar.
12.MarIa, tile Capt
A Christian Copt girl (of a Roman mother) sent
by the Muqowiqis of Alexandri.' to the Prophet as a
present. Whether she belonged to a noble famUy or
not, she was not, at any rate, taken prisoner. Why
the Prophet should have insisted as reported, on ,
keeping her as a slave-girl (or keep) and denying
her the rightful, status of a wife is beyond
comprehension. Maybe the erroneous impression was
created because of the fact that none of the
existing "chambers" (-Hujuraat-) reserved for wives
was vacant at the moment and she as well as
Rehaanah were given' separate accommodation. In
fact, she lived in a garden in the suburbs of
Madlnah (' Ayaali).
13 .... mooaaIa
She comes last among the wives of the Prophet
in point of time. Since all. her sisters were married
in very respectable fa mutes, ahe was considered to
be highly connected. She was a sister-in-law of
'Abbas and Harnzah, the Prophet's uncles. One of
her sisters was Khaalid bin Valeed's mother.
Another sister, Asmaa blnt 'Umais, was first
married to oJa' far bin Abl Taallb and gave birth to
317
t Aon and others, and after his death to Abu Bakr
and gave birth to Muhammad bin Abl Bakr (who
rose against 'Uthmaan), and after that to I Ali bin
Abi Taallb and gave birth to Yehya and I Aon bin
I Ali.

~ : ..

3.18
CHAPTER-21
PAMILY AND BOMB LlPB-1
It will be seen from the table given above that
out of the thirteen wives - of whom elev.en are
accepted 'by "traditlon!sts" - three died tn the life-
time of the Prophet. It was only. in late 7 A.H.,
when the Prophet was 59, that they totalled eleven
and that, too, by our reckoning - ride: the chart
given in the previous chapter. If Rehaanah and
Maria the Copt 'are excluded, as the "traditionists"
insist for no, plausible reason, they could never, at
any point of time, be eleven In number. Neverthe-
l ~ s s Bukharl, records a report credited to Anas on
the authority. of Qataadah, which is as follows:
"Qataadab report Anas as saying that the
Prophet (Peace be on him) . used to go
round (alI) his women (wives) at one
ti me In the day and night while they
were eleven (in numbed. Qataadah says:
1 asked ARas 1f the Prophet could
possibly'-make it? He replied, we used to
discuss that he (the Prophet) was gifted
with ... " (Saheell BukbarO*l
(The underlined portion of the text given under
TEXTUAL REFERENCES at the end of the book has
been purposely left untranslat .. d).
Both the query and the reply reflect on the
mentality of those whose lead generation after
generation of Muslims; have been called upon to
follow. with, an implicit faith. It-appears as if the
Prophet's "going round". '("JacIaoro", a synonym for
.Yatoofo) could .have h'1ld no purpose other than
wpat they themselves had in mind. Even in
gossiping, only a person with a diseased mind will
let loose his imagination to run amock like this.
The fact of the matter is that, though the Prophet
would, as a rule, spend the night with each wlf.e by
turn. he would
318
wives dally any time he was free to enquire about
their welfare and day-to-day requirements .
He was meticulously fair and equitable in
treating his wives. Equitable treatment is not the
same thing as equal treatment. It demand<; due
consideration for other person's upbringing,
accomplishment and temperament. Perhaps this,
more than anything else, gave rise to all manner of
gossip among the servants and hangers-on of the
famUy. For example, the Prophet would pay more
attention and care to ' Aayeshah, uninitiated into
marital intricacies, than to those of his wives who
had already had some of their share 'Of conjugal
life earlier, so that she should not suffer from an
uneasy feeling of deprivation because of his age.
Maria the Copt, hailing from Egypt, was accommo-
dated separately because her way of life was
entirely different from that of a woman brought up
in the Arabia society. ..
, Aayeshah and Hafsah, both daughters' of the
Prophet's closest friends, were great chums, despite
petty rivalries that even full sisters sometimes
have. Hafsah was rather quick-tempered and sharp-
tongued; while ' Aayeshah was more balanced and
self-possessed like her father, Abu Bakr. The two
would sometimes presume on their privileged
position and had to be pulled up occasionally.
Zainab, the Junior, who, apart from being the
Prophet's first cousin and very dear to him, w.s fln
accomplished and good-natured l a ~ y She was,
however, a bit assuming and thought she had a
greater claim on the Prophet as a wife than any
one else.. Once she contemptuously referred to
8afiyyah aa a Jewess. The Prophet did not speak to
her for days on that account. Umme 8almah, widow
of the Prophet's foster-brother,' Abu 8almah.
t Abdullah bin 'Abdil Asad; was also a comely lady
of parts. But she was somewhat jealous of
'Aayeahah, and the Prophet had to rebuke her once
by saying,. "0 Umme Salmah, do not cause me
. grief in respect of 'Aayeshah". (Saheeb Ruthart:
Vol.one)*2
310
It cannot, however, be denied that in spite of
the number of women representing various shades
of culture, differing in outlook and taste, the
Prophet's famUy life was remarkably placid and
peacefuL Of course, for a busy person
having very Ultle time or his -own which he could
spare, for, sorting out things, It was almost a feat
of tlgbt-rope walking to dispense even-handed
justice to all. Once the Prophet noticed Safiyyah
sobbing. On enquiry, it transpired that 'Aayeshah
alld Hafsah taunted her by saying that by virtue of
daughters of the Prophet' I close friends, they
were superior to her, In status. The Prophet
. consoled her by saying that she should have very
well replied, that, by virtue of being' a direct
descendant of Prophet Haaroon, which she actually
was, she was related to both Prophet Haaroon and
Prophet Musa (Moses), besides being a wife of a
Prophet. It ,is such petty family blckerings, born of
small jealousies and rivalries, all too common in a
famUy of that size, that have been given undue
prominence and even magnified out of proportion
by certain Imaginative writers only to make their
garbled accounts spicy. '
AttACHMENT TO 'AAYESBAH: Surely, it was not
the physical charm or beauty which made
Aayeshsh 'so near and dear to the Prophet; for in
that respect, Saflyyah and Juvairlyah both had an
edge over her. Apart from her qualities of heael
and heart and her exuberant nature, the fact that
she had no previous experience of married life,
perhaps; made the Prophet comparatively more
solicitous for her wishes than for others'. He would
,cheerfully' allow girls of her age to amuse
themselves as they 'liked even in his presence. Once
'Umar was shocked at the abandon with which they
were Singing in the presence of the Prophet. On
another occasion, ' Aayeshah desired to witness a
dance being performed by a napess nearby. The
Prophet, in good humour, kept on standing as long
as she witnessed the performance over his
, shoulders. However, in site of his love and regard
321
for her, she was never allowed to. tread on the
corns of others. She . was taken to task even for
making an uncomplimentary remark about Khadijah
of cherished memorY. Once s"e herself confessed
that she never felt so jealous of anyone else as
she felt in the case of the late KhadiJah of whom
she heard so much from the Prophet.
'Aayeshah was large-hearted; she would readily
recognize merit wherever it was found - even if it
be Hassaan bin Thaablt, the poet, against whom she
had a real grievance because of his taking an
active part in the unpardonable campaign of
calumny against her. She is on record having paid
unreserved tributes to Zainab's piety and good
nature, to Safiyyah's talent for the culinary art
and Juv airiyah 's personal charm.
Notwithstanding her large-heartedness, p o p l ~ .
were somehow jealous of her. She was an eye-sore
to many wbo would not stop- at anything in
maligning her. This was not solely because she
. later challenged the authority of I AU when he
appeared to be procrastinating on the issue of the
shameless, cold-blooded murder of Caliph 'Uthmaan.
The uprising had been led by Muhammad bin Abi
. Bakr, her own half-brother and 'AU's. step-son and
ward whom. 'AU thought fit to appoint Governor of
Egypt in spite ot the former's admission that he
was one of those who entered the Caliph's house
fl,'om the rear with the .felonious intention. We /
know that 'AU had married Muhammad's mother,
Asmaa bint 'Umais, after Abu Bakr's death. All
manner of tendentious reports - some patently
false and others too lurid to be believed - were
toistedon I Aayeshah as "traditions", in the hope
that being credited to her authority anything would
. s s muster with the gullible people.
CAMPAIGN 0. CALUMNY: Once a storm raised
against her swept even the Prophet off Ills feet
.when her revilers actually succeeded in making a
mountain of a mole-hill and tried to paint an

inciijent as a dirty affair. The Prophet
could not but leave it to Allah to. sort it out. And
the Quran did take notice of it and declared it to
be "1fIam MubeeD (fta patent lieft) and "buhtaanun
Aleem" (fta great calumny") in the Sarah An-Noor
(xxiv - verses 11-16). The whole affair was
described as a conspiracy of a set of people*3.
Nothing had rufned the calm of the Prophet's
home Ufe as did this ugly affair.
In late 5 A.H., while the Prophet was returning
from an action agalnst Banul-Mustaliq, at some
place on the way, the camp was struck and
, Aayeshsh was inadvertently left behind. It so
happened th.at she had dropped somewhere her
necklace borrowed from her sister As,maa while
out to ease herself a short while before the march
was to She went out in search of it too long
a distance to rejoin the party in time. The camp
. marched off, carrying away her ha", in a hurry
without trying to find out whether she was in it or
not. Expecting that one would com'e to pick
her. up she waited for long till she fell asleep only
to be woken up in the small hours by one Safvaan
bin Mu'attal, probably a duty officer of the
garrison police, who brought her to the next halt.
This unfortunate episode . was seized upon as a good
. stick to beat the entire Muslim community along
with her by certain people, including hypocrites,
who seemed to be on the look-out for such an
opportunity. Tongues were let loose and soon the
air in Madinah was thick with wild gossip.
The infamous t Abdullah bin Ubayy, a stormy
petrel, assumed charge of the dirty campaign and
inci1ed the Medinites against the Meccans. As he
belonged to the tribe of Khazraj, the hypocrites
C"muaaflqooa"), in defence of their leader, raked
up the old rivalry between the Aus and the
Khazraj, in which Sa'd bin 'Ubaadah, who .happened
to be a great chauvinist of his time, also involved
himself and stood up in support of 'Abdullah bin
'Ubayy. Partisans on both sides thus joined issue and
created quite an ugly situation.
323
Sober however, were satisfied that no
ill could be .expected of either 'Aayeshah or
Safvaan, who was known to perform the .studies of
garrison police on such expeditions. Even Zainab
who could be thought of as 'Aayeshah' s rival and
was, moreover, hard pressed by her own sister,
Hammah, not to allow such a golden opportunlty to
slip by, had nothing but a good word to put in for
'Aayeshah when questioned by the Prophet.
Nevertheless the Prophet was greatly upset because
a man like Hassaan bin Thaabit, the poet, whom he
immensely lik.ed, was very much in the campaign,
and, of all persons, ' Ali, whom he looked upon
more as his own son than son-in-law, had advised
hi m to di vorce 'Aayeshah to save the raging storm.
'Aayeshah was to dazed to puf in a word in her
own defence beyond pleading innocence. She had
gone to her father's place in shattered health and
resigned herself to All-knowing Allah's dispensation.
Arter a long trying suspense, the relevant verses
of the Surah An-Nur (xxiv -11 to 16) were
revealed while the Prophet happened to be at Abu
. Bakr's place to enquire about her health. Those
who took this matter of character assassination so
lightly*4 were squarely reprimanded for not putting
the best possible construction on the incident:
"Could not the Muslim men and women,
having heard it, take, on their own part,
a better view (of the affair) and say (to
themselves): This is a patent lie"?
(xxiv: 12)*5
Perpetrators of the calumny were l'eportedly
chastised and condemned to corpOral punishment.
Hassaan bin Thaabit, Hammah bint. the
Prophet's own first cousin, and others were
severely punished according to some writers. An
elaborate procedure was prescribed for dealing with
such calumny in future. Since this ugly incident
brought to the fore the weakness of certain
. people's character, the community was thus fore-
- . .
324
exposed themselves this time, and the Quran
declared: "Do not take it to be an evil (done) to
you but, on the contrary, it is good for you".
(xxiv: 1U*6. Recent research has proved that the
relevant verses of Surah AI-Moor do not relate to
'Aayeshah, nor to Maria (as the Shlas say), but to
some other Muslim woman. The Holy Quran has
named none (for obvious reasons). Thus the popular
story involving respected personalities, even the
Holy Prophet, in the matter is a product of
irresponsible and slanderous imagination. That
research in this direction was in p r y e ~ s came to
the knowledge of the (late) author when the first
edition of this ,book was ready for publication. He
had, however, added a footnote to this effect in
the Urdu version ,(1984) of the book titled "Abadl
Paeygb888m Ke Aalddrl Pae'glaambar". done by the
present editor. For details Hakeem Niaz Ahmad's
book "Ravu,at-e-Ifk" (1986) and 'Allama Tamanna
'Imaadi's book "tljaazul Quran" (enlarged edition)
may be seen. The former has been published by
Mashkoor Academy, Khalld bin Valeed Road,
Karachi and the letter by Al-Rahmaan Publishing
Trust, Nazimabad, Karachi. (Editor).
The Prophet was always considerate in
respecting the wishes and legitimate desires of
others. His wives were no exception. Onee, in
deference to the com monly expressed wish of
certain wives - whether it, was a prankish 'intrigue
motivated by rivalry, or the odour of the honey
was really offensive. to the fastidious is immaterial
, he took a vow never to partake of that
particular kind of honey which he had taken at a
particular wife'S place. He was pulled up by Allah
and shown the Umitto his softness:
"0 Prophet, Why should you solemnly
deny yourself (for ever) what Allah has
permitted, just to please your wives"?
(Ixvi: U*7
. This shows clearly how minutely his conduct was
325
being supervised and how faithfully the Quran
Portrays the Prophet's charaoter.
He was considerate but scrupulously correct In
his conduct. He may, at times, appear to be
exacting but never over-bearing. An incident,
serious enough to be taken exception to by Allah,
is recorded in the Quran thus:
"
"Once the Prophet confided something to
one of his wives. She divulged it (to one
of her colleagues) and Allah Informed
him about this. He confirmed part of It
and disowned the other part. So when he
passed this information to the former,
she wondered who could give him this
information. He said, "I was informed by
the One, All-knowing and Well-posted".
(Ixvl: 3)*8
Since the matter was strictly confidential and
Allah preferred to refer to it only obliquely as
something . (hadeethan), decency demands that we
should not give free rein to our Imagination as
certain commentators are wont to do. The
indefinite noun "badeetban" suggests some 'talk'
rather than an 'Incident'. The subject-matter of
the talk may not be as serious as the offence of
the breach of confidence committed. This is just to
illustrate the point that he was never hard or
vindictive even against one guilty of a breach of
confidence. That this offence of breach of
confidence was of a serious nature is proved by the
following admonition to the ttwo' deUnquent
consorts:
"If Ye two turn In repentance to Allah -
and your hearts are Indeed Inclined - (it
Is weJl and good). But. if ye gang up
against him, verily Allah Is his
protector " (lxvl: 4)*9
Now to rack our brains to hU8.fd a conjecture
326
.who those two wives could, .be both presumptuous
and --preposterous. According to the Quran itself,
these ladies were certainly not like the common
run of women. This is the reason why they were
subjected to the most stringent discipline so that
they might not presume on their special status or
on the regard shown them by the Prophet.
They were adequately provided for, but only for
their bare needs. Their every-day Ufe
was therefore, not merely characterized by
unostentatious living but was a model of austerity
itself. Their apartments (bujuraat) provided just
enough space for a couple and the mini mum ease
and comfort .absolutely neceSsary for the couple.
The Prophet was not stingy but his frugality was
. more an exercise in self-discipline than a stoical
denial of ease and comfort or the self-imposed
inadequacy or indigence of an ascetic. The familiar
saying "Poverty is my pride"*10 commonly
attributed to the Prophet in sermons today, which
was even quoted by Imam Ghazzali of. cherished
memory as a "tradition" (badeetb), has been
declared by the critics a mong the "traditionists" to
be a concoction made use 0'C by . a class of
ascetics, so-called "robbaad".
Many "traditions" in support of this line of
thought were later coined. Nothing is wrong in
seeking ease and comfort ("Y"''') unless it hinder
the performance of a duty or the discharge of an
obligation. Simllarly, nothing is wrong with wealth,
which Allah describes as His "racn" (bounty) unless,
of course, it turns one's head and makes one
forgetful of Allah, as Maulana Rumi has aptly put
it: .
"What is . worldliness (t.e., love of
worldly life)? It Is to' be forgetful. of
Allah. It Is neither attke nor wealth,
nor progeny nor women (oneafamlly)"
(M.tlmaYi. lIaulaDaJalaladdID RumI)*11
327
As already mentioned, the wives of the Prophet
had opted, of their OVin free will, for the harder
way of life which, if entitled them to a double
reward 'for every act of virtue'*12, also entitled a
double-penalty 'for every act of manifest evU'*13.
So, while laying down a more strict code of
conduct for them, Allah also disclosed the purpose
for which It was prescribed:
0, wan en (f.e., wives) of the Prophet!
You are not like the common run of
women ... Verily Allah only intends to
remove all impurity from you, 0, the
family members (of the Prophet), and to
make you thoroughly pure. And (now)
turn to what is being recited, in your
houses, of the signs (aa,aat) of Allah
and (the words of) wisdom (that is, the
rationale of those verses) *14
(xxxiii: 32-34)
The import of these plain, "firm" verses
(mubkamaat) is clear enough even for one with a
nodding acquaintance with the Arabic language. But
surprisingly enough certain commentators stumbled
at the expression "family members" (ablul bait) in
the verse for no plausible reason and felt the need
for looking beyond the text of the Quran itself and
raking the corpus of "traditions".
GROSS MISINTERPRETATION: The connotation .of
the expression "ablul balta should not have been a
matter of dispute, particularly when its repeated
use in different contexts in the Quran Itself had
placed it beyond all doubt for all time to come.
The later";'day partisan propaganda in the name of
the so-called "House of the Prophet" is presumably
responsible for the ridiculous impression, which
gained currency because of gross, rather abject,
ignorance, that the expression applied to particular
members of the Prophet's family to the exclusion
of his wives ea bJac. although the expression
primarily implies "wives" according to Idlom, usage
328
and context. This is not to suggest that it excludes
all other members of the family, though the fact
remains that here, In the verses under reference,
the context does exclude male members and refers
pointedly and exclusively to wives.
As a matter of fact, It is just possible that
elsewhere the context may demand an extension of
the connotation to close relations in general, as in
the following Quranic verse:
"And we had already made bim (Moses)
refuse to suck wet-nurses, so she (sister
of Moses) said: "Shall I take you to a
family who may nurse him for you; and
they will be sincere to him. Thus we
delivered him back to his mother
- (xxvi": 12-13)15
Incidentally, the expression, in A,abic idiom, may
also refer loosely to a close associate, not
necessarily a fa mily member, in the sense of
"one's own man" or in a restricted legal sense, to
"a person au"thorized to act on one's behalf",
similar to the usage of the English word "cousin"
which maybe used loosely for a kinsman or, in
court circulars, proclamations and epistles, by a
sovereign tor his own envoys, Governors or for his
counterparts in other lands. It is the context in
each case which ultimately decides -t!,e sense.
Apart from the fact that the expression "family
members" (ablul balt) Includes botb male and
female members, the Arabic syntax as a rule,
assigns a particular gender to a particular word
itself without reference to Its meaning. Both "bait"
and "claar" (house)- mean the same thing, but. the
former takes a pronoun in the masculine and the
latter in the feminine gender. Similarly, the word
'ahl' is treated as masculine. Tbis explains why in
all verses quoted here, particularly in that clause
in wbich the expression (It Ablul balt") occurs,
. pronouns in the masculine gender have been used
329
while addressing, although the context in each case
demanded the feminine gender. Moreover, there is
also a fine point of idiom involved. Even in the
pagan days, it was a matter of 'etiquette with the
Arabs that they would address a respectable lady,
out of politeness, in the masculine plural and not
in the singular feminine, even if the context
de mended, as in the following verse of the Quran:
"They (the angels) said (to Sarah, wife
of Abraham) Dost thou wonder at
Allah's decree (that ye would have an
issue even at this old age)? Mercy of
Allah and His Blessings be on ye-, 0
people of the house' " (xi: 73)*16
In another verse, Moses addressed his wife thus
"When he saw a fire, he said to his wife: Stay (for
a while)" - in the masculine plural. (xx: 10)*17

This removes the confusion unnecessarily created
where none had originally existed. However, a
mUCh-quoted 'tradition', recorded by Muslim and
Tirmidhi of the front-rank "traditionists" and men
like Baihaqi of, the second or third-grade
"traditionists", seems to have made the confusion
confounded. This "tradition", specially named
as . ftbadeeth ul-Kisaa
n
("The tradition of the
Garment"), narrates a story . which is supposed by .
the gullible to have lent a new sense to the
com mon expression ftablul-bait
ft
, which restricts its
application to particular persons to the exclusion of
those rightful persons whom the context of the
Quranic verses apparently implied.
SPECIAL PLEADING: The story goes that when
these parlicular verses (32-34) of the Sarah Ahzaab
(xxxiii) were revealed, the Prophet spread a sheet
of cloth or rug over himself, inviting Faatimah,
, Ali, Hasan ad Hussain to under it and
prayed:,,O Allah, are my family members, so
do remoW! impurity from them and make them
thorou.Ply pure*18. The prayer, at best, sought an
330
extension and DOt a 'Or limitation In the
application of the expression. For it would be silly
to suggest that the Prophet t s intention could ever
be to determine the connotation of the simple,
common expression already used in the Quran and
that, too, for the benefit, so to say, of All-
knowing Allah. The form of the prayer would
suggest to one with an average intelligence that
what. the Prophet sought was to ask Allah to get
these persons also included In what He had already
decreed for his wives. This is the reason why when
Umme Salmah, according to a' tradition, wanted
herself to be thus included In the Prophet's
prayers, the Prophet is reported to have remarked:
"You are beUer placed where you are".19.
What is intriguing about the tradition is that it
beautifully leaves vague where the incident
happened and how the galaxy, including Umme
Salmah- and presumably 'Aayeshah too, who is
reported (vide Saheeh M:usUm) to have narrated the
incident as if she was also present, happened to be
there. Incidentally, some of the traditions credited
to 'Aayeshah would suggest as if their apartments
were so small that even two occupants would seem
to be one too many.
It will .not be out of place to mention that the
words "abl
lt
and Itaal" in relation to a person do
not necessarily refer to his progeny or blood
relations, as In the expressions "aale FIr'aun" and
"aale Muaa". They generally mean "dependents and
aSSOCiates", particularly in the case of a prophet
whose relationship with a person Is determined only
on an ideological. and DOt genealogical basis. Its
ela"cal example is that of Noah's son. Allah
rebuked His Prophet for expressing sympathy for his
disbeUeving or delinquent son, although that was
but natural. The Quran records it thus:
And Noah cried to Allah saying: "0 my
Lord! Surely my son is of my family
331
"He (Allah) said: '0 Noah, he is not of
thy "family. His conduct is unrighteous.
So do not ask a thing of which you have
"no knowledge. I advise you not to be
one of ignorant sticklers!" (xl: 45-46)*20
In this connection, however, I doubt if the Prophet
was correctly reported when he expressed his
opinion about the ultimate fate of pis father,
mother and grand-father, for their alibi is obvious
as they had died before he attained prophethood.
Similarly, the case of Zubair, his uncle, seems
basically different from that of Abu Taalib or Abu
Lahab, the confirmed disbeliever.
InCidentally, this shows the futility of adding
unnecessary words "his Companions, his wives and
his" progeny" *21 , in' the customary form of invoking
Allah's succour and blessings for the Prophet and
all those associated with him in his mission. To say'
this, however, is not to express any opinion one
way or the other about this particular devotional
exercise. It is to be regretted that so much time
and space had to be devoted to such peripheral
matters only because it was precisely these side-
Issues which were unnecessarily raised by some
people to side-track the real issues in order to
confound the ignorant.
Strictly speaking, particularly with reference to
the Medlnlte period, none of the family members
of the Prophet, save his wives, could factually be
described as the people of the house (wablul bait")
of the Prophet, for none of them lived with him
except for a short period of two years or so when
Umme Kulthoom, before she was married to
'Uth maan and 'Ali, his cousin and ward, before his
marriage, besides young Faatimah and Umme
Salm&h's orphan children"lived with him. Some time
after the battle of Badr, Umme Kulthoom - whose
real name is not known to wrlters- was married
to her brother-in-law, I Uthmaan bin Affaan. It was
most probably after the battle of Uhud that
Faatimah' too was married to 'All, wl'lb then
332
required a separate home for themselves. Since I Ali
was solely depending on the Prophet, the latter
took upon himself to provide one for the couple
and to make. initial arrangements for the new
establishment. Thus, in fact, the few necessary
things that he gave to the couple at the wedding
should not be taken as a dowry for his daughter
and should not, therefore, be seized upon as a
precedent to justify the pernicious custom of
making it 9bUgatory for a father to provide a
dowry for his daughter.
ATTACHMENT TO FAATIMAH: Faatimah was
almost a child when her mother died and it fell to
the Prophet's lot to bring her up with motherly
care had attention. \ This may well be one of the
reasons of his attachment. He expected that I All
and Faatlmah both, having grown up together under
his care and knowing each other intimately, would
make a bappy couple, but, unfortunately, instead of
getting relief the Prophet,' all his life, remained
under constant anxiety on that account. This made
Faatimah all the more near and 'dear to her
father's heart. It cannot be denied that, on her
part, she proved not only to be an ideal daughter
to her father and an ideal mother to her children
but also an ideal wife to her husband.
However, iii spite of this, It does not stand to
reason why she should be rated over and above
Maryam, mother of Prophet Jesus, commended by
the QUran itself, or Khadijab, her. own mother,
whose services to the Prophet and his mission are
so well-known. In a popular 'tradition' credited to
the Prophet, she has been described as "the head
of women in Paradise" *22. Such a hyperbotical
tribute, attributed to' the Prophet, is an obvious
concoction; surprisingly accepted by certain
"traditlonlsts" as a "sound" (-sabeeh") tradition,
presumably on the basis of an ill-conceived licence
in admitting traditions in praise of persons without
realizing that some may as well reflect on others.
333
MALE ISSUES-FINAUTY- HINTED: No male issues
of the Prophet survived - all died in childhood. All
his issues, except Ibrahim, the last issue, were
from Khadijah. It is a musing to notice that those
who displayed a remarkable aptitude both for
digging up unnecessary details and for ingenious
hair-splitting, had to plead ignorance in important
matters in which contemporary reporters were
expected to have more - than casual interest, such
as the number of make issues of the Prophet,
which remains to date a matter of dispute among
the learned; The majority view is that besides
Qaasim, the Cirst issue, and Ibrahim, the last issue,
there was a third son with more than one name -
t Abdullah, Taahir and Tayyib. Some writers are of
the view that they were actually four and that one
of them had two names, Taahir and Tayyib. Others
believe that they were actually five in number as
named above. There ar.e still others -who think
there were eight male issues in all, including
Ibrahim from Maria the Copt. The only plausible
explanation of this remarkably vast divergence
seems to be that they all had died before the
Prophet attained general recognition and received
serious attention from his people. If it was really
so, one could not but wonder at the elaborate
reports pertaining to the Prophet's own childhood.
It Is, however, certata that "esldes Qaasim,
more than one child died in quick succession to
provide an occasion to his revilers to taunt hi m on
that account and so Surah AI-Kauthar (cviii) was
revealed early in Makkah in reply to their taunts.
Allah consoles the Prophet .. thus:
Surely We have (instead) granted thee a
multitude (of descendants to carryon.
thy mission) ... It is (in fact) thy traducer
who is docktailed (that is, devoii of a
descendant to carry his - QUssion any
further). (cviii) *23
All traditions, irrespective of their commonly
334
assigned gradation, explaining. the word "Al-
Katbar
lt
In the verse to mean "a river in
Paradise", are just howlers. The assertion of, Anas
bin Maallk, as recorded by Muslim, that this Surah
was revealed In his presence (that is in Madinah)
on the death of Ibrahi m is unbeUevable and more
so the assertion of certain hidebound traditionists
fond 6f reconciling (lttatbeeq) the irreconcilable
that the Surah might have been revealed twice -
once in Makkah and then again in Madinah!
On the death of ibrahim In 10 A.H., when the
child .was' hardly a year and a half, the Prophet
was visibly moved and is reported to have merely
said:
o ibrahim, I can't be of any use to you
where Allah's decree is involved. Had it
not been that the last among us would,
at any rate, be meeting soon the first
among us, we would have lamented you
most.24
His death was given undue importance because
some people Uke Anas bin Maalik had somehow
gathered, the impression that he would succeed as
a Prophet. At any rate, the solar eclipse which
took place early in "10 A.,H. was attributed to the
event of his passing away and the minds of the
people had to be disabused by the Prophet who
declared: "Surely, the .sun and the moon are not
eclipsed because of the death of a human being".
(Salleell Bukbari: Kitabul Kuoof)k*25. What the
Quran had to say about his death was both
consoling and It said to the mourners:
(It was ordained that) Muhammad would
not' (go down as) the father of a man
among you but (as) a Messenger of
Allah and the finale of (the long relay
of) Apostles. And Allah knew everything.
(xxxiii: 40).26
335
This obviously ImpUed that Allah did not intend
to continue the line ot Apostles any further and
that if He had so Intended, He would not have
ordained that Muhammad would not be the father
of any man. It also 'implied In a way that if
Ibrahim had survived, some people would have been
led. to believe. that he was to succeed the Prophet
in prophethood also, as the 'Impression was already
abroad. If the clauses forming the verse are not to
be thrown out of point the word (Khaatam) in this
verse cannot be taken to convey any sense other
than that of "finality" and the denial of a
possibility of some one succeeding him as an
Apostle. '
GRAND ClDLDREN: The Prophet, by nature, was
very fond of children and would allow the m to
amuse themselves freely, even at his expense.
Usaamah bin Zaid was flill of memories of how the
Prophet used to fondle him and Hasan bin I Ali. The
Prophet' was particularly fond of his grand children,
I Ali bin Abil 'Aas and Umamah bint AbU I Aas,
children of Zainab and Abul 'Aas son of Khadijah I s
sister. It was ' Ali bin Abil 'Aas who was seen
seated behind the Prophet on his camel when he
entered Makkah triumphantly. It was Umamah about
whom also the Prophet once remarked: "The
dearest to me of my family".27. No douht, this
was a very common remark which he Is reported to
have made about Usaamah bin Zald, 'Ali bin Abi
Taalib, Faatimah, Hasan and Husain also (according
to Tirmldhi). It was Umamah about whom it is
reported (by Muslim, Abu Da'ood etc.) that the
Prophet once offered prayers while carrying her on
his shoulder or in his lap. He would seat her by his
side each time he stood up or prostrated. 'Ali bin
Abi Taalib married Umamah atter Faatimah's
death.
What Is most surprising Is that It Is not certain
when Faatlmah d led. According to 'Aayeshah - and,
that is the prevalent view - she died six months
. after the Prophet; while accordinJl to others thp
336
,
da.te varies Crom one to three months after the
Prophet. There are still others who' believed she
. died just three days after the Prophet's demise!
Similarly, the writers are not agreed as to when
'Ali bin Abil 'Aas died. Some believe that he died
in childhood, which is most improbable, whUe
others maintain tha.t he died in adolescence. Ibn
'Asaakar, according to 'Allamah Shibli, however,
reports that he participated in the battle oC
Yarmook and attained martyrdom. How people could
Cail to take note oC such event and miss such
important details is beyond comprehension . Was he
not one of the "able n bait'"
The Prophet, we all know, was very fond of his
grand children trom Faatimah and 'Ali, namely
Hasan and Husain. Perhaps, he Wall more attached
to Hasan, who was hardly seven when the Prophet
died. However, the hyperbolical remark about the
two, attributed' to the Prophet In' present-day
sermons, describing them as "the leaders oC the
youth in Paradise"*28 is transparently absurd, for
the simple. reason that the sweeping statement
renectson all inmates ot paradise including
who are believed to be similarly In their
. youth. Traditionst Tirmidhee describes the relevant
tradition . incorporating the following words:
" ... Vdrlly Faatlmah is the leader of the women in
Paradise and Hasan and Husain are leader oC the
youth in Paradise"*28 as a "rare tradition"
(Ghareeb). This betrays a queer sense oC
proportion; Cor it is dlCClcult to describe it even as
a "tradition" oC the Prophet, unless,' ot course, we
believe that common sense has nothing to do with
the intrinsic evaluation (dlra,at) ot a report.'
It is surprising why it i:s not realized as fully as
it should have been that, if one was bold enough to
concoct a story and toist a Calse statement on the
Prophet of .all persons, nothing could deter hi m
from forging a chain ot narrators to support it. It
is a common Ceature that when a conscientious
. traditionist reCuses to accept the soundness oC a
331
tradition by pointing to. a weak link in the chain,
only the chain is "repaired" and the whole thing is
off on pther traditionists such as Haakim,
Khateeb Baghdadi, Ibn I. Asaakar etc., and the
improved one is later fiaunted in support of the
former to make good its earlier deficiency.
What Is more is the fact that most of
our learned writers could be so .susceptible to the
vile propaganda' as to create an impression as if
the Prophet did not care much for the children
from his other daughters or that' Ruqayyah and
Umme Kulthoom had had no issues at all or that
their progeny did not survive. The fact of the
matter, however, is that children from his
daughters other than Faatimah survived longa.fter
him but the later writers studiedly ignored them.
Ibne Qutaibah (died in 216 A.H.) mentions the
name of 'Abdullah AI-Asghar as Caliph 'Uthmaan's
son from Ruqayyah (vIde: Al-Ma'aarif, page 198).
Imam Ibne Taimiyyah mentions him as one of the
teacher of 'Ali Bin Husain (" Zainul 'Aabideen II) -
vide: MiDba,JupDDatua Vol.2,page 123).
This I Abdullah AI-Asghar, according to Historian
AI-Mas'oodi (who died in 346 A.H.) reached the
ripe age of 16 (vide: Muroojudb. 'dtaabab, Volume II,
page 341). .
It is believed that Sultan Muzaffar, founder of
the City of Muzaffarabad in Kashmir, traced his
descent to Imam Kaashif, whQ was a descendant of
'Abdullah AI-Asghar and came to India with Sultan
Mahmood o{ Ghaznah (Yide: Ghulam Rasool Mehr'g
Sarguzasht-e-MujaabideeD, Lahore, 1956, page 244).
As for Aal-e-Umme Kultboom, according to Ibn
Hazm (died in 454 A.H.), Caliph 'Uthmaan had a
son trom Umme Kulthoom, also named I Abdullah,
whose lived In Spain in his time, (vide:
Jambaratul ADIab, page 118). .
338
CHAPTER-22
THE GREAT GALAXY ,
The com mon-place adage that a man is known
by a company he keepS has obvloas':Umltations In
the case of a. prophet,who had Httle choice In the
matter. He had to accept, at face value, all those
who nocked round him. A mortal would, aeter all,
be wiser only after an event. A Judas and a Peter
looked all the same at first sight. The last Prophet
. was no exception. Those whom we conveniently'
group together and give the generic appellation of
"Companions of the Prophet" (as-baab-ur-ruool)
were' not all genuine fellow-travellers
but Included, among them, friends, followers and
hangers-on,' faithful and not-5O-Calthful, even
factious hypocrites.
. Surely few could be expected to run the risk oC
associating with the Prophet tn his early Meccan
days of persecution, while quite a Cew, hliUally oC
bad faith, gradually Infiltrated 'Into the rank and
nle, as the com munlty grew In power and Innuence
In Madlhah. Thus, it Is only in Madtnah that we
first heat of hypocrites or opportlnistl as a class
and. their surreptitious actlvJtles.
And certain nomad Arabs around you as
well as certain Madlnltes are hypocrites.
They persist in hypocrisy. You would not
know but we know them (all right). We
will be .. awarding them a two-Cold
Ux: 101)*1 .
Sometimes, someone's wayward. behaviour would
cast a reDection on his integrity and create
suspicion in the minds of people, but the Prophet
would always be generous In the benefit of
the doubt to all those who even paid Up-service to
the cause, on the ground that none but Allah' could
look Into their hearts. He was wont to put the
339
most charitable construction even' on their most
serious lapses. On the other hand, the more sincere
a faithful followers was, the more was he
taken to task for dereliction of duty or misconduct.
The latter was, in fact, subjected to the most
stringent discipline.
As already mentioned elsewhere, the' Tabook
expedition was undertaken in an exceptionally
sum mer under very adverse circumstances. A
general conscription was o,rdered. However, certain
persons among "the Faithful" of unquestionable
credentials - at least two of them' had an enviable
distinction of having participated in the battle of
Badr - stayed out for no valid reason along with
others of suspected fidelity who evaded the draft.
On return from the expedition, the Prophet
pardoned about 60 defaulters who had, evaded
service on false pleas, while the three good
, Muslims, Ka'Q bin Maallk and two distinguished
"Badaris" (As-baab ul-Badr),' who were too honest
to offer false excuses and pleaded guilty, were
subjected to a most humUlating boycott by the
community for more than a month. People, in a
body, broke off and would not even look at the
culprits. They were not allowed even to m,et their
wives till, at long last, Allah announced clemency
thus:
And there are others who pleaded guilty.
They, in. fact, mixed a good act with an
evil one. Allah is about to accept their.
repentance. Verily Allah i$ Forgiving and
Merciful. Of what they accept
(something by way of) alms to purify
them and make them grow (in, moral
stature) and do wish them good. The
words "Salle 'alayhlm" in the relevant
verse mean "wish them good", not
"recite the darood (a formulary
salutation) (in prayers) for thy prayers
are a source of solace for them.
, (Ix: 102-103).2
340
Similarly, that monument ot hypocrisy, the
"Mosque ot Mischiet"*3 in the words ot the Quran,
raised by the hypocrites in Quba, a suburb of
Madinah, not only to cause disunity a mong the
Muslims but also to serve as a cover for their dark
designs, was squarely condemned in the Surah At-
Tauball (lx-verses 107-110) and was razed to the
ground; but the pleadings of its architects were
accepted at their face value.
HYPOCRITES OR OPPORTUNISTS: To be sure, these
so-called Hypocrites were, in tact, those opportun-
ists who would openly swear by the cause of Isla m
and all that it stood for, and would always have
some plausible excuse to orrer for their default.
Even when they were suspected of some mischief,
they were never, as a rule, punished on mere
suspicion, however strong that suspicion might ha\'e
been. Although there was a prima facie case
against f Abdt:lllah bin Ubayy ... whose son was,
incidentally, known to be a good MusH m -. the
Prophet, in his wisdom, though fit even to offer
the funeral prayers tor the arch"'hypocrite lest his
refusal to do so should create a bad precedent for
his followers not to pray, in tuture, for others on
mere suspicion and thus to cause bad blood in the
community. In the words of Prophet Jesus:
" Let haply while ye gather up the
tares, ye root up the wheat with them.
Let them grow togetheruntU the
harvest "
(St. Matthew: Chapter 13, verse 29).
the Prophet was no doubt told in clear words: "It
is all the same ~ h t h r thou prayst for their
forgiveness or not, Allah will never forgive them "
(lxUi: 6)4. Certainly this was not to be taken as
prohibitory injunction.
The entire . Surab Al-MUDaflqoma (Ix iii) is
devoted to that class of people Who had "pleasing
exteriors".S and glib tongureS but could never be
341
. . .. to 8tve real. support to the cause for they
. were no better than "wooden props';*1. Their modus
cjper8lldl. was, according to . the Quran, to fan' the
feelings of rivalry between the lIubaajirooD"
(Mecca immigrants) and the ..... r (helpers: that
Is, the loc.u population of Madinah) and to incite
the latter against the former:
They are the people who say: "Spend not
on those who Allah's Prophet
till they disperse (that is, be scare and
turn away from Madinah) They say: "If
(and when) we return (from the battle
of Banul-Mustaliq in 5 A.H.) to Madinah,
surely the more honourable shall drive
out the meaner from there!
(lxill: 7-8)*8
Here the Quran quotes the very words to
'Abdullah bin Ubayywho, of course, vehemently
denied having said so. The 'believers' in general
and perhaps, obliquely, the .MB. in particular,
were warned that they should not be taken in by
the vile propaganda that their vested Interests were
in jeopardy as a result of the influx of the Meccan
immigrants. The Quran advises the Believers in the
following words:
o Ye who believe. Let not your wealth
and your children divert you from
remembrance of Allah. Those who act
thus will find themselves in total loss.
(IxUi: 9)*9
BASIC FALLACY: Even those who were sincere and
I faithful' in the true sense were not possibly of
the same I.Q. They could, at best, imDibe the spirit
of the Quranic message and the implications of
the Prophet's teachings and preachings only
according to their lights. As in the case of all
reformers, most of the immediate followers of the
Prophet were enamoured more of the person of the
Messenger than of the Message itself . and
342
unwittingly passed on to the next generation their
subjective approach to the mission rather than the
Messenger's objective approach to the basic
principles and tenets of the Faith embodied in the
Message. Even the first string of the so-called
"Companions of the Prophet", fired with more or
less the same missionary zeal for the cause,
differed widely In their approach, their mental
make-up and temperament, irrespective of the
close associa tion with the Prophet for any length of
time.
The basic truth which can hardly be over-
emphasized is that however much care and
attention a teacher may give to a particular
student, the latter will acquire knowledge only to
the extent of his own capacity and above all, of
his will to assimilate what he learns. It is absurd
to think that a so-called "Sbafkh" (Mentor), by his
own will-power, can cause transformation of a
disciple (aptly called "mureed" from "iraadah",
meaning "who has a will" to learn) 'by transfusing
his knowledge, much less his sense of values' into
. an un-willing mind. Even the radiant personality. of
the Prophet after all left. his own uncles, Abu Lahb
and Abu Taalib, un-affected; a lighted match alone
cannot Ught up a lamp unless there is- oil of wax
in the lamp itself. The more solid a stone the less
moisture it absorbs.
To build the edifice of a religious system on
the fallacious theory that 8SStmes all those around
the Prophet. to equally just and -upright
. (KuIIIIIaam '1Idool) is, In fact,: to &uUd" on sand.
Orthodox theologists; when with the
absurdity of the propOSition, DQta-chalently concede
that the so-called companions of the did
go wrong in. otber . walks !Jt ute but, as..:trarrators
'they wer . Just'and strUP.tforwud
(.adooJ..) in nerrati .. ... incident or' rePGrtm. .
"tradition of the Prophet". Perhaps what the, DIlDy
intend to say Is that, accepted,.this
_ proposition as an aldoRl, the entire 1Iuper ..
343
of the ritualized system assiduously built ,by them
would crumble.
ABUSE OF APPELLATIONS: One should not be
surprised, for they si milarly use the appellation of
"RaasbidooD" (meaning, straight-forward and
correct in conduct"), not on a very good authority,
for the four early Caliphs, obviously without a
clear conscience - unless, of course, they believed
that charge of rank nepotism, mis-appropriation 0 f
public funds and abuse of power and position did
not detract from the connotation of the
appellation. For instance, a celebrated savant of
our ti me, a recognized leader of a school of
thought, expertly details these very charges against
the third of the Caliphs whom the learned writer
hi mself includes a mong those traditionally
recognized as "a1-Kbulafa ur-raasbidooo", meaning
"the successors, straightforward and
correct in conduct", in his book entitled "Khilafat-
o-MulooId"at... This anomalous situation arises only
when the sense of proportion is lost, folk-lore is
sought to explain a 'tradition' and a 'tradition' is
sought to explain an express, firm injunction of the
Quran. In other words, 'history' is allowed to
override tradition and tradition is allowed to
override revelation.
The confusion becomes all the more confounded
when they so define the term "Companions" as to
include even those who saw the Prophet once in a
blue moon or happened to ,be in his company,
maybe in good faith, just for a while. Some
traditionists, for example Ibn 'Abdil Barr, cC'ncede
the status of a Sabaabi even to those who were
not yet adult when the Prophet passed away. They
list among the asbaab or .. ........,.. .. (companions),
even those who were children in the ti me of the
Prophet and look upon them with veneration as
guiding lights of the Faith. 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas,
for exa mple, was hardly twelve,' Abdullah bin az-
Zubair, hardly ten and Hasan bin 'Ali not even
o;l"Ph4- , .. h,..... f."",.. n ... __ &.._4- 1_'''' 4-L..I_ ... ---,-1 ""_ .1.,_
344
contrary, ......... t ul .... beeb, records on the
authority of Tirmidhee and Abu Da'ood, the
following tradition' credited to I Ali bin Abi TaaUb:
"' AU repbrted the Prophet (Peace be on
him) as saying that whatever the three
do or say should be written off as of no
consequence - a person who Is, asleep
till he Is awake, a cIdId tu1 be comes
of _ ,and an insane person till, he
recovers his senses (and becomes sane)".
(M .... tut)10
Incidentally, in spite of this, 'AU's own
acceptance of Islam in his childhood is considered a
good enougb ground' for his precedence over many
adults.
What is astounding is that one Ash'athbin Qais
who waited on the Prophet once as the head of a
delegation in 9 A.H., embraced Islam along with
others, then turned an apo$tateor renegade
(murtid) and later re-embraced Islam in Abu
Bakr's time, continued to be recognized as a
'Sabaabi' . (companion) by certain "traditionists".
The compiler .of the ....... t (VaUuddin Muhammad
bin I Abdillah al-Khateeb) has gone to the extent of
listing Al-Asvad bin Ka'b al-' Anasi as a 'Sabaabl',
although we all know him as aJl imposter who
claimed prophethood and was killed in the time of
the Prophet.
QURANIC BlERAB.CY: The Quran, however,
provides the only rational basis for a classification
of the Prophet's companions .. that is, their service
to his cause. It speaks of "aI-muhaajlMaD"
(Immigrants mainly from Makkah) and "al-ansaar"
(helpers: that is, the local population of Madinah)
as the only distinctive elements of the early'
Muslim society. For they alone stood by the
Prophet in his hour of need, contributed to the
success of, his mission and founded the first Islamic
. state in the real sense. Thus, the Islamic
345
democl'acy recognized only that adult person as the
primary unit of the State, who, as a useful member
of society, had some share, according to his
capacity, in the promotion of the Interests of the
State and the welfare of Its people.
-rhosewho supported the cause In aslversity In
Makkah were naturally rated the highest In the
Muslim hierarchy as "As-Saabeqooa al-ayyalooD"
(nthe First and Foremost
n
). After them In order of
precedence, were those who stood by the Prophet
as early as the battle of Badr, the first major
encounter with the enemies of Islam and, therefore,
belonged to the distinguished, order of' the
. ItCompanions In Badr
n
' .. A ..... b-al-Badr"). Then
came those who participated In the famous, mass
oath .. taklng, known as "Bal'at ur-BIclYaan
lt
(the
Oath of Allegiance blessed with Allah's Approval"),
just before the signing of the epoch .. making Treaty
'. Of these the Quran says:
"Verily Allah was pleased with the
Faithful when they took the oath of
8llegiance to thee under the tree. He
lmew wbat was ID their hearts
lt

(xlviii: 18)*11
. Thus, It Is primarily these very people,
sized up by Allah, of whom It has been repeatedly
said elsewhere:
tt Allah is pleased with' them and they
with Allah. That is the great
achievement
tt
(v: 119)*12
tt Allah is pleased with them and they
with Allah. They are the' party of
Allah". (lvill: 22)*13
Those who joined later and stood by the Prophet
to the last, come last In the' hierarchy and formed
the outer circle circumscribing the three concentric
. circles of the Companions I!lentloned above. They
.346
have been succinctly described in the Sarah Al-
Fatba (lxviii) iO just two words: "Those with' hi mit
CaUde.. Ma'ahoo). Thus tn actual fact, the
'circle of the so-called "Companions of the Prophet"
C" As-baabar BasIaool") was a variegated set of four
concentric rings. .
In an. egalitarian society, these distinctions
obviously denoted something like the "Distinguished
Service OrderS rather than the "classes" in our
present-day society.' The only common yard-stick
standardized by the Quran for determining the
nobillty and the esteem and regard one deserves,
was lltaqya .. . (Piety", a characteristic concept of
Islamic ethics, which connotes scrupulous abstention
even from permissible things apt to lead to things
fraught with Allah's displeasure. Conversely, any
wilful deviation from the letter and spirit of the
revealed injunctions of the Quran or the
"established", way of the Prophet contra-indicates
.. Taqy .... All civic laws were applicable to all and
sundry alike. However,.' the Faithful belonging to
the 'service orders' were entitled
to some care and circumspection, according to
their . status, in the scrutiny of charges and
evidence produced against them. They were dealt
with all the same for their crime against society
(lIbaqooqaI. '1baacI"). What Allah's prior "approval"
meant was a sort of prior amnesty .in the
Hereafter granted by Allah In respect of the
crimes against His own authority ("buqooqullah"),
In consideration for their meritorious services.
RONE ABOVE LAW:Only one Mistah bin Athaathah,
a........... belonging to the distinguished order of
Badr, Is. reported to have been duly punished - with
nogging - for a crime against society (buqooaal-
'ibaad) namely, character assaSlination and
slandering of a-lady. - inCidentally, of the eminence
of I Aayesbah. It is to be' noted that crimes against
society ("huqooqa1-'Ibaad") are, In fact, dual
crimes _. a crime against s9ciety and also a crime
'aplnst AUeh's .penal code - Just as a 'case of
347
theft, which once registered cannot t)e' compounded
out of court by . the .parties cOJlcerned. Incidentally,
Mistah was being. financially suppOrted by Abu
Bakr, and "now, wtlen Abu' Bakr withdrew his
assistance after this incident, the Prophet asked
Abu. Baki:' to continue' it ,in spite of what had
h a p p e ~ e d
Haatlb bin Abi Balta t h, too, belonged to' the
distinguished order of Badr, having participated in
that battle, but was subsequently found guilty of a
serious crime of leaking. out secret military
information to the enemy. His letter addressed to
some one among the Quraish in' Makkah was
discovered from the person of a woman who was
carrying it concealed in her coiffure. The letter
contained valuable information about the secret
preparations being made in Madinah for a certain
expedition, which eventually resulted in the fall of
Makkah. Ii was, in fact, a clever guess on the part
of Haatib, for the objective of these preparations
had been a well-guarded secret which even Abu
"Bakr did not know. The accused had no defence to
offer except that he sought the solicitude of the
Quraish for his family which was still in Makkah.
The leakage was serious and the guilt was clear.
But since the guilty belonged to the distinguished
order of Badr and made a confession of his
perverse intention in passing on a piece of
information of speculative nature, the Prophet
pardoned him on that very account against the
advice of 'Umar, who, incidentally, in his own
time, awarded the maximum punishment to another
Badri, Qudaamah bin Maz'oOn for taking liquor,
despite the accused's denial of the charge. I, for
one, doubt 'Umar's judgement in disregarding the
word of a man of Qudaamah's status and holding
him guilty of the charge on mere circumstantial
evidence (for no one had seen him drinking for
which no specific punishment is prescribed by
the Quran). I consider it t Umar's weakness that he
allowed himself to be innuenced by the fact that
the accused happened to be his own brother-In-lAw
348
(his sister's husband), and a verdict to the contrary
was likely to be misconstrued.
GENERAL TRIBUTE: 'All those who stood by the
Prophet through thick and thin have been. as a
body, roundly praised by Allah thus:
"Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
and those with him present a solid
(unfiinchlng) front against the Unbelie- .
vers (being at the same time) consider-
ate to each other among themselves.
You will notice them t>owing and
prostrating (in prayer), seeking Allah's
bounty and pleasure. Their mark is on
their faces (foreheads) as traces of their
(continual) prostrating. This likens them
to what is described in the Torah (Old
Testament) and the Gospel (New
Testament) - like a sown field that
sends forth its blade and strengthens it.
So it becomes thick and stands firm on
, its stem, causing delight to the sowers -
only to throw the Unbelievers into a
rape at them. AUah has promised those,
among them, who believe (or fully
committed to the cause)8Dd do rlgbteous
deeds, forgiveness and a great reward."
. (xlviii: 29)*14
The promise at the tail-end of this longish
verse is obviously not a blanket award of amnesty
to all an sundry, whoever happened to be around
the Prophet at the time - as some commentators
like Ibn Atheer and Imam Raui believed - but only
for those of them who believed firmly and
continued doing righteous deeds thereafter.
SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES: As for the reference to
the Torah and the Gospel, even the present-day
texts available to us do have some passages which
answer to the description, if not on all fours, at
least broadly.
349
Let us take the Old . Testament. In peuteronomy, .
the Fifth. Book of Moses, tor example, we find the
following
'U And this is blessing. wherewith
Moses the man of.God blessed the
children of Israel ,before his 'death. And
he He shined forth from Mount,
Paran. And he came from the teo
tbo1l88Dds of holy ones: At his right hand
was a fiery law unto them. Yea,' he
loveth the peoples
tr
(Deuteronomy:
Chapter 33, verses 1-2).
Here trparan" obviously refers to FaaraaD and
the last three lines may be compared with the first
seven lines of the Quranic cited above.
As regards the Italicized portion of above-
guoted verse from the Old Testa ment, it will be of
interest to refer to the following verse of the book
,of Solomon, "The Soag of Soap", which reads:
"My beloved is white and ruddy, The
chief est among teD thousaDd". .
(Chapter 5, verse 10)
The translator of Solomon's book, in the foot-note,
explains that what he translated into English as
"chtefest" literally meant in the original Hebrew
text "marked out." a barmer
ft
The hint is broad
enough to suggest whom all these verses refer to.
Incidentally, Sabeeb Bukharl (Kitab-ul-Magbaalt)
gives the number of Muslims participating in the
Meccan expedition as ten thousand! . Doubting
Thomases are advised to refer to the Hebrew text
(transliterated into Arabic script) of the 18th verse
also in the same Chapter of the Book Qf Solomon,
which is generally translated into English as
follows:
"His mouth or speech (tt pa18te"; in
Hebrew) is most sweet: ye.. he is
350
altogether Jo"e1y. TbIa II my belo"ed, .
aDd this II my friead..
The reader is referred, in particular, to the words
meaning altogether Jo"e1y. in the original Hebrew
text rendered in Arabic script.
As for the New Testament, there occurs in st.
Matthew's GaapeI, for example, the following
passage:
"Another parable set he before them,
saying, The kingdom of hea"ens is
likened unto a man that sowed good
seed in his . fleld ... But when the blade
sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. And the
servants of the house-holder came and
said unto him, Sir, didst thou. not sow
good seed In thy field? Whence then
hath it tares? And he said unto them.
An enemy hath done this. And the
servants say unto him, Wilt tho.u. then
that we go and gather them up?But he
salth, Nay; lest haply. wtUle ye gather up
the tares, ye root UP the wheat with
the m. Let both grow together unttl the.
harvest: Another parable set he before
them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
Uke unto a grain of mustard seed whlch
indeed is less than all seeds; but when it
is grown, it is greater than the herbs,
,and becometh a tree, so that the birds
of heaven come and lodge in the
branches thereof "
(Chapter 13, Verses 24-32)
Here the reference to the Hypocrites or opportun-
ists - that their existence in the community has to
be tolerated - is clear enough. Explaining the
parable, Jesus (Peace be on him) has been reported
as saying:
1
,
t
,
351
" He that soweth the good seed is the
Son of man; and the field is the world;
and the good seed, these are the sons of
the kingdom; and the tares are the sons
of the evil one ("Munaafiqoon") and the
enemy that sowed them is the devil; and
the harvest is the end of the world "
(St. Matthew: Chapter: 13, verses- 37-39)
The picture in the form of a parable is almost
complete of the Millat (the Muslim community).
Thus, it was after the conquest of Makkah that
all roads led to Madinah and people from far and
wide flocked to the City of the Prophet (Madinat-
un-Nabl) in great numbers, including, of course, the
faithful and the not-so-faithful. It goes without
saying that many came to pay homage, perhaps,
more to the power the community had suddenly
come to wield than to the cause it stood for. This
phenomenon furnishes the background to the Surab
An-Nasr (cx) probably the last Surah in point of
time, reveal.ed in 10 A.H., at Mina, during the
Hijjat ul-vidaa':
"When the succour of Allah and the
victory came by, and ye seest the
people come in legions into (the fold of)
Allah's Faith, chant the glory of thy
Lord and seek His forgiveness. For it is
He to whom all come back in
repentance." (cx)*15
In other words, the Prophet is instructed to
attribute the victory and gains to Allah alone in all
humility_ It is evident that the emphasis here is on
introspection, self-criticism, personal accountability
and repentance, instead of Allah's blanket award of
prior amnesty as in the case of those belonging to
the distinguished service order of Badr.
Of thousands and thousands of those called
Companions of the Prophet only one, Zaid bin
352
Haarlthah has the distinction of being mentioned by
name In the Quran, whUe broad reference, short of
naming them, were made to two others - Abu Bakr
and 'Abdullah bin Umme Maktoom, apart from the
"three" punished for evading the draft, already
referred to' above (videt Ix: 102-103). Abu Bakr has
been referred to' in the following verse:
"(It does not matter) If you do not help
him (the Prophet). Allah did help him
when the unbelievers drove him out
(whUe) he was (but) one of the two,
both' being in the cave (recall the
incident) when he -(the Prophet) was
telling his compaaioa. The Arable word
-Saahlbl-bl- used In the text mean 'his
Companion'. Thus Allah Himself has
called' Abu Bakr "Companion" of the
.. Prophet. Have no fear. Surely Allah is
with us"! (Ix: 40)*16
Ibn Umme Maktoom, who was blind and poor,
hs been referred to' in the following opening
verses of the Sorah 'AbaBa:
"He (the Prophet) .became cross-faced
and turned away because there came to
him (intruding) the blind man. But what
do you know If he may grow In
faith As fOf the one who considers
himself to be in no need (content with
his unbelief), to him thou payest
attention. And it Is none of your
responslbUity If he does not reform
himself. As tor the one who came to
thee, making an effort on his own, in
awe, to him thou payest no attention.
NeYef (should it be), by no means. This
is just by way of a reminder "
(lxxx: 1-11)*17
Since 'Abdullah (Ibn Umme Maktoom)interrupted
the Prophet's serious talks' with a certain Quralsh
353
dlgnitary,the Prophet resented the Interruption and
was, . therefor, pulled up by Allah on that account.
That even this public "reproof". still fhlds a
prominent place, In the Quran speaks volumes for
the veracity of the Prophet and his disciples (May
Allah be pleased with them Many oblique
references have, however, been traced In the Quran
by our learned w,riters to certain other Companions
of the Prophet - some justifiably and most of them
unjustifiably. We need not pursue them.
TENDENTIOUS REPORTS: Those who look upon
those described as Companions of the Prophet as
angels do not, in fact, add to their dignity one jot
or title. They fail to recognize the obvious fact
that, being of nesh and blood and p_ossessing
discretion, they were -to angels.
However, there- is "an" oft-repeated tradition: liMy
companions. ate. like stars. Whomsoever you follow
"" you will be guided aright. 18 credited to the
Prophet on the authority of several chains of.
narrators. It has been declared as a baseless
concoction on scrutiny of all the chains of
narrators by Ibn Hajar 'Asqalanl, Abu Bakr al-
Bazaar, Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Hazm and others. Tl)e only
abiding, unfailing and dependable star, like the
pole-star, that can give a sense of direction to the
community is the Holy Quran . After Allah's Word,
the guiding light is the "Usvab" of the Holy
Prophet, as mentioned In the Holy Book itself. In
regard to the Companions of the Prophet, literally
and factually described as such, the safest course
for us to follow Ues mJdY!'8y between the two
extremes. They were neither "near-Infallible" or
"protected (Ma'aoom)" in the sense that they were
in.capable .of doing any wrong that nesh is heir to,
nor were they, by and large, spineless people. who
would sheepishly comprom"ise with evil or could be
purchased or hired to support a manifestly unjust
cause as some people seem to maintain. Those who
hold the latter view. would, in support of theIr
untenable theory, sometimes go to the extent of
running down even the most eminent of them on
3.54
the authority of pers()ns altogether unknown or of
questionable antecedents.
Apart from rabid sectarians, there are quite a
few ampng front-ran" writers who would not think
twice before stigmatizing even .. those whom the
ProPhet himself assigned jobs of responsibiUty and
trUst, like MU'aaviyata, who served him as his-
secretary, his' father Abu Sufyaan, who embraced
Islam later and was made Governor of Nijraan by
the Propbethlmself, alld 'Amar bin al-' Aas whom
the Prophet appointed Governor of Oman. Those
who' embraced Islam on or about the fall of
Makkah' are . sometl mes dubbed as "persons left
unaccountt!d for their past acUon"*19 as' if it were
a stigma which carried all their life, irrespec-
tive of their subsequent with. the
Prophet and future services. to' his cause.
Some of the writers follow double standards. In
the matter' without like
'Amar bin al-Hamlq - who had embraced Islam a
few days before the Prophet's demise and was
known to be one of the gang who murdered the
third Caliph in cold' blood and had himself the
temerity to Inflict an injury on the Caliph's person;
'Abdullah bin az-Zubalr - who was hardly ten when
the Prophet died; t Abdullah bin' Hanzalah - who was
hardly seven and Muhammad bin Abt Bakr - who, it
is -doubtful, was even born in' the time of the
Prophet' - are readily proclaimed as Companions of
the Prophet; while Al-Mughirah bin Sho'bah, who
embraced Islam In 5 A.H., and Muslim bin 'Uqbah
a 90-years . old' Who led Yazeed's
expeditionary force against a rebeUlous faction of
the Madinites Incited by t Abdullah bin az';'Zubalr
are seldom even mentioned' as Companions of the.
Prophet and heinous charges are. levelled against
them. It appears thatthdse who supported a
certain fond cause are praised out of. all proportion I
and those who opposed it are remorselesSly blasted. _
. A URI UK DISTINCTION:' No 'account' ", .' .... -
355
Faithful can be complete without the honourable
mention of the one who, though not a Companion
of Prophet In any sense, deserved a place in
the frpnt-rank of the most faithful of all the
Faithful.
He is 'Amer bID Tbaablt, nick-named Usalram,
who never formally embraced Islam nor did he ever
offer, even' for once, the obUgatory prayer but, on
an impulse plunged into the batHe of Uhud, fought
on the side of the Muslim and was killed. The
Prophet proclaimed that he was one of those
entitled to a place in paradise . It proves beyond
doubt that Islam demands action .In good faith
tather than mere profession backed by rliuals. May
God be with hi m.
For a better. grasp of early Muslim, history, it
will be found profitable to refer to the Appendix
entitled: "KALEIDOSCOPE". Appended below is a'
list of seven Companions of the Prophet who have
some significance of their own.
1. Aba Usald is reported to be the last surviving
Companion of the Prophet belonging to the disting-
uished order of Badr. He died in 60 A.H. at the
ase of 18. However, a better known Companion was
Satd bin Abl Vaqas, who w8;S one of the last
surviving Badris and happened to be' the last
surviving member of' the Ten believed to have been
promised a place In Paradise (wAIbraJI Mubasb-
abirab
W
). He died In 55/58 A.H.
a. 'Utbmaaa bID Maz'oon was the first of
Companions of the Prophet who died in Ma4inah
and the first to be buried In the gra ve-
yard known as Jannat-ul-Baqee'.
3. SIuIl bID Sa'd an .Ansarl, Is reported to be the
last of those surviving Companions of the Prophet
who died in Madlnah (in 88/91 A.B.) .
4. Aaas bID MeaUk belonged to. the Khu tribe
356
known for their strong tribal feelings. He is
reported to be the last of those surviving
Companions of the Prophet who died tn Basrah (in
91/93 A.H.) and was, probably tbe last of the entire
galaxy to depart. He had been associated with the
Community since he was of the tender age of eight
and served the Prophet hardly for 10 years, but.
more than 1000, traditions are credited to him. He
was a devoted servant of the Prophet and, like all
servants, 'seems to have suffered' from the falling
of carrying tales about the master. Most of what is
reported by' him suffers from lack of comprehen-
sion. It is amazing that he bas been rated out of
all proportion by tradltionists and that, too, in
technical, theological matters for which he could
hardly be considered competent.
5. 'Abdanall bib 'Aufa Is reported to be the last
of those surviving Companions of the Prophet who
died in Kufah in 87 A.H. '
.. 'AbelaUaII bin B18' is believed to be the last of
, those' surviving Companions of the Prophet who died
in'Syria (Hums, 88 A.H.) Certain writes, however,
maintain that, Abu Umaamah Dahell was the last
companiQn to expire in Syria at the age of 91 In
86 A.H.
T. Abu. Tutan ' AamIr biD Vaatbilah Is supposed to
be the last of the Companions to depart. He was
hardly eigbt when" the Prophet died and could not
properly be described as a "Companion". He died tn
Makkab in 100/102 A.H

351
EPILOGUE
An average student of Muslim history is. terribly
puzzled how to account for the inescapable fact of
history that the edifice of an egalitarian society so
admirably and assiduously built by the Prophet on
the ideological pattern of the Quranic blue-print,
practically . crumbled so soon after him. What
happened Is that the nascent polity founded on the
Islamic ideology was persistently subjected to
centrifugal pulls of divisive nature, tribal,
territorial etc., and gradually the characteristic
internationalism of Islamic polity informed with the
principles of universal brotherhood, social equality
and civil liberty, gave way to the Arab imperialism
of the Meccan elite, more enlightened and broad-
based, though than the Roman imperialism of that
age.
This had been the fate of all previous Islamic
social structures raised by earlier Apostles from
time to time. The charisma of the personallty of
the Messenger, by and large, distracted from the
Message itself which his life was to illustrate, and
highly coloured accpunts about him were passed on
from generation to generation to form part of the
substance of religion. Paradoxically enough, the
term 'Muhammedanlsm' coined by prejudiced
orientallsts, perhaps maliciously, to describe the
religion of Islam, applies aptly today to the cult
practised by many of us in the name of Islam. As
a result, we find that the religion which was to
, end all exploitation of man by man was gradually
reduced to a personality cult and ultimately itself
became a source of exploitation.
Since the project of the last Apostle, raised on
the ruins of e ~ e r structures, was meant to be a
show-piece for all time, its lay-out and perspective
have been preserved and providentially kept extant
and intact. To me it looks as if by way of an
--_1_- ....... "f .... ;"toC! nf "h.:. Dto""h.... ur..... .. .. 11 ... "
358
. 'upon to try. their ". hands . at a game of blocks in
o r ~ to test their . abillty tt) reconstruct the same
pattern of the structure, block by block, with tHe
help of the specimen made available to them for
ap. time to come" in the Holy Book. It seems that
the pieces were designedly jumbled after it had
been demonstrated how to proceed with the job.
The game Is still on, and we all are expected to
try our hands. Tbe moment we are able to approxi-
mate the given Quranic specimen, it will be the
end of the game - and presumably of. the world.
This is, of course, a subjective approach based
on the faith that Islam is destined to be the
Ultimate destiny of mankind. Since Islam lays great
emphasis on the . individual's faith in" his
community's destiny and on his own disciplined
conduct in pursuance of that destiny, the Quran
made known the Divine scheme that governs the
vicissitudes in the fortunes of nations in general,
and has already put us on notice thus:
" lndeed We created Man in the best of
form; then We turned them (or let them
turn themselves) into the lowest of the
low, except (of course) those who have
faith (in their ultimate destiny) and do
righteous deeds (accordingly) "
(xcv: 4-6)*1
Here the catch-words are 'have faith' and 'do
righteous deeds' in .keeping with the faith. The two
riders go together to determine one's destiny. In
fact, Be...... (faith) in' its religious sense is
rooted in one's sense of accountability. Just as
good seed is expected to yield a good crop, only
the implicit 'faith' in one's right aim in life will
produce 'righteous deeds'. Of course, all deeds that
appear righteous are not necessarily 80 motivated.
It Is the fiavour and not the appearance "that
determines the quality of fruit. Besides, merely by
sowing good seeds, people caMot tzpect a good
crop. It demands continued effort. "-COnversely,all
359
their effort would go waste("luIbitat atmaaluhum"),
if there were no proper sowing. In our dally
prayers we merely make an assertion:
"To Thee we pledge our implicit
obedience and from Thee we seek help "
(1: . 4)*2
But do we ever care to translate this assertion into
action in actual life? This is the crux of the
matter. Mere assertion is no 'obedience' (lbaadat)
in its real sense.
Unfortunately, we are accustomed to using the
words, 'faith' and 'belief', rather loosely In
common parlance, and this is one of the main
sources of frustration in life. It is not just a smug
feeling of a probable eventuality but a forceful
feeling of an inescapable certainty that goes to.
constitute a faith or belief. It shOUld, therefore, be
a meaningful, educative exercise in introspection
for one to know how strong a feeling one has
about a certain article of faith. For there is a
close psychological relationship between the feeling
and the deed. It is, in fact, the feeling that
stimUlates the processes of thinking which, when
set at work, ignites the power-plug of will that
generates the motive force of all our actions.
SELF-ASSES::JMENT: Let us, therefore, be a little
more precise in what we believe. For example,
when we say that we believe in the Holy Book, let
us be clear in our own minds if we really mean
that its injunctions are' as relevant to our
contemporary . context as they were in the ti me of
the Prophet. Do we really believe in Allah as
the All-knowing, AU"powerful Supreme Being or
just as a convenient symbol to stand for the Laws
of Nature taken collectively? When, we say, ItLaa
ilaaha jUallahlt do we really mean that there is no
authority,. in the ultimate sense, worthy of
complete, unquestionable obedience but that of
Allah? When we say, Allaho Akbar' do we really
380
mean that Allah Is above all In In,
the 'sense that none can' do us any harm unless
Allah so wIShes in, His grand world strategy? Do we
really. believe in Allah's even,-handed justice or do
we believe that we can infiuence Him and denect
His judgement by in'loklng someboc:lY's
All this should. determine the" positive or" the
negative results 01 our falth In Allah.," "
Similarly, let us be clepr whether we really
beIleve in ,the Hereafter In the sense of our
Ultimate total accountabUlty - that having done
wrong to some one el$e WE!" cannot possibly hope to
get away with It and escape. retribution, and that
unless the aggrieved penqnforgives us, none ,else
will save us, not even Allah, much less His
Prophet. Do we really and feel relieved by
the though!, th,at if we have been C'heated or
defrauded of some,thing which would" at any rate,
have to be left behind after our certain death, we
are bound to get it back in the in, ;the
form that would stand, us in good stead there and
that the thing thus lost to us for the present has
virtually been sent in advance to be of certain use
'to us in the Hereafter? If one does believe in the
,Hereafter in that re8I sense. We can well imagine
his outlook on life and his, attitude towards, others.
It is by means of such an exercise illself-assess-
ment 'that one, can adjudge Qbjectively the r:eal
value of one's deeds to one's ,own destiny as, well
as to
A REMINDER: The general' principle, enunciated In
the under, d"cussion, (xcv: 4:-6)
is Significantly pr,taQAld with the following rather
enigmatic , .' '
,"By (thatiS'retlect on') the 'fig'
'Olive', "Mount Sinal', and thts Inviol-
able Cify '; , (xcv: 1,-3)*3 .
' #
Here our attention" has been pOintedly -
presum8bly, 'not withoUt reason -' to four symbols:
361
f
" . .
the Fia, the. Olive,. the Mount Sinai, and. the City
of Makkah. The significance' of the last two Is
pretty obvious and' gives the clue, .in a way, to 'the
. significance of the two symbols.
'tHE "PlG: As !'fof the (PIg, it Is intriguing that, in
Botany, the' Banyan tree (.,.....)Is known as the
. Picas 1Ddlca, the Indian Fig-tree, and the Peepal,
too, .' IS . called Plcas BeligiC8ll, tJle religious Fig-
tree . Thus, in any case, the Bo-tree beneath which
Gauta ma received or enlightenment and
attained the' high status of Buddha (from "Budc1bi",
. meaning 'wisdom' ). is scientifically classified as a
Fig-tree. This should not sound as fantastic as the
suggestion made in quarters that if "Dbal-.
Kill (xxi: 85 and xxxviU: 49), Uke "Dbaa Hoou"
(xxi: 87), be taken as a title to mean "of Kin", it
may refer to' Gautama Buddha "Of KapU-Vastu",
the site oJ the present-day Rummindei In Nepal,
where he was born.
THE OUY: As, for the Olive, apart from the
Quranlc references to its oil as a source of cool,
clear, Ught and also the fact of its branch being
proverbially regarded as an emblem of peace, it
presumably stands here for the Mount of Olives
situated on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem.
It is here that Jesus (Peace be on him) made one
of his famous addresses in which he issued a clear
warning to his disciples. This address, inCidentally,
provides elucidation of the Quranic warning
contained in the above-quoted verse. Prophet Jesus
(Peace be on him) Is reported to have said:
"Take heed that no man lead 1,ou astray.
For many shall . come in my name,
saying, I am the. Christ, and shall lead
many astray. And Ye shall hear of wars
and rumours of wars: See that Ye be not
troubled. For these things must needs
come to pass but the end is not. yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and
Kingdom against Kingdom: and there
362
shall be famines and earthquakes In
divers places. But . all these are the
beginning of the. travail.
,
And shall many stumb1e and shall
deUver up one another and' shall hate
one another. And many falSe prophets
shall ariBe, and . shall lead many astray.
And because Iniquity shall be multlplled,
the love of the many shall wax cold.
But he that endureth to the end, the
same shall be saved ... " ST ATTHEW
Chapter 23, .enes 4-13)
It Is, after all, a question. of challenges and
responses - the challenges or an ever-changing
environment and the responses of an organism
already provided with buUt-ln defences. Thus, a
community (or society at that) is constantly in
.......... (struggle), and the moment It faits to
make It proper response by utlllzing its moral and
material resources to meet the challenge posed, it
and perishes like all organisms.
If our presumption Is I correct, no further
comments are necessary. This has been the way
(.Su8Dah.) of Allah from the very beginning..
Besides, if a mariner does not consult the compass
he has with him but seeks guidance from all and
sundry, he should blame himself rather than his
stars if he loses the sense of direction and gets
lost at sea.
" And our duty Is but plain conveyance
(of the Message)"
(xxxvi: 17)*4

383
Neither an inscrutable miracle nor an. irrefutable
Message has ever made a Prophet acceptable to his
people. The secret of his success lay in his out-of-
the-common personality .. his transparent sincerity
and acrute senstlvlty, his catholic sympathies and
solicitude for all and sundry without discrimination.
His outstanding trait of self-less social service
would first sortenthe heart of the common man
and tht!D appeal to the mind through the heart.
People, are seldom converted by dialectics
. .
The ratsc. d'ene of all religions is to serve
the Creator through service rendered to His
creatures. A religious system lacking the content of
social service is just a cult. Nine-tenths of the
contents of "DeeD" comprise Man'S social
obligations. And It is on the proper discharge of
these obligations (called "buqooqul 'ibaad" in the
religious parlance) that his ultimate salvation
depends, for there is no other way of fulfilling his
obligations to 'his Creator or expressing his
gratitude for His bounties. Thus, it is the acute
sense of ultimate accountability in Man -, the rock-
bottom of Bemaaa ("Faith") - that gives an
abiding meaning to his Ufe and turns it into a
challenging mission. In the ulti mate analysis, it is
the degree of one's commitment to this basic
Doctrine of Accountability that determines one's
status in the Quranic terminology. No one with the
f o g g i ~ t nation of'" Accountability" can be dubbed a
kaaflr (unbeliever), no matter how far he may have
strayed from the right path.1 in some of his
-concepts.
"FAITH" MEANS TOTAL COMMITMENT: The
expression: "those who believe in Allah and the
Hereafter" does"not necessarily denote the Faithful
par aceDeaee I (al-Mo'.iDooD) unleSs they are
totally committed to that doctrine. For, the Quran
speaks of the Opportunists or Hypocrites (al-
Munaafiqooa) thus:
364
"And there are among people who say:
We believe in Allah and the Hereafter,
while they are not in fact truly Faithful
(al-Momloooa)- Ul: 8)*2
. Certainly a m1lll88:llq--(opportunlst or. hypocrite) has
not been declared a balk (unbeliever) because
of his 'lip service to the doctrine of accountability.
The explanation offered by the is as follows:
"These people love the momentary
(fieeting) Ufe and neglect a momentous
aay ahead of them". (lxxvi: 27)3
THE CANKER; The pagan Arabs were unequivocally
declared infidels and classified as musbrikOOll (that
is, those who make others share the Supreme
Deity's prerogatives), their belief in the
Creator and the Hereafter. The Quran speaks. of
them thus: .
ttShouldst thou ask them: Who created
heavens and the earth? They would
certainly say' Allah. Say (to them): .What
do you think of those whom you call
upon besides Allah? Could they (even)
remove harm if Allah intended to afnict
me, or could they bold back from me
His mercy if He intended to show it".
(xxxix: 38)*4
What tiley used to say is also recorded in the same
Surah:
"And those who take patrons (-Aullyaa")
beside Him (say): We do not worship
them but they would take us nearer to
Allah". (xxxix: 3)*5
Surely most of us today have no better explanation
to offer for our conduct.
TRANSGRESSION: Of the People of the Book, the
. Quran declares:
"So there are among them thO$e who'
. are on the right path but many of them
are transgressors." (IvU: 26)*6
. "They took their learned men and monks
as lords beside Allah." (Ix: 31)*7
In this connection, the clarification sought by 'Adi
bin Haatim At-Taa'ee may be seen in the Chapter
Nineteen. These statements underline the fact that
despite their belief in Allah and the Hereafter
(that is, in the Doctrine of Accountablllty) they
transgressed revealed Injunctions by augmenting or
abridging their import by the so-called "traditions"
and extraneous considerations and even debased the
basic Scriptural concept by grafting certain old
concepts on them. To this the Quran alludes thus:
"So those who turn back after that are the very
people who are transgressors." (iii: 82)*8. What is
to be noted in this connection is the fact that
although certain dogmas in which they believed
bordered on "sblrk" (the heinous ()ffence of making
others share the Supreme Deity's prerogatives),
they were cl8$sified as distinct from the
Musbritooa. In fact, because of their belonging to
Prophet Ibrahi m t s mlUat, they can only be
described as bad "Muslims" at their worst.
IR-FIGBftNG: This invites us to a bit of introspec-
tion and real hard thinking. On a little renection
we . cannot fail to notice the same or simUar
categories constituting together, a of
our present-day Muslim community. It is, however,
their abiding sense of belonging to the community
- obviously in their own interest - that has held
these disparate classes together In the fold so long.
Any attempt at regimentation by the majority,
declaring them n apostate" will only disrupt the
mlDat. The old term "lrtidaad" (renegation) with
Its political over-tones for security reasons has
lost, in the present context, Its original significance
388
which It had In the nascent State fraught with
dangers of espionage and subversion.
The Quran has already warned us: "Do not
quarrel, . for you win weak and your
prestige will be lost". (viii: 48)*9. The mOIat has,
thus, been warned, in clear terms, of dissension and
formation of splinter groups:
"And hold fast by the cord (covenant,
that Is, the Holy Book of Allah) in a
body (all together) and do not break up
In discordant groups." (111:103)*10
"Those' who cause dissension in
matter or their Faith and. form IpUater
8fOI4I8 (Sbi,a'u), nothing to
do with them". .' . (vI: 160)*11
'.
. Musiim hiStory is replete with instances of
persons considered to be fflllBiq (tranSgt'essor)
coming to the rescue of the .mat in its hour of
dire need. It is, In fact, the ostrich-like response
.of the so-called leamed, among the orthodox, to
the dynamic changes In environment - and their
ndog-in-the-manger" policy In moments of crisis -
that allows charlatans to come to the fore to fill
the vacuum. Experience tells us that, however' 111-
conceived, clumsily improvised might have been
their defensive measures, they have very often
ate mmed the tide; of course, with the grace of
Allah. Any damage done because of 'their
unorthodox, and mostly crude methods could always
be repaired later with imagination and application.
I B.ut the in-fighting among the defenders themselves
on the choice of tools and' tactics can'only
aggravate the situation and harden petty
differences into sectarian differentiations. The
Quran's clear guidance in the matter isexempUfied
by the following 'firm' verses:
"There is no compulsion (or coercion) in
the matter of Faith. The right way has
367
already been made distinct from. way-
wardness". (til 256)12
" And if your Lord so wished surely all
those who are in the world would have
believed. So are you going to force
people that they believe?" (x: 100)13
"Thou art not a warder over them (that
is, a keeper of their conscience)
Surely to Us they will be coming back.
Then upon Us will devolve their
reckoning." (lxxxviU: 22-26)14
"And you will . not be questioned' about
what they used to do". (Ii: 134)15
In the Interest of closer integration, it is not
enough for the majority to be fair In the treatment
-of- .. the .. dissidents. It has to be liberal and
magnanimous to. win them over (ta'1eeful quloob).
Polemics are not known to have ever brought about
a change of heart. The Prophet (Peace be on hi m)
is reported to have directed us: "Emulate Allah's
qualities, that Is adopt Divine ways".16. Here the
obvious reference is to Allah's all-embracing
qualities of forgiveness, mercy, justice, munificence
etc. which, like His bounties of air, water, sunshine
and rain, do not discrl minate between a Believer
and a non-Believer. Muslims are, therefore,
expected to eschew prejudice, and to be liberal and
large-hearted in conducting their relations with
others.
In fact, a truly free .IOCiety Is that which
respects, in practice, freedom of conscience and
expression and allows open-minded, dispassionate
dialogue among diverse sections of population living
together: It goes without saying that all sections
are to enjoy equal civic rights; but the exercise of .
these rights cannot be allowed to violate commonly
recognized norms of morality, decency or the.
, security of the State, or to affect others' morals.
388
civic rights or peaceful co-existence.
NEED FOR STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Since rights
no. from obUgations, a person UIOclated wltb a
community or an organlied body Is morally and'
legally ,bound to observe the ground-rules and
regulations 'of that body or commUnity,' and so long
88 be chooSes to enjoy the benefits' of that
888Oclation, he, cannot be allowed' to absolve
himself unilaterally from any social obUgations
normally nowing from that. associaoon. ,Any later
_ difference or matters of'dispute on that account
should be resolved-by referring' tbem to a
competent statutory authority enjoying the
confidence and respect of an. sections. of the
community, and the final appeal against Its findings
should He only with the Supreme Court. Of course,
questions of interpretatlon of the b ~ c substantive
law of the Quran in respect of articles of Faith,
beUefs and ",eliglous practices, not 'lavolvlng social '
obligations,' wUl normally fall outside the
JurlsdlcUon 'of any court of law. However, a special
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court .. y be' invoked
even in these matters by the mutual consent of the
parties to the .dispute.
In all such references to the relevant authority,
firm -and clear verse of the QuranC AI-Muhkamat )
are to' be interpreted, apart from considerations of
i d i ~ m syntax and context,' In, the light o,f other
equally . clear and firm verses. Any Interpretation
based on tradition, consensus of existing practice
cannot be 'allowed' to abrogate, abridge or add to
the import of a firm and .clearlnjun,ctlon of the
Quran. Slmllarly, any divtshe construction put on
the text which is Ukely to cause dtsruptlon, should
be considered 'repugnant to the spirit and the very
name of Islam, a religion of peace par ezceIlac:e.
Apart from enforcing and insisting on ,conformity to
certain universally recognized human values and
social norms of a civilized State (covered by the
term -al-ma'taoI' Val Muakar-), 8Jl Islamic state Is
. called upon to ......, dnd Dot to ...... mnchless
369
to farce, Its subjectS to fashion . their lives on a
particular pattern. It should .. certainly intervene If
some one seduces others and prevents tllem from
discharging. their .soclal obligations.
Any narrow-minded,. vindictive or coercive
approach to such deUcate matters of conscience
wUl only swell the ranks of the fifth-cobunn.- No-
doubt, it is one of the_functions oC-fhe State to
keep a i90d -watcb -on all elements suspected of
subversion or of functloning as lobbies of foreign
powers, and to deal with them under tbe law of
the .land. Similarly, it is one of its duties to ensure
safety and security of life and property of all its
subjects without distinction and discrimination as
well as to maintain law and order at all costs. No
civilized' people, in their own best Interests, can
ever countenance witch-hunts or inquisitions.
Instead of insisting on the. 24-carat purity of'
Faith, we are expected in the light of th.e Quranic
guidance. to strive after forging a joint front
against God-less society by bringing together all
available remnants of early communities of
Believers and caUi'ng upon them in the words of
the Quran: .
"Come to (agreement on) a doctrine
which is (already) agreed among us and
a mong you alike, that w.e shall worship
(adoringly serve) none but Allah. " .
(Hi: 64).17
SlGNlPICANCE OP BASIC CONCEP'lS: Those who
study the Islamic code of conduct ,in depth cannot
fail to notice that certain Quranic concepts. which
now form part of the jargon as mere cliches had
originally deeper signlfic.ance for thC)Se who cared
to make them. part ot their lives. A few simple
terms ot basic Importance are listed below to
illustrate the point. Unle .. real significance of
these is once again brougbt . bc:)me to the .common
mAn. win t'nntfnnA .'" ....... "'.. U4-4.1... :-
------- - ---
310
1. EeID88ll Firm belief in Allah's Final Revelat-
Ion and abiding faith in the ultimate
accountability before Hlme.
2. DhIkr Remembrance of the basic concept of
accountability.
3. Ibant Total commitment In all sectors of
life to the dictates of tbe Authority
held Supra me.
4. Sabr Perseverance in meeting the demands
of a rightly cherished cause in
adverse circumstances.
5. Shatr To express gratitude to the Creator
for His favours, firstly by making the
best use of these favours and
secondly by sh'arlng them with others
or doing good in return to His
creatures without discrimination.
8. Taqva Meticulous compliance with . the
prescribed Code of Conduct,
eschewing all that is apt to lead to
negligence or dereliction of duty.
1. Tadabbur To study, In depth, the 'Signs' of the
Creator - . both those revealed in the
Book and those perceived in Nature.
8. Tafaqquh To interpret the 'signs' revealed in
the Book in the light of the 'signs'
perceived in Nature and vice vena,
and to identify impUcations of both.
9.' Ijtebad To endeavour to meet environmental
challenges to the organic society in
the light of the Holy Book and the
way of the Prophet, by observing the
accepted ground-rules of the Faith in
the conte mporary context.
311
10. Tanklad To be at peace with the ultimate
Divine dispensation without being
bothered about the outcome of one I s
endeavour.
11. Tableegb To broadcast or make known to
others what is for the good of all.
"I desire nothing but reform so far as It
lies in my power, and my source ot
encouragement is with none but Allah"
(xi: 88)18

312
AppeadiJ:: (I)
PEN PICTURE
Anas bin Maalik, Jaabir bin Samrah" and AI-
Baraa' bin 'Aazib" report:
The Prophet (Peace be on him) was medium
statured with broad shoulders and prominent joints.
Being of slight build, he would appear taller than
an average man of his stature.
Fair-complexioned, he had a ruddy, broad,
roundish face. His dark, drooping eyes had red
streaks in their white. In a broad well-set jaw, his
teeth would never be fully shown when he talked
or smiled. He would seldom laugh. He wore a thick
beard with a few grey hair in the front which one
could hardly notice unless they were made glossy
with a touch of oil.
He had a luxuriant head of curlish hair, long
enough to reach the lobes of his ears. Even in his
old age, his grey hair could be easily counted on
fingers. He had, therefore, no reason to use a dye
ever in his life. There was a thin hairy line on his
chest going right up to the navel.
He had, on his back between his shoulders, a
fibroid cyst, which the superstitious among his
disciples believed to be the Seal of Prophet hood'.
He had lean but remarkably long and broad palms.
He had sturdy legs with plump calves. His gait
was swift and in strides. He would bend slightly
forward in walking - as if braving a storm.
He would talk gently but distinctly with a
pronounced pause after each sentence. He would
often repeat a thing thrice to emphasize it. (Based
on reports recorded by Bukhari, Muslim and
" Tirmidht).
373
Appadix (Ii)
RATIONALE OP ISLAMIC IDEOLOGY
-Sources of knowledge are not confined to the
five physical senses only. There lies beyond the
reach of our physical senses. a vast exporable
expanse of the sensorially imperceptible.
-The temple or knowledge buUt by Reason rests
on the bed-rock of Faith. No progress in knowledge
could ever be made unless Man had faith in certain
unaccountable assumptions:
(a) that the cosmos constitutes an organized
system, functioning purposefully; and
(b) that results of today's experiments will
hold good for tomorrow.
-The super-structure of the temple of
knowledge is built with slabs of sensory perception,
held in place by Reason, with the mortar of extra-
sensory perception obtained through what is
popularly called the sixth sense (that is, insight).
-The sensory perception, and hence Reason, is
conditioned by the time-space syndrome, while the
extra-sensory perception of the 'insight' transcends
all material hindrances and limitations of Reason.
The eye-sight will not work unless there is light
outside. Similarly, both reason and human insight
could be or little use without the light provided by
intuition or revelation. No invention or- discovery
could ever be possible without the glow of
intuition.
Some such built-in source of inner guidance is
available even to the lowest rung or life, from the
amoeba to the bee or the weaver-bird, for
example, known for expertise in the use of their
peculiar creative techniques.
374
-Of all the powers of Man, his. wiD-power has
so far been least understood and studied. It is not
so much the treatment which carries the patient
through as his own wlll-power fired with faith, say,
in the treatment. It is, in fact, the faith that
ignites the power -plug.
-' Seeing is believing' is true only -to a point.
For there are things and things which we believe
without seeing them or seeking a rational
explanation - merely on bUnd faith, so to say.
There is no rational basis, for example, for the
faith we readily repose in the veracity of a guide
we take in an unknown locality.
-Paradoxically, one would readily accept some
one as his. father on the solitary evidence of his
mother, but has the face to disbelieve all
accumulated evidence of aD pious people of all
times, who could not have possibly conspired to
perpetuate a fraud on us by creating a Creator
that does not exist.
-According to Islam, the phylical death of a
person is not the end of his jouraey. It asserts that
. the 'personality' of a person survives after his
physical death and that the soul is tbe indetermin-
able motive force that carries the "personality"
through the entire journey in the vaat expanse of
creation.
-The 'personality' of a person is bullt, brick by
brick, by. the discretions he exercises in life. The
exercise of his discretion determines his fate. None
but tbe OmniscIent can prejudge how we are .$. _.
to use our discretion. ' , . j \ ~ .
We are driving, so to'iay, on a high-way Wli "
has numerous roundabouts connecting several r' < ...
running in various directions. None can prejudge:, . ~ :
pre-determine which road at a, ptII'ticut'.'-
roundabout we are going to take, although. one cae!'
315
safely predict, after knowing our choice of the
road or direction, what we would come across on
our way between two roundabouts on a particular
road or in Ii particular direction.
-TAQDEER, tn Arabic, Uterally means "to
empower" but we are, in actual fact, so
empowered that the mere exercise of our power to
act in a particular direction automatically limits'
our power to act in another direction. For exa mple,
it is in your power to raise either of your feet and
continue standing; but the moment you exercise
that power and raise one of your feet, you are
incapacitated for raising the other foot at the
same time and continue standing. Fate, in reality,
is the popular name given to the totality of pre-
ordained causes and effects within the rigid
era mework of laws of nature.
-What we describe as 'Predestination' or 'fore-
ordaining! for want of a more appropriate word, is,
in fact, a semantic problem arising from our lack
of comprehension of a phenomenon taking place
beyond the realm of time and space, where there
is neither past nor future. To be precise, it is
neither a pre-view nor the pre-knowledge of an
event, because the view or knowledge and the
occurrence of the event co-exist beyond time
where nothing precedes or follows In terms of
cause and effect.
-There is a somewhat simllar phenomenon of
what is called 'Pre-cognition', the study of .. which
is being pursued by the societies of psychical
research all over the world. 'Pre-cognition' is a
person's rare experience of an event taking place
simultaneously or before it actually takes place. A
very rough-and-ready illustration that comes to
mind is like your watching arilm of a sequence of
events you have already witnessed taking place
elsewhere. Here your pre"knowledge of the events
that follow: in a sequence Is nelthera cause nor ~
. effect of what is now being unfolded by the tUm.
376
Thus our conduct in. this world of time and space
Is only the unfolding of (l part of a slow-motion
picture of the creation that came into being all at
once, beyond time and space, as a result of the
Creator's flaf expressed in a concrete word 'KUD'
(tBe'). In the language of science, this act of
Creation Is . called the BIG BANG, which alone
should be regarded as the Ultimate cause of all
creation with all Its contents, including every
individual's conduct.
-The physical death being the most incontrover-
tible fact of life, sooner or later one has to take a
plunge Into the realm of the unknown. If there is
no Hereafter, it is well and good; but we should
not ignore the possibility - of which there is at
least a 50 per cent chance - of the Hereafter
being a sOlid fact as preached by all prophets.
-Taking the pragmatic view of things, common
sense demands that one should not take the
tremendous risk of ignoring altogether the
contingency of which there exists, on a conserva-
tive estimate, at least a SOl chance.
-The belief in the Hereafter, which means in
the ultimate accountability of Man, vests man with
responsibillty and trust. He who does not hold
himself accountable or responsible to any supreme
authority has no apparent reason or right to be
considered a responsible. or trustworthy person.
-Disbelief in the ultimate accountability to the
Creator 'causes a lesion, petrifaction of heart,
which Is curable only bomoeopatIdcaDJ, so to say,
in' its early. stage by a simllar dose of adversity 01'
h8(dship.
-There can be only two theories possible about
the cosmos. Either it exists eternally by itself with
all tts contents or it is a handiwqrk of some one
else, eternal and all-powerful.
311
. -The first t h e ~ y the theory of materialism and
atheism, decries the Hereafter and, thereafter, all
accountablUty. This renders Man essentially
irresponsible and leaves for him no incentive for
sacritice and social service, for the simple reason
that there Is nothing to gain anywhere in return
for what one forgoes here In life. To talk of
conscience in this context is to tty ott at a
tangent by substituting an equally indeteDllinable
and unaccountable factor tor another.
-The contrary view, the theory of theism, that
nothing in the cosmos is eternal and that the
coslllos itself Is a handiwork of One" Eternal Being,
the Creator, Is succinctly summed up In the Islamic
dictum (Kalimah) 'La n... m.o.b', which
purports to assert that there is no eternal
operative Agent worthy ot our submission but
Allah.
By the way, if we reduce this dictum mathema-
tically, we arrive at 'Infinity'.
Numerator - (Except the One Surviving)
_1
---------------------------------0 00
Denominator - (None Worthy of worship)
-The concepts of Infinity (or that of the
limitless) and Eternity, the two sides of the same
coin, are irresistably forced on us by the sense of-
our own limitations and imperfections.
-Like Reaion, the rabIoD d.be of Science, Faith
the .... d'eti.'a. of Religion, has its own modalities
and ground-rules, its own axioms and laws.
-The normal process of acquisition of knowledge
is to arrive from the particular to the general and
from the concrete to the abstract.
-The entire structure of Geometry, a branch ot
. the pure science of Mathematics, rests on the
3'18
imperceptible, geometrical point; wblch is believed
to have. some position but. no magnitude or
dimensions - although for practical purposes this
Imperceptible, abstract point has, of necessity, to
be repre$ented by a visible, concrete dot. This is
supposed to run through the entire structurer for
the supposed movement of this imperceptible point
determines a line which cannot but be equally
Imperceptible and the supposed movement of this
imaginary line determines an equally imperceptible
plane, which, in turn, Is supposed to form solid
figures by Its movement. .
-Similarly, the system of the revealed religion
Is based OR an imperceptible Deity which exists and
runs through the entire creation but has no
perceptible magnitude. The simile has its own
lhnltatlons. For, the geometrical point is a mere
supposition, whUe the Supreme Deity is believed to
be conscious and self-operating.
-Islam is a derivative of a very ancient Semetic
root -Seea, Laam, .eem (SALII)- which connotes
peace and submission. Thus, Islam claims to be the
Religion of Peace based on complete submission to
the will of the Creatot.
-The expression 'submission to the will' implies
complete obedience or total submission, in all
sectors or human. activity, so as to attune the
entire life to the Divine laws operating in the
ytorld. Thus, the popular CQncept of 'worship' does
not apply to the Islamic 'system which demands
total commitment or submisst&.n, that is, complete,
constant obedience of Man in all his dealings all
his life In all Its spheres or activity, and not
confined to any particular period of time or sphere
of activity. >
-All religious disciplines prescribed are designed
to enable . Man to achieve self-discipline by
exercising control over his animal Instincts and .to
inculcate in him the sense of sacrifice and social
319
obligation. These disciplines are based mainly on
recognized psychological techniques of
concentration, introspection and auto-suggestion for
the development of the Will-power which, if
released, could ,like atomic energy, be utilized for
constructive or destructive p u r ~ e s
-Default of any of these disciplines Is a crime
against Allah, unless one tries to make a virtue of
the default, which wUl then become a crime
against the State. When the Quran says that "there
is no compulsion in the matter of Faith" ('ride: Al-
Baqra: 256), It refers strictly to God-Man relation-
ship. The State's duty is to enable, and not to
mate, much less force, the people to fashion their
lives on a given pattem.
-Thin. have been forbidden or prohibited
generally on grounds of moral rather than physical
health of Man. For example, Dr. James Tyler Kent
M.D. in his famous 'Leclltres on Materia lIedlca',
speaking on 'Opium' observes:
"Opium eaters, like whisky drinkers, are
constitutional liars. They have no
conscience left" (page 161)
-Similarly, "very orten a thing or quality,
otherwise beneficial, is declared harmful on.
ideological grounds. For example, Bertrand Russell
observes:
"If the main purpose.. of a man are
corrupt, efflclencyis harmful."
-Many things harmful to a person's own "moral
health are, in themselves, .punitive in the sense
that they carry with them their own retribution or
punishment, and therefore, no specific punishment
had been prescribed. But, wben they affect others
in the community, the law-giver had to provide a
deterrent punishment. Perhaps, that is why no
specifiC punishment for 'drinking' or taking liquor
380
has been prescribed in the Quran, although it leads
to lewdness, while adultery has been specifically
declared punishable.
-Crimes against an individual are also, in a way,
crimes against the State. because of the contraven-
tion of the laws of the" realm. But many of them
are compoundable out of court, and forgiveness on
the part of the aggrieved has been declared by the
Quran as an act of great virtue carrying its own
reward.
-"IIadII', tile utmost Bmit of punishment has,
however, been prescribed only to indicate the
extent to which an individual or a State can have
a claim on the accused In respect of a particular
crime.
-Crimes in which passion or carnal pleasure is
involved, such as sex crimes, tend to become a
disease unless the tendency is checked in ti me and
overcome by associating carnal pain with carnal
pleasure by awarding corporal punishment, so that
afterwards the mere thought of that particular
pleasure stimulates the acute sense of pain by the
usual psychological process of association. Thus, the
awarding of stripes intermittently phased over a
(A'umber of weeks may well prove more deterrent
than several years' continuous imprisonment with
hard labour. Unless this criminological fact is duly
appreciated, all penal reforms are bound to defeat
their own purpose.
-Nothing Is basically wrong with the expression
"Islamic Socialism", on the analogy of "Islamic
Equality", "Islamic Fraternity" and "Islamic
Liberty", if "socialism", as a term, connotes, as it
should, and $tands for the concept of individual's
interests being governed by the collective interests
of society. What matters Is the basic approach.
One person may feel that if his own pocket is
empty none else has a right to have a lOO-Rupee
. note on his person. On the other hand, another
381
person feels that he has no right to carry a 100-
Rupee note in his pocket if some one he knows or
some cause is ,in dire need of money.
-The apparent success .or failure o.f a person
does not determine his ultimate fate or destiny_
One who witnesses a marathon race in the middle
of the event only, cannot prejudge the ultimate
result of the event. For who knows. that the one
who leads in the middle of the event may well
finish the last?

382
Appeadix (lU)
THE UGIMEN
(a) Propagation of values by practising them in
actual Ufe.
(b) Avoidance -"of polemics which never carries
conviction.
(c) Approach the Mind through the Heart.
(d) Communication with the non-believing world
through understanding and service.
(e) Total commitment to the operational as well
as the Ideological aspect of the Cause. Reason
may be applied to the basic objective
("DeeD") but not to the ... methodology'
("Sbarlab") scripturally prescribed for the
achievement of those objectives. I' one wants
to be treated by a physician one should have
to accept both his prescription and regimen.
(f) To have a clear vision of an objective, there
should be an implicit Caith In its utility, and
readiness to pay a price for it In terms of
sacrifice of ti me, money and convenience.
. .
-(g) The REGIMEN prescribed by a revealed
religion aims at nurturing a sense of sacrifice
rather than regi mentation.
-The institution of Salaat (regular prayers) Is
based on the sacrifice of one's coavenience
and valuable time for a more valuable
purpose.
-The institution of Sawm (fasting) is based on
the sacrifice of one's momentary instinctive
pleasures Cor a spiritual purpose of abiding
value.
383
-The Institution ot Zakaat (a levy tor social
upllft) Is based on the 8acrltlce ot money and
the monetary galn tor the all-round gain ot
the society.
-The Institution ot Hajj (The annual
Jamboree-like camp of the Faithful at
Arafaat /Makkah) Is based on the sacrifice of
time, CODyenleace ... o:ao-r. It Is an
exercise In selt-dlscipline In a big way.
-The institution ot Jebaad (all-out struggle) is
based on the sacrifice ot one's all, even one's
ute, tor 'the supreme cause one loves.
-The Institution ot Animal Sacrifice (not
obligatory but desirable, and that, too, on
specific, Intrequel'\t occasions only) is a
symbolic sacrltlce ot. the highest order, that
is of loYe one has tor the one to be sacrificed
in the way ot Allah. Paradoxically, those who
revel In' hunting and teasting, object
vehemently to this on. the specious plea of
cruelty to animals or unnecessary deprivation
ot ute.

384
AppeIMIIx (Iv)
RBFLECTIONS ON RAMIe POLITY
In a discussion like this, one Is likely to ignore
two basic facts relevant to such a discussion.
Firstly, the Islamic Society Is not to be confused
with the Muslim Society as moulded under press.ures
of history during. the past so many centuries. As a
result of the Impact of foreign Innuence, the
Muslim Society h-. strayed far from the Qurantc
blue-print. To a very great extent, tllis is due to
our greater reliance on not-so-sound traditions
handed down from generation to generation than on
the immutable text of the Holy Book. Secondly, the
Quran embodies basic principles of conduct in
various sectors of human activity and is not to be
taken as a on the political science or
any science at that. One who is looking for a
political system defined In the Quran in some
detail' giving basic outlines of its own
characteristic polity, .iIl bound to be disappointed.
UMMAH: Wherever the Quran talks of the Muslim
community, it generally uses the term 'nation'
(Ummall) in its sociological sense of a group of
people sharing a common outlook on life and a
common destiny. In that sense, it takes no account
of territorial, recial and lingual distinctions. It is
only when the Quran' talks of a people with
reference to its territorial abode wherein they are
in a position to assume the responsibUities of the
State by exercising what we, in pOlitics, call the
right of selt':"determlnation, that the term 'nation'
(Ummab) has been Ulsed in itS political sense, as it
was used in the recorded text of the IladlDab Pact
slped by. the Prophet himself with other
commdnlties residing in and around Medinah.
In that historic document, the Jews and other
peoples who had pledged their support to the new
. order ensuring security, peace and prosperity for
385
the region, were declared to have formed
"Ummata VabkIaII
lt
(one nation) with the Muslim
Community. Thus, wh.en it is used for a people with
reference to a defined territory, the terril 'nation'
stands for the ComlDllDlt, of Interests rather than
for any particular community. After all it is a
territory that becomes a state by virtue of its
majority exercising Its right of self-determination.
Islam seeks to evolve a world order ensuring
human dignity, tolerance and social justice, from
Its own concept of human brotherhood formed on
the basis' of an ideology which .transcends all
barriers between man and man. The Quran,
however, recognizes territorial, racial and Ungual
distinctions only on pragmatic grounds of identifi-
cation' and ... It tleclares:
"And We have made you communities
(terrltorlaDy) and tribes (racially or
IlDfiaanJ) that you may know one
another. Certainly, in Allah's view, the
most deserving of respect among you is
the most mindful of His displeasure
among you". (xlix: 13)*1
A practical demonstration of this characteristic
brotherhood Is given annually on the occasion of
that great "Jamboree" - like camp of the Faithful
known as "Hajj".
ISLAMIC IDEOLOGY: The focal point of the Islamic
ideology Is the man's sense 01 ultimate accouat-
&brut, to his Creator, the All-knowing, All-seeing
and All-powerful Supreme Being, Allah, . whose
prerogatives, as the Sovereign, are shared by none.
The Islamic therefore, recognizes the
authority .of Allah alone which over-rides all other
authorities and loyalties.
"All authority is vested in' Allah
who has com mended you to serve none
with Implicit submission' (worship) except
" (yll! 4n\*?
388
On this point, lBlam all9ws no dissent and admits
of no dispute. The Quran declaresl
"Surely with those who - divide- their
rellpon Into spllnter group and become
sects You have truck
w
(vI: 180)3
Thus, -the MUslim slogan-AIIaIa-o-Akbar
w
(meaning, Allah Is over- and above all In greatness
and power) is, In - Its real sense, the most
revolutionary slogan ever ralsedagalnstexploitatlon
of man by man.-
The egalitarian soctety delineated In the Quran
In essentially rooted in moral ...... anei' lays the
utmost _ emphasis on the, individual's sense - of
ultimate account.billt,- to his Creator -and -not to
Societ,. It is this (leep conviction of .ceountablllty
(EeID88ll) which, by force of habit, brings about an
attitude of mind aptly described in the Quran as
Taqn, meaning, an abiding fear of displeasure ot
that Supreme Being to whem one considers oneself
ul:tlmately answerable. -Soundness Qf a structure
depends, In _the ultimate analysis, on --how -best each
and every- block has been cured.
In the Islamic pollty, therefore, one'ssuitabUlty
for an assignment of trust and responsibility (al-
amr) is to be Judged mainly. on the grounds of
one's basic loyalties, IS deducible from one's
, moral reflexes rather than on' consideration of
efficiency -to be determined by -one'a Intelligence
Quotient (IQ). For, as Bertrand RusieU,-the
RatlonallstPhilosopher, put tt, "When the main
purposes of a are conupt, -efficiency is
harmful". In the words of a Prophet's daughter,
who later became Prophet MOle,' wife, quoted by
the Quran, "the best that you can hire is the one
who Is strong and trustworthy (xxvUl: 26)*4. -In
other words, he should be a -person who could be
morally and physically strong ,nd dependable.
Education of the community being the
381
responstbUity of the entire society and of no
particular class or section of people, Islam admits
of no priests or clergy, the virtual conscience--
keepers of others in society. It is the duty of the
Islamic State to .... Ie (and not to force) its
citizens to fashion their lives in accordance with
. the requirements of the State religion, the religion
of the majority of the State. Of course, like
lawyers, doctors, engineers and scientists, the
theologians too will have to be consulted as
specialists in their own branch of learning and their
expert opinion should naturally carry due weight
with the functionaries of the State.
SECULARISM: In the absence of a recognized
stratum of society formed exclusively by profess-
ional theologians, capitalizing their knowledge of
theology and clai ming any privilege other than what
is generally enjoyed by other knowledgeable circles
in the body politic, an Islamic state cannot be
rightly and correctly described as theocracy which,
accor4ing to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, means
a "Government or state governed by God directly
or through a sacerdotal class". If the United
Kingdom with its Head of state offiCially described
'as "Defender of the Faith" and its Parliament
constitutionally comprising, among others, represen-
tatives of the organized Church, can boast of the
secular character of its an Islamic State in
its real sense, affirming its basic loyalty to God
Almighty, has a much better claim to secularism,
as opposed to theocracy. An average Muslim's
allergy to secularism is based on the lack oJ
comprehension of the primary connotation of the
term.
A truly Islamic State is one which so functions
that all regions and religions could feel fully. safe,
secure and free to profess and practise their faith
and develop their distinctive c!ulture according to
their own genius, subject only to the normal
considerations of security, decency and moral
discretion. For the Quran declares once for all:
388
"There no comp.u1sion In the . matter
of Faith. For, the right path hat been
made manlfesUy clear from wayward-
ness". (It: 256)*5
"And if your Lord had so wished, surely
all those who are in this world would
have beUeved. .So, are you going to
force people that they become
believers?" he 100)*8
IIISSION: The Muslims all over the world, as a
community,. have, however, been assigned by the
Quran a particular mission. It says:
"You are the best community that has
been raised up for mankind and you
-.JoiIl what Is commonly recopiled as
right what Is (to
human. nature) and. believe in Allah".
(iii: 110)*7
Here the significant words "enjoin" and "forbid"
contra .. indicate a pqslve. role for the comrr unity
where human values, are concerned, and pre-suppose
the quantum of political power to play its role. But
this verse does not concede to the com munity a
right to imPose its . own Faith or it. own
characteristics code of conduct on others, as was
evident by another verse preceding it:
"And from among you, there should be
people who IDYlte to good.... aDd enjoin
what 1$ commonly recognized as right
and forbid what is abhorrent (to human
nature). It is these people who will
attain their destiny". (iil: 104)*8
Here, the, significant word "IDvJte" underline the
mJasio,DarJ role. its .duty to lJIClP8IIlte (not
, to .fOl'Ce). its own articles or. Faith and
characteristic ethics and moral valu'e as distingul"
. shed from the hUlD8D values universally recognized
onlv wh..... .. .. - .. --
389
com munlty discharges this missionary duty as well,
. can it hope to attain its destiny. Here it
is to be borne in mind that unless you concede 'to
others the right to propagate, you cannot
reasonably expect others to let you exercise your
own right to propagate.
DESTINY: Thus, wherever the Muslim Community Is
in a position to assert Itself, its destiny will be
determined by the measure of its success or fallure
to carry out its assigned responsibilities. Tbe Quran
promises to provide the Muslim community with
ample opportunity to prove itself equal to its
mandatory task:
"(Allah) has promised to those of you
wbo believe and do good that He will
certainly make them successors In having
the control of a territory as He made
otbers before them and that He will also
establish their faith which He has chosen
for them". (xxiv: 55 )*9
However, along with this promIse the Quran
hastens to caution the community:
"And if you turn back, He will bring in
your place some other people, and they
will not prove simIlar to you".
(xlvU: 38)*10

It does not follow that other communities, not
committed to Islam and its ideals, will altogether
be . denied progress and prosperity even if they
make good use of their capabilities and pursue
their wQrldly objectives. with common sense,
patience and concerted effort. For the Quran has
made the pOSition quite clear:
"Whosoever desires the' harvest of the
Hereafter, We will give him abundance'
ot it, and he who desires, the harvest of
tbe world. We shall let 'him bave H but
390
. .
there Is' nothing for him to expect In
the Hereafter". (xllJ: 20)*11.
GUIDBLINBS: rt goes without iaying that 'the' Qui'an
has to be as . the ofp,clal.lJ, issued
manifesto for. an thne to of the par,ty
described by A,llah!s Own
Party. It admits of no -amendment, and all
subsequent legislation has ,coAiC)l'.-n to ' its
guidelines ,anddertve. sanction . from It alone. The
Quran has repeatedly emphasized this point:
"What lore are they going beU@ve
after that (BooK)?" . (vU; Ul5)'12
t ,'. :. ".
"Then shall I seek for an albiter other
than Allah" Who lias sent down to you
the Book clarified in detail?" ,
. , . "(vI: 115)*13
" And what most of the people follow is
only a surmise. Verily surmises are of no
use as a substitute for what is eel,tain
tt

. ,- (x: 3'7}*14
The affairs' of the' communlty, and tl\8
State at that,are to 1?e conducted by mutual
consultation, which Is' the essence of
democracy: '
"And their affairs' ar& conducted by
consultation among the:m". . (Xul: 38)*15
,Now, this is fiexible enough to admit of any form
of governance which ensures, reference to. the
people in all policy matters. This leaves to the
people of a territbry to decide what particular
form of Government their own circumstances
demand. Islam iJ certainly opposed to autocracy but
Ii not averse to monarchical form of government if
sovereignty of the people is not compromised in
the sense, that ,the title of . the liead. of state is
. not matte'' automatically transferable from one
391
monarch to another by right according to the law
of inheritance or by nomination without reference
to the people at any stage. It should be noted that
Moses has been quoted as teUing his people:
"RemeTober Allah's favour to you that
He appointed among .you Prophets and
made you Kings".. (VI 20).16
ISLAMIC DEltOCRACY: As long as the people
remain masters of their own affairs and their well-
being remaiils the ultimate objective of a political
system, any form of governance is good enough for
a people. However, the Islamic concept of
democracy concedes a wide range of discretion to
the Head of State when the Quranic provision lays
down:
"And consult with them upon the
conduct of. affairs and when you take a
decision then rely on Allah".
(iii: 159).11
In other words, he is not bound to act on the
advice of the majority, if he, in his discretion,
believes that the right is with the minority. He has
been asked to invoke his sense of accountability to
Allah alone. Now, if the people are not prepared to
abide by his judsement, which amounts to a vote
of no-confidence, the only alternative is to remove
him; for so long as he remains at the helm of
affairs, ~ ... has to be implicitly obeyed provided he
does not infringe any of Allah's com mandments.
What is preferable and graceful is that he should
himself make an offer to his people in the words
of Prophet Noah:
I
"0 my people! it my stance and my
reference to Allah's commandments Ue
ha-Yy Oft you - and on Allah did I rely
- so let you and your assoclat.. taka
stock Of your affair tuBy and coUect-
tve.., (tbftld-bare) .. so that. nothing
392
remains uaclear., TheD enforce ,our
decislon on me and do not put up with
me any more". (a 72).18
Thus, the Islamic poUtical system appeUl more
akin to the Ple8ldeatW than the ..... .., type
of democracy. What is to be boraeln mind is ,that
even democracy is only a means to' aa end Rot the
end in. Itself, which. bas to be ,the we}fare of the
community. To pin-point reepoRSlbi11tJ and to avoid
friction and Intrigue, It is but pruden.t that the
country's, supreme discretionary' (executive) pOwer
should not be vested in more tban eae elective
offices whatever be the hazards of sucb a concent-
ration of power. It definite advantages wID, to a
considerable extent, neutralize the' corruptive
potential of power.
In tbe present age of specialization, the Quranlc
provision for' mutual cOD8Ultatlon' bas to' be
Interpreted in the context. For, In
the words of the Quran: "Say: Are those who know
and who know not alike?" (xxxix: 9).19. Statecraft
has beco .. e such a compUcated and involved affair
that ,no co...clentious person can poasibly rely on
his own Judgement ignoring or doing without the
. expert advice' of speCialists In the exercise of his
discretion In highly technical matters of State.
There' should be' statutory' bodies of speciaUsts on
the American pattem to advise In' matters such as
Foreign Affairs, De'fence, National Security,
Religious Affairs etc.; These committees should be
manned by those reputed for erudition, experience
and, above all, Integrity.
IlE8PBCT POR AUTBOJlITY: No SOciety, no organiz-
ation . at that" can function u!'1esa there is in the
community an optimum' sense of cIi8clpUne and due
Tespect for authOrity. The Q1Jl'an spells. out the
priorities tbus: .
"0 You wlto beUevel Obey Allah and
obey tile Prophet and ttaose among you
393
at the helm of affairs. If jou happen to
have lOme dispute about anything, refer
it to Allah and the Prophet, if you
(really) belleve In Allah and the Here-
after". . (Iv: 59)*20
'') >
Here' tlia repetition of the word "obey" (atee'oo)
may not be without significance, for the allegiance
to authority in lbe two cases is. not exactly the
. same in the. strict sense of the word. Allegiance to
Allah lithe only allegiance, per se, whUe in other
cases, It Is. only' by proxy. The fact of the matter
is: iHe who. obeys the Prophet, (In fact) obeys
Allah' (tv: 80)*21.
PBANCBlSE: The question of questions is how to
ascertain the wishes of the people in a state. No
rigid form has been prescribed for making
reference to the common man. It is just as it
should be. For the more flexible is .a constituti'onal
provision on the operative' side, the more durable it
wm prove. Obviously, the direct franchise is the
ideal form of reference, but it is practicable and
dependable . only In small, manageable, single-
member constituencies and' would work ideally only
In city-States. In larger constituencies, the
approach to the common man tends more and more
to be indirect in actual practice, and allow less and
, less chances to the middle class to hold its own in
the body politic. Therefore, In a modern State. of an
average size, there has to be an infra-structure of
a directly, elected base to provide the common man
with a comparatively m9re free scope for
partiCipation.
Muhammad M arm adu.ke Pick thall, In the Eighth
and last of his aM.... Sedeea of lectures on the '
aCultural 01. JalalD
ft
dellvered in 1927, said:
,iIn the Islamic State, the' .
Is made as small as possible In order
that all the constituents may be well
. acouainted with t
\
394
. whom . they elect from among
1 'am .not talking or members of
ParUament buto! Ule members or the
lowest . representative body .E.ch of
tbese loweSt representative bodles elect
a. representative from. its
members ...
"This is quite dltferent from the
ParUamentary system,' but it has its
manifest advantages Thfs fa the old
Oriental system of self-government -
tbe system of Sb&,ukb or headmen
consecrated by Islam. And, as far as' I
know, it has. never failed to prove
effective when allowed to operate with
reasonable freedom in any Eastem land.
"It has the great: advantage of affording
honourable advancement to men of sOlid
worth, men _0 have worked hard all
their lives . for public causes, without any
of theclap-irap of the demagogue, I
commend It, to you as the proper system
of representation for Mpsll ma". (LeCture
entitled: City of Isla .... Madras 1921). .
, .
This is just one' point of view put forward by a
weU-quallfied .Muslim savant whose opinion merits
serious consideration. However, It is intricate
questions Uke tbis that have' been wisely left to
the good sense of the community to sort out with
I'eference to the prevailing, conditions and
circumstances. This nexlbntty is to be considered
as a virtue rather than afauIt. .
MORAL BASIS: Wbat is of utmost Importance is to
lay down In the constitution stringent qualifications
for the people to be put' at the helm of affairs, as
well as precise disqualifications for voters on moral
grounds. If the constitutions of civilized countries
defranchize citizens on grounds of insanity,
,insolvency or conviction for a period beyond a
395
certain Umit, it should not appear odd if an Islamic
State defrancbizes its citiJens on account of their
open defiance of certain moral values and social
obligations, particularly when the Muslims have been
expressly warned that they should not even accept
without verification any report which is conveyed
to' them by a habitual transgressor or a man of bad
reputation:
"If a habitual trall8gre8lOr (a man of
bad reputation) brln.. you a piece of
information, verify it (first) lest you
should harm (afflict) some people
. unknowingly". (xUx: 6)*22
The Quran does not seem to recognize
uaqualifled adult suffrage or franchise, for even in
the case of Believers, it insists on their good
conduct. The words Va am... 8Mlihut" (and do
good) generally occurring immediately after the
words WYa .".... Id ... aamaaoo" (0 You who
believe) underline the point that lip-service or
mere profession without practice counts for
nothing. We find that the "Fugitives in the way of
Allah" (Al-mua.a.Jilaca) for their sacrifices and the
Helpers ~ ) for their contrlbutloll8 to the
cause, together formed that privUeged class in .the
early Muslim society which alone was repeatedly
referred to in serious deliberations.
JJTATE POLICY: Even the foreign policy of the
Islamic State has not been left undefined. The
State policy, in general, has been stated in the
following dictum whlc.h no expediency could ever be
allowed to over-ride.
"And cooperate on the Issues baled on
goodneas and piety and do not cooperate
on Issues Involving sin and aar_lon n.
(v: 2)*13
The State'. potential friends and toes have also
. been identified to enable the MuaUmiI' to determine
in... ftft ftA"_-' 11_ __ II'lL -
396
following verse provides a rough-and-ready
guideline in normal conditions:
"Thou wIlt certainly find the most
vehement of all people in hostility to
ttaoae, who beHeve, 'the Jews 'and the
idolators. And thou wilt nnd the nearest
of them all in affection to those who
beHeve, those' who' say: Weare
Chrlstlans". (v: 82).24
The words "who say: We are Christians" perhaps
point to the generaHty of Christians - the common
man rather than the organized Church.
In fine, taking all things together" one can
safely assert 'that, in a Muslim State, tile Muslims
are expected to 'so conduct themselves. that they
individually' aDd collectively contribute most, of all
people, ,in 'terdlS of toil and sacrifiCe, to the
attainment of their cherished Ideal of an Islamic
State wherein all sections of population,
irrelpectiveof denomination, are to share
equally the benefits of Islamic social like
the bounties ,of without discrimination, so
that all sections of the population pull their full
weight in the achievement of their common
objective:
to bUild and live for a progreislve and
prosperous State which attains an
honourable place in the comity of
nations and makes' a contribution worthy
of Its name and position to world peace
and human happiness, which toget,her
constitute the inherent purpOse and the
common mission of all revealed rellglons
.......................
397
Appelldix (v)
DIAGNOSIS
Probable. Causes of DecadeDce of Muslim Society .
The present-day Muslim Society based on
custom and tradition should not be confused with
the Islamic society originally founded on the
Quranic concepts. By way of Illustration, take the
word 'Ameer' from Amr. the original concept of
which is rooted in the Quranic . expression Ulul
Amr. meaning 'Head of Affairs'. The present
connotation, however, brings Into sharp focus the
complete transformation of the egalitarian Islamic
society into the capitalistic society of ours. The
fact of the matter is that we have so long been
accustomed to entrusting our affairs .to the f n ~ e n t
class of society that the word has now come to
mean a wealthy person.
The notable feature of the pristine Islamic order
was the concept of social justice - that is, the
judicious distribution of opportunities among all
members of society, ensuring an equitable share to
aU in the enjoyment of Uberty and prosperity. This
was, in fact, a revolutionary concept and the
secret of the popularity and success of the Islamic
movement in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D.
One of the prognostic symptoms of our diseased
body politic has been its lack of absorption and
assimilation of fresh blood into the system. For
centuries, we have been closely associated, in tbis
subcontinent, with a class of depressed and
dispossessed people called scavengers, a reUc of the
caste-ridden Hindu society. We failed to absorb and
assimilate these down-trodden people so close to
us, whUe foreign missionaries literally. coming from
cross the seven seas bring Ught and solace and a
promise of self-respecting existence to this
condemned community at Its very door-steps.
. 398
In.stead of being .roused Into realizing our own
.responslbUity and.duty, and taking a. hint from the
Quranlc expression. of -MualIifatal QuIoob_. {people
with won-over hearts),we vociferously protest,
accuse of enticing people and demand
expulsion of all foreign missionaries.
In diagnosing a disease, it IS' a cominon falling
to confuse the disease with, disease-products.
Physical symptoms, that is the outer manifestation
of inner disturbance, take long to come up to the
surface.. . Deep down, the vital force rendered
vulnerable by heredity or a vitiated eftvil'onment, is
first attacked by the virus and an imbalance in
human economy is created, causing feelings of
disquiet and uneasiness. Thus broadly 1IPeaklng, the
cause of a disease or decay are environmeofal in
the sense that they flow from
response of a.n organism to the. dynamism of
environmental changes.
SHIPT OF ElfPHASIS IN LOYALTIES: The Arabian
Society at the advent of- our Prophet was basically
patriarchal, chivalrous, proud, superstitious' and
. licentious. With these strains of heredity, the influx
of the half-baked and, by and large, half-hearted,
votaries of Islam earned in the wake of the early
sweep of conquests, and that too In the formative
stage of Islamic society, coupled with the lassitude
and love of ease. in later generations, born. of
affluence brought about by these conquests, made
the nascent society vulnerable to the virus of
foreign . tJlfiuence . emanating from crumbling
societies ot- the vanquished.
Apart from; the life. of ease and plenty and the
limpact of foreign ideas and ways of Ufe mainly
through the Abbaslde court, the re-emergence of
the Arab tribalism, based on pride in birth and
descent, with all U. superstitions and. peculiar
customs, maclenonsense of the egalitarian and
liberal character of the newly-founded society
. based on the Quranlc concepts.
:t99
The first noticeable manltestatton of tribalism
was the emergence of the political creed of
conferring < the right of the DlJa'_ (that Is, the
succession to the high office of the Head of State
after the Prophet) exclusively on the Meccan elite,
the Quraish, the Prophet's own tribe. Besides being
un-Islamic in concept, it naturally made the Cirst
. signs of cleavage between the Madinite Aillaar and
the Meccan" MIIIIa8jImoa all too apparent. Once the
ideological basis of the state was knocked out,
regional loyalties were bound to reas.sert
themselves. The situation was most welcome to
those who were on the look-out lor an opportunity
to avenge their defeat at the handi of the Arabs
by making a dent in the solidarity of the new
ideological state in Its formative stage.
To undermine the established authority, they.
would stir up tribal feelings among the Arabs by
raking up their legendary differences. They would
champion the cause of the Hashimite have':'nots
against the U mayyads, who had been in power since
the days of the Prophet himself, in order to
subvert the SOlidarity of the dominant Meccans.
When 'Uthmaan, himself an Umayyad, was elected
to the high office of the Caliph, they thought it to
be the right moment to strike. The dogma of the
Divine Right of kings gave birth to the concept of
Imamat which confined the leadership, both
" te mporal and spiritual, to the family of
the Prophet for all ti me to come.
EROSION OP AUTHORITY OP THE QURAN: These
inroads into the ideology w"ere possible . only by
subverting the authority of the Quran by importing
a specious conceptual distinction from the Jewish
Pharisaical literature between Vally Matloo, that is
Torah, and the VaIlJ Ohair Matloo tha( Is Talmud.
The ODe was committed to writing and the other
was passed on initlallyby word of mouth. Thus the
word of th. Prophet W81 allowed to add to or
abridge or even abrogate, the recorded word of
Allah, -in the sense that the latter had to be" so
400 ..
. . as : to . aCc:Qmmodate and Justify' the
former. ..
t
It appears that. the malcontents of the State;
Immediately after the passing away of its founder,
taklngadvantage ot his trusted Ueutenants being
fully occupied in carrying the revolqtlon:vy' mes.sage ,
for' .bumIDlty to tbe. down-trodden masses In .
the neighbouring lands and meeting. violent ..
opposltlon- of tbe vested interesq, tbere . plned "the
upper band at bome and 81811med role of.,
Interpreters. and protectors of is not .a .
mere coincidence that we notlcela the . cultural
history of the. M usll ms tlult eub .
theologians, lexlc ographers, gra mmarians
htstorlans came, by and large, of non-Arab stock
who did much laudable work. Nbt . of them,.
however, deserved to be the leaders pf thought,.
Unfortunately, later on, the Ai'absthemselves, by
force of habit, followed the obviously motivated
lead ot their non-Arab experts.
PERSONALITY CULT: To show .oft tbeir pious
intentions' ahd to attract the gullible masses, these
malcontents purveyed all manner of so-called
'traditions' (A ...... tIa), non-chalantly a,cribed to
the Prophet 'himself In support of their partisan
views, sometimes, even cOl)trary to the Quranic
teachings. They would make a specious distinction
between the torm and the spirit of an injunction
and some wOuld. lay more emphasis on appearance
than substance. It was not without. good reasqn that
the Prophet himself forbade his to commit
to writina. an,thing that be. said except the Qur.n.
Far-sighted 'Umar, too, in' h" time, discouraged
collection' of these so-called 'traditions and
penalized the spreading of goaslp In thC! name of
the Prophet, by saying "The Book of Allah suffices
us
n
*1. Strictly II) the context of what constitutes
Deen, the Quran Itself remarks:
"After this(Book) what lore are they
going to belleve". . (vll: 185)*2
4Q1
Is It not alplncant that 'the word used In the
verse Is no other than bacleeth!
In all appearance what hu been handed down to
us in the name of "traditions", by and large,
renects the mind fed on obscurantist propapnda of
the "counter-revolutionary forces",' to borrow a
convenient expression from Materialism,
out to subvert the nascent islamic society. They
would decry all worldly progress,' sing, almies - bf
poverty and ascetictsm .and- would propagate the
gospel of their real aim was to queer
tbe pitch of the establishment ,and to drive the
gulllble matses to escapism by Indoctrination and
seduction. It Is no wonder that by and by those '
very people 'who had once given ,the lead to the
clvtHzed world by tbelr progressive outlook were
elbowed out from all walks of life and relegated to
the present unenviable PQsition.
students of the early history of the Muslim
community cannot faU to nQUee that schism in
Islam, prompted, of course, by political" motives,
was based" on the interpretation of the Quran in
the light of the so-called traditions of the Prophet
which one school of "traditlonlsts" believed to be
"sound" (sabeeIa) arid the Qther as spurious. The
fact of the matter Is that the "traditions" are
classified according to the subjective assessment of
their narratonrather than their texts. Thus, one
who questions a particular t'traditlon" (Hadeeth),
classified as SaheeIa (t'Sound") does not, in fact,
question the authority of the Prophet (Peace be on
him) but the authority ef the "tradttionist" who
classified it as Saheeb or the authenticity of
narrators who credited It to the Prophet.
He who coined the following "tradition", more
. well-known than well-founded, did a great
disservice to the Muslim s9ciety:
"Difference of opinion 6r my people is a
. blessingt
t
(s,utee: Jaame' Sa ...... ).3
402
This so-called "tradition"" credited to the Prophet
has been declared by the critics as spurious. It is
significant that It is not 'found In any standard
collection of "traditiQns". For fuller discussion of
the subject, the reader may profitably refer. to
'Allamah Tamanna 'Imaadl's Informative treatise
entitled nlkhtelaff-o-Ummati
w
(Page 42-50). This
spurious tradition haS encouraged, than
anything else, the tendency of the formation of
,splinter groups .In the religion, . In spite of the
Quranic warning:
"Surely those who divided their religion
into spUnter groupS became sects
(SId,a'.), you are to have. no truck
with them". . , ,(vi: 160)*.'
Here too, the choice of the word "Sbl,a'.w is
significant. This proves the thesis tbat the very
first casualty was the rapport wltb the Holy Book.
It seems as if the community had come,
because of neglecting the Quran, under a divine
to that of tbe Jews of whom the
Quran says that, because of their transgressing the
scriptural . injunctions, tbey were denie4, as a
penalty, even the good thinp of life which in .
actual fact had been made permissible to them (tv:
160-161).
The situation was furtber complicated by those
well-meaning' theologians who beu,ved in the
pemicious doctrine of the end justifying the means.
They WOUld. bave no qualms, pf conscience in
minting 'traditions' to -the, people from their
lethargy and ,to exhort thell\ to d'o. a certain thing
whichtbe authors considere,:l gQ9d or to prevent
them from doing a . certain' thing. they considered
bad. They would even give' a slant or a twist to
the obvious import of the Quranic . verses by
supplementing them with their own special
knowledge of the special cQntext or occasion
(SbaaDe NUJOOl) of. these verses in support 0' their
403
view under the impression that the end justified
the means. This has made well-nigh impossible to
sift the grain from the chaff.
FREEZING OF UTDIAAD: What made matters still
worse was the neglect of environment, that is, the
theologians' insistence that the judgement of the
by-gone leaders of the religious thought could
never be wrong and that their consensus UJmaa')
on a point at a particular time holds good for all
ti me and cannot be challenged by posterity .
We, however, find that all Prophets in their time
were faced with the same problem and c;:arried on
a relentless crusade all their lives against the
senSeless consensus (ljmu') of their compatriots
and their fore-fathers. In interpreting the Holy
Book and applying the Sbarl'ah to the ever-
changing phenomena, each generat ion, instes'd of
exercising its own brains and relying on its own
enlightened judgement in the context of the
contemporary environment (al-Ijtihaad) depended
more and more on the 'good sense' of the previous
generations and regarded t ~ i r IJmaa
t
as the last
word on the subject. It is this unqualified reliance
on the tjmaa' of the fore-fathers which ultimately
stined all scientific enquiry.
The myopic view of knowledge which extended
little beyond theology and its few ancillary
subjects, the lack of emphasis on the so-called
secular subjects, a basically un-Islamic distinction
in the curricula and, above all, the absence of that
scientific approach in the system of education and
,training available. to the people, which promotes
enquiry, the source of all knowledge and the basis
of all material and moral progress, rendered the
exercise of one's intellectual capacities (Jjtibaad)
obsolete and tjmaa' (consensus) a hollow concept.
The Quranic concept of knowledge does not admit
of any antithesis between religion and sciences both
deal with "AayaatuUab" '(Signs of 'Allah) - the one
dealing with what is revealed in the Holy Book and
the other what is perceived in nature. Both demand
, 404
observation, renectioil and contemplation and are
complementary to each other in the sense that one
elucidates the other.
WAVE OP ESCAPISM: The pernicious doctrine of
the inherent anti-thesis between the mundane
activity of Man and his salvation, preached by the
leaders of religious thought, shut the door on all
. progress' in science and technology and resulted in
intellectual stagnation and "escapism" from the
realities of life and social obligations(rmbaapiYJab)
condemned by the Quran in no uncertain terms.
The neglect of social obligation stined the urge for
social service, one of the foremost objectives ot all
religions. ThiS encouraged the surreptitious growth
of monasticism in Islam 'in the form of "Tasanui'"
(Sufism), the philology of which is still in dispute.
It appears that' the malcontents of the society
referred to above, frustrated by succe,ssive failures
in their attempts to dislodge the established
authority and to grab power, made a last bid, as a
rear-guard action, to have some sort of 'spiritual'
hold on the masses whom they failed to win over
otherwise. There were, to be sure, more than 60
historically recorded attempts at armed rebellion by
the so-called upholders of the cause of the House
of the Prophet, whose claim to the temporal power
had been rejected by the majority of the people
times out of number.
It all started as a personality cult, but soon
developed into a school 'of thought which gave a
new dimension, so to say, to, Islamb), introducing
Tarlqat as tbe essence. of Deea and a short cut to
SIaarl'ah. But In lslam no short-cut was possible for
the Quran declares: " Allah for you ease;,
He desireth not hardship for you" (ii: 185)*5. To
lend respectability to tht! new creed, they adopted
certain Quranic terms such as DbItr, n..
en
, Bai'at,
AuU,. AnaIa, etc., each in a sense different from
the Quranic concept and their com monly
connotation.
405
To attract the gullible masses, they adopted the
techniques and exercise of the Yogis, BobbaaD and
KW'", They organized orders (Sal ..... ) patterned
on Masonry. These mystic orders were soon swelled
by all those who were turned escapists by the
chaotic conditions prevailing in society. The entire
business bolls down to the blaspheming thesis that
the Holy Prophet, commissioned to educate and
activate the entire people on the Quranlc lines,
kept back from the people a part of his teachings,
and that, too, the choicest, for the exclusive
benent of one of his closest relations.
Perhaps the greatest damage was done. on the
intellectual and moral planes by the jargonized
literature produced by Sufi writers such as Ibnul
'Arabi al-Andulusi, based on make-believe and
sophistry, and the esoteric poetry of Sufi poets,
Uke Hafiz Ash-Sheerazi, who,by their adoption of
"Wine", "Love", "Sweet-heart" as symbols, have
seduced generation after generation and. debased
the' morals of the uninitiated by leaving pernicious
suggestions in the sub-conscious mind.
PROCESS OP R1TUALlZATlON: The revolutionary
Institutions were soon reduced to mere rituals, and
of the . entire project of the new social order .based
on the Quranic blue-print, there remained only the
five 'pillars' (arkaan), originally meant to support
a certain super-structure which no one though to
raise. The prescribed regi men in the form of
"lbaadaat" meant to keep a man morally in good
trim for the performance of his soctaJ obligations
(motaamalaat) was so presented to the common
mao as if it were the sole purpose of the entire
t l i ~ o ~ .
In actual fact, DeeD, which Is eternal,
determines. certain social objectives and Identifies
certain abiding values for healthy growth of human
society, while Sbaritah (the prescribed code of
conduct) which changed with the time till man, as
a species, attained the optimum maturity and
406
stature, determines the methodology for the
achievement of those objectives. In other words,
the Shari'ah was not the end In Itself but only the
means to an end. A soldier or a constable who.
turns out smartly at dally parades but his
duties and functions- and indulges in corruption, can
hardly retaln his place in his regiment. The Qural)ic
description of 'DeeD' is "the Straight Path".6
which has been elaborated in the 19th para
(Rutoo') of Sarah AI-An'aam (vi). It enumerates
certain social obligations and concludes on these
words:
If And thIS is my Path - the straight one.
So follow it and follow not other
(e.g .. short-cuts), lest you should be
parted with the course thereof".
(vi: 154)*1
What is to be noted here in the entire Bnkoot is
that the' five "pillars" of the Faith
(Arkaaa) of the 1Iiarl'. are conspicuous by their
absence. Thus, the undue emphasis 01) thelberi'ah
to the neglect of the basic requirements of DeeJi,
particularly Its social obligations (mo'aamal.U
caused the reversal of priorities that they threw
the entire 'SOCIety off the ralls.
BEGIIIBRTATlON: The laudable effort ot the early
jurists, in the' 2nd centurY A.H. to codify the
Islamic law unfortunately suffered from one major
defect that, instead of codifying the actual. current
practice according to theil' own personal
obsenation, they were somehow led tQ codify a lot
of hearsay evidence, volunteered in' the form 'of
gossip. This detracted a great deal . frQm the real
worth of their enterprile. lDstead of promoting
fruitful research by the exerciae'of
UW-wI, it result,d by the over-en1:buslasm of .tbeil'
disciples, in' a sort of by freezing all
1jtIMw' for all tlme.Nobody knows for certain how
aDd the preaeat popular Dotion was brought
. about that there. were four aDd onl, fQul'
401
recognized schools of Muslim jurisprudence (Fiqb),
which is contrary to facts.
Of the founders of these so-called four schools
of Muslim jurisprudence, Imam MaaUk (born in 93
A.H.) alone belonged to Madinah, the City of the
Prophet, and, as sUch, should have rightly been
expected to have first-hand knowledge of the
practice of Islam in Its home town, particularly
because of his being close to the days of 'the
Prophet himself. Iraq, which happened to be the
hot-bed of political intrigues after the days of
tUmar, the second Caliph, and became the hub of
activity after Caliph t Ali transferred the capital
from Madinah to Kufah, soon had its own school of
jurisprudence founded by a respected and a very
intelligent Muslim savant, Abu Haneefah, a non-
Arab by stock.
Notwithstanding the irreconcilable claims of the
votaries of the two schools, the realistic view
seems to be that on point of fact one would do
better to rely on Imam MaaUk; but on point of
law, that is the application of the substantive law
embodied in the Quran, Abu Haneefah, by virtue of
his robust com mon sense and characteristic
liberalism, has a better claim to be regarded as a
dependable, far-sighted leader of the religious
thought. What is more important, it was his school
of thought that filled a very dangerous gap In the
Muslim body politic.
DISRUPI'ION OF Since there
was a wide-spread and concerted effort to subvert
the established authority, the tUlam&, for fear of
being C:lubbed as collaborators, had failed, ,as a
class, In their duty to. serve as a necessary liRk
between the estabUshlllentand the masses by non-
cooperating with the court in establishing the
necessary authority to be referred to in matters
strictly religious, the need of which is being keenly
felt even today. It was the sudden disruption of
communication between the two as a result of
... nl" .... f.l""',...... ________ .i_ _ __ ! __ .I. .I..
408
which had been the greatest calamity that had
befallen Muslim .. pollty . after the murder of CaUph
'Umar. The credit .. rehablUtating the authority
of the court in the eyes of' the people goes to Abu
Yusuf, one. of the ablest and most erudite disciples
of Imam Abu Haneefah. He proved equal to the
challenge and' exercised the' much-needed
infiuence on the. office of the Caliph which had
become. virtually despotic. by thattime. Because of
this, he has ever since been meligned by the rival
schools and a lot of rubbish has been reported
against him.
EXPLOSION OP . PREEDOM: Contrary . to the
common notion, an overdose of the freedom of
expression rather than its has been the real
source of weakness of' the early Muslim. polity.
Both freedom and tolerance are desirable' for the
healthy growth of society, but riot that licen,ce
which emboldened an Old. woman to charge a Caliph
impudently in public' on mere suspicion. Licence and
freedom, impudence and courage, like self-respect
and price, love and infatuation, should not be taken"
as synonyms. Thus, it appears that one of the main
cause of the decay of the Muslim society was the
of freedom in its formative stage. Much
capital has been made of the institution of kingship
that had degenerated into despotism because of the
lack of com munication between the rulers and the
ruled. The thesis is rejected by the Quran itself
which makes unqualified,. honourable mention of the
exploits of Saul (Taalut). David (Daa.'ood) and
Solomon' '. (Sulaiman). Moreover the. Quran has
particularly mentioned the institution of kingship as
one of Allah's favours:
(Prophet Moses' said unto- his people):
Allah's favours .untc) you,
how He appointed among you Prophets
and made you kings". . (v: 20)*8
What makes the institution, pernicious is 'the
. transfer of title to the next of kin' without
409
reference to the wishes of the people at any stase.
Nothing is 1DIIerenU, wrong in a son being nomina-
ted by his f .ther, for, according to the Quran
"Varesa 8u1aim88llO Daa'oocta
ft
("Solomon succeeded
David" - xxvll:16).ln .the absence of any elaborate
macbineryfor soliciting public opinion, the basic
requirement to be met was tbat the nominee be
acceptable at least to the Elders of the
community. This is just to disabuse the mind, of the
common prejudice against the' Institution of kingship
and not to commend It for all time. Though
rendered almost Obsolete by now." It is qot after
. all, sucb a bad institution In the formative stage of
society.
To sum up, one could draw up a rough-and-
ready Ust of the following maln causes: .
(a) Shift of Emphasis from" Ideological to
Territorial or Tribal Loyalties
(b) Erosion of the Authority of the Quran:
Mad hunt for hearsay "traditions"
(c) Personality cult
(d) Myopic view of knowledge: dichotomy of
religious. and secular subjects In curricula
(e) Disruption of communication between the
establishment and the Intelligentsia:
E-xploslon of Freedom.
(f)
of Environment: Freezing of
(g) Neglect of social obligations: "Escapism"
(h) Rltualization of Faith: Over-emphasls on
Meal!S to ~ h neglect of the End .
(I) Search for abOrt-cut. to salvation:
; .,Dogma of Interees8ton
410
(j) Moral Lassitude born of Ease and Plenty:
Materlallsm and utter lack of sense of
.
What actually happened In the case of all
Prophets was that most of the Companions of a
Prophet became more and more enamoured of the
penon of the Mesienger . - thaD Message he
bfOugbt for mankind. The Inordinate love or
InfatuatIon for their mentor', would gradually
distract attention from the Book of A.llah and, as a
result, detract from its real utility as a book of
,ready reference. They' would, more often
than not, pass on to th,elr Immediate successon
(Taabl'OOIl) their subjective. approach to the
Prophet t s mission. his and preachings
rather than the Prophet's own subjective approach
to the DeeD and the Shari''''' as embodied in the
Holy BOO.k. In the process some of these well-
meaning disciples would confuse the subtle
difference between tbe two aspects of a Prophttt's
Ufe - In one fallible as a human being and in the
other near-Infallible or "protected" (me'8OOm) as a
Messenger and Mentor. They would even succumb
to the terqptation of spinning legends round the
person of the Prophet as a token of their love and
regard for their Prophet or, In some to win
a place of distinctIon for themselves In the eyes of
the gullible masses.
Later on, some of the over-enthusiasts would,
with bEtst of intentions, make bold "to Improve" on
the revealed Shari'. just as a quack might indulge
In the folly of improving on an expert's
prescription by the help of a Materia Medica. It is
exactly what the Jews did when they introduced
monasticism (1IoIIbuniyJaIl) as an optimum form of
taqva. This could only create a sort 'of quantitative
and qualitative Imbalance in the Divine prescript-
ion for mankind and disturb the optlmum harmony
of the social economy. The meaningful, organic
system originally founded on common' sense would
thus be ritualized and reduced to a rigid, meaning-
less cult based on make-believe and superstition,
411
and its practicable institutional fra me-work
would be made so cumbrous, involved and intricate
that the people would find it more and more
difficult to conform to all its requtrements without
the outside 'guidance of the so-called scholastic
theologians at every 'step in every walk of Ufe.
These learned theologians ultimately formed a class
of virtual conscience-keepers in a priest-less
society that every Prophet was called upon to
found.
The more attention these so-called learned men
received as a privileged class in society, the more
overbearing corrupt they became, and drove
the intelllgentsia to materialism, which by and by
deadened Its sense of ultimate accountability to the
Creator. It is' no small wonder that In spite of
possessing the Holy Book intact, the followers of
the last Prophet, too, were their
moorings and, as a community, underwent the same
processes of dis figuration and disintegration as
others did before them.
The Muslim society as It is today, has been
moulded under historical pressures of feudalism,
impedaUsm, capitallsm etc. and fed on obscurantist
traditions. It needs an organized, concerted effort
to initiate the people anew into the pristine
significance and connotation of the basic Quranic
concepts which are almost as foreign today as they
were before the advent of Islam. The time and
effort to be spent now on trying to transplant the
traditional norms divorced from the context of the
7th and 8th centuries A.D. in the highly-sophistica-
ted society of today, should profitably be utilized
in examining in depth the present-day norms if
they can be made to conform to the Islamic
concepts ot replaced by newly-evolved norms
capable of meeting tile challenges of an organiC
socfety. . .

412
. AppeodIx(vi)
KALEIDOSCOPE
To put the record straight, here is a random
sampling, with thumb-nall sketches, of some of the
Companions of the Prophet who had some bearing
on the early history of the community. I have
given particular attention to famUy connections and
personal relationships which counted most among
the Arabs. This should provide, it is hoped, the
necessary background information to a student of
Muslim history to enable him to look at the
subsequent events in their proper perspective.
ftMay Allah show us the right as right
and the wrong as wrong".-1
1. ' ABBAS BIN ABDIt Mun AUB: The prophet's
uncle, three to four years older than the Prophet,
was a a miable and respected leader of
Banu Haashlm and a very infiuential member of the
Meccans' committee which managed the affairs of
the Ka'bah in pagan days. He was clever enough to
allow his wife, Lubaanah (Ummul Fadl) and his
nephew and ward, Ja' far bin Abf Taalib, to'
embrace Islam without forfeiting the
confidence of his Meccan colleagues with whom he
later participated in the battle of Badr where he
was' taken prisoner by fhe Muslims . .Released on
personal surety, he later migrated to Madinah as a
declared Muslim.
. His son, 'Abdullah (bin 'Abbas), who was hardly
twelve when the Prophet expired, was equally
clever but more erudite, an4 inherited the talent
for diplomacy from his father. He is considered to
be an authority on the Quranic learning, and aU
later commentators rely on his 'traditions',
a large number of whichiSutprisingly enough,
credited to the Prophet hi nEelf: He was apPointed
. Governor of Basrah b his first cousin, 'Ali bin Abi
413
Taalib, who later dismissed him on grievous.
charges, including criminal breach of trust (vide:
Jareer at-Tabarl and Ibn Khaldoon). I Ali
complained, In more than one letter, that he had
betrayed the confidence reposed in him and left his
cousin in the lurch. 'AU wrote to him once:
"I used to share with you my confidence
and trust And there was none in my
family whom I trusted more than you
1t
but you did wrong to your cousin "
(Nabjul Ba1a ..... .Ia)*-Z
In another letter he writes:
"Something about you has come to my
knowledge. If you really did it, you
certainly enraged Allah, disobeyed your
leader, abused the trust reposed in you
and betrayed (embezzled) the Muslim
community So you clear your account
with me, and let It be understood that
the reckoning by Allah is greater than
the reckoning by the people. Peace be
on you". (Nabjul Balaqlta"'*3
2. ABDULLAH BIN . JAHSII: The Prophet's first
cousin and brother-In-law (being Zainab's brother),
was one of the early batch of Muslims. He partici-
pated in the batHe of Badr and attained martyrdom
in Uhud. It was his Innevation that the war booty
was first divided into five shares and the leader's
customary share of one-fourth of the booty was
. reduced to one-fifth. This was later endorsed by
the Quran. He was buried with Harnzah in the same
grave.
3. tABDULLAH BIN IIAStOOD: Was. one of the
earliest cor.verls and embraced Islam before 'Umar.
He was closely associated with the Prophet as bis
personal attendant and acquired much resemblance
in his demeanour. He W88 ~ m o n those wbobad
414
migrated to Ethiopia. During early Caliphates he
served as Qadhi in Kufah. He was later made
in charge of Bailal maal (exchequer) also, and in
that capacity he ruthlessly enforced financial
disciplin'e and even took Governor Sa'd bin Abi
Vaqaas to task for an alleged breach. The Kufi
school of traditionsists and jurists relies heavily on
his authority and precedents. He is believed to be
one of those few, besides the ,Ten, who "ad been
promised a place_in Paradise (mub .... lrah
lt
).
Although he was very chary of crediting his reports
to the Prophet, surprisingly enough, a good number
of his traditions are current on the authority of
the Prophet himself.
Since he . was away in Kufah at the time and
was not available to serve on the committee
. appointed by Caliph 'Uthmaan for vetting. the
authorized standard copy of the Quran prepared in
accordance with the master copy (integrated earlier
by Zald bin Thaabtt al-Ansaari - an official,
regular scribe of the Prophet under the
instructions of. Caliph Abu Bakr) , certain fire-
brands in Kufah, out to undermine the authQrity of
the Boly Book, exploited his name, probably much
later, and attributed to him a lot of fantastic
stories challenging the official text issued by Caliph
'tJthmaan. For example, he is reported to have
declared that the last two Surahs of the Quran,
popularly known as 'Ma'oodhatalD'. were not, in
actual fact, part of the Quran but were mere
prayers the Prophet taught his disciples! Similarly,
it was broadcast that he had 'serious' objections to
the authorized text and that he possessed a more
copious text compiled by himself cbrono1ogicallj.
What happened to his 'copy' is not known.
As a matter of fact, very often the verses
(Aayat) in a Surah were revealed at different
times on different occasions. It is difficult,
therefore, to see what purpose a collection of
disjointed pieces of an author's work arranged
. piecemeal in a 'chronological order could ever serve
415
except to confound a reader. However, what gives
the lie to the entire propaganda build-up is that
Allah Himself claims:
"Verily on Us lies its compilation and
the articulate" rendering of ft Then
certainly on Us lies" its clarification
also". " (lxxv: 17-19)4
4. 'ABDULLAH BIN 'UMAR was known for his
exemplary piety ('taqva') and' transparent up-
rightness in the younger generation of the
Companions of the Prophet. Unlike many of his age
group, he h __ d few complexes and kept himself
. scrupulously aloof from all political wranglings. His
judgement in religious matter was generally
governed by the heart rather than the mind and, in
his conduct, he would rather err on the side of
meticulous observance of form. Mahmud Ahmad
t Abbasi, "for whose scholarship I have great respect,
has been certainly unfair to him when he imputes
that, in his heart of hearts, he also aspired to be
elected to succeed MU'aaviyah (vide: T a b s ~ r a b
Mahmoodi', Vol.lI,pp.100-10l). 'Abdullah, however,
could not be expected to go against the wishes of
his illustrious father, who had once remarked that,
considering the liabilities that the office of the
CaUph carried along with its onerous
responsibilities, one Caliph in a family was one too
many, for the Caliphate was a burden too much for
a famUy to carry.
While quoting' Abdullah's complaint to his sister
Hafsah, Mahmood Ahmad t Abbasi has, I am afraid,
misconstrued it. 'Abdullah Is reported to have s.aid:
"You see how people are conducting
their affairs. There Is no role for me to
play in the matter (that is,
consultation)" (BukharU.S
His complaint, in fact, was that the people had
"neglected him altogether and did not even care to
consult him as one ,of the senior Companions of, the
Prophet in such a matter of public Importance,
although he ,had already been named by his father
once as an adviser to the committee of Elders
which was to select his, own successor from among
themielves. The word 'Amr' (meaning "matter". or
"affair") here bas been wrongly' taken in its
narrower sense, the gOvernance or
perhaps because CaUph" Umar bad used that very
word earUer in that sense. Obviously, he could not
lave used the word in that narrower sense, for he
must have" remembered that his father, whUe
recommending his name as an adviser, was careful
enough to add: "In that matter (that is, governance
or Caliphate), has nothing .to do'" (DukllarU6.
That 'Abdullah's sister, Hafsah, understood him
correc,tly in evident from her reply:
"(On the contrary), in tact they are
waiting for you. I a m afraid if you kept
away from them,' there might arise some
dissension because of, that".*7
5. 'ABDULLAH BIN SA'D BIN Am SARH: was
originally in the forefront of those Meccans who'
had opposed the Prophet tooth and nail, but
ultimately embraced Jslam on the day Makkah fell.
He Is reported to be one of those who were named
by the Prophet to be executed as war criminals but
'Uthmaan bin' Afraan, his foster-brother, Induced
him to embrace Islam and pleaded with the Prophet
to forgive him. The ott-repeated fantastic story
that 'Uthmaan pleaded his case thrice and the
Prophet, kept quiet all his ti me, at last
pardoned him' and complained afterwards to his
Companions why they did not dispose af him be'tore
he had pardoned hi m, puts a slur on the Prophet's
integrity. the story does not end there.
The Companions' of the Prophet are reported to
have turned round and quipped: "It y()u so desired,
why did you not gesture to us? II (vide: Asah-bus
Slyar). Surely, it is the limit of absurdity that
could hardly be over-reached.
,
41'1
Similarly, it. Is widely reported, DOt on 'good
authority, of course, that he had. served the
Prophet as a scribe and then turned apostate. This
is equally absurd, because before Malekalt fell he
had consistently been one ot the bitterest enemies
of Islam and that after he embraced Islam he was
consistently a good if not an ideal, Muslim.
Mahmood Ahmad f Abbasi is prol;)ably correct in
assuming that Bukharl's story of a Christian convert
who, having served as a scribe for a short time,
turned apostate, was foisted on him by those. who
considered any stick good enough...to beat-him.
- -
--
The faet -of -ttle matter Is that since he was an
effU:fent administrator, rather ruthless in dealing
with situations involving law and order, the
malcontents who were at work - against Caliph
f Uthmaan fabricated all manner of stories about
most of his able governors and administrators. The
closer one was with the Caliph the more really
available target was he for calumny and character
assassination.
6. 'ABDULLAH BIN SALMAH was, before his
conversion, one of the Jewish savants, well-versed
in their lore (1IsraeIitnaat"). He traced his
descent to Prophet Joseph. He was one of those
who were promised a place in Paradise. He died in
Madinah in 43 A.H.
T. 'ABDUR RAHMAAN BIN 'AUF was one of the
earliest converts whom Abu Bakr brought to the
fold. Ten y e r ~ younger than the Prophet, and
known for his excellent physique and features, he
always stood by the Prophet througn thick and thin.
He was severely wounded in the battle .of Uhud
which ultimately rendered him lame. He had twice
migrated to EthiopbJ.. He was trusted a:nd respected
by all. It is reported that . the Prophet joined the
prayer led by him at Tabook. He was one ()f the
Ten believed to have been promised a place in
Paradise. He was one of the trusted Heutenants of
. CaUph f Umar and was nominated by him to preside
418
over the committee of t ~ Six set up for the
selection of his successor from among themselves.
He was the first to surrender voluntarily his own.
right to succeed even If selected by his colleagues.
8. ABU AYYUB AL-ANSAARt: His real name was
Kballd bin Zald. He had an enviable privilege of
being the host of the Prophet when the latter
migrated to Madinah. He died during the first
prestigious campaign against the Romans of
Constantionple led by much- maligned Yazeed bin
MU'aaviyah in 51 A.H. and was buried outside the
city wall.
9. ABU BAD the first Caliph. His real name was
r Abdullah bin (Abu Qahaafah) 'Uthmaan. He was
the closest friend and confidant of the Prophet of
the longest association. He was cool, composed and
self-possessed, with robust common sense. His
implicit faith in his playmate's astounding claim to
a unique status commanding veneration, allegiance
and obedience is difficult to believe unless one
believes in tile sincerity of both. His family had
the unique distinction of having. Companions of the
Prophet In its four generations - his father, who
embraced Islam much later, himself, his sons and
his grandsons. His infamous son, Muhamrr ad, who
bid the revolt against 'Uthmaan bin Affaan, the
third Callph, was not only a party to the
Caliph's cold-blooded murder but also confessed to
having tried to pull his beard, was just a child
when hts father died and was subsequently brought
up by tAli bin Abi Taalib, who had married his
mother, 'Asmaa bint tUmais. All stories of
'Aayeshah's affection for Muhammad bin Abi Bakr,
her half-brother, are mere propaganda. There was
hardly any love lost between them.
10. ABU HURAIRAH is so wen known by his nick-
name that his real name has been in dispute. It is
said that he was originally named Abd-ush-Shams
but" after he embraced Islam in 7 A.H., he was
. renamed either Abdur Rahmaan or t Abdullah. He
419
spent hardly . four years with the Prophet, but he
tops the list of narrators in the sheer number of
the traditions about the Prophet credited to him,
which run into several thousand. Besides the
Prophet himself, he quoted some 800 brother.
Companions also. In point of veracity he has
certainly an edge over Anas bin Maalik, though
many of his reports, too, suffer from his lack of
comprehension. It is through. this source that most
of the gossip crept into the corpus of traditions. What
is worse, unscrupulous people, too, found it easy to
palm off their own fond theories on the authority
of' these two gentlemen with impunity. Because of
his weakness of passing on ill-digested information
to all and sundry and quoting the authority of the
Prophet rather indiscriminately, he, in particular,
would some time run into trouble with 'Umar.
While Anas bin Maalik had no pretensions to
erudition. Abu Hurairah, like Abu Dhar, was wont
to dabble in technical questions of theology too,
and was occasionally pulled up, on that account, by
'Aayeshah and 'Abdullah bin I Umar.
11.ABU IIUSA AL-ASH'ABI: His real name.being
t Abdullah bin Qais, was one of those early Muslims
who had migrated to Ethiopia and returned to
Madinah along with Ja'far bin Abu. Taalib and
others when the Prophet was in Khaibar. 'Umar
appointed him Governor of Burah and later Caliph
'Uthmaan appointed him Governor of Kufah, in
which post he was retained by I Ali also. He
annexed Ahwaz. Capable and honest, he was trusted
by all. tAli chose him as his nominee to arbitrate
in his dispute with Mu'aaviyah. After he gave his
verdict against ' Ali and held that he was not
properly elected as Caliph and thereby ,supported
Mu'aaviyah's contention. that the oath of
allegiance for I Ali soon after 'Uthmaan's murder
was taken under duress - he was dismissed by I Ali,
who wrote him in a terse letter:
"I have sent Qarzah bin Ka I b as
Governor of Egypt. So you get out of
420
our province, disgraced and discarded. If
you do not do so, I bave ordered bim to
forestall you and tbat In case you
forestall bim and be overpowers you, to
cut out you tp pieces". '
(Jueer At-TabarO*8
In anotber letter, be bad complained:
"Surely I appointed you to tbe office
you bold only tbat you would be one of
my supporters In up-bolding tbe rigbt".
(Jueer At-TabarU*9
Under AMAR BIN AL-' AAS below, tbe subject of
arbitration bas been fully discussed. Abu Musa al-
Asb' ari was only made a scap -goat.
12. ABU SUFYAAN: Tbere were two persons bearing
tbe same n(ck-name:
a) SAKHR BIN HARB, fatber of Mu'aaviyab, tbe
well-known cbief of tbe pagan Quraisb, an
erstwbile opponent of tbe Propbet and bis cause,
was an able and respected commander. He was
tbe brotber of Abu Labab's notorious wife Umme
Jameel, and uncle of r Utbmaan bin Affaan, being
busband of one of bis aunts. A great friend of
'Abbas, tbe Propbet's uncle, be embraced Islam on
tbe eve of tbe fall of Makkab, and tbereafter
participated in tbe battleS of Hunaln, Taa-ef and
Yarmook. He lost one of bls eyes at Taa-ef and
tbe otber at Yarmook. He was appointed governor
of Najraan bytbe Propbet bimself. Tbe Prop.bet bad
married bis daugbter Ramlab, commonly known as
Umme Habeebab, long before be and bis son (ber
balf-brotber, Mu'aaviyab) ,mbrae-ed Islam. Abu
Sufyaan died in Madinab in 24 A.H. and was buried
In Jannatul Baqee'.
b) ABU SUFYAAN BIN HAARITH, son of
, Haarltb bin Abdil Muttalib, was tbe Propbet's first
cousin and foster-brotber. As a poet of e m i n e n r ~
421
he used tp abuse his talent by lampooning the
Prophet tUl he embraced lslam after the fall of
Makkah - that is, much later than his name-sake
had don so. Being so close a relation, his conduct
had annoyed the Prophet so much that wben he
came to see him in Madinah the Prophet at first
refused to meet him. He was very close to 'AU,
his cousin and brother-in-law, being husband of his
young sister, Jumaanah. Some unwary writers
occasionally mix up the two Abu Sufyaan in
reporting incidents.
13. ABU 'UBAIDAH AAMm. BIN AL-JARRAAH was a
man of principles and refused to be infiuenced. He
is one of those believed to have been promised a
place in Paradise. He was highly respected by all.
tUmar trusted him so much that he is reported to
have said on his death-bed that if there had been
Abu 'Ubaidh alive, he would have readily nominated
hhn his own successor. A good soldier and general,
he always stood by the Prophet, particularly at the
most anxious moment in the battle of Uhud. Not
only was Damascus conquered under his command
but most of Syria and Jordan also, after he
replaced Khalid bin al-Valeed under instructions
from tUmar. He died of plague in Jordan- in 18
A.H.
14. ABU DHAft AL-GHAF AABI real name being
Jundub bin Janaadah - was most probably a
Christian convert of the mixed tribe of Banu
Ghaffaar. An idealist and highly sentimental, he
lacked sense of proportion and used to pose quite a
law-and-order problem for the administration all
his life. He spent very little time in the company
of the Prophet, having come to Madinah sometime
after the battle of Ahzaab, which took place late
in 5 A.H. If is, however, believed, not on very
good authority, that he had- once visited Makkah
and embraced Islam very early but went back soon
to his own people. He was expelled from Madinah
by Caliph tUthmaan for his aggressive salesmanship
-of his unbalanced views about "wealth", which he
422
claimed to be based on the Prophet's own teaching,
but which, by and large, went prima facie too far rrom,
if not contrary to, the express verses of the Quran.
He may be said to have anticipated the present-
day 'Leftist' platform. It would be an interesting
exercise to refer here to the pen-picture drawn by
the Quran of those whom it prefers to call As-
haab-usb-Sbimaal (People of the LeCt) and of their
creed buUt amazingly enough, on the well-known
plank of materialism with its pronounced economic
bias. To quote, it says:
"And the People or the Left: What are
the people of the Lert Heretofore they
were given to a life or ease and luxury
and used to persist in subscribing to the
big falsehood and used to say: When we
are dead and have been reduced to dust
and bones, are we then to be raised
again - and our Core-Cathers. too? Say
unto them: Those who have gone before
and those, who are to go afterwards, all /'
of them, will be collected together ina
meeting-place at the. appointed day.
Then you, the misguided and the. dis-
believing (lot) will have to partake of
the bitter cactus;"like infernal tree and
fill your bellies with that. Then you will
(hasten to) drink the boiUng water with
the avidity of a (thirsty) camel "
(lvi: 41-55)*10
The aptness of the punishment will not, perhaps,
be lost on the reader.
In the case of Abu Dhar, how$ver, this was
perhaps a wanton reaction to the over-bearing,
newly-rich class that had sprung up in the wake or
early sweeping conquests. The gravamen of his case
was based on the following .verses of tbe Quran:
"And those who treasure up gold and
silver and spend (it) not in the way of
423
Allah, convey them the news of. grievous
punishment (awaiting them) With it will
be branded their foreheads, their sides
and their backs. This is what you had
treasured up for yourselves. So taste
(now) of what ye had amassed".
(ix: 34-;)5)*11
I am afraid he, as reported, seems to have
slipped on the import of the verses which decry:
(a) hoarding and (b) the neglect of the
community's needs. The Quranic teachings, taken
together, are not opposed to 'capital-formation', if
the wealth is ungrudgingly spent in the way of
Allah - that is, a good cause is not made to suffer
for want of funds. 'Abdullah bin 'Umar was not far
from the truth w.en he countered Abu Dhar' s
thesis by arguing that It made nonsense of the levy
of Zakaat on holdings. Abu Dhar's rejoinder, if
reported correctly, is not worthy of being noticed
in view of the following verses of the Quran:
"Give the kinsman his due (so also) the
indigent and the way-farer, and be not
wantonly liberal (spendthrift) And let
not your hand be chained to the neck
(like a niggard) nor should you stretch it
out to its utmost limit lest you should
be (left) sitting, self-condemned and
denuded (coverless)". (xvii: 26-29)*12
15. 'ALI BIR Am TAALIB, a first cousin, ward and
ultimately son-in-law of the Prophet, was very
young when he was taken from his fattler, Abu
Taalib because of the latter's financial position. He
was brought up by Khadijah, his would-be mother-
in-law as the apple of her eye. The ardent love of
the Prophet and his wife for the chlld bordered on
pampering and bestowed on him a princely status in
the community from the very beginning. All his
Ufe, I Ali was rather over-conscious of his position
as a near relation of the Prophet. He was
. particularly known tor the princely arts of war -and
424
..
That he grew into a of letters of' such
eminence goes to the credit ot his 'uDlettered'
cousin who must have made available the best of
opportunities for his up'!"bringingand e(lueation. In
his own family, he was perhaps second to his own
elder brother, Ja'far bin Abi Taalib, in prowess. He
was an embodiment ot that composite quality
known to the Arabs by its generiC name, 'al-Mana-
at, - literally meaning 'manUness', or 'gentleman-
Une2Ui' if you Uke, tor the word, in actual fact,
defies exact translation .into English.
He was hardly six or seven when his cousin and
guardian attained prophethood. Thus, he was, in
fact, one of the foremost tew who formed the
nucleus of the "ext generation of the Companions
of the Prophet. He was destined to. leave a
profound and abiding influence on the courSf! of
Muslim history. Perhaps not being as worldly wise
as we have tried to make him out and, at the
,same time, enjoying a privileged position in the
Prophet's family, he was being eagerly sought
by certain unscrupulous, ambitious penons in order
to serve their own ends. So much so that
subversive elemeQts In the sprawling communjty
were, by and. large, prompted to rally round him In
order to use him as an umbrella for their
clandestine activities. Little could one realize then
that the people were being cleverly dragged, not
into a conflict between the Hashimite have-nots
and the Umayyads in power nor even into a
conflict between the Meccan mubaajlrooD and the
Medlnitea_ar, but into a well-conceived, bigger
struggl,e between the Arabs and the non-Arabs.
At least four of his crucial decisions have, to
date, defied the writers' attempt at providing even
special pleading for them. They are as follows:
(1) The appointment of his step-son :and v!ard,
Muhammad bin Abi Bakr it' Oovernnt .: ( "
knowing fully well that he was not ,;mly ,;. ring
. leader of tl'le rebeis against Caliph, but
was also a party to the cold-blooded .. of the
425
Caliph, having confessed to entering 'Uthmaan's
house from the rear, along with other culprits.
(2) His unfortunate' decision to shift the
capital . from Madlnah, the City of the Prophet, to
far-off Kufah soon after the malcontents from
Egypt and Iraq that had stormed' the city left with
Muhammad bin Abi Bakr and Maallk bin Haarith al-
Ashtar for their respective destinations. This
demonstrated, more than anything else, his lack of
support from the people of Madlnah itself and
forfeited the credibility ~ f his election being free
and fair, while it lent credence to Mu'aaviyah's
charge that the oath of allegiance of the people of
Madlnah for him was taken under duress.
(3) His decision to go to the extent of taking
up arms against f Aayeshah, one of those declared
by the Quran (xxxiii: 6) as "Mothers of the
Faithful" (Ummahatobum)*13 apparently against the
Quranic injunction:
"Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship
none but Allah and be good to parents ...
so say not a word of censure to them
nor repel them " (xvii: 23)*14
(4) His inordinate delay in taking' oath of
allegiance (vide: Saheeb Butbari) to the first
Caliph, Abu Bakr. Referring to the charge, he
himself, in one of his letters addressed to
Mu'aaviyah, writes:
"As for the tardy response to them
(that is, earlier Caliphs) and the
aversion for their cause,1 need not offer
any excuse to the p o p l ~ I wonder If
my colleagues are to be absolved of the
. responsibility for depriving me of my
right .or dOing wrong to the ADsaar. But
I know that my right was usurped and I
gave' it up for them. May Allah forgive
them". (Nabjul BaJaagbah)*15
426 ..
His nick-name 'Abu Taraab' ("Father of Dust
or Clay") given to him by the' Prophet, his'
guardian, was hardly meant to be taken as a
compliment In the Arabic idiom, as is evident. from
the context reported by the Shiah divine, Mulla
Baqir MaJlisee, In his well-known book (.JUaa'ul-
'UJOOIIt pages 76-77). His report refers to the
occasion when' it was rumoured that 'Ali intended
to marry Abu Jahl' s daughter. Finding 'Ali asleep,
the Prophet pressed '.Ali' s foot with his foot and
woke hl"m by saying: "Arise, 0 Father of Dust. See
how many people you have displaced".16
However, Bukhari and Muslim record thus:
"Sahl bin Sa'd said: The Meisenger of
Allah came to Faatlmah's place and dtd
not find 'Ali in the house. He asked her:
"Where is thy cousin?" She said: There
has been a rift between as. So he went
away and did not stay with me.n. The
Prophet asked a person to look for him.
The latter said: '0, Messenger of Allah,
he is taking a nap in the mosque'.
Thereafter, the Prophet went to the
mosque and found him reclining., His
mantle having dropped down on one side,
'Ali's body was besmeared with dust. So
the Messenger of Allah was wiping it
out with his hand and calling out to him
by saying 'Arise, 0 Father of Dust.
Arise, 0 Father of Dust'''.
It is aiso on record that some of 'Ali's friends
too regarded this nick-name as uncomplimentary
and complained to Sahl bin Sa'd (Vide: Saheeb
Bukhari - "Kitabul Maoaaqib
ff
). Besides, it is also
reported by Bukhari that,according to Anas bin
Maalik, the Prophet never used foul language and
that, while in anger.18,he would merely say: "Be
his forehead besmeared with dust".19 (vide:
MJsbkaat: Dab n AkbJaaqebl ya Sbamaa'IlIhi).
427
Of 'All bin Abi Taallb's more than twelve
surviving sons, five perhaps were with their
brother, Husain, at Karbala, from where only one,
named Abu Baler, returned safe. At least two
'Umar bin 'AU, full brother of f Abbas bin 'AU, and
Muhammad (Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyyah) advised
against their half-brother's hazardous undertaking.
This is the reason, perhaps, why the former's name
is hardly even mentioned, and the latter whose
name, because of his piety and erudition, has to be
mentioned willy-nilly, has at least forfeited the
right to be referred to his father, tAU, and,
strangely enough, has been nick-named after his
mother's tribe, Banu Hanifah
.
Muhammad bin al-Hanafiyyah was born of 'Ali's
wife, Khaulah bint Ja'far bin Qais, who had been
taken prisoner in the battler of Yamaamah when
her tribe Banu Hanifah had rebelled and turned
apostate in the time of Abu Baler. A man of
principles and prowess he was firm, fair, and above
all, free from complexes which the Hashimites of
his age-group generally suffered from. His father
always made good use of his capabilities of leader-
ship in preference to both Hasan and Husain. A
section of the partisans of ' Ali belJeved in his
'Imamat' after Hasan, and a particular sect, known
as Kaisaaniyyah, after the name of his own slave
who founded it, maintained that he did not die and
would reappear as thelegendary'Mahdi
t
supposed to
lead, at the fag-end ot this world, the forlorn hope
of the Muslims against infidels. He died in 81 A.H.
at the age of 65 or so.
16. tAMAR BIN At-tAAS a statesman and able
general, was older than 'Umar and represented the
Meccans at the court of the Najaashi of Ethiopia,
with whom he is reported to have been free. He
had embraced Islam in Ethiopia before he came to
Madinah in 6 A.H. lie was appointed Governor of
Oman by the Prophet himself and held high offices
under the three early Caliphs. He conquered
Palestine and Egypt. A man of strong personality
428
among the old guard of the Quraish, he'
occasionally came into clash with Caliph 'Umar -
probably, a case, of the clash of personalities. He
was a great friend of another strong man, Khaalid
bin al-Valeed, who also had to Burfer at the hands
of Caliph 'Umar probably on that very account. He
has been' much maligned because of his forcerul
advocacy of MU'aaviyah's case as the latter's
nominee in the two-man arbitration commission
mutually agreed upon to decide the dispute between
Caliph 'All and Governor MU'aaviyah.
The simple and plain Issues in displ:1te referred
to the com mission for a decision were purposely
confused by later writers. They were obviously the
following:
. a) Whether the election of tAli as the
successor of the third Caliph, 'Uthmaan, was rair
and free, or the oath of allegiance was taken under
duress; and
b) Whether . 'Ali being a properly elected
Caliph was within his right to dismiss Governor
Mu'aaviyah ,from his post in Syria and the latter
was, therefore. guilty of insubordination amounting
to revolt - or 'Ali's order was altra yires.
The commission, comprising besides him, Abu
Musa al-Ash'ari also as 'Ali's nominee, took five
months or so in going about collecting evidence and
assessing public opinion and then came to the
conclusion that 'Ali's election was not free and the
oath of allegiance for him was taken in Madinah
under duress. ' Ali's unfortunate decision to shirt
the capital from Madinah to Kurah presumably
went against him for this betrayed his lack of
support from the bulk of the lIIahujirooa and
_ar of Madinah, the heart of the Muslim world.
It was known that Usamah bin Zaid and Abu Ayyub
al-Ansaari had already deposed to that effect in
Madinah before Ka'b bin Sa'd who had been sent
by 'Uthmaan bin Hunalf, 'Ali's Governor of Basrah,
429
to enquire if Talhah and Zubalr had taken the oath
of allegiance of 'All under duress as they alleged.
It is to be noted that both Talhah and Zubairhad
been members of the committee nominated by
CaUph 'Umar for the selection, from among
themselves, of his own successor and that Zubair
had voluntarily withdrawn his name in . favour of
, Ali.
Thus, the first Issue having been decided against
'AU with the concurrence of 'All's own represen-
tative, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, there could be no two
opinions on the second issue. This rendered 'Ali's
order dismisSing MU'aaviyah as Governor of Syria
ab initio null and void and there was, in fact, no
option left with the arbitrators but to rule in
favour of status quo ante in respect of Mu'aaviyah,
who was to continue as Governor till a properly
elected CaUph took a decision one way or the
other.
How far 'Amar bin al-' Aas, or Abu Musa al-
Ash'ari for that matter, deserved blame for the
verdict they give is for the reader to decide for
himself dispaSSionately. There was no occasion or
necessity for 'Amar bin al-' Aas to double-cross
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, who was quite capable of
taking care of his judgement and good conscience.
The matter was, after all, to be decided on legal
rather than sentimental grounds. Arbitration does
not mean an arbitrary verdict.
11. 'AMMAAR BIN YAASSIR, a slave of the tribe of
Abu Jahl, Banu Makhzoon, was among the first few
Muslims who suffered most at a result of their
conversion to Islam. He was one of those whom the
Prophet accorded special treatment because of their
Simplicity, sincerity and devotion. In his senile age
of well over 90, he was unrealistically dragged by
others into the political connict between f AU and
Mu'aavlyab. He does not seem to have been in a
position to have taken an active part In the battle
of Siffeen. The commonly quoted tradition about
430
him, credited to the Prophet on the alleged
authority of so many Companions of the Prophet,
that he would be killed by a party of rebels (wal-
fe'atul baa.t"ab
W
) was probably not so weU-
known at the tl me or the Issue could have been
decided out of tbe batUe-field without a resort to
armed confilct. This particular prophecy credited to
the Prophet merits consideration only because 01
the number of narrators now named in support of
It. Those who took It to be merely an attempt to
justify an unjustifiable course of action could not
be far wrong. While the partisan propaganda
InSisted, not on very good authority, on his
presence in Iraq at the time and his participation
in the battle of the Camel (Jamal) and later in the
battle of Siffeen, In which he was said to have
been killed, fighting on the side of t Ali; the
contrary assertion, based on what is recorded by
Jareer at.i.Tabari and Ibne Khaldoon, is that 10ftg
before that he had been sent by Caliph tUthmaan .
to Egypt, a hot-bed of intrigues engineered by Ibn
Muljim, t Abdullah bin Saba, a Jew converted to
Islam (vIde: the book on 'Bmur-Rijaalt by a Shiah
savant, popularly known as tBijaalul
KIab-sbl), and those of their ilk He was to report
on the cause of the people's reported discontent
and disaffection, but he did not return. _ Either he
was captured and killed by the rebellious elements
there or, what Is less likely, he was won over by
them of his simplicity and senility. Ibn
Jareer at-Tabarl, . as quoted by Mahmud Ahmad .
t Abbasi, reports:
tiThe people walted for Ammaar for long
till they gave him up as killed", (At-
Tabart, volume 5, page 99, quoted in
Tabsarah lIabmoodl}*20
18. HANZALAH BIN ABI 'AAIIIR, Son of an
infamous leader of the so-called Hypocrites named
t Aamlr ar-Raahib ... who master-minded the divisive
project of a mosque known as 'lIasjld dlraar
t
-(DIraar =mischiet) in Quba, a suburb of Madinah -
431
had the distinction 01 being called by the Prophet
as 'Give a bath by angels'.21on his attaining
martyrdom in the battle of Uhud.
1 HIND DINT ' AAMIR had the distinction of
having three of her closets relations attaining
martyrdom in the battle of Uhud - namely, her
husband, 'Amar bin Jamooh, her son, Khaalid bin
'Amar bin Jamhooh and her brother, 'Abdullah bin
, Aa mir bin Haraa m (vide: Qadi Mansurpuri 's book
entitled 'Rabmatul-W-' Aalameea'). On learning of
the catastrophe, her only concern to which she
gave expression was about the Prophet's safety and
welfare.
20. 'IKBAMAH BIN ABI JABL, son of " Abdil
Hakam" 'Umar bin Hlshaam al-Makhzoomi, was the
husband of Umme Hukaim bint al-Haarith, the
Prophet's first cousin. Like his father, he had been
an inveterate enemy of the Prophet and, In utter
shame, ned to Yeman the day Makkah fell. His
wife went to Yemen and brought him back to the
Prophet who, on seeing, welcomed him by calling
him, in good humour, the 'Refugee Rider', thereby
giving him the status of a Muhaajir, although the
'Migration' had officially stopped by then. He also
told the people not to tease him by calling him
'Son of Abi Jahl' (that is, 'Son of the Father of
Folly'). As we all know, his father was one of the
most innuential leaders of the Meccans and the
chieftain of one of the most prosperous sub-tribes
of the Quralsh.
21. KHAALID BIN AL-VALBED AL-MAKHZOOMI
belonged to the tribe of "Abu Jahl". 'Umar bin
Hishaam, whose mother was the wife of one of
Khaalid's uncles, Abl Rabi'ah 'Amar bin Al-
Mughirah. A great strategist to whom goes the
credit of' the Meccans' victory in the .batUe of
Uhud, he embraced Islam in '1 A.H. and, as a tried
led the Muslims to safety at Mautah in
early 8 A.H. The Prophet awarded him the
'prestigious title: "The Sword of Allah" ('SalfuUall'),
432
which his subsequent exploits, part.fcularly in Iraq,
amply Justlfted. Hia mother W88 the full sister of
the Prophet's wife, Malmoonah and of the mother
of ' Abdullah bin t Abbas. Being a man of strong
personality and a seasoned general of the Meccans
who Joined the Muslim community after having
humbled It at Uhud, many people, mostly Madinltes
(' AMaar'), were jealous of him and would try to
,run him down on any account. It should not
surprise anybody if there had also been a clash of
personalities deep down in his relations with 'Urnar,
the Iron Man of the community. But It goes to the
credit of both Caliph 'Umar's fair-mindedness and
Khaalld's abillty and Integrity, that, according to
the Qutalbah, the former named Khaalid also as
one of those whom he declared he would have
readily nominated as his successor if they were
alive. He died In 20/21 A.H.
He was unceranoniously relieved of the over-all
c o m m n ~ of the Syrian army by Caliph 'Umar. But
it goes to the c,edit of his sense of discipline and
sincerity that,at the peak of his fame, he
continued, to fight without a word of protest, with
the same zeal, devotion and ability as before under
the, flag of Abu 'Ubaldah bin AI-Jarrah, who had
replaced him. .
His brother, AI-Valeed bin al-Valeed embraced
Islam much earlier. He had been taken prisoner in
the battle of Badr. After his ransom was duly paid
by his relations,. he volunteered to embrace Islam
and, explaining the delay In doing so, he said la ter
that he did not Uke the people to misunderstand
him.
22.MU'AAVlYAH 81M ABI SUFYAAN, a half-
brother of the Prophet's wife, Umme Habibah, was
one of the ablest and shrewdest administrators
known for his talent for handling men and matters.
Self-possessed and self-confident, he could hold his
own' against odds and put a bold face even before
. Caliph tUmar, the Iron Man.
433
One of Caliph IUthmaan's aunts was his step-
.mother. His wife, Maisoon, mother of Yazeed,' and
Caliph 'Uthmaan's wife, Naillah, belonged to the
same Yemenite, over .. whelmingly Christian tribe,'
Banu Kalb of Syria, and were great friends.
Maisoon's daughter Ramiah, was married to CaUph
'Uthmaan's son, 'Amar bin IUthmaan.
He embraced Islam long before his father, who
did so on the eve of the faU of Makkah after
which no Meccan was allowed to migrate to
Madinah without the Prophet's permission. Probably
it was a matter of policy that theshtft in the
centre of gravity from Makkah to Madinah should
not result In the former being left deserted and
denuded of talent. Belonging to the innuential and
afnuent sub-tribe of the Quraish, the Ummayyads,
he was among the few literary men in the whole
of Makkah. That is why his services were utilized
by the Prophet as his scribe or personal secretary.
It certainly required great courage of conviction
to sever all connections from his family and his
illustrious father, who was not only the chieftain of
his clan but also the most respected and capable
leader of all Meccans, and go to the length of
owing allegiance openly to the Prophet, of whom
his father was the deadliest enemy. In taking this
bold and crucial decision, he was probably
influenced by his elder half-brother, Yazeed bin Abi
Sufyaan, and his maternal uncle, Abu Hudhaifah bin
'Utbah bin Rabl'ah, who had embraced Islam much
earlier. Leaving behind all property in Makkah, his
father, too, followed his son much later fn
migrating to Madinah. The services of both the son
and the father were suitably utilized by the
Prophet.
Why the later writers should classify even
Mu'aaviyah among those "won over by
iargesse"*22 is difficult to understand on the basis
of avallable records. Besides being on the Prophet's
. personal staff, he was occasionally sent on'
434
important missions by the Prophet uhis represen-
tative. It, was in this capacity that for,some time
he ,W8B in Hadarmaut., He .successfully served the
community for more than 20 years 88 Governor of
Syria after the death of his elder brother, ,Yazeed.
He had a number of conquests' ,to his credit., He
died on 22 Rajab' 60 A.H., the date which certain
people in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent celebrate
by entertaining friends with sweets on a fii msy
trumped-up plea.
It is surprising that his half-brother, Yueed bin
Abi ,Sufyaan,fuU brother of. Umme Habibah, the
Prophet
t
wife, has not received the notice he
deserved, .although he embraced Islam long before
his brother and father and had served in the time
of the Prophet 88 Governor of Taimaa before he
was appointed Governor of Syria by Caliph 'Umar.
Mu'aaviyah is perhaps the most misunderstood,
while his son, Yazeed, the most maligned, person in
the entire Muslim history. His intentions were made
suspect by his unfortunate, though bold, decision to
nominate his son as his successor. The decision,
which required a, lot of courage, was prima facie
impolitic, if not altogether perverse. It should, at
any rate, be adjudged against the background of
the chaotic conditions prevailing JJince the murder
of the third Caliph and, also in, the 'Context of the
present-day concept of emergency', which very often
tnvokes the unpleasant duty of the armed forees to
take over. Unfortunately, only the Syrian garrison
at the time was in a position to deliver the goods.
Mu'aaviyah's family being in power there for over
twenty years, Yazeed commaaded the ailegia.nce and
loyalty of the Syrians more than anybody else.
Contrary to the records built up by partisans, he
was eligible, too, though unfortunately for himself,
he was the present incumbent's son.
There had been a deeply-felt jealousy between
the Meccan ellte, the Qura,ish, who had been in
-power from the days of the Prophet, and the
435
t4edinite have-nots led by people Uke SaId bin
I Ubadah, and poet Hassaan bin Thaabit. The obvious
strategy of, the latter group was to drive a wedge
between the two powerful clans of the Quraish, the
Umayyads in power and the Hashimite have-nots,
to break the hegemony of the over-bearing Quraish.
The Umayyads were more vulnerable because they
had had a 'better deal from the time of the
Prophet, when more than 75 per cent high offices
had gone to them. The situation was further
complicated by the fact that the Hashhnites were
a house divided against itself. There were more
than one aspirants for leadership, each jockeying
for p o ~ t o n and power. If Yazeed bin Mutaaviyah
was really as bad as I Abdullah bin az-Zubair
propagated some ti me after the tragic incident of
Kubala, why did 'Abdullah not persuade himself t?
make common cause. with Husain against Yazeed?
Anyway, to an unbiased student of history
Mu' aaviyah after aU deserved the benefit of the
doubt, particularly when he was assured of the
support from Kufah also by Mughirah bin Sho'bah.
Even today, it appears to be the only realistic
choice in the best interest of the nascent
community at the moment. It certainly required
courage of conviction to take such a decision, even
if one really had only the ~ of the community
at heart. But, this is, no doubt, a very big if. It is
for the reader to judge for himself the merits or
demerits of the action looking at it against the
historical background of the conditions prevailing
then and the subsequent long period of peace and
progress under the 'Umayyads.
One cannot, however, ignore the very relevant
fact that at the .time of the nomination of Yazeed
as a successor-designate, there were alive a few
hundred old and seasoned Companions of the
Prophet, including at least a dozen of those who
had taken the prestigious oath, known as bat'at ur
rldv_ at Hudalbiyyah, about eight or nine of the
. distinflUished order of Badr an at least two of the
436
Ten believed to have been promised a place in
Paradise - riele: Ahmad t Abbasi's 'T_eeq
Mazeed". If one Js to. believe, that all acquiesced
sheepishly and .on principles. if any'
principles were really involved, and left It to those
who were not even fully entitled to be. classified as'
"Companions of the Prophet" to take up 'the
challenge, it makes. nonsense of all records of their
selnessness,. courage of conviction and earlier
services to the, cause of Islam.
Earlier, in his dispute with tAU. Mutaaviyah's
position was certainly' not as bad. He did not set
himself up as a rival of tAli In the matter of
Caliphate, which he never cJalmed tlU Hasan bin
'All, who had succeeded his father obviously by. the
rule of primogeniture, on his own assessment of -the
situation In which he found" himself in Kufah,
handed over the reins of Caliphate to him.
Mu'aavlyah had only challenged the legality of the
order of his dismissal issued by t All as a Caliph.
He asserted the right of tree and fair election of
Caliph by the moIJaajIrooaand a_ar of Madinah
. after the malcontents of the outlaying territories
had left the capital. He thought the oath of
allegiance for t All was taken under duress. He even
suspected the motive of 'All In postponing the trial
of those suspected of complicity In the murder of
Caliph 'Uthmaan because the dng-leacier .. involved
was 'All's own step-son, Muhammad bin Abl Bakr,
who, . instead. of. being brought. . to book was
subsequently appointed Governor of Egypt.
The cold-blooded of. the Caliph in his
own house .and in the Capital was undoubtedly a
heinous crime the State and any ordinary
citizen could' demand" a pubJlc enquiry and
Mu'aaviyah was not altogether unrelated to
'Uthmaan as mentioned earlier. The demand for
enquiry was after all a side but pertinent Issue.
Since his stand on the above tW'o issues proved
. to be a turning point in the early history of the
437
community, the dilation on the subject may, I hope,
be excused.
23. MUGBIRAH 'BIN SHOtBAB, a budding Meccan
statesman of the tribe of Bani Thaqeef, embracec:\
Islam in 5 A.H., when he was about 25 and
migrated to Madlnah. He' took he prestigious oath
"baltaturridY_". A grandson of the Prophet's
first cousin, Hind' bin al-Muqavvim, whose father
was Harmah's full brother, Mughirah happened to
be the son-in-law' of Sa'd bin Abi Vaqqaas, first
cousin of the Prophet's mother. Mughirah was one
of the infiuential members of the peace mission
sent by Sa'd bin Abl Vaqqaas on the instructions of
Caliph 'Umar to the court of the Iranian Emperor
to solicit his cooperation In founding a new world
order based on peace and equity. Mughirah's bold
and undaunted advocacy before Rustam, the real
power behind the throne, is as a
soul-warming incident in Muslim history. He proved
to be a good administrator, too, when first
appointed by I Umar as Governor of Basrah. The
conquests of Ahvaaz, Hamdan, etc. go to his credit
and, perhaps, provided plausible reason for the
Persians to be intensely against him even to the
extent of implicating him In an unsuccessful case
of adultery [n the ti me of I Umar.
Like Hasan bin 'All, he was known for too many
marriages, and, therefore, too many divorces also.
He is credited with the initiative of ge,tting Yazeed
nominated by his father as a Caliph-designate.
When the suggestion, was first made, probably
MU'aaviyah could not persuade himself to take such
a delicate decision. Mughirah, the old, seasoned
statesman 'of over 60 years of, age, was shrewd
enough to arrange for a deputation of the people
of Kufah, of all places, headed by his own son,
Musa, to convince Mu'aaviyah that he would not be
facing OPPOSition even from Kufah, the strong-hold
of his opponents. .
A son succeeding his father was not an
innovation in the 'early history of the MuSlims in
438
th,e sense that earlier Hasan had already succeeded
hii lather.- Subsequently, too, Husain claimed his
right on the sa me basis, and, broadly speaking,
even the concept of the "Imamat" of a particular
school of thought is based on the rule of
inheritance.
The date of his death is not certain, but he
died at a ripe age of over seventy.
2t.SA'D 81M ABI VAQQAAS, first cousin of' the
Prophet's mother Aamlnah, was about 12 years
younger tllan the Prophet, who was very fond of
him. He was very well off:frctm the very beginning,
and was known for high living all his Ufe. A good
soldier and general, the hero of the battle of
Qadlslyyah, he conquered Madaen . and a great part
of Iraq. and Iran. He used to take pride in th"e fact
of his very early convenlon to Islam and clai med
that he Vias the one who cast theflrst arrow in
the defence of the Faith. He- was one of the six
members named by Caliph I Umar to select his own
successor from a mong
He was virtually the founder of Kufah and its
first Governor In the time of 'Umar. He was
recalled by 'Uthmaanwhen he, as a Governor,
came Into connlct colleague, 'Abdullah" i>Jn
Mastood who, as the Controller of the Exchequer
("BIIltul 1laD.1t),. was responsible' . for maintaining
financial discipline. For the rest of his 'life he Uved
in complete retirement in his villa In the suburb of
Madlnah. He happened to be the last surviving
member of the group of Ten persons believed to be
promised a place in Paradise. He died in 55/58
A.H.
His son, 'Umar bin' . Sa' dhad the most
unpleasant assignment of his lite' "Itr""lea:ding the
detachment sent by "Go"ernor 'Ubaidullah bin
Zlyyad from Kufah" against I!usaln bin 'AU," his own
n.-. relation. This resulted in the tragedy of
, K r
439
25.SA'AD BIN 'UBADAH AL-ANSAABI, known for'
his generosity and influence among the Ansaar,
wielded considerable power as the Chief of the
powerful Khazraj tribe of Madlnah. He was probably
converted by the 'joint efforts of his name-sake,
Sa'd bin Ma'aadh, Chief of the rival tribe of Aus,
and one Usaid bin Hudair and came on a pilgrimage
to Makkah along with the third batch of the
Madinites who took the oath in Mina known as the
thii'd baI't of 'Aqabah a few months before the
Prophet migrated to Madlnah.
Since the fist signs of jealousy between the
Madinite emepr and the Meccan maIIaajiroon were
noticeable probably by 5 A.H., the Prophet used to
regard him as the barometer of the sentiments of
aD'Mr. Unfortunately, it seems all his life he could
never rise above. tribalism and parochialism. rt is
not to suggest that the lDubaajiJooD were always in
the right and did not give any offence to the
susceptiblllties of the a...,.r. For example, In the
time of the Prophet, there arose a controversy
between two individuals about taking water from a
well of the tribe of Danu al-Mustaliq. Since one of
the two, who was most probably in the wrong, was
a lDubaajir, the controversy soon took a nasty turn
and was fully exploited by certain hypocrites among
the newly-converted led by I Abdullah bin Ubayy,
whose very words of incitement were, surprisingly
enough, quoted by the Quran in tbe Surah "Al-
Muaaaf1qooa" (lxiii). I Abdullah bin Ubayy happened
to belong to Sa t d bin I Ubadah I s tribe of Khazraj.
The Prophet, it seemed, thought it fit to deal with
him rather lightly, perhaps less in deference to the
sentiments of Said bin 'Ubadah and others of the
Khazraj than to I Abdullah's ostentatious allegiance
to Islam and his Up-service to the Muslim cause.
Once when SaId bin Ma'aadh, Chief of the rival
tribe of Aus, whom the Prophet used to call
"Se.ntd ai-A_v" (Chief of the Madinite ansaar) ,
volunteered tolelll this arch-hypocrite, I Abdullah
bin I Ubayy, for master-minding the vicious
campaign ('Hat I) against I Aayeshah, it was Sa I d
440
bin fUbadah, who in defence of his own kinsm an
threatened the former, his own respected colleague,
with reprisal, and it looked as if it were to
develop into an armed connict between the tribes
of Ausand Xhazraj, if the . Prophet had not
intervened.
About the same time when the booty of the
battle of Hunain, c o e c t e ~ at Ju'araanah, was being
distributed on return from Taa-ef, the Prophet
thought it fit to give liberally to certain' newly-
converted, proud Meccans "to win over their
hearts"; in the Ught of the Quran*22. The young,
volatile -.r were worked up by the Hypocrites
to raise their' voice against what seemed to them
an act of nepOtism. When the Prophet came to
know of it, he at once called Safd bin 'Ubadah to
know his reaction. His Significant reply that he,
too, after all; was one of the ansa .. , must have
given the Prophet the rudest shock. So he "decided
to tackle .the situation himself. He addressed the
young -nee- in one of hts historic speeches,
remarkable for its psychological approacb as . well
as its rhetoric. After enumerating the services
rendered by the 80Mar
t
he quipped: "Is it not going
to satisfy you that you take home the Prophet of
Allah with you while the Meccans return home with
. the cattle". This had a salutary effect. on the old
and the young a mong the aasaat alike, who were
visibly moved.
Again, when Makkah fell and the victorious
Muslims entered the city, the standard of the
,Medinites was held by Sa'd bin tUbadah, who was
openly threatening the Meccans. To this the
muhaajerooD took strong exception. On the
complaint of f Abdur Rahmaan bin I Auf, . he was
asked by the Prophet to hand .over the standard to
his son, Qais bin Sa I d.
On learning of the death of the Prophet, it was
again Sa'd bin I Ubadah who collected the .... r at
. a roofed platform In the down-town quarter of the
441
Banu Saa'edah and proposed to have a successor of
the Prophet ("Caliph") elected from among
themselves and, if it was not feasible, to have two
caliphs including one from the ansaar 'Umar's tact
prevented such a contingency.
Sa'd was found dead in his bath in Abu Bakr's
time in early years of 'Umar's caliphate.
26. SALMAAN P ABSI, ABU 'ABDULLAH, was an
Iranian, born of a Magian (fire-worshipping) family
of a village near Ispahan or Hurmuz. Surely his real
name could not be 'Salmaan', apparently, a non-
Iranian name. Originally converted to Christianity in
his early boyhood by a monk, but perhaps being a
sceptic, he is believed to have started on his
journey in search of something which could satisfy
his religiQus curiosity and wandered from one
mentor to another till he was guided by some one
in Syria to "the true custodian of the old religion
of Abraham," said to have appeared in Arabia.
When he arrived in the central Arabia, he was
taken captive and sold as a slave to a Jew, who
brought him to Madinah about the year of the
Hljrah. Here he had an occasion to meet the
Prophet to whom he took a fancy. Impressed by his
sincerity, the Prophet helped hi m in buying his
freedom. In this connection, it is said that the
Prophet himself planted for him a palm grove
known for a miraculous yield of crop, which helped
hi m to payoff his ransom in no time. His palm-
grow::! which is believed to ~ t even now fetches
a good price for its "prestigious" dates.
Tradition makes him a legendary figure, a
paragon of piety, wisdom and learning and a
denizen of the House of the Prophet (Ahl-ul-Bait
lt
).
Because of his origin, and, probably his pliability,
he was made a national hero by the Persian
converts, whQ spun legends around him to feed
their pride and oo.t their ,morale in. that. upsurge
of rabid nationalism known as the Shu'ubiab
movement during the later Abbaside period. In
442
actual fact, his transparent naively in handling men
and matters and his motional approach to
problems, renderedhlm a misfit in State affairs
and lost him the Governorship of Kufah given to
him by Caliph 'Umar.
In the. account o( the Battle of the Ditch
already given elsewhere, the myth of his being the
one who gave the Arabs tbe idea of a ditch as a
defensive measure was, I hope, reasonably
demolished. Neither a muhaajir nor an 8D!U1arl, he
joined the community too late to partiCipate even
in . the prestigious oath-taking bal'.t ur-rldYaan
which took place in late 6 A.H. Not even included
among the group of Ten believed to have been
promised a place in Paradise, he has come to be
rated much above the front-rank-Companions of the
Prophet on grounds far from convincing or even
believable. .
It is amusing to notice of the later-
day Suflstic Order known .. as
claims that Salmaan, of all persons, was picked by
Caliph Abu Bakr for confiding special knowledge
certain technique which were obviously kept
secret from his own sons. This particular Order of
'the Sufis is credited to the first Caliph perhaps to
remove any suspicion that might arise from the
fact that almost all "Sufistic Orders" (""laaSD")
were said to have been founded by , Ali. Having
learnt the tdlscipUnetof the Order from Abu Bakr,
it Is claimed, Salmaan passed it on, as if to repay
the debt of gratitude, to Abu Bakr's grandson,
Qasim, who to be sure, was a son of Muhammad
bin Abi Baler, the step-son of tAli involved in the
murder of Caliph tUthmaan. Now this worthy
successor of his grand-father passed on the
'discipline
t
to his own daughter's son, to be sure,
Jatfar bin al-Baaqir, to restore the
usual circuit of transmission of all such Orders.
Salmaan Is believed to have lived for an
. unbelievable length of time .ranging from" 250 years
443
.
to more than 350 years according fa various
accounts. However, the place where, he died and
the date when he died are pretty uncertain. There
Is a tomb in a village In Madaen, named Salm.
Pat after him, which Is stUl -8 place of pilgrimage
which devout visitors to Karbala seldom fail to
visit. However, there are other places too, which
hotly contest the honour and claim to have his
tomb there, such as Ispahan, Damaghan, Jerusalem,
Lydda (In Palestine). Probably he died in the early
years of 'Uthmaan's caUphate as a neglected
luminary. What is interesting about the traditions
credited to him Is that, of all narrators, they are
mostly handed down to posterity by the good
offIces of the people of the status or Abu Hurairah
and Anas "In Maallk only.
27. TALHAH BIN 'UBAlDULLAH is believed to be
one of the group of Ten' "promised a place in
Paradise" (nmubnfmbirah"). He partiCipated in
almost aU engagements In the time of the Prophet
except the battle of Badr when he had been sent
away towardCJ Syria on a mission of reconnaissance.
The part he played in the battle of Uhud is well-
known. Caliph 'Umar included him among those six
whom he entrusted the task of selecting from
among themselves his own successor. However,
since he was out of station he did not take part in
the deliberations of the committee and returned
only on the day 'Abdur Rahmaan bin 'Auf
announced the decision.
He lost his Ufe in the "Battle or the Camel
(Jamal)" and was buried In Basrah.
There is a particular fact of his life which
makes his relationship with the Prophet rather
unique. Apart from other family relationship which
he had with the Prophet, he took four wives who
were all sisters of four different wives of the
Prophet - namely, Umme Kulthoom, sister of
'Aayshah; .Ruqayyah, sister of Umme Salmah;
. Farlah, sister of Umme l!ablbah; and Hamnah, the
444
sister of Zalnab wbo had been punished for taking
part 1ft the 'viciouS 'Aayeshah
known as 'Ifat'. .
2 .. ' UBADAB BIll SAAMIT was amo"g the early
Medlnlte MusUm who participated In the battle of
Badr. 'Umar was greatly Impressed by his piety and
appointed hlr;n Qaadi in, Syria. A great stickler for
form to the extent of being punctilious, his
obviously lopeided thesis on "usury" (rIbaa) brought
him into connlct with Governor Mu'aaviyah during.
a mnttary campaign led by the Governor 'himself.
'Umar instructed Mu'aaviyah to leave him alone
, and not t8ke notice of his fond theories. With Abu
Dhar aI-Ghafaari, he makes an ideal pair. He died
in 34 In' Palestine when he was over 70.
29. UBAn BIll KA 'B belonged to the Khazraj tribe
and was often called by the Prophet as "SaIYJld al-
....... " . (Chief of the a"ed, a title which he
shared witb Sa'd bin Ma'aadb of the Aus tribe, a
rival of the Khazraj tribe. He served as a scribe
for recording revelations and was considered among
the four or six Companions known for extensive
knowledge of the Quran. According to the ,general
opinion, he shared the distinction of being an
accepted authority on 'the Quran with 'Abdullah bin
Mas'ood. Hollowness of the later-day irresponsible
propaganda against the authenticity of the text of
the Quran by the' subversive elements is betrayed
by their assertion that Ubayy bin Ka'b, too, had
'serious' objectioDfJ to the text of the- Quran as
issued by Caliph 'Uthmaan. They forgOt altogether
the fact that" he had been associated from Caliph
'Abu Baler's time with the work of compilation of
the standatd text and was actually an Important
tn'tmber of the official Committee set up by
"1.fthmaan for vetting privately available incomplete
copies of the Quran (presumably, collections of
...... ) and preparing an authorlzed version of the
complete text on the basis of the standard copy
compUed and integrated earlier by Zaid bin Thaabit
who was, this time alSo, a member of this high-
445
powered Committee. Incidentally, the senseless
thesis of "Abrogation" of the verses of the Quran
(WNaskh") is built up mostly on the basis of the
"traditions" conveniently credited either to him,
who died soon after, or to 'Abdullah bin Mas'ood,
who was away in Kufah.
He was regarded as a Cront-rank Jurist in the
early days of Islam. 'Umar had great respect for
him although the former is reported to have once
warned him not to credit his reports to the Prophet
but preferably pass them on as his own views.
He died in Madinah some time in 'Uthl1laan's
caliphate probably about 30 A.H. (Vide: Isaabah).
30. 'UMAR DIN AL-KHATTAD one of the builders
. of the nascent State, was a statesman and
administrator of repute. His mother is said to have
been Abu Jahl's sister or cousin. He was considered
to be the Iron Man of the community and a hard
task-master. Dreaded by his high officials, he was
. loved and respected by the common man. Though
sometimes he acted impulsively, he possessed an
immense Cund of common sense and realism and a
remarkable capacity to own up his rash decisions.
He joined the com munity later than his own_
brother-in-law Sa' e bin Zaid, one of the group of
Ten promised a place in Paradise, and even his own
sister, Faatimah bint il-Khattab, to whQm goes the
credit of converting him. He had been dead against
the Prophet, and the well-known story of his
conversion has already been narrated elsewhere. He
came out of his house with a sword in hand to
dispose of, once for ,all, the person who posed a
challenge to Meccan society and culture. But as
impulsively as he had taken this rash decision, he
was suddenly awakened to his Colly by his sister's
bold stand- and rushed to the Prophet with the same
dispatch to make amends by embracing Islam then
and there. He soon . lett others behind in winning
the confidence of . 'the Prophet aQd reriderinJ
yeoman service' to Muslim soe1ety' in 'Its formative
sta e.
446
Being strong-willed and a strict administrator,
he would .broQk . no dereliction of duty' or
misconduCt. . His thorougbness . coupled with
occasional impulsiveness not only involved him in
clashes of personality with . some of. his prominent
colleagues but also earned him more enemies'than
friends.' His resolve to free the Arabs of the border
. areas from the hegemony of the. arrogant and
corrupt regime In, power in the Iran of his time,
antagonized the Iranian. vested interests Which ever
forgave his 'affront' . and ultimately succeeded in
,avenging themselves by employing a hireling to get
him .murdered. He W88 stabbed bya Penian slave,
named Abu LuluPeeroz, probably. a Jew rather than
a Christian as. generally believed. 'Umar died after
two or three . days, probably on the 1st of
Muharram24 A.H.
On his death-bed, .he nominated. a commission of
six eligible elders, with a seventh man,' his own
son, i Abdullah, as a mere observer, to select from
a mong themselves a penon to succeed Mm. Looking
at it from. such a distance in time and in the
context of the politics of those days,
one may observe now, that his well- meaning
arrangement suffered only from the lack of a
. Med1nlte ( ...... 1) representative on that
com mission, whatever be the reason of this ra ther
serious omission.
Partisan propaganda produced a lot of stotles
tor and against him to confuse posterity. Perhaps
the most absurd story. about the tnnuence he had
on . the Propbet is . the unbelievable dialogue
.recorded by"uslim (in the 'Kitaa .... Baman' of his
collection ,of the so-called. hsound' traditions"). It 'Is
reported that Abu Hurairab was giving currency to
. a state ment on the authority of the' Prophet
himself that all those who uttered the KaUmah -
"Laa n.ah DJeJ1ab_" were' assured of salvation.
'Umar Is reported to bave been impudent enough to
suggest to the Propbet, of all persons, to let the
. act and no. issue such statements as might
447
lead them to Such blatant propaganda, to
put.. it midly, defeats its own purpose.
'Umar had married 'All's daughter Umme
Kulthoom a few years before he was assassinated.
Quite an unnec'essary controversy has been raised
of late about glaring ,disparity in ages of the
couple - a topic which was hardly to be talked
about in those days. At any rate, she was not as
young as she was made out by certain writers such
as Jaarullah Az-Zamakhshari, a Mu'tazllee (Ylde: his
Tl'eatlae entitled 'Al-Muftaftqat b ..... Abllbait vas
. Sahaabab'). A 'well-authenticated! report recorded
by Mullah Baaqir MajUsee in his oft-quoted "JUa'ul
'UJOOD" (Tehran, pages 76-77), on the authority of
Ibn Baabovalh, suggests that Umme Kulthoom was
older than Hasan. For Hasan and Husain were
carried by Faatlmah on her shoulders while Umme
Kulthoom was made to walk*23.
31. 'UTBMAAN BIN 'AFF AAN the third Caliph, was
one of the wealthy businessmen of the prosperous
Umayyad clan of the Quralsh, and was closely
related to the Prophet. His mother was a first
cousin of the Prophet, being the daughter of one of
his aunts, Umme Hukaim bint 'Abdil Muttalib. Two
of the Prophet's daughters, Ruqayyah and Umme
Kulthoom were married to him. He embraced Islam
very early as a result of Abu Bakr's persuasion.
Since he was one of the closest relations of the
Prophet and continued to have considerable
innuence. with the power groups In Makkah, the
Prophet selected bi m as his personal envoy to
negotiate with the Meccans before the treaty of
Hudaibiyyah. Incidentally, be was related to Abu
Sufyaab, who had married one of his aunts. This
added to his suitabiUty for the job.
The rumour that he was murdered, imprisoned
or taken as a hostage by the Meccans in violation
of the protocol occasioned. the prestigious oath-
taking, known as lbal'at a pledge
settle accounts once for all with the Meccans or to
448
die. The gesture of the Prophet in striking his own
right hand on the left hand to indicate that It
represented 'Uthmaan's participation In absentia, an
incident accepted by writers of all scbools of
thought, signified the esteem 'and love in which hE!
was held by the Prophet. It is a queer fact of his
life as well as of the early history of the
community . that although he could personally
participate neither in the battle of Badr on the
Prophet's instructions to look after his. aUing wife,
Ruqayyah - who soon after expired- nor in the
bal'at ur-ridY_, he was nevertheless allow,ed the
full share ot the benefits of both.
He was, by nature, retiring and unassuming, and
possessed to a fault' the gentlemanly qualities of
forgiveness, forbearance and large-heartedness. He
was not only liberal in giving monetary help to his
relations and friends but was also known for his
munificent contributions to public' causes in m-oney
and material. It is said, for example, that his share
in the wherewithal for the Tabook
expedition surpassed the contribution of all others,
although 'Umar is reported to have donated half of
what he posseJSed and Abu Baler gave ,away all that
he had.
The charitable approach he brought to bear on
his personal as well as public dealings was
generally exploited by his opponents as his
weakness, although he haS been known to have
stood up . as a rock whenev.er principles were
involved. He would nat, for example, hand over his
relation Marvaan, to the rebels because -he' was clear
in his mind that the secret letter -alleged- to' have
beep written by him was a forged one and that the
story that it was recovered from the person of a
ciespatch-rider heading for Egypt was part of a
conspiracy . to force bis abdication. Surely he could
not be tar wrong becaus.e unless there was a prior
understanding, how could the Iraqi contingent of
the rebels and its Egyptian counter-part who had
, recovered the alleged letter, both having proceeded
I

449
." .
on different routes far apart, return simultaneously
to storm the. capital? .
SimUarly, he would . not abdicate despite
persistent treats of the rebels because he
maintained that he was elected by the muhaajeroon
and the ansaar and they alone had the right to demand
his abdication. His abdication under pressure of the
riff-raff would have created a bad precedent.
On both these points, he was not prepared- to
yield, and bore the all-too-apparent consequences
with exemplary fortitude. What is more significant,
he would not exercise his discretionary powers as a
rightful Caliph to order armed resistance in self-
defence, because I he abhorred the thought of being
the cause of shedding the blood of Muslims on
either side for his own sake. However much we
may differ from his appraisal of the situation and
his ultimate decision not to invoke his authority,
we cannot help admiring his meticulous regard for
principles and his il)domitable courage of conviction
against odds as a rare example of non-violent
resistance at its best
.
He ruled as a Caliph for about 12 years, during
which period Islam spread far and wide, and the
Muslims as. a power became the most potent factor
for world peace and renaissance. It would seem
paradoxical to observe that this was precisely the
period when the ripples of fissiparous tendencies,
sporadically noticeable here and there' even in the
days of the Prophet, having developed into powerful
under-currents during ... the time of Caliph 'Umer,
suddenly came to the surface like a storm and
posed a serious law and order problem for the
sprawling State. In the wake of sweeping conquests,
subversive elements had found wider ground to
spread their tentacles and also greater scope for
playing hide and seek with the custodians of law
and order.
Moreover, being an Umanad himself, he was'a
..
450
mere victim of circumstances for he had inherited
an adminlstraUve set-up iil which the Umayyads
had beea certainly over-represented from the day.
of the Prophet when they happened to hold more
than 15' of the high omcee whUe there was not
one Haahlmite- It was, therefore, far easier now
for the noa.Arab .ubversive elements to put Into
operation their grand stratelY of breakln, the
IOlldarlty of the Arabs. In seducing the Hasbimites
and other non-Umanad ba., .... not8 against the
UmanadB In power In order to weaken the grip of
the Meccan elite - the Quralsh ... they had already
enlisted the sizable support of the ...... For the
latter were, pamaps rightly, piqued by the over'"
bearing attltude of the Mecca.. In general and the
cold-shouldering they felt they had received at the
handB of those at the helm of affairs. These I
lubverllve element. were clever enoup to concede l'
the leadership to the youa" a mbltious non ...
Umayyad Arabs, who were being surreptitiously
dragged Into a connlct far wider and deeper than
they envisaged at first. They failed to see through
the pme that they were being involved in the
ultimate fight between the Arabs and the non-
Arabs.
The oft-repeated charge, the gravamen of his
opponent., case, that he gave high offices to his
people and kiDImen, the Umayyads, was repeatedly
contradicted and proved baseless in his own thne.
From the contemporary records stln available in
the works of early historians, It can be ascertained
even now that, of all known Governors and
administrators, the number of which hardly
exceeded 35 during his time, only five of six were
Umayyads, and of these, two or three were either
merely transferred by him from one assignment to
another or were new appointments of only those
who had already proved their ability and eligibility
under earlier regimes.
For fuller treatment of the subject, an
exhaustive reply, entitled wTabaarah-e-Mabmoodi"
451
to the "charge-sheet" skilfully drawn -up anew by a
prominent scholar of our time In his book entitled
" Kbilatat-o-MulooIdJJ'at" may be consulted with
profit. An average reader, however, would hardly
faU to notice an inherent weakness in that forceful
indictment tbat, while ruthlessly handling the third
Caliph's character and conduct in his book, the
learned, author would, at the same time, insist on
referring to him as one of al-Kh1IJlfaa ur-Bashldoon
(Caliphs guided arlgbt), although every act of
omission and commission alleged by him contra-
indicated righteousness of the CaUph.
CaUph 'Uthmaan is wrongly described in Friday
sermons as the "compOer of the Quran" (Jaametul
Quran). The entire Book had already been compiled
in the form of a volume, complete in all respects,
during Caliph Abu Bakr's time. The incomplete
compilations of complete surabs had, however, been
available even in the ti me of the Prophet as
evidenced by the Quran itself (lxxv: 17)*4. Thus,
'Uthmaan was, in actual fact, the "pubUsber or tbe
Quran" (Naasbir ui-Quran). In that capacity he
took all possible care to get the official copy or
the entire Holy Book integrated by Zaid bin
Thaabit al-Ansaarl under the Instructions of Abu
Bakr - reportedly In the custody of Hafsah at the
time properly vetted by a high-powered
committee including Zald bin Thaabtt, Ubayy bin
Ka'b and others available in Madinah, well-known
for their knowledge of the Quran, to allay all
SUsPicions. The Shiah divine, Shareef Murtada
brother of Shareef Radi, compiler and editor or
Nalljul BaJaagbah - is reported to have held the
view.
"Even in the time of the Messenger of
Allah, the Quran was certainly in a
collected' form comprising, all that it
comprises today".*U
Therefore, all such stories, even If supported by
- the so-called "sound" traditions, sugpsting that the
452
official version of the text integrated in the time
of Abu Bakr and ofCiciaUy Issued by Caliph
'Uthmaan was compiled from fragmentary wrJtina
scribed on pieces of wood, stone and the bark of
leaves of trees, are despicable liesot a much laterdate
spread by the enemies of Islam, who were out to
dynamite the very rock on which the whole edifice
of Islam rested. However, it does renect .on the
level of Intelligence of all those traditionists,
whoever they might be, who readily accepted such
stuff for inclusion in their compilations, despite the
clear internal evidence of the Quran itself, already
quoted above from the Surah lxxv, apart from
frequent .references in the text itself to "qIrtaa"
(paper), "qalam" (pen), "midaad" (lnk) and even to
"JdtabuD mutoor II raqqia manshoor" (scripture
inscribed on spread-out parchment) in the opening
verse of the Surah At-Toor (IU). .
32. ZAID BIN THAABIT AL-ANSAARI was a
promising YQung boy Qf 10 'years or so when the
Prophet migrated to Madinah. Struck by his
intelligence and ability to ,read and write,
remarkable for his age, the Prophet utilized his
services as a regular official SCribe, particularly for
recording the Holy Quran as and when revealed.
Because of his personal qualities, close association
with the Prophet and long experience in that
particular Une, he was selected by Caliph Abu Bakr
to compile and integrate all separately available
incomplete collections of complete surahs into one
volume to serve as a complete official copy of the
Holy Book. Others, like Ubayy bin. Ka' band
Ma'aadb 'bin Jabal, were also associated with the
project to assist him. Later on, Caliph 'Uthmaan,
too, associated him with the high-powered
committee' of experts, including Ubayy bin Ka'b
and other respectable, innuential Companions
v i l ~ in Madinah, charged with the responsibi-
lity of ''tetting all available private collections in
circulation by comparing. them with the official
Copy and preparing a standard version of the text
. .to be olflclally issued to all provinces with the
453
direction that all private collections should conform
to the alandard text. One would think that the high
statu the members of the committee set up to
handtethe job should have dismissed all wild
InsinuatiOns propagated by the enemies of Islam.
Zald ! died in Madlnah in 45 A .. H. There Ia hardly
any do.t about his leaming and competence, but
it see. that at times people would assume too
much 08 that account and dispute on hla authorl ty
with acknowledged authorities Uke 'Aayeshah, even
in. fact.-al matters such as : whether or not the
Prophet I ever offered two -nt'at- after AlIt
prayers I or before the ........ prayers. The issue
was obv!tously more factual than technical. And who
could better than 'Aayeshah? .
I
I
33 .. ZUBAJR BIN AL-AVVAAM was the Prophet's
first cqusln, being the son of his aunt, Saflyyah, also
Khadljah's nephew, being the son of her brother, AI-
'Avvaarn, and son-in;"lawof Abu Bakr, being the
husband I of Asmaa, elder half-sister of 'Aayeshah.
Comely and slightly-buUd but brave and level-
headed,. he com manded respect and confidence of
all thO$e with whom he came into contact. The
Prophet i was particularly fond of him. He was
consldelted. one of the group of Ten believed to
have been promised a place In Paradise. He died In
the. battle of the Camel (Jamal) at the age of over
sixty. Partisans of ' AU thought that both he and
Talhah, I who had already . taken the oath of
allegiance to 'All In Madlnah immediately after the
murder of Caliph 'Uthmaan, sUpped to Makkah only
to persuade 'Aayeshah to oppose 'Ali In order to
make room for themselves. The hollowness of the
charge is, however, evident from the fact that
being one of the six nominated by Caliph 'Umar to
select his own successor from among themselves,
Zubalr, at least, had already withdrawn his name In
favour of 'Ali.
Hia son, 'Abdullah bin u-Zubair, 'Aayeshah's
. being son of her elder half-sister Almaa,
454
W88 perhaps tbe flnt cblld born in Madinall .among
the ............. Unlike his father in may
respects, he was fat, ambitious, undependable and
cunning. An stories about his piety aact learnia, are
mere partisan propaganda, as baseless as those
regarding Yazeed .bln Mutaaviyah
t
impiety and
licence both emanating from the same source. It is
on record he was perhaps the only penon who
advised Husain bin 'Ali, his cousin, not to miss the
opportunity offered by the people of K.fah. For in
the conmct between H .... n all Yaeed, he theught
he would be the ..... ...... ("the Ilad taird").
He created Ia ..... u. through his a ... ts qWte a
law-and-order problem in Madinab whicb forced
Yazeed to take police action against the agitators.
The authorities thought fit to leave him alone In
Makkah. Taking advantage of the clemency, he
continued his subversive activUIeI underground.
When 'Abdul Malik took over as Caliph he kicked
up trouble in Makkah in 64 A.H. by setting up a
parallel Calipbate . Probably few, If aDy, surviving
Companions of the Prophet supported him.
maligned HajJaj bin Yusuf was at last forced to
take a severe action as a result of which he along
with his "Caliphate" was Uquidated and tbe
IBnctuary of the Ka'bah, too, W88 desecrated in
the fray. The partisans on both sides still debate
the academic issue of the responsibillty for tbe
sacrnege, although the principle of Muslim
jurisprudence is well-known: "Whoever initi,tes is
the
The credit for Initiating and m.ter-mlndlng the.
dirty campaign that Yazeed W88 a drunkard, a
debauch and a defner of Islam goes to him and his
stooges. The vUe propaganda haa by now made even
the name of Yazeed an anathema, although 'Abbas
bin 'Ali, who gave up hls Ufe for 'his half-brother,
Husain, at Karbala, had a grand-IOn bearing exactly
the same name - Yateed bin Mutaaviyah. Even if
balf of what was propagated by his coterie was
. factually correct, the question naturally arise: Why
455
did t Abdullah bin az-Zubair not make common
cause with Husain, who incidentally, did not lay his
claim on this patently absurd thesis? The whole
t h l ~ would not wash; but, as they say, If you
throw enough mud some of it . will stick.
Of the by-gone peoples, we have already been
told:
"Those are the people who have passed
away. They shall have what they earned
and you shall have what you earn.. And
you shall not be questioned about what
they did". Hi: 141)*26

456
AppendI.z <Vii)
WE PORGBT
Here is a selection of a few Quranlc verses to
serve as food for thought:
(a) "Verily never will Allah change the
condition of a people until they (strive to)
change it themselves". (xiii: 11)*1
(b) "And thOle who strive In Our cause, We
will certainly guide them to Our paths".
(xxix: 69)*2
(c) "Do they not apply their minds to the
Quran (to seek guidance) or is it that
locks have been put on their hearts
(minds)?" (xlvii: 24)*3
(d) "But most of them follow nothing but
conjecture. Certainly conjecture can, in no
way, dispense with the truth". (x: 37)*4
(e) "Did they not travel in the land that their
hearts (minds) might thereby reason out
and their ears might (learn) to hear?
Verily it is not that their eyes are bUnd,
but, in fact, it is their hearts in their
breasts which are bUnd (and do not
respond)". (xxii: 46)*5
(f) "Look! It is in the remembrance of Allah
(g)
that hearts find solace". (xlii: 28)*6
"And he who
remembrance of
straitened for him".
turns away from
Me, will find Ufe
(xx: 124)*7
(h) "And he who is mindful of Allah's
displeasure, will find his affair made easy
for him (by Allah)." (lxv: 4)*8
457
(I) "So, as for one who gives (or apends In
the way of AUah) and II mindful" of
ADah's displeasure and testifies to what i8
good, We wID factulate for him (the
attainment of) ease. And .. for one who
behaves miserly and lDIugly and disbelieves
what II good, We wiD faeUltate for hi m
(the way to) adversity". (xcii: 5"'10)*'
(j) "Far, with hardship there II eate. Certainly
ease follows hardship". 5-8)*10
(k) "0 Ye, who believe (or have faith). seek
belp with forbearance and prayer, far
AUah II wUh those who persevere with
patience". (U: 153)*11
(1) "And We produced leadetl from among
them to guide them aceording to Our
inatructions, only when they showed
t.ltearance (or learnt to persevere
patiently)". (xxxii: 24)*12
..
(m) "So lOR not heart nor do ,e deapair, for
ye must athleve ascendancy" OIly If ye
have. impliCit faith". (ill: 139)*13
(n) tt And OMY ADa.. and His Apostle and do
not quarrel arnon, yoUl'Mlves' lelt you
Ihould become weak and lose your
pr.atl... SO ("'arn to) be patient, for
Allab ,II with that_ who persevere
patiently". (rith 48)*14
(0) "AU wilen tMy ..... vel. or ftOftleAlical
tallt, they. t.....a, and aay:
For ull are OUf deedl and for you yours.
Peace be OA yOUJ we aeeIt not '(_nfronta-
lion wUh) th_ who (prefer tot t.emaIR
Iporant
tt
(xxvtHt 55)*15
(p). "ARd waw. \h., ... 8Ol'OII> .. _..,
D08I8Mk1al or _"' ... , ,... -,. hObIJ".
-. (SXVt
4S8
(q). "Do people tb.lnk tbat they wID be left
alone on merely- .ylna: 'We belleve
t
and
t ~ y wID not be put to trial (and
tested)?" (xxix: 2)17
(r) "And do not go near (that II, avoid even
those things which lead to) things which
are overtly or covertly lewd or Indecent".
(vI: 152)18
(.) "And when We Intend to destroy a town,
We CODV., OUf comlll8Ddl (01' inJunctions)
to those accustomed to a life of ease and
plent,. So they transgrea (these
commandments)". (xvii: 18)19
......
- The people of Propbet Noah were
destroyed because of their reckless life of
ease and plent,.
"We lAve tlaem ease aDd Plenty in the
worldly life". (xxIIi: 33)20
- The people of Prophet Slao'alb (probably
Prophet Jethro of the Old Testament) were
destroyed I)ecau. of haltltually Inclulglng In
business malpractices aad tranqresslng the
foUowlag express injunctions:
(a) "Do Dot give ahort measure and short
wetpt". (xl: 84).21
(b) "Do not purvey adulterated thln-p to
people". (xl: 85).22
- The people of Prophet Lut (LOT) were
. destroyed beca .. of the 18X crimes we all
know.
459
THIS IS A (PLAIN) STATEMENT FOR
THE PEOPLE AND GUIDANCE AND A
(GOOD) PIECE OF ADVICE FOR THOSE
WHO ARE MINDFUL OF ALLAH'S
DISPLEASURE".
UII: 138)*23

TexTUAL REFERENCES
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487
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APPENDIX

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APPEN01X
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APPENDIX

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505
506
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Some of the books which have no direct
bearing on the subject but have been only casually
referred to in some connection have been omitted).
WORKS
.. As-Seerat-un-Nabavi-
nab based mainly on
the defunct IlbdMd
lIagbaazl (Vaa Siyar)by
,Abu Bakr (or Abu
I Abdullah) Muhammad
bin Is-haaq bin Yasar
(died in 151 A.H.)
-Ar-Raudul
entary on the above)
-English Translation of
"Seerat BaBUl Allah",
part of the defunct
work of Ibn Is-haaq
mentioned above.
- Kitabul lIagbaazi
AUTHORS
Abu Muhammad Abdul
Maalik bin Muhammad
bin Hishaam (died in
213/218 A.H.)
Abul Qasim Abdur
Rahmaan bin I Abdillah
as-Sohaili (died In 508
A.H.)
A.Guillaume
Muhammad bin I Umar
al-Vaaqidee (died 207
A.H.)
-zaadul Mataad n Huda Shamsuddin Abu
Kbairil Jbaad I Abd1l1ah Muhammad bin
Abi Bakr - Ibn Qayyim
al-Hanbali (died 751
A.H.)
-As-Seeratul Halabi"ab 'All (bin Ibrahim) bin
Burhanuddin al-Halabi
(died 1044 A.H.)
507
-Sharh Muyaablb-U- Muhammad bin 'Abdil
ladunnlyyab bn Minh n Baaqi az-Zarqaanl (died
Mobammadiyyab by 1122 A.H.)
Qastalanl (Shehabuddln
Abul 'Abbas Ahmad bin
Muhammad al-Misri
(died 923 A.H.)
-Sbarb Asb-Shlfaa bl As-Shaikb Nuruddin 'Ali
ta'reef Huqooqil bin Sultan Mubammad
Mustafa by Qaadi al-Haravl, known as
'Ayaad. (Abul Fadi "AI-Qaart" al-Makkl al
'Ayaad bin Musa bin Hanafi"(died in 1014
'Ayaad il-MaaUkl ul A.H.)
Andalusi (died in 544
A.H.)
-Dalaa'elun Nuboovat Abu Na'eem al-Isfahani
(died 430 A.H.)
-Madaarijua Nuboovat
(Persian)
- As-SeeratuD-Nabaylyyab
Cairo, 1966, edited by
Mustafa Abdul Vahid
Shah Abdul Haq
Muhaddith of Delhi.
Hafiz Imaduddin Abul
Fida {sma'il bin
'Uthmaan bin Katheer,
known as Ibn Ka theer
al-Qarshi"(701-774 A.H.)
-Seers_ Nabl (Urdu) - 'Allamab Shibli and
Second Edition(1341 Sayyid Sulaiman Nadvi.
A.H)
- Kbutabaat-e-Madras
(Urdu)
-Asah-bus-Sl,ar (Urdu)
Sayyid Sulaiman Nadvl
Abul Barkaat Danapuri
-Babmatul tn-'AaJameeD Qaadi Sulaiman Mansoor-
(Urdu) puri
-JDa ul 'U,oon (Persian Mullah Baaqir Majlisee '"
. - Tehrl'm)
508
-Life of Muhammad Sir William Muir
(English) .
-Kbutabaat-e-Abmad- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
l"aIa (English Transla-
tion)
-Muhammad In Mecca W. Montgomery Watt
(English)
.. Rasu1 Akarm 1d styaaat Dr. Hameedullah
Zinda" (Urdu)
- t Abd-e-NabYl Kal Dr. Hameedullah
Maldan Jang (Urdu)
-Ar-Raaoolul Qaated Muhammad Sheet
(Second Edition, Khattaab
Baghada)
-Talaqeequl JI.bacI (Urdu) Nawab A 'zamyar Jang
Chiragh I AU
- Bijjatul Videa'
-Jambaratul Anaaala
(edited by I Abdus
Salaam Muhammad
Haaroon Ijarul
Mataarif,Cairo, 1962
-Al-Vatbaa equs
styaasl"aIa (Cairo)
Abu Muhammad I Ali bin
Ahmad Ibn Hazm az-
Zaahirl al-Andulusi (died
456 A.H.).
Dr. Hameedullah
-Al-Mataarlf U Ibn Edited by Dr. Saroita
Qutaibah Muhammad Akacha (Darul Kutub,
bin MusUm (213-276) Cairo, 1960)
- Klw.but-Tabaqaatul
Kabeer(or Al-Tabaqaat-
ul Kubra) (Leyden
~
Abu I Abdillah
Muhammad bin Sa'd al-
Basri (died 23 A.H.)
509
-lsaabab n' Tam'eezls Qaadi Shahabuddin Abul
Sabaabah Fadl Ahmad bin 'Ali al-
Asqalaani (AI-Misrt)
ash-Shaafi'ee (died 852
A.H.)
- Usudul Gbaabab
-Meezaanul E'tedaal n
Naqdir-RiJaal
'Azzuddin Abul Hasan
I Ali Muhammad bin AbU
Karam ash-Shaibani,
better known as "Ibnut
A theer al-Jazari", died
630 A.H.)
Abu ' Abdlllah
Muhammad bin Ahmad
bin 'Uthmaan Shams-
uddin Ad-Dhahabi ad-
Damlshqi ash-Shaafi'ee
(died 748 A.H.)
-Al-Istee'ub n Abu 'Umar Jamaluddin
Ma'aarlfatn As-bub Yusuf bin 'Umar bin
'Abdll Barr bin 'Abdlllah
bin Muhammad bin
I AbdU Barr al-Qartubi
(al-Andulusl) (died 463
A.H.)
- Kttaabul Mobabbar
(Daa'eratul Ma'aarif
'Uthmaaniyyah, Hyder-
abad, India)
- Ansaabul Asbraaf,
Volume one, edited by
Dr. Hameedullah (Darul
Ma I aarif, Egypt)
- MurooJudh Dhabab
(Edited by M. Muhl-
uddin I Abdul Ha meed,
(AI-Maktabatul Tijaria-
tul Kubra, Cairo,Fourth
edition, 1964)
Abu Ja'far Muhammad
bin Habib bin Ummayyah
bin lAmar al-Haashimi
ai-Baghdadi (died 245
A.H.)
Abul ' Abbas (or Abu
Jalfar Ahmad bin Yahya
bin Jaabir bin Da' ood
al-BaIadhuri aI-Baghdadi
(died 279 A.H.)
Abul Hasan I Ali bin al
Husain bin ' AU al-
Mas'oodi (died in 346
A.H.)
_It Al-Muqaddimahlt
-Taareekhul Ya'qoobl
(Dar Saad, Beirut)
-Akhbaarut-Tlvaal
510
Abu Zaid Valiuddin
, Abdur Bah maan bin
M\lhammad bin Khaldoon
al-Maaliki (died in 279
A.H.)
Ah mad bin Ya' qoob bin
Ja'far bin Vahb bin
Vaadeh al-Kaatlb ul
'Abbasi - known as "Al-
Ya'qoobi" (died 284
A.H.)
Abu Haneefah Ahmad
bin Da'ood ad-Dainauri
(died 282/290 A.H.)
-Taa.reekhul Umam Val Abu Ja
1
tar Muhammad
Mulook bin Jareer at-Tabari
(died 310 A.H.)
-Al-KaamR nt Taareekb
-Al-Bldaayah Van Nihaa-
yah
-Naaslkhut Tayureekh
(Persian)
-'Mu'atta Ul Imam
Maalik bin Anas bin
Maalik bin Abl ' Aa mir
(Companion or the
Prophet)(dled 179 A.H.)
'Azzuddin Abul Hasan
1 AU Muhammad bin AbU
Karam ash-Shaibani,
better known as "Ibnul
Atheer ul Jalari" (died
630 A.H.)
Haatlz 'Imaaduddin Abul
Fida Isma'll bin
'Uthmaan bin Katheer,
known as "Ibn Kat-beer"
al-Qarshl(died 774 A.H.)
Meerza Taqi
Kaashaani
Sipahr
(a) As reported by Imam
Muhammad bin Hasan
ash-Shalbanl al-Hanari
(died 189 A.H.)

i
I
f
I
511
-Fatbul Baari be Sbarb
aj-Jaame ts-SabeeII Ie
Abi ' Abdillah
Muhammad bin AbU
Hasan Isma'il bin
Ibrahim al-Bukhari
(died 256 A.H.)
(b) As reported by
Yahya bin. Yahya
Masmoodi al-Andulusi
(died 234 A.H.)
Qaadi Shahabuddin
Ahmad bin 'AU ai-
'Asqalaani (al-Misri) as-
Shaafi'ee, b,etter known
as . Ibn Hajar aI-
'Asqalaani (died 852
A.H.)
- 'UDidatal Qaari
n Badruddln a1-' Ainee Abu
Sbarb al-Jaame
Bukhari
lil Muhammad Mahmood bin
Ahmad bin Musa a1-
Halabi al-Qaahiri (al-
Misrt) a1-Hanali (died
855 A.H.)
. -Fathul Malhlm(n-Sbarb) Maulana Shabbir Ahmed
aj-Jaame is __ Sbalaeeb 'Uthmaani (of Deoband,
Ie AbU Hasan Muslim India).
bin a1-Hajjaj bin
Muslim al-Qushairee
an-Neeshaaburi ash-
Shaafftee (died 261
A.H.)
- Al-Minbaaj n Sbarh
Sabee Muslim bin n
Hajjaj
- Al-Kitabal Jaame'
- Asb-Shamaa 'el
Abu Zakariyya Yahya bin
Sharf Muhiuddin an-
Na vavi ash-Shaft' ee
(died 677 A.H.)
Muhammad bin 'Eesa at-
Tirmidhi (died 279 A.H.)
Muhammad bin 'Eesa at-
Tirmidhi (died 279 A.H.)
512
-Anvaarul'Mahmood ala Anvar . Shah Khan al-
Sunan-e-Abi Da'ood Kashmeeri (of Deoband
(Ab'u Da'ood Sulaiman School)
bin Ash' as as-Sajistanl)
(died 275 A.H.)
-Musoad
-Mirqaat uI Mafaa-teah
fi Sbarb Mishkaat n-
Masaabeeh n Valiuddin
Muhammad bin al-
Khateeb al-'Umarl
(died about 750 A.H.)
-Mlnhaajus-Smmatun
NabaylyJ_ (First edi-
tion, AI- Maktabatul
Kubra al-Ameerlyyah,
Bulaq, Egypt,1321 A.H.)
- Nabjul Balaaghith
(BeJrut Edition)
-Sbarb Nabjul Balaagbab
-Tafseer Majma 'ul
Bayaan (Tehran)
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal
(died 241 A.H.)
Nuruddin ' AU bin Sultan
Muhammad al-Haravl al-
Makki al HaoaCi-known
as Mulls I Ali Qaari
(died 1014' A.H.)
Taqiuddin Abul I Abbas
Ah mad . bin I AbdU
Haleem bin I Abdus
Salaam b.ln Taimlyyah
al-Hanbali ad-Damishqi
(died 728 A.H.)
Edited by Prot. Sulhi
Saaleh
Ibn Abil Hadeed'
Shaikh Abu 'All, aI-Fad!
bin ai-Hasan at-Tibrisee
-Jaame'uI Bayaan Ii Abu Ja'far Muhammad
Tafseerll Qunm bin Jareer at-Tabari
(died 310 A.H.) .
-Tafseer Ie Ibn Katheer Haaflz 'Imaaduddln Abul
Flda Isma'il-Ibn Katheer
(died .,71 A.H.)
-Tafseer Fathul ba,aan Navab Slddiq Hasan
fi maqaasld n QUaD Khan of Bhopal)
r
i
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!

I
513 .
-Tafbeemul Quran
(Urdu)
-Tafblmaat
-1rqaaD fi Uloom-U
Qutan
-Taueekh Ardil Quran
(Urdu)
-E'jaazul Quran (Urdu)
-lkhtRaaf-e-Ummat
(Educational Press,
Karachi)
-Al-Fauzul Kabeer
-HuDatuUah-U BaaHgbah
- Fajrul Islam
Maulana Abul A'la .
. Maudoodi
Maulana Abul A'la
Maudoodi
'Abduf Rahmaanbin Abi
Bakr Jalaluddin as-Siyuti
Saiyid Sulalman Nadvi
Maulana Tamanna
'Imaadl
Maulana Tamanna
'Imdadee Mujeebee
Shah QutUbuddin
ValiuUah (or Delhi)
Shah Qutubuddin
ValiuUah (of Delhi)
Ahmad Ameen Bekk
-Literary History of the Dr. R. A. Nicholson
Arabs (English)
-A Pilgrimage to al- Richard Burton
Madlnah and Macca
(London, 1893)
- Decline and Fall of the Edward Gibbon
Roman Empire (English)
-TahsIrah-e-Mabmoodl - Mahmood Ahmad f Abbasi
a Critical Study of (or Karachi).
Maulana Maudoodl's
Khbafat-o-MuIookl".t
(Urdu)
514
- Tahqeeq Mazeed ba Mahmood Ahmad
SilsiJa-e-Kbilaafat-e- I Abbasi (of Karachi).
MuaaYiyah Va YazeecL
- Vaqaa'e Zalndagaani Mahmood Ahmad
Umme H88.Di (Urdu) 'Abbasi (of Karachi)
- Sarguzasht-e-Mujaabl-
dean (Urdu, Lahore)
M. Ghulam Rasool
Mehr
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