The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Unlawful food. Once a slave of Abu Bakr brought him some food that he ate. Later the slave told him that he had earned some money by telling fortune, and the food had been purchased with that money. Abu Bakr held that such food was unlawful. He put his hand on his throat and vomited what was in his stomach.

Pre destination. Once Abu Bakr was asked, "Do you think that fornication by a man is predestined?" He was next asked, "If it is predestined why should the man be punished?" Abu Bakr said, "The man is responsible for his act, but God knows beforehand how a man would act."

Atika was the daughter of Zaid bin Amr bin Naufal. Zaid was the uncle of the Umar. Atika was thus a cousin of Umar.

At Madina, Atika was married to Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr. Atika was very beautiful and Abdullah was much enamoured of her. He was so much lost in her love that he failed to participate in the various expeditions undertaken by the Muslims. He even neglected to offer his prayers in the mosque.

The love of Abdullah and Atika became proverbial. Abdullah felt that Atika was the most valuable thing in the world. When Abu Bakr came to know that Abdullah had not taken part in the various expeditions and had even neglected his prayers, he put him to explanation. He had no explanation to offer. The matter of fact position was that he was so much overwhelmed by the love of Atika that he could not attend to other duties.

Abraham and His Father

Like those around him, Abraham’s father Azar (Terah or Terakh in the Bible), was an idol worshipper. Biblical tradition[1] tells of him actually being a sculptor of them,[2] hence Abraham’s first call was directed to him. He addressed him with clear logic and sense, understood by a young man like himself as well as the wise.

“And mention in the Book (the Quran) Abraham, indeed he was a man of truth, a Prophet. When he said to his father: “O my father! Why do you worship that which hears not, sees not and cannot avail you in anything? O my father! Verily! There has come to me of knowledge that which came not unto you. So follow me. I will guide you to a Straight Path.” (Quran 19:41-43)

The reply from his father was rejection, an obvious reply by any person challenged by another much younger than them, a challenge made against years of tradition and norm.

Noah continued to appeal to his people and they became divided into two groups. His words spoke to the heart of the weak, poor, and oppressed, but the wealthy influential people distrusted those words and could think only of the possible erosion of their power and status. A war of words began between Noah and the disbelievers. They accused Noah of being nothing but any other human, of being nothing special. Noah agreed with this observation and said that, indeed, he was only a human being, but one who brought a clear warning. And God, the Almighty told us:

Early Years
On the deposition of Sa'ad b Abi Waqas from the governorship of Kufa, Uthman appointed Walid b Uqba as the Governor of Kufa. Walid b Uqba was an uterine brother of Uthman. After the death of Affan the father of Uthman, his mother Urwa had married Uqba b Abi Mo'eet. Uqba b Abi Mo'eet was one of the inveterate enemies of Islam. Among the Quraish he was in the forefront in the persecution of the Muslims. He was taken captive by the Muslims in the battle of Badr and was executed.

Walid became a Muslim at the time of the conquest of Makkah. Thereafter he was commissioned by the Holy Prophet to collect taxes from the Banu Mustaliq tribe. When Walid reached the settlement of the Banu Mustaliq they came out in large numbers to meet him. He got the impression that the Banu Mustaliq meant some mischief. He returned to Madina and reported to the Holy Prophet that the Banu Mustaliq had apostatized and were not willing to pay the taxes.

Battle of Uhud. The battle of Uhud was an extension of the battle of Badr. ID 625 C.E. the Quraish came with a force of 3,000 men to avenge their defeat at Badr. The Muslims could muster a force of 1,000 persons only, and out of these three hundred persons under Abdullah b. Ubbay, a hypocrite, withdrew at the last moment thus leaving only 700 persons to face the hostile Quraish.

Abu Bakr and his son Abdur Rahman. Had at Abu Bakr marched to the battlefield of Uhud a few miles outside Madina by the side of the Holy Prophet. Abdur Rahman the son of Abu Bakr fought on the side of the Quraish. Before the battle began, Abdur Rahman stepped forward, and threw a challenge to the Muslims to send some one to fight with him. Abu Bakr decided to accept the challenge. The Holy Prophet, however, stopped him saying, "Sheath your sword, and let us continue to profit by your wise counsels."

In the wake of the Hudaibiya pact there took place developments which affected Umar personally.

At the time of Hudaibiya pact it was undertaken that if any person from the Quraish accepted Islam such a person was to be returned to the Quraish. Some men from among the Quraish accepted Islam and sought shelter with the Muslims. In accordance with the terms of the pact these persons were returned to the Quraish.

Later a crisis developed when some Quraish women accepted Islam against the wishes of their parents and husbands and sought refuge with the Muslims. The Quraish wanted such women to be returned to them. The Holy Prophet refused to return such women to the Quraish as in the meantime God had revealed:

The battle of Yermuk was a historic battle which changed the course of history. When the news of the disaster of Yermuk were conveyed to the Byzantine emperor Heraclius at Antioch the capital of Syria, he at once decided to abandon Syria and withdraw to Constantinople. His parting words were "Farewell Syria! It is with great pain that I part from you. My salutations to thee O beautiful land."

From Yermuk, Abu Ubaida sent a detailed report of the victory of the Muslims to Umar along with the state share of the spoils of war. The message was carried by a highpowered delegation led by Hudheifa b. Al-Yaman. Umar had not slept for many nights anxiously awaiting news from Yermuk. As the news of the victory of the Muslims at Yermuk was intimated to Umar he had all the Muslims in Madina assemble at the Prophet's mosque, and a special thanks giving prayer was offered.

The Story of Adam

Even after expulsion, the Jews did not stop intriguing against the Muslims. After the Hudaibiya pact with the Quraish, the Jews of Khyber entered into conspiracy with some of the tribes to attack Madina. The Holy Prophet anticipated the move of the Jews and marched with a force to Khyber. The Jews were overpowered.

The apostasy campaigns
In the apostasy campaigns the Jews secretly aided the apostates, and incited the tribes who had accepted Islam to apostatize. The designs of the Jews were frustrated, and the apostasy campaigns ended in victory for the Muslims. Then under Abu Bakr and Umar the Muslims embarked on a campaign of conquests. Within a short time the Muslims were masters of Iraq, Persia, Syria and Egypt. That alarmed the Jews. The Jews were now no longer in the position to come in direct confrontation with the Muslims. They therefore changed their strategy, and instead of a direct attack on Islam they resorted to a campaign for the subversion of Islam from within.

Moses is Allowed to Leave Egypt
It appeared that Pharaoh would never believe in Moses's message, nor would he stop the torture of the children of Israel. Therefore, Moses prayed to his Lord thus: "Our Lord! You have indeed bestowed on Pharaoh and his chiefs splendor and wealth in the life of this world, our Lord! That they may lead men astray from Your Path. Our Lord! Destroy their wealth, and harden their hearts, so that they will not believe until they see the painful torment."

Allah said: "Verily, the invocation of you both is accepted. So you both keep to the Straight Way (i.e. keep on doing good deeds and preaching Allah's Message with patience), and follow not the path of those who know not (the truth i.e. to believe in the Oneness of Allah, and also to believe in the Reward of Allah: Paradise etc.)." Surah 10: 88-89

Preparation of the Persians. After the defeat of the Persians at Mazar, the Persian emperor Ardsheer ordered the assembling of two more Persian armies to fight against the Muslims. One army was placed under the command of Andarzaghar, a military Governor of considerable standing. He had grown up among the Arabs, and was familiar with the Arab way of war. He commanded considerable popularity among the Arab tribes allied with the Persians. In addition to the regular Persian army, Andarzaghar was commissioned to raise contingents from the Arab auxiliaries. The other force was placed under the direct command of Bahman, the Commander-in-Chief of the Persian forces.

After the battle of Jalaula and Ahwaz, Umar had ordered that there was to be no further advance in Persia. The orders of Umar were that the Muslims could advance as far as the land route could carry but where some sea or body of water intervened that was not to be crossed.

When the Muslims overran Iraq, and won the battles of Qadisiyya, Ctesiphon, Jalaula, and Ahwaz the spirits of the Muslims ran high and they dreamt of conquering distant lands.

At this time Ula b. Al Hadrami was the Governor of Bahrein. He had led the apostasy campaign in Bahrain and had succeeded in restoring law and order. Between Bahrain and Persia lay the Persian Gulf and across the Persian Gulf was the Persian province of Fars which could boast of such cities as Persepolis and Shiraz.

Because of his conversion to Islam, Uthman had to face another crisis. His wives refused to accept Islam, and Uthman separated himself from his wives. That was a matter of great grief for Uthman, but so great was his love for Islam that he felt no sacrifice too great in the cause of Islam. He felt distressed at the break up of his family life, but Islam was certainly more valuable for him.

The nephew of Suraqa Ibn Jusham said that his father informed him that he heard Suraqa Ibn Jusham saying: 'The messengers of the pagans of Quraish came to us declaring that they had assigned for the persons who would kill or arrest Allah's Messenger and Abu Bakr, a reward equal to their blood-money.

While I was sitting in one of the gatherings of my tribe, Bani Mudlij, a man from them came to us and stood up while we were sitting and said: '0 Suraqa! No doubt, I have just seen some people far away on the seashore, and I think they are Muhammad and his companions.' I, too, realized that it must have been they. But I said: 'No, it is not they, but you have seen so-and-so and so and-so, whom we saw set out.' I stayed in the gathering for a while and then got up and left for my home, and ordered my slave-girl to get my horse, which was behind a hillock, and keep it ready for me.