The Islamic World

The Islamic World

The Ninth Year of Hijrah
The ninth year of the hijrah is known as the Year of Embassies, as being the year in which the various tribes of Arabia submitted to the claim of the Prophet and sent embassies to render homage to him.
These tribes had been awaiting the issue of the war between Muhammad and the Quraish; but as soon as that tribe - the principal of the whole nation and the descendants of Ishmael, whose prerogatives none offered to dispute - had submitted, they were satisfied that it was not in their power to oppose Muhammad. Hence their embassies flocked into Medina to make their submission to him. The conquest of Mecca decided the fate of idolatry in Arabia. Now deputations began to arrive from all sides to render the adherence to Islam of various tribes. Among the rest, five princes of the tribe of Himyar professed Islam and sent ambassadors to notify Muhammad of the same. These were the princes of Yemen, Mahra, Oman, and Yamama.


The Tenth Year of Hijrah

In relating the story of Jesus, the Quran describes how Mary, the mother of Jesus, was approached by an angel from God, bringing her tidings she had never imagined: that she will give birth to a son, a Messiah, who will be of the righteous and will be a prophet of God, calling the Children of Israel (the Israelites) to the straight path of God.

“(And mention) when the angels said, ‘O Mary, indeed God gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near (to God). He will speak to the people in the cradle and in maturity and will be of the righteous.” (Quran 3:45-46)

Naturally, for Mary, this news was both strange and seemingly impossible.

Hitherto no prohibition had been enforced against idolaters entering the Holy Ka'ba, or performing their abominable rites within the sacred precincts. Towards the end of the ninth year of the hijrah, during the month of pilgrimage Ali was delegated by the Prophet to read a proclamation that ran as follows: "No idolater shall after this year perform the pilgrimage; no one shall make the circuit of the Ka'ba naked (such a disgraceful custom was practiced by the pagan Arabs); any treaty with the Prophet shall continue in force but four months are allowed to every man to return to his territories; after that there will be no obligation on the Prophet, except towards those with whom treaties have been concluded."

The vast multitude who had listened to the above declaration returned to their homes, and before the following year was over the majority of them were Muslims.


Muhammad Accomplishes His Mission

History
Towards the second year of the hijrah, the idolaters of Mecca began a series of hostile acts against the Muslims of Medina. They sent men in parties to commit depredations on the fruit trees of the Muslims of Medina and to carry away their flocks. Now came the moment of severest trial to Islam. It became the duty of the Prophet to take serious measures to guard against any plot rising from within or a sudden attack from without. He put Medina in a state of military discipline. He had to send frequent reconnoitering parties to guard against any sudden onslaught.

The Quran mentions twenty five prophets, most of whom are mentioned in the Bible as well. Who were these prophets? Where did they live? Who were they sent to? What are their names in the Quran and the Bible? And what are some of the miracles they performed? We will answer these simple questions.

Before we begin, we must understand two matters:

a. In Arabic two different words are used, Nabi and Rasool. A Nabi is a prophet and a Rasool is a messenger or an apostle. The two words are close in meaning for our purpose.

b. There are four men mentioned in the Quran about whom Muslim scholars are uncertain whether they were prophets or not: Dhul-Qarnain (18:83), Luqman (Chapter 31), Uzair (9:30), and Tubba (44:37, 50:14).

Thn Abu Dunya reported from Abu Bilal that Abu Musa found with Daniel a holy script and a container in which were dirhams, his ring and ointment. He wrote to 'Umar, who replied: "Send the scripture to us, send some of the ointment, tell the Muslims who are with you to use it, share the dirhams among them, and leave the ring for you.

Abu Dunya related without citation that when Abu Musa was told that he was Daniel, he stayed with him, embraced him, and kissed him. Then he wrote to 'Umar that he found with him nearly ten thousand dirhams. It used to be that people came to borrow from it, and if they did not return it, they became sick. 'Umar ordered his burial in a grave to be kept secret and the money to be sent to the treasury, with the box and the ring a gift to him (Abu Musa).

During the caliphate of Uthman the people of Tabaristan like the people of the other provinces of Persia revolted against the authority of the Muslim rule. Uthman directed Sa'ad b 'Aas the Governor General of Kufa to suppress the revolt. Sa'ad b Al 'Aas led a strong force of 80,000 warriors to Tabaristan under his personal command. The force included such eminent persons as Abdullah b Abbas; Abdullah b Umar; Abdullah b Zubair; and Abdullah b Umar b Al 'Aas .

The Muslim force advanced in the first instance to Qumas. The Persians at Qumas were not in a position to fight against such a large Muslim force. They surrendered, and peace was made subject to their payment of an annual tribute. From Qumas the Muslims advanced to Jurjan. The Persian garrison offered some resistance but finding such resistance useless surrendered. A tribute of 20 lakh dirhams was imposed on the people and peace was made.

Solomon inherited David's prophethood and dominion. This was not a material inheritance, as prophets do not bequeath their property. It is given away to the poor and needy, not to their relatives. Prophet Muhammad said: 'The prophets' property will not be inherited, and whatever we leave is to be used for charity."
And indeed We gave knowledge to David and Solomon, and they both said: 'All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has preferred us above many of His believing slaves!"
And Solomon inherited (the knowledge of) David. He said: "0 mankind! We have been taught the language of birds, and on us have been bestowed all things. This, verily, is an evident grace (from Allah)."
And there were gathered before Solomon his hosts of jinns and men, and birds, and they were all set in battle order (marching forwards). Surah 27: 15-17

Solomon Becomes King

During the caliphate of Abu Bakr under the command of Khalid bin Walid the Muslims conquered a greater part of Iraq. In June 634 A.D., Khalid was asked to proceed to Syria, and Muthanna was left in command of the Muslim forces in Iraq.

With the departure of Khalid to Syria there was a lull in fighting on the Iraq front. Roughly the position was that the Persians held the territory to the east of the Tigris while the Muslims held the territory to the west of the Euphrates. The position about the territory between the two rivers known as the "Suwad" was somewhat obscure. It was no man's land. Sometimes parts thereof were occupied by the Persians and sometime by the Muslims. The people of the region thus kept shifting their loyalties, sometimes to the Persians and sometimes to the Muslims.

The Brothers Approach Jacob
Their next movement opened the scene between them and their father Jacob : They said. "0 our father! Why do you not trust us with Joseph, when we are indeed his well-wishers? Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play, and verily, we will take care of him."
He (Jacob) said: "Truly, it saddens me that you should take him away. I fear lest a wolf should devour him, while you are careless of him."
They said: "If a wolf devours him, while we are Usbah (a strong group) (to guard him), then surely, we are the losers. " Surah 12: 11-14
Jacob suggested a point which had not occurred to them in their discussion: he feared that desert wolves would eat him! Did he imply the wolves within them, or did he mean the wild wolves? No one but Allah knows. They coaxed their father to send Joseph with them; he agreed under their pressure.

Joseph Thrown into the Well

The Jews. After having been driven away from Madina the Jews settled at Khyber The Jews were a cunning and crafty people, and they involved themselves in intrigues against the Muslims. The pact of Hudaibiya brought for the Muslims truce with the Quraish for a period of ten years. This meant that the Quraish could no longer openly aid the Jews against the Muslims. In spite of this situation there was no diminution in the hostility of the Jews against the Muslims, and they began to work for the formation of another coalition against the Muslims.

Allah the Almighty states: And to 'Ad (people, We sent) their brother Hud. He said, "0 my people! Worship Allah! You have no other Ilah (god) but Him, Certainly, you do nothing but invent (lies)! 0 my people I ask of you no reward for it (the Message). My reward is only from Him Who created me. Will you not then understand? And 0 my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain, and add strength to your strength, so do not turn away as Mujrimeen (criminals, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah)."

They said: "0 Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your (mere) saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness)."

During the caliphate of Uthman, the people of Fars revolted against the Muslim rule. No details about the revolt are available. Obviously the Persians wanted to throw off the yoke of the Muslims. Under Uthman, the process of the reconquest of Fars had to be taken up afresh.

Chapter 5 of the Quran is named Al Maidah (or The Table Spread with Food). It is one of three chapters in the Quran that deal extensively with the life of Jesus and his mother Mary. The other chapters are chapter 3 Aali Imran (The Family of Imran) and chapter 19, Maryam (Mary). Muslims love Jesus and honour his mother, but they do not worship them. The Quran, which Muslims believe to be the direct words of God, holds Jesus and his Mother Mary, and indeed their whole family – the family of Imran, in very high regard.

We know that Jesus lived amongst his people the Israelites for many years, calling them back to the worship of the One True God and performing miracles by the permission of God. Most of those around him rejected his call and failed to heed his message. However, Jesus had gathered around him a group of companions called Al Hawariyeen (the disciples of Jesus) in Arabic.

God said in the Quran:

As a consequence of conquests on a large scale in Iraq and Persia and elsewhere a question arose as to the administration of land in the conquered territories. The Arabs followed the maxim, "Spoils belong to the victors". On this basis all spoils that were won as a result of any victory were distributed to the extent of four-fifth among the conquering army, and one-fifth was sent to Madina as the State share. On this analogy the army insisted that all agricultural lands should be distributed among the conquering army, and the inhabitants should be made their serfs and slaves.

Umar convoked a special assembly at Madina to consider the question from all aspects. Eminent companions like Abdur Rahman b Auf and others supported the viewpoint of the army. They argued that the lands belonged to the conquerors, and future generations had no right to them. Bilal was so vehement in the support of the demand of the army that Umar had to exclaim "May Allah save me from Bilal."