The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Moses and His Mother Reunited
The queen summoned a few wet nurses to suckle the baby Moses, but he would not take any of their breasts. The queen was distressed and sent for more wet nurses. Moses's sister was also worried, as her baby brother was without milk for a long time. Seeing the queen's anxiety, she blurted that she knew just the mother who would suckle the child affectionately.

They asked her why she was following the floating basket. She said she did so out of curiosity. Her excuse sounded reasonable, so they believed her. They ordered her to rush and fetch the woman she was talking about. Her mother also was waiting with a heavy heart, worried about the fate of her baby. Just then her daughter rushed in with the good news. Her heart lifted and she lost no time in reaching the palace. As the child was put to her breast, he immediately started suckling. Pharaoh was astonished and asked: "Who are you? This child has refused to take any other breast but yours."

There are however numerous traditions on the point. The Holy Prophet said:

"Whoso obeys me obeys God, and whoso rebels against me rebels against God. Whoso obeys the ruler obeys me and whoso rebels against the ruler rebels against me."

The Holy Prophet said:

"After me will come rulers; tender them your obedience for the ruler is like a shield wherewith a man protects himself; if they are righteous and rule you well, they shall have their reward, but if they do evil then punishment will fall upon them, and you will be quit of it, for they are responsible for you, and you have no responsibility."

The Holy Prophet said:

Jazira was the land in upper reaches of the Tigris and the Euphrates. It was populated by tribes professing the Christian faith. When Syria was lost to the Christian Byzantines, the Christian tribes of Jazira persuaded Heraclius the Byzantine emperor to make another attempt to drive away the Muslims from Syrian soil. In this task the Christian tribes of Jazira offered to come to the assistance of the Byzantine forces.

Heraclius welcomed the offer. A large Byzantine army was assembled and it was led to Syria to have another confrontation with the Muslims. Large contingents of Christian tribes crossed over to Syria from Jazira. All these armies headed towards Emessa. The strategy of the Christians was to occupy Emessa which was the key to North Syria.

Umar was very close to the Holy Prophet. He was very careful and cautious in reporting traditions. Over five hundred traditions are on record which are said to have been reported exclusively on the authority of Umar.

Some of the traditions on religious matters reported by Umar are noticed hereunder. The account is based on 'Sahih Bukhari'.

Umar said that he heard the Holy Prophet say:

"God created Adam, then passed His right hand over his back and brought forth from it his offspring saying 'I have created these for paradise and they will do the deeds of those who go to paradise'. He then passed his hand over his back and brought forth from it his offspring saying 'I have created these for hell and they will do the deeds of those who go to hell'." A man asked what was the good of doing anything. The Holy Prophet replied:

Amgheeshiya. When Khalid bin Walid was asked to undertake operations in Iraq, he was given by Abu Bakr, the target of Hirah. After the battle of Ulleis, the road to Hirah lay open. Khalid and his army immediately took the road to Hirah. After a day's march from Ulleis, the Muslim army reached Amgheeshiya. It was a large city rivaling Hirah in importance and splendor. The city was deserted, and there was no one to oppose the Muslims. The flower of the manhood of Amgheeshiya had fallen at Ulleis, and the population of the city had found safety in flight. The Muslims occupied the deserted city. The wealth of Amgheeshiya in spite of the fact that residents had taken away their precious belongings with them, dazzled the Muslims. The booty amassed from the deserted city exceeded the spoils of war that the Muslims had won at the battles of Kazima, Mazar, Walaja, and Ulleis put together.

Father to the believers. Ali referred to Abu Bakr as the 'Father of the Believers', in the following terms: "I swear by Allah, you were the leader of the believers. You came towards the Faith when others were away from it. You followed them when they turned towards it. Indeed you acted like a kind father to the believers till your filial affection made them your children. You bore the heavy burden which they could not and you professed to do what they had omitted. You preserved what they had ruined, and you taught them what they knew not. You took the risk when they were helpless and you remained firm when they were impatient."

Some time in 637 A.D., Khalid had a special bath in which he rubbed his body with a certain substance which had an ingredient of alcohol in it. This was reported to Umar, who reprimanded Khalid as follows:

"It has come to my notice that you have rubbed your body with alcohol. Lo Allah has made unlawful the substance of alcohol as well as its form, just as he has made unlawful both the form and substance of sin. He has made unlawful the touch of alcohol in a bath no less than the drinking of it. Let it not touch your body for it is unclean."

Khalid explained that the drug had been boiled before use and all alcohol therein had evaporated. Umar did not accept the explanation, but he chose to take no action.

After the battle of Marash in 638 A.D., Athath bin Qais a Kinda chief and poet wrote a panegyric in the praise of Khalid. Khalid gave the poet a reward of 10,000 dirhams. When this was reported to Umar, he commanded Abu Ubaida:

Some of the People of the Book stated that his name was Abraham Ibn Tarikh, Ibn Nahur, Ibn Sarough, Ibn Raghu, Ibn Phaligh, Ibn Aher, Ibn Shalih, Ibn Arfghshand, Ibn Sam, Ibn Noah.

They said that when Tarikh was seventy five years old, he had Abraham, Nahor (Nohour) and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot (Lut). They also said that Abraham was the middle child and that Haran died in the lifetime of his father in the land where he was born, the land of the Chaldeans (Al-Kaldanieen), also known as Babylonia. At that time some people worshipped idols of stone and wood; others worshipped the planets, stars, sun and moon; still others worshipped their kings and rulers.

Another revolution in Persia brought Yazdjurd to the throne of Persia. He was young and intelligent, and on coming to the throne his principal concern was to take effective steps to drive away the Arabs from the soil of Iraq.

Heretofore some battles had been fought on the soil of Iraq, but these had not been decisive. "The Muslims had occupied some areas, but their hold had not been firm. In the counter movements of the Persians the Muslims were pushed out of such areas. The Muslims retaliated and occupied such areas again. And again they abandoned them either of their own accord for strategical reasons or were pushed back. This to and fro process had been repeated several times, and this had led to political instability in the Suwad, the fertile area between the Euphrates and the Tigris.

Khusro Parwez. During the time of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Yemen was under the suzerainty of Persia, and a Persian noble Badhan was the Governor. In 628 C.E. the Holy Prophet sent dispatches to the various contemporary rulers inviting them to embrace Islam. Among others the invitation was sent to Khusro Parwez as well, the 'Kisra' of Iran. When Khusro Parwez got the letter, he was infuriated. He tore the letter to pieces and instructed Badhan to send some agents to Madina to summon the Holy Prophet to his court.

Badhan complied with these orders, and sent some agents to Madina. These agents tried to prevail upon the Holy Prophet that it would be in his interest if he accompanied them to the court of the Kisra. The Holy Prophet suppressed his rage at the insolent message, and asked the agents of Badhan to see him the following day.

Sajjah. Among the false prophets who rose in Arabia as a result of the apostasy movement, a lady named Sajjah claimed to be a prophetess. She was the daughter of Al-Haris who belonged to the Bani Yarbu section of the Bani Tamim. On her mother's side she belonged to the Banu Taghlib tribe who inhabited Iraq. Sajjah and her father lived with Banu Taghlib in Iraq, the tribe of her mother. Sajjah and her tribe were Christians.

Sajjah was beautiful and endowed with an attractive personality. She dabbled in clairvoyance, and professed to predict future. She was a poetess, and mostly talked in verse. She had qualities of leadership, and was popular with her people. When she came to know that after the death of the Holy Prophet, Taleaha and Musailma had declared themselves as prophets, she also declared herself as a prophetess. Soon she succeeded in mustering a good following from among the Banu Taghlib, the clan of her mother.

Rehabilitation of the Muhajireen. To rehabilitate the migrants from Makkah in the society of Madina, the Holy Prophet established a fraternity among the Muslims of Makkah and those of Madina whereunder each migrant was paired with an Ansar of corresponding status. The brotherhood thus established was unique in the annals of mankind. So strong and cordial were these bonds that they even surpassed the relationship of blood. In this roll of brotherhood, Abu Bakr was paired with Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari. Abu Bakr's relationship with his brother-in-Islam was most cordial which was further strengthened when Abu Bakr married Habiba, a daughter of Khaarijah.

The Ten Years of Preparation
Time passed, and he lived in seclusion far from his family and his people. This period of ten years was of importance in his life. It was a period of major preparation. Certainly Moses's mind was absorbed in the stars every night. He followed the sunrise and the sunset every day. He pondered on the plant and how it splits the soil and appears thereafter. He contemplated water and how the earth is revived by it and flourishes after its death.

Of course, he was immersed in the Glorious Book of Allah, open to the insight and heart. He was immersed in the existence of Allah. All these became latent within him. The religion of Moses was the same as that of Jacob , which was Islamic monotheism. His forefather was Jacob the grandson of Abraham . Moses , therefore, was one of the descendants of Abraham and every prophet who came after Abraham was one of Abraham's successors.

Importance of dreams. Before the Holy Prophet was commissioned as the Messenger of God, the truth was generally revealed to him through dreams. His dreams were always true, and cast a shadow of the events to come. The Holy Prophet accordingly attached great importance to dreams. Dreams were regarded as a species of revelation, and the interpretation of dreams became a matter of spiritual exercise.

The Passion of Christ

“Then when Jesus felt their (persistence in) disbelief, he said, ‘Who will champion with me God’s (cause)?’ The disciples said, ‘We are the champions (of the cause) of God. We believe in God, and be a witness that we are Muslims (submitting to Him).[1] Our Lord, we have believed in what You have revealed, and we have followed the messenger, so write us down among the witnesses (to the truth).’ And they (who disbelieved) plotted, and God planned. And God is the best of the planners. When God said, ‘O Jesus, I will take you[2] and raise you up to Me and clear you of those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will all return to Me, and I will judge between you in the matters you used to disagree in.’” (Quran 3:52-55)