The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Allah Almighty revealed: And Noah's people, when they denied the Messengers We drowned them, and We made them as a sign for mankind. And We have prepared a painful torment for the Zalimeen (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.). And (also) 'Ad and Thamud, and the dwellers of Ar-Rass, and many generations in between. And for each of them We put forward examples (as proofs and lessons, etc.), and each (of them) We brought to utter ruin (because of their disbelief and evil deeds). Surah 25: 37-39

Allah, the Exalted also revealed: Denied before them (i.e., these pagans of Mecca who denied you, 0 Muhammad) the people of Noah, and the dwellers of Ar-Rass, and Thamud, and 'Ad, and Pharaoh, and the brethren of Lot, and the dwellers of the Wood, and the people of Tubba'; everyone of them denied (their) Messengers, so My Threat took effect. Surah 50: 12-14

The Bedouins Become Muslims
When the Prophet spoke reproachfully of the sacred gods of the Quraish, the latter redoubled their persecution. But the Prophet, nevertheless, continued his preaching undaunted by the hostility of his enemies or by their bitter persecution of him. And despite all opposition and increased persecution, the new faith gained ground. The national fair at Okadh near Mecca attracted many desert Bedouins and trading citizens of distant towns. These people listened to the teachings of the Prophet, to his admonitions, and to his denunciations of their sacred idols and of their superstitions. They carried back all that they had heard to their distant homes, and thus the advent of the Prophet was made known to almost all parts of the peninsula.


The Quraish Address Abu Talib

Abu Bakr. Having been bred up in the early years in the midst of the Bedouins who called themselves 'Ahl-i-Ba'eer'- the people of the camel, he developed particular fondness for camels. In the early years he played with the young ones of the camels, and his love for the camels earned him the surname of "Abu Bakr-the father of the foal of the camel."

Wahb Ibn Munbah reported that when sin increased, Allah revealed to an Israelite prophet called Amos (Mamia) that he should stand before his people and admonish them that they are hard-headed, blind, and deaf and tell them: "I i.e., Allah remember their forefathers, and that makes Me merciful with them. And ask them about My bounty: can any of them benefit from disobeying Me? and does any suffer who obeys Me? The beasts remember their countries and return to them, but those people have forgotten why I have favored them for the sake of their forefathers, and have misused My generosity. Your scribes have forgotten My tenets and your reciters worship other than Me, and your women have not learned a useful lesson and their rulers have lied against Me and My messengers. Their hearts and mouths are full of lies.

Meanwhile, Jonah had boarded a small ship in the company of other passengers. It sailed all day in calm waters with a good wind blowing at the sails. When night came, the sea suddenly changed. A horrible storm blew as if it were going to split the ship into pieces. The waves looked wild. They rose up as high as mountains then plunged down like valleys, tossing the ship and sweeping over the deck.

Behind the ship, a large whale was splitting the water and opening its mouth. A command had been issued from Almighty Allah to one of the greatest whales of the sea to surface. It obeyed. The whale hurried to the surface of the sea and followed the ship as it had been commanded.

The tempest continued and the chief crewman asked the crew to lighten the ship's heavy load. They threw their baggage overboard, but this was not enough. Their safety lay in reducing the weight further, so they decided among themselves to lighten their load by removing at least one person.

Jesus's Crucifixion - Bible Version
Finally, they reached a place called Golgotha, meaning the Place of Skulls, outside the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of giving him a cup of wine diluted with scent to help lessen the pain on the cross, the soldiers gave Jesus a cup of vinegar diluted with gall. Then they crucified him and, as a further mockery, two thieves with him. So it is written in the Bible.

Jesus's Crucifixion - Qur'anic
But the faith of Islam came with views quite different from that of the extant gospels with regards to both the end of Jesus and his nature.

The Glorious Qur'an affirms that Allah the Exalted did not permit the people of Israel to kill Jesus or crucify him. What happened was that Allah saved him from his enemies and raised him to heaven. They never killed Jesus; they killed someone else.

In 622 C.E. Uthman migrated with his wife Ruqayya to Madina. They were in the third batch of the Muslims who migrated to Madina. Their companions on the migration included Akasha bin Muhsin, Zainab b Jahsh, and her sisters Hamna and Umm Habiba. On arrival in Madina Uthman stayed with Aus b Thabit Ansari of the Najjar tribe. After some time Uthman purchased a house of his own and shifted there.

When after the defeat of Taleaha, many of his followers sought refuge with Umm Zummal, she decided to avail of the opportunity, and lead a coalition against the Muslims. She moved from tribe to tribe and exerted them to hostility against the Muslims. She mustered a considerable force which assembled at her headquarter Zafar at the western edge of the Salma range, a rugged mountain named after her When Khalid came to know of the hostile intentions of Umm Zummal, he led a Muslim force from Buzakha to Zafar. Immediately on arrival at Zafar, Khalid took the initiative and launched the attack. Umm Zummal and her forces offered stiff resistance, it was by all accounts a hard battle. Mounted on a camel, Umm Zummal personally led the charge, and her undaunted courage was a source of great inspiration for her followers. Failure of his first effort to dislodge the apostates made Khalid reassess the situation.

The Muslims under the command of Abu Ubaid had won a few initial successes against the Persians. That emboldened Abu Ubaid.

The Persians now sent another force under Bahman. Bahman was a veteran General of considerable standing, and he undertook to drive away the Arabs from the soils of Persia.

Bahman marched with his army towards Hira and camped at Quss Natif on the east bank of the Euphrates some distance north of Hira, and little below the site of Kufa.

When Abu Ubaid came to know of the movements of the Persian army, he marched the Muslim forces from Hira and camped with 9,000 men on the west bank of the Euphrates at the village called Marauha.

Now the river Euphrates lay between the two forces, Bahman sent an emissary to Abu Ubaid with the message "Either you cross and come over to our side; or we will cross and come over to your side."

The Story's Presentation
The story is presented in a sequence of episodes. It gives you scene after scene and the transition is inspiring, informative, and stirring to the imagination. There are also artistic loopholes which leave it to the imagination of the reader to complete the sense, as well as the depth of the picture, the like of which no human artist can bring forth.

Joseph's Childhood
The story begins with a dream and ends with its interpretation. As the sun appeared over the horizon, bathing the earth in its morning glory, Joseph , son of the Prophet Jacob , awoke from his sleep, delighted by a pleasant dream he had had. Filled with excitement, he ran to his father and related it. "0 my father! Verily, I saw (in a dream) eleven stars and the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrating themselves to me." Surah 12: 4

Dinah's Story - from the People of the Book
The People of the Book tell a story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah. Shechem Ibn Hamor seized her and lay with her by force. Then he asked her father and brothers to let him marry her. Her brothers said: "Circumcise, all of you, and we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves; but we do not marry with uncircumcised people." They (the men of the city) agreed to that, and all of them were circumcised. When the third day came and the pain from the circumcision had increased, Jacob's sons approached and killed them till the last one. They killed Shechem and his father for the evil they had committed against them and for their worship of idols. That is why Jacob's sons killed them and seized their money as spoils.


Rachel's Death

Ishaaq (Isaac) and Yaqub (Jacob) (PBUT) - The Prophets' Last Wish
Allah the Almighty declared in the Glorious Quran: And who turns away from the religion of Abraham (i.e. Islamic Monotheism) except him who befools himself? Truly. We chose him in this world and verily, in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous.
When his Lord said to him: "Submit (i.e. be a Muslim)!" He said: "I have submitted myself (as a Muslim) to the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)."
And this (submission to Allah, Islam) was enjoined by Abraham upon his sons and by Jacob, (saying): "0 my sons! Allah has chosen for you the (true) religion, then die not except in the Faith of Islam (as Muslims - Islamic Monotheism)."
Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob? When he said unto his sons: "What will you worship after me?" They said: "We shall worship you Ilah (God - Allah) the Ilah (God) of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, One Ilah (God), and to Him we submit (in Islam)."

Some sermons of Uthman have been preserved in history. We refer to some of these sermons with a view to illustrating the beliefs of Uthman. These sermons speak of Uthman's unshakable faith in Islam.

His role In one of the sermons, Uthman defined his role as Caliph. He said:

"My role is to follow what has already been laid down. I do not intend to be an innovator. I declare that I will faithfully follow the Quran and the Sunnah. In matters not covered by the Quran and the Sunnah, I promise that I will follow all such things which command consensus before my caliphate. If in any matter, no consensus has been reached already, I will follow the way of the good with your consultation. I assure you that I will restrain my hand from you, till that is the dictate of the law "

The World is a tarrying place
In another sermon Uthman said:

Issac's Sons - from Commentators
The Qur'an does not give details of Isaac's life , but reliable Qur'anic commentators mentioned that when Abraham felt that his life was drawing to a close, he wished to see Issac married. He did not want Isaac to marry one of the Canaanites, who were pagans, so he sent a trustworthy servant to Haran in Iraq to choose a bride for Isaac. The servant's choice fell on Rebekah Bint Bethuel, Ibn Nahor, who was a brother of Abraham. Isaac married her and she gave birth to a set of twins, Esau (Al-Eis) and Jacob (Yaqub).
Ill feelings developed between the two brothers when they grew into manhood. Esau disliked the fact that Jacob was favored by his father and by Allah with prophethood. This ill-feeling became so serious that Esau threatened to kill his brother. Fearing for his life, Jacob fled the country.


Issac's Sons - from the People of the Book