The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Banu Qainuqa
After the battle of Badr in 694 C.E. a dispute arose between the Muslims and the Jews of Banu Qainuqa. All attempts to settle the dispute peacefully failed, and the Muslims were forced to accept the challenge of the Jews. The Banu Qainuqa shut themselves in their strongholds, and the Muslims laid siege to their strongholds. The siege lasted for a fortnight, and then brought to bay, the Jews surrendered. The Muslims wanted to kill the Jews for their treachery, but on the intercession of Abdullah bin Ubayy, the Holy Prophet agreed to spare their lives but exiled them from Madina.

Banu Nadeer

Umar said:

"I provided a man with a horse to ride on God's path, but as he who had it did not look after it well, I wanted to buy it, and I thought he would sell it at a cheap price. I therefore asked the Prophet, but he said 'Do not buy it, and do not take back what you gave as Sadaqa even if he gives it to you for a Dirham, for the one who takes back what he gave as Sadaqa is like a dog which returns to its vomit."

Umar said:

"Once, captives came to the Holy Prophet among whom was a woman whose breast was oozing with milk. She was running and when she found a child among the captives she took him, put him to her breast and suckled him. Then the Prophet said to us 'Do you think this woman will cast her child into the fire?' We replied 'Not so long as she is in a position not to do so'. He said 'God is more merciful to His servants than this woman to her child."

Umar reported the Holy Prophet as saying:

The evil genius

Some time in 638 AD, Abu Musa Asha'ari, the Governor of Basra wrote:

"Amir-ul-Mominin, we receive instructions from you every now and then, but as the letters are undated, and some times the contents of the letters differ, it becomes difficult to ascertain as to which instructions are to be followed."

That set Umar thinking. In the meantime, he received from Yemen a draft for some money which was encashable in Shaban. Umar thought that the practice of merely mentioning the month in such cases was defective for one could not be sure whether the month referred to was of the current or the following year.

Umar convened an assembly to consider the question of calendar reform.

Some one suggested that the Roman calendar should be adopted. After discussion the proposal was rejected as the Roman calendar dated from too remote an era and was cumbersome.

'Ammar b Yasir and Uthman

Conspiracy to murder Uthman

Although betrayed and sold into slavery, Joseph, the son of Prophet Jacob, settled into one of the great houses of Egypt. His master, Al Azeez, Chief Minister of Egypt vowed to treat Joseph kindly, and Joseph, who was grateful for the relative safety, replied that he would be loyal to his new master. He thanked God for rectifying his situation and placing him in a place devoid of maltreatment and abuse. Joseph went from the position of beloved son to the dark depths of the well, from iron shackles to a position of ease. Joseph’s life twisted and turned, but the house of Al Aziz was where he grew into manhood.

After the disaster of the Bridge the Muslim army under Muthanna was stationed at Ulleis. Both Umar and Muthanna sent heralds and emissaries to all parts of Arabia inviting the Arabs to participate in the war against the Persians.

In response to this call volunteers came from all parts of Arabia. Makhnaf b. Salim the chief of the Azd tribe came with 700 horsemen. A contingent of a thousand men of the Banu Tameem came under the command of Hasin b. Mabid. Adi the son of the legendary Hatim Tai came with a large contingent of his tribesmen. Contingents also came from the tribes of Rabab, Banu Kinanah, Khath'am, Banu Hanzalah, and Banu Dabbah. The Christian Arabs of the tribes of Narmr and Taghlab also joined to reinforce the Muslim war effort. To the clan of Bajeela led by Jareer bin Abdullah, Umar offered an additional share of the booty, out of the Khums-the state share.

Allah the Almighty related what Noah faced: "Verily, We sent Noah to his people (saying): "Warn your people before there comes to them a painful torment."

He said: "0 my people! Verily, I am a plain warner to you, that you should worship Allah (Alone), be dutiful to Him, and obey me. He (Allah) will forgive you of your sins and respite you to an appointed term. Verily, the term of Allah when it comes, cannot be delayed, if you but knew."

After the battles of Yermuk and Qadisiyya the Muslims won heavy spoils. The coffers at Madina became full to the brim and the problem before Umar was as to what should be done with this money. Some one suggested that money should be kept in the treasury for the purposes of public expenditure only. This view was not acceptable to the general body of the Muslims. Concensus was reached on the point that whatever was received during a year should be distributed.

Early life
Talha b Ubaidullah belonged to the Taym section of the Quraish. He was closely related to Abu Bakr. He became a Muslim at the young age of fifteen, and was among the early Muslim converts. He migrated to Madina in 622 C.E., along with the family of Abu Bakr.

He played an important part in the battle of Uhud. He received numerous wounds in his effort to save the Holy Prophet. He pulled the Holy Prophet from the ditch in which he had fallen. He was also very active in the battle of the Trench. He was one of the persons to whom Holy Prophet had given the tidings of paradise. He was one of the six members of the board which had been constituted by Umar to choose his successor.

Uthman and Talha

Imra-ul-Qais was a great poet of Arabia of the pre Islamic period. His grandfather was King Harith of Kinda, the antagonist of Mundhir III, king of Hira. King Harith was killed in a battle against Hira. On the death of Harith, his kingdom was split up into a number of principalities. One of such principalities, the Banu Asad was ruled by Hujr who was the father of Imra-ul-Qais.

There is a story that Imra-ul-Qais was banished by his father who despised him for being a poet, and was enraged by the scandals of the adventures of his love. Imra-ul-Qais led a wild life, and came to be known as the 'Vagabond prince.'

Early Life
Abdullah b Masud was an eminent companion of the Holy Prophet. He was among the early converts to Islam. He migrated to Abyssinia and was supported there by Uthman. On return from Abyssinia he migrated to Madinah. He entered into brotherhood with Muadh b Jabal of the Ansars. He participated in all the campaigns undertaken by the Holy Prophet. On the occasion of the battle of Badr, he had the distinction of cutting off the head of Abu Jahl the arch enemy of Islam. In Madinah he became an attendant of the Holy Prophet. Whenever the Holy Prophet came to the mosque Abdullah b Masud held his shoes. On Fridays' Abdullah b Masud while reading the Holy Prophet to the pulpit carried his scepter in front of him.

After the death of the Holy Prophet

After the Byzantines had lost Damascus, the emperor Heraclius planned a large scale action against the Muslims. His strategy was to cut off the Muslim forces in Syria from communication with Arabia. With this object, he ordered a large concentration of the Byzantine force at Beisan to the west of the Jordan river to the south of Damascus.

The Muslims had only a small garrison at Fahl to the east of Jordan at some distance from Beisan. When Abu Ubaida came to know of the concentration of the Byzantine force at Beisan, he held a council of war. The concensus of opinion was that all the forces that the Muslims could muster should march to Fahl, and meet the Byzantine force before it could gather further strength. Abu Ubaida left a corps under the command of Yazeed at Damascus, and the rest of the Muslim forces marched to Fahl.