The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Pharaoh and the majority of the people of Egypt refused to believe the signs. Repeatedly God sent his punishments and the people appealed to Moses, promising to worship God alone and free the Children of Israel but time and time again, they broke their promises. Finally, God withdrew His mercy and gave the order for Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.

But when We removed the punishment from them to a fixed term, which they had to reach, behold! They broke their word! So We took retribution from them. We drowned them in the sea, because they belied Our signs, and were heedless about them. (Quran 7: 130-136)

Pharaoh’s spies knew immediately that something momentous was happening and Pharaoh called a meeting of his most trusted advisors. They decided to gather the entire armed forces to pursue the feeling slaves. Gathering the army took all night and Pharaoh’s army did not leave confines of the city until dawn.

Umar led a very eventful life. We narrate hereunder in chronological order the main events in the life of Umar.

Umar was born in Mecca around 580 A.D. He started independent business around 600 A.D. He married in the first decade of the seventh century.

He was converted to Islam in 616 A.D. at the age of 26. He migrated to Madina in 622 A.D.

He participated in the battle of Badr in 623 A.D.

He participated in the battle of Uhud in 625 A.D. A few months after the battle of Uhud, Hasah the daughter of Umar was married to the Holy Prophet of Islam.

In 627 Umar participated in the battle of the Ditch and the campaign against Banu Mustaliq.

In 628 Umar was present on the occasion of the Hudaybiah pact. Thereafter he participated in the Khyber campaign. He divorced his wives Qariba and Malaika who did not accept Islam. He married Sabiha and Jamila.

In 630 Umar participated in the conquest of Mecca and in the campaigns of Hunain and Ta'if.

We have already established that Jesus, son of Mary, or as he is called by Muslims, Eissa ibn Maryam, performed his first miracle while cradled in Mary’s arms. By the permission of God he spoke, and his first words were “I am a slave of God,” (Quran 19:30). He did not say “I am God” or even “I am the son of God”. His first words established the foundation of his message, and his mission: to call the people back, to the pure worship of One God.

At the time of Jesus, the concept of One God was not new to the Children of Israel. The Torah had proclaimed “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One,” (Deuteronomy: 4). However, God’s revelations had been misinterpreted and abused, and hearts had become hardened. Jesus came to denounce the leaders of the Children of Israel, who had fallen into lives of materialism and luxury, and to uphold the law of Moses found in the Torah which they had even changed.

Abdullah b Saba in Syria

Abu Hurairah narrated that Abraham did not tell a lie except on three occasions, twice for the sake of Allah (Exalted and Almighty) when he said: "I am sick," (when his people were holding a festival in honor of their gods, Abraham excused himself by saying he was sick; see Surah 37: 89), and when he said: "(I have not done this but) the big idol has done it." The (third was) that while Abraham and Sarah (his wife) were going (on a journey), they passed by (the territory of) a tyrant. Someone said to the tyrant: 'This man (i.e., Abraham ) is accompanied by a very charming lady." So, he sent for Abraham and asked him about Sarah saying: "Who is this lady?" Abraham said: "She is my sister."

According to the terms of the treaty of Hudaibiya the Arab tribes had the option to be allied with the Quraish or the Muslims. As a consequence the Banu Bakr joined the Quraish, and the Khuza'ah joined the Muslims.

In disregard of the treaty, Banu Bakr attacked the Khuza'ah and even when the Khuza'ah sought the sanctuary of the Ka'aba, many persons of the Khuza'ah were chased and put to death.

The Khuza'ah wanted the Muslims to come to their aid in accordance with the terms of the treaty. The Holy Prophet gave an ultimatum to the Quraish making three alternative demands, i.e.

(1) to pay tne blood money for the victims;

(2) to terminate their alliance with Banu Bakr; or

(3) to consider the Hudaibiya pact to be abrogated.

In a fit of arrogance the Quraish replied that they would neither pay blood money, nor terminate their alliance with Banu Bakr, and that they were prepared to consider the Hadaibiya pact as having been abrogated.

When Umar died, both Ali and Uthman wanted to lead the funeral prayer. Abdul Rahman b Auf, however, advised that as both of them were candidates for the office of the Caliph they should not lead such prayer. The funeral prayers were accordingly led by Suhaib, the man who had been authoriZed by Umar to lead the ordinary prayers. Umar was put in the grave by all the five members of the Selection Committee constituted by him.

Immediately after the burial of Umar, the Selection Committee constituted by him to nominate his successor met in session. As Talha b Ubaidullah was still out of Madinah, the meeting of the Committee was attended by five persons only. The Committee had a long session for two days, but it was unable to arrive at any decision. The differences among the parties were acute, and no reconciliation appeared to be in sight.

Saul set about organizing his army with strong faith and wisdom. He ordered that only men free from responsibilities should join. Those engaged in building homes, men who were about to be married and those occupied with business should not join.

After establishing a well-trained army, he decided to put them to the test. He told them that along the route they would pass a river where they should drink enough water to quench their thirst but not more than that. To his disappointment, he discovered that the majority of them drank more water than they should have. He discharged them for disobedience and kept only the few who had obeyed him, as they were the ones who proved their sincerity. This resulted in a split in the army, but he was not bothered. He believed in quality and not numbers: better a small band of true believers he could rely on than a huge army of unreliable men.


Saul's Army Sees the Enemy

Abdullah bin Ubayy was an Ansar chief of Madina. Abdullah bin Ubayy had the ambition to wear the crown of Madina. When the people of Madina invited the Holy Prophet and the Muslims to migrate to Madina and accepted the Holy Prophet as their ruler the designs of Abdullah bin Ubayy were frustrated. As all the Arabs of Madina accepted Islam, Abdullah also became a Muslim as a measure of expediency. Islam, however, sat lightly on him, and he often indulged in activities hostile to Islam.

In the battle of Uhud, he betrayed the Muslim trust and withdrew his contingent at the last moment. On the occasion of the raid of Al-Mustaliq he said unbecoming things against the Muhajreen including the Holy Prophet. In the sad episode of False Allegation he was responsible for calumny against Ayesha. Umar sought the permission of the Holy Prophet to kill Abdullah bin Ubayy, but the Holy Prophet, kind-hearted as he was, did not give the permission.

In the time of the Holy Prophet there was no public treasury. Whatever revenues or other amounts were received were distributed immediately. There were no salaries to be paid, and there was no state expenditure. Hence the need for the treasury at public level was not felt.

In the time of Abu Bakr as well there was not treasury. Abu Bakr earmarked a house where all money was kept on receipt. As all money was distributed immediately the treasury generally remained locked up. At the time of the death of Abu Bakr there was only one dirham in the public treasury.

Before the battle of Nihawand the policy of Umar was that the Muslims should be content with what they had acquired in Iraq, and should leave Persia proper to the Persians and their emperor Yazdjurd. The battle of Nihawand showed that as long as Yazdjurd was there and the Persians smarted under the pain of the loss of their empire, the danger of Persian confrontation was always there. It now came to be felt that in order to ensure the security of the territories that the Muslims had wrested from Persia, it was necessary that the Persian power should be crushed once for all, so that no danger could come to the Muslims from that quarter in the future.

The golden bowl was found in Benjamin’s belongings and his brothers were astonished. They quickly realised the Chief Minister (Joseph) would follow their own law and keep Benjamin as a slave. This upset them greatly. They were afraid of returning to their father without his beloved youngest son. One of the brothers offered to accept the punishment on Benjamin’s behalf, but the offer was refused. Another brother, probably the eldest, chose to stay in Egypt while the others returned to their homeland to face their father Jacob. When the brothers arrived home they went immediately to their father and said,

“O our father! Verily, your son (Benjamin) has stolen, we testify not except according to what we know, and we could not know the unseen! And ask (the people of) the town where we have been, and the caravan in which we returned, and indeed we are telling the truth.” (Quran 12:81-82)

God said in Quran that Prophets and Messengers were sent to every nation on earth and that they all spread the same message – to worship One God, alone, without partners, sons, or daughters. The majority of Prophets mentioned in the Quran and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad are recognisable, and considered prophets in both the Jewish and Christian faiths. Prophet Saleh however, is one of only four Arab prophets and his story is not universally known.

“And, indeed We have sent Messengers before you (O Muhammad); of some of them We have related to you their story and of some We have not related to you their story, and it was not given to any Messenger that he should bring a sign except by the Leave of God.” (Quran 40:78)

Tribes around Madina. Madina was surrounded by a ring of tribes, whose attitude to Islam was luke warm. These tribes included Bani Asad; Bani Tha'lba; Bani Ghatafan; Banu Marrah Banu Abbas; Banu Dhanayan and others. In the battle of the Trench, these tribes had sided with the Quraish of Makkah and had fought against the Muslims. After the conquest of Makkah, when other tribes in Arabia sent delegations to Madina and accepted Islam, the tribes around Madina also followed suit and offered allegiance to Islam. Their allegiance was based more on diplomacy and expediency than on real faith and conviction of the heart. Islam sat lightly on them. They regarded Islam as a matter of personal allegiance to the Holy Prophet which abated with the death of the Holy Prophet.