The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Abraham and Ishmael Build the Kaaba

After a separation of several years, again the father and son met. It was on this journey that the two built the Kaaba on God’s command as a permanent sanctuary; a place laid for the worship of God. It was here, in this same barren desert where Abraham had left Hagar and Ishmael earlier, that he supplicated to God to make it a place where they would establish the prayer, free from idol worship.

Quran narrates several conversations between Moses and Pharaoh. One of the most detailed accounts is in chapter 26 which is entitled ‘The Poets’. Moses speaks kindly to Pharaoh about God, His Mercy, and His Paradise, but Pharaoh reacts disdainfully and arrogantly. He reminds Moses of his past crime and asks Moses to be grateful that he was raised in the palace amongst luxuries and wealth. Moses excuses himself by saying he committed the crime of killing an innocent man when he was ignorant and points out that he was raised in the palace only because he was unable to live with his own family due to Pharaoh’s indiscriminate killing of baby boys.

Ibn Jarir reported that the condition of the Israelites deteriorated. They committed many sins and killed whom they wished of the prophets. Consequently Allah sent them tyrannous kings who ill-treated them and spilled their blood, and set their enemies from outside against them as well. They used to go to war, taking with them The Ark of the Covenant. They did this so that they would be victorious by its blessing, and it became a symbol of calm and a relic left behind by Moses's people. When they went to war with the people of Gaza and Askalon, they were defeated because the Ark of the Covenant was captured from them. When the king of the Israelites heard of this he died on the spot.

The children of Israel remained like sheep without a shepherd until Almighty Allah sent them a prophet named Samuel (Shammil) . They asked him to appoint a king over them to lead them in a war against their enemies.


The Ark of the Covenant

On the third day of the battle even at night there was no break in fighting. It was a moon-lit night, and in spite of fatigue after three days' strenuous battle, the armies continued to fight.

It was now a war of stamina. Both sides were on the verge of human endurance, and whosoever could be steadfast for some time more was likely to win. Both the sides hoped that they were likely to win.

In the matter of stamina the refined Persians could be no match for the hardy Arabs. The strategy of Sa'ad was to wear down the Persians, and snatch away the victory from them.

The battle waged all the night long. About midnight, Qaqa shouted:

"We have strangled the enemy,

The enemy is now on the verge of collapse."

There were heavy casualties among the Persians, but they stood firm.

After the fall of Mecca, the neighbouring tribes of Howazin and Sagef had to choose between Islam and war against Muslims. They chose the war path, and the two tribes along with their allies mustered in considerable strength at Autas to the west of Mecca. The coalition was led by Malik bin Auf a fiery commander of considerable skill.

When the Holy Prophet came to know of the hostile intention of the tribes, he decided to take action against them. On a cold day in January 630 A.D. the Muslim forces set out from Mecca. The army consisted of 12,000 persons fully armed. Out of these 10,000 were from Madina who had attacked Mecca and 2,000 were the newly converted Muslims from Mecca.

After withdrawal from Ctesiphon, the Persian armies gathered at Jalaula north-east of Ctesiphon. Jalaula was situated in the neighbourhood of what is modern Baghdad. It lay on the main road to Khurasan. Jalaula was a place of strategical importance from where routes led to Iraq, Khurasan and Azerbaijan.

The Persian forces at Jalaula were commanded by General Mihran. His deputy was General Khurrazad a brother of General Rustam. The Persians made great preparations for a large scale battle against the Muslims. The entire town was converted into a fortress. A deep ditch was dug round the city. Various fortifications were constructed behind the ditch. In front of the ditch caltrops were strewn in large numbers with a view to laming the horses of the advancing enemy. The Persian troops took an oath by the sacred fire that they would die fighting rather than retreat. The town was stocked with provisions, and the Persians prepared themselves with grim determination for a long siege.

After the conquest of Khuzistan, the Muslims wanted peace. They wanted to leave rest of Persia to the Persians. Umar said:

"I wish there were a mountain of fire between us and the Persians, so that neither could they get to us, nor we to them."

But the Persians thought differently. The pride of the imperial Persians had been hurt by the conquest of their land by the Arabs. They could not acquiesce in the occupation of their lands by the Arabs.

After the battle of Jalaula the Persian emperor Yazdjurd went to Rayy and from there he moved to Khurasan where he set up his capital at Merv. >From Merv, the emperor sent a call to his people to rise to a man to drive away the Muslims from their lands. In response to the call, hardened veterans and young volunteers from all parts of Persia marched in large numbers to join the imperial standard.

Abu Dhar Ghifari was an eminent companion of the Holy Prophet and was among the early converts to Islam. His original name was Jandab b Janadah, and he belonged to the Ghifari tribe who had their settlements between Makkah and Syria. The Ghifari tribe was converted to Islam through the efforts of Abu Dhar Ghifari. When the Holy Prophet migrated to Madina, Abu Dhar also came to Madina, and there devoted himself exclusively to prayers and religious meditation. He adopted a more or less ascetic way of life, shunned luxury, and stood for austerity. He is described as the first socialist in Islam. After the death of the Holy Prophet he went to Syria, and undertook Jihad. He was outspoken and he freely criticized the administration where he felt that there was anything wrong. The Holy Prophet said of him that nothing could deter him from speaking whatever he considered to be the truth.

Apostasy campaigns. When after the death of the Holy Prophet, the storm of apostasy burst in the country and most of the tribes transferred their allegiance to false prophets' things for Islam appeared to be very dark. Abu Bakr faced the crisis with strong determination that knew no wavering. Apostasy campaigns began in August 632 C.E. and by February 633 C.E., apostasy was totally suppressed; Arabia stood unified, and all people in Arabia joined the fold of Islam. That was a remarkable achievement which changed the course of history. One shudders to think what would have been the fate of Islam, if Abu Bakr had, God forbid, failed in suppressing apostasy.

Riddah campaigns. These campaigns are labeled by the Muslim historians as Riddah campaigns, i.e. campaigns against apostasy. Some western writers have found fault with this approach.

One night, Umar as usual went in disguise with his comrade Ibn Abbas to see the condition of the people. They strolled from one quarter to another. At last they came to a colony where very poor people lived.

While passing by a small hutment, the Caliph heard a whispering talk within. The mother was telling her daughter that the amount fetched by her that day on account of the sale of milk was very little. She told her that when she was young, and used to sell milk, she always mixed water with milk, and that led to considerable profit. She advised her daughter to do the same.

The girl said, "You adulterated milk, when you were not a Muslim. Now that we are Muslims, we cannot adulterate milk."

The mother said that Islam did not stand in the way of he adulteration of milk.

The daughter said, "Have you forgotten the Caliph's order? He wants that the milk should not be adulterated."

Jesus Does Not Observe Sabbath
Jesus grew up to manhood. It was Sabbath, a day of complete rest: no fire could be lit or extinguished, nor could females plait their hair. Moses had commanded that Saturday be dedicated to the worship of Allah. However, the wisdom behind the Sabbath and its spirit had gone, and only the letter remained in the Jews, hearts. Also, they thought that the Sabbath was kept in heaven, and that the People of Israel had been chosen by Allah only to observe the Sabbath.

Madina was surrounded by a ring of tribes whose attitude to Islam was unfavourable if not hostile. The Bani Asad had their concentration at Sumairah, the first stage on the way to Mecca. The Bani Ghatafan had their concentration in the south of Madina. The Banu Tha'lba, the Banu Harrach and the Banu Abas had their stronghold at Abraq. The Banu Dhunayn had their headquarter at Dhul Qissa the first stage on the route from Madina to Nejd.

When Usamah's army left Madina for the Syrian front, the tribes around Madina sent a deputation to wait on Abu Bakr. The tribes were prepared to own Islam, but they refused to pay Zakat. Abu Bakr consulted the companions. Almost all of them advised that as the Muslims were hemmed in by danger from all sides, allegiance of such tribes to Islam should be accepted by foregoing the claim to Zakat, so that there should be no further secession from the fold of Islam.

Allah Disclaims Begetting Anyone - Surah 37
Allah the Almighty also revealed: Now ask them (0 Muhammad): 'Are there (only) daughters for your Lord and sons for them?" Or did We create the angels females while they were witnesses?

Verily it is of their falsehood that they (Quraish pagans) say: 'Allah has begotten offspring or children (e. angels are the daughters of Allah)" And, verily they are liars!

Has He (then) chosen daughters rather than sons? What is the matter with you? How do you decide? Will you not then remember? Or is there for you a plain authority? Then bring your Book if you are truthful!

And they have invented a kinship, between Him and the jinns, but the jinn know well that they have indeed to appear (before Him) (i.e. they will be brought for accounts).

Unlawful food. Once a slave of Abu Bakr brought him some food that he ate. Later the slave told him that he had earned some money by telling fortune, and the food had been purchased with that money. Abu Bakr held that such food was unlawful. He put his hand on his throat and vomited what was in his stomach.

Pre destination. Once Abu Bakr was asked, "Do you think that fornication by a man is predestined?" He was next asked, "If it is predestined why should the man be punished?" Abu Bakr said, "The man is responsible for his act, but God knows beforehand how a man would act."

Atika was the daughter of Zaid bin Amr bin Naufal. Zaid was the uncle of the Umar. Atika was thus a cousin of Umar.

At Madina, Atika was married to Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr. Atika was very beautiful and Abdullah was much enamoured of her. He was so much lost in her love that he failed to participate in the various expeditions undertaken by the Muslims. He even neglected to offer his prayers in the mosque.

The love of Abdullah and Atika became proverbial. Abdullah felt that Atika was the most valuable thing in the world. When Abu Bakr came to know that Abdullah had not taken part in the various expeditions and had even neglected his prayers, he put him to explanation. He had no explanation to offer. The matter of fact position was that he was so much overwhelmed by the love of Atika that he could not attend to other duties.