I. How the revelation to the Messenger of Allah , may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began and the words of Allah, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Nuh and the Prophets who came after him. (4:162) 1. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said on the minbar, I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, Actions are but judged according to intentions. Every man has what he intends. So whoever emigrates to gain something of this world or to marry a woman, his emigration is for that to which he emigrated. 2. Aisha, Umm al-Muminin, may Allah be pleased with her, said that al-Harith ibn Hisham asked the Messenger of Allah, Messenger of Allah! How does the revelation come to you? The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell - and this is the hardest on me - which then leaves me after I have fully understood and retained what was said. Sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and speaks to me and I retain what he says. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, I saw him when the revelation was descending on him on a very cold day and when it left him his brow was dripping with perspiration. 3. Aisha, Umm al-Muminin, may Allah be pleased with her, said, The beginning of the revelation to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took the form of the true dream. Whenever he had this kind of dream, it was clear like the break of day [and was true]. Then he was made to love retreat and used to go into retreat in the cave of Hira where he would devote himself to the worship of Allah alone, continuing in this worship for a number of nights until he felt inclined to return to his family. He would take provision for his stay. Then he would return to Khadija to restock with provision to do the same again. This lasted until the Truth came to him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and said, Read! He said, I cannot read. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, He seized me and squeezed me until all the strength went out of me and then released me and said, Read ! I said, I cannot read. Then he seized me and squeezed me a second time until all the strength when out of me and then released me. Then he seized me and squeezed me a third time and then released me, and then he said, Recite: In the Name of your Lord who created, created man from a blood clot. Recite: And your Lord is the Most Generous. [She went on,] Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,returned with that and his heart was quaking. He came to Khadija bint Khuwaylid, may Allah be pleased with her, and said, Wrap me up! Wrap me up! They wrapped him up until the state of terror had left him and then he told Khadija what had happened and said, I am afraid for myself. Khadija said, No, by Allah, Allah would never bring disgrace upon you. You maintain ties of kinship, bear peoples burdens, help the destitute, give hospitality to your guests and help those who have been afflicted by calamities. Khadija then went with him to Waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn Abdul-Uzza, Khadijas cousin, who had become Christian during the Jahiliyya. He could write in Hebrew and wrote in Hebrew as much of the Gospel as Allah willed. He was an old man who had gone blind. Khadija said to him, Cousin! Listen to your nephew. Waraqa said to him, Nephew, what have you seen? The Messenger of Alla, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, told him what he had seen. Waraqa said to him, This is the Namus [Jibril] which Allah sent to Musa. I wish that I were still young. I wish I might still be alive when your people drive you out! The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked, Will they drive me out? He said, Yes, no man has brought anything similar to what you have brought without being treated with hostility. If I am still alive on that day, I will give you my strong support. Shortly after that, Waraqa died and there was a pause in the revelation. 4. Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari said that while speaking about the intermission of the revelation that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, While I was out walking, I suddenly heard a voice from heaven. I raised my eyes and there was the same angel who had come to me at Hira. He was sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I was afraid of him and returned home and said, Wrap me up! Wrap me up! Then Allah sent down, O you enveloped in your cloak! Arise and warn..... up to and shun all filth. After that revelation became intensive and continuous. [Abdullah ibn Yusuf and Abu Salih corroborated with him. Hilal ibn Raddad corroborated with him in relating from az-Zuhri. Yunus and Mamar used the word bawadiruhu instead of fuaduhu.] 5. Said ibn Jubayr related that Ibn Abbas said about the words of Allah the Almighty, Do not move your tongue trying to hasten it (75:16): The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to experience hardship while receiving the revelation and he used to move his lips [for committing it into memory instantly]. Ibn Abbas said, I am moving my lips for you as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, moved his. Said ibn Jubayr said, I am moving my lips as I saw Ibn Abbas moving his, and he moved his lips. So Allah the Almighty sent down, Do not move your tongue trying to hasten it. Its collection and recitation are Our responsibility. He said that collecting it means in your heart and your reciting it [it as it was revealed]. So when We recite it, follow its recitation, means listen and be silent. Then its explanation is also Our responsibility means that it is up to Us [to do that] when you recite it. After that, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would listen when Jibril came to him. When Jibril left, then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,would recite it as Jibril had recited it. 6. Ibn Abbas related saying, The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the most generous of people, and he was even more generous in Ramadan when Jibril met him. Jibril used to met him every night in Ramadan to go through the Quran with him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was quicker than the blowing wind in being charitable. 7. Abdullah ibn Abbas said that Abu Sufyan ibn Harb informed him that Heraclius had sent a message to him while he was with a Qurayshi caravan composed of merchants who were trading in Syria during the period when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had a truce with Abu Sufyan and the unbelievers of Quraysh. So they went to Heraclius who was in Ilya [Jerusalem] and he invited them into his assembly where he was surrounded by the great men of Byzantium. He called for his translator and said, Who among you is closest in lineage to this man who claims that he is a Prophet? Abu Sufyan said, I am the nearest to him in lineage. Heraclius said, Give him leave to come near to me and bring his companions near and put them behind him. Then he said to his translator, Tell them that I am going to ask him about this man. If he tells me a lie, then call him a liar. Abu Sufyan said, By Allah, if I had not been afraid that they would transmit a lie from me [later on], I would have lied about him. The first question he asked me about him was, What is his lineage among you? I replied, He belongs amongst us to a noble lineage. Then he asked, Has anyone of your people ever said what he says before him? I said, No. He said, Was any of his ancestors a king? I said, No. He said, Do the nobles or the humble people follow him? I replied, The humble people. He asked, Are they on the increase or decrease? I said, They are on the increase. He asked, Does any of them become displeased with his religion and apostatize after entering it? I said, No. He asked, Did you suspect him of being a liar before he said what he said? I said, No. He asked, Does he act treacherously? I said, No. We are in a time of truce with him but we do not know what he will do during it. I could not find anything to add to what I said except this sentence. He asked, Have you fought him? I said, Yes. He went on, How did your fight against him go? I said, Success in the war alternated between us - sometimes he would get the better of us and sometimes we of him. He said, What does he order you to do? I replied, He tells us to worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him and to abandon what our ancestors said. He commands us to pray, to speak the truth, to be chaste, and to maintain ties of kinship. Heraclius told the translator to say: I asked you about his lineage and you mentioned that he has noble lineage; in the same way all the Messengers who were sent came from noble lineage among their peoples. I asked you whether anyone else among your people had said such a thing and you said they had not. If anyone had said this before him, I would have said that he was a man following the precedent of something said before. I asked you whether any of his ancestors was a king and you said no. If one of his ancestors had been a king, I would have said that he was a man seeking the kingdom of his ancestors. I asked you whether you accused him of being a liar before he said what he said and you said that you did not. I do not understand how someone would refuse to lie about people and then tell lies against Allah. I asked you whether the nobles or humble people followed him and you said that the humble people followed him. They are always the ones who follow the Messengers. I asked you whether they were on the increase or decrease and you said that they were on the increase. That is what happens with belief until it is complete. I asked you whether anyone had apostatized out of dislike for his religion after he had entered and you said that they had not. That is how it is with belief when its joy mixes with the hearts. I asked you whether he had been treacherous and you said no. That is how it is with the Messengers. I asked you what he commanded and you mentioned that he commanded you to worship Allah and not associate anything with him and forbade you to worship idols, and he commanded you to pray, speak truthfully, and be chaste. If what you said is true, then he will soon control this place where my feet are now standing. I knew that he was going to appear, but I did not know that it would be from you. If I knew that I could reach him, I would set out to meet him. If I were with him, I would wash his feet. Then he called for the letter of the Messenger of Allah which Dihya had brought to the governor of Busra, who in turn passed it on to Heraclius. He read it out, saying, In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate, from Muhammad, the slave of Allah and His Messenger, to Heraclius, ruler of the Byzantines. Peace be upon the one who follows guidance. I call you to Islam. If you become Muslim, you will be safe and Allah will double your reward. If you turn away, then you incur the wrong action of your subjects. O People of the Book! Come to a proposition which is the same for us and you – that we should worship none but Allah and not attribute any partners to Him and not take one another as lords besides Allah. If they turn away, say, Bear witness that we are Muslims. (3:64) Abu Sufyan said, When Heraclius finished saying what he had said and had read the letter, there was a great uproar there and voices were raised. We were turned out. When we were turned out, I said to my companions, This business of Ibn Abi Kabsha has become so prominent that he alarms even the King of the Greeks. Then I became certain that he would be victorious until Allah brought me to Islam. Ibn an-Nazur was the governor of Ilya (Jerusalem) under Heraclius and was the head of the Christians of Syria. Ibn an-Nazur relates that when Heraclius came to Jerusalem, he got up one day in the morning in an ill-temper. Some of his priests said, Your appearance causes us concern. Ibn an-Nazur said that Heraclius was an astrologer who looked at the stars. When they questioned him, he said, Last night when I looked at the stars, I saw that the king of the circumcised had appeared. Who among this nation practise circumcision? They said, Nobody except the Jews and you should not be worried about them. Write to the cities under your command ordering the execution of all the Jews in them. While they were discussing it, a man sent by the King of Ghassan came to Heraclius to tell him the news about the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When Heraclius learned about it, he said, Go and see whether the messenger is circumcised or not. They looked at him and told him that he was circumcised. Heraclius asked him about the Arabs and he said that they practised circumcision. Heraclius said, It is the power of this nation which has appeared. Then Heraclius wrote to a friend of his in Rome who was his equal in knowledge. Heraclius went to Homs and stayed in Homs until he received a letter from his friend agreeing with Heraclius opinion about the emergence of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and that he was indeed a Prophet. Heraclius invited the great men of Byzantium to a villa of his in Homs. Then he commanded that the doors be shut and came out and said, People of Byzantium! If you desire success, right guidance and for your kingdom to remain firm, then offer allegiance to this Prophet [by following him]. The people ran to the gates like wild asses and found them closed. Heraclius saw their aversion and despaired of them believing. He said, Bring them back to me. He then said, What I just said was to test your strength in your deen (religion), and I have seen it. So they prostrated to him and were pleased with him. That was the end of the business which is related about Heraclius. [Salih ibn Kaysan, Yunus and Mamar related this hadith from az-Zuhri.]
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:57:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015