Islam, Science, Knowledge
Foreign Foreign Age of Islam wherein we discuss the life and character of our Noble Master the holy prophet Muhammad where the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him in the previous episode we were looking at the life of the holy prophet just after the commencement of the divine revelation the beginning of Islam as
Such and how the holy prophet salallahu began his preaching mission in today’s episode we will look at how he’s faced opposition and how the early Muslims were severely persecuted just because they believed in the one God joining me for today’s program in the studio is ayas who is a missionary of
The Muslim Community and serves in the additional sniff office here in the UK and joining me on Skype will be Dr Bilal Ahmad who is an assistant professor and Senior research fellow at the University of Sheffield assalamualaikum gentleman a warm welcome to both of you just before we left off previously we
Discussed how the holy prophet salallahu was granted the first revelation how Islam actually began in kevira where the angel Gabriel brought the first revelation there was a brief interval period And then after that the holy prophet sallallahu began his mission um initially in secret or it was done in
A confined space was also mentioned was was the first preaching mission of of Islam um what about the opposition then to quraish because the holy prophet was preaching something which was completely uh their bread and butter there it was ingrained in the in the nature that they
Would the worship idols they had extreme reverence for them but the holy prophet preached the Oneness of God were always opposed more or less um as is the case with all the prophets of God uh but now their opposition grew in the sense that they became more
Forceful and vigorous in their in their opposition and they realize that this isn’t just a temporary thing which will die down they realize that this disease so they called it a disease is now spreading so this is something which happened in the time of all the prophets
Uh and the Holy Quran records this uh this thing that yes Allah Almighty says alas for mankind never does a Prophet come to them but that they mock him and they reject him and they oppose him so all of the prophets went through this but and the holy prophet salallahu
Alaihi wasallam brought a universal law which was he was the chief of the prophets how is it that he could be exempt from this his opposition was greater than all of the other prophets in that sense but the courage and the determination and the resolve and the
The The Bravery with which he continued preaching that message is so inspirational that it will remain until the end of time that and why was this essentially the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was teaching Oneness of God the unity of God and the quresh they worshiped Idols they didn’t want this
Change of Lifestyle in that sense then if we look at the moral state of the Arabs at the time drinking gambling um usurping the wealth of the poor murder pillaging adultery fornication these were things that they used to Pride themselves on almost and they used to boast about these things and Islam
Came and taught that these things are impermissible and these should not happen so it was a change in their lifestyle in that sense as well then when we look at the state of the Arabs at the time they were heavily attached to the beliefs of their forefathers and
At this point Allah the almighty is telling them that their forefathers were wrong in worshiping Idols so it wasn’t very easy for them to digest all of these things and that is the case with all the prophets of God that whenever the pro then another thing which we find
Is that that slavery for example the slave was treated very brutally in Arab society and here you have the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam teaching the slaves and he was saying essentially that Allah yes that the slave and the master is equal in the sight of Allah how could the
Arabs have accepted this without putting up a fight exactly for joining us again we’re talking about the opposition of the quraish and some allege that the holy prophet sallallahu was was free from this opposition because he had his uh his uncle Abu Talib who was protecting him and indeed
The qurash did go to him because they couldn’t as was a Arab custom at the time they couldn’t harm him because they knew Abu Talib was his Guardian um so how did the crash approach the chief of that tribe was Abu Talib who was also the guardian of the holy
Prophet Muhammad who was entrusted to take care of the holy prophet Muhammad upon the demise of his father Abdullah the grandfather of the holy prophet Muhammad now it’s pertinent to note that the first real attempt to thwart the mission of the holy prophet Muhammad by the
Polytheists of Mecca was to go to his uncle and entice him and put pressure on him to withdraw his support for his uh for his nephew uh however and the reason why they did this is because they understood intertribal relations really well and they understood that if they
Were to kill the holy prophet Muhammad then even the polytheists among the same tribe of the holy prophet Muhammad Hashim including Abu Talib himself would not rest until they take revenge so this was one of the main reasons which was stopping uh and impeding the footage from uh assassinating the holy prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him uh now it’s pertin to notice that the quraish went to Abu Talib uh in several deputations uh now the first deputation was where they actually posed uh uh and encouraged uh Abu Talib to withdraw his support uh during that deputation uh it went quite
Smoothly in that the Abu Talib had uh told them uh calmed their nerves and told him that he would speak to his nephew however uh the situation remained the same and more and more people were entering the fold of Islam and at that point as ayal sahib was eloquently
Mentioned that uh The Message of Islam was a message that was destroying the very foundations of society of of Mecca and it was a message that entailed uh you know uh abusing the the gods and also uh uh uh also speaking uh negatively about before the forefathers
Of of uh the the of making society and thus during a second deputation returned back to Abu Talib now demanding very sternly that if they do not if Abu Talib and his tribe do not withdraw support of the holy prophet Muhammad then they will then you know then a war
Will ensue a boycotts and and more uh uh uh problems we’ll ensue so at that point being an old man uh spoke to the holy prophet Muhammad and told him you know the situation and the holy prophet Muhammad sallam at that point had thought that Abu Talib was about to withdraw support
And when he thought that he was about to withdraw support instead of refraining from the message he said his very famous statement which has been recorded in in historical books which is yam or Uncle uh um which means oh Uncle by God if they put
The sun in my right hand and the Moon in my left on the condition that I am abandoned this course until God has made me Victorious or I perish therein I would not abandon it and that upon hearing that Abu Talib was filled with emotion and he told the holy prophet
Muhammad that he would stand by him no matter what and similarly other deputations that happened but uh every time the qurans tried to persuade Abu Talib to withdraw his support he uh refused very eloquently put the I also when we’re discussing the opposition of uh the quresh um there’s some real horrific accounts
About how the the weaker members of society were treated but in fact the as we know from historical accounts as I was mentioned in uh being life and character of the Seal of prophets that even the noble people of the Christ they would they were not free from the
Cruelties of the crash either even the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam himself was not free from these things Bilal saib just mentioned that the the tribe of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had announced their support for him because of the the strong position the fact is that because of because of
Abu lahab who was also a part of that tribe and as I meant we mentioned in a previous program that he was the weakest link in that tribe he would oppose the holy prophet so that decision as a tribe was somewhat weakened but for the whole
Part because of the support of the tribe the holy prophet sallallahu Islam was Secure from the atrocities which were inflicted upon slaves who had no one to take care of them in that sense as far as worldly factors are concerned but despite that there’s an incident where the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi
Wasallam was in the area of the Kaaba and he was worshiping he came and he strangled the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and began to strangle him so much that he could no longer breathe and who came and pushed him away and saved the holy prophet and said that attacked
Do you kill this man because he says that Allah is my Lord then we see that they would do foul things they would throw foul and putrid things over into his home or put thorns in on his front gate to disturb him and bother him and the prophet of Islam
Would silently remove those smelly foul putrid things from his home and all he would say is that is this how you treat your neighbors they would degrade him they would try to degrade him rather by calling him udamam which means the most disgraced as opposed to Muhammad which
Means the most praiseworthy and the holy prophet would smile and say that look how Allah protects me from their curse because he has named me Muhammad I there’s also mentioned that even the noble people at that time they came one time a companion who had a who had a
Position in the in the area of Makkah at the time he said o messenger of Allah when before we accepted Islam these these disbelievers they didn’t even have the courage to look up at us they couldn’t even dare to look Us in the eye and now we’re being dragged in the
Streets of Makkah why do you not give us permission to respond and the prophet of Islam would always say that that I have been taught that we must forgive and so this is how the first 13 years in Mecca particularly were spent that persecution was inflicted upon the companions upon the holy prophet
Sallallahu alaihi wasallam but the holy prophet also always taught forgiveness and steadfastness that this was the the the this was like a training period for them as well so for the later um period of their lives in later time in Islam as well they were ready for any
Hot chip because I guess they went through these sorts of Trials viewers we will go to that part of the program where we will go to an external panelist who will join us for this discussion and for today’s program it is Raza Ahmed who is a missionary of the
Muslim Community and we will ask him about some of the struggles and the cruelties faced by the early Muslims for example the house of Yasir and hazrat Bilal when we read the stories of persecution of the early Muslims the early Companions of the holy prophet peace and
Blessings of Allah be upon him we read about the torture we read about the pain and the horror that was inflicted upon them but what we learn is a lesson what we learn is how a good Muslim a loyal Muslim a Muslim who loves the holy prophet peace and blessings of Allah be
Upon him and who loves Allah Almighty how we should behave in the face of persecution in the face of danger the first out of many many stories that we find in the history of Islam one that I would like to mention foreign who was an Abyssinian slave of umayab and Khal
In the blistering Heat of Arabia he was put on the ground onto the sand burning sand and big huge rocks or blocks of rocks were put on his chest all of this was done so he would denounce he would leave Islam and he would leave his love and loyalty for the
Holy prophet sallallahu and God but he never did so all he said over and over again every time he was persecuted every time he was tortured but there’s none worthy of worship except Allah when um when he retired he would hand him over to the criminals and they would
Drag him through the streets of Mecca until he was drenched in blood from top to bottom seeing this it was then acquired him for a very heavy price and then set him free the next example that I would like to mention here is that um And his mother now they were kept in the slavery of the bani masum and their story is very Faith inspiring as well because it was filled with torture as the the holy prophet sallam when he saw how they were persecuted one day he compassionately turned to them and he said
But have patience oh family of yesterday because alatala has prepared Paradise for you in exchange for all of the things that you’re going through in this life so in this ordealand who he lost his life The Story Goes when he was torturing her one day he
Took a spear and he went right for her leg but the spirit went through the leg and reached all the way to our private parts and in the course of this ordeal she also lost her life and went back to her maker and then we had Allah
And the quresh again while torturing him they said that all of this can stop if you denounce if you leave the holy prophet peace and blessings of Allah upon him if you leave Islam and in the course of this certain words um were uttered and the Quran let him go
And right away he went to the holy prophet peace and blessings of Allah upon him who said o prophet of Allah and ruined I have been ruined and the holy prophet very merciful in his behavior very loving in his behavior he turned to him and he said the mother what’s what’s the matter
So he told him the story and he said this is what happened o prophet of Allah and I said a few inappropriate words responded and he said that how do you find your heart how is your heart how do you feel and who replied that a prophet of Allah it’s
It’s filled it’s saturated with the love of Allah For the Love of the prophet of Allah upon this the holy prophet said Allah again very lovingly he said to them that all as well may Allah forgive you your mistake these again just two three examples out
Of many many examples that we find in the history of early Islam and every single one of them is a beacon of light as an example for Muslims all across the globe and for all eternity very eloquently put there but also we were discussing earlier about how the quresh began the systematic opposition
Of the the Muslims and in fact they left no one even the the noble of the tribe of Makkah and of the crash even they weren’t spared in fact the holy prophet as I also mentioned even he wasn’t spared from the cruelties um so what happened next uh the abyssinia
Migration is a key part in Islamic history how did that unfold so uh jazakallah for the question uh when you say the Abyssinian migration there’s actually two main migrations to abyssinia now it’s pertinent to know that when the Muslims were you know when the point of of persecution became uh unbearable for
Many Muslims the holy prophet Muhammad advised his companions that there is a very just and Equitable King uh who is located in the Kingdom of abyssinia which in what modern Scholars referred to as the axumai Empire uh because its capital was actually now it’s pertinent to note for our African viewers uh that
This Empire this African Empire was one of the four Great empires of late antokitui at late Antiquity and also uh in terms of its uh technological advancements and uh Innovations in terms of architecture and uh and Ceramics now what’s pertin to know is that this Empire had embraced several centuries
Before Orthodox Christianity and it was a Christian Empire the holy prophet Muhammad sallam advised his companions to migrate there uh initially during the first migration uh only 11 men and four women were able to migrate and these include did some of the companions that were from the elites of the quresh so
For example we have Earthman who would later become the third caliph of Islam and his wife the daughter of the holy prophet Muhammad you have many other companions from the elites and one of the reasons there is that it’s interesting that even the people from amongst the elites were being persecuted
And it also shows that the the Lesser people the the slaves and others were unable to migrate otherwise they would have done so so during the first migration to uh the acts of my Empire uh the Muslims settled there well uh and uh they were they were granted uh uh
Sanctuary by the negors is a title referred to in Arabic as in najashi refers to the Emperor of of the ax in my Empire however this uh within uh a year or so more and more Muslims migrated until around about 100 Muslims had migrated at this point
The the quresh had seen that many of the noble people and the people and uh had already left and they were enraged by this so they entrusted two very senior members of uh of the tribe of quresh namely uhas and and Abdullah these are two members of the quraish
That were entrusted to travel to the acts of my Empire by crossing the Red Sea and to entice uh the nagus to uh deliver the uh the the Muslims so that they can be returned back forcefully back to Mecca in order to be persecuted so when Andrew Glass finally uh and his
Associate finally entered into the court of the negos uh there uh the summoned uh the Muslim migrants uh this is after the second migration to abyssinia and uh he asked him about their beliefs and representing uh them was Jafar ibnu who was the cousin of the holy
Prophet Muhammad he told the nagus about uh the different uh the situation of pre-islamic Arabia and and the situation in Mecca in particular about the religion and how they would treat other people and how uh how immorality was was uh rampant within society and then the fact that Allah Almighty had raised a
Prophet from amongst themselves from a noble family who was truthful namely the holy prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam uh there’s a very interesting incident mentioned by the second caliph of the community where he says that up until this point there was no verses until the migration to absina there were no verses revealed
About Christianity but then all of a sudden God Almighty obviously knew that the Muslims would travel there and they would meet a Christian King so God Almighty revealed the verses of Surah Maryam absolutely so as you as you write you mentioned Surat Maryam was revealed shortly before the second migration and
Uh who knew these verses off by heart presented uh the first verse is uh initial verses of Surat Maryam in which the birth of Yahya or John the Baptist and Jesus was presented and upon hearing these verses the nucleus was very emotional and then said that you know uh the
Message that you are proclaiming and my religion comes forth from the same source uh in the following day had a scheme in order to uh for the Muslim attempt to stay in uh for the Muslims to stay in uh in the acts of my kingdom and so he told the Nicholas
That actually the Muslims uh do not hold Jesus I mean honor and they do not believe him to be God upon hearing this the summoned the Muslims one more time in Jafar who was given the uh who was consulted with the other Muslims uh discussed what he
Should say but then Jaffer and the Muslims agreed that they must say the truth no matter what the consequences are and they told him it was you know very eloquently uh uh and they told them about their true uh beliefs that Jesus is indeed just a servant of Allah but a
Noble sermon nonetheless had a big impact on us the the he had a um he picked up a stick and said that the difference between what you have just said and uh our belief in the Messiah is just as thin as this stick um very important Point mentioned as well
Um viewers we will go to that part of the segment where we will take a question from you and see what we have for today’s question USA and my question is how did Hamza already love one accept Islam that was a question from USA we wanted to know about how Hazard Hamza
Accepted Islam the acceptance was important in the sense that this was the time until now people who were not as strong as far as Society was concerned for example slaves and people who were less in power as far as the societal hierarchy is concerned were accepting Islam with hazrat Hamza radial
Now a person who was respected and who was considered to be at the same level as these Chieftains who were opposing Islam accepted Islam and as a thumbs out of the Allah who was the uncle of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam his acceptance was such that he was out
His custom was that he would leave in the morning and he would spend the whole day hunting then he would come back he was a very chivalrous type of individual and he came back then after his day of hunting and he he would then go to the
Kaaba and perform Tawas and then he would sit in a gathering with the quresh in groups of twos and fours and and you know this was the customer at that time one day when he came back from his expedition or his hunting activity his slave told him that do you
Know what has happened today Abu jahal has greatly Dishonored and disrespected Muhammad is very much ridiculed him and denigrated him in front of all of the people and The Holy Bible did not respond at all and the holy prophet remains mention his Beauty in other
Places where he says that she said in a way that you walk around all brave and you know showing your masculinity yes do you know that your nephew was abused in front of everyone absolutely he did nothing yes what it has if to mop his
Bravery yes and say what kind of a brave man are you if you can’t even speak up in favor of your own nephew and so he went to Abu jahl at that point and he took it it is narrated that he had a bow
In his hand and he hit him on the head very hard with it and said that how dare you speak to Muhammad this way you want to pick a fight with Muhammad well I’m a part of Israel I accept his religion as well now speak in front of
Me if you have the courage to say something and all of the people who were there they stood up and they tried to attack as a thumbs up but has a thumbs up stood as firm as a rock he wasn’t afraid of any of those people he said
Come on let’s see what who’s going to do what and abujal at that point he said that he calmed everybody and said well no it’s my fault he was very much awe inspired by the courage of Hamza and he’s and he said no it was my fault I
Was very rough today with Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam anyway then when has a thumbs are returned home he had said that in his emotion and in his uh you know because his indignation had been aroused but then he thought to himself that now what am I going to do
Do I really want to accept and leave the faith of my forefathers and then Allah put in his heart that what you have done in this surge of emotion is the right decision and then has a thumbs up remained firm and he he also became a great means of support for the holy
Prophet sallallahu the lion of Islam is all and he eventually he was martyred in the Battle of a beautiful narration you every time as you read that you can’t get enough of it and that again there’s another incident but also related to an acceptance of Islam and that was Hazard um
Was uh on the one hand another Brave Warrior Hazard Umar was a staunch opponent of Islam and in fact he would persecute um one of the slave Muslims and in fact it’s a set of narration that he would only stop if he got tired and the slave
Said to her that unless you accept Islam God will will punish you for for this crime how did um then astaunch appointment of Islam except Islam ID tribe during the era and he was a very Noble person in Polish he was also an ambassador for the tribe of quraish
Uh now um we need to understand something it is true that he was a staunch opponent of Islam and that he engaged in Acts of persecution physical you know acts of persecution against Muslim against the Muslim early Muslims however that was out of a sense of Love
Of this tribe he really felt and believed that this message was destroying the the very fabric of his tribe and bringing people apart and thus at one point after you know having persecuted many Muslims he he convinced himself that actually the only way that
He can rent uh the the his tribe of this Menace is to kill the holy prophet Muhammad which would mean his own death which he was willing to to do as well he was willing to accept his own death because he knew the banal Hashim would
Never leave him alone so one day he came with the intention in to go to the holy prophet Muhammad to kill him and someone saw him on the way who was a Muslim uh a closet Muslim who had not yet announced Islam and told him in order to protect
The holy prophet Muhammad told him to go to his sister’s house and uh confront her because she and her husband said has converted into Islam so when he went to his sister’s house he was enraged upon hearing this he went to his sister’s house and outside of the house
He heard his sister the recitation of the Holy Quran and the person reciting the Holy Quran was a man by the name of he was reciting the the Holy Quran very melodiously became fervent enraged he entered into the house Kabab upon hearing this had hidden somewhere and then we were left
With his sister Fatima and said her husband uh now uh to them both and struck said and in order to protect her husband Fatima put herself forward and tried to protect her and she was also struck when she was struck and she got back up noticed that she was bleeding and uh was
Of course uh very emotional by this he had nobility in him and then at that point his anger subsided and upon seeing the blood he asked his sister to give him uh the parchments in order for him to read this this scripture that she was reading as she refused until he would
Cleanse himself by uh performing ablution perhaps the the the hidden wisdom was foreign he was calm he had an opportunity to read these words and the actual uh Surah that he read uh was suratah the initial verses of Surah Taha which is you know a very eloquent Surah and it was when he
Got to the point of the famous verses which means verily I am Allah there is no God beside me so serve me and observe prayer for my remembrance surely the hour is coming I am going to manifest it that every soul may be recompanized for its Endeavor when he heard this Islam
Entered into his heart and immediately he told khabab also had come come out of hiding and he told to take him to the holy prophet Muhammad magnified Allah Almighty by the words Allahu Akbar God is great he said that it was only yesterday that I heard the holy prophet Muhammad make a prophecy
That may Allah strengthen Islam through one of two men who was later to be referred to as and a form of ignorance and it was one of those two men who actually became Muslim now he went left the house went to daughter Arkham which we talked about
In the in the previous episode and with his sword still unshift uh he came inside and then uh he’s he told the holy prophet Muhammad he came and he meant no harm he came to enter into the fold of Islam and then the holy prophet Muhammad magnified Allah almighty God is great
Allahu Akbar and everyone in the house also magnified Allah so much so that everyone in Mecca could hear the magnification and it was after that after who was the last person to uh enter into the fold of Islam in the house after that then uh more open preaching commenced absolutely
For another wonderful episode um debuts that’s all we have time for today uh inshallah tune in for the same time next week where we’ll bring you another episode on the Golden Age of Islam till then foreign