Islam, Science, Knowledge
Foreign Foreign Of the golden age of Islam in the previous episode we discussed a hugely important and Milestone moment in the history of Islam and that was the incident known as The Mirage and the Israel now amongst the Muslim circles amongst the Muslim theologians there is a huge debate about these two events
Were they two separate events The Mirage separately and the Israel separate were they a physical experience or was it a phenomenal spiritual experience of the holy prophet sallallahu and that was all discussed in the previous episode if you missed that do go to the website the details are
Available on your screen on today’s episode we will further on this discussion and also go ahead from our on our journey to the was the migration of the holy prophet of Islam now joining me for today’s episode in the studio is ayasaheb who is a missionary of the
Yankee Muslim Community serving in the additional regardless office and also joining me on Skype is Dr Bilal Ahmed Tahir who is an associate professor and also a senior research fellow at the University of Sheffield assalamuala and Elsa warm welcome to both in the last episode we discussed about
The Mirage now that was a phenomenal spiritual experience which took place twice as you mentioned previously as well um what’s the greatest significance behind the Mirage we mentioned in the previous programs that um Mirage is derived from araja which means to ascend and so this experience of the holy prophet
Sallallahu alaihi wasallam was his spiritual Ascension into the heavens and we discussed how he went through the different Heavens starting from the first Heaven he saw a prophet Adam and then progressed to the second third fourth fifth and sixth and seventh heaven and finally going through those
Heavens meeting Jesus and John and Allah Islam and then a prophet Idris Yusuf alaihissalam and on and on and then he eventually met prophet Abraham alaihi salaam and progressed and it is said that after he went further ahead from the seventh heaven he went to a place where no man had ever
Reached before and at that place he heard the scribbling of pens as if from on high and those were symbolic um they were as if the pens of divine Destiny and decree and he reached a point which was the final point which was the final point where human
Life ended and then Paradise began and that final point was uh distinguished with a low tree there was a low tree there which was as if the final boundary which the prophet used as a boundary anyway yes absolutely and it is narrated that Allah the almighty showed a special
Manifestation of his being on that and the prophet of Islam saw that and the prophet of Islam says that the words cannot describe that manifestation of God which I saw and he says that he saw at that point that there were two four rivers Two Rivers where the physical
Rivers which were symbolic for the Euphrates and the Nile River and then two other rivers were flowing from under that low tree to paradise and Prophet Gabriel Angel Gabriel Islam explained this and the prophet of Islam also saw Gabriel Islam with 600 Wings it is also narrated that from that point he then
Met Allah the almighty as if and Allah the almighty ordained 50 prayers for the Muslims when the prophet of Islam came back he saw again These Are Spiritual experiences so he came back and Moses Allah Islam asked him what injunctions have you brought and he said that Allah
Has ordained 50 prayers for the Muslims and Prophet Moses Allah Islam responded and said I am experienced on account of my dealings with the children of Israel your community cannot offer 50 prayers it is beyond their ability you go back and request Allah for some leniency so
The prophet of Islam went back and Allah reduced them to 40 then he came back and Moses Allah Islam said this is still too much you have to go back and request Allah for some more um Mercy in this regard so he would go back and forth and eventually Allah the almighty decreased
The prayers to five and when he came back Moses La Islam said even this is too much to offer five prayers in one day is a very difficult trial to bear and the prophet of Islam said now I feel embarrassed I will not go back to Allah and request a further reduction
And then a sound a voice was heard a hidden voice which was the voice of Allah and Allah said that although five prayers are ordained you shall receive the reward of 50 prayers so all of these things what what is the significance of this has given a beautiful explanation and he
Says that the Mirage was a spiritual experience which demonstrated the spiritual rank of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and his progress the spiritual progress that he and his community would receive in future generations and all of the things allude to that basic point so firstly just
Taking this example of uh the 50 prayers this was symbolic for the fact that the Muslims would receive so many blessings from Allah the almighty that their their small actions would be given great blessings from Allah Almighty so their small Good Deeds would be blessed immensely by Allah the almighty then for
Example the four rivers were symbolic for the fact that there were two physical apparent Rivers the Euphrates and and two spiritual rivers and this demonstrates that the prophet of Islam would receive success both in the spiritual sense and in the physical sense and there was four which means
That two of those Rivers two of those forms of success which were spiritual and physical would be received in the first era which was the time of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and two of those forms of success which would be spiritual and physical would be
Attained in the latter days with the Advent of the promised Messiah waslam who was a continuation of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam’s message in the latter days and this this phenomenon of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam starting from the first heaven and then ascending to the seventh heaven and
Going even Beyond until he met Allah the almighty demonstrated that the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was such a pure and holy being so great that he was greater than all of the past prophets and even for example Moses is known for being one of the greatest lobbying prophets a prophet uh
Yusuf al-islam Joseph is known for his physical Beauty so even in the individual characteristics of those particular prophets the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi waslam was greater than all of them and this is what the Mirage signified that the prophet of Islam was greater in his spiritual rank
Than all of the past prophets and his community would be greater than all of the past communities if they followed the instructions and teachings given to them by the holy prophet sallallahu very well it’s actually important to highlight that prayers especially and again prayers are such an important aspect of
Muslims life as well right um and Bilal same sort of question to to you in terms of the Israel which again what we discussed previously as well was a separate spiritual experience not a physical journey to Jerusalem insulin as is believed by some of the Muslims what
Was the the greater significance of this spiritual experience for the question uh so in the previous episode we provided some evidence to demonstrate that these events occurred physically I did not occur physically physically I had a corporeal body of the holy prophet Muhammad did not Ascend to
Heaven during the Mirage and was not physically transported to Jerusalem during the Israel now with regards to the Israel we find some further evidence in the Holy Quran to indicate that this was indeed a spiritual event and so in suratul Israel we find the verse which means that we we made not the
Rootya which we showed the but as a trial for men now the word in the Arabic language can refer to a dream or a vision and it must be noted that our beloved for example as well has emphasized the fact that this is not a dream but rather this is
Alludes to a spiritual vision of extraordinary Grandeur which was shown to the holy prophet Muhammad in light of his lofty and immense magnificence under Divine wisdoms now uh to add to that uh so this has been referred to Asia and it’s in Surat in the same chapter we uh
Recited the verse the second verse of this chapter which begins to Which means glory be to him I Allah the almighty who carried his servant during the course of one night from The Sacred mosque in in Mecca to the distant mosque and we’ll leave this untranslated and the reason why we leave this uh untranslated is because uh in in the
Analysis of how that Musa and other sources he’s gone at Great Lengths to show the different meanings of uh Mr loksa and uh the the Journey of the holy prophet Muhammad to Jerusalem in which he prayed at the Holy Temple of Solomon so one of the meanings of this as
Demonstrated is that it could literally refer to Jerusalem and this has indeed been been fulfilled during the time of Hadith um the second caliph of Islam in which the Muslims gained dominion over uh the region of the Levant of which Jerusalem was a city however Muslim emphasizes that one of the more
Important meanings of this is that which refers to in the Arabic language a distant mosque actually refers to the mosque at Medina which hadn’t yet been built and so this essentially was a magnificent prophecy that would refer to the emigration of the holy prophet Muhammad sallam from Mecca to Medina so
Just as he travels to Jerusalem Jerusalem being a very holy city and a center of Judaism and Christianity similarly Jerusalem is uh is uh indicative of of yaphrib which would later be referred to as Medina and the City of the holy prophet Muhammad and thus the words subhanallah
Glory be to him indicates the glory of of Allah Almighty and and thus this is you know a magnificent prophecy that has been fulfilled through uh the migration which is going to be which we’re going to talk about in in future episodes in which the holy prophet Muhammad was to
Establish an Islamic State at Medina uh an Islamic State that manifests the glory of Allah for that we’ll continue this discussion gentlemen I just want to bring in our external panelists for today and as we discussed earlier the Mirage was linked to the ordainment the official uh prescription of the five daily prayers
And I would like to ask our panelists for today can you tell us about this and how it was prescribed um for the Muslim ummah as far as your question is concerned regarding the ordainment of the five prayers well in the early days of Islam in the early mission of the holy prophet
Sallallahu alaihi wasallam prescribed prayers were being offered but in a different form to what we know of today they were being performed in secret and at most in pairs now the systematic commencement of the Salat that we know of today began after the Mirage of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi and thus
It became the first and most important form of Islamic worship those five prayers are of course and as far as the timings of these prayers is concerned the Holy Quran briefly alludes to them but in Hadith found in bukhari Islam he goes into exact details of when
Each prayer should be offered and he explains that to the holy prophets and that is what we follow in this day and age now every position and every word which is part of Salat can either be found in the Holy Quran the Sunnah of the holy prophet
Sallallahu alaihi or the Hadith of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi and an important Point here is also that the spiritual state of man correlates the physical state of managing the Salat now what I mean here is that when we’re in that physical state of meekness and humility ought to correlate to your spiritual
State of meekness and humility as well but there’s a condition for that and that is that a person should give their utmost focus and concentration to Salat in order to reach that spiritual shift now one more important point is that Muslims are encouraged to pray in congregation wherever possible they have
To pray behind one Imam facing the Kaaba and this is in order to give this Islamic worship a unified form another important point is that in order to present themselves purely in front of God Almighty Muslims have to perform ablution which is a ritual of washing parts of the body before performing
Salat and that’s another topic but it’s linked to Salah that’s why I mentioned it here and lastly a very very interesting uh Point here is that in Hadith it is mentioned that the Salat is the Mirage of a Believer and I find that interesting because Salat the systematic Commission of Salat as we
Know it as I mentioned in the beginning began after the marriage of the holy prophet sallallahu alaihi sallam which is there for a very elaborate answer Daniel is a missionary serving in MTA International um I also actually mentioned a very important point and it’s important to note that sometimes people have the
Misconception that prayers were ordained only at Mirage whereas we know from studying even the life and character of the holy prophet in this book that the holy prophet used to pray from the beginning of Islam and in seclusion and in fact even before Islam was revealed he would go to Cave of Iran
Worship in seclusion and actually my next question is about worship itself different religions have different ways of worship for example some would focus on just trying to increase your spiritual level um some add a physical aspect to it but Islam seems to have been combined all of
That and in Islam not only stresses to you know improve spiritually but there’s physical actions to go along with it and they all have to be performed yes absolutely that is the beauty of Islam that Islam is a universal religion which has encapsulated all of the good
Aspects of all of the past teachings and in fact perfected those teachings so in previous times we see that certain people would Express their love for Allah the almighty and their devotion through various physical forms of worship but the words that were needed to make the heart flow before Allah the
Almighty were not there some people then began to emphasize the words and to develop the spirit and the essence but the physical aspect was not there some have tried to combine the two but again they have been they have remained deficient in one way or another some
People used to stand and worship Allah some people used to Bow some people used to sit um with their legs crossed um or folded over rather and Islam has taken all of those good aspects and in the worship you will see that there are various physical expressions of devotion
Towards Allah the almighty in in the prayer where you stand with your hands tied and there is bowing position there is a prostration then we sit and with all of these various physical expressions of devotion in the obligatory prayers we also have various words that relate to that physical expression so when a
Person stands he Praises Allah the almighty when a person bows he speaks about the greatness of Allah the almighty when a person is prostrate on the ground with his forehead on the ground or her forehead on the ground that person proclaims the the high greatness of Allah the almighty that
I am the lowest and oh Allah you are the highest so this is important in our physical and spiritual progress some people put emphasis on one over the other but this is not and some people raise the objection that Islam has laid over emphasis on the physical aspects
But that’s not true Islam has taken both things together in harmony and it’s important because our physical Expressions have an effect on our heart and if there is no physical expression then we cannot claim that we are um establishing the essence of worship because mere words are not enough Even
In our daily lives if if some person says that I have great respect for you uh in my heart but that person treats you in a very rude manner physically and brushes you away nobody would say that they have respect that inner respect has to be manifested with physical show of
Respect as well so that’s what Islam says that Allah the almighty has given Muslims a body of all human beings in fact a body and a soul and where the physical Expressions affect the soul the soul and our words and our Expressions inside the heart affect our physical
Um feelings as well so for example if a person starts to think about sad things that sadness will become apparent on their face and if a person thinks about something in their heart or in their mind which makes them sad their tears will start to flow also Islam has laid
An equal emphasis on both of these aspects and it says it has prescribed the perfect words which which evoke Sentiments of love and humility and devotion for Allah the almighty in our hearts and it has coupled that with physical expressions in the worship as well and those physical expressions are
Such that they encapsulate all of the different kinds of physical expressions in worship which we find in different places and in different religions throughout the ages absolutely very well we’ll continue this discussion on but as our viewers at home would know as well this is an interactive program and we do
Take questions from our audience at home and let’s see what the viewers have sent for our question today from Accra Ghana my question is tell us more about the war between the Roman and the Persian Empire and the holy prophet of Islam’s prophecy in regards to that war
Just welcome to that question it’s a very important Bilal our view wants to know about the the wars that were taking place between the byzantines and the Persians and as in particular they want to know about the prophecy of Liberty prophesied many many years in advance so
To provide some background at the time when Islam emerged there were two rival superpowers in The Wider region namely the Persians in the East and Northeast and the byzantines in the north and Northwest the two empires of Byzantium and Persia had been at War during most of their
Existence and only really were they at peace but the final and most devastating series of encounters which you’re alluding to is referred to as the Byzantine sassanid war of 602-628 and this took place in the early 7th Century not far from the hijaz the region in which the holy prophet Muhammad was
Preaching now it must be born in mind that the byzantines During the meccan period were decimated by the Persian Empire losing a number of territories including Antioch Damascus and even their most cherished and prized Jerusalem now the quration of Mecca they were idolaters and uh the religion of
Persia Zoroastrianism at that point was similar in the sense of it was a religion of idolatry and thus the quresh was supporting Persia however the Muslims said the Muslims their sentiments were with Constantinople as the byzantines were Christian so on account of there being Christian and being part of the
And obviously the Messiah be uh Jesus Islam being a revered prophet in Islam they felt that they were closer to the byzantines than the sassanid Persians so from a desolate corner of the earth uh the holy prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam received really a really important and significant Revelation and
That is detailed in Surah to room so the holy prophet Muhammad received the following Revelation in which uh Allah Almighty informs him that is the byzantines have been defeated so this is uh alluding to what I refer to the the the annexation of uh where the the Persian annexation of a
Number of Byzantine territories however however although my team proceeds to say which means in the land nearby and they after their defeat will be victorious so it’s important to note that a number of historians of late Antiquity who specialize in the Byzantine Empire can confirm that at that point uh everyone
Would say that Byzantium was on its death bed and it was only a matter of years where Byzantium would be fully annexed by the assassinate Persian Empire and thus the holy prophet Muhammad sallam when he received this Revelation they were the likes of and other idolaters in Mecca who mocked
At this prophecy now the the Abu Bakr of Allah being the companion he is and and the trust that he had in the holy prophet Muhammad and the Revelation that the holy prophet Muhammad was receiving he before the uh before gambling had been prohibited made a bet with obabin
Khalif and some other some of the idolators in Mecca and a date was set for six years however the holy prophet Muhammad upon hearing this mentioned to Abu Bakr said it would have been better if you had been quiet it would have been better if you made it
Less than uh 10 and the reason being is the holy prophet Muhammad understood the Arabic language and the significance of the word bidder which is being used in the verse which means three to nine years and indeed this actually happened if you look at the the historians of late
Antiquity they will tell you that Heracles who was the Emperor of Byzantium at the time led a crusade in the like a dagger Into the Heart of the Bison of the Persian Empire and essentially defeated Persia and re-acquired all of the territory that had lost uh and that was within nine
Years of the prophecy and as mentioned the prophecy said Buddha which is uh between three to nine years and so it was fulfilled magnificently when heraculous came to power as well in fact the the the first thing when he saw that the Persians were completely annihilating um and taking away the
Territory from the Byzantine he actually wanted to uh he sought for peace but in fact they turned around and said no thank you very much I think we can do you know just about well without that as well so but in fact that’s when um Iraqis had to give that last uh ditch
Attempt and then that prophecy is also fulfilled just to give a um our views as well an idea of um when this prophecy was made it seemed absolutely impossible it seemed ridiculous in fact um a very famous English historian Edward given um who is an authority on the Byzantine
Empire writes in his book The History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and I quote at the time when this prediction is said to have been delivered no prophecy could be more distant from its accomplishment since the first 12 years of Heracles announced the approaching dissolution of the
Empire meaning that at that time when this prophecy was made it just seemed like the AZ Bilal mentioned as well that the Byzantine Empire was at its end um but again as we know that Allah the almighty informed the holy prophet um of events of the Unseen outstanding
Um put Milan and very good question from the viewer as well else just before we wrap up today’s discussion um we’ve come to a point in history where now after the Israel after the Mirage the holy prophets tried journeying to tithe but there’s no no success there either but what now where
Does the holy proper where did the Holy Spirit go after this time oh well um Zafir the prophets of God are never disappointed they they never lose hope although the prophet of Islam was hearing the answer no from all four sides he continued on his work and continued to convey his message
Um with trust in Allah the almighty the the meccans were vehement opponents they were persecuting the Muslims brute brutally um when the prophet of Islam went to dive we heard about that incident in the past programs and it’s such an emotional story to hear how our beloved prophet of
Islam was pelted with stones and his body was drenched with blood what the prophet of Islam then began to do was look at other tribes to convey the message um and he would use the the the carnivals that would take place during the year especially during the ashorehuram when people would come for
The pilgrimage all of the tribes from different parts of Arabia would come together and the prophet of Islam would go to those different encampments and convey The Message of Islam and Mia sahib has explained that he went to so many different tribes for example he visited the tribe of uh
So many different tribes he went to and he would convey what what would the prophet of Islam say that Allah the almighty wants you to recognize him and worship him alone and if you do that then Allah the Almighty I have been sent to convey this message to you and if you
Do this then there is no personal gain in it for me you will receive the blessings of Allah the almighty and hazrat Mia sahib says that whichever door the prophet of Islam would go and knock and convey this message to they would say be gone we have no place for
You here but the prophet of us it’s very emotional when you think about it the prophet of Islam was going with such humility to so many different tribes and peoplesh yeah actively trying to and stop and when the prophet Islam would go they would be there Abu lahab would be
There Abu jahl would come and can say that this man is a liar don’t listen to him and the people would say that well if his own relatives think that he’s a liar then why should we accept him but the prophet of Islam continued and he continued dudes conveying this message
Despite the constant nose that he was hearing from everybody and eventually Allah the almighty had prophesied that Islam would would reach the ends of Arabia and even beyond that and when the prophecies were made about this and when um the quresh of Makkah would hear these
Things they would mock at the prophet of his they would mock the prophet of Islam the holy prophet sallallahu they would laugh in his face God forbid that we’ll see when these things happen but the prophet of Islam was so determined and so firm it was as if he
Was a rock a mountain that whose steadfastness could not waver in the face of any obstacle and he continued with that perseverance and that determination and then eventually there was a breakthrough and a small group of people from yesterday they gave they lent an ear to the prophet of Islam
And then they listened to his message and then as we will see in the coming years and in the months to follow um Islam grew and it went out of Makkah and then the rest is history and what a good note to end this program on us as very
Um adequately put we will be discussing these very um uh points that ARS made especially about the Hijra in the next program so viewers until next time do tune in to the Golden Age of Islam assalamu alaikum mm-hmm