Bilal's Bedtime Stories (part Two)

Ahle Bait At Mubahala

In the south of Arabia, there is a place called Najran. There lived the Christian tribe of Najran who staunchly believed that Hazrat Isa (a.s.) (Jesus) was the son of God. The Prophet invited them to accept Islam. In response to that, a delegation of their priests and elders came to Madina.

They wanted to discuss religon with the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w.). Their argument was that Jesus was born without a father, so he was the son of God. The Holy Prophet explained to them that just as Allah created Prophet Adam without a father or even a mother, in the same way He created Jesus without a father. Hence Jesus was a servant of Allah as was Prophet Adam.

The Christians did not agree with this simple truth. They stuck to their belief that Jesus was the son of God. The Prophet asked them to wait. Then came the following Revelation (message from Allah):

"But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: Come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and our near people and your near people, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of Allah on the liars." (3:61) It was then agreed that the Christians seek MUBAHILA with the Prophet. The meaning of MUBAHILA is that both of them invoke from Allah that he, who speaks the truth may survive and he, who is untrue may perish.

On the day of Mubahila, the Prophet of Islam took with him his grandsons - Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Husain (a.s.), his daughter Fatima Zehra (a.s) and his cousin and son-in-iaw Hazrat Ali (a.s.). But on seeing the radiant faces of these sinless members of the household of the Prophet, the Christians got scared. They decided not to seek Mubahila any more but accepted their defeat. They agreed to pay tribute and returned home.

The Prophet, before going for Mubahila, was commanded by Allah to take with him his sons, his women and his souls. The Holy Prophet obeyed this command as under:

In place of his sons, he took with him Imam Hasan (a.s.) and Imam Husain (a.s.). in place of women, he took Fatima Zehra (a.s.). In place of his souls, he took Hazrat Ali (a.s.).

This is how he showed to the world who the true and real members of his Ahle-Bait (People of the House of Prophet) were. To love them has been obligatory (wajib) command of Allah on every Muslim. The Holy Quran says:

"That is of which Allah gives the good news to His servants, (to) those who believe and do good deeds. Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives; and whoever earns good, We give him more of good therein; surely Allah is Forgiving, Grateful." (42:23)

The Prophet and his Ahle-bait sacrificed all the worldly comforts and even their lives in order to convey the true religion of Islam to us. In return of their sacrifices, we are commanded by God to love them. The aim is that through their love, we follow their footsteps. We follow the true teachings of Islam taught by them, so that we live a good and decent life in this world and earn the pleasure of God in the life hereafter.

Bat - God's Wonderful Creature

Hazrat Sulaiman was one of the early Prophets of Islam. He is also popularly known as King Solomon. He was sent not only as a Prophet but also as a king with power to rule over men, jinn, animals etc. Even water, air, sun and moon were under his control.

Of the countless creatures of Almighty Allah, four once came to petition to Hazrat Sulaiman. The first was the Sun which requested him to pray that it be allowed by Allah to remain stationary instead of constantly revolving round from East to West and back. The second to petition was the Snake who requested to be provided with feet like other animals instead of having to move from place to place over its tummy.

The third was the Air which complained that it was made to blow all the time from one direciton to another. It wanted to be allowed to rest at one place. The fourth was Water which appealed to remain still at one place instead of constant flowing from place to place and from one country to another.

Hazrat Sulaiman was also blessed with the knowledge of animal language. He called in the bat and asked its opinion on the four petitions presented to him. The bat said "O Prophet of Allah! If the sun were to remain motionless at one place, there would be no day and night.

There is a purpose behind its movement, so that its rays reaches every place. And the life of everything is dependant upon water. If it were to remain still at one place, Allah's creatures would perish for lack of water nearby the place of their residence.

As for the snake, it is an enemy of human beings. Despite the fact that it has no hands or legs, still other creatures are afraid of it. If it were to have them, it would indulge in killing others all the time. As for the wind, without its blowing, the changes in weather and seasons would not occur and harvests would suffer."

Hazrat Sulaiman concurred with these views. But those four creatures turned out to become the enemies of the bat. The sun said that wherever I see it, I shall burn its wings and hair. The water said I shall drown it. The wind-said I shall destroy it and the snake vowed to poison it wherever it was found.

The bat prayed to Allah complaining that it was a weak creature to be able to survive in face of these four enemies. What it said afterall only the truth about the nature of things as created by Him. The bat was assured of full protection from Allah. There is no doubt that whosoever entrusts his problems to and relies on Him, he receives His blessings and protection.

To protect it from the sun, the bat was made to see and fly only at night and unable to see and come out during the day. It was created independent of water. It has been supplied with two glands in the chest, one full of water and the other with milk so that it could suck from its own chest whenever it felt thristy. The faeces of the bat has been made poison for the snake. Thus the snake never attempts to go near the bat as the very strong smell of its faeces is also harmful.

This shows how Allah protects those who speak the truth and pray for His protection. Allah does not desert those who rely on Him.

In this world of ours, God Almighty has created countless varieties of animals. Scientists have divided them into different classes according to their external features and characteristics. Among these different classes of animals, one group is known as MAMMAL.

Mammals are warm-blooded animals which have hairs on their bodies. They give birth to children and suckle them. The have four limbs and have their teeth fixed in sockets in the jaw. An exceptional kind of mammal is the BAT, they are the only animals that can fly.

Bats are said to be found in all countries and climates except in the polar regions. The greatest number of these are found in the tropics where climate is generally warm. Those that live in colder climates migrate to warmer countries. It is said there are at least 2000 species - varieties of Bats existing in this world. In general, they can be divided into two main groups: the fruit eaters and the insect eaters. There are others which feed on meat, fish, nectar and blood.

A bat's wings are different from those of birds. They are formed from membranes or webs of skin which are supported and spread out by the bat's very long front limbs and fingers.

Scientists have only recently found the feature of Bats and described them, but over 1300 years ago, Islam had given to the world the facts about the Creation of this animal and its existence. Hazral Ali (a.s.), the First Imam, was giving a sermon in which he was praising Almighty God and explaining how he created everything with perfection and without specimen or a model made by Somebody else. To those who wanted to know the art and wonders of the creation designed by Him, the 1 st Imam advised them to study deeply how the body of a bat has been created. The Imam said:

"He (Almighty God) granted to a bat wings of flesh (not of feathers) and whenever it so desires, it can rise and fly with their help. They appear as if they are parts of its ears, having neither feathers nor bones but you can very easily see the line of arteries and veins running in them.

These two wings are neither so thin as to snap nor so thick as to be too heavy. When it flies its young one adheres and attaches itself to its mother's body, taking shelter under its expanding wings, it goes up and comes down along with mother and never parts from its parent unless it grows strong and its wings get powerful and sturdy enough to bear the weight of its body, and unless it develops enough animal instinct to recognize its food and the factors of its safety and well-being." (Nahjul Balaghah sermon 155)

The main feature of bats is that they sleep during the day and feed at night. The remarkable thing is their 'radar' system, which enables them to find their way about on the darkest night. This is because they have extremely sensitive ears which operate a kind of radio detection called echo-location.

From the throat, they send out fast vibrations in the form of shrill sounds which strike nearby objects. The echo bounces back and the time this takes tells them exactly how close an object is. These supersonic sounds can't be heard by the human ears.

On this wonderful feature of bats, Hazrat Ali a.s. said, "Day light, the medium, with whose help most of the animals see, behold, observe and perceive things and distinguish one from the other, makes a bat blind.

Darkness which sends many of the animals to retirement, acts as a medium of vision to it. It has been prevented to move from place to place during day light and to sleep out its days in its lair. But it converts its nights into days.

Dark night is like a bright day to it. It comes out to search for its food. Pitch darkness is for it no obstacle to convey itself from one place to another and to see things clearly. But as soon as a day dawns and the sun rises sending its light in every nook and corner, it goes back to its hideout closing its eyes to the brightness of the sun, it satisfies itself with what it had gathered during the night.

Glory be to God Who made the darkness of a night act for a bat as the light of a day to work and search for its food Who made the day a time for its rest and retirement." (Nahjul Balaghah sermon 155)