Islamic Culture and Religious Studies Book - 3

Lesson 8 : the Hijra of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.)

Allah (S.W.T.) was aware of evil plans of the Kuffar. He revealed this plot to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and addressed him, saying, "You must leave this town immediately and secretly and proceed towards Yathrib. This migration will strengthen Islam and will release the Muslims from the oppression of the Mustakbirin (Oppressors)."

The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) thus prepared for his journey. He knew however, that his house was already under the watch of the enemy and that any suspicious movement could cause them to act faster than they had planned.The Mushrikeen were keeping such a close watch on the house that they even peeped through the window from time to time to ensure that the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) was still there.

The night of the migration, there were 40 men stationed outside his home when the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) called Imam Ali (a.s.) to him. He said to Ali (a.s.), "O Ali, will you assist me in implementing the order of Allah (S.W.T.)?"

Imam Ali (a.s.) asked him how he could do this and the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) explained, "There are about 40 men outside who want to attack kill me. My Lord has informed of their plans and ordered me to leave this town and migrate but if they see that my bed is empty, they will understand that I have left and follow me so that they can carry out their evil plan. I need someone to sleep on my bed so that when they look through the window, they will think that it is I. It is very dangerous situation because the men may kill you instead by mistake. Are you ready to sleep in my bed despite all this?"

Imam Ali (a.s.) asked, "Will you be safe if I do so, Yaa Rasulalah?" The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) told him, "Yes, I will be able to migrate to Medina and succeed in my mission, Insha Allah."

When he heard this, Imam Ali (a.s.) immediately said that he would sleep in the Prophet (s.a.w.w.)'s bed. His firm and definite answer has gone down in history as an example of how ready he was to sacrifice all for the cause of Islam.

Thus, with Imam Ali (a.s.) taking his place in the house, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) set off towards Medina with Abu Bakar as his traveling companion. The 40 Mushrikeen who were to murder the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) had chosen that same night to carry out their evil plot and gathered outside his house.

They wanted to break into the house and murder him in the middle of the night but when they looked through the window and saw his bed occupied they decided that they would leave it for the morning when they could see better. Confident of their numbers and knowing that he could not leave without being seen, they settled down outside the house and waited for sunrise.

With the coming of dawn, they rushed into the house with drawn swords and prepared to kill the Prophet (s.a.w.w.). When Imam Ali (a.s.) heard the noise of their entry he threw off his blanket and they stopped short when they saw that they had the wrong man.

"Where is Muhammad?" they asked angrily.

"Did you leave him in my charge that you are asking me?" Imam (a.s.) replied. Seeing that they had lost their man and would get no information from Imam Ali (a.s.) they quickly left the house to see if they could find him in the town. When they discovered that he was no longer in Mecca, they realized that he must have left for Medina and sent out search parties to hunt for him on the way there.

They also set a prize of money and 100 camels for anyone who managed to capture the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.).

Many were tempted by this offer and set off in small parties to look for the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.). One particular group managed to track the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and Abu Bakr and followed the trail to a cave known as the Cave of Thaur. As they approached the cave, the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and Abu Bakr who were inside, heard them and Abu Bakr became scared that they would be found. The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) reassured him however and told him to place his trust in Allah (S.W.T.).

As the Mushrikeen approached the cave, they saw that a spider had made its web across the entrance and a bird's nest with eggs in it was there too. Knowing that it would have been impossible for anyone to enter the cave without disturbing at least one or both of those things, they abandoned their trail as a false one and headed back to Mecca disappointed. With this amazing miracle, Allah (S.W.T.) saved the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) from being captured by the enemy who would surely have killed him.

The Cave of Thaur was to the south of Mecca while the road to Medina was to the north. Because of this, the people did not come near the cave again and concentrated their search on the northern sides. The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) spent three days in the cave, during which Imam Ali (a.s.) sometimes brought food for them and at other times, Abu Bakr's son Abdullah came with the provisions.

It was on one of these nights that the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) asked Imam Ali (a.s.) to return all the Amanat (trust) of the people that had been left with him and to bring them camels to continue their travels with. After three days, they set out towards Medina, travelling at night and resting during the day so the spies would not catch them.

On their way, one of the Quraysh spies suddenly caught up with them. He wanted to stop the Prophet (s.a.w.w.), who raised his hands and prayed to Allah (S.W.T.): " O Rahmaan! Who takes care of His own servants. O Rahim, Who shows Mercy to His own believers, we praise no one but You. I do worship none but You;

You are the only one Whom I seek assistance from. Oh my Lord, I am migrating towards You, protect us from the evil and take care of us. Indeed, You are the one Who is All-Powerful."

As soon as he finished this du'a, the horse which was galloping towards them, threw its rider off. The rider quickly got back on the horse but it threw him off again.When it did this the third time, he suddenly realized that this was a message for him that was he was planning to do was wrong. He was immediately ashamed and went towards the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) asking for forgiveness.

The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) accepted his apology and asked him to help them by making sure that no one else followed them. The man eagerly agreed to do this.

In the meantime, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) made his way towards Yathrib. The people of Yathrib were so keen to meet him that they - together with the Muhajireen who had already migrated to Medina - rushed out to greet him. They saw him approach at a small village outside Medina called Quba.

Here the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) stopped and waited for Imam Ali (a.s.), who was also bringing the women of the Prophet (s.a.w.w.)'s household, to join him. When Imam (a.s.) arrived, the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) then entered Medina with him and began to establish his base there amongst his sincere followers.

This Hijrat is one of the greatest events in Islam and marks a turning point in the history of the Prophet (s.a.w.w.)'s mission.It is however, important to understand that the Hijrat that Islam encourages us to perform applies at this time, not as a physical movement but as spiritual one.

The Hijrat that each and every one of us must perform individually is the migration from our weaknesses, and sins towards goodness. A person who does this sincerely will find that Allah (S.W.T.) opens the ways to success for him in his lifetime.

A Holy Verse " …Therefore those who fled and were turned out of their homes and persecuted in My way and who fought and were slain, I will forgive their evil deeds and I will most certainly make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow - a reward from Allah and with Allah is the best of rewards." Sura al-Imran, Verse 195

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT…

  1. Allah (S.W.T.) disclosed the plan of the Mushrikeen to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and ordered him to migrate to Medina that very night.

  2. The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) told Ali ibn Abi Taalib (a.s.) about his migration and Imam Ali (a.s.) agreed to sleep in his bed to save his life.

  3. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) hid for three days and nights in the cave of Thaur, and left on the fourth night for Yathrib - where he was to establish his own Islamic government.

  4. When the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) reached near Yathrib, the Muhajirin and Ansaar (Citizens of Medina) came to welcome him at a small village known as Quba

outside of Medina. The Prophet (s.a.w.w.) waited here for Imam Ali (a.s.) to join him.

  1. The Hijrat of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) was one of the greatest events in the history of Islam. For that reason, it was pronounced as the beginning of the Islamic Calendar. All Muslims remember this magnificent event and perform a personal hijrat from ignorance towards light as a way of emulating the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and his noble companions.

Think And Answer

  1. What roles did Imam Ali (a.s.) play during the night of Hijra?

  2. a. For how long did the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) stay in the cave of Thaur?

b. How did the Imam assist the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) during that time?

c. What did the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) tell his companion who was afraid that they would be caught?

  1. Mention two incidents when Divine help came down for the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) during Hijra.

  2. Where did the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) make his first stop after leaving the cave and before reaching Medina?

  3. When did the Islamic Calendar begin and why was this chosen as its starting point?

Introduction To Chapter Five

In The Name Of Allah (S.W.T.), the Beneficent, the Merciful

SOCIO-POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING

While Islam greatly emphasizes the need to understand ideology and cultivate ones spirit, it also deals with the practical life that a Muslim should lead. As much as we need to be good people individually, we also need to create a society that will provide us with a constructive and positive environment in which to lead our lives.

In this chapter we will concentrate the moral, socio-political and ethical instructions that Islam give us as Muslims. We have previously dealt with issues related to governing of the Islamic Ummah, defense in Islam and fighting against the enemies of Islam. We will now turn our attention to Ijtihad and Leadership,

administration of an Islamic Government and Baitul-Maal. On the part of individual training we will discuss anger and the rights and duties of members within the family and society.

Lesson 9 : Ijtihad and Leadership

When someone is sick and needs to have medical attention, what do we do? Do we take him to a blacksmith or a farmer? Of course not! Our first reaction is to call a doctor who has the required knowledge of illnesses and medicines. On the other hand, if we needed the plan for a building, we would not turn to the doctor but seek the advice of an architect. In our lives, we always turn to experts to help us with those problems that we cannot solve on our own. In each case we search for a person who knows about the specific field that we are dealing with.

So then, when we want to know about the laws and regulations of Islam, who should we refer to? Is a sociologist or a psychologist the right person to turn to?

How can that be when such people would not necessarily be fully aware of the divine commands of Islam? In order to deal with questions about religion we need to refer to specialists on Islam.Such people are called FAQIH or MUJTAHID.

A Faqih spends his whole life in researching the aspects of Fiqh (Jurisprudence). He familiarizes himself with the verses of the Holy Qur'an and the ahadith of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.). A Faqih is also familiar with other subjects such as Arabic language, Literature, Usool and Ijtihad. He usually specializes in the religious sciences i.e. Qur'anic sciences and Ilmul-Rijaal (Study of ahadith and Narrators in depth).

In regards to ahadith, he learns to differentiate between authentic, weak and fabricated traditions. Since, not everything written in books can be accepted as a fact, a Faqih needs to be able to research the histories of the Narrators and make comparative studies with the Qur'an. This is so that he can make sure that the traditions he derives his information from are reliable.

A Mujtahid is one who is capable of deriving the true Islamic laws from the ayats of the Holy Qur'an and ahadith. He must have attained the level of ijtihad in order to be able to analyze ahkam (laws) and ahadith (traditions).

Such people are renown as Islamic experts in law, socio-political issues, culture, morals and economics. They can analyze the information at hand and apply it to the situations that Muslims find themselves in with the passing times. Thus they are guides for the Ummah and show the Muslims how to deal with the anti Islamic values that they are bombarded with in their daily lives.

The person whom the Ummah follows at any given time is known as the MARJA'E - TAQLID. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) has said:

"Islamic Jurists are appointed by the prophets as the trustees of Muslim Ummah." Imam Hussayn (a.s.) has spoken on the topic saying:

"Implementation of the Islamic laws should be in the hands of scholars who can be trusted on the issues of the lawful and unlawful." The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) also added:

"At all times there should be group of pious religious scholars within the Muslim society to safeguard Islam and its divine laws - those who can remain steadfast and firm in the Islamic beliefs." More recently, Imam Khomeini (May the Almighty be pleased with his soul) has said:

"If we did not have Islamic jurists from the early days of Islam, today we would have remained ignorant about Islam. It was the Fuqaha who made us aware of Islam. They struggled and persevered in the writings and teachings of Islam. It is our duty to safeguard the noble school of Islamic jurisprudence."

A Faqih who is Adil (Just), Muttaqi (Pious) and has the required qualities of leadership assumes the responsibility of guiding the Muslim Ummah during the absence of the Twelfth Imam, Al-Mahdi (a.s.). It is the duty of Muslims to follow such a person's guidance.

Imam Khomeini (May the Almighty be pleased with his soul) was just such a personality. He advocated and led the triumphant Islamic Revolution in Iran, which then spread globally and united the Ummah in its efforts to re-ignite its faith.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT…

  1. Just as we refer to different specialists for our different problems, we need to refer to specialists in Islam for our queries regarding religion.

  2. A Faqih is an Islamic expert i.e. one who aware of the laws - individual, social, political and religious - and who can guide the Ummah with wisdom in the current times to fulfill the divine goals of Islam.

Think And Answer

  1. Who should we refer to, when we need to know the Islamic Laws?

  2. For a Faqih to understand, evaluate and analyse the ahkam of Islam, what are some of the sciences he needs to be well versed in?

  3. Can we accept and rely on every hadith? Explain your answer.

  4. What criteria do we use to check the reliability of a hadith?

  5. What has the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) said about the Fuqaha?

  6. What are the qualities and duties of a Marja'e? What are the duties of Muslims regarding him? Explain your answer.