إجازة الشيخ أحمد بن محمد بن أحمد لبن بقراءة الإمام عاصم

موضوع: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:19 am

PART THREE
14- The Termination of Prophethood
In the early years of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission, a man who had come to Makkah on a pilgrimage was asked on his return to his country what was new in Makkah. “Muhammad has claimed prophethood,” he answered, but the only person of any distinction who has become a follower of his is the son of Abu Qahafah (Abu Bakr). From this answer one can tell what people thought of the Prophet in A.D. 6I0, when he commenced his mission. In those days, his opponents used to refer to him as if he were a village lad, calling him Ibn Abi Kabshah, i.e. the son of his village foster parents, simply in order to deride him. Those who preferred to be more polite would call him “a youth from the Quraysh.”
This was how the Prophet was referred to in his own lifetime. Now, centuries later, things have changed. The prophethood of Muhammad is no longer a controversial matter; it has become an established fact. Now, when one thinks of the Prophet Muhammad, it is a great historical personality that springs to mind, one who has been a subject of discussion for generation upon generation over whether his claim to prophethood was genuine or the result of over-zealous ambition.
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He would take his place in history as a prophet of God. His name would stand out in the seas of time, like a beacon beckoning people to belief. There would be no difficulty for people in recognizing him as God’s Prophet, believing in him, and winning a share in God’s eternal blessings.
There are several traditions according to which the Prophet is reported as saying that his followers would be more numerous than those of any other prophet. This is another way of making the same point. After Muhammad there would be no other prophet. Never again would his followers have to choose between belief and disbelief. They would continue to grow in number until the coming of the Last Day. A look at Israelite history will help to illustrate this point.
The Jews who lived in the time of Jesus believed in God’s law as revealed to Moses. Yet when a new prophet—Jesus, the son of Mary—arose amongst them, they denied him.
They continued to believe in their own historic prophet and refused to believe in the prophet of their day. Seven hundred years later, the Prophet of Arabia was sent to the world. By this time the number of Christians in the world had increased considerably. History, however, was to repeat itself.
Christians were not prepared to believe in an Ishmaeli, rather than an Israeli Prophet. Again they retained their faith in a historically established Prophet—Jesus—but did not believe in a contemporary one—Muhammad. Except for a few Christians who accepted Islam, those who had been believers in Jesus became disbelievers in his successor.
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Thanks to the termination of prophethood, the followers of Muhammad are never again going to have to choose between an ancient Prophet and a modern one. Never again—at least in the present world—will they be forced to opt for the old or the new—something which occurs in the community of an historic Prophet when a contemporary Prophet visits them.
The installation of the Prophet Muhammad on the pinnacle of history, on what the Quran calls “a position of praise and glory,” 2 is one factor contributing to his being “a mercy for all nations.”3 Historically, the position of Muhammad as a Prophet of God cannot be questioned; that is the nature of his position of praise and glory in this world. On the Day of Resurrection, it will be made manifest in the form of special divine favour being conferred upon him.
It would be a mistake to think that the Prophet Muhammad’s elevation to such a position was a simple matter of selection. It was to bring a revolution in human history. Only an individual of the highest moral calibre, only one able to perform unparalleled feats of self-sacrifice and steadfastness would be considered fit to be chosen. For this task the Lord saw fit to call upon Muhammad: You who are wrapped up in your vestment, arise and give warning. Magnify your Lord, cleanse your garments, and keep away from all pollution. Bestow no favours expecting gain. Be patient for your Lord’s sake.4
The great soul “wrapped up in his vestment’ responded to the call and participated in the divine scheme with wholehearted dedication, although many were his trials and tribulations before the prophetic mission, which was to be a mercy for the whole world, reached completion.
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The coming of repeated prophets, one after the other, to the world, had been a severe test for humanity. Now this era had passed and there would be one acknowledged Prophet for all time, enabling people to enter into the sphere of God’s mercy in an unending procession.
With God’s choice of Muhammad, then, prophethood was given historical credibility. This meant that no more prophets had to come to the world in future. But it was not merely a matter of divine proclamation. Certain conditions had to be fulfilled before this could happen. Firstly, God’s commandments relating to every walk of human life had to be revealed. This was duly accomplished as the Quran itself states: “It is He who has revealed the Quran for you fully explained.”5 Secondly, a perfect pattern had to be presented before mankind. The Prophet Muhammad provided mankind with just such a “good example,”6 and this condition was fulfilled. Thirdly, there had to be arrangement for the permanent preservation of the Quran. This task Almighty God took upon Himself: “It was We who revealed Quran, and We will certainly preserve it.”7
God’s way with previous prophets had been to send them with certain signs and miracles. The prophets, for their part, left no stone unturned in discharging their duty to communicate the word of God to their peoples. In the process they proved that they had been sent by God by performing wondrous acts. If, in spite of all this, people did not believe, then there was no more that the prophets could do. It was now time for God’s angels to take action, bringing down punishment on the disbelievers.
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With the final Prophet, however, it was decided that the people he addressed should not be subjected to this form of divine punishment. Rather, the Prophet himself, along with his companions, were told that those who still did not believe and who actually attacked Islam would be punished at the hands of the Muslims. 8 In other words, the task which used to be performed by angels would be accomplished by the hands of men.
It was due to this divine verdict that even after emigration and after having fully communicated the word of God to them until there remained no rational ground for denial, yet, unlike the peoples in the times of the previous prophets, they were visited by no all-consuming manifestation of the wrath of God. Rather, the Prophet and his companions were made to confront them on the battlefield.
God’s succour assisted the believers against their foes, and they emerged victorious. So it was that God’s religion was established on the Arabian Peninsula in the form of a State.
It is God’s way to reveal His commandments in the context of relevant circumstances. Since the religion the Prophet left to the world had to be complete in every detail, so had his mission to pass through every walk of human life. Only then would a correct pattern of life dealing with matters of both individual and general concern be established for coming generations. As Muslims continued to engage themselves in defuse against non-Muslims who refused to believe and attacked them, the granting of God’s revelation was nearing completion.
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Commandments relating to different situations were being revealed, not all at the same time, but gradually, in accordance with the prevailing situations. The decision to have disbelievers punished at the hands of Muslims rather than by angels thus played an important part in the completion of Shari’ah, for only if the Prophet were made to face every form of human situation would he be able to display every facet of the Islamic way of life. The course that events themselves took enabled the Prophet to show, not only how one should live at home, but how one should conduct oneself on the battlefield, and in position of power. The model that he left for coming generations covers every walk of life, and stands preserved until the coming of the Last Day.
The provision that God made for the termination of prophethood also produced circumstances conducive to the preservation of the Quran, the revealed word of God.
If previous scriptures had not been preserved in their original form, it was because no protective power had emerged in support of them. But the Prophet and his companions fought against their adversaries and established Islamic rule in a substantial portion of the globe, so that the Book of God enjoyed state protection, its immunity from all attempts to change or destroy it being thus ensured. The Quran was preserved for one thousand years in this way, with one generation passing it on to the next under the protective wing of an Islamic government. Then mankind entered the age of the printing press, and there was no further danger of the Quran being destroyed.
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It would be a mistake to think that all this was accomplished smoothly. In order to establish Islam as the ruling religion, thus ensuring the preservation of the Book of God, the Prophet and his companions had to suffer torments of unbearable intensity. The pagans wanted to see miracles.
The Prophet, too, would have liked to have been able to produce miraculous signs of his prophethood. But it was not to be. Instead, the Prophet’s character and demeanour had to take the place of miracles. The Prophet’s opponents were not visited by any celestial or terrestrial punishment from God, as had been the case with those who denied the prophets of old.
The Prophet and his companions had themselves to do what earthquakes and volcanoes had previously been used for—punish the disbelievers. The Book of God was not revealed all at once; the period of revelation extended over twenty-three years. During this time the Muslims, under the leadership of the Prophet, had to cross all the deep rivers and climb every high mountain of life, so that the path, which God desired His servants to follow, could be fully mapped out.
The trials, which the Prophet and his companions underwent during this, period, reached a height of intensity called in the Quran “a tremendous shaking.” 9 The Prophet was given the immensely arduous directive not to compromise in any way with his oppressors.10 However difficult the circumstances, he and his companions were given no leave to “stay behind,”11 in face of the call of God.
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Were the Prophet’s wives to demand as much as two meals a day, then they were given notice to choose between “this life and all its finery”, on the one hand, or God and His Messenger on the other.12
The establishment of the prophethood, which would become a subject of “praise and glory”, was the most hazardous project in the entire annals of human history. Even the Prophet was forced to admit that he had been persecuted “as no other Prophet” had been. In the words of his wife ‘A’ishah, he was “shattered” by the treatment meted out to him in spite of he and his companions having denied themselves the comforts, even the necessities of life, in order to make the prophethood of Muhammad “a mercy for all nations.”
This is the great favour, which the Prophet Muhammad bestowed upon the human race. Because of it his followers have been called upon to invoke peace and blessings upon him until the end of time. His family and his companions are also included in this invocation, for they stood by the Prophet through thick and thin, remaining with him throughout the most gruelling afflictions. It is only natural that those who acknowledge the favour of the Prophet of Islam should express their gratitude to him. The peace and blessings, which Muslims invoke upon their Prophet, are an expression of their gratitude in the form of prayer. As the Prophet himself said: “Miserly is the one who hears mention of my name, and does not invoke peace and blessing upon me.”13
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NOTES
1. Quran, 17:79.
2. Quran, 17:79.
3. Quran, 2I:107.
4. Quran, 74:1-7.
5. Quran, 6:114.
6. Quran, 33:21.
7. Quran, 15: 9.
8. Quran, 9:14.
9. Quran, 33:11.
10. Quran, 17:75.
11. Quran, 9:119.
12. Quran, 33:28.
13. Hadith of Tirmidhi and Nasa’i.
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They ask: “Why has no sign been given him by his Lord?” Say: “Signs are in the hands of God. My mission is only to give plain warning.” Is it not enough for them that We have revealed to you the Book which is recited to them? Surely in this there is a blessing and an admonition to true believers.3
There are many different aspects of the Quran’s miraculous nature.
Here we are going to concentrate on just three:
I. The language of the Quran—Arabic—has, unlike other international languages, remained a living form of communication over the ages.
2. The Quran is unique among divine scriptures in that its text has remained intact in the original form.
3. The Quran challenged its doubters to produce a book like it. No one has been able to take up this challenge, and produce anything comparable to the Book of God.
The languages in which all the ancient scriptures were revealed have been locked in the archives of history. The only exception is Arabic, the language of the Quran, which is still current in the world today. Millions of people still speak and write the language in which the Quran was revealed nearly 1500 years ago. This provides stunning proof of the miraculous nature of the Quran, for there is no other book in history which has been able to make such an impact on its language; no other book has moulded a whole language according to its own style, and maintained it in that form over the centuries.
Take the Injil, known as the New Testament, of which the oldest existing copy is in Greek and not Aramaic, the language which Jesus is thought to have spoken.
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That means that we only possess a translated account of what the Prophet Jesus said and did; and that too, in ancient Greek, which is considerably different from the modern language. By the end of the 19th century the Greek language had changed so much that the meaning of at least 550 words in the New Testament—about 12% of the entire text—was challenged. At that time a German expert, Adolf Deissman, discovered some ancient scrolls in Egypt. From them it emerged that biblical Greek was in fact a colloquial version of classical Greek. This language was spoken in Palestine during the first century A.D. Deissman was able to attach meanings to some of the unknown words, but there are another fifty words whose meanings are still unknown.4
Ernest Renan (1823 - 1894) carried out extensive research on Semitic languages. He wrote a book on their vocabularies, in which he had this to say about the Arabic language: The Arabic language is the most astonishing event of human history. Unknown during the classical period, it suddenly emerged as a complete language. After this, it did not undergo any noticeable changes, so one cannot define for it an early or a late stage. It is just the same today as it was when it first appeared.5
In acknowledging this “astonishing event of human history” Renan, a French orientalist, is in fact acknowledging the miraculous nature of the Quran. It was the Quran’s phenomenal literary style, which preserved the Arabic language from alteration, such as other languages, have undergone. The noted Christian writer, Jurgi Zaydan (1861-1914) is one of the scholars to have recognized this fact. In a book on Arabic literature he writes: No religious book has had such an impact on the language in which it was written as the Quran has had on Arabic literature.6
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World languages have changed so much over the ages that no expert in any modern language is able to understand its ancient form without the aid of a dictionary. There have been two main causes of language alteration—upheavals in the social order of a nation and development of a language’s literature. Over the centuries these factors have been at work in Arabic, just as in other languages. The difference is that they have not been able to change the structure of the Arabic language. The Arabic that is spoken today is the same as that which was current in Makkah when the Quran was revealed.
Homer’s Ilyad (850 B.C.), Tulsi Das’ Ramayan (A.D. 1623), and the dramas of Shakespeare (1564-1616), are considered literary masterpieces of their respective languages. They have been read and performed continuously from the time of their compilation until the present day. But they have not been able to keep the languages in which they were written from alteration. The Greek of Homer, the Sanskrit of Tulsi Das and even the English of Shakespeare, are now classical rather than modern languages.
The Quran is the only book to have moulded a language in its own form, and maintained it in that form over the ages. There have been various intellectual and political upheavals in Arab countries, but the Arabic language has remained as it was when the Quran was revealed. No change in Arab social order has been able to alter in any way the Arabic tongue.
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This fact is a clear indication that the Quran came from a supernatural source. One does not have to look any further than the history of the last 1500 years to see the miraculous nature of the Book revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:23 am

SOCIAL UPHEAVALS
The example of Latin shows how social upheavals affect languages. Though in latter days Italy became the centre of atin, it was not originally a product of that country. Around the 12th century B.C., during the Iron Age, many central European tribes spread out into surrounding regions. Some of them, especially the Alpine tribes, entered Italy and settled in and around Rome. Their own language mixed with the language of Rome, and that was how Latin was formed. In the third century B.C. Lubus Andronicus translated some Greek tales and dramas into Latin, thus making it a literary language. The Roman Empire was established in the first century B.C., and Latin became the official language. The strength of Latin was even further reinforced by the spread of Christianity. With the support of religious and political institutions, and backed by social and economic forces, Latin continued to spread until eventually it came to cover almost the whole of ancient Europe. At the time of St. Augustine, Latin was at its peak, and right up to the Middle Ages it was considered the main international language.
The 8th century A.D. was an age of Muslim conquest. The Romans were forced to take refuge in Constantinople, which became the capital of the eastern half of the Empire, until in 1453 the Turks took Constantinople and banished the Romans from this, their last stronghold.
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The decline of the Roman Empire enabled various local languages to flourish, notably French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Latin, the parent language, had a strong influence on all of them, but itself remained only as the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. No longer a living tongue, it retained only historic interest, and continued to be used to explain technical, legal and scientific terms. Without a good grasp of Latin, for instance, one cannot read Newton’s Principia in the original.
Every classical language followed much the same pattern, changing along with social circumstances until, eventually, the original language gave way to another, completely changed one. Ethnic integration, political revolutions, and cultural clashes always left a deep mark on the language that they affected. These factors have been at work on the Arabic language over the last 1500 years, but, amazingly, it has remained intact. This extraordinary resilience of the Arabic language is entirely due to the miraculous spell the Quran has cast on it.
In the year A.D. 70, some Jewish tribes left Syria and settled in Madinah, where the Arabic-speaking ‘Amaliqah tribe lived. Along with the ‘Amaliqahs, the Jews took Arabic as their language, but the Arabic that they spoke was different from common Arabic, retaining a strong Hebrew influence.
After the coming of Islam, Arabs settled in many parts of Africa and Asia where other languages besides Arabic were spoken. Their intermingling with other races, however, did not have any effect on the Arabs’ language, which remained in its original state.
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In the very first century after the revelation of the Quran, Arabic was exposed to the sort of forces, which cause a language to alter radically. This was when Islam spread among various Arab tribes, who began to congregate in major Muslim cities. There was considerable variety of intonation and accent among the different Arab tribes. So much so that Abu ‘Amr ibn al-’Ula’ was moved to remark that the “Himyar tribe do not speak our language; their vocabulary is quite different from ours.” ‘Umar ibn Khattab once took before the Prophet an Arab whom he had heard reciting the Quran. The Arab had been pronouncing the words of the Quran in such a strange manner that ‘Umar was unable to make out what part of the Book of God he was reading. The Prophet once spoke to a visiting delegation of some Arab tribe in their own dialect. It seemed to ‘Ali as if the Prophet was speaking in a foreign tongue.
The main reason for this difference was variation in accent. For instance, the Banu Tamim, who lived in the eastern part of Najd, were unable to say the letter ‘j’, (jiim) and used to pronounce it as ‘y’ (Ye) instead. The word for mosque (masjid), they used to pronounce ‘masyid’, and instead of’ shajarat’ (trees), they would say’ sharat’. ‘Q’ (Qaaf) they pronounced as ‘j’, (je) calling a ‘tariq’ (road) a ‘tarij’, a ‘sadiq’ (friend) a ‘sadij’, ‘qadr’ (value) ‘ jadr’ and ‘qasim’ (distributor) ‘jasim’. According to normal linguistic patterns, the coming together of tribes who spoke such varying dialects should have initiated a fresh process of change in the Arabic language, but this was not to be.
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The supreme eloquence of the language of the Quran guarded Arabic from any such transformation. What happened instead has been explained in the following words by Dr. Ahmad Hasan Zayyat: After the coming of Islam, the Arabic language did not remain the monopoly of one nation. It became the language of all those who entered the faith.7
Then these Arab Muslims left their native land, conquering territory extending from Kashghar in the east to Gibralter in the west. Persian, Qibti, Berber, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Aramaic and Suryani were among the languages spoken by the peoples they came into contact with. Some of these nations were politically and culturally more advanced than the Arabs.
Iraq, bastion of an ancient civilization and the cultural centre of major tribes, was one of the countries they entered. They mingled with the Iranians, masters of one of the world’s two great empires. The highly advanced Roman civilization, and an expanding Christian religion, were two of the forces that they clashed with. Among the countries they occupied was Syria, where Phoenician, Ghassanid, Greek, Egyptian and Cana’anian tribes had left behind outstanding traditions in literature and ethics. Then there was Egypt, the meeting place of oriental and occidental philosophy. These factors were more than enough to transform the Arabic language, as had been the case with other tongues exposed to similar forces.
But they were rendered ineffective by the Quran, a specimen of such unrivalled literary excellence that no power could shake the language in which it had been written.
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With the conquests of Islam, Arabic no longer belonged to one people alone; it became the language of several nations and races. When the “ajamis’8 of Asia and Africa accepted Islam, they gradually adopted Arabic as their language.
Naturally, these new converts were not as proficient in speaking the language as the Arabs of old. Then the Arabs in their turn were affected by the language spoken by their new co-religionists. The deterioration of Arabic was especially evident in large, cosmopolitan cities, where there was more intermingling of races. First it was the rank and file, those who did not pay much attention to the finer points of linguistics, who were affected. But the cultural elite did not remain immune either. A man once came to the court of Ziyad ibn Umayyah and lamented. “Our fathers have died, leaving small children,” with both “fathers” and “children” in the wrong case. Mistakes of this nature became commonplace, yet the Arabic language remained essentially the same.
Shielded by the Quran’s supreme eloquence, written Arabic was not corrupted by the degradation of the spoken version.
It remained cast in the mould of the Quran. For proof of the Quran’s miraculous nature, one has only to look at all the traumatic experiences that Arabic has been through over the last 1500 years. If it had not been for the protective wing of the Quran, the Arabic language would surely have been altered. The unsurpassable model that was established by the Quran remained the immutable touchstone of standard Arabic.
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The fall of the Umayyad dynasty in the second century The buildings of Iran excel all others in beauty. As the season of spring excels all other seasons. An Arab youth goes amongst them, His face, his hands, his tongue, a stranger in their midst. Solomon, they say, used to converse with the jinns, but were he to visit the Iranians, he would need a translator.9
It was the Quran’s literary greatness alone, which kept Arabic from being permanently scarred by these upheavals. The language always returned to its Quranic base, like a ship which, after weathering temporary storms on the high seas, returns to the safety of its harbour.
During the reign of the caliph Mutawakkil (A.H. 207-247), large numbers of ‘Ajamis—especially Iranians and Turks—entered Arab territory. In 656 the Mongolian warrior Hulaku Khan sacked Baghdad. Later the Islamic empire received a further setback when, in 898, Andalusia fell to the Christians.
The Fatimid dynasty, which had held sway in Egypt and Syria, did not last long either: in 923 they were replaced by the Ottoman Turks in large stretches of Arab territory. Now the centre of Islamic government moved from Cairo to Constantinople; the official language became Turkish instead of Arabic, which continued to assimilate a number of foreign words and phrases.
The Arab world spent five hundred and fifty years under the banner of Ajami (non Arab) kings. Persian, Turkish and Mughal rulers even made attempts to erase all traces of the Arabic language. Arabic libraries were burnt, schools destroyed; scholars of the language found themselves in disgrace.
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The Ottoman emperors launched an anti-Arabic campaign, fittingly called “Tatrik al-’Arab” (Turkisation of Arabs) by the well-known reformer Jamaluddin Afghani (1838-97). But no effort was strong enough to inflict any permanent scar on the face of Arabic. Fierce attacks were launched on Arabic language and literature by the Tartars in Bukhara and Baghdad, by the Crusaders in Palestine and Syria, then by other Europeans in Andalusia. According to the history of other languages, these assaults on Arab culture should have been sufficient to eradicate the Arabic language completely. One would have expected Arabic to have followed the path of other languages and merged with other Semitic tongues. Indeed, it would be true to say that if Arabic had not come up against Turkish ignorance and Persian prejudice, it would be spoken throughout the Muslim world today. Still, its very survival in the Arab world was due solely to the miraculous effect of the Quran. The greatness of the Quran compelled people to remain attached to Arabic. It inspired some Arab scholars—Ibn Manzur (A.H. 630-711) and Ibn Khaldun (A.H. 732-808) being two that spring to mind—to produce, in defiance of the government of the day, works of great literary and academic excellence.
Napoleon’s entry into Cairo (1798) ushered in the age of the printing press in the Middle East. Education became the order of the day. The Arabic language was invested with new life. Yet the centuries of battering that Arabic had received was bound to leave its mark: instead of pure Arabic, a mixture of Arabic and Turkish had been taken as the official language in Egypt and Syria.
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The situation changed again with the British occupation of Egypt in 1882. They opposed Arabic with all their strength, prescribing compulsory English in schools and eliminating other languages from syllabi. The French did the same in areas over which they had gained control. With the colonial powers forcing their subjects to learn their languages, Arabic lived in the shadow of English and French for over one hundred years. Yet it still remained in its original form.
Certainly, it assimilated new words—the word “dabbabah’ meaning tank, for instance, which had previously been used for a simple battering ram. New styles of writing emerged. If anyone were to write a book about why people adopt Islam today, he might call it. “Li madha aslamna’ (Why we accepted Islam?), whereas in the old days rhythmical and decorative titles were preferred. Many words were adopted by the Arabic language—the English word “doctor” for example. But such changes were just on the surface. Arabic proper still remained the same as it had been centuries ago, when the Quran was revealed.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:28 am

LITERARY ADVANCEMENT
Once in a while, writers of outstanding status appear on a language’s literary scene. When this happens, the language in which they write undergoes some change, for their literary masterpieces influence the mode of popular expression. In this way languages are continually passing through progressive evolutionary stages, until eventually they become quite different from their original form. With Arabic this did not happen.
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At the very outset of Arabic history, the Quran set a literary standard that could not be excelled. Arabic maintained the style set for it by the Quran. No masterpiece comparable to the Quran was destined to be produced after it; so Arabic remained cast in the mould of that divine symphony.
Take the example of English. In the 7th century A.D. it was just an ordinary local dialect, not geared to the expression of profound intellectual thought. For another five hundred years this situation continued. The Normans conquered England in 1066 and, when the founding father of the English language—Geoffrey Chaucer—was born around 1340, the official language of their court was still French.
Chaucer himself had a command of Latin, French and Italian, besides his native English. This, along with his great gifts of scholarship, enabled him to make English into an academic language. To use Ernest Hauser’s words, he gave the English language a “firm boost” with his Canterbury Tales. Chaucer transformed a dialect into a language, paving the way for fresh progress in times to come.
For two hundred years English writers and poets followed Chaucer’s guidelines. When William Shakespeare (1558-1625) appeared on the scene, English took another step forward. His dramas and poems set a new literary standard, enabling English to march further forward. The coming of the scientific age two hundred years later had a tremendous impact on every stratum of society. Language now began to follow the dictates of science. Prose became more popular than poetry, factual expression more effective than story- telling. Dozens of poets and writers from Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) to T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) were representative of this trend.
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They were the makers of the modern age of English literature through which we are now passing. The same thing happened with other languages. Writers, or groups of writers, kept on emerging who became more popular than their predecessors. Whenever they appeared, they steered the language on a new course. Eventually every language changed so much that it became impossible for a person to understand the ancient form of his own tongue without the aid of dictionaries and commentaries.
There is only one exception to his universal trend, and that is Arabic. The claim of the Quran, that no one would ever be able to write a book like it, has been borne out to the letter. For further proof of this fact, one need only look at the various attempts to produce a work equal to the Quran that have been made over the centuries. All attempts have failed dismally. Musaylimah ibn Habib, Tulayhah ibn Khuwaylid, Nadr ibn al-Harith, Ibn al-Rawandi, Abu’l ‘Ala’ al-Ma’rri, Ibn al-Muqaffa’, Al-Mutanabbi, and many others, have tried their hand at it but their efforts, like Musaylimah’s extraordinary reference to “God’s blessing upon pregnant women, extracting from them a sprightly life, from between the stomach and the foetal membrane”10 look ridiculous when compared with the literary majesty of the Quran.
But the greatest substantiation of the Quran’s claim that no one would be able to write a work like it11 comes from what Ernest Renan has called the “linguistic miracle” of the Arabic language.
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As with every other language, masters of Arabic—great poets and writers—have appeared over the ages. But, in the 1500 years since the Quran was revealed, no one has been able to produce a work that excelled the Quran. The standard that the Quran set has never been improved upon. Arabic has remained on the course that the Quran set for it. If the Quran had ever been bettered, Arabic would not have remained stable as it has. It would have received a new impetus, and set out on a fresh course.
The impact that the Quran has had on Arabic is like that of a writer who produces a work of unsurpassable literary excellence at the very beginning of a language’s history.
After such a figure has made his mark, no lesser writer can change the face of the language. The Quran was revealed in the Arabic current at the time, casting it in a more elevated literary mould than had ever been seen before or afterwards.
By making vital additions to traditional modes of expression, the Quran opened the way for expansion of the Arabic language. The use of word “One” (ahad) in the 112th chapter of the Quran, entitled “The Unity,” is a good example.
Previously it had been used in the genitive to express “one of us” for example, or for the “first day’ of the week, Saturday or Yawm al-Ahad. It was used for general negations, as in maja’ni ahadun—”no one came to see me.” But in using ahad as an attribute of Almighty God, the Quran put the word to an entirely novel use.
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The Quran brought many foreign words into Arabic usage, for instance istabraq from Persian, qaswarah from Abyssinian, sirat from Greek, yamm from Syrian, ghassaq from Turkish, qistas from Latin, malakut from Armaic and kafur from Hindi. The Quran tells us (25:60) that the idolators of Makkah were baffled at the word rahman.
They used to say, “What is this rahman? This was because the word was not Arabic. It had been taken from the Sabaean and Hamiri languages. The Christians of Yemen and Abyssinia used to call God rahamnan. The Makkans considered the word foreign when it appeared in the Quran in an Arabicized form. They enquired what rahman meant, being unaware of its linguistic background. Over one hundred non-Arabic words of this nature were used in the Quran, taken from languages as far apart as Persian, Latin, Nabataean, Hebrew, Syrian, Coptic and many others.
Although the Quran was revealed mainly in the language of the Quraysh, words used by other Arab tribes were also included. ‘Abdullah ibn al-’Abbas, a Qurayshi Muslim, was puzzled when the word fatir appeared in the Quran. “I did not know what the expression ‘Originator of the heavens and the earth’ meant,” he explained. “Then I heard an Arab saying that he had ‘originated’ a well, when he had just started digging it, and I knew what the word fatir meant.”
Abu Hurayrah said that he had never heard the word sikkin until he heard it in the chapter, ‘Joseph’, of the Quran. “We always used to call a knife (mudiyah),” he said.
As Jalaluddln Suyuti has pointed out in al-Itqan, many words were pronounced differently by various Arab tribes. The Quran took some of these words, and used them in their most refined literary form. The Quraysh, for instance, used the word a’ata for ‘he gave,’ while the Himyaris used to pronounce it anta.
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The Quran preferred a’ata to anta. Likewise it chose ‘asabi’ rather than shanatir and dhi’b instead of kata’. The general trend of preferring Qurayshi forms was sometimes reversed, as in the phrase la yalitkum min a’malikum-”nothing will be taken away from your actions”—which was borrowed from the Banu ‘Abbas dialect.
In giving old Arabic words and expressions new depth and beauty, the Quran set a standard of literary excellence which no future writer could improve on. It revised certain metaphors, rephrasing them in a more eloquent form than had been heard before. This was how an ancient Arab poet described the impermanence of the world: Even if he enjoys a long period of secure life, every mother’s son will finally be carried aloft in a coffin.
The Quran put the same idea in the poignantly succinct words: “Every soul shall taste death.”12 Killing and plundering presented a major problem in ancient Arabia. Certain phrases had been coined to express the idea that only killing could put an end to killing, and these were considered highly eloquent in pre-Islamic days. “To kill some is to give life to the whole,” one of them went. “Kill more, so that there should be less killing,” and “Killing puts an end to killing,” were some other examples. The Quran expressed the idea in these words: “In retaliation there is life for you, oh people of understanding.”13
In pre-Quranic days, poetry held an important place in Arabic, as in other languages of the world.
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Poetical expression of ideas was given pride of place in the literary Arabic followed the Quran’s lead. Pre-Islamic Arabic literature was collected and compiled with the preservation and understanding of that language of the Quran in mind.
Great departments of learning, facilitating understanding of the Quran and explaining its orders and prohibitions, came into existence. The learning of Arabic grammar, syntax and etymology, Islamic theology and traditions, as well as Quranic studies, were all aimed at helping us to understand the message of the Quran. Even the subjects of history and geography were originally taken up us part of the Arabs’ attempt to understand and practice the teachings of the Quran. There is no other example in the history of the world of any single book having such an enormous impact on a people and their language.
Through its development and improvement of the Arabic language, the Quran became known as a superb literary masterpiece. Anyone who knows Arabic can see the unique quality of the Quran’s style as compared to any other work of Arabic literature. The Quran is written in a divine style totally different from anything humans can aspire to. We will close this chapter by relating a story, which clearly portrays the difference between the work of God and that of man. It is taken from Sheikh Tantawi’s commentary of the Quran: “On 13 June 1932,” Tantawi writes, I met an Egyptian writer, Ramil Gilani who told me an amazing story.
One day he was with an American orientalist by the name of Finkle, with whom he enjoyed a deep intellectual relationship.
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“Tell me, are you still among those who consider the Quran a miracle?” whispered Finkle in Gilani’s ear, adding a laugh to indicate his ridicule of such belief He thought that Muslims could only hold this belief in blind faith. It could not be based on any sound, objective reasoning. Thinking that his blow had really gone home, Finkle was visibly pleased with himself. Seeing his attitude, Gilani too started laughing. “Before issuing any pronouncement on the style of the Quran,” he said, “We should first have a look and see if we can produce anything comparable to it. Only when we have tried our hand, shall we be able to say conclusively whether humans can produce anything comparable to the Quran or not.”
Gilani then invited Finkle to join him in putting a Quranic idea into Arabic words. The idea he chose was: Hell is extremely vast. Finkle agreed, and both men sat down with pen and paper. Between them, they produced about twenty Arabic sentences. “Hell is extremely vast,” “Hell is vaster than you can imagine,”
“Man’s intellect cannot fathom the vastness of Hell,“ and many examples of this nature, were some of the sentences they produced. They tried until they could think of no other sentence to express this idea. Gilani looked at Finkle triumphantly. “Now that we have done our best, we shall be able to see how the Quran stands above all work of men,” he said. “What, has the Quran expressed this idea more eloquently?’ Finkle enquired.
“We are like little children compared to the Quran,” Gilani told him. Amazed, Finkle asked what was in the Quran. Gilani recited this verse from Surah Qaf: “On the Day when We will ask Hell: ‘Are you full?’ And Hell will answer: ‘Are there any more?”‘14
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Finkle was startled on hearing this verse, Amazed at the supreme eloquence of the Quran, he openly admitted defeat, “You were right, quite right,” he said, “I unreservedly concede defeat.”
“‘For you to acknowledge the truth,” Gilani replied, “is nothing strange, for you are a man of letters, well aware of the importance of style in language.” This particular orientalist was fluent in English, German, Hebrew and Arabic, and had spent all his life studying the literature of these languages.15

NOTES
1. Quran, 17: 59.
2. Quran, 6:35.
3. Quran, 29: 50-51.
4. Xavier Lean-Dufour S.J., The Gospels and the Jesus of History, Desclee Co. Inc., New
York, 1970, pp. 79 – 80.
5. Emest Renan (1823-1894).
6. Jurgi Zaydan (1861-1914), Adab al-Lughat al- ‘Arabiyyah.
7. Dr. Ahmad Hasan Zayyat.
8. Non-Arabs.
9. Mutanabbi (A.D.915-965), Sharh Diwan al-Mutanabbi, Beirut, I983, p 384.
10. Tahztb Sirat ibn Hisham, vol. 2, p. 121.
11. Quran,17:88.
12. Quran, 3:185.
13. Quran, 2:179.
14. Quran, 50:30.
15. Sheikh Tantawi, al-Jawahirifi Tafsiral-Quran al-Karim, Cairo, A.H. 1351, vol. 23, pp. 111-112.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:30 am

16- The Companions of the Prophet
The Companions of the Prophet—the Sahabah—stand alongside him in history just as they stood alongside him during his lifetime, for they were the ones selected by God to assist His messenger. They joined with him in seeing his divine mission through to its proper conclusion. As ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said: “God chose them to accompany His Prophet, and to establish his religion.” Let us take a look at a few of the outstanding qualities of the Companions, which gave them their place in history.
ISLAM WAS SOMETHING THEY LOVED
One of the qualities of the Companions described in the Quran was their attachment to the Faith.1 Of this, love is the ultimate expression; it is the highest feeling we can have for something; it replaces all else in our thoughts. Our attitude towards the beloved is something instinctive. We know what to do and what not to do, because real feeling has developed for the object of our love. Its joys and sorrows become our own.
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This was the intensity of feeling that the Companions had for Islam. They rejoiced in the success of their faith as a father rejoices when his son is successful.
When Islam received a setback, they would not rest until they had redressed it.
When one associates oneself with a cause—as the Companions did with Islam—one needs no telling about what one’s attitude should be. Heartfelt enthusiasm shows the way. One is willing to give everything for it and place its interest above all else. Our losses on its behalf then become our gains, and there can be no feeling of the diminution of our personal worth in the face of its claims. The difficulties we encounter in its espousal are easily surmounted because of the fervour with which we are imbued.
There was nothing extraordinary or supernatural about the Companions. They were human beings like any other.
What made them stand out from the rest of mankind was that the feeling of true love, which most people feel only for themselves, was felt by them for the faith of Islam. They built for the future of Islam as normal people build for their own personal futures. Just as people put all their energy and wealth into the pursuit of their own interests, so did they put their all into the pursuit of Islamic interests. It was the depth of their attachment to Islam, which enabled them to establish the supremacy of the Faith.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:33 am

RECOGNISING THE PROPHET AT THE VERY BEGINNING
One unique quality of the Companions was that they recognised a prophet who was their contemporary. It is very difficult to recognize and believe in a prophet of one’s own day: this can be gauged from the fact that no group except for the Companions has ever managed to do so.
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At every stage of ancient history prophets were denied and ridiculed when they appeared among their peoples. “You thought nothing of My prophets,” the Bible says. Who were these people who “thought nothing” of the prophets? They were the very ones who believed in both prophecy and divine revelation. They had set up great institutions in the name of prophets.
It was with great enthusiasm that they included days for the remembrance of various prophets in their calendar: But it was only ancient prophets whom they revered in this manner. As for prophets of their own day, they made them objects of ridicule and scorn.
The Jews disbelieved in the Prophet Jesus, even though they believed in Moses. Despite their veneration for Jesus, the Christians denied the Prophet Muhammad. Even the Quraysh of Makkah prided themselves on being heirs of Abraham; but when the heir to Abraham’s prophetic legacy came among them, they attacked him and expelled him from the land.
Why was there this discrepancy between people’s treatment of ancient prophets on the one hand, and contemporary prophets on the other? The reason for it was that ancient prophets were supported by the might of historical tradition.
They become an essential part of a people’s national heritage.
People of later generations look back at prophets of old as upon sacred heroes—forgers of their national identity.
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Clearly, few will resist faith when there is so much added incentive to believe. With a contemporary prophet, however, the situation is quite different. His prophethood is still a controversial issue. His mission is surrounded in a cloak of doubt. In order to believe in him, one has to see through outward appearances.
In order to follow him, one has to bury all thoughts of oneself Doubt prevails over the truth of his mission. His prophethood has not yet received the verification of history. Under such conditions, it is the most difficult thing in the world to believe in a prophet, and actively participate in his mission. But it was this, no less, that the Companions were able to do: believe in a prophet of their own day as if he were a prophet of ancient times.
During the Battle of the Trench (A.H. 5) Madinah was besieged by the Quraysh and all of the Arab clans who had entered into an alliance with them. The siege was intensified until it became impossible for the Muslims to obtain even the basic necessities of life. At this time one of the Muslims said in desperation: “Muhammad used to promise us that the treasures of Khusrau and Caesar would be ours, and now here we are—unable even to relieve ourselves in peace.” When this battle took place the Prophet’s promise was just that—a promise; it was nowhere near fulfillment, although now it is a matter of ancient history. The Companions, nevertheless, acknowledged the Prophet’s greatness before his promises had become history. Those who acknowledge his greatness today do so after the fulfillment of his promises, after history has put the stamp of greatness upon him. There is a world of difference between these two acknowledgements.
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One bears no comparison to the other. Today, even non-Muslim historians have been compelled to allot pride of place in human history to the Prophet Muhammad. But, during his lifetime, recognizing his greatness was a matter of extreme difficulty. So much so that this could only be done by those who had been granted special grace by God.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:36 am

ADHERING TO THE QURAN WHEN IT WAS STILL THE SUBJECT OF CONTROVERSY
The Companions’ way of preaching the faith was to take a revealed portion of the Quran and recite it to the people. For this reason the Companions who went to Madinah to preach Islam were called muqris—reciters of the Quran. In a modern environment, this would be nothing extraordinary.
But when one leaves aside the 1400 years of history that stand between us and the Companions, and imagines the conditions that prevailed in their time, their action appears in an entirely new perspective. At that time it was a mammoth task to stand amongst the people and recite the Quran, one that no group except for the Companions had ever performed.
The picture that springs to mind with the mention of the word “Quran” today is that of a book that has, over 1400 years, established its greatness without the slightest shadow of a doubt. Millions of people the world over accept it as the Book of God. It has become a matter of personal pride to express belief in the Quran. At the time of revelation, however, the Quran did not enjoy this status. Many of the Sahabahs’ contemporaries treated it as an object of derision.
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SPENDING ONE’S WEALTH FOR THE SAKE OF A TRUTH WHICH HAS YET TO BE ESTABLISHED
The following incident has been related by Ibn Abi Hatim on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud. When the verse of the Quran—”Who will lend God a goodly loan; it will be doubled for him many times”5 —was revealed, Abu Dahdah of the Ansar asked the Prophet if God really wanted them to “lend Him a loan,” The Prophet replied in the affirmative.
“Give me your hand,” Abu Dahdah said to the Prophet. The Prophet put his hand in Abu Dahdah’s as the latter told him that he would lend his whole orchard—consisting of six hundred date palms—to his Lord. His wife Umm Dahdah was in the orchard with her children at the time. Abu Dahdah came and told her to leave it, for he had donated it to the Lord on High. “What a good deal you have made!” Umm Dahdah exclaimed, and immediately took her children and belongings out of the orchard. “How many trees ¬luxuriant and laden with fruit—Abu Dahda will have in paradise,” the Prophet said of this donation.
This incident is representative of a general eagerness among the Companions to donate their wealth for the sake of their faith. One must call to mind once again that this happened 1400 years ago. Were anyone to perform an act of similar charity in the name of their religion today, it is quite possible that they would have great honours conferred upon them by Muslims, which far exceeded their expenditure. But things were quite different in the time of the Companions.
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To spend in the cause of religion in those days was to be condemned as insane by society. Far from raising one to a high pinnacle of fame, it was like burying oneself in a pit of self-oblivion. The cause to which the Companions devoted their lives and properties was one surrounded in doubt. Historical evidence had not yet accumulated in support of it.
The truth of Islam had not yet become established in society at large. Yet the Companions donated their wealth for the sake of their religion at that uncertain period of Islamic history: Now, 1400 years later, the greatness of Islam has become an established fact, supported by centuries of history. To spend on a cause which has not consolidated its place in society is of a very different order from spending on a consolidated established cause.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:40 am

PLACING ONE’S OWN CROWN ON THE HEAD OF ANOTHER
Before the Prophet’s emigration to Madinah, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy had stood out as a natural leader in that city. His character, charisma and intelligence had led the people of Madinah to choose him as their king. They considered him the right person to put an end to the civil strife and conflict, which had raged among them for so long. A ceremony was planned at which ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy was to be crowned king of Madinah.
Arrangement for ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy’s coronation had been completed when Islam first came to Madinah. The people of Madinah took naturally to the new religion, and Islam won followers in every home.
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A delegation travelled to Makkah, where they met the Prophet and heard the teachings of Islam from his lips. The impression that they received was that the person they needed to reign over their society was—not ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy—but the Prophet Muhammad. On behalf of the people of Madinah, they asked the Prophet to come to their town and take over as their leader. They swore allegiance to the Prophet at ‘Aqabah, an event that proved a watershed in Islamic history.
Quite apart from its far-reaching historical implications, this act of allegiance was an extraordinary feat. It was as if the people of Madinah were taking the crown off their own head, and placing it on that of a stranger. People have always been highly reluctant to take someone from outside their own nation or tribe as leader. Such a move was unheard of in ancient Arabia. In this case it was rendered even more difficult by the fact that the “Muhammad” whom they were taking in was not the great historical personality that we know today. He was a person who had been expelled by his own people. Not only was he a controversial figure, he was a homeless, destitute one as well. The people of Madinah were giving him everything, with the promise of nothing in return. In the 20th century we have heard some western thinkers—notably Bernard Shaw—mention what a fine leader of the western world a person like Muhammad would make.
To make an offer like this in the 6th century, however, was a very different matter, for at that time the unique qualities of leadership that the Prophet possessed had not become engraved on the pages of history.
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REALIZING ONE’S OWN LIMITATIONS
The Prophet Muhammad used to confer with his Companions over every matter that arose. He would call them together and, after explaining the situation, ask them for their opinion. Though he appeared to be consulting with everyone, what actually used to happen was that there would be silence for a while, then Abu Bakr would get up and briefly offer his opinion. ‘Umar would do the same, and a handful others followed suit, before finally a unanimous decision was reached. Consultations followed the same pattern during Abu Bakr’s term as Caliph. ‘Umar would be the first to speak, then a few others would give their opinion. The final decision would have everyone’s agreement. It was only during ‘Umar’s caliphate when the number of Muslims who had not seen the Prophet increased, that alternations took place in the consultation process.
This may appear to be a simple matter, but it is of great significance. It shows how humble the companions were, how aware of their own shortcomings and limitations. Such a procedure can be followed only by those humble enough to acknowledge another’s worth at their own expense. This was one unique quality of the Companions: they looked objectively at themselves in the way that average people would look only at others.
One must remember that the Abu Bakr and ‘Umar of whom we speak were not the historic personalities that we know today. It was vastly more difficult then to recognize the worth of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar than it is now.
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The two men had then still to be appreciated when history was in its formative stage, whereas in the present day we are in a position to evaluate them with historical hindsight. For the companions, they were just two of their number; for us they have become two mighty pillars standing out in the landscape of history.
For us to fail to acknowledge Abu Bakr and ‘Umar would be to defy history. For the Companions to acknowledge these two amounted to abnegation of their own selves—an infinitely more difficult task, which the Companions accomplished in exemplary fashion.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:45 am

TAKING RESPONSIBILITY UPON ONESELF

Dhat al-Salasil was a place in the Syrian desert, occupied by the Ghassanid and Kalb tribes to which the Prophet sent an expedition under the leadership of ‘Amr ibn al-’As. When the latter reached there, and saw the preparations being made by the enemy, he realized that his own force was too weak to do battle with them. He thereupon set up camp, and sent a message to the Prophet asking for reinforcements. The Prophet then prepared an additional force of 200 Muhajirs, which was despatched under the leadership of Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.

When Abu ‘Ubaydah’s force joined with that of ‘Amr ibn al-’As, the question arose as to who would be leader of the combined army. ‘Amr ibn al-’As was in no doubt that he should be, as the reinforcements had been sent at his request. Abu ‘Ubaydah’s companions did not agree. They thought that Abu ‘Ubaydah should be leader of the whole army, or otherwise the division should remain under separate command.

283 When the quarrel escalated, Abu ‘Ubaydah addressed ‘Amr, telling him that the final promise the Prophet had taken from him was that the two of them should agree with one another, and work in unity. “Even if you disobey me,” he said, “I promise to obey you.”

Had Abu ‘Ubaydah so desired, he could have remained obdurate and left it to Amr to give way. Substantial arguments in support of his position could have been found. But he eschewed such a course, and instead took it upon himself to put an end to the argument unilaterally. In community life, it is essential that people should be able to do this. Only when people are magnanimous enough to accept their own responsibilities, instead of arguing about their rights, can a community function harmoniously. It requires exceptional courage to do this, but there is no other way of preserving unity in a society.

NOT BEARING GRUDGES

Khalid ibn al-Walid was an extremely brave and able soldier, who remained commander of the Muslim army in Syria from the time of the Prophet right throughout the caliphate of Abu Bakr. ‘Umar, however, disapproved of some of Khalid’s habits, and asked Abu Bakr to remove him from his command. Abu Bakr did not act on ‘Umar’s advice, but ‘Umar was so set in his opinion that, on becoming Caliph, he dismissed Khalid. The commander of the Muslim army was demoted to the rank of an ordinary soldier.

When the order came, Khalid was laying all low before him as the Muslims’ triumphant march through Syria continued. All of a sudden came the news of his dismissal, and the appointment of Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah in his place.

284 The news shocked Khalid’s army, and a group of soldiers gathered in their leader’s tent. They assured him of their support, and urged him to defy the Caliph’s orders.

Khalid sent them away, telling them that he did not fight for ‘Umar’s cause; he fought for the cause of ‘Umar’s Lord. Before he had fought as commander; now he would fight as an ordinary soldier.

Only a person who rises above grudges and rancour can act in this manner—one who has a positive attitude to life and refrains from reacting adversely. Khalid’s words show how deeply involved he was in doing the will of God. So much so that he took ‘Umar’s decision completely in his stride.

موضوع: رد: PART THREE الخميس 07 يوليو 2022, 4:51 am

DOING MORE THAN ONE IS LEGALLY BOUND TO
In the month of Sha’ban A.H. 6 the Prophet received news that a force of 1000 men had gathered under the leaders of the Quraysh, and was advancing on Madinah. Six hundred were clad in armour, and there was an elite cavalry unit consisting of one hundred men. Tension was running high in Madinah as the Prophet called a meeting of both the Muhajirs and the Ansar, to ask them what should be done. As normally happened on such occasions, senior members of the Muhajirs rose to offer their opinion. “Prophet of God,” they said, go ahead and do whatever your Lord commands you. We will stand by you. We are not going to tell you to go and fight along with your Lord, while we stay sitting here, as the Jews did before us.6 Rather we say unto you: go and fight along with your Lord; we too will fight alongside you. We will not desert you as long as at least one of us has life in his body.”
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Yet despite such assurances from the Muhajirs, the Prophet kept on sounding people as to what he should do. Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, one of the Ansar, arose. “Perhaps we figure in your thoughts,” he said to the Prophet. The Prophet said that they did. Then Sa’ d ibn Mu’adh, on behalf of his fellow Ansars, reassured the Prophet with these words: “We have believed in you, and acknowledged you as God’s prophet. We have testified to the truth of your teachings. We have solemnly promised to listen to you and obey whatever you say. So do whatever you deem fit, Prophet of God. We will stand by you.
We swear by the one who has sent you with the truth, even if you take us to the shores of the sea and plunge us into its waters, we too will follow you. Not one of us will stay behind.
We have no qualms about joining you to do battle with the enemy tomorrow. We are resolute on the field of battle, true to our word in times of conflict. Perhaps God will enable us to prove ourselves in a manner, which will be pleasing to you.
Take us with you, trusting in the grace of God.” When Sa’d ibn Mu’adh had his say, a final decision was taken to advance to meet the enemy.
During the Battle of Badr (A.H. 3), the Prophet kept on looking towards the Ansar. The background to his concern has been explained by Ibn Hisham. “When the Ansar entered into the second oath of allegiance at ‘Aqaba’ he writes,” they were not bound by their oath to accept the responsibility for his safety outside Madinah.
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‘While you are in our country,’ Internal friction is the greatest thorn in the side of a community, preventing its members from pursuing a constructive course of action. The Companions did not let themselves sink into the quagmire of petty controversies.
Fear of God had imbued them with a profound sense of responsibility. They concentrated on discharging these responsibilities, and had no time for quarrels, which would have prevented them from doing so. Even during the Prophet’s lifetime, they had taken Islam to the borders of the Arabian Peninsula. After his demise, they continued to act as if at his behest. Blind to all thoughts of self—aggrandisement, they dispersed in the neighbouring lands.
Their homes were just like small schools, in which they imparted to people knowledge of the Arabic language, the Quran, and the Prophet’s Sunnah. In this way they passed on what they had heard from the Prophet. This was a time of great Islamic conquests, and a certain portion of the Muslim community had to shoulder the political responsibilities that came with an expanding empire. The Companions might have been expected to take their share in the political glory, but they showed no inclination for such things. The majority of them used the atmosphere created by the conquests of Islam to further their preaching mission. It was their, and their disciples’ steady, unobstrusive efforts that created—within a space of fifty years—the vast expanse of territory now known as the Arab world. They not only changed the religion of people spread over three continents, but they brought to them a new language and culture as well.
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BEING CONTENT TO REMAIN IN OBSCURITY
The first matter that had to be settled after the Prophet’s death was the election of a Caliph. The Ansar put forward their own candidate—Sa’d ibn ‘Ubadah. When the Muhajirs learnt of the Ansar’s proposal, a group of them hurried to the Thaqifah (shed) of the Banu Sa’dah, where the Ansar were gathered. Abu Bakr addressed them. “There is no doubt that you are truly endowed with the qualities you have mentioned.
But as for leadership of the Arab people, it is to the Quraysh we must look for that. Geographically and ethnically, they occupy a central place in Arab life. I will propose to you two names ‘Umar and Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, swear allegiance to whomsoever of them you please.
‘Umar arose after this and immediately swore allegiance to Abu Balk as Caliph. The Ansar followed his lead, but some of them took it so hard that they told the Muhajirs that they had as good as killed Sa’ d ibn ‘Ubaydah.
The Ansar had made enormous sacrifices for the cause of Islam. They had given shelter to the stranded ship of Islam when it had been forced to leave its own waters. Yet despite their sacrifices, they agreed to make another one. They disowned a share in power, and united behind a Qurayshi caliph. There was good reason for the appointment. The Quraysh, to which clan the Muhajirs belonged, had been considered leaders of Arabia for centuries. A leader from any other tribe would not have commanded the support needed to administrate a burgeoning empire.
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The Ansar were realistic enough to acknowledge their own shortcomings in this respect, and accept the Muhajirs’ unilateral decision. It is hard to find a comparable example of such selfless realism in the history of the world.
RATIONAL DECISIONS, DURING EMOTIONAL CRISES
The Battle of Uhud (A.H. 4) was the severest battle in Islamic history. All the warriors of the Quraysh, thirsty for revenge after their defeat at Badr, descended on the Muslims. Just when the fighting was at its fiercest, the Prophet drew his sword and asked his companions which one of them would take it and exact its full worth. To the first few who volunteered, the Prophet did not give the sword. Then Abu Dujanah came forward, and asked the prophet what was the full worth of the sword. “That you should strike the enemy with it until it bends,” the Prophet replied. “That is how I shall wield it,” Abu Dujanah said, as he offered to take the sword.
The Prophet gave it to him. Abu Dujanah’s pride was visible as he strode off with the sword in his hand. “Such strutting cannot be pleasing to God,” said the Prophet, “But the occasion excuses it.” Abu Dujanah tied a red cloth around his head, signalling his readiness to fight to the death. He did indeed conduct himself with incredible bravery, striking all who came before him. Then an astonishing incident occurred, which was later described by Abu Dujanah himself, “I saw someone inciting the enemy in a particularly violent way. I rushed towards him and raised my sword to kill him. The person screamed and I saw that it was a woman. I refrained from debasing the Prophet’s sword by slaying a woman with it”.
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Another companion has described the incident like this. “I saw that Abu Dujanah had raised his sword to kill Hind bint ‘Utbah. Suddenly he removed the sword from above her head.” One of the orders that the Prophet used to issue in times of battle was that women, children and old men should not be slain. Abu Dujanah remembered the Prophet’s orders in the heat of the battle and, even as his sword was plunging down on its victim, he withdrew it when he saw that it was a woman.
From this one can see how strong was the Companions’ control over their emotions. Even in moments of overwhelming passion, they were able to take reasoned decisions, and were able to judge matters dispassionately, no matter how extreme the provocation they faced. Even when feelings of anger and vengeance had gone beyond all bounds, they were able to adopt the correct frame of mind. Changing direction when travelling at full speed may appear easy enough, but in practice it is extremely difficult. Only one can accomplish such a task, who goes so in fear of God that it is as if God were standing before him in all His power and glory.
GROWING LIKE A TREE
The Quran refers to both the Torah and the Injil (The Old and New Testaments) in order to describe two qualities of the Companions. Quotations from the Torah explain their individual qualities, while the Injil provides illustration of their qualities as members of their community: Thus they are described in the Torah and in the Gospel: like the seed which puts forth its shoot and strengthens it, so that it rises stout and firm upon its stalk, delighting the sowers.
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Through them God seeks to enrage the unbelievers. God has promised those of them who will believe and do good works forgiveness and a rich reward.7
The simile is presented like this in the New Testament: And he said, So is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.8
This parable, told in both the Quran and the Bible, tells how the social evolution of the Companions of the Prophet would be like that of a tree. Starting as a tiny seed, the pillar of their society would develop as a tree trunk, gradually consolidating its roots in the ground and stretching its branches out in the air above.
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They would grow up gradually in natural stages, finally reaching a peak in their growth. Their splendid development would cause gratification to men of faith and frustration to enemies. The Companions of the Prophet were chosen to carry out Almighty God’s wish that Islam should thrive like a tree.
The fact that God wished it did not mean that the task would be easy. They were required to eschew the easy, quick way of doing things and follow the path of patience. They had to bury their desires and personal preferences, always giving precedence to the will of God. The Companions had to give everything to bring the tree of Islam into existence, not caring for any return in this world. They had to involve themselves unconditionally in God’s scheme. As a result of their effort, Islam grew into a permanently flourishing garden, which no power in the world was able to destroy.

NOTES
1. Quran, 49: 7.
2. Quran, 8:31.
3. Quran, 25:5.
4. Quran, 57:10.
5. Quran, 57:11.
6. Quran, 5: 24.
7. Quran, 48:29.
8. Bible, Mark, 4.26-32.