أحمد محمد لبن Ahmad.M.Lbn
مؤسس ومدير المنتدى
عدد المساهمات : 49023
العمر : 72
 | | موضوع: Ash_Shaymaa الأربعاء 28 ديسمبر 2016, 8:40 am | |
|  Shaymaa`, The Prophet's Foster Sister
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“O’ our Lord! Keep Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, alive for us so that I can see him become adolescent, then a leader.
Suppress his enemies and those who are envious of him, and give him an everlasting glory!"
The above is a poetic supplication that Shaymaa’ used to sing for little Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, whenever she held him while he was being wet-nursed at Banu Sa`d's. Shaymaa’ would help her mother in doing the household chores or in the fields.
All that was before the Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, started walking.
At that time, Shaymaa’ was about four or five years old. She was somewhat old enough to observe the change in the condition of her family from poverty and want to comfort and abundance, and from hardship to ease. She realized that this change was caused by the blessing of this young boy who was brought to their midst. So this poetic supplication spontaneously flowed from her tongue.73
A report had it that whenever Abu `Urwah Al-Azdi repeated the song he would say, "How excellent is Allaah's response to her supplication!"
Shaymaa’ or Shamaa' is the nickname of this lady that overshadowed her real name. Ibn `Abdul-Barr mentioned that her real name is Hadhdhaaqah.74
Ibn Ishaaq reported that the Prophet's foster siblings are four: `Abdullaah, Aniyah, Hudhaafah of Banu Haarith and Hadhdhaaqah, popularly known as Shaymaa’.
For the four years which the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, spent at Banu Sa`d's, the life of Al-Haarith's family took a dramatic transformation. The personality of the Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, was undoubtedly the axis around which these changes revolved.
But there is a very delicate question concerning the family of Haleemah, the Prophet's foster mother:
Why had the family not hastened to embrace Islam after Muhammad's Prophethood either in Makkah before Hijrah or in Madeenah after Hijrah, despite the fact that she knew many of the Prophet's stories? Why had she not rushed to Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, in whose childhood she saw things which she had never seen in other children, of blessings and honour, in spite of the great love that was between her family and that noble boy?
Why was the family's embrace of Islam delayed till after the battle of Hunayn that took place in the 8th year after Hijrah?
73 Muhammad ibn Mu`alla al-Azdi mentioned this in his book, at-Tarqees.
74 See: al-Istee`ab vol. 1, p. 605.
After the conquest of Makkah, the tribes of Hawaazin, Thaqeef, Banu Bakr and others converged together to fight against Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam. They were seized by the zeal of the time of ignorance and were deluded that they would be the successors of the Quraysh in leadership and that none besides them deserved that enviable position.
They brought together a contingent of more than thirty thousand men and came out in their numbers and weapons and with their women, children and animals, in response to the demand of their leader Maalik ibn `Awf.
They converged at the valley of Hunayn between Taa'if and Makkah. It was there that the fierce battle took place between these confederates and the Muslims.
Allaah describes this event in the following everlasting words (what means):
{Truly Allaah has given you victory on many battle fields, and on the Day of Hunayn [battle] when you rejoiced at your great number, but it availed you naught and the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for you, then you turned back in flight. Then Allaah did send down His Sakeenah [calmness, tranquillity and reassurance] on the Messenger [Muhammad] and on the believers, and sent down forces [angels] which you saw not, and punished the disbelievers. Such is the recompense of disbelievers. Then after that Allaah will accept the repentance of whom He wills. And Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} [Quran 9: 25-27]
On that day, some Muslims were proud of their great number and they said: "We can never be outnumbered after this day!" And they failed to attribute victory to the One in Whose Hand are the reins of the heavens and the earth. So they were defeated at the beginning of the battle and they were severely shaken, and most of them were in disarray.
The hero of that tense situation who reclaimed the victory for Eemaan against disbelief is only one person. He taught people steadfastness upon the truth in spite of all dangers and regardless of whatever the situation may be. The person is the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, who proclaimed to the people while he was on his mule, Duldul:
"I am the Prophet without lying;
I am the son of `Abdul-Muttalib!"
Horses might sometimes be frightened by the clang of weapons and, as a result, retreat. As for mules, they impetuously dart off to wherever their rider directs them. This is a sign of the courage of the warriors who ride them in battles.
The Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, remained steadfast, and some hundreds of his Companions rallied around him and calling one another unto him to fight off the enemy. So Allaah supported the believers over their enemy and made them triumphant.
The polytheists scattered in confusion. Many of them were killed or taken captive. And the Muslims got a lot of war spoils.
At Ji`raanah, Shaymaa’ —who had set out in the company of her tribe against the Muslims— came seeking permission to see the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, and hoping to get favour from him.
He allowed her in though he did not recognize her.
She said: "Messenger of Allaah, I am your foster sister!"
He said: "How can you prove that?"
She said: "A bite that you bit me on the back while I was placing you on my hip!"
The memory took the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, back to his childhood days and he vividly remembered his days with the tribe of Banu Sa`d in spite of the fact that decades have passed since the event.
He confirmed the truthfulness of what Shaymaa’ was saying: The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, was really as his Lord describes him: {Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger [Muhammad] from amongst yourselves [i.e. whom you know well]. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty. He [Muhammad] is anxious over you [to be rightly guided, to repent to Allaah, and beg Him to pardon and forgive your sins, in order that you may enter Paradise and be saved from the punishment of the Hell-fire]; for the believers [he is] full of pity, kind, and merciful.} [Quran 9: 128]
While Shaymaa’ was still standing in front of him asking for his amnesty, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam spread his garment for her to honour her and he told her, "Come here." And he made her sit down beside himself.
He then told her, "If you like you can stay with me and be always loved and honoured, and if you like I can provide for you and then send you back to your people."
She said confidently, "I want you to provide for me and send me back to my people!"
Here, the puzzle about the delay in the embrace of Islam on the part of the family of Haleemah is now solved.
Obsessive tribalism was a primary factor in the life of the Arabs and in their Bedouin societal setup. Very few of them grew out of this mentality and have themselves released from its yoke and became Muslims. As for the vast majority of them, they were far from liberating themselves from this bondage. There are many proofs on this.
Shaymaa’, in spite of her acceptance of Islam, did not want to stay with the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, and be always loved and honoured. She rather preferred to be given provision and sent back to her people.
Actually, this is what instigated the family, in the first place, to keep its allegiance fanatically to its tribe and Bedouin inclinations.
The roots of Shaymaa’s being around the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, can be traced back to his early childhood days, in an atmosphere full of compassion, love and kindness. She then reaped the fruits of all that when she became old, after many years.
A manifestation of the Prophet's sense of obligation on that great day is what the tribe of Banu Sa`d narrated that the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, in addition to his honouring of Shaymaa’, also gave her a servant called Makhool, and a maid.
Shaymaa’ joined both of them together in marriage; and there remain some of their descendants.75
May Allaah have mercy on Shaymaa’ and be pleased with her! May He honour her abode and place of rest! |
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