أحمد محمد لبن Ahmad.M.Lbn مؤسس ومدير المنتدى
عدد المساهمات : 52575 العمر : 72
| موضوع: Abdullah and Amena الإثنين 12 فبراير 2018, 7:42 am | |
| Abdullah and Amena Book 3 (Scene 1) Abdul-Muttalib made a vow when he was digging the well of Zamzam with his son, Al-Harith, that if he would become father to ten sons, he would slaughter one of them at the Ka’ba. Years later, he had ten sons and he had to keep his vow to slaughter one of them. He called all his sons together. His oldest son was Al-Harith and the youngest and most adorable to him was Abdullah. He looked at them and said, “I once made a vow to sacrifice one of you for the sake of Allah if He granted me ten sons. There are ten of you now, and I must fulfill my vow.” They said, “Fulfill your vow, and do what you must do.”
Arabs at that time used to make difficult decisions by casting lots. The “lots” were wooden sticks with “Do it”, “Don't do it” written on them, or whatever they wanted to decide on. They used to go to the major idol that they worshiped, named Hobal, and ask the caretaker called Al-Sadden to choose one stick out of the group of sticks. If he chose the “Do it” stick, they had to do that action, and if he chose the “Don't do it” stick, they did not do that action.
When Abdul-Muttalib wanted to cast lots to choose which of his sons to slaughter, he asked them to write their names on sticks and bring them to him. Abdul-Muttalib went to al-Ka’ba and the people followed him talking about his vow and what he intended to do. He asked the keeper of Hobal to choose one of the sticks he had brought. The caretaker covered his hands with a cloth and another white cloth was spread in front of him. He held the ten sticks under the white cloth and chose a stick. It was Abdullah's!
Silence spread, heads rose and eyes stared. Abdul-Muttalib had to slaughter his dearest son, Abdullah. Abdul-Muttalib did not hesitate. He stepped forward, took Abdullah with one hand and the knife with the other. He brought Abdullah to a place near the two statues of Isaf and Na'ela where the Arabs used to slaughter and offer sacrifices.
Abdullah lay down obediently and Abdul-Muttalib was preparing to slaughter him when suddenly, the men of Quraysh tried to stop him. They said, “What do you intend to do, Abdul-Muttalib?” “I want to slaughter him.” he replied. “We swear you will never slaughter him. If you do this, other men will come here and do as you are doing and slaughter their sons. Our people will soon vanish.” they replied. Abdullah's uncles said, “We are ready to ransom him with all the money we have.” Some people said, “Do not slaughter him. Take him to a fortune-teller in Madinah and ask her what to do. If she orders you to slaughter him, then do it, and if she gives you a compromise then accept it.”
They went to the fortune-teller and Abdul-Muttalib told her the story of what he had vowed to do. She said, “How much is the blood money among your people?” (If someone was killed, the killer's family had to pay blood money to the victim’s family. It was usually a certain number of camels.) Abdul-Muttalib told her, “Ten camels.” The fortune-teller said, “Return to your homeland; take the child and ten camels to sacrifice. Then cast lots on both. If the lot chosen was the child's, you should offer more camels and cast lots again until Allah is pleased. If the lot chosen was the camels', you should slaughter them, and this is a sign that Allah is pleased and the child is saved.”
(Scene 2) Abdul-Muttalib returned with his sons to Makkah and they went to Al-Sadden to cast lots over Abdullah and the camels. Abdul-Muttalib stood in front of Hobal praying that Allah would save his son. First, they cast lots between Abdullah and ten camels. The keeper chose Abdullah's stick. Abdul-Muttalib kept on praying and multiplied the camels to twenty, and they cast lots again. It was Abdullah again! Abdul-Muttalib kept on praying and multiplied the camels to thirty. They cast lots again, and it was Abdullah again. They continued casting lots and continued to choose Abdullah, while multiplying the camels ten by ten. They did this ten times and the camels were finally one hundred when the stick for the camels was finally chosen. The people were so happy and they said: “Allah is pleased now, Abdul-Muttalib.”
Abdul-Muttalib said, “No, I want to make sure. I will cast lots three more times.” They cast lots over Abdullah and the camels again and Abdul-Muttalib kept on praying. The camels were chosen the first time. They cast again with Abdul-Muttalib still praying. Again, it was the camels that won out. They cast lots for the third time and again, it was the camels. At this moment, Abdul-Muttalib was sure that Allah was pleased with his sacrifice of one hundred camels for his son Abdullah. The camels were slaughtered and left as charity to feed the people and their animals.
(Scene 3) Abdullah was so handsome that the young women of Quraysh dreamed of marrying him. His face was bright with a unique glitter that attracted people to him. One woman thought that Abdullah's bright face was a “good omen”, meaning that something good would happen to him. Hence, she made an offer to give him a hundred camels if he married her. He rejected her offer because he and his father were on their way to propose to Amena, the daughter of Wahab Ibn Abdu-Manaf Ibn Zahra.
Abdul-Muttalib and his son Abdullah went to Wahab's house. Abdul-Muttalib said, “We came today to propose to your daughter, Amena, to be my son's wife.” Wahab agreed to marry Amena to Abdullah. Abdullah was an excellent groom; he was handsome and a descendant of the family of Hashem, and that was a source of great honor. Amena was also very beautiful, and the noblest one among the women of Quraysh. When the news of Abdullah and Amena's marriage spread in Makkah, there was great sorrow among the young women as every one of them would have loved to be Abdullah's wife.
(Scene 4) Abdullah stayed with Amena in her family's house for three days after the wedding, as this was the tradition of Arabs. After three days, Abdullah went out and happened to meet the woman who had proposed to marry him for a hundred camels. She did not talk to him this time, and did not repeat her offer. Abdullah was surprised and asked her, “Why aren’t you offering to marry me anymore?” She stared at him for a long time and then said, “What did you do after we met that day?” Abdullah said, “I married Amena bint-Wahab.” She said in great sorrow, “I saw the bright glitter of Prophet-hood in your face and I wanted it for myself, but Allah puts it where He wants.” It was not fated that this woman would be the mother of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), yet it was predestinated that Amena would give birth to the best human being on earth.
(Scene 5) Abdullah got ready to travel to Syria with one of Quraysh's caravans that carried trade. He said farewell to his wife before he left. It was hard for him to leave his beloved wife and travel because he had spent less than a month with her since they got married. However, he had to travel for his trade as the other young men did. He was the son of the noblest man in Quraysh, but this did not mean that he would stay in Makkah without working to earn his living. At that time, only working people were respected, not idlers who stayed in Makkah to have fun.
The people of Quraysh were interested in that caravan to Syria. Slaves carried goods and put them on the camels' backs. Men went back and forth loading donkeys with leathers and barley. Women said farewell to the travelers. Abdullah prepared to travel with the caravan while Amena said good-bye with anxiety in her heart and tears in her eyes. The caravan reached Gaza and they started to trade their goods. The Arabs traded desert leathers, barley from Al-Ta'ef, and silver from Bani Saleem for the Romans' perfumes, jewelry, and spices.
As they were returning home, Abdullah became sick. When the caravan reached Al-Madinah, Abdullah said, “I want to stay here with my uncles, Bani Oday Ibnul-Najjar (his mother's family in Madinah).” So, he stayed with them and the caravan continued the journey back home. When they reached Makkah, Abdul-Muttalib asked with great worry about his son, “Where is Abdullah?” They answered, “He is sick; staying with his mother's family in Madinah.”
Amena was so worried as she waited for the return of the caravan carrying her dear husband. But, they had all returned except Abdullah! Abdul-Muttalib sent his son, Al-Harith, to Al-Madinah to bring his brother home. When he arrived in Madinah, Abdullah had already died. Amena suffered deep agony over his death and for the child in her womb who would grow up an orphan. However, Allah protected this orphan with His mercy, took care of him, guided him to the right path, and prepared him for a great event. Did He not find you (O Muhammad) an orphan and gave you a refuge? And He found you unaware and guided you? And He found you poor and made you rich?” (TMQ, 93:6-8). |
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