The
First Stage of the Call.
Ben Al-Hussaini
In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most
Merciful;
All the praise and Thanks ise due to
Allāh, the Lord of the
al-‘ālameen. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allāh, and that Muhammad, sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam is His Messenger.
Description: The early
days of the Prophet's (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) mission
and the early converts of Islam.
The First Three Years of Private Call.
Makkah then was the religious center for
the Arabs and the custodian of Ka’bah.Protection and guardianship of the idols
were honored by all the Arabs; rest in the hands of the Makkan Quraish. Hence
it would be difficult of embarking the new reform; it requires a right approach
and strong determination. The initial call to Islam was assumed in a limited
form conducted in secret by Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam).
First Converts
The Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) initiated his
sacred mission to his family and his intimate friends. He called unto Islam
whomsoever he thought would attest the truth which had come from his Lord. In
fact, a host of people who nursed not the least seed of doubt as regards the
Prophet(sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) immediately
responded and quite readily embraced the true faith. They are known in Islamic
sources as the “early converts”.
Khadijah binti Khuwailid (radiyallāhu’anha), the Prophet’s (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) spouse, the mother
of believers, was the first women to enter the fold of Islam followed by his
freed slave Zaid bin Harithah bin Syarahil Al-Kalbi (radiyallāhu’anhu), his cousin ‘Ali bin Abu Talib(radiyallāhu’anhu), whom he had adopted since his early childhood,
was the first child. Next was the first adult, his intimate friend Abu Bakar As-Siddiq (real name ‘Abdullah ibn Abi
Quhafah). All of those professed Islam on the very day of the call.
Abu Bakar As-Siddiq (radiyallāhu’anhu) proved to be an energetic and most zealous
activist. Many years later the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi
wa sallam) said of him: ‘I have never called anyone
to Islam who was not at first filled with doubt, questions and contradictions,
with the exception of Abu Bakar.’ He was wealthy, obliging, mild and
upright. People used to frequent his house and draw near to him for his
knowledge, friendship, pleasant company and business. Through his efforts a
good number of people converted to Islam, such as ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan Al-Umawi,
Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam Al-Asadi, ‘Abdul Rahman bin ‘Awf, Sa’ad bin Abi Waqqas
Az-Zuhriyan and Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah At-Taimi (radiyallāhu’anhum). Those eight men constituted the forerunners
and more specifically the front line of the new faith in Arabia.
Among the early Muslims were Bilal bin
Rabah (the Abyssinian), Abu ‘Ubaidah ‘Amir bin Al-Jarrah from Bani Harith bin
Fihr ( the most trustworthy of the Muslim nation) Abu Salamah bin ‘Abdul Asad,
Al-Arqam bin Abul Arqam from the tribe of Makhzum. ‘Uthman bin Maz’oun and his
two brothers Qudamah and ‘Abdullah, Ubaidah bin Al-Harith bin Al-Mutalib bin Abdul
Manaf, Sa’id bin Zaid Al-‘Adwi and his wife Fatimah binti Al-Khattab (sister of
‘Umar bin Al-Khattab), Khabbab bin Al-Aratt, ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud Al-Hadhali
(radiyallāhu’anhum) and many others belong to
various clan of the Quraish. They are known as the First Muslim Predecessors
numbering about forty of them.
The Revelation were streamed and
accelerated after the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) received the
command to preach the Allāh’s Message: “O
you (Muhammad) enveloped (in garments)! Arise and warn!” [ Surah
Al-Muddhathir, 74: 1 -2]. The verses and pieces of Surah revealed were short
with wonderful strong pauses and quite fascinating rhythms full of harmony with
the delicate whispering setting. The central topic running through them focused
on purifying the soul, and preventing the Muslims from falling prey to the
deceptive glamour of life. The early verses used to give as well a highly
accurate account of the Hell and the Paradise, leading the believers down a new
course diametrically opposed to ill p [practices widespread among their
compatriots
Solāt.
It was reported that after the first
revelation Gabriel taught Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) how to observe
Wudhu’ [Ablution] and it was related that the obligatory solāt was established twice a day, in the morning before
sunrise and after the sunset.[Mukhtasar Sīratir-
Rasul by Sheikh ‘Abdullah An-Najdi]. Ibn Hisham said when there was time for solāt the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi
wa sallam) would do secretly. When Abu Talib saw Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and ‘Ali bin Abi
Talib (radiyallāhu’anhu) were performing solāt he asked, and he was informed that was obligatory solāt, he told them to stay constant in their practice. [Ibn
Hisham 1/247]
The Quraish Initial Reaction.
During this stage of the call, even it
was conducted in a private basis, its news went out to the Quraish, but they
paid little attention to it since the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was not assault their religion nor speaking
about their gods.
For three quite long years of
activism, the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) labored to deliver his people from the worship
of idols, a group of believers emerged stamped by a spirit of brotherhood and
cooperation with one definite objective in mind: propagating and deeply
establishing the call unto Islam. For three years The Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) had been content to
teach within a rather narrow circle. The time however, had come to preach the
faith of the Lord openly. The revelation descended giving the Prophet
Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) the duty of
publicizing it for his people, to con front them, invalidate their falsehood,
and crush down their idolatrous Polytheism practices that deeply rooted among
the people.
Wallahu'alam
No comments:
Post a Comment