The Life Of Muhammadﷺ, The Makkan Period,
by Imam Anwar Al-Alwlaki,
اَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَّ الشِّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ۝بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيْمَ۝
اَلْحَمْدُ لله ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلى سَيِّدِنَا محمد وَعَلَى اَلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرا
An-Najashi(النجاشي), the Negus, refused to hand over the Muslims to the delegation of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ).
And soon as both the Muslims, and the delegation of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) left.
Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) threatened that I'm going to make a comeback,
وَاَسْتَعْسِلُوْخَزْرَاَهُمْ
And I'm going to bring an end to the Muslims.
Abdullah Bin Rabiyah(عبدالله بن ربيعة), or his partner let's say this partner, since there's a difference on the name,
his partner said: No, don't do that, they are still our relatives.
I mean, you don't have to go that far.
Fine! He refused to hand them over let's just go back.
Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) said: No, tomorrow I'm going to come back.
And I'm going to tell the king that they say that Jesus is a slave.
He did go the next day and he said they say, some bad things about Jesus,
they claim but he's a slave and he's not the Son of God.
Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) does not believe in all of this stuff anyway, but it's just to cause Fitnah(فتنه).
So, An-Najashi(النجاشي) obviously was quite concerned.
An-Najashi(النجاشي) is a religious person, and he doesn't want any heretics in his land.
So, he recalled the Muslims again.
Umm Salamah(ام سلمه) says there was nothing that worried us more than that event.
It caused us great concern.
Same thing we decided that we're going to speak the truth.
أن نَقُوْلَ الْحَقْ أينَ مَا كَانْ
We're going to say what our Prophet has taught us.
We're gonna say the truth, no matter what happens.
We're gonna speak the truth.
Same thing Jafar Ibn Abi Talib(جَعْفَر اِبْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِب) was to be their spokesman,
and they went and An-Najashi(النجاشي) asked them, what do you say about Eesa(عيسى).?
He said; We say that he's the Messenger of Allah.
Actually he first said that he's Abdullah(عبدالله).
He said; He's a servant of Allah, he's a slave of Allah.
He is the Messenger of Allah.
He is the word of Allah, casted on Maryam(مريم),
Mary, the chaste and virgin.
The Negus said:
There is no difference between what you say about him.
And what we, or what I say about him,
and immediately, the priests or the bishops started, he was hearing a commotion their sounds,
they were angry, to hear this response from An-Najashi(النجاشي).
How can he approve such a thing.?
Even though it was all the same, with the exception of being the servant of Allah.
But they said is the spirit of Allah that was blown into Maryam(مريم),
the word of Allah that Mary was the chaste and virgin,
it's all the same with except of this difference which is not a minor difference, it's a critical difference
on whether Eesa(عيسى), Jesus is the son of Allah or not.
Now, the Christians of Abyssinia would have been Orthodox Christians, who believed in the divinity of Jesus.
So, the priest didn't like, what they heard.
An-Najashi(النجاشي) stood and said, say whatever you want to say, these people are going to be free in my land.
Decisive decision was made that these people are going to get my protection.
And Umm Salamah(ام سلمه) says that Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) and his partner were left with disgrace.
because An-Najashi(النجاشي) drove them out and even gave them back their gifts.
Because in the first visit of Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص).
The first thing An-Najashi(النجاشي) asked Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) is,
what did you bring me from your land.?
Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) said; I have brought you some leather products.
And that was the best thing that An-Najashi(النجاشي) used to like, leather products.
So, he had this friendship relationship between him and Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص).
But when it came to principles, An-Najashi(النجاشي) stood with the truth,
and he refused to hand over As-Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.
So that's the story of Al-Hijrah(الهجرة) to Abyssinia.
Let's get on to some lessons,
Number one, what were the reasons of this Hijrah(هجرة)?
How come the Muslims fled their land and went to Abyssinia?
How come they would leave the best place on the face of the earth Makkah and go somewhere else.?
Well, the first reason is to flee persecution.
They were being tortured in Makkah.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ allowed them to leave to flee from this persecution,
so that they would free themselves from this physical pain.
That's the first reason.
Ibn-Al-Hazm(ابن هزم), he says, when the number of Muslims increased and the persecution increased,
Allah allowed them to migrate.
Second reason, is to safeguard their faith.
Not everyone will be able to handle the torture.
Some people would give up their Eeman(ايمان).
Not everyone has the strength of Bilal(بلال), not everyone can resist what Khabbab Ibn Arat(خباب إبن أرت) went through.
So, if a person fears on the safety of their religion, they should go somewhere else.
And Rasool Allah ﷺ says,
لَا يُذلُّ الْمُؤمِنُ نَّفْسَه
The believers should not humiliate themselves.
يُعَرِّضُ نَفْسَه’ لِمَا لَا يُطِيْقُ مِنَّ الْبَلَاء
By facing harm, which he is not able to handle.
So, if it is too much for a person to handle
then, they should not put themselves in that difficult situation.
To give you an example of what this concept means.
There was once a man, who came to Rasool Allah ﷺ with a size of an egg, pure gold.
And he gave it to Rasool Allah ﷺ and said, this is Sadaqah(صدقه), and it is all what I have.
Rasool Allah ﷺ was upset and said:
One of you would come and give up all of their wealth.
And then after that, they would come and ask me for assistance.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ did not want this person to give up all of his money and then ask for help.
You keep your money, give what you're able to give, but keep some for yourself.
Why do you come and say this all what I have.?
But then we know that Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه at one point of time,
has given up all of his wealth to Rasool Allah ﷺ and Rasool Ullah praised that.
How come the response of the Messenger of Allah was different.?
Rasool Allah ﷺ knew in the situation of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر), that he can handle the situation,
he can give up all of his wealth and he would not get down to the level of begging.
He will be able to take care of himself.
However, not everyone is like Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).
So, for other people, they shouldn't put themselves in that difficult situation that they're not able to handle
you give up everything in that moment of high emotions.
But after that when things calm down, you start rethinking and saying; O, what have I done?
I've given up all of my money, what can I do now.
So, not everybody will be able to handle what is going on in Makkah
therefore Rasool Allah ﷺ told them to leave and safeguard your religion.
Ibn Is'haqq(اِبْنِ اِسْحَاقْ) says the Muslims then left towards Abyssinia fearing for their faith.
Number three, we have a quote here by Syed Qutub(سيد قطب), he says,
before I read this quote, and what is your impression of the people who went to Abyssinia.?
Were they strong and noble among Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) or were they, the weak.?
They belong to the strong and wealthy families of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ)
and Syed Qutub(سيد قطب) states:
It would not be correct to say that they had gone there for reasons of personal safety alone.
For they included some of the most powerful and wealthiest of the prophet's followers and of his fellow tribesmen.
The majority of them were from the tribe of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) including Jafar Ibn Abi Talib(جَعْفَر اِبْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِب)
and a number of young men who are accustomed to providing protection to the Prophet ﷺ such as Az-Zubair Bin Awaam(الزبير بن عوام),
Abdur Rahman Ibn Auf(عبد الرحمن ابن عوف), Abu Salamah Al-Makhzoomi(ابو سلمه المخزومي), Uthman Ibn Affan(عثمان ابن عفان) to mention a few.
There were women belonging to some of the most prominent families of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ),
such as Umm Habiba(ام حبيبه), daughter of Abu Sufiyan(ابوسفيان),
the Quraish(قُرَيْشْ)'s unrivaled non Muslim leader,
who would have never been persecuted in Makkah.
Umm Habiba(ام حبيبه) would never have been persecuted in Makkah, no one would be able to touch her.
She's the daughter of Abu Sufiyan(ابوسفيان), the leader of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ).
There were no doubt other reasons for the Muslims immigration to Abyssinia,
there was the need to shake the religious and social foundations of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ)'s, most noble and powerful families,
there could be no greater insult or threat to the Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) dynasties,
that seeing their proudest and most noble sons and daughters running away for conscientious and religious reasons,
leaving the cultural heritage and tribal homeland behind.
So, the ones who made Hijrah(هجرة) belonging to the wealthy and strong families of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ),
having them leave, according to the view of Syed Qutub(سيد قطب)
is to cause an embarrassment and to shake the structure of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ)
and Quraish(قُرَيْشْ)'s position in Arabia wasn't because of the strength of its army.
Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) were small in number, nevertheless, no one dare to attack them.
And they used to be held in very high esteem, they had this deep respect in the hearts of everyone around them.
And that was because of the values that they had.
It was also because of their location next to the house of Allah
and the fact that they are the guardians of Al-Ka'aba(اَلْكَعْبَه).
So, for the people to see that the noblest, among their men and women had to leave Makkah,
to flee for the safety of their religion was such an embarrassment for the people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ),
and it would shake their foundations in Arabia.
According to another author Munir Ghardaan(منير ألغردان).
His view is that Rasool Allah ﷺ wanted to have a secondary base, outside of Makkah,
so that if something happens in Makkah, at least the religion can survive somewhere else.
And now since the number increased, the Muslims could spare dividing into two groups.
One group stays in Makkah, one group would leave and stay in Abyssinia.
And what will strengthen this view, is the fact that the Muslims in Abyssinia, never went back
to meet the Prophet ﷺ when he was in Madina, until the seventh year of Hijrah(هجرة).
They waited seven years after Rasool Allah ﷺ made Hijrah(هجرة) to travel back to Madina.
And they weren't enjoying their stay, they wanted to be close Rasool Allah ﷺ,
but they stayed there, until they got the permission from Rasool Allah ﷺ to come,
and Rasool Allah ﷺ gave them this permission when it was safe for them to come back.
Now Islam is firmly established.
Because in the first few years in Madina, Madina was under constant threat.
And the Muslims never really had safety.
Just because they had the state didn't mean that they were secure.
They were always under threat from an attack from one direction or another.
But after seven years, Islam was now had its roots deep, it was firmly established, it was strong.
That's when the Sahabah came back from Abyssinia.
Now, brothers and sisters,
I'm spending more time than usual on this story of Al-Hijrah(الهجرة).
Usually in books of Seerah(سيرة), there were just glance over the whole thing in few pages, and that's it.
But we're spending a lot of time on this.
We've already spend some time on the early session, and we'll spend some time this session
because of the importance of Al-Hijrah(هجرة) to Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه) in our situation.
This was a Muslim minority, living among Non-Muslim majority.
It was a predominantly Christian country.
So, there are some resemblances there.
But when it comes to An-Najashi(النجاشي), we don't have any personality similar to him, in the West.
A deeply religious leader with justice.
We haven't had anything like that.
Maybe at one moment of time, laws and constitutions of the West, were somewhat close to the personality of An-Najashi(النجاشي).
But that has pretty much changed now.
But I still think that this is an important subject and we need to talk about it.
Now, unfortunately, there is not a lot of narrations that survived dealing with Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه) in particular,
and dealing with the Makkah era in general.
If you open any book of Seerah(سيرة), you would find that for example, this book in front of me,
as an example, the book is around 700 pages and the Makkah era is 150.
So, hundred and fifty pages are dealing with 13 years of the life of Rasool Allah ﷺ and everything before that.
And then you have almost 600 pages dealing with the last 10 years of the life of Rasool Ullah.
So, you can see the disproportion here.
There's a few reasons for that.
Number one, the documentation of Hadith(حديث) was not allowed, until the Muslims were in Madina.
In Makkah Rasool Allah ﷺ did not allow them to write down Hadith(حديث)
because he didn't want it to mix with Qur'an and cause confusions.
Let's first concentrate on Qur'an and then after that, you can document the Hadith(حديث).
That's one reason.
Second reason, is our earliest scholars weren't very interested in Makkah compared to their interest in Madina.
Why?
Because all of the laws and issues relating to the Islamic State were learned in Madina.
Makkah didn't really relate much to our early scholars because they were living under a Khilafah(خِلَافَه).
And they were concerned with the Islamic law, the Islamic State, the institutions of the Muslim society.
And all of that is to be learned from the 10 years of Madina not Makkah.
So, that's why you would find that the writings on Madina are detailed and elaborate.
Well, there is not much written about Makkah.
Now, I think we need to give more focus.
To the 13 years Rasool Allah ﷺ spent in Makkah.
Because there's a significant percentage of the Muslims around the world living as minorities,
you have 100 million plus living as a minority in India,
60 million Muslim minority in China, millions of Muslims living in Russia,
millions of Muslims living in Western Europe, in Northern America, in South America.
There's a lot of Fiqh(فقه) that is needed for these Muslim minorities and that has to be learned from the years of Makkah.
So, we need more study to be done on the narrations that survived from Makkah.
How come Rasool Allah ﷺ chose Abyssinia to start with, why not Syria?
Why not Iraq? Why not Egypt? How come Abyssinia?
Why not the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire?
There could have been many other choices.
How come Rasool Allah ﷺ chose Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه).?
Well, the number one reason which is stated in the Hadith(حديث) is the saying of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
فَاِنَّ بِهَا مَلِكْ لَا يُظْلَمُ عِنْدَه’ اَحَدْ
Go to the Abyssinia because therein is a king who does not oppress anyone.
Justice was the primary reason for the Muslims going to Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه), they were in search of justice,
because they were fleeing persecution.
So, they needed to go to a place where they will get justice, and that was Abyssinia.
Second reason, which is a secondary reason,
is the fact that the Arabs were familiar with Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه).
Number one,
Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) used to have business with Abyssinia.
That was one of the areas that they would do business with in winter.
The people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) had two journeys, one in summer and one winter,
the one in winter, one branch of it would go to Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه), Abyssinia.
So, they already had an established commercial relationship.
Number two, Rasool Allah ﷺ very early on was exposed to Abyssinian culture.
His first nurse, was from Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه), Umm Aimen(ام ايمن),
who took care of Rasool Allah ﷺ and breast fed him.
She was from Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه).
According to Sahih Muslim(صحيح مسلم), she was from Abyssinia.
And Umm Aimen(ام ايمن) wasn't just Abyssinian but her culture her language was Abyssinian.
In one narration it states that she presented Rasool Allah ﷺ with this food.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ said: What is this?
She said, this is a dish that we make in Abyssinia and I wanted you to try it.
So, she was even cooking some Abyssinian dishes in Arabia.
Her accent, she couldn't get rid of her Abyssinian accent.
For example, according to Ibn Sa'ad(اِبْنِ سَعْد), when she would say
سَلَامُ اللهِ عَلَيْكُمْ
She means peace of Allah be upon him she would say
سَلَامِ اللهِ عَلَيْكُمْ
which means no peace on you.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ would tell her just say Salam(سلام).
Don't go beyond that, just says Salam(سلام).
Or in the Battle of Hunain(حنين), she was making Dua(دُعَا) for the Muslims, she wanted to say
:ثَبَّتَ اللهُ اَقْدَامَ كُمْ
She said:
سَبَّتَ اللهُ اَقْدَامَ كُمْ
ثَبَّتَ اللهُ اَقْدَامَ كُمْ
means may Allah make your feet firm.
But rather than saying firm, she was saying Sabt(سَبْت) which means Saturday.
Which means the whole sentence doesn't mean anything.
Rasool Allah ﷺ told her:
اُسْكُتِيْ فَاِنَّكَ اَسْرَءَ لِسَانْ
Stay quiet, because you have a difficult tongue.
So, she wasn't even able to get rid of her accent.
And this was a person very close to Rasool Allah ﷺ
and Rasool Allah ﷺ remain closed to her for all of his life and he married her to his adopted son Zaid Bin Harissa(زيد بن حارثه).
So, that was the familiarity of Rasool Allah ﷺ with Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه) which started very early on.
Number three,
because the Abyssinians were Christian, and the Muslims used to see the Christians the closest to them.
When you compare them to the idol worshippers of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ), or the Magians, Majoosia(المجوسيه) of Persia,
the Christians were the closest.
Now what was the language of communication between Jafar(جعفر) and An-Najashi(النجاشي), the Negus.?
Probably it was Arabic.
There are some narrations, state that the Negus lived for a few years in Hijaz(حجاز), and that he spoke Arabic.
And even if he didn't live in Arabia, because of this established commercial ties between the Arabs and the Abyssinians,
it is possible that the Abyssinians spoke Arabic or knew Arabic.
And this would make more sense
because we would find it difficult, for example, understand how the Negus would weep,
when he hears Qur'an, if it was translated through an interpreter?
You now then Negus weep, cried.
We would suspect that he was understanding the meanings of the Ayaat(آيات) in the original language,
for it to have that effect on him.
Did the Negus become Muslim?
He definitely did.
Even though according to Ibn Taymiah(اِبْنِ تَيْمِيَّه), he was not capable of applying any of the laws of Islam.
Ibn Taymiah(اِبْنِ تَيْمِيَّه) says for a fact An-Najashi(النجاشي) did not rule, according to Qur'an.
Ibn Taymiah(اِبْنِ تَيْمِيَّه) says that the authentic opinion is that he did not even pray.
He did not make Hijrah(هجرة) which is mandatory at that time.
So, he did not practice Islam, but he believed in the oneness of Allah.
And he did, what was possible for him to do for somebody in this position.
And Ibn Taymiah(اِبْنِ تَيْمِيَّه) also brought in, over here the story of Sayyedina Yousuf عليه السّلام,
he said Yousuf عليه السّلام, even though he was a Nabi(نبي) of Allah,
but he wasn't able to apply all of the laws of Allah سبحانه وتعالى on a non Muslim population.
And actually, Ibn Taymiah(اِبْنِ تَيْمِيَّه) has a very interesting essay on this.
I didn't have time to translate it,
but it's quite fascinating on his views regarding this issue of a Muslim ruling over non Muslims
or somebody in the situation of An-Najashi(النجاشي),
what are their excuses in not applying the laws of Sharia(شريعه)?
We're not going to get into that.
But definitely he did become a Muslim.
And he was being taught Islam by Jafar Ibn Abi Talib(جَعْفَر اِبْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِب).
And he might had some secret sessions with Jafar Ibn Abi Talib(جَعْفَر اِبْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِب) to study Islam,
because the Islam of An-Najashi(النجاشي) was not made public.
So, when An-Najashi(النجاشي) passed away.
In Al-Bukhari(ألبخاري) Rasool Allah ﷺ, says:
قَدْ تُوُّفِيَّ الْيَوْمْ رَجُلٌ صَالِحْ مِنَّ الْحَبَشَه فَحَلُمَّه نُصَلِّيْ عَلَيْهْ
On this day, a righteous man died in Abyssinia, so let's pray on him.
Let's make Salaat-Ul-Janaza(صلاة الجنازة) on him.
And Rasool Allah ﷺ knew the exact day when, An-Najashi(النجاشي) died.
He knew it on the same day, which means that Jibreel عليه السّلام came to Muhammadﷺ to inform him about that event.
So, it was an important event that Jibreel(جِبْرِيْل) had to come and convey to Rasool Allah ﷺ.
And the Messenger of Allah Al-Mustafah(ألمصطفى) lead Salah(صلاة) on An-Najashi(النجاشي), he prayed for him.
And another Hadith(حديث), Rasool Allah ﷺ said:
اِسْتَغْفِرُوْ لِاَخِيْ كُمْ
Ask Allah to forgive him.
He was asking the Sahabah to make Dua(دُعَا) for An-Najashi(النجاشي).
Some lessons to learn from the narrations.
Number one,
which really stands out and that is the firmness and steadfastness of the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.
They held tight to their principles.
They did not compromise.
Even when they knew, they would be in danger.
They went to An-Najashi(النجاشي) and said:
Eesa(عيسى) is a servant of Allah.
And in the earlier discussion, they said, we're going to speak the truth, No matter what happens.
So, it's important to have that spirit that we are not here to protect ourselves.
But we're here to protect our religion, our religion comes first.
Even if we have to give up our lives in the process.
And we would go through whatever pain and suffering we have to, to safeguard Islam.
So, that's the first lesson.
Second lesson,
they would not give in, to the local traditions that would contradict Islam.
They would adopt local traditions and culture that does not contradict with their religion.
But whenever they see a contradiction, they are willing to stand against it.
It was the tradition of the Abyssinians to make Sujood(سجود) whenever they would come to greet the Negus.
And Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص), when he went to An-Najashi(النجاشي), he said:
beware when these people come in, they're not going to make Sujood(سجود) for you.
And when they came in, truly, they did not as Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص) suspected, they did not make Sujood(سجود).
An-Najashi(النجاشي), was angry and he said: How come you don't make Sujood(سجود) to me like everybody else does.
They said: We do not make Sujood(سجود) to anyone but Allah.
In our religion, we don't make Sujood(سجود) to for anyone but Allah.
And they had pride
even though they were in a foreign land, living through difficult situations, but you can see that they have pride in their religion.
Number three,
when we say that the Muslims in Makkah had a Jama'at(جماعة) and a Ameer(امير),
someone who wants to argue against this concept can come back and say,
Well, obviously they had the Jama'at(جماعة) and Ameer(امير).
Rasool Allah ﷺ was there, what do you expect?
Well, what about in Abyssinia,
were the Muslims living like we are today loose, and everybody is doing their own thing and going in their own direction?
Or were they organized, under one banner and a common leadership?
This is one thing that stands out in all of the narrations
that the Muslims were organized, they were a group, and they work together, in a Jama'at(جماعة),
and they had a leader, Jafar Ibn Abi Talib(جَعْفَر اِبْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِب).
He was their spokesman, he was their Ameer(امير).
So, this is not an optional thing, it's not something that if you like it, you'll do it.
Muslims, wherever they are, they have to be in an organized fashion.
This is an organized religion.
It's not an individual spiritual thing that you do on your own.
It is a religion that has many of its Ibadah(عبادة) done collectively to teach us, the spirit of Jama'at(جماعة).
Salah(صلاة) is done collectively,
Hajj(حج) is done collectively.
So, Muslims living in the West, they have to organize, they have to come together in a movement.
And they have to have a common leadership which they stand behind.
The decision once made in Abyssinia, that only one man will speak
and we will not interfere or go against and contradict what he's saying.
Number four,
you can see the extent of the participation of Muslim women.
And now I want you to contrast this and balance it, with what I spoke about earlier on.
When I was speaking about the role of the Muslim woman as a wife and a mother.
You see, Islam is somewhere between the two extremes.
In every matter, we have two extremes,
طَرَفَانِ وَوَسَطْ
In Arabic, it says two extremes and the middle.
Islam is the middle of everything, it's the middle way.
اُمَّةً وَسَطَا
So, for every situation, you have two extremes.
And the Fiqh(فقه) and the wisdom is to know where the exact middle is.
Because we have a lot of points on a spectrum, but only one point, one dot is the middle.
So, it's very easy to hit everything, but the middle ground,
but it's not easy to hit the exact target of middle ground.
And that is where the Fiqh(فقه) and wisdom comes into play.
It's very evident in the early Muslims history that the Muslim sister had a very important role to play.
The first Muslim was a woman.
The first Shaheed(شهيد) in Islam was a woman.
The first martyr was Sumaiyah(سميعه)
you can see the participation of Muslim women in Hijrah(هجرة) to Abyssinia,
their participation in the Hijrah(هجرة) to Madina,
their participation in Jihad(جهاد), their participation in Jama'at(جماعة)
their participation in teaching and learning.
So, some of the artificial barriers that we have erected now did not exist in the time of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
I mean, among us today, are people who are carrying it to the both extremes.
One extreme is that men and women can mix and laugh and joke and without no barriers, Hijab(حجاب) is optional.
And then on the other extreme, even the voice of women is not allowed to be spoken in public.
We might assume, to just have them live in different planet.
So, these are two extremes, but we need to find the middle road.
And I want to give you an example to show you, the relationship that men and women had in the time of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
In this conversation is relevant to the emigration to Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه).
When the Muslims came back to Madina, in the seventh year of Hijrah(إلهجره),
the wife of Jafar Ibn Abi Talib(جَعْفَر اِبْنِ اَبِيْ طَالِب), Asmaa Bint Umais(اَسْمَاء بِنْتِ عُمَيْس), she went to visit Hafsah(حَفْصَه),
the daughter of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب), who is the wife of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
so Asmaa Bint Umais(اَسْمَاء بِنْتِ عُمَيْس) went to visit her.
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب) came to visit his daughter
and he came in and saw this woman sitting in her room, he told her: Who is this woman?
She said:
هَذِه أسْماء بِنْتِ عميْسْ؟
This is a Asmaa Bint Umais(اَسْمَاء بِنْتِ عُمَيْس).
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب) said
آلْحَبَشِيَّهْ؟
Is this the Abyssinian woman.?
Not that she is from Abyssinia, but he was referring to the fact that she has been an Abyssinia for so long.
Is this the Abyssinian woman.
آلْبَحْرِيَّهْ؟
Is this woman who came from the sea,?
Because they had to cross the sea to get into Madina.
Hafsah(حفصه) said: Yes.
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب) told Asmaa(اَسْمَاء);
we made Hijrah(هجرة) before you.
Therefore we have more rights to Rasool Allah ﷺ then you do.
Straight like that, he went to her and said: We made Hijrah(هجرة) before you.
Therefore we are closer to Rasool Ullah than you and we have more rights to him than you do.
Asmaa(اَسْمَاء) was quite angry by that statement, and she said:
No, you're not closer to Rasool Allah ﷺ than us.
You were with the Messenger of Allah.
He was feeding the hungry among you,
teaching the ignorant among you, while we were in a distant, despised land.
We were in a faraway land and despised, we weren't very comfortable over there.
We didn't like it being far away from Rasool Allah ﷺ.
We were feeling homesick to the Messenger of Allah, not to Makkah, it was to the Messenger of Allah, we want to be with him.
And then she said: I'm going to go and tell Rasool Allah ﷺ what you're saying now
and I'm not gonna add anything to it, or subtract anything, I'm going to say it as you said it.
And she went to Rasool Allah ﷺ and said: This is what Umar(عُمَر) told me.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said: And what did you say?
She said: And she repeated the same statement,
Rasool Allah ﷺ said: No, Umar(عُمَر) and his companions do not have more rights than you do, to me.
They're not closer to me than you.
They have the rewards of one Hijrah(هجرة) and you have the rewards of two Hijrah(هجرة).
You get double the reward that they do.
Asmaa Bint Umais(اَسْمَاء بِنْتِ عُمَيْس) said; When Rasool Allah mentioned this Hadith(حديث) to me,
the Sahabah who were in Abyssinia, Abu Musa Al-Asha'ari(ابو مُوسَى اَلْعَشْعَرِيْ) and his friends will come to me in large groups,
all trying to learn this Hadith(حديث), of Rasool Allah ﷺ from me.
And she said: There was nothing better for them in the world than this Hadith(حديث).
This Hadith(حديث) was so valuable to them, it was worth the world and everything in it.
So now, here you see that,
first of all, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب) is speaking to this woman, and they're having a conversation.
And it was a straightforward conversation.
And then Asmaa Bint Umais(اَسْمَاء بِنْتِ عُمَيْس) is teaching the Sahabah, Abu Musa Al-Asha'ari(ابو مُوسَى اَلْاَشْعَرِيْ) and the other men about this Hadith(حديث).
So, this was the nature of the relationship that existed.
Obviously, if you look at all of the references, we have that deal with the relationship of men and women,
you would find that there was a an element of formality in their dealings,
you wouldn't find any incidents where they would joke and laugh with each other.
So, they knew their limits, but in the same time, it wasn't that extreme, as we might see, amongst Muslims now.
An example of the participation and the strength of the early Muslims would be Umm Habibah(اُمِّ حَبِيْبَه).
Ya'ani(يعني) Umm Habibah رضي الله عنها, keep in mind the following factors and see how difficult it was on her.
Number one, she's the daughter of the unrivaled leader of Makkah, Abu Sufiyan(ابو سفيان).
So for her, to leave that comfortable life, wealth, nobility in her society
and go and live as a foreigner and an alien land, is not easy.
So number one, she was the daughter of Abu Sufiyan(ابو سفيان).
Number two, she's living in a foreign land.
Number three, which was disastrous, when her husband reached to Abyssinia, he apostated and became Christian.
He was one of the Sahabah who made Hijrah(هجرة), when he got there, he changed his mind.
Now Obaid-Ul-Allah Bin Jahash(عبيدالله بن جحش), he went to different stages in his life.
I mean, he kept on flipping back and forth before Islam, changing his mind and going into different religions.
So, this was his personality.
So, when he got there to Al-Habasha(اَلْحَبَشَه), he just changed from being a Muslim, into being a Christian,
and the most influential person on woman is her husband.
And it was very difficult for Umm Habibah(اُمِّ حَبِيْبَه) to deal with this situation.
Her husband opostating and becoming Christian, obviously after that, they had to separate.
Keep all of these factors in mind and see how strong she was, how steadfast she was, and how she was able to hold firm on her religion.
What is the ruling on Hijrah(هجرة)?
Migration is compulsory, if a Muslim individual is unable to establish his basic Islamic practices in the land,
such as prayer fasting, and the Azaan(آذان),
if a Muslim is unable to establish the essential practices of Islam, then they must find somewhere else.
It is permissible, if a Muslim is confronted with problems that make life difficult in that land,
he is permitted to leave his land to another land of Islam seeking relief.
Number three, it is forbidden if by leaving a Muslim neglects the Islamic duty in his land that no one can replace him in.
If someone is playing a critical role, and nobody can step in and take that role, that is forbidden for a person to leave.
What is the ruling on living among non Muslims.?
And that is one topic that Muslims in the West have been avoiding talking about.
We shy away from certain topics because they're controversial, we don't want to deal with them.
But eventually we'll be faced with real problems that will force us to deal with these issues.
And we need to have frank discussions on such matters.
We can just throw them in the closet, brush them under the carpet and think that they will go away.
When it comes to living in a non Muslim land, it is the consensus of Muslim scholars that it is not allowed.
And the Ahadith(احاديث) are very clear.
اَنَا بَرِيْءٌ مِمَّنْ اِقَامَةْ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانِي الْمُشْرِكِيْنْ
I have nothing to do with a Muslim, who lives among the ones, who associate God's besides Allah.
This is one Hadith(حديث) of many, different narrations.
The scholars gave exceptions.
They said: If a person is propagating the message of Islam and is practicing Islam freely, then that is an excuse for them to stay.
They also gave temporary excuse for somebody who's doing business or seeking knowledge.
But this is on a temporary basis, it is not to settle indefinitely.
Therefore, it is not allowed for us to live in non Muslim environments
unless we are fulfilling our responsibilities of Da'wah(دعوة).
Otherwise, we are accumulating sins by default.
So, Da'wah(دعوة) is not an optional thing for us.
But it is something that justifies a Muslim living in a Non-Muslim society.
And by Da'wah(دعوة), we need to understand this in a comprehensive way.
It doesn't mean that every single person needs to do the same thing.
We mean Da'wah(دعوة) in a comprehensive way, anything that is serving the welfare of Islam,
anything that serves the propagation of the message, would fall under Daw'ah(دعوة).
It doesn't necessarily mean that you're distributing leaflets to non Muslims, or you're giving speeches to them.
These are two ways but there are many others.
Relief work is work of Da'wah(دعوة), charitable work is work of Da'wah(دعوة),
teaching Muslims living in the West is a work of Da'wah(دعوة) too.
So, we need to understand this concept of Da'wah(دعوة) in a comprehensive way.
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون), was one of the Muhajireen(مهاجرين), who were in Abyssinia.
He came back to Makkah and since he left he had to come in with some protection.
So, he sought protection or he was offered protection by Al-Waleed Bin Mugheera(الوليد بن مغيره), who was one of the elders of Makkah.
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون), he entered into Makkah, he saw that every other Muslim is going through persecution except for himself.
This didn't make him happy, he felt jealous.
How come everyone else is going through this purification of their sins except myself.?
So, he went to Al-Waleed Bin Mugheera(الوليد بن مغيره) and told him I don't need your protection, I'm giving it, back to you.
He said: Why my son, are you doing that?
He said: I want the protection of Allah.
I don't want your protection.
He said, Well, since I have given you protection publicly, you have to give it back publicly.
So, they went next to Al-Ka'aba(اَلْكَعْبَه) and Al-Waleed Bin Mugheera(الوليد بن مغيره) said:
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون) has given me back my protection,
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون) said: Yes,
I did find Al-Waleed Bin Mugheera(الوليد بن مغيره) to be a very trustworthy and honest man.
But I want to be under the protection of Allah and Allah alone.
Later on, he was sitting in a gathering around one of the famous poets of Arabia, Lubaid(لُبَيْد),
and Lubaid(لُبَيْد) was reciting some of his poetry.
And he said:
كُلُّ شَيْءٍخَلَ الله بَاطِلٌ
He said: Everything save God is vanity.
Everything is going to go away.
Uthman(عثمان) said: Yes, you are right.
This was a gathering that has held a lot of people.
And then it continued and said:
وَكُلُّ نَعِيْمٍ لَا مَحَالَةَ زَائِلٌ
And all pleasures must fade.
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون) interrupted and said: That's wrong.
The pleasures of Paradise never fade away.
Lubaid(لُبَيْد), being a respected, famous poet of Arabia was kind of shocked.
How could someone in the audience respond to me like that?
So he said; O, men, of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ), those who sat with you used to not be so insulted.
When did this come about so?
When did this start happening among you?
So one man, in the audience he said, don't worry about it.
This is one of the fools who followed the religion of Muhammad(محمد), don't take it to heart.
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون) responded and they had to fight.
So, the man stood up and he punched Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون) in his eye until the whole thing is black.
Al-Waleed Bin Mugheera(الوليد بن مغيره) saw this and he came to Uthman(عثمان) and said:
there was no need for your eyes to go through that suffering.
You were under my protection, why did you give it up?
Uthman Ibn Madh'oon(عثمان إبن مظعون) said: No,
he said; Not so, I swear, the only problem is that my good eye is in need of what the other one suffered for God's sake.
Actually, I am under the protection of One stronger and more capable than yourself, O Ibn Abd-Sh-Shams(عبدالشمس).
Al-Waleed(الوليد) offered again and said: Do you want to come back to my protection?
He said: No, I want to be under the protection of Allah.
And remember that some of these are Ahadith(احاديث), some of them are from Seerah(سيرة),
we're trying to mix both to learn from Hadith(حديث) and to learn from Seerah(سيرة).
Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه, did not make Hijrah(هجرة) to Abyssinia, but he was suffering in Makkah.
So, he requested permission from Rasool Allah ﷺ to allow him to migrate.
Rasool Allah ﷺ gave him permission.
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) left, he left Makkah and he reached to Yemen, Barkal Ghamad(برق الغماد),
and then he met with Syed Al-Ahabeesh(سيد الأحابيش),
Al-Ahabeesh(الأحابيش) are tribe that used to live close to Makkah.
Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه), he met with him.
Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) told him, Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) where are you heading towards?
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) said: My people have offended me, treated me badly and forced me to leave.
Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) said: Such a person like you is an asset to his people.
You are not a person to leave, and you are not the person to be driven out of your land.
Why?
He said: Because you aid those in distress and you are kindly towards the needy.
And then he said: Go back, you are under my protection, and he took him to Makkah.
And he went in front of the people of Makkah and said:
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) is under my protection.
How can you drive out such a person from your land, he's an asset for you.
You drive out to a person like Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).
He said: He's under my protection.
The people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ), they came to Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) and they said,
Well, we accept your protection.
But we are not going to allow Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) to worship publicly.
So, please make sure that he doesn't.
Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) came to Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) and said: Your people don't want you to offend them, so don't worship publicly.
Previously, what Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) would do.?
Is he would pray outside in front of the people.
And Ayesha(عائشه) said: My father used to be a man with a very soft heart.
And when he would recite the verses of Qur'an, he would cry.
So you would have all of the kids and women and men attracted around Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) watching him.
And this turned the people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) crazy.
And they felt that this will be a Fitnah(فِتْنَه) for their people, seeing this Khasho'o(خشوع) in Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).
So, Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) told Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) to worship privately, Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) agreed.
For a while Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) was praying in the privacy of his home and then he had an idea.
He decided to make a Musallah(مصلى) in the Fanna'a(فناء) of Baitah(بيته).
Fanna'a(فناء) is an open area of the house.
Usually you would have in some styles of Islamic architecture,
you would have the house built in a square and in the middle it is empty.
So, that would be Fanna'a(فناء).
Or Fanna'a(فناء) could mean like a backyard or something a place that is open.
But it's part of the house.
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) took his Fanna'a(فناء) to be a Musallah(مصلى).
So, even though it was inside his house, but people could see it from outside.
So now, the same problem happened again,
all of the people would gather until, it would be crowds outside the house of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر), watching him pray.
They were amazed by the Khusho'o(خشوع) that Abu Bakr As-Siddique(ابوبكر الصديق) had.
And the people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) were furious, they went to Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) and they said:
We told you we don't want him to worship publicly.
So, Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) went to Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) and spoke to him about it.
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) said: I'll give your protection back, I don't need it.
I'll be in the protection of Allah.
And he did give up the protection of Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه).
Few notes on the story of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).
Number one,
when he met with Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) and Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه), asked him:
How come you are migrating from your land.?
Abu Bakr As-Siddique(ابوبكرالصديق) said, in one narration.
اَسِيْحُ فِيْ الْاَرضْ وَ اَعْبُدُ رَبِّيْ اُرِيْدُ اَنْ اَعْبُدْ رَبِّيْ
Why are you traveling? He said:
Where are you going?
He said: I want to travel in the land, in order to worship My Lord.
So, now Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) is leaving with no purpose but to worship Allah
to go in the land and worship Allah سبحانه وتعالى, seeking freedom.
What will they do with that freedom? Worship Allah,
they would use every resource that they have to please Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
He wasn't traveling to do business.
He was traveling, he said, I want to worship Allah.
That's why I'm leaving.
Second lesson, what did Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) know about Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).?
What was the reputation that Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) had, among the non Muslims?
Caring for the needy,
providing for the poor, sponsoring the orphan,
standing up for right.
That was the reputation of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).
He wasn't known for ill manners and corrupt character.
He was known for these righteous values,
which every person on the face of the earth, who has decency would recognize their value.
And this should be the personality of the Muslim wherever they are.
This is what the people know of you.
Your righteousness, your standing up for what is right, your charitable work.
And that is what led Ibn Dughanna(إبن دغنه) to say that I'm going to give you protection,
he said you are an asset for your people, we can't let you leave,
we can't allow you to leave Makkah,
your are a credit for them, you are pride for your people.
And this should be the reputation of every Muslim.
This is what the people should know about us.
Number three,
his Salah(صلاة) was his Da'wah(دعوة), publicly practicing the rituals of Islam is Da'wah(دعوة).
For the people to see Hajj(حَجْ),
for them to see our Aftaar(إفطار) in Ramadan(رمضان).
We used to hold in our mosque, open dinners in Ramadan(رمضان), we would invite the neighborhood to come and break fasting with us.
And some of them would even fast, they are non Muslims, they would fast, they would join in.
In fact, many people seems to be enthusiastic to participate with Muslims in Ramadan(رمضان),
let them do that, let them go ahead.
Let them taste the value of Sayyam(صيام), the flavor of it, and invite them to have Iftaar(إفطار).
Let them see the socialization that the Muslims have in Ramadan(رمضان).
Salah(صلاة), Salat-Ut-Taraweh(صلاة التراويح), we shouldn't hide in our enclaves in our Masajid(مساجد) and close it off to the public.
This is Da'wah(دعوة).
Abu Bakr As-Siddique(ابوبكرالصديق) would do it in public.
And the people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) were furious, because they thought that this will attract the people to Islam,
seeing Abu Bakr(ابوبكر), seeing the Khusho'o(خشوع) that he had will bring them closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
So, we should publicly do these Ibadaat(عبادات), because there is a special flavor in them.
And there's a uniqueness in the rituals that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has prescribed on us.
And that will also relate to number four, we should publicize the message,
the enemies of Islam wouldn't mind if you're praying in your cubicle, that's your private life, we're not going to interfere with it,
but they're going to be resistant to you doing it in public.
And that is what we should do.
Because we want to attract the good among all people to become Muslim.
And the good heart will be attracted by good things.
صَلَّى الله عَلى سَيَّدِنَا محمد وَعَلى اَلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرًا
We finished Al-Hijrah(هجرة) ila'a(الى) Habasha(حَبَشَه).