The Life of Muhammadﷺ, The Madinan Period, Volume 1
By Imam Anwar Al_Awlaki,
اَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَّ الشِّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ ۝ بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيْمَ۝
اَلْحَمْدُ لله ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلى سَيِّدِنَا محمد وَعَلَى اَلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرا
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي۝وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي۝وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي۝يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي۝
During the battle of Bannu Mustallaq(بنو مصطلق), an important incident occurred,
and its importance lies in the great lessons that the Ummah(امة) learned from this, unfortunate incident.
We'll let Ayesha رضي الله عنها relate to us the story of what happened.?
Ayesha رضي الله عنها said;
These narrations by the way, I mentioned are in Bukhari(بخاريْ), Muslim(مسلم), Ibn Is'haaq(ابن اسحاق).
She said: When the Messenger of Allah was about to go on a journey.
He would draw lots among his wives to decide, who would accompany him,
he did so as usual for the expedition against Bannu Al-Mustallaq(بنوالمصطلق).
My name was drawn and so he took me with him.
The women on such occasions would eat lights filling foods,
and they would be lightweight.
In those days, Ayesha رضي الله عنها said that
we used to eat very light meals, so we were lightweight.
I would sit in my Haudaj(هودج),
while my camel was being saddled,
this Haudaj(هودج) is a closed space.
And it is put on top of the camel for women to sit in.
It's made out of wood and then they cover it,
so women could be sitting in there without her being seen.
The men responsible for mounting it,
would then grasp the Haudaj(هودج) from below it and lift it and place it
upon the camel's back, tying it there with ropes,
they would then lead the camel away by the head.
When Rasool Allah ﷺ had completed that journey,
he directed the party to return home.
And when close to Madina, he made a halt for part of the night,
a crier then called out to everyone to depart again.
And people prepared to do so.
I went out to relieve myself.
I was wearing a necklace of onyx beads from Dafaar(دفار)
when I had finished, it slipped from my neck without my knowledge,
having returned to my mount I felt for it around my neck but didn't find it there.
But people were beginning to leave,
so I returned to where I had been to search for the necklace and eventually I found it.
It was right under the place she was sitting.
The man who had now finished saddling my camel,
came back for me and raised up the Haudaj(هودج) thinking I was inside as usual.
You see, because she was very lightweight, they didn't tell the difference that she wasn't in there
and fasten it on to the camel,
they had no doubts about me being inside.
Then they took the camel by the head and lead it away.
When I returned to the campsite.
There was absolutely no one there, everyone had left.
So, I wrapped myself in my cloak and lay down,
I was sure that they would return for me, when they miss me.
I swear I was lying there ,
when Safwaan Ibn Muattalb As-Sulami(صفوان ابن المعطل السلمي) came by.
He had for some reason of his own being lagging behind the other warriors
and had not spent the night with the others.
When he saw my form, he approached and stood over me.
He had seen me before the veil was required for us.
When he saw me he exclaimed; To Allah we belong and to Him we return.
Isn't it Zaeenah(ظعينة) of Rasool Allah ﷺ.?
Zaeenah(ظعينة) is the term used to refer to a woman, who was sitting in the Haudaj(هودج).
I was all wrapped up, in my cloak.
He then asked what made you stay behind,
يَرْحَمْكِ الله
May Allah, have mercy on you,
I did not speak to him.
He then brought up the camel and said you ride.
He kept away from me.
So, I mounted, and he led the camel away by the head,
moving quickly to catch up with the rest.
I swear by Allah we neither caught them up, nor did they miss me before morning.
So the entire night, they didn't miss her and they weren't able to catch up with the army.
By the time the forest had halted and made secure.
The man appeared leading me.
And so those who spread the calumny began talking,
and the men were greatly perturbed.
However I swear I knew nothing of this.
So, now this man, Safwaan(صفوان) leading the camel and Ayesha(عائشه) is riding on it appears,
and the Muslims, see what is happening, they see that Safwaan(صفوان) and Ayesha(عائشه) are coming alone.
So they start, spreading rumors, saying that why were they together
and accusing Ayesha رضي الله عنها.
We then went on to Madina.
There I soon fell seriously sick
and heard nothing of what was going on.
See all of these rumors are spreading around and Ayesha(عائشه) has no idea about it,
all the talk soon reached Rasool Allah ﷺ and my parents,
but they told me absolutely nothing of this.
All I noticed was that Rasool Allah ﷺ was not as kind as usual towards me.
Whenever I had been sick he had been very kind and comforting to me,
but not on this occasion.
I pretended not to notice.
When he came in to see me, my mother being present nursing me, he would just say formally.
كَيْفَ تِيْكُمْ
Which means, how is she.?
He wouldn't even speak to her.
He would add, nothing more.
Eventually this coldness of his bothered me and so I asked him,
O Rasool Ullah if you will allow it
I'd like to go and stay with my mother to have her, care for me.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said, No problem.
And so I moved in with my mother.
I still had no knowledge, what was going on until I recovered from my illness some three weeks later.
So for three weeks, she has no idea that this rumor is spreading around about her.
She said: We were an Arab people and did not have in our homes those toilets that foreigners use.
We find them disgusting.
We would go out and use the open areas of Madina.
Each night the women would go outside to relieve themselves.
I went out to do so one night accompanied by Umm Mustakh(ام مسطح),
daughter of Abu Room Al-Muttalib(ابو روم المطلب).
She was walking with me
when she tripped over her gown and swore,
تَعِسَ مِسْطَحٌ
Means perish, that Mustakh(مسطح),
Mutakh(مسطح) was her son's nickname has real name being Auf(عوف).
I commented, that's a terrible thing to say about a Mohajer(مهاجر), and a man who fought at Badr(بدر).
So, Ayesha(عائشه) here is saying, Why are you saying this about your son.?
And your son is a Muhajir(مهاجر) and he has attended Badr(بدر).
So, this shows you that attending Badr(بدر) was a special thing.
So, the mother of Mutakh(مسطح) said;
Has the news not reached you, daughter of Abu Bakr(ابو بكر).
I said: What news.?
She then told me, what those spreading the calumny were saying,
so I exclaim, This is really so.
She said, Yes, it is really so.
Ayesha(عائشه) says, I swear, I was so upset.
I could not do my business and went home.
I wept so much, I thought my crying would burst my liver.
I told my mother;
May Allah forgive you for not telling me, anything about what the people have been saying about me.
She said: Don't take it too seriously daughter.
Rarely does a beautiful woman with a husband who loves her
not have her co-wives and others too, speak badly about her.
Rasool Allah ﷺ had stood and address people on this subject,
but I knew nothing of that he had praised and thanked Allah and then said;
Why is it that people are giving me concern about my family,
and speaking untruths against them.
I swear by Allah, I know nothing but good of them,
and they are also saying the same against the man, of whom I have never known anything but good.
He has never entered any of my dwellings without me being, in his company.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ here is saying that
I only know good of Ayesha(عائشه) and I only know good of Safwaan(صفوان).
The greatest blame for this lay with Abdullah Bin Ubaeye Al-Salool(عبد الله بن ابي السلول),
some of the Khazraj(خزرج) and Mastakh(مسطح) and Hamna(حمنة),
daughter of Jahash(جحش),
Hamna(حمنة) spoke thus because she was sister of Zainab(زينب) daughter of Jahash(جحش),
who also lived with Rasool Allah ﷺ
and Zainab(زينب) was the only one of his wives, who would rival my status with him.
Zainab(زينب) herself was given Allah's protection through her religion,
for she spoke only good of me.
Hamna(حمنة) spread her rumors about me to do harm, for her sister's sake, and I suffered for that.
So, Ayesha(عائشه) is saying that
Zainab(زينب) wasn't involved in this, but it was her sister doing it.
And she was doing it for her sister's, sake without Zainab(زينب) asking for that.
Ayesha(عائشه) continues, when Rasool Allah ﷺ made this address
Usaid Bin Khuzair(اسيد بن خضير) stated;
Messenger of Allah, if they were from Al-Aos(الأوس) we would deal with them, for you.
If from our Khazraj(خزرج) brethren then give us your order
and I swear by Allah, they deserve to have their heads cut off.
Now Usaid(اسيد) is from Al-Aos(الأوس).
He's saying if it is from Al-Aos(الأوس), we'll deal with them,
if it's from Al-Khazraj(خزرج), tell us, what to do.? And we'll do it.
Ayesha(عائشه) said, then Sa'ad Ibn Ubadah(سعد ابن عبادة) arose,
he had previously been considered a fine man.
He said: You lie, I swear by Allah.
You certainly not cut off their heads.
And you only made that statement because you knew that, they were of Khazraj(خزرج).
If they had been from your own tribe you never say that.
Usaid(اسيد) said;
It's you who lie, I swear by Allah's life you're a hypocrite arguing, on behalf of the hypocrites.
People became so angry that there was almost fighting between these two tribes of Al-Aos(الأوس) wal Khazraj(خزرج).
Subhan Allah(سبحان الله), this is four or five years after them becoming Muslim
and still the problem of nationalism is so divisive, it could cause them to fight inside Al-Masjid(المسجد).
And this shows us, how dangerous nationalism is, tribalism, it's jealousy for one's tribe
and Subhan Allah(سبحان الله) Rasool Allah ﷺ says that,
it is one of the things of Jahilliya(جاهليه) that will remain in you.
So, we need to be very careful from this problem.
And these are great Sahabah(صحابه).
These are great Sahabah(صحابه), we're not talking about Munafiqeen(منافقين) here,
Sa'ad Bin Ubadah(سعد ابن عباده) is a great Sahabi(صحابي),
Usaid(اسيد) is a great Sahabi(صحابي).
The Al-Aos(الأوس) and Khazraj(خزرج) are the Ansaar(الانصار).
Nevertheless, they were going to fight.
So now Rasool Allah ﷺ has his own problem.
The problem of this slander of his family.
Ayesha رضي الله عنها said;
People became so angry that there was almost fighting between these two tribes of Al-Aos(الأوس) and Khazraj(خزرج).
Then, Rasool Allah ﷺ stood down and came in to see me,
after Rasool Allah ﷺ settled the problem, he walked out and came to see Ayesha رضي الله عنها.
And he called for Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب) and Osamah Bin Zaid(اسامه بن زيد) and consulted with them,
Osamah(اسامه) spoke well of me and then said;
Rasool Ullah, This is about your family, about whom, we know nothing but good, it's all foolish lies.
This was the opinion of Osamah(اسامه).
Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب) said;
Messenger of Allah, there are plenty of women, you can exchange them.
In other words, if there's something wrong,
what Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب)is saying;
You could divorce Ayesha(عائشه) and marry somebody else.
Ask the slave girl, she will speak the truth to you.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ called for Burairah(بريره) to ask her.
Ali(علي) went up to her and struck her violently saying,
Speak the truth to the Messenger of Allah,
Burairah(بريره) replied, I swear by Allah, I know nothing but good.
I never found fault with Ayesha(عائشه) at all,
except that when I need dough, and ask her to watch over it,
she may fall asleep and the pet lamb comes and eats it.
Meaning that Ayesha(عائشه) is young and she's naive
and that's the only thing that I can see wrong with her,
otherwise, everything else is fine with Ayesha رضي الله عنها.
Ayesha(عائشه) said, then Rasool Allah ﷺ came to me.
I had with me both my parents and Al-Ansaari(الانصاري) woman.
I was weeping, and so was she.
He sat down give praise and thanks to Allah, and then said;
Ayesha(عائشه), you have been informed what people have been saying about you.
Fear Allah!
If you have indeed done wrong, as they say, then repent to Him.
Allah excepts repentance from His servants.
As soon as he said this, my tears dried up, so that I could feel nothing of them.
I waited for my parents to respond on my behalf to Rasool Allah ﷺ but they didn't speak.
I swear to Allah,
I thought myself too humble and unimportant for Allah to send down a verse of Qur'an about me.
When that would be recited and used for the prayer,
but I had hoped that the Prophet would have some vision in his sleep
by which Allah would prove my veracity from His knowledge of my innocence
and would give some information.
But as for a verse of Qur'an being revealed about me.
I swear I thought myself too insignificant for that.
When I saw that my parents were not going to respond on my behalf.
I asked them;
will you not reply to Rasool Ullah.
They replied. "By Allah, we don't know what to reply."
I swear, I don't know any household that ever suffered so much as did that of Abu Bakr(ابو بكر) through those days.
When they were unable to respond for me.
I burst out crying again.
Then I said: By Allah, I will never repent to Allah for what you refer to.
I swear, I well know that if I were to affirm what people say,
while Allah knew me to be innocent of it.
I would be affirming what had not happened.
And if I were to deny what they say.
You would not believe me.
I then try to remember the name of Yaqoob(يعقوب) but I could not remember it.
So I said, but I will speak as did the Father of Yousuf(يوسف),
patience is fine and Allah's help is to be sought against what you describe.
So, she recited this Ayah(آية) of Qur'an
and she said, patience is fine, and Allah's help is to be sought against what you described.
I swear, the Messenger of Allah had not left his seat
before Allah sent down upon him, what He used to send.
He was wrapped up in his cloak and the pillow of leather was placed beneath his head.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ was now receiving Wahii(وحي).
As for myself, when I witness this, I swear I felt no alarm or concern,
I knew that I was innocent and that Allah will not harm me.
However, I swear by Him, who bears Ayesha(عائشه)'s soul in His hands,
that as soon as the Messenger of Allah recovered.
I thought my parents would expire for fear
that confirmation of what people had been saying would come from Allah.
Subhan Allah(سبحان الله), you know Ayesha(عائشه) is saying that
her parents were worried that Qur'an would come to confirm
the accusation that Ayesha(عائشه) committed Zina(زنا).
And this shows you how dangerous, these rumors could be,
that it reached, to the extent that the parents of Ayesha(عائشه), were worried.
Having recovered, Ayesha(عائشه) continues, the Messenger of Allah sat up,
his face streamed with droplets like a winter's day,
he began wiping the sweat from his face and saying;
rejoice Ayesha(عائشه), Allah Almighty and Glorious is He, Has sent down confirmation of your innocence.
Ayesha(عائشه) said; Al-Hamdolillah(الحمد الله).
He then went out to the people, address them.
And recited to them what Allah Almighty and glorious had revealed from Qur'an on the subject.
He then gave orders about Mustakh Bin Uthatha(مسطح بن اَثاثة), Hassan Bin Thabit(حسان بن ثابت) and Hamna(حمنة),
these have been the most outspoken in their calumny,
and they received the flogging prescribed by law.
This is the story of Al-Ifq(ألإفك) as narrated by Ayesha رضي الله عنها.
In a different narration, it says that when these Ayaat(آيات) were revealed.
And Rasool Allah ﷺ told her the news,
the mother of Ayesha(عائشه) told him go and walk up to Rasool Allah ﷺ and thank him.
She said: No, I won't.
I'm gonna only thank Allahعَزّوجَلّ.
She is still a bit upset, رضي الله عنها.
The Ayaat(آيات), that were revealed, we'll recite them In Sha Allah Ta'ala(اِنشا ء الله تعالى).
And these Ayaat(آيات) are in Surat Tun Noor(سورة النور),
Allahعَزّوجَلّ says;
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَاءُوا بِالْإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِنْكُمْ ۚ
لَا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَكُمْ ۖ
بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۚ
لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ مَا اكْتَسَبَ مِنَ الْإِثْمِ ۚ
وَالَّذِي تَوَلَّىٰ كِبْرَهُ مِنْهُمْ لَهُ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ۝
لَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا
وَقَالُوا هَٰذَا إِفْكٌ مُبِينٌ۝
لَوْلَا جَاءُوا عَلَيْهِ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ ۚ
فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِالشُّهَدَاءِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ۝
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
وَرَحْمَتُهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِي مَا أَفَضْتُمْ فِيهِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ۝
إِذْ تَلَقَّوْنَهُ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِكُمْ مَا لَيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ
وَتَحْسَبُونَهُ هَيِّنًا وَهُوَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ۝
وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَنْ نَتَكَلَّمَ بِهَٰذَا
سُبْحَانَكَ هَٰذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌ۝
يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَعُودُوا لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَدًا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ۝
وَيُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ ۚ
وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ۝
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ۚ
وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ۝
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ۝
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ
وَمَنْ يَتَّبِعْ خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَإِنَّهُ يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ ۚ
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ مَا زَكَىٰ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ أَبَدًا
وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُزَكِّي مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ۝
وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُولُو الْفَضْلِ مِنْكُمْ وَالسَّعَةِ أَنْ يُؤْتُوا أُولِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۖ
وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا ۗ أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۗ
وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ۝
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْغَافِلَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ لُعِنُوا
لُعِنُوا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ۝
يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَلْسِنَتُهُمْ وَأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ۝
يَوْمَئِذٍ يُوَفِّيهِمُ اللَّهُ دِينَهُمُ الْحَقَّ
وَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ الْمُبِينُ۝
Indeed, those who came with falsehood, are a group among you.
Do not think it bad for you, rather it is good for you,
for every person among them is, what punishment he has earned from sin,
and he, who took upon himself the greater portion thereof, for him is a greater punishment.
Why.? When you heard it,
did not the believing men and believing women think good of themselves
and say, This is an obvious falsehood.
Why did they, who slandered, not produced for it four witnesses.
And when they do not produce the witnesses, then it is they in the sight of Allah,
who are the liars.
And if it had not been for the favor of Allah upon you,
and His mercy in this world and the Hereafter,
you would have been touched for that lie in which you were involved by great punishment.
When you received it, with your tongues
and said with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge
and thought it was insignificant while it was in the sight of Allah tremendous.
And why, when you heard it.
Did you not say, it is not for us to speak of this exalted are You, O Allah.
This is a great slander,
Allah warns you against returning to the likes of this conduct, ever.
If you should be believers,
and Allah makes clear to you, the verses
and Allah is Knowing and Wise.
Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread, or publicized
among those who have believed,
will have a painful punishment in this world and the hereafter.
And Allah knows, and you do not know.
And if it had not been for the favor of Allah, upon you and His mercy,
and because Allah is kind and merciful,
O you who have believed,
do not follow the footsteps of Satan.
And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan.
Indeed he enjoins immorality and wrongdoing,
and if not for the favor of Allah upon you,
and His mercy, not one of you would have been pure,
but Allah purifies, whom He wills
and Allah is Hearing, and Knowing.
And let not those a virtue among you, and wealth, swear not to give aid to their relatives,
and the needy and the immigrants for the cause of Allah,
and let them pardon and overlook.
Would you not like that Allah should forgive you,
and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Indeed, those who falsely accused the chaste, unaware and believing women
are cursed in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have a great punishment,
on a Day when their tongues, their hands and their feet will bear witness against them,
as to what they used to do,
that day Allah will pay them in full their true recompense,
and they will know that it is Allah, Who is the manifest truth.
Allah Ho Akbar(الله اكبر) , Subhaan Allah(سبحان الله).
Ayesha(عائشه) said: I thought of myself too insignificant for Allah to reveal Ayaat(آيات) about me.
And all of these Ayaat(آيات) were revealed in defense of Ayesha رضي الله عنها.
So, some lessons from this story.
Number one,
Accusing a Muslim woman or man of Zina(زنا) is a major sin,
accusing Ayesha(عائشه), is Kuffr(كفر)
because Allahعَزّوجَلّ starts the Ayaat(آيات) by saying,
Indeed, those who came with falsehood, are a group among you.
So, Allah called it, falsehood, Allah called it a lie.
So, if somebody accused Ayesha(عائشه) of that,
then they are actually saying that Qur'an is untrue, so that is Kuffr(كفر).
Number two.
There is good that came out of this evil.
Allahعَزّوجَلّ said: Do not think it's bad for you, rather it is good for you.
We learned all of the Adaab(آداب) of dealing with such issues from this incident.
Yes Ayesha رضي الله عنها and the family of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) suffered.
But the Ummah(امة) learned a lot.
And the family of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر), because of that suffering they went through,
they earned a lot of Hasanaat(حسانات), because of their patience.
So, there was good in it, for the Ummah(امة), and for the family of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر).
Third lesson.
Muslims should care for the reputation of other Muslims and think good of them.
This is one of the Adaab(آداب) that is lost today.
Muslims slandering each other, they talk bad about each other
and sometimes you find any good brothers and sisters,
but they become happy when they hear bad news about so and so,
just because they don't like them or they don't agree with them.
They're happy when they hear evil things about them.
Allahعَزّوجَلّ said;
Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women, think good of themselves.
Ayesha(عائشه) is a Muslim like you, so you need to think good of her.
And this lesson applies to every Muslim
and Allahعَزّوجَلّ says and say, This is an obvious falsehood.
You should assume the best about your Muslim brother or sister,
and Allahعَزّوجَلّ is saying that you should accuse this rumor, accused this lie going on, as being a lie.
Fourth lesson, we should not carry rumors around.
Allah said: And why when you heard it,
Did you not say it is not for us to speak of this exalted are You,
O Allah, this is a great slander.
Muslims should have no time for this nonsense.
We shouldn't go around, listening to this hearsay and spread it around,
even join and participate with the ones who are spreading such lies.
So, it's not proper for the believers to be involved in this stuff.
A Muslim is serious about his religion and about spending his time wisely in Duniyah(دنيا).
We don't have time for this.
Fifth lesson, It should never happen again.
Allah says: Allah warns you against returning to the likes of this conduct ever.
If you should be believers.
If you believe in Allah, then you shouldn't return to such conduct again.
The sixth lesson;
We should not talk about such stuff and spread it and this is talking about all stories of immorality.
You see, sometimes brothers or sisters would get together and talk about the Fasaad(فساد) that is in the Ummah(امة),
and they would bring up all of these examples of it,
and it would go beyond what is necessary to make the point.
I mean, you want to talk that there's Fasaad(فساد) in the Ummah(امة) fine.
You could give examples about it, but sometimes you feel that there's this desire of talking about these stories.
These stories of immorality, you know, there is some attraction.
Some people have this attraction to such stories and they just love talking about them.
Allahعَزّوجَلّ says;
Indeed, those who like that immorality should be spread or publicized among those who have believed
will have a painful punishment in this world and thereafter,
Allah knows and you do not know,
Just like you know, oh you know what's happening that mall,
you know, the Muslim kids go there and Muslim sisters go there and this and this happens
and you know, they go to nightclubs and they drink
and they, and all of this Fasaad(فساد) is happening.
And sometimes it's not to make a point that there's Fasaad(فساد),
this is just to fulfill this desire or lust of talking about this stuff.
And that's a very dangerous thing that is Waswasah(وسوسه) from Shaytan(شيطان).
If there's some evil going on in a certain community,
and nobody knows about it, sometimes it's better for the community,
especially when it comes to these stories of immorality of Zina(زنا) adultery and boyfriend or girlfriend stories.
Because the more we talk about this stuff.
The more we start believing that the community is corrupt.
And if we have that mindset, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
So, it's better for us to assume that no, things are fine things are good.
And thus, and if this belief is common among everyone.
Then, the young brothers and young sisters, would not want to break that.
But if everybody assumes that well everything is broken, everything is destroyed,
then they would try to grow up and fulfill,
what they believe the community is.
Now, with this issue, there's a fine line between when it is considered to be spreading stories
and publicizing stories of immorality and when it is forbidding evil.
So, you know you, want to strike a balance
you don't want to fool yourself into believing that everything is fine.
And I don't want these words of mine to be taken out of context
to mean that no one should just hush, hush, everything and pretend that everything's okay.
That's not what I meant.
But, what I mean is that one should not exaggerate.
And one should not go to extreme lengths of talking about this stuff.
One should only talk about it as is necessary.
Next lesson.
This Mustakh(مسطح) who was talking bad about Ayesha رضي الله عنها,
was a poor man and Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) was the one, who was taking care of his financial needs.
So, when Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) knew that this particular man was the one,
talking about his daughter, Ayesha(عائشه).
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) was upset and he stopped spending money on him.
So Allahعَزّوجَلّ said;
And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give aid to their relatives,
and the needy and the immigrants for the cause of Allah,
and let them pardon and overlook.
Would you not like that Allah would forgive you,
and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
So, Allahعَزّوجَلّ is saying that here, we should overlook, it was a mistake.
They didn't know the hukum(حكم) of it yet.
So, pardon them.
Next lesson.
Allah is jealous about the reputation of Muslims.
Allahعَزّوجَلّ says;
Indeed, those who falsely accused the chaste, unaware, and believing women
are cursed in this world and the hereafter and they will have a great punishment,
so you can see that this is a serious crime to accuse a Muslim woman with adultery.
Now, even though the Ayaat(آيات) talking about women but
but the same ruling, the exact same ruling applies to women and men.
The reason why the Ayaah(آية) mentions women, even though men are included,
is because it's even worse, when it's about women
but doesn't mean that it's okay to slander men.
Allah says Indeed, those who falsely accused the chaste, unaware and believing women
are cursed in this world and the hereafter and they will have a great punishment
on a day when their tongues, their hands and their feet will bear witness against them.
As to what they used to do,
that day Allah will pay them in full their true recompense,
and they will know that it is Allah, Who is the manifest truth.
So, Allah does not want Muslims to slander one another.
The next lesson,
Muhammadﷺ was a human being, and he didn't know the unseen.
Rasool Allah ﷺ himself suffered the pain
of having people talk about his wife for an entire month.
This went on for a month,
if Rasool Allah ﷺ knew about Al-Ghaib(الغيب), he would know that Ayesha(عائشه) was innocent,
but he suffered, just like Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) suffered,
and the wife of Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) suffered.
And this shows us, the humanity of Rasool Allah ﷺ
and that he went through what humans go through in this Duniyah(دنيا) and the same feelings of human beings.
The next lesson,
The ruling of Qadhf(قذف), and its importance in protecting the Muslim community.
If someone accuses a Muslim of Zina(زنا), adultery or fornication.
They must produce four witnesses,
if they do not, then they are flogged publicly 80 lashes.
And they are labeled as Fasiq(فاسق)
and their witness is not accepted.
وَالَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَاءَ فَاجْلِدُوهُمْ ثَمَانِينَ جَلْدَةً
وَلَا تَقْبَلُوا لَهُمْ شَهَادَةً أَبَدًا ۚ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ۝
So they are flogged,
their witness is never accepted in court and they are labelled as Fasiq(فاسق),
and they're considered to be Fasiq(فاسق).
So it's a very serious thing.
And the seriousness of the law reflects its objectives.
This is to protect the Muslim community and this shows you, how dangerous slandering in issues of immorality is.
So, we need to be very careful
because now this ruling is not known and sometimes people, take this very lightly
and they talk about this sister and that brother, they did this and they did that,
when there's no proof about it,
and they don't realize that they're committing a major sin.
Just like drinking or a person himself committing Zina(زنا).
You know this is a major sin and that's a major sin.
So, you're accusing somebody of Zina(زنا),
while yourself by accusing them of committing Zina(زنا) are committing an equal major sin.
Now, Hassan Bin Thabith(حسان بن ثابت), Mustakh(مسطح) and Hamna(حمنة) were flogged,
but not Abdullah Bin Ubaey(عبدالله بن ابئي),
even though it was Abdullah Bin Ubaey(عبدالله بن ابئي), who was doing most in the effort of spreading this rumor.
So, how come he was not punished.
Ibn Qayyim(ابن قيم) says;
He gives four answers.
Number one;
Four possibilities,
Number one,
because the punishment is a Kaffara(كفاره) for the sin in Duniyah(دنيا).
It is a compensation for the sin in Duniyah(دنيا).
So, a person, who is punished for the sin in Duniyah(دنيا) will not be punished for it in Aakhira(آخرة),
and since he is an evil man He doesn't deserve that.
So, Allah reserved his punishment, until Aakhirah(آخرة),
the second possibility
is because probably he was only spreading the rumors and talking about it
and doing it in a way, he cannot be held responsible for it.
So, he was doing it in a clever way.
So, he was clearing his tracks.
The third possibility,
is that this punishment is only established through witnesses or through personal admission.
And since he didn't admit it.
And since he was mentioned it in front of Munafiqeen(منافقين)
and they didn't come forward and witness against him.
There was no evidence in court.
The fourth possibility, is that he wasn't punished for a greater Muslaha(مصلحة).
It is to bring his people closer to Islam and to avoid causing a fitna(فتنه).
And I want to note here on this particular possibility that
it's difficult for this to be a valid possibility
because if the evidence is established, then the punishment cannot be overruled.
If the evidence is clear and firm, then a person must be punished.
You cannot say well because of certain Muslaha(مصلحة), he will not be punished.
And then Ibn Qayyim(ابن قيم) says and it could be all of the above.
The next lesson.
We see here that the enemies of Allah, will try to assassinate the character
or will try to involve in character assassination.
If they cannot assassinate the character, then they will be involved in character assassination.
They tried to assassinate Rasool Allah ﷺ, as we saw with Al-Yahood(اليهود),
and since that failed, now they're involved in character assassination,
and Abdullah Bin Obaey(عبدالله بن ابئي), the one who hated Rasool Allah ﷺ the most was carrying the brunt of that.
So, we need to keep that in mind that the enemies of Allah will always try to do this with our leaders.
So the next lesson is the importance of protecting the reputation of our leaders.
These stories have a special appeal and lour to them,
and they easily spread and are easily accepted
and Subhan Allah(سبحان الله) there's some magic to them
and that's because of the Tazeen(تزيين) of Shaytan(شيطان).
So, one needs to be very, very careful because the enemy of Allah
will try to design some very dangerous stories,
about the dangerous leaders of the Ummah(امة),
and we need to be very aware and not buy these stories
because definitely the enemies of Allahعزوجل will try to do that.
They did it with Rasool Allah ﷺ but it didn't work, because Allahعَزّوجَلّ was defending him.
However, with the leaders of the Ummah(امة) now, no Ayaat(آيات) will come in their defense.
So, it is the duty of the Ummah(امة) to do that.
And that's the whole purpose of us, learning from the actual stories of the Sahabah(صحابه).
So, this is an incident that happened, we need to learn the lesson from it.
And not allowed to happen again.
Ayaat(آيات) of Surat Tun Noor(سورة النور) were revealed, talking about this issue,
great lessons, very important lessons, we ask Allahعَزّوجَلّ to make us of those who, will benefit from them, and follow them.
Our next stop is the Battle of the trench
It also has the name of Ghazwat Ahzaab(غزوة الاحزاب),
Ahzaab(احزاب) are the Confederates or the parties or the clans translated differently but
these are the two names of the battle, Al-Khandaq(الخندق) and Al-Ahzaab(الاحزاب).
What was the reason.?
Ibn Is'haaq(ابن اسحاق) says;
اِنَّه’كَانَ الَّذِيْ حَزَّبَ الْاَحْزَابَ نَفَرً مِّنَّ الْيَهُوْدْ
What happened at the Khandaq(خندق) was
that the group of Jews brought together a coalition of clans against the Messenger of Allah.
So, this was a coalition that was pulled together by the Jews.
They went to Makkah, they went to the tribes of Ghatafaan(غطفان),
and they brought together, quite formidable army 10,000 strong,
largest army ever assembled against Rasool Allah ﷺ up to that point.
The agreement was that Ghatafaan(غطفان) would supply 6000 men
in exchange of the Jews paying them, the entire date harvest of Khaybar(خيبر) for one year.
So, with Ghatafaan(غطفان), they're in it for money, they're mercenaries.
The ones who had an intention of fighting against Muhammadﷺ were the people of Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) and the Yahood(يهود),
but Ghatafaan(غطفان), they were from far away and they just came in because the Jews promised them money.
And the Jews would go to Makkah and the people of Makkah would ask them;
because they are the learned men,
see the Arabs used to consider that the Jews are the wise learned men,
because they, the Arabs are illiterate.
So, Abu Sufiyaan(ابو سفيان) and leaders of Quraish(قريش) said;
Well, you are the learned man, you are the people of the book, so tell us,
who is right us or Muhammad(محمد)?
Who's on the right path?
So, the Jews would tell them, you are.!
Allahعَزّوجَلّ revealed.
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيبًا مِنَ الْكِتَابِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْجِبْتِ وَالطَّاغُوتِ وَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هَٰؤُلَاءِ أَهْدَىٰ
وَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هَٰؤُلَاءِ أَهْدَىٰ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا سَبِيلًاَ ۝
أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۖ
وَمَنْ يَلْعَنِ اللَّهُ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ نَصِيرًاَ۝
Verse 51 and 52 Surat Tun Nissaa(سورة النساء) Allah says;
Have you not seen those, who are given a portion of the Scripture,
who believe, in superstition and false objects of worship,
and say about the disbelievers.
These are better guided then, the believers, as to the way.
Those are the ones, whom Allah has cursed.
And he, whom Allah curses, never will you find for him, a helper.
Now one, would wonder what in the world, would make the Jews claim
that the pagan worshippers are more guided than the Muslims.
I mean, the Jews have much more in common with the Muslims
than they have with the pagan worshippers.
I mean there's nothing in common between the people of the book and the pagan worshippers.
But there is a lot in common between them and the Muslims.
So, what would make them take such a position.
And that would go back to the reasons that we talked about earlier,
the stand that the Jews took from very early on, against Rasool Allah ﷺ
for the various reasons, of jealousy and hatred.
Rasool Allah ﷺ was following the news and again, we said that he had his men spread out all over,
gathering intelligence for him.
So, the news reached to Rasool Allah ﷺ prior to them, advancing towards Madina
that huge army is coming your way.
Rasool Allah ﷺ hold a Shura(شورى), session.
And Salman Farsi رضي الله عنه, has a suggestion, he said;
يَا رَسُوْل الله، اِنَّ اِذَ كُنَّا بِاَرْضِ الْفَارِسْ وَتَخَوَّفْنَا الْخَيْلْ، خَنْدَقْنَا عَلَيْنَا فَهَل لَّكَ يَا رَسُوْل الله اَنْ تُخَنْدِقْ
He said: O Messenger of Allah in our land in Persia.
If we fear, the cavalry.
We would dig a trench, or a moat.
O messenger of Allah, why don't we dig a moat, a trench.
Rasool Allah ﷺ and the Muslims, liked the idea,
and the project started.
Now, it would have been impossible for them to dig this moat, all around Madina,
because they just didn't have the manpower for that,
so they had to choose the locations which were vulnerable.
Now that location was north of Madina,
which would sound strange because Makkah is to the south,
but the thing is that Madina, had a natural protection from the east and west,
and that was what is called, Al-Harrah(الحرة), these are volcanic tracks,
tracks of volcanic rock,
very sharp, very edgy and boulders all over, so it's difficult for an army to march through.
And then from the south, you have the dwellings, the farmland,
which also makes it difficult to penetrate.
So, the danger is from the north.
And that's where, they dug the trench.
Every 10 men were given 40 feet of land to dig.
And they split into groups and they start the work.
It was very difficult,
The Muslims were hungry, they were poor, there was lack of food.
And there was lack of numbers too, to dig this trench.
Anas Ibn Malik رضي الله عنه, he said the Messenger of Allah went out to the trench
and found that the Muhajiroon(مهاجرون) and the Ansaar(انصار) were busy digging.
It was a very cold morning, and they had no slaves to do that work for them.
When he saw, what they were suffering from, the hard labor and their hunger, he said;
O Allah, their life is indeed that of the afterlife,
forgive the Ansaar(انصار) and the Muhajiroon(مهاجرون).
They're having difficulty in Duniyah(دنيا), but
their life doesn't belong to this world, it belongs to the afterlife.
Rasool Allah ﷺ himself participated in the digging.
Al-Bara'a(البرآء) narrates in Al-Bukhari(البخاريْ),
لَمَّا كَانَ يَوْمَ الْاَحْزَابِ وَخَنْدَقَ رَسُوْلُ الله صَلى الله عليه وسلم
رَاَيْتُه، يَنْقُلْ مِنْ تَرَابِ الْخَنْدَقْ حَتَّى وَارِى عَنِّيْ اَلْغُبَارْ جِلْدَةَ بَطْنِه
On the day of Al-Ahzaad(احزاب), when Rasool Allah ﷺ was digging the trench,
I saw him, carrying dirt, until there was so much dirt on his stomach, I couldn't see his skin anymore.
Rasool Allah ﷺ was right there with his followers in the field, working with them.
This is the leadership example that Rasool Allah ﷺ is giving us.
He wasn't aloof from the people, he wouldn't treat himself specially,
he was trying to be one of them.
When Rasool Allah ﷺ was the best of humanity صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Rasool Allah ﷺ would get so hungry, he would have to tie a stone to his stomach.
You know to suppress the hunger to elevate the pain, he would tie this rock to his stomach
that was how difficult it was on him and how hungry, he صلى الله عليه وسلم was.
But his spirit was high, and he would elevate the spirits of the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم, and he would chant with them,
so they would recite these lines of poetry,
and Rasool Allah ﷺ would go along with them and recite these words they would say,
"O Allah, without you we would not have been well guided.....
nor would we have been charitable.....
Nor would we have prayed.....
so do send tranquility upon us.....
And make us stand firm, when we meet the foe.....
They have wronged us.....
If they want trouble, we will meet them.....
And Rasool Allah ﷺ would stretch the final words.
They're guards around the clock,
guarding the trench and guarding Madina,
and the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم would take turns in guarding
the difficulties were increasing, rather than decreasing.
You have this army coming forward, made up of Quraish(قريش) and Ghatafaan(غطفان).
And then there was a very serious problem, and this couldn't have come in a worse time.
The dwellings of Bannu Quraidha(بنوقريظه).
The last Jewish tribe remaining in Madina, were part of the protection,
were part of the plan of protection that Rasool Allah ﷺ had for Madina.
So, their fortresses were used as a protection from the army advancing from that area.
Rasool Allah ﷺ was receiving news
that Bannu Quraidha(بنوقريظه), themselves were betraying their agreement with Rasool Allah ﷺ
and were going to join with the Confederates.
This would have been a disaster because they were supposed to be part of the protection,
So if that gate is opened, then the Muslims are going to be in serious trouble.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ send Al-Zubair Bin Awwam(الزبير بن عوام) to investigate the matter.
Al-Zubair Bin Awwam(الزبير بن عوام) brings back information that
they are bringing in their livestock, and they are paving their roads,
which is an indication of preparation for war.
Rasool Allah ﷺ wanted to investigate the matter further,
so he sends Sa'ad Ibn Muadh(سعد بن معاذ), Sa'ad Ibn Ubadah(سعد بن عباده), Abdullah Bin Rawaha(عبدالله بن رواحة) and Khawaat Bin Jubair(خوات بن جبير).
He told them, go and investigate the matter
and bring me news of whether Quraidha( قريظه) have betrayed, or broken their agreement with me.
If that's the case, do not weaken the people come and deliver the news to me, secretly.
If you find that they are still up to their word and agreement,
and they're keeping the agreement, then, make the news public.
And we can see here, the lesson, we learned a lesson here from Rasool Allah ﷺ that
sometimes you want to keep away some news from the people.
If it's detrimental news, if it's a news that would demoralize them,
if it would weaken them, it might be Muslaha(مصلحة) to keep it away from the army.
Rasool Allah ﷺ wanted to keep it secret, if that was the case.
But if it's good news that they are still keeping the agreement, then make it public.
Sa'ad Ibn Muadh(سعد بن معاذ), Sa'ad Ibn Ubadah(سعد بن عباده), Abdullah Bin Rawaha(عبدالله بن رواحة) and Khawaat(خوات بن جبير), they go there, they come back
and they tell Rasool Allah ﷺ two words.
Azal Wal Qarrah(عضل والقارة).
Azal Wal Qarrah(عضل والقارة), if you remember,
are the two tribes that betrayed the men, whom were sent by Rasool Allah ﷺ,
the ones who betrayed the men and killed them.
So, this was an indication from these men that Quraidha( قريظه) have broken the agreement
and Rasool Allah ﷺ got the point, and made preparations for that.
Rasool Allah ﷺ sends out two groups,
one 200 men, the other one 300 men as guards,
and they would go around the area of Bannu Quraidha(بنوقريظه) to show them that we are still here,
and we're still strong, and we're willing to fight.
So, it was a show of strength,
and the Muslims were able to intercept 20 Camel loads of Dates Figs and barley,
that we're going towards the army of the Ahzaab(احزاب)
and their point of origin was Bannu Quraidha(بنوقريظه).
So, it makes it clear that Bannu Quraidha(بنوقريظه) have betrayed Rasool Allah ﷺ, they have committed treason.
They are now supplying the army of the enemy.
So, it was very difficult on the Muslims, extremely difficult,
probably the most difficult situation, they've been through.
Allahعَزّوجَلّ describes it, to us. Allah says;
إِذْ جَاءُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ
وَإِذْ زَاغَتِ الْأَبْصَارُ وَبَلَغَتِ الْقُلُوبُ الْحَنَاجِرَ وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا۝
Remember, when they came at you from above you, and from below you.
And when eyes shifted in fear and hearts reach to the throats,
and you assumed about Allah various assumptions.
So here, the eyes were shifting in fear, you know there was this disorientation going on.
And Allah says that the hearts reached the throats
which means that the hearts were pounding so fast.
It was as if you can feel it in your throat.
That was how difficult the situation was.
And you assumed about Allah various assumptions.
So, some people were making assumptions about the Allah,
like Allah has promised us, in vain and that Allahعَزّوجَلّ will not give us victory
and that this religion is not true and we made a mistake,
so all of these doubts were coming into the hearts
and obviously the ones who are having these dangerous doubts in the religion were Munafiqoon(منافقون).
Allahعَزّوجَلّ also says and these Ayaat(آيات) are from Surat Ul Ahzaab(سورة الاحزاب).
وَلَمَّا رَأَى الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْأَحْزَابَ قَالُوا هَٰذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
وَصَدَقَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ ۚ
وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّا إِيمَانًا وَتَسْلِيمًاَ۝
And when the believers saw the companies, they said;
This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us.
And Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.
And it increased them only in faith and acceptance.
This was the response of the believers.
When the believers saw all of these dangers being thrown at them,
that increased their Eeman(ايمان),
rather than decreased it because they knew that Allahعَزّوجَلّ will test them,
so they saw this as part of the test.
Therefore, it only confirms what we already knew would happen.
But with the Munafiqeen(منافقين), it made them doubt even more, in the authenticity of Islam.
So, you can see how one event brought forth different reactions from the two camps,
the believers and the non-believers.
See when it comes to fear, the fear was across the board,
the believers were afraid and the Munafiqeen(منافقين) were afraid,
but what is different is the reaction to that fear.
See fear is a natural human instinct,
it is natural for human being to feel fear.
Musa عليه السّلام himself felt fear,
فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُوسَىٰ
Allahعَزّوجَلّ said that he felt fear in his heart.
But the thing is, with Musa عليه السّلام the fear was restricted to the heart.
It didn't show up on his actions, his actions were full of Eeman(ايمان).
So, that's the difference between Al-Mu'menoon(المؤمنون) and Al-Munafiqoon(منافقون).
The Munafiqoon(منافقون) acted negatively upon their fear,
while the believers acted positively,
they said this is what Allahعَزّوجَلّ has promised us, we expected this would happen.
Ibn Is'haaq(ابن اسحاق) said;
There upon, the anxiety and fear increased their enemy came at them from above and below,
so the Muslims were very confused
dissension arose, to the point where Muattib Bin Qushair(معتب بن قشير) commented,
Muhammad(محمد) used to promise us that we would eat the treasures of Kisra(كسرى) and Caesar.
And now we don't even feel safe going to the toilet.
So, this is an example of the response of a Munafiq(منافق).
He said, what is Muhammadﷺ talking about?
Rasool Allah ﷺ and we will talk about this, when they were digging the trench.
He gave glad tidings that this Ummah(امة) would open the Persian Empire and the Roman Empire.
He said, What is Muhammad(محمد) talking about.?
We can't even feel safe going to the toilet and he's promising us,
that we will conquer lands, thousands of kilometers away from us,
and the Ayah(آية) of Qur'an described, Al-Munafiqoon(المنافقون) and I'll go through this Ayaat(آيات)
because these are the characteristics of Munafiqoon(منافقون) yesterday, and today, they don't change.
Allahعَزّوجَلّ says, these are Ayaat(آيات) thirteen(13) through 20 in Surat Ul Ahzaab(سورة الاحزاب)
وَإِذْ قَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ يَا أَهْلَ يَثْرِبَ لَا مُقَامَ لَكُمْ فَارْجِعُوا ۚ
وَيَسْتَأْذِنُ فَرِيقٌ مِنْهُمُ النَّبِيَّ يَقُولُونَ
يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ بُيُوتَنَا عَوْرَةٌ وَمَا هِيَ بِعَوْرَةٍ ۖ
إِنْ يُرِيدُونَ إِلَّا فِرَارًا۝
And when a faction of them said;
Oh, people of Yasrib(يثرب).
There's no stability for you here, so return home.
And a party of them asked permission of the Prophet saying,
indeed, our houses are exposed,
while they were not exposed they did not intend, except to flee.
So, the Munafiqoon(منافقون) here don't want to stay next to the trench.
They don't want to stay in the camp, they want to go back home and the excuse is,
we need to go and defend the homes.
So, they pretending that they're going to go and fight,
but Allahعَزّوجَلّ said, they did not intend except to flee.
That was their intention to run away.
وَلَوْ دُخِلَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَقْطَارِهَا ثُمَّ سُئِلُوا الْفِتْنَةَ لَآتَوْهَا
لَآتَوْهَا وَمَا تَلَبَّثُوا بِهَا إِلَّا يَسِيرًا۝
And if they had been entered upon from all its surrounding regions
and Fitnah(فتنة) had been demanded of them,
they would have done it and not hesitated over it, except briefly.
This Ayah(آية) means that the Munafiqoon(منافقون), if they are pressured a bit,
they're going to give up Islam,
if the enemy asked them to become non Muslim, they're going to do that.
وَلَقَدْ كَانُوا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ مِنْ قَبْلُ لَا يُوَلُّونَ الْأَدْبَارَ ۚ
وَكَانَ عَهْدُ اللَّهِ مَسْئُولًاَ۝
قُلْ لَنْ يَنْفَعَكُمُ الْفِرَارُ إِنْ فَرَرْتُمْ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ أَوِ الْقَتْلِ
وَإِذًا لَا تُمَتَّعُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًاَ۝
And they had already promised Allah before, not to turn their backs.
And ever is the promise to Allah questioned.
Say Never will fleeing benefit you, if you should flee from death or killing.
And then if you did, you would not be given enjoyment of life, except for a little.
This Aayah(آية), Allah is saying.
The meaning of the Aayah(آية), death is destined upon you.
So, running away from it, wouldn't change it, a bit.
Now let's assume that it's even going to change it.
How long are you going to live?
your life as a human being is very short.
So, what are you running away from.?
Then Allah says;
قُلْ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَعْصِمُكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِنْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ سُوءًا أَوْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ رَحْمَةً ۚ
وَلَا يَجِدُونَ لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا۝
Say, who is it that can protect you, from Allah.
If He intends for you an ill or intends for you, a mercy,
and they will not find for themselves besides Allah, any protector, or any helper.
The Munafiqoon(منافقون) are looking for help, the wrong place.
They're looking for help from the Yahood(يهود), they're looking for help from Al-Kuffar(كفار).
Allah is saying, only Allah is An-Nafiah(النافع) and Adh-Dhaar(الضار)
only Allah can benefit you and only Allah can harm you.
And then Allah says;
قَدْ يَعْلَمُ اللَّهُ الْمُعَوِّقِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَالْقَائِلِينَ لِإِخْوَانِهِمْ هَلُمَّ إِلَيْنَا ۖ
وَلَا يَأْتُونَ الْبَأْسَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًاَ
أَشِحَّةً عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ
فَإِذَا جَاءَ الْخَوْفُ رَأَيْتَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ تَدُورُ أَعْيُنُهُمْ كَالَّذِي يُغْشَىٰ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ ۖ
فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ الْخَوْفُ سَلَقُوكُمْ بِأَلْسِنَةٍ حِدَادٍ أَشِحَّةً عَلَى الْخَيْرِ ۚ
أُولَٰئِكَ لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا فَأَحْبَطَ اللَّهُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرًاَ۝
Already, Allah knows the hinders among you,
and those hypocrites, who say to their brothers.
Come to us, and do not go to battle except for a few, in disposed towards you.
And when fear comes,
see this is the reaction when it's in times of difficulty, what do they do.?
And when fear comes, you see they looking at you.
Their eyes revolving like one being overcome by death,
but when fear departs, they lash you with sharp tongues, in disposed towards any good.
This is a quality of Nifaq(نفاق),
in times of fear, their eyes are rotating, they're going around in circles because of fear,
they're confused, they're afraid.
But when fear goes away, they're very loud, they talk a lot.
And then Allah says;
Those have not believed, so Allah has rendered their deeds worthless and ever is that for Allah, easy.
Therefore, don't go by what people say in times of peace.
See, in times of peace, anybody and everybody can talk.
But what happens in times of difficulty, in times of Fitna(فتنه).
The Munafiqoon(منافقون) stay quiet, they're afraid they're terrified.
But when fear goes away they lash out, at everyone.
They start criticizing so and so, talking against so and so.
So, the bravado only comes out in the wrong time.
يَحْسَبُونَ الْأَحْزَابَ لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا ۖ
وَإِنْ يَأْتِ الْأَحْزَابُ يَوَدُّوا لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ بَادُونَ فِي الْأَعْرَابِ يَسْأَلُونَ عَنْ أَنْبَائِكُمْ ۖ
They think, the companies have not yet withdrawn.
And if the companies should come again.
They would wish they were in the desert among the Bedouins inquiring from a far about your news.
These Munafiqoon(منافقون), if the armies would attack Madina once again,
they would wish that they were not in Madina and they were with the Bedouins
watching the news on their TV sets, listening to it on their radio sets.
They would wish they could hold the remote control in their hands and flip through the channels
and listen to the news or watch the news about the Muslims,
but they don't want to be there.
Then Allah says;
وَلَوْ كَانُوا فِيكُمْ مَا قَاتَلُوا إِلَّا قَلِيلاً۝
And if they should be among you,
they would not fight except for a little.
These are signs of Nifaq(نفاق).
The Muslims were suffering hunger.
In Al-Bukhari(البخاريْ), Anas Ibn Malik(انس ابن مالك) said;
"They would bring a handful of barley,
and some ill smelling fat, as a meal for them,
hungry as they were, it struck in their throats, and smell bad.
So, what was the food.?
Some barley, and then they had animal fat,
which was very old long expired, smell bad, it was rotten.
And they would swallow it and it would stick to the throat,
you know how animal fat sticks to the throat, if you eat fat,
especially if it's cold.
You know it sticks to your mouth and your teeth in the throat, and all.
And because it smelled bad they could still smell it.
But they were so hungry that they were eating this horrible food.
Al-Waqadie(الواقعدي) describes the situation that was going on
and he talks about the fear that everybody was feeling
the hunger that everyone was feeling,
the low spirits, especially because of what the Munafiqoon(منافقون) were doing
bombarding the Muslims with only bad news.
And then you have this disaster coming from the quarters of Bannu Quraidha(بنوقريظه)
the news that they have broken their agreement with Rasool Allah ﷺ, so it was very difficult.
And the Muslims had to work day and night, I mean, Muhammad Ibn Maslama(محمد ابن مسلمه) said;
كَانَ لَيْلُنَا بِالْخَنْدَقِ نَهَارًا
Our night during the Khandaq(خندق) was daytime,
meaning we had to work around the clock night was no different than day.
So, it was very stressful and you know when people are lacking sleep
how they lose concentration and they fail to think straight.
So, Allah was testing them, Allah was testing them, to the limit.
Fighting did occur, you had duels you had enemy, trying to break through the trench from time to time,
one incident that happened, a challenge to single combat was Amr Bin Abdu Woodh(عمرو بن عبد ود),
now Amr Bin Abdu Woodh(عمرو بن عبد ود) was one of the heroes of Quraish(قريش), strong powerful man.
So, he challenges the Muslims,
send me forth, one of your men.
The one who went for it was Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب).
Amr(عمرو) ask him, Who are you.?
He said: I am Ali(علي).
He said Ali(علي), the son of Abdul Mannaf(عبدالمناف).
He said, No, I'm Ali(علي), the son of Abu Talib(ابو طالب).
He said, nephew.
There are among your uncle's, men who are more senior than you, more mature than you.
I feel sorry spilling your blood.
Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب) said: But I don't feel sorry spilling your blood.
Amr Bin Abdu Woodh(عمرو بن عبد ود) wanted somebody more senior to come and meet him stronger, with more experience.
And he said: I wouldn't want to spill your blood, my young nephew.
Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب) said: I would be very happy to spill yours.
So, Amr(عمرو) was very upset and Ibn Is'haaq(ابن اسحاق) said;
He draws out his sword as if it was a brand of fire, and they exchanged blows.
And Amr(عمرو) strikes the shield of Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب),
and the blow was so hard that the shield ended up hitting the head of Ali(علي)
that was how powerful it was,
but on the other hand, because it was such a powerful blow
the sword got stuck in the shield
and Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب) struck Amr(عمرو) in the neck,
and he fell down dead,
and the Sahabah(صحابه) made Takbeer(تكبير).
And that's when Rasool Allah ﷺ knew that Ali Bin Abi Talib(علي بن ابي طالب) won.
Sa'ad Ibn Abi Waqas(سعد ابن ابي وقاص) was a good marksman.
So, he had in his sights, this enemy soldier, who was holding two shields.
And it was sort of, you know, he was teasing the Muslims or what, but
he would move down the shield a bit, so that the upper part of his head would show
and then he would cover it again and then pull it down, up and down,
so Sa'ad(سعد) aims at the man and fires his shot,
while the shield was down,
and it hits the man right in his forehead.
So, the man falls down and his legs go up.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ saw that and laughed, I mean, the way the man fell down was funny,
so Rasool Allah ﷺ laughed.
Sa'ad Ibn Muadh رضي الله عنه, Ayesha(عائشه) said: He was a tall and large man.
And he was wearing armor but his arms were not covered.
So Ayesha(عائشه) said: When I saw him, I was really worried about his arms,
and Subhaan Allah(سبحان الله), he was shot by an arrow in his arm.
And it cut the main vein or artery in his arm.
And he was seriously injured.
So, these were some of the skirmishes that happened during the Battle of Al-Khandaq(الخندق).
صَلَّى الله عَلى سَيَّدِنَا محمد وَعَلى اَلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرًا