Read Stories from Islamic History Online
Authors: Nayab Naseer
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Stories from Islamic History
Nayab Naseer
Published by Nayab Naseer at Smashwords
Copyright 2013 Nayab Naseer
This is a work of fiction, not history.
This work is based on actual historical
characters and places. However, the actual stories and plots itself
are works of fiction. Most of the stories contained in this
publication are in circulation throughout the Islamic world either
as authentic history or as tales – the author has not attempted to
verify the historic accuracy of any of these tales and has merely
reprised and reproduced the tales in his own way.
Cover Image courtesy of : maple /
freedigitalphotos.net
Copyright 2013 Nayab Naseer
This book is available in print at most online
retailers
The Life and
Times of
Imam
Ahmed
and Bukhari
Mohammed ibn
Abdul Wahab and the House of Saud
Appendix:
Glossary of Arabic words
Bal’am bin Ba’ura of Yemen was one among the
scholars of the Children of Israel, whom Allah had given the
knowledge of the scriptures. He knew Allah’s greatest name. The
people used to seek his lead in supplication in times of
difficulty, and his supplications were accepted.
When Prophet Musa, peace be upon him entered
the land of Bani Canaan in the area of Ash-Sham (Greater Syria),
the people of Bal’am came to him, saying, "This is Musa, son of
Imran with the Children of Israel. He wants to drive us out from
our land, kill us and replace us with the Children of Israel. He is
a strong man, and he has many soldiers. We are your people and have
no other dwelling area. If he gains the upper hand over us, we will
be destroyed. You are a person whose supplication is acceptable, so
go out and supplicate to Allah against him.''
Bal’am said, "Woe to you! Here is Allah's
Prophet (Musa) with whom the angels and believers are! How can I
supplicate against them when I know from Allah what I know''
The people persisted, "We have no other
dwelling area.''
So they kept luring and begging Bal’am until
he was tempted by the trial and went on his donkey towards Mount
Husban. When he proceeded on the Mount for a while, the donkey sat
down and refused to proceed. He got off the donkey and struck it
until it stood up again and he rode it. The donkey did the same
after a little while, and he struck it again until it stood up and
so on. So he proceeded and tried to supplicate against Musa and his
people.
However, Allah made Bal’am’s tongue mention
his people with evil and the Children of Israel with good instead
of his people, who protested, "O Bal’am! What are you doing? You
are supplicating for them and against us!''
"It is against my will. This is a matter that
Allah has decided.'' As he said this to them, his tongue was made
to loll out of his mouth, and he uttered: "Now I have lost this
life and the Hereafter.''
Bal’am became tempted by the adornment of
this life and its delights. He tried to please his people rather
than Allah; and was hence deceived by this life and its joys, just
as life deceived others like him; with knowledge, but without sound
comprehension or a good mind. The end result was a total loss in
this life and an unending torment of the Fire in the hereafter.
This is a lesson for all mankind.
Allah revealed an
ayah
in the Quran
about Bal’am:
"And recite to them, [O Mohammed], the
news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he
detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became
astray. And if We had willed, we could have elevated him thereby,
but he adhered [instead] to the earth and followed his own vain
desires. That is the example of the people who denied Our signs. So
relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought."
(al
Araf 175-176)
MU’AWIYAH
The struggle between Ali and Mu’awiyah for
the
khilafat
, epitomized by the battle of Siffin where not
just the eminent
sahaba
s crossed swords with each other, but
Ai’sha, the mother of the believers fought Ali, the Prophet’s
son-in-law and closest companion. The struggle marks the beginning
of a never-ending political strife in Islam, something that went on
to create a permanent schism in Islam.
The root cause for the strife goes back to
the
khilafat
of Uthman.
After the death of Umar, the group of six
appointed by him for the purpose of succession selected Uthman ibn
Affan, may Allah be pleased with him as the next
kalifah.
The first eight years of Uthman’s reign was
peaceful and everybody lived happy. Trouble started when the
governor of Egypt Ibn Abi Sarh began to behave despotically. A
delegation of Egyptians came to Madinah, pressing for his removal.
Many
sahabis
like Abu Talha supported them. Uthman, heeding
to their request appointed Mohammed ibn Abu Bakr as the new
governor of Egypt. The delegates were on their way back to Egypt
when they chanced upon a messenger carrying a message to the
governor of Egypt. Mohammed ibn Abu Bakr, the newly appointed
governor took the message. Ibn Abi Sarh was asked to kill Mohammed
ibn Abu Bakr when he reached Egypt, and the letter bore Uthman’s
seal.
Back in Madinah, most of the prominent
companions like Talha, Zubair, Sa’d and Ammar were away in either
jihad
or
hajj
. Ali ibn Abi Talib went to Uthman, who
swore that the letter was forged. The delegation from Egypt, who
had returned to Madinah were however not convinced. They besieged
Uthman’s house, demanding his abdication. Uthman had once heard the
Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him say “
Uthman, you will one
day get a shirt which people will want you to take it off. Don’t
take it off,
” and as such did not agree to abdicate.
Uthman looked over the rebels and said, “I
adjure you by Allah, and I adjure none but the Companions of the
Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, do you not know that the
Messenger of Allah said “Whoever equips the Army of Difficulty (of
Tabuk) then there is the Garden for him”? And I equipped it. Do you
not know that the Messenger of Allah said “Whoever has the well of
Rumah dug, and then the Garden is for him”? And I had dug it. And
then do you not know that the Messenger of Allah said “Whoever
builds a masjid, Allah will build a house for him in paradise.” And
I have expanded the Prophet’s masjid.” They affirmed all what he
said, but nevertheless did not allow water to be brought to him
from outside, much less than allow him to offer prayers at the
Masjid al Nabawi.”
Abu Thawr al Fahmi managed to enter Uthman’s
house with water, severely injuring himself in the process.
It reached Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be
pleased with him that the rebels were planning to kill Uthman. He
deputed his two sons - Hassan and Hussain, may Allah be pleased
with them to stand at the door and let no one enter. Zubair, may
Allah be pleased with him also send his son Talha to prevent people
from attacking Uthman. The rebels started shooting arrows, and in
the process Hassan, Mohammed ibn Talha and Marwan, the secretary of
Uthman were wounded.
How did the rebels have the audacity to enter
into the heart of the
khilafat
and virtually imprison the
kalifah
, with the people of Madinah standing on as
onlookers? This is because Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him
was still the
kalifah
, and he strongly forbade any one to
even raise a finger in his defense, for the Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him, had said “
The sword once unsheathed by a
Muslim to kill another Muslim will not be drawn back in its
scabbard till the day of Judgment
.”
Uthman also knew of the Messenger of Allah’s
prophecy: “
There will be a fitnah, and he who sits idle during
it is better than he who stands up, and he who stands up in it is
better than he who walks, and he who walks is better than he who is
walking at a fast pace
.” When asked “What if someone enters my
home and stretched his hand to kill me?” he said “be just like the
pious son of Adam.”
Among two sons of Adam, Habel killed Qabil
without justification, out of jealousy. Habel was stronger than
Qabil, but the fear of Allah restrained Habel’s hands. He said to
Qabil “If you do stretch your hand against me to kill me, I shall
never stretch my hand against you to kill you, for I fear Allah;
the Lord of all that exists.
Verily, I intend to let you draw my
sin on yourselves as well as yours, then you will be one of the
dwellers of the Fire, and that is the recompense of the
wrongdoers.
” (Sura Al Maidah 28:29)
Wounding the Prophet's grandson turned the
people against the rebels, and Mohammed ibn Abu Bakr knew their
time was limited. He took two of his aides and scaled the wall of
Uthman’s house. There was no one with Uthman except his wife.
Mohammed ibn Abu Bakr said to his companions
“Stay where you are, because his wife is with him. I will enter
first. When I have taken hold of him, you come in and strike him
until you have killed him.”
Mohammed went in and took hold of Uthman’s
beard.
“By Allah, if your father could see you, your
behavior to me would cause him great distress,” Uthman said to him
nonchalantly.
Mohammed was only two years old when his
father Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, the first
kalifah
had died. Yet on hearing these words, his hand
slackened, and he held back, but then the two men who had come with
him entered and struck Uthman dead.
***
Mu’awiyah, the governor of Syria staked claim
for the
khilafat
on the basis of the general meaning of
ayah
33 of Sura Al Isra “
And do not kill anyone whose
killing Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause. And whoever
is killed wrongfully, We have given his heir the authority. But let
him not exceed limits in the matter of taking life. Verily, he is
helped
.” Mu’awiyah was the heir of Uthman, who everyone, Ali
included, agreed was killed wrongfully. The basis for the claim -
qasis
or equal compensation for the wrong was indeed
justified.
However soon after the murder of Uthman, the
people of Madinah had unanimously gave the
bayah
to Ali ibn
Abi Talib, the son-in-law of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon
him, and just as Uthman did not relinquish the
khilafat
based on the saying of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah peace be
upon him, Ali also did not want to abdicate. He wanted Mu’awiyah to
give the
bayah
to him for the sake of unity of the
ummah
, and then make the claim for
qasis
.
Matters deteriorated to the point where
Mu’awiyah, Marwan, Aishah, the wife of the Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him, and two of the famous
sahaba
Talha and
Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with all of them confronted Ali at the
plains of Siffin near Basra in 36 AH (656 CE). Ali won the day, but
in the true spirit of forgiving and forgetting for the sake of
peace and unity among the
ummah
, he agreed to arbitration
and returned to Kufah.
***
Ali’s decision to forget and forgive and
agree for an arbitration that eventually declared his
khilafat
null and void, even after being victorious at
Siffin did not go down well with a section of his supporters, who
came to be known as the ‘
khawarij
.’ They claimed “Judgment
belongs to Allah,” and by agreeing to arbitration even when Ali was
victorious in the battlefield, both Ali and Mu’awiyah had gone out
of Islam. They decided to murder them both on the same day. The
attack on Mu’awiyah was foiled, but the attack on Ali succeeded.
One Ibn Muljam struck Ali deep while he was coming out after
leading the dawn prayers.
***
After Ali’s death, Al Hassan ibn Ali, may
Allah be pleased with him was given the oath of allegiance as the
kalifah
, and he remained the
kalifah
for six months
until he abdicated in favor of Mu’awiyah, may Allah be pleased with
him.