Basic HTML Version
86
exclusion of anyone else. However, with the advent o f the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
and setting in Quba’ with Bani ‘Amr bin ‘Awf, my father, Huyayi bin Akhtab and my uncle Abu Yasir
bin Akhtab went to see him and did not return until sunset when they came back walking lazily and
fully dejected. I, as usually, hurried to meet them smiling, but they would not turn to me for the
grief that caught them. I heard my uncle Abu Yasir say to Ubai and Huyayi: “Is it really he [i.e.
Muhammad (Peace be upon him)]?” The former said: “It is he, I swear by Allâh!” “Did you really
recognize him?” they asked. He answered: “Yes, and my heart is burning with enmity towards him”
An interesting story that took place on the first day, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) stepped in
Madinah, could be quoted to illustrate the mental disturbance and deep anxiety that beset the Jews.
‘Abdullah bin Salam, the most learned rabbi among the Jews came to see the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) when he arrived, and asked him certain questions to ascertain his real Prophethood. No
sooner did he hear the Prophet’s answers than he embraced Islam, but added that if his people
knew of his Islamization they would advance false arguments against me. The Prophet (Peace be
upon him) sent for some Jews and asked them about ‘Abdullah bin Salam, they testified to his
scholarly aptitude and virtuous standing. Here it was divulged to them that he had embraced Islam
and on the spot, they imparted categorically opposite testimonies and described him as the most
evil of all evils. In another narration ‘Abdullah bin Salam said, “O Jews! Be Allâh fearing. By Allâh,
the only One, you know that he is the Messenger of Allâh sent to people with the Truth.” They
replied, “You are lying.” ... That was the Prophet’s first experience with the Jews.
That was the demo-political picture within Madinah. Five hundred kilometres away in Makkah, there
still lay another source of detrimental threat, the archenemy of Islam, Quraish. For ten years, while
at the mercy of Quraish, the Muslims were subjected to all sorts of terrorism, boycott, harassment
and starvation coupled by a large scale painstaking psychological war and aggressive organized
propaganda. When they had emigrated to Madinah, their land, wealth and property were seized,
wives detained and the socially humble in rank brutally tortured. Quraish also schemed and made
attempts on the life of the first figure of the Call, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) . Due to their
acknowledged temporal leadership and religious supremacy among the pagan Arabs, given the
custodianship of the Sacred Sanctuary, the Quraishites spared no effort in enticing the Arabians
against Madinah and boycotting the Madinese socially and economically. To quote Muhammad Al-
Ghazali: “A state of war virtually existed between the Makkan tyrants and the Muslims in their
abode. It is foolish to blame the Muslims for the horrible consequences that were bound to ensue in
the light of that long-standing feud.”
The Muslims in Madinah were completely eligible then to confiscate the wealth of those tyrants,
mete out for them exemplary punishment and bring twofold retaliation on them in order to deter
them from committing any folly against the Muslims and their sanctities.
That was a resume of the major problems that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had to
face, and the complicated issues he was supposed to resolve.
In full acknowledgment, we could safely say that he quite honestly shouldered the responsibilities of
Messengership, and cleverly discharged the liabilities of both temporal and religious leadership in
Madinah. He accorded to everyone his due portion whether of mercy or punishment, with the former
usually seasoning the latter in the overall process of establishing Islam on firm grounds among its
faithful adherents.
A NEW SOCIETY BEING BUILT
We have already mentioned that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) arrived in Madinah on
Friday, 12th Rabi‘ Al-Awwal 1 A.H., i.e. September 27th. 622 A.D. and took the downstairs of Abi
Ayyub’s house as a temporary residence.
The first task to which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) attended on his arrival in Madinah was the
construction of a Mosque, in the very site where his camel knelt down. The land, which belonged to
two orphans, was purchased. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) himself contributed tobuilding the
Mosque by carrying adobe bricks and stones while reciting verses:
·
“O Allâh! no bliss is there but that of the Hereafter, I beseech you to forgive the
Emigrants and Helpers.”
The ground was cleared, of weeds and shrubs, palm trees and rubbish, the graves of the polytheists
dug up and then levelled and the trees planted around. The
Qiblah
(the direction in which the
Muslims turn their faces in prayer) was constructed to face Jerusalem; two beams were also erected
to hold the ceiling up. It was square in form, each side measuring approximately 100 yards, facing
Click on View to read this book online under free books www.islamicbulletin.com