MUSJIDUL HAQ

Allah Almighty states in the Holy Quran:

یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اصْبِرُوۡا وَصَابِرُوۡا ٪

  ‘O believers! be patient, and excel in patience with the enemies.

(Aale ‘Imran 3, Verse 200)

Hadeeth:

وَعَن ْأبِيْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَانِ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ مَسْعُوْدٍ – رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهٗ – قَالَ: كَأَنِّي أنْظُرُ إِلٰى رَسُوْلِ اللهِ – صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – يَحْكِيْ نَبِيًّا مِّنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، صَلَوَاتُ اللهِ وَسَلامُهٗ عَلَيْهِمْ، ضَرَبَهُ قَوْمُهٗ فَأدْمَوْهُ، وَهُوَ يَمْسَحُ الدَّمَ عَنْ وَجْهِهٖ، يَقُوْلُ: «اَللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِقَوْمِيْ، فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ».

مُتَّفَقٌ علَيْهِ.

Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ood– may Allah be pleased with him – reported: I can still recall as if I am seeing the Messenger of Allah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – resembling one of the Prophets (peace be upon them) whose people scourged him and shed his blood.  As he wiped blood from his face, he said: “O Allah! Forgive my people, for they certainly do not know”.

(Bukhari, Muslim)

Commentary:

Imam Nawawi – may Allah be pleased with him – writes in its commentary in his Sharh Muslim as follows:

It teaches us that the said Prophet (peace be upon him) was very merciful, tolerant, enduring and forgiving towards his nation.  He made Du’a for their guidance.

(Sharh Muslim, Kitab al-Jihad wal-Siyar)

Imam Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani – may Allah be pleased with him – writes in Fat’h al-Baari as follows:

This Prophet was perhaps Sayyiduna Nooh – peace be upon him.  His nation tormented him and chocked his throat.  He had even fallen unconscious.  He made Du’a for them upon recovery with these words, “O Allah, forgive my people, for they do not know me.”

(Fat’h al-Baari under Hadeeth No. 3477)

Mulla ‘Ali Qari – may Allah be pleased with him – writes in his Mirqat al-Mafateeh as follows:

That Prophet (peace be upon him) made Du’a for his nation, “O Allah, forgive my people.”  It means that O Allah, do not punish them in the world nor destroy their generation (nothing more than that), otherwise it is a common knowledge that making Du’a of forgiveness for the disbelievers and forgiving their kufr and shirk is impermissible by consensus (ijma’).

(Mirqat al-Mafateeh under Hadeeth No. 5313)

Hakeem al-Ummah Allama Mufti Ahmed Yaar Khan Na’eemi – may Allah be pleased with him – wrote the following words in the commentary of this particular segment of Hadeeth “I can still recall as if I am seeing the Messenger of Allah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him”:

This is true image of one’s longing and the memory of Sayyiduna RasoolAllah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him.  The beloved companions – may Allah be pleased with them – treasured the memory of their beloved Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – at all times.

He comments on the Hadeeth further and says:

The said Prophet could either refer to Sayyiduna Nooh – peace be upon him, for he endured a lot of abuse from his nation, so much so that he would lose his consciousness at many occasions and then as soon as he would gain consciousness, he would preach to them.  It could also refer to the personality of our beloved Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – as well.  This incident signifies the event of his journey of Islamic propagation to Taif and the battle of Uhad where he made Du’a for the oppressors who injured him while he wiped the blood off his glorious face, so it would not enter his mouth or fall on the floor, for then it would certainly have brought down the wrath of Allah Almighty.

(Mir’aat al-Manajeeh Vol. 7, p. 126)

What Transpired When the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – Graced Taif with His Blessed Feet

When the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – undertook the journey to propagate Islam in Taif along with his slave Sayyiduna Zaid ibn Haritha – may Allah be pleased with him.  Many a wealthy people resided in Taaif.  The family of ‘Amr was considered to be the chief amongst their tribes.  They were three brothers:

1. ‘Abdyaliyul
2. Mas’ood
3. Habeeb.

The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – visited all three of them and invited them towards Islam.  All three of them did not accept Islam but had a lot of insolent and indecent things to utter.  They did not stop there, and went as far as, infuriating the barbaric goons of Taif to ill-treat the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him.  Hence, this group of goons attacked him from all sides and began to stone the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him.  His feet blessed were soaked in blood and his socks and shoes were filled with blood.  Whenever the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – sat down due to excruciating pain of his wounds, these barbaric people would mercilessly grab his arms and stand him up.  As he would begin to walk, they would throw a storm of stones at him, ridicule and laugh at him, clap at him and say vulgar words.

Sayyiduna Zaid Ibn Haritha – may Allah be pleased with him – would throw himself against the stone that were raining down on the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – and shielded him in this manner.  He was covered in bloodbath.

(Sharh al-Mawahib Vol. 2, p. 50, 51)

After being heavily injured bearing these wounds, he entered an orchard of grapes.  It was the orchard of ‘Utabah ibn Rabee’ah, a famous infidel of Makkah.  When ‘Utabah ibn Rabee’ah and his brother Shaibah ibn Rabee’ah saw the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – in this condition, then despite being disbelievers, they gave the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – shelter in their orchard.  They sent a bunch of grave for him via their Christian slave ‘Addas.  The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – took the bunch in his hand by reciting Bismillah, so the ‘Addas said in surprise, “People here do not utter this Kalimah.”  The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – asked him, “Where do you belong to?”  He replied, “I belonged to the city of Nainawa.”  He – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – said, “It’s the city of Sayyiduna Yunus ibn Mata – peace be upon him.  Like me, he was also a Messenger of Allah.”  Hearing this, Sayyiduna ‘Addas – may Allah be pleased with him – began to kiss his hands and feet and embraced Islam by reciting Kalimah without any delay.

(Sharh al-Mawahib Vol. 2, p. 54)

After this journey, Sayyidah ‘Ayesha – may Allah be pleased with her – asked the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him, “Ya RasoolAllah, was there any other difficult time you have undergone more severe compared to the battle of Uhad?”  He replied, “Yes, O ‘Ayesha.  That day was even more severe than the day of Uhad to me, when I had invited one of the kings of Taif Abd Yalyul towards Islam.  He rejected and disgraced the call of Islam and the people of Taif stormed me with stones.  I kept on walking full of sorrow with my head down until I reached the placed called “Qarn al-Tha’alib” and only then did I get some peace.  When I raised my head to look up I saw there was a cloud shading on me.  Sayyiduna Jibreel – appeared from within and informed me, “Allah Almighty is aware of the state of your nation and had appointed the angel of mountains at your service.  He will obey your commands.  Hence, the angel of mountains made Salam and said, “O Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with him), Allah Almighty has heard the utterance of your nation and now I have been appointed at your service.  Command as you wish and I will obey your orders.  I will turn these two mountains over them so they are crushed and perished if you allow me?”  The Holy Prophet, Mercy unto the mankind – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – replied, “I hope that Allah Almighty will create such obedient servants from within their future generations who will only worship Allah and will not commit polytheism.”

(Sharh al-Mawahib Vol. 2, p. 51)

Lesson:

• It mentions the refined character and compassion of the Prophets of Allah – peace be upon them – which has an important lesson for those who preach righteousness. They should be always prepared to face hardships involved in inviting people to the straight path of Islam and, instead of retaliation, forgive people and make Du’a for their guidance.
• It is not permissible to make the Du’a of Maghfirah (forgiveness) for the disbelievers but it is lawful to make Du’a of guidance for them.
• The blessed companions of the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – loved their beloved Nabi so dearly that they threw themselves at the pit of ruin in order to protect the one they loved the most.