The Sealed Nectar (19 page)

For the true Muslims, however there was nothing unusual about the Night Journey.

The All- Mighty Allâh, Who is Powerful enough to have created the heavens and the earth by an act of His Will, is surely Powerful enough to take His Messenger beyond the heavens and show him those signs of His at firsthand which are inaccessible to man otherwise. The disbelievers on their part went to see Abu Bakr on account of this event, and he readily said: "Yes, I do verify it." It was on this occasion that he earned the title of
As- Siddiq
(the verifier of the truth). [Ibn Hisham 1/399]

The most eloquent and most concise justification of this ‘Journey’ is expressed in Allâh’s Words:

"... in order that We might show him (Muhammad) of Our
Ayât
(proofs,
evidences, signs, etc.)"
[Al- Qur'an 17:1].

The Divine rules as regards the Prophets goes as follows:

"Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that
he be one of those who have Faith with certainty."
[Al- Qur'an 6:75]

To Moses, his Lord said:

"That We may show you (some) of Our Greater Signs."
[Al- Qur'an 20:23]

In order that:

"He be of those who have Faith with certainty."

The Prophets, after seeing Allâh’s Signs, will establish their Faith on solid certainty too immune to be parted with. They are in fact eligible for this Divine privilege 91

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because they are the ones who will bear burdens too heavy for other ordinary people to carry, and in the process of their mission, they will regard all worldly ordeals and agonies too small to care about.

There are simple facts that emanate from this blessed Journey, and flow along into the flowery garden of the Prophetic biography; peace and blessings of Allâh be upon its author, Muhammad. The story of ‘the Night Journey’ as we see in the Noble Qur’ân is epitomised in the first verse of the
Sûrah
Isra’
(Chapter 17 — The Journey by Night) then there is a quick shift to uncover the shameful deeds and crimes of the Jews, followed by an admonition saying that the Qur’ân guides to that which is most just and right. This arrangement is not in fact a mere coincidence. Jerusalem was the first scene of the Night Journey, and here lies the message directed to the Jews and which explicitly suggested that they would be discharged of the office of leadership of mankind due to the crimes they had perpetrated and which no longer justified their occupation of that office. The message suggested explicitly that the office of leadership would be reinstituted by the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] to hold in his hand both headquarters of the Abrahamic Faith, the Holy Sanctuary in Makkah and the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem. It was high time for the spiritual authority to be transferred from a nation whose history got pregnant with treachery, covenant-breaching and aggression to another nation blessed with piety, and dutifulness to Allâh, with a Messenger who enjoys the privilege of the Qur’ânic Revelation, which leads to that which is best and right.

There, however, remains a crucial question waiting to be answered: How could this foreseen transition of authority be effected while the champion himself (Muhammad) was left deserted and forsaken stumbling in the hillocks of Makkah? This question per se uncovered the secrets of another issue which referred to a phase of the Islamic Call and the appearance of another role it was about to take up, different in its course and noble in its approaches. The forerunners of that new task took the shape of Qur’ânic verses smacking of direct and unequivocal warning accompanied by a severe ultimatum directed to the polytheists and their agents:

"And when We decide to destroy a town (population), We (first) send a
definite order (to obey Allâh and be righteous) to those among them [ or We
(first) increase in number those of its population] who are given the good
things of this life. Then, they transgress therein, and thus the word (of
torment) is justified against it (them). Then We destroy it with complete
destruction. And how many generations (past nations) have We destroyed
after Noah! And Sufficient is your Lord as an All- Knower and All- Beholder of
the sins of His slaves."
[Al- Qur'an 17:16, 17]

Together with these verses, there were others revealed to show the Muslims the rules and items of the civilization upon which they could erect their Muslim community, and foreshadowing their ownership of a piece of land, exercising full freedom over it and establishing a coherent society around whose axis the whole humanity would rotate. Those verses in reality implied better prospects for the Prophet [pbuh] comprising a secure shelter to settle in, and headquarters safe enough to empower and embolden him to communicate his Message to all the world at large; that was in fact the inner secret of that blessed journey. For this very wisdom and the like we deem it appropriate to suggest that ‘the Night Journey’ took place either before the First Pledge of ‘Aqabah or between the two; after all, Allâh knows best.

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The First ‘Aqabah Pledge

We have already spoken about six Madinese who embraced Islam in the pilgrimage season in the eleventh year of Prophethood. They promised to communicate the Message of Islam to their townsfolk.

The following year, on the occasion of the pilgrimage, there came a group of twelve disciples ready to acknowledge Muhammad as their Prophet. The group of men comprised five of the six who had met the Prophet [pbuh] the year before, the sixth who stayed away was Jabir bin ‘Abdullah bin Reyab, the other seven were: 1. Mu‘adh bin Al- Harith, Ibn ‘Afra, from Khazraj.

2. Dhakwan bin ‘Abd Al- Qais, from Khazraj.

3. ‘Ubadah bin As- Samit, from Khazraj.

4. Yazeed bin Tha‘labah, from Khazraj.

5. ‘Al- ‘Abbas bin ‘Ubadah bin Nadalah, from Khazraj.

6. Abul Haitham bin At- Taihan, from Aws.

7. ‘Uwaim bin Sa‘idah, from Aws.

They avowed their faith in Muhammad [pbuh] as a Prophet and swore: "We will not worship any one but one Allah; we will not steal; neither will we commit adultery, nor kill our children; we will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood and we will not disobey you in any just matter." When they had taken the pledge, Muhammad [pbuh] said: "He who carries it out, Allâh will reward him; and who neglects anything and is afflicted in this world, it may prove redemption for him in the Hereafter; and if the sin remains hidden from the eyes of the men and no grief comes to him, then his affair is with Allâh. He may forgive him or He may not."

[Bukhari 1/550; 2/727; 2/1003]

The Muslim Envoy in Madinah

After the Pledge (in the form of an oath had been taken) the Prophet [pbuh] sent to Yathrib (Madinah) Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair Al- ‘Abdari [R], the first Muslim ‘ambassador’ to teach the people there the doctrines of Islam, give them practical guidance and make attempts at propagating the Islam among those who still professed polytheism. As‘ad bin Zurarah hosted him in Madinah. So prepared was the ground, and so zealous the propagation that the Islam spread rapidly from house to house and from tribe to tribe. There were various cheerful and promising aspects of success that characterized Mus‘ab’s task. One day Mus‘ab and As‘ad were on their way to the habitations of Bani ‘Abd Al- Ashhal and Bani Zafar, when they went into the premises of the latter clan. There they sat near a well conversing with some new converts.

Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh and Usaid bin Hudair, chiefs of the two clans heard of this meeting, so Usaid approached the Muslims armed with his lance while the other Sa‘d excused himself on grounds that As‘ad was his maternal cousin. Usaid came closer cursing and swearing and accused the two men of befooling people weak of heart, and ordered that they stop it altogether. Mus‘ab calmly invited him to sit saying, "If you are pleased with our talk, you can accept it; should you hold it in abhorrence, you could freely immunize yourself against what you hate." "That’s fair," said Usaid, pierced his lance in the sand, listened to Mus‘ab and then heard some verses of the Noble Qur’ân. His face bespoke satisfaction and pleasure before uttering any words 93

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of approval. He asked the two men about the procedures pertinent to embracing Islam. They asked him to observe washing, purge his garment, bear witness to the Truth and then perform two
Rak‘a
. He responded and did exactly what he was asked to do, and then said there was a man (Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh) whose people would never hang back if he followed the Islam. He then left to see Sa‘d and his people. Sa‘d could immediately understand that Usaid had changed. To a question posed by Sa‘d, Usaid said that two men were ready to comply with whatever orders they received.

He then managed a certain situation that provided the two men with a chance to talk with Sa‘d privately. The previous scene with Usaid recurred and Sa‘d embraced Islam, and directly turned to his people swearing that he would never talk with them until they had believed in Allâh, and in His Messenger. Hardly did the evening of that day arrive when all the men and women of that sept of Arabians embraced Islam with the exception of one, Al- Usairim, who hung back until the Day of Uhud. On that day he embraced Islam and fought the polytheists but was eventually killed before observing any prostration in the way of prayer. The Prophet [pbuh] commented saying: "He has done a little but his reward is great."

Mus‘ab stayed in Madinah carrying out his mission diligently and successfully until all the houses of
Al- Ansar
(the future Helpers) had Muslims elements, men and women.

One family only stood obdurate to the Islamic
Da‘wah
(Call). They were under the influence of the poet Qais bin Al- Aslat, who managed to hold them at bay and screen off the Call of Islam from their ears until the year 5 A.H.

Shortly before the approach of the following pilgrimage season, i.e. the thirteenth year of Prophethood, Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair returned to Makkah carrying to the Prophet

[pbuh] glad tidings about the new fertile soil of Islam in Madinah, and its environment rich in the prospects of good, and the power and immunity that that city was bound to provide to the cause of Islam. [Ibn Hisham 1/435; Za'd Al- Ma'ad 2/51

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The Second ‘Aqabah Pledge

The next year, thirteenth of Prophethood, June 622 A.D., during the pilgrimage season, over seventy converts from Madinah came in the trail of their polytheist people to perform the rituals of pilgrimage in Makkah. The oft- repeated question amongst them was "Isn’t it high time we protect Muhammad instead of leaving him forsaken, deserted and stumbling in the hillocks of Makkah?"

Shortly after arrival, they conducted clandestine contacts with the Prophet [pbuh]

and agreed to meet him secretly at night in mid
Tashreeq
Days (the 11th, 12th and 13th days of Dhul Hijja) in a hillock at Al- ‘Aqabah, the last year’s meeting place.

One of the leaders of the
Ansâr
(Helpers), Ka‘b bin Malik Al- Ansari, gave an account of the historic meeting which changed the whole course of the struggle between Islam and paganism, he said:

We set out for pilgrimage and struck a rendezvous in mid
Tashreeq
Days
.
We were accompanied by a celebrity and a notable of ours called ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Haram, who was still a polytheist. We disclosed to him our intention of meeting Muhammad [pbuh] and exhorted him to join our ranks and give up polytheism lest he should serve as wood for Hell in the Hereafter. He promptly embraced Islam and witnessed the serious meeting at Al- ‘Aqabah.

That very night we slept with our people in our camps. After a third of the night had elapsed, we began to leave stealthily and met in a hillock nearby. We were seventy three men and two women Nusaibah bint Ka‘b from the Najjars and Asma’ bint ‘Amr from Bani Salamah. We waited for the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] until he came in the company of his uncle Al- ‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib who (though himself not a Muslim), adjured us not to draw his nephew away from the protection of his own kindred unless we were fully prepared to defend him even at the risk of our lives. He was the first to speak:

"O you people of the Khazraj — the Arabs used to call the
Ansâr
(Helpers)
Khazraj, whether from Khazraj or Aws — you all know the position that
Muhammad holds among us. We have protected him from our people as
much as we could. He is honoured and respected among his people. He
refuses to join any party except you. So if you think you can carry out what
you promise while inviting him to your town, and if you can defend him
against the enemies, then assume the burden that you have taken. But if
you are going to surrender him and betray him after having taken him away
with you, you had better leave him now because he is respected and well
defended in his own place."
[Ibn Hisham 1/440- 442]

Ka‘b replied: "We have heard your words, and now O Messenger of Allâh, it is for you to speak and take from us any pledge that you want regarding your Lord and yourself."

It was a definite stance showing full determination, courage and deep faith to shoulder the daunting responsibility and bear its serious consequences.

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The Messenger of Allâh then preached the Faith, and the pledge was taken. Al- Imam Ahmad, on the authority of Jabir, gave the following details: The
Ansâr
(Helpers) asked the Messenger of Allâh about the principles over which they would take a pledge. The Prophet answered:

1. To listen and obey in all sets of circumstances.

2. To spend in plenty as well as in scarcity.

3. To enjoin good and forbid evil.

4. In Allâh’s service, you will fear the censure of none.