The most
sensitive period of the life of a person begins when he (or she) comes
of age. It is so because at this time the sexual instincts attain
perfection, the sensual self inspires passions in one's head every
moment, the storm of lust darkens the atmosphere of human intellect,
the foundation of the rule of material instincts becomes more firm and
as a result of all this the lamp of wisdom becomes dim. During day and
night and time and again a grand palace of desires assumes a concrete
form before the eyes of the grown up person.
In case, at such time,
someone also possesses wealth, life for him becomes something very
dangerous. When animal instincts and good health and material
opportunities and enormous wealth of a man are united the result is
that they make the program of his life full of lustful activities and
he is saturated with concupiscible desires without any care for
future.
This period is called the
frontier of prosperity and adversity, and one rarely succeeds in
determining the other route for oneself and in selecting, with the
hope of acquiring good habits and pure mentality, a path which may
keep one safe from all dangers.
In such circumstances it is
a very difficult task to take care of oneself and in case the person
concerned has not been brought up and educated properly in family
environments one should only wait for the collapse of the structure of
life.
MANHOOD OF THE HOLY
PROPHET
There is no doubt about the
fact that the Prophet was brave, strong and healthy, because he had
been brought up in taintless environments, and all members of the
family in which he was born possessed elements of heroism and bravery.
The huge wealth of Khadijah was also at his disposal and all means of
comfortable life were available to him. However, it should be seen as
to how he utilized these material resources. Did he choose a life of
pleasure and did he resort to the satisfaction of his passions like
other young men? Or that notwithstanding all these means and
resources, he selected another program which fully revealed the
background of his sensitive life? History bears testimony to the fact
that he led his life like wise and experienced men. He always avoided
profligacy and recklessness and signs of prudence and reflection were
ever apparent in his countenance. To remain away from the corruption
of the society he spent a good deal of his time in caves situated at
the feet of the mountains and studied the signs of Divine power and
reflected upon the creation of the Universe.
SENTIMENTS OF HIS
MANHOOD
An incident which took
place in the bazaar of Makkah wounded the human sentiments of the
Prophet. He saw a person gambling. Unfortunately the man lost his
camel as well as his residential house in the game. And not only this
but he also staked and lost ten years of his life. The Prophet was so
much moved by this incident that he did not stay in Makkah that day.
He, therefore, went away to the nearby hills and returned home after a
part of the night had passed. He was moved to observe such sad
spectacles and reflected on and wondered at the lack of wisdom and
intelligence of those misguided people.
Before Khadijah married the
Prophet Muhammad, her house was the center of the hopes of the needy
people. And even after her marriage with the Prophet she did not allow
even the slightest change to take place in the condition of her house
or in the munificence and generosity of her spouse.
During the periods of
famine and drought the Prophet's foster-mother Halimah came at times
to see her son. The Prophet then used to spread his cloak under her
feet, recollected her kind sentiments and the simple life which he had
spent with her and listened to what she said. At the time of her
departure he helped her with as much as he could afford.[107]
HIS CHILDREN FROM
KHADIJAH
Birth of a child further
cements the bond of matrimony and makes life bright and brilliant. The
Prophet's wife bore him six children. Two of them were sons - the
elder one being Qasim and the younger one Abdullah. They are also
called Tayyib and Tahir. She also gave birth to four daughters. Ibne
Hisham writes: 'Their eldest daughter was Ruqayyah and the other three
were Zaynab, Umme Kulsum and Fatimah'. The male children died before
Muhammad was appointed to the prophetic mission, but the daughters
continued to live.'[108]
Self-control of the Holy
Prophet in the face of calamitous happenings was proverbial. However
at the time of the death of his children the sentiments of his heart
sometimes appeared from his eyes in the shape of tears which trickled
down to his cheeks and this matter became more evident at the time of
the death or Ibrahim, whose mother was Mariyah. At that time, while
his heart was grief-stricken, the Prophet was busy praising Allah with
his tongue. So much so that an Arab, owing to his ignorance and lack
of knowledge about the fundamentals of Islam, objected to the weeping
of the Prophet. The Prophet, however, said: "Weeping of this kind is a
blessing".
[109]
UNFOUNDED GUESS
Dr Haikal writes: "There is
no denying the fact that at the time of the death of each of her
children Khadijah approached the idols and asked as to why the gods
were not pleased to bless her".
[110]
The above statement is not
supported even by the most insignificant historical evidence and is
nothing more than a mere guess. Its purpose is to give the impression
that as, during her time, all were idolaters, Khadijah too was,
certainly, like them.
However, Shi'ah belief is
opposed to this statement and naturally the factual position, too,
should be as believed by Shi'ah. The reason for this is that the
Prophet undoubtedly hated idol-worship from his very youth and the
position became quite clear during his journey to Syria. For, when he
developed some differences with a merchant with regard to accounts and
the opposite part swore by Lat and 'Uzza the Prophet said, "These are
the very things which are most despicable in my eyes!"
In the circumstances how
can it be said that a woman like Khadijah, whose regard and love for
her husband was unquestionable, should run to the idols (who were the
most despicable things in the eyes of her husband) at the time of the
death of her children. Moreover, the cause of her inclination towards
Muhammad and of her entering into matrimonial alliance with him was
that she admired his habits and spirituality, as she had heard that he
was the last of the Prophets. In these conditions how can it be
possible that she should go and complain to the idols in the matter?
We have already narrated
for the readers some of her conversations with Waraqah bin Nawfal (the
Arab fortune-teller) as well as with other scholarly persons of that
time.
ADOPTED SON OF THE
PROPHET OF ISLAM
The Prophet of Islam called
Zayd bin Harith as his son by the side of the Black Stone. Zayd was
the person whom the Arab bandits had captured from the frontiers of
Syria and had sold him in the market-place of Makkah to Hakim, a
relative of Khadijah. It is not, however, clear as to how it so
happened that later he was purchased by Khadijah.
The author of 'Hayat-i
Muhammad' says "The Prophet had felt the death of his sons very much
and, in order to console himself, had asked Khadijah to purchase Zayd.
Later the Prophet freed him and adopted him as his own son".
Majority of the writers,
however, say that at the time of Khadijah's marriage with the Prophet,
Hakim bin Hizam presented him (Zayd) to his aunt (Khadijah). As he (Zayd)
was a virtuous and intelligent young man in all respects the Prophet
developed a liking for him and Khadijah too made a gift of him to the
Prophet. At last, however, Zayd's father located his whereabouts after
continuous inquiries. At that time the Prophet permitted Zayd to go
away with his father. However, in view of the love and kindness of the
Prophet for him, Zayd preferred to stay on with him. It was on this
account that the Prophet freed him, adopted him as his son; and
married him to Zaynab, daughter of Jahash.
[111]
BEGINNING OF DIFFERENCES
AMONG THE IDOLATERS
With the appointment of the
Prophet to the prophetic mission deep differences appeared among the
Quraysh, though the foundation of these differences had been laid a
long time ago and, even before the appointment of the Prophet to
prophethood, a number of wise men had expressed their dislike and
aversion for the religion of the Arabs. There was always a talk in
every nook and cranny about the expected Arabian Prophet, who was to
revive the practice of worship of One Allah. The Jews used to say: "As
the foundation of our religion as well as that of the Arabian Prophet
is the same, we shall follow him and, with the help of his strength,
shall break the idols and destroy the edifice of idol-worship.
Ibne Hisham says in his
Seerah[112] "The Jews used to threaten
the idolatrous Arabs saying that the time of the appearance of the
Arabian Prophet was approaching fast and he would destroy the edifice
of idol-worship.
These words presented
before the eyes of the Arabs the scene of the overthrow of the era of
idol-worship. So much so that, on account of the previous preachings
of the Jews, some tribes responded to the call of the Holy Prophet and
embraced Islam. However, for reasons, which will be explained later,
the Jews continued to persist in their infidelity. The following verse
of the Holy Qur'an points to the same position:
Now that a book (the Qur'an
confirming their own Taurat) has come to them from Allah, they deny
it, although they know it to be the truth and have long prayed for
help against the disbelievers (through the new religion and the new
Book). May Allah's curse be upon the infidels!"
(Surah aI-Baqarah, verse 89).
THE FOUNDATIONS OF
IDOL-WORSHIP SHAKE
At the time of the
celebration of one of the festivals of Quraysh there occurred a
strange incident, which in the eyes of the deep-sighted people, tolIed
the bell of danger of overthrow of the rule of idol-worshippers.
Once, when the idolaters
had gathered round an idol and were rubbing their foreheads on earth
before it, four of their distinguished persons, who were famous for
their learning and wisdom, disapproved of their action and held
discussions on the subject in a secluded place. One of the points
discussed by them was that their nation had deviated from the path of
Ibrahim; and the stones, round which the people were going, could
neither hear, nor see nor do any good or evil.
[113]
These four persons
consisted of (1) Waraqah bin Nawfal, who, after deep study, came
within the circle of the Christians and gained extensive knowledge of
the Bible, (2) Abdullah bin Johash, who became a Muslim after the
advent of Islam and migrated to Ethiopia along with other Muslims, (3)
Uthman bin Huwayris, who went to the Roman court and embraced
Christianity, and (4) Zayd bin 'Amr bin Nafil, who, after extensive
study, chose the religion of Ibrahim for himself.
ANOTHER WEAKNESS OF
QURAYSH
The Holy Prophet was not
yet more than thirty five years of age when he had to witness a grave
dispute among the Quraysh, which was solved with his capable hand. The
following incident shows the extent to which he was respected and
admitted to be honest and truthful by Quraysh:
A terrible flood flowed
down from the high mountains towards the House of Allah, and
consequent upon it none of the houses of Makkah, not even the Holy
Ka'bah remained safe from the damage caused by it. Many cracks
appeared in the walls of the Ka'bah. Quraysh decided to reconstruct
the Ka'bah, but were afraid of demolishing it. Walid bin Mughayrah was
the first person who took a pick in his hand and pulled down two
pillars of the sanctuary. He was then feeling very much frightened and
nervous. The people of Makkah were awaiting something to befall, but
when they saw that Walid had not been subjected to the wrath of the
idols they became confident that his actions had the approval of the
idols. As a result of this all of them joined in demolishing the
building. By chance on that very day, a boat which was coming from
Egypt and belonged to a Roman merchant capsized near Makkah (Jeddah)
following a violent storm. Quraysh came to know about this incident.
They therefore, sent some persons to Jeddah to purchase the planks of
the boat for the construction of the Ka'bah. As regards masonry work
they entrusted the same to a Copt mason, who resided in Makkah.
The walls of the Ka'bah
became as high as the stature of a man. And now arrived the time for
the installation of the Black Stone at its appropriate place. At this
stage differences arose among the chiefs of the tribes and the tribes
of Bani Abduddar and Bani Adi concluded an agreement that they would
not allow anyone else to enjoy this honour. In order to strengthen the
agreement they filled a container with blood and put their hands into
it.
Owing to this development
the construction work remained suspended for five days. The matters
had reached a very critical stage. Different groups of Quraysh had
gathered in the Masjidul Haram and a bloody encounter seemed imminent.
At last, however, a respectable old gentleman from amongst Quraysh
named Abu Umayyah bin Mughayrah Makhzumi made the chiefs of Quraysh
assemble and said to them "Accept as arbitrator the person who first
enters through the Gate of Safa (according to some history books Babus
Salam)". All agreed to this. Suddenly the Holy Prophet entered the
Masjid from that gate. All said in unison; "It is Muhammad, the honest
one. We agree to his acting as the arbitrator!" In order to settle the
dispute the Holy Prophet asked them to bring a piece of cloth.
He placed the Black Stone
on the cloth with his own hands then suggested that every one of the
four chiefs of Makkah should hold one corner of the cloth. When the
Black Stone was brought near the pillar the Holy Prophet placed it at
its proper place with his own auspicious hands. In this way he brought
to an end the dispute of Quraysh which was at the verge of occasioning
bloody accidents.
[114]
[107] Seerah-i Halabi, vol. I, page
123.
[108] Manaqib Ibn Shehr Ashob, vol. I,
page 140; Qurbul Asnad, pp. 6 and 7; al-Khisa'il, vol. II, page 37;
Biharul Anwar, vol. XXII, pp. 151 - 152. Some historians say that the
Prophet's male children were more than two. (Tarikh-i Tabari, vol. II,
page 35 and Biharul Anwar, vol. XXII, page 166).
[109] Amali, Shaykh, page 247.
[110] Hayat-i Muhammad, page 186.
[111] al-lsaba, vol. I, page 545;
Usudul Ghabah, vol. II, page 224.
[112] Seerah-i Ibn Hisham, vol. I,
page 231.
[113] Seerah-i Ibn Hisham, vol. I, pp.
222 - 223.
[114] Habirah bin Wahab Makhzumi has
versified this incident in a panegyric written by him. Seerah-i Ibn
Hisham, vol. I, 213, Tarikh-i Tabari, vol. II, Furu'-i Kafi, vol. I,
page 225, and Bihar, vol. XV, pp. 39 - 41. It is worth noting that at
the time of the reconstruction of the Ka'bah it was notified to all
concerned as under: "In the reconstruction of the Ka'bah spend only
lawfully acquired property. Money which you have earned by improper
means or by usury or oppression should not be spent for this purpose".
Undoubtedly this thinking was the very sediment of the teachings of
the Prophets which had still survived among Quraysh.