Period Of Youth
By: Ayatullah Shaikh
Jafar Al-Subhani
Leaders of society
should be forbearing and patient, strong and powerful, brave and
valiant, fearless and bold, and should possess a great soul.
How can it be possible for persons who
are timid and chicken-hearted, weak and cowardly, feeble-minded and lazy
to lead the society through intricate paths? How can they take a stand
before the enemies and protect their entity and personality from the
attacks of the people at large?
The greatness and magnificence of the
soul of a leader and his corporeal and spiritual power and ability have
wonderful impact on his followers. When Ali, the Commander of the
Faithful, selected one of his sincere companions for the Governorship of
Egypt he wrote a letter to the afflicted people of Egypt who had been
greatly put out on account of the tyranny of the government which was
then in position in that land. In that letter he praised his
governor-designate for his bravery and spiritual purity. We reproduce
here an extract from that letter wherein the real attributes of a ruler
have been narrated
"..... I have sent to you a servant of
Allah, who does not go to sleep in dreadful days and does not show
cowardice while facing the enemy during an emergency. For the wicked he
is more harsh than the burning fire. He is Malik bin Harith from the
clan of Mazhaj. Listen to his words and enforce his orders, because he
is one of the swords of Allah which does not become blunt and whose
stroke does not remain ineffective'.[87]
SPIRITUAL POWER OF THE HOLY PROPHET
During his boyhood as well as manhood
the signs of strength, bravery, firmness and forcefulness were patent in
the forehead of the darling of Quraysh. When he was fifteen years of age
he took part in a battle which has fought by Quraysh against the tribe
of Hawazan and which is called the Fujjar Battle. In the battle-front
his duty was to ward off the arrows aimed at his uncles. In his Seerah-i
Ibn Hisham[88] quotes this sentence from
the Prophet: "I warded off the arrows from my uncles".
Participation in this battle and that
too at such a young age tells us about the unparalleled valour of the
Holy Prophet and we understand as to why Imam Ali, the most valiant of
the valiant, the Commander of the Faithful says "Whenever matters became
difficult for us (the Muslim Soldiers) on the battle front we took
refuge with the Prophet of Allah and none of us was nearer to the enemy
than the Prophet himself.[89]
We shall mention the principles of
Islamic military training in the chapter relating to the battles of the
Muslims with the polytheists, and shall study the manner of their
fighting, which always took shape according to the directions of the
Holy Prophet. And this in itself is one of the fascinating discussions
of the history of Islam.
THE FUJJAR (UNJUST) BATTLES
Detailed account of such matters is
beyond the scope of our book. However, we give below in brief the causes
and the events of these battles, in one of which the Holy Prophet also
participated, so that the esteemed readers may not remain totally
uninformed about them.
The Arabs of the Age of Ignorance spent
the whole year in fighting and plundering. However, the continuance of
this state of affairs deranged their lives. For this reason they did not
fight during four months in a year (viz. Rajab, Zi Qa'd, Zil Haj and
Muharram) so that their might open their trade markets during these four
months and engage themselves in work and earning of livelihood.[90]
In view of this resolution the bazaars
of 'Ukaz, Mujannah and Zil Majaz witnessed wonderful gatherings during
these four months and friends as well as foes engaged themselves, side
by side with one another, in buying and selling as well as in
selfglorification. The great singers of Arabia sang their compositions
in these assemblies. The well-known orators delivered speeches. The
Jews, the Christians and the idolaters presented their religious beliefs
before the Arab world without any fear of harm from their opponents.
During the course of Arabian history,
however, this covenant was broken four times, when some Arab tribes
engaged in war-fare with one another. And as these battles were fought
in the months in which fighting is prohibited they are called Fujjar
Battles. Now we give below a very brief account of these battles
The First Fujjar:
The two warring parties were the tribes ot 'Kananah' and 'Hawazan' and
the cause of the battle has been mentioned to be this: A person named
Badr bin Ma'shar selected a place for himself in the bazaar of 'Ukaz and
read out self-glorifying verses every day before the people. One day he
stood up, with sword in hand, and said 'O people' I am the most
honourable person and if anyone repudiates this claim of mine he shall
be put to sword'. In the meantime a man rose up, struck a sword on
Badr's foot and severed it. For this reason the two parties grappled
with each other but stopped fighting before anyone was killed.
The Second Fujjar:
The reason for this battle was that a beautiful woman of the tribe of
Bani 'Amir attracted the eyes of a young man who requested her to show
him her face. The woman declined to do so. The lustful young man sat
behind her and sewed together her long laps with thorns so that when she
got up her face became visible. At that moment both of them called their
tribes. The two tribes stopped fighting only after some persons had been
killed.
The Third Fujjar:
A man belonging to the tribe of Kananah was indebted to another who
belonged to the tribe of Bani Amir. The debtor was dilly-dallying. The
two persons began to quarrel on this account. A bloody fight was doing
to start between the two tribes, but, before the situation worsened, the
matter was settled peacefully.
The Fourth Fujjar:
It is the very battle in which the Prophet participated personally.
There is a difference of opinion about his age at that time. Some say
that he was fourteen or fifteen years of age whereas others have written
that he was then twenty years old. However, as this war continued for
four years, it is possible that all these versions mall be correct.[91]
The root cause of this dispute has been
stated to be this. No'man bin Manzar used to arrange a caravan every
year and sent merchandise to 'Ukaz, so that, hides, ropes and brocade
might be bartered from there. A man named 'Urwatur Rijal, who belonged
to the tribe of Hawazan, took responsibility to safeguard and protect
the caravan. However, Baraz bin Qays, a member of Kananah tribe, became
very sentimental about a man of Hawazan tribe having surpassed him. He
went to No'man bin Manzar and complained about the arrangement but met
with no success. He became annoyed and jealous and was constantly
waiting for an opportunity to deal with 'Urwarur Rijal on the way.
Eventually he killed him in the territory of Bani Marrah and thus
besmeared his hands with the blood of a member of Hawazan tribe. In
those days the tribes of Quraysh and Kananah were allies and this
development rook place when the Arabs were busy in trade in the
market-place of 'Ukaz. A man informed Quraysh about what had come to
pass. Hence, the tribes of Quraysh and Kananah collected their
belongings and hurried towards the Haram (a distance of four leagues
around Makkah is called the Haram and fighting in this area was unlawful
amongst the Arabs) before Hawazan tribe should become aware of the
happening. However, members of Hawazan tribe pursued them and, before
they could reach within the limits of the Haram, fighting commenced
between the two parties. At last they had to stop fighting on account of
night fall. Quraysh and Kananah tribes availed of this opportunity to
escape to the Haram in darkness and thus became safe from the enemy's
attack. After that day Quraysh and their allies came out of Haram
sometime or the other and fought with the enemies. On some days the
Prophet also participated in the battles along with his uncles, as
mentioned above. This state of affairs continued for four years. At last
the war came to an end by paying of the bloodmoney to Hawazan tribe, who
had lost more lives as compared with Quraysh.[92]
HlLFUL FUZUL (THE COVENANT OF THE
YOUTHS)
In the past an agreement called the 'Fuzul
Covenant' existed amongst the Jarhamis and it was meant for safeguarding
the rights of the oppressed. The parties to this agreement, according to
the renowned historian Imaduddin Ibn Kathir, were Fazal bin Fazalah,
Fazal bin Harith and Fazal bin Wida'ah.[93]
As the mutual agreement, which a number
of Quraysh had made later, was identical with Hilful Fuzul, from the
point of view of its object (viz. protection of the rights of the
oppressed), it was also given the name of 'Fuzul covenant'.
THE PROPHET PARTICIPATES IN THE
AGREEMENT
Twenty years before the commencement of
the prophetic mission of the Prophet a man arrived in Makkah in the
month of Zi Qa'dah along with some goods. These goods were purchased by
'As bin Wa'il, but he failed to pay the price settled between them. That
man saw Quraysh sitting near the Ka'bah. He began to complain loudly and
also recited some verses which roused the sentiments of men possessing a
sense of honour. Zubayr bin Abdul Muttalib stood up and some others also
joined him. They held a meeting in the house of Abdullah bin Jad'an and
made a covenant and vowed that they would observe unity, and, as far as
possible in the prevailing circumstances, would make the oppressor
surrender the rights of the oppressed to them. When the ceremonies of
the agreement were over they got up and went to 'As bin Wa'il. They took
back from him the goods which he had purchased but had not paid its
price and returned the same to the owner.
The Prophet participated in this
agreement which ensured the welfare of the oppressed. He has himself
spoken about the greatness of this agreement and two of his remarks in
this behalf are reproduced below:
"In the house of Abdullah bin Jad'an I
became a witness to such an agreement. If even now (i.e. after the
commencement of the prophetic mission) I am invited to a similar
agreement I shall accept it (viz. I am still faithful to the covenant
made by me)"
Ibn Hisham quotes that the Prophet used
to speak thus about the said agreement. ``l am not prepared to break my
covenant, even though I am offered the most precious gift".
The 'Fuzul agreement' was so firm and
established that even the later generations considered themselves bound
to abide by it. An instance of it is the event which took place during
the Governorship of Walid bin 'Utbah bin Abu Sufyan, the nephew of
Mu'awiyah, who had been appointed by him as Governor of Madina. The
Chief of the Martyrs, Husayn bin Ali, who never submitted to tyranny
throughout his life, developed some differences regarding financial
matters with the said Governor of Madina, who always depended on local
and central (Syrian) power and used to overcharge. To destroy the very
foundation of injustice and to make others acquainted with their right
to get justice administered, Husayn turned to the Governor of Madina and
said: "By Allah, whenever you overcharge me I shall put my hand to the
sword and shall stand in the Prophet's Masjid and shall invite the
people to the agreement which was concluded by their ancestors. From
amongst those present Abdullah bin Zubayr got up and repeated the same
sentence and incidentally added: "We shall all rise and obtain his right
or be killed in this path". The call of Husayn bin Ali gradually reached
the ears of noble-minded persons like Masur bin Mukhramah and Abdur
Rahman bin Uthman and all hurried to the sacred door of the Imam saying
"Here we are!" The result was that the governor, fearing a revolt,
refrained from overcharging.[94]
[87] Nahjul Balaghah, vol. III, page 92.
[88] Volume I, page 186. He interprets it
in the same manner as explained by us.
[89] Nahjul Balaghah, vol. III, page 314.
[90] It may be gathered front verse 36 of
Surah al-Tawbah that prohibition of war-fare during these four months
had a religious origin and the Arabs did not repudiate this prohibition.
[91] Tarikh-i Kamil, vol. I, 358 - 359 and
Seerah-i Ibn Hisham, vol. I, page 184.
[92] Seerah-i Ibn Hisham, vol. I, pp. 134
- 187.
[93] Al-Bidayah wal Nihiyah, vol. II, page
292.
[94] Seerah-i Halabi, vol. I, pp. 155 -
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