Part 5 - Adapted into English from Shaykh Dr. Othman Al-Khamees's Arabic Seerah lecture preserving the original meaning while presenting the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds. All praise belongs to Allah, the Protector of the righteous. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the one who was sent as a mercy to all creation, our Prophet, our leader, our beloved and master, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and upon his family, his Companions, and everyone who follows his path until the Day of Judgment.
We continue with the biography of the noble Prophet, looking at the lessons and reflections that can be drawn from his life.
Previously, we discussed the persecution suffered by the Prophet and his Companions at the hands of the polytheists, and how patiently they endured this persecution.
Allah says:
This is something entirely natural for anyone who wishes to follow the path of calling people to Allah. A person must prepare himself for the possibility that he will suffer harm, whether psychological or physical.
Waraqah ibn Nawfal said to the Prophet, "I wish that I could be alive and strong when your people expel you."
The Prophet asked, "Will they expel me?"
Waraqah replied, "No man has ever come with something like what you have brought except that his people opposed him."
It is entirely natural that when a person opposes people's desires, commands what is right, and forbids what is wrong, he will become disliked by many people who desire corruption and turn away from obedience to their Lord.
When the persecution of the Prophet and his Companions became severe, the Prophet returned once again to a more secret form of preaching rather than continuing openly.
He had initially proclaimed the message when Allah commanded him:
And Allah said:
And:
So he proclaimed the message openly.
But when the persecution intensified, and some of his Companions were killed, others were tortured, and the Prophet himself was subjected to harm, he returned once again to a more secret approach because of the severity of the persecution.
At that point, the Prophet instructed some of his Companions to migrate with their belief.
The most suitable destination available to them at that time was Abyssinia.
The Prophet directed them there and said that in the land of Abyssinia there was a king under whom no one was oppressed. He instructed them to go to his land until Allah gave them relief and a way out from the situation in which they found themselves.
The king was named As-hamah, and he was the ruler of Abyssinia at that time.
A group of Muslims migrated there. It was not all of the Muslims, but some of them. Among those at the forefront were Uthman ibn Affan and his wife Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Prophet, as well as Jafar ibn Abi Talib, Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, Abdullah ibn Masud, and a number of other Companions.
They migrated in order to preserve their religion from the persecution of the polytheists.
This teaches us that a person may be required to flee in order to preserve his religion.
Allah says:
And Allah says:
The migration in this case was from one non-Muslim land to another non-Muslim land. However, at the very least, they were going to a land where they could practice their worship.
The Prophet therefore instructed them to leave Makkah and go to a non-Muslim land where they could openly practice their religion. And they did so.
Today, however, we sometimes see the opposite situation.
We see Muslims leaving Muslim countries for non-Muslim countries. They go to Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and other places.
The question is: are they fleeing for the sake of their religion, or are they seeking worldly life?
First, such people should not automatically be described as migrants in the religious sense. Call them travelers, people who have departed, or whatever other expression you wish, because migration is a religious term.
Migration, in its religious sense, means leaving a land of disbelief for a land of Islam.
Therefore, this blessed religious term should not simply be applied to travelling from a Muslim country to a non-Muslim country.
If someone leaves a Muslim country for a non-Muslim country because he is genuinely fleeing for his religion, fearing for his honor, his wealth, or his life because of persecution, killing, or some other serious danger, then it is permissible for him to flee and leave that country, even if it is regarded as a Muslim country, when danger has become imminent.
But if he leaves because the climate is more pleasant, the salaries are higher, the system is more convenient, living conditions are easier, or modern technology is more advanced, then this is not permissible.
It is not permissible for a person to leave a Muslim country for a non-Muslim country merely for these reasons.
If a person has left for the sake of his religion, or for some other reason, then whenever returning becomes possible, he should return, even if this means giving up some of the luxuries of worldly life.
I am not referring here to people who are citizens of these countries. An American Muslim, an Australian Muslim, a Brazilian Muslim, a Hungarian Muslim, a Korean Muslim, or any other Muslim whose country is his homeland is not being told to leave his country.
Rather, such people should call others to Allah.
The circumstances today are also different from the past. A person cannot simply go wherever he wishes and live there. There are matters involving visas, residency, and other legal requirements.
The point is that a Muslim living as a Muslim in a non-Muslim country faces many risks. There are risks to his religion. His religious commitment may weaken or even disappear. There is also the matter of loyalty and disavowal, known in Islamic terminology as al-wala' wal-bara'.
There is also the danger of neglecting those whom he is responsible for. The Prophet said: "Each of you is a shepherd, and each of you is responsible for his flock."
A person may end up losing his children, whether sons or daughters, in such environments.
He may gradually become careless about many sins because they have become normal around him. Many Muslims in such countries may abandon their prayers, or at least become careless about them. The point is that migration can be something required, but a Muslim must understand where he is placing his feet when he makes such a decision.
After the Muslims migrated to Abyssinia, a very strange incident took place.
When the Prophet was given Surah al-Najm, this Meccan chapter of the Quran, Abdullah ibn Masud reported that it was the first chapter in which there was a prostration of recitation.
He said that the Messenger of Allah prostrated, and those behind him prostrated as well, except for one man whom he saw take a handful of dust and prostrate upon it. He later saw that man killed as a disbeliever. That man was Umayyah ibn Khalaf.
There is another narration stating that when the Prophet prostrated, the Muslims, the polytheists, and even the jinn all prostrated, except for one man.
It is commonly said that this was Umayyah ibn Khalaf, while another view identifies the man as Utbah ibn Rabiah.
Regardless of who did not prostrate, the important point is that the Prophet prostrated, the Muslims followed him, and the polytheists also prostrated. The polytheists prostrated with the Prophet. This was extremely unusual.
Some people therefore thought that Quraysh had accepted Islam. They prostrated before Allah behind the Messenger of Allah, so some people assumed that they had become Muslims.
News reached the Muslims in Abyssinia that Quraysh had accepted Islam. It was a rumour.
The rumor spread rapidly because it was something the Muslims in Abyssinia wanted to be true. They wished that Quraysh would accept Islam so that they could return to their families and live in their homeland.
The rumor therefore spread like a fire through dry grass, as the expression goes. The migrants returned from Abyssinia to Makkah, believing that all of Quraysh had accepted Islam and entered the religion of Allah.
We are talking about a rumor that spread in that time. What, then, about rumors in our own time?
Today, a rumor can travel from east to west in a matter of moments through social media.
The Muslim therefore has to be extremely cautious about such rumors.
He should not simply follow them or become swept along with them. Rather, he must verify what he hears.
Allah says:
And Allah says:
Verification is therefore required. A person should not allow himself to be carried away by rumors.
Unfortunately, there is another story that some people have embraced, narrated, embellished, and spread among others. This story became known as the story of al-Gharaniq (the exalted cranes).
The essence of this story is that when Surah al-Najm was revealed and the Prophet recited it, he reached the verses:
Those who narrate the false story claim that the Prophet then supposedly said words meaning:
"Those are the exalted cranes, and their intercession is hoped for."
They claim that the Prophet then prostrated and that the polytheists prostrated with him.
According to this story, the polytheists supposedly prostrated because the Prophet had praised their idols: al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat. This is strange indeed.
The story claims that the Prophet praised these idols and that the words somehow came from his tongue unintentionally. Alternatively, they claim that Satan placed these words upon his tongue and that the Prophet thought they were revelation brought by Gabriel.
They then claim that the people of Makkah heard these words, were pleased by them, and prostrated with the Prophet.
They further claim that the matter became extremely difficult for the Messenger of Allah. How could such words have come from him? How could Satan have placed such words upon his tongue?
They then claim that Allah revealed:
This is what they claim. But this story is false.
It is false in its chain of transmission, false in its content, and false according to reason. It is not authentic.
The scholars of the people of the Sunnah and the community (Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamaah) rejected this story and explained its invalidity. I mention it because some people continue to spread it, narrate it, and claim that it actually happened.
First, this story contradicts what is definitively established concerning the protection of the Prophet from error in conveying the revelation.
It is impossible to attribute to the Prophet the statement that these idols were worthy of praise. To praise al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat in the manner claimed by this story would be an act of disbelief. The story also claims that Satan was able to overpower the Prophet and place words upon his tongue that he did not intend.
This is false. Satan does not have such authority over the Prophets. Nor could the Prophet confuse the speech of Gabriel with the speech of Satan. Furthermore, the story was not transmitted through the principal authoritative collections in the way authentic reports are transmitted.
It is not found in the two authentic collections, known as the Two Sahihs (al-Sahihayn), nor in the four major Sunan collections, nor in the Musnad of Ahmad, nor in the authentic collection of Ibn Khuzaymah, nor in the authentic collection of Ibn Hibban.
The majority of scholars therefore rejected the story and judged it to be false.
Al-Qadi Iyad said that this report was not transmitted by any recognized authority of authenticity, nor narrated by a trustworthy person with a sound, connected chain. Rather, he said that commentators and historians who were attracted to unusual reports became preoccupied with it.
Al-Bayhaqi said that the story was not established through transmission.
Ibn Hazm said that the report containing the supposed statement about the exalted cranes and their hoped-for intercession was fabricated, because it had never been authentically transmitted.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Khuzaymah, one of the leading scholars, was asked about this story and said that it was an invention of heretics.
al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote a specific work refuting the story, entitled Nasb al-Majaniq Against the Story of al-Gharaniq. He stated that the report was not authentic and was instead false and fabricated.
The scholar Ahmad Shakir likewise described the story as false and rejected.
Thus, the scholars judged the story to be invalid.
Another indication of its falsity is the authentic narration found in the two Sahih collections, as well as the report of Abdullah ibn Masud that we mentioned earlier.
The Prophet recited the whole of Surah al-Najm and then prostrated, and the polytheists prostrated with him.
There is no mention whatsoever in this authentic narration of the alleged statement about the exalted cranes.
The false story therefore contradicts what is authentically transmitted from Abdullah ibn Masud.
It also contradicts the clear verses of the Quran because it gives Satan authority over the Prophet and, in effect, over the revelation itself.
But Allah says:
This is an explicit statement from Allah that Satan has no such authority over the believers.
Allah also says:
And Allah says:
Allah also describes His Prophet:
All of this refutes the story.
When we look at the actual sequence of the verses in Surah al-Najm, it does not make sense to claim that the Prophet praised these idols.
The verses say:
"Have you considered al-Lat and al-Uzza, and Manat, the third, the other? Do you have the male child and He the female? That, then, is an unjust division. They are nothing but names you have named, you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority."
The entire passage condemns these idols and those who worshipped them instead of Allah. How could the Prophet suddenly have praised them in the middle of this passage? Furthermore, those who tell the false story say that the Prophet recited the two verses concerning al-Lat and al-Uzza and then supposedly uttered the statement about the exalted cranes.
But these are verses 19 and 20 of Surah al-Najm, whereas the prostration occurs at the very end of the chapter, which contains 62 verses. There is no such statement in the Quran between these verses and the prostration at the end. This is another indication that the story is false and unestablished.
Someone may then ask:
If the story is false, why did the polytheists prostrate?
The answer is that they did not prostrate because the Prophet had praised their gods.
Rather, they prostrated out of fear of Allah. This was particularly connected to the powerful warnings at the end of this blessed chapter.
Allah says:
These are warnings from Allah.
They created fear and awe in the hearts of those who heard them. The Arabs were deeply affected by powerful and eloquent speech. They were particularly affected when they heard the verses of the Book of Allah.
We have already mentioned the accounts concerning al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, Utbah ibn Rabiah, and others who listened to the Quran and were struck by its extraordinary beauty. One of them reportedly said, in meaning, "What is this beautiful speech? This is not the speech of human beings." The Quran had an extraordinary effect upon those who heard it.
That is why the polytheists could prostrate when the Prophet prostrated. They were overwhelmed by the majesty, warning, and power of the verses. The explanation is therefore not that the Prophet praised their idols.
Rather, they heard the Quran, were deeply affected by it, and prostrated before Allah.
