Chapter 71 : A List of "Firsts" in Islam
Someone in Islam was the First Man or the First Woman to do or to say something, and this made him or her a pioneer. Following is a list of some of the deeds which made their authors "pioneers." The list, of course, is not by any means exhaustive.(1). Hashim, the great-grandfather of Muhammad ibn Abdullah and Ali ibn Abi Talib,inaugurated the mercantile system of Hijaz, which, for those times, was a revolution in the economic life of Arabia. By doing so, he changed the Quraysh from shepherds into merchant princes.
Ibn Ishaq
"It is alleged that Hashim was the first to institute the two caravan journeys of Quraysh, summer and winter, and the first to provide tharid (broth) in Makkah."(2). Khadija bint Khuwayled, the wife of Muhammad Mustafa, was the first convert to Islam.
(3). The first male who bore witness that God was One, and Muhammad was His Messenger, was Ali ibn Abi Talib.
(4). The first meeting place in Islam was the house of Arqam bin Abil-Arqam in Makkah.
Betty Kelen
"Early Islam was a youth movement, which was at first thought of as a harmless club. There were in those days about 40 members, and they took to meeting in a large house on the outskirts of town belonging to a rich young man named Arqam of clan Makhzum. The house of Arqam is remembered by Muslims as Islam's first meeting place."(5). The Yasirs were the first "whole family" to accept Islam (outside the family of the Prophet himself). Yasir; his wife, Sumayya; and their son, Ammar; all three accepted Islam as soon as they heard the Call of the Messenger of God. Some people have claimed that it was Abu Bakr who was the head of the first "whole family" which accepted Islam. This claim lacks evidence. Abu Bakr's son, Abdur Rahman, was an idolater, and he fought against the Apostle of God in the battle of Badr. Abu Bakr's father, Abu Qahafa, was also an idolater who became a Muslim only after the conquest of Makkah in 630.
(6). The pagans in Makkah tortured Yasir and his wife, Sumayya, and their son, Ammar, day after day, for accepting Islam. All three of them were the first Muslims whom Muhammad Mustafa, the Messenger of God, gave the tidings that they would enter Heaven.
(7). Sumayya, the wife of Yasir, was the first Believer who became a Martyr in Islam.Her husband, Yasir, was the second Martyr in faith. Both of them were tortured to death by the pagans. Their son, Ammar, was also destined to win the crown of Martyrdom though he did so in the battle of Siffin in 657.They became, in this manner, a family of all Martyrs in Islam – a distinction which no one else has ever shared with them. God Himself picked them out for this great honor.
(8). The first man to read Qur’an out aloud in the Kaaba was Abdullah ibn Masood, the companion and friend of Muhammad.
Ibn Ishaq
"Yahya b. Urwa b. Zubayr told me as from his father that the first man to read Qur’an loudly in Makkah after the Apostle was Abdullah ibn Masood."(9). The first man to be killed in the precincts of the Kaaba was Al-Harith ibn Abi Hala, the nephew and adopted son of Khadija, the wife of Muhammad. When the latter proclaimed the unity of God in the Kaaba before an assembly of the idolaters, they subjected him to physical violence. Al-Harith ibn Abi Hala entered the fray to defend him. They stabbed him repeatedly, and he fell dead on the ground. He thus became the third Martyr in Islam.
(10). Ammar ibn Yasir was the first man in Islam to build a mosque. He built his mosque in Makkah itself.
Ibn Ishaq
"Sufyan ibn Uyayna mentioned on the authority of Zakariya from al-Shabi that the first man to build a mosque was Ammar ibn Yasir."(11). Mas'ab ibn Umayr was the first official in Islam. In 621, a group of the citizens of Yathrib (Medina) came to Makkah. They met the Prophet at Aqaba; they accepted Islam, and they requested him to send with them to Yathrib a teacher of Islam and Qur’an. The Prophet sent Mas'ab ibn Umayr, a cousin of his father, with them. This was the first time an official was chosen in Islam. Mas'ab ibn Umayr was the First Representative of Muhammad Mustafa, the Messenger of God, in any capacity.
(12). Abdullah, son of Abd al-As'ad, was the first man to migrate from Makkah to Yathrib (Medina) in 622.
(13). Bilal was the first "muezzin" of Islam. His voice rang out in Medina with the shout of Allah-o-Akbar (God is Great).
When Medina developed all the characteristics of a state, it also acquired a treasury, and Muhammad appointed Bilal its officer-in-charge. He was in-charge of the Bayt-ul-Mal of the State of Medina. This made him the First Treasurer of Islam. He made allocations of all funds. He was also responsible for distributing funds to the widows, orphans, the wayfarers and other poor people who had no means of supporting themselves.
(14). Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, the uncle of Muhammad and Ali, was the first military commander in Islam. The Apostle of God had sent him at the head of 30 Muhajireen to intercept a caravan of the Quraysh, led by Abu Jahl. But there was no action, and the expedition returned to Medina.
(15). The first governor of Medina was Saad ibn Ubada Ansari. In the second year of Hijra, the Apostle personally led an expedition to Waddan. During his absence, Saad ibn Ubada officiated as the ruler of Medina.
(16). The first military commander whose men were involved in bloodshed, was Abdullah ibn Jahash, a cousin of the Apostle. He led an expedition of seven men to Nakhla.
(17). The battle of Badr, fought in 624, was the first encounter, on the battlefield, between Islam and paganism. A pagan champion, Walid bin Utba, challenged the heroes of Islam to single combat. His challenge was taken up, on the side of Islam, by Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first male convert to Islam.
Ali killed Walid bin Utba after a few minutes of fencing. This was the overture of the long struggle between Islam and paganism. It was to end as it had begun, with the triumph of Islam over paganism, and Ali was the architect of that triumph.
(18). Obaidah ibn al-Harith ibn Abdul-Muttalib, was the first Muslim to be killed in battle. He was a cousin of Muhammad and Ali, and he was the first Martyr of the battle of Badr.
Zayd ibn Haritha was the first Muslim to be killed on foreign soil. In September 629, the Apostle sent him as the general of the army which was to engage the Romans in Syria. The two armies met in the battle of Mootah, and Zayd was killed in it.
(20). Akib ibn Usaid was the first governor of Makkah. It was the first permanent civil appointment made in Islam. Akib took charge of his duties as governor of Makkah in January 630.
Chapter 72 : The "Indispensability Equation" of Islam
The early Years of Islam were a Time of Stern Tests and grim trials for the Faithful. Every day brought for them new confrontations with, and new challenges from the polytheists, and merely existing in a hostile environment, was an unending struggle. The entire ministry of Muhammad as God's Last Messenger to this world, which spanned the last 23 years of his life, was overshadowed by this struggle.It was a titanic struggle. Only men and women of invincible faith, indomitable courage, and unflagging strength could have lived through its stresses and tensions. To grapple with it, therefore, Islam produced its own "titans." The "titans" of Islam were two individuals and two groups. The two individuals were Abu Talib ibn Abdul-Muttalib and his son, Ali; and the two groups were the Banu Hashim in Makkah, and the Ansar in Medina.
The "base of operations" of Abu Talib and the Banu Hashim was Makkah whereas the "theater" of the conflicts in which Ali and the Ansar were drawn, was Medina. Together, they made up what might be called the "indispensability equation" of Islam. Each of the four components of this "equation" was indispensable for the existence of Islam, and each of them was destined to play a very special role in its history.
The first component of this equation was Abu Talib. God charged him with the duty of protecting Muhammad and defending Islam. His house in Makkah was the cradle of Islam. Muhammad, the future Prophet, was born in his house. Later, the same house became, first the "school" of Muhammad, and then the "fortress" of Islam.
Abu Talib was a man of great prestige, resourcefulness and power but the problems he faced, as the defender of Islam, were of such magnitude that he could not have overcome them all by himself. He had, therefore, to enlist support. But who in Makkah would support him against the Quraysh except the members of his own clan – the Banu Hashim? He rallied them, and it was their collective support that guaranteed the existence and the survival of Islam in Makkah.
The clan of Banu Hashim was consistent and monolithic in its support of Muhammad and Islam. Its members dared three years of perils and privations as exiles in a mountain ravine but they did not forsake Muhammad. The polytheists were daunted and dismayed by the united and defiant front presented by the Banu Hashim to them, and to the rest of the world.
The day Abu Talib died, it appeared to Muhammad that the mighty bulwark of Islam had caved in. The death of Abu Talib did not, however, interrupt the tradition of protecting Muhammad and defending Islam that he had founded; it was carried on by his son, Ali, who was destined to distinguish himself even more than his illustrious father in service to Islam. His genius unfolded in Medina. He busted up the pagan monolith of Arabia. But just as the support of Banu Hashim was found to be indispensable for Islam in Makkah, the support of the Ansar was found to be indispensable for it in Medina. The Ansar rallied behind Muhammad in Medina just as the Banu Hashim had rallied behind him in Makkah.
Abu Talib and Ali, and the men and women of the Banu Hashim and the Ansar were extraordinary by the standards of their day as well as by our own. They took up every challenge to Islam, and they overcame ever crisis in its career. They alone protected and defended the principles, the honor and the heritage of Islam. The names of all these heroes are not known to history but each of them was indispensable for Islam. Each of them, man or woman, made up the "indispensability equation" of Islam. Without the contribution in services of each of them, the "equation" of Islam might not have "jelled" at all.
There were other Muslims also – the companions of the Prophet – who played roles of their own in varying degrees of importance in the history of Islam. Some of them played major roles and others played minor roles but no one among them played roles that were great enough to make them indispensable. Many of them distinguished themselves after the death of the Prophet but if they had died in his lifetime, they would not have even been heard of. In his lifetime, they were secondary and marginal characters who assumed individual reality and complexity only after the death of their master.
John Kenneth Galbraith, the American economist and diplomat, once isolated the journalistic malady he called "the build-up." The essence of the build-up, he said, is to recast a personage of average attributes into historic, indeed immortal image. This appears to have been done in the case of many of the Muhajireen. Most extravagant praise has been lavished on some of them, and in many cases, the praise has been attributed to the Prophet himself, and has thus been given the "status" of hadith (tradition of the Prophet). Actually, countless of these "hadith" or traditions are nothing more than fanciful embroideries of the fertile and fervent imagination of some admirer or admirers of the companions.
Examples of "hadith" glorifying some of the companions of the Prophet are legion but here it is possible to quote only one of them. One of the most famous "traditions" is the one called the "Hadith of Ashra Mubasharra." The Prophet is alleged to have given his personal assurance to ten of his principal companions that all of them would enter heaven. They were :
1. Abu Bakr
2. Umar
3. Uthman
4. Ali
5. Talha
6. Zubayr
7. Abdur Rahman bin Auf
8. Saad bin Abi Waqqas
9. Abu Obaida Aamir bin al-Jarrah
10. Saeed bin Zayd
The authenticity of this tradition is open to question on the following grounds :
(1). All these ten companions are Muhajireen and not one of them is an Ansari – a very curious omission indeed! Just as the Ansar had no share in the Saqifa government, now it would appear that they had no place in heaven either. It is truly fantastic that the Prophet could not find a single Ansari who was worthy of belonging to this group of ten. And yet, it were the Ansar who gave sanctuary to Islam and to the Muhajireen themselves.
Muhammad Mustafa was neither ungrateful nor forgetful. He could not have forgotten the hospitality shown by the Ansar to him. He had, in fact, accepted the hospitality of the Ansar with great pleasure. On the other hand, he appeared to have had many reservations in accepting any obligation from any of the Muhajireen, and he never did. If he was not ungrateful, and he was not, then this "tradition" cannot be genuine.
(2). Some of these citizens of paradise, when they were living on this earth, were fighting against each other, and were trying to kill each other. Two of them – Talha and Zubayr – were rousing the mob to kill an incumbent khalifa – Uthman – who was also a member of the same group. Later, both of them broke their solemn pledge of loyalty to another incumbent khalifa – Ali – and shed the blood of thousands of innocent Muslims. Ali had, in fact, tried to save the same Muslims from butchery. And yet, according to this tradition, the potential killers and the potential victims – both would enter heaven!
(3). Even among the Muhajireen, there were men who were more distinguished than some of these ten men but the Prophet didn't assure any of them that they would enter heaven. Mas'ab ibn Umayr, Abdullah ibn Masood, Bilal ibn Ribah, Zayd ibn Haritha, and his son, Usama, and Abdullah ibn Rawaha, were far more distinguished than Uthman, Abdur Rahman bin Auf, Obaidullah bin Aamir al-Jarrah, and Saeed bin Zayd, and yet the Prophet did not give them any assurance that they would enter heaven.
It is not known what was the standard for judging who would enter heaven, and who would be refused admission to it. If piety was the touchstone for admission to heaven, then among the companions – both Muhajireen and Ansar – there were many others who were more pious and more devout than some of these ten men. Five out of them were great capitalists. They were the pillars of the capitalist system of the Muslims.
There is nothing wrong in being a capitalist as such; but capitalism, especially in its undiluted form, was the symbol of an economic system against which Muhammad, the Messenger of God, had fought all his life. He fought against it because it rested upon the principle of ruthless and unconscionable exploitation of the poor. He found predatory capitalism nursed and protected by the powerful cartel of the Quraysh of Makkah. The cartel was entrenched, fortified and impregnable but through long and persistent effort he was, at last, able to demolish it.
Muhammad never identified himself with the guardians of the capitalist system. On the other hand, he identified himself with the poor. He often said: Alfaqru fakhri (Poverty is my pride). But after his death, the capitalist system was exhumed and was resurrected. The Electoral Committee which Umar had appointed to select a new khalifa, was a cartel of the (new) capitalists, reconstituted in Islamic times. It is true that he had made Ali one of the electors but the latter did not belong to the group. Actually, his relationship with this cartel was the same as that of Muhammad with the cartel of the Quraysh in Makkah.
Both cartels were exclusive. The cartel in Makkah excluded the non-Qurayshites and the poor from its membership; the cartel in Medina excluded the Ansar and the poor from its membership. Both cartels were run by the Qurayshites for the exclusive benefit of the Qurayshites.
The new capitalism was "sanctified" because of its connection with the principal companions of the Prophet, and very soon it rose into such a position of dominance in Dar-ul-Islam that it could not be dislodged again. When Ali made an attempt to dislodge it, its guardians challenged him, and Dar-ul-Islam erupted into civil war.
Soon Ali was assassinated, and after his assassination, predatory capitalism found itself free to swagger unchecked and unbridled over the landscape of Islam.
The Shia Muslims consider the "Ashra Mubasharra" a fake tradition because it does not jibe with reason, and still less with the ethos of Islam. They consider it a product of the malady called "the build-up." Its essence, they believe, was to recast common, garden-variety men into historic, indeed immortal image.
Chapter 73 : The Sacrifices of Muhammad for Islam
Great aims, to be achieved, call for great sacrifices, and success in making a reality out of them comes at high cost. The greater the aim, the higher is the price one has to pay to realize it. Man's struggle to free himself from the chains of slavery and tyranny is thousands of years old, and it has taken countless lives. The struggle goes on today as it did in the past, and its story is endless because the struggle itself is endless.Three of the most important landmarks in man's struggle for freedom are the French Revolution of 1789, the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the Chinese Revolution of 1949. They are also three of the most momentous events in world history. Tides of blood rose in the wake of these revolutions, and as they receded, they carried away the old systems and symbols of oppression and exploitation with them. These revolutions generated new forces which are, even today, churning the whole world. They were the price man had to pay to buy his political and economic freedom.
(The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Empire collapsed from within, after 73years – in 1990. They did not prove to be viable.)
Many centuries earlier, i.e., in the seventh century, another revolution had changed the course of history. It was one of the greatest revolutions of all time but the remarkable thing about it was that it was peaceful. It did not whip up any tides of blood, and in fact, ought to be called a "bloodless" revolution. It was a message of peace. Peace was its insignia, and peace or Islam was its name.
Though Islam upheld peace in the world, it did not become viable without a struggle. It was, in fact, locked up, for 23 years, in a sanguinary struggle for survival, and just like the other great movements of emancipation, it also called for sacrifice. It is remarkable that Muhammad – the Messenger of God and the Prophet of Islam – did not imitate other leaders who push their followers into the flames of war in the name of "sacrifice" for an ideal. He himself was the first one to offer sacrifices for Islam.
Webster's definition of a sacrifice is to suffer loss for an ideal. Parting with one's most highly treasured possessions for the sake of an ideal, constitutes sacrifice. Most of the apostles and prophets lived lives of sacrifice. Abraham offered his son, Ismael, as a sacrifice; and John the Baptist, offered his own life as a sacrifice. Ismael might have been killed but was replaced just in time by an ibex. John the Baptist, however, was executed, and his head was presented to a wanton to soothe her vanity. He is one of the greatest martyrs of all time.
These are two out of many examples of sacrifice that called for great courage and great faith. But both from the qualitative and quantitative points of view, the sacrifices which Muhammad offered for Islam, remain unparalleled in history.
A distinction must be made here between material sacrifices and the sacrifices of life. Muhammad made both. He sacrificed all his personal comforts, and all his material possessions for the sake of Islam. This, of course, everyone knows. What is perhaps not so well-known, is the fact that some of his nearest and dearest kinsfolk were killed in the defense of Islam. The relatives of Muhammad who made their lives an oblation for Islam, are as follows :
1. Al-Harith ibn Abi Hala, adopted son, and nephew of Khadija. He was killed in Makkah.
2. Obaida ibn al-Harith ibn Abdul-Muttalib, cousin. He was killed in the battle of Badr.
3. Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, uncle. He was killed in the battle of Uhud.
4. Mas'ab ibn Umayr, uncle. He was killed in the battle of Uhud.
5. Abdullah ibn Jahash, cousin. He was killed in Uhud.
6. Zayd ibn Haritha, adopted son and friend. He was killed in the battle of Mootah.
7.Jaafer Tayyar ibn Abi Talib, cousin. He was killed in the battle of Mootah.
8.Aymen ibn Ubayd, foster-brother. He was killed in the battle of Hunayn.
This is a roster of some of the most distinguished names in all Islam, and it includes two uncles, three cousins, two adopted sons, and one foster-brother of Muhammad. It was through such sacrifices that he made Islam invulnerable and indestructible.
Muhammad never made any attempt to be protective to his own loved ones. It were, in fact, his loved ones who were the foremost in taking up the challenge of an enemy. There was no one he loved more than Ali, and yet, the position of the greatest danger in every confrontation with the pagans – in Makkah or in Medina – was invariably reserved for him.
The greatest sacrifices for Islam were all made by Muhammad and Ali.
On the other hand, Abu Bakr and Umar did not make any sacrifice. As for sacrifice for Islam is concerned, they have nothing to show. Whenever a challenge came from the pagans, as it did in the battles of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq, they (Abu Bakr and Umar), did not accept it; and no member of their families was killed in the defense of Islam at any time. The only relative that Umar ever lost in the struggle of Islam and paganism, was his maternal uncle, Abu Jahl, who was killed in the battle of Badr.
The crown of martyrdom is the greatest honor and the greatest glory that Islam can bestow upon a Muslim in this world. The loved ones of Muhammad and Ali won eight of them in the lifetime of the former, and they were destined to win many more after his death. May God bless them all.