Part Two
Suddenly, all at once, in one of the narrow alleys of Makkah, he saw a large crowd in a corner who had tied themselves into a knot. He delivered himself there: a man alone, with an enlightened face, with a look which awakened the depths of his soul, an open and calm brow, middle-size stature, an aggressive shape, and, at the same time, inspiring kindness and affection, with a manly, hoarse voice, decisive and certain and, at the same time, sweet and full of tenderness, with profound words, a pleasing tone and more beautiful than poetry, full of fear and hope. Anis stood before him. He did not know whether to listen to his words, to give his heart to his charisma, or to simply observe all of the beauty and kind ness of his stature, look, behavior and words?He was still in a state of bewilderment, caused by seeing this man, when a group came, creating an uproar. Without listening to his words and answering him, they generated a flood of abuses and repeated, pre-fabricated insults, upon his head and face; and, the ignorance of the unbiased, abased people who had nothing so that they would lose it in 'the illumination of the message' and 'the revolution of the mission', who were themselves condemned by the ruling system and sacrifices of the status quo, had made them into toys of tyranny and jailers of their own prisons, the popular masses, with ugly enthusiasm and sedition, shouted out that which the biased had placed in their mouths.
They pushed the 'lonely Messenger' away with anger or rage or they withdrew from him with abuse and ridicule and left him alone. As he had the tranquility of the tranquility of heaven and the poise of patience, like the patience and poise of a mountain (for he had come down from Hira and had brought a message from heaven), the blows of anger and the darknesses of ignorance had no effect, left no scratch of anger upon his face, which overflowed with tenderness and affection. He would hurriedly go to another place and, amidst another group, his words would begin again, and, once again, not having been heard, not having been understood, abuses and accusations, and again, insults and ridicule, and he, again, to other places and, again, the beginning of his words!
He wandered through all areas of the city, in the street and bazaar, a place of gathering and mosque; he would go everywhere looking for people.
He would stand along the way of the people and, without thinking about their answers, would give them fear, would give them glad tidings, warning them of a danger, showing them the way to salvation, for he had a message, for he had a mission, that God, 'the Friend of the honorable' and 'Enemy of the arrogant' had cried out to him, "O thou wrapped up (in a mantle)! Arise and deliver thy 7warning." (74:1-2); warn people who slumber in the tranquility of ignorance and security of tyranny and who, by shepherding the wolf, graze poverty and humiliation! O appointed shepherd!
Release the sheep of the Qararit desert, for in the city of God, human beings are made into being sheep-like! The God of Abraham made all of his angels prostrate themselves before the feet of Adam, and now, in the house of Abraham, the children of Adam are made to prostrate upon the earth, before the feet of Iblis's fossils which are the protectors of clans and classes.
In spite of the storm of insult, conspiracy, threat and ridicule which the despicable aristocrats raised with their dishonorable and foolish allies to silence him, make him 'not speak', he spoke, saying, "God of the deprived," had said, "Say!" Say, "We Willed to be gracious to those that were deprived upon the earth, and to make them leaders and to make them the heirs. "(28:3) Anis looked at the man, followed him, listened to his words and thought about his existence, a perplexed and wonderous existence, but the wonders of the very being of the man, the gravity of his presence, the charisma of his behavior and his beauty so fascinated and captivated him that he became more of a spectator of the man than his listener:
All of that kindness in all of these difficulties; all of that beauty in all of that stability; all of that serenity in all of that restlessness; all of that simplicity in all of that complexity; all of that servitude in all of that rebellion all of that ardency in all of that anguish; all of that power in all of that weakness; all of that shame in all of that boldness; all of that tranquility in all of that excitement; all of that patience in all of that impatience; all of that humility in all of that awe; all of that love, inspiration, emotions, finesse and ghazels of feelings and the heart in all of that sagacity, logic, vigilance, seriousness, epics and intellect, and finally, [with] all of that 'to be heavenly' and [with] all of this 'to appear earthly'; all of that worship of God and, head to foot, the enflamed of God, and all of this thinking about people and complete occupation with them and what can I say? All of this aggressiveness and certainty and all of this ... and alone.
A man, this miracle, who threw such a hue and cry into Anis so that he did not hear his words, or he heard, but the wonder of his words and the miracle of his tone caused such a state of wonder to appear in him, for he was hearing the Words of God for the first time, that he was unable to understand their meaning; Anisthe brother of Jundab, a young bedouin, 'did not know' what the man was saying, but through his strong instincts, through the clear, primordial nature of a 'bedouin spirit', 'a primordial person' in whom 'logic' had not as yet replaced 'conscience', he found that the man is an 'event'. He realized, through his senses, that these words have come from another world; he did not understand the truth; he did not comprehend the meaning of the words; he did not come to know the man; but he smelled the perfume of revelation, tasted the taste of the truth and sensed the indescribable warmth of faith.
And Abu Dharr, resdess in the desert, anxiously awaiting the road from Makkah. "Anis, my brother, did you see him? Did you hear his words? What was he saying? Who was he?" "He was a man alone. His tribe distressed him and showed animosity but, patient and kind; whenever a crowd rejected him or they left him with abuse and ridicule, he would move towards another group and he would again begin to speak." "Tell me, Anis! Tell me what he said. What did he invite people to?" "I swear by God, however much I tried to understand what he was saying, I did not understand, but his words were like nectar which ran through my soul!" Abu Dharr, in searching for the message, did not have scholarly curiosity or the diversion of an intellectual. He was restless and thirsty and Anis had not brought even one drop of water from that spring for him. He hurriedly arose, and, without sitting and reflecting for a moment on the whys and wherefores of the journey and its outcome, he undertook the long way from the Ghifar land to Makkah. Throughout the way, the traveler, the journey, the route of the journey and the final station, were all 'him'.
He was going and faith was coming. Yea. Faith comes in this way. Then he reached Makkah. A man from the Ghifar tribe, amidst the Quraysh caravan leaders and capitalists! and searching for a man, even the mentioning of the name of whom is a crime in this city. He searched the whole day through the valleys of Makkah, the bazaar and the Masjid al-Haram. He found nothing. He went to sleep that night in the Masjid al-Hararn, alone and hungry, when 'Ali, who, every night before going home, would come to the mosque and circumambulate [in accordance with the traditions of Abraham] and then go to his home, saw him alone, asleep upon the dust.
"You appear to be a stranger! " He took him to his home and, without exchanging any other words, Abu Dharr, slept there. What design does destiny project! This house, this is the house of the Prophet, because 'Ali, at this time, is a young boy, who lives in the Prophet's house. The first events in this journey which determine Abu Dharr's fate and he, for the first time, comes from the wilderness to Islam, are these: the first person who spoke to him in Makkah is 'Ali; the first house in which he sleeps is the house of Muhammad; the first person who takes him from his unfamiliarity and his solitude in the city to the house of the Prophet is again 'Ali.
And these first encounters and first events which give form to the total life of Abu Dharr and remain with his total being until his death.
And the next morning, in search of Muhammad, he leaves Muhammad's house.
The day, without results, becomes night and, at night, again 'Ali, who comes for the circumambulation, takes him home and, again, the next morning and the next night and this timeon the third night, 'Ali adds a word to his short and repeated question of each night, "Has the time not come for you to give your name and say why you have come to this city?" Abu Dharr cautiously tells 'Ali his secret, "I have heard that in this city, a man has appeared and ..." A ray of a smile, from ardor and happiness, alights upon the face of young 'Ali. In a tone full of kindness and familiarity, he speaks to him about Muhammad. He arranges with him, "Tonight I will take you to his hiding place. I will move ahead. You follow at a distance. If I see a spy, I will move towards the wall and I will bend down over my shoes as if I am tying them. You realize what's going on and, without paying any attention to me, pass by and continue on your way. When the danger is over, I will catch up with you." These are the difficult days of the Prophet. The town is completely threats and danger. The enemy, one front, and friends, only three people! and tonight, Islam will find the fourth Muslim.
Muhammad is in the home of Arqam ibn Abi Arqam, on the Safa hill, several steps from Masa'. In the fearful darkness of night, the young son of Abi Talib, in the front, and the son of Junadah Ghifari, behind him, they climb Safa, towards Muhammad. This sight seems to be like a beautiful scene that embodies their destiny, a fate which will soon begin. Step by step, he grows closer and inflammation, breath by breath, more restless; faith and certainty have conquered him. He will not go until he sees the man who claims to be a Prophet, knows him and tests him. He has an appoint ment to see his heart's beloved and his faith's desire. Now he is a few steps from the home of Arqam.
What difficult moments! Bearing the first moments of the visit is grave.
Love had captured Jundab. The son of Junadah was filled with 'him'. There is more Muhammad in him than himself. The son of Junadah is no more than a far distant and forgotten memory in the mind of Jundab.
His heart has been placed in the magnetic field of a powerful force. Every moment a familiar aroma quickens his sense of smell, and at this very moment, he senses the gravity of Muhammad's existence with all of his being. His presence fills the area around Safa. Jundab knows who Muhammad is. He knows what he is saying but...what is he like? His face? His form? His way of speaking? His existence? How can he look at him? How can he speak to him? What can he say to him? What will be? What will happen?
"Salam 'alayk." "Alayka salam wa rahmatullah." And these are the first greetings offered in Islam.
We do not know how long this visit took. Even if history had told us, we would not know, for at these moments, time does not work. That which we know is that the son of Junadah descended into the house of Arqam and was lost there. No one knows where he went. He never left the house of Arqam. Jundab ibn Junadah left and suddenly, beside the Ka'bah, upon the summit of Safa, from the hiding place of revelation, the morning horizon of Islam, a visage arose, kindled by the dawn, it stopped for a moment.
With two eyes which were filled with the flame of the fire of the desert, he hurriedly turned upon the mountainous walls of the valley of Makkah and held his look upon the idols of the Ka'bah.
Part Three
These stupid statues have all guaranteed the satanic seeking of exclusivenesses for their 'carver-worshippers'. It is the first time that Abu Dharr sees like this and, with wonder and anger, asks himself, "What are these three hundred and some multitheistic idols doing in the mono theistic house of Abraham?" He hurriedly descends from Safa, a migrant, alone, enflamed and determined.It seemed as if he was Muhammad who was enflamed that night arising from the first flame of revelation, leaving the cave, descending from Hira; or he was like a stone, which an earthquake grinds out of a mountain, falling upon the deep valley of Makkah, upon the heads of multitheism, hypocrisy, humiliation and sleep.
Islam is still hidden in the house of Arqam. This house is the whole world of Islarn and the ummah, with the coming of Abu Dharr, became four persons.
The condition of dissimulation, taqiyah,* rules the struggle. He has been requested to leave Makkah, without hesitation, to return to the Ghifar and to await the command. But the bony breast of this 'child of the wilderness' is weaker than to be able to hide such a fire within himself. Abu Dharr, whose tall, thin body is a minaret for the temple of his faith, who is nothing other than the throat of a cry, and his shape, with his burning heart and in submission to the expansive desert, seemingly full of rebellion, was suddenly congealed and became Abu Dharr, is not capable of dissimulation; is rebellion itself, such a situation requires ability and he is unable. "God charges no soul save to its capacity." (2:286) In front of the Ka'bah, face to face with frightful idols, beside the Dar al-Naduh, the Quraysh senate, he stands and shouts out the cry of monotheism; he announces his belief in the mission of Muhammad; he calls the idols 'mute stones which thef themselves had carved'.
And this was the first cry which Islam brought; the first time that a Muslim rebelled against multitheism. The answer of multitheism was clear, death! a death which will be a lesson for others. This first throat of a cry must be cut off. Without hesitation, they fell upon him and pounded his head, face, breast and sides in fury until they cut off his 'kufr-like' cries. 'Abbas came. The uncle of the Prophet, who was a usury collector and of the same class as the Quraysh aristocrats and multitheistic capitalists, frightened them saying, "This man is from the Ghifar. If you kill him, the Ghifar swords will take out their revenge against your caravans!" They must decide between their religion and their world, deity or goods? A qiblah of love or caravan of money. Which?
They pulled back without hesitation. Abu Dharr, like a statue, polluted with blood and broken, in the center of a circle of a crowd which, frightened, look at their only captive, with difficulty, tries to arise.
The diameter of the circle grows larger. He arises. He supports himself on his own two feet. The crowd becomes more dense; it is as if they seek refuge in each other. It is here that coercion fears faith. He is one visage and they are visageless, personality-less, all alone and all without identity, an abundance of herds and confronting them, a human being, a person; a person who faith gave meaning, substance, ideals, orientatation, attack and a wonderful, miracle-like, defeatless power which martyrdom grants to a believer.
He took off. He pulled himself to the Zamzam well. He washed his injuries.
He cleansed away his b'lood. On the morrow he returned to the scene and once again he went to the edge of death. 'Abbas came and introduced him, "He is from the Ghifar tribe ..." and again on the morrow. Until the Prophet, not this time to preserve the life of Abu Dharr, but with a command, moved this restless rebel from the city of suffocation and danger and assigned him the task of inviting the Ghifar tribe [to Islam]. Abu Dharr brought his family and, little by little, all of his tribe to Islam. He was with the Ghifar when the Muslims passed through the difficulties of the srruggle in Makkah, when they undertook the migration and, when in Madinah, they moved from the stage of individualization to the stage of founding a social system and, as a consequence, wars began.
It is here that Abu Dharr senses that he should be on the scene, goes to Madinah and there, as he has no place or work, he makes the Prophet's mosque his home, which at that time was the home of the people and he joins the Saffah Companions. He sacrifices living for ideology. In serving the movement, in times of peace, thought, knowledge and prayer and, in times of war, wars. Islam, under the leadership of the Prophet, saturates all of the human needs and social desires of Abu Dharr; Islam, based in monotheism, opened the gate of struggle, one side of which is God, equality, religion, bread, love and power, and, on the other side, the arrogant, despotic tyrant, discrimination, kufr and hunger, and, its religion which requires weakness and disgrace. Islam, for the first time, put an end to the fairy-tale of the plundering oppressors who had made the slogan of 'to want either this world or the next', the faith of the people, so that 'the next world' would be for the people and 'this world' for themselves, and, in this way, they grant divine sanctity to poverty.
In this inhuman perception, Islam brought a real Revolution into being which said, "Poverty is kufr." "Whosoever does not have a livelihood, will not be saved." "Divine grace, great wealth [for society], goodnesses and virtue are part of material life and 'bread' is the infrastructure to worshipping God." "Poverty, humiliation and weakness, and with all of these, religion, spirituality and piety in one society?" It is a lie!
It is because of this that the Prophet of Abu Dharr is an armed Prophet; his monotheism is not a subjective, spiritual, individual philosophy. It is the inseparable support of unity of races, unity of classes and equity, every person according to his share and right, that is, the deterministic supra-structure of monotheism is not realized simply with the word; the sword must accompany the message.
It is because of this that Abu Dharr releases his material personal life, because a person who fights the hunger of others must accept his own hunger and that person can give liberty to his society who has passed through his own liberation, and calls for 'revolutionary devotion' which is Islamic austerity and the austerity of 'Ali, so that people would be provided with materiality and economic equallty, not a Christian or Buddha like Sufi austerity.
It was as this that this revolutionary religion, this 'both this world and the next', the religion of neither weakness nor monasticism nor deprivation nor alienation from nature and 'Last-Day-toxication' of human beings in nature, was a religion 'making the human being sacred in nature', 'vice gerent of God in the material world'! His leader, and before all others, his Prophet, was living in the mosque, the House of God-people: Muhammad, 'Ali, and the Saffah Companions: Salmans and Abu Dharrs.
And Abu Dharr himself could be found under a covered porch (saffah) in the corner of the mosque at the heighth of success; he had become one of the most intimate friends of the Holy Prophet. Whenever he was not in a group, the Prophet would ask him; whenever there was [a group], he would turn to him in the midst of speaking Under the leadership of the Prophet, in the Battle of Tabuk when the soldiers, with difficulty, must pass through the burning northern desert to reach the borders of [eastern] Rome, Abu Dharr fell behind. His skinny camel stopped He freed him under the rain of fire and set off alone! He found some water; he took it to give it to his 'friend' who was also, doubtlessly, suffering from thirst in such a desert The Prophet and the mujahids saw that an unclean point was moving forward in the depths of the fiery desert. Little by little they sensed that it is a human being! 'Who is it? Walking and in such a flaming desert, alone, at that?
The Prophet, with an ardency overflowing with desire, cried out, "Would that it be Abu Dharr!" An hour passed. It was Abu Dharr. When he reached the mujahids, he fell from thirst and exhaustion. "You are carrying water and you are thirsty, Abu Dharr?" [the Prophet asked] "I thought, in such a desert and, under such a sun, you ..." [Abu Dharr replied].
"May God bless Abu Dharr! He walks alone, dies alone and will be resurrected alone!" [the Prophet said].
