As’hab
Alokhdood
(The people of the Groove)
The Prophet’s Hadith
Hadith Explanation
Suhaib, the narrator of this Hadith said that
the prophet, peace and prayers be upon him said “There was a king who had a magician.
One day this magician went to the king and said to him: “I have grown old, so
if you send me a boy I will teach him magic”. The king sent him a boy to be
taught magic. On the boy’s way to the magician, there lived a monk. The boy
always used to sit with him and listen to his speeches. The magician
occasionally beat the boy because he was late for his studies. When the boy
complained to the monk, the monk told him “If you fear the magician, tell him
you were held up by your family and if you fear your family tell them you were
held up by the magician”
When the boy was walking one day, he saw a
giant animal that frightened the people. He told himself “Today I might know
who’s better, the magician or the monk”. So he took a stone and said “O Allah
if this monk is more preferable to you than the magician kill this animal, so
people could live in peace”. Then he threw the stone at the giant animal and
killed it. The people were very happy and returned to their normal behavior.
The boy went to the monk and told him what had happened. The monk said to the
boy: “Well my boy! Today you are better than me and one day you will experience
calamities, and when that happens don’t tell anybody about me."
The boy had great experience in treating the
blind and leprous people, and he could treat many other diseases. He became
well known and so popular that one of the visitors of the king who had become
blind heard about the boy and his miracles.
This blind man went to the boy and said to him: “I have
great presents with me, and if you can restore my sight, I’ll give you these
presents”. The boy said to the blind man “I am not healing anyone, but Allah is
the one who heals, and if you believe in Allah, I’ll pray to him, and Allah will
restore your sight”. The man believed and Allah healed him. After his recovery
he went to the king and sat with him. The king asked him “who restored your
sight?” The man answered “My Lord”. The king asked the man “Do you have a Lord
other than me?” The man answered “Allah is the only Lord of you and me”. The
king tortured that man severely until he guided him to the boy’s place. The boy
stood in the king’s presence who asked him “Oh, my boy, you are so experienced
in your magic that you could heal blind people and the leprous, and you could do
such magic deeds!”. The boy answered him “I am not healing anyone but Allah is
the one who heals.”. The king tortured him severely until he told him about the
monk who was then brought up and told to apostatize but he refused, so they put
a saw on the middle of his head and cut him until he split into two pieces.
Then they brought up the boy and asked him to apostatize,
but he refused. So the king gave him to some of his soldiers and told them to
take him up to a certain mountain and if he doesn’t apostatize, to throw him
down from the top of the mountain. They took him up to the top of the mountain
and he said “O Lord protect me from them, anyway you please”. So the mountain
shook and the soldiers fell down. Then the boy walked back to the king. The king
then asked him what happened to your friends. The boy said Allah saved me and
protected me from them, then the king gave him up to his soldiers again and told
them to take him in a boat to the middle of the sea and if he doesn’t
apostatize, to throw him out of the boat. They took him and he said “O Lord
protect me from them, anyway you please”. So, the boat capsized and the soldiers
drowned. Then he walked back to the king and the king asked him what happened to
the soldiers? The boy said Allah saved me and protected me from them. Then he
directed his speech to the king and said to him “you can’t kill me unless you do
what I am ordering you.” The king asked the boy “what’s that order?”
The boy said to the king “call all the people to an open
place, and crucify me on a trunk of a tree and take an arrow from my quiver and
say : “in the name of Allah the Lord of the boy” and then shoot the arrow at me
and if you do that you can kill me”. The king gathered a great number of people
in an open place, and crucified the boy on a trunk of a tree and took an arrow
from his quiver and said :“in the name of Allah the Lord of the boy” then shot
the arrow which hit the boy’s cheek, then he died.
Consequently the people believed in Allah and said “We
believe in Allah the Lord of the boy”. They said this three times. Some people
went to the king and warned him about the increase in the number of the
believers in Allah. As soon as he heard this he ordered a huge ditch to be dug
and set fire to it. He gave his directions to his soldiers and said to them
“Tell the people to abandon belief in Allah and if they refuse, throw them into
the ditch”. They executed his orders. One day a woman and her child were about
to be thrown in the ditch. The woman was frightened, when her son said to her
“Mother, be patient because you are on the right way”.
That is the end of the Hadith narrated by Suhaib the
companion of the prophet.
The prophet said: “There
was a king who had a magician”, When he said that; he didn’t mention a
particular time or place. He wanted to tell an abstract story to be useful
everywhere, regardless of its circumstances or conditions. The abstraction of
this story was meant to prove its importance as a continuous experience until
the end of the world, and even to the Day of Judgment.
The prophet (prayer and peace be upon him) said to his
companions: “this was before you.” The prophet meant to tell them about
something that happened in the past, but is connected with the present. He
wanted to clarify that what was happening in his time is the real extension to
the past. That is the first meaning to be taken out.
The second meaning was clearly noticed when he said, “There
was a king”. Everyone understands well that there is a kind of confrontation
between the unbelieving authority and those who believe in Allah. This
confrontation was clearly seen in the prophet Moses’ call as Allah says in the
Holy Qur’an to Moses:
“Go thou unto Pharaoh – Lo! He hath rebelled”
This message was not mainly directed to the
Pharos, but it was directed to the Israelites. All Moses wanted was to get the
Israelites out of Egypt as the Qur’an says in Surat El araaf:
“Let the children of Israel go with me”
In spite of this
confrontation was with Pharaoh because he was domineering the Israelites to whom
the message was directed. It was a confrontation based on faith related to
Da’wah (invitation to Allah) and its cause, confirming the reality of the
message. Thus Moses stated right in his da’wah to the Israelites when he
confronted Pharaoh and his people.
So it is well known that there is enmity between believers
in Allah and disbelievers. The right message and call to Allah is directed to
both governors and the governed. If this call is merely directed to the
governed, it will be subjected by those who unjustly govern. And if it is
directed to the governors, it will be one mean of this unjust government.
For this reason prophet Mohammed (prayers and peace be upon
him) intended to call all people openly. He sent messages to kings calling them
to Islam, despite the fact that he was still weak and unprotected. His aim was
to prove to all people that his call was general without considering difference
in power and potentials between him and those kings. Some of those kings could
understand the inner meaning of the prophet (prayers and peace be upon him)
which was calling him to Islam. Hercules was one of those who could understand,
when he received the message of the prophet (prayers and peace be upon him)
which was calling him to Islam. Hercules discussed this matter with Abu Soufian.
A wonderful dialogue passed between the two men which ended in this statement by
Hercules “By Allah it is true what you say, he will govern this land and if I know that I can reach
him, I would yearn to meet him and if I meet him I will wash his feet.”
Hercules continued his understanding of the right call of
the prophet and advised his people saying “O Romans! If you want to strengthen your sovereignty,
support this prophet”.
Some other kings couldn’t understand the inner meaning of
the prophet’s message. Kissra- Persia’s king – was one of those. He destroyed the
prophet’s message. He considered it a great audacity from the prophet to send
him a message calling him to Islam. After destroying the message, the prophet
prayed to Allah that he would destroy Kissra’s kingdom totally.
When the prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) prayed to
Allah to destroy Kissra’s kingdom we see how he verily believed that he had
every right to send these messages, and believed that these messages were
denoting and clarifying his call. This call was no less important than Kissra’s
kingdom, and if this message is destroyed, Kissra’s kingdom must be destroyed
too.
The tribe of Quraish in Mecca could not understand the
prophet’s call (prayers and peace be upon him). They thought that the prophet
was seeking sovereignty. They proposed to make him a leader. They told him “If
you want to be a master, we will give you this opportunity”. The prophet
(prayers and peace be upon him) refused this proposal. Sovereignty is a
necessity to the call, but it must not be given as a bonus from anyone, and it
must not be achieved by cheap bargaining. It must be gained by Jihad and
continuous work to be legal. Not a mere personal sovereignty without any
capabilities.
We have a living example in Nagashi, the king of Abyssinia
“Ethiopia”. That king converted to Islam despite the fact that people of
Ethiopia didn’t become Muslims.
Hercules the king of the Romans wanted his people to be
Muslims, He said to them “O Romans, if you want to strengthen your superiority, you have to follow
this prophet”. He didn’t
order them to become Muslims directly, he only warned them.
A state of weakness should not prevent confrontation, and
should not be considered rashness, that’s why the prophet (prayers and peace be
upon him) said “the supreme martyr is one that confront the tyrant enjoins him to the right conduct
and forbids him indecency especially when he knows that he is in danger of
being killed”.
To return to the prophet’s
last hadith.
“The king had a magician”
Magic was not a mere phenomenon existing in
society, but it was a trend governing the society. So when we see magic we must
be sure of a spoilt existence based on corruption and injustice. So long as the
head of the state is governing by magic, his rule must be corrupted and false,
and his actions are based on hallucination and loss. As long as magic is
governing, there would be only two kinds of people, the arrogant that admire
only themselves and the oppressed and weak people.
What we understand from the
beginning is that any regime is the final product of all social dimensions; it
is also a comprehensive picture of traditions and the confining frame of ethics.
So, what do you expect from a society when the product of its dimensions, the
picture of its traditions and the frame of its regime is oppression or
magic?
These are the means of any
unjust regime and that is how it rules. The ignorant regimes destroy the
individual and break up the society because rules of these regimes want only to
stay in power even if they destroy everything and that is why they select
ignorant, stupid and weak staff to back them up.
On the other hand there are
those sound regimes, which care about people and their welfare. The heads of
these regimes select wise, educated and powerful staff to help them, and this is
the Islamic regime.
When the magician grew old
he said: “I have grown old, please send me a boy that I can teach magic.”
The magician was part of the king’s retinue that benefited
from corruption, just like the magicians of Pharaoh when they came to confront
Moses, they said:
“Surely there will be a reward for us if we are victors He
answered yes and surely you shall be of those brought near to me”
The magicians of the pharaoh didn’t ask about
whom they would face or what the issue was. They only care about their benefit.
The magician of the king spent his life preparing the conditions for the king
and enjoying the job and the benefit, so he wanted this career to continue
through the boy as an extension for his life. It was not the only magician who
wanted that, but it was also the devil who stands behind paganism and
corruption through all ages and all generations, all the time and everywhere.
We should be aware of the danger of that pagan
attitude. It does not reflect strong relations between pagan generations as
they arrogate. They do not have any attachment neither for the past nor for the
future. They do not have attachment even for themselves. They are scattered and
this attitude does not have any historical inevitability imposed on reality.
History and its events are changed only by Allah. Muslims only, with their
belief and conception, have the divine means of changing this pagan existence
and they can, if they use this divine means.
“and He brought him a boy”
When we read this we feel like if we want to
extend our hands to take this boy and save him from these people. Nothing is
more painful than loss and corruption of human nature in these unjust
societies. How sad to see this and not to help people to prevent it. How sad to
see a person who dies atheist after he was born with a good nature, that was
corrupted and we didn’t help him with the means of guidance and right conduct.
A real preacher is the one that feels
responsibility towards human nature and its protection from any pagan influence
because human nature is the real ground for the preacher and if it corrupts
there won’t be any existence for the preaching and that’s why Prophet Noah
prayed to Allah to destroy his people when he knew that there was not any hope
and their human nature had been corrupted.
Allah said the statement of Noah:
“My Lord! Leave not
one of the disbelievers in the land. If you should leave them they will mislead
your slaves and beget none slave leud ingrates” [Qur’an, Noah 26-27]
Pagan influence had reached the wombs of women
so they wouldn’t give birth except to an atheist. There was no hope.
“On his way to the magician there was a monk,
that he sat with, listening and admiring his speech”
By the will of Allah, the boy met the monk, on
his way to the magician. That happened in an amazing way, he sat next to him
and listened, but he sat first. The reason of the boy sitting has not been
mentioned, and it was hard for the boy to learn magic and religion at the same
time because they contradict each other. Islam is about clear truths and
organized thoughts that educate minds, deals with reality and builds life.
Magic is about mysterious superstition and lies that assassinate minds and
destroy life. That is why the boy was interested in learning religion from the
monk and hated to learn magic.
“on the boy’s way to the magician there was a
monk, the boy sat with him and then went to magician. He beat him. He
complained to the monk”
We notice that the boy insisted to sit with the
monk whenever he went to the magician, although the magician beat him whenever
he came late. That was a test and trial to the boy especially when as we know
that he was a young boy.
Allah wanted the boy to be brought up in the
correct way from the beginning and He wanted his relation to preaching to go
along with his nature, because the boy would be the guide to this call to
Allah.
That is why he had to be an integrated and
solid person who could endure calamities, because only those who take their
religion strongly can continue to the end. The boy passed the test when he was
tested at the beginning of his way, even when he complained to the monk, his
complaint was not to find an excuse, but to find a solution so that he could
continue, and it was the monk’s duty to find the solution, and that’s what
Allah had done with Moses when he faced problems with Pharaoh.
Allah said the statement of Moses:
“And they have a
crime against me, so I fear that they will kill me.”
{ Holy Qur’an Surat
Al Sh’araa V. 14}
“Moses
said: My Lord! Relieve my mind (25) And ease my task for me (26) And loose a
knot of my tongue (27) That they may understand my saying (28) And give me a
minister from my family (29) Aaron my brother (30) Add to my strength with him
(31) And let him share my task (32) That we may glorify you much (33) and
remember you much (34) Lo! You are ever seeing us (35) [Allah] said: You were
granted your request O Moses”
When Allah sent prophet Mohammed (prayers and
peace be upon him) said:
“Allah have looked at the people of the earth and detested
them all, Arab and non Arab except some people of the divine books- Jews and
Christians – and Allah have sent me to Quraish (his tribe) I said “O Lord then
they break my head and make it bread – Allah said fight with those who obeyed
you, those who resist you and if you send an army we’ll send five armies and
spend money for our sake. We spend more on you”.
It’s clear from this text how the prophet
(prayers and peace be upon him) showed his problem before his Lord as Moses has
done before, and Allah assured him as He assured Moses.
As a necessity the monk had paved the way to
the boy, he said to him:
“if you fear the magician tell him I was held up by my family
and it you fear your family tell them I was held up by the magician”.
The monk considered the case as a case of war,
that’s why he allowed the boy to lie, and lying is allowed only in three cases,
as the prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) said:
“lying is not permitted except in three cases, a
man pacifying his wife, in war and to reconcile between people”.
Let us clear the idea of permitted lying in
these cases that came in the hadith. We find the statement “Allah permitted”,
and only Allah. It’s also three cases only.
Every preacher and caller must not add any
reason to these, otherwise he would be recorded as a liar in the books of
Allah, then he would lose the most powerful means of influence, which is the
trust of people. That is why the first word of the prophet (prayers and peace
be upon him) was:
“If I told you that an enemy is going to attack
you in the morning or in the evening would you believe me? They said you have
never lied. He said I’m a cautioner to you before terrible punishment”.
That’s how he put the basis of trust first. At
the time of disasters Allah calms his servant with what He makes of miracles on
their hands, as we will see in the story of the boy.
“When he was in trouble, he saw a giant animal
that attacked people, the boy said (today I may know who is better the magician
or the monk), so he picked up a stone and said (O Lord if the monk is better
than the magician kill this animal and he killed the animal and set the people
free)”.
Here we can see how worried the boy was because
he was learning from the monk and the magician at the same time, but he was not
only learning, he was also making the comparisons between them, as he admired
and understood the speech of religion.
That shows the great suffering of the real
Muslim in a corrupted environment. Although the firmly rooted Islam in a person
must push him towards the right decision as the boy did, he tried to make sure
but he used the words and criterion of the monk, that was always first for him,
this means the fundamentals of religion had been established in the conscience
and mind of the boy.
The boy had taken a concrete way from the
beginning because he knew that he would face people with his belief, it was not
just a theory or personal content, it was a reality that could only be achieved
by the fate of Allah, which runs everything. The boy had chosen the best way
when he chose the animal to prove to people and himself that he was on the
right path. There is a giant animal that detained people, it was in the boy’s
imagination like that tyrant that detains people from believing in Allah.
That is how the preacher looked at everything
through preaching, which is his life.
“The boy had returned to the monk and told him”
That’s what students do whenever they meet a
new event, they go back to their teachers of interpretation. The monk told the
boy “O boy you have become better than me”. This was a turning point for
the monk. He admitted without hesitation that the boy had became better than
him. That shows how pious, clean and sincere the monk was, especially when we
know that the boy was young but the monk knew it is not age, but it is faith
and qualification that is important.
They were a good team, the monk represented the
ascetic leadership and the boy represented the natural compliance. These are
the best foundations of preaching work that Allah blesses. After we have seen
the asceticism of the monk we can also see his emotional relationship to the
boy when he cheerfully said “my boy” and no matter how hard the job is,
we can’t deny that emotional relationship was an important factor for the
success of that job.
Correct practical education is the third major
qualification of that monk, so after he had informed the boy with his
preferences, he followed that by informing the boy of his responsibility so
that he might protect him from arrogance.
“O my boy now you are better than me, and you
will suffer some disasters, so don’t tell people about me”.
This was the phase course that preachers need,
so that they can have a chance to gather their capacities and assemble their
potentials. Secrecy, from the practical point of view, is a necessity that
comes out of circumstances, and from the historical point of view, secrecy was
an essential phase in the history of preaching.
This is Noah as Allah says in the Holy Qur’an
“So, I have called
to them aloud, further I have spoken to them in public, and secretly in
private.”
Another detailed example was Moses’ call, where
secrecy was necessary from the moment when he was born. We know that Pharaoh
gave orders to kill the boys of the people of Israel and Moses was born at that
time, so they had to do something to protect him. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala)
gave the inspiration to his mother, the way to protect him.
“And we
inspired to the mother of Moses, to suckle him and when you fear for him, then
cast him into the river but fear not, nor grieve, for we shall bring him back
unto you and shall make him one of our messengers” {v. 7 Qasas}
Practical estimation of this plan showed high
accuracy. Allah had ordered the mother of Moses to suckle him, so that he would
be satisfied when Allah forbade him to suckle from any other woman, Allah also
ordered the river to share in this plan so that the people of Pharaoh would
never know the place where he had come from.
Allah said: “The river will cast him up to the
bank” {V.39 Ta ha}
At the moment the people of Pharaoh raised
Moses, Allah have casted his love upon him.
“But I cast the
garment of “love over thee from Me” {V.39 Ta ha }
There was also the secret observation of his
sister,
“So she observed him
from afar” {V.11 Qasas}
And she talked to the people of pharaoh, but
she didn’t tell them that she was his sister.
“And said shall I point out to you
the people of a house that will norish bring him up for you” {V.12
Qasas}
She didn’t tell them that the house she was
referring to, was his house. Moses went back to his mother safe-guarded, it was
an accurate and strong plan which had taken its accuracy and strength from
Allah.
Allah says: “And shall take him an enemy to me
and an enemy to him”
{V.39 Ta ha}
So Moses was taken by the people of Pharaoh and
they did not know anything, that shows the importance of secrecy, to protect
his life. There was also secrecy in his call, and that becomes clear when we
know that there were people who believed and nobody knew anything about them.
Allah says: “A believer, a man from among the
people of Pharaoh who had concealed his faith said: will you slay a man,
because he says (My Lord is Allah)”
The man was one of the people of Pharaoh who
could conceal his faith, that shows the greatness of that man and the strength
of the system of Moses especially when we know that Pharaoh’s wife herself
believed in Moses’ call.
Allah says: “And Allah sets forth as an example
to those who believe the wife of pharaoh, behold she said O my Lord, build for
me in nearness to you, a mansion in the garden and save me from Pharaoh and his
doings and save me from those who do wrong” {V.11
Al Tahreim}
Pharaoh didn’t know about that, despite of the
very special relationship between him and his wife. That also asserts that
accuracy and strength of the system of Moses, even the man that believed
secretly didn’t reveal his faith until the correct time, when the people
decided to kill Moses.
Now we go back to the story of the boy and the
monk. He used to heal the people who were born blind, the lepers and cure
people from diseases. So he started his call by attracting people with what
Allah have gifted him, accordingly they loved the way of Allah and the boy as a
reason of that way and the call as a wisdom behind that way.
This was the system of calling through all
Apostles of Allah like Jesus,
“And I
heal the born blind and the lepers and I raise the dead by the will of Allah”
Saleh, the prophet, peace be upon him had a
miracle, that was the she-camel which came out of the rock and used to drink
the water one day and give them milk and they drink the other day.
Allah says: “He (Saleh) said: Here is a
she-camel, she has a right of watering and you have a right of watering
(severally) on a day appointed”.
The miracle of Moses was ascertained by
complete and clear dimensions. These were the proof of his prophet-hood, the
valuable movement and human utility.
Allah says: “He (Moses) said even if I showed you
something clear (and) convincing, He (pharaoh) said show it then if thou
tellest the truth, so Moses threw his rod and behold, it was a serpent, plain
(for all to see)”{V.
30 – 32 The Poets}
This rod also saved Moses and his followers
from Pharoah.
Allah says: “Then we told Moses by inspiration strike the sea
with the rod, so it divided and each separate part became like the huge firm
mass of mountain” {V.36 The Poets}
Moses also struck the rock with this rod.
Allah says: “And remember Moses prayed for water for his
people. We said strike the rock with thy rod then gushed forth therefrom twelve
springs, each group knew its own place for water”.
Miracles, which are the way of Allah, are
fulfilled at the hands of the prophets and it is also a means of convincing,
were not only spiritual, but were also a material utility so that whoever
preached after the prophets, knew that convincing, no matter how good they do
it, is not enough without giving a good attitude that makes people love
preaching and the preacher.
The miracles of the holy people are like that
of the prophets, as Ebn Taimiah says about kinds of miracles. There are
those (miracles) through which the holy men showed that Islam is the right
religion as the boy did, when the boy went to the monk, left the magician and
ordered the murder of himself with his own arrow in the name of his Lord after
he was saved by a miracle.
Religious people who followed the prophets in their call
usually came with miracles as fire was cool and safe for Abi Moslem, as it was
before for Ibrahim (Abraham) the father of the prophets.
The boy was one of the people of Jesus (peace
be upon him) so his miracle was like that of Jesus – healing the born blind and
the leper.
When the boy healed the born blind, the lepers and treated
people from all diseases, he dealt with a reality that was corrupted by magic.
Just like the magicians of the Pharaoh when the rod of Moses swallowed what
they have done, they believed in Moses at once because they knew it was reality
not magic. That is how the boy equated his call with reality. So far the king
did not know about the boy, that is really strange, because the boy was not far
from the king’s keep. The king was the one who brought the boy to the magician
to train him to become his own magician and the boy used to move publicly in
society, but Allah wanted the king to know about the boy through his fellow
companions, after the call became like a strong tide. This was the beginning,
the beginning of every call, is just the will of Allah who protects the call at
that stage where the material means of protection is lacking Allah protected
the call of the boy by keeping it secret from the king.
A companion of the king who had become blind
heard of the boy and brought him many gifts and said “everything I have here is
for you if you heal my blindness”, the boy assured him that he did not heal
anyone, Allah is the one who heals. At the same time he ignored the gifts
completely and said to the man “if you believe in Allah pray to him in order to
heal you”. That made the matter of faith very important for the man, as it
would be the reason for him to see again and at the same time he saw the boy
neglecting the gifts and money, thing that motivate people, so he immediately
believed in Allah, then Allah healed him.
The boy ascertained his faith by offering his
help in return for belief in Allah, this is the first base on which the idea of
joining hearts is built, as the Prophet Mohammed (prayers and peace be upon
him) had done when he was asked for money, he said to the man: “take everything
in this valley”. The man said: “are you making fun of me?”, the prophet said
“no”, then the man took all the camels that were there and did not leave
anything and nobody stopped him, so when he went back to his people he said “O
my people believe in Islam, I have seen a man who does not fear poverty”, that
is what the Prophet meant, he wanted to treat the problem (fear of poverty)
that dominated pagan society.
The second basis of joining hearts, is to offer
people faith when they are in need of Allah, as the boy offered the man faith
before he prayed to Allah to help him.
As Prophet Joseph and done with his fellow
inmates in prison, when they needed him to interpret their dreams, He offered
Allah’s call before answering their need.
Allah says: “He (Joseph) said: before any food comes (in due
course) to feed either of you, I tell you about it before it comes to you. This
is part of what Allah’s taught me, I have abandoned the ways of people that
believe not in Allah and that deny the hereafter. And I follow the ways of my
fathers Ibrahim, Issac and Jacob, and never could we attribute any partners
whatever to Allah that of the grace of Allah to us and to mankind, yet most men
are not grateful. O my two companions of the prison, are many lords differing
among themselves better or Allah the one supreme and irresistible? Whatever ye
worship apart from him is nothing but names, which you have named you and your
fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. The command is for none
but Allah. He hath commanded that ye worship none but him, that is the right
religion but most men understand not”
Then he interpreted the two dreams.
“O my two companions
of the prison as to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to
drink, as for the other he will hang from a cross and the birds will eat from
off his head so hath been decreed that matter whereof ye twain do enquire”
{V. 37 – 41 Joseph}
That is how Joseph used the need of fellow
inmates for his interpretations and offered them his call. It was the same
system, which the boy used with the companion of the king. The companion of the
king believed and Allah had healed him. It was that simple, the man believed
because the reality of faith is there inside every human being. It only needs a
wise caller to deal with it correctly.
It is amazing to see how people believe so
easily, even for example the Queen ofSaba’.
Solemn tested the Queen twice. The first test was to prove the power of the
mind when he took her throne, disguised it and showed it to her and asked her:
“Is thy throne like
this?”
She answered: “It seems the same” {v. 42
Al Naml}
She did not say this is it, because it was
disguised and did not say no because it was like hers.
Then he put her in the second experiment. This was to break
down her conceit
“She was asked to
enter the lofty palace, but when she saw it, she thought it was a lake of
water, and she uncovered her legs” {v. 44 Al Naml}
By proving his intelligence and breaking down
the conceit of the Queen, his call was fulfilled and she said:
“I do submit (in
Islam) with Solemn to the Lord of the worlds”
By these examples Prophet Mohammed (prayers and
peace be upon him), Joseph, Solemn and the young boy we mean to show the caller
that dealing correctly with people would make the word of call of a great
value.
The boy said only three phrases “Allah is the
one that heals”, answering the king and the companion of the king, and “Allah
has saved me”, answering the king when he came back safely, and telling
the king, when he wanted to kill him, to say “In the name of Allah, Lord of the
boy”
These three phrases represent three points on
the same line, the line of proving through reality, Allah is the one that
heals, suffices, and gives life and death. The boy talked about these things as
facts that he believed in, and how he learnt them himself. We can see that
clearly when he asked Allah if the system of the monk is better than that of
the magician to kill the animal.
That is how a preacher is usually influenced in
preaching by the way in which he was taught. The boy didn’t ask the companion
of the king not to talk about him as the monk did with him. That was because
the boy was doing his job of calling to Allah publicly, not secretly like the
monk. That puts us in comparison between the secrecy stage of the call and
public stage from four angles:
1. The
manner of contact.
2. Working
regulations.
3. Movement
control.
4. Potentials.
Contact was in the secret stage between
individuals, like the boy and the monk, but in the public stage there was
general contact as there was between the boy and the companion of the king who
had heard of the boy from others.
Working regulations are clear from the exercise
of calling by every person according to his potentials. The monk did not call
in public because he did not have the potential of influencing in public. The
boy didn’t stop at the secret stage; otherwise he would have lost his public
influence, that is why the monk put a border line between the two stages,
saying to the boy
“don’t tell about me”
This borderline of the monk was like that of
the prophet when he told Abou Thar Al Ghepharie “don’t talk about the matter
until Allah exposes us” because they were weak, hiding in a house of Al
arkam Ibn Al arkam. Abou Thar couldn’t wait, and went to the Holy house (The
Kaabah) and said “I witness that there is no God but Allah and that Mohammed is
his prophet, servant and messenger”. The pagans beat him badly; they were about
to kill him. The prophet could not do anything for him and he had to face the
results of his rashness by himself. The Moslems did not enter into
confrontation, as they were not yet ready.
Movement control was limited, in the beginning
it was only between the boy and the monk, that was like the prophet in the
house of Al arkam when da’wah (call) was in the secret stage and whoever wanted
to become Moslem went to the prophet in his secret place. Abou Thar himself
embraced Islam this way.
Ibn Abbas said, when Abu Thar received the news
of the advent of the prophet he said to his brother: “Ride to this valley (of
Mecca) and try to find out the truth about this person who claims to be a
prophet, who claims that he is informed with news of heaven. Listen to him and
come back to me”. So his brother went to the prophet (prayers and peace be upon
him) and listened to some of his talks and returned to Abu Thar and said to him
“I have seen him enjoining virtuous behavior and saying something that is not
poetry”. Abu Thar said “You have not satisfied me as to what I wanted”. He then
took his food and carried his water skin, and traveled until he reached Mecca,
he went to the Mosque and searched for the prophet, even though he didn’t know
him, he hated to ask anybody about him.
When part of the night had passed, Ali saw him
and knew that he was a stranger. When Abu Thar saw Ali, he followed him and
none of them asked the other about anything. When it was dawn, Abu Thar took
his food and his water skin to the mosque and stayed there all day long without
being perceived by the prophet. When it was evening he went back to his
retiring place. Ali passed by him and said “Does the man no know his dwelling
place yet?”. Ali awakened and took him to the prophet and none of them talked
to the other again. When it was the third day, Ali did the same and Abu Thar
stayed with him, then Ali said: “Will you tell me what has brought you here?”
Abu Thar said: “If you give me a firm promise that you will guide me, then I
will tell you”. Ali promised him and he informed Ali about his request. Ali
said “It’s true, he is the Apostle of Allah. Next morning when you get up
follow me and if I see any danger, I will pour some water and if I go follow me
and enter where I enter”. Abu Thar followed him until he entered the place of
the Prophet and listened to his speech and embraced Islam.
{Bukhari – 137/7, Muslim – 32/16}
Movement in the public stage was general as the
boy moved among people, healing the born blind, the lepers and treated people
with many diseases. So did the prophet in Madinah, he used to go to people in
their places, until Abd Allah Ibn Aubai Ibn Salul, the head of hypocrites
wanted to limit his movement and said to him “Don’t come to our parties, but if
someone goes to you, you can talk to him”. Abd Allah Ibn Rawaha was there with
the people, so he said “No! Apostle of Allah, do come to our parties”. {Bukhari
122/10}
That is how the head of hypocrites wanted to
push Da’wah (call) back to the secret way it was in Mecca. This was refused by
Al Ansar of Madinah.
Potentials means the ability to influence in
public generally and to face pagan authority which will try to kill this
influence. This is what the boy had done by healing the born blind, lepers and
treating people with many diseases. The boy was able to confront the king from
the beginning to the end, he was sure about himself, so he said to the king:
“You will not be able to kill me
unless you do what I command you to do”
after this comparison between the secret and
public stages we go back to the story where the companion of the king went back
to him and sat with him as he used to do before. The king asked him:
“who brought back your sight?” he said “my
Lord” the king said “Do you have another Lord than me?” the man
said “Allah is my Lord and yours.”
It is so horrible to see someone claiming to be
the Lord, this phenomenon has been recorded in the Holy Qura’an against Pharaoh
and king Namrud who debated Prophet Ibrahim, both of them were like that tyrant
king in two ways, unbelieving in Allah and having kingship.
The dilemma starts with unbelief in Allah and
one’s fate then the unbeliever thinks that he can turn his life in any way that
he wants and if he has power over people, he thinks that he controls their
destiny. When he commands and gets obeyed and does what he pleases without any
opposition or supervision, then he feels superior, arrogant and absolutely
different from his fellows. As Pharaoh said:
“Don’t I have the
Kingdom of Egypt and these rivers flowing underneath my place? Don’t you see”
{V. 51 Al Zukhruf}
“I but point out to
you that which I see myself”
“O people No God do
I know for you but myself” {V. 81 Al Qasas}
A
believer does not fear these people, he faces them strongly and clearly as the
man did with the king, he said to him
“Allah
is my Lord and yours”,
He refused the Lordship of the king by telling
him that there is only one Lord and all people are equal before this Lord, the
man could not do that unless the strength of belief has filled his heart. That
gave him strength, and confidence just like the magicians of Pharaoh after they
knew that Moses is an Apostle and not a magician, they prostrated and when
Pharaoh threatened them saying:
“be
sure I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you
crucified on trunks of palm trees”
{V. 71 Ta ha}
They said: “Decree whatever thou desirest to
decree, for thou can’t only decree the life of this world” {V.72 Ta ha}
The king took the man and kept on torturing him
till he told him about the boy. He didn’t kill him at once, so that he might
tell him about the rest of the group. They brought up the boy and the king said
to him:
“O my boy, you have become so expert in magic
that you heal the born blind, the lepers and do all these things”
This tyrant said “O my boy”, a word full
of malice, deception and pressure on the boy. The king is trying to induce the
boy with this phrase, that implies a good future for the boy with the king and
he also is trying to interpret what the boy does as being magic, and that is
the way people, who don’t want to submit to the truth, react to it, as Pharaoh
said about Moses.
“This must be your
leader who taught you magic” {V. 71 Ta ha}
When Moses debated with him frankly he said:
“Truly your
messenger who has been sent to you is veritable madman” {V.
27 The poets}
That is what the pagans did with the prophet
when they saw him denying the Lordship of their idols, they said:
“Tutored (by others)
a madman” {V. 14 Al Dukhan}
When he confronted them with the Qura’an they
said:
“ A poet, we await
for him some disaster by time” {V. 30 Al Tour}
When they saw the companions were very
confident in their call they said:
“Their religion has
deluded these”
If we notice carefully these false interpretations by bad
people of the truth we will find that they try to make these false
interpretations acceptable. They interpreted the miracle as magic, courage as
madness eloquence as poetry and confidence as conceit. The tribe of Quraish
held a conference in order to discuss the best way to describe the prophet.
They described him as fortune teller then he
(Al Walied) said “No, by Allah he is not a fortune teller, we know the art of
fortune telling, he does not mumble or rhyme his speech like fortune tellers.
They said we say he is a madman, he said he is not mad. They said we say he is
a poet, we know poetry and he is not a poet. They said we say he is a magician,
he said he is not a magician. They said what would we say then Abu Abd Shams?
He said by Allah his speech is crowned with beauty, his root is cluster and his
branch is fruity. If you say these things will be known as lies, we might only
say that he is a magician that came to separate man and his father, man and his
brother, man and his wife and man and his tribe”. They left on that decision.
The king failed to induce the boy, so he
tortured him until he told them about the monk. This was not disloyalty; it was
his limited human potency. Does anyone feel sorry and suffer more pain than
that of torture? We must make an excuse for him and it is our part to rebuild
our confidence again.
This result, which the boy reached, did not
happen until reaching to the end of his patience and of his patience and this
is the borderline between being excused or blamed.
This borderline could be judged correctly if we
know the potentials of confrontation. The most important of these potentials is
determination before disaster. This is like when somebody wants to sleep, if
they have something on their mind, this affects the state of sleeping.
Determination before going under torture makes one resists collapse longer.
This resistance is the most powerful weapon in confrontation. The king tortured
the monk in front of the boy in order to withdraw the weapon of resistance from
him, but the boy was aware of that and that is why it did not work and the boy
stayed strong.
There is also the amount of love that a person
has for those behind him, that they might get hurt as a result of his collapse.
The worst way of torturing is psychological humiliation, because man’s will is
related so much to his dignity.
Horror and threat are the worst results of
torturing and this could only be avoided by serenity and peace of mind, this
can only be gained by remembrance of Allah. Remembrance of Allah is the first
duty for one who faces the ordeal of torture for example when you say Allah
Akbar (Allah is the greatest and most powerful) this eases the result of being
tortured. When Allah forgives a person for a bad deed, he does not account for
this deed in their life, or on the Day of Judgment.
And the best of these is the Prophet’s saying:
“O Allah, forbid me from fetching misfortune to
myself and to Moslems”
Giving in, is the thing which brings misfortune
to a person and to Moslems. Remembrance of how people were tortured in the name
of Allah by disbelievers can give people inner strength.
“Of
mankind is he who saith: We believe in Allah, but if he be made to suffer for
the sake of Allah, he mistaketh the persecution of manking for Allah’s
punishment”. {V. 10 Al Ankabout}
There is no comparison. The punishment of Allah
is accompanied with his anger, it increases, it is endless, patience is of no
help and it can not be avoided.
Persecution of mankind, because of belief in
Allah gives a person love of Allah. A Muslim should go into the ordeal of
torture with great trust in Allah and belief in their fate, because this
calamity and everything are in the hands of Allah alone.
Back to the story,
They brought up the monk and told him to
apostatize, he refused, so they put a saw on the middle of his head and cut him
until he split in two, then they brought up the companion of the king and he
was told to apostatize, he refused, they put the saw on the middle of his head
and cut him until he split into two.
That is what the prophet told the companions when they
complained about the oppression.
Khabab Ebn Al Art narrated:
“We complained to Allah’s Apostle about our
state when he was leaning against his sheet cloak in the shade of Kaaba. We
said, “will you ask Allah to help us? Will you invoke Allah for us?” he said:
“Among those who were before you, a believer used to be seized and a pit used
to be dug for him and then he used to be placed in it. Then a saw used to be
brought and put on his head, which would be cut into two. His flesh might be
combed with iron combs and removed from his bones, yet all this did not cause
him to revert from his religion. By Allah this religion (Islam) will be
completed (and triumph) until a rider (traveler) goes from San’a (the capital
of Yemen) to Hadramout fearing nobody except Allah and the wolf which could
trouble his sheep, but you are impatient”
When the prophet mentioned this hadith, it
means this is the worst kind of torture that Muslims could face. That is how
tyrants deal with the callers to the right path, no chance for discussion, no
way for conviction, but what could be expected of an unjust king, whose
government is based on magic?. He had no issue, no principles, he only knew
killing and torturing and if he was given a chance, he didn’t use it to save a
life, but to kill the issue, as the king, tried to make the monk and the man
apostatize in order to end this issue.
Then they brought up the boy and told him to
apostatize. He refused. The king gave him to some of his soldiers and said:
take him to the mountain, and when you are at the top ask him, will he
apostatize or be thrown down? They took him to the mountain and he said
“O Allah do save me as you will”.
The
mountain shook, and the soldiers fell down. Here we can see that the king
wanted the boy to apostatize, because killing him would cause the king many
problems. People loved the boy because of what he did.
On the other hand the king wanted the people to
talk about the boy’s apostasy and that the boy was wrong. The king wanted to
use this boy to strengthen his position with what he was doing, walking beside
him, that is why he gave the boy many chances to apostatize.
The king did not do all these things
haphazardly. He knew how to handle people, when to kill and how. He was aiming
at one thing, which was to get rid of da’wah (right call to Allah) either by
apostasy of callers or by killing them.
The boy prayed to Allah on the top of the
mountain:
“O Allah suffice me against them as you will”
Anyway Allah pleases, because he had unlimited
trust in Allah and when we have this trust it is an answer from Allah.
“ The mountain shook, the soldiers fell down and
he came back safe to the king”
The boy asked Allah to save him so that he can
go back to the king and finish what he has started. Life is not an aim in
itself for callers, it is a necessity for call. This necessity can be achieved
sometimes by life and sometimes by death.
The benefit of calling is the borderline
between cowardice and courage, between courage and rashness. A coward is the
person who never wants to sacrifice and a rashful person is the one who
sacrifices for nothing. Courage is fruitful sacrifice! So the boy was not a
coward when he asked Allah to save him, and he was not rash to go back to the
king. He was wise and courageous.
“He came back walking to the king”
His ordeal did not affect his course. He did
not do what so many people do when they face a calamity, they try to avoid the
reason for this and they take a new course. The boy did not do that, he
returned again and again to the same point with the same principles. He has the
chance of confrontation with the king, so he took advantage of this
opportunity.
When he went back to the king, the king asked
him “what have your friends done to you?”, though they were soldiers of the
king not of the boy. They were defeated and that would affect his claim of
Lordship. The boy said:
“Allah has saved me”
We should notice that the boy said the same
words that he prayed to Allah with, the same as at the time of his ordeal and
after being saved, without any arrogance. The king tried to kill him again. He
gave him to some of his soldiers and said “take him in a boat to the middle of
the sea and if he does not apostatize throw him over board”. They took him and
he said
“O Allah suffice me as you will”
The boat capsized, the soldiers drowned and he
came back walking to the king who said “what have your friends done to you?”.
He said:
“Allah has sufficed me against them and then
said to the king you will not be able to kill me unless you do what I command
you to do”.
The boy was sure that the king could not kill
him. The prophet told Ebn Abbas something like this when he said to him
“Be sure that if the nation gathered to do
something good for you they will not be able to do it unless Allah has written
it for you and if they gathered to do something bad for you they will not be
able to do it unless Allah have written it for you. Pens have stopped, papers
have dried.”
Calling to Allah could not be achieved unless
every caller has the same peace of mind of the boy.
In the words of the boy to the king there are
two things, he proved the failure of the king and he started to give him
orders. Maybe that was the first obligatory command the king received in his
lifetime. These two things finished the king’s claim of lordship.
The command was to gather people in one place
so they might see the events and understand the meaning. The boy has issued
this command because he knew that kings always hide the truth, how to know
right from wrong and how to have good faith. That is what Moses did with
Pharaoh.
Allah said:
“Your tryst shall be
the day of the feast, and let the people assemble when the sun hath risen high”
{V. 59 Ta ha}
The boy was still giving the king orders:
“and you crucify me on a trunk of a tree”
He did that in order to increase the effect of his weakness
and the oppression of the king and to enhance from the crowds’ point of view.
“Then you take an arrow from my quiver”
He stated that the arrow should be taken from
his quiver, so the reason to kill him would be his decision. This showed to the
people his desire to get killed for the sake of Allah.
“Then you put the arrow in the bow”
That was also natural but the boy wanted to
command it, so the king would not do anything on his own.
“Then you say in the name of Allah Lord of the
boy”
Thus the boy has given interpretation to the
people that it was his desire and with his reason and by the will of Allah,
after the king has failed.
The king had to carry out the commands of the
boy, he gathered the people in one place and crucified the boy on the trunk of
the tree, took an arrow from his quiver, put it in the bow and said:
“In the name of Allah Lord of the boy”.
The king had to carry out the commands of the
boy because he was facing three things:
1. To
let the boy call to Allah, as he will, then the people will believe in Allah.
2. To
keep trying to kill him and that proves his inability more and more, then the
people would believe in that power that protects the boy.
3. To
kill the boy as the boy commanded and that was what he chose and it changed
what the people believed. Allah wanted them to believe and for his word to be
exalted. Allah decreed and commanded that. There is none to put back his
command.
On the bases of this we should understand the
words of Allah in Surat Al Boruj V.20 :
“But Allah doth
encompass them from behind”
“Then he shot him and the arrow struck him in
the temple cheek and he put his hand on his cheek and died”
This was the last fact of fate that showed the relationship
between reason and result. In this story we find a result which is different
from the desire. The boy who the people wanted to be a caller for magic, Allah
wanted him to be a caller for the correct way. So, on his way to the magician
to learn magic, he met, listened to and admired the monk.
In the story, there was also a great result,
which was killing a giant animal by a simple method, which was a small stone.
There are also different results for one reason, for example when the mountain
shook and the soldiers of the king fell down and the boy returned safe. The
same thing, when they took him in the boat, it capsized the soldiers. They
drowned and the boy returned safely. From all these reasons and results we
understand the meaning of the words of Allah in Surat Al Boruj V. 16:
“Doer (without let) of all that he intends”
This is the fact of all facts, the last thing
the boy said was to command the king to say:
“In the name of Allah Lord of the boy”
With this word he opened the door of faith to
the people, because they knew that he loved them, doing his best for their good
and now they knew that he had a lord who guided him to their love and allowed
him to heal their pains. In his name the king was defeated and in his name the
boy willingly died in order to open the door of faith for his people.
How totally defeated was the king who claimed
lordship, who killed and tortured anyone who denied that. Now he said “In the
name of Allah Lord of the boy”
Now the people did not fear their king, they
had sympathy for the boy and they understood, a young boy who loved his people,
who offered them everything good and most important of all he died for them
after he proved the king’s weakness so that they might believe in Allah, Lord
of the boy. People listened rushed from all over without fear repeating the
slogan of faith, “We believe in the Lord of the boy”
When people are set free from shackles of
delusion and ignorance, When they have dignity after humiliation and
compulsion, When they have strength after weakness, Then people believe. The
king came, his companions said: By Allah it has happened what you were worried
about has just happened.
The society had changed, people did not believe
in their king anymore. The king commanded his men to dig ditches and set them
on fire. In spite of the ditches being set alight, people did not stop and they
kept on rushing into the blazing ditches. The king also kept on challenging the
people and said “Who ever does not apostatize, throw him in the fire”
The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him)
shows one scene of confrontation between love for life on one side and faith on
the other side. A woman came with her child. She hesitated, fearing fire. The
child said:
“Mother be patient, you are on the right path”
This mother came with her child accompanying
her to the ditch at the last moment, the horror of events could not separate
them. At the edge of the ditch the sensation of motherhood and fear of death
stopped her, but the words of her child were strong enough to extinguish the
flames of fire in his mother’s sense. She threw herself into the fire to escape
from her weakness and hesitation. She knew that she would rather die with faith
than live without faith. The speech of the boy were his last words at the edge
of the ditch of fire with its flames and flying sparks that remain in the heart
of every believer, it rises whenever martyr gets slain in the noble cause of
calling to Allah.
About this story Allah says:
“By the
sky with its constellations (1) By the promised day (of judgment) (2) By one
that witnesses the subject of the witness (3) Woe to the makers of the pit (of
fire) (4) Fire supplies (abundantly) with fuel (5) Behold! They sat over
against the fire (6) And they witnessed (all) that they were doing against the
believers (7) And they ill-treated them for no other reason than that they
believed in Allah Exalted in Power Worthy of all Praise (8)”
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