Another lunar year is about to end and a new one is about to begin, to remind us of a great time in which the Prophet, peace be on him, migrated to Madinah. The Migration is a blessed deed because it was done in obedience to the order of Allah the Exalted and because it reflects honorable strife for human excellence and contains several lessons of patience, forbearance, knowledge and wisdom. This is an enrichment for future generations to implement and use to deal with difficulties and overcome hardships and learn to persevere.
Allah ordered the Prophet, peace be on him, to migrate and the Prophet complied.
Surat al-Ahzaab, ayah 39, informs us about those who convey the orders of Allah and fear Him, and do not fear anyone except Allah. The Prophet, peace be on him, did not migrate out of fear of the people of Quraysh, but he did it to fulfil the order of Allah.
The State of the People Before the Prophet, peace be on him.
Makkah’s society was drowning in ignorance and its people used to worship idols, bury their newly born female daughters while alive, womanize, rob and loot, kill their neighbours, revenge for their clans and commit many acts of wickedness and debauchery.
The people then were devoted to an immoral style of living that opposed the proper manners and ethics taught by Allah’s Prophets such as Ibrahim and Isma`il, who taught Islam, the ancestors of the People of Makah.
Islam is the religion of all the Prophets including Prophet Musa and Prophet ^Isa, peace be on all the Prophets. By following Islam, excellence, justice and peace prevail and gaining a blissful Hereafter may be achieved.
The Prophet Revives Islam.
Allah the Exalted sent Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, with guidance to renew the call for Islam after it had stopped among the people during the Era of Ignorance after Prophet ^Isa was raised to the second sky. There are less than 600 years between Prophet Muhammad and Prophet ^Isa.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be on him, was 40 years old when he received the revelation in Makkah and was ordered to teach Islam.
None was following Islam among humans then. The last person following Tawhid (differentiating the Creator from the created) died 5 years before the revelation. The Arabs then were mostly pagans, the Persians were worshipping fire and the Romans were worshipping Jesus and idols, and other people on earth were doing other blasphemous doings. Complete darkness!
Allah ordered the Prophet to call his family and clan to Islam.
The Prophet, peace be on him, gathered them and ordered them to become Muslim. His uncle Abu Lahab cussed him and ridiculed him.
During the prime trading season, the Prophet, peace be on him, used to pass among the tribes attending the season and tell them with a loud voice: “Say La ilaha illallah tuflihoo” – “Say no one is God except Allah and you shall succeed”. Abu Lahab used to follow him and say after him: ‘Do not believe him’.
The Prophet, peace be on him, brought the people the good news of the great reward for those who believed. But also warned those who do not believe a severe torture in the Hereafter.
The harm of Quraysh.
At the outset of his Call, a few people believed in him but the majority renounced his Call and denied his Prophethood.
Quraysh’s blasphemers opposed the call to Islam and harassed the Prophet and Muslims in many ways. The Prophet, peace be on him, was personally harmed, as were his oppressed followers.
The harm and oppression were severe and violent and increased after the death of the Prophet’s uncle Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah, may Allah raise her rank.
One day while the Prophet, peace be on him, was in prostration the blasphemers threw at him camel’s guts. Fatimah, his daughter, may Allah raise her rank, rushed and took them off his back and scolded the blasphemers.
Bilal the son of Rabah al-Habashiyy was tortured under the scorching heat of the sun and on the burning sand of the desert; they used to put rocks on his chest during the heat of high noon.
Sumayyah, the mother of ^Ammar and her husband Yasir died as martyrs for not submitting to the wishes of the blasphemers of Quraysh and persisting to not revoke their state of belief; ^Ammar, the son of Yaasir was tortured too.
One day, a person named ^Uqbah dared to come to the Prophet, peace be on him, held him by his shoulders and strangled him so strongly until Abu Bakr came and stopped him and said:
“Are you willing to kill a man who says Allah is my Lord and who has provided proofs from Allah!?”.
The Prophet and his Companions who believed in him endured and tolerated the wrongdoings of the blasphemers by remaining steadfast to the path of Islam and acting in accordance with what is incumbent upon them of its rules.
And Allah knows best.
