35. HOW MAKKAH WAS POPULATED
Sayyiduna Ibraheem’s son, Sayyiduna Isma’eel was born in Syria to Sayyidatuna Haajirah . Sayyiduna Ibraheem’s wife, Sayyidatuna Saarah did not have any children, and due to envy, she asked Sayyiduna Ibraheem to separate
Sayyidatuna Haajirah and her son, Sayyiduna Isma’eel and take them somewhere far away from her. Allah provided means for this. Therefore, a Divine revelation revealed upon Sayyiduna Ibraheem to take Sayyidatuna Haajirah and Sayyiduna Isma’eel and leave them in such a land where there is no sign of water and nothing else except plain fields and deserted mountains.
Therefore, Sayyiduna Ibraheem left along with Sayyidatuna Haajirah and his son Sayyiduna Isma’eel and came to the place where the sacred Ka’bah is situated today. At that time, there was no population nor was any spring of water or any sign of water or human beings far and wide. Sayyiduna Ibraheem placed some dates in a pot and filled a skin sack with water and departed from there. Sayyidatuna Haajirah called out,
‘O Prophet of Allah, where are you going leaving us helpless in this lonely desert?’ Sayyidatuna Haajirah called out many times but he did not reply back.
In the end, Sayyidatuna Haajirah ‘ asked, ‘Are you leaving us here at your own will or are you fulfilling the command of Allah by doing so?’ Then he replied, ‘O Haajirah! Whatever I have done is the command of Allah. After hearing this, Sayyidatuna Haajirah
said, ‘You may leave now. I have a stern belief and firm faith that Allah will not let me or my son get harmed.
After this, Sayyiduna Ibraheem made a long supplication and came back to Syria. After a few days, when the dates and water ran out, severe hunger and thirst struck Sayyidatuna Haajirah. The milk in her chest had also dried out and her son was suffering due to hunger and thirst. She ran between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times in search for water but there was no sign of water anywhere. Moreover, the condition of Sayyiduna Isma’eel was such that due to severe thirst, he was weeping bitterly and tapping his heels on the ground. Sayyiduna Jibra`eel struck his foot near Sayyiduna Isma’eel’s heels and a spring of water gushed from there. This water possessed properties like that of milk and used to work both as food and water. Therefore, by drinking the water of Zamzam, Sayyidatuna Haajirah and Sayyiduna Isma’eel survived.
Sayyiduna Isma’eel grew up, reached the age of puberty and started hunting. Thus hunting and the water of Zamzam became the means of their living. Then some people of the tribe of Jarham came there grazing their goats and seeing the spring of water, they started living there with the permission of Sayyidatuna Haajirah Furthermore, Sayyiduna Isma’eel married with a woman of that tribe and with the passage of time, this valley became populated.
Subsequently, Allah commanded Sayyiduna Ibraheem for the construction of the Holy Ka’bah. Therefore, Sayyiduna Ibraheem constructed the Holy Ka’bah with the help of his son, Sayyiduna Isma’eel . At that time, Sayyiduna Ibraheem invoked a long Du’a for his children as well as the inhabitants of Makkah. That Du’a is mentioned in different verses of the Holy Quran. In Surah Ibraheem, some portion of his Du’a is mentioned in the following words:
O our Lord! I have caused some of my descendants to settle in a valley wherein there is no cultivation, near Your Sacred House – O our Lord! So that they may keep the prayer established, therefore incline some hearts of people towards them, and provide them fruits to eat – perhaps they may be thankful.
This is the historical beginning of the establishment of Makka-tul- Mukarramah that is proven from the Holy Quran.
Effect of Sayyiduna Ibraheem’s Du’a
In that Du’a, Sayyiduna Ibraheem asked for two things from Allah. The first was that the hearts of some people may incline towards his progeny, and the second was that these people may have fruits as their food. These supplications of Sayyiduna Ibraheem were accepted. Therefore, the hearts of the people are attracted towards the inhabitants of Makkah in such a way that today, billions of people are anxious to behold the sacred land of Makkah. For centuries, the Muslims have strived and endured hardships to go to Makkah through land, sea and air, and will continue to do so until the Day of Judgement.
The abundance of fruit in the food of the people of Makkah is to such an extent that despite there being no crop of fruit in Makkah or in its surroundings, the people are astonished to see various varieties of dry fruits and fruits being available in the markets of Makkah throughout the year. Allah has blessed the land of Taif to yield fruits of all types and a variety of fruits and vegetables are transported from there to Makkah. Furthermore, a huge variety of fruits and dry fruits are also imported to Makkah from different European countries, as well as Egypt and Iraq. All this is by virtue of the invocations of Sayyiduna Ibraheem . It is undoubtedly a true wonder of Islam.
After this, Sayyiduna Ibraheem invoked the following Du’a for his progeny and all the believers.
O my Lord! Maintain me as one who establishes prayer, and some of my descendants; O our Lord! And accept my prayer. O our Lord! And forgive me, and my parents, and all the Muslims on the day when the account will take place.
Moral:
From this event, we come to know two particular things:
1. Sayyiduna Ibraheem was extremely submissive toAllah. The son that was born to him in his old age after lot of supplications was obviously very dear to him and it was natural that he would not be ready to separate himself from his son. But when Allah commanded: ‘O Ibraheem, take your beloved son and his mother away from your home and leave them in the valley of Batha, where there is no leaf to hide under and nor is there any drop of water to quench the thirst, neither there is any helper nor any condoler.’
If it had been someone else instead of Sayyiduna Ibraheem, his heart would have trembled just by imagining the scenario. But Sayyiduna Ibraheem neither grieved after listening to this command of Allah nor pondered over it even for a moment. He did not lose his sense of submission due to the grief and sorrow either. Instead, in order to fulfil the command of Allah , Sayyiduna Ibraheemimmediately left from Syria and went to the land of Makkah with his wife and son and returned to Syria after leaving them
all alone there. May we be blessed with a fraction of such extreme obedience and submission!
2. From the supplications that Sayyiduna Ibraheem invoked with immense affection for the prosperity and wellbeing of his progeny; we learnt that to love one’s children and to supplicate for them is the blessed tradition of the reverent Prophets. Therefore, the Muslims should adopt this tradition for prosperity of their kinfolk.
Source: (QURANIC WONDERS) by ‘ABDUL MUSTAFA A’ZAMI.
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