CHAPTER 32: THE DAWN OF ISLAM AMONG THE ANSAR
THE DAWN OF ISLAM AMONG THE ANSAR
Ibn Ishaq related: When Allah wanted to manifest His religion, empower His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, fulfill His promise to him, Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to go out in the Hajj season and would meet the groups of the Ansar. Again he would go to offer himself to the Arab tribes as he would do every year. When he was at Al-‘Aqabah, he met a group of the Khazraj for whom Allah intended good.
‘Asim Ibn ‘Umar Ibn Qatadah narrated to me from some elders of his people. They said: When Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, met them, he said: “Who are you?” we said, “A group of the Khazraj.” He asked again: “From the allies of the Jews?” we replied in the affirmation. He said: “Would you like to sit for a while so that I may speak with you?” They agreed. They sat and he invited them to Allah, presented Islam to them and recited the Qur’an to them. Allah had paved the way for Islam in that they were living adjacent to the Jews who were from the People of the Book and had knowledge while they were from the polytheists and idol worshippers. The Jews had been suppressed in their land. However, anytime there was a dispute between them, the Jews would say: “A Prophet will be raised and his coming is nigh. When he comes, we shall pledge allegiance to him and along with him, we shall kill you similar to the killing of Aad and Iram.”
When Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, spoke to that group and invited them to believe in Allah, they said to one another: “O people, beware, by Allah, this is the same Prophet that the Jew has promised you so do not let them precede you in accepting him.” Thus, they responded positively to what they were invited to. They accepted him and believed in the truthfulness of Islam. They said to him: “We have left our people back at home and there is no people who have a greater enmity and evil running between them than we. Perhaps, Allah shall unite them through you. We shall approach them and invite them to your matter. We shall also present and invite them to the religion which we have accepted. If Allah unites them through you, no man will be more powerful than you.” Thereafter, they left and returned to their country after they had believed and accepted the truth of Islam.
Ibn Ishaq said: According to what I was informed, there were six of them, all from the Khazraj.
Moosa Ibn ‘Uqbah, according to what he narrated from Az-Zuhri and Urwah Ibn Zubair, said that in their first meeting with him they numbered eight all whom accepted Islam and promised him to return the following year. So they returned to their people and they invited them to Islam. They sent Mu‘adh Ibn ‘Afra and Rafi‘ Ibn Malik to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, requesting him to send to them a man who would teach them (the religion). Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair to them. He arrived in Madinah and stayed with Asad Ibn Zurarah. Then he mentioned the story in full as shall be presented by Ibn Ishaq shortly in a more complete form than that of Moosa Ibn ‘Uqbah. And Allah knows best.
Ibn Ishaq said, when the group got to their people in Madinah, they mentioned about Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to them and invited them to Islam so much so that it spread amongst them. There was no house from the quarters of the Ansars except that there was the talk about the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. The following year, twelve individuals of the Ansars gathered on the occasion of Hajj pilgrimage. These twelve individuals witnessed the pilgrimage of that year and they decided upon meeting with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. They met him at Al-‘Aqabah and they gave him a pledge there similar to that of the women. That was the first ‘Aqabah.
Ibn Ishaq related that ‘Ubadah Ibn Samit said: “I was among those who witnessed the first ‘Aqabah and we were twelve men. We gave Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, our pledge (similar to that) of women, i.e. before fighting was obligated, that we shall not associate any partner with Allah, we shall not steal, we shall not commit adultery, we shall not kill our children, we shall not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood and that we shall not disobey him in righteousness.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said in response: “Whoever fulfills this will enter Paradise; and whoever commits these sins, his affair rests with Allah who may either punish him or forgive him.” Al-Bukhari and Muslim have reported similar Hadith.
Ibn Ishaq said that Ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri related from ‘A’idhullah Abi Idrees Al-Khawlani that ‘Ubadah Ibn As-Samit narrated to him: “We gave our pledge to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, on the night of the first ‘Aqabah that we will not worship anything besides Allah, we will not steal, we will not commit illegal sexual intercourse, we will not kill our children, we will not utter slander, invented by ourself, and we will not disobey him if he ordered us to do something good.” (The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, responded): “Whoever among you respects and fulfills this pledge, will be rewarded by Allah. And if anyone of you commits any of these sins and is punished in this world then that will be his expiation for it, and if anyone of you commits any of these sins and Allah hides his sin, then his matter will rest with Allah: If He wills, He punishes him and if He wills He forgives him.” This Hadith has been collected in the Saheehain and other than them.
Ibn Ishaq related that ‘Abdur-Rahman Ibn Ka‘b Ibn Malik said: I used to be a guide for my father when he became blind. Whenever I went out with him for the Jumu‘ah prayer and he heard the call to prayer, he would supplicate for Abu Umamah Asad Ibn Zurarah. He continued doing that for a while, supplicating for him upon hearing the call to prayer. Then I said to myself: “By Allah, this is a deficiency on my part, shouldn’t I ask him (why)?” So I said to him, “May father, why is it that whenever you hear the call to the prayer of Jumu‘ah you supplicate and ask Allah’s forgiveness for Abu Umamah?” He said: “My son, this is because he held the Friday prayer for the first
time for us at Hazmun-Nabeet of Harrah belonging to Banu Bayadah in Baqee‘, called Naqee‘ Al-Khadimat.” I asked him: “How many were you at the time?” He said: “Forty men.” Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah have related this Hadith through Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, may Allah have Mercy on him.
Ibn Ishaq said: ‘Ubaidullah Ibn Al-Mugheerah Ibn Mu‘aiqeeb and ‘Abdullah Ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Muhammad Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Hazm narrated to me that Asad Ibn Zurarah went back with Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair toward the residences of Banu ‘Abdul-Ashhal and Banu Zafar. Sa‘d Ibn Mu‘adh was the son of the maternal aunt of Asad Ibn Zurarah. So they entered behind a wall from the walls of Banu Zafar enclosing a well called Birr Maraq. They both sat in the enclosure and a couple of people from those who had accepted Islam gathered. At the time, Sa‘d Ibn Mu‘adh and Usaid Ibn Al-Hudair were the chiefs of their people from Banu ‘Abdul-Ashhal and both of them were pagans upon the religion of their people. When they got wind of them, Sa‘d said to Usaid: “Woe be unto you, go to those two men who have come into our residences to beguile the weak ones amongst us, reprimand them and forbid them from coming into our residences again. I would have dealt with them myself but for relationship of Asad Ibn Zurarah with me, whom, as you have known, is the son of my maternal aunt and I do not have over him any precedence.” Usaid Ibn Hudair took hold of his spear and headed toward the two men. When Asad Ibn Zurarah saw him coming he said to Mus‘ab: “This is one of the chiefs of his people coming to you.” Musab said: “If he would sit for a while, I will speak with him.” When he came to them he addressed then insultingly: “Why have you two come to beguile our weak ones? Leave us alone if you have any need for your lives.”
Moosa Ibn ‘Uqbah added that a young boy said to him, “you came to us in our residences with this fellow who is a stranger and a fugitive so that he might delude our weak ones with falsehood and inviting them to it?”
Ibn Ishaq said that Mus‘ab replied: “Why don’t you sit for a while and listen. If you are pleased with the message you accept otherwise I will desist from what you have found loathsome.” “You have offered a fair deal,” he said driving his spear into the sand and then he sat down. Mus‘ab spoke to him about Islam and recited the Qur’an to him as well.
(The narrator continued): They said, from what was narrated to me: “By Allah, we could recognize Islam on his face even before he said a word in response from its radiance and receptiveness.” Finally, he said: “Nothing is better and more beautiful than this. What do you do when you want to enter into the fold of this religion?” They replied: “Take a bath to purify yourself and purify your cloth, then bear the witness of truth, and then offer prayer.” He got up and took a bath and purified his cloth and then gave the testimony of the truth. Then he offered two units of prayer and then said to both of them: “I left behind a man, if he followed you; none of his people will do otherwise. I will send Sa‘d Ibn Mu‘adh to you right away.” He took hold of his spear and went away toward Sa‘d and his people while they were seated in their assembly. When Sa‘d Ibn Mu‘adh saw him coming, he said: “I swear by Allah, Usaid has returned to you with a face different from the one he went with. When he got to the assembly, Sa‘d said to him: “What did you do?” he said: “I spoke to two individuals and I did not find any fault in them. However, I have warned them and they offered to do as I want. I have spoken that Banu Harithah have gone toward Asad Ibn Zurarah in order to kill him and this is because they knew that he is the son of your maternal aunt in order to betray your covenant.
(The narrator continues): Angered by what he had just heard about Banu Harithah, Sa‘d got up at once, took hold of his spear in his hand and headed toward them both. When they saw him, they remained calm realizing that Usaid wanted him to hear from them too. When he got to them, he was abusive. He said to Asad Ibn Zurarah: “O Abu Umamah, I swear by Allah, if not for the relationship between you and I, I would have hit this one. You came into our midst to delude us with what is loathsome to us?” Meanwhile, Asad had said to Mus‘ab: “Coming to you is a man whom his people follow. If he follows you, no other person will contradict you amongst them.” Mus‘ab said to Sa‘d: “Why don’t you sit for a while and listen. If you are pleased with the message you accept otherwise I will desist from what you have found loathsome.” Sa‘d said: “You have offered a fair deal.” He drove his spear into the sand and sat down. They explained Islam to him and recited the Qur’an to him as well. Moosa Ibn ‘Uqbah added that: Mus‘ab read to him the first part of Soorah Az-Zukhruf. “By Allah, we could recognize Islam on his face even before he said a word in response from its radiance and receptiveness.” Finally, he said: “Nothing is better and more beautiful than this. What do you do when you want to enter into the fold of this religion?” They replied: “Take a bath to purify yourself and purify clothes, then bear witness to truth, and then offer prayer.” He got up, took a bath and purified his clothes and then gave the testimony of the truth. Then he offered two units of prayer and then he took hold of his spear went away toward his people’s assembly with Usaid Ibn Hudair. When his people saw him, they said: “By Allah, Sa‘d has returned to you with a face different
from the one he went with.” When he got to the assembly, Sa‘d said: “O Bani ‘Abdul-Ashhal, what is my position in your midst?” and they all replied, “our leader in nobility and our right hand chief.” “Verily, the words of your men and women concerning me would be haram unless you believe in Allah and His Messenger.”
He (the narrator) also said: “By Allah no one remained in the households of Banu ‘Abdul-Ashhal, neither amongst the men nor of the women, except that they all accepted Islam before nightfall.
Imam Ahmad related from Anas Ibn Malik that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, visited a man from the Ansar. He said to him: “O maternal uncle, say La ilaha ill-Allah (there is none worthy of worship except Allah).” The man said: “Maternal uncle or paternal uncle?” Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “Paternal uncle rather.” The man said: “Do you prefer that I say ‘la ilaha ill-Allah’ and Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “Yes.”
By Ibn Katheer
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