004 - Religious Status of the World Before Islam

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Today, we will shed some light upon the religious status of the Arabs and the world before the coming of the Prophet PBUH. We talk about this to appreciate the blessings the Prophet PBUH came with. When we understand pre-Islam, we will appreciate Islam. When we understand Jahiliyyah (جاهلية - the Age of Ignorance) and their idolatry, we will appreciate the blessing of the sending of the Prophet PBUH.

Pre-Islamic Arabia: The Monotheism of Ibrahim & Ismail

We know every nation had a prophet. And one of the prophets of the Arabs was Ibrahim AS. And Ibrahim AS sanctioned many practices which remained for thousands of years until the coming of the Prophet PBUH. These include:

1. To consider Makkah sacred — And as we know, we Muslims call Makkah "al-Haram (الحرام - the Sacred)," which comes from the same word as "haram (حرام - forbidden)." Makkah is called al-Haram because many things that are halal (حلال - permissible) outside the Haram are haram (حرام - forbidden) inside the Haram. For example, you are not allowed to hunt animals and you are not allowed to pull a leaf of a tree inside the Haram — you cannot 'touch' natural things. Allah says in the Quran:

وَمَنْ دَخَلَهُ كانَ آمِناً

"Whoever enters the Haram is safe" [3:97]. And this is a ruling we still apply in our shariah (شريعة - Islamic law). Ibn Abbas said, "A person would see the murderer of his father doing tawaf (طواف), and he would not touch a hair on his head"—because Makkah is sacred.

2. Showing respect to the Ka'bah (كعبة).

3. Instituting the four Sacred Months (Dhu al-Qa'dah [ذو القعدة], Dhu al-Hijjah [ذو الحجة], Muharram [محرم], and Rajab [رجب]) — In these months, all hostility has to cease, and you are not allowed to engage in any warfare. Everybody must be at peace.

4. Hajj (حج) with all of its rites and rituals — doing tawaf, doing sa'i (سعي), the aspect of sacrificing animals around the Haram, the aspect of decorating animals that are assigned to be sacrificed, etc.

(Side note: Many non-Muslim researchers say these practices of Islam are taken from pagan culture. But this is all a matter of perspective. For the non-Muslims, they are not looking at the fact that these practices are coming from Ibrahim AS. So according to their perspective, they say the Prophet PBUH adopted certain practices from paganism and then added his own two cents. But we say no, he PBUH adhered to the original monotheism of Ibrahim AS, and he cleansed away the paganism.)

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Pre-Islamic Arabia: History of the Introduction of Paganism

Now if the Arabs had a prophet who was Ibrahim AS and he taught tawhid (توحيد - monotheism), then where did paganism come from? The Prophet PBUH told us when and where and how it began. Sahih Muslim: The Prophet PBUH said, "I saw Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i (عمرو بن لحي الخزاعي) wandering around in the Fire of Hell with his entrails cut open behind him"—being punished in a humiliating manner. Why? Because he was the first to change the religion of Ismail. He was the first to introduce superstitions. Allah says in the Quran:

مَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ بَحِيرَةٍ وَلا سَائِبَةٍ وَلا وَصِيلَةٍ وَلا حَامٍ

"It was not Allah who instituted (superstitions like those of) a slit-ear she-camel or a she-camel let loose for free pasture or idol sacrifices for twin-births in animals or stallion-camels freed from work" [5:103].

Amr ibn Luhay is the one who began these superstitions.

It is narrated that Amr ibn Luhay traveled to Syria where the Amaliq (عماليق - Amalekites) reside — a tribe of tall people. He found them to be a powerful civilization that worships idols. He asked them, "What are these idols you worship?" They told him, "These are our sources of power — when we are in a drought, when we are in hunger, when enemy attacks, we pray to these idols and miracles happen." Amr said, "Can you gift me one of these?" And they gave him an idol by the name of Hubal (هبل). So this became the first idol of the Arabian Peninsula and also became the main idol of the Quraysh. (Tangent: This is why hundreds of years later, in the Battle of Uhud [غزوة أحد], when Abu Sufyan [أبو سفيان] thought his pagan army had won against the Muslims, he shouted, "U'lu Hubal [أعل هبل - Hubal has won]!" He mentions the very idol Amr first brought. [See episode 49.] And the Prophet PBUH said to Umar RA, "Respond back to him [Abu Sufyan]." Umar asked, "How do I respond back?" The Prophet PBUH: "Allah is our Protector and you have no protector!") The point being Amr brought this idol back and put it in front of the Ka'bah, and this is how paganism started in Arabia.

Amr ibn Luhay also changed the talbiyah (تلبية) for hajj. The original talbiyah is, "Labbayk'Allahumma labbayk! Labbayka laa shareeka laka labbayk! (لبيك اللهم لبيك، لبيك لا شريك لك لبيك - Here I am, O Allah, Here I am! Here I am, You have no partner, Here I am!)" But Amr ibn Luhay changed it to, "Labbayk'Allahumma labbayk. Labbayka laa shareeka lak illaa shareekan huwa lak tamlikuhu wa maa malak (لبيك اللهم لبيك، لبيك لا شريك لك إلا شريكاً هو لك، تملكه وما ملك - Here I am, O Allah, Here I am. Here I am, You have no partner except for a partner who belongs to You, and You control the partner and all that he controls)," which basically says, "You have partners, O Allah. But You are the big boss"—just like ancient Greek that has a main god and minor gods. Amr ibn Luhay invented this new talbiyah and thus new religion. (However, it's worth noting that according to some, it wasn't him who invented this new talbiyah, but rather, some people a few generations after.)

When did Amr ibn Luhay live? Unfortunately, we can never know precisely, because the Arabs had no real measure of dates. They did not record in dates, but rather, in occasion, e.g., Am al-Fil (عام الفيل - Year of the Elephant). They did not have a calendar (nor did they import the Roman/Persian/Jewish calendars) until Umar RA began the Islamic calendar, so they used to demarcate dates by marking big events, e.g., "the Year of the Elephant," "2 Years Before the Big Battle," "3 Years After the Elephant Attack." So obviously, when it comes to translating when Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i lived, it is impossible for us to fully comprehend. But we know Amr belonged to the generation around the same time as Fihr (فهر) —the founder of Quraysh— so we can roughly estimate he must have lived around the 1st century of the Christian Era, so ~500 years before the coming of the Prophet PBUH. So over 500 years paganism spread.

The question now is how can one man single-handedly change the entire religion of their forefathers Ibrahim AS and Ismail AS?

Three factors:

1. Inferiority complex Amr had towards the advanced Amalekites — these people were a powerful civilization who had history, writing, architecture, large buildings, and were known to be undefeated. So Amr ibn Luhay felt a complex and assumed that Amalekites must be correct in everything. (So we should take from this a lesson: simply because a nation is powerful and has technology, it does not mean they have the correct morality or the correct ethics or the correct theology.) [But] Amr ibn Luhay was so astounded he assumed surely the Amalekites must be upon guidance. So he took from them their theology.

2. Amr ibn Luhay was very influential among his people — he was the chieftain of Khuza'a (خزاعة). He was one of the most respected: he had a lot of power, was a generous man, won lots of different battles — so the people followed him as he was prestigious and had high credentials. And the Khuza'a was in charge of Makkah for a certain period of time, so that's when the idolatry spread.

3. There must have been at least 2000 years between Amr ibn Luhay and Ibrahim AS — so there was a long time when there was no guidance. Thus ignorance prevailed.

And there are even narrations that say shaytan inspired Amr ibn Luhay through a dream with the names of the very first idols — the name of the five idols from the time of Nuh AS as mentioned in the Quran: Wadd (ود), Suwa' (سواع), Yaghuth (يغوث), Ya'uq (يعوق), and Nasr (نسر) [see Quran, 71:23]. And in a hadith, Ibn Abbas mentions the story of these five righteous men before the time of Nuh AS, who when they died, people built their statues to remind them of their piety. But as generations passed, instead of just looking at the statues, people began venerating and worshiping them. Shaytan used the righteousness of these five men as the stepping stone to idolatry. And it is said that thousands of years later, shaytan then inspired Amr ibn Luhay to resurrect these five idols — and so Amr resurrected them. And indeed, they were worshiped in pre-Islamic Arabia even though their names were forgotten for millennia. One tribe had the Wadd statue, another had Suwa', and so on.

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Pre-Islamic Arabia: Various Paganistic Practices

1. We learn that in jahili (جاهلي - pagan) times, whenever a caravan left Makkah, they would chip away a rock from the Ka'bah and take it as the equivalent of an idol, and they would worship it. (Note: As Muslims, we do not consider the bricks of Ka'bah to be sacred and holy. The location is holy, but not the bricks of the Ka'bah itself, not the building itself. A lot of people don't know this, but Ka'bah is rebuilt every few decades just like any structure. The current Ka'bah is only 10 years old. There is nothing holy about the Ka'bah. It is the area and the land of Makkah that is sacred. But the people before the time of the Prophet PBUH did not realize this, so they let paganism seep in.)

2. A sahabi mentioned, "Before Islam came, we worshiped rocks and stones, and if we found a rock that looked more beautiful than the one we were worshiping, we would throw the old one away and put the new one in its place. And if we were traveling in the desert and we couldn't find a rock, we would gather sand, put it into a pile, bring a goat, squeeze some milk out of it to make the sand firm, and then we do tawaf around that sand." (Note: It is mind-boggling that intelligent people would do this. But sadly, even to this day, in some Muslim countries, we see people bow to graves and do tawaf around it — and some do the same with saints & mausoleums.)

3. One of the most disgusting stories is that of Na'ila (نائلة) and Isaf (إساف‎). They were two idols — Na'ila was put on Safa (صفا) and Isaf on Marwa (مروة). And before Islam, the Quraysh would touch Na'ila and Isaf when they went back and forth doing sa'i. So when Islam came, the Muslims felt hesitant, "How can we do sa'i when it is meant to commemorate Na'ila and Isaf?" So Allah revealed in the Quran, "Safa and Marwa are from the signs of Allah" [see Quran, 2:158] even before Na'ila and Isaf ever came — meaning don't feel guilty, as Na'ila and Isaf have nothing to do with the holiness of Safa and Marwa. And Aisha RA says, "Since we were children, we were hearing the story of Na'ila and Isaf." The books of history say they were two lovers, and they could not find a place to be intimate except the interior of the Ka'bah, so they consummated their romance inside the Ka'bah. And as a punishment, Allah petrified them right then and there. But when the Quraysh found them, they took them as a miracle, and they put them on Safa and Marwa.

4. When the Prophet PBUH conquered Makkah, there were around 360 idols of various shapes and sizes around the Ka'bah [see episode 79]. Some in the shape of full humans, some in the shape of animals, and most in the shape of half-human half-animal just like in children's fairy tales, i.e., humanoids.

5. The Quraysh had the theology that Allah had daughters who were His angels. So they worshiped the angels thinking they were the daughters of Allah.

6. The Arabs did not have a creed — paganistic societies don't have creeds, unlike us Muslims that have Arkan al-Iman (أركان الإيمان - Pillars of Faith). (Side note: Hindus are the clearest example of the idolatrous religion; they don't have a unified creed, no aqida [عقيدة - creed]. One Hindu can worship one god and another worship another god, and you can have 6 million Hindus worshiping 6 million different gods, and each one has a different perception of what his god can or cannot do.) The same goes for the Arabs; there was no unified creed — many believed some things that others didn't. But they all agreed upon the fact that they needed to worship idols to come closer to Allah.

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Pre-Islamic Arabia: The Hunafa'

History records that there are some exceptions to this paganism. The books of seerah mention there were a handful of people that were hanif (حنيف) (plural: hunafa' [حنفاء]) which means "turning away from." They are called the hunafa' because they turned away from shirk (شرك - polytheism/idolatry) to Allah. One hunafa' was Quss ibn Sa'ida (قس بن ساعدة) from Banu Iyad (إياد), an old man around the age of 80-90 when the Prophet PBUH saw him as a young man in his 20s. Quss would come to Makkah for the hajj and he was preaching against idolatry. And he was one of the most eloquent of poets — it is said that his language resembled the language of the Quran. E.g.:

يا أيها الناس، اسمعوا وعوا، وإذا سمعتم شيئا فانتفعوا، إنه من عاش مات، ومن مات فات، وكل ما هو آت آت

"O people! Listen to me and understand! And when you hear, then benefit! Because whoever lives, of a surety will die! And whoever dies, has finished! And everything that Allah has decreed, will indeed come about!"

And he has:

يا معشر إياد، أين ثمود وعاد، وأين الآباء والأجداد، أين المعروف الذي لم يشكر، والظلم الذي لم ينكر، أقسم قس بالله إن لله لدينا أرضى من دينكم هذا

"O people of Iyad! Where is Thamud, and where is Ad? Where are your fathers, and where are your grandfathers? And who will reward the one who does good but is never rewarded? And who will punish the one who does injustice but is never punished? I swear by Allah that there must be a religion better than the religion you are upon!"

It is said that 40 years later, in the 9th year of Hijrah, when Banu Iyad came to accept Islam, the Prophet PBUH asked the tribesmen, "Where is Quss ibn Sa'ida?" But they said he died a long time ago. The Prophet PBUH said, "I remember him on a red camel and he had a mesmerizing speech. Can anybody amongst you remind me of it?" So they related what we know (above), and the Prophet PBUH liked what Quss had said. This shows there were some remnants of tawhid even in pre-Islamic Arabia.

The most important hunafa' were the following four. Ibn Hisham narrates a very beautiful story: Before the coming of the Prophet PBUH, the Quraysh held a huge festival outside of Makkah and they exalted the idols, did tawaf around them, etc. When the entire city of Makkah left for the festival, four people found themselves remaining behind. And they realized they were on the same wavelength — upon tawhid. So they befriended each other. They were:

1. Waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad (ورقة بن نوفل بن أسد)

- We know that Khuwaylid (خويلد) the father of Khadija (خديجة) was also ibn Asad. So Waraqa and Khadija were cousins. But Waraqa was ~40 years older.

2. Ubaydillah ibn Jahsh (عبيد الله بن جحش)

- This is the cousin of the Prophet PBUH through his father. Ubaydillah's mother is the Prophet's PBUH aunt. Aunt meaning Abdul Muttalib's (عبد المطلب) daughter.

3. Uthman ibn al-Huwayrith (عثمان بن الحويرث)

4. Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl (زيد بن عمرو بن نفيل)

- The first cousin of Umar ibn al-Khattab ibn Nufayl (but again, Zayd is ~40 years older)

So they befriended each other and said, "We all know that our people are upon misguidance; they had left the pure religion of Ibrahim AS. Are we going to do tawaf around a stone that can neither benefit us nor harm us? Let us search for the original religion of Ibrahim AS: The hanifiyah (حنيفية)"—the Arabs knew that Ibrahim AS was a hanif. Then they all split up and left Makkah in search of the Truth.

As for Waraqa ibn Nawfal, he eventually chose Christianity and rejected the religion of the Quraysh. He was an old blind man in his 80s when the Prophet PBUH heard Iqra (اقرأ) (i.e., when the Prophet PBUH received the first revelation). Everyone knew he was a learned scholar who reads and writes, and he spoke Hebrew and Aramaic. So when Iqra came, Khadija RA (the wife of the Prophet PBUH) said to the Prophet PBUH, "Let us go to Waraqa." And Waraqa recognized the revelation that the Prophet PBUH had received (Islam) to be the religion that the Christians were waiting for. And indeed, Waraqa was the first male convert to Islam. Even before the Prophet PBUH realized he was a prophet and was wondering what was that entity that came to him, Waraqa knew straight away and said, "This is the same entity who came to Musa and Isa. This is the Namus (ناموس - the Secret Companion), Jibril!" And he said, "How I wish I were a young man now so that I can support you when your people persecute you and expel you!" The Prophet PBUH was shocked, "My people will expel me?" Waraqa said, "Yes! Never has any prophet come with the Truth except that his own people opposed him." And just a little while after this event, Waraqa passed away.

Ubaydillah ibn Jahsh has the saddest story. He initially converted to Christianity, and when the Prophet PBUH preached Islam, he converted to Islam, he married Ummi Habiba (أم حبيبة) and migrated to Abyssinia, but when in Abyssinia, he became a murtad (مرتد - apostate) — he reverted back to Christianity, and that's when Ummi Habiba left him. He died shortly after; and then as we know, Ummi Habiba married the Prophet PBUH.

Uthman ibn al-Huwayrith too accepted Christianity, and he remained this until he died. We don't know if he heard the message of the Prophet PBUH, because he left Makkah before the birth of the Prophet PBUH (or when the Prophet PBUH was a little child), never to return. He traveled to Rome and became an interpreter for Rome.

Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl did not convert to Christianity or Judaism. It is narrated that he told both the rabbis and priests, "This is not the religion of Ibrahim and you know it." So he returned back to Makkah and told his people once he had become mature and respected, "O people of Quraysh! There is no one left upon the religion of Ibrahim in this whole city other than me!" Asma bint Abi Bakr (أسماء بنت أبي بكر) (the older sister of Aisha RA) said she remembers as a young child seeing Zayd ibn Amr rebuking the Quraysh for worshiping idols, for giving meat to the idols, and for trying to bury their daughters alive. In fact, when any Qureshi wanted to kill their daughter, Zayd ibn Amr would say, "Give her over to me, I will take care of her and I will bring her up. She will become my daughter"—so he would adopt all of the daughters that the Quraysh wanted to kill. This shows us his generosity and kind heart. And he refused to participate in any of their idolatry. It is authentically mentioned that the Prophet PBUH met Zayd ibn Amr when the Prophet PBUH was young, and he asked, "What is the matter between you and your people? Why is there animosity?" (Note: This shows us that our Prophet PBUH even as a young man had an inquisitive mind.) Zayd ibn Amr said, "I cannot worship idols." And the Prophet PBUH himself never worshiped an idol ever, so he found a kindred spirit with Zayd ibn Amr. Zayd ibn Amr continued upon his tawhid religion and died five years before the Prophet PBUH began preaching Islam. Once, his son, Sa'id ibn Zayd (سعيد بن زيد), who was a sahabi and one of the Ashara Mubasharun (العشرة المبشرون - The Ten Who Were Promised Jannah), asked the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, you know my father, and you remember what he was upon. What will be his fate in the akhira?" The Prophet PBUH said, "He will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment as his own ummah"—he was a one-man ummah. And when the Prophet PBUH went back from al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj [see episodes 21-23], he said to Sa'id, "I saw your father in Jannah. And Allah had blessed him with not one, but two Gardens!" So this shows that even before the coming of Islam, people managed to enter Jannah, because their fitrah (فطرة - natural disposition) rejected paganism and idolatry. And Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl is a one-man ummah; the only ummah without any prophet.

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Religious Status of the Romans and the Sassanids

The Romans were upon Christianity, and the Persians/Sassanids were upon Zoroastrianism (Ahura Mazda, Ahriman, etc. — a type of pagan religion).

Christianity — To make a long story short, after Allah raised Isa AS, there were three major strands of Christianity:

1. Gnosticism — a mystical understanding of the religion.

2. Jewish Christians — they believe that they are Jews and they have to follow the law of Musa AS. They have a halakha (i.e., the equivalent of "shariah" in Islam): they eat kosher, they circumcise, etc. And they believe that Jesus was sent to the Jews, and that he was the Promised Messiah, i.e., exactly as we Muslims believe.

3. Pauline Christians — Paul, who was not even a disciple but claimed to see Jesus AS in his vision, began a whole new theology. He taught that Jesus has elements of divinity, that he is not just a man, and that he came to replace the law of Musa AS, that if you believe in Jesus, you don't have to follow any "shariah." And he began some elements of Trinity.

For 300 years, Christians debated over what is the meaning of Christianity — who is Jesus: is he a God, is he a son of God, is he a prophet, etc.

Before Christianity, the Romans were pagans, and they were the worst enemies of the Christians. Stories have it they would find Christians and throw them to the lion pits, Emperor Nero would burn Christians alive, making the whole city of Rome burn alight by Christians' bodies, etc. So for 200-300 years, Christians were martyrs, until a miracle happened, that is the Emperor of Rome converted to Christianity — and this was quite a shock. (Note: The equivalent in our time would be: "The President of the U.S. converted to Islam!") Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Then he convened a whole council with the Christians to figure out what Christianity is — and he was a pagan from before, so he wanted some paganistic elements in Christianity, so he invented 25th December, halos, Trinity, son of God, etc., and in 325 CE, he decreed that official Christianity is Pauline Trinitarian Christianity; and all the Unitarians/Jewish Christians were persecuted and killed. So Pauline Christianity became the standard, and from it we get the Orthodox, the Catholic, the Protestant, etc., i.e., 99.9% of the Christians today.

By the time the Prophet PBUH was born (570 CE), there were only a handful of remnants of the Jewish Christians left, e.g., the teachers of Salman al-Farisi:

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Remnants of the Real Christians: The Story of Salman al-Farisi

Salman al-Farisi (سلمان الفارسي) was the son of a priest in Persia. His father was the one who kept the fire lit. (Note: Zoroastrians have to keep the fire lit 24/7, they are not allowed to cut it off — they believe the fire is eternal. E.g., even when they build a new temple, they have to import an ever-lit fire from another temple where the fire is already lit.) The father of Salman al-Farisi taught him how to keep the fire going.

Salman al-Farisi told us his story from his own lips^[1]. He said: "I come from Isfahan (أصفهان), from a place called Jai (جي), and I was the most beloved son of my father, who was a figure of high esteem among his people. We used to worship fire. I devoted myself to fire worship until I became custodian of the fire which we lit and never allowed to be extinguished. My father had an estate. And one day, he sent me there. I passed by a church and heard Christians praying. And I went in and saw what they were doing. And I was impressed by what I saw in their prayers. I said, 'This is better than our religion.' And I did not leave them until sunset, and I completely forgot about my father's estate, nor did I return to my father until he sent people to search for me. I asked the Christians about their affair and prayers which impressed me, and about the origin of their religion. They answered, 'In Syria.' I said to my father when I returned to him, 'I passed by people praying in a church, and I was impressed by their prayer, and I could see that their religion is better than ours.' And my father questioned me and I questioned him, and then he put fetters on my feet and locked me up. Then I sent word to the Christians saying I had entered their religion, and I requested that whenever a caravan came from Syria, they should tell me before its return in order for me to travel with the caravan, and so they did. I broke loose from the iron fetters and went away. I set out with the caravan for Syria. And when I reached Syria, I asked the people there, 'Who is the best person in your religion?' They said, 'The bishop in the church.' So I went to him and told him my story. And I lived with him, serving, praying, and learning. But this bishop was a bad man — he would collect money from people claiming he would distribute it in charity, but he would keep it for himself and did not give it to the poor. When he died, I told his people the truth. And they asked, 'How do you know that? Show us where his treasure is.' So I showed them where it was and brought out seven chests filled with gold and silver. When they saw that, they said, 'By God, we will never bury him.' Then they crucified him and pelted him with stones. Then they brought another man and appointed a new bishop in his place. I have never seen a man better than him; he shunned this world and sought the hereafter and no one strove harder than him night and day in worship. I loved him as I had never loved anyone before, and I stayed with him for a while. Then when he was about to die, I said, 'O So-and-so, I was with you and I loved you as I had never loved anyone before, and now the decree of God is upon you. To whom would you recommend me? And to whom would you leave me?' He said, 'O my son, I do not know anyone who is on the path I am and who leads the kind of life I lead, except a certain man in Mawsil (موصل - Mosul).' When he died, I went to that man in Mawsil, and told him the story, and I stayed with him as long as God wished me to stay. Then death approached him. So I asked him, 'To whom would you advise me to go?' He directed me to a pious man in Nisibin (نصيبين - Nusaybin). So I went to him and told him my story. I stayed with him as long as God wished me to stay. When death overtook him, I asked him as before. And he told me to meet a person at Amuriah (عمورية - Amorium) in Byzantium. So, to Byzantium I went and stayed with that man, earning my living there by rearing cattle and sheep. Then death approached him, and I asked him, 'To whom should I go?' He said, 'O my son, I do not know of anyone who follows our way to whom I can advise you to go. But there has come the time of a prophet, who will be sent with the pure religion of Ibrahim (Abraham). He will migrate to the place of palm trees. If you can be sincere to him, then do so. He has three signs with which you will recognize: (1) he does not eat of charity, (2) yet he accepts gifts, and (3) between his shoulders he has the Seal of the Prophethood.' And a caravan passed by me on that day. So I asked them where they had come from, and learned that they were from the Arabian Peninsula. So I told them, 'I give you these cattle and sheep of mine in return for your taking me to your land.' And they agreed. So they took me in their company until they brought me to Wadi al-Qura (وادي القرى), but there they wronged me — they sold me to a Jew as a slave. But I saw many palm trees and cherished the hope that it was the land that had been described to me which would be the future place of the advent of the prophet. But it was not. And I stayed with this Jew who bought me until another from Bani Qurayza (بنو قريظة) came to him one day and bought me from him. And I stayed with him until we came to Yathrib (يثرب) (later to be Madinah). By God, I had hardly seen it when I knew that it was the land described to me. And I stayed with the Jew, working for him on his plantation in Bani Qurayza until God sent His Prophet [PBUH], who later emigrated to Yathrib and dismounted at Quba (قباء) [see episode 30] among the Bani Amr ibn Awf (بني عمرو بن عوف). Indeed, one day, I was at the top of a palm tree with my master sitting below it when a Jewish man came. He was a cousin of his and said to him, 'May God destroy Bani Qayla (بني قيلة)! They are spreading a rumor about a man at Quba who came from Makkah claiming to be a prophet.' By God, he had hardly said it when I was seized by a tremor, and the palm tree shook until I almost fell on my master. And I climbed down quickly saying, 'What are you saying? What news?' But my master gave me a nasty slap and said, 'What have you got to do with this? Return to your work!' So I returned to work. At nightfall, I gathered what I had and went out until I came to the Prophet [PBUH] at Quba. I entered and found him sitting with some of his Companions. Then I said, 'I have heard that you are a righteous man and that you have Companions who are strangers and are in need. So this is something that I have to give in charity, and I see that you are more in need of it than anyone else.' And I put the food down. And the Prophet [PBUH] said to his Companions, 'Eat,' but he refrained from eating. So I said to myself, 'This, by God, is one sign. He does not eat of charity!' Then I returned to meet the Prophet [PBUH] again the next day, carrying some food, and said to him, 'I see that you do not partake of charity. So I have something which I want to give to you as a gift.' And I placed it before him. And he said to his Companions, 'Eat,' and he ate with them. So I said to myself, 'This indeed is the second sign. He eats of gifts.' Then I returned and stayed away for a while. Then I came to him, and I saw him sitting, having returned from a burial in Baqi' al-Gharqad (بقيع الغرقد), and surrounded by his Companions. And he had two garments, carrying one on his shoulder, and wearing the other. I greeted him, then bent to see the upper part of his back. And he knew what I was looking for, so he threw aside his garment off his shoulder and, behold, the sign between his shoulders, the Seal of the Prophethood, was clear just as the Christian monk had described. So at once, I staggered towards him, kissing him and weeping. And he called to me to come forward and I sat before him. And I told him my story as you have heard me describe the events. And I became a Muslim. But slavery prevented me from taking part in the Battles of Badr and Uhud. Therefore, the Prophet PBUH advised me, 'Go to terms with your master for him to free you,' and so I did [see episode 57]. And the Prophet PBUH told the Companions to assist me. And God freed me from bondage. And I became a free Muslim, taking part with the Prophet PBUH in the Battle of al-Khandaq (غزوة الخندق) and others. And after that, I did not miss any major event with him."

Salman's story shows how few real Christians were left. The monk in Byzantium said, "I do not know of anyone who follows our way to whom I can advise you to go." This shows that the teachers of Salman were upon the version of Christianity that was not Pauline — as they had knowledge that's not found in the New Testament, i.e., the knowledge that's lost after Constantine burned all Christian books other than 4 that affirmed his belief.

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Remnants of the Real Christians: Heraclius the Emperor of Byzantium

Another story in Bukhari shows how few real Christians were left, in the story of Emperor Heraclius. Unlike most politicians in the world, he was an intelligent and educated man. And he was trained in Christianity. When the Prophet PBUH wrote a letter to the emperors (in the 8th and 9th year of the Hijrah), he wrote one to Heraclius as well. (Or to be more precise, he wrote one to the governor of Bosra so that he would send it to Heraclius. But it so happened that Heraclius was visiting Jerusalem at the time, so he got the letter earlier [see episode 71].) And the letter says:

من محمد بن عبد الله إلى هرقل عظيم الروم: سلام على من اتبع الهدى، أما بعد فإنى أدعوك بدعوة الإسلام . أسلم تسلم ويؤتك الله أجرك مرتين ، فإن توليت فإن عليك إثم الأريسيِّين.

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَىٰ كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy

From Muhammad son of Abdullah to Heraclius the Leader of the Romans:

Peace be upon he who follows the guidance.

As to what follows: I invite you with the invitation of Islam. If you submit, then you will find safety, and God will double your reward. If you turn away, you will bear the Arians' sins.

"Say, [O Prophet,] 'O People of the Book! Let us come to common terms: that we will worship none but God, associate none with Him, nor take one another as lords instead of God.' But if they turn away, then say, 'Bear witness that we have submitted [to God alone]'" [Quran, 3:64].

Heraclius read the letter, and then he inquired of his advisors, "Are there any Arabs in town?" They said, "Yes, it just so happens a trading caravan from Makkah is in Jerusalem." So Heraclius ordered these Arabs to be brought to his palace. And lo and behold, it was none other than Abu Sufyan (who at the time was not a Muslim). And after a long conversation between them, Heraclius told Abu Sufyan at the end, "If what you tell me is true, then this is indeed the prophet that our scriptures have predicted." Pause here. There is no clear prediction in the current New Testament. So clearly, Heraclius must have had access to the hidden scriptures (much like the Vatican) and realized that, "This is indeed a true prophet of God." He said, "I knew he was coming, but it never occurred to me that he would be from the Arabs." Heraclius then wrote to his confidant who was a bishop who was on the same wavelength as him, and the bishop confirmed, "Yes, he (the Prophet PBUH) meets all the signs."

Yet Heraclius did not accept Islam as he could not give up being the emperor of Byzantium. So he died upon his faith.

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Conclusion

So in this dismal darkness, the Prophet PBUH was sent. This is exactly what the Prophet PBUH said:

ألا إن ربي أمرني أن أعلمكم ما جهلتم مما علمني يومي هذا

وإن الله تعالى نظر إلى أهل الأرض فمقتهم عربهم وعجمهم إلا بقايا من أهل الكتاب

"My Lord has commanded me to teach you that which you were ignorant of. And Allah looked at the whole world and He despised everyone, except for some remnants of the People of the Book" [Sahih Muslim].

We conclude by mentioning a few benefits from today's halaqa:

1. Guidance comes only from Allah. Not from our intellect or philosophy. The world did not have a prophet for hundreds of years until the coming of the Prophet PBUH, and no intellectual/theologian could conceive of the Truth or guide mankind. Allah revealed the Quran and only then hidayah (هداية - guidance) came — without Allah's guidance, there is no guidance. Why is this important? Because people of our time believe that guidance is the cumulative experience of what mankind has done, i.e., they say we have to keep modifying, keep adopting, and keep changing. But this is wrong. Our guidance is the Quran and sunnah (سنة - Prophetic tradition) — this is the ultimate guidance. We are not going to change the Quran and sunnah according to the whims of society. Even the Prophet PBUH didn't know the Truth until it was revealed to him [see episode 10]; thus *no one* can know the Truth without Allah's guidance.

2. We really understand that most of mankind are like sheep — they follow whatever the leaders say. The Quraysh knew the religion they were upon was not the one of Ibrahim, but everyone was upon it so they just followed. Allah says in the Quran, "And most people will not believe—no matter how keen you are—" [Quran, 12:103]. And Allah says if you follow the majority of mankind, they will lead you astray. Indeed, the majority just want to follow their desires.

3. The story of Salman al-Farisi and Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl tells us: whoever is sincere will be guided. If there is sincerity, it doesn't matter if you are living in a pagan society; if your heart is pure, Allah will guide you to the Truth. Allah took Salman out of the depths of Jahiliyyah and brought him to the feet of the Prophet PBUH.

[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan, Faizan, Khalid Muhammad Khalid & Mansoor]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Muhammad Abdul Rahman, April 2021]