We are still talking about the incidents that occurred in the Conquest of Makkah. And as is typical with all of the incidents of the seerah, we have lots of narrations but we need to piece the puzzle together. Last time, we discussed all the people who were on the list to not be forgiven —and it's understood that those stories happened over the course of 2-3 weeks, but we just lumped them all together for logistic's sake— and we discussed that even of those on the list (of up to 9), most were forgiven, and only up to 4 were executed. And as we said, this is the general rule of Islam: mercy, tolerance, and compassion. But at times, strictness must be shown as the exception, to send some fear in order that people do not cross the line.
The Voice of Bilal ibn Rabah RA
Let us return to the actual Conquest. The Prophet PBUH gave the khutbah standing on the steps of the Ka'bah with the doors wide open behind him — and there is clear symbolism here: That now, the door of Allah is open to all, and anyone can embrace Islam. There is the Messenger of Allah PBUH at the door inviting the people to accept Islam. And he tells the people, "Go forth, you are free today." At this point in time, he then tells Bilal ibn Rabah RA to stand on top of the Ka'bah and give the adhan. Allah honored Bilal RA to be the first-ever muezzin in Makkah. And truly, how amazing it is: the voice that used to cry out while being persecuted, the voice that used to testify to the Oneness of Allah, "Ahadun Ahad," that same voice would be chosen by Allah to now proclaim His Oneness at the time of honor and power. He who remains firm during times of hardship and persecution, he will be honored at the time of ease and honor.
And truly, it was an honor that was unprecedented in the history of Arabia: An Abyssinian slave with no lineage or background is chosen to go literally and metaphorically on the highest step and give the adhan. He is literally above the Quraysh, and metaphorically being chosen above them to proclaim the testimony of faith on behalf of the Messenger of Allah. And of course, the adhan summarizes the religion of Islam.
We also learn the truth of the Islamic principle: "al-jaza-u min jins-il-amal (الجزاء من جنس العمل - the reward/punishment will be the exact same as what you did to get that reward/punishment)." It's a theological maxim that Allah and the Prophet PBUH have shown to be true. That is, you will be dealt with how you deserve to be dealt with. Good for good, and bad for bad. "Jaza" means "reward/punishment" — it will be the same characteristic as your actions. The one who persevered and whose voice declared the Oneness of Allah in times of persecution, now his voice is chosen to declare the Oneness of Allah in times of honor.
When Bilal's voice is proclaiming the adhan, Abu Sufyan is standing there with the elites of the Quraysh: al-Harith ibn Hisham (الحارث بن هشام) of the Banu Makhzum (he is Abu Jahal's full brother), and Itab ibn Asid (عتاب بن أسيد) of the Banu Umayyah — and Itab says a statement of Jahiliyyah, "Allah has honored my father (Asid) for having him dead right now — he doesn't have to see the humiliation upon us how this black man has been chosen above us." Al-Harith says, "Wallahi, if I thought this man was on the Truth, I would be following him." Abu Sufyan who is a new Muslim, says, "As for me, my tongue is sealed — if I were to say anything, even the rocks would inform the Prophet PBUH what I said"—this shows us Abu Sufyan is afraid, but he is still not firm on Islam. One side of him is still sympathetic to what Itab & al-Harith said, but another side knows the Truth. This statement demonstrates Iman has not fully entered his heart. He believes the Prophet PBUH is a prophet, but still, he isn't fully submissive. But still, he is a Muslim. And we see this again and again: Islam is of levels. And Allah says this in Surah al-Hujurat (الحجرات):
When Bilal's voice is proclaiming the adhan, Abu Sufyan is standing there with the elites of the Quraysh: al-Harith ibn Hisham (الحارث بن هشام) of the Banu Makhzum (he is Abu Jahal's full brother), and Itab ibn Asid (عتاب بن أسيد) of the Banu Umayyah — and Itab says a statement of Jahiliyyah, "Allah has honored my father (Asid) for having him dead right now — he doesn't have to see the humiliation upon us how this black man has been chosen above us." Al-Harith says, "Wallahi, if I thought this man was on the Truth, I would be following him." Abu Sufyan who is a new Muslim, says, "As for me, my tongue is sealed — if I were to say anything, even the rocks would inform the Prophet PBUH what I said"—this shows us Abu Sufyan is afraid, but he is still not firm on Islam. One side of him is still sympathetic to what Itab & al-Harith said, but another side knows the Truth. This statement demonstrates Iman has not fully entered his heart. He believes the Prophet PBUH is a prophet, but still, he isn't fully submissive. But still, he is a Muslim. And we see this again and again: Islam is of levels. And Allah says this in Surah al-Hujurat (الحجرات):
لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ وَلَـٰكِن قُولُوٓا۟ أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ ٱلْإِيمَـٰنُ فِى قُلُوبِكُمْ
"[O Bedouins,] you are not yet mu'mins (believers), you are Muslims (one who has accepted Islam). Iman has not yet fully entered your hearts" [see Quran, 49:14]. And wallahi, we see this in the sahaba and we see this in our times as well. People convert for marriage, less taxes, etc.
Later on, when the Prophet PBUH is exiting the Haram and passes by Abu Sufyan, al-Harith, and Itab, he PBUH says, "I know exactly what the three of you said. As for you, O Itab, you said such-and-such. As for you, O al-Harith, such-and-such. And as for you, O Abu Sufyan, you said such-and-such"—he narrated letter for letter and word for word the whole conversation. So right then and there al-Harith said, "Wallahi, you must be a prophet! For nobody was listening to our conversation, and none of us went to inform you! I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah." And so he accepted Islam on the spot. Itab as well eventually accepted; and Abu Sufyan is already a Muslim.
______________
The Iman of Some of Those Who Converted After the Conquest
Al-Harith ibn Hisham, later on, his Islam became very strong, and he narrated many ahadith. One is a beautiful hadith in Sahih Bukhari, that after the Conquest of Makkah, he asked the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, tell me. How does the revelation (wahy) come to you?" The Prophet PBUH said to him, "Sometimes the wahy comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and it's very difficult upon me. And sometimes Jibril AS comes to me in the form of a man and I understand what he says, and that's easier for me." And subhan'Allah, it's interesting that al-Harith had the audacity to ask a question that even Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali would never dare ask. And it's true — sometimes, somebody much closer to you would be too shy to ask such probing questions. And that's why Ibn Umar once said, "We would love it when an intelligent Bedouin would come to Madinah so he would ask questions and we would listen." The senior sahaba had too much hayba (هيبة - reverence and respect) for the Prophet PBUH to the level that they would not dare ask certain questions. But al-Harith ibn Hisham is a brand new convert, so he asks; and the Prophet PBUH responds to him.
(And it is also narrated that one time, the Prophet PBUH was in his tent and wahy began. So Umar RA called al-Harith and told him, "Look, wahy is coming." So al-Harith saw the state of the Prophet PBUH when wahy was coming down. This is a privilege given to him because he is after all one of the seniors of the Quraysh.)
So al-Harith converted at this stage, and he became a good Muslim. And later on, he died a shaheed fighting against the Romans in the Battle of Yarmouk [15 AH]. And he is involved in that famous story during the Battle of Yarmouk, which was the major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslims as it paved the way to open up half of the kingdom of the Romans. It was a victory for the Muslims, but in terms of lives killed, major losses occurred on both sides. It is narrated that in that battle, al-Harith ibn Hisham, Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahal, and Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi'ah, all fell to the ground severely wounded. Al-Harith asked for water to drink. One of the soldiers brought water to him. But when he saw that Ikrimah was looking at him, he said, "Take this water to Ikrimah." But as Ikrimah received the water, he saw that Ayyash was looking at him, so he declined the water, saying, "Give it to Ayyash." But Ayyash died before the water could reach him. At that, the water-bearer ran back to Ikrimah, but Ikrimah had also died. So he ran over to al-Harith, but he had died, too. Subhan'Allah. We see the strength of their Iman, even though al-Harith and Ikrimah converted after the Conquest.
______________
Things Have Come Full Circle
After the khutbah, the Prophet PBUH made his way to Mount Safa, sat somewhere on the mountain, and there he took the oath of allegiance from all the people who were willing to embrace Islam. This is the primary visualization of the statement of Allah in Surah al-Nasr (النصر):
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
"And you [O Prophet] see the people embracing Allah's Way in crowds" [Quran, 110:2].Hundreds were around him PBUH waiting to give the bay'ah. And subhan'Allah, how perfect it is that where the dawah began, it shall end as well. Things are coming full circle. The public dawah began on Mount Safa [see episode 12], and it ends here. And our Prophet PBUH sits down where he once stood to pretty much finish the job that began 2 decades ago. And now people are coming to him embracing Islam one after the other. And the bulk of the people of Makkah converted at this point in time.
______________
"There Is No Hijrah After the Conquest"
There is one interesting tidbit here, which a lot of fiqh is derived from. (The fiqhi benefits of the Conquest of Makkah will be discussed in the next lesson.) A sahabi comes with his blood brother, and he says, "Ya Rasulullah, this is my brother. I want you to give him the blessings of Hijrah like you have given me." Meaning whenever someone Migrated, the Prophet PBUH would give them the good tidings that, "You have now done Hijrah and you shall be rewarded with Jannah," etc., so this sahabi wanted his brother to get the same blessings he had (and this is part of Islam, that "you want for your brother what you want for yourself"). But the Prophet PBUH said —and this is one of the most famous mutawatir hadith in Bukhari and Muslim—: "There is no Hijrah after the Conquest [of Makkah]." For 7-8 years, Hijrah was fard ayn on every single Muslim — you *had* to make Hijrah to Madinah or else your Islam was deficient; but when the Prophet PBUH conquered Makkah, that ruling was abrogated. There is no more Hijrah after the Conquest. (Side note: That special Hijrah has been abrogated, but of course, we still can make personal hijrahs. However, our personal hijrahs are not the same as *the* Hijrah. That special Hijrah for the ummah is gone, and every Muslim need not make Hijrah to Madinah.)
Then the Prophet PBUH said, "The only thing that remains is jihad and good intentions," i.e., "If your brother really wanted the Hijrah and his intention was there, Allah will give him that," and also, "If your brother wants to make up what missed him, there is plenty of opportunity that is going to come now (i.e., the Muslims will fight jihad against the Romans and the Persians)."
______________
Women's Oath of Allegiance & the Back-and-Forth With Hind bint Utbah
So the Prophet PBUH took the oath of allegiance from all the men. Then the women of the Quraysh were called, and they were all gathered before the Prophet PBUH, and the verse from Surah al-Mumtahanah (الممتحنة) would be told to them:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ يُبَايِعْنَكَ عَلَىٰ أَن لَّا يُشْرِكْنَ بِاللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَسْرِقْنَ وَلَا يَزْنِينَ وَلَا يَقْتُلْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ وَلَا يَأْتِينَ بِبُهْتَانٍ يَفْتَرِينَهُ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِنَّ وَأَرْجُلِهِنَّ وَلَا يَعْصِينَكَ فِي مَعْرُوفٍ ۙ فَبَايِعْهُنَّ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُنَّ اللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
"O Prophet! When the believing women come to you, pledging to you that they will neither associate anything with Allah [in worship], nor steal, nor fornicate, nor kill their children, nor falsely attribute [illegitimate] children to their husbands, nor disobey you in what is right, then accept their pledge, and ask Allah to forgive them. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful" [Quran, 60:12].Amongst the women was Hind bint Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyan, wearing a full-face veil so no one would recognize her. (And of course, Hind has a history that we all know — what she did to Hamzah at Uhud [see episode 48]. So now she is scared of the consequences and wears the niqab.) (Tangent: It's well known that the face veil was something practiced by the women in the time of the Prophet PBUH. Whether it's fard or not is a different story. But the claim that the niqab is an invention is clearly baseless and wrong. The veil is clearly a part of Islamic tradition — some scholars say it's fard, others not. Many progressives and modernists say there is no place for the face veil in Islam; but this is not true, as we see in the seerah.)
So the women come in front of the Prophet PBUH, and he PBUH begins, "You shall give me the oath of allegiance"—and he then quotes to them the verse [60:12]:—"You shall not worship any besides Allah SWT." At this, Hind says from the middle of the crowd, "You are asking of us something you didn't ask of the men!" But this is wrong — she wasn't there when the men were giving their bay'ah, and she just assumed that this was a political conquest and not religious. She assumed that, "You are our ruler, but you are not going to tell us to give up our gods," so she got irritated and said, "You are demanding of us something you didn't demand of the men!" But then —when she saw no support and whatnot— she said, "Very well. We shall give it to you." (Notice as well, by the way, the very fact that she is speaking shows her character. And she is going to speak again and again, as we will see. She won't remain silent. Some people just have that type of personality — which most people don't find pleasant.)
The Prophet PBUH then says, "And you shall not steal." At this, she says, "I used to take from the money of Abu Sufyan bit by bit without his knowing." And Abu Sufyan was there, so to try to resolve this, he said, "All of that that has happened in the past, I have forgiven it." And this conversation gives away who the woman in niqab is, so the Prophet PBUH says, "Are you Hind?" Hind immediately says, "Yes, I am. And forgive the past; may Allah forgive you." But the Prophet PBUH did not respond to this, and he simply moved on. (Wallahi, it's easier to forgive a crime against you than a crime against a loved one, especially when that crime was done to the dead body of your loved one [see episode 48]. So yes, the Prophet PBUH did not punish her, but nor did he say, "You are forgiven." And this shows us how grieved he was at what she did to Hamzah. And *yet,* he still maintained his composure and simply ignored her. And this shows us the perfection of his akhlaq PBUH.)
So he goes to the next condition, "And you shall not commit zina." Once again, Hind says something, "Do you expect a free lady to commit zina?!" (Subhan'Allah, this is interesting. It shows that Arabian society, no matter how debauched and lewd it was, free decent ladies would never taint their family honor by this crime. Only people of lewd character did this. For dignified, decent families, zina is unheard of. The scholars say crimes are of two types; one type is crimes that go against modesty and dignity, then there are crimes that are not of that nature — and zina is a crime that goes against modesty and haya'. Even in America 50 years ago, fornication was truly unheard of in a decent, dignified society. Only women of immoral character did this. So when the Prophet PBUH puts this condition, immediately Hind gets irritated, "You expect us to commit zina?!") And again, the Prophet PBUH just ignored her.
Then he said, "And don't kill your children." Here we see Hind's sharp tongue; she said: "As for this one, wallahi, we took care of them as babies, and you killed them as adults at the Battle of Badr!" This response was so unexpected that Umar RA began laughing so much that he fell onto his back. The way she understood it, it was such a novel response that Umar burst out laughing.
So the Prophet PBUH gave all the conditions, and they all agreed to this (Hind was the only one with the tongue to respond back). After this, he PBUH told Umar to take the women's oath of allegiance, so Umar took their oath of allegiance. The Prophet PBUH never ever touched the hand of a woman not related to him.
So the Prophet PBUH gave all the conditions, and they all agreed to this (Hind was the only one with the tongue to respond back). After this, he PBUH told Umar to take the women's oath of allegiance, so Umar took their oath of allegiance. The Prophet PBUH never ever touched the hand of a woman not related to him.
______________
Tangent: Is It Allowed to Shake Non-Mahram's Hand?
It's narrated mutawatir by Aisha RA and every single book of hadith that the Prophet PBUH did not himself take the oath of allegiance from the women. In fact, later on (not this year), when a woman went to accept Islam and put her hand out, the Prophet PBUH said, "I do not give the bay'ah by shaking your hand. My speech to the one of you is my bay'ah to all of you." And there is some controversy in the books of fiqh and hadith about whether Umar RA took the oath of allegiance from the women with his hand or not. One group of scholars says he took the oath physically — and there are some reports of this nature. (And it could also be said that this is what is understood from the authentic narration when the Prophet PBUH commands him, "You take their oath" — because if the bay'ah was only verbal, the Prophet PBUH has done it. So the fact that he PBUH is commanding Umar RA indicates that the bay'ah was more than verbal, and Umar is doing something the Prophet PBUH didn't do.) However, another group of scholars says the ahadith that mention Umar touched the women are not authentic.
So from this, there is a controversy that has existed from the beginning of the classical fiqh: Is it allowed to shake the non-mahram's hand? The bulk of the scholars say no. Many Shafi'i and some Hanbali scholars say it is allowed with two conditions: (i) There is no fitna or desire, and (ii) there is a need to do so — and they point to this incident to show this. And they say it's why Umar was chosen because he was the strictest in terms of Iman and he would never touch out of desire. And in Sh. YQ's opinion, it is makruh and should be avoided; but not haram if these two conditions are met — and Allah AWJ knows best. And there's no denying the best example is that of the Prophet PBUH who never touched any non-mahram women. Aisha RA says, "Wallahi, the hand of the Prophet PBUH never touched the hand of any women except if it was one of his mahrams."
______________
The Ansar Feel Left Out
The Prophet PBUH has given the oath of allegiance to the men and women of Quraysh. The Ansar begin to talk among themselves since they feel a bit neglected. After all, the Prophet PBUH has returned back to his original home and they see all of his relatives accepting Islam. So the Ansar begin to grumble and mumble, and one of them says, "Now that he has returned here, softness has overtaken him for his people," meaning, "He has forgotten us." And subhan'Allah, the root of their pain is love for the Prophet PBUH. They feel jealous that the Prophet PBUH might forget about them. So one of them remarks, "The love of his relatives has overtaken him." And others seem to agree with this sentiment.
At this, Jibril AS came down and told the Prophet PBUH what the Ansar were saying. And so when the Prophet PBUH finished with all of the bay'ah —men and women— he called the Ansar and said, "O group of Ansar, did you say that the love of my family has overtaken me and I have become soft?"—he quoted them exactly. (It's amazing that Allah tells him PBUH through Jibril, *yet* he still verifies with the Ansar. Why? Is he denying the truthfulness of Jibril AS? No. But it's etiquette and courtesy and mannerisms. How beautiful of a message for us — when we hear someone remark something about someone we know, first verify.) And the Ansar confessed and said, "Yes, this was said, O Messenger of Allah. We did say this."
At this, the Prophet PBUH said, "I am a slave of Allah, and I am His Messenger," meaning, "Don't doubt my promise." Recall the promise the Prophet PBUH made at Aqaba [see episode 25] — the Ansar asked him point-blank, "Will you leave us once the victory is yours?" and the Prophet PBUH said, "No. My blood is your blood, and my destruction is your destruction," meaning, "I shall always be one of you." So now that the Ansar are double-guessing, the Prophet PBUH says to them, "I am a slave of Allah, and I am His Messenger. And I have Emigrated to Allah and to you[1]. فالمحيا محياكم والممات مماتكم (Life is your life, and death is your death)," meaning, "My life is your life, and my death is your death," meaning, "We are together in all of this." When he said this, the Ansar began to cry and begged for forgiveness, and they said, "We only said this based on what we thought and saw"—meaning they made an excuse. So the Prophet PBUH said, "Allah and His Messenger believe you, and have accepted your excuse."
This is the primary story narrative. After this, we don't know the exact order of events.
______________
More Conversions
We know the Prophet PBUH stayed in Makkah for the next 19 days. And in those 19 days, many things happened. However, we don't know exactly when each of these things happened, so we just have to narrate bits and pieces.
For the remainder of today's lesson, we will concentrate on those people who did not accept Islam right now, but they accepted Islam over the next 19 days, or a little bit after. The bulk of the people of Makkah gave the bay'ah, but some very interesting characters delayed it. Of those people were:
1. Fudala ibn Umayr
Fudala ibn Umayr (فضالة بن عمير) is one of the Quraysh, and we don't know much about him other than this story. He seems to be a young man. And he is so angry at the defeat of the Quraysh that he decides to assassinate the Prophet PBUH. (And this would be a suicide mission, because even if he is successful, there is no way he is coming out of this alive. There is no way he is going to be able to flee.) So he hides the dagger and says, "I'll do it when Muhammad is doing tawaf." Why during tawaf? Because everyone gave the Prophet PBUH his own space when he did tawaf — and the Prophet PBUH did more tawafs than we can count. (Side note: And from this, we learn the sunnah to do a lot of tawafs when we are in Makkah.) So in one of those tawafs, Fudala sneaks up behind the Prophet PBUH and thinks, "This is it! I'll kill him and then whatever happens happens!" But as soon as Fudala is about to pull out the dagger, the Prophet PBUH turns around, he sees him and says, "Is this Fudala?" Fudala says, "Yes, it is me." The Prophet PBUH says, "What were you thinking about doing?" Fudala says, "Nothing. I was just doing dhikr of Allah and tawaf." At this, the Prophet PBUH laughed, he said, "AstaghfiruLlah," and then put his hand on the chest of Fudala. And Fudala narrates, "Wallahi, as soon as he placed his hand on my chest, no one was more beloved to me in the whole world than the Prophet PBUH." And Fudala accepted Islam, and the entire plot was gone.
There were also two high-profile converts: Safwan ibn Umayyah and Suhayl ibn Amr:
2. Safwan ibn Umayyah
As for Safwan ibn Umayyah (صفوان بن أمية), he is the son of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, the owner of Bilal RA. And Safwan was of those who tried to fight back [see episode 79]. And when it didn't work, he fled, and he told his family, "I can't live anymore, so I will fling myself in the ocean. You take care of yourselves." So he basically said, "It's now end of story for me, I'm just going to commit suicide." So he fled from Makkah, made his way to Jeddah, and then he planned to take a ship and drown himself. But recall Safwan had a cousin/best friend named Umayr ibn Wahab who converted after the Battle of Badr [see episode 43] — and in the Conquest of Makkah, Umayr is a member of the Muslims coming from Madinah; and now Umayr is hunting, "Where is my cousin Safwan?" and he finds out Safwan has fled and threatened to commit suicide. So Umayr begs the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, please give your protection to Safwan," meaning, "Tell me that I can go and tell him that he has protection." So the Prophet PBUH says, "I have given him protection." Then Umayr says, "Give me something that I can show him so that he will believe me." So the Prophet PBUH gave Umayr the very turban he wore when he entered Makkah.
So Umayr rushes to try to catch Safwan, and he barely catches him in Jeddah before he boards the ship. And when Safwan sees him, he becomes angry, "So, you traitor and liar! Now you are coming to kill me?!" Umayr says, "No! I have not come to kill you! Rather, I have come from the best human being who has given you protection!" Initially, Safwan thinks he is lying and says, "You are a liar and traitor!" But Umayr persisted and said, "Ya Safwan, I have come to you from the best of all human beings. He is your cousin, he is the most merciful, the most kind. His sharaf (شرف - honor) is your sharaf, his kingdom is your kingdom, and his izzah is your izzah. And here is his turban, he has sent it to you promising if you come back, you will get protection." And Safwan instantly recognized the turban since he saw the Prophet PBUH wear it himself, and this shook him. So he reluctantly came back, and the Prophet PBUH was just finishing Salat al-Asr. At this, Safwan turns to Umayr and says, "How many times do you pray?" Umayr says, "5 times a day." Safwan: "5 times a day?! And he (the Prophet PBUH) leads you in salah 5 times a day?!" Umayr: "Yes, he leads us in salah 5 times a day." Then when the Prophet PBUH finished Salat al-Asr, Safwan —who was still on his horse too scared to get down; wanting to flee if necessary— shouted out, "Ya Muhammad! Umayr has come to me saying you have promised me protection! Is this true?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Come down." Safwan said, "No! Until you promise me and you tell me I have two months of protection!" The Prophet PBUH said, "We shall give you four months." When that is given, Safwan comes down from his horse and discusses with the Prophet PBUH (but he still does not accept Islam right now).
(Notice, by the way, the language that Umayr used when he was discussing with Safwan: "The Prophet PBUH is your cousin; his honor is your honor," etc. — this is jahili talk being done for the service of Islam. Lineage and blood doesn't matter in Islam, but at the end of the day, it does to Safwan. He is still viewing the world from that paradigm. So notice here the techniques of dawah: As long as what you are saying is true, then yes, you can say it. So we look at what our society finds positive, and if our religion finds it positive as well, then we may use it. E.g., going green, animal rights.)
(Notice, by the way, the language that Umayr used when he was discussing with Safwan: "The Prophet PBUH is your cousin; his honor is your honor," etc. — this is jahili talk being done for the service of Islam. Lineage and blood doesn't matter in Islam, but at the end of the day, it does to Safwan. He is still viewing the world from that paradigm. So notice here the techniques of dawah: As long as what you are saying is true, then yes, you can say it. So we look at what our society finds positive, and if our religion finds it positive as well, then we may use it. E.g., going green, animal rights.)
So Safwan was given four months. And eventually, when the Prophet PBUH went to go fight in Hunayn and Ta'if [see episode 82], he PBUH asked Safwan to lend 100 coats of armor. (Recall Safwan is one of the richest people in Makkah; he has inherited the fortune of his father.) Safwan says, "Are you forcing me or asking?" The Prophet PBUH says, "Rather, it's a guaranteed loan/lending." (From this, much fiqh is derived; of them is that if you borrow something from someone, you are responsible for it — for its damage, etc.) So Safwan gave it to him, and he participated in the Battle of Hunayn with the Muslims (he participated on the side of the Muslims as a non-Muslim). After the Battle of Hunayn, when the Prophet PBUH was awarded the largest ghanima in the history of Islam —even more than Khaybar— Safwan was staggered at the wealth —an entire valley of sheep and camels— that he saw. So the Prophet PBUH says, "You are amazed at this?" Safwan says, "Yes, of course!" The Prophet PBUH says, "All of this is yours. Go take it." This is a fortune. An entire valley of animals. Safwan at that point in time says, "Such a gift can only come from the heart of a prophet" — and so he said the shahada. And he later narrates, as found in the books of seerah and hadith: "Before the Prophet PBUH gave me, he was the most despised person to me. But he gave and he continued to give until he became the most beloved to me." So ultimately, people like Safwan who are wealthy and used to a certain love of this dunya, when they are shown really what love is more powerful than the love of dunya (i.e., the love of the akhira), they see sincerity. So he realized the Prophet PBUH was a sincere man.
So Safwan converted to Islam, and he is an example of what is called muallafati qulubuhum (مؤلفة قلوبهم - those whose hearts were won over [to Islam] through generosity/affection). And eventually, Islam did enter his heart. And he became known later on as being a great worshiper of Allah SWT, and he died in 41 AH.
3. Suhayl ibn Amr
Yet another conversion story we will discuss is that of another senior leader, Suhayl ibn Amr (سهيل بن عمرو). He is of course the mastermind negotiator of Hudaybiyyah [see episode 65], the one whose son is Abu Jandal. Suhayl ibn Amr is similar in age to Umayyah ibn Khalaf and Abu Sufyan — he is the elder guy. (As for Safwan and Ikrimah, they are a generation younger. They are just the sons of the leaders.)
When the sahaba conquer Makkah, Suhayl becomes terrified and locks himself in his house. And most of his sons had converted; a number of them were in the army of the Conquest. So he tells his eldest son Abdullah (a Muslim) to go and beg for forgiveness from the Prophet PBUH (even though his name is not on the list of those who are not forgiven anyway). He is so terrified he tells his son, "I don't know anyone still alive who has done more wrong to this man than me"—this is a bit of an exaggeration, but not entirely wrong either; because among the senior leaders, he is surely one of the few still alive and has done a lot against the Prophet PBUH. And then he himself starts listing: "I was at Badr, then Uhud, then Khandaq. Then I showed Muhammad harshness at Hudaybiyyah. Now I don't know what he will do to me. So go and beg for forgiveness." You see he feels guilty and remorseful.
So Abdullah goes to the Prophet PBUH and says, "Ya Rasulullah, my father is asking for protection." And when the Prophet PBUH said, "Yes, he is protected by the protection of Allah," Abdullah rejoiced and raced back to tell his father the good news, to which Suhayl said, "Truly, this man has been righteous as a young boy, and as an adult"—what a beautiful phrase. He is testifying that before Islam, it was always known that the Prophet PBUH was honest and righteous, and even now as an adult, he is still righteous. (And wallahi, no one asked for forgiveness from the Prophet PBUH except he was forgiven, including Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi al-Sarh, the one whom the Prophet PBUH himself wanted to execute but Allah willed otherwise [see episode 79].)
The Prophet PBUH then told the sahaba, "When Suhayl comes, give him respect, and do not stare at him (in a mean way), for he is a man of intelligence and honor, and he is too intelligent to be ignorant of Islam. If he sees the Truth, he shall accept Islam." Subhan'Allah, the Prophet PBUH is telling the sahaba, "Don't even show anger in your facial expressions."
So Suhayl came to the Prophet PBUH, and after a conversation —he did not accept Islam immediately, but eventually— after the Battle of Hunayn & the Siege of Ta'if (i.e., in a month), he accepted Islam. And he then lived a life of charity, sadaqa, and zakat. [See also: episode 65.]
4. Abu Quhafa
The final story in today's lesson is that of the conversion of perhaps the oldest man in Makkah at the time, Abu Quhafa (أبو قحافة), the father of Abu Bakr. At this point in time, Abu Quhafa is completely blind and cannot walk except with difficulty. And he refused to convert to Islam throughout the entire dawah. He expressed his anger at Abu Bakr RA [see also: episode 27], and he was among those who verbally opposed the teachings of Islam. And since he was too old, he was unable to come to the actual gatherings and khutbahs of the Prophet PBUH. But when the Prophet PBUH was sitting and accepting the oath of allegiance, Asma bint Abi Bakr brought her grandfather by the hand and led him to the Prophet PBUH to get the oath of allegiance. Abu Bakr was sitting with the Prophet PBUH, and when Abu Quhafa came, the Prophet PBUH said to Abu Bakr, "Why didn't you leave the old man? We would have come to him in his own house." Subhan'Allah. We see the immense humility of the Prophet PBUH here. Indeed, didn't our Prophet PBUH say in a hadith, "He is not of us who doesn't show respect to our elders, and mercy to our youngers"? So the Prophet PBUH is showing this respect to the oldest in Makkah. Also, why is Abu Quhafa being shown such respect? Because of Abu Bakr. And this shows us you treat people based on their rank. There is nothing un-Islamic about this. When there is a noble person who has done something positive for the community/for the service of the deen, you should treat his family differently. The reason why the Prophet PBUH is saying, "We would have come to him," is because of his son, Abu Bakr.
But Abu Bakr said, "No, wallahi, ya Rasulullah. It is more befitting he comes to you." And so Abu Quhafa was brought in front of the Prophet PBUH, and the Prophet PBUH spoke with him for a while, and eventually, he accepted Islam.
Abu Quhafa's beard and hair was pigeon white, so the Prophet PBUH told the women and the family around Abu Quhafa, that, "When you go home, change this whiteness. But avoid black." And from this, the fiqh is derived that those who have completely white hair should change their hair & beard color to something other than the natural color it was. This is the primary hadith used to show that dying hair that is pure white is sunnah — and you should avoid black (or your natural color).
Abu Ishaq al-Heweny (أبو إسحاق الحويني) mentions a narration that when Abu Quhafa put his hand in the hand of the Prophet PBUH to take the oath of allegiance, Abu Bakr began to cry. So the Prophet PBUH said, "O Abu Bakr, why are you crying? This is such a happy day — your father has accepted Islam!" Abu Bakr says, "Ya Rasulullah, how I wish the hand I'm seeing now is the hand of your uncle Abu Talib rather than the hand of my own father." Meaning everyone is accepting Islam, and even Abu Quhafa whom Abu Bakr never imagined would accept Islam is now doing so —and Abu Quhafa is of the age of Abu Talib; he is the only person left of that elder generation— so memories are coming back associated with that generation, and all Abu Bakr can think of is, "Ya Rasulullah, I would give up anything to see the Islam of Abu Talib." And wallahi, this type of love is beyond words. We cannot do justice to this scene. Abu Bakr is crying because he wants a pleasure to the Prophet PBUH that is more pleasurable to him than the Islam of his own father, and that is the Islam of Abu Talib. Because he knows how happy the Prophet PBUH would have been.
Abu Ishaq al-Heweny (أبو إسحاق الحويني) mentions a narration that when Abu Quhafa put his hand in the hand of the Prophet PBUH to take the oath of allegiance, Abu Bakr began to cry. So the Prophet PBUH said, "O Abu Bakr, why are you crying? This is such a happy day — your father has accepted Islam!" Abu Bakr says, "Ya Rasulullah, how I wish the hand I'm seeing now is the hand of your uncle Abu Talib rather than the hand of my own father." Meaning everyone is accepting Islam, and even Abu Quhafa whom Abu Bakr never imagined would accept Islam is now doing so —and Abu Quhafa is of the age of Abu Talib; he is the only person left of that elder generation— so memories are coming back associated with that generation, and all Abu Bakr can think of is, "Ya Rasulullah, I would give up anything to see the Islam of Abu Talib." And wallahi, this type of love is beyond words. We cannot do justice to this scene. Abu Bakr is crying because he wants a pleasure to the Prophet PBUH that is more pleasurable to him than the Islam of his own father, and that is the Islam of Abu Talib. Because he knows how happy the Prophet PBUH would have been.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, June 2022]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, June 2022]
