Today, we will conclude the Conquest of Makkah by discussing the benefits, morals, and fiqh that we can derive from the event. But before we get to that, let us wrap up some of the incidents that we haven't yet discussed. Of those who have converted after the Conquest, we have one or two people left:
(Cont.) More Conversions
5. Ummi Hani' bint Abi Talib
Ummi Hani' bint Abi Talib (أم هانئ بنت أبي طالب) was a female cousin of the Prophet PBUH, one of the daughters of Abu Talib, and a full sister of Ali RA. She obviously knows the Prophet PBUH since his childhood, but she has remained upon her faith until the Conquest of Makkah.
The story we will discuss is not related to her conversion itself, but it's interesting for a number of reasons. Her in-laws had a problem with Ali RA. So during the Conquest, they were worried Ali RA might exact revenge, and so they wanted to flee. But they had nowhere to go. So they sent a message to Ummi Hani' —since she is the full sister of Ali RA— and said, "Can you protect us from Ali?" So they went to her house, and she locked the door on Ali RA and allowed the two to remain. When Ali RA found out about this, he became enraged, "How dare you come between me and them?" and he threatened to harm them. So Ummi Hani', who was already a Muslim at the time, went directly to the Prophet PBUH the next morning. And because she was a cousin, she was let into the chambers.
The Prophet PBUH was taking a ghusl, and his daughter Fatima RA was standing with a cloth shielding him. (Of course, there were no separate showers or facilities in Arabia at the time; so if someone wanted to take a shower, you would typically get someone to hold a curtain, as in this situation.) The Prophet PBUH said, "Who is this?" She said, "This is Ummi Hani'." So he lowered the curtain to see her, and —this is his cousin, so— he said, "Welcome, Ummi Hani' [after so many years]." And she told him the whole story with Ali RA, and the Prophet PBUH said, "We shall protect anybody whom you want to protect."
The Prophet PBUH was taking a ghusl, and his daughter Fatima RA was standing with a cloth shielding him. (Of course, there were no separate showers or facilities in Arabia at the time; so if someone wanted to take a shower, you would typically get someone to hold a curtain, as in this situation.) The Prophet PBUH said, "Who is this?" She said, "This is Ummi Hani'." So he lowered the curtain to see her, and —this is his cousin, so— he said, "Welcome, Ummi Hani' [after so many years]." And she told him the whole story with Ali RA, and the Prophet PBUH said, "We shall protect anybody whom you want to protect."
This story is interesting for two reasons:
i) As we have said many times: Protection (aman) can be given by anyone in the ummah — man, woman, child, elder, slave, etc. Everybody has the right to give personal protection [see episode 62]. (And subhan'Allah, it's such a lax and open law that is unprecedented.)
ii) There is a fiqh point: Ummi Hani' said, after the Prophet PBUH finished his bath, "I saw him pray 8 rak'at of Salat al-Duha (صلاة الضحى - the Duha Prayer)." And this is the only hadith that mentions the Prophet PBUH praying Salat al-Duha, even though it was a regular habit of his. The only narration we have of the Prophet PBUH himself praying and how many rak'at he prayed, is this one. Recall the general time of Salat al-Duha is after Shuruq (شروق - after the sun has risen 1m length), and it lasts all the way until right before Zuhr by 5-10 minutes. So the time frame is at least 3½ - 5½ hours, depending on the time of the year. And our Prophet PBUH said in a hadith, "The best time to pray (Duha) is when the heat begins to strike you," i.e., 11:30 AM or so. And you can pray 2, 4, 6, or 8 rak'at. In one hadith, the Prophet PBUH said that Allah SWT said, "Whoever prays 4 rak'at at the beginning of the day, I will suffice him for the rest of the day." So 4 is the minimum of perfection; and of course, 2 is the minimum that constitutes Salat al-Duha; and 8 is what the Prophet PBUH would typically pray.
So this hadith is interesting because it is the only hadith that we learn about the Salat al-Duha of the Prophet PBUH.
6. Abdullah ibn al-Zab'ari
The final conversion story that we will discuss involves the official poet of the Quraysh, Abdullah ibn al-Zab'ari (عبد الله بن الزبعرى) from the tribe of Banu Sahm (بنو سهم). He would be the one who wrote poems against Islam and the Muslims before Badr, after Badr, before Uhud, after Uhud, etc. He was the one who had a one-on-one with Hassan ibn Thabit — he would write, Hassan would reply; he would write, Hassan would reply; and so on, back and forth. He was the one that, when a poem came from him, the Prophet PBUH would say to Hassan, "Go and respond. And Jibril is with you." He lived a very quiet life other than poetry, so we don't have much incidents about him.
As for his acceptance of Islam: When the Prophet PBUH conquered Makkah, Abdullah ibn al-Zab'ari fled to Najran, because he did not feel comfortable being around the Muslims and the Prophet PBUH. When he fled, Hassan ibn Thabit gloated and he wrote a page-long poem, as recorded in Ibn Ishaq, which is the most scathing personal attack against Ibn al-Zab'ari, that he is a coward who fled, etc. It's a very harsh poem. (And obviously, poetry was the height of propaganda at this time.) When Ibn al-Zab'ari hears this, he feels depressed because he agrees with everything that is said; and he decides to really think about the contents of the Message of Islam.
Eventually, within the next few days, he decides to convert to Islam from within Najran. And he starts packing his belongings. His cousin says, "Where are you going?" He says, "I have decided to accept Islam." His cousin says, "We have come all the way here, and now you are going to abandon me all alone?" Ibn al-Zab'ari responds, "Why should I not convert? Why should I remain with this strange tribe? Should I not go back to my own kith and kin, my own cousin (the Prophet PBUH)? He is the best of all mankind. Why should I not go back to my own abode and house?" So he decides to come back.
The Prophet PBUH is sitting with the sahaba in front of the Ka'bah, and in the distance, they see a figure coming. The Prophet PBUH says, "That is Ibn al-Zab'ari; and I see from him the nur of Iman." Subhan'Allah. And so when he comes, no one says anything. And before the Prophet PBUH says anything, Ibn al-Zab'ari says, "Assalamu'alayka, ya Rasulullah" and he says the shahada. And he says, "All praise be to Allah who guided me to Islam. I was your enemy for so long. And I incited (through poetry) against you"—his language is pregnant with meaning; it's so profound even when you listen to the translation:—"I rode on horses and traveled on camels and walked on foot to oppose you, and I even fled to Najran to avoid you. But Allah still wanted good for me"—you sense genuine Islam here—"And I have now come to you as a Muslim. Allah has caused me to realize how ignorant I was, worshiping that which cannot think, worshiping a stone that we sacrifice to, we venerate; but it doesn't even realize it is being worshiped. All praise be to Allah for having guided me to Islam." So the Prophet PBUH welcomed his Islam, and he told him, "Islam wipes away all [the bad] that you have done in the past."
For the rest of his life, Ibn al-Zab'ari composed poem after poem in praise of Islam and the Prophet PBUH as an expiation for what he had done. The scholars, such as al-Qurtubi and others, said, "He wrote much poetry for the Prophet PBUH after his Islam, and through it, he canceled the evil that he had done before Islam. And he was a great poet." And it's narrated as well that after one poem that he recited in front of the Prophet PBUH, the Prophet PBUH took off his cloak and gifted it to him — an honor that he PBUH rarely gave to anyone. (Side note: For some reason that we don't understand, much of Ibn al-Zab'ari's poetry has been lost, unlike the poetry of Hassan which has been preserved. Maybe because Ibn al-Zab'ari lived in Makkah, and Hassan was in Madinah. Allah knows best.)
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19 Days in Makkah: Where Did the Prophet PBUH Stay?
The Prophet PBUH remained in Makkah for, some reports say 15, some say 19, some say 20, days. Ibn Hisham says 15; al-Tabari says 20; but Bukhari says 19, so we will stick with 19.
The question came up, whose house would the Prophet PBUH occupy? Ali RA wanted to regain the house he and the Prophet PBUH grew up in — the house of Abu Talib, Ali's own house. So he said, "Ya Rasulullah, aren't you going to go back to our house?" The Prophet PBUH said, "And did Aqil leave any property for us to live in?" Now, pause here; we need to explain what is this reference to. (Side note: As for the house of Khadija, Allah knows best, but people had taken it over after the Prophet PBUH left.)
Abu Talib died a mushrik, and he had many sons. Of course, his eldest was Talib; and after him was Aqil. When the Prophet PBUH was in Makkah, these two did not embrace Islam, unlike their younger brothers Ali and Ja'far. And because Talib and Aqil were not Muslim when Abu Talib died, they inherited their father's house. (As for Ja'far and Ali, they did not get anything.) What this means is —and from this, we derive a fiqh benefit—: The mushrik is inherited by mushriks; and Muslims don't inherit from mushriks. And the Prophet PBUH approved of this, as he said in a hadith: "لا يرث المسلم الكافر، ولا الكافر المسلم (A Muslim cannot be the heir of a kafir, nor can a kafir be the heir of a Muslim)" [Sahih Bukhari].
And after the Prophet PBUH Migrated to Madinah, Talib (the eldest) died, and Aqil decided to sell all the property. Now at the Conquest, Ali wants the house back, but it doesn't belong to Aqil anymore (who by the way has converted at the Conquest). Aqil has sold it — and it was a legitimate transaction, so the Prophet PBUH has no right to then confiscate that property back.
So what does the Prophet PBUH do? He does not have a house to stay in, so he sets up a tent in his own city of Makkah for the next 19 days. And the place he chooses is the famous mini-valley close to the Ka'bah called al-Hujun. (And still to this day, the Makkans know where this is.) Al-Hujun is very symbolic. It was the place where the Quraysh gathered together to sign the treaty/pact to boycott the Banu Hashim [see episode 18] — and this was the worst the Quraysh ever did. So no doubt, there is an element of symbolism here — look at how Allah tests people and then blesses them. Allah AWJ tested the Prophet PBUH through what happened at al-Hujun, and now He blesses him PBUH to live in al-Hujun as the conqueror of Makkah. Allah AWJ demonstrated His perfect justice. This place was where the worst atrocity the Quraysh ever committed occurred, and now at the same place, our Prophet PBUH is being given the greatest honor.
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19 Days in Makkah: Praying Qasr
The Prophet PBUH lived in Makkah for 19 days, and during this period, he prayed all the prayers in the Haram. And more interestingly, throughout these 19 days, he did qasr (قصر - shortening every four-rak'ah salah into two rak'at), but he didn't do jama' (جمع - combining salahs). We will discuss the fiqh of this later.
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19 Days in Makkah: Points of Benefit From the Sermons of the Prophet PBUH
During these 19 days, the Prophet PBUH did numerous short sermons where he taught the people of Makkah the basics of Islam and any fiqh they needed to know. We have many hadiths from this period, most of which deal with teaching new Muslims the rulings of Islam. We will summarize some of the things the Prophet PBUH taught:
1) He reinstated the sanctity of Makkah. He wanted everyone to understand how holy Makkah is. And one of the first speeches he gave —perhaps even on the day of the Conquest if not the next day (Allah knows best)— is that he gathered the people and said, "O people, Allah has made Makkah sacred the day that He created the heavens and the earth, and it shall remain sacred until the Day of Judgment. It is not allowed for any believer who believes in Allah and the Last Day to shed any blood (human or animal) in the Haram. And it is not allowed for people to pluck the leaves. Makkah was never halal (nonsacred) before me, nor shall it be halal after me. And even for me, it was made halal just for 'an hour' of the day"—Allah SWT lifted the sanctity of the Haram just for 'one hour' for the Prophet PBUH to conquer Makkah—"And now it has returned to its sanctity as it was before. So if somebody says, 'But the Prophet PBUH fought in Makkah,' you respond back to him, 'Allah has made it halal for the Prophet, and He has not made it halal for you.'" So he PBUH is emphasizing to the people of Makkah the extreme sanctity of the city of Makkah. (And that's why some of the sahaba would go to such great lengths that even if a pigeon landed on their belongings or on them, they would not even shoo it away out of fear that they are disturbing the creation of Allah in the Haram.) And Allah says in the Quran, "...Whoever INTENDS to deviate by doing wrong in it [in the Sacred Mosque], We will cause them to taste a painful punishment" [Quran, 22:25]. (Note: Generally, intending to do wrong does not necessitate a punishment, unless the person acts upon it. But the Sacred Mosque is unique in that intending to sin in it is sufficient to bring punishment from Allah, unless the person repents.)
1) He reinstated the sanctity of Makkah. He wanted everyone to understand how holy Makkah is. And one of the first speeches he gave —perhaps even on the day of the Conquest if not the next day (Allah knows best)— is that he gathered the people and said, "O people, Allah has made Makkah sacred the day that He created the heavens and the earth, and it shall remain sacred until the Day of Judgment. It is not allowed for any believer who believes in Allah and the Last Day to shed any blood (human or animal) in the Haram. And it is not allowed for people to pluck the leaves. Makkah was never halal (nonsacred) before me, nor shall it be halal after me. And even for me, it was made halal just for 'an hour' of the day"—Allah SWT lifted the sanctity of the Haram just for 'one hour' for the Prophet PBUH to conquer Makkah—"And now it has returned to its sanctity as it was before. So if somebody says, 'But the Prophet PBUH fought in Makkah,' you respond back to him, 'Allah has made it halal for the Prophet, and He has not made it halal for you.'" So he PBUH is emphasizing to the people of Makkah the extreme sanctity of the city of Makkah. (And that's why some of the sahaba would go to such great lengths that even if a pigeon landed on their belongings or on them, they would not even shoo it away out of fear that they are disturbing the creation of Allah in the Haram.) And Allah says in the Quran, "...Whoever INTENDS to deviate by doing wrong in it [in the Sacred Mosque], We will cause them to taste a painful punishment" [Quran, 22:25]. (Note: Generally, intending to do wrong does not necessitate a punishment, unless the person acts upon it. But the Sacred Mosque is unique in that intending to sin in it is sufficient to bring punishment from Allah, unless the person repents.)
2) Also, of the things the Prophet PBUH decreed as well, as recorded in Sahih Bukhari, is: "Allah and His Messenger forbid you from selling alcohol, and selling carcasses, and selling idols." Now, where did this thing come about from? — Of course, every house in Makkah had idols and alcohol. In fact, the people of Makkah had a very lucrative business: They would take any wood/stone, carve an idol out of it, paint it, and sell it to the people who came from outside. And why would people buy from them? Because they consider an idol from Makkah to be prestigious. And because it was considered prestigious, it would go for a higher market value, and so the people of Makkah had a very highly profitable business selling these idols to the pagan hujjaj and the Bedouins. But then, recall, on the first day of the Conquest, the Prophet PBUH forbade shirk — no more idol worship. So then what did the people of Makkah do? They began selling off any remaining idols to get rid of them. Hence now comes the prohibition of selling the idols as well. They have to now literally smash the idols and pour the alcohol into the streets. And this is a standard principle of fiqh now: "That which is haram to use and benefit from, it is also haram to sell to others"—we get this principle from the Conquest of Makkah. (Note: But there are some minor exceptions, e.g., silk — you can sell it to others because it's halal for the women. But generally speaking, if an item is impermissible to use, it is also impermissible to acquire or sell.)
3) Another prohibition was that of zawaj al-mut'ah (زواج المتعة). Now, this is a controversial issue between the Sunni and the Shia groups. From the perspective of Sunni Islam, there is almost an ijma' that mut'ah is not allowed. Scholars differ over when it was prohibited. Imam al-Nawawi and others say it was allowed twice and prohibited twice: It used to be halal, then made haram in the Battle of Khaybar, then made halal again, and then made haram again in the Conquest of Makkah. Ibn al-Qayyim and others are very much opposed to this opinion; they say, "No. It was only made haram once in the Conquest of Makkah." In any case, by and large, the standard Sunni position is that it's haram. As for non-Sunni groups, they don't accept these prohibitions and say it's halal.
4) Of the fiqh we learn from the Conquest is the famous ruling in Islam that, in your will, you are only allowed to leave ⅓ of your money outside of the people whom Allah has allocated shares to. In Islamic law, you have to give your money according to the fractions in the Quran [4:11-14]. What about a friend, distant uncle, cousin, benefactor, et al.? We all know the maximum we can give is ⅓ — and we learn this from the Conquest of Makkah: Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas fell seriously ill and he thought he was on his deathbed, so he said, "Ya Rasulullah, Allah has blessed me with lots of money, and I only have two daughters. So what if I give ⅔ of my wealth to people that I want to?" The Prophet PBUH said, "No, too much." Then he said, "How about ½?" The Prophet PBUH said, "No, too much." So Sa'd said, "How about ⅓?" And the Prophet PBUH said, "Okay, ⅓. But even ⅓, you are pushing it." Then he PBUH said, "Were you to leave your descendants/heirs rich, it is better than leaving them poor and having to beg others for help." Meaning these are your daughters and family, so it's better to be generous with them rather than other people. So from this hadith, we learn the famous ruling that you are only allowed to give a maximum of ⅓ to people outside of the list mentioned in verse [4:11-14] of the Quran.
5) Another fiqh point involves an incident that we are all familiar with: One of the women of the Banu Makhzum was caught stealing. And so the people of her tribe spoke to Usama ibn Zayd, the Beloved of the Prophet PBUH. (Usama was born in the Prophet's PBUH house, and the Prophet PBUH loved him immensely so much so that he was called Hibbu Rasulillah [حب رسول الله - The Beloved of the Messenger of Allah].) So the tribesmen of Banu Makhzum went to Usama —because they knew the Prophet PBUH had a soft spot for him— and said, "Why don't you suggest to the Prophet PBUH to forgive this lady? She is a noble lady from amongst us. So let the punishment go." So Usama entered in and asked the Prophet PBUH, "Ya Rasulullah, she is a very noble lady. Why don't you just forgive her and let her go?" At this, the Prophet PBUH became enraged, "You want to intercede when it comes to the boundary from the boundaries of Allah? Wallahi, if my own daughter committed theft, I would not forgive her." (Meaning Islam doesn't operate this way, that the rich and famous get off the hook, and only the poor and lowly are punished. No.) And the Prophet PBUH called all of the people of Makkah and gave this khutbah: "If my own daughter Fatima bint Muhammad committed a crime, I would establish the punishment on her." And Aisha RA narrates that the Makhzumi lady, after the punishment was done, would regularly visit Aisha RA, and she would petition the Prophet PBUH for favors; and Aisha RA would raise her petitions to the Prophet PBUH to grant her her requests. (And this shows us that in Islam, once the punishment has been done, once a person has been punished, they are not treated like a criminal for the rest of their life.)
6) Another fiqh ruling. There was the case of a child that was born in dubious circumstances, i.e., an affair was alleged. There was a married couple, a child was born, and someone alleged, "This child is mine." (It's worth noting that both parties are famous Muslims, and this all occurred before Islam. And as we know, Islam forgives all previous sins, so we don't think bad of them.) The two people involved were Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Abdullah ibn Zum'a (عبد الله بن زمعة). Abdullah ibn Zum'a was married to the lady who gave birth, and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said, "This child is mine." And now that they conquer Makkah, the child is a young boy, and they are contesting over who should have custody of the child. So the Prophet PBUH gave the famous verdict that every student of fiqh studies, "The child is to the bed it was born on"—meaning any time a child is born, we shall assume without question that the child belongs to the parents who are married. We don't delve into rumors and whatnot. We simply base it on the verdict of who is married. So even if someone says something, we don't pry and probe — we try to cover up faults and sins, and we assume children belong to parents who are married — and we don't question it. (And if someone is proven to be an adulterer, they will be punished accordingly.)
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The Entire Arabian Peninsula Embraces Islam
One of the main effects of the Conquest of Makkah is the embracing of Islam of the entire Arabian Peninsula. Note Arabia was disunited before this point in time — each tribe had its own mini-city and province. So the Conquest of Makkah was taken as a symbolic conquest of the central nervous system of Arabia. Many books of tafsir and hadith and seerah document that the tribes who did not get involved in the conflict between the Quraysh and the Prophet PBUH were waiting to see who would win. Al-Qurtubi and others explicitly mention this: "The other tribes were waiting to see what happens. If the Prophet PBUH eventually conquers Makkah, this is an indication for them that there is no stopping him PBUH, and they must embrace Islam. One of them even remarked, 'Allah had protected Makkah from the People of the Elephant. So if Allah allows this man (the Prophet PBUH) to conquer it, it must show he is a prophet.'" So there was a theological symbolism given by the Arabs to the Conquest of Makkah.
The entire Arabian Peninsula is subservient to the city of Makkah when it comes to holiness. There's no competition. Everybody considers Makkah to be the bastion of their race — their fathers, Ibrahim and Ismail AS, had associations with Makkah. So the Conquest of Makkah translated for the Arabs as the victory of Islam over paganism. Therefore, when the Prophet PBUH conquered Makkah, neutral tribes began sending delegations —beginning from now, all the way until the death of the Prophet PBUH— informing him PBUH that they had converted to Islam. This is exactly what Allah says in the Quran, "And you [O Prophet] see the people embracing Allah's Way in crowds" [Quran, 110:2].
Therefore with the Conquest of Makkah, the Arab tribes, one by one embraced Islam. This is a very interesting point: The Prophet PBUH did not fight over 90% of the Arabs of his time. He only fought the Quraysh and their allies. How about central Arabia? Southern? Far north? Eastern and western provinces? Nothing. There is no direct battle. How did they embrace Islam? See, this was the wisdom of choosing the grandson of Abdul Muttalib to be the prophet. Subhan'Allah. This is the true wisdom of choosing someone with the most impeccable lineage. You cannot compete with the grandson of Abdul Muttalib; you cannot compete with someone born and raised in Makkah; with someone who has the victory of the Ka'bah. As Allah says, "Allah knows best where to place His Message" [Quran, 6:124]. "Allah selects messengers from both angels and people, for Allah is truly All-Hearing, All-Seeing" [Quran, 22:75]. So Allah chose our Prophet PBUH for a reason. Of the most obvious reasons: his lineage, his city, and his circumstance. He is coming from the best of the best, he is coming from the cream of the crop, he is coming from the holiest of all cities. And now he comes back to his own city — he is not conquering a strange land. (That's another point here. Imagine how the Arabs would have felt if another tribe conquered Makkah. But our Prophet PBUH is from Makkah, and he conquers his own city, which happens to be the holiest city on earth. So the Arabs all agreed to this.)
Therefore with the Conquest of Makkah, the Arab tribes, one by one embraced Islam. This is a very interesting point: The Prophet PBUH did not fight over 90% of the Arabs of his time. He only fought the Quraysh and their allies. How about central Arabia? Southern? Far north? Eastern and western provinces? Nothing. There is no direct battle. How did they embrace Islam? See, this was the wisdom of choosing the grandson of Abdul Muttalib to be the prophet. Subhan'Allah. This is the true wisdom of choosing someone with the most impeccable lineage. You cannot compete with the grandson of Abdul Muttalib; you cannot compete with someone born and raised in Makkah; with someone who has the victory of the Ka'bah. As Allah says, "Allah knows best where to place His Message" [Quran, 6:124]. "Allah selects messengers from both angels and people, for Allah is truly All-Hearing, All-Seeing" [Quran, 22:75]. So Allah chose our Prophet PBUH for a reason. Of the most obvious reasons: his lineage, his city, and his circumstance. He is coming from the best of the best, he is coming from the cream of the crop, he is coming from the holiest of all cities. And now he comes back to his own city — he is not conquering a strange land. (That's another point here. Imagine how the Arabs would have felt if another tribe conquered Makkah. But our Prophet PBUH is from Makkah, and he conquers his own city, which happens to be the holiest city on earth. So the Arabs all agreed to this.)
Now with this Conquest, this is when the people began to embrace Islam. And from this point onward, there is a non-stop trickle of tribes sending delegations. Insha'Allah, we will discuss the Year of Delegations in future episodes [see episodes 94-96]. What is the Year of Delegations? The 9th year of the Hijrah[1]. Why is it called this? Because every second, third day, a new delegation arrived saying they had embraced Islam. No army, no fighting; it's just literally people are realizing this is the Truth.
It's truly an amazing miracle that paganism is wiped away from the entire Arabian Peninsula within just 25 years of Islam coming.
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Surah al-Nasr: The Beginning of the End
Of course, Surah al-Nasr is a surah about the Conquest. And later on, many years later, in the khilafa of Umar ibn Khattab RA, Umar would have a senior meeting with the elder sahaba —Ansar and Qureshi— and the youngest person to be admitted to the meeting was Ibn Abbas, the cousin of the Prophet PBUH, who was around 15-16 years old. Some of the elder sahaba objected to Ibn Abbas's admittance and said to Umar, "Ya Amir al-Mu'minin, we have sons older than him and you don't allow them to come to this gathering. Why are you allowing this man to come?" Ibn Abbas narrates the hadith, and it's in Bukhari: Ibn Abbas says, "One day, Umar called me — and I thought he called me just to test me. And when all the people were gathered, he asked the sahaba in the gathering, 'Can you explain to me إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ... (i.e., Surat al-Nasr)?'"
And of course, Surah al-Nasr [110] is:
One sahabi said, "Allah is saying when He blesses you, thank Him." Another said something else generic. Then Umar RA turned to Ibn Abbas and said, "Now you interpret it." Ibn Abbas said —and he narrates this in the first person—: "They (the elders) have not spoken correctly. Rather, Allah is informing the Prophet Muhammad PBUH that when Makkah is conquered, your time on earth is about to come to an end. So prepare to meet Allah by increasing your worship and seeking His forgiveness. Verily, Allah is ever Accepting of Repentance." Umar RA said, "This is the only knowledge I have of the Surah," i.e., "You have spoken all that I know." (And with this, Umar RA made the point to the elders that this is why Ibn Abbas is admitted — because he has profound knowledge in tafsir; he is an intelligent young man.)
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ
1. When Allah's [ultimate] help comes and the victory [over Makkah is achieved],
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
2. And you [O Prophet] see the people embracing Allah's Way in crowds,
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
3. Then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness, for certainly He is ever Accepting of Repentance.One sahabi said, "Allah is saying when He blesses you, thank Him." Another said something else generic. Then Umar RA turned to Ibn Abbas and said, "Now you interpret it." Ibn Abbas said —and he narrates this in the first person—: "They (the elders) have not spoken correctly. Rather, Allah is informing the Prophet Muhammad PBUH that when Makkah is conquered, your time on earth is about to come to an end. So prepare to meet Allah by increasing your worship and seeking His forgiveness. Verily, Allah is ever Accepting of Repentance." Umar RA said, "This is the only knowledge I have of the Surah," i.e., "You have spoken all that I know." (And with this, Umar RA made the point to the elders that this is why Ibn Abbas is admitted — because he has profound knowledge in tafsir; he is an intelligent young man.)
So, in fact, Surah al-Nasr is the beginning of the end. It tells us for the very first time that death for the Prophet PBUH is close by. He has reached his pinnacle, he has achieved the Conquest of Makkah, and now there is a short time left. This shows us the importance of the Conquest — quite literally, the Conquest is the pinnacle. The Prophet PBUH reached the highest point with the Conquest, and now he just has to wrap up a few last things before Allah will cause his mission on earth to come to an end. And as we know, barely 2 years after this, our Prophet PBUH passed away.
Also, from this Surah, we see that Allah SWT is telling the Prophet PBUH —despite who he is— to prepare for His meeting with extra worship and extra istighfar. How about us then? Are we ready to meet our Lord? The best human being is being told, "Prepare for death by worshiping extra and asking forgiveness," so we as well had better take a lesson and heed, and increase in our worship and istighfar.
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19 Days in Makkah: Destroying Major Idols
What else did the Prophet PBUH do during these 19 days? He sent a number of mini-expeditions around Makkah to invite the neighboring tribes to Islam and destroy the major centers of idolatry. There were two types of idols: (i) The personal, home idol, and then (ii) the big, public, temple idol that people go to. As for the idols in the homes, the Prophet PBUH gives a general command, "Everyone destroy your own idols; get rid of them." As for the temple idols, the Prophet PBUH sent the sahaba to get rid of them. And he sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to destroy al-Uzza, the idol mentioned in the Quran [53:19]. He also sent a group to destroy Manat [idol mentioned in Quran, 53:20] and others.
It's reported that when Khalid arrived at the temple of al-Uzza, he came across the custodians of the idols, and when they saw Khalid coming, one of them flung an ax around the neck of al-Uzza and said, "O Uzza! You protect yourself! I have to flee!" and they all left. And of course, al-Uzza didn't do anything, so Khalid destroyed al-Uzza.
So within the span of a few days, all of the idols in the vicinity of the Hejaz were destroyed.
All of this greatness was marred by a mini-tragedy done by one of the Companions:
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The Mistake of Khalid ibn al-Walid RA
All of the greatness was marred by a mini-tragedy done by one of the Companions. And this, by the way, shows us that no matter how much greatness you have, there is no perfection in this world. Humans are always prone to errors and mistakes. This was the greatest time in Islam, but still, something trivial happened that marred it. And the mistake was made by Khalid ibn al-Walid. Now recall, Khalid is a brand new Muslim — he converted just before the Conquest and so right now he doesn't know much fiqh. So he makes a very serious mistake.
Khalid was sent on several expeditions, and he had a checklist of tribes to go to. One of the items on the checklist was to go to the tribe of the Banu Jadhimah (بنو جذيمة) to invite them to Islam. But Khalid had a personal history with the tribe of Banu Jadhimah. In the days of Jahiliyyah, this tribe had killed his uncle. So when Khalid appeared with an army behind him, the Banu Jadhimah assumed he had come to exact revenge. So a group of them took out their swords and led an attack. And this led Khalid to attack back.
But other members of the Banu Jadhimah understood what was going on (that Khalid hadn't come for revenge), and they announced their submission to Islam. And in our religion, if a person does this —even if he is your enemy, even if he announces it on the battlefield (i.e., even if you could say his intention is questionable)— you need to stop your attack then and there. You cannot touch a hair on his head if he proclaims to be a Muslim. (We know the story of Usama ibn Zayd when he killed someone who had said the shahada [see episode 78]. The Prophet PBUH got very angry at Usama and said, "Did you open up his heart?" i.e., "You don't have the right to question his intention even if the shahada was said on the battlefield.") Now Khalid didn't know any of this; he was a brand new Muslim. So when a group attacked, he attacked back, and he attacked according to the customs of Jahiliyyah, which is no mercy — he killed a lot of innocent people. And he ordered the other sahaba to attack with him, but they refused. Amongst them were Abdullah ibn Umar and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf — they disobeyed their leader. (In Islam, you only obey your leader if he commands you that which is allowed.) And Khalid got irritated at them, that, "I am your commander!" But Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf didn't budge, "No, I will not attack." And upon this, Khalid gave Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf a vile curse.
Another cause of confusion appears to be that, the tribe of Banu Jadhimah did not say the appropriate and usual phrase. They didn't say, "Aslamna (أسلمنا - We have embraced Islam)," rather, they said, "Saba'na (صبئنا - We have embraced Sabianism)!" Recall, the Arabs would consider the new religion of Islam to be Sabianism (Sabi'un/صابئون). So when somebody embraced Islam, they would incorrectly say, "Saba'ta (صبئت - You have embraced Sabianism)!" And this is what the people of Banu Jadhimah said, "Saba'na (We have embraced Sabianism)!" Now the senior Companions understood the reference and didn't attack them. But Khalid ibn al-Walid did not take this into account; he didn't understand, so he ended up killing the innocents.
Immediately, news reached back to the Prophet PBUH — and this hadith is in Bukhari: The first thing the Prophet PBUH did was he stood up, faced the Ka'bah, raised his hands, and said, "O Allah, I absolve any responsibility from what Khalid has done," i.e., "I didn't command him to do that." And the Prophet PBUH immediately sent Ali RA to resolve the issue. He gave Ali ibn Abi Talib a large amount of wealth to resolve the blood money. So Ali RA went, and he gave very generously to each family, and he apologized on behalf of the Prophet PBUH. When Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf came back, he complained to the Prophet PBUH about what Khalid had done and said (and he mentioned the vile curse said to him). In response, the Prophet PBUH gave the beautiful hadith:
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"Do Not Curse My Companions"
In response, the Prophet PBUH gave the beautiful hadith: "Do not curse my Companions, for if any of you were to spend gold equal to [the Mountain of] Uhud in charity, it would not equal a handful of [what] one of them [would give], or even half of that" [Sahih Bukhari].
Who is this hadith being said to? Khalid ibn al-Walid, i.e., another Companion. Khalid is being told, "You had better not curse the senior Companions. If you were to give a mountain of gold, it wouldn't be equal to half of what they give." If this is being said to Khalid, then where do *we* stand on that scale? No doubt, Khalid is a brand new Muslim right now, but we all know who he would eventually become — one of the most respected sahaba. So Khalid's status itself is way up there. Yet, even he was being told, "You can never reach the level of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, et al." So where do we stand? The context of this hadith makes us respect the sahaba —especially the senior sahaba— even more.
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Ta'if
As we said, the Prophet PBUH remained in Makkah for around 19 days. The main point here is that he PBUH consolidated the immediate vicinity. But there was one major center left and that was Ta'if. Ta'if was the city that expelled him PBUH, tortured him, and pelted him with stones; it was the city he had the opportunity to destroy but chose to forgive [see episode 20].
Now, Ta'if could not be attacked with an army. Even though the Prophet PBUH had 12,000 men, Ta'if was a difficult city to attack because it's on the top of a mountain — it's on a plateau. So it's difficult to get there. And even once you are there, they have a thick fortress, and they have rainfall, plenty of water, vegetation, etc. — they can last out a siege. And the Muslims haven't yet developed a way to get past a fortress. They don't have the mechanisms/weapons to destroy thick walls. Recall in Khaybar, they literally had to wait it out — and it worked because they could cut off the supplies. But with Ta'if, they could not do this.
We will discuss what happened with Ta'if in the future episodes. For now, we will conclude with more fiqh benefits from the Conquest of Makkah, and one main theological benefit:
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Fiqh Benefits From the Event of the Conquest of Makkah
Fiqh Benefits:
1) We learn that it's allowed to break your fast during Ramadan for a legitimate reason. The Prophet PBUH and the sahaba left Madinah and they broke their fast [see episode 78]. It was Ramadan, and it was the 8th year of the Hijrah —and Ramadan was made obligatory in the 2nd year, so now it's an established farida— but still, all of them broke their fast. So we learn from this that you are allowed to break your fast in a travel.
2) Traveling begins outside of your home city, not outside of your home. Where did the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba break their fast? Outside Madinah fully [see episode 78].
3) For Salat al-Duha, 8 rak'at is the perfection. (But it's nafl, so 2, 4, or 6 is fine. 8 rak'at is the sunnah of the Prophet PBUH.)
4) It's recommended for the musafir (مسافر - traveler) to pray all 4-rak'ah prayers as 2 rak'at (i.e., do qasr). This is strongly encouraged. How do we know? The Prophet PBUH was in the holiest of holy places where every single prayer is equivalent to 100,000 prayers elsewhere, but he still prayed 4-rak'ah salahs as 2. (Side note: The Prophet PBUH was the imam, so of course he could do this. As for us, when we go to the Haram, we pray behind the imam — so we will follow the imam and pray the 4 full rak'at. But say, if we miss the congregational prayer, then we are strongly encouraged to pray qasr as visitors. If you are praying by yourself, the 4 rak'at all become 2 — even in the Haram.) Qasr for the traveler is an established sunnah.
5) Q: For how long is qasr allowed?
A: Very simplistically, the Malikis, Shafi'is, and Hanbalis say 4 days — so if you know you will stay for more than 4 days (or 21 [fard] salahs in Hanbali), you cannot do qasr. The Hanafi position says 15 days. There's no problem sticking with these mainstream positions, but it's interesting to note that Ibn Taymiyyah and others held a view that there is no time limit — they say it goes back to your own psychological state of affairs whether you are a legitimate traveler or semi-settled-in [see episodes 91 & 92]. [Further reading: The Definition of "Travel" (safar) According to Islamic Law, by Dr. Yasir Qadhi]
6) When a couple converts to Islam, their marriage contract remains valid regardless of who converts first for a period of time. In the Conquest of Makkah, there were a number of men embracing Islam, and then their wives after them. Also the wives first, and then husbands a few weeks later — the classic examples are Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahal and Safwan ibn Umayyah (recall they fled Makkah [see episodes 79 & 80]; so their wives who remained in Makkah converted first). And when they came back to Makkah and embraced Islam a few weeks later (or a month later in Safwan's case), they were not asked to do a new nikah ceremony — no new mahr or new witnesses. This shows us that when a person converts to Islam, a time frame (the length of the iddah period) is given for the other spouse to convert. (But do note there is an ikhtilaf on the length of the iddah period.) And if that other spouse converts within the given period, their marriage contract that was non-Islamic automatically becomes an Islamic contract, and they need not do a new nikah. [See also: episode 62: the Story of Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi'.]
7) Women are allowed to take money from their husbands without their knowledge if it's done for a legitimate reason/cause, e.g., the husband is being extra stingy. Islam allows the wife to take the husband's money if the needs of the family are not being met. The hadith of Hind demonstrates this [see episode 80].
8) When an item is haram, it's also haram to sell it.
9) It is mustahabb for a person —an elderly man/woman— who has completely white hair to dye their hair. We learn this from Abu Quhafa's conversion story [see episode 80].
10) The permissibility of visiting and entering Makkah without ihram. But there is a bit of a controversy among the scholars. Some scholars say it was only for the Prophet PBUH — because they say going to Makkah and not doing Umrah or Hajj is not befitting. And we understand this sentiment. But at the same time, think of those people whose businesses involve Makkah. For example, taxi drivers or fruit sellers. Think of them. (Don't think of us in the West. Indeed, it would be a big shame if one of us were to go to Makkah for *any* reason and not do Umrah and tawaf. It's honestly pathetic.) But for someone who goes to Makkah 5x a day or 5x a week, they can use this incident of the Conquest to say that it's not mandatory to do tawaf and Umrah every time you enter Makkah; it's not mandatory to wear ihram. Indeed, the Prophet PBUH was wearing the armor when he entered Makkah [see episode 79].
11) Again, this is a bit of a controversy, but some scholars derived from the Conquest of Makkah that breaking one condition of a treaty is tantamount to breaking the entire treaty. How did the Prophet PBUH conquer Makkah? The Quraysh broke one clause of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah [see episode 76].
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Theological Benefit From the Event of the Conquest of Makkah
The theological benefit is pretty obvious: In the end, victory will always be on the side of the Truth. "Surely, the ultimate outcome belongs [only] to the righteous" [Quran, 11:49]. Allah says in the Quran, "Allah has decreed, 'I and My messengers will certainly prevail.' Surely, Allah is All-Powerful, Almighty" [Quran, 58:21]. The Conquest of Makkah clearly shows the Power of Allah — and we as Muslims truly believe it was a miracle from Allah. For the Prophet PBUH to come back after being expelled and conquer the capital of Arabia without a war, and then for this Conquest to spark the embracing of Islam of the entire Arabian Peninsula, it was truly a miracle and a divine gift from Allah. It demonstrates that when you are patient, when you persevere, when you do not falter in the Path of Allah, eventually, Allah will reward you with victory. Our Prophet PBUH demonstrates this — the ups and the downs. You must suffer in the Path of Allah before you get the reward. Even the prophets have to put in the effort. You have to stand up and strive. You have to do what you can. You have to show Allah your dedication and determination. And you will suffer. Indeed, how much has our Prophet PBUH suffered? He went through so much torture, persecution, death of loved ones, wars, etc. But in the end, when you put in the sweat and the toil and the effort, Allah SWT never causes the efforts of the righteous to go unrewarded. And we see this in the Conquest of Makkah. After all of the difficult years, our Prophet PBUH is rewarded with the greatest victory imaginable.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, June 2022]
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, June 2022]
