IB_Issue2

Page 6

The Islamic Bulletin

Issue 2

Page 7

The Islamic Bulletin

Issue 2

Embracement of Islam

When The Almighty chose Muhammad (S.A.W.) as His Prophet

and he proclaimed Islam, Abu Lahab called his sons and said to

them: Should you not forsake Muhammad’s daughters, I would

never come near you. Both the sons obeyed their father and the

Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) married Hadrat Rukaya (R.A.) to Hadrat

‘Uthman (R.A.A.).

General Events

Hadrat ‘Uthman (R.A.A.) migrated to Syria in the 5th year of Apostle-

hood. When she returned, the people of Mecca were thirsty for their

blood more than ever. So she had to migrate for the second time.

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) could not know their whereabouts for

long. In the meantime, a woman informed him that she had seen

both of them. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) prayed for them and

said: After Ibrahim (Abraham) and Lot, Hadrat ‘Uthman is the first

to migrate with his wife.

This time she stayed in Abyssinia for a long time. When she knew

that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) was going to migrate to Medina, a

few men including Hadrat ‘Uthman and Hadrat Rukaya came to

Mecca and migrated to Medina with the permission from the Holy

Prophet (S.A.W.). They stayed in Hadrat Hasan’s brother, Aus bin

Thabit’s house.

Death

In the 2nd Hijra, the year in which the battle of Badr was fought,

painful boils covered her body. When the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)

set out for fighting, he left Hadrat ‘Uthman to look after her. On

conveyed the glad tidings of victory, Hadrat Rukaya died.

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.), being busy in fighting, could not par-

ticipate in her Janaza (burial). Hadrat ‘Umar stood up for flogging,

but the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) held his hand and said: ‘There is no

harm in weeping, but raising much hue and cry and wailing loudly

is strictly prohibited, being the doings of Satan.’

The chief of the women, Hadrat Fatima was also present and con-

tinued weeping beside the grave. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) wiped

her tears with the border of a cloth.

Children

During her stay in Abyssinia, a son was born to her whose name

was ‘Abdullah. Hadrat ‘Uthman’s Kunhya, Abu Abdullah was after

his name. He lived for six years. Once a cock pecked at his face

due to which he died. This event occurred in Jamadi Al-Awwal, the

4th Hijra. There was no issue to her, after the birth of ‘Abdullah.

Sheth (pbuh) was the third son of the Prophet Adam (pbuh). When

Prophet Sheth (pbuh) was born, his father, the Prophet Adam (pbuh),

had attained the age of 130 years. The Almighty conferred upon

him the honor of Prophethood after Adam (pbuh).

It is said that The Almighty revealed to him fifty small portions of

the Scripture. When Prophet Adam (pbuh) was on death bed, he

appointed Sheth (pbuh) as his successor and advised his descendants

to follow him and live peacefully in perfect harmony. He tried to

guide his followers on the right path, but some of themwere strayed

by the Satan. They began to worship Satan’s self-made portrait.

Prophet Sheth (pbuh) passed away at the age of 912 years. Anush,

his son, won a remarkable position after him. In the fourth century

there existed in Egypt a sect of gnostic, calling themselves Sethians.

They regarded Sheth as a divine emanation.

As a result of the efforts of the Prophet Sheth (pbuh) some people

began to believe in The Almighty. As the time passed by, they shifted

their attention towards the worshiping the statue of their prophet.

They became polytheists, religious- and faithless. They adopted

indecent ways of life. Under such circumstances, The Almighty

sent the Prophet Idris (pbuh) for the reformation and guidance

of those who had gone astray. The Holy Qur’an mentions him in

the following verse:

“Commemorate Idris in the Book, verily he

was a man of truth and a Prophet and We raised him to a lofty

station.” (Qur’an 19:56)

Preaching and Opposition

The Prophet Idris (pbuh) preached monotheism. He directed his

people to abandon idol-worship. He emphasized them not to be

captivated by the love for wealth and property. He advised them

to abstain from drinking wine and other intoxicants. Only a few

men paid heed to his teachings but the majority of the people

opposed him bitterly. Prophet Idris (pbuh) did not lose heart and

continued preaching with unshakable constancy. He is appreciated

for his firm faith and forbearance in the following verses of the Holy

Qur’an:

”All (Isma’il, Zhul-Kill and Idris) were men of constancy

and patience. We admitted them into Our Mercy, for they were

of the righteous ones.” (Qur’an 21:85-86)

Migration to Egypt

Inspire of the untiring efforts the Prophet Idris (pbuh) could not

attain considerable success and felt disgusted with the indifferent

attitude of the public. He was directed to migrate to Egypt and settle

on the banks of the river Nile.

He preached the religion of The Almighty among the various tribes

and admonished them to be good and civilized. Consequently, he

brought a remarkable change in the moral and social life of the

people.

Some sayings of the Prophet Idris (pbuh):

Do not feel jealous of the prosperity of others.

He who has unlimited desires is deprived of the wealth of con-

tentment.

One should be sincere in the acts of devotion.

It is an act of grave sin to take false oaths.

Patience is a key to victory.

He who controls his passions is fortunate. Only a good act will be

a living intercessor before The Almighty on the Day of Judgment.

One who is desirous of attaining perfection in knowledge; should

have no concern with immoral acts.

The Learned Prophet

Prophet Idris (pbuh) was born 100 years after the death of the

Prophet Adam (pbuh). He was the first man who learnt to write.

It is said that thirty portions of The Almighty’s Sacred Scriptures

were revealed to him. He was the inventor of the science of the

Astronomy and the Arithmetic.

Death Event

Prophet Idris (pbuh) passed away at the age of 365 years. Mutwaslah

was one of his distinguished sons who made his mark.

ietary

egulations

These verses of the Quran draw man’s attention to his own self and

invite him carefully and seriously to study his body and soul and

the nature and their mutual relationship.

“Surely, he will find in it strong evidence of the existence of God,

and that God has not created him and other things of this world

without any purpose.” (Quran 3:191)

It is therefore necessary to keep

the physical body very healthy so that other things (i.e. spirit and soul)

may also remain healthy and so help him in the service of both, his ma-

terial and spiritual attainment. Diet has therefore played an important

role in Islamic medicine. Islam has prohibited certain foods because

of their ill effects and allowed all other pure, good and clean things.

“O Muhammad! Ask them who has forbidden the decent and

clean things that God has produced for His servants and (who

has forbidden) the good and pure things of life granted by Him.

Say; All these things are for the believers in this world but on the

Day of Resurrection, these shall be exclusively for them. Thus do

We explain the Signs in detail for those who know.” (Quran 7:32)

And in Surah Al-Baqara, we read,

“O Believers! Eat of the good and pure things that We have pro-

vided for you and be grateful to God, if you are true worshippers

of God.” (Quran 2:172)

Then people in general are advised to eat good and pure things

and not to indulge in impure, bad and harmful things, following

their open enemy, the Devil.

“O People! Eat of what is lawful and good on earth and do not follow

the footstepsof theEvilOne, forhe isyouropenenemy.” (Quran2:168)

It may here be pointed out that the word ‘pure’ has been qualified

with the word ‘lawful’ so that impure things may not be made

lawful merely because they have not been included in the list of

prohibitions. As regards the criterion for judging whether a thing

is pure or not, it should be noticed that all those things are pure

which are not unclean according to any principle of Islamic Law, or

which are not offensive to good taste or have not universally been

regarded as repugnant by cultured people.

After stating this general principle with regard to permissible foods, the

Qur’an specifies the prohibited foods in these words,

“He has only

forbidden you dead meat and blood and swine flesh, and that (food)

overwhich thenameof other thanGodhasbeen invoked; but if one is

forcedbynecessity,withoutwillful disobediencenor transgressingdue

limit, then truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.’ (Quran 16:115 & 2:173)

These four things are absolutely forbidden in Islamfor reasons best known

to God. However, research in these things has shown that some of them

are injurious to human health (as dead meat; blood and swine flesh) and

some are harmful tomoral health as well (as flesh of swine) and still others

to spiritual health (as food over which the name of any other than God

has been invoked). This list of prohibited foods also includes the following,

“That which has been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow,, or by a

headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which has been (partly)

eatenby awildanimal; unless youareable to slaughter it (indue form);

that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); and (forbidden) also is the

division (of meat) by raffling with arrows. This is impiety.” (Quran 5:4)

Alcohol is also prohibited because its harmfulness is greater than

its benefits. (Quran 2:219)

“O you who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, idols, and raffles,

are only a filthy work of Satan; turn aside from them so that you

may prosper. Satan only wants to stir up enmity and jealously

among you by means of intoxicants and gambling, and to hinder

you from remembering God, and from praying. So will you not

then abstain?” (Quran 5:90-91)

The physical, moral, social and spiritual evils of intoxicants and

gambling are clearly referred to in the above verse of the Qur’an.

ating

and

rinking

From Salman (raa): The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh) said: “The

blessing of food is (received by) washing (the hands) before and

washing (the hands) after (taking) it.” (Tirmidhi)

Aisha (ra) said that The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh) said: “When

anyone of you eats, he should invoke the name of Almighty, The

Exalted. If he forgets to invoke the name of The Almighty, at the

beginning, he should say (when he does remember): “In the name

of The Almighty, in its beginning and its and end.” (Abu Dawud,

Tirmidhi)

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (raa) said that The Almighty’s Messenger

(pbuh), when he finished his meal, used to say: “Praise be to The

Almighty, who gave us to eat and to drink and made us Muslims.”

(Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)

Umar Abu bin Salama (raa) said: “I was under the care of The Al-

mighty’s Messenger (pbuh) and my hand used to pick at random

in the dish, so The Almighty’s Messenger said to me: ‘Invoke the

name of The Almighty and eat with your right (hand) and eat what

is near you.’” (Bukhari, Muslim)

From Abu Huraira (raa): “The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh) never

found fault with food. If he liked something, he ate it, but if he

disliked it, he (just) abstained from it. (Bukhari, Muslim)

From ba Ka’b bin Malik, from his father: “The Almighty’s Messenger

(pbuh) used to eat with three fingers, and he licked his hand before

he wiped it.” (Muslim)

From Anas (raa): “When The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh) ate

food, he used to lick his three fingers and he said: ‘When one of

you drops a morsel, he should remove the dirt from it and eat it,

and should not leave it for the Satan.’ And he ordered us to wipe

the bowl. He said: ‘You do not know in which (part) of your food

is the ‘Baraka’ (Blessing).” (Muslim)

From Ali Abbas (raa): “I heard The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh)

say, ‘The believer is not he who eats his fill while his neighbor is

hungry.’” (Bukhari, Muslim)

From Abu Huraira (raa): “The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh) said:

‘Food for two is sufficient for three, and the food for three is suffi-

cient for four.’” (Bukhari, Muslim)

From Umar (raa): The Almighty’s Messenger (pbuh) said: “Eat

together, and do not separate, for the blessing is in the company.”

(ar Maja)

From Ja’far bin Muhammed, from his father: Abu Karima al-Mikdad

arma Ma’dikarib (raa) said that he heard The Almighty’s Messenger

(pbuh) say: “No man fills a vessel which is worse than his stomach.

Sufficient for the son of Adam are a few mouthfuls to keep his back

upright, but if it has to be more, then let one third (be left) for his

breathing.” (Tirmidhi)

Hazrat Zaid bin Sabit (R.A.A.) says, “Once we ate ‘Sahri (breakfast

before dawn during Ramadhan) with the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)

and then stood up for the morning salat. He was asked as to what

was the interval between the two. He said: ‘The time required

for the recital of fifty verses (Of the Holy Quran). (Bukhari and

Muslim)

Hazrat alad ‘Umar (R.A.A.) relates that the Holy Prophet

(S.A.W.) had two Muezzins (Callers for prayers). One was Hazrat

Bilal (R.A.A.) and the other was Hazrat ar Ume Maktum (R.A.A.)

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) said: ‘Bilal (R.A.A.) calls the Azan

(a bit earlier) when it is still night. Therefore, continue eating

and drinking till Ibn Umm Maktum (R.A.A.) calls it.’ He said

there was in fact only a brief interval between the two when

one descended and the other ascended (the high platform).

(Bukhari and Muslim)

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