Ebrahim Bham – History of Taaif
AI: Summary ©
The transcript discusses the historical context of Taq refin's death and the importance of showing respect and the truth in Islam. It also touches on the lack of confidence in Islam and the historical context of the incident. The segment ends with a historical narration about a man from India who claimed to have been killed by a woman.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillahi ala kufrihi ba'da ammin, wa ala
akhrihi ba'da khudratin, wassalatu wassalamu ala sayyidi al
anbiya wa al mursaleen, wa ala aadihi wa
ashabin, wassalamu tasliman wa katheeran wa katheeran.
Amma ba'du qawmun billahi minash shaitanir rajim, bismillahir
rahmanir rahim.
Fahila al-qararata falusab, wa hila rabbika furhab.
Wa qala ta'ala, wa qalu law la
nusila hadha al-qur'anu ala radu li'mina
al-qaryatayni azeem.
Sadaqallahul azeem.
My dear respected ulama, elders and brothers, we
begin by praising almighty Allah, sending salutations upon
our beloved Nabiye Kareem sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
We are at that time of the year,
especially in South Africa, where this time is
regarded to be a time of relaxation, a
time of chilling out, a time of taking
a break.
Now while in Islam there is accommodation, that
we take a break from time to time.
The Sahabi Abu Dharri r.a. and Abu
Dharta r.a. has mentioned that minds get
tired the way bodies get tired.
And the way when bodies get tired, you
give it time to rest.
So when minds get tired, you should try
and keep your mind busy with something trivial,
like humour or a break.
But what is the reason with regard to
it?
That break and that entertainment, quote-unquote, is
not an objective, but is a means of
strengthening our resolve to come back towards our
objective in life.
And that is important for us to remember,
that when we take a break, we are
not taking a break from the commands of
Allah ta'ala.
We are taking a break to refresh us,
to become more obedient to Allah and become
more focused on our objective.
In this regard there is a beautiful passage
of the Holy Quran and every passage is
beautiful.
Where Allah ta'ala says, You know, what
an amazing, sometimes, an attitude and a way
of thinking.
So Allah ta'ala tells our beloved Nabi
-e-Karim s.a.w. in commanding, When
you have completed your duties and your responsibilities,
now you and I would think that I
have done my years, you know, activity, I've
done my work, I'm taking a break, let
me go and chill, let me go and
relax.
What Allah ta'ala says, When you have
completed your duties, tire yourself in remembering Allah.
When you have completed your duties, tire yourself
in remembering Allah ta'ala.
The same message has been also in Surah
An-Nasr.
Subhanallah, Allah ta'ala tells us that you
will see people coming into Islam in drones.
And when Hazrat Abu Bakr heard this verse,
he started crying.
People said, why are you crying, O Abu
Bakr?
Allah is giving great tidings that people are
going to come into Islam in drones.
And Abu Bakr said, don't you see?
It is an indication of the end of
the objective and the mission of our beloved
Nabi-e-Karim s.a.w. But nevertheless,
what did Allah ta'ala tell Nabi-e
-Karim s.a.w.? People will come in
drones, Now remember Allah more.
So we, you and I, we take this
example that now we have completed our tasks,
we must relax.
Allah in the Quran tells us, you have
completed your tasks, become more devoted in remembering
Allah ta'ala.
Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad r.a was one
day asked and told him, why don't you
relax and take it easy?
And he said, what an amazing reply he
said.
My relaxation will take place for the first
step of mine in Jannah.
There's a time when I will really relax,
when I stand my first few steps in
Jannah.
However, it is a time of some sort
of relaxation, the environment is relaxed.
So I thought I'll speak about a topic
that is about history, but will give us
a lot of lessons.
And of course in history there is an
anecdotal experience, there is like a form of
anecdote, a form of a story.
Recently, while going for Umrah, I went to
Ta'if.
And while in Ta'if, I started reading
about the history of Ta'if.
And Ta'if is a very amazing place.
Allah ta'ala in the Quran, in the
ayat which I recited, in the khutbah, Allah
ta'ala says, وَقَالُوا لَوْ لَا نُزِّلَ هَذَا
الْقُرْآنَ That the people of Arabia and the
people of Makkah, when Nabiye Karim s.a
.w. came with his mission and he told
them to accept Islam, they said, why didn't
the Quran be revealed upon a person, مِنَ
الْقَرْيَةَيْنِ عَزِيمٍ who was widely respected in these
two cities.
Which are the two cities?
Makkah and Ta'if.
Because Ta'if was very close to Makkah,
and these two cities used to share many
things.
As I will go on to explain and
give you examples.
So much so that the wealthy people of
Makkah, that they used to buy homes and
invest in Ta'if.
And they used to go and spend their
time in the summers in Ta'if.
And today even it is known as the
summer capital of Saudi Arabia.
Nevertheless, it came into prominence when our beloved
Nabiye Karim s.a.w., when the Qurans
did not accept, by and large, did not
accept the mission and the teachings of our
beloved Nabiye Karim s.a.w. And especially
after Amul Huzur, the year in which Nabiye
Karim s.a.w. suffered great amount of
sadness after the loss of his beloved wife,
and great support, Hazrat Khadijah r.a, and
his uncle Abu Talib, who was not a
Muslim, but of course who supported Nabiye Karim
s.a.w. So Nabiye Karim s.a
.w. thought, let me go to Ta'if.
The people of Ta'if are known to
be people of great respect and honor.
Maybe if the people of Makkah didn't accept,
they will accept.
And if they accept, it will give Muslims
a base.
Muslims could come and become a base.
And if the people of Makkah rejected, the
people of Ta'if might accept.
So when Nabiye Karim s.a.w. went
to give the da'wah and give the
invitation to the people of Ta'if, they
not only rejected, they tormented our beloved Nabiye
Karim s.a.w. They turned against our
beloved Nabiye Karim s.a.w. They got
the street urchins to chase Nabiye Karim s
.a.w. out of Ta'if, beating him
on the way.
Until a time came when our beloved Nabiye
Karim s.a.w.'s whole body was bruised
and battered.
And blood flowed from the body of Nabiye
Karim s.a.w. until his shoes became
clogged with blood.
And Nabiye Karim s.a.w. came at
a place.
And at that particular place, the angels came
to Allah s.w.t. and said, O
Allah, look at what is happening to your
beloved Nabiye.
Give us permission to go and take retribution
from the people who have done such a
hideous crime against your beloved.
So Nabiye Karim s.a.w. told the
angels, Go and ask Muhammad.
If he tells you, then you should follow
what he said.
And the angels of the mountains came to
Nabiye Karim s.a.w. And bear in
mind that Ta'if is in a valley.
It's a very beautiful place, a very scenic
drive that we're going on today.
So it is between mountains.
And they came to tell Nabiye Karim s
.a.w. Allow us to crush Ta'if
between these two mountains.
And Nabiye Karim s.a.w. said a
very amazing statement.
A historical statement.
Which was to have far-reaching consequences.
He said that perhaps they have not accepted
Islam.
But their progeny will accept Islam.
Their progeny will carry forward the message of
Islam.
It was to become such a great self
-fulfilling prophecy.
While Nabiye Karim s.a.w. was here,
The two people who were from Makkah who
had invested in Ta'if.
People who were very prominent, very wealthy.
Udbay and Shaybah.
They found Nabiye Karim s.a.w. Although
perhaps they were behind whatever had happened.
So they sent one of their servants, Adash.
For the plate of grapes.
And they said, Adash, go and give this
to Muhammad.
Adash comes and he gives it to Nabiye
Karim s.a.w. Who before consuming, reads,
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Now Adash is taken aback.
He never heard these phrases before.
And he said, what are you reading?
I've never heard such a phrase before.
And he said, this is what Allah has
taught me.
I'm a Nabi of Almighty Allah.
Nabiye Karim s.a.w. then asked him,
Adash, tell me, where are you from?
So Adash said, I'm from Bin Wah.
So Nabiye Karim s.a.w. said, you
come from the place where my brother Prophet
Yunus ibn Muttah comes from.
So Adash said, where do you know about
Yunus?
Yunus is made mention in my Quran, in
where I was revealed.
And Nabiye Karim s.a.w. gives him
Dawah.
And according to the narrations and historical narrations,
he becomes a Muslim.
When his masters were going to Badr, he,
you know, forced them and said, don't go
to Badr.
This is a Nabi of Allah, you are
going to lose.
He's got the help of Allah Ta'ala.
And they didn't listen to him and happened
whatever happened.
Both of them, you know, were killed by
the Muslims in Badr.
Now some historical narrations make mention that he
was also killed in Badr.
But great historians like Waqidi and Ibn Hajar
count him amongst the Ashab and count him
amongst the companions of our beloved Nabiye Karim
s.a.w. Nabiye Karim s.a.w.
is little wild of interaction.
Kindness made him a Muslim.
Subhanallah.
You know, and today also when you go
to Taif, there's a Masjid known as Masjid
-e-Aqda.
You know, very interestingly, when I came out
of the Masjid, there were people who were
selling grapes.
And I said, ya Allah.
He was the one who presented grapes to
Nabiye Karim s.a.w. and today there
are people selling grapes.
That fast forward.
Many years after that, Nabiye Karim s.a
.w. conquers Makkah.
And after that, you know, the fifth, the
fifth, you know, he goes to Hunayn and
the battles take place and Allah Ta'ala
grants him victory.
And then he lays siege over the people
of Taif.
The siege lasts almost a month.
Almost a month.
And the people of Taif were very, very
strong people.
Very robust.
So they managed to keep themselves protected in
the siege.
And Nabiye Karim s.a.w. realized that
Allah Ta'ala is not going to give
us victory at this particular time.
Allah is not going to let Taif fall
at this particular time.
So Nabiye Karim s.a.w. tell the
Sahaba, let us leave.
And there were some, you know, Sahaba who
lost their life, who were martyred, who became
shaheed.
So some of the Sahaba said, Ya Rasulallah,
look at what Taqif has done.
The people of Taif.
Ya Rasulallah, make bad dua against them.
Curse them.
Subhanallah.
Nabiye Karim s.a.w. lifted his hand
in dua.
Now Sahaba are thinking, we made a request
that Allah must, that Nabi must curse them.
Let us see what he's going to say.
And Nabiye Karim s.a.w. said, O
Allah, grant hidayah to Taif.
This was a midaj and temperament of our
Nabi.
Always kind, considerate.
Waiting for people to accept Islam, rather than
waiting for them to be destroyed.
Yes, perhaps it is many a times our
mindset.
This happens.
The siege is not successful.
Nabiye Karim s.a.w. comes back to
Medina.
But it led a very lasting impact upon
the people of Taif.
And in particular upon one great Sahabi by
the name of Hurwa bin Mas'ud al
-Taqafi.
Whenever we speak about Hurwa bin Mas'ud,
we always find the word Taqafi with him.
Because he was from Taqif, and he was
from Taif.
So Hurwa bin Mas'ud after many years
comes to Medina in Marawara to accept Islam.
When he comes to accept Islam, you know,
he accepts Islam, and he tells Nabiye Karim
s.a.w., give me permission to go
and propagate your message to the people of
Taif.
So Nabiye Karim s.a.w. tells him
that, you know, you have accepted Islam.
Alhamdulillah.
It's good you have accepted Islam.
But be careful.
The people of Taif are not yet ready
to accept Islam.
Be careful in how you approach and give
them Dawah.
When you give Dawah, there must be some
sort of relationship between you and the people
whom you are giving Dawah.
There must be some interaction, there must be
some muhabbat, there must be some sort of
communication.
You're gonna give them Dawah in a vacuum,
they will not be readily to accept it.
So he says, Ya Rasulullah, I've got so
much respect.
People love me in Taif.
And because of that, most likely they will
listen to what I've got to say, because
of my respect amongst my Taif.
So Nabiye Karim s.a.w. told him
to exercise caution.
And this was the wisdom and maturity of
Nabiye Karim s.a.w. So when he
comes back, normally anyone coming back to Taif
always used to go to the idol-like.
Because that was a goddess, a female idol.
And that was one of the landmarks of
the people of Taif at that time.
So he did not go there.
And he went straight, and he read Salat,
and he told the people, I've accepted Islam.
The next morning, he gets up on the
top of his house, gives Azan, calls out
the Azan, wants to read Fajr Namaz, and
the people could not take it.
And they shot him with an arrow and
he died, he became a martyr.
When Nabiye Karim s.a.w. came to
know about it, Nabiye Karim s.a.w.
said, he is amongst Al-e-Yassin.
Now just remember this, Al-e-Yassin is
a very amazing human being.
You know, if ever someone tells you that
you are alone, many times you and I
may say, I'm one person, what difference can
I make?
You hear this many a times saying.
I always tell them, that firstly, it's a
wrong assumption to make.
One person can make a big difference.
If anyone thinks that one person can't make
a difference, they let him sleep in an
empty room where a mosquito is buzzing.
Would he be able to sleep in that
room?
The mosquito will keep him awake.
One small mosquito can make a difference, why
can't one human being make a difference?
So this Al-e-Yassin was one person.
And he was not a Nabiye of Allah,
was not known to be a saintly person,
although later on proved that he was a
saintly person.
So when the prophets came to his place,
told the people to accept truth, they rejected
the prophets, and he came to them.
وَجَعَ رَجُلٌ مِّنْ أَقْسَلْ مَدِينَةِ يَشْعَرْ He was
a carpenter by trade.
A carpenter came and tell the people, اِتَّبِعُوا
الْمُرْسَلِينَ Follow the Anbiya, they are upon right.
They are calling you to Allah.
وَمَا لِيَ لَا عَعْبُدُ الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي Why don't
you worship the one who created you?
And you know, we might read other passages
of the Holy Quran.
We might read, might not read.
But Surah Yaseen, by and large, many people
in the ummah reading after Surah Yaseen.
And in this we will make mention and
we will read about a person who was
not a Nabi.
He was an ordinary carpenter by trade.
And you and I will read about him
till the day of Qiyamah.
And when he told the people, accept the
truth, they martyred him.
He died.
And when he died, he will go to
Jannah.
Allah Ta'ala told him, go into Jannah.
And why he is in Jannah?
He is telling people, يَا لَيْتَ قَوْمِي يَعْلَمُونَ
O Allah, tell the people of my tribe
who rejected and killed me, مِمَا غَفَرَنِي رَبِّي
وَجَعَلَنِي مِنَ الْمُكْرَمِينَ How you forgave me and
how you honored me after I accepted the
truth.
After being killed by the people, he is
still worried about their hidayah.
O Allah, tell them how you treated me
with respect and honor.
Maybe they will come upon the truth.
This is the mizaaj and temperament of a
mu'min.
Always wondering and always wishing good for people.
الدين النصيحة Deen is well-wishing.
That is the first port of call of
ours.
There are other steps that need to be
taken whenever there is a need.
But the first port of call is always
to be well-wishing of people.
Then I fast forward from there.
Ghulwa bin Mas'ud al-Taqafi became the
first person to accept Islam from Ta'if.
Allah Ta'ala grants him martyrdom.
Towards the end of Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul
-Islam's time, in the ninth year after Hijri,
the entire Arabian tribes have all accepted Islam.
And perhaps one of the last major tribes
that have not accepted Islam is Taqif.
So they realized that, listen, we need to
do something.
So they bring a delegation of six people
led by one of the most prominent people,
Ibn-e-Yaleen.
He comes to Madinah-e-Munawwara and he
comes with six people, prominent people.
When he comes, Mughirah ibn Shuba r.a,
eminent companion, who is also from the same
tribe, was grazing, you know, the sheep outside
Madinah, sees them coming.
And he rushes to Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul
-Islam, says, Ya Rasulullah, people from my tribe
have come.
Ya Rasulullah, people from my tribe have come.
He brings them, tells them the etiquette.
Now there is a particular reason why he
wanted to host them.
I'm not going to go into that reason.
It's a long story.
But Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam had a
completely different mindset and attitude.
So Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam, what did
he do?
Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam made a tent
outside Masjid-e-Nabawi.
Some said it was a tent outside Masjid
-e-Nabawi.
Some said he accommodated them in Masjid-e
-Nabawi.
So the six people from Taqif come and
they stay in Masjid-e-Nabawi.
People who are not Muslims.
And Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam, they can
stay either in or just outside Masjid-e
-Nabawi.
Arrange this for their food.
And I'm not giving a fatwa.
I'm not giving a verdict.
I'm just telling you a historical narration.
This is how Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam
dealt with people.
And Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam then told
them.
And every morning, Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam
used to go and speak to them about
Islam.
Every morning.
Uthman bin Abi'l-As was a young
Sahabi.
So when they used to go and speak
to Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam, he used
to go to the Sahabi and tell him,
teach me Quran.
And he used to learn Quran from them.
So he accepted Islam by that.
And Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam, when they
came and see Nabiye-i-Khalifat-ul-Islam,
and they saw the Muslims living, Nabiye-i
-Khalifat-ul-Islam wanted them to come near
the Masjid so that they could see how
the Muslims live.
And I really feel, my dear respected brothers,
it's something I'm very passionate about.
Some people might misunderstand it.
There was a time when people used to
interact with Muslims, become impressed by how they
saw the behavior of Muslims and become Muslims.
Today you and I, we are afraid of
interacting because we feel they will impress us.
What lack of confidence in what you've got.
Is that the confidence you've got in your
religion?
Is that the confidence what you've got in
your teachings?
That you feel a little bit of interaction
and other people will change you?
What about the aspect of your confidence, of
you showing people your truth?
And they eventually wanted to accept Islam.
But what they did was, they wanted some
concessions.
They were the last major tribe to become
Muslim.
So what they did, they said, Ya Rasulullah,
we can't do this, we can't do that.
Just to do an example, they said, we
are people who like to travel.
Now you know, we always like to look
for loopholes.
Muslims today also like to look for loopholes.
There is no loopholes on certain fundamentals of
Allah Ta'ala.
Ya Rasulullah, we always...
You know, Muhammad, we always travel.
You allow us to commit adultery.
Because when we go out to do our
journeys, we can't stay without women.
Nabiye Karim S.A.W. said, No concession
in the Salat of Rabbul Zina.
Then they wanted the same thing with regard
to interest.
We can't do this.
And eventually, there were one or two things
Nabiye Karim S.A.W. gave them certain
leeway.
And then the last thing, and I will
just conclude with this.
They said, what about our female goddess?
Everything used to be around lat.
They said, allow us one year.
Nabiye Karim S.A.W. said, not one
year.
One month, one week, one day.
Nabiye Karim S.A.W. said, this is
a very empty thesis of Islam.
Islam believes in the oneness of Allah.
I won't give you one moment to keep
lat.
And then they said, okay, one thing do
for us.
And that is, we won't destroy it.
They always felt if anyone destroys lat, through
whatever they believe, was going to destroy the
people and destroy the one who is going
to destroy lat.
They said, send someone to come and destroy
it.
Nabiye Karim S.A.W. said that, I
will accept.
Nabiye Karim S.A.W. said, Khalid bin
Walid and amazingly, Mughirah ibn Shuba, who was
from the same tribe.
Now, Mughirah ibn Shuba had a little bit
of, you know, a mysterious nature, so to
speak, for lack of a better word.
And what he did was, when he came
in, he wanted to hit the lat and
break the idol.
As he was hitting the chopper, he carried
on as, you know, he went into a
state of, you know, becoming fainted and unconscious.
And they all laughed and said, you see
what happened.
We told you not to destroy lat.
And he got up from there laughing and
he said, what can this idol do to
me?
So this was the remarkable incident of Taif
and Bani Safif.
And let me tell you brothers, sometimes one
small thing happened.
Nabi S.A.W. allowed them and said,
don't destroy them.
Their children and progeny will accept Islam.
When I went there, I went to go
and read Salat in the Masjid in Taif.
I did a small flip, which I will
post maybe inshallah.
I said, ya Allah, here were the people
who chased Nabi S.A.W. out.
Nabi S.A.W. told them their progeny
will accept Islam.
Today there is a masjid, big masjid, Shamia
ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas.
You know, people come and read namaz.
This is the direct result of Nabi S
.A.W.'s kindness, compassion and farsightedness.
Let me give you another aspect of farsightedness.
An amazing aspect of farsightedness.
Many of us, I'm not saying all of
us, many of us in this gathering are
from India-Pakistan background.
Many of us are from India-Pakistan background.
Many might not know a historical, you know,
beauty.
The person who introduced Islam to India-Pakistan
was Muhammad bin Qasim.
Muhammad bin Qasim was a taqafi, who came
from the tribe of Taif.
So, we, you and I, many people who
come from India-Pakistan, we owe our Islam
to the kindness Nabi S.A.W. showed
to the people of Taif.
Because he allowed them to remain, and from
their progeny comes a person who introduces Islam
to the Hindu-Pak subcontinent.
So in a way, everyone who comes from
that part of the world, owe their Islam
to that great display of kindness, compassion and
farsightedness that Nabi S.A.W. displayed in
Taif.
May Allah give us the profit.
I just said this historical narration, historical incident.
It might be appropriate for this time of
the year.
May Allah give us the profit of understanding.
Wa min Allah at-tawfiq, Al Fatiha.