For this task to take effect, it had three stages: The first phase was to lay the groundwork of the system, which was accomplished with these deeds. The second phase was safeguarding this system. If all of those in power recognize and sense danger from a living system which is growing and developing they will inevitably consider it to be the enemy. If the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) is not able to consciously safeguard this auspicious naturally born thing against its enemies, this system will be destroyed and all of his accomplishments will have been in vain; thus it must be safeguarded. The third stage includes the completion and construction of the structure. The laying of groundwork is not enough; the laying of groundwork is the first step. These three tasks are done parallel to one another. The laying of groundwork is first and foremost; yet in this very laying of groundwork enemies have been taken into consideration as well and after this, safeguarding will continue. In this same laying of groundwork attention has also been paid to the building of personalities and the foundations of society and it will be continued after that, as well.
The Enemies Threaten the Islamic System
The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) looks and sees that five main enemies threaten this newly born society. An enemy may be small and insignificant; but, at the same time one must not be negligent of him. Some time it might create a great danger. Which one is that? The half-wild tribes around Medina. There are half-wild tribes existing at a distance of 60, 90 or 120 kilometers from Medina whose lives included war, bloodshed, looting, attacking each other, and grabbing each other’s possession. If the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) wants to create a healthy and sure and calm social system, he must take them into account. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) had thought about what to do with them. If there was a sign of good and guidance in any one of them, he would make a covenant with them; first he did not say that they must come and embrace Islam; no, there were also infidels and atheists; but they made a covenant with them so that they would not remonstrate. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) insisted quite a lot on his treaty and remained steadfast to it. I will explain it, as well. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) found a remedy for those who were wicked and unreliable, and went to them, himself. These expeditions that you have heard of that the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) sent fifty people to a certain tribe, he sent twenty persons to a certain tribe are relevant to these people; those whose temperament and nature can not be quieted, guided, or accept good and they cannot live without anything other than shedding blood and using power. Thus, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) went to them and suppressed them and put them in their place.
The second enemy is Mecca, which is a centrality. It is true that, in Mecca, a government did not exist in its current meaning, but one aristocratic, proud, powerful, and influential group governed over Mecca collectively. There was discord between them, but they were complicit with each other against this newly born system. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) knew that they were the main cause of danger; and this also happened in practice. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) sensed that if he sits around until they come after him, surely they would find the chance (have the upper hand); thus, he went to them; albeit, he did not move toward Mecca. The route of their caravan would pass close to Medina; the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) began his attacks on them, the most important of which was the Battle of Badr as the most important battle of the early periods. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) began the attack; and they also came to fight against his holiness (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) with bias, insistence, and obstinacy.
2001/18/05
According to the promise of Allah Almighty, the Muslims were informed that they would be victorious over a group of infidels and this was in the second year of Hijra. A caravan carrying articles of merchandise and the property of the Quraysh was coming from Shām to Medina so as to go past Medina to reach Mecca. When the threat of the heroes and the Arab fighters and the Muslims became clear for the infidels of the Quraysh, they dispatched armed forces toward Medina to defend their wealth. Muslims were more willing to stop the caravan that was carrying wealth and commodities that did not have well-prepared defenders. But, the command of Allah was to confront the combatants of the unbelieving Quraysh:
﴿وَ إذ يَعِدُكُمُ اللهُ إحدَى الطّائِفَتَينِ أنّها لَكُم وَ تَوَدُّونَ أنّ غَيرَ ذاتِ الشَّوكَةِ تَكونُ لَكُم﴾
The Muslims knew that they would be victorious in this skirmish, but they did not know that their victory was over the armed forces of the Quraysh; they imagined that their victory was over the carriers of the caravan who had returned from Shām. But the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) changed their route, took them to fight against the combatants; the caravan left, but the Muslims got engaged in battle against the unbelievers in a place called Badr. Why had Allah Almighty changed the route of the Muslims from confronting the caravan to a battle against the armed forces? The reason was that the Muslims had seen the near future and the Divine will and ordinance were all in the chasing of one distant goal.
﴿وَ يُريدُ اللهُ أن يُحِقَّ الحَقَّ بِكَلِماتِه﴾
Allah wants the truth to become well-matured on the global scene,
﴿لِيُحِقَّ الحَقَّ وَ يُبطِلَ الباطِلَ وَ لَو كَرِهَ المُجرِمون﴾
He wants falsehood that must be erased and its nature is perishable, to be eradicated. Isn’t Islam supposed to eradicate all the evil and tyrannical powers and kingships? Isn’t the Muslim nation supposed to become witness?
﴿لِتَكونُوا شُهَداءَ عَلَى النّاس﴾
Isn’t the flag of Islam supposed to fly over the peaks of humanity and humankind? So, when, how, and in what way?
Muslims of that day thought to themselves that if we confiscate this wealthy caravan and procure some wealth, this young newly established Islam will become strong. They were thinking correctly, but a more sublime and a more valuable thought is another thought. A better idea is that today we, the Muslims around the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), have reached such an extent that we are able to penetrate our ideas and our path to poor, deprived societies and within those worlds of evil and darkness. This pool (of Islam) has so much water within it that is able to flow and reach these seedlings and trees, and dry and arid lands. This idea is more sublime. If Islam is supposed to obtain its real victory and if the awe-inspiring wheel of Islam is supposed to be sent to predominantly poor regions and if the palaces of oppression are supposed to be destroyed one after the other, this must begin from somewhere. The devoted and sincere Muslim of early Islam does not know where it must begin from; Allah teaches him, Allah makes it happen for him, he who has arisen to confiscate the property of the Quraysh, Allah pulls him into an unwanted war so that, even though there is a lack of military equipment, he pushes the enemy back and in one day with firm faith opens the way for advancement and infiltration, opens the way for the flowing of Islamic thought; he opens the way for the reinforcement of Allah’s power to make the enemy understand that Islam does exist and they have to take it seriously.
﴿لِيُحِقَّ الحَقَّ وَ يُبطِلَ الباطِل﴾
[So that He may confirm the truth and bring falsehood to naught]; O’ Muslims! We have inadvertently placed you against a massive army of the enemy to show them your force and flaunt the Divine power to them.
1980/03/10
After Divine victory and triumph in the Battle of Badr was granted to the Muslim forces by the mercy and grace of Allah and upon the efforts of the Muslims, the enemy, who would not desist from its enmity, prepared for the Battle of Uḥud. Because of their unity and concord in the early part of the Battle of Uḥud, the Muslims defeated the enemy’s ranks once again. But after they had achieved an early victory, those fifty people who were commissioned to protect the mountain cliff from the access of the enemy, abandoned their mission and went to the area where the spoils were to be collected so that they would not fall behind in collecting the spoils of this war and joined them at that gathering scene of those negligent Muslims. Only ten of those who were assigned to protect the mountain cliff remained there and fulfilled their duty; but the enemy found an opportunity–after circling the mountain and the split and vent which did not have enough guards–to attack the Muslims from behind. This attack proved costly for Muslims; Islam did not lose this battle, but firstly, the victory of Islam was attained later on; secondly, the soul of the brave and dear commanders (of the army) such as Ḥamza, Sayyid al-Shuhadā (the master of the martyrs), were sacrificed in the way of Islam. Allah Almighty invites Muslims to learn a lesson and to reflect, saying, “We have fulfilled our promise; we told you will be victorious over the enemy and you were, but after these three attributes and these three qualities appeared in you, you were struck by the blow. These three qualities are: firstly,
﴿تَنازَعتُم في الأمر﴾
[You disputed about the matter] You were at odds with each other about the matter, you disconcerted the oneness of your words and your ranks; secondly,
﴿فَشَلتُم﴾
[You lost courage,]; you became weak, you no longer had that passion and enthusiasm and readiness for service or being in the service of Islam and the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) in the beginning. Thirdly,
﴿عَصَيتُم﴾
[You disobeyed], you evaded your duty and refused to obey the orders of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) and the leader and those who were responsible for the administration of your affairs. From the time that these three traits appeared in you, the enemy found an opportunity to strike you from behind and make dearest people in Islam roll in their blood, be martyred and gain a position of honor and caused the Muslim world to incur the great loss of such a personality.
1980/09/05
The last war by which they came to the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was the Battle of the Trench (Al-Khandaq), which was one of those very important wars. They gathered all of their troops and also got assistance from others and said, “We will go and massacre the Prophet and two hundred, three hundred, five hundred of his close companions; we will also plunder Medina and we will return relieved; no trace will remain of them. Before they arrived in Medina, the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) had been informed of what was going on and dug the famous trench. One side of the Medina was penetrable, so they dug a trench approximately forty meters in width. It was the month of Ramadan. According to some narrations, the weather was very cold; there had been no rainfall that year, either and people did not have any income; so there were many problems. Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) worked harder than all. In digging the trench, whenever he saw that someone was exhausted or was stuck or could not go forward, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) would take his pick and would begin to work; meaning that he was not there only to give order; he was present in the middle of that crowd in person. The infidels came before the trench but they saw that they could not penetrate it; so defeated, disgraced, disappointed, and frustrated they were forced to turn back. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) said, “It’s over; this is the last attack of the Quraysh of Mecca against us. From now on it is our turn, we will go to Mecca to (confront) them.”
The next year, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) said, “We want to come for the ‘Umrah (the Lesser Hajj) pilgrimage”. The treaty of Ḥudaybīyah–which is one of those meaningful and significant incidents–took place at this time. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) moved toward Mecca with the intention of performing ‘Umrah pilgrimage. They saw that in the month of Muḥarram–which is not the month of war and they were also revering the month of Muḥarram–the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was coming toward Mecca. What should they do? Should they leave the way open and let him enter? What would they do with this success and how could they stand against him? Do they go to fight with him during the month of Muḥarram? How should they fight? Finally, they made a decision and said, “We will go and prevent them from coming to Mecca; and if we find an excuse, we will massacre them.” The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), with the most excellent policy, did something that they had to sit down and sign an agreement with him, so that he would return, but come back the following year and perform ‘Umrah and also leave the scene open across the whole region for the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) propagation. Its name is ‘peace’; but Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an:
﴿إنّا فَتَحنا لَكَ فَتحاً مُبيناً﴾
[Indeed We have inaugurated for you a clear victory.] We created a clear victory for you. If people refer to the correct and solid historical references, they will see how odd the incident of Ḥudaybīyah is. The following year, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) went to Mecca for the ‘Umrah and in spite of them, the glory of his holiness increased day by day. The next year–that is the eighth year–when the infidels breached the agreement, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) went on to conquer Mecca, which was a great victory suggesting his holinesses mastery and effort. Therefore, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) confronted this enemy both prudently and powerfully, with patience, without hastiness, and even without retreating one step, advancing day by day and moment by moment.
The third enemy was the Jews; that is, the uncertain foreigners who were ready to temporarily live in Medina with the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.), but they would not stop mischief, disruption, and destruction. If you can look (at the Holy Qur’an) you will see that an important part of the Sūrat al-Baqara (The Cow) and some of the other chapters of the Holy Qur’an are related to the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) treatment and cultural struggle with the Jews. As we said these were cultural; they had knowledge; they had a great affect on the people with weak faith; they conspired; they made them lose hope and they caused people to attack one another. They were an organized enemy. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was tolerant with these Jews as much as he could, but later when he saw that they will not accept tolerance, he punished them. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) did not go after them without prior notice and unwarranted; each of these three tribes did something and the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) punished them according to that deed. Firstly, there was Banī Qaynuqā‘ who betrayed the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.); the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) went after them and said, “You must leave this place”; he caused them to migrate and expelled them from that region and all their properties and belongings were left behind for the Muslims. The second group was Banī Naḍīr. They also betrayed him–and the story of their betrayal is important–so the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) told them, “Take a few of your belongings and go”; they were also forced to leave and did so. The third group, Banī Qurayḍah to whom the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) gave respite and permission to stay; he did not throw them out; he made a pact with them not to let the enemy enter Medina from their neighborhood in the Battle of the Trench; but they showed unmanliness and made a pact with the enemy in order to attack the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) alongside them. That is, not only were they not faithful to the agreement that they had made with the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.); rather, while the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) had dug one side of the trench–which could be penetrated–and their neighborhoods were on the other side that must prevent the enemy from coming there, they left to parley and hold discourses with the enemy so that the enemy and they–jointly–enter Medina from there and stab the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) in the back (to betray him).
The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) found out about the plot in the middle of these (betrayers) conspiracy. The siege of Medina lasted nearly a month; it was in the middle of this month that they had committed this treason. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was informed that they had made such a decision. With a very clever strategy, he did something so that there would be a breakage between these (betrayers) and the Quraysh–which is recorded in history–he did something that these (traitors) and the Quraysh lost trust in each other. One of Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) very beautiful military-political tricks was carried out here; that is, that the traitors’ war was temporarily stopped so that they would not be able to do any harm. After the Quraysh and their allies were defeated and left the ditch and went toward Mecca, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) returned to Medina. The same day that he returned, he performed the noon prayer and said that they would perform the evening prayer in front of the Banī Qurayḍah fortress, saying, “Let’s move on and go there”; meaning that he did not linger even one night; he left and besieged them. There was a siege and fighting between them for twenty-five days; then the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) killed all of these traitor’s combatants, because their treason was greater and they were not amendable. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) treated them in this way; meaning the hostility of the Jews–was mainly on the issue of Banī Qurayḍah, previously in Banī Naḍīr and then on the issue of Jews of Khaybar–in this way he removed the issue from the Muslims with prudence and power and follow-up and high humane morality. In none of these cases, did the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) breach the covenant; even the enemies of Islam agree that the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) did not breach the covenant; it was them who breached the covenant.
The fourth enemy was the hypocrites. The hypocrites were among the people; those who had expressed their faith verbally, but inwardly did not believe; they were mean, obstinate, niggardly, and ready to collaborate with the enemy, yet disorganized; that was their difference with the Jewish. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) treated the enemy who is ready and waiting for an attack organized and ready to strike, like he treated with the Jews and he does not grant them respite; but he tolerates the enemy who is not organized, is obstinate, has animosities and individual malice, and lacks faith. ‘Abdullāh b. Ubayy was one of the most hostile enemies of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.). This person was alive almost until the end of the life of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.); but the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) never treated him badly. While they all knew he was a hypocrite; but they pretended concordance with him; he treated him like the rest of the Muslims, he gave him his share from the treasury house, he made sure he was safe, he was respectful to him, even though they were doing all this malevolence and malice, which again there is a section in Sūrat al-Baqara about these very hypocrites. When some of these hypocrites took organized actions, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) went after them. In the incident of the Ḍirār Mosque, these hypocrites established a center and began to communicate with those who were outside the Islamic system–that is to say, with people who were in the Roman region, like Abū ‘Āmir, the monk,–and made preparations to launch a military campaign against the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) from Rome. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) went after them from here and tore down and burned the mosque that they had built. He said, “This mosque is not a mosque; this is a place of conspiracy against the mosque and against the name of Allah and against the people”. Or where one group from among these very hypocrites, revealed their hypocrisy and left Medina and formed an army; the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) struggled with these (hypocrites) and said, “If they come close, we will go after them and fight them,” although the hypocrites were inside Medina and the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) had nothing to do with them. Therefore he dealt with the third group with an organized decisiveness; however, he treated the fourth group decisively along with leniency; because these were not organized, and theirs was an individual danger. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) would often make them feel ashamed with his behavior.
The fifth enemy included the enemy that existed inside each of the Muslim and pious individuals. This is the most dangerous of all enemies. This enemy is also inside us; carnal desires, selfishness, and the desire for deviations, the desire for human missteps, and misguidedness, the grounds for which is provided by the human being himself. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) also struggled with this enemy severely; however, the struggle against this enemy is not with the sword but through training, purification, education, and warning the people. So when people with all that trouble returned from the war, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) said, “You have returned from the minor jihād, now it is the time for the major jihād”. “What! Messenger of Allah! What is the major jihād? We had accomplished this jihād of this magnitude and with this inconvenience; does a greater jihād than this exist? He said, “Yes, the jihād against your own carnal self.”If the Qur’an says:
﴿الّذينَ في قُلُوبِهم مَرَض﴾
[As for those in whose heart is a sickness], these are not hypocrites, of course a number of the hypocrites are also among “those in whose heart is a sickness”, but any person who is among those in whose heart is a sickness–that is, there is a disease in their heart–is not among the hypocrites; sometime they are believers, but inside their heart there is a disease. What does this “sickness” mean? It means weaknesses of morality and character, sensuality, and desire for different types of selfishness; which, if you do not stop and you do not struggle against them, they will take your faith away from you and will make you hollow from within. When it takes your faith from you, your heart will be without faith but your outer appearance (will show) you have faith; at that time, the name of such a person is a hypocrite.
If, Allah forbid, your heart and mine become void of faith whilst our appearance is one that shows we have faith, [and if] we lose our doctrinal and ideological fidelities and attachments, but our tongue continues to say the same words of faith that it used to say previously, this would be hypocrisy; this is also dangerous. The Holy Qur’an says:
﴿ثُمّ كانَ عاقِبَةَ الّذينَ أساؤُا السُّوأى أن كَذّبُوا بِآياتِ اللهِ وَ كانُوا بِها يَستَهزِءُون﴾
[Then the fate of those who committed misdeeds was that they denied the signs of Allah and they used to deride them]; those who have done evil deeds, will be allotted the worst. What is that ‘worst’? (The worst is) the denial of Divine signs. In another verse it says: “Those who do not fulfil this great responsibility–giving in the way of Allah–,
﴿فاَعقبَهَم نفِاقاً في قلُوُبهِم إلى يوَمِ يلَقوَنهَ بمِا أخلفَوُا الله ما وَعَدُوه وَ بمِا كانوُا يكَذِبوُن﴾
[So He caused hypocrisy to ensue in their hearts until the day they will encounter Him, because of their going back on what they had promised Allah and because of the lies they used to tell]; because they broke their promise to Allah, hypocrisy was created in their hearts. This is the great danger for the Muslim society; anywhere in the history you see that the Muslim community has become deviated, it has deviated in this very respect. It is possible that the outer enemy comes, suppresses, defeats, puts one to flight, but it can not destroy. Eventually, faith remains and in a place it lifts up the head and thrives. But when this army of the inner enemy attacks man and makes the inside of man void and empty, he will deviate from his path. Wherever there is deviation, its source is this. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) also struggled with this enemy.
In his behavior, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) acted prudently and was quick in action. He was wise in his behavior. He did not let time pass on idly in any matter. He was a person of frugality and cleanliness and there was no weak point in his blessed being. He was innocent and pure; this was, in itself, the most important factor in his making an impact (on others). Making an impact through action is much enveloping and deeper than the impact with the tongue. He was decisive and forthright. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) never spoke in an equivocal manner. Of course, when he faced the enemy, he took precise political action and confused the enemy into making mistakes. On frequent occasions, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) has surprised the enemy, whether militarily or politically, but he always spoke explicitly, clearly, and transparently to the believers and people and did not make a political pushball out of his actions and showed the flexibility when it was necessary such as in the case of ‘Abdullāh b. Ubayy, which has a detailed story. He never broke his covenant with the people and the groups whom he had made the covenant with–even with his enemies, even with the infidels of Mecca. The Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) did not violate his covenant with them; they violated it, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) gave a firm response. He never breached his contract with anyone; so, everyone knew that when he signed the contract with this person, he could be trusted.
On the other hand, the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) did not lose his humility and made his relationship with Allah stronger every day. In the middle of the battlefield, at the same time when he organized his forces; he would encourage and urge them, he would take up arms and decisively commanded his troops or else, he would teach them what to do. He would kneel down and raise his hands to the Almighty Allah and would begin crying in front of people and shedding tears and talking with Allah, “Our Lord! Help us; Lord! Support us, Lord! Repel Your enemies Yourself!” Neither did his prayer cause him not to use his energy, nor did utilizing this energy would cause him to become unaware of his resorting to, and the supplication of, and relationship with Allah; he paid attention to both. He never become doubtful or frightened before the obstinate enemy. Amīr al-Mu’minīn (P.B.U.H.)–who is the symbol of courage–says, “Whenever the conditions of battles became difficult–or as we say nowadays, when we fell short–we would rely on the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.). Whenever somebody felt weak in difficult places, he would take refuge in the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.).” He ruled for ten years; but if we want to assign the work that was accomplished in this ten-year period to a very active complex to do, it would not be able to accomplish all the work, efforts, and services that he accomplished even in one hundred years. If we compare the things that the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) accomplished to our accomplishments today, then we will come to understand what the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) has done. Managing that state, and establishing that society and developing such an exemplar are one of the miracles of the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.).
People lived with him ten years, day and night; they went to his home and he came to their houses, they were together in the mosque, they walked on the road together, they traveled together, they starved together, they rejoiced together. The atmosphere of the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) house was joyful. He joked with the people; he held competitions and participated in them himself. Those people who had lived with the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) for ten years, their love of and their belief in their hearts for him deepened day by day. In the conquest of Mecca, when Abū Sufyān with the support of ‘Abbās–the Prophet’s (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) uncle–secretly came to his holinesses’ camp in order to seek safety, he saw that the Prophet (P.B.U.H. & H.H.) was performing ablution in the morning and the people around him had gathered in order to catch the droplets of water that were dripping from his face and hands from one another! He said, “I have seen Kasra and Kaiser–these great and mighty kings of the world–but I have never seen such might [‘izzat glory, honor] in them. Yes, spiritual might is real might;
﴿وَلله العِزّةُ وَ لرِسُولهِ وَ للِمُؤمِنين﴾
If believers go that way, they will have esteem.
2001/18/05