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Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem.
Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam), his Noble Companions and Family.
Brothers and sisters, Committed Muslims…
Audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/apps/podcast/podcast/177229 (12-09-2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
THE PROPHET'S QUEST FOR A BASE - PART 3
We will continue with our journey with Allah's Prophet. The Prophet in the tenth year of his mission was in a state of almost desperation. He had presented Allah's words and Allah's communiqué to Makkah and those who committed themselves to him had already done so and it seemed like there were no more individuals in Makkah who were going to join this social responsibility. We said he went to At Ta'if. In At Ta'if he received, what goes down in Islamic history as, (and we're using/borrowing the expression here from the English language, not to be understood literally), a slap in the face. Did he give up? No. Did he lose faith? No. Did he retreat from society? No. Did he retreat into himself? No. None of these- what an average human being would consider to be a setback or a reversal or a failure or a defeat- occurred to him. He continued to make an appearance in the Ka'bah, in the Haram, in the mawaasim- meaning the social occasions that were enacted in that area. Brothers and sisters- there is a word here; you'll find it in all of these history books when you read about that era and that time. It said, (which means literally), he presented himself to the power groups that were there. The names of these individuals and these groups are numerous- Kinana and Kinda and Ghassan and Kulayn and Murra and… and… and. It goes on endlessly. The issue is not naming these; the issue is if an average human being was turned down as many times as Allah's Prophet was turned down a person may feel a loss of hope, he may feel the end of the line but Allah's Prophet didn't feel like that. Remember, in these years he wasn't promoting as salah and sawm and zakaah and all these other things that many other people get involved in nowadays. As Allah's calculations would have it- this is not the work of man, this is the work of Allah, you see His hand in all of this- as Allah's Prophet was at this juncture- he had returned from At Ta'if disappointed- at this point (and) at this time, (remember this was the tenth year of his mission), at a place called Al Aqabah which is if you were going or moving from Makkah to Mina, (some of you have been to the Hajj and may remember), there's a place on the left hand side where the Hujjaj are involved in what is called Jamrat Al Aqaba- one of those stations of Al Hajj called Jamrat Al Aqaba. At that place in the tenth year of the Prophet's mission the Prophet met six individuals. These individuals had come from Yathrib, it wasn't yet named Al Madinah. They came from Yathrib and wanted to see him. He didn't ask them to come. He didn't send Emissaries or people to connect with the population of Yathrib so that he could met with them. Allah's Prophet's struggle generated in ways that we don't understand. It generated the curiosity of individuals in Yathrib to want to see him to meet with him and talk to him- something that he was keen on doing with everyone else but everyone else didn't want to do that. These six individuals came from Al Khazraj you can recall from your Islamic history that Yathrib had two major communities: one is Al Aws and the other is Al Khazraj. These six individuals who were anxious to see this man. His reputation was all around the Arabian Peninsula so they wanted to see who this person is. These six came from Al Khazraj. They met with him, they spoke to him, they liked what they heard, their hearts opened up and they said they wanted be with him. They wanted to become part of his community. Now brothers and sisters- we're not here trying to present to you an average lesson in history. We're not here just to go through some information with you. We're trying, as your servant, to put the information that you usually hear from the run of the mill person in context and to try to make this information purposeful. These individuals who came from Al Khazraj from Yathrib came from a city that was ravaged by war. There are some history books that tell you that this war that was taking place in Yathrib before the Prophet's time continued for a hundred-and-twenty years. What does this mean? If we look at this with the light of Allah and His Prophet we understand that the communities in Yathrib primarily Al Aws and Al Khazraj justified themselves on the basis of Asabiyyah, the clannish solidarity, that was the basis of tribal society in Arabia; the same Asabiyyah although among a different crop of people in Makkah- that same Asabiyyah was resistant and hostile and war-like to Allah's Prophet- but what was happening in Yathrib was that same Asabiyyah bled to death. It was at this point that these individuals were curious to listen to this person from Makkah in Makkah so they journeyed from Yathrib to Makkah after a few generations of an Asabiyyah that had exhausted itself. Five years before these six individuals met with Allah's Prophet- who were going to be followed by twelve individuals the following year and then seventy-five individuals after that- there was what can be called a strife. Some people call it a war. We don't know if it elevates itself to a degree of war but there was a conflict and a clash known as in the history books as Yawm Bu'ath that occurred five years before this event; meaning in the fifth year of the mission of Allah's Prophet. What happened? What was significant about this? What was significant about this was that the leaders of the Aws and the Khazraj killed themselves in the clashes and in the warring. They eliminated their leaders. So now for five years not only the leaders, the significant figures in that society were killed. So know we had a leaderless Yathrib. No heads. There were junior individuals but not the traditional figure heads who were leading that city state, (so to speak), for all of those years. For your information, to begin with Al Aws and Al Khazraj- these two tribal types of set ups- can be traced to two brothers; one was called Aws and the other was called Khazraj which if we are putting the pieces of the puzzle together (and) if we can collect this information in a meaningful way we can see parallels between Makkah and Yathrib. In Makkah there was a competition or a rivalry, (depending on the years and the times), between Bani Hashim and Bani Ummayyah- the same Asabiyyaat that were at work and the same type of lineage. So the history of Yathrib was a history that exhausted in a bloody way. It bled to death the Asabiyyah. In other words Allah was preparing Yathrib to become the power base of Allah's Prophet. Allah's Prophet, as we mentioned earlier, went from the centre which is Makkah to areas beyond Makkah (i.e.) from the centre to the periphery not knowing that Allah in His infinite knowledge and wisdom was preparing for His own Prophet and Messenger Yathrib to become the launching pad for Islam.
There was another community in Yathrib- this was the Yahudi community who were living of this dichotomy between Al Aws and Al Khazraj. Banu Quraydha were the allies of Al Aws, Banu Qaynuqa and Banu An Nadhir were allies of Al Khazraj. This would remind a person of today's politics. There are conservative Yahud and there are liberal Yahud. Some of them are at times with certain political parties on the right and others with certain political parties on the left. There's nothing new but we don't read our own history. Some people get involved and they used to work on the contradictions between these two sides for their own benefit just like they work on their current contradictions between the left and the right or the between the liberals and the conservatives. These people in Yathrib were listening to these Yahud who were telling them there's going to be a Prophet who was just about to arrive in this world. So these people who on one hand no longer had an Asabiyyah because they killed their Asabiyyah during these wars, numerous wars, in the past century before Allah's Prophet and on the other hand they were listening to this community of Yahud who were forced by the Byzantines to relocate from geographical Syria and Northern Arabia to find a place in that area. They were speaking to the people of Yathrib scriptural language because they were "Ahl Al Kitaab." So as Allah's Prophet was looking to find receptive people Allah was in His own way- that goes beyond our detection throughout all of those years even prior to the birth of Allah's Prophet- was preparing for him the society that will accept him that will commit itself to him. There is an ayah- ayah number eighty-nine in Surah Al Baqarah that speaks to this reality- which abbreviation is saying
And when a divine book is revealed that confirms what they have- the Qur'an is not in contradiction with the Torah/Zabur/Injeel, it endorses the Torah/Zabur/Injeel and the rest of the scriptures that Allah has given mankind… (Surah Al Baqarah verse 89)
This Yahudi community that was in Yathrib who were speaking to this Arabians around Al Aws and Al Khazraj about the advent from Allah of the Prophet. So when this much spoken about Prophet appears
… they denied him, they rejected him thus Allah's condemnation is upon these types of Kafirs. (Surah Al Baqarah verse 89)
But in the meantime, (if we can call it), the subliminal character of the Aws and the Khazraj had caught on to this type of information. One of these six that met in Al Aqaba… This is another thing- when you go to Saudi Arabia- that condemned name Saudi Arabia- when you go to Al Hejaz, when you go to Makkah (and) when you pass by Al Aqaba is there any history there in for you? We ask anyone/any Muslim out there. Many of you have the opportunity to go there and many of you have actually been there and some of you many times. When you go there when you pass by this Aqaba or Rami ul Jamaraat or these things does this history come to your mind? Do you remember and recall what happened there? If not and that is the most probable answer then why? What happened? This is part of our history. Why did it go down the memory hole? Why aren't there now in the performance of these obligations in the Hajj live in your mind this information because this is a critical, dangerous time in the life of Allah's Prophet? How come no one remembers it? How come no one attaches those facts in his Seerah to the geography that you are physically in when you go over there? Something happened. Ask yourself what is it that happened? Why have we become after a thousand-and-four-hundred years the mindless Muslims that we are in crucial locals like Al Aqaba? Then when some of these six met Allah's Prophet they recalled what Yahud was telling them there is going to be a Prophet whose time has come. He is going to appear any time now. They felt right there and then but this is what these Yahud were talking about in Yathrib and rather we become the first to support him rather than the others. Khazraj were more numerically present and enthusiastic in building this relationship with Allah's Prophet. We're not trying here to discriminate. Don't misunderstand what we are trying to say. We are not here trying to say Al Khazraj is better than Al Aws or Al Aws is better than the Khazraj. We are just here trying to identify the facts and the reality of that time- that's all. Maybe because they were defeated by the Aws in these wars- on balance it was the Khazraj who were defeated- you ask yourself an answer with the information and the endowment that Allah has given you naturally or scripturally that when societies or communities are defeated they are more apt to listen and they are more apt to be receptive and they are very apt to be active then others. It was the Prophet's great-grandfather who came from Bani An Najjar. Remember that word when you read Seerah book. So when you read the history books that you read you read of Bani An Najjar. Banu An Najjar were from the Khazraj. Even though that is the case, we can't sense in reading this groundbreaking history that the Prophet showed any additional inclination towards Bani An Najjar than the others because this is an issue of ideology; bloodline doesn't figure into this. The following year there was what's called… Remember, in this first encounter with these six individuals there was no bay'ah there. There just an encounter and a meeting; there was no words of allegiance pronounced. The year after that twelve individuals come from Yathrib and they meet with Allah's Prophet at the same place at Al Aqaba and this is what is referred to in Islamic history as bay'ah Al Aqabah al Ula, the first Aqaba pledge of allegiance. This delegation, (so to speak), was made of twelve individuals- double what occurred last year. Ten of them was from the Khazraj and two of them were from Al Aws. Once again, brothers and sisters- when we say this we do not mean to give credibility to one against the other- we're just stating the facts for you. This became what we call in today's language a paradigm shift or a strategic accomplishment. Now the Prophet of Allah felt there is a beginning of a power base; something that eluded him for all of those past years. The first one who came up to the Prophet to express this bay'ah was a person by the name of As'ad ibn Zarara who was the youngest of them all. He wasn't an old man, he wasn't a senior, he wasn't a figure-head. He was what in today's language would be called a youngster, a youth. He sprang in front of the Prophet and gave the bay'ah before everyone else. Al Abbas ibn Abdul Mutt'talib, the Prophet's uncle was there. We want to draw your attention to the fact that the Prophet's uncle was not yet a Muslim which defies today's cobweb Muslim mind because the way some people think about these issues and Islam would expect that at a crucial moment like that, what is a non-Muslim doing? The Prophet is a Muslim; the people from Al Madinah came to express their Islam but the Prophet had with him a non-Muslim who happened to be his uncle. Why? Ask yourself and mobilize all the historical information that you have in your head and ask why is that? It was, (we referred to this earlier several times and we have to repeat it here again), because Banu Hashim who was the Prophet's lineage was responsible for his safety and his security. So his uncle was looking out for his nephew and his well being, not because of an ideological conviction but because of the standards and the practices of those times. So Al Abbas tells the Prophet (and we quote) these are people we are not familiar with. What does this mean? In this expression the Prophet's uncle is reserved, he's cautious and he has his question marks about this development from the point that he is concerned for the well being and the safety of his nephew. Remember this is a bay'ah and what's going through Al Abbas' mind is they could be pulling a fast one on his nephew. Al Abbas says these are people we are not familiar with. We don't know them very well. .The word ahdaath could conceal two meanings in it. The first one could mean they have not proven or they haven gone through trials and tribulations in life so that they demonstrate who they are; in other words they're inexperienced as far as we are concerned. There's nothing that can vouch for them and they are giving their bay'ah. Wait a minute here- I'm concerned. This is what Al Abbas is expressing to Muhammad. The other meaning of ahdaath is these are young people, these are youth. They are not old. They don't have much years of sacrifices in their resume. These are still teens and individuals in their twenties where are you placing so much stock in them. Al Abbas is saying to the Prophet I have some notion of who the people of Yathrib are. Once again meaning he is reserved. He is not convinced if they are expressing their allegiance to Allah's Prophet that they are doing it with all the consequences that come with it.
Then the season after that there's bay'at Al Aqaba Athaniya, the second allegiance or the second occasion in which an allegiance is expressed to Allah's Prophet. On this particular occasion the seventy five individuals who come from Yathrib to Makkah and this was done in the third section of the night or the last third part of the night when everyone is deep asleep and it took place in the same place Al Aqaba. So now we have three occasions of Al Aqaba and what was happening in Al Aqaba. Once again we remind you that all of this history does not accompany the average Muslim and even the above average Muslim who goes to the Hajj and the Umrah and who is present there at Al Aqaba. Seventy-five who came there and expressed their allegiance to Allah's Prophet break down in the following fashion. Seventy-three of them were men two of them were women. This reminds your humble speaker over here of the elections that have been taking place in the past week in Egypt
Brothers and sisters, committed Muslims…
Some of you, (and we don't mean you who are here, we mean some of you who are out there in the larger Muslim crowd in the larger Muslim population of the world), will say "this is the month of Al Muharram, this is the days of Aashura' and Karbala' and look and listen to the Khutbah that doesn't seem to have any relevance to this occasion." This type of question come out from a fragmented mind, with all due respect because it is this bay'ah and the meanings of this bay'ah that generated an Islamic authority which had with it the reaction to it that came from those who were responsible for the crime of Karbala' and the war at Karbala' and what we have in the history about Aashura'. This is not something that has nothing to do with that. We can't bring all of these elements in one Khutbah. We want to present you with a question we want you to think about because as you've known throughout all of all these years if we could get Muslims to think we have gone a long way. The tradition that has developed around Karbala Karbala Karbala ' and Aashura' without being culturally, (and we mean culturally what you are familiar with), expressive of Karbala Karbala Karbala
This khutbah was presented by Imam Muhammad Asi on the occasion of Jum'ah on 9 December 2011 on the sidewalk of Embassy Row in Washington D.C.
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