Ana Muslim

Narrated by Jabir ibnu ‘Abdullah (RA) :

We proceeded in the company of the Allah’s Messenger (SAW) for the battle of Dhat ar-Riqa. One of the Muslims killed the wife of one of the unbelievers. He (the husband of the woman killed) took an oath saying :

I shall not rest until I kill one of the companions of Muhammad.

He went out following the footsteps of Allah’s Messenger (SAW). Allah’s Messenger (SAW) encamped at a certain place. He said :

Who will keep a watch on us ?

A person from the Muhajirun (Emigrants) and another from the Ansar (Helpers) responded.

He said :

Go to the mouth of the mountain-pass.

When they went to the mouth of the mountain-pass the man from the Muhajirun lay down while the man from the Ansar stood praying.

The man (enemy) came to them. When he saw the person he realised that he was the watchman of the Muslims. He shot him with an arrow and hit the target. But he (took the arrow out and) threw it away. He (the enemy) then shot three arrows. Then he (the Muslim) bowed and prostrated and awoke his companion. When he (the enemy) perceived that they (the Muslims) had become aware of his presence, he ran away.

When the man from the Muhajirun saw the (man from the Ansar) bleeding, he asked him :

Glory be to Allah ! Why did you not wake me up the first time when he shot at you ?

He replied :

I was busy reciting a chapter of Al-Qur’an. I did not like to leave it.

[ Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 1, No. 0198 ]

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Masha-Allaah, notice how khushoo’ the Ansari was in performing his solat ?

* Read : How to Taste the Sweetness of Prayer.

Allah’s Messenger (salla-Allaahu-’alayhi-wa-sallam) said :

Children are the cause of grief, cowardice, ignorance and miserliness.

[ Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, 24/241; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1990 ]

When he said that children are the cause of grief, he meant that when a child gets sick, the parent feels grief; if the child asks for something that the father cannot provide, this grieves the father; and if the child grows up and rebels against his father, this is a cause of ongoing grief and distress.

When he said that children are the cause of cowardliness, he meant that when a man wants to fight in jihaad for the sake of Allaah, the Shaytaan comes to him and says, “You will be killed and will die, and your children will become orphans, lost and alone”, so he stays home and does not go out for jihaad.

When he said that children are the cause of ignorance, he meant that they distract a father from seeking knowledge and trying to acquire learning by attending gatherings and reading books.

When he said that they are the cause of miserliness, he meant that if a man wants to spend for the sake of Allaah, the Shaytaan reminds him of his children, so he thinks, “My children deserve the money, I will leave it for them when I die”, so he is miserly in the sense that he refrains from spending it for the sake of Allaah.

[ Weakness of Faith By Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid ]

This was recorded prior to the Battle of Yarmuk.

At dawn the Muslim corps lined up for prayers under their respective commanders. As soon as the prayers were over, every man rushed to his assigned place. By sunrise both armies stood in battle order, facing each other across the centre of the Plain of Yarmuk, a little less than a mile apart.

There was no movement and little noise in the two armies. The soldiers knew that this was a fight to the finish, that one of the two armies would lie shattered on the battlefield before the fight was over. The Muslims gazed in wonder at the splendid formations of the Roman legions with banners flying and crosses raised above the heads of the soldiery. The Romans looked with something less than awe at the Muslim army deployed to their front. Their confidence rested on their great numbers, but during the past two years the performance of the Muslims in Syria had instilled a good deal of respect in the hearts of the Romans. There was a look of caution in Roman eyes. Thus an hour passed during which no one stirred and the soldiers awaited the start of a battle which, according to the chroniclers, “began with sparks of fire and ended with a raging conflagration”, and of which “each day was more violent than the day before.”

Then a Roman general by the name of George emerged from the Roman centre and rode towards the Muslims. Halting a short distance from the Muslim centre, he raised his voice and asked for Khalid. From the Muslim side Khalid rode out, delighted at the thought that the battle would begin with himself fighting a duel. He would set the pace for the rest of the battle.

As Khalid drew near, the Roman made no move to draw his sword, but continued to look intently at Khalid. The Muslim advanced until the necks of the horses crossed, and still George did not draw his sword. Then he spoke, in Arabic: “O Khalid, tell me the truth and do not deceive me, for the free do not lie and the noble do not deceive. Is it true that Allah sent a sword from heaven to your Prophet ? … and that he gave it to you ? …and that never have you drawn it but your enemies have been defeated?”

“No!” replied Khalid.

“Then why are you known as the Sword of Allah?”

Here Khalid told George the story of how he received the title of Sword of Allah from the Holy Prophet. George pondered this a while, then with a pensive look in his eyes, asked, “Tell me, to what do you call me?”

“To bear witness”, Khalid replied, “that there is no Allah but Allah and Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger; and to believe in what he has brought from Allah.”

“If I do not agree?”

“Then the Jizya, and you shall be under our protection.”

“If I still do not agree?”

“Then the sword!”

George considered the words of Khalid for a few moments, then asked, “What is the position of one who enters your faith today?”

“In our faith there is only one position. All are equal.”

“Then I accept your faith!”

To the astonishment of the two armies, which knew nothing of what had passed between the two generals, Khalid turned his horse and Muslim and Roman rode slowly to the Muslim army. On arrival at the Muslim centre George repeated after Khalid: “There is no Allah but Allah; Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah!”

(A few hours later the newlyconverted George would fight heroically for the faith which he had just embraced and would die in battle.)

On the auspicious note of this conversion began the Battle of Yarmuk.

[ Taken from Khalid bin Al Waleed: The Sword of Allah by A.I Akram ]

[Q] Is there anything wrong with a person feeling proud of his religion or feeling proud of a person who does something good? Because we know that pride in the heart is something bad.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly :

With regard to feeling proud of one’s religion and of belonging to it, this is something that is prescribed in Islam and is a righteous deed.

A story from one of the battles illustrates this point : Abu Sufyaan, the leader of Quraysh, expressed pride in his religion and the religion of his people – as he had not yet entered Islam. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) answered his boast with an expression of the Muslim’s pride in his religion and his affirmation of the Oneness of the Lord of the Worlds.

Al-Bukhaari narrated in his Saheeh (3039) from the hadeeth of al-Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allah be pleased with him) that after the battle Abu Sufyaan ibn Harb started composing rajz verse and saying :

Rise in honour, Hubal; rise in honour Hubal.

The Prophet blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said :

Why don’t you answer him ?

They said :

O Messenger of Allah, what should we say ?

He said :

Say: Allah is Most High and Most Glorious.

Abu Sufyaan said :

We have al-‘Uzza and you have no ‘Uzza.

The Prophet blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said :

Why don’’t you answer him ?

They said :

O Messenger of Allah, what should we say ?

He said :

Say : Allah is our Supporter and you have no supporter !

Allah, may He be exalted, has taught His slaves that true pride and perfect honour can only be achieved by obeying Allah. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning) :

Whosoever desires honour, power and glory then to Allaah belong all honour, power and glory [and one can get honour, power and glory only by obeying and worshipping Allaah (Alone)]. To Him ascend (all) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it (i.e. the goodly words are not accepted by Allaah unless and until they are followed by good deeds), but those who plot evils, theirs will be severe torment. And the plotting of such will perish

[Faatir 35:10].

i.e., and whoever would like to be honoured in this world and the Hereafter, let him adhere to obedience to Allah, then he will attain what he wants, because Allah is the Sovereign of this world and the Hereafter, and all honour, power and glory belong to Him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

Those who take disbelievers for Awliyaa’ (protectors or helpers or friends) instead of believers, do they seek honour, power and glory with them? Verily, then to Allaah belongs all honour, power and glory.

[an-Nisa’ 4:139]

And let not their speech grieve you (O Muhammad r), for all power and honour belong to Allaah.

[Yoonus 10:65]

But honour, power and glory belong to Allaah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), and to the believers, but the hypocrites know not.

[al-Munaafiqoon 63:8].

Mujaahid said :

“Whosoever desires honour, power and glory” [al-Faatir 35:10] by worshipping idols, “then to Allaah belong all honour, power and glory.

Qataadah said :

“Whosoever desires honour, power and glory then to Allaah belong all honour, power and glory” i.e., let him seek honour, power and glory by obeying Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.

Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 6/536

Secondly :

With regard to a person feeling proud of himself, if it is because he is religiously committed, righteous and pious, then it is good, but if it is because of anything else, such as lineage, ancestry, wealth, position or status among people, then this is an act of Jaahiliyyah and is not permissible.

Muslim (1550) narrated from Abu Maalik al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said :

There are four matters of Jaahiliyyah in my ummah that they will not give up: pride in one’s forefathers, slandering lineages, seeking rain by the stars and wailing (for the dead).

Muslim (5109) also narrated from ‘Iyaad ibn Himaar al-Mujaasha‘i (may Allah be pleased with that) that the Messenger of Allah (sa) said one day in his khutbah :

Allah has revealed to me that you should be humble so that no one will boast to anyone else and no one will transgress against anyone else.

Al-Majd Ibn Tamiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said :

Allah has forbidden on the lips of His Prophet two types of mistreatment of people: pride and transgression against them and scorn.

Fayd al-Qadeer, 2/217

The guideline with regard to this issue is: whatever is a source of pride and honour because of religion is part of the religion and is praiseworthy; any source of pride other than that is blameworthy.

But feeling proud because of doing acts of obedience and worship means feeling happy that one has been enabled to do that and feeling proud of belonging to people who do that, and praising Allah for saving him from shirk and its people, and from sin and its path.

As for looking down on the slaves of Allah and feeling that one is above them because of acts of obedience that one has done, this is the worst type of pride and arrogance, and the one who is like this is on the brink of disaster and there is a danger that his deeds will be thrown back at him.

And Allah knows best.

Source : Islam Q&A

Allaah (subhaanahu-wa-ta’ala) commanded :

Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and the Quran. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which you have concluded. That is the supreme success.

[ Surat At-Tawbah, 9:111 ]

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This is the famous story of Umm Ibrahim and her son.

This story was mentioned by scholars like Abu Ja’afar al-Luban. He narrates :

It is mentioned that one of the righteous women in Basra was Umm Ibrahim al-Hashimeeyah. The enemy attacked one of the Muslim towns so people were encouraged to fight. Abdul Wahid ibn Zayd al-Basri delivered a speech encouraging fighting back, and among the audience was Umm Ibrahim.

Among the things Abdul Wahid talked about was al-Hoor al-’Ayn (the women of Paradise). Umm Ibrahim stood up and said to Abdul Wahid,

You know my son Ibrahim and you know that the nobility of al-Basra wish to have him marry one of their daughters and I have not agreed to one of them yet. But I like this girl you described and I would be happy to marry her to my son. Can you please describe her again ?

Abdul Wahid then narrated a poem in the description of the Hoor.

Umm Ibrahim said,

I want my son to marry this girl and I would pay you 10,000 dinars (gold coins) as her dowry and you take him with you in this army. He might die as a shaheed (martyr) and intercede for me on the Day of Judgment.

Abdul Wahid said,

If you do so, that is great success for you and your son.

She then called her son from the audience. He stood up and said,

Yes my mother !

She said,

Are you pleased to marry this girl with the condition of giving your soul to Allah ?

He said,

Yes ! I am very pleased !

She said,

O Allah you are my witness that I have married my son to this girl from Paradise with the condition he spends his soul in your sake.

Then she went and brought back with her 10,000 dinars and gave it to Abdul Wahid and said,

This is her dowry. Take it and use it to provide for the fighters in Allah’s path.

She then purchased for her son a good horse and she armed him.

When the army started its march, Ibrahim came out with the reciters of Quran surrounding him and reciting,

Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties; for the price that theirs shall be the Paradise. [ Surat At-Tawbah, 9:111 ]

When Umm Ibrahim was greeting her son she told him,

Be careful and don’t allow any shortcomings from yourself to be seen by Allah

She them embraced him and kissed him and said,

May Allah never bring us together except on the Day of Judgment !

Abdul Wahid said,

We reached the enemy’s territory and people were called to fight.

Ibrahim was in the front and he killed many of the enemy but then they overwhelmed him and killed him.

On our way back I told my soldiers not to tell Umm Ibrahim that her son was killed until I tell her.

When we entered al Basra she met me and said,

Did Allah accept my gift so I can celebrate or was it rejected so I should cry ?

I said,

Allah did accept your gift and your son died as a Shaheed.

She then prostrated to thank Allah and said,

Thank you Allah for accepting my gift.

The following day she came to me in the Masjid and said,

Rejoice !

I said,

What good news do you have ?

She said,

I saw my son Ibrahim last night in a dream. He was in a beautiful garden dressed in green clothes, sitting on a throne made of pearl and he had a crown on his head. He told me: “Rejoice my mother ! I got married to my bride !”

Source : Mashari al-Ushwaq [ page 37 ]

( via flickr )