The Prehminary Measures taken by the Prophet (SAW) in Madina

The Preliminary Measures taken by the Prophet (SAW) in Madina

When the Prophet (SAW) migrated to Medina the tribes of Aus and Khazraj had already accepted Islam. On the other hand the party coming from Makkah consisted of a 100 to a 150 people who had faced the worst of ordeals and hardships. Hence, the Prophet decided to go ahead with the stage of Active Resistance after the Hijrah. But in first six months, in order to fortify his position, the Prophet (SAW) did three things: Firstly, the construction of Masjid-i-Nabawi was started which was a place of worship, a sanctuary, a school, a parliament and a counsel house. In fact it held the status of a government house and it was here that delegations were received. Thus it became a multi-purpose centre for the Muslims and headquarter of the movement.

Secondly, the Prophet (SAW) initiated "Mowakhat" i.e. brotherhood between the Mohajirs and the Ansaars and declared each Mohajir to be a brother of an Ansaar. Thereafter, the Ansaars of Madina shared not only their homes and shops but also their economic means. In this brotherhood there are unprecedented examples where the Ansaars raised walls in their houses thereby dividing them in two halves and handed over one half to their Mohajir brothers. So much so that one Ansaari had two wives. At that time the order for the observance of veil had not yet been enforced; this order was imposed some five years later after the revelation of 'hijab' verses. This Ansaari took his Mohajir brother to his house and showed him his two wives and said, "You can point to the one that you like and I will divorce her so that you can marry her. The Prophet (SAW) has declared you to be my brother and I cannot bear the situation that you remain unmarried while I have two wives". This was the highest example of that brotherhood.

Within six months after the Hijrah, the third important thing that the Prophet (SAW) did was to enter into joint defence pacts with the Jews settled in Madina. Both Montgomery Watt and Toynbee have greatly appreciated this measure taken by the Prophet (SAW) and have declared it to be the greatest proof of the Prophet's sound diplomatic planning and statesmanship. There were three tribes of the Jews: the Bannu Qanq'a, the Bannu Nazeer, and the Bannu Qureza that were residing in Madina, and settled at very strategic positions. Just outside Madina were their forts and small castles. The Prophet (SAW) entered in a joint defense pact with them that is known as "Meesaq-i-Madina" i.e. Madina Agreement. Today, some people glibly consider the "Meesaq-i-Madina" to be the constitution of the Islamic state whereas it was actually a sort of joint defense pact that if Madina is attacked, the Jews would fight alongside the Muslims to defend Madina against the attackers. It was due to this pact that the Prophet's position was stabilized in Madina and Muslims became a considerable power group.

Source: The Prophet's Strategy for Islamic Revolution

To be continued ....

The Stage of Challenge and Active Resistance in the Revolutionary Struggle of the Prophet (SAW)

The Stage of Challenge and Active Resistance in the

Revolutionary Struggle of the Prophet (SAW)

The next stage is that of Active Resistance. I have said earlier that the decision of stepping into this stage is an extremely sensitive one. In the case of the Prophet (SAW) this decision was made by Allah (SWT), therefore there was absolutely no margin of error. But in the future the leadership of a similar movement will make this decision and there will always be a possibility of error there. If error or mistake is made despite good intentions then even though the end-results may be negative in the worldly sense, one will be successful in the hereafter. 

The Tehrik-e-Shaheedain was the greatest revolutionary movement in the 19th century in Indian subcontinent. In this movement the mistake made by Syed Ahmed Brailvi (RA) was that he prematurely initiated this step and enforced Shariah in the area of the Pushtoons. Thinking of his migration as being analogous to the Hijrah of the Prophet (SAW), after which the Prophet (SAW) enforced the Shariah, he too thought that since he had migrated from Rai Braili therefore he too should enforce the Shariah. He did not realize that the people of Madina had themselves brought the Prophet (SAW) to Madina but nobody had gone to him with such invitation.

Hence, he should have given more time to the local populace to prepare themselves mentally, to allow their thinking to mature and to let Islamic religious belief become deep-seated in their hearts and only then would they have been ready to let go of their previous unislamic beliefs and rituals. Syed Ahmed Brailvi (RA) did make a mistake but since this mistake was made with the very best of intentions, his reward in the hereafter with Allah (SWT) is secure even though his movement suffered utter failure in this world.

Maulana Maudoodi too made a huge mistake. He changed the method that he had been following for 6 or 7 years when the Indian subcontinent was undivided. On arriving in Pakistan, he stepped into the election politics in the hope that people might give us vote and we will therefore form a government. When we will form the government, we will change the whole system. We will change the system of education, the media and the economic system. When all the means of mass communication are at our disposal we can initiate the mental and educational training of the people. Hence, apparently the entire argument seemed perfect and logically impeccable. That is to say: tying the bell around the cat's neck will solve the problem of the mice. When the mirage of success appeared before him in the form of election results, he met utter failure for the reason that the people here were not prepared. So far, except for a few people, no one was aware of his call and ideology. So how could the majority of the people vote for him? Nevertheless, one does make mistakes and one faces failure because of them, but if the mistake is made with sincere and good intentions there is no lessening of reward in the Hereafter. 

Source: The Prophet's Strategy for Islamic Revolution

To be continued ....

The Stage of Passive Resistance in the Revolutionary Struggle of the Prophet (SAW)

The Stage of Passive Resistance in the

Revolutionary Struggle of the Prophet(SAW)

I had explained earlier that the Passive Resistance starts with the verbal opposition and character assassination of the preacher so that his will-power is crushed. For full three years the Prophet (SAW) alone was the target of this humiliation and this was verbal. 'He has become mad. We had been advising him not to go to cave Hira and not to stay there alone at night. Now some jinn has possessed him.' Sometimes it was said: 'he had started composing poetry. He has become a sorcerer or has been under the impact of magic'. All this was for his character assassination and to crush his will-power. Please do not think that he was not aggrieved by this. It is clearly and categorically mentioned in the Holy Qur'an:

We do indeed know how thy heart is distressed at what they say. 

(Al-Hijr 15:97)

We know that you feel aggrieved and you feel uneasy in your heart of hearts. "These were the people who used to call me "The True', "The Honest' and today they are calling me 'The Liar', "The Sorcerer', accusing me of lies and cheating. After getting knowledge from someone he is claiming to be a recipient of Divine revelations and contacts with Allah the Almighty." In spite of all this slander and opposition the Prophet was ordered to have patience:

And have patience with what they say, and leave them with noble dignity. 

(Al-Muzzammil 73:10)

Turn away from them but with love. May be the one who is not listening to you today, will be attracted towards you tomorrow.

After three years unsuccessful struggle to crush the new ideology the Makkan pagans concluded that he (SAW) is acting just like a rock and two very hazardous things have occurred. One our young generation has gathered around him. Young men like Banu Umayah's Othman bin A'ffan, Musa'b bin Umair and Saa'd bin Abi-Waqas have converted to Islam. Secondly even more dangerous than this is that our slaves are also accepting Islam. This is an example of an incendiary falling in the store full of gunpowder. If our slaves stood against us and started fighting, only God knows what will happen. 

So now they resorted to physical persecution like beating, physical assaulting, lockups, chaining, keeping hungry, dragging the slaves with ropes tied around the necks. Yasir and his wife Sumayya (RAA) were severely tortured and murdered. Their young son A'mmar (RAA) was tied to a pillar. His mother Sumayya (RAA) was made nude in front of him and beaten severely. Abu Jihil, tired of beating Sumayya ordered her to utter a word of praise about his god and he will let her go. She spat on his face. He pierced her private parts with a spear and she died. Yasir's arms and legs were tied to four camels which were driven to four different directions thus cutting his body into pieces. Even in such conditions the Prophet's order was 'Do not retaliate'. 

I have already explained the philosophy of this. The Muslims were few at that time and if they had put up retaliation they would have been crushed straight away. Whereas they needed time to become a sizeable power. Secondly they were getting sympathies and thereby favour of the people. Bilal's master (Umayya bin Khalf) used to tie a rope around the neck of Bilal (RAA) and hand over him to young boys who used to drag him in the streets upon the conical stones and in humiliation hit him with stones. The same was done in Abu Gharib Jail in Iraq recently by US soldiers. They drag the nude prisoners and burn their bodies with cigarette buts and kick them with ankle-boots. People used to see and think why Bilal is tortured like that? They knew that he has not committed any theft or abused his master but only because he believes in: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad (SAW) is His Messenger". The result was that the Muslims were gradually getting favour and sympathies of the masses.

Kindly note that nobody had physically assaulted or showed aggression to the Prophet (SAW) until year 10 Nabawi. The reason behind this was that the Prophet (SAW) had the backing and support of his influential tribe: the Banu Hashim. Even though all the Hashmites had not accepted Islam, in fact there were virulent and vehement enemies of Islam like Abu Lahab amongst them, but the tribal leader of the Banu Hashim was Abu Talib who was providing security to the Prophet (SAW). Under the tribal system, if the tribal leader provided security to someone the entire tribe supported him. Hence, it was the entire tribe of Banu Hashim that was beleaguered not just the Muslims in three-years long confinement of Sha'b-e-Bani Hashim. The infidels of Makkah demanded of Abu Talib that he should stop providing security to Muhammad (SAW) so that they could deal with him but he refused to do so. In the year 10 Nabawi Abu Talib passed away and so did Hazrat Khadija (RAA). When the Prophet (SAW) would come back home frustrated by the world outside with a suffocating feeling inside his chest due to the people having called him mad or a magician, he would at least have a loyal and dear wife to console him; that support too had been taken away by Allah. Abu Talib had been providing support due to family ties but even that support too had been taken away. The Prophet (SAW) designated this year as "A'am-ul-Huzn" (i.e. a year of mourning) — it was indeed a grievous year for him. Due to the passing away of Abu Talib, the security that the Prophet (SAW) was getting had also been terminated. 

Hence, it was decided in Darul Nadwa that Muhammad (SAW) would be murdered. It was decided that one person should not murder him because in that case the entire clan of the Banu Hashim would turn out against him. Rather young men should be chosen from different tribes so that they could simultaneously attack him to make it difficult to find out who killed him. When Makkah became too hostile, the Prophet (SAW) undertook a journey to Taif in the hope and expectation that some influential man or a leader might accept Islam thus making it possible to shift his base there. But what he suffered in Taif in three days was something that he had not been meted out in Makkah in ten years. The Prophet (SAW) was stoned, was made the target of the worst possible torture and his hallowed body was drenched in blood. At this occasion his lamentation from the profound depths of his heart creates an ache and anguish in the heart of a Muslim who reads these words even today:

O God! Where do I go? Before whom do I lament? I present before You my petition of my lack of power and my lack of resources and of my disgrace and dishonour among people. O God! To whom have you handed me over? Have You handed over my case to my enemies that they should do whatever they can with me? 

O Lord! If this be Your will and if You are not angry then I too am acquiescent; I do not care about this torture. O God! I seek refuge in the radiance of Your countenance with which the darknesses are illuminated.

Could there be a more moving and passionate cry of the heart than this? But, the Prophet (SAW) had two positions; one as the servant and bondsman of Allah and the other as His Prophet. Here the position of the servant of Allah is prominent and uppermost: 'O Lord! As long as You are not angry, I do not care about anything'. 

Source: The Prophet's Strategy for Islamic Revolution

To be continued ....

The Prophet's Methodology of Revolutionary Training (Tarbiyyah)

The Prophet's Methodology of Revolutionary Training (Tarbiyyah)

I had delineated 4 topics for the aspect of training. Firstly the revolutionary ideology should be ingrained and kept in mind at all times. The origin and source of the revolutionary thinking of the Prophet (SAW) was the Holy Quran and it will be for any cause modeled on the Prophet's endeavour. Keep reading the Holy Quran so that the revolutionary ideology is kept constantly in mind. Have collective discussions for this purpose and organize these sessions. Sit together, read the Holy Quran, learn and teach it. This will keep your thought fresh and vibrant.

Secondly, the principle of 'listen and obey' should be inculcated and entrenched in minds — the greatest test of which was the command that even if you are hacked to pieces you will not raise your hand. You see, if a person knows that these people are going to kill me, he is bound to kill a few people in his desperation before he himself gets killed. If you corner a cat and it realizes that it cannot escape it will pounce at your face. But here one was not allowed to raise one's hands even in self-defense. Burning coals were laid before Hazrat Khabab (RAA) and he was told to take off his shirt and lie down on them. He lay down. The skin on his back was scorched. When the fat of his skin started melting, it cooled off the coals. A person who knows that these people are going to burn me alive, he will definitely kill a few of his adversaries or at least try to do so. But this was not allowed. I believe there could be no greater example of 'listen and obey' than this.

Thirdly, sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah. People have made sacrifices for the sake of worldly revolutions. The Communist Revolution would not have come about if people had not laid down their lives and had not endured hardships. Other people cannot even think of how easy it is for a Muslim to lay down his life in the cause of Allah as he believes in the hereafter and for him the true life is that of the hereafter. Hence, what kind of a loss does he face if he sacrifices everything for the sake of Allah? What he believes is that he will be rewarded many times over in the hereafter; 700 times over or 1000 times over hence he will not at all suffer a loss. The more staunchly a person believes in the hereafter the more he will invest himself in the cause. Who would be more unwise than the person if he deposits all his savings in a bank? The bank will, at the most, give him a 10-15% profit on his savings but Allah's bank is open and gives him an increase of 700% . So what is the point of scrimping and saving here. As Jesus Christ said, "Do not save in this world, here the worm destroys your savings, there are thefts and dacoities. Save in the Heavens where no worm can gnaw and destroy your wealth, where there is no theft or dacoity. And I tell you the truth wherever your assets and possessions are that is where your heart will be". If you have accumulated worldly goods that is where your heart will be entangled. There will be nothing but remorse and regret when the angels would come to take away your soul. It has been narrated in a Hadith that the angels will take away the souls from non-believing materialist persons as if removing pieces of meat with skewers. If your savings have been placed in Allah's bank, your heart will dwell there. When the angel of death arrives there will be a smile on your face.

I tell you the condition of a mo'min

at the time of his death.

He is all smiles.

If you have deposited as savings billions of rupees in a Swiss bank account and you are ordered to leave the country, will you feel any remorse? But if you have not saved anything abroad and you know no one, and then you are ordered to leave, you will definitely feel perplexed and extremely disturbed. It is precisely this unflinching faith in the hereafter that is beyond comprehension for a large majority of people in this day and age and they are amazed to see Muslims ready to die for their faith. They have seen this strength and courage in Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine and Afghanistan. These are all signs of a strong belief in the hereafter.

When Maulana Maudoodi was given death sentence in early 1950s in connection with anti-Qadiani movement in Punjab, I was Nazim-e-A'ala of the Islamic Students Organization. I had published a poem on the title page of "A'zm" — a weekly Urdu organ of the Organization — and had sent it to Maulana in the jail.

The time has come that Nature is going to reward us for our efforts. Darkness of night is indicating that it is about to dawn now. But there are few tests, still there are signs of devastations. Do not retreat as our fate is testing us. Do not be aggrieved of the troubles and sorrows. The dawn of life is sparkling through these darknesses. O Raees! tell the wise people not to recede of the trials as they are in fact the cause of our success.

These verses were from the pen of Raees Amrohvi — ('Raees' literally means leader) I presented them to the Ameer (Leader) of Jamat-i-Islami, a group of wise and enlightened Muslims (with a slight pun with reference to the last verse).

Spiritual training retains an important place in the process of revolutionary training as exemplified so strongly by the Prophet (SAW). The first and foremost source of developing spirituality — the Holy Quran — was interiorized in the hearts, with which they were illumined and alongside this they were trained to defend themselves against the self-conceit of baser human passions. Sleep is very dear to us, the companions (RAA) of the Prophet (SAW) were trained and commanded to stay awake for the sake of Allah (SWT) and to thoroughly assimilate the Holy Quran during night prayers of Tahajjud: 

O thou wrapped up in thy raiment! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night — A half thereof, or a little less. Or a little more — and recite the Quran in slow, measured rhythmic tones. Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty Message. Truly the vigil of the night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the Word (of Prayer and Praise). 

(Al-Muzzammil 73:1-6)

The Quran is by and of itself Noor (light) pure and simple and as such it has the power to remove the darkness of mind and illumine the heart. And the night's vigil is extremely effective in crushing the baser demands of human nature. The third thing that helps in the purification of self is the spending of material wealth as God wishes you to do. Hence this is the process or methodology of the Prophet's revolutionary training. Later on in our mystical orders the training and purification of self have been modified to a great extent. They devised their own ways of Divine contemplations and remembrance of Allah. I am not talking about these but of the Prophetic way. I have mentioned and explained the constituents that formed the basis of the revolutionary training that the Prophet (SAW) made his companions to undergo and adhere to.

Source: The Prophet's Strategy for Islamic Revolution

To be continued ....