Study Guide March 2022

Seerah Section:

• The Arabs were known to be very barbaric and violent during the days of ignorance (The days before Islam)
•  They would wage war so often that they had designated months in which war was prohibited. These months were known as the sacred months, they were Dhul-Hijjah, Dhul Qa’dah, Muharram, and Rajab.
•  There were many wars during that time period; one war in particular was between the Quraysh and the tribe of Qays. This war was known as Harb-ul-Fujjar.
•  The word Harb means war and the word Fujjar means evil-doers.
• This war was called Harb-ul-Fujjar because it took place during the prohibited months of war.
•  The Prophet (ﷺ), being a young man in his twenties, was forced by his uncles’ persistence to participate in this war although he purposely did not play an active role. He only picked up arrows for his uncles.
•  The large number of casualties due to this war eventually led to the signing of a peace treaty named Hilf-ul-Fudul.
•  The word Hilf means peace treaty and the word Fudhul is a plural of the word Fadhal. Since the people who originally made the pact were three people named Fadhal the pact was therefore named after them.
•  This pact assured that an oppressor had no place in Makkah and that all the tribes of Makkah would help the oppressed regardless if they were a local resident of Makkah or a foreigner to the city.
•  Prophet (ﷺ) happily participated in the finalization of the peace treaty. He also praised it later saying that he would never trade that opportunity to participate with anything else and that if he was invited to a similar cause later, he would surely accept it.
•  As a young man the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) was honest, dignified, polite and the farthest from arguing, evil, and immorality.
•  Abdullah bin Abu Al-Hamsa says that before Prophethood he had conducted a business transaction with the Prophet (ﷺ) and he promised that he would return shortly with the money. By accident, he had completely forgotten about his promise to return immediately. After three days he remembered about paying the blessed Prophet (ﷺ). He rushed to the last place where he had conducted the business deal with the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) and found him waiting there. He says that all the blessed Prophet ﷺ said was that you put me through some difficulty. I have been waiting here for you for three days.
•  Along with trade, the Prophet (ﷺ) had acquired a manual occupation as well. Prior to his prophethood, he would graze sheep for the people of Makkah.
•  Grazing sheep was an occupation performed by all the prophets of Allah, because by grazing sheep one must always remain cautious about the herd, to make sure a single sheep does not wander off and get eaten by a wolf. These skills were necessary for every prophet to have, that they pay close attention to their followers and they remain patient with them.
•  The blessed Prophet was a trustworthy and successful businessman as well. His honesty was well known to everyone. Sayyidituna Khadijah r.a. would often hire reliable men, as a representative to transport her wealth to Syria, for trade. Once she heard of the trustworthiness of the blessed Prophet (ﷺ), she offered him a double in his share of profits in relation to her other usual business partners.
• By the blessings of Allah (swt) the blessed Prophet went and returned with amazing profit.
• She in gratitude granted him more profit than what was initially agreed upon. Having found interest in the blessed Prophet (ﷺ), Sayyidituna Khadijah after two months and twenty-five days sent a proposal to the blessed Prophet (ﷺ).
• After consulting his uncle, the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) accepted the proposal of Sayyidituna Khadijah (r.a.) and they were wedded. The Nikah ceremony was performed by Abu Talib r.a.
• At the time Sayyiduna Khadijjah was 40 years old and widowed twice, while the blessed prophet (ﷺ) was 25 years old. This was his first marriage which lasted for 25 years. Almost all of his children were born within this marriage.
• ● Historically, the Kabah has gone through many reconstructions. One of the renovations happened prior to the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) being granted prophethood. The Quraysh had noticed that the walls of the Kabah were wearing out and were about to collapse so they agreed to renovate the Kabah. The original structure of the Kaba was roofless and its walls were much shorter. The Quraysh decided to spend only pure wealth on the construction of the Kabah. They had exhausted their resources and had to slightly shorten one aspect of the construction. Despite having limited resources they managed to include a roof and they raised the walls.
• ● A dangerous argument broke out when the time came to place the sacred black stone in its place. Every tribe wanted the honor to place it back in its original spot. They eventually agreed that the first person to enter the door of the masjid would settle this argument. To Allah’s miraculous decree the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) became the first person to enter the door. The Prophet (ﷺ) laid down a sheet and placed the black stone in the center. He had every tribe’s leader hold a corner of the cloth as he pushed the stone into its honored location. This was a wise solution to the issue. The blessed Prophet (ﷺ) was 35 years old at the time.

Tafseer Section: Surah A’la

• The second verse of this surah says “the one who created and proportioned.” The word used to mean create is خلق which literally means to create from absolutely nothing. Meaning that Allah can create something without any pre-existing matter. This shows his ultimate power.
•  The third word used in the second verse فسوى is that he proportioned everything perfectly. Meaning that everything which functions perfectly with a pair Allah created that pair symmetrical to itself. For example when we look at our hands, legs, ears they are equal in size. Similarly the sensitivity in our nerves in our joints. There is a point in our lives where our teeth stop growing. For many people their height still increases after that age. What if Allah kept our teeth growing just like our height?
• Verses 6 to 8 console the blessed Prophet (ﷺ) not to hasten in attempting to memorize the verses immediately after Jibraeel (a.s.) recites them. Rather, Allah has taken the responsibility of preserving this book along with its meaning.
• Verses 16 and 17 hold very important meaning to themselves that the worldly materialistic life is not one to prefer. Everything that we find pleasant to our eyes in this life is destined to come to an end. Therefore Allah is reminding us that the Hereafter and Jannah are to be preferred because they are ever-lasting.
•  Allah concludes the surah with the reminder that the messages of the Quran are similar to the messages of the scriptures given to the earlier Prophets. It is necessary that we understand that the message of the Quran is 100% true because it is nothing unusual. Every nation before us was taught the same teachings, therefore there should be no reason why we doubt or disobey the message of Allah.