Study Guide October 2022

Seerah Section:

•  Once the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was commanded to invite to the message of Islam openly, the hardships and difficulties that the Muslims were facing started to increase tremendously.
•  To list all of the trials and tribulations of the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his companions (Radhi Allahu anhum wa radhu anhu) went through, a separate book would have to be written.However, since the objective here is to be brief, we will only go over some of the difficulties they faced.
•  When we read about the different hardships that the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the companions encountered, we shouldn’t read them like a story. We must keep in mind these were real people who were hurt in these ways. We need to learn to appreciate their struggles and learn to aspire a similar form of strength in our faith that we too will never give up and will always continue to believe and pray to Allah (SWT) no matter what the circumstances may be.
•  There are four primary forms of difficulty that the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and the companions endured.

1. Difficulty through family:
   – Despite the fact that the Arabs of Makkah were more or less all ultimately related back to a similar ancestry, many of them ignored that fact when it came to the religion of Islam.
   – Abu Lahab was the paternal uncle of the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ,the brother of his father Abdullah, yet he did not cease an opportunity to dismay people from listening to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم At the incident of the announcement on the mountain Safah, he was the one who replied to the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم” May you be cursed! Is this the reason why you gathered us?!”
   – Abu Lahab’s wife, the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم aunt, Umm Jameel bint Harb would go and collect thorn branches and would purposely scrape the thorns off and would lay the thorns down on the path that the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would walk on.
   – Two of the blessed daughters of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ,Zainab and Ruqayyah (Radiyallahu Anhuma), were married to two sons of Abu Lahab, Utbah and Utaiba. Both of them caused a lot of harm to the daughters of the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and eventually divorced the daughters of the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ,causing him much emotional pain.

– After the call of Islam had undergone its three stages of secrecy, the time of Hajj came around. Now, the Quraysh were worried that the Muslims will start to influence outsiders.
– They assembled together and asked a wise man amongst them whose name was Waleed bin Mugheerah to help them come up with a plot against the Muslims.
-They said they will inform people about the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and accuse him of being a soothsayer. In reply, Waleed said “No, they won’t believe you. He does not speak like one nor does he make verses like soothsayers do.
-They then said that they will tell people that he is crazy. To which Waleed said “We all know the signs of insanity, he neither speaks erratically nor does he sound confused.
-They then said that they would say that he is a poet. Waleed replied, “We all know very well the different kinds of poetry and his words cannot be compared to any of them.”
-They finally said that they should claim him to be a sorcerer. In reply, Waleed said “They won’t believe you in that either, because he neither does acts of exorcism and neither does he tie knots (these were two ways magic was performed at that time).
-They then asked Waleed bin Mugheerah for his suggestion to which he said “By God, his words are sweet, fresh, and attractive. His belief is firm, and his branches are fruitful. Hence, whatever you claim about him will not be believed. However, it is more convincing, in my opinion, if you were to present him as a sorcerer. You should say that he has brought a message by which he creates a rift between father and son, brothers, and husband and wife. Under his influence, family ties have been torn apart, and everyday families break up because of him.”
– Having agreed upon this sinister plot, they strategically placed different people along different paths leading into Makkah, and as pilgrims entered the sacred city, they would hear a warning about the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
– The blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would try to visit different groups of pilgrims and would invite them to the message of Islam but following short after him would be Abu Lahab who would insult and belittle the message.
-Along with all of this they falsely claimed that the Quran was a collection of confused dreams, or that the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was the author of the Quran, or that a certain man had composed it and narrated it to the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ,or that the Quran was just a collection of folk tales and ancient stories, or that a jinn or a demon taught the verses of the (نعوذ با� من ذالك) .

– Since the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم held a prestige status amongst Quraysh, and he was under the protection of Abu Talib who also held prominence; therefore, they were hesitant to cause him any harm openly.
– However, one day while the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was in sajdah the disbelievers of Quraysh conceived a plot to pick up the stomach of a slaughtered camel and place it on the back of the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .Due to its massive weight, the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was unable to lift himself up from sajdah. After he finally got up, they laughed hysterically.

– The blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was a merciful person. He naturally had an affection towards everyone and especially to those who believed him while everyone had rejected him.
– The struggles of the companions also deserve a separate study guide and although the subject is Seerah, we should at least make some notable mentions due to their strong connection with the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
– Bilal bin Rabah (radiyallhanhu) would be made to lay in hot sand during the evening, be poked with thorny branches, have a heavy boulder placed on his chest and would have a fire ignited around him. He would have to choose one of two options; continue to be tortured or revoke his faith in Allah and the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .His Iman was unshakeable; he would yell ‘AHAD AHAD!!! ONE GOD ONE GOD!!!’
– The household of Yasir (Radhi Allahu Anhu) also suffered a lot. Yasir (Radhi Allahu Anhu), despite his old age, would also be forced to lay down on hot sand. He refused to forsake his faith until he passed away. His wife Sumaiyya (Radhi Allahu Anha), despite her old age, became the first martyr when Abu Jahl speared her through her lower body. She also refused to forsake her faith.
– Their son Ammar (Radhi Allahu Anhu) also suffered a lot at the hands of the Mushrikeen. Under a lot of pain, He uttered words of disbelief and came to the blessed Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم crying about the incident. It was at that time the verse 106 of Surah Nahl was revealed َ ان ِ م ْ ِالإ ِ نٌّ ب َ ن ئ ْ م ُ ط ُ م ُه ب ل َ َ ق َ و ە ر ْ أ َ ن َّ م إ Except for those that were forced (to utter words of disbelief) while their hearts were content with faith.

Tafseer Section (Surah Al-Fajr – Part 2)