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The Boycott of the Banu Haashim and Writing the Oppressive Resolution – Part Three
Written by user2On account of the difficulties and hardships that the Muslims were being subjected to, some of the disbelievers, who were compassionate at heart, thought of breaking this resolution to boycott the Banu Haashim.
The first person who had this thought was Hishaam bin ‘Amr. He thought to himself, “How shameful it is that we are eating and drinking to our fill, while our relatives are longing for a little grain and are spending their days in starvation!” Due to the pity that he felt, he would go during the night and leave a camel-load of grain at the entrance of the valley of Abu Taalib.
The Boycott of the Banu Haashim and Writing the Oppressive Resolution – Part Two
Written by user2The Banu Haashim remained under boycott for three continuous years, enduring extreme hardship. Such was their difficulty that the crying of the children, due to starvation, could be heard outside the valley.
The hearts of the disbelievers were so hard that on hearing the children crying, they would become delighted. However, those of them who were compassionate at heart would find this unacceptable and would clearly say, “Do you not see the punishment that befell Mansoor bin ‘Ikrimah (the one who wrote the oppressive resolution)?”
The Boycott of the Banu Haashim and Writing the Oppressive Resolution
Written by user2On one hand, the representatives of the Quraish returned with failure from Abyssinia and the disbelievers learnt that Najaashi had greatly honored Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and his companions. On the other hand, Hazrat Hamzah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) had embraced Islam, causing the disbelievers to lose much of their strength and power. Furthermore, the number of the Muslims continued to increase, day by day.
The Islam of Hazrat ‘Umar bin Khattaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) – Part Two
Written by user2Hazrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbaas (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) narrates, “When Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) accepted Islam, Hazrat Jibreel (‘alaihis salaam) descended and said, ‘O Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! All the inhabitants of the heavens are overjoyed and delighted at the Islam of Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).’”
The Islam of Hazrat ‘Umar bin Khattaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) - 6th Year of Nubuwwah
Written by user2In reality, the actual cause for Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) accepting Islam was the du‘aa of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).
Initially, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would make du‘aa saying, “O Allah! Give honor to Islam with either Abu Jahal or ‘Umar bin Khattaab, whichever one is more dear to You.”
The Three Questions of Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) to the Representatives of the Quraish – Part Two
Written by user2When Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and his companions eventually decided to leave Abyssinia for Madinah Munawwarah, then Najaashi bore all their travel costs and supplied them with provisions for the journey. Furthermore, he presented a number of gifts to them.
Najaashi also sent a messenger with them and said, “Inform Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) regarding the manner in which I received you and conducted with you. Also inform him that I say, ‘I bear testimony that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah, and I bear testimony that you are His messenger. I also request you to seek forgiveness from Allah Ta‘ala on my behalf.’”
The Three Questions of Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) to the Representatives of the Quraish
Written by user2Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said to Najaashi, “I wish to ask these people (the representatives of the Quraish) a few questions. Please request them to answer my questions.”
The first question which Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked was, “Are we slaves who have come here fleeing from our masters? If we are runaway slaves, then indeed we deserve to be returned to our masters.”
Najaashi addressed ‘Amr bin ‘Aas and asked, “Are these people slaves?” He replied:
بل أحرار كرام
No! Rather, they are free and noble people.
The Inspirational Sermon of Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) in the Court of Najaashi – Part Three
Written by user2Hazrat ‘Aaishah (radhiyallahu ‘anha) reports that Najaashi’s father was the Emperor of Abyssinia. He had no other son besides Najaashi, while his brother (Najaashi’s uncle) had twelve sons.
Since Najaashi was the only son of his father, while the Emperor’s brother (Najaashi’s uncle) had many children, some of the people of Abyssinia thought of killing the Emperor and making his brother the Emperor. They felt that since his brother has many children, rulership will remain in the same family for a longer period of time. Hence, they killed the Emperor and made his brother the Emperor.
The Inspirational Sermon of Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) in the Court of Najaashi – Part Two
Written by user2When ‘Amr bin ‘Aas and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee‘ah emerged from the royal court, after failing to convince the Emperor to hand the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) over to them, then ‘Amr bin ‘Aas said, “Tomorrow, I will stand before the Emperor and mention something which is such that on hearing it, he will completely destroy these Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum).”
‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee‘ah said to him, “Don’t ever do that! We have family ties with them! They are our relatives, even though we oppose them as far as our religion is concerned!” However, ‘Amr bin ‘Aas was adamant and determined.
The Inspirational Sermon of Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) in the Court of Najaashi
Written by user2Hazrat Ja’far (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) addressed Najaashi and said:
“O Emperor! Prior to the advent of Islam, we were all ignorant and unaware of the true path. We would worship idols and consume carrion. We were involved in various types of shameless actions. We would sever family ties and ill-treat our neighbors. The strong among us would oppress and take advantage of the weak.
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When the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) entered the royal court, they sufficed on making salaam and did not prostrate before the Emperor (as was the norm).
The royal courtiers were extremely displeased by the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) conducting in this manner. Hence, they immediately questioned the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and asked, “Why did you not prostrate before the Emperor?” According to another narration, the Emperor himself asked them why they did not prostrate before him.
‘Amr bin ‘Aas and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee‘ah were extremely apprehensive of the Emperor summoning the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), questioning them and hearing what they had to say. We can well imagine why they were apprehensive and averse to the Emperor questioning and speaking to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and why they wanted the Emperor to hand them over without any form of investigation and discussion.
The reason for ‘Amr bin ‘Aas and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee‘ah being apprehensive is quite obvious – they knew well that that the moment the truth left the tongues of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), it would entrench itself into the heart of the Emperor.
After the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) returned from Abyssinia, the disbelievers began to persecute the Muslims even more than before. Hence, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) once again permitted the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) to migrate to Abyssinia.
Thereafter, when the Quraish saw that the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) were living in peace and safety in Abyssinia and they were practising Islam in peace, they held an urgent meeting in which they appointed ‘Amr bin ‘Aas and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Rabee‘ah as their representatives to Najaashi, the Emperor of Abyssinia, as well as his ministers, in order to try and win them over to the side of the Quraish.
When the disbelievers observed that day-by-day, more and more people were entering the fold of Islam, and the reach of Islam was expanding, they unanimously resolved to increase their persecution of the Muslims. In this manner, they began to subject the Muslims to different forms of torture and persecution in order to force them to renounce Islam.
At that time, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) advised the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) saying:
تفرقوا في الأرض فإن الله سيجمعكم قالوا إلى أين نذهب قال إلى هنا وأشار بيده إلى أرض الحبشة
“Spread out in the earth, for certainly Allah Ta‘ala will soon assemble all of you.” The Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) enquired, “Where should we go to?” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) indicated with his blessed hand towards the land of Abyssinia and said, “Go in this direction.”