Major Events
The Islām of Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib amzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib was a hunter, he would go out and hunt in the desert, and then he would come back and tell all the stories about his hunting expeditions. So one day while he was out hunting, Abū Jahl approached Rasūlullāh ﷺ and started cursing Muhammad ﷺ, while the Messenger of Allāh was silent. Rasūlullāh ﷺ would not respond to the ignorant words, Wa A’rid ‘Anil Jāhilīn – Allāh ﷻ has told Muhammad: Turn away from the ignorant. The Muslim should not be side-tracked by trivial issues and should not turn the Da’wah into a personal thing; one should not take it personally. If the insults are directed towards a person because that person is calling to Islām, one should not take it personally. Allāh ﷻ says: We know that you, O Muhammad, are
saddened by what they say. And indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allāh that the wrongdoers reject.76 They are not rejecting you, they are rejecting the Message that you are presenting them with, that is what they are against. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ was calm and he did not respond back to Abū Jahl. Abū Jahl then threw a rock at Muhammad and hit him in his head, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ was bleeding. A slave-girl saw that, and when Hamzah came back from hunting, she went and told him the whole story. Hamzah obviously was very upset when he heard that this happened to his nephew Muhammad ﷺ, even though Hamzah was a Mushrik – a Non-Believer, at the time, but because of the relationship between him and Muhammad ﷺ, he felt that an attack on Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, was an attack on himself. So he walked up to Abū Jahl, and Abū Jahl was sitting with other leaders of Quraish right in front of Al-Ka’bah, and Hamzah just came back from hunting and he was still carrying his bow with him, and he walked up straight to Abū Jahl and he hit him on his head with his bow and said, “Take it! And I am now following the religion of Muhammad.” When Hamzah said that, he did not say it out of conviction, he said it out of pride, he said it to anger Abū Jahl, and when that happened and blood was starting to flow out of the head of Abū Jahl, Banū Makhzūm, the relatives of Abū Jahl, stood up to fight Hamzah, but then Banū Hāshim stood up to protect Hamzah, and they were about to fight until Abū Jahl interfered and said, “No, leave Abū ‘Imārah alone – leave Hamzah alone – because I did shamelessly attack his nephew Muhammad. “So Abū Jahl calmed things down.
When Hamzah went back home, there is a narration that states that Hamzah went back home and he was surprised at the action he himself took. And he went back and when his emotions calmed down, he started to assess the situation; did I do the right thing? What have I done? And he felt that he was in trouble, because he did not think it out properly, and he was asking himself, ‘Should I become a Muslim or not?’ Now, if I want to withdraw, I have already told Abū Jahl that I am a Muslim and that is dishonouring my
word. In their culture it was not right to change your opinion just like that; you say that you are a Muslim and then the next day you just change your mind and say, ‘No, I was wrong.’ So it was difficult for him to back out, but then the same thing, it was difficult for him to commit because he never really thought about it. So Hamzah said, “At night, I spent my whole night praying to Allāh, asking Him to guide me to the truth, and to tell me if I have done the right thing or not.” So he was praying to Allāh ﷻ at night and was saying, “O Allāh, if this is the right decision, then put the love of it in my heart, if it is the wrong decision then please, O Allāh, find a way out for me.” Now, you can notice here that these people used to pray to Allāh ﷻ. When they would make Du‘ā', they would make Du‘ā' to Allāh, so their religion was a religion of confusion. They worshipped Allāh but then they still worshipped other gods, and when you would ask them why are you worshipping the other gods, they would say because these gods are intermediaries between us and Allāh, and then they would say that Allāh has daughters – the angels. So it was a big lump of confusion mixed in with culture and tradition, but there was still some traces of the religion of Ismā‘īl in there, for example, they still did Hajj, even though they did it the wrong way, they still gave sanctity to the House of Allāh ﷻ, even though they surrounded it with idols, but some remnants of the religion of Ismā‘īl were retained.
Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib said, “Early in the morning, I woke up and I had my heart filled with love of Islām. So I went to Rasūlullāh ﷺ and I told him that I am a Muslim.” And that was one of the greatest moments for Rasūlullāh ﷺ, to now have his dear uncle Hamzah on his side – Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib. So that is how Hamzah became Muslim. Obviously this must have caused agony to Abū Jahl; Abū Jahl would have thought that I have done good by hurting Muhammad ﷺ, but then eventually that was the cause of the Islām of Hamzah. And that is the Qadr of Allāh; you never know what will be the cause of good, so ‘Asā An Takrahū Shay'an Wa Huwa Khairullakum – Perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you. Abū Jahl thought that he was harming Islām by hurting Rasūlullāh ﷺ, he did not know that his own action would be the cause of the Islām of Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib. And Ibn Is'hāq says, “Wa Kāna Islāmu Hamiyyah – The Islām of Hamzah was out of pride, but then it turned into sincerity.” So initially it was done with the wrong intention, he did it just to show Abū Jahl that I am with my nephew, but then Allāh ﷻ changed it into it becoming for the sake of Allāh and for the sake of Allāh alone. And one scholar said, “I started studying Islām to show off and to argue and to debate, but then after that, the knowledge of the Religion of Allāh humbled me and I became sincere.” So I started out with the wrong intention but then down the line my intention was being rectified and corrected. So the Religion of Allāh, after it stays in a heart for a long time, it draws a person closer and closer to Ikhlās – sincerity.
The Islām of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb
The Last Person you Would Expect to Become Muslim
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb, as you all know from his early history, was a staunch enemy of Islām, and we mentioned how ruthless he was in persecuting the Muslims. One day, Lailah, the wife of ‘Āmir Bin Rabī‘ah, met ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb asked her, “Umm ‘Abdillāh, where are you heading?” She said, “You have maltreated us and oppressed us, so I am going to leave to one of God’s countries to worship my Lord.” She was leaving towards Abyssinia. And ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb told her, “Sahhibat Kis-Salāmah – May peace be with you.” May you have a safe journey. That was a very strange statement to come from ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb; ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb showed no sympathy towards any Muslim, male or female, so for ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb to make Du‘ā' for this woman and to say, ‘May peace be with you, may you have a safe journey,’ shocked her. This was the end of the conversation between her and ‘Umar, and then ‘Umar left. When her husband came, she told him, “Do you know what happened?” He said, “What?” She said, “I met ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb,” – and that was not good news! And then she said, – “and he asked me where I was going and I told him, and then he told me in a very sympathetic way, ‘May you have a safe
journey.’” So her husband laughed and said, “Are you expecting that ‘Umar will become a Muslim?” She said, “Maybe, why not?” He laughed and said, “‘Umar will not become a Muslim until the donkey of his father does.” It is impossible! Himār Al-Khattāb – the donkey of his father will become a Muslim before this man does, take that idea out of your mind, forget about it, it is just impossible, he cannot become a Muslim! That was their impression of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb.
‘Umar’s First Step towards lslām ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb narrates, and he is narrating his own story, he says, “I used to love drinking, I was in love with wine, and I had some drinking partners whom I would meet every night, and we used to meet in a place in Hazwarah, so I went late that evening to meet my friends.” He was going to the pub down the street, and he did not find anyone, there was no one there. He said, “So I decided to go to the wine dealer, but I found his shop closed.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I went around looking for other options but I did not find anyone, it was too late in the night. So I thought since the pub is closed and the liquor store is closed then why not go and make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah? Do something better.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I went to make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah.” And who do you expect he found there? Who else would be praying next to Al-Ka’bah at that late hour of the night? Muhammad ﷺ. He said, “There was no one there but me and Muhammad, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ did not sense my presence.” ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb says in one narration, “I wanted to sneak and attack him,” and in another narration, “I wanted to listen to what he was reciting.”
So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “Rasūlullāh ﷺ would pray with Ka’bah in front of him towards the direction of Jerusalem.” Therefore Rasūlullāh ﷺ would be praying towards the wall of Al-Ka’bah that had the Yemeni corner of the Black Stone. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I went from behind and I was hiding between the cloth of Al-Ka’bah and the Ka’bah.” So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb had his back towards Al-Ka’bah and he had the cloth of AlKa’bah over him, so you cannot see him. And he said, “I was sneaking around Al-Ka’bah until I was right in front of Muhammad ﷺ, nothing is
between me and him except the cloth of Al-Ka’bah, but he could not see me. And I was able to hear his recitation, he was right in front of me, and he was reciting from Sūrah Al-Hāqqah.” He said, “And I just froze in my tracks listening to the wonderful words of Qur'ān. And then I told myself, ‘These must be the words of a poet.’” The next Āyah that Rasūlullāh ﷺ recited in Sūrah Al-Hāqqah was: Wa Mā Huwa Biqawli Shā‘irin Qalīlam Mā Tu'minūn – And it is not the word of a poet; little do you believe.78 ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I was shocked and I said to myself, ‘These must be words of a soothsayer, how did he know what was in my heart? These must be words of a soothsayer.’” The next Āyah was: Walā Biqawli Kāhinin Qalīlam Mā Tadhakkarūn – Nor the word of a soothsayer; little do you remember.
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “That was the first step in bringing me towards lslām.” Now the foundation of Kufr in the heart of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb is cracked, nevertheless his heart is still filled with hatred towards Muhammad ﷺ and the Muslims; he was not there yet, he was one step closer, but he still inhibited because of the hatred that he has in his heart towards the Muslims.
‘Umar on his Way to Kill Muhammad
One day ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb decided that he was going to bring an end to this misery, to this disunity among Quraish; once and for all I am just going to go and kill Muhammad ﷺ no matter what happens. ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb had this dedication, he believed that he needs to rid his people from these Sābi'īn – anyone who would become Muslim they would call them Saba'/Sābi'īn/Sabians, in other words they apostatised from the religion. So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I am going to go and kill him.” He heard that Muhammadwas with 40 of his followers in Dārul Arqam, he picked up his sword and was walking down the streets of Makkah alone. Now, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb knows that he would be killed if he tries to kill Muhammad ﷺ, but he was determined to do it. Walking down the streets of Makkah, who did he meet? He met one of his relatives who was Muslim in secret,
Nu‘aim. So Nu‘aim saw ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb and he saw evil in his eyes and anger, and he asked ‘Umar, “Where are you heading?” He said, “I am going towards Muhammad to kill him.” Nu‘aim now has to think on the spot; what did he say? Nu‘aim said, “Why do you not take care of your household first?” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “What is wrong with my household?” Nu‘aim said, “Your sister has become Muslim.” By saying that, Nu‘aim has put the sister of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb and her husband in danger. Why would Nu‘aim do that? Why did he put Fātimah Bint AlKhattāb and her husband in danger? He did it because he wanted to save Muhammad ﷺ. So the Sahābah held Rasūlullāh ﷺ in high esteem and they saw that they could sacrifice their lives if it was going to protect his. So Nu‘aim told ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb, and this was news to him, that your sister has become Muslim, and Fātimah was the wife of Sa‘eed Bin Zayd Bin ‘Amr Bin Nufayl; Sa‘eed is one of the 10 who were given the gladtidings of Jannah. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb changed course and now he was heading towards his sister’s house. Khabbāb Bin Aratt was teaching Fātimah and her husband Qur'ān, so he had the scroll with him and he was reciting to them Sūrah Tā-Hā. When they heard the footsteps of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb, Khabbāb went into hiding and Fātimah took the scroll and she hid it under her thigh. And then ‘Umar came in, and he said, “What was that sound that I heard?” They said, “We did not hear anything.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “Yes, I did hear you recite something. Tell me what it was.” And then he said, “And I have heard that you have become Muslim”, and he immediately attacked Sa‘eed Bin Zayd and he started punching him. Fātimah interfered and rose up to defend her husband, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb hit her in her face. When ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb saw blood flowing out of the face of his sister, he became very sorry and he apologised. She said, “I have become Muslim and my husband is Muslim, and do whatever you want.” ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb said, “Give me that scroll you were reading.” She said, “No.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb swore in the name of his gods that I am going to return it back to you, give it to me. She said, “Innaka Mushrikun Najas – You are Polytheist and you are impure.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb went and washed himself and he came back. So she gave him the scroll and ‘Umar Ibn Al-
Khattāb recited the first verses of Sūrah Tā-Hā.
Bismillāhir Rahmānir Rahīm.
Tā-Hā. We have not sent down to you the Qur'an that you be distressed, But only as a reminder for those who fear Allāh - A revelation from He who created the earth and highest heavens, The Most Merciful who is above the Throne established. To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth and what is between them and what is under the soil. And if you speak aloud - then indeed, He knows the secret and what is even more hidden.
Allāh - there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names.
And ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb went on reciting these words, and when he finished he said, “These are wonderful words.” When Khabbāb Ibn Al-Aratt heard that, he came out of hiding and said, “O ‘Umar! I hope that God will choose you, because I heard the Messenger of Allāh yesterday make a Du‘ā' and say, ‘O Allāh! Guide one of the two ‘Umars; ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb or ‘Amr Bin Hishām’, and I hope that you are the one Allāh will select.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ, just one day before, made a prayer and said, “O Allāh! Guide one of the two ‘Umars,” and who are they? ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb and the other one is ‘Amr Bin Hishām. Who is ‘Amr Bin Hishām? Abū Jahl. Rasūlullāh ﷺ asked Allāh to strengthen Islām with one of these two men. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb told Khabbāb Ibn Al-Aratt, “I want to become Muslim, where can I meet Muhammad?” Khabbāb told him, “Go and meet him in Dārul Arqam.”
‘Umar Accepts Islām
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb went to Dārul Arqam and he knocked on the door. Rasūlullāh ﷺ would hold secret meetings with the Sahābah in Dārul Arqam because the movement of Islām in Makkah was underground, it was not public. So one of the Companions stood up and he peeked through the door, and who would he see in front of him? ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb. He went to Rasūlullāh ﷺ, and it says in the narration that the Sahābï was
frightened and surprised and he told Muhammad ﷺ,’” Umar Ibn AlKhattāb is outside, and he is carrying his sword too.” Because remember, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was carrying his sword; his intention was to go and kill Muhammad ﷺ, so he was carrying his sword with him. This Companion had all the right to be frightened; this was ‘Umar. Now, who in that gathering offered to go and open the door? Who is the one who can stand up and face ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb? Who would it be? Well, Rasūlullāh ﷺ did go later on but who was the one who first stood up and said, “I am going to go?” Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib; the one who would stand up against ‘Umar was Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib. He said, “O Messenger of Allāh, if ‘Umar has come for a good reason, we will reciprocate, but if he has come with the wrong intentions, then I will kill him with his own sword.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ told Hamzah, “No, I will open the door for him.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ went and he opened the door.
Now, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was one of the tallest men of Quraish. When ‘Umar was Khalīfah, they received some pieces of cloth from one of the Islāmic states. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb distributed these cloths evenly, he gave everyone one piece. When ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb stood to give Khutbah, he had two pieces on, so ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “Isma‘ū Wa Atī‘ū – Listen and obey!” Salmān Al-Fārsī stood up and said, “We will not listen and we will not obey.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb asked, “How come?” Salmān said, “Because you have given each one of us one piece and you are wearing two pieces.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb did not respond, he told his son ‘Abdullāh to stand up and respond to what Salmān was saying. ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar stood up and said, “My father is a very tall man, very well-built, one piece of cloth would not be enough for him, so I gave him mine.” Salmān Al-Fārsī said, “Fal-Ān Nasma’ Wa Nutī’ – Now we will hear and obey.” So this was the standard of justice that they had, even the Khalīfah could not have preference over the masses. There were people who were willing to stand up and fix the mistakes that they would see, Inkār Al-Munkar, like Salmān AlFārsī. So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was not only tall but he was very well-built, and for a while he was a wrestler; he used to wrestle in Makkah at his young age, so he was a huge well-built man. Rasūlullāh ﷺ opened the door for
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ was described as being of medium height and medium build. Rasūlullāh ﷺ was not short and not too tall, not very thin but at the same time not a heavyweight; he was medium. So you can imagine Rasūlullāh ﷺ in front of this huge man. Rasūlullāh ﷺ grabbed ‘Umar by his clothes and dragged him in and put him down on his knees and told him, “O ‘Umar! When are you going to stop? Are you waiting for Allāh to strike you with a thunderbolt?!” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “O Messenger of Allāh! I have come to become Muslim.” Now, this happened between Rasūlullāh ﷺ and ‘Umar right next to the gate, and all of the other Sahābah were in a different room, so they did not see what was happening. When ‘Umar said that, Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “Allāhu Akbar!” All of the Sahābah knew what had happened, they realised that ‘Umar became Muslim. They were so happy with that news, they made a Takbeer that was so loud that they immediately had to disperse, because it was heard by the people of Makkah.
The Islām of ‘Umar was a turning point in the history of Islām in Makkah. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd says, “The Islām of ‘Umar was victory, his immigration to Madīnah was help to Islām, and his reign – his Khilāfah – was mercy.” ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd says, “We were never able to pray in front of Al-Ka’bah publicly until ‘Umar became Muslim.” So an Islām of one person changed the situation of all of the Muslim community; that was how valuable ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was, such a great asset. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd also says, “We used to conceal our Islām until ‘Umar became Muslim, then we would proudly proclaim our Islām.” It is mentioned in one of the narrations of Seerah that when ‘Umar became Muslim, Rasūlullāh ﷺ lined up the Muslims in two ranks; one rank was headed by Hamzah, the other rank was headed my ‘Umar, and they went down the streets of Makkah marching publicly, proclaiming their religion, while Rasūlullāh ﷺ was walking between the two ranks.
People Surround ‘Umar from Every Direction Beating him When ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb became Muslim, he asked, “Who has the biggest mouth in Makkah?” Who is the one who cannot hold water in his
mouth, the one who can publicise this news? ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb did not want to take it step by step, he wanted everyone to know that I became Muslim. They told him, “Jamīl Al-Jumahī.” ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said, “At that time I was young, but I can still remember everything I saw.” He said, “I followed my father and he went to Jamīl.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said to Jamīl, “Do you know what I did?” Jamīl said, “What?” He said, “I have become Muslim.” ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said, “Immediately, as soon as Jamīl heard the news, he stood up dragging his gown behind him – his gown was trailing – and he went running towards the mosque, Al-Ka’bah, and he went in front of everyone and started screaming to the top of his voice, ‘O PEOPLE OF QURAISH! ‘UMAR HAS BECOME A SABIAN!’” So ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was trying to correct the announcement by saying, “No, I have become a Muslim”, but this man is not hearing anything ‘Umar is saying, he is going around publicising the news, broadcasting it like it was on national TV; everyone knew that ‘Umar became Muslim. ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb said, “People started flowing towards me.” Jamīl did a very good job; people were just flowing towards ‘Umar. ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said, “So the people surrounded my father from every direction, they were beating him and he was beating them. They were fighting for hours, until the sun was right on top of their heads and it was too hot for them to continue.” And then ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb went home, and the people were surrounding his house; they wanted to kill ‘Umar, this for them was unbelievable news – ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb becoming Muslim, that is not an easy thing, so they wanted to kill him. And ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said, “My father was at home and then a man came and asked my father, ‘What is wrong?’ ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb said, ‘These people want to kill me.’ The man said, ‘No, they will not kill you.’ And then he stood outside and said, ‘Leave the man alone, does he not have the right to choose the religion he wants to believe in? I am giving him protection.’” ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said, “Immediately the people left.” Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said, “And then later on I asked my father in Madīnah – I still had memories of what happened – so I asked my father in Madīnah, ‘Who was that man who came and helped you?’” ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb said, “O my son, that was Al-‘Aas Bin Wā‘il.” The father of ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas, he was not a Muslim. The tribe of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was
very small and they were not very strong, but their allies were the tribe of Al-‘Aas Bin-Wā‘il; they were the allies of Banū ‘Udaÿ, the family of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb. So he came in to help a member of his allies and he gave ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb protection.
Lessons from the Islām of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb
A few notes on the story of the Islām of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb:
Rasūlullāh ﷺ Knew People and their Qualities
We find here one of the leadership qualities of Muhammad;Rasūlullāh ﷺ knew the personal traits of people very well. When Rasūlullāh ﷺ made the Du‘ā' – the prayer, asking Allāh to guide ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb or Abū Jahl, why did Rasūlullāh ﷺ choose these two people in particular? ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb and Abū Jahl had some personal traits that qualified them to be outstanding leaders in whatever areas they were in. These two men were outstanding leaders; both of them. They had personal qualities that nominated them to lead people and to manage their affairs. Abū Jahl, by the way, is not his name, that is a nickname that was given to him by the Rasūlullāh ﷺ. He used to be called by his people before that Abul Hakam, which is also not his real name, but it was a name given to him by his people. His original name is ‘Amr Bin Hishām, but he was such a wise and intelligent man, his people called him Abul Hakam, which means ‘Father of Wisdom’ – they named him Father of Wisdom. Now, when his intelligence did not lead him to Islām, he became disqualified and he was called Abū Jahl – Father of Ignorance. Rasūlullāh ﷺ called him Father of Ignorance because no matter how wise a person is, if their wisdom does not lead them to the truth, it is not wisdom. No matter how intelligent they are, if their intelligence does not lead them to Islām, they have no intelligence. And that is the admission they will make on the Day of judgement. Allāh ﷻ says about the people on the Day of Judgement, when they realise they are going to Hellfire: And they will say, “If only we had been listening or
reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze.”
Where were our minds? Where was our intelligence?
These two men had determination, they had commitment to a cause; if they believe in something, they are willing to work for it until the end. They are relentless in pursuit of their objectives, and they are strong. And in situations of difficulty, they rise above everyone else. You would find that in every situation that was difficult, Abū Jahl would rise and would lead his people. Even though it was an evil, but he did it right. He was good in what he was doing, even though he was on the wrong path. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ wanted to win one of these men over to Islām because they would bring with them all of their resources. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb had these personal qualities, he had sincerity; when he believed in something, he would not go in twisted rounds or turns, he would face a thing head on, and he was very courageous and brave, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ was looking at these personal qualities. You see, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb does not have a strong tribal backing, ‘Umar Ibn AlKhattāb, when it comes to Islām, he will come with his personal qualities, not his family background, because his family background was not that of the noblest in Quraish, even though he did come from the core tribes of Quraish, but his tribe was not a leading tribe, nor were they many in numbers to give them such a strong presence in Makkah, but it was his personal qualities that nominated him to that Du‘ā'. And Allāh ﷻ destined that He will choose him out of these two to become the ally of Islām. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ knew the people.
Rasūlullāh ﷺ ’s Deep Understanding of People and how to Cure their
Diseases
The second lesson to be learned is another leadership quality that Rasūlullāh ﷺ possessed, and that was his deep understanding of the people and how to cure their diseases. Even though ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb had these excellent personal qualities, but he was suffering from a serious malice; ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb’s heart was filled with hatred towards the Muslims, so as soon as ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb became a Muslim, Rasūlullāh ﷺ knew
where the disease was and how to cure it. It is narrated that Rasūlullāh ﷺ placed his hand on the chest of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb and said, “O Allāh, cure his heart from hatred,” and he made that Du‘ā' three times. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ put his hand on the disease and cured it.
The Best of you in Jāhiliyyah are the Best of you in Islām if you
Understand Religion
The third lesson is: Khiyārukum Fil Jāhiliyyah Khiyārukum Fil Islāmi Idhā Faqihū – The best of you in Jāhiliyyah – pre-Isalmic era, are the best of you in Islām...” Now, Rasūlullāh ﷺ did not leave this statement open, because this is not a general rule, it is not necessarily the case that every person who was good before Islām is going to be good after Islām. If a person was good before Islām, they had some good personal qualities, and then they become Muslim but they deviate within Islām and they do not follow the Sunnah of Rasūlullāh ﷺ and they do not have good understanding of Islām, they could end up causing more harm than benefit. And there are many examples of people who had a lot of good personal qualities, but when they became Muslim they did not understand the Religion correctly, so they ended up causing a lot of detriment and harm. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ qualified the statement by saying, “Idhā Faqihū – if they understand.” Fiqh means understating, Fiqh does not mean that you memorise rules. Now we have used the word Fiqh as a label to talk about Islāmic law, but the word Fiqh in Hadīth has a more broader meaning, it means understanding, comprehension. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ says that the people who have good personal qualities before they become Muslim, they would become the best among the Muslims if they understand the Religion. So there is a prerequisite there; they have to understand the Religion.
Quraish’s Desperation and the Embargo
Terms of the Embargo
Ibn Hajar states, “When Quraish saw that some of the Believers had gone to live in a different land and were safe – the ones who were in Abyssinia – and that ‘Umar has embraced Islām, they realised that Islām was beginning to rapidly catch on. They then decided that there would be no solution other than to kill the Prophet. “So Islām now has a branch in Abyssinia, it has a base surviving there, and inside Makkah they have won over Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib and ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb; things are getting out of control, now we have to get beyond our hesitation of killing Muhammad because of fear of the retaliation by Banū Hāshim, we have to do something. And that led them to the signing of the embargo against Muhammad, because Quraish now officially requested Banū Hāshim to hand over Muhammad to kill him. Obviously Banū Hāshim refused, so the result was an agreement between the various tribes of Quraish to boycott Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib. The embargo started in the month of Muharram of the seventh year after the Message began, and it was that no one would deal with them, no trade would be conducted between them, and no one would marry of them or to them, until they give up the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. So it was a commercial blockade, and also it was that no family relations are established with them; no marriage was to be done with them and they would accept no marriage offers coming from Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib. And they are to be surrounded in their enclave, in their neighbourhood in Makkah, and the people of Quraish wanted to ensure that no food would reach to Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib. Again, this was not only to Banū Hāshim, but it included Banū Muttalib, and Al-Muttalib had a very close relationship with their brethren from Banū Hāshim and they stood with them in that difficult moment. And by the way, Al-Imām Ash-Shāfi‘ī is a descendant of Banū Muttalib, so he is close to Rasūlullāh ﷺ.
The Suffering of Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib
So the people of Quraish came together and they signed this agreement, the embargo, and they posted the document inside Al-Ka’bah. Things became quite severe, Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib were suffering hunger, and it is reported by Sa’d Ibn Abī Waqqās, “We were so hungry that we used to eat leaves of trees.” We would go to the trees and just grab the leaves and eat them, that is how hungry we were. And these were Mushrikīn by the way, Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib, many of them were Non-Muslims, and they went through all of this. Why? Because they refused to hand over Muhammad ﷺ. So the embargo included the Muslims and Non-Muslims of Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib, all of them were included in it, because they refused to hand over the Messenger of Allāh Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him.
Two or three years passed, and Hishām Bin Al-Hārith, who was the most enthusiastic in refusing the terms of the embargo – he was a relative to Banū Hāshim from his maternal side – what he used to do during those two or three years was that he would load a camel with food, and he would take it on top of the hill that was overlooking the enclave of Banū Hāshim, and then he would hit the camel and set it free and release it so it would go down the hill and end up among Banū Hāshim, and he would do that secretly, obviously. So he was the one who used to sneak in food to the people of Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib. Obviously Hishām Bin Al-Hārith was not included in the embargo because he was not himself from Banū Hāshim or Banū Muttalib, but he had some relationship with them through his mother’s side.
Hishām Bin Al-Hārith – One Man’s Determination to End the
Embargo
Hishām Bin Al-Hārith went to Zuhair Ibn Abī Umayyah and he told Zuhair, “Does it please you that you are eating well and dressing well while your own uncles are in that situation of distress? On my part I swear that if these people were the uncles of Abul Hakam, he would not have done so.” Zuhair Ibn Abī Umayyah was also a relative of Banū Hāshim; they were his
relatives from the mother’s side. Hishām is telling Zuhair that how can you accept to see your uncles going through that misery and you do nothing, and the one who is calling us to do this is Abul Hakam – Abū Jahl? Now, if these were his uncles, he would not have treated them that way, so how come we have to go along with this? You know, it is just like America is asking the Muslim countries to boycott such and such Muslim country, but then if the same thing was done by Israel, America would never ask for an embargo on them. Imagine if Israel has done similar to what ‘Irāq has done – and by the way they have done more already – but will America ever call for an embargo against Isrā'īl? Never. So there is a double standard, and Hishām Bin Al-Hārith was saying that Abū Jahl is calling us to boycott our uncles, and he would never do the same to his. Because obviously Abū Jahl was the spearhead of all of these efforts, you would always find Abū Jahl in these places.
Zuhair Ibn Abī Umayyah responded and said, “Shame on you Hishām. Who am I but one man, what can I do? In the name of Allāh, if I had another person beside me, I would go about abrogating that document.” Hishām said, “Well, there is a person with you.” He asked, “Who is it?” Hishām said, “Myself, I am going to be with you.” Zuhair said, “Then find us a third person.” Hishām set off to find a third person; he went to Al-Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ. He told Al-Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ, “Mut‘am, are you pleased to have two clans of Banū ‘Abd Manāf suffer while you look on in agreement with Quraish about that? By God, if you enable them to do this, they will soon be treating you the same way.” If we allow this precedence to be set, it could backfire and one day it could happen to you or me. Al-Mut‘am said, “Well, what am I able to do? I am just one person.” Hishām said, “No, you are not one person, there is a second person with you.” He asked, “Who is it?” He said, “Myself.” Al-Mut‘am said, “How about you find us a third person?” He said, “I did.” He asked, “Who is it?” He said, “Zuhair Ibn Abī Umayyah.” Al Mut‘am said, “Find us a fourth.” Hishām went to Abul Bukhtarī and presented to him the same thing, and Abul Bukhtarī said, “Well, we need more people.” He said, “We are now four.” He said, “Go and find us a fifth.” Hishām went; he is doing something, he is working, he
is lobbying against this oppression of Quraish. So he went and got a fifth person who was Zam‘ah Bin Al-Aswad. Now they decided that they are going to go and meet at night in Al-Hujūn, so they all met together in AlHujūn, and the agreement was that tomorrow morning we were going to set about destroying this document, but we were going to make it seem as if it was spontaneous.
So next day in the morning, Zuhair Ibn Abī Umayyah goes in with special clothes, a ceremonial gown that he had on, and he made Tawāf, and that was the time in which the assembly of Quraish meet, and their meeting place was in An-Nadwah close by to Al-Ka’bah. So Zuhair Ibn Abī Umayyah is wearing those special clothes and he made Tawāf and then he came and stood right above the assembly of Quraish, and he told them, “O people of Quraish! Does it please you to eat well, and to dress at will, while Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib are going through distress? I swear in the name of Allāh that I am not going to take a seat unless that document is torn apart!” Now a second person from the five stood up, as if it was spontaneous, as if they did not coordinate this among themselves, and said, “Yes! I never agreed to that document from the day it was written.” And now a third person stood up and said, “I swear that I have nothing to do with such a document and I do not want to be part of such an agreement.” And the fourth person stood up, and then finally Hishām himself gave some comments. Now, Abū Jahl stood up and he said, “Hādhā Amrun Dubbira BiLayl – This is something that you planned at night.” Do not tell me that it was spontaneous, you planned this aforehand. But it was too late, things were already getting out of control, and Al-Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ went into AlKa’bah to tear down the document, and Subhān'Allāh, he goes in and he finds that the document has already been eaten up my termites with the exception of two words; Bismik Allāhum - In the name of our Lord. Everything else was eaten, all of the oppression of the document was eaten, with the exception of the opening words, Bismik Allāhum – In the name of Allāh. So the embargo was ended after two or three years.
Lessons from the Embargo
Two lessons to learn from this:
Lesson One: The Difference People Can Make
Number One: You saw here that five people can make a difference; the whole embargo was abrogated due to the efforts of five people. Actually, it was all started by Hishām Bin Al-Hārith alone, it started as an idea in the mind of this man and he set about to implement it, and he recruited a few people around him, and he brought an end to this corrupt agreement – the agreement of oppression. So this shows us the value of organisation; five people came together and had an organised plan and they were able to bring an end to the embargo. So this is the value of working together, this is the value of having organised work. And then it shows you that a person needs to take some action; Hishām went to the first person, the first person gave him a pessimistic view, he said, ‘I am only one person, what can I do?’ Hishām said, ‘Well, you have a second person with you,’ he said, ‘Find a third,’ Hishām set about to find a third. He was a man of action, and he was able to recruit five people and they made a difference.
Brothers and sisters, this Religion needs action, and even though these were Kuffār, these were Mushrikīn, but there is a valuable lesson to learn from this, that you need to take the first step, you need to do some action. And when Rasūlullāh ﷺ was first given the Risālah – you see, there is one opinion of scholars that Muhammad ﷺ became a Prophet when he received the revelation of Iqra', and he became a Rasūl when he was given the revelation of Qum Fa'andhir; that is one view that some scholars hold, because there is a difference between Nabï and Rasūl. Nabï, which is translated as Prophet, is someone who is receiving Revelation from Allāh, but it does not necessarily mean that it is a mandate on them to propagate the Message. However a Rasūl, which is translated as Messenger, is a Nabï who is commanded by Allāh to propagate the Message. Rasūlullāh ﷺ received
the Revelation in the verses of Iqra', so he then became Nabï. And then the Revelation stopped for a while, and he was not conveying the Message at that time, he was not given the command yet by Allāh ﷻ to propagate the Message, until he was given the revelation of Qum Fa'andhir – Stand up and warn; that is when he became a Rasūl according to the opinion of some scholars.
So you can notice that the first commands Allāh ﷻ gave to Muhammad which made him a Rasūl were the commands of “Stand up”. Stand up! Rasūlullāh ﷺ was wrapped in his garments; Allāh ﷻ said that you have to stand up, you cannot be sitting down, you cannot be lying on your bed, you have to stand up. This Religion needs men and women to stand up and take action – Qum Fa'andhir. So the Muslim is standing up, and even when the Muslim is sitting down or lying down, they are not relieved of their duties. Alladhīna Yadhkurūnallāha Qiyāman Wa Qu‘ūdan Wa ‘Alā Junūbihim – Those who remember Allāh while standing or sitting or lying on their sides.82 You are never relieved; as a Muslim you are continuously doing something. So we need to take action, and ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb used to make this Du‘ā' and say, “O Allāh, I seek refuge in You from the strong Disbeliever and the weak Believer.” The Believer should be strong, and unless we stand up and go ahead and do something, things will not change. We cannot expect our problems to be solved by some supernatural force. From the time of Mūsā and on, Allāh ﷻ has not punished a nation through a supernatural event. For example, with the people of Sālih, they were destroyed by the thunderbolt, with the people of ‘Ād, they were destroyed through the tornado, with the people of Lūt, Allāh ﷻ made the earth sink, but from Mūsā and onward, Allāh ﷻ has brought about change through the hands of the Believers. Allāh ﷻ prescribed Jihād on the Ummah of Mūsā, they were the first Ummah to wage Jihād, it was the Ummah of Mūsā. Before that, the Ambiyā' did not fight, but from Mūsā and onward, Allāh would punish the Non-Believers through the armies of Al-Mu'mineen – the Believers.
Lesson Two: Miracles
First Miracle: Document Being Eaten Up by Termites
Second Lesson: The miracle of the document being eaten up by termites, and this brings up again the issue of the soldiers of Allāh. Wamā Ya’lamu Junūda Rabbika Illā Hū – And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. 83 Who would imagine that termites would be a soldier for Allāh? So this is a miracle that happened at the time of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, you can add it to the many other miracles that occurred on the hands of.Muhammad Second Miracle: Strength of Rasūlullāh ﷺ Another incident that we can classify as a miracle is the wrestling of Rasūlullāh ﷺ with Rukānah. Rukānah was the strongest wrestler in Makkah, Rukānah had never ever lost a wrestling match, and he was a NonBeliever. He came to Muhammad ﷺ and he said, “Would you challenge me?” Rasūlullāh ﷺ amazingly accepted the challenge. It seems that Rukānah had done this with the most evil of intentions; he wanted to humiliate Rasūlullāh ﷺ. Being a Kāfir, he wants to get a chance to lay his hands on Muhammad ﷺ, but he did not know the surprise that was awaiting him. They started to fight, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ was able to turn Rukānah upside down and throw him on the ground. Rukānah could not believe what had happened, he stood up again and he tried to fight another time; Rasūlullāh ﷺ did it a second time. And then Rukānah tried a third time and he lost; for three times in a row. Rukānah then said, “Muhammad, no one has ever put my back on the ground before you, and no one was more hateful in my sight before this than you, but now I testify that there is no God but Allāh, and that you are the Messenger of Allāh.” By the way, the deal was that whoever wins gets a hundred sheep, so this was a bet, this was before betting was made Harām; after that betting was made Harām, but at that time it was allowed. So the agreement was that whoever wins gets a hundred sheep, so Rasūlullāh ﷺ got the hundred sheep, but then he gave
them back to Rukānah and said, “Take the sheep.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ was able to win three times against Rukānah and that shows to us the strength that Rasūlullāh ﷺ had, Rasūlullāh ﷺ had the strength of 30 men. This is a second miracle.
Third Miracle: Splitting of the Moon
Third miracle: The people of Quraish were continuously asking for a sign; show us a sign, as if Qur'ān was not sufficient, even though Qur'ān is the greatest miracle of any Nabï. They were asking for a sign so Allāh revealed to Muhammad ﷺ through Jibrīl, “If they are asking for a sign, We will split for them the moon.” The moon will be split, and the time was set. Rasūlullāh ﷺ called the Non-Believers and said, “The moon will be split.” And the Non-Believers gathered at night, and there right in front of them they saw the moon split into two halves, and then it came back together. This is a very unique miracle, and it is firmly established in Ahādīth in Bukhārī and Muslim, and in Qur'ān. Bukhārī mentions that the splitting of the moon came between the embracing of Islām of ‘Umar and after the migration to Abyssinia. And in Sahīh Al-Muslim it states that the Makkan people requested Allāh’s Apostle to show them a miracle, and so he showed them the splitting of the moon. Again in Muslim another Hadīth, this Hadīth has been transmitted on the authority of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd who said, “We were alone with Allāh’s Messenger, may peace be upon him, at Minā'. The moon was split up into two; one of its parts was behind the mountain and the other one was on this side of the mountain. Allāh’s Messenger, may peace be upon him, said to us, ‘Bear witness to this.’” Allāh says: The Hour has come near, and the moon has split in two. And if they see a miracle, they turn away and say, “Passing magic.”84 When they saw the sign of Allāh, what did they say? They said he cast magic on our eyes; they accused Muhammadof performing magic.
This was not an optical illusion; we would say that the moon actually did split up. And there are some doubts that could be brought up to attack the
claim of the Muslims that Allāh has split the moon as a miracle for Muhammad, some arguments could be presented such as if the moon was split how come no one apart from the few saw it? How come other people in other parts of the world did not see it? Well, to respond to that, number one; the world is in different time zones, so half of the world is day time, so you cross out half of the world automatically. And then within the other half, it could be very late for some people so they would not see it, or it could be that the moon is not apparent to them in their particular area because it has already set, or because of overcast weather. So that would eliminate parts of the half of the world which is night. So we have eliminated now most of the world. Now, with the part of the world that had a chance to see the moon – because when the moon was apparent in Makkah, it would have already set in other parts of the world – so with the other parts of the world that can see the moon, usually you do not find people running around at night staring at the sky, right?! And people tend to ignore what is going on above them unless they are told to look up. So the moon could have split but people did not see it, because they were not attuned to the fact that it would split. So that eliminates some other people and it would be a second response. And the third response would be that in those days documentation was weak. In many parts of the world the people were illiterate, and where people were literate, they did not document everything that would happen. So you could easily have important events of history going down the hills of history without anybody caring to write them down. So that would eliminate the possibility of some people seeing it but the news not being reported to us. Having said that, there are some scholars who say that this event was documented in India and China, and they say that there are some old writings in China that say that this particular event happened in the year when the moon split, and they use that as a reference point for them to document history. And one needs to do more research to take a look at the original documents that mention this.
So it is firmly established that this event did happen. I am mentioning this without basing a lot or counting on it until more research is done; it is mentioned by some astronomers, and again this information needs to be
verified, that there is what appears to be a long divide that goes around the moon. Satellites are sort of able to detect continental rifts, so there is such a rift that is going around the moon. If that is true, then that is a clear sign to prove the splitting of the moon. But again, that is something that needs to be verified. I have heard it from more than one source, but again, I would not count on it until it is firmly established.
Al-Khattābi, one of the classical scholars, says, “The splitting of the moon was a great sign that cannot even be compared to signs given to prior Messengers. This is because it was witnessed in the vastness of the universe and traversing beyond the laws of nature. With this, the confirmation of the Prophet’sMessage was by preponderance.” What Al-Khattābi is saying is that no miracle was greater than this, because this was a miracle that happened in Earth and in the Heavens, while every other miracle of other Prophets happened on Earth, was limited to Earth, but this was a sign that was both for the Heavens and the earth. Wallāhu A’lam.
Fourth Miracle: Āyāt Predicting Victory of the Romans
There was continuous rivalry between the Roman and the Persian Empires, they were always at each other’s necks, and these were the two superpowers of the world. Persia used to rule present day Irān, part of ‘Irāq, Afghānistan, maybe parts of Pākistān, and they went up north, so it was a huge empire. The Byzantine Empire included Turkey and parts of Eastern Europe and Azerbaijan, Armenia and those areas. So these were the two superpowers of the world at that time, and they were having constant warfare among themselves. In one critical battle, the Persians defeated the Romans. The Pagans of Makkah were very happy, and the Muslims were sad at this outcome. Why is that? The reason is because the Pagans felt more close to the Persians because the Persians were worshippers of fire, so they are Mushrikīn like them, therefore the Mushrikīn of Makkah were happy when the Pagans won, while the Muslims were on the side of the Romans because the Romans were Christian – People of the Book – who are closer
to the Muslims. So the Muslims were siding with the Romans while the Pagans of Makkah were siding with the Persians. Now the Persians won, so the Non-Believers of Makkah are going around telling the Muslims, “Just like the Persians defeated the Romans, we are going to defeat you.” Pagans are winning. Allāh ﷻ revealed the verse: Alif, Lām, Meem. The Byzantines have been defeated. In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome. Within three to nine years. To Allāh belongs the command before and after. And that day the Believers will rejoice. In the victory of Allāh. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful.86 Allāh ﷻ says that the Romans have been defeated, but they will be victorious Fī Bid‘i Sinīn; Bid‘i Sinīn means less than 10. Allāh ﷻ is here promising that the Romans will win within 10 years. Abū Bakr learned of these verses and he went to Abū Jahl and he said, “I want to bet you that the Romans will win.” Abū Jahl said, “Give me a timeframe,” he said, “Less than 10 years,” and they had a bet on one hundred camels. Abū Bakr, obviously believing in the Āyāt of Qur'ān, was willing to bet whatever number Abū Jahl would offer. And Abū Jahl was willing to enter into this bet because it seemed that the Persians are going to roll over the Romans and wipe them out. According to the news of the day, it appeared that the Persians were rolling on and nothing will stop them; they were winning and they were doing so well that it appears to the outsiders that the Romans have no hope. The Persians, they got their act together and now they are attacking and they are winning one battle after another. The first year passed, second year, third year. Now, Allāh ﷻ says in that verse: And that day the Believers will rejoice. In the victory of Allāh. The day the Romans win, the Believers will be joyful, happy, pleased, due to the victory of Allāh. What do you understand from this verse? The understanding that you get is that the Romans will win and the Muslims will be happy because Allāh gave them victory, right? What you understand from this verse is that the Romans will win and the Muslims will be happy when that happens; And that day the Believers will rejoice. Eight years passed, and the Romans won, and the news reached to the Muslims.
Now, the Muslims who were so enthusiastic in their support of the Romans and really wanted them to win, and Abū Bakr went and had a bet, a challenge with Abū Jahl, when the news of the victory of the Romans reached the Muslims, they did not really care much about it. How come? Allāh ﷻ says: And that day the Believers will rejoice. And now they received the news but the news is secondary to them. What is the reason? Subhān'Allāh, because the day they received the news was the day they won the Battle of Badr. So the Battle of Badr and the news of the Muslims winning overshadowed everything else, and that was the true rejoicement of the Believers, that was the true happiness in the decisive victory of the Muslims against the Disbelievers. Early on when the bet happened and when these verses were revealed, the Muslims were watchers, they were not the major players in history, they were following the news of what is happening in the world around them, but when the news of the Romans reached them, they were the major players then; now the Muslims were the ones who were fighting the Kuffār and they are going to win against the Kuffār, because you see, you have to remember the whole thing; in Makkah this happened because the Mushrikīn were telling the Believers that when the Persians win that is a sign that we will win against you, and Subhān'Allāh, the opposite happened, the Romans won against the Pagan worshippers of Persia, and on the same day the Muslims won against the Pagans of Makkah.
But the miracle does not end there; there is another miracle in this Āyah which falls under the category of scientific miracles of Qur'ān. The word that was used in the Āyah is Adnal Ard. The Byzantines have been defeated. In the nearest land. ‘Adnā’ has two meanings in Arabic; one is the nearest, and the other one is the lowest. Nearest – this was the meaning that was adopted by the early scholars because the nearest land to the land of the Arabs was Ash-Shām; Syria and Falastīn. So that was how they interpreted it. But now, in light of science, we have a new understanding of this verse, because it turns out that the battlefield where the battle occurred, next to the Dead Sea, is the lowest point on the face of the earth, it is over 400 feet below sea level. So that is another miracle mentioned in this Āyah.