The Later Years of Makkah
Abū Tālib Dies
A few months after the end of the embargo, about six months later, the man who has supported the Messenger of Allāh was now on his deathbed leaving this world. Abū Tālib was dying and Muhammad was on his side, and the Messenger of Allāh ﷻ told his uncle, “Yā ‘Amm – O Uncle, say Lā Ilāha Illallāh. Say that there is no God but Allāh. Give me this word so that I can witness for you on the Day of Judgement. Give me something in my hand so that I could argue on your behalf on the Day of Judgment. All what I want from you is to say Lā Ilāha Illallāh.” Sitting on the other side was who? Abū Jahl. Subhān'Allāh, it is amazing, wherever you go in Seerah you would find this man in front of you causing problems, leading in evil; wherever you go in Seerah you will have Abū Jahl standing there right in front of you. He was relentless in his efforts to fight Rasūlullāh ﷺ, he did not give up until the last moment. Abū Jahl and
‘Abdullāh Ibn Abī Umayyah were sitting on the other side. Abū Jahl interjected and said, “O Abū Tālib, are you going to die on a religion other than the religion of ‘Abdul Muttalib? Are you going to denounce the religion of your father?” Rasūlullāh ﷺ repeated again, “O my uncle, say Lā Ilāha Illallāh,” and Abū Jahl continued interrupting. And then it went on until Abū Tālib pronounced his last words, he said, “Bal ‘Alā Millat ‘Abdul Muttalib – I am dying on the religion of my father ‘Abdul Muttalib.” Those were his last words. This narration by the way that I mentioned to you is in AlBukhārī, there is another narration in Al-Muslim, but let us first finish this narration in Al-Bukhārī. So Abū Tālib passed away. The Messenger of Allāh said, “I am going to continue asking Allāh to forgive him unless I am forbidden from doing so. I am going to keep on asking Allāh to forgive my uncle.”
You know, that was a very, very difficult moment on Rasūlullāh ﷺ. Remember, Abū Tālib was the one who raised up Muhammad ﷺ, he sponsored him, he took care of him at the age of eight, so he was the one caring for him in his childhood, and then he was the one who stood beside him in his adulthood. And Abū Tālib was supporting, defending, protecting Muhammad ﷺ for over 42 years; it started at the age of eight, and it went on until Rasūlullāh ﷺ was at the age of 50. So we can say that Abū Tālib has given most of his life, spent most of his time, in defence of Muhammad ﷺ. So it was an extremely difficult time for Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, to see that his dear uncle is dying as a Disbeliever. So Muhammad ﷺ said I am going to ask Allāh to forgive him, and he asked Allāh to forgive him until Allāh revealed the verse: It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the Polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are Companions of Hellfire.87 It is not allowed for you to seek forgiveness for somebody who died on Disbelief. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ was forbidden from doing that.
In this narration by Muslim, Rasūlullāh ﷺ was telling his uncle to say Lā Ilāha Illallāh, his uncle responded by saying, “If it were not for Quraish insulting me and saying that it was only fear of death that made me say it, I would do so and please you.” Abū Tālib knew that it would please Muhammad ﷺ, he knew how much it would hurt the Messenger of Allāh to know that his uncle died as a Disbeliever. So Abū Tālib, Subhān'Allāh, he was even sympathetic to Muhammad ﷺ in this case, he said I would have said it just to please you, but I do not want the news to get out to the people of Quraish that I did it out of fear of dying. It was a matter of honour and dignity for him not to say it, and that is when Allāh ﷻ revealed the verse: Indeed, O Muhammad, you do not guide whom you like, but Allāh guides whom He wills. So guidance is not in the hand of anyone except Allāh ﷻ. Even with the Prophet of Allāh, his mission is to convey the Message and not to convert; converting the heart of a person is in the Hands of Allāh, not in the hands of people. And therefore in Islām, coercion in Faith is not allowed – Lā Ikrāha Fiddīn – There shall be no compulsion in acceptance of the Religion – because this is something beyond our ability; you cannot coerce something on a heart of a person. So it should be a matter of choice by people; they have the freedom to choose their faith, and that is how they would be held accountable in front of Allāh ﷻ, it is because of that freedom that they have.
Khadījah Passes Away
So now Rasūlullāh ﷺ is dealing with this tragic event that happened to him. Two months later, Khadījah died. Rasūlullāh ﷺ is still dealing with the death of his uncle and here his dear wife, the most beloved person to him, passes away. This year was called ‘Āmil Huzn – The Year of Sorrow, and this was the tenth year after Rasūlullāh ﷺ received Revelation. It was the most tragic time on Muhammad ﷺ because he lost two of the most influential persons in supporting his Message; Khadījah who offered Rasūlullāh ﷺ with psychological support in addition to financial support
due to her business, and Abū Tālib who offered Muhammad ﷺ with physical support. So suddenly these two pillars which he was standing on collapsed. So this year is not called the Year of Tragedy or the Year of Sorrow just because Rasūlullāh ﷺ lost two dear people, but also because it was such a setback to the preaching of the Message. Rasūlullāh ﷺ, who had freedom in going around preaching the Message, was now being blocked because his uncle passed away, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ, who would go home to find comfort with his wife Khadījah, would now go home and find no one; Rasūlullāh ﷺ remained for about two or three years unmarried. So it was a very difficult time for Muhammad ﷺ.
Some scholars would say that there was wisdom in this happening at the same time, and that was to increase the dependence of Muslims on Allāh. So rather than the Message being protected by Abū Tālib and supported by Khadījah, now there would be more reliance on Allāh ﷻ because there was no one else; no one around Rasūlullāh ﷺ to give him that same support. So this would increase the Tawwakul – the trust, the Muslims have in Allāh;this is a comment that was given by some of the scholars. Allāh revealed a Sūrah called Al-Inshirāh, and in that Sūrah it says: Inna Ma‘al ‘Usri Yusrā – For indeed, with hardship will be ease.
Rasūlullāh ﷺ went through his most tragic time in his life, so it was followed with one of the best blessings given to him by Allāh. Because of the size of the calamity, the bounty that followed it was great.
Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj
Rasūlullāh ﷺ Flies on Al-Burāq
Rasūlullāh ﷺ narrates – and this Hadīth is in Bukhārī; similar narrations are in Muslim and Musnad Al-Imām Ahmad, in most of the books of Hadīth these narrations exist – Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, “While I was in Al-Hatīm or Al-Hijr,” and this is the semi-circle area close to Al-Ka’bah which is part of the original building of Al-Ka’bah, Rasūlullāh ﷺ says he was there at
night, the Messenger of Allāh said, “I received a visitor, an angel, who came and opened my abdomen and pulled out my heart. And then my heart was placed in a golden basin filled with Faith – Īmān. And my heart was placed in it and washed, and then stuffed and replaced. And then I was presented an animal smaller than a horse, larger than a donkey.” Anas Ibn Mālik was narrating this Hadīth and his student, one of At-Tābi‘īn, Al-Jārūth, asked Anas Ibn Mālik, “Is this animal Al-Burāq?” Anas Ibn Mālik said, “Yes.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “This animal would take a stride as far as it can see.” So the Messenger of Allāh ﷻ is trying to describe to us the speed of this animal, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ described it as such that this animal would place its hoofs at the extent of its side, it would take a stride as far as it can see. With one leap, it would wrap the distance equivalent to the distance it could see or look forward. So it was an extremely fast beast, very fast, swift; you just see the earth wrapping in front of you. Rasūlullāh ﷺ continues, “Jibrīl told me to mount this animal and then he would guide me.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ says in another Hadīth, and this Hadīth is in Al-Muslim, this portion was not mentioned in the Hadīth of Al-Bukhārī; you have bits and pieces of Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj mentioned in different Ahādīth, in Muslim Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, “Jibrīl took me to Jerusalem and I tied my mount at the gates of the masjid, and then I entered and prayed two Rak‘ah.” And it states that Rasūlullāh ﷺ was an Imām and the people who were following him were the Prophets.
Rasūlullāh ﷺ Visits Seven Heavens
Rasūlullāh ﷺ Meets Ādam
And then Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “I was led by Jibrīl up in the heavens. We made it all the way to the gates of the nearest heaven. Jibrīl knocked on the gates, so the gatekeepers asked, ‘Who is it?’ Jibrīl said, ‘It is Jibrīl.’ ‘And who is with you?’ ‘Muhammad.’ ‘Was he given his mission?’ Jibrīl said, ‘Yes.’ They responded by saying, ‘He is welcome, and his arrival is a pleasure!’ And they opened the gates.” So you can see that no one can make it through unless they have permission, they have clearance. Jibrīl, being the Angel of Allāh who is going up and down the heavens with Al-Wahī, told
them I am Jibrīl; so you can go through. Who is with you? Muhammad ﷺ. Was he already given the mission? So they did not know yet that Muhammad ﷺ was already a Prophet; when they were informed, immediately they opened the gates and said, ‘He is welcome, and his arrival is a pleasure!’ We are happy that he is here. They opened the gates and Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “I went in, and I found therein my father Ādam.” The Messenger of Allāh said, “Jibrīl introduced me to Ādam and said, ‘This is your father Ādam, greet him.’ So I said, ‘Assalāmu ‘Alaikum’. Ādam saluted me in return and said, ‘Wa ‘Alaikumus-Salām.’ And then Ādam said, ‘Welcome to my pure son, welcome to the pure Prophet.’”
When I think of this meeting, I try to imagine the pleasure and happiness that both the Prophets had. You know, imagine Ādam is meeting the brightest and greatest of his children, Muhammad ﷺ, he is meeting him for the first time. After thousands of years, now Ādam has a chance to meet his greatest son. And imagine the surprise of Muhammad ﷺ to meet his father Ādam, imagine you have Ādam in front of you and you are greeting him; it must have been such a pleasurable moment, and they might have wished to sit down together and have a conversation, but remember that Muhammad ﷺ in this journey is on a tight schedule, he has a lot waiting ahead of him.
Rasūlullāh ﷺ Meets ‘Īsā, Yahyā, Yūsuf, Idrīs, Hārūn and Mūsā
So Jibrīl carried Muhammad ﷺ and they went up to the gates of the second heaven. They knocked on the gates and same thing, they were asked who it was. He said, “Jibrīl,” “Who is with you?” “Muhammad ﷺ,” “Is he a Nabï? Has he been given Ar-Risālah?” They opened the gates and Muhammad ﷺ says, “I went in and I met Jesus and John,” the two cousins, ‘Īsā and Yahyā. Yahyā is referred to in the Christian literature as John the Baptist. Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “And I exchanged greetings with them.” And what are the greetings of Islām and the Ambiyā'? Assalāmu ‘Alaikum – Peace be upon you; that is the greeting. “And then we moved ahead to the third heaven, knocked on the gates, went through, and I met with Joseph, Yūsuf.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “Wa Idhā Bihī Ūtiya Shatral
Husn – He has been given half of beauty.” So if you had a big block of beauty, half of it was with Yūsuf. “We made it to the fourth heaven, went through, and I met with Idrīs.” And Allāh ﷻ says about him: Wa Rafa’nāhu Makānan ‘Aliyyā – And We raised him to a high station. He was in the fourth heaven.
Rasūlullāh ﷺ continues, “We went to the fifth heaven, and therein I met with Hārūn – Aaron, peace be upon him. And then I went to the sixth heaven, and I met Mūsā.” And his meeting with Mūsā was an eventful meeting. Subhān'Allāh, always Mūsā is surrounded with important events. One of the scholars said, “Qur'ān was almost going to be the story of Mūsā.” He is mentioned so frequently therein, and his personality is so outstanding. Whenever the name of Mūsā is mentioned, there is something important that is going to happen. After they greeted each other and Mūsā welcomed Muhammad ﷺ, Mūsā started to weep. When he was asked, “How come you are weeping?” He said, “A young man was given Prophethood after me and he will have more of his followers entering Paradise than mine.” Up until that moment, Mūsā had the largest following of any Prophet; the Children of Israel were the largest Believing nation up until that point, but now there was a new world record by the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. So Mūsā wept, he cried. And you can see that there is competition between the Prophets, peace be upon them all, but you will notice that it is not a competition of jealousy and envy, it is a compassionate competition, and you will see that in the upcoming conversation between Muhammad and Mūsā.
Ibrāhīm and Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “And I moved up to the seventh heaven and I went in and I met my father Ibrāhīm and I exchanged Salām with him. And then I was presented with Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr.” And in one narration it states that Ibrāhīm actually had his back kneeling towards Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr. What is Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr? Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr has been mentioned in Qur'ān: By the mount. And by a Book inscribed. In parchment spread open. And
by the frequented House. Allāh ﷻ is making an oath in the Established House – Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr. Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr to the creation of the heavens is equivalent to Al-Ka’bah to us. Just as we make Tawāf around AlKa’bah, and it is the first House on Earth established for the worship of Allāh, the same thing is to be said about Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr. So you as Muslims will visit Al-Ka’bah; angels will visit Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr. Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, “Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr is visited by 70,000 angels every day and they never come back to it again.” Do you understand the implications of that? When Rasūlullāh ﷺ says that every day a new group of 70,000 angels would visit the Established House, how many angels are there? If on a daily basis you have 70,000 angels visiting it, and they never come back again, how many angels are there? And for how long has this been going on? For how many thousands or millions or billions of years? So you multiply all of those days by 70,000; how many angels are there? It puts us human beings to shame. We are saying that we have overpopulation on the earth with six billion of us; who are we compared to the world of the angels, this massive creation? Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, “The heavens above you are moaning, and they are justified to moan, because on every space equivalent to the size of four fingers, there is an angel bowing down in Rukū’ or prostrating in Sujūd, worshipping Allāh ﷻ. “All over the heavens above us, every position, every area or volume equivalent to the size of four fingers, is occupied by an angel worshipping Allāh, so this is a vast, huge creation that makes us, the world of the human being, seem insignificant. And by the way, in the narration that states that Ibrāhīm was kneeling towards Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr, it is symbolic to have Ibrāhīm in that position after he passed away, sitting next to Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr, because he was the one who built Al-Ka’bah on Earth. So when Allāh took his soul away, Allāh ﷻ had him rest next to Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr, the House of the Angels.
Sidrat Al-Muntahā
And then Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “I saw Sidrat Al-Muntahā, I travelled further
and I reached Sidrat Al-Muntahā.” Sidrat Al-Muntahā is a lote tree, it is a tree, but it is Al-Muntahā. Al-Muntahā is the end, so it is the end of the heavens. Beyond that, you get into the world of the Afterlife; you have Paradise, you have the Throne of Allāh, you have Al-Kursī, so Sidrat AlMuntahā is the end of this universe created by Allāh ﷻ. You have seven heavens, one over the other, and then after that you have Sidrat Al-Muntahā, and then you get beyond that into a different world. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ reached to that Sidrah, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ saw four rivers emanating from it, and he asked Jibrīl, “What are these rivers?” So he was told, “Two of them are apparent and two of them are hidden. The apparent ones are the Nile and Euphrates, and the hidden ones are the two rivers of Paradise.” What it means by the Nile and the Euphrates is that because these rivers are so blessed in this world, there is an equivalent of them up there, and that tree is so close to Paradise that you have two rivers of Paradise passing from under it. So again, you have the seven heavens one over another, and then after that you have Al-Bait Al-Ma’mūr which is in the seventh heaven, and then after that you have Sidrat Al-Muntahā, and then beyond that you get into the world of Paradise and the Throne of Allāh ﷻ.
Now, in terms of size, the lowest heaven which we are in, compared to the heaven above it, is like a ring in a desert, and the second compared to the third is like a ring in a desert, and the third to the fourth is like a ring in a desert, and on and on it goes until we get to the sixth which compared to the seventh is like a ring in a desert, and then the seventh heaven compared to the Kursī of Allāh, is like a ring in a desert. Now, this lowest heaven that we are living in, in terms of size, we do not even know how vast it is. All of the known universe today is within the lowest heaven, because Allāh says: Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars.93 So all of the stars are located within the lowest heaven, and we have not even been able to reach to the end of the creation of the stars; every now and then we are discovering new galaxies and new clusters and new stars. So it is a vast creation, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ had a chance to go through
all of it on that amazing journey.
Allāh ﷻ Prescribes Prayers on Muhammad
After Rasūlullāh ﷺ passed the Sidrat Al-Muntahā, this tree, he went further up and he made it all the way until he met with Allāh ﷻ, and that was the culmination of this trip; he reaches to the heights and he speaks to Allāh ﷻ, directly. Allāh ﷻ prescribed Muhammad ﷺ 50 daily Prayers.
Rasūlullāh ﷺ said “I descended, and on my way back I passed by Moses, Mūsā, who asked me, ‘What did Allāh tell you?’” He said, “Allāh has prescribed 50 daily Prayers on my nation.” Mūsā said, “Your people will not be able to handle that. I have tested people before you and I have experienced the Children of Israel for a very long time, go back to your Lord and tell Him to reduce it.” Tell Him to relieve you. Muhammad followed this senior advice and he went back to Allāh ﷻ and told Him, “Relieve me of some of the Prayers.” Allāh ﷻ reduced them by 10.
Muhammad ﷺ went down. Mūsā asked, “What happened?” Rasūlullāh ﷺ told him. He said, “Go back. Ask Allāh to give you a further reduction.” He went back again; 10 were reduced. He came down, Mūsā asked, “What happened?” He said, “Allāh reduced it to 30.” He said, “Go back again.” Muhammad ﷺ goes back another time; they were reduced from 30 to 20. Mūsā tells him, “Go back again.” They were reduced from 20 to 10; Mūsā told Muhammad ﷺ,” Go back another time.”
Muhammad goes back; it was reduced to five. He goes down, reports it to Mūsā, Mūsā says, “O Muhammad, I have experience with people, I have dealt with the children of Israel, your nation will not be able to handle it. Go back and tell Allāh to reduce them further.” Muhammad ﷺ said “I am so ashamed to go back to Allāh and ask Him for a further reduction, I cannot.”
So you can see the difference between the personality of Muhammad and Mūsā. Mūsā would not have minded arguing with Allāh further, Mūsā was the one who asked Allāh ﷻ,” I want to see you.” Allāh ﷻ had already given Mūsā the favour of speaking to Him, but Mūsā wanted more, “Allāh, I want to see you.” And then obviously we know what happened; he
collapsed. Mūsā is the one who punched the Angel of Death and knocked his eye out. So Mūsā was a very strong man and that was his personality, and Subhān'Allāh, the Ambiyā' of Allāh are all the same in their Da’wah but their personalities are different. So Muhammad did not go back, and he heard a voice saying, “This is the prescription on you; five daily prayers, but you will receive the reward of 50.”
Rasūlullāh ﷺ Tells the People of Quraish of his Journey
Rasūlullāh ﷺ made it back to Dunyā on the same night. Rasūlullāh ﷺ went to Umm Ayman and he told her about what happened, he said “I have been to Jerusalem and back in this night.” She said, “O Messenger of Allāh, do not tell anyone about that.” Nobody will believe it, it is impossible. Now, Umm Ayman believed it, but she said that people will not, the Kuffār of Quraish will not. The journey towards Jerusalem used to take one month; Rasūlullāh ﷺ made it within one night, not only to Jerusalem but to Jerusalem and back, and he also went all the way to meet with Allāh ﷻ. Umm Ayman told him, “Do not tell your people about it.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ said “I will. I will convey the Message regardless of what the people will say; it is part of my mission. I will tell them what happened.” Allāh says: "Fa-In Tawallaw Fa-Innamā ‘Alaikal Balāghul Mubīn – But if they turn away, O Muhammad - then only upon you is responsibility for clear notification." Your responsibility is to convey. Rasūlullāh ﷺ obviously realised the weight of this news and how difficult it will be, so he went out and was quiet and sombre.
He started to speak to some people, and the news reached to Abū Jahl. Now, Rasūlullāh ﷺ was sitting in the Masjid, quiet and worried about the consequences of this news. So Abū Jahl heard about it, he came to Muhammad ﷺ and said, “O Muhammad, anything new?” Muhammad said, “Yes.” Abū Jahl said, “What?” Muhammad ﷺ said “This night, I visited Jerusalem and came back.” Abū Jahl said, “Jerusalem?”
94 An-Nahl: 82 | Sheikh mistakenly says “Wa-Mā ‘Alaika Illal Balāghul Mubīn” but I think he meant the following Āyah: “Fa-In Tawallaw Fa-Innamā ‘Alaikal Balāghul Mubīn”. An-Nahl: 82.
Muhammad said, “Yes.” Abū Jahl said, “O Muhammad, if I would call your people right now and bring them here, would you tell them the same thing you just told me now?” Muhammad ﷺ said “Yes, I would.” Abū Jahl, happy and pleased, went running calling the people of Quraish, “O people of Quraish! Come forward!” And he gathered them and he brought them forth, and when they were all present, he told Muhammad ﷺ,” O Muhammad, can you please tell your people what you just told me a moment ago?” Muhammad ﷺ, without any hesitation said, “I have been to Jerusalem and back the previous night.” The narrator of the Hadīth says people started clapping, whistling, laughing; they made a big joke out of it. Imagine the crowds clapping, whistling, laughing, and they were falling on each other. So some of the seasoned travellers among them who knew Jerusalem and had been there asked Muhammad ﷺ to describe the Mosque, “Describe Jerusalem to us.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “I started describing, but then I became vexed.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ did not spend a long time there to remember every single detail of the place, but then Muhammad said, “Allāh showed me the Mosque of Jerusalem right in front of my eyes and I described it stone by stone, brick by brick.” And they said that he has given an accurate, excellent description. But then there was something else that was mentioned in another narration by Ibn Is'hāq. When Muhammad was on his way back from Jerusalem to Makkah, he passed by a caravan belonging to the people of Quraish at night, and they had lost a camel of theirs, and because Rasūlullāh ﷺ was up in the air, he was able to see it. So he called them and said, “Your camel is in this place.” Now, they did not know where the voice was coming from. And then he drank some of their water and he also remembered the description of this caravan. He went back to Quraish and he told the people, “And other signs are that this caravan belonging to you, they lost a camel and I gave them directions to it, and you can ask them about it. And also, I drank some of their water in such and such container, and the caravan is headed by a camel…” and he described the camel and described the load on the camel. So they immediately sent out somebody to go and meet the caravan before it comes into Makkah; it was still some distance away, and the person found the description to be accurate, and that they did lose a camel and they found it
because they a heard a voice coming from the sky, and also that they missed some of their water. And these were all signs that were given to them, but that was not sufficient for them to believe. Now, the story of Al-Isrā' WalMi’rāj was so difficult for some to handle, it caused some of the weak Muslims to apostatise, it was such a difficult thing for them to grasp. But that is the case with these amazing miracles that Allāh ﷻ would show his Ambiyā'.
Lessons from Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj
Opening of the Chest of Muhammad
Number One: The event of opening the chest of Muhammad ﷺ has occurred more than once; it occurred once when he was with Halīmah Sa’diyah when he was a child, and it occurred another time in the journey of Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj. By the way, the meaning of Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj; Isrā' means travelling at night, the meaning of Mi’rāj is ascending. Isrā' is the journey of Rasūlullāh ﷺ from Makkah to Jerusalem, Al-Mi’rāj is the journey from Jerusalem to the heavens. So the event of opening of the chest of Rasūlullāh ﷺ happened more than once, and these are two incidences when it happened, and it could have happened again in addition to these two occurences.
Conversation of Rasūlullāh ﷺ with Mūsā
Number Two: The conversation of Rasūlullāh ﷺ with Mūsā. When Allāh prescribed 50 daily Prayers on Muhammad ﷺ, Muhammad accepted it, but when he went down and met Mūsā, Mūsā told him, “Your nation will not be able to handle it.” So Mūsā is speaking out of experience, and that is the value of experience. Sometimes knowledge does not suffice; you have to have in addition to knowledge experience. Mūsā told Muhammad ﷺ,’ I have more experience than you in dealing with the people; you are new in this, I have spent my whole life dealing with the
most difficult people, Banī Isrā'īl. Believe me, they will not be able to handle it, go back and ask for a reduction.’ Mūsā himself learned this; he learned that experience is different than knowledge.
When Mūsā went to meet with Allāh ﷻ in the journey of the 40 Days, Allāh told Mūsā that in your absence your people have worshipped the calf: "And what made you hasten from your people, O Moses?" He said, "They are close upon my tracks, and I hastened to You, my Lord, that You be pleased." Allāh said, "But indeed, We have tried your people after you departed, and the Sāmirï has led them astray."95 Allāh said that your people have gone astray and they deviated due to the Sāmirï, and he made for them a calf out of gold, so Allāh told Mūsā everything that happened. Mūsā just received from Allāh the 10 Tablets, right? 10 Tablets – Al-Alwāh, so Mūsā had the Tablets in his hands, and he was told by Allāh that your people have deviated, so Mūsā already knew. When Mūsā went back and he saw his people worshipping the Calf, what did Mūsā do? He threw the Tablets from his hand. Mūsā already knew that; how come his response was different when he saw it compared to when he heard it? Because seeing something is not like hearing it. When Allāh told him that your people have deviated, Mūsā had the Tablets in his hand and nothing happened, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he threw the Tablets, it was a surprise for him. Laysal Khabaru Kal Mu‘āyanah – when you see something it is different than hearing it. Mūsā is telling Muhammad that I have dealt with the people, I have had first-hand knowledge; your people cannot handle this, it is too much. And he kept on asking for reduction, and when it was reduced to five, Mūsā told Muhammad that even five is too much for them, and Subhān'Allāh Mūsā was right, Mūsā was right. How many Muslims there are who do not even pray the five daily Prayers? How many of them lapse and would pray some and miss others? But may Allāh reward Mūsā for making it easy on us, at least it was reduced to five, if it would have been 50 imagine how difficult it would have been. We are barely doing the five, what would be the situation if we had to do 50? So we owe it to Mūsā and we need to thank him immensely for
that.
When I said that the competition between the Ambiyā' is a compassionate competition; Mūsā, even though he wept when he knew that Muhammad has a larger following than his, that did not hold him back from giving his advice, his valuable advice. So you can see how eager Mūsā was to help us, and how eager Mūsā was to give his advice to Muhammad ﷺ, so they loved each other, the Ambiyā' loved each other, so their competition was a competition of love of each other. Mūsā kept on insisting and telling Muhammad ﷺ,” Go back and ask for reduction.” And when Mūsā said that he Muahmmad has more people entering Jannah compared to me, I think we have already touched upon the visions that Rasūlullāh ﷺ had of the Day of Judgement, seeing the different nations of the Prophets. Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “Some Prophets have 10 followers, some have five followers, I have seen a Prophet with two followers, I have seen a Prophet with one follower, and I have seen Prophets with no followers at all.” Imagine a Prophet coming on the Day of Judgement alone, they spent their whole life in Da’wah; no one responded, nobody. And then when he saw a huge nation he thought it was his followers, but then it turned out to be the followers of Mūsā, so that is the greatest Ummah after the Ummah of. Muhammad Importance of Salāh The Third Lesson: The Importance of Salāh. There is no command – none whatsoever – that was prescribed on us in the heavens, except Salāh. Every other ‘Ibādah, every other ritual that we have, was prescribed on Earth; Jibrīl would reveal to Muhammad ﷺ the Revelation on Earth, with the exception of Salāh, it was reserved to be given to Muhammad ﷺ in this special one to one meeting between Allāh and Muhammad ﷺ. Salāh is so important that Allāh ﷻ prescribed it in a direct conversation between Him and His Messenger Muhammad without anyone in between, everything else was a Revelation through Jibrīl with the exception of Salāh. That is to show you how important Salāh is, not only to Muhammad ﷺ, but even when Allāh prescribed Salāh on the people of Banī Isrā'īl, Allāh
prescribed Salāh on Mūsā in the direct conversation that happened between Allāh and Mūsā in At-Tūr. In the Āyāt in Sūrah Tā-Hā, Allāh says: Indeed, I am Allāh. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish Prayer for My remembrance.96 And that was the moment in which Mūsā became a Prophet, so he was given the command of Prayer immediately when he became a Prophet. He was told first Lā Ilāha Illallāh, and then second, to pray, and that was when Mūsā was at the age of 40 and he received Revelation from Allāh, when Allāh spoke to him directly. So that is the value of Salāh. Salāh is the ‘Ibādah in which Rasūlullāh ﷺ said that if the Muslim does not do it they have left Islām; Bainal ‘Abd Wal Kufri Wash-Shirk Tarkus-Salāh – Rasūlullāh ﷺ said between a person and becoming a Disbeliever is discontinuing Prayers,”97 meaning not praying. So that is how important Salāh is. Not only is praying important but even playing around with the time and not praying within the interval of time is a major sin. There is the Āyah that says: But there came after them successors who neglected Prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil.98 Allāh ﷻ promised Hellfire to who? To the ones who have lost their Prayers. Ibn Mas‘ūd gives an interpretation to this Āyah, he says losing their Prayers does not mean they do not pray, but it means they prayed passed time. It is the opinion of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb that if a person misses one Prayer intentionally without an excuse, they have left the fold of Islām. Obviously the scholars have two opinions in regard to the Ahādīth that state the Disbelief of the one who does not pray, but the end result is that Prayer is the most important ritual in Islām, it is the one thing no one is excused from. If you do not have enough money, if you do not have the ability to make Hajj, you are excused, if you are unable to fast because of old age or illness, you are excused, if you do not have wealth, you do not have to pay Zakāh, but there is no situation where a person is excused from Prayer. If you cannot pray standing up, pray sitting down. If you cannot pray sitting down then you pray laying down. If you cannot pray
laying down because you may be paralysed or something, then with your finger. If you cannot do it with your finger then with your eyes. But there is no situation where a person is excused from praying. Even when the battle is going on, Salāh still has to be done, as it is mentioned in the Āyāt of Salātul Khawf. So Salāh is the only ‘Ibādah in Islām where there is no excuse of not doing it; there is no relief of it, it has to be done. The scholars have said that the Muslim who is spying on the enemy and cannot pray – this is our classical scholars – they said such a person can pray with their finger, but they have to pray, Salāh needs to be done.
Importance of the Holy Land – Jerusalem and its Surroundings
Number Four: This Journey reveals to us the importance of the Holy Land – Jerusalem and its surroundings. Allāh ﷻ says in Sūrah Al-Isrā': Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haram – in Makkah – to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsā, – the furthest mosque in Jerusalem – whose surroundings We have blessed, – Allāh ﷻ says that that is a blessed land – to show him of Our signs. – Allāh has shown Muhammad many signs on this journey – Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
Jerusalem was promised to the Believers; Ibrāhīm was given that promise that your descendants, the Believers among them, will be the guardians of Jerusalem, the Holy Land, and that was the promise that was fulfilled through the Prophets of the Children of Israel; Allāh ﷻ also promised Jerusalem to Mūsā. Now, even though Mūsā, Moses, did not see the result of that promise in his lifetime, but it occurred in the lifetime of his successor, Yūsha’ Bin Nūn, the Prophet Joshua. And the Children of Israel remained in that land as long as they were the bearers of truth, and when they deviated from the true Message of Allāh and they fought the Prophets and they attempted to Kill Jesus and they killed other Prophets, Allāh stripped away the land from them and gave it to the other branch, the descendants of Ismā‘īl; Allāh ﷻ gave that to Muhammad ﷺ and his Ummah because now they are the ones who are carrying the torch of truth.
So that land is promised to the Believers, and since now the torch is being carried by the Seal of Prophets, Muhammad ﷺ, even though Muhammad will not open Jerusalem in his lifetime, but he must visit it, he must go and receive the keys. And the symbolism in this journey of Rasūlullāh ﷺ going to the Masjid and leading the Ambiyā' in Prayer is to show that now Muhammad ﷺ is the inheritor of the Message of the Prophets, and he is the leader of the sons of Ādam, and the land that was under the custodianship of the Prophets of Banī Isrā'īl is now transferred to the followers of Muhammad ﷺ. And just as Mūsā did not see it in his lifetime but it happened in the lifetime of his successor Joshua, Muhammad did not see it in his lifetime and it happened in the time of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb, the man regarding whom Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “If there was a Prophet after me, it would be ‘Umar.” So that was a blessing which Allāh reserved for ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb. And Subhān'Allāh, look at the divine destiny; when the Muslims reached to the gates of Jerusalem, even though the religious and political leadership of Jerusalem could not fight the Muslims and they had to give it up, they said, “We will surrender, but we cannot surrender to anyone but the Khalīfah of the Muslims; he must come here and take the keys with his own hands.” And Subhān'Allāh, that brought out ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb to travel all the way from Madīnah to Jerusalem because he is the one who will receive the keys of Jerusalem, and he went all the way there and he was the one who was given the keys to the Holy City. So now the Muslims are the ones who have the promise of Allāh, the promise of the Holy Land – Bait Al-Maqdis.
With Difficulty Comes Ease
Number Five: – Which we mentioned, Inna Ma‘al ‘Usri Yusrā – With Difficulty Comes Ease 100 Rasūlullāh ﷺ went through some very difficult moments in the tenth year of his Revelation, so Allāh ﷻ gave him this blessing, the journey of Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj. And Subhān'Allāh, this was such a treat for Muhammad ﷺ;there is no tourist journey with so many attractions as this journey of Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj, and to have Jibrīl as
your guide to take you through, and to meet with the Ambiyā' of Allāh, and to go in this journey to the real Wonderland, from one place to another, and then you enter into Paradise, Jannah. Rasūlullāh ﷺ, in that journey, he entered into Jannah, and he saw the river of Al-Kauthar which was given to him; Jibrīl told Muhammad ﷺ,” This is your river, Al-Kauthar.” So it was such a bounty that Allāh ﷻ has given to Muhammad ﷺ, and that would bring us back to what we mentioned earlier that you never know what Allāh ﷻ is hiding for you. We mentioned that when Hajar was running between As-Safā Wal-Marwā, she did not know – she was crying at the time – she did not know that this would be followed by the greatest nation, the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. So when you are going through difficulties in this world, you do not know what Allāh is reserving for you. When Allāh ﷻ says: With difficulty comes ease, believe in that promise. With every difficulty you go through, Allāh ﷻ is reserving for you something; whether you get it in this world or the Afterlife, you are going to get it. So the Muslim should never give up, should never feel despair.
The Position of Abū Bakr
The Sixth Lesson: The Position of Abū Bakr. How did Abū Bakr receive the news of Al-Isrā' Wal-Mi’rāj? When the people of Quraish were joking around, laughing, clapping, whistling, Abū Bakr was not present and he was coming into Makkah, and someone went and told him, “Do you know what happened? Muhammad claims that he went to Jerusalem and he made it back.” Now, what do you think the response of Abū Bakr was? Well, he did believe, but what did he say? That is an important thing to add. Abū Bakr said, “If he said it, then it is the truth.” Abū Bakr did not just accept the information that was given to him, he said, “If he said it, then it is the truth.” There are two things to learn; from the first segment, ‘If he said it’, and that is the science of verifying Hadīth. When our scholars study the lives of the narrators of the Hadīth, they want to discern whether Muhammad ﷺ said it or not; we are not just going to accept anything that is said by anyone out there, we want to make sure that Muhammad did say it, and that is what makes a difference between us and the People of the Book. The People of the Book have accepted pretty much everything that came down to them,
even if it was separated from the original source by a few centuries, so it is a blind faith, it is following Zann – Conjecture. But with the Muslims, no, they had this science of verification where they studied the lives of thousands and thousands of men and women, to look at their profile, whether these are truthful people or not, whether we can accept what they convey or not. So when people go back to Islāmic sources, they can feel at ease knowing that they are dealing with material that has been verified. “In Kāna Qālahā Faqad Sadaqa – If he said it, then it is the truth.” So that is the science of verifying Hadīth. The second part of the statement is; ‘Then it is the truth.’ And this is the characteristic of Abū Bakr As-Siddīq and that is why he was called As-Siddīq – The Believer. Whatever Rasūlullāh ﷺ says, I will believe him. I have faith in him. I have faith in everything that he says.
Terminology Issue – Heaven and Paradise
Finally, there is a terminology issue. When we use the word ‘heavens’ or ‘heaven’, it confuses some to think that we are referring to Paradise. Now, that is a problem with the English language that these are synonymous – heaven and Paradise – but in Islāmic terminology they are not. Heaven is talking about the sky above us that is part of the temporary world that will be destroyed on the Day of Judgment. Paradise is referring to Jannah. Jannah is the permanent place of abode for the Believers. So whenever I am using the word heaven I am not referring to Paradise, I am referring to the sky above us. I will use, as a translation of Jannah, Paradise. So I hope this confusion is not in the mind of any one of you because I mentioned that the Ambiyā' are in the different heavens, this is not talking about Paradise, it is talking about meetings that occurred with the Ambiyā' in the heavens above us that are lower than Paradise.
Now that Rasūlullāh ﷺ has lost the protection of his uncle Abū Tālib, and his efforts of Da’wah in Makkah were being blocked, he tried to search for other alternatives. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ made a journey to At-Tā'if, and he accompanied with him Zayd Bin Hārithah. They went to At-Tā'if, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ went to the leaders of At-Tā'if. Rasūlullāh ﷺ, that was his method; he would go to the leaders of a community, who enter the house from the gate. He went to meet the leaders of At-Tā'if, the tribe of Thaqīf, and these were three brothers. He presented the Message to them and asked them for support and help. Now, these three men responded in a miserable way. The first one of them said, “I am going to tear apart the clothing of AlKa’bah if Allāh has sent you as a Prophet.” The clothing of Al-Ka’bah was sacred to them, so he is saying that I am going to tear it apart if Allāh has sent you as a Prophet. The second among them said, “Did not God find anyone better than you to send?” Is there not anyone out there better than you?! And the third one said, “I cannot speak to you, I just cannot speak to you, because if you are a Messenger from Allāh as you claim, then you are such an important person and I do not think that I am qualified to speak to you, and if Allāh has not sent you as a Messenger and you are lying, then it is not appropriate for me to speak to a liar.” When Rasūlullāh ﷺ heard their response, he said, “Well, if you do not want to accept my Message, at least keep this conversation that we had secret, keep it private.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ did not want the news to reach to Makkah that he has been turned down by the people of Thaqīf, because it will only add to the persecution of the people of Quraish towards the Muslims, so he said, “Keep it private.” But they were such evil men and rude, what they did was they went to the fools among them and their slaves and servants and they asked them to go and revile Muhammad ﷺ and scream at him. Imagine these crowds surrounding Muhammad ﷺ, pelting Muhammad ﷺ and Zayd Bin Hārithah with rocks, screaming at them, yelling, chasing them away; Rasūlullāh ﷺ and Zayd Bin Hārithah had to run out of At-Tā'if. And Zayd Ibn Hārithah was protecting the body of Muhammad ﷺ, shielding him from the rocks that the people of Thaqīf were throwing. And they took
refuge, they took shelter, in a farm that belonged to two men from Quraish, Ibnā Rabī‘ah.
So they went into this farm and they finally got away from the fools of Thaqīf, and Rasūlullāh ﷺ was exhausted, his feet were bleeding, and he was hurt because of the way he was treated by the people of Thaqīf. Subhān'Allāh, Allāh ﷻ sent down help on Muhammad ﷺ. He was very hungry at the time; the two owners of the farm who belonged to Makkah told their servant ‘Addās, who was a Christian, “Go and take some grapes to give it to Muhammad ﷺ. “They felt sympathy for Muhammad ﷺ even though they were two of his staunchest enemies, but now when they are in a foreign land in different territory, they felt sympathy towards Muhammad and decided that we should stand up for our tribesman, we should stand up for Muhammad ﷺ, so at least let us give him these grapes. So they sent ‘Addās and they told him, “Take this plate of grapes and give it to Muhammad ﷺ.’ “Addās carried the grapes and he went to Muhammad and he presented it to him, Muhammad ﷺ said, “Bismillāh – In the name of Allāh,” and he said it loudly. ‘Addās was surprised and he asked Muhammad ﷺ, he said, “These words are not said by people in this land.” Arabs, people in this area, do not speak these words. The Messenger of Allāh, from these words of ‘Addās, was able to imply that he is a foreigner and he might be following a different religion, so he asked ‘Addās, “Where are you from and what is your religion?” And Rasūlullāh ﷺ used to ask any people he would meet where are you from. So he asked ‘Addās, “Where are you from and what is your religion?” ‘Addās responded by saying, “I am a Christian man from Nīnawah.” Nineveh in ‘Irāq. Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “So you are from the village of the pious man Yūnus Ibn Mattā – Jonah, son of Amittai,” a Prophet of Allāh. ‘Addās said, “And how do you know about Jonah, son of Amittai?” Muhammad ﷺ said, “He is my brother; he was a Prophet and I am a Prophet.” When ‘Addās heard that, he immediately bent down and started kissing the feet of Rasūlullāh ﷺ and then he kissed his hands and head. Now, the two owners of the farm from Quraish, when they saw that, they looked at each other and said, “Look, he has already corrupted our slave.” Muhammad ﷺ would do Da’wah wherever he was, and these
two men who felt sympathy towards Muhammad ﷺ are now regretting it; we sent in our slave to take some fruits to him and he has corrupted our slave. When ‘Addās came back they told him, “What is wrong with you?! How come you were kissing his feet, hands and head?” He said, “On all of Earth, there is no man finer than him. He told me something that no one other than a Prophet can know.” They told him, “Do not let this man make you leave your religion, because your religion is better than his.” Now, what do the two sons of Rabī‘ah know about Christianity? But it is the Kufr that is in their hearts that would make them say whatever it was that would deceive the people.
Lessons from the Journey of Rasūlullāh ﷺ to At-Tā'if
Doing our Part to Protect Rasūlullāh ﷺ
First Lesson: Zayd Ibn Hārithah was the one protecting Rasūlullāh ﷺ from the rocks that were being thrown at Muhammad ﷺ, so Zayd Ibn Hārithah was protecting Rasūlullāh ﷺ, shielding him with his own body. In the Battle of Uhud, we have similar stories of Sahābah using their backs, not just to protect Rasūlullāh ﷺ from rocks like in this incident, but to protect him from arrows; this was the level of sacrifice that the Sahābah had. Now, we might not have a chance to protect Rasūlullāh ﷺ with our physical bodies, so if we miss that chance, let us make it up by protecting Rasūlullāh ﷺ through defending his Message, through protecting his honour, through teaching others about his life – Muslims and Non-Muslims; let us do our part. Abū Muslim Al-Khawlānī, one of the greatest of the AtTābi‘īn, said, “Do the Companions of Rasūlullāh ﷺ think that we will let them have Rasūlullāh ﷺ for themselves? No, we are going to compete with them. We want to get our share of the Messenger of Allāh.” So even though we are living centuries past the time of Muhammad ﷺ, so we cannot participate physically in helping him in his mission, but it is not too late, there is a lot that we could do that would resemble what Zayd Ibn Hārithah did on that day. It might not ever be as great as what Zayd Ibn
Hārithah did or what Talhah did on the Day of Uhud, but at least we can try and do something. And when we study the Seerah of Rasūlullāh ﷺ and we develop love for him, it needs to encourage us to go through the same footsteps that the students of Rasūlullāh ﷺ went through.
Do Good – You Never Know what the Outcome Will Be The Second Lesson: When Rasūlullāh ﷺ was speaking to the people of At-Tā'if, no one responded to him; they all rejected him, but remember what we said; do good because you never know what the outcome will be. Rasūlullāh ﷺ was chased out of At-Tā'if, so he might have thought that his words did not really leave an effect on them, but among the crowds Rasūlullāh ﷺ was speaking to was a child, his name is Khālid Al- ‘Udwānī, he is a member of the tribe of Thaqīf. He said, “I was standing there listening to the speech of Rasūlullāh ﷺ in the fair-grounds of AtTā'if, and I heard the Messenger of Allāh recite Sūrah At-Tāriq, and I remembered it then when I was still a Non-Believer. And when I became Muslim, I already knew that Sūrah.” So here you have Rasūlullāh ﷺ giving his speech to adults; nobody cared about what Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, but there was a child in there who remembered and memorised Sūrah AtTāriq by listening to it from the mouth of Rasūlullāh ﷺ in At-Tā'if, and years later, Rasūlullāh ﷺ is seeing the harvest of the seed that he planted in At-Tā'if. So do good, because you never know what the outcome will be. Da’wah through Action Number Three: We talked about what happened between Rasūlullāh ﷺ and ‘Addās, did we not? You remember ‘Addās the Christian? Over here we have an example of Da’wah through action. Rasūlullāh ﷺ started by saying Bismillāh; an Islāmic act. This Islāmic act, even though it seems simple and small, was the cause of the Islām of ‘Addās, because ‘Addās never heard this before in this land of the Arabs; they do not say Bismillāh, they do not start in the name of Allāh, and that opened up a conversation between Rasūlullāh ﷺ and ‘Addās that ended up with ‘Addās admitting the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ and believing in him. So sometimes you might do something without paying attention, but it is attracting the
attention of others around you, and that might open the door for them to have some curiosity, and that will be the beginning of their studying of Islām which might end with them accepting the Religion of Allāh. So sometimes our Da’wah could be indirectly through our action. And the reputation of the Sahābah that they developed after Islām had a major role in attracting many of the other Arabs to Islām. So it was not necessarily their words, but it was their behaviour, their character, the way they changed in Islām.
Jinn Listen to Qur'ān Now Rasūlullāh ﷺ had to leave At-Tā'if, he was rejected by the people in At-Tā'if, and we said earlier that with difficulty comes ease – Inna Ma‘al ‘Usri Yusrā. Rasūlullāh ﷺ went through a difficult time, hardship, in AtTā'if; Allāh ﷻ followed it with a blessing. Rasūlullāh ﷺ was reciting Qur'ān in the desert and some Jinn happened to be in the area, and the words of Qur'ān attracted them and they came to Rasūlullāh ﷺ and learned from him verses of Qur'ān and ended up becoming Muslim. What are Jinn? Jinn is a world of creatures that have intelligence, live with us on Earth, have quite a similar life structure like we do; they have clans, families, tribes, nations, they speak different dialects and languages, follow different religions, so they are pretty similar to human beings. The difference is that they were created from fire and we were created from clay, they see us and we do not see them. But there are Jinn who are Christian, there are Muslim Jinn, there are Jewish Jinn, there are Jinn who speak Arabic, Jinn who speak English, Jinn who speak Russian, and they might even follow the customs of the land that they live in. And many of these supernatural or strange events that people talk about and you see on the front pages of tabloids – a citing of a UFO and all of those interesting things – might easily be explained as Jinn. There is an intelligent world which is living with us on Earth, and these haunted places and all of this can be explained easily by Muslims, it is not a big deal for us. You have all of this mythology that is surrounding these
supernatural events, and you have a whole entertainment industry that is based on it; movies and stories and Halloween and all that stuff, when there is a simple thing behind it and that is that there is a world of creatures living with us who we cannot see; sometimes we might have sightings of them but most of the time we do not, while they have access to us and they can see us. So these Jinn came to Rasūlullāh ﷺ and became Muslim. Now, there might have been more than one incident in which Jinn came to Rasūlullāh ﷺ and became Muslim, because the story of Al-Jinn is mentioned twice in Qur'ān; once in Sūrah Al-Jinn and once in Sūrah Al-Ahqāf. The verses of Sūrah Al-Ahqāf are the following: And mention, O Muhammad, when We directed to you a few of the Jinn, listening to the Qur'an. And when they attended it, they said, "Listen quietly." And when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners. They said, "O our people, indeed we have heard a recited Book revealed after Moses confirming what was before it which guides to the truth and to a straight path." One commentator of Qur'ān who gave Tafsīr asks this following question, he says how come the Jinn said that we have heard something that was revealed after Mūsā and they did not say after ‘Īsā? How come the Jinn brought up the name of Moses and did not bring up the name of Jesus? And his explanation was that these Jinn were Jewish and they were following the Message of Mūsā, so when they heard Qur'ān they said that this is a Revelation that is coming after the Revelation that was given to Mūsā. And this commentator says that these Jinn actually were from Yemen where there were some Jews. That is one way to look at the verse; it is not necessarily the only view, but it is also an indication that the Jinn would follow the customs of the people in their area. They the Jinn continued: "O our people, respond to the Messenger of Allāh and believe in him; Allāh will forgive for you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment. But he who does not respond to the Caller of Allāh will not cause failure to Him upon Earth, and he will not have besides Him any protectors. Those are in manifest error."
So this was an example of something good that happened to Rasūlullāh ﷺ after something that was difficult. This is mentioned to have happened after At-Tā'if.
The Return to Makkah from At-Tā'if Rasūlullāh ﷺ now has to enter into Makkah again. Now, getting in is not like leaving; you could leave easily but it is not easy to get into Makkah again, especially after the news reached to Makkah that Rasūlullāh ﷺ has gone to preach his Message to the people of At-Tā'if. So now Rasūlullāh ﷺ is not able to go into Makkah again, he has to seek the protection of someone in order to enter into his own town. So Rasūlullāh ﷺ is now camping outside of Makkah, trying to find someone who would sponsor him and give him protection. He sent a message with a man named ‘Uraiqat to go to Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq. Now, Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq was living in Makkah but he was an ally of the people of Quraish even though he was not one of them. So when Al-Akhnas received the message from Muhammad ﷺ, he said, “Since I am an ally of Quraish, I cannot give protection to someone who is from Quriash.” I am only an ally, I cannot go over my authority and give protection to someone who is from the tribe of whom I am an ally of. So Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq turned down the request. Muhammad ﷺ sent the same message again to Suhail Ibn ‘Amr. Suhail Ibn ‘Amr said, “I cannot give you protection because the clan of ‘Amr Bin Lu'aÿ cannot give protection to someone who is from Ka’b Bin Lu'aÿ.” Rasūlullāh ﷺ tried a third time, and he sent this time a message, a request, to Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ. Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ did accept the request, and Muhammad ﷺ went and spent the night at his house. Early in the morning, Al-Mut‘am asked six or seven of his sons to carry their swords and to put on some special clothes and to go out surrounding Muhammad and to escort him to Al-Ka’bah. When they reached there they had a seat, overwatching Muhammad while he was making Tawāf. So Abū Sufyān came to Al-Mut‘am and asked him, “Are you giving him protection or are you following him?” Al Mut‘am said, “I am only giving him protection.” Abū Sufyān said, “If that is the case, we will accept your protection.” So
Rasūlullāh ﷺ now is giving Da’wah in Makkah under the protection of Al-Mut‘am Bin ‘Udaÿ.