Assalamu alaikum peace be unto you. Welcome to another episode of Islam infocus. I’m your host, Ahmed Rashid. Today we have our 41st program in our series dealing with Mohammed, the last messenger of Allah. Today, we’re going to be looking at the topic of the profits household. I have joining me as usual on the program are Dr. Jamal Badawi of St. Mary’s University. Jamal Assalamu alaykum honey.
Before we get into today’s program, could I have you very quickly highlight the main points that we touched on in our program last week? Sure, did the previous program focus mainly about the marriage of the Prophet peace be upon him from Khadija, how she knew about him and about his character and honesty, and how she approached him, and to try and suggest a proposed manage. And before that we mentioned also about the trip
that she made for her on her caravan and how she sent with with him her
servant, who came back and observed certain things about the character of the Prophet, and also an ester who was a Christian monk in Syria, and that both of them felt somehow there was there was a great spiritual presence when the Prophet was there. And how that led her to offer the marriage indirectly and in a very decent way. And towards the end, there was some question about the physical appearance of the Prophet and whether we had any information on that I tried to answer that in a brief way, as much as time allows us.
Before we get into the thrust of today’s program, we closed off last week talking a bit about the appearance of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon them. I’d like to ask you first of all, as to why, in your view to the history historians, and the biographers keep such a detailed description of the appearance of the Prophet? And is there any particular significance to this? Yes, indeed, there are a number in fact, first of all, as Prophet Muhammad himself, these were from him indicated, he said that, that God did not send a prophet except that he is good looking, and that his voice is good.
So that seems to indicate again, that it is part of the mission of the Prophet, to attract people, in order to guide them to have the good voice in order also to explain and articulate to them what God revealed to him. So the beauty of appearance and the beauty of voice and the beauty of characters are not necessarily something which is mutually exclusive, that are both related to guidance of people and applies to all of the prophets for that matter. I’d like to add also that also the physical appearance, the kind of glow, and light that one feeds in the face of the person with high degree of speciality and good character
is very influential, because the face may be also like a mirror of the inner personality of the individual. I’m not talking about the physical beauty in a very limited sense by talking about the radiation that the person feel, in the presence of people have high moral characters and spirituality and sincerity.
This kind of attraction is quite useful, because it would help those who are
perceptive skeptics to discover that he had characters of the person just to illustrate that one bedwin app once came to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
And then before coming to the Prophet, he heard all kinds of accusation from the enemies of the Prophet, that the Prophet is an imposter that he is a liar. And all of that is, and then that man said, Alright, I better find out for myself.
So he came to him. And the conversation went like this. The bedwin Who are you?
The Prophet, I am Mohammed, the son of Abdullah. So the man kept looking and, you know, gaze, staring in his face.
And then he said to him, Are you the one about whom kurush your tribe say he is a liar? He said, Yes. You know, the man said something very useful. He said, this is not a face of a life. This is not a face of a liar. Then he asked him, What are you teaching? What is your preaching? What’s your message? So Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, explain to him the worship of the one true God, the moral life to please God and all of this, he gave him a basic explanation. The man did not hesitate, and he embraced Islam. So this seems to be an indication also that meeting the person face to face, and this kind of glow and light that comes from such great profits and personalities, did have a
great deal of influence on people who wanted to find out rather than just hearing something written in Fox,
would you perhaps, go on elaborate and explain how this is this is especially important in his case, why it is important, of course, as indicated in the case of all profits, but I would say in the case of Prophet Mohammed in particular, being
The Last of all profits is it assumes even an additional significance. Because as we indicated before, there have been numerous prophecies in the Old Testament, the New Testament and scriptures of other ancient religions about the coming of the last prophet, Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. This is so extensive, and we covered that in numerous programs with all documentation.
In addition to this, in this series, also, we touched upon some of the anticipation that existed already among the pagan Arabs, about the description of the person yet to come, some of whom had this from the people they met among the Jews and Christians in the in their travels.
And we have already noted that this descriptions were so much detailed, that it would leave no doubt about the identity of the person to come. And apparently, and some manuscripts maybe some of which might not be extended at the present time. They seem to have been a very detailed physical description of the prophet to come, that’s a prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. An interesting difference is made in one of the oldest and most reliable historical differences of poverty in his history. And the second volume page 295. He says that in the pre Islamic days before the mission of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him,
a man who was known by the name of zeytinburnu, Hamish minified, one time told another Arab by the name of Amitabh Narayan, I tried to translate that maybe I can read it to the best of my ability, I just tried to give the meaning and translation, he says we are awaiting for a profit from the descendants of Ishmael, of the children of Abdulmutallab,
I don’t see that I will live long enough to his time, I believe in him, and I bear witness that he is a prophet. If your time extends enough, if you live enough time as if your life or time extends until you see him, conveyed to him for me greetings of peace. And I will give you his description. And notice here as we compared to what we mentioned last time, he is neither towards nor short, not too hairy, nor is he light heard. There is a permanent redness in his eyes. The stamp or sign of prophethood is between his shoulders. His name is Ahmed, which is the same like Mohammed,
this town, which means Mecca, is his birthplace, the place where he begins his mission, then his people will force him out that’s out of the city. And that’s exactly what happened. And they will hate what he brought until he migrates to yesterday, which is later called Medina
where his mission will be victorious. Beware, lest you be deceived or lured away from him. For I traveled through all countries, searching for the religion of Abraham, and everyone I ask of the Jews and Christians and Meghan’s say, this religion is behind you that’s back home in your country, in Arabia. And they describe him as I described to you, and they say, not other prophecies left, save him, that means he would be the last of our profits. I find that most striking and consistent with the other descriptions that we discussed before,
information that were given before his mission and description of him after he actually emerged on the scene. And it is quite unreasonable to say that these descriptions were after the fact reports because they existed in a variety of historical reports before and after he became a prophet. That’s in that sense, I would say, it assumes even more significance, in the case of the Prophet is very striking, do want to move on and ask you one more related question that has to do with the observations of the Prophet during the sleep. But
some interesting comments with respect to that. Well, to begin with, I just make a cross reference to something we covered under the topic on Muslim beliefs some years back, yes, that as Prophet Muhammad peace be upon to explain, there are three types of dreams, they may be some dreams, which is from God, which means something that might be prophetic, that something really is going to happen or predict what’s going to happen to you, or guide you to something good or try to give you a warning against something even so that you could say that this is dream is from God, from Allah. And there’s also dreams from Satan, to scare you or to prompt you to evil or something of that nature,
in which case you should ignore it. But there is a third type also, as the Prophet said, from laughs it from yourself is in psychological difficulty from your own subconscious desires or aspirations or concerns. So sometimes it’s very difficult when you see a dream, except some some of whom, of course, might declare, yes, but some other dreams might be in that hazy area where you’re not sure exactly whether it’s subconscious type of thinking or
Something more than that, with this kind of precaution, then I refer to one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, in which says, Whoever sees me in his sleep, then he has seen me, for Satan cannot take my likeness, that if a person sees the prophet in his sleeve, that means, indeed, he saw the Prophet because Satan cannot, you know, take his form. But again, some interpreters said that one version of that Hadith or saying, actually says, mine, any men come, whoever Have you had seen me, so he refers specifically to the companions around him. So there is a difference of opinion. So whether that’s for all time or only, as it applies to the companions of
the Prophet, but in any case, one can say that the familiarity with the physical appearance of the Prophet peace be upon him, might be at least one helping aid in trying to find out or discover the identity. If a person sees a person and get the feeling that this is the Prophet. I must add that, personally, I have heard from several people, including people within my own family and friends and other pious people who actually saw the prophet in the dream. And some were really prophetic scenes cite the prominent Muslim scholars, who was unjustly executed by NASA
was said to have seen the prophet in the dream, the night, I think it was the night before he was executed. And he’s actually conveyed that information to his sister who was also jailed. That He said, The Prophet came on a white horse, and he said, congratulations, for most of them, yes. And very shortly after that he was
unjustly executed. But I must add also that a person who might have the privilege and blessing of really seeing the Prophet and the dream, should not take that as something of a personal pride or something that he should just boast around or tell everybody about it just to sort of assuring as
we said in the introduction in today’s program, that we’re going to be discussing the Prophet’s household. We learned last week of his marriage to Khadija, I’d like to ask you something about how his life was like with Khadija, before he received the first revelation. When, as we mentioned before, when he met as a DJ, he was only 25 years old, while Khadija was 15 years seniors, she was about 40. And that seems to indicate that this was a marriage which is not based on romance or passion or anything of that nature, but really something that led to the characters and the concealability and match ability of both.
These are for him was, was a wife and a friend. And he lived with her alone for 25 years as the only way if he had for this period, 25 years. Generally speaking, you can say it was a very happy
and blessed marriage. She bought him six out of seven children to attend board to him. For girls, Xena, raffia, Omakase soon and Fatima and two boys. One is called al Qasim and that’s why the Prophet sometimes is known as Apple cousin when the father of classes and other one is his name is Abdullah. And he is believed to be the same person who is also given the title of pious and uptight, like the good and the fewer.
But of course, the marriage was not without pains and sufferings, because
some of his children, some of his daughters died in his lifetime. And both boys died
in a young age and Qasim died when he was an infant Abdullah died when he was only a toddler.
And
indeed, day of the marriage of the Prophet as you mentioned before, as you know, to celebrate his happiness, he said free Baraka, the lady who was very faithful servants of his mother, and look after him also afterwards. And in the same day, also his wife had his I gave him as a gift, as you know, a servant by the name of zaidan, Hadassah, who was so much loved by the prophet, and who played an important role actually, in the life of Muslims as well. like to talk a bit about this person, as I eat, like, tell us a bit about him. What is his background, is he actually was a young man who belonged to the tribe of cults. And those people lived in the northern part of the Arabian
Peninsula, in the plains, between Syria and Iraq, as it used to happen at this time, you know, we talk about the seventh century
before Islam, their village was once raided by horsemen. And they took away zite and they sold him in slavery. So he ended up actually being bought by Khadija.
His father looked for him for a long time, but in vain he could not, you know, locate him.
But since the mecca was a very common place where the Arabs used to come for pilgrimage because of the sacred place, the Kaaba,
they at one time was able to identify some people who belong to his
tribe during the pilgrimage season. So he sent a message with them to his family that he is in good shape, and they should have nothing to worry about. But once his father’s learned about worrying about his son, he immediately set for Mecca, accompanied by his brother, that’s the uncle.
So when they came to Makkah,
they met with Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. And they started begging him to give back to them and they said, you can ask for any ransom we pay you. But you know, give us side.
So the Prophet peace be upon him said, Alright, let him choose.
If he choose to go with you, fine. He is yours, take him without any ransom. I’m not going to take anything from you. Even though legitimately for since he was versus he could ask. But he said, No, I’ll give to you without, you know, without any ransom. If he chooses to go with you. I’m not going to force him. But if he chooses me, he said, I am not the man to sit any other above him who chooses me? In other words, if he chooses me, then it is his choice. I mean, just stay with me. And then the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him called Zaid. He said they, you know this two men? He said, Yes, this is my father. This is my uncle. He said, The Prophet
Zayed you have already seen my companionship unto you. So make your choice between me or them.
They immediately answered, he said, I would not choose any man in preference to you.
You are to me, as my father and my mother,
his father and uncle got angry with Zaid, they said, I would unto you, or as eight would you choose slavery above freedom, and above your father, your uncle and your family?
They answered, It is even so far I have seen from this man, referring to the Prophet, I have seen from this man, such things that I could never choose another above him.
You have seen already his companionship.
At that time time Prophet Muhammad peace be upon intervene and said are you all come with me. And they all went to the cover to the second house.
And Prophet Mohammed peace, we’re going to start to speak in a loud voice so that everybody around would hear it all you who are present
their witness that they It is my son, I am his ears. And he is mine. That’s my air, which actually means that is eight From now on, is a free man is no longer in slavery. And not only this, I have adopted him adoption was permissible at that time later on the road changes but he is my adopted son. I inherit him he and hurts him. Of course, they didn’t have anything to be inherited. So we knew that he would be my heirs is. At that time, the parents and the father of salaries and his uncle really felt very much reconciled. And the left without any bitterness. In fact, I would say even they might have left with some hidden happiness even in their hearts.
Some of our viewers might find it a bit surprising, particularly given the initial reaction by his eyes. Father, when he said he wanted to say that they would leave at this point without any bitterness. How would you comment on that? You say it might appear to us in our culture today in our age, it’s very difficult, you know, but as we have indicated before, in different contexts, many of the Arabs were used to the absence of their children from them. For example, we mentioned about Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, you know, staying for years with his foster mother is, you know, so they seem to have been more used to that than we are today, for example. Secondly, they also were
very happy that now their son is free, is no longer, you know, under any bondage. Certainly, he’s got even a step beyond that. Let’s he became the adopted son of a very noble man, from a very noble clan, and among the Arabs that was very important because it’s an honor for them and they might even aspire for benefits in the future by having this close relationship with the family of the prophet who were regarded highly as the people of the sanctuary, the those who are looking after the holy house, the second house of the karma.
Thirdly, we can also say that they were quite assured about the good treatment the kind treatment of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon
him to his new adopted son, and the strong bond of love. Yes, that is very evident between both of them. So they seem to have been quite happy also with what they saw with their own eyes with the characters, and gentleness and generosity of the prophets. So obviously, they felt that their son would be extremely happy, you know, staying with the with the authority can visit him because it’s in the same peninsula anyway.
But in any case, for the Prophet, and for Khadija, his wife and their children, Zaid would just like another member of the household for all practical purposes, the customs actually regarded the adopted son just like any other son, in the household, in the steamvr household, I’d like to perhaps turn now to
some discussion of the visitors to the household of the of the Prophet. Do we have any information about that? Yes, there’s some information about the some of the claws, you know, circle around the life of the Prophet, in addition, of course, to his natural children died, yes. And you know, his wife and,
for example, some of the relatives like Sophia, Sophia was one of the younger ends of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him Actually, she was the youngest, I believe, she used to come to visit the Prophet. And she used to bring with her also her son as revered, and had written her by the name of Selma, that lady Selma was regarded more or less like apart also the household of the Prophet because, in fact, she was the woman like a midwife as the who delivered the hadiza of all her children. So they regarded her more or less like, you know, parts of the household. On occasions also Halima the first step for settling mothers, that second the Prophet peace be upon him in his
young age, used to come to visit also, and the Prophet used to be very generous and hospitable to her just like a mother, and hadiza. Also, his wife used to be very generous with her. She used to give her gifts of you know, she put commands especially when it gets tough and there are years of of drought. Some of the other relatives included Abu sufian, was the cousin of the Prophet from his oldest uncle, his eldest uncle Harris. And Abu sufian, also was a foster brothers of Prophet Muhammad because he second also from the same lady Halima as a child, in a later time, also Baraka that, you know, Ethiopian lady whom Iman
came back to live in the household of the Prophet, we don’t know that isn’t, as we mentioned before, as to whether her husband divorced her or whether he died. So she felt secure to come back to the Prophet peace be upon him used to be very kind to a man. And according to Assad, it says that sometimes even he used to address her as mothers. Yes. So he loved her so dearly. She did the same to him. Also, at one point, even the Prophet said about her about this lady is European, former slave, she said, she is all that is left me of the people of the house. So he regarded her as part of the of the house. In addition to those visitors,
they were there were certain circumstances that took place in a later time, which led to the integration or inclusion in the household of the prophet of his nephew, a very famous and important Muslim Ali executive who later on came to be the fourth Caleb, after the Prophet peace be, right, let’s get you to comment on some of those circumstances that lead to additional value to the household. Very interesting, lovely. Well, you know, of course, that in the initial period and the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him when his grandfather died, that’s after his mother died and the grandfather died.
His uncle Abu Talib was the one who was his guardian, he took charge of him. And of course, I will tell him, I love the Prophet so dearly and treated him very well, until he, you know, grew up and was able to be independent and finally get married and, you know, be totally independent.
That uncle of the Prophet
had many children. And sometimes came a period where he had really financial difficulties to many children, the circumstances financially was very bad, and he was really hardly, you know, making
ends meet. And yeah, so President Hamid peace be upon him felt that and he was quite sensitive, and he felt morally obliged to give a hand and to try, you know, to see if he can help his ankle at least by way of paying back some of the servers You know, he did to him. So in order to do that the Prophet peace be upon him went to his uncle, Allah bless. That uncle of the Prophet was in reasonably comfortable financial situation. He was a successful merchant.
Even though
There was still a rich uncle of the Prophet Abu lahab. But it was also called Abdullah. The the slave of Rosa. Rosa was one of the agencies.
But Abu lahab even though he was richer than our best, perhaps he was a little bit removed from the rest of the family. Just one possible reason some historian suggested that Abu lahab was not a full brother. Yes, of the you know, the other anchors of the Prophet service and have been a little bit remote. So what happened that the Prophet went to an address at least he could communicate with him and our best also had very good rapport with the Prophet his wife, my father loved the Prophet also very much. So he suggested the idea to his uncle, he said, Why don’t both of us
offer some help to you know, appetites this may be you if you want to take care of one of his children. I take care of one of his children. Yes, we might reduce a little bit is lower than help him.
alabaster like the idea very much so he went they both went to Abu Talib. Yes. And they suggested to him they said alright, why don’t we, you know, give you some hand in
Abu Talib looked at them and said, Alright, you can take whoever you wish. But lives are clean and tidy for me and perhaps younger ones, yes, and take whatever you want. So Allah best took Jaffa to look after him. And Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him ended up taking Ali to be part of his household in order to, you know, look after him and be considered as part of his family. So that was the circumstances where the Prophet adopted early adoption in the legal sense, but Right, right. I think we’re at the point where we’ve exhausted our time for for today I want to thank you an interesting discussion of life in the household of the Prophet. Want to thank you all for watching
our program today and invite you back next week when we will deal with the prophets. marriages. Thank you for watching. Assalamu alaikum peace be on to you.
