From the lamp of prophethood (8) (Preserving the kind act)

From the lamp of prophethood (8)

(Preserving the kind act)

Translated by: Alamgeer Usmani.

Praise be to Allah, from whose mercy the rightly guided people are on the right path, and from whose justice and wisdom, the misguided people have gone astray, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner, He is not questioned of what He does, and they are questioned, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, who left us on the straight path whose night is like a its day, and no one deviates from it except the one who is bound to be perished. May Allah’s prayers, peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his companions and his followers with goodness until the day when neither wealth will be of any use (to any one) nor sons, except to him who will come to Allah with a sound heart. After that,

I advised you and myself to fear Allah, because, whoever fears Him, he is guided to distinguish the truth from falsehood, and Allah expiates his sins and raises his rank:

﴿يِا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ إَن تَتَّقُواْ اللّهَ يَجْعَل لَّكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ﴾ [الأنفال29].

“O you who believe, if you fear Allah, He will provide you with a criterion (to distinguish between right and wrong) and will write off your evil deeds and will forgive you. Allah is the Lord of great bounty”.

Servants of the Most Merciful,

The Battle of Badr began with a moral lesson as it was concluded with a moral lesson as well. And no wonder, our Prophet Muhammad PBUH was sent to perfect good morals. He undertook to complete these good morals in the exceptional circumstances of the battle!

First lesson: This was before starting the battle. Despite the hearts of Muslims were filled with the bitterness of injustice, and with the hatred of those who opposed Allah and His Messenger, it was narrated in the Prophet’s biography that he said: “Whoever meets Abu Al-Bakhtari bin Hisham, do not kill him!” It was said regarding the reason of that: that he was one of the pagans who kept the polytheists away from harming the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he had a laudable position in revoking the unjust document that was written in order to boycott Banu Hashim and to lay siege to them in the mountain pass; Therefore, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, preserved for him these positions.

Second lesson: After the end of the battle, when the Muslims plucked out the fruits of victory, they got seventy captives in that, among whom were the most ferocious enemies of the Prophet PBUH, like Nadr bin Harith and Uqbah bin Abi Muait. The hearts of the Muslims were still remembering the excruciating pain of their crimes and their harms what they gave them in Mecca, and their haughtiness against the weak Muslims and their boldness against the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. In the souls, there was grief, and in the hearts, there was rage, and the chests of the believers were in dire need of healing by what would remove the anger of their hearts. But at that time, the Prophet, peace be upon him, says about these captives:

“If al-Mut’am bin ’Adi had been alive and spoken to me about those filthy ones (as they were polytheists), I would have freed them for him. Related by Al-Bukhari.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, announced that, all of them would be freed if al-Mat’am ibn Udi was alive, and said to the Messenger of Allah: “O Muhammad, leave them for me, knowing that he died a polytheist, but it remains to be known that he was a man of help and chivalry.

From his bravery is that, he gave the protection to the Prophet PBUH when he returned from Taif. The Quraish accepted that, and said to the Mutim: “You are the man whose promise cannot be broken”. After the migration of the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, Mut’am bin Adi gathered the Quraish and then said to them: “You have done to Muhammad what you have done, now, be among the People who defend him the most."

Brothers in faith,

Let us ponder over some lessons of these prophetic incident:

1- The Messenger of Allah PBUH showed Loyalty and a good covenant for those who had generous moral initiatives, and he mentioned them and became faithful to them in the most critical situations, that is the situation of military confrontation and moments of tension, emotion and rage.

2- The Prophet PBUH mentioned these words in a situation of military confrontation and intense anger, indicating that his stance has a moral principle, not a political tactic, rather it is a leadership based on principles.

3- When the Prophet was talking about these polytheists, he was not indicating their kinship, but he was addressing his faithful companions in order to raise in their souls - in a unique educational way - the honor of these moral qualities; so that they can be more deserving of these qualities and they can reward for it with something better than it, as it is a prophetic directive to adhere to standards of fairness and to treat people according to their ranks.

May Allah benefit me and you with the His Book and the Sunnah, and benefit us with the verses and wisdom which lie in them, and ask Allah for forgiveness that He is the Most Forgiving.

Second sermon

Praise be to Allah, who said to His Messenger,

﴿وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ﴾ [القلم: 4]

“And you are surely on an excellent standard of character”

May Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family and companions.

After that,

Fourth lesson: The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, understood the justice and preserving the rights, even with those whose religion and homeland differed from them. This Amr ibn al-Aas - may Allah be pleased with him - mentions the Romans, and says: “As for them, they have five qualities.” Then he mentions five qualities, like the good morals and the elements of sovereignty. And this is Hassan bin Sabit - may Allah be pleased with him – who lamented the Mut’am bin Adi when he died with a poem mentioning his good deeds.

In conclusion, brothers in faith, if the Prophet PBUH adopted the highest standards of fairness with those who have distance of major polytheism from him, then we need to adopt the highest standards of fairness with our brothers. It will unite us with them and will bring us closer to them more than what drives us away from them. Oh Allah, guide us to the best morals.