It is quoted by Sayyed ibne Tawoos in Malhoof that Imam Husain (a.s) sent a letter to a group of righteous noblemen of Basra through his retainer named Sulayman, whose agnomen was Abu Razeen, inviting them for assistance and obedience to him. Those included therein were Yazeed bin Mas'ood Nahshali and Mundhir bin Jarood Abadi. Yazeed bin Mas'ood then gathered the people of Bani Tameem, Bani Hanzalah and Bani Sa'ad. When they came he said, "O ...
Muhammad ibn Ishaq, the biographer of the Prophet of Islam, writes in his Seera (Life of the Messenger of God):Umar said: “And lo, they (the Ansar) were trying to cut us off from our origin and wrest authority from us. When he (an Ansari) had finished (his speech), I wanted to speak, for I had prepared a speech in my mind which pleased me much. I wanted to produce it before Abu Bakr and I was trying to soften a certain asperity of his; but ...
Islam is a conscious act of submission of the creature to the will of the creator. I use the words 'conscious act' deliberately to distinguish between inherent islam, which is the law of God for all created things in nature, and voluntary islam, which is the human faith-commitment to affirm the Oneness (tawhid) of God and obey His will. Faith and obedience, however, presuppose knowledge and knowledge requires communication. ...
When Abu Bakr was acknowledged khalifa in Saqifa, he, Umar bin al-Khattab and Abu Obaida bin al-Jarrah returned to the Mosque of the Prophet. In the Mosque there were many people, among them, members of the clan of Umayya; Saad bin Abi Waqqas; Abdur Rahman bin Auf; and some other Muhajireen.Seeing them huddled in little clusters, Umar shouted: “Abu Bakr has been elected khalifa of the Muslims. Now all of you here give him your pledge of ...
The Holy Prophet's Mosque in MadinahThe Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) came out from Makkah on 27th ofSafar (SEP.10, 622 A.D.) in the first year of Hijrahand reached Quba after ten days. He stayedthere for four days and on 12th of Rabi-al-Awwal(Sep. 24) his Highness went to Madinah .The Prophet (S.A.W.) announced that wherever his she-camelkneels down he will choose that place for buildingthe mosque and his house. The place where his she-camelknelt down ...
History, it has been said, is the propaganda of the victorious party. What this means is that in any conflict, the victor can manipulate history just as it pleases him, and there is nothing that the vanquished can do about it. The victorious party can cook up a story and broadcast it as the absolute truth without any fear of being challenged by anyone. It has not only the power to cook up its own story; it also has the power to spike the story ...
Muhammad ibn Ishaq, the biographer of the Prophet of Islam, writes in his Seera (Life of the Messenger of God):Umar said: “And lo, they (the Ansar) were trying to cut us off from our origin and wrest authority from us. When he (an Ansari) had finished (his speech), I wanted to speak, for I had prepared a speech in my mind which pleased me much. I wanted to produce it before Abu Bakr and I was trying to soften a certain asperity of his; but ...
Those, who strive for a cause, do not care for the odds or the consequences. Imam Husain (a.s) left Medina for the cause of Islam; to save Islam from the corruption, innovation and distortions introduced by the Banu Umayya. Islam was no longer the simple way of life, in which bereft of pomp and pretensions, the ruler was hardly distinguishable from the ruled. When Imam Ali (a.s) went into the bazaar of Kufa, he could not be differentiated from ...
Abū Bakr, son of Abū Quhāfa, was the first caliph after the Prophet’s demise. There are different views on his name being ‘Abd Allāh or ‘Atīq.[1] Apparently, they have insisted on saying that his name was ‘Abd Allāh but he used to be called ‘Atīq. He belonged to the Banū Taym tribe, one of the tribes of the Quraysh. During the Dark Age, the tribe had no special standing among the other tribes. A solid evidence for this claim ...
Is it possible to throw some light on the life and messengership of Prophet Hud (a.s.)?Concise answerProphet Hud is one of the divine prophets whose name has been mentioned seven times in Surah al-Araf and Surah al-Shu'ara. He is among the descendants (great grandsons) of Prophet Noah (a.s.) with seven generations away.He was called ‘Hud' because he had been protected from the misguidance in which his people had fallen and that he had been ...
ABSTRACTIn recent times, the American Philosophical Association has been exposed in a serious way to the issue of pluralism in philosophy curriculums in the departments of philosophy of American universities and colleges. This conversation brings to the fore the fact that what is at issue in the prospect of pluralizing American philosophy departments is not merely the matter of deciding the discipline's boundaries of intellectual formation ...
I still remember the deep impression which the first Persian poem I ever read in connection with the tragic events of Karbala' left on me. It was Qaani's elegy which begins with the words:
What is raining? Blood.Who? The eyes.How? Day and night.Why? From grief.Grief for whom? Grief for the king of Karbala'
This poem, in its marvellous style of question and answer, conveys much of the dramatic events and of the feelings a pious Muslim ...
Hadith no. 1: The 'Eid of the Khilafat and Wilayat It has been narrated from Ziyad ibn Muhammad that he said, “I went to see Abi 'Abdillah [Ja'far ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq] (peace be upon him) and said to him, “Do the Muslims have an 'Eid other than the day of Jumu'ah and al-Fitr and al-Adhha?” The Imam (peace be upon him) replied to me, “Yes, the day on which the Messenger of Allah (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) appointed ...
In his childhood, Imam Ali ibn al-Hussein (a.s) once fell very ill. Like any father, his father too showed affection towards him and asked, “How are you feeling my son? Is there anything you wish to have so that I can provide you with it?” As a small child, he (a.s) responded, “O father! My wish is only one that Allah (SWT) should place me amongst those who are ever pleased and satisfied with whatever He destines for them”.Thereupon his ...
The History of Islam is replete with instances where, in a man-to-man combat, Imam Ali (a.s) always gave the right of the ‘first strike’ to his opponent and he attacked only in retaliation. There is no concept of a ‘preemptive strike’ in Islam. The concept of ‘preemptive strike’ was nurtured by the heathens who always struck from behind or without provocation. We saw in the earlier chapter that Muslim ibn Aqeel refrained from killing ...
HUMAN history may be seen as a record of the eternal struggle between right and wrong, virtue and vice, good and evil, and righteousness and wickedness. This struggle was decreed by God when Adam, an earthly creature, was sent to earth to engage in this eternal battle. It is through this struggle that human beings can earn their eternal bliss in the Gardens of Paradise, or their eternal punishment in the Fire. In the history of nations this ...
