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Many
Muslims relate being a righteous person with performing miracles that
exceed the rules of cause and effect. Such miracles circulated by some
enthusiasts expose only their innate laziness and foolishness. There are
many examples of such mad thoughts: Some claim that so-and-so opened a
door without a key; another person flew in the air; a third urinated on
a rock, which turned into gold; and a fourth one has knowledge of the
Unseen and has taken a covenant from Allah Almighty! There are, indeed,
many such nonsense stories, which implies that those who repeat them are
ignorant of the true nature of religion and life. Such silly thoughts
also indicate that those who propagate them are straying in their minds
and hearts so much that they are not qualified to understand the
Prophet’s biography and the biographies of his Companions.
No
Fables in Islam
Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was not a dreamer or a
straying person who established his life on fables. On the contrary, he
was a man of facts. When he wanted to do something, he would use the
means that could lead him to achieve it. Further, he used to exert the
utmost effort and care he could afford in the light of the surrounding
circumstances. Neither the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) nor
any of his Companions thought that Heaven would help him if he
slackened, or that it would do something while he was lazy, or that it
would take care of his interests while he was negligent.
Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions learned
and taught what they learned. They disputed and made peace; they
triumphed and experienced defeat; and they spread the light of their
religion everywhere. They strove in all quarters, and natural laws were
never violated for their sake. Rather, they exerted much more effort
than their enemies, and suffered much for Allah’s sake, and thus they
were more deserving of victory in the struggle for existence.
Unforgettable
Lesson
Though
the Companions were characterized by good reason, which kept them from
expecting miracles in their conflict with their enemies, Allah Almighty
taught them many decisive lessons in order not to let them think at any
clash that the divine decree would be partial to them. To illustrate,
Allah Almighty said addressing His Messenger, [And
when thou (O Muhammad) art among them and arrangest (their) worship for
them, let only a party of them stand with thee (to worship) and let them
take their arms. Then when they have performed their prostrations, let
them fall to the rear and let another party come that hath not
worshipped and let them worship with thee, and let them take their
precaution and their arms. Those who disbelieve long for you to neglect
your arms and your baggage that they may attack you once for all. It is
no sin for you to lay aside your arms, if rain impedeth you or ye are
sick. But take your precaution](An-Nisaa’
4:102).
Look,
dear reader, how Allah has commanded them, although they were engaged in
Prayer, to be on their guard as much as they could. The Almighty did not
let them feel any hope that the angels would descend to support them. In
other words, if they did not make every effort for their benefit, none
would help them.
However,
when Muslims overlooked that lesson in the Battle of Uhud, they were
struck with a crushing defeat that caused the death of 70 of their great
fighters.
At
these hard moments, the Prophet himself (peace and blessings be upon
him) fought courageously to avoid defeat. He fought the enemies, killed
some of their soldiers, and he himself was injured. Concerning this, Abu
Hurayrah narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon
him) said, “Allah’s wrath has become severe on the people who
harmed His Prophet (pointing to his broken tooth); Allah’s wrath has
become severe on the man who is killed by the Messenger of Allah in
Allah’s cause.” Anas ibn Malik also narrated that the front
teeth of Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were
broken and his head was wounded. The Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) began wiping the blood from his face while saying, “How
could such people attain salvation while they have wounded their Prophet
and broken his tooth while he is calling them to (worship) Allah?”
Thereupon, Allah Almighty revealed the verse [It is no concern at all
of thee (Muhammad) whether He relents toward them or punishes them; for
they are evildoers] (Aal `Imran 3:128).
Thus,
negligence in achieving the means of victory has brought about nothing
but defeat, even if the defeated people are the representatives of true
monotheism, and even if the victorious people are the custodians of pure
paganism.
Whenever
Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to lead a
battle, he would use an equivocation from which anyone would understand
that he was going to a different destination, and he said, “War is
deceit.” In addition, he used to adopt the means that would lead
to the aim, as Allah Almighty commanded him, and to take in
consideration the natural laws. Despite these facts, some of the Arab
tribes managed to deceive him and misled a group of hafiz (memorizers of
the Qur’an) who were among the best of his Companions. The Arabs
killed the hafiz in a place called Bi’r Ma`unah, and nothing revealed
where they were killed except the birds hovering over the corpses of the
martyrs.
We
should bear in mind that those men who were victims of deception are, in
fact, among the most beloved people to Allah, yet the Almighty did not
let any of them fly without wings to avoid his fate as some Muslims
think nowadays! If we agree that precautionary measures are among the
Prophetic traditions, we should then agree that doing one’s best to be
totally ready and prepared is a strongly asserted tradition. If we do
not believe in that, then how else would Muhammad (peace and blessings
be upon him) have become victorious?
Establishing
Men
The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prepared his men just like the
summer that prepares for the ripeness of fruits through its moderate
heat. That is why when the Prophet sent those men throughout the world,
they were as strong as the storm that overcomes everything wherever it
goes. From its very beginning, Islam was a battle led by the divine
revelation, and for that reason, Allah Almighty has likened the impact
of revelation to a thunderstorm. Allah Almighty says, [Or
like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and the
flash of lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears by reason of
the thunder-claps, for fear of death; but Allah encompasseth the
disbelievers] (Al-Baqarah
2:19).
Can
we imagine then that there is a chance for slackness and dependence in
such advancing ranks of early Muslims? Woe to today’s generations of
Muslims if they wait for miracles to support them in such a world which
has bared its teeth to uproot them!
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