Umair bin Wahab
He secretly set out to kill the Prophet (Pbuh), but was stunned by the prior knowledge that the Prophet had, and recited the shahadah!
Umair bin Wahab had fought valiantly against the followers of Prophet Muhammad(Pbuh), in the battle of Badr. But the battle left a deep scar on his psyche. His son had been taken prisoner by the Muslims. The very thought of his son being persecuted by Muslims kept nagging Umair. Even though he had returned to Makkah, the fire of revenge was constantly burning inside him. First, the humiliating defeat at the hands of Muslims and then his beloved son’s imprisonment in Madinah were driving him crazy. He hatched a plot to kill the Holy Prophet. And he could share it with no one other than his buddy Safwan bin Umayyah, another staunch enemy of Muslims on a morning when they were sitting under the shade of the Kaaba.
He confided in Safwan: “Had I not been in debt and burdened with a large family, I would have killed Muhammad. But I still have an opportunity. Since the relatives of the prisoners are visiting Madinah, my going there would not lead to any suspicions. And this pretext could be used to finish off Muhammad.”
Safwan: “Umair, just don’t worry about your family or loans. I will look after the family and pay off your debt. You go ahead with your mission.”
Umair: “Keep it to yourself, do not reveal to anybody else. Let no one else get even a whiff of it.”
Umair headed for his home and ordered his wife to sharpen the sword and drench it with poison. He then headed for Madinah in order to fulfil his mission of assassinating the Holy Prophet. With his hands on the handle of the sword, he was looking fierce and in extreme rage.
As he reached the Prophet’s Mosque, he began to look for the Prophet. Umar bin Khattab, (may Allah be pleased with him), identified Umair from a distance and suspected something fishy. He and his companions were just discussing the scenes from the Battle of Badr. The very appearance of Umair bin Wahab suggested that he was not there with any good intentions. Umar signalled his friends to lay a protective circle around the Prophet as he knew Umair was the staunchest of the disbelievers in Makkah. Umar lunged forward and put the band of the sword into his neck in a jiffy lest he could suddenly attack the Prophet.
Umair greeted the Prophet with Sabah Bakhair (Good morning!). The Prophet asked his companions to clear off to a distance and pointed to Umair to be seated and greeted him with Assalamu alaikum (peace be upon you!). He told Umair that Allah has commanded Muslims to greet everyone with Assalamu alaikum as it is better than wishing someone just for the morning or evening and asked him the purpose of the visit.
Umair: “I want to take my imprisoned son back to Makkah.” Prophet: “Why is the sword hanging by your neck?” Umair: “Allah has blunted this sword. You and your companions have snatched all that we had in the Battle of Badr.” Prophet: “Umair, tell me frankly, what brings you here?” Umair: “I have stated my purpose.” Prophet: “Didn’t you and Safwan discuss the humiliation suffered at the Battle of Badr and you told Safwan that it was a large family and the loans that were keeping you from setting out on a mission to kill the Prophet? Thereafter Safwan took it upon himself to pay off your debt and look after your family if you killed me. Umair, remember, Allah has come between you and your sinister murder plot.”
Umair was nonplussed at the accounts reeled out by the Prophet. He couldn’t believe his ears. How could something that transpired so intimately between him and Safwan could travel to Madinah. He fell silent for a while and then loudly proclaimed the shahadah. The companions of the Prophet surged at him and hugged him with joy. The holy Prophet directed them all to teach Umair bin Wahab the essentials of Islam and to set his son free.
Umair admitted that he was blindly opposing the Prophet while he was in Makkah as he suspected the divine origin of his (Muhammad’s) Prophethood. But the Prophet’s account of what transpired between him and Safwan had forced him to change his opinion.
Umair then engaged himself in learning the Quran and Islamic tenets and practices even while Safwan awaited his return to Makkah. Safwan would often tell Makkan disbelievers of some ‘good news’ from Madinah. He would enquire from visitors returning from Madinah about Umair. When somebody told him about Umair too joining the fold of Islam, it came as a bolt from the blue for him.
Having spent a good amount of time with the companions of the Prophet, he sought permission from the Prophet and returned to Makkah and headed straight to Safwan’s house. He invited him to Islam by reciting the Shahadah. He thereafter engaged himself in dawah and made it his life’s mission. A lot of people embraced Islam at his invitation and preaching. May Allah be pleased with Umair bin Wahab.
(Abridged and translated by Maqbool Ahmed Siraj from Suwarum min Hayathus Sahaba authored by Dr. Abdur Rahman Rafat Pasha).
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Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) advised:
Be Fair and Just with Your Children The Messenger of Allah (Pbuh), said: “Treat your child equally, treat your child equally, treat your child equally.” (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Hibban). Al-Nu’man ibn Bashir said: “My father conferred upon me a slave as a gift. He took me to Allah’s Messenger to get a witness. The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Have you given a gift to every son of yours such as you have awarded Al-Nu’man?’ He (my father) said, ‘No.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Be mindful of your obligation to Allah and do justice in respect of your children.’ My father came back and revoked his gift.”
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Do You Know?
Questions
Answers
1. What is the meaning of the word "Quran"? 1) That which is Read.
2. Where was the Quran revealed first? 2) In the cave of Hira (Makkah).
3. On which night was the Quran first revealed? 3) Lailatul-Qadr (Night of the Power)
4. Who revealed the Quran? 4) Allah revealed the Qur'an.
5. Through whom was the Quran revealed? 5) Through Angel Jibraeel (Alaihis-Salaam).
6. To whom was the Quran revealed? 6) To the last Prophet.Muhammad (Pbuh).
7. Who took the responsibility of keeping the Quran safe? 7) Allah himself.
8. What are the conditions for holding or touching the Quran?
One has to be clean and to be with wudhu (ablution).
9. Which is the book which is read most? 9) The Qur'an.
10. What is the topic of the Quran? 10) Man.
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What If….. Something to Think About !
What if Allah didn’t take the time to bless us today because we didn’t take the time to thank Him yesterday?
What if Allah decided to stop leading us, because we didn’t follow Him anyway?
What if we never saw another flower blooming because we grumbled when Allah sent the rain?
What if Allah didn’t walk with us today because we failed to recognize it as HIS day?
What if Allah took away His message because we failed to listen to the messenger?
What if Allah stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others?
What if Allah would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him yesterday?
What if Allah answered our prayers only in the way we answer His call to service?
What if Allah met our needs the way we give Him our lives???
We need to work hard to deserve the things Allah has given us. Be careful to give as much as you receive.
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Never Be Greedy!
Kira was a greedy little goldfish. He loved eating worms and even if he wasn’t hungry he would greedily swim after a worm the moment he would notice it. “What if some other fish sees it and eats it up before me,” Kira would selfishly reason. His doctor warned and predicted that his greed may cost him his health, but Kira would only laugh. “Doctor, you know I’m nothing less than a miracle. No matter how much I eat I can still eat double the amount at any given time.” It was true. He always seemed to be like a bottomless barrel. Neither did he ever put on weight nor become obese and lazy. He just seemed to be singing about in life. Even if he would see an elderly fish in need of nutrition, he wouldn’t think twice about depriving the weak and more needy than him . Nor did he think about the ones younger than him. He was simply too greedy and selfish . Warnings from his well wishing friends simply went up in thin air. “Are you aware how the worm is used as a bait to lure us to bite at it and when we do we are doomed ?” they said in the hope of discouraging him. It led to the desired effect and set him thinking. He got a lovely idea.
The next time he saw the soft net gently lowered by the fishermen to scoop up the fishes, Kira deliberately ran into the net. He smiled to himself. The first part of the plan had worked out well. Soon he found himself in a pretty aquarium in a cosy corner of a large and beautiful drawing room of a rich family. Worms were thrown in at regular intervals and as usual it greedily gobbled up all of them. Even if he was full he ate like there was no tomorrow. Kira was absolutely happy. “Why didn’t I think of this idea before ! I don’t even have to go in search of my favourite food. It just drops from above”. One day the family went out on a picnic. They shut all the doors and windows. One window had a rusty bolt and did not shut.
A breeze pushed it open and a prowler cat entered. It headed straight towards the fish tank and put a dirty paw in to catch and eat Kira . Kira sensed danger and ran helter skelter. It was a mad chase. The claw moved inside the tank like a mad monster . “SHOO! SHOO!” Kira heard human voices and the cat was forced to scram away. Just as the contents of the tank were settling down Kira saw a worm and went after it . He greedily sucked it in. Soon Kira was gasping for breath. What he had thought was a worm was actually a brown piece of thread that had loosened from the cat’s paw. See what greed does-it only brings disaster.
Contributed by Rehman M
rehman
m2001@hotmail.comTop
Diamonds Vs Day of Judgement
Once, a group of people were travelling on rocks at night. A voice came from the sky that whosoever picks up the rocks will regret and whosoever doesn’t pick up the rocks will regret. Now, the people were confused. How can this be? Whether you pick up the rocks or not, you will regret! Anyway, some people picked up the rocks and some didn’t. In the morning when they reached their homes, they saw that the rocks turned into diamonds. Now, those people who didn’t pick up the rocks started regretting saying, “If only we had picked up some rocks.” Those people who did pick some rocks also started regretting saying “Why didn’t we pick up more rocks?” Both sides ended up regretting. This same incident will take place with us on the Day of Judgement. Those people who spent their time in useless things will start regretting by looking at those who achieved a great position in Paradise by spending their time in the way of Allah. Now, those who did achieve a position in Paradise will start regretting by looking at those who did more than them and are higher in status. “Alas! If we had only done more to please Allah.”
(Contributed by
Seema Qureshi)
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Zabaan Mili Hai Magar….
By Sabith Khan
Language, religion and ethnicity have taken on a new meaning these days with fascist forces working hard to turn our “Hindustani culture” into a unipolar one. Any counter measures to beat them ? Theatre seems to be an effective way to combat these divisive forces, albeit indirectly as demonstrated recently by Bangalore based theatre group “Katputliyaan”.
Zafer MohiuddinA brainchild of Zafer Mohiuddin and D.K.Venkatesh, Katputliyaan put up its first production – “Zabaan Mili hai magar…” at Ravindra Kalakshetra last month. The group intends to produce plays with a “message” for society at large. The name Katputliyaan is inspired from the Shakespearean idea of the world being a stage and all humans beings being mere puppets. It also implies the earliest form of theatre, where dolls were used to narrate stories. Mohiuddin one of the founders believes that theatre can be a powerful medium to spread the message of peace and harmony. Their recently held play “Zabaan mili hai magar”, was about language fanaticism and through the play, the group wanted to portray the fact that language does not belong to any particular religion or community.
The characters Joseph, Seema, Rehbar, Pandit, all knit a gripping drama of a theatre personality’s quest to produce a play. A riot in the name of “protecting a language”, an unscrupulous politician wanting publicity through another language, the young actor out to prove himself and the insecure demure lady out to portray her personality all showed the complexities of everyday life in a subtle yet effective way. “ Language is more of a societal need, and must not be viewed in the narrow context of any religion”, says Mohiuddin.
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