Saad bin Abi Waqqas (RA)

Saad bin Abi Waqqas (RA)

Saad’s affection for his mother knew no bounds, but he was in no mood to revert to his pagan beliefs

A faithful’s love for Islam should transcend all barriers. For one to be liked by Allah, even love for one’s parents or spouse should comply with this norm. Saad bin Abi Waqqas is one among such companions of Allah, who stood by his faith even at the risk of losing his mother. And finally he won and saved his mother from the jaws of death. Saad had earned a name in chivalry, integrity and decorum. He was related to the holy Prophet (Pbuh) from his (Prophet’s) mother’s side, hence was a maternal uncle to him. The Prophet therefore held him in high esteem. But much more than this, it was his gallant defence as the rear-guard in the battle of Uhud that earned him the proximity. He was a great marksman and his arrows averted the defeat which looked certain in the face of much of the rear-guard leaving the strategic point designated for them by the Prophet notwithstanding his warning. Waqqas held his place along with nearly 10 companions and saved the Muslim army from a crushing defeat. It was at this point that the Prophet used the wordings to the effect, ‘Saad, continue with your arrows, let my parents be sacrificed on you’. Perhaps the Prophet did not utter sentences to this effect on any other occasion. Moreover, Saad was dear to the Prophet because he was the fourth person to say shahadah after he attained Prophethood. Saad’s joining the fold of Islam followed a dream in which he found himself drowning in the sea on a dark night. Suddenly the moon appeared on the horizon and he pounced at it. He found at least three persons approaching the moon prior to him. He stared at them and found them to be Zaid bin Harisa, Abu Bakr and Ali bin Abi Talib. When he inquired with them about their time of arrival, they said ‘just now’.

As the dawn cracked, he was informed that Muhammad had declared his Prophethood and at least three of his (Prophet’s) companions had said their shahadah. He immediately set out to look for the Prophet and traced him in the valley of Jiyad where he had finished his Asr prayer. He said the shahadah and found that three of those he had seen in the dream were already in the company of the Prophet. The news of his conversion to Islam struck his mother like a thunderbolt. She was shocked beyond belief and declared that she wouldn’t eat or drink till he came back to his previous faith. No persuasion would work. Saad’s affection for his mother knew no bounds, but he was in no mood to revert to his pagan beliefs. His mom was deeply grief-stricken. As Saad persisted with his new belief, her mother too continued to be on fast which appeared as one unto death. But finally, Saad mustered the courage and told her: ‘Mom! I no doubt love from the deepest of my heart, but my love for Islam surpasses it. I would not revert to my old ways even if you died.’ This resoluteness melted Saad’s mother’s resolve. She broke her fast.

But then the following verses were revealed to the Prophet which could be interpreted as: Give thanks to Me and to your parents, to Me is the final destination. But if they (both) strive with you to make you join in worship with Me others that of which you have knowledge, then obey them not; but behave with them in the world kindly and follow the path of him who turns to Me in repentance and in obedience. Luqman : 14, 15. Saad bin Abi Waqqas was chosen to lead the Islamic forces when they were challenged by Persians during the caliphate of Hazrath Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. The choice was by consensus. The words uttered by Caliph Umar while sending off Saad are memorable. Umar said : O Saad! Do not be arrogant. The fact that you are uncle of the Prophet should not make you arrogant. Remove vice with virtues, not by vice. Remember, Allah does not consider the social status you owe to your lineage. It is obedience alone that would earn you proximity to Allah. And proximity to Allah can be earned by your piety. Fix your gaze on the objective imparted by Allah. It should be our goal to forward the mission of the Prophet.(Pbuh). The army led by him against Persians had 99 companions who had participated in the battle of Badr, 10 other participants were the one who had signed the treaty at Hudaibiya, 300 were the ones who had led the conquest of Makkah and 700 fresh recruits, who were all sons of the holy companions.

The army pitched camp at Qadissiya. It was a fierce war and Muslims emerged triumphant in the last. The Persian commander- in- chief Rustom was killed. Saad bin Abi Waqqas lived upto an advanced age. When the time for death came, he called for the woollen kurta which he wore while participating in the battle of Badr. He willed that he should be buried in the coffin made out of the same kurta.

Top
In the Jungles of Burma…

Great ideas take birth from ordinary happenings!

M. Manal, a businessman from Dehradun, now in Uttaranchal, was visiting Burma in 1930. He found a group of restless elephants being herded towards groves of bushes by some elderly elephants. He hid himself behind trees and peered closely. The elderly among the elephants took out a few bushes and fed the young and unruly elephants with roots of the bushes. Soon the restless elephants became quiet. He discovered that the plant from which these were taken was Rauwolfia serpentina, known as Sarpangandha in Sanskrit.

As the herd departed from the spot, young Manal himself collected the roots of the shrubs. Later when he tested them for their juices, he found them to be having pacifying tendency for those running high blood-pressure. Manal took away a sizable quantity of the roots with him to Dehradun. After much research, he prepared a drug called ‘Serpina’, the world’s first anti-hypertensive drug.

Manal began to visit different cities in the world and meet people. He collected a lot of herbs and natural material mentioned in old Ayurvedic books. He would bring them to his laboratory and prepare remedies. Thus, came into being the Himalaya Drug Co. It had its headquarters in Inamullah Building on Viceroy Road in Dehradun.

He brought in a hand-tableting machine which would compress drug granules into tablets, one in a single punch. He worked several hours each night to prepare enough tablets to sell the next day.

He wrote down ayurvedic drug formulae on small cards. These were indexed and piled systematically. The drugs were then subjected to pharmacological tests before a Himalaya product was prepared.

In 1975, the Himalaya Drug Co moved to Bangalore and launched a series of products.

Today when Manal’s son Meraj Manal heads the company in Bangalore, Himalaya sells its ayurvedic remedies in 50 countries and is a Rs. 274 crore company. The company today punches one crore tablets a year.

Never reject ideas, however small they might be. Put them to use. They might yield products, processes, institutions to serve the humanity. Profit is just one aspect of it.

(Prepared by
Maqbool Ahmed Siraj
for Islamic Voice
based on the corporate booklet of
Himalaya Drug Company). n

Top
No Time, No Time!
By S.A.R. Adil

I knelt to pray, but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Muslim duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Allah to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.
I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God held a book;
It was the book of life.
God looked into his book and said
"Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time"
Now do you have the time to pass it on?

(The writer can be reached at
adilsar@eth.net)

Top
Rocking With Me...

There was once an elderly, despondent woman in a hospital ward. She wouldn’t speak to anyone or request anything. She merely existed - rocking in her creaky old rocking chair. The old woman didn’t have many visitors. But every morning, a concerned and wise young nurse would go into her room. She didn’t try to speak or ask questions of the old lady. She simply pulled up another rocking chair beside the old woman and rocked with her. Weeks later, the old woman finally spoke. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you for rocking with me.’” All one may do, is a simple action, which may look insignificant, but it speaks volumes which translates as: “ I REALLY CARE !"

(Courtesy: www.everymuslim.com)

Top
Challenges Keeps us Fresh

Life is to strive for the best ... rather pass by with rest ... The Japanese have always loved fresh fish. But the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste. To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price. So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish. So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies (still) put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state.”

Like the Japanese fish - “Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment.”- said L. Ron Hubbard Challenges are what keeps us FRESH ! Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, reorganise the challenge, team up, be resourceful and do not give up. Failing makes you tired. If you have met your goals, set some bigger goals. Once you meet your personal or family needs, move onto goals for your group, the society, even mankind.

(Contributed by
Aeraf. Abuhuseina)

Top
A Prayer

I ask Allah to make us of the Saabirun.

O Allah make us Patient both up onhardships and ease in this life.

O Allah strengthen us in our Perseverance upon good, and that which you like of us.

O Allah help us build restraint from the evils of this world, and from the evils of our self.

I ask Allah SW to give sabr to our parents; our relatives; our friends; and our brothers & sisters in Islam;

Forgive all of us and guide us onto the sirat um'mustuqeem.

Patience and diligence, like faith, moves mountains.

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Top
Stories of the Prophets Prophet Salih (Alaih Assalaam)

The people of Thamud where Prophet Salih(Alaih Assalaam) lived had beautiful gardens. Here there were springs, date palms and trees which had plenty of fruit. The houses of Thamud were carved into rocks and mountains.

Worship only Allah, Salih(Alaih Assalaam) told his people. You have no other god apart from Allah, so you should do good. I am giving you good advice: You should believe what I say, for Allah has made me His Prophet.

But only those people of Thamud who were not rich and not strong believed, and did as Prophet Salih (Alaih Assalaam) had said. The rich and powerful people of Thamud said to Salih(Alaih Assalaam): We don’t believe what you say and we are not going to do as you advise. You are nothing but a man, just like any of us. If you are speaking the truth, then show us a sign. Salih(Alaih Assalaam) brought a camel and said: This camel will be a sign for you from Allah. Let her graze on Allah’s meadow and let her drink when she is thirsty. Think of how good Allah has been to you and all that He has given to you. You should not do evil and cause trouble on this earth. If you do, a harsh punishment will fall upon you. Despite Salih (Alaih Assalaam)’s instructions and teaching, the proud and powerful people of Thamud still refused to listen to him. Instead of leaving the camel in peace to graze in the meadow, they did a very cruel thing: They cut the tendons on her legs. Thus they openly broke Allah’s command. Afterwards, they called Salih(Alaih Assalaam) and said: Now bring us the punishment of which you have been warning us, or we shall not believe that you are the Prophet of Allah. Salih (Alaih Assalaam)’s promise of disaster came true. After three days, there was a terrible earthquake and all the evil-doers perished. Such was their punishment because they did not obey Allah.

Top

Arabic Teacher
It's Important to Know Arabic
Dr. Mir Aneesuddin

It’s very tragic that most of us recite the Holy Quran, without understanding it. We offer Salat, reciting passages in Arabic which we do not mean, because again we do not understand what we say. In our worldly life, for nominal financial and social benefits, we take pains even in old age, to learn any language imposed on us. We spend hundreds and thousands of rupees on private tuitions for our children, to make them understand highly complicated subjects of Mathematics and Science, but when the problem of understanding the holy Quran is posed, we are indifferent. Are we not answerable for this indifferent attitude of ours? Yes! It is in response to this fear that this work-www.quran-st.net has been prepared so as to help the English knowing readers of the Holy Quran in learning basic important rules of grammer used in the Quran.

The Holy Quran contains 1800 and odd basic root words which have been repeated in a variety of grammatic forms. Some of these words convey more than one meaning. All these words add up to 2000 and odd. If one learns the meanings of these 2000 and odd words and the grammatic rules to use them correctly in framing sentences, then, Insha Allah, in due course of time, he may be able to understand nearly the whole of the Holy Quran without the help of any translation and he may also be able to offer his Salat knowing the meaning of every word he recites. Aren’t these great temptations to understand, memorise and digest this beautiful book?

For the amazing things you can find in this website if you wish to learn Arabic, log on to www.quran-st-net for more.

Top