The Adhan’s Story

Adhaan’s Story
• In this year (the first year) the Muslims started calling the Adhaan.
• `Abdullaah bin Zayd had a dream which initiated the Adhaan.
• When the Ansaar became settled and the Islamic Ruling became the order, the Muslims started praying and people used to gather at the prayers’ times without any invitation.
• The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, was interested in putting something to let people know about the prayer’s time. The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, did not like the flag or the horn after they were mentioned to him.
• It was narrated that the bell was mentioned and then it was molded to be used. Meanwhile, `Abdullaah bin Zayd saw a rightful dream. He saw that a man wearing two green dresses carrying a bell passed by him.
– `Abdullah said: do you sell this bell?
– The man said: what would you do with it?
– `Abdullaah said: we call for the prayer.
– The man said: let me tell you about what is better than this bell.
– `Abdullaah said: what would that be?
– The man said: you say Allaahu Akbar Allaahu Akbar … to the end of the Adhaan. Then the man went backward, but not far.
– The man then said: When you are ready to pray you say Allaahu Akbar … to the end of the expressions of the Iqaamah.
• So `Abdullah told the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, about this dream.
• The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, said:
إِنَّ هَذِهِ لَرُؤْيَا حَقٍّ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ فَقُمْ مَعَ بِلَالٍ فَأَلْقِ عَلَيْهِ فَإِنَّهُ أَنْدَى مِنْكَ صَوْتًا
This is a rightful dream by the Will of Allah. Go with Bilal and tell him about it as his voice is more flowing than yours. (Imam Abu Daawood, Imamut Tirmidhهyy, Imam Ibn Maajah, Imam Ahmad, Ibn Khuzaymah and Imamul Bayhaqiyy in Sunan)
So he did.
• When `Umar heard the Adhaan, he came out of his house dragging his clothes saying:
By the One Who sent you with the truth, I saw like what he saw.
• The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, said:
Thanks are to Allah.​​للهِ الحَمْد

Islamic Law and Our Approach

It might be said:

Follow Islamic Law

Muslims consider the Islamic Law as God’s Law that Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, fulfilled the message which Allah assigned him to complete, which is to convey this Law to the Nation. This Law is a cause for the Muslims to be prosperous in this life and the Hereafter.

It is not, neither reasonable nor Islamically permissible, for a Muslim in normal circumstances (i.e., excluding the threat of one being killed) to replace some of the rules of this Law; this is not to mention the replacement of all the rules. The Muslim must not accept a substitute for this Law in any circumstances. This Law is beneficial to straighten the Muslim Nation’s feebleness and fix its affairs during whatever time period and in whatever place the issue occurs.

Such a situation is completely different than the secular laws. In this case, these laws serve some during some time periods in some places; however, they will not be suitable to serve in other time periods and other places.

Human Intellect

The human intellect is far from encompassing all the benefits suitable to the Muslim Nation during different time periods and in different places. How would it then institute a law as such? The human intellect which legislates the law today will abolish it tomorrow. Allah, the Glorified, has Knowlege by which He encompasses everything. His Law, according to the Muslim, encompasses the beneficial affairs for his servants in every time period and place.

Secular Laws

Those who try to bring Islamic Laws closer to non-Islamic laws and twist them according to these man-made and secular laws have a sick heart and sinful intellect. They will not reap other than destruction, degradation, and debasement; while they claim to seek reform and progress. Those who chose their intellect over Allah’s Knowledge and Law are not attached to Islam one bit. Similarly, this is the case of those who are annoyed by the Islamic Law when they count this Law unsuitable for the current time period in which they live.

Fear Allah

Let those who follow the way of the secular groups and follow a false approach for understanding Islam fear Allah and repent. This is manifested by them following their own mind for:

• Interpreting and commenting on the Qur’an without Islamic Knowledge
• Determining the times of prayers, the Day ^Eid, and direction of Qiblah following calculations and not the Islamic Law and proper sighting
• eating non-slaughtered meat
• selling unlawful items like pig meat, alcoholic drinks, and lottery tickets
• selling quick food and drinks to people (Muslims and non-Muslims) to consume during Ramadan’s fasting days
• giving Zakah money to invalid recipients of Zakah

Let them take note, repent to Allah and seek the Prophet’s Way, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, the Companions’ Way and the Madhaahib’s Way.

Qur’an

Suratan-Nisa‘, verse 65 was revealed when az-Zubayr and one person from the Ansar disputed about water used for irrigation of a garden. The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said to az-Zubayr:  “Water your land then let the water run to your neighbor’s land.” The Ansari person said: “I see that you favored your maternal cousin.”

Here, the Prophet’s face changed color out of anger at this man. Then he, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said to az-Zubayr:  “Water your land, then hold the water until it reaches the walls.” (Narrated by Imam Al-Bukhariyy and Imam Muslim.) [By that the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, gave az-Zubayr what he deserves and is entitled to.]

Any person accuses the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, of issuing an unjust ruling is a blasphemer. However, the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, recognized the person’s slip and did not punish him and was patient for his fall, but that is only for the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. Otherwise, if a person dislikes the ruling of Islam, slanders it, or rejects it, one falls in blasphemy and is asked to utter the Shahadah to go back to Islam [while leaving off in his heart or by saying, that belittlement or rejection of the Islamic Law] or is punished by death if one refuses.

Allah swears in this verse that none is a believer unless he/she accepts the Prophet’s ruling in all matters. Whatever the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, rules, it is the truth, one has to submit to it outwardly and inwardly. When the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, rules others have to obey and they would not find any hardship within themselves or in front of others to accept what the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, has ruled. They submit to it and totally accept it without objection, dispute or opposition.

Hadith

The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said:

<<By the One Who controls my soul, one will not reach the full Iman (full commitment to applying Islam) except when one’s inclination is consistent with what I conveyed (i.e., what the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, conveyed).>>

King Noorud Deenush Shaheed

The great, righteous waliyy King Noorud Deenush Shaheed took over the Muslim states which were in an extremely bad shape in all state’s areas. The King’s wise ministers suggested to him to punish the criminals by tough laws even before the judges issue their verdicts which convict the criminals.

The King addressed them and said: “Never would I punish someone with a crime that was not confirmed by the Islamic Way. Never would I be lenient in punishing a criminal whose crime was confirmed by the Islamic Law. Had I accepted to follow your advice, I would be like those who favor their mind over Allah’s Knowledge. Had the Islamic Law been not sufficient to reform the people’s affairs, Allah would not have sent his Final Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam.”

Those who gave the bad advice cried when they read what the King has written in the letter they submitted to him. They repented for what they had suggested.

The King started managing the kingdom’s affairs according to the Laws of Islam and the states became straight and corruption faded away in a short period of time. These places became so safe that no one would attack travellers on the road spanning from one side of the state to the other, even if they were carrying precious jewels and stones or even if the traveller was a woman.

Books of history are full of the important reforms that this King produced and implemented. He pushed away the Crusaders from Ash-Sham and Egypt by preparing armies to defend these lands under the command of one of his army leaders.

Historical Proofs

The Islamic Law’s rulings have countless hidden secrets which will never expire in producing reforms. They are unlike the judgments of the wrong intellects. There are many examples of Muslim states which none of them became prosperous and successful except when Muslims abided by the rules of Islamic Law. They did not become miserable and failed states except by neglecting the rules of Islam.

• Imam ^Aliyy said:
  • “When people leave out an affair of their Religion, Islam, to reform their worldly matters, Allah makes them indulged in what is worse than that.”

This is a historical fact that is witnessed during different historical intervals:

• Once poet said to the Caliph ^Abdul-Malik bin Marwan:
  • “When you patch our world by tearing out our Religion, then our Religion will not remain safe and what we patched will not last.”

This doing is like the doing of one who tears out one’s pants covering one’s nakedness for the sake of covering one’s head.

May Allah keep us guided and not neglecting the Islamic Law and its proper approach.

 

~~This lesson is from one of our esteemed teachers, Shaykh Abu Muhammad. I do not take or assume credit for writing this. And Allah Knows best.

 

What are miracles?

The way to know if someone’s claim to be a Prophet is truthful is the miracle. The word “miracle”, when used in English, has a broader usage than in Arabic.

“Mu’jizah” (the word for miracle) is derived from “a’jizah” which means to incapacitate someone. Because the Qur’an was revealed as i’jaz, as something that disables others, it incapacitates others, it is called mu’jizah. The miracle is something extraordinary, something “supernatural”. It does not follow the normal course of nature. This thing occurs only at the hands of a man who claims Prophethood. This supernatural act supports his claim. What he says will take place, will take place.

The miracle is in the Prophet’s favor, not against him. If he tells a person is blind in one eye to go to a place and drink from that water and your sight will be restored, but instead when that person goes to the place and drinks, his sight does not return and in fact, he loses sight in the other eye, this is not normal.  It was an occurrence that was not in his favor. It did not support the claim that that man said he was a Prophet. Rather, it opposes it.

This extraordinary act that pierces the norm–the natural course of things–would be in his favor.  Anyone who would oppose him–the one claiming Prophethood—would not be able to come up with something more amazing than what this person did. The opposer would not be able to do the same thing that the Prophet did. An opposer could not truthfully say that “I can do the same, so your claim doesn’t prove you are sent by God.”

This supernatural act says that those who oppose him cannot do the same or greater than that. For example, Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, when he stood in front of the Pharaoh and ordered the Pharaoh to believe in Allah, the One Who created the heavens and the earth, and the Pharaoh asked for evidence that if you are really truthful in your claim then prove it. Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, cast his staff to the ground and it turned into a serpent. The Pharaoh said: “This is magic.” He said ‘I will challenge you. I will bring the top magicians of my land, and they will challenge and expose you.”  They agreed on a date in which they would face off. Forty magicians came. They told Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, ‘You go first. Or if you want, we’ll go first.’ Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, warned them not to do it. He told them ‘if you do it, you will face the severe punishment from Allah.’

Sorcery/magic is real, not talking about quick parlor tricks. One type of sorcery is optical illusions that affect the people that they think something is there that in reality is not there. These sorcerers were experts in their field. They threw ropes and they appeared they were snakes. But when Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, threw his staff, and it swallowed the snakes that were really ropes on the ground. When they saw that, they knew that what they witnessed was not sorcery. They knew the one who did that must have the support of the Creator. It is as if Allah revealed to them Himself saying that this person is a Messenger of mine, so believe in him. As if when the person witnesses the miracle themselves, it is as if Allah revealed to them that this slave of mine is truthful, so believe in him. One cannot push that away. Just as one cannot push away or deny the whiteness of the wall. Or the blueness of the sky. The one who witnesses the miracle with their eyes cannot deny that this person is not false, that he is legitimate.

These magicians embraced Islam, and left their blasphemy. They could not do the same thing that Prophet Musa, peace be upon him, did.

The miracles of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ are well known, and undisputed. The greatest miracle of the Prophet ﷺ is the Qur’an. Miracles do not usually last for long periods of time. They take place and then they are finished. However, this miracle of the Prophet ﷺ  remains among the tens of thousands that he had. It is an extraordinary matter. It complies with his claim. No one who opposes this Prophet ﷺ can do the same or greater.

The Arabs of Makkah sacrificed their own lives, money, reputations, their own children to fight Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. They were given a challenge that if this man is really false then bring something to dispute him. Bring something that is similar to even the shortest chapter of the Qur’an. It was said in the Qur’an that they cannot, and are never able to do so. This is a miracle. The shortest chapter of the Qur’an is three verses. After all these years, not one of the so-called intellectuals can bring something that is similar to these three lines in the Qur’an. What prevents them from believing in the Prophet ﷺ and following him? An illness in their hearts. Stubbornness. They do not want to admit that an Arab from the tribe of Quraysh is better than them. They want to hold on to their wickedness.

We ask Allah to guide those people in our lives who are not Muslim.

((This is a transcript of a beautiful lesson, and not authored by me.))

A lesson about Prophets

The following lesson was given by one of our teachers at AICP Philadelphia on Saturday, 6/17/18.

In sha’ Allah, we will benefit.

It was said:

A Prophet is a male human being. Females are not prophets. The mother of Musa was not a Prophet. Hawa, the wife of Adam was not a Prophet. Nor was Maryam the mother of ^Isa’. These three women were highly righteous Muslims (waliyyahs), upon whom Allah endowed merits that he did not endow upon others. Allah gave them extraordinary matters (karamat). And Allah gave them ilham (inspiration). Ilham is something that Allah puts into the heart of the person without them seeking it, without them even thinking about it. Allah throws into their hearts this inspiration, but it is not the same as revelation.

Allah sent an angel to the mother of ^Isa to deliver a message. This would not be revelation that makes a woman a Prophet. When the mother of Musa was inspired by Allah to put Musa in a basked, this is not revelation.

Prophets are only males. Prophets are only human beings. This, therefore, excludes the angels. Angel Jibril is an honorable messenger. Some of the angels are Messengers, but not Prophets. The term “nabiyy” or “nabuwwa” (plural) is specific to male human beings to whom Allah has sent revelation.

The revelation that the Prophet received was by Allah sending Jibril to this male human being or Allah reveals directly to the Prophet. This Prophet would either come with new laws (shari’a), or he may be sent revelation with the old laws from the Prophet before him. The one before him, who received new laws would have been a Prophet who is also a Messenger among the human beings.

For example, Sulayman was a Prophet. He was a nabi among the Prophets of Allah. What he received that was revealed to him by Allah–the laws, prohibitions and obligations, what was ordered not to do but is not sinful (that which does not come with a threat of punishment). Sulayman followed the Religious law revealed to Musa. The laws revealed to Sulayman were not new religious laws. This is the difference between a Prophet and a Messenger.

in some religious books, it is mentioned that the difference is that the rasuul (the Messenger) was sent a book. There is no harm in this definition. In other books authored by Muslim scholars, it mentions that the difference between the Messenger (rasuul) and the Prophet (nabiyy( is that the Prophet recieves new relugious laws but is not ordered to convey those laws to the people and this is an absolute mistake. Even if we find it in the books of some scholars, it is not correct.

In the past, there were the people whose religion was all the same. Adam the first Prophet and Messenger, his religion was Islam. The religion of his immediate grandchildren was also the religion of Islam. All the human beings remained on one religion until after the death of Prophet Idris (the third Prophet), peace be upon him. Then blasphemy appeared on the Earth. Before that, the people had one religion, Islam.

Allah sent Prophets who are males, human beings who receive revelation from Allah. They are conveyors of glad tidings: the good news of Paradise.  There is no way for us to know that Paradise exists except by the conveyance of a Prophet. If we use our minds in a rationally sound way, there is no way for us to reach to the conclusion that there is a place that there is enjoyment that is everlasting. There is a place where there is light and no darkness. There is a place where there is youth and no old age. There is a place where there is health and no sickness. There is a place where there is happiness and no sadness. These things are not fluctuating between each. In this life, one might be happy, but his happiness would be followed by sadness. and his sadness followed by happiness. Health may be followed by sickness. Sometimes you are up sometimes you are down. If one sat and thought there is no way that they would be able to confirm absolutely without any doubt that there is such a place where there is only goodness, there is not even annoyance. In this life when someone makes a noise that is bothersome, but not harming, this may annoy the person. But in Paradise, there is none of this.

This good news is not for everyone, it is for those who obeyed the commands of their lord, those who worship God and abide by his religious law. The Prophets are also heralds of good news and warners of the threat of Allah. Their job is to convey, not to withhold. This is mentioned in the Qur’an. So we know if we found in a book that Prophets that are not messengers withhold what Allah revealed to them, this is not correct. This is contrary to what is in the Qur’an, and contrary to their job, which is to convey to the People.

The first of the Prophets was Adam. He was the first human being. Allah created Adam from clay. Adam was created as a man, not from the evolution of apes. Darwin was just a theory.  Even in the principles of western science, theories are not to be taken as fact or reality. What Darwin said was a theory, not a fact. As Muslims have always said, it was a false correlation, and could not be proven.

The last of the Prophets was Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

 

Advice on Studying and Learning

📕📒📗Advice on studying and learning:

Imam Al-Mawardiyy said in his book Adabud-dunya wad-din:

“It was said that the one who does not study at length and does not toil will not obtain knowledge. Studying for a long time is toil with which no one will be patient except the one who regards knowledge as gain and ignorance as loss. One will bear with the labor of studying to achieve the relaxation of knowledge and to negate of oneself the disgrace of ignorance. Verily, the achievement of a great matter is done through a great matter. Seeking is proportional to desire. Toil will be in accordance with the (sought) relaxation.”

t.me/lionsofthedeen

A Pious Worshipper

It was said:

A man worshipped in his hut for 70 years. He did not come out, except for one day. The devil tempted him with a woman, and he was with her for seven nights. Then he threw his cover from himself and left repentant. With every step he would pray and prostrate.

Nightfall brought him to a place of twelve poor people (masākīn). He was exhausted and threw himself between two of them. There was a monk who used to send bread to them each night, for every man a loaf. The deliverer came and gave the loaves. One man said: “I did not get a loaf!” The deliverer said: “Do you think I withheld from you? Ask if I gave anyone two loaves!” They all said no. The deliverer said: “Do you think I withheld from you? I won’t give you anything tonight!” The repentant man gave him the loaf, and he was found dead in the morning.

His seventy years will be weighed against those seven nights, and the seven nights will be heavier, and his loaf will be weighed against the seven nights and it will be heavier.♥

Fatimah Bint Muhammad

FATIMAH BINT MUHAMMAD

Lady Fatimah was the youngest daughter of Prophet Muhammad and Lady Khadijah. She married Muhammad’s cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, and was the mother of the grandsons of the Prophet Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn. She was born a few years before the revelation.

Lady Fatimah had zeal for the defense of what is sacred and love of the righteous was ingrained in her. She would stand to shield her father from the attacks of men like Abu Jahl, ^Utbah and Shaybah. Once when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was praying in the area near the Ka’bah, Abu Jahl encouraged ^Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’it to put the innards of a camel on the back of the Prophet. Fatimah, as a young child, was brave and took that filth off of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with her own hands.

Once Fatimah passed by Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, and he slapped her across the face for no reason. She complained to Abu Sufyan, who took her back to Abu Jahl and told her to slap him back in the same way. When she went home and told her father, he made du’a for Abu Sufyan to become a Muslim, which he did after some time later.

When Lady Fatimah was 18, well-known companions started asking for her hand in marriage, but the Prophet ﷺ said he was waiting for a sign from Allah. One day ^Ali ibn Abi Talib came to the Prophet ﷺ wanting to propose marriage, but was too shy. When Muhammad ﷺ realized what he wanted, he asked him, to which ^Ali said, yes, that is what he had come to ask. The Prophet ﷺ asked Fatimah, and she started weeping softly. The Prophet told her that ^Ali was knowledgable, brave and kind. Fatimah accepted. ^Ali did not have riches to offer for dowry, so Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told him to use his shield for dowry. So ^Ali sold it at the market and got 400 dirhams to use for his marriage to Fatimah.

Some of the basic things that had been purchased for their home were narrated as: a bed, pillow filled with dried date palm leaves, a plate, a glass, a water bag, and a grinding stone. Originally, their home was a slight distance away from where the Prophet lived at the Masjid in Al-Madinah, and he ﷺ wished she was closer, to be able to see her every day. One of the companions heard of this and offered a house closer for Fatimah and Ali to live in.

Lady Fatimah had been physically affected by the exile of the Muslims to the desert, those years ago. Once after a battle, when the spoils and prisoners of war were coming back into Madinah, Ali suggested that she ask her father for a servant to help. When she went to his home, he wasn’t there, but she left a message with Aishah.

Then before going to sleep, her father came to visit her. It was said that after asking to enter, he sat between ^Ali and Fatimah,  so close that she felt the coolness of his feet against her. He told her that he would give her something much better than a servant. He told her before sleeping say: “Subhanallah” 33 times, “Alhamdulillah” 33 times, and “Allahu Akbar” 34 times. This would be better for her than any slavegirl.

Fatimah was a pious, patient, and grateful slave of Allah. She would attend the battles and help the wounded. When her own father was wounded at the battle of Uhud, she burnt a part of a straw mat and used its ashes to stop the bleeding.

Lady Aishah said that Fatimah had a strong resemblance to her father in her looks, and also her mannerisms.

Lastly, about the children from whom the descendants of the Prophet come. Fatimah and Ali’s first son was born the 3^rd year after Hijrah. Prophet Muhammad named him Al-Hasan, and recited the adhan for him. In the 4^th year, Al-Husayn was born. In the 5^th year, Zaynab  and in the 7^th year Umm Kulthum.

Lady Khadijah

This post is a small glimpse at the life of Lady Khadijah, the first wife of Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. These parts were put together to pique our thoughts. Often we hear stories from the Prophet, or the Companions, or the Pious Muslims, and that’s all we do. Hear them. Read them. I invite you to read any of the stories to reflect a bit, and comment with that insight, so that we all can appreciate them more.

Thereafter, it was said:

Lady Khadijah was so honored, that at one time Angel Jibril said to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ “O Messenger of Allah! This is Khadijah, coming to you with a dish having food. When she reaches you, greet her on behalf of her Lord (Allah), and on my behalf, and give her the glad tidings of having a palace made of Bamboo in Paradise—wherein there will neither be (excess) noise nor toil (fatigue).” (related by Al-Bukhariyy)

She was the first person to have faith in the message of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, along with this special distinction mentioned in this hadith.

She was born in Makkah in the year 556 CE, to Fatimah bin Zayd and Khuwaylid bin Asad. Khadijah inherited wealth from her father when he died, who had been a successful businessman. She was married before Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to a man named Malak bin Nabash, who she had two children with: Halah and Hind. After he died, she married ^Atique ibn ^Aith, but this marriage did not work out. Then she concentrated her efforts on raising her children and building her trade business.

Her business depended on her employment of hard-working, dependable managers who would take her goods to areas like Ash-Sham, then bring back the good and profits so she could sell them at home in Makkah.

News reached her about the honesty and integrity of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. She offered him work and he was sent to the area of Ash-Sham with her trusted servant Maysarah to accompany him.

Maysarah saw many good things happen with the Prophet while they were there, and he reported these to Lady Khadijah. Also, the profits that he returned with were more than the others who were sent. She was impressed.

Word reached Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that Lady Khadijah would be interested in accepting a marriage proposal from him, so he and his uncle went to her gaurdian and did so, and they got married. He was 25 and she was 40.

Even though she was at an age where usually women stop having children, she bore 6 children for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ,   two boys and four girls. The sons’ names were Al-Qasim and ^Abdullah, and the daughters’ names were: Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah. Sadly, both of the boys died at a young age.

After receiving the Revelation for the first time, Muhammad ﷺ came home and went to Khadijah for comfort. Khadijah was loyal and serene, giving him comfort and telling him that “surely, Allah would protect him from any danger, and would never allow anyone to revile him, as he was a man of peace and always treated others well, including his family.”

She then took him to meet her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who was a monk. Waraqah affirmed, that indeed he was a Prophet of Allah.

Lady Khadijah was an ideal wife and mother. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ lived in her house, which had become a blessed place because of his presence and the fact that Jibril came to visit often with revelations. Her house became the center of Islam, where all the Companions, male and female, visited often to partake of the hospitality of him and his wife. (note: the site of her house is today a masjid) Even before the obligation of Prayer was revealed to the Prophet, she used to pray 2 rak^ahs in the morning and 2 in the evening with the Prophet there.

When the ugly idol worshipers of Makkah saw the religion of Islam spreading among the people, they forced the Muslims and any of their supporters into exile outside of the city of Makkah, in the harsh conditions of the desert for three years. This happened in the seventh year of Prophethood. Innocent children starved, and many people survived by eating the leaves of trees. In all this, Lady Khadijah—the one who had been brought up on luxury in her father’s home—and the other Muslims stayed firm in their belief despite their suffering.

Towards the end of this time, this suffering took a toll on Lady Khadijah and she died three years before the hijrah. She was 65 years old when she died. When she was in the throes of death, Prophet Muhammad consoled her by saying that Allah had so ordained it and that the thing she was dreading would prove favorable for her. Her eyes lit up and as she looked at her beloved husband, her soul left its earthly body. Prophet Muhammad was heartbroken by the loss of his dedicated friend and wife, who had stood by him during the most difficult time in his life.

One of the ladies of the Quraysh, Khawlah bint Hakim visited him to console him, and saw him sad and remarked on it that it was normal for him to feel like that at the loss of such a wonderful woman. It was narrated whenever a gift was brought to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, he would send it immediately to some lady who had been a friend of Khadijah. Lady A^ishah, who was later also a beloved wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, said that whenever an animal was slaughtered, the Prophet ﷺ would send some meat to Khadijah’s friends. When A^ishah remarked about it, he said: “I have great regard for her friends, because she has a special place in my heart.” A^ishah said she never experienced such a feeling of natural jealousy for any other wife of the Prophet like she did for Khadijah.

Even after the death of Khadijah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spoke of her at great length, praised her qualities, and asked forgiveness for her. Lady Aishah said one day her natural jealousy overtook her and she said something disparaging in terms of Khadijah, wondering why the Prophet missed her when he was blessed with a better, younger wife. This displeased him, but he was patient and answered: “I have not yet found a better wife than her. She had faith in me when everyone, even members of my own family and tribe did not believe me, and accepted that I was truly a Prophet and Messenger of Allah. She converted to Islam, spent all her wealth and worldly goods to help me spread this faith, and this too, at a time when the entire world seemed to have turned against me and persecuted me. It is through her that Allah blessed me with children.”

When Prophet Muhammad opened Makkah, he took the flag of the Muslims and planted it at her grave as a sign of respect for her.