Ilm Fruits

The lie of the scholar/monk to the boy falls under the three types of acceptable lies, a situation of war.

A beast blocked the path of the people. The boy said: “O Allah, if the monk is dearer to you, then kill the beast.” He threw the stone, hit the beast, and it died. (The people came to celebrate him as a great hero.)

Notice the natural inclination of the boy–to help the people. He’s attached to the people, he knew the truth, and wanted to help the people. Note also his bias towards the monk–when he made du’a, he asked about the monk. He didn’t say “O Allah, if the magician is more hated to you” or “O Allah, if the magician is more beloved to you”. He ties his love of Allah to his love of the monk. Subhanallah.

Fundamental Da’wah Technique: Make yourself likable to the recipient. In people’s minds, it’s almost impossible to seperate the caller from the message.
May Allah allow us to learn from these shining examples of iman.

Related Posts: The People of the Ditch (5): Humility with Arrogance

Ibrahim Hindy. “People of the Ditch.” UTM MSA. University of Toronto At Mississauga, Mississauga.

During the time of these people, they had a king who claimed he was Allah–similar to how Fir’aun, in the Qur’an, claims to be Allah.

There is no oppresser that maintains his power without magic.

Even today? you might ask.

Even today.

In the Qur’an, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

Translation: Moses said “Throw ye (first).” So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them: for they showed a great (feat of) magic (Surah Al-Araf, 7:116).¹

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: Some eloquent speech is as effective as magic.² This is because they change the internal worlds of people, they bewitch the mind of the people and strike terror in their hearts.

If you look at TV and the mass-media outlets of our society, and the anti-da’wah effect on the masses of people, you’ll find indisputable evidence. Are all Muslims not branded as terrorists? Doesn’t the news focus on negative events–murder, theft, terrorism? Modern-day magic.
Kings employ spies. Spies deceive the people and push them to submission of the king. But spies are the most pathetic of people–even more pathetic than the king. Why?

The king employs spies. From their efforts, he gains fame and power–the dunya. The spies torture people–the king pays them minimum wage to protect him and his interests. Spies never get the dunya (worldly life). And for their torture, they accrue massive amounts of sins, so they lose the akhira (afterlife).

There’s an Arabic proverb: “You have found the gift of Sinemar.” Sinemar was a superb engineer and architect. He built a palace for the king, then approached his king and said “I built this awesome palace for you. But there’s one stone in it, and only I know where it is–if I remove it, the whole palace crumbles to the ground. I’m protectecting it, aren’t I so cool?” So the king said “You’re the only one who knows where it is?” And the architect said “Yes.” So the king killed him. Why? He doesn’t care–he just protects his own interests.

Magicians are kuffar (disbelievers). The hadith of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) illustrates it clearly: “The punishment of the magician is two strikes of the sword.” The first, to kill him, the second to ensure his death.

In the hadith, the word used to describe the monk–rahib–indicates that this took place during the time of Prophet ‘Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him. The word rahib also indicates the monk was a scholar, a learned person.

When the boy arrived late at the Magician’s den (from his talk with the Monk), the magician beat him. And when the boy returned home late (from his talk with the Monk), his family beat him. He complained to the Monk, who said “If you fear a beating from your family, tell your family that the magician kept you late. And if you fear a beating from the magician, tell him your family kept you late.”

The Monk was a pious man, and one of the Muslims of the time. How, then, could he encourage a boy to lie?

Allahu ‘alim. Stay tuned and we’ll find out in part four inshaAllah :)

Related Posts: The People of the Ditch (4): The Boy and the Beast

(1) Pickthall, Muhammad M., trans. Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem: Parallel Arabic text with English Translation. One Ummah Network. 28 Dec. 2005 <http://www.oneummah.net/quran/quran.html>.

(2) “Chapter of Medicine.” Sahih Muslim. USC-MSA Hadith Database. 6 Jan. 2006 <http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/071.sbt.html#007.071.662>.

(3) Hindy, Ibrahim. “People of the Ditch.” UTM MSA. University of Toronto At Mississauga, Mississauga.

When the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) first claimed prophethood, Abu Dhar sent his brother to Mecca to investigate and see information he could turn up. His brother investigated and returned. He said (to the meaning of): “A person claims prophethood. The people call him a liar.” Abu Dhar said (to the meaning of): “that’s not enough information, I will go myself and find out more.” (Bear in mind this is a time and place where whole tribes convert or fight Islam whole-scale based on their leaders.) Abu Dhar (radiallahu ‘an) returned to Mecca. Back then, the ka’bah was a holy site. He figured the Prophet, whoever he was, would eventually end up there. So he lurked around, looking at people. But he didn’t know what the Prophet looked like, and he didn’t ask.

He lurked, and he lurked. And finally, he “felt a weakness towards the people”, and decided to ask the smallest person there–so he wouldn’t get beat up or anything. So he walks up to this small person and says, “Who is this person who claims to be a prophet?” and the guy shouted “asabi, asabi” (indicating that Abu Dhar was a supporter of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم)). So the people jumped him, and he lost conciousness.

When he awoke, he felt “like a red idol”–in the ka’bah, pools of blood around him, and his person covered with blood. That’s how intensely the people hated the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم)–here was a man who didn’t even support him, and they beat him into unconciousness. Subhanallah.

Related Posts: The People of the Ditch (3): Oppression, Magic, and the Monk

Ibrahim Hindy. “People of the Ditch.” UTM MSA. University of Toronto At Mississauga, Mississauga.

Expect several posts on tafseer and lessons from the story of the People of the Ditch, the background to Surah Burooj.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says in the Qur’an:

Translation: By the promised Day (of Judgment), by one that witnesses, and the subject of the witness: woe to the makers of the pit (of fire), fire supplied (abundantly) with fuel. Behold! they sat over against the (fire), and they witnessed (all) that they were doing against the Believers. And they ill-treated them for no other reason than that they believed in Allah, Al-Aziz (Exalted in Power), Al-Hameed (Worthy of all Praise)! (Surah Burooj, 85:2-8)¹

The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) narrated a long hadith about the People of the Ditch (Ahlil Ukhdhoodh):

Suhaib reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) thus said: There lived a king before you and he had a (court) magician. As he (the magician) grew old, he said to the king: I have grown old, send some young boy to me so that I should teach him magic. He (the king) sent to him a young man so that he should train him (in magic). And on his way (to the magician) he (the young man) found a monk sitting there. He (the young man) listened to his (the monk’s) talk and was impressed by it. It became his habit that on his way to the magician he met the monk and set there and he came to the magician (late). He (the magician) beat him because of delay. He made a complaint of that to the monk and he said to him: When you feel afraid of the magician, say: Members of my family had detained me. And when you feel afraid of your family you should say: The magician had detained me. It so happened that there came a huge beast (of prey) and it blocked the way of the people, and he (the young boy) said: I will come to know today whether the magician is superior or the monk is superior. He picked up a stone and said: O Allah, if the affair of the monk is dearer to Thee than the affair of the magician, cause death to this animal so that the people should be able to move about freely. He threw that stone towards it and killed it and the people began to move about (on the path freely). He (the young man) then came to that monk and Informed him and the monk said: Sonny, today you are superior to me. Your affair has come to a stage where I find that you would be soon put to a trial, and in case you are put to a trial don’t give my clue. That young man began to treat the blind and those suffering from leprosy and he in fact began to cure people from (all kinds) of illness. When a companion of the king who had gone blind heard about him, he came to him with numerous gifts and said: If you cure me all these things collected together here would be yours. Be said: I myself do not cure anyone. It is Allah Who cures and if you affirm faith in Allah, I shall also supplicate Allah to cure you.

He affirmed his faith in Allah and Allah cured him and he came to the king and sat by his side as he used to sit before. The king said to him: Who restored your eyesight? He said: My Lord. Thereupon he said: It means that your Lord is One besides me. He said: My Lord and your Lord is Allah, so he (the king) took hold of him and tormented him till he gave a clue of that boy. The young man was thus summoned and the king said to him: O boy, it has been conveyed to me that you have become so much proficient in your magic that you cure the blind and those suffering from leprosy and you do such and such things. Thereupon he said: I do not cure anyone; it is Allah Who cures, and he (the king) took hold of him and began to torment him. So he gave a clue of the monk. The monk was thus summoned and it was said to him: You should turn back from your religion. He, however, refused to do so. He (ordered) for a saw to be brought (and when it was done) he (the king) placed it in the middle of his head and tore it into parts till a part fell down. Then the courtier of the king was brought and it was said to him: Turn back from your religion. Arid he refused to do so, and the saw was placed in the midst of his head and it was torn till a part fell down. Then that young boy was brought and it was said to him: Turn back from your religion. He refused to do so and he was handed over to a group of his courtiers. And he ‘said to them: Take him to such and such mountain; make him climb up that mountain and when you reach its top (ask him to renounce his faith) but if he refuses to do so, then throw him (down the mountain). So they took him and made him climb up the mountain and he said: O Allah, save me from them (in any way) Thou likest and the mountain began to quake and they all fell down and that person came walking to the king. The king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them. He again handed him to some of his courtiers and said: Take him and carry him in a small boat and when you reach the middle of the ocean (ask him to renounce) his religion, but if he does not renounce his religion throw him (into the water).

So they took him and he said: O Allah, save me from them and what they want to do. It was quite soon that the boat turned over and they were drowned and he came walking to the king, and the king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them, and he said to the king: You cannot kill me until you do what I ask you to do. And he said: What is that? He said: You should gather people in a plain and hang me by the trunk (of a tree). Then take hold of an arrow from the quiver and say: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the worlds; then shoot an arrow and if you do that then you would be able to kill me. So he (the king) called the people in an open plain and tied him (the boy) to the trunk of a tree, then he took hold of an arrow from his quiver and then placed the arrow in the bow and then said: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the young boy; he then shot an arrow and it bit his temple. He (the boy) placed his hands upon the temple where the arrow had bit him and he died and the people said: We affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man, we affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man, we affirm our faith in the Lord of this young man. The courtiers came to the king and it was said to him: Do you see that Allah has actually done what you aimed at averting. They (the people) have affirmed their faith in the Lord. He (the king) commanded ditches to be dug at important points in the path. When these ditches were dug, and the fire was lit in them it was said (to the people): He who would not turn back from his (boy’s) religion would be thrown in the fire or it would be said to them to jump in that. (The people courted death but did not renounce religion) till a woman came with her child and she felt hesitant in jumping into the fire and the child said to her: 0 mother, endure (this ordeal) for it is the Truth.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 42, Hadith 7148)².

Related Posts: The People of the Ditch (2): The Hatred of the Quraish

All posts in this series:

• The People of the Ditch (1): Introduction
• The People of the Ditch (2): The Hatred of the Quraish
• The People of the Ditch (3): Oppression, Magic, and the Monk
• The People of the Ditch (4): The Boy and the Beast
• The People of the Ditch (5): Humility with Arrogance
• The People of the Ditch (6): Allah Tests Truth-Bearers
• The People of the Ditch (7): The People Most Tested
• The People of the Ditch (8): The Power of Words
• The People of the Ditch (9): Honouring vs. Prophetic Miracles
• The People of the Ditch (10): Kings Suck
• The People of the Ditch (11): Torture and Flattery
• The People of the Ditch (12): Sincerity of Du’a
• The People of the Ditch (13): Your Purpose on Earth
• The People of the Ditch (14): Belief
• The People of the Ditch (15): Tests and Purification

(1) Pickthall, Muhammad M., trans. Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem: Parallel Arabic text with English Translation. One Ummah Network. 28 Dec. 2005 <http://www.oneummah.net/quran/quran.html>.

(2) “Chapter 18: The Story of the People of the Ditch, the Magician, the Monk, and the Slave.” Sahih Muslim. USC-MSA Hadith Database. 6 Jan. 2006 <http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/muslim/042.smt.html#042.7148>.

(3)Ibrahim Hindy. “People of the Ditch.” UTM MSA. University of Toronto At Mississauga, Mississauga.