Introduction

The History of Islam (Votume One)

The History of Islam (Volume One) By Akbar Shah Najeebabadi Revised by Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri Edited by Abdul Rahman Abdullah Formerly Raymond J. Manderola Fordham University, USA and Muhammad Tahir Salafi 100. DARUS5ALAM Darussalam Int'l Publishers & Distributors Riyadh, Houston, New York, Lahore, Dhaka

In The Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

Publishers Note We are presenting before you the History of Islam in three volumes. This book was originally written in the Urdu language in 1922 (1343 AH) by Akbar Shah Khan Najeebabadi. This was the time about 25 years before the partition of Indian Subcontinent into Pakistan and India. For the purpose of brevity, the compiler has presented the authentic events in concise form from the famous histories of Islam written in the Arabic and Persian languages by the great Muslim historians like Tabari, lbn Athir, Mas'udi, Abul-Fida', lbn Khaldfm and Suyuti, apart from getting benefited from the authentic books of Ahadith for the compilation of the part about the biography of the Prophet Muhammad gj&. So, this compilation is actually the extract of the works of the famous Muslim historians. Although Islam, the religion of Allah, has been sent from the beginning with Adam ~ I, the father of man, but it is recognized as the religion which our Prophet Muhammad gJ& brought to the mankind. So, this compilation has the mention of our Prophet gJ& in the start. After that, useful information has been added about history, its beginning and its benefits, and some mention of the best possible ruling system for mankind has been presented which Islam advocates. Then the book takes its course of history from the conditions The History of Islam prevalent in Arabia before Islam, and moves forward to the Prophet's life history, the Rightly-Guided Caliphate and then to the other caliphates and kingdoms after it. This book was the need of the time to present the true Islamic events and their actual causes before the English readers because other books in English found on the Islamic history have been written by such authors and compilers who did no justice in presenting the true picture of Islamic Era but their prejudice prevented them from doing so. We hope that the readers will find this compilation of great help in the study of Islamic history. The famous scholar Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri has revised the Urdu edition before its translation to check the authenticity aspect. The translation was done by the Translation Department of Darussalam, and every care has been taken to reproduce the events and the names of the persons and places as accurately as possible. We lhank all the persons who have cooperated with us to complete this task and produce it before you into a presentable form. May Allah accept our humble efforts in this regard and send His peace and blessings on our Prophet Muhammad, his Companions and his followers.-Amin! Abdul Malik Mujahid General Manager Darussalam

Table of Contents Publishers Note .......................................... .. ......................... .. .. ........ ........... 5 Foreword .............................................. .-.... ................................................. 20 There is no Cod except Allah ........................................ .. ................ ... 20 Muhammad ,~. is the Messenger of Allah ................. ........................ 21 Magnificent Deeds of the Muslims .............................. ....................... 24 The Nature and Facts about Islamic History ....................... ............. 27 Introduction ......................................................................................... ....... 29 History .................................................................................................... 29 Need of History ..................................................................................... 30 Benefits of History ................................................................................ 30 Preservation of Martial Characters through History ................. 31 History and Family Virtues ................................................ ........... 31 Historian ................................................................................................ 32 Readers of History .............. ...................... .. .. ........................................ 33 Sources of History .......... .............................................................. .. ....... 34 Types of History ............... .. ................................................................... 34 Historical Ages ........... ................................. .......................................... 35 Islamic History .................................................................................... .. 36 History of Histories ................ .. ............................................................ 36 Beginning of History ................................ .. ...................... .. .. ............... 37 The History of Islam Real Beginning of History .................................................................... 37 History of Sultanate .............................................................................. 38 Personality and Democracy ................................................................ .40 Democratic Rule ..................................................................................... 42 Autocratic Hereditary Rule .................................................................. 44 Autocratic Democratic Rule ................................................................. 46 Our Starting Point ................................................................................. 48 Relation between History and Geography ........................................ 49 Chapter -1 The Country of Arabia ............................................................................... 51 Situation and Physical Features .......................................................... 52 Climate and Inhabitants ....................................................................... 53 Ancient Peoples of Arabia ......................................................................... 53 Arab Ba'idah ............................................................................................. 54 Arab 'Aribah ............................................................................................. 55 Arab Musta'ribah ..................................................................................... 57 Adnan Tribes .......................................................................................... 61 How Abdul-Muttalib was named ....................................................... 62 Family of Abd Manaf ............................................................................ 63 Moral Condition of Arabia ........................................................................ 63 Assertions of Dignity ............................................................................ 65 Months of Peace ..................................................................................... 67 Faith and Religion ................................................................................. 67 Idolatry .............................................................................................. 68 Sacrifice ............................................................................................. 69 Star-W ors hipping ............................................................................. 69 Soothsaying ....................................................................................... 70 Omens ................................................................................................ 70 Fighting ................................................................................................... 70 Illicit Sex .................. , ............................................................................... 71 Poetry ...................................................................................................... 72 Passion for Hunting .............................................................................. 72 Food and Clothes ................................................................................... 73 Plunder .............................................................................................. , ..... 73 Conceit .................................................................................................... 74 Unending Malice ................................................................................... 74 Mourning the Dead ............................................................................... 7 4

Table of Contents Superstition and Credulity ................................................................... 75 Killing of Daughters .............................................................................. 76 Gambling ................................................................................................ 77 Arabian Ignorance and Other Countries ................................................. 77 Persia (Iran) ............................................................................................ 78 Greece and Rome ................................................................................... 79 Depravity of the Christians .................................................................. 81 Egypt ....................................................................................................... 81 India ....................................................................................................... 82 China ....................................................................................................... 83 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 83 The Choice of Arabia .................................................................................. 85 Chapter - 2 Prophet Muhammad ~ .............................................................................. 87 The Dawn of Guidance ............................................................................... 87 The Sacrifice of Abdullah bin Abdul-Muttalib ....................................... 89 The Father of Muhammad :i; .................................................................... 91 The Birth of the Prophet :i ........................................................................ 93 Childhood Days .......................................................................................... 94 Death of Abdul-Muttalib .......................................................................... 95 Support of Abu Talib .................................................................................. 95 First Journey to Syria .................................................................................. 96 Harb Al-Fijar, First Participation in Battle ................................................ 96 Trade ............................................................................................................ 97 Offer of Khadijah ~ .................................................................................... 98 Second Journey to Syria ............................................................................. 98 Marriage ....................................................................................................... 99 Titles of Sadiq & Al-Amin (Truthful & the Trusty) .................................. 99 Renewal of Hilf-ul-Fudu/ ............................................................................. 99 Appointed as Arbitrator by the Quraish ............................................... 101 Support for the Poor ................................................................................. 102 His Love for Zaid bin Harithah ............................................................... 103 Inclined to Allah ........................................................................................ 104 Sunrise ........................................................................................................ 104 Historic Words of Khadijah ~ ................................................................ 105 Preaching of Islam ..................................................................................... 106 Proclamation of Truth from Mount of Safa ........................................... 107 The History of Islam Open endeavor to preach ......................................................................... 108 First Educational Institution .................................................................... 109 Antagonism of the Quraish ..................................................................... 109 Insulting Behavior to the Prophet :I ..................................................... I IO An Offer of all earthly Desires and a Plain Reply ................................ 111 Deputation of the Quraish to Abu Talib ................................................ 112 Migration to Abyssinia ............................................................................. 113 Quraish's demand from the King of Abyssinia .................................... 115 The Beautiful Speech of Ja'far bin Abu Talib~ ................................. 115 Hamzah ~ accepts Islam ........................................................................ 116 Umar bin Khattab' s conversion to Islam ............................................... 117 Social Boycott ..................................... , ....................................................... 120 The Year of Sorrow (The Tenth Year of Prophethood) ........................ 122 The Journey to Ta'if .................................................................................. 124 Obstinate Behavior of the People of Ta'if ........................................ 124 Back to Makkah ................................................................................... 125 Marriage with 'A.ishah lt,, and Mi'raj ................................................... 127 Preaching Islam in Different Places and Tribes .................................... 127 Suwaid bin Samit ...................................................................................... 128 Iyas bin Mu'adh ~ .................................................................................... 128 Dimad Azdi. ............................................................................................... 129 Tufail bin Amr Dausi ~ ........................................................................... 129 Abu Dhar Ghifari ~ ................................................................................. 130 Six Fortunate Souls of Yathrib ................................................................. 131 First Pledge of Aqabah ............................................................................. 132 Success of Mus'ab bin Umair ~ in Al-Madinah .................................. 133 Second Pledge of Aqabah ........................................................................ 134 General Permission to migrate to Al-Madinah ..................................... 137 Holding Counsel by the Quraish in Dar An-Nadwah ......................... 138 Making Preparations for the Journey ...................... : .............................. 139 The Sun and the Moon in the Cave of Mount Thaur ........................... 141 Migration .................................................................................................... 143 End of the Journey .................................................................................... 145 Entry into Al-Madinah ............................................................................. 147 Calendar Year ............................................................................................ 149 First Year of Migration ............................................................................. 149 First Political Document ..................................................................... 152

Table of Contents Beginning of Hypocrisy ...................................................................... 153 The Second Year of Migration ................................................................. 154 The Battle of Badr ................................................................................ 156 Lack of Means ................................................................................. 157 Beginning of War ........................................................................... 159 General Treatment of the Prisoners ............................................. 163 The Issue of the Captives .............................................................. 163 Revengeful Enthusiasm of the Makkan Infidels ............................. 164 The Third Year of Migration .................................................................... 166 Hostile Attitude of the Jews ............................................................... 166 The Jewish Tribe - Banu Qainuqa' .................................................... 168 The Battle of Uhud, 3 AH ................................................................... 169 Mischief of the Hypocrites ............................................................ 171 The Battle starts .............................................................................. 173 Martyrdom of Hamzah bin Abdul-Muttalib ~ ........................ 174 A Reversal ....................................................................................... 17 4 Moths at the Lamp of Prophethood ............................................ 175 Stability of the Prophet ~ ............................................................. 176 A View of the Battleground .......................................................... 177 The Fourth Year of Migration .................................................................. 180 A Breach of Promise and Mischief-making ............ , ........................ 180 A Soul-shattering Incident ................................................................. 182 Faithfulness to the Promise ................................................................ 183 Mischief of the Jews ............................................................................ 183 Banishment of Banu Nadir ................................................................. 184 The Expedition of Dhat-ur-Riqa' ........................... : ........................... 184 Expedition to Sawiq ............................................................................ 184 The Fifth Year of Migration ..................................................................... 186 Expedition to Banu Al-Mustaliq ........................................................ 187 Mischief of the Hypocrites ................................................................. 188 Release of the Captives ....................................................................... 189 Reproving the Jews ............................................................................. 189 Ghazwah Khandaq ............................ .' .................................................... 190 Banu Quraizah' s Breach of Trust ...................................................... 195 Incidents during 5 AH ........................................................................ 197 The Sixth Year of Migration ..................................................................... 198 Preaching of Islam ............................................................................... 199 The History of Islam A Criminal Event ................................................................................. 199 The Truce of Hudaibiyah ................................................................... 199 Position of Hudaibiyah ................................................................. 200 The Pledge of Rid wan ................................................................... 202 Deep Love of the Companions for the Messenger ~ ................ 203 Conditions ....................................................................................... 204 Reaction to the Peace Treaty ......................................................... 204 Unique Victory ............................................................................... 205 Consequences of the Truce of Hudaibiyah ...................................... 205 Return of the Muslims from Abyssinia ............................................ 207 The Seventh Year of Migration ............................................................... 207 Conquest of Khaibar ........................................................................... 207 After the Conquest of Khaibar ........................................................... 209 Invitation Letters to Islam .................................................................. 211 Arrival In Makkah ............................................................................... 212 Amr bin Al-As accepts Islam ............................................................. 213 The Eighth Year of Migration .................................................................. 214 The Expedition to Mu'tah .................................................................. 214 Khalid ~ - Saifulliih ............................................................................ 216 The Expedition to Quda'ah (D'1at-us-Salasil) ................................... 217 Conquest of Makkah ........................................................................... 218 Abu Sufyan in Al-Madinah .......................................................... 220 March to Makkah ........................................................................... 221 Abu Sufyan ~ honored ................................................................ 222 Historic Address of the Prophet ~ .............................................. 223 The Truth came and Falsehood vanquished .............................. 223 Battle of Hunain ................................................................................... 225 Siege of Ta'if ......................................................................................... 227