Part 21

5) The Prophet's solution to Quraish’s problem was characteristic of his entire life, for throughout his life, Allah % guided him to choosing the best and most practical solution to every problem he # faced.

6) There are many examples of how Allah 8% protected the Prophet #% from polytheism and evil deeds during the preIslamic period of ignorance. One such example occurred during the rebuilding of the Ka’bah, when the Prophet #2 was carrying stones. Al-‘Abbaas 4 told the Prophet #x to raise his loincloth in order to protect himself from the stones he was carrying; consequently, the Prophet # fell down to the ground. His eyes remained fixed on the sky, and then he #5 woke up and shouted, “My loincloth, my loincloth.” After this incident occurred, the Prophet #% was never again seen naked,"

How People Were Being Prepared To Accept The Prophethood _f Muhammad # It was from the wisdom of Allah 36 that people were being

prepared for the Prophethood of Muhammad 2 in various ways, some of which are as follows:

1) Previous Prophets ## gave their people glad tidings of the coming of Prophet Muhammad 22.

Ibraaheem #% invoked Allah 4 to send a Messenger from among the Arabs. Allah # answered his supplication by sending Prophet Muhammad 2%. Allah 3 said:

"U Saheeh Bukhaaree, “The Book of Hajj’; chapter, “The Superiority of Makkah” Hadeeth number: 1582. Also refer to the commentary of the Hadeeth in FathulBaaree.

“Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own (and indeed Allah answered their invocation by sending Muhammad #2), who shall recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them in the Book (this Qur’an) and Al-Hikmah (full knowledge of the Islamic laws and jurisprudence or wisdom or Prophethood, etc.), and sanctify them. Verily! You are the All-Mighty, the AllWise.” (Qur'an 2: 129)

Elsewhere in the Qur’an, Allah 3% said that He 3 revealed glad tidings of the coming of Muhammad #x to earlier Prophets ##:

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4 var “Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e., Muhammad #8 whom they find written with them in the Taurat (Torah) (Deut, xviii, 15) and the Injeel (Gospel) (John xiv, 16), - he commands them for Al-Ma‘roof (i.e., Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) ; and forbids them from Al-Munkar (i.e., disbelief, polytheism of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden) ; he allows them as lawful At-Tayibat [(i.e., all good and lawful) as regards things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.], and prohibits them as unlawful AlKhaba’ith (i.e., all evil and unlawful as regards things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.), he releases them from their heavy burdens (of Allah's Covenant), and from the fetters (bindings) that were upon them. So those who believe in him (Muhammad #), honour him, help him, and follow the light (the Qur'an)

which has been sent down with him, it is they who will be successful.”’ (Qur'an 7: 157)

In particular, Allah % mentioned the glad tiding that Prophet

“Eesa 4 (Jesus) gave to his people:

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“And (remember) when ‘Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said : ‘’O Children of Israel! am the Messenger of Allah unto you confirming the Taurat [(Torah) which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad. But when he (Ahmad, i.e., Muhammad #2) came to them with clear proofs, they said : ‘This is plain magic.”

And Allah 36 said in another Verse:

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“And (remember) when Allah took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying : ‘“Take whatever I gave you from the Book and Hikmah (understanding of the Laws of Allah, etc.), and afterwards there will come to you a Messenger (Muhammad #s) confirming what is with you ; you must, then, believe in him and help him.” Allah said: ‘Do you agree (to it) and will you take up My Covenant (which I conclude with you)?” They said : “We agree.” He said : “Then bear witness ; and Lam with you among the witnesses (for this). (Qur'an 3: 81)

There was a concerted effort on the part of some Jews and

Christians to distort their revealed books and to completely remove from them any mention of Muhammad #%. Despite their efforts, the Prophet’s name remained preserved in the Torah of As-Saamirah and the Gospels of Barnabas. As for the latter book, it was still in the hands of people prior to the advent of Islam, but around the end of the fifth century (of the Christian calendar), the church forbade its circulation. The scrolls that have recently been uncovered near the Dead Sea support what is mentioned in the Gospels of Barnabas about the Prophet #s.

Ibn Taymiyyah said, “Narrations which establish that the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) knew the description of the Prophet # from their revealed books, are related in Mutawaatir form (i.e., so many people related such narrations that it is impossible for them to have conspired together in order to fabricate a lie).

The native dwellers of Al-Madeenah from the Aus and Khazraj tribes - who then became known as the Ansaar - related in Mutawaatir form that the Jews of Al-Madeenah would inform them about the imminent appearance of the Messenger of Allah #%. They knew that he #8 was from the Arabs, and they were waiting for him. The fact that the Ansaar were foretold about the coming of the Prophet # is one of the main reasons that prompted them to believe in the Prophet #2 when he #% invited them to Islam.

Salamah ibn Salaamah ibn Waqsh , a man from the Ansaar, was one of the Muslim participants in the Battle of Badr. He said, “We had a Jewish neighbour who lived among the clan of Banu ‘Abd-Al-Ashhal (which was an idol-worshipping clan). Just prior to the advent of the Prophet #%, this neighbour left his house, came out to us, and sat in the gathering of ‘Abd-Al-Ashhal. That day, I was the youngest person in the gathering. Upon me was a robe, within which I was lying down in the courtyard of my family. He (his Jewish neighbour) mentioned resurrection, the

"l Refer to Al-Jawaab As-Saheeh by Ibn Taymiyyah (1/340).

Day of Resurrection, the accountability, the scale (in which good and bad deeds will be measured), Paradise, and the Hellfire. He was speaking to people who were polytheists and idolworshippers, people who didn’t believe in resurrection after death (here, he is speaking about his own clan, the Banu ‘Abd-AlAshhal clan). They said to him, ‘Woe upon you, O so-and-so. You really feel that people will be resurrected after death to an abode that contains in it a Garden and a Fire? And do you really believe that, in that abode, they will be rewarded for their deeds?’ He said, ‘Yes, in Whose name oaths are taken, I believe this.’ He then said that, in the place of having his share of that Fire (in the Hereafter), he wished to enter the greatest oven on earth after it is first heated and before it is then closed upon him. That is how badly he wanted to be saved from that Fire (i-e., the Hellfire) tomorrow (i.e., in the Hereafter). They said to him, ‘Woe unto you, and what is the sign of that happening?’ He said, ‘A Prophet will be sent in the direction of these lands.’ And he pointed towards Makkah and Yemen.’ They asked, ‘And when will we see him.’ The Jewish man looked at me - and I was one of the youngest people among them - and said, ‘When this boy exhausts his years (ie., reaches old age), he will be around when that Prophet is sent.’ By Allah, the days and nights did not depart [for me (i.e., I did not die)] until Allah 38 sent His Messenger #%, who was alive in our midst. We believed in him, but that very same Jewish man disbelieved in him, out of jealousy and as a form of transgression. We said to him, ‘Woe upon you, O so-andso. Were you not the one who said about him what you said.’ He said, ‘Yes, but that is not him.’””"7]

Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “In a copy of the Zaboor (the Psalms of David), I read a clear mention of the Prophethood of Muhammad #z, and he # was even mentioned by name. I saw another copy of the Zaboor in which no such mention is made (which points to distortion).’”!*!

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr said, “By Allah, the Messenger of Allah #¢ is described in the Torah with the same description that he #% is given in the Quran:

“O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, a warner, and protector of the illiterate ones (i.e., Arabs). You are My slave and Messenger. I have named you Al-Mutawakkil. He (now in the third person, but still referring to the Prophet #&) is neither rude nor harsh, and he is not one who raises his voice in the marketplace (during disputes). He does not reciprocate evil with another evil; rather, he pardons and forgives. And Allah will not cause him to die until He establishes through him AI-Millah Al- ‘Aujaa (i.e., the religion of Ibraaheem %, which the Arabs had changed and distorted), making them say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Through him, Allah will open eyes that are blind, ears that are deaf, and hearts that are covered up.”

And Ka’ab Al-Ahbaar said, “Verily, I found this written down in the Torah:

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. He is neither rude nor harsh, and he is not one who raises his voice in the marketplace (while arguing with others). He does not reciprocate evil with another evil; rather, he pardons and forgives. The people of his nation are the extollers: they praise Allah in every plain, and they magnify Him (by saying, ‘Allahuakbar,’ Allah is the Greatest) on every plateau. They wrap themselves up in loincloths up until the midway point of their bodies, and they perform ablution by washing their extremities. The way they line up in prayer and the way they line up in war is the same. Their Caller (to prayer) calls out in the open part of the sky (i.e., high up). And in the middle of the night, they make a sound that is similar to the sound of bees (ie., a humming sound, and this refers to their late-night prayers and recitation of the Qur'an). He (i.e., the Prophet #) will be born in Makkah, and will perform pilgrimage to Taabah (ie., Al-