Purpose of Seerah

1. Purpose of Seerah First subject of the scholars. - Why? 1. Seerah was in higher demand (i.E. People at the time needed to learn it more urgently than fiqh, aqeedah etc). Or 2. The study of seerah encompasses all other subjects such as ‘aqeedah and fiqh etc.

2. The Pre-Islamic Arabs لقد كان لسبإ في مسكنهم آية جنتان عن يمين وشمال كلوا من رزق ربكم واشكروا له بلدة طيبة ورب غفور There was for [the tribe of] saba' in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], "eat from the provisions of your lord and be grateful to him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving lord."(Saba: 15)

3. The Pre-Islamic Arabs فأعرضوا فأرسلنا عليهم سيل العرم وبدلناهم بجنتيهم جنتين ذواتي أكل خمط وأثل وشيء من سدر قليل ذلك جزيناهم بما كفروا وهل نجازي إلا الكفور But they turned away [refusing], so we sent upon them the flood of the dam, and we replaced their two [fields of] gardens with gardens of bitter fruit, tamarisks and something of sparse lote trees. [By] that we repaid them because they disbelieved. And do we [thus] repay except the ungrateful? (Saba: 16-17)

4. The Pre-Islamic Arabs فأعرضوا فأرسلنا عليهم سيل العرم وبدلناهم بجنتيهم جنتين ذواتي أكل خمط وأثل وشيء من سدر قليل ذلك جزيناهم بما كفروا وهل نجازي إلا الكفور But they turned away [refusing], so we sent upon them the flood of the dam, and we replaced their two [fields of] gardens with gardens of bitter fruit, tamarisks and something of sparse lote trees. [By] that we repaid them because they disbelieved. And do we [thus] repay except the ungrateful? (Saba: 16-17)

5. The Pre-Islamic Arabs Yemen and ethiopia (al-habash) were in constant warfare. Yemen was supported by the persian empire, ethiopia by the romans (i.E byzantine). “Cursed were the companions of the trench, [Containing] the fire full of fuel, When they were sitting near it And they, to what they were doing against the believers, were witnesses.” (Al-buruj:4-7) - 50 years prior to the birth of the prophet.

6. The Pre-Islamic Arabs The scholars categorized the arabs in three different ways: The perishing arabs: i.E the ancient arabs (‘ad, thamud, salah, emlaq and others). The “arabarabs” or the pure arabs: the people of qahtan. Includes the tribes of himyar and kahlan, and al-aws and khazraj (from madinah). The arabizedarabs: the projeny of ismael (as). This is where much of quraysh and banihashim are from (including the prophet (saw)).

7. The Pre-Islamic Arabs No centralized authority in the arabian peninsula (unlike yemen). Tribal authority is the highest level of authority. Tribal warfare is common. Often proxy wars (i.e. The persian empire and roman empire would fund two different tribes that would fight against each other).

8. The Pre-Islamic Arabs -The prophet (saw) said: I saw ‘amribnluha’i dragging his intestines in the hell-fire” -Introduced idol-worship to the arabs 300 years before the birth of the prophet By the birth of the prophet, every tribe and house had an idol. 360 idols were dedicated to the ka’bah alone.

9. The Pre-Islamic Arabs -The prophet (saw) said: I saw ‘amribnluha’i dragging his intestines in the hell-fire” -Introduced idol-worship to the arabs 300 years before the birth of the prophet By the birth of the prophet, every tribe and house had an idol. 360 idols were dedicated to the ka’bah alone.

10. The Pre-Islamic Arabs - It is not clear if ‘amribnluha’i introduced seeking refuge from jinn, but it became common in arabia. - ‘Amribnluha’i and the idols of the people of nuh. وأنه كان رجال من الإنس يعوذون برجال من الجن فزادوهم رهقا And there were men from mankind who sought refuge in men from the jinn, so they [only] increased them in burden. (Al-jinn: 6)

11. The Pre-Islamic Arabs There were aspects of the abrahamic faith that remained with the arabs - Tawaaf: Sometimes would be performed naked (if they were poor). The talbiyah was altered to include the idols. “ Labaykallahumalabayk. Labaykalaasharikalakalabayk. Illasharikanhuwalak. Tamlikahuwa ma malak” “Here we have come for you, O allah. Here we have come there are no partners with you. Except partners that are yours. You own them and what they own”.

12. The Pre-Islamic Arabs Zinaa, gambling, alcoholism all spread rapidly in arabia. Infanticide would occur in fear of poverty. ولا تقتلوا أولادكم خشية إملاق نحن نرزقهم وإياكم إن قتلهم كان خطئا كبيرا And do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you. Indeed, their killing is ever a great sin.

13. The Pre-Islamic Arabs In the case of a girl, infanticide was encouraged to avoid shame. وإذا بشر أحدهم بالأنثى ظل وجهه مسودّا وهو كظيم يتوارى من القوم من سوء ما بشر به أيمسكه على هون أم يدسه في التراب ألا ساء ما يحكمون And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide.An-nahl (58-59)

14. The Pre-Islamic Arabs وإذا الموءودة سئلت بأي ذنب قتلت And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked For what sin she was killed (at-takwir: 8-9)

15. The Pre-Islamic Arabs أن الله سبحانه وتعالى نظر إلى أهل الأرض فمقتهم عربهم وعجمهم إلا بقايا من أهل الكتاب رواه مسلم “truly allah (swt) looked upon the people of the earth and despised them, the arabs and non-arabs, except a remaining few from the people of the book” (muslim) - The persians were engulfed in fire-worship, the romans embraced the trinity and most jews had rejected the prophets and betrayed the covenant.

16. The Pre-Islamic Arabs An example of an abrahamicarab (hanif): Zaidibnamribnnufail I saw zaid bin amr bin nufail standing with his back against the ka'ba and saying, "o people of quraish! By allah, none amongst you is on the religion of abraham except me." He used to preserve the lives of little girls: if somebody wanted to kill his daughter he would say to him, "do not kill her for I will feed her on your behalf." So he would take her, and when she grew up nicely, he would say to her father, "now if you want her, i will give her to you, and if you wish, i will feed her on your behalf."

17. The Pre-Islamic Arabs An example of an abrahamicarab (hanif): Zaidibnamribnnufail 'Hisham b. Urwa from his father on the authority of his mother asma d. Abu bakr said that she saw zayd as a very old man leaning his back on the ka'ba and saying, 'O quraysh, by him in whose hand is the soul of zayd, not one of you follows the religion of abraham but I.' Then he said: 'O allah, if I knew how you wished to be worshipped I would so worship you; but I do not know.' Then he prostrated himself on the palms of his hands.'

18. The Pre-Islamic Arabs Abraha was a general in yemen who killed this king. This enraged negus (al-najashi) Abraha attempted to appease him by building a massive church (al-qulais) His elephants would not move from the valley of muhassan (outside muzdalifa) An army of birds, carrying pebbles pelted the heads of the army and protected the ka’bah.

19. Birth of the Prophet (saw) وما أرسلناك إلا رحمة للعالمين And we have not sent you, [O muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds. Kutaylahbintnawfal (the sister of waraqah) noticed an intense light in the face of abdullah the father of the prophet (saw) on his way to his wedding. Abdullah died shortly after in yathrib (madinah)

20. Birth of the Prophet (saw) Ibnsa‘d reported that muhammad’s mother said: "when he was born, there was a light that issued out of my pudendum and lit the palaces of syria." [Mukhtasarseerat-ur-rasool, p.12; tabaqatibnsa'd 1/63]

21. Childhood of the Prophet (saw) -The custom of the arabs of makkah was to send their kids to the bediouns primarily to learn the pure arabic language. It was a year of drought. Haleemah said: “Not even a single woman amongst us accepted the messenger of allâh [pbuh] offered to her. As soon as they were told that he was an orphan, they refused him. We had fixed our eyes on the reward that we would get from the child’s father. An orphan! What are his grandfather and mother likely to do? So we spurned him because of that.”

22. Childhood of the Prophet (saw) - Haleemah said “the child was encircled with a halo of good fortune. I begged his mother to let him stay with us longer. We were granted our wish and he stayed until he was four or five years” The cleansing of the prophet’s heart The prophet stayed with his mother for 2 years, until she went to visit the grave of abdullah in yathrib (madinah). She fell ill and died there.

23. Childhood of the Prophet (saw) With his grandfather, abdul-mutallib: "Leave my grandson. I swear by allâh that this boy will hold a significant position."

24. Childhood of the Prophet (saw) Bahira, the monk: The prophet was 12 years old. Accompanied abutalib on a trip to ash-sham (syria, palestine, jordan, lebanon) “When you appeared from the direction of ‘aqabah, all stones and trees prostrated themselves, which they never do except for a prophet.” “Send him back, for those who know him will kill him”

25. Childhood of the Prophet (saw) At 15 years old, the ‘sacreligious war’ occured between quraysh and qais ‘ailan. The prophet refused to raise arms and only tended to his uncles who were injured. The prophet spent this time herding sheep. “There is no prophet except that they herded sheep”

26. Childhood of the Prophet (saw) The agreement of al-fudoul: A man from outside makkah came to sell some commodity al-’as al-sahmy. He refused to pay for it. The man began to recite poetry loudly describing what happened to him and that no one would help him. Some people from quraysh, including the prophet, swore an agreement to help those who faced injustice, even if they were not from quraysh.

27. Allah’s protection of the Prophet In his youth, the prophet intended to attend two wedding celebrations (with dancing and music). Prior to it beginning, the prophet was overcome by sleep. A man challenged the prophet to swear by al-laat and al-uzza. The prophet replied saying “I have never sworn by them my whole life, nor have I touched them’

28. Allah’s protection of the Prophet When he was restoring the ka’bah, his uncle al-’abbas told him to lift his lower-garment. Instead he fell and saw an angel who said: “this does not befit you” (muslim)

29. The Prophet’s marriage to Khadija At 25, the prophet began working as a merchant for khadija (ra). She would send her servant maisarah with him. Maisarah said: “when he walked, i could see two angels shading him” Later, the prophet and maisarah came by a monk named “nastorah”. “No man has sat at that tree except that they were prophets of god – and that is a prophet of god”

30. The Prophet’s marriage to Khadija Maisarah informed khadija of the signs she saw. Khadija asked waraqahibnnawfal who informed her that a prophet would be arriving and that it might be muhammad (saw). Khadija (ra) proposed to muhammad (saw) by way of nafisa. He gave her 20 camels in dowry Khadija bore all his children except for ibrahim.

31. Restoration of the Ka’bah Quraysh refused illicit money (including riba) They ran short of halal money, so they built it six-yards short The tribes were poised to go to war over the placing of the blackstone They agreed that the first man to enter the mosque would decide who would hold the honour of placing the stone.