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The First ‘Aqabah Pledge
We have already spoken about
six Madinese who embraced Islam in the pilgrimage season in the eleventh year of
Prophethood. They promised to communicate the Message of Islam to their
townsfolk.
The following year, on the
occasion of the pilgrimage, there came a group of twelve disciples ready to
acknowledge Muhammad as their Prophet. The group of men comprised five of the
six who had met the Prophet
the year before,
the sixth who stayed away was Jabir bin ‘Abdullah bin Reyab, the other seven
were:
-
Mu‘adh bin Al-Harith, Ibn
‘Afra, from Khazraj.
-
Dhakwan bin ‘Abd Al-Qais,
from Khazraj.
-
‘Ubadah bin As-Samit,
from Khazraj.
-
Yazeed bin Tha‘labah,
from Khazraj.
-
‘Al-‘Abbas bin
‘Ubadah bin Nadalah, from Khazraj.
-
Abul Haitham bin At-Taihan,
from Aws.
-
‘Uwaim bin Sa‘idah,
from Aws.
They avowed their faith in
Muhammad
as a Prophet and swore: "We will
not worship any one but one Allah; we will not steal; neither will we commit
adultery, nor kill our children; we will not utter slander, intentionally
forging falsehood and we will not disobey you in any just matter." When
they had taken the pledge, Muhammad Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã said:
"He who carries it out, Allâh will reward him; and who neglects anything
and is afflicted in this world, it may prove redemption for him in the
Hereafter; and if the sin remains hidden from the eyes of the men and no grief
comes to him, then his affair is with Allâh. He may forgive him or He may
not."
The Muslim Envoy in Madinah:
After the Pledge (in the form
of an oath had been taken) the Prophet
sent to
Yathrib (Madinah) Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair Al-‘Abdari (RA), the
first Muslim ‘ambassador’ to teach the people there the doctrines of Islam,
give them practical guidance and make attempts at propagating the Islam among
those who still professed polytheism. As‘ad bin Zurarah hosted him in Madinah.
So prepared was the ground, and so zealous the propagation that the Islam spread
rapidly from house to house and from tribe to tribe. There were various cheerful
and promising aspects of success that characterized Mus‘ab’s task. One day
Mus‘ab and As‘ad were on their way to the habitations of Bani ‘Abd Al-Ashhal
and Bani Zafar, when they went into the premises of the latter clan. There they
sat near a well conversing with some new converts. Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh and Usaid
bin Hudair, chiefs of the two clans heard of this meeting, so Usaid approached
the Muslims armed with his lance while the other Sa‘d excused himself on
grounds that As‘ad was his maternal cousin. Usaid came closer cursing and
swearing and accused the two men of befooling people weak of heart, and ordered
that they stop it altogether. Mus‘ab calmly invited him to sit saying,
"If you are pleased with our talk, you can accept it; should you hold it in
abhorrence, you could freely immunize yourself against what you hate."
"That’s fair," said Usaid, pierced his lance in the sand, listened
to Mus‘ab and then heard some verses of the Noble Qur’ân. His face bespoke
satisfaction and pleasure before uttering any words of approval. He asked the
two men about the procedures pertinent to embracing Islam. They asked him to
observe washing, purge his garment, bear witness to the Truth and then perform
two Rak‘a. He responded and did exactly what he was asked to do, and
then said there was a man (Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh) whose people would never hang
back if he followed the Islam. He then left to see Sa‘d and his people. Sa‘d
could immediately understand that Usaid had changed. To a question posed by
Sa‘d, Usaid said that two men were ready to comply with whatever orders they
received. He then managed a certain situation that provided the two men with a
chance to talk with Sa‘d privately. The previous scene with Usaid recurred and
Sa‘d embraced Islam, and directly turned to his people swearing that he would
never talk with them until they had believed in Allâh, and in His Messenger.
Hardly did the evening of that day arrive when all the men and women of that
sept of Arabians embraced Islam with the exception of one, Al-Usairim, who hung
back until the Day of Uhud. On that day he embraced Islam and fought the
polytheists but was eventually killed before observing any prostration in the
way of prayer. The Prophet
commented saying:
"He has done a little but his reward is great."
Mus‘ab stayed in Madinah
carrying out his mission diligently and successfully until all the houses of Al-Ansar
(the future Helpers) had Muslims elements, men and women. One family only
stood obdurate to the Islamic Da‘wah (Call). They were under the
influence of the poet Qais bin Al-Aslat, who managed to hold them at bay and
screen off the Call of Islam from their ears until the year 5 A.H.
Shortly before the approach of
the following pilgrimage season, i.e. the thirteenth year of Prophethood,
Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair returned to Makkah carrying to the Prophet
glad tidings about the new fertile soil of Islam in Madinah,
and its environment rich in the prospects of good, and the power and immunity
that that city was bound to provide to the cause of Islaam.
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