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The Najran Pact, Mobaahelah (Mubahilah) Part 14

The Najran Pact,

Mobaahelah (Mubahilah)

Part 14

 

[While reading this detailed account of the events prior to the Mubahila, let us not forget that as stated in part 13 of this writing, the original resolution adopted by Najranites- which was suggested by Jahiz bin Sarakha Barikhi (Abu Saad)- was: “We should go to Muhammad and accept his obedience and give whatever he demands. Then correspond with Christian Kings … When you receive help from all sides, you must mobilize the people of your tribe who may be prepared to help you. After that you must together turn to confront Muhammad and then his army will not dare to engage and all of them will be humiliated and defeated. You will be able to destroy them in a short time and the fire of mischief will be extinguished and then you will be considered to be the greatest in the world, like the Kaaba which is in Tahama and to which people head from all the corners of the world.”

 

Now let us follow Harith bin Aasaal’s undeniable proofs and reasoning- presented  to the elders of the Najranites, their so called learned ones (i.e. Sayyid and Aqib who later were part of the delegation to Medina)- and the elders’ confessions regarding the Truth … the Truth which the learned ones knew by heart but were concealing and deceitfully distorting so that their worldly positions would not be in danger … the same Truth that today’s learned ones among jews and christians know too but the very same worldly desires have been overshadowing them …

 

World-seeking people always have wished and still do wish to be “the greatest in the world” at any price, even at the price of forsaking the Truth of the Almighty Allah … AAAAAHHHHH! How foolish are the world seekers, thinking that they can overpower Allah!!!

 

Qur’an 86:15-17 Surely they do make a scheme, and I (Allah) will make a scheme (too). So grant the unbelievers a respite; for a while, let them be …]

 

The narrator says that when the discourse of Haritha bin Asaal reached this point, there appeared darkness under the eyes of Sayyid and Aqib. Because they did not like that this bequest of Prophet Isa (a.s.) should be recounted in that gathering, as the two of them commanded great respect among the Christians of Najran, and they were highly honored in the view of Kings. They used to send gifts and presents for them. In the same way, common people also sent presents to them. Therefore they feared that people would abandon them and give their obedience. And if they become Muslims, they would lose all their respect and influence. Therefore Aqib said: “O Haritha, think upon it and consider what you say. Arguments in refutation of these statements are more than acceptable arguments and many statements are more exalted than those who make them and concealing hidden wisdom creates hatred in the hearts, therefore beware of the hatred of the hearts. Because on that must be said, which is deserved to be said and there is an occasion for every statement. Everything cannot be spoken up in public. On that must be said, which can bring felicity and which is not harmful for anyone. I have fulfilled the right of good advice, so do not utter another word. After that Sayyid also tried to support Aqib and told Haritha: “I always considered you a knowledgeable and wise person, because the wise were attracted to you; so do not adopt helplessness and shame. And instead of water do not take the people to wine. If someone considers excused in this discussion, in fact you are not excused. If Abu Wakhir had spoken in a harsh tone, he is not liable for it. Indeed all his words and actions are ours, he is our leader. If he criticized you, you must act on his advice. As you should know that the tenure of the religion of chief of Quraish, that is Muhammad is very short, and it will be over in a short time and after time a long period of time will elapse. At the end of which a Prophet will come with wisdom and eloquence and with sword and kingship, would be owner of a great kingdom. His followers will control the East and the West and through his progeny will come a pure king who will dominate all the kings, and all the religious people will join his faith. And his kingdom will stretch to everything in the world. O Haritha, it is not known how long that period will be. Therefore, you must remain firm on your religion and do not join any other faith as it will become extinct soon or be destroyed in some accident. And do not be concerned about that which is going to come, because today we are only bound to this faith, and whatever will come in the future is the concern of those who will come in the future.

 

On hearing this, Haritha bin Asaal replied: O Abu Khara, keep quiet, what this day can benefit one who is not concerned with tomorrow. Fear God, so that He may grant refuge to you, because other than Him, there is no one in the world who can give refuge. You have issued those statements about Aqib because he is your elder and leader and Christians are inclined to you. If you want to reject truth in order to preserve your greatness and leadership, you are free to do so. But advice is for the deserving ones. And you are more deserving of this. It is so because our hearts are inclined to you and both of you are our leaders in faith. O both elders, make reason as your guide and do only that which is advised by reason.  

 

And think on the back and surrounding of that which has come over you. Do not delay the matter. Try to gain the pleasure of the Almighty like He grants His mercy and blessings upon you every day. Do not allow your shamelessness to gain an upper hand over you, because one who forsakes control of his self, heads to destruction. One who keeps an eye on his end, is safe from destruction. One who makes use of his intellect, gains lesson and he does not serve as a lesson for others. One who dispenses good advice for the sake of Allah and obtains the pleasure of Allah, the Almighty Allah makes him inclined to Allah and he obtains greatness and success in the world and Hereafter. After that he turned to Aqib in anger and said: O Abu Wasila, you had said that one who rejects your statements is ahead of the one who accepts them. By Allah, you were more deserving of that no one should have mentioned this about you. Indeed you know that we are all followers of the New Testament.  

 

Whatever Prophet Isa (a.s.) told his companions and all the believers of the community of Isa, know that whatever I have mentioned is correct and whatever you have said is wrong and whatever you have done is a mistake. Nothing but repentance and acceptance of what you have denied can make amends for it. Again he turned to Sayyid and said: “There is no sword which does not err and there is no scholar who does not make a mistake. Successful is one who amends his mistake. He has found the Straight Path. Unfortunate is one who insists on his mistake. O Sayyid, you said that two prophets will come after Prophet Isa (a.s.). Where is it mentioned in divine scriptures? Don’t you know what Prophet Isa (a.s.) said to Bani Israel? When I go to your and my father, and after sometime two persons will come to you; a truthful one and a liar, what will you do at that time?  

 

People asked Prophet Isa (a.s.): Who are those people and he said: “The Prophet will be from the descendants of Ismail and the liar will be from Bani Israel. The truthful one will be sent with mercy and there will be for him rulership and kingdom till the time the world remains established. And the liar will be the one titled Masih Dajjal (Antichrist). His rule would be of a short duration and the Almighty Allah will slay him through my hands at a time when I will be sent into the world for the second time.

 

After this discourse, Haritha said: O people, we admonish you to give up the actions of your predecessors. Those who expressed fear and said that two Christs will come. One would be a Christ of mercy and guidance and another one would be of misguidance and narrated the signs of both of them. So common Jews rejected the Christ of guidance and falsified and brought faith in the Christ of misguidance, who is in fact Dajjal, and they are also in anticipation of him. And they created such mischief in all affairs and cast the Book of Allah behind their back and eliminated the divine prophets. They also killed those who were appointed with justice from the Almighty Allah. So the Almighty Allah, as result of their evil deeds, destroyed their insight and due to their oppression and mischief ended their rulership; instead they were subject to humiliation and disgrace. God fixed for them Fire of Hell as their abode.

 

Aqib said: O Haritha how do you know that the Prophet who has risen in Medina is the same who is mentioned in divine scriptures? It is possible that it could be your cousin, Musaylima of Yamama, who has also claimed prophethood like Muhammad the Quraishi. And both of them are descendants of Ismail. Both have followers who testify to their prophethood and accept their messengers. Do you think there is some difference between them or can you describe what is the difference between them?

 

 Haritha said: Yes, by Allah, there is difference of heavens and earth and cloud and dust; and the truthfulness of the proofs of Allah, that is prophets and messengers is proved for the servants of Allah, who obtain lessons. Musaylima, the liar of Yamama; regarding him it is sufficient what your messengers and other people and travelers who have visited his place, and the residents of Yamamah who have visited you say. All of them informed you that Musaylima had sent a delegation to Muhammad in Yathrib in order to investigate his circumstances. They found in Ahmad the qualities of the previous prophets and upon their return described that Ahmad has come to Yathrib while all their wells were dry, there was a lot of salty water in them. And before his coming all of them contained water that was not potable and tasty. When he arrived, he put his saliva in some wells and in some gargled, so they all became sweet and filled up to the brim.  

 

Some people have said that the Holy Prophet (S) applied his saliva to those who had sore eyes, and they were cured and some had wounds that were also cured by the saliva of the Prophet. They narrated many miracles of the Prophet. The people demanded from Musaylima to show the same miracles that Muhammad had shown. Upon their insistence, he went to a well that already had sweet water. When he gargled into the well, it became salty and un-potable and when he dropped his saliva in a well that had less water, it dried up completely and not a drop remained. A man was suffering from sore eyes was brought to Musaylima. When Musaylima applied his saliva, the man lost his vision completely. A person had a bodily injury, when Musaylima applied his saliva, the patient became leprous. When people saw these extraordinary happenings and asked him to show the right miracle, he said that they were bad followers for their prophet. And you are bad companions for your prophet and yourself. You demanded some things from me before revelation can come to me.  Now I have received permission from Allah about your bodies and not for your wells, so that I may grant cure to you. So one who has faith in me will be cured and one who has doubt in my prophethood will be worse of it. Now whoever likes me approach me and I will apply my saliva to him as a cure. They said: We don’t want you do anything which may cause the people of Yathrib to ridicule us. So they turned away from him lest they become targets of the ridicule of the people of Yathrib. …

 

Sayyid and Aqib began to laugh at this. So much so that they began to stamp their feet in delight saying: What relation Noor has with darkness and truth has with falsehood? There is not as much difference between Noor and darkness and truth and falsehood as there is so much difference between the truth and falsehood of these two. According to narrators when Aqib saw that the matter of Musaylima became false and invalid, he wanted to make amends for it. So he said: Musaylima is wrong in his claim that the Almighty Allah has sent him as a Prophet.  But it is better that he has kept away his people from idol worship and he has faith in the Almighty Allah.

 

 Haritha said: I put under the oath of the Almighty Allah who widened the world and lighted up the Sun and the Moon, is it not mentioned in heavenly books that the Almighty Allah says: I am the God, except whom there is no god and I am the one who will recompense the deeds on Judgment Day. I have sent My books and appointed My prophets in order to save My servants from the deception of the Satan. And I sent to the world My prophets like the stars of the heavens so that they may guide the people according to My command. Those who obeyed them, it was as if they obeyed Me and those who opposed them, it was as if they had disobeyed Me. Indeed, I, angels and all the creatures of the world have cursed him. Whoever denies My divinity or considers one of My creatures to be My partner or rejects anyone of My prophets and says that I have sent revelations to him whereas I have not revealed anything to him, or he conceals My godhood or claims divinity or misguides My servants, or make them blind from the path of truth, indeed from My creatures one who worships Me knowing what I want from My servants, and he serves Me in accordance with it, one who does not walk the paths clarified by My prophets, his worship will only increase the distance from Me.  

 

Aqib said: I testify that you have said the truth. Haritha said: There is no option other than the truth and there is no refuge other than truth. I have only said what you have said in this regard. Sayyid who was an expert in debates and discussions, said: I believe with regard to that Quraishi (Muhammad), that he is a Prophet for his people who are descendants of Ismail. But he claims that he is a Prophet for all the people of the world.  

 

Haritha said: O Sayyid you know that he is sent to his people from the Almighty Allah. Yes, said the Sayyid. So Haritha said: Do you testify his Prophethood from that aspect? Sayyid said: Who can deny in presence of clear proofs. Indeed, I testify to it and there is no doubt in it. He is mentioned in all heavenly scriptures and all prophets have informed about his advent. When he heard this, Haritha began to laugh and he started making lines on the ground.  

 

Sayyid asked: Why do you laugh? He replied: I am astonished and amused. Sayyid said: Perhaps what I said was astonishing and this is what has made you laugh. He said: Yes, is it not a matter of surprise that one who claims knowledge and wisdom, should say that the Almighty Allah has chosen for prophethood such a person and bestowed him specially with messengership. And has helped him through His spirit and wisdom.  

 

(And the other) One who is false, and says that revelation has come to him, whereas it is not so, and like the soothsayers, he mixes up truth with falsehood who sometimes utter lies and sometimes state the truth. Sayyid was ashamed and he regretted saying what he had said. Narrators say that Haritha was not from Najran. He was a poor man who had settled down in that area. At last Aqib turned to him and said: Keep quiet brother, do not argue, because many things are such that if they are spoken up they lead the speaker to the depths of the well and many things make friends of the enemies. So give up saying that which is unacceptable even though you are excused in saying it. Listen and you will understand as there is a form of everything and the face of man is his reasoning power and the face of reason is good manners. Good manners are of two types: One is natural and the other is acquired. And the best of the manners are those which the Creator of the World has commanded.  

 

And one of them is that the honor of ones ruler must be maintained as it is his right and this right does not belong to anyone else, because the ruler is the connection between God and His creatures. And rulers are also of two types: One is having a hot temperament and is harsh and the other has wisdom and rules according to the law of religion. And he has greater right and O Haritha, you know that the Almighty Allah has bestowed us precedence among the Christian kings and then to other people, therefore you must understand everyone’s rights and this is sufficient for your admonition as you don’t have any consideration for the true kings.  

 

Then he said: You mentioned the brothers of Quraish; that is Muhammad and stated that he has brought miracles. You were right. We also agree and have faith in his messengership. And we testify that he has in his possession miracles and signs of the previous prophets, except for one which is the greatest and clearest and it is like a head. And these signs possessed by him are like the body. And what is the value of headless body? Have patience so that we can investigate his circumstances and think upon his signs and miracles. If the most important sign is verified, we would join his religion before you and obey him before you do. Haritha said: Whatever you said in the discourse of truth was heard by us and we are prepared to obey you. What is that sign, which if absent would render all these signs defective? Aqib said: Sayyid had mentioned it, but you did not pay attention to it. And you rendered all these things useless. Haritha said: May my parents be sacrificed on you, please repeat what that sign is? Aqib said: Successful is one who accepts the truth after knowing the truth and he does not turn away from it. Doubtlessly both of us know that and in addition to us, scholars of the divine Book also know whatever is mentioned in this book from the past sciences and whatever is to occur in the future. Indeed, this glad tiding has been explained in detail in all books that a Prophet, Ahmad will come.  

 

He would be the last of the prophets. His community will dominate the East and the West and he and the people of his nation will rule for a long time. Then they will oppress a king [Ali AS] who would be the best among his followers from the aspect of lineage and excellence and the most proximate to the Prophet. They would abandon the bequest of their Prophet in oppression and injustice. Then for many years Caliphate will turn into rulership [AbuBakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, bani Umayya, bani Abbas …] and their rulership will be great. So much so that there will be no house in the Arabian Gulf whose residents will not be inclined to them and some of them will be fearful of them. Then their power will decline and others would rule over them from among their former servants and slaves. They would live evil habits and vices in the world. Their rulership will be accompanied with injustice and force. After that their rulership will be decreased from all sides and the disbelievers will overpower them. After that terrible calamities would befall them and tragedies will surround them from all sides. So much so that due to increase in oppression and injustice they would prefer death. Their elders would not be capable of leadership.  

 

At last the religion will go out of their hands and only the name of religion will remain with them. During that period, believers will be poor and religious people will be few in number. Except for some very few persons, most of them will have despaired of deliverance from the Almighty Allah. Due to the difficulties surrounding them some of them will think that the Almighty Allah will not help them.

 

At last after their despair the Almighty Allah will from the progeny of their Prophet bring out a person to save them and he [Mahdi AS] will rise from a place [of Occultation,] unknown to them. Angels in the skies are invoking blessings upon him. All that is in the earth, like the human beings, birds and animals, would all be elated due to his reappearance. The earth would reveal its treasures and blessings. So much so that it would again become as it was during the period of Adam (a.s.). During the tenure of this person, poverty, calamities and diseases would disappear that used to befall the previous nations. And peace will be established in all towns. The venom of every poisonous creature and claws of beasts will all become harmless. So much so that little girls will play with baby snakes without being caused any harm. And the lions will be like the shepherds for the sheep and goats. Wolves would act like helpers of sheep.  

 

The Almighty Allah would make that person dominate all the religions of the world. He will rule on all the countries till the limits of satisfaction till not a single person remains but that he would be on the religion of truth. The religion liked by Allah, on which He has prophets from Adam to the Last Prophet. 

 

[May Allah hasten Mahdi’s (SBUH) glorious Appearance … AAMEEN]

 

To be continued …