HAZRAT IBRAHIM (PEACE BE UPON HIM)

Allah to grant him righteous offspring. Granting the prayer, Allah gave him the happy news of a gentle son: "We gave him the good news of a gentle son" (As-Saaffat-101). Hazrat Ibrahim (PBUH) took the infant Ismael (PBUH) and his mother Hazrat Hajra (Allah be pleased with her) to the uninhabited jungle and barren valley of Makkah and left them there. While taking leave of them, he thus prayed for the mother and son: "Lord! I have settled some of my descendants in a barren valley near The Sacred House. Lord! I have done this in the hope that they would establish salat there. So make the hearts of the people yearn towards them, and provide fruits for their good: maybe they become grateful. (Ibrahim; 37) Recall the time when Ibrahim prayed, saying, "Lord! make this city (Makkah) a city of peace, and protect me and my descendants from the worship of idols" (Ibrahim-35). It is reported in Sahalain that the Holy Prophet (SAW) had observed. "From Beni Ismael Allah chose Kina'ana, and from Beni Kaanana, the Quraish and from the Quraish the Beni Hasham and from the Beni Hashim, me." (Mishkat) This tradition establishes that the Holy Prophet (SAW) had descended in a direct line from Hazrat Ismael (PBUH), the eldest son of the progenitor Hazrat Ibrahim (PBUH). Ibn-i-Hisham states that Abu Bakr, Ibn-i-Abbas, Ibn-i-Umar and a section among the Tabeian had reported the Holy Prophet (SAW) as saying: "I am the son of two Zabeehain (those who were to be slaughtered as sacrifice). One was my forebear Ismael and the other my father Abdullah bin Abdul Muttaleb."

A SHORT NOT ON THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD (S,A,W)PART1

Nature had been eclipsed by the dark sins of the world; when flood tides of human ingratitude and rebellion were flowing over land and water. Washing away the edifices built by the God's Messengers, a sacred person ascended the throne of prophecy and from the deserts of the Hejaz and the oases of Makkah raised the call of the Unity of God which resounded in the valleys of the Safa'a and Fara'an Mountains. The call arose from the desert of Hejaz and began to reverberate through the four corners of the world. This heart warming call was: "Allah; He is the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of the Universe: in reality there is no god but He." (Al-i-Imran: 1) (4) The roar of this call t(, it uth blew away the clouds of polytheism and evil innovation, disbelief and error, sin and evil. The call to Truth and the Cry of Allah is one! rose on the horizon and the hymn of one Allah resounded in the garden of the universe banishing autumn and ushering in the spring. As the Sun of Islam rose, the dark night of savagery and barbarism faded away; the oppressed humanity, relieved of tyranny and exploitation, began to enjoy the blessing of true freedom. 2. Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be on him) It is an historically established fact that the family of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) descended from that branch of Ibrahim (PBUH) lineage which issued from his eldest son Hazrat Ismael (PBUH) and is known as Beni Ismael. Hazrat Ibrahim (PBUH) was born in 2100 B.C. in the city of Ur ir4 Iraq. This city was not only the capital of the dynasty of Nimrood, but was also a centre of trade and culture and a citadel of disbelief and polytheism. Here Allah raised Ibrahim (PBUH) to the dignity of prophethood. Hazrat Ibrahim (PBUH) by the grace of Allah survived the fiery ordeal into which Nimrood had put him. Losing hope in his people, Ibrahim emigrated from his home and prayed to

A SHORT NOTE ON THE LIFE of Muhammad (S.A,W)

This chapter gives a brief account of the life of Muhammad (SAW) so as to acquaint the reader with the life history and prophetic advent of that Mercy for Mankind, Leader of Divine Messengers and the last of the prophets who had been raised by Allah as Messenger, Guide, Leader, Pattern and Model of Perfect Man for the entire human race. It is the Excellent Example of this august person which forms the subject of this book. 1. The Condition of Arabia and Ajam (Non-Arab Countries) at the Advent of the Holy Prophet (SAW) (1) On the eve of the Prophetic advent of Muhammad (SAW) the entire human world was enveloped in various layers of darkness. Savagery and brutality were the order of the day. Polytheism and idolatry polluted the atmosphere of the whole world. The once resplendent civilizations of Egypt, India, Babylonia, Nineveh, Greece and China had fallen into decay. Roman and Persian civilizations were still in the ascendant. Their outward glory but masked the rule of jungle law. The rulers had installed themselves as deities of the people. The feudalist-capitalist classes and self appointed guardians of religion were active collaborators of I Adapted from 'Mohsin-i-lnsaniyat', pp. 19-21.these god-kings. This triumvirate preyed upon the people without mercy. They put them to work like beasts of burden and made merry on the fruits of their labour. The blood thirsty fiends, however, had no panacea for the ills of the people. They had no moment to spare for listening to the groans of their victims, let alone feeling sympathy for their plight. (2) The conditions in Arabia were not dissimilar. In the times of the Aad and the Thamud and the Empires of Saba, Aden and Yemen the Arabian civilisation had reached its zenith, yet it too had deteriorated giving place to savagery and brutality. Chaos reigned everywhere. The people were given to fights, plunder, liquor, dice and fornication. Class conflict was raging in full fury. On the one hand the Quraish who were polytheists and idolaters had set themselves up in business as guardians of the Ka'aba; and on the other the Jews were trading in philosophical and legalistic polemics. The bankers of Makkah and Taif had spread the nets of usury on the one side and on the other the business of slav­ery was thriving without restraint. In short it was impossible to recognize man from the beast, nay man had fallen from humanity and sunk below the animal culture. Not justice and equity but the law of `Might is Right' reigned supreme. God's earth was riven with the mischief,' which is portrayed by the Holy Quran thus: "Mischief has appeared in the land and the sea on account of men's doings that he may make them taste some of their (evil) works: maybe they mend their ways. (0 Prophet) say to them; Go about in the land and see what has been the end of those who lived before (you). Most of them were mushriks (idolaters)." (Ar-Rum: 41-42) (3) In short, when the people had forgotten their Lord, when their consciences were dead; when the real beauty of