dr:mohamed eldondity
المدير
عدد المساهمات : 145
نقاط : 444
تاريخ التسجيل : 11/08/2009
 |  موضوع: @LIFE STORY OF MOHAMED PBUH PART 12 @ THE KING WHO BELIEVED  الخميس سبتمبر 10, 2009 9:31 am | |
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The King Who Believed
As the number of the Prophet's followers increased so the
enemies of the Muslims grew more and more angry. At last
some of the Muslims decided to go to another country in order
to live in peace. It was only five years since the Archangel
Gabriel had first come to the Prophet (pbuh) and two years
since the Prophet (pbuh) had spoken out in public. The
Muslims asked the Prophet (pbuh) to allow them to leave
Mecca. He agreed, saying 'It would be better for you to go to
Abyssinia. The king there is a just man and it is a friendly
country. Stay there until Allah makes it possible for you to
return. The Muslims prepared for the journey. They decided to
wait until night so that they could leave without being seen.
The first sixteen left Mecca and, after reaching the shore of die
Red Sea, crossed over to Abyssinia. Another eighty-three men
and nineteen women followed, all hoping to be welcomed by
the king and people of that country. This was the first hijrah,
or migration, in Islam.
The Meccans were furious when they discovered that these
Muslims had secretly left the city for among them were the
sons and daughters of many of the leading families of Mecca.
The anger of the Meccans was even greater when they found
out that the Muslims had been warmly welcomed in Abyssinia.
The leaders of Quraysh decided to send two men to the
Abyssinian king in hopes of persuading him to send the
Muslims back. These were 'Amr ibn al-'As, a very clever
speaker, and ‘Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi’ah. Before they met this
king, they gave each of his advisers a gift, saying: 'Some
foolish men from our people have come to hide in your
country. Our leaders have sent us to your ruler to persuade
him to send them back, so when we speak to the king about
them, do advise him to give them up to us.' The advisers
agreed to do what the Meccans wished.
Amr ibn al-'As and 'Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi'ah then went to
the king and presented him also with a gift, saying: 'Your
Highness, these people have abandoned the religion we have
always followed in Mecca, but they have not even become
Christians like you.' The royal advisers, who were also present,
told the king that the Meccans had spoken the truth and that
he should send the Muslims back to their own people. At this,
the king became angry and said, 'No, by God, I will not give
them up. Those who have come to ask for my protection,
settled in my country, and chosen me rather than others, shall
not be betrayed. I will summon them and ask them about
what these two men have said. If the Muslims are as the
Meccans say, I will give them up and send them back to their
own people, but if the Meccans have lied I will protect the
Muslims.' 'Amr was very upset by this for the last thing he
wanted was for the king to hear what the Muslims had to say.
The king then sent for the Muslims. When they entered, they
did not kneel before him as was the custom of the Abyssinians.
'Why do you not kneel before our king?' they were asked by
one of the advisors. 'We kneel only to Allah', they replied. So
the king asked them to tell him about their religion.
Ja'far ibn abi Talib, Ali's brother and a cousin of the Prophet
(pbuh), was chosen to speak for the Muslims. He replied, '0
King, at first we were among the ignorant. We and our
ancestors had turned from the faith of Abraham, who, with
Ishmael, rebuilt the Ka’bah and worshipped only Allah. We
used idols in our worship of Allah; we ate meat that had not
been killed in the right way; we did not respect the rights of
our neighbors; the strong took advantage of the weak. We did
terrible things of which I dare not speak. This was our life until
Allah sent a Messenger from among us, one of our relatives,
whom we have always known to be honest, innocent, and
faithful. He asked us to worship only Allah, and to give up the
bad customs of our forefathers. He asked us to be truthful and
trustworthy, to respect and help our neighbors, to honor our
families, and to put a stop to our bad deeds and endless
fighting. He asked us to look after orphans. He ordered us not
to slander or speak evil of women or men.
He ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to worship
anyone or anything else alongside Him. He ordered us to pray,
to give alms, and to fast. We believe he is right and therefore
we follow him and do as he has commanded us.
The Meccans began to attack us and come between us and
our religion. So we had to leave our homes and we have come
to you, hoping to find justice.'
The king, who was a Christian, was moved by these words.
‘Amr had to think quickly of a way to win the argument.
Cunningly he said to the king, 'These people do not believe in
Jesus in the same way as you'. The king then wanted to know
what the Prophet (pbuh) had said about Jesus. Ja'far replied
by reciting a Surah from the Koran which tells the story of
Jesus and his mother Mary. These are a few of the lines he
recited:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
“And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had
Withdrawn from her people to an eastern place, And had
chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our spirit
and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. She said:
Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if Thou
fearest God. He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that
I may bestow on thee a faultless son. She said: How can I
have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I
been unchaste? He said: 'Even so thy Lord saith: It is easy for
Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him revelation for
mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. And
she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place.
Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They
said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an monstrous thing. Oh
sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy
mother a harlot. Then Mary pointed to the child (Jesus); But
they said, 'How can we speak to one who is still in the cradle,
a young child?' He said, 'Lo, I am Allah's servant; He has given
me the Book, and made me a Prophet.
He has made me Blessed, wheresoever I may be; and He
has enjoined me to pray, and to give alms, so long as I live,
and likewise to cherish my mother; he has not made me
arrogant, unblest Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and
the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!” (Koran
xix:16-33) . When the king heard this, his eyes filled with
tears. Turning to his advisers, he said, 'These words have
surely come from God; there is very little to separate the
Muslims from the Christians. What both Jesus and Muhammad,
the Messengers of Allah, have brought comes from the same
source.
So the Muslims were given the king's permission to live
peacefully in his country. 'Amr was given back the gift he had
presented to the king and the two Meccans returned home,
bitterly disappointed.
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