Story of Prophet Ibrahim

Story of Prophet Ibrahim (a) | Print | Ibrahim, known as Khalilullãh (friend of Allah, 4:1 25), lived in the country south of present day ‘Iraq. His father, Azar, used to make idols and sell them. The people of the area used to worship these idols, which they had made themselves, in a temple. Ibrahim was an intelligent young man. It was strange for him to see people bowing down before stone idols which could neither move nor talk. They could not even drive away the flies which sat on their eyes and noses. Ibrahrm wondered why people were so foolish to worship such powerless statues. Ibrahim enquiring mind was in search of Allah. He thought and thought. It occurred to him that the shining moon might be his Lord. But when the moon vanished he said to himself, “No, a vanishing thing cannot be my Lord.” He looked at the sun and said, “It is the biggest and it is my Lord.” But when the sun also went down, Ibrahim said to himself, “No, this cannot be my Lord.” He came to the conclusion that only the Ever-lasting, Ever-present and All-knowing Almighty can be his Lord. The stars, the moon and the sun cannot be the Lord (6:76—79). Ibrahim once asked his father, “0 my father, why do you worship idols which can neither speak nor hear?” Azar became angry and warned Ibrahim not to ask such questions. Ibrahim wished he could show his people the stupidity of worshipping idols. He thought of an idea which would give the people a practical lesson. Once, when people were busy celebrating a festival, Ibrahim went to the temple where the idols were kept. He asked the idols, “How do you do? Here is food and drink. Why don’t you help yourselves?” The stone idols were silent, of course. Ibrahim now took an axe and began to break all the idols except the biggest which he spared for a purpose. .When he had finished, he left the axe hanging round the neck of the biggest idol (21:58). On their return from the festival, people came to the temple to worship the idols and were astonished to see the pitiful condition of their gods. They were shocked, grieved and furious. “Who has done this mischief?” they asked themselves. They thought of Ibrahim, the only one who talked disrespectfully about the idols. They confronted Ibrahim, asking “Who broke the idols?” Ibrahim calmly replied, “Ask the biggest one. “The people knew that the idols could not talk. They said, “0 Ibrahim, don’t you know that the idols can’t talk?” Ibrahim retorted, “Why do you worship them, then? They can’t talk, move or understand anything. Why do you ask them for favour? ”The people had no answer. They were sure that it was Ibrahim who broke the idols. They could not let the matter rest easily. They called a meeting and decided to burn Ibrahim alive. They had to defend their gods (21:59—68). However, Ibrahim was favoured by Allah, so nothing could harm him as he had done the right thing. A big fire was prepared and Ibrahim was thrown into it. But a miracle happened! The fire did not burn him. .Allah protected him. People were amazed to see it and they could not believe their eyes. But it was so. Ibrahim was safe and his persecutors felt sad and helpless (21:69—70). In this way, Ibrahim was given the light of the truth by Allah. Ibrahim was a messenger and servant of Allah (16:120—122; 19:41). He loved Allah more than anything else. He was ready to sacrifice his son Isma’il on Allah’s command. Allah accepted Ibrahim’s readiness and sent a ram to be sacrificed instead (37:101—107). We observe the festival of ‘Idul-Adhã to commemorate this. It was Prophet Ibrahim who rebuilt al-Ka’bah in Makkah with his son Ismail (22:26 27; 2:125—129; 14:35—37). In This Section Ramadan Competition 2010 Ramadan Competition 2009 Ramadan Booklet Study Notes 2009 Stories of Prophets Prophet Adam (a) Prophet Nuh (a) Prophet Ibrahim Prophet Musa, Moses Prophet Isa, Jesus Competition Packages Photo: Sri Lanka Final Exam Photo - Bake Sale for Orphans Photo - Projects 2009 Winner 2009 Ramadan Competition 2009 Participants 2009 Pictures See Projects of 2009 Participants Test Photos of Sri Lanka Participants Bake Sale to Raise Funds for Orphans

Story of Prophet Nuh

Story of Prophet Nuh (a) | Print | Many hundreds of years passed after Adam, and the earth was filled with his children. As time passed, the children of Adam forgot Allah and started to worship statues made of stones. They became bad and would lie and steal and some became mean and greedy. Allah, the most Merciful, sent Nuh to those people to bring them back to His worship. Nuh invited the people to come back to Tawhid. He asked them to give up idol worship and all the other vices which were ruining them. He warned them about the Day of Judgment (7:59—64). Nuh tried his best for many years to guide his people to worship Allah but they would not listen. They laughed at him, mocked him, despised him and called him crazy and a liar (26:105; 45:9). Nuh lived for 950 years (29:14) but during this long period of time only a few people responded to his call. Even his son and wife did not believe in him. Nah was tired and shocked to see the stone—heartedness of his people. He became so displeased with the stiffness of their opposition to the truth that he ultimately prayed to Allah, “0 Lord, leave not upon the land any one from the unbelievers.” (71:26) He cried unto his Lord saying, “I am vanquished, so give help.” (54:10) He also prayed to Allah to rescue him and his followers (26:118). Almighty Allah accepted Nuh prayers and asked him to build an ark. Nuh started to build the ark. It was not an easy task but Prophet Nuh persevered (11:37). When the people saw Nuh building the ark they laughed at him and thought that he must have gone mad. They could not see the reason for building so huge an ark hundreds of miles away from the sea (11:38). “What is the ark for?” they asked. Soon they were to find out. It was Allah’s plan to cleanse the whole land of unbelievers except the ones who believed and helped Nuh. Nuh told the mockers that a flood would soon overcome them and they would have no place to take shelter. The people laughed even more. But Allah’s plans soon materialized and the disbelievers saw it happen before their own eyes. After many days of hard work, the ark was complete and Allah asked Nuh to take a pair (one male, one female) of all animals into the ark. He and his followers boarded afterwards (11:40—41). Suddenly the skies became dark. It began to thunder and rain. Water poured from above and gushed up from the ground. It rained and rained until the whole land was flooded. Every living thing drowned except those that were in the ark, which was floating on the water (54:11 15). The flood water lasted five months and it destroyed all the disbelievers. Even Nuh's own son — an unbeliever was not saved. Nah had asked permission from Allah to take his son in the ark but this was refused. He was told that an unbelieving son was no part of his family. Nuh felt remorse for asking Allah to rescue his son. He begged Allah to forgive him. Nah and his followers were safe in the ark (11:45—47). At last, the skies began to clear and the ark halted at Mount Judi (in Turkey). Nuh and his followers disembarked (11:44). Thus Allah saved Nab and his followers (29:15). Allah bestowed prosperity and abundance on Nuh’s children. .They spread all over the earth (11:48). Such is the dreadful punishment meted out to the disbelievers. Allah says in the Qur’an, “We drowned those who denied our signs. Lo! they were (such,) blind folk.” (7:64) We should take a lesson from this story that disobedience to Allah leads to total destruction! In This Section Ramadan Competition 2010 Ramadan Competition 2009 Ramadan Booklet Study Notes 2009 Stories of Prophets Prophet Adam (a) Prophet Nuh (a) Prophet Ibrahim Prophet Musa, Moses Prophet Isa, Jesus Competition Packages Photo: Sri Lanka Final Exam Photo - Bake Sale for Orphans Photo - Projects 2009 Winner 2009 Ramadan Competition 2009 Participants 2009 Pictures See Projects of 2009 Participants Test Photos of Sri Lanka Participants Bake Sale to Raise Funds for Orphans

Story of Prophet Adam

Story of Prophet Adam (a) | Print | Long, long ago, Allah announced to the Angels and Jinn that He would create human beings to worship Him and live on the earth: “I am going to place my Khalifah (deputy or agent,) on earth.” (2:30) The angels asked, “Will You place therein someone who will make mischief and shed blood, while we praise You and glorify You?” (2:30) Allah replied, “Surely I know what you do not know.” (2:30). The angels were silent. Allah informed the angels, “I am about to create a mortal being (Bashar,) from clay. When I have fashioned him and given him life, you must prostrate before him.” (38:71—72) Allah created Adam from clay and gave him the best of forms. He then commanded the angels and Jinn to prostrate before Adam. The angels obeyed; they never disobey Allah. But Iblis, who was one of the Jinn (18:50), refused to prostrate. Allah asked, “What prevented you from prostrating before that which I have created?” Iblis replied, “I am better than him. You have created me from fire hut him You created from clay.” (7:12; 1 5:32—33) His pride led him to disobey Allah. Allah then said, “Get out of here. You are an outcast. My curse is on you till the Day of Judgment.” (1 5:34—35) Iblis vowed to misguide Adam and his children (7:14—18) But, as you know, Allah has given man knowledge and guidance to distinguish between right and wrong to avoid being misguided. Allah taught Adam some names and asked the angels to say those names (2:31).The angels said, “Glory to You, we do not know more than YOU have taught us. Surely You are All-Knowing and the Most Wise.” (2:31) Allah then asked Adam to say those names, and he did so (2:33). Turning to the angels, Allah said, “Did I not tell you that I know everything that is in the earth and the heavens and I also know whatever you disclose and whatever you hide?” (2:33) Allah then asked Adam to live in al-Jannah (Paradise). He had everything to enjoy. But he was alone. So, Allah created Hawwa’ (Eve) as his wife. Now; Adam was happy and living in al-Jannah. Allah said to Adam, “Live with your wife in al-Jannah. Eat freely whatever you like in here. But do not go near that tree.” (2:35).This was intended to test them and teach them self—control. Allah also wanted to see whether they used the knowledge given to them to save themselves from the tricks of Iblis. Iblis was trying hard to misguide Adam and Hawwa’. At last, he succeeded and tempted them to go to that tree. As soon as they approached the forbidden tree, Adam and Hawwa realized they were naked. Until then, they did not know what nakedness was. They had no cause to be ashamed of it. But now they felt ashamed. They tried to cover themselves with leaves and tried to hide. But there was nowhere they could hide from Allah, the All-knowing. Adam and Hawwa’ asked Allah’s forgiveness and it was granted. They prayed: “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and grant us mercy, surely we shall he losers.” (7:23) Allah then commanded Adam and Hawwa to go down to earth and live there. He was very kind and taught them the way to seek forgiveness (2:38—39). He also told them that He would send guidance for them, so that they would not deviate from the Right Path. Allah revealed guidance to Adam and he was made the first prophet on earth. There are important lessons for us to learn in this story.

Story of Prophet Isa (Jesus)

Story of Prophet Isa (Jesus) (a) | Print | The Banu Israil were given many favours by Almighty Allah but they were very ungrateful. They violated Allah’s orders, ridiculed the prophets and even killed some of them. They started to worship idols and made a mockery of Allah’s message. Allah, the Merciful, again sent a prophet to bring them to the right path. This prophet was ‘Isa, son of Maryam (Mary) (2:87).Allah bestowed on him the Injil (Gospel) and ‘Isa confirmed what was in the Tawrah (Torah) (5:46, 61:6). Prophet ‘Isa had a miraculous birth. He was born of the virgin Maryam without a father, by Allah’s command (19:1 7—2 1). Allah can do anything He likes . Everything is possible for Him. When He wants to get something done, He only says, ‘Be’ and there it is (2:117). We know that Adam was created by Allah without a father and a mother. So, it was no wonder that Allah could create ‘Isa without a father. ‘Isa, born of virgin Maryam, could talk even as a baby. He was made a prophet when he was 30, and he did his duty as a prophet for three years (19:29—34). Allah endowed him with some miraculous powers. He could make birds out of clay, heal leprosy within minutes, restore the eyes of the blind and also make the dead come alive. He could do all these miracles by the mercy of Allah. The Quran mentions the miraculous powers and the birth of ‘Isa in Sarah Al-Imran “(And remember,) when the angels said: 0, Mary! Allah gives you the glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the World and the Hereafter and one of those brought near (‘unto Allah). He will speak to mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous. She (Mary) said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal has touched me? He said, So (it will be,).Allah creates what He wishes. If He decrees a thing, He says to it only: Be, and it is. And He will teach him the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. And will make him a messenger to the Children of Israil, (saying,): I come to you with a sign from my Lord. See! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, by Allah’s leave. I heal him who was born blind and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave. And I announce to you what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Here truly is a portent for you, if you are to he believers. And I come to you confirming what was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful some of what was forbidden to you. I come to you as a sign from your Lord, so keep your duty to Allah and obey me. Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path.” (3:46—51) He asked the people to obey Allah alone but some of his followers made fantasies about him and they considered him a part of Allah, even a son of Allah (5:11 6—i 17). Muslims believe in Isa as a prophet and a servant of Allah (43:59) .They do not believe that he is the son of Allah. Allah does not have a son or daughter. He is not like any of the creatures He has created. There is none like Him. Allah is One and Indivisible. (5:17; 19:35). According to the Qur’an, Prophet ‘Isa was not crucified; rather, he was taken up by Allah, the Almighty and the Most Wise (4:157—158). Everything is possible for Allah. It was He who saved Ibrahim from the fire and Musa from Fir’awn. He is the only Creator of the whole universe and all that is in it. In This Section Ramadan Competition 2010 Ramadan Competition 2009 Ramadan Booklet Study Notes 2009 Stories of Prophets Prophet Adam (a) Prophet Nuh (a) Prophet Ibrahim Prophet Musa, Moses Prophet Isa, Jesus Competition Packages Photo: Sri Lanka Final Exam Photo - Bake Sale for Orphans Photo - Projects 2009 Winner 2009 Ramadan Competition 2009 Participants 2009 Pictures See Projects of 2009 Participants Test Photos of Sri Lanka Participants Bake Sale to Raise Funds for Orphans

Caliph Abu Bakr's era

During Abu Bakr's reign as caliph, during which he remained occupied with Ridda wars, Umar was one of his chief advisers and secretary. Umar along with Khalid ibn Walid, probably was the architect and main strategist behind the collapse of rebellion in Arabia. Though at the beginning due to the apprehensive situation in Arabia Umar was opposing the military operations against the rebel tribes, possibly to enjoy their support in case of any possible foreign invasion by the Romans or the Persians, but later he seemed to agree with Abu Bakr's strategy to crush rebellion. Khalid ibn Walid by late 632 had successfully united Arabia after consecutive victories against rebels. Later during his own reign,

Umar's (Title of Al Farooq)

Mujahid, on the authority of Ibn Abbas related that he had asked 'Umar bin Al-Khattab why he had been given the epithet of Al-Farooq, he replied: After I had embraced Islam, I asked Mohammad: 'Aren't we on the right path here and Hereafter?' He answered: 'Of course you are! I swear by Allah in Whose Hand my soul is, that you are right in this world and in the hereafter.' I, therefore, asked Mohammad 'Why we then had to conduct clandestine activism. I swear by Allah Who has sent you with the Truth, that we will leave our concealment and proclaim our noble cause publicly.' We then went out in two groups, Hamzah leading one and I the other. We headed for the Masjid Al Haram in broad daylight. When the polytheists of Quraish saw us, their faces went pale and got incredibly depressed and resentful. On that very occasion, Mohammad attached to me the epithet of Al-Farooq.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Umar was born in Mecca to the Banu Adi clan, which was responsible for arbitrations among the tribes. His father was Khattab ibn Nufayl and his mother was Hantammah daughter of Khattab, from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. He was the cousin of Khalid ibn al-Walid, a general who would play an important role later in his life, and during a wrestling match between the two, Umar had his leg broken.^[7] He is said to have belonged to a middle class family. In his youth he used to tend to his father’s camels in the plains near Mecca. His father was famed for his intelligence among his tribe, and is believed to have been a ruthless man and emotional polytheist who often treated Umar badly. As obvious from Umar's own statement regarding his father during his later political rule, Umar said, "My father Al-Khittab was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he used to work me to exhaustion."^[8]

Death

On 23 August 634, Abu Bakr fell sick and did not recover due to his old age. There are two accounts about the sickness of Abu Bakr. One account states that 8 August 634 was a cold day and when Abu Bakr took a bath, he caught a chill. Another account indicates that, about a year before, along with some other companions, Harith bin Kaladah and Attab bin Usaid, he had eaten some poisoned food which did not affect him for a year.

Invasion of Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

Further information: Muslim conquest of Syria

Map detailing Rashidun Caliphates invasion of Levant.

Military expansion

Once the rebellions had been put down, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest. Whether or not he intended a full-out imperial conquest is hard to say; he did, however, set in motion a historical trajectory that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. Abu Bakr began with Iraq, the richest province of Persian Empire. He sent his most brilliant general Khalid ibn al-Walid to invade the Sassanid Empire.