Series of answers by the eminent scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to questions from visitors to his Facebook page "Fiqhi"
To Raed Al-Harsh Abu Muadh
Question:
To clarify a question: Was the Prophet’s ﷺ lack of seeking Nusrah from Quraysh due to their inherent lack of eligibility for it, or simply because they rejected Islam—meaning the leaders of Makkah? If so, did the Prophet ﷺ not seek Nusrah from the people of Yathrib even though the leaders and chiefs in Yathrib had not yet embraced Islam nor given Nusrah? I request clarification. May Allah bless you and reward you with all goodness.
Answer:
Regarding the Prophet ﷺ not seeking Nusrah from Quraysh in Makkah, the matter is as follows:
[The Messenger ﷺ used to call the Ahl al-Quwwah (people of power), who were capable of changing the Jahiliyyah, to Islam. He would call them to Islam first... if they embraced it and responded, he would then seek their Nusrah... and the chiefs of Quraysh in Makkah, who were capable of change, did not accept Islam. Therefore, the Messenger ﷺ did not seek their Nusrah; rather, the Messenger ﷺ limited himself to the Da’wah (call) to Islam in Makkah. Since their Ahl al-Quwwah did not respond to Islam, he did not seek Nusrah from them... I will mention to you below from the Seerah how that used to occur:
First: From the Seerah of Ibn Hisham:
1- “...and his people were as intense as ever in their opposition to him and in forsaking his Deen, except for a few oppressed ones among those who believed. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would present himself to the Arab tribes during the [pilgrimage] seasons when they gathered, calling them to Allah, informing them that he was a sent Prophet, and asking them to believe in him and protect him until Allah made clear what He sent him with...”
Ibn Ishaq said: Husayn bin Abdullah bin Ubaydullah bin Abbas narrated to me, saying: I heard Rabia bin Abbad narrating to my father, saying: I was a young boy with my father in Mina, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would stand at the encampments of the Arab tribes, saying: “O children of so-and-so, I am the Messenger of Allah to you, commanding you to worship Allah and not to associate anything with Him, and to cast off whatever you worship besides Him from these rivals, and that you believe in me, trust me, and protect me, until I make clear from Allah what He has sent me with.”
2- Ibn Ishaq said: Az-Zuhri narrated to me that he came to Banu ‘Amir bin Sa’sa’ah and called them to Allah (swt) and offered himself to them. A man from among them—called Bayhara bin Firas—said: “By Allah, if I were to take this young man from Quraysh, I would devour the Arabs with him.” Then he said: “Do you see, if we pledge allegiance to you upon your matter, and then Allah gives you victory over those who oppose you, will the authority after you be ours?” He ﷺ said: “The matter belongs to Allah; He places it where He wills.” He replied: “Shall we offer our necks to the Arabs for your sake, and then when Allah gives you victory, the authority goes to others? We have no need for your matter...”
3- Ibn Ishaq said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ continued in this manner; whenever the people gathered at the season, he would go to them, calling the tribes to Allah and to Islam, offering himself to them and what he had brought from Allah of guidance and mercy. He would not hear of any Arab of name and honor arriving in Makkah except that he would approach him, calling him to Allah and offering him what he had.]
As you see, the Messenger ﷺ would call the possessor of power to Islam first, and if he responded, he would seek his Nusrah.
Second: From the Seerah of Ibn Kathir:
1- [...He said: Then we reached a gathering characterized by tranquility and dignity, where there were elders of stature and appearance. Abu Bakr stepped forward and gave Salam. Ali said: Abu Bakr was foremost in every good. Abu Bakr said to them: “From which people are you?” They said: “From Banu Shayban bin Tha’labah.” He turned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, there is no one more honorable than these among their people.” In another narration: “There is no excuse beyond these for their people; these are the elites of their people and the elites of the people.” Among them were Mafruq bin ‘Amr, Hani bin Qabisa, Al-Muthanna bin Haritha, and Al-Nu’man bin Sharik... Mafruq bin ‘Amr was the closest to Abu Bakr, and he excelled them in eloquence and speech. He had two braids falling over his chest and was sitting closest to Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr asked him: “What is your number?” He replied: “We are more than a thousand, and a thousand will not be defeated due to small numbers.” He asked: “What is your protection (man’ah)?” He replied: “Upon us is the effort, and for every people there is a destiny.” Abu Bakr asked: “How is the war between you and your enemy?” Mafruq said: “We are at our fiercest when we are angry; we prefer horses over children and weapons over livestock. Victory is from Allah; He gives us a turn once and gives a turn against us once...”
“Perhaps you are the brother of Quraysh?” Abu Bakr said: “If it has reached you that he is the Messenger of Allah, then here he is.” Mafruq said: “It has reached us that he mentions that.” Then he turned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: “To what do you call, O brother of Quraysh?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stepped forward and sat down while Abu Bakr shaded him with his garment. He ﷺ said: “I call you to testify that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and that I am the Messenger of Allah, and that you shelter me and support me (tansurooni) until I fulfill what Allah has commanded me. For Quraysh have conspired against the command of Allah, denied His Messenger, and sought self-sufficiency in falsehood over truth, and Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy.” He said: “To what else do you call, O brother of Quraysh?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited:
قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا ۖ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا... ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
"Say, 'Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited to you. [He commands] that you not associate anything with Him, and to parents, good treatment...' That has He instructed you that you may become righteous." (QS. Al-An'am [6]: 151-153)
Mafruq said to him: “To what else do you call, O brother of Quraysh? By Allah, this is not the speech of the people of the earth; if it were their speech, we would have known it.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
"Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded." (QS. An-Nahl [16]: 90)
Mafruq said to him: “By Allah, O brother of Quraysh, you have called to noble character and beautiful deeds, and the people who denied you and conspired against you have lied.”
It was as if he wanted Hani bin Qabisa to join the conversation, so he said: “This is Hani bin Qabisa, our elder and the leader of our Deen.” Hani said: “I have heard your words, O brother of Quraysh, and I believe your speech. However, I see that leaving our religion and following you in your religion for a single session we sat with you—which has no beginning or end, and without us contemplating your matter and looking into the consequence of what you call to—is a slip in judgment, a lightness of mind, and a lack of foresight. Slips happen with haste, and behind us are people whom we would hate to bind to a contract [without their consent]. But you return, and we return, and you look, and we look.” It was as if he wanted Al-Muthanna bin Haritha to join the conversation, so he said: “This is Al-Muthanna, our elder and our leader in war.” Al-Muthanna said: “I have heard your words and find them good, O brother of Quraysh; I am impressed by what you spoke. The answer is the same as Hani bin Qabisa’s regarding leaving our religion and following you for a single session. Furthermore, we reside between two waters, one is Yamama and the other is Samawa**.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked: “What are these two waters?” He replied: “One is the edge of the wilderness and the land of the Arabs, and the other is the land of Persia and the rivers of Chosroes. We have settled upon a covenant given to us by Chosroes that we shall not innovate any matter, nor shelter an innovator. Perhaps this matter you call us to is something that kings dislike. As for what borders the land of the Arabs, the fault of its owner is forgiven and his excuse is accepted; but as for what borders the land of Persia, the fault of its owner is not forgiven and his excuse is not accepted. If you want us to support you and protect you against what borders the Arabs, we shall do so.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “You have not been bad in your response since you spoke the truth. Indeed, the Deen of Allah is not upheld except by one who protects it from all its sides.”...]
** Al-Lisan 19 / 192: "We settled at the two Saray: Yamama and Samama, which is the dual form of Sara, meaning any collected body of water."
2- He said: [Then we moved to the gathering of the Aws and Khazraj, and we did not leave until they pledged allegiance to the Prophet ﷺ.
Ali said: They were truthful and patient, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was delighted by Abu Bakr’s (ra) knowledge of their lineages.
He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not stay long after that until he went out to his companions and said to them: “Praise Allah much, for today the sons of Rabi'ah have triumphed over the people of Persia; they killed their kings and seized their camp, and through me they were aided.”
He said: The battle was at Qaraqir next to Dhi Qar... This is a very rare Hadith, we recorded it for the signs of Prophethood, beautiful character, noble traits, and Arabic eloquence it contains. This has been reported through another route, mentioning that when they fought Persia at Qaraqir, a place near the Euphrates, they made their battle cry the name of Muhammad ﷺ, and they were victorious over Persia because of that, and they entered Islam after that.
Imam Muhammad bin Umar al-Waqidi has tracked this extensively, mentioning the tribes one by one, recounting his ﷺ offering himself to Banu 'Amir, Ghassan, Banu Fazara, Banu Murrah, Banu Hanifa, Banu Sulaym, Banu Abs, Banu Nadir bin Hawazin, Banu Tha'labah bin Ukabah, Kinda, Kalb, Banu al-Harith bin Ka'b, Banu Udhrah, Qays bin al-Hatim, and others. The reports of these are lengthy, and we have mentioned a good portion of them, and to Allah belongs all praise and favor. Imam Ahmad said: Aswad bin Amir narrated to us, Israel informed us, from Uthman, meaning Ibn al-Mughirah, from Salim bin Abi al-Ja’d, from Jabir bin Abdullah who said: The Prophet ﷺ used to offer himself to the people at the station [of Arafat], saying:
«هَلْ مِنْ رَجُلٍ يَحْمِلُنِي إِلَى قَوْمِهِ فَإِنَّ قُرَيْشاً قَدْ مَنَعُونِي أَنْ أُبَلِّغَ كَلَامَ رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ؟»
"Is there any man who will take me to his people? For Quraysh have prevented me from conveying the word of my Lord, the Mighty and Sublime."]
It is clear from all this that the Messenger ﷺ did not seek the Nusrah of anyone except after calling them to Islam; if they did not respond to Islam, he did not seek their Nusrah. The leaders of Quraysh did not respond to Islam, so the Messenger ﷺ did not seek their Nusrah.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
26 Jumada al-Ula 1443 AH Corresponding to 30/12/2021 CE
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