Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir
To the Questions of his Facebook Page Followers "Fiqhi"
To Ziyad Walawil - Kamel A.j. Saleh - Fozi Ibrahem Alshouha
1- Question from Ziyad Walawil:
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, Sheikh Ata. My question is regarding seeking Nusrah: The party (Hizb) has mentioned in several places that after the Meccan society became rigid, the Prophet went to seek Nusrah from the tribes...
Here I have an issue with some of what has been narrated and what many readers—from the party and otherwise—understand regarding when the Prophet presented Islam to the polytheists: Was he calling them to support him, or was he calling them to Islam, or was he calling them to Islam and then to support him? And if we assume that the tribal leaders believed, does that mean they were ready to sacrifice? And is it conceivable that the Prophet, for example, would reject their conversion to Islam... etc.?
2- Question from Kamel A.j. Saleh:
If you please... was the Messenger ﷺ seeking Nusrah from the disbelievers while they were in their state of disbelief... or was he asking them to believe first...??
And is it permissible to seek Nusrah from a disbeliever...?!
It seems my question was not clear, so allow me to rephrase it...
Was he ﷺ seeking Nusrah from them while they were in their polytheism, or did he stipulate that they must become Muslim before they supported him... or was his goal Nusrah regardless of whether they became Muslim or remained disbelievers?..
3- Question from Fozi Ibrahem Alshouha:
Did Allah command His Messenger to go to Taif and the Arab tribes to seek Nusrah, or was the command simply to seek Nusrah and the Messenger of Allah chose the strong tribes?
Were the people of Nusrah from whom the Messenger sought support political leaders followed by power? Or were they military leaders?
Meaning, did he seek Nusrah from them in their capacity as a political medium that existed in Madinah, or as people of military power?
The Answer:
Walaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
Your questions are similar, so I will answer them together, by Allah’s permission:
1- The Messenger ﷺ does not perform any action except by revelation from Allah (swt), in the manner we have explained in The Islamic Personality, Volume 3, in the chapter "The Actions of the Messenger ﷺ," where it states:
(The actions of the Messenger ﷺ are of three types: ......
- The third type: What is not from the natural inclinations (jibillah), and is not something specific to him ﷺ—meaning all other actions. There is no dispute that we are commanded to emulate the Messenger ﷺ in these. There is no dispute that they are a Shari'i evidence like his sayings and his silence. It is obligatory to act upon them because they are his actions ﷺ; due to the saying of the Almighty:
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
"Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example." (Surah Al-Ahzab [33]: 21)
And His saying:
إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ
"I only follow what is revealed to me." (Surah Al-An'am [6]: 50)
And His saying:
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَتَّبِعُ مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ مِن رَّبِّي
"Say: I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord." (Surah Al-A'raf [7]: 203)
This is explicit, clear, and apparent in its generality, covering everything the Messenger ﷺ performed in terms of actions, just as it covers sayings and silences. Therefore, following the Messenger ﷺ in all his actions that issued from him—which were not specific to him and were not from the natural inclinations—is obligatory upon every Muslim, because the Messenger ﷺ only follows what is revealed to him. However, the obligation to follow the Messenger ﷺ does not mean the obligation to perform the action he did; rather, it means the obligation to follow according to the nature of the action. If the action was obligatory, then performing it is obligatory. If the action was recommended (mandub), then performing it is recommended. If the action was permissible (mubah), then performing it is permissible. So, following is obligatory according to how the action was categorized. It is like following the commands of the Messenger; Allah (swt) says:
فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ أَن تُصِيبَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ أَوْ يُصِيبَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
"So let those who disobey his command beware, lest a trial befall them or a painful punishment afflict them." (Surah An-Nur [24]: 63)
This indicates the obligation to obey the Messenger ﷺ in what he commands, but it does not indicate the obligation to perform what he commands [as a Fard]; rather, the performance depends on how he commanded it. If he commanded it as an obligation, then performing it is obligatory; if he commanded it as a recommendation, then it is recommended; and if as a permission, then it is permissible. Likewise, his actions ﷺ must be followed, but the performance of them is according to the nature of those actions...)
2- Thus, the Messenger ﷺ sought Nusrah by permission from Allah (swt). This was at the end of the interaction stage (marhalat at-tafa'ul) when the enmity towards the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intensified in the tenth year of the Prophetic Mission:
- It is mentioned in Uyun al-Athar:
(...On the authority of Qatadah, he said: Khadijah (ra) died in Mecca three years before the Hijrah, and she was the first to believe in the Prophet ﷺ. He said... Then Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and Abu Talib died in the same year, so two calamities followed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: the death of Khadijah and Abu Talib. Khadijah was a truthful minister for Islam, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to find comfort in her. He said: Ziyad al-Buka'i said on the authority of Ibn Ishaq: Khadijah and Abu Talib died in the same year, and that was after ten years had passed since the mission of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, three years before his migration ﷺ to Madinah. Ibn Qutaybah mentioned that Khadijah died three days after Abu Talib. Al-Bayhaqi mentioned something similar.) End quote.
- And from Al-Waqidi: (Khadijah died thirty-five nights before Abu Talib, and other things were said. When Abu Talib perished, Quraysh inflicted such harm upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that they had not dared to hope for during Abu Talib's life. A fool from among the fools of Quraysh even confronted him and threw dust on his head. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered his house with the dust on his head, and one of his daughters stood up to wash the dust from him while weeping. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Do not cry, my daughter, for Allah will protect your father." And he would say during that: "Quraysh never achieved anything against me that I hated until Abu Talib died.")
3- In these difficult circumstances, Allah honored His Messenger ﷺ with two great events: the Night Journey and Ascension (Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj), and the permission for the Prophet ﷺ to seek Nusrah from the people of power among the tribes to protect the Da'wah and establish the State... The subject of Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj is not for this place. As for seeking Nusrah, the beginning was in Taif, but they did not respond... rather, they incited their fools against him ﷺ... then the works of Nusrah continued after that...
When seeking Nusrah, the Messenger ﷺ would aim for those with power and protection (al-quwwah wal-man'ah), meaning the chiefs of large tribes of significant standing, not the small ones. Before seeking their support, he would call them to Islam. If they responded, he would seek their support clearly and explicitly to establish a state that rules by what Allah has revealed and performs Jihad in the way of Allah. This is why some of them stipulated that authority should belong to them after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and others stipulated Jihad against the Arabs but not the Persians... Here is more clarification:
As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah by Ibn Kathir 2/155
- Al-Hafiz Abu Nu’aym narrated from the path of Abdullah bin al-Ajlah and Yahya bin Sa’id al-Umawi, both from Muhammad bin al-Sa’ib al-Kalbi, from Abu Salih, from Ibn Abbas, from al-Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: "I do not see protection for me from you or your brother. Will you take me out to the market tomorrow so that we may settle in the dwellings of the tribes of people?" And it was the gathering place of the Arabs.
He said: I said: This is Kinda and its affiliates, and they are the best of those who perform Hajj to the House from Yemen. And these are the dwellings of Bakr bin Wa’il, and these are the dwellings of Bani Amir bin Sa'sa'ah, so choose for yourself. He said: He started with Kinda and went to them and said: "From which people are you?" They said: "From the people of Yemen." He said: "From which part of Yemen?" They said: "From Kinda." He said: "From which Kinda?" They said: "From Bani Amr bin Mu'awiya." He said: "Would you like something good?" They said: "And what is it?" He said: "You bear witness that there is no god but Allah, you establish prayer, and you believe in what has come from Allah." Abdullah bin al-Ajlah said: My father narrated to me from the elders of his people that Kinda said to him: "If you are victorious, will you grant us the kingdom after you?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The kingdom belongs to Allah; He places it where He wills." They said: "We have no need for what you have brought us."
- Abu Bakr said: Then we arrived at a gathering characterized by tranquility and dignity, where there were elders of status and appearance. Abu Bakr stepped forward and gave the greeting of peace.
Ali said: Abu Bakr was always at the forefront of every good thing. Abu Bakr said to them: "From which people are you?" They said: "From Bani 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 among their people; these are the elite among their people, the elite of the people." Among them were Mafruq bin Amr, Hani bin Qabisa, Al-Muthanna bin Harithah, and Al-Nu'man bin Sharik.
The closest to Abu Bakr was Mafruq bin Amr, who excelled in eloquence and speech. He had two braids falling over his chest and sat closest to Abu Bakr... Mafruq said: "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, sat down, and Abu Bakr stood over him shading him with his garment. He ﷺ said: "I call you to the testimony that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner, and that I am the Messenger of Allah, and that you provide me refuge and support me so that I may convey from Allah that which He commanded me; for Quraysh have conspired against the matter of Allah, denied His Messenger, and sufficed themselves with falsehood over truth, and Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy..."] Mafruq said to him: "And 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 recognize it." So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ 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." (Surah 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 fabricated lies."
He seemed to want Hani bin Qabisa to join the conversation, so he said: "This is Hani bin Qabisa, our elder and the master of our religion..." [Hani said]: "Behind us are people whom we would hate to bind to an agreement. But you return and we return, you look into it and we look into it..." He seemed to want Al-Muthanna bin Harithah to join the conversation, so he said: "This is Al-Muthanna, our elder and master of our wars..." Al-Muthanna said: "I have heard your words and I find your speech good, O brother of Quraysh; what you spoke impressed me, and the answer is the same as Hani bin Qabisa's. We live between two borders: one is Al-Yamama, and the other is Al-Samawa."
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: "What are these two borders?" He said: "One is the coastal land and the land of the Arabs, and the other is the land of Persia and the rivers of Chosroes (Kisra). We have settled upon a covenant taken by Chosroes that we shall not initiate any new matter, nor provide refuge to an innovator. Perhaps this matter you call us to is something that kings hate. As for what pertains to the Arab lands, the sin of its perpetrator is forgiven and his excuse accepted. As for what pertains to the Persian lands, the sin of its perpetrator is not forgiven and his excuse is not accepted. If you want us to support you and protect you against what pertains to the Arabs, we will do so."
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The response you gave was not bad, for you spoke the truth. Indeed, the Deen of Allah can only be established by one who encompasses it from all its sides."
Sirat Ibn Hisham 1/424
(The Messenger ﷺ presenting himself to Bani Amir)
Ibn Ishaq said: Az-Zuhri narrated to me that he went to Bani Amir bin Sa'sa'ah, called them to Allah (swt), and presented himself to them. A man from among them called Bayhara bin Firas said: "By Allah, if I were to take this youth from Quraysh, I would devour the Arabs with him." Then he said: "Do you see that if we pledge allegiance to you upon your matter, then Allah grants you victory over those who oppose you, will the authority belong to us after you?" He said: "Authority belongs to Allah; He places it where He wills." He said: "Shall we offer our necks to the Arabs in your defense, and then when Allah gives you victory, the authority goes to others? We have no need for your matter."
Finally, there was the Second Pledge of Aqaba, and it is clear from it that the pledge was from Muslims with whom Mus'ab had stayed for a period teaching them Islam... then came the Second Pledge of Aqaba, the Hijrah, and the establishment of the State. For more clarification:
- It is mentioned in Sirat Ibn Hisham, Hada'iq al-Anwar, and other books of Seerah: (Then Mus’ab bin Umayr returned to Mecca, and those who went out from the Ansar Muslims to the [Hajj] season in the thirteenth year of the mission went with the pilgrims of their people from the people of polytheism. When they arrived in Mecca, they made an appointment with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Al-Aqaba, in the middle of the days of Tashriq, when Allah intended for them what He intended of His honor, victory for His Prophet, the strengthening of Islam and its people, and the humiliation of polytheism and its people... Ka’b said: Then we went out for Hajj and made an appointment with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Al-Aqaba in the middle of the days of Tashriq... On that night we slept with our people in our camps until a third of the night had passed. Then we slipped out of our camps toward the appointment with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, sneaking like sandgrouse, hiding, until we gathered in the ravine at Al-Aqaba. We were seventy-three men, and with us were two of our women... We gathered in the ravine waiting for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ... The Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke, recited the Quran, called to Allah, and encouraged Islam. Then he said: "I take your pledge that you will protect me as you protect your women and children." Al-Bara' bin Ma’rur took his hand and said: "Yes, by Him Who sent you with the Truth as a Prophet, we shall protect you as we protect our own selves (uzurana). So take our pledge, O Messenger of Allah, for we, by Allah, are sons of wars and people of armor; we inherited it from forefather to forefather." While Al-Bara' was speaking to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu al-Haytham bin al-Tayyihan interrupted and said: "O Messenger of Allah, there are ties between us and other men—meaning the Jews—and we are going to sever them. Is it possible that if we do that and then Allah grants you victory, you might return to your people and leave us?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and said: "Rather, blood is blood, and destruction is destruction. I am of you and you are of me. I will fight whom you fight and be at peace with whom you are at peace..." Ibn Ishaq said: Ubada bin al-Walid bin Ubada bin al-Samit narrated to me from his father, from his grandfather Ubada bin al-Samit—who was one of the representatives (nuqaba')—he said: "We pledged to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the pledge of war—and Ubada was among the twelve who pledged to him at the first Aqaba the pledge of women—upon hearing and obeying, in our hardship and ease, in our pleasure and dislike, and even if others are preferred over us, and that we do not dispute the authority of its people, and that we speak the truth wherever we are, not fearing for the sake of Allah the blame of any blamer...") End quote.
4- Thus, the Second Pledge of Aqaba was completed—the pledge of Nusrah—after Islam had spread in Madinah, followed by the Hijrah and the establishment of the State. It is clear from all this that the Messenger ﷺ was commanded to seek Nusrah since the tenth year of the mission, about three years before the Pledge of Aqaba. The Second Pledge of Aqaba occurred in the thirteenth year of the mission, meaning the Messenger ﷺ was being inspired (Wahy) regarding the actions of seeking Nusrah. He searched for the people of power among the tribes and sought their support. When the news of Madinah reached him through Mus’ab bin Umayr, and then seventy-three men and two women came and gave the Messenger ﷺ the Second Pledge of Aqaba, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw that Madinah was qualified to support him to establish the State and honor Islam and the Muslims... Nevertheless, the Messenger ﷺ did not migrate to Madinah until after Allah (swt) showed him the abode of migration and permitted him ﷺ to migrate, as mentioned in Bukhari: (Ibn Shihab said: Urwah bin al-Zubayr informed me that Aisha (ra), the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, said: "I never knew my parents but that they were practicing the Deen, and not a day passed but that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us at both ends of the day, morning and evening... Then the Prophet ﷺ said to the Muslims: 'I have been shown your land of migration, a land of palm trees between two lava tracts (labatayn)'—meaning the two Harras. So those who migrated, migrated toward Madinah, and most of those who had migrated to the land of Abyssinia returned to Madinah. Abu Bakr prepared himself to leave for Madinah, but the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: 'Wait, for I hope that permission will be given to me.' Abu Bakr said: 'Do you hope for that, may my father be sacrificed for you?' He said: 'Yes'... Aisha said: While we were sitting one day in Abu Bakr’s house in the heat of midday, someone said to Abu Bakr: 'This is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with his head covered, at an hour he usually does not come to us.' Abu Bakr said: 'May my father and mother be sacrificed for him, by Allah, nothing brought him at this hour but a matter of importance.' She said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came and asked permission, it was granted, and he entered. The Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Bakr: 'Ask those who are with you to leave.' Abu Bakr said: 'They are only your family, may my father be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah.' He said: 'I have been permitted to depart.' Abu Bakr said: 'The company, may my father be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah?' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'Yes'...).
Summary:
- The Messenger of Allah ﷺ began seeking Nusrah after Allah (swt) permitted him ﷺ, meaning by revelation from Him (swt).
- The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would first call those from whom he sought support to embrace Islam; if they became Muslim, he sought their support.
- The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sought it from the people of power who were capable. Therefore, he aimed for strong and large tribes, not small ones. Likewise, he aimed for cities of significance in their regions, not small gatherings (small villages) of Bedouins in the desert. Meaning, he aimed for those capable of assisting the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in establishing the rule by what Allah revealed and Jihad in the way of Allah. This was clear to them, which is why some stipulated authority after the Messenger ﷺ, and others stipulated that they would fight the Arabs but not the Persians... etc.
I hope this provides a satisfying and sufficient answer to the questions of the three brothers, and Allah is the Most Knowing and Most Wise.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
22 Muharram 1441 AH 21/09/2019 CE