The Power of Faith The Prayer of Taif -- The Prophet's Response to Ridicule and Abuse

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

While many Muslims once again fall into the reactionary trap set for them and confirm the thesis of the offending by exploding in rage and violence, we would do well to reflect upon the Prophet's supplication in Taif. This is the dua he recited with shoes full of blood, wounds all over his body and after having been insulted, ridiculed and abused by the people of Taif to whom he had taken recourse seeking a place of refuge. Moreover, this occurs after three years of suffering a boycott at the hands of the Quraysh as a result of which Muslims were reduced to eating grass and leaves off of trees.

The Prophet(SAW) as he walks out of Taif:

"O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me?

To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased.

There is no power and no might except by You."

If those who claim to love the Prophet (PBUH) so much that they are willing to infringe upon prophetic conduct with their blind rage and fury would reflect upon this prayer, it would be a guiding light for them and a clear instruction as to how a Muslim should respond to our current situation. It is also the only salve by which troubled hearts and souls will find peace. It will not be found on pickets and demonstrations -- not that these may not be useful in making clear our reverence for the sacred and the divine and our indignation at the injustice and double standards of the European press.

In my jum'ah khutbah today [editor: given on February 3, 2006], I spoke on this prayer and while there were some whose hearts and eyes were cooled by it, it was obvious to me that there were many who were so caught up in anger that they could not hear.

For whom does the Prophet's saying: 'Islam is good character' mean anything anymore?

Are we to revert to pre-Islamic tribal norms of vengeance and retribution rather than see this as an opportunity to turn hearts by sharing the example of our beloved Prophet's centeredness and compassion in the face of hate and enmity with those whose hearts are open?

Are we to fall into the major sin of despair-fueled violence rather than maintain hope as the Prophet (PBUH) did when the angel of the mountains met him outside Ta'if following his supplication and offered to cause the mountains surrounding Taif to crumble over the town and obliterate it to which the Prophet (PBUH) replied: 'No, I hope that these people will one day come to worship only Allah and Him alone'?

Unless we have the centeredness and the Allah-consciousness of the Prophet (PBUH) by which every event whether favorable or unfavorable (in material terms) offers us the opportunity of strengthening our relationship with Allah, we will continue to be the victim of every ruse and ploy.

Rather than reacting with violence and rage we should intensify our work to share the beautiful and merciful message of the Deen especially now that the Prophet (PBUH) is headline news. Let the Prophet's prayer of Taif be printed in European newspapers as the example of his supreme magnanimity and patience.

Violence, death threats and fury only betray a lack of trust in the power and light of the sacred which is illustrated in the Prophet's experience in the garden outside Taif when persons who overheard his prayer were moved by it to come to Islam. Moreover, on the way back to Mecca after this experience, many jinn who happened to hear the Prophet's recitation of the Qur'an in his night prayer also came to Islam. And not long thereafter the Prophet (PBUH) was conveyed on his night journey and ascent to heaven. Verily with difficulty comes ease.

Yet with the announcement by 'eminent' Muslim scholars of a 'Day of Outrage', I fear we have become nothing but saboteurs. Why not a Day of Remembrance of the Prophet, Why not a Day of Tremendous Prophetic Character? Why not a Day of the Prayer of Taif?

The Power of Faith 6:3 Wahuwa Allahu fee alssamawati wafee alardi yaAAlamu sirrakum wajahrakum wayaAAlamu ma taksiboon

6:3 And He is Allah in the heavens and on earth. He knoweth what ye hide, and what ye reveal, and He knoweth the (recompense) which ye earn (by your deeds).

The Power of Faith SubhanAllah Nadeem Sahib
All praise is due to Allah SWT the Almighty the Rehman & Rahim most merciful.
May Allah bless you with more power in your pen and thoughts, and bless you for furthering the word from which most of us incidental Muslims have gone further apart in practice (incidental, only because we were born in a Muslim household, were given a name accordingly & were told that you are a muslim).
Most of us who have learned to utter the Kalima only do it to qualify ourselves as a muslim, but what good is a building with a weak or no foundation. The level of faith (Taqwa)is just about non-existent in most of us since we never go to discover what a treasure the holy scripture holds within, a majority if not all don't even know that it is a complete code of life which imparts on every segment of human life and in the logical way the human nature happens to be. Now we also have a growing number of people who appear to even transgress to the extent that they refer to anyone who attempts to abide and practice according to the guidance and rules of the book to be "orthodox" or mentally backward. How sad it is that in todays world those who consider and pronounce themselves to be Muslim seem to be a self destructive society since all they seem to care about is a name they carry when pronouncing themselves to be from the faith.
It is Allah SWT's word that till there is one single practicing Muslim in this world the final hour will not come.
We the humans are no more than a maggot in comparison to the Almighty yet we take such pride even when we achieve in the slightest proportion.
We fail to recognize all that we see around us in our daily lives as to who has created all these amenities in this world that we admire and enjoy, imagine the superficial shortage of food grains which is caused by greedy practices of some in today's world and what if it happens to be a famine, who will we turn to then?
Having encountered literal death some 3 years ago due to an ailment that takes no more than 3 days to finalize the journey from this world, I cant thank Allah SWT for his mercy and kindness having miraculously saved me by placing me under the care of those whom he has blessed with "shifa" here I sit exactly 3 years later reading your beautiful article as I listen to the Rahmah pouring from the sky, all I can say is:
55:49 Fabiayyi alai rabbikuma tukazziban
55:49 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny
May Allah SWT bless you and give you more strength to continue to enlighten those who may be waiting for a knock on the door and with Allah SWT's blessing revert to and consult the scripture, ameen, summa ameen.

Race to the Finish Re: # 636
ana if they were blessed with a spec of such intellect, that would be the day.

PPP Isn’t Convinced! Re: # 4
Jayp
It all depends on what angle you are viewing it from, the masses are dying to learn when they will have roti, kapra aur makan that was promised them in the 70's by the ancestor of those in current regime.
I am sure you can tell that when one is hungry they dont care who serves them food as long as it is served.
All these rallies are organized by the deceptive clown politicians as this is the only method for them to keep the public busy and away from sensing the thirst that needs to be quenched while the public is so naive that without understanding much they jump out to support anything that is being publicized to agitate and protest against the enemies of Islam.
You are right about the rallies on stupid issued but that can camaflouge the hungry stomachs only for a short while as the outrage is getting ready to outpour and then it could bring the need for another democratic movement.
Yes the priority is religion and it will remain religion but this is not what the religion preaches.
Sharia will not hurt anyone if it is adopted with sincerity and in its true spirits although it doesnt look possible in the foreseeable future.
Regards

American Muslims and Presidential Elections 2008 "These are challenging times for Muslims around the world for more than one reason but from challenges sometimes triumphs can come to fruition as well. Post 9/11 Muslims living in the west were under severe scrutiny. Some of it was probably justified but mostly it was paranoiac & reactionary which in some instances resulted in oppressive & unfair treatment.

But by & large Muslims that follow the law of the land & live in peace are still more prosperous, freer in practicing their religion & enjoy more civil liberties in west than in some so called Muslim countries. If you doubt that than you wouldn’t be able to explain an absence of any mass migration of Muslims from west to their native lands, on the contrary, given the dismal human-rights condition & corruption throughout the Muslim world, immigration to west is still the most attractive & lucrative game in the business. Another fact that is interesting & its something that I have iterated on these same pages before is that every year 20,000 Americans are converting to Islam, most of who are women. So if west was truly threatening to the religion of Islam than I think they should have done something to curb this phenomenon. That’s not to say that everything is hunky dory in Washington. I don't, & 73% Americans don't either so I have a little company."

Absolutely in agreement with the foregoing having experienced the fourth decade of existence in the land of free

"Disagreeing with American foreign policies doesn't really mean that you are against 'us'. That stupid train has thankfully left the station & hopefully it won’t return in Nov. 2008. Please understand that most likely the next president of USA would probably be someone who is not too hot about current American Foreign policy so American Muslims should not be afraid about their discontent & should be vocal about their angst at the American foreign policy."

while remaining optimistic with reference to above, this is where there are some reservations and don't believe that people addressed here should be blindsided because the grass appears greener than it really may be

As anyone should be optimistic & hopeful & so are the core Republicans, there is cause for concern keeping in mind that certain cliques in addition to the AIPAC in USA that are up to a lot more than one can think of, while they are also crafty & creative in manipulating & mutilating the affairs of US & well equipped in concealing the truth to portray themes in the manner they would like the common & quite innocent people of the land to visualize, not to mention they also have a great support from within the media the legislature, executive & the judiciary if not entirely.

It is no hidden matter now that, a lot has gone in the preparations to become attack & invade Afghanistan & then prepare a case & invade Iraq as well as there is a lot in works & happening to strike Iran which is a long term massive plan of those neocon cliques of which the current regime is a sole part of not just a puppet; while at home a lot has been done to prepare for incarcerating masses of people in concentration &/or internment camps, the most favored outfit of Haliburton & it's subsidiary which was previously owned & operated by Lady Johnson (widow of Pres. Johnson) has been busy as they secured an uncontested contract. One would ask what is the legitimate reason for building & renovating of so many prison camps all over USA & why are so many Non-Republicans pointing a finger towards such a project undertaken by the current regime?

One would hate to think of the worst however something is up the sleeves & in works & people should at the least be cautious without panicking since, this is a matter of serious concern & there are too many ideas flying around such preparations.

Since the appearance of this particular issue I personally feel concerned not about myself but about those next generations of ours and their off-springs who are still in infancy or will be born in the future.

I am not sure if the author is aware of such crafty projects that are being worked upon however, in case the esteemed author is not aware I would sincerely recommend a research on his part.

I find myself in agreement with the author for the most part except, the concerns as described, as this is my, my children's and my grand-children's homeland and I feel very proud on the level of Islam held & practiced in this land as compared to other so-called Islamic countries for whom I pray that Allah SWT blesses all of those with appropriate wisdom and vision with true spirits in accordance with the true message of Allah SWT and as conveyed by our beloved Prophet(PBUH) ameen.

JazakAllah

PPP Isn’t Convinced! "My advice to Zardari would be to trust the mandate and assert. But like I said earlier, an elected PM was hanged in broad daylight in this country, his kids were shot dead at a point blank range by the infamous establishment so PPP’s paranoia has a valid basis and Muslim League N’s bravado is convenient."

Dear author
Your advice is addressed to the one who is at least a suspect to have conspired the point blank killing of two of the kids of that PM that was hung regardless of acquittal by the court on one of those killings and regardless of the recent killing of the other that has not been even investigated along those lines yet, while the third one has overdosed himself on contraband while away from the country.

It doesn't appear that the paranoia that you consider to be a valid basis and the bravado of convenience is about to gain soon.

In as much as the judiciary is concerned no daylight seems to be in sight while the valid base paranoia has already shown signs of intolerance when it comes to unshackled media.

There can't be anything sacred and holy where there is no sincerity to the public because public's mandate was for a change to the existing authority not to certain individuals or parties so to speak, people of Pakistan have always voiced for a change when they became distraught of an existing administration likewise they acted this time around, however it is a misconceived notion that the people necessarily were pointing towards the given individual to be a result of the change.

People of Pakistan are more interested in fulfilling their basic needs for food & shelter with dignity as well as enough electricity to keep them cool, and, not certain faces to run the affairs of Pakistan however what the people are once again facing is vice versa, and, their needs remain without being addressed or even more back breaking.

A common person of Pakistan does not care who it is that is running the affairs of nation as long as their needs are fulfilled be it Mr. M, Mr. Z or MR. N while its quite apparent that no one is there to gain anything from them other than their cronies while it is embedded in the creed of any ruler who took over Pakistan due to the mandate to continue fulfilling the illegitimate and illegal needs of their cronies.

the mandate was supposed to bring in someone who would provide for the needs of people and not meant to ignite a fire against our very own army taking in to account that "not all" in the army are corrupt as portrayed by the media while there is no mayee ka laal who can prove a penny's worth of stealing by (R-Gen.President Musharaf).

The Power of Faith Re: # 16
Too many chiefs but not enough Indians

Race to the Finish Re: # 166
masadi writes "custom" you talk about is just a "custom" with no religious significance in Islam- find me any mention of it in the Quran....

That is so true, while it is reiterated as if it is specified in the revelations.

Race to the Finish Well Manassas happens to be a somewhat suburban location as such there is not that many cabs as compared to an urban location or city.

Race to the Finish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYz7Wqssvs8

Race to the Finish North American football

Race to the Finish Madani sahib
A sample of football in North America

Race to the Finish Re: # 153
NFL= National Football League(it is not the same football as played in countries other than USA & Canada)that football is known as Soccer in the North America.

Manassas Park is a city in the state of Virginia: www.cityofmanassaspark.us

Quarterback (QB) is a position in American and Canadian football.
Read more on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarterback

FP: it really depends on the context this acronym is used however I suspect that it may have referred to Foreign Policy.
(Madani sahib, I am glad you asked, since the most stupid question is the one that is not asked)
Best regards.

Don’t Hang Sarabjeet Re: # 117
He is far from death under the circumstances specified by masadi, he is in the safe-keeping of the USA and accommodated right in the good old US of A.
People better forget him.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful Killed in the name of honor

But it doesn't. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2007, 1205 women were reported to have been killed in the name of honor. In 2006, 565 women were killed and in 2005 the number was 287.

Each year the number is doubling and while "most women are killed for having illicit relations, some are also killed for marrying a man of their choice."
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The background of this entire issue is illiteracy, we take pride in introducing ourselves as Muslims while we demonstrate a serious lack of knowledge of the faith we claim to belong to; in this particular regard the holy scripture is very clear about the complete scenario(s) that the entire nation lacks a knowledge of, and, thus suffers from the effects.

How one can be considered a Muslim when their actions clearly represent contradiction with that of the scripture/ the very basic code of life in Islam?

Although the author of the article emphasizes in her words "I don't believe in fate, I don't believe in lies and I don't believe in Allah, but I question if a life of lie and deceit, beginning with the name of Allah and narrowing down and eventually ending in an artificially created and suffocating grave is the fate for the women of Pakistan." based upon which I hope that she will excuse my introduction of the faith based guidance on this given matter since being a person of faith "my" comments in this or any other discussion cannot discount the divine revelation contained in the scripture, and, which clearly shows that there is no where a mention of the word or theory of "honor".
It is very sad that the prevailing society acts in contradiction of the rulings and guidance of the faith they claim to subscribe to however the practices lead me to call this behavior "hypocritical" although based on the teachings I would not like to use that term to define anyone and pray & hope that The Almighty will forgive me for using the term for such individuals who believe that honor killings may be an act approved by the Islamic rules or guidance.
Not knowing as to where such people get the idea of introducing the term "honor" in such matters and then consider their heinous act as "honor killing, while these acts of "honor killing" and going to the extent of blaming a woman for a supposed action on her part and then murdering her is the most dishonorable act particularly for the entire people who follow the faith of Islam as well as for the entire humanity.
A woman while maintaining the prescribed parameters of hijab for the females can still continue to operate with all her faculties and should not be held as a prisoner in any manner along with the added poison of constant suspicion regarding her moral character. Those who chose to introduce their own rulings regarding honor and honor killing or restricting women to chaar divari as pointed out in the article is not a prescribed action under Islamic rulings, guidance or values and is merely an introduction by a human which is considered to be an innovation in the faith and considered unislamic by all virtues, while, those who act in this manner cannot be considered as Muslims in accordance with the guidance of the faith itself.

Various passages from the revealed scripture narrate as following:


Al-Isra
17:32 Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils).

{Al-Nour (The Light) Chapter 24 Quran-e-Majeed}
24:4 And as for those who accuse chaste women [of adultery], and then are unable to produce four witnesses [in support of their accusation], flog them with eighty stripes and ever after refuse to accept from them any testimony - since it is they, they that are truly depraved!

24:13 why do they not demand of the accusers their allegation? for, if they do not produce such witnesses, it is those [accusers] who, in the sight of God, are liars indeed!

24:11 Verily, numerous among you are those who would falsely accuse others of unchastity: [but, O you who are thus wronged,] deem it not a bad thing for you: nay, it is good for you! [As for the slanderers,] unto every one of them [will be accounted] all that he has earned by [thus] sinning; and awesome suffering awaits any of them who takes it upon himself to enhance this [sin]!

24:12 Why do not the believing men and women, whenever such [a rumour] is heard, think the best of one another and say, “This is an obvious falsehood”?

24:5 excepting [from this interdict] only those who afterwards repent and made amends: for, behold, God is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace.

24:15 when you take it up with your tongues, uttering with your mouths something of which you have no knowledge, and deeming it a light matter whereas in the sight of God it is an awful thing!

24:16 And [once again]: Why do you not say, whenever you hear such [a rumor], “It does not behove us to speak of this, O Thou who art limitless in Thy glory: this is an awesome calumny”?

This is a serious dilemma which is worth of immediate and serious attention to provide a safe environment for all the women regardless of their faith, a lack of which most certainly poses a great threat to humanity, be it anywhere regardless of geographical or political boundaries cruelty must be dealt with and brought to a stop altogether.