Chapter 9 : The Sacrilegious Wars ( The Fijar Wars ) Flashcards
Regarding The Prophet’s youth
- Imam Ali narrates regarding the divine care of the Prophet :-
” From the time he was weaned, God sent the greatest of his angels to accompany him and lead him, day and night, down a path to nobility and virtue “
- Nahjul Balagha Sermon 192
- Ibn Hisham narrates :-
” I found myself among some boys from Quraysh. We were moving rocks around to play with them. I was also playing with them. We decided to take our clothes off and use them to hand rocks over our shoulders. When i went to take my clothes off, something struck my hand said ‘ Keep your clothes on ‘. I could not see it but i did as it told me. From then on, I carried the rocks against my neck with my friends and left my clothes on “
- Ibn Hisham, Page 188
- These indicates that Allah has protected him from engaging in any sinful or socially inappropriate behaviours with the Angels as his medium throughout his life ( To preserve his dignity )
- Allah doesnt want people to have any excuse to not take guidance from our Prophet
- The Prophet as a shepherd ( No specific evidence in Shia Sources )
- Abu Hurayrah claims The Prophet said :-
” ‘ God sent no Prophet who was not a shepherd ‘. When he was asked if this applied to him too. He said ‘ Yes, I used to herd sheep at Qararit for the people of Makkah ‘. “
- General tradition from Shia sources :-
” God sent no Prophet without first charging him with the care of sheep thereby teaching him to care for people “ - Imam Al-Sadiq
- Ilal Al-Sharai’, Page 23
” God placed the sustenance of Prophets in farming and milking so that they never begrudge the rain “ - Imam Al-Sadiq
- Al-Kafi, Volume 1, Page 403
- Accordingly, we can accept that Prophet Muhammad also herded Sheep but not as an employee of other as implied by Abu Huraira for he never hired himself out to anyone as per the following tradition of Ammar Ibn Yasir :-
” The Prophet was never an employee to anyone “
- Tarikh Al-Ya’qubi, Volume 2, Page 14
Regarding The Sacrilegious Wars ( The Fijar Wars )
- This was a reference to 4 wars between Hawazin, Quraysh and Kinanah
- They took place during the Sacred Months when fighting was prohibited
- Thus, even by Preislamic Standards, it was an egregious ( Shocking ) violation of their moral code
- There is a debate on whether Abu Talib and the Prophet participated in the 4th Skirmish
- If they did participate, they must have been justified in doing so ( Dominant Sunni View )
- However, there is a strong possibility that they did not participate and these reports are merely fabrications ( Dominant Shia View )
- What would be the motive to fabricate this story :-
1) This seems like a clear example of the heavy Umayyad hand doctoring history to cast aspersions on Abu Talib and the Prophet while exonerating their own ancestor
2) Ya’qubi narrates one report that states that Harb Ibn Umayyah ( Father of Abu Sufyan ) was the commander of the combined forces of Quraysh and Kinanah and another reports states that he did not even participate.
3) In some reports, Abu Talib explicitly condemns the war :-
” This is an act of oppression, a transgression, a severing of kinship, and a violation of the Sacred Months, I, nor any member of my family will attend … “
Conclusion : The Umayyads tried to cast doubt on their ancestor’s participation while insinuating that Ali’s ancestor did participate and that even the Prophet participated. This makes their actions in Muharram of 61 AH a bit more palatable
- The Quraysh were not directly involved in the dispute but were pulled into the fighting because of a preexisting intertribal alliance
- The war lasted several years
- The Sacrilegious Wars was yet another example of the endless cycle of retaliation in Arabia
- The costs were high and it was becoming increasingly apparent to the Arabs that unlike the surrounding empires, they had no regulated system of justice
Regarding Hilf Al-Fudul ( League of Justice )
- Shortly after the end of The Sacrilegious Wars, a visiting Yemeni merchant agreed to sell some of his good to a local Makkan, Al A’as Ibn Wai’l ( Father of Amar Ibn Al- As ) from the clan of Sahm
- However, when Al’A’as refused to pay the predetermined price, the visiting merchant had no legal recourse
- Alone and helpless, he publicly challenged the Quraysh to arbitrate the matter
- The Prophet’s uncle, Zubayr Ibn Abdul Muttalib heard the merchant’s cry and conveyed his concern to the leaders of the Quraysh
- Abdullah Ibn Ju’dan, a man from the clan of Taym called an open meeting at his house to address the complaint and develop a code of justice
- Only 5 of the 14 Quraysh clans accepted Abdullah’s invitation
- The parties to the pact were the leaders of Banu Hashim, Banu Al-Muttalib, Banu Asad, Banu Zuhrah and Banu Taym
- The attendees agreed to a simple code of ethics which was that each clan would stand for the oppressed against the oppressor regardless of who was oppressing
- All parties submerged their hands in Zamzam and swore to help anyone who is wronged against him who was wronged him
- The Prophet was present and was around 20 years old
- He was one of the founders of this organization called Hilf Al-Fudul ( League of Justice ) :-
” I witnessed a pact in the house of Abdullah Ibn Jud’an. It was more appealing to me than herds of cattle. Even now in the period of Islam, I would respond positively to attending such a meeting if i were invited “
- Once, there was a dispute between Husayn Ibn Ali and Al Walid Ibn Utbah Ibn Abu Sufyan
- Al Walib had occupied land belonging to Husyan Ibn Ali, so Husayn said :-
” I swear to God, if you do not give me what is my right, I shall draw my sword, stand in the Prophet’s Mosque and invoke the Fudul Pact “
- Among those who were present, Abd Allah Ibn Al-Zubayr ( From Asad ) and a man from Zuhrah and Taym all pledged to answer his call
- So Al Walid backed down and gave Husayn what was his
