Muhammad Zafrulla Khan
In the time of the Holy Prophet, the Arab method of fighting a
battle was that when the opposing forces had been drawn up in battle array,
individual champions challenged their opposite numbers from among the enemy to
single combat. After these combats, battle was joined on a large scale. Fighting
was carried on on foot or on horseback, the latter was preferred on account of
greater manoeuvrability. Camels were used as a facility for journeying or for
the carriage of equipment and provisions. The weapons normally used were
swords, spears and bows and arrows. Shields and armour and helmets were used
for protection. Some tribes also employed a catapult for shooting stones at the
enemy. The Holy Prophet also employed it during the siege of Taif.
In the midst of all these disturbances, the principal purpose
of the advent of the Holy Prophet was not neglected. The Muslims were being
instructed and trained progressively in all Islamic values. The five daily
Prayers had been instituted in Mecca. In these Prayers, the Holy Prophet and
the Muslims faced in the direction of Jerusalem. This practice continued for
about eighteen months after the arrival of the Holy Prophet in Medina. He had
from the beginning hoped that the Ka’aba might be appointed the Qibla
(direction to be faced during Prayer), inasmuch as it was the first House that
had been built for the worship of God, and the memories of Abraham and Ishmael
were also attached to the Ka’aba. Mecca was also the birthplace and the home of
the Holy Prophet and the birthplace of Islam. About a year and a half after the
Holy Prophet’s arrival in Medina, he received the revelation (2:143-5):
Foolish people will say: What has caused the Muslims to turn
away from the Qibla towards which they faced when in Prayer? Tell them: To
Allah belongs the East and the West; He guides whom He pleases to the right
path .... We did not appoint the Qibla which thou didst follow, except that We
might distinguish him who follows the Messenger from him who turns away upon
his heels, though this was indeed hard, save for those whom Allah had guided
.... Surely, We see thy mind turning frequently to heaven in the matter of the
Qibla; so We shall certainly make thee turn to the Qibla thou likest. Then turn
thy face now towards the Sacred Mosque; and wheresoever you be, turn your faces
towards it.
These verses directed the change of Qibla from Jerusalem to the
Ka’aba in Mecca. They also explain the wisdom of Jerusalem having been
appointed the Qibla for the Muslims in the beginning and its subsequent change
to the Ka’aba. Jerusalem being the Qibla was a challenge to the pagans of
Mecca, and in the early months after the Hijra, it continued to be a challenge
to the pagans of Medina. When the latter had been absorbed among the Muslims,
the need of that challenge came to an end and the Ka’aba was appointed the
Qibla as a challenge to the Jews of Medina. Also, the change was a prophecy
that Mecca would soon fall under the domination of the Muslims and the Ka’aba,
being purified of idols, would be restored to the worship of the One True God.
The Muslims were directed to concentrate their attention on the achievement of
that purpose.
Of the forms of worship instituted by Islam for the
purification and spiritual fulfilment of the Muslims, the Salat was instituted
first and was followed by the observance of the fast during the month of
Ramadhan, a short while after the arrival of the Holy Prophet in Medina, when
he received the revelation (2:184-5):
O ye who believe, fasting is prescribed for you during a fixed
number of days, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may
safeguard yourselves against moral and spiritual ills. But whoso from among you
should be ailing, not being permanently incapacitated, or should be on a
journey, shall complete the reckoning by observing the fast on a corresponding
number of other days; and for those who find fasting a strain hard to bear as
an expiation, the feeding of a poor person, if they can afford it. Whoso
performs a good work with eager obedience, it is the better for him. If you had
knowledge you would realize that it is better for you that you should fast.
The fast involves abstention from food and drink between the
first flush of dawn till after sunset and abstention from marital intercourse
during that period, throughout the month of Ramadhan. Though normal occupations
and pursuits may be carried on during the month of Ramadhan, the emphasis
should be on spiritual and moral exercises, like prayer, the remembrance of
God, study of the Holy Quran and all forms of charity. The Holy Prophet laid
emphasis on absolute purity, physical, moral and spiritual, throughout
Ramadhan. He is reported as having said: ‘Most unfortunate is the person who
should be afforded the opportunity of observing the fast in its true spirit
throughout the month of Ramadhan and should not thereby win forgiveness for all
his previous sins and defaults. If a person who is observing the fast does not
discard falsehood and chicane, he starves himself in vain as God sets no value
on his going hungry and thirsty.’
He also warned against carrying anything to excess, even
worship. He forbade people forming a habit of fasting continuously or for long
periods. He admonished: ‘You owe obligations to yourselves, to your wives and
children, to your friends and neighbours, and should not neglect any of those
obligations. The performing of those obligations according to the will and
pleasure of God is also worship.’
The Holy Prophet directed that towards the end of Ramadhan
every Muslim who can afford it should contribute seven pounds of wheat or
barley or dates or grapes, to a collective charitable fund which should be
distributed to the needy, the orphans, the widows, etc., so that it should be
an atonement for any default which may have occurred in the observance of the
fast, and should enable the poorer and needy sections of the community to
participate cheerfully in the festival of the breaking of the fast at the end
of the month of fasting. This festival was also instituted at the same time
when the observation of the fast was made obligatory. This festival is
celebrated joyously as an expression of gratitude to God for His having enabled
His servants to observe the fast as prescribed by Him. On the day of the
festival the Muslims, men and women, gather together in some open space and join
together in an extra Prayer service so that both the body and the soul should
participate in the celebration of the festival. There are two festivals, which
have been instituted in Islam. The second of them is celebrated on the day
after the pilgrimage, when those who can afford it also sacrifice an animal to
win the pleasure of Allah. With regard to these sacrifices, the Holy Quran has
laid down (22:38):
Their flesh reaches not Allah, nor their blood, but it is your
righteousness that reaches Him. Thus has He subjected these animals to you that
you may glorify Allah for guiding you; and give glad tidings to those who carry
out all commandments to the full.
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