13 - THE YEAR OF GRIEF
ABU TALIB'S DEATH:
In Rajab, the tenth year of the Prophethood, Abu Talib fell ill and passed away, six months after leaving the confinement at Ash-Sh‘ib. In another version, Abu Talib breathed his last in Ramadan, three days prior to the death of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her). On the authority of Al-Musaiyab, when Abu Talib was on the death bed, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) entered the room where he saw Abu Jahl and ‘Abdullah bin Abi Omaiyah. He requested his uncle:
“My uncle, you just make a profession that there
is no true god but Allâh, and I will bear testimony before Allâh (of
your being a believer)”.
“By Allâh, I will persistently beg pardon for you till I am forbidden to do so (by Allâh)”.
“It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allâh’s forgiveness for the Mushrikûn
(polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of
Allâh) even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them
that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state
of disbelief).” [9:113]
“Verily! You [O Muhammad (Peace be upon him) ] guide not whom you like.” [28:56]
Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri narrated that he heard the Prophet (Peace be upon him) say, when the mention of his uncle was made, “I hope that my intercession may avail him, and he be placed in a shallow fire that rises up only to his heels.”
KHADIJAH PASSES AWAY TO THE MERCY OF ALLAH:
Only two months after the death of his uncle, did the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) experience another great personal loss viz., the Mother of believers, his wife Khadijah passed away in Ramadan of the tenth year of his Prophethood, when she was sixty-five years old, and he was fifty. Khadijah was in fact a blessing of Allâh for the Prophet (Peace be upon him). She, for twenty-five years, shared with him the toils and trials of life, especially in the first ten years of his ministry of Prophethood. He deeply mourned over her death, and once he replied in an honest burst of tender emotions:
“She believed in me when none else did. She
embraced Islam when people disbelieved me. And she helped and
comforted me in her person and wealth when there was none else to lend
me a helping hand. I had children from her only.”
These two painful events took place within a short lapse of time and added a lot to his grief and suffering. The Makkans now openly declared their campaign of torture and oppression. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) lost all hope of bringing them back to the right path, so he set out for Al-Ta’if seeking a supportive atmosphere. But there too, he was disappointed and he sustained unbearable tortures and maltreatment that far outweighed his miserable situation in his native town.
His Companions were on equal footing subjected to unspeakable torture and unbearable oppression to such an extent that his closest friend, Abu Bakr, to escape pressure, fled out of Makkah and wanted to leave for Abyssinia (Ethiopia) if it were not for Ibn Ad-Daghanah who met him at Bark Al-Ghamad and managed to dissuade him from completing his journey of escape and brought him back under his protection.
The death of Abu Talib rendered the Prophet (Peace be upon him) vulnerable, and the polytheists availed them of that opportunity to give free rein to their hatred and highhandedness and to translate them in terms of oppression and physical tortures. Once an insolent Quraishite intercepted him and sprinkled sand on his head. When he arrived home, a daughter of his washed the sand away and wept. “Do not weep, my daughter. Allâh will verily protect your father.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said.
Rapid succession of misfortunes, led the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to call that period, ‘the year of grief and mourning’. Thenceforth, that year bore that appellation.
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