2] The sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) “al-Battaar” and his relics in museums

2]
I have read of and seen photographs of a sword called al-battar that the prophet salallahu alaihi wa salaam supposedly owned. pictures of the sword can be seen here:
http://www.usna.edu/Users/humss/bwheeler/swords/batar.html the sword is inscribed with the name of the prophets and has a picture of prophet dawood alaihi salam cutting off the headof goliath on it. considering the prophet salallahu alaihi wasalaam forbade pictures of peopleor animals, why would heown a sword that has pictures on it? any response would be appreciated.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
In the books of Seerah it is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a number of swords. Some of the scholars said that he had nine swords, but there is no proof of that in the saheeh Sunnah except in the case of only one.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaahhave mercy on him) said:
He (peace and blessings ofAllaah be upon him) had nine swords: Ma’thoor, which was the first sword he owned and which he inherited from his father; al-‘Adb (cutting or sharp); Dhu’l-Fiqaar, which almost never left his side, its handle, its pommel, its ring, its decorations and the end of its scabbard were made of silver; al-Qal’i; al-Battaar; al-Hatif; al-Rasoob; al-Mikhdham; and al-Qadeeb. The end of the scabbard was of silver.
His sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar was acquired as booty at the battle of Badr, and it is the one that was shownin dreams.
When he entered Makkah on the day of the Conquest, there were goldand silver on his sword. [This was classed as da’eef(weak) by al-Albaani in Mukhtasar al-Shamaa’il (87)]. Zaad al-Ma’aad (1/130). See also: al-Taraateeb al-Idaariyyahby al-Kataani (1/343).
The only sword for which there is proof in the saheeh Sunnah is Dhu’l-Fiqaar.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) acquired his word Dhu’l-Fiqaar on the day of Badr and this is the one that hesaw in a dream on the day of Uhud.
It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1561) and IbnMaajah (2808) and classedas hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.
The phrase translated here as “acquired” means he took it in addition to his share of the booty.
Ahmad (2441) narrated – in a report classed as hasan by al-Arna’oot – a more complete account, in which the dream is described:
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) acquired his sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar on the day of Badr, and it is the one concerning which he saw a dream on the day of Uhud. He said: “I saw that my sword Dhu’l-Fiqaar was blunted and I interpreted that as some loss that would affect you.And I saw myself with a ram riding behind me andI interpreted that ... ; and Isaw myself wearing a strong coat of chain-mail and I interpreted that as Madeenah. And I saw cattle being slaughtered, and by Allaah what good cattle they are, by Allaah what good cattle they are.” What the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said came to pass.
The sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was called Dhu’l-Fiqaar because it had fine and beautiful engraving on it and engraving may be called fiqrah in Arabic. This was the most famousof his swords.
As for his sword al-Battaar, it is mentionedby Ibn Sa’d in al-Tabaqaat(1/486), but it is mursal – which is a type of da’eef (weak) report – its isnaad includes al-Waaqidi. And there are other ahaadeethwhich are not saheeh.
Al-Haafiz al-‘Iraqi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: In al-Tabaqaat, Ibn Sa’d mentions the mursal report of Marwaanibn Abi Sa’eed Ibn al-Mu’alla who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) acquired three swords from the weapons of Banu Qaynuqa’: a sword called Qa’li, a sword calledBattaar and a sword called al-Hatif. After that, he got al-Mikhdham and Rasoob.
Its isnaad includes al-Waaqidi.
Takhreej Ahaadeeth al-Ihya’ (2471).
Al-Qal’i is named after Marj al-Qal’ah, a place in the desert.
Since there is no proof in the saheeh Sunnah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a sword bythis name, how can we believe that it existed in the form described by the one who claims that it is apicture of the sword of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?
Secondly:
There is a description in the Sunnah of the sword of the Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah be upon him), Dhu’l-Fiqaar, but it does not say that it included an image of anyone. How could the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have kept sucha sword, when he is the one who forbade images and ordered that they be erased? :->/ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

What does Islam sayabout Domestic violence?

Islam condemns domesticviolence. Once a number of women came to the
prophet, on whom be peace, to complain that their husbands had beaten
them. The prophetannounced that men whobeat their wives are not good
men. The prophet also said: Do not beat the female servants of Allah.
Allah knows that life is not always a bowl of cherries. And so He
stipulates that a man must be kind to his wife even if he happens to
dislike her (Qur'an 4:19). Allah offers a good reasonas to why men
should notdislike their wives. Allah says that He has placed much good
in women (Qur'an 4:19). In this regard the prophet Muhammad, on whom
be peace, said that no believing man should hold a grudge against a
believing woman. So what is a husband to do ifhe dislikes some things
about his wife? This is bound to occur, since no human being is
perfect. The prophet instructed that men should look for the agreeable
traits in their wives rather than focus on their faults. (See Saheeh
Muslim, chapter on advice relating to women).
The prophet also advised men that if they wish to benefit from
marriage they should accept their wives as they are rather than try to
straighten them out and thus end upin divorce. In the following verse
of the Qur'an, Allah warns men that if they retain their wives in
marriage it should not be to take advantage of them. The verse reads:
Retain them in kindness or release them in kindness. But do not retain
them to their hurt so that you transgress (the limits). If anyone does
that he wrongs his own soul. Do not take God's instructions as a
jest(Qur'an 2:231).
Once the prophet, on whom be peace, was asked what are the obligations
of husbands toward their wives. He replied:
Feed her when you eat, and provide her clothing when you provide
yourself. Neither hit her on the face nor use impolite language when
addressing her (See Mishkat, chapter on the maintenance of women).
The prophet equated perfect belief with good treatment to one's wife
when he said:
The most perfect believer is one who is the best in courtesy and
amiable manners, and the best among you people is one who is most kind
and courteous to his wives (see Tirmidhi, chapter on the obligations
of a man to his wife).
Finally, the prophet, the best example of conduct said:
The best among you is the one who treats his family best.
Some of the last words of the prophet delivered during the farewell
pilgrimage enjoins that men should hold themselves accountable before
Allah concerning the question of how they treat their wives. Therefore
his advice to all men, is as follows:
You must treat them withall kindness.

What does Jihad mean?

The word Jihad representsa concept which is much misunderstood in the
West. The concept is explained nicely by the Christian scholar Ira 6.
Zepp, Jr. in his book entitled A Muslim Primer on pages 133-135. We
adapt from his answer thefollowing:
The essential meaning of Jihad is the spiritual, psychological, and
physical effort we exert tobe close to God and thus achieve a just and
harmonious society. Jihad literally means "striving" or "struggle" and
is shorthand for Jihad fi Sabeel Allah (struggle for God's cause). In
a sense, every Muslim is a Mujahid,one who strives for God and
justice.
Al-Ghazali captured the essence of Jihad when he said: "The real Jihad
is the warfare against (one's own) passions. Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi
calls Jihad "the execution of effort against evil in the self and
every manifestation of evil in society." In a way, Jihad is the
Muslim's purest sacrifice: a struggle to livea perfect life and
completely submit to God.
Another form of Jihad is the striving to translate the Word of God
into action. If one has experienced God and received guidance from the
Qur'an, one struggles to apply that guidance in daily life. So the
larger, more prevalent meaning of Jihad is the spiritual struggle of
the soul. In this case, Jihad is always present for the believer
whether there is an external enemy or not. We should never reduce
Jihad to violence.
A third level of Jihad is popularly known as "holy war." The classic
passage is found in the Qur'an:
Fight in the way of Allah those who fight against you, but transgress
not the limits. Truly Allah likesnot the transgressors (Qur'an 2:190).
It is crucial to note here that what is condoned is defensive warfare;
Islam cannot justify aggressive war. Muhammad and the Tradition are
also against killing non-combatants, torturing of prisoners, the
destruction of crops, animals and homes. Adapted from Ira 6. Zepp,
Jr., A Muslim Primer (1992,Wakefield Editions, US) pp.133-135.
Robert Ellwood of the University of Southern California has the
following to say about the Muslim concept of Jihad:
Out of the community ideal of Islam comes the concept of jihad, or
holy war, which is designed to defend Islam and allow itssocial
practice, though notto force individual conversions, which is
forbidden. Since Islam in principle is a community as well as a
religion, presumably only an absolute pacifist would beable to reject
the theory of jihad out of hand, since other communities also fight to
defend or expand their ways of life. (Many Peoples, Many Faiths by
Robert S. Ellwood, 4th edition, Simon & Schuster,US, 1982, p.346)

* Do we have to say bismillah when reading surah at tawbah from the middle? Also why is there no bismillah in thebegining of surah tawbah?

* Ruling on the Basmalah atthe beginning of Soorat at-Tawbah
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Part of the etiquette of reciting Qur'aan is for the reciter to always
say Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem (In the name ofAllah, the Most
Gracious, the Most Merciful) at the beginning of every soorah, except
Soorat at-Tawbah.
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: He should always
recite Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem at the beginning of every soorah
except Soorat Baraa'ah (at-Tawbah), because the majority of scholars
said that it is a verse wherever it is written in the Mushaf, andit
was written at the beginning of all the soorahs except Soorat
at-Tawbah. If he recites it at the beginning of every soorah (other
than at-Tawbah), then there is certainty that he had recited the
entire Qur'aan or soorah, and if he fails to recite the Basmalah,
hehas omitted part of the Qur'aan according to the majority.
End quote from at-Tibyaan fi Adaab Hamalat al-Qur'aan, 100.
But if he recites from partway through a soorah, he does not have to
recite the Basmalah and it is sufficient for him to seek refuge with
Allah (by saying A'oodhu Billaahi min ash-Shaytaan ir-rijeem (I seek
refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytaan), but if he does say the
Basmalah there is nothing wrong with that. For more information please
see the answer to question no. 21722
Secondly:
The reason why the Basmalah does not appear at the beginning of Soorat
at-Tawbah is that the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did
not write it at the beginning of this soorah in the Mushaf, following
the example of the caliph 'Uthmaan (may Allah be pleased with him).
At-Tirmidhi narratedin as-Sunan that Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: "I said to 'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan: 'What made you put
al-Anfaal which is oneof the Mathaani, next to Baraa'ah [al-Tawbah],
which is one of the Mi'een? Why did you not put the line Bismillaah
ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem in between them when you put it at the beginning
of the rest of al-Sab' al-Tiwaal [the long seven soorahs]?" 'Uthmaan
said:"The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) used to receive revelation of soorahs with many aayahs. When they
were revealed, he would call hisscribes and tell them, 'Put these
aayahs in the soorah where such-and-such is mentioned.' Al-Anfaal was
one of the first soorahs to be revealed in Madeenah, and Baraa'ah
(al-Tawbah) was one of the last parts of the Qur'aan to be revealed.
Its stories were similar to the stories mentioned in al-Anfaal, soit
was thought that it waspart of it. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) was taken [i.e., died] without
explaining whether it was indeed part of it, so they were put next to
one another, and the line Bismillaahi ir'Rahmaan ir'Raheem was not
written between them, and it [al-Tawbah] was put among the Sab'
al-Tiwaal [seven long soorahs]."
End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah, 4/225
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) said: … The correct
opinion is that there is no Basmalah between it (Soorat at-Tawbah) and
al-Anfaal, because the Basmalah is a verse of theBook of Allah, may He
be glorified and exalted, and if the Messenger (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) did not say to put the Basmalah between the two
soorahs, they did not put it between them. The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) is the one who decided and said: Put the
Basmalah, and he did not tell them to put the Basmalah between
Sooratal-Anfaal and Soorat at-Tawbah, so they did not write it. But it
remainsto be said: if he did not give instructions to this effect, why
is there a separation between it andSoorat al-Anfaal? Why didthey not
make it one soorah? We say: Yes, they did not make it one soorah
because they wereuncertain as to whether itwas the same soorah as
al-Anfaal or they were two separate soorahs, so they said: Let us make
a separation between the two soorahs and not write the Basmalah. This
is the correct opinion concerning the absence ofthe Basmalah between
Soorat al-Anfaal and Soorat at-Tawbah.
End quote from Liqa' al-Baab al-Maftooh, no. 18
And Allah knows best.