Ch 13: A Conspiracy

While Isabella was in her room, a maidservant gave a letter in her
hand which read: "Sister Isabella, I have to talk to you on some
important things, so be kind to takethe trouble of coming here at
once. The matter is very important. You should not delay at all. Just
now I am waiting foryou anxiously in another house. Please come
alongwith this maidservant. Your sister, Mirano."
Isabella immediately got up to follow the maidservant while suspecting
that the letter was not from Mirano, butwas a secret conspiracy of the
priests. She followed the maidservanton the road which, rounding from
the Palaceof Martyrs, went straight to Rabat Ramani. At somedistance
the maidservant turned to a lane and entered a grand house and as soon
as she entered all the doors were closed and unsuspecting Isabella was
taken to another room whose doors were also closed and Isabella was
taken to another room whose doors were also immediately closed. Here
Isabella suspected that she probably had been taken prisoner. Then two
or three monkspushed Isabella to the stairs leading to the underground
room. Isabella was perturbed and she realised that she was in the grip
of the Inquisition. When she puther feet on the stair a monk gave a
hard blow on the back of the poor, delicate girl, and said. O accursed
one! why do you not go ahead? See that the fire of Lord JesusChrist's
anger is ready to burn you up. Unlucky girl! you have defamed
Christianity and dragged the honour of your father, the head priest,
into the mire.
Poor Isabella was silent. Shivering and suffering blows on her back
she got down to the underground chamber where human skeletons were
lying here and there in all corners and human craniums were hanging on
the walls. Going inside the monk lighted a lamp and said to Isabella:
Now you haveto live here so that you may know the consequences of
hostility to Lord Jesus Christ. Unluckily girl (pointing tothe
skeletons), these have been deputed to chastise you.
Isabella kept silence and felt as if she was in a dream. In the
meantime all the monks went out ofthe cell after locking it and
engaged themselves in prayer and devotion inother rooms. After some
time Isabella came to her senses and soon realised that she was put to
the tortures of being shut up in this chamber of ghosts because of her
acceptance of truth.
The day passed somehowand darkness of the nightenveloped the world.
After eighth part of the night Isabella was taken out of the chamber
and was given some parched and ground grain with water to drink. The
monks even now continued to snub her. Then Isabella was taken to
different rooms of the house where monks were engaged in various
devotional exer-cises. The object of this round was to frighten
Isabella by the austerities of monks which might appeal to her
conscience.Isabella watched all this with great interest. One person
was lying bound up in chains and another person was striking him with
a lash. Isabella was terrified at this sight and thought that probably
hewas also a guilty one like herself. She soon found that it was a
method of subduing the self, and self-torture was voluntarily taken up
by monks. In the large room of the house there was an idol of Virgin
Mary, around which monks andnuns were sitting in meditation. Some
monks were lying along the wallwith faces downward and some were
sobbing in a corner ; for subduingthe self they had not taken food for
the last twenty or twenty-one days. Isabella was aware of these things
but had not yet actually witnessed these scenes with her own eyes.
An elderly monk said to Isabella: O abandoned girl, if you want to
gain salvation, practise such austerities and by these achieve the
pleasure of Lord Jesus Christ.
Isabella laughed at it andsaid : Why does God needsuch austerities ?
The purpose of religion is that one should perform the duties which a
man has towards other men and serve men, not that he should hang
himself in a corner like abat. Further, when, accordingto you, Jesus
has atoned for all Christians, then such austerities are useless.
On this the monk's eyes became red with anger, and he struck a fist on
the chest of Isabella with full force saying : Hellish girl, you can
never be reformed. Go away, sit at your place. You will get your full
treatment there.
So the monk again opened the door of the underground chamber and
forced poor Isabella inside.
Isabella sat in a corner of the chamber where tons of human bones were
scattered and human skeletons all around were creating an awesome
spectacle. In the beginning Isabella's mind was somewhat perturbed but
soon her senses revived and she was able to think about her past and
future affairs. In this fearful andsilent house of the dead if there
was a slightest sound Isabella looked around perturbed and worried,
but soon she brought herself up and began to recite prayers. At last
the night ended and in this dark and closed chamber some rays of light
entered through some holes. After some time the door of the chamber
was opened and a monk brought her out in the large hall of the house
here twelve idols of the Disciples of Christ and other martyrs were
stalled. Isabella was taken where two very famous priests were
sitting, Isabella sat beforethem. At first a great dealof anger and
fire was demonstrated and then preaching began.
They said : Have you become a Muslim ? Isabella: Thank Allah, Who gave
me the great boon of Islam .
Priest: Leave out the praise of Islam. Just tell me if you want to die
an obnoxious death, or do you want to become again worthy of God's
grace?
Isabella: After accepting Islam any person becomes worthy of God's
grace and no one is morefortunate than the one who is given the luck
to accept Islam as this religion alone is the source of God's pleasure
and love.
Priest: Do not praise before me a bloody religion like Islam. I just
want a reply in two words, whether you like to die or to live a
Christian. Reply at once for your fate is to be decided today.
Isabella: What tribulations Christian martyrs had not suffered in the
very beginning, but did they renounce the truth? They were burnt
alive, thrown before tigers and lions, cut into two by saw and yet
they held on to the truth.
If for the sake of truth anyone has to meet death, it will be the
means of having God's pleasure and satisfaction of his conscience.
Since I am on the right, nothing on earth, even death, canmake me
deviate from it. The Holy Quran has taught me that "My prayer and my
sacrifice and my life and my deathare surely for Allah, the Lord of
the worlds—no associate has He."* I havebeen enjoined to remain firm
on it, and I am among those devotees.
Priest: That is, you do not want to give up Islam and enter into the
grace of Lord Jesus Christ, Well, then your fate will be decided
today.
Isabella: Whatever decision you like you may make about me withyour
heart's content. The utmost you can do is to take my life, but you do
not know that the Being to Whom I am related is Allah, Who lives for
ever.
Priest: When death will confront you, you will forget all these verses
of the Quran and Allah, etc. We shall see if the Quran or Prophet
Muhammad saves you from death.
Isabella: The same problem was put by the Jews before Jesus Christ
that if he was on the right, he should come down from the scaffold and
save his life. Now either (Allah forbid!) Christ was wrong that,
according to you, he could not save himself from death, or you are in
the footsteps of Jews.
Priest: O devil, hellish, evil-minded, worthless, unlucky! You call me
a Jew! Now keep quite andwait for your end.
Isabella: It will be better if you also keep quiet and leave me alone
and do yourself whatever youplease.
Priest (to monks): Lock upthis girl in the underground chamber, do not
give her any food or drink. Holy Father (Isabella's father) has
ordered that she should be given over to the Inquisition and her fate
will be decided tomorrow.
On this the monks caughthold of Isabella forcefullypushing and beating
her,and carried her out of the room. Outside the room the beating was
harder and numerous. Isabella fell and got up. At last she was thrown
in the underground chamber and locked up.
Now three days had passed in this confinement and Isabellawas not even
once taken out. But she was so happy and complacent asif angels of
firmness and stability were deputed for her. In the solitude of the
night human skeletons made the atmosphere quite fearsome, while monks
and nuns were engaged in austerities ; their weeping and cries reached
Isabella's ears.
In the meantime Isabella's friends (Mirano, Mertha and Hanana) had
also learnt that Isabella had been fraudulently called and thrown into
the underground chamber of a monastery and was being subjected to
great tortures. Then they consulted together and decided to inform
Umar Lahmi and Ziad b. Umar. One night they went to the assembly of
Ziad b. Umar and narrated the whole episode which greatly excited the
Muslims who were present there.
One person: By Allah, if we continue to remain sotolerant Christians
will put great obstruction in the propagation of Islam.Isabella is now
our sister in Islam and it is the duty of every Muslim to release her
from the grip of Christians at whatever cost.
Another person (drawinghis sword): By your permission I can go at once
and release Isabella.It is a pity that while our sister is under such
tortures we sit silent even now which is a great injustice.
Umar Lahmi: Brothers, excitement and outburstswill not do. The case is
now before Hazrat Ziad b. Umar and we shall do whatever he orders.
All (to Ziad b. Umar): Well,sir, whatever you order we are ready to
carry it out.
Ziad b. Umar : My advice to you is that you should not show any
excitement as it will cause the death of poor Isabella. If we like we
can get her released by sending a contingent of our army, but it is
expedient to takea strategic action. If Isabella is in trouble it will
InshaAllah (God willing) strengthen her faith and the fact is that the
worth of Islam is realised in the taste of tribulations.
Umar Lahmi (to Mirano, Mertha and Hanana): Now say what is your
opinion and how far you can help our sister Isabella.
Mirano: If we are allowedand the matter is left to us we can easily
relieve Isabella from the trouble.
Umar Lahmi: Thank you very much.
Ziad b. Umar: You have our permission to do whatever you can in
yourown way to get Isabella released.
The three girls, making firm promises, sought permission to depart.
They left and went to their respective homes. The plan of releasing
Isabella remained under discussion all the way.
Isabella – A girl of Islamic Spain

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Even the discarded ‘oud brings benefit…

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, "Charity
does not diminish wealth, and Allah does not increase in forgiveness
for a slave except that He also increases him in honour, and no-one
humbles himself to Allah except that Allah raises him." [Muslim
(2588)]
Abu Hatim: Humbleness/humility is of two types; one of them is
praiseworthy andthe other is blameworthy . The praiseworthy humility
is abandoning al-tatawul (making oneself superior) over the slaves of
Allah and looking down upon them, and the blameworthy humility is
humbling oneself for a person who possesses materialistic worldly
gains out of desire for this world. The intelligent one abandonsthe
blameworthy humility at all times, but he never abandons the
praiseworthy humility at any point.
'Ubayd'Allah ibn 'Adi reported that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, " If a
man humbles himself to Allah, then Allah will raise him and say to
him, 'Rise up, may Allah raise you!' because he sees himself to be
insignificant whilst he is great in the eyes of people. But if a slave
is arrogant and transgresses , then Allah casts him away saying, 'Be
lowly, may Allah lower you!' because he sees himself to be great
whilst he is insignificant in the eyes of people.'"
Abu Hatim: Humbleness raises the worth of a person, enhances his value
and increases his nobility . Humility for Allah falls into two
categories:
1 – The humbleness of a slave as he approaches an act of obedience,
without any self-amazement in his deed and without showing off to
anybody; a state which brings about the closeness of Allah to a slave,
except that it is Allah `azza wa jall Who has bestowed this upon him
first. And (the lack of) this humility is the reason that the
pretentious self-righteous soul is turned away from acts ofobedience.
2 – The humbleness/humility of aslave in lowering and belittling
himself when he is mentioned, withoutfalling into sin, until there is
no-one in the world except that he seeshimself less than them in
obedience or more than them in sin.
Ibn Jurayj reported from Mujahid regarding the verse, "… and they were
to Us 'khashi'een (humblysubmissive)." [al-Anbiya': 90] He said, "This
means they observed humility."
Al-Asma'i said, "I heard Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki say, "When the
respectful honourable man devotes himself to religion, he becomes
humble . But when the despicable evil one does so, he becomes arrogant
.""
Abu Hatim: Let no-one prevent humility, for indeed humility earns one
peace and brings about strong bonds , it does away with hatred and
removes rejection , and the fruit of humility is love just as the
fruit of contentment is ease and relaxation . Certainly, the
humbleness of a noble person only increases his nobility whilst the
arrogance of a lowly one only increases his lowliness . And how can
aperson not be humble when he has been made from scattered drops of
sperm , and his end will be a corpse casted away and between the two
stages he carries waste !
Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah said, "If it was said 'bring out the best of this
city', therewould come out people that were unknown ."
Al-Kirizi (a poet) said:
'And do not walk upon the earth except in humbleness,
For how many people underneath it are more exalted than you!
If you are in glory, goodness and strength,
Then how many have died that were more stronger than you.'
Ja'far ibn Muhammad said, "Husayn ibn 'Ali performed Hajj ten times
walking, whilst his sturdycamel was being led beside him."
Abu Hatim: "The best of people is the one who is humble despite being
of high rank, who is ascetic despite having the capabilities and who
is just despite having power . A person only begins to abandon
humbleness when arrogance has started to take root, for a person is
never arrogant towards another except that he is someone who's become
pleased and amazed at his own self . I have neverseen anybody prove
arrogant over others except that Allah has punished him by subjecting
him to humiliation under those who are above him."
If the intelligent one seessomeone who is older than him, he humbles
himself for him and says, "He has preceded me in Islam." And if he
sees someone who is younger than him, he says, "I havepreceded him in
sin." Andif he sees someone who is his contemporary , he counts him as
his brother so how can a person be arrogant over his brother? None
should belittle another, for even the discarded 'oud (bark) can
benefit when a man picks it up and uses it to scratch his ear.
Mujahid reports that Ibn 'Abbas said, "If a mountain were to
transgress over another mountain, Allah will surely demolish to ruins
the transgressing one among the two."

Hudayr: ‘This is the Best of Provisions, My Lord.’

A beautiful story… please read and see what lessons can be drawn from it.
"Ibn 'Umar (radhi'Allahu `anhu) reports that the Prophet (sallallahu
`alayhi wa sallam) once sent out an army unit which included a man
called Hudayr. It was a year of difficulty and food was in short
supply, so the Prophet (sallallahu`alayhi wa sallam) gave each person
provisions (for the journey) but he forgot to provide for Hudayr.
Hudayr was patient and went out with the last group, seeking reward
and expecting good fromAllah, saying " 'La ilaha illa'Allah' (There is
none worthy of worship except Allah), 'Allahu Akbar' (Allah is the
Greatest), 'Al-Hamdulillah' (Praise be to Allah), 'Subhan'Allah'
(Glory be to Allah), and 'La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah' (There
is no might or power except with Allah)." And he would say, "This is
the best of provisions, O Lord." Continuously, he repeated this whilst
in his group.
Jibreel ('alayhisalam) came to the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa
sallam) and said, "Indeed,my Lord has sent me to you to inform you
that you provided for your companions but you forgot to provide for
Hudayr and he is in the last battalion saying, "'La ilaha illa'Allah'
(There is none worthy of worship except Allah), 'Allahu Akbar' (Allah
is the Greatest), 'Al-Hamdulillah'(Praise be to Allah), 'Subhan'Allah'
(Glory be to Allah), and 'La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah' (There
is no might or power except with Allah). This is the best of
provision, O Lord." This statement of his will be a light for him on
the Day of Judgement and it shallfill what is between the heavens and
the earth, so send him his provision."
The Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) immediately called a manand
gave him the provision of Hudayr (to take it to him) and commanded him
to listenand memorise whatever Hudayr says upon meeting him and upon
giving him the provision,and to tell him, "The Messenger of Allah
(sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) sends you the greeting of peace and the
mercy of Allah, and he wants to inform you that he forgot to provide
for you but my Lord, Blessed and Lofty is He, sent Jibreel to remind
him of you and he told him of your position (in the army)."
So the man set off and met Hudayr whilst he was still repeating " 'La
ilaha illa'Allah' (There is none worthy of worship except Allah),
'Allahu Akbar' (Allah is the Greatest), 'Al-Hamdulillah' (Praise be to
Allah), 'Subhan'Allah' (Glory be to Allah), and 'La hawla wa la
quwwata illa billah' (There is no might or power except with Allah).
This is the best of provision, O Lord."
He then drew close to him and said, "Indeed, the Messenger of Allah
sends you his greeting ofpeace and the mercy of Allah, and he has sent
meto you with this provision saying, "Indeed, I forgot you so Jibreel
was sent to me from the heavens to remind me of you."
He (Hudayr) praised and thanked Allah and sent his blessings upon the
Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam). Then he said, "Praise be to
Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. My Lord remembered me from above the
seven heavens and from above His Throne, and He was merciful towards
my hunger and my weakness. O my Lord, justas You did not forget me,do
not let Hudayr forget You ."
The man memorised what he said, and went back to the Prophet
(sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam), informing him ofwhat he heard Hudayr
say upon reaching him and giving him the news.The Messenger of Allah
(sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) then said, "If you were to lift your
head to the sky, you would surelyhave seen a light spreading and
radiating all that is between the heavens and the earth, due to his
words.""
- Related by Ibn Jawzi in his collection, 'Sifat al-Safwah' [See also,
al-Atqiya' al-Akhfiya', pg. 117-118]

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Can the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) hear thosewho call upon him whenhe is in his grave?

Some people believe that the Prophet Muhamamd [(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him)] is "Shaheed" and is in BArzakh where he can hear
us if we send 'darood' on him and also if we ask his 'wasta' [by
virtue of his closeness to Allah]in praying to God.
Praise be to Allaah.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is alive in
his grave in the sense of thelife of al-barzakh, so he enjoys the
blessings that Allaah has prepared for him as a reward for his great
good actions that he did in this world. But the life in the grave is
not like the life of this world, or the life in the Hereafter. Rather
it is thelife of al-barzakh which comes in between his life in this
world and his life in the Hereafter. Hence we know that he died as
other Prophets and other people beforehim died. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And We granted not to any human being immortality before you (O
Muhammad); then if you die, would they live forever?"
[al-Anbiya' 21:34]
"Whatsoever is on it (theearth) will perish.
And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will remain forever"
[al-Rahmaan 55:26,27]
"Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die, and verily, they (too) willdie"
[al-Zumar 39:30]
And there are other verses which also indicate that Allaah caused him
to die. Moreover, the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them)
washed him, shrouded him, offered the funeral prayer for him and
buried him; if he had been alive in the worldly sense, they would not
have done the same as is done for others who die.
Faatimah (may Allaah be pleased with her) asked Abu Bakr (may Allaah
be pleased with him) for her inheritance from herfather (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) because she was convinced that he had
died, and no one among the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them)
differed withher concerning that. Rather Abu Bakr (may Allaah be
pleased with him) responded to her request by saying that nothing
could be inherited from the Prophets.
The Sahaabah agreed unanimously to choose akhaleefah for the Muslims
to succeed the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
and that wasdone with the appointment of Abu Bakr (may Allaah be
pleased with him) as khaleefah. If the Prophet(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) had been alive in a worldly sense, they would not
have done that. So this indicates that there was consensus among them
that he had indeed died.
When the tribulations (fitan) and problems increased during the time
of 'Uthmaan and 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with them both), and
before and after that, they did not go to his grave to consult him or
ask him for a way out of those tribulations and problems, or the way
to solve them. If he had been alive in a worldly sense, they would not
have overlooked that when they were in such great need of someone to
save them from the trials that surrounded them.
With regard to the soul of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), it is in the highest part of 'Illiyyeen,because he is
the best of creation, and because Allaah has given him al-waseelah
which is thehighest position in Paradise.
The life of al-barzakh is aspecial life. The Prophetsand the shuhada'
(martyrs) are alive in al-barzakh as the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Prophets are alive and they pray in
their graves." (Narrated by al-Mundhiri and al-Bayhaqi who classed it
as saheeh because of corroborating reports in al-Saheehayn.)
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And say not of those who are killed in the way of Allaah, 'They are
dead.' Nay, they are living, but you perceive (it) not"
[al-Baqarah 2:154]
This is a special life, the nature of which is known to Allaah. It is
notlike the life of this world in which the soul remains with the
body.
The basic principle concerning the dead is that they do not hear the
words of the living sons of Adam, because Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):
"but you cannot make hear those who are in graves"
[Faatir 35:22]
Allaah confirmed that those whom he (the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him)) was calling to Islam could not hear, by
likening them to the dead. There is nothing inthe Qur'aan or in the
saheeh Sunnah to indicate that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) can hear every du'aa' or call from human beings.
Rather it is proven that the only thing that reaches him (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the blessings and salaams of those
who send blessings and salaams upon him. This was narrated by Abu
Dawood, 2041, with a hasan isnaad from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be
pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no one who sends salaams uponme
but Allaah will restore to me my soul so that I may return his
salaams." This does not mean that he hears the words of the one who
sends salaams. Rather it is possible that he comesto know of those
salaams when the angelsconvey that to him. If weassume that he hears
thewords of the one who sends salaams, this is an exception from the
general rule, as in the case of the dead hearingthe footsteps of those
who carry his bier, and as in the case of the slainkuffaar in the well
at Badr who heard the call of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he said to them: "Have you found
your Lord's promise to be true? For we have found our Lord's promise
to be true." (See Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah, 1/313, 318, 321).
With regard to calling upon the Prophet (peaceand blessings of Allaah
be upon him) and askinghim directly, this is the essence of shirk
which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sent
to forbid and to fight against its people. For more details on the
ruling on that, see Question no. 10289 , 11402 , 1439 . We ask Allaah
to bring the Muslims back to the rightpath. And Allaah knows best. May
Allaah send blessings and peace upon his Prophet Muhammad and his
family and companions.21524