Bahirah, the Monk Recognizes the Seal of Prophethood

When the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) was twelve years old,
he went with his uncle Abu Talib on a business journey to Syria. When
they reached Busra (which was a part of Syria, in the vicinity of
Howran under the Roman domain) they met a monk called Bahira (his real
name was Georges), who showed great kindness, and entertained them
lavishly. He had never been in the habit of receiving or entertaining
them before. He readily enough recognized the Prophet (Peace be upon
him) and said while taking his hand: "This is the master of all
humans. Allah will send him with a Message which will be a mercy to
all beings." Abu Talib asked: "How do you know that?" He replied:"When
you appeared from the direction of 'Aqabah, all stones and trees
prostrated themselves, which they never do except for a Prophet. I can
recognize him also by the seal of Prophethood which is below his
shoulder, like an apple. We have got tolearn this from our books."
Source: At Tirmidhi and At Tabari

* Rebuilding Kabah - Muhammad (SAW) comes to the rescue

** When the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) was thirty five,
Quraish started rebuilding Al-Ka'bah. That was because it was a low
building of white stones no more than 6.30 metres high, from the days
of Ishmael. It was also roofless and that gave the thieves easy access
to its treasures inside. It was also exposed to the wearing factors of
nature - because it was built a long time ago - that weakened and
cracked its walls. Five years before Prophethood, there was a great
flood in Makkah that swept towards Al-Ka'bah and almost demolished it.
Quraish was obliged to rebuild itto safeguard its holiness and
position. The chiefs of Quraish decided to use only licit money in
rebuilding Al-Ka'bah, so all money that derived from harlotry, usury
or unjust practices was excluded. They were, at first, too awed to
knock down the wall, but Al-Waleed bin Al-Mugheerah Al-Mukhzumi
started the work. Seeing that no harm had happened to him, the others
participated in demolishing the walls until they reached the basis
laid by Abraham. When they started rebuilding its walls, they divided
the work amongthe tribes.
Each tribe was responsible for rebuilding a part of it. The tribes
collected stones and started work.The man who laid the stones was a
Roman mason called Baqum. The work went on in harmony till the time
came to put the sacred Black Stone in its proper place. Then strife
broke out among the chiefs, and lasted for four or five days, each
contesting for the honour of placing the stone in its position.
Daggers were on the point of being drawn and great bloodshed seemed
imminent. Luckily, the oldest among the chiefs Abu Omaiyah bin
Mugheerah Al-Makhzumi made a proposal which was accepted by all. He
said:"Let him, who enters theSanctuary first of all, decide on the
point." It was then Allah's Will thatthe Messenger of Allah (Peace be
upon him) should be the first to enter the Mosque. On seeing him, all
the people on the scene, cried with one voice:"Al-Ameen (the
trustworthy) has come. We are content to abide by his decision." Calm
and self-possessed, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) received the
commission and at once resolved upon an expedient which was to
conciliate them all. He asked for a mantle which he spread on the
ground and placed the stone in its centre. He then asked the
representatives of the different clans among them, to lift the stone
all together. When it had reached the proper place, Muhammad (Peace be
upon him) laidit in the proper position with his own hands. Thisis how
a very tense situation was eased and a grave danger averted by the
wisdom of the Prophet (Peace be upon him).
Source: Ar Raheeq Al Makhtum Pg. 80.

The Hijrah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

The Hijrah – emigration of the Prophet, , to Madeenah – constitutes a
wonderful memory honored by many annually. But, itis only the wise who
recognize itsfull magnanimity: as a victory for the believers and
their escape from a life of injustice and subjugation to a free and
respectable one. It marked a newphase in the struggle between Islam
and disbelief, and between truth and falsehood, hence only fit to
signify the start of the Muslim calendar.
And for us to appreciate it so, we must go back in history more than
ten centuries, to the thirteenth year after Muhammad, , was given the
mission of Prophethood. It was a time whenMuslims were permitted to
leave Makkah and escape persecution; many succeeded, managing to
overcome the obstacles put in their way by Quraysh, to hinder them
from reaching Yathrib (the former name of Madeenah). When they
arrived, they found their brothers from the Ansaar (their supporters
among the locals) welcoming them warmly, opening up their hearts and
homes to them. That greatly boosted their morale, so much sothat only
a few believers remained in Makkah, and only because they were
oppressed or captured.
Sensing their vulnerability, the Quraysh believed the situation could
only be restored if they managed to prevent the emigration of the
Prophet, , by any means possible.
As a result, conspirators secretly agreed to eliminate him, , before
he was able to leave for refuge in Madeenah. On a Thursday of the
month of Safar , the disbelievers assembled at Daar -un-Nadwah to
decide on the best course of action. One suggestion expressed the
necessity of killing the Prophet, , while others advocated either
imprisonment or exile.
However, the consensus was to murder him in a manner that the tribe of
the Prophet, , Banu Haashim, could not retaliate. Their strategy was
to handpick the best young man from all the tribes of Quraysh and
order them to strike the Prophet, , simultaneously with their swords,
so that every clan would be culpable for the crime. Clearly, Banu
Haashim could not engage them all in battle and would be obliged to
only accept blood money as settlement. Allaah The Almighty mentions
this, Saying (what means): {And [remember, OMuhammad], when those who
disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict
you [from Makkah]. But they plan,and Allaah plans. And Allaah is the
best of planners.} [Quran 8:30]
The Quraysh, however, were unaware that Allaah The Almighty had
already given permission for the Prophet, , to emigrate; so, while
they were still weaving their plots, he was preparing to travel to
Madeenah. While disguised as a necessary precaution, he, , went to the
house of Abu Bakr unusually at the noon, to inform him of theorder to
depart Makkah imminently.
Fearing that he would not be blessed to accompany the Prophet, , Abu
Bakr sought permission to travel with him and was granted it. He shed
tears of joy; he hired a non-Muslim man from Banu Ad-Dayl, called
'Abdullaah ibn Urayqit, to take care of two camels he had preemptively
readied for the journey and bring them to him three nights later at
the Thawr cave. His daughters, 'Aa'ishah and Asmaa̓ prepared all the
necessary gear and supplies, and put food in a container. Asmaa̔ would
later be known as "the one with two waistbands", as she would tear her
waistband in half, tying abundle of food on one end and a water skin
container on the another, to take to the two travelers.
Then, the awaited moment arrived and the Prophet, , andAbu Bakr set
out to leave through the backdoor of the house. Before that, he, ,
ordered 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib to stay behind in order to return to
people possessions they had entrusted to him. He, , also told the
young man to lie down in his bed, wearing his clothes, inorder to
stymie Quraysh.
Hence, the Prophet, , and Abu Bakr succeeded in evading the
disbelievers, who did not even notice they had left until thefollowing
morning, when 'Ali ibn Taalib emerged from the house. Enraged, they
surrounded him, asking him about the Prophet, , but he pretended to be
astonished and unaware of his whereabouts.
Knowing that Abu Bakr was the confidante of the Prophet, , they rushed
to his house to extract information, only to find he had left, too.
They questioned Asmaa̓ about her father, butshe feigned ignorance. So,
Abu Jahl, one of the chiefs of Quraysh, became enraged and slapped her
face, cutting her ear with her earring in the process.
Having been stonewalled, the Quraysh exerted all their efforts to hunt
down the two men, placing everyone in Makkah underclose surveillance
and announcing a valuable prize for anyone who caught the Prophet, ,
dead or alive. They commissioned experts in tracking and rushed north
in the hope of finding any trail of the Prophet, .
However, the Prophet, , had already outdone them, by having cleverly
taken an unfamiliar and indirect route to Madeenah. He, , headed
south, threading through rugged mountains till hereached an
inaccessible cave called Thawr , where he stayed with Abu Bakr until
the hunt simmered down.
However, a massive manhunt led the Quraysh to that very cave and they
drew quite near to its entrance, so much so that Abu Bakr could hear
their footsteps; so, he whispered to the Prophet, : "What if they were
to look through the crevice and spot us?" Filled with trust and
confidence in the promise of Allaah The Almighty (to protect him and
His Message), the Prophet, , calmly replied: "AbuBakr! What do you
think [can happen to] two with whom the Third is Allaah?"
Needless to say, the firm belief of the Prophet, , in Allaah The
Almighty was verified; the Quraysh ruled out the possibility of them
being anywhere near that place and left without having achieved any
success.
On to Madeenah
The Prophet, , stayed three nights in the cave of Thawr , during which
he received daily reports of the non-believers in Makkah, from
'Abdullaah ibn Abi Bakr . Another man, 'Aamir ibn Fuhayrah, would hide
his trailwhen he would bring sheep, so the Prophet, and Abu Bakr could
drink some milk. Then, at the appointed time, 'Abdullaahibn ̓Urayqit
brought the camels, as per the agreement.
On a Monday night in the month of Rabee'ul-Awwal , the Prophet, , and
Abu Bakr headed to Madeenah, taking the coastal route. They rode all
day long, andAbu Bakr rode with the Prophet, , beside, in front
andbehind him, shielding him continuously, fearing the Qurayshwould
attack. At noon, they stopped to rest, taking shelter behind a huge
rock. Abu Bakr evened the place out for the Prophet, , to lie down. In
the meantime, a shepherd, driving his herd, seemed to be heading their
way; when he came closer, Abu Bakr asked: "Who is your master?" The
slave boy replied: "I am a slave of a master from Makkah." He
inquired: "Do your sheep have milk? " The boy answered in the
affirmative, so Abu Bakr milked some for theProphet, , who was able to
quench his thirst.
However, danger lurked, as a disbeliever had caught a glimpse of the
Prophet, , from afar. Hehastened to Makkah and told people of two
figures he spotted riding on their camels, along the coast. One man,
Suraaqah ibn Maalik, realized he was right to assume they must have
been Muhammad, , and his Companion, but convinced the informant
otherwise, so he couldclaim the prize money for himself. He stayed for
an hour, then sneaked away, so he would not call the attention of
anyone. He took his spear and rushed on his horse to where he thought
the Prophet and his Companion were.
But, when he drew close, his horse stumbled and he fell to theground.
He briefly considered it an ill omen, before mounting his ride again
and rushing forward, only for his horse to trip once more. Suraaqah
became apprehensive, but his desire for the prize money made him
overlook his reservations. But, when he came closer to the Prophet, ,
his horse's hooves sank into the sand until it came to its knees and
smoke rose frombetween them; that is when he realized that the men he
was pursuing were being protected by Allaah The Almighty. Therefore,
he asked them for security (fearing Muslims would take revenge for his
action), promising not to divulge their whereabouts. The Prophet, ,
wrote him a note, granting him that and Suraaqah, on his part,
fulfilled his promise and diverted any other person in pursuit of
theProphet, , to look elsewhere, concealing his location, until he
safely approached Madeenah.
On their way, the Prophet, , and his Companion also stopped at the
tent of Umm Ma'bad and asked her for some food. She, however, had
nothing to offer, but a dry boney goat. So,the Prophet, , took it,
touched its udders, invoked the blessings of Allaah The Almighty and
miraculously milked it. And, as they all drank from the milk, this
remarkable incident led Umm Ma'bad and her husband to embrace Islam.
For all its difficulties, the journey finally came to a good end, with
the Prophet, , reaching Madeenah safely, where he was received by the
many Companions who had previously emigrated from Makkah and by his
Muslim brothers who were hosting him in their city.

The world before the Prophet Muhammad

When Almighty Allah sent His lastand greatest Prophet, Muhammad
sallallaaahu 'alayhi wa sallam , , humankind was immersed in a state
of degeneration. The messages of the past prophets had been distorted
and ignored, civilizationwas on the decline and humanity had slumped
into an age of darkness, with disbelief, oppression and corruption
prevalent everywhere. The condition of the world at that time
presented the gloomiest picture ever of human history.
At the time of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, , there existed two
great powers on earth: one in the East and another in the West. In the
East there was the Persian Empire, and in the West, the Roman Empire .
As it might be expected, these two powers were actively hostile and
almost permanently at war with one another. As a result, they were
weak and disunited, though appearing to be otherwise. Despite their
disunity and weakness, they made no serious effort to eradicate the
causes of their instability.
The Arabs were living under no better conditions. They were families
and tribes comprising different attitudes and feelings; but they were
all similar in one respect: they were slaves of habits and impulses.
They used to take pride in invasion and plunder. Moreover, they were
so low in their moral affairs that a number of them used to bury their
daughters alive.
Religiously speaking, the Arabs of that era were mostly idol
worshippers. Some of them used to make their own gods from sweets, and
subsequently, they would eat them when they got hungry. They had
replaced the monotheism of Ibraaheem (Abraham) with the worship of
idols, stars and demons, turning the Ka'bah, which was built for the
One and Only Creator,into a pantheon of idols. In addition, tribal
rivalries and blood feuds ran among them likethe burning desert sands
of Arabia .
The people of Makkah used to practice usury on a large scale with
very high interest rates -- sometimes a hundred percent. When the
debtors were not able to repay -- and that was most often the case --
they were enslaved or obliged to force their wives and daughters to
commit certain sins, in order to be able tocollect enough money to
repay the debt.
Ignorance was not confined to the Arabs alone. On the fringes of
Arabia where the desert gives way to hospitable lands, met the
ever-changing borders of 'world arrogance', the two superpowersof the
age: the Persian and the Roman Empires.
The fire-worshipping Persians, with their strange concept of dualism
were further plagued by the still weirder Mazdakite doctrine (i.e. a
socio-religious movement that flared up in the Sasanian Kavad (488-531
CE) founded by Mazdak son of Bamdad), that advocated communal
ownership and even ruled that women were the common property of all
men. LikeMani a few centuries earlier, who had claimed a new religion
by combining the teachings of Jesus and Zoroaster, Mazdakite's
movement was also a reaction tothe corruption of the traditional
priestly class. Both creeds died away after the execution of their
proponents, who more or less depended on royal patronage. Onthe other
hand, the Sasanian aristocracy aligned with the Zoroastrian clergy was
steeped inpleasures, burdening the oppressed masses with heavy taxes
and oppression.
At the other end was the Byzantine world, which though claiming to
profess a divinely revealed religion, had in fact polluted the
monotheist message of Prophet Jesus with the sediments of ancient
Greek and Roman pagan thoughts, resulting in the birth ofChristianity.
In 381 CE, the Greco-Roman Church council rejected the doctrine of
Arius of Alexandria, to which most of the eastern provinces of the
empire adhered, and in its place the council had coined the belief
thatGod and Jesus are of one substance and therefore co-existent.
Arius and his followers had held the belief in the uniqueness and
majesty of God, Who Alone, they said has existed since eternity, while
Jesus was created in time.
There were colonies of Jews scattered across West Asia and North
Africa to whom several Messengers had been sent by Almighty Allaah.
However, even these divine favors had failed to reform them. The laws
sent to Prophet Moses had been distorted and tampered with.
Further to the east lay the once flourishing cultures of China and
India which were groping in darkness. Confucianism had confused the
Chinese, robbing their minds of any positive thinking. On the other
hand, Hinduism had no universal pretensions whatsoever, and
waspeculiar to the geographical confines of India or more properly
Northern India and its Aryan invaders. Conversion of foreigners was
difficult because one had to be born in a particularcaste and it was
the mystery of 'Karma' that determined one's fate.
In short, wars, bloodshed, slavery, oppression of women and the
deprived held sway everywhere, might ruled over right. The world was
in dire distress but no one seemed capable of delivering it from
darkness. No religion, ideology, creed or cult during those times,
could offer any hope to the agonies and frustrations of humankind.
None of the religions in currency had any universal outlook or
evenpretensions and were limited to insurmountable geographical and
psychological barriers, preaching discrimination and the narrow-minded
superiority of a particular race.
Thus, it was in such a chaotic state of depression that AlmightyAllaah
sent His last great Prophet, with the universal Message ofIslam to
save humankind from disbelief, oppression, corruption, ignorance and
moral decadence that was dragging humanity towards self-annihilation.