Islam's History - , The Battle of Islam at Nahrawan:

After the unsatisfactory conclusion to the Battle of Siffin , Imam Ali
(A.S.) returned with his army back to Kufa on the 13th of Safar 37
A.H. During the march, a group of 12,000 men kept themselves at a
distance from the main part of thearmy.
The group was furious at the way things had ended at Siffin. These
were the Kharjites (Kharjite means one who rebels against religion).
They were the same people who had put down their weapons on the
battlefield. Now they said that Imam Ali (A.S.) had betrayed Islam by
agreeing to the truce andshould have referred judgment to the Holy
Qur'an alone or continued to fight. They demanded that he repentfor
this great sin.
When the army neared Kufa, the Kharjites camped at a village named
Harura. They started saying that all Muslims were equal and nobody
could rule over the other. In this way, they denounced both Imam Ali
(A.S.) and Muawiya and said that their belief was in "La Hukma Illa
Lillah", meaning, "No Ruler ship except by Allah alone."
Imam Ali (A.S.) sent Sasaa Bin Sauhan and Ziad Bin Nazr Harisi in the
company of Ibne Abbas towards them and afterwards himself went to the
place of their stay and tried to explain to them that they were
misunderstanding the words "La Hukma Illa Lillah" , and that in
accepting the arbitration (peace talks) at Siffin, he had not gone
against theteachings of the Holy Qur'an.
He pointed out that they themselves were at fault, because they should
never have laid down their arms and forced him to call back Malike
Ashtar , who was at the point of securing victory. He reminded them
that they had pressed for the arbitration and had forced him to
appoint Abu Musa Ash'ari as their representative. He told them that he
found their present behavior very strange, considering their
involvement in Siffin. To this they admitted that they had sinned but
now they had repented for it and he should do the same.
Imam Ali (A.S.) replied that he was a true believer and did not haveto
repent because he hadnot committed any sin and dispersed them after
discussion.
The Kharjites refused to accept the words of Imam Ali (A.S.) and
awaited the decision of Amr al-Aas and Abu Musa Ash'ari. When they
learnt of the decision they decided to revolt, and they set up their
headquarters at Nahrawan, twelve miles from Baghdad. Some people came
from Basra to join the rebels.
On the other side, after hearing the verdict of Arbitration Imam Ali
(A.S.)rose for fighting the army of Syria and wrote to the Kharijites
that the verdict passed by the twoarbitrators in pursuance of their
heart's wishes instead of the Qur'an andsunnah was not acceptable to
him, that he had therefore decidedto fight with them and they should
support him for crushing the enemy. But the Kharijites gave him this
reply, "When you had agreed to Arbitration in our view you had turned
heretic. Now if you admit your heresy and offer repentance we will
think over this matter and decide what we should do." Imam Ali (A.S.)
understood from their reply that their disobedience and misguidance
had becomevery serious. To entertainany kind of hope from them now was
futile. Consequently, ignoring them he encamped in thevalley of
an-Nukhaylah with a view to marching towards Syria to fight against
Muawiya.
Imam Ali (A.S.) had already started towards Muawiya when he received
the news that they had butchered the governor of Nahrawan namely
Abdullah Ibn Khabbab Ibn al-Aratt and his slave maid with the child in
her womb, and have killed three women of Banu Tayyi and Umm Sinan
as-Saydawiyyah. Imam Ali (A.S.) sent al-Harith Ibn Murrah al-Abdi for
investigation but he too was killed by them. When their rebellion
reached this stage it was necessary to deal with them. There was a
danger that the Kharjites might attack Kufa while Imam Ali (A.S.)and
his men were marching towards Muawiya, so Imam Ali (A.S.) decided to
stop them. He changed his course eastward, crossed the river Tigris
and approached Nahrawan.
On reaching there Imam Ali (A.S.) sent a messengerto the Kharjites
demanding that those people who had murdered innocent Muslims around
their camp should be surrendered. The Kharjites replied that they were
all equally responsible for killing these sinners.
There was some reluctance in the army of Imam Ali (A.S.) to fight the
Kharjites, because they had been their companions against Muawiya at
Siffin. Imam Ali (A.S.) himself did not desire the bloodshed of these
misguided fanatics,so he sent Abu Ayyub al-Ansari with a message of
peace. So he spoke to them aloud, "Whoever comes under this banner or
separates from that party and goes to Kufah or al-Mada'in would get
amnesty and he would not be questioned. As a result of this Farwah Ibn
Nawfal al-Ashja'i said that he did not know why they were at war with
Imam Ali (A.S.). Saying this he separated along with five hundred men.
Similarly group after group began to separate and some of them joined
Imam Ali (A.S.). In the end, only cores of 1,800 die-hards were left
under the command of Abdallah binWahab. These Kharjites swore that
they would fight Imam Ali (A.S.) at any cost.
Nahjul Balagha - Sermon 36/Warning the people of Nahrawan of their fate:
"I am warning you that you will be killed on the bend of this canal
and onthe level of this low area while you will have no clear excuse
before Allah nor any open authority with you. You have come out of
your houses and then divine decree entangled you. I had advised you
against this arbitration but you rejected my advice like adversaries
and opponents till I turned my ideas in the direction of your wishes.
You are a group whose heads are devoid of wit and intelligence. May
you have no father! (Allah's woe be to you!) I have not put you in any
calamity nor wished you harm."
The Kharjites attacked Imam Ali's (A.S.) army with desperate courage.
However, they did not stand a chance against the superior army that
faced them and they were all killed except nine men. These nine
managed to flee to Basra and elsewhere, where they spread the fire of
their hatred and recruited more followers.From Imam Ali's (A.S.) army
only eight persons fell as martyrs. The battle took place on the 9th
Safar, 38 A.H. Two years later, in 40 A.H., it was theKharjites who
sent out three assassins to kill Imam Ali (A.S.), Muawiya and Amr
al-Aas. The lattertwo survived but Imam Ali (A.S.) was martyred
following Ibne Muljam's cowardly attack in the mosque of Kufa.
Having disposed of the Kharjites at Nahrawan, Imam Ali (A.S.) resumed
his march to Syria. However, the chiefs of hisfollowers urged him to
stop at Kufa to let the men rest before the long journey and to enable
the army to repair their weapons and armours. Imam Ali (A.S.) agreed
to this request and camped at Nukhayla outside Kufa.The soldiers were
allowed to leave the camp for a day.
On the next day, hardly any men returned and at length, Imam Ali
(A.S.) entered Kufa and gave a stern sermon to the people. However,
nobodycame forward and finally,Imam Ali (A.S.) turned away from them
in disappointment. The Syrian expedition was abandoned, never to be
resumed.

Story - , Moons Peak [FINISHED]- She's Mine (chapter 16)

I WATCHED SATCHEL SHIFT the sheet - that held the dead wolf - from one
shoulder to the other, as he trudged up the hill leaving me far
behind.
I practically had to run to try to keep up with his long strides.
Despite the fact that he was carrying 200 pounds of dead weight on his
back.
I also noticed the amountof sweat gleaming on his body that he'd
conjured up from our mile hike through the two estates.
Just the way his shoulders rolled in his gait; made him look like he'd
just been from a swim. In any other circumstances, I would have gladly
enjoyed the view.
Especially the way the slick moisture caught the sun so brilliantly,
making his taut muscles gleam with every movement. However, that
wasn't the case at all, since the sight of the thing he was carrying
was a dead carcass of what once wasa live wolf.
A werewolf, or accordingto Satchel, a she-wolf.
We'd been walking for a while now, but I was relieved when I saw the
cemetery come into view a few meters up ahead. I exhaled, trying not
to pant so much.
"Finally, we're nearly there." I breathed dramatically, as if it were
me whom had been bearing the 200 pounds of dead weight on my back.
I heard Satchel chuckle infront of me.
"Come on, it wasn't even that far." He teased in that low sensual
voice I was growing to love. He shot me a backward glance as he said
it, and I noticed a faint smirk on his face. He turned back and kept
walking in frontof him. I rolled my eyes athis back.
"Tell that to my legs." I muttered to no one in particular. His laugh
confirmed he'd heard me, and I found myself smiling. I liked it. I
felt the need to keep talking, just so I could hear more of him.
"So…after we bury this…were-she wolf. Do you wanna maybe have dinner
with me?" He stopped abruptly and turned to me with his eyebrows
raised. He had a curious expression on his face.
"Did you just ask me out?" I bit my lip, and then finally nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I did." I blushed as his eyes scrutinized me. "Is that
a problem?" He shook his head.
"No…just…I've never been asked out from a girl before." I smiled.
"Well…I've never asked a guy out before too. So what do you say?" His
eyes roamed my body, then landed on my lips. I noticed he was closer
now, both of our chests nearly touching. I looked up at him in
earnest. Then his smile spread across his face.
"It's a date." He agreed, he kissed my nose then added, "but from now
onI think it should be a work of a boy to ask the girl out." He walked
ahead, leaving me there smiling like an idiot.
"Fine by me." I said following behind him. Just as we were coming up
to the cemetery, I nearly squealed when I rammed straight into
Satchels back, as he stopped up short. More so at the fact that I'd
just bumped into the dead weight on his back.
I grimaced and wiped the front of my shirt, as ifI'd just gotten it
dirty from merely touching it. Ifrowned, as I watched Satchel's eyes
scan the area. His eyes were on the pine trees to our right, frowning
as if he'd heard something, that I was clearly oblivious about.
I frowned too, following his stare.
"What is it?" His started sniffing and his nose flared a few times in
alarm. He was making menervous.
He settled the sheet down gently at his feet, never taking his eyes
off the pine trees, and I had that awful feeling in my gut dreading
what was about to take place.
I was about to say something until he pegged me with a stare, with his
index finger against his lips in a hushing gesture. I complied,
wondering what the hell was going on.
"Something's out there, I can smell it." He whispered.
I wasn't sure what that something was yet, but by the look on his
face, it was definitely somethingI should be worrying about. Better
yet, the silence was scaring me tono end. I watched Satchelsquare his
shoulders getting in some sort of fighting stance, I guessed.
"Satchel…what's wrong? You're scaring me." I matched his earlier
whispers, and my heart wouldn't slow down. He took my hand and
squeezed it reassuringly.
"Get behind me, and whatever you do, don't look in their eyes." He
hissed low in his throat, and a rumble from his chest purred like a
growling dog warning itsfellow mate not to dare eat from his bowl. His
eyes always stained the forest, using his nose as ifto sniff out the
threat.
The trees answered his call with a loud rumble, and the trees looked
like they shuddered in anticipation. Or was that me?
Satchel backed us away from the dead wolf we'd been carrying for the lasthour.
What I realized too late, was when a pack of dogsmaterialized out from
thepine trees, which kept me from saying a word even to breathe. I
gulped, vaguely aware that my heart rate had picked up rapidly.
There were six of them atthe most. All huddled together, as one big
pack. They wore various colored coats, the color gray was more
dominant.
At least four of them were different shades of grays. The only
distinct thing to tell them apart, were the different color of their
eyes.
The other two were at the far back, sporting thecolors brown. It was
the most terrifying and most beautiful thing I'd ever been alive to
witness.
The front wolf looked like the leader of the pack. I watched it stalk
toward the dead wolf on the ground, and it nudged its cold lifeless
body.
It nudged it twice before letting a whine out of its own. I wanted to
cry just from hearing the animal mourn as it licked the dead wolf's
wounds clean. The whinning voice coming from him was so sad.
His soft ashy fur was shiny, in fact he was the biggest one out of the
lot, but what caught me up short was his gunmetal gray eyes, they were
startling.
Almost as blinding as Satchel's green ones. I blinked, noticing the
wolf had caught me staring at it…and Satchel's words came stumbling
back to me.
Whatever you do, don't look in their eyes.
It all happened so fast. One minute, the wolves were on the ground in
front of us, the next.
They were pouncing in the air, heading for both Satchel and I. Satchel
wasable to dodge the attack, but I wasn't so lucky.
I screamed as one of the wolves took me to the ground, growling so
low,you couldn't mistake the venom in it. It was the wolf with
gun-metal grayeyes.
I squirmed under his weight, as it snarled down at me showing justhow
many sharp teeth it had, knowing with one bite, I'd be a goner.
Satchel, I noticed was surrounded by the rest ofthem, so it was
impossible for him to come to my aid without getting hurt. The way its
teeth were snapping at me made me think I wasn't going to come outof
this alive.
"Satchel!" I cried, as the animal nipped at my throat, but never
piercing my skin.
I was lying on the groundnow, with four hundred pounds of animal on
top of me. I could almost smell death just from the smell of its
breath.
My heart pounding, trying to escape out of my chest. I screamed when I
heard a howl in the distance and then saw Satchel at the corner of my
eyes tear at one of the wolves with his human teeth.
He was trying to fight four against one. Human against beast, he was
outnumbered and outweighed. It was an unfair fight, but Satchel stood
there fighting, while tears I was too shocked to let go held metrapped
between the teeth of an animal.
Satchel, now bloody and ragged crawled toward me trying to distract
the animal, then cursed when he pegged a level stare on it.
"Get away from her." He growled, as his eyes challenged the wolf, but
never once did the wolf flinch.
I don't know what the animal was doing, but I didn't move for fear of
itssharp teeth piercing my skin.
"Satchel…please…help me." I whispered. He gulped, giving me an
apologetic look on my face.
"Willy, listen carefully. Everything's going to be okay. He's not
gonna hurtyou. He's...marking you." I blinked up at the animal, then
back at Satchel. I wasn't quite sure what he meant by marking me as
his, but I knew it wouldn't be good.
I eyed the wolf's teeth and thought better of it, so I kept my gaze on Satchel.
"He's got his teeth hovering over my throat." I whispered. Howcould he
think everything would be okay? He shook his head.
"I know. It's not…he's justmarking you…marking you as his ." He
growled, but stayed where he was.
I realized the wolves had backed off. "She's mine, you hear me!" He
hissed at the animal. But nothing Satchel could saywas good enough.
I squeezed my eyes shut in desperation.
"Satchel…why is he doingthis?" Satchel was still surrounded by the
pack of wolves, so he couldn't crawl any closer.
"He thinks I took something from him. He thinks I killed his mate. The
gray wolf we brought here? He thinks Itook her life, so he's taking
something that belongs…he's taking you from me."
His voice was strained as he said that last statement. I opened my
eyes and pegged them on Satchel, letting my tears fall in submission.
"Do something. Please…" I felt myself getting dragged and Satchel's
figure was getting blurry.
"I can't …I never claimed you yet, you belong to him now…" Was the
last thing I heard him say, as the animal dragged me through the pine
trees.
I must of passed out, because the pine trees faded from my view, and I
could faintly hear my name being shouted in the distance.
"I'll come for you, I swearI'll come for you."

Can sihr (witchcraft, magic) kill?

i would like information on majic (jadoo) what are the consequences
and can people use it to kill people.
Praise be to Allaah.
Yes, there is sihr that cankill. When discussing different forms of
murder the scholars have mentioned that theperson who kills anotherby
means of a kind of sihr that usually kills should be executed (qisaas
– retaliation), because he has killed by means of something
thatusually kills. Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (9/330): "The sixth
kind: if he killed him by means of a kind of sihr that usually kills,
then he has to be executed, because he has killed by means of
something that usually kills, like killing by use ofa knife. If he
killed by means of something thatdoes not usually kill or something
that sometimes kills and sometimes does not, then he has to pay
diyah(blood-money), but qisaas is not required, because he intended to
do harm, and it is akin tobeating someone with a stick (which may or
may not kill)."
The ruling concerning the saahir (practitioner of sihr) in
al-Mawsoo'ah al-Fiqhiyyah (24/267) says that in the case where he
killed a personby means of his sihr… the majority say that killing by
means of sihr may be done deliberately, in which case qisaas is
required. According to the Maalikis, evidence or a confession is
required. According to the Shaafi'is, if the person whom the
practitioner of sihr killed was his equal , then qisaas is required if
the killing was deliberate, which may be proven by a confession on the
part ofthe saahir, such as his saying "I killed him by means of my
sihr", or "I killed him with this type of thing", supported by the
testimony of two reliable witnesses who have practised sihr in the
past but have now repented, who can confirm that this kind of sihr
usually kills. If it is a type that does not usually kill, then the
matter is more akin to manslaughter.
And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Do the jinn help humans in some ways?

What is the difference between a shaytaan (devil) and a jinn? Do
theshayaateen reproduce from males and females?Do the shayaateen
interact with humans and serve them in returnfor the human's
disobeying his Lord? Are there Muslim jinn who serve the Muslims as
theyserved Sulaymaan (peace be upon him)? If the shayaateen or jinn
are able to serve humans, then why do the Muslim jinn not help the
Muslim humans in their wars against the kuffaar, and tell them their
secrets and supportIslam? Why do the kaafirjinn not help the kaafir
humans in some way? Did any examples of suchthings happen at the time
of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? If there
are any books about such matters, please tell me about them so that I
can be safe from the evil of the shayaateen. May Allaah keep me and
you safe from their evil.
Praise be to Allaah.
The shayaateen are fromamong the jinn; they arethe rebellious ones and
the most evil among them, just as the devils among mankind are the
rebellious ones and the most evil among them. There are among the
jinn, as is the case among mankind, devils who are the rebellious ones
and the most evil, kaafirs and evildoers. There are also Muslims among
them who are righteous and good. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies — Shayaateen
(devils) among mankind and jinn, inspiring one another with adorned
speech as a delusion (or by way of deception). If your Lord had so
willed, they would not have done it; so leave them alone with their
fabrications"
[al-'An'aam 6:112]
The Shaytaan is the father of the jinn according to many scholars. He
is the one who disobeyed his Lord and was too proud to prostrate to
Adam, so Allaah expelled him and banished him. Other scholars say that
the Shaytaan was one of a group of angels who were called al-jinn; he
was too proud to prostrate, so Allaah expelled him and banished him.
He became the leader of every evildoer and wicked one, every kaafirand
wrongdoer. Every person has a shaytaan and an angel with him, as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"There is no one among you but he has with him a constant companion
(qareen) from among the jinn and a constant companion from among the
angels." They said, "You too, O Messenger ofAllaah?" He said, "Me too,
but Allaah has helped me against him (the devil-companion) and he has
become Muslim."
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that
the Shaytaan inspires man to evil and calls man to evil. There are
times when he has control over man's heart and can find out, by
Allaah's decree, what a person intends to do of good or evil. There
are also times when the angel has control over a person's heart. He
makeshim incline towards good and calls him to good. These are things
that Allaah has enabled them to do, i.e., He has enabled the two
companions, the jinn-companion and the angel-companion, to do these
things. Even the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
had a shaytaan with him, his constant companion (qareen) from among
the jinn, as stated above,in the hadeeth which says that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"There is no one among you but he has with him a constant companion
(qareen) from among the jinn and a constant companion from among the
angels." They said, "You too, O Messenger ofAllaah?" He said, "Me too,
but Allaah has helped me against him (the devil-companion) and he has
become Muslim."
The point is that every man has with him a companion from among the
angels and a companion from among the shayateen. The believer
suppresses his shaytaan by obeying Allaah and adhering steadfastly to
His religion, so he humiliates his shaytaan until he becomes weak and
unable to stop the believer doing good or make him fall into evil,
except what Allaah wills. The sinner, by his disobedience and evil
actions, gives his shaytaan the strength to make him do evil and
encourageshim to do evil, and discourage him from doing good. The
believer has to fear Allaah and strive against his shaytaan by obeying
Allaah and His Messenger, and seeking refuge with Allaah from the
Shaytaan. And he should strive to help his angel by obeying Allaah and
His Messenger and heeding the commands of Allaah.
The Muslims help their brothers among the jinn to obey Allaah and His
Messenger just as they help their human brothers. Humans may help them
in some matters without realizing it. They may help them to obey
Allaahand His Messenger by teaching and reminding other humans, for
the jinn may attend the lessons of humans in the mosques and elsewhere
and benefit from them. Humans may also hear some things from the jinn
which benefit them;they may wake them up to pray or draw their
attention to things which may benefit them or harm them. All of this
happens even though the jinn do not make themselves visible to humans.
A jinn may make himself visible to some people when pointing them
towards something good or something evil. This may happen, although it
is rare. Usually they do not appear to humans, although their voices
may be heard on some occasions when they wake a person for prayer or
tell him of some things. In conclusion, the believingjinn help the
believers even though the believers may not realizeit, and they love
everything good for them. Similarly, believing humans love everything
good for their believing brethren among the jinn, and they ask Allaah
to give them everything good. They may attend lessons,and they love to
listen tothe Qur'aan and knowledge, as stated above. The believers
among the jinn attend the lessons of humans, atsome times and in some
lands, and they benefit from the lessons of humans. All of this
happens and is well known. This has been clearly stated by many ofthe
scholars whom the jinn contacted and asked about some issues;they told
them that they had attended their lessons. All of this is well-known,
and Allaah is the One Whose help we seek.
Allaah has told us that the jinn listened to the Qur'aan from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). At the end of
Soorat al-Ahqaaf, He says(interpretation of the meaning):
"And (remember) when We sent towards you (Muhammad) a group (three to
ten persons) of the jinn, (quietly) listening to the Qur'aan. When
they stood in the presence thereof, they said: 'Listen in silence!'
And when it was finished, they returned to their people, as warners.
They said: 'O our people! Verily, we have heard a Book (this Qur'aan)
sent down after Moosa (Moses), confirming what came before it, it
guides to the truth and to the Straight Path (i.e. Islam)"
[al-Ahqaaf 46:29-30]
And Allaah revealed other aayahs in a separate soorah, where He says:
"Say (O Muhammad): "It has been revealed to me that a group (from
threeto ten in number) of jinnlistened (to this Qur'aan). They said:
'Verily, we have heard a wonderful Recitation (this Qur'aan)!"
[al-Jinn 72:1]
Many books have been written on this matter. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah
have mercy on him) mentioned a great deal on this topic in his books.
There is also a book by one of the scholars entitled al-Marjaan fi
Bayaan Ahkaam al-Jaan, by al-Shibli, which is a useful book. There are
other books written on this topic as well. You can look for them and
ask for them in any bookstore. You could also read the books of
Tafseer and learn from the commentary on Soorat al-Jinn and the other
aayahs from Soorat al-Ahqaaf and elsewhere which speak of the jinn.
You can learna lot from what the mufassireen (may Allaah have mercy on
them) said about the jinn, boththe good and the bad among them.
Kitaab Majmoo' Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwi'ah li Samaahat al-Shaykh
al-'Allaamah 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn 'Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz (may Allaah have
mercy on him), vol. 9, p. 373