The Life of Muhammad ﷺ Chapter 6: The Need for a Prophet (2022-01-05) ​

0:00:00 a reading from muhammad his life based
0:00:03 on the earliest sources by martin lings
0:00:13 chapter 6 the need for a prophet
0:00:18 muttalib did not pray to hubal
0:00:21 he always prayed to god to allah
0:00:25 but the moabite idol had been for
0:00:28 generations inside the house of god and
0:00:32 had become for quraish a kind of
0:00:35 personification of the barakah that is
0:00:38 the blessing the spiritual influence
0:00:41 which pervaded that greatest of all
0:00:44 sanctuaries
0:00:45 there were other lesser sanctuaries
0:00:48 throughout arabia
0:00:49 and the most important of these in the
0:00:51 hijaz were the temples of three
0:00:55 daughters of god
0:00:57 as some of their worshippers claim them
0:00:59 to be
0:01:00 al-at aluzar and manat
0:01:05 from his earliest years like the rest of
0:01:08 the arabs of yathrib abd al-muttalib had
0:01:11 been brought up to revere manat whose
0:01:14 temple was at kudai on the red sea
0:01:17 almost due west of the oasis
0:01:21 more important for quresh was the shrine
0:01:24 of al-aluzar
0:01:26 in the valley of nakhla a camel's day
0:01:29 journey south of mecca
0:01:32 another day's journey in the same
0:01:34 direction brought the devotee to ta'if
0:01:38 a wall town on a luxuriant green
0:01:41 tableland
0:01:42 inhabited by thakif a branch of the
0:01:46 great arab tribe of hawazin
0:01:50 alat was the lady of ta'if and her idol
0:01:55 was housed in a rich temple
0:01:58 as guardians of this
0:02:00 faqif like to think of themselves as the
0:02:03 counterpart of quraish
0:02:05 and quraish went so far as to speak
0:02:07 currently of the two cities
0:02:10 when they met mecca and taif
0:02:14 but despite the wonderful climate and
0:02:16 fertility of the garden of hijaz as
0:02:19 ta'if was called
0:02:21 its people were not unjealous of the
0:02:24 baron valley to their north
0:02:26 for they knew in their hearts that their
0:02:29 temple however much they might promote
0:02:31 it could never compare with the house of
0:02:35 god
0:02:37 nor did they altogether wish it to be
0:02:39 otherwise for they too were descended
0:02:42 from ishmael and had roots in mecca
0:02:46 their sentiments were mixed and somewhat
0:02:48 sometimes conflicting
0:02:51 quraish on the other hand were jealous
0:02:54 of no one
0:02:56 they knew that they lived at the center
0:02:58 of the world and that they had in their
0:03:01 midst a magnet
0:03:03 capable of drawing pilgrims from all
0:03:06 points of the compass
0:03:09 it was up to them to do nothing that
0:03:11 might diminish the good relationship
0:03:14 which had been established between
0:03:16 themselves and the outlying tribes
0:03:21 abd al-muttalib's office as host of
0:03:24 pilgrims to the kaaba
0:03:26 imposed on him an acute awareness of
0:03:29 these things
0:03:31 his function was an intertribal one and
0:03:35 it was shared to a certain extent by all
0:03:38 krish
0:03:39 the pilgrims must be made to feel that
0:03:42 mecca was a home from home and welcoming
0:03:45 them meant welcoming what they
0:03:48 worshipped and never failing to show
0:03:50 honor to the idols they brought with
0:03:53 them
0:03:55 the justification and authority for
0:03:57 accepting idols and believing in their
0:04:00 efficacy was that of tradition
0:04:04 their fathers and grandfathers and
0:04:06 great-grandfathers had done so
0:04:09 nonetheless god was for abda's the great
0:04:14 reality
0:04:15 and he was no doubt newer to the
0:04:17 religion of abraham than most of his
0:04:20 contemporaries are quraish
0:04:22 and kuzahar and hawazin and other arab
0:04:26 tribes
0:04:28 but there were and always had been a few
0:04:32 who maintained the full purity of
0:04:35 abrahamic worship
0:04:37 they alone realized that far from being
0:04:40 traditional idol worship was an
0:04:43 innovation a danger to be guarded
0:04:46 against
0:04:48 it only needed a longer view of history
0:04:51 to see that hubal was no better than the
0:04:53 golden calf of the sons of israel
0:04:58 these hunafa
0:04:59 the word hanif plural hunafa has the
0:05:03 sense of orthodox says martin lings
0:05:06 as they call themselves would have
0:05:09 nothing to do with the idols whose
0:05:11 presence in mecca they looked on as a
0:05:14 profanation and a pollution
0:05:18 their refusal to compromise and their
0:05:21 frequent outspokenness
0:05:23 relegated them to the fringe of meccan
0:05:26 society where they were respected
0:05:29 tolerated or ill-treated partly
0:05:32 according to their personalities and
0:05:35 partly according to whether their claims
0:05:37 were prepared whether their clans were
0:05:39 prepared to protect them or not
0:05:44 abbot al-muttalib knew four of the
0:05:47 hunafa
0:05:48 and one of the more respected of them
0:05:50 waraka by name
0:05:52 was the son of his second cousin nao fal
0:05:56 of the clan of assad
0:05:59 waraka had become a christian
0:06:01 and there was a belief amongst
0:06:03 christians of those parts that the
0:06:06 coming of a prophet was imminent
0:06:10 this belief may not have been widespread
0:06:13 but it was supported by one or two
0:06:16 venerable dignitaries of eastern
0:06:18 churches and also by the astrologers and
0:06:21 soothsayers
0:06:23 as to the jews for whom such a belief
0:06:26 was easier
0:06:28 since for them the line of prophets
0:06:30 ended only with the messiah
0:06:32 they were almost unanimous in their
0:06:35 expectancy of a prophet
0:06:38 their rabbis and other wise men assure
0:06:41 them that one was at hand
0:06:44 many of the predicted signs of his
0:06:46 coming had already been fulfilled
0:06:50 and he would of course be a jew
0:06:53 for their for they were the chosen
0:06:56 people
0:06:57 the christians waraka amongst them had
0:07:00 their doubts about this they saw no
0:07:03 reason why he should not be an arab
0:07:07 the arabs stood in need of a prophet
0:07:10 even more than the jews who at least
0:07:13 still followed the religion of abraham
0:07:16 inasmuch as they worshipped the one god
0:07:19 and did not have idols
0:07:22 and who but a prophet would be capable
0:07:24 of ridding the arabs of their worship of
0:07:27 false
0:07:28 gods in a wide circle around the kaaba
0:07:33 at some distance from it there were
0:07:36 360 idols
0:07:38 and in addition to these almost every
0:07:41 house in mecca had its god
0:07:44 an idol large or small which was the
0:07:47 center of the household
0:07:50 as his last act on leaving the premises
0:07:54 especially if it was for a journey a man
0:07:57 would go to the idol and stroke it in
0:08:01 order to obtain blessings from it
0:08:05 and such was the first act on returning
0:08:08 home
0:08:10 nor was mecca exceptional in this
0:08:12 respect for these practices prevailed
0:08:15 throughout most of arabia
0:08:18 there were it was true some
0:08:20 well-established arab christian
0:08:22 communities to the south
0:08:25 in najran and the yemen
0:08:27 as well as to the north near the
0:08:29 frontiers of syria
0:08:32 but god's latest intervention which had
0:08:35 transformed the mediterranean and vast
0:08:38 tracts of europe had made in nearly 600
0:08:42 years practically no impact on the pagan
0:08:45 society which centered on the meccan
0:08:49 shrine
0:08:50 the arabs of the hijas and of the great
0:08:54 plain of najd to its east
0:08:57 seemed impervious to the message of the
0:08:59 gospels
0:09:02 not that croatian the other pagan tribes
0:09:04 were hostile to christianity
0:09:07 christians sometimes came to do honor to
0:09:10 the sanctuary of abraham and they were
0:09:13 made welcome like all the rest
0:09:16 moreover one christian had been allowed
0:09:18 and even encouraged to paint an icon of
0:09:21 the virgin mary and the child christ on
0:09:25 an inside wall of the kaaba where it's
0:09:28 sharply contrasted with all other
0:09:31 paintings
0:09:33 but quresh will more or less insensitive
0:09:36 to this contrast
0:09:38 for them it was simply a question of
0:09:41 increasing the multitude of idols by
0:09:43 another two
0:09:45 and it was partly their tolerance that
0:09:48 made them so impenetrable
0:09:52 unlike most of his tribe waraka could
0:09:55 read and have made a study of the
0:09:57 scriptures and of theology
0:10:00 he was therefore capable of seeing that
0:10:03 in one of christ's promises
0:10:05 generally interpreted by christians as
0:10:08 referring to the miracle of pentecost
0:10:11 there were nonetheless certain elements
0:10:14 which did not fit that miracle and must
0:10:17 be taken to refer to something else
0:10:22 something which had not yet been
0:10:24 fulfilled
0:10:26 but the language was cryptic
0:10:28 what was the meaning of the words
0:10:31 he shall not speak of himself but
0:10:34 whatsoever he shall hear that shall he
0:10:38 speak
0:10:40 that's the gospel of john chapter 16
0:10:42 verse 13.
0:10:44 warwicker had a sister named kuttalaya
0:10:48 who was very close to him
0:10:50 he often spoke to her about these things
0:10:52 and his words have made so great an
0:10:54 impression on her that thoughts of the
0:10:57 expected prophet were often in her mind
0:11:01 could it be he was already in their
0:11:04 midst
0:11:07 once the sacrifice of the camels had
0:11:09 been accepted abdal muttalib made up his
0:11:12 mind to find a wife for his reprieve son
0:11:17 and after some consideration the choice
0:11:20 fell on amina the daughter of wahab a
0:11:23 grandson of zura the brother of kusey
0:11:28 wahab had been a chief of zura but had
0:11:32 died some years previously and amina was
0:11:35 now a ward of his brother
0:11:38 wuhabe who had succeeded him as chief of
0:11:42 the clan
0:11:43 himself also had a daughter of
0:11:46 marriageable age
0:11:48 by name and when abd al-muttalib had
0:11:51 arranged that his son should marry amina
0:11:54 he asked that hala should be given in
0:11:57 marriage to himself
0:11:59 wuhab agreed and all preparations were
0:12:02 made for the double wedding to take
0:12:05 place at the same time
0:12:08 on the appointed day
0:12:10 abdal muttalib took his son by the hand
0:12:13 and they set off together for the
0:12:15 dwellings of the bani zura
0:12:18 on the way they had to pass the
0:12:20 dwellings of the bani assad
0:12:23 and it so happened that kute leia the
0:12:26 sister of warricka was standing at the
0:12:29 entrance to her house perhaps
0:12:32 deliberately in order to see what could
0:12:34 be seen
0:12:35 for everyone in mecca knew of the great
0:12:38 wedding which was about to take place
0:12:42 abdel mutaleb was now over 70 years old
0:12:45 but he was still remarkably young for
0:12:47 his age in every respect
0:12:51 and the slow approach of the two
0:12:53 bridegrooms in their natural grace
0:12:56 enhanced by the solemnity of the
0:12:58 occasion was indeed an impressive sight
0:13:03 but as they drew near kuttalaya had eyes
0:13:07 only for the younger man
0:13:10 abdallah was for beauty the joseph of
0:13:14 his times
0:13:15 even the oldest men and women of croatia
0:13:18 could not remember having seen his equal
0:13:22 he was now in his 25th year in the full
0:13:25 flower of his youth
0:13:28 but kutilaya was struck above all as she
0:13:31 had been on other occasions but never so
0:13:34 much as now
0:13:35 by the radiance which lit his face and
0:13:38 which seemed to her to shine from beyond
0:13:42 this world
0:13:44 could it be that
0:13:45 allah was the expected prophet
0:13:48 or was he to be the father of the
0:13:51 prophet
0:13:53 they had now just passed her and
0:13:56 overcome by a sudden impulse she said oh
0:14:00 abd allah
0:14:02 his father let go his hand as if to tell
0:14:04 him to speak to his cousin
0:14:07 abd allah turned back to face her and
0:14:11 she asked him where he was going
0:14:14 with my father he said simply
0:14:17 not out of reticence but because he felt
0:14:19 sure she must have known that he was on
0:14:22 his way to his wedding
0:14:25 take me here and now as thy wife she
0:14:29 said and thou shalt have as many camels
0:14:32 as those that were sacrifice in their
0:14:35 stead
0:14:37 i am with my father he replied
0:14:40 i cannot act against his wishes and i
0:14:43 cannot leave him
0:14:47 the two marriages took place according
0:14:49 to plan
0:14:50 and the two couples stayed for some days
0:14:53 in the house of wahabe
0:14:56 during that time abd allah went to fetch
0:14:59 something from his own house and again
0:15:02 he met kuttalaya the sister of waraka
0:15:06 her eyes searched his face with such
0:15:09 earnestness that he stopped beside her
0:15:12 expecting her to speak
0:15:15 when she remained silent he asked her
0:15:18 why she did not say to him what had been
0:15:21 said the day before
0:15:23 she answered him saying the light hath
0:15:26 left thee that was with thee yesterday
0:15:29 today thou canst not fulfill the need i
0:15:33 had of thee
0:15:36 the year of the marriages was a d-5
0:15:42 the year following this has been known
0:15:45 ever since
0:15:46 as the year of the elephant
0:15:49 and it was momentous for more than one
0:15:53 reason
0:15:55 as chapter six the need for a profit
0:16:00 until next time