We discussed the expulsion of the Banu Nadheer and we have one or two incidents

related to them. Of the things that occured around this time, if not slightly be
fore, was the command to the prophet PBUH to Zaid ibn Thabit to learn the Hebrew
language. So Zaid said he learnt it in two weeks flat. Both reading and writing
. The prophet PBUH made a very wise decision in choosing the right person:
1. He was very young so he had a sharp mind. When the prophet PBUH came to Madin
ah he was around 11 years old and the tribe of Zaid introducted Zaid to the prop
het PBUH, and told the prophet PBUH he has already memorised many surah of the Q
uran. As we know Zaid ibn Thabit later on became the primary compiler of the Qur
an. Allah chose him through Abu Bukr and Umar to be the main compiler. So we owe
alot to Zaib ibn Thabit - the structure, chapter numbers it was all Zaid.
2. Zaid grew up with his jewish neighbors so he already had some background in H
ebrew. Its even said he attended their schools so he knows some of the language
already.
So the prophet PBUH chose the perfect person. In 15 days he masters the language
, and this shows us the eagerness of the sahabah, and the genius of Zaid.
Some reports say when the muslims were camped outside the fortress of Banu Nadhe
er, Allah revealed the final verses of prohibiting alcohol. Surah Baqarah verse
219 "they ask you about gambling and drinking, tell them it has alot of harm and
some good; and the harm far outweighs the good". This came down before/after Ba
dr. Very early in the Madinah phase. Then right after Uhud an incident occured w
here a drunk sahabi led the prayer and made some mistakes. So Allah revealed sur
ah Nisa verse 43 Allah says "don't come close to the salah when you are drunk".
Thus the timing of drinking is limited to post Isha and pre Fajr only. And then
finally during the seige of Banu Nadheer Allah revealed Surah Maidha verse 91 th
at "drinking and gambling and idoletry and divination (i.e. arrow picking in fro
nt of an arrow) is forbidden".
One final story which was peculiarly interesting. The books of seerah gloss over
this; its found moreso in the books of hadith. In Abu Dawud its said on the aut
hority of Ibn Abbas that there was a custom in Jaheleya that the women who had l
ots of miscarraiges used to say "oh Allah if you bless me with a son, I'll make
him into a jew". Why? Because the arabs of Yathrib felt the jews were superior t
o them. And frankly they were: in every marker the tribes of the jews were at a
higher level of the tribes of Yathrib. In civilisation, houses, religion etc. So
the women of Yathrib as a superstitious custom would say "I would give my son a
s a jew". So there was a group of such people who had been given over to the Ban
u Nadheer. And these young men had grown up and been adopted by the jewish tribe
s. When the expulsion happened, the parents are converted to Islam, and the youn
g men are full jews and are married amongst them. Some of the Ansar said "we wil
l not allow our sons to be expelled". And they wanted their sons to renounce Jud
aism and convert to Islam. Why? Because clearly anyone who converts to Islam can
stay and dosen't need to be expelled. So these parents wanted to force their ad
ult children to accept Islam. But these children are fully jewish and believe in
their religion. Allah revealed in the Quran the very famous verse:
"There is NO compulsion in religion".
Thus this verse came down in the favour of the jews. Allah says that truth and f
alsehood is clear - its up to them to decide. Its their decision as they are adu
lts. Indeed once the child is an adult he/she is completely independant. This al
so shows Islam does have freedom of religion, but not the way we understand it i
n the west. Ideal Islam is not ideal capatalism. Islam allowed freedom in religi
on that was unparalelled in the world at the time. But now compared to modern so
cieties Islamic civilisation would not allow this type of freedom. The freedom o
f religion we have now is a modern phenomenon. Back then Islam was unprecented i

n allowing other civilisations and religions to thrive. At the same time catholi
cs persecuted their own bretheran in Christianity, the protestants, for thousand
s of years. The endless civil wars of Christianity gave birth to the modern secu
lar values we see now - Islam didn't have that issue: morally we say being a non
muslim is incorrect, but politically we have no issues with others not acceptin
g Islam.
Another incident that happened at around this time - incidents of personal matte
rs, fiqh issues etc, was the birth of the first grandson of the prophet PBUH. Al
Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib. Most authorities say Hasan was born in Sha'ban in
the 5th year of the Hijrah. Some say it was Husayn born then, thus Hasan was bor
n Ramdan 4th year of Hijrah. Between both of them was 10/11 months - literally a
s soon as Fatimah RA finished her post pregnancy bleeding, she became pregnant w
ith Husayn. When he was born the prophet PBUH said to Ali RA "show me my son". T
he prophet PBUH said "what did you name him?" And Ali RA said "Harb" meaning war
. Its a common pre Islamic name. And the prophet PBUH said "No - rather he is no
t war, he is beauty i.e. Hasan". And we know in Bhukari, the prophet PBUH would
change bad names to good names. Its his sunnah - he never liked these bad names.
Once an old lady came to him and he asked "what is your name?" And she gave a n
ame that meaned ugly. So he said "No you are rather beautiful i.e. Hasana". Also
any name that was vaneful, egotistical or something that would bring about prid
e, he would change that too. Umme Salama had a daughter called Barra which is "t
he righteous one - the female who is very pious". And its a self testimony; its
thus not good to have names that praise yourself. So the prophet PBUH changed he
r name to 'Zainab'. It has good meanings but not boastful meanings.
When the next child was born Ali RA didn't ask, he just changed Hasan to Husayn
literally meaning 'little Hasan'. In Abu Dawud the prophet PBUH gave azaan in Ha
sans right ear, and in fact most of the rulings of aqeeqah were about Hasan. Fat
ima RA said "shall we perform an aqeeqa?" And he said "No I will do it" i.e. he
was so happy and proud. And Hasan and Husayn both have incredibly high status in
Islam. And our prophet PBUH loved them immensely. Hasan is the one who crawled
onto the prophet PBUHs back when he was in sajdah. Another time both of them fal
ls in the masjid so the prophet PBUH stops the khutbah, rushes to pick them up,
carries them both in one hand and then he says "verily what Allah says is true:
these two sons of mine were tripping and I could not be patient enough to let th
em get to me, I needed to pick them up" i.e. he is making an excuse. And the fam
ous hadith of Bhukari: the prophet PBUH intentionally held Hasan throughout the
khutbah. And he says during the khutbah "this son of mine is a SAYID (one of res
pect and an undisputed leader), and a day will come when he shall cause reconcil
liation between two large groups of muslims". And that is exactly what happened,
that Ali and Muawiya - notice the prophet PBUH called both groups believers. Th
is is sunni methadology: the group that said 'one was mu'min, and one kaafir' its completely wrong and goes against what the prophet PBUH said. He said "two l
arge groups of muslims" - yes some of them made a mistake, and Ali RA was closer
to the truth - but we believe Muawiya was sincere even though he made a mistake
.
Nonetheless when Ali RA was assassinated by the kharijites, the people of Madina
h gave their bayah to Hasan RA. And he was actually the 5th khalifah. And Muawiy
a was also given bayah. So for six months there was a type of stalemate, and the
re was talk of war. Muawiya said when he heard there would be a major war "If we
fight them and they us, and we kill them and they us, who will be left to the m
uslims? Go send a message to him and see if he's willing to stop". Muawiya of co
urse was never willing to give up his position. And so al Hasan gave a very emot
ional lecture: theres major wars going on, and his people are willing to die aga
in. But Hasan gave a powerful lecture that "do you really want to go on and figh
t, or for the sake of the ummah let's give up the khilafah". And so Hasan gave u
p his own power and rights. This was in Rabbi Awwal 41AH and thus Muawiya became
the undisputed khalifah. Therefore we believe the correct position is there wer

e 5 rightly guided khalifahs - and Hasan was the 5th of them. The prophet PBUH s
aid "khilafah will be amongst you for 30 years upon the method of the prophet PB
UH, then there will be a righteous kingdom for as long as Allah wills. And then
there will be an unrighteous kingdom, and then it will come back to a righteous
kingdom". Down to the very month, exactly 30 years after the prophet PBUH - Hasa
n abdicated in Rabbi Awwal 30 years after the prophet PBUH passed away.
"Hasan and Husayn are the leaders of the young men of Jannah and there father is
better than them". And we can go on and on - they deserve entire lectures by th
emselves.
The next major incident that occured is the expidition of al-Muraysi & Banu al-M
ustaliq. Both names are given: al-Muraysi was the location and Banu al-Mustaliq
was the tribe. The Banu al-Mustaliq lived at a pond called Muraysi. They lived n
ext to this water pool, between Mecca and Madinah - south of Madinah. And the Ba
nu al-Mustaliq had an alliance with Abdul Muttalib in the days of Jaheleya. So w
hen the Quraysh attacked Madinah, the Banu al-Mustaliq sided with the Quraysh ag
ainst the muslims (and they helped them in the battle of Uhud against the muslim
s). Additionally their location was very useful for the Quraysh: it was a safety
zone for the Quraysh (not too far away from Madinah). On top on this, after the
defeat of Uhud, the news came that the leader of Banu al-Mustaliq wanted to lau
nch a suprise attack on the muslims. The prophet PBUH hears of this so first thi
ng he does is confirm the rumour. How? He sends a sahaba by the name of Burayda
who pretended to be a bedouin. And he said to Al-Haairs, the cheifton of the Ban
u al-Mustaliq, that "I've heard you a launching an attack against the muslims, I
want to join so I can get a share of the booty". And Burayda was a warrior so A
l-Haaris was happy and said "yes its true you can join us". During the night Bur
ayda escaped and informed the prophet PBUH the news. And Al-Haaris had no clue w
hat was happening, and therefore when the muslims launched an attack on the Banu
al-Mustaliq it was a complete suprise.
When the prophet PBUH found out, he immediately rallied together 700 sahaba. And
he launched a instant suprise attack - and it was a very easy victory. 30 were
fully armed with horses, weapons etc and it was a complete walkover victory. Bec
ause it was so easy, many munafiqs participated in Muraysi. Why? Because there i
s no possibility there will be a major battle. Complete suprise attack against o
ne small tribe. Thus for THIS battle the munafiq volunteer, including from Abdul
lah ibn Ubay. Even though they were all absent from Badr, absent from Uhud, they
all came for this expidition. And actually because they came along, a number of
things happened after the battle.
When did this occur? Ibn Ishaaq says Sha'ban 6th year Hijrah. Others say 4th yea
r; ibn Sa'ad, Az Zuhri and ibn Kathir all say 5th year, same month as Hasan was
born. And gazwa tul Muraysi was important not because of the batlte, but because
of the slander of Aisha RA. The slander of Aisha RA occured on the return of Mu
raysi. So when did it happen? Huge contraversy: there are classical scholars on
each side. Ibn Ishaaq says 6th year, but this is problematic because Sa'ad ibn M
u'ad has a very important statement in the incident of the slander - and he died
right after the battle of Khandak. Sa'ad was the person they chose to be the ju
dge of what should happen to Banu Quraydha, and he died right after that. Khanda
k took place 5th year, and Dhul Qa'da is when the execution of Banu Quraydha too
k place. So most likely it was 5th year. Some of the earliest scholars count the
calender one year before the Hijrah take place - thus maybe those scholars who
say it took place in the 4th year, they really mean 5th year. So the strongest p
osition is in the 5th year - Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad simply could not have been apart of
Muraysi if it took place in the 6th year. Thus Muraysi and the incident of Aish
a RA took place in the 5th year of the Hijrah.
As we said the battle was not important. The Banu al-Mustaliq had one of the mos
t prestigious idols of Arabia - they had Manat. Al Lat, Uzza and Manat are the t

hree main idols mentioned in the Quran. The prophet PBUH attacked them, most lik
ely Monday 2nd Sha'ban. He left Madinah and suprise attacked them right after Fa
jr. They were so unprepared that the women were collecting the water, children g
oing outside to play etc. And when they saw the muslims coming, they almost imme
diately surrendered. The bulk of the tribe, over 2000 camels, 5000 sheep and 100
0 people were taken prisoner of war/captives. Most of them were women and childr
en. Only a handful of the Banu al Mustaliq died. As for the muslims there was no
t a single casuality, except for one accidental misfiring. One of the Ansar mist
akened a sahabi (Hishaam ibn Zubaba) for an enemy and killed him. Hishaam had a
brother, Mikyaas ibn Zubaba. He protented to convert, went to Madinah and demand
ed the blood money (100 camels). So the prophet PBUH gave him the blood money as
this was a shari matter. The same night, Mikyaas killed the ansari who had kill
ed his brother, and then took the camels and fled back to Mecca. This man, Mikya
as, was one of the four men whom the prophet PBUH said "catch them dead or alive
" - and indeed this was deserved. What he did was the height of treachery and tr
eason. In total the prophet PBUH said this about six people, two women and four
men. Half of them were actually forgiven - only two men and one women were execu
ted at the conquest of Mecca.
This was therefore a massive victory for the muslims with very minimal effort an
d fighting. The story of Banu al-Mustaliq is not important for the battle, but t
he events after. Three things happened:
The first of them is the addition of one more of the mother of the believers, an
d that was Juwayriyya bint al-Harith (daughter of the chiefton). Aisha RA narrat
ed Juwayriyya was captured and given to Thabit (a sahabi). And she agreed with T
habit to purchase her own freedom. In the Quran its said "if your slaves want to
purchase their freedom then make a deal and negotiate with them". So Juwayriyya
immediately negotiates and arranges to free herself. Aisha RA says she was very
sweet and very beautiful - and no one saw her except that he was captivated by
her beauty. And she came knocking on the door of the prophet PBUH (Aisha's house
), asking for help for some money. Her father and the other noblemen had fled. A
isha RA says "As soon as I saw her, I hated her, because I knew the prophet PBUH
would see in her what I am seeing". As soon as she entered and said "I am the p
rincess of my tribe; I've arranged to free myself so help me in this matter". So
the prophet PBUH said "What if I give you something better? I will free you mys
elf and marry you" - and he made her maher her freeing her.
What happened? The news spread among the Ansar that the prophet PBUH had married
Juwayriyya. And then they said "how can we have the in laws of the prophet PBUH
as our slaves?" So one by one they began freeing every single slave until every
single tribesman was freed. Al Harith came to Madinah to negotiate a randsom fo
r his people and asked for his daughter back. And the prophet PBUH said to Juway
riyya "Its her decision - she can go back if she wants". From this the fuqaha de
rive that the husband has the right to give the wife the right of divorce for a
time period. So he's handed over the right of divorce to Juwayriyya. But of cour
se she willingly chose the prophet PBUH over Al Harith. And when he saw this, it
affected him so much he embraced Islam. When Al Harith embraced ISlam, the whol
e tribe embraced Islam because he was the cheifton. So the prophet PBUH made him
the leader again, gave him back all of the wealth, sheep and camels. So they al
l returned back to status quo, as it was, except they are muslims now. Walahi every thing is exactly the same, their property is their property, their animals
are their animals, except they are muslims. No one forced them - they simply se
e the beauty and reality of Islam and embrace it. And Aisha RA comments that "I
don't know of any lady who brought more blessing to her tribe than Juwayriyya".
That her one decision to marry the prophet PBUH changed everything.
Juwayriyya was known for her piety and fasting. Once the prophet PBUH visited he
r on Friday and she was fasting. He asked her "did you fast the day before or in
tend to fast the day after?" She said "no just one day" and he gave her a shari

ruling that "don't fast on just Friday". Also one time the prophet PBUH prayed F
ajr from Juwayriyyas house, and she was on her masala doing zikr. He returned la
ter on in the middle of the day and there she was sitting in the exact same plac
e still doing zikr. So he asked her "have you remained in the same place since F
ajr?" She said "yes". Then the prophet PBUH said "Shall I not tell you a zikr if
you do it, it will give you all of the reward you have done?" And he gives her
a special zikr, a zikr of 4,5,6 hours all can be done in one phrase. And Juwayri
yya lived a relatively long life; she died in the 50th year of the Hijrah, same
year as Hasan RA - and she died at the age of around 65 years old.
The marriage of Juwayriyya clearly shows us some of the primary wisdoms of the m
ultiple marriages of the prophet PBUH, in paticular in this case. What if someon
e says what do you say about her beauty and youth? Some people say that the prop
het PBUH did not have any of these desires. But frankly Aisha RA knows her husba
nd better than we do. For us the perfection of the prophet PBUH is to make him a
normal man who can control his desires. Some of us have a notion the prophet PB
UH is superhuman. But this is not what the Quran says. He eats, he sleeps, he is
just a prophet. And he bled in Uhud so this shows clearly his humanity. And yes
he is a man - and he sees in Juwayriyya exactly what Aisha RA said he would see
. There is nothing haraam about being attracted to someone and wanting to marry.
He simply proposed - its an offer. And he gave the offer for her to leave him a
fterwards aswell. So this notion that the prophet PBUH should not be a man is co
mpletely wrong. And look what happened - he married Juwayriyya and she saved her
entire tribe. Therefore its nothing wrong with saying what Aisha RA said, but a
lso he was thinking long term "what if I married Juwayriyya, the daughter of a c
hiefton". And theres no doubt the prophet PBUH saw good in the chiefton Al Harit
h and his tribe.
Also the notions of Islamic slavery are so different to black slavery, its an in
sult to call Islamic 'riq' as 'slavery'. And its amazing that all of the laws of
riq can be completely cut off, and the shariah will still be perfect. When the
world practiced a barbaric system, our shariah humanised it and gave a perfect s
ystem. And what is the source of riq in Islam? Only one - prisoners of war that
aren't randsomed off. Otherwise what happened in Africa etc where free people we
re captured, the prophet PBUH said "anyone who does this has the curse of Allah
on him, they are of the worst". Thus what happened in the slave trade saga is cl
early haraam. Islam was the complete oppisite: Islam absorbs the unpurchased cap
tives, gives them shelter, food etc, most often makes them muslim and frees them
. And historically speaking many of the slaves founded great dynasties; and they
the very last of the Mamlooqs fought Napolean in 1972. Obviously they lost, but
who were the Mamlooqs? The slave dynasties. The concept of riq - the Islamic sy
stem developed it to make it humane, feasible, encouraged the freedom of slaves
(so many hadiths mention freeing a slave), encouraged the good treatment of slav
es etc. Most important its something the shariah dosen't need to have thus at a
time when slavery is abolished we don't need it.