— The First Revelation

1. In the Cave of Hira2. Surat Al-Alaq

“Recite, in the name of your Lord who created. Created man from a blood clot. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous. Who taught by the pen – taught man that which he knew not” (96:1-5)

— The Second Revelation

• Surat Al-Qalam“Noon. By the pen and what they inscribe, you are not, [O

Muhammad], by the favor of our Lord, a madman. And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted. And indeed, you are of a great moral character” (68:1-4)

— The Third Revelation

• Surat Al-Muzzammil• “O you who wraps himself [in clothing], arise [to pray] the

night, except for a little – half of it – or subtract from it a little or add to it, and recite the Qur’an with measured recitation. Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word. Indeed, the hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and tongue] and more suitable for words. Indeed, for you by day is prolonged occupation” (73:1-7)

— The Fourth Revelation

• Surat Al-Muddaththir• “O you who covers himself [with a garment], arise and warn

and your Lord glorify. And your clothing purify and uncleanliness avoid. And do not confer favor to acquire more. But for your Lord be patient” (74:1-7)

— Ibn Qayyim categorizes dawah into 5 different phases

• An-Nabua• Muhammad receives Prophethood. He is allowed time to

internalize it to become one with it• The Prophet shares the divine message with people who are

immediately around him & close to him• This phase lasts 3 years, in Makkah• Muhammad warns close tribespeople – Banu Hashem• He was now openly preaching to Banu Hashem & Quraysh at

some level

• The Prophet was told by Allah to not retaliate & to not respond with aggression if he faces opposition from others

• This phase continues for 10 years until year of hijra• The Prophet preaches to his people – the ahlu Makkah & Quraysh• In this phase, the Prophet is permitted to respond with similar

aggression to his enemies• This phase lasted until the Treaty of Hudaybiya – after

migration• The Prophet preaches to the entire Arab region• During the mid-Makkan era, Arabs outside of Makkah were

more stubborn than the people of Quraysh. Most of the Quraysh were in opposition to the Prophet & had accepted Islam much later, during the Conquest of Makkah

• This phase lasts to the end of the Prophet’s life• The 5th phase was what the Ummah carried out after Prophet’s

death• The first generation of the Sahaba were committed to

spreading Islam to the four corners of the world• One of the Sahabi traveled all throughout North Africa until he

reached the ocean. He walked his horse to the ocean until the water reached his chest, & he said, “O Allah, I’ve come as far as I can. I cannot see anything beyond here. If there was something beyond, then I would explore it and carry Your message to them”

— Khadijah (ra) was the first person (after the Prophet) to accept Islam – Mother of the Believers

• Ibn Ishaq described Khadijah quite eloquently: She testified to all the truth that the Prophet came with from Allah. She was the Prophet’s aid & minister in his teaching of the Message. She was the first one to believe in Allah & the Prophet. Allah lightened the load that Prophethood had on Muhammad by the means of Khadijah

Every single time the Prophet heard something that he didn’t like, every time his message was rejected, every time he was called a liar, the Prophet would get distressed. Allah would remove that distress from the heart of the Prophet by the means of Khadijah

When the Prophet would go back home to her after a long hard day of preaching & dealing with all the hate thrown his way, Khadijah would strengthen him. She would lighten the load from him & she would remind him that he was speaking the truth

• The Prophet said, “I’ve been commanded by Allah to congratulate Khadijah of a home in Paradise that is a palace carved out a single pearl. There will be no noise, or hardship there.”

Qasab – pearl, or any type of hollow stone that’s carved out to be used as jewelry

Shaykh Abdul: “So we see that even Allah is telling the Prophet (saw) to congratulate Khadijah of a little bling bling. It’s good to give it to your wives, alright? SUNNAH.”

• Think of what Khadijah was dealing with – she was the wife of the Prophet. The Prophet had so much worry, stress, pain to deal with for his life mission

Khadijah helped the Prophet to deal with all of the negatives of this world

• Jibril said to Muhammad: “Allah sends His salaams to Khadijah”Imagine getting salaams from your Creator, from God Himself

— Now that Khadijah accepted Islam, she helped the Prophet cope with all the difficulty that came with his Prophethood & help him manage the situation

• After receiving Nabua, the Prophet was told immediately to start praying to Allah

— The 5 daily prayers were established during the Night Journey (Al-Isra wa Al-Mi’raj), but salah existed from the very beginning of Prophethood

• Early salah was twice a day, once in the morning, & once in the evening. Scholars disagree whether these prayers were fard (obligatory); Allahu alim

• The Prophet also prayed  consistently during the night (in 2 rakat)— Jibril (as) took the Prophet behind Mount Safaa & as a miracle, Jibril caused (by the command of Allah) for a spring of Zamzam water to come up

• This way it gave the Prophet some privacy & away from the eyes & harm of the public when he’s making wudu. Right now, the preaching was not public

• Jibril showed Prophet how to make wudu from the water of Zamzam – ritual purification

• Shaykh Abdul: “What’s the English word for wudu?”• Someone answers, “Ablution.”• Shaykh Abdul: “Yeah, when have you ever used that word in

common conversation? Exactly. So ‘ritual purification’ is what we’re gonna call it, okay? Not ablution. ‘I’m abluting right now.’ [laughs] I don’t even know how to use it as a verb. Anyway, I saw something funny the other day. Someone posted on Twitter, ‘Words that you learn in the English language only because of Islamic studies.’ Ablution is one of them.”

• Then Jibril showed the Prophet how to pray 4 rakat & 2 rakat• Allah had now given the Prophet something he absolutely

loved – salah. Allah had given his beloved Messenger peace & tranquility in the form of salah

• The Prophet returned home, & took his beloved Khadijah by the hand & brought her to the same spring

• The Prophet then again made wudu the way Jibril had taught him, and then the Prophet taught her to make wudu. The couple then prayed 2 rakaat

• From that day on, husband & wife used to pray together in the peace & privacy of their home

— Some narrations say Abu Bakr was first to accept Islam. Others say it was Ali, others say it was Khadijah

• The first one to accept Islam from the women was Khadijah• The first one to accept Islam from the children was Ali (the

Prophet’s cousin)• The first one to accept Islam from the slaves (which was an entire &

considerably huge demographic at the time) was Zayd bin Harithah

• The first one to accept Islam from the men was Abu Bakr— Generally speaking, Abu Bakr is most likely the 4th person to accept Islam

— There are 2 explanations as to why Abu Bakr is sometimes referred to as the 1st person to convert to Islam

• It’s because Abu Bakr the first one outside of the Prophet’s home to accept Islam – the first three was Khadijah, Zayd, & Ali

• Another reason is that Abu Bakr is a man, thus has a higher status over women & children, who were not seen as real contributing members of society

• Therefore, many historical narrations refer to Abu Bakr as the 1st one to accept Islam

— Ali bin Abu Talib is the 2nd person to accept Islam

• Ali & the Prophet are paternal cousins, but because of at least a 30-year-age difference between them, the relationship was more like that of an uncle & nephew

• Sometime before Muhammad receives Prophethood, there were some harsh & economic times going on in Makkah

• Abu Talib, the uncle who raised Muhammad, was a simple man by nature. He lived simply, & even though he was a leader of his tribe, he had limited means. Even when he passed away, he left absolutely nothing

• When the Prophet moved out of his uncle’s home, established

his living as a businessman, & built his home with Khadijah, he was still cognizant his uncle’s situation

• Muhammad went to another uncle of his, Abbas (ra), & suggested that they help out Abu Talib since he (Abu Talib) has very young children

• Abbas agrees, & they both then go to Abu Talib & offer their help• Abu Talib’s son, Ja’afar (ra), who would later become a great

shahid of Islam, is taken under the care of Abbas• Ali is taken under the care of Prophet, who raised him• In classical books of Seerah, Ali was 10 years old during First

Revelation, other narrations say he was 7— How Ali was introduced to Islam

• One day at home, the Prophet was praying salah with Khadijah. Ali, a child, sees them praying, & says to Prophet, “Dear Muhammad, bhai jaan, what’s this? What are you doing?”

• The Prophet replies, “This is the religion of Allah that Allah has chosen for Himself. HE sends His messengers with this deen. So I call you to Allah alone. Son, there are no partners to Allah. I call you to only worship Allah. The idols that you see being worshiped, this religion calls for you to denounce these idols.”

• Ali sticks to family values & says, “I can’t really decide right now. I have to talk to my dad about it.”

• The Prophet didn’t advocate hiding things from your parents, but taking the entire situation into consideration, told Ali, “The time is not right to talk about Islam to every one about it. Allah hasn’t given me the time yet. Ya Ali, even if you don’t believe, keep it to yourself, please.”

• Ali slept on it overnight. Allah planted Islam into his heart, & he came to Prophet in the morning, & asked, “What would you instruct me to do?”

• Prophet said, “Testify that there’s no god but Allah, and do not worship the idols Al-Lat or Wuza, and do not associate partners with Allah.”

— Ali was then afraid of letting his father know. He didn’t know how Abu Talib would react. He kept it private for some time

Ali later joined Khadijah & the Prophet in prayer. Now you have a family praying together – husband, wife, & child doing salat

— The Prophet (saw) was born on a Monday, received Divine Revelation on a Monday

3. Some narrations say that by Tuesday, Ali was a Muslim & praying with the Prophet

4. Ali was 10 years old at the time, a child— Ali was afraid of how his father Abu Talib would respond about his acceptance to Islam, so he stayed a few weeks at Prophet’s house instead of going regularly to visit his parents

• Since Islam was very new at the time, the Prophet was commanded by Allah to keep Islam within the home

• Ali respected the Prophet’s wishes to not talk about Islam openly just yet, so Ali did not tell his father about the divine revelations & prayers

— Normally, Ali would go home & visit his parents. He lived with the Prophet, who provided the cost of living & raising a child, but Ali still visited his parents almost everyday

• Because Ali was afraid of his father’s reaction, he actually didn’t visit his parents for at least 3 weeks. He was very nervous about telling his father

• Some narrations say that Ali accepted Islam a year after Revelation began, but these narrations are rejected, because we have other narrations saying that Ali accepted Islam the very next day of Revelation

• We reconcile these 2 narrations by acknowledging that as a child, Ali kept his Islam very quiet. As a child, he did not have a lot of interaction with other adults. It was only a year later that other people start to realize that Ali had joined the ranks of the Believers

— Ufaif, a powerful leader of Arabia at the time, once came to do business at Makkah

• Abbas (the Prophet’s uncle) was there to do some trading with Ufaaif. While they were sitting there, a man came up to their tent & faced the Ka’bah & started to pray. A woman came & stood behind the man & prayed along with him. Then a boy came out and stood to the right of the Prophet and prayed with him

• Ufaif questions what’s going on & of what religion is this ritual• Abbas tells Ufaif, “This is Muhammad, and that the treasures

of the emperors of Rome & Persia will be opened for his followers. This is his wife Khadijah who has believed in him. This boy that you see next to him is Ali, his cousin, who has also believed in Muhammad”

• Ufaaif recalls years later that he wishes he had believed in that day, I could’ve been one of the early companions

— Another narration says that the Prophet faced Qibla and prayed

with Ali & Khadijah

• We often assume that salah was established only after Al-Isra wa Al-Mi’raj, but salah was from the very beginning, something that was part of the previous Prophets’ lives

• Maryam, Banu Israel, & Ismail (as) were all told to perform salah

• The man went into ruku, followed by the woman & child. Then the man stood up, followed by the woman & child. Then the man fell into sujood, & along with the woman &child

• Ufaif looks to Abbas and questions what’s going on• Abbas says, “Do you know who they are?”• Ufaif replies, “No, I don’t know”• Abbas says, “This is my nephew, Muhammad, the son of Abdullah.

The boy is my nephew as well. The woman is Khadijah, the wife of my nephew. Your Lord is the one who has commanded him to do what you’re seeing. Wallahi, I don’t know anyone but these three who follows this religion today.” 

— It’s important to understand how the Prophet dealt with people who accepted Islam

• The Prophet and Khadijah prayed together; salah was a quality activity they engaged in together. Ali, a child, also prayed with the Prophet & Khadijah

It’s from the sunnah of the Prophet to pray together as a family. Teach your children to pray & how to pray

• The very first activity that the Prophet would engage a new convert in Islam in was prayer

In order to engage them in prayer, you have to teach them to pray

• We, as a community, what’s the first thing to we engage a new convert in? What’s the very first thing we tell/ask them?

It ranges from asking them to whether s/he’s married, to whether their spouse has accepted Islam. No? Then we leave them

That happens unfortunately. We can’t expect that within 5 minutes of saying the shahadah, the convert will change their name (which isn’t even a requirement), start wearing hijab, grow a beard, start wearing a thobe, get circumsized, etc.

There’s a process to all of this. People new to Islam need to build a relationship with Allah first, to establish salah & build a foundation of their deen

— Zayd bin Harithah

• When he was a little boy, he had wandered off one day to play. A

caravan passes by, sees a boy on his own, & snatches him up. The caravan brings the boy to Makkah to be sold as a slave

• One of Khadijah’s cousins, named Hakim, bought him, and gave Zayd to Khadijah as a marriage gift

• Khadijah later gives Zayd to Muhammad, who treated Zayd as a son – Muhammad would take Zayd to run errands

• Shortly after Revelation, Zayd was also exposed to the 3 people praying. Prophet explains Islam to Zayd, & Zayd becomes a Believer

— Zayd’s father Harithah was desperately looking for his son

• Harithah would recite poetry about the loss of his son, about longing for his son. His poetry was so powerful that it eventually became “viral” and famous around Arabia about the emotionally tormented father about his lost son Zayd

• This story of the father’s search for his son eventually reaches Makkah, & people think that there’s some familiarity between Haritha’s story & the slave boy Zayd who lives in their city

• Some people ask Zayd if he remembered his father’s name. Zayd replied that his father’s name is Harithah, & he’s from such-and-such tribe

— News reaches back to Harithah, that his son is found & lives in Makkah. Harithah then rushes to Makkah with his brother

• Harithah finds that Zayd is under care of a man named Muhammad ibnu Abdullah

• Harithah & his brother recognize Muhammad as the grandson of the great Abdul Mutallib. They have heard only great things about Muhammad, knowing him as Al-Sadiq, Al-Ameen

• They tell Muhammad, “Please return our son to us. We realize that he’s a slave who was given to you. We’ll pay you whatever you want. Just let him come home.”

— Muhammad was moved by the father’s emotions. At the same time, Muhammad understood the relationship that he & Zayd had built, so he says, “I’ll do one better. I’ll call Zayd & let him make the decision.”

• Zayd at this point was a teenager. He was called & asked if the two men were his father & uncle. He replies, “Yes, I recognize them.” They embrace, have a reunion.

• The Prophet tells Zayd that there’s a matter to settle. “They’re here to take you back home. You’re a young man now; I’ll let you do whatever you want.”

• Zayd said, “I would like to stay here with Muhammad.”Harithah was surprised. “Son, you’re a slave. You’ll choose

slavery over your family?”

• Zayd said, “Father, I found something here that I won’t find anywhere else [Islam]. I’m grateful to see that you’re all fine, but I don’t want to leave the company of Muhammad.”

Harithah couldn’t understand this. He was distraught• The Prophet was moved by both the father’s emotions & Zayd’s

devotion. The Prophet says, “Harithah, don’t worry. I adopt Zayd as my own. He’s no longer a slave. He’s my son.”

From that day on, Zayd became known as Zayd bin Muhammad

• Harithah stayed for a few days & left content knowing that his son was with his family

— “Call [your adopted children] by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah” (Surat Al-Ahzab; 33:5)

• Zayd was the son of Harithah, not Muhammad, so he should be called Zayd bin Harithah, not Zayd bin Muhammad

• About 150 years ago, the seerah, books of fiqh, & books of tafseer were being translated from Arabic to English

• A lot of these translations were done by Orientalists, who were not well-versed with Islam & Islamic law from a classical perspective. A good part of the translations were also done by professors of the English language who were found in places like Egypt & India & other parts of the Muslim world

• As a consequence, in some early books of tafseer or fiqh, you’ll find a huge & gross mistranslation

• As a result of these mistranslations, you’ll have come to hear that “Adoption is haraam”

• This is absolutely incorrect. Adoption is permissible within Islam

• In regards to a yetim (orphan), it’s recommended to care for them

• These mistranslations occurred due to the lack of familiarity & grasp of Arabic terminology

— At-tabanni means to “make someone your son”. It comes from ibn, so at-tabanni means “to claim someone as your biological son”

• People translated tabanni as “adoption”, & ended up saying that it was impermissible, but this is wrong

• Tabanni means to claim someone as your biological son – this is what is impermissible in Islam

• However, taking care of an orphan is a great rewardable act, but be sure to not deny them their lineage

• When you call refer to someone as your “adopted son”, then you’re clearly acknowledging the fact that he is not your biological son

• Some Orientalists who were not familiar with Arabic mistranslated

tabanni, & others who translated were not familiar with English, so you ended up with a big mess of mistranslation

— When the actual definition of tabanni was revealed as a verse, Muhammad told people not to call his adopted son as Zayd bin Muhammad, but to call him Zayd bin Harithah

• Zayd was saddened by his name not being affiliated by the Prophet anymore, but of course, this is command of Allah; he therefore became known as Zayd maula Muhammad.

• Maula – term used if you had a close family-like relationship with someone

In classical Arabic, if someone freed a slave, the relationship between the two is each other’s maula

Zayd maula Muhammad – Zayd the close associate of Muhammad

— First free man to accept Islam was Abu Bakr. First man to be public about his Islam was Abu Bakr

• Because he was the first free man & public figure (outside of the home), Abu Bakr is mentioned as the first convert to Islam.

In fact, the first three converts were Khadijah, Ali, & Zayd; all three people of the Prophet’s home

• Abu Bakr was a respected leader of his people. He was a leader amongst Quraysh. He was also very wealthy person & a motivated caller of Islam

Abu Bakr would later go on to freely spend all of his resources in the obedience of Allah

— A day or two after the Prophet’s whole divine revelation process started, Abu Bakr met with the Prophet & asked him, “Is it true Muhammad that you’re leaving these idols? That you’re rejecting the religion of our forefathers?”

• The Prophet replied, “Of course.”— Another narration says that Abu Bakr asked the Prophet, “Why is it, O Muhammad, that I see you leaving the gatherings of our people? I haven’t seen you coming to the council meetings. You’ve been distant for a few days. What’s going on?

• Muhammad replied, “I am a Messenger of God & His Prophet, & he has sent me to spread & deliver His message. I call you to Allah with the truth, because I swear by God that is the Truth. I call you, O Abu Bakr, to Allah alone. There are no partners for Him, & do not worship anyone other than Him. Relations will be established based on the obedience of Allah.”

• Then the Prophet recited the Qur’an to Abu Bakr• Abu Bakr did not hesitate; he accepted Islam. He attested to the

Truth.— Years later, the Prophet would tell the Muslims when they were greater in number, “Never ever did I call anyone to Islam except that the person hesitated. They would sleep on it, take their time to process it. Except for Abu Bakr. He did not back away from it when I mentioned it to him. Nor did he have any doubts.”

• Abu Bakr & Muhammad were very good friends from the age of 10. They were childhood best friends

— The first 40 years of Muhammad’s life were a testament to the truth of his message. Abu Bakr knew the Prophet for at least 30 of those years – he knew the Prophet when he was an adolescent, a young man, when he got married, when he went into business etc.

• The second Abu Bakr hears of the Prophet’s call to Islam, is the second he believes in it, because it makes total sense given Muhammad’s character. The Prophet never lied & always had great character, so Abu Bakr didn’t doubt him for a second

— Abu Bakr once had a dispute with Umar ibn al-Khattab. They brought the matter up with the Prophet.

• The Prophet said, “Allah sent me as a Messenger to y’all [Shaykh Abdul is Texan, so just roll with the y’alls]. And what did y’all say to me? Y’all responded to me by saying, ‘You lie.’ But Abu Bakr said, ‘He speaks the truth.’ I was sent by Allah as a Messenger and a Prophet to all of y’all, and all of y’all said that I am a liar. But Abu Bakr said that I was speaking the truth. He supported me. He aided me with his life & his money. So now will you treat him badly? Will you treat my best friend badly now? You give the respect he deserves. You can have disagreements with him, fine, but respect him.”

• From that day on, no one ever misbehaved with Abu Bakr, because they understood what he meant to the Prophet

— Abu Bakr is not only the first man outside of the Prophet’s home to accept Islam, but he was also the first person to go public with his Islam

— Hasan bin Thabit (ra), a Sahabi who was a poet, says of Abu Bakr: “If you want to remember sacrifice, & you want to recall belief & bravery, then remember my brother Abu Bakr. He was the best of people. He was the most trustworthy & just of people after the Prophet. He was the first one to carry what the Prophet had brought. He was the first one to line up behind the Prophet, the second of the two in the cave, one who was praised by Allah & His Messenger, & the one who stood by the side of the Prophet throughout Prophethood. He was the first one from amongst the people to attest to Muhammad

being a Messenger. He lived a life that was very praiseworthy, & he followed the command of Allah, & he followed the command of his companion the Prophet after he was gone. He departed from this world by living the command of Allah. These are the virtues & this is the praise of Abu Bakr.”

— Some of the early people who accepted Islam were a different mix of individuals. The first people to make their Islam publically known were 7 individuals:

5. Muhammad (saw)6. Abu Bakr7. Ammar ibn Yasir8. Sumayyah bint Khabbab, Amar’s mom (first martyr of Islam)9. Suhayb ar-Rumi (the Roman)10. Bilal11. Al Miqdad— Allah protected the Prophet by the means of his uncle, Abu Talib. Allah protected Abu Bakr by means of his people, Banu Taym

• As for the rest of the believers, they were at the mercy of the mushrikoon. The other Muslims would be grabbed, dressed in armor made of iron, & sent to roast in the heat of the desert sun, which would be up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit

• All of them were able to eventually find some sort of reprieve from this torture, except Bilal because he was a slave. Even the children of Makkah would tie him up & drag him through the streets of Makkah– he could do nothing but proclaim “Ahad, al-Ahad,” calling upon Allah

— Abu Bakr was the one who took the Prophet’s message, even in the first couple of days of his own Islam, to preach to prominent people who accepted Islam & later became the frontline of the Ummah

• Some of the most remarkable people of the first Ummah were Muslim due to Abu Bakr’s dawah

• Abu Bakr delivered the Prophet’s message to the following people within the first 2 days of becoming Muslim

• Zubayr• Uthman ibn Affan• Talhah ibn Ubaydullah• Sa’ad bin Abi Waqqas• Abdul Rahman bin Awf• He told them about Islam & personally took them to the Prophet.

The Prophet would recite Qur’an to them & told them about the truth of the religion of Islam. They believed & took their

Shahadah— Abu Bakr was leader of his people. He was a businessman, which was the most prestigious occupation back then. He was well off financially.

• He’s known by his people to never engage in any prominent & acceptable social evils. He was never seen intoxicated or attend nightclub-type of scenes that were prominent then. He abstained from those

• Abu Bakr had a specific talent – he was a genealogist. He was an expert on family lineages. He knew the family lineages of every family in Makkah

• He was the ultimate icebreaker. If he didn’t know your name, but he knew your relations, then that became his conversation starter

This gave him advantage in knowing which people would accept Islam

— The Prophet said, “Someone who guides or directs toward something good, then it is as if he has done it himself.”

• E.g. if I’m going to do salah, & I tell someone, “Hey, it’s time for salah,” & that person performs salah, then that person gets their reward of praying & I get a duplicate reward of praying my salah + that person’s salah

• Abu Bakr was the primary example of this. Because of his dawah to the first 8 people, everything they did for the rest of their lives in the service of Islam, Abu Bakr received their reward as well

• Those first few people were the means of Abu Bakr to get a lot of reward, & then these people became the means for other people & so on, so the scholars say that it’s not difficult to imagine that the Book of Deeds of Abu Bakr are open & still recording deeds til today

— The Sahaba were sincerity personified. The biggest legacy they could leave behind was if nobody would ever remembered their name – this is a favor of Allah, not so much upon them, but upon us, so that we have someone to look up to as role models

• The Sahaba’s biggest legacy is that their Books of Deeds are still open today – for 1400+ years, their Books have continued to record as the Ummah continues to grow

— Talhah ibn Ubaydullah (ra) went to the Suq of Busra. There was a person in his temple worshipping. The person was inquiring if anyone was from the Ahlul Haram (Makkah)

• Talhah presents himself, & says, “Yes, I’m from Makkah.”• The worshipper asks, “Has Ahmad appeared?”

• Talhah replies, “Who is this Ahmad you speak of? What Ahmad?”• Worshipper answers, “He’s the son of Abdullah the son of Abdul

Mutallib. This is the month in which he’s supposed to be appearing to the people. He’s the finality of all the prophets. He will appear at the Haram. He will migrate to a place that has plenty of date palms [goes further to describe the landscape of Yathrib]. You need to go find him.”

— Talhah recalled that what the worshipper said made a lot of sense to him

• He quickly departed for Makkah. When he got there, he asked around, “Did anything major happen while I was gone?”

• The other Makkans tell him, “Yes, Muhammad ibn Abdullah, al-Ameen, pretends to be a prophet. Abu Bakr has followed him.” 

• Look at the contradiction here – they call Muhammad al-Ameen (the Trustworthy), but accuses him of pretending to be a prophet

— Talhah goes to Abu Bakr & asks if he follows Muhammad

• Abu Bakr replied, “Yes I have. You should go meet him & follow him too because he calls to the truth.”

• Talhah says, “Wait til you hear my story.”• Then he tells Abu Bakr about the worshiper in Busra. Abu

Bakr takes Talha to Prophet & accepts Islam— When Nawfal bin Khuwailid bin al Adawiya (aka the Lion of Quraysh) found out that both Abu Bakr & Talhah were Muslim, he kidnapped them. He took one rope & tied them both together

• Banu Taim, Abu Bakr’s family, were not able to come the prisoners’ rescue immediately, so Abu Bakr & Talhah were left tied for some time

From that day on til their death, the two were known as Al-Karenayn (Best Buddies)

•  After finding out what Nawfal did, the Prophet made du’a, & thus Abu Bakr & Talha were able to escape

— Abu Bakr was the direct cause of many people accepting Islam early on

• Aisha (ra) narrates that Abu Bakr, literally the day after divine revelation first came down, goes up to the Prophet & told him, “Ya Abal Qasim, you were missing from the gatherings of your people today. They are saying that you are talking badly of our forefathers.” The Prophet replied to Abu Bakr, “I am the Messenger of Allah & I call you to Allah.” As soon as the Prophet finished presenting Islam to Abu Bakr, the latter accepted Islam

• No one was more pleased with the Islam of Abu Bakr than the

Prophet. Abu Bakr goes out & finds Uthman bin Affan, Talhah bin Ubaydullah, Zubayr, & Sa’ad bin Abi Waqqas & preaches Islam to them. They also accept Islam

• The very next day, Abu Bakr gives dawah to Uthman bin Madh’un, Abu Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah (whom the Prophet dubbed the Most Trustworthy Man of this Ummah), Ab ar-Rahman bin ‘Awf, Abu Salama bin Abd al-Asad (his widowed wife later became the wife of the Prophet), & Al-Arqam bin abil-Arqam (founder of the first place of worship for Muslims, Dar-ul Arqam)

—  Some narrations say that there were 38 & others say there were 40 believers in the very early days of Islam.

• This is the complete list of Sahaba • This is a list of non-Arab Sahaba — In the early days of Islam, there were 38-40 Sahaba. Aside from the ones mentioned above, the rest of the early Sahaba were:

• Abu Salama• Abdullah bin Abdel Asad• Arqam bin abil-Arqam• Uthman bin Madh’un, & his two brothers Udama & Abdullah• Ubaida ibn Hadith• Asma & Aisha, the two daughters of Abu Bakr• Khabab bin al-Arat, a slave• Umar bin Abi Waqas, the brother of Sa’ad bin Abi Waq• Sa’ad & his brother Abdullah bin Mas’ud• Salid bin Amr• Ayash  bin Rabia & his wife Asma bint Salima• Khulais bin Hudafa• Amir bin Abi Rabia• Abdullah & Abu Ahmad, brothers• Ja’afar bin Abu Talib & his wife Asma bint Umays• Hateeb bin Hadith, & his two brothers Khatar & Mu’ammar & their

wives• As-said bin Uthman• Mutallib bin Azhar & his wife Ramlah aka Ummu Habiba, who later

became a wife of Prophet. She was the daughter of Abu Sufyan, who was one of the Prophet’s haters

• Nayim bin Abdallah• Amir ibn Fuhaira, a servant of Abu Bakr• Khalid bin Sayid & his wife Aminah bint Khalaf• Hatib bin Amar• Abu Hudaifa• Mahsham bin Uthba• Waqeed ibn Abdullah• Khalid bin al-Bakeer & his 3 brothers, Amir, Aqeel, & Eias

• Ammar bin Yasir• Suhaib bin Sinaan— They were among the first 40 believers, & formed the core of the Sahaba. In the early days of Islam, the Sahaba would congregate in Darul Arqam to worship

• Abu Bakr insisted to the Prophet, “We should all go public as an Ummah.”

• The Prophet didn’t issue commands. If he issued commands, then Abu Bakr wouldn’t question the Messenger. Instead, the Prophet shares prophetic wisdom. Sometimes we have to learn through experience, not just instruction

The Prophet didn’t say, “No, we’re not going.” Instead, he said, “But we are very few.”

— But Abu Bakr insisted. So all the Believers all went to the Haram & spread out. Each Sahabi sat next to some people from their tribe/family, because that was a natural way of making a stronger showing

• If you wanted to bash somebody in the head, & all of a sudden you see him sitting some of his tribespeople, there was enough tribal pride to where the tribespeople would say, “Wait a second. We think he’s (the Sahabi) is crazy too. But he’s our crazy. We’ll do what needs to be done. You don’t touch him.” So the Sahabi would have a bit of protection from their family members

• After all the Believers had spread out, Abu Bakr stood up & addressed everyone while Prophet was sitting by Banu Hashim

This is the first time someone stood as a khateeb calling to Allah & His Messenger

— The people basically mobbed Abu Bakr. On that day, a lot of those Muslims got beat up in the different corners of the Haram

• Abu Bakr got the worst of it. He was beaten very severely• Utbah bin Rabi’ah, a hateful enemy of Islam, took his hard-soled

shoes offHard-soled shoes were distinct at the time, because typically

shoes in desert were made of soft & flexible leather. Abu Bakr was thrown on the ground as he was being beaten

• Utbah sat on the chest of Abu Bakr while Abu Bakr was getting beaten. Then Utbah started to pound Abu Bakr’s face (specifically his nose) with his hard-soled shoes

• Abu Bakr’s nose was severely broken & his face was covered with blood. He was basically beaten into a coma

— When Banu Taim (Abu Bakr’s family) saw what was going on, a riot, they pushed everyone off Abu Bakr & rushed him off to his mother’s home

• Tafa’ul: to hope for something good by saying good words. It’s not “good luck”, but it’s like good encouragement by giving something a good name or saying something good

• E.g. if a boy is going to Qur’an class & he’s still on his alif-baa-tha’s, then you say, “Mash’Allah, hafidh of the Qur’an!” Obviously the boy is not yet a hafidh, but you’re predicting & encouraging a good future for him. This is tafa’ul

— Abu Bakr’s mother was called Ummu Khair (the Mother of Good). The people of Banu Taim take Abu Bakr to the house of Ummu Khair & leave him there. They take an oath that if he dies, they will publically murder Utbah bin Rabi’ah as retribution

• Some of Abu Bakr’s family members are there in the house, trying to talk to him & get him to regain consciousness. Abu Bakr didn’t wake up for almost a day. He was beaten to unconsciousness

• After waking up the next day, the first thing Abu Bakr says is, “What happened to the Prophet?”

Last thing he sees is his people getting beat up before he blacks out

• All the leaders of his family were sitting around Abu Bakr & start cursing him, “This guy’s hopeless. He’s a fanatic. He’s crazy. He’s lost it. He almost dies serving Muhammad & he now asks about him.” They leave him after giving his mother some health-related advice, what to give him (food/medicine).

— Ummu Khair takes some food to her son. Abu Bakr asks, “What happened to Muhammad?”

• Ummu Khair replies, “Wallahi, I don’t know what happened to your friend. I’m just an old woman worried about her son. Let me take care of you.”

• Abu Bakr said, “Go to Ummu Jamil, she’ll know.”• Ummu Jamil is the sister of Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra). She &

her husband were early converts to Islam— Ummu Khair realizes that Abu Bakr is not going to let her take care of him until he finds out about Muhammad. So Ummu Khair goes to Ummu Jamil & asks about Muhammad

• Ummu Khair asks, “What can you tell me about the Prophet? My son Abu Bakr sent me to ask you about Muhammad”

• Ummu Jamil replies, “I don’t know Abu Bakr & I don’t know Muhammad.”

She lies initially to protect her faith— Ummu Khair understands what’s going on here, so she asks Ummu Jamil to visit her son as he’s recovering

• Ummu Jamil goes to Abu Bakr. When she sees him in his bloodied

state, Ummu Jamil screams, “Who are the people who did this to you? I hope that Allah takes revenge on your behalf of those people.”

• Abu Bakr responds, “What happened to the Prophet?”• Ummu Jamil says, “Your mother’s listening.”• Abu Bakr: “You don’t have to worry about her.”• Ummu Jamil: “The Prophet is fine. He’s safe.”• Abu Bakr: “Where is he?”• Ummu Jamil: “He’s in the house of Arqam.”• Abu Bakr then says to the chagrin of his mother, “I swear to Allah

that I will not taste anything or drink a sip of water until I see the Prophet myself.”

— Ummu Jamil & Ummu Khair wait until the evening before they leave for where the Prophet was staying. Abu Bakr leans on them both as they walk to Arqam’s house

• When Prophet sees Abu Bakr walk through the door, the Prophet went & embraced his right-hand man. The Prophet kissed Abu Bakr’s forehead, with tears in his eyes. The Prophet teared up & became very emotional upon seeing the condition of Abu Bakr

• Abu Bakr said, “Oh Messenger of Allah may my father & mother be sacrificed for you. I don’t care what some wretched man does to my face, as long as I see you & you’re okay. [Abu Bakr establishes his imaan & love for the Prophet first. He got what he wanted, to see that the Prophet was safe. Now look at the 2nd thing on his mind].Oh Messenger of Allah, this is my mother. She’s a good mother. She took care of her son. She doesn’t understand why her son believes this & why he makes these sacrifices & why he’s desperate to see you. But she took care of her son & did right by her son. She has a clean heart. You are blessed, o Rasulillah. Please call her to Allah, & make dua on her behalf to Allah to put Islam in her heart. I hope that she will be saved from the Fire by means of you, O Messenger of Allah.”

• So the Prophet makes dua for her guidance & called her to Islam. Ummu Khair, the mother of Abu Bakr, accepted Islam

— No sacrifice goes unrewarded. Abu Bakr went out to preach to the people, & got beat up for it. Whether the people listened or not, what could be more pleasing to someone than their own mother accepting Islam?

• Abu Bakr & Ummu Khair stayed for a whole month in the house of Arqam. There were 39 people in the house at the time

— Amr ibn Abasah (ra) met with the Prophet in the early days of his Prophethood. In those days, the Prophet was still keeping quiet about

Islam

• Amr asked the Prophet, “Who are you?”• The Prophet replied, “I am a Prophet.”• Amr: “What is a Prophet?”• The Prophet: “I am a Messenger of God.”• Amr: “Did Allah send you?”• The Prophet: “Yes.”• Amr: “What did Allah send you with?”• The Prophet: “That you worship Allah alone & you don’t associate

any partners with Him, & that you break your idols. That you keep good relations with your family members.”

• Amr: “This is very beautiful what God has sent you with. Who is with you in this message?”

• The Prophet: “The free & the slave.”• When Amr was having this conversation with the Prophet,

standing on either side of the Prophet was Abu Bakr & Bilal

• Amr accepted Islam. He was one of the early converts— Abdullah bin Mas’ud (ra)

• The Sahaba would say that Abdullah bin Mas’ud was from Prophet’s family

• When the ayah “Seek permission before you enter home of Prophet” was revealed, & the Prophet shares this ayah with his Sahaba, the Prophet looked at Abdullah & tells him, “The way you seek permission to enter my home is that you lift up the curtain & walk right in”

• The Prophet told Abdullah, “When one of your legs is weighed on the Day of Judgment, it will be heavier than the 7 heavens and the 7 earths”

• All of the knowledge of the Sahaba used to end in Abdullah bin Mas’ud

• The Prophet said, “Anything you hear from Abdullah, know it came from me.”

— Abdullah bin Mas’ud’s story of accepting Islam

• He was a young boy who was hired by Okba bin Abi Mu’id to watch over his camels that would graze outside Makkah

• One day the Prophet & Abu Bakr came & saw Abdullah & asked, “Young man, do you have some milk to share with us?”

• Abdullah replied, “I’m in a position of trust. I have these camels, but these don’t belong to me. Therefore I can’t serve you anything.”

• The Prophet asked, “Are there any camels here that aren’t a part of the herd?”

• Abdullah said, “Yeah, there are some camels that don’t belong to the

herd I’m watching over.”• The Prophet found a young she-camel who had not been joined

with a male camel yet, meaning she hadn’t been used for breeding, so she didn’t have milk. The Prophet touched the she-camel & Abdullah recalls, “Wallahi, the udders of the camel became full before my eyes.”

• Abu Bakr found a curved stone, cleaned it out, & milked the camel into the stone. Once he milked the camel, the Prophet placed a hand on the she-camel and says “Iqlis” – recede, recede back

• The udders then literally went back in in front of Abdullah’s eyes

• The Prophet calls Abdullah, all 3 drank milk out of that rock. Before they drank, the Prophet said Bismillah, and when they were done, he said Alhamdulillah

• Abdullah said, “Teach me these beautiful words.”• The Prophet said, “You are a very knowledgeable young man.”

This was foretelling before even Abdullah accepted Islam• Abdullah accepted Islam & he was one of the original Hufadh; he

had his own handwritten manuscript of the Qur’anAt the time he was narrating this story, Abdullah had directly received 70 surahs from the Prophet before anyone else, and also memorized those 70 surahs. He was the first hafidh of the 70 surahs