Showing posts with label inspirational stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspirational stories. Show all posts
It is narrated from
Aisyah that once the Quraysh tribe was shocked by the news about a woman from
Bani Makhzumi committing a crime in the form of theft. The tribal elders asked
each other, "Who will bring the news of this theft to the Messenger of
Allah e?" Some people replied, "Who dares to say that if not Osama
bin Zaid, the adopted son who was loved by the Messenger of Allah." So
Osama also conveyed the news to the Prophet. So the Messenger of Allah said,
"Are you going to ask for intercession (so that the woman is freed) from
one of Allah's laws?!" Then he stood up and continued his words: “The
nations before you have perished, for if only there werea person of honor among
them commits theft, then they do not punish him. However, if a weak person (the
commoners) commits theft, they impose punishment on him. By Allah, if Fatimah
the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would have cut off her hand."
After Muhammad died, in
632, the Muslims needed a new leader for their country and for Islam, their
religion. It was not clear who should take over from Muhammad as leader of the
Muslims. A group of Muhammad’s closest friends chose Abu Bakr to be their new
leader. The Muslims gave him the title of caliph, which means successor or
deputy. As caliph, Abu Bakr was ruler of the new Muslim territories and
defender of the Islamic religion. Abu Bakr was succeeded by three other caliphs
– Umar, Uthman, and Ali. The first four leaders followed Muhammad’s example
closely. Like him, they used the rules of Islam to govern the Muslims. They
lived simple lives and tried to rule fairly. But their rule was also a time
when the Muslims were constantly fighting to make Islam stronger. They encouraged
was and battles against other Arabs and against outsiders, saying they were
necessary to remove injustice and the enemies of Islam.
During the 30 years
after 632, the Muslims were governed by four caliphs, who were outstanding men
chosen for their good character. They were unselfish and tolerant, knew the
Koran, and had been Muhammad’s dearest friends. The word caliph means
successor. These first four caliph were known as the “rightly-guided” caliphs
because they followed Muhammad’s example closely.
Abu
Bakr
ruled for only two years. He was followed by Umar, a giant of a man, from 634-644. When he went to Jerusalem, he
set out with only one servant and a camel, which he and the servant took turns
to ride. Umar lived all his life without luxuries.
Uthman
then became the leader. He was a simple and kind-hearted man. But the angered
the people of Egypt by replacing the governor with his own cousin, who set
higher taxes. A group of Egyptians killed Uthman in 656.
Ali,
the next caliph, was opposed by many Muslims, including Uthman’s cousin
Muawiya. There was constant argument. In 661 Ali was also struck down while at
prayer in the mosque. He did not die for three days, during which time he
protected and fed his assassin.
Muhammad (570-632) was
born into a humble family. His father, Abdullah, had died suddenly, leaving his
new bride, Amina, pregnant. Muhammad was raised by his uncle, Abu Talib, a
merchant. He first worked as a shepherd, then as a merchant on his uncle’s
trade caravans.
Muhammad was 40 years
old before he received a revelation from the Angel Gabriel. During the rest of
his life, he continued to receive messages from God. These messages formed the
beliefs of Islam. First his friends and then the tribes of Arabia were
converted to Islam. Later it spread across huge areas.
Muhammad arrived in
Medina with several of his followers. The people there welcomed him as the
prophet of God and found places in their homes for the Muslims. Muhammad continued
to preach and got more followers. He soon became the leader of Medina. People
looked to him to solve disputes in the town and with other tribes. He started
to arrange collections for the needy. Gradually, he began to make laws for
people to follow, including rules about marriage, divorce and food. He was
still getting messages from God and these were more and more about how people
should lead their lives. For example, Chapter 17 of the Koran includes commands
for Muslims to be kind to their parents and the old and to be generous. Islam
gave status and the hope of Heaven to the poor; Muhammad’s laws brought justice
and order. Medina had become a small Islamic state with Muhammad as its leader.
But tension between the
Muslims and the Koraish in Mecca continued. The Meccans accused the Muslims of
raiding their trade caravans. In 624, the Meccans sent an army of about 1.000
men to punish the Muslims. The Muslims only had a force of 300 but they were
very loyal and brave. They won the fight, called the Battle of Badr. The
Muslims were now a fighting force as well as a religious group. Muhammad made
treaties with other Arab tribes to make sure that they didn’t join the Meccans.
Some of these tribes became Muslims.
Fighting continued for
the next few years. Muhammad sometimes led the Muslims in battle; once he was
wounded in the face and leg. He was a successful general. Eventually, the
Muslims wore down the Meccans and in 630 Muhammad took his followers back to
Mecca in triumph. He went directly to the Ka’ba, took out all of the altars and
idols and declared it a temple to Allah alone. This was wise decision since the
Ka’ba was known all over Arabia and it became a place of worship for all
Muslims. By a mixture of preaching, persuasion and force, the Muslims soon
controlled all of the main tribes and town of Arabia.
Muhammad fell ill in
Medina in 632 and died. He had a fever and violent headaches. For several days
he was nursed by his wife, Ayesha. Finally, his head cradled in Ayesha’s arms,
the Prophet Muhammad died. In about 23 years he had started a religion which
had come to dominate the lives of thousands of followers and was still
expanding.
Arabia was a very poor
area, mostly desert or scrub. Many Arabs made a living from tending sheep. Some
of these were Bedouins who were nomads, constantly moving their sheep, camels
and tents from place to place. Other used camels in groups, called caravans, to
carry goods from town to town to sell. The Arabs were split into many tribes.
There was no single king who ruled them. They had no single religion either.
Most Arabs worshipped several gods and spirits that they believed lived in
rocks and trees.
Muhammad was born in
570 in Mecca, a trading town on the caravan routes. It had the country’s most
sacred temple, a cube shaped building called the Ka’ba. The Ka’ba had over 360
altars, statues and other religious objects or idols which the Arabs
worshipped. People traveled many miles to worship there.
Muhammad belonged to an
important tribe, the Koraish (Quraysh). They charged fees to all the traders
and worshippers who came to Mecca. But Muhammad was an orphan by the age of six
and quite poor. He worked on the caravans. He disliked life in Mecca. There was
too much fighting and greed among the tribes; women, children and the poor were
badly treated; there was too much drunkenness and gambling; people worshipped
all kinds of idols. From, about 610 Muhammad spent more time alone, thinking
and praying on nearby Mount Hira. Then he started to get message from God.
Muhammad told his friends about the messages. He called them revelations;
truths revealed to him by God. Straight away some people wrote them down.
Eventually they were collected together in a book called the Koran (Qur’an).
In the revelations, an
angel said that Muhammad was the last of God’s prophets (messengers) and more
important than those before, like Jesus. Muhammad began to preach these
messages to the people. He said there was only one God (the Arabic for God is
Allah); that it was evil to worship idols; that greed was wrong; that Allah
would judge everyone when they died and send them to Heaven or Hell; that God’s
followers should obey Him before all others. Islam means submission (to God’s
will).
Muhammad gained many
followers, especially among the poor. But Islam was not popular with the rich
in Mecca. They feared losing their money, their religions and their power. In 622
many Muslims began to move away from Mecca to settle in Medina (Madinah), a
nearby town. In Medina, the Muslims were welcomed. Eventually, Muhammad also
left for Medina, chased by the Koraish. They offered a prize of 100 camels for
his capture. This move to Medina is called the Hijrah. The birth of Christ is
so important to Christians that they count their dates from then. The hijrah is
so important to Muslims that they start counting their history from then. So the
year AD 622 is the year 1 AH (After Hijrah) for Muslims.
One
day the Prophet explained the importance of paying zakah to his companions. He
said, "By paying zakat means our possessions will be surrounded with
divine wall, which will protect it." These words were heard by a
Christian, who happened to pass there. He decided to give it a try. He then
went home, took all his belongings are there, pay zakat, and giving alms to the
poor.
A
moment later, his colleagues will conduct a business trip. Christian said to
him, "If Muhammad's words proved to be true, then I would recognize him as
the Messenger of Allah and I will convert to Islam. But if I had to pay zakat
proved of no use, then I will draw my sword and fight with him. '
When
Christian was waiting, what will donate gained as a result of, he received a
letter from his business partner. In it is written, "I say with deep
regret that we were attacked caravan robber. They had robbed all our
possessions."
Christian
was immediately furious. He immediately took his sword and went to kill the
Prophet Muhammad. On the way, the sudden extreme anger was to be lost, when
suddenly a second letter arrived.
Business
associate wrote, "The incident that I tell my first letter, the plot turns
out to be different. Along the way we hurt camel, so consequently I left a few
hundred yards from the other caravan. When I saw how their goods were robbed
out I immediately wrote my first letter to you, because I was so sure that the
robbers would take too all our possessions. Then a strange thing happened, the
robbers suddenly walked away, without looking at me. So stuff we survived. Do
not worry! I could go on safely, without lacking anything. "
Christians
account after it was read a second letter, he rushed to the Prophet and said,
"O Allah's Apostle! Teach me Islam. I have implemented your word and see
its benefits with my own eyes. Now I want to be a Muslim."
Then
he uttered two sentences creed reading, “ أشهد أن لا اله الا الله وأشهد ان محمد رسول الله ”and being a Muslim.
Far in the past,
the 6th century AD. Umar Ibn Khattab did sudden review at night. As head
of state, Omar resolutely implement the mandate of the people of God and trust placed
in him. The second caliph after Abu Bakr was down the streets of Medina to ensure
citizen rights are met by the state.
That night she met a
man who was sitting pensively
on the fire. Umar
greeted and asked what was done by the man in the middle of the night. He was issued a breath,
audible groans of
agony booth tent
woman. The man said
that if his wife was about to give birth, but she was filled with
confusion. In addition to no experience in handling labor, he also has no
relatives who would help him.
Umar heard the story behind the
man returned to his house he quickly woke his
wife Umm Kulthum. With a quick motion the head
of state and first lady headed to the tent where a woman about to give
birth in pain. Arriving at the place, the precarious
state immediately addressed.
A moment later the
night silence was broken by the sound of
crying babies.
Outside the
tent the two adult males were anxiously. To the guests who did not know he was about
to ask who the man and woman to be angels. However, along with the outbreak of the
baby voice heard "O Commander of the Faithful, congratulate the host, was born
a boy whose gallant." So blessed is the nation's leader has helped birth.
Umar Ibn Khattab was the
leader of the country, it is the nation's most influential
leaders. But he is
the figure and the prototype
of educational outcomes
by Muhammad. Then
he came to power that
makes handheld power
for the better for
the people they lead. He put himself equal to
God, and to be servants of the people.
At the end of today we are
also presented with a fairly fresh news of some
state officials. Policies that pro rakyatdan willingly
made himself a part of people's attention and positive
attention. Examples of leadership into dream communities
existed in Islam. And the pages of the Qur'an has also written features and behavior
how to be a leader. Leadership in Islam not only provide physical wellbeing, but
also provides peace and tranquility for the people.
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