ABDALLAH AND AMINA

ABDALLAH AND AMINA
Abdul
Muttalib, chieftain of the Quraysh, had ten sons who were all worthy
and outstanding, but 'Abdullah was the noblest and most prominent among
them. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 108)
'Abdul Muttalib wedded him to Amina, the daughter of Wahb Ibn 'Abdu
Munaf, who was the leading man of Bani Zuhra. She (Amina) was the most
excellent woman among the Quraysh in birth and stature at that time. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 110)

Muhammad
(Peace Be Upon Him) was born after the death of his father. Before his
birth, Amina witnessed many an omen foretelling a great future for her
son. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 158)

BIRTH OF THE PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him)
The
Prophet(Peace Be Upon Him) was born on Monday, the 12th of Rab'i-ul
Awwal (1) in the year of the Elephant. Certainly, it was the most
auspicious day in the history of mankind.

Thus, Muhammad (Peace
Be Upon Him) was the son of 'Abdullah Ibn 'Abdul Muttalib, Ibn Hashim,
Ibn 'Abdul Munaf, Ibn Qusayy, Ibn Kilab, Ibn Murra, Ibn Ka'b Ibn
Lu'ayy, Ibn Ghalib, Ibn Fihr, Ibn Malik, Ibn al-Nadr, Ibn Kinana, Ibn
Khusayma, Ibn Mudrika, Ibn Ilyas, Ibn Mudar Ibn Nizar Ibn Ma'add, Ibn
'Adnan.

The parentage of 'Adnan is further traced to Ismail Ibn
Ibrahim (Peace Be Upon Him)(2) by Arab genealogists. After the birth of
Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) Amina sent someone to inform his
grandfather. He came, looked at the baby lovingly and took him to the
K'aba where he praised Allah and prayed for the infant. 'Abdul Muttalib
then gave him the name Muhammad, which means, 'He who is praised'. The
Arabs were surprised at the unfamiliar name (3) given to the newborn
babe by 'Abdul Muttalib. (Ibn Hisham, pp. 159-60)

THE SUCKLING PERIOD
Thuwaybah,
a bondwoman of the Prophet's uncle Abu Lahab, suckled him momentarily
for a few days while 'Abdul Muttalib continued to look for a wet-nurse
to nurture his favorite grandson. It was customary in Mecca to place
the suckling babies under the care of a desert tribeswoman, where the
child grows up in the free, chivalrous air away from the cramp,
contaminating atmosphere of the city, and learn the wholesome ways of
the Bedouins. Those were the days when the chaste, unaffected and
natural expression of the desert people was considered as the finest
model of grace and elegance of the Arabic language. Together with the
milk of a bedouin woman, the babies imbibed the fluent language that
flew across the desert.

The people from the tribe of Bani S'ad
were known for the gracefulness of their speech. Halima S'adiya, a
member of this tribe, ultimately came to have the precious baby under
her wings. This was a year of famine wherein Bani S'ad had been
rendered miserable. The tribe came to Mecca to look for children to be
suckled, but no woman to whom the Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him)
was offered, agreed to take the child because none expected a goodly
return for nurturing or nursing an infant whose father was already
dead. They said, "An orphan! What will his mother and grandfather give
in return?" At first, Halima also declined the offer but suddenly she
felt a craving for the baby. She had also failed to get a charge for
her and, therefore, before going back home, she returned and finally
took the baby back with her. Halima found before long that her
household was blest with luck, her breast overflowed with milk, the
udders of her she-camel were full and everything seemed to bring forth
happiness. The women of Halima's tribe now spread out the rumor:
"Halima, you have certainly got a blessed child." They began to feel
envious of her already.

Halima weaned the baby when he was two
years old, for it is customary upon the foster-children to return to
their respective families at such an age. Besides, the boy was also
developing faster than the other children, and by the time he was two,
he was already a well-grown child. Thus, Halima brought the Prophet of
God (Peace Be Upon Him) back to Amina but begged her to be allowed to
keep the boy for some extended time as he had brought her luck. Amina
agreed and allowed Halima to take Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) back
with her. (4)

Some months after his return to Bani S'ad, two
angels seized the Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him), opened up his
chest and extracted a black drop from it. Then they thoroughly cleaned
his heart and healed the wound after putting his heart back in its
place. (5)

The Prophet of God (Peace Be Upon Him) tended the
lambs with his foster-brothers in the boundless wilderness of the
desert, far away from the pretensions, hypocrisy, pomp and pride of the
city, rendering his thoughts dry and clear like the desert air. His
life was as simple as the sand and he learnt to endure with the
hardships and dangers of the wilderness. And with the people of Bani
S'ad, his ears became accustomed to the rhetorics and eloquence of the
pure and classical language of the Bedouins. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon
Him) often used to tell his companions: "I am the most Arab of you all
for I am of Quraysh origin and I was suckled among Bani S'ad Ibn Bakr. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, 167).

DEATH OF AMINA AND 'ABDUL MUTTALIB
When
the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was six years old, his mother took him
to Yathrib to pay a visit to her father. She also wanted to call on the
grave of her late husband, (6) but while on her way back to Mecca, she
died at a place called Abwa. (7) The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) must
have felt lonely and sorrowful at the death of his mother in the middle
of his journey. Incidents of such nature had been a common fixture in
his life since birth, perhaps as a divine dispensation for his
upbringing in a particular way, one which is reminiscent of the great
role that he has to play in the future. Finally, the Abyssinian
bondwoman, Umm Ayman Barkah, brought him to his grandfather in Mecca.
'Abdul Muttalib loved the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) so dearly, making
him the apple of his eye and never allowed him to be distant from his
sight. He would make the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) sit beside him on
his bed in the shade of the Ka'ba and caress him to show his affection.

After
reaching eight years of age, 'Abdul Muttalib also passed away. (Ibn
Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 168-9) The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was now left
behind, alone and abandoned. He had never seen his father, and would
have had no recollection of him, but the death of the adoring
grandfather must have been too depressing and inconsolable to bear.

ABU TALIB BECOMES THE GUARDIAN
Following
the death Of 'Abdul Muttalib, Abu Talib took the Prophet (Peace Be Upon
Him) under his care for he and 'Abdullah, the Prophet's father, were
brothers by the same mother. Abdul Muttalib had also been insisting
upon Abu Talib to take care of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) himself.
Accordingly, Abu Talib took the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) under his
protection and even treated him with more care and affection than his
own two sons, 'Ali J'afar and 'Aqil. ( Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 179).

Once,
when the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was nine years old, (As related by
authentic Traditions) Abu Talib planned to go on a merchant caravan to
Syria. Knowing this, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) approached his
uncle, and nestling close to him, insisted on accompanying him in the
journey. Abu Talib was moved and agreed to take Muhammed (Peace Be Upon
Him) with him to Syria. When the caravan reached Busra in Syria, it
broke the journey for a short stay and while there, they met a monk by
the name of Buhaira who lived in his cell. He came out against his
practice, to welcome the merchants and made a great feast for them. The
caravan found favor with Buhaira, so they say, because of something
that he had seen while he was in his cell. When Buhaira saw Muhammad
(Peace Be Upon Him), he observed in him the signs of the Prophethood
that he had known and advised Abu Talib: "Return to your home with this
youth and guard him from the Jews; for great dignity awaits your
nephew". Abu Talib immediately took the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)
back to Mecca by virtue of Buhaira's advice. (8)

DIVINE TUTELAGE
Heavenly
Host had made special arrangements for broadening the mind of the holy
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and had taken particular care to shut off
the faults and failures of the pagan past from him. Since early youth,
the reserved and unassuming young man was known for his gentle
disposition and grave purity of life as well as for his candidness,
honesty and integrity and his stern sense of duty. His was the straight
and narrow path and none could find the slightest fault with him. The
faircharacter and honorable bearing of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)
won for him, in the pinnacle of his youth, the title of Al-Amin,
meaning the Trusty, from his fellow populace.(Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 183)

Evil
were the ways of young men in Mecca, and no misconduct brought anybody
into jeopardy or accountability. But God helped His Prophet (Peace Be
Upon Him) abandon the pleasures of life familiar to everybody in there.
Such that on the contrary, he was rather kind to his kinsmen,
alleviated the sufferings of others and spared or minimized expenses to
meet their needs. Moreover, he entertained guests, was ever willing to
join hands with anybody who had a noble and virtuous task(9) and
prefered to earn his livelihood by toiling hard for it even if it meant
living a simple life to the point of austerity.

When the
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was around fourteen or fifteen years of
age, the sacrilegious war, known as the Harb-ul-Fijar, broke out
between the Quraysh and the tribe of Qays. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon
Him) was present at this event such that he picked up the arrows that
the enemy had shot and gave them back to the Qurayshite fighters. This
was to mark his first experience of military operations. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, 186)

Now
that the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was coming into grips of his own
life, he turned his attention to scouting a means of livelihood. Like
other lads of his age, he took a shot at the tendering of sheep and
goats.. It was not deemed a disgraceful occupation in those days,
rather, it helped one to be watchful, alert and quick, kind and
considerate besides allowing an opportunity to inhale the freedom of
Arabian air and the power of its sand. More than that, it had been the
convention of all the prophets of old which complied with his future
prophetic task. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) after all used to say:
"Verily, there has been no prophet who has not tended the flocks of
goats." On being asked again whether he had also performed the work of
a shepherd, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) affirmed. "Yes I did."

The
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was not completely new to the job for in
his childhood days he used to accompany his foster-brothers in tending
their flocks and herds. The reports in the Saheeh show that the Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him) used to watch the goats upon the neighbouring hills
and valleys for a meager payment from their owners.(10)

MARRIAGE WITH KHADIJAH (Allah be pleased with her)
The
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) married Khadijah (Allah be pleased with
her) when he was twenty-five years of age. Khadijah (Allah be pleased
with her), daughter of Khuwaylid, was noble and intelligent, wealthy
and was respected for the quality and integrity of her heart. A widow
whose age was then forty years, (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 189-90) her
late husband was Abu Hala. She carried out on their business and like
other merchants of Mecca she also used to hire men to transport her
merchandise outside the country on a profit-sharing scheme. Khadijah
(Allah be pleased with her) had an experience of the Prophet's
truthfulness, trustworthiness and honorable character and had also
heard about the strange events that had taken place when the Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him) traded her merchandise to Syria. Although Khadijah
(Allah be pleased with her) had turned down several offers for her hand
by some of` the eminent chiefs of the Quraysh, she expressed her desire
to marry the Prophet Peace be upon him). Hamza, an uncle of the Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him), conveyed the message to him for which he readily
agreed. Abu Talib recited the wedding sermon and the Prophet (Peace Be
Upon Him), united in wedlock with Khadija, commenced his marital
career. All the offsprings of the Prophet Peace be upon him) except
Ibrahim who died in infancy, were born to Khadijah (Allah be pleased
with her). (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p.190 and other biographies of the
Prophet).

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE KA'BA
In
his thirty-fifth year, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) made a difficult
decision about a matter that provoked the Quraysh and threatened to
plunge them into another sacrilegious war. The Quraysh wished to
rebuild the Ka'bah and furnish it with roofs, for it was made of loose
stones, and its walls were only a little higher than a man's height.
So, the walls were demolished and the work of reconstruction was taken
up, but when it was time to rebuild the Ka'bah as far as the position
of the Black Stone was concerned, the question arose as to who should
place the sacred relic into its place. Every tribe claimed the honor,
an imminent collision was bound to happen. The grounds that led to wars
of attrition during the early days of paganism in Arabia were nothing
but inferior or insignificant when compared to the grave issue that was
made as the focal point of honor on this occasion.

Banu 'Abdul
Dar brought a bowl full of blood; then they and Banu 'Adiy pledged
themselves to fight unto death by thrusting their hands into the blood.
The conflict appeared to be the starting point of a furious struggle
which might have swallowed up the whole of Arabia in another of their
oft-recurring wars. The dilemma continued for a few days until it was
agreed that whosoever is the first man to enter the gate of the mosque
would be made as the umpire of the matter under dispute. And so the
first man to enter came, but he was no other then the Prophet of God
(Peace Be Upon Him). "This is Muhammad", they said as soon as they saw
him coming, and further added: "He is trustworthy and we will abide by
his decision."

The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) asked them to
bring a cloth, took the Black Stone and put it inside the fabric, then
afterwards asked each tribe to take hold of an end of the material and
then simultaneously raise it to the required height. When the people
lifted the stone in such manner, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) placed
it in its position with his own hands, and the building went on above
it. (Ibn isham, Vol. I, pp. 192-197)

The
wisdom displayed by the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) on this occasion,
one which saved the Quraysh from measuring the might of their swords
with that of the others, strikingly illustrates his sound judgement
apart from divulging sparks of his genius. The sagacity of the Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him) foretold how bloodshed is taken as a divine
harbinger of peace. The incident foreshadowed the signs of` the
Prophet's (Peace Be Upon Him) prudence, profoundness of his teachings,
his thoughtfulness, cool temper and the spirit of his friendliness and
altruism; in fact the cardinal virtues of one who was to become the
'Mercy for the Worlds". These were the qualities through which the
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) transformed a people, unruly and ferocious,
continuously at war amongst each other, into a closely-knit fraternity
by proving and submitting himself as a Merciful Prophet (Peace Be Upon
Him) before them.

HILFUL-FUDUL
It
was during this period that the Quraysh came to agree upon one of the
noblest covenants made in which the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) played
a prominent part. It so happened that a man from Zabid (A town in
Yemen) came to sell his merchandise in Mecca. One of the Quraysh
chieftains in the person of Al-As Ibn Wayel purchased the whole of it
but paid nothing in return. Because of this, Zabid approached several
influential Quraysh leaders but none of them agreed to confront Al-As
Ibn Wayel. Having been turned down by those that he had previously
asked for help, Zabid called upon the people of Mecca exhorting every
bold and fair-minded young man to come to his rescue. At last, many of
them, moved by embarrassment, assembled in the house of 'Abdallah Ibn
Jad'an who entertained everyone that came to his house. Thereafter,
they formed a pact, in the name of Allah, for repression of acts of
lawlessness and restoration of justice to the weak and the oppressed
within the walls of Mecca. The covenant was called Hilful-Fudul wherein
all its members finally approached Al-As Ibn Wayel and forced him to
return the merchandise of Zabid. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, pp.257-59).

The
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) had been one of the prominent movers of the
pact and he always made it a point to express his satisfaction over the
execution of this agreement. Once he remarked: "I had a hand in making
such an arrangement in the house of 'Abdullah Ibn Jad'an to which if I
were invited again to help even after the advent of Islam, I would have
undoubtedly participated once more". Thru such Hiful Fudul, they had
agreed to restore upon everyone what is due of him and to protect the
weak from the exploits and manipulations of the oppressors."

A MYSTIFYING UNREST
Muhammad
(Peace Be Upon Him) was now approaching his fortieth year. He felt a
mystifying internal unrest, yet he did not know the rationale behind
it. He was himself not aware what the inexplicable confusion meant to
him; nordid the idea that God was about to honor him with revelation
and prophethood ever crossed his mind. This was how the Prophet (Peace
Be Upon Him) felt, as has been attested by God in the Qur'an:

"And
thus We have inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our Command. Thou
knewest not what the Scripture was,nor what the Faith. But We have made
it a light whereby We guide whom We will of our bondmen. And Lo! thou
verily dost guide unto a right path." [Qur'an 42:52]

At
another place, the inability of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) to know
the reason for his internal unrest has been demonstrated in these
words:

"Thou
hast no hope that the Scripture would be inspired in thee; but it is a
mercy from thy Lord, so never be a helper to the disbelievers. " [Qur'an 28:86]

It
pleased the Will of God, All-wise and All-knowing, that His Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him) should remain a stranger to the arts of reading and
writing. His contemporaries could thus never accuse him of himself
editing the divine revelations. This, too, has been subverted by the
Qur'an to settle the matter as evidenced by the following verse:

"And
thou (O Muhammad) was not a reader of any Scripture before it, nor
didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have
doubted, who follow falsehood." [Qur'an 29: 48]

That is why the Qur'an calls him an 'unlettered prophet' (Peace Be Upon Him).

"Those
who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write,
whom they will find described in the Torah and the gospel (which are)
with them-He commands them for Al- Maruf (monotheism & all that
Islam has ordained) and forbids them from Al- Munkar (disbelief &
all that Islam forbids)" [Qur'an 7:157]

The Lessons And Examples Can Be Taking From This Period As Follows:

Whenever
the caller or social reformer is considered noble by his people, they
will be more apt to listen to him as this is their natural reaction
with respect to preachers and reformers, than if they are from an
obscure section of society or from people of ignoble birth. But if the
reformer or caller comes from a lineage they cannot dispute as being
noble, or whose family's social status is undeniably high, then they
will find nothing to contend against him. And so, they resort to lies,
excuses, and rationalizations to keep themselves and the rest from
listening to his message and his speeches. That is why the first
question that Hiraql (Heraclius) asked Abu Sufyan, when the latter
handed him the messenger's letter inviting him and his people to accept
Islam was, "How is his lineage among you?" Abu Sufyan answered him,
while he was still a polytheist, "He is from the most noble lineage
among us." When Hiraql finished his interrogations replete with their
respective answers from Abu Sufyan, he started to explain why he had
asked these questions about Muhammad, Allah's Messenger (Peace Be Upon
Him). Hiraql told him, "I asked you what his lineage was among you, and
you stated that he is from the most noble one, because Allah does not
choose a Prophet except from the noblest of his people with the noblest
ancestry." It is true that Islam does not value noble predigree in the
face of one's actions but that does not prevent the one who combines
together the nobility of lineage as that of deeds from being more
honorable, having a higher status, and being more successful. An
authentic Hadeeth, which says that, "The best of you in the time of
ignorance are the best of you in Islam, if they but understand" ably
supports this assertion.

It is the tribulation of the caller,
who is orphaned and who lived thru hardships in his youth, which makes
him more sensitive to noble human causes. Such experience makes him
more sympathetic with the plight of the orphans, the poor and the
oppressed. It mobilizes him to fight for the rights of these people who
belong to the lower echelons of society and incessantly galvanizes him
to be good and merciful towards them. Every caller needs to have a
great deal of noble human feelings otherwise known as compassion, which
makes him commiserate with the state of the weak and oppressed. Nothing
of such sort molded him better than treading in his own life most of
the pains and angst felt by the poor, orphaned and the needy.

Living
as close as possible to the tenets of human nature and as far as
possible from complex life results in the clarity of intellect,
strength of mind, body and soul, as well as accuracy in thought and
speech for the caller. This is why Allah chose the Arabs to deliver the
message of Islam. What Allah did was not out of jest or chance. It was
because they were more pure in their souls, more sound in their
thinking, upright in their manners and more tolerant of the hardship of
wars for the sake of Allah and the spreading of His message to all
corners of the world.

No one can assume full credit to the
distinction of the caller to Islam except for sharp and intelligent
people, because the dumb and those with average intelligence are far
from qualified for intellectual, social reform or spiritual leadership.
This is because it is natural that the ignorant, those who dawdle and
are shaky in their thinking, and those who hold strange and hollow
opinions cannot truly qualify for leadership in any aspect of life.
Even if by chance or special circumstance, someone like this makes it
to a position of leadership, he will not last long and will fall into
the pits of despair. His people will desert him once his actions reveal
his stupidity, oddity and chaotic thinking.

It is a must for
the reformer to depend on his own personal effort for his livelihood or
thrive on a noble and dignified source of income rather than cash in on
one which involves begging, disgraceful behavior or derogatory means.
The truthful, noble reformers keep themselves from living on the
charity or gifts of people. There would be no honor for them in the
souls of their people after they humiliate themselves by begging and
asking, even if it is not done openly. If we see someone who claims to
call others to guidance while he is getting richer from the wealth of
the people by the use of different schemes, then we can be sure that he
is humiliating his own soul. What then will be his position in the
feelings and eyes of his own people and neighbors? How can anyone who
accepts for himself this kind of humiliation call people to the best
manners, to fight evil and corruption and to revive in the nation the
spirit of honor, dignity and righteousness when he himself is wanting
of such qualities?

The upright nature and good behavior of the
caller during his youth and life leads to his success in calling people
to Allah, reforming manners and fighting abominations since there will
be no one who could accuse him of any ill behavior even before he
started the call. We have seen many people who started the call of
reformation, especially that of character, but the major reason people
turned away was because of the indelible imprint left by the
questionable integrity and bad behavior of the caller's past. This
tarnished past will make people doubt his truthfulness. They will think
that he is hiding behind the movement for self-interest, or they will
accuse him of starting the reform only after he had fulfilled all of
his desires, lusts and pleasures in life. And now he is in a position
or at an age which gives him little or no hope of continuing his quest
and hunt for property, wealth, fame or honor which he had formerly
pursued. But the caller who was righteous in his youth will continue to
keep his head high and his heart will always remain pure. While his
enemies always find a way to accuse his near or distant past, they will
not be able to use the past as a weapon to ruin his integrity or to
persuade the people to disregard his call. It is true that Allah
accepts the repentance of the one who returns to Him with truthfulness
and sincerity and that Allah will erase his past with his recent good
deeds. But that is for someone other than the person who is hoping for
the success of his call while his behavior is upright and his good
reputation having remained intact.

The experiences that the
caller gains by traveling, socially immersing with the crowds, learning
about their customs, conditions, and problems have a great deal of
effect on the success of his message. Those who live with the people
only through their books and writings, without actually living with
them, are people who are failures in their call or reform movement.
People do not respond to such callers because they are ignorant to
their predicament and problems. Whoever wants to reform the religious
people must commingle with them in their mosques, join them at their
gatherings, and blend with them in their communities. Whoever wants to
reform the laborers and the farmers has to live with them in their
villages and factories, and dine with them in their homes. He must
speak with them on their own terms. If someone wants to reform the
businessmen, one has to mix with them in their markets, shops,
factories, clubs and gatherings. Whoever wants to reform the political
sector has to mix with the politicians, get to know their
organizations, listen to their speeches, read their programs and plans
and get to know the environment within which they live. He must also
educate himself about the culture of the people he is dealing with. He
needs to know in which direction the people are headed for in order to
determine how to approach them in such a way as not to frighten the
populace. The caller needs to adopt a method instrumental in reforming
the people, a method acceptable to the general public so that there
will be no uprising against him due to hatred or emotional upheaval.
Confronted with such a fact, it is imperative that the caller needs to
experience life and gain knowledge of the people's affairs which will
help him in fulfilling Allah's words, as Allah thru the Quran says;

"Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation" . [Qur'an 16: 125]

And how magnificent is the reported saying: "Speak to the people according to their mental ability. Do you want them to reject Allah and His message?" (Recorded by Al-Bukhaari. )

It
is incumbent upon the caller to contemplate every now and then, so that
he may allow his spirit to relate to Allah and his soul to purify
itself from the filth of the bad manners of the crowded, busy life
around him. This seclusion will motivate him to take account of his
progress. It will allow him to see if he failed in doing good or fell
short in his choice of procedure or methodology. The same introspection
serves as a gauge to determine whether he has diverted from his
direction, strayed from the way of wisdom, or was so engrossed in
discussions and arguments that he forgot about remembering Allah,
feeling the tranquility of His company, remembering the hereafter with
its reward or punishment, and death with its hardships and pains. For
this reason, the tahajjud or late night prayer was obligatory upon the
Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and is recommended for others. The ones who
should do their best to perform this optional prayer are the callers to
His way and His Paradise. These times of seclusion, invocation and
imploration of Allah during the night are a pleasure which no one can
enjoy except those whom Allah honors. Ibrahim ibn Adham used to say
after his nightly invoking and worship, "We are involved in such a
pleasure that if the kings were to know about it, they would compete us
for it." Allah's saying is sufficient enough for our motivation.
Directing his speech to Allah's Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him), Allah
said:

"O
you wrapped up in your raiment! Keep vigil the night long, save a
little-a half thereof, or abate a little thereof or add (a little)
thereto- and recite the Quran in measure, for We shall charge you with
a word of weight. Lo! the vigil of the night is (a time) when
impression is more keen and speech more certain" [Qur'an 73:1-7]