The Event of Hirra by pwersunisaifi

The Event of Hirra, BY POWE SUNNI SAIFI

Please read for strengthening your Imaan

Bismillah-ir-rahman-nir-raheem.

As-salaatu was salaamu alaika Ya rasool-u-ALLAH wa ala aalihi wa ashaabi ajmaeen

Fa-alhamdulillah-i-rabbil alameen. Amma ba'aad.

In todays' world- when we look around us or even in our own back-yards- we can see trouble and grief in various ways. Sometimes trouble comes in the form of loss of wealth & sometimes in the loss of health. Sometimes it hits the hardest in the form of loss of loved one & at other rare times- during natural disasters or man-made calamities- a person loses everything- EVEN the shirt on his/her back & THAT Is the time when shaytan comes to us with full force when we are at our weakest.

The shaytan hits us hard & in places where it hurts, he plays with our emotions & our feelings. He makes us feel that there is no one for us & nothing can be done for us. We are alone & helpless.He makes us feel like we are bad people- like we have done such sins that are not capable of being forgiven & that we are being punished & Then when the feeling of guilt is safely lodged in our hearts - he makes us look into other's lives- the lives of Kuffar, the lives of mushrikeen- how happy they are!!They do not pray yet they are given everything! They have their families & children around them- respect & status in the world. They drink, do drugs, do shirk & other haram acts- YET they are happy & us- muslims- we pray (or try to), fast (or try to) but atleast we say the kalimah!!! then why is ALLAH punishing us???

I am sure such thoughts perhaps in the same way & perhaps in other ways have affected us at some time or the other- maybe it affecting one of you right now.The best way to beat this is to know history, learn about the lives of the Prophet's, their companions, their families, the noble & pious souls of the Awliya- what they suffered through.

If you read about their lives carefully- with the notable exceptions of Prophets Dawood & Sulaiman (sallim alaikum)- all Prophet's lived their lives in meagre conditions & in travel. One day on this country & the next only ALLAH knew yet they remained steadfast on their religion & practiced it to a perfection. What was the secret?

It was LOVE- utter & total love of ALLAH. Then the rest was history. With love came belief & with belief their Imaan strengthened & in every trouble they turned to HIM with more longing than earlier. Every adversity ONLY strengthened their love for ALLAH & made their Imaans stronger than the mountains on the earth.

Today- I want to share an incident with all of you which many muslims are not aware of but this was such a painful incident in the history of Islam for all muslims.

The sacrifices and the patience that the blessed companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had CANNOT be compared or even earned by staying awake all nights in prayer vigil & fasting all our lives.No act of obedience can bring any one close to the Imaan & patience of the noble sahaba-e-karaam (Radi ALLAHu ta'ala anhum ajameen).

The incident that I will narrate today is the "EVENT AT HIRRA".

After reading this event- the problems in our lives will seem so small & miniscule that they will fade away & your Imaan's will become stronger than before- InshaALLAH.

During the caliphate of Umayyads & in the reign of la'nati Yazid- the public started to turn against them.Things were in a bad way for the reign of Yazid la'anati. He wanted to bring the rebellion under control so he decided to send an army against them from Damascus as he believed that only that army could do the job of squelching the rebellion.He appointed a ruffian by the name of Muslim ibn Uqbah al-Murri who was advanced in his years yet was such a DAMNED person that he was ready to wage war against the muslims.

An army of twenty thousand strong left Damascus to quell the rebellion in Hejaz with clear orders from Yazid la'nati to "…invite the people to renounce their rebellion and to renew their pledge of loyalty to Yazid. Give them three days to consider doing so. If they persist in their defiance, let the soldiers have a free hand in the city for three days:any money or weapons or food they lay their hands on is theirs.Once the three days are over, leave the people alone." as al-Tabari has mentioned.

Yazid's la'nati army first attacked Madina Munawwarah then Makka-tul-Mukarramah. In the holy city of Madina- the soldiers demolished homes, dishonored women, girls and even children!They plundered everything and anything that came in their way and committed untold atrocities! which are even painful to mention. In his 'tarikh', Ibn Katheer states that as many as seven hundred men who knew the Holy Quran by heart, including three close sahaba's of the blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) were killed.

This incident is referred to as the "Incident of Harra", a reference to "Harrat Waqim" where Yazid La'anati army first attacked.In his voluminous book- "Mu'jam al-buldan"- Imam Shihabudeen al-Baghdadi, also known as "Yaqut al-Hamawi"- writes:

It was at this Harrra ( a reference to the Madina suburb- Harrat Waqim- located on the eastern side of Madina) that the infamous Harra incident took place during the life-time of Yazid la'nati in the year 63AH/683 AD. The commander of this army, who had been appointed by Yazid la'anati was Muslim Ibn Uqbah al-Murri, who on account of this ugly incident , was called 'Aal-musrifa' (the one who went to extremes in committing evil).He came to Harrat Waqim and the people of Madina went out to fight him. He vanquished them, killing three thousand and five hundred men who were not Ansars, one thousand and four hundred from among the Ansar, but some say one thousand and seven hundred, and one thousand and three hundred men from among the Quraish.

His hosts entered Madina. They confiscated wealth, arrested some people and dishonored women. Eight hundred women became pregnant due to this incident & gave birth and the offspring were called "off-spring of the Harra".Then he brought prominent personalities to swear the oath of allegiance to Yazid La'anati and to declare that they were the slaves of Yazid La'anati and anyone who refused was killed."

Goats and donkeys and dogs were allowed to roam the inside of Masjid-e-Nabawi and were allowed to defecate and defile the masjid!!The blessed resting-place of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was cordoned off and no one was allowed to visit it during this time.A number of the sahaba-e-karaam (Radi ALLAHu ta'aala anhum ajmaeen) and the tab'ieen (Radi ALLAHu ta'aala anhum ajmaeen) were branded like animals as an additional insult!! Astagfirullah!

This was indeed a dark event in the history of Islam but at the same time- it shows us that the true believers even in times if extremities will never lose his/her faith & belief in ALLAH.Because after all- faith in ALLAH is what sets us apart from the non-muslims & extreme love & reverence for the blessed Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)- is what makes us- you & me- a muslim.

So, please read & gain strength in your Imaan and know this that even though how trying times may seem like right now- ALLAH is there for us & through the waseela of the blessed Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)- all problems will get over & good times will come.So, go ahead & send as much salawat on the Holy Prophet, beloved of ALLAH- Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and believe in ALLAH and YOU will see all your problems MELTING away as Quickly as ICE melts on a hot summer day!! InshaALLAH

WA SALAM POWERSUNISAIFI

18-2-2013  TIME ,,12.25 AM