لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Explaining Islam Before
Christian Scholars
In the earlier days of Islam the
Muslims were very
few in number, and the idolaters
who were opposed
to Islam used to persecute the
Muslims.Being so few.the Muslims could
do nothing to stop
their persecution, and they thought
it better to migrate
to Avicenna (presently known Ethiopia),
where
they could live freely and in accordance
with the Islamic
principles.Therefore.after a trip across
the desert a group of
them boarded a ship bound for Avicenna.The king
of Avicenna was called al-Najashi
(Negus).and was a
Christian.When informed of the
Muslims' arrival in
his country.he kindly granted
them asylum and treated
them with kindness.As soon as the news of the Muslims'
secret migration
reached the idolaters in Makkah,
they became very
angry.They sent two of their men
to Avicenna laden
with costly gifts, and it was their
task to have the Muslims
arrested and sent back to Makkah.Arriving in
Avicenna they went to al-Najashi's
court and paid him
homage and presented to him their
gifts.Al-Najashi asked them: "Where have
you come
from? What do you want?"
The Makkans replied: "We have come
from the city
of Makkah.A number of our youth
have given up our
religion.They have stopped worshipping
our gods and
have now taken refuge in your country.The lords and
nobles of Makkah call on you to
arrest these youths
and deliver them to us, so that
we may return them
to our city to be punished."Al-Najashi told them that the matter
would be
investigated.Then he summoned
the Muslims to his palace
and, in the presence of his Christian
scholars.he asked
them: "What was your previous religion?
What is your
present religion? Why have you
migrated to this country?"
The Muslims' spokesman was Ja'far
ibn Ah Talib.a selfless young man who was full
of belief.He replied:
"In our city the rich and greedy
oppress the weak.The
people worship idols.They eat
carrion and perform
all types of evil deeds.They are
not kind with one
another and persecute their neighbors.""In these circumstances we have
been blessed by
Allah who has sent us a Prophet
(P.B.U.H.), a man known
for his truth and trustworthiness.He has brought to
us from Allah the religion of Islam."Hearing this, al-Najashi leaned
forward in his seat,
so as to pay more attention to
Ja'far and learn about
Islam and what it says.Ja'far
stayed silent for a moment,
then looked at the Christian scholars
and continued:
"The religion of Islam tells us
not to worship
idols, and that we must only worship
the One True
God, and accept His commands.""The religion of Islam tells us
to be truthful,
trustworthy and loyal.We must
be kind and generous
to our relatives and slaves, and
treat our neighbors
with goodness.Nor should we shed
the blood of innocent
people for no reason, and must
give up all our
evil deeds.We should not talk
badly of people, nor
insult them, and we should not
speak without a purpose.We must not steal the wealth of
orphans, we
must perform the prayer and must
spend a portion of
our money in acts of charity."AI-Najashi and the Christian scholars
listened care
fully to these words.and were
delighted but the Makkans
were biting their lips in annoyance.Ja'far continued: "0 king of Avicenna.the Prophet
Muhammad has brought the religion
of Islam and we
have accepted it.We believe in
Allah and in His
Messenger and have become Muslims.But as soon as we
became Muslims the idolaters of
Makkah became
angry and began to persecute us.Thus we were obliged
to leave the city and seek asylum
here in this country
to be free to worship Allah and
perform the works of
our religion."By now al-Njashi was extremely
pleased and said
to Ja'far: "The words of Isa (Jesus)
(P.B.U.H.) and the
words of your Prophet have descended
from the same
source.Both are the Words of the
God.Therefore,
you are free to remain in this
country.Perform your
devotions freely, and remain followers
of Islam.Truly,
what a good religion you have!"
Then he turned to the Makkans and
said: I do not
take bribes.Pick up the things
you have brought and
go and you must know that I will
never hand over to
you any of the Muslims.Go this
very minute, and
return to Makkah as fast as you
can...at once!"
Thus the two men, sorry and ashamed,
picked up
the gifts they had brought and
left the court in disgrace.
