لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Chapter 9The Confinement
The black and difficult years of
hunger begin in the valley of Abu Talib. The Hashimi and Abdul Muttalib
families are imprisoned with the exception of Abu Lahab who has joined the
enemies. Men; women and children are placed in this hot, dry valley. A notice
is written by Abu Jahl in the name of all the wealthy people of the Qoraish and
it is placed on the Kaba wall:
No one, should have any contact
with the Hashimi tribe and Abdul Muttalib. All relationships with them are cut‑off.
Do not buy anything from them. Do not sell anything to them. Do not marry any
of them.'
They are forced to live in this
stony prison until loneliness, poverty, hunger and the difficulties of life
make them surrender to either the idols or death! They all have to bear the
torture, both those who have accepted the new religion and those who have not
as yet turned to the new religion.
Those who have not yet embraced
Islam, but have a sense of freedom,, even though there is a difference of
thought with Mohammad and face to face with Oneness, they put up a united front
towards the enemies. They defend him and even though they do not know Islam
and therefore do not have faith in it, they know Mohammad. They have faith in
his purity. They know he is not interested in personal gain. They sense his
faith. They hear what he has to say about the worship of the Truth. They know
he sincerely wishes to free the people.
They are worth
far more than the intellectuals who are filled with fear, men who are
conservatives like Ali ibn Omayyid, who, having discovered progressive ideology,
supposedly oppose reactionaries and the bearded men who hold onto the foulness
of aristocratic society as well as the classical Arab regime with its class
distinctions. But, at the same time, knowing all of this, in order to protect
the wealth of their fathers, the luxuries of their family, their social
position and physical health and in order to avoid any headaches, they remain
on the side of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab. They watch the torture of Balal, Ammar,
Yasser and Somayyeh. They do not move their lips in objection.
Throughout these difficult years,
they leave their compatriots and their friends in this small compound, alone.
They busy themselves with their lives in the city, bazaar, their homes and
families. They pass their time with the pagan leaders. They even join hands.
They leave behind a tradition. They open a way. Years later, followers of this
way and their religion contain more people than the followers of the religion
of the Prophet himself.
The real Shiites are Ali, Abuzar,
Fatima, Hosein, Zainab and all of the Emigrants and Companions. But those like
Ali ibn Omayyid are the first Moslems to continue the practice of
dissimulation (pious fraud) even though the Prophet had forbidden it. They
remain, loyal to this beneficial priciple and do not relinquish it until their
death.
It is when the fire of a new
faith alights upon their spirits and a movement full of danger begins in
society, based upon experiment, choice and obligatory tests where one speaks to
the self clearly and without deceit, that the wonders of humanity appear. The
glories are accompanied by feelings of inferiority, contempt, strengths as well
as weaknesses. All these are hidden within the spirit and all of them reveal
themselves.
Now in this frightening compound,
there are people who are not Moslems, and yet bear the difficulties with
patience, silence and three years of hunger and loneliness. They share the
shadow of danger. They also take part in God's great revolution of humanity. In
this most sensitive moment of the beginning of the history of Islam, they share
the pain, understanding the position of Mohammad, Ali and their Companions.
But the black cloud of ignorance
covers the comfortable and happy city which is filled with conservatism,
contradiction, painlessness and shamelessness. Some Moslems can be seen among
them whose skirts are contaminated and their hands are frail. They are busy
gaining security and comfort. Are they the viewers or the players in this
tragedy? The question arises because in their imagination they believe they
have religion. They love religious people. They feel themselves to be
,enlightened.
The families of the Hashimi and
Abdul Muttalib tribes cut themselves off for three years from their city, their
people, their freedom and even their means of livelihood and live in this
confinement. Is it possible to‑leave the valley in the middle of the
night and , hidden from the eyes of the spies of the Qoraish, get some food for
the hungry who are waiting in jail? Could it be that a liberal family member or
friend might out of kindness bring them some bread. Hunger sometimes reaches
the point that they take on the image of 'black death'. But as they had prepared
themselves for a 'red death', they are patient.
Sa'ad ibn Ali Vaqas, who is
confined with the others, writes, 'Hunger has brought on such dizziness that,
if at night I kick at a soft and wet material, without even realizing it, I put
it in my mouth and suck it. Two years later, I still do not know what it was.'
One can see, under these
conditions, what passes for the family of the Prophet, even if history said
nothing. All of this family bears the difficulties of hunger, loneliness and
poverty for the sake of the Prophet. The Prophet personally assumes
responsibility for them. When a child cries from the pain of hunger, whenever a
sick person cries from lack of medicine and lack of food, whenever an aged
person, man or woman, reaches their limits of bearing difficulties and
pressures suffered from three years of hunger, physical torture and the
tortures of this valley, they hide all they bear within themselves. The light
and blood drained from their faces, they deny any problems when confronting
Mohammad.
At the same time, inspite of all
of the difficulties, they remain loyal and generous in faith and love. All of
this shows the expressions of the spirit, of faith and human life which greatly
affected the sensitive heart of the Prophet.
Know for sure that whenever food
arrives in the darkness of the night and it is given into the hands of the Prophet
to be spread among the people, the share of his wife and daughter is the least
of all, in order that they not fear for their lives.
The family of Mohammad in this
compound consists of Khadijeh and his small daughter, Fatima, her sisters, Umm
Khulthum and Roqiyyeh, daughters‑in‑law of Abu Lahab. After the
mission of the Prophet, he orders his sons to divorce them in order to hurt and
show contempt for the Prophet. But Osman, who is a young, wealthy, handsome
man, marries Roqiyyeh and from the point of view of society, the act of Abu
Lahab is answered. Roqiyyeh then imigrates to Ethiopia with Osman. Umm Khulthum,
whose life had fallen apart and who had given up her happiness because of her
faith in her father, now found herself in the compound, preferring hunger and
remaining with her generous and heroic father in the way of faith and freedom
to living in comfort and ease with her malicious and conservative husband,
Otaybeh.
The days pass with difficulty in this compound. At night,
the black tent of darkness falls upon the residents of this mountainous area
separated from life. Weeks, months and years pass with hardship, they pass
slowly over their tired bodies and spirits but all continue to step in sympathy
with each other and with the Prophet.
The family of the Prophet has a
special position in the midst of this group. The head of the family holds the heavy
weight of their bitter fate upon his shoulders. Umm Khulthum, her happiness
destroyed, has moved from the home of her husband to that of her father. His
other daughter, Fatima, is still a young girl either two or three years old or
twelve or thirteen. At the same time that she has a weak constitution, she has
a sensitive spirit, full of feelings. His wife, Khadijeh, very aged, perhaps
seventy years old, having lived through the ten years of the Prophet's mission
and three years in the compound, having suffered hunger, having witnessed the
constant torture of her husband and daughters, and bearing the death of her two
sons, has not given up patience, but the flow of strength to her body has been
stopped. At every instant death appears to her.
In this state, the hunger in
Mohammad's house cries out so loud that the aged, sick Khadijeh, who has lived
her life in wealth and has now given everything in the way of Mohammad, puts a
bit of leather in water and holds it between her teeth.
Fatima, the young, sensitive girl
is worried about her mother and her mother is worried about her last, frail
daughter whose love for their mother and father is a common expression among
the people.
A day among the last days of
their imprisonment, Khadijeh, who senses the approach of her death, is bedridden.
Fatima and Umm Khulthum are sitting beside her. Her father has gone outside to
distribute the rations.
Khadijeh, aged, weak, sensing the
difficulties she has lived through, says with a sense of regret, If only my
approaching death could wait until these dark days pass and I could die with
hope and happiness.'
Umm Khulthum, crying, says, 'it
is nothing, mother, do not worry.'
'Yes, for me, by God, it is
nothing. I am not worried about myself, my daughter. No woman among the Qoraish
has tasted the blessings that I have tasted. There is no woman in the world who
has received the generosity which I have received. It is enough for me that my
fate in this life, in this world, has been to be the beloved wife of God's
choice. As to my fate in the other world, it is enough that I have been among
the first who believed in Mohammad and that I am called the mother of his
followers'.' Then whispering to herself, she continues, 'Oh God, I cannot count
the blessings and kindnesses that you have given me. My heart has not grown
narrow because I am moving towards you, but I do wish to be worthy of the
benefits you gave me.'
The shadow of death falls upon
the house. Silence and deep sorrow fill Khadijeh, Umm Khulthum and Fatima.
Suddenly, the Prophet appears illuminated with hope, faith, strength and
victory. It is as if three years of loneliness, hunger and heavy spiritual
asceticism have had no affect upon the body and spirit of the Prophet other
than to increase his courage, will power and faith.
