Sunday, February 26, 2012

Promises

Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) and his father Hadhrat Yamaan (may Allah be pleased with him) were on their way to Madinah to meet with Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) when Abu Jahal got hold of them.

When he asked them where they were headed, they informed him that they intended to meet Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) in Madinah.

Sword
"You are going there to fight against us," Abu Jahal shouted. When Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) assured him that all they intended doing was meeting Rasulullaah (peace be upon him),

Abu Jahal made them promise that they would not fight with the Muslims against him and the other Mushrikeen. Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) was therefore forced to make the promise.

At that time, the Muslim army was already leaving for the Battle of Badr and Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) met them on the way. This was the great battle that Allaah refers to as the day of Furqaan (the day when the truth was seperated from the falsehood).

It was the muslims fighting in this battle who are referred to as the Badriyyeen, who have a very high rank among all the Sahabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) and about whom Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) stated that they were all forgiven by Allaah.

When Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) met Rasulullaah (peace be upon him), he explained to Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) that they had been forced by Abu Jahal to promise not to fight in the battle.

He had placed a sword to their necks and they had to make the promise to save their lives. Hadhrat Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with him) therefore asked Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) to allow them to fight in the battle because their promise was one made under threat.

Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) however told them that since they had made a promise, they were forced to keep it. At that time, the Muslims needed every man they could get to fight for them because they were so few in number.

They were only 313 in number with just seventy camels, two horses and eight swords. The other Sahabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) carried only sticks and rocks.

However, despite the need for more people, Rasulullaah (peace be upon him) still saw it more important for a person to keep his promise.

Children

We learn from this incident that even if a promise is made to a Kaafir (non believer), it must be kept as far as is possible. However, there may be different situations at different times that will not be like this.

It is therefore necessary to always ask the Ulema (Scholars of Islam) and the elders whenever such occasions arise.

6 comments:

  1. Masha'Allah this is such an important lesson, we take promises so lightly nowadays and find all types of excuses to break them. May Allah guide us all and reward you for giving us this reminder.

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  2. thank you for writing about the importance of promise and the battle of Bdre. Keep up the excellent work for the benefit of UMMA.
    Jazaak Allah

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  3. we have all forgotten the importance of promise. We promise on the name of ALLAH and break it. Let this be the reminder for us to never break our promises.

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  4. Ma shaa' Allah I've never heard of this hadith. God reward you for putting this up here. I thought Prophet(pbuh) would ask them to go for the battalion since the promise was forced, but he didn't. This is really where the beauty of Islam lies. Ma Shaa' Allah. Keep up your work brother/sister..

    Jazak Allah

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  5. I like this post very much because I've seen that these days people consider wearing labels are the only thing that Islam wants you to do. While the essence of Islam is Akhlaaq. Nice reminder! Jazakallah Khairun!

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  6. Assalamu alaikum warahmatulahi wabarakatuhu,

    Forgive me for late response.

    Under each post there are icons which allow you to share the post with facebook, twitter, blog it, & google +1. I humbly request everyone to share each post you read using the above mentioned icons. May Allaah (Most Exalted Most High) reward you for your efforts, stay blessed, Aameen.

    @Zarina Hassem - JAzakAllah khair, Aameen.

    @TARIQ MIAN - Your welcome, BarakAllah feek.

    @FarhanJ - Indeed thanks for your words.

    @Monalisa - JazakAllah khair, Aameen & im brother thank you.

    @Bintulislam - Akhlaaq is paramount, barakAllah feek.

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