Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/59)

Zād al-MaʿādIbn al-Qayyim

His servants how He brings restoration after brokenness and kindness after hardship, and how the patience of Hagar and her son (1) in enduring separation, solitude, exile, and submission to the son’s slaughter ultimately led to the sites associated with them and the places where they set foot becoming sites of pilgrimage rites and worship for His believing servants until the Day of Resurrection. This is His way—Most High is He—with those of His creation whom He wishes to elevate: He bestows His favour upon them after they have suffered oppression, humiliation, and brokenness. Allah Most High says:

“And We wanted to confer favour upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them inheritors.” [Al-Qasas: 5]

And:

“That is the bounty of Allah, which He gives to whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.” [Al-Jumu‘ah: 4]

Let us now return to our intended account of his life, guidance, and character, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

There is no disagreement that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was born within Mecca, and that his birth occurred in the Year of the Elephant. The incident of the elephant was a prelude that Allah ordained for His Prophet and His House. After all, the People of the Elephant were Christians, People of the Book, and their religion was better than that of the people of Mecca at the time, for the latter were idol worshippers (2). Yet Allah granted the Meccans victory over the People of the Book—a victory in which human beings played no part—as a sign heralding and preparing the way for the Prophet who would emerge from Mecca, and to honour the Sacred City.

There are two views concerning the death of his father, ‘Abdullāh: did he die while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was still in the womb, or after his birth? The more correct view is that he died while the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was still in the womb. The second is that he died (3) seven months after his birth (4).

(1) After this point, two plates from manuscript qāf are missing from the photographic reproduction. (2) Manuscripts kāf and ‘ayn read: “al-awthān” (the idols). (3) Manuscript ‘ayn reads: “annahu tuwuffiya” (that he died), adding “annahu” (that he). (4) It is also said that he died two months after the Prophet’s birth; another view gives twenty-eight months. See al-Rawd al-Unuf (2:160) and Talqīh al-Fuhūm (p. 14). Other views have also been reported.

عبادَه جبره بعد الكسر، ولطفه بعد الشدة، وأنَّ عاقبةَ صبرِ هاجر وابنها (١) على البعد والوحدة والغربة والتسليم لذبح الولد آلت إلى ما آلت إليه من جعل آثارهما ومواطئ أقدامهما مناسك لعباده المؤمنين، ومتعبَّدات لهم إلى يوم القيامة. وهذه سنته تعالى فيمن يريد رفعته من خلقه: أن يمُنَّ عليه بعد استضعافه وذلِّه وانكساره. قال تعالى: ﴿وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ﴾ [القصص: ٥] و ﴿ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ﴾ [الجمعة: ٤]. ولنرجع إلى المقصود من سيرته ﷺ وهديه وأخلاقه: ولا خلاف أنه ﷺ ولد بجوف مكة، وأن مولده كان عام الفيل. وكان أمر الفيل تقدمةً قدَّمها الله لنبيِّه وبيته، وإلا فأصحاب الفيل كانوا نصارى أهل كتاب، وكان دينهم خيرًا من دين أهل مكة إذ ذاك، لأنهم كانوا عُبَّاد أوثان (٢)، فنصرهم الله على أهل الكتاب نصرًا لا صنع للبشر فيه، إرهاصًا وتقدمةً للنبي الذي خرج من مكة، وتعظيمًا للبلد الحرام. واختلف في وفاة أبيه عبد الله: هل توفي ورسول الله ﷺ حمل، أو توفي بعد ولادته؟ على قولين أصحُّهما: أنه توفي ورسول الله ﷺ حمل. والثاني: توفي (٣) بعد ولادته بسبعة أشهر (٤).

(١) بعد هذا سقطت لوحتان من ق في التصوير. (٢) ك، ع: «الأوثان». (٣) ع: «أنه توفي» بزيادة «أنه». (٤) وقيل: بشهرين. وقيل: بثمانية وعشرين شهرًا. انظر: «الروض الأنف» (٢/ ١٦٠) و «تلقيح الفهوم» (ص ١٤). وقيل غير ذلك.