Was Islam spread by the sword?

 

Some enemies of the religion claim that
Islam was spread by the sword. What is your response to that?

Praise be to Allaah.

Islam was spread by proof and evidence, in the case of
those who listened to the message and responded to it. And it was spread by strength and
the sword in the case of those who stubbornly resisted, until they had no choice and had
to submit to the new reality.

And Allaah is the source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet
Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.

Who was ‘Umar al-Khayyaam?

 

Who was ‘Umar al-Khayyaam and what
was his belief (‘aqeedah)? I hope you canm give me an idea about him.

Praise be to Allaah.

His full name was Abu’l-Fath, ‘Umar ibn Ibraaheem al-Khayyaami
al-Naysapoori. He was a poet and philosopher from among the people of Naysapoor, where he
was born and died.

He was born in 408 AH, in the town of Naysapoor, where he died and was
buried in 517 AH, or it was said, 515 AH.

He was a scholar who was well versed in mathematics, astronomy,
language, fiqh and history.

Because of his brilliance as an astronomer, he was appointed as director
of the observatory in Baghdaad, and because of his interest in philosophy, his name is
associated with that of Ibn Seenaa (Avicenna), who wrote articles filled with kufr which
put him beyond the pale of Islam.

He is also famous for his poetry, the best known of which is al-Rubaa’iyaat,
which is filled with ideas of kufr, promiscuity and heresy. No wonder the West took such
an interest in publishing and distributing this book! It has been translated into many
languages, such as English, French, Russian, German, etc. The British sought to spread the
ideas of immorality and promiscuity advocated by al-Khayyaam in al-Rubaa’iyaat,
so they spread it in the countries which they colonized, such as India and Iran, and
attributed it to one of the Muslims, rather one of the greatest of them – or so they
claimed.

One of the verses about wine – in al-Rubaa’iyaat –
says:

Drink wine, for it is the relaxation of the soul

A cure for the soul and heart, and entertainment.

If you are overwhelmed with stress and grief,

Save yourself through it, for it is like the ship of Nooh.

Denying the idea of resurrection after death, he said:

Get up before death seizes you

And take the rose-coloured (liquid) [i.e., wine] to expel darkness

O fool, you are not a piece of gold

To be buried and later brought forth

His words of promiscuity and immorality include the following:

As much as you can, follow the people of immorality

Destroy the structure of fasting and prayer

Receive the best words from al-Khayyaam

Drink, sing and pursue the good things

His mocking of the sharee’ah, his insolence towards his Lord and
his attitude towards repentance may be seen in the following words:

Every day I have the intention to repent

If night falls and I feel that I want to repent from drinking wine

Then the season of flowers comes and then,

O Lord, I repent from my intention to repent

Some researchers, such as al-Zarkali, said that later he repented and
performed Hajj. Others, such as ‘Abd al-Haqq Faadil, expressed doubts about the
attribution of al-Rubaa’iyaat to him.

Whatever the case, the Rubaa’iyaat do not indicate that he
repented, because they contain clear statements of kufr, wilful neglect of virtuous
attributes and rejection of the idea of repenting and turning to Allaah. Indeed, they
contain no indication that their author believed in Allaah and the Last Day.

The doubts about whether he wrote these words are outweighed by number
of people who attributed them to him. Allaah knows best what is really the case.

For more details on his life, see al-A’laam by al-Zarkali,
5/38; Mu’jam al-Mu’aalifeen by ‘Umar Ridaa Kahhaalah, 2/549; ‘Umar
al-Khayyaam bayna al-Kufr wa’l-Eemaan, by Ihsaan Haqqi; Thawrat al-Khayyaam
by ‘Abd al-Haqq Faadil.

May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.

Intermarrying among Adam and Eve's children

 

Asalam Alaikum?

I have no doubt whatsoever, but these kind a things come to mind. Whem Adam and Eve
bore children, I assume their children got married among themselves. Isn’t marrying
between brothers and sisters haram in the Quran?

Can you recommend a good book(s) on Islamic Law covering every and each aspect of
Life? Thank you very much for the generous work for the sake of Allah.
Thanks.

wa alaikum us-salaam wa-rahmat ullaahi wa-barakaatuh

All Praise be to Allaah.

As long as you are confident in your heart about your belief, no such insinuations will hurt you (inshaa'
Allaah). If a doubt strikes a believer or something appears to him as a conflict between different textual
sources of Shari'ah, he must believe that indeed for such doubts there are true answers and for such
apparent conflicts there are solutions even if he doesn’t know it or is unable to find the right answer
himself. However, a person should not collect all the doubts in his heart and worry about the
complexities and leave aside the learning of useful knowledge. This is because it is incumbent upon a
Muslim to learn and know things which have been clearly described (Muhkamaat) in Shari'ah so that he
may be able to repel the doubts.

Regarding the question you have asked, it is a known fact that legislation differs from one Shari'ah to
another, while the principles and beliefs remain the same in all of them. So, making of portraits was
allowed in the Shari'ah of Sulayman (peace be upon him) but is prohibited in our Shari'ah. Similarly,
making prostration of salutation was permitted in the Shari'ah of Yusuf (peace be upon him) but is illegal
in ours. Also, war booty was prohibited for nations before us but it is completely legal for us. The
Qiblah of people before us used to be towards Bayt Al-Maqdis, but for us it is towards Ka'bah. In a
similar way, marriage between brothers and sisters was permitted in the Shari'ah of Adam (peace be
upon him) as opposed to those that came afterwards. The following is a clarification on the issue by
Haafidh Ibn Katheer, who said:

Allaah allowed Adam (peace be upon him) to marry his daughters to his sons for necessity. Every
couple used to have a boy and a girl. Hence, he married the girl of one couple to the boy of another.
This is said by Suddi regarding what has been narrated by Abu Maalik and Abu Salih, from Ibn ‘Abbas,
by Murrah from Ibn Mas‘ood and by other companions of the Prophet
(peace be upon him) that
Adam did not have (in his grandchildren) a baby boy unless it was accompanied by a girl, so he married
the male of a couple to the female of another, and the female of a couple to the male of another

When did Islam start

 

When did Islam start, and how long was the period between
Jesus
(upon whom be peace) and Muhammad
(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?

Praise be to Allaah.

Islam began with the beginning of the
Prophet's mission, when Jibraa'eel (the Archangel Gabriel) brought down the
Revelation from Allaah in Makkah (Mecca) in the Arabian Peninsula. This occurred
on a Monday in the month of Ramadaan, in the fortieth year of the Prophet
Muhammad's (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) life, thirteen years
before his Hijrah (migration) to Madeenah (which marks the beginning of the
Islamic or Hijri calendar). According to the Gregorian calendar, the beginning
of the Prophetic mission happened around 608 or 609 CE. Salmaan al-Farsi, may
Allaah be pleased with him, one of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) reported that between Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and Jesus (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), there were six hundred years.

And Allaah knows best.

Taking the crescent as a symbol

 

What is the symbolism behind the
Muslim star and crescent? I did a keyword search of your site and searched my library's
reference books and cannot find anything more than a reference to the flag of the Ottoman
Empire. Thank you for your interest.

Praise be to Allaah.

There is no basis in sharee’ah for taking the crescent or star as
a symbol of the Muslims. This was not known at the time of the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), or at the time of the Khulafa’ al-Raashidoon (the
first four leaders of Islam after the death of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), or during the time of the Umawis (Umayyad dynasty). It emerged some time
after that, and historians differ as to when this symbol was first adopted and who was the
first to adopt it. Some say it was the Persians, others say it was the Greeks, and that
this symbol was somehow passed to the Muslims. (See Al-Taraateeb al-Idaariyah
by al-Kittaani, 1/320). It was said that the reason why the Muslims adopted
the crescent was that when they conquered some western countries, the churches there had
crosses on top of them, the Muslims replaced the crosses with these crescents, and the
practice spread in this way. Whatever the case, symbols and banners must be in accordance
with the teachings of Islam, and as there is no evidence that this symbol is prescribed by
Islam, it is better not to use it. Neither the crescent nor the star are symbols of the
Muslims, even though some Muslims may use them as symbols.

As regards what Muslims think about the moon and the stars, they
believe that they are part of the creation of Allaah, and as such can neither benefit nor
harm people, and they do not have any influence over events on earth. Allaah has created
them for the benefit of mankind, an example of which is seen in the aayah or verse of the
Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning):

“They ask you (O Muhammad) about the new moons. Say: These are
signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage…”
[al-Baqarah 2:189]

[The commentator] Ibn Katheer said, explaining the phrase Say: these
are signs to mark fixed periods of time: “From them (the new moons) they may know
the times for repaying loans, the ‘iddah (waiting period) of their women
[after being divorced or widowed] and the timing of their Hajj (pilgrimage)… Allaah
has made them signs to mark the times when Muslims should start to fast and break their
fast [the beginning and end of Ramadaan], to count the ‘iddah of their women
and to know the times for repaying loans.” (Tafseer Ibn Katheer).

[Another commentator] Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said in his commentary on this aayah [verse]: “This explains the wisdom behind
the waxing and waning of the moon, which is to avoid any confusion in appointed dates,
dealings, oaths, Hajj, ‘iddah, fasting, breaking fasts, length of pregnancy,
rentals and other matters that concern mankind. Similar to this aayah are others
(interpretation of the meanings):

‘And We have appointed the night and the day as two aayaat
(signs). Then, We have made dark the sign of the night while We have made the sign of day
illuminating, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the number of
the years and the reckoning…” [al-Isra’ 17:12]

‘It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light
and measured out its (their) stages, that you might know the number of years and the
reckoning…’ [Yoonus 10:5]

Counting the new moons is easier than counting days.” (See Tafseer
al-Qurtubi).

With regard to the stars, the scholars of Islam say that
Allaah created these stars for three reasons: to adorn the heavens, to drive away the
devils (shayaateen) and as signs for navigation. (Saheeh al-Bukhaari,
Kitaab Bad’ al-Khalq), as Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“It is He Who has set the stars for you, so that you may guide
your course with their help through the darkness of the land and the sea…”
[al-An’aam 6:97]

“And indeed We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and We
have made such lamps (as) missiles to drive away the shayaateen (devils), and have
prepared for them the torment of the blazing Fire.” [al-Mulk 67:5]

Is the Rock in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) suspended in the air?

 

They told us that the sacred rock from
which the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) started his ascent into
heaven on the night of the Mi’raaj is suspended in the air by the power of Allaah.
Please tell us if this is correct, may Allaah reward you.

Praise be to Allaah.

Everything is standing in its position by the permission of Allaah,
whether it be the heavens and all that is in them or the earth and all that is on it
– even the rock which you asked about. Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings):

“Verily, Allaah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they move
away from their places, and if they were to move away from their places, there is not one
that could grasp them after Him…” [Faatir 35:41]

“And among His Signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His
Command…” [al-Room 30:25]

The Rock in Bayt al-Maqdis is not suspended in space with air around it
on all sides; it is attached to the side of the mountain of which it is a part and by
which it is supported; both it and the mountain stand in their positions because of the
well-known physical laws governing the universe; in this regard it is like everything else
that exists. We do not deny that Allaah is Able to hold part of His creation in space; all
of creation is standing in space by the power of Allaah, as stated above. Allaah raised
the mountain above the people of Moosa when they refused to follow the laws that Moosa
brought them. It was held up by the power of Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“And (remember) when We took your Covenant and We raised above
you the Mount (saying): ‘Hold fast to that which We have given you, and remember that
which is therein so that you may become al-muttaqoon (the pious).” [al-Baqarah 2:63]

“And (remember) when We raised the mountain over them as if it had
been a canopy, and they thought that it was going to fall on them. (We said): ‘Hold
firmly to what We have given you, and remember that which is therein, so that you may fear
Allaah and obey Him.” [al-A’raaf 7:171]

But our point here is to explain what is in fact the case: the rock in
Jerusalem is not suspended in space, completely separate from the mountain; it is attached
to it and is supported by it. And Allaah knows best.

Who was Ibn Sayyaad? Was he the false messiah (al-maseeh al-dajjaal)?

 

I have read in some ahaadeeth about a strange person who appeared at the
time of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). His
name was Ibn Sayyaad or Ibn Saa’id. Who was this man and what was he?

Praise be to Allaah. 

Ibn
Sayyaad’s name was Saafi, or ‘Abd-Allaah, ibn (the son of) Sayyaad or
Saa’id.

 He was
one of the Jews of Madeenah, and it was said that he was one of the
Ansaar. He was a child at the time when the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to Madeenah. It was also said that
he became Muslim.

 Ibn
Sayyaad was a dajjaal (a liar), and he used to tell fortunes, sometimes
what he said came true, and sometimes it did not. He became famous among
the people, and it was rumoured that he was the Dajjaal. The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wanted to find out about him,
so he used to go to him secretly, without revealing his identity to him,
hoping to hear something from him. He also asked him some questions
directly, to find out what he really was. He outlived the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then he was lost on the day
of al-Harrah. [comment deleted]

 The
story of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and
Ibn Sayyaad

 ‘Abdaan
told us, ‘Abd-Allaah informed us, from Yoonus from al-Zuhri, who said,
Saalim ibn ‘Abd-Allaah informed me that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with him) informed him that ‘Umar set out with the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to look for Ibn Sayyaad, and
they found him playing with some boys near the battlement of Banu
Maghaalah. At that time Ibn Sayyaad was on the threshhold of adolescence.
He did not notice anything until the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) struck him on the back with his hand.
Then he said to Ibn Sayyaad, “Do you bear witness that I am the
Messenger of Allaah?” Ibn Sayyaad looked at him and said, “I bear
witness that you are the Messenger of the unlettered.” Ibn Sayyaad said
to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Do you
bear witness that I am the messenger of Allaah?” He ignored that and
said, “I believe in Allaah and His Messengers.” Then he asked him,
“What do you see?” Ibn Sayyaad said, “(Sometimes) a truthful one
comes to me and (sometimes) a liar comes.” The Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “You have been confounded.”
Then the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to
him, “I am concealing something from you.” Ibn Sayyaad said, “It is
al-dukh.” [Referring to Soorat al-Dukhaan]. The Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him, “Be off with you! You will
never go beyond your rank.” ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said, “Permit me to strike his neck (kill him), O Messenger of
Allaah.” The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said, “If he is he (the Dajjaal), then you will not be able to overpower
him, and if he is not (the Dajjaal), then your killing him will not do any
good.”  Saalim said, I heard
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) say: After that the Messenger
of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and Ubayy ibn
Ka’b set off to go to some date-palm trees where Ibn Sayyaad was. The
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concealed himself
in order to hear something from Ibn Sayyaad before Ibn Sayyaad saw him.
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw him lying
on his bed with a blanket around him from which was coming a murmuring
sound. The mother of Ibn Sayyaad saw the Messenger of Allaah
(peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) hiding behind the trunk of the
palm-tree and said, “O Saaf!” – which was his name – “Here is
Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)!” Then Ibn
Sayyaad jumped up and the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, “If she had left him alone, things would have been made
clear.” (Narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 1355).

 “Battlement”
refers to a structure like a fortress.

Maghaalah was
a tribe of the Ansaar.

 The
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wanted to talk to
Ibn Sayyaad without him realizing who he was.

 “from
which was coming a murmuring sound” means, a low voice, or moving the
lips as in speech, or speaking in an indistinct manner.

 See
Fath al-Baari for the
commentary on the above hadeeth in Kitaab
al-Janaa’iz of Saheeh
al-Bukhaari. 

        
·         
Was Ibn Sayyaad
the great Dajjaal?

 The
hadeeth quoted above – which describes some of the features of Ibn
Saayaad and how the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) examined him – indicates that the Prophet
(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) did not pass judgement on the matter of Ibn
Sayyaad, because it was not revealed to him (by Wahy)
whether he was the Dajjaal or not.

 Many of
the Sahaabah thought that Ibn Sayyaad was the Dajjaal. ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) swore that he was the Dajjaal
in the presence of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) and the Sahaabah, and the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) did not disapprove of that. Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir said,
“I saw Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah swear by Allaah that Ibn al-Saa’id was
the Dajjaal. I said, ‘Do you swear by Allaah?’ He said, ‘I heard
‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab swear to that effect in the presence of the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not disapprove of
that.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6808).

 Ibn
‘Umar told a strange story about Ibn Sayyaad which was narrated in Saheeh
Muslim from Naafi’, who said: Ibn ‘Umar met Ibn Sayyaad on
one of the paths of Madeenah, and said to him something which made him so
angry that he swelled up and filled the road. Ibn ‘Umar went to Hafsah
and told her about this. She said, “May Allaah have mercy upon you! Why
did you upset Ibn Sayyaad? Don’t you know that the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that he (the
Dajjaal) will emerge when something makes him very angry?” (Saheeh
Muslim, 2932)

 In
spite of that, when Ibn Sayyaad grew up, he 
tried to defend himself and said that he was not the Dajjaal; he
was apparently upset by this accusation, and he quoted as evidence
the fact that the attributes of the Dajjaal described by the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not apply to him.

 Abu
Sa’eed al-Khudri said: “We went out for Hajj or ‘Umrah, and Ibn
Saa’id was with us. We stopped at a place to camp, and the people
separated and I was left with him (Ibn Saa’id). I felt very nervous and
afraid of him, because of what had been said about him. He brought his
luggage and put it with mine. I said, ‘It is very hot – why don’t
you put your things under that tree?’ So he did that. Then some sheep
appeared before us, and he went and brought a large vessel (of milk) and
said, ‘Drink, O Abu Sa’eed.’ I said, ‘It is too hot, and the milk
is hot.’ In fact (the only thing wrong was) that I did not want to drink
from his hand, or take anything from his hand. He said, ‘Abu Sa’eed, I
have been thinking that I should take a rope and suspend it from a tree,
and hang myself, because of what people are saying about me. O Abu
Sa’eed, does anyone know more about hadeeth than you Ansaar? Are you not
one of the most knowledgeable of people about the hadeeth of the Messenger
of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? Didn’t the
Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say
that the Dajjaal is a kaafir, and I am a Muslim? Didn’t the Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say that he would
be sterile, with no children, and I have left my child behind in Madeenah?
Didn’t the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) say that he will never enter Madeenah or Makkah, but I have left
Madeenah and am headed for Makkah?’ … I was about to accept his
excuses, then he said, ‘But, by Allaah, I know who the Dajjaal is, where
he was born and where he is now.’ I said to him, ‘May you perish for
the rest of the day!’” (Narrated by Muslim, no. 5211).

 According
to another report, Ibn Sayyaad said: “By Allaah, I know where he is now
and I know his father and mother.” It was said to him, “Would you not
be happy to be that man?” He said, “If it were offered to me, I would
not refuse.” (Narrated by Muslim, 521)

 The
scholars were confused by the reports about Ibn Sayyaad. Some scholars
said that he was the Dajjaal, and others said that he was not. Both groups
had evidence (daleel) for what they said, and their views conflicted a
great deal. Ibn Hajar tried to reconcile the two views by saying: the best
way in which we may reconcile what is said in the hadeeth of Tameem
al-Daari and the view that Ibn Sayyaad was the Dajjaal is to say that the
Dajjaal is the exact same person whom Tameem al-Daari saw chained up, and
that Ibn Sayyaad was a shaytaan (a devil) who appeared in the image of the
Dajjaal at that time, until he went to Isfahaan, where he hid with his qareen,
until the appointed time comes when Allaah will decree that he should
emerge. Because the matter is so confusing, al-Bukhaari, instead of
attempting a reconciliation, narrated the hadeeth of Jaabir from ‘Umar,
believing it to be more saheeh, and did not narrate the hadeeth of
Faatimah bint Qays about the story of Tameem. (Fath
al-Baari, 13/328)

It was said
that Ibn Sayyaad was one of the dajjaals or liars, but he was not the
greater Dajjaal. And Allaah knows best.