Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

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65
taken in by his words. This man wants you to abandon the worship of Lat and ”Uzza”. The Holy Prophet, however, paid no heed to him.4 •
Usman ibn Affan (Rad.A) says : ”I once saw the Holy Prophet walking around the sanctuary of Ka’bah. In every round a band of mischief-mongers headed by Abu Jahl passed some sarcastic remarks and then there was a laughter. The Holy Prophet remained unmoved. On the third round, when they repeated the same act, the Holy Prophet stopped there. The complexion of his face underwent a change and he emphatically remarked, ”You will never give up these misdeeds until the calamity comes to you from the heavens.” Usma,n continues : ”At this everyone shuddered.” The Holy Prophet stepped back to his place and God shall certainly grant supremacy to His ”faith”, fulfill His word and shall help His Din. The people whom you find powerful today shall be killed by your hands. Usman observes : ”By God we saw with our own eyes that Allah destroyed them through our hands.”5
Once when the Holy Prophet was prostrating while praying in the Ka’bah, Abu Jahl asked his companions to bring the dirty foetus of a she-camel and place it on his back. Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’yat

• was the unfortunate man who hastened to do this ignoble act. A peel of laughter rose amongst the infidels. The Holy Prophet invoked the wrath of God upon them, especially upon Abu Jahl, Utbah b. Rabi’ah, Shaybah ibn Rabi’ah. Walid ibn Utbah, Umayyah ibn Khalaf and Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’ayt. It is recorded in the Sahih Bukhari that most of them were killed in the battle of Badr. The Holy Prophet once remarked with deep anguish: ”I lived amongst two worst types of neighbours : one of them was Abu Lahab and the other was Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’ayt. Both of them used to throw filth at my door.”6 PUBLIC PREACHING AND DAR-E-ARQAM

The people who had embraced Islam and received the elementary guidance from the Holy Prophet were not left to their fate by him. The Holy Prophet chalked out a comprehensive programme of their individual and collective education and painstakingly implemented it. He taught them the Book and elaborated and elucidated the Divine verses, equipped them with the principles of
’ ibid

5 Ibid ’ The Life of Muhammad (PBUH), P.70

66 Political m>d Cultural History of Islam
Islam and perfected them with the guidance of Allah. The Holy Prophet gave them moral training and imparted ways of purity and prayer. He perfected their manners, routine and commercial dealings. He shaped them collectively under a new moral and social mould. As a result, a new man and a new society was born. Then he disciplined and organized them into a group. He arranged their meetings so that they would keep themselves informed about the condition of one another. In this way they were able to put their heads together for collective welfare as well as advancement of Islamic movement. They strengthened one another and the cause of Islam. It produced courage and energy among them. Dar-e-Arqam was appointed as the meeting place for forging unity and strength among the Muslims.’
It was an equivalent of Dar-ul-Nadwa where the Quraysh used to hold their meetings and devised ways and means of uprooting the Islamic movement. The believers used to meet at Dare-Arqam to devise measures of their security and to find solutions of their individual, social and collective problems. It was a manifestation of Muslim unity in response to the unity of the Quraysh. This collectiveness served the Muslims in many ways. It boosted their morale in the face of a wicked a^d mean opposition.
Dar-e-Arqam was ideally situated. The house of the Holy Prophet being at some distance from Ka’bah was not suitable as a meeting place. So the house of Arqam was selected as it was located on mount Safa near the Holy Ka’bah, which was visible from there. Ka’bah was to become the center of Islam and was regularly visited by people from all over Arabia. It was easy for many pilgrims to the house of God to sneak into Dar-e-Arqam for collecting information about and understanding Islam. It was as easy to return from there after a short sojourn. Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari was amongst such people who used to venture in the quest of truth. The location of Dare-Arqam became a well-known meeting place of the Islamic movement where collective prayers were also offered. Here the companions of the Holy Prophet were reassured and offered sympathy and advised to practice endurance. Consultations were made here and ways and means of promoting the Islamic movement were discussed. Quran was taught here and new entrants were welcomed. This was not a hide-out but a well-known place for the
7 Syed Asad Gilani, Methodology of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Islamic Revolution, Lahore. 1989, P. 124.
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propagation of Islam. It was the first center of Islamic call where many people including Hazrat Hamza and Hazrat Urnar embraced Islam. The Quraysh stopped and harassed new visitors to this place. Hazrat Abu Zar Ghaffari, who wanted to know the truth of Islam and see the Holy Prophet, was carefully brought to Dar-e-Arqam by Hazrat AH who entertained him as a guest in his house for several days.8