Retiring to a Mosque for Remembrance of Allah (I’tikaf)

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 242:

Narrated Abdullah bin Umar:

Allah’s Apostle used to practise Itikaf in the last ten days of the month of Ramadan.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 243:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

(the wife of the Prophet) The Prophet used to practice Itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan till he died and then his wives used to practice Itikaf after him.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 244:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:

Allah’s Apostle used to practice Itikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan and once he stayed in Itikaf till the night of the twenty-first and it was the night in the morning of which he used to come out of his Itikaf. The Prophet said, “Whoever was in Itikaf with me should stay in Itikaf for the last ten days, for I was informed (of the date) of the Night (of Qadr) but I have been caused to forget it. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water in the morning of that night. So, look for it in the last ten nights and in the odd ones of them.” It rained that night and the roof of the mosque dribbled as it was made of leaf stalks of date-palms. I saw with my own eyes the mark of mud and water on the forehead of the Prophet (i.e. in the morning of the twenty-first).

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 245:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

The Prophet used to (put) bend his head (out) to me while he was in Itikaf in the mosque during my monthly periods and I would comb and oil his hair.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 246:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

(the wife of the Prophet) Allah’s Apostle used to let his head in (the house) while he was in the mosque and I would comb and oil his hair. When in Itikaf he used not to enter the house except for a need.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 247:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

The Prophet used to embrace me during my menses. He also used to put his head out of the mosque while he was in Itikaf, and I would wash it during my menses.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 248:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

Umar asked the Prophet “I vowed in the Pre-lslamic period of ignorance to stay in Itikaf for one night in Al-Masjid al-Haram.” The Prophet said to him, “Fulfill your vow.”

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 249:

Narrated ‘Amra:

Aisha said, “the Prophet used to practice Itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan and I used to pitch a tent for him, and after offering the morning prayer, he used to enter the tent.” Hafsa asked the permission of ‘Aisha to pitch a tent for her and she allowed her and she pitched her tent. When Zainab bint Jahsh saw it, she pitched another tent. In the morning the Prophet noticed the tents. He said, ‘What is this?” He was told of the whole situation. Then the Prophet said, “Do you think that they intended to do righteousness by doing this?” He therefore abandoned the Itikaf in that month and practiced Itikaf for ten days in the month of Shawwal.”

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 250:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

The Prophet intended to practice Itikaf and when he reached the place where he intended to perform Itikaf, he saw some tents, the tents of ‘Aisha, Hafsa and Zainab. So, he said, “Do you consider that they intended to do righteousness by doing this?” And then he went away and did not perform Itikaf (in Ramadan) but performed it in the month of Shawwal for ten days.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 251:

Narrated Ali bin Al-Husain:

Safiya, the wife of the Prophet told me that she went to Allah’s Apostle to visit him in the mosque while he was in Itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. She had a talk with him for a while, then she got up in order to return home. The Prophet accompanied her. When they reached the gate of the mosque, opposite the door of Um-Salama, two Ansari men were passing by and they greeted Allah’s Apostle . He told them: Do not run away! And said, “She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” Both of them said, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of any evil) O Allah’s Apostle!” And they felt it. The Prophet said (to them), “Satan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it, (everywhere in one’s body). I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.”

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 252:

Narrated Abu Salama bin ‘Abdur-Rahman:

I asked Abu Said Al-Khudri, “Did you hear Allah’s Apostle talking about the Night of Qadr?” He replied in the affirmative and said, “Once we were in Itikaf with Allah’s Apostle in the middle ten days of (Ramadan) and we came out of it in the morning of the twentieth, and Allah’s Apostle- delivered a sermon on the 20th (of Ramadan) and said, ‘I was informed (of the date) of the Night of Qadr (in my dream) but had forgotten it. So, look for it in the odd nights of the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan. I saw myself prostrating in mud and water on that night (as a sign of the Night of Qadr). So, whoever had been in Itikaf with Allah’s Apostle should return for it.’ The people returned to the mosque (for Itikaf). There was no trace of clouds in the sky. But all of a sudden a cloud came and it rained. Then the prayer was established (they stood for the prayer) and Allah’s Apostle prostrated in mud and water and I saw mud over the forehead and the nose of the Prophet.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 253:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

One of the wives of Allah’s Apostle practiced Itikaf with him while she ad bleeding in between her periods and she would see red (blood) or yellowish traces, and sometimes we put a tray beneath her when she offered the prayer.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 254:

Narrated ‘Ali bin Al-Husain (from Safiya, the Prophet’s wife):

The wives of the Prophet were with him in the mosque (while he was in Itikaf) and then they departed and the Prophet said to Safiya bint Huyai, “Don’t hurry up, for I shall accompany you,” (and her dwelling was in the house of Usama). The Prophet went out and in the meantime two Ansari men met him and they looked at the Prophet and passed by. The Prophet said to them, “Come here. She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” They replied, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of evil) O Allah’s Apostle! (we never expect anything bad from you).” The Prophet replied, “Satan circulates in the human being as blood circulates in the body, and I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.”

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 255:

Narrated ‘Ali bin Al-Husain from Safiya:

Safiya went to the Prophet while he was in Itikaf. When she returned, the Prophet accompanied her walking. An Ansari man saw him. When the Prophet noticed him, he called him and said, “Come here. She is Safiya. (Sufyan a sub-narrator perhaps said that the Prophet had said, “This is Safiya”). And Satan circulates in the body of Adam’s offspring as his blood circulates in it.”

(A sub-narrator asked Sufyan, “Did Safiya visit him at night?” He said, “Of course, at night.”)

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 256:

Narrated Abu Said:

We practiced Itikaf with Allah’s Apostle in the middle ten days (of Ramadan). In the morning of the twentieth (of Ramadan) we shifted our baggage, but Allah’s Apostle came to us and said, “Whoever was m Itikaf should return to his place of Itikaf, for I saw (i.e. was informed about the date of) this Night (of Qadr) and saw myself prostrating in mud and water.” When I returned to my place the sky was overcast with clouds and it rained. By Him Who sent Muhammad with the Truth, the sky was covered with clouds from the end of that day, and the mosque which was roofed with leaf-stalks of date palm trees (leaked with rain) and I saw the trace of mud and water over the nose of the Prophet and its tip.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 257:

Narrated ‘Amra bint ‘Abdur-Rahman from ‘Aisha:

Allah’s Apostle used to practice Itikaf every year in the month of Ramadan. And after offering the morning prayer, he used to enter the place of his Itikaf. ‘Aisha asked his permission to let her practice Itikaf and he allowed her, and so she pitched a tent in the mosque. When Hafsa heard of that, she also pitched a tent (for herself), and when Zainab heard of that, she too pitched another tent. When, in the morning, Allah’s Apostle had finished the morning prayer, he saw four tents and asked, “What is this?” He was informed about it. He then said, “What made them do this? Is it righteousness? Remove the tents, for I do not want to see them.” So, the tents were removed. The Prophet did not perform Itikaf that year in the month of Ramadan, but did it in the last ten days of Shawwal.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 258:

Narrated Abdullah bin Umar:

‘Umar bin Al-Khattab said, “O Allah’s Apostle! I vowed in the Pre-lslamic period to perform Itikaf in Al-Masjid-al-Haram for one night.” The Prophet said, “Fulfill your vow.” So, he performed Itikaf for one night.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 259:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

that ‘Umar had vowed in the Pre-lslamic period to perform Itikaf in Al-Masjid-al-Haram. (A sub-narrator thinks that ‘Umar vowed to perform Itikaf for one night.) Allah’s Apostle said to ‘Umar, “Fulfill your vow.”

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 260:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet used to perform Itikaf every year in the month of Ramadan for ten days, and when it was the year of his death, he stayed in Itikaf for twenty days.

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 261:

Narrated ‘Amra bint ‘AbdurRahman from ‘Aisha: Allah’s Apostle mentioned that he would practice Itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. ‘Aisha asked his permission to perform Itikaf and he permitted her. Hafsa asked ‘Aisha to take his permission for

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Volume 3, Book 33, Number 262:

Narrated ‘Urwa:

Aisha during her menses used to comb and oil the hair of the Prophet while he used to be in Itikaf in the mosque. He would stretch out his head towards her while she was in her chamber.

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Imam Ali (as)
Haq se badhh kar taarif karna chaaplusi hai; aur haq se kam taarif karna ya to bolne ki kamzori hai ya phir hasad (jealousy) hai.
Tajalliyat e Hikmat, Taarif

Jo shakhs Allah par aur aakhirat ke din par imaan rakhta ho, us ko chaahiye ke apne padosi ka ikraam kare.
(Bukhari: 6019)

The Invasion of Ta’if

The Ta’if Campaign is in fact an extension of the Hunain Battle: that is because the majority of the defeated troops of Hawazin and Thaqif went to Ta’if with the general commander – Malik bin ‘Awf An-Nasri – and fortified themselves within it. So upon finishing with Hunain Invasion, he gathered the booty at Al-Ji’ranah in the same month (i.e., Shawwal) in the eighth year A.H.

An advance battalion of a thousand men led by Khalid bin AlWalid marched towards At-Ta’if. Whereas Allâh’s Messengerﷺ proceeded passing through the Nakhlah of Al-Yamaniyah, Qarn AlManazil and through Laiyah.

At Laiyah there was a castle that belonged to Malik bin ‘Awf, so Allâh’s Messenger Nabi Pakﷺ gave orders to have it destroyed. He resumed his march until he got to Ta’if. There he dismounted. camped near its castle and laid siege to the castle inhabitants; but not for long

How long the siege continued, is still a matter of disagreement. It however stands between 10-20 days.

A lot of arrow-shooting and rock-hurling occurred during the siege.

For as soon as the Muslims laid siege round the castle, its people started shooting arrows at them. The arrows were so intense and fierce that they looked like a swarm of locusts. A number of Muslims were wounded and twelve were killed.

To be far from the arrow-range, the Muslims had to ascend to a higher location and camp there – i.e., to what is now called AtTa’if Mosque.

The Prophet Nabi Pakﷺ set up a catapult above them and shelled the castle. Eventually a gap was made in the castle wall, through which a number of Muslims managed to pass into the castle, sheltered by a wooden tank, with the purpose of setting fire to it. The enemy poured down molten hot iron on them. Affected by this the Muslims stepped out of the tank and were again exposed to a storm of arrows and consequently some of them were killed.

To force the enemy to surrender, the Prophet ﷺ to a war policy of burning and cutting the enemy’s crops. His order was cut their vineyards and burn them. Seeing that the Muslims started rapidly cutting and burning their vines, they implored the Nabi Pakﷺ to stop and have mercy on them for the sake of Allâh and out of the ties of kinship. So the Prophets Nabi Pakﷺ agreed.

When the caller of Allâh’s Messenger ﷺ called out to people saying: “Whosoever descends and steps out of the castle is free.” Twenty-three men came out. One of them was Abu Bakrah who tied himself and let himself down by means of a small wheel, that would normally be used for drawing up water from a well. The way he let himself down made the Prophet Nabi Pakﷺ nickname him “Abu Bakrah”, i.e., the man with the wheel.

Allâh’s Messenger ﷺ set them all free and entrusted each one of them to a Muslim to care about their living affairs, this event was too hard for the castle people to bear

Seeing that the siege lasted too long and that the castle was immune and could stand any siege (for they had already stored a

supply sufficient for over a year) and that the Muslims were suffering – day by day – from being shot by arrows and struck by heated iron hooks, Allâh’s Messenger content consulted Nawfal bin Mu’awiyah Ad-Daili about that.

He said: “They are like a fox hiding inside its den. If you wait you will catch it, but if you leave, no harm would afflict you.” Allâh’s Messenger Nabi Pakﷺ decided to lift the siege and depart. ‘Umar bin AlKhattab , who was ordered by the Nabi Pakﷺ to notify people, said to them: “If Allâh wills, we are leaving the castle and going back tomorrow.” As it was too hard for the Muslims to go back and leave the castle unconquered, they complained saying, “Should we go away while the castle is still unopened?” His reply was: “Then, start fighting in the morning.” In the morning they fought and were wounded. So when he repeated this statement: “If Allâh wills, we are leaving the castle and going back tomorrow,” they were pleased and carried out the order submissively and started moving, which made Allah’s Messenger Nabi Pakﷺ the laugh.

As soon as they mounted and started moving, the Messenger Nabi Pakﷺ said:

“Say! Here we are returning, repenting, worshipping (Allah) and to our Lord we offer praise.”

When Nabi Pakﷺ was asked to invoke Allâh against Thaqif, he said:

“O Allâh, guide Thaqif and bring them to us as Muslims.”

The Distribution of the Booty at Al-Ji’ranah

Upon returning and lifting the siege in Ta’if, Nabi Pakﷺ had stayed over ten nights at Al-Ji’ranah before starting to distribute the booty. Distribution delay was due to the Prophet’s hope that Hawazin’s delegation might arrive and announce their

repentance and consequently reclaim their loss.

Seeing that none of them arrived, he started dividing the booty so as to calm down the tribes’ chiefs and the nobles of Makkah. The first to receive booty and the ones who obtained the greatest number of shares were the people who had recently embraced Islam.so that these tulaqa remain in Islam and not create any rukus.

Standing by his camel he plucked out a hair of his camel’s hump and held it between his two fingers, lifted it up and said: “O people. I swear by Allâh that I get nothing but one-fifth of your booty, and this very fifth also goes back to you.”

As soon as he had given the new converts, Allâh’s Messenger ordered Zaid bin Thabit to to fetch the booty and summon

people. Then he ordained shares to people. A footman’s share was four camels and forty sheep, and a horseman would take twelve camels and a hundred and twenty sheep.

At first the Prophet’s policy of distribution was not understood by many persons.

So Sa’d into went out and summoned them. When some Emigrants came, he let them in but forbade others. When they were all gathered together, he informed the Nabi Pakﷺ saying: “This group of the Helpers has just arrived to meet you in compliance with your orders.” As soon as the Messenger ﷺ the faced them, he

thanked Allâh and praised Him, then said to them inquiring, “I have been told that you are angry with me. Didn’t I come to you when you were astray and Allâh guided you? You were poor and Allâh gave you wealth. Weren’t you foes and Allâh made you love one another.” “Yes,” they said, “Allâh and His Messengerﷺ are better and more gracious.” Then he said: “What prevents you from replying to the Messenger of Allahﷺ, tribe of Helpers?” They said, “What should be the reply, o Messenger of Allâhﷺ, while to the Lord and to his Messenger belong all benevolence and grace.”

The Prophet ﷺ again said: “But by Allâh, you might have answered and answered truly, for I would have testified to its truth myself: ‘You came to us belied and rejected, and we accepted you; you came to us as helpless, and we helped you; you were a fugitive, and we took you in; you were poor and we comforted you.’ You Helpers, do you feel anxious for the things of this world, wherewith I have sought to incline these people unto the Faith in which you are already established? Are you not satisfied, O group of Helpers that the people go with ewes and camels while you go along with the Messenger of Allâhﷺ to your dwellings. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, had there been no migration, I would have been one of the Helpers. If the people would go through a valley and passage, and the Helpers go through another valley and passage. I would go through the valley and passage of the Helpers. Allâh! Have mercy on the Helpers, their children and their children’s children.”

The audience wept until tears rolled down their beards as they said: “Yes, we are satisfied, O Prophet of Allâh! ﷺwith our lot and share.”

Then the Prophetﷺ left the gathering and the people also dispersed.”

The Arrival of the Hawazin Delegation

The delegation of Hawazin arrived as Muslims just after the

distribution of spoils. They were fourteen men headed by Zuhair bin Surad. The Messenger’s foster uncle was one of them. They asked him to return them the wealth and the captives. They uttered so touching words that Allâh’s Messenger ﷺ said to them “You surely see who are with me. The most desirable speech to me is the most truthful. Which is dearer to you, your wealth or your women and children?” They replied: “Nothing whatsoever compares with kinship.” “Then when I perform the Noon prayer, stand up and say: ‘We intercede with Allâh’s Messenger ﷺto exhort the believers, and we intercede with the believers to exhort Allâh’s Messengerﷺ to forego the captives of our people fallen to their lot’.”

So, when Allâh’s Messengerﷺ performed the Noon prayer, they stood up and said what they had been told to say. The Messengerﷺ then said: “As for what belongs to me and to the children of Abdul-Muttalib, from now on you may consider them yours. And I will ask my folksmen to give back theirs.”

Upon hearing that the Emigrants and the Helpers said: “What belongs to us is, from now on, offered to Allâh’s Messengerﷺ.” But Al-Aqra’ bin Habis said, “I will grant none of what belongs to me and to Bani Tamim,” so did ‘Uyainah bin Hisn, who said: “As for me and Bani Fazarah, I say ‘No’.” Al-‘Abbas bin Mirdas also refused and said: “No,” for Bani Sulaim and himself. His people, however, said otherwise: “Whatever spoils belong to us, we offer to the Messenger of Allâhﷺ.” “You have undermined my position.” said Al-‘Abbas bin Mirdas instantly.

Then Allâh’s Messenger ﷺsaid: “These people have come to you as Muslims. For the same reason, I have already delayed the distribution of the booty. Besides. I have granted them a fair option but they refused to have anything other than their women and children. Therefore, he who has some of theirs and will prefer willingly to give them back, let him do so. But he who favors to keep what he owns to himself, let him grant them back too, and he will be given as a recompense, six times as much from the first booty that Allâh may provide us.”

People then said, “We will willingly offer them all for the sake of the Messenger of Allâhﷺ.” Allah’s Messengerﷺ the said: “But in this way we are not able to find out who is content and who is not. So, go back and we will be waiting for your chiefs to convey to us your decisions.”

All of them gave back the women and children. The only one who refused to comply with the Messenger’s desire was ‘Uyainah bin Hisn. He refused to let an old woman of theirs go back at first. Later on he let her go back. Allâh’s Messengerﷺ gave every captive a garment as a gift.

‘Umrah and leaving for Madinah

Having accomplished the distribution of the spoils at Al-Ji’ ranah, he left it while wearing clothing for ‘Umrah and proceeded to Makkah to perform ‘Umrah. Nabi Pakﷺ turned back from there to Madinah after appointing ‘Attab bin Asid ta on Makkah as governor. His arrival to Madinah was by the last six nights of Dhul-Qa’dah, in the year 8 A.H.”

“Abū Ishāq narrated that he heard Sa‘īd bin Wahb say :
‘Alī (AlahisSalam) took oath from the people, at which five or six
Companion s ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) stood up and bore witness that Allāh’s
Messenger (صلى-الله-عليه-و-آله-وسلم) had said: One who has me as his master
has ‘Alī as his master.”

Ahmad bin Hambal related it in al-Musnad (5:366), and Fadā’ilus-sahābah (2:598, 599 # 1021); Bayhaqī, as-Sunan-ul-kubrā (5:131); Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh Dimashq al-kabīr (45:160); and
Muhib Tabarī in ar-Riyād-un-nadrah fī manāqib-il-‘ashrah
(3:127).
Nasā’ī graded it sahīh (sound) in Khasā’is amīr-il-mu’minīn
‘Alī bin Abī Tālib (p.90 # 83).
Diyā’ Maqdisī narrated it with a sound chain of authorities in
al-Ahādīth-ul-mukhtārah (2:105 # 479).
Haythamī related it in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (9:104) and
declared that Ahmad’s men are sound (rijāluhū sahīh).
Ibn Kathīr said in al-Bidāyah wan-nihāyah (4:170; 5:462) that
its chain of authorities is jayyid (fine).

“‘Amīrah bin Sa‘d ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) has narrated that he
heard ‘Alī (AlahisSalam) make people swear in an open plain and
asked them who had heard the Prophet (صلى-الله-عليه-و-آله-وسلم) say that who
has him as his master has ‘Alī as him master. At this six
persons stood up an d bore witness to it.”

Nasā’ī related it in Khasā’is amīr-il-mu’minīn ‘Alī bin Abī Tālib
(pp.89, 91 # 82, 85); Tabarānī, al-Mu‘jam-ul-awsat (3:134 #
2275); Bayhaqī, as-Sunan-ul-kubrā (5:132); and Mizzī in Tahdhībul-kamāl (22:397, 398).
Ibn ‘Asākir’s narration in Tārīkh Dimashq al-kabīr (45:159)
has eighteen witnesses.
Tabarānī related it in Mu‘jam-us-saghīr (1:64, 65) and it had
twelve witnesses, including Abū Hurayrah, Abū Sa‘īd and Anas
bin Mālik (). Haythamī copied in Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (9:108).

“Abū Tufay l narrated it on the authority of Zayd bin
Arqam ((رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ)) that ‘Alī (AlahisSalam) asked people on oath who among
them had heard the Messenger of Allāh (صلى-الله-عليه-و-آله-وسلم) say on the
day of Ghadīr Khum: Don’t yo u know that I am nearer
than the lives of the believers? They said: Why not! He
said: On e who has me as his master has ‘Alī as his master.
O Allāh! Befriend him who befriends him (‘Alī) an d be
h is enemy who is his (‘Alī’s) enemy. (At Ali’s
conversation,) twelve person s stood up an d bore witness
to this incident.”

Tabarānī related it in al-Mu‘jam-ul-awsat (2:576 # 1987);
Haythamī, Majma‘-uz-zawā’id (9:106); Ibn ‘Asākir, Tārīkh
Dimashq al-kabīr (45:157, 158); Muhib Tabarī, ar-Riyād-unnadrah fī manāqib-il-‘ashrah (3:127); Hindī, Kanz-ul-‘ummāl (13:157 # 36485); and Shawkānī in Darr-us-sahābah (p.211).