Shaikh-ul-Islam Mawlana Abdol-Hamid urged on relying on the Qur’an and Sunnah for correct recognition of the Sahabah, the Companions of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as love for them is love for the last messenger.
Khateeb of Sunnis in Zahedan began his Friday speech of March, 14, 2014 by the Noble Qur’anic verse: « مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّـهِ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَرِضْوَانًا ۖ سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ…» [الفتح: 29], (Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, seeking grace from Allah and pleasure; their marks are in their faces because of the effect of prostration.)
He said, “The Almighty announced His pleasure from the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, at the Hudaibiyah Treaty. In the sixth year after the migration (Hijrah), the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, headed towards Makkah with a thousand and four hundred Muslims to perform the lesser pilgrimage, Umrah. They left Madinah in a state of ‘Ihram’, and when they arrived in Hudaibiyah, they settled there preparing themselves for the lesser pilgrimage.”
“As soon as the disbelievers of Makkah knew about their coming, they sent some of their armed men to stop the Muslims from entering Makkah. Thus, the Last Messenger, peace be upon him, felt so resentful as he did not come for fighting, then he asked the Muslims to take another way to avoid getting into a war with the disbelievers. Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, decided to send ‘Uthman ibn Affan’ to Makkah to convince the disbelievers about their intention to perform the pilgrimage in peace, but they refused and arrested ‘Uthman ibn Affan’. Afterwards, they spread a false rumour about his murder,” Shaikh shed light on the story of Hudaibiyah more.
The Hadith teacher at Darululoom Zahedan further said, “The Prophet felt so angry at hearing the bad news that he asked the Muslims to give him a pledge to fight the disbelievers, and the Muslims did without hesitation. That was ‘Ar-Ridwan’ pledge which was undertaken under a tree. Allah Almighty said in the favor of those Muslims accepting their allegiance: “Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility on them and rewarded them with a near victory.” (48:18).”
He narrated the story of the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah, saying, “Once the disbelievers knew about the Muslims’ intention of fighting, they released Uthman ibn Affan and sent Sohail ibn Amr to the Prophet, peace be upon him, to ink a treaty with him. The treaty of peace was written by Ali ibn Abi-Talib who felt angry when Sohail refused to start the treaty with ‘Bismi Allah Arrahman Arrahim’ (In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful) because he wanted to start it with ‘Bi-ismika Allahumma’, but the Prophet did not show any objection and asked Ali to write it like the representative of the Makkah disbelievers wanted. Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, dictated ‘the treaty was agreed by the Apostle of Allah, Muhammad and Sohail Ibn Amr’, but Sohail refused it again stating that he did not acknowledge him as a Prophet of God. Ali became so furious and did not want to change it because he had already written ‘Muhammad the Prophet of God’, then the Prophet, peace & blessings be upon him, erased it by his hands.”
“The disbelievers did not tolerate the word ‘apostle of Allah’ for the beloved prophet, peace be upon him, but the Almighty Allah mentioned his name as the prophet of Him in the Noble Qur’an forever: ‘Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah’; (48:29),” he added more.
The rector of Darululoom Zahedan addressed the audience saying, “If you want to recognize Sahabah well, revert to the Qur’an and Sunnah. We believe in the Qur’an and Sunnah; if someone claims anything unlike the directions and specifications of them, we will deny it forcefully. In fact, love for Sahabah is love for the Prophet, peace be upon him.”
Pointing out to the death anniversary of Fatimah bint Muhammad, Shaikh Isma’eelzahi said, “The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, loved his daughter Fatimah more than his other daughters. Ali, Fatimah, and their sons, Hasan and Hussein, may Allah be pleased with them, were companions and households of the prophet. They do not belong to any particular sect; rather all Muslims love them.”
Khateeb of Sunnis added more, “I would like to advise all Muslims, lovers of the Households and Companions to maintain their unity and do not give the enemy opportunity to take the advantage of sectarian differences. I call on media holders to control their feelings and preserve the sanctities of all Muslims.”
Ukraine crisis divided ‘super powers’
Mawlana Abdol-Hamid alluded to the political crisis in Ukraine and severe differences of the big powers, stating, “The Security Council and UN are under the full control of so called super powers; they could resolve big disputes of Muslim states but they did not show any mercy for Muslims. Now the Almighty created severe disagreement among them in Ukraine and its autonomous peninsula of Crimea. However, we support peace and security in the world for all; we think all rival sides should reach to any agreement by dialogue and negotiation.”
He termed the disputed referendum for separation of Crimea region by the pro-Russian local government ‘ridiculous and irrational’. He said, “The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Organizing referendum for separation of a part of a country is like the story of a woman who had married to a man and she has some children too, but a third man asked her who’s her husband; he or her legal husband?! The only solution for the Ukraine and Crimea crisis is negotiation and dialogue; every involved side should seek a solution via negotiation, logic, law and the international treaties.”