Imam Hussain (RadiAllahuanh)

Hazrat Sayyiduna Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) is the beloved son of Hazrat Sayyiduna Ali and Bibi Fatima (Ridwanullahi Ta'ala Alaihim Ajma'een) and the most beloved grandson of Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He was born on the 5th of Sha'baan in the year 4 Hijri.
Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) gave the Azaan in his right ear and the Iqaamat in his left ear. He then placed his blessed saliva in the mouth of Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) and made Dua for him. On the 7th day he was named Hussain and his Aqeeqa was performed. Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) commanded Hazrat Bibi Fatima (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) to remove his hair and to give silver in charity equivalent to the weight of the hair.
                                                                                                                         

Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) was without doubt a very handsome personality.From his chest down to his blessed feet he was the image of Rasoolullah (Sallallahu AlaihiWasallam), whereas his elder brother Hazrat Imam Hassan (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) was the image of Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) from his chest up to his blessed head. The blessed face of Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) was so bright that it would even shine in the darkness of night.
Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) was taught by Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), Hazrat Bibi Fatima and Sher-e-Khuda Hazrat Ali (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhum). Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) loved Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) due to his piety and pure heart. The Beloved Rasool (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) was also aware that the time would come when his beloved grandson would save the Ummah from destruction at the hands of a corrupt and tyrant leader.
Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) loved Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) dearly. Hazrat Umar Farooq (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) said, “Once, when I presented myself in the court of Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) I saw that he was walking on his knees carrying Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) on his blessed back. When I saw this I said, “Your mode of transport is most splendid. On hearing this, the Beloved Rasool (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) replied, “O Umar, the passenger is also very splendid.””
Hazrat Ya'la bin Marwaa (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) reports that Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “Hussain is from me and I am from Hussain. Whosoever has kept Hussain as his beloved, Allah is his beloved.”
Hazrat Jaabir ibn Abdullah (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) states, “I heard from Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), “Whosoever wishes to see the leader of Paradise, he should look at Hussain ibn Ali (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh).””
Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) was a very kind, gentle, generous, merciful and Allah-fearing personality. He always cared for the poor and oppressed, assisted the helpless, gave comfort to those in pain and sorrow and showed great love and affection towards orphans. He was the embodiment of the character of his grandfather Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and of his blessed parents.
His tolerance and patience was also exemplary. This was manifested by the fact that his martyrdom had been foretold by the Beloved Rasool (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and even though he was aware of this, he still made sabr and waited for the Will of Allah to take its course.Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh) was also blessed with bravery of the highest degree and this bravery and fearlessness was manifested on many occasions, particularly during the Battle of Karbala.
The following incidents should give us a glimpse of the exemplary personality of Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh):

Once, Hazrat Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhum) wrote some words in calligraphy on a blackboard. After they had completed writing, they both told each other that the other's writing was better. They could not come to an agreement as to whose writing was better, so they took their work to Hazrat Ali (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) and asked him to make the decision. He looked at their work and asked them to take it to their mother Hazrat Bibi Fatima (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anha). She looked at their work and said that the best person to make such a decision would be their beloved grandfather Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Both brothers then went to the court of the Beloved Rasool (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), who looked at their work and said, “This decision will be made by Hazrat Jibra'eel (Alaihis Salaam).
Immediately Hazrat Jibra'eel (Alaihis Salaam) appeared and said, “O Prophet of Allah, this decision will be made by Almighty Allah.” Thus Almighty Allah commanded Hazrat Jibra'eel (Alaihis Salaam) to take an apple from Jannat and to drop it over their boards. The best piece of work will be that on which the apple will fall. Hazrat Jibra'eel (Alaihis Salaam) then did as commanded and dropped the apple over the boards. The apple fell and split into two equal pieces, half on the board of Hazrat Imam Hassan and half on the board of Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhum). Subhaanallah! This showed that both of their calligraphic writing was
equal. It also shows us what excellence has been bestowed on the grandsons of Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) that the decision concerning their writing is made in the Divine Court of Almighty Allah.
Once, Hazrat Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhum) had gone outside for a long time and Hazrat Bibi Fatima (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anha) became very worried. She was still thinking about where the children might have gone when the Beloved Rasool (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) arrived at her home. She immediately asked her beloved father, “Ya Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain cannot be found. They have gone out and we do not know their whereabouts.” Just then, Hazrat Jibra'eel (Alaihis Salaam)
descended and said, “Ya Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), there is nothing to worry about.
Both the children are at a certain place and Almighty Allah has appointed angels to protect them.” On hearing this, Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) went to the spot pointed out by Hazrat Jibra'eel (Alaihis Salaam) and he saw that both the beloved grandsons were resting and an angel had one of his wings under them and was shading them with the other wing. The Beloved Rasool (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) kissed both of them and carried them home to Hazrat Bibi Fatima (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anha).
Once a Bedouin presented himself in the court of Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) and said, “I heard your beloved grandfather (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) say that when one is in need of anything, then one should request this from one of four persons; either from a pious Arab, or from a pious master, or from a Hafizul Qur'an, or from a graceful person, and all these four qualities are found in you in the highest form. The reason for this, is that if the entire Arabia received piety, it is through your blessed family, and generosity is your beautiful quality; as for the Qur'an, this was revealed in your home and concerning your gracefulness, I heard your
beloved grandfather (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) say, “If you wish to see me, then look at Hassan and Hussain.””
Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) listened to his words and then said, “I heard my beloved grandfather Rasoolullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) saying, “Piety is according to one's knowledge.” I will thus ask you three religious questions. I have with me this bag. If you answer one question I shall give you one third of what is in the bag; if you answer two, then I shall give you half of what is in this bag and if you answer all the questions, then I shall give you all of what is in the bag.” The Bedouin was very pleased and requested Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) to present the questions. He asked, “Which action is the most exalted amongst all actions?” The Bedouin replied, “To bring faith in Allah.” Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh)
then asked, “What protects a servant from destruction?” He answered, “In having complete trust (faith) in Allah.” Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) then asked, “What is that through which a servant attains his splendour?” He answered, “By knowledge which is accompanied with good deeds.” He asked, “And if one does not have this quality?” He answered, “He should have that wealth in which there is generosity.” He then asked, “And what if one does not have such wealth?” He said, “He should be patient in his poverty.” Sayyidush Shuhada (Radiallahu Ta’ala
Anh) then asked, “And what if someone is not is such a poverty (where he is patient)?” The Bedouin replied, “Then he should be struck by a bolt of lightening.” On hearing these answers, Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) smiled and gave him the entire bag.
Once Hazrat Imam Hassan, Hazrat Imam Hussain and Hazrat Abdullah ibn Jaafar (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhum) had gone together on Hajj. On their way, the camel which was carrying food, water and belongings went astray and was left far behind. They came to a shack belonging to a very old woman. All three of them went over to the shack and told the woman that they were very thirsty and asked if she could spare them something to drink. The old woman kindly milked her goats and presented the goats milk for them to drink. They then kindly asked if she had anything for them to eat. The old woman said that the food was not prepared but if they wished to wait, she would slaughter the goat and cook it for them. They thus agreed to wait. The goat was slaughtered and the old woman cooked a delicious meal. All of them happily partook in the meal, and on leaving they informed the old woman that they were of the Quraish tribe and they invited her to visit them in Madina, so that they may return her generous favour. The three of them then continued on their journey. Her husband came home later that day and found that she had cooked the goat. He was very angry that she had fed the goat to people she did not even know.
Some time passed and both the old woman and her husband became very poor. They travelled to Madina Munawwarah where they earned very little money gathering and selling camel droppings. Once while she was walking in Madina Shareef, Hazrat Imam Hassan (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) spotted her. He immediately went up to her and asked if she recognized him. The old woman said that she could not and Imam Hassan (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) explained to her that he was amongst those who stopped at her shack and partook in a meal which she provided for them. On hearing this she was very pleased and she informed Hazrat Imam Hassan (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) of her situation. Hazrat Imam Hassan (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) took her to his home and gave her
one thousand goats and one thousand dinars in cash. He then asked his servant to take her to the home of Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh). Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) asked her what her brother had given her, and he too blessed her with one thousand goats and one thousand dinars. Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) then asked his servant to take her to the home of Hazrat Abdullah ibn Jaafar (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh). He was very pleased to see her and asked what both Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anhum) had given her. She replied that all together they had given her two thousand goats and two thousand dinars.
On hearing this he gave her two thousand goats and two thousand dinars. The old woman was now very pleased, and took the four thousand goats and four thousand dinars and went to her husband. She presented these to him and said, “This is a gift from that generous family to whom I had fed one goat.” Subhaanallah! What generosity did Hazrat Imam Hussain (Radiallahu Ta'ala Anh) and his family possess.
May Allah Ta’ala grant us the Taufeeq to instil in us and our children the beautiful qualities possessed by Hazrat Imam Hussain Radiallahu Ta’ala Anh, Ameen.

[Compiled from Tazkira Masha’ikh-e-Qadria Razvia by Maulana Abdul Mujtaba Razvi ]

Muharram, Kerbala & Imam Hussain (as)

Muharram, Kerbala & Imam Hussain (as)         
 Inform others-use this Article esp for non muslims

Think not of those who are slain in God's way as dead. Nay, they are living, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord (Qur'an 3:169)

 EVENT & PERSONALITIES 

Imam Hussain was the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, through his daughter, Lady Fatima and son-in-law, Imam Ali, peace be upon them all.  

In less than half a day on the 10th of Muharram ( Ashura)  in the year 680 A.D. (61 A.H.), on the hot desert sands of Karbala in Iraq, Imam Hussain(as), and 72 of his family members, friends and followers, including his 6 month old infant son, were martyred under most gruesome circumstances. These included His brother Hazrat Abbas (as) the standard bearer, His young 18 yr old son Ali Akber & his 4 year old daughter Sakina who died while in prison in Damascus. The Oppressive ruler; Yazid son of Mu'awiya son of Abu Sufiyan & his very large army of over 30,000 men, committed these heinous crimes against the small group which included the household of the Prophet. Lady Zainub (sister of Imam Hussain)  also played a key role especially subsequent to the battle to inform people of the truth.

The group, including the six-month infant Ali Asgar, was without food and water for 3 days before their martyrdom. Ali Asgar was martyred thirsty in his father's arms when his tender throat was pierced by a three-pointed poisoned arrow, while his father implored the tyrants to allow water to the infant, after all his other companions were martyred at their hands.

Imam Hussain resolved to defend his thirsty entourage from the killer army’s onslaught, rather than submit to their forcible extraction of allegiance to a criminal despotic regime which used the  name of Islam. He was going to stand to his principle to defend True Islam, even though he might be the last man standing with no support, no help.

The martyrs were beheaded & their heads were put on spears, while their corpses were trampled upon and left unburied. The ordeal did not stop at this as the women and children in the Imam's entourage were held captives and tortured while being led on an arduous journey to Damascus to be paraded and later imprisoned . The only male survivor was Imam Zainul Abideen (as) son of Imam Hussain (as) who was ill at that time, yet chained & repeatedly beaten.

In the history of Islam, al‑Husayn ibn 'Ali, the martyr of Karbala, wrote one of the most brilliant chapters; a chapter which still and after more than fourteen centuries, echoes in the minds and hearts of Muslims everywhere. It is remarked by a modern Muslim writer that 'With every Karbala Islam is renewed'.

Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) considered the greatest British historian of his time. Wrote “In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Hussein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader."  [The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, London, 1911, volume 5, pp. 391-2] 

 REASONS  

Imam Hussain(as), his family and friends sacrificed everything ( life ,wealth, family honor)  that they had ,in their struggle against tyranny and despotism and for upholding the human values of truth, justice and liberty of thought, word and deed. Their struggle was aimed at the ultimate goal of awakening human beings of all times to uplift the human spirit beyond short-sighted materialistic pursuits, and establish a just and equitable order in society. 

Imam Hussain wrote a will and handed it over to his brother Muhammad Hanafiyyah.  The will read, ‘’I have not risen against Yazid in order to create corruption or discord, nor to elevate myself in the eyes of the people, nor to oppress.’’ Innama kharajtu litalabil islahi fi ummati jaddi wa abi’’ I have only risen to rectify, to reform the affairs of the Ummah of my grandfather and of my father. ‘’Uridu ‘an aamura bil ma’ruf wa anha ‘anil munkar.’’ I want to invite people towards good and forbid them from evil.’’  

 Yazid the oppressive ruler openly indulged in sinful activities like drinking, womanizing, terrorizing /killing innocent people, making fun of scholars etc & yet claimed to be rightful successor /leader of Islam & the Muslim ummah. The silent majority scared and terrified by the overflowing military might and power, did nothing about this.

Yazid demanded that Imam Hussain (as) pay allegiance (bay'aa) to him. When asked to give bay’aa to Yazid, Imam Hussain said, ‘’ We are the household of the prophet hood, the source of messengership, the descending place of the angels, through us Allah had begun showering His favours, whereas Yazid is a sinful person, a drunkard, the killer of innocent people and one who openly indulges in sinful acts. ‘Mithli la yubayi’u mithlah’. A person like me can never do bay’aa(pay allegiance) to a person like him (Yazid).   I look upon death as but the felicity of martyrdom and I regard life among oppressors and transgressors as nothing but agony and torture.  By God I will never give you my hand like a man who has been defeated; nor will I flee like a slave.’’

He rejected the rule of a man who was generally agreed not to have been fit to rule. In this sense he was a revolutionary, as indeed he is now regarded by contemporary writers.

 EFFECTS 

The event is of great significance because of what this martyrdom meant for the religion of Islam in exposing the wrong and upholding the right through the sharp contrast between him and his followers on the one hand and his antagonists on the other.

 Mahatma Gandhi in 1924 writing in ‘Young India’’ about the battle of Karbala said among other things ‘’ I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind….the utter self-effacement of Hussain, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission to save Islam.’’

 The Martyrdom has also prompted a vast body of literature in a multitude of languages all over the world, a phenomenon that continues to this day. Outstanding examples of this are the elegies written by Mir Anis, one of which holds the world record for the longest verse for the past two centuries.  

Muharram: The Start of the Islamic Calendar

Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, "The number of the months according to Allah is twelve months (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day in which He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified". These four months, according to the authentic traditions are the months of Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Holy Quran are unanimous on this point, because the Holy Prophet  in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, has declared: "One year consists of twelve months, of which four are sanctified months, three of them are in sequence; Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram, and the fourth is Rajab." The specific mention of these four months does not mean that any other month has no sanctity, because the month of Ramadan is admittedly the most sanctified month in the year. But these four months were specifically termed as sanctified months for the simple reason that their sanctity was accepted even by the pagans of Makkah. In fact, every month, out of the twelve, is originally equal to the other, and there is no inherent sanctity, which may be attributed to one of them in comparison to other months. When Allah Almighty chooses a particular time for His special blessings, then it acquires sanctity out of His grace. Thus, the sanctity of these four months was recognized right from the days of Sayyidina Ibrahim. Since the Pagans of Makkah attributed themselves to Sayyidina Ibrahim they observed the sanctity of these four months and despite their frequent tribal battles, they held it unlawful to fight in these months. In the Shariah of our Holy Prophet  the sanctity of these months was upheld and the Holy Quran referred to them as the "sanctified months". The month of Muharram has certain other characteristics peculiar to it, which are specified below. Fasting during the month The Holy Prophet  has said: "The best fasts after the fasts of Ramadan are those of the month of Muharram." Although the fasts of the month of Muharram are not obligatory, yet, the one who fasts in these days out of his own will and choice is entitled to a great reward by Allah Almighty. The Hadith cited above signifies that the fasts of the month of Muharram are most reward-able ones among the Nafl fasts i.e. the fasts one observes out of his own choice without being obligatory on him. The Hadith does not mean that the award promised for fasts of Muharram can be achieved only by fasting for the whole month. On the contrary, each fast during this month has merit. Therefore, one should avail of this opportunity as much as he can. The day of Ashurah Although the month of Muharram is a sanctified month as a whole, yet, the 10th day of Muharram is the most sacred among all its days. The day is named Ashurah. According to the Holy companion Ibn Abbas. The Holy Prophet , when migrated to Madinah, found that  the Jews of Madinah used to fast on the 10th day of Muharram. They said that it was the day on which the Holy Prophet Musa (Moses) and his followers crossed the Red Sea miraculously and the Pharaoh was drowned in its water. On hearing this from the Jews, the Holy Prophet  said, "We are more closely related to Musa than you" and directed the Muslims to fast on the day of Ashurah. (Abu Dawood) It is also reported in a number of authentic traditions that in the beginning, fasting on the day of Ashurah was obligatory for the Muslims. It was later that the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory and the fast on the day of ''Ashurah was made optional. Sayyidah Aishah has said: "When the Holy Prophet  came to Madinah, he fasted on the day of Ashurahh and directed the people to fast it. But when the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory, the obligation of fasting was confined to Ramadan and the obligatory nature of the fast of  Ashurah was abandoned. One can fast on this day, if he so wills, or can avoid fasting, if he so wills." However, the Holy Prophet  used to fast on the day of Ashurah even after the fasting in Ramadan was made obligatory. Abdullah Ian Masud reports that the Holy Prophet  preferred the fast of Ashurah to the fast of other days and preferred the fast of Ramadhan to the fast of Ashurahh. (Bukhari and Muslim) In short, it is established through a number of authentic hadith that fasting on the day of Ashurah is Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  and makes one entitled to a great reward. According to another Hadith, it is more advisable that the fast of  Ashurah should either be prefixed or suffixed by another fast. It means that one should fast two days: the 9th an 10th of Muharram or the 10th and 11th of it. The reason of this additional fast as mentioned by the Holy Prophet  is that the Jews used to fast on the day  of Ashurah alone, and the Holy Prophet  wanted to distinguish the Islamic-way of fasting from that of Jews. Therefore, he advised the Muslims to add another fast to that of Ashurah. Some traditions signify another feature of the day of Ashurah. According to these traditions one should be more generous to his family by providing more food to them on this day as compared to other days. These traditions are not very authentic according to the science of Hadith. Yet, some Scholars like Baihaqi and Ibn Hibban have accepted them as reliable. What is mentioned above is all that is supported through authentic sources about Ashurah. However, there are some legends and misconceptions with regard to Ashurah that have managed to find their way into the minds of the ignorant, but have no support of authentic Islamic sources, some very common of them are these: This is the day in which Adam was created. This is the day in which Ibrahim was born. This is the day in which Allah accepted the repentance of Sayyidina Ibrahim. This is the day on which the Qiyamah (dooms-day) will take place. Whoever takes bath in the day of Ashurah will never get ill. All these and other similar whims and fancies are totally baseless and  the traditions referred to in this respect are not worthy of any credit. Some people take it as Sunnah to prepare a particular type of meal in the day of Ashurah. This practice, too, has no basis in the authentic Islamic sources. Some other people attribute the sanctity of Ashurah to the martyrdom of Sayyidina Husain during his battle with the Syrian army. No doubt, the martyrdom of Sayyidina Husain is one of the most tragic episodes of our history. Yet, the sanctity of Ashurah cannot be ascribed to this event for the simple reason that the sanctity of 'Ashurah was established during the days of the Holy Prophet  much earlier than the birth of Sayyidna Husain. On the contrary, it is one of the merits of Sayyidna Husain that his martyrdom took place on the day of Ashurah. Another misconception about the month of Muharram is that it is an evil or unlucky month, for Sayyidna Husain was killed in it. It is for this misconception that people avoid holding marriage ceremonies in the month of Muharram. This is again a baseless concept which is contrary to the express teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah. Such superstitions have been totally negated by the Holy Prophet . If the death of an eminent person in a particular day renders that day unlucky for all times to come, one can hardly find a day, free from this bad luck, out of 365 days of the whole year, because each and every day has a history of the demise of some eminent person. The Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  have made us free from such superstitious beliefs, and they should deserve no attention. Another wrong practice related to this month is to hold the lamentation and mourning ceremonies in the memory of martyrdom of Sayyidna Husain. As mentioned earlier, the event of Karbala is one of the most tragic events of our history, but the Holy Prophet has forbidden us from holding the mourning ceremonies on the death of any person. The people of Jahiliyyah (Ignorance) used to mourn over their deceased relatives or friends through loud lamentations, by tearing their clothes and by beating their cheeks and chests. The Holy Prophet  stopped the Muslims from doing all this and directed them to observe patience by saying "Inna lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raaji oon". A number of authentic hadith are available on the subject. To quote only one of them: "He is not from our group who slaps his cheeks, tears his clothes and cries in the manner of the people of jahiliyyah." All the authentic jurists are unanimous on the point that the mourning of this type is absolutely impermissible. Even Sayyidna Husain shortly before his demise, had advised his beloved sister Sayyidah Zainab not to mourn over his death in this manner. He said: "My dear sister, I swear upon you that you, in case I die, shall not tear your clothes, nor scratch your face, nor curse anyone for me or pray for your death". It is evident from this advice of Sayyidna Husain that this type of mourning is condemned even by the blessed person for the memory of whom these mourning ceremonies are held. Every Muslim should avoid this practice and abide by the teachings of the Holy Prophet  and his beloved grand child Sayyidina Husain. Blessings of Muharram It is the first month of the Islamic Calendar. The meaning of the word:- The word "Muharram" means "Forbidden." Even before Islam, this month was always known as a scared month in which all unlawful acts were forbidden, prominently the shedding of blood. A blessing of Muharram:- There are many bounties of this month, especially the tenth of Muharram. Two of the many virtues of the 10th of Muharram:- On this day he who spends more lavishly for the sake of his family members, Allah Taala will bestow blessing upon the sustenance of the following year. Abu Qataada has related that the Prophet  has reported to have said, It is my thought that by fasting  on the 10th of Muharram Allah Taala will pardon the sins of the past  year. (Tirmizi) Events of Muharram Hadhrat Hussain was martyred in this month. Shaykhain Tirmizi & Haakim has narrated from Anas that the following verse: "Allah may forgive thee of thy sins that which is past and that which  is to come." (Al-Fath) was revealed on the 10th of Muharram. The Prophet Muhammed  went to defeat Bani Muhaarin and Bani Tha'laba (Tribes of Bani Gatfan) in the year 4 A.H. (Asahhus-siyar)

Blessings of Muharram Fasting, Muharram, Fasting, Aashoorah, Grave-Illumination

Blessings of Muharram Fasting

The Statement of the Beloved Messenger صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم of Almighty Allah, about the blessings of Fasting (روزہ) in MUHARRAMUL HARAAM (محرم الحرام),
“Each fasting day of Muharram is equivalent to one month’s Fasting Days.” He said.
(Tabraani fis-Sagheer, v2 p71)


For the Illumination of Grave

In the Night before the Day of *Aashoorah, if someone performs 2-RAK’AT (رکعت) VOLUNTARY (نفل) Prayer by reciting 3-Times SOORTAUL IKHLAAS (سورۃ الاخلاص) after SOORATUL FAATIHAH (سورۃ الفاتحۃ) in each Rak’at, then Almighty Allah will do remain ILLUMINE (روشن) his grave till the JUDGMENT (قیامت).
(Fazail-ul-Aiyyamish-Shuhoor, p269)

* Aashoorah (10th Moharram) = (عاشورہ (10 محرم )


Further Blessings

Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Naeemi says, if someone:
1. Keeps fasting of 9th and 10th Muharram, then will be given a great TURNOVER (ثواب)
2. Arranges the best meals for his family on 10th Muharram, so ان شآءاللہ, ENRICHMENT (برکت) in his house will be remain throughout the year, especially HALEEM (کھچڑا), and then send all the TURNOVER (ثواب) to Imam Hussainرضی اللہ عنہ 
3. Takes a Bath (غسل)according to SUNNAH (سنت) on 10th Muharram, then ان شآءاللہ, will remain safe from Diseases throughout the year, because, on this date, the water of ZAM ZAM (آب زم زم) reaches to all the waters
(Tafseer Rooh-ul-Bayaan, story of Nooh)

If someone applies SURMA (سرمہ) in his eyes, then ان شآءاللہ, there will be no more EYE PAIN throughout the year.
(Radd-ul-Mukhtaar, Fasting Book, Islamic Life, p102) 

5 Muslim Inventions That Changed The World

Coffee

About 1,600,000,000 cups of coffee are consumed every day around the world. Billions of people rely on it as part of their daily routines. And yet, very few people are aware of the Muslim origins of this ubiquitous drink.

According to the historical record, in the 1400s coffee became a very popular drink among Muslims in Yemen, in the southern Arabian Peninsula. Legend goes that a shepherd (some say in Yemen, some say in Ethiopia) noticed that his goats became very energetic and jumpy when they ate beans from a particular tree. He had the courage to try them himself, noticing they gave him an energy boost. Over time, the tradition of roasting the beans and immersing them in water to create a sour yet powerful drink developed, and thus, coffee was born.

Roasted coffee beans

Regardless of whether or not the story of the shepherd ever really happened, coffee found its way from the highlands of Yemen to the rest of the Ottoman Empire, the premier Muslim empire of the 15th century. Coffeehouses specializing in the new drink began to spring up in all the major cities of the Muslim world: Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad. From the Muslim world, the drink found its way into Europe through the great merchant city of Venice. Although it was at first denounced as the “Muslim drink” by Catholic authorities, coffee became a part of European culture. The coffeehouses of the 1600s was where philosophers met and discussed issues such as the rights of man, the role of government, and democracy. These discussions over coffee spawned what became the Enlightenment, one of the most powerful intellectual movements of the modern world.

From a Yemeni/Ethiopian shepherd to shaping European political thought to over 1 billion cups per day, this Muslim innovation is one of the most important inventions of human history.

Algebra

While many secondary school students struggling through math classes may not particularly appreciate the importance of algebra, it is one of the most important contributions of the Muslim Golden Age to the modern world. It was developed by the great scientist and mathematician, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khawarizmi, who lived from 780 to 850 in Persia and Iraq.

The title page of al-Khawarizmi’s book

In his monumental book, Al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wa-l-muqābala (English: The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing), he set forth the basic principles of algebraic equations. The name of the book itself contains the word “al-jabr”, meaning “completion”, from which the Latin word algebra is derived. In the book, al-Khawarizmi explains how to use algebraic equations with unknown variables to solve real-world problems such as zakat calculation and inheritance division. A unique aspect of his reasoning for developing algebra is the desire to make calculations mandated by Islamic law easier to complete in a world without calculators and computers.

Al-Khawarizimi’s books were translated into Latin in Europe in the 1000s and 1100s, where he was known as Algoritmi (the word algorithm is based on his name and his mathematical works). Without his work in developing algebra, modern practical applications of math, such as engineering, would not be possible. His works were used as math textbooks in European universities for hundreds of years after his death.

Degree-Granting Universities

Speaking of universities, that is also an invention made possible by the Muslim world. Early on in Islamic history, mosques doubled as schools. The same people who led prayers would teach groups of students about Islamic sciences such as Quran, fiqh (jurisprudence), and hadith. As the Muslim world grew however, there needed to be formal institutions, known as madrasas, dedicated to the education of students.

The University of Karaouine in Fes

The first formal madrasa was al-Karaouine, founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri in Fes, Morocco. Her school attracted some of the leading scholars of North Africa, as well as the land’s brightest students. At al-Karaouine, students were taught by teachers for a number of years in a variety of subjects ranging from secular to religious sciences. At the end of the program, if the teachers deemed their students qualified, they would grant them a certificate known as an ijaza, which recognizes that the student understood the material and is now qualified to teach it.

These first degree-granting educational institutes quickly spread throughout the Muslim world. Al-Azhar University was founded in Cairo in 970, and in the 1000s, the Seljuks established dozens of madrasas throughout the Middle East. The concept of institutes that grant certificates of completion (degrees) spread into Europe through Muslim Spain, where European students would travel to study. The Universities of Bologna in Italy and Oxford in England were founded in the 11th and 12th centuries and continued the Muslim tradition of granting degrees to students who deserved them, and using it as a judge of a person’s qualifications in a particular subject.

An Ottoman mehter band

Military Marching Bands

Many students who attended high schools and universities in the Western world are familiar with the marching band. Made up of a group of a few hundred musicians, a band marches onto a field during an sporting event to entertain the audience and cheer on the players. These school marching bands developed from the use of marching military bands during the Gunpowder Age in Europe that were designed to encourage soldiers during battle. This tradition has its origins in the Ottoman mehter bands of the 1300s that helped make the Ottoman army one of the most powerful in the world.

As part of the elite Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire, the mehter band’s purpose was to play loud music that would frighten enemies and encourage allies. Using enormous drums and clashing cymbals, the sounds created by a mehter band could stretch for miles. During the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans throughout the 14th -16th centuries, mehter bands accompanied the fearsome Ottoman armies, who seemed almost invincible even in the face of huge European alliances.

Eventually, Christian Europe also caught on to the use of military bands to frighten enemies. Legend has it that after the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, the retreating Ottoman army left behind dozens of musical instruments, which the Austrians collected, studied, and put to their own use. Armies all over Europe soon began implementing marching military bands, revolutionizing the way war was fought in Europe for centuries.

Cameras

It’s hard to imagine a world without photography. Billion dollar companies like Instagram and Canon are based on the idea of capturing light from a scene, creating an image from it, and reproducing that image. But doing so is impossible without the trailblazing work of the 11th century Muslim scientist, Ibn al-Haytham, who developed the field of optics and described how the first cameras work.

The basic principle of a pinhole camera

Working in the imperial city of Cairo in the early 1000s, Ibn al-Haytham was one of the greatest scientists of all time. To regulate scientific advancements, he developed the scientific method, the basic process by which all scientific research is conducted. When he was put under house arrest by the Fatimid ruler al-Hakim, he had the time and ability to study how light works. His research partially focused on how the pinhole camera worked. Ibn al-Haytham was the first scientist to realize that when a tiny hole is put onto the side of a lightproof box, rays of light from the outside are projected through that pinhole into the box and onto the back wall of it. He realized that the smaller the pinhole (aperture), the sharper the image quality, giving him the ability to build cameras that were incredibly accurate and sharp when capturing an image.

Ibn al-Haytham’s discoveries regarding cameras and how to project and capture images led to the modern development of cameras around the same concepts. Without his research into how light travels through apertures and is projected by them, the modern mechanisms inside everyone’s cameras would not exist.

How Do We Know the Quran is Unchanged?

How Do We Know the Quran is Unchanged?

The awakening of Europe from the Dark Ages and the subsequent intellectual enlightenment of the 1600s-1800s was one of the most powerful movements in modern history. It brought to Europe a dedication to empirical science, critical thinking, and intellectual discourse. Much of this was imported from the Muslim world’s intellectual history, through Muslim entry points into Europe such as Spain, Sicily, and Southeast Europe.

This rise in intellectual work coincided with a period of European imperialism and colonialism over the Muslim world. European nations such as England, France, and Russia slowly conquered portions of the Muslim world, dividing it among themselves. Thus the intellectual enlightenment, coupled with imperialism over the Muslim world, led to what the Europeans saw as a critical study of Islam, its history, beliefs, and teachings. This movement is known as Orientalism. One of the greatest shortcomings of Orientalism, however, is the analysis of Islamic history on European terms, discarding the centuries of academic work put in by great Muslim minds since the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

One of the most dangerous aspects of Orientalism was the European study of the origins of the Quran. Since it is well accepted in academic circles that both the Torah of the Jews and the New Testament of the Christians have changed over the centuries, European academics erroneously believed the same must be true about the Quran. Their efforts to prove their belief that the Quran has been changed and is not authentic led to studies and works of questionable intention and low scholarly merit. This article will critically analyze the origins of the Quran, its transmission, and its compilation, to understand why Muslims accept the copies of the Quran they have in their homes to be the exact same words that were spoken by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in the early 600s AD.

The Promise to Protect

Muslims believe that Allah has already promised to protect the Quran from the change and error that happened to earlier holy texts. Allah states in the Quran in Surat al-Hijr, verse 9:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be it’s guardian.”

For Muslims, this verse of promise from Allah is enough to know that He will indeed protect the Quran from any errors and changes over time. For people who do not accept the authenticity of the Quran in the first place, however, clearly this verse cannot serve as proof of its authenticity, since it is in the Quran itself. It is from here that the academic discussion begins.

Narration of the Quran to the Companions

The revelation of the Quran was not an isolated event in time. It was a constant stream of verses descending to Muhammad ﷺ throughout the 23 years of his prophethood in Makkah and Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ appointed numerous Companions of his to serve as scribes, writing down the latest verses as soon as they were revealed. Mu’awiya ibn Abu Sufyan and Zaid bin Thabit were among the scribes who had this duty. For the most part, new verses would be written on scraps of bone, hide, or parchment, since paper had not yet been imported from China. It is important to note that Muhammad ﷺ would have the scribes read back the verses to him after writing them down so he can proofread and make sure there were no errors.1

To further ensure that there were no errors, Muhammad ﷺ ordered that no one records anything else, not even his words, hadith, on the same sheet as Quran. Regarding the sheets that the Quran was being written down on, he stated “and whoever has written anything from me other than the Quran should erase it”2. This was done to ensure that no other words were accidentally thought to be part of the text of the Quran.

It is important to understand, however, that physical writing down of the Quran was not the main way that the Quran was recorded. Arabia in the 600s was an oral society. Very few people could read and write, thus huge emphasis was placed on ability to memorize long poems, letters, and other messages. Before Islam, Makkah was a center of Arabic poetry. Annual festivals were held every year that brought together the best poets from all over the Arabian Peninsula. Exuberant attendees would memorize the exact words that their favorite poets recited and quote them years and decades later.

Thus, in this type of oral society, the vast majority of the Companions learned and recorded the Quran by memorization. In addition to their natural ability to memorize, the rhythmic nature of the Quran made its memorization much easier.

The Quran was not narrated to just a few select Companions. It was heard and memorized by hundreds and thousands of people, many of them travelers to Madinah. Thus, chapters and verses of the Quran quickly spread during the life of the Prophet ﷺ to all corners of the Arabian Peninsula. Those who had heard verses from the Prophet ﷺ would go and spread them to tribes far away, who would also memorize them. In this way, the Quran achieved a literary status known among the Arabs as mutawatir. Mutawatir means that it was so vastly disseminated to so many different groups of people, who all had the same exact wording, that it is inconceivable that that any one person or group could have falsified it. Some sayings of the Prophet ﷺ are known to be authentic through it being mutawatir, but the entire Quran itself is accepted as being mutawatir, because of its wide spread during the life of the Prophet ﷺ through oral means.

Collection After the Death of the Prophet ﷺ

We have thus far seen that the way the Quran was taught to the numerous Companions of the Prophet ﷺ prevented it from being subject to the protection of a few people. As verses became widespread across the Islamic world, it was impossible for those verses to be changed without Muslims in other parts of the world noticing and correcting them. Furthermore, during the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the angel Jibreel would recite the entire Quran with him once a year, during Ramadan. When the Quran was finished being revealed near the end of the Prophet ﷺ’s life, he made sure that numerous companions knew the entire Quran by heart.

During the reigns of the first caliphs, however, a need to compile all the verses into a central book arose. Taking preemptive action, the caliphs who ruled the Muslim world after the death of the Prophet ﷺ feared that if the number of people who had the Quran memorized dipped too low, the community would be in danger of losing the Quran forever. As a result, the first caliph, Abu Bakr, who ruled from 632 to 634, ordered a committee be organized, under the leadership of Zaid bin Thabit, to collect all the written pieces of Quran that were spread throughout the Muslim community. The plan was to collect them all into one central book that could be preserved in case the people who had the Quran memorized died out.

Zaid was very meticulous about who he accepted verses from. Because of the enormous responsibility of not accidentally altering the words of the Quran, he only accepted pieces of parchment with Quran on them had to have been written down in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ and there had to be two witnesses who can attest to that fact.3 These fragments of Quran that he collected were each compared with the memorized Quran itself, ensuring that there was no discrepancy between the written and oral versions.

When the task was completed, a finalized book of all the verses was compiled and presented to Abu Bakr, who secured it in the archives of the young Muslim state in Madinah. It can be assumed with certainty that this copy that Abu Bakr had matched exactly the words that Muhammad ﷺ had spoken because of the numerous memorizers of Quran present in Madinah, coupled with the disseminated pieces of parchment on which it was recorded. Had there been discrepancies, the people of Madinah would have raised the issue. There is, however, no record of any opposition to Abu Bakr’s project or its outcome.

The Mus’haf of Uthman

A copy of Uthman’s Mus’haf, kept in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul

During the caliphate of Uthman, from 644 to 656, a new issue regarding the Quran arose in the Muslim community: pronunciation. During the life of the Prophet ﷺ, the Quran was revealed in seven different dialects – qira’as. The dialects differed slightly in their pronunciation of certain letters and words, but the overall meaning was unchanged. These seven dialects were not an innovation brought in by corruption of the Quran in later years, as it was mentioned by the Prophet ﷺ himself, and there are numerous sayings of his describing the authenticity of all seven dialects that are recorded in the hadith compilations of Bukhari and Muslim. The reason for there being different dialects for the Quran was to make it easier for different tribes around the Arabian Peninsula to learn and understand it.

During Uthman’s reign, people coming into the Muslim world at its periphery, in places like Persia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and North Africa were beginning to learn the Quran. An issue arose for them when it came to pronunciation of words, as they would hear different Arabs pronouncing the same verses differently. Although the different pronunciations were sanctioned by the Prophet ﷺ and there was no inherent harm in people reciting and teaching them, it led to confusion among new non-Arab Muslims.

Uthman responded by commissioning a group to come together, organize the Quran according to the dialect of the tribe of Quraysh (the Prophet ﷺ’s tribe), and spread the Qurayshi dialect to all parts of the empire. Uthman’s team (which again included Zaid bin Thabit) compiled a Quran into one book (known as a mus’haf – from the word for page, sahifa) based on first hand manuscripts along with the memories of the best Quran reciters of Madinah. This mus’haf was then compared with the copy that Abu Bakr commissioned, to make sure there were no discrepancies. Uthman then ordered numerous copies of the mus’haf to be made, which were sent to far off provinces throughout the empire, along with reciters who would teach the masses the Quran.

Because the Quran was now compiled and being produced on a regular basis, there was no need for the numerous fragments of verses that people had in their possession. He thus ordered that those fragments be destroyed so they cannot be used in the future to cause confusion among the masses. Although Orientalists use this incident to try to prove the erroneous claim that there were some discrepancies that Uthman wanted to eliminate, that is a simplistic way of looking at the event. The entire community in Madinah, including numerous eminent Companions such as Ali ibn Abi Talib, willingly went along with this plan, and no objections were voiced. Had he been eliminating legitimate differences, the people of Madinah would have surely objected or even revolted against Uthman, neither of which happened. Instead, the mus’haf of Uthman was accepted by the entire community as authentic and correct.

The Script of the Quran

Another complaint that Orientalists make deals with the fact that the Mus’haf of Uthman lacked any diacritical marks (dots that differentiated the letters and vowel markings). The letters seen in his mus’haf are thus just the skeletal base of Arabic letters. For example, the word قيل (he said), without diacritical marks would look like this: ڡٮل. According to the claims of Orientalists, a reader can then read the word as فيل (elephant), قبل (before), or قَبّل (he kissed). Clearly, reading such different words would have a huge difference in meaning. Orientalists such as the Australian professor of the early 1900s, Arthur Jeffery, claim that Uthman’s copy of the Quran, with its lack of diacritical marks made it possible for variant readings, and thus variant meanings to exist, making the Quran today not authentic.

There are numerous flaws in this argument:

First, the fact that Uthman sent reciters with his copies of the mus’haf is of huge importance. We must remember that the main way the Quran was preserved was orally, and the written copies were only meant to be a supplement to oral recitation. If someone already has a verse memorized, the skeletal letters in a copy of Uthman’s mus’haf served only as a visual aid when reciting. To illustrate this example, we can look at the following inscription on the inside of the Dome of the Rock, in Jerusalem. The building was built in the late 600s and features one of the oldest calligraphic inscriptions in Arabic on the inside of the building, written in the same Kufic script as Uthman’s mus’haf:

For someone familiar with the Arabic language and some basic common phrases regarding the supremacy of Allah, it is easy to make out what this part of the inscription says:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم لا اله الا الله وحده لا

شريك له له الملك و له الحمد يحي و يميت و هو

على كل شئ قدير محمد عبد الله و رسوله

In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has

no associate. Unto Him belongeth sovereignity and unto Him belongeth praise. He quickeneth and He giveth death; and He has

Power over all things. Muhammad is the servant of God and His Messenger.4

In the same way as this passage, the mus’haf of Uthman could be easily read by someone who was familiar with the verses and the Arabic script. Thus the claim that the lack of diacritical marks makes it impossible to know what the original word was is clearly baseless.

A page from the Uthmani Mus’haf showing part of Surat Muhammad. Note the lack of diacritical marks.

The second problem with the claims of Orientalists like Jeffery deals with the idea of reading a word completely wrong based on the lack of diacritical marks. Let us assume for a moment that there are no reciters around to explain how a verse should be read from Uthman’s mus’haf and someone comes across the word ڡٮل. As we stated earlier, this can be a number of different words based on where the diacritical marks are. However, from context clues, an educated reader can easily figure out what word it is supposed to be. It is almost impossible for a reader to replace the word “before” with “elephant” and have the sentence still make sense. While in some cases a reader may accidentally replace one word with another that still makes sense, these occasions are rare with the way the Arabic language is set up, and all that is still assuming there are no Quranic reciters around to guide the reader.

Over time, during the 700s and 800s, diacritical marks began being added to the mus’hafs throughout the Muslim world. This was done as the Muslim world shifted from an oral to a written society, to further facilitate reading from a copy of the Quran, and to eliminate errors by people who did not already know the verses they were reading. Today, almost all modern mus’hafs include diacritical marks on the skeletal letters along with vowel markings to make reading easier.

The Isnad System

One of the most pressing issues in the eyes of the early Muslims was the protection of the sanctity of the Quran. Numerous times throughout the Quran and sayings of the Prophet ﷺ, the Muslims are reminded that the Jews and Christians corrupted their texts over time, which now cannot be taken as authentic. As a result, early Muslims developed a system for ensuring that the Quran and hadith would not be subject to change by human error, either intentional or unintentional.

The system that developed is known as the isnad system. The isnad system emphasized the sanad, of a particular saying. For example, in the hadith compilation of Bukhari, each hadith is preceded by a chain of narrators that goes from Bukhari back to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. This chain is known as a sanad. To ensure that the hadith is authentic, each narrator in the chain must be known to be reliable, have a good memory, be trustworthy, and have other righteous qualities.

Part of the Arabic inscription in the Kufic script inside the Dome of the Rock, built in 691.

The early Islamic community placed huge emphasis on this system for determining the authenticity of hadith as well as verses from the Quran. If someone were to claim to have had a verse that was not in the canonical text of Uthman’s mus’haf, scholars would look at the chain that person claimed went back to the Prophet ﷺ and determined from it if there was a chance that it was authentic. Clearly, anyone forging verses of the Quran would not be able to connect it to the Prophet ﷺ, and his/her claim would be discounted according to the isnad system.

The isnad system thus worked to preserve the sanctity of the Quran as well as the hadith, as it prevented people from making erroneous claims that could then be accepted as fact. Through the focus on the the reliability of the sanad, the reliability of the verses or hadith themselves could be ascertained. Zaid bin Thabit used a proto-isnad system in his work compiling the Quran during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, and the growth of the isnad system in subsequent decades helped protect the text from being altered in any way.

Conclusions

This article is not meant to be a fully exhaustive study of the history of the Quran. The scholarship of hundreds of people throughout Islamic history to ensure the sanctity of the Quran cannot be boiled down to a few thousand words. However, it is clear through the introductory issues mentioned here that the text of the Quran clearly was not altered from the time of Muhammad ﷺ to the present day. The fact that it was so widespread during his life helped ensure that any malicious attempts to change the words of the holy book would be futile. The meticulous compilation of the text by Abu Bakr and Uthman served as a backup system in case the oral preservation of the Quran was lost. Finally, the isnad system helped ensure any claims to add to or remove from the Quran could not pass by a scholarly process that was central to the preservation of Islam itself.

In conclusion, the claims of Orientalists that the Quran has been changed overtime as the Bible and Torah have are clearly misleading. There is no evidence backing up the idea that the Quran has changed, and attempts to prove that it has are based on rudimentary and uneducated understandings of the history of the Quranic text.

Footnotes:

1 – Al-Suli, Adab al-Kuttab

2 – Sahih Muslim, al-Zuhd:72

3 – Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari

4 – http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/DoTR.html

Bibliography:

Al-Azami, M.M. The History of the Quranic Text: From Revelation to Compilation. Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003. Print.

Ochsenwald, William, and Sydney Fisher. The Middle East: A History. 6th. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print.

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