Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 103 - The 1st Rightful Khalifah of Islam Part 1: Incident of the Scrolls ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Seerah 103 - The 1st Rightful Khalifah of Islam Part 1: Incident of the Scrolls ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Recap
so we will now continue from where we left off last time and we were supposed to do the election of Abu Bakr Siddique and the game plan is as follows that typically speaking seerah finishes not with the death of the Prophet PBUH but with the election of Abu Bakr and the sending of Osama’s caravan with Osama’s expedition to Syria because these things of course are related to immediately related to the death of the prophet PBUH so we just to be full and complete we really do need to go into these issues and then after that inshallah we will start talking about the wives of the prophet I mean the family of the prophet PBUH and of course the issue of the death of the prophet PBUH and what happens afterwards is extremely controversial between two strands of Islam and this is where of course the Sunni Shia split begins and you cannot talk about this issue without mentioning both sides and that's really what all of this controversy is about
The Incident OF Qirtas (The Incident of Thursday)
so today I will be talking about one particular incident and because of what has occurred elsewhere in this land we will have to cut short and then talk a little bit about that issue as well towards the end of our talk so today's lecture is actually going to concentrate on one incident and that incident took place in the final days of the life of the prophet PBUH and I skipped over it intentionally because i was going to talk about it basically today and that incident is called the incident of Thursday or the incident of the scrolls QIRTAS and the QIRTAS is like what they would write on the parchment so the papyrus or something with it they would write on this and this incident involves a very controversial issue that issue is about whether the prophet PBUH I said no intended to specify someone to be the Holly for after him and in particular whether that person was Ali radiyaallahu anhu or not and much as I personally do not like to go back into history and talk about why and what because in the end of the day what happened happened still this is an issue that every single Muslim that is involved with the religion at some point in his or her life is exposed to and every single person at some point in his or her life finds some controversy where a person of the opposing side says oh this happened or that happened or this happened or that happened and therefore questions arise and so we have to go back to the very beginning which is where the split occurred between the Sunni and the Shia and then talk about interpretations of specific incidents now I have already mentioned one incident in the final months of the prophets PBUH and that is the incident of the well of the well of yeah but what is it called that's correct the “Ghadeer Khum” the well of “Ghadeer Khum” the well of “KHUM” so that incident is again a huge difference of interpretation for the Shia this incident is considered to be of utmost importance and for us we affirm this incident 100% it is in our books we have no problems affirming it but our interpretation is very different and that is that when you put it into context the prophet was defending Ali and radiallahu I know and he said that whoever irritate sadly irritates me whoever wants to protect me that or whoever is my MOLA the Ali is also his Mola so it's very clear that he was criticizing those groups or those people that found fault with Ali and we have no problem in affirming any of this and from our perspective that was never intended to be the Khilafah and what is this what demonstrates this is a number of things we'll just mention two of them one for us the most important thing over and over again is the fact that the very last days of his life civil law his enemy always emphasized Abu Bakr he always mentioned Abu Bakr and he insisted that Abu Bakr lead the Salah for us this is a huge issue in fact it is the decisive issue that never has the Prophet PBUH commanded somebody to lead the Salah when he is alive and he is in the Masjid and he commands and he says Allah and His Messenger do not allow anyone other than Abu Bakr and when they could not find Abu Bakr and even Umar is found what does he says he says no go and find Abu Bakr and tell him to lead the Salah so no one has to break his Salah and Abu Bakr is put for us these are not trivial matters this is very significant you cannot get more significant than this
so in light of all of these we have to understand this particular incident that we're going to talk about today and this incident is also authentic and it is mentioned in our books of Bukhari and Muslim completely authentic and this incident the hadith occurs in bits and pieces I mentioned the longer version that even abbas narrated Thursday and what a Thursday it was meaning what a bad Thursday it was when the pain of the Prophet PBUH I said him increased he said bring me a book and I shall write for you something that will never go astray bring me a Qirtas bring me a pen and paper we would say in English bring independent paper and I will write something that you will never go astray and Umar Khattab Radiallah u anhu said the prophet PBUH is overcome by pain he is clearly suffering and we have the Book of Allah and that is sufficient for us hasbuna kitab Allah that we don't need anything other than the book of Allah and some others said it does not mention who is the one who said this in any book of hadith it is not mentioned some others said that the Prophet PBUH is speaking randomly because of his fever meaning you know when you have a strong fever then you do not speak properly you're just speaking without understanding what he is saying and we don't know who said this none of the books of hadith mention who said this from the Sunni tradition the Shia traditions say this was also Umar but for our books this is not the case we do not know who said this and others said confirm what he wants ask him so they want to ask him and they then they differed amongst themselves the Sahaba what is to be done and the “lagat” or the voices went back and forth and the prophets PBUH then said when he saw this differing he said “Khomeini” stand away or stand up from me for it is not befitting that any “Ikhtilaf” goes on in my presence you should not be having any Ikhtilaf in my presence.
Advice of Prophet PBUH before his Death
And then Ibn e Abbas says later on maybe the same day maybe the next day he advised them three things before he died number one expel the mushrikuna from “JAZEERAT UL ARAB” from the Arabian Peninsula number two treat the delegations that come to you in the same manner as I used to treat them any new delegation comes treat them the same and then one of the sub narrator says and I forgot what was the third one I forgot what was the third one then Ibn e Abbas said what a calamity the biggest calamity was what came between the Prophet PBUH and the writing of that parchment and this hadith is Bukhari and Muslim it is authentic it happened we all agree it happened ok
Many issues to discuss that will be our topic for today and next ones they will come back and continue the election of Abu Bakar because this is one of the things that we need to talk about with the election of a Abu Bakar and today we'll talk about this this issue this controversy and before we get to the actual controversy there are some tangential benefits that Bukhari radiAllahu anhu derived from this hadith he narrated is Hadith in seven different places in his book seven different places and of the benefits that he derives not related to the controversy is the importance of writing down knowledge the fact that the prophet commanded them to write so this shows we should be writing down all of them is the importance of treating delegations that come in a positive and a good manner that when delegations come to learn Islam to study Islam we should be hospitable to them and this was of the last pieces of advice that the Prophet PBUH gave of the benefits we learn from this incident is that it is not good to differ and especially in front of the prophet PBUH it was haram to differ so he said you are it is not befitting that differences occur in front of me and so the Prophet PBUH always disliked differences and especially in front of him and of the etiquettes that are mentioned by imam al Bukhari that we derive from this hadith is we should not sit too long when we visit the sick because in fact it becomes a nuisance for the sick person when we visit somebody it should be for a quick period of time short period find out how they're doing and then move on so we should not prolong our stay or else obviously becomes irritating for the person who is sick also as for the third point that the narrator forgot ibn e Hajar compiles other a hadith and he says it seems to indicate one of two things either the third point was to send Osama's army to sham or that his grave should not become an idol because both of these things are narrated in other versions that he said towards the end of his life that the Osama’s army should go or that his grave should not become an idol
The Controversy between Shia and Sunni
now let's get into the controversy what is the controversy the controversy is very simple according to the non-Sunni groups the Shia groups the prophets PBUH explicitly intended to write that Wasee’a four Ali Ibne Abi Talib that he wanted to say the person in charge should Ali ibne Abi Talib clear that is the whole controversy that because of Umar according to them Radi Allahu anhu this didn't happen and Ibn e Abbas is saying the biggest calamity the calamity of Thursday was the fact that the prophet PBUH did not get to write down that Ali should have been the Khalifa Ibn e Abbas didn't say that but this is the interpretation of the groups that this was the point okay so today we'll talk about this controversy from three perspectives number one the first one not perspectives three questions the first question how do we understand Umar’s stans because Umar said we have enough The Book of Allah is enough for us and he diverted the command away to not to not execute the command our scholars have interpreted this in many different ways and I spent a good amount of time today going over like at least seven eight different classical scholars and we'll go over these opinions very briefly Imam al-kitabi one of the early scholars of Islam died 388 Hijra he said that we cannot understand that Umar statement was meant to imply that the Prophet PBUH was making a mistake that's not what I meant rather Umar Radi Allahu Anhu saw the pain that the so that does that the Prophet PBUH was in that the high fever and he feared that he might say something vague or ambiguous that the munafikoon might take advantage of additionally he said it is well known that the Sahaba would at times negotiate directly with the Prophet PBUH if the circumstance is required such as what happened at the camping of weather such as what happened at the treaty of hudaibiya and so Umar assumed this was one of those times you can go back and forth so this is Al Khattabi’s interpretation Alma's Aziri who died for fifty-three hijra also an early commentator of Sahih Muslim he says that it appears the Prophet PBUH is giving a command bring me something to write but he says whenever somebody gives a command there's always signs or indications that could be used to interpret that the command is not a command but a request and it must be assumed that Umar Radi Allahu Anhu saw something that downgraded the command to a request and therefore he wanted to go back and forth and Umar made an ijtehad based upon his assumptions and he will be rewarded for that
so according to Al Maziri and Al Kurtubi the famous scholar from Cordova ought to be for the one from Cordova who died 676 Hijra he also said the same thing that Umar RadiAllahu Anhu must have seen something in the context in the circumstance that he felt that this was not a command Ibne Josey as well who died 595 and Ibne Hajar they narrated these positions and they agreed with them that Umar ibne Khattab out of care and concern he saw something in the pain of the Prophet PBUH and he felt that now is not the time to get involved in any type of side issue let us leave the Prophet PBUH alone for his pain and suffering so there's some circumstance that mitigates the command and Imam Noah we the famous Imam Inouye 676 Hijra he comments on this hadith and he says scholars have unanimously agreed that this incident shows us the understanding of Umar and his excellence and his farsightedness for he was fearful of something being written down that they could not perform and might have been punished for and he took the generalities of the Quran that Allah clearly mentions in the Quran that today I have perfected your religion for you and that we have not left anything out of the Quran and realizing that the religion was completed at that point in time he wanted to protect the prophet PBUH and ease matters upon him meaning his pain and he wanted to protect the Ummah from misguidance and this is also the position of Imam Haqqi who died for 438 that Umar wanted to make things easy he saw the suffering of the process of the pain and he simply felt compassion and mercy for him now the point here is that we really and this is there's no denying this that
we as Sunni Muslims look at this incident and we are biased there's no denying this just like the other group is also biased our bias is what our bias is in light of the track record of Umar Ibne Khattab Radi Allahu Anhu in light of the previous 20 years and all that he has done and the next 13 years that he's also going to live and demonstrate we have to understand what he has done in a positive light even if we don't understand the details we weren't there we don't know what Umar saw but there must be a leap of faith and knowing almost past and knowing what he will do in the future and knowing all of the hadith that prays Umar Ibne Khattab of them is the Prophet PBUH said if there were any Nabi after me to be Umar of them is that if Sheitan sees what Umar coming down the path he will run away of them is that there were people before who were inspired in Ummahs if anybody in the future were to be inspired it would be it would be Umar so many a hadith about Umar Ibne Khattab that are praising him and in light of his credentials and resume we simply have to have a leap of faith and we say whatever was his motivation there must have been a good reason for it even if we don't know the story now obviously the other group does not have a positive view for Umar from day one and so when you don't have a positive view of somebody and that person does something ambiguous something semi vague and somehow this is a reality of the world we live in if you really and truly love somebody and they make a little mistake you'll forgive an overlook correct if it is a mistake I'm just saying you ambiguous and if you don't like somebody and you have a long history they do the same thing what are you going to do you're going to read in and you're going to have a bad opinion
so the fact of the matter is that and I'll be very honest here Umar’s actions are ambiguous we really personally I cannot see something that is crystal clear these explanations are good attempts but in the end of the day their attempts we were not there these authors who explained it we're not there what did Umar see what was the issue at hand that caused him to not immediately execute the command of the prophet PBUH and I'm I where it wasn't there but my opinion of Umar R.A that we know from Seerah is that he must have had a very very very good reason and he felt that reason was valid and this is no doubt I'll be honesty as you know I'm not an apologist I don't sugarcoat I call a spade a spade this is a point of theology we jump a leap of faith that Umar must have had a good reason and those who don't believe this if I were they will not do the jump ok so this is the first question
why did Umar do what he did the majority opinion which is pretty much the standard opinion he saw something he felt the status of the Prophet PBUH of his pain he wanted compassion for the process in him he was worried that somebody might miss lead or misguide whatever the process might say in this time so for whatever reason he simply just turned it around
What did Prophet wanted to Write?
the second question regardless of what Umar’s motivation is what did, what did he actually want to write what did he want to write what was this command so in one version we learned these three things that he wanted to say is this what he wanted to write many scholars say yes and when he couldn't write it he simply said it clear that was the point right so these were the three however there's another opinion that a number of early scholars including Sufiyan ibn Arianna who died 198 hijra including Sufiyan that the Prophet PBUH actually wanted to write the exact opposite of what the other group says and that is that he wanted to dictate a letter that Abu Bakr Siddiq should be the Khalifa after him should be the in person in charge after him the exact opposite where did we get this from how could anybody say this because there are authentic narrations in sahih Bukhari and inside Muslim that before he fell this sick now what day did this take place this incident over more Thursday when did he pass away Monday okay so before he felt that sick in the early part of his sickness he said - Aisha that and this hadith is also in Bukhari Muslim but it's not on Thursday this is at least four days before the in the very beginning of his sickness remember I said in the story that Aisha came in and she said oh I have a headache remember and the Prophet PBUH said oh but I have the worst headache that day that in that incident the Prophet SAW said call for me Abu Bakr your father and your brother who has Aisha's brother Abdul Rahman IBN e ABI Bakr so that I may write a letter because i am worried that someone meaning any person may desire or aspire for something meaning leadership and say I have more rights but Allah and His Messenger will refuse anyone other than Abu Bakr now this hadith is also in Bukhari and Muslim by the way right but it's not the Thursday incident is it this is before that maybe it was Tuesday or Monday before so this is way before by three days that way before by a few days and this hadith is also in Bukhari in Muslim.
so one can argue exact opposite and this is also the position of Ibn Tamiya by the way ibne Tamiya he wrote a 10 volume book Minhaj e Sunna e Nabawiyya which is a book where he discusses these differences between the two groups and he goes into ten volumes of detail and in this he clearly mentions that this letters in his opinion this letter was a letter in favor of whom about Abu Bakar Siddiq ok so this is the position that ibn Tamiya uh had in his position and it was also supported by a number of early scholars and Allah knows best it seems to be definitely more evidence than the other opinion.
but there are two opinions so the first one was he wanted to write these three things down which I already mentioned right expelling them we should quote from and whatnot and the second opinion it too rights Abu Bakr's will say yeah ok obviously from our perspective we cannot follow the other position that he wanted to write the Vysya for highly because there's no evidence at all for that from our tradition
can it even assumed from our perspective to claim this is to claim that the Prophet Mohammad PBUH failed in his mission?
now we get to the final question and then a shadow will conclude for today and the final question is that can it be imagined that he wanted to write a Wasee’a for Ali Ibn Abi Talib and then that was supposed to be the on the paper or on the Kirtas can it even be logically or rationally or textually assumed from our perspective to claim this is to claim that the Prophet Mohammad PBUH failed in his mission because regardless of what you want to say about Umar R.A regardless of what you want to say the undeniable fact that both groups are firm this incident occurred on Thursday he passed away on Monday that is Friday Saturday Sunday and then early Monday three and a half full days along with Thursday evening so four full days and if the matter was of such importance then how could he have allowed four days to go by without saying anything about it regardless of your put Omar's position aside let's make that whatever you want it to be we have a position they have a position okay Khallas let's put that aside the next issue then or the question is then why didn't he do something for four days and who else is visiting him you don't like certain people clearly the people you favor and we also favor also visiting him Felton was visiting him I literally a lot of visiting all of them are visiting him he does not say anything so clearly then and even had generic points this out as well that it is not possible that the prophet PBUH would have left something so important without commenting on it for four days and Imam an Nowvi comments that
Conclusion
we have two options here either Allah Subhana WA Ta'ala told him to write something down in which case suppose a number of Sahaba diverted the writing what should he have done was he ever stopped from doing what Allah told him to do did he ever just give up no so if Allah Azza WA JAL commanded him and it wasn't written down the only alternative is that that man was abrogated or else you are accusing the prophet PBUH of a failing his mission correct there is no or it was in a command from Allah but rather it was an ijtehad from himself and after what happened happened with this incident he changed his mind and said no need to write it down these are the only two options we have either Allah told him and then it was mansookh(discarded) or he felt it should be done and then he changed his mind okay no need to do it in either case if it was something of that importance it would have been impossible not to do okay so we say this incident the incident of Alqirtas no doubt it has been interpreted by different people in different ways from our perspective we assume that Umar ibn Khattab must have had some reason firstly secondly we clearly have evidences that what he wanted to write was other than what is claimed that he wanted to write either it was these three commands or the exact opposite and that is Abu Bakr Siddiq and thirdly regardless of the first two answers what will we say to the fact that he didn't in the end write what you said he wanted to write for four days there's no indication whatsoever and by the way this is ignoring the fact that there's so many other evidences for Abubakar Siddiq R.A so many evidences for the last especially two weeks and then even beyond this right even we talked about head Hajja tul vida as well that the year that the Prophet PBUH could not go on Hajj he actually sent Abu Bakr Siddiq R.A to perform the hajj and even when Ali Radi Allahu anhu was sent Abu Bakar said are you coming as the Ameer or Amoor and Ali said no i am not the a very explicit here so in hedge which is what you delegate the person to do and in salah he is delegating Abu Bakr al Siddiq so for us this is another track that clearly demonstrates that Abu Bakar Siddiq Radi Allahu anhu was what was intended by our prophet PBUH and with that we will pause and resume next Thursday next Wednesday Insha’Allah
Seerah 104 - The 1st Rightful Khalifah of Islam Part 2: Election of Abu Bakr ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi