Holy Prophet Muhammad grew up to become a fine young man. He
became known for his excellent manners, and because of the honesty in his
conduct and dealings he was referred to as "Al Saadiq"
[The Truthful One] and “Al-Ameen" [The Trustworthy One].
The Holy Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم inclined towards undertaking skillfully the family business but he did not have any capital to flourish it under his resource less uncle. But as an adult, he worked as a trader between the cities of Makkah/Makkah and Shaam/Syria/Damascus and earned a great reputation in the process.
Having heard of the reputation of [Holy Prophet] Muhammad صلى
الله عايه وسالم, on one occasion Lady Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, [Radiyal Laah Anha] a
rich widower and one of the Noblest of the Quraiesh, with a thriving trade and
commerce business, commissioned him to take charge of some of her trading
business between the two cities. Hazrat Lady Khadijah also sent one of her
trusted servants, Maysarah, along with him to serve him and report back to her
all the details of the trip.
SECOND JOURNEY TO
SYRIA [SHAAM]
And the caravan set off on the
journey…
The Holy Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم
set out a second time to Syria in the company of Maysarah, representing her
business.
The trade caravan arrived on the land
of Damascus after three tiring months. When they reached the marketplace of the
famous Syrian city named ‘Basra’ very participant in the caravan set up his/her
stand in a suitable spot of the bustling market.
NASTURA, THE PRIEST,
AND THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE HOLY PROPHET
صلى الله عايه وسالم
The Holy Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم
went underneath an olive tree that was near a Monastery.
Bahira, the priest who was in the
monastery during our Holy Prophet’s
previous visit to Damascus, had
passed away and left a Priest by the name of Nastura in his place.
The arrival of the caravan
procession and our Holy Prophet’s صلى الله عايه وسالم descent underneath the
olive tree had not escaped from the Priest’s eyes. He called Maysara, whom he
met before, and asked about the person who was lodging underneath the tree.
‘O Maysara! Who is he?’ Maysara
replied:
‘He lives in Makkah and belongs to the Banu
Haashim. His name is Muhammad and his title is Ameen.’
Nastura said: ‘No one except a Nabi
ever stayed under this tree. I am perfectly sure that he is the Last Prophet صلى
الله عايه وسالم. I can see in him all signs of the Last Prophet mentioned in Torah
[Tauraat] and Bible [Injeel]. I wish I had remained alive until
the time when he would make the declaration of his Prophethood! If I had
remained alive until that time, I would have fully supported him and spent my
entire life serving him. O Maysarah! I advise and admonish you not to leave him
alone even for a moment. Continue to serve him with great sincerity and
reverence because he has been blessed by Almighty Allaah with the privilege of
becoming the Last Prophet.’
Maysara was bewildered by his
excitement. The happiness and bliss of serving the Honorable Prophet of the
Future صلى الله عايه وسالم spread to all of his cells in an instant.
The trade and sales were finalized,
and the necessary items were bought. They found out that our Holy Prophet صلى
الله عايه وسالم had made greater and more profitable sales than everyone else. This
time, the procession’s amazement and bewilderment was added to that of Maysara’s.
The caravan departed from Busra and
headed straight towards Makkah.
ANGELS CASTING SHADE
The caravan was advancing towards Makkah
on top of the hot sands. The burning sun was thrusting its arrows of fire to
the ground. Yet, what was this? Maysara could not believe his eyes. Was he
imagining things?
No, what he saw was completely real.
Two angels were shading our Holy Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم so that he would
not be bothered by the scorching heat, like a cloud.
Maysara was unable to stand still in
his place due to his wonder and excitement. The sun’s heat did not affect
Maysara all that much after having witnessed the comforting warmth of this
strange incident.
The caravan was now beginning to be
seen in Makkah.
Lady Hazrat Khadijah [Radiyal Laah Anha] was watching the
caravan from the rooftop of her home with the Quraieshi women. She was amazed
just like everyone else; the ones arriving were our Holy Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم
and Maysara. The two Angels were casting shade upon the Holy Prophet صلى الله
عايه وسالم .
The caravan reached Makkah. The Holy
Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم submitted the goods to Lady Hazrat Khadijah she then
sold the goods and made a great profit.
MAYSARA EXPLAINS HIS
OBSERVATIONS
During this journey, Maysara saw and
learned many things in regard to our Holy Prophet صلى الله عايه وسالم he explained
all of this, all of what Nastura had said, and everything that he had seen on
the journey, one by one.
First and foremost, our Holy Prophet
صلى الله عايه وسالم observed cleanliness to the highest degree, his code of
conduct was excellent, he was honest, and his friendship was sincere and in
earnest. Nothing could be said about his honesty in trade.
She was deeply impressed for his sincerity,
straight dealings, and integrated skillfulness after hearing the travel account
from Maysarah.
After hearing the narration…without
wasting time, Hazrat Khadijah [Radiyal Laah Anha] went
to Waraqa bin Naufal, her uncle’s son, and explained him what she heard from
Maysara and what she had seen.
Waraqa was a knowledgeable Christian
and was not in favor of idol worshiping. He was a quiet and wise old man.
He was unable to hide his
astonishment in the face of everything that Khadijah had said. He then replied:
If everything that you have said is true, then Muhammad is undoubtedly the
Prophet of this community. I already knew that a Prophet for this community was
going to appear and was awaiting his arrival. This is his exact time.
Lady Hazrat Khadijah’s [Radiyal Laah Anha] heart was filled with happiness upon hearing this statement
and acknowledgment.
She then allocated much of her
business to him while he attained adulthood for his most appreciable
attributes, trustworthiness, and orderly ways of life. The Holy Prophet صلى
الله عايه وسالم from now onward became a great businessman of profound honesty
with integrity. Considerable profits were earned in this trade and business
which further impressed Lady Khadeejah for his worth and personal greatness.
[1] Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, V. 1, p.
129-130.
[2] Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, V. 1, p. 130.
[3] Ibn Hisham, Sirah, V. 1, p. 199;
Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, V. 1, p. 130; Tabari, Tarikh, V. 2, p. 196.
[4] Ibn Sa’d, ibid, V. 1, p. 130;
Suhayli, Rawdu’l-Unf, V. 1, p. 122.
[5] Ibn Sa’d, ibid, V. 1, p. 130.
[6] Ibn Hisham, ibid, V. 1, p. 200;
Ibn Sa’d, ibid, V. 1, p. 130; Tabari, ibid, V. 2, p. 196.
[7] Ibn Hisham, ibid, V. 1, p. 200;
Ibn Sa’d, ibid, p. 130-131.
[8] Ibn Hisham, ibid, V. 1, p. 200;
Tabari, ibid, V. 2, p. 197.
[9] Ibn Hisham, ibid, V. 1, p. 203;
Suhayli, Rawdu’l-Unf, V. 1, p. 123; Ibn Kathir, Sirah, V. 1, p. 267.
No comments
Post a Comment