When some Muslims migrated to Abyssina, being afraid of forced apostasy, the Najashi (king) of Abyssinia summoned them to explain themselves.
What is this religion which you have introduced for yourself and which has served to cut you off from the religion of your people?
Jaffer ibn Abi Talib explained:
“O King! we were plunged in the depth of ignorance and barbarism;
We adored idols,
We lived in unchastity,
We ate the meat of dead carcasses,
And we spoke abominations,
We disregarded every feeling of humanity,
And the duties of hospitality and neighbourhood were neglected;
We knew no law but that of the strong,
When Allah raised among us a man,
Of whose birth, truthfulness, honesty, and purity we were aware;
And he called to the Oneness of Allah,
And taught us not to associate anything with Him.
He forbade us the worship of idols;
And he enjoined us to speak the truth,
To be faithful to our trusts,
To be merciful
And to regard the rights of the neighbours and kith and kin;
He forbade us to speak evil of women,
Or to eat the substance of orphans;
He ordered us to flee from the vices,
And to abstain from evil;
To offer prayers,
To render alms,
And to observe fast.”
[Reference: Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum]
Put that way, the indignity of their pre-Islamic life juxtaposed with the superiority of Islam, it’s hard to believe that any sane person would choose to reject Islam. How could the Quraysh fight so fiercely to uphold their shameful lifestyle complaining the Prophet Mohammad (saw),
‘curses our gods, finds faults with our way of life, mocks at our religion and degrades our forefathers’
Really their actions are no different to those of the Quraysh of today, who also tenaciously cling to their way of life, and rally
‘There are dire threats to … our way of life.’ (Donald Trump)
‘our values… and our way of life will always prevail.’ (Theresa May)
‘…we should come together and stand united and carry on with the way of life that we love.’ (David Cameron)
A way of life that is responsible for,
Countless wars
Mass murder
Ethnic cleansing
Unjust laws
Political unrest
Colonialism
Economic injustice
Social injustice
Corruption
Income and wealth inequality
Forced labour
Slavery
Exploitation
Oppression
Racism
Nationalism
Sectarianism
Starvation
Poverty
Unemployment
Homelessness
Crime
Gun violence
Godlessness
Hedonistic lifestyle
Broken homes
Objectification of women
Environmental crisis
What’s to love?
Yet it’s a way of life the disbelievers fight to preserve, then and now. Jaffer ibn Abi Talib said,
‘our people attacked us, visited the severest punishment on us, to make us renounce our religion and take us back to the old immorality and the worship of idols.’
And today we can’t but be aware of the intellectual and military war being waged against Islam and the Muslims by the West.
None of this should come as a surprise because Allah (SWT) has already warned us,
And they will continue to fight you until they turn you back from your religion if they are able.(2:217)
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