ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Historical Stories For Children Abu Sufyan It was an age when the whole of the Hijaz (Arabia) was covered in darkness and oppression and full of ignorance and corruption. It was a country where debauchery, wrong action and evil deeds were considered to be honorable. It was a time when women were deprived of all privileges in life, denied freedom and access to any spirituality.

In those days, baby- girls were buried alive and they were even denied the right to live. It was to such a culture and way of behaving that the noble (s a w a) came; he appeared amongst the people, carrying a life-giving message of peace and prosperity from his lord, Allah. His message was this: قولوا لا إله إلا الله تفلحوا Say: (O people), there is no god but Allah, so that you may achieve success.

The first action of the noble Prophet (s a w a) was to destroy and remove the false and superstitious gods of the idol-worshippers which then had made out of stone, he affirmed that there was no god only Allah and that man must submit to Him only and to no other power. Thus, the noble Prophet (s a w a) relying only on Allah for support, began calling the people to the correct way of life; he feared nothing, neither person nor political force.

In the same way, however, as darkness oposes itself to light and the forces of evil to truth, so there existed in oppositionto this figure of truth and spiritual reality the satanicfigures of darkness of that age; namely, the men of the Quraysh tribe. To avoid conflict, he kept his message hidden from these pharaonic-like people at the initial stages of his mission.

The first to accept the faith of Islam was Khadijah, the noble wife of the Prophet (s a w a); then Abu Talib, the uncle and guardian of Muhammad (s a w a) and Ali (a s), his cousin and faithful supporter, both accepted. These distinguished servents of Allah worshipped and prayed out of sight of the mushrikin (the pl. of mushrik: polytheists) of Mecca, especially the rich and powerful amongst the trive of the Quraysh.

The holy (s a w a) used every opportunity to call the poor servants and slaves of the Qurayshite nobles to worship Allah, the One, the Unique, and to keep them from worshipping the idols of falsehood and magic which had been erected by the chiefs of the Quraysh. Gradually, however, from all quarters of Mecca murmurings of discontent began; then the cry of anger and revolt of the pleasure-seeking nobles was to be heard, loud and clear.