Abu Bakr an-Nabulsi: The flayed Martyr

He was Abu Bakr Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Sahl bin Nasr ar-Ramli, the martyr commonly known as an-Nabulsi. He was a devout and pious worshipper who was not attached to the pleasures of this world. He always stood for the truth. He would fast every other day, and was an influence on all people around him.

He was a scholar of Fiqh and Hadith. He was considered to be one of the greatest scholars of Hadith of his time, as he narrated from the likes of at-Tabarani and Ibn Qutaybah. Also, he taught the likes of ad-Daraqutni, al-Midani, and ‘Ali bin ‘Umar al-Halabi.

‘Ubaydillah al-Mahdi established the Fatimid state, and took the city of al-Mahdiyyah – after which he is named – as its capital. This city is located on the coast of Tunisia, and it is about 16 miles from the southeast section of the city of Qayrawan. Then, the sons of ‘Ubaydillah al-Mahdi continued his expansionist policy until Abu Tamim bin Isma’il – also known as al-Mu’iz li-Dinillah – conquered Egypt. He entered it on Friday, on the 8th of Ramadan in the year 362 H, and established the city of Cairo . The rulers of this Fatimid state ascribed themselves to the Shiite ideology, while the people of Egypt and Palestine were Sunnis.

The tribulations presented by the Fatimid dynasty were a great trial for the Muslims. When they colonized Palestine, the righteous and poor people escaped from Jerusalem because the Fatimids would force the scholars of the Muslims to curse all of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) during their speeches and sermons. From these scholars who escaped the Fatimids was al-Imam an-Nabulsi, who escaped to Damascus. When al-Mu’iz li-Dinillah arrived in Syria and conquered it, he began to personally call to his heretical ideology, forbidding people from praying the Tarawih andDuha prayers, and forcing them to make Qunut during the Dhuhr prayers.

As for an-Nabulsi, he was from Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, and he considered it an obligation to fight these Fatimids. He said in regards to these Fatimid rulers: “If I had ten spears in my possession, I would throw one of them at the Romans, and I would throw the other nine at these tyrannical Fatimids.”

 When the ruler of Damascus – Abu Mahmud al-Kitami – was able to defeat theQaramitah (who were the enemies of the Fatimids), he arrested al-Imam an-Nabulsi and put him in prison in Ramadan. When the commander of the army of al-Mu’iz li-Dinillah arrived in Damascus, an-Nabulsi was handed over to them and taken to Egypt. When he arrived in Egypt, he was taken to al-Mu’iz li-Dinillah, who said to him: “I have been informed that you said that if a man has ten spears, then he should throw one of them at the Romans, and nine of them at us!”

So, an-Nabulsi said: “I did not say this!!”

The Fatimid ruler smiled, and assumed that the Imam would retract his statement. So, he asked him: “What did you say, then?”

So, an-Nabulsi responded to him – with strength and boldness – “If a man has ten spears, then he should throw nine of them at you, then he should throw the tenth one at you as well!!!”

So, al-Mu’iz asked him, in shock: “And why is that?”

So, the Imam answered him back with the same boldness: “Because you changed the religion of the Ummah, and you killed the righteous people, and you put out the divine light of guidance, and you usurped that which did not belong to you!”

So, the Fatimid ruler ordered for him to be brought out in front of the public. The next day, he was whipped severely. On the third day, an-Nabulsi was nailed to a cross, and a Jewish butcher was brought out to peel off his flesh after the Muslim butchers had refused to do so. By the time the flesh was peeled from the top of his head down to his face, he was still patiently engaging in the remembrance of Allah and repeating the verse from the Qur’an: {“…and that is written in the Book of Our Decrees.”} [al-Isra'; 58]. When the butcher had finally gotten to an-Nabulsi’s arms, he decided to put him out of his misery, and took a knife of his and stabbed it into an-Nabulsi’s heart, after which he died.

It was later reported by eyewitnesses that while an-Nabulsi was on the cross, the recitation of the Qur’an could be heard coming from his dead body.

Also, Ibn ash-Sha’sha’ al-Misri narrated that he saw an-Nabulsi in a dream after he had been killed, looking very beautiful and joyous. So, he asked him: “What has Allah done with you?”

So, an-Nabulsi replied:

My Lord Loved me in eternal honor * And He Promised me closeness and friendship to Him

And He brought me close to Him * And Said: “Rejoice in an everlasting life next to Me.”

Source

She is in Paradise

Khalid bin Safwan saw a group in the mosque of Basrah, and he said, “What is this gathering?”

He was told, “There is a woman who informs men about women who are available for marriage.”

 He went to her and said, “I want to marry a woman.”

She said, “Describe her to me.”

He said, “I want her to be a virgin who is wise like a married woman, or a married woman who is innocent like a virgin; she should be sweet when she is near, splendid when she is at a distance, she should have lived a life of luxury and then became afflicted with poverty — so she has the manners of the rich and the humility of the poor. When we gather wealth we should be as the people of the world, and when we become poor, we should be as the people of the Hereafter.”

She said, “I know of such a woman for you.”

He said, “And where is she?”

She said, “In Paradise, so work to achieve her!” 

Source: Gems and Jewels by Abdul-Malik Mujahid

Imam Shafi`i on his death bed

Imam Shafi`i on his death-bed was asked by Al Muzni "What is your condition?"

Then Imam Shafi' (رحمه الله) replied,

"I am journeying from this world, and departing from my brothers, drinking from the cup of death, and upon Allah, Exalted is His remembrance, arriving. And no! By Allah, I do not know if my soul is travelling towards Paradise or the Fire!"

Imam Shafi' (رحمه الله) then began to cry profusely and recited the following;

'To You, the Creator, I raise my longing,

And even if I am, O possessor of kindness and generosity, an evildoer, a criminal

When my heart became constricted and my paths became narrow,

I took my hope in Your pardon and forgiveness as an opening and an escape

My sins seemed very great to me but when I compared them to Your forgiveness,

I found Your forgiveness to be much greater

You are and still remain the only One who can forgive sins,

You grant and forgive out of Your benevolence and generosity

Were it not for You, then a servant could never defy Iblis

And how can that be when he mislead Your friend Adam

If only I knew! Will I arrive at Paradise that I may take delight

Or at Hellfire, that I may regret?

How capable is Allah! For the one acquainted with lament,

blood almost flows from his eyelids due to the excess of his emotions (lament)

He stands when the night extends out its darkness

Stands against himself out of extreme fear, sinful

Eloquent when he makes mention of his Lord

And in the mention of others than Him, he is speechless

He remembers days gone by of his youth

And what was in it of ignorance, he was a criminal

And so for the whole of his day, the companion of grief has become

the brother of sleeplessness and secret conversation when the night darkens

He says, 'My beloved, You are what I request and desire

You are enough of a longing and benefit for those who have hope

Are You not the One who has provided for me and guided me

And You have not ceased being gracious to me and full of favours

Perhaps the Beneficent One will forgive my mistakes

And cover up my crime and what has gone forth

My sins seemed very great to me, so I turned (to You) in humility

Were it not for my contentment in you, I wouldn't, O my Lord, have seen any comfort at all

So if You forgive me, You would have forgiven a sinner,

A rebellious, oppressive tyrant still sinning

So if You were to seek revenge from me, I would not despair

Even if they entered my soul into Jahannum, due to the sins

For my crimes are great, past and present

But Your forgiveness comes to the servant, more exalted and more great

The bounty of Allaah surrounds me from all sides

And Light from the Most Merciful has spread in the sky

And in the heart is the radiance of the beloved when he is reunited

And when glad tidings draw close, it becomes feverish

Exhilaration surrounds me, only for Allaah

It overlooks me in the darkness of the grave, apparent and clear

I protect my love, lest my desires should pollute it

And I preserve the contract of love, lest it be defiled

In my wakefulness is yearning and in my slumber is destiny

That's pursuing my footsteps in ecstasy

Whoever holds fast to Allaah, he is protected from men

And whoever hopes for Him, then never will he regret..

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The Magian and the Muslim

Once there was someone who belonged to the. He lived in Balkh (a Byzantine region) and had a wife and several daughters. They were living in luxury and prosperity. Then the husband died. His widow and daughters become so poor that they moved to another town to flee from the ghost of noticing their enemies rejoice at her misfortune. Having entered the town she resorted to a deserted mosque with her daughters. Then, she went out to bring them something to eat. She passed by two people, a Muslim and a magian.

She started by asking the Muslim and explained to him how she suffered a lot while she was an honored woman from the 'Alawyyeen sect. But he asked her to show evidence. She said she was stranger.

But, he did not pay attention to her. Then, she left feeling sad and again explained her case to magian and how she had four daughters who were orphans and in need. She recounted her story to a Muslim Sheikh.

The magian sent his ladies to bring her and daughters home. He fed them and clothed them well. They stayed with him in luxury and honor. At midnight, the Muslim who turned the woman away dreamt that it was the Day of Judgment. A banner was raised over the Prophet's head. There was a palace of green emerald whose windows were of pearls and corundum and also had domes of pearls and corals. He then asked the Messenger of Allah: "Whose palace is it?" For a Muslim who believes in Allah, the One.' O  Allah's Messenger I am a Muslim, the man said. But the prophet asked him to show the evidence that he was a Muslim.

The man was perplexed. Accordingly, the prophet said "When the 'Alawiyya woman asked you, you asked her to show an evidence that she was Alawiy. Thus, show me evidence that you are Muslim. Then, the man got up sadly for repelling the woman. He started to search for her in the town until he found her in the Magian's house. He asked him about the woman and her daughters, but the Magian refused and said many blessing were showered upon him because of them.

The man persisted to take them and even offered the Magian a thousand dinars but he refused again.  The Muslim said but I should take them. Then, the Magian said, what you want is mine and the palace which you saw in your dream was created for me. May you guide me to embrace Islam? By Allah, I did not sleep yesterday before my family and I embraced Islam at the hands of the woman. I had also the same dream. The Prophet asked me, "were the 'Alawiy woman and her daughters in your house?" I said 'yes', Messenger of Allah? He, then, said, the palace is for you and your family and all of you will enter Paradise. You were created a Muslim from the beginning of the creation. Then, the Muslim went away sadly.

 Behold! How Allah blesses those who treat widows and orphans tenderly in this world.  "He who works hard on behalf of old women and the indigent, is like a Mujahid (a warrior) in the cause of  Allah and the narrator thinks, he (Pbuh) added, "and like the person standing in prayer and who never  tires, and like one who observes the fast and does not break it.

Source: Major Sins by Imam Shamsu ed-Deen Dhahabi

The Keys to Our Dream

A Poem by Tarek Mahenna

I walked by our dream and was saddened to find
Tears filling her eyes with a look quite resigned.
She sat in the jail where we left her behind
Trapped behind the bars of a colonized mind.

I stood and wondered how I could set her free
So I asked if she knew where they’d hidden the key.
She wiped away tears and looked over at me
With pity that I assumed it would be so easy!

She said: “Buried inside pages of distant past
With a heritage of lions, so rich and so vast
You’ll find the key with Sumayyah, when to faith she held fast
As they speared her chastity, and she breathed her last.

And it’s the finger of Bilal, the heroic black slave,
The sign of Tawhid that in their faces he’d wave
As he lay tied down in a hot desert grave
Their harming of him made him all the more brave.

And it’s the pledge of ‘Ikrimah, enemy turned warrior
Who changed his life to make the truth superior.
Khalid himself could not hold him back from more
When his pledge at Yarmuk left the Romans so sore.

It is the back with shredded flesh and torn skin
Of Ahmad bin Hambal, who refused to give in.
He answered their whips with the truth and a grin
To protect our religion, he would not let them win.

And it is the bittersweet dust of the land of Hittin,
That once engulfed the knights of Salah ad-Din
From the filth of dishonor, he made that dust clean
And for the respect of the world did he set the scene.

It was the rope around the neck of the desert’s lion
‘Umar Mukhatar, who would bow down to no Italian.
Refusing to live in a state of humiliation
His chin high to the end, with no fear of the Creation.

The rope was passed on to Sayyid’s waiting head
With one last chance for him to be spared from this dread.
And from the choicest fruits, they promised he would be fed
But his index finger led him to another door instead.

The same finger that pointed up as Malcolm X lay still
Ending a life of honor, that was one struggle uphill.
He left a life of crime, transforming himself until
He spoke bitter truth with eloquence and skill…”

She sat in the jail where we left her behind
Indeed this key will be difficult to find
But it is you if you refuse to be blind
And decide to free yourself from the colonized mind.

27th of Dhu al-Hijjah 1430

(14th of December 2009)

In the hours before Fajr; in the traces of the pale floodlights shining into my cell.

Plymouth County Correctional Facility, Isolation Unit.

The angels descend upon the mu'mineen

Hadbrat Ibn Abbaas radiyAllaahu unlhuma narrates that Rasulullali sallAllaahu alaybi wa sallam said on the day of Badr: This is Jibraeel holding onto the head of his horse, equipped with the implements of war”

Hadbrat Sa’d bin Abi Waqqaas radiyAllaahu unhu narrated:

On the day of Uhud I saw on the right and on the left of Rasulullah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam two men dressed in white fighting fiercely. I had never seen them before and neither thereafter. They were Jibraeel and Meekaaeel alayhiinassalaam.

Abbaas radiyAllaahu unhu once sent his son Abdullah radiyAllaahu unhu to Rasulullah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam for some work, but he found Rasulullah sallAllaahu alayhi wasallam busy with a man, so he returned without speaking to him. Abbaas (ra) asked: Did you see the man”

He said: “Yes”.

Abbaas (ra) said: That was Jibraeel alayhissallaam. He who has seen Jibraeel alayhissalaam will not die until he loses his eyesight and be granted vast knowledge.”

It is well known that Abdullah bin Abbaas (ra) became Hibrul Unmmah - a most distinguished Aaalim, even amongst the Sahaabah (ra). During his old age he lost his eyesight. This prediction was thus fulfilled.]

Sahl (ra) said to his son Abu Umaamah (ra):

Oh my son, if only you had seen us on the day of Badr, pointing our swords towards the head of a mushrik, and his head would fall from his body before our swords would reach him.”

Anas (ra) narrates that a man who used to write for Rasulullah sallAllaahu alayhi wasallam became a murtad (apostate, na’uthbillah) and joined the mushrikeen. Rasulullah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam prophesised: The earth will not accept him.

He narrates: We buried him a number of times, but the earth did not accept him. i.e. the grave expelled his body each time.

Source: Signs of ar-Rahman

The strange woman

Dhul Noon Al-Misree said:

Once, while on a journey, I met a devout woman, from her saddened state it seemed like she had lost a child.

She asked me, “Where are you from?“

I said, “I am a stranger here.“

She exclaimed. “A stranger!? Is it possible to feel the woes of strangeness when one is with Allaah (swt)? He is the recourse and solace of the strangers and the Helper of the weak!“

At this I started to cry and she said, “Know that crying relieves the heart and is something to recourse to, the heart has not repressed something more deserving [of display] than sighs and moans.“

I said, “Teach me something!“

She replied, “Love your Lord and desire to meet Him, for one day He will show Himself to those who love Him and they will attain their hope of seeing Him.“

I then left her as I found her and went on my way.

[Aboo Nu'aym, 9/14107. Translated by Ustaadh Aboo Rumaysah]

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