The Sealed Nectar (Reaction; Part 1)

** The following post is from December 2007; I have no idea why I never published it. Perhaps because I never finished the book? Anyways, I've picked it up again this past Ramadan and was rummaging through my drafts and stumbled here. Might as well toss up the post, no? It should be noted, however, that this was written before I attended ALIM in the summer of 2008. I don't think many of my views have necessarily changed, but rather have been elucidated by sitting through, for example, Dr. Jackson's seerah class. I miss ALIM. **

After collecting dust on my bookshelf for ages, I've finally picked up one of the two copies of seerah (biography of the Prophet Muhammad). Much of the reward goes to our halaqa group, who picked Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar by Safi-ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakapuri) to read as our first book for the group.

The readings have been slow, however, as not everyone has a copy of the book so we're doing it more of a presentation style than anything else. But low and behold, the whole book is actually available online! I guess the presentation helps us remember more, though, by reinforcing/reviewing the material in our own mind, but I really would like to finish this book up quickly and then maybe give the other book a shot to help review/reinforce, or maybe even continue with the halaqa group next semester to accomplish the same goal.

Regardless, I had hoped to type up highlights of the book as I read through it, but really, it's too much. Instead, I think I'll just post my thoughts/reactions. After the first 150 or so pages:

- I'm struck by how religious the lives of the pre-Islamic Arabs were. I'd known in the past that the Prophet (saw) had come from a prestigious family and it was the protection of his uncle (an extremely well respected man who was of extremely high social and political class) Abu Talib that prevented many people from flat our killing the Prophet (saw). However, I had not been aware that it was the clan of the Prophet (saw) who was in charge of maintaining the Kaa'bah and providing food for the pilgrims who came to the area for worship. This adds an extra sting when the Prophet (saw) comes forth with the Message of Allah SWT, as he (saw) is not just disrespecting their way of life, but blaspheming their religion which they hold in VERY high regard, not to mention that the Prophet (saw) is supposed to hold the religion of the pre-Islamic Arabs in high regard as well. I feel a twinge of connection; I'm both proud and ashamed.

- I'm amazed at how many foiled attempts on the Prophet (saw)'s life there have already been, specifically the 2 (or more? I can only recall attempts by Abu Lahab and his wife off the top of my head) that have fallen through only because of the intervention of Allah swt. Once, the wife of Abu Lahab went to the Kaabah to kill the Prophet (saw). Though at the Kaabah, the Prophet (saw) was sitting next to Abu Bakr, the wife did not even see the Prophet (saw) and only saw Abu Bakr. She therefore addressed him, asking him where the Prophet (saw) was and declaring her intent to kill him. When she left, the Prophet (saw) told Abu Bakr that Allah swt had blinded her to him (saw) and so she was unable to see him. On another occasion, I think it was Abu Lahab who intended to kill the Prophet (saw) while he (saw) was in sajdah by throwing an enormous rock at him. However, when Abu Lahab advanced, he became scared and retreated and declared he had seen a horrible [monster? some type of dark creature]. The Prophet (saw) informed the companions that the creature was really an angel and had Abu Lahab come even a step closer, the angel would have killed Abu Lahab. There's various other accounts of stories like this; absolutely chilling.

- Maybe as a connection between the prior two points, I'm amazed at the amount of harassment the first Muslims had to encounter and deal with. It's just... something that's very difficult for me to understand. Their religion was threatened, yes, and maybe even their class system was affected, but the amount of contempt and hate these people had for Islam is unbelievable. It honestly and truly reminds me of current times, not just in regards to the way Islam and/or Muslims have been harassed and demonized, but moreso for the "us-vs-them" mentality that's imbibed in the minds of millions. It was just a few days ago that I read one of Michael Savage's diatribes where he clearly stated that if we as Americans did not go out and kill the Muslim/terrorists, then they would get us first. Either we live or them -- with no regard to how we live. This philosophy is whole-heartedly present in the Muslim world as well, and equally disgusting there, if not more so. Though I know many people may think of some aspects of Islam to be morbid because there's such a huge focus on death (and what comes after it), we often fail to realize that our remembrance of death is there to motivate us to purify our life. Our survival as Muslims, as humans, is not what matters (or at least it's not what's supposed to matter), but rather it's how we live our life and the choices we make in it. It's a vital Islamic principle, which makes it all the more disappointing when we don't seem to abide by it.

Allahu alim (God knows best)

- I have to stop thinking of this story as a parable; it's a feeling I'm nestled into as I find more and more parallels between the story and my own life, my own trials and my own world. It's surprisingly unexpected, though I don't know why.