Stories of the prophets

In the name of Allah....!



Among the children of Israel there lived a pious man. He was poor but very careful about how he earned his living; it had to be honestly earned. On his deathbed his last words were: "O Allah, I place my wife, my little son, and my only possession which is a calf, in Your care."

Then strangely, he asked his wife to lead the calf to the forest and leave it there. He did this because he did not trust people, for they were a selfish and greedy folk.

After a few years when the boy had grown up, his mother told him: "Your father has left you a calf in the trust of Allah.It must have grown into a cow by now." The son was surprised. He did not know of any calf all these years and asked his mother where it was. She replied: "Be like your father and say: 'I trust in Allah,' then go look for it."

With a rope in his hand, he went to the forest and prostrated himself before Allah: "O Allah, Lord of Ibraheem and Yaqub(Jacob) and Ayoub (Job), return to me my father's trust. " As he raised his head, he saw a cow coming towards him. It stopped submissively beside him.He tied the rope around its neck and led it to his house.

The young Boy was as pious as his father. He earned his living by cutting wood.

About this time, a man was murdered among the Bani-Israel. {And here Allah is about to test Bani-Israeel very seriously}

According to one narration: There was a rich old man, he had no heir except his nephews who wished that he should die soon so that they can inherit from him.

Another narration says that a wealthy man died, leaving behind his only son, who inherited his father's wealth. His cousins envied his good fortune, and secretly killed him so that they could inherit it.

So a man was killed unjustly and no one knew who did this.The people found the dead body on road in the morning and began disputing with one another and blaming each other for the murder. And they said that they will not bury the dead until the mystery is solved.

Someone among them said why you are disputing over his murder. We have prophet of Allah among us, why don't we go to Prophet Musa and ask him to ask Allah concerning this issue.

Prophet Musa invoked Allah and Allah revealed to Prophet Musa that in order to solve the murder; tell your people to slaughter a cow. Of course, when Prophet Musa told his people of God's command, their first reaction was shock and disbelief. They thought the Prophet Musa was mocking them. Prophet Musa replied "Allah forbid that I be among the ignorant!"{Here a lesson to be learnt is that we should never mock anyone or anything as to mock anyone is equated with ignorance}

Quran narrates;

And when Musa said to his people: "Verily, Allah commands you that you slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you make fun of us?" He said, "I take Allah's Refuge from being among the ignorant" 2:67

They were convinced that the decision of Allah did not correspond with their concern. They confronted Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) not trusting his words. And when they finally believed that the order was serious, they said to Prophet Musa, “Call upon your Lord and ask HIM to tell us, what kind of cow this should be. Give us some details about it”.Here one important point to note is that Allah simply commanded them to slaughter ‘a’ cow and not ‘the’ cow which obviously meant slaughter any cow. They could have slaughtered any cow and that would have fulfilled the command. But they had crookedness within themselves.

Prophet Musa called upon Allah and the first specification or restriction that came was, “This cow is neither young nor mature, but in middle age, so do as you have been commanded”.

Now they restricted themselves to a batch of cows that were neither young nor old. And again they could have slaughtered any cow of middle age and that would have fulfilled the command.

But they said, “O Musa call upon your Lord to tell us what should be the color of this cow”.

So the another restriction came upon them.

Prophet Musa replied: "Allah says that verily, it is bright yellow in color and pleasing to the beholders”.

And again they could have slaughtered any middle aged yellow cow but they were still not satisfied.

They said, “O Musa, Call upon your Lord to tell us something more about it and if Allah wills we are guided”. In their arrogance they were attributing their misguidance to Almighty Lord.

{Here one more thing to reflect upon is that Allah did not misguide any one. HE has made distinct what is right and what is wrong. But when we turn away from God, HE let us go away}

Prophet Musa replied, “Allah says that it is an unyoked cow; it does not plow the soil nor water the tilth, and it is entirely flawless."

And finally they said to Prophet Musa, "Now you have brought the truth”.


INSHA-ALLAH...TO BE CONTINUED!

 

In the name of Allah....!


Finally, they went out in search of such a cow.But the only Cow that matched the description was the one owned by that orphan young boy.

They met him on the way and asked the price for which he would sell his cow. He told them he would have to consult his mother first, so they accompanied him to his house and offered her three gold coins. She refused their offer, saying that the cow was worth much more.

They went on increasing their offer and the mother kept on refusing. Finally they urged the son to speak to his mother to be reasonable. He told them: "I will not sell the cow without my mother's approval, even if you offered me its skin filled with gold!"

On hearing this, his mother smiled and said: "Let that be the price: its skin filled with gold." They realized that no other cow would do; they had to have it at any price. They agreed to buy the cow and paid with its skin filled with gold.

Then the cow was slaughtered as commanded.

When Prophet Musa touched that part of Cow with the victim's dead body;the dead man came to life and spoke that I was killed by the person so and so.

There are different opinions regarding the body part of the cow that made the dead man speak. Some say, it was the tail bone. Others - it was the tongue.

When the dead man pronounced his murderer’s name he died again.

The cow was nothing more than a means.Those who worship the Creator should know HIM and not confuse the means with HIM Who causes it to come into being.

Glorious Quran narrates;

They said, "Call upon your Lord for us that HE may make plain to us what it is!" He said, "HE says, 'Verily, it is a cow neither too old nor too young, but between the two conditions', so do what you are commanded."

They said, "Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us its color." He said, "HE says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in its color, pleasing to the beholders.' "

They said, "Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us what it is. Verily to us all cows are alike, And surely, if Allah wills, we will be guided."

Musa said, "HE says, 'It is a cow neither trained to till the soil nor water the fields, sound, having no other color except bright yellow.' " They said, "Now you have brought the truth." So they slaughtered it though they were near to not doing it. (2:68-71)



INSHA-ALLAH...TO BE CONTINUED !

 

Asalamualaikum dear,

That was because that particular story ended there

Stay Blessed !

 

Asalamualaikum dear,

So glad to see you back.

Yes that is true and Prophet Musa (peace be upon Him) is also mentioned more frequently in the Glorious Quran than any other Prophet.

 

In the name of Allah....!


Prophet Harun (peace be upn Him) died shortly before Prophet Musa (peace be upon Him).

Prophet Musa also died while his people were still wandering in the desert.

Abu Hurairah narrated:

"The Angel of Death (in Human form) was sent to Prophet Musa. When he came to Prophet Musa,Prophet Musa slapped him on the eye.

The Angel returned to his Lord and said: 'You have sent me to a slave who does not want to die.'

Allah Sub'ha'na'hu (The Most Glorified) said: 'Go back to MY slave and ask him ‘Do you want life? If you wish to live long, put your hand on the back of an ox and for every hair that will come under it, he will be granted one year of life.'

At this, Prophet Musa (peace be upon Him) asked ‘Then what will happen?’ The Angel said ‘Then you have to die’.

Prophet Musa said: 'Then let it come now!' Prophet Musa then requested Allah to let him die close to the Holy Land (Palestine) so that he would be at a distance of a stone's throw from it."

Abu Hurairah added: "Allah's Messenger (peace be upon Him) said: 'If I were there, I would show you his grave below the red sand-hill on the side of the road." (Sahih Al Bukhari)

Prophet Musa (peace be upon Him) is mentioned in the Qur’an 124 times.

Prophet Musa (peace be upon Him) is one of the FIVE MIGHTY MESSENGERS. The other four are:

Prophet Nuh
Prophet Ibraheem
Prophet Isa'a Maseeh
Prophet Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings on all of them)

When Prophet Musa (peace be upon Him) passed away; Yusha Bin Nun (Joshua) was chosen by the Almighty Lord as their Leader.




INSHA-ALLAH...TO BE CONTINUED !

 

In the name of Allah...!



Kalih Ibn Yofra (Jephtha) followed Joshua and then Ezekiel Ibn Buzi succeeded him as the prophet to the Israelites.

Muhammad Ibn Ishaaq stated that we do not know how long Prophet Ezekiel (peace be upon him) stayed among the Israelites before Allah took him away.

After him, the Israelites deviated from the right way of life, as they usually did, and deserted Allah’s covenant with them. so Allah sent to them a Prophet Elijah (peace be upon him).

Ibn Ishaaq said that Prophet Elisha (peace be upon him) was sent to the children after Prophet Elijah (peace be upon him).

He lived among his people, calling them to God and abiding by the message and laws of Elijah until he passed away. Then dissension rose among them, and events took momentum. Sins increased everywhere, and the tyrants increased and killed the prophets.

Ibn Jarir reported that the condition of the Israelites deteriorated. They committed many sins and killed whom they wished of the prophets. Consequently Allah sent them tyrannous king who ill-treated them and spilled their blood, and set their enemies from outside against them as well.

According to Ibn 'Asaker, the Israelites believed their Ark of the Covenant to be very holy and an important symbol of their history. The carried the Ark even in battle and believed that, because of it, Allah would protect them from their enemies. This belief gave them peace of mind and great courage, and their enemies were terrified by it.

Their enemies also believed that it was given special power by Allah. Gradually the Israelites started to ignore Allah's law; evil habits became part of their lives. Allah sent upon them an enemy, the Philistines, who defeated the Israelites, captured their Ark, drove them out of their homes, and took away their children to use or sell as slaves. Their power was broken. They separated from one another and were very disheartened.

The children of Israel remained like sheep without a shepherd until Almighty Allah sent them a prophet named Shammil (Samuel) peace be upon him. They asked him to appoint a king over them to lead in a war against their enemies.

They asked the prophet's help in appointing a strong leader, a king under whose banner they could unite and fight the Philistines. Prophet Shammil (peace be upon him), knowing their weakness, told them: "I fear that when the time comes to fight you may refuse." But they assured him that they had suffered enough insults and were now ready to fight in the way of Allah, even if they lost their lives.

Prophet Shammil prayed to Allah for guidance. Allah revealed to him that He had chosen one, Talut (Saul), to be their king.

Talut (Saul) was tall and sturdy, pious, and very intelligent. He lived and worked with his father on their farm.Prophet Shammil told Talut that Allah had chosen him as the king of the children of Israel. His duty would be to take charge of their affairs, to unite them under one banner, and to protect them from their enemies. If he carried out Allah's commands, he would be given victory.

He protested to the prophet that he was one of the children of Banyamin (Benjamin), the least famous of the tribes of Prophet Yaqub (Jacob); he did not know anything of leadership or kingship and had no wealth. Prophet Shammil told him that it was the will of Allah that he should be the king, that he should thank Allah for His favor and be strong in faith.

Glorious Qur’an narrates;

Consider the group of the Children of Israel after Musa? When they said to a Prophet of theirs, ‘Appoint for us a king and we will fight in God’s cause’. He said, "Would you then refrain from fighting, if fighting was prescribed for you?" They said, "Why should we not fight in God’s cause while we have been driven out of our homes and our children (families have been taken as captives)?" But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them. And God has full knowledge of those who do wrong.

And their Prophet (Shammil) said to them, "Indeed God has appointed Talut (Saul) as a king over you." They said, "How can he be a king over us when we are better fitted than him for the kingdom, and he has not been given enough wealth." He said: "Verily, God has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And God grants HIS Kingdom to whom HE wills. And God is magnanimous, all knowing. 2:246-247



INSHA-ALLAH...TO BE CONTINUED!

 

In the Name of God,the Most Beneficent,the Ever Merciful !



Their prophet said to them, ‘The sign of his authority will be that the holy chest [Ark of the Covenant] will come to you. In it there will be [the gift of] tranquility from your Lord and relics of the followers of Musa and Harun. There is a sign in this for you if you believe.’

Talut set about organizing his army with strong faith and wisdom. He ordered that only men free from responsibilities should join. Those engaged in building homes, men who were about to be married and those occupied with business should not join.

When Talut set out with his forces, he said to them, ‘God will test you with a river. Anyone who drinks from it will not belong with me, but anyone who refrains from tasting it will belong with me; if he scoops up just one handful [he will be excused].’ But they all drank [deep] from it, except for a few.

To his disappointment, he discovered the majority of them drank more water than they should have. He discharged them for disobedience and kept only the few who had obeyed him, as they were the ones who proved their sincerity. This resulted in a split in the army, but he was not bothered.

Talut's men sighted the enemy on the other side of the river. Their opponents appeared physically strong and were armed with better weapons. They were led by the mighty warrior Goliath (Jalut), known for his huge build and brute strength. A great number of Talut's men ran away on seeing this strong force. The small band that remained was willing to fight, whatever the outcome, for they had heard that there had been many incidents in the past in which Allah had caused a small force to defeat a larger one.

When the two armies faced each other, Goliath challenged any great warrier from King Talut's army to single combat, as was the custom of battle in those days. Goliath also wanted to show off his strength. The men were terrorized, and no one had enough courage to volunteer. Then, to everyone's surprise, a youth stepped forward. A roar of laughter echoed from the enemy's side, and even Talut's men shook their heads.

This young man was David (Dawud),a Shepherd from the city of Bethlehem. His elderly father had chosen three of his sons to join Talut's army.

Although Talut was very impressed by the youth's courage, he said: "I admire your courage, but you are no match for that mighty warrior. Let the strong men come forward."

Dawud, however, had already decided and was willing to meet the challenge.

Talut was surprised by young Dawud's brave stance, he said to him: "My brave soldier, if you are willing, then may Almighty guard you and grant you strength!"

When Goliath set eyes on the lean young man, he laughed loudly and roared: "Are you out to play war with one of your playmates, or are you tired of your life? I will simply cut off your head with one swipe of my sword!"

Dawud was extremely skillful with slingshot. He picked a stone and placed it on his slingshot. He took aim and threw it toward Jalut, who was coming toward him furiously. The stone Dawud threw with his slingshot hit Jalut in the middle of his forehead, making him fall down dazzled. Dawud ran towards him and killed Jalut with his own sword.



Insha-Allah,to be continued ...!

 

In the Name of God,the Most Beneficent,the Ever Merciful !



In this battle the Israelits regained the glory and honor that had been lost for a long time.

Dawud became a hero overnight.King Saul married his daughter Miqel to the young warrior and took him under his wing as one of his chief advisors.

Glorious Quran narrates:

So they routed them by Allah's Leave and Dawud killed Goliath, and Allah gave him (Dawud) the kingdom (after the death of Saul and Samuel) and wisdom, and taught him of that which HE willed. And if Allah did not check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be full of mischief. But Allah is full of Bounty to the mankind, jinns and all that exist. (2:251)


Dawud became the most famous man among the Israelits. However, he was not inveigled by this; he was not a prisoner of fame or leadership.He used to went out into the desert in the company of nature, glorifying Almighty Allah and contemplating HIS favor.

Prophet Dawud, besides being brave and wise, was known for his melodious voice, which he used to recite the praises of Allah.Birds as well as mountains used to join him in praising the Almighty Creator.

Glorious Quran narrates:

WE subjected the mountains to glorify with him in the evening and at sunrise. And also the birds, flocking together, all of them turned to Him.(38:18-19)

And WE gave Dawud the Zabur (psalms). (4 :163)

Prophet Dawud's sincerity was not the only factor responsible for the birds and beasts joining with him in glorifying Allah, nor was the sweetness of his voice. It was a miracle from Allah and he was also endowed with the faculty of understanding the languages of birds and mountains.

Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him) fasted every other day. Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn Al-As narrated: Allah's Messenger (peace be upon Him) said to me: "The most beloved fasting to Allah was the fasting of the Prophet Dawud, who used to fast alternate days. And the most beloved prayer to Allah was the prayer of Dawud, who used to sleep the first half of the night, and pray for one third of it and again sleep for a sixth of it.'" (Sahih Al-Bukhari).

His people had a great number of wars in their time, but they had a problem in that the iron armor was too heavy for the fighter to move and fight as he wished. It is said that Prophet Dawud was sitting one day, contemplating this problem while toying with a piece of iron. Suddenly, he found his hand sinking in the iron.

Glorious Quran narrates,

And WE made iron malleable for him. (34 : 10)

Time passed and after the death of King Saul ,Prophet Dawud succeeded him. People loved and respected Prophet Dawud and elected him to be their king. So it was that Dawud was the Prophet and he was also a king. Allah strengthened the dominion of Prophet Dawud and made him victorious.


Prophet Dawud had divided his working day into four parts: one to earn a living and to rest, one to pray to his Lord, one to listen to the complaints of his people, and the last part to deliver his sermons. He also appointed deputies to listen to his subjects' complaints so that in his absence people's problems might not be neglected.

Although a king, he did not live on the income of his kingdom.
He used to weave baskets from the skin of date tree and to tell his companions who from them would sell them. Then he used to purchase bread of barley from that amount and to eat it.Later on in life, being well-experienced in the craft of weapon-making, he made and sold weapons and lived on that income.

According to traditions, Prophet Dawud died suddenly and was succeeded by his son Solomon!



IN-SHA-ALLAH,TO BE CONTINUED... !