Post by Islamic Revival on Oct 14, 2004 2:10:18 GMT -5
Labid bin Rabia, was reciting poetry to a gathering of the Quraysh:
“Everything but God is vain”<br>
Uthman bin Maz’un interjected positively: “True”<br>
Labid continued: “And everything lovely must inevitably cease”<br>
Uthman again interjected, this time crying out: “You lie! The joys of paradise will never cease”<br>
Labid, taken aback by this rebuke responded: “O men of Quraysh your friends never used to be annoyed thus. Since when has this sort of thing happened among you?
One of the audience answered: “This is one of those louts with Muhammad. They have abandoned our religion. Take no notice of what he says”.
Uthman’s interjection clearly hit a raw-nerve and led to one of the audience hitting him and blackening his eye.
Uthman prior to this incident had been under the protection of his uncle al-Walid. When Uthman saw how the Muslims without protection were suffering at the hands of Quraysh, yet patiently persevered with their dawah, Uthman took the decision to renounce al-Walid’s protection, stating that he “wanted to be under Allah’s protection. I don’t want to ask for anyone else’s”.
Following the attack upon Uthman for challenging Labid’s poetry, al-Walid spoke to Uthman and said: “O nephew, your eye need not have suffered this had you remained in sure protection”. To which Uthman responded: “No by Allah my good eye needs what happened to its fellow for Allah’s sake, and I am under the protection of one who is stronger and more powerful than you, O Abu ‘Abdu Shams.” To which Al-Walid said “come nephew my protection is always open to you” but he declined it.
In addition to the example of the bravery and commitment of the early companions to their call to Islam, we can see other lessons from this and similar incidents.They called to Islam in a coordinated manner, planning opportunities to present their ideas in the forums where people met, and discussions took place. They called in an open and challenging manner, undertaking discourse in the intellectual style of argument and counter argument – destroying false concepts then building the correct thoughts. And they put the call to establish Islam at the highest, before life, limb and their livelihoods.
As Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) commands:
ÇÏúÚõ Åöáóì ÓóÈöíáö ÑóÈøößó ÈöÇáúÍößúãóÉö æóÇáúãóæúÚöÙóÉö ÇáúÍóÓóäóÉö æóÌóÇÏöáúåõãú ÈöÇáøóÊöí åöíó ÃóÍúÓóäõ Åöäøó ÑóÈøóßó åõæó ÃóÚúáóãõ Èöãóäú Öóáøó Úóäú ÓóÈöíáöåö æóåõæó ÃóÚúáóãõ ÈöÇáúãõåúÊóÏöíäó (ÇáäÍá: 125 .
“Call them to the way of your Lord with wisdom, and strong exhortation, and argue with them in the best way” An-Nahl [T.M.Q. 16:125]
From www.ramadhan.org