The Dawn of Guidance and the Birth of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

The Dawn of Guidance

A little before sunrise, a soft light starts appearing from the east. As stated previously, the entire world was engulfed in the darkness of ignorance and disbelief. When the time came for the end of the dark night, the dawn broke to give glad tidings of the rising sun. Arabia which was then the center of darkness and whose deserts were facing the storms and evils of paganism, gradually began to show signs of the sun of Prophethood coming out and a stream of guidance gushing forth.

Nations of Arabia were living the life of moral depravity, ignorance and deviation. But right from the birth of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), Arabian tribes began to show signs of noble sentiments and the dislike of evil. Waraqah bin Naufal bin Asad bin Abdul-Uzza, Uthmân bin Al-Huwairith bin Asad and Zaid bin Amr bin Nafil—the uncle of Umar bin Khattâb, and Ubaidullah bin Jahsh assembled at a place and began to think over their beliefs and actions. At last, each one of them showed disgust at the worship of idols and stones and set out to various places in search of the religion brought by Ibrahim (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). Waraqah bin Naufal accepted Christianity and went through the Torah and the Gospel with rapt attention. Ubaidullah bin Jahsh found himself unshaken in the quest for religion seeking the worship of one God till Islam appeared and he earnestly embraced it. Then he migrated to Abyssinia and became a Christian. Uthmân bin Huwairith joined Caesar of Rome and accepted Christianity. Zaid bin Amr neither accepted Judaism nor Christianity nor continued to tread the path of idolatry. He acknowledged as unlawful the use of blood and dead animals and gave up bloodshed and severing of ties with relatives. On inquiry he would say that he worshipped the Lord of Ibrahim (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), decried idolatry and counseled his people to desist from evil acts. He would often say:

"O Allâh, had I been aware of the manner of worshipping, I would have worshipped none but You Alone and sought Your Pleasure. But I am unknown to the path of Your Pleasure."

Saying this he would fell down in prostration.

Even the soothsayers and astronomers began to say that a grand Prophet was about to be born in Arabia. Both Jews and Christians populated Arabia. Thus, scholars of both the religions gave the people glad tidings from the Torah and the Gospel of the coming of a great Prophet.

The King of Abyssinia had captured Yemen for a very short period. During the lifetime of Abdul-Muttalib, Yemen was under the rule of the King of Abyssinia. Those days Abrahah Ashram was the governor of Yemen on behalf of the king. He built a temple in Yemen and persuaded the Arabs to perform Hajj at the temple of Yemen instead of the Ka'bah. He was not crowned with success in his movement. Moreover, an Arab, in order to put him to disgrace, defecated in the temple. Abrahah grew so furious that he invaded Makkah with the intention of destroying the House of Allâh—the Ka'bah. He also used elephants in his attack, so the people of Makkah called them the people of the Elephant and the year came to be known as the year of the Elephant. When the Quraish came to know of the attack, they were filled with fear, as they were no match for such a large and strong army. They jointly requested their chief, Abdul-Muttalib to go to Abrahah and explore a way to avert the battle. When Abdul-Muttalib presented himself to Abrahah, he was greatly impressed and held him in high esteem. Abdul-Muttalib stated that Abrahah's army had captured two hundred camels, which belonged to him. Thereupon Abrahah remarked that he took him to be a wise person but he obviously was mistaken. He (Abdul-Muttalib) was quite aware that Abrahah had come with the sole purpose of demolishing the House of Allâh—the Ka'bah. But, intentionally ignoring the topic, he only spoke of his camels instead of saving the Ka'bah. Abdul-Muttalib said:

"I am merely owner of the camels, but this House also has an Owner and He will save it."

The answer enraged Abrahah and he burst out in anger saying he would see if the Lord of the House would save it. His army was destroyed and left like an empty field from which all the corn has been eaten up and only the straw with stalks and stubble was left. The complete rout of Abrahah's forces after the daring reply of Abdul-Muttalib was a very significant event for Arabia which put great fear of Allâh in their hearts.

After that fateful event, the rule of Yemen went out of the hands of the Abyssinian king and Saif bin Dhi Yazin captured the country. Abdul-Muttalib took some nobles of Quraish and went to congratulate Saif on his victory. Saif bin Dhi Yazin gave Abdul-Muttalib glad tidings that the last Prophet would be raised from his (Abdul-Muttalib's) offspring. This prophecy found wide currency and fame. All the members of the delegation thought that the last Prophet would be raised from their progeny. Each of them contacted the soothsayers and monks hoping for good news but returned disappointed.

On the occasion of an important Prophet or Messenger's birth or declaration, the stars in large number would be seen shooting in the sky. Thus close to the birth of last Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), bright flames appeared in the sky and the scholars of the Scriptures foretold that the time of the birth of the last Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was near. Thus on Rabi' Al-Awwal 9, in the year of the Elephant corresponding to April 22, 571 CE on Monday, the last Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was born at dawn before sunrise.

The Sacrifice of Abdullah bin Abdul-Muttalib

The well of Zamzam originated for the sake of Ismail (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), when he and his mother Hâjira (Hagar) were over taken by thirst, Allâh the Almighty caused a stream of water to flow in the empty desert. Hâjira contained the flowing water by building a mound around it and it turned into a well. At the time of leaving Makkah, Jurhum tribe covered it with dust and so for a long time it became traceless. When the task of giving water to the pilgrims was entrusted to Abdul-Muttalib, he started searching for it along with his elder son Hârith, but their efforts proved fruitless.