The King and the Prophet
(salalaho alayhi wasalam)
Edited by Sister Fazila Idris Bux
The Incredible story of the King who sent
a letter to the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) a thousand years before his
birth, seeking his Intercession!
Once the King of
Yemen, Tab’a Awwal Hamiri, about 2,500 years ago, went on tour of his country
and those surrounding it. In his entourage he had 12,000 Alims, Physicians and
learned men in addition to his Army of 113,000 soldiers. Wherever they went the
procession of these men and soldiers which marched in so much pomp and ceremony
that people lined the roadside to watch them, gathered where they went and
welcomed them.
When the entourage reached
the out skirts of Makkah, no one came to see them or welcome them to the town.
This greatly surprised the King. He asked his chief minister: ‘Wherever we have
gone people have gathered in droves to see and welcome us, why not here?’
The chief minister replied:
’O Your Highness! There is a house in this town. It is called Baitullah, the
people of this town and its khadim (keeper) have great respect for it. Our
entourage is has no comparison to it. People in large numbers, from near and
far come to this house for Pilgrimage. In this town no one will heed u or give
u importance. They respect the Holy House more than Kings.’
Hearing this, the king
became furious. In his anger he swore and declared, ‘I will raise this house to
the ground and have the people of this town killed’
No sooner had the king
uttered these words, blood started spurting from his mouth, nose and eyes. The
blood was so foul smelling that all his companions moved away from him and no
one would come near him. He called upon doctors to help him, but no one could
treat him in any way. His condition got worse, he could not sleep at night and
wanted treatment at any price or cost.
Amongst his entourage there
was a physician who was a God-fearing Alim as well, he came to the king,
inspected him and took his pulse as well. He said, “O King! Your illness is
spiritual. Medicines will not work on you. Did you intent to do anything bad or
evil your Highness? If you did, He will pardon you and relieve you of your
misery if He wishes, should you repent.”
Taking the physicians advice
the king repented, he immediately changed his plans of destroying the holy
Kabah and killing the people of Makkah. No sooner had he repented the foul
smelling blood stopped spurting from his mouth, nose and eyes. He was
completely cured. He was very happy for his recovery. He ordered a silk gilaf
to be made for the Kabah and order each of the residents of Makkah to be given
7 gold sovereigns and 7 pieces of silk clothing.
Having recovered the King of
Yemen then continued with his tour. His entourage then arrives in Madina
Munawarrah. The Alims in his groups had studied books that had been revealed to
the Prophets that had come before them. They took the soil of Madina and smelt
it, they looked at the features of the place, the signs of the place where the
Last Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) would make hijrah to, were all present
in this place and were all indicated in the Books. These Alims were overjoyed
and made commitment to stay put in this town. They wished to remain in Madina
and stated that one day if they were fortunate they would meet the Prophet
(Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) and if not, the dust from the sandals of the Prophet
(Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) would land on their graves, (Ameen). This at least
they though would bring blessings and be their salvation.
The King having heard the
Alims and councillors, agreed to build 400 homes for them in Madina as well as
a big house for the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam). He left instructions
that when the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) came to Madina, he should stay
in comfort in that house. He also left
enough money to cater for the needs of the Alims for a long time. The King then
dictated a letter to his chief Alim and requested him to present it to the
Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) when he came to Madina. He further requested
that should he die before meeting the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam), the
letter be treasured and passed onto his children and their decendants and
presented to the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) whenever he came to the
town. Having made these arrangements the King left for Yemen.
The letter was passed down
from the chief Alim to his descendants. After more than one thousand years, the
number of children from those 400 Alims had increased greatly and comprised a
large percentage of the inhabitants of Madinatul Munawarah. The latter after
this long time came to be in the hands of Hazrat Abu Ayoob Ansari who had given
it to his Chief slave Abu Laila for safe keeping.
When the people of Madina
heard that the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) was coming to Madina from
Makkah on his Hijarah, they started making preparations to welcome him. The
inhabitants decorated their houses and cleaned the streets. Each of them wanted
the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) to be welcomed into their house. The
Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) overcame this problem, came up with the
proposal that he would let loose the reins of his camel. He would stay at the
house outside which the camel halted and sat down.
The camel was sent lose. It
stopped outside the house, which the King of Yemen built for the Prophet
(Sallalaho alyhi wassalam). The people came to the house and Abu Laila was then
asked to bring the letter, which he had, for safekeeping. Abu Laila then
appeared before the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) with the letter which
had been passed down from generation to generation over a thousand years from
King Tab’a Awwal Hamiri.
The letter from the King
stated:
“O Prophet of Allah, I
pledge faith in you and in the book that is to be revealed to you and I follow
the path of your religion. If I am fortunate in seeing you, it will be a great
pleasure. However, if this is not possible, I would request you to intercede
for me and not to forget me on the Day of Judgement. I believe in your prophet
hood. I seek your baiyat in advance of your arrival. I swear that there is only
One Allah and Mohammed (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) is the true prophet”
Note: Prophet Mohammed
(Sallalaho alyhi wassalam)’s mention, Dhikr and majlis have been held in the
past and will continue in the future. The fortunate have been able to receive
his faid. This Article shows that the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) had
knowledge of the past as well as the future. (Ilm Ghaib, which the wahabis
deny, idiots).
It is worth noting that the
King made the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) a wasila and looked forward to
intercession from the Holy Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) on the Day of
judgement; the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) congratulated him for his
faith.
We also learn that to
decorate houses and to celebrate his birth is the Sunnah as the sahaba/ansars
and to have processions to express our love –as we do today- is not bida as the
wahabis so wrongly claim.
We also learn that people
1000 Years before the Prophets birth believed that the Prophet (Sallalaho alyhi wassalam) would come and
Intercede on the day of Judgement (the Quran did not even exist then!), so why
do the wahabis refuse to bring imaan on this?
Was’alaikumsalam