صراط عشق صراط عشق
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
“We revealed to the Children of Israel in the Book (Torah): ‘Twice you will cause corruption on the earth, and you will perpetrate great tyranny.’
“So when the first occasion of the two [prophecies] came, We aroused against you Our servants possessing great might, and they ransacked [your] habitations, and the promise was bound to be fulfilled.” (Holy Qur’an 17:4 & 5)
These Ayahs of Surah Isra or Bani Israel are self-explanatory. The Ayahs that follow, i.e. 6 to 8 (not reproduced here), speak of how God the All-Merciful would provide yet another chance in the future to the ever-rebellious Israelites and grant them wealth, power and children, but with a warning against causing corruption again on Planet Earth that would bring about the prophecy of complete destruction, with a more terrible fate awaiting them in afterlife as a result of sins and tyranny.
Today the 24th of Rajab is a Red Letter Day in the annals of Islamic history. It is the anniversary of the day that reminds us of how decisively God decreed the end of Israelite plots in the Arabian Peninsula by granting His Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), a memorable victory over the Jews – as progenitors of modern-day Zionists had become known after drifting away from the laws of Prophet Moses and refusing to believe in the mission of the virgin-born Messiah, Prophet Jesus.
It happened that the prosperous community of Israelites long settled in the flourishing tract of Khayber located in northern Hijaz on the highway to Syria, ever since their ancestors had migrated centuries earlier from Palestine to await the advent of the great Ishmaelite Prophet foretold in the Torah, now not only refused to believe in the universal mission of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), but were providing refuge to the treacherous Banu Nadheer Jewish tribe expelled from Medina for breaking the peace pact with the Muslims.
The ringleaders of Banu Nadheer, in league with the hardcore Omayyad infidel Abu Sufyan and other pagan Arab tribes, had actively taken part in the siege of Medina, preceding the Battle of Khandaq (Trench). Then after the defeat of the Confederates (Ahzab) by the Muslims, especially the decisive stroke of Imam Ali ibn ibn Abi Taleb (AS) that decapitated the mighty warlord of the Arab-Israelite joint force, Amr ibn Abduwad, and was hailed by the Prophet as “Superior to the worship of Thaqalayn (mankind and genies put together)”, they started unifying the Jews of Arabia for launching a surprise attack on Medina, in league with the pagan Arabs, to kill the Prophet and wipe out Islam.
Almighty God commanded the “Mercy unto the entire creation” to mobilize the neo Muslim forces for defeating the intricate plot, the Prophet proceeded towards Khyber and soon wrenched away from the central Jewish command several forts whose commanders accepted the amicable terms of peaceful existence offered by Islam.
Qamous, the main fortress and the most impregnable one, however, held out. Its commanders resorted to a war of attrition, launching raids and retreating to the safety of its ramparts, from where volleys of arrows continued to take the toll of Muslims.
After several weeks of inconclusive encounters and disgraceful retreat by the Prophet’s senior companions who turned tail at the sight of the Jewish warlord Marhab and his battle prowess, the Prophet expressed the famous words:
“Tomorrow I will give the banner (of command) to the one who loves Allah and the Prophet, and whom Allah and the Prophet love; he will not flee nor return till he conquers the foe.”
It would be repetitive to recount how to the surprise of his elder companions, the Prophet called for his dear cousin and son-in-law, Imam Ali (AS), who was suffering sore eyes, and how he cured the ailment by applying saliva, before entrusting him command of the forces.
As usual, the mighty Jewish warlord, Marhab, thumped his chest, brandished his weapons, and thundered threats at the fresh forces sent out to confront him. But to his surprise, the young Muslim commander stood his ground and challenged him to fight.
The arrogant Marhab darted forward boasting of his battle prowess, to which Imam Ali (AS) calmly replied:
“I am one whose mother has named him Haider. I step into the battlefield like a ferocious lion. I will throw you away like a grain.”
Soon, after a few exchange of blows, Imam Ali (AS), smote Marhab on the head a blow that cut the Jewish warlord into two and made his soldiers flee to the safety of the fortress of Qamous. The Imam chased them and pulling from its hinges the huge gateway which required several men to open and close, threw it on the moat to enable the Muslims to use it as a bridge to cross into Qamous.
The rest is history and the surrender on peaceful terms of the last Israelite stronghold in Arabia, with the Prophet allowing the Jews to live peacefully.
Interestingly, before start of the campaign, the Prophet had expressed the famous invocation: “Nad-e Aliyan Mazhar al-Aja’eb” (Call Ali the Manifestation of Wonders), which the faithful recite till this day as they continue to defeat the plots of the modern day Arabs and Israelites – during the 8-year imposed on Iran by Saddam, during the 33-day Zionist aggression on Lebanon in 2006, during the brutal bid of of the dastardly terrorists to try to transform Syria and Iraq into Takfiristan, and now during the 7-year war the Zionist allies (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) have imposed upon Yemen.
