صراط عشق صراط عشق
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
“O Allah! You are the Peace, the Source of all peace, Peace to You, and to You (all) Peace returns; Glorified are You Lord, the Lord of (all) Dignity from whatever is ascribed; Greetings to the Messengers; Praised be Allah the Lord of the universe; Greetings to you O Prophet and Allah’s Mercy and Munificence (upon you)…”
The above praise of the Lord Most High is the English translation of the Arabic supplication or more properly greetings to God, the Messengers, and to Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), recited by the faithful after the daily prayers (Allahomma ant-as-Salaam, wa Mink-as-Salaam, wa Lak-as-Salaam, wa Ilayka ya’oud us-Salaam; Subhan Rabbeka, Rabb-il-Izzate, amma yasemoun; Salaam-un-ala’al-Murseleen; wa’l-Hamdu-lillahe Rabb-il-alameen; as-Salaamo alayka ayyohan-Nabiyu wa Rahmat-Allahe wa Barakatuh…)”
This Greeting, along with its source, its reason, and the very first person who recited it, is found in the books of hadith of all denominations of Islam including the Sunni canonical works “Sahih Bukhari”, “Sahih Muslim”, “Sunan Abi Da’oud”, “Tirmidhi”, etc. – while in Shi’ite Muslim texts this Greeting mentions by name the Prophet’s 12 Infallible Heirs, beginning with Imam Ali (AS) the Prophet’s Divinely-designated Vicegerent, and ending with the Awaited Saviour of mankind, Imam Mahdi (AS).
Irrespective of the slight variations of words, all are unanimous that this was recited spontaneously by the First Lady of Islam, Hazrat Khadijat-al-Kubra (SA), when Archangel Gabriel descended upon her husband asking him to convey to her the Greeting of Allah the Glorious.
Known as “at-Tahera” or the Spotlessly Pure One, Khadija the daughter of Khuwailed, long before her marriage to the Prophet, was a staunch monotheist adhering to the creed of her ancestor Prophet Abraham (AS) in those days when Arabia was steeped in idolatry and vices.
No wonder she had spurned all suitors as unworthy of her unsullied hand. This does not mean that it was a sudden weakness of heart that prompted this chaste virgin lady to propose marriage to the parentless son of Abdullah and Amena.
What attracted her to him was his honesty in trade transactions, his integrity in returning to her the profits, his sincerity with all members of the caravan, his truthful reporting of whatever that had transpired during the trips, his trustworthy nature that could not be tempted by goods and money placed in his custody, and above all his firm faith in the One and Only God.
Khadija was thus the primordial Muslimah. It means that her acceptance of the mission of her husband as the Last and Greatest Messenger of God, fifteen years after marriage, following Archangel Gabriel’s formal entrustment of the universal message of Islam to Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), was but a formality and open declaration of her own original status as the First Muslim Lady – when the entire families of the wives that the widowed Prophet would marry decades later out of social necessity, were outright polytheists.
Today, on the 10th of Ramadhan, we are commemorating her departure from the mortal world after a quarter century of marital bliss with Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), in a state of poverty, with no pecuniary inheritance for her only surviving daughter, Fatemat-az-Zahra (SA), although at the time of her marriage she was the Richest Lady of Arabia.
Where did Khadija’s wealth go? How did it vanish? Why didn’t she leave some it for her only daughter?
The answers are obvious.
It was not squandered by her or by the Prophet. It was all spent in the way of God to feed, clothe, and shelter the persecuted neo-Muslim community of Mecca, ever since the public proclamation of Islam by her husband over a decade ago.
For the sake of Islam, Khadija (SA) sacrificed every comfort and went through all suffering that started with her being shunned by her rich circle of family and friends for marrying the parentless son of Abdullah and Amena, and culminating in the 3-year socio-economic boycott imposed by the pagan Arabs (later to be called ‘Sahaba’ (companions) and subsequently the ‘Salaf’ (progenitors) of today’s Salafis terrorizing innocent Muslims).
An aggrieved Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) performed her last rites and laid her to eternal rest in the grave at a gorge outside Mecca known till this day as She’b Abi Taleb, assisted by her foster son and future son-in-law, Imam Ali (AS), as the orphaned Fatema (SA) watched with tears flowing down her face.
The year is known in the annals of Islamic history as “Aam al-Hozn” (Year of Grief) because before that particular year could complete its full cycle, the Prophet’s loving uncle and guardian, Abu Taleb (AS), left the mortal world on Ramadhan 7.
So inextricably firm were the bonds between the Messenger of Mercy and these two primordial Muslims that the Prophet’s Progeny, the Ahl al-Bayt, whom God Almighty has exalted above the rest of mankind, was destined to be the result of the marital union between Abu Taleb’s Infallible Son and Khadija’s Immaculate Daughter – Imam Ali (AS) and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) – the parents of all present day Saadaat (plural of Seyyed).
Marital life would now never be the same for the Prophet, though he would marry nine wives in the last ten years of his life in Medina – out of social necessity and to break the customs of Jahiliyya. This is evident by the famous hadith mentioned in the book “Sahih Bukhari” of our Sunni brethren when Ayesha tried to taunt him for always cherishing the memory of the Late Khadija (SA), and calling herself a better one. The Prophet was highly displeased and said:
“By God, the Almighty did not grant me a better wife than her. She believed in me when the people used to mock at me and she acknowledged me when the people denied me. She shared her wealth and property with me, and she bore me children which I was not destined to have through other women.”
This statement of the Prophet is firm testimony of the unrivalled merits of the One and Only Mother of all True Believers (Omm al-Momineen), to whom Islam and Muslims will always remain indebted.
Whenever Islam required, it was Khadija’s (SA) offspring that rose to its defence and gave it fresh life in every age and era. It is outside the scope of this brief newspaper column to recount the glorious record of the Immaculate Progeny of the First Lady of Islam over the past fourteen centuries.
It is sufficient to say that if Karbala and the martyrdom of her grandson, Imam Husain (AS), was the supreme example of sincere sacrifice in the way of God; it is the promised advent of her Awaited Descendant, Imam Mahdi (AS) that will salvage humanity by establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.
