Heroic Stands by Shiekh Abu Nizhar Ash Shaami: Heroes from the Story of Elephant

Our lives are a collection of stands taken. These stands are what will decide our status and value before Allah (swt) on the Day of Judgement. Heroic stands, which changed the course of history, produced events, and greatly influenced all who witnessed them or heard of them. Heroic stands, which we mention while living at a time when most stands we see are those of humiliation and shame. Heroic stands, we mention them whose heroes are mentioned in the Quran, and the pages of the Seerah and our Ummah's past and recent history are overflowing with them. Heroic stands, which we mention in order to take lessons from. We mention them in order to receive flames of glory, optimism, and expecting good from Allah, and to prove that our Ummah, by the permission of Allah, is capable of bringing back the dignified stands which will fill the world with justice and light after it was filled with injustice and tyranny.

Sometimes treacherous stands appear along with heroic stands in one event. Thus appears the world of difference between the two. In the story of the Elephant, there are heroic men as well as villainous traitors. How similar is their time to ours! Abraha Al-Ashram was an Abyssinian king who wanted to grab the attention of the Arabs whom he was envious of their pride in their values and the Ka'bah. So, he built the large Qullays cathedral and contacted his superior, the Najashi (Negus) to get his recognition for building a large church for the Christians. As for the Arabs, they did not pay attention to the Qullays or fall for all its adornments. In fact, an Arab man from Kinanah taught Abraha a lesson which he would not forget: he travelled all the way to the Qullays, defecated, then smeared its walls with that Arab impurity. Abraha saw that (wall) and decided to conquer and demolish the Ka'bah. The army moved. Then began the heroic stands. An Arab man called "Dhu Nafar", gathered whomever he was capable of around him: "Abraha is targeting your way of life, your destination, the Sacred House of Allah" They faced him but he defeated them and took Dhu Nafar as a prisoner. He advanced and was faced by another hero from the tribe of Khath'am who did the same thing He gathered support and faced Abraha but he defeated them and also took this leader, whose name is "Nufayl bin Habeeb" as a prisoner. He reached Taif. He thought that "Bait Al-Laat" in Taif was the Ka'bah He wanted to demolish it and here, my brothers, begin the treacherous stands. A traitor from Thaqeef called "Mas'ood Ath-Thaqafi" told Abraha this is not the Ka'bah, the Sacred House of Allah is that way. He showed him where the Ka'bah of Allah was and sent with him one of the biggest agents among the Arabs to guide them: "Abu Rughal". On the way, and before reaching the Ka'bah, Abu Rughal died and was buried. His grave was pelted with stones for decades afterwards as a symbol of Arab betrayal. Then, my brothers, Abraha arrived and pushed the elephant "Mahmoud" forward to demolish the Ka'bah. Then Nufayl bin Habeeb stepped forward and grabbed the ear of the elephant and shouted in it: "Mahmoud, sit down or return sensibly; you are at the Sacred House of Allah" The elephant sat down, my brothers, and disobeyed the orders. Allah sent down the miracle of the flocks of birds which annihilated the army of Abraha.

My brothers, the West is in a coalition against us, and they think about us day and night. They are envious of our Ummah because of this pure and magnificent Deen which they all suffer with being away from. "Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture [i.e., the Jews and Christians] nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord." They are diligent in diverting us from our Deen by decorating their civilisation just as Abraha decorated Qullays. They see us possessing what they lack: spiritual tranquillity, the family unit, the status of women, the magnificence of the Islamic legislations, how Islam purifies wealth, organises the instincts, protects society from greed and utilitarianism which consumed their lives. They see all of this while on the other hand seeing that they have: broken families, nihilism, suicide, disease and high rates of crime. All of this irritates them so they try to deceive the Muslims about what they have. They decorate their civilisation as being of science, progress, prosperity and quality of life.

My Muslim brother, learn from the Arab from Kinanah not to be fooled by the adornments and facade of the West. Trust your Deen and hold your head up high, proud of what you have. Work to show the impurity of Western civilisation just that Arab from Kinanah besmirched the Qullays. Learn from Dhu Nafara and Nufayl bin Habeeb to support your Ummah and not fear the West's numbers and armies. Awaken the Muslims to resist and make change without despair or despondency and Allah will be with you and ease the challenges by His permission. If an animal (the elephant) refused to co-operate with the international community to combat Islam, then by Allah, every Muslim that co-operates with the West today, or their rulers and helps them, or absorbs and promotes their concepts is lower than animals and we fear they may be brought up on the Day of Judgement with Abraha, Mas'ood Ath-Thaqafi and Abu Rughal. By the permission of Allah, the Ummah will step on of all the Arab and non-Arab traitors, and pelt their names just as the Arabs pelted the grave of Abu Rughal. The best of what we learn from the story of the elephant is that no matter how powerful the Kufr becomes, the final victory will be for those with Taqwa. Just as Allah sent the flocks of birds when the grandfather of the Messenger (saw) didn't even have a small group to face Abraha with, then we, the followers of the Messenger (saw), ask Allah to make us the flocks of bids that annihilates and eliminate Kufr, rendering it like eaten straw by the permission of Allah (swt).

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