BISMILLAH IR RAHMAN IR RAHEEM THE STORY OF LADY JURAIRAH Mother of Believers, may Allah be pleased with herAND A VERY SPECIAL SUPPLICATION Adapted for children from the Seerah and authentic Hadith of Prophet Muhammad, praise and veneration be upon him WITH A QUIZ by Khadeijah Stephens copyrighted 2000 by the Mosque of the Internet and Khadeijah Stephens TERMS OF PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION The Mosque of the Internet grants Islamic schools, organizations or Muslim individuals to download, copy, print, publish, record and/or distribute this story either for profit or non-profit without reimbursement to the Mosque of the Internet providing the following six conditions are complied with in full and without exception. The Mosque of the Internet owns and retains the copyright of this story and no other person/s, school, organization or individual etc., owns or has any right or claim to the copyright. No alterations whatsoever are made. Reference to The Mosque of the Internet with its internet address www.mosque.com appears on the front cover. Should artwork be included in its publication the artwork must conform with Islamic principles, for example no drawings of human beings. The Mosque of the Internet is informed of its publication and ten copies of the published book sent to the Mosque of the Internet. If any of these conditions are not met then all previously mentioned permission/s are automatically revoked and legal action will be taken to the maximum extent of the copyright infringement jurisdiction law in the state of Delaware, USA will be sought. The Koraysh were not content that the Muslims had left Mecca and migrated to Medina. They, and their allies were determined to rid the country of both them and the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him. They attacked, robbed and tortured Muslims where and whenever possible. News reached the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, and his companions that a richly laden Koraysh caravan was on its return from Syria to Mecca and would soon be passing near Medina. Because the Koraysh had stolen not only the wealth and property of the Muslims he ordered that the caravan be raided. The raid was successful and partial justice had been restored to the impoverished Muslims. Needless to say the raid was a thorn in the side of the Koraysh. They were humiliated and so they called upon their allies, the tribe of Mutalik to assist them in their attempt to rid themselves once and for all from the Muslims. The tribe of Mutalik were a branch of the Khuzah whose territory lay along the coast of the Red Sea. The Koraysh urged them to attack Medina and took it for granted that their kindred tribes would support them. However, the Koraysh did not realized that several tribes inclined more to the Muslims than they did toward themselves and it wasn't long until the news reached the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, of their intent to attack. The Mutalik were unaware of the fact that the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, knew about their plan so they took their time before even starting to prepare themselves for the attack. Meanwhile the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, decided not to wait for them to make the first move and ordered his army to march to the land of the Mutalik's. The forthcoming encounter was not expected to be dangerous so the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, allowed Ladies Ayesha and Umm Salama to accompany him. Eight days later he and his companions reached the land of Mutalik and, unbeknown to them, struck camp near a watering hole. The element of surprise was a great advantage and soon after they were able to surround the Mutalik settlement. Several Mutalik warriors took up arms and fought, ten were killed, however, there was very little resistance, and only one Muslim was martyred. The spoils of war were considerable, nearly two hundred families were taken captive, and large herds of two thousand camels and five thousand sheep and goats were confiscated. Amongst those that had ridden out from Medina with the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, were hypocrites. Unlike previous times they were not ill-disposed to join him on account of the brevity of the march with the expectancy of rich reward in exchange for minimal effort. However, they resented the fact that they would be obliged to share the spoils with the impoverished Muhajir, the Muslim migrants from Mecca, whom they considered as intruders. They were of the opinion that all the spoils belonged to the Medina tribes of Aws and Khazraj alone. Upon their return to Medina the spoils of war were distributed evenly amongst those that had taken part in the campaign. Among those taken captive was Jurairah, the daughter of Harith, chief of the Mutalik. Jurairah had been given to an Ansar who decided to ask a very high ransom for her release on account of her father's position. Jurairah was troubled by the price and knew the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, to be a fair man so she decided to go to him and ask him to intervene. She found him in the apartment of Lady Ayesha and told him of her circumstances. Meanwhile, Jurairah's father, Harith, learned of his daughter's capture and set off immediately with his sons for Medina with a very fine herd of camels to offer as her ransom. However, when he reached the valley of Atik his love for two extremely fine camels prompted him to keep them rather than offer them as part of the ransom, so he hid them with the intent of retrieving them after he had secured his daughter's release. Upon his arrival in Medina, Harith went directly to the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, and offered the herd of camels, but much to his astonishment and that of his sons, the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, asked: "Where are the other two camels?" Then proceeded to tell Harith the exact place where they were hidden in the valley of Atik. Harith and his sons were completely overcome, for no one except the three knew what they had done let alone where they had hidden the camels. Harith and his sons exclaimed: "I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah!" The two camels were fetched and given to the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, and Jurairah was returned to her father, and like her father, she too embraced Islam. Tribal ties had been strengthened enormously through the bonds of the Prophet's marriages and the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, offered to marry Jurairah. Jurairah accepted and an apartment was added to those of her co-wives. When the Ansars and Muhajirs learned that the Prophet was going to take Lady Jurairah to be his wife they released all their captives, and Lady Ayesha was heard to say: "I know of no woman, who was a greater blessing to her tribe than her." One morning Lady Jurairah did not accompany her co-wives to the mosque to offer her Fajr prayer, she stayed in her apartment and prayed alone. After she had completed her prayers she occupied herself with zikr, that is exalting Allah through the repetition of His Glorious Names, for which there are great blessings and rewards. The Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, returned home to her apartment well after the prayer had been offered and found her engrossed in her zikr. He, in his usual polite manner, asked if he might tell her of a supplication equal to all her zikr and Lady Jurairah listened intently as he told her to repeat three times: "Exalted is Allah with His praise as the number of His creation, as it pleases Him, as the weight of His Throne, as the ink of His Words." A THOUGHT Just stop for a minute and think just how VERY great this exaltation is. Now, close your eyes and try to think of all the grains of sand, the blades of grass, the drops of rain, snowflakes and all the leaves on the trees in the world if you can. Yes, you are right you can't and will never be able - now think, each one is a separate creation in itself. Allah has created so very many, many other things and these are just a few. To add to these creations are some things that don't even exist today such as dinosaurs, and no doubt there will be more creations yet to come, yet He created and creates them all. Now you can begin to realize the greatness of the phrase "Exalted is Allah with His praise as the NUMBER of His creation". To know the number of exaltations that please Him is also beyond our capacity as is the weight of His Glorious Throne which surrounds the universe and the ink of His Words. This is one of my favorite exaltations and I am sure it will be one of yours as well. Allahu Akbar! QUIZ TIME From which country was the caravan returning? What was the name of the tribe that lived along the coast of the Red Sea? What was the name of their chief? What was the tribe going to do to the Muslims of Medina? What did the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, do when he heard the news? How many Muslims were martyred? Who wanted to keep all the spoils of war for themselves? What was the name of Harith's daughter? What did she ask the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him? Did Harith give the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him all his camels? What did Harith and his sons do with two camels? Were Harith and his sons surprised when the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, told them what they had done? Did Harith, his sons and his daughter embrace Islam? What did the Ansars and Muhajirs do when they learned the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, was going to marry Lady Jurairah? Fill in the blanks: "Exalted is Allah with His ------ as the------ of His ------ "QUIZ TIME ANSWERS Syria Mutalik Harith Attack the Muslims of Medina Prophet Muhammad, praise and veneration be upon him, ordered his companions to march to the land of the Mutalik One The hypocrites Jurairah She asked the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon him, to intervene on her behalf No He hid two in the valley at Atik Yes Yes They released all their captives Exalted is Allah with His PRAISE as the NUMBER of His CREATION SCORE If you remembered to say the prayer on the Prophet, praise and veneration be upon, when you mentioned his name you can add an extra mark to your score! 1 - 5 Why not read the story again and then try to get a higher score, we know you can do it! 6 - 8 Good, you tried hard! 9 - 11 Very Good! 12 - 14 EXCELLENT! You almost made the grade of star pupil! 15 - 15+ WELL DONE YOU HAVE MADE THE GRADE OF A STAR PUPIL OF THE MOSQUE OF THE INTERNET!!!!