| A prophet says: My subsistence has been made under the shadow of my spear, and takes the spoils!
One of the misunderstandings about the prophet (PBUH), is that he (PBUH) used to strive for worldly desires, which he (PBUH) didn't attest at the beginning of his message in Makkah. But after his (PBUH) immigration to Madina, he (PBUH) started to collect money and spoils from the incursions he (PBUH) did with his followers, as a kind of financial income, and moral benefits. He (PBUH) admitted that when saying: "My subsistence has been made under the shadow of my spear".
The reply to this misunderstanding:
First: it's a delusive allege to say that the prophet (PBUH) was a man of worldly desires. On the contrary, his (PBUH) message was good, useful, and brings goodness to its followers in the present life and in the hereafter. He who reads his (PBUH) biography, will know that this is completely untrue, as this misunderstanding hasn't any proof. The pagans that lived with him (PBUH), used to describe him as being honest and loyal, even after he (PBUH) told them that he was a messenger of Allah, the Almighty, and history proves this.
I say: If he (PBUH) had been what they alleged, he (PBUH) would have lived a king's life; living in palaces, having many servants and guards to watch those worldly desires. But, the reality is completely opposite to this, as he (PBUH) lived in austerity and abstention, and that was his (PBUH) life style since his birth till his death. His (PBUH) houses were a very clear proof for this; they consisted of very simple rooms that he (PBUH) could barely live in with his wives. Same with food and drink, he (PBUH) could live for a month or two without eating any kind of food cooked on the stove, and he (PBUH) used to eat dates and drink water only.
In The Correct Bukhari, no.5977, narrated by his (PBUH) wife, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her, she said: "A complete month would pass by during which we would not make a fire (for cooking), and our food used to be only dates and water unless we were given a present of some meat".
He (PBUH) died while his (iron) armor was mortgaged to a Jew, and he (PBUH) died leaving only six Dinars in his house, which he (PBUH) ordered to give the poor as a charity…This is mentioned in the following:
1 – The Correct Bukhari, no. 2700, narrated by Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: "The messenger of Allah died while his armor was mortgaged to a Jew for thirty grams of barley".
2 – The Correct Bukhari, no. 2534, narrated by Amr Ibn Al Hareth (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: "When the messenger of Allah died, he did not leave any Dirham or Dinar (i.e. money), a slave or a slave woman or anything else except his white mule, his sword and a piece of land which he had given in charity".
3 – The Correct Bukhari, no. 2866, narrated by Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: "The messenger of Allah died, and there was nothing in my house that a living being could eat, except some barley lying on a shelf. So, I ate of it for a long period and measured it, and (after a short period) it was consumed".
Therefore, his (PBUH) biography is full of examples that falsify their allege. He (PBUH) used to be very generous, not fearing of being poor, while he (PBUH) and his family lived most of their lives hungry. Sometimes, he (PBUH) tied a stone on his belly to resist hunger, so that he could give food to the poor….This is proved in The Correct Bukhari, no. 1376. Abu Saeed Al Khudri narrated that
Some Ansari persons asked for (something) from the messenger of Allah (PBUH) and he gave them. They again asked him for (something) and he again gave them. And then they asked him and he gave them again till all that was with him finished. And then he said "If I had anything. I would not keep it away from you. (Remember) Whoever abstains from asking others, Allah will make him contented, and whoever tries to make himself self-sufficient, Allah will make him self-sufficient. And whoever remains patient, Allah will make him patient. Nobody can be given a blessing better and greater than patience."
Second: their misunderstanding opposes his (PBUH) renunciation that was clear to all even his enemies….This is proved in the following:
1 – The Correct Series, no.439. Ibn Abbas ( may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Amr entered the prophet's (PBUH) house, and found him lying on a straw mat that marked on his body. He said: "O messenger of Allah! Why don't you bring a more comfortable bed?" He (PBUH) replied: "I don't care for this life! I'm just like a person riding a camel on a scorching hot day, so he lies under the shadow of a tree for an hour, and then he leaves it".
2 – The Correct Bukhari, no. 3615. Abu Saeed Al Khudri narrated that the messenger of Allah (PBUH) sat on a pulpit and said: "Allah, the Almighty, let His servant choose between all the pleasures of life and the rewards of the afterlife, so the servant chose the rewards of the afterlife. Abu Bakr cried and said: "O messenger of Allah! We, our fathers and mothers shall sacrifice our lives for you". We awed that, and some people said: "look at that old man and listen to his words. That servant is the messenger of Allah, and Abu Bakr is the only one who understood that". The messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Abu Bakr is the best friend I can ever have, he supported me with his money and companionship. If I was to choose an intimate friend from my nation, I would choose Abu Bakr as a friend in Islam…"
3 – He (PBUH) used to urge his companions for renunciation…This is proved in The Correct Bukhari, no. 1372. Abu Saeed Al Khudry (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the prophet (PBUH) once sat on a pulpit and we sat around him. Then he (PBUH) said, "The things I am afraid of most for your sake (concerning what will befall you after me) is the pleasures and splendors of life and its beauties which will be disclosed to you."
4 - He (PBUH) warned Muslims from the allurements of life and women….This is mentioned in The Correct Muslim, no. 4925. Abu Saeed Al Khudry narrated that the prophet (PBUH) said: "Life is sweet and green (alluring) and verily Allah is going to install you as successors in it in order to see how you act. So avoid the allurement of life and women, as the first trial for the people of Israel was caused by women".
Third: they allege that he (PBUH) used to strive for worldly desires, which he (PBUH) didn't attest at the beginning of his message in Makkah. But after his (PBUH) immigration to Madina, he (PBUH) started to collect money and spoils from the incursions he (PBUH) did with his followers, as a kind of financial income, and moral benefits!! This is completely false and untrue, on the contrary, as people of Makkah offered to him (PBUH) money, kingdom, and high standing with the aim of leaving his message. He (PBUH) refused all their offers, and preferred to live an austere life, with continuing his message. If he (PBUH) was a man of worldly desires, he (PBUH) would have accepted their offers….This is proved by the following:
1 – The biography books, in Al Albani's Fiqh Al sira, no. 109. He (PBUH) said: "O uncle, I swear by Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand so that I give up this matter (the message), I will never do until Allah will make it prevail or I shall die for it”.
2 – Abu Dawood's Sunan, no. 1351, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the prophet (PBUH) said to Moaath when he sent him to Yemen, "You will go to the people of the Scripture. So, when you reach there, invite them to testify that there's no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is His messenger. And if they obey you in that, tell them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in each day and night. And if they obey you in that tell them that Allah has made it obligatory on them to pay the zakat (alms), which will be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor among them. If they obey you in that, then avoid taking the best of their possessions, and be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person because there is no screen between his invocation and Allah."
Notice here from his (PBUH) commandments, after leaving Makkah, that he (PBUH) used to recommend his companions and the army leaders to take zakat (alms) from the rich and give it to the poor, for the sake of social collaboration and corroboration…
Fourth: the true understanding of this speech differs from the objectors' understanding; the speech is mentioned in Al Bukhari, and in Al Emam Ahmad's Musnad, no, 4868. Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "I have been sent by sword till people worship Allah, the only God. My subsistence has been made under the shadow of my spear. Humiliation has been made to those who controvert my orders, and he who imitates a group of people shall be one of them".
I say: Concerning his (PBUH) words: "I have been sent by sword till people worship Allah, the only God", I mentioned before the prophet's (PBUH) speech when he (PBUH) sent Moaath to Yemen, which clarifies that he (PBUH) didn't fight anyone, before inviting people to Islam, by which blood and inviolabilities are preserved….
As for his (PBUH) words: "My subsistence has been made under the shadow of my spear", I say: the subsistence meant in the speech is paradise, because he (PBUH) said in another speech: "Paradise is under swords' shadows".
In his book, Al Fateh, Ibn Hajar said: his (PBUH0 words "under the shadow of my spear" signalizes that the shadow extends forever. The spear is the only war weapon mentioned, because the Arabs used to put the standards at the spear's edge. Thus, the subsistence is attributed to the spear's shadow, as the spear means the standard, and paradise is attributed to the sword's shadow, because mostly the sword is way of being killed as a martyr, besides the more the fighter used the sword, the more its shadow appears, and also because the sword's shadow appears only after using it in the fight.
Therefore, the speech clarifies that he who fights in the cause of Allah, the Almighty, is the one who resists the enemy's attack, or defends the victimized, or raises the word of monotheism. So, he becomes a martyr and his subsistence will be paradise. That's why this misunderstanding is completely false and untrue.
Fifth: Many non Muslim fair people testify that Muhammad (PBUH) is completely different from the objectors' allegation. The quotation saying that the right is what the enemies testify is very true, as many reasonable persons said things that falsify this misunderstanding, of which Carlyle's words: " “It is a great shame for anyone to listen to the accusation that Islaam is a lie and that Muhammad was a fabricator and a deceiver. We saw that he remained steadfast upon his principles, with firm determination; kind and generous, compassionate, pious, virtuous, with real manhood, hardworking and sincere. Besides all these qualities, he was lenient with others, tolerant, kind, cheerful and praiseworthy and perhaps he would joke and tease his companions. He was just, truthful, smart, pure, magnanimous and present-minded; his face was radiant as if he had lights within him to illuminate the darkest of nights; he was a great man by nature who was not educated in a school nor nurtured by a teacher as he was not in need of any of this.”
Sixth: There's no doubt that spoils were some of the prophet's subsistence…
I have a question here: According to the Bible, is it prohibited to take the spoils after wars?! Or is it prohibited in any other book on earth?! Or in any customs and traditions…?!
The answer: No, because the Bible mentions that the Lord orders His prophets to take the spoils after killing their enemies in wars. This is mentioned in the following:
1 - Prophet David (PBUH) took the spoils after defeating his enemy: 1 Samuel 30
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
2 - He (PBUH) brings his followers hearts together by distributing the spoils: 1 Samuel 30:
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.” 27 It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30 in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
3 – He (PBUH) takes the spoils after killing his enemies and mayheming their bodies. This is mentioned in 2 Samuel 12:
26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. 28 Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.” 29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. 30 And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent[d] of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. 31 And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at[e] the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4 – The Lord orders His prophet Moses (PBUH) to take the spoils….This is mentioned in several positions:
1 – Deuteronomy 20:10:
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
2 – Numbers 31:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD's vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
3 – Numbers 31:
25 The LORD said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the LORD's tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD's tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD's tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.
42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— 43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons— 47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.
4– Deuteronomy 2:
35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The LORD our God gave all into our hands.
3 – Prophet Joshua took the spoils according to his Lord's order….This is in Joshua 11:
14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15 Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
5 – Prophet Abraham (PBUH) took the spoils according to the Lord's order..This is in Paul's Epistle 7:
**It mentions that prophet Abraham (PBUH) fought the kings and defeated them….
Thus, I have some questions to ask:
1 – These aren't all the examples; If prophets David, Moses, Joshua, Abraham, and others (peace be upon them) took the spoils, according to what's mentioned in the Bible, so what's wrong when Muhammad (PBUH) takes the spoils same as the rest of the Bible prophets…..?!
2 – Why didn't the objectors attack the Bible first..?! Why didn't they look at the piece of wood in their eyes before looking at the straw in the eyes of others?!
Seventh: Same as the all the prophets, Muhammad's subsistence was to take the spoils, but what's astonishing is that it's mentioned in Luke that Jesus, the Christ's and his followers' subsistence and food were from women's effort, of which were scrubbers, such as Mary the Magdalene!!!! This is mentioned in Luke 8:
Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them[a] out of their means.
No comment!!!!
Written by: Akram Hassan Morsi
Translated to English: the Professor Islamic translation
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