Islamica

Laylah al-Mabit

Summary

After a group of people from Yathrib accepted Islam and paid allegiance to the Holy Prophet twice, he ordered the Muslims to emigrate to Yathrib due to the ever-increasing pressure in Makkah. Despite the efforts to hide this emigration, the polytheists found out and they decided in Dar al-Nadwah to kill the Holy Prophet. Allah informed the Holy Prophet of their plots and Ali slept in the Holy Prophet’s place so that he could leave Makkah at night. This event is known as Laylah al-Mabit in the history of Islam and is one of the honours of Ali.

Islam in Yathrib

After the death of Abu Talib, the polytheists put more pressure on the Muslims, but despite the difficulties, the Holy Prophet doubled his effort in propagating the religion of Islam. For this reason, the Holy Prophet travelled to Ta’if and tried to convert the chiefs of the tribes to Islam, but the blindness of their hearts prevented the light of Islam to shine in them. Not only did they reject the religion of Islam. but they also threw him out of the city after harassing him. Six of the heads of Yathrib went to visit the Kaabah as the Jews had said many things about the advent of the last prophet in the land of Hejaz. They met the Holy Prophet in Makkah and he invited them to Islam. They all accepted Islam officially and after returning, invited the people of Yathrib to Islam. [1] [2] [3] [4] Thus, the call to Islam reverberated around the city of Yathrib and the following year i.e. the twelfth year after the advent of Islam, twelve people from Yathrib met with the Holy Prophet in Aqabah and made a pledge to him and due to the propagation and activities of these twelve people, the amount of Muslims increased and the year after, seventy-five people met the Holy Prophet in Aqabah and made a pledge to defend him. [5] [6] [7] [8] These two pledges, known as the first and second pledges of Aqabah, set the foundation for emigration to Madinah.

Emigration to Madinah

Even though the Holy Prophet and the Muslims struggled to keep these pledges secret, the Quraysh found out about the pledges and tried to arrest the people who made the pledge, but they left Makkah hastily. As Yathrib had become a safe city for the Muslims and its inhabitants were in support of the Holy Prophet, the Quraysh started to act more severely than ever and made life in Makkah as hard as they could for the Muslims. [7] [9] [1] Therefore, the Holy Prophet permitted the Muslims to emigrate to Madinah and said,

“Verily, Allah has given you brothers and built safe houses for you.” [10] [5] [6] [11]

After the Holy Prophet gave the permission, the Muslims slowly started to move to Yathrib and there was no one left in Makkah except for the Holy Prophet, Imam Ali, Abu Bakr and a few other Muslims.

The plot to assassinate the Holy Prophet

The polytheists were frightened as the Muslims had immigrated from Makkah and settled in Madinah because they realised that the city of Yathrib would be a base for the Holy Prophet after the immigration of the Muslims and that the people there were ready to fight his enemies. On the other hand, despite this base, it was a great threat to the business caravans of the polytheists. Therefore, they were worried that the Holy Prophet would immigrate as well, and they decided to once again make a serious decision about the Holy Prophet. [12] The Quraysh gathered in Dar al-Nadwah to consult one another in this regard. They wanted to prevent the Holy Prophet from immigrating to Yathrib as they knew that the Muslims would not stay quiet about the polytheists once Yathrib had completely accepted Islam and the Holy Prophet had immigrated. At first, no one suggested assassinating the Holy Prophet and they only discussed imprisoning or exiling him, [13] but imprisoning or exiling the Holy Prophet wouldn’t solve the problem because imprisoning the Holy Prophet would provoke the Muslims in Yathrib and if he was exiled from Makkah, he would go to Yathrib. For this reason, they discussed assassinating the Holy Prophet and they chose the first night of Rabi al-Awwal to carry it out. Allah mentions their plot in verse 30 of Surah Anfal as such, “When the faithless plotted against you to take you captive or to kill or expel you—they plotted, and Allah devised, and Allah is the best of devisers.” [14]

Ali’s selflessnesss

Gabriel informed the Holy Prophet of their plot and warned him about sleeping in the house on the promised night. [15] [16] In the evening, forty people from the Quraysh laid siege to the Holy Prophet’s house and were watching over the Holy Prophet’s bed. The Holy Prophet asked Imam Ali to sleep in his bed and to use the same green Yemeni blanket which the Holy Prophet himself used to wrap himself in. The Holy Prophet then left the house with the help of Allah and moved towards the south of the city of Makkah i.e. in the opposite way of Yathrib. When the polytheists attacked the house with bare swords at dusk, Ali got up from the bed. The polytheists were furious as they thought they were successful in their plot until that point. As a result, by the will of Allah and Imam Ali’s selflessness on that night, the polytheists’ plot was neutralised, and the Holy Prophet’s life was saved. This selfless act of Imam Ali is considered one of his greatest virtues. This event is known in the history books as Laylah al-Mabit. The event of Dar al-Nadwah and Laylah al-Mabit was been mentioned in several history books with small differences. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [10] [26] [27] [28] [29] It was certain that whoever slept in the bed of the Holy Prophet in that historical night would be killed but Ali, who slept in the place of the Holy Prophet many times in Shib Abi Talib (the valley of Abu Talib), made himself a shield and put his life in danger so that the life of the Holy Prophet would be safe. According to many Shia and Sunni narrators and exegetes, verse 207 of Surah Baqarah was revealed regarding Imam Ali and his selflessness on Laylah al-Mabit. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] “And among the people is he who sells his soul seeking the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is most kind to [His] servants.” [14]

In one of his sermons, after mentioning the plot of the Quraysh, Imam Ali mentioned his state in that fearful night as such,

“The Holy Prophet told me to sleep in his bed and protect his life. I immediately accepted this mission. I was pleased to be killed in his way. The Holy Prophet set off and I slept in his bed. The armed men of Quraysh attacked, sure that they would kill the Holy Prophet. When they flooded the room in which I was sleeping, I arose to defend myself in a way that Allah and the people were informed about this.” [41] [42]

As mentioned, many Islamic sources mention Laylah al-Mabit and Imam Ali’s self-sacrifice in such a way that when Muawiyah wanted to distort this narration due to enmity to bring his position down, he was unable to. He paid Samrah ibn Jundab four hundred thousand dirhams to say that this verse (Baqarah: 207) was about Ibn Muljim Muradi (the murderer of Ali). Samrah executed Muawiyah’s command but no one believed him. [43]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tārīkh ‘al-‘Umam wa ‘al-Mulūk, vol. 2, p. 234
  2. ↑ ‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ, vol. 2, p. 70
  3. ↑ Dalā’il ‘al-Nubuwwaḧ, vol. 2, p. 128
  4. ↑ Biḥār ‘al-‘Anwār, vol. 19, p. 25
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 ‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ, vol. 2, p. 446
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Tārīkh Ṭabarī, vol. 2, p. 363
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 ‘Ansāb ‘al-‘Ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 253
  8. ↑ ‘al-Muwaṭṭa’, vol. 2, p. 4
  9. ↑ ‘al-Ṭabaqāt ‘al-Kubrá, vol. 1, p. 226
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Manāqib ‘Āl ‘Abī Ṭālib, vol. 1, p. 182
  11. ↑ ‘al-Bidāyaḧ wa ‘al-Nihāyaḧ, vol. 3, p. 169
  12. ↑ `Uyūn ‘al-Tawārīkh, vol. 1, p. 97
  13. ↑ ‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Ḥalabiyyaḧ, vol. 2, p. 25
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Translation by Ali Quli Qarai
  15. ↑ ‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ, vol. 2, p. 483
  16. ↑ ‘Ansāb ‘al-‘Ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 260
  17. ↑ Tārīkh ‘al-‘Umam wa ‘al-Mulūk, vol. 2, p. 242
  18. ↑ ‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ, vol. 2, p. 124
  19. ↑ ‘al-Ṭabaqāt ‘al-Kubrá, vol. 1, p. 227
  20. ↑ Dalā’il ‘al-Nubuwwaḧ, vol. 1, p. 147
  21. ↑ ‘Ansāb ‘al-‘Ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 259
  22. ↑ ‘al-Kāmil fī ‘al-Tārīkh, vol. 2, p. 101
  23. ↑ Tārīkh Ya`qūbī, vol. 2, p. 32
  24. ↑ I`lām ‘al-Wará, p. 61
  25. ↑ ‘al-‘Amālī, p. 445 and 463-471
  26. ↑ ‘al-Bidāyaḧ wa ‘al-Nihāyaḧ, vol. 3, p. 175
  27. ↑ ‘al-Sīraḧ ‘al-Nabawiyyaḧ, vol. 2, p. 189
  28. ↑ Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 13, p. 191
  29. ↑ Biḥār ‘al-‘Anwār, vol. 19, p. 47
  30. ↑ Shawāhid ‘al-Tanzīl li Qawā`id ‘al-Tafḍīl, vol. 1, p. 123
  31. ↑ Majma` ‘al-Bayān fī Tafsīr ‘al-Qur’ān, vol. 2, p. 535
  32. ↑ Kashf ‘al-‘Asrār wa `Iddaḧ ‘al-‘Abrār, vol. 1, p. 554
  33. ↑ ‘al-Tafsīr ‘al-Kabīr, vol. 5, p. 350
  34. ↑ ‘al-Baḥr ‘al-Muḥīṭ fī ‘al-Tafsīr, vol. 2, p. 334
  35. ↑ Tafsīr Gharā’ib ‘al-Qur’ān wa Raghā’ib ‘al-Furqān, vol. 1, p. 577
  36. ↑ ‘al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr ‘al-Qur’ān, vol. 2, p. 100
  37. ↑ Rawḍaḧ ‘al-Wā`iẓīn, p. 117
  38. ↑ Sharḥ Nahj ‘al-Balāghaḧ, vol. 13, p. 262
  39. ↑ Thamarāt ‘al-‘Awrāq (commentary of ‘al-Mustaṭrif), p. 20
  40. ↑ ‘al-Ghadīr, vol. 2, p. 48
  41. ↑ ‘al-Khiṣāl, vol. 2, p. 367
  42. ↑ ‘al-‘Ikhtiṣāṣ, p. 165
  43. ↑ Sharḥ Nahj ‘al-Balāghaḧ, vol. 4, p. 73
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