The interesting things about the Jaheleya arabs was that they believed in Allah

by the same name, attributes etc. They never depicted Allah as an idol. They mad
e idols of Al-lat and Hubal etc but they never made an idol of Allah becuause th
ey knew Allah was their creator and sustainer. Allah says in the Quran if you we
re to ask them who created you? They would say 'Allah created us'. If you were t
o ask who sends the rain from the heavans? They would say 'Allah'. Who sustains
you? They would say 'Allah'. The Quran says if you were to ask who is the lord o
f the heavans and earth? They would say 'Allah. So their paganism is not the pag
anism of the modern day. They say Allah is our God etc and yet they are not musl
ims. Even though they say there is no Lord/creator/sustainer other than Allah. S
o when the prophet PBUH comes to them, it isn't with a new God. They know Allah
is the one and only Lord! Yet why aren't they muslim? Well because they worship
idols. Well why? They say "we are only worshipping these beings so they can brin
g us closer to Allah". So the ultimate goal is Allah - these beings are intereme
diates. Surah Yunus verse 18 "they worship these beings besides Allah that are u
seless, and they say these beings are our intecessors between us and Allah". The
y think they are too sinful so they have to 'go through them'. So notice their s
hirk was not in rejecting Allah, they firmly believe Allah is creator, sustatine
r etc. By name! Yet they worship other than Allah.
This is important because in our times muslims fall prey to the EXACT same menta
lity. They claim Allah is their lord but they think they are too sinful, and so
they need intecessors. Change al-lat to peer, shiekh, wali etc. Exact same conce
pt word for word. They think they have to go through the saint or the prophet PB
UH. 'We invoke the blessings of this being because he has a higher status and wi
ll plead our case to Allah' - this is what they think. This is exactly the same
mentality of the jaheleya. Al-lat is exactly the same concept as a peer etc.
Recall Hubal was the original and first idol in Mecca from Syria from the Amlykt
es. The second main idol was Al-lat. He was a man who used to feed to the pilgra
ms a type of soup. And Al-lat was the one who grinds - and he would stand on the
road to Mecca and would feed people on the road. When he died they said 'lets c
ommemerate him - he is a good man'. We are not supposed to do this because of th
is reason. PEople want to get blessings and slowly but surely it became an idol
that they worshipped besides Allah. The most common being that is invoked and wo
rshipped is Jesus. Is Jesus a good or evil being? He's one of the greatest of al
l prophets. And yet billions of worship him - this is what our religion came to
destroy. You don't go 'through' anybody to get to Allah. You take the prohpet PB
UH as a role model and not another God, demi God etc. So the shirk of the Jahele
ya is not the shirk of hindus etc because they believe in another God besides Al
lah. But the God of the arabs was Allah - their shirk was them believing Allah i
s too holy and thus they thought they needed an intermediary to get to Allah.
Now if Arabia was so bad or evil why did Allah choose them for the prophet PBUH
to come? Why not the romans who were a mighty civilisation? Or the persians who
had an acient civilisaton? Why choose a nomadic desert that didn't have anything
- not even a government. Why this society?
Well there are many wisdoms we can derive:
1. The arabs and Arabia was in between the two major superpowers - the romans an
d persians. More correctly the Byzantines and the Sasanians. So Arabia is smack
in the middle. Wars were taking place for 400 years between the Byzantines and t
he Sasanians. So its geographically connected to the superpowers but distinct. A
nd indeed Arabia conquers both superpowers. So by being connected Allah wills th
e muslims conquers these.
2. The arabs didn't have a history of voilence against the superpowers because t
hey were busy fighting amongst themselves. So when the arab army first marched t
owards Rome/Persia - these superpowers laughed at them "you want to challenge us

with such a pathetic army?" And it's said the Sasanians treated the arabs as ch
ildren! Because they couldn't believe a group was coming from Arabia. So it was
a suprise.
3. Arabs didn't have their own unique civilisation. By this we mean it didn't ha
ve a unified governement. Thus no law and order. Another benchmark is literature
, art and architecture. (But the arabs did have poetry). But the romans and pers
ians had huge buildings and palaces that are still around today. Islam came and
gave the arabs izza (honour) and made them the top tribe. Allah says "We have gi
ven you a book, in it is your legacy" - that you didn't have a legacy before thi
s book. Indeed now this book will give you a legacy people will look at you by.
So the fact that they didn't have a civilsation, when ISlam came it made it easi
er for the arabs to develop a unique and comprehensive culture. IF Islam came to
the Romans it would have been very difficult - the prohpet PBUH would have to f
ight the 'status quo' - the current structure in place. But arabia was like a va
ccum waiting to be filled. The first time the arabs were ever united was under t
he prophet PBUH. So a lack of civilisation is a blessing is disguise - Islam gav
e its own unique one, with its own poetry, literature etc.
4. Because there was constant internal warfare in Arabia and the state was seen
as relatively backwards, the rise of a political power coming from Arabia was co
mpletely unexpected. Nobody could have predicted it or even dreamt of it. It's a
lmost as if a small country in the world today would be a superpower in the worl
d in 5 years. We would think thats impossible. So the romans and persians didn't
even look at Arabia as a threat.
5. Mecca was the site of the first house built for the worship of Allah. Also it
was the place of IBrahim and ISmail AS thus it was most appropiate it became th
e place for the first universal religion. Any other religion was sent to specifi
c nations i.e. Moses to Jews, Jesus to children of Isreal etc. Allah says in the
Quran that the first house of worship was indeed Mecca. This was the first masj
id ever built on Earth. So its befitting the first universal call come from Mecc
a.
6. The arabs had several good qualities to make them recipients for the religion
of Islam and accepting the prohpet PBUH. They were simple people with no pollut
ion. Of the positives of being simple, when the truth comes they will accept eas
ily. Similarly the first converts are the simple people. Another benefit is that
the arabs were so use to harship i.e. lack of water, food etc. this helped the
islamic armies. The romans and persians were spolit. Their troops needed armour,
baggage, food etc. But the arabs were used to travel in the desert for long per
iods of time with little water and little food and early islamic conquest needed
this stamina that neither the romans or persians had. Also the arabs had very g
ood characteristics:
a) Bravery and pride - they were not cowards
b) Honest - the arabs hated lying and were very honest people. Abu Suffyan's sto
ry with Heraculus shows this - Abu Suffyan was brought in front of Heraculus and
Heraculus knew Abu Suffyan was an enemy of the prophet PBUH. So Heraculus put t
he other arabs with Abu Suffyan behind him and told them if Abu Suffyan is lying
raise your hand/give me a signal. Now they are all pagan worshippers - and Abu
Suffyan said "were it not for the fact that my people would call me a liar I wou
ld have invented lies against the prophet PBUH". Thus even though he is a pagan
he did not want to be called a liar.
c) Sincere with their oaths - if they gave a promise they would uphold it. Abdul
Muttalib and his promise to Allah: the arabs were people of their word. They ab
ided by their word. There was no need for witnesses, written documents etc.

d) The arabs were the best horseman - there was no denying this. Both the horses
are the best and the riders were the best. And indeed the prohpet PBUH praised
the horses of Arabia and to this day the arabian horses are the best. So the bar
aqah remains in them. And the riders were the most accustomed to brutal wars and
conditions which the romans and persians couldn't handle.
e) They were masters of the symmetic language i.e. Arabic. It's a very elequent
language and a powerful tool. One words can lead to deriving over 200 words. And
indeed generally people agree the symmetic languages are the most powerful and
elequent.
f) The prophet Ibrahim AS made a dua. As he is building the kab'ah - he says "fr
om our progeny you said forth one prophet or messenger who will recite to them y
our signs and will purify them, clean them and teach them the book and wisdom".
So ibrahim AS made a dua that let there be a prophet from Ismail AS. He knew the
re would be prophets from Ishaaq AS. Allah says in the Quran even before Ishaaq
was born "we will give you Ishaaq and after another prophet Ya'qub". And indeed
we believe every prophet after IBrahim AS was from the desendants of Ishaaq and
final prophey PBUH was from Ismail AS. So the prophet PBUH is the result of the
dua of Ibrahim AS and this is thus the main reason Allah chose the arabs. The pr
ophet PBUH said "I am the response of the dua that my father Ibrahim AS made, an
d I am the glad tidings that Jesus predicted".
We have already pointed out the lineage of the prophet PBUH was pure and noble.
Now we consider the birth of the prophet PBUH. His parents are Abdullah and Amin
ah. We have but a few lines of thier life and times. Very little about them.
1. They both lived very short lives. Early 20s or even before.
2. They both died before it was known the prophet PBUH is a prophet. These were
just regular people of Quraysh.
3. When the prophet PBUH becomes a prophet it's already been 40 years since his
parents died. By the time he reaches Mednia 53 years, by the time he dies 63 yea
rs. Who can remember what happened 63 years ago? When Islam finally became stabl
e no one is there to remember them. Meccan is 53 years - Madina is 10 years. And
yet the volume of Madina are 3x larger. Because when ISlam is powerful, stable
etc its easy to record and narrate. So this is indeed the case of the prophet PB
UH so we have even little about his parents.
Abdullah was 18 years old (young man) and Abdul Mutallib chose the daughter of t
he chief of banu zuhra. Quraysh is a large tribe and within it are many small tr
ibes - banu hashim is one, banu zuhra is another. So the chief of the banu zuhra
had a daughter called Aminah. And so Abdul Mutallib proposed to Aminah bint Wah
ab on behalf of his son, and this took place shortly before the caravan season.
So Wahab and agreed and it made sense since they were both chieftons. So Abdulla
h got married to Aminah a few days before the caravan departed. So he barely spe
nt a week with his new bride before he left and went on the carava, never to be
seen again.
Now there are some stories/legends not authentic, just like any story people wan
t to add stories and details. Our job is to stick of the facts through the scien
ce of hadith but sometimes its okay to mention stories. One such is that Abdulla
h had a type of brightness on his face - and that he was very handsome. So the y
oung ladies were all eager to propose to him. And a number of them hinted at him
. But he said he had to follow his father. After he married Aminah its said his
brightness left his face and so the women of quraysh did not take an interest in
him, suggesting the brightness went into the prohpet PBUH.
So within a week of marriage, he had to leave and go to Syria - on the way back

he felt severly ill and by the time he got to Yathrib, he said he'll stay with r
elatives in Yathrib to recover as he was slowing the caravan down. Now in Yathri
b was Abdul Mutallib's mother - so Abdullah's grandmother. Out of nowhere Yathri
b is not a common city and yet Allah prepares this already. And so Abdullah stay
ed in Yathrib - by the time caravan comes back, Aminah is told he is sick and th
e next news comes he in fact has passed away. Nobody knows where he is buried. S
o Aminah becomes a young widow at 18/19 carrying the offspring of Abdullah. And
the prohpet PBUH is born in the year of the elephant.
The question now is when was he born? Its commonly known 12th rubbi-yal-owal. Th
ere is no agreed upon decision. He told us certain things. Of them, a man asked
a prophet PBUH 'why do you fast on mondays?'. He said 'this was the day I was bo
rn, and the day revelations started'. Regarding the year, Uthman asks an old Qur
ayshi Kubayth after the death of the prophet PBUH "are you older/bigger than the
prophet PBUH?". He said "the prophet PBUH is bigger than me, but I am older tha
n him". He said "the prophet PBUH was born in the year of the elephant, as for m
e, I remember my mother taking me outside and I remember the elephants dung" i.e
. his is older. So Kubayth puts a yearon the prophet PBUH's birth. So we agree h
e was born in the year of the elephant. And recall we have calenders on events u
ntil Umar RA made the islamic calender. This corresponds to ~570CE.
What about day and month? Looking at two of the ealiest books - ibn hishaaq. He
died 150 hijra, and says that the prophet PBUH was born on a monday, 12th rabi-y
al-owal in the year of the elephant. But between him and the prophet PBUHis 200
years - and he dosen't tell us what is the chain of narrators for this. When we
look at the second earliest book by Ibn Sa'ad - its said "the prophet PBUH was b
orn on a monday, some say he was born on the 10th or 2nd of rabi-yal-owal". Ibn
Abbass also said the 10th. Ibn Kathir said "the majority is that he was born in
rabi-yal-owal. One group said he was born on the 2nd, this was the opinion of th
ree very early famous scholars. Another opinion is the 8th, the opinion of Ibn H
azam, Imam Malik and Az-Zuhbi. A third is the 10th, the opinion of Ja'far (desce
ndant of the prophet PBUH). The fourth is 12th, this is the opinion of Ibn Hisha
aq but there is no isnaad on this matter". Fifth 17th, Sixth 22nd other opinions
. Over 10 opinions on the exact day the prophet PBUH was born - none of them are
clear cut with solid evidence. They are all just opinions so to be academic, th
e opinion of the 12th has much less weight than the 2nd, 8th, 10th. The opinion
of the 12th is Ibn hishaaq which is 200 years after the prophet PBUH.
So why the 12th so popular? Well Ibn hishaaq. 90% of seerah writers just use Ibn
Hishaaq and because he said 12th end of story. Second reason is that the first
time the prophet PBUH was celebrated as a celebrated event, the authorities chos
e the 12th and because of this, it spread like wildfire - the day, event, custom
etc.
The Mawlid, the first recorded event of people celebrating the birthday of the p
rophet PBUH is 570 Hijra. Celebrating birthdays is not a custom of the arabs, it
s a western concept. Its a very late addition. The first group were the fathimid
s of eygpt - not of sunni theology but extreme shia. And they instituted over 30
/40 festivals. When it was done, 150 years later, some sunni governers imported
this festival and copied and did it on the 12th in around 670 Hijra. It was a ve
ry luxurious festival and people competed who could have a grander festival - fr
ee meat, free bread, gifts etc. It was also to attract trade, stimulate economy
etc. So the governments wanted their festivals to get bigger and bigger. And so
it spread to sunni lands - after a while the floodgates opened and it became ver
y common and the 12th became commonly known as his birthday. Even though 2nd, 8t
h and 10th have bigger evidence with them as we have seen.
Timing of his birth is 'high noon' - when the sun is brightest this is when the
prophet PBUH came out just like the bright sun illumanites everything so to does
the prohpet PBUH.

When it comes to the actual birth, there are so many legands and stories all of
which are not academically sound except for one. All the rest are just legands.
Frankly we don't need to invent lies to praise the prohpet PBUH. The facts are e
nough. The earliest books you go to has the least information. As you go on and
on, the details get more and more - you wonder where the details have come from?
! Ibn Hishaaq is the first book of seerah and he says that he will write everyth
ing he comes across. And then you have a book written 700 years later, 5x the si
ze. And this book is full of this and that - where is it coming from? Legands an
d what not.
One report, the prophet PBUH was born already circumcised. Another he was born a
nd fell into sajda. Another he was born and he lifted his finger to the sky to s
ay the shahada. We don't need to do this - to invent these things. He is the bes
t human and the facts are enough to show us this. Ibn Hishaaq mentions none of t
hese things. 700/800 hijra the guy suddenly knows so many things. Who witnessed
Aminah giving birth? Think about it.
Only one authentic hadith: "when my mother gave birth to me (or carrying), she s
aw a light eminate from her that cast its light all the way to the city of busra
(in the land of Syria; close to the arabian boarder)". We can derive Syria is m
entioned because Syria is a blessed land "As-Sham". Its a holy land. And that is
why Allah says in the Quran "there is baraqah around masjid-al-aqsa". And the p
rophet PBUH predicted As-sham will remain a fortress for Islam. And indeed As-Sh
am was the first are to be conquered - and al busra was the first city to be con
quered. Before Islam, Damascus was the right hand, the jewel of the romans - tra
de, culture, civilisation etc. It was impossible to think Damascus would be the
core of the Arab civilisation. So the light indicated Syria would be conquered a
nd indeed this is what happened. And also Isa AS would descend into Sham where h
e will meet the Mahdi etc.
Not authentic: the temples of the pagans fell down etc. Alot of scholars say whe
n the prophet PBUH was born the jinn were stopped entry into heavan. Allah menti
ons this the jinn said "we used to listen to the discussions of the angels. But
whoever listens now will be kicked out". The correct opinion this occured not at
the birth but at the age of 40 i.e. when he became a prophet. This is when the
skies were closed. Ibn Hishaaq also mentions the prophet PBUH was circumcised on
the 7th day and his grandfather Abdul Muttalib held a feast for him etc. And he
also chose the name Muhammad - and this was a very uncommon name. There was nob
ody in Mecca by this name. People asked him why did you name him Muhammad? He sa
id he wanted him to be praised by everyone. And also Abu Lahab, who was born of
another mother, set a slave girl free just because she came with the good news o
f the prophet being born. There is a hadith that Abbas saw Abu Lahab in a dream
being punished with the most severe punishment, so Abbas said to him "did not yo
ur relationship with the prophet PBUH benefit you?" He said "No - except for the
one thing I did. When the good news of the prophet PBUH being born, I freed a s
lave and because of this I get a few drops of water".