Laylat al-Mabit: Difference between revisions

After the demise of [[Abu Talib]], Quraysh polytheists intensified the harassment of Muslims. As the life of Muslims was in danger, the [[Prophet (s)]] ordered Muslims to emigrate to [[Yathrib]]. The Prophet (s) had recently made an [[Pledge of 'Aqaba|allegiance with the people of Yathrib]], so the Muslims were safe there. The Muslims started to emigrate to Yathrib covertly in small groups.<ref>Ibn Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-nabawīyya'', vol.1, p.480.</ref>

Chiefs of Quraysh gathered in [[Dar al-Nadwa]] to decide about their encounter with the Prophet (s); at last, with the plot of [[Abu Jahl]], it was decided that selected brave men from every tribe attack the Prophet (s) together and assassinate him at his home, so all the tribes have a part in the assassination of the Prophet (s) so [[Banu Hashim]], who were his family and his avengers, could not fight all the tribes and have to accept the blood money.<ref>Tabrisī, ''Iʿlām al-warā'', p.88.</ref>

After the decision of Quraysh to assassinate the Prophet (s), [[Jabra'il]] (Gabriel) informed the Prophet (s) about the plan and revealed the [[verse]] 30 of [[Qur'an 8]]: "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", so the Prophet (s) decided to emigrate to Yathrib.<ref>Ḥalabī, ''al-Sīra al-Ḥalabīyya'', vol. 2, p. 32.</ref> While he was leaving, he recited: "And We have put a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, then We have blind-folded them, so they do not see" ([[Quran 36]]:9), so the polytheists could not see him.<ref>Subḥānī, ''Furūgh-i abadīyyat'', vol. 1, p. 420.</ref>

On the night of [[Rabi' I 1]], the Prophet (s) told [['Ali (a)]]: "the angel descended to me and informed me that Quraysh polytheists are united to kill me, and he recommended me from my God to emigrate from my tribe, and go to the [[Thawr cave]] tonight, and he ordered me to order you to sleep in my bed so my trace will become hidden by that; so what do you say and what will you do?", so 'Ali (a) said: "will you be safe by my sleeping there?", the Prophet (s) said: "yes", so 'Ali (a) smiled and bowed down to perform [[al-sajda al-shukr]] out of happiness, then said: "Go as you are ordered, may my ears, eyes, and my very heart be sacrificed for you, order me as you wish, I am like your assistant, I will do it as you want, and my success is only by [[Allah]]."<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 19, p. 60.</ref> the Prophet (s) said: "sleep in my bed, and put on my clothes, and I inform you that Allah tests his friends according to their faith and their rank in His religion, so the most hardly tested people are the prophets, then their successors, etc., so He is testing you and is testing me with you, like He tested His friend [[Ibrahim (a)]], and [[Isma'il (a)]] (when Ibrahim was commanded to slaughter Isma'il), so be [[patience|patient]], be patient, for 'indeed Allah's mercy is close to the virtuous'" then embraced Ali (a) and both cried, then they separated.<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Amālī'', p. 466.</ref>

The polytheists, besieged the house of the Prophet (s) from the beginning of the night and they were expecting the midnight to attack, but [[Abu Lahab]] said: "Some women and children are in the house and maybe they become harmed and later this will be a shame for us between 'Arabs" (So they postponed the attack to the sunrise.)<ref>Ḥalabī, ''al-Sīra al-Ḥalabīyya'', vol. 2, p. 32.</ref>

Ali (a) slept in the bed of the Prophet (s), the polytheists were throwing little stones to him to ensure that someone is sleeping in the bed, and they were certain that he is the Prophet (s).<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Amālī'', p. 298.</ref>

In the morning when they attacked the house with drawn swords, they saw 'Ali (a) in the bed of the Prophet (s) and said: "Where is Muhammad?" Ali (a) said: "Were you entrusted him to me that you are asking me about him? Were not you saying that you will expel him from your land?" They attacked 'Ali (a) and beat him saying: "You have been tricking us for the night!" Then they started to search for the Prophet (s).<ref>Majlisī, ''Biḥār al-anwār'', vol. 19, p. 92.</ref>

There is also another report: when the sun started to rise they feared to be exposed by the morning so they attacked, at the time the houses in [[Mecca]] did not have doors and only curtains were used, when 'Ali (a) saw them coming to him with drawn swords, and [[Khalid b. al-Walid]] is leading them, 'Ali (a) jumped to him, took his sword and broke his hand, so Khalid started to jump up and down and yelling like a camel, the others were still on the stairs when 'Ali (a) went to them with the sword, they fled like a herd of sheep and went to the roof, and suddenly they discovered that this is 'Ali. "Are you Ali?" they asked. "I am 'Ali" he replied. They said: "We do not intend you, where is Muhammad?". "I do not know", 'Ali (a) said. So they got on their horses and camels and went after the Prophet (s).<ref>Ṭūsī, ''al-Amālī'', p. 467.</ref>

==Revelation of a Verse about Ali (a)==

As [[Shi'a]]<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 2, p. 99-100.</ref> and [[Sunni]]<ref>Ḥākim al-Niyshābūrī, ''al-Mustadrak ʿalā l-ṣaḥīḥayn'', vol. 3, p. 5; ʿAyyāshī, ''Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī'', vol. 1, p. 101.</ref> scholars have narrated, the verse 207 of [[Qur'an 2]] is revealed about the night and the sacrifice of 'Ali (a) for the Prophet (s).

The Prophet (s) said: "Allah told [[Jabra'il]] and [[Mika'il]]: 'I have made you two brothers and made the life of one of you shorter than the other, which one of you would prefer his brother (to live longer)?' both of them disliked the [[death]], then Allah told them: Are not you like My friend, 'Ali b. Abi Talib?. I made him brother with My Prophet and he preferred him to live then slept in his bed sacrificing his life for him. Both of you descend to the earth and protect him from his enemies'. Then Jabra'il descended to top of his head and Mika'il descended to his feet, and Jabra'il said: 'Good for someone like you, O the son of Abu Talib, that Allah is proud of you in front of the angles.'"<ref>Ṣadūq, ''al-Amālī'', p. 469; Fakhr al-Rāzī, ''Mafātīḥ al-ghayb'', vol. 5, p. 174.</ref>

*ʿAyyāshī, Muḥammad b. Masʿūd al-. ''Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī''. Edited by Sayyid Hāshim Rasūlī. Tehran: Maktabat al-ʿIlmīyya al-Islāmīyya, 1363 Sh.

*Ḥākim al-Niyshābūrī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. ''Al-Mustadrak ʿalā l-ṣaḥīḥayn''. Edited by Muṣṭafā ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, [n.d].

*Ḥalabī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. ''Al-Sīra al-Ḥalabīyya''. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].

*Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. ''Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya''. Edited by Muḥammad Muḥyī l-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd. Cairo: Maktabat Muḥammad ʿAlī Ṣabīḥ, [n.d].

*Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. ''Biḥār al-anwār''. Beirut: Dār al-Wafāʾ, 1403 AH.

*Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ''Al-Amālī''. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Biʿtha, 1417 AH.

*Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. ''Furūgh-i abadīyyat''. Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb, 1386 Sh.

*Ṭabāṭabāyī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. ''Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān''. Third edition. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1973 AH.

*Tabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. ''Iʿlām al-warā bi aʿlām al-hudā''. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1417 AH.

*Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. ''Al-Amālī''. Qom: Dār al-Thirqāfa, 1414 AH.

[[Category:Virtues of Imam Ali (a)]]