The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 178
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 178 of Rome inquired of Abū Sufyān, the Chief of Makkah, “Does the nobility accept Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) or the weak lower class?” Abū Sufyān responded, “The weak and lower class accept him. ” Upon which Heraclius answered – and beautifully indeed, “In the beginning, it is the lower class who accept the messengers of Allāh. ” 1 Method of taking Bai‘at 2 by the Holy Prophet sa At this instance, it shall not be inappropriate to mention that when an individual would come to accept Islām, the method of the Holy Prophet sa was that he would take that person’s hand into his own and would seek a declaration in predetermined words and would take oath that he would obey every Ma‘rūf decision made by the Holy Prophet sa hereafter. In the declaration of Islām, after clear mention of principal elements, an oath would be taken. For example, that ‘I shall believe in God as One and without partner, I shall not indulge in polytheism, and shall abstain from evil deeds such as stealing, adultery, murder and lying, etc. , etc. ’ Whilst taking Bai‘at from women the Holy Prophet sa would seek the same declaration, but would not take the hands of women into his own, rather, a verbal oath of allegiance would suffice. Afterwards, when injunctions relevant to Jihād 3 by the sword were revealed, the Holy Prophet sa made an addition to the words of Bai‘at with relevance to Jihād. The Bai‘at of women however, remained unaltered, until the end. 4 Aside from the Bai‘at , it was a custom of the Holy Prophet sa not to shake hands with women who were beyond the prohibited degrees. 5 When the teachings of Pardah were revealed, the disclosure of the beauty of men and women to one another, whether by sight or touch, was declared forbidden by religious law anyway. 6 1 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Bad’il-Waḥī, Bāb No. 6, Ḥadīth No. 7 2 Initiation of Allegiance (Publishers) 3 To strive (Publishers) 4 * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, p. 310, Bābul-‘Aqabatil-Ūlā wa Muṣ‘ab bin ‘Umair ra , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, p. 323, Bābu Shurūṭil- Bai‘ati fil-‘Aqabatil-Akhīrah, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) * Al-Mumtaḥinah (60:13) * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābu Manāqibil-Anṣār, Bābu Wufūdil-Anṣār, Ḥadīth No. 3892 * Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābul-Aḥkām, Bābu Bai‘atin-Nisā’, Ḥadīth No. 7214 5 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābul-Aḥkām, Bābu Bai‘atin-Nisā’, Ḥadīth No. 7214 6 An-Nūr (24:32)