Umar Farooq

He was a very religious man and received glad tidings of Paradise from the Prophet Muhammad . He performed two Hijrahs for the sake of Islam – one to Abyssinia and the other to Madinah. He was one of the closest companions of the Prophet and was married successively to two of his daughters. His Caliphate brought economic prosperity but some Muslims were unhappy with him. The feeling of dissension peaked and he was martyred by rebels among the Muslims. He said that four things were useless: “Knowledge without practice, wealth without expenditure in the way of God, piety for the sake of show and a long life with no stock of good deeds.” He loved three things: to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to read and teach the Quran. Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and the son of Abu Talib, was brought up under the guardianship of the Prophet. He was a pious man, renowned for his bravery. He was among the first to accept Islam even though he was still a child. When the Prophet left for the Hijrah to Madinah, he made Ali lie in his bed, so that the Quraysh soldiers waiting outside would not know that the Prophet had left. He was chosen as the Caliph after Uthman ibn Affan. It was a time of great upheaval. The rebels who had killed Uthman were in control of Madinah. Ali tried his best to control the situation and even shifted his base to Kufa in Iraq to consolidate his Caliphate. He had to face intense opposition, particularly from Muawiya, the governor of Syria. The Muslims opposing Ali wanted him to immediately punish the murderers of Uthman. But this was very difficult under the circumstances. He was ultimately martyred by the Kharjis (dissenters). Here are some of his sayings: “I am the slave of him who has taught me even one letter”. “Live amongst people in such a manner that if you die they weep over you and if you are alive they crave your company.” “Man is a wonderful creature; he sees through the layers of fat (eyes), hears through a bone (ears) and speaks through a lump of flesh (tongue).” Dawah – The Continuation of the Prophet’s Mission Dawah work has been termed in the Quran ‘the call to God.’ In other words, dawah work aims at bringing people closer to their Creator and Sustainer. Calling people to God is telling them that the only right way of life for them on this earth is to become true believers in God. Calling people to God means warning man of the evil consequences of the self-oriented life, and therefore, inviting him to adopt the God-oriented life. The most authentic and reliable source of knowledge of the divine teachings on both types of life has been preserved for us in the form of the Quran. Calling people to God is purely other-worldly in nature. That is, it is in no way associated with national, social or economic issues. It is a campaign designed to bring people nearer to God. It starts in the spiritual and religious idiom and goes on in the same idiom and style till the end. The purpose of dawah work or ‘calling people to God’ is to awaken souls from their slumber. It is to put a lost person on to the right path leading towards God. It is to awaken a man’s insight so that he begins to see glimpses of God in the signs of the vast universe. It is to unveil the Creator in the mirror of His creation.