The Call of Dawah in the Modern Age March-April

mountain and there awaited the arrival of the Prophet There were seventy three men and two women. The Prophet arrived with his uncle aI-Abbas, who had not yet converted to Islam. Then Ibn Abbas addressed them thus: ‘O men of Khazraj, do you know for what you are entering into baya (allegiance) with this person (i.e., the Prophet). They replied ‘Yes, we know.’ Abbas said, ‘By entering into a covenant with the Prophet, you are making a covenant to wage war against all blacks and whites, (that is, when the antagonists of Islam, of both inside and outside of Arabia attack the Muslims, you will have to defend him at all costs ). You will suffer losses both in lives and in goods. If you are going to desert him then you had better now say so and leave him alone. As by God, if you acted like this, it would amount to humiliation both in this world and the next. But if you think that you will fulfill your covenant in spite of the loss of your elders and leaders and other influential people (as they may be killed in the ensuing battles) then only may you take this matter in your hand. By God, therein (accepting the Prophet despite his having enemies all around, as, their leader and extending him and the Muslims their total cooperation) lies the goodness of both this world and the text. The Ansars said, “We accept him in spite of all possible losses in terms of lives and wealth.” Then they asked the Prophet, “O Prophet of God, if we prove our loyalty, what shall we receive in return?” The Prophet replied, “Paradise.” Then they said, “Extend your hand,” and when the Prophet did so, they all (73 of them) entered into bayah with him. It was people of such extraordinary courage and awareness who put an end to the continuity of shirk, thus altering the course of human history. Today once again the need has arisen to give same impetus to human history as was given by our predecessors when they initiated the age of monotheism by putting an end to the age of idolatry. Now we have to put an