Prophet Muhammad was worried about people rebelling against him if he announced Imam Ali as his successor, so he delayed following the message to formalize his succesorship as long as he was allowed to.
The wisdom of this showed by how during the hajj. Some companions of the Prophet had suspected the Prophet would announce Imam Ali as his successor at hajj and whenever the prophet would give a sermon that veered towards this topic, they would become agitative and make noise in order to derail the announcement.
After the hajj, the Muslims started travelling back towars their home towns, with the Yemenis going south, and the Meccans remaining behind in Mecca, while the prophet and others went north to Medina. At this time Gabriel once again conveyed Allah’s command to the Prophet to announce his successor and this time also promised His protection. Perphaps after the groups had split the munafiqeen were in too small a number to cause any trouble, and Prophet Muhammad announced Imam Ali as his successor.
In the last months of the prophet’s life, Gabriel descended to the prophet conveying a message from Allah: “There remain two obligations that you must convey to your people: the obligation of Hajj, and the obligation of Wilayah (the guardianship and succession) after you. For indeed, I have never left My earth without a proof, and I will never leave it without one.” The Prophet had often spoken about Imam Ali’s unique rank, but hadn’t formalized his succession in front of a large audience.
Prophet Muhammad ordred all who could to join him in his Hajj, about 70-124,000 people joined, and sent a message to Imam Ali, who was still in Yemen, to also join with his men.
When nearing Mecca, Imam Ali rushed ahead to meet the Prophet, leaving Abu Rafi al-Qibti in charge of the men. When Imam Ali returned he saw that for their Ihram those men had put on the fine Yemeni fabrics, a khums collected from Yemen. Imam Ali reprimanded them and ordered them removed and repacked immediately. While this was the just course of action, this disciplining would natrually lead to tension being created between him and his troops.
After the they all returned to Mecca, Imam Ali was praying in the sacred mosquen when a begger entered and asked for charity. Without interrupting his prayer, from ruku Imam Ali extendeded his hand and offered his ring to the beggar. At this moment some companions were with the prophet as the verse was revealed “Your guardian is only Allah, his Prophet, and the faithful who maintain the prayer and give charity while bowing down.”
During hajj, the prophet often emphasized the two weightly things he was leaving behind: the Quran and the Ahlul Bayt. During this time Allah repeatedly instructed the prophet to make his succession announcement, but concerns about the potential backlash from some companions kept Prophet Muhammad from doing so until Allah sent a promise of protection.
The Prophet’s concern about backlash from his companions foreshadowed the opposition Imam Ali would later encounter.
Prophet Muhammad sent a mission to Yemen to invite them to Islam. The first mission was led by Khalid ibn Al-Walid, who was a harsh man who had fought against the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud, but he had an aristrocratic background and by making him feel valued Prophet Muhammad had hoped to turn him into a productive member of the Muslim community.
However once in Yemen, instead of following the prophetic principles of dawah Khalid hastily resorted to violence. The Tribe of Numayr, feeling threatened, sent a delegation to the Prophet in Medina to ask for protection from Khalid.
The Prophet sent Imam Ali to Yemen to do damage control and instructed Khalid’s men to follow him instead. While sending Imam Ali he gave him various bits of advice, emphasizing the need to display wisdom, to soften people’s hearts, and to remain upright.
The prophet emphasized the importance of avoiding bloodshed if possible, to the point where he said to not even engage in battle unless they kill one of your men first, and to even then first give them a chance to repent.
After the Conquest of Makkah, the prophet dispatched tax collectors to different Bedouin tribes, aiming to consolidate an Islamic state and establish a system of governance that would ensure stability, support the needed, and fund state activities.
Some tribes like the Tribe of Bnau Tamim resisted paying taxes however, potentially because thought the prophet was giving women too many rights. After the prophet sent riders to enforce the taxes, the tribe sent a delegation to the prophet to negotiate a truce.
This event led to the early versese of Surah Al-Hujurat (#49) of the Quran being revealed, which chided the Muslims to not raise their voices in above that of the prophet.
Prophet’s Guidance to Tax Collectiors
– He’d remind them about the importance of fairness and compassion. Don’t intimidate people.
– They were to trust the people’s declarations of their wealth. They weren’t authorized to investigate deeply. The honor system was encouraged, to teach people to assume fellow muslims were honest, not deceitful
– They were encouraged to act with kindess and not be a burden
– If there were local needy people, distribute taxes to them
– Leave the best of people’s crops and livestock untouched, showing respect for their livelihood and well being
Prophet Muhammad wanted to eradicate polythiesm and all practices associated with it, such as doing tawaaf around the kaaba naked.
Surah Tawbah was revealed, which included a message that the idolaters should not be allowed near the kaaba after this year. The Prophet first sent Abu Bakr to share this news with the Meccans, but then God instructed him to send Ali instead. The message was that the polythiests would be banished from Mecca after four months, except for those who had treaties that lasted longer. Those who asked for safety would be granted it after being taught about Islam. But shia and sunni views of this even are discussed.
Surah Tawbah is the only surah without a bismillah, and it contains many references to the idolaters, and how to treat them. It defined the rules of engagement against those who would fight agains the Muslims and that they should be granted asylum if they seek it.
The banishment of kuffar was similar to how governments today determine what speech is harmful and what the accepetable overton window for a soecity is. Even liberal governments have ideologies they don’t tolerate.
Among the delegations that came to Prophet Muhammad was on e from the Christians of Najran after their chief chief bishop and his people were invited to Islam. They came to negotiate a truce with the Prophet.
They offered terms that were unacceptable to the Prophet, and he invited them to a Mubahila, a prayer for divine curse upon the liars. The Prophet accepted, and a verse from the Quran was revealed telling each side to call their sons, women, and selves to invoke the curse.
While the Christians brough all their leaders, Prophet Muhammad brought only his daughter Fatima, his cousin Ali, and his grandsons Hasan and Husayn. The Christians were struck with fear at seeing their luminous faces and did not go through with the Mubahila.
The lecture goes on to discuss how this event highlights the importance of the family of the Prophet, comparing both Sunni and Shia views.
The Expedition of Tabuk demonstrated to Arabs the strength of the Muslims. Over the next year, the various tribes responded by sending the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) delegations to accept Islam and pledge their allegiance. Prophet Muhammmad welcomed them & forgave past conflicts.
He focused on:
– Renouncing idolatry & polytheism
– Spreading Islamic knowledge
– Building strong alliances and goodwill
The Prophet’s Methods:
– Generosity: Gave gifts (gold, dates, land) to solidify alliances.
– Compassion: Blessed children & offered amnesty even before requested.
– Education: Assigned teachers to delegations.
– Respect: Gave new, honorable names to some converts.
Examples:
Bedouin Tribe: Wanted to convert & requested financial aid. The Quran revealed their motives weren’t pure faith, but the Prophet didn’t reject them.
Banu Thaqif: A stubborn tribe, they initially set conditions for conversion (avoid prayer, keep idols). The Prophet refused some demands but offered amnesty & teachers.
– Uthman ibn Abi Al-Aas (secret Muslim from the tribe) was assigned to be their governor, highlighting the Prophet’s trust in young converts.
Allah had warned Prophet Muhammad in the Quran (64:4) that his companions contained hypocrites so skilled at deceit that the prophet himself was pleased by their speech and appearance. Only revelation could expose them.
Later, during the return from the Tabuk expedition, while Prophet Muhammad went through a mountain pass while instructing his army to pass from below, some of these hypocrites tried to assault the prophet by startling his horse into dropping him off the cliff. Their plan was foiled and they fled. Despite wearing masks to hide their identies, they could be known by their horses.
The Quran (9:47) said that these hypocrites had renounced faith after becoming Muslims out of greed and vindictiveness.
However, instead of punishing those men, Prophet Muhammad decided to not pursue them because of the division it could cause amongh the Muslims. Those were men who appeared to be highly respected (as Quran 64:4 implied) and accusations against them would risk causing fitna.
Only Hudhayfah ibn Al-Yaman was told their names, and Prophet Muhammad instructed him to keep it a secret.
When leaving for Tabuk, the Prophet (s) appointed Imam Ali (as) as his deputy in Madinah. Explaining it’s significance, he said to Imam Ali “You are to me as Harun was to Musa, except that there is no prophet after me.”
There were at least 7 occasions that Prophet Muhammad made such a statement during his life.
One such occasion was narrated by Umar ibn Al-Khattab, when he emphasized how precious such a statement was by saying “If I had [a quality like that mentioned about me or my family], it would be dearer to me than anything.”
What ranks did Prophet Harun have compared to Prophet Musa?
– Minister
– Helper
– Brother
– Backer/Stengthener
– Partner
The lecture includes objections Sunni scholars have raised to believing that this status continued after the Prophet’s death, and Shia rebuttals to those objections.