EMS SCHOOL Sultan Muhammad Fateh Notes: Part 1

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EMS SCHOOL Sultan Muhammad Fateh Notes: Part 1

Background
Imagine this.
Imagine you live far away from the super powers of the world. Super powers that don’t even think
you’re worth ruling. And a Prophet comes forth from amongst you with a message, a way of life, which
is embraced by billions with their lives and souls for the next 1400 years to come. You aren’t from any of
the intellectual hubs of the time, yet the Prophet brings forth information of events that took place
hundreds of years ago with pinpoint accuracy.
He tells you of the people of Aad and the people of Thamud. He tells you about Adam, Idris, Dawood,
Sulaiman, Musa and Easa (alaihimu salam), with pinpoint accuracy, though he is a man who cannot read
or write.
Imagine this.
The Muslims are few in number and they’re living in Makkah. And the Prophet (pbuh) is going from tent
to tent in the Hajj season telling the people, “Say La Ilaha Illa Allah and you will be successful.” And
there’s this man following him saying, “Don’t believe him, he’s a liar.” One of the men seeing this asks,
“Who are these two men?” He is told that the man going from tent to tent is Muhammad who is
claiming to be a prophet, and the man following him, who is calling him a liar, is his very own uncle, Abu
Lahab. The man says, “Why would anyone believe in him if his own family is calling him a liar?” The
Prophet (pbuh) is ridiculed, people spit in his face and throw dust in his face until he returns home
absolutely exhausted. His daughter Zainab (ra) brings him water and as he’s washing the dust and spit
off his face, he raises his eyes and sees the anguish on his daughter’s face from seeing her father being
humiliated every day. And the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) says, “Oh my daughter! Do not regard this as
humiliation. For I swear by Allah, that this Deen will reach every baked and unbaked home!”
Imagine this.
The Sahabah are in the darkest moment of their lives. The Battle of Ahzab (the Battle of Khandaq) was
the darkest moment in the lives of the Sahabah. The armies of Arabia have gathered around Madinah
and Abu Sufyan is walking through their ranks saying, “This will be the final battle. After today, the
Muslims will never stand again.” Salman Al Farsi (ra) comes to the Prophet (pbuh) and says, “Oh
Messenger of Allah! When an army would be coming to attack us in Persia and we knew that we
couldn’t face it, we would dig a trench around our city to protect us”. So the Muslims begin digging a
trench around the city. It’s bitterly cold and the Sahabah are starving due to a famine but they keep
digging until they reach a boulder that not even the strongest Sahabi is able to break. So they refer the
matter to the Prophet (pbuh) and say, “Oh Messenger of Allah! There is a huge boulder that none of us
can break so can you help us?” So he goes, with two stones tied to his stomach, and strikes the boulder
once. A huge spark comes out of it and he says, “Allahu Akbar!” Then he strikes it again and a huge spark
comes out of it and he says, “Allahu Akbar!” Then he strikes it a third time and a huge spark comes out
of it, and the boulder finally crumbles, and he says, “Allahu Akbar!”
The Sahaba asked the Prophet (pbuh), “Oh Messenger of Allah! What was the Allahu Akbar about? What
were those sparks about?” The Prophet (pbuh) replied: “When I struck the boulder the first time Allah
showed me that a day will come when we will take the palaces of Yemen. When I struck it the second
time, Allah showed me through the spark that a day will come when we will take the palaces of the
Byzantines. And when I struck it a third time, Allah showed me through the spark that a day will come
when we will take the white palace of Persia.” When the hypocrites heard this, they made fun of the

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EMS SCHOOL Sultan Muhammad Fateh Notes: Part 1

Prophet (pbuh) and said, “Look at this man! He’s promising them that they will become a superpower
and they’re too afraid to even go and relieve ourselves!”
For an illiterate man to say that the Muslims, who were so weak, would become a superpower was truly
unimaginable at that time. But within 10 years, the Muslims became that superpower. And after 800
years, the Prophet’s (pbuh) prophecy regarding Constantinople also came true.

The Prophecy

“Verily you shall conquer Constantinople.

What a wonderful leader will that leader be,

and what a wonderful army will that army be!”

(Musnad Imam Ahmad)

One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was sleeping in the house of Umm Haram (ra) who was his aunt.
He woke up after some time and he was smiling so Umm Haram (ra) asked, “Oh Messenger of Allah!
May my mother and father be sacrificed for you, what’s making you smile?” The Messenger (pbuh)
replied: “I saw a group from my Ummah going into Jihad on large ships, like kings sitting on thrones.”
She said, “Oh Messenger of Allah! Make dua that Allah makes me from amongst them!” He said, “You
will be from amongst them.” Then he went back to sleep. He woke up after some time and was smiling
again so Umm Haram (ra) asked him, “Oh Messenger of Allah! May my mother and father be sacrificed
for you, what’s making you smile?” The Messenger (pbuh) replied: “I saw a group from my Ummah
going into Jihad on large ships, like kings sitting on thrones.” She said, “Oh Messenger of Allah! Make
dua that Allah makes me from amongst them!” He replied, “You will be from the first ones.”
Come the time of Abu Bakr (ra), nothing happens. Come the time of Umar (ra), nothing happens.
Come the time of Uthman (ra), Muawiyah (ra) was inspired by the glad tidings the Prophet (pbuh) gave
regarding the conquest of Constantinople and asked Uthman (ra) permission to build a navy. When he
succeeded in building the first Muslim navy, he asked Uthman (ra) for permission to lead a naval
expedition to Cyprus. He was granted permission and so he sailed off with a large army and in this ship
was no other than Umm Haram (ra) and her husband Ubadat ubnu Samit (ra). When they reached
Cyprus, Umm Haram’s (ra) horse got startled and so she fell off and was martyred. Until this day, her
grave is in Cyprus and bears witness to the prophecy of the Prophet (pbuh).
When Muawiyah (ra) became the Khalifah, he commanded a second naval expedition to go to
Constantinople led by his son Yazeed bin Muawiyah. Every single person wanted to be a part of this
expedition including many of the Sahabah. For they believed that one of two prophecies would come
true: if they were able to conquer Constantinople then they would become the best of armies in the
eyes of Allah. And even if they lost then there was another hadeeth that said,
“The first army from my Ummah which attacks Constantinople, Allah will forgive them all.” (Muslim)
Many of the Sahabah joined this expedition. But the Sahabi who really stands out is Abu Ayyub Al Ansari
(ra), the host of the Prophet (pbuh) when he came to Madinah.

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EMS SCHOOL Sultan Muhammad Fateh Notes: Part 1

Though he was above 80 at the time, he was adamant to join the expedition to Constantinople. When
people suggested that he should stay home due to his age, he replied, “The verse of the Quran, ‘Go in
the path of Allah, may you be heavy or may you be light’ won’t allow me to sit at home.”
When he reached the city of Constantinople and the battle begun, he fell ill so he withdrew from the
battlefield. When Yazeed heard this, he immediately went to see Abu Ayyub Al Ansari and asked him,
“Oh Sheikh, is there anything that I can do for you?” Abu Ayyub (ra) replied, “Give my salam to the army
and tell them that they must fight with courage. And when I die, make sure you bury me in the furthest
land of the enemy so I can say to Allah, ‘Oh Allah, I went in your path living and I went in your path
whilst I was dead.’”
So when he passed away, Yazeed honored his wishes and had his body taken right to the walls of
Constantinople. When Qaisar (Caesar) saw the huge procession of Muslims at his walls, he sent a
messenger to Yazeed to ask him what he was doing. He replied saying that one of the companions of the
Prophet (pbuh) wanted to be buried as far in the enemy lands as possible so they were honoring his
wishes.
Qaisar sent him a reply saying, “Obviously you’re not as intelligent as your father. When you leave, I will
exhume his body and feed it to the dogs.” Yazeed replied, “I swear by the One whom you disbelieve in,
and I swear by the One due to whom he’s buried here, if you do that I will kill every Byzantine in our
lands and I will destroy every church in our lands!” It had such a huge impact on Qaisar that he
appointed permanent guards to guard the grave of Abu Ayyub (ra). Western historians even write that
whenever the Christians in that land were faced with a famine, they used to go to the grave of Abu
Ayyub Al Ansari (ra) to make dua for barakah.