Question: Wahhabiyyah appeared in Najd, Land of Turmoil, where the Devil’s horns appear. Bukhari from Abdullah Ibn Umar, who said, “The Prophet r said, ‘O Allah! Bless our Sham (Syria) and our Yemen.’ The people said, ‘Our Najd as well.’ The Prophet r again said, ‘O Allah! Bless our Sham and our Yemen.’ They again said, ‘Our Najd as well.’ The Prophet r said, ‘There will appear earthquakes and afflictions, and from there will come out the side of the head (horn) of Satan.”
Answer: Muslim narrated that Salim, the son of, Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar said, “O, people of Iraq! How strange it is that you ask about minor sins, but commit major sins. I heard my father, ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar, narrate that he heard Allah’s Messenger r say, while pointing his hand towards the east, ‘Verily, the turmoil will come from this side, from where appear the two horns of Satan.” Imam Al-
Question: Is Iraq in the east of Madinah?
The short answer is: Yes, to the Prophet’s Companions, Iraq is to the east of Madinah.
Here, we are using the Prophet’s Companions’ era and usage of words. The Companions knew only of four general directions: east, west, north and south. Also, we should know that the Prophet’s words# did not include the word ‘east’, it is the Companions who used that word, the same Companions who clearly said that he was pointing towards Iraq then, the same Companions who criticized the people of Iraq for being
In addition …
1- The Companions and the hadeeths do not speak of NE, SE, NW, or SW, but only of east, west, north, and south.
2- Therefore, if a multiple-choice question is posted to the Companions, and the vast majority of the early scholars of Islam, asking them if Iraq is to the …
East of Madinah
West of Madinah
North of Madinah
South of Madinah?
Their answer will be ‘a’: to the east of Madinah.
3- This will still be the same answer today. Just because we say NE, does not mean that area is not in the general direction of the east from Madinah. To travel, one then considers the specific degree towards north that one wants to travel while going east to Iraq from Madinah.
4- The Companions who narrated these hadeeths stated that the Prophet of Allah,
5- To prove point ‘4’, we mention here another hadeeth that explains this one. It is the hadeeth stating that if you [while in Madinah] keep the east to your left side and the west to your right side, then whatever is between them is a qibla.
a- Therefore, to the hadeeths and the Companions, the general direction of anything, such as what is east of Madinah, is what is between south and north of it.
b- The hadeeth about the qibla above indicates that even though the qibla from Madinah is very slightly to the SE of Madinah, what is between the east and the west, is also qibla.
c- ‘Qibla’, literally, means, ‘direction.’ Therefore, in this hadeeth, the legislative
d- These hadeeths are NOT talking about scientific terms of whatever we may know today, they are talking about a general direction known to all ancient nations. Meaning: do not hold ancient people accountable to our designation of directions today: we made the directions eight. However, in the Quran and Sunnah and to all of the humans who lived before the recent era, there are only four directions, namely: east, not NE or SE; west, not SW or NW; etc.
6- Therefore, Iraq, to the Companions, is to the east, no doubt about it, especially noting that what they meant by Iraq then is the southern part of today’s Iraq, close to Kuwait and Basra, i.e., the lower section of the NE areas between east and north of Madinah.
7- We are required to follow the understanding of the Companions, especially those who narrated hadeeths and explained them. Abdullah Ibn Umar, among the narrators of the hadeeths about the land of
a- This should end the discussion
b- Abdullah Ibn Umar is one of the major Companions who had tremendous religious knowledge and obedience to the Sunnah.
c- Abdullah Ibn Umar travelled to Najd of Arabia and to Iraq, yet, still insisted that the east in the Prophet’s hadeeth was Iraq.
8- Where are the Companions or the major scholars of Islam who convincingly said that the hadeeths about the land of turmoil are about the Najd area of the Arabian Peninsula? To the contrary, the scholars said that the hadeeths are about Iraq.
9- The facts of history indicate that …
a- Iraq was and still is the land of
b- Najd was almost forgotten for centuries by Muslims because it was calm and did not have significant or continuous
10- Point no ‘9’ makes us think about this very carefully …
a- Did the Prophet of Allah, salla Allahu alaihi wasallam, make a mistake, pointing towards one direction, which did have horrific turmoil and fitan, while meaning another, which didn’t? If so, did Allah correct that mistake so that we are aware of fitan and where they come from, or He left us guessing about it?
b- Did the Companions misunderstand what the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wasallam was saying, especially those among them who traveled to Iraq later? Why have they not reconsidered their words, having traveled to both Najd and Iraq, by saying that they made a mistake, it was Najd all along?
c- If the Prophet of Allah salla Allahu alaihi wasallam was actually talking about Najd of today not Iraq as being the land of turmoil and fitan, then history will dispute that notion because it simply did not happen. Iraq has been and still is the land of fitan and turmoil. Therefore, if the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wasallam says that Najd is actually the land of turmoil and fitan, then this indicates a clear mistake. However, …
d- In no way did the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wasallam commit a mistake here, or anywhere else. He pointed towards Iraq, the Companions said so, and he meant Iraq, his Companions who heard and saw him, said so.
e- Even today, we notice Iraq as being the land of fitan and turmoil. Najd, in contrast, is calm, peaceful, prosperous, and a land where there is strong presence for the scholars of the Sunnah. Iraq, in comparison, has just about every sect of deviation and violence that has ever appeared in the Muslim world.
f- Iraq’s Sunnis, whether Arab, Persian, Turk, or Kurd, have suffered greatly at the hands of violent groups, mainly Shi`a and Khawarij gangs. Our sympathies are with them and with all innocent civilians in Iraq. But the fact remains that Iraq has had more violence and turmoil than other Arab countries, thus testifying to the truth of the Prophet’s hadeeths about the land of turmoil and fitan.
11- Let us suppose that the scholars, especially the most knowledgeable scholars, the Prophet’s Companions, all made a mistake and that the area the Prophet’s hadeeths were talking about, is actually the Najd of today in Eastern Arabia. How would that have an adverse effect on the da`wah of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab which started in Najd, as the Shi`a and other enemies of the Sunnah claim? He called to the Quran and Sunnah and the way of the Companions. This can never be a deviated methodology. In addition, we know that the major scholars of Islam, including three of the four Imams, lived and prospered in Iraq. The fact that they lived in that very land, the land of
Conclusion
Allah has preserved for us the meaning of the hadeeths on the land of turmoil and
Jalal Abualrub
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