The Second Aqaba Pledge of Allegiance: Its Significance

Life without righteous work is vain and wasted

 Honorable brother, this is a new lesson in the series ‘Understanding the Prophet’s Life and Deeds’, and our subject today is the second Aqabah Pledge of Allegiance. But before we go into this matter, let us note that when Allah allows a man to become a great figure among those who call to Him, or one of the soldiers of Truth, or an instrument of Good, Allah Almighty will have given this man the greatest of gifts.

((It is I who created Good and Evil; so blessed is the one at whose hands I destined Good to appear, and woe to him at whose hands I destined Evil to appear ))

(Narrated by Tabarani in Al-Kabir from Ibn Abbas)

 This great Islam that has spread throughout the world, and whose adherents number a billion and three hundred million Moslems, this Religion owes its beginning to the first and second Aqabah pledges. Those who participated in either of these two pledges were the eminent figures of the Nation. And vain is the life of those who do not take part in establishing this Religion or spreading this Truth, be they rich or powerful. For death puts a stop to everything: it ends the strength of the strong and the weakness of the weak, the riches of the rich and the poverty of the poor, the health of the healthy and the sickness of the sick, the fairness of the fair and the homeliness of the homely.
 Allah Almighty gave wealth to those He liked as well as to those He did not like. He gave riches to Qaroun whom He did not like, and also gave our master Osman whom He liked. So wealth is not a standard. He gave dominance to those He liked as well as to those He did not like, he gave the Pharaoh whom He did not like, so rule and reign are not a true measure. But like Allah Almighty says:

﴾ And when he reached his prime We gave him wisdom and knowledge. Thus We reward the good ﴿

(Surat Yusuf)

So if Allah’s gift to you is knowledge and wisdom, then He has given you what He gave his Prophets, His beloved ones and His friends. So always examine what He chooses for you.
 Dear brother, the Prophet, peace be upon him, says in this awesome Tradition:

((Hasten to do good deeds in anticipation of seven things: A dispelling poverty, a corrupting prosperity, old age senility, a sure death, the Dajjal (Anti-Christ), the worst apprehended absent, or the Hour (Doomsday), for the Hour is even more wretched and more bitter’))

(Tirmizi from Abu Huraira)

 I quote these words so that everyone here understands perfectly that life is vain without good deeds, and that those who come before Allah without good deeds, Allah will give them no value on Resurrection Day, on the contrary Allah will humiliate them, for they spent their lives chasing their own interests, appetites and whims.
For this, when I read about the second Aqabah pledge of allegiance, I found each and every participant a foundational pillar of this religion.

Aspects and Meanings of the Second Aqaba Pledge

 Dear brother, the year that followed the first Aqabah pledge of allegiance, 73 men and two women of the Aws and Khazraj tribes came to the Prophet, peace be upon him. Note the presence of women in both pledges, for it is established that women are the equals of men in religious obligations, in honors and in responsibility. To Allah, women are the match of men. But women have peculiarities of their own and so do men, and the peculiarities of each adapt perfectly to their responsibilities.
 So they acknowledged him as their leader in the second Aqabah pledge of allegiance. And as I explained in our previous meeting, this present life is a place of religious obligations (Taklif) not of honors, a place of performance not of expectation, a phase where the price of the Hereafter is earned, and this is why the pledge the companions took upon themselves to uphold their Prophet amounted to an act of sale, a sale of the self. (Translator’s note: in Arabic, the word ‘Bayaa’ is used for ‘business deal or commercial transaction’ as well as for ‘pledge of allegiance’).

﴾ Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise) ﴿

(Surat Al Tawba, 111)

 The faithful has sold himself to Allah, he gives money, effort, expertise, he sacrifices his health in return of eternal happiness in the life to come.
 Thus they pledged to defend him if he comes to them, note the detail, should he emigrate to them, they will uphold him, meaning they will defend him like they would defend themselves, their women and their children.

The Congregation of the Faithful is Mercy and their Separation is Punishment

 The faithful live in communities, and in these communities the rule is All for One and One for All. You may not fully realize the value of the community, because people nowadays are alienated, they only worry about their own home, their own children, their own income, they are no longer interested in the general situation of Moslems …Yet, the stronger the spirit of community in any given society, the stronger this society is and the closer it is to Allah, for Allah Almighty says:

((Allah's hand is with the congregation))

(Narrated by Tirmizi thru Ibn Abbas)

And in other traditions:

((Allah's hand is over the congregation and whoever breaks away from it breaks away to hell))

(Narrated by Al Hakem through Ibn Omar)

((Stay in congregations and beware of separation, for Satan is with the solitary person, while he is farther away when you are two))

(Narrated by Ahmad in his musnad,Tirmizi and Al Hakem in the Mustadrak thru Omar)

((Verily the wolf preys on stray sheep))

(Narrated by Abu Dawud thru Abu Darda’a)

 So they promised to defend him if he came to them, like they would defend themselves, their women and their children.
 This pledge of allegiance was the major turning point in the history of the Mission, for Islam had now a center of operations from which it could grow and spread, and this is what happened indeed.
 So the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave his Companions the permission to emigrate to Medina.

The Second Aqabah Pledge: a Crucial turning point in the Call to Allah

 Honorable brother, in holy Mecca, confrontation was forbidden to the Companions:

﴾ Have You not seen those who were told to hold back their hands (from fighting) and perform As-Salat ﴿

(Surat Al Nisa’a, 77)

 In holy Mecca the Moslems were not allowed to challenge anyone, despite the fact that Quraish went to extremes in tormenting them, torturing them, boycotting them, and countless other doings. Yet, the Quranic directives and the Prophet’s directives, peace be upon him, forbade all confrontation in Mecca. You might ask why it was so. The reason is that many a household in Mecca counted Moslems and polytheists, under the same roof, and if confrontation were permitted it would have lead to a civil war. Furthermore, the Moslems had no structure in Mecca. They were a separate number of believers gathered around the Prophet, peace be upon him, but not a social entity per se. This is why the Aqabah pledge was such an important turning point. For now there was a territory uniting Moslems, a forming structure that later evolved into a society headed by the Prophet, peace be upon him; at this point Allah Almighty said:

﴾ Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed, and most surely Allah is well able to assist them ﴿

[Surat Al Hajj]

 

 To sum it up, this pledge of allegiance was a crucial turning point in the history of the Mission, for Islam had now a center of operations from which it could grow and spread, and this is what happened indeed, and consequently, the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave his Companions the permission to emigrate to Medina.

Details of the Second Aqaba Pledge and its Meanings

 Here is the venerable Companion Kaab Ibn Malek telling us about the details of the second Aqabah pledge, he says:
‘We set out on pilgrimage and arranged to rendezvous with the Prophet, peace be upon him, at the Aqabah on the middle day of Tashreeq (the three days following the day of immolation during the pilgrimage, the Aqabah pledge took place on the second of these days). That very night we slept with our people in our camps. After a third of the night had elapsed, we left to join the Prophet, peace be upon him, stealing away like sand grouses, trying to conceal ourselves (Islam was weak, and the best of creation could not meet them in broad daylight, but late at night, and concealed) until we got to the Aqabah pass, seventy three men with two of our women. We gathered ourselves in the pass and waited for the Prophet, peace be upon him’.

Rough Starts Shining Conclusions

 Beginnings that are full of hardships and trials, lead to honorable conclusions. Take this person who studied 44 years to achieve higher levels of education. He spent countless nights without sleep, foregoing all the joys of life, and now with this high degree, he is eligible for high incomes and deserves all respect. The prestige and the higher and income are the result of years of patience in the obedience of Allah: if you do not suffer the hardships of the beginnings you will not realize the honors at the finish.
then the Prophet, peace be upon him, came to us in the company of his uncle Al Abbas, who at that time still professed his people’s faith’.

The Role of Kinship and its Impact on the Mission

 It is clear that kinship has a great role to play in the Call to Allah, this is why Allah Almighty says:

﴾ And warn thy tribe of near kindred, And lower thy wing (in kindness) unto those believers who follow thee ﴿

[Surat Al Shuara’a]

  and the Prophet, peace be upon him, was accompanied by Al Abbas Ibn Abd Al Muttalib who was still professing his people’s faith, but who chose to attend and support his nephew in this matter. So when they sat down, Al Abbas Ibn Abd Al Muttalib was the first to speak, he said: "O people of the Khazraj - the Arabs used to call the Prophet’s supporters (Ansar) Khazraj - you all know the position that Muhammad holds among us. We have protected him from our people who hold the same opinion of him as we do. He is honored and respected among his people, but he insists on joining you. So if you think you can fulfill what you promised him, and if you can defend him against his enemies, then proceed with what you have taken upon yourselves. But if you think you will surrender him and betray him after you depart with him, then leave him right here and now”.

Explicitness and Clarity when Calling to Allah, and in business too

 This teaches us, dear brother, to be explicit in all our doings, be clear right from the start, explain everything, clarify everything, and inquire about everything. The clearer the initial display is, the more successful the conclusion. Most of the problems spreading today between Moslems are due to ill-defined beginnings; this is why it is said: lack of information in a cancelled agreement does not lead to conflict.
 Al Abbas Ibn Abd Al Muttalib made an explicit statement:
‘O you people of the Khazraj you all know the position that Muhammad holds among us. We have protected him from our people who hold the same opinion of him as we do. He is honored and respected among his people, but he insists on joining you. So if you think you can fulfill what you promised him, and if you can defend him against his enemies, then go ahead with what you have taken upon yourselves. But if you think you will surrender him and betray him after you depart with him, then leave him right here and now, for he is honored and respected in his land, among his people’.
 Again I say: in the marriage contract specify everything, in the articles of partnership specify everything, in the sales contract specify everything, in any deal, sale, purchase, or any act, be explicit at the start and you will find peace of mind at the end.
 So we said to him: we have heard your words, and now O Messenger of Allah, it is for you to speak and take from us what you want for your Lord and yourself ’.
 To be a servant of the Truth, a soldier of the Truth, to put your resources, your prestige at the service of the Truth, this is to Allah a high station indeed. The holy Ayah in which Allah Almighty addressed our master Moses says:

﴾ And I have prepared thee for Myself ﴿

[Surat Taha, 41]

 You are for Me.
 He said: the Prophet , peace be upon him, began to speak, reauthord verses of the Quran, called people unto Allah, exhorted them to enter the fold of Islam and concluded saying: “I give you my pledge that you defend me from whatever you defend your women and children from”.
 So the Prophet, peace be upon him, entered into alliance with them whereby they defend him against his opponents as they would defend their women and children.
 Here Al-Bara’ bin Ma‘rur, caught him by hand, and said: "Oh yes, we swear by Allah, Who sent you as a Prophet in Truth, that we will defend you from whatever we defend our women from. Have confidence in us, O Messenger of Allah. By Allah, we are genuine fighters and quite reliable in war, it is a trait passed down to us from our ancestors."
 Then ‘Abul Haitham At-Taihan interrupted and said: ‘O Prophet of Allah! Between us and the Jews, there are agreements which we would then sever. If Allah grants you power and victory, should we expect that you would not leave us, and join the ranks of your people (meaning Quraish)?’
 Notice the directness, the boldness, the courtesy, the inquiries and clarifications.
 Again I say: ninety percent of marital problems are the result of ignorance, lack of clarity and duplicity. Be explicit if you propose to a woman, be explicit if you get into a partnership.
 Any statement that is not explicit, a statement that is vague, ambiguous or fraudulent, is a sure recipe for trouble. In this sense, Al Abbas Ibn Abd Al Muttalib said: he is respected and protected among us, if he goes with you will you protect him like you would protect your women and children? Decide here and now. And similarly, the supporter (Ansari) inquired in return: O Prophet of Allah! Between us and the Jews, there are agreements which we would then sever. If Allah grants you power and victory, should we expect that you would not leave us, and return to your people? So the Prophet, peace be upon him, the most loyal and generous of all men and all times, said:

((Nay, your blood will be my blood. In life and death I will be with you and you with me. I will fight whom you fight and I will make peace with those with whom you make peace))

Story: Example and Exhortation

 In this sense too did the Ansar come to the Prophet, peace be upon him, after the battle of Hunain, when, he distributed most of the spoils to those who recently entered into Islam, and he did not give the Ansar any. They resented this, and feared that if Allah gives him victory and he prevails, that he would leave them and return to Mecca. So the leader of the Ansar Saad Ibn Ubada came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and said:
 O messenger of Allah, my people feel anger concerning those spoils you distributed and of which they got nothing’.
 The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
 And how do you feel about this, O Saad?’
 Saad said:
 I am but one of my people’
 He said:
 Gather your people for me’
 So Saad gathered the Ansar, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, spoke to them in words that should be written in water of gold, he said:
((O people of Ansar, I heard that you hold resentment in your hearts because of trifles I gave people to reconcile them with Islam, while I entrusted you to your Islam. O people of Ansar, there are words you can say, and surely people should believe you. If you want you can say in truth: you came to us disbelieved and we believed in you, a fugitive and we gave you shelter, in need and we satisfied you))

(Biography of the Prophet thru an authenticated chain of transmission)

 See his loyalty, at the summit of his success, and the whole Arabic Peninsula professing allegiance to him.
(( O people of Ansar, were you not lost and Allah guided you thru me, were you not needy and Allah enriched you, were you not enemies and Allah joined your hearts in love? O people of Ansar, do you hold resentment in your hearts because of trifles I gave people to reconcile them with Islam, while I entrusted you to your Islam? O people of Ansar do you not accept that the people take the sheep and camels while you take home Allah’s Messenger? He said: so they cried till their beards got wet with tears and said: we accept Allah’s Messenger as our share and fortune’ ))
 Dear brother, how do we categorize this story in the Prophet’s biography, under loyalty or mercy, modesty or explicitness, or under wisdom in leadership? He controlled the incident, vented the resentment and declared his loyalty to the Ansar. In another tradition he is reported to have said:

(( In life and death I will be with you ))

((If the Ansar followed a mountain pass and the rest of the people followed another, I will follow the Ansar’s pass. O Allah have mercy upon the Ansar, and the sons of the Ansar and the sons of the sons of the Ansar ))

 I do not believe there can be more loyal than the Prophet, peace be upon him, when he said:

((Nay, your blood will be my blood. In life and death I will be with you and you with me. I will fight whom you fight and I will make peace with those with whom you make peace ))

 Kaab said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “choose twelve leaders from yourselves to guide their own tribes”. So they appointed twelve leaders, nine from the Khazraj and three from the Aws’.
 Those leaders are the elite, those who pledged allegiance to the Prophet, peace be upon him.
 After the pledge, Al Abbas Ibn Ubada rose and said to the Prophet, peace be upon him:
By Allah who sent you with the Truth, if you so desire, we will put the people of Mina (Quraish) to our swords tomorrow’,
meaning: we will fight them with you tomorrow, so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((I was not ordered to follow this course, go back to your camps))

 Like I said earlier, there was a Divine directive forbidding Moslems to challenge anyone in Mecca, so the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘I was not ordered to follow this course, go back to your camps’. So they retired to their camps.
 Pay attention to this: on the morning of the next day, a group of Quraish leaders came to them asking about what transpired to Quraish about the pledge they made to the Prophet, peace be upon him, requesting him to emigrate to them. They were asking common men from the Khazraj who did not take part in the pledge, and who naturally answered, and swore by Allah, that they did not do these things. Do you see the meaning of Allah’s words:

﴾ Surely Allah will defend those who believe﴿

[Surat Al Hajj, 38]

((Whoever seeks protection in me and not in my creatures, and I know from his intentions, even if the heavens and what they hold conspired against him, I will extricate him from their schemes. And whoever seeks protection from a creature instead of Me, and I know from his intentions, I will forbid him the means of the heavens, and he will be in perpetual fall))

[Compiled by Ibn Asaker from Kaab Ibn Malek]

 So they swore that they did not do any of those things …
Once during a battle, the Prophet, peace be upon him, sent our master Hudhaifa on a mission. It was very cold weather, and the people were very hungry and extremely anxious. He sent him to the enemy’s camp, and ordered him to mingle with them and gather information about them and what they planned to do. So he went, and sat among the enemy. And then Abu Sufyan said: there may be an outsider among you, so let everyone inspect his neighbor. By Allah’s guidance and support, master Hudhaifa, the wanted man in question, anticipated his neighbor’s reaction and asked him first who he was, and the man answered.
If Allah is with you who can be against you? And if He is against you who can be with you? Sometimes Allah Almighty protects a great Mission with a very simple thing. This great Islam, this true religion professed by the third of the world population, how did Allah protect it in the cave? With a spider…The spider p its web, which lead the pursuers to believe that the cave was empty, otherwise the spider’s web would be torn.
Because of the Perfect Greatness of Allah He can award worshippers with the least of things, and He can destroy people with the least of means.
 So on the morning of the next day, a group of Quraish leaders came to them asking about what transpired to Quraish about the pledge they made to the Prophet, peace be upon him, requesting him to emigrate to them. So the polytheists of the Khazraj and the Aws swore that they knew nothing about this, while Moslems exchanged meaningful looks, and the crisis ended in peace, and the Ansar went back to Yathrib, yearning for the coming of the Prophet with the Moslems.

﴾ O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the Hereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the Hereafter. If ye go not forth He will afflict you with a painful doom, and will choose instead of you a folk other than you. ﴿

[Surat Al Tawba, 38 – 39]

 If you are prompted to some good deeds, then proceed to the performance of the good deed, because if you don’t, sh3er will:

﴾ And bring in your place a people other than you, and you will do Him no harm ﴿

[Surat Al Tawba, 39]

 This Ayah is very subtle:

﴾ O ye who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go forth in the way of Allah, ye are bowed down to the ground with heaviness. Take ye pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the Hereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the Hereafter﴿

 If you do not take the initiative sh3er will. If you are invited to join in a good deed, and you refuse and apologize, and give the wildest excuses, sh3er will come and reap the honors. So if someone is invited to do good deeds, it is a sign of the perfection of his guidance and of his understanding if he hastens to it. Allah Almighty says

﴾ let those aspire, who have aspirations ﴿

[Surat Al Mutaffifin, 26]

﴾ For the like of this, then, let the workers work﴿

[Surat Al Saffat, 61]

 Those were the beginnings of Islam, it started as a stranger, and it will be a stranger again, so blessed be the strangers, like the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((Righteous men among scores of evil people))

 Imam Malek once said: ‘The only thing that will set the last of this nation right is what set the first right’.
The first ones were virtuous because they were devoted to Allah, because they loved the Messenger of Allah, because of true sacrifices. If we do not restore the ways of our forefathers in reuniting around the Prophet, peace be upon him, there will be no way for us to guard against the conspiracies and aggressions.
 Dear brother, a very subtle truth…Allah Almighty says:

﴾ But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them ﴿

[Surat Al Anfal, 33]

 This Ayah applies until doomsday. But during the life of the Prophet, as long as the person of the Prophet was among them, they were safe from Allah’s punishment. But after his passage to the heavens this Ayah holds a different meaning: as long as your Tradition lives among them they are safe from Allah’s punishment. So if we apply the Prophet’s tradition we are safe from Allah’s punishment:

﴾ But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness ﴿

[Surat Al Anfal, 33]

 And if we do not apply the Tradition, if we transgress and then repent, we are also safe, safe if we apply the Prophet’s ways, peace be upon him, and safe if we ask forgiveness after failing to comply.
There is a subtle meaning in the words of Allah Almighty:

﴾ Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful ﴿

[Surat Al Imran, 31]

 The sign that you love Allah in your heart is that you follow the Prophet, peace be upon him.
 Honorable brother, Allah willing, we will continue with this biography series in upcoming lessons. After that we will move to the Prophet’s expatriation to Medina (The Hegira). Emigration involves movement, and Islam is dynamic, not static. And emigration in its broader sense (leaving, deserting) can be applied in our daily lives, for anyone who leaves abominations, everyone who leaves violations and sins is to Allah an Emigrant (Muhajir).