{"id":3359,"date":"2017-11-11T08:37:51","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T08:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/v2\/?p=3359"},"modified":"2020-10-28T05:07:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T05:07:09","slug":"waraqah-b-nawfal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/misbah\/qesasalanbiyah\/waraqah-b-nawfal\/","title":{"rendered":"Waraqah b. Nawfal"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is drawn from the second volume of al-Dai al-Ajal Syedna Qadi Nu’man\u2019s RA<\/sup> sixteen-volume Kit\u0101b Shar\u1e25 al-Akhb\u0101r and the first volume of Syedna Idris \u2018Imad al-Din\u2019s RA<\/sup> seven-volume \u2018Uyun al-Akhbar.<\/p>\n

As Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> reached adulthood word of his noble character, ritual purity, piety, and honor spread throughout the various tribes that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula. Various prominent learned figures such as Christian Monks realized that Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> was the promised prophet described in their scriptures.<\/p>\n

Waraqah b. Nawfal was one such Nestorian monk of Quraysh, well respected in the Islamic tradition, who foretold of Ras\u016bl All\u0101h\u2019s SA<\/sup> prophethood before his advent. Although he shared lineage with Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup>, he was more closely related to Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup>, his paternal first cousin. Waraqah had a deeply intimate understanding of the Old and New Testament and extensively studied various prophetic scriptures that had survived to his time. Waraqah found references to the coming of a new prophet of Allah in these texts, thus, he eagerly awaited the prophet\u2019s advent as he continued to witness the many signs that indicated that the promised time had neared.<\/p>\n

Through his cousin, Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup>, he heard accounts of the noble character Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> embodied, and the various miraculous feats that he revealed. As he continued to hear these accounts, it became increasingly clear to him that Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> was the prophet to who past prophetic traditions alluded. Similarly, as Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup> continued to share these events with him, which he correctly interpreted as dal\u0101il-al-n\u016bb\u016bwah (signs of prophethood), his sincere longing to witness the advent of Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> and to be amongst the first that answer his calling to Islam grew stronger. Often, he would tell Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup>, \u201cIndeed, he is the long awaited prophet.\u201d This desire of his is aptly encapsulated in one verse (bayt<\/em>) from a qaseedah he wrote in expression of his deep yearning:<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon hearing description after description [of Mohammed] from Khadija, Indeed, my waiting has longed O\u2019 Khadija\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the many happenings of Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> that Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup> conveyed to Waraqah are the following two accounts found in Kit\u0101b Shar\u1e25 al-Akhb\u0101r:<\/p>\n

Upon hearing the various accounts of Ras\u016bl All\u0101h\u2019s SA<\/sup> lofty character, Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup> ordered her servant Maysarah to accompany a caravan of Quraysh [of which Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> was a part] that was headed to modern-day Syria. Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup> instructed her servant to closely follow him and inform her of all happenings throughout the journey.<\/p>\n

One day the caravan made camp near a monastery in which a learned monk resided. As the others made camp, Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> settled at a location away from them in the shade of a distant tree. The monk carefully observed Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup> and saw Maysarah speaking and offering his services to him. The monk approached Maysarah in private and asked, \u201cWhere is that young man I saw you with from?\u201d Maysarah replied, \u201cfrom the inhabitants of Makkah, the Haram of Allah.\u201d The Monk clarified, \u201cFrom Quraysh.\u201d Maysarah responded, \u201cyes, amongst its noblest of pedigree. What do you desire from him?\u201d The monk revealed, \u201cIndeed we cite that a prophet will be sent from amongst the Arabs, he will make camp below this tree on this day, and only prophets have ever made camp below its shade.\u201d Maysarah similarly revealed, \u201cI swear to Allah, indeed, many of our accounts have revealed to us the same.\u201d The monk implored, \u201cKeep secret what I have just told you, for he has enemies…\u201d.<\/p>\n

In another account, Maysarah reports: it was a hot day. The heat was so intense that no one amongst the members of the caravan could manage to speak. On that same day, a cloud shadowed Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA<\/sup>, and so he was at ease, unaffected by the intense heat. Finally, the profits reaped during this trip were higher than anyone had ever made before.<\/p>\n

When Maysarah reported these earnings to Maulatona Khadija SA<\/sup>, she emphatically stated, \u201cHow great is Mohammed\u2019s honesty and blessing. Never has anyone profited in business similar to what Mohammed has\u201d. Maysarah added, \u201cMore astounding than that is what I have heard and witnessed of him\u201d. Maulatona Khadija SA<\/sup> inquired, \u201cAnd what is that which you speak of\u201d. Maysarah, then, informed Maulatona Khadija AS<\/sup>\u00a0of the events of the monk and the cloud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is drawn from the second volume of al-Dai al-Ajal Syedna Qadi Nu’man\u2019s RA sixteen-volume Kit\u0101b Shar\u1e25 al-Akhb\u0101r and the first volume of Syedna Idris \u2018Imad al-Din\u2019s RA seven-volume \u2018Uyun al-Akhbar. As Ras\u016bl All\u0101h SA reached adulthood word of his noble character, ritual purity, piety, and honor spread throughout the various tribes that inhabited …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3359"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5242,"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3359\/revisions\/5242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empireuae.com\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}