Divine protection and the failure of conspiracies

When the life of the Pride of Humanity is studied, Divine help and protection can clearly be observed. The polytheists were trying to destroy their hope by lying in wait for him and other believers at every corner. They wanted to fall upon them and inflict various torments—even hoping to kill some of them. However, the hopes of the blessed Prophet were never shaken. 

The polytheists of Mecca also devised various plots against the Prince of the Prophets, as it is stated in the Qur’an:

 “And (recall, O Messenger,) how those who disbelieve schemed against you to take you captive, or kill you, or drive you away (from Mecca). Thus were they scheming, but God put His will into effect (and brought their scheme to nothing)” (al-Anfal 8:30).

When the humble abode of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, was surrounded by assassins and there seemed to be no possible way out, the same Divine providence occurred as happened during the Battle of Uhud, when he was losing blood after his blessed cheek was wounded and his blessed tooth was broken. It would have been impossible to find a way out of any of these instances from a perspective of causality. However, God Almighty saved His beloved Messenger. When his home was under siege, God let him walk through the antagonists comfortably and then let him cover more than 400 km without anybody catching him. Even the skillful Suraqa ibn Malik, who traced and caught up with the blessed Prophet, came to his knees and diverted the other chasers.

In fact, with a careful look, it is possible to see similar scenes of Divine providence in the lives of all of those who struggled on the path of God. Eminent persons such as Tariq ibn Ziyad and Uqba ibn Nafi are examples to this. As it is known, Uqba ibn Nafi conquered the whole of North Africa; he rode his horse until the Atlantic Ocean and then said, “My God, had this dark sea not appeared before me, I would take your exalted name to the worlds beyond seas.” When the examplary lives of these wonderful persons are viewed, it is seen that the bestowals they were granted were realized would seem improbable when viewed through the lens of causality.

One out of a million probability

As for the volunteers of education in our time, they adopted the message of Jalaluddin Rumi, who said, “A candle does not lose anything from its own light by lighting another,” and set forth to the four corners of the world in order to light up the entire world with their hands. By God’s permission and grace, they were welcome in the lands they traveled to. Like the services carried out in earlier periods, those in our time also constitute a phenomenon that is only possible through the confluence of many different circumstances. For example, concerning the first opening to the former Soviet Republics, the necessary conditions were the disintegration of one of the superpowers of that period, the presence of qualified young teachers and tutors at that time, and their volunteering to go to places they would have had difficulty finding on a map, in spite of the difficulties that awaited them. Most of them were new graduates and many of them likely wanted to stay in their homelands. Homesickness is hard. However, although those young men and women were in the prime of their lives, they overcame their misgivings and fears, and they went without any panic or hesitation to these new lands, many of which were countries whose traditions, customs, and languages they did not understand.

Similarly, it should not be forgotten that the parents of those newly graduated devoted souls expected things from them. How did those volunteers of education, who had devoted their lives to making others live, soften their parents and convince them? How did these parents agree to be separated from their children?

Also, some of these self-sacrificing people were engaged and they had to leave behind the person they were engaged to. Both those who went away and those who stayed behind felt longing and grief, but they didn’t let these feelings serve as obstacles to the services they needed to carry out. By saying, “This is what our people and humanity expect from us,” they made a moving sacrifice. Thinking about these altogether, it is almost impossible for these probabilities to be realized simultaneously, except through Divine grace.

In addition, the necessary causes for these good activities rendered for the sake of humanity were not limited to these. There was also the need for self-sacrificing benefactors who believed in the correctness and necessity of these educational services. Finding those benefactors, convincing them, and asking them to voluntarily finance these needs was a difficult task.

It is God who grants these accomplishments!

Actually, ascribing every good deed and achievement to God is an issue given special care in Muslim belief and ethics. For example, adhering to this consideration, Umar ibn al-Khattab removed the army commander Khalid ibn al-Walid during a very critical battle at Yarmuk. At this war, which ended the Roman rule in Syria and maintained Muslim dominance, the enemy forces were some 7 or 8 times greater than Muslims. With God’s permission, the Muslims were victorious in the end. The strategies applied by the commander, Khalid ibn al-Walid, who was a military genius, together with his courage and valor were appreciated by all.

In spite of such an ongoing battle, the Caliph Umar took the commander from duty and the famous Khalid was humbly standing before the caliph. He was a great commander who had crushed the Sassanid Empire and was then defeating the Romans. The blessed caliph Abu Bakr said, “no mother has given birth to a son like Khalid.” As a Western commentator remarked, commanders like Hannibal can only beg for assistance from Khalid.

Although he was a person of such standing, he was an ordinary member of the army who humbly stood before the caliph to be taken from duty. When Khalid came before the caliph—may my soul be sacrificed for both—Umar ibn al-Khattab told him, “Khalid, you know that I love you very much. But people are ascribing the victories gained to your person. But I know that it is God Almighty who actually grants these to us. I am anxious for you to become a myth. This is why I have discharged you from command.”

In that situation, Khalid ibn al-Walid crowned his greatness with dizzying modesty and came under the command of Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah who had been a soldier under his command; from then on, until the end of his life, he served as a brilliant soldier.

Hz. Shuja was one of the first Muslims. He became a muhajir twice, migrating to both Abyssinia and Madinah.

He took part in all battles and war with the Prophet, primarily Badr and Uhud. He fought heroically.

One of the envoys the Prophet sent to various kings after the Treaty of Hudaybiya was Hz. Shuja. The Messenger of Allah sent him to the region around Damascus, to Harith bin Ab, Shimr al-Ghassani with a letter. When Shuja gave Harith the letter, Harith acted insolently. He talked nonsensically and said he would eliminate the Prophet.

When Hz. Shuja returned and told the Messenger of Allah about what he said, the Prophet said, “May his sultanate be destroyed!” As a matter of fact, Harith was destroyed with his sultanate after a while.

Hz. Shuja was martyred at the Battle of Yamama, which took place in the 12th year of the Migration during the caliphate of Hz. Abu Bakr.