Hilf al-Fudul: Prophet's First Political Alliance - Our Prophet 2 - Birth To Revelation

Now you see also something significant happening during the Prophet's youth when he was a teenager, probably around the age of 20 years old, you had a very important event that happened. It's called 'Hilf ul-Fudhul'-'The alliance of justice.' Basically, al-Zubayr Ibn Abdul Muttalib, the uncle, one of the uncles of the Prophet, he gathered his family and relatives in Makkah and he said, look, a lot of these Arab tribes, they are killing each other, they are oppressing one another, they are being aggressive. Let us make an alliance of justice such that we will defend the truth, we will defend justice and we will stop the aggressors, even if it is one of us. If we see anyone from us in Makkah transgressing, let us make an alliance that will stop them.

Now, why was this significant? Because in pre-Islamic Arabia you did not have such a mentality. It is about my tribe. I will go to war if my tribe is attacked. I do not care if my tribe is right or wrong, it does not matter. They have that severe tribal mentality. I will help my tribesmen even if they are wrong, even if they went and they killed and they rampaged and they raided towns, but hey, as long as they are my tribe, I am going to go with them. That is called the tribal mentality. This was now something unique.

They were saying, we will stand, let us make an alliance to stand with the oppressed, to stand with justice wherever it is, whether it is us or someone else we will stand with the truth and with justice. So this was actually something unique. So we have historical accounts indicating the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, he participated in that oath of Fudhulm- Hilf ul-Fudhul-'the oath of justice or the alliance of justice.' He was present when this happened, when that meeting was taking place, the Prophet was actually present.

And it happened in the house of 'Abdullah Ibn Jad'an, in Makkah, in his house. They conducted that meeting. It seems that it was al- Zubayr Ibn Abdul Muttalib's idea, one of the uncles of the Prophet, the Prophet attended and he said, yes, I will take this oath because it is an oath of justice, I will take it. So the Prophet actually made some alliance even before he became a Messenger of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

[How old was he at this time?] He was not more than 20 years old, maximum 20. So this was right after the Fujjar battle ended. That Fujjar battle, 16 to 20 years old, the Prophet was, after that battle ended, al-Zubayr said, look, let us stop this. No more wars according to your tribe, let us stand with the oppressed, let us stand with the justice. The Prophet said, that is a great idea, that is something I want to be a part of, and he went and he actually did take that oath.

Now it has been mentioned in a hadith that the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, later on in his life, when he was a Messenger, and when he declared the Islam, he did refer to this alliance. He says that was an honorable alliance, that happened in pre-Islamic Arabia. And if I were to be asked today to come and to participate in an oath like that, I would do it again. So we see the Prophet actually had a lot of respect for this alliance. Now, what does this teach us, though?

It teaches us a number of things. First of all, it teaches us the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, even when he was a teenager or 20 years old, he was after the truth, even if it went against his own tribe of Quraysh, did not matter. The Prophet was a man of truth, and he really demonstrated that in this Hilf ul-Fudhul.

Secondly, we see that those who made this oath, most of them, were they Muslim or pagans? Most of them were pagans. Yes, a few were Muslim, like Abu Talib, right. He was Muslim in the sense that he believed in God. He was a worshipper of Allah, he was not a pagan. But the other uncles of the Prophet, right, they were pagans they worshipped the idols. A lot of the members of Quraysh, they were pagans. And the Prophet despised idol- worshipping. However, when he saw that they made an honorable oath, he joined them.

What does that demonstrate? That demonstrates that when it comes to justice, do not look at the religion of people. Does not matter what their religion is; Muslim, non-muslim Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist, it does not matter. If it is an act of justice and you are standing with the oppressed and you are rejecting oppression, then go for it. Do not look at the religion of those people.

This is what the Prophet demonstrates to us. Even though they were pagans, but they were doing something right, they had a just cause. Whenever there is a just cause, be a part of it, regardless of that religion. So this is something that we learn from the life of the Holy Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, even way before his Prophethood. This is when he was only a teenager or 20 years old. So we see that the Prophet salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, participated in this important event. What other important events happened before the marriage of the Prophet? Yes. Sister

[the oath was taken in the house of 'Abdullah..?] Ibn Jad'an- jeem, dal 'ayn alif nun. Jad'an. He was well known in Makkah. He was one of the prominent figures of Makkan society. They had the meeting in that house, and the Prophet in this hadith, after he became a Messenger, he said, if today I am invited to the house of 'Abdullah Ibn Jad'an to make an oath similar to that, I will make it. In other words, he is saying, just as I made an oath of justice, I will do it again.

So this is a significant event in the Prophet's life. And this was actually an amazing alliance, an oath that really brought a lot of security and peace to the city of Makkah. It really ended a lot of those wars and tribal skirmishes.