...read...

today's story is about one of the most common story we ever heard...
but i wanna tell it anyway...

about the first order that was sent down on our beloved Prophet, peace be upon Him.

everybody knows the order is "READ!!!"
and everybody is very familiar with the story...in a cave, on a hill, at night and suddenly Jibrail came...
and asked our prophet three times to read!...and each time He'd reply, I cannot read!, and each time He was hugged strongly by Jibrail...and after the third time, Jibrail said..."iqra' bismi rabbika allazi kholaq'"

hurmmm...

has it ever occurred to you, why Jibrail needed to ask three times? and each time he hugged our Prophet ever so strongly...that's a torture!, why couldn't he just teaches Him after the first disclaimer?

the answer~

well, you have to put yourself in our Prophet's position...imagine~
it was dark, He was alone in a cave, high up on the hill that was far away from the village...very far away from human beings, occasionally...some desert animal will pass through...with little food and not much water...that night was dark with stars glimmering above, still and silent...suddenly, with no warning, a man appeared in front of Him, smartly dressed, sparkling white, clean and with no signs of exhaustion.

surely, this took Him by surprise!...who is this stranger?...he couldn't be climbing up the hill just now, there was no sound! besides, his outfit is just too clean to just finished hiking...he came down from the sky? erupted from the earth?...and above all, this stranger commanded Him to read!!!...He's never read before~

so, in this situation...the first "maa ana biqaari'!" that our Prophet rebuffed to Jibrail...was proclaimed in an indefinite shock and fear...and He has never understood or can ever read anything before...as if He said..."lan aqra'!" - "I can never read!"

and here Jibrail hugged our Prophet...not gently like a mother caressing her son...it was a strong one!...the bone-braking kind...this kind of hug makes people fainthearted...at this early beginning, Jibrail was showing our Prophet that the path He's going to pass through is a tough path. that he needs to be patient and obedient to Allah. and once again, Jibrail asked Him..."Read!"

the second time, our Prophet rebuff "maa ana biqaari'!", but this time it was a notch lower, not the sudden, strong surprised reply like the first one...as if to say, in fright..."laa a3rifu al-Qiraa'ah!" - "i don't know how to read!"

and again...Jibrail embraced Him stronger than the first one, this second one teaches Him that whenever a command is told, don't ask how...and it teaches Him more patience...and for the third time, Jibrail asked "Iqra'!"

and again, our Prophet refused...softer..."maa ana biqaari'!"...He's exhausted and extremely frightened by now...and Jibrail keep insisting Him to read...His third reply was weaker...He doesn't know how to read...but being kept told to...so, this time...his weak reply meant "maazaa aqra'?" - "what shud I read?"

so that's why...only after the third time did Jibrail replied "Iqra' bismi rabbika al-lazii kholaq'!" - "Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exist)!"

as if to answer His hidden questions in His ever same remark. even though all three times our Prophet replied the same statement, the context, pronunciation and intonations make the same statement gives out different meanings...and for sure, the first "maa ana biqaari'!" couldn't be replied straight away with the first verse sent down to our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him.

and that's how the story went...

thanks to ustaz mahmuud for telling us this beautiful story...his story was longer, and has more hidden items of course...filled with emotions, except it was in arabic...hehe...and this is only about 'a' verse in the Holy Quran...huhu

hope u guys enjoyed reading it...:D

#in a couple of days, nisfu syaaban is coming...rabbana taqobbal minna ramadhan...
# i have this problem of confusing arabic words with each other, they sound and have somewhat kind of similar syllabus...but it has totally different meaning~...any idea how can i work dis out?
# notice how breezy this morning was (sorry, only applied to cairo's inhabitants)...hope it last through out the day...or month~...hehe

happy holiday!