The Companions in Istanbul -DAWN Magazine; December 7, 2003

December 7, 2003

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The Companions in Istanbul WITH reference to the piece, The Companions in Istanbul (November 2), I would like to point out a number of wrong facts. First of all, the revered name of Sahabi Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari (Eyub in Turkish) is incorrectly written as Ayub only; one can understand the basic difference of meaning here! The first Muslim expedition to Constantinople (Istanbul) was sent in 49AH and it took some two to four years (as per various traditions) to get hold of this great city by the Muslim army. The mention of 36AH for the start of Muslim expeditions is merely a guess. Hazrat Abuzar Ghefari (and not Ghaffari) belonged to the tribe of Banu Ghefar. He was called Hazrat Abuzar. Hazrat Abuzar never accompanied any Muslim army to the lands of Turkey and restricted himself to Rebzah, a village in desert, near Medina. He stayed there for quite some time, in his self-styled exile and passed away in 32AH. He is buried there. Hazrat Abu Derda also died in 32AH and was buried at Babul-Sagheer graveyard of Damascus. He served as Qazi of Damascus, till his last breath. Hazrat Jabir bin Samura (and not Semure) was different from Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah. Interestingly, there lived three Sahaba with the name Jabir bin Abdullah. Hazrat Jabir bin Samura belonged to Banu Aamer bin Saa’sa’ah. He died in 66AH at Kufah (Iraq). At that time the Umaiyid caliph Abdul Malick bin Marwan ruled the Islamic world. There is no tradition of his participation in either Battle of Badr and/or a battle in Istanbul. Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah was the famous participant of Badr and all other battles, during the lifetime of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He came from Banu Khazraj, a well-known clan of Medina. There is no historical evidence about his death and burial place. His name sake was also a distinguished member of Banu Khazraj. This Jabir bin Abdullah died at Medina, during the reign of Umaiyid. The governor of Medina was Haj’jaaj bin Yousuf. He was buried in the graveyard of Medina. The second name sake belonged to Iraq. No foster brother of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was called Abu Seybeti or Shahbat. Hazrat Amr bin Al-Aas (and not As), the most famous companion of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who conquered Egypt, died on Eid day, in 42 AH (or 43 AH, according to another tradition). He was buried in the graveyard of JABLE-MUQAT’TAM, Egypt. SOHAIL AHMED SIDDIQUI Karachi Sighting is a prerequisite WITH reference to the interview of Mufti Munib (November 23), let us be very clear that the Holy Quran lays down the basis for calendaring; i.e. counting time, dates and days. It does not require us to see the moon every month. The only thing that supports the orthodox view, that sighting is necessary, are the Hadiths. For instance the one narrated by Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar is translated as, “Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) said, “The month (can be) 29 nights (i.e. days), and do not fast till you see the moon, and if the sky is overcast, then complete Sha’ban as thirty days.” It may require us to leave every town and city to determine its own dates and timing, as is done for prayers. But all such Hadiths negate the need for formation of a Central committee. What is not realized is fact that the underlying principle of Hadith is also to consult lunar calendar. Viewed form another angle, Hadiths are third party narration and that advise was addressed to the people living in Mecca or Medina who used to determine dates by watching moon, as there were neither printed calendars and neither watches. The concept of minutes and seconds was unknown, and people used to determine time by the shadows created by sunlight. The Hadith about moon sighting are not as categorical and detailed as the Hadith relating to Wadu and prayers timings and number of Rakats. Had it been intended to prescribe moon sighting each month for all times and all places it would have been specified in more detail as prayer timings are. After all we depend on watches to determine time for Sehar and Iftar whereas the Hadith defines that in terms of movement of Sun. The Islamic calendar developed in Egypt, accurately coincides with the appearance of a new moon in one part of the Earth or the other and many communities depend on that. Many Ulemas opine that sighting of moon in any part of the earth can be followed for fasting. SHAH N. KHAN Karachi

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