Waraqa Ibn Nawfal (ra) The First to Confirm Prophethood
By Omar Suleiman | 2026-01-06T16:56:11.427434+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Waraqa Ibn Nawfal (ra): The First to Confirm Prophethood
The Firsts | Dr. Omar Suleiman
Opening
So inshallah tonight we're going to move on to waraqa and we ended off last week with a very beautiful poem that waraqa offered to his companion Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl radi allahu ta'ala anhu, waraqa eulogizing his friend, the second of the two who went to (الشّام - Ash-Sham) together to study Judaism, to study Christianity, to try to find monotheism and to prepare themselves for what Allah had promised for that region.
The Four Hanifs
Inshallah tonight we're going to go ahead and move on to waraqa and I want to just have everyone repeat who were the four of those who identified as (حنیف - Hanifi), those that identified as monotheists. Can anyone name them? You should be able to name two of them very easily. عُبَيْدُ اللهِ بْنُ جَحْش (Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh) (زيد بْنُ عَمْرو - Zayd ibn Amr) (وَرَقَة بْنُ نَوْفّل - waraqa ibn Nufayl), and there's one more.
No, you're close. One more person. We said there was Zayd ibn Amr who we talked about last week, there's waraqa ibn Nufayl who we'll talk about tonight, there's Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh who went to Abyssinia, who migrated to Abyssinia, and there's one more who became (حَنِيف - Hanifi) and moved to Ash-Sham, became a Christian, moved to Ash-Sham, took up a position in the Roman Empire.
What was his name? (عُثْمَانِ بْنُ الْحُوَيْرِتْ - Uthman ibn Huwayrith). So these were the four people that were considered, not the (حَتَّفِي - Hanafis), the (حُنَفَاء - Hunafa), just to be clear again. The monotheists, the four that were on the religion of Abraham, the way of (إبْرَاهِيم عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Ibrahim alayhi salam), that went out in search of that oneness of Allah.
Now out of the four, the only one that didn't become Christian was Zayd ibn Amr. So three of them became Christian, including waraqa who we'll talk about tonight.
Waraqa's Mysterious Presence in Seerah
Now waraqa is such a mysterious figure that we find in the seerah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) because he shows up in the very beginning of (صحيح البخاري - Sahih al-Bukhari).
If you all remember when we did a long series, we did (شرح البخاري - Sharh al-Bukhari), and we did the (كِتَاب الْوَحْي - Book of Revelation) a couple years ago, and waraqa shows up in the very beginning of Sahih al-Bukhari, he's in the beginning of the seerah, but the seerah starts off with his death essentially. You don't hear anything about his history, you just know that (خَدِيجَة رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهَا - Khadijah radiyaAllahu anha) took the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to him to confirm or deny what had happened to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) or to explain what had happened to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in (جراء - Hira). And then it ends.
Who was he before? What's his story? What's his status? It's really a fascinating story, and inshallah ta'ala I want to contextualize this as much as possible.
The Connection Between Waraqa and Zayd
And his story is so beautiful and touching that I couldn't decide whether to start with him or to start with Zayd, but it just makes sense in setting the stage for the prophethood of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Here you have waraqa and Zayd, the only two that go to (الشام - Asham), that study Christianity, and that deepen their knowledge of the Abrahamic way, and then Zayd ibn Amr dies five years before the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) receives revelation.
So it's really just waraqa right now in Mecca. He's the only one there that is waiting for this Prophet of Allah to arise, that has studied, that has prepared himself, and so it then obviously transfers to him and then transfers to Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha.
Waraqa's Relationship to Khadija
So how is waraqa related to Khadija? Is he her nephew? Is he her cousin? Is he her uncle? How is he related to Khadija? He's her cousin, but more like an uncle.
He's her cousin, but more like an uncle because of the age gap. His name is (وَرَقَة بْنُ نَوْفَلِ بْنِ أَسَد - waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad). Khadija has an uncle named (نَوْفَ بْنُ أَسَد - Nawfal ibn Asad), and she has a brother named (نَوْفَل بْنُ خُوَيْلِدِ - Nawfal ibn Khuwailid).
So Khadija has an uncle named Nawfal, who is the father of waraqa, and she has a brother named Nawfal as well. (وَرَقَة بْنُ نَوْفَلِ بْنِ أَسَدِ - waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad) is the first cousin of Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha. Now Nawfal, Khadija is (خَدِيجَة بِنْتُ خُوَيْلِ بْنِ أَسَد - Khadija ibn Khuwailid ibn Asad).
(نوفل - Nawfal) and (خولد - Khuwailid) are brothers, but Nawfal is the oldest son of Asad and Khuwailid is the youngest son of Asad. And so the age gap between Khadija and waraqa is at least 25-30 years, at least, between the two. So it's a pretty big gap, so he really plays more of a role of an elder, of an uncle in her life.
Khadija's Early Life and Waraqa's Status
Also the father of Khadija radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha, Khuwailid, passed away early on in the early wars known as the (حُروب الفجار - Fijar Wars), the early battles that took place in Mecca and claimed many of the senior tribesmen. That's why Khadija radiyaAllahu anha inherited so much money and became the woman that she became at such an early age when it comes to her wealth, because she inherited that from her father who was killed early. So waraqa is of the oldest of this clan that exists, and it is considered of the most noble families of Mecca at the time.
And waraqa is considered the most noble of the noble families. So I want you to kind of just imagine the scene, right? And it'll put into context a little bit of why waraqa never really faces much opposition from his people. Waraqa is the noble of the noble.
His family are direct descendants of (عَمْرِو بْنُ الْأَحَيْحَة - Amr ibn al-Uhayt), they are from this (بَنُو عَدِي - Banu Adi), they're very, very up there. And waraqa's elder, noble, respected. And his (أخلاق - akhlaq) are very high, his manners are very noble.
Waraqa's Ascetic Lifestyle
And because of that, and obviously this description is true of Khadijah radiyaAllahu anha as well, that she was the most noble woman of her family. Because of that, waraqa was actually expected to marry Khadijah. Context is important here.
Waraqa was expected to be the natural suitor of Khadijah in terms of just his (أخلاق - akhlaq), the family, his character, his nobility. Khadijah and waraqa both are considered the best of their people. But waraqa rejected this world, he became a priest, or he considered, you know, when you say (زاهب - rahib), it could be a priest or a monk.
The point is waraqa decided he would not get married, right? He would stay in pursuit of the religion for his entire life, he would not get married. Waraqa was a (زاهد - zahid), he was known to be an ascetic, he spent his days in worship, his journeys in travel. Waraqa would never be in the (الشوق - souq), he was not someone to go to the marketplace, he only ate once a day to suffice himself, so he was known for eating very little.
He rejected the wealth of his family, his tribe was naturally a very rich tribe, waraqa did not care for it. He used to dress very simple. So waraqa maintains celibacy, takes up the life of a priest or a monk, and you know, stays away from all of this.
Waraqa's Non-Combative Nature
He also doesn't challenge his people. We said Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl, what makes him so incredible was not just that he was on this way of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) and insisting on the way of Abraham, and never becomes a Christian, never becomes a Jew, just, I'm on the way of (إبْرَاهِيم عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Ibrahim
alayhi salam), rejects paganism, and he also confronts his people all the time, right? Constantly confronting his people. Waraqa does not have that combative behavior towards his people.
Khadija never worshipped idols either. She had an aversion to it, she didn't really care for idol worship. (أَبُو بكر - Abu Bakr) didn't care for idol worship.
Waraqa was known to be a Christian, but waraqa was not combative, he was not out there the way that Zayd was, going after the people for the way that they were worshipping those idols. Instead, waraqa had this idea that Allah would clarify this in due time, and so he avoids being combative with the people. So he keeps to himself, from society as a whole, maintains a position of high authority, is an elder, is a senior, is someone who is learned in religion, and he's also, interestingly enough, the dream interpreter of the Arabs.
Waraqa as Dream Interpreter
More context. So even though they were pagans, they were people that used to worship idols, they recognized waraqa as a man who studied language, who studied religion, who studied philosophy, who was noble, and so the Arab at the time would go to waraqa to have their dreams interpreted, even though he didn't worship the idols. Remember, the idol worshippers did not care much for their idols, they cared about the commerce, the business of idol worship.
They really didn't care much for (اللات - alla) (الْعُزّى - al-uzza), they could replace names, replace idols all they wanted. So he's a noble man, and he's someone that studied, he knows Hebrew, he has been to Ash-Sham, clearly a good man, someone that we can go to with our dream interpretations.
Khadija's Prophetic Dream
And so there's a very interesting dream that Khadijah had, as a young woman, Khadijah had a dream that the sun descended in her home.
That the sun descended in her home. And you know, subhanAllah, just the connection that I was actually sharing with my wife, it's a really interesting connection. When (عائشة - Aisha) had a dream, she had a dream that three moons descended in her home, and she asked (أبو بكر - Abu Bakr) what that meant, and he said that there will be righteous people that will be buried in your home.
And when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) died, Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu said that's your first moon. And then when Abu Bakr died, he was the second moon. And when عمر Umar died, he was the third moon.
Khadijah has a dream of a sun, the sun descending into her home. So she goes to waraqa, she tells waraqa this dream that she has, and waraqa says it might be that you will marry a noble man or a prophet. So waraqa actually tells Khadijah that there's a special marriage in your (نَصِيب - naseeb), in your
destiny. You'll either marry an extremely noble man, so that's the sun coming into your house as in a spouse, or a prophet. He even mentions to her that it could be that it would even be a (نبي - nabi), a prophet.
Now Khadijah radiAllahu anhu married multiple times before the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), two or three times even according to some narrations, and of course became widowed in the process.
But this is very early on in her life, she does not know what's coming her way.
The Prophet's Special Status from Birth
Now this is really important to put into context because we have to understand that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was already looked at as someone very special. And he already had these (بشارات - bisharat), these glad tidings surrounding him throughout his entire life, miracles that would happen with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was born, it was a miracle (أبو لهب - Abu Lahab) goes and sacrifices all of these sheep in celebration of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) because of the light that came from the womb of the mother of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) when he was born. They knew he was special.
And also, waraqa clearly sees something special in this young man.
The Prophet's Journeys to Ash-Sham
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would also have other priests that saw something in him. When? To contextualize, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) only went to (الشّام - Ash-Sham), which is generally the land where Christianity is surviving, right? At least the (النُّسْطُوريّة - Nestorian) Christianity or the Christianity that (سَلْمَان رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ - Salman radiyallahu anhu) is seeking around, that Zayd is going around and seeking around.
And now, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) goes there twice. Twice, once as a very young man and once as the broker of Khadijah radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. As a very young man, as is narrated by (ابن حجر رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ - Ibn Hajar radiyallahu ta'ala anhu) in (الإصابة - Al-Isaba), and it's in multiple books of السيرة (Sira) (أبو طالب - Abu Talib) took the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) with him on a trade route to Ash- Sham very early on.
And this was the habit of the Arabs (رحلة الشتاء - Rihrat al-Shita'i) was safe, right? So in the winter they'd go to Yemen, in the summer they'd go to Ash-Sham and they would trade with the people of Ash-Sham and come back. So Abu Talib took the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) when he was a young man, 11, 12, 13 years old, a very young man, still unable to care for himself. And while Abu Talib was there with the
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), there was a (راهب), a monk, that followed Abu Talib because he saw things from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
The Monk's Recognition of the Prophet
So he noticed the back of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and (خاتم النبوة - Khatam al-Nubuwwah), the seal of prophethood, that there was a seal of prophethood on the back of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So he asked the people, he said, who's in charge of this young man? So they pointed to Abu Talib. Abu Talib said to him, he said to Abu Talib, who are you? He said, (أَنَا أَبُوهُ - ana abuhu), I'm his father.
Now in the language of the Arabs (الْعَمَّ هُوَ الْأَبْ - al-amm huwa al-ab), the paternal uncle in particular is the father. And Abu Talib was acting like the father of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), in true effect. And the monk says to him, you're not his father.
And he says to him, what do you mean? He said, this person, his father would not be alive. So Abu Talib is very interested in what is this man saying, what's this monk, this priest saying. So the man says, he said, listen, this young man of yours did not pass by a single area until he reached (بصرى - Bursa), which is the area that they're in at this moment, until he reached Bursa except that the trees and the stones, they prostrated towards him.
And they don't do that except for a prophet. So Abu Talib is listening to this strange priest in Ash-Sham tell him, and some of the narrations mention his name as (بَحِيرًا - Bahira) or (بُحَيْرًا - Buhaira), even though there's nothing authentic with his name in particular. But some of the narrations mention his name as Bahira or Buhaira.
Abu Talib is like, I have no idea what you're talking about, right? So the man says to him, he says, listen, this young man is going to be the (سيد - Sayyid), the leader of the worlds (سيّد العالمين - Sayyid al-Alamin). He's going to be the leader of the worlds.
And he then says to Abu Talib, where are you taking him right now? He said, I'm taking him to the marketplace. Abu Talib, he says to Abu Talib, don't do that because if people know who he is, they might try to hurt him. Take him back to where you came and protect him and make sure that he never goes to these cities again.
So Abu Talib took his advice, took the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as a young man back to Mecca. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) never went with Abu Talib again to Ash-Sham until later on when he got the big contract. Khadijah was looking for a (مضارب - mudarib), was looking for a broker, an honest person to take her caravans to Ash-Sham.
She appointed the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Otherwise, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) for his entire life was raising sheep in (أَجْيَاد - Ajyad). Ajyad, if you actually go to the area of Ajyad now, where they have
the hotels, that's where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, I used to raise sheep for the (قراريط - qarareet), for the pennies of the people of Mecca. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) didn't accompany Abu Talib to Ash-Sham after that.
The Second Journey with Maysarah
He stayed in Ajyad. Later on he goes to Ash-Sham. Again, the second time he goes to Ash-Sham, who does Khadijah (رضي الله عنها) send with him? Anyone remember the name? (مَيْسَرَة - Maysarah).
Khadijah sends Maysarah with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Maysarah falls in love with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says this man's character is different. He comes back to Khadijah. He says that there was a cloud that never left the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). A cloud followed him.
He said that I swear that I would see the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) sleeping under a tree. When the sun would move over and the shade would no longer cover him, the tree would extend itself to cover him. Maysarah is watching these strange things happen with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). You've got to understand from the Prophet's (صلى الله عليه وسلم) perspective, when he was a kid (جبريل عليه السلام - Jibreel alayhi salam) removed from his heart, I mean the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) witnessed many (عجائب - ajaab) in his life, many of these things in his life, but he didn't know what to make of it.
Maysarah doesn't know what to make of it. Maysarah, he says that, I thought to myself, maybe it's just a wind, or maybe it's just coincidence that the trees shade him. He's just perfectly shaded throughout this entire time in Ash-Sham.
He said, except we were out there and while he was taking a nap and I was marveling at him, this monk came to me and said to me, another (راهب - rahib), priest in Ash-Sham. He said to me (من هذا - man hadha), who is that? So I said to him, (مُحَمَّد بْن عَبْدِ اللهِ مِن أَرْضِ الْحَرم - Muhammad ibn Abdullah from the land of the sanctuary). The monk responded and said, (مَا اسْتَرَاحَ تَحْتَ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَة إلَّا نَبي - only prophets rest under that tree).
And just walked away from him. So Maysarah said, I had no idea what to make of this man. He said, people would deal with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in Ash-Sham and they would tell him, (احْلِفْ بِاللَّاتِ وَالْعُزَّى - swear by al-lat and al-uzza).
And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would say (مَا حَلَفْتْ بِهِمَا قَطٌ - I've never sworn by them before in my life). The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would not take an oath with idols because that was their way of transacting, was to say, take an oath on that which is holy to you. And they know people from Mecca hold al-lat and al-uzza, these two idols.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, I don't swear for these two and I never have sworn for these two. So the point is that both of the times the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) went to Ash-Sham, there were people that recognized something about him. There were things that were happening and Ash-Sham was
the land where the people were studying or they still had the monks, the priests, the people that were the (بَقِيَّة أَهْل الْكِتَاب - baqiyah of Ahlul Kitab), that left over from the people of the book that the Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم) said Allah was pleased with in the midst of it all.
waraqa and Zaid went there looking for guidance. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has had these things happening his entire life. Khadijah had that dream that was interpreted by waraqa that you're going to marry a noble man or a (نبي - nabi) or possibly even a prophet of Allah.
The Marriage Ceremony
After the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) comes back from Ash-Sham the second time, we know what happens. We'll get more into detail of it next week. But the point is that (أبو طالب - Abu Talib), (الْعَبَّاس - al Abbas) and (حمزة - Hamza), the uncles of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) come with him to formally propose.
Khadijah's uncle, (عمرو بن أسد - Amr ibn Asad), who was the oldest uncle that was still alive, acted as the guardian of Khadijah and waraqa actually performed the marriage of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and Khadijah on a (مهر - mahr) of 500 (دِرْهَم - dirhams). So a very small mahr. So waraqa is the one who actually conducted their (زواج - zawaj) because again he's the noble man.
He's looked at as the knowledgeable man, the one who understands scripture. He's the noble man of the family and the tribe. So he stays with Khadijah.
Waraqa's Description in Hadith
His interaction with Khadijah and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) really predates the incidents that we all know of. At that point (عَائِشَة - Aisha) says in the hadith in which she mentions, or where she gives some context about who waraqa was. She says:
(Bukhari 3) - "He was a man who became a Christian in the days of ignorance."
So waraqa, unlike Zayd, actually identified as a Christian.
(Bukhari 3) - "And he would write the Hebrew script, and he would write from the Gospel in Hebrew whatever Allah willed that he should write."
So he's one of the few literate people as well. Literate not just in Arabic and reading and writing, literate even in Hebrew in reading and writing. So she says, towards the end of his life.
When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had come to him, at that point he was already blind. He was in his 90s and he was already blind. And this is where we have the famous incident that takes place.
The Great Encounter
Where Khadija would take the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to waraqa to contextualize what had happened in Hira. It was common for the people to go to waraqa and Khadija (رضي الله عنها) has a particular relationship. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has a particular relationship and he understands, especially understands what it is that would denote prophethood or denote something that is special.
So Khadija (رضي الله عنها) takes the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to waraqa. This is what Allah says in the Qur'an:
"Ask the people of knowledge if you don't know."
This is just one of the ways that Khadija (رضي الله عنها) was already acting in accordance with revelation before it even came.
Khadija (رضي الله عنها) was guided towards the good ways. It was her suggestion to take the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to waraqa and that was her (فرة - fitrah), that was her goodness and that was there. And so we get to the narration.
So after the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has calmed down a bit, Khadija (رضي الله عنها) walked to the house of waraqa. This man who predicted, who prophesied or who said that Khadija would one day marry a noble man or a (نبي - nabi). He's in his 90s, he's blind, he's sitting there.
So Khadija (رضي الله عنها) says to him:
(Bukhari 3) - "O son of my uncle, listen to the son of your brother."
Why did she say (ابن أخيك - Ibn Aqiq)? Some of the scholars mention that it's just a means of showing the closeness that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had to waraqa, that he was like the nephew of waraqa. That the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was like the nephew of waraqa.
Others actually point to the lineage of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and waraqa, that they had the same amount of ancestors from (قصي بن كلاب - Qusay ibn Qilab), so they are related, their lineage is related. And waraqa is in fact the third cousin of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So the point is that this is a means of presenting the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)listen to what he has to say to you.
waraqa says to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم):
(Bukhari 3) - "O son of my brother, what do you see?"
Why do you think he asked him what do you see? Because he said waraqa was a dream interpreter, waraqa assumed that that's probably what it is that he's coming to ask him about.
Tell me what you have seen. So at that point, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم):
(Bukhari 3) - The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) tells him everything that he saw in the cave of Hira."
Waraqa's Momentous Declaration
(Bukhari 3) - "waraqa said to him: This is the namus that Allah has sent to Musa (عليه السلام)."
The word (ناموس - namus) means the one who bears secrets and he's referring to (جبْرِيل عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Jibreel alayhi salam). That this is Jibreel (عليه السلام), the same angel that Allah sent to (موسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Musa alayhi salam). Why didn't he say (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam)? He's a Christian.
Why didn't he say Isa (عليه السلام)? Because the way that Jibreel came to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is like the way that Jibreel came to Musa (عليه السلام) and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and Musa (عليه السلام) have more similarities in their being than Isa (عليه السلام) and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). So he said this is the same (ناموس - namus), this is the same angel, the bearer of secrets, the bearer of secrets that Allah sent down to Musa (عليه السلام)
At that point, waraqa is not even thinking about the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). He says to him, at that point he says, he actually confirms to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم):
(Bukhari 3) - "You are the Prophet of this people."
Like I knew it was coming, you are the (نبي - nabi), you are the Prophet of this people.
(Bukhari 3) - "And there has come to you a namus like the one that came to Musa."
Waraqa's Prophetic Warning
waraqa says immediately, immediately:
(Bukhari 3) - "I wish I was young in it, I wish I would be alive when your people drive you out."
SubhanAllah, he is in his 90s now, he is blind, he lived his life, didn't get married, learned Hebrew, learned the scriptures, like Zayd (رضي الله عنه) who was a lifelong pursuer of truth, trying to find Allah, following the ways of the Prophets that came before and the man who he married to his cousin, the man who he knew his entire life from his childhood is in front of him and now immediately waraqa says, it's him and before he even goes into detail, he says to him:
(Bukhari 3) - "I wish I still had that young strength."
جَذَعًا )jadh'an) is like youth, right? I wish I still had that young strength. I wish I still had that young strength, that strength of youth. I wish I would be alive the day that your people run you out.
Now the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has no idea of the implications of what just happened. First of all, you just told me I'm a Prophet and then right after you told me I'm a Prophet, you say your people are going to run you out, which is unimaginable. It's already enough that you just received the news that you are a Prophet of Allah.
On top of that, your people are going to run you out. I wish I could be with you when your people run you out.
"(Bukhari 3) - "Wait, are my people going to run me out?"
How is that possible? My people will run me out? And waraqa says:
"(Bukhari 3) - "Yes, no man has ever come with what you have come with except that his people took him as an enemy."
The Depth of Waraqa's Understanding
There's so much to unpack here. Number one, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمobviously from his perspective, all of this coming down on him. He cannot imagine his people taking him as an enemy.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has never had a single person bring a complaint against him. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is everyone's peacemaker. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is the one who brings together warring tribes that otherwise cannot be brought together.
He's the man that stands for justice. Khadijah just told the Prophet:
"(Bukhari 3) - "Allah will never disgrace you"
and mention all the خَيْر )khair), all the good he does for the people. And on top of that now, waraqa's first reaction, Khadijah's first reaction is Allah will never disgrace you.
waraqa's first reaction, the people are going to disgrace you. The people will fight you. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is receiving this very quickly and he's shocked.
And waraqa immediately says, look it's not personal. It's not about you. It's about what you have.
It's about what you have. It's about the message that you have. You can be the best person in the world, the nicest person in the world, all of that.
But it's about the substance. It's about the message that Allah has given you. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has not received any commands yet to give (دعوة - da'wah) or anything, but waraqa can see.
He knows the way that this has gone down for all of the Prophets that came before, including the one whom he follows, (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhissalam), Jesus عليه السلام. He knows how this goes. So it's not about you, Ya Muhammad. They don't hate you as a person.
But it's the message that you bring that will threaten them. And waraqa's immediate reaction was what? I wish I was young. I wish I could be with you when your people run you out.
Waraqa's Pledge of Support
And you know what waraqa tells him as support? This ninety-something blind man says to him:
"(Bukhari 3) - "If I live to see that day, I will support you with strong support."
(نَصْرًا مُؤَزِّرًا - nasran mu'azzaran) with all of my strength. Whatever Allah has given me to support you with, I will support you with it. SubhanAllah.
I mean it's really beautiful. There's so much to talk about this. And عَائِشَة )Aisha) says he died just a few days after that.
So he didn't live but just a few days after he tells the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that if I'm alive to see that day, I'm going to support you with everything I have. I wish I was young. But I hope Allah keeps me alive so I can be by your side.
There's so much to go with this. And Aisha says he just died a few days after and the revelation was paused. That's when the فترة )fatrah) happened to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . Number one, النية الصالحة )an-niyyah as-salihah), that good intention.
"There are people that are truthful when they make promises to Allah."
They don't offer lip service. waraqa was sincere in saying this 90-year blind man will be by your side and will fight on your behalf.
The Wisdom of Waraqa's Timing
Because waraqa does not just know the signs of prophethood. waraqa knows the virtues of those who follow prophets in their most difficult times. And waraqa wants to be like the خوارتين (hawariyyeen), the righteous ones, right? I want to be your righteous (صحابي - sahabi).
I want to be your disciple. I want to be there by your side when your people come after you. Because this is going to go down like (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam), like Jesus peace be upon him.
And I want to be there by your side. I want to be that person to share that burden with you. Also, waraqa did not ask Allah for (تخفیف - takhfif).
He asked Allah for (قوة - quwwah). He didn't ask Allah to lighten the load. He asked Allah for the strength to bear it.
And that's a sign of his sincerity. He could have said, I hope Allah makes it easy and I'm an old man and we're not going to be able to bear this. No, waraqa asked Allah for the strength because waraqa wanted the full reward of being alongside the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
That's his natural reaction. I've been living nine decades, almost an entire century for this moment, to support a prophet. To support that prophet when he comes.
waraqa is the only Christian left over there in Mecca. The only one. Zayd is dead.
It's just waraqa. I've been waiting my whole life. I'm ready.
I've rehearsed for this moment intentionally. I have purified myself. And he asked Allah for that.
And by the way, him dying a few days after, don't think waraqa's burden would have been easy. Because قريش (Quraysh) knew that there were certain influential voices. If they spoke in support of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمthings would be very messy for them.
So you know what Naufal) did? Naufal was the one who tied Abu Bakr) and الزبير (al- Zubayr) together and tortured them together privately. See the powerful ones were not tortured out in the public. They were tortured amongst their tribes.
The tribes wanted to maintain the dignity of the tribe in a twisted way. Maintain the dignity of the tribe. But at the same time, deter their own from accepting Islam.
So the two قرينان (Qareenan) the two tied ones, were Abu Bakr and al-Zubayr. It was Naufal that was tying them together and torturing them. Naufal, the one who used to put al-Zubayr in a mat, tie him up in a straw mat and set the mat on fire from the bottom so it would burn his feet and roll him and punish him and beat him.
And al-Zubayr's screams being heard out of their area. So imagine if waraqa would have with his authority, with the respect he had amongst the Arabs, imagine if waraqa lived to see those days. waraqa would have been amongst the first people tortured.
They might have killed him privately and said he died a natural death because they would not have been able to afford the voice of waraqa from a spiritual authority perspective being lent to the call of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . But subhanAllah, Allah chose that this man, unlike Zayd, lives to see the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمlives to see him as a نبي (nabi) and it's as if Allah kept him alive just to see
that moment and to die. Dies a natural death just a few days after telling the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم what he saw before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would ever have any follow up from جبْرِي عَلَيْهِ السلام (Jibreel alayhi salam).
Questions About Waraqa's Status
waraqa passes away. There's a narration with some weakness in it because it doesn't match up.
الذهبي (Zahabi) talks about it. waraqa would live and he would see بلال رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ (Bilalradiyallahu anhu) being tortured and he would say إله واحد، إلّه وَاحِد، يا بلال، صَبْرًا يا بلال one God one God, oh Bilal, patience ya Bilal), warning the people about killing Bilal رضي الله عنه . But it doesn't match up to the authentic hadith in Bukhari that he died just a few days after that moment. Also, we don't have any follow up.
Bilal رضي الله عنه accepted Islam after the public call. So we would have had more on waraqa had he lived to see that. So waraqa dies just a few days after.
Now, what does that mean about his status? This is where it gets very interesting. He's the first man to believe in the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . So is he a صحابي (sahabi)? Is he a companion? Or not? Is أَبُو بكر (Abu Bakr) the first man, as you commonly hear? Or is waraqa the first man? What do you all think? Let's take a vote and just solve this in Valley Ranch now, 1400 years later. How many of you think waraqa was a صحابي sahabi) and is considered the first man to become a Muslim? How many of you think he's not a صحابي sahabi)? I guess a lot of you just don't know.
You don't want to answer. Good answer. Okay.
There is اختلاف ikhtilaf), there is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars because they are trying to reconcile how Abu Bakr plays into this. Because commonly Khadijah is the first woman, Abu Bakr is the first man. But here is waraqa telling him you're a prophet.
Not just saying that you're a prophet, but saying, look, if I live, I'm going to support you. I will support you. I will fight on your side.
I will make sure that no one hurts you. The scholars came up with very interesting ways to try to resolve this. Some of them said, like الذهبي (al-Dhahabi), he caught the prophethood of the Prophet, but he didn't live to see the message of the Prophet.
Because the Prophet still had not been told to call the people yet. He was just resolving himself what was happening to him. So he caught the appointment of the Prophet as a نبي (nabi), as a prophet, but not the رسالة (risalah), not the دعوة (da'wah) of the Prophet, not the message.
So therefore, he died as someone who confirmed the prophethood of the Prophet as a believer, but not a صحابي (sahabi) because he didn't technically join the أمّة (ummah) of the Prophet because he didn't live
to become a Muslim in the formal sense. Some of the scholars said he died in the فترة fatrah), he died in the pause. So they had a similar conclusion.
They said he's a believer. They said he's a مُؤْمِن (mumin), but we can't say he's a صحابي sahabi).
Another group of scholars actually wrote entire رسائل (rasail) like الْخَطِيب الْبَغْدَادِي (al-Khatib al- Baghdadi) and others who wrote these رَسَائِل (rasa'il), who wrote these treatises and messages saying that no, he was indeed a صحابي (sahabi) and waraqa is indeed the first male companion of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and we say رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ (radiyallahu ta'ala anhu) and we consider him that first صحابي sahabi) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. So there is an interesting difference of opinion.
Khadija's Inquiry About Waraqa
And like Zayd, waraqa's situation confuses even the close companions. So remember with Zayd, it was سعيد (Saeed) his son, and Umar), his cousin, coming to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and saying, Ya Rasulullah, what happened to Zayd? Does he go to جنّة jannah)? Does he go to paradise? Does he go to hellfire? Is he a believer? What do we say about Zayd?
So think about this one now. خديجة رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا (Khadijahradiyallahu ta'ala anhu), an authentic hadith, asking the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:
(Hakim) - "O Messenger of Allah, he had confirmed and believed in you, and he died before you were made public."
(Hakim) - "What sin did this man commit? What would happen to him?"
So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم responds to Khadijah, this concerned woman over her cousin, and over this man who was so precious to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Khadijah's life, and who, I mean, you talk about a نيَّة صالحة niyyah salihah), he did not just say, I believe in you.
He said, I'm going to fight on your side. I will support you against all odds. The Prophet صلى الله عليه :says وسلم
(Hakim) - "Ya Khadijah, I saw waraqa in my sleep, and he was wearing white clothes and garments."
And he said to her that:
(Hakim) - "If he was to be from the people of hellfire, then I would not have seen him in that state."
That he looked absolutely fine, he looked beautiful, he looked assured.
The Prophet's Vision of Waraqa in Paradise
In another narration, there was a person, this is narrated from ابْن عَساكر )Ibn Asakir) in تاریخ دمشق Tarikh Dimashq), that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was asked:
"He was asked about waraqa, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: I saw him in the middle of jannah, literally in the stomach of it, in the belly of jannah, and he was wearing silk."
So he looked absolutely fine, he looked like he was in جنّة (jannah), and he looked like he was in absolute beauty and نَعيم (na'im), in the blessing of Allah جل جلاله
And one more hadith in الحاكم (Al-Hakim), also an interesting hadith, narrated by عائشة (Aisha) رضي الله عنها, she says that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
He heard a man who was cursing waraqa or mentioning waraqa in a bad way."
And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
"Do not say anything negative or bad about waraqa. Don't you know that I saw waraqa in jannah, not just with one level, but actually even with two jannahs, two gardens, two levels in paradise."
The Two Gardens
So these are the أَحَادِيث (ahadith) about waraqa. And subhanAllah I was thinking about this, it's really interesting, that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned for zayd and waraqa جنتين jannatayn). If you remember last week, we talked about zayd ibn Amr and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
"I saw that he had two gardens, two levels of paradise."
And he says the same thing about waraqa.
And so it's really interesting because if you look in the Quran, when Allah says:
"For the one who fears the station of their Lord, two gardens."
I'm sorry, standing in front of being beholden by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in that moment, being resurrected in front of Allah the Almighty, fears that moment جنتان jannatan), or two gardens. And the مُفَسِّرُون (mufassirun) generally say that the reason why Allah mentions this, because this is talking about a person that committed a sin, made تَوْبَة (tawbah) to Allah, and then immersed themselves in good.
So basically the two جَنّات (jannats) refer to their leaving off sin, and then their immersing themselves in good. Because when a person repents from a sin, the sin turns into a good deed. So Allah gives them a
جنّة (jannah) for their leaving off that major sin, or that sin, that place of disobedience, and replaces it with another جنّة jannah) because of the good that they then exert themselves in.
So they don't just make تَوْبَة (tawbah), they live their lives in good as a result of the lessons learned from that توبة (tawbah). So لَهُمْ جَنَّتَان (lahum jannatan), they have two جنّات jannats). And subhanAllah for zayt and waraqa, for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to be very specific about both of them and say that they have two جنّات (jannats).
And there could be many reasons for this. One, that they believed twice in a way. They believed before the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم even came, and when they knew of a Prophet, they expressed another level of belief.
So clearly they've got a distinction amongst even the صَحَابَة (sahabah) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and that they believed when no one else believed.
And then again, when they were told that the Prophet had come out, they believed once again. Why is that significant? Because there were some people that were in Medina waiting for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
As soon as they knew who he was, they said, no, no, no, not him. So they knew a Prophet was coming, they dedicated themselves to توحید tawheed), to monotheism, but once it was him, Muhammad صلی الله عليه وسلم from بنو هاشم Banu Hashim), we can't do that one. So the fact that zayt was on his way back to embrace this Prophet, waraqa confirmed this Prophet, and both of them upheld monotheism even in جاهلية (jahiliyyah), Allah ta'ala alam, but that could be one of the wisdoms for why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned that they have two جنّات (jannats).
The Beautiful Transition
The last thing which is extremely powerful, and it's just a beautiful transition if you think about it. The last way that Allah mentions Jesus, (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam), in the Quran is how? You can tell me. In the Quran.
Those of you that memorize the Quran, you can go through it or think. When's the last mention of عيسى (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam) in the Quran? If you're reading the Quran front to back, when's the last time you hear about Jesus? (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam). Who said it? سورة الصَّفٌ Surat al-Saf.
And what happens in Surat al-Saf?
"Literally, the last mention of Isa (عليه السلام) is him giving the people glad tidings about the coming of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. That I've confirmed to you what came
before me of the Torah, and I'm here to give you the glad tidings of the Prophet that will come after me, whose name will be Ahmad."
How beautiful is it that the first person to confirm the Prophethood of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is the last follower of (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام - Isa alayhi salam) in Mecca. SubhanAllah like the first one to accept the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was the lone Christian in Mecca who was exerting himself to follow the true way of (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam), to follow Ibrahim, Isa, to follow the way of the Prophets.
And he's the first one to confirm:
(Bukhari 3) - "You are the Prophet of this ummah."
And then he dies. That it was not one of the pagan Arabs, it was not someone else, the first person to tell him, you are a Prophet, you're the one, is following the بُشْرَى (bushra) of (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Isa alayhi salam), the glad tidings of Jesus peace be upon him, and handing that off to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. And then he dies, and the story of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم picks up right from where (عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام - Isa alayhi salam), where Jesus peace be upon him, left off, continuing that legacy of (إبْرَاهِيمٍ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام - Ibrahim alayhi salam).
زيد بن عمرو (Zaid ibn Amr) said that he was upon the way of (إبْرَاهِيم عَلَيْهِ السَّلام - Ibrahim alayhi salam). So subhanAllah it's a very, if you just think about the wisdom upon wisdom upon wisdom of how this is happening, and the beautiful mercies that Allah has embedded in just the succession here of the Prophets of Allah, it's incredibly beautiful.
Closing Du'a
And so we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to be pleased with (وَرَقَة رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ - waraqa radiyallahu ta'ala anhu), to join us with him and with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and with (خديجة رَضِيَ اللهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا - Khadijah radiyallahu ta'ala anha), and with زيد Zaid) and those righteous ones in the highest level of (جَنَّةِ الْفِرْدَوْس - Jannatul Firdaus), with the Prophets of Allah, with the صديقين (Siddiqeen), with the شهداء (Shuhada), with all of those righteous ones that proceed, and we ask Allah to make us amongst them.
Allahumma ameen.
InshaAllah ta'ala I will take questions. And by the way, this is the last week we're going to Facebook live stream this.
So if you're watching this on Facebook, inshaAllah ta'ala from next week on we're going to, please register for the series, and inshaAllah ta'ala it has the notes there as well, so you can follow along with Allah ta'ala. So please start next week. And those of you that are here, please continue to come.
The بركة (Baraka) of being in the مَسْجِد (Masjid) and in the Masjid is greater than being at home and watching online. So maybe it's an encouragement as well inshaAllah for us to come to the Masjid and be a part of it. (جَزَاكُمُ اللهُ خَيْرًا - JazakAllah khair).
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