The Prophet’s Prayer for the Persecuted Among the Quraish

روي أنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: اللهم أذقت أول قريش نكالا، فأذق آخرهم نوالا.

It is narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said [while praying for the believers of Quraish]: My God you gave the first among these Quraish a taste of affliction^,1 now give their successors a taste of comfort^.2

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General Notes

1. When they were severely persecuted and turned out of their homes, by their own family and relatives.

2. According to the narrative of Abu Ya`laa (2662), the Prophet (pbuh) made this supplication at the time he was leaving Makkah, due to the severe persecutions of its inhabitants. This, in essence, was a supplication as well as a glad tiding for the believers of the Quraish – who at that time were forced to leave their homes because of the persecution of their own family and relatives – that, even though today they were forced to leave their homes, these times of affliction and misery shall soon be replaced with times of affluence and comfort for them and their coming generations.

Notes on the Text of the Narrative:

This narrative, with some variations, has been reported in Tirmidhi’s narrative no. 3908, Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s narrative no. 2170, Ibn Abi Shaybah’s narrative no. 32396 and Abu Ya`laa’s narrative no. 2662.

In Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s narrative no. 2170, the sentence “اللهم أذقت أول قريش نكالا” (i.e., ‘My God you gave the first among these Quraish a taste of affliction’) has been reported as “اللهم إنك أذقت أوائل قريش نكالا” (i.e., ‘My God, You have indeed given the earlier Quraish a taste of affliction’); in Ibn Abi Shaybah’s narrative no. 32396, this sentence has been reported as “اللهم كما أذقت أولهم عذابا” (i.e., ‘My God, just as you gave the earlier among them a taste of severe affliction’); while in Abu Ya`laa’s narrative no. 2662, this sentence has been reported as “اللهم إنك أذقت أولهم وبالا” (i.e., ‘My God, You have indeed given the earlier among them a taste of great misery’).

According to Abu Ya`laa’s narrative no. 2662, the Prophet said these words when he was forced to leave the city of Makkah due to the atrocities of the rejecters. Abu Ya`laa’s narrative has been reproduced below:

لما خرج رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من مكة قال: أما والله لأخرج منك وإني لأعلم أنك أحب بلاد الله إلي وأكرمه على الله ولولا أن أهلك أخرجوني ما خرجت. يا بني عبد مناف إن كنتم ولاة هذا الأمر من بعدي فلا تمنعوا طائفا ببيت الله ساعة من ليل ولا نهار. ولولا أن تطغى قريش لأخبرتها مالها عند الله. اللهم إنك أذقت أولهم وبالا فأذق آخرهم نوالا.

When the Prophet (pbuh) departed from Makkah, he said: [Oh city of Makkah,] by God, though I leave you, I know that for me you are the most beloved of all of God’s cities [in the world] and you are the most respectable of these cities for God. Had its inhabitants not turned me out, I would never have left. O sons of Abd Munaaf, if you are made in charge of this matter [of ruling Makkah] after me, do not stop any group from [entering] it, even for an hour of night nor of day. Had the Quraish not transgressed, I would have informed them of what is in store for them with God. My God, you gave the first among these Quraish a taste of severe affliction, now give their successors a taste of affluence.

(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)

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