The Green Islamic Foundation

How many times does one find that tragedy is an integral step towards triumph? Isn’t it amazingly ironic when good endings are where the story began? This is a concept called the full circle moment. The most impactful stories are girded with seemingly trivial events that provide astounding insights and meaning. The lives of the Prophets and Messengers of God عليهم سلام are rife with full circle moments. It is through the actualization of coming full circle that existential and divinely decreed connections are appreciated.

The greatest example of this is the story of Yusuf  عليه السلام, which Allah in the Qur’an declares the best of stories. Allah says regarding the story of Yusuf  عليه السلام,

نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ ٱلْقَصَصِ بِمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ وَإِن كُنتَ مِن قَبْلِهِۦ لَمِنَ ٱلْغَـٰفِلِينَ ٣

We relate to you ˹O Prophet˺ the best of stories through Our revelation of this Qur’an, though before this you were unaware ˹of them˺.

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Qur’an, 12:3

In this story, an adolescent Prophet Yusuf عليه السلام had a dream of the sun, moon and stars prostrating to him. When he informed his father, Yusuf عليه السلام was instructed not to tell his brothers. This dream serves as the underpinning of the entire life of Yusuf  عليه السلام. In the Islamic tradition, the dreams of the Prophets of God are true. Everything that is related regarding Yusuf  عليه السلام will, therefore, bring out about the reality of this dream. Yusuf’s  عليه السلام brothers threw him in a well. He was then enslaved in Egypt and later imprisoned. After years of imprisonment, Yusuf  عليه السلام was exonerated, freed, and installed as a leader of Egypt. In this position, Yusuf’s  عليه السلام brothers and family were returned to him in full submission, fulfilling the dream he had as a child. The essence of the story, however, is not that dreams come true. Rather, of the lessons learned from the life of Yusuf  عليه السلام is that everything happens for a reason. The decree of Allah, whether good or bad was ordained with wisdom. One’s steadfastness, trust and patience with God’s decree will not go unrecognized or unrewarded.

The most explicit incident that displays things coming full circle for the Beloved Messenger of Allah ﷺ is the conquest of Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ was born and raised in the city of the Ancient House (The Ka’bah). His greater tribe, the Quraish, were the leaders of the city with his own tribe, Banu Hashim, upholding customs that were essential to the religious, economic, and societal foundations of Makkan and Arabian life. The children of Hashim, the great grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were the custodians of the Ka’bah. They were the caretakers of the pilgrims, providing them shelter, food and water during the season of Hajj.

Prior to the advent of Islam, Makkan society was aggressively polytheist. The house built by the Prophets Abraham and Ishmael عليهما سلام for the worship of Allah alone, under the care of the Quraish was the unrivaled center of polytheism in the region. The pillars of society were the following: reverence for one’s familial affiliation, idols, and status. Women were mere commodities or vulnerabilities for men so much so that daughters were viewed by the society as a bad omen. The revelation of the Qur’an to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ directly addressed these false notions and perverted senses of honor and success. The Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ divine charge of prophethood placed strains on the tribal society of Makkah by declaring that one’s righteousness and consciousness of God were the only means of drawing near to Him. The message of Islam disrupted the religiously paganistic economy as it scorned the association of anything in worship with God. This was precarious for the economy of Makkah, which was primarily based off the pilgrimage to the house. The declaration of worshipping Allah alone (tawhid), was not unprecedented as Abrahim and Ishmael عليهما سلام were known ancestors of the Arabs of the time. However, the call to this belief was perplexing to them as they grew accustomed to associating partners with Allah and assigning them certain attributes that were understood to benefit the elite of society. During this time, the Ka’bah housed over 360 idols which were bought and sold for worship. The Qur’an also disrupted the social fabric of the tribalistic society as it implored and commanded the caring for the slave, the orphan, the poor, the destitute and the woman. As a result of this message and how it resonated with the lower class of society, the Quraish were obstinately against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. This led to an entire boycott of Banu Hashim and the Prophet ﷺ. The Beloved Prophet ﷺ along with his companions had to migrate from the blessed city of Makkah to the city of Yathrib. Things came full circle with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when the city was finally conquered. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ showed mercy and forgiveness to his Quraishi cousins as he ascended to the position of leader of not just of the two cities but all of Arabia.

              Another incident of things coming full circle within the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ involves the city of Madinah. This city had direct emotional and ancestral ties specifically to the Prophet ﷺ. Hashim, the Makkan great grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ, married Salma, a woman from Banu Najjar who resided in the city of Yathrib. Hashim departed from his wife for trade in the city of Gaza where he passed away, never to return to Makkah or to his pregnant wife in Yathrib. Salma gave birth their son Shaybah and raised him until Hashim’s brother Mutallib learned of his death and family. Mutallib, the uncle of Shaybah, traveled to Yathrib to retrieve his nephew so that he could take his father’s place as a custodian of the Ka’bah. Becoming the custodian of the Ka’bah entailed that this young man would have to leave the care of his own mother and birthplace. After much reluctancy, Lady Salma relented to the request of Mutallib to allow her young son to take his rightful place with his paternal family in Makkah. Once Mutallib and Shaybah entered Makkah, the Quraish assumed that Shaybah was Mutallib’s slave and thus named him the slave of Mutallib (Abdul Mutallib). While Mutallib corrected this assumption immediately, the moniker remained with Shaybah.

Abdul Mutallib’s tenth son, Abdullah, was the father of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Abdullah passed away in Yathrib before the birth of the Prophet ﷺ. As a child, the Beloved Messenger of Allah traveled with his mother Amina bint Wahb and their servant, Umm Ayman, to visit the grave of his father and his cousins from Banu Najjar. Sadly, on the way back from this journey, the mother of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ fell ill and passed away. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ at this point had lost his mother and his father. For the next two years of his life, his grandfather, Abdul Mutallib, took care of him. When the beloved grandfather of The Beloved of Allah ﷺ passed away, Abu Talib, the full brother of Abdullah, raised him to adulthood. In his 40^th year, Muhammad ﷺ was given prophethood. Things came full circle for the Prophet ﷺ when he was instructed to migrate from Makkah to Yathrib. The Arab inhabitants of Yathrib embraced Islam and decided to grant the Messenger of Allah and the Muslims asylum from the persecution and torture of the Makkans. Most importantly, the people of Yathrib made the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ the leader of their city. It is as if the city, which was the birthplace of his beloved grandfather and the resting place of his father, was provided by God, to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as a spiritual and ancestral inheritance. Upon migration (hijrah), the city’s name was changed to Madinah or Madinatu An-Nabi, which translates to ‘The City of the Prophet.’ As his grandfather inherited special rights of custodianship in Makkah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was provided by Allah the inheritance of the city of his grandfather.

              The life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as well as the Qur’an provide an extensive amount of lessons and insights for our lives. After knowledge and reflection, one might see how so many things may have come full circle in their own lives and lineages. It is a comfort to know that Allah’s compassion and mercy encompasses His entire creation. There is not a thing that is lost with Allah. The journey of an individual may be the fulfilment of the prayer of an ancestor long gone. The lowest point in a person’s life may be the turning point for their greatest dream to be fulfilled. It is especially important that trust and gratitude in Allah remains constant. Only He knows the outcome of each moment. Therefore, we should take accountability for our conduct but expect the best from Him at every turn. The full circle moments within the stories of the Qur’an and in the life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also indicate the reality of a greater full circle moment that everything in existence will eventually affirm. This full circle moment has been established as a supplication to Allah when calamity strikes. Allah says the following in the second chapter of the Qur’an:

2:155

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ ١٥٥

We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure—

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Qur’an

2:156

ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـٰبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌۭ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ ١٥٦

who say, when struck by a disaster, “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will ˹all˺ return.”

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Qur’an

Ultimately, the full circle for existence is that everything comes from Allah, and everything will return to Him. The reminder of this returning is the underpinning of repentance which is the act of continuously turning to Allah in obedience and fleeing from disobedience. The act of repentance is the first step of spiritual development.