MEETING XIII

THE DAY OF PEACE

When the prophet was thirty-five years old the people of Mecca wanted to rebuild
the Ka’ba, because it had been damaged by the flood which covered the valley of Mecca at
that time. The tribes of Mecca co-operated with each other to rebuild the Ka’ba, because
it was an honour for them and all the Arab tribes. All the Arab tribes respected those of
Mecca and regarded them as people who looked after the house of God.
When they started building they came to the place where they had to replace Al Hajar
Al Aswad, the Black Stone. From this moment the argument started. Who would have the
honour of putting the stone in its place? Each tribe wanted to have this honour. They
started arguing and this almost led to a fight. Some of them called for a fight, and a blood
bath threatened Mecca.
One wise leader suggested that they should accept the judgment of the first man to
enter the place. This suggestion was readily accepted, because nobody wanted this threat of
a fight to continue. They all stood with their eyes facing towards the way which led to the
Ka’ba. Then they saw the prophet Muhammad coming toward them. At that time
Muhammad had not claimed to be a prophet but he was the most highly respected man in
Mecca, and renowned for his honesty and trustworthiness. For this reason they used to call
him “As Siddiq Al Amin”, the trustworthy, the truthful, and when they saw him coming all
of them cried with appreciation. They all felt happy and at peace in their minds and they
felt sure no harm would now befall any of them, and whatever Muhammad’s decision, it
would be accepted by all.
When they explained the problem he requested them to bring a piece of cloth and he
chose four men, one from each tribe. He then placed the stone on the cloth and asked each
of the four men to take the corner. The four men then shared the carrying of the stone until
they came near the wall, and the prophet then took the stone in his hands and put it in its
place in the wall. By making this decision he was able to prevent the blood bath and peace
prevailed Mecca. This, was the first day that people realized the outstanding wisdom of
Muhammad and he came to be regarded as the most revered person in Mecca. This day was
called “the day of peace.”

A. Vocabulary
Flood : banjir
Tribe : suku bangsa
To regard : menganggap, menghormati
Argument : perbedaan pendapat
Blood bath : pertumpahan darah
Judgement : keputusan
Threat : ancaman
To renown : terkenal, termasyhur
Appreciation : penghargaan
To revail : menang, meliputi, berlaku
To revere : memuja, menghormati
Cloth : kain.

B. Grammar Used
Recognizing location and direction
- Al hajar Al Aswad is at the Ka’ba.
- The mosque is next to the campus
- The park is near the campus
- The book store is on the corner of the block
 To ask some information about anything that you want, including places, locations or
building, we can use direct questions and indirect questions. The use of indirect
questions is suggested as it is considered to be more polite, especially to whom we
haven’t familiar with. In indirect question, it consists of two clauses and questions
from the direct questions become statements in the indirect questions.

Direct question
A. What time does the mosque call for adzan Isya?
B. Where can I buy Islamic books?
C. How much does a cup of coffee cost?
D. Where is the place for wudhu?

Indirect question
A. Could you tell me what time the mosque calls for adzan Isya?
B. Can you tell me where I can buy Islamic books?
C. Do you know how much a cup of coffee cost here?
D. Can you tell me where the place for wudhu is?

 The use of the following preposition are suggested, especially when telling about
locations of some places.
a. next to : next to the post office
b. near : near the market
c. opposite : opposite the grocery store
d. beside : beside the old building
e. behind : behind the drugstore
f. in front of : in front of the department store
g. on your left : it’s on your left
h. just after : just after the police station

 To give a very good direction to a place or building, the use of imperative sentences
is suggested> imperative sentence is always preceded with the use of “VERB 1” and
for the prohibition, use “DON’T” to begin the sentence. The use of “please’ is merely
for politeness consideration.
 first, go down this street to the main road
 then, turn right at the intersection
 next, walk north for one block till you see Mini Market on the left. Don’t stop
before you get to the Mini Market.
 After that, see the huge sign
 Finally, find the building. It is on your right. You can’t miss it

 In order that the message is clear enough, we need to sequence the events. For this
purpose, we need to use these sequence markers: first, next, then, after that, and
finally. First always begins the sequence while finally comes to close.

We have to perform wudhu in the correct manner. First, wash our hands. Next, wash
our face thoroughly. After that, wash the right hand till the elbow. Then, wash the
left hand till the elbow. Next, wipe our head starting from the forehead to the neck.
Then, wipe the ears. Finally, wash our legs till the ankle. Don’t forget to wash the
right leg first, followed by the left one. Those are the parts of the body that should
be washed in wudhu.