Varaka ibn Navfal

His full name is: Varaka ibn Navfal ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza ibn Kusayy al-Kurashi. He was the cousin of Khadija , the first wife of the prophet Muhammad . Grandfather of Varaki and Khadiji on the paternal side of Asad bin Abd al-Uzza was the great-great-grandfather of Muhammad on the maternal side ^[2] .

According to hadith al-Bukhari , Varaka “was a Christian , read the Scriptures and listened to the people of the Torah and the Gospel ” ^{[3] [4] [5]} . He also “wrote the New Testament in Arabic ” ^[6] , but it is unclear whether this means that he translated it from Greek or rewritten someone’s manuscript.

It is reported that in 576, Varaka found the lost five-year-old Muhammad on the outskirts of Mecca and returned him to Abd al-Muttalib in the Kaaba ^[7] .

Once, on a hot day, Varaka came to the valley, where Umayya ibn Khalaf forced his slave Bilyal to lie with a large stone on his chest until he renounced his faith and began to worship the deities Allat and al-Uzza . Bilyal continued to insist: “one, one!”, And Varaka expressed support for him, saying: “one, one, God, Bilyal!”. Then Varaka protested the violence, telling Umaye and his relatives: "I swear to God that if you kill him in this way, I will build a temple on his grave." However, Umaya did not pay attention to it ^[8] . Varaka also said: “I swear by Allah, if a person is ready to perish for the true faith, then at the mention of one name his prayer can be accepted and fulfilled!” ^{[9] [10]} . Ibn Qasir doubts the veracity of this story, since the persecution of Muslims began only a few years after the death of Varaka ^[11] . However, A. Sprenger points out that Bilyal, having Ethiopian descent, was probably still a Christian at that time, and it is quite possible that Umaya persecuted him for this reason. In this case, the story that Varaka tried to help his fellow believer seems more truthful ^[12] .

By the time Muhammad matured, Varaka was well versed in the Scriptures . A few years later, when Muhammad announced his first revelations ^[13] , Varaka recognized his prophecy as genuine. According to legend, Varaka said: “This is the same namus that descended to Moses” ^[14] . At -Tabari, in the History of Messengers and Kings, Varaka tells Khadija: “Holy, Holy! The great namus came to him, that is, the namus Gabriel, peace be upon him, who came to Musa (Moses). Truly, he is the prophet of this community. Tell him to be steadfast. ” ^{[15] [5]} In the hadith from Aisha, it is narrated: “... Khadija left the house with him and brought him to her cousin Varaka bin Naufal bin Asad bin 'Abd al-'Uzze, who adopted Christianity in the era of the jahiliya , used the written language of the Jews, wrote out from the Gospel that which was pleasing to Allah, was already a deep blind old man. Khadija told him: “O son of my uncle, listen to your nephew!” Varaka asked him: “O nephew, what do you see?” - and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, informed him of what he saw. Varaka said: “This is the same angel that Allah sent to Musa! Oh, if I were young (these days) and could live to see when your people will expel you! “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, asked:“ But will they expel me? ”Varaka answered : “Yes, because whenever a person comes with something similar to what you brought with you, he was always at enmity with him, but if I live to see this day, I will help you as soon as I can!” ” ^[16] . A few days later, Varaka died, and with this, the sending of revelations temporarily ceased ^{[17] [18]} .

In one of the hadiths it was reported that once, upon hearing someone scolding Varak, the Prophet silenced him and said: “Do not scold Varak ibn Navfal! Truly, I saw that he owned one or two gardens in paradise ” ^{[19] [20] [21] [22]} .

In a hadith classified as “weak,” Khadija told the Prophet about Varak: “Verily, he believed in you and acknowledged your innocence, but died before you became a prophet.” In response to this, Muhammad said: “I saw him in another world in white robes, and if he was convicted of hellish torment, he would have other clothes on him ...” ^[23] . In another hadith, he said: “I saw Varaka in one of the paradise valleys. He was wearing clothes from the trunk ” ^{[24] [10]} .

• Waraḳa b. Nawfal / Robinson, CF // Encyclopaedia of Islam . 2 ed . - Leiden: EJ Brill , 2002. - T. 11. (pl.)
• Hailamaz R. Hon . Khadija . - M. , 2008.
• Zhuravsky A.V. The Quranic Image of the Prophet Moses in the Context of the Interaction of Three Theistic Traditions // Herald of the RSUH. - 2012. - No. 20 (100).