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Seerah
of the Prophet - 1
We praise Allah
(SWT), thank Him, seek His help, guidance and forgiveness. We seek refuge in
Allah (SWT) from the evil in our souls and the sinfulness of our deeds.
“He whom Allah guides, he is the rightly-guided; but he whom He sends astray,
for him you will find no guiding advocate.”
Loving the Prophet
(SAWS)
is one of the goals of a Muslim in his life. When he becomes attached to the
Prophet (SAWS), he wishes he could be with him and we
almost envy the Companions: those with whom he sat, prayed, dug graves
for and those who received pieces of his clothes from him to use as shrouds.
Can you imagine such a great thing? I am really grieved
because some young men and women do not know anything about their Prophet (SAWS),
so I want to deal with the life of the Prophet (SAWS) in this lecture and
the next one. After doing with this series on the stories of the Companions, we
will have a new series titled ‘Recognize your Prophet.’
When you watch people celebrating the Prophet’s birthday,
the celebration is nothing but eating special desserts and listening or watching
religious songs and movies. I do not mean that these things are bad, but the
issue is more sublime than this. The point is to survive the great event of the
Prophet’s birthday by feeling your love for him and missing him.
We will deal with the life of Allah’ Messenger (SAWS).
Allah (SWT)
says what can be translated as,
“Indeed
in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow…”
for whom? “… for him who hopes for (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day,
and remembers Allah much…” (TMQ, 33:21).
When our Lord endows us with a bounty, which bounty does He
mention? Is it health, intellect, or what?
Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as,
“Indeed
Allah conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a
Messenger from among themselves, reciting unto them His ayahs (verses of the
Qur’an), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing
them (in) the Book (the Qur’an) and al-Hikmah (the wisdom and the
Sunnah of the Prophet).” (TMQ, 3:164).
This is the bounty which our Lord bestowed on us. Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as,
“Verily,
there has come unto you a Messenger from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that
you should receive any injury or difficulty. He is anxious over you (to
be rightly guided); for the believers (he is) full of
pity, kind, and merciful.” (TMQ, 9:128).
We want to celebrate the event of the Prophet’s birthday in
a different way. We should remember our love for the Prophet (SAWS). We
will start with two lectures. The title of today’s lecture is ‘Recognize your
Prophet.’ We will describe the Prophet (SAWS): his features, his
attributes, his morals and his ethics. We will conclude with examples of the
love of the Companions for him.
I dedicate this lesson to young men and women. If you ask
anyone of them, “Who is the person you love most?” Anyone will answer by saying,
“My girlfriend or boyfriend.” He (or she) would say that he (or she) knows that
this is haram (forbidden), but the orders of the Prophet (SAWS)
are not so endeared to them that they might abandon such love. If you ask
anyone of them, “Who is your role model?” he (or she) would retort, “Ronaldo!”
Some girls might say, “Our role model is this year’s Miss Universe. We imitate
her in everything, even her hairdo.”
What about you? Who is your role model? Who is the person
you love most? If we go out into the streets now, and ask each passer-by who he
(or she) loves most, how many will say, “The Prophet?” Very few! Do you think
10% of them will choose the Prophet (SAWS)? We do not only want to love
him but we want to make other people love him as well. I know that there are
people who love him, but I want his love to reach your heart to the extent that
making all people love him becomes your goal.
Now let us start with, ‘Recognize your Prophet.’
Allah (SWT)
says what can be translated as, “Those
to whom We gave the Scripture (Jews and Christians) recognize him
(Muhammad) as they recognize their sons.”
(TMQ, 2:146).
The Jews recognize the Prophet (SAWS) as they
recognize their own sons. The Prophet’s attributes are written in their
scriptures so that they would recognize him as they recognize their own
children. When this Ayah was revealed, Obay Ibn-Kaab (a Jew who converted to
Islam) was asked by Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA), “Obay, do you recognize him
as you recognize your children?” He said, “By Allah, we recognize him even more
than we recognize our children. We know his lineage and his attributes from the
Torah, yet we do not know exactly the lineage of our children.”
It is really shameful that they know your own Prophet (SAWS)
and you do not care to know him. Huyay Ibn-Akhtab was one of the leaders of the
Jews in Madinah. When the Prophet (SAWS) immigrated from Makkah to
Madinah, Huyay headed to see him. He asked the Prophet (SAWS) some
questions and eyed him carefully. When he came back, his brother asked him,
“Did you recognize him? Is he the Prophet?” He retorted, “Yes.” His brother
asked him, “Are you sure?” He replied, “Yes.” His brother said, “So what do you
intend to do?” He replied, “I will be his enemy for the rest of my life.” You
see, this is the zenith of hatred. This proves that they recognized the Prophet
(SAWS); now don’t you feel jealous? Don’t you want to know him, know
everything about him?
Let us start with the Prophet’s full name. His full name
is Muhammad Ibn-Abdullah Ibn-Abdul-Muttalib Ibn-Hashim Ibn-AbduManaf Ibn-Qusayy
Ibn-Kilab Ibn-Murrah Ibn-Kaab Ibn-Lu'ay Ibn-Ghalib Ibn-Fihr Ibn-Adnan Ibn-Ismail
Ibn-Ibrahim (SAWS).
Muhammad is not the only name of the Prophet (SAWS).
According to the Hadith narrated by
al-Bukhari, the Prophet (SAWS) said, “I have
(several) names: I am Muhammad and I am Ahmad, and I am al-Mahi (with whom Allah
obliterates kufr (disbelief)), and I am al-Hashir (gatherer) at whose
feet (i.e. behind whom) the people will be gathered (on the Day of Judgment)),
and I am al-Aqib (i.e. who succeeds the other prophets in bringing about good).”
Let us take the names one by one, and explore the meaning
of each name.
“I am Muhammad…” What is the meaning of ‘Muhammad?’
It is the adjective of the Arabic word hamd (praise). He is praised for
his righteous deeds, and then he is praised over and over for them, until he is
Muhammad (the praised one).
“I am Ahmad…” Ahmad is a superlative adjective.
What does ‘Ahmad’ mean? Ahmad means the most praising of all praisers, in other
words, the most appreciating praiser of all praisers. Who is the one who
praises most in the universe? It is ‘Ahmad’ because nobody else praised Allah
(SWT) as much as Ahmad (the most praising one) did. Hence, on the Day of
Judgment at the time of intercession, he will say, “I will fall down in
(prostration) before Him. I will then raise my head and praise Allah (SWT)
with certain praises which He has taught me.”
I think you are a little bit touched. The Prophet (SAWS)
said to Asma, “O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does
not suit her to display any parts of her body except this and this,” and he
pointed to her face and hands.
I think any young woman dares not go out into the streets unveiled.
“I am al-Mahy…” The one by whom Allah (SWT)
wipes out disbelief. If we follow the Prophet (SAWS) in our everyday
lives then disobedience, polytheism and forbidden deeds will be obliterated from
our hearts. Whenever a Prophet died, his followers resorted to worshipping
idols. Nevertheless, after Prophet Muhammad‘s death, idol-worshipping was
obliterated. Therefore, the Prophet (SAWS) says, “Verily, Satan
despaired of ever having idol-worshipping in the Arabian Peninsula, yet he has
not despaired of sowing seeds of dissension among (the worshippers).”
Islam is endeared to our Ummah (Islamic nation) and this is one of the
bounties which Allah (SWT) bestowed on us. In
addition, faith is deeply-rooted in the people’s hearts. Few people of
Muhammad’s Ummah abstain from obeying Allah (SWT) as they still
have some doubts and misgivings concerning Islam.
“I am al-Hashir…” What does ‘al-Hashir’ mean? It
means that the Prophet (SAWS) is the one behind whom the people will be
gathered on the Day of Judgment. The first one who will intercede on the Day of
Judgment will be the Messenger (SAWS) as he is the first one whose
intercession will be accepted on the Day of Judgment. He is the first one to
whom the gates of paradise will be opened, and the first one who will enter
paradise.
“I am al-Aqib…” This word is derived from the word
aqeb: as in, one person aqeb (followed) the other. Nevertheless,
‘al-Aqib’ means the one whom nobody follows, that is to say, he is the
Seal of Prophets who will be followed by no other prophets.
The Prophet (SAWS) was born on Monday, 12th
of Rabiaa al-Awal, in August 570 A.D. He used to fast on Mondays. When he was
asked about that he said, “It was the day on which I was born.”
This means that he used to celebrate his birthday. We can conclude that
celebrating birthdays is not a bid’aa (innovation in religion) because
the Prophet (SAWS) used to celebrate his own birthday. The point is the
mode of celebration. They usually celebrate by disobeying Allah (SWT)
instead of acknowledging the gift of life Allah (SWT) has endowed them
with.
The birth-year of the Prophet (SAWS) was during the
occurrence of the story of the army of the Elephants (as that army had come from
Yemen intending to destroy the Ka’ba at Makkah). The Prophet (SAWS) had
two kinds of relationships with the Egyptians: kinship and marital relationship.
The Prophet (SAWS) said, “I urge (i.e. commend) you to take care of the
Egyptians as they are related (to us) by blood-tie (kinship) and marriage.”
What is that blood-tie? Hajar, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim
(AS) (Abraham) who gave birth to Isma’il (AS) (Ishmael) the
great-grandfather of the Prophet (SAWS), was Egyptian. As for the marital
relationship, he married Mariah, the Egyptian woman. I wonder how you don’t
feel ashamed of yourselves when you listen to such pleasant things about you yet
you do not love him. This honor should make you love him more, and make him so
endeared to your family. We still have a long time to make people love the
Prophet (SAWS) so that people realize that his birthday was the start of
all resplendent lights sent to humanity.
This marital relationship with which we are honored makes
our duty towards the Prophet (SAWS) greater and stronger. Aisha said,
“The Messenger of Allah used to sit with his wife Mariah the Egyptian, because
she was a brilliant raconteur.”
When the Prophet (SAWS) married Mariah, he showed
high sense of duty towards her in a decent and caring way. He made Mariah live
in an area called al-Awaly (the hills). It is an area far from the Prophet’s
mosque in Madinah and the abodes of his other wives. He realized that Mariah,
who was a dweller in Egypt, the homeland of the Nile and verdure, could not live
in the desert.
We mentioned the Prophet’s name, his lineage, his date of
birth, the history of his birth and his relationship with the Egyptians. What
about his features? We have a famous Hadith; many people know it, “And whoever
sees me in a dream then surely he has seen me for Satan cannot impersonate me.”
Some people misunderstand this Hadith. They think that if
you see someone in a dream who tells you that he is the Messenger of Allah
(SAWS) then, it is really him! No, this is not what he means. It means that
if you saw the Prophet (SAWS) with his true features in a dream, then he
is the Prophet (SAWS) as Satan cannot take his shape. Therefore, it is
highly important for us to know his features. The only ones whom Satan could
not deceive by taking on the shape of the Prophet (SAWS) were the
companions, because they knew him with his exact features. If you know his
features, then you will recognize him on seeing his features in a dream.
I wonder, will the Prophet (SAWS) recognize you when
he sees you? What is the righteous deed you did so that he will be pleased with
you? You must exert strenuous efforts so that he will be happy with you on
seeing you.
We got and quoted the description of the Prophet’s features
from the people who had mentioned them, especially Um-Maabid. She was the one
who gave the most accurate and precise description of his features although she
saw him only once.
His hair was neither curly nor silky just like the
Egyptians’ hair. It was pitch in color. He (SAWS) did not have
any white hair until he reached his sixties. He had 12 white hairs right before
his (SAWS) death. Anas Ibn Maalik (RA) reported, “I counted only
fourteen white hairs on the head and beard of the Messenger of Allah.”
His beard was thick, broadly filling his chest; and
light on the sides. His mustache was thin. The mustache and the beard were not
connected; the mustache was light right under the nose. His chest hair was
thick. Under the chest, the hair formed a thin line until it reached the navel.
He had a smooth stomach.
The seal of prophethood lay on the back of the Prophet’s
head, on the first vertebra. Every prophet must have this as proof and sign of
prophethood. What does it look like? It is like a birthmark, roughly the size
of a grape or an olive, with three hairs spurting out of it. His eyebrows were
neither thick nor thin. A line lay between his eyebrows. When he got angry,
this line became manifest.
Now let us deal with his morals and ethics. Allah (SWT) says about the Prophet (SAWS) what can be translated as,
“And
Verily, you (O Muhammad) are on an exalted (standard of) character.”
(TMQ, 68:4).
About Prophet Musa
(AS) (Moses),
Allah (SWT) says
what can be translated as, “Surely he was most faithful and he was a
Messenger, a Prophet.” (TMQ,
19:51)
About
Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) what can be translated as,
“And of
Ibrâhîm (Abraham) who fulfilled (or conveyed) all that (Allah ordered him to do
or convey).” (TMQ, 53:37).
When you want to know the real behavior of a person, you
should ask his family especially those who dwell with him in his abode not just
his companies. Some people’s words do not conform with their deeds. Can you
believe that an American Orientalist embraced
Islam because of the ethics (moral excellences) of the Prophet (SAWS)? He
said that when he studied the Seerah (Biography) of Muhammad (SAWS),
he read what Khadijah, the Prophet’s wife, said to him as she said, “Verily, you
give your kith and kin their due, give money to the poor, receive your guests
hospitably and you help people in calamities (i.e. to face the vicissitudes of
time). Nay, by Allah, Allah will never let you down.” The Orientalist remarked
by saying, “As a woman said this to her husband then this man would never be a
liar. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah.”
The Prophet (SAWS) said, “The most righteous (men)
among you are those who well-treat their wives; and I treat my wives in the most
perfect way.”
Let us deal with his ethics sequentially. I will not just mention Ahadith
(teachings of the Prophet), but I will relate his deeds as well. I will mention
one or two incidents, for each manner, to clarify it.
His Selflessness:
Let us start with his selflessness. What does it mean? It
means favoring others and being concerned for the needs, interests and feelings
of other people above one’s own. When the Prophet (SAWS) was in Madinah,
it was very cold. A lady from Ansar (his Madinan supporters) sewed a
velvet cloak for him. She said, “This is for you, O Messenger of Allah.” The
Prophet (SAWS) was pleased with it, and the first time he wore it he went
to the companions. When a man from Ansar saw him, he said, “How
beautiful is this garment! Clothe me in it, O Messenger of Allah!” What would
you do if you were in the Prophet’s position? You would say, “You are such a
rude person!” Verily, he was selfless. He stood up and took it off and said,
“Yes, I will clothe you in it!” and he clothed the man with the garment. When
the man was asked, “Why did you do this?” He replied, “I wanted it to be in my
shroud.”
During the Battle of al-Khandaq (the Trench), the
Companions were very hungry. The trench they were digging was three kilometers
long and two or three meters deep. The ground was rocky and food was scarce.
The companions tied a rock on their stomachs out of hunger. They were very
simple people but they were sincere and true to Allah (SWT). Nowadays,
we have many things yet we are not satisfied. Each one of the companions used
to go to the Prophet (SAWS) and say, “O Messenger of Allah, hunger has
overcome us. Look, each one of us tied a rock on his stomach.” He replied, “As
for me, look,” he revealed two rocks tied on his stomach out of hunger.
Jabir Ibn-Abdullah reported, “When the trench was dug, I
saw Allah's Messenger feeling very hungry. I came to my wife and asked her, ‘Do
you have anything (i.e. food)? I have seen Allah's Messenger feeling extremely
hungry.’ She brought out a bag of provisions which contained a sa’
(handful) of barley. We also had a lamb. I slaughtered it. She ground the
flour and finished (this work) with my aid. I cut it into pieces and put it in
the earthen pot and then returned to Allah's Apostle (to invite him). She said,
‘Do not humiliate me in the presence of Allah's Messenger and those who are with
him.’ When I came to him I whispered to him by saying, ‘O Allah's Messenger, we
have slaughtered a lamb for you and she (my wife) has ground a sa' of barley
which we had in our house. May you come with a group of people with you?’
Thereupon Allah's Messenger (SAWS) said loudly, ‘O people of the Trench,
Jabir has arranged a feast for you (come along).’ Allah's Messenger (SAWS)
said, ‘Don’t remove your earthen pot from the hearth nor bake the bread from the
kneaded flour until I come.’ When Allah's Messenger (SAWS) came and he
was ahead of the people; and I came to my wife who said (to me), ‘You will be
humiliated.’ I said, ‘I did what you had asked me to do.’ She said, ‘I brought
out the kneaded flour and Allah's Messenger put some saliva of his in that and
blessed it.’ He then put his saliva in the earthen pot and blessed it and then
said, ‘Call for another baker who can bake with you, and bring out the soup from
it, but do not remove it from the hearth.’ There were one thousand guests.”
Jabir said, “I swear by Allah that all of them ate (the food to their fill)
until they left it and went away and our earthen pot was brimming over as
before, and so was the case with our flour,” or as Dahhak (another narrator)
said, “It (the flour) was in the same condition and loaves had been prepared
from it.”
His Loyalty:
Let us take another aspect of his moral excellences, that
is, loyalty. When the Prophet (SAWS) was in Makkah, there was a man
called Abul-Bakhtury Ibn-Hisham, what did he do? He tore down the parchment on
which Quraysh wrote the statement of boycotting all kinds of dealings with the
Prophet (SAWS) and his followers. Quraysh had confined the Prophet
(SAWS) and his followers in the valley of Bani-Taleb for three years. They
wrote an edict that banned and annulled all dealings with the Muslims, and they
hung it on the Ka’ba. Abul-Bakhtury, who was a disbeliever, tore the parchment
down. He said that he did not agree with the edict. Ten years after the
Muslims had been released from their confinement, and after the Prophet’s
migration to Madinah, the Battle of Badr took place. Abul-Bakhtury came along
with the disbelievers to fight against the Muslims. Notice the Prophet’s loyalty
as he stood up in the battle and said, “If ever any of you meets Abul-Bakhtury,
may he not kill him because of what he did on that day when he tore down the
parchment.”
One of the companions said, “I met Abul-Bakhtury in the
thick of the battle, and there was another disbeliever standing beside him. I
did not touch him with any harm and engaged in fighting against the other
disbeliever. Abul-Bakhtury said, ‘Why don’t you fight against me?’ I said, ‘The
Messenger of Allah ordered us not to kill you.’ He said, ‘Why?’ (He forgot what
he had done, but the Prophet did not). I replied, ‘Out of loyalty to you for
what you did on the day of the parchment.’ Abul-Bakhtury said, ‘What if I fought
against you?’ I said, ‘Then I will run away from you.’” Abul-Bakhtury ran after
the Companion who ran away from him to avoid killing him until Abul-Bakhtury was
about to kill him, so he turned around and killed him. He came back crying to
the Messenger of Allah (SAWS), saying, “By Allah, I did not want to kill
him, Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (SAWS) said, “May Allah forgive
you, we just aimed to keep our word.”
Here we have another example of the Prophet’s loyalty to
his wife. If the wife of anyone of us dies, six months later (or perhaps after
two weeks) he will remove her pictures and her other belongings. He wants to
start a new life and get married, but the Prophet (SAWS) was loyal to his
late wife
Khadijah.
Once upon a time, the Prophet (SAWS) was sitting
with Aisha (RA) twelve years after the death of his first wife Khadijah
(RA). A woman was knocking on the door and she said, “Excuse me, May I
come in?” The Prophet (SAWS) rose up to his feet and said, “Allahu-Akbar
(Allah is Most Great!), it is as if I can hear Khadijah asking permission to
come in, maybe it is Hala her sister. O Allah, I wish it will be Hala.”
(He was still remembering Khadijah’s voice after twelve years. How
loyal and merciful!) Aisha was jealous, she said, “Do you still remember that
old lady while Allah has given you a wife better than her?” Any man in such a
situation will just ignore what she says and will say, “You are right, my dear.”
The Prophet (SAWS) was loyal to his late wife. He said, “Nay, Allah has
never given me a better substitute. She consoled me when everybody else threw
me out, she believed me when everybody else did not and she gave me all she
could when everybody else deprived me.”
His Gallantry:
We claim that we are gallant; let us learn the true essence
of gallantry from the Messenger of Allah (SAWS). There was a Bedouin
whose money was taken away by Abu-Jahl. The latter was so hostile to the Prophet
(SAWS) that he used to harm him and the Muslims in Makkah, day and night.
He even made fun of the Prophet (SAWS) and tried to kill him.
The Bedouin resorted to several people to get his money
back from Abu-Jahl, but to no avail. He went to the leaders of Quraysh and
asked them, “Who can get my money back from Abu-Jahl?” They wanted to befool
him, so they told him, “Do you want to get your money back?” He said, “Yes!”
They told him, “Go to this guy (by this they meant the Prophet SAWS) who
is praying over there at the Ka’ba. Nobody can get you your money back except
him, because he is so endeared to Abu-Jahl.”
The man believed them. He waited for the Prophet (SAWS)
until he had finished his prayer, and said, “Those people told me that you will
get me my money back from Abu-Jahl.” If you were in this situation, what would
you say? You would say, “These people are making fun of both of us, I have
problems with this man. I am the last person to get you your back money.”
However, the Prophet (SAWS) said, “I will get you your money.” The
Prophet headed with the man to Abu-Jahl’s abode, and he knocked on Abu-Jahl’s
door. When Abu-Jahl opened the door, the Prophet (SAWS) told him, “Did
you take this man’s money?” Abu-Jahl replied, “Yes.” The Prophet (SAWS)
said, “Then give it back to him.” Abu-Jahl flew inside and came back with the
money and handed it to the man. The Prophet (SAWS) said, “Take your money
and go wherever you want.” The Quraishites then asked Abu-Jahl, “What on earth
have you done? We have all tried to no avail, so what happened now?” Abu-Jahl
answered, “There was a male-camel standing behind the Prophet with his mouth
wide open, if I had not given back the money, it would have devoured me.”
I wonder why the male-camel appeared in this incident
particularly. Why didn’t it appear when Abu-Jahl was harming the Prophet (SAWS)?
It seems that when he harmed the Prophet (SAWS), it was predestined that
the Islamic nation should realize that Islam is very precious, even the Prophet
(SAWS) was harmed. However, when an incident dictated gallantry, Allah
(SWT) supported him. It is a miracle endowed by Allah (SWT) to
his Messenger (SAWS).
His Humbleness:
(Bear in mind that I am telling you all these stories in
order to make you love the Prophet (SAWS)). A man came to the Prophet
(SAWS) shaking because it was his first time to meet him. He thought it was
as if he was going to meet a king. The Prophet (SAWS) got up, patted him on his
back, and said, “Take it easy, I am not a king. I am just a slave of Allah,
eating like all the other people, walking like them and my mother used to eat
Qadid in Makkah.”
His Truthfulness:
When Allah (SWT) ordered the Prophet (SAWS)
to proclaim his message, he stood up on the mount of Safaa in the middle
of the city of Makkah, and said at the top of his voice, “Suppose I told you
that there is an (enemy) cavalry in the valley intending to attack you, would
you believe me?” They said, “Yes, you never said anything but the truth.” The
Prophet (SAWS) then said, “I am a warner sent to you in the face of a
terrific punishment.”
His Honesty:
Before the Prophet (SAWS) was sent by Allah (SWT)
as a Prophet, and as Quraish had been re-building the Ka’ba, they disagreed on
who would put the stone in its place. They almost had a fight because of
this issue. Eventually, they agreed that the first man to enter from the door
would be chosen by them as an arbitrator between them. The Prophet (SAWS)
was the first one to enter the place. They all said, “The honest one, we agree
on choosing him (as an arbitrator between us). The honest one, we agree on him!”
His Forgiveness:
What about the Prophet’s forgiveness? It was evident on the
day of the conquest of Makkah. The Makkans were the ones who kicked him out,
killed his Companions, took their money and tortured them. They had been away
from Makkah for many years. The Prophet said, “What would you think I should do
to you?” They said, “You will do good, you are a kind brother and the son of a
kind brother.” The Prophet (SAWS) replied, “I will tell you just what Yusuf
said to his brothers, “No reproach on you this day…” (TMQ, 12:92). You
are all free to go.”
His mercy:
There was a small boy called Omayr who had a small bird
which he loved so much, and used to play with it. Whenever the Prophet (SAWS)
saw him, he would ask him, “O Omayr, how is an-Nughayr?” The Prophet (SAWS) had
named the bird an-Nughayr which rhymed with the boy’s name: Omayr. One day, the
Prophet (SAWS) saw Omayr crying, he asked him, “Why is Omayr crying?” Omayr
said, “An-Nughair died, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (SAWS) sat
down with him for an hour, talking and playing. Some companions were passing
by, they saw the Prophet (SAWS) sitting with Omayr, so they asked him,
“What are you doing, O Messenger of Allah?” The Messenger (SAWS) said,
“An-Nughayr died, so I wanted to play with Omayr.”
His sense of humor:
Some people think that a religious person should look
gloomy and frowning as they believe that everything is haram (forbidden).
They say, “It is not appropriate for us to laugh because we are respectable. We
cannot joke around with others because we are religious.” Lo! The Prophet (SAWS)
teaches us something completely different. Aisha said that the Prophet
(SAWS) had a cheerful mien and used to smile and had the purest heart. He
used to laugh and make those in his abode laugh. See how men are used to do in their houses these days?
Once upon a time, an old lady came to the Prophet (SAWS)
and said, “O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah to let me enter paradise.” The
Prophet (SAWS) said, “No old person will enter paradise.” The woman left
him crying. The Prophet (SAWS) asked his companions to call her back
then he told her, “Don’t cry, no old persons go to paradise because Allah makes
those who enter paradise young again, so you will go to paradise as a young
virgin and he recited to her, “We have created them (maidens) of special
creation. And made them virgins, Loving (their husbands only), (and) of equal
age.” (TMQ, 56:35-37).
See how this old lady cried when she heard that she would
not enter al-Jannah (paradise). Nowadays, some youths joke around saying,
“Aren’t we all going to the hellfire?” I just wonder and think that the Prophet
(SAWS) would not be satisfied with us and our deeds? I wonder if anyone
of us dies today, can he be a companion of the Prophet (SAWS) in
paradise. I wonder if any of us is concerned about this matter.
The issue is not only entering paradise, the point is how
you can be the Prophet’s companion in paradise. Do you long to
sit down with the Prophet (SAWS)? We ask Allah (SWT), the
Almighty, to bring us together with him in a good state. Our Lord wants our
relationship with the Prophet (SAWS) be closely connected. The Prophet (SAWS)
said, “No one would greet me but that Allah would restore to me my soul back so
I would answer back the greeting.”
Moreover, the Prophet (SAWS) said, “Allah has angels roaming around if
they find anyone greeting me they carry back these greetings to me.”
I wonder how your relationship with him is. The Prophet (SAWS)
also said, “Your deeds are displayed before me every Friday. Whenever I see
good deeds (of them), I thank Allah and whenever I see bad deeds (of them) I ask
Allah to forgive you, so ask Allah (many times) to incur His blessings and peace
on me.”
One of the funny stories about the Prophet’s mercy,
compassion and gentleness is that of Zahir’s. He was somewhat ugly. The
companions of the Prophet did not like to deal with him because he was a tough
Bedouin, so they used to avoid him. One time, while Zahir was in the market,
the Prophet (SAWS) came from behind him, hugged him and covered his eyes.
How gentle! The man was tough and not used to this so he said, “Who is it?”
Then the Prophet (SAWS) opened his arms and by the time Zahir turned to
face to him he found the Prophet (SAWS) with his arms opened. Zahir
said, “I have never been as happy as when I was so close to the Prophet.” Then
the Prophet (SAWS) took him by the hand and said jokingly, “Who would buy
this slave?” Zahir said, “You will find me bad merchandise, O Prophet of
Allah.” The Prophet (SAWS) replied, “To Allah you are very precious, O
Zahir.”
Really, we miss the Messenger of Allah (SAWS). We
did not live with him, carry his slippers, kiss his hands, we did not listen to
him nor obeyed him, but as the Prophet (SAWS) is not among us, his
Sunnah (way of life) is still surviving. The person who does not pray, what
is his pretext? The girl who is not veiled, the guys who pursue girls on the
streets, what is their pretexts? The ones who watch porn websites, how will you
meet him on the Day of Judgment?
Do you believe that there are Muslims to whom he will run,
hug and give a drink from his fountain? However, the angels will tell them,
“Stay away, stay away, you are damned.” The Prophet (SAWS) would say,
“But they are from my nation.” The angels will reply, “You don’t know what they
have done after you.” Then the Prophet (SAWS) will reply, “Let those who
changed after me be damned!”
Aren’t you afraid that the Prophet (SAWS) will tell
you these words? Why wouldn’t the Prophet (SAWS) do with you what he once
did with Abu-Bakr (RA) and Omar (RA)? Do you know what he did?
He came to the mosque one day holding their hands and said, “This is how we will
be resurrected together.”
Let me talk quickly about how the companions loved him. I
will mention some incidents to conclude our episode on the Messenger of Allah (SAWS).
The example of the love of the Companions for him (SAWS) is Abu-Bakr
As-Siddiq (RA) the day that his father Abu-Quhafa embraced Islam. He was
very old and blind at that time, so Abu-Bakr should have been happy that he
finally embraced Islam. When he gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (SAWS),
Abu-Bakr (RA) cried, so people asked him, “Why are you crying? You should
be happy!” He said, “I am crying because I wish that the hand that gave oath to
the Messenger of Allah was not that of my father, but rather of Abu-Taleb, the
Prophet’s uncle, because it was hard on the Messenger of Allah (that his uncle
was not a Muslim).” Abu-Bakr’s love for the Prophet (SAWS) was
inundating.
On the day of Hijra (the migration to Madinah),
Abu-Bakr (RA) went off with him. The Prophet (SAWS) was very
thirsty, and Abu-Bakr (RA) was even thirstier. Abu-Bakr (RA)
searched for milk. He saw a shepherd with some milk, so he took it and gave it
to the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) and said, “Drink, o Messenger of Allah.”
He said, “So he drank until my thirst was quenched.”
Did you hear what he said? “The Prophet drank until I was full.” What do you
think? Do you love him that much? Show me your actions, the evidence of your
love for him. Is your love just words or are they just emotions that you forget
once you leave the mosque? You should love him more than you love anybody else.
During the Battle of Uhud, a woman’s father, husband and
son died. She was in the battle, giving water to the fighters and nursing the
injured. She heard that the Prophet (SAWS) died, so she ran to confirm
the news. She met one of the companions, and asked him, “What happened to the
Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Surely, we belong to Allah, and surely to Him we
are returning. Your father died.” She told him, “I am asking you about the
Messenger of Allah.” He said, “He is alright.” She said, “I will not believe it
until I see him with my own eyes.” She went on and met another companion, so she
asked him, “What happened to the Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Your brother
died.” She told him, “I am asking you about the Messenger of Allah.” He said,
“He is alright.” She said, “I will not believe it until I see him with my own
eyes.” She went on and met another companion, so she asked him, “What happened
to the Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Your son died.” S he told him, “I am
asking you about the Messenger of Allah.” He said, “He is alright.” She said, “I
will not believe it until I see him with my own eyes.” The woman looked over,
she saw the Messenger (SAWS), and she held tight to his outer garment and
said, “Any calamity could be tolerated after you (i.e. other than losing you), O
Messenger of Allah.”
Hassan Ibn-Thabit, who used to chant poetry about him,
said, “I do sacrifice my father, my mother and my honor for the protection of
Muhammad’s honor.”
In the Battle of Uhud, Talha Ibn-Obaydullah said, “Lower
your head, O Messenger of Allah. The arrows were coming from all directions.
Lower your head, Messenger of Allah. An arrow might hit you. I sacrifice my
neck for yours, o Messenger of Allah.” He meant, “May our necks be cut, but the
Sunnah of the Prophet be preserved.”
Abu-Dujanah saw the arrows coming towards the Prophet
(SAWS) from all directions, so he hugged the Prophet (SAWS) and lay
over him, while the arrows kept hitting him on his back. Abu-Bakr (RA)
said, “I looked over to find Abu-Dujanah like a hedgehog because of the myriad
arrows that hit his back.”
Um-Omarah found out that all the people ran away and the
Prophet (SAWS) was left alone. One man came to kill him, so she took a
sword and stood in front of the Prophet (SAWS). The Arabs considered it
disgraceful to kill a woman, so the man wanted to move her out of his way. He
hit her such that the sword flew out of her hand. She said, “I was about to run
away, but I saw the Prophet (SAWS) alone standing behind me, so I stood
up (and persevered).” He hit her in the shoulder with his sword, but she stayed
still until the bones of her shoulder were smashed. She fell in a pool of
blood. Nevertheless, she did not die; she died 20 years after the Prophet
(SAWS) had passed away.) Her son came to her succor in the battle yet she
told him, “Leave me alone, take care of the Messenger of Allah.”
The Prophet (SAWS) said, “Who can bear what you have
borne, Um-Omarah?” She said, “I will forbear, and forbear, and forbear, but I
wish you let me accompany you in paradise.” The Prophet (SAWS) raised
his hands and said, “Not just you, but you and your whole family (will accompany
me in paradise). O Allah! Let them be my companions in paradise.” What kind of
love is this?!
When Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) was dying, he asked his
son to take the permission of Aisha to be buried beside the Prophet (SAWS).
She granted him the permission, so he said, “O Allah, praise be to You. I did
not feel burdened by any issue as such burden: my wish to be buried beside the
Prophet.”
Moreover, when Anas Ibn-Malik was dying, people asked him,
“What do you wish for, Anas?” He lived for 80 years after the Prophet (SAWS).
He said, on his death bed, “I wish that these eyes were closed now by death.
Then, I would not open them until the Day of Judgment. When I open them, I
find the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) in front of me and I tell him, ‘I am
Anas, your servant, O Messenger of Allah.’”
Bilal said when he was dying, “Tomorrow, I will meet my
dear ones: Muhammad and his companions.” He was happy that he was dying because
he would meet his dear ones. Do any of us long for the Prophet (SAWS)
and his companions (RA)?
Look at someone like Sawad in the battle of Badr. Sawad
was very fat. When the Prophet (SAWS) was arranging the army lines,
Sawad was sticking out of the line because of his huge stature. The Prophet
(SAWS) kept telling him, “Stand properly in line, Sawad.” Sawad would reply,
“Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” Then, the Prophet (SAWS) would come back to
find him out of line again. The Prophet (SAWS) held his siwak
(natural toothbrush), and poked him with it in his stomach. Sawad said, “You
hurt me, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet (SAWS) lifted his garment to
reveal his stomach and said, “Take your revenge, Sawad.” Sawad hugged the
Prophet’s stomach and kissed it saying, “This is what I wanted. This is what I
wanted.” The Prophet (SAWS) said, “Why, Sawad?” He replied, “O Messenger
of Allah, I think that this day is the day of my martyrdom, so I wanted my last
encounter with this life having my body touching yours, Messenger of Allah.”
Urwa Ibn-Masoud said, “I saw Khosrau (king of Persia) on
his throne, Caesar on his throne, and an-Najashi (Negus, king of Ethiopia) on
his throne. I never saw any one more dignified than Muhammad (SAWS)
among his companions. I never saw anyone more loving like the love of
Muhammad’s companions to him. When he performs ablution, they fight for his
water. When he talks they listen while they are filled with awe. When he looks
at them, they put their heads down in respect to him, except two persons; he
looks at them and they look at him and he smiles at them: Abu-Bakr (RA)
and Omar (RA).” Urwa was a disbeliever when he said these words.
People, what do we want from this life? Our main concern is
this life, isn’t it? What is your goal? Isn’t it the best thing in the world to
accompany the Prophet (SAWS)? Don’t you want to meet him? Won’t you fear
Allah (SWT) in this life? Our girls who are not veiled, what is their
goal? What about the women who hurt their husbands, what is their aim?
By Allah (SWT), our words will not turn into actions
until we imitate the Prophet (SAWS) in his manners and his acts of
worship, and fill our hearts with his love.
If you want to love him, read his Seerah (Biography)
in books that talk about him, like Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtoom (The Sealed
Nectar), Fiqh As-Seerah (Knowledge of the Prophet’s Biography) and
Mukhtasar seerat Ibn-Hisham (Summary of the Prophet’s Biography by
Ibn-Hisham).
Authentic, An-Nawawi, al-Athkar,
number 154
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