Moulood Al-Nabi
by Arshad Gamiet
Royal
Holloway College/Univ. of London /UK. 31st
May 2002.
“As-salámu 'alaikum wa rahmatul láhi
wa barakátuh!” [Wait for adhán]
“A-úthu
billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem. Bismilláhir
rahmánir raheem.
Al
hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi,
wana’oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a’maalinaa.
All
Praise is due to Alláh, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask
forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own
evils and our own bad deeds.
May-
Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida.
Anyone
who is guided by Alláh, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left
astray, will find no one to guide him.
Wa
ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna
Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh”
And,
I bear witness that there is no god but Alláh, the Only One without any
partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, sws, is His servant, and His
messenger.
My respected
Brothers and Sisters in Islam,
Last
Friday, 24th May [12th Rabi-al-Awwal] was the birthday of
our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sws. Across the entire Muslim world, there were
celebrations of what we call Moulood al Nabi. This is a good time for us to
pause, and to reflect, on the life and Mission of this greatest of all men, who
is described in The Holy Qur'án as, “Khaataman Nabii-een,” “The
seal of the Prophets.”
What are
the essential points about his life, that has meaning for us today, not only for
Muslims, but for all mankind? We naturally feel a tremendous love, reverence and
gratitude to our Holy Prophet Muhammad, sws. After all, it is he who brought us
Islám, in its final and complete form. It is he who suffered humiliation and
abuse from his own people, who endured exile and violence for the sake of his
mission. It is he who established the foundations of this Ummah,
this great Brotherhood of Muslims, of which we are privileged to belong. We can
be excused for regarding him with so much love and affection, that, others might
say we lack objectivity in our views. OK, that’s fine. If a Muslim says that
Muhammad was the greatest man who ever lived, outsiders will probably not pay
much attention. But, if the same words of admiration came from their own writers
and thinkers, people do sit up and take notice.
One
English writer who admired him greatly was Thomas Carlyle, who wrote these words
84 years ago in his book, (On Heroes and
Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History, London, 1918).
"…
These Arabs, the man Muhammad, and that one century. It is as if a spark had fallen, one spark on a world of what
seemed black unnoticeable sand, but lo, the sand proves explosive powder, blazes
heaven high from Delhi to Grenada: I said: the Great Man was always as lightning
out of heaven; the rest of the men waited on him like fuel, and then they too
would flame … How one man single-handedly could weld warring tribes and
wandering boudouins into a most powerful and civilised nation in less then
twenty years….".
Another writer,
Michael Hart, in his book, “The 100 greatest men in history,” placed Nabii
Muhammad at the top of his list of men who had the biggest impact on human
history.
We Muslims of
course, have no need for anyone else to endorse the greatness of our beloved
Prophet Muhammad, sws. We know that he is the greatest of all men. For us, it is
enough that Alláh describes his status in The Holy Qur'án:
“Wa maa
arsal naaka illaa Rahmatal lil-‘aalameen!”
“and We have
not sent you [O Muhammad], but as a Mercy to all the Worlds.”
Note that the term ‘alameen” in Arabic, refers not only to all nations, or
to all of mankind, but to all the worlds, i.e. including the world of
matter and of the spirit. In the same way, the first line of Súra Al-Faatiha
says: “Al-hamdu lillaahi Rabbil ‘aalameen,” “All praise
is due to Alláh, Lord of all the worlds,” so The Holy Qur'án refers to
our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sws as a Mercy to all the worlds. We who claim to
be his followers, and who remember him in every prayer, should study his life
and follow his example. For truly, in the Messenger of Alláh is the finest of
examples.
“Alhamdu
lillahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen. Was-salaatu was-salaamu alaa Khairil mursaleen.
Muhammadin-nabeey-yil Ummiy-yee, wa-‘alaa aalihee, wasah-bihee, aj-ma’een.
All
praise is due to Alláh, the Lord of all the Worlds; may the greetings and peace
be upon the best messenger, Muhammad, the unlettered prophet; and upon his
family and upon all of his companions.
Ammaa
ba’ad:
Innalláha
wa malaaikata yusallúna alan nabi. Yá ay yuhal latheena ámanu sallú alayhi
wasalli mú tas leema.
Behold,
Alláh and his angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O you who believe! Ask
for blessings on him, and salute him with a worthy greeting.
Allahumma
salli alá Muhammad, wa ala áli Muhammad, kama salayta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali
Ibrahim. Allahumma barik ala Muhammad, wa alaa áli Muhammad, kama barakta ala
Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil ála meen, innaka hameedun majeed.”
O
Alláh! Send your greetings upon Muhammad and his family,
just as you sent your greetings on Ibraheem, and his family. O Alláh,
send you blessings on Muhammad and his family, just as you blessed Ibraheem and
his family. In both worlds, you are praiseworthy and exalted.
Islám
ennobled every human community that came under its influence. Even Ghengiz Khan,
the most fearsome ‘international terrorist’ of his time, who brought his
Mongol horsemen sweeping out of the Steppes of Central Asia, could not resist
the appeal of “Laa ilaaha ill-lall-laah; Muhammadar-Rasoolull-laah.”
“There is no god except Alláh, Muhammad is the Messenger of Alláh.”
The Mongols raped and plundered their way southward and westward until they were
stopped at the Battle of Ain Jalut by the Mameluk Beybars in 1260. Then, the
entire world breathed a collective sigh of relief. Despite themselves, and
despite having destroyed a huge swathe of the Muslim world, including Baghdad,
in time, the Mongols accepted the faith of the people they conquered. Their
descendants became the Mogul emperors who ruled India for many centuries.
Today,
ironically, while many Muslim individuals and nations are looking towards the
West for their role-models, there are growing numbers of Europeans and North
Americans who are turning to Islám in order to give some meaning and purpose to
their lives. In a recent newspaper article, a Jewish historian wrote about her
reflections about the growth of Islám in the West. She said that while
travelling on a train in Brussels, she found herself with a large group of
schoolgirls wearing hijab. “The girls smiled at me, and I smiled
back,” she wrote, “and I could not help thinking, here is the future of
Europe, and I am the past.”
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Islám is winning the hearts and minds of a many thinking
people in the West. Alláh assures the ultimate victory of Islám, and we have
no doubts about that. The real question is, what role are we going to play in
helping that process along? Will Islám win with our help and effort, or will
Islám win, in spite of us? That is what really matters. Are we going to concern
ourselves only with our career, our family, our mortgage and investments and our
leisure time, or are we going to seek the good pleasure of Alláh, by serving
Islám wholeheartedly, unselfishly and with enthusiasm?
History
shows that the struggle to establish Islám in every age and every land, was
often carried forward by small numbers of Muslims, who had cultivated some quite
exceptional qualities. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sws, and his illustrious
Companions, were the most remarkable human beings that ever walked on this
planet. Their qualities of faith in Alláh, obedience to His prophet, patience,
honesty, trustworthiness and unstoppable determination, enabled them to
accomplish the most formidable tasks.
Those
were Believers who committed themselves and their possessions totally to Islám.
For them, there were no half-measures. They did not make any plans without
taking into account what pleases Alláh. It was more important for them to know
how their plans should fit into the Master Plan of the Master Planner. These
remarkable Muslims, the Companions of the Prophet, and all those who followed
their noble example, worked hard, and reposed all their trust in Alláh. They
are the ones described in these beautiful last 2 verses of Súra Taubah:
Bismillahir
Rahmanir Raheem!
128.
Laqad jaaa-akum Rasuulum min ‘an-fusikum ‘azizun ‘alayhi maa’anit-tum
harisun ‘alaykum bil-Mu’mineena ra’uufur-Raheem.
129. Fa-in tawal-low
faqul has-biyal-laahu Laa-ilaaha il-laahu ‘alayhi tawakkal tu wa-huwa Rabbul
‘alrshil Adtheem!
128. Now has come unto you a Messenger
from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should suffer. Ardently anxious
is he over you. To the Believers he is most kind and merciful.
129. But if they turn away, say:
“Alláh suffices me; there is no god but He, on Him is my trust; He is the
Lord of the Magnificent Throne.”
These
comforting and inspiring verses have helped Muslims in hardship and distress
throughout the ages.
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Islám, let us remember our beloved Prophet Muhammad,
sws, by trying to be like him, and his illustrious Companions, the Sahaaba.
Let us cultivate those noble qualities of 'Imán and Taqwa', honesty,
reliability and integrity of character. Let our lives be like beacons of light
in the spiritual darkness of modern times. Let us become the True Believers who
will end their lives responding to those evocative final verses of Súra Al-Fajr,
where Alláh invites our souls in these words:
“fad-ghuleefee
‘ibaadee, wad-ghulee jan-natee.”
“enter
you, my devotees, enter you my Heaven.”
Let us
pray to Alláh, to help us earn His good pleasure, to enter His Garden. Let us
become worthy inheritors of this great Ummah whose foundations were laid
by our beloved Prophet Muhammad, sws. That would be the best way to celebrate
Moulood-an-Nabii.
Let us pray to
Alláh, subhanállahu ta ‘Ala, to help us become like the fuel that flamed
with the light of Islám, many centuries ago, when Muslims led the world from
darkness into light. Despite the material prosperity we see around us today, we
do indeed live in an age of spiritual darkness. Modern man has a spiritual
hunger that only Islám can satisfy. Dear Muslims, let us not fail in our duty,
to hold up the light of Islám, in our thoughts, in our words, and in our
actions.
Let us also
make a special prayer for those who are busy with exams at this time. Whether it
be GCSE’s, A-levels, or university examinations. It can be a stressful time
for them and for their families. May Alláh in His infinite mercy and wisdom,
help those who are writing exams, to achieve excellent results. May Alláh guide
us all and help us all win His good pleasure.
Ameen!
Aqeemus salaah!
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