In this lecture, Sheikh Yusuf Estes deals with well established facts about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). However, no sheikh or one lecture can cover all aspects of the life of this great man. Volumes and encyclopedias and even libraries have been dedicated to presenting the picture of this noble prophet.
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Prayers of the Pious (1): The Best of My Days
In the first episode of the Prayers of the Pious series, Sheikh Omar Suleiman considers the righteous du`a’ that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) made at the end of his lifetime.
“O Allah, let the best of my lifetime be its ending, and my best deed be that which I seal (my life with), and the best of my days the day I meet You.”
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Source: Yaqeen Institute of Islamic Research
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s a verse of the Qur’an reveals, “… Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and the Final Seal of the Prophets” (Al-Ahzab 33:40), the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent to mankind as the last prophet.
He was a living example of the sublime morality of Allah’s last revelation. He was a friend of Allah and inspired humanity by his nearness to Him. He was His representative, noble in His sight, and a friend to all believers.
As Allah has revealed in another verse, “We will impose a weighty Word upon you…” (Al-Muzzammil 33:5), he charged His last Prophet, Muhammad, with a heavy responsibility. Due to the Prophet’s strong faith in Allah, he fulfilled that responsibility in the best possible way, called mankind to the path of Allah and Islam, and illuminated the way for all believers.
Although we have never seen the Prophet, we can still do our very best to come to know his exemplary behavior, his sayings and the pleasing morality he displayed, by means of the verses of the Qur’an and the Hadith (the sayings and teachings of the Prophet).
We can try to be like him, in order to be close to him in the hereafter. People today, and the young in particular, take many individuals as role models, imitate the way they behave, speak and dress, and try to be like them. Yet, since the great majority of thesepeople are not on the right road themselves, they lack proper morality and attitudes.
It is therefore a serious responsibility to lead people to the truth and the best morality and behavior. A Muslim needs to try to emulate the behavior and the morality of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Allah confirms that:
You have an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah, for all who put their hope in Allah and the Last Day and remember Allah much. (Al-Ahzab 33:21)
Like the Prophet Muhammad, the other prophets were also role models for believers, and enjoyed Allah’s good pleasure. Allah says:
There is instruction in their stories for people of intelligence. This (the Qur’an) is not a narration which has been invented but confirmation of all that came before, a clarification of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for people who believe. (Yusuf 12:111)
The aim in writing this book is to introduce various characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad, by showing the superior features and qualities a society may enjoy when it adopts such a morality, thus encouraging others to adopt that same morality. As the Prophet has revealed in a hadith:
“Verily, I have left amongst you the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Apostle which if you hold fast, you shall never go astray.” (Al-Hakim)
Thus, a Muslim’s two truest guides are the Qur’an and Sunnah (the practice of the Prophet Muhammad). The Prophet Muhammad was an example to all humanity with his morality, to which he called on mankind to live by. It was the Prophet who said “I was sent to perfect good character” (Al-Bukhari) and “By One in whose hand there is my life: None shall enter Paradise except one who has got good conduct.” (AL-Bayhaqi)
Those Muslims who follow the way of the Prophet need to be foremost in their morality and behavior, and to invite others to adopt that same morality:
We only send the Messengers to bring good news and to give warning. Those who disbelieve use fallacious arguments to deny the truth. They make a mockery of My signs and also of the warning they were given. (Al-Kahf 18:56)
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What a teacher he was, and what a man! Muhammad (peace be upon him) was filled with greatness, honesty, and sublimity that, truly, those overwhelmed with his greatness have their excuse, and those who sacrificed their lives for his sake are the most triumphant.
They heard the growth of life running in his veins when Muhammad started to bestow upon them his daily revelation and his past contemplation.
Muhammad ibn `Abdullah was Allah’s Messenger to the people in the midsummer of life. What mystery was available to him that made him a man to honor among human beings, and what grand hands did he extend towards heaven to let all the gates of mercy, blessing, and guidance open widely!
What faith, what chastity, and what purity! What modesty, what love and what loyalty! What devotion to truth and what reverence to life and the living?
Allah bestowed upon Muhammad the amount of blessing to qualify him to carry His standard and speak for Him, and made him capable of being the last of His messengers. Therefore, Allah’s bounty towards him was great. But however?? the brains, inspiration, and pens compete to talk about him or to sing hymns of praise to reveal his greatness, they all seem insignificant due to his superior traits.
These few words are a mere reference to Muhammad’s eminence and some of his superior qualities which make people cherish him and which drew him an unprecedented loyalty by his Companions whether they were Muhajirun or Ansar or from the Quraish.
No sooner had life emerged than Allah made all its breeze hail his coming, and sent messengers to all men everywhere, carrying the principles of the divine call and the fragrance of the caller, the truth of the teachings, the eminence of the master, the enlightenment of the message and the compassion of the Messenger (peace be upon him).
That is true. This was the main objective, no more. It is to perceive in the light of one of his beams some of the traits of his rare eminence that brought about the believers’ loyalty and made them perceive in him the goal and the way, the teacher and the friend.
What made the nobles of Muhammad’s people hasten to his words and his religion. Abu Bakr, Talhah, Az-Zubair, `Uthman ibn `Affan, `Abdu-Rahman ibn `Awf, and Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, all abandoned in haste the wealth and glory of their community which surrounded them, receiving at the same time heavy burdens in life, full of cares, troubles, and conflict.
What made the weak of Muhammad’s community seek his protection, hasten to his standard and his call, when they saw him without wealth or weapon, with harm inflicted upon him and evil following him in a terrifying way, without his being able to avoid it; what made the pre-Islamic tyrant `Umar ibn Al-Khattab, who went to cut off Muhammad’s noble head with his sword, return to cut off with the same sword – made sharper through faith – the heads of the Prophet’s enemies and his persecutors.
What made the city’s elite and noble men go to Muhammad and promise to be his companions, voluntarily embracing a set of trouble and terror, knowing that the struggle between them and the Quraish would be more horrifying than terror itself.
What made those who believed in Muhammad increase and not decrease, though he declared day and night, “I hold no good or harm for you. I do not know what will become of me or you”!
What made them believe that the world would open its countries to them and that their feet would be wading in the gold and crowns of the world? And that the Qur’an they were reciting in secret would reverberate in strong tones and ringing voice, not only in their own generation or in their own peninsula but throughout the ages and everywhere?
What made them believe the prophecy told them by the Messenger, though when they turned right and left they found nothing except heat, barren land, and stones emitting boiling vapor, their pointed heads looking like devils’ heads?
What filled their hearts with certainty and will- power? It was Muhammad (peace be upon him) who else could have done that they saw themselves with their own eyes all his virtues and all that distinguished him.
They saw Muhammad’s chastity, purity, honesty, straightforwardness, and courage. They saw his superiority and his compassion. They saw his intellect and his eloquence. They saw the sun shining the way his truth and eminence shone.
They heard the growth of life running in his veins when Muhammad started to bestow upon them his daily revelation and his past contemplation. They saw all these and more, not through a mask but face to face and in practice, through their own vision and perception.
When an Arab of those days saw something, he would talk as an expert. The Arabs were people of perception and intuition. If one of them saw some footprints on the road, he would tell you, “These are the footprints of such-and-such a person”. He would smell the breath of the one talking to him and realize what truth or falsity was inherent.
These men saw Muhammad and were his contemporaries since his coming into existence as a newborn babe. Nothing was concealed from them in his life. The stage of childhood which is unperceived by other than the child’s people and close relations was, in the case of Muhammad, seen and perceived by all the people of Makkah.
That was because his childhood was not like any other. It drew attention to itself for its early signs of manliness and initiative, and for rejecting the usual play of children for the seriousness of men.
Muhammad’s Pure Nature
As an example, the Quraish used to talk about `Abd Al Muttalib’s grandson who kept away from the children’s playgrounds and their celebrations, and used to say whenever he was invited to them, “I was not created for that.”
Moreover, when his wet-nurse Halimah took him back to his people, she told them her observations, her experience with the child, and what she saw in him to convince them he was not an ordinary child. She believed there was a hidden secret in him, unknown except to Allah, which might be revealed one day.
As to his youth, what chastity! He was clearer and more translucent. His people’s preoccupation with him and their talk about him were more constant and praising. As to his manhood, it was fully perceived by every eye, ear, and heart. Above all, it was his community’s conscience, measuring through his conduct and behavior all their visions of truth, goodness, and beauty.
This, we believe, was the attitude of the early believers towards Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him), the Muhajirun as well as those who sheltered and supported him.
It was a firm and swift attitude that did not leave any place for hesitation or idleness. A man who had such a pure and enlightened life could not play false with Allah. With such sharp insight, the believers saw the light of Allah and they followed it.
They would thank their insight when they saw later how Allah’s Messenger was supported by Allah and how the whole peninsula was obliged to him. Many unperceived blessings and spoils were bestowed upon them while he became more modest, more austere, and more pious, until he met Allah at the appointed time, lying down on a mat that left its impressions on his body.
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The article is excerpted from the book “Men Around the Messenger”, which is translation based on Khalid Muhammad Khalid’s celebrated work in Arabic “Rijal Hawla Ar-Rasul” which represents the real inspirational stories of sixty-four Companions of the Prophet.
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By: Khalid Muhammad Khalid
Logic and reason were – and still are- the best proof of the truth of Muhammad (peace be upon him) when he said, “I am Allah’s Messenger.” It does not appeal to good logic or to sound reason that a man who lived such a good life lies about Allah.
Early believers who hastened to believe in his message had such a relation with him after their guidance from Allah, which is the best evidence of logic and reason.
We see Muhammad (peace be upon him) before his message, and we see him after his message. We see him in his cradle, and we see him shrouded by death. But, have we seen any contradiction or inconsistency in all his life? Never!
Let us now approach the first years of his message. Those were years one rarely finds an equal to in the annals of history for the constancy, truth, and eminence. Those were the years which revealed, more than any others, all the facets of the teacher and guide of all humanity. Those were years that opened the living book of his life and heroism and, more than any other years, represented the cradle of his miracles.
Throughout those years, the Messenger of Allah was alone. He left all he possessed of comfort, security, and settled life. He approached the people with what they were not familiar, or rather with what they detested. He approached them and directed his words to their reasons, and it is a difficult task for a person who directs his speech to the minds of people instead of their feelings.
The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad did not only do that, since the consequence of addressing the mind might be bearable if you are standing within the circle of common conventions and common aspirations. But when you call them towards a distant future which you perceive but they do not, which you live in and they are not aware of, it is a difficult task.
Indeed, when you address their minds and rise to destroy the essence of their lives from the base, though you do that in a sincere, honest way and not urged by a certain purpose or glory, it is a risk which cannot be taken except by the leaders of the righteous people and messengers.
The Messenger (peace be upon him) was the hero and great master of that situation. The form of worship at that time was worshiping idols, whose rites were observed as a religion. The Messenger (PBUH) did not turn to any maneuvers or intrigues. The unpaved road and the heavy burden would have been good excuses if he had used his brilliant mind to prepare them for the word “monotheism” instead of surprising them with it.
He was able and it was his right to prepare to isolate the community from its idol-gods which had been handed down from generation to generation for centuries. He could have started by going around the issue to avoid as much as possible a direct confrontation he knew would bestir all the envy of his people and draw upon them all their weapons against him.
Yet, he did not. This illustrates that he was a Messenger. He heard a divine voice within him telling him to rise, and he did, and telling him to deliver the message, and he did so without the force of weapons and without fleeing! He confronted them from the first instant with the essence of the message and the core of the case: “O people, I am the Messenger of Allah unto you, to worship Him and not to set partners with Him. These idols are intellectual falsehood. They are of no harm or benefit to you”.
From the very beginning he faced them with such clear and plain words, and from the very beginning he faced the severe struggle which he had to undergo his departure from life!
Or were the early believers in need of a prompting power to support the Prophet!
What awakened conscience would not be stirred by such a rare and unique scene! It was the scene of a man known to the people to have full intellectual power and immaculate behavior, standing alone, facing his people with a call which could bring mountains down. Words were issuing forth from his heart and lips, obedient and superb, as if in them lay all the power, will, and design of the future, as if it were fate announcing its proclamation!
But perhaps this was the prompting of a good spirit, after which Muhammad (peace be upon him) would worship his Lord as he liked, leaving the deities of his people in their place and leaving his community’s religion alone.
If such a thought occurred to some minds at that time, Muhammad (peace be upon him) soon dissipated it. He made it quite clear to the people that he was a Messenger and had to convey the message, that he could not be silent nor turn into himself after being guided by the truth and enlightenment.
All the powers of the world and nature could not have silenced him or stopped him because it was Allah Who made him speak and move and Who guided his footsteps.
The Quraysh’s reaction came as swift as flames stirred by a violent wind. Troubles began to be wreaked upon a soul unaccustomed to anything but absolute grace. The Messenger then began to teach his first lessons with utmost mastery and amazing loyalty.
The image of this scene is paramount in all places and at all times, as well as in history. Those with an awakened conscience in Makkah were pleased, filled with admiration, and came closer. They beheld a lofty and majestic man. They did not know whether his neck had become longer until it was able to touch the sky or the sky had come down to crown his head. They beheld loyalty, steadfastness and eminence.
However, the best scene they beheld was on the day when the noblemen of the Quraysh went to Abu Talib saying, “Verily, we cannot tolerate a person who insults our fathers, mocks our dreams, and finds fault with our deities. You either stop him or we fight both of you until one of the parties is destroyed.”
Abu Talib sent a message to his nephew saying, “My nephew, your people have approached me and talked about your affairs. You have to think of me and yourself and not burden me with what I cannot endure.”
What then was the attitude of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?
The only man who had stood with him seemed to be abandoning him, or rather seemed unable to confront the Quraysh who sharpened all their teeth.
The Messenger did not hesitate in his reply, and his determination did not waver. No! He did not even search for the words to show his tenacity. It was already there, efficiently rising to deliver one of his most significant lessons to the whole of humanity and to dictate its highest principles.
Thus he spoke: “O uncle, by Allah, if they put the sun on my right and the moon on my left in order to abandon this matter until it is manifested by Allah or I perish by it, I would never abandon it!” Peace be upon you, O Prophet of Islam, you who were colossal among men, and your words were colossal. Abu Talib thereupon restored his courage and the courage of his forefathers at once, clasped the right hand of his nephew with his two hands, and said, “Say what you like, for, by Allah, I will never force you to do anything at all.”
Muhammad (peace be upon him) then did not depend on his uncle for protection and security, though his uncle was capable of that, but he was the one bestowing security, protection and steadfastness on people around him.
Any honest person who beholds a scene like that cannot but hasten to love, be loyal to, and believe in that Messenger.
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The article is excerpted from the book “Men Around the Messenger”, which is a translation based on Khalid Muhammad Khalid’s celebrated work in Arabic “Rijal Hawla Ar-Rasul” which represents the real inspirational stories of sixty-four Companions of the Prophet.
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