إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا
Ahzab 33: 56 Indeed, Allah showers His blessings upon the Prophet, and His angels pray for him. O believers! Invoke Allah’s blessings upon him and salute him with worthy greetings of peace.
He is the one who Allahﷻ praised and blessed and the Malaika send blessings upon him. And Allahﷻ ordered all Muslims until the end of time to do the same. What can be more honorable than that? Allahﷻ promised:
وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ
Anfaal 8: 33 But Allah would never punish them while you ˹O Prophet˺ were in their midst. Nor would He ever punish them if they prayed for forgiveness.
To have Rasoolullahﷺ with us means to follow him. Remember that even when he was physically present, his Companions were only those who believed in him and followed him. Not those who were physically in his presence but didn’t believe in him. Not even those who believed him but didn’t follow him. Allahﷻ reiterated the position of Rasoolullahﷺ and said:
لَقَدْ مَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِى ضَلَـٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ
A’al Imraan 3: 164 Indeed, Allah has done the believers a ˹great˺ favour by raising a messenger from among them—reciting to them His revelations, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom. For indeed they had previously been clearly astray.
We ask Allahﷻ to navigate us to Jannah at least 17 times a day. Allahﷻ granted our dua and gave us Rasoolullahﷺ and told us to follow his way. But then do we follow that direction or some other. That direction is called Sunnah. We asked for it. Allahﷻ gave it. Let us not get deceived by anyone or anything and leave the Sunnah because that is the only way to Jannah. Allahﷻ told us that the life of this world is deception. The truth, reality, hides behind what is apparent. That is what we must see. Allahﷻ warned us that the life of this world is deception. So, we must question everything we see or experience and understand its reality. That is why we have the dua asking Allahﷻ to show us the reality behind things.
اَللّٰهُمَّ اَرِنَا الْحَقَّ حَقًّا وَّ ارْزُقْنَا اتِّبَاعَهٗ وَ اَرِنَا الْبَاطِلَ بَاطِلًا وَّ ارْزُقْنَا اجْتِنَابَهٗ
O Allah! show us the truth as true and inspire us to follow it. Show us falsehood as falsehood and inspire us to abstain from it.
Allahﷻ in His Infinite Mercy didn’t leave us guessing and inventing our own ways to deal with the Matrix – the Ultimate Deception. He sent a guide and an entire pilot program as proof of concept that Islam works in all times. That is why Allahﷻ caused the Sunnah to be preserved with such integrity. We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who through the ages, starting from the Sahaba, preserved the minutest details of the life, ways, teachings, likes, and dislikes of Rasoolullahﷺ for the benefit of all, to learn and follow.
This gave rise to an entire body of knowledge, Ilm-ur-Rijaal, that has no parallel. There is no history that has been preserved with such rigor and passion. May Allahﷻ enable us to benefit from the treasure of the life of Rasoolullahﷺ which He blessed us with. That is why Allahﷻ declared that he is the best example to follow in all aspects of life.
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
Ahzab 33: 21 Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah a great deal.
Allahﷻ gave his Messengerﷺ an amazing life that encompassed every aspect of human existence. From the individual to family, business, employment, building a community, creating laws, commanding an army, to ruling a state and told us to follow the way of His Messengerﷺ in every aspect of our lives. And said that this is for those who look forward to meeting Allahﷻ.
For those who do it out of love for Rasoolullahﷺ, Allahﷻ promised to love them and directed His Messengerﷺ to announce this and said:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
A’al Imraan 3: 31 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If you ˹sincerely˺ love Allah, then emulate me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Emulation is the sincerest form of praise and proof of love. The reward is that Allahﷻ will love us. Stay with that and feel it and ask if it is worth it.
Narrated Anas bin Malik (R), “A man asked Rasoolullahﷺ about the Hour (i.e. Day of Judgment) saying, “When will the Hour be?” Rasoolullahﷺ asked, “What have you prepared for it?” The man said, “Nothing, except that I love Allah and His Messengerﷺ.” Rasoolullahﷺ said, “You will be with those you love.” We had never been so glad as we were on hearing that. Therefore, I love the Prophet, Abu Bakr and `Umar, and I hope that I will be with them because of my love for them though my deeds are not like theirs.
The life of Rasoolullahﷺ is a sea of knowledge for anyone who wants to learn. His life has stood the test of time, which preserves the histories of people as interesting stories but destroys their relevance with time. Not so the life of Rasoolullahﷺ which continues to remain relevant for anyone who wants to extract lessons from it and the sincere desire to implement them. His life is living proof that his way works and can transform our lives today.
There are many lessons in the life of Rasoolullahﷺ for us to learn from but I want to talk about three. Dealings: Justice for all, Character: Defines Net Worth, Relationships: Forgive everyone. Allahﷻ commanded:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ قَوَّٰمِينَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ ٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقِيرًا فَٱللَّهُ أَوْلَىٰ بِهِمَا فَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعْدِلُوا۟ وَإِن تَلْوُۥٓا۟ أَوْ تُعْرِضُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا
Nisa 4: 135 O believers! Stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives. Be they rich or poor, Allah is best to ensure their interests. So do not let your desires cause you to deviate ˹from justice˺. If you distort the testimony or refuse to give it, then ˹know that˺ Allah is certainly All-Aware of what you do.
I recall when Harvard Law School put this Ayah on their Wall as the finest statement of justice in the world, Muslims sent it to everyone on their list. I got it from multiple people. As I read it, I wondered if those sending it did so after reflecting on the way we treat others. What about brothers swallowing the inheritance of sisters? What about children’s treatment of elderly parents? What about how we treat common spaces where when you enter a bathroom you can say that a Muslim had been there before you because it looks New Orleans after Katrina? What about leaving half full water bottles in the masjid or turning on every light and fan and then leaving without turning them off? I can go on, but I think this suffices to show that it’s not about quoting Qur’an or Ahadith but about living our lives by them.
There are many instances in the Seerah which show that Rasoolullahﷺ didn’t hold himself and his family apart from the principle of justice, nor did he claim to be above it. This was not only in contrast to the global principle of the time, where rulers and nobility were not subject to the same laws as the public, but it contrasts with the present-day sometimes stated but always practiced principle of treating the rich and powerful differently from ordinary people. This non-partisan, objective and impartial application of the law is what sets Islam apart and is something we need to re-establish. Let me narrate a famous incident that illustrates how the principle of justice was upheld by Rasoolullahﷺ and by those who followed him.
Narrated ‘Aisha (RA), “The people of Quraysh worried about a lady from Bani Makhzum who had committed theft. They asked, “Who will intercede for her with Rasoolullahﷺ? Some said, “No one can dare to do so except Usama bin Zaid(R) the beloved one of Rasoolullahﷺ.” When Usama(R) spoke about the matter to Rasoolullahﷺ, he said, “Do you try to intercede for somebody in a case connected with Allahﷻ’s Prescribed Punishments?” Then he got up and delivered a sermon saying, “What destroyed the nations preceding you was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allahﷻ’s Legal punishment on him. By Allahﷻ, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand.” [Bukhari Vol. 4 : No. 681]
Islam doesn’t just leave justice and honesty as a value to be quietly and silently espoused. It demands that we stand up for it.
On the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (R) who said:
I heard Rasoolullahﷺ say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” [Muslim]
Rasoolullahﷺ is reported to have said, “Verily, from the greatest of Jihad to speak a word of Truth in the presence of a tyrannical ruler.”
It is these teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith that gave rise to several great scholars who revolted against tyrants despite torture, imprisonment and death in the most gruesome of ways. Justice and honesty are possible even today. What Islam propagates is not some impossible utopian dream, but a very practical approach to life, rooted in living consciously.
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