The Prophet Muhammad

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ - Sheikh AbdulBary Yahya

The Prophet's Illness and Pain

Mawlana was very sick during his last few days. One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came into the room of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "Oh my head," in other words, she had a very, very severe headache.

But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, "But my head hurts." And then the Prophet ﷺ said, "We the Prophets, we do not feel the pain just like one of you. Our pain is double. Our pain is multiplying."

And thus, you might ask, why was the pain of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ multiplying? And the reason is because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is an example for all of us. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the trials and tribulations that he had to go through, he had to be very, very patient and very strong because he's a leader of those who are patient.

For us to be patient, we follow the example also of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. In fact, all the Prophets and Messengers were that way. And that's why the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said, "Indeed, the people who are tried and tested the most are the Prophets and those who follow in their footsteps."

Lessons from the Prophet's Fever

And so, if ever you feel a headache coming on and you say this is extreme, also think about what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had to go through. For indeed, none of us will ever have to go through the headache that the Prophet ﷺ had to go through.

In fact, when he was sick, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his body, his fever was so high that some of the companions who came to visit him, they said, "We touched the Messenger of Allah ﷺ," he said, "I couldn't even keep my hand on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ because the fever was so high." And so, he had to go through a lot.

And so, anytime you have a fever, you know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ also had a much greater or higher fever than that. So, you have to be patient.

The Prophet's Commitment to Prayer Despite Illness

And that's why there are some people who, when they're sick, they say, you know, "I'm so sick," and so forth and they think about leaving prayer. They say, you know, "It's so difficult, I can barely get up," and so forth.

But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, during his last few days, he would go and try to make wudu and he would faint. Because the fever was so severe, he would faint and whenever he would be revived, then he would immediately try to make wudu again and continue to pray. Even in the most difficult time in the life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The Day the Prophet Passed Away

So, on the last day, the day when the Prophet ﷺ passed away, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had been taking care of the Prophet ﷺ for a very, very long time, since the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had been sick. And so, when the Messenger of Allah's fever subsided somewhat, he asked permission from the Prophet ﷺ to take care of his family. And so, he left to the outskirts of Medina.

It was there then that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away. And when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, the companions, some of them, they did not know what to do. Some of them just kept silent and just sat down in their place. Some of them went into hiding. And some of them actually even, some of them, they were in disbelief.

Umar's Reaction to the Prophet's Death

Amongst them was Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). So, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) took out his sword and he said, "Whoever has said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has passed away, I will chop off his head."

And so, he said, "Whoever has said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has passed away, I will chop off his head. No, he hasn't passed away." So, he was in disbelief.

He said, "No, he hasn't passed away. He has only gone to meet Allah, just like Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) went to meet Allah. And he will come back. He will come back just like Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) went for 40 days. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ will return. And when he returns, I hope that he cuts off the hands and tongues of those who have said that he has passed away."

And so, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and there was great tension in the masjid.

Abu Bakr's Historic Speech

And it wasn't until Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) who came into the masjid. Upon hearing that the Prophet ﷺ had passed away, he hurried back to the masjid. And he went to the room of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was.

And so, he kissed his forehead and he said:

"You are pleasant, dead or alive, O Messenger of Allah."

And so, after that, remember, there was great tension in the masjid. And the companions, nobody dared say anything because Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was standing in the middle.

And thus, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) told him to sit down but he refused to sit down. He went straight, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went straight to the minbar. And he gave a talk, probably the most powerful speech that has ever been given in the most difficult of times by anyone that wasn't a Prophet or a Messenger.

And thus, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) got up, he praised Allah and he said:

"Whoever used to worship Muhammad, for indeed Muhammad has passed away. And whoever worships Allah, for indeed Allah is alive and He never dies."

And thus, there was great tension in the masjid. And this was actually the greatest calamity that had ever befallen the companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Verse That Changed Everything

And then when he, he then recited a verse. And this verse was revealed during the time in which the Prophet ﷺ had been injured and had been struck. And this was during the Battle of Uhud. This verse was revealed. And then the companions knew the verse. But when they heard it from the mouth of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) that day, it was as if they heard it for the first time.

And so he stood up and he said. And he stood up and he recited that verse. And so from Surah Ali Imran:

"And Muhammad is not but a messenger. Just as many messengers have passed before him. If he were killed, then would you then turn back on your heels?" (Quran 3:144)

And so when they heard this verse, especially Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). When they heard this verse, his knees shook and his body, that his knees and his legs could no longer, no longer hold the weight of his body. Because he was so, he had realized, the reality had finally struck.

And so Umar ibn al-Khattab swooped to the ground, he fell to the ground, and he said, "Is this in the book of Allah? (أَهَذَا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ؟ أَهَذَا فِي كِتَابِ اللهِ ؟) Is this in the book of Allah? Is this in the book of Allah?"

He was in disbelief because he couldn't believe that the Prophet ﷺ had passed away. And Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "Yes, it is in the book of Allah." And he started to cry and cry and cry because this was the greatest calamity that had ever befallen upon the companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Importance of Loving the Prophet

Why? When we speak, many a times we speak about the lifetime, the life and death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. But not a tear is shed. We don't even feel sad. Why is this the case?

But when we speak about someone whom we love very much, like our parents, our grandparents, when they have passed away, you'll see that when you speak about their life, when you speak about what they used to do, tears come down our eyes. Why? Because we love them.

And this is an indication that we ourselves right now, we say we know the Prophet ﷺ. We say we love the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. But when it comes to our actions, it doesn't seem like we love the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

And that's why we ourselves, and we compare ourselves to the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and we see how they were, then we have a very very far, a long ways to go. But at the same time, we should make the utmost effort, try our very best, to know about the Prophet ﷺ that we can love the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

For indeed, whoever dislikes the Prophet ﷺ, whoever hates the Prophet ﷺ is a kafir. And we as Muslims, in order to love the Messenger of Allah ﷺ more than we love even ourselves.

Learning About the Prophet's Struggles

And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in order for us to really know, to really love him, we also have to learn and we have to know what the struggles that he had to go through. We have to understand, the Prophet ﷺ said, "The people who are tested the most, and tried the most, are the Prophets. And then people who are similar to, people who follow their footsteps of similarity."

And thus, those who their iman is high, Allah will test you accordingly. And so the tests and the trials will come. Of course, you should never ask Allah for tests. You should never ask Allah for trials and tribulations. Ask Allah that he will keep you away from all of those things.

And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said, "Ask Allah that you never have to meet the enemy. Ask Allah that you never have any problems at all whatsoever. But if you're going to meet them, then be firm. Don't ask for problems. Don't ask for trials and tribulations. But when it comes, then you be firm. Then you have to be firm."

And in order for us to be patient, we also have to learn about the life of the people before. Those who faced a lot of hardship, and they still remain patient.

The Prophet's Early Life and Orphanhood

And that's why the message of Allah, when you look at his life, from the very beginning, from the beginning to the end, he faced many difficulties. First of all, the message of Allah, when he was born, his father had already passed away. So he was born an orphan.

And in Islam, if a person loses the father before the age of puberty, that person is considered an orphan. And thus, he was born an orphan. And just a few, he didn't even stay with his mother very long. When he was six years of age, his mother also passed away. Then his grandfather also passed away at the age of eight.

And thus, the messenger of Allah did not have even a mother or father to raise him like most of us. And he was an orphan. And so, you know, being an orphan is something that's very difficult. It's a hard lifestyle when you don't have parents.

And so that's why the messenger of Allah had to go through that. So if you have parents, then be thankful to Allah for that. If you have your mother, be thankful for Allah for that. If you have just your father, be thankful to Allah for that. For the messenger of Allah did not even have that. He did not have that even when he was growing up in Mecca.

The Prophet Endured Mockery and Persecution

And so, if you think about how people make fun of us as Muslims, there was no one who was made fun of more than the messenger of Allah. They called him all kinds of names, but he was still patient.

And thus, none of us, even when you speak about the hardships that he had to go through, when he went to Ta'if, he was thrown to the point where his feet, his feet were wet and soaked with blood. Soaked with blood. And none of us, none of us had to go through what the messenger of Allah had to go through.

So anytime you go through any trials and tribulations, any difficulties, think about what the prophet had to go through. Think about the life of the messenger of Allah.

The Prophet's Experience with Poverty and Starvation

For indeed, if you've been, let's say, if you lived through poverty, the prophet had to go through that also. When he lived with Abu Talib, he was very poor. And Abu Talib also did not have much money. And so he had to work even as a shepherd. And so, he lived through poverty.

When he went through even starvation. When the Meccans had an embargo, or the Meccans, they put sanctions, laid sanctions on the Muslims. Some of the companions, like Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, he mentioned the condition of the Muslims at that time.

Including the prophet, the Muslims, and even Banu Hashim, who were not Muslims, who were with the Muslims at that time, they suffered greatly. So much so that Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him), he said, "One day I stepped on something very wet. I stepped on something wet. And I was so hungry that I put it in my mouth. To this day, I don't even know what I put it in my mouth."

And he said, "One day, I found some leather. (وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ - Wallahu a'lam), what it was, it was probably some shoes or something like that, that people threw away. And the leather part. And so he said, I chopped it, I cut it to little pieces, and I boiled it. And I ate it, and it gave me strength for three days. Gave me strength for three days."

They had nothing to eat. And it was so difficult. Some of the scholars mentioned this was the reason why Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) and Abu Talib passed away afterwards. After the three years and the sanctions of the Shi'b of Abu Talib, or the mountain pass of Abu Talib. And so they faced a lot of difficulties.

If you face difficulties, you don't know about hunger and starvation, the Messenger of Allah also had to go through that.

Why the Prophet Endured These Trials

Now why did he have to go through all of that? When Allah could have easily made all the people in Mecca Muslim from the very beginning. Could have easily done so. But why did he have to go through all that?

It is to raise the status of the Prophet. To see his character. To see the high status of the Messenger of Allah. In this life, and in the hereafter. In this life, and in the hereafter.

So the Messenger of Allah. The greatest calamity that occurred, that happened during the time of the Prophet to the companions, was the death of the Prophet. And the companions, they yearned to see and meet the Messenger of Allah very very much.

The Reward for Losing Children

And even to the point, to the point where the companions of the Prophet. Whenever they were reminded of the Messenger of Allah. Tears would go down their eyes. Because this was the greatest calamity that had ever befallen them.

And one day the Messenger of Allah he said, "Whoever has three children, who die before reaching the age of puberty, which is a person who has died before they reach the age of puberty. And if they are patient, then Allah the children will be protection for that person, protection from Jahannam, from the Hellfire."

And so the companions, when they heard three, they said, "Oh Messenger of Allah, how about two? How about two?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "even two." And if you are patient, if you lose two children when they are young, and you are patient, you will have Jannah. You will have Jannah inshaAllah. There will be protection for you from the Hellfire, if you are patient.

The Companions' Manners in Seeking Knowledge

And so everybody in that gathering on that day, what do you think they were thinking? What do you think they were thinking? What do you think they were thinking? And when he said, how about two? How about one? Very good. MashaAllah. May Allah increase your knowledge. How about one?

Everyone was thinking, how about one? You would ask the same thing, right? How about one? But nobody asked. Do you know why? Does anybody know why? Have you ever thought about that? Aren't you like curious? Why did they ask? Do you know why? Because they had manners. They had manners.

And when it comes to seeking knowledge, the first thing that the Prophet taught, he taught the manners also, when it comes to seeking knowledge. That's why every hadith that you read, almost every single hadith that you read, when the companions asked after three questions, they always stopped.

With the exception of one hadith that I know, and that's a hadith in which the Prophet was asked, "He was asked, Who has more right for me to be kind to?" What did the Prophet say? He said, "your mother," right? And then the companions again asked, they want to know who's next. Who's next? Your mother. He said, "your mother." Then they said, "who's next? Your mother."

Three times in a row, they would have stopped him. Why did they continue? They said, "no, but who's next?" Because it was the same answer. Your mother, your mother, your mother. And then, "who's next? Your father." Then they stopped.

Now us, right there, what would you say? Who's next? Why did they ask more? Because they had manners. They respected the Messenger of Allah. And many other aspects also, they had manners with the Messenger of Allah. So they didn't ask.

Aisha Confirms the Hadith About One Child

And this occasion, only twice. They stopped, but the companions who were there, they all said, "if we

were to ask, how about one? We knew that the Prophet said, even one. Even one." He would have said, "even one." But, someone confirmed it for us. Do you know who that person confirmed it for us? It was Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her).

You know, Aisha has a special position with the Prophet. And she hears about this hadith. She hears about this hadith, and so of course, you know, when you're with a husband and wife, you're more relaxed, right? So she asks, "oh Messenger of Allah, how about one?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "even one." This is a narration in Musnad Ahmad.

He said, "even one." And then she asked even another question. She asked more. Why? Because there are some people who don't have that. Let's say they have children, and Alhamdulillah, we don't want our children to die before the age of puberty, okay?

Because that's a great, that's a very difficult test, trust me. Anyone who loses a child, especially at the age of 2, 3, and so forth, it's very difficult. Because you have such a strong connection with your son or daughter, and then Allah takes that, takes that away. A lot of women who can't be patient, they go through a great depression. As a result of it. So it's very difficult. Never ask for it, of course. Don't ask, ya Allah, give me children, let them die before the age of puberty. No. You want them to live, and you never ask for that. But when it happens, then be patient. If it happens, then be patient.

The Prophet as Our Farad

So some people, Alhamdulillah, their children have grown up, and they didn't have that opportunity. So Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked, "how about those people? How about those people who don't have that?" What did the Prophet ﷺ say? He said:

"I am that farad. For the one who doesn't have a farad. I am that person."

Meaning, because you yearn to be with the Messenger of Allah so much, when you didn't have the opportunity to be with him, or you didn't have the opportunity to be with him, but you want to be with him, you love him so much, that you yearn to be with him so much, you are patient, and you are patient in the obedience of Allah, and in following the sunnah of the Prophet. So you can be with him, then he will be your farad. He will be that protection for you from the hellfire.

So be patient with the death of the Messenger of Allah. But some of us, we don't even have that yearning or that desire. Because we don't really know the life of the Messenger of Allah. We don't. We don't have that love.

The Story of Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b al-Aslami

Let me mention some of the things that companions, how they love the Prophet. And if you love the Prophet, what can we do? What can we do if we do love the Prophet? Anyone can claim it. Anyone can say it with their mouths. But what can you do to show that you love the Prophet? That you want to be with the Prophet in the hereafter? What can you do?

I'm going to tell you a story of a companion. By the name of Rabi'ah ibn Ka'b al-Aslami. This is Rabi'ah. He was a very poor companion. He was a young man. He loved the Prophet very much. So much so that he sat next to the door of the Prophet. Waiting for the Prophet to come out. And he would have water ready for him.

So one day he had water ready for the Prophet. And the Messenger of Allah came out. And he asked him, he asked him, "O Rabi'ah, why don't you get married? Why don't you get married?" And so he said, "O Messenger of Allah, I don't want to share my time, the time that I have, with anyone else. I want to spend, I want to use that time that I have to spend it with you O Messenger of Allah."

Because if he gets married, he said, "if I get married I'm going to have other responsibilities. I'm not going to be with you." So because he loves the Prophet so much, he wanted to be with him. So the Prophet left him alone.

Next time, he was sitting there, the Prophet opened the door, and he was there again. And so the Prophet said to him, "O Rabi'ah, why don't you get married?" And he said, "O Messenger of Allah, I'm so poor. Who would marry their daughter off to me? I don't have anything. I don't have anything." And so, and he said, "and by the way, also, I don't want to share that time I have with anybody else. If I have any time that I have, I want to spend it with you, O Messenger of Allah."

And so this is what he wanted. He always wanted to be with the Messenger of Allah. But after this particular conversation, he said to himself, he said, "O Rabi'ah, the Messenger of Allah knows what's best for you. So he has told you twice already to get married. So he said, you know, the next time if the Prophet speaks about marriage to me again, I'm going to get married. I'm going to say, help me out on this matter."

So he had that intention already. He had that intention. If the Prophet was to speak to you, he said, you know, he knows better for me. He knows better for him than his own self. We have to understand that Allah is more merciful than we are to ourselves. And the Messenger of Allah is more compassionate to us than we are to our own selves even. Even to the companions.

So he realizes that. And so he says, you know, next time he brings this subject up, brings this subject again, I'm going to tell him I'm going to get married. And so the Prophet comes again. Opens the door and Rabi'ah is there. Rabi'ah is there. And so the Prophet said to him, said, said "ask."

Ask for Companionship in Paradise

You know what this means? Do you know what this means? This is like a wish. Like just say it and you got it. Why? If you say it, the Messenger of Allah is going to make dua for you and you're going to get it.

If you were put in that situation, what would you say? Ya Allah, marry me a beautiful, rich woman and give me a nice job and all kinds of things. Right? What are you thinking? What are you thinking? We're thinking of all kinds of things. How about five million dollars? Right? Or something like that. You know? Like, now you get, you have to understand. You ask and you get inshaAllah. It's like getting a wish.

And so you know what he said? He said, "as'aluka murafaqataka fil jannah. O Messenger of Allah, I want your companionship in Paradise. I want to be with you in Paradise."

And so the Messenger of Allah knows his situation. And he wants to make dua for him for something else also. He said, "abu alayhi radhalik. Anything else?" And in other words, you know what? Like he was already intending to speak of marriage right before this. You know already. But you know what? He forgot all of that because the only thing on his mind was to be with the Messenger of Allah.

And so he said, "huwa dhak. That's it. That's what I want, O Messenger of Allah." And then the Messenger of Allah gave him an answer. You know, he could have easily made dua for him. He would get it. Easily. But the answer that he gave is more important for us and everyone who comes afterwards. Because we can apply it. If we love the Messenger of Allah. You follow this example. This is something you can put to practice. It isn't something you're just saying verbally. That you claim with your mouth something you can show.

Increase Your Sujood

What can you do to tell that you can show physically that you love the Messenger of Allah? Not just say it with your mouth. You know what he said? He said:

"If that's what you want. To be with me in Paradise. Then help me in that manner by increasing your sujood."

So if you love the Prophet. If you want to be with the Messenger of Allah. Increase your sujood. Increase your sunnah. The more you lower yourself in prostration. The higher you are. The higher your level is. That you will be raised in Paradise.

And so if you want to be with the Messenger of Allah. Increase your sujood. Increase your prayer. Build the love of the prayer in your heart. And so pray standing for a very long time. Making sujood and ruku for a very long time. Every single time you stand up. Stand up for the sake of Allah. So you can increase your love on your status.

And so this is something that's physical that we can do. Instead of just claiming that we love the Messenger of Allah.

Learning from Those We Love

And so, you know when you look at the non-Muslims. When they love somebody. When they love a person. When they love an actor or an actress. Or a football player. They want to know everything about that individual. They want to know everything about that person. And they want to imitate and follow and do whatever that person does.

So you know you guys. Do you guys know Michael Jordan? Raise your hand if you know Michael Jordan. MashaAllah. A lot of you guys know Michael Jordan, right? MashaAllah. Alhamdulillah. I think everyone knows Michael Jordan, right? Anybody?

What number did he used to wear? Twenty-three. Twenty-three. MashaAllah. What cereal did he used to eat? What did he eat? Anybody know? What did he eat? Cornflakes. You sure? Wheaties. Wheaties. Wheaties, right? He used to eat Wheaties, right? Okay.

What kind of shoes did he wear? Nike. Nike Air Jordans, right? What underwear did he used to wear? Laces. Anybody know what underwear he wears? Hanes. Hanes. Oh, man. Yeah, you guys, MashaAllah.

When it comes to Michael Jordan, even his underwear, you know what underwear he wears. You know, that's problematic. If you know what kind of underwear a person wears and that person is not your spouse, there's something wrong there, right? There's something wrong there. That person is not your spouse. Do you know what kind of underwear he wears? You don't know a little bit too much about that person, right?

So, how do you know all of that, first of all? Do you know why? Because everyone, you know, the corporations, the companies, they know. They know that if people like someone, they will copy them. They will imitate them. They will wear whatever they wear. They will do whatever they do. They will speak the way they speak. And they will even play basketball or try to play basketball the way they play, right?

And they will even stick their tongue out when they start driving. You see that some of those people do that, right? They imitate everything that they want. And that's why they pay these sports stars so much. And the actors and actresses so much to endorse their products. Because everybody wants to imitate the people that they love.

Do Our Children Follow the Prophet's Sunnah?

If you love somebody, you copy them and you imitate them. But we love the Messenger of Allah. And we want our children to love the Prophet ﷺ. But are our children following the way, the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ? In his speech, in his actions, in his ways, in his character? Are they following them?

If they're not following them, if they don't even know what they're supposed to do. They know what Michael Jordan did. But they don't even know what the Prophet ﷺ used to do. That's a big problem. We want our children to be Muslims, be good Muslims. But you know, who are their examples? Who are the people whom they're imitating? Who are the people whom they copy?

People like, people like who? Do you know who? Let me give you one name. People like Bart Simpson. No, I'm not even joking. Bart Simpson. Now if your children are following Bart Simpson, he's going to treat you, they're going to treat you just like Homer. Right? The way Bart speaks to Homer, that's how your children are going to speak to you.

The Problem with Modern Entertainment

The same way, and you know what? When they're watching some of these things, they'll know like some of these fairy tales, these movies and so forth. Like sometimes they'll be watching stuff that you're like quote unquote family, family shows, right? Like for example, Disney shows, right? Disney movies. You know disney movies, you're wondering why.

I'm going to tell you something. Why is it that there are some sisters, why is it some of our sisters in our communities are running off with people, running off with guys who are like bums. Right? When their parents say, "no you can't marry that person," they just run off. You know why? Because from when they're very young, they've been fed stories in their minds that have polluted it.

You know what they do? I'm going to give you some of these things. This is what happens, okay? Boy meets girl. Boy is a bum. Okay. I'm not joking. Boy is a bum. Girl is okay, you know. But she meets this guy and she falls in love with this guy. Right? Okay.

Now, they still, she comes back, "I want to marry this guy." And then the father says, "are you crazy? He's a bum. Why do you want to marry him? The guy's a bum. Why do you want to marry him?"

And so because the father is not allowing or permitting it, right? What do they do? She goes off. She goes off on a flying carpet ride, right? Right? Because she thinks that, hey, it's okay to go on a flying carpet ride. When you come back, your parents are going to be okay with you at the end. Always be happily ever after at the end. Right? Remind you of something?

That's why some of these Disney shows, the women are always disobedient or the guys are always disobedient. And there's always, in the end, I mean, first of all, why would you let a five-year-old, six-

year-old watch a movie where two guys fall in love with each other? I mean, come on. Do you understand? Why? Why? Is that like family thing? It's not.

But you see, now you're wondering why. Because these are the examples that they have. It's not the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. It's not the prophets of Allah. It is not the stories of the pious and righteous people. They're imitating whatever they see on TV.

And so that's why we have to teach our children. We have to learn the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, the life of the Prophet ﷺ, the life of the companions. The stories of the prophets, the stories of the great scholars, because these are the best of people.

Teaching the Right Examples

These are the people whom we should emulate, whom we should follow, whom we should try to learn about. We should try to find as much information as we can about these people. These are the best people of the ummah.

But you know, this time, during our time, during our time right now, I want you to imagine yourself right now. You are at the supermarket. When you're at the supermarket and you look at the check stand, what do you see? What's there? In front of you. You're about to, you know, go through the scanner, the machine or whatever it is scanning all the stuff. What's in front of you?

Magazines, right? All kinds of magazines. Different magazines. And what are these magazines speaking about? Celebrities. But the thing is celebrities or sports stars or whatever it is, but you know what? These stories or the stuff that they're speaking about is useless.

Like for example, you start reading, this person gets into rehab, this person leaves rehab. This person gets married to the other person and two weeks later they're looking for a divorce already. This person goes on vacation, but you know what? People buy them. People buy them.

Even if it's just speaking about the type of shoes that they're wearing, people will buy them. Do you understand? People, people will buy them and it doesn't matter that these stories are futile. They have no meaning or whatever it is, they'll buy all these stories and they'll read, they'll find out even the little tiniest details, where they shop, what they do and so forth. Because they love them.

And they know that these people, when people love them, they'll try to find out everything about them.

The Command to Love the Prophet

But we ourselves, we as Muslims, we claim to love the Messenger of Allah. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ he said:

(Sahih Bukhari 15)

"None of you truly believes until I'm more beloved to him than his parents, his children and all of the people."

And so, we know, we as Muslims, we know that. But in order for us to love somebody, we want to find out about them. The more we find out about them, especially when you find something that's good about them, you love them even more.

And so, how about the best of mankind? And believe it or not, there is no, no biography of any person that is more, that is more detailed than the biography of the Prophet ﷺ. In the history of humanity, from his life in his house till the way he speaks, everything that he did has been recorded. And it's recorded in the Qur'an and also in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah and the books of seerah.

Our Priorities Are Misplaced

And so, there are some people, you know, when you speak about mashallah, when you speak about politics, when you speak about sports, when you speak about anything, they'll like get passionately involved and they'll like really like argue their point. But when you speak about the deen, when you speak about the Prophet ﷺ, you know what they say? "Man, why did you have to ruin the conversation?"

Like right away. Like even if they don't say it, you see by their body language, I said, "why did you have to ruin the conversation, dude, man? We're talking about politics. We're talking about sports here. Why you gotta bring deen into it?" You know, but we can speak all day about those things. But when it comes to the deen, when we sit here, everyone's like twitching left and right already, right? No, forget about it.

But if you were to speak and sit down three hours, four hours watching football, watching basketball, whatever it is, mashallah, you know, like even if you're really sleeping, when they score, you stand up and you got so much energy. Yeah! Like standing up straight. But when it comes to the deen, "why'd you have to ruin the conversation, man?" Right away.

When it comes to the life of the Prophet ﷺ, "dude, man, I thought we were speaking about, you know, JLO or something like that." Right? Yeah, let's go for it. You know, you speak about anything, they'll keep on going. They'll be happy about it.

So, you have to, we have to understand. There's something wrong with that. There's something wrong with that picture. And something has to be done about it. And the reason is because every single day we're being fed all of this trash that's in our head. And then we think two hours of Sunday school to combat all of that is enough. That's what we think. And so, it takes more than that.

We ourselves have to help each other. We have to come together. We have to strengthen each other because we're not going to be able to do it by ourselves. We have to help each other.

Defending the Honor of the Prophet

And so, we love the messenger of Allah ﷺ. Of course, like especially nowadays. When you see the Prophet ﷺ being made fun of. When you see that people are doing all kinds of things. And it's incumbent upon us to defend the honor of the Prophet ﷺ in the appropriate way. So, a way that's with wisdom and so forth.

But, how are you going to defend the messenger of Allah ﷺ if you don't even know who he was? If you don't know who he was? And so, the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, they loved the Prophet ﷺ very much. And they lived with him. And they knew him. And it increased their love.

But we ourselves, we didn't have that opportunity. But at the same time, everything about the Prophet ﷺ has been recorded for us. In the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Do you want to hear what the Prophet ﷺ said? It has been recorded in the hadith of the messenger of Allah ﷺ. Learn the hadith. Learn the books of seerah. Every single detail.

To how the messenger of Allah ﷺ used the bathroom. Right? To even how the messenger of Allah ﷺ walked. To how he used to be with his family. Every single detail. That is a miracle in itself. And in fact, even more than that.

The Qur'an as the Main Source of Seerah

You know when you, what's, anybody know what are the main sources for the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ? What's the main source? Number one source for the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. What is it? The Qur'an. The Qur'an is the main source for the seerah of the messenger of Allah ﷺ. After everything else is secondary. These are secondary sources. The Qur'an is the main source.

And you know the major thing about the Qur'an? When you're reading the Qur'an? You're not only listening. You're not only told about the events that occurred and so forth. But also, you are also being told about how people are thinking. Like what the hypocrites are thinking. Not even what they're saying. What they're thinking. Allah is telling you. What the Muslims are thinking. Allah is telling you.

There's nothing more detailed than the life of the messenger of Allah ﷺ. Nothing. There's nothing more detailed than that. And it is the greatest story. The greatest story ever. The greatest story ever is the seerah of the messenger of Allah ﷺ. The life of the messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The Prophet's Life as a Miracle

And the life of the messenger of Allah itself is a miracle in itself. Like Ibn Hazm al-Zahiri, rahimahullah, he mentioned that if Allah did not send any miracle, except for the life of the Prophet ﷺ, it would be enough to prove his prophethood. It would be enough.

Do you know why? When you study the life of the Prophet ﷺ, you see the sincerity. You see how he lived. Do you know how large, for example, he didn't live like the other kings and emperors in the palaces. Do you know? When he passed away, anybody know how many rooms he had?

How many rooms did he have? Anybody know? How many? Seven? Five? No? No? Nine. Nine rooms, right? Nine rooms. You might say, oh, mashallah, a house with nine rooms. Dude, that's a nice house there. Nine rooms. Nine bedrooms.

Do you know how big the rooms were? Do you know how big the rooms were? The rooms were so small that if you were to stretch out, you would touch the ceiling. Stretch out. And if you were to lay flat on the ground, your feet were touching one wall, and you stretched out like this, your hands would touch the other side. Do you know that?

The Prophet's Humility in His Home

And that's why Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), when she was in the room with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was praying, whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wanted to make sujood, he would tap her feet, and she would curl up.

You might say, why didn't he go to a different place? Why couldn't he just scoot over a little bit? Do you know why he couldn't? Because there was no room. Why would he need to, she's sleeping. Why does he need to bother her by tapping her? Because there's no room.

When he stands up, and she's sleeping, there's no other place. He has to tap her to curl up, and when he finishes, then she straightens her leg again. That's how small the rooms of the Prophet ﷺ was.

But Allah gave him the option to give him, make the mountains of Mecca turn to gold for him. And he had all the wealth coming in. But he didn't keep that to himself. He didn't live that lifestyle. That life, he wasn't looking for fame. He wasn't looking for people to praise. He didn't have to.

The Eclipse and the Prophet's Humility

His humility, the Prophet's ﷺ humility and humbleness was so much so. It shows in the case of when the Prophet's ﷺ son passed away, Ibrahim. Ibrahim, his son. And by the way, the Prophet ﷺ, remember he said, "whoever has three." The Prophet ﷺ himself lost three sons before the age of puberty.

He himself lost three sons. And so if you lost one, two, or three, the Prophet ﷺ had to go through that also. The difficulty of losing a young child. And he's an example for us in patience.

And so when he lost three sons, you know what the people of Medina were saying? They were saying, there was an eclipse on that same day. And they were saying the sun and the moon are sad and in sorrow. And they're mourning the death of Ibrahim. Subhanallah.

Why are they saying this? They're saying this because they want to praise the Prophet ﷺ. It's a praise, right? Indirectly it's praising the Messenger of Allah. Even the sun and the moon are saddened because of this. Right?

And so what did the Prophet ﷺ say? He didn't have to say anything. He couldn't just be quiet. And people were saying this already. Praising him already. But no, he said no. He said no, the sun and the moon, the eclipse of the sun and the moon did not occur because of death or life of an individual. Of a person, a king or anyone.

These are the ayat, the ayat of Allah. So if this occurs, then devote yourself in the worship of Allah. Devote yourself to the worship of Allah. And return to Allah in worship.

The Prophet Muhammad - The Praised One

And so the life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, all of this action, the character of the Prophet ﷺ is proof of his prophethood and messengership. And by the way, his name is Muhammad, right? The praised one. One who is praised greatly. And Ahmad, the one who is praised a lot. Right? And praised greatly and praised a lot.

And so, you know the non-Muslims praise him also? Muslims and non-Muslims praise him. Now, you know, Muslims we know we praise the Prophet ﷺ. But the non-Muslims also do so. How do they do so? Because they praise the character of the Prophet.

All the character that was in the Prophet ﷺ that they praise, that was praiseworthy, it was in the Prophet ﷺ. So whether they like it or not, they praise him because they praise those types of character. Honesty. Kindness. Good to the orphans. Good to the woman. And also his character of generosity and helping others.

All of those characteristics are praised by people of all societies. And so whether they are Muslims or not, they praise those characters. And those characters, those characteristics are in the Prophet ﷺ. So whether they like it or not, they indirectly praise the Prophet ﷺ. He is Muhammad.

Conclusion: Learning About the Prophet

And so we ask Allah, just as he has joined us here, to also join us in the highest level paradise with the Prophets and Messengers. Ameen Ya Rabbil Alameen.

And last but not least, try to learn more about the Prophet ﷺ. Read the Qur'an along with the Asbabul Nuzul. And so this is also to help us to learn more about the Prophet ﷺ.

Wa jazakumullahu khairan wa salamu ala Nabi Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.