Benefits of Studying The Life of The Prophet PBUH Annual Conference 2015

Benefits of Studying The Life of The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)

Sheikh Abu Usamah At-Thahabi

Annual Conference 2015

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

Introduction

As for my topic, which is the importance of studying the seerah and the history of the Nabi, peace and blessings be upon him, before giving you just a few of the many benefits of it and showing the many angles of the importance of this issue inshallah, many times some of the students they come and they want to know: As a new student, a beginner student, what should I learn? What book should I start with? What sciences of al-Islam should the person begin with?

So we always get those classic answers:

• You have to start off with those simple books in aqeedah like al-Usul al-Thalatha, simple, easy text, not difficult, not complicated
• You have to expose yourself to the basic hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him - not the big books of al-Hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim. You have to read the 40 Hadith of al-Imam al-Nawawi first
• You have to read the book Riyad al-Saliheen and gradually you keep going
• You have to get some kind of concept about fiqh in al-Islam, but not the complicated big books, the simple, easy books. And things like that
• You have to learn about the Quran, how to read it correctly with tajweed

But very seldom do we hear people advising us and telling us: You have to, as a Muslim, learn about the seerah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

The Scholar Who Influenced Me

First scholar I'm going to mention is a person who had a tremendous impact upon me. He's not the greatest scholar of al-Islam, but had a great impact on me. I owe a debt of gratitude to him by Allah's permission. And that's the great muhaddith of our time, Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani.

He had a project and he called his project: bringing the sunnah and making it close to the ummah. Where he went into the books of hadith and he showed what's authentic, what's not authentic. He did his best. And he did a great job.

One of the things that he did in trying to explain this religion to the ummah, is he cleaned up the seerah.

Because when you talk about the seerah, you have to be careful. You just can't read any and every book in seerah concerning the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

So he came and showed: this is true, this is true, and that's true, and this is not true, and so forth and so on. Showing what? That this concept of what I'm telling you about - if you want to be a serious Muslim about your deen, a serious student of knowledge, or a Muslim who has some weight with Allah, and not just one of those people like Allah described the kuffar of Quraysh, the Yahood and the Nasara:

"And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge."

Quran 22:11 (Surah Al-Hajj)

They are those people, they worship Allah, they don't know what they're doing. They don't have a concept of what they're doing.

So, in order to be a Muslim who's worth his weight in salt, you have to connect yourself to know what happened in the life of the Nabi, peace and blessings be upon him. Just like yesterday, today was Jummah, and we all went to Jummah, those of us who had to go, we went to Jummah because it's important.

That same emphasis, the Eid, the jilbab, the hijab, your beard, salah - that same emphasis, you should look at this issue the same way. Because all of those issues, they emanate and sprout from the seerah and the history of our Nabi, peace and blessings be upon him.

Benefit #1: Everyone Will Be Asked About the Prophet

So, from what shows us the importance at the top of the list is: everybody in this room and everybody outside of this room - these non-Muslims who are occupying this hotel with us right now, non-Muslims in Parsippany, in Newark, New Jersey, in Passaic, Patterson, Clifton, Mecca, Medina, people who are in far remote places in the

Philippines, places that are not accessible, people may not even know they exist - everybody is going to be asked about the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

That's one of the clear importances of studying his seerah, that you won't escape this life, you won't get out of this dunya without Allah giving you an exam. You're gonna be tested, all of us.

He says, peace and blessings be upon him, in an authentic hadith, and insha'Allah all of the hadith that we're going to mention are going to be authentic bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. He mentioned:

"There is nobody, no one from this ummah, no Jew or Christian who hears of me and then dies without believing in what I brought, except that he's going to be from the people of the hellfire."

(Sahih Muslim 153)

May Allah save us from the adab of the hellfire.

So he's been sent - one of the five things that he's been given, no one else was given - is that he was sent to all of the people, kaafatan, everybody. Whereas the prophets and the messengers before him, they only sent to their particular people. So they were not questioned about and they won't be questioned about the prophets that came before their Nabi.

As for everybody in relationship to Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, there's a test in front of you.

The Questions of Munkar and Nakir

And the famous hadith of Munkar and Nakir: everybody when they die, and this is from the usul of the people of Ahlus Sunnah, from what is part of our aqidah and from the most important issues - Munkar and Nakir will come to everybody, every Muslim and non-Muslim, and they're going to be questioned. They will question every deceased person:

1. Who's your Lord?
2. What's your religion?
3. What did you have to say about that man who was sent to you?

The prophet says, peace and blessings be upon him, that the kaafir or the munafiq, the hypocrite, is going to say: "Ha ha, la adri" - I don't know who my Lord is. I don't know what my religion is.

But when he said to him, when he said, "What did you have to say about that man that was sent to you?" - the third question - they're going to say: I heard the people saying something. So I said what they said, good or bad.

The non-Muslim says: I heard he molested children. I heard he was barbaric. I heard that he forced people into Islam. I heard that he was a liar. I heard that he was this and that. They're going to say: I heard the people say something. So I said what they said.

The Muslim who didn't learn his religion, he's going to say the same thing. I heard people say: my mother, my father, they come from this area. They're Arabs. They're Africans who are Muslims. They're from Pakistan. They said Muhammad. So I heard Muhammad. So I'm going to say, but I don't know really about him.

I only know a little bit. I know he's Arab. He was in Mecca. The Quran came to him. But his religion, I don't know.

Even I can go as far as to say that some people, the tongue of their condition, not the tongue in their mouths, the tongue of their condition is going to say:

• Who's your Lord? Muhammad.
• What's your religion? Muhammad.
• What did you say about that man? Muhammad.

Because that's their whole religion. If it's time for the mawlid, he'll do the mawlid. If it's the first Friday of Rajab, he'll do that. If it's Isra and Miraj, he'll do some partying like that. There's a nikah, he'll go do that. But when it comes to learning the religion and worshipping Allah properly, he doesn't know that Muhammad came with the right way, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.

So that alone is enough to show the importance of why people should learn about his history. Because you're going to be asked about him. I'm going to be questioned about him.

Those of our youngsters, those who are amongst you, especially, especially, some of our fathers and mothers, our grandfathers, grandmothers, some of them, they had an excuse in a way. They were not exposed to all of the technology and all of the information that's out there for us right now. In 2015, they don't have that opportunity.

But with all of the information out there, people have been positioned to know the details of the Nabi, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.

Benefit #2: Following His Example is Wajib

Number two, number two. There are many things that are wajib in Al-Islam, many things. From the awjib, al-wajibat, from those things that are most wajib upon all of us - some things are more important than others. One of the most wajib things in Al-Islam, it's like at the top of the list, occupying the upper echelons of the wajibat - is learning about his seerah.

Allah commanded us to do that in the Quran. The Prophet's sunnah commands us to do that. And that is that he's our example. He's the example, the template, if you will, the blueprint, if you want to be successful.

So if you don't know him, you won't know how to follow him. You don't know what to do. You'll just be a person who, as we mentioned earlier, like the non-Muslims of Quraysh, they used to try to worship Allah, they didn't know what they were doing:

"And their prayer at the House was not except whistling and handclapping."

Quran 8:35 (Surah Al-Anfal)

Their prayer at the Kaaba, they were making tawaf at the Kaaba. They were making hajj, taking care of the pilgrims. But Allah said, all of their efforts, it was just singing and dancing, whistling and partying, because they were making shirk with Allah. They were doing it the wrong way.

So if an individual wants to know who's the example and what that example is, what he did, what he didn't do, how he did it, he has to look at the seerah.

Quranic Commands to Follow the Prophet

Allah commanded in a number of ayahs of the Quran, like He said in the Quran:

"Say: If you love Allah, then follow me. As a result of that, Allah will love you and He will forgive you for your sins."

Quran 3:31 (Surah Aal-e-Imran)

So following the Nabi and learning about his seerah, peace and blessings be upon him, it garnishes for the individual. It puts him in the position to be an individual that Allah loves him and Allah will forgive him.

As for the individual who's saying, "Look, I heard something about him" but he's not doing anything practically to go about following him, then that's just kalam, it's just statements, it's just words, that's all. It's nothing more than that.

Allah mentioned in another ayah of the Quran telling this whole ummah:

"You have in the Messenger of Allah a perfect example. The one who was looking forward to meeting Allah and there's Yawm al-Akhir."

Quran 33:21 (Surah Al-Ahzab)

How in the world can I follow that example when I'm ignorant?

The Arabs say:

"The one who doesn't have anything, he can't give it."

We need some money, we're gonna make a donation - "Hey, give us some money." I don't have any money so I can't give it. Okay, I didn't know anything about him so I can't follow him. Something that is impossible. Something that is impossible.

The Example of Urwah ibn al-Zubayr

So from the wajibat, when the young tabi'i - those people were taught by the companions - one of the greatest ones, his name is Urwah ibn al-Zubayr. In the famous aunt, our mother, our mother Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her - Aisha is the sister to his mother Asma bint Abi Bakr, daughter of Abu Bakr. May Allah be pleased with all of them.

He said: "O Ummi, auntie, auntie, scholar, tell me, tell me, describe to me, how was the Prophet?"

That's a proof and an indication that the salaf of this ummah, they used to wanna know what he was doing. Urwah never saw him, never, never.

The companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, if you go to the book, classic work of Ash-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah of Imam at-Tirmidhi - that book tells us: How many gray hairs did he have in his hair? How was his color? How tall? How short?

Why did Imam at-Tirmidhi write that book? And other scholars like him, so that they can put in front of this ummah an opportunity to come to know our Nabi. They explain things like: he used to snore, he used to sweat, he used to like sheep meat - all of those details.

Why? Because the ulama of Islam, they didn't leave any stone unturned. And that's why we always have to be connected to the scholars of Islam.

And if any of you sees an individual, he is an individual and he's putting ulama down, scholars, real scholars, then you run away from that person the same way you run away from a lion. If a lion came into that door, Abu Usama is getting out of here, Inshallah. I'm gonna run over some of you to get out of here because some of you may say, "Oh, well, that lion, I saw him on TV, I wanna go touch his mane, it was so nice. Look at his lihya."

But when you see a lion in real life, you know he's not messing around. Similar to that, the man who has the disease, the man who has the disease, like leprosy. The Prophet told the people, peace and blessings be upon him:

"Run away from the leper the way you run away from a lion."

(Sahih Al-Bukhari 5707)

Someone who is talking about the scholars - doesn't mean the scholars are infallible, doesn't mean that. It's just that in our religion, they have a special position and they didn't leave any stone unturned.

And Imam al-Tirmidhi and those people, they brought all of those details so that we can know about our Nabi and our Rasul.

Benefit #3: The Seerah Gives You Thabat (Firmness)

Number three, guys, number three. From the benefits of studying the seerah of the Nabi, and there are so many, is that: if a person studies the seerah, he's going to put himself in a position, Inshallah, to have thabat on the religion.

He's going to be thabit. He's going to have station there. He's going to, when the winds of adversity blow, he knows what to do and why and how. Whatever happens, he knows what to do.

Right now, we're living in a time of fitnah. The things that transpire in the world on a global level, things are going to continue to happen. And they'll get worse and worse and worse because the Prophet told us that, peace and blessings be upon him.

He described it like قِطَعُ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ - like a dark night. If they cut these lights off and we were just left here, women and men will bump into each other. We'll trip over the chairs. Some will trip over the wire. Get electrocuted. All kind of things are going to... It's going to get worse and worse and worse.

"There's not a year except that the one that comes after it is worse than the one that went before it, until you meet your Lord."

The one who reads about the seerah, he'll be thabit.

What happened in France, I'm not responsible for that. So as an imam, I'm not coming to give any khutbah to apologize about that. I'm going to free myself from it, give some tawjihat and irshad to the people, especially

the youngsters. But I'm not going to wear a French flag because it's a slap in the face of those Muslims who are killed and oppressed by the French. Understand the two things.

I don't support what happened. But in my non-support of what happened, I don't stand in solidarity with that stuff. You have to be thabit. What helps you to do that? Reading from the seerah. It's one of the things that will help you inshallah.

How Does the Seerah Give Thabat?

How do we say that? Why do we say that? We say that because in the Quran, the Quran, Allah revealed many of the stories of the past prophets and messengers to Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him.

The story of Adam and what he went through, the story of Hud, the story of Ibrahim, Musa, Ishaq, Ya'qub, all of those people. Why did Allah reveal those stories to him? Why? He explained them in the Quran. He said in the Quran:

"Ya Muhammad, we gave you the stories, the history, the news of the previous messengers. We revealed it to you so that your heart can be established."

Quran 11:120 (Surah Hud)

Those things that are happening to you, it happened to them. And look at the end result. So have resolve, don't give up hope, keep moving forward.

So as I told you in the last point about the importance of following and studying his seerah, we have to follow him as an example. Okay, Allah revealed the stories of the prophets and the messengers to him, peace and blessings be upon him and all of them. And he looked at their story and he followed them and he also had patience with his heart.

He, peace and blessings be upon him, was established. So we have to follow that sunnah. The things that are happening to us, it happened to the people who went before us.

The Prophet's Statement About Musibah

That's why the prophet himself, one of the benefits is this. He said to everybody here, pay attention to this guys. He said:

"If anyone of you is afflicted with a musibah, then compare your musibah with my musibah. Because my musibah is the biggest one."

(Sunan Ibn Majah 1599)

A musibah is a catastrophe. Now I'm sure everybody here has some drama going on in their life right now. You had some drama before. But if any single person here had to go through what the prophet went through, peace and blessings be upon him, I won't say that you will lose your deen. I would say you'll lose your mind. You'll lose your mind.

He was born, peace and blessings be upon him. He lost his father as an orphan, as a child, as a yatim. Lost his mother after that, peace and blessings be upon him. Lost all of his sons, all of them in an environment that was chauvinistic.

Because of the loss of his sons, the kuffar of Quraysh would tease him as if he was lesser than a man. They tried to kill him at every way, at every point. His people cracked his head open, knocked his tooth out. His uncle knocked his tooth out, killed his companions.

They boycotted him. Three years, three years before the hijrah. Three years in Mecca, they boycotted him and all of the Muslims. They wouldn't sell him food, they wouldn't speak to him, they wouldn't visit him.

After, after, after the siege was taken off, he lost Khadija. He lost Abu Talib. Some of the ulema of Islam said the kuffar of Quraysh killed Khadija and Abu Talib. Because of the three-year siege, Abu Talib was 80 years old. He loved Abu Talib, 80 years old, he couldn't handle that. Three years, can't eat properly, he died.

Our mother Khadija, she loved that man, none of us knows that situation. Something you read in books, something that's left to the imagination. They killed her, may Allah be pleased with her. Call it that.

After she died, after Abu Talib died, he went out to Ta'if to look for someone to protect his dawah. When he went to Ta'if, he just went to the people to give them life, just to give them life:

"Answer the call of Allah and His messenger when they call you to that which will give you life."

(Quran 8:24 (Surah Al-Anfal))

They invite you to that which will give you life. So he called them to la ilaha illallah. People went and threw rocks at him and he suffered.

Important Point About Protection of Dawah

There's a very important point guys about his seerah: After Abu Talib died, the protector on the earth by Allah's

permission, he went - his seerah, he went to look for someone who's going to protect his dawah because the dawah needs protection.

If there's no protection on the earth, on the earth amongst the people, there's no protection for the dawah, then his history tells us: relax and take it easy. Relax and take it easy.

People who bomb and maim and kill and do these terrorist acts, they don't read the seerah. They need glasses, they need intellect because you can't do those things. It is not consistent with what the Prophet brought, peace and blessings be upon him.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah told the people: If the Muslims find themselves in a time or a place that resembles the history of the Prophet in Mecca, peace and blessings be upon him, let them deal with the situation the way they dealt with the situation in Mecca.

If they find themselves in a situation that resembles the Medina period historically, let them deal with the challenges that the Prophet showed us, he dealt with them during the Medina period.

But what we want to do is, we want to deal with a condition that resembles Mecca by using the methodology of Al-Medina, thus creating problems for everybody.

So the seerah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, it helps us in that regard.

Benefit #4: Understanding the Quran

Number four, and until they stop me, I'm going to keep going inshallah. Number four, number four, number four.

From the benefits of studying the seerah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is that it helps us to understand the Quran. The Quran that unfortunately most of us are detached from.

The very first conference that was given by these brothers was about the Quran. I was so happy to participate in that conference. And mashallah, it was from my husn al-dhann, I was the first speaker. And here I am the first speaker again, talking about the next most important issue, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the sunnah.

So that shows the hikmah and the aql of these young brothers. May Allah give them thabat. May Allah accept it from them. It makes sense what they're doing.

Anyway, you want to know the Quran correctly, then the seerah helps you to do that. In learning the Quran, there are many sciences of the Quran, many:

• The science of tajweed

• The science of tafsir

• The science of an-nasikh wal-mansukh

Ali ibn Abi Talib - he heard there was someone in the masjid of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, telling stories. He was from the qussas, storytellers. Like in the book, Tabligh an-Nisab, stories, stories. "Oh, I'm a da'i, I'm a da'i. When I come, I give the khutbah, I give the lecture. I start telling you people, oh yeah, when I came from the UK, I was on the airplane and they gave us peanuts." And I'm trying to connect that to something to inspire you. We're not trying to hear that stuff, man.

Tell us about this religion. Not in a way that's boring, not in a way that puts us to sleep. And if you want to tell us something about your stories, incidents here and there, it's okay. But don't let that be the main da'wah you're giving the community.

Ali heard about those storytellers in the masjid. He went immediately. He said to the man: "Do you know the nasikh wal-mansukh?" What was abrogated and what abrogated it?

The man said, "No."

He said: "Laqad halakta wa ahlakta" - You're destroyed. And you destroyed the community.

You want to teach about the Quran? Stick to those sciences of the Quran.

Asbab an-Nuzul (Reasons of Revelation)

The point is, point is, one of the most important sciences of the Quran is asbab an-nuzul - Why did this ayah get revealed here? Why did that surah get revealed there? The seerah helps you to come to that understanding.

Those first five ayat of the Quran:

"Read in the name of your Lord who created."

Quran 96:1 (Surah Al-Alaq)

It's the seerah that told us about that. It's how we know about that. That's how we know about that.

The kufar of Quraysh came and say: "Ya Muhammad, we know Allah, we know Allah. But you have all of these new names for Allah. Ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim. Wa ma ar-Rahman - Well, what is this ar-Rahman? Is that another god? Ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim. Well, who is that? What are you talking about?"

They said: "Describe for us your god. Is he made out of - is he made out of copper, iron, wood, najwa, dates? What is he?"

Allah revealed this surah:

"Say: He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Eternal Refuge."

Quran 112:1-2 (Surah Al-Ikhlas)

To the end of the ayah.

So from the benefits of this seerah is: if you want to know the Quran correctly and understand the Quran correctly, then the seerah will help you.

---

Final Points

I'm telling you before I get off, guys, two last points. I have one minute, 30 seconds right now. And I have to cooperate with these guys because someone else has to come.

Recommended Book

Two last points. There is a book called "Sciences of the Quran" by Yasir Qadhi. I encourage you guys to get that book. That's one of the best books written in English. One of the best books written in English.

Closing Advice

Second issue, second issue. This topic about studying the seerah is more important than I can do justice. If I have the ability to open up your minds and your hearts, to plant inside of your souls the importance of this issue, all of you, wallahi billahi I would do it.

Don't be of the people who are failing and falling short of the mark about the seerah.

But in learning about his seerah's history, make sure you go to the authentic books and stay away from those stories of hocus pocus, those stories that are not true.

Closing Dua

May Allah accept it from us and from you. And may He give all of us the tawfiq and give us the thabat in the dunya as we deal with all of these issues.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ