Qur’an:
مَّن يُطِعِ ٱلرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ ٱللَّهَ ۖ وَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًۭا
“Whoever obeys the Messenger has truly obeyed Allah. But whoever turns away, then ˹know that˺ We have not sent you ˹O Prophet˺ as a keeper over them.” (4:80)
Hadith:
حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ عُلَيَّةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ بْنِ صُهَيْبٍ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ح وَحَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَالِدِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
Narrated Anas (rad): The Prophet (ﷺ) said “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.” (Bukhari 15)
Following the sunnah and the lifestyle of the noble Prophet s.a.w is particularly crucial in today’s world. In this era of trials (fitna), one who does not firmly adhere to sunnah may face risk to their belief and creed. This era is earnestly searching for true devotees of sunnah.
Muslims possess the book of Allah swt and the uswa (exemplary teachings) of the Prophet s.a.w. At one time, they were a guiding light for humanity. It is a pity that today their lives have drifted miles away from the lifestyle of the noble Prophet s.a.w.
Umar (r.a) says that Allah swt sent the noble Prophet s.a.w as a messenger. We believed in him and followed him. He demonstrated everything that Allah swt had ordered him by his actions.
Every saying and action of the noble Prophet s.a.w is worthy of putting into practise, as Allah swt states in the Holy Qur’an (33:21). Ibn Kathir (rahimahullah) comments that the above verse conveys a key principle regarding emulating the Prophet s.a.w in his words, actions, and qualities.
By learning about Rasūlullāh, we can understand how our religion of Islām started, we can learn about what life was like for the early Muslims and how the revelation from Allāh came down. We can also learn about the sacrifices our Rasulullah and the Ṣaḥābah made and then learn to appreciate them more. We will develop more love and respect for them. We will develop a love for the Ḥaramayn. When we go there, it will be more meaningful, things will feel more familiar. We can try and adjust our lives and make them a reflection of the lives of our predecessors. Whatever new things we learn, we can also teach others.
“Narrated by Anas bin Malik (ra):
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: ‘O my son! If you are capable of (waking up in) the morning and (ending) the evening, while there is nothing of deception in your heart for anything, then do so.’ Then he said to me: ‘O my son! That is from my Sunnah. Whoever revives my Sunnah then he has loved me. And whoever loved me, he shall be with me in Paradise.'” (Tirmidhi 2678)
We seem to have strayed so far that even the love of sunnah has left our hearts. Here the noble Prophet s.a.w is promising us his company in paradise for loving his sunnah.
Immense rewards await those who obey Allah swt and the Messenger s.a.w. Allah swt has promised rewards for obeying Him and his Messenger even though it is an obligation upon all humans.
Let’s say we spend our entire lives obeying Allah and his Messenger, only to be emancipated from the trouble and torment awaiting the disobedient ones. That alone is an outstanding achievement too great to appreciate in this world. May we dispense ourselves for the unbounding compassion that Allah and the Messenger have for humanity! We perform actions for our own betterment and salvation yet gain reward for it. And what a tremendous reward indeed to enjoy the company of the Noble Messenger of Allah in paradise.
[Obey the Messenger by Shaikh Al-Hadith Mawlana Yusuf Motala. Translation and Annotation by Mufti Aasim Ali Rashid. Pages: 25, 88, 89 and 91. Published by Azhar Academy Ltd.]
[Sirah of Muhammad, Part 1, Page 8 by Maulana Ebrahim Noor]
Before the year 570
Before the Islamic calendar had been established, the years in Arabia were known by certain events. The year in which Rasūlullāh was born was known as the year of the Elephant. About 50 or 55 days before Rasūlullāh was born, the very famous incident of the Aṣḥābe Fīl occurred, the people of the elephant. This incident became well known in Arab History. Allāh has even mentioned it in the Qur’ān in Sūrah Al-Fīl.
The emperor of Abyssinia, Najjāshi, had appointed one of his general’s Abraha as vice-regent of Yemen. Abraha had seen that all the Arabs used to go to Makkah, to the Baitullāh for pilgrimage. The people would go to the KaꜤbah and perform Ṭawāf, circumambulation around it. Abraha wished that he could make a grand Cathedral, as he was a Christian. People could then come and visit it, instead of going to the simple KaꜤbah.
In the capital of Yemen ṢanꜤā’, Abraha built this grand beautiful Cathedral. Now there is a difference of opinion as to what happened next. One opinion is that when the Arabs heard of this Cathedral, a person from the tribe of Kinānah defiled it and then ran away. Another opinion is that some Arab youths had lit a fire near the Cathedral, the wind carried the flames of their fire onto the Cathedral which caused it to burn down.
Abraha got very angry and made an oath that he would destroy the KaꜤbah. He got his army together and left for Makkah. His army had something which had never been seen before in the Arab lands, elephants! Some Arab tribes tried to block his way but could not stop them. One of the leaders Nufayl of the Khath’am tribe agreed to be their guide in return for sparing his life. The army now reached Ṭāif which was the home of the Banu Thaqīf. They had a temple dedicated to their God Al-Lāt and were worried that Abraha would destroy it thinking it was the KaꜤbah so they told him he still had some way to go and sent another guide to go with them. Abraha’s army stopped at a place called Muhgammis, just outside of Makkah. The animals which belonged to the Makkans used to graze there on the outskirts of the city. Abraha’s army captured all of the animals which included 200 camels belonging to ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib, the grandfather of Rasūlullāh.
As the large army approached Makkah, ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib called the Quraysh together. He had the responsibility of looking after the KaꜤbah and advised them all to leave the city. He told them that no one would be able to destroy the KaꜤbah, this is Allāh’s house, and he will protect his own house. Abraha now sent a messenger calling for ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib to visit him in the camp. He sent a message saying that he did not want bloodshed, he just wanted to destroy the KaꜤbah. ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib accepted his invitation and went to see Abraha. ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib possessed this unique quality that anyone who saw him would be in awe of him. When Abraha saw ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib, he also became in awe of him and received him with honour and respect to the extent that Abraha couldn’t put him on the throne as his equal, but he got off his throne to sit together with him.
The two leaders talked and ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib asked him about his camels which were in his possession. Abraha was shocked, he said that you are asking me about your camels, when the KaꜤbah is the religion of yourself and your forefathers, you have not even mentioned a word about this? ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalibs reply was that he was the owner of the camels, and the Lord of the KaꜤbah will protect his own house. After some silence, Abraha ordered that the camels be returned to ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib. He came back to Makkah with his camels and ordered the Quraysh to vacate the city due to the impending attack.
ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib took some people with him and arrived at the doors of the KaꜤbah. They all prayed to Allāh and invoked him to protect his house, the Holy KaꜤbah. ꜤAbdul Muṭṭalib finished supplicating and together with his companions, they withdrew to the mountains. Abraha now marched towards the KaꜤbah with his army. His elephant which was at the front of the army refused to go towards Makkah. They tried everything they could to make it move, but it refused to go towards the House of Allāh. Suddenly, small birds began to appear from the western sky. Each of them had a small pebble in their beaks and in each of their talons. The birds dropped these pebbles on Abrahas army. The pebbles rained down on them and destroyed everything they touched. The pebbles went straight through their coats of mail, and this was how the army of Abraha was defeated.
Abrahas army now made its way back to Ṣan’ā’ defeated with many of them dying on the way. Nufayl who had been captured, managed to slip away to safety. Abraha himself caught a disease which caused blood and puss to flow from his body. One by one his body parts fell off until finally he also perished. And this was how Allāh protected his house.
[Sirah of Muhammad, Part 2, Pages 26 to 31 by Maulana Ebrahim Noor]
