Biography- Prophetic Biography- Understanding the Prophet's Biography- (Lesson 10-57): Devine Revelation and Prophetic Missionary
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Biography- Prophetic Biography- Understanding the Prophet's Biography- (Lesson 10-57): Devine Revelation and Prophetic Missionary Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest. Oh, Allah, w e know nothing but w hat You teach us. You are the All- Know er, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach us w hat is good for us, and benefit us from w hat You taught us, and increase our know ledge. Show us the righteous things as righteous and help us to do them, and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keep aw ay from them. O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and know ledge, and from the muddy shallow s of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity. What does the age of forty years mean? Dear honorable brothers, w ith a new lesson of Fiqhsira-prophetic autobiography. The subject w e w ill be discussing today is the revelation and the prophetic missionary. The revelation started descending on Prophet Mohammad-peace be upon him-w hen he reached forty years of age. We w ill focus on the w ord “forty years” because it is the age of maturity. Allah says: "Did We not give you lives long enough, so that whosoever w ould receive admonition, - could receive it? And the w arner came to you". [Surat Fatir, 37] Imam Al-Qurtubi said: “The Warner” is the age of forty, so w hoever reaches forty as if he is approaching the grounds of the hereafter. And the Prophet PBUH says: (( whoever reaches forty years and his goodness did not overcome his evil, then let him prepare for a station in hell-fire)). [Published by the Azdy from the narration of Abd-Allah Bin Malik al-Harawi] The difference between Revelation and Heritage: This is dear brothers the age of maturity. And the story of the starting of revelation is documented from a true Hadeeth from Urw a Bin Al-Zubair. There are some people w ho think that Islam is a “heritage”. Heritage is associated w ith earth but Islam is a revelation from the sky. There is a great difference betw een the cultures w hich are man-made and betw een the Divine revelation w hich is from the Creator of all creations. Moreover, the superiority of Allah’s speech on the beings’ speech is like Allah’s superiority upon His creatures. The difference here is like the difference betw een earth and sky: If w e say a revelation from the sky it means no false surrounds it, it is an explicit truth w ith no fault or doubt and does not accept amend, change, substitute, development, omitting nor addition. There are some people w ho call for “the renew al of the religious speech”. They may mean deletion of it or to vacate it from its real context because there is no other inclusive prohibitive definition for the concept of “renew al in religion” but that to take from the religion all w hat is stuck in it that is not from it. Religion is from Allah Almighty. Therefore, scholars said that the default of the w orshipping ceremonies and Islamic doctrine is prohibition. So there is no imposed w orshipping unless it has clear and conclusive evidence. On the other hand, the origin in this life is permission, and nothing is prohibited unless it has clear and conclusive stable evidence. The start of revelation upon the Messenger of Allah: As for the true Hadeeth narrated from Urw a narrated by Aysha-may Allah be pleased w ith her-she said: ((The first thing that the Prophet –peace be upon him- started from revelation w as the true dream during sleep. Thus never had he a dream, but it came like the daybreak)). [Agreed upon Muslim from Ibn Abbass] So Ibn Abbas said: The Messenger-peace be upon him-revealed the curtain w hile people w ere standing in row s behind Abu Bakr and said: ((Oh, people, nothing is left from the good prophetic omens but the good true dream seen by the Muslim.)) [Agreed upon, from Ibn Abbass] It may be a good omen or draw ing attention tow ards something. Anyw ay, the true vision is a straight path betw een Allah and His slave and it might be from the honoring of Allah tow ards the humans. Back to Aysha’s narration-may Allah be pleased w ith her-she said ((then he liked loneliness)) solitary, meditation and contemplation. Aisha-may Allah pleased w ith her-continued in her narration: ((He used to be in solitary in Hira Cave for a religious devotion for many nights before he gets back to his family to Khadija to supply him w ith his needs to go back to Hira Cave.)) Sometimes man gains everlasting happiness because of a true meditating moment. Allah Almighty says: (Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding.(191)Those w ho remember Allah (alw ays, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying dow n on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this w ithout purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they associate w ith You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.) [ Surat Al-Imran, 190-191] If the Prophet-peace be upon him-meditated in Hira Cave for a number of nights, each believer should have some time to meditate daily on the creation of the heavens and the earth. The Core of understanding religion is to know the One who made the Decrees. If the noble Quran has a verse that contains an order that means you should obey and if it has a prohibition, you should avoid it. If it has a scene from Judgment Day, it means that you should strive to do deeds w hich lead you to heaven and keep you aw ay from hell-fire. If it includes stories from the ancient nations, it means that you should learn the lesson and avoid the reasons of the destruction of these nations. If there w ere 1,300 verses about the Universe in the noble Quran, it means that you should mimic your Prophet-peace be upon him-as he meditated in Hira Cave because these verses are methodology of searching for Allah through the universe. He-peace be upon him- used to sit in solitary in Hira Cave. Some scholars said that “he w ho did not have a startling beginning w ill not have a bright end” When you admire the signs that show Allah’s Might, you w ill know Allah,-know ing Him is the base of religion. And alike, the origin of religion is to know Him. The problem that occurs in the Islamic World from deviations and distress is not due to the ignorance of the Muslims in the Islamic commandments, but because of their ignorance in know ing Allah. So if you know the commander and get the command, you w ill devote yourself in obedience. But if you know the command but not the commander, you w ill diversify in disobedience. How should a true Believer live in this world? Our master Nuaim Bin Masoud the leader of Ghatafan tribe came to Medina to fight the Prophet-peace be upon him-in the Ditch Invasion-Alkhandaq Battle. He w as sitting in his tent unable to sleep and feeling very restless, he said to himself: “Oh Nuaim, w hat brought you to Medina? Is it to fight this good man? w hat did he do? Did he violate anyone’s honor? Did he steel money? Did he kill anyone? Where is your mind Nuaim? I w ish that each one of you has a moment w ith himself to think; w ho am I? What is my goal in this life? What is there after death? What have I done for the life after? Concentrate on your deeds, on your gaining and spending money, on raising your children. Does your job satisfy Allah or not. You should not be driven by the ornaments of this w orldly life. Allah Almighty describes the believers: “And the servants of ((Allah)) Most Beneficient are those w ho w alk on the earth in humility “ [ Surat Al-Furqan, 63] What is the meaning of “humility”? It w as not reported that the Prophet-peace be upon him- had ever w alked in humility. Aisha – may Allah be pleased w ith her, said; May Allah have mercy on Omar: I have never seen anyone more ascetic, w hen he w alked, he w alked quickly, and w hen he fed others, he fed a satisfying meal, and if he hit, he hit w ith causing pain. So w hat is the meaning of the above verse? It means that they w alked,w ith a slow meditating mind not allow ing this w orldly life to take them aw ay or make them forget their goal in this life. Not allow ing disasters to oppress or despair them. He w ould be aw are, optimistic and confident in his w alk. The First phase in which the reveleation descended on the Prophet in a clear visible form: ((He used to be in solitary in Hira Cave for religious devotion for many nights before he w ent back to his family to Khadija to supply him w ith his needs to go back to Hira Cave.