The Beloved Status and Unique Virtues of Prophet Muhammad

Opening Praise and Salutations

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ، اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ، اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ، وَعَلىٰ عَاقِبَةِ الْمُتَّقِيْنَ، وَلَا عُدْوَانَ إِلَّا عَلَى الظَّالِمِيْنَ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَنَبِيَّنَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ الْمَبْعُوْثُ رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِيْنَ، صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالىٰ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلىٰ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ، وَبَعْدُ۔

Dear respected brothers and sisters, respected elders and young friends, اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. Indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has favored us by creating all of us, making all of us among the ummah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

The Beloved Status of the Prophet

Our beloved Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is the most beloved creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is the ahabbu khaliqillah — the most beloved of the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he is ahabbu khaliqillah — he is the best of the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The more we study, the more we reflect, the more we think about how beloved he is to Allah, what maqam, what position Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has granted him — then it will become easier for us insha'Allah in turn to love him, to respect him, to revere him, and to ultimately follow his sunnah, follow his way of life, and to have the desire to visit him and meet him in Jannah insha'Allah.

There are many volumes that have been written specifically about the khasa'is — the unique virtues of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Such blessings, such honor, such maqam, such positions, such gifts that were granted exclusively to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and none of the other creation — including the anbiya, including the mala'ika, including every other creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — none other shared those attributes with Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Literally hundreds of these khasa'is have been enumerated by the scholars in volumes. And these are by definition a khasusiyyah: مَا يُوجَدُ فِيْهِ وَلَا يُوجَدُ فِي غَيْرِهِ — that unique attribute which is found in Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is not found in anyone else.

Starting from his physical person, his being, his earthly existence, his body — the jassad ash-sharif alayhi sallam — to the different akhlaq Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was granted, through the different maqam he was granted in this dunya, the different privileges he was granted, and how that will become manifest on the Day of Judgement and in the Jannah at the end of times.

The Noble Body of the Prophet

Starting with his body, we have the works of Shama'il which record how his existence was — his earthly existence. Amongst the many shama'il we see that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — it is mentioned by the Sahaba radiallahu anhum ajma'een — that his entire life, never once did they see a single fly sit on his body. No matter how many insects there may have been, no matter how many mosquitoes or flies there may have been in a setting, never on his noble body did a fly ever sit. As his body was the body of Muhammad al-Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

His body gave off such fragrance — as is mentioned — that when he came to the house of Umm Sulaym radiallahu anha, one time he was resting. It was a hot day and after he got up to perform salah, he noticed that she was taking his bedding and squeezing it and engaging in some activity. So he asked, "What are you doing?" She said, "Your sweat from your noble body came upon the bedding, so I was squeezing and taking out that which was in touch with your body, and we were bottling it — because this is the most fragrant itr and the perfume that can humanly be imagined." SubhanAllah. This is the body of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Different miracles about his body: when you would see him walking or sitting by himself, he would not seem abnormally tall or abnormally short — he would be at an ideal height. When we go through the Shama'il of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we see that with respect to every single part of his body, the bottom line is that it was not extreme on one side or the other. His hair was not extremely straight nor was it extremely curly — it was wavy, in between. His teeth were not extremely tightly shut together, nor were there large gaps — there was a slight little gap in between, just enough, sufficient. The distance between his eyes, the way his face was — every single aspect of his body.

But the height is something very unique, because when you would see him, you would see him — SubhanAllah — not extremely tall to such an extent that it seems abnormal, nor was he short, of course. But at the same time, if he was ever in a gathering with other individuals in which some people may have been exceedingly tall, it was never the case that anyone in any gathering was taller than him. Such was the miracle — he would tower over his companions, including individuals who were exceedingly tall — but when he is alone he would not seem extremely tall. SubhanAllah. This was the body of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Special Acts of Worship: The Tahajjud Prayer

But moving beyond the body of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — when we see the acts of his ibadah — he was given special privileges and special obligations that are in line with his rank. For example, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the different prayers. Allah ta'ala indicates in one ayah to the different timings of the salah — the five different times of the salah. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, additionally perform the tahajjud prayer in the last third of the night:

This is an additional optional worship for you. So nafilah linguistically literally means something additional. The scholars of tafsir were pondering over this ayah — that tahajjud is not something which is unique to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It is a sunnah that we are supposed to emulate. May Allah ta'ala give me and you and all of us tawfiq to continue to practice tahajjud for the rest of our lives.

The Many Paths to the Wilayah of Allah

The scholars mention that there are many different ways to gain wilayah and to gain the friendship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Some through ilm — they study the tafsir, they teach the Quran, they teach the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — and they gain their proximity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Their hearts are munawwar, filled with nur, their minds are illuminated with the nur of Quran and Sunnah. And their yaqeen is increasing. And when they read and they ponder and reflect, then inadvertently they exclaim, هَذَا كَلَامُ رَبِّي — "This has to be the kalam of my Rabb." And their iman is increasing.

Others are increasing their iman through da'wah and speaking about the greatness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, inviting people towards Allah:

Whose words are better than the one who invites towards Allah? By da'wah they are increasing their iman. Other mashayikh are doing dhikr. Through suluk and tazkiyah and ihsan, sitting in their places of ibadah, they are worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They are doing so much dhikr that their iman is increasing. Some are doing khidmah of the khalq — they are serving the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They are doing social work, they are helping those who are refugees, those who are wounded, and those who are in difficulty — serving the creation of Allah to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So there are many many different ways to gain the wilayah and closeness and proximity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Each one of them is from the Sunnah. And whichever one Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants us tawfiq for, it is insha'Allah a great honor. And we can ask nothing more from Allah than that He grants us His wilayah.

However, if there is one action which is the al-qadr al-mushtarak — the common denominator, the common factor — between all of the different paths to gain wilayah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it is the tahajjud salah. Because there is no one who has become a wali of Allah without the tahajjud salah.

The Meaning of "Nafilah" for the Prophet

So in any case, this ayah says فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ — perform the tahajjud prayer; this is an additional prayer for you. So the scholars were contemplating over this. What does it mean — نَافِلَةً لَّكَ — when it is the sunnah that must be emulated, must be copied, and was by the Sahaba, by the Tabi'un, by the Tabi' al-Tabi'in, by the awliya, till today insha'Allah, till the Day of Judgement?

One interpretation is that there are five prayers which are fard and obligatory upon us. But the tahajjud prayer — here it is ironic because nafilah by translation means "additional." So you have the original and then you have the additional. But over here, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is indicating towards the five prayers, and then after that He is saying tahajjud is an additional prayer — this means you have six fard prayers. All of us have five fard prayers a day, but Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had six prayers that he must perform. So Allah ta'ala had obligated this upon him.

The Importance of Nafl Prayer for Every Believer

And another interpretation is — SubhanAllah — the purpose of performing nafl salah. This is a reminder for us. Sometimes we think, "Okay, nafl is for pious people. If I get by with my fard, then I'm good enough. If I come for Jumu'ah and I perform my Jumu'ah, then I run out after the two fard salah. The rest of the people are performing four sunnah, two sunnah, nafl — all of that — those are pious people. And since I'm a sinner, it's okay. If I pray my Maghrib it is sufficient; I don't need to pray awwabin after it, or ishraq or duha and all of that."

But the reality is — if we take our statement "I'm a sinner" — then we are in greater need for the nafl. The bigger a sinner you are, the more you need the nafl prayer. And the reason is that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned that all of us have deficiencies in our prayer. As narrated in the narration of Abu Dawud: a person performs his salah, and after he completes his salah, how much reward does he get? Some of them:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 796)

One-half, one-third, one-fourth, one-fifth, one-sixth, one-seventh, one-eighth, one-ninth, one-tenth. Some people get zero reward, and some very few get the full reward. So based on the deficiency in our performance — deficiency in the zahir and batin, external and internal dimensions — that is how much less thawab you will get.

And on the Day of Judgement, when the hisab and the accounting of the salah will begin:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Book 6, Hadith 465; Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 864)

The first thing that Allah ta'ala will take to account is the salah. And when that deficiency is shown — the books of deeds are opened, and the a'mal are weighed:

Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will say to the angels: اُنْظُرُوا — "O angels, look — does he have مِنَ النَّوَافِلِ شَيْءٌ — does he have any additional nafl prayers to his credit?" And those nafl prayers, if he has them, the reward of that will be used to fill up the deficiencies and make up as an expiation for the deficiencies in the performance of the fard. So the more deficiency we have in the fard, the greater need we have for the nafl.

So whatever deficiency we have in our fard prayers, we are making that up through the tahajjud insha'Allah. Whereas Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — how much was the level of his deficiency in his fard salah? Zero. His fard salah is the model — the ultimate model of perfection. In fact, the best salah that a member of the ummah can perform is measured by how close it is to the salah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

This is inherently obvious and does not need to be pointed out. However, on top of that we have the explicit hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 10, Hadith 631)

"Perform salah the way you see me performing the salah." So he presented in this hadith that his salah is the model — the model from both the zahir and batin. How his bodily movements were in the salah, we must emulate that; as well as what were the ahwal and kaifiyyah qalbiyyah — what was the status and condition of his heart in the different arkan. We have to try our best to emulate that.

So this ayah — فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ — means that you will perform the tahajjud salah, and for you alone this will actually be a true nafilah, a true bonus. Because for everyone else it's not a bonus.

Just like if somebody gets a bonus at work — he gets an additional payout out of nowhere, some recognition and honor by his company: "For your dedicated service we're giving you this bonus." And if his friends, colleagues, or family members say, "Wow, you can truly party and enjoy now — you can go on a vacation that you always wanted to, because you got this additional money you were not expecting." Vacations are expensive with the flights, hotels, and everything in between. "So now you have the money for it — you have a bonus. It's a نَافِلَةً لَكَ — it's additional for you." He'll say, "No, you know what — I actually got hit with so many unexpected medical bills, or an unexpected lawsuit, or unexpected other financial difficulties. So this may seem like a bonus, but it's not a bonus — it's going to go into taking care of those bills that have come to my desk."

So with respect to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, نَافِلَةً لَّكَ is truly an additional bonus for him.

Special Privileges in Wudu and Saum

The Wudu of the Prophet During Sleep

Coming to the ibadat — this is with respect to salah. With respect to the wudu of salah as well: Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that sleep breaks the wudu. But the sleep of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — when he would lie down — it would not break his wudu.

The reason wudu breaks when you are sleeping is because all of the nawaqid — those things which break the wudu — when we go over the list, we find that the common theme is that there is some impurity that is actually leaving the body, or there is a strong possibility of the impurity leaving the body while a person is unaware. So one is the passing of blood, or vomiting, or of course the urine and defecation, or the passing of wind and gas — from inside, the impurity is coming outside.

The reason I am emphasizing "from inside to outside" is that if the touching of an impurity is from outside only, the wudu will not break. Someone who changes a diaper, or some najasa externally comes on the body — what do we do? We have to wash that part off for sure. If it is on the clothes, we need to clean the clothes. But we do not have to wash the face, wash the arms and the feet, and make masa'h of the head. Why not? Because wudu did not break. If someone is walking in a farm and trips into manure — filth up to his knees, up to his waist, up to his armpits — his wudu does not break. Meaning, for example, if his head is unaffected, there is no need, it is not fard on him to make masa'h of the head. He would have to wash all the impurity. What would he typically end up doing? He would take a shower for sure, and his head would definitely get wet. But just to prove a point — his wudu does not break.

And when does the wudu break — besides impurity coming out of the body? When there is a strong possibility. When does that happen? When a person is — na'udhu billah — drunk, or a person is unconscious, or a person is asleep. Because the body parts loosen, and he may pass gas while he is unaware. But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "When I sleep, my wudu does not break." Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala controls it. And قَلْبِي يَقْظَانُ — my heart is awake. الْعَيْنَانِ تَنَامَانِ وَالْقَلْبُ لَا يَنَامُ — the eyes sleep but the heart is awake.

Saum al-Wisal: The Prophet's Exclusive Fast

And when it comes to saum, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had an additional attribute — a type of fasting not to be shared with the ummah, which is called saum al-wisal. There is also saum al-dahar. These are two different types of fasting.

Saum al-wisal is that a person fasts without suhoor and without iftar. So he has no suhoor, no iftar, he fasts the whole day — then the next day, without suhoor and without iftar, and then the third day, without suhoor and without iftar. This type of fasting is actually prohibited for the ummah. It is required that we have at minimum some suhoor and iftar, depending on what we have. If a person doesn't have anything — he is locked up in a cell in solitary confinement and the guards are not giving him anything — that is a different matter. But voluntarily to abstain from all drink and all food for multiple days is prohibited.

But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would fast in such a manner. And SubhanAllah, he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 30, Hadith 1966; Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 1103)

"My Rabb gives me food to eat and He gives me a drink." SubhanAllah. Divinely He is getting the nourishment from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through the dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Prophetic Marriages: Wisdom and Purpose

So when we think about the special attributes of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we need to talk about his ibadah, and we need to talk about these specific attributes before we get to the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had granted him the opportunity for multiple wives. That is one of the last things we would come to — we do not have time to delve into it fully. But there was a hikmah and a wisdom in that as well, for sure.

And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not marry based on a single marriage — despite the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

This is a special gift that Allah has given to you alone — not based on shahwa and desire. In the era of Jahiliyyah, when promiscuity was rife, he remained chaste. When he got married — he had not touched any woman before that. After that, when Khadijah radiallahu anha was his wife, he did not marry a single other woman while she was his wife.

After her, whichever nikah he performed, there were multiple reasons behind each one — and each one is mentioned in detail in the books of seerah. How the knowledge of deen was transferred through his wives. How they recorded such aspects of his life that no other Sahabi would have access to. How Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala united different tribes through the nikah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. How he brought those closer to Islam — some of whom Allah had decreed guidance for — when he married Safiyyah radiallahu anha and Juwayriyyah radiallahu anha from Banu al-Mustaliq. Other nikahs, each one had their unique reasons.

So it was not — na'udhu billah — that the khasusiyyah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in fulfilling earthly desires. But on top of that, the majority of his khasa'is were with respect to additional acts of worship. So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was a special nabi of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — from every angle that we can look at.

Closing Du'a

And this absolutely does not do any justice to the topic. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the tawfiq to further study his khasa'is, his unique attributes. And fill our hearts with his love and respect. And make it easy for us to follow his sunnah. And unite us with him in Jannatul Firdaws al-A'la.

Announcements

Please stand up and fill in the gaps, insha'Allah. Please come closer. Fill in all the gaps to perform sunnah, insha'Allah. This draws the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Sadaqah given on the day of Jumu'ah is more rewarding.

Please save the date. We have a no-tech retreat — an opportunity to connect to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and disconnect from technology. With Shaykh Zakaria Patel coming from Toronto, Canada, insha'Allah on February 17th to 18th.

We have our weekend Islamic studies program for adults. Spring enrollment is now open, insha'Allah. There is fiqh of salah, seerah of the Meccan period, and the 40 Hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam on Saturday. And on Sunday: fiqh of taharah, aqeedah part two, and Islamic etiquettes. Very important subjects, insha'Allah. Please join us for our weekly programs.

Tomorrow morning after Fajr is our Team Fajr program. Tafseer of Surah al-Qasas on Tuesday nights. And weekly salawat on Thursday nights. We have a sisters' monthly dars — every first Sunday of the month. January 7th this month, insha'Allah, is the monthly sisters' dars at 12 noon in the women's prayer hall, followed by lunch as well.

And of course, a reminder for myself and everyone: continue to keep our brothers and sisters in Palestine in your du'a. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala relieve their suffering. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept the shuhada. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant tawfiq to the Muslim leaders to utilize whatever abilities Allah has given them — in power and influence — to stop the genocide, to stop the ethnic cleansing. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never test us the way He has tested them. May Allah grant them success in this test. Ameen.