The Qur'an And The Prophet: The Foundation Of Our Religion

The Qur'an and the Prophet: The Foundation of Our Religion

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolil ameen. Amma ba'd.

Dear respected brothers and elders, mothers and sisters, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

For the guidance of mankind, Allah azza wa jalla sent anbiya — Allah azza wa jalla sent prophets. Certain of these prophets were also sent revelation, wahi — the Arabic for wahi is revelation.

For our ummah, the Prophet ﷺ was sent as the prophet. And the revelation was the Qur'an. And this Qur'an is very special.

Allah Himself describes the Qur'an within the Qur'an:

It elucidates everything that you need to know. Right at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah, Allah azza wa jalla says huda — that it is a means of guidance. In other places Allah says huda wa rahma — that it is a guidance and mercy. Allah azza wa jalla says in the Qur'an that for every single thing that we need for guidance, the Qur'an has it.

The Qur'an is this perfect book. The Qur'an is this kalamullah — the living word of Allah azza wa jalla. So the Qur'an is something very, very special for us.

Our entire deen pivots through Rasulullah ﷺ on the Qur'an. And the Prophet's ﷺ job was to explain to the people — li tubayyina lin-nas ma nuzzila ilayhim — to explain to the people what was revealed to them. So we have this Qur'an — this is the pivot, this is the core, this is the crux of our religion, our faith.

Khuluquhu al-Qur'an: His Character Was the Qur'an

And then we have a statement of Aisha radiyallahu anha. She was asked about the character — she was asked about the Prophet's ﷺ demeanor. How did he act? How was he as an individual? As you know, Aisha radiyallahu anha, the beloved wife of Rasulullah ﷺ, was one of those companions who was the third or fourth most prolific narrator of hadith. She was very knowledgeable, and she had a lot to say about the Prophet ﷺ.

So when she was asked: what is his quality? What is Rasulullah ﷺ? What makes him him? What is so special about him? What is his character? She responds:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 261)

That his characteristics were the Qur'an. That is what he was. He is a living, walking interpretation — a living, walking exemplar of the Qur'an itself.

So then, if we want to appreciate the Qur'an — which is the crux of our religion — without the Qur'an and without the Prophet ﷺ, we don't have Islam. So if we want to understand an aspect of the Qur'an, we need to study Rasulullah ﷺ.

And it's interesting to know that the muhaddithun — those ulama, scholars, who engage in the field of hadith — when they define hadith, what do they say? They say a hadith is:

That a hadith — a narration, a report about the Prophet ﷺ — is something that is attributed to the Prophet. It is either his action, his statement, his approval of an action that happened around him. Even if he didn't say anything — if something wrong were happening in front of him, he would say something; he is a Prophet. But if he didn't say something, that means it was his approval. And lastly, his wasf — his characteristics, both physical and internal, external and internal.

All of this is hadith. This is why we have to be extremely grateful to the companions for what they have given us. They not only told us about his statements, his hukums, his rulings — but they described for us his physical features as well.

The Shama'il Tradition: Knowing the Prophet Inside and Out

When we say — when you hear, when you say — Rasulullah ﷺ, what conceptualization do we get? How do we visualize him? What do we think of him — both his internal aspect and his external features? If it weren't important, the sahaba would not have discussed it. If it weren't important, the sahaba would not have described it.

So in this khutbah, I would like to briefly talk a little bit about his features. This is why we have a tradition known as the Shama'il tradition — where we read about the physical, external, and internal characteristics of Rasulullah ﷺ. The famous Shama'il is the Shama'il of Imam al-Tirmidhi, where the section from his Sunan al-Tirmidhi describing the Prophet's physical and internal characteristics was taken out and made as an individual book. Many of us have read it, or attended gatherings where the book is recited or portions of it are recited. So Shama'il is something very important — because it describes for us who the Prophet ﷺ physically was.

The Hidden Beauty of the Prophet ﷺ

Before going on to that, one thing about the beauty of Rasulullah ﷺ. Imam al-Qurtubi mentioned something very beautiful. He says:

That the Prophet ﷺ never actually manifested his complete beauty — never really manifested his complete beauty. There is something kept hidden. That is for the akhirah. That is for — inshallah — every single one of us when we get to see him in the akhirah, inshallah. But he actually kept it hidden. A portion of his beauty was not seen in this world, because if it were, our eyes would never be able to hold it. Our eyes would not be able to take the beauty of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Hassan ibn Thabit radiyallahu anhu — the famous sahabi known as a poet, as a sha'ir, as a person who would mention beautiful things in the form of poetry — describes Rasulullah ﷺ:

When I saw the radiating light coming out, when I saw it shining forth — out of fear I hid my eyes. I took my palm and put it on my eyes. Out of fear for my sight, he was afraid the beauty of Rasulullah ﷺ would blind him. So I could only take glances — I could only look at him a little bit. I was hardly able to look at him. A soul made of light in the form of the moon, as if the brilliant stars were woven in his form.

The point of this is — and maybe if we don't understand the Arabic per se it won't give us the same impact — but it is to show that the sahaba invested time in looking at the Prophet ﷺ as much as they could. They said it was hard, it was difficult to look at that amazing radiant face. But whatever they could, they tried — and they described it for us. Because it is to show their mahabba of Rasulullah ﷺ. So reading the Shama'il, reading more about who he was, is something very important.

Internal Characteristics of the Prophet ﷺ

Mufti Azeemuddin in the first khutbah discussed a few. So I want to continue with that and share some more descriptions about his characteristics — external and internal.

He says:

This is talking about his internal characteristics — that he would praise and appreciate the favors that someone had done for him, even if they were small. Even if it was just a little bit. Someone gives you a glass of water — you just take it and move forward, or say جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا — something simple like that. This is something that Rasulullah ﷺ exemplified.

And when he talked about food, he never criticized it nor did he overly praise it.

He would never get angry because of any personal insult. He never got angry for himself — the other people got angry for him. When a Bedouin would come — and Bedouins are harsh people, they don't know the cultural norms, they don't understand some of the adab and etiquettes of dealing with the Nabi ﷺ — a Bedouin comes, holds Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by his neck, pulls him such that a mark is left. Umar radiyallahu anhu is infuriated — he wants to act. But Rasulullah ﷺ says: it's okay, it's okay. What do you need? What need do you have and I'll take care of it.

This is who Rasulullah ﷺ was. We might have heard this story many times. We might have heard many other stories. But all of this is for the ishq — for loving Nabi ﷺ. As Mawlana Jalaluddin al-Rumi rahimahullah mentions — that once you have the love of Rasulullah ﷺ, all other loves are null, void, non-existent. When you have become engrossed with the love of Rasulullah ﷺ, all these other loves — of anything else, people, material things, goals, pursuits, everything — become null and void in front of the love of Rasulullah ﷺ.

His Balance and Moderation at Home

In another narration he says:

Before he entered the house, he would always seek permission. And when he would come home, he had three different portions: a portion of his time for Allah azza wa jalla, a portion of his time for his family, and a portion of his time for himself.

Rasulullah ﷺ — when we are told to look at him as an example, it's because he had moderation, because he had a balanced life. We are a moderate, balanced ummah. These are just random fawa'id — random points from different aspects of Rasulullah's ﷺ life.

But one thing has to be with us: when we say Rasulullah, when we see his name being mentioned ﷺ, what do we visualize? What do we get out of that? Who do we think about? What do we understand of him? "Oh, he's a Prophet of Allah, he's a Messenger of Allah" — but some sort of physical characteristics should come into our mind. For that we have to read the Shama'il. Some of his internal characteristics should come into our mind — for that we should read his seerah, his Shama'il.

The Trials of the Prophet ﷺ and Surah al-Kawthar

Some of the tragedies that he went through — we should think about that. Rasulullah ﷺ loses his child, his son Ibrahim. One of his sons passes away. And when somebody's child passes away, everyone — even your worst enemy — is going to come and offer some consolation. They're going to say, "I'm sorry for your loss." But his own uncle, his blood relative, was laughing. Abu Lahab was laughing. They were so happy — "who is going to carry on his message now, that his son has passed away?" Laughing.

Imagine the pain that Rasulullah ﷺ was going through. His son passes away. His uncle — his blood relative — is laughing, just joking it off. And they are happy, very happy, that his son has passed away.

Then Allah azza wa jalla reveals as consolation:

We have given you kawthar — this great ni'ma, this great virtue, this great blessing. This surah is amazing — it is a means of consolation. There are ten words in this surah: Pray to your Lord and sacrifice. Verily, it is your enemy who is cut off.

If you look at the linguistics of this surah, there is a lot to say — we don't have too much time — but there is a lot to say about the linguistics, about how each sentence incorporates and transitions, a comparison between the first ayah and the last. Allah says: we will give you kawthar, and your enemy is going to be cut off.

Who mentions Abu Lahab? Who mentions Abu Jahl? We mention their names only in the context of the Prophet ﷺ — to see the horrible things that they did. No one cares about them otherwise. Even in Western academia, no one talks about these people. Who is Abu Lahab's son? Who is Abu Jahl's son? Who are their grandsons? No one knows. No one cares.

But from Muhammad ﷺ — Muhammad, the one who is praised — his name is mentioned every single moment, continuously. This is what Allah azza wa jalla said: we have given you kawthar, and your enemy has been cut off. This is what Rasulullah ﷺ experienced at that moment.

The Journey to Ta'if

When he was going to Ta'if, the pain that he went through — when he was hoping to meet people who would help him on his mission, but no. He left in distraught, in pain — physical and emotional — and he comes back, and he still makes du'a. He still makes du'a for these people, and he does not destroy them.

So all these different aspects of his life — when you and I might go through a death in the family, when you and I might go through rejection in society, when you and I might go through difficulties — we look at Rasulullah ﷺ. We look at him and say: our Prophet ﷺ was able to do this, for so many years, for our hidayah — so that ultimately we will not face Jahannam.

In a hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ mentions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6483)

I am holding on to your belts, pulling you back from the fire that you want to jump into — he is holding us back, he is giving us an example.

Within the Prophet ﷺ is the best of examples, the best parable, the best role model. And that is somebody that we have to look into, that we have to think about. If we are not reading seerah, maybe we should try reading seerah. If we don't read Shama'il, maybe we should try to read Shama'il with our family members, to increase the love of Rasulullah ﷺ.

When this love increases, the automatic response of love is ita'atul habib — the response of love is to obey the beloved, to follow the beloved. So if we read more, then we can implement more of the sunnah, and then we will engage in more salawat.

The Importance of Salawat on the Prophet ﷺ — Especially on Fridays

And with that I will end — with the importance of salawat. It is Friday. Ibn Mas'ud radiyallahu anhu mentions: do not let a Friday pass except that you have done a thousand salawat upon him ﷺ. It doesn't have to be a long one — اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ — and we read what we can. Not out of some sense of obligation — "okay, I have to do it" — no. This is out of love of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Allah azza wa jalla tells all of us: if you claim to love God, you have to follow the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ has told us that none of our faith — that our iman, our belief — is not complete, is not the quintessential iman, the perfect iman, until:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 15; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 70)

That I become more beloved to him than everything else — his wealth, his children, and the entire humanity.

And that cannot be achieved if we don't read about him. That cannot be achieved if we don't think about him. That cannot be achieved if we don't have this longing to meet him — this desire that one day I will pass from this life, and I will see Rasulullah ﷺ. If that is not at the forefront, then it's going to be hard to implement what he has told us to do. It's going to be hard to implement the sunnah.

So what we can do, inshallah, is that today we will try — a thousand, minimum a thousand, before Salatul Maghrib — I will do Salat al-Nabi. Even if I'm going to work, going back to school, or if I'm free — if I have free time right after Jumu'ah, I'll sit here and do a thousand Salat al-Nabi ﷺ. This is the least that we should do for our Prophet ﷺ, who sacrificed so much.

We ask Allah azza wa jal to grant us the love of Nabi ﷺ. We ask Allah azza wa jal to grant us his muhabba, to allow us to implement his sunnah. And alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.

Announcements

Those of us who have finished the sunnah prayers in the back — if we can stand up and move forward, and make space for the people who are coming, inshallah. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously.

Join us on October 14th for our first monthly seminar of 2022, Between the Two Extremes: The Islamic Perspective on Insolvency and Abortion, by Mufti Minhajuddin. A very timely and important seminar taking place on October 14th, inshallah.

Soulful Chats — bi-weekly sisters' youth halaqa — continues this Friday, 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the Seminary Sisters Prayer Hall. The topic this week will be Striking a Balance Between One's Fear and Hope in Allah azza wa jal.

Registration for our annual Sira Conference is now open — November 11th and 12th. Please RSVP at masjiddeos.org/RSVP. And help us reach our goal of 25 million salawat — for more information, check masjiddeos.org/salawat.

Tomorrow we will have Team Fajr with Mufti Azeemuddin. Fajr iqamah is at 6:15am. Bukhari Dars continues on Mondays with Mufti Minhaj after Isha. Tuesday Tafsir continues with Mufti Azeemuddin after Isha. And weekly salawat on Thursdays after Isha.

Also this weekend, inshallah, Chicago's annual Regional Ijtema will be taking place regarding the effort of Iman and Yaqeen at the Jamia Masjid on Devon, starting today from Salatul Asr till Sunday, October 9th. Brothers are encouraged to join.

The Prophet ﷺ has told us that the best of all people are those who are the most beneficial to people. Brothers from the United Mission for Relief and Development have a booth outside — please see them on the way out. They are raising money for flood relief and building clean water wells in Pakistan. One well will provide clean water for 3,000 people.

There is a request for du'a for a sister, Fazilat Azeem, who passed away. Salatul Janazah will be at IFS. And one of our musalli's aunt, Hosea Begum, passed away in India — also a request for du'a. May Allah grant them all maghfirah and the highest ranks in Jannah, and unite them with the Prophet ﷺ.