The Prophetic Approach | Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed | Summer Immersion

The Prophetic Approach: His Role, His Example, and Our Connection to Him

The next set of hadith that are going to convey a message to us are going to be around the Prophet ﷺ — his role, what his role is, the examples he gave of himself, what his role should be in our life, what is his position, what is his rank, how did he give his own examples, what is his job, what are his duties? And he gave different examples of this. And those examples are extremely, extremely to the point, and they convey the message. And we're in dunya — we spoke about dunya versus akhira last week.

To survive dunya, you need the Prophet ﷺ. So let's talk about a hadith in which the Prophet gives an example of himself. How does he speak about himself? What teacher says to a student, "I'm like your father" — that drives the point home. Meaning, I love you like your father. A teacher says, "I'm like your older brother." That's how he drives that point home, that you can tell me something about yourself. How did the Prophet ﷺ speak to us and give his own example to us?

The Hadith of the Warner

The first thing he says — a hadith in Bukhari — is this:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6482)

He said: "The example of me and that which Allah has sent me with is like a man who comes to his people."

Now that's very important — because he didn't say أَتَى النَّاسَ, he didn't say أَتَى الْقَوْمَ, he said أَتَى قَوْمَهُ — he comes to his own people. Why? Because there is already a relationship there. He loves them and they love him. He considers them among himself and they consider him to be among them.

Before You Correct, You Must Connect

Why am I saying all this before I give the example from the hadith? Because before you can correct, you better connect. You can't correct people without connecting with them. "Let me correct this sister, she doesn't wear hijab properly." Well, before you can correct her, you better invest in connecting with her. And if that connection takes one year, two years, three years — let it take two, three years. But don't correct. Because your correcting may lead her further from Islam.

And many of us are victims of this. Many of our children are victims of this. Many of our siblings are victims of this. Many people — and they never come back. There are some people who have been corrected without being connected, once or twice, and that was enough for them. Not to say that they have an excuse — that's not an excuse. But I'm saying this is also wrong.

Someone who says, "I'm not going back to Madinah Munawwarah because every single time I go in the masjid, my slippers get stolen" — that doesn't mean the person who's stealing the slippers is doing the right thing. But it also doesn't justify you saying, "I'm not going back to Madinah." So I'm saying they're two separate things.

The Prophet ﷺ would connect with people. That's why he's saying أَتَى قَوْمَهُ — connect with them. People ask me this all the time: "My friend's doing this wrong, what should I do?" I say: make sure you maintain friendship with him. That's it. Love him, care for him, take care of him.

Now when you maintain that connection, next time there's a Miftah conference or program or workshop, you are so well connected. All you say is, حَبِيبِي — "Yo, there's scholars coming into town, I'm gonna go there tonight, come with me." And since you guys are so close, it'll be easy for that person. Then he comes to this program, and he hears some speaker speaking that can change a person's life.

So you maintain that connection. And as you maintain it, then that person will continue to come and benefit from those opportunities that you present. And then once later on, after the connection is developed, there's also a time — in a nice, beautiful manner — for correction. So as students of knowledge, as leaders in communities as we grow older and get more mature, remember: people love correcting nowadays. First connect with people.

The Warner Who Has Seen the Army

So the Prophet ﷺ says: أَتَى قَوْمَهُ — this man who comes to his own people. He considers those people from himself, they consider him to be among them, and they have mutual love for each other. And despite all that, be ready — when you have a connection with somebody, be ready that you correct that person and that person doesn't listen. That happens. People don't like to be corrected. Don't get offended.

"That guy didn't listen to me? I'm his friend. I love him." That doesn't mean anything. People loved the Prophet ﷺ, and when he corrected them, did they all listen? No. So don't get offended by that. Keep staying connected with the person. That's how it works.

So then he says:

He's running back to his people and, beyond the mountains, he says: "I just came from there — you can't see it, because between you and what's behind the mountain is this big tall mountain. You can't see what's behind it." So basically he's telling us: between us and the Akhirah is this big tall mountain of Dunya. You can't see Jahannam, Jannah, you can't see the angels, you can't see these things. You can't see the punishment that awaits a person who misses Salah, who lies, who cheats. You can't see these things.

Like this he's saying: "I've come to these people, and I'm telling them — إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ الْجَيْشَ بِعَيْنَيَّ — I have seen this army that's coming to attack you with my own eyes."

And the second thing he says: وَإِنِّي أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَانُ — "And I am the naked warner." النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَانُ — in those days there was no microphone system. You're speaking to people right in front of you, but those people all the way over there can't hear you. By the time you get to them, it might be too late. So what they used to do was take their shirt off, put it on top of their spear or sword, and raise it up — to signify that something is dangerous, that you're about to be attacked: hurry up, get your children out of their homes and leave.

Why is this an example for us? The people in front of him were the Sahaba, the people of Makkah — he's speaking to them, they can hear him. And then we are like those people who never directly heard from him, but we saw that person waving his cloth. We saw the Prophet's Sunnah demonstrated, we heard his hadith, we heard about his lifestyle. So both are equally being warned — some directly because he's there, and others indirectly because he gestured to them. That's the example going on here.

Then he says: فَالنَّجَاءَ — "Listen, I'm telling you, I've seen this with my own eyes. There's an army about to attack you."

The punishment of your Lord is severe.

Hope in Allah's Mercy

Of course, everyone knows my stance on this. Where are we going to be in the Akhirah, inshallah? Chilling under the Arsh of Allah. I believe that. We just got the Kalimah. But this is also reality. Look at this time and age — it was raining so hard, people have so many things to do, you figured out a way to still come, and for what? To listen to Quran and hadith. So I believe if we die tonight, we're going to Jannah, we're going to be under the Arsh of Allah. I have that hope. And rewards are magnified when things are difficult — there's an opposite pull: you do something good, it's magnified.

I was at a talk of Shaykh Tariq Jameel, and someone said to him: "Shaykh Tariq, you are making people courageous to sin, because you're always talking about the mercy of Allah." And Shaykh Tariq Jameel said: "Why are you comparing me to Allah? Who's Tariq Jameel, and who is Allah? Even if my own son messes around too much, I'll tell him, leave the house. But Allah is Allah."

"What would Allah gain from punishing you if you are just grateful to Him and believe in Him?" He's going to gain nothing out of it. It's better for us if we believe in Him.

So I'm saying that — but at the same time, it is true that the Prophet ﷺ was warning us about a punishment that awaits. Missing salah over and over again, cheating, lying, doing haram over and over.

"And your Lord is not unjust to His servants."

"And your Lord is never forgetful."

So the Prophet ﷺ is saying: I'm telling you — go run to safety. Stop these sins. Stop this life of haram. Stop this life of interest. Stop just consuming haram things and doing haram things. You will be destroyed in this world and in the hereafter. Because haram and sins catch up to you. There's no other way to put it — it catches up to you.

The Consequences of Sin

There are some people who are very, very lucky. And why are they lucky? Because every time they disobey Allah, Allah actually punishes them right away — and they feel it. They lose their money. They get into a fight with their spouse. Their kids disobey them. They lose their job. They get sick. These are things that happen to them immediately. And it's so easy for them to identify: "Man, I messed up. I've got to turn back."

You know how the Prophet ﷺ — he said to the people of Makkah who came to him and said, "Please tell us about these things" — and he said, "I'll tell you tomorrow." That's the Prophet of Allah. He had in his heart, I will tell you tomorrow, God willing — but he never verbalized it. Because of that, Allah did not send revelation for days. And then when He finally revealed the verses, the first thing He said was:

"And never say of anything, 'Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,' except [when adding], 'If Allah wills.'" Now, does that happen with us? No, because we're not at that level. But there are some people at that level.

Then there's another group — most of us. We're sinners, we make mistakes. And Allah ignores us, Allah overlooks. And then because He's overlooking, we begin to think everything is fine. Like, if you're running a business — business is a very good way to test this out. Your sales are great on Monday, great on Tuesday, good on Wednesday. Then you commit some sins on Thursday and your sales are great. You commit some more sins on Friday, your sales are even better. You commit sins on Saturday, sales are even better. Now it actually gives you the courage that everything's fine. And you keep doing sins.

Imagine if on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday you prayed five times, five times, five times and never committed sins — and then on Thursday you missed Fajr and Dhuhr, and your sales dropped. No one's coming to your website, no one's coming to your clinic. You know what to do: I need to get better. And you start seeing the cycle. This cycle is true, but for some people Allah ignores them.

That's why Ibn Abbas says:

"O the one who is committing a sin — do not rest assured after you commit a sin, because the consequences of that sin that are about to come to you are far worse than the sin itself."

So the Prophet ﷺ is coming and saying — first he's telling the people in front of him, إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ الْجَيْشَ بِعَيْنَيَّ — those people can hear him. And for those who can't hear him, he's saying أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَانُ — he's taking a cloth out and waving it. That's for us. Telling us: be careful. Next time you just think, "it's just a Sunnah" — be careful. That next time you're praying Salah and you skip a Sunnah just because it's Sunnah, be careful. It's not a small thing.

Those Who Believed Without Seeing

Then he says: فَأَطَاعَهُ طَائِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَأَدْلَجُوا — some people, immediately after the Prophet ﷺ said this, followed him. What's amazing about that? These people never saw the army behind the mountain. They just believed his words. And right when they heard it — أَدْلَجُوا. Remember the word from last week: مَنْ خَافَ أَدْلَجَ — the one who fears, what does he do? He quickly gets up and leaves.

And we said that the quality among the people who are guaranteed Jannah is what? سَبَقِيَّة — right away they follow. They were all different — some were rich, some were poor, some were well-known, some were unknown — but one quality common among all of them was their سَبَقِيَّة. The moment they heard something, they want to act upon it. They want to be the first ones in line.

Right when they get home, they're not thinking about eating or drinking, they're not thinking, "Let's hear it from five or ten other people, let's see what people are doing." No — he said it, we believe him. Let's prepare immediately.

Now, these people actually heard what the Prophet ﷺ said — yes, they deserve credit for acting upon it. But those other people never heard him. They just saw that cloth. They did not even stop and pause to wait for him to come to them. They did not even say, "Let's go up to him and verify." Rather, they said: "That's an amazing person. He never lies. He loves us. Let's be careful, let's be cautious." And they believed — just like the ones who heard him directly.

That's why it's significant to mention this — the Prophet ﷺ asked: both are great, but who at this point deserves more credit? The ones who heard directly, or the ones who just saw the cloth and believed?

Who Deserves the Most Credit for Their Iman?

This comes in hadith. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 17311; also referenced in related narrations in Sahih al-Bukhari)

"Tell me — who do you consider to be at the highest? Who deserves the most credit for their iman?" — not the ones who have the most iman, but who deserves the most credit? Because we already know who has the highest level of iman.

The Sahaba replied: "We consider the Prophets to be the ones who deserve the most credit." And the Prophet ﷺ said: "No, not the Prophets — they speak to Allah directly through angels, it's not the Prophets." Who else? The Sahaba replied: "Angels." And the Prophet ﷺ said: "No, not angels — angels see Allah, they see the ghayb, they have no pull toward doing haram, they don't deserve the most credit." The third reply was: "Ya Rasulullah — us! The companions of the Prophet!" And the Prophet ﷺ said: "No, not you. You see me. You get to hear me. You see my life, you see the miracles, you see the different battles. You don't deserve the most credit."

"Ya Rasulullah, then who deserves the most credit?" And the Prophet's words are very, very descriptive. He says — people that will come from your progeny:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 17311)

"People that will come from your progeny, from your generations. They are not even in this world right now — they will come later. They have never seen me, but they are willing to give up everything they have in their life to get a glimpse of me. They wish to see me even if that means to give up their family, their money, and their own life."

What does "give up their life" mean? To get to Jannah. They are willing to sacrifice their life to see the Prophet. "They have never seen me, but they find my life and my teachings in books — that's it. They read it, they know this is how the Prophet was, and they follow it." That's me and you.

So that's why he said: these people deserve the most credit for their Iman. This is not my words — this is the Prophet's words ﷺ.

Jannah Yearns for Them

That's why the Prophet looked at Ammar, Ali, and Mu'adh. These three people were giving their lives for the Prophet ﷺ — always doing great things. Why? Because of yearning for Jannah. They just want to be in Jannah, but they've never seen Jannah. So you know what he says to them?

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3797; also Musnad Ahmad)

"Jannah is desirous to see you three. Jannah wants to meet you." Because you have so much desire to see it, Jannah reciprocates — it wants to see you now. That's the rule with great people: they want to be in Jannah, and Jannah wants to see them. You're doing all this without seeing me? You deserve credit for that.

The Reward of Those Who Speak About Allah and His Messenger

The Prophet ﷺ said:

"On that day, those people who just speak — الْقَائِل — even just have a conversation about Allah and His Rasul, not even necessarily acting upon it — a conversation, a discussion — the reward for these people will be like the ones who accepted Islam early in Makkah. The ones who accepted Islam early in Makkah and early in Madinah — from the Muhajireen and the Ansar. Their reward is much higher than the reward of those who accepted Islam after the Fath of Makkah, because by then they had already seen everything." Does that make sense?