The Prophetic Practice | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Shamail - Session 2

The Prophetic Practice — Shamā'il Session 2

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa ala akhiratil muttaqeen, wassalatu wassalamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammad al-Nabi al-'alameen, alladhi dhukira ismuhu fi al-Injeel wa al-Tawrat. Amma ba'd.

Yesterday we spoke about how the physical beauty of the Prophet ﷺ was such that people who would see him would fall in love with him and they would accept Islam. Just within that there is a sense of understanding of how the Prophet ﷺ would use his qualities.

Using Your Talents for Others

Every single person has a unique array or portfolio of talent and qualities. Generally everyone has something that is unique about what they have to add to the table. However, what happens to us — you and I, all of us included — is that the specific portfolio of qualities that we have, whatever we have, we want to use it in ways that can only benefit us.

So we know we have a certain talent, but how can that benefit me first? We know we have a certain skill, but we're always thinking about how we can maximize that skill for our own benefit. And the way that the Prophet ﷺ was, is that whichever skill that I have — how can I use it to maximize the benefit of people? So whatever talent he had, he used it to benefit people. Hence Allah allowed that talent of his to continue glowing and growing.

When a person becomes selfish — not with his wealth and time, but with his talent or her talent — then they themselves will become the cause of losing that talent. Ibn al-Qayyim says in the tafsir of the ayah:

"And as for the blessing of your Lord, proclaim it."

He mentions that a person who has talent or who has any skills — if they don't use it to bring benefit to people, that means that that person doesn't really have a talent, that person doesn't really have any skills. Because the only beneficiary of their abilities is themselves. How is that a talent if no one else can benefit from you?

The Description of the Prophet ﷺ — Fakhmān Mufakhamān

So in this narration, Hasan radiAllahu anhu comes to his uncle and he asks him a simple question. And you know, sometimes you go for rishtah and if the brother is asked, "How did the person look?" — Abdullah had two eyes, one nose, two ears I think. But then if you ask a khala or an auntie — the nose was like this, and the eyebrows were like that, and the ears were like this, and the neck was like... I didn't know it was going to be that deep. He was very good at describing people.

Hasan radiAllahu anhu was about seven years old when the Prophet ﷺ left this world. Though he had many interactions with him and many narrations that he narrates from him — how much does a person really remember at that age? So he wants to know how his grandfather looked. So he comes to his uncle and he says, "Please describe to me what the Prophet ﷺ looks like."

When someone comes to us and asks us — how is Zayd, or how is Fatima — you normally start with the best quality of that person, because you want that person to look good. So you start with something that is unique about that person's personality, who they are, what they have to offer. If you like the person. If you don't like the person, you start with the worst.

So imagine having to start a description about the greatest man who came to this world. Like, where do you start from? Anything that you use is great. So he chooses to start from a very unique quality. He says:

(Shamā'il al-Tirmidhi — the description of Hasan ibn 'Ali radiAllahu anhu)

He starts off the description by saying: the Prophet ﷺ was a person who naturally oozed honor. He was an honorable person. Fakhmān — he was a person of great reverence, a person of great responsibility. Mufakhamān — many people have different interpretations of what this word means.

The book that we're using is known as Shamā'il al-Tirmidhi, written by the great scholar Imam Tirmidhi rahimahullah — the first compilation of such a science, where he compiled all of the narrations that have to do with the Prophet's ﷺ innate features. This book has been compiled in so many different ways by so many publishers, but I believe the Imam Ghazali Institute has done the best service for this book — compiled it in a beautiful manner, with the hadith and a beautiful translation.

So he starts off by saying the Prophet ﷺ was a man of great honor himself. Mufakhamān — he was a source of honor to people. So he was a talented person, but he also allowed people around him to grow in their own talent. He was a person of great reverence, but not such that it pushed people away. Rather, it pulled people towards deen. Not necessarily pulled people towards him only, but rather pulled people towards deen.

Principle Over Personality

Our deen was not a personality-centric deen. It was a God-centric deen. Our religion was based upon Allah. Our religion was based upon the Qur'an. And of course, the vessel for that was the Prophet ﷺ. But never did it happen that the Prophet ﷺ encouraged people to worship him. Never did it happen that the Prophet ﷺ encouraged people to only look towards him for the sake of worship. Yes, for the sake of understanding deen he is our one in everything. But it's not like Christianity, where the person who was the prophet became their god because it became a personality-centric religion. Principle over personality has always been a concept of deen.

Though we need people — we need teachers, we need shuyukh, we need parents, we need people in our community, murabbis, that can lead us — they lead us towards Allah. They lead us towards the promised land of Jannah. Not towards themselves only.

The Dā'ī versus the Muqarrir

I was speaking to the brothers yesterday and quoting my father. He was asking us: do you know the difference between a dā'ī and a muqarrir? Very similar words. Dā'ī comes from the word da'a, which means to give da'wah, to call towards something. Muqarrir means speaker or preacher. So what is the difference?

A muqarrir is a person that when he or she leaves the gathering, everyone will say: "Wow, what a beautiful lecture. What a beautiful session. What a great speaker. It was so deep." And then you ask them, "How deep was it? What did the shaykh speak about?" And they say: "Man, it was subhanAllah — oceans upon oceans of knowledge." "So what did you take from it?" "I mean, I don't know where to start from." Because you don't know what he said — because you are now focused on the person.

But a dā'ī is a person that when an individual leaves that gathering, you may or may not even remember the person's name. But you will remember who he called towards. You will leave the gathering saying, "I love the Prophet ﷺ." Or you will leave saying, "I absolutely have to change my life." You will leave saying, "I absolutely have to become a better person." But why? "I just love deen. This brother was talking to me in the masjid and he really opened my eyes." That's da'wah. Where there's no secondary incentive.

Because deen can never have a secondary incentive and still remain pure. In order for it to have the impact that it needs to have, we have to disassociate any type of incentive for ourselves. The incentive is that people come closer to Allah. And we package it in a way that people can't deny it.

Why was the Prophet ﷺ so powerful in his form of da'wah? Because he was able to package his da'wah in a way that people were absolutely floored by it and they had to accept it. It wasn't because he was the most literate and had the most wealth. But he recognized how to give da'wah to people based upon who they were.

The Packaging Analogy

I often give the example: what is the difference between buying a sweater from Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory, or TJ Maxx, and going to like Guess or Louis Vuitton? Imagine it's the same sweater, but from Marshalls it's a quarter of the price. In Guess it's double the price. Why? It's the same product, from the same manufacturer. The only difference between the two products is that in Guess, it's packaged differently. It's put into a nice bag. It's folded nicely. And they give it to you in such a nice bag that you want to take a picture of the bag.

The packaging changed. So the acceptance of it also changed. The value of it changed. Why are people not being impacted by my deen? A — because I have to bring value into my own deen. But B — I have to make sure that it's packaged in such a way that a person has no other option but to accept it, because I recognize its value.

The Insurance Analogy

We have insurance on our homes, we have insurance on our cars, now we even have insurance on our phones. Why? Because these are things we find valuable. You have insurance on your home because you put so much of your career and your life into purchasing that home. Now if anything happens, there is no way to reciprocate the losses. So you have insurance just in case.

What is our insurance policy for our deen? If something were to happen to me or my family — that we are challenged by a trial, difficulty, or calamity — I put so much time into building myself up in my deen. But what if something happens? Will I be able to reciprocate the losses? Or will I just dive down under and forget about the importance of deen? Our insurance policy will only be taken if we find deen to be something valuable. If it's not valuable, you don't buy insurance.

Going back to the description of the Prophet ﷺ — Mufakhamān is a very powerful word. That he was a person who did not need to fake any aspect of his personality or his presence in order to bring people closer to deen, because he had no personal incentive. You only have to fake something because you have something to gain. If you yourself have nothing to gain, you are the way you are. But deen has to gain.

So being Mufakhamān meant he would make sure that people felt honorable in his presence. The same individuals that everyone sought to place at the lowest of society — the Prophet ﷺ was able to bring that same individual to the heights of society. The person didn't change. What changed is how the Prophet ﷺ made him feel.

Now, Bilal radiAllahu anhu — who was at the bottom of the dirt in Makkah, being pelted and whipped by Umayyah ibn Khalaf — is now being told to climb the Ka'bah and give the Adhan. Same person, different level of presence and confidence, because he took it from deen.

Wherever we take our confidence from, we will continue to invest in it. If we take our confidence from our career, we will continue investing in our career. If we take our confidence from our children, we will continue investing in our children. If we take our confidence from our deen, we will continue investing in the growth of our spirituality. And the only measurable that shows progress in our spirituality is a'māl — our good deeds.

The Five Effects of a Good Deed

He continues and says: يَتَلَأْلَأُ وَجْهُهُ تَلَأْلُؤَ الْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ — "His face would shine like the moon on the 14th night." So if you were to look at him, he would be beaming with light. As we spoke about yesterday from the poem of Hassan ibn Thabit — beaming with light, not light which was from any cream or cosmetic, but light which was divine. That came from Allah, which was also an extension of his good deeds. Because we believe in the concept of nūr — that when a person involves himself or herself in places of goodness, Allah does endow that person with light. Though that light may be internal, it has an impact externally.

Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu used to say:

(Attributed to Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu — reported in various works of tafsir and adab)

He would say that every single good deed that a person fulfills in their life gives them five immediate effects — not delayed effects, immediate effects:

First: ضِيَاءً فِي الْوَجْهِ — Allah brings radiance onto that person's face. We have seen this with certain mashāyikh who have spent 50–60 years committed to teaching and good deeds. You sit in their presence and you feel a sense of barakah and nūr. It comes from good deeds.

Second: نُورًا فِي الْقَلْبِ — Light in the heart.

Third: قُوَّةً فِي الْبَدَنِ — Internal strength. That you can wake up for Fajr, that you can move yourself for good deeds. It is not that we are naturally strong — it is internal strength. Ibn Hajar calls this tawfīq. How many times have we heard ourselves saying, "Man, it's just too hard to do"? That is called tawfīq — the presence of it, or the absence of it.

Fourth: بَرَكَةً فِي الرِّزْقِ — Where Allah brings barakah in our life. And rizq doesn't just mean sustenance, food, income, and expense. Rizq means lifespan. Rizq means children. Rizq means family. Rizq means time. Ibn al-Qayyim says every single thing that is seen to be a blessing in your life can be categorized as rizq. So Allah puts barakah in every blessing of your life.

Fifth: وَمَحَبَّةً فِي قُلُوبِ النَّاسِ — And Allah brings a sense of love and acceptance of you in the hearts of everyone around you. That is the impact of not pleasing people for your own sake, but pleasing them for the sake of Allah. Not pleasing them so you can take from them, but rather pleasing them so you can give them.

Givers vs. Takers

My father would always tell us: in this world, you're either a dā'ī or mad'ū — you're either inviting someone or you are being invited. And if you think you're neither, that's the cause of the problem. We have to be the ones that give.

America makes us a consumer society. We're always taking, taking, taking. And the reason why we take is because we think that what that person has is valuable. What the Prophet ﷺ made the Sahabah understand through this is that what you have is far more valuable than what they have. And what that did to them is it made them givers, not receivers.

They didn't walk into the palaces of Persia and Rome and immediately get affected by, "Wow, look at that palace, and look at those cushions, and look at those rugs." Their eyes were not set at what people had. Their eyes were set at what they could give people. They didn't walk into someone's home thinking, "How much money do they earn?" No, they walked into their home thinking, "How can we affect them?" And hence they were able to impact the world.

Our teachers would often tell us: you cannot benefit someone's deen if you always want to benefit from their dunya. It's not going to happen. In order to benefit their deen, you have to communicate: "I don't want to take from you. I have something to give you — not because I'm special, but because deen is special."

Wherever deen has come, it has made things special. Makkah was a dry land — deen came, it became special. Madinah was a place of sickness — deen came, it became special. Basra in Iraq was the hub of sins — it was like the Las Vegas of its time. Deen came there. Today we talk about Iraq because it was a capital of knowledge. Deen changed it. People became the vessels. We became the vessels.

The Description Continued — Ja'far's Testimony

Moving forward, he says the Prophet's ﷺ face was beautifully lit up. Where Ja'far radiAllahu anhu says that one day he was sitting in Makkah al-Mukarramah and he looked at the moon — it was beautifully lit on the 14th night. He said, "Wow, what a beautiful sight. What's more beautiful — the Prophet's face or the moon?" So he gets up and walks towards the Haram, and the Prophet ﷺ is praying in the corner. It's a beautifully lit night, and the Prophet has a cloak around him with red lines on it. He says: I look at him, I examine him, then I look at the moon. I look at him and I look at the moon. And then he said:

(Narrated in the works of Shamā'il)

"By Allah, the face of the Prophet ﷺ is far more beautiful than the moon."

The Narration of Umm Ma'bad

And from yesterday — the narration of Umm Ma'bad radiAllahu anha, where she explains what the Prophet ﷺ looked like to her husband:

(Narrated by Umm Ma'bad — reported in Mustadrak al-Hakim and works of Seerah and Shamā'il)

She says: I saw a man of striking appearance, beautifully faced, beautifully created. His head was not protruding, nor was his stomach sticking out. He was beautifully aligned in his body — every limb looked like it was supposed to be there, nothing too large and nothing too small. In his eyes was depth and darkness. In his eyelashes was length. In his voice was a gentle huskiness. In his beard was fullness. His eyes were naturally dark-lined, his eyebrows arched, nearly meeting. When he was silent, dignity rested upon him. When he spoke, he rose above all and beauty shone upon him. The most handsome and beautiful of people from a distance, and the most beautiful up close.

Where Hasan ibn Thabit radiAllahu anhu says in reference to this:

(Poetry of Hassan ibn Thabit radiAllahu anhu in praise of the Prophet ﷺ)

"No eye has ever seen anyone more beautiful than you. No woman has given birth to anyone more handsome than you. You were created free from every defect — as if you were created exactly as you yourself would have wished."

And even till today — the Prophet ﷺ is not with us — but anyone who has experienced the feeling of sitting in Madinah al-Munawwarah around the Haram can tell you that it still has that euphoric feel. Today we are sitting thousands of miles away, but since we are speaking about him, we can still feel it. It's not that the gathering is unique because of the building. It's unique because of what we're speaking about. Tomorrow we add that same component to our homes — our homes will start feeling different, because now we've added the missing ingredient.

The Longing of the Sahabah

When the Prophet ﷺ left this world, the Sahabah — because of their attachment to him — would sit around his grave to feel the barakah. Where it is mentioned that Ali radiAllahu anhu, after the Prophet ﷺ had passed away and Fatimah radiAllahu anha — his daughter — had left this world six months later, he came to the resting place of the Prophet ﷺ and he would recite:

He would say: "O Prophet of Allah, when life becomes tough, I come to visit you. I think about you, I remember you. I cry and I complain — but I know that you have left, so you cannot respond to me. However, O dweller of the earth, you taught me how to cry. And just your remembrance makes me forget about all my difficulties — because I remember you, your life, your challenges, and then I think about my challenges. It makes me forget about my difficulties. And though you are hidden from me in the earth, you are never absent from the heart of one who grieves."

Because of that, when they had to leave this world, they were not necessarily afraid. They were not scared of where they were going — of course, they were scared of hisāb — but they were somewhat welcoming of death. Asking for death is wrong. Welcoming death is encouraged. It's a sign of the pious that you can welcome it — because we live a life that we're ready to meet Allah.

The Comfort of Familiar Faces in the Akhirah

Why are we afraid of going to strange, unknown places? Because we don't know anyone there. We don't know the place, the language, the people. But what happens if our own brother is there? Or our father or mother? Or an extremely close friend? Even if you know one person there — now you don't mind travelling to that place, because someone will host you, someone will take care of you.

That is the idea in the concept of leaving this world. If we don't know anyone on the other side, we'll always be afraid. But the moment we identify that there are people there who recognize us and we recognize them, then the process of leaving becomes easy. Because there are people waiting for us. It's a strange place but with common faces. It's a strange foreign place but with loving people. Now, leaving actually becomes somewhat enjoyable.

So, imagine what it felt like for the Sahabah to leave this world.

I had a brother who passed away in a car crash. And I know a young brother here whose 28-year-old brother transitioned in a car crash just a month ago. May Allah grant him ease. Allahumma ighfir lahu warhamhu. Allahumma a'tika sabran jameelā. Allah bless you, bless your parents, bless your family.

Now, for me to speak about death is actually a little easier. Because I know that when I leave — if I live a life that is somewhat worthy of the akhirah — I won't necessarily be afraid. Because though I am leaving people, I am also meeting new people, or meeting old friends. So when you leave America and you go back to Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Bangladesh — you're leaving family, but you're also going to family. You're missing them, but you're also excited to meet them. That's how the Sahabah felt about leaving this world.

When Bilal radiAllahu anhu left this world, his wife was saying: "What a sad day, what a day of grief, what a dark day." And he said: "No — what an enjoyable day. What an auspicious occasion." Not because I'm leaving, but because of who I'm going to meet. "Tomorrow I will meet the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. I'm ready to go there — because I'm prepared to meet them, and I'm confident that if he sees me he will recognize me. I'm confident that if they see me, they will pull me in."

The Shafā'ah of the Prophet ﷺ

And this is one of the unique attributes of the Shamā'il — of the Prophet's ﷺ relationship with us in the akhirah. That even in the akhirah, he will recognize us. He will become the source of shafā'ah and intercession.

On that day where everyone will be lost in a complete chaotic scene, and people will be looking for a source of intercession — on that day, only the Prophet ﷺ will stand up. He will go to the 'Arsh of Allah and he will fall into sajdah. And Allah will say: "O Muhammad ﷺ — raise your head. The time of worship is complete. You have done your part. Raise your head. Now it is time for you to ask and for Me to give. Intercede, and your intercession will be accepted." And the Prophet ﷺ will raise his head and he will say: "My people."

So he will recognize us — through what? Through our embodiment of sunnah.

Being Recognized as Believers

The day my brother passed away — I was the first one on the scene. Long story short, I walked to the car, and about ten police officers walked up to me and said: "Are you Muhammad's brother?" I said yes. They said: "Sorry to tell you that your brother was in an instant car crash and had an instant death."

Later, when I came back, the scene was still there. And I said to one of the officers: "Wait — how did you know he was my brother? He could have been anyone." And he said: "Because he dressed the same way as you. He had a turban on his head and a thobe that he was wearing — and he looked just like how you are dressed."

And I said to myself: O Allah — if these non-Muslims can recognize him to be a believer, I am sure the Prophet ﷺ will also recognize him, because of the way he looks.

We don't like the apple only because it looks nice from the inside — we also appreciate how it looks from the outside. We also have to make an effort to change our lifestyle from the outside, not only from the inside. The inside is, to some extent, a reflection of the outside. Yes, taqwa is real. Yes, piety is real. But what badge do I have to show that I'm a Muslim? For sisters we have the hijāb. For brothers — I'm not saying tomorrow walk out dressed like me. But whatever you have — wear the badge of deen, show that you're proud of deen. That is mufakhamah. That's what brings value to us — not value to deen. Deen already has value.

Completing the Physical Description

He finishes off the entire hadith speaking about the following: the Prophet ﷺ was not tall, neither short — he was in between. He had a large forehead. He had wavy hair — not straight, not curly, but wavy. What everyone wants today, right? That is the Prophet's hair. He had a large forehead, which was a sign of intelligence.

If he were to let his hair go, it would fall from one side to the other — it would just happen naturally. He had three lengths to his hair: one to the back of his earlobe, the second to the bottom of his nape, and rarely it would reach his neck — when he would travel and when he was in the path of Allah. Other than that, it would be in one of those first two states.

He was not pale white — he was in between. His eyebrows were arched but they were not connected — they were naturally arched. There was a vein in between, but the eyebrows did not actually touch. When he would get angry, the vein would appear. They say a sign of a very beautiful car is that when a small scratch appears, you can tell it's there. Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ was so beautiful in character that though he would not normally display his anger, that vein appearing in his forehead was a sign that he was displeased.

His nose — as the hadith mentions:

His nose was not necessarily long, but from a distance it looked long. It had a nūr or light that emitted from it, and it was on the lengthier side.

His body did not have excessive hair all over. سَوَاءُ الْبَطْنِ وَالصَّدْرِ — his chest and his stomach were level. عَرِيضُ الصَّدْرِ — he had a wide chest. بَعِيدٌ مَا بَيْنَ الْمَنْكِبَيْنِ — he had broad shoulders. And every limb of his body was full. That in itself is a miracle — because the man spent three days without eating. How were his limbs so full? That too was miraculous from Allah.

So when she finished the narration, she said: "He was the most beautiful person from a distance — but when he would come closer, he would become even more beautiful." Which is the opposite of everyone else in this world. Normally, a car that looks nice from a distance — when you come close, you see the specks and the scratches. But for the Prophet ﷺ, the closer he would become, the more beautiful he would look.

And that is the reality of his sunnah. The further we are from the Prophet's life, it looks beautiful — because it's naturally beautiful. But the closer we come, the more beautiful it looks. The more beautiful we become.

Closing — Changing Our Lifestyle

We're not here at Seerah Intensive to change aspects of our life. We're here to change our lifestyle. We're here to make our lifestyle the lifestyle of the Prophet ﷺ. So that when we leave this world, he can also recognize us.

Just like how a physician from the opposite side of the room can tell someone else is a physician. Just like how a student from the opposite side can tell someone else is a student. Just like that — the Prophet ﷺ will be able to tell that we're part of his Ummah from the opposite side of the Maydan of Hashr, on the Day of Judgment. InshaAllah.

May Allah bless you all. We pray Maghrib and we ask for tawbah because we delayed it. May Allah bless you all.

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.