Loving the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم - Shaykh Mohamed Ali

Opening — The Khutbah of Need

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we ask for His help, and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, no one can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, no one can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, no partner for Him. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

He conveyed the message and fulfilled the trust and advised the Ummah. And he left us on the white path — its night is like its day, nothing escapes it except the one who is destroyed.

Peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions, and whoever follows them with goodness until the Day of Recompense.

Indeed, the most truthful of speech is the word of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. And the worst of things are the newly invented matters. And every innovation is a misguidance. May Allah protect us from it.

"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims."

"O people, fear your Lord who created you from one soul, and He created from it its mate, and He spread from them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and maintain family ties. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you."

"O you who have believed, fear Allah and say a firm word. He will amend your deeds for you and He will forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed won a great victory."

O Allah, make us of the winners in this world and the Hereafter.

A Great Man Was Born

Of the great Prophet and Messenger of Allah — Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him — when he made his du'a, a great man was born whom Allah has said about him:

"And indeed, you are of a great moral character."

"So by mercy from Allah, you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude and harsh in heart, they would have disbursed from around you."

"Certainly did Allah confer great favour upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error."

"There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; he is concerned over you, and to the believers he is kind and merciful."

"Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His servant that he may be to the worlds a warner."

Who is this great man that I am talking about? My dear brothers, this great man that I am talking about is none other than our great Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The greatest man ever to have walked on this earth. Wallahi, I do not have words to describe the beauty of this man. The greatness of this great man — I do not have enough words and expressions and phrases that I can use to describe him.

A Person Is With Whom He Loves

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, a companion came to the Prophet ﷺ once and said to him:

"O Messenger of Allah, when will the Last Day come?"

And the Prophet ﷺ said to him:

"What have you prepared for that day?"

That question is more important than knowing the time when that day is going to be. And this companion said, "Ya Rasulullah, I have not prepared that much for this day, but I love the Prophet ﷺ. I have love for the Prophet ﷺ."

"But I love Allah and His Messenger."

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

"A person will be with those whom he loves."

As a brother and as a sister today, ask yourself this question: Do I love the Prophet ﷺ? And if I love him, why do I love him? What are the signs to show that you love the Prophet ﷺ?

The Sign of Loving Allah: Following the Prophet ﷺ

Allah has said in the Qur'an:

"Say, [O Muhammad], 'If you should love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.'"

Allah has said to the Prophet ﷺ: say to them — O Muhammad, if you truly love Allah. Because everyone who is here in this masjid today, he or she is someone who loves Allah. That's what brought you to this masjid. Otherwise you would not have come to the mosque. You would not have attended this Friday prayer. You would not have attended this sermon. You would not have waited for the Salatul Jumu'ah. You would not have left your work, you would not have left whatever you were doing, unless you love Allah. The love that you have for Allah is what brought you to the masjid. And also the love that you have for the Prophet ﷺ.

We Are the Best of Nations

One of the great blessings that Allah has given us as the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is that Allah gave us the greatest book that has ever been given to any nation. Allah has sent us the greatest man that has ever been sent to a nation. We are the best of nations, as Allah has said in the Qur'an:

"You are the best nation produced for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong."

Allahu Akbar. We are the best of nations. Why? We are the nation that enjoins good and forbids evil. And this is something that the Prophet ﷺ has taught us.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, also Allah commanded us and said:

"So believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Light which We have sent down."

And what is that light? That light is the Qur'an. Allah has given us this amazing book that is guidance for all of mankind — all of mankind. This is the book which Allah has sent to them. This is a book of guidance. This is a book that wants to save everyone, regardless of their gender, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of their background. This is a book that was sent to all of us.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the Prophet ﷺ brought us this amazing book:

"Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His servant that he may be to the worlds a warner."

The Prophet ﷺ Longs to See Us

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, alhamdulillah, each and every one of us, we want to meet with our Prophet ﷺ in Jannatul Firdaus Al-A'la. Dear brothers, just imagine the day when you are going to meet the Prophet ﷺ. Just imagine that day when you will meet the Prophet ﷺ for the first time.

The Prophet ﷺ, in a hadith, said: "I would love to see my brothers." And the companions said to the Prophet ﷺ, "Are we not your brothers, Ya Rasulullah?" The Prophet ﷺ said to them, "You are my companions. But my brothers are those who will come at the end of time. They have not seen me. They have never met me. But they are going to believe in me. Those are the ones whom I am calling my brothers. Those are the ones that I would love to see."

And the Prophet ﷺ said: "The reward of one of them will equal fifty." Then the companions said, "What do you mean by that, Ya Rasulullah? Fifty of us or fifty of them?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "Fifty of you."

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4341; also reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3058)

SubhanAllah. We have never seen the Prophet ﷺ, but we believe in him. Because of what? The book that he brought us — this amazing book, the Qur'an, and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Learn the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, if you want to love the Prophet ﷺ, you must learn his seerah. You must learn his life. You must learn what kind of person he was. It is very important and incumbent upon all of us that we learn the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, when you learn the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, this is what is going to happen: you are fulfilling the commandment of Allah. Also, you are going to love the Prophet ﷺ. Once you learn the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, you will be able to take him as an example, as Allah has said in the Qur'an:

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern."

The Prophet ﷺ is our example. He is our role model in everything, whether that is a minor issue or a major issue. Every problem that we will ever encounter in life — if we go back to the Qur'an and if we go back to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we will find the solutions in there. Wallahi, we will find the solutions in there, because Allah has said:

"We have not neglected in the Register a thing."

The Qur'an that Allah has given us, and the Sunnah that came with the Qur'an to explain the Qur'an.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, wallahi, enough can never be said about the Prophet ﷺ. However long this khutbah can be stretched, words will never be good enough to describe who the Prophet ﷺ was.

The Companion Who Wanted to Be With the Prophet ﷺ in Jannah

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, one of the companions — a man who used to serve the Prophet ﷺ — the Prophet ﷺ said to him one day, "Ask me for a favour. Ask me something that I can give you." And the companion said, "Ya Rasulullah, I want to be with you in Jannah."

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

"You have asked for something great." "Can you ask for something else?" The companion said, "Ya Rasulullah, I do not want to change my mind. I want to be with you, Ya Rasulullah." And the Prophet ﷺ said to him:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 489)

"Help me to achieve this for you by prostrating much."

If you want to be with me in Jannah, make sure that you pray as much as you can. Make sure that you pray your five daily prayers. And on top of that, the sunnah prayers.

The First Sermon in Madinah: Four Keys to Jannah

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I want to bring to your attention the first sermon that Abdullah ibn Salam said he heard the Prophet ﷺ deliver in Madinah. This is an amazing hadith. The Prophet ﷺ one day delivered this beautiful sermon — short and sharp, very powerful, straight to the point, very profound, it touched the heart.

The Prophet ﷺ was addressing everyone in Madinah, everyone, regardless of their faith. He said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1334; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2485; graded Sahih)

"O people! Spread the salaam, feed the needy, maintain family ties, and pray during the night when people are asleep — you will enter Jannah in peace."

1. Spread the Salaam

The Prophet ﷺ emphasised the importance of spreading salaam and giving salaam to one another. The Prophet ﷺ also said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 54)

"You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not show you something that, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread the salaam among yourselves."

Look at the way we are sitting next to each other right now — brothers sitting next to each other, shoulder to shoulder. The masjid is warm, but you do not really mind that because you are sitting next to your Muslim brother. The sisters are sitting next to their Muslim sisters. Your iman is not going to be complete until you love one another. Ask yourself right now: do you love the brother who is sitting next to you? Because this is what the Prophet ﷺ taught — to love one another.

Say السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته to your Muslim brother when you see him.

2. Feed the Needy

وَأَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ — Feed the needy people. It does not matter what their religion is. It does not matter what race they are. It does not matter whether they are male or female. What matters is that you feed the needy people. SubhanAllah, this is what Islam teaches. This is the beauty of Islam. We live in a country where we have Muslims and a majority of non-Muslims. As Muslims, we have to reach out to everyone. We have to help everyone. We have to be kind to everyone — not only to the Muslims, but also to our non-Muslim brothers and sisters in humanity.

3. Maintain Family Ties

وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ — Take care of your kinship. Make sure that you never cut that tie. Your parents — beginning with your parents. Your extended family. Being kind to them. Taking care of the elders. This is what Islam teaches. The beauty of our religion.

4. Pray During the Night

وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ — Pray salah during the night when people are asleep. What will happen if you do these four things? تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلَامٍ — You will enter Jannah in peace. May Allah make us from those ones.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah for His favour, and gratitude to Him for His grace and bounty. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, no partner for Him. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, advised the Ummah, and left us on the white path — its night is like its day, and nothing escapes it except the one who is destroyed.

My dear brothers, as Allah has said:

"Say, if you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you."

If we follow the Prophet ﷺ, Allah is going to love us. And I have said that one of the ways of loving the Prophet ﷺ is to learn his seerah.

Our masjid, Green Lane Masjid, alhamdulillah, has organised for us a conference that is going to last for four days, where we are going to be taught some of the great things that the Prophet ﷺ taught us in his life. The seerah of the Prophet ﷺ — and you. How does it apply to you? The seerah is not about just reading a story. You should be saying: how is this going to apply to me in my own life? So insha'Allah, dear brothers and sisters, I urge everyone who is here to make sure that they come to this conference and benefit from the scholars who will be here with you, by the permission of Allah, over the next three to four days.

Congratulations to Our Young Brothers and Sisters

Dear brothers, at the end of our khutbah today, I want to take this opportunity and congratulate our young brothers and our young sisters. As we know, recently some of our daughters and some of our sons have had sleepless nights. Some of you may be wondering — what is the khatib talking about? What has caused our youngsters, our young sons and our young daughters, to have sleepless nights? Those of them who were waiting for their A-level results. Those of them who were waiting for their GCSE results. They had sleepless nights. The parents also had sleepless nights, thinking about the results.

The A-levels and the GCSE results — they are very important results. And some of our youngsters have done really well. All of them have done well, but some of them have done better than others. And we want to congratulate them for working really hard. I know we have so many 18-year-olds and 16-year-olds sitting among us right now. They have worked really hard for the past few years, and alhamdulillah they have achieved great results.

I would like to say to their parents: you need to acknowledge that achievement — the achievement of your kids. Make sure that you encourage them and reward them. The Prophet ﷺ used to acknowledge when young companions achieved something good. So dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I want to encourage every parent who has a child who has recently received his A-level or GCSE results — take care of them, encourage them, and reward them for their achievement.

I want to say to those youngsters: well done to all of you. Every one of you who has done his GCSE exams, every one of you who has done his A-level exams and got their results — may Allah bless you, and may Allah make those results a means of achieving good in this life, insha'Allah.

The One Test That Really Matters

But I want to finish with this. Yes, our A-level results, our university results, our GCSE results — they are all very good and very important. But let me tell you: there is one test that all of us are sitting right now. This test — young and old, it does not matter what background you come from — all of us, every human being right now, is sitting an exam. And this is the test of life.

We need to ask ourselves: do we have sleepless nights sometimes, worrying about the results that we are going to get in the next life? Remember our youngsters who were expecting to get good results — A-stars and A's. When they found out the results were about to come out, they rushed to their schools, to their colleges, because they knew they were going to get good results. They wanted to say to the people, they knew their parents would be proud of them, their friends would be proud of them, the community would be proud of them. They went to school early in the morning to get their results and to say to people: come and read — come and read my results — because they knew they had done so well.

But the one that really matters is the final exam — the test of this life. What result are you going to get? You want to go back on that Day and say: look at my results. I have been given my book by the right hand — come and read it. That is the result that all of us need to get. The pass that we need to achieve — which is the pass of the test of this life.

May Allah make us from those ones. Allahumma ameen.