Jumah Khutbah - The Messenger of Allah, A Great Human Being

The Messenger of Allah: A Great Human Being

When we think of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, whenever you think of his name, when his mention comes in front of you, whether reading a book or listening to a lecture, or even watching something, and you hear the name Muhammad ﷺ. A lot of people, when they think of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, they always think of him in that aura of prophethood, and he definitely deserved that ﷺ. They always think of him as a great messenger of Allah. And when we look at the great messenger of Allah, we always look at the top of his achievements ﷺ. Now when we think of him as the great messenger of Allah ﷺ, a lot of people are just going to put him on that level ﷺ, and then unfortunately disconnect themselves from him. Why? Because now they have the excuse: he's a great messenger of Allah.

"I'm just an average human being. I mean, what can I really do? Whatever he did, he did it in his capacity as a great messenger." So when you think of the Prophet ﷺ praying tahajjud and qiyam, you think of it because he was the great messenger of Allah. When we think of the Prophet ﷺ fasting Mondays and Thursdays, we think of him as a great messenger of Allah. When you think of the Prophet ﷺ doing this sacrifice, and even when you think of the Prophet ﷺ in his household, we think of him as a great messenger of Allah. We disconnect ourselves from the life of Rasulullah ﷺ because we think of him as a great messenger of Allah.

He Was a Human Being — Just Like You

But then how can I connect to the Prophet ﷺ? How can I do that? Well, Allah has given us, alhamdulillah, the way to do so in Surat al-Kahf, a surah that you recite probably every Friday. And if you remember, it's the last ayah in Surat al-Kahf, when Allah is reminding us about the Prophet ﷺ. Allah says, Qul — He's telling the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to inform us:

"Say, O Muhammad, I am a human being." So the message is clear. He was a human being ﷺ. Still though, a lot of people would say, yeah, he was a human being, but he was a very special human being. He was something unique. The ayah continues — Allah says, مِّثْلُكُمْ — "just like you." So that no one gives any excuse. No one can have any excuse now not to follow the example of Rasulullah ﷺ. And what's the difference? Big difference. He said, يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ — "I receive revelation from Allah." So he was a human being before he became a messenger ﷺ. And he's so close to us because of his humanity ﷺ. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is a human being. And that is how you connect with him first and foremost — his humanity ﷺ.

He was a great human being. And then we think of him as Rasulullah ﷺ. So what he has done for us, for this ummah, for the deen of Allah, is for us to follow in everything. And that's why Allah says that he was Rahmat al-'Alameen — mercy to the world. That's why Allah said about the Prophet ﷺ:

"That you had a great example, a great model in the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ." Which means: follow. Do everything that you can to follow his example ﷺ.

In this khutbah I want to share with you just one part of his humanity — one part of the human being, Muhammad ﷺ. And that is the family life. His family life. Why is that? We're coming to holidays right now. A lot of schools will be off for the week. A lot of people probably going to take off in the next few days. And now there are people wondering and thinking, okay, what are we going to do in this time? Just sit home and watch and look at each other? Is it going to be a fun time? Is it going to be family time? So how did the Prophet ﷺ live his life as a family man ﷺ?

The Prophet ﷺ as a Son

Let's see the Prophet ﷺ first of all as a son, before he became a messenger, before he became an adult. And then after that, Rasulullah ﷺ, we're going to talk about him as being a father and a grandfather ﷺ.

Rasulullah ﷺ did not get the chance to see his father. And he didn't live long enough to remember his mother. His father died when his mother was still pregnant. And Rasulullah ﷺ lived only about six years with his mother before she passed away. So his memories of his mother were not so clear — fragile memories, beautiful memories. And look how strong, how powerful the relationship between a child and a parent.

When Rasulullah ﷺ migrated to Medina, his mother — she actually died on the way back from Medina, on her way back to Mecca. There is an area outside of Medina called Al-Abwa. That's where she was buried. His mother died before he became a messenger. So technically, she died as a non-Muslim. And when the Prophet ﷺ was in Medina, one of those days, he wanted to make dua for his mother. So he asked Allah's permission. Because in the Qur'an, even Ibrahim ﷺ was told: if they die non-believers, now it's between them and Allah. So the Prophet ﷺ wanted to make dua for his mother — seeking forgiveness for her. Allah did not favor anybody; He told him no. He was not given that permission.

But then he sought permission at least to visit her grave. And he was granted that permission. So he went to visit her grave. And the sahaba who narrated the story — they say when the Prophet ﷺ arrived there and he was standing by her grave, knowing that the person buried under the ground on that spot was his mother — his mother who died when he was only six years old ﷺ — and now imagine, he's already a mature man, he's in his fifties ﷺ. Those who are in their fifties and sixties, when you remember your mother and your father, and you have beautiful memories with them, what does it make you feel? Does it provoke those emotions?

So as the Prophet ﷺ was standing by her grave, he started crying. The sahaba saw tears coming down his cheeks ﷺ. And they were just moved — they all felt it with him ﷺ, and they started crying with him. Now can you imagine this? Someone in his fifties, still having those memories of his father and his mother so fresh in their mind and heart. That is the beautiful memory.

His Love for His Foster Mother, Umm Ayman Barakah

Had his mother been alive, you would have seen how he would treat her ﷺ. Because we have other evidences on how he treated his wet nurses — the ladies who became his foster mothers. One of them was Umm Ayman Barakah. She was one of the wet nurses who took care of him when he was a child ﷺ. She grew up to become a Muslimah. One of those days, the Messenger of Allah, being an adult, an older man, comes to the house of Umm Ayman Barakah — his mother.

You know how mothers are — subhanAllah, they're very compassionate, very caring. It doesn't matter how old you are, they will always care for you. It doesn't matter if you're married or not, they will always care for you. So the Prophet ﷺ entered the house of Umm Ayman. What do you expect the first question a mother would ask her child coming from outside? I guess we all know the question: "Did you eat?" It doesn't matter how old you are, or what the purpose of your life is — she will still make sure that you're well fed.

So the moment the Prophet ﷺ came into her house, she said:

She didn't even ask him if he was hungry. She said, "Let me get you something to eat." Like she didn't need his permission — even though he's the great messenger of Allah. But for her, he was still her baby. So he said to her, "I'm not hungry." Normal — "I just came from outside, I'm not hungry." As a mother, she didn't take no for an answer. So she started yelling at him. Can you imagine someone yelling at the Prophet ﷺ? But who dares? Someone like her, because that was her child. She was not happy with his answer. "How could you tell me no? Come over here, let me get you something to eat. You have to eat right now."

Look — subhanAllah — this kind of relationship. It's a very natural and normal relationship the Prophet ﷺ had with her. Now I ask you the question: if your parents are still alive, what kind of relationship do you have with them, really? What is it that you remember of that relationship? Do you have that compassion, that love and mercy that should be in your heart? If they are alive, then make sure that you continue to build that love and mercy, insha'Allah, during their lifetime. And if they have already passed away, then don't forget to remember them — like the Prophet ﷺ did. He went all the way from Medina to visit her grave. Make sure that you remember them in your dua. Remember them in giving charities and taking care of things on their behalf.

The Prophet ﷺ as a Father

Rasulullah ﷺ as a father — we don't really remember much from the childhood of the Prophet's children before Islam. There are not so many narrations. We remember a lot of these stories when the Prophet ﷺ became the messenger of Allah, and the attention shifted to his household. We know that his girls survived, but his boys would not survive long. We know that the Prophet ﷺ's daughters, there were four — Zaynab and Fatima survived long enough to give him grandchildren. But the other two, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, they married — one after the other — Uthman ﷺ, and they died during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Story of Zaynab and Khadijah's Necklace

SubhanAllah — when it's the oldest child, you have a special place in your heart, a special expectation from them, right? So Zaynab, radiyallahu ta'ala anha, she was the eldest and the Prophet ﷺ loved her so much. One of those days, when the Prophet ﷺ had migrated from Mecca to Medina, after the Battle of Badr, her husband — who was still not Muslim — was fighting against the Prophet ﷺ, against his own father-in-law. He was captured. The 70-plus prisoners of war were taken into custody and then were asked to ransom themselves to be freed.

Zaynab, radiyallahu ta'ala anha — when all the ransom came from Mecca, the Prophet ﷺ was browsing through everything to see who had paid for whom, so they could be set free. In his hand, he noticed something. He grabbed something ﷺ. He looked at the necklace. He immediately recognized it.

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 19, Hadith 2692)

He saw that necklace and his heart melted for it. Why? That necklace was the necklace of Khadijah, his late wife, radiyallahu anha — his love. That necklace had been given to Zaynab when she got married. And now Zaynab was sending that necklace to Rasulullah ﷺ, her father, to ransom her husband. So when the Prophet ﷺ saw this — and this was the only thing sent to free him — he asked permission from the people around him:

"Can I have your permission to let go of her husband for this?" And the sahaba, when they saw the compassion and emotion of the Prophet ﷺ, said, "Of course, Rasulullah, absolutely." And he set him free. And he told him, "Listen — I'll set you free for this, but you promise me one thing. When you go to Mecca, send my daughter to me." SubhanAllah — how much love and care he had for his children, for his daughter. "When you go to Mecca, don't let her stay there — send her to me." He promised. And he did. When his son-in-law went to Mecca, he set her free and sent her to Medina.

SubhanAllah — fast forward to the next year, the Battle of Uhud. At the beginning of the battle, the people of Mecca were being defeated before they turned it around. During that, her husband — Abu al-'As ibn al-Rabi' — ran into the city and hid himself. At night, he managed to find her place and went to hide with his wife, Zaynab, the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ. For three days and three nights — and probably even more — no one knew he was hiding with her.

Then one day at Fajr time, the Prophet ﷺ finished Salat al-Fajr — you can imagine the pain and agony the sahaba were carrying after losing the Battle of Uhud, losing the 70 shuhada, the burial, and all the mourning that was happening in the city. There is Rasulullah ﷺ, praying Salat al-Fajr. When he was done, he turned around and everyone heard the voice of Zaynab. She was saying, "I am telling you all — I am protecting my husband."

The Prophet ﷺ was shocked. Everybody was shocked. Back then, what she was invoking was what we call asylum today — he was seeking asylum with her. And Islamically, if a Muslim man or woman grants someone asylum, that asylum must be respected. So when the Prophet ﷺ heard that, he immediately announced to the public:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 19, Hadith 2692)

"I didn't know anything about it and I didn't approve it." But everybody said, "Rasulullah, we don't blame you for it." And eventually, it was honored and respected and enforced, and the man was protected. And subhanAllah — that was the reason why he became Muslim. He himself became Muslim then. But look — just the sight of his late wife's necklace, and the memory of his daughter who had been left behind in Mecca — it just made his heart melt, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. That is a great human being.

How many of you have these emotions for your children — whether they're adults or young? Do you really still care? Do you have that in your heart? SubhanAllah. That is a great thing, ya jama'ah.

His Love for Fatimah

We also see the Prophet's ﷺ love for his children continuing with Fatimah, radiyallahu ta'ala anha. They used to say about her:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3623)

She was the one among all his children who resembled the Prophet ﷺ the most — so she reminded him of himself. Eventually, on his deathbed, Fatimah came to visit. When she came in, the Prophet ﷺ — on one of the occasions when she visited — stood up for her and kissed her on her forehead out of respect for his daughter. She sat next to him, and as he was unable to speak out loud, he whispered to her so she came closer. He told her something that made her cry.

Then quickly he called her back to whisper something else in her ear — and she started smiling. Later on, after that conversation, as she was leaving, Aisha, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, walked her out. And as they were walking together, Aisha asked her, "Ya Fatimah, what was that all about? The crying and the laughing — what was going on?" She was curious. So Fatimah told Aisha, "That is Rasulullah's secret. I'm not going to tell you." She kept it to herself.

But then later, after the Prophet ﷺ passed away, Aisha came back to Fatimah and said, "Fatimah, remember the day when you came to Rasulullah ﷺ and there was crying and happiness between you? Now that the Messenger of Allah has passed away — tell me, what was that all about?" She said, "Now I can tell you." When he whispered to her the first time, he was telling her about his imminent death. That he was leaving. And as a daughter, obviously she felt sad and she started crying. But the Prophet ﷺ couldn't handle seeing the tears of his daughter. He called her back and said, "Don't you want to be among the fair ladies of Al-Jannah?" — as if he was telling her in another narration: "You are coming after me so quickly, don't worry." And indeed, she was the only one of his children who survived him, and she lived only six months after him before she passed away.

His Final Gift to Zaynab al-Kubra

When Zaynab al-Kubra, the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, passed away during his lifetime, the Messenger of Allah ordered the ladies as they were preparing her for burial: "When you are done washing her, don't start wrapping until you let me know." So when they were done, they informed the Prophet ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah gave them one of his shirts. He said, "Please wrap her with this first before you shroud her." He wanted something from himself ﷺ — something with his blessing and his barakah — to wrap the body of his daughter. And subhanAllah, they did. But look at this moment — even in the very last second, the very last moment, how much love he had for them, salawatullahi wa salámu alayh.

The Prophet ﷺ as a Grandfather

Now talking about his grandchildren — that's a whole different thing. His love for his grandchildren is just unbelievable. Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain — subhanAllah.

Al-Hassan on the Minbar

One of the occasions, to show you how much the Prophet ﷺ loved them — one of the occasions the Prophet ﷺ was giving Khutbat al-Jumu'ah. It's the most important event of the whole week. Imagine the Prophet ﷺ standing on the Minbar giving the khutbah, and then Al-Hassan, his grandson — probably very little at the time — starts coming from behind, walking through the crowd. Why? Because he saw his grandpa speaking. He doesn't care if he's a messenger of Allah or a leader or anything else. He's grandpa. So he starts plowing through the crowd.

Imagine a two or three-year-old child trying to get through. He trips on this shoulder, on this person's knee. And everybody knows it's Khutbat al-Jumu'ah — you shouldn't be speaking, you shouldn't be moving, right? So no one touched Al-Hassan. The Prophet ﷺ was watching him struggle through the crowd. He couldn't handle it. He stopped the khutbah. He came down the minbar. He went all the way to the middle. He grabbed him. He brought him with him to the minbar — subhanAllah — and put him on the side, then continued his khutbah.

He interrupted Khutbat al-Jumu'ah to bring that child to the minbar. Now add to this — subhanAllah — as he was about to resume the khutbah, he noticed that the eyes of the people were no longer on him. You tell me: if you have a child playing somewhere and you're watching someone speak, where are your eyes going to go anyway? They're going to the little one. And Al-Hassan was sitting there, browsing everybody else with his beautiful big eyes. And as they were looking at him, the Prophet ﷺ stopped again. He said, "Look at him — he is a leader." At this age, he said: he is a Sayyid, a master of the people. "I pray to Allah that He will make him a leader — that he will reconcile between two conflicting parties of the Muslim ummah."

Like in that moment, he saw that Al-Hassan had captured the eyes and hearts of the people at such a very young age. And that's what happened many years later. Everybody looked to Al-Hassan, hoping he would be the one to bring peace and bring the ummah back together. And he did — when he made his concession to Mu'awiyah, radiyallahu anhu.

Playing Horsey with His Grandchildren

With Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain, Rasulullah ﷺ used to let them play on his back while he prayed — and he wouldn't move. Even in Salat al-Jama'ah, he wouldn't move. Why? Because he was afraid he would disrupt their enjoyment. SubhanAllah. Even in a devotional act such as Salah, he still cared about the emotions of the little ones. Because for little ones, that was their whole world.

You know when your child comes to you with a piece of paper with scribbles or crayon lines and says, "Daddy! Mommy! Look at this!" For them, that is their entire world. So when the father or the mother tells their kids, "Not now," "I'm too busy," "I'll look at it later," or even, "That's it? You can do better than this, go do something else" — what did you do to your child? You destroyed their world. At such a very young age. But for us adults, we don't see that. We think we're encouraging them by what we do. SubhanAllah.

And here is Rasulullah ﷺ, with the kids playing on his back in Salat al-Jama'ah — he wouldn't want to move. Why? Because he didn't want to disrupt their enjoyment.

One day, Umar ibn al-Khattab, radiyallahu anhu, went looking for the Prophet ﷺ and found him in the house of Fatimah. He was on all fours — down on his knees and hands. And the kids were on his back. They were playing horsey. When Umar saw that sight, he was amused. He made a comment to the little kids, he said, "Masha'Allah — you guys have a nice ride down there, masha'Allah!" — speaking about the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ was amused by that. He said, "Indeed. And they are the best knights ever. They are the best to ride." SubhanAllah. And then Umar told Rasulullah ﷺ, "Ya Rasulullah, we need you for something important." So the Prophet ﷺ put the kids down and went to see what the community needed from him.

But he gave time to his family. Don't tell me you're too busy. Are you going to be busier than the Prophet ﷺ? He still had time to get on all fours and play horsey with his grandchildren.

Kissing His Grandchildren — The Story of Al-Aqra' ibn Habis

One day the Prophet ﷺ was visited by a very important guest — a delegate — Al-Aqra' ibn Habis. As they were coming out of the masjid, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Let me just stop by the house of Fatimah." SubhanAllah — he couldn't continue to his house without stopping to check on the kids. He stopped by and started calling out, "Where's that little one?" — and Fatimah had been cleaning the child up, and then she let him go. He came running to meet his grandfather ﷺ. And when he arrived, the Prophet ﷺ hugged him, held him up, and kissed him.

The man — Al-Aqra' ibn Habis — was looking on and he was shocked:

"Really? You kiss your kids?" He was shocked. "Why would you kiss your son?"

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5998; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2318)

He bragged about it: "I have ten children. I have never kissed a single one of them." "I want them to be men. I want them to grow up tough." That was his perception of what it means to raise men, ya jama'ah. The Prophet ﷺ looked at him and, subhanAllah, he felt so bad for him. He said:

"What can I do for you if Allah has taken the mercy out of your heart?" This is mercy. How often do you kiss your children, ya jama'ah? Boys or girls? SubhanAllah — this is a sign of rahmah and mercy. Make sure they never feel awkward when their father or their mother shows that mercy to them.

Connecting to the Prophet ﷺ Through His Humanity

This is how Rasulullah ﷺ was a human being. This is how he dealt with his mother, how he dealt ﷺ with his daughters, with his grandchildren. You can see now — when Allah says:

"Say, I am a human being just like you" — it means that you can absolutely relate to the Prophet ﷺ. In your life, you play many, many roles. In family life in particular. Make sure that you assume all these roles like the Prophet ﷺ did.

Second Khutbah: The Prophet ﷺ as a Husband

الحمد لله رب العالمين، وصلى الله وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليماً كثيراً، أما بعد.

My dear brothers and sisters, now speaking about the Prophet ﷺ as a great husband — that's a whole different story. It is summarized in one single hadith when the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3895; graded Hasan Sahih)

"The best among you are those who are best to their families" — and he speaks specifically about their wives — "and I am the best to my wife. I am the best to my family." What does that exactly mean? It means: follow my example. Learn from me.

How often do we really go and learn from the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ on how to treat our loved ones, how to treat our spouse? How often do we do that? We go and look in books of fiqh to learn how to make wudu, how to pray, how to do Hajj. But we don't spend much time learning from the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ on how to interact with our family members.

This is now a duty — especially in times like ours when many, many people have the same excuse of being extremely busy, saying they don't have time to spend with their families. They are so busy making a living that they forgot to make life out of it. They don't even have time to spend with their children — subhanAllah — and with their families — hoping that they are providing enough, that one day when they retire they can spend good time with their kids. Well, by the time you retire, your kids are gone already. So what you're doing right now might not even count for anything. Make sure that as you make a living, you make life out of it.

And I ask Allah to make it easy for all of us.