The Top 10... | Exclusive Nasheed Launch w/ Zain Bhikha | The Classroom of the Sahaba

The Sirah Song — An Exclusive Nasheed Launch with Zain Bhikha

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Welcome everyone to the Top 10 Exclusive Nasheed tonight with our beloved brother Zain Bhikha joining us from South Africa, and we have Sheikh Abdullah, one of the songwriters, also joining us tonight. We have a special program.

I hope everyone is doing well. Tell me how you guys are doing here in the United States. It's the 27th night of Ramadan. How do you feel? We ask Allah to pardon our sins, to uplift us. What a great way to start off our program tonight with someone whose songs, whose voice is inseparable from the love of the Qur'an, the love of the Prophet ﷺ. Our memories with Ustaz Zain Bhikha — every time you think about the Mountains of Mecca, the orphan child — those words, the lyrics, his voice always softens us.

So I want to welcome everyone. If you're joining us, let us know where you're joining us from. We have people from California and insha'Allah our guests will also appreciate where the audience is joining us from.

Brothers and sisters, I just don't have words tonight. I'm so excited to bring on Ustaz Zain Bhikha and Sheikh Abdullah, bring them on together. They're both joining us. It's my first time getting to know Sheikh Abdullah — Ustaz Abdullah knows him very well. So he's going to introduce himself to me. It's going to be a little awkward, but you know, it is what it is. So let me bring on dear brother Zain Bhikha first insha'Allah.

Welcome — Zain Bhikha Joins from South Africa

Zain Bhikha: وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَامُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. JazakAllah khair once again for having me on your program. It's really an honor for me, alhamdulillah.

Host: We are so honored. We're so blessed that you always accept our invitation. You're so generous with your time. And the fact that it is morning there — I'm so happy!

Zain Bhikha: Alhamdulillah. It's really strange because South Africa, we are a day behind in terms of the number of days in Ramadan. So we are only insha'Allah having our 27th night this evening. And it's early morning just after Suhoor and after Fajr. So alhamdulillah, it's perfect timing for us.

Host: So if I drink my doodh pati, would that be too close?

Zain Bhikha: No, no, alhamdulillah. We just prayed Fajr. So I think we're good for now. Alhamdulillah, so you're full.

Welcome — Sheikh Abdullah Joins from Trinidad and Tobago

Host: Ustaz Zain, let me bring on brother Abdullah. Ustaz Abdullah — who I don't know very well — so you both have to introduce him to me and also the audience insha'Allah. I apologize for the lack of education on the Sheikh.

Sheikh Abdullah: Not at all, alhamdulillah. وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَامُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. Alhamdulillah, I'm blessed. Thank you for having me.

Host: Alhamdulillah, I saw your face on the flyer. I said, man, this guy looks good — he's joining us tonight. We're going to have a great time today!

Sheikh Abdullah: Insha'Allah, insha'Allah. In fact, you know, the interesting thing is this is the first time I'm actually seeing brother Zain live on video in an interaction. I've spoken to him on the phone. But did you realize we haven't actually live interacted?

Zain Bhikha: I said the same. I thought the same thing when I saw you on the screen. SubhanAllah, we should have had more video calls over these last few years. We're blessed to meet each other in one sense for the first time too. SubhanAllah, that's quite amazing. In America this is the 27th night of Ramadan, and we're meeting for the love of the Prophet ﷺ. I mean, there's no meeting better than that. Allah says that His love showers upon those people who meet for the sake of Allah.

Sheikh Abdullah's Background

Host: Sheikh Abdullah, please introduce yourself a little bit. Where are you? How many children do you have? Where are you working? What's going on?

Sheikh Abdullah: Okay, bismillah. I'm from Canada — Toronto, Canada originally. And I accepted Islam in 2001 at the age of 18. So alhamdulillah, right now it's probably around my 20th anniversary as a Muslim, alhamdulillah. Many things are coming together. I've been abroad since 2005 — most of the time was spent in Jordan studying, alhamdulillah. And otherwise, I've now come to Trinidad and Tobago where my wife is from, for the past two years. We came for maternity purposes actually — we were having our sixth and seventh child, alhamdulillah. So we have seven kids, alhamdulillah. And I'm also doing Iftaa specialization while here.

Host: MashaAllah. And where are you originally from? Like your background also.

Sheikh Abdullah: My parents are from Lucknow. So I'm Lucknowi originally, but Hindu — Hindu Lucknowis.

Host: So you're a Hindu and then you converted to Islam?

Sheikh Abdullah: Yes, alhamdulillah.

Zain Bhikha: Yeah, you know, I really want to spend time with Abdullah because I know some of his story, but I don't know his whole story. And I find it fascinating, SubhanAllah. Sheikh Abdullah, I just checked my emails just before this call — I was like, when was the first time Abdullah reached out to me? And it was 2018, SubhanAllah. You emailed me in 2018. We were introduced by our brother Anas from Shukr Clothing. And SubhanAllah, I kind of delayed the project for three years. I apologize for that. But you were so patient with me. Alhamdulillah.

Sheikh Abdullah: No, it was perfect. Every delay, you know, over the 13 years that I've been working on this — the one thing I've now concluded was: don't let anyone rush you in your projects. People will beg you, push you, even ridicule you. I've had people say, "I'm going to steal this project and send it out on the internet without your permission." But don't resist — you just do everything in its own time, and Allah will give birth to the projects that have to come out of the servant. And one of those things was waiting patiently until the right person sang this song, which is my brother Zain. Alhamdulillah. No regret. 2018, alhamdulillah.

The Launch of the Sirah Song

Host: How do we have to introduce this project to us? Because for me, it's new — and I'm not going to lie to you, I've already heard the song and it's amazing. It came out May 6th. Today is May 9th, early morning here in Michigan. It's less than three days. Over 20,000 views. The lyrics are good but brother Zain was looking sharp in that video!

Zain Bhikha: You should have seen the behind the scenes — my son does the filming and we were both fasting. And that's a place where my father has a small piece of land in Pretoria in South Africa. We were both fasting and I insisted upon him bringing his biggest camera because I wanted that cinematic view, and he was sort of under his breath just mumbling and saying, "Why did my father bother me carrying this huge camera around?" So it was a day of absolute... we were completely finished by the end of it. It was just me, him, and another youngster who was helping us. So it looks actually nice on camera but behind the scenes we were all stressing each other.

Host: It looked like a Hollywood production. It settled so well — the background, the mountains, the hills, the lush look, and the voice just put volume into the whole scene. It was so beautiful.

Sheikh Abdullah: The Journey Behind the Sirah Song

Sheikh Abdullah: Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. I mean, I don't even know how far to go back — because a journey with the Prophet ﷺ, I think it begins at the beginning of your being and your existence — but I won't go that far back. What I will say is that alhamdulillah, throughout my time when I became a Muslim, the thing that attracted me to Islam and through Islam was the Prophet ﷺ. It was the thing that I felt most connected to in my experience as a Muslim.

When I came to Tarim in Yemen in 2005 to study Arabic, I didn't understand Arabic at the time. I heard people singing the Burda, and in the Burda you can tell everyone's into it — the entire society is celebrating this song about the Prophet ﷺ. At the same time, I was under the opinion that you cannot sing or that you cannot celebrate the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and that wasn't really the right opinion to bring into Tarim. From the masjid they were broadcasting the salawat and all of that. And at the same time, from my background, I was a musician — tabla, guitar, singing and so on. So there was a lot of conflicting things in my mind. And that really opened up my heart — my experience there — to this idea of expressing prophetic love. It's like you love somebody but you don't know how you can express it in this deen, and then you see people who embody prophetic love and they walk it and they live it.

Shortly after that experience, I heard a tune in Yemen before I left, and that became the melody for the Sirah Song. Up to now I haven't been able to trace back where it was — it was just a gathering, a tune came into my mind and into my ears. Then in Jordan in 2007, I went through a very lonely period in my studies and in my life, and these words just started coming. The Prophet ﷺ was my company, and I can't explain it in any other way — I just felt very moved. I think I was on the ground and I was just writing. And I said I'm going to write a song and a poem. I thought the Burda was a Sirah — it's not, it's actually a panegyric, a praise poem — so I thought, I'm going to do a Sirah in English.

So I started writing from that point and then just kept on going and going, and then worked over the years to refine that over 12 years — adding in different things as I was learning and studying and taking from different scholars their insight about who the Prophet ﷺ was, and as I studied his life and got to teach Sirah alhamdulillah, then trying to put that inside this and make it into a matn — like a knowledge primer — but something that is a poem and that reflects my musical affinity from the past. And really asking ourselves: why in the English language do we not have as many poems that can be used as teaching tools, but really tools for love? We're English speakers — even if I learn Arabic or my parents speak Hindi or Urdu, I think in English. And this for me was very important. So it became really a journey of love: how do I express this love about the Prophet ﷺ at the same time as talking about his life, and from a unique perspective — because I tried to deal with the past, present, and future of the Prophet ﷺ. And that's kind of how the beginning of it came out.

Zain Bhikha: First Impressions of the Poem

Zain Bhikha: SubhanAllah. You know, as I mentioned in the promo clip — I do get a lot of emails from people saying they've got a song and so on — but the moment I saw this, I knew that this was really unique because there are so many multiple layers to what Sheikh Abdullah wrote. Firstly, it covers all the important aspects of the Prophet ﷺ's life, so the content was so rich. The second thing — it was all done in a very beautiful rhyming manner. But when I spoke to Sheikh Abdullah and he gave me the melody and sent me some video clips of him singing and reciting it — and also his family — I realized that what he did was make sure that every single word, every single syllable, was on a precise beat in the melody. And this is important because when we write songs as singers, we have a melody and a tempo, but of course we adapt the lyrics within that melody — sometimes we stretch a word, sometimes we cut it short. But this was not like that. Every single syllable landed on a timing.

The reason this was so important to Sheikh Abdullah was that anybody can sing this song. Anybody in their homes — if they know the rhythm, they could just sing it. They don't have to learn so many nuances in the melody. And I thought this was so beautiful, because it's encouraging others. It's a salawat, it's a recitation, it's something in praise of the Prophet ﷺ, and we're sending salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ — so it will be easier to recite it as a collective. And then of course it's just so emotional, taking you on a journey.

The hard part for me as a singer was to do it justice, and that's why I think it scared me at first when I saw it — I was like, okay, I have to do this thing justice. And SubhanAllah, last year was the right time that I was in a space to be able to do that. It took us a few months together — Sheikh Abdullah and I — and we managed to piece things together. But SubhanAllah, every time I listen to it I really am moved. You feel that warmth in your heart, the love of the Prophet ﷺ. You're brought to tears so many moments in the song. And as I said, it's strange because my voice is on there but I feel like I'm not a part of it at all.

Sheikh Abdullah, in the last few lines of the Sirah Song, says: we should not think that by these words the Prophet has been praised, because rather it's through his blessed mention that our words have been raised. And I think that is so poignant, because I think the entire project has become a blessing and a barakah — because it's about the greatest of humankind. SubhanAllah.

Tears in the Studio

Host: Where was it — how many times in this project did you both break down in tears singing or writing this poem?

Zain Bhikha: Every time. So many times in the studio. It's strange because I was in Cape Town — I don't have my main studio there; my main studio is in Johannesburg. So when I attempted to create the architecture of the song, I was alone and I had to start piecing it together. And Sheikh Abdullah didn't make it easy because the song has tempo changes, it has different moments when it slows down — especially during the time of the first revelation, then during the time of the Prophet ﷺ going to Medina, and then the time of the Prophet ﷺ passing away. So it was very interesting to put together. It took me maybe just two days just to create a demo, which normally would take a few hours. But every single time I listen to it, even when I'm alone driving in the car, you can't help but just tear up — you just feel that love for Rasulullah ﷺ.

Host: That is testimony of your love — that's why your poems not only touch the ears but go down deep to the heart. Sheikh Abdullah, tell us the secrets of this poem. You said you fell on the ground and wept, you saw scholars in Yemen who embodied the love of the Prophet ﷺ, in Jordan, and this background where you converted from Hinduism into Islam — how your love and affection for the Prophet ﷺ just expanded. Can you break that down for us?

Sheikh Abdullah: Alhamdulillah. One of the things I could say — as Brother Zain said, you don't feel you're in the project. He quoted the right lines. In fact, those are the exact lines I was saying in my mind, and then he quoted them. So I'm happy that our hearts are on the same page. We shouldn't think that this is a sign of our devotion to the Prophet ﷺ — this is a sign of the Prophet ﷺ's devotion to us and his entire Ummah. Because even when a light shines brightly, even a dirty dusty mirror will reflect back some of that light. So if anything that comes from the pen or the voice of any of us about him ﷺ is beautiful — it is only the Jamal al-Muhammadi — we are just blessed to get a little bit of that. Who are we really? Who are we to say we have praised him? No — it is the complete fadl and generosity and largesse of Allah that He allowed us to get some of that Muhammadan light into our lives. And this is just like a little echo or a reverb of what the Prophet ﷺ has showered us with — his life, his mission, his message. So that's how I feel about it.

I don't think it is something I can claim for myself. I just say: O Allah, let me listen to it and let me take what is good from it — and other mistakes are mine. There are mistakes in it. As Imam al-Shafi'i — you know, he reviewed his work 40 times and finally said the only book that has no mistakes is the Kitab Allah. So there are many things I'm sure Brother Zain will say as well — we could have done this, how many words I wish I could have tinkered with. In the end, those mistakes are ours and whatever is good from it is from Allah. And the one thing that comes through is that when you sing about Rasulullah ﷺ or you speak about him, it is the beauty that he embodied that we are just trying to share a glimpse of. And if we can be part of that motion, that movement, that flow — it is just a great blessing for us. And that's how I see it.

The Culture of Prophetic Poetry — The Sahaba and Omar ibn al-Khattab

Host: MashaAllah — both of you brothers just synergize together. The line that brother Zain has been speaking about — our poems don't beautify the beauty of the Prophet ﷺ; it is the word that is put into the poem that intensifies the beauty of the poem — and it has been the culture of even the Sahaba. When they would listen to poems, they would cry. When they would walk in the city of Medina, a woman says a poem about the Prophet ﷺ after his passing, where she speaks of the days when the Prophet's community would cry at night and of the beauty of sending salawat upon him. Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) hears this poem, knocks on the door. The lady says, "Who is this?" He says, "It's Omar." So the lady, being the woman she was, she's like, "What does Omar have to do with me at this late hour? What crime did I make?" He says, "No — please include me in this poem too, when you ask Allah to join you with the Prophet ﷺ." Omar wept and he wept, and he begged the lady to be part of that poem.

So these poems were the touching points of a Khalifa like Omar ibn al-Khattab. And now both of you together — as my children will listen to this poem, because I teach Sirah intensive — Brother Zain, you joined us for Sirah intensive for 7 days, 7 hours a day in the winter semester, and you joined us as an artist. It was so beautiful. People were crying when you sang. And that expression of love — where children can now learn about the Prophet ﷺ through poetry — I'm just jealous! Because we have to speak for hours for children to learn about the Prophet ﷺ, and in 5 minutes you told them about the Khilafah, you told them about the suffering, you told them about the father passing away. And not only did they learn it — they want to hear it again. And that is beautiful.

Zain Bhikha: I really don't want to talk anymore — I want you guys to just sing to us now! And I think on that point, it's such an interesting thing. You're right — poetry and song is a wonderful way to inspire our youth especially, because it allows people to sing along, it allows people to learn, and young people pick up on it so easily. But I think this is also a great lesson for me as a singer, as a songwriter. There are so many people around the world who are singing songs based on our faith, based on Islam — in praise of the Prophet ﷺ, telling his Sirah, telling his story, but also in praise of Allah. And I think this is a lesson not just for me but for aspiring people who want to use this medium: it's so easy to get sidetracked by the popularity of something like this and make it our own. But it's not the case at all.

Because Allah has placed a natural fitra within us to search for Him — for our Creator, from whom we all originated, who created us. So every human being has a natural fitra toward their Creator. And then as Muslims we all have such immersed love for Rasulullah ﷺ and we all love him. So literally it could be any voice, any of us reciting a poem, and it will affect our hearts — because the love is already there. So it's such a warning to us that, as Sheikh Abdullah said earlier, we should not feel that any of this is from us. It's really SubhanAllah — already the love in the hearts of the listeners is there for Rasulullah ﷺ. And in search for our Creator, anything that reminds us of that will bring us closer and make us love it even more. So it's really not about the person who delivers anything.

Sheikh Abdullah — The Story Behind Choosing Zain Bhikha's Voice

Zain Bhikha: Sheikh Abdullah, I'm really intrigued — you could have approached anybody. There are so many people who have beautiful voices and way better talent. So I'm really keen to know what — and as I said, from 2018 and I only started on the project last year — so it was literally two years where you just really had to follow up with me every time. I'm really interested to know what the story behind that was.

Sheikh Abdullah: I'll just say a few things. Alhamdulillah, nasheeds in the beginning of my Islam were very very important to me — they were formative. And brother Zain was a big part of that. Before I became Muslim, at university actually, I had heard Dawud Warnsby singing during Islam Awareness Week as I was walking through. He was singing a beautiful song called "Why Are the Drums So Silent?" And I'm walking through — just a distracted teenager — and I hear a guy singing and I'm just like, what's this guy singing for? And there's a bunch of Muslim people around. So I was like, "Why Are the Drums So Silent?" — in my mind I had all these misconceptions. But his voice just really touched me. So I asked him for his card to ask him more questions about Islam. I didn't follow up at that time — it just happened — but I fell in love with Dawud Warnsby's nasheeds. And then he worked with brother Zain on some things, and both of them in the early 2000s and late 90s had done a lot in the nasheed field. I mean, brother Zain is a pioneer. So I got on to brother Zain's nasheeds — especially "Mountains of Mecca" came a bit later, "What About Yusuf" was very very nice, "The Orphan Child," and so many nice nasheeds.

Anyway, years passed. And then around a couple of years ago I was like, okay, I like singing, but I'm not a professional singer. I sing with my kids. I'm not the one to bring this song out to the world. I wrote it by Allah's grace, but I said: O Allah, find the voice, bring the voice to me to carry this out to the world — and make it someone who loves Your Rasul and who has done khidmah for his message. I wanted the vehicle for this to be something that was truly with tawfiq. I said, O Allah, I'm the flawed one in this — but at least let me carry it through someone who is better than me and who has that love. I raised my kids on nasheeds — and that was where I got in touch with him. I sent an email, I knew he's a busy person so I understood I would have to persist a little bit. And I tried to persist and persist. And everything happened in the best of times and at the right time, because things were still changing in the song right up until he was doing the master demo — we were still tinkering with words. So everything happened in the best of times, at the right time. You were the answer to my du'a, brother Zain.

Live Recitation — The Sirah Song (Part One)

Zain Bhikha: JazakAllah. Okay, so it is early morning — please excuse the voice. I'll do my best. Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. So I'll just sing acapella — maybe I'll add the duff a little later insha'Allah. So this is the Sirah Song. Maybe it's just a shortened version if that's okay, Sheikh Abdullah. Bismillah.

Zain Bhikha: This whole poem is 25 minutes long — it just continues and continues. And as Sheikh Abdullah said, it covers most of the important things that us and our children and our families can learn, but also that we can recite collectively and praise the Prophet ﷺ and send peace and blessings upon him. So I really hope and pray that this project and the vision that Sheikh Abdullah has — of having it as a salawat that we can do collectively in our masajid and our homes — comes to fruition insha'Allah, with the entire suite of project tools that he wants to put together. Maybe he can tell us a bit more about that as well.

The Vision — Curriculum, Books, and Prophetic Literacy

Host: First, I would like everyone who is listening to say:

And salutations on the beloved. Number two — say MashaAllah, say Takbir: Allahu Akbar! MashaAllah — that was exceptionally beautiful. And number three — I want all of us to share this new song that was written by Sheikh Abdullah and sung by Brother Zain Bhikha. Let the world sing the beauty of the Prophet ﷺ. Let the non-Muslims know how beautiful he was. Sometimes someone might be hesitant to listen to a lecture about the Prophet ﷺ — but a song about the Prophet ﷺ caught Sheikh Abdullah's ears when Dawud Warnsby first sang. And now there are so many people who are just like Sheikh Abdullah — interested but they don't know where and when to find that interest. And this song is one of those songs that exemplifies the beautiful character and life of the Prophet ﷺ. May Allah reward both of you. And may the name of Muhammad ﷺ shine all across the world until the Day of Judgment, and may you both be rewarded for such a great project. JazakumAllahu khair.

Sheikh Abdullah: Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. So the song itself serves a multipurpose. You have the educational aspect of being a primer with knowledge points inside it. There are about 40-plus pages of Arabic footnotes, more than a hundred Quran and Hadith references, poetic references embedded inside it. But it's something that can be taught to children — memorized by children and sung almost like a performance or a devotional piece. And then you can teach it at the youth halaqa level, and you can teach it at the level of adults, and even at the scholarly level.

You know, the first person who studied the Sirah Song with me was non-Muslim, and he accepted Islam midway through the song. Alhamdulillah. Wow — this is from Allah. He just changed over the nights that we sat together. He's a beautiful brother. So different levels can engage with it. It can be adjusted up and down. Because it's a song, you can teach it to kids, you can teach it to adults. So that itself — it can be not only a didactic poem, a knowledge poem, but also a devotional piece. In a group, in a gathering — when the family is just sitting around before Iftar — bismillah, let's do some salawat, let's do a chapter of the Sirah Song, just like how in many other cultures you say, "Let's sing a chapter of the Burda, let's sing a na'at, let's sing a qasida."

So the whole point is to get people singing it devotionally, get people doing it in groups, get people teaching it, get people talking about it. So that somebody says, "Tell me about your Prophet ﷺ" — and you can say, "I knew this from when I was a kid, I can just say this." To put positive inputs into the hearts of our children and every single adult — that you have a positive experience with the Prophet ﷺ. So if anything comes from outside, if there are dark doubts and lies and these things — nobody can misunderstand; they know who the Rasul ﷺ is. We love the Prophet ﷺ more than we know our own mothers and fathers. And if we know about his life, then nothing can shake our iman. Nothing can cause any doubt. And this is what we want for our children, our generations, all people.

And so that is one aspect of the song itself. Then — how to bring that out to people and to nurture that — is through first of all a line of books. So you've got an adult book, a handbook with full footnotes insha'Allah, and a commentary book — a simple commentary that people can read on their own. So you read something every night before you go to bed, you read something about the Prophet ﷺ, you go to sleep like that. Then you've got a children's illustrated book — something that parents can read with their children before they go to bed or something like that, and that becomes their go-to thing. And then from there, e-learning courses — this can be made into a 15-week course, and it has been taught as a 15-week course before.

And from there we've got other projects, such as a curriculum. So let's ask ourselves — all the maktabs and the Sunday schools and the halaqas and the Islamic schools and the homeschoolers — which, you know, ever since the pandemic has just blossomed, the homeschooling field — is it easy for people to teach Sirah? They're always asking me: "What are the books in English? What are the things I should teach?" The hope is that the Sirah Song can be made into a curriculum. And that's the current stage we're at — trying to develop and fund a teacher's guide. So not only a teacher but a parent can pick it up and say, "I myself want to teach my child the Sirah," and they will know — with Brother Zain's recording, with the lyrics, with this guide — here's how we can teach everyone basic Sirah. Just like how we need basic literacy — we need Prophetic literacy as well.

And then from there — an app insha'Allah. And there are so many things: retreats, concerts, moving intensives. And even an animated video. Because, for example — we never had TV in Jordan — and my kids didn't even know what a movie was. Now they have exposure to so many things on YouTube, on television, on Netflix. Why don't we have, for example, the Sirah Song in an animated video that my little babies will know? They know "Baby Shark" very well — there are billions of views for Baby Shark. What about our things? What about before our child is three years old, they just know the whole Sirah?

And this is what Muslim civilizations used to do. I have a teacher from Mauritania who memorized Qurrat al-Absar — when I studied it with him, he had memorized the entire poem. So I said, "MashaAllah, you studied the poem and memorized it." He said, "No, I never actually formally memorized it." I said, "How? You're finishing every line — it's high-level Arabic." He said, "I used to hear other kids memorizing it in our madrasa system in Mauritania. And just like that, growing up in that environment, I memorized the whole poem." And we're talking about many, many lines of a poem. The Sirah Song is a very short 151 lines — 24 minutes — but it's short for Arabic. They have the Alfiyya, a thousand-line poem. In Arabic they have works about the Prophet ﷺ with even more. So at least this — we need to put it into the hearts of everyone, like how we know "1+1" and "ABC." Prophetic literacy is very important — just as one of the Sahaba, or one of the Tabi'een, said: we used to learn the maghazi of the Prophet ﷺ — his life expeditions and stories — just like they used to teach us the surahs of the Quran. So this is the hope insha'Allah.

Host: Zain, I'm about to erupt out of excitement! Because I thought the poem was just the beginning and the ending. But now — the community is listening — the poem is not just the beginning, but also has this expanded journey into curriculum development and vision. And that's what I like — when scholars and artists put together their talent, it doesn't just become an art, it also becomes a learning material. And now in that vision, both of you have got the perfect puzzle, MashaAllah.

When can we — because you've already teased us with this whole curriculum — what material is available, and when will the whole song be on YouTube? Is it already available? What's the timeline?

Zain Bhikha: So from the song production, alhamdulillah — that's done. We've launched Part One because it's long, so we wanted to do it in parts. So insha'Allah — this coming week, actually on Eid day — the entire Sirah Song will be available on all digital platforms like Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify, and YouTube as well. So the entire song will be available insha'Allah in a few days' time.

But I really admire Sheikh Abdullah because from the very beginning there was always this greater vision for the project — it wasn't just about this song and limiting it. And I mean, I'm a father as well — I've got kids — I can't stress enough the importance of us providing something in the medium of English, because that's what we speak, that's what the kids know, that's what's appealing to them and easy for them to learn. SubhanAllah. And in terms of the rest of the tools — Sheikh Abdullah has been raising funds during this Ramadan for the Sirah Song project as a holistic thing. And insha'Allah, so many people around the world have — again, just the barakah of the project — have contributed. And I think insha'Allah there'll be enough funds to fulfill the vision that Sheikh Abdullah has — the multiple facets of it: from the books to the website to the app to the children's books to whatever tools we need to really maximize the importance of bringing the Sirah to our homes. Insha'Allah.

Mountains of Mecca — Live Performance

Host: Number one — Sheikh Abdullah, this project will insha'Allah not have any hurdles because it's for the right cause and the right vision of the love of the Prophet ﷺ. And before I go ahead, I want to invite my younger brother Mufti Abdul Rahman onto the screen. Mufti Saab — this is Sheikh Abdullah, and this is Brother Zain Bhikha, a legend to the Ummah and what a gift he is. Mufti Saab is a mufti, but sometimes he gets excited and tries to sing some of Zain Bhikha's songs — and that's where I think he loses his mufti title!

Mufti Abdul Rahman: As-salamu alaykum, Brother Zain — how are you? He introduced me as his brother, but I'm his punching bag! As-salamu alaykum, Mufti Saab — so nice to see you again. I was not going to come on, but my brother said he's going to pay me if I come on.

Host: I said I will pay you if you sing with Brother Zain Bhikha — and we'll see how bad you sing!

Mufti Abdul Rahman: No, no, no. Alhamdulillah, it's all good. Alhamdulillah, JazakAllah khair for bringing me on. I just came because my brother wanted me to come on, and I heard your project — I want to say one thing that's for sure, Sheikh Abdullah: you're not going to have any financial hurdles insha'Allah. Everyone who's watching here today is going to support insha'Allah. And my brother Sheikh Abdullah is the master at fundraising — you just put him on your side, he will write checks for you himself. Everyone watching knows — rain, snow or fall, he's plugging in, and he's good at it. MashaAllah, people love him. And if he believes in something insha'Allah — this could be our Miftai project. We would love to do some of this. My brother is doing Sirah intensive for so many years. He is — not because he's my brother — one of the few scholars who are very well-versed with Sirah. He enjoys it, he reads so much. I know him behind the scenes — how many books he's reading, the notes he's taking. His handwriting is terrible, but he's still doing it. And he's somehow doing week-long Sirah intensive. Many of us who are on today benefit from them. So insha'Allah together it will be great.

Host: You know, I'm going to have to leave in a few minutes. Mufti Abdul Rahman will have to conclude. But before I leave, Sheikh Abdullah — I was requesting Ustaz Zain — just to soften my heart — I'm just being selfish here — as the Sirah project goes, can you ask him, can we all ask Ustaz Zain to sing "Mountains of Mecca"? Can you ask him? Because I think he likes you.

Zain Bhikha: Okay, Sheikh Abdullah — I'll sing. You know, this project — and if I think about the barakah and the song "Mountains of Mecca" — it's so strange. Wherever I go, even if I look at the stats on songs and things, SubhanAllah — "Mountains of Mecca" I wrote almost 15, 16 years ago. But people go back to that. And again, it shows the barakah of a moment — alhamdulillah, I was on Hajj and I was truly inspired. And that's really the barakah that I feel insha'Allah in this project — that it may be the deed that we are a part of that insha'Allah may tip our scales on the day that matters most. Insha'Allah. So may Allah shower us with mercy and give us barakah in this project. Bismillah.

Reflections — Loss, Grief, and the Comfort of Allah

Zain Bhikha: SubhanAllah, man — Allah bless him and grant him Jannah insha'Allah. It must be such a big loss. And during this COVID pandemic really, SubhanAllah — we've lost so many good people. Even in my close family in the last 12 months across South Africa, in so many cities, so many people close to me. So we remember them insha'Allah, and we pray for them, and we ask Allah to forgive them insha'Allah.

Host: May Allah bless him insha'Allah and grant him Jannah. JazakAllah. Thank you so much. Insha'Allah, Allah softens our hearts and makes our hearts feel. Sometimes one person crying in a gathering could be a means of mercy for 20,000 people sitting there. So that's the most important thing.

We were just reading today the tafsir of the verse:

— that the Prophet ﷺ was emotionally abused, humiliated, rejected. He was going through all this pressure. One of the first five surahs — Allah had to reaffirm to him: "O Prophet of Allah, you're good." I used to cross the border from Canada to America and we used to get humiliated — six hours, eight hours at the border — hearing all these terrible things. And when you'd cross the border and finally get to your mom's house and your mother hugs you: "Don't worry about it, you're home now." We think about the Prophet ﷺ — he had no mother to do that for him, he didn't have a father to do that for him. That's why he loved Khadija so much. But Allah said: "I'll do it for you. It doesn't matter what they say — I'm telling you, you're a Prophet of Allah." So when the Prophet would make du'a, people would cry — people who wouldn't otherwise have experienced such things. So tonight, it's the 27th night in North America, and we make du'a and we cry.

Closing Words and Gratitude

JazakAllah khair for coming on and softening our hearts today.

Zain Bhikha: JazakAllah khair. Such beautiful words. I just want to say once again to Sheikh Abdullah — JazakAllah khair for allowing me to be part of this project. And may Allah give us barakah and khair in this, and may it be a means of inspiration and education for thousands of people — millions of people — around the world.

Sheikh Abdullah: Thank you, Brother Zain, for singing this and for going through so much. There were 350 different audio tracks mixed down — and then you just sang the entire song and gave it back to the project. Who does that? SubhanAllah. So may Allah make this a means of infusing prophetic love into your progeny until the Day of Judgment. I don't know how much du'a I can make to thank you for that. JazakAllah khair. And thank you so much to Miftai Institute for hosting us again.

Host: Alhamdulillah — we're your North American hosts. We'll be here, arms open. So we'll see you all tomorrow. JazakAllah khair.