In penning this essay
Allah in His Wisdom did not choose His Last Messenger randomly. Long before Allah had chosen him, Muhammad had already demonstrated his noble and sterling character. He was Al Amin, the Trustworthy, to his community. In Prophet Muhammad(P), Allah had an uswatun hasana (“the most beautiful pattern of conduct”, Surah Al Ahzab, 33:21). There are numerous Quranic verses exhorting Muslims to emulate this exemplar of a human being. Exhortations from the Holy Book aside, a man whose teachings are being followed by one in five people on this planet deserves attention.
On this Maulud al Nabi, the Prophet’s birthday, Muslims re-live the Seerah (the ways and sayings of the Prophet) to discern their meanings. As noted by the writer Adil Salahi, the best way for Muslims to demonstrate their love for the Prophet(P) is by following his teachings, not by singing his praises.
Aping Versus Emulating
Some set a very low bar for themselves, content with imitating the superficialities of the man. Thus they are reduced to sporting long beards and unshaven faces and wearing loose clothes and oversized turbans. That is the extent, nothing further. They are aping, not emulating, the prophet.
Others think they have set a higher standard by mimicking the prophet in acquiring multiple wives. They do not emulate him for his skills in trading, his reverence for knowledge, or his quest for learning. Suffice that they could imitate the prophet only in that one respect. We do what we can with what we have, so they piously assure themselves as they indulge in their worldly lust, all in the name of following the example of the Holy Prophet of course.
Alas, they are looking for lust in all the wrong Seerahs !
They conveniently forget that the prophet remained monogamous for over 25 years with his first wife, Khatijah. His subsequent marriages following her death were expressions of his charity, not lust. Thus his wives included single mothers and war widows. Other marriages were for cementing political relationships, as was the tradition then. As a leader with a considerable following, he could easily have had his groupies, if lust were his intent.
Not satisfied with the limitations of four wives at a time, and fully aware of the severe penalty for adultery prescribed in the Quran, many Muslims ingenuously resort to “temporary marriages.” Temporary as in hours or minutes, depending on their prowess ! Surprisingly, there are kadhis (religious officials) who would solemnize such “marriages”, for a fee of course. In my part of the world, such individuals are called pimps.
In their obsession with the superficialities of the Prophet (P), his well-meaning admirers miss the essence of the man. This was a man chosen by Allah and who emancipated the Arabs from their Age of Jahiliyah (Ignorance), and then spread the faith that today is adhered to by over a billion people.
Leadership Through Personal Example : Qudhrat Hassanah
The leadership qualities I find most admirable were his humility, his recognition of talent, and his ability to think counter-intuitive, or “outside the box” as the current cliché would have it.
When the Prophet received his first revelation, he trembled with fear. He was fully aware of the awesome responsibility. So fearful was he that he could confide only to his wife Khatijah. In an era where females generally and wives, in particular, were mere chattels of men, that he took her in confidence was remarkable. It reflected his inner strength and confidence in judgment, regardless of the prevailing norms. He trusted and respected his wife, a rare trait in that time and place.
It also reflected his deep humility. Lesser mortals who thought they had been chosen by God would undoubtedly proclaim that fact loudly for the world to hear, à la George Bush, Jr., or Pat Robertson.
True to his humility, he preached initially only to his close family and friends. He was fully aware that his message would literally turn his society upside down, transforming it for the better. He risked dividing his community in the process. He had no desire to destroy his community in order to save it, to use a Vietnam-era maxim.
Today’s leaders would do well to emulate the Prophet?s appreciation and recognition of talent ? meritocracy in its pristine form. His closest companions, later to be Caliphs, were truly worthy of the appellation, Radhi Allah anHu (May Allah Be Pleased with them).
Recognizing the beautiful voice of the hitherto slave, Bilal, the Prophet made him call the Azzan, a singular honour. The Azzan, beautifully executed, gives me goosebumps ; simply hollered, it grates on the ears.
In the early days of his mission, to spare his followers’ persecution, he arranged for them to migrate to Abyssinia for their safety. That was uppermost in his mind, a true leader. In a pivotal battle at Taif when he had the enemy under siege, he could have easily annihilated them especially considering that they had been brutal to him years earlier. Instead, listening to the counsel of his lieutenant about the fox cornered in a hole, he left them alone. You could smoke out the animal and destroy it, or you could leave it alone and it would do you no harm.
The people of Taif later embraced Islam on their own volition. The Prophet intuitively recognized that in fighting for your cause, first create no new adversaries. A simple lesson, but difficult to learn. This is a lesson the world desperately needs to learn in battling terrorism.
The Prophet(P) may have received the blessings and revelations from Allah, but he was not above listening to advice from his young subordinates.
In preaching, the Prophet was careful in ensuring that his followers memorized only the divine revelations, not his commentaries. He forbade what would be considered today as a personality cult. Had he not done so, every Muslim home would be adorned with his portrait, cities named after him, and statues erected in his honour. For added measure, Muslims would be sporting amulets bearing his name or likeness for protection and good luck charms.
The Prophet was no ordinary mortal, but a mortal nonetheless. At the theological level, this means Muslims do not believe in the reincarnation or the second coming. At the practical level, that too has significance. While Muslims duly and properly praise the prophet, we are careful not to deify the person or attribute perfection. Perfection is after all solely the attribute of Allah.
At the personal level, the fact that the Prophet is a mortal means that his exemplary qualities are within the capability of every one of us to follow. That is the beauty of our Prophet(P).
May the blessings of Allah be upon him, his family, and his Companions as we honour him on this special day of the 12th of Rabi al Awwal.
Reproduced with the permission of the author. The author’s website may be accessed at www.bakrimusa.com
Assalamu Alaykum,
— — — — — regarding the 3 elements of tawhid, why limit it to 3 elements only, brother ? — — — — — –
It isn’t. This is a misunderstanding on your part. There are numerous ways to classify Tawheed, the three subdivision way is just one popular way. Other scholars (eg. Ibn Al-Qayyim, Ibn Abu Al-Izz) have divided it into two categories — Tawheed Al-Ilmi and Tawheed Al-Amali. Each of these categories is further divided into three categories for a total of six categories. So categorization and classifcation of Tawheed has nothing to do with religious innovation it is merely a toold which aids in analysing and teaching the concept of Tawheed, just as classifying difference Islamic sciences as Uloom Al-Qur’an, Usul Al-Hadith, usul Al-Fiqh, etc. helps in teaching and learning the Islamic sciences.
Classification in and of itself can never be innovation.
— – why did not the prophet, peace be upon him, explain it that way ? isn?t it reading into his intention as well ? — -
As I already mentioned brother, the Qur’an itself identifies these different components.
—- why don?t we have tawhid of creation, tawhid of mercy, tawhid of lordship, tawhid of omnipresence, tawhid of omnipotence — -
All you have done here is further divide Tawheed Asmaa was-sifaat. If you think that is useful as a learning tool, so be it, but it changes absolutely nothing.
—- yet the prophet insisted on explaining tawhid as ?la ilaha ila Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah?. — –
That is not an explanation, just a statement,
—-but the truth is, it was not done by the salaf, and it is a reading by imam ibn taymiyyah, which was emulated by muhammad ibn adul wahhab. — –
Nonsense. I have mentioned two other past scholars who classified Tawheed and there are hundreds more.
And I already answered your question on the compilation of the Qur’an in my previous response.
So like I said, if there was any value in the annual celebration of the Prophet’s birthday the companions would have done it. They did not.
I’ve been simply repeating myself here and having said what needs to be said I don’t think I will reply here again unless there is a different point raised which would merit a response.
Wa alaykum as-salaam.
jazakAllah for your response bro aian.
salaam
let me correct my statement, it was actually brother khalid who answered my question with another question. my apologies, brother imran.
as salaamu alaykum brothers.
brother imran, you answered my question with another question. if you noticed, i never said that we should celebrate mawlid and forget the beloved prophet’s message. what we should do is live according to the prophet’s message, and he who likes to show happiness over the prophet’s birth on a date which is agreed upon by the masses of the muslims and their scholars as his birth, then he should do so, within the confines of the shariah. nobody here disagrees that we should show happiness for every aspect of his life and teachings.
are these two things (celebrating/commemorating the prophet’s birth on 12th rabiul awwal without imitating christians and other kuffar, and following the prophet’s message) two mutually exclusive things to you ? does doing one necessarily preclude the other ? brothers, in fact they are complimentary, as many of the muslims who celebrate the mawlid follow the prophet’s teachings with love in their heart for him, peace be upon him, and Allah Almighty.
of course some of our brethren are in just for the fun of it, and sometimes things proscribed by the shariah are indeed committed. but that is my point in mentioning that i have seen muslims in my place who celebrate the 2 eids by drinking wine and dancing to disco music. let’s say that crying out ‘ya muhammad’ and calling on pirs and dead walis are bidaa. does that mean that celebrating the prophet’s birth and living according to his teachings are bidaa as well ?
regarding the 3 elements of tawhid, why limit it to 3 elements only, brother ? why did not the prophet, peace be upon him, explain it that way ? isn’t it reading into his intention as well ? why don’t we have tawhid of creation, tawhid of mercy, tawhid of lordship, tawhid of omnipresence, tawhid of omnipotence, etc ? yet the prophet insisted on explaining tawhid as ‘la ilaha ila Allah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah’. isn’t this a religious bidaa, to arbitrarily explain that there are only three parts of tawhid, and not 99 or a million?isn’t it better to take each of the 99 names of God as a ‘portion’ of tawhid, instead of just three ? wouldn’t it limit bidaa more, since there are now 99 limitations to shirk, instead of just three ? we could stretch this to absurdity. but the truth is, it was not done by the salaf, and it is a reading by imam ibn taymiyyah, which was emulated by muhammad ibn adul wahhab.
preserving the religion’s most holy text in a manner which the prophet did not do, but which he could have ordered to be done, isn’s this a religious bidaa, but a good bidaa ? same goes with the branches of islamic knowledge. of course, you may be averse to the term ‘bidaa’ or even ‘good bidaa’ for these necessary things, but that is the point. there is actually no use on arguing over names. a rose, if called by any other name, would smell just as sweet, as juliet says. but the truth remains that these things were not practiced or done by our prophet and the companions, but the muslims had the ‘audacity’ to ‘innovate’ these because they are necessary and help the religion.
the links brother danny posted answers much of your contentions, brothers khalid and imran. however, let me direct you to a link which shows that our enlightened Islamic scholars, even imam ibn taymiyyah, approved of mawlid, if practiced within the shariah and without bidaa, which you rightly condemn :
http://www.livingislam.org/n/mwld_e.html
you can also check out shaykh gibril fouad haddad’s response to mufti taqi usmani’s fatwa against mawlid, as it touches on many of the points we are bringing up.
jazak Allah khayr.
—-Khalifa uthman had the ?audacity ? to compile the holy qur?an in one volume, even though it was not done during the prophet?s lifetime — — —
This is not a religious practice. Compiling material is not an innovation. Compiling ahadith is not an innovation either. We are not creating a new practice we are simply preserving the Islamic sources.
— — and shaykh-un najdi, muhammad ibn abdul wahhab, had the audacity to explain tawhid in three parts, even though it was not done by the prophet, or during the prophet?s lifetime, even though nobody explained tawhid more clearly than Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa salaam. — –
The Qur’an itself shows the three components of Tawhid. And classification in and of itself is not a bida’h. We have classified Islamic sciences — fiqh, Uloom Al-Qur’an, aqeedah, etc. etc. Yet these were never around at the time of the Prophet either. Classifcation is not a bidah.
Salaamu alaykum br. aian jaafar,
With regard to the claim that this practice is based on the Prophet’s fasting on mondays — who understood the Prophet’s practices better : you or the noble Sahaba ? If they, and the leading Muslim scholars, never celebrated the Prophet’s birthday, then how can you claim that this is what the hadith means ?
And you say we should have happiness for the Prophet’s birthday — my question to you — why not show happiness for the Prophet’s message, for every aspect of his life ? Why create a new practice that the most noble generation never practiced ?
JazakAllah khayr.
the sahabah used to say, ?ya muhammad ? even after the prophet?s death. and even if they did not, that was not the point. do you think the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa salaam, hears us when we send salaams upon him during salaah ?
I believe it is more like a duaa for him.If it were like 2 people giving each other salaam, then when the campanions reached to the part “asalamualayka ayuhanabiyu” prophet (pbuh) would of responded back “walaikumsalaam.“But there is no proof for any of this, is there ? do you have even one authentic narration in the saheeh collections that says the sahaba said “ya muhammad” when they were in madina and he (pbuh) was in Mecca ?
as salaamu alaykum wa rahmatu allah,
brother danny, you got to the point of the matter, and what you said was true. Brother Khalid should be reminded that the Prophet himself, sallallahu alayhi wa salaam, celebrated his birthday by fasting on mondays.
to brother Imran : in the philippines, i have seen muslims dancing to disco music and consuming wine, supposedly in celebration of eid ul fitr and eid ul adha. should i also label muslims ‘eid ul adha and eid ul fitr defenders’, for defending ‘bidaas’ such as eid ul fitr and eid ul adha ?
disrespect of holy men is the root problem. it began in jannah when iblis, whom the prophet called ‘shaykh-un najdi’(for taking the form of a sheikh from najd when he went in pursuit of the prophet during the hijrah), refused to bow down to prophet adam.
the sahabah used to say, ‘ya muhammad’ even after the prophet’s death. and even if they did not, that was not the point. do you think the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa salaam, hears us when we send salaams upon him during salaah ?
and yes, the sahabah loved him more than anybody else, especially more than those of the devil’s horn, that’s why the sahabah sang poetry in his honour during his mawlid when he was alive.
Khalifa uthman had the ‘audacity’ to compile the holy qur’an in one volume, even though it was not done during the prophet’s lifetime. and shaykh-un najdi, muhammad ibn abdul wahhab, had the audacity to explain tawhid in three parts, even though it was not done by the prophet, or during the prophet’s lifetime, even though nobody explained tawhid more clearly than Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa salaam.
and lastly, brother khalid and brother imran, let’s say that calling upon pirs and dead walis and crying out ‘ya muhammad’ are bidaa. is expressing happiness toward the holy prophet’s birthday bidaa ?
and Allah knows best.