The rights of the messsenger (Peace and Blessings upon Him) over us
Dear brothers and sisters, the choice of Allah SWT for His Messenger is a mercy and a blessing on us all.
The Imam reminded us of the 75th verse of Sura Hajj in which it is translated to say:
Allah chooses from the angels’ messengers and from the people. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Seeing.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we analyse this ayat we can see that Allah chooses from angels a messenger, and from the people messengers, and they are the best of their kind.
Our messenger SAWS is the best example of this definition. The imam reminded us of a hadith in which the Prophet SAWS said:
“Indeed, Allah chose Kinanah from the children of Isma’il, and He chose Quraish from Kinanah, and He chose Hashim from Quraish, and He chose me from Banu Hashim.”
The Prophet SAWS was subjected to taunts questioning why he was chosen to fulfil the role that Allah SWT bestowed upon him.
Allah SWT speaks of this in Sura al-Zukhruf, ayat 31 and 32 which is translated to say:
And they said: “Why is not this Qur’an sent down to some great man [in terms of dignity and wealth] of the two towns (Mecca and Ta’if)?”
Is it they who would portion out the Mercy of your Lord [regarding the Divine appointment of Muhammad to prophethood]? It is We Who portion out [between them] their livelihood in this world [let alone the exalted rank of prophethood] and We raised some of them above others in ranks so that some may employ others in their work. But the Mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is so much to take from this passage but for the purposes of the time and place, we will summarize one of the lessons and that is that Allah SWT is exposing their short-sightedness in that they are ranking in terms of wordly standards such as possessions, rank and reputation.
In actual fact, such ignorant people imagined that their wrong doing tribal chiefs and men of substance were the closest people to God and were surprised to learn that Prophethood and the Divine great Favor had not been given to such people but had been bestowed upon the poor orphan, Muhammad SAWS.
As a result of this, we as Muslims must adhere to certain manners and etiquettes in relation to our beloved Prophet SAWS.
The remainder of this reminder outlines 4 of these points that we can apply practically from today.
- To love the Prophet SAWS more than everyone else including family. Dear brothers and sisters, this is often a hard message to convey to someone but it isn’t difficult if you study the Prophet SAWS and all that he did for us and that he will do for us.
We live in a time and place where our senses are overloaded with information on the now. We have our senses overloaded with images, sounds and videos and often these take precedence over books and mediums that require some thought.
However, if we study the Prophet SAWS, his life and his mission, we will truly understand how much of a blessing he was to you and I. How much he is applicable to us today and in our lives and in our next life. Only through this dedicated approach will we begin to fully appreciate the magnitude of our teacher and reciprocate with the love he clearly had for each and every one of us.
- To follow his orders and commandments and avoid disobeying the Prophet. The imam reminded us of a hadith in relation to this point and it is translated to say:
Whoever obeys me, obeys Allah SWT and whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allah SWT
This ought to remind us that the Prophet SAWS and his commandments are the practical application of the book of Allah SWT and that we ought to give it the importance that it deserves.
- To pray for the Prophet SAWS. Practically, we ought to be sending salam upon the Prophet SAWS and remembering him often. This is especially the case today as we have reminded ourselves previously of the etiquettes of Friday and how it ought to include sending Salaam upon the Prophet SAWS.
However, alongside this, we ought to use the opportunity all week long to send salaam upon the Prophet SAWS. Whether it is one the commute to work or study or whether it is during the trip to the shops or school runs, we all have a minute here and there to perform this noble act.
The Imam reminded us of the following hadith in which the Prophet SAWS said:
“The person closest to me on the Day of Judgement is the one who sent the most Salat upon me.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we are the most blessed of people because we belong to the Ummah of the most beloved of all creation SAWS. Let us not lose sight of the fact that with this great blessing comes a responsibility too.
