Celebrating the Birth of Prophet Muhammad (SAAW)
Dr. Mouhamed N. Tarazi
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ara and Abdullah have been married for a little
more than four years. They have a son, Khaled, who turned two years old last
week and they are expecting a girl any day now.
Abdullah, an engineer and Sara, a science teacher,
moved from Syria to America several years ago. After the death of his father,
he brought his mother to live with them.
Yesterday, Sara, with the help of grandma,
(called TaiTai in Syria), prepared a nice dinner for the family; kubbeh,
mutabal, humus, tabuleh, chicken and rice. Of course Sara did not forget the
lentil soup. Abdullah used to say, “Kubbeh without lentil soup is like Rome without
the Pope!”
Abdullah came home from work; they all sat
around the dining table. Khaled sat in his high chair with a bib, embroidered
with the phrase, “I love Taitai,” fastened under his chin. Abdullah reached
out and took a round kubbeh, tasted it,
and exclaimed, “Mom, Sara, Jazakumullahu khayran, this is a great kubbeh!”
“Abdullah! I heard on the news this morning
that today is the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. Could we spend some time
talking about him?” Sara asked.
Abdullah
was very happy to celebrate this occasion by remembering this wonderful man
Muhammad, the like of whom never walked on this earth.
“Oh yeah Sara! I did forget. Today is the 12th of Rabi al Awal (The third month of the Islamic calendar), the birthday of Prophet
Muhammad. Let’s start by talking about some of his
special attributes mentioned in the Holy Quran.”
“Almighty Allah called him a ‘Light’ and ‘Lamp
Spreading Light,’ to guide people out of darkness:
‘There has come to you from Allah a New
Light’
‘Oh Prophet! Truly We have sent you as a
witness, as a bearer of glad news, as a warner, as one who invites to Allah’s
grace, by His leave, and as a lamp spreading
light.’ ”
Sara looked at Abdullah and said, “I remember a
verse, where Allah asks his Messenger, ‘Have We not raised high your fame?’
Every time we say ‘La Ilaha Illallah’, we also say ‘Muhammadun
Rasulullah.’”
“Exactly! You see how Muhammad’s name is part
of the shahada,” Abdullah said.
Taitai joined in, “I love what Allah said,
addressing his Prophet,
‘Indeed you have the highest morals.’”
“Mom,
it’s all about morals. The Prophet said it himself. He was sent but to complete
the code of morals,” said Abdullah.
Sara
admired how the Prophet treated children and mentioned that once he came to the
mosque for the night prayer, carrying his grandson on his shoulders. Then he
seated him close by and led the prayer. He spent an unusually long time
prostrating during the prayer, which worried some of his followers. Others thought
he was receiving a revelation. After the prayer, he explained to them that his
grandson mounted on his back and he waited for him to get down. Taitai added,
“He also used to carry his granddaughter Umaima while praying. When he
prostrated he’d put her down and when he stood up he’d carry her.”
Abdullah
said, “I find this story fascinating: one time the Prophet was in a big
gathering. To his right was a young boy
and to his left were the great Abu Baker and Omar. The Prophet was offered a
drink from a pitcher. He drank a little bit and asked the boy ‘Do you permit me
to pass the drink to Abu Baker and Omar?’ The boy said ‘No way!’” (Muslims
usually pass things to the right. That is why the Prophet wanted the permission
of the boy to pass it to the left. The boy refused, he wanted the blessing of
drinking right after the Prophet. Maybe he thought, by the time it comes around
nothing would be left for him or maybe he wanted to receive a drink directly
from the Prophet.)
Taitai
reminded them of the story of the woman who used to clean the Prophet’s mosque.
She was from people who were not considered important in Medina’s traditional
clan society. One time he noticed she was not at the mosque. When he inquired
about her, he was told that she had passed away. He asked where she was buried
and gathered his companions and offered a funeral prayer for her. This shows
how well he respected people, no matter their social status in the general
community.
Sara
added teasingly, “He was so nice to his wives. He never laid his hand on anyone
of them (meaning, he never hit any of them).”
“Abdullah!
Did you hear that?” Taitai asked.
“Mom! I
would never ever hit Sara!” replied Abdullah.
Taitai
and Sara laughed. They remembered how Abdullah had stood up to his best friend
and scolded him when he shoved his wife in front of them.
Taitai
then said, “I remember a hadith, I’d like to share with you. When Rasulullah recited
what Abraham supplicated, ‘He who follows me is one of me and he who
disobeys me (is going astray) - But You are indeed oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’
And what Jesus prayed, ‘If you punish them, they are your servants, and if
you forgive them, verily You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-wise.’
He,
Muhammad, understood that the two great messengers, Abraham and Jesus, were
asking forgiveness even for those who chose not to follow them. He then raised
his hands, cried and pleaded, “My nation, My nation.” Then Allah sent
Angel Gabriel to comfort him and assure him that Allah would be pleased with
him and with his nation.”
Abdullah
said “Mom! That shows how much he loved us, how much he loved his ummah.” Then
he added “Don’t forget that every prophet was given a special wish and every
prophet used up his wish except Muhammad. He saved his wish as a shafa’a for
his ummah on the Day of Judgment. It will be honored for everyone who dies
without associating anything with Allah.”
“Abdullah! Remind us of shafa’a,” Sara
demanded.
Abdullah
explained, “On the Day of Resurrection, all mankind will be gathered in one
gigantic plain. The sun will get very close to them. They will be sweating,
scared, and waiting for the grand trial. They will wish to know their fate and
get it done with it quickly. We
don’t know how long they will stay like that in a state of uncertainty. They
will form a delegation to search for intercession. This
delegation first goes to Adam, then Noah, then Abraham, then Moses, then Jesus.
The delegation will plead for their intercession. Each one of the prophets, fearing to face Allah for his own reasons, will
say, ‘Myself, myself, I’m worried about myself’, and will refer them to the
others. Then finally they will go to see Muhammad. He will respond ‘I’m for it,
I’m for it.’
Muhammad
goes under the throne, prostrates, praises Allah and waits. Then he will be
ordered, ‘Oh Muhammad! Raise up your
head. Ask! You will be given. And intercede! Your intercession will be
accepted.’
His
intercession will help those, from his
ummah, whose good deeds are equal to their bad deeds
to enter Paradise. People ordered to go to Hell will be pardoned, by his
intercession, before even entering Hell. Those who end up in Hell will be
released to go to Paradise, as a result of his continued intercession.”
Sara
then asked, “With all of what the Prophet did for us, and is willing to do for
us in the Day of Judgment, how can we thank him?”
Abdullah
thought about it for a few seconds and before he answered, Taitai started, “In
fact he asked us to do only one thing for him; he said, when you hear the athan
for prayer repeat after the
caller, then at
the end of the athan, he told us to pray for him. For every blessing we send
upon the Prophet, we get in return ten blessings from Allah. What a bargain!
Then he asked us to ask Allah to grant him ‘Al-Waseela’, a place in Paradise
reserved for one person and he wishes it to be for him. He promised that he who
asks for ‘Al-Waseela’ for him will earn his intercession.”
As they
were finishing dinner the call for maghrib prayer came from the home computer
and all in unison repeated after the caller. After it, they invoked blessings
upon Muhammad. Then supplicated,
"Allahumma
Rabba hathihid-Daawatit taammah, wassalatil Qa imah ati Muhammadan al waseelata
wal fadeelah, wa ib'ath-hu maqaman mahmoodan allathee wa'ad-tah, innaka laa
tukhliful-me'aad."
(This
translates to"Oh Allah, Owner of this perfect call and Owner of this
prayer to be performed, grant Muhammad al waseelah (a place
in Paradise) and al
fadeelah (a rank
above the rest of creation) and send
him upon a raised platform which You have promised him. Verily, You never fail
in Your promise.")Taitai, Sara and Abdullah agreed that there was so much more to say about the Prophet. This was a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad.
[Peace
and Blessing of Allah upon Prophets Muhammad, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and
all other prophets.]
