I once got an opportunity to speak at an Islamic occasion in a school about Muhammad.s. Here is a copy of that speech.
Assalamu Alaikum wr wb. First of all I would like to take a
moment to thank Allah swt and let us all say Alhamdulillah, that we are
gathered here to learn few things about our beloved Prophet Muhammad. S
And yes, I’d like to remind you all to please say very quietly salallahu alahi wa sallam, whenever you hear the name of Muhammad so that we are sending salam upon our messenger.
So, before I start let me ask you a few questions.
And yes, I’d like to remind you all to please say very quietly salallahu alahi wa sallam, whenever you hear the name of Muhammad so that we are sending salam upon our messenger.
So, before I start let me ask you a few questions.
Who was the mother of Prophet.s? Bibi Amina.a
Who was the father of the Prophet.s ? Hazrat Abdullah
Who was Abdulllah’s father? Hazrat Abu Mutalib
Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Muhammad the son of Abdullah was born in the Quraish family, a very eminent clan or tribe in Makkah. His grandfather was Abu Mutallib. Muhammad’s father passed –
Who was the father of the Prophet.s ? Hazrat Abdullah
Who was Abdulllah’s father? Hazrat Abu Mutalib
Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Muhammad the son of Abdullah was born in the Quraish family, a very eminent clan or tribe in Makkah. His grandfather was Abu Mutallib. Muhammad’s father passed –
away before he.s came into the world and Bibi Amina took
care of Muhammad.s but she too passed away after six years. Abu Mutallib used
to take care of Muhammad.s and he kept his grandson with him. He too died after
two years. Before leaving the world, he entrusted Muhammad.s to his hon, Abu
Talib. So, Muhammad.s was taken care by his uncle, Abu Talib.
Now, at what age did Muhammad.s receive the first revelation? 40 years. Why do you think Allah waited forty years till he sends hi first ayah? Why didn’t Allah give him the prophethood at his birth, just like Isa.a ?
This is the answer we all need to think about. What did Prophet.s do in the 40 years? What did he do before he started to read Quran?
The answer is, he developed his character. The people of Makkah, came to know this boy from the childhood as somebody with the best character. While playing with his cousins, Abu Talib noticed that he is the one advising his brothers with all good things.
He grew up grazing cattle in the most patient way. He was 10 or 12 when he started looking after the goats. It was a common occupation in the Arabs.
Later on, as Abu Talib was a trader, he too became a business man and he was the most pious, honest and intelligent business man.
There was this one time that the Kabah had to be reconstructed, This was all before he became a prophet. So the kabah at that time was roofless and so the water and the floods used to damage the Holy structure. So, all the Quraish tribes joined hands to rebuild it. The construction work was divided and the work was very well done until the issue of one stone came up. Do you know what this stone was? This stone was Hajre Aswad. The black stone. This stone was the stone of heaven installed by Ibrahim.a when he was building the Kabah. So, all the clan leaders wanted to do this noble thing and they started arguing over it. The dispute lasted for four days. Then, finally they decided that we will appoint a judge to solve this issue and the first person who enters the sanctuary in the morning will be the judge. By Allah’s grace, the next morning Prophet.s came in and all the clans were very happy that this is the best man to judge because he is always the most fair and just person.
So, Muhammad.s spread a sheet on the ground and asked each of the trive representative to hold the sheet. At the centre of it was black stone kept and all of them lifted it up and took it near the kabah. Then the prophet.s inserted the stone in its place.
Another instance which shows the character of Prophet.s was his first marriage. Who was the first wife? Khadija.r . Do you know the reason why she married Prophet.s?
Actually, Khadija.r was a widow and she also had children. She was a very wealthy lady and a very respectavle woman, and many people asked to marry her but she rejected all. Now, as I mentioned earlier Muhammad.s was a business man and came to do business with Khadija.r. She realised that this is the most decent, and honest and well-mannered. She also got to know that he behaves very gently with his servant. This is the same reason Khadija.r was impressed by Muhammad.s and they got married.
So, what I’m trying to say is that people of Makkah came to know the messenger by the way he carried himself, the kind of son he was, the kind of father he was, the kind of husband he was, the kind of business man he was, the kind of friend he was, the kind of neighbour he was, the kind of nephew he was, the kind of grandchild he was, etc
He proved himself to be the most truthful man an the most trustworthy man. He was given the title As Sadiq Al Ameen, the most honest and the most trustworthy. People used to keep their Amanat with the Prophet.s because they knew that our goods will be safe with this person.
So this was what he was doing for 40 years and so when the revelation came down, many people like Khadija.r and Abu Bakar.r accepted Islam, because they knew that this person will never lie. And then the whole life of Prophet continues, he started giving dawah, he went to Madina and all.
So, here we learn that the first step to Islam before reading Quran, before memorizing Quran, before going to Salah, is to develop the best character. Ask yourself Are you honest? Are you trustworthy? Do we cheat in the exams? Are we the ones people can trust us with their money, with their words? Many times we cant even keep secrets.
These are the foundations on which Muhammad.s build Islam. Before we call ourselves muslims let us ask ourselves, , and I am going to ask myself because I am no different than you all, Am I the best daughter? Am I the best son? Am I the best neighbour ? Am I the best sister or brother?
You cannot have a strong building unless you have a strong foundation. May Allah help us to build the best of our character, May Allah accept our efforts and May Allah forgive our shortcomings. May Allah reunite us all in Jannnah. Ameen
Before I end, I will quote an ayah from Surah al Qalam, Ayah 4
And surely, you (Muhammad.s) are of a great character.
Jazakallahu qair
Subanakallahumma wa bihamdika
Nash hadu an la ilaha illa anta
Nastaghfiruka and wa natubu ilaik
Asslamu alaikum wr wb.
Now, at what age did Muhammad.s receive the first revelation? 40 years. Why do you think Allah waited forty years till he sends hi first ayah? Why didn’t Allah give him the prophethood at his birth, just like Isa.a ?
This is the answer we all need to think about. What did Prophet.s do in the 40 years? What did he do before he started to read Quran?
The answer is, he developed his character. The people of Makkah, came to know this boy from the childhood as somebody with the best character. While playing with his cousins, Abu Talib noticed that he is the one advising his brothers with all good things.
He grew up grazing cattle in the most patient way. He was 10 or 12 when he started looking after the goats. It was a common occupation in the Arabs.
Later on, as Abu Talib was a trader, he too became a business man and he was the most pious, honest and intelligent business man.
There was this one time that the Kabah had to be reconstructed, This was all before he became a prophet. So the kabah at that time was roofless and so the water and the floods used to damage the Holy structure. So, all the Quraish tribes joined hands to rebuild it. The construction work was divided and the work was very well done until the issue of one stone came up. Do you know what this stone was? This stone was Hajre Aswad. The black stone. This stone was the stone of heaven installed by Ibrahim.a when he was building the Kabah. So, all the clan leaders wanted to do this noble thing and they started arguing over it. The dispute lasted for four days. Then, finally they decided that we will appoint a judge to solve this issue and the first person who enters the sanctuary in the morning will be the judge. By Allah’s grace, the next morning Prophet.s came in and all the clans were very happy that this is the best man to judge because he is always the most fair and just person.
So, Muhammad.s spread a sheet on the ground and asked each of the trive representative to hold the sheet. At the centre of it was black stone kept and all of them lifted it up and took it near the kabah. Then the prophet.s inserted the stone in its place.
Another instance which shows the character of Prophet.s was his first marriage. Who was the first wife? Khadija.r . Do you know the reason why she married Prophet.s?
Actually, Khadija.r was a widow and she also had children. She was a very wealthy lady and a very respectavle woman, and many people asked to marry her but she rejected all. Now, as I mentioned earlier Muhammad.s was a business man and came to do business with Khadija.r. She realised that this is the most decent, and honest and well-mannered. She also got to know that he behaves very gently with his servant. This is the same reason Khadija.r was impressed by Muhammad.s and they got married.
So, what I’m trying to say is that people of Makkah came to know the messenger by the way he carried himself, the kind of son he was, the kind of father he was, the kind of husband he was, the kind of business man he was, the kind of friend he was, the kind of neighbour he was, the kind of nephew he was, the kind of grandchild he was, etc
He proved himself to be the most truthful man an the most trustworthy man. He was given the title As Sadiq Al Ameen, the most honest and the most trustworthy. People used to keep their Amanat with the Prophet.s because they knew that our goods will be safe with this person.
So this was what he was doing for 40 years and so when the revelation came down, many people like Khadija.r and Abu Bakar.r accepted Islam, because they knew that this person will never lie. And then the whole life of Prophet continues, he started giving dawah, he went to Madina and all.
So, here we learn that the first step to Islam before reading Quran, before memorizing Quran, before going to Salah, is to develop the best character. Ask yourself Are you honest? Are you trustworthy? Do we cheat in the exams? Are we the ones people can trust us with their money, with their words? Many times we cant even keep secrets.
These are the foundations on which Muhammad.s build Islam. Before we call ourselves muslims let us ask ourselves, , and I am going to ask myself because I am no different than you all, Am I the best daughter? Am I the best son? Am I the best neighbour ? Am I the best sister or brother?
You cannot have a strong building unless you have a strong foundation. May Allah help us to build the best of our character, May Allah accept our efforts and May Allah forgive our shortcomings. May Allah reunite us all in Jannnah. Ameen
Before I end, I will quote an ayah from Surah al Qalam, Ayah 4
And surely, you (Muhammad.s) are of a great character.
Jazakallahu qair
Subanakallahumma wa bihamdika
Nash hadu an la ilaha illa anta
Nastaghfiruka and wa natubu ilaik
Asslamu alaikum wr wb.
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