Bismillah walhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam ‘ala rasool Allah
We live this life yearning to be amongst those whom Allah loves. On top of that, we wish and pray that Allah gives us the opportunity to be amonst the blessed who sincerly love Him. Truly, this only comes from His Will and we should beg him for that opportunity day and night.
Here is a a beautiful du’a that we have been taught by the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam:
“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.” [33:21]
Inshallah in this post and in future posts, we will be looking at seerah. We will look at how the prophet (SAW) set an excellent example for us in different roles; be it be as a husband, father, friend, leader and other such roles. In today’s post, we will look at his life as a father and grandfather.
Bismillah walhamdolilah wassalatu wassalam ‘ala rasool Allah
Umer radhiAllah anhu used to say:
“If Allah strikes me with calamity I will thank Allah for four things: 1) that the test was not in my deen 2) the calamity could have been worse 3) it is an expiation for my sins 4) any loss after losing the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam is nothing”
The greatest man that lived after the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radhiAllah anhu, Umer ibn al-Khattab radhiAllah anhu. What a man! SubhanAllah. We thank Allah for giving us such amazing examples of people to emulate and look up to. Alhamdolilah!
A STATEMENT OF TRUTH REVEALED TO THE MUSHRIKS
Continuing and inshallah the last post in the explanation of the poem, we will now we move into the third aspect of tawheed: maintaining the oneness, uniqueness, and exclusiveness of Allah’s rights to be worshipped (tawheed al-uloohiyyah)
The grand importance of tawheed al-uloohiyyah is evident in the fact that the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam was commissioned to a nation that confirmed many aspects of the first two categories of tawheed but rejected worshipping Allah alone. His mission was to bring people back to the pure worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala as He says to the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam:
NOR DOES HIS CREATION TAKE PART IN HIS MAJESTY
Continuing in our explanation of the poem and our discussion of the five points relating to tawheed al-asma was-sifat:
It is not befitting the majesty of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that we ascribe to Him characteristics and weaknesses of creation. To Allah belongs the quality of Highness; Highness in His Essence, in His Attributes and esteem, and in His Strength and Power. He is far above His creation and there is no likeness to be made because Allah says:
BEYOND WHICH WE DO NOT PONDER NOR PUT CONDITIONS
Continuing in our explanation of the poem and our discussion of the branches tawheed, we now move into the second branch which is the oneness, uniqueness, and exclusiveness of Allah’s Names and Attributes (tawheed al-asma was-sifat). There are five points we will discuss; three points in this post and the remaining two in the next post.
The Arabic word ‘Allah’ denotes the meaning of exclusiveness and uniqueness. In its linguistic sense, it means The One and Only deity (al-ilah). ‘Allah’ is also one of the perfect and infinite Names that our beloved Lord has chosen to name Himself with. The greatest name of the Lord of the heavens and the earth is Allah and it is the grand name to which all His other Names and Attributes are attributed to. As He, subhanahu wa ta’ala, says in the Qur’an:
This is post #36 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).
In Surah Humazah, Allah (‘azza wa jal) says:
وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ
Translation: Woe to every scorner (humazah) and mocker (lumazah). [Surah Al-Humaza, verse 1].
As we mentioned many, many times before in this series, wayl is a curse. And when Allah says wayl about someone, it’s not a curse, but a statement of reality–because He, ‘azza wa jal, is not in need of cursing anyone. Ibn Abbaas (radiallahu ‘anhu) says, wayl is a valley in Hellfire; in this sense, it’s almost as if the person is saying, for what I did, this is what I deserve–come to me, o wayl.
Umar (RA) passed by a garbage dump and stopped there, and it was as if his companions were bothered by it (the smell). He said [… full story at the end…]
What would you think of someone who goes for umra on a 1 week trip. He goes there, buys a car, clothes, house, grocery, ….. He even takes dollars with him and doesn’t exchange them into local currency! We would think that something is wrong with that person. Right?
Imagine this. You are speeding on the road. The police officer catches you, pulls you over and gives you a speeding ticket. What would your reaction be, next time you are driving especially driving through the same road. You would naturally slow down! Or you are stealing from your prayer (i.e. racing through it), you glance over and it seems like your friends might be looking at you. Your reaction…. In these and in countless other situations, we refrain from doing bad because we fear that we might be caught or someone might be looking at us. Most of the times, we are not even full 100% sure and yet we change our behavior. But how about Allah, the ever watchful, who we know with certainty is always watching us. How much are we aware of Him? Lets look at some examples: