The Mission of Muhammad pbuh & Our Lives Dr. Abdulazeez Abdulraheem

Outline His Mission His Rights on us (Our Obligations to Him, pbuh) Start NOW with Time, Money, Team Following the Prophet pbuh Workshops and Projects

1. His Mission

His Mission هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ It is He Who has sent amongst the Unlettered a messenger from among themselves who recites to them His communications and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom, although they were before certainly in clear error, هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ {الجمعة 2{

His Mission – to recite! Same verses are recited today! Do we care to understand them as they are recited? Can we even recite the way he recited? (with tajweed!). Or we can’t even read because we just don’t read it. Don’t have time!

His Mission – to teach He was Mu’allim (teacher). Then who should be his students? Us!!! Are we not too busy! In other words, we are saying: O Prophet (pbuh), you may be Mu’allim but we don’t have time to be your student (to learn Qur’an)! Or is his prophethood was limited to his times only (i.e., we don’t need to be students)?

His Mission – to teach We have two things with us: Al-Qur’an - Theory Sunnah from the Saheb-e-Qur’an (The man of Al-Qur’an) – Practical Demonstration as to how to live according to Al-Qur’an.

So our task is… Learn it & Convey it to a Billion Muslims خَيْرُكُمْ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَ القُرآنَ وَعَلَّمَهُ The Best of you is the one who learns the Qur’an and teaches it (to others) إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ مُعَلِّمًا I am sent as a teacher!

So our task is… Learn it & Convey it to a Billion Muslims We have to be a part of his mission! The task is huuuuuuuuge. Almost a billion Muslims (82% Muslims are non-Arabs) just don’t understand the Arabic Qur’an. Translations contain the message but they are not Al-Qur’an. All of us need get to be ready to do the job.

بلِّغُوا عَنِّي ولَوْ آيَةً And the Next Task is… Convey it To Non-Muslims… Almost 6 Billions!!!! بلِّغُوا عَنِّي ولَوْ آيَةً Convey from me even an Ayah of the Qur'an [Bukhari]. We don’t even understand it ourselves nor do we interact with it daily! How can we convey it to others?

His Mission – to do Tazkiah Tazkiah: Purfication Tazkiah is removal of wrong things and infusion of right things … and that too step by step (like a farmer) He purified the lives of Sahabah in all aspects; in their creed, thinking, morals, dealings,…

His Mission – to do Tazkiah We need to know it first (through ahadeeth and Seerah) And do it for ourselves and then on others too whom we care (with wisdom … ).

His Mission – to teach Hikmah Hikmah: Sunnah / Understanding of Shariah Both of these are in Hadith and Seerah. We need to know it and teach it as well to others.

His Tasks… Dawah to everyone Tazkiah of those who accepted him as the Prophet. Implementation (of Allah’s commandments) in individual and collective life. That should be our mission too, if we believe in him, if we love him, if we really follow him, …

His Rights on us or Our Obligations to Him, pbuh

His Rights on us Our Obligations to him (pbuh). So (as for) those who believe in him and honor him and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful. فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُواْالنُّورَ الَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (أعراف 157)

To be successful, we need to do all the 4 !!! Believe in him : (Accept everything that he brought) Honor him: (includes loving him) Help him: (in his mission) Follow the light (Al-Qur’an) which has been sent down with him,

The 3rd one: Help him - Wa-nasaroohu (plural…Teamwork!) If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Helping the Prophet pbuh in his mission can not be done by scattered individuals. It has to be a team work. Example: Construction a building! – not possible without planning, coordination, execution, follow-up, … Helping the Prophet pbuh is a huuuuge task again. Can’t be done while each one of us sits in his home.

3. Start now with time, money, team

So Start with Time… To know the Prophet pbuh, give time, to read, to listen… Example – To Love the Prophet pbuh Impossible to love someone without knowing him ENOUGH.

Example – Loving the Prophet pbuh النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves [33:6]. لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون أحب إليه من والده وولده والناس أجمعين “No one of you becomes a true believer until I become more beloved to him than his father, his children, and all the people”

Example – Loving the Prophet pbuh Allah knew the love of the Prophet pbuh on his Ummah and that is why He asked us to love him. The Prophet pbuh was more kind to us than we are to ourselves Our selves (nafoos) call us toward fire, and he pbuh called us towards Jannah. He showed us the path to salvation

Example – Loving the Prophet pbuh The Prophet pbuh said: “My example is like the example of a person who kindled fire. When it lighted, moths and insects around it started falling into the fire. The man tried (his best) to prevent them, (from falling into the fire) …”

Example – Loving the Prophet pbuh When he was alive, he carried the burdens of this Ummah while the Ummah enjoyed the life: He said: “if a true believer dies and leaves behind some property, it will be for his inheritors (from the father’s side), and if he leaves behind some debt to be paid or needy offspring, then they should come to me as I am the guardian of the deceased.”

Example – Loving the Prophet pbuh His continuous sacrifice … has a direct link to me being a Muslim. He reserved a special accepted prayer for the Ummah, for us, on the day of judgment. So if we know about him, we can do what he wanted us to do. Therefore start reading books on Seerah and Ahadeeth!

Budget for.. Books (BUILD THE LIBRARY …) Qur’an learning Hadith collections Seerah Collections (small, med, large) Do it: For self For others Dawah work Supporting Dawah teams/ workers, etc.)

In fact, budget for… Budget for Money (% of Salary!) Plan for Time Make a Team

Budget your Time!!! Without spending time, books won’t help!!! Prepare a time slot for: Family reading Organize and attend workshops Personal Reading (medium size & Big volumes) Big volumes in holidays, weekends

And Make a Team… Organize family sessions (at least 3 minutes per day… if not, then an hour per week). Family sessions generally are not regular. Therefore, have parallel programs of males, females, and children. Join dawah teams / organizations and help yourself by helping them!

And follow-up…

4. Following the Prophet pbuh

Following the Prophet pbuh Following the Prophet is: Easy in Non-challenging situations (Relatively) The way he slept, he sat, he ate… Challenging in Tough Situations of our life: Remember 10 stories of Prophet pbuh for 10 such tough situations 2 Examples…

Following the Prophet pbuh Example -1 : How he lived with those who did not let him go according to his plan… Battle of Uhud – His plan was to defend and not go out. But a good number persisted to go out.

Following the Prophet pbuh Example -1 : How he lived with those who did not let him go according to his plan… After so many casualties in Uhud, he never said anything to them who wanted to go out. Comments by Allah فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لاَنفَضُّواْ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ {159{

Following the Prophet pbuh Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask pardon for them, and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust. [3:159] How many times do we follow this example!

Following the Prophet pbuh Example -2 : How he lived with those who did not let him go according to his plan… The captives of Banu Qaynuqaa’ and Abdullah bin Ubi’s role in releasing the captives. When it comes to living with “hypocrites”, how do we interact with them? Give them names? Insult them? Ask Allah to kill them?

Following the Prophet pbuh Similarly, do I remember an example from his life: When I am angry (how many times I did that last week?) When confronted with false allegations… When faced with death or sickness… … Evaluate these aspects in terms of how I did in the past week!!! Not just keeping them separate from my real life.

5. Workshops and Projects

Hold Workshops on Seerah Just listening one speech after the other is not enough! Have Learning sessions followed by quizes, workbooks, activities… Prepare proper handouts, statistics, timelines, FAQ about seerah, one-minute presentation practice on FAQ, … In brief, make sure that the audience learns…

Projects on Prophet pbuh Time Management model of the Prophet pbuh – in modern terms. The Most influential person has to be the best in time management. Why not follow & promote this model? Similarly let us put forward his Human Resources management model. His disciples ruled the world! All these should be IN SIMPLEST STYLES (usable by common man) – not just theories and reports

ppts, flash presentations, … Timeline of his life Selected Stories of the Prophet List of Books (elders and children) along with brief reviews Models of Prophet’s house; Prophet’s mosque,…to show everyone as to how he lived! Maps and atlases (showing the journeys, routes, ghazawaat, sariyyah, expansion of the Islamic state in his time, along with statistics…)

ppts, flash presentations, … Special Presentations on the Prophet pbuh as: A Preacher A teacher A worshipper A Zaakir A Husband A leader A Murabbi/Muzakki (Trainer)

Projects on Prophet pbuh In this era of information explosion, almost nothing… is there on the internet in terms of ppts and flash presentations on the Prophet pbuh. Each one, take one!!! Do something on this side. Sisters can also do a lot.

Projects on Prophet pbuh As an Ummah, we have Highly competent in profession, creative in their plans, aggressive in their growth But Extremely ‘poor’, sloppy, sluggish, ‘innocent’, ‘simpletons’ when it comes to Islamic work. Why? Perhaps the true answer is ‘We just don’t care!’. PLEASE…… LET US DO SOMETHING!

We have seen… His Mission His Rights on us (Our Obligations to Him, pbuh) Start NOW with Time, Money, Team Following the Prophet pbuh Workshops and Projects

May Allah give us Tawfeeq to fulfill all the rights of the Prophet pbuh on us… including “Helping him in his mission” in our lives.

But Again. Start planning now. Yes, NOW. (or that time may never come)