The lineage of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

 Dear brother, let's ponder today over a new prophetic biography lesson which is about the mission of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH), and the first thing in this subject is the lineage of the prophet (PBUH). Actually, we discussed in previous lesson the fact that the lineage is like a crown on the heads of the people of truth, but the lineage of the people of falsehood is worthless, and the proof of that is mentioned in the following ayah in which Almighty Allah said;

{Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (an uncle of the Prophet), and perish he! * His wealth and his children (etc.) will not benefit him!}

(Al-Masad, 111:1-2)

 If the one who knows Allah, who acts uprightly on His Order, and who seeks Allah‘s Pleasure, has a high (noble) lineage, then it is like a crown on his head.So, the lineage of our prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is: Muhammad ibn (the son of) Abdellah Ibn 'Abdul-Muttalib, Ibn Haashim, Ibn 'Abd Munaf, Ibn Qusayy,Ibn Kilaab, then his lineage ends to Adnan, while his mother's lineage is: Amena bent (the daughter of) wahab from bani zohra, the lineage of his father met that of his mother in Kelab ben mora, Almighty Allah said;

{Allah knows best with whom to place His Message}

(Al-An’am, 6: 124)

 It was narrated in Al Bukhari that the Prophet PBUH said; (Allah chose Kinana from the son of Ismail and chose Koraish from Kinana and chose Bani Hashim from Koraish and he chose me form Bani Hashim)

Is the prophecy something acquired or granted or is it both?

 Dear brother, the prophecy is something granted from Almighty Allah, and it has acquirable side
 Almighty Allah says;

{Allah chose Adam, Nuh (Noah), the family of Ibrahim (Abraham) and the family of 'Imran above the 'Alamin (mankind and jinns) (of their times).

(Al-Imam, 3:-33)

 When man makes every efforts to gain Allah‘s Pleasure, out of Allah‘s Perfection and Generosity He prepares a mission for him which suits his ambitions. Thus, the lesson is to seek great deeds, as it was said: ' If Allah wants to show his favor upon you He creates the favor then He attributes it to you'. Actually, Almighty Allah guides, protects, and inspires His servants, so if you ask for good, Allah makes you the reason behind good.
 The Prophet PBUH said in a Qudsi Hadith:

{“O son of Adam, appeal to Me and you will find Me. And if you find Me, you then find everything. And if I miss you, everything else misses you, and I Am more lovable to you than anything else."}

[Mentioned in tradition]

 So when you seek the Pleasure of Allah, He prepares a mission for you through which your rank is elevated in the Sight of Allah, which makes you happy forever.
 The Prophet PBUH said in a Qudsi Hadith

{O, son of Adam, be to Me as I want you to, and do not inform Me of what is right for you. Actually, if you give in to Me in what I want, I will provide you with everything you want, otherwise I will overburden you in seeking what you want, then things will turn out the way I want,}

The clearest example;

 If a state wants to appoint an ambassador in a very important country, they choose him from those who have high decrees literary scientific or jural education and that is from the qualification of the student, then after choosing him, they give him plenipotentiary and a diplomatic pouch and a book to offer to the country which he will be an ambassador in, in this job we have acquirable side and granted side, the acquirable side was emphasized in the following Ayah in which Almighty Allah said;

{Allah knows best with whom to place His Message}

[Al-An 'am, 6:124]

 and the granted side was emphasized when Almighty Allah says;

{Allah chose Adam, Nuh (Noah), the family of Ibrahim (Abraham) and the family of 'Imran above the 'Alamin (mankind and jinns) (of their times).

(Al-Imam, 3:33)

The best of mankind are my generation

Dear brother, the prophet (PBUH) said;  

(The best of mankind are my generation (or my century), then those who come after them, then those who come after them.)

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

(I was sent from the best of centuries of Adam, century follows a century till the century I was from)

[Al-Bukhari]

 You may say; we are in advanced century, in the century of invention, in the century of taming the nature in the service of the human being, (so it should be the best century), however, when the Prophet PBUH said that the best of mankind was his generation, that is related to the endless happiness of the human being. I mentioned in previous lesson the fact that if the worldly life is so comfortable, luxurious and has what the human soul desires, it may be a veil between the servant and his Lord, so some distress would help the man to obey Allah, the ayah which we should never forget is Allah ‘s saying;

{And it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.}

(Al-Baqarah, 2:216)

 When the Prophet PBUH said that the best of mankind was his generation then those who come after them then those who come after them, that is related to the endless happiness of the human being, but human being today drowns in sensuous pleasures and his time is full of endless diverting and amusements but when the angel of death comes he feels a big loss

{The losers are those who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Verily, that will be a manifest loss!"}

(Az-Zumar, 39:15)

The physical characteristics of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

 'He was of average height, not too tall and not too short, with a pinkish color, not very white and not dark, road shouldered, had large hands and feet, Wide-mouthed, ‘Big-eyed, rounded face, His heels were not fleshy, he had the seal of Prophecy at the top of his left shoulder, there were no more than twenty white hairs on his head and in his beard, in the top of his left shoulder the seal (sign) of prophecy, He was handsome His manners were fine he used to care about his look and cleanness
The Prophet PBUH said;

{repair your saddles and make sure that you are dressed well, so that you will stand out among people like an adornment}

[Mentioned in tradition]

 Because you take the first impression of a person from his look, cleanness, clothes, and from his smell, to be an ambassador to this divine religion you should care about your look

{Repair your saddles and make sure that you are dressed well, so that you will stand out among people like an adornment}

[Mentioned in tradition]

The moral characteristics of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

 Almighty Allah said;

{And verily, you (O Muhammad) are on an exalted standard of character.}

[Al-Qalam, 68:4]

 Morality, dear brother, is an acquirable side of the human being, Almighty Allah gave the Prophet means to the Islamic call, and an unique memory, Allah said;

{We shall make you to reauthor (the Qur'an), so you (O Muhammad) shall not forget (it),}

[Al-A'la, 87:6]

{Allah made him handsome and eloquent. The Prophet PBUH said; {I am the most eloquent person of Arabs yet I am from Koresh}

Narrated as a tradition

 Allah granted him high ancestry but when He praised him, He praised his morality, for example if you give your son a house, it is not reasonable to hold a party to celebrate that house, but you hold a party to your son if he gets the first grade, so you should praise the acquirable side of the human being. On the other hand, when you disdain someone because you don’t like how he looks like (you don’t like his physical shape) that is objection on the creation of Almighty Allah. The mother of believers Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said about her sister Safiah that she is short, so the prophet PBUH said;

{ “O A'isha! If the word you have uttered were to be mixed with the seawater, it would spoil it. “

[At-Tirmidhi]

 It is a big mistake to disdain someone because of his physical shape, his color or his height, that is from the creation of Allah, this it is as if you disdain the Allah's Act of Creation.
  Allah granted the Prophet the perfection in his action, words, and shape, also, Allah granted him eloquence and fluency. In addition to that, the Prophet PBUH was the master (the best) of creation he was granted miracles, the revelation and the Noble Quran, and Almighty Allah supported him by His victory. Despite all previous characteristics, Almighty Allah said about him;

{ And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allah's) Forgiveness for them; and consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him).}

(Al-Imran, 3:159)

 The one who is not granted neither eloquence nor good figure nor shining face nor noble lineage nor miracles nor revelation nor Quran, and nevertheless he is severe and harsh-hearted in his call to Allah, how could he be successful in his call to Allah?. Thus, although the Prophet PBUH was the master of creation and the beloved of the True (the True is one of the attributes of Allah), Allah says to him;

{And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allah's) Forgiveness for them; and consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him).

(Al-Imran, 3:159)

 That is very important lesson to those who invite people to Islam.

The divine wisdom which Allah concealed in being compelled

 Dear brother, as you know we are free to choose, the proof is mentioned in the ayaat below in which Almighty Allah said;

{Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.}

(Al-Insan, 76:3)

{Then whosoever wills, let him believe, and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve.}

(Al-kahf, 18:29)

{Those who took partners (in worship) with Allah will say: "If Allah had willed, we would not have taken partners (in worship) with Him, nor would our fathers, and we would not have forbidden anything (against His Will)." Likewise belied those who were before them, (they argued falsely with Allah's Messengers), till they tasted of Our Wrath. Say: "Have you any knowledge (proof) that you can produce before us? Verily, you follow nothing but guess and you do nothing but lie."}

(Al-An’am, 6:148)

 These ayaat confirm the fact that human is free to choose. However, are you free to choose your mother and father? Are you free to choose your sex male or female? Of course not, you are not free to choose the place of your birth and the time of your birth, that is not your choice, you are compelled in that, but the truth is that the thing which wasn’t your choice is the most perfect thing to you, Imam al gazali said; "It is not possible to make things more wonderful than what they are [the way and the look that Allah -exalted He is- had created them]"
 You should believe for sure that the thing which is not your choice is for your best, and when Allah uncovers the secrets behind these things you will melt like a candle in love of Allah and you will be grateful to Him, what you are compelled in is for your best.

The prophet is a great example to us

 Dear brother, the mother of believers Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, used to say about the morals of the prophet whenever she was asked; His character was the Quran.
The Noble Quran is a speaking universe, the universe is silent Quran, and the Noble Prophet was a moving Quran.
 From the description we conclude that people are not affected by the words of the believers but they are affected by his behavior and conduct. So, if you are honest and straight in your life that is more effective than your speech and words, because actions speak louder than words. Actually, that is a lesson to the parents, teachers and to those who invite people to Islam, the power of influence never comes from eloquence but it comes from the honesty of the speaker and that he applies what he says
 One of the most accurate views I have read is that when someone invites people to Islam in incoherent content or in illogical way and when he has no credibility like the one who invites people to Islam should be, then Almighty Allah doesn’t consider the people who receive his call are informed about Islam, and the one who invites people to Allah in that bad way is held responsible for their sins, the sins of their deviation from the path of religion. Actually, when sins were classified, at the top of which was the sin which was mentioned in Allah‘s saying:

{And that you should say against Allah what you know not.}

(Al-Baqarah, 2:169)

 (This learning is religion itself; so a Muslim should double check his religious scholar.)
 ( O, Ibn Omar, stick to your religion, stick to your religion, it is your flesh and blood, learn from those who are straight in their lives not those who deviate.)

The perfection of humanity is in the prophet (PBUH)

 Through the biography of the Prophet PBUH, we find humbleness with dignity and gravity, the rule dear brother is that virtue is a state between two vices, for example, rashness is a vice and cowardice is vice, while courage is between the rashness and the cowardice, also, stinginess is vice and wasting money is vice while generosity is between stinginess and wasting money, so the virtue is medium between two vices.
 Dear brother, it is very easy to go to extremes, it is very easy to be severe in bringing up your children and to beat them, and it is easy to leave them alone and to spoil them, but the real success is to make your children love you to a great extent while they respect you and fear you at the same time. That is the medial doctrine and the moderate Islam. That is why our Prophet PBUH was humble with gravity and dignity, Allah says;

{And those who, when an oppressive wrong is done to them, they take revenge.}

(Ash-shuraa, 42:39)

 Sometimes the believer exceeds the humbleness to become subservient, and it is charity to be arrogant upon the arrogant (The Prophet, (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him), saw one of his companions walking proudly shortly before the battle; so, the prophet said: “Verily, Allah hates this gait, except on occasion like this, because it’s a charity to be arrogant upon the arrogant.”)
 This means to show the other part that they are powerful not weak. So, the Prophet's humbleness was mixed with gravity, and his bashfulness was mixed with courage, there is courage, impudence and shyness, in the middle we have bashfulness and courage. In addition to that, pious shyness (from committing sins) is a part of faith, even shyness and faith are inseparable, if you lose one of them you lose the other. The prophet was shyer than a virgin woman in her boudoir

The prophet saw the man he hired washing up naked in front of people, the prophet said to him: 'take your fees we don’t need you, you are not shy of Allah'.

Narrated as a tradition

Bashfulness is a sign of faith:

("Faith (Belief) consists of more than seventy branches (i.e. parts or subdivisions). The best of which is to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and the least is to remove any harm from the path. And Haya (Bashfulness) is a branch of faith.")

[Muslim]

 But there is a big difference between modesty and timidity, the latter is to feel embarrassed to demand your right, to advise anyone, or to say “no” (to things that are prohibited), while the real believer openly refuses to do anything that does not please Allah. Actually, this rejection isn’t about saying the word “Yes” all the way long, but sometimes the word “No” is your label as a believer.
 One day, a man came to the Messenger of Allah; but when he saw him, the man started trembling due to the Prophet’s gravity. Upon noticing that, the Prophet (PBUH) addressed the man,

(“Take it easy; I am neither king nor a tyrant. I am just a son of a woman from Quraish, who ate Qadid (dried meat) in Mecca.”)

 Believer has gravity but when you deal with him you love him you see him honest and generous and he is far away from showing off.
 The Believer has a dignity but when you deal with him you love him, you see him honest and generous with you, and you see him far away from showing off. Someone may offer money to build a mosque and he makes a condition, to put a marble plaque on the facade of the mosque to write his name on it, I heard about an important benefactor in some of the Islamic countries who offered huge amount of money for the call of Allah, one of the visitors heard about him and he hoped to see him, he invited him to food but when he came and asked where is our guest, they said he is besides you ! Because of the extreme humbleness of the benefactor he didn’t know him. On the Other hans, sometimes someone may pay very limited amount of money and propagate about it to everyone.

What is sincerity?

  Dear brother, the sign of the sincerity of your work is that your work never increases by praising and never decreases by dispraising, as it was said: 'Oh my Lord, You are my aim and I seek Your Pleasure'. Someone may start to beg praising then his position gets lower which weakens his sincerity s, he sets his hopes on praising, and if there is no praising around him, he seeks the opinion of people, did you like the food? He asked him to make him praise the food, did you like the house? Did you like the furniture? Did you like the lesson? Never attach importance neither to praise nor to dispraise because you seek Allah ‘ Face and Pleasure, that is a sign of sincerity. The second sign is that the work of the sincere never increases in front of people nor decreases in his solitude.

The sincerity of the prophet

 Dear brother, the tribe of Quraish attacked the prophet, refused his call, criticized and dispraised his message, however all the money of Quraish was in the hands of the prophet, so when the prophet decided to emigrate, he left his cousin in his place to give all the deposits back to the owners of the deposits despite the fact that they were disbelievers, what happens nowadays is that when a Muslim goes to western country, he thinks that he has the right to use the credit card which worth thousands of dollars to buy things without paying back !, he thinks that it is a gain and it is his right to take that money, that is misunderstanding, those people who entrusted the Prophet with their money were disbelievers, nevertheless, he kept his cousin in his place in danger to return their money back, if you are not upright with all people, Allah never accepts you. Almighty Allah said:

{O you who believe ! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of sh3er make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do.}

(Al-Maida, 5:8)

{Be just: that is nearer to piety}

(Al-Maida, 5:8)

 Unless you are good with all people, even those who are unmindful of the teachings of Islam, or the heedless people, then your Deen will not appear as the religion of Almighty Allah
The prophet (PBUH) said;

{The truthfulness leads to righteousness}

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

 The prophet (PBUH) was in the highest degrees of sincerity. In fact, sincerity avails with few deeds but insincerity never avails neither with many deeds nor with few, ((my lord I learnt the religious science,it will be said to him on the Day of Judgment, you are a liar, you learnt for people to call you a learned man, take them to Hellfire, my Lord I fought for You, it will be said to him: you are a liar, you fought for people to call you a brave, it was said take them to hellfire))
 That is why we should care about our heart and intentions, the prophet (PBUH) said;

((Actions are judged by their intentions))

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The importance of studying the prophetic Biography

 Dear brother, why do we study the prophetic Biography? Because the studying of the prophetic Biography is an individual duty on every Muslim; why? Almighty Allah said;

{Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.}

(Al-Ahzab, 33:21)

 How should we take the Prophet as an example to us? We should know how he was in his home with his wife, with his children, with his relatives, his companions, in peace and in war, when he was poor and when he was rich; he is an example to us.

The affliction that the prophet underwent

 He was tested by poverty; he came back to his home and asked

(“Do you have any food? – there was nothing at all- they said: no., then he said: I am fasting.”

(Mentioned in tradition)

 While someone may enter his house and may get angry, roar and shout loudly out of anger because food is not ready yet.
 He was tested by victory; When Allah the Almighty granted him victory (at Makkah conquest), He entered Makkah lowering his head until his turban was almost touching the neck of his camel and that was out of humbleness to Allah the Almighty.
 He said to the people of Quraish: (“What do you think I will do to you? They replied: an honorable man and son of honorable brother. He said. Then go, you are free.”)
 He supplicated Allah when he suffered oppression in At-Taif, he said;

{ “O Allah, to you I complain of my weakness, as well as my helplessness and humiliation amongst the people. O Lord of the vulnerable ones: to whom do you turn me? to a friend who frowns at me? Or to an enemy whom you gave authority over me ? I do not care unless you are angry with me I do not care about what has happened, and You can reproach me until You are, but Your clemency will be of more relief to me”}

 He was tested by the death of his son, he said;

(‘The eye weeps, and the heart grieves, but we only say what pleases our Lord; and we sorrow, O Ibrahim, to part with you’.)

 - He was tested by the death of his son and he passed, two of his daughters were divorced, the hypocrites -in Al-Ifk Hadeath -, had accused his wife with adultery but he was patient. The Revelation from the seventh heaven had acquitted her from that. When that happened Al-Siddique was with him, so he said to his daughter you should thank Allah's Messenger. She said, by Allah I do not thank anyone, but Allah, PBUH smiled and said; she is telling the truth – Allah is the one whom should be thanked as He is the One Who acquitted her-.

How does a believer receive afflictions these days?

 Most of the believers – May Allah guide them to what is better- as long as they are in prosperity, in affluence, and in good health they are grateful and thankful, while if Allah afflicts them and tests them, they decline and their confidence of Allah weakens, the real success is to pass the test (of Allah), Imam AlShafi –May Allah be pleased with him- was asked about that; should we ask Allah consolidation or affliction? He said; you will not get solid in this religion until Allah tests you}
 Almighty Allah said;

{For sure We are ever putting (men) to the test}

(Al-Muminun, 23:30)

{Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: "We believe," and will not be tested.}

(Al-Ankabout, 29:2)

 Dear brother, we are tested by two things, by what Allah granted us and by what was hidden from us, you are tested by health, by sickness, by wealth, by poverty, by power, by weakness, by ugliness and by beauty, from here we have this great supplication (O Almighty Allah makes what you bestow upon me a power in what pleases You, and make what you hide from me a leisure in what pleases You)

The eloquence of the Prophet PBUH

 Dear brother, the prophet (PBUH) was eloquent, it was said the beauty of the man is his eloquence, eloquence is like a cup of water, the meanings are the content of the cup and eloquence is the form of the cup, you don’t take precious drink in a cheap cup and you take cheap drink in a precious cup, the content should suit the form and the form should suit the content, our master Omar said; {learn the Arabic language because it is from this religion} the one who is weak in the Arabic language has a big problem, in our language we have (laha) which means appears and then disappear, and we have (lamaha )which means glance and big difference between the two, these meanings are the indication of the expansion of this language and almighty Allah chose this language to be the language of his words, Almighty Allah said;

{In the plain Arabic language}

(Ash-Shuara, 26:195)

 Learn Arabic, it is part of religion, I am not pessimistic but if you ask a student who has a diploma in his field to read a page from the Noble Quran I don’t believe that he can read it without mistakes, it is disgrace, the prophet said; "I am the most eloquent person of Arabs yet I am from Quraish" In fact, Quraish is the most eloquent tribe of Arabs, that is to emphasize the praise by what is like dispraise, it is like when the poet said; (there is no defect in them except that their swords were blunt from fighting in wars )
 The Prophet was eloquent and steadfast, in the battle of Honain he said;

"I am the Prophet, and I do not tell a lie, I am the son of Abd Al Motalib,"

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

 Our master Ali said; (in the heat of the battle we used to resort and to seek protection in the Prophet PBUH as there was no one closer to the enemy than him)

This is the prophet of Islam Mohammad PBUH

 Dear brother, the Prophet had a strong mind, he was merciful with all people, he was sensitive and flexible he loved forgiveness. For example; Hateb abn baltaa committed the high treason, he sent a message to Quraish to warn them that the Prophet is going to invade, the punishment of the high treason is execution, Omar came and said; O Prophet, allow me to kill that hypocrite, the Prophet PBUH said;" No Omar he attended Badr Battle (the prophet didn’t waste his former deed ) come to me Hateb why did you do that ?" Hateb said; 'I swear by Allah I didn’t disbelieve in Allah or apostatize but I was close to Quraish, I sent that message to protect my children and my money, I do not belong to the tribe of the Quraish, but had settled there under the guardianship of some of them, so I have no tribe, which could give protection to my family. Therefore, I sent this letter in order to keep the Quraish under obligation so that they did not harm my children, and I am sure that Allah will help you to achieve victory, so forgive me' So, the Prophet PBUH said;

"I believed him so believe him too and don’t say anything bad about him. "

 Ikrimah came to the prophet as a believer, do you know who is Ikrimah? He is the son of Abi jahl, the enemy of the Prophet, who was against Islam in many ways for twenty years, nevertheless, the Prophet PBUH said to his companions;

{ (( Ikrimah Bin Abi Jahl will come to you as a believer immigrant ( Muhajer), don't curse his father, as cursing a dead person hurts the living person and it doesn't reach the dead))

[Mentioned in tradition]

 The Prophet PBUH was patient in afflictions and courage in saying the truth.

To be discussed tomorrow, inshaallah.

 In another lesson we will continue, god willing, studying the prophetic biography and we will try to conclude the lessons which benefit us in our life because this Prophet is a good example to us, and we should follow him.