Realize your Potential: The Prophet as a Remedy


In this illuminating article, one of our internal scholars, Shaykh Jamal ud-Deen Hysaw reflects on the opportunity Rabi Al Awwal presents us to embody the transformational life of the beloved. 

Duaa

In the Name of He that holds my heart, my soul, my beginning and my end in His hand. All Praises to the One that I call upon for aid and for forgiveness, for without Him I am nothing. As I stand before Him I am nothing. He, who is in need of nothing, nor anyone for anything, yet all is in need of Him for everything. Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the warner, the bringer of great news, the key to the Mercy of our Creator. The mercy to mankind, and the seal of the Prophets, our leader, guide, teacher, tutor, and the reviver of our hearts, Sayyid Muhammad. May Allah bless his family and companions and those that follow him until the end of time.

A Plea

My dear beloved brothers and sisters I hope this reaches you in the best of states and increased faith (iman). 

We have come to the time of another year in our Islamic calendar where we commemorate the birth and life of our beloved Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him). As we reflect on the life of the Mercy to all of the worlds, (peace and blessings be upon him), we should reflect upon ourselves and our lives over this past year. We should be looking into those things that have brought us closer to our Lord and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and those things that have taken us away from being in close proximity to Him and His messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him).  We should be looking at those things that have veiled our hearts from tasting the sweetness of His presence. 

We all know that at the end of every fiscal year, every “good” company takes out the time to review how the past year went and look at those things that have been preventing the company from developing.They begin to look at new ways and methods to increase revenue. They look at what elements of the business are costing them the most money and assess whether those elements are assets or liabilities. From those assessments, if they find that there are elements that do not make good business sense to keep, then they cut loose those elements and find newer ways to focus on that which will help the company grow, save, and aid in increasing revenue.

Review the Self

Just as a good company reflects on these questions year in and year out, are our hearts not infinitely more deserved of such an annual review? Are we not people that seek to acquire Allah’s blessings and true spiritual wealth that we will enjoy in the hereafter? When do we begin to do a thorough review of self? Have we looked at our hearts and seen the stains of arrogance, pride, lusts, greed, lies, deceptions, treachery, ignorance, vanity, selfishness, and ungratefulness, along with other vices too numerous to mention? 

Have we thought about the fact that our Lord is watching all we do, even when we think that no one can see us? Where are we in terms of our closeness to Him? Where are we with our beloved Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him)? What do we know of him? How much of his way of living do we have in our lives? Do we really have love for him, and if we do, how do you define and measure that love? How are you showing that love? What are the consequences of that love? Let’s face it, even the best of us are falling short. 

Harsh Reality

For too many of us our practice of Islam is just routine and devoid of any “real” connection. Our Prayer is filled with thoughts of everything except the prayer.

We give our charity for all to see. We spend more time busying ourselves with social media, movies, music, fashion , work, school, and other worldly things, and give very little time or thought about our Lord and His messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Every year we learn new lyrics to songs and yet the number of verses of the Quran we have committed to memory diminish.

Some of us go as far as masquerading under the garb of piety, acting as though we are more than what we are, looking for the praises of people instead of the pleasure of our Lord. We have pride in our poverty, acting like a friend of God (wali) in the masjids and gatherings of remembrance, but then act like Satan (Iblis) when we get home behind closed doors. 

Study, Reflect, Act, Connect

The point is we have to take an honest look at ourselves and make the decision that it is time for change. One of the best ways to inspire this change is to commit yourself to the study of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, (peace and blessings be upon him). I say study. and not just merely reading about him, because study requires one to take notes, and reflect, and act on what one learns.

It is time to become people of experience. It is no longer enough to have the “sunnah look”, there has to be something substantial of the sunnah reflected in our being. There has to be something internal going on so that we can begin to truly feel connected to him (peace and blessings be upon him).

Realize Your Potential

Think of it like this; If we were to study him, (peace and blessings be upon him), deeply reflect upon him (peace and blessings be upon him), deeply, emulate his actions and his treatment of mankind and all of creation, where would we be? Who would we become? We must come to the realization that dressing like him, (peace and blessings be upon him), is not enough, we have to study the internal aspects of him, (peace and blessings be upon him), so that we can begin to taste the sweetness of life that he (peace and blessings be upon him) tasted. The sweetness of proximity to the Divine.

Be Guided by the Light of the Prophet

We learned from our beloved teacher Aisha, radi Allahu ‘anha, our beloved Prophet was like a walking Quran. What does that mean? What does that mean for us? One possible perspective is this: Allah says of the Quran in surah Ash-Shurah verse 52, in a translation that could mean: “We have made it a light by which We guide whom we will of Our servants.” From this we understand that the Quran is a light (among other things), so if it is a light then our beloved Prophet is the living example of that light, so then when you and I finally decide to truly follow the way of our beloved Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), inwardly, then we too can be examples of this light! Think about it! Isn’t just the thought exciting? It should be.

Emulate the Beloved

As Shaykh Nur Ad-Din ‘Itr says, (Allah be pleased with him and raise his rank in the hereafter), in his text Loving the Messenger of Allah: “Emulation is the greatest sign of love” and “such emulation empowers a believer to practically and experientially feel the beauty of what the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him) brought and his perfection.”

Make the emulation of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) your aim, as Hussan Al basri said: “it is rare that one does not become like the company he keeps.” Live as though he (peace and blessings be upon him) is your companion and as if he is with you at all times. Read and study the Quran so that you can institute it in your life daily, so you can be at least a spark of illumination, and find renewed pleasure and proximity to our Creator.

Send Peace and Blessings Upon the Beloved

I ask you my dearest beloveds, to send as much peace and blessings (salawat) upon the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), for its merits for you are high and it brings safety, comfort, and peace to the heart. The authenticated hadith are many concerning this issue and I challenge you to seek them out and study them and absorb them. Our time is short in this life so we should be looking to build and develop better actions preparing for our hereafter and most importantly, looking for those things that will bring us closer to our Master and His messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

You are the Ummah of the Beloved

We have such a great opportunity to turn our lives around and turn our weaknesses into strengths and acquire all the Baraka Allah has for us. But if we do not take the time to recognize and review and change then we have wasted this life and the blessing of being a part of the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

May Allah bless you all and make us of those who are the emulators of the best of creation. Ameen.