Always Start with Prayer

During our 2014 work planning workshop, our boss – a Christian – said the following statement in his opening remarks:

“One of the reasons I think we failed to perform our best in 2013 was we always forget to start work by making prayers.

We work as if we think we can do it all by ourselves, but in fact we forget the most important success factor must come from God.

So this year in 2014, let’s make it a commitment to always begin by prayers and asking God for success in the things that we do.”

SubhanAllah – When you forget, Allah sends reminders to you in ways you do not expect.

Ya ma’shar al-Muslimeen – how often do YOU remember to ask Allah? How often do YOU remind others to remember Allah?

How often do we arrogantly attribute our success to our own accord, and how often do we sincerely ask of and humble ourselves before the One Who is the Ultimate Source of all Success (Al-Fattah) – the All-Generous (Al-Jawwad), All-Responsive of those who ask of Him (Al-Mujeeb)?

So let us always remember to make sincere du’aa to Allah and always ask of Him, and as a means of nearness to Him – let’s not turn du’aa into a mere ‘ritual’ that we only say “ameen” when the imam recites a script.

Let us never forget to always ask Allah to grant us success in all our matters of Dunya and Akhirah.

As the poet he says,

“the son of Adam, the more you ask of him, he gets angry,

Whereas Allah gets angry if you stop asking Him”

“And your Lord has proclaimed – ‘make Du’aa (call upon/ask of) Me, surely I will respond to You.

Verily, whoever is too arrogant to worship Me will enter Hell, humiliated!” (Surah Ghafir 40:60)

The Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said:

“There is no person who asks Allah for anything, except that Allah Grants it to him, or keeps away from him a similar evil,

As long as he does not ask for something evil, or for breaking the ties of kinship”

When a person heard this, he immediately said, “In that case, we will ask for plenty (from Allah)!”

The Prophet responded “Allah (is even) more plentiful (than all you can ask)!”

(Narrated by at-Tirmidzi who graded it hasan sahih)

So Who Celebrates the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam)?

Has there ever been, anyone who celebrated the birthday throughout the seerah (lifetime) of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasalam)?

Yes there is! One man – a relative of the Prophet.

On the day of the birth of Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasalam), he was so overjoyed, that he celebrated by freeing his slave girl Thuwaybah. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book #62, Hadith #38)

A man so legendary that he is mentioned in the Qur'an.

But later on when Muhammad was commissioned with the task of Prophethood, he became one of the worst enemies of Islam.

His name is Abu Lahab. Verses about him go as follows:

"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (uncle of the Prophet), and perish he!

His wealth and his children (etc.) will not benefit him!

He will be burnt in a Fire of blazing flames"

(Surah Al-Masad 111)

So Abu Lahab celebrated it.

So what about us? What should we do?

Let’s resolve this issue by referring to the guidelines and advice of the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) –

“He among you who lives long enough (after I have gone), will see many differences.

So upon you, is to hold on to my sunnah, and the sunnah of the rightly guided successors (Khulafa ar-Rashideen) – Cling to them firmly with your molar teeth!

Beware of every newly-introduced matter, for every innovation (bid’ah) is misguidance”

(Narrated by Abu Daud and At-Tirmidzi, who graded is as hasan sahih)

Let’s follow the path of the companions, who loved the Prophet the most - by benefitting from his teachings : by learning it, acting upon it, conveying to others, and reviving his sunnah,

and by strengthening our knowledge so that we can defend our beloved religion in times of adversity, and not react in immature manners which tarnish the image of our beloved Deen  and cause other not-yet-Muslims to hate us.

Let’s follow the path of the companions, who didn’t sing songs or parade streets on a day which no one truly knows is the actual date of his birth. No, they did not practice it.

If we truly love someone, we don’t just show our love on his birthday.

We aren't just talking about a group of people here, we are talking about a generation of the best Muslims, who understood and practiced Islam the best, so much so that they were  given the Seal of Approval from Allah and His Messenger.

The Prophet said:

“The best of people are those of my generation (my companions)" (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book #48, Hadith #819), 

 

“And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him” (Surah Taubah 9:100)

None of them practiced it.

So my brothers and sisters - let's ponder upon this heavy question: 

 

If, without celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, it was good enough for Allah to be Pleased with them,

and it was good enough for them to earn the highest levels of Jannah al-Firdaus, 

it should be good enough for us.

Let’s continuously study his seerah so we can develop a genuine love and respect for this great man whom many have venerated across the centuries, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The Prophet said,

“None of you will have complete Iman (Faith) until he loves me more than his father, his children and all of mankind”

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Hadith 14)

When the Young Ones become Leaders.

In the Youth Camp, amongst the participants and the committee, many a times, the team leaders who were appointed are not necessarily the oldest or most experienced person. And within those situations lie lessons in loyalty, respect, patience and wisdom

We witnessed some amazing examples amongst the team members : there’s one particular brother who was much older than everyone else within the team – in fact, senior enough to be their parents’ age - yet he actively cooperated with all his young team leader’s instructions, proactive in obtaining solutions, never complained about tasks, and steadfastly stuck to his post despite the rough challenges and lack of sleep. It was very motivating to the team, and he became a defining example of what it means to be a true team player.

But on the other hand, we also witnessed some severe cases of insubordination and lack of respect. Some individuals simply refused to listen to their leader, ignored instructions or just did according to what they saw fit, because “this young man, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” They became a toxic influence to the team, and pulled the lazy ones with them.

Sometimes a person is given a position of leadership and responsibility, due to merit or any other reason, even though he may be among the younger and less experienced. We witness this in our workplace, the corporate world, even in charity and da’wah organizations - in fact we even have examples in the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam).

The Prophet ecognized that it was to be a potential source of conflict for many years to come. So amongst his final advice to us –
“I enjoin you to have taqwa (consciousness, fear) of Allah,
And that you LISTEN and OBEY, even if a slave is appointed as a ruler over you.
He among you who lives long enough (after I have gone), will see many differences.
So upon you, is to observe my sunnah, and the sunnah of the rightly guided successors (Khulafa ar-Rashideen) – Cling to them firmly with your molar teeth!”

(Narrated by Abu Daud and At-Tirmidzi who graded is 'hasah sahih', Hadith #28 in The compilation "40 Hadith" by Imam An-Nawawi)

The companions displayed utmost respect and loyalty to their leader, as long as orders were not in contradiction to Islam: no matter the age, the 'status in society', or level of ‘competency’ of the leader.
They understood that the most important greater good is to achieve unity. Even if they disagree with certain decisions, they would sort it out by mutual consultation and advice with their leaders and not influence the rest. They would propose solutions, but respect if they are turned down. They become active team members who actively work towards achieving common victory and not personal glory.

On the other hand, the munafiqoon (hypocrites) like Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, would always question the leaders’ instructions, and instead of mutual advice and consultation, would much rather spread rumours and gossip amongst the group, splitting up the ranks and causing disunity – supposedly because “they know better”.

An important reminder to myself and to you - we should ask ourselves – as team players, are we acting like sahabah, or like munafiqun?


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