This was delivered by Shaykh Ibrahim Osi-Efa in Nottingham during The Virtues Tour on 16th January 2014.

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

All praise to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. And salutations and greetings upon our Master Muhammad and upon his family and companions.

I intend to study and teach, take and give a reminder, take and give benefit, take and give advantage, to encourage the holding fast to the book of Allah and the way of his messenger, and calling to guidance and directing towards good hoping for the countenance of Allah and His pleasure, proximity and reward, transcendent is He.

We praise Allah on this blessed night in this blessed month. Alhamdulilah, speaking about a blessed being (prayers and peace be upon him). A being who by definition came to define us and likewise also came to define the actual creation of Allah.

We read inside of a great tradition inside the Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari where the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) informs us on behalf of his Lord, “My Mercy outstrips My Wrath.” And in another narration inside of the Sahih, “My Mercy vanquishes My Wrath.” The mercy of Allah is Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him). A manifestation not just to us the great nation and company of Islam but more so to the entire world Allah sends His Great Beloved (prayers and peace be upon him). This is a glad tiding for each and every single one us to accept and to embrace the glad tiding of the Prophet himself (prayers and peace be upon him).

There are two types of people. There are those who accept and embrace the glad tidings of Allah that comes through the personage, the reality of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). And then those that reject. There are those who reject and choose to turn their back to the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). The narrative, the great narrative of the Companions themselves, they were a people many of whom turned their back upon the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). But what is important is that the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) never turned his back upon them.

When the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) faces Abu Bakr and Abu Bakr thereby faces the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). When Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab turns his back to the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him), the Rasul says, “O Allah guide the most beloved of the two Umars unto You.” Allah turns the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) towards ibn al-Khattab. Not only towards ibn al-Khattab but embraces ibn al-Khattab. “Is it not time O Umar before the wrath of Allah embraces you?”

There are many who turned away from the Rasul like we heard of Amr ibn al’Aas. When the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) enters into Makkah tul Mukarramah in the Umrah tul Qada, the face of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) was so detestable to Amr ibn al’Aas that he chose to cross the great Red Sea unto Abyssinia. He couldn’t stand to be in the same city, standing upon the same earth, as the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). But then he was cast back across the great Red Sea by Asmaha. The great righteous and pious king, the king who embraced Amr ibn al’Aas until the Prophet himself embraces Amr ibn al’Aas.

We can speak and we gather to remember the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him) and to remember his virtues but his virtues are about those virtues being imbued inside each and every single one of us. Us becoming people from among the virtues and those who take the covenant of virtue with the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him).

If we try to understand what it is about that great being that Amr ibn al’Aas of those who turned away from the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) until the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) turns towards him. What is it about a grown man who spent 21 years of Prophecy as an enemy of the Messenger and then “if you ask, ask, ask me to describe the Prophet I couldn’t.” What type of a heart is that? A person if you ask me to describe the Prophet I couldn’t? Shaykh AbdulKarim mentioned about the best of people, “until I (Amr) believed that I was the most beloved of people to the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him).” That is the nature of the muhibb as we read inside of the mawlid of Habib Umar.

Are we people (of) the virtue that we try to embrace, the virtue of love and esteem of the Messenger of Allah? Because this ummah, Allah has placed the ummah where He has placed the ummah. And as we look inside of our age, this age is the most distant manifestation of the Prophet’s nation that has ever walked Planet Earth. Why? This nation does not know Muhamamad (prayers and peace be upon him). And it’s about time that we got to know the Messenger of Allah himself (prayers and peace be upon him).

In the conversation of converts one of the greatest converts of this island Martin Lings said, “All we need is for people to introduce us to Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him).” Because we introduce people on this island to everybody save who? Except him (prayers and peace be upon him). As if we turn our backs upon him. And we pray that he turns his beloved front, his appearance towards us. Prayers and Peace be upon him.

Look at the sahaba so we understand the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him) and that relationship that the Prophet established with those blessed beings. The Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) is at a place called Ji’ra’na.It is where the Prophet is returning back from the Battle of Hunayn, the cease of Ta’if and the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) now once again wants to enter the Haram of Makkah for Umrah to visit the House of Allah. And the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) engages a Bedouin. The Bedouin addresses the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) but he doesn’t address the Rasul in a way that which will bring forth the great mercy of the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him). The Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) said, “Glad tidings!”Allah sent him as the Basheer, bringer of glad tidings and bringer of glad news. That is the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). What is it as one of our brothers reminded us today about we as Muslims don’t have smiles on our faces? We have everything to smile about. We have everything to be happy about. We are from his ummah. “Glad tidings O company of Islam because we have the concern of the Divine that is the cornerstone of our existence.”
We have a concern of the Messenger of the Divine existence. Once that pillar is removed we go into a state of non-existence. We ask that Allah allows us to realise that reality.

Look at the words of the Bedouin, he says to the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him), “I’ve heard all that before. Just give me that which you have promised me.” The thing about the Messenger of Allah is that he is not only the Basheer but he is also the Nadheer. Note that! He is not just a mercy to the entire worlds but he is also the wrath of Allah. That is the Messenger of Allah. The Prophet just turns away and walks towards the great Abu Musa al-Ashari and Bilal. Abu Musa who relates this in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, he says “We saw the manifestation of Divine Wrath upon the personage of the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him).” The Prophet is like a TV screen. You want to know the reality of the Divine, you gaze into him (prayers and peace be upon him). You want to see whether the Divine is manifesting mercy, see whether you see mercy in the form of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). You want to know if the Divine is manifesting anger, then gaze into the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). You want to know if He is manifesting compassion, love, gaze into the Rasul. Abu Musa al-Ashari gazes into the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) and says, “I see the form of anger.” The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) says, “this man has refused the glad tiding. You accept it.”

What happens next? The Rasul calls for some water, the Prophet takes some water and he begins to wash his face and begins to wash his arms. We all know this, often we get angry. Like I’m angry right now, somebody better get the faqir some water so I can make wudu or sit down or something. The Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) begins to wash his face and his blessed arms and the Prophet just spits into the water. He gives it to the companions. “Wash your faces and wash your necks. Accept the glad-tiding.” They begin to wash themselves in the water of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him), the remnants of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). They begin to place the water upon their necks and they begin to drink the water. “Glad tidings! Glad tidings!” Look at the hearts of the companions. The great woman (so the women don’t feel left out) Umm Salamah mentions that she shouts from beyond a screen, “Don’t forget your mother!” That is what she says.

The narrative continues because on this great journey of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) you see how people become attracted to the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him) but they understand that religion is him. That is religion. Religion is connection to him (prayers and peace be upon him). Religion is knowledge of him. (prayers and peace be upon him). Religion is love of him (prayers and peace be upon him). Religion is imitation of him (prayers and peace be upon him). Religion is being with him (prayers and peace be upon him). Seeing his face (prayers and peace be upon him). That is religion. And we ask simple questions that when we raise our hands to Allah, “Allahumma”, which one of us has ever prayed to see the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him)? Which one of us has ever prayed to be with him (prayers and peace be upon him)? Which one of us has ever prayed that Allah places us inside his eternal company (prayers and peace be upon him)? What dua is accepted by Allah that is bereft of that reality, that connection to the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him)?

He never reaches the Ka’bah and doesn’t reach Safa save that the Messenger of Allah begins to shave his beautiful hair. That beautiful hair of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) that is beautifully described. He commands for half to be cut, half of the right side and gives it to Abu Talha. He takes the half and says “That one is for me.” Then the Rasul commands for the left side of the hair but when he cuts it and in case Abu Talha says “This one is for me”, the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) says, “Distribute it amongst people.” As his hair is being cut the companions are making tawaf around the Messenger of Allah, as the words state inside the Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari. There is the Ka’bah and you are making tawaf around the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him) as he cuts his hair. This is Sahih al-Bukhari, in case we say that we want Kitab and Sunnah. Here is Kitab and Sunnah. This is Sahih al-Bukhari. Those who never got a strand of hair began to cut the hair and give it to each and every single person. This is religion that we are speaking about. Connection to the hair of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him).

On multiple occasions, Qadi Iyad informs us that the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) only cut that blessed hair when he was worshipping Allah. Four times in his life he cuts his hair. His hair is so serious that Qadi Iyad says it is haram for a man to cut his hair. Imam al-Jazuli, the writer of the Dalail al-Khayrat, mentions that if a person believes it is religion to shave his hair it is wajib upon the Imam/the Caliph to raise an army to declare war upon that individual. Can you imagine next man in the barbers shaving his hair and looks outside and sees an army surrounding the barber’s shop?

Abu Talha was a blessed man who had a blessed wife. That is one of those women who you are just in love with. In love. If you aint in love with this woman, khalas, there’s something wrong with you. Her name is Rumaysa, Umm Sulaym bint Malhan. She had a deep and profound connection to the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him). She knows that her husband is of those whom the Prophet will command to cut his blessed hair so she tells him, “Next time you go to the Rasul, you cut his hair. Half is for me.” He goes and takes half of the hair of the Rasul and gives it to that blessed woman. Again, we are quoting al-Bukhari. These are ahadith in al-Bukhari. It is as if when the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) speaks about those who he sees inside Paradise, it is as if the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) has not seen anybody more frequent inside Paradise than this great woman. We have a permissible jealousy of this woman.

One of the most beautiful traditions where the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) says, “I entered into Paradise and there is Rumaysa right beside me in the midst of Paradise.” What is the secret of that woman? What is the secret of those great women? What is the secret of those great people who surrounded the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him)? This bewildering attachment that they had to him (prayers and peace be upon him). His hair, that is what we are speaking about. Anas ibn Malik will tell you about his hair. He is the son of the great woman Rumaysa.

You speak about one of the great tabi’een whose name is Uthman ibn Abdullah, what is the secret of this great person? Hairs of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) that he took from Anas ibn Malik.

What are the secrets of Thabit al Bunani (of the great Imams of the religion) who understood his connection to Allah is predicated upon his connection to the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him)? He is the one that relates the soundest tradition of the Isra w’al Mi’raj in Sahih Muslim. One of the things we know about Isra w’al Mi’raj is prayer. The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) loved prayer. Some of us, where is our love for prayer? Where is our attachment to prayer? We ask when we come to the midst of the night where do we find ourselves? Where is the lover always found in the midst of the night? Is it not with his beloved? That is where you would find the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him). Thabit al Bunani has a desire to be like him and embody the reality of the Rasul who would always be in prayer to his Rasul. On the authority of his daughter, he would ask “that Allah allows me to pray in the midst of my grave.” He wanted to be like Moses in the hadith that he narrated. He wanted to be of those who are characterised by that reality.

People ask the question about the Prophets being living. We as Muslims ask the dumbest questions. “Are the Prophets still alive?” The words of the Rasul, “The Prophets are alive in their graves praying.”

After the death of Thabit al Bunani, who is truly sincere with Allah, they have to excavate the grave that is next to him. This is an Imam of the Men of Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim. When they enter into the grave, they knock down the bricks and they find him praying in the midst of his grave. That is Thabit al Bunani. That is the Rijaal. That is those who connect to the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him). That is those who have a profound love for the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him).

Look at the Imams of the Sahaba, look at Khalid ibn Waleed. He would go into the midst of battle with the hairs of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). In the Battle of Yamama, when his helmet comes off he is risking dear life to retrieve his helmet. The Companions are like “it’s a helmet O Khalid.” When he picks his helmet up, he takes out the hairs of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). In the narration of Ibn Kathir out of fear that the hairs would fall into the hands of the disbelievers.

Look at Abu Ayyub al-Ansari; the one who prepares the house for the Messenger of Allah when he enters into Madinah al-Munawwarah.  You want hair you gotta come to Abu Talha. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari goes unto the Rasul and takes one out of his beard (prayers and peace be upon him). Look at what the Rasul says, “Evil will never afflict you O Abu Ayyub.” For a hair?!

That is why you see the secrets of the likes of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He used to have a shirt and the Rasul loved the shirt, the khamis. That is why we have got to begin to wear the clothes of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him). See some of those collars that some of us have got on, rip them off! We gotta dress like the Rasul himself (prayers and peace be upon him). “Imitate if you’re not one of them because imitating the noble is success with Allah.” So we imitate the Rasul even in things that we consider to be menial and mundane and of no significance. Do you know what we are speaking about? A strand of hair of the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him). How insignificant or significant does it get? Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal used to have hairs of the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him) in his very garment. What is that? Even when he is being and tortured, his only concern was his shirt. He is taking the beating until one of them says, “Rip off his shirt.” He is like, “No. No. No-one is ripping of this shirt. I will take it off.” He takes it off but no-one is going to rip the shirt. That is the shirt of Mustafa (prayers and peace be upon him).

That is why many of us have heard the great tradition of Imam Shaf’i, whenever he was sick in Egypt he would send the likes of his great student Rabee ibn Abi Sulayman to Baghdad to ask Ahmad just to wash his shirt so that the water can be brought to Egypt so he can drink the water for shifa. Many of us we are connected to whom, Ahmad? And it is connected to Ahmad. Ma sha Allah, Ahmad saw Allah 100 times in the dream state. Ma sha Allah, Ahmad is engaged by the arch-angel Gabriel. “Who are you?” asked Ahmad in the dream state. “Gabriel.”
The secret of Ahmad is the profound attachment to the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him). He had hairs of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) that were from the body of the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him).

Abu Talha got the whole thing locked down. The family of Anas is unbelievable. They got the hair thing locked down and sown up so you gotta get hairs from other places. How can you get hairs from his chest? We know the Rasul (prayers and peace be upon him) used to wax himself to remove his bodily hair and it was his wives that used to do that. What are the wives doing with that? One of the Imams said, “My parents used to send me to the house of Umm Salama with a small bowl and she would bring out silver bell-shaped utensil and when she lifted it we would see the hairs of the Messenger of Allah. Then she would begin to wash it and place it into bowl. We would take it back and treat the ill.” They not only took his hair but his sweat while he sleeps to treat the ill. What is the nature of these people?

Ahmad ibn Hanbal does not die save that those hairs he got from the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace be upon him) as seen by his son that he was often kissing them and placing them on his eyes. When he died, in his will he had three hairs and tells them to place one hair on his right eye, place the second on his left eye and the third hair beneath his tongue. That is how he was buried.

We can speak about great people. May Allah be pleased with them. We can speak about great people. May Allah have mercy upon them. We can speak about great people. May Allah preserve them. We can speak about them but it is about time we start speaking about ourselves.

Any mistakes, errors or misinterpretations of words are from me. Please correct me when you spot any mistakes.