This was delivered by Shaykh Haroon Hanif in Liverpool on the night of the 12th Rabi’ al-Awwal 1439.

 

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 begin by reminding ourselves on this special night; the night of the blessing of the Messenger (prayers and peace be upon him). Reminding ourselves that a gathering like this is the very purpose of being. The very purpose of existence is the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). He (prayers and peace be upon him) came into this world shining with light as his blessed mother Sayyidah Aminah (may Allah be pleased with her) told us: the light shone such that the palaces of Busra and of Shaam were visible from the blessed place of the birth of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). That light passed on beyond and touched every single part of the world and every single heart of those who accepted Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him).

Here we are 1400 or more years later in a place distant from the land of the Messenger (prayers and peace be upon him): we are celebrating and speaking about the Messenger (prayers and peace be upon him). These gatherings are the very purpose of being. The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is the purpose of being. So, every time we come together on any occasion to celebrate the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him), we are doing the very purpose of being. Before there was anything, Allah (Exalted is He) celebrated the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him)! When there was only the One (Exalted is He), He (Exalted is He) was celebrating the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him)! Then, when He (Exalted is He) brought the one (prayers and peace be upon him) into being, He (Exalted is He) celebrated the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). When everything came into existence, He (Exalted is He) celebrated the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). Everything in existence is about the being of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). He (prayers and peace be upon him) is the greatest gift of Allah.

Allah (Exalted is He) has blessed the believers when He (Exalted is He) has sent amongst them a Messenger. The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is the greatest sign of Allah (Exalted is He) for those who reflect. If you want to understand Allah (Exalted is He), it is through the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). Without the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him), it is not possible to know Allah (Exalted is He). If you want to understand the gifts of Allah (Exalted is He) to humanity, you look at the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him).

“If you try to count the favours of Allah, you will never be able to enumerate them.” – Qur’an

The greatest favour is Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him). If you looked into Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) and analysed every single aspect of his being; which itself is impossible to completely understand the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). We will get a greater understanding of the reality of Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) in the next world; true and complete understanding of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is only with Allah (Exalted is He).

When you begin to reflect upon every single aspect of his being (prayers and peace be upon him); from the moment he (prayers and peace be upon him) came into this world; what he (prayers and peace be upon him) brought into this world; his character (prayers and peace be upon him); and, the way he was with those who were near to him and those who were far (prayers and peace be upon him). In every single aspect of his being (prayers and peace be upon him), you see the greatest blessing of Allah (Exalted is He).

As we celebrate the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) coming into this world and then as we go away after these gatherings, look at what is your portion from the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). We are told that we should celebrate him (prayers and peace be upon him)! There is no greater happiness than happiness in Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him). But, real happiness is when you something of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) within you. It is when you see something of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) within you and beginning to reflect within you.

He (prayers and peace be upon him) said, “The believer is the mirror of the believer.” He (prayers and peace be upon him) is the greatest of all believers so he (prayers and peace be upon him) is the ultimate mirror for all.  When you take him (prayers and peace be upon him) and gaze into what you can see of his being, you see a perfect human. Then, you begin to look within yourself and you see an imperfect human. Every aspect we are allowed to see of him (prayers and peace be upon him) is perfect and there is far more beyond that. Then, you look into yourself and take him (prayers and peace be upon him) as your mirror. You look into yourself and see deficiency in every single aspect of your being but then you still want to take something from him (prayers and peace be upon him) because if you take a drop from the ocean of Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him), that will raise you and change you to something far greater.

Those who do not know the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) are wild beasts and animals. Even those who do know still have some aspect of that but the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) comes to raise. He (prayers and peace be upon him) comes to change. He (prayers and peace be upon him) comes to cleanse. He (prayers and peace be upon him) comes to purify us. These moments of celebrating the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) are ultimately about attaching to the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) so that we take something from the gift of Allah.

We always remind that we should say something as Sayyidina Hassan said to (his uncle) Hind b. Abi Hala, “describe something about the Prophet so I can attach myself to him.” That is all we want. We celebrate and in reality whatever we say it can never do justice to the greatness of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). Any attempt to do justice to the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is delusion within our own minds.

As the poet said: Every praise of the Prophet is deficient. Nothing can ever do justice to the reality of the Prophet. Even if that person exaggerates and speaks and speaks and speaks.

It is not about hearing amazing words but taking something into our hearts. With the permission of Allah (Exalted is He), sincere words penetrate into sincere hearts. Ultimately, it is not about being inspired by words, it is about hearts.  The affair of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is about hearts. He came to change hearts.

When Allah (Exalted is He) praises the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) of what he is worthy of, then what is the reality of the praise of a human being? The Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is the one we try to emulate. He (prayers and peace be upon him) is the one we try to be like. The reality is that we are only ever going to take drops from that ocean because when you look at his character (prayers and peace be upon him) every aspect is perfection. Every aspect of his being (prayers and peace be upon him) is perfection and we just want one small thing by which we can attach ourselves to.

Then, the ultimate joy and rejoicement that we have is the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) speaking about those who came later: “Glad tidings to my lovers.”
The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked, “are we not your lovers?”
He (prayers and peace be upon him) said, “you are my companions, my lovers are those who believe in me and follow me even though they don’t see me.”

We were not honoured to have his gaze (prayers and peace be upon him) that Sayyidina Abu Bakr had, that Sayyidina Umar had and that bedouins had. They (may Allah be pleased with them) are the real lovers that gazed upon the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him). All that we hope and pray for and ask Allah (Exalted is He) is that He allows us to gaze at a drop of the ocean of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) and gives us a drop of that ocean because if a drop of the ocean of the Prophet (prayers and peace be upon him) is with us, that is more than enough for us. A drop of the ocean of Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) will do us fine in this world and on the Day of Judgement.

“If only when they wronged their souls, they came to you (Muhammad).”
This gathering is about coming to Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him). When you come to Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him), don’t leave him!

 

 

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