Khutba on the Wondrous Qualities of the Prophet
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي اختار من خلقه محمدا الهاشمي، وجعل محبتَه فرضا على الأممِ، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.
It is important with all that is going on and all the raw emotion that is flying around that we not let all this fury and furore cause us to forget who the Messenger of Allah is, and I say is because he is very much still with us, he is not just a historical figure. His importance and his role in our lives has not been diminished with the passing of time. His example and his teaching remain current in every age – he was sent to us, the people of this time, just as he was sent to the Arabs 1400 years ago. Allah says,
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلا كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا
the translation of which is, “We only sent you for the whole of mankind, bringing good news and giving warning.” This word kaafa is all inclusive – it means every people of every time from then until the end of time. He has been sent to us all, he brings the Message to us. It is on his word that this whole matter rests, so ‘who he is’ is the most important consideration for all of us. He is our iswa. And if we want our Lord and success in the Hereafter, we must honour and follow that iswa. Allah says,
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآَخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
the translation of which is, “You have an excellent iswa/ an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah, for all who put their hope in Allah and the Last Day and remember Allah much.” There is no other model that will bring us success, no other model that will show us how to get the most out of this life and the Next. He represents everything good, everything positive, everything praiseworthy, everything that raises us up in the eyes of our Lord and our fellow men, and enables us to live together in justice and harmony. He is the absolute pinnacle of human potential and human possibility. Qadi Iyad says in his Shifa,
لا خفاء على القطع بالجملة أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم أعلى الناس قدراً وأعظمهم محلاً وأكملهم محاسن وفضلا
“There is absolutely no way to conceal the fact that the Prophet is the worthiest of all mankind, the greatest of them in position and most perfect of them in good qualities and virtue.” This fact is incontestable and irrefutable. Allah, our Creator and the One from whom nothing is concealed, the One whose every word is truth, bears witness to it throughout His Book. For example, He says,
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ، وقرأ بعضهم: "من أنفَسكم"
the translation of which is, “A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is distressful to him; he is deeply concerned for you; he is compassionate and merciful to the believers,” with some reciters reading it as min anfasikum, “From the most valuable of you.”
In other words, in all the ways we assign value to the human condition, the Messenger of Allah ranked the highest, whether that be through birth, physical appearance, physical prowess and skill, knowledge or qualities of character.
His family lineage was the noblest and most pure. The Prophet said,
إن الله خلق الخلق فجعلني من خيرهم من خير قرنِهم، ثم تخيَّر القبائل فجعلني من خير قبيلة، ثم تخير البيوت فجعلني من خير بيوتهم، فأنا خيرُهم نفسا، وخيرُهم بيتا
“Allah created Creation and He placed me among the best of them from the best of their generations. Then He selected the tribes and He put me among the best tribe. Then He selected the families and He put me among the best of their families. I am the best of them in
person and the best of them in family.”
His physical form was beyond compare. Abu Hurayra said,
ما رأيت شيئا أحسن من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، كأن الشمس تجري في وجهه، وإذا ضحك يتلألأ في الجدر
“I have not seen anything more beautiful than the Messenger of Allah. It was as if the sun was shining in his face. And when he laughed, it reflected from the wall.”
And his strength, speed and agility were on a different level. Qadi Iyad said,
وقد جاءت الأخبار بأنه صرع أبا ركانة أشد أهل وقته، وكان دعاه إلى الإسلام وصارع أبا ركانة في الجاهلية، وكان شديداً ، وعاوده ثلاث مرات، كل ذلك يصرعه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم .
“Traditions have come down to the effect that he threw down Abu Rukana, the strongest of the people of his time, and called him to Islam. He wrestled with Abu Rukana, renowned for his incredible strength in the Jahiliyya, three times. The Messenger of Allah threw him every time.” And Abu Hurayra said,
ما رأيت أحداً أسرع من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في مشيه، كأنما الأرض تطوى له، إنا لنجهد أنفسنا وهو غير مكترث
“I did not see anyone who walked more swiftly than the Messenger of Allah. It was as if the earth rolled up for him. We would exhaust ourselves and yet he was not tired at all.”
His knowledge was unmatched, both inward and outward. Not only was he granted the most intimate knowledge of his Lord and the worlds of the Unseen, but also of this world and all its affairs. He was granted the hikma to know what to do in every circumstance and knowledge of what he did not know and had not studied, so that even Orientalists and people whose aim was to detract from him praised him for his statesmanship and military acumen. Allah says,
وَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْلَمُ وَكَانَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكَ عَظِيمًا
the translation of which is, “Allah has sent down the Book and Wisdom to you and taught you what you did not know before. Allah’s favour to you is indeed immense.”
And, as for his fine qualities of character, so great and numerous were they that cannot be quantified. No one book can hope to contain them, no one khutba can hope to describe them. His character was the Quran, embodying its teachings, his character was ‘adhim – immense and vast. Allah says, addressing him,
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
the translation of which is, “Indeed you are truly vast in character.” This word, ‘adhim, is one of the names of Allah, and when it is used for creation, most often describes what is greatest in it such as the ‘arsh, the largest creation of Allah. So the fact that the word is used to describe the good character of the Messenger shows that he had the greatest portion of everything that is considered representative of good character: forbearance, patience, thankfulness, justice, doing-without, humility, pardon, chastity, generosity, courage, modesty, manliness, silence, deliberation, gravity, mercy, good manners, comradeship and all other similar qualities. They were all his in immeasurable abundance, and if we want them we must look to him and follow him. We ask Allah to bring those qualities back to life in us, and through them, revitalise our homes, our communities and our lands.
أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم.
الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.
Allah does not just describe the overall character of the Messenger of Allah by one of His Names, ‘adhim, but also describes him with others of His Names that indicate certain qualities. For example, in the aya of surat Tawba that we mentioned in the first khutba, Allah concludes by describing his noble Messenger with two of his own attributes, ar-raouf (the compassionate) and ar-rahim (the merciful). This indicates that the Messenger of Allah does not just possess these qualities but embodies them. He is not just compassionate but is the essence of compassion in this world, he is not just merciful but is mercy. Allah says,
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
the translation of which is, “We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds.” Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Tahir said in his tafsir of this ayat, “Allah imbued Muhammad with mercy, so that his very being was mercy, and every one of his qualities and attributes was a mercy to all creatures. Whoever is touched by any aspect of his mercy will be saved in both worlds from every thing hateful and will obtain everything he loves.”
This mercy of his extends to all of creation, even the highest and mightiest of creatures, for when Jibril was asked if any of that mercy reached him, he replied that indeed it had, for it was only through the Prophet that he lost his fear of what might happen to him and became certain of his own high station with the Lord of the the Throne.
And this mercy of his is not just for those who were alive with him when he was alive, but extends beyond his lifetime. All of us in his umma are recipients of it, as the Prophet himself affirmed when he said,
حياتي خيرٌ لكم وموتي خيرٌ لكم
“My life is a blessing for you and my death is a blessing for you.”
And this applies not just to this quality, mercy, but to them all, everything that makes up what we know as khuluq, and what the Prophet was sent here to perfect. He did not just have these qualities, he was them. He embodied them. And so, to study his life and spend time with those who have taken on his character is the only way to truly know those qualities and the only way to acquire them. Otherwise whatever qualities you have are diluted and second-hand, nothing but a pale imitation. Courage, generosity, kindness, humility, forbearance – they are his domain – his example and his practice defines them and gives them their depth. This society would be an infinitely poorer place without his example, and as soon as you remove him from the equation, as modern secular society seeks to do, their opposites step forward to take their place – greed, insults and rudeness, arrogance and cowardice, fighting wars with proxies and unmanned drones.
The only way for humanity to return to an even keel, and for good character to win out over bad, is for the rank of the Messenger of Allah to be acknowledged and his example to be followed. This can only be done by keeping the company of his heirs, those who have inherited his light and his character. Those who have sat and absorbed the character of those who sat and absorbed the character of those who sat and absorbed the character, in a continuous unbroken chain back to those who sat at the feet of the Messenger of Allah and absorbed their character directly from him. The formation of communities based on such company is our only hope and the best way to defend the honour of the Messenger of Allah and preserve his sunna and example.
We ask Allah to give us the discrimination to recognise such people when we see them and keep us always in their company. And that He give us the success to embody those noble Prophetic qualities of character by which we can elevate ourselves and our societies and make them pleasing to our Lord, and rid of the characteristics that poison them and take them away from Him. We ask that Allah give victory and success to this Umma and keep us firmly on the Straight Path, the way travelled before us and lit up for us by the Prophet and His Companions. And increase us all in love, appreciation and remembrance of His beloved.
إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً.
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ، وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.
رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.
إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.