Khutba on Respect due to the Prophet

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي أرسل رسولَه على خُلُقٍ عظيم، وجعل محبتَه الطريقَ الوحيدَ إلى النعيم، 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.

Muslims, in this month of Rabi al-`Awwal we should all remind ourselves of who the Messenger of Allah was, and what a tremendous blessing and gift Allah has granted this umma, indeed has granted all of mankind and all of creation by sending him amongst us. He is the light that sweeps away the darkness, he is the rain that brings life to dead hearts and barren souls and allows knowledge of Allah to take root and grow and flourish. He is the mercy on whose account Allah spares the world and opens the door to tawba and repentance. 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.” He is the very pinnacle of creation and the reason for it, the first of the Prophets to be created and the last of them to be sent. He is, as he said in his own words,

أنا سيد بني آدم ولا فخر

“I am the lord of the children of Adam and that is no boast.” He is the greatest human being to ever walk this planet. Certain so-called progressive, modern Muslims read these words and read Allah’s Words, addressing the Prophet:

قُلِ اِنَّمَا أنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ

the translation of which is, “Say I am but a man like you who has received revelation.” and consider their importance to lie in the fact that the Prophet was a human being. And it is upon this aspect of his being that they focus when they come to events in the Prophet’s life and choices that he made, even to the extent of ascribing fallibility to him when it comes to his personal opinions, claiming that it was possible for him to make mistakes in matters they see as not being directly connected to the deen. Mashallah, what lack of respect and adab towards the Messenger of Allah these people have. Do they not know that every aspect of his life, every word spoken and every deed done, form his sunna and thus are part of the deen. Do they not know that every decision he made was informed by direct revelation from his Lord, for he was yuha ilayhi. Do they not know that every word he uttered was the very essence of truth/ haqq.  Allah says,

وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى

the translation of which is, “He does not speak from whim.” Do they not know that Allah makes obedience to His Messenger tantamount to obedience to Him. Allah says,

مَنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدَ اَطَاعَ اللهَ

the translation of which is, “whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah.”
Do they think that the fact Allah addresses him with the words,

عَفَا اللَّهُ عَنْكَ لِمَ أَذِنْتَ لَهُمْ

the translation of which is, ‘Allah pardon you! Why did you excuse them?’ mean that he was guilty of doing something requiring pardon? Subhanallah, nothing could be further from the truth. In his Shifa, Qadi Iyad reports that Niftawayh said, 
“Some people think that the Prophet was rebuked by this aya. Far from it! In fact he was preferred by it. When he excused them, Allah informed him that if he had not excused them, they would in any case have remained sitting because of their hypocrisy, so no objection can be made to his having excused them.”
Under the guise of avoiding shirk and avoiding the traps fallen into by the Chrisitians with regard to their Prophet Isa, what they are actually doing is trying to bring the Prophet down to their level so they can feel comfortable about their own faults and feel less responsibility over their actions. By placing all their focus on his human aspect at the expense of his having received revelation, they are in fact emulating Abu Jahl and the other mushrikin as is made clear by a well-known story related by Ibn Ata’illah al-Iskandari,
“One of the sultans of the past visited the tomb of Abu Yazid (al- Bistani), may Allah be pleased with him, and asked, “Is there anyone here who med Abu Yazid? An old man was pointed out to him who happened to be present at the time. The Sultan asked him,’ Did you hear any words spoken by Abu Yazid?’ The man replied, ‘Yes, I heard him say,  ‘The Fire will not burn anyone who sees me.’’
The Sultan was amazed by these words and said, ‘How can Abu Yazid say that, when the Fire will burn Abu Jahl and he saw the Prophet?’ The old man replied to the sultan, ‘Abu Jahl did not see the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He only saw an orphan in the care of Abu Talib. If he had really seen the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the Fire would not burn him.’
The Sultan understood the man’s words and appreciated his response. He understood that the Abu Jahl had not seen him with the honour and greatness due to him, or as an example to be followed, or in the belief that he was Messenger of Allah – and if had seen him in this light he would not have been burnt by the Fire – but had seen him with scorn and disdain, and in the belief that he was merely an orphan (in the care) of Abu Talib. Seeing him in this light did not avail him anything.” 
We must be very careful not to use ourselves as a template for judging the Messenger of Allah. Does not Allah say,

 لَا تَجْعَلُوا دُعَاءَ الرَّسُولِ بَيْنَكُمْ كَدُعَاءِ بَعْضِكُمْ بَعْضًا

the translation of which is, “Do not make your calling of the Messenger the same as your calling one another.” While it is true that the Prophet was human what a tremendous difference there is between his humannness and that of the rest of us. For his was a humanity bereft of all of man’s weaknesses and defects and characterised by all of man’s qualities and strengths. His was the humanity that made man worthy of being Allah’s khalifa/ viceregent upon the earth. As Imam al-Busayri said

فإن فضل رسول الله ليس له حدٌّ فيعرب عنه ناطقٌ بفم

لو ناسبت قدره آياته عظماً أحيا اسمه حين يدعى دارس الرمم

لم يمتحنا بما تعيا العقول به حرصاً علينا فلم نرْتب ولم نهمِ

أعيا الورى فهم معناه فليس يرى في القرب والبعد فيه غير منفحم

كالشمس تظهر للعينين من بعُدٍ صغيرةً وتكل الطرف من أمم

وكيف يدرك في الدنيا حقيقته قومٌ نيامٌ تسلوا عنه بالحلمِ

فمبلغ العلم فيه أنه بشرٌ وأنه خير خلق الله كلهمِ 

For verily the excellence of the Messenger of Allah is not limited
in such a way that any speaker might give expression to them
If his miracles truly were on a level with his rank, in terms of greatness,
Then his name would have served, when called, to bring decaying bones back to life.
His perfect inner nature made people unable
to comprehend, so it was not understood
By those near or far, except according 
to their helpless, imperfect understanding.
As the sun is seen by the eyes from afar:
Truly small, yet dazzles the eye when you stare at it.
And how can his reality be grasped in this world?
A sleeping nation whose descriptions of him
are (like interpretations of) a dream.
So the limit of our knowledge about him is that he is a man.
And verily he is the best of all Allah’s creation.”

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. قال الله تعالى في كتابه الكريم: مَا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَا أَحَدٍ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا

Allah says in His Mighty Book, the translation of which is, “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets. Allah has knowledge of all things.”
This is the man whose community we have been honoured to have been made a part and whose teachings we have granted access to. This is the man through whom exists the sole path to Allah. Love for him and respect for him are the only means of loving Allah. Holding him in high esteem is the source of Allah’s Pleasure and viewing him disrespect is the source of Allah’s Wrath. Love of rasul is the key, without which,the acceptance of any action we do will never be unlocked. 
We ask Allah to give us correct adab towards the Messenger of Allah and allow us to see him for who he truly was, the very best of creation, the perfect man. We ask Him to give us the best opinion of him and of everything that he said or did and protect us from transferring our own faults and failings on to him. And we ask Him to increase us in love of him and love of everything he loved, especially his noble family of Companions, may Allah be pleased with all of them. And we ask that we continue to honour and hold in high esteem until the day that we die all of those who honour his sunna and seek to bring it back to life and put it into practice, and that He keep us among them and in their company wherever we are.

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، 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 (3) 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. 

اللَّهُمَّ لاَ تَدَعْ فِي مَقَامِنَا هَذَا ذَنْباً إِلاَّ غَفَرْتَهُ، وَلاَ عَيْباً إِلاَّ سَتَرْتَهُ، وَلاَ مَرِيضاً إِلاَّ شَفَيْتَهُ وَعَافَيْتَهُ، وَلاَ مَسْجُوناً إِلاَّ طَلَقْتَ سَرَاحَهُ، وَلاَ مُسَافِراً فِي بَرِّكَ وَبَحْرِكَ إِلاَّ سَلِِمْتَهُ وَغَنِمْتَهُ.

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.