You are on page 1of 11

CULTURE OF ISLAM

064 Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!


Imtiaz Muhsin 05-Feb-12

The main objective of these talks (and therefore the scripts of these talks), is to stimulate thinking. Sensible, rational and logical thinking. So, my message, think, think & think! Be sensible, be rational and be logical.

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

Please Note
1. I have had the great privilege, (since Aug 2010), of presenting talks on the weekly Radio Program Culture of Islam [Every Friday 8 to 8.30 pm, Radio Sri Lanka - FM 97.4] 2. Since these are Radio Talks, I refer to, or address the audience as listeners 3. I am well aware that the audience to these talks would consist of people belonging to a variety of faiths. So as to make people of all faiths feel included, I very often use words and names that are common to all religions. 4. For these reasons, I use the name GOD, as well as Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc as well as the names Allah, Ibrahim (Alaihis Salaam), Moosa (Alaihis Salaam), Easa (Alaihis Salaam) etc 5. Muslims by habit usually say Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam, when the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, and Alaihis Salaam' when the name of a Prophet is mentioned. However, in these series of talks I have reduced the use of these prayers & sayings to the bare minimum. 6. Muslims, also by habit, use a number of Arabic prayers or sayings, such as Alhamdulillah, Insha Allah and so on. Again, I have reduced the use of these prayers or sayings to the bare minimum. 7. Sometimes I have to write Arabic words in the English script. I have devised my own way of writing Arabic in English, as follows;

th TH

s Ss SW

DHL DHZ

H h

Gh GH

Information on these talks along with all download links can be found on my on my Blog (http://imtiazm.wordpress.com/) The dates or the schedules of these talks can be viewed on the Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/ImtiazMuhsin786) The Scripts of these talks can be downloaded from www.ScribD.com (www.ScribD.com Author Imtiaz Muhsin) The audio files of these talks can be downloaded from YouTube (YouTube Channel Imtiaz Muhsin) The YouTube Link to this talk is at

All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah and Allah alone Alhamdulillah! P.S. The Picture on the cover is that of the Mosque (Zavia) at Messenger Street in Colombo

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

064 Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!


Dear Friends, Assalamu Alaikum, I greet you all with Assalamu Alaikum which, I am sure you would recognize as the greeting of a Muslim, and means Peace be upon you! or Peace unto You! Human beings all over the world are always very busy. We like to be organized. We look on it as an important skill. We have programs for every day, and many of us maintain a veritable store of dates and timings of events and appointments in our heads, whilst similarly, many of us use diaries to remind us of important dates and events. In this manner every day has significance. Even every day of the week has some significance. We plan our days we plan our days of the week. Some days are etched in to our memory. Our birthday, the birthdays of our near and dear, our Wedding anniversary, the Wedding anniversaries of our near and dear these are days we look forward to, it is sometimes a convenient day to connect or to re-establish connections. Some days are etched in our memory because of some tragedy so we remember the days on which our near and our dear have died, and this day becomes a day of nostalgia and memories. Similarly we have designated days, where we remember those people who we look on as role models in our life this could be in a variety of fields. In religion, in science, in sports, in music and so on. In any Religion, the day of Birth of their religious leader has immense significance. Today we commemorate the birth anniversary of our beloved Prophet, Muhammad (Sal) It is to honor both Muhammad (Sal) as well as the Muslims of the World especially of Sri Lanka, that the Government of Sri Lanka has declared this date as an annual Public, Bank and Mercantile holiday. It is indeed a privilege. Now the question, what are we, especially the Muslims supposed to do on this day? As Muslims we are well aware of deeds and rituals that have to be performed on certain days. To elaborate, every day, we have our Salaath or our Prayers, which we perform 5 times a day. There is the predawn prayer, the post noon prayer, the evening prayer, the post sunset prayer and the night prayer. Viz. the Fajr, the Dhluhar, the Asr, the Maghrib and the Ishaa Salaath. Every Friday, we have our congregational prayer the Jummah Salaath. On the days of the Eid we have the Eid Salaath. The daily Salaath as well as the Jummah Salaath or prayers are prescribed in the Holy Quran whilst the Eid Salaaths have been demonstrated by our Holy Prophet (Sal). As far as we know, there are no rituals or deeds mentioned in the Holy Quran or in the life of Prophet Muhammad (Sal) or even in the lives of his noble companions, to show us or even to indicate to us what we should do on Prophet Muhammads birthday, nor is there anything that they have done to even indicate this date.

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

But then to all of us dates are important, and we know that right through many centuries Muslims have been commemorating this day the Meelad Un Nabi or the Birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Sal). So now we ask this question, today is the day designated as Meelad Un Nabi and as Muslims we do feel that this day is of significance then what should we do? Now, this is where we find differences of opinion. I would like to talk about these different opinions why? 1. Because I am curious. 2. Because, though religious wise the Meeald Un Nabi may not be prescribed, but then culturally, Muslims all over the world give it attention, and then this weekly radio program is titled the Culture of Islam So let us discuss these different opinions; 1. We have those who say, Meelad Un Nabi is just another day. Giving it importance or conducting special rituals or even special deeds on this day would an innovation (the Arabic word for innovation is Bidhah) and an innovation in Islam is just not encouraged. In fact it is vehemently discouraged. So they treat it as just another day. 2. Then there are those, who say, the Meelad Un Nabi or this day is pointed out to us, it is brought to our attention, it is there in our calendar, a public, bank and mercantile holiday is declared for it. This Birth anniversary or birthday of our Prophet Muhammad (Sal) is brought in to our focus, and since he is special, then his Birth date too has to be special so they would maybe recite a few Salawaaths or beseech Allah Taaalah to bestow more blessings, on Muhammad (Sal) . They quote the following Quran Aayath as their reference or their authority, to do so;

3. Then we have the third group, who seem to think that, yes, we must pray for the blessings on Prophet Muhammad, that is what we do on normal days, we are commemorating the day of his birth, so does not this day become special, so should we not do more? So more as a mark of respect, or we could even say a demonstration of their passion, these people make special efforts to do more good deeds or I could even describe it as special good deeds, designed to express our passion and emotion for our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sal) on this day, they even make plans for it. They may distribute Food Parcels to the poor, or give parcels of provisions to the poor, or help some orphanage, or invite some people and pray together for the blessings on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sal) and so on it is at this stage that the differences in opinions stand out, so let us now briefly discuss the 4th group.

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

4. This group are of the opinion that this is indeed a very special day and we should use the occasion to bring Muslims together and pray for the blessings on Prophet Muhammad (Sal), sing some devotional songs known as Nasheeds, or Qaseedha or Moulood, get some dignitary to deliver a talk on the life of our beloved Prophet and to espouse his mission and so on. It is this group that also use this occasion to organize competitions amongst school children on many topics covering Islam in general and in particular the life of Muhammad (Sal) It is this group who in their enthusiasm, light up a Mosque or a house or even a street where the occasion is being commemorated and usually there is much debate as to whether this is within the spirit of Islam or against it. These debates rather than educate people on the values of Islam tend to make those commemorating the event to become more adamant, to do it with more gusto and enthusiasm. Whichever group anyone may belong to, we all must admit that today, the day we commemorate Meelad Un Nabi - the life, the mission and the achievements of our Holy Prophet (Sal) comes in to our focus. So let us look at that blessed life that we are commemorating today the life of Rasoolullah (Sal) A factor that stands out is that not very much is known about Prophet Muhammad (Sal) in the period before he received Nubbuwwath or Prophethood which was around the age of 40 years. But what is well documented is that Muhammad (Sal) was an honest and trustworthy youth, his people were even referring to him as Al Ameen or the Trustworthy Muhammad (Sal) was an orphan, his Father, Abdullah, had died before he was born and his Mother, Aaminah, had died when he was just 6 years old! Muhammad (Sal) grew up under his Grandfathers care and was well liked and had a special reputation for honesty. The wealthy widow, Lady Khadija made use of his services to be in charge of her trading when her merchandise joined a caravan. The Caravan returned after a few months with a handsome profit for Lady Khadija. Obviously Lady Khadija was impressed. Due to his honesty and pleasant demeanor, a proposal was arranged, and Muhammad (Sal) married Lady Khadija. According to narrators, after marriage Muhammad (Sal) did not engage in any business and Lady Khadija gave away all her wealth in charity. Before his Prophet Hood, Muhammad (Sal) and Lady Khadija had 3 daughters and at the time of the event on Mt Hira these 3 girls would have been in their early teens. Muhammad (Sal) had become a very thoughtful person, his business and other social experiences rather than opening up more opportunities to earn, made him meditate on the meaning of the world and life itself. He found the city of Mecca too distracting and began to walk a few miles out of Mecca in harsh lonely conditions and take on a strenuous climb to top Mt Hira to meditate on these truths. Lady Khadija (RA) gave him admirable support and had been a great comfort to him. One day whilst meditating in this Cave on top of Mt Hira, he suddenly saw what he thought was a person we can just imagine how confused and even frightened he would have become, because from his vantage point he would not have seen anyone approaching the Mountain, or climbing the

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

Mountain but then here there was somebody in front of him, commanding him with the words Iqra which means Read and also means recite. According to reports, Muhammad (Sal) has indicated that to whatever side he turned, this apparition or this person was in front of him we can imagine how much more confused and frightened Muhammad (Sal) would have become. Anyway Muhammad (Sal) replied I cannot read Again he was commanded Iqra or Read. Once again he replied, I cannot read and on the third instance Muhammad (Sal) began to recite the Holy Quran as it was being revealed to him by Allah Taaalah, through Angel Jibreel (AS) also referred to as Arch Angel Gabriel. Now, there is a very interesting point that emerges out of this event it is the way we interpret this command Iqra. Of course because it is the very first word to be revealed in the Holy Quran, it has tremendous amount of significance to every Muslim. It is actually the first word that introduces Allah Taaalah, the Holy Quran and Islam itself that is how most Muslims look at it. So many of us say that Iqra or Read is the first command and could even be looked on as the foundation to Islam, so every Muslim should read.

Read what?
Obviously the answer by almost every Muslim would be Read the Holy Quran! Those Muslims who take interest in educating the Muslim youth even interpret this command to mean that we should all be literate and taking this even further say that we should read all books of knowledge and thus, this, is in fact a command that we should all be educated. But then, I ask myself two questions; 1. When this command Iqra was being revealed to Muhammad (Sal) the Holy Quran was just not available it took 23 years for the revelation to be completed and then a few years more for the Holy Quran to be compiled in to a complete book in the form that we know. 2. When this command Iqra was being revealed, Muhammad (Sal) was illiterate he could not read or write and the fact was that most of the Arabs at that time were also illiterate they could not read or write. This is corroborated by the Aayath No 2 in Surah Jummah;

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

So there were no books and to add to that he illiterate unlettered! So what was he being asked to read, or what would the early Muslims have thought that they were being asked to read? On a little contemplation does it not become obvious to us that what he was being asked to read was to read the Signs of Allah Taaalah that he could see and comprehend all around him. To us reading is reading a book. To Muhammad (Sal) and the Arabs at that time, reading was obviously reading the World, reading what they saw around them. They could read the weather, they could read the condition of their cattle, they could read the condition of their crops, they could read the conditions of animals they hunted, they could read the Sun, the Moon and the Stars which they used both as landmarks for navigation as well as signs for reading time and place by just reading the stars they could tell the season, the month, the time and even their location this is a skill we have lost. In fact I would not be wrong to say that Muhammad (Sal) had given up the idea of doing business and was spending his time in meditation because of his involvement in the reading signs. Because, he had been reading the world, and what he read about the world worried him, it created a great thirst a great worry for him to meditate and unravel that something that frighteningly obvious truth that bore very, very heavily on his mind. He was using his sight, his hearing, his thinking and his conscience to read the world and he had to use these same faculties to reason out the truth or the Haqeeqath of this world and of life itself! So a very important lesson we must learn from the life of Muhammad (Sal) is to read the Signs of Allah Taaalah they are clearly pointed out in the Holy Quran but then to bring out its deep meanings and guidelines it is up to us that whilst we are reading the Holy Quran we should also read the world, to read the condition of our hearts and to read our deeds as well as the deeds of those around us. Now we come to the stages where Muhammad (Sal) begins to explain to people that he has a message to deliver to them, and people must believe in one God, in Allah Taaalah and follow him as the Prophet of Allah Taaalah. We must now try to imagine those epic moments and epic scenes. Those who trusted Muhammad (Sal) and knew him to be a person who never lied, began to believe him, whilst those who were arrogant and feared that they would have to change their lives and lifestyles began to ridicule Muhammad (Sal) The well established facts about his life are that during the 1st ten years after his Nubbuwwath or Prophet hood, he faced many hardships in Mecca. Many of his own tribesmen the influential Quraish Tribe began a campaign against him and his companions those who accepted him as the Prophet of Allah Taaalah. Finally some persons from Medina, who had visited Mecca, met the Prophet and had been impressed with his message, accepted Islam, went back to Medina told their people about these teachings and then a group from Medina came to meet the Prophet in Mecca and invited him and his companions to migrate to Median so that they could do the work of learning this religion and inviting others to this religion with relative ease and peace.

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

With the migration or the Hijrath of Muhammad (Sal) and his companions to Medina, began the second phase of Islam the Medina period, wherein Islam flourished and could now be established not just as a religion of an individual but also as a beautiful code of righteous conduct for society. Every aspect of a persons life as well as every aspect of societys needs and demands were beautifully described in the Holy Quran and beautifully demonstrated in the life of Muhammad (Sal) and his illustrious companions Most books on Islam and even talks by dignitaries cover almost every thinkable aspect of Islam and its impact on the Muslim World and civilization itself. However there are two aspects regarding the life of Muhammad (Sal) which I would like to describe very briefly in this talk on this occasion of Meelad Un Nabi. 1. The frugal life style of Muhammad (Sal) and his companions 2. The manner in which he had been opposed as described in the Holy Quran Many of us listen to talks on Islam and are inspired by the social aspects of Islam the importance given to sharing our wealth with the poor, the Zakaath, the Sadaqa, the Hadhiya, the looking after of orphans, the destitute, the wayfarer, the sick, the relations, the neighbors. Then the aspects of establishing and building social institutions such as Masjids, Orphanages, Madrassahs, Schools and Hospitals. Then the aspects of strengthening the frameworks for Shariath, public awareness of Shariath issues and so on. There are so many guidelines shown to us in the Holy Quran and demonstrated to us by Muhammad (Sal) It very often happens that many of us get distracted by a mindset that we can be better Muslims if we had more wealth so we now even look on the efforts made to increase our wealth as efforts towards becoming good Muslims. This effort just does not match with the life or the lifestyle of Muhammad (Sal) or anyone of his illustrious companions. Let me just explain. A study of the life of Muhammad (Sal) would show us that he had no material wealth and did not try to increase his material wealth but always spent whatever came his way. Let us just look at how his life unfolded. His Father died even before the birth of Muhammad (Sal) making him an orphan even before he was born. His mother died when he was just 6 years old. He belonged to the Quraish Tribe who looked after both the Kaabathullah in Mecca as well as the marketplace in Mecca. His Grandfather and Uncles were wealthy, but Muhammad (Sal) did not take a shop or do continuous business in Mecca. He married a wealthy widow, but there are no reports of him doing business after his marriage the common opinion is that Lady Khadija gave away her wealth in charity. So he has no wealth, his wifes wealth is given away in charity. He has 3 daughters either in their teens or close to their teens, when he is granted Nubbuwwath or Prophet-hood.

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

Now, people begin to ridicule him as well as boycott the business of his companions. We just do not know how he lived other than for the knowledge that he and his companions had a very difficult time. Their belief was that Allah Taaalah, was looking after them. Then things become so bad, that he decides to migrate to Medina a city over 300 kms away across the Desert. Migrating to Medina means leaving behind his home and whatever possessions he may have had. Every one of his companions who joined him in the migration had to leave behind all their worldly possession in Mecca. Now whilst in Medina the Ansaar or the people of Median host them and every house hosts a family from Mecca obviously everybodys resources are stretched there must have been hunger, needs and wants everywhere but then every Muslim had the indescribable comfort of their convictions. Then whilst living in Medina they were subjected to a series of attacks and boycotts not an ideal climate to build or to create wealth. And it was in this environment that they did all their charity work and social consolidation. Our plight is that we have wealth and we have the openings to create wealth and we are distracted in these pursuits deceiving ourselves with the thoughts that this wealth is what is earning for us the pleasure of Allah Taaalah and making us good Muslims are we not deceiving ourselves. Should we not at least think as to what we should be doing? The second point is the opposition that Muhammad (Sal) faced. Allah Taaalah does not describe this as the opposition that only Prophet Muhammad faced, but also describes to us the opposition faced by many of his Prophets. We know that all Prophets have been excellent people, displaying model goodness Goodness in both ethical and religious matters. Then if they were so good, why is it that their people persecuted them, called them liars, madmen, Sorcerers / Magicians and so on. Today we think we are good Muslims, but no one scolds or persecutes us the way the Prophets and their followers were scolded and persecuted. If we are called liars it is because we have lied. No one persecutes Muslims calling them Mad or Sorcerers / Magicians. Let us listen to what Allah tells us about what people told the Prophets.

15:6 (S Al Hijr) Wa Qaaloo, Yaa AiyyuHallazee NuzzilaghaliHiz Zikru, Inaaka la Majnoon And they say Oh you to whom the Zikr has been revealed, you are surely insane

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

26:185 (S Ash Shuara) Qaala Innamaa Antha Minal Musahhareen They said, You are but one of the bewitched men.

27:68 (S An Naml) Haazaa illaa AsaaTHeerul Awwaleen This is nothing but tales of the ancients

7:28 (S Al Araaf) Qaaloo wajadhna ghalaiHaa Aabaaanaa They say We have found our Fathers doing it! Why is this? Actually there are 2 parts to this question. Firstly Why is this, why were the Prophets scolded and secondly Why is this, why are we not getting scolded? Is there something we are missing in our practice of Islam? If by this Meelad Un Nabi talk Muslims begin to think about these questions that I have been talking about, then Alhamdulillah, I think I would have achieved the objectives or the purposes of my talk today. I sincerely pray and hope that all of you benefit from these talks as much as I have benefitted from doing research from the Quran and then preparing and presenting these talks to you. May Allah Taaalah guide us all and accept us all. Jazza Kalla Khairan. Assalamu Alaikum

10

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

Imtiaz Muhsin Colombo Sri Lanka crescent786@hotmail.com

You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman

11

064 The Meelad Un Nabi? What is THAT?!

You might also like