The Chishti Nizami Habibi Soofie

Sufi Order

Pietermaritzburg

Kwa Zulu Natal

South Africa

Meelad- Honor the Beloved

 Sura Baqara 2 Verse 231

Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) asks us to sincerely and solemnly remember his favours upon us and not to treat the signs of Allah as a joke. The arrival of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the greatest favour of Allah upon us. Allah says in Sura al-i- Imraan Verse 164:

Thus in celebrating Meelad-un-Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) the greatest in creation and the greatest favour of Allah is remembered and revered. Allah says in Sura al-Dhuha 93 Verse 11.

For the Gift of thy Lord; Rehearse and proclaim!

To express ones love for greatest favour of Allah, the sending of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is in keeping with the commands of the Holy Qur'aan. In the Meelad a lecture is delivered, poetry in praise of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is recited, Holy Qur'aan is recited etc. All these are accepted Islamic practices.

 Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) has laid down four conditions for success. Those who fulfil these are promised that they will not be debased and will be successful.

 Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) says in Sura Aaraf 7 Verse 157

1.  Perfect belief in the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), and not entertaining an atom

2. of of doubt about his matchless qualities;

3. Loving and honoring him

4. Assisting the way of life (din) brought by him, when it is under attack, by sacrificing ones wealth and                       life;

5.    Following with love the light in the breasts of the Awliya Allah

 This is the Divine Guarantee of success

 I deal here only with wa azzaruhu or honouring, respecting and loving him. Sound belief or Iman is respect and love for Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) The greater one's respect and love for him, the more perfect is one's Iman. Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) has expounded this love for the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) by His own practice or the Practice of Allah. Let us review a few examples:

Sura al-Balad 90 Verse 1-3

Allah bestows honour on the city in which contains his beloved’s house, where he was born. If the ‘waw’ of wa anta hillum is read as the ‘wow’ of (hal) or condition then it means:

If the ‘la’ of la uksimu is read as (negation) or (nafia) then it means,

According to commentators of the Holy Qur’aan, when Allah swears by anything, he raises it in the estimation of the people for the purpose of honouring and emphasising its importance.

"I exalt this city, I bestow honour on this city." "Walidew" " I swear by your parents and your lineage that carried your nur " "Walad" -  "I swear by your Meelad."

Sura ad-Dhuha Verse 1-3

The revelations had ceased for a while and the disbeliever's taunted the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) that his Allah had forsaken him. He knew that Allah will not forsake him but his blessed heart felt hurt due to the taunts. Allah could not bear to see His beloved grieved and He sent down this verse. Shah Abd al-Aziz Of Delhi (Rahmatullahi alaihi) expounds the meaning beautifully in his Qur’aanic commentary called Tafsir Azizia. Allah says,

Allah swears by His beloved's city, face, hair, lineage and birth to expound the fact that loving Rasulallah and everything attached to him is Allah’s practice or Sunnat.

Bait al-Maqdis had been the Qiblah of the Muslims during the Makkan period and for sixteen months of the Madinan period. The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) desired that the Qiblah be changed so as to separate them from the Jews who also turned to Bait al-Maqdis as their Qiblah. This desire was strong in his blessed heart during the Asr Salaah and he constantly turned his blessed face towards the sky. Allah saw this and sent down the verse

Sura al-Baqara 2 Verse 144

Allah made it clear to His beloved that He has no concern with direction. His concern is His beloved's pleasure. Our Qiblah was determined according to Holy Prophets pleasure. Therefore Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) says

Everyone seeks Allah's pleasure, whilst Allah seeks His Rasul's pleasure.

The Qiblah was changed in between the four cycles (rakaats) of Asr Salaah. Two rakaats were performed facing Jerusalem and the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) made a 360-degree turn and faced in the opposite direction to Makkah the Ennobled. The Companions (Sahaba) never questioned, they turned around also and adjusted their position.

It is stated that those who turned were the ten who were promised paradise. The hypocrites in the congregation mumbled but the Sahaba followed the beloved.

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) used to spend long hours at night remembering Allah. His blessed feet used to swell in the process. Allah saw this and sent down the verse:

Sura Muzammil 73, Verse 1-2

Allah displays His love for his Beloved's welfare. To love Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the Sunnat of Allah. All compulsory (faraid), Sunnat and nafil acts we perform are the Sunnat of Rasulallah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), whilst love for Rasulallah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the Sunnat of Allah. Allah is greater than Rasulullah; therefore the status of Allah's Sunnat is greater than Rasul's Sunnat. Thus love for Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is greater than all Ibadat. The merit of all Ibadat is dependent on his love.

This was aptly displayed in the Practice of his companions.

Abu Bakr Siddique (radiallahu anhu)

There are numerous Hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, reported by Hazrath Aisha Siddiqua (Radiallahu anha) and Hazrath Anas bin Malik (Radiallahu anhu) on the event on the Day of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) 's leaving this world. The incident is as follows:

While Abu Bakr [who, on the instruction of the Prophet, had been imam for 3 days] was leading the people in the morning prayer on a Monday, the Prophet came towards them suddenly having lifted the curtain of 'Aisha's house, and looked at them as they were standing in rows and smiled. The house was situated, adjoining the Masjid, to the left of the Imam's Musalla. The attention of the Musalis was diverted from the prayer because they were delighted to see the Prophet. They report that when the curtain was lifted it was as if a light had shone into the Masjid. They had not seen the Prophet, for three days and their eyes desired a glimpse of his beautiful countenance. The law states that if you move your face and chest away from Qiblah your Salaah is invalidated, but their love told them:

Thinking that Allah's Apostle wanted to come out for the prayer the Sahaba clapped their hands to attract Hazrath Abu Bakr's attention. Some were so emotional after seeing the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) they became ecstatic, whilst others lost consciousness.  Abu Bakr tried to come back to allow the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) to come forward and lead the prayer. The Prophet waved his hand to them to complete their prayer from where they had stopped, saying, "you have passed your test". Then he went back into the room and let down the curtain. The Prophet expired on that very day.

Points to be noted from this incidence are:

The Sahaba had overflowing love for the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and they put him before all Ibadat, including Salaah. They would rather leave their Salaah than being denied an opportunity to see him.

He told them to complete their Salaah although they moved away from facing the Kaaba. This showed that their Salaah did not become invalidated as long as they fixed their attention on him. Attention to Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is attention to Allah. The Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) had stated, "O Abu Bakr he who has seen me has seen Allah".

Umar al-Faruq (radiallahu anhu)

Hazrath Umar (radiallahu anhu) gestured to the Black Stone and exclaimed, ‘You are a stone, Umar would not have kissed you if he had not seen his Beloved Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)’s lips touch you’

Hazrath Zaid bin Aslam narrates,[1] Hazrath Umar, during his Caliphate, went out at night to check on the condition of his subjects and saw a lamp in a house, where an old women, teasing wool was saying:

It is stated Hazrath Umar (radiallahu anhu) burst into tears, sat down and asked the lady to repeat the verse and say that Umar and her be joined with the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) after death.

Uthman- e- Ghani (radiallahu anhu)

In the sixth year after the Hijra, whilst negotiating with the Kuffar for the Muslims to perform Umrah, Hazrath Uthman (Radiallahu anhu) refused to perform the Tawaaf because Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was not present.[2] Although (Shjaria) permitted that he performs this great ‘act of virtue’ (Ibadat), he held the love for Rasulullah above this Ibadat.

Ali Murtuza (radiallahu anhu)

The Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) fell asleep keeping his head on the lap of Ali (Radiallahu anhu).[3] In the meantime, the time for the `Asr (late afternoon) prayer passed but `Ali (Radiallahu anhu) did not wake the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) When the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) awoke, he asked Ali (Radiallahu anhu) if he had offered his prayer. Ali (Radiallahu anhu) replied in the negative. . This was Ali's test whether he put Salaah before the rest of Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  The Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) raised his hands and supplicated to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He):

 As a result, the sun came back and `Ali (Radiallahu anhu) was able to perform his `Asr prayers. Ali missed his Salaah and Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) says that He was obeying Allah? This emphasizes the status of Rasul (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) 's respect.

Allahu Akbar!

Love is a wide term. It carries several aspects. To love the friend of beloved is to love the beloved and to hate the enemy of beloved is to love the beloved as well. The commander of the faithful, Hazrath Ali (Allah Almighty pleased with him) says that there are three categories of enemy, namely, 1) Your enemy 2) Enemy of your friend and 3) friend of your enemy.

IRSHAD SOOFI 12 RABI UL AWWAL 1424/ 12 MAY 2003

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