The following discourse was delivered on the 08th March 2008 at Masjid Hamzah, Ashton Under Lyne.
The Event of the Satan – Knowledge & the Last Days of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam).
After praising Allah and sending salutations upon the best of creation, his family, and the companions,
He (da’makathbarakathu’hu) said:
Satan has a lot of knowledge, but this is to no avail now.
When one has knowledge and does not act upon it, there is no point in having the knowledge. A person who has an atom bomb, and another person who has a knife, but the one with the atom bomb does not use it, unlike the second person who is better, as he can use it and uses it. One should move away from this notion that just listening and attaining knowledge is enough. Remember, when one uses the knowledge, one can become better than the angels.
One can even make Satan get scared of him like Hazrat Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu). Satan used to be very scared of him; did he have an atom bomb or anything as such? No. Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) had a quality that whatever he believed in, he used to do it, so when he became a Muslim, he was very strong in his iman and actions. In the event of the attempt to kill the beloved Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’salam), Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) strongly believed that the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’salam) was in the wrong, so he went to kill the Prophet (Nau’zubillah) with this belief. In the event, he hurt his sister and her husband when going along the path. He had heard his family had become Muslims. But when he became a Muslim, it was said that the Muslims used to pray in silence before he became a Muslim, but with his Islam, they found some sort of relief. When the time for hijra came, Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) said, “I will not migrate in silence but make an announcement.” He went to Mount Safa and then announced his hijra so that Mushrikeen do not say, “I migrated in silence and was scared, so whoever wants to come and fight me should do so, whoever wants to get killed should do so, whoever wants to lose their son should come also.” So this shows his good quality that when he became Muslim, he was strong in his belief.
Those who are living in non-Muslim lands, there is an excellent example in the life of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) as the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) used to live in the heartland of Kufr; people used to do Tawaf around the Kaaba naked.
Those who say that it is very difficult to act on the Deen now, how did the blessed companions used to do it, living at a time when they used to get stones thrown at them? Look at Bilal (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu); how can you even say that when here in England you have all the comforts whereas the blessed companion Bilal (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) was tortured just because he used to say the Kalima. The companions went through a lot more; we are not going through all this. Is the Queen or the Prime Minister telling us not to pray? No! Actually, it is easier to practice the Deen than in most Muslim countries, as in the case of Turkey; a few days ago, they said that women cannot wear the hijab. Like in Morocco, when we went some time ago, we asked why don’t the Imams and the learned people of the blessed city of Fez have beards? The answer was that because of the government. This just goes to show the fact that it is very easy to practice the Deen here.
Anyways, we were saying that you must act on what you learn. After you and I die, then there is no point in the knowledge we have or had, as you know one of the questions which you and I will be asked among the five questions on that day of rising is how much you practiced from your knowledge. If you do not know how to benefit from the knowledge you attain, then ask those who do. Learn from them.
As we were saying a few days ago, we were discussing the last days of the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam); everyone knows the birthday of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam). The blessed companions were the ones who were completely in love with the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam); they listened to whatever he said. Even when the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) was passing away, he was giving nashihat. The Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) said, “When one of you is going under great tribulation, then remember my death, then your tribulation will go away.” The ulama used to say that when the people of Madina used to go through difficulty, they would forget their tribulation, like in the case of Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) who lost his senses when his Habib died. He said, “Those who say that the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) has passed away, I will kill them.” He knew that the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) had passed away but was finding it difficult to take it in. Then the blessed companion Abu Bakr (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) came and made him understand; the appearance of Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) was such that, once he was walking and some people were behind him, and he turned, some of the people following him fainted because of the sudden turn. He was standing with his sword in the masjid when Abu Bakr (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) said his famous statement, “Those who worship Muhammad (PBUH) know that he has died, and those who worship Allah know that he is alive all the time,” then Hazrat Umar (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) said that he came to his senses and realized the truth of the matter. Such great things happened.
After the death of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam), there was a delay of one day and night. Why was there a delay to bury the best of creation? When a normal person dies or a child, we make a dua, meaning that on the day of judgment, that child for whom the dua was made will do shafa on the day of judgment for the people who prayed his janazah. The delay happened so that the ummah can benefit more. Who can say they have more knowledge more than the blessed Abu Bakr (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu)? When the companion came, he lifted the cover from the face of the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam). He stated, “You were blessed in your life, and you are blessed in your death.”
Ibn Kathir quoted Aisha (Radi Allahu ‘Anaha) as saying, “When the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) had passed away, such a fragrance was emanating that Aisha (Radi Allahu ‘Anaha) announced, ‘I had not smelled such a beautiful smell before.’” Now where were they? A day and a night the body left, the body of the best of creation? As they say, “Obeying someone’s command is as if you love the person himself.” They were doing the act and the guidance that they had received from the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam). Before he had passed away, he had said, “Make sure that the guidance of the Lord of all the worlds reaches all the corners of the world.” So these are what they were thinking about and were concerned with, on how to spread the message and how to maintain the unity of the Muslim ummah. They had completely lost the thought that the blessed body is lying there. Now imagine the obedience they had. Those who oppose the companions are opposing the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) indirectly because who was their companion – none other than the blessed Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam).
Once going on to a battle, there were three companions who were told, “Once he falls on the battlefield, then give it to him, and then give it to him.” The companions knew straight away that they will die, as the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) spoke because he had knowledge of the unseen. Whatever he said was from Allah, so the three companions whose names were mentioned said, “We’ll stay a few days back because we have horses with which we can catch up with the other Mujahideen after the few last days we spend with the Prophet of Allah.” So after Jummah, they sat with other companions, and when the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) saw them, he said, “I had said farewell to you, why are you here”? They said, “Ya Rusul’Allah we have our families, businesses, but we did not stay for that. We stayed so that we can see the blessed face of yours for a few more days.” The Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) said because of this delay, “you will enter paradise 500 years later than the other companions of mine.”
So, this goes to show that when the blessed Prophet passed away, the companions were busy with the effort of Deen; this is the reason for the delay in the burial of the blessed body of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam). He had preferred “my message should be taken forward.”
When Isa (Ali’hissalam) comes back from paradise (heaven), Hazrat Imdad Muhajir Makki (Rahmat’ullah Hi’Ali) said that he will be buried next to the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam); this presents to us that the blessed place where the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) is buried is better than the heavens simply because he will descend down from the pure place like paradise to come to this world. Allah is sending back Isa (Ali’hissalam) for the message to take it forward and spread it to the four corners of the world. Just imagine how important this is!
The Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) said that those who take the message forward, their paradise will be after the prophet’s paradise. What was the last amal of the Prophet (Salla Huali Hi Wasalam) before he had passed away? Was he praying or not? It was that he gave the message and the importance to convey it to others, even at the time he was ill; he could not speak properly. He gave the message to send the army of Usamah bin Zaid (Radi Allahu ‘Anhu) on the mission to do Jihad. – To take the message of the Deen forward.
May Allah (Subhan’Allahu’wa’tala) enable me and you to be steadfast on the teachings of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam), and let us remember the last days of the Prophet (Salla’hualihi’wa’Salam).
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