Visiting the Messenger of Allah (3/3)

In the Holy Garden

Do not miss the chance of sitting in the Holy Rawdah (garden), for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said about it, “Between my tomb and pulpit is a garden from the gardens of Paradise.”

You can easily know its place inside the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), for it is distinctly marked. But you have to arrive early, because everyone is so keen to sit in the Holy Rawdah. If you succeeded to sit in the Rawdah, offer prayers, recite the Noble Qur’an and celebrate the Praises of Allah, for as long as you are in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) you must dedicate yourself to worship.

Always engage yourself with the hereafter, with the everlasting coming life. Before stepping inside the Masjid divest yourself of worldly life and concerns, exactly as you take off your shoes, and do not let any of them accompany you inside. For in this blessed place the worship is accepted and it is doubly rewarded, and supplications are answered, as the gates of heavens are always wide-open. Thus, do not waste your time with anything that may distract you away from Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

The more you sit in the Masjid of the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), the more you fill your soul with the whiffs of faith, that you may not understand but rather sense.

The more time you spend there, the closer you step towards Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and indeed the further you move away from sins. After your sojourn comes to an end, and you want to bid farewell, as you performed the Farewell Tawaf [Pilgrims’ last circumambulation of the ka‘bah directly before leaving Mecca] in Mecca, go inside and greet the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and make it the last thing you do in Medina.

Our Imam ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) taught us, from the proprieties of taking leave, what to say when bidding farewell to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

 “Peace be upon you, O my master, O Messenger of Allah, sent on my behalf and on behalf of your daughter residing in your proximity, quick to join you. Peace be upon you both, a farewell bid neither by a non-loving nor a weary person. Sincerely, we leave not because of boredom and we depart not mistrusting the Promise Allah has made to his patient servants.”

Or utter any other supplication conveying the same meaning and ask to return time and again to pay a visit to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as long as Allah keeps you alive.

Here the Noble Qur’an was revealed

In the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) there are many blessed places. Among them are the place that witnessed the descent of the Divine Inspiration on the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and the place that witnessed the faith gatherings between the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and Angel Jibril (Gabriel, peace be upon him).

Visit this place, which is pinpointed, and offer a two-rak‘ah prayer there, then sit for a while, and contemplate the incidents that this place had witnessed, where the law of Heaven descended to earth. Think how difficult it was for a human to meet an angel, to the extent that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to hear clattering like the sound of bells, or like the buzzing of bees. He used to drip with sweat during the coldest days and say, ‘Wrap me up, wrap me up.’ When the Prophet’s noble leg touched that of any of the Companions during the descent of the Divine Inspiration, the man felt as if it were a mountain due to its heaviness. And when the Divine Inspiration came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) while riding his camel, it became unable to walk, or even to stand on its legs, but only to kneel on the ground.

You will see yourself the place of the descent of the Divine Inspiration inside the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and you can sit in it contemplating the blessings that used to occur in this place, and the Book (the Noble Qur’an) that was sent down to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) guidance and mercy to the whole world.

There stretch out your hands and pray to Allah, for it is a place where supplications are answered, then you can sit down as long as you wish at the place of the descent and perform the five obligatory Prayers if you can.

Your visit to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) must not end here, but you have to sense the greatness of Islam by visiting the scene that witnessed the Battle of Badr, the battle by which Allah has freed truth from falsehood, and made truth triumph over the leaders of disbelief.

You will find the place as it is, and you can see where the soldiers of Islam used to stand, and the post of the disbelievers, also the graves of the Muslims who were martyred in the Battle of Badr.

This place will remind you of an important event in the history of Islam, which is the first victory of faith over disbelief, of freedom over slavery, and the Religion of Allah over idolatry. This land was honored by the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his Companions (may Allah be mercy to them), and was honored by the blood of the Muslim martyrs.

We then move from Badr to Uhud, the battle that took place at Uhud Mount, when the archers disobeyed the command of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and did not listen to his instructions to stay in their positions above Uhud, but they abandoned their posts and descended to get their share from the spoils, upon which the Muslims were defeated. For Allah would not grant them victory when they disobeyed the command of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Recite the Qur’anic verse in which Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, says (what means):

 “(And remember) when you ran away (dreadfully) without even casting a side glance at anyone, and the Messenger (Muhammad) was in your rear calling you back. There did Allah give you one distress after another by way of requital to teach you not to grieve for that which had escaped you, nor for that which had befallen you. And Allah is Well Aware of all that you do.”(Surah Al-‘Imran, 3:152)

And there you will find the grave of Hamzah, the master of the martyrs (may Allah be pleased with him), where the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stood and recited the following noble Qur’anic verse (saying what means):

“Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e. they have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers], of them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e. have been martyred), and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed [i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah] in the least.” (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:23)

This is the vivid history of Islam, alive in Medina; a history that stands a witness on every incident that occurred, still present with its scenes and the haven of its martyrs. Even the Masjid with the two Qiblahs [Direction faced in prayers], where the Muslims used to offer prayers with their faces directed towards Jerusalem, and then a Divine Order was sent to turn the Qiblah towards Mecca; all this is present in Medina, the alive history of Islam. Almighty Allah decreed to keep that history bearing witness for Islam, the last of all religions, before all generations. For Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is the only Prophet whose place of burial is surely known, and Islam is the only religion whose incidents are precisely recorded, an open book to anyone who pursues truth.

We have to contemplate these places and scenes to draw moral lessons and wisdoms, for it is the best provision for this life and the hereafter.

We beg Allah, all praise and glory be to Him, to destine for us performing Hajj and ‘Umrah several times, and accept them from us. To forgive our sins, accept our repentance, and in our hearts dwells the love of the House of Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Indeed, Allah is the Best to answer prayers, and may the Blessings and Peace of the Almighty be ever bestowed upon our master Muhammad, his family and Companions.