Al Minah Al `Aliyyah (1)

All praise is due to Allah who says in His Holy Book,

"لقد كان لكم في رسول الله أسوة حسنة لمن كان يرجو الله واليوم الآخر وذكر الله كثيرا"

 “Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad) r you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.”

(33:21)

All praise is due to Allah who sent us His final Messenger and revealed to us through him His perfect Book and prepared and selected Companions and pious predecessors to carry out the mission of conveying Islam. As a result, they delivered this message to us through their sayings and actions, which have been documented throughout history.

Thus, they were the best bearers of this message who exhibited great examples and demonstrated their sincere love for Prophet Muhammad r Peace and blessings be upon the most excellent of all human beings, whose Sunnah extends to the first and the last of all humans. There is no one who can surpass him with regards to praying, fasting and supplicating. The Prophet bequeathed us his pure and unscathed Sunnah, and anybody who adheres to it will be safe from the Hellfire. Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family and those who follow his way until the Day of Judgement.

To proceed :

Respected reader, the following is a compilation of some Sunnan (practices of the Prophet peace be upon him) and acts of worship. It is the very Sunnan that has been passed down to us through generations, whether they be known or unknown acts of worship, or those that are neglected, all of which are blessings of Allah the Almighty, only for this nation. Therefore, by adhering to them one increases their own acts of worship, as these Sunnan help to increase and multiply a person’s reward. Such a reward was not granted to any previous nation since Allah the Almighty has favoured this nation above all nations. He bestows great rewards upon those who hasten to practice such Sunnan, thus, they are greatly sublime, and fruitful. A very sincere brother suggested that I note them down - may Allah reward him abundantly.

In fact, there are two reasons that motivated me to make this compilation. 

Firstly, that which disturbs every Muslim, grieves the heart and fills the eyes with tears is what is fabricated about the Prophet r and makes a mockery of him. May Allah take revenge on those who say and do such deplorable things. They make fun of the Prophet and draw mocking cartoons of him and we still hear of such atrocities occurring from far and wide to this day. This is not something strange, as such people are simply following in the footsteps of their disbelieving ancestors when they mock and try to hurt our beloved Prophet r.

In addition, in the past the Companions were also hurt by such offences against the Prophet. Therefore, defending the Prophet r is obligatory upon all of us. From among the most important methods in defending the Prophet r is to defend his Sunnah. To demonstrate his good manners that have been distorted by many in the West. To make known his great skills in leadership and to encourage others to do the same by writing it down in books and articles.

Those who follow his religion are first to apply these guidelines. The one who defends the Prophet’s r Sunnah should be eager to follow his guidance and apply his practices in a useful way. Thus, he should revive the Prophet’s r Sunnah within himself, his community, his family members, his students and also his fellow Muslims.

Secondly, is what our contemporary world is witnessing by those who are neglectful in following the Prophet’s r Sunnah, claiming that it is not Fard (obligatory) to do so, i.e. the one who adheres to the Sunnah will be rewarded but the one who neglects it would not be punished if it is abandoned. Respected reader, you will find that the Companions did not differentiate between the recommended and the obligatory acts, and what is recommended with regards to application and inquiry. What is startling is that some people know the great virtues of these Sunnan, however, they do not try to practice them even once in their lifetime.

What increases my wonder is the righteous and benevolent person, who is also neglectful in practicing the majority of the Sunnan. Thus, you do not see the Prophet’s r Sunnah in his manners, his day to day dealings and his acts of worship.  Unfortunately, this is often the case with students who are keen to gain knowledge but you see them neglecting the Sunnah, even though they know a lot about it and are aware of its great merits and scientific issues.

The pious predecessors defined knowledge as, “Fear that would engrave more acts of worship in a person’s heart, increase good habits and make the person more eager to apply them.”

So, how would our knowledge, our understanding of the issues of differences, and the proofs of many questions affect our application of the Sunnan and acts of worship?

The same applies to women and especially the pious ones amongst them. Many a time we come across Sunnan, but we do not apply them into our lives. A person once said to another who often sought knowledge but did not practice what he learnt, “You wasted your life in collecting weapons, so, when will you fight?” The pious predecessors (may Allah have mercy upon them) used to scold the one who did not practice the knowledge they knew. The same could be said about he who seeks knowledge but does not practice it.

Once, when collectors of ahadith went to Al-Awza’i (may Allah have mercy upon him), he looked at them and said, “Many people are eager, obedient and ravenous to seek knowledge, yet, they neither benefit themselves nor benefit others from it.” When Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (may Allah have mercy upon him) saw that there were many people who were curious to memorise ahadith and collect them although they did not practice it, he wrote a dissertation entitled, “Knowledge requires practicing it.”

Consequently, what is mentioned above is the case of many of us. I cannot deny that there are luminous examples in our lives and forms of neglecting the Sunnah are many. Ponder, dear readers, at the examples of the early generations who were both practically and emotionally very close to the Sunnah of the Prophet r. They were also followed by pious predecessors (may Allah have mercy upon them) and such examples are various in this chapter.  I mentioned some in the introduction, in order to motivate both you and myself to practice this Sunnah. If Allah wills this will stimulate our will to apply the Sunnah in our lives.

I ask Allah with His fairest names and His supreme attributes to make me and you follow the Sunnah, and to apply it into our lives and actions. Indeed, Allah is fully able to do so. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet r, his family and his companions until the Day of Judgment.

Written by one who is meek and looks for Allah’s Mercy,

‘Abdullah bin Hamoud al-Furaih

Rafha, Saudi Arabia

E- mail: forih@hotmail.com