The Advent of the Seal
of all Prophets, Muhammad (pbuh)
'O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good
tidings, and a warner, calling people to Allah by His grace, and as a
light-giving lamp.' (Al-Ahzab
33: 46-47).
Alhamdulillah, Summa
Alhamdulillah, today, I
continue to speak on our beloved Master, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), and his status
as the greatest prophet among all prophets. As I mentioned last week, while
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is the greatest prophet and the last law-bearing
prophet, it does not mean there will be no prophets after him. Prophets and
Messengers of Allah will continue to come, but only from his own Ummah
(community), and not from the communities that have rejected him (pbuh). This
forms a chain of belief, where one Messenger confirms the other, and the new
Messenger is born from the community and faith of the previous Messenger of
Allah who has passed away.
When a believer fully understands this concept, this clear truth, they will see that everything is connected to Allah and Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh): Laa-Ilaaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasullullah (There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger). The greatest honour Allah has granted to Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is that all the prophets in the past foretold his coming, and after him (pbuh), all prophets that will come will confirm his message: The Quran and Sunnah.
Allah has perfected humanity in him. When we speak of the perfect man, every reference points to him. No one before or after him will reach the degree of perfection that he (pbuh) has reached. Yes, there will be some who will come close to this honourable grade or status—there is no doubt about it—but they will not surpass his degree of perfection—there is no doubt about that as well. Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is the example par excellence of a true human being. His qualities as a human are such that the qualities of prophet have reached perfection physically, morally, and spiritually only through him.
We must keep in mind
that INSAN (humankind) by the nature
that Allah has created him, is never completely perfect to a hundred percent –
even Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) – in the present context we are discussing. There
is an inherent weakness in humans that cannot be separated from them, and even
if Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has reached the highest level of the scale of human
perfection, but he (pbuh) did not reach that level to a hundred percent. It is
true that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is pure from all major sins, and even the
minor sins that other people often fall victim to. Here, I am not speaking of
sins, but of human weaknesses, which even Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) could not
separate from himself. If he had reached the top level of perfection, then he
would not be known as a human; for humans, Allah created them weak, and Allah
has placed this weakness in humans so that they often turn to Him in
repentance.
If all people were
absolutely perfect, they would gradually become arrogant in their perfection,
except for the chosen servants of Allah, whom Allah protects from the
impurities of Satan. Thus, all people without exception have weaknesses in
them, just as Allah says in the Quran: “Allah
wants to lighten your burden, for mankind is created weak.” (An-Nisa
4:28)
Here, the word used to
describe human weakness is “dua-eee-fa.” This weakness is in human
nature. Humans have this weakness in them. And even the greatest prophet and
the most perfect man, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) had this weakness in him, but he
(pbuh), compared to the rest of humanity, from the creation of humans until the
Day of Judgement, has succeeded in gradually overcoming his weaknesses to the
point where only a small degree of weakness remained in him, and it is this
human weakness that allowed him to remain attached to his Lord, to ask Allah
for forgiveness time and again despite Allah promising him paradise and
granting him a rank that no other human or prophet could reach.
When his wife Hazrat
Aisha (ra) asked him why he needed to pray so much and ask for forgiveness when
Allah had already forgiven his past and future sins, what was the answer our master
(pbuh) gave her? He said to her: “Should I not be a thankful servant?”
(Bukhari)
So we find that the weakness of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was
in fact a shield for him so that he did not fall into the trap of Satan. This
human weakness in him caused him a lot of concern, making him cautious in doing
anything that might anger Allah. As an example, I present to you the anecdote
of the blind man who came to him for explanations about religion. This anecdote
was so important that Allah found it necessary to mention it in the Quran,
where you will find it in Chapter 80, Abasa, at the very beginning.
When Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) frowned at the blind believer,
Allah found it necessary to reprimand him, because Allah alone knows the worth
of all people, and while Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was giving priority to others,
Allah made him understand through this reprimand that this blind man was more
valuable in the eyes of Allah than the others whom Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was
giving much more consideration. However, here, it was not a sin that Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) committed, because he did not know the worth or heart of
people. For him, in looking at the appearance of people, he thought that
certain individuals were more interested in the affairs of Islam than this
blind man.
But Allah kept His greatest Prophet on the straight path (Siratwal
Mustaqeem) when He reprimanded him, and this reprimand was beneficial for
him (pbuh) and the entire Ummah. That is why Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was always
asking for forgiveness from Allah, because he did not know in which action he
might do something that would anger Allah. Allah would not remove him from
paradise which He had promised him, but Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was so thirsty
for divine love that he did not even want to make his Lord angry with him. He (pbuh)
was doing everything so that Allah would be completely pleased with him as a
servant and prophet. Therefore, if the Messengers of Allah thirst for divine
love, they will certainly attain it by following the example of His greatest
human and prophetic model that He sent for the entire universe.
Notice the term used by Allah: Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen.
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is not only a mercy, a blessing for this temporal world,
but for the entire universe. Here, Allah has given the highest status a human
can achieve to His beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Allah knows that
humans are weak, but if people follow the perfect example of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh),
they too will achieve a degree of perfection that is close to what Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) attained.
This is why, among all
the Ummahs since the creation of the universe, only the Ummah of Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) can reach the highest level if – of course – they follow his
perfect example and they fight all their satans concealed within, and they make
these satans become Muslims.
The greatest Jihad that
man can do is with himself. When man (Insan) succeeds in appeasing his ego
or passion (Nafs) and achieving inner peace (Nafs-e-Mutmaina),
then this is the state that Allah and His Messenger (Rasul) Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh)
desires that all people, all the sincere servants of Allah achieve. It is such
a state where a person is in complete harmony with his Creator, and where Allah
is amply pleased with him.
May Allah enable all of
us Muslims to work nights and days to attain human perfection, to attain the state
of the peaceful soul (Nafs-e-Mutmaina) which guarantees for all of us
the pleasure of Allah upon us. And may Allah perfect all the prophets whom He
sends as His representatives on this earth so that they deserve to approach the
perfection of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) just as Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has shown
us through his own example and his Taqwa. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 04 October 2024~ 30 Rabi'ul Awwal 1446 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.