اَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَّ الشِّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ۞
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيْمَ۞
رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي۞ وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي۞وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِيْ۞ يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِيِ۞
اَلْحَمْدُ لله ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلى سَيِّدِنَا محمدوَعَلَى اَلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرا
We ask Allahسبحانه وتعالى to bless this gathering.
We ask Allahسبحانه وتعالى to benefit us, from what we learn.
We ask Allahسبحانه وتعالى to teach us that, which will benefit us.
We ask Allahسبحانه وتعالى to make us of those, who will follow the way of Rasool Allah ﷺ and love him.
And we ask Allahسبحانه وتعالى to make us of those, who will be with him in Jannah(جنة).
First of all, we'll start with definition of Seerah(سيرة).
What does the word Seerah(سيرة) mean?
The word, Seerah(سيرة) has a linguistic meaning and that is a path,
and walking is called Sair(سير).
When you walk from one place to another, it says, Saraa Fulaan(سَارَ فُلَانْ).
Fulaan(فلان) is walking, or such as this person is walking.
So, it is the path that a person takes, during their lifetime, that is Seerah(سيرة).
And the Hans Wehr dictionary, gives the translation of the word Seerah(سيرة) as
conduct, comportment, demeanor, behavior, way of life, attitude, position, reaction, way of acting and biography.
All of these are meanings of the word Seerah(سيرة).
And Seerah(سيرة) could be the biography of any person, it not necessarily Muhammadﷺ.
However, we have used the word so much with Muhammadﷺ, that when we say Seerah(سيرة),
we almost, all the time, are referring to, The Life of Muhammadﷺ.
But you could also say the Seerah(سيرة) of Abu Bakr(ابو بكر), the Seerah(سيرة) of Umar(عمر), the Seerah(سيرة) of so and so.
It is a biography of a person, their life.
So, that's the meaning of the word Seerah(سيرة), it is the life of a person,
and in this situation, we're studying the life of the greatest; Muhammadﷺ.
What's the importance of studying Seerah(سيرة)?
Number one;
The life of Muhammadﷺ is the history of Islam;
you're studying a Concise History of Islam by studying, The Life Of Muhammadﷺ.
His life; in His Seerah(سيرة), we would find situations and incidences that would help us
in everything that we would need to know, in our life of Da'wah(دعوة).
So, the life of Muhammadﷺ is really the history of Islam.
We're not just studying the biography of a person, we're studying history of our religion.
Muhammad Ibn Sa'ad Bin Abi Waqas(محمد ابن سعد بن ابي وقاص),
- Sa'ad Ibn Abi Waqas(سعد إبن وقاص) is one of Ashra Mubashireen Bil Jannah(عشره مبشرين بالجنة),
he is one of the ten(10), who were given glad tidings of paradise.
His son Muhammad(محمد) says:
That our father would teach us the battles of Rasool Allahﷺ,
he would teach us the Seerah(سيرة) of Rasool Allah ﷺ
and he would tell us that these are the traditions of your fathers.
So, study them.!
And they used to refer to Seerah(سيرة), as Maghazi(مغازي),
Maghazi(مغازي) means the battles,
because the latter part of Rasool Allah ﷺ was spent in Maghazi(مغازي).
So, they would use this word Maghazi(مغازي) to refer to, The Whole life of Muhammadﷺ.
And Ali Bin Hussain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib(علي بن حسين ابن علي ابن ابي طالب),
the grandson of Ali Ibn Abi Talib(علي ابن ابي طالب), he would say that,
we were taught the Seerah(سيرة) of Rasool Allah ﷺ, like we were taught Qur'an.
That is how important Seerah(سيرة) was for them.
They would study it, like they would study Qur'an.
And that makes sense, because if you want to study the life of Musaعليه السلام, where do we go.?
where do we study it from?
From Qur'an.
If we want to study the life of Eesaعليه السلام,
we go to Qur'an.
But if we want to study the life of Muhammadﷺ,
His life, even though there are bits and pieces of it, mentioned in Qur'an,
but we don't have as much details about the life of Muhammadﷺ in Qur'an, as we have about Musa(موسى).
So, the life of Rasool Allah ﷺ for us, to study it, we go to Seerah(سيرة).
All of the Ambiyaa(أنبياء), their lives were recorded in Qur'an, with the exception of Muhammadﷺ,
Muhammadﷺ, his life, we'd learn it from Seerah(سيرة).
So, when we want to learn about the Ambiyaa(أنبياء), we go to Qur'an.
When we want to learn about Muhammadﷺ we go to his Seerah(سيرة).
Again - even though there's some references in Qur'an made to his life.
We'll talk about the influence of Seerah(سيرة), in understanding Quran.
Number two!
The second reason for studying Seerah(سيرة).
It is to develop the proper love of Muhammadﷺ, in our hearts.
Loving Muhammadﷺ is Ibadah(عبادة)
It's part of our religion to love Muhammad صلوات الله وسلام عليه,
He says:
لَا يُؤمِنُ أحَدَكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُوْنَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَلِدَهِ وَوَالَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِيْنْ۞
One of you does not attain true faith,
until you love me more than you love your parents, your children and the whole world.
We don't really become true believers, until we love Muhammadﷺ more than anything else.
So, it is part of Islam, to love Muhammadﷺ.
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, he came to Muhammadﷺ and said:
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب) was very honest and straightforward person,
he went to Rasool Allah ﷺ and said, O Rasool Ullah, I love you more than everything except myself.
I love you more than anyone, except myself.
Rasool Allah ﷺ, told him:
Until you love me.
Meaning, you don't really attain the complete faith, until you love me more than your own self.
So, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمر ابن الخطاب) came back and said: O Rasool Ullah, now I love you more than my own self.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said:
اَلْآنَ اِذَنْ
Now, you have attained the complete faith.
The Ummah(امة) today, loves Muhammadﷺ.
If you ask any Muslim, do you love Muhammadﷺ? They would say: Yes!
But the love cannot be very deep and sincere, unless you know the person.
If you have shallow information about someone, you can't really love them a lot.
To love a person, you need to know them more.
And this is especially true with Muhammadﷺ because the more you know him,
the more you would be impressed with his personality, the more you would love him.
So, even though Muhammadﷺ among the Ummah(امة) today with the shallow information that the masses of the Muslims have, about him,
even though they still love him,
but we cannot truly have deep love to Muhammadﷺ unless we know him.
You know, the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم the more they knew him,
the closer they were to him, the more they would love him.
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) for example,
he was one of the staunchest enemies of Muhammad صلوات الله وسلام عليه.
He was one of the top plotters against Islam.
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص), he later became a Muslim and when he was passing away,
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) started weeping, he was crying, on his death bed.
So, his son Abdullah Bin Amr(عبدالله بن عمرو) told him:
O my father, didn't Rasool Allah ﷺ give you the glad tidings of this,
didn't he give you the glad tidings of that.
I mean, it is reported in Hadith, that Rasool Allahﷺ said:
آمَنَ عمرو
That Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) has attained faith.
So, this is a witness from Rasool Allahﷺ, that Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) is a Mo'min(مؤمن),
not only a Muslim, but he is the higher level of Mo'min(مؤمن).
So, his son was trying to give his father the glad tidings that you are a true believer.
I mean, Rasool Allahﷺ has given you all of these, glad tidings.
How come you are crying now before, your death.
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص), he turned around, and he said,
I have went through three stages in my life.
At the first stage,
the most despised man to me, was Muhammadﷺ.
And my desire was that I could get my hold of him,
I could get my hands on him and kill him.
That was my desire, that was my wish, my aspiration to kill Muhammadﷺ.
He says; If I died at that time, I would have definitely been in Hellfire.
He said than Allah put the love of Islam in my heart.
And I went to Muhammadﷺ and I said, O Muhammad(محمد).
I want to become Muslim,
extend your hand, so that I can pledge allegiance to you,
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) says; Muhammadﷺ extended his hand forward,
and I pulled my hand away.
So, Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص), he had Rasool Allahﷺ extend his hand,
and when Rasool Allahﷺ was ready to put his hand, in his.
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص), Pulled his hand away.
Rasool Allahﷺ told him: What's wrong.?
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) said: I have a condition to make.
اُرِيْدُ اَنْ تَشْتَرِطُ لِنَفْسِيْ
Rasool Allah ﷺ told him: What is your condition.?
He said: My condition is that, you pardon me.
You give me clemency
because Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) knew that what he has done in the past,
the great crimes that he committed against the Muslims, is sufficient for his execution.
So, he wanted to make sure that Rasool Allah ﷺ would not hold him accountable for what he did in the past,
Rasool Allah ﷺ smiled and he said:
يَا عمرو: اَمَا تَدْرِي اَنَّ لْاِسْلَامَ يَجُبُّ مَا قَبْلَهَ،
وَاَنَّ الْهِجْرَتَ تَجُبُّ مَا قَبْلَهَا،
وَ اَنَّ الْحَجَّ يَجُبُّ مَا قَبْلَهَ
"O Amr(عمرو): Don't you know, that Islam erases everything before it,
and Hijrah(هجرة) erases everything before it,
and Hajj(حج), erases everything before it."
Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص) said: So, I became Muslim.
He said at that stage,
Muhammadﷺ, who was my worst enemy, became the most beloved person to me in the world.
He said: And I loved him so much,
and I respected him so much,
I couldn't even get a full glimpse of his face.
Whenever, I would see him, I would stare downwards.
He said: I have so much love, and respect for him, I couldn't even get a full glimpse of his face,
and if you would ask me today, to describe him to you, I couldn't.
He said: and if I died during that stage.
I would have hoped to be in Jannah(جنة).
And then he said, and then later on, came things and we don't know, where we stand?
Anyway, there's some other parts for the Hadith(حديث)
but the part that concerns us now is that Amr Bin Aas(عمرو بن العاص)
when he got to know Muhammadﷺ, when he became close to him.
Muhammadﷺ, who was his worst enemy became his most beloved friend.
Sohail Bin Amr(سهيل بن عمرو), was sent by Quraish(قُرَيْشْ)
to negotiate with Muhammadﷺ before Sulh-Hal-Hudaubiyah(صلح الحديبيه)
Sohail Bin Amr(سهيل بن عمرو) was, an international negotiator,
he has been to the courts of the Persian Emperor, the Roman Emperor, the Emperor of Abyssinia.
He's a well connected man.
And now, Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) sent him to negotiate with Muhammadﷺ.
So he went into Madina and he came in
and he had firsthand experience with, how the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم treat Muhammadﷺ.
So, Sohail Bin Amr(سهيل بن عمرو) went back to report, to Quraish(قُرَيْشْ) He told them,
He said: I've visited the Roman Emperor,
I've visited the Persian Emperor,
I've visited An-Najashi(نجاشي) of Abyssinia,
but I have never in my life, seen a leader that is so loved by his followers and so much respected by his followers, like Muhammadﷺ.
I have seen nothing like it, in the world.
The Roman Emperor, the Persian Emperor, An-Najashi(نجاشي) of Abyssinia,
even though they have all of the power and strength and empires.
I have never seen a people, love their leader so much like the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم loved Muhammadﷺ.
He said: I saw amazing things.
Muhammadﷺ would we making Wudhoo(وضؤ) and the Sahabah(صحابہ) would be rushing to grab the water dripping from his body.
So, he told them: Do whatever you want, these are people, who will never give up their leader.
The Sahabah(صحابه), they will never give him up.
They would give their lives, first.
They would sacrifice everything for him.
So, if you want to love Muhammadﷺ, we need to learn more about him.
I've already said that even though among the masses of Muslims,
we don't have much information about Muhammadﷺ, we don't know a lot about his Seerah(سيرة)
because it's not part of the curriculum that schools in the Muslim world teach.
Nevertheless, even though we are ignorant about him and his life.
He is still the most beloved figure that ever lived in humanity.
His name is the most common name in the world.
How many people in the world, are named Muhammad(محمد).
There is no other person that ever lived in history that had so many people named themselves after him like Muhammadﷺ.
When I was in college in the U.S., we had an Imam(إمام), he was from Nigeria,
and he was a Hafidh(حافظ) and he was our Imam in the small college town, in the U.S.
And his name was Muhammad Al-Ashr(محمد العشر)
Now, the word Ashr(العشر) means the tenth.
So, for a long time, I assumed that Ashr(العشر) is his last name,
Muhammad Al-Ashr(محمد العشر).
One day I went up to him and I said,
What is Al-Ashr(العشر).?
I mean, is that the name of the tribe or the clan.
He said: No!
He said: My father would name, every male, boy, that he has Muhammad(محمد),
all of his children he would name them Muhammad(محمد).
So, to distinguish between us, he has to number us.
So, there was Muhammad, the first Muhammad the second, Muhammad the third, and I'm Muhammad the tenth.
I mean, his father doesn't want to deal with any other name, all of his children are gonna be Muhammad.
And in Pakistan and India you'd, Muhammad Haroon, Muhammad Sulayman, Muhammad Adam, Muhammad, everybody is Muhammad.
There's no one in history that had an Ummah(امة) love him, like the Ummah(امة) loves Muhammadﷺ.
He is the most beloved figure in history.
Now, what will be the situation if we study about his life.
I mean, how much love do we have, then for Muhammad صلوات الله وسلام عليه.
His name is the most frequently mentioned name.
Around the clock, there will be a Mu'azana(مؤذنه), a minaret,
that is calling to prayer and mentioning the name of Muhammadﷺ,
around the clock.
Because Muslims now are worldwide.
So, in every time zone, you have Muslims.
So, in every minute of the day, there will be a Mu'azana(مؤذنه) that is saying,
اَشْهَدُ اَنْ لَّا اِلَه اِلَّا الله، وَ اَشْهَدُ اَنَّ محمد الرَسُوْلَ اللهَ
His name is mentioned around the clock,
and by the way, the name Muhammad(محمد) means the praised one.
And there is no one, who was praised like Muhammadﷺ.
I mean, his name, really fulfilled its meaning.
He is the praised one.
He is always praised, whenever we hear his name, What do we say?
صلى الله عليه وسلم
So, we want to develop love of Muhammadﷺ and the way we could do it.?
Is by studying his life,
we will love him more, the more we study about him.
Allahسبحانه وتعالى says:
قُلْ إِنْ كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ
وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ
وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ
أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍفِي سَبِيلِهِ
فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ۞
Say if it be, that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred,
the wealth that you have gained,
the commerce in which you fear a decline, or the dwellings in which you delight,
are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause,
then wait until, Allah brings about His decision.
And Allah guides not the rebellious.
So, the Ayah(آية) is stating that our love for Allah and His Messenger and striving in the cause of Allah
should be paramount to everything else.
Our fathers, our sons, our brothers, our mates, our kindred, our wealth, everything.
Allah, His Messenger and Islam, should be the dearest thing to every one of us.
Number three, why do we study Seerah(سيرة).?
to follow the way of Muhammadﷺ.
Ibn Hazam (ابن حزم) says:
Whoever seeks the preeminence of the Hereafter,
the wisdom of this life, the just purpose and the embodiment of morality and character,
let him follow Muhammadﷺ, the Prophet of Allah.
So, Muhammadﷺ is the embodiment of Khuluq(خلق),
the perfect character
and by studying his Seerah(سيرة), we will be more able to follow his way.
Number four, understanding Qur'an:
There are some Ayaat(آيات) in Qur'an, that are independent of the circumstances of the revelation.
Like for example, the Ayaat(آيات) about Al-Aakhirah(الآخرة), Ar-Raqaiq (ألرقائق),
these are independent of the circumstances.
But then there are some Ayaat(آيات) that were dealing with events that were happening in the time of Muhammadﷺ.
So, you would have some Ayaat(آيات) revealed prior to an event,
some Ayaat(آيات) revealed concurrent with an event,
and some Ayaat(آيات) revealed after an event.
Seerah(سيرة) would give us the explanation of these Ayaat(آيات).
Like for example, Surah(سورة) Al-Ahzaab(الاحزاب)
many Ayaat(آيات) in Surah Ahzaab(سورة الأحزاب) were revealed regarding the Battle of Ahzaab(ألأحزاب),
many Ayaat(آيات) in Surat-Al-Imram(سورة الإعمران) were relating to events that happened in the time of Rasool Allahﷺ.
So, you have a major section of Surat-Al-Imram(سورة الإعمران), was a dialogue between Muslims and Christians,
based on the Christian delegation that came from Najraan(نجران) to visit Rasool Allah ﷺ.
These Ayaat(آيات) were revealed to support Rasool Allah ﷺ in his dialogue with the Christians.
And then you also have the end part, the latter part of Al-Imram(آلعمران) is dealing with Ghazwat Uhud(غزوة احد).
Now, the details of Ghazwa(غزوة) are not mention in Surah(سورة), so how can you understand these Ayaat(آيات)?
By going to Seerah(سيرة).
Number five,
His life ﷺ illustrates the methodological steps of the Islamic movement.
Rasool Allah ﷺ went through stages,
he went through steps,
started by a secret Da'wah(دعوة)
and then it became public.
And then later on Jihad(جهاد).
So, it went through stages.
These stages are important for Islamic movements to learn and study.
Munir Ghardaan(مُنِيْر غَرْدَان), he says;
And we believe that this methodological progression of the prophet's life is divinely directed,
for Allah has guided His Prophet in all of his steps.
And it was not a result of a reaction to emerging circumstances.
So, these events that happened in the life of Rasool Allah ﷺ, were not haphazard.
They were planned by Allahسبحانه وتعالى,
so that they would be a guidance for us in our attempts to establish Islam again.
So, it's very important that we look at the stages that Rasool Allah ﷺ went through,
and the progression of his Da'wah(دعوة).
Rasheed Ridhaa(رشيد رضا) says;
Were it not for the education and training, verbal direction would not suffice,
for the Seerah(سيرة), taught them how to be guided by the Qur'an,
and train them to be just and moderate in all matters.
So, we have Qur'an and Sunnah(سنة), our verbal teachings.
But how do we apply these verbal teachings,
it is by looking into the application of Rasool Allah ﷺ and Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.
So, they took this verbal, teaching into action.
And that is something that only the Muslims have.
I mean, the followers of all the other Ambiyaa(أنبِيَاء) they have lost trace of the Seerah(سيرة) of their Ambiyaa(أنبِيَاء).
But with us, we know how Qur'an was being practiced.
We know how the Sunnah(سنة) of Rasool Allahﷺ was being practice and applied.
There's an Ayah(آية) in Qur'an,
that says that you can continue eating and drinking at night time of Ramadan(رمضان),
until the white string is distinguished from the black string.
One of the Sahabah(صحابه) he took this literally,
what he did is, he had the string under his pillow.
And he would eat and then he would uncover the string,
he would pick up the pillow, he wouldn't see the string.
So, he continued eating.
And he was keep on doing that and then he went to Rasool Allah ﷺ and said: This is what I've done,
Rasool Allah ﷺ laughed and he said,
it doesn't mean that you take a string in your room and you take a look at it,
it means, the white string, which is the first emergence of light in the horizon,
that is what is meant by it.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ this Sahabi(صحابي), how to apply that Ayah(آية).
I mean, because I could be in a dark room with no windows,
Alright!
and I have a string with me and it would be noon time, and I still cannot see it and I'm continuing to eat.
So, the application of the Ayaat(آيات) and the Ahadith(احاديث) of Rasool Allah ﷺ are shown to us in the life of Muhammadﷺ,
and the life of the Sahabah(صحابه), may the blessings and pleasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى be with them all.
Number Six,
Studying Seerah(سيرة) is Ibadah(عبادة),
We are not doing this to entertain ourselves.
This is Ibadah(عبادة), there is Ajar(اجر), there is reward in studying this.
We are worshipping Allah by coming together and studying the life of Muhammadﷺ.
This is a Halaqah(حلقه) of Zikr(زكر),
this is a session of Zikr(ذكر) when we come together and talk about Muhammadﷺ,
we are worshipping Allahسبحانه وتعالى,
and we expect that this is a gathering that will be surrounded by angels,
in which Allahسبحانه وتعالى will shower us with His mercy
and tranquility and be mentioned in a gathering better than this.
So, it is Ibadah(عبادة) and Allahسبحانه وتعالى says:
قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ
وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ۞
Allahسبحانه وتعالى says;
If you do love Allah, follow me,
meaning follow Muhammad ﷺ,
Allah will love you and forgive you, your sins.
For Allah is Aft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Number seven,
Developing a Muslim identity,
brothers or sisters,
there is a global culture, that is being forced down on the throats of everyones on the face of the earth,
this global culture is protected and promoted.
Thomas Friedman, he's a famous writer in the U.S., he writes for the New York Times.
He says; The Hidden Hand of the market cannot survive without a hidden fist.
McDonald's will never flourish without McDonnell Douglas,
the designer of the F15 (F-Fifteens).
In other words,
we're not really dealing with a global culture that is benign or compassionate.
This is a culture that gives you no choice.
You either accept McDonald's,
otherwise McDonnell Douglas will send their F15s above your head.
It's a very intolerant culture that cannot coexist with anything else.
It uproots, every other culture on the face of the earth.
It just cuts the roots of it.
And you have a quote here by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
He's a famous Russian historian and writer, he says,
to destroy a people, you must first sever their roots.
So, it's really a destruction of the people of the earth,
because every other culture is being demolished.
So, this is not a global culture that will coexist with others, it will replace others.
And the only ideology that is standing up, against this global culture is Islam.
But still, as Muslims, and especially Muslims living in the West, we are suffering from a serious identity crisis.
I mean, you would find that even though the brother or sister would be practicing Islam,
but the identity itself, the Islamic identity itself is lost
I mean, the person would have more in common with a rock star or soccer player,
than they would have with the companion of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
You would find that our youth know more about Pop Star than they know about the Sahabah of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
In fact, even sometimes more than the Ambiyaa(أنبِيَاء),
how many of our youth know the names of all of the Ambiyaa(أنبِيَاء) of Allah.?
How many of our youth know the names of the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.
But ask the same person to name, the soccer players on their favorite team,
or the their best basketball players, and they'll go down the list.
So, there is a serious identity crisis that is going on, among Muslims.
And the way we can counter that, the way we can develop a Muslim identity.
Number one,
by having a strong study of Islamic history,
which is made up of the lives of the Prophets of Allah,
the Life of Muhammadﷺ,
the Life of the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم,
and then learning in general, the Muslim history after that.
So, that's number one.
You develop an identity by having an attachment with history,
because history is our umbilical cord, that is our lifeline.
We are an extension of an Ummah(امة),
we're not separated, we're not severed from our roots,
we are part of a glorious Ummah(امة) that we need to study about.
Number two,
by being part of the worldwide Muslim Ummah(امة).
Our local identity should not override our Muslim identity.
So, my identification with Britain, or America, or Pakistan,
or Kuwait or any other country should not override my Islamic identity.
See, this Nation State, concept is something that Islam came to abolish,
we have our loyalty to Allahسبحانه وتعالى and to our religion
and we are part of a worldwide Ummah(امة).
Therefore, we need to study we need to learn about our Muslim brethren, all over the world.
What happens in Philastine(فلسطين) should concern every British Muslim,
what happens in Kashmir should concern every American Muslim,
what happens in every corner of the Muslim world,
should concern me as if it is happening within my own house.
So, these are the two important elements in building an identity.
Number one, having a deep understanding of your history.
And Number two
being part of the Ummah(امة) and caring about the Ummah(امة).
And again, this saying of Alexander Solzhenitsyn is, to destroy a people you must first sever their roots,
we don't want our roots to be severed
we want our roots to be deep.
Studying the life of Rasool Allah ﷺ is the most important ingredient in our history.
Number eight,
the life of Muhammadﷺ is a testimony of his Prophet Hood.
The greatest miracle of Muhammadﷺ is Qur'an
and then Rasool Allah ﷺ has many other miracles other than that.
But by just studying his life,
in itself is an evidence of his Prophet Hood.
I mean, here you have a man, who for forty(40) years, was leading a normal life.
The outstanding thing about the life of Muhammadﷺ in the first forty(40) years was his morality and character.
But Rasool Allah ﷺ did not show any signs of aspiration to power,
or influence, none of that, at all.
I mean, Rasool Allah ﷺ was leading a normal life.
And then suddenly, after the age of forty(40),
Rasool Allah ﷺ brings about the greatest change that the world has ever seen.
That's an irony, that's a miracle.
Rasool Allah ﷺ was illiterate, could not read or write.
And then he presents the world with the greatest book that was ever produced.
And we could go on and on, in a list of ironies of things that are only explained,
if Muhammadﷺ is a Messenger from Allah, who has divine help.
Otherwise, it's impossible.
There's no way to explain his Seerah(سيرة), except to admit that he was an Nabi(نبي) from Allah.
It is impossible for a person to achieve what Muhammadﷺ achieved,
without being assisted by Allahسبحانه وتعالى, through revelation.
So, it's a testimony of his Prophet Hood, it's one of Dalail An-Nabuwwa(دلائل ألنبوة),
then you have Muhammadﷺ, leading a normal life for the first forty(40) years and then
suddenly, he becomes a political leader,
military leader,
religious leader,
head of a large household,
law make, teacher, Imam(اِمَام)
and go on, and on, and on, in the list of things that Rasool Allah ﷺ used to do.
All of that was done within 23 years.
Impossible.!!!!
Which would lead to the next point that we are studying the life of the greatest.
Right now, we're studying the life of the greatest man that ever set foot on this earth.
Muhammadﷺ is the greatest
and whatever benchmark you want to use for greatness, he will still come out the greatest.
Michael Hart, he is a U.S. author.
He wrote a book called The Hundred, the most influential persons, that are people that ever lived in history.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with this book.
After studying the lives of leaders throughout history,
it became clear to him that Muhammadﷺ is the undisputable, greatest man that ever lived.
He is the greatest, and in his introduction, he feels compelled to respond
to what, the readers of the book might think because he's mostly writing for a Non Muslim audience.
So, many people would question his choice of Muhammadﷺ.
So, therefore, in his introduction, he writes, he says:
My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons
may surprise some readers, and may be questioned by others.
But he was the only man in history,
who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.
And then he goes on to say, it is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence,
which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.
So, Michael Hart is compelled by the facts.
I mean, there's no doubt that Muhammad is the greatest.
But then he has to apologize to his readers, I mean, he has to say it's out of my hands.
I mean, there's no way I could put anybody else in front of him.
I mean, Muhammadﷺ is the greatest.
In fact, if we take Muhammadﷺ as a military leader,
just that aspect of his personality, he would still come out the greatest.
If we would take Muhammadﷺ, only the religious aspect of his life, he would still be the greatest,
Muhammadﷺ, the political leader, he would still come out the greatest.
So, even if you would dissect the different aspects of the Life of Muhammadﷺ,
and take them piece by piece, by just taking one piece alone,
he would still be greater than everybody else that ever lived.
So, we are studying the Life of Al-Mustafaa(ألمصطفى)!!
Al-Mustafaa(ألمصطفى) means the one, who is chosen.
Allahسبحانه وتعالى chosen,
اَلْمُصْطَفَى مِنْ خَلْقِ
He is chosen out of all of the creation of Allah.
And there might be some other reasons why studying Seerah(سيرة) is important.
Now, what are the sources used.
We will be using two primary sources for this course.
Number one,
the Seerah(سيرة) of Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير).
Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير), he did not write a book called Seerah(سيرة),
Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير) wrote an encyclopedia of history called Al-Bidaya Wan-Nihayah(ألبدايه والنهايه),
the beginning and the end.
And it's literally the beginning and the end.
He started from the beginning of creation, and went all the way until, people entered Jannah(جنة) and Naar(النار).
One of these volumes is about the Life of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
And another volume is about the Prophets.
And then he has a volume about the Khilafah Al-Rashidah(خلافه الراشده),
Khilafah Al-Amwiyyah(خلافه الامويه), Khilafah Al-Abbasiya(خلافة العباسيه).
He wrote all the way, up to his time.
And then the last volume is about Al-Fittan(فتن), the signs of the Day of Judgment, and then the Day of Judgment,
and the Jannah(جنة) and Naar(النار).
So, we are going to be taking his part on Seerah(سيرة) as a primary source.
And I'll talk a little bit on, why I have chosen Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير) to be our primary source.?
The second book that I've used in the compilation of these notes is,
Sahih As-Seerah An-Nabawiyyah(صحيح ألسيرة ألنبويه) by Ibrahim Al-Ali(ابراهيم العلي).
Traditionally, Seerah(سيرة) was a separate science, from Hadith(حديث),
even though there are some areas where they cross each other, but where there is an overlapping between them.
But traditionally, Seerah(سيرة) had a different set of rules, compared to Hadith(حديث).
Scholars of Hadith(حديث) were very stringent, very strict in their rules,
while the scholar of Seerah(سيرة) were more liberal, more flexible.
The reason is, when they were dealing with Hadith(حديث), and drawing Ahkaam(أحكام), drawing rulings,
they wanted to make sure that, they are basing rulings on Ahadith(احاديث) that are sound.
They do not want to have us worship Allah based on weak sources.
So, that's why, they applied very strict rules to Hadith(حديث).
However, when it came to Seerah(سيرة), they were more flexible in the rules,
because they saw this, as history that does not affect Ahkaam(أحكام),
it does not affect rulings, there is no Ahkaam(أحكام) based on it.
So, Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal(امام احمد بن حنبل), who's a scholar of Hadith(حديث), he says:
اِذَا جِئْنَا اِلَى التَّارِيْخْ تَسَاحَلْنَا
When we talk about history, we are more flexible.
So, you would find that the, writers of Seerah(سيرة) would accept narrations that they wouldn't normally accept,
if they are dealing with Hadith(حديث).
So, that's one track that was followed by our early scholars.
The Seerah(سيرة) of Ibn Is'haqq(اِبْنِ اِسْحَاقْ) was written according to these rules,
the Seerah(سيرة) of Al-Makrizi(ألمكريزي), Ibn Sa'ad(ابن سعد) all of these early scholars of Seerah(سيرة),
they followed these flexible rules in narration.
Recently, there was a new trend among some of our scholars,
they wanted to apply the rules of Hadith(حديث) on Seerah(سيرة).
Why?
These scholar said: Now we are living in a time, when the history of Rasool Allah ﷺ is Ahkaam(أحكام) for us.
In the time of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal(امام احمد بن حنبل) Khilafah(خِلَافَه) was established.
So, when they studied the life of Rasool Allah ﷺ, they were studying it, to learn general lessons from it,
but it wasn't to guide them in a methodology of a movement
because Islam was already established.
But now, we need to go through the Seerah(سيرة) and learn rules from it on how to do Da'wah(دعوة)
and how to establish Islam again.
So, it's becoming similar to Fiqh(فقه), when it applies to us.
Therefore, they say we should apply the same rules of Hadith(حديث) on Seerah(سيرة).
The second book, which is Sahih As-Seerah An-Nabwiyah(صحيح ألسيرة إلنبويه) is based on the rules of Hadith(حديث).
So, what these scholars did, they went into Bukhari(بخاريْ), they went into Muslim(مسلم),
they went into Sunnan Ibn Dawood(سنن أبي داؤد), they went into these books of Ahadith(احاديث),
and they gather the bits and pieces that were referring to Seerah(سيرة)
and they constructed a Seerah(سيرة) of Rasool Allah ﷺ based on Hadith(حديث).
So, rather than going to the book of Ibn Is'haq(ابن اسحاق), they would go to Bukhari(بخاريْ),
rather than going to Al-Makreezi(المكريزي) or other early scholars or Ibn Hishaam(ابن هشام) they would go to Muslim(مسلم).
Saeed Hawwa(سعيد هوّه) has written a book based on Hadith(حديث), it's called Asaas Fis Sunnah(ألأساس في السنه).
There's this book which we mentioned by Ibrahim Al-Ali(ابراهيم العلي), which is called Sahih AS-Seerah An-Nabwiya(صحيح السيرة النبويه),
and there are a few other books that are following this line.
Now, the reason why I chose Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير) as our primary source,
is because Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير), he combined both in one book.
So, he draw information from the books of Seerah(سيرة)
and they would also draw information from the books of Hadith(حديث).
So, you would find them narrating from Bukhari(بخاريْ) and narrating from a Ibn Is'haq(ابن اسحاق).
And that is what makes the Seerah(سيرة) of Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير) unique.
There is one drawback with the Seerah(سيرة) of Ibn Kathir(إبن كثير),
and that is, it is a bit complicated and cumbersome to use,
because he would mention all of the chain of narration,
sometimes, he would not stick to a chronological order.
And sometimes, he would bring in information that seems to be contradicting.
But it is an excellent source, and Al-Hamdolillah(الحمدالله) now, it's present in the English language.
It has been recently Translated by Le Gassick, a professor in the US.
And it's a very good translation.
Other books that we might, or we might not be using.
And some of them, I've got some quotations from them, but I just wants you to be familiar with these books.
We have Al-Mihaaj Al-Harki(المنهاج الحركي) by Munir Ghardaan(منير غردان).
The thing about this book is that the author tried to draw movement lessons from Seerah(سيرة).
So, he would divide Seerah(سيرة) into the secret stage, the public stage and then he would go through the Hijrah(هجرة)
and then the different stages of Jihad(جهاد).
So, he tried to construct a movement curriculum from Seerah(سيرة),
it is Al-Minhaj Al-Harki(ألمنهاج ألحركي) by Munir Ghardaan(منير غردان).
It's recently written book.
And then you have Fiqh Seerah(فقه سيره) by Muhammad Al-Ghazzali رحمه الله.
The good thing about his book is that he has some Tarbiyyah(تربية) lessons.
And there's also another book with the same name, Fiqh As-Seerah(فقه السيره) by Al-Bootie(البوطي)
by Muhammad Saeed Ramzan Al-Bootie(محمد سعيد رمضان البوطي), and Al-Bootie(البوطي), emphasizes on Fiqh(فقه),
he draws many fiqh(فقه) lessons from Seerah(سيرة).
And then there's a book called Al-Ghuraba'a(ألغرباء), by Shaikh Salman Al-Odah(شيخ سلمان العودة)
and it is dealing with the Hadith(حديث),
طُوبى اَلغُرَبَاء
Strangers, the Hadith(حديث) of the strangers
and he tries to draw correlations between the strangers, in the time of Rasool Allah ﷺ and the strangers now.
Al-Assas Fil Sunnah(اساس في السنة), we talked about this by Saeed Hawwah(سعيد هوّا),
and then At-Tareeq Elal-Madina(ألطريق الى المدينه) by Muhammad Al-Ab'da(محمد ألعبده),
which is lessons drawn from Seerah(سيرة)
and Fiqh As-Seerah(فقه سيرة) by Al-Bootie(ألبوطي).
Some terminologies that I would like to go over before we start
because sometimes, I have the habit of using Arabic words and I forget to translate them.
So, let's go through their translation now.
So, in case I forget to translate it, at least you know what they mean.
صلى الله عليه وسلم means,
May the blessings and peace of Allah on him.
This is what we say when we hear the name of Muhammadﷺ.
Now, the Hukum(حكم) of saying it,
it is mandatory to say the first time you hear the name of Muhammadﷺ.
Any other time after that, it becomes recommended.
So, in this lecture,
the first time you hear the name of Muhammad, it is mandatory to say (صلى الله عليه وسلم),
any other time after that, as long as we're in the same gathering and meeting, it is recommended.
So, that is Hukum(حكم) of
صلاة وسلام على النبي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم
Rasool Ullah, the word Rasool Ullah means the Messenger of Allah.
Jahilliyah(جاهليه) is the word that I would be referring to.
Jahilliyah(جاهليه) is the ignorance of the Pre Islamic era.
So, it's not a, Jahilliyah(جاهليه) is a time period.
But it's also a concept.
Whenever you have a time that resembles, the Pre Islamic era, it is called Jahilliyah(جاهليه).
And you would find that Syed Qutub(سيد قطب) uses this word a lot,
in reference to the time that we're living in, he says that there's a lot of resemblance between it and the early Jahilliyah(جاهليه).
So, Jahilliyah(جاهليه), it comes from the word Jahal(جهل), which is ignorance.
So, it's a time of ignorance, the absence of the message.
Even if the message is there, but the people are not following it; It is a Jahilliyah(جاهليه).
Eeman( إيمان) Faith, Jannah(الجنة), paradise, and Naar(النار) is hellfire.
The last section is discussing the difference between Hadith(حديث) and Seerah(سيرة) scholars, we talked about this,
Hadith(حديث) scholars more stringent on narrations fearing wrong rulings,
Seerah(سيرة) scholars less stringent
because they wanted to get the stories and were flexible in the narrations.
And we mentioned that we are using a combined approach.
So, I will use Hadith(حديث) and in the situations where there is no Hadith(حديث),
we will fill in the gaps by referring to Seerah(سيرة).
Tayyeb(طيب), This is an introduction to the series,
In-Sha Allah Ta'ala(إن شاءالله تعالى), the next session, we'll start talking about some background history.
صَلَّى الله عَلى سَيَّدِنَا محمد وَعَلى اَلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ سُبْحاَنَكَ الله هُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكْ
نَشْهَدُ الله اِلَهَ اِلَّا اَنْتْ نَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَ نَتُوْبُ عَلَيْكْ