Hearing the name of the prophet Muhammad صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم

Asalamu ‘alaikum to all Muslims and a warm welcome to all non-Muslims,

As mentioned a week or two earlier I have resumed blogging after a three year pause. I intend to use this blog at times to express my own personal thoughts and musings on various topics. Tonight I went to my local masjid (mosque) and the Imam was reciting certain verses of the Quran during the Isha salah (last of the 5 daily obligatory prayers and performed at night time. I was listening to his recitation of the Quran which when he read the name ‘Muhammad’ which is mentioned four times in the Quran.

Now, without me choosing to feel this way there was an instinctive dramatic increase in my mood. I felt happiness, comfort, love and warmth at hearing the name of the beloved of Allah, the final messenger, Muhammad صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم. In fact if I could have I would have even said ‘solAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam’, which in Arabic means ‘may the prayers of Allah be upon him’, though that would not be allowed during the prayer as it is required for the believer to listen to the Imam silently.

So why is it that I had such a reaction?

The name of the prophet, صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم, is associated with many things. It is associated with him himself, his personality which was a humble, soft, modest, kind one. We know this from accounts of his life, his behaviour and his personality. He was not attracted to this world and its false adornments which entice many with its seductive but false allure. He was a simple man. He became a very important leader but he did not adopt the despotic behaviour of rulers at that time including such as that of the emperor of Persia who was almost semi-deified or the extreme reverence accorded to the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople or even other rulers and governors far lesser than them in the hierarchy of rulership. He had a simple diet, lived in a simple basic house and cared little for material things. He was a deeply kind and compassionate man who helped the marginalised, in fact in the beginning of his prophethood he was laughed at by the elite of his tribe, the Quraysh, for having the supposedly ‘inferior’ members of society including slaves and others as his supporters. Little did they know in their arrogance and hubris at the time with their myopic fixation with the apparent that this man would one day rule a vast swathe of territory unparalleled by any other Arab leader in history, that his successors would go on to conquer Egypt, Iran, Anatolia, the Levant and beyond. If they had known perhaps they would have reacted differently, but their scorn of him was based on the visible, the apparent and this is often the case of mankind and his folly that he does not think behind the immediate.

Also it is known in Islam that when we give ‘salawat’ (prayers) upon the prophet that it is transmitted to him and he knows about it even though he is not in this physical realm and we receive ten ‘salawaat’ (prayers/blessings) from Allah for every ‘salaat’ we give on the prophet صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم. What this means in actual terms is blessings and goodness in our lives. Thus, does the blessings of the prophet صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم continue even though he is not in this world with us any more physically. His existence continues to be a source of happiness, comfort and blessings for us all.

It is for some of these points above that I was just so happy to hear the name of the holy prophet صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم in tonight’s Isha prayer in my local mosque.

May Allah bless him صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم and all the believers and accept our duas. May Allah help those around the world who are suffering, may Allah help the orphans, the wives who are being beaten or abused, the employee who is bullied, the child who is tormented, the hungry man whose belly is empty and may Allah shower his goodness and blessings on us all.

Peace and prayers be upon his noble prophet, Muhammad صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم

Ameen.

يا عمار، إن لله ملكا أعطاه أسماع الخلائق كلها، وهو قائم على قبري، إذا مت إلى يوم القيامة، فليس أحد من أمتي يصلي علي صلاة إلا أسماه باسمه، واسم أبيه، قال: يا محمد، صلى عليك فلان، فيصلي الرب على ذلك الرجل بكل

This is the Arabic text of a hadith, of which the English is: ‘The prophet صَلّى الله عليه وسلّم said, “O ‘Ammar! Allah Ta’ala has given some angels the ability to hear the creation. He is stationed at my graveside, from the time of my demise until the Day of Qiyamah. When anyone from my ummah sends salutations upon me, the angel takes his name as well as his father’s name and says, ‘O Muhammad! So and so has sent salutations upon you.’ Allah Ta’ala then invokes ten mercies on this person for each salutation.’