بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ
Many times you hear me emphasise that we are specially blessed; and today I wish to highlight one ayat of the Holy Qur’an in which Allah alludes to this. He says in Surah Imran;
Allah did confer a great favor on the
believers when He sent among them an apostle from among themselves, rehearsing
unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in
Scripture and Wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error.
(3:164)
In Surah Fatihah
we ask Allah to join us with those on whom He has bestowed. It contains the same root as the ayat quoted
above. Before expounding on the
blessings and favours Allah has bestowed upon us through the personality of
Prophet Muhammad (pboh), we need to understand the dua that Prophet Abraham
(as) made to Allah after he and Ishmael (as) finished reconstructing the
Kaba. Abraham prayed;
"Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own,
who shall rehearse Thy Signs to them and instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom,
and sanctify them: for Thou art the Exalted In Might, the Wise. (2:129)
In others places
in the Qur’an Allah records where He answered Abraham’s prayer. But specifically in Surah Imran Allah is
telling us that He has been very favourable to the believers by sending the
Messenger (pboh).
And exactly what
was the mission of the Messenger?
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) had a specific function. He was commanded to rehearse the Signs of the
Lord, and teach the people everything about the working of the Allah; to
sanctify them and to teach them the wisdom of the Book, etc.
A few of the
favours that Allah has blessed us with, that wasn’t given to the previous
nations, are;
1) He made the Kaba the Qibla. He has unified the system of worshipping. All believers are like one big family, with one common direction in worship..
2) He has made Makkah a sanctuary. Unbelievers are not permitted to enter the sacred city. Theologically specking if you are at the Kaba you are safe. Safe from capture, safe from revenge etc. There are a lot of etiquettes that pertain to the sanctity of Makkah.
3) The Messenger (pboh) came from amongst them. Abraham left baby Ishmael at the Kaba when the land was barren. And look at what grew out of that place.
4) The progeny of Abraham through Ishmael, learnt to appreciate the blessings and gift from Allah. Unlike Israelites who instead of being thankful for the many favours from Allah, they showed discontent; and for example asked Moses (as) to pray to Allah for a change in the food they received. In another occasion, when Allah parted the sea and saved them from Pharaoh; as soon as they were safe they requested Moses to make idols for them to worship.
This was not the case with the believers who were at all times appreciative for whatever blessings came from Allah.
5) The believers learnt to apply the law in their daily lives through the teachings and guidance of Prophet Muhammad (pboh).
6) Through Prophet Muhammad (pboh) we learnt Tazkiyah nafs; purification of our nafs. How to purify your personality and engage in zikr. Which other faith has this. Some of them meditate such as the charismatic movement and those who engage in yoga, but what do they do. In reality they sacrifice part of their lives in order to achieve this. Believers don’t do this. We live and carry on as normal and at the same time engage in the purification of our nafs.
7) When Moses and Jesus wanted to communicate with Allah they had to climb a mountain. Muslims don’t have this. We have a blanket appointment to meet with, and communicate with our Lord through the institution of salaat.
These are just a
few of the special favours that Allah has given to the believers.
Keep in mind
that all of us have a special mission.
We connect Islamically from our ancestors and need to transmit the
teaching to the next generation.
At the time of
Prophet Muhammad (pboh) his detractors thought that his mission would grind to
a halt because he didn’t have a male offspring.
Whether you have children or not you can still pass on the legacy. Abraham and Zakariyah knew the importance of
passing on the legacy that they specifically prayed to Allah for an offspring
to continue transmitting the message.
Although the
Prophet (pboh) did not have any male offspring, Allah gave him many spiritual
children—all of us. He says that the Prophet is closer to the believers than
themselves, and his wives are their mothers.
Allah has truly
been merciful and favourable to the believers.
And our message is not adulterated.
The Hindu faith for example got inspiration though the Rishis who gave
the pure message, but unfortunately it was not preserved. Look at Allah’s favour to us.
We need to be
conscious of all these blessings Allah has been so merciful to bestow on
us. He has sent a messenger to show us
the way to develop our personality in the way required of the progeny of Adam;
a way that will successfully take us back to our Lord.
May Allah
continue to guide us and bless us and enable us to understand the numerous
blessings He has showered upon us. And
may we always be thankful and be from amongst those who will successfully
impart the true teachings to the next generation.
Transcript of discourse delivered by
Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed
The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at
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