Giving Due Respect to the Blessed Medium of Revelation, Pt. 1
Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) says in the Qur’an, “Indeed, Allah and His angels bless the Prophet! Oh you who believe, invoke blessings upon the Prophet, and give him salutations most becoming!”
Since converting to Islam over 12 years ago, my life has gone through various periods: times of shock, times of sadness, and other times of growth in knowledge, understanding and faith. For me, this 12-year journey has been one, long process of change and transformation. As one Islamic scholar once told a gathering I was in, “Islam is not an event! It is a process!”
I remember entering Salah Tawfik Mosque in Sunrise, Florida as a timid 16 year-old kid, whose world before that point revolved around basketball and listening to hip hop. My thinking, my perspectives on life and my interactions with the world around me have been revamped in ways that I could have never even have begun to imagine 12 years ago. However, as it is the case with life in general: some things change and others remain constant. So despite this 12-year period being a general period of change, there is one matter that has remained constant in my mind throughout it.
This constant observation that I have always had is that Muslims need to be more cognizant of whom their Prophet is. They must be familiarized with what his mission about and how he delivered it. This idea had been an undercurrent in my mind that I did not give much though to, but in recent years, I have stopped ignoring the idea; I mean to say that I have come to terms with it, and I now have made it one of my often-repeated slogans that Muslims must be completely reintroduced to their Prophet (may Allah bless him, and may He grant him peace).
Maybe events in the news have played a role in me drawing this conclusion. After all, every day there seems to be some Muslim, somewhere in the world perpetrating an act of violence, calling to hate or abusing the name of Islam to justify ideologies morally bankrupt. Yes, these events play a role, but what hits more at home are those actions that we are more in control of, i.e. those that should mostly be done in the home: how many times a day do we invoke blessings upon the Prophet? Do we nurture children with vital spiritual elements available in the prophetic seerah? Do we praise the Prophet and do we encourage others to observe his life, recognize his greatness, cultivate love for him in the hearts and spread this love through praising him and adapting his etiquette and manners? In my time as Muslim, I have noticed a lack in these regards, and, admittedly, I myself need to work harder in these respects. As the adage goes, though, to work towards fixing any problem, one must first recognize and admit that there is a problem.
It is one of the eye-opening facts about our Prophet (may Allah bless him, and may He grant him peace) that his name (Muhammad) means, “he who is praised often” or “he who is deserving of praise.” Indeed, our righteous scholars of the past understood the profound implications of the Prophet’s name, how he brought this name to life and how he lived to enrich the lives of those around him.
Ustadh Derrick is an advanced student of sacred knowledge. He has degrees in journalism and Arabic from the University of Florida. He currently serves as head of Sanad Prep’s advanced Qur’an and Hifz program.
This is a test bio for the widget style