Teenage Lessons from the Cave of Hira

Teenage Lessons from the Cave of Hira

Every morning at Sanad Prep we have a Student of Knowledge and staff assembly, that we affectionately call Sanad Morning Lights. These are reflective moments we have together and cherish. We want to do a better job of sharing these assemblies with other students and families. Please let us know if you find benefit, we pray that you do.

In this talk, we reflect on the extraordinary experience of the Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – in the Cave of Hira. For the teenage Muslim, there are so many profound, relate-able moments. We share a few. You can listen to the recording and find an outline of the talk below.

Keep us in your duas. Allah bless.

– Rehan

Outline

  • Prophet Muhammad –  peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – is the greatest example. His purpose in life was expansive. He was able to impact well beyond his death and beyond the scope of people he lived around. All of the things you need in life in terms of how to cope with things, we can find in his life.
  • All ages can benefit at any point in life from studying the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. In different ways, we all can relate to his seerah in any year of life. Make it a habit to review/read at least once a year!
  • It’s really important to understand the human experience of being a Prophet. When the Angel Jibreel embraced the Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – in the cave of Hira, it was anxiety provoking to say the least.
  • It was so firm that he was out of breath. Afterwards, when Prophet Muhammad –  peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – hurried home he asked to be covered with a blanket, not for comfort, but he was actually panicked by such an unexpected experience.
  • As young Muslims, you will experience things in your life which will be very difficult things, new experiences, new emotions, new thoughts, new growth in spirituality, happy/sad moments and traumatic point’s in life, from childhood to adulthood.
  • There will always be things you are dealing with.

How to React to Difficult Experiences or Moments in Life –

Lessons from the example of Prophet Muhammad –  peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:

  1. He always shared with someone he loved/trusted. One thing we learn from his example is that when you have something overwhelming, challenging going on and don’t know how to respond to it, you should express it to someone or few who you trust. You don’t need to express yourself to everybody, certainly not everyone on social media platforms. Rather, it may be better to consult with one or a few people you truly trust. This is really important. This is the example of the Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him. 
  2. How did the people he shared with respond? Khadijah – may Allah be pleased with her – his wife and best friend, calmed him first. Then she mentioned all his good qualities (e.g. taking care of orphans/widows, giving charity, etc). He was an amazing person doing wonderful things. So first and foremost we should try to relax and calm and reassure the person we are trying to help; make them feel good and comfortable about themselves and then talk about the issue.
  3. Get counsel from those with the wisdom and experience and knowledge. They later went to another relative, Waraqa. They talked to him and shared things with him. He also reassures the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – and his wife. Shares his specific knowledge about the issue.
  4. Be honest always!! Don’t lie to make anyone feel better. Waraqa tells them what he knows and he doesn’t lie in order to help. He tells the truth even though it may not be all be pleasant. He is gentle and wise, and also reassures that he will remain with the Prophet to support throughout as long as he is able. 

Look at every point in the Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’s life to learn how he dealt with difficult times, how he coped with his problems. He didn’t have complete meltdowns. He dealt with things which affected him without too much delay, he found solutions to his problems. From extraordinary divine events to day to day things: his sandals would break, clothes would tear, armies would be sent harm his community, death of loved ones, single father at one point, and many other things.

To the young the Muslims…look at the greatest examples to learn the greatest lessons. Keep your head up and keep moving forward.