RAHMATUL-LIL- 'ALAMIN ﷺ
Mustafa Fazil Ansari
Allah (SWT) created
the glorious personality of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) as a mercy for all, thus establishing his
universal prophethood. The Holy Qur'an states that:" And We have not sent
you except as a Mercy to all the worlds." (21:107). The Holy Prophet ﷺ) said
that 'Allah did not send me to reproach (and curse) people but as a mercy to
them and as one calling them to the truth.' (Muslim).
Allah (SWT) unveiled
his design and revealed the code of life for the entire humanity to follow,
through His Beloved Messenger and Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to enable his followers to be eligible for
Allah's blessings and thus His mercy. The Holy Prophet (ﷺ) set
the pattern and demonstrated the practicability of living a life in consonance
with the Qur'anic injunctions. The Qur'an states that: "Verily, in the
Messenger of God, you have an excellent model (33:21). He is the medium of all
the blessings of Allah (SWT) for the entire humanity. Humanity became aware
of Islam through him and thus he is the basic personality in Islam and Iman.
The best pattern of human behaviour is contained in the life of the Holy
Prophet (ﷺ). Finding the pleasure of Allah (SWT), therefore
requires one to follow, with intense love, the path charted by the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (ﷺ) who
came as the last and final Messenger and Prophet of Allah (SWT) and provided
guidance complete in all respects in the form of Deen-e-Islam.
The pursuit of one's
destiny demands a clear conceptual understanding of Allah's ordained mission
to be accomplished by the human beings designated by Allah as His vicegerent
(2:30). A deeper understanding of the modalities and their intricacies would
ensure better accomplishment. The divine requirement as contained in the
revealed word is to follow the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). The modality is apparently
clear but the intricacies need deeper thought which is the command of the
Almighty افلا یتدبرون- do you not think).
The Holy Prophet (ﷺ), who came as a mercy to the entire mankind, was endowed with
penultimate qualities to serve as a model of the most perfect being and thus an
object of emulation for the entire humanity. And again it is stated in the
Qur'an that: "Verily you are the standard par excellence" (68:4)
History
bears testimony to the fact that the Holy Prophet ﷺ) came at a time when almost the entire world had forsaken
the path of piety, righteousness, truth and the gloom of ignorance had
completely over-shadowed all moral values. The advent of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) came at a time
when the degradation of all ethical and moral values had touched the lowest ebb
in the desert heartland of Arabia. The charisma and love of his holy
personality so impacted these native, ignorant, ruthless, heartless pagans that
they turned into civilized, caring and decent individuals of model ethical
discipline. It was the impact of his forceful, lovable personality that within
a century of the emergence of Islam, the Muslim empire stretched from the Atlantic
Ocean in the West to Central Asia in the East.
Allah (SWT)
categorically states in the Holy Qur'an: If one wants Allah to love him, one
should follow and obey the Holy Prophet and one would then be blessed with the
love of Allah (3:31).
Human beings are not robotic animations but with complex intellect and free
will. Their intellectual capacity is imbued with deep-seated emotions which
qualify them to develop affinities, establish relationships and accept certain
parameters for acting in a certain way in their worldly life. Love implies
obedience and submission. Obedience of command of a benefactor - the
Rahmatul-Lil- 'Alamin or those following in his footsteps without any feeling
for the person being followed would only be an empty jargon. Love is the force
that motivates us and compels us to action. Devotee's devotion to the
compliance of command in letter and spirit requires the establishment of a deep-seated
association which culminates into love and affection for the personality of the
role model (ﷺ). It is the
consequence of human intellect's comprehension and appreciation of Allah's
(SWT) mercy and blessing in the shape and form of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) on the humanity at large.
It is this deep-seated love in the hearts of M'umineen for the refulgent personality of the
Rahmatul-Lil- 'Alamin (ﷺ) which moves them to ecstasy and drives
them to tears laden with wondrous thoughts and sentiments for the beloved
Prophet of Allah - the Merciful. Holy Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said that: "None
of you can have faith unless I become dearer to him than his father and his son
and all mankind" (Bukhari). Allah (SWT) Says in the Qur'an that" The
Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own souls. "(33:6)
Love is the
predominant manifestation of true faith - the Iman. On another occasion, the
Holy Prophet (ﷺ) is quoted as saying: 'He who has no love
has no faith, he who has no love has no faith, and he who has no love has no
faith'.
In Surah Taubah, it
is stated that: 'Say, if it be that your father, your sons, your brothers, your
mates or your kindred; the wealth 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 Apostle or the striving in His cause, than wait until Allah brings
about His Decision and Allah guides not the rebellious." (9:24)
The
above verse clearly illustrates that absolutely nothing can take precedence
over a M'umins' love for Allah (SWT) and the Holy Prophet (ﷺ). The Companions of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) in their salutations addressed him ﷺ) with expressions conveying the highest degree of reverence,
love and devotion. The fondness and love with which the true believer follows
in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) establish the extent of his allegiance to Islam and
acquisition of Allah's favour. One finds it as a binding principle in Salat
when one greets the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) in Attahiyyat by saluting him ﷺ) and reaffirming a dynamic, vibrant relationship with the Holy
Prophet (ﷺ) when one recites 'Assalamu Alaika A'iyuhan
Nabiu...' and thereafter the Durood-e-Ebrahimi.
To emulate the Holy
Prophet (ﷺ), one
can not afford to miss any moment of one's life without the fond memory of his (ﷺ) deeds - the Sunnah - which represents his (ﷺ)
active worldly life. It thus follows that a Muslim's life has to be necessarily
entrenched in the love and thoughts of the life of the Holy
Prophet (ﷺ) at all times without which a Muslims' Iman
or faith does not attain completion and thus the ultimate objective of
achieving moral and spiritual benefits would remain obscure. Since his worldly
life is the perfect example for humanity, the transformation or moulding of
individual personality towards perfection follows as a consequence of one's
wholehearted adoption of the practical modalities in this worldly sphere of
activity concurrently with intellectual, emotional and spiritual commitment.
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