As one of the great Scholars of this age says:
By Allah! Repeat the mention of the attributes, the traits, the description, the characteristics, of
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), so that you can remove from your
heart the rust that affects it from worldly distractions.
This Khutba is about remembering the attributes of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to
remove the rust from our hearts.
Qadi Iyad in his book, Al Shifa, mentions that people are loved for three things:
a) For their outer beauty
b) For their inner beauty such as characteristics
c) For the sacrifice and benefit we own him
So we’ll remember him for each of these three things to remove the rust from our hearts:
HIS OUTER BEAUTY
His height
He was taller than a moderate build but not exceedingly tall. If you see somebody very tall then it is
strange even amongst tall people. If you see somebody short then it is also noticeable. He was of a
middle stature inclining towards height because everything about him was of the middle, moderate way.
His complexion
Even his physical description of colour was of the middle way. He is described as being azhar al lawn – not excessively brown or dark nor pasty white. Thus he was not too white nor dark, rather his skin had a resplendent texture or shine, in English you’d call this a reddy complexion – a beutiful medium mean inclining to fairness with a reddish, fresh and radiant quality.
His hair
His hair was neither straight nor curly. It was wavy, it was in the middle. Everything about him was middle. He had a full head and his hair was wavy. If he parted it, it parted. Narrations say it reached the lobe of his ears or in some riwayah it went to the shoulder if he allowed it to grow long because sometimes he would cut it for worship like the umrah or hajj.
His face
He had a large forehead which is an indication of a high intellect. He had a vein on his forehead and the front had a moon like luminosity. If he got upset they could see the vein. His eyebrows were full and there was a slight space between them. He had a beautiful nose that had an elevated bridge and it was handsomely aqualine . He had a light that came from that area of his face that was clearly discernible. He had a full beard and his eyes were very dark, and almost a natural kohl like outline. His eyelashes were long and his eyebrows were perfectly arched. He had high beautiful cheek, strong jaws, but it wasn’t a straight angular face, inclined to a perfect symmetrical, soft features. He had a full, broad mouth so when he spoke his pronunciation was perfect. His teeth were beautiful, there was a slight space in the front teeth.
His body
He had a light hair on his chest which was manliness without having a lot of hair. His neck was like a
gazelle’s neck, strong and firm, but slender, not excessively broad. His neck too had a shine, said to
have a beautiful silvery clarity to it. He was balanced in all of his outward aspects. He had a strong build and it was all perfectly formed. His stomach and chest were equal. He never had a large stomach. He had no paunch. Even when he was in his sixties, his stomach was always flat. He had light hair on his stomach. He had no hair over his chest, he was full chested and his shoulders were broad. He had large bones.
His feet
His feet were very smooth. This is amazing, because the people he was from were desert people and
they walked a lot, their feet would have a lot of roughness to them. His feet were smooth, such that
water would pour off them. When he walked, he walked softly but he was quick paced as if he was walking on an incline coming down from a slope.
His hands
His blessed hands were described to be softer than silk and more fragrant than the most expensive
musk. He would extend his hand to whomever wished to shake it and it would leave on their hands an
indescribable fragrance for the rest of the day, he would also often affectionaly pat and rub the heads of children he passed, any child he did that to – would stand out because of the fragrance. His sweat itself was described to be like musk like pearl drops, which was collected by Sahabas, once he had slept and saw Umm Sulaym, collecting the sweat from the Prophet’s body. He asked, “O Umm Sulaym what is this ? She mentioned that they used it as perfume.
A special sign
Between his shoulder blades, there was the “Seal of Prophethood”, a piece of raised flesh between his
shoulder blades, it was enveloped and surrounded by light, some say it was the size of patridge’s egg.
Imam Qurtubi says it was from his signs of Prophethood, which is why Sayyid Salman Al Farsi was
looking for it when he met the Prophet, who he was looking for.
His gaze
When he looked at somebody, he did not just move his head, he turned his entire body to give full
attention to that person. He looked more at the ground than he did up. His glance was generally down because of the power of his glance. When he looked at people, he did not maintain his stare. He would look then move away. As he looked at people, he never fixed his focus on people because of the effect that would have on people. The gaze of the people of Allah, their eyes convey a lot.
His speech
He never spoke about anything that was unnecessary. He had long periods of silence. He used to open
his words and close them with a full expression when he spoke. He spoke with comprehensive words – Jawaamiul Kalam. He never had excess, his speech was precise – yet books have been written about his speech. He was never at a loss for words. If he spoke, he would put his right thumb into his left palm.
Never was there anyone like him
One describing him would say: Lam Ara qablahu wa la badahu mithlahu wa la basharun yarah. “Never have I seen anyone before him or after him, the likes of him and nor will any one else see anyone like him.”
HIS INNER BEAUTY
He would always occupy people in what benefited them and the ummah. He would ask about them. He would ask news about them. If somebody was not there, he would say, “where is so and so”? Nowadays we have people disappear and nobody remembers them, they do not ask about them.
This is the messenger of Allah and he had an ummah– and he had concern for everyone of us. The old woman who used to clean the masjid one day died and they buried her. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) came and asked about her. They said she died and he was visibly upset and not being being informed, he said “Why didn’t you tell me she had died so I could go pray upon her”. Narrations say he was later shown her grave so he could pray upon her there.
He would ask about somebody who was not there and say tell me about people in need who are not
able to come and ask me. He informed the sahaba that those people who help other people who are not able to go and get help, will find that Allah will make firm their feet on the day of judgment.
Looking after people, taking care of people, he was teaching people how to be from his character and nature. Those describing his gatherings say the they used to come in seeking and go out guides. What a beautiful description of his gatherings this is, that people came in looking and left showing other people what to find what they were looking for.
He never spoke except with what concerned him. He always brought people together and never
separated them. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had remarkable clemency and awareness of human nature and he would put up with abruptness and harshness. Anas ibn Malik narrates: "I was walking with the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and he was wearing a mantle of Najran with a thick border. A Bedouin met him and pulled the mantle so violently that I saw this violent pulling had left marks from its border on the skin of the neck of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). And he (the Bedouin) said: Muhammad!, command that I should be given out of the wealth of Allah which is at your disposal. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) turned to him and smiled, and then he ordered for him a provision."
He was always moderate and never departed from that quality. He was ready for anything and
everything. The best people for him were the ones who benefited and were the most sincere. The ones he had the highest estimation for were the ones who served the most, helped others and consoled others. Those were the people who he looked at not those sitting around and doing nothing. Sometimes everybody looks at those who serve as the low ones, that is why they are doing the khidmah. That is why the old woman in the mosque, maybe people thought she was not very significant but she was in khidmah.
He gave all of the people who sat with him full attention so that each one of them thought they were the most important person in the majlis. I was sent to perfect noble character.
His gatherings were a gathering of clemency, modesty, sabr, trustworthiness, never were voices raised, never was anything that was holy and sacred in any way desacrilised, all of them were humbled in his presence.
Always he honoured the elder and had mercy on the youngster. They would help those in need and they had special compassion for strangers and guests.
About his qualities He rarely found fault, if he did it was to point out something that was harmful.
He was not excessively praiseworthy, it does not mean he did not praise, he did not do praise that was
not warranted. He did not flatter. There were three things that were not part of his nature: ostentation, excessiveness and that which did not concern him. He left three things that he did not do to people: he never blamed anybody, he never found fault and he did not search for their faults. When he spoke people in his gathering the companions lowered their heads as if birds were perched on them. When he was silent they spoke and never argued in his presence. If anybody spoke in his gathering they would all listen until that person finished his words and then they would begin the speech of what they were talking about.
He would laugh at what they laughed at, he would wonder at what they wondered at or marvelled. If
somebody who did not know his gathering, was harsh, then he would be patient with them.
If he saw anybody in need he would tell his companions help them out. He never sought any praise. He
never cut anybody off when they were speaking until they were finished or the gathering had ended.
He would walk with widows, slaves, kings. Out of his humility and lack of pretensiosness he would ride mules, donkeys and would fasten stones on his stomach to stave himself of hunger though if he had wanted whole mountains could have been converted to Gold for him.
WHAT WE OWE HIM
Whatsover we have of blessings and whatsoever we will have of blessings is from Allah and the
Messenger of Allah is the greatest of those blessings because he was the means by which we have
come to know of this.
As for what is to come, the eternal life.
It is said that when the verse below was revealed:
“And soon Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied” [93:5]
The Prophet said I will not be content until the last of my nation enters Paradise. This is clear from the hadeeth about the Prophet’s intercession on the last day, wherein he informed the Sahaba that all the Prophets had been granted permission to make a supplication that would be answered and all of the Prophets had used the supplication in their lifetimes, whereas the Prophet said (to the nearest
meaning): “ I have saved my request for the Day of Judgement. I will supplicate when my nation is
presented in front of Allah and keep supplicating until every last one of my nation enters Paradise.”
CONCLUSION
Having an intense love for the Prophet is but natural when we reflect on what he has done for us and
who he was. But more than that, when we think of what will come to pass and that it is through his
intercession by Allahs grace that the believers will attain eternal felicity then the debt we owe the
Prophet becomes apparent. Think about those two words – “eternal felicity”…can there really be any
recompense for that - this is what we owe the Prophet, by the fact that Allah has made him His
manifestation of the Mercy He has sent to the Worlds. He will be the means that the believers through
the grace of Allah will come to abide in eternal felicity, we cannot help but conclude that the soundness of our hearts is determined by how much we actually love him.
May Allah grant us the love of His Prophet, such that we love him more than our selves and that we die on the way he called us to, such that we can be under his banner on the last day and qualify for his
intercession – all by Allah’s grace, and that is not a thing that is difficult for Allah.
Ameen.
Khutba Paper Courtesy of
www.uaekhutba.com
Khutba delivered on 03/02/2012
