The month of RabiulAwwal is that month in which our beloved Prophet ﷺ came into this world. RabiulAwwal is also the month in which he ﷺ passed away. The majority of the scholars agree that 9th RabiulAwwal was the day the he ﷺ was born and 12 RabiulAwwal was the date when he ﷺ left this world.
In one verse of the Qur’an Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) has called the birth of our beloved Prophet ﷺ a means of favor to the world.
لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللہُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
Certainly did Allah confer [great] favor upon the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error.
[Ali-Imran: 164]
If the birth of our Prophet ﷺ is a mercy to mankind and a favor upon us then as his Ummah we have some obligations that need to be fulfilled. It is important that we as Muslims are made aware of the rights of the Prophet ﷺ without the fulfilment of which we cannot be a part of being called from the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ.
The following are the rights of the Prophet ﷺ upon all Muslims:
- To believe in the Prophet ﷺ
We have to believe in his messengership and his prophethood.
Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) says in the Qur’an:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا بِاللہِ وَرَسُولِهِ
O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger
[An-Nissa: 136]
Elsewhere it is mentioned:
فَآمِنُوا بِاللہِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالنُّورِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلْنَا
So believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Qur’ an which We have sent down.
[At-Taghabun: 8]
If we fail to have faith in this aspect of our religion, then we are from those who have disbelieved as is stated in this verse of the Qur’an. This is a command of Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) that we must believe in Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ), His Messengers and the Qur’an.
وَمَن لَّمْ يُؤْمِن بِاللہِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَإِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ سَعِيرًا
And whoever has not believed in Allah and His Messenger – then indeed, We have prepared for the disbelievers a Blaze.
[Al-Fath: 13]
In a hadith we learn it is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
أُمِرْتُ أنْ أُقاتِلُ النَّاسَ حتَّى يَشْهَدُوا أنْ لا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ، ويُؤْمِنُوا بي، وبِما جِئْتُ به، فإذا فَعَلُوا ذلكَ، عَصَمُوا مِنِّي دِماءَهُمْ، وأَمْوالَهُمْ إلَّا بحَقِّها، وحِسابُهُمْ علَى اللہِ
I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah.
(Sahih Muslim: 21)
What is meant by iman is to believe in the prophethood of RasulAllah ﷺ, to confess with the tongue and then follow it with the correct actions. To merely state, “I am a Muslim,” and not be able to follow through with actions is mentioned in the Qur’an in the following way and is a trait of the hypocrites:
إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُنَافِقُونَ قَالُوا نَشْهَدُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُ اللہِ وَاللہُ يَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ لَرَسُولُهُ وَاللہُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَكَاذِبُونَ
When the hypocrites come to you, [ O Muhammad ], they say, “We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah.” And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars.
[Al-Munafiqun: 1]
Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) calls them as liars as they are not true in their belief. They did not truly accept the Prophet ﷺ as a Messenger of Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ). Hence, we learn that to state with the tongue that he ﷺ is the Prophet, to believe in the heart and to be able to follow it with actions that he ﷺ has instructed us with is the true iman.
- To follow the Prophet ﷺ’s way
To follow what the Prophet ﷺ has commanded is mandatory. ‘To follow him’ encompasses the acceptance of all that has been given to us without argument. It is one of the prime pillars of our religion and mentioned in the Qur’an in various verses:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللہِ
And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allah.
[An-Nissa:64]
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللہَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَلَا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and do not invalidate your deeds
[Muhammad: 33]
We learn that for deeds to be accepted, it is incumbent for a Muslim to follow Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) and His Messenger ﷺ. Like the hypocrites who believed but followed their belief with doubts and a way opposite to the teaching of Deen. The deeds of such people are wasted as the condition of acceptance of deeds is to follow the Sunnay way of teaching. In a hadith we learn from Aisha (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) reported Allah’s Messenger ﷺ saying:
مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ مِنْهُ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
مَن عَمِلَ عَمَلًا ليسَ عليه أمْرُنا فَهو رَدٌّ.
(صحيح مسلم : 1718)
- To follow the Prophet ﷺ’s Sunnah
To follow the Sunnah way of the Prophet ﷺ is to guarantee the success of both this world as well as the Akhirah. In the Qur’an it is said:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللہَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللہُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللہُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Say, [O Muhammad], “If you should love Allah, then follow me, [ so ] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
[Surah Ali-Imran: 31]
It is evident from this verse that to obtain Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ)’s love, it is important to follow the Sunnah. In another verse of the Qur’an the Prophet ﷺ is said to be the best of examples.
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [ who ] remembers Allah often.
[Surah Al-Ahzab: 21]
Difference between Itt’at and Itt’baa
There are two concepts with regards to the following of the Sunnah. They are called itta’at (اطاعت ) and ittiba’a (اطاعت). The difference between the two is subtle but is worth noticing. To simple accept something is itta’at, but to go ahead and place that into actions and turn that into deeds becomes ittiba’a. These concepts are stated in the following verses and are mentioned here for your understanding.
قُلْ أَطِيعُوا اللہَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّ اللہَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْكَافِرِينَ
Say, “Obey Allah and the Messenger.” But if they turn away – then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers.
[Surah Ali-Imran: 32]
اتَّبِعُوا مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ
Follow, [O mankind], what has been revealed to you from your Lord and do not follow other than Him any allies. Little do you remember.
[Surah Al-Ara’af: 3]
- To love the Prophet ﷺ
Another very important right of the Prophet ﷺ is to love him above all relationships. Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) says in the Qur’an:
قُلْ إِن كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ وَاللہُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
Say, [O Muhammad], “If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.”
[Surah At-Tawbah:24]
This means that we are to prioritize RasulAllah ﷺ above even our family. A Sahih hadith also states the same command:
Narrated Anas: The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَالِدِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
“None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.”
(Sahih AlBukhari:15)
Although all of the above relationships hold value and are important, the most important of love lies with the Prophet ﷺ. This intense love for our beloved Prophet ﷺ who dedicated his entire life to serving Deen and paving the way for the Ummah by setting the best of examples only when it is felt deep inside within us will we be able to follow the above mentioned points of following way and adopting his Sunnah. Additionally, this love for him has to be true and genuine and not simply be stated with the tongue and parroted without implementation.
(To be Continued in Part 2)
