Congratulations to all believers around the world on the birth of the best of all creations of Allah SWT, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW)! This week marks his blessed birthday and is also known as Unity Week, as he was a mercy for all creation and brings together the entire Islamic Ummah.
The existence of the Holy Prophet (SAW) is a light that serves as a means of enlightenment and giving life to human societies. He is the best of exemplars (33:21).
He socialized with slaves, ate with them and wore simple clothes. He would eat whatever food was available. He would not dismiss any food as being undesirable. These qualities are unique throughout history for a man of his stature.
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) did not consider anyone else to be a power comparable to God, he did not fear other people and he did not abandon God’s path because of the wishes of others.
The Holy Prophet’s morals when governing were such that he was vigilant in the face of the enemy’s temptations and humble before the believers.
Remembering God in all situations, relying on Him and asking for His help in all circumstances–in times of honor, humiliation, hardship and comfort–are some of the great lessons that he taught us.
One of the essential lessons of the Holy Prophet (SAW) was regarding the Ummah itself. He urged the Ummah to “unite with each other and not be divided among yourselves, for it causes separation in your hearts”. “Unite with each other to have unity of hearts and keep company with one another to share a feeling of Compassion”.
Today the world of Islam is suffering from great hardships due to division and the solution for these hardships is Islamic Unity. Unity, collaboration, assisting one another, moving past religious, ideological, ethnic and racial differences would uproot the remnants of imperialist hegemony gripping the Ummah. Divide and conquer has been much too effective of a tool used by all imperialists, past and present and the Ummah has fallen victim to this tactic one too many times.
Islam’s opponents do not succeed because they have superior ideas but because they have penetrated parts of the Muslim world with the disease of factionalism, which only serves to weaken the Ummah. The trouble makers of the world know that if the Muslims were united, as commanded by the Holy Prophet (SAW), their plots to exploit the Muslim world or its resources would fail.
Unity is a cherished ideal that every Muslim must strive for at all times and is commanded in the Holy Qur’an: “Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle; and those who are [truly] with him are firm and unyielding toward all deniers of the truth, [yet] full of mercy toward one another” (48:29).
Those that try to create division amongst Muslims often come together despite their differences to berate Islam and Muslims. We on the other hand can come together in honour of our Holy Prophet (SAW) as a unified Ummah in obedience to his command to unite, be we Sunni, Shia, Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl al-Hadith etc. Obeying this command will only have positive results: it will strengthen the Ummah, making it a beacon of safety, knowledge and prosperity in this world, and the next Insha’Allah. It will lead to the growth of a new Islamic civilization, one that is greater than those of the past and will be compatible with the requirements of the present era, Insha’Allah.
To conclude, the best way to honour the noblest of human beings ever to grace the face of this Earth is to follow his teachings.
As Salam o Alayka Ya RasullAllah!
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