Monday, February 18, 2013

Habib Abdur Rahman Masyhoor of Tarim at Al Jenderami


Bismillah.

Habib Abdur Rahman Masyhoor of Tarim was one of the guest of honors at Al Jenderami's Mawlid Al Kubro event on 16 Feb 2013. He spoke very enthusiastically and emotionally at times. He said, as interpreted by Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin al-Hamid:

Praise be to Allah that we're given the blessing of Islam and iman and we pray Allah will preserve these blessings in our lives, in the barzakh and on the Day of Resurrection. We have gathered here to listen to tausiyah, qasidah, performing prayers together, offering salawat, all these are a blessing from Allah. As related in a hadith, those who perform the Isha jemaah prayers are in the care and protection of Allah and the reward for them is as though they have performed solat for half of the night.

We have listened to the words of advice from Shaykh Afeefudin Al-Jailani earlier. May Allah grant him strength, give him a long life and make many more people to be like him. Tonight we are blessed to have with us a number of ulama from so many countries, from Makkah, Indonesia, Singapore, UK, Canada, India, and myself from Tarim. I have come here on Shaykh Hafiz's invitation to express my joy for the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam. Earlier on we heard a poetry recital by Habib Umar bin Shihab, one which reflects our love for the Prophet and of how fortunate we are to have the Prophet. May Allah accept all our deeds.

We have heard about the Prophet's noble characters as something we should all strive to have. Verily Allah's holiness and beauty may be seen in the Prophet. He is the cure to the sickness that's afflicting the young. His role is to make perfect our akhlak. He is one whose akhlak has won the praise of Allah. The Prophet has been sent by Allah to us and for us. We must realize this fact. Where is the Prophet's position in us? There is a verse in the Quran about the coming of the Prophet, one who is very concerned if a calamity should befall us. He is ra'ufun rahim. He is very loving towards us. In the Quran, Allah describes him as a minnah, as a special gift to us. He taught us the Quran and hikmah. And taught us to purify ourselves. He has been sent to us. If I could be more direct, the Prophet is inside us. The term in relation to this is fi which means having presence in a certain time and condition. Know that he salallah alaihi wasalam is manifested in us through our speech and actions. We knew not how to pray until he taught us. He is with us in our prayers, knowledge, fasting, zakat, haj etc. The Prophet salallah alaihiwasalam is in every place and time through his knowledge.

Now, let's ask ourselves, where is the Prophet exactly? Is he in our heart? Or is he distant from us? Consider the fact that Allah has sent him to us and he is at every place and zaman. He, the Prophet who has abundant love and mercy.

There is a verse in the Qur'an where Allah asked the Prophet to be gentle towards us. If his words were harsh and strong, we might run away from him. Allah asked him to be forgiving towards us. I heard the tafsir of this particular verse from Habib Umar bin Hafiz on the true meaning of fa'fu anhum. There is nothing to forgive if one had not done something wrong. There is no need to ask for Allah's forgiveness if there had not been any transgressions. The Prophet was asked to forgive his ummat and to ask for Allah's pardon on their behalf. They should be included/welcomed and not abandoned for their wrongdoings.  That is the akhlak of Rasulullah salallah alaihi wasalam. We must do the same, we must forgive people and pray that Allah would forgive them.

Saidina Umar [r.a.] prior to converting to Islam, had a tough persona. He became a soft spoken and gentle person after Islam. He once admitted his love for the Prophet, that he loved the Prophet more than he loved his parents and children except that he loved himself still. To which the Prophet said, "Your iman is not yet complete if that's so." Saidina Umar then professed his love for the Prophet wholeheartedly beyond his love for himself.

Thauban is another sahabi who professed his deep affection and attachment towards the Prophet. When he lamented to the Prophet about the possibility of him not being able to see/be with the Prophet in heaven, the Prophet fell silent until Allah revealed a Qur'anic verse - that anyone who is obedient towards Allah and Rasul will be gathered with those whom he loves. A revelation came down just for the sake of Thauban.

Another moving story of the sahabah's attachment for the Prophet was about Bilah bin Rabah. Many of the sahabah had difficulties living in Madinah after the Prophet's demise. They missed Rasulullah greatly because they have had plenty of unforgettable memories with him in Madinah. As a result, many of the sahabah decided to leave the city. Bilal migrated to Sham and lived there for about 2 years until the Prophet appeared in his dream: "Why are you distancing yourself from me, O Bilal?"

Bilal immediately took off to Madinah the next day. On seeing Bilal reappearing in Madinah, Saidina Abu Bakar asked him to perform the azan. Bilal declined. Saidina Umar made the same request, but Bilal declined for he didn't have the heart to do it. However, when Hassan and Hussin persuaded him, Bilal simply could not refuse. So Bilal finally made a call to prayer and surprised the residents of Madinah like never before. On hearing Bilal's voice, people got shocked and wondered - would it be possible that the Prophet is alive?! After two years of not hearing Bilal? Madinah became all tearful as everyone listened to Bilal attentively. Alas, Bilal could not contain his emotion when he came to Ash hadu anna Muhammad-ar-Rasulullah. He fell unconscious.

Such intense love the sahabah had for the Prophet. And Habib Abdur Rahman called upon us to emulate them.
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Allahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors and omissions.

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