Stories from Prophet Muhammad's Life Everyone Should Know | Sayed Ahmed Qazwini

The greatest creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the greatest messenger of Allahawel, the greatest prophet that Allahawel chose is of course our prophet prophet Muhammad. Andasoolam is truly a university. When we look at his life, when we look at his biography, the teachings that he left, it is truly difficult to decide where to begin and which aspects of the life of Allah to even discuss when he is such a vast ocean of knowledge, of wisdom, of treasures, of inspiration. And it would be injustice to try to fully understand Allah within just one session. But what can we do? This is something that we try to understand these members of by shedding some light on their character so that we can seek inspiration and follow in their footsteps. Inshallah withasam the holy prophet was born in the year 570 AD and the calendar of the Arabs they used to call it the Arabs because of how civilized and advanced they were back then they didn't have any calendar like today they didn't keep track of years year 1 2 3 4 5 so each here would be given a name based on the biggest incident of that year. So for example, if there was a war between two tribes, that year would be called the year of of a specific war. If there was, for example, a year in which they built a monument, it would be called the year of that monument. That specific year 570 was called because of the story of surah that we read between Abraham who was a Christian leader, a Christian king in Ethiopia and he tried to attack Mecca and destroy the Kaa but allahel defeated him through birds. birds that came and they throw rocks on the elephant and Allah subhana wa ta'ala annihilated them. That year was known to the as the year of the elephant. That same year Allah was born. Allah was born an orphan. His father died while his mother was still pregnant. So he never saw his father. His father Abdullah Iban Abdul Muttalib he was only 25 years of age when he died. He became sick and died in Medina. Rasool Allah was raised by a single parent by his mother. Amina bin raised him for the first six years. When he was 6 years old, Rasool Allah lost his mother and this added to the struggles of the life of Rasool Allah. a six-year-old without a mother, without a father. He was left with his grandfather father Abdul Muttalib, his father's father. Abd Muttalib took him in and he raised him. But it wasn't too long before Abd Muttalib also died at the age of eight and Allah was almost left without anyone. His grandfather has died, his father, his mother. all these difficulties that Allah went through and this shows us a lesson brothers and sisters that if this dunya was of any value in the eyes of Allahawel then he would have at least granted Allah an easier life that we imagine many of us we think when we struggle in life when we lose loved ones if we have financial problems marital problems issues with our children we think Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't love me I'm doing something wrong. But when you look at the life of Allah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sets an example and the example is that the amount in which you struggle in this life in no way is the scale of Allah's love for you. Because if that was true, then Allah would not be someone dear to the eyes of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Why would Allah create his greatest messenger? Why would Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala create him and make him suffer so much? He doesn't have a father. His mother dies at the age of six. Abdalib's grandfather age of eight, he dies. This shows that these struggles, there is wisdom behind that. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is planning something for you. And sometimes that grand plan of Allah doesn't come through ease and comfort. It has to come through struggles and difficulties. This is a story that's clearly highlighted through the life of Rasool Allah himself. So Rasool Allah then at the age of eight is taken by his uncle Abu Talib, the father of Imam Ali Alisam. He raises Allah. Imam Ali is still not yet born. Imam Ali would be born 25 or so years after that. But Abu Talib had other sons. For example, he had his oldest son and he had his second son. His oldest son Talib and his other son and then Jaff and finally Im Ali. But Abu Talib and his wife Fatim said they took in to their home and they treated Allah not just as their son but even better than their son, better than their children. Rasool Allah in the house of Abu Talib growing up there, he would receive better treatment from Abu Talib than Abu Talib would give his own children. And this shows the wisdom and the knowledge of Abu Talib. We have traditions from the B that tell us when the prophet was born brought the prophet to Abu Talib. You can find these hadiths in the book of alafi im narrates them. Abu Talib he told Fatim his wife that this is not a normal child. This child will be chosen by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to lead humanity. And then he told her give me 30 years or so and I will give you a child. You and I will have a child who will be the successor of this man of this young boy of this child. So Abu Talib was also one of those individuals that had divine knowledge from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He may not have been a prophet similar to for example we read in the Quran was a wise individual that even at times had more knowledge than Musa as we read in the Quran or prophet or Lman. Lman the wise Lman was not a prophet but he was given knowledge from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Abu Talib was also someone that was given knowledge from Allah subhanana wa ta'ala. So Abu Talib raises in his house until he grows into a young man. There is a hadith from Im Ali where the Imam explains that throughout the life of Rasool Allah from an early age the person or the the individual that was actually raising Allah and teaching Allah wasn't any of the people that we mentioned. So it wasn't really Amina, his mother, his grandfather Abdul Abdalib, his father, his uncle, his uncle Abu Talib. The true teacher of Allah was none other than Allah. And this is what makesool Allah unique. From an early age based on this hadith we can understand maybe from the age of two Allahawel designated prophets he designated angels to guide Allah to teach Allah and to discipline him. Im Ali says this. The imam says that since he was a child is when a child is weaned two years old. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he chose he assigned one of his greatest angels to do what? To do this. He would teach him he would teach him and show him the path of high character of nobility of good behavior day and night. And what we understand from this hadith is that Allah did not become a prophet at age 40 because this is what many people believe that he was an ordinary man until the age 40. This is when he became a prophet. This hadith of Imam Ali shows that Allah was chosen and guided by angels ever since he was a baby. He was a child. He was a prophet. What happened at the age of 40 or according to some traditions 37 he became a messenger? Because we know the prophet held three positions. The first position was that he's a prophet. What is a prophet? Anyone who communicates with Allah. We had 124,000 prophets. Some hadith mentioned 360,000. Many of these prophets didn't do anything. Meaning they didn't have any message to convey. They were prophets meaning Allah communicated. Someone who receives revelation is a prophet irrespective of what his role is in the society. And then the next level after that is rasool. Rasool is a messenger. You're not just a prophet. Now you're sent with a message. For example, prophet N was a prophet and he was a messenger because he had a message to humanity. Ibraim was a messenger. MS Isa these were all messengers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They were sent with messages to preach to people. So Allah becomes a messenger because now he has a new religion to teach people. And the highest position that Allah reached and possessed was that he was an imam. And an imam means that he's a leader for all of humanity. He becomes a role model for every human being just like Ibraim Ibraim was a prophet then he was a messenger and then Allah says in the Quran the last and the highest position that Ibraim reached was the position of imama and position of im is basically the position of leadership being a leader for humanity. So rasool Allah since an early age he is a prophet he receives revelation he's surrounded the imam says 24 hours by angels guiding him and that's why it is narrated that the prophet used to say while you human beings you were disciplined by your parents by people in your society I was disciplined by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he used to say Allah is the one that taught me Allah is the one that disciplined me and guided me. So obviously would be so great when he is being divinely guided by Allah from such a young age and Allah he taught me in the best way possible. Now was a prophet we said from an early age there were certain signs that were appearing that some individuals with knowledge were picking up. For example, amongst those individuals was a Christian monk by the name of Bahira or Bhira. This man Bah Christian monk who had a lot of knowledge of the earlier scriptures. We have many traditions in Sunni and Shia books about this man. Abu Talib goes on a trip a trip of trade with a car caravan from Quraysh. They go to they go to Asham just like his father Abdullah he went on a trip to Sham to Gaza to do business to do trade and then he died on the way back. his uncle now Abu Talib he goes on another caravan on another trip for trade he takes with himasool Allah is either 9 years old or 12 depending on the different reports they arrive at an area in Sham called Busra in that area this is where Bahira lived this monk so asool arrived with that caravan. This man because of his knowledge, he was always very very attentive to people and looking out for messengers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So when he saw Allah arrive at that place from far he saw there is a constant cloud above him that does not separate that never leaves Allah even on a sunny day when there are absolutely no clouds there is a small cloud above the head of Allah and this has been mentioned as one of the one of the miracles of Allah is that you could always see a cloud above his head as if Allah subhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa al is providing him that constant shade. So this man, he notices this. This is strange. This isn't normal. Then when he arrives, he goes and sits by a tree. The prophet and he's a young boy. He notices that the tree bows and extends its branches so that it provides more shade for Allah. This man is astonished. He knows that this young boy is not a normal boy. He is someone chosen by God. So he goes and invites the entire caravan from Quraysh to have food with him because he wants to learn about Allah. Then he goes and he speaks to Allah. He asks him some questions. He notices he has wisdom. He has knowledge. Then he looks for the mark. Allah used to have a mark between his on his shoulders either in the middle or on his right shoulder. And it was a mark from birth. This was a mark that the Christians and the Jews were informed of in their books that the final messenger will have a mark, a mole on his shoulder. This is one of the signs that this is the last messenger. And by the way, we have traditions that tell us Sharif has that same mark and sign also on his shoulder. So he sees that mark. This is this adds to his amusement that this person is not an average person. And then he speaks to Abu Talib. He says, "Who is this boy?" He says, "This boy is my son." He remembers that in his in their textbooks, in the Christian scriptures, the final messenger would be an orphan. He doesn't have a father. This is mentioned in the scriptures of Christians based on that day that he had access to. So he tells him, are you being honest with me? Are you the biological father of this child or no? Abu Talib tells him, no, I'm not his biological child father. His father died while he was still in his mother's womb. His mother was pregnant. I'm his uncle. When Bah adds all these points together, he adds them together. He notices that all of the signs that Isa and Musa and the previous prophets had informed of the final messenger, they apply to this child. He will hail from the Arabian Peninsula. He will have that mark on his shoulder. He will have knowledge that is above his age. He will have he certain miracles. You will see certain strange phenomenons like the clouds and the trees. He will be born an orphan, never see his father. So once he realizes this, he tells Abu Talib about this is the child that Isa used to always inform us of. And the Quran by the way tells us that Isa one of the things that he was teaches people and his disciples, he would tell them about the final messenger. Allah mentions this in the holy Quran. And I am bringing you glad tidings, news of a of a messenger that will come after me. And even the name of Allah was mentioned by Isa. Ahmed is one of the names of Allah as is Muhammad al- Mustafa and so on and so forth. So he tells Abu Talib, "This is not an average boy. take care of him because he has been chosen by Allah and protect him because he will have many enemies. The Jews will go after him. Some Christians will go after him. The people of Quraysh will go after him and even the Romans because they will see how much potential and capacity he has. They will try to harm him. You have to protect him. Allah is a young boy when this happens. Asool grew in Quraysh, he developed the best reputation possible and this point helped him when he embarked on his mission as a rasool when he was between 37 and 40 years old. He was honest, never found to lie. He was trustworthy to the level that historians say, you know, back then there were no banks. So when you want to travel, where do you leave your gold, your silver, your money, you would have to leave it with someone? Many people in Mecca who are not related to Allah before they would travel, they would go to this young man Muhammad and they would tell him, "You are someone who is trustworthy. We trust you with everything. Can we keep this amana, some money with you, gold and silver?" And Allah would say, "Yes." they would go on their trip, come back and collect their money after. So he developed a a a reputation that he is a noble man, a man of a man of integrity, a man of honesty, someone who's just and trustworthy. There's another incident that happened in the life of Allah. This is all before he is sent as a messenger where the people of Mecca one day there was a flood. the flood, it destroyed the Cabba. So they rebuilt it and finally those tribes of Quraysh finally came time to placing the black stone. Whoever has been to Omrah seen the black stone, right? How holy it is and everyone's trying to fight just to touch it to kiss it. So four different tribes, four different clans in Mecca, they started fighting that we have to have the honor of placing the black stone back where it belongs in that corner. Who is it? Each one is saying me. Each one is saying us. They fought almost a war was going to erupt. And that was very typical. These Arabs of Al Jah they would fight over a camel. There was a war that took 70 years. They fought over a horse. A horse. 70 years. Thousands dead because of a horse. There was another war 20 years. They fought over a camel. So unfortunately it was a very backward society that was engaged in in in in in fights over the most irrelevant and petty reasons. That's why based on the standards of the world back then they were very weak. Nobody really cared about them compared to the other empires. So they fought until finally they said, "You know what? We have to choose someone that we all trust. Someone that we all deem as reliable, trustworthy, honest, just and fair." Who comes in haram? He used to come to pray to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Who comes in? Allah the prophet comes. He comes in and they all say, "We want you, Muhammad, to be the judge. You tell us which of us four tribes will be the one that will place in the rightful corner." Allah. He says, "Yes, I have a solution for you." He brings a piece of cloth, four ends to the cloth. He places in the middle and then he tells each one of the tribes to carry one side. So four tribes all carrying to that corner. So they all feel like they had a part a piece of the pie a part of it until they go right to that corner the corner of and the prophet himself he holds and he places it where it belongs. So this shows you that Allah had developed. He had built his credibility as being someone just, someone wise, someone that can mediate, someone that was fair, someone that was honest and reliable. And that's why when he came later and said that I am a messenger of Allah, he didn't just come out of a vacuum. Because if he just came from nowhere, people would say who the heck are you? we don't know anything about you. Or if he had a bad history, people would say, you know what, we can't follow you because you committed these sins and you had these bad acts and you were someone who stole and you were someone who lied. They had absolutely no excuse against Allah. And that's why unfortunately, you know, when someone has no excuses, when someone is intellectually bankrupt, what do they do? They start they resort to some other very um silly arguments to take you down. They resorted to the fact that the prophet was an orphan. He was born an orphan. How can we follow someone who's an orphan? Or the fact that Allah was poor. He wasn't from someone a rich family. How can we follow him? Or that he's from this tribe, not that tribe. No one had any credible flaws or faults against Allah because his CV, his resume was perfect. And this shows you brothers and sisters that Allah knows who to choose. When he chooses of someone to be a prophet, someone to be an imam. It has to be the purest people on earth. It has to be individuals that spent their entire lives and they were respected. They were individuals that had perfect reputation. They were noble. They had the bestl and character. It's not arbitrary when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses someone. Soam he developed that name that reputation. There's a story that's narrated that one day Abu Jah and Alw who both rejected the prophet and rejected his message. They were having a discussion and then Abu Jahel he told Al Wal he told him do you think Muhammad is lying when he says that God has chosen me and Jira is coming down upon me and he's talking to me and he's telling me to say this and say that says yes I think he's lying even Abu Jah the father of ignorance right someone who would never speak the truth sometimes it would slip from his mouth he told W. He told him, "But does it make sense that since he was a child, we used to call him he was the truthful one. He was the honest, the reliable. Never did we doubt him. That was when he was a kid. Now that he's an older man and he's more mature, now we doubt his honesty and his trustworthiness, it doesn't make sense. Basically, he has a whole life, a whole life of of honesty and reliability that attests to him. He's not just coming out of nowhere. But unfortunately, it was the arrogance that prevented them from believing in Allah. Was it because they really doubted him? Because he's from what? He's from a different tribe because he was poor. Because he um was an orphan and so on and so forth. Now at age 25, Rasool Allah eventually began to work with his future wife Khadijah who was a distant cousin of Allah. If you go back to their fifth grandfather, they they shared the same grandfather. Their fifth greatgrandfather Khadijah has wealth. She was a multi-millionaire and she wanted to work with someone, give her money to someone so that that person would work with the money, would do business with the money, but she wanted someone who was trustworthy. It seems like maybe she had some bad experiences with some people who weren't reliable and trustworthy. So she was looking for someone reliable that she can give that money and that person would work with the money, invest it, do business with it and then they would share the profits until finally she came across the prophet. She heard about his reputation. He's the trustworthy, he's the noble, he's this, he's that. She had a servant by the name of Me. She asked him to go to the prophet to go to Muhammad and Allah is 25 years old and ask him is he willing to do business with me if he's willing let's try him once and if he is reliable we become partners goes to the prophet he makes that offer to him and the prophet says yes no problem so me and they go on a trip they go on a tripad gives them the money they're supposed to buy certain things do some trade and come back. During that trip, Me was amused. He was bedazzled at the of Allah. What type of a noble man this is. His integrity, his humility, his respect, it's unbelievable, unmatched. He comes back to Khadijah and he tells her, "Yeah, I have never seen a man with this much integrity, with this much like this man Muhammad." You see, some people in the public, they have a very beautiful face, right? They pretend to be the best. But in their private life, it's completely different. One of the best ways to tell if a person is genuine is to go on a trip with them. You know, sometimes I go on a trip of Zara or Hajj with some people. I realize some individuals that I know for years, but the relationship is very it's very average. It's it's not too it's not too close. I find out that these people are gems because when you're traveling, you're with them 24 hours a day. you're sleeping in the same room. When they're tired, you see them. When they're hungry, you see them through. You see them through the different cycles and the different conditions and situations that they go through. And this is where someone shows their true colors. Others who may you may have thought they were really good people, you realize, you know what, maybe they're not the best. So, in these trips, you find out the true colors of people. Khadijah realizes that that Mes is spending maybe weeks with Muhammad. They're going on trips and this man just is getting more and more noble. She's just finding out more of his virtues of his of his nobility. Khadijah falls in love with Muhammad. Subhan Allah. She was the one that proposed to Allah. We have traditions that she had a friend by the name of Nafisa. She asked Nafisa to go. Nafisa goes to the prophet. She tells him, you know, why don't you get married? Yah Muhammad. She talks to him about marriage. And then she tells him, I have someone that I can recommend. I have someone that I can suggest. He tells her who? She tells him, "You're a noble man. She's a noble woman." And she has shown interest. Whenasool Allah hears this, Allah accepts. And this shows brothers and sisters contrary to our customs in our cultures and especially in the Arabic culture. It is not if a woman proposes to a man if a girl proposes to a man because many parents may see this as if my daughter is desperate. I am proposing to a man. When you see someone who's a gem, someone who's noble, someone who's has goodl doesn't matter who's the one that starts, who's the one that proposes, I will go and I will ask for the hand of the man. If this person is someone that is great and this is exactly how Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam got married, they had a beautiful marriage. His uncle Abu Talib came and they got married. Allah was 25 years old. Khadijah was 40 years old and Khadijah fell in love with him and Allah fell in love with Khadijah. Allah was poor and even in the you know before they did the actual Abu Talib he spoke about Allah and he said some words around these lines that maybe my nephew Muhammad doesn't have money maybe he's not rich but he has something much greater than money he has something that money can never buy and he has nobility he has he has a beautiful character this is something that is priceless and indeed Khadijah realized that Allah's was one of a kind and thus you see the hadith of Allah he says if someone comes he has and this is the person that you should say yes to meaning don't put too much focus on the other things. Which ethnicity he comes from, which country, which city, which village, right? The looks. Even though yes, you can obviously consider the looks, but don't make this the primary factor of your marriage. The finances, how much money does this person have, what exactly is his job? Don't make this the primary element and the primary reason why you choose this person because there are many things that money cannot buy brothers and sisters and unfortunately there are many individuals who may have wealth Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given them but Allah has not given them they have not they have no they have no fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives someone money gives them health gives them the best looks. They're handsome. They're good-looking. But he doesn't give them a then that person has nothing because this person is a person that you will always fear is doing something behind my back. If they don't fear Allah subhana wa ta'ala and they don't have that, how do I know what they're doing behind my back? How can I fully trust this individual? There's no way. Absolutely. And that's why Abu Talib tells them that he has something that is much greater than money and that is his they get married and subhan Allah Khadijah falls in love with Allah and there's even lines of poetry that are attributed to Khadijah lines of poetry she's speaking about her deep love of Allah and remember this is not lust this is not love that you hear right now rappers and singers speaking about that's not love that's all fake Right? The true love is the love that stems from the because that is longlasting love. If you love someone because they always smile, because they're nice, because they're generous, because they are someone who's loyal, someone who has high level of integrity. This isn't going to change overnight. That love will be deeply rooted. The lines of poetry, I'll read them for you. She says, How beautiful says lines of poetry about beautiful lines of poetry basically saying, "Yeah, Muhammad, if I have, if I own the entire world, I have everything. I become richer and stronger than all of the kings of the world, all of that is nothing. It's worthless in my eye. If I'm not with you, if you're not by my side, and if I am not looking into your eyes." What beautiful love she had for Allah. And when you have someone of such high and character obviously this is the attachment that you develop towards that person. So Allah lives with Khadijah and she was the only wife never married. He never married more than Khadijah. She was his only wife. After she died this is when he married other woman. Finally, at the age of 40, some hadith indicate it might have been 37, Allah is chosen to be Allah's messenger. Now Allah sends him with the message of Islam. There's a hadith from where he explains he says he used to go every day to the cave mount in Mecca. He would go there and pray. He would go there and he would reflect. He would contemplate. He would meditate, spend time with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He would do that for years. And I im Ali says he would take me with him. I was the only person before the prophet was sent that he would take to that mountain. I would pray with Allah. I would do dua and reflect and ponder with Allah until the day came in which Allah sent down with the message of Islam. The Immask says, "The heavens opened up and the angels of Allah descended and Jira came down with N emanating from him. He came and he spoke to Rasool Allah and he commanded Allah to recite verses of the Quran. The first verse that was revealed upon Allah from the Quran, the first verse, read, recite in the name of Allah, the creator, the one who created man from a clot of blood. And began to recite those verses of the Quran and Allah would recite after that. Ask says that Allah chose Muhammad to be that messenger. Why? Because he saw the heart of Allah, the most humble heart, the most pure heart, the most beloved of hearts. It was pure. The heart of Allah was obedient. There was absolutely no hatred, animosity, envy in the heart of Allah. These are the hearts that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses. The ones that have cleansed their hearts and there is absolutely no attachment to dunya. That is the heart that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can what that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can choose. And that is the heart that can contain the message of Allah. Or else if my heart is filled with love of dunya, love of my wealth, love of this, love of that, and animosity and hatred and competition and and all these vices, there's no room for me to embrace Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's message. So Allah is sent with the message tells him this is your new message. You bring people, you preach Islam and bring people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now Islam brothers and sisters was delivered by Rasool Allah through three phases. So when Rasool Allah left the cave, he didn't just go stand in Mecca and say, "Oh, people come become Muslims." No, it went through three phases. The first phase of Islam was that Islam was a private religion by invitation only. You know there are some you see some credit cards I see they say on it by invitation only what what's the criteria of the invitation I don't know you must have certain amount of money connections whatever meaning you can't go after it it has to come after you Islam was not open to the public would receive orders that you invite fan and the first person to become a Muslim the prophet went to him and he asked him to join Islam he was attending y old boy and he accepted. Then he asked Khadijah. The second person to become Muslim was his wife Khadijah. The third person to become Muslim was Jaffar. The fourth the brother of Im Ali. The fourth was Zade. Zed one of the companions of Allah who he adopted and so on and so forth. So the first phase was Allah and only three four. This phase lasted for anywhere between three to five years. Allah was not asking anyone to be a Muslim but he was preparing for that point. People would see him. He comes with Im Ali and Khadijah stands in Alam and they start praying towards the Kaa but he's not inviting anyone to any anything. So that's why there was no animosity. They didn't start to fight him yet. They were just confused. They would go and ask him what is this? What is this new religion? What is the salah that we're seeing? The prophet would tell them, "This is my religion privately between me and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." This was phase one. Then came phase two. After three about three years, phase two, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ordered Allah now to invite his family members. Allah revealed this verse. Now tell your family members. gathered all of his family members, beni hashim, some reports mentioned 40 from his uncles and his cousins and extended family and he invited them for a meal. A meal that Imam Ali was asked, it was a 13-year-old boy. Imam Ali was asked to cook that meal. Imam Ali cooked it and that was one of the miracles of Allah because it was only enough for one or two people but 40 people ate from it and it still didn't finish. such that even Abu Lahab the uncle of the prophet he was surprised he thought it was a magic trick he kept on accusing the prophet what is this magic trick this is it's it's imagine one plate imagine you came here today and you just see one plate of food you're going to say what is this who the heck is going to eat this but imagine each one of you eat and not just eat you eat until you're full and satisfied and it's just enough for one or two people so that was a miracle from Allah then he asked them who among amongst you it's called hadith will will become my supporter who amongst you will become commits to become my successor my inheritor the one that will lead after me no one stood except a 13-year-old boy he says I was the youngest but I was the most dedicated toasool Allah three times I im Ali says me until the prophet says you will be my khalifa so don't think that the prophet chose that IM Ali was chosen in the end of the life ofasool and no that was just a formal declaration in front of all Muslims from day one even before the prophet invited people the broader public to Islam Imm Ali he had designated him as his and then finally stage three stage three was when Allahawel revealed this verse Allah tells them. Preach what you have been commanded and ignore the idol worshippers. Ignore them. Stay away from them. Don't let them sway you or affect you. Just continue preaching. And it doesn't matter what they tell you. Allah he went to haram. This is when he began to declare Islam. He began to tell people that Allah has chosen me as a messenger. And the message of Allah is this. The belief in Islam only required one thing. Just believe in one God. Meaning those idols in the Kaa are not are not gods. You have to denounce the idols. That was the only belief in Islam. That was the there was no sallay. There was no fasting. There was no Hajj. None of that. That came later on. This second phase, it lasted through Mecca and then Medina. Mecca was a very difficult phase for Rasool Allah. 13 years Rasool Allah is in Mecca after he was sent as a messenger inviting people to Islam. Not too many people became Muslims. Probably 50 people, 60 people, maybe a hundred people. Andasool Allah was fought by the people of Quraysh. They abused him every way possible. They made up lies against him, accused him of being a sorcerer. They mocked him. They any way that they could harass Rasool Allah, they did until Allah had to finally flee for his life. They decided to assassinate him. Allah was ordered by Allah to leave at midnight. The middle of the night, leave Mecca, abandon it, and go and migrate to Medina. Who was sleeping in the bed of Allah? None other than Im Ali. the hero of every single incident. Imm Ali slept. The people of Quraysh came. They wanted to kill thinking this is Muhammad. They see it's Allah was in a cave for a couple of days. Then he migrated from Mecca to Medina. When Rasool Allah arrived Medina, this was a complete transformation and a turning point in his life because in Medina, he has full freedom. There is no Quraysh harassing him and trying to prevent him because was like a a dictatorship where the prophet couldn't preach Islam or they held him accountable for anything. Don't teach Islam. They bothered him. They tried every way to shut down Allah in Medina. He sees these people are embracing him. They love him and he has full freedom to preach. Islam began to flourish. Mus people began to come from all the villages and the towns from around Medina embracing the message of Rasool Allah until 8 years after that after Rasool Allah's transition migration from Mecca to Medina 8 years after that Rasool Allah becomes so powerful such that he comes with an army to Mecca and he conquers Mecca he takes control of Mecca now So Rasool Allah becomes the the ruler of the entire Arabian Peninsula towards the end of his life. Now why was Rasool Allah so successful? I'll mention this and inshallah we will end. Why was Allah so successful at inviting and attracting so much people to Islam? Not just back then but even until today. The fastest growing religion on earth is Islam. Most converts you see are people that are leaving other religions and converting to Islam. And during the life of rasool Allah in Medina people were coming by the droves. Thousands and thousands villages were coming tribes complete tribes they came to Medina. They pledged their allegiance to Allah and believed in him such that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed Allah gave a promise that Muhammad a day will come in which you will see Islam prevail, Islam victorious and you will conquer Mecca. And you will see people rush in groups to come and embrace Islam. And that did happen in the last years of Allah. But why? Rasool Allah wasn't giving out free money. Allah wasn't buying people. So why was Allah so successful? Three points, brothers and sisters, and I'll end with these inshallah. Number one, Allah's message to the people was this. Allah gave you a brain. Allah gave you intellect. Use your brain. Reflect. He came with a message of contemplation and reflection. He came to the people of Quraysh and he told them, "Look, you guys are worshiping idols. Idols that can't even help themselves. This doesn't make sense. Use your if this idol cannot help itself, how can it help you?" And the Quran illustrates this. The Quran says Allah orders the prophet to tell this to the people of Mecca. The prophet says if I can tell you just one thing. If I can tell you give you one word of ad advice it would be the greatest word of advice that I can give you. It's this. Come as individuals and as groups. Use your brain. Muhammad who you accuse of being a sorcerer or crazy insane. Does this really make sense? Do you really believe in this nonsense? Muhammad is insane and he brings such an eloquent beautiful Quran that has scientific miracles that has prophecies that has eloquence be beyond anything that the Arabs had ever seen. An insane person can bring all of this. This doesn't make sense. So he taught them that if you want to be successful in anything in life just use your brain, contemplate, ponder, reflect. And that was the problem with Jah. They had become a stagnant society because they weren't lo using their brain anymore. They just went with the flow. They would go around the Kaa Kaa is filled with hundreds of idols and they would do their taw naked. Why someone has a child if she's a girl bury her? Why? Because this is this is a you know this is shame. Why? They wouldn't use intellect, wouldn't use logic, wouldn't use their brain. They would just go with the flow. And when the prophet came to teach them, what would they tell them? You know what? My parents did it this way. I'm just going to do it like my parents and grandparents. This is the worst thing that can happen to a society when they just want to go with the flow. And we see this now happening in the US, right? Fortunately, this liberal wave where the newer generations, they just want to follow what everyone else is doing, what they're being taught without thinking, is this the right thing? Is this logical? Is this moral? Is this ethical? When a community and society decides to just go with the flow and they give a blind eye to their intellect and morality, this is when a society starts going down. And unfortunately, we see that in general in the western societies. So the prophet teaches them to this was something new. Many of them were attracted to the message of Allah because he focused on intellect on logic. Everything in the on everything the prophet taught made sense. That's why you see the hadith of the prophet where he said that if you use your brain if you reflect and contemplate for one hour sometimes it's better than one year of if that is what is filled in ignorance because what's the point of ibada if you're worshiping Allah subhana t 24/7 but you don't know why you're worshiping or what's the point of this my grandfather father he mentions the story from someone an older person he met many years ago he used to go to Hajj and take people to Hajj like a a hamla leader so this story is probably from a hundred years ago he says I went to Hajj one year I saw someone he was sitting in front of thea and worshiping Allah the most beautiful worship salah after salah after salah then he recited Quran then dua then he cried and asked Allah for toba I said this person is one of the greatest creation of Allah. Let me go and let me go and embrace him. Ask him to do dua for me. What a mu. He says I went I said salam to him stranger. He said then I told him if you have any haj that I can do dua for please let me know because you are a person who's very close to Allah. He said, "Yes, just ask Allah to on the day of judgment to resurrect me with Marwan Marwan, one of the worst enemies of B all that's and your role model is what's the point or there's another from where he speaks about Bakr the importance of intellect and he says there was a worshipper who used to worship Allah subhanana wa ta'ala on an 24/7 he says an angel came down and he told him you've been worshiping Allah for so long and many is Allah says ask anything and he'll give you you know what he said he said there's so much wasted grass and plants on this island if only Allah sends a donkey so that this grass wouldn't be wasted the donkey would eat the grass the angel's like that's it your ambition stop at a donkey the donkey eats the grass so intellect is what focus focused on and this is something that people related to. This is number one. I had some other points about intellect but I'm running out of time. Number two, the second factor for the success of Allah was that Allah was a unifying power. Allah brought an end to racism. You see, unfortunately the Arabs in Jahyah, they believed in Arab supremacy. Not just Arab supremacy but Qur supremacy. the people of Quraysh are better than all of the other Arabs and they were racist to their to the teeth. It was part of every every part of life. You could see the hierarchy and the you know the the the racism how it was so entrenched into their culture. Allah comes and he starts preaching that everyone is equal. Whether you're black, you're white, whether you're an Arab from this tribe, from another tribe, from another city, Persian, Roman, none of that matters. It's only your piety. And one of the ways that he did that to actually prove that Islam is a religion of equality is that the role of adan comes down and he tells Allah now you have to do adan the adan that we hear appoint someone and it would be someone very noble to do the adan. He would stand on thea and preach the adan. He told Im Ali to teach it to Bilal. Bilal Habesi was an Ethiopian black former slave and he was not even a human being in the eyes of people of Quraysh. He chooses him. He goes and he starts doing the the adan. The hadith tell us that the people of Quraysh when they saw this is when the prophet conquered Mecca when they saw bala doing their heart doing their hearts almost stopped. One of them said, "Alhamdulillah, my father died and he didn't see this horrible scene." A black mana, saying, "Adan, Adan, you're denouncing the idols." Another man said, "Muhammad couldn't find anyone besides this crow, this black crow." They made fun of him even then. And Allah brought down the verse, the famous verse you've all heard. Allah subhana wa ta'ala says, "Oh mankind, I created you from a father, from mother, and I made you into different tribes and I made you into different nations so that you may know one another." So there's diversity in the creation of Allah. So it's not just all the same, same color, same type. It would be boring. Allah subhana wa ta'ala wanted to add that element to his creation. But what did we do human beings? We use this the different nations and tribes and colors. We use that to create a hierarchy. This one is the white is better than black and this person is better than that and to obviously make it a a culture of discrimination and racism. Allah he came in and ended all of that. He told them that everyone goes back to Adam and we are all equal in the eyes of Allah except the only thing that makes you better than someone else is your tawa is your piety is your iman. So this is number two. Number one his focus on reflection on reflection and contemplation. Number two the message of equality that he brought made him successful. And finally, one of the most important and we'll end with this. One of the most important factors that madeool Allah successful that people gravitated towards Allah was he focused on and this was one of the main goals of Allah that when he was sent he said these famous lines one of the goals that I was entrusted by Allah as a messenger was to perfect to perfect people's perceptions of and people's actual And he did this through two ways. Number one by first educating people that Islam equals. And unfortunately this is a point until today Muslims don't really understand many of them. To many people what is Islam? Rituals. Who is a religious person? Someone who's just praying rituals. Rituals. Quran dua. The prophet used to define Islam as there's a hadith where a man came to Allah. He told him what is religion? What is your religion? What's the essence of it? Allah told him Islam is about having goodl this is what Islam is about. The prophet could have said salah and and Quran and all of that stuff but he chose the most important. So the man thought the prophet didn't understand. He asked again what is your dean? Be more specific. The prophet told him my dean is what I'm preaching is for people to have good character. The third time the pro when he asked the prophet the third time the prophet told him told him I understand what you're asking. Do you not understand me? I told you religion is what? Religion is about and then the prophet gave him an example. Dean religion someone who's faithful is someone who can control their anger. Someone who can control their angers and tough times. This is difficult brothers and sisters. This is much more difficult than praying and even going to Hajj when you are someone who's able to manage your anger. So number one he he tried to fix people's understanding of what religion is. Religion is about and number two he himself was the best role model the best example of someone that had greatl such that Allah said in the holy Quran about him you have unbelievable impeccable character. In another verse, Allah says, "You had so much mercy that Allah taught you. You were gentle with them. If Allah you were very aggressive with them and you were you weren't friendly with them and you were harsh in your tone and in your style, they would have all left you. Even if you had the most beautiful teachings, people are going to leave you. They don't want someone who's very hard to deal with, who complains all the time, who puts people down. And this was the secret of Allah. He was the nicest person to be with. There's a hadith narrates, Im Hussein asks Im Ali. He tells him, "Tell me about the of Allah." It's a very nice hadith. I recommend you read it. It's very long. I only have a minute or two and I have to end. But Imm Ali basically told them the most polite person you can imagine. The most respectful person, he would always smile. Never ever would he put anyone down. Never would he never would he um never would he make someone feel like they made a mistake even if they did commit a mistake. But the prophet wouldn't show that to anyone. He would never interrupt someone if they're speaking. Look at the ofas. The only time he would interrupt is if you say something haram. Don't say this. Never interrupt. He was patient with everybody. Always smiling. And the hadith of of of of Imam Ali continues. It's very beautiful. It shows how beautiful the ofasool Allah was. And that's why Allah was loved by everybody because of his behavior because of how he treated everyone with so much respect. He made everyone feel so special. When someone spoke to him, he gave him his undivided attention versus now you know what we do when someone's talking to us. Yes. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Really? Oh, this is brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, this is something almost everyone does today and Allah was very very cautious not to do this. There was no phones. But sometimes you act like you're listening to someone but you're not giving that person their undivided. And what's worse, you tell some people, are you with me? Or no, no, I'm with you. I'm with you. Even if you're with me, it's disrespectful. When you're talking to someone and you're focusing on the phone, you can't focus on two things at once. It's impossible. That's why after you tell your story, after a couple Can you say that again? Or they ask you, but what happened to what happened to the guy? Which guy? There's no guy in my story. He's not paying attention. Not only he was the most respectful person. Never ever you can come out from a meeting with him, from seeing him and you feel like he disrespected you, he put you down. You come with negativity and you come out with positivity. He instills hope in everyone's lives. And this is what made so great. And finally, my dear brothers and sisters, the Quran says Allah is the best example is your best role model. Many of the challenges that we face, Allah also faced. We also sometimes are surrounded by people who don't understand our faith, who are hostile towards our faith, who maybe misinterpret our faith. How do we attract people to the religion? Brothers and sisters, we attract them just like Allah attracted them. We attract them through our behavior, through our demeanor. As I used to say, be people who invite people to the path of but not through your tongue, through your behavior. For when people see you have goodl, they will say you have a good religion. And when people see we're not honest, when people see we have a foul mouth, when people see we are not punctual, we are not respectful of people's privacy, of people's time, of all these issues, then they will say this person has a bad religion. So the best service that we can do toasool Allah for all the greatness that he taught us is to try and learn from the teachings of Allah and let that reflect back on Islam. So when non-Muslims see Islam, they see the of Allah, they are also gravitated, they are also attracted to this religion because of the of the followers of that religion. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless you all. May Allahel grant us the ability that we are able to follow in the footsteps of Allah. May he makes us amongst the obedient and loyal ummah of rasool Allah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the z ofoolah in this life and his shaf in the next life.