What is the first thought that comes into your mind when you think of Rasoolullahﷺ? For me it is someone to run to if I need anything. Someone who will intercede for me when I meet Allahﷻ. Someone who I love more than I can say and who I yearn to meet. May Allahﷻ grant that to us all, that we meet him at his Hauz and receive the water of Al-Kauthar from his blessed hand. May Allahﷻ grant that before that day, we see him in our dream and give him our salaam and he responds with his dua. My brothers and sisters, Allahﷻ gave us many blessings. Everything we have is a blessing of Allahﷻ, from our lives to our health, our families, wealth, above all Islam. But there is only one out of all His blessings that Allahﷻ emphasized and especially mentioned as His Neyma – His Blessing and that is Rasoolullahﷺ. Let us reflect on that.

لَقَدْ مَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِى ضَلَـٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ

A’al Imraan 3: 164   Indeed Allah conferred a great blessing on the Believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammadﷺ) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Ayaat (Qur’an), and purifying them (Tazkiyya wa Tarbiyya), and instructing them (in) the Book (Qur’an) and Al-Hikmah [wisdom of his Sunnah] while before that they had been in manifest error.

If we think about the life of the people in Makkah, especially the Quraysh, they were highly successful businesspeople. They had wealth, they self-governed, they were not subservient to either of the two empires in their part of the world, they had every luxury and pleasure that money could buy. So why did they need Islam? I am asking this because this is a relevant question for us to ask ourselves today. Why do I need Islam?

I say to you, that angle influences the view. What you see depends on the angle you look at it from. Our job is to please Allahﷻ‎ but we have been taught that it is to accumulate wealth. Our role models, almost exclusively, are those who accumulate wealth. But if you ask, ‘But did he please Allahﷻ‎?’, what's the answer. So, what will happen to him if he reaches the Aakhira without having pleased Allahﷻ‎? Or worse still, having angered Allahﷻ and having accepted a declaration of war from Himﷻ. This was the case of the Quraysh and the choice they faced. Some chose to reject Allahﷻ and His Messengerﷺ and others chose to reject ways that run contrary to the Will of Allahﷻ and the Sunnah of His Messengerﷺ. Allahﷻ declared about the Sahaba which tells us about their Aakhira and that of their followers:

وَٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ ٱلْأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُهَـٰجِرِينَ وَٱلْأَنصَارِ وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُم بِإِحْسَـٰنٍ رَّضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى تَحْتَهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًا ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ

Tawba 9: 100       And the first to embrace Islam of the Muhajirun (migrants) and the Ansar (helpers) and those who followed them exactly (in Faith). Allah is well-pleased with them as they are well-pleased with Him. He has prepared for them Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever. That is supreme success.

But let’s look at their Dunya? Did that suffer? Did they lose their wealth, influence, and power? Or did they, in one generation, change from being at best, a village of prosperous businessmen, to becoming the dominant global power having defeated both the Roman and Persian Empires. History is witness. What changed in their lives? The angle changed and so the view changed. That is why in this month of Rabi-ul Awwal, I present to you Muhammadur Rasoolullahﷺ, not only as the model we must follow if we want...