Soak Up A Gale of Inspiration from The Life of Prophet Muhammad
By
Inusah Mohammed
18th June 2020
One of the
activities I engaged myself seriously in during Ramadan 2020 was to soak up a
gale of inspiration from the life of Prophet Muhammad. In this piece, I share
some of the lessons I think will inspire us in our everyday lives.
In life,
you may have a cause that you have to push through and you will need the
support of a whole lot of people. The cause may be a new initiative, a
movement, and an agenda that will reveal the very purpose of your existence in
life. A cause of such nature was Islam, that of our noble Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh).
In life,
some may not believe in your cause, but they will support you at the peril of
their lives. They will incur the wrath of many who will wonder why they support
you yet will never give in. They will never bulge nor waver, nor cower in their
support till death. That is the case of Abu Talib, the Prophet’s Uncle.
In life,
some will be your family members. Some will be closer to you in consanguinity
yet will be the trailblazers of hate against you and your cause. Don’t be
surprised if they are your fathers or uncles. They will swear heaven and earth
to go against your cause till they lose their lives in that. Check out the
Prophet’s Uncle Abu Lahab.
In life,
some will be with you through thick and thin. They will support you from the
first day. They will pull through with you through the turbulences and
pestilences your cause will gather. And they will be the first to help pull
your head above the troubling waters. They will expend their resources to see
you excel in your cause. It is said that the Prophet stated that all the people
he called towards Islam accepted after a little hesitation except for Abu Bakr.
And Abu Bakr really expended himself and his resources in the cause of Islam.
In life,
when all your family members do not see the need to join you in your cause,
there’s that family member who will stand against all and declare his support
for you. He will be active in the cause and radiate its ideals wherever he
finds himself till the point of death. A strong case in point is the cousin of
the Prophet, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
It is
stated that “behind every successful man is a woman.” This was aptly epitomized
by the unwavering support Khadijah bint Khuwaylid gave the Prophet ab initio.
It is of no mean significance that the Prophet stated: “she believed in me when
all others disbelieved; she held me truthful when others called a liar; she
sheltered me when others abandoned me; she comforted me when others shunned me,
and Allah granted me children by her while depriving me of children by other
women.”
In life,
some will never believe in your cause. As a matter of fact, they will move heaven
and earth to put a twang in the progress of your cause. They will do that not
because they disbelieve in you or in your cause. Far from that! They will hurl
fire, brimstone, and thunder on you because they see your progress as a
betrayal of their cause, prestige, or their very existence on earth. This was
clearly exhibited by the nobles of Makkah like Abu Jahl, Ummayyah ibn Khalaf,
and Waleed ibn al-Mughirah and in Madina by Abdullahi bin Ubayy ibn Salul.
In life,
some will be persecuted, trampled upon, despised, and treated with disdain just
because they believed in you and your cause. Some will be maimed. But some will
find themselves on the shores of the afterlife for their support. Some will
also carry horrible scars of the persecution they suffered for their
unflinching support. Bilal ibn Rabah, Khabbab ibn Arrat, Suhaib ibn Abi Sinan,
Summayyah bint Khayyat.
In life,
some will not believe in your cause in its initial stages. They will be a thorn
in the flesh of your cause. In fact – a pain in the neck. They will lead the
attack on your tenets until they see the light in what you are calling towards.
Then they become the anchorage for your progress. They become “an anchor that
keeps the soul steadfast and strong while the billows roll. Fastened to the
rock which cannot move. Grounded firm and deep in their support.” Such is the
case of the one given the name Al-Faruk (the distinguisher between right and
wrong), Umar ibn Al-Khattab.
In life,
some may not necessarily be part of your family. They come nowhere close to
your genealogy. But they will prefer dying for your survival. They protect you
from far and near, both intra and inter with the last drop of their blood. They
will sometimes be the brain behind your victory against your enemies. Their unflinching
support and love for your cause will force you to accept them into your
family. Such is representative of
Salman, the Persian’s case when the Prophet is reported to have said to him
“Salman is one of the households of the Prophet”.
In life,
people will vehemently go against your cause. They will give out whatever they
have to make sure your cause is derided off the face of the earth. They will
lead attacks on you. But after they have realized the purity of your cause,
they, irrespective of how they stood against you, become the ardent advocates
of your cause. This is a typical case of Abu Sufyan’s ibn Harb when the Prophet
said during the Conquest of Mecca: “whosoever enters Abu Sufyan’s house is
safe.”
In life,
people will disturb and frustrate your cause. They will kill the supporters of
your beliefs. They will be the brain behind your enemies overcoming you in
terms of war by applying superior war tactics. But after they have accepted to
be part of your fraternity, there is nothing you can do other than to accept
them. And they will contribute immensely with the same skill this time around
to overcome your enemies. Check out the life Khalid ibn Al- Waleed.
Others are
there for you to consider the magnitude of the damage they have wreaked on your
cause, how they sadly eliminated your strong men and the level of monstrosity
they have caused to humanity. After they have realized their mistakes and are
now ready to holistically accept your cause, you can’t reject them – which is
what you must do if your cause is geared towards uplifting the face of
humanity. Wahshi the Abyssinian readily comes to mind.
These are
but a few examples of the everyday lessons we can take from the life of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad, in the hopes that we can emulate aspects of his life in
becoming better Muslims here in this world.
Original
Headline: Everyday Lessons From the Life of the Prophet Muhammad
Source: The Muslim Vibe
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/soak-up-gale-inspiration-life/d/122168