Did You Defend Your Prophet ﷺ?

How eye pleasing it is to see the Muslim ummah unite to defend its beloved Prophet ﷺ against the offense of the hate mongers.

The commercial boycott is indeed one mean to discipline the arrogant politicians of the West and also a stance, which will stimulate the wonder of the entire world and arouse their curiosity to ask: "Who is this man, who died 1400 years ago and had 1.7 billion Muslim outraged for his sake and stood firmly in his defense?!"

No person in the history of man received such reverence and love like Muhammad ﷺ did. Compare that to the ridicule and offense against other non-Muslim's famous figures and the position of their followers.

Our position in defense of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ will certainly trigger the curiosity of many Westerners to investigate the biography of this great man ﷺ; hence, it will lead them to scrutinize the sublime message of Islām; understand the purpose of man's existence and why this man ﷺ deserved all that love and reverence.

Alhamdulilah, you were keen in defending the Prophet ﷺ against the outer enemies and expressed your outrage and rejection of these offences, may Allāh reward you abundantly for that.

But, frankly, we need to pay attention to another nasty enemy. Let us ask ourselves this very important question and reflect profoundly upon it:

Did we defend our beloved Prophet ﷺ against the rebellious enemy within each one of us?

I mean our whims and desires, which are in constant rebellion against his Sunnah and guidance. Some may even mock and belittle practicing his Sunnah ﷺ out of ignorance or bigotry to the forefathers' way.

Adhering to his Sunnah is the most crucial way in displaying our love for him ﷺ. And once again, I assert that our boycott against the enemies of Islām is praiseworthy and God pleasing, but we need to display additional care to our relation and duties toward the comprehensive message he ﷺ conveyed to us and not to neglect any of it.

The crux of the message of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is attaining Tawheed (oneness of Allāh ﷻ) and rejecting Shirk (associating partners with Allāh ﷻ); we should ask ourselves: where do we stand when it comes to attaining this most crucial tenet of Islām?

You may see people violating Tawheed by worshiping graves and asking the dead for provision and sustenance and these same people were also outraged by the derogatory caricatures!

We need to realize that this praised outrage will not avail us when we stand before Allāh ﷻ, while having an act of major shirk in our record.

Allāh, the Exalted, warned his most loved messenger by saying: (And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything] with Allāh, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers.") (Noble Qur'ān 39: 65)

Another crucial issue, which the Prophet ﷺ called his ummah to take seriously and warned enormously against the punishment of neglecting it, is performing Salah (prayer) on time. Ask yourself: How important is Salah to you? Your Salah is your direct connection with Allāh ﷻ. Neglecting Salah means losing connection with Allāh ﷻ.

Alhamdulilah, we are so eager to guide the West to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and to bring them back into the fold of Islām, but what about guiding ourselves back to his teachings and Sunnah?

Sadly, many, who carry love and reverence to the Prophet ﷺ, are still indulged in a profane lifestyle; it makes no difference to them whether the sins they are indulged in are major or minor. Isn't it time for us to come back to his Sunnah?

Likewise, our love for him ﷺ entails that we follow his Sunnah without introducing innovations, which are not part of his teachings.

He ﷺ said: “He who innovates something in this matter of ours (i.e., Islām) that is not of it will have it rejected (by Allāh(” (Al-Bukhari & Muslim)

In another version in Muslim: “He who does an act which we have not commanded, will have it rejected (by Allāh).”

It will certainly please him ﷺ even more to meet his ummah on the Day of Judgment while complying with his Sunnah and guidance.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Some persons from amongst my associates would turn to my Cistern; when I would see them and they would be presented to me, they would be detained in the way while coming to me. I would say: My Lord, they are my companions, they are my companions, and it would be said to me: You don't know what innovations they made after you." Muslim

Finally, we should be consistent in defending him and his Deen ﷺ. There are people amongst us, who carry Islāmic names; the media gave them platforms to divert people from the Sunnah and the teachings of the Qur'ān. These people equally deserve to be boycotted and warned against.

May Allāh ﷻ make us among the followers and preachers of his Sunnah, who will be allowed on the Day of Judgment to drink from his cistern with his beloved companions RAA.