Dear Blessed Congregation,
The life of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. is a source of shining guidance and full of powerful lessons for Muslims at all places and times.

In his honourable character and personality, we find the best example for our lives, whether in our relationship with our Creator, or with other people, and with the world around us.

In this blessed month of his birth, let us reflect on his honourable personality and learn from his glorious examples, so that we will continue to be religiously resilient, progressive, and we can become blessings to all.

Dear blessed brothers,
The Prophet’s love and compassion for his ummah is mentioned by Allah s.w.t. in a beautiful verse in surah Al-Taubah verse 128:

Which means: “Verily, there has come to You a Messenger (Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.) from amongst yourselves, it grieves Him that You should receive any injury or difficulty. He is anxious over You (for your well-being), for the believers (He is) the most kind and compassionate.”

His love is not limited to his followers and the believers. But his love and compassion encompassed those who even showed hatred and enmity towards him s.a.w.

This can be seen from the episode in Taif, after the Prophet s.a.w. met with a hostile reception from the Quraisy to his dakwah in Mekkah.

At Taif, the Prophet s.a.w. was rejected. But beyond rejection, the poor, the slaves and the children of Bani Thaqif threw stones at him, and in the process, injured the legs of the Prophet s.a.w.
It was reported that Allah sent the angels guarding the mountains around Taif to offer the Prophet an option of destroying the people of Taif by moving the mountains unto them.
But the Holy Prophet s.a.w. rejected the offer, and with his compassion, he offered a prayer instead “Even if they reject Islam, I pray to Allah that their descendants will worship Allah s.w.t.”

Think about this. The Prophet s.a.w. did not harbour revenge when he could. He did not despair and give up. But he chose to be optimistic. And what was the outcome? Nine years after the migration to Madinah, a delegation from the same Bani Thaqif came to Madinah to accept the Prophet and embrace Islam.

In another incident, when the Prophet s.a.w. was preparing to leave for Madinah, he appointed Sayyidina Ali r.a. as a trustee to return all the deposits of the people of Makkah left with the Prophet s.a.w, to their rightful owners.

This is even so when there were Arab Quraish who rejected the Prophet s.a.w. But despite their rejection of Islam, they did not dispute nor doubt the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the Prophet s.a.w. His integrity was unparalleled and this was well-known by the people of Makkah.

Dear blessed congregation,
From the Sirah of the Prophet s.a.w, we find important lessons to guide us in our lives today:

First: The need for us to be religiously resilient, especially in difficult and testing times.

Second: The need for us to be adaptive and navigate ourselves through challenges that face us. We also need to be contributive and offer our helping hand to all those who need help, regardless of their background.

Therefore, we need to ask ourselves, how deep is our love for the Prophet s.a.w., after we have seen his compassion and honourable personality. After we have witnessed his contributions and examples for us?

Let us emulate the love of Anasbin Malik r.a. for the Prophet s.a.w. He reported that “A man came to the Prophet and asked: “O Messenger of Allah, when is the end of the world?” The Prophet replied “What have you prepared for it?” He answered: “My love for Allah and His Messenger.” The Prophet s.a.w. replied “You will be gathered with whom you love.” Anas r.a. said:“Eversince we accepted Islam, we have never been happier than hearing the Prophet say “You will be gathered with whom you love.” Anas r.a. said again:“I love Allah, His Messenger, Abu Bakar and Umar, and hopefully I am gathered with them, even if my deeds are not on par with theirs.” Hadith narrated by Imam Muslim.

May our love for the Prophet s.a.w. strengthen our resolve to follow in his footsteps. May our love for him be the reason for us to be gathered with him in the hereafter. Amin.