Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Inshallah today is going to be another episode on the seat at the table. Inshallah ta'ala, I'll let you guys choose what topic you think we should speak about. But before we do that, I want you guys to introduce yourselves inshallah ta'ala.
So what's your name? What is your hobby? And how much of the Qur'an have you memorized? We've asked this question to the previous students and we'll do the same with you inshallah ta'ala. I'll start off first. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
My name is Mohamed Hersi. Alhamdulillah I'm in university, I'm starting university soon. And I'm into football.
Into football, mashallah. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. My name is Osman Yusuf.
My hobby is I like to watch a sport called Formula One. Formula One, car driving. Are you good at car driving? Yeah I'm good at car driving.
Do you have a license? No. Not yet? No. Too young to have a license? How old are you? I'm 16 years old.
16, Allahumma barik. And how fun, how much of the Qur'an have you memorized? I memorized the full Qur'an. The full Qur'an, Allahumma barik, mashallah.
And you were born and bred in Canada? Yeah. Allah Akbar, mashallah. So what topic do you think we should speak about today? The Prophet.
The Seerah. The Seerah of the Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam. Get to know who he is inshallah ta'ala.
So let's take the word first. The word Seerah. What does it mean? Every episode we try our best, and even in the future episodes that we're going to be doing inshallah, we're going to break down the words, what they mean, just so that people understand it.
So we don't say any Arabic word unless we translate it, we explain it, inshallah ta'ala. So the word Seerah, what does that word mean? The word Seerah. Seerah, for me, from my understanding, is like the story of the Prophet.
There you go. That's simply what it means. The word Seerah, it means the Prophet's biography alayhi salatu wasalam.
Okay? That's what the scholars mean by Seerah, the Prophet's biography alayhi salatu wasalam. What's the importance of the Prophet's Seerah? How important is it for a Muslim? I think it's really, really important. Because that's the person Allah chose to be the last Prophet, the final Prophet.
And to give him the Qur'an basically. SubhanAllah. So if we get to know the person, we get to know more about the deen.
The religion of Islam. He is the messenger sent by Allah ta'ala to convey the final and last message. So you see, there's a message and there's a messenger.
The message, we need to see how is it implemented. You might say, okay, you know what? Is this something a human being can do? But because the Prophet did it, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, what does that show us? It's doable. A human actually did do it.
That's why the wisdom of why Islam is a true religion and those who claim Christianity isn't is because they claim that Isa, who they need to follow, is a God. Can you follow a God? Because the God is perfect, right? And the human is what? He's not perfect. That's why Allah ta'ala, when the kuffar of Quraysh, they said, مَا لِهَذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ يَوْلَهُمْ زِيْلَ إِلَيْهِ مَنَكُمْ صَيْفُنَ مَعَهُمْ نَذِيرًا They said, what is this human being walking around the market? He eats, he drinks like us.
What is this? Why is he not an angel? Why is he not aided by an angel? Why is he not? They were wrong by saying that because a prophet is meant to be followed. And he has to be the same as the people he's conveying the message to. So they can emulate him and follow him and copy him, right? Another, can you add another reason why you think it's important to study the prophet's biography? Another reason.
First reason was, he's someone we need to follow. صلى الله عليه وسلم You see, we were commanded even in the Quran, Allah says, لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُصْوَةٌ حَسَنًا He's like a role model for us. And if he's a role model, we need to know his biography.
Another example, another reason could be, another reason could be, is that Nabiullah Muhammad is the only prophet whose biography from birth until he passed away. صلى الله عليه وسلم We know it all. It was like he was born under a microscope.
Some scholars actually said that Nabiullah Muhammad is as though he was born under a CCTV camera. Like we know every part of his life. It was documented, written, to the T. Everything's been written.
صلى الله عليه وسلم So again, also, the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم His biography actually teaches us how we should act in different situations in life. So when I am a father, I'll take him as a role model. When it comes from the perspective of being a leader, the prophet is a role model for me.
صلى الله عليه وسلم As a husband, how to treat my wife, I take it from the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Everything about his life, I can emulate. I can follow it. That's why Aisha, when she was asked about the prophet, what did she say? كان خلقه القرآن His mannerism was the Qur'an, right? So the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is the final and last prophet with a message.
And that message is something we need to follow. And we need to emulate it from him. So now we know what the word seerah means.
We also know what the importance of the seerah is. A little bit. We mentioned that.
Any questions you guys want to ask? Yeah, I had a question. Why was the prophet born in Mecca? Why not anywhere else? So the city of Mecca is a holy land. This place, Mecca, is a place Allah تبارك وتعالى raised it from every other land.
And Muhammad being the final and last messenger, being the best of the children of Adam, the prophet said in a hadith أنا سيد ولد آدم I'm not boasting about it, but I am the best of the children of Adam صلى الله عليه وسلم So he's the best of prophets. He's the best of the children of Adam. He's the best human being to have ever walked on this earth صلى الله عليه وسلم It is fit that he's born in the best of lands.
Okay. And that the best angel sends the message onto him. And the best miracle that's given to him is the Quran itself.
The poet he said جاء النبيون بالآيات فانصرمت وجئتنا بحكيم غير منصرم آياته كلما طال المدى جدد يبينهن جمال الأثق والقدم All the previous prophets, they came with miracles for their people to believe in them. Maybe like Muhammad. What did he come with? He came with Quran.
That is the miracle he came with for his people to believe in him. Every prophet when he died, his miracle passed away with him, went with him. Musa, stick.
Where is it? عيسى يبرئ الأكمه والأبرس Where is that? When Isa was risen up by Allah تبارك وتعالى وما قتلوا وما صلبوا ولكن شبها لهم And Allah تبارك وتعالى took him up ورفعه الله إليه Is that miracle on the earth right now? No, it's not. But maybe like Muhammad has passed away. But the miracle still stands, the Quran.
صح So because he's the best of prophets, the best of humans, the best of the children of Adam, it's worthy of him being born in the best of places, right? What was his full name? And was he called any other names? Beautiful question. His name is Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muttalib Ibn Hashim Hashim is from Quraysh and Quraysh is from the Arab. He's an Arab.
And the Arabs are من ذرية إسماعيل Nabiullah Ibrahim had two sons. He's one of his first, one of his sons, one of his sons, Ibrahim عليه السلام is Ismail. And one is what? Ishaq Ibrahim is one of the big prophets of Allah سبحانه وتعالى from the five chosen prophets.
He had two children, two sons. Okay. Okay.
I'm not only saying he had only two, but these are the two. Ismail and Ishaq. The Arabs, they come from Ismail.
When they carry out their name, they go to who? Ismail. So Nabiullah Muhammad, he's from the ذرية of Ismail. He's from that lineage.
He goes back to Ismail and Ismail is the son of who? Ibrahim عليه السلام So that's his full name. Muhammad Ibn Abdillah Ibn Abdul Muttalib Ibn Hashim and Hashim goes back to Quraysh and Quraysh goes back to Ismail Ibn Ibrahim عليه السلام That is enough for every young Muslim to learn. A beginner Muslim, that's the amount that they need to know.
More than that is just extra knowledge. Inshallah. So that's his name.
Was he known any other name? Yes. His name also was Ahmed. He was also Al Mahi, Al Hashir.
All those names that he was given. عليه السلام All of his names, by the way, they actually represent, they actually mean who he is. So the name Muhammad, for example, it means the one that's praised Allah.
Nabiullah Muhammad is what? He's praised Allah. He's what? He is praised Allah. And anyone who tries to speak bad about the Prophet, tries to belittle him and mock him.
Allah told us in the Qur'an إِنَّكَ فَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِينَ Allah already told us in the Qur'an that we will suffice you Muhammad when it comes to those who try to mock you and belittle you. Allah will deal with them. We should leave it with Allah.
Why? Because your name is Muhammad. صح؟ Meaning the Prophet is a praiseworthy one. We praise him all the time.
We speak highly of him because of what he really was. Was he called Muhammad Amin as well? Amin again. Yes, they did.
They used to call him the trustworthy one because he was so honest and so truthful. يعني they believed every single thing he told them. And was that before he was a Prophet? That was before he became a Prophet and even after he became a Prophet.
According to Quraysh and the Arabs, he ﷺ was the most trustworthy person. That he said to them, if I was to say to you guys, they will have Muhammad say this, if I told you all today that there is an army that's heading your way from behind this mountain and it wants to destroy you all, would you believe me in this? They said, مَا جَرَّمْنَا We've not ever felt from you, كَذِب Lying. We've never seen you actually lying to us.
Yes, we'll believe you. And then he said, if that's the case, if you would believe that from me, I'm now telling you this. I am a Nadheer, I am a Warner and I am warning you of not an army that's coming but a punishment from Allah that's heading your way that's going to destroy you if you don't take this message from me.
Are you with me? So I also had another question. Should we celebrate the Prophet's birthday? So let's first of all talk about the Prophet's birth, Okay? And when we speak about the Prophet's birth, we will talk about, do we even know when he was born? Exactly when he was born. So the poet he said, Ibn Abi Izz Al-Hanafi, he said, مَوْلِدُهُ فِي عَاشِرِ الفَضِيلِ رَبِيعِ لِلْأَوَّلِ أَعَمَلْ فِيهِ لَكِنَّ مَنْ مَشْهُرُ ثَانِ عَشِرِهِ Until the end.
The Prophet was born on what? On a Monday. We know that he was born on a Monday because the Prophet said in a hadith, he fasted on Monday and he fasted on Thursday and the Prophet peace be upon him said, on Monday the reason why I'm fasting is because I, it was the day I was born. So there's no question about that.
That he was born on a Monday. The question here is, what about the year? The year is also, Inshallah Ta'ala, agreed upon by the overwhelming majority of scholars mentioning that the Prophet peace be upon him was born on عَامُ الفِيلِ عَامُ الفِيلِ is what? The year of the? By the way the Arabs they had a culture which is any significant thing that happened on a certain year they would name that year after it. They would what? They would name the year after it.
So for example, what year would we call 2019? The COVID year. Because that was what happened in that year. Significance.
So that year the Prophet was born is called عَامُ الفِيلِ عَامُ الفِيلِ means the year of the? Elephant. And this is a story where the an army came with the intent to destroy the Kaaba. And Allah destroyed them سبحانه وتعالى أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ So Allah tells a story here for us.
أَصْحَابُ الفِيلِ is what? It's them. Allah sent وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلٌ تَرْمِيهِمْ بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِيلٍ فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفِ الْمَأْكُولِ Allah sent from the sky يعني birds that were carrying stones that destroyed them annihilated the entire army because they wanted to destroy the Kaaba. Allah annihilated them سبحانه وتعالى That was also the year he was born.
But what about the month? It's actually agreed upon that he was born in ربيع الأول the twelfth of ربيع الأول Was it even the twelfth? Was it ربيع الأول? There's disputes and there's discussions regarding that. It's highly disagreed. The month is disagreed and the day is disagreed.
So, we're not even sure exactly when he was born. Can we celebrate it? No, I don't think so. That's number one.
Something you're not really sure about exactly what date it is. Why is the date not exactly known? It's because it's what? There's no ruling connected to it. Or else Allah would have told us it because we're going to have to do something to it, right? Second is, the greatest people that have ever walked on this earth today that we know of not today, but those who have ever walked on this earth the greatest people who were around the Prophet and those people were what? The most noble of people Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali and their likes Did they celebrate the Prophet's birthday? Because they love the Prophet more than us.
Do you think you love the Prophet more than Abu Bakr? Do you think you love the Prophet more than Abu Bakr? I don't think I love the Prophet more than Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr is qimah, the highest level. Abu Bakr has passed me in everything.
RadhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, right? Abu Bakr, who loved the Prophet that much he has never ever he never ever celebrated the Prophet's birthday. Does that make sense? No? Um, were his parents Muslims? Who? The Prophet. So the Prophet ﷺ his father passed away when he was in before he was even born.
While he was in his mother his mother's womb the Prophet ﷺ what? He passed away. His mother on the other hand so his father passed away did I say his mother? His father. So his father passed away whilst he was in his mother's womb.
Some scholars actually say that the Prophet's father didn't even know that his mother was pregnant. And some say no he didn't know difference of opinion. As for the his mother she passed away when he was six years of age.
The Prophet ﷺ. How old? Six. Six years of age. Both of his mother and father according to the strongest opinion and the evidences and the proofs they were not believers.
They were not. They were not believers. His mother or? His mother.
His father. Neither of them what? What? Were believers. And his father was ya'ni proven by the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ when a man came to the Prophet he said Ya Rasulallah O Messenger of Allah where is my father and mother? Ya'ni where is my father he said specifically he said O Messenger of Allah where is my father? And where is he now? His father passed away already.
Is he in Jannah or not? And the Prophet ignored that because he didn't want to entertain the answer to this question because everybody is going to come and ask the question to the Prophet. And the Prophet ﷺ tried to ignore it. The man asked again.
Then the Prophet ﷺ he said inna abuka inna abaka finna that your father amma abuka finna your father is in the hellfire in the Prophet ﷺ. The man he then said he cried, he became emotional. The Prophet ﷺ called him back and then he said my father and your father are both in the hellfire. This shows us actually how honest and just the Prophet ﷺ was.
He didn't say my father is another wolf for it. Ya? Ya'ni some people's principles is what halalun ala balabilihi daw'ul halalu littayli min kulli jinsi they've got double standards. sah'al kayli bimikyalayn wal wazmu bimizanayn they've got two scales one scale for the people and one scale for themselves.
That's not how the Prophet ﷺ was. So, from their evidence, that’s what the Prophet ﷺ did. As for the Prophet's mother, there’s a hadith where the Prophet ﷺ, when he returned from Sulh al-Hudaibiyah (the Treaty of Hudaibiyah), on his way to Mecca, he cried. So, the Sahabah (companions of the Prophet) said, "Ya Ummish Jufullah (O mother of Jufullah), why are you crying?" And then he said, "I sought permission from my Lord to visit the grave of my mother." Fa adhina li (Allah granted me permission). "Then I sought permission from my Lord if I could ask forgiveness for my mother, and then it was said to me, 'No, you can't.'" The reason why he was told that he couldn’t ask forgiveness for his mother is because his mother was not a believer. Sah'a? (Is this clear?) Allah says, "وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لِأَبِيهِ إِلَّا عَنْ مَوْعِدَةٍ وَعَادَهُ إِلَّا فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِاللَّهِ تَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُ" (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:114). Remember when he said at the ending of the discussion with his father, "I will ask forgiveness for you, my father."
That’s what I’m going to do. Then, Allah (SWT) what did He say to Ibrahim ﷺ? You can’t do that. Your dad’s not a believer, so you can’t ask forgiveness for him. So that’s the same thing as the ayah Allah Ta’ala (SWT) says, "وَمَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَمَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ" (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:113)—it's not permissible for the Prophet ﷺ or any believer to ask forgiveness for disbelievers, even if they are very close family members. You can’t. So, Ibrahim ﷺ was also prohibited from that, and the believers were also prohibited from that.
So, this now shows us that the Prophet's mother was also not a Muslim. Ok, now, is this a slander to the Prophet ﷺ? No, not at all. The marriage of his parents was valid. He came through a legitimate, ya’ani (i.e., legitimate) method ﷺ. They married each other, and all of his offspring were like, ya’ani (meaning) his parents and their parents and their parents—his lineage—had been legally married. Islam accepts the marriage of non-Muslims if they come into Islam. If two people come into Islam and they've been married in their way, Islam doesn’t say to them, “Get married again.” It accepts their marriage the way it is, right?
So, some people say, “If you say the Prophet ﷺ’s mother and father were not Muslims, then you’re saying they’re illegitimate." No, it’s not that. That’s the ignorance of that person’s behalf, and it doesn’t affect the Prophet ﷺ in any way, shape, or form. Ok, Islam, you don’t get held accountable for other people's actions, do you? No, you don’t. "وَلَا تَزِيرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزَرَ أُخْرَىٰ" (Surah Al-An’am, 6:164). If my father did something good, it doesn’t mean I get rewarded for it. No, not at all. If I do something good but he wasn’t the cause of me doing this good, does he get a reward for it? No.
So, this is also a point. Who took guardianship after his parents passed away? When his father passed away, of course, his mother was still taking care of him. But when his mother passed away, his grandfather took over. Abdul Muttalib (his grandfather) took over and looked after him for two years. He loved him and took care of him for two years. After the age of eight, Abdul Muttalib passed away. Now, look at what happened to the Prophet ﷺ. He lost his mother, he lost his father, now he lost his granddad. So, who took over? Abu Talib (his uncle). Abu Talib took over and took very good care of the Prophet ﷺ.
Now, why did Abu Talib take over? This is my question. There were other uncles of the Prophet ﷺ that were alive. Why did his grandfather specifically appoint Abu Talib? Why did Abu Talib take over and not any other uncles or aunties of the Prophet ﷺ? Specifically, why Abu Talib? I think it’s because Abu Talib was... I don’t know what to say.
You’re on the right track, Masha’Allah. No, yeah, Abu Talib—what I wanted to say is Abu Talib was the closest person to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. How? In what way? That’s good, you’re right. In what way?
Yeah, or maybe you already had children, and he was taken care of, so it wouldn't be as much of a hassle. You came, took care of him as well? No, the answer to this question is the Prophet ﷺ's mother and father... sorry, sorry, Abu Talib's mother and father are the same as the mother and father of who? The Prophet's dad, yeah? I mean, they were full brothers, right? The rest were just half, and Abu Talib and Abdullah (the Prophet’s father) were what? Full brothers. And that means he’ll take extra care of his... he’ll take him in like his own son because this is his full brother's son, and he will... Ok, I had another question: Was Abu Talib Muslim?
Very, very good question. From what is apparent from the narrations of the hadith, Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib (the Prophet’s uncle) came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Look, what Abu Talib did for you is known. Abu Talib did a lot for you. He took care of you, protected you from Quraysh, and did so much for you, but what have you done for him in return?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "Because of me, Abu Talib's punishment in the Hellfire has been reduced. He’s going to be punished, but not with eternity. He’s going to be punished with what? Two flip-flops—two shoes he will wear on his feet. His head and legs will burn, and it will cause the boiling of his head. He will have the least punishment, and that is his punishment."
And why didn’t he accept Islam? Because he was really close to the Prophet ﷺ. He helped him at times, and he recognized Islam. He said, "وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُ بِأَنَّ دِينَ مُحَمَّدٍ خَيْرُ الْبَرِيَّةِ دِينًا لَوْلَا الْمَلَامَةَ وَحِذَارَ مُسَلِّبَتِي لَنَوَجَّتُ لِبِذَاكِ سَمْحَمْدُ وَنَا" (Translation: "I know that the religion of Muhammad ﷺ is the best religion, but if it weren’t for the blame and fear of losing my position, I would have followed it.").
The problem that stood in front of Abu Talib accepting Islam was his forefathers. What do I mean by that? He was even about to pronounce the words, but Abu Jahl and the Sanadid of Quraysh were standing there. They said, "تَتُرُكُ مِلَّةَ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّالِبِ" (Are you going to leave the religion of your father? Are you going to proclaim a religion that says that Abd al-Muttalib—his father—was wrong?).
See, they had this concept: "Our father left the legacy. Our father was this, so if I take this religion, by default I am condemning everything my forefathers stood for." No, I can't do that. They magnified that concept. So, when the truth came to them and they recognized it, they couldn't leave it because of their forefathers. "إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا أَبَاءَنَا عَلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم مُّهْتَدُونَ" (Surah Az-Zukhruf, 43:23). "We found our forefathers upon a path, and we will follow them."
That’s why Abu Talib never took Islam. Also, bad friends influenced him, right? Abu Jahl—look what he said to him. That’s why you shouldn’t have bad people around you. I saw, SubhanAllah, a situation—I wasn’t there, but I was informed about it. I was dealing with a similar situation where a guy was passing away because he was around bad people. They were listening to music while he was passing away in the background. They were like, "Oh, he’s dying, everybody," but if you had a good friend around you, he would have what? Stopped the music, would have told you to do the Shahada, and allowed you to die in a good way, right?
Abu Talib had those bad people around him. And even when he thought, "Okay, let me just take their message, let me just accept the message," why didn’t he? Those bad people influenced him, right?
I want to mention something I feel like is important, inshallah ta’ala, which is that our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, at a very young age, had a concept in Islam no one else lived through. The opening of his chest took place—Shaq al-Sadr (his chest was opened) and it was cleansed, which is something I’ll quickly mention for the next one minute or two, inshallah ta’ala.
The Prophet ﷺ’s chest and heart had to be cleaned for the message that he was going to carry. He was going to stand up and call the people to the message ﷺ. His heart had to be pure. And this is something we learn as people who are standing up to do da’wah. When we want to stand up to give da’wah, we have to what?
Clean our hearts—that’s what Allah said in the ayah: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِر (Surah Al-Muddathir, 74:4). According to the word thiyab, it can mean one of three things. Arabs use the word thiyab for three meanings:
- The first one is clothing, which is what many people know the word thiyab to mean.
- The second meaning it has is actions. Your actions are also called thiyab in the Arabic language.
- The third meaning thiyab can have is the heart.
So, if the tafsir (interpretation) we take here right now is: وَثِيَابَكَ وَقَلْبَكَ فَطَهِر, it means clean your heart.
This is something important: He was told, قُمْ فَأَنذِر (Stand up and warn). وَثِيَابَكَ (your heart) فَطَهِر (purify it).
For example, Imru' al-Qais, a pre-Islamic poet, proved that the word thiyab can be used as a metaphor for the heart. He said: فَسُلِّي تِيَابِكِ مِنْ تِيَابِكِ فَانْتَنْسُلِي تِيَابِي مِنْ تِيَابِكِ, which means my heart from your heart. It was a woman he loved, and he said, "Take your heart out of my heart, and I'll take you out of my heart," but he used the word tīābī (my heart).
Additionally, ‘An Tarab Shiddak also says something similar to this.
The point I'm coming to is how important it is to also clean our hearts. To cleanse our hearts and not to hold grudges, hate, or bad feelings towards people. We need to clean our hearts when we want to stand up and call to the religion of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى).
I will conclude here, inshallah. Anything I have said that was wrong or incorrect is from me and Shaytan, and Allah and His Messenger are both free from it.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَاللَّهَمَّ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ (Glory be to You, O Allah, and I bear witness that there is no deity but You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.)
