86. A Christian delegation attempting to challenge him about tawheed then feared his curse and pleaded for his amnesty.
• A delegation from the Christians of Najran (in Yemen) came to Madinah to argue about
Prophet Isa or Jesus, claiming that he was divine and the son of Allah. Then Allah revealed: “If anyone disputes in this matter with you, now after knowledge has come to you, say: come let us gather together, our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of Allah upon those who lie!” [Qur’an 3:61] This act of invoking curse of Allah upon the wrongdoers is referred to as Mubahalah.
Imam ibn Ishaq said, “When this verse came to the Messenger from Allah, thus judging between him and the People of the Book, Allah also commanded the Prophet to call them
to the Mubahalah if they still refused the truth. The Prophet ﷺ called them to the Mubahalah. They said, ‘O Abu al-Qasim! Let us think about this matter and get back to you with our decision to what we want to do.’ They left the Prophet and conferred with al-‘Aqib, to whom they referred to for advice. They said to him, ‘O Abdul-Masih! What is your advice?” He said, “By Allah, O Christian fellows! You know that Muhammad ﷺ is a Messenger and that he brought you the final word regarding your fellow (‘Isa). You also know that no Prophet conducted Mubahalah with any people, and (yet) the old persons among them remained safe and the young people grew up. Indeed, it will be the end of you if you do it. If you have already decided that you will remain in your religion and your creed regarding your fellow (Isa), then conduct a treaty with the man (Muhammad, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and go back to your land.’ They came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Abu al-Qasim! We decided that we cannot do Mubahalah with you, and that you remain on your religion, while we remain on our
religion. However, send with us a man from your Companions whom you are pleased with to judge between us regarding our monetary disputes, for you are acceptable to us in this regard.”” [extract from Tafsir ibn Kathir, Qur’an 3:61]
87. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given the choice between life and death.
Sayyidina Abu Sa’id al-Khudri relates that the Messenger of Allah announced to his Companions: “Allah has given a slave the choice between this world and that which is with Him. That slave has chosen that which is with Allah.” Later, they found out that the ‘slave’ was actually in reference to the beloved Messenger of Allah himself. [Bukhari; Muslim] ●
88. Seeking blessings from his grave removed a drought which occurred at the time of Sayyidina Umar’s reign.
• Sayyidina Malik al-Darr narrates: “The people suffered a drought during Umar’s caliphate, whereupon a man [according to Imam ibn Hajar, it was the companion Sayyidina Bilal ibn al-Harith] came to the grave of the Messenger of Allah and said, “Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Ask for rain for your Community, for verily they have but perished.” After this, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Go to Umar and give him my greeting, then tell him that they will be watered. Tell him: Be clever!” The man went and told Umar. The latter wept and said: “My Lord! I spare no effort except in what escapes my power.” [Imam Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa; Imam Subki, Shifa al Siqam fi Ziyarat Khayr al Anaam]
89. To respect and honour him is vital for one’s faith, and to neglect this even slightly will render one’s virtues and deeds completely void.
This is to the extent that Allah Most High forbade the believers from even raising their voices in the blessed presence of His Messenger. “O you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak aloud to him in talk, as you may speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds become vain and you perceive not. Those that lower their voice in the presence of Allah’s Messenger, their hearts has Allah tested for piety: for them is forgiveness and a great reward.” [49:2-3]
Hafiz ibn Kathir reports in his Tafsir, regarding this verse, that Sayyidina Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr said, “After that, Umar’s voice was so low that the Messenger of Allah had to ask him to repeat what he said so that he could understand what he was saying to him.”
90. Allah spoke of the arrival of His final Messenger in the Torah.
• “Allah revealed to one of the Prophets of the Children of Israel whose name was Sha’ya’ (Isaiah): “Stand up among your people the Children of Israel and I shall cause your tongue to utter (words of) revelation. I shall send an unlettered (Prophet) from among the illiterate. (…) Through him I will open blind eyes, deaf ears and sealed hearts. I will guide him to do every good deed and I will bestow upon him every noble characteristic. I will make tranquillity his garment, righteousness his banner, piety his conscience, wisdom his speech, truthfulness and loyalty his nature, tolerance and goodness his character, truth his way, justice his conduct, guidance his leader, Islam his nation. Ahmad is his name and through him I will guide people…” [Tafsir ibn Kathir, Surah 33; Imam Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum al Deen]
91. The knowledge of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ completely overwhelms the knowledge of the entire creation.
• Wahb ibn Munabbih said, “From my readings, it has been has become evident that if all the intelligence of humanity, from the first to the last, were to be gathered as one, it would be in comparison to the intelligence of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, as a single grain of sand.” [Qadi Iyaad’s al-Shifa]
92. The Beloved Messenger is the most beautiful of all Prophets, thus the most beautiful of all creatin. Sayyidina Anas bin Malik narrated that the Beloved Messenger said, “Allah did not send a Prophet except with a beautiful face and a beautiful voice, and your Prophet is the most beautiful of them in face and voice.” [Tirmidhi]
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 