 السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم in the name of Allah سبحانه وتعالى most gracious most merciful الحمد لله رب العالمين all praise is indeed due to the Almighty الله سبحانه وتعالى creator, nourisher, cherisher, sustainer, provider, protector, curer of one and all وأصلي وأسلم على أفضل الخلق أجمعين نبينا محمد وعاله وصحبه والتابعين ومن تبيعهم بإحسان إليه ومدينة وبعد بلسيات وصحبه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم وطبعه وحواله ومالخباهه هل يمكنه أن يتوصلوا بهم all the messengers who came from the very beginning all the way to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم في مجرد أن يقوم بمشاهده من المساعدة من الله سبحانه وتعالى نحن نسأل المجموعة لكي يجب أن نحب كل شخص مننا و to grant us all goodness و to grant us the ability to tread this beautiful path, the path of goodness the path that will result in goodness both in this world as well as the next and to protect us from deviating on to the path that will bring regret in this world as well as the next my beloved brothers and sisters who are here this evening the audience online masha'Allah and those who may listen to this later on may Allah bless you all may He bless the ummah at large speaking about who was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم or peace be upon him it is important for us to know that no matter how much we try we will never be able to do justice to the greatest of creation the most noble of all the prophets of Allah سبحانه وتعالى the one chosen by the Almighty to be the highest ranking of all the creation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى he was indeed chosen and we have been blessed we have been blessed in the greatest possible way to be from amongst those who happened to be known as the ummah or the followers of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم it is known that the messengers of a foretime have also been from amongst those whom people spoke ill of people tried to harm and they have harmed Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم no different where people tried to say things people have harmed tried to harm but let's take a look at who was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم he was born to amina binti wahab his mother the son he was of ابن عبد المطلب who was from amongst those who passed away before the birth of his own child which means in Islam it would be correct for us to say he was born an orphan he had no father at his birth which means the father had already passed on ابن عبد المطلب and his mother brought him up as an orphan and one would think that when a child is an orphan perhaps in our case we might think for a moment that this child is not going to be as grand as the others perhaps disadvantage to a great extent and so on but when it comes to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم it is a consolation for all those who have perhaps lost a parent or both parents that the Almighty does not determine your success on whether or not you are an orphan may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless us and grant us all a beautiful lesson similarly as he grew older he lost his mother and as he grew slightly older he lost his grandfather who looked after him he was born in an era when it was known as the era of ignorance or paganism where the midst or where he was born where he was brought up there were some of the most ignorant people to exist at that particular time the pagan Arabs used to worship sticks and stones they used to maltreat their women they used to be so upset upon the birth of a female child that they used to bury that female child alive and they used to worship literally anything that had power anything that signified any form of strength to the degree that one of the companions of Muhammad peace be upon him says that there was a time when I created an idol made of my own food and what happened is one day I used to worship this idol and I felt hungry and I started asking for food and when the food did not come I ate the very idol that I worshipped imagine this was the period of ignorance they had no form of respect for those who were of a different color this evening masha'Allah I noticed many of my brothers and sisters from Africa as well and each time I saw someone of a different color I smiled because that is Muhammad peace be upon him not us لا فضلا لعربين على عجمي ولا لعجمين على عربي ولا لأبيضة على أسود إلا بالتقوى There is no virtue for an Arab upon a non-Arab or an non-Arab upon an Arab or that who is or the one who is fair skinned over the one who is dark skinned except by Treaty Whoever is pious whoever is close to Allah is the one who has merit and guess what that is only known by the Almighty يجدك في حيث أنك لا تستطيع أن تجدني أن هذا يترك لأميتي الذي يوجد كل day of judgment ماليك يوم الدين أنه يوجد كل day of judgment لذلك محمد بيس بي أبنه كان مجرد من كل هذه الناس لإنهاءهم من الضخمة وإنهاءهم على طريق يجدون أو يتركون على طريق من محمد الله سبحانه وتعالى ومساعدة ومساعدة سبحانه وتعالى يجب علينا أن نترك على طريق لذلك محمد بيس بي أبنه كما أنه يجده كان مجرد من يترك من كل هذه الناس من جديد جديد يبدأ المساعدة مثل محمد أبنه الذي يحدث من أحدهم محمد بيس بي أبنه هو من أبنه من أبنه أو يأبنه وانato استعامينا كل هذه الدخول فعندما يترك يجب علي أن يترك يدرب أو يجب عليك يبنه ومستقل يدرب يدرب يدرب يدرب يدرب يدرب نحن نقوم بصحة الفتاة ولكن نحن بحيث في المساعة في عامة يومية مالله سبحانه وتعالى يساعدنا أن نعيييي المحرين هل يمكننا أن نكون من من المصرين الذين يكونوا حقاً who utter the truth following the example of Muhammad may peace be upon him لذا فهي كانت تعرفت كتبة صديق الأمين ، المصرين والتحفين they knew that if this man said something that was it they knew that he would never utter a word of lie لذلك one day one day as he was meditating in the cave of Hira the archangel came to him جبريل عليه الصلاة والسلام جبريل may peace be upon him and the first of revelation had commenced with the terms and this means read the beginning of the first of revelation from الله سبحانه وتعالى at the age of 40 سبحان الله and he says imagine honesty what today if we were illiterate in terms of computer literacy it would be difficult for us to admit that I know nothing about this computer you know even if we have a mobile phone we would pretend for a moment that we know everything about it we would be shy to acknowledge that we don't know something with Muhammad peace be upon him something as simple as reading read he was told he says ما أنا بيطاري I'm not a reader I don't read read again ما أنا بيطاري then the verses were revealed after the third time إقارأ باسم ربك الذي خلق خلق الإنسان من علق إقارأ وربك الأكرم الذي علم بالقلم علم الإنسان ما لم يعلم read in the name of the Almighty who has created in the name of your Lord who has created created you from a clock سبحان الله created mankind from a clock this is something amazing there were secrets being revealed of the Almighty and his creation to a man unleaded in the middle of the desert and mankind was favored upon Allah has done a favor to entire mankind to those who believe the greatest favor listen to what Allah says لا قدما الله على المؤمنين إذ باعة فيهم رسولة الله has indeed favored the believers by sending or when he sent a messenger from amongst them to them سبحان الله it was a great favor teaching them goodness teaching them the wisdom and purifying them the purity came in the form of purity of worship purity of social behavior so much محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم brought the great messenger the final of all messengers of الله سبحانه و تعالى he was one who came to the people and reminded them of all forms of goodness yet at that time initially there were some who found fault they called him a magician what did he do did he fight back did he call them a bigger name or did he make a bigger accusation no he was silent he was quiet he kept on calling he was focused he knew he always had a smile and he says to smile is an act of charity how many of us can smile in our own homes and we claim to be followers of this beautiful messenger how many of us can smile in the face of one another how many of us can show our teeth or do we complain that we still need the braces to straighten them before we smile may Allah bless us all may He grant us our goodness He was the man who taught us to forgive forgiveness he had forgiven so many who harmed him there was a lady who constantly threw some dirt on him as he passed the gullies of Makkatul Mukarrama and what did he do amazingly he ignored it because he knew she's an elderly lady and this is the time to ignore let me ignore it one day when that did not come in his direction he decided to find out what exactly happened to the woman and when he entered her home after seeking permission he asked her what is wrong and she was shocked the same man whom I constantly insult and this insulting was not just by mere utterance of words it was not by drawing cartoons it was actually by throwing literally defecation on a man something as dirty as could be throwing it on a man who's the most noble of all the creatures of the Almighty the highest of all creation the most noble of all the مسئجات but look at his reaction he kept it he kept praying for this woman and one day when the opportunity arose what did he do he seized it by the will of Allah سبحانه وتعالى such that she had to utter that if this is the case you are actually coming to inquire about my health and the way you found out that I was unhealthy is because the evil that comes from me on a regular basis in your direction did not come today then I definitely bear witness that you are the messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى amazing how many of us are to jump when someone insults us without going back to looking at how Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم himself dealt with it he prayed for them he continued he constantly made sure that we delivered the message as best as he could this was Muhammad this was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم may peace be upon him and may we be truly from amongst his followers those who learn the lessons so as he delivered the message سبحان الله one of the first things he did was to ensure that the message was delivered to worship the maker alone and he was the one who came up with the verses from الله سبحانه وتعالى to cut out the idol worshipping to cut out worshipping one another to stop worshipping sticks and stones to stop worshipping the dead and those who are in their grave that was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم he was the one he says you have a direct link with your maker so you worship your maker alone he says اطلوني كما اطرت النصار ابن مليم ولكن قولوا عبد الله ورسوله do not go beyond the limits in worshipping me meaning do not worship me do not push me higher than my status given by Allah in the same way that the Christians have done to Jesus by raising him almost to Godhood and beyond don't do that keep on calling me عبد الله ورسوله the slave of Allah and his messenger he made it clear that he was only a messenger who delivered the message and worship or acts of worship were never to be rendered to him but only to be rendered to the maker alone الله سبحانه وتعالى the one who made you and I is the only one who is old worship he is the only one worthy of worship this is why the statement the declaration of faith talk by Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم اشهد الله إلا الله واشهد ان محمد وصول الله I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah the one who made me alone no one besides my maker is worthy of a single act of worship and I bear witness that Muhammad may peace be upon him is the messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى he was so humble amazing he is the one who made it very clear from the beginning that a woman should be treated with utmost respect to be upset at the fact that you have a daughter instead of a son is already a sin and it is part of the pagan belief وَاِذَا الْمَا أُوْدَا تُسُوِيلَتْ وِاِذَا أُوْدَا and when the female child who was buried will be asked meaning justice will be served for her as well when the female baby will be asked why were you buried alive and those who buried her alive will be brought to the book on the day of judgment may Allah سبحانه وتعالى help us respect every one male or female I mean so he was the one who said خيركم خيركم لأهله the best from amongst you is he who is best to his wife his spouse or family members how many of us can comfortably say that we are the best to our family members many of us claim to follow Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم but in the hope we have a disaster because we could not be bothered to have a beautiful word come out of our mouth we could not be bothered to perhaps have a beautiful expression on our faces yet it is an act of worship to smile at the face of anyone what about if that is your own family amazing how many of us have time for our family members how many of us are the best and our family members would be able to stand up and say this person is indeed the best to his family may Allah grant us the opportunity to learn from Muhammad may peace be upon him he even says خيركم خيركم لأهله وانا خيركم لأهله he goes on to challenge the people I am the best to my family from all of you so if you'd like to learn something go and learn from Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the romance that he had that was made clear to us between him and his spouses amazing something that sometimes people who are religious sometimes think that this is a topic we should not be addressing no way it is something we need to rekindle in our lives many of us would feel shy to even walk down the aisle with our own spouses yet it is an act of goodness what is wrong with that may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless us and may he grant us the lesson this was Muhammad may peace be upon him when a woman was bought and sold do you know what he did he came up with that legislation from the almighty which stated that not only is it prohibited to buy and sell a female but on top of that when someone passes away in terms of her own family members she will be entitled to a share even though she may not need the wealth because he is the one who said every female shall be looked after by her closest male relative something amazing something unique and this is by the will of الله سبحانه وتعالى so even if she does not need the wealth she will be acknowledged number one number two she will get a portion that will be exclusive for her yet the males who are related to the deceased in the same way will have a portion that will not be exclusively for them in fact the same female will have another share from the share of those closest male relatives in terms of being looked after by that wealth may Allah سبحانه وتعالى then come people who find fault in what Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم brought whereas he brought for us the solution he is the one who made us conscious of the fact that this life is not the only life there is a life after death that we need to prepare for so live the best possible way here and automatically you will have the best possible life after death life is not just the only thing that we have as believers we understand that life is this life is very short it has a few years a few decades as he says the average age of the span the lifespan of the members of my umma between 60 and 70 years and that's it سبحان الله thereafter there will be eternity so prepare for that eternity in a beautiful way this is Muhammad may peace be upon him he constantly reminded us that when you go through difficulty be patient be patient that patience will deliver you from evil in the hereafter that patience will come to your rescue in the hereafter this is Muhammad may peace be upon him the greatest of all he was the one who gave us so much comfort he went through difficulty not because he deserved it but because he was an example for us all to follow when we have our own difficulty لقد من الله indeed الله has favored the believers when he sent for them from amongst themselves a messenger and الله سبحانه وتعالى says in the life of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم in the existence of محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم there is a beautiful example for those who are looking forward to the meeting with Allah سبحانه وتعالى a lovely example to emulate and to follow if you have anything in life the one of the best things you could do difficulty in life pick up the book and read the biography of Muhammad may peace be upon him look at the difficulties he went through they will eclipse any difficulty you and I have gone through or are going through سبحان الله this was Muhammad may peace be upon him he was very patient he continued praying to the almighty he never lost hope with us we have a little issue small matters and we lose hope in a few minutes in a few days when we call out to the almighty we want to response almost immediately when it comes to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم he reminded us that every one of you is going to be tested he read the verses وأنا نخبره أنه لهم enough for them to say we are believers and then they won't be tested Allah سبحانه وتعالى says quite clearly that we have tested those before you as well in order in order to distinguish those who believed truly and those who are false in their belief so from this we learn that the almighty is going to test every one of us where did we learn this وكذلك هي one of the reasons why usually an interest is prohibited. It was Muhammad May peace be upon him who made it clear that anyone who cheats anyone else cannot be a follower of Muhammad May peace be upon him. من غشنة خليسة مينا whoever cheats us is not from amongst us. He cannot claim to be a follower of Muhammad May peace be upon him. He was the one who taught us not to insult those who follow other faiths no matter how silly something might seem to us no do not insult those who follow other faiths because it will result in a counter insult because of the deed may Allah protect us all. Listen to the verse. وَالَاَدَزُمْ فُنْ لَلِيْنَا يَدَوْ Do not insult those who are calling out to God besides Allah. Don't mock at them. Don't jeer at them because they may do the same to Allah without knowledge. They won't know you would have caused it. So this is why a Muslim will never draw a cartoon. How many of us know of a single Muslim who has drawn a cartoon in order to insult anyone belonging to another faith and their values or their faith not one cartoon but we will be victims of it in order to test us what do we do as a result. Subhanallah. May Allah protect us. I never ever have come across a Muslim who has mocked at the faith of someone else and made a cartoon of it impossible because that is Muhammad. He taught us not to do that. This is why even if someone had to depict Jesus may peace be upon him, Moses may peace be upon him or any one of the other messengers, we were taught that they are the brothers of Muhammad may peace be upon him. They have all come with the correct message. He was the one who came to complete the message and to confirm what they had come with. And this is why you have the 10 commandments which are something amazing. And though one might argue that no that was brought by Moses may peace be upon him, we acknowledge, we admit, we believe and we follow. We have to respect every single messenger by saying may peace be upon him after the name of all of them even though we have Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم as the final messenger who may not have been accepted by some. We will continue to respect those whom they follow or claim to follow. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى grant us the ability to moisten our tongues by the utterance of the prayer may peace be upon him whenever the beautiful names of any one of the messengers is called. This was Muhammad may peace be upon him. He taught us not to insult others. He taught us not to create confusion, not to harm people. He taught us not to create disaster. He taught us not to harm insects let alone human beings. He taught us not to burn with fire anything living. That was Muhammad may peace be upon him. He taught us not to burn the insects with fire. Imagine what the case is regarding human beings. May the Almighty grant us goodness. We claim to be the followers of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. But sometimes our actions are far away from the deal and sometimes this is why those around us who may not be from amongst أمة happen to look at us with the wrong eye. They look at us with a little bit of animosity. They don't understand because we are the ones who have not been the true ambassadors. So in honoring the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم I call on yourself and myself to try and live by the word everything Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم came with. If you take a look at the honor and the dignity given to a female she was a sex slave in the time of ignorance. The period of جاهلية. The period of paganism. A woman was a sex slave being thrown from pillar to post from man to another. And so on. What did he do? He came in and stopped that. And he ensured that she would be granted her dignity. She would not be compelled to undress. She would be from amongst those who dresses in such an appropriate manner that her body will not be that which will determine who she is. But rather her heart is what will determine who she is. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless our women. Yet today sometimes we've been enslaved once again by being encouraged to remove our clothing to show our bodies once again going back to that initial period of ignorance. And yet we think that we are being liberated by doing that. It was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم who came to us to tell us when you cover yourself you will be valued for exactly who you are. If you would like to uncover yourself you would learn the hard way that people will probably gauge you and judge you based on the shape you have which will definitely one day perhaps leave you. May Allah bless us. May He grant us strength. May He make us from amongst those who dress modestly both the males as well as the females. And this modesty is actually the respect that we would achieve by following Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. People would actually look at you and they would understand this is not a toy. This is not a sex object. This is not something that I should just look at and just make cheap. Not at all. The most valuable asset that we ever have according to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is the opposite gender. May Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم grant us an understanding. May He open our doors. The children we have we should be pleased. He says if you have had three daughters and you know sometimes we have one daughter then we have another daughter then we have a third daughter and some of the minimum feelings that the devil makes us feel is that you know what? How could I have had three daughters? I'm upset. I now need a son. The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم says those who are patient or those who are happy upon the decree of the Almighty those who have looked after their daughters two, three or more and they have brought them up and given them a decent upbringing tried to get them married to decent homes they will be granted parabasms in return. It was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم who gave value to the mother who said when a man came to him saying that I would like to participate with you in the sacrifice he says is your mother alive? Yes she is. Well get to her feet for indeed there you will find paradise. Those were his words the value of a woman he is the one who came and recited verses to us. فَلَا تَأْبُلَّهُمَا Expression on your face that displays anger towards your parents be kind to them be good to them have mercy on them pray for them because they looked after you when you were young This was Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم although he was an orphan and he lost his mother at a very early age here he comes and give us advice how exactly to live with parents divine that which came from the Almighty how many of us are bad to our parents how many of us have ugly words to utter to our mothers how dare we call ourselves followers of this great messenger Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم when our mouths are full of bad words we need to make our own parents we need to understand yes when a parent instructs you to do something bad, evil unacceptable you must excuse yourself respectfully that too is a duty that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم explained something beautiful do you know what he said he read verses of the Quran and something amazing وَإِنْ جَهَدًا وَصَا إِبِلُ مَا if your parents do something in association with Allah that which is wrong that which is incorrect that which is unacceptable then you will not follow that but you will continue living with them in kindness and goodness and continue being good to them so kindness is one thing and obedience is another obedience is a duty when it comes to parents according to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم when they have instructed us to do something that is not wrong but we will not be able to obey them when they have instructed us to do something bad to do something evil that does not mean we will not be kind to them that we will not respect them may Allah سبحانه و تعالى help us it is indeed a test this is Muhammad may peace be upon him he is the one who told us he instructed us how to treat our workers he told us not to burden those who work for us with something that we wouldn't be able to do ourselves amazing اخوانكم خوانكم جعلهم الله تحت ايديكم فمن كان أخوه تحت يده فنقرنه مما يأكل ولينبسه مما يلدس ولا يتكليفوهم ما يغلبهم فإن كلافتموهم فأعينوهم these people who work for you they are your brethren الله has placed them under your authority if you are to ask them to do something do not ask them to do something that will be too difficult for them and if you do then help them do it clothe them with the clothing you wear feed them with the food that you eat they are human beings how many of us understand this when it comes to those who work for us may Allah SWT help us be the true followers of Muhammad may peace be upon him amazing how Muhammad may peace be upon him admonished one of his closest companions when he uttered a statement regarding بلالك الرباح رضي الله عنه a black man and he says oh son of a black man and Muhammad SAW immediately admonished him how dare how dare you utter such words how dare you utter such hurtful racist words unacceptable you will not be allowed to say this it was made quite clear in fact when he went up to the heavens to see in an incident known as Al-Isra when Me'araj the ascension to the heavens when he came back he looked for بلالك الرباح who was a companion from Africa a dark in complexion he says oh Bilal I heard your footsteps in heaven amazing imagine what the others must have thought it did not stop him from uttering that even though بلالك الرباح was dark in complexion some of the best hearts some of the best hearts are found in the chests of those or in the bosoms of those who are dark in complexion as we have learnt from Muhammad SAW so this was the man this was his message a message of goodness a message of kindness be kind even to your enemy he was the one who brought to us acts of worship that proved that no matter who you are and what wealth you have and what standing you have in this world you are equal when you enter the house of the Almighty and you want to pray you stand in one line nobody can say that I have more so I will stand the step ahead of everyone else nobody can say this man is a world fill of mind so let him stand at the back no in the house of Allah everyone is welcome and every single person no matter what no matter what post or position you hold or what social standing you have or what wealth you have you will stand in the same line and you have the same access to your making the same applies when going for the pilgrimage when going for the Hajj everyone no matter who you are on earth you will all have the same access to the Almighty be dressed in the same clothing you will have to do the same things and you will all have to be declaring the greatness of the Almighty Subhan Allah we are brothers and sisters in faith and the rest of us are brothers and sisters in humanity this was taught to us by Muhammad may peace be upon him he has taught us kindness to animals he was the man who has informed us of the entry into heaven of someone who helped a dog who quenched the thirst of a dog and he says this person will be granted entry into heaven by the Almighty because of such a deal imagine if kindness to a dog that is considered an animal a dog that is considered an animal we are amazing how kindness to such a dog would bring about entry into heaven what about kindness to our fellow human beings Subhan Allah this is Muhammad may peace be upon him what a great man it was Muhammad may peace be upon him who taught us that to save a life would be equivalent to saving entire humanity he is the one who read the verse for us he is the one who said to take the life away unjustly of even a single soul would be as though you have destroyed entire humanity he is the one who served justice when someone came to him and told him that you know what there is a certain very noble person who's committed the crime he says when crime is committed no matter how noble they are they will be treated exactly like everyone else may Allah Subhanahu و تعالى help us and guide us he is the one who brought about the goodness that we have aren't we so fortunate to be following such a blessed and noble messenger of Allah Subhanahu و تعالى we need to understand the darkness that they were in and the light that was brought almost instantly today you and I brag about a few followers we might have on Twitter and Facebook yet Muhammad peace be upon him has perhaps two billion followers today across the globe no Twitter no Facebook no loud hailer nothing at all more than two billion people follow that example they utter أشهدو الله إراه إلا الله وأشهدو أنا محمدا عبدوه و رسوله I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides my maker who made me him a known is the one worthy of worship and I bear witness that Muhammad may peace be upon him is the messenger the final messenger of Allah Subhanahu و تعالى where did all these followers come where did they come from amazing the non-muslims bear witness that he was a man he was a man who brought about justice in an era where it was full of injustice may Allah Subhanahu و تعالى grant us goodness today the dean the religion has been hijacked by people who misinterpreted by people who lost the plot basically by people who have insulted Muhammad may peace be upon him in a far greater way than those who have drawn caricatures those who have drawn the cartoons may Allah guide us all and may He guide them to the good path to the path of goodness and the straight path I mean let us understand sometimes our behavior and the way we carry ourselves in life is more insulting to Islam than anything the non-muslims may have done let's admit that sometimes the way we speak to our colleagues to our family members the way we carry ourselves the amount of cheating we do all the words that come out of our mouths the lying that we engage in the falsehood that we engage in is actually a huge insult to Muhammad peace be upon him one hand we claim to be his follower and the other hand we are far away from his teaching what kind of following is that may the Almighty grant us all goodness my brothers and sisters he was a man whom when the people mocked at him he prayed for them when they harmed him he prayed for them the result of those prayers the prayers perhaps for years on end such that the day he achieved the victory of Makkah when the bulk had entered Islam do you know what he says he spoke to a people who had harmed him who had harmed his own followers who had killed some of them who had usurped their wealth who had taken away so much and he asks them quite a simple question يا معشرة كرايش ماذا تضمون أني فاعل بيكو oh people of Quraish and before we continue let's explain what they did the people of Quraish had killed some of the Muslim they had usurped the wealth they had stolen the land of the Muslim they had driven them out of their homes they had prepared armies in order to fight the Muslim and here comes a day when Muhammad may peace be upon him with a hundred thousand odd companions of his Makkah to Mukarrama he is coming to Makkah to Mukarrama amazingly the people of Makkah who were the very ones who had harmed him are being asked are questioned oh people of Quraish what do you think I am going to do to you on this day imagine what must have gone through the minds of the weak ones from amongst them they must have thought this man is going to pillage this man is going to destroy this man is going to court martial us this man is perhaps going to execute all of us what do you think I am going to do to you today and they had nothing to say decides we wish for goodness you are a good man and you are a noble man do you know what he says I will tell him what the prophet Joseph told his brothers go for indeed there is no retribution today you are free you are completely free to go at that juncture most of those who were not Muslim yet they had declared their faith this is the man we were told so much evil about him we were told that they eat the flesh of humans we were told that these are the barbaric people of the world we were told that this man is really a monster and look at him he is forgiving us whole sense we bear witness that this is the messenger he is the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم amazing this was Muhammad this is the man we follow we are proud of following who no matter what we say we will never be able to do justice to such a great man we will follow as best as we can and we hope goodness that in the life after we will get to meet him we will not companions of his in this life but perhaps in the hereafter may Allah grant us companionship of his I mean my brothers and sisters what a great man he was the man whom سبحان الله when he went to Taif he had lost his spouse he had lost his uncle خديجة بالتخويلة بالله الله عنها she was the wife of Muhammad may peace be upon him she was a pillar of support the day when revelation came to him and he went to her telling her this is what happened to me she says قل الله والله he لا يخزي قل الله أبدا name by Allah he will never ever let you down Allah will never disgrace you nothing bad can happen to you do you know why because you are the one who fulfills the rights of the neighbor you are a kind man you are just you are upright you have done good as much as you can how can Allah let you down imagine this was just before prophethood just as the point of prophethood a declaration by his own wife claiming how noble the man was yet when he lost خديجة بالتخويل رضي الله عنها when he lost this blessed wife of his may Allah's peace and blessings and mercy be upon them all it was known as the year of sadness he had gone to Taif to deliver the message thinking that the sadness that perhaps has engulfed me perhaps I will get some goodness by delivering the message of goodness to the people of Taif and when he went there do you know what they did they pelted him they sent their children to run after him to chase him out of Taif literally as though he was an animal أستاذ الله the greatest insult to Muhammad may peace be upon him inflicted physically upon his own blessed body may peace be upon him and what did he do as he is going out of Taif the angels the angels responsible for the mountains come to him and say oh Muhammad we have been instructed صلى الله عليه وسلم we have been instructed that upon your instruction we will bring together the two mountains and destroy all these people who have harmed you who have thrown stones at you who have ridiculed you who have mocked at you who have chased you out of this place of Taif and do you know what he says at that juncture he decides to complain to Allah he decides to complain to Allah سبحانه وتعالى he says oh Allah I complain to you regarding what is it regarding these people no I complain to you regarding my own weakness اللهم إني أشكو إليك رافع فواتي وقين لتحيلاتي oh Allah I complain to you I am weak ya Allah my own weakness I am complaining to you regarding the weakness that I am in سبحان الله Allah placed on his shoulders the duty of delivering the message and he is saying I have delivered the message but look at these people they are not prepared to accept it amazing وحمد صلى الله عليه وسلم told the angels who were instructing him to issue a small command he says no if these people do not believe perhaps from their children will come those who believe look at the foresightedness look at Muhammad may peace be upon him he did not live for the day but he lived for the future to this day his sunnah his teaching his preaching his example he is emulated to the letter throughout the globe may Allah SWT may He make us from those who follow this beautiful example he prayed for the people of Taif as a result a few years down the line they all or the bulk of them accepted Islam today we go to Taif it is totally Muslim it was not spread by the sword it was spread by the kindness the good words of Muhammad those who say that Islam was spread by the sword are unaware of his evil they are full of jealousy or hatred or ignorance may Allah SWT grant us all guidance if you take a look at this moment today we have people who are turning to Islam at a time when it is not easy to be a Muslim when the globe has the wrong picture of Islam and there are people whose hearts are straightened towards the straight path there are people who see the goodness of Muhammad may peace be upon him they understand that happiness comes through following that example that he has brought to following the teachings and the guidance that he has come with no matter what he was Muhammad may peace be upon him take a look at what he does a lady whom he offered to help to carry her belongings to her home happens to swear the man not knowing that this is the man she says you know my son you are such a good man you are such a kind man but there is another man here in Makkah known as Muhammad he is a bad man he is a magician he is after wealth he is after power he is after women he is after whatever else she might have said and she made mention of so many points and yet she says stay away from him he is a magician he is a bad man he is sworn our forefathers he has said that the idols that are being worshiped are wrong and so on and he remains silent once again he taught us that sometimes you have to remain silent wait for the opportunity to come upon him when he got to her home and delivered her goods and he was about to leave a simple question a simple question she asked my son who are you what a blessed man the son of whom are you what an honored father you have and he says do you know my dear mother the man whom you spoke evil of from the minute I carried your belongings to this minute here is the same Muhammad may peace be upon him who I am immediately she had tears in her eyes and she said if that is the case then definitely if that is the case then definitely you are a messenger definitely I bear witness that your message is correct you are the man the messenger and I bear witness there is none worthy of worship besides Allah this was the declaration of faith through a good character through upright business dealings through that which was the best may Allah grant us ease and goodness we have only but mentioned to you a glimpse of the beautiful life of Muhammad may peace be upon him he was the one whom when a person had engaged in something wrong or committed a sin he came up with legislation that in order to achieve forgiveness you have to free a slave imagine slavery was rampant at the time people were so proud of how many slaves they had Islam came to abolish that in what way by encouraging people to free slaves in fact by saying that if you have a slave and you committed a sin you will not achieve forgiveness of that sin until and unless two things happen one is you need to free the slave and number two is you then need to ask the Almighty forgiveness for that sin and this is mentioned in the Quran a person who makes an oath and breaks the oath was instructed by clearly to free a slave amazing so the slaves were freed one after the other so much virtue was given to those who free slaves and yet people say Islam came with slavery not at all Islam actually brought down the shackles of slavery in so many beautiful ways but people find it in the best of their interest sometimes to utter that which is wrong to con people to utter that which is incorrect to look at the few miscreants from amongst us may Allah protect us all to look at those who use Islam for a political agenda perhaps for some of their own purposes to look those who have used Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم as a name in order to perpetrate their injustice in order to do that which is unacceptable name we refuse we understand very clearly that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the man of peace he brought about peace he brought about goodness he is the one who taught us to be at peace with the entire environment it's wrong for me to break a tree it's wrong for me to burn the grass without a reason it's wrong for me to cut down and chop a tree and in fact it is so blessed for me to plant a tree that would perhaps provide shade and fruit to any human being even to an animal this is Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم we are supposed to be full of peace stretching out the arm of peace to all those living on earth to anything that is living they should feel at peace when they see us they should not feel frightened they should be from amongst those whom if they had to see us they would see a living example of beauty and peace a living example of contentment and goodness my beloved brothers and sisters as I end this short talk I'd like to make mention may Allah forgive me for not having done justice even to the smallest degree to the greatest of all those who ever lived Muhammad may peace be upon him may Allah سبحانه وتعالى help us all honour the messenger by following his example by emulating by reaching out to others by being those who can be the greatest asset to humanity at large Muslim as well as non-Muslim to all the creatures of the Almighty may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless you all may he grant you all every form of goodness may he protect you all from every form of illness in fact it was Muhammad may peace be upon him who taught us to have a concern for those who are sick and ill no matter who they are to show concern for those who have suffered loss it is prohibited for us to become happy at the loss of another and it is prohibited for us to show that we are celebrating upon the loss of someone else may Allah سبحانه وتعالى grant us all cure from our sickness and may he grant us all paradise until we meet insha'Allah there with Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد سبحان الله بحمده سبحانك اللهم بحمدك مشهدوا اللى إله إلا أنت لستوظرك وانتون