 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in the Quran about his Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the reality of his Rasul sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And he tells us, not just us as Muslims but all of humanity, saying that there has come to you a messenger from among yourselves. It weighs heavily upon him whatever bothers you, whatever difficulties you have, weighs very heavily upon him, he's concerned. He is avid for that which benefits you. He's avid for your concern for you. And he is to the believers loving and compassionate and merciful. Once during the Khilafah of Umar ibn al-Khattab, he received a complaint that one of the governors in one of the northern provinces of the Muslim Ummah, that one of the governors of the town there that he wasn't doing his job properly. And this governor was Saeed ibn Amr, and Omar went to go to, all the way up to the lands of Sham to ask why was this governor not doing his job properly. And among the complaints, he heard all the complaints and they said, the people of the town, he asked the people of the town, what's this person doing wrong? He said, O Rasulullah, this governor of yours, sometimes he's sitting in the council in his court, in his office with his advisors, with the people, and he just falls unconscious. He just falls unconscious sometimes. So he's not fit. And so Omar ibn Amr asked him, is this true? Do you just suddenly, while you're at work in front of the people, judging between people, you just go unconscious? He said, yes, Ya Amir al-Mu'mineen. And I'll tell you the reason for this as well. He says, before I became Muslim, back in the times of Rasulullah, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, when he was one of the Meccans who were against the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, when he was an enemy of Islam. He witnessed something, he witnessed something that he could never forget. The Rasul Sallallahu alaihi wasallam from Medina had sent contingents of Sahaba, small groups of Sahaba to go and to give dawah and to teach Quran to outlying tribes of Arabia. When the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam sent these small groups of people, small groups of his companions to recite Quran, there was one tribe, actually two tribes, one of the groups that he sent, that those desert pagan Arabs, they betrayed the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam and they ended up killing the companions that were sent to teach the Quran to them and to call them to Islam. And they captured a few of these companions. One of the companions was Khubeid ibn Adi, when they captured these outlying tribes, they captured one of the Muslims, they had killed the rest of them, but they knew some of these captives are worth money, they're valuable. So they went to the Meccans, the pagan Meccans, and said we have some Muslims that we've captured alive, would you like to buy these prisoners, you can do whatever you want with them. And they knew the Meccans were very upset at the Muslims after Badr, after Uhud. They sold the Meccans, the wealthy ones among them, they said yes, in revenge for my father who died fighting the Muslims, give me one of these companions of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu alaihi wasallam and we will execute them. So Khubeid ibn Adi was actually sold as a prisoner of war back and came back to Mecca and he was kept captive there and we will recite his entire narrative, but there came a time when the day for his execution came, the time that they would take a very cowardly revenge and they took Khubeid in his chains from Mecca and they took him outside because Mecca is a haram even to the pagan Arabs, they wouldn't execute people inside Mecca in the haram, they took him out to Tan'im where they have Masjid Aisha today where you go out to make Umrah and come back. So they took him out to that spot and of course in chains being mocked and derided by all of the people perhaps being stoned, perhaps being spit on and they dragged him out and finally they let go of his chains in order to execute him, they were all gathered around, many of the Quraish were gathered around watching, Abu Sufyan was there as well, he was watching and then he, Khubeid said, just let me have one request, I just want to pray to Rakhaz and so he said go ahead, so he prayed to Rakhaz before he was killed and he didn't make it very long, he said I would have increased my prayer but I didn't want you to think I'm trying to just delay my death, not scared and so they took Khubeid and as they put him up they were going to hang him up to torture him slowly to death, to cut him open, alive, finally someone asked Khubeid and they said Khubeid, don't you now wish that you're about to die, you're facing certain death through slow torture, don't you now wish that you were back home in your house with your family and that Muhammad was here in your place and Khubeid, without thinking, said I would not wish that I am sitting in my house with my family and a thorn pricks the foot of Muhammad, when Abu Sufyan heard that even before he became a Muslim he immediately remarked, Maru Ayat-ul-Ahadin, you love Muhammad and Muhammad, Abu Sufyan he could not help but say I have never seen anyone love anybody else, the way the companions of Muhammad love Muhammad, and as they began to slowly put their blades inside him as he began to die, Khubeid began to call out and he began to make dua and he said Allahumma inna balla ghna risa'a lathur rasulik, he said oh Allah we have conveyed the messenger, the message of your messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the mission they went out for they have conveyed Islam to the people and so oh Allah we have conveyed the message of your messenger so now convey now convey to the messenger what's happening with us today, convey what's happening to us and he said oh Allah I have no way of sending my salams to your messenger so send my salams to your messenger on my behalf and it is said there are other narrations as well of different Sahabi that were in this situation and one of the reports is that as they were dying the last words they were saying was calling out to the Prophet Ya Muhammad and it is said that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam where he was in Medina in the gathering he immediately returned Khubeib salams and informed his companions of what was happening in real time to his beloved companion and so Saeed bin Amr said even as a non-Muslim when I saw that I could not in later on it struck me that seeing that love penetrated me and it later led to his accepting Islam and he said Omar Ya'ama Miral Rukminin many years later many years later he said whenever my mind goes back to that time and a flashback comes if I just remember it I can't handle it and I fall unconscious because he witnessed an act of love the way that no one has loved anybody else and this this is the question to ask why why why did they feel that love? Don't think it was one sided? No. Don't think it this is an act of love that is coming from the Sahaba to the Prophet sallallahu no the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had that loved for them first the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is because of the care that they showed the public to the care of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam showed everyone that they loved him like this the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam came and there was no individual who is not important enough for Rasulullah. He would take time to know who the servants are, the people who are cleaning the masjid. He would know who they are, make sure they're okay. When slaves were brought, he would ensure that they had enough with them. He would try his best to free them. He would tell other people to make sure you treat them properly. When baby girls were being buried alive, he would tell people not to do that. He would stop this ugly practice because of his care. He cared about everyone around him. He cared about outsiders. People who don't have any credibility in a new society. People who are immigrants, people who are refugees, people who have no one else to help them, he helped them. People who had no one else to feed them, he fed them. People who had no one to speak up for them, he spoke up for them. Workers who had absolutely were completely exploited. He spoke up to ensure their exploitation ended. He would even show his care for animals, genuine care. Not the kind of care that gives you a good name. But he cared so much for everyone and everything that the animals came to complain to him. Even a camel would come to him and whisper in the Prophet's ear what was happening. The Prophet saw an animal being mistreated, tears would come in his eyes. When he wanted to, when he saw animals, he would take his own sleeve, when he saw horses. From his own sleeve he would wipe their eyes and wipe their noses, the mucus from their noses. And he would get angry if this animal was complaining and he would say, what's wrong with you people burdening your animals so much? Do not give an animal a greater burden than they can bear. He would tell people to dress the same as their servants, eat the same food as their servants, and to help the servants with the work. He would even care for the trees. To the point where when he used to give a khutbah, leaning against a tree trunk, and he parted from it because they built a mimbar, when that tree trunk started to cry they could actually hear the noises of it weeping and wailing. And the Prophet ﷺ would put his hand on that trunk. He had a relationship with the rocks and the stones around him. He says in one report that there are still stones in Mecca that he knows. They used to greet him. Nature used to respond because the love that he had was of a completely different caliber. Through Allah's will and grace it animated even nature. Even water he had respect for telling people not to waste it. This is the kind of care that he walked around with and he cared for people's guidance. He would do anything within the bounds of Allah's Dean to call people to guidance. Is it money that you need? Is it money that's close to your heart? He would try to make sure. If you need money, I'll give you money. It's not a problem. Just believe in Allah. When one of the Quraish, even after everyone had become Muslim, one of the Quraish, he was a wealthy man and he was worried because when the situation changes prominent people become lower. And so the Prophet ﷺ brought him up to a mountain, this man who was doubting. He didn't have to even look out for the Imam of this man. Islam had spread already in Mecca. They brought him up to a hill and he said, look at this valley and the valley was dotted with sheep and cattle and camels and horses and all types of amazing wealth. And he said, would you like all of this? And the man looked and said, yeah, of course. Who wouldn't like that? It's yours. It's yours. And the man went back to his people, subhanAllah, and said, people become Muslim. This man does not fear poverty. Why? So that this person could be guided. He would part from wealth. If he came to a person that needed position, they needed honor. He would make sure that this person got a little bit of a position so they felt good being Muslim. So it wasn't difficult to become Muslim. It wasn't difficult to transition over. That's why when he came back to Mecca victorious in the Fatah of Mecca, what did he say? He said that anybody who enters the Kaaba, Fahwa Amen, he said whoever enters the Kaaba, he is safe. Meaning of the people of Mecca. Whoever enters the Haram, he is safe. Whoever closes the door is safe. Whoever enters the Dar-e-Abi Sufyan, Fahwa Amen. Whoever goes into the house of Abu Sufyan, he's safe. Why? To honor that leader because he knows, he said Abu Sufyan, you love Fahwa. He says Abu Sufyan likes to have a little bit of position. Give that to him. Abu Sufyan died fighting for Islam at the end of his life. People don't know that. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, if it was, he would even get down to the little habits and the recreation that you used to do. There was one of the wrestlers, Abu Rukana, Subhanallah, in Mecca. He was the undefeated wrestling champion of Arabia. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam called him to Islam, he refused. And he said, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam challenged him to a wrestling match. If I win you, will you then understand? So obviously this wrestler, he's thinking, I'm the champion, who are you? You're much older. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam wrestled him and threw him down. And so this wrestler thought, this must be a mistake, must be a fluke, let me try again. And he did it again and again. And finally, in our books, they report that he took his Shahada. Because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was not afraid to deliver the message in the way that they need to, they need to hear it. And sometimes, it's not money. And it's not position. And it's not about your professional sport or your talent. Sometimes it's just a touch. Sometimes people just missing a touch. They just haven't had a loving touch. So when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was making his Tawaf, who was jealous and angry that the Muslims had come into Mecca and ended the pagan practices there. And he wasn't fully Muslim. People around him were Muslim. But in his heart, he had hate for Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So he said, I'm going to assassinate him. And so he decided to follow the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam while he was in his Tawaf. Because that's the time when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam will be the most engrossed with Allah SWT. So he took his dagger in his clothing and he came up behind the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And as he was about to pull it out and assassinate our beloved Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam turned around immediately before he could do anything. I said, what's wrong, Fudala? And Fudala started to stutter. He had been caught. He didn't know what to say. And he didn't know. I don't know. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, seek Allah's forgiveness, Fudala. He knew exactly what he was saying. And Fudala again caught off guard. Then the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam just put his hand in his chest. Fudala says, he says, before he put his hand in my chest, there was no one I hated more than Rasulullah Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. When he took his hand off of my chest, there's no one I loved more than Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Sometimes, sometimes people just need to touch. You don't know what they've been through. And this was the Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Touch you in every single way. In every single way he would try. We know that he would help the orphans. When there was one of the orphan children, their father was martyred in one of the battles of the Muslims. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam came and he saw this child. After the army came back, he saw this child sitting on the street, the side of the street weeping. So he asked the child, what happened? He said, my father's died. He's become an orphan right now. So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told him, Hush, how would you like it if I was your father and Aisha was your mother? This is how he would comfort people. And so there's so many different things we can talk about. There's so many things, but the point is, if there's anything you're going to take from Abiyah Al Awad, from this month, while you celebrate, while you sing the songs, while you have the gatherings, you say the Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, understand that this is the care that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had for everyone. And when we claim to follow the Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, then this care and concern for other people in our society must come into our lives. This care, and this care also includes overlooking and forgiving other people. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was completely full of forgiveness. Bilbu Minina, Ra'uf al-Rahim, he was completely forgiven. Amr al-Rar tried to come and kill him. He forgave him as soon as he accepted Islam. Amr ibn al-Aas, as well, was behind him to kill him. Khalid ibn Walid, Wahshid, the one who killed his own uncle, Hamza, Qadir al-Anhu, when they came back, he held no grudges against them. He forgave them. When, subhan Allah, this is when someone would come, even after having committed zina, subhan Allah, and somebody would try to mock that person after they received the punishment, he would stick up for that person. Don't speak bad about them just because they committed a sin. If their Toba was taken all over Medina, all of Medina would be forgiven. This is how he spoke, even about people that we look down on, even about people that we say good for them. He was not like that. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, people had enough comfort to come and to ask in permission in public to commit zina. They had enough comfort to come and tell their problems to him in public. He made sure women who are forcefully married off were given their choices. He made sure people who are cheated were given justice. And this is when we see the mercy of the Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, this we have to know is Divine Mercy. Our Eman itself is tied to believing in the mercy of Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. If it was not for the mercy of Allah, it's only for the mercy of Allah that you were soft towards them, O Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Finally, even when they were striking him, when they were making him bleed, Ibn Mas'ud says, Ibn Mas'ud said that in the battle of Uhud that he says it's like I'm looking today right now at the Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam while he's wiping the blood that's coming off of his face. While he is saying, O Allah, forgive my people for they just don't know. They don't know yet. And this is how our Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was. And this is why this mercy that he was, even though they made a prophet bleed, Allah did not punish them. Allah is saying, we're not going to punish them while you're among them. This is the mercy that he was. And this mercy, if it does not come into our lives and into our hearts, then we have to ask ourselves where we are in our Islam. We have to ask ourselves, we have to ask ourselves where are we vis-a-vis the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. If we don't care for other people with a genuine concern and we don't forgive other people with an open hearted forgiveness. And that is what will create the love that makes someone call out from hundreds of miles away, Ya Muhammad, as they're being killed. That is what makes, that love is what makes a person call out and someone who is torturing him sees him and their life completely changes. Hidayah comes to them by seeing that love. This is what brought people to Islam. They saw an ajib love, a love that had never been seen before from one person to another person. This is from the believers to the Sula, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And that's why this love is our greatest hope. And that's why this month represents and reminds us of our greatest hope. The Rasulullah and the Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the greatest hope being that even if we cannot measure up to the actions, every single thing that he asked us to do as we know, the man who came to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he said, Matassa, he said, when is the final hour? The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam didn't answer. He said, what have you prepared for it? And the man said, I haven't prepared anything much and his messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, He said, a person will be with the one that they love. And so just by loving Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, we get to go up to be with him. Now somebody might even say if this hope is not enough, someone might even say, what about those sinful Muslims, they don't know love of Nabi, hope of Nabi, they don't know Salawat, they don't know Rabi'ul Awwal, they don't know all these things, they don't know. They say, maybe even technically just Muslims, the greatest hope is this, that even those people who don't know his love, even those people who don't follow his way, but they believe in Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and they even just admitted that he was the messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he will still come to them. And on the day of judgment, when believers are in the Hellfire, he will be pleading and asking Allah to take them out of the Hellfire. So it's not really coming from us, but it's all coming from him, by the grace of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And even when you've lost hope in anything that happens, remember that it's actually not through you that we have that hope, it's through Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So may Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam make us of those who love him unconditionally, more than parent, child, and every single human being put together. And may Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam make us of those who follow his path. May Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam make our hearts and our families and our communities to the point where people who don't know Rasulullah discover him through our love for Rasulullah. May Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam make us beacons for this entire nation, this entire world, for people to see that yes, a love like this exists and you can have it too if you accept the truth. May Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam make us of those whose sins are forgiven and are rejoined and reunited with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and let Hishallil al-Musti But after that, Allah said in the book of Majid, After that, I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Indeed, Allah and His angels are praying upon the Prophet. O you who have prayed upon him and submitted your submission. Allahumma, fa salli wa sallim wa barik wa an'im ala khatibin nabiyin al-saydina Muhammad wa ala azwajih al-muktahrat al-mahat al-muqbinin wa ala sa'ir al-sahabati al-ajma'in khususan ala abibakr al-siddique wa amma ibn al-khattab wa al-uthman ibn al-affan wa alih ibn abitalib ridhu Allahi ta'ala alayhim ajma'in wa ala tabi'in wa man tabi'un bi ihsan ilayyum ad-din Allahumma nsurm al-nasir ad-dina Muhammadin sallallahu alaihi wa sallam wa ja'alna minhum wa khzul man khadal ad-dina Muhammadin sallallahu alaihi wa sallam wa la taj'alna minhum Allahumma arin al-haqqa haqqan wa rzuqna itiba'a wa an'il ba'atila ba'atila wa rzuqna itinada Allahumma gfirlil mu'minina wa al-mu'minat wa al-muslimina wa al-muslimat al-akhia'i minhum wa al-amwaat Ibar Allah, rahim akum Allah Inna Allah ya'umur bil-adu wa al-ihsan wa ita idil kurba wa yannha an'il fahshah wa al-munkar wa al-bagi