For the love of our children...

Imam Zaid continued with the book, Muhammad Rasulullah. The first section he covered was “Examples of how relationships produce good and not to forget those relationships.” One such example is after the death of his beloved wife Sayyidah Khadija, may God be pleased with her. He never forgot the good between them and always maintained ties with her family and friends. This shows the importance of being aware and cognizant of relationships that one has established, and the necessity to preserve them. Every Muslim is sacred to another Muslim, and that sanctity should be maintained even after death because relationships are established in the sanctity of Allah and are a blessing from Him.

The next section he covered was “Dealing with children and light times with them.” It illustrated how loving he was with children, and how he used to play with them. The section covered many beautiful examples. One example is narrated by Abdullah b. al-Harith, may God be pleased with him; he said the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, would have the children of Abbas, may God be pleased with him, line up and tell them “Whoever races to me first gets such and such.” Then they would race to him and fall upon his back and chest, and he would kiss them and hold onto them. Another narration from Abu Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, said that the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, took the hand of Hasan or Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both) and placed the boy’s feet on top of his feet, and he told the boy to climb, so he climbed until he placed his feet on the Prophet’s chest, peace and blessings of God be upon him. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said, “Open up your mouth,” and he kissed him and said, “O Allah, love him, for I love him.”

The following section Imam Zaid covered was “His visiting the downtrodden and Ahl al-Suffah.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, used to visit the poor and downtrodden, especially Ahl al-Suffah, out of compassion and to increase sociability. He would visit their sick, attend their funerals, and extend barakah to them, so they could feel endearment, dignity, and felicity. From this, we learn that we should look for the poor in our communities and visit them to make them happy, and, as a result, we will see so many more openings in our lives.

The last section that Imam Zaid covered was “His great humility with his Companions.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, is the perfect example of humility despite his high station and noble rank. His humility is apparent in all the different aspects of his life. In a hadith related by Sayyidah Aisha, may God be pleased with her, she says, “He used to sew his own garments and repair his own sandals, and he used to do what men do in their homes.” Imam Zaid stressed how the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, served himself and didn’t depend on others to do things for him. However, because people loved to do things for him and wanted to gain the blessings of serving him, he allowed them to do so.

The next class was taught by Shaykh Abdullah al-Kadi about the wives of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Shaykh Abdullah quoted the verse “O wives of the Prophet, you are not like other women” and said it was because of the attachment to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He had a total of eleven wives; ten of them were Arab, six of which were from Quraysh. Shaykh Abdullah started speaking about the first wife of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Sayyidah Khadija, may God be pleased with her.

She was 40 years old when she married the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who was 25. She was the only wife to give him children. She lived with him until he was 50 years old, the longest time of any of his wives. She truly loved and honored the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. She would wait by the door to greet him when he would come home and hold his hand and put it on her chest out of love and respect. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to go into seclusion in Cave Hira’, she used to come to him with provisions, but because of his concern for her safety, he would meet her half way. She was the first person to believe and support the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. When Quraysh boycotted Bani Hashim, although she was not part of that clan, she went with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and suffered as he suffered. The year she and the uncle of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Abu Talib, passed away was named “The year of sadness.”

Out of everything Shaykh Abdullah mentioned, there was nothing that showed any form of disputation or disagreement between her and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Shaykh Abdullah said that she was a perfect wife and a complete woman. She was the only wife to be given salaam by Allah and Angel Gabriel. In a narration from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he mentions her among the four best women. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not marry another woman during her lifetime. Some scholars say its because Allah wanted to protect her from jealousy and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not want to break her heart. May God be pleased with her.

After the heart warming session with Shaykh Abdullah al-Kadi, we had a spiritually uplifting session with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf about The Alchemy of Happiness. He started the class by giving a short biography of the blessed author, Hujjatul-Islam, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him. Imam al-Ghazali showed his genius early on and wrote more than 200 works over his lifetime. He became arrogant because of his fame, superior knowledge, and his holding the highest position a professor could have. In his late 30s, he began to have an internal crisis and realized he was teaching things that he himself was not practicing. One day, he went to teach his class and couldn’t bring himself to speak. The doctors came to his home and concluded that the problem was not with his body but with his soul.

Imam al-Ghazali then realized that his high position in society was detrimental to his soul and was causing him to feel arrogant. He knew he had to give it all up in order to save his soul. So after insuring that his family was provided for, he set on a journey to Hajj. Instead of returning home, he stayed away traveling for ten years. He worked mundane jobs such as being a book copier and a janitor in the Umayyid Mosque in Damascus. It was during this time away that he wrote his remarkable work Ihya Ulum al-Deen, a book that is considered by most scholars to be one of the greatest Islamic works ever. After his travels, he returned, and people realized that he was completely transformed and there was no longer any arrogance in him. He died six years after he returned to his home.

Allah elevated Imam al-Ghazali because he chose to debase himself. He was introspective of his various states and was very cautious to avoid any state that could lead him away from Allah. His teacher, Imam al-Juwayni, may God be pleased with him, said that Imam al-Ghazali was an ocean. His knowledge was vast, not only in the outward aspects of Islam, but also the spiritual aspects. The Alchemy of Happiness was one of the many books that dealt with the spiritual aspects and our connection with Allah. Shaykh Hamza covered the first chapter entitled “Chapter on knowledge of the self.” In this chapter, Imam al-Ghazali says, “The key to knowledge of Allah is the knowledge of yourself.” We know our outer selves, but we don’t know our internal states. It’s an obligation on us to know ourselves, and know where we come from. He tells us that there are certain qualities that have been gathered in us, and in these are the qualities of ruminants, predators, demons, and angels. Each of these qualities has nourishment and joy if balanced.

The day concluded with a wonderful class given by Shaykh Abd Allah b. Bayyah translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. After summarizing for us what was covered on the previous day, Shaykh Abd Allah b. Bayyah spoke about the three pillars of seerah, being, time, place, and population. He started by defining the time period for the birth of the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessing be upon him, to be the sixth century in the Year of the Elephant. Scholars have differed on the exact birth day of the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessing be upon him, but the dominant opinion is the 12^th of Rabi’ al-Awal, which was calculated to be April 20 or 22 of the year 571. This time period was called Jahiliyah (ignorance).

The place of his birth was the Arabian peninsula and more specifically Mecca. Mecca was the first place for people to worship. It is narrated that the Ka’ba was initially built by the angels for Adam, may God’s peace be upon him, and then Ibrahim, may God’s peace be upon him, later renovated it. It was not a hospitable place, which didn’t encourage imperialism.

The population was comprised of Arabs. There are three different types of Arabs, Arab Ba’idah which are extinct, Arab al-‘Aribah (original Arabic speakers), and al-Musta’ribah (those who learned Arabic from the Jurhum tribe) which are the ‘Adnaniyun. The Arabs of Mecca where the sons of Isma’il, may God’s peace be upon him.

The birth of the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessing be upon him, was surrounded by events, from the fire of Zoroastrians being put out, and the idol falling. He was born to a noble family with a praiseworthy lineage. His lineage goes back to ‘Adnan, and by consensus He goes back to Isma’il and Ibrahim, may God’s peace be upon both of them. It was a dark period of time waiting for the light to come and that was the prophet, may God’s peace and blessing be upon him. The whole cosmos where in a state of joy when the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessing be upon him, was born.