Ambiyaa

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In the Name of Allah Most Merciful

1. AADAM
2. IDREES
3. NOOH
4. HUD
5. SAALIH
6. EBRAHIM
7. LOOT
8. ISMAIL
9. ISHAAQ
10. YA’QOOB
11. YUSUF
12. SHU’AIB
13. MOOSA
14. HAAROON
15. ILYAAS
16. AL-YASA’
17. AYYOOB
18. ZHUL-KIFL
19. DAWOOD
20. SULAIMAN
21. UZAIR
22. ZAKARIYYA
23. YAHYA
24. IMRAAN
25. YUNUS
26. EESA
27. MUHAMMAD

In no better way could we begin our stories other than begining with the most greatest of all Ambiyaa (Prophets) Nabi Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The life of Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam

Rasulullah's sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam blessed name is Muhammad. His father's name is 'Abdullah, who is the son of 'Abdul Muttalib, who is the son of Hashim, who is the son of 'Abd Manaf. His mother's name is Aaminah, who is the daughter of Wahb, who is the son of 'Abd Manaf, who is the son of Zuhrah. This 'Abd Manaf is not the same as the previous one.

He was born on a Monday in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal in the same year that a kafir king invaded Makkah on an elephant and tried to destroy the Ka'bah. When he was five years and two days old, his foster mother handed him over to his actual mother. When he was six years old, his mother took him to the tribe of his grandfather, the Banu Najjar. She remained there for one month with him. On their return, his mother passed away at a place called Abwa'. A woman by the name of Umme Ayman was also with them. She took him to Makkah. His father had passed away when his mother was still expecting him. His grandfather, 'Abdul Muttalib, therefore took the responsibility of rearing him. On the death of his grandfather, his uncle, Abu Talib, took over this responsibility.

His uncle took him to Syria for business. On the way to Syria, a Christian scholar and mystic by the name of Buhayrah saw him and informed his uncle that he should protect him because he is a prophet. His uncle therefore took him back to Makkah. Later he went again to Syria with the goods of Khadijah radiyallahu 'anha. On the way, a Christian scholar and mystic by the name of Nasturah testified to his being a prophet. When he returned from Syria, Khadîjah radiyallâhu 'anhâ married him. He was 25 years old at the time while she was 40 years old.

When he was 40 years of age, he received prophethood. When he was 52 or 53 years of age, he experienced the mi'raj. After receiving prophethood, he remained in Makkah for approximately 13 years. When the oppression of the kuffar of Makkah increased, he migrated to Madinah under the orders of Allah. Within two years of reaching Madinah, the decisive battle of Badr took place. Several battles took place thereafter. All the major and minor battles total 35.

He had married 11 women, out of which two had passed away in his very lifetime. They are, Khadijah and Zaynab bint Khuzaymah radiyallahu 'anhuma. When he passed away, he left behind 9 wives. They are: Saudah, 'A'ishah, Hafsah, Umme Salamah, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Umme Habibah, Juwayriyah, Maymunah, and Safiyyah radiyallahu 'anhunna.

He had four daughters, the eldest of whom was Zaynab radiyallahu 'anha. After her was Ruqayyah radiyallahu 'anha, thereafter Umme Kulthum radiyallahu 'anha, and the youngest was Fatimah radiyallahu 'anha. All these daughters were from Khadijah radiyallahu 'anha. He had three, four or five sons (there is no certainty in the number due to a difference in the narrations). They are: Qasim, 'Abdullah, Tayyib and Tahir. All these sons were from Khadijah radiyallahu 'anha. There was one more son by the name of Ibrahim who was begotten by Mariyah. She was the slave-girl of Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. This last son passed away when he had not been weaned as yet. In this way we get five. Some of the scholars say that the name of 'Abdullah is also Tayyib. In this way we get four. Other scholars say that Tayyib and Tahir are also names of 'Abdullah. In this way we get three. 'Abdullah was born after prophethood and passed away in Makkah. The other sons passed away before prophethood.

Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam remained in Madinah for 10 years. He fell ill on a Wednesday, two days before the end of the month of Safar and passed away on a Monday on the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal at the time of chasht, at the age of 63. He was buried on Tuesday afternoon. According to some historians, he was buried on Tuesday night. The reason for this delay is that on account of the sorrow and sadness of the Sahabah, they were unable to function properly.

From the daughters of Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, Zaynab radiyallahu 'anha had a son by the name of 'Ali and a daughter by the name of Umamah. However, the progeny of both did not continue. Ruqayyah radiyallahu 'anha had a son by the name of 'Abdullah but he passed away at the age of six. Umme Kulthum did not have any children. Fatimah radiyallahu 'anha had two sons by the name of Hasan and Husayn radiyallahu 'anhuma. Their progeny spread far and wide.

The character and habits of Rasulullah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam

1. He was extremely generous. He never said no to anyone who asked him for anything. If he had anything to give, he would give it. If he did not have, he would inform the person in a kind manner that he does not have anything at present and that he would give him something later.

2. He was very honest in his speech.

3. He had a very soft temperament.

4. He liked ease in all matters (i.e. he abstained from causing difficulties and complications).

5. He used to have great concern for those who were in his company in that none of them should experience any difficulty on account of him. So much so that if he had to go out of the house at night, he would wear his sandals very silently, open the door very quietly and walk silently. When he came home and found everyone sleeping, he would carry out all his tasks silently so that no one's sleep is disturbed.

6. When he used to walk, he used to lower his gaze. When walking with many people, he used to walk in their midst (and not ahead of them). If anyone approached him, he was the first to greet.

7. He used to sit with great humility.

8. When sitting down to eat, he used to sit like a poor person. He never ate to a full stomach. He never ate bread made with fine flour. He never ate in elaborate or fancy plates.

9. He used to remain sorrowful out of the fear of Allah. He used to occupy himself in this all the time. Due to this, he was never at ease.

10. He used to remain silent most of the time. He did not speak unnecessarily. When he spoke, he spoke very clearly so that the person addressed will understand everything that is said to him. His speech was not too lengthy to the extent that it is beyond necessity. At the same time, it was not so short that it is not understood. There was no harshness in his speech nor in his manner.

11. He did not dishonour or disgrace anyone who came to meet him.

12. He did not interrupt the speech of anyone. However, if anyone spoke anything that was contrary to the Sharî'ah, he used to either stop the person from doing so or he himself used to get up and leave that place.

13. He used to greatly value the bounty of Allah irrespective of how small or insignificant it may be. He never used to find fault with it by saying that it does not taste good or that it has a foul smell, etc. However, if his heart was not inclined to anything, he did not eat it. At the same time he did not speak good of it nor complained about it.

14. He never used to become angry over any worldly matter, e.g. someone causing a loss or ruining a certain task. Anas radiyallâhu 'anhu says: "I remained in the service of Rasûlullâh sallallâhu 'alayhi wa sallam for ten years. During this entire period, if I did anything, he never asked me the reason for doing it. If I did not carry out a particular task, he never asked me the reason for not doing it." However, if anyone did anything contrary to the Dîn, nothing could subdue his anger. He did not become angry in his personal affairs.

15. If he was displeased with anyone, he used to merely turn his face away from the person. In other words, he did not utter anything harsh or unpleasant. If he was pleased, he used to lower his gaze.

16. He was more bashful and modest than a virgin woman. If there was something to laugh about, he merely smiled, i.e. without emitting any sound.

17. He used to have a good relationship with everyone. He did not consider himself to be great and thereby withdraw from others. Instead, at times he used to joke in order to make the person happy. However, even his jokes were true.

18. He used to offer optional salâts to such an extent that his feet used to get swollen.

19. When he used to recite or listen to the Quran, he used to cry out of fear and love for Allah.

20. He was so humble that he ordered the ummah not to raise his status too much. If any poor woman labourer informed him that she wished to speak to him in privacy, he used to reply: "Okay, let's sit down on the road and speak." He used to sit at the same place where the woman used to sit.

21. If anyone fell ill, he used to visit him irrespective of whether the person was rich or poor. He used to attend the funeral of anyone who passed away.

22. If anyone invited him for a meal, he used to accept it irrespective of who the person was. Even if anyone invited him to a meal of barley bread or distasteful fat, he did not offer any excuse in order to refrain from attending.

23. He did not utter anything useless.

24. He used to make everyone happy. He abstained from conducting himself in such a manner whereby the person becomes distressed.

25. He used to save himself from the taunts and provocations of the wrong doers in a good manner. At the same time, he used to meet them in a cheerful way.

26. If anyone from among those who used to visit him regularly failed to come on a certain day, he used to enquire about the person.

27. He used to execute his tasks in a scheduled manner. It did not happen that he did a particular task in a certain way on one day and changed the method on another day.

28. He used to stand up with the remembrance of Allah and sit down with the remembrance of Allah.

29. When he attended any gathering, he used to sit at the place where the gathering ended. He did not jump over all those who were seated and take the main seat for himself.

30. When he was addressing several persons, he used to look at each one of them individually. He did not focus his attention on one person to the exclusion of others.

31. He used to conduct himself with everyone in such a way that each person used to believe that he likes him the most. When anyone came and sat near him or began to speak, he remained silent. He only used to get up after the person gets up.

32. His manners were general with everyone.

33. When he used to go home in order to rest, he used to sit by leaning against a pillow.

34. He used to execute many of the domestic tasks with his own hands. At times he used to milk the goat, while on other occasions he used to clean his clothes. He used to do most of his work on his own.

35. Irrespective of how great a person may be, he used to meet him with kindness and never disheartened him.

In short, he was the best in character.

36. If anyone did anything unpleasant, he did not reproach him directly. He was not strict by nature nor did he adopt a strict expression as is the habit of some people who adopt an angry facial expression in order to frighten or warn someone and who also speak in an angry tone. Nor was it his habit to speak in a shouting manner.

37. If anyone caused him harm, he did not cause the person any harm in return. Instead, he used to forgive the person.

38. He never ever hit any slave, servant or woman. In fact, he did not even hit any animal. All this excludes punishing anyone in order to fulfil the command of the Sharî'ah.

39. If anyone wronged him, he did not take revenge.

40. He was always smiling and abstained from frowning or scowling. This does not mean that he was never sorrowful because we have already mentioned that he used to be in sorrow and concern all the time.

41. He was very soft-natured. He was neither harsh in his speech and conduct nor was he audacious - saying whatever he wished and whichever way he wished. He did not mention the faults of anyone nor did he withhold from giving anything.

42. He did not even have a whiff of the following characteristics and traits: speaking greatly about himself, getting into arguments with anyone, and doing something that has no benefit. At the same time, he did not speak ill of anyone nor did he search for the faults of anyone. He only uttered things which can earn some reward. If any stranger or traveller came from another place and displayed any arrogance or incivility in his speech and conduct, he overlooked it. He should not allow anyone to praise him.