How to become a guide to human heritage? How to be a muslim?
It was the fajr prayer of the day the Blessed Prophet (SAW) would eventually pass away. He parted the curtain of the door of his room and watched, for one last time, his dear companions offering prayer behind Abu Bakr (RA). He saw that unique generation, the human legacy he was to leave behind, stand shoulder to shoulder and pray as one.
This gave him exceptional delight, as he smiled blissfully. (Bukhari, Maghazi, 83)
Our mother Aisha (RA), who recounts this scene, says:
“Allah’s Messenger (SAW) watched on with a smile as his companions performed fajr prayer. (He was taking delight in the satisfaction of leaving behind a beautiful generation).
I had never seen Allah’s Messenger (SAW) happier.” (Ibn Hisham, IV, 331)
Thus, it turns out that;
Nothing is more important than leaving behind a human legacy. Rumi (QS), who pursued that legacy throughout his life, also provides a splendid parable: “It was the dark of night. I left home to take a stroll in the fields. I noticed a man, walking around with a lamp.
‘What are you looking for at this time of night?’ I asked.
‘I am looking for a human being’, he replied.
‘Shame’, I said, ‘for you are getting tired for nothing. I left my homeland in pursuit of a human being but I could not find one. Go home! Get your sleep! You are searching in vain. You will not be able to find one anywhere!’
The man looked at me with a sad expression and said:
‘I know that as well as you do. But searching for him with a passion gives me enjoyment. It gives my heart peace, knowing that it is he I am searching for.’”
A search for an ideal man of this nature… The whole point is to be in pursuit of raising a pious generation enlivened with a mindset that could give direction to the world with guidance and justice.
It all comes down to showing effort in this cause; namely, raising a human being of calibre and leaving behind a legacy of educated people.
And as a starting point, here are the first lines to read.
THE ALMIGHTY’S LETTER
To show humankind the way to paradise, the Almighty sent prophets and divine books.
The Holy Qur’an is the Almighty Allah’s final call. Its communicator is Prophet Muhammed (SAW), Khatamu’l-Anbiya, the seal of prophets and the final messenger.
The first divine instructions the Prophet (SAW) received, laid down his duty of calling people to Islam or tabligh:
“Arise and warn.” (Al-Muddaththir, 74:2)
“Warn tour closest relatives.” (Al-Shuara, 26:214)
Our Blessed Prophet (SAW) embarked upon his duty of tabligh with great fervour and a deep feeling of responsibility. Only a handful of people believed him. Most of his relatives and clans remained fiercely opposed.
The assaults, torture, injustice and abuse, however, did nothing to hold the Prophet (SAW) back from the call.
Such that The pagans sent a message to the Prophet (SAW) via his uncle Abu Talib, demanding him to give up his mission.
The Prophet (SAW) thereupon voiced his sheer resolve and determination through the magnificent response below:
“By Allah, my uncle, if they were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, in hope of turning me away from conveying the religion of Allah, I still would not abandon it! Either the Almighty Allah spreads the religion across the entire world and I thereby complete my mission, or I die in its cause!”
His eyes then welled up as he began to cry. (See, Ibnu’l Asir, al-Kamil fi’t-Tarikh, II, 64)
Source: BEING A GUIDING LIGHT, Osman Nuri Topbas, Erkam Publications