Friday Sermon] Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) Have Been Sent As A Mercy To The World!

By Imam Murtadha Gusau

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation. May the salutations of Allah, His peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet, his family, his companions and his true and sincere followers until the Last Day – then to proceed:

Dear servants of Allah! I advise you and myself to have Taqwa (consciousness of Allah), for there is no salvation on the Day of Resurrection except through it. Allah the Most High says:

“And Allah will deliver those who are conscious of Him to their places of success (Paradise). Evil shall touch them not, nor shall they grieve.” [Qur’an, 39:61]

He Almighty also says:

“He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt.” [Qur’an, 6:12]

Dear brothers and sisters! Allah’s Mercy to His servants is great and His favour upon them is immense. And His Mercy is complete and does not have any deficiencies. And it is not driven by inability or weakness. It is the Mercy of the Most Merciful the Most Beneficent that encompasses everything with mercy and knowledge.

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And the greatest mercy on this Ummah (nation) from the Lord is that he designated for them the Prophet of mercy. Through His Mercy, He honoured this final Ummah (nation) with the best of His creation and sent to them the seal of the Messengers. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was the most merciful of the Prophets to his Ummah (nation). He (Peace be upon him) was the most compassionate, vigilant, pardoning and forgiving of the Prophets to his Ummah (nation).

And through the Prophet (Peace be upon him), Allah took people out of the darkness into the light. And He the Exalted sent down all kinds of mercies through him. Such that the people of the earth are compassionate through it until the Day of Resurrection. Allah Almighty said:

“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” [Qur’an, 21:107]

His message revealed from His Lord the Exalted showered all kinds of mercies upon the creation. The people and the jinn.  The believer and the disbeliever. The righteous and the wicked. The young and the old. The strong and the weak. The near and the far. Men and women. The birds and animals. Animals and inanimate objects.

And he (Peace be upon him) came with a Shari’ah (legislation) all of which is good and mercy for the people. And there is no one on earth from the time that he was sent to our present day until the Day of Resurrection except that will be touched by this mercy that Allah the Most High made reach all the worlds. Therefore, it was narrated in an authentic Hadith that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

“Oh people, indeed I am a gifted mercy.” [as-Sahihah of Imam al-Albani]

And those with preference and the greatest share of this mercy are those who believe in him, honour him, support him, and follow the light (the Qur’an) which has been sent down with him. It is they who will be successful. Their success will be in this world and the next. And just as it is indicated in the Qur’an that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) is a mercy to the worlds it is also mentioned in the Qur’an that he (Peace be upon him) is a mercy to the believers in verse 61 of surah At-Tawbah. Allah Almighty says:

“(He) believes in Allah and believes the believers and [is] a mercy to those who believe among you.” [Qur’an, 9:61]

And from his mercy for those who believe in him and embraced his religion is that he supplicated for them much. Especially if one considers the state of other Prophets with their Ummahs (nations). His mercy for his Ummah (nation) overtook him and he supplicated for them. As related by Abdullah Bin Amr Bin Aas (may Allah be pleased with them):

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) recited the Words of Allah, the Exalted, and the Glorious, about Prophet Ibrahim who said:

“O my Lord! They have led astray many among mankind. But whosoever follows me, he verily, is of me.” (Qur’an, 14:36) and those of Prophet Isa (Jesus) who said: “If You punish them, indeed they are Your servants, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (Qur’an, 5:118). Then he (Peace be upon him) raised up his hands and said, “O Allah! My Ummah (nation), my Ummah (nation),” and he wept; Allah, the Exalted, said: “O Jibril (Gabriel)! Go to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) – and your Lord is most knowledgeable- and ask him: ‘What makes you weep?” So Jibril came to him and asked him (the reason of his weeping) and the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) informed him what he had said (though Allah is most knowledgeable). Upon this Allah said: “Jibril, go to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and say: ‘Verily, We will please you with regards to your Ummah (nation) and will never displease you.” [Muslim]

The mercy of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) for his Ummah (nation) was to an extent that he preferred them over himself in the answered supplication that Allah gave him as He the Exalted gave other Prophets before him. He did not limit this supplication to himself and he included his Ummah (nation). As Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

“Every Prophet had a supplication that was granted by Allah. I dedicated my granted supplication to having intercession for my Ummah (nation) on the Day of resurrection.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said:

“Every Prophet had a supplication that was granted, and every Prophet advanced their supplication (in this world). But I reserved my supplication as intercession for my Ummah (nation) on the Day of Resurrection, and it will reach, if Allah wills, those of them who die, not associating anything with Allah.” [Muslim]

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, how great his mercy was for us and how cautious he was over us. Can the believers in him be blamed for loving, honouring and supporting him when he preferred them over himself and designated them for his supplication in a situation of all situations!? By Allah, no one can blame them for that aside for a disbeliever or a hypocrite who is hiding his disbelief or an ignorant person that does not know the virtue of the Messenger (Peace be upon him). Allah Almighty said:

“There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you [i.e., your guidance] and to the believers is kind and merciful.” [Qur’an, 9:128]

From the mercy of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to his Ummah is that he selected for them a complete and easy to follow Shari’ah (legislation). And the most precise and attainable decrees. And Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) described him and she is the closest of people to him:

“The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) was never given a choice between two matters but that he chose the easier of the two as long as it did not involve sin. If it was sinful, he was the furthest person from it.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

He (Peace be upon him) used to leave a deed that he wanted to do and was able to handle as a mercy for his Ummah (nation) fearing that it would be obligated and the majority of them would not be able to handle it. And whoever views his Sunnah can see that. And how many times did he (Peace be upon him) say: If it was not a hardship for my Ummah (nation) I would have commanded them with such and such or if it were not a hardship for the people I would have commanded them with this. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

“The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) would give up a deed that he liked to perform, fearing that the people would follow suit and it would be obligated upon them.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Dear brothers and sisters! Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) was afflicted for the sake of Allah Almighty, like no one else has been afflicted. He (Peace be upon him) said:

“Indeed I have feared for the sake of Allah, such that no one has feared, and I have been harmed for the sake of Allah, such that no one has been harmed.” [Tirmidhi]

Be conscious of Allah Almighty and obey Him. And know that affliction in religion and worldly matters is the path of the Messengers of Allah (Peace be upon them). And that steadfastness through affliction is the way of the successful servants of Allah. Allah Almighty said:

“Did you think that you would enter Paradise even though Allah has not yet seen who among you strove hard in His way and remained steadfast?” [Qur’an, 3:142]

There were periods when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was deeply grieved due to his people denying him, and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them) being tormented and killed. And for his loss of supporters among mankind. And due to the hardship and harshness of life. And many instances of his grief were recorded in his fragrant biography after the start of his mission.

And the first grief that befell him (Peace be upon him) after start of his mission and the most intense and the greatest was due to the pause in receiving revelation after he received it for the first time. Waraqah Bin Nawfal (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“No man has come with what you brought without being harmed. And if your day comes while I am alive, I would support you strongly. But after a few days Waraqah died and the Divine Inspiration was also paused for a while and the Prophet (Peace be upon him) became sad.” [Bukhari]

And every believer who has a day in which he does not recite anything from the Qur’an must grieve. Because the Prophet (Peace be upon him) grieved at the pause in the revelation in spite of it being out of his control. So what about the one who is able to recite the revelation at every moment to nourish his heart, guide his soul and rectify his condition, but falls short in that regard and does not grieve over his shortcomings?!

And when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) invited his people to Iman (faith) they denied him. So he grieved deeply over them due to his knowledge of the fate of those who denied. And because he wanted for them Iman (faith) and a conclusion of success and great triumph. Allah Almighty addressed him to lighten his grief:

“We know that you, [O Mohammad], are saddened by what they say. And indeed, they do not call you untruthful, but it is the verses of Allah that the wrongdoers reject.” [Al-An’am 33]

Rather, his grief over his people’s denial of him nearly destroyed him, until Allah Almighty prohibited him from devastating himself