Shia Strength: [MahdiUniteMuslims] The Messenger of Mercy: The light of our Minds and the Guide of Our lives

Address of Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadhlullah
on the death anniversary of the prophet of Allah(pbuh)

The Messenger of Mercy: The light of our Minds and the Guide of Our lives

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The mortal Prophet
Allah says: His Glorious Book And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; the messengers have already passed away before him; if then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels? And whoever turns back upon his heels, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least and Allah will reward the grateful. 3:144
He also says talking to His Messenger: Surely you shall die and they (too) shall surely die (39:30 ) and: And We did not ordain abiding for any mortal before you. What! Then if you die, will they abide? (21:34).
On the 28th of this month, the month of Safar, we meet with the anniversary of the death of the Prophet (p.) who lived all his life as a warner, a bringer of glad tidings and a Messenger(p.) for mankind. He suffered all his life for the sake of the message to the extent that he said. "No Prophet was hurt as much as he was".
The first Ayah (Muhammad is best a Messenger) was revealed in the battle of Uhud, when Muhammad (p.) was hurt, and someone said: Muhammad has been killed. Let us go to Abn Sufian to reconcile with him and join his ranks. But another voice said: If Muhammad (p.) is dead his Lord is not. Let us live on what he lived for and die on what he died for.
This Ayah affirms that Allah did not make the Prophet (p.) immortal. He (p.) is a human being like all others who will live for a certain period of time and then die. He will get sick and will be hurt like any other but he will revealed to say: I am only a mortal like you; it is revealed to me that your god is one Allah, therefore whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and not join any one in the service of his Lord. (18:110).
He would be the light that enlightens the minds with the Message, and the lives with the Shariah, and opens the hearts of the people on Allah.
He suffered in Makkah, before the immigration and after it, when Quraish forced him to go war, and tried to end Islam by allying with the Jews. And this is what we read in the Ahzab Surah: When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of Allah.
There the believers were tried and they were shaken with severe shaking.
And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was a disease began to say: Allah and His Messenger did not promise us (victory) but only to deceive. (33:10-12). But God wrote that the victory should be on the Muslims' side.
Allah also says: Allah sufficed the believers in fighting; (33:25) this Ayah was interpreted to mean that it is talking about Imam Ali (a.s.) in the battle of Ahzab. When Amr bin Abd Wud was challenging the Muslims to fight him, the Prophet (p.) asked: Who will fight Amr? And I guarantee that God will put him in heaven. He repeated the question three times and each time only Ali (a.s.) said "I will". Deciding reluctantly to send him, the holy Prophet (p.) then recited this verse from The Holy Koran out loud: My Lord, do not leave me without an heir, and You are the best inheritor."
And then when Ali (a.s.) went out to fight Amr, the Messenger (p.) said:
"Faith in its entirety has gone to fight non-belief in its entirety."
And when Ali (a.s.) killed him, the Messenger (p.) said:
"The strike of Ali (a.s.) is equal to the worshiping of all humans and jinns put together."
Thus, Allah wanted in this Ayah to emphasize that the Messenger dies but the Message stays, and that they have to shoulder the responsibility of believing in the Message, practicing its Shariah and calling others to believe in it.
In another Ayah, Allah says: Surely you shall die and they (too) shall surely die 39:30, And We did not ordain abiding for any mortal before you. What! Then if you die, will they abide (21:34).
The good deeds
During his last days, the Messenger (p.) was very sick. He went to the Mosque with a band on his head and helped by Imam Ali (a.s.) who held his right hand and Al-fadl ibn Al-Abbas who held his left hand. He then made a speech in which he told the people that he was about to die and asked them to ask for their trusts or debts, if there were any. Then he said: "O People, there is not between anybody and Allah anything that would make him bestow His grace on him or keep an evil away except one's actions" Meaning that there are no advantages for anybody, and no lineage or social and economic position will get him nearer to Allah. Such a statement, when the Messenger is the one who is saying it, means, everybody without exception- "No one should claim or wish so, for by Him who sent me a prophet (to call) for the right, nothing saves except deeds with mercy -you should act in doing good and ask Allah to forgive your sins- If I would sin I would have fallen down, O God, Have I conveyed? .
It is as if the Prophet were repeating two Ayahs in the Holy Quran:
{It will not be in accordance with your desires or the desires of the people of the Scripture. He who does wrong will have the recompense thereof, and will not find against Allah any protecting friend or helper}. (4:123)
The lesson the Messenger wanted to give the Muslims was that they have to rely on their relationship with Allah and getting nearer to Him by good deeds.
The Messenger then led the people in prayer and want to his house. He told one of his companions (Abu Muyihbah) before he died that he was ordered to ask forgiveness, for the inhabitants of Baqi'. Then he went to Baqi'. He asked for forgiveness for its people and said that there will come a time of strife that will get darker and darker in its evil.
The recommendation
In the farewell pilgrimage, and after he had emphasized the need to advise Muslims and to support them, he asked he who heard his sermon to convey it to those who did not. Among his advice in this sermon was the following:
O People, just as you regard this month, this day, and this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Hurt no one, so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds
Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.
Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim, unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not become after me unbelievers who kill one another.
I leave behind me two things, the Quran and my progeny. They shall not separate from each other until they meet me in Heaven. And if you follow these, you will never go astray.
All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves
In his sickness, he was attended by his uncle Al-Abbas and his aunt Safiyah. To them and to all the people close to him he had this advice: O Bani Abdul Muttalib! You should act in such away that Allah may not punish you, and you should know that I cannot help you in the matter. O Bani Murra bin K?b! O Bani Hashim! O Bani Abdush-Shams! Deliver yourselves from the torture on account of polytheism by worshipping Allah, for I cannot do anything for you in this regard. O Abbas, (uncle of the Prophet)! You, too, should free yourself from Divine torture. O Safia, (aunt of Muhammad)! You too should think of your freedom and deliverance for I cannot do anything for you. Neither your profit in this world nor your share in the Hereafter is in my hands. So you must believe in Allah and say: "There is no deity but Allah". O Fatima daughter of Muhammad! You must also endeavor to save yourself from Divine punishment because your father cannot help you in the matter and has no control over your gain and loss ". The Messenger (p.) wanted to tell all the people that what relates them to God is not their wealth or their linage, but rather actions.
In this last pilgrimage, the Prophet wanted the people to know whom is the leader after him, the one that they should support and obey. He stood in Gadir Khum on the 18th of Zil Hijjah and took the arms of Imam Ali and raised them saying: Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?"
People cried and answered:
"Yes, O' Messenger of God
He then held up the hand of 'Ali and said for whomever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla)." O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him and turn the right with him wherever he turns."
But things changed and the Imam was denied his right, but since he was concerned about the affairs of Muslims, he kept the peace as long as the affairs of Muslims were secure. When the Prophet died Imam Ali washed him and then he went with the Muslims to pray on him. But before he died, his daughter, Fatima, came to him he kissed her and whispered some words in her ear. She wept. Then again, he whispered in her ear and she smiled. When asked about it, she said I would not disclose a secret of the Messenger in his life time. Then asked again after his death she said:
"He first told me that he would meet his Lord after a short, while and so I cried. Then he said to me: 'Don't cry for you will be the first of my household to join me.' So I laughed."
This is how the Muslims bid their farewell to the Messenger and this is how they differed after him.
Dear loved ones:
When we live the memory of the Messenger, we have to be committed to Islam in its entirety. Since it is the Message of Allah and the trust of His Messenger.
We have to strengthen Islam in compliance with Allah's saying And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them, whom you do not know (but) Allah knows them; and whatever thing you will spend in Allah's way, it will be paid back to you fully and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. (Anfal:60)_ who wanted as to be fearless of all who deploy against us :Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith, and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the Protector.
: So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace, no evil touched them and they followed the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.
It is only the Shaitan that causes you to fear from his friends, but do not fear them, and fear Me if you are believers. (3:173-175).
Peace and blessings be on the Messenger of Allah, the day he was born, the day he went to meet his God and the day he will be brought back to life. May Allah make us succeed to follow his path and his traditions. And may we gain his intersession on the day nothing is of any benefit, except good deeds.

Courtesy:http://bayynat.org.lb