The moon has shown its light upon you
Praise be to Allah, the One who has opened the doors of mercy and allowed us to gain closeness to the best of creation, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم . May Allah سبحانه وتعالى allow us to enter into his circle of protection.
We ask Allah to send peace, blessings and salutations upon our Master Muhammad, the one who has helped those to prosper with his love and has helped those with his intercession. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى make us of those who are in his heart and make us of those who are recognized by his eye. All prayers to the one who has the most illumined face, the most eloquent tongue, the most beautiful face and the purest heart.
May Allah سبحانه وتعالى allow each and every one of us the gaze of Him سبحانه وتعالى and of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم in a way which allows us to overcome all our hardships, trials and tribulations and to close off all our debts and to experience happiness in this life and the hereafter. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى allow us to have our cups filled with His love.
Congratulations to you for the blessing of Sayidinna Muhammadصلى الله عليه وسلم . During this generous month we say to you:
The moon has shone its light upon you,
After the farewell,
Thanking is our duty now,
So whoever can pray to Allah, pray.
Oh our Messenger among and within us,
You came and brought honor to the Worlds,
Welcome to you Oh the best of Preachers.
During this blessed month there are certain actions which will bring happiness to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and bring joy to his heart as well as to those who sat in his company. If you put this advice into practice you will be raised in high ranks and placed into the heart of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. We dedicate this month to him صلى الله عليه وسلم and we live in an atmosphere as though we are in Al Madinah Al Munawarah. We intend to make our gatherings a part of Al Madinah Al Munawarrah. It will be a part of the Madinah if the intention of those is grand and if your resolve is strong. Allah will allow a part of the earth to be part of the blessed Madinah. So we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to allow our gatherings to be part of Al Madinah. Hence you become the occupiers of Al Madinah, living in it. Widen your intentions and broaden your perceptions. The higher your aspirations, the greater the divine aid and support from Allah will be, verily your Lord encompasses all and knows all things.
1st Requirement:
Increase our salutations on the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم especially during this month because this is his month and this is his time.
Habib Omar, may Allah preserve him and allow us to benefit from him, has advised us with the following dhikr, which should be recited no less than 10,000 times during the month of Rabi al-Awal and Rabi al-Thani;
اللهم صلِّ وسلِّم على جامعِ المحامد، مَن به تفرَّج الكروبُ وتُكشَف الشدائد، سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه، ياحي ياقيوم ياواحد.
Allahummah Sali Wa Salem ‘Ala Jami’ Al Mahaamed,
Man Bihi tufarej al kurub wa takshef al shada’ed,
Sayidina Muhammadin wa ‘ala aalihi, wa sahibihi,
Ya Hayy, ya Qayum, Ya Wahed.
2nd Requirement:
We need to connect with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and feel what he felt in his heart. If you are yearning to enter into his heart, you will discover wonders. It’s something that cannot be explained. The first thing that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is concerned with is you. He wants you to revive his Sunnah, put them into action and teach them. Look at your life and look at your manners and etiquettes and the Sunnah that you are not performing at the moment and begin to revive them. Whether it’s a Sunnah, etiquette or a character trait, we need to learn them and put them into action and teach others. Hence you revive it within yourself and revive it within others.
If you are successful in reviving a Sunnah in someone else, it’s as though you have revived an Ummah (a nation). Each individual is responsible for someone else; for example, everyone has family, children, friends, neighbours whom they are responsible for. Therefore, each individual is an Ummah to themselves. You must start working during this month and continue throughout the rest of your life. Learn about the Sunnah and starting from tonight, do not sleep until you have revived a Sunnah that you have left. Think and work and intend to teach others starting with your family and friends, then the wider community, even if it’s through a written format and sending it out (email, sms, social media).
3rd Requirement:
To rid yourself of your bad traits and habits and to keep away from the grey (that which is doubtful). The least you should do during this month of Rabi is to get rid of one bad trait a day because there are divine lights and a spiritual assistance which is sent down during this month. Each and every one of us knows of their own faults of which they do not want to meet their Lord with.
Whoever takes this information with strength and repents to Allah سبحانه وتعالى from their sins and begins to revive the Sunnah, the divine light will manifest itself upon you and we are reminded with the words of our Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم; Ibadatun Fil Harj Ka hijratun ilaya, “Worship during commotion (disorder, unrest) is like migration to me.”
We are now living in a time of corruption, killings and unrest, so when you hold onto a Sunnah it’s as if you are taking active steps in migrating to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
4th Requirement:
It is preferred that with the above advice, you implement it with those around you, that is, your spouse, children, friends and neighbours. This way the blessings are distributed and all those cooperating reap from the benefits.
In Al Madinah Al Munawarah, before the migration of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, all the people of Al Madinah would prepare for his arrival. All of them, young and old, men, women and children were yearning to see the blessed face of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم. So let us be like them and begin with those around us, even if you are living alone, use the social media like twitter, MSN and/or Facebook.
5th Requirement:
Dedicate a file or portfolio that you name ‘For You Oh Rasul Allah.’ Write in it any deed, from reviving a character trait of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, to any service that you have performed or even leaving a bad trait in this blessed month. Write all you have done during this month and make all of your existence work with you. Dedicate your heart, eyes, hearing, mind, as well as your pen, laptop, phone, house and car etc. Allow them all to work as soldiers serving the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, so you live in an atmosphere where you and all you possess are in servitude to the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. Is it not that he was sent as a mercy to the Worlds? Then help him and be in service to him صلى الله عليه وسلم. Each day, write down your intentions and if you find that what you intended to revive was fulfilled, place a tick mark next to it and thank Allah for this. If you do this you will find the divine help.
6th Requirement:
Dedicate the majority of your speech to be about the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. Increase in his remembrance, make salutations upon him and implement his character traits صلى الله عليه وسلم manners and his Sunnah. We need to spread his name صلى الله عليه وسلم so that we live moments with him صلى الله عليه وسلم. His name is a mercy and everything in him is a mercy. He would call for us ‘My people, my people’ so we should call to him ‘Muhammad, Muhammad.’
7th Requirement:
Discuss the Seerah (history) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in your homes. Learn his noble family lineage in order to plant the importance of his name in your hearts. This requirement may seem strange, however there is a divine inner assistance that is grand for your souls. We start today and each morning before heading off to work and school, we send salutations to the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and recite his noble lineage. It’s beautiful to see your children in the early morning sending salutations upon the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in a time where everyone is busy with everything except for Allah and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Read with your family the story of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم so that the light may be born within your home. His remembrance is a mercy, cure and light and by the remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم Satan is expelled from your home. Make this month a starting point to go forth and not go back to our old ways.
The requirements are increasing however, we say ‘For you Oh Rasul Allah’. How much time have we wasted, watching tv, using the internet etcetera. They have stolen us away from our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. ‘For you Oh Rasul Allah’ is the motto we will use to revive the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
8th Requirement:
What will you present to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his nation? There are 3 things which are required from you so that you may serve him and be honored by serving him;
1) To think about his nation and its guidance and to share in their burdens. With this, you will have shared the same thoughts of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .
2) To include in your duas a specific dua for the Ummah. Therefore, in the same way you make dua for yourself and family, make dua for the Ummah asking for its guidance, righteousness and victory. With this, you will have entered into the heart of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
3) Serve the Ummah in any way whatsoever. Whether it is physically, mentally or through dua. By serving the Ummah, you have served the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
9th Requirement:
When reciting the name of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, mention it with greatness, yearning and love. You are not just mentioning any ordinary person, so address him by saying ‘Habibuna Rasul Allah (Our beloved Messenger of Allah), Sayiddina Rasul Allah (Our Master, Messenger of Allah), the one who was sent as a mercy to the Worlds…’
Your salutations will be sent to him صلى الله عليه وسلم in the same manner in which you address him. Therefore, imagine when these words fall upon his heart and when you say to him ‘I yearn for you oh Rasul Allah, you are the coolness of my eye, you are the light of my heart oh Rasul Allah, may I die and you be revived oh Rasul Allah…’
Train yourselves to send salutations to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم especially in the moments before falling asleep in the hope that you meet your beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and if you see him then know that you have truly seen him. Oh Allah, give us this and allow us to be of the lovers and yearners for his reunion and allow us to be in service to him صلى الله عليه وسلم.
From the words of the servant of Allah, Al Habib Hussein Al Saqqaf. May Allah preserve him and allow us to benefit from him.