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Name
SAAD
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Profession
Question
How youth were respected and cared about by the Propeht?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
This is a very important question that requires extensive discussion. But to elaborate on certain aspect within the limited time allocated for this online dialogue, I would say the legacy of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, even before his appointment to prophecy, is an excellent example for the ummah on how Muslims should respect and care for the youth. It is when this legacy was replaced by dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny and repression that the youth potentials have been diminished, their self-esteem has been eroded and many of them have become self-absorbed.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was very close to the youth, talking, playing, joking, teaching, guiding, directing, looking after and listening to their concerns. He was very respectful of the youth and commanded his followers to take good care of the youth. He gave them the chance to integrate, excel and lead. He valued their views and included them in decision making.
There are numerous traditions on how respect and care were exemplified to the youth at the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him. In Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is narrated that once the Prophet, peace be upon him, was offered something to drink. He drank of it while on his right was a boy and on his left were some elderly people. He said to the boy, "May I give these elderly people first?" The boy said, "By Allah, O Prophet of Allah! I will not give up my share from you to somebody else." Thereupon the Prophet, peace be upon him, placed the cup in the hand of the boy. That shows how he respected the right of the boy, even though many elderly people were there.
On a different note, the Prophet, peace be upon him, placed excellence and leadership skills before age and other factors, and because of that, we saw some youth excelled as leaders even though they were young. We saw how Usamah, may Allah be pleased with him, was a commander of the army before the age of twenty. And Mu’adh, may Allah be pleased with him, surpassed many elderly companions in knowledge so much so he was called the “most knowledgeable of the ummah about Halal and Haram” and died in his thirties, and he was sent as envoy to the People of Yemen at the age of 17. We saw how Zayd Ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, was assigned one of he most difficult tasks in history – the compilation of the Qur’an and he was in his twenties.
There are several examples to illustrate this excellent attitude the Prophet, peace be upon him, had towards the youth, and I hope we can come back to it in dealing with other questions in this session.
Allah is the source of success.
Name
Shadi
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Profession
Question
Salams Mr. Tamir. I see your topic is interesting as Islam lays emphasis on the youth. My question is: how you see the role of Muslim youth today to support Prophet Muhammad and his Sunnah?
Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Excellent question!
I think the very first thing the youth have got to do before even thinking of supporting the cause of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and reviving his legacy is to evaluate their perception of life, their vision of the future, their conception of the role they are supposed to play in their society in the light of the seerah of the Prophet, peace be upon him. For Muslim youth to be leaders they should first be followers of good people. The companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, were first followers of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and therefore they excelled when they became leaders.
Muslim youth should study the seerah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, not in the sense of attainting knowledge of chronological and historical events, but in the sense of learning and taking insights to their life, emulating the character of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and embodying his teachings and morals.
The sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is not simply to grow a beard, use the miswak before the salah, and recite the adhkar every morning and evening only, but live in the light of the all-embracing mission of the Prophet, peace be upon him: his struggle to achieve justice and freedom, his leadership and shurah, his mentorship and training, his parenthood and education, his comprehensive outlook of life in general.
One of the most effective ways to support the sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is to follow in his footsteps and become leaders that serve humanity. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was known, as Khadijiah, may Allah be pleased with her, put it, the one giving help to the poor and the needy, the family member that maintains kinship ties, and the community leaders that supports in every good cause. It is unfortunate that when we read these beautiful character traits we don’t see them manifested on the ground by many people, particularly the youth.
Supporting the sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, means in the present-day sense to defend justice, advocate peace, eradicate poverty and oppression, educate, and make world a better place to live in.
Allah is the source of success.
Name
Muslimah
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Profession
Question
Why the message of Islam delivered to Prophet Muhammad when he was in the phase of younghood?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
The age of forty, as understood from aya 14 in surat al-ahqaf, is the age of maximum discretion and full maturity. It is also the age at which Prophet were always ordered to disclose their message to their people, as Al-Mubarkafuri said in “Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtoum” (The Sealed Nectar). It was very crucial for someone chosen as the final messenger for humanity and given the permanent message till the Day of Judgment that he is at the age of responsibility, accountability and total prudence.
Allah is the source of success.
Name
mina
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Profession
Question
Salamu alikoum.
Sometime I feel jealous of the status of our Prophet Mohamed SAWS because Allah SWT chose him. I feel sorry for that feeling. I know that he was the best man in this world. So I follow his sunna just to please Allah.
Could you please advise me how to get rid of this feeling.
Jazak allah khayran.
Answer
If I understood your question correctly, I hope you understand that there are many things that we choose in this life, and many are beyond our choice. The Muslim attitude is that of thankfulness, gratitude and satisfaction. We believe Allah is the Most Wise, and He chooses for us what is beneficial and valuable. Sometimes it is easy to understand Allah’s wisdom, while in other times it is very difficult. Faith is the key answer in both. When we are told or been able to comprehend the “why” of things, we grow in faith; other times when we fail to understand the “why” we maintain faith and take it as a test. That is how Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said when kissing the black stone: “I know you are nothing but a stone that brings no harm or benefit, but since I saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, kiss you, I would continue to do the same.”
Looking in your case, it is advised that you read more about the Prophet, peace be upon him, learn about his character and manners, and educate yourself on how he lived his life. I hope insha’Allah this answer all the questions lingering in your mind, and will help you understand why Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was chosen to be Allah’s final messenger to the entire human race.
Name
Hind
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Profession
Question
How did prophet Muhammad care about young women and to what extent was he concerned about them?
Answer
Good question, and very important.
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was truly the liberator of women. He liberated them from oppressive culture and domineering traditions. He gave them the right to life, which was even deprived at a particular time of history rightly described as the Era of Ignorance. He taught equal treatment of boy boys and girls; he forbade any form of prejudice and unfairness in dealing with children. He made sure that even the young slave girls in Madinah, before slavery was finally banned, are respected and given a full equal status in the social life. In a wonderful hadith narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is narrated that a slave girl from the women of Madinah would take the Prophet, peace be upon him, by his hand and walk with him in the streets of Madinah. In a different version of the same Hadith, reported in Musand Ahmad, it is narrated that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would not let go his hand until the slave girl reaches her destination. This shows how the leader of the community, be he a president, a ruler, a mayor, etc. should be humble towards his people and particularly merciful towards the less privileged.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, confronted the inequitable customs and traditions of Arabia in dealing with girls. It was at a time when girls are deemed as a source of shame to the family, the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave glad tidings to parents who are blessed with even on daughter and he looked after her that they would be granted protection from Hell on the Day of Judgment. He was very respectful of his daughters. It is reported that He, may Allah’s blessing be conferred on him, used to rise up in respect of his daughter Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her.
It is unfortunate that many Muslims today are not following the sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in dealing with girls. Some Muslims unfortunately still favor boys out of ignorance and total discrimination; some even finding it shameful to be nicknamed after their girls!! It is about time that Muslims looked at how the Prophet, peace be upon him, treated girls and young ladies and emulate this in their life.
