Today I am going to share with you something about our beloved Prophet (saw) and our relationship with him but if I start discussing this with you it will feel like that is not my topic at all.
By the end I hope to see that it is in fact what I want to share with you. From myself this is the most powerful story I have ever studied in the Quran and I am very moved by it and I hope I am able to communicate some of the beauty and power of what I was honored to study and to learn from this surah.
This lesson belongs to sura Yasin the 36th Surah of the Quran. Allah Azza wa jal describes in this surah a unique story of Prophets.
Typically, Allah sends one messenger for one town but in this case, Allah says He sent two messengers to them and the nation rejects both messengers and Allah says he reinforce them with a third one, making this nation a unique one to any other nation because three messengers are giving them message at the same time. And then their response to all three of those messengers is all the three messengers are a curse on their nation.
They further said ‘and if you don’t stop this preaching of yours, we’re going to stone you to death or we will find some other painful way of torturing you.’
And the best three of the were rejected, and as that was happening, Allah added a fourth person in the story but the fourth person is not a messenger.
This person came from the end of the city, meaning the person is from the neighboring town, somebody who has heard there are three messengers delivering a message and nobody is listening to them therefore he should go help them.
So as a believer, he came from the other end of the city and he starts talking to the people.
What’s incredible about Sura Yasin in this story is that you have three messengers and combined they say one of two things in the Qur’an but when this person comes from the other town, basically the rest of the conversation is his speech.
His speech is one two or three times longer than the speech of all of the messengers combined in the Qur’an.
Comparing to our situation, we say when there is somebody more knowledgeable than you, then you should keep quiet right? Just like the old Arabic saying is if the morning is there, the lamp is not necessary right?
There were three messengers present yet the person from the other end of the city felt the need to speak. The normal thing is to say since the three of them are there I should just listen to them and not speak.
Allah thought us something that messengers have their own responsibility and the ummah there listening to them also have their own responsibility. The believers have their job and the messengers have their job, they cannot replace each other.
They cannot say well the messengers are there so I do not have to do it.
This person from the other end of the city speaks and speaks and his speech is recorded in the Qur’an longer than that of the messengers.
The message being taught here is when it comes to our Messenger ﷺ peace be upon him, is that the believer cannot say well the messenger came and he already did what had to be done, my responsibility is over.
Right after this story in surah Yasin, Allah describes something that seems like its not related at all.
HE starts talking about the sun and the moon. He says about the moon that We make it go through different faces. We believers pay special attention to the moon especially in the month of Ramadan.
And then he talks about the sun and then adds one statement. He says, ‘Its not appropriate for the sun to get ahead of the moon, and the night cannot come before the day, every one of them have their own place and their moving in their own place.
Everything has its own job, the story before this was every messenger has his own job and followers have their own job. And now Allah says, just like that the sun has its own job and the moon has its own job.
Now as we come to Rasulullah ﷺ, why is this so powerful? Our messenger in Surah Al Ahzab, Allah was describing him and telling him what role he has to play.
Allah says about the messenger that he plays multiple roles and at the end of those roles, Allah describes our Messenger with a unique word, He calls him ‘sirajam munira’, a light that gives light and illuminates other things.
Now here is a thing about that, the word ‘Siraj’ in the Qur’an is used for the sun, therefore the Messenger is being compared to the sun. Surah Yasin says that the sun has its own hob and the moon has its own job.
Now when our Messenger ﷺ is being compared to the sun, what does that mean, when the Messenger came, and you were in his presence, there is no possibility that you will not be exposed to light, there is no possibility that the darkness will not go away because the sun has arrived but Allah’s decree is that the sun will not stay in the sky forever.
The sun goes away and when the sun goes away, whose turn is it? It’s the moon’s time.
Our Messenger is no longer with us, but who is still here? And by the way the sun is in a commanding position and the moon is a follower and now we even know that scientifically.
Pulled all of these planets and their moons are forced into the gravitational field of the sun and the only reason the moon has any light is because it reflects the light of the sun.
So we are living in dark times, we are like the believers living in dark times and we are being compared to the moon and the only light we have is the light shining on us through the darkness that actually originates from the sun and that is Rasulullah ﷺ. The faith of every believer is actually a reflection of the original teachings of the Rasulullah ﷺ like the sun shines on the moon.
And now think about this, Allah gave us the sun does not go through phases, but the moon goes through many faces and just like the believer, we do not stay the same we go through many phases.
Allah described the heart of our Messenger ﷺ and says ‘So we can make your heart firm and permanent, meaning the light of the faith of Allah in Messenger ﷺ heart is permanent.
Its like the sun, constantly burning light, when you see the sun its still there and when you don’t see it, its still there shining its light on the moon. But the moon goes through phases like a believer goes through phases and sometimes the believer’s faith is so weak you can barely find in the sky.
But even when your faith is so weak, know one thing, you are still representing the light of Rasulullah ﷺ.
When you look at the sky next time, when you look at the moon, you are actually looking at yourself, you are reminding yourself that Allah chose this ummah to be around in the darkest of times so that they can reflect the light of Rasulullah ﷺ.
What kind of responsibility does that put on you and me? It helps you understand what Umar bin Khattab said. He famously said ‘I am the messenger of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he taught something about being a member of this ummah, every one of us is a representative of our Messenger ﷺ every one of us when we are obeying him and when we are disobeying him, when we are acting the way we should and when we are acting the way we shouldn’t, when we speak ill of others and when we speak kindly of others, when we control our eyes and when we can’t control our eyes, whether we like it or not we are supposed to be reflecting the light of Rasulullah ﷺ.
We carry that responsibility and sometimes we don’t do such a good job, it’s not like the full moon, sometimes it’s very weak, but just because its weak, never does it mean it disappeared because the way Allah decreed the moon to be, when it’s at its weakest, then it’s time to what? Rise again.
Our Messenger ﷺ will say about the believer that their faith will go up and downtime and time, you won’t feel the same reverence and strength and faith but your connection to your Messenger ﷺ will strengthen your faith over and over again.
That is our relationship with our Messenger ﷺ that’s what he represents to us.
The last thing I share with you here is this wisdom, what does it mean for you and me, it actually means that Allah chose us to carry on the mission of Rasulullah ﷺ and Allah knew that when Rasulullah ﷺ is no longer in this world the way he was with the companions, it is going to be like the sun disappeared and night came, and when night comes, there’s hopelessness, there’s darkness, there’s fear, there’s anxiety, there’s ignorance.
What do I mean by ignorance, in the daytime, you can find your way, in nighttime you can get easily lost, in the daytime the same street is safe, at nighttime, the same street is dangerous.
In the daytime, there’s life, in the nighttime, there’s death, there’s stillness. Allah chose this ummah to be the only source of light in the darkness. When everybody else is surrounded by darkness, he chose us to be the moon, he chose us for people to find light and some hope and when they see us, they see some glimpse of Habeebuna ﷺ.
That is what you and I are supposed to be. That is what Allah has given us.
By
