Prophet Muhammad: A Mercy Unto All The Worlds

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Ya Ali Madad! On the occasion of the commemoration of the great spiritually uplifting event of Idd-e-Milad un-Nabi, the birthday of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.), please accept our heartfelt felicitations! May all Muslims and humanity at large be bestowed with peace, prosperity, happiness, and good health! Ameen.

On this day, may Noor Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, the 49th direct lineal descendant of the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.), grant peace, prosperity, happiness, barakat, higher spiritual enlightenment, spiritual & luminous tayid (help) and empowerment to the global Jamat as we go through this difficult period. Ameen.

Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad
(O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants).

Introduction

This post has six headings :

1. Ayat on God’s Mercy: Surah Al-Anbiya (21:107);
2. The Light of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.)
3. Tawil of the Word: Muhammad
4. The Prayer of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s)
5. Tawil of the Word: Madinat al-‘ilm
6. Global prayers and Three Grand Aspirations.

1. Ayat on God’s Mercy: Surah Al-Anbiya (21:107)

Let us first read the ayat on God’s greatest mercy:

“Wa maaa ‘arsalnaaka ‘illaa
Rahmatal-lil-’aalamiin.”

And¹⁴⁷³ We sent thee not
(O Our Apostle Muhammad)
but a Mercy unto (all) the worlds. (21:107)

Holy Qur’an 21:107

Here is an excerpt from the footnote for ayat 21:107 from S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali’s translation which gives details of the comprehensive mercy of the Holy Prophet:

Vr. 107. (1473) …The Holy Prophet had brought a message—the Book and the religion perfected by God Himself having in itself all the good that was endowed in the various previous messages, with truth to its maximum fullness. This Universal Message and its Holy Messenger was nothing but Mercy of the Lord, and the Mercy of the Lord in its fullness could never be for any particular people. Hence it is openly declared that the holy Prophet was not for any particular people, or for any particular clime, nor restricted by any political or geographical barriers, but for the worlds. The word worlds used in this verse is so comprehensive that its meaning cannot be restricted to any particular plane of life on earth or even in heavens, but to all the various kinds of worlds of being and the realms of the universe. …God is an Infinite Being and His Plan is infinitely great, enveloping all his creations; 4:79, &:158, 34:28.

S. V. Mir Ahmed Ali. 1995. The Holy Qur’an. Second Edition. p-.1020

2. The Light of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.)

Here are excerpts from the book titled, ‘Mystical Dimensions of Islam’ by Annemarie Schimmel:

..Hallaj devotes much of his Kitab al-tawasin to the praise of the Prophet: he is the first created being, his light precedes everything and is part of God’s light. As ‘Attar says in the same vein:

The origin of the soul is the absolute light, nothing else,
That means it was the Light of Muhammad, nothing else.

The Prophet is, in Hallaj’s hymn, both the cause and goal of creation. To give this idea more authority, it was couched in a hadith qudsi: laulaka ma khalaqtu’l -aflaka—“if thou hadst not been (but for thee), I would not have created the heavens.” The world was created for the primordial love that manifested itself in the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet himself was credited with words that highlight his extraordinary position: “The first thing God created was my spirit.” “I was a prophet when Adam was still between clay and water.”

Schimmel, Annemarie, 1975. Mystical Dimension of Islam. p.215.

3. Tawil of the Word: Muhammad

Let us examine the following tawil:

Praised: The name of the Holy Prophet is mentioned in four places in the Wise Quran (3:144, 33:40, 47:2, 48:29).

The root of Muhammad is “hamd” which is one the names of the Universal Intellect. The tawil of this is that the holy Prophet is the mazhar of the Universal Intellect and in every personal world, the Light of Muhammad (s.a.s.) has precedence over everything.

A Thousand wisdoms p,421, No. 801

4. The Prayer of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s)

The most famous prayer ascribed to Muhammad is a prayer for light, which has been treasured by the mystics of Islam, Abu Talib al-Makki quotes it: Ghazzali taught it; and the eighteenth-century Indian mystic Mir Dard wrote it down as his last orison before his death:

“O God, give me light in my heart and light on my tongue and light in my hearing and light in my sight and light in my feeling and light in all my body and light before me and light behind me. Give me, I pray Thee, light on my right hand and light on my left hand and light above me and light beneath me. O Lord, increase light within me and give me light and illuminate me!”

Makki continues his quotation; “There are lights which the Prophet asked for: Verily to possess such light means to be contemplated by the Light of Lights. Sana’i takes up the tradition that hellfire is afraid of the true believer’s light, connecting it with the Muhammadan light:

When your heart has become filled with the Light of Ahmad,
then know with certitude that you are safe from the Fire (S 202)

Schimmel, Annemarie, 1975. Mystical Dimension of Islam. pp.215-6

5. Tawil of the Word: Madinat al-‘ilm

Let us examine the following tawil:

The City of Knowledge: It is stated in Hadith: “I am the city of knowledge and ‘Ali is the gate, so whoever wants knowledge let him come through the gate.” (Sharh, 1, 89). That is whoever wants the treasures of the knowledge of certainty, the eye of certainty and the truth of certainty, then it is necessary and imperative for him to enter the city of knowledge of the Prophet by walking in the light of the unprecedented guidance of the ‘Ali of the time.

A Thousand wisdoms p,422, No. 804

6. Global Prayers and Three Grand Aspirations

Through the barakat of recitation of Holy Quran, Qasidas, Holy Ginans and voluminous prayers and Angelic Salwat by many, many individuals of the global Jamat, O Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam, bless the global Jamat with:

1. Spiritual and luminous tayid (help) to advance materially, spiritually and intellectually;
2. Sunshine in our spiritual hearts and actualization of the inner vision of the Truth;
3. Empowerment to present a Material Nazrana of time, knowledge and financial resources;
4. Empowerment to present a Spiritual Nazrana in the form of a pure heart which is in a state of constant dhikr; and
5. Empowerment to present a Luminous Nazrana in the form of a sound heart (qalb-i salim) which is in a state of constant dhikr and enlightenment.

May Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam expand every murid’s spiritual heart, fill it with his NOOR and enable it to perform the spiritual prostration of the heart on this festive occasion!

Idd-e-Milad un-Nabi Mubarak!

Ardent Prayers for Spiritual Advancement

Angelic Salwat Supplication

Let us now start supplicating with angelic salwat, Allâhumâ salli alâ Muhammadin wa âle Muhammad (O Allah! Bestow Peace on and through Muhammad and his Descendants) to our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam for mushkil aasan for material and spiritual upliftment.

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful