A Gift For The Messenger of Allah ﷺ

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Lots of Muslims nowadays celebrate birthdays with families and friends, often with a gift, party and making du'a for the birthday person, and nobody will tell them it is a bid'a (innovation) and you can't do that. At the same time lots of Muslims don't even know when the Prophet ﷺ was born. And lots more shy away from celebrating the Prophet's ﷺ birthday because "it is a bid'a."

Regardless of which side we are on, we have to understand and recognize that not all bid'a is bad. In this time when people are distant from the religion, and birthdays have become a culture of the world, including in Muslim societies, while many Muslims don't have a clue about the life of the greatest and beloved Messenger of Allah ﷺ, it becomes imperative that we bring out the significance of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, the month in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was born.

Tomorrow we will enter the month of Rabi' al-Awwal. This is a great opportunity for Muslims to rethink about their commitment to guidance and instilling in the hearts love for Allah’s greatest beloved ﷺ.

Habib Omar's (may Allah preserve him and benefit us by him) advice on welcoming Rabi'al Awwal and on a gift for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

“Receive the month of his birth ﷺ with actions that will draw your Lord’s felicity and assistance such that you enter into the circles of those whom He loves and are gathered under his banner ﷺ […] Receive this month well with truthful turning to Allah and with increase in faith, love, and certainty. Let mention of the Prophet, his birth, his life, his news fill your homes. Raise your voices in invocations of blessings upon him. Illuminate your hearts and your homes by them…”

In reality we are unable to benefit him in any way but what pleases him is for us to understand his words and his teachings and then by acting upon that to attain high stations. He is content with that which benefits us.

One of the greatest of those things (as we understand from the Book and the Sunnah) is for us to be a means of guidance for someone. That person may be a non-Muslim who accepts Islam or a disobedient or heedless Muslim who repents and becomes upright.

Another thing is giving life to his Sunnah and establishing it. If we establish the Sunnah in our homes and teach it to our children this makes him happy because it is us that benefit from this. He said in the hadith: “Whoever brings life to my Sunnah during the time of corruption of my Ummah will have the reward of a martyr” (or in one narration: “one hundred martyrs”).

Another thing is to do good to the creation in general, to the believers specifically, and the elite of the believers more specifically.

A further thing is to strengthen our love for the believers, for the people of the Prophetic Household and for the Companions.

Finally, we should make big intentions in Rabi’ al-Awwal, such as gathering together to celebrate the birth of the Prophet and spreading knowledge.

May Allah increase our love for the beloved Messenger of Allah and resurrect us with him and enter us into the highest Paradise with him without reckoning. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

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