THE LIGHT THEY FOLLOWED

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST BENEFICENT, THE MOST MERCIFUL

The Light They Followed

What a teacher he was, and what a ma

n! He was filled with greatness, honesty, and sublimity! Truly, those overwhelmed with his greatness have their excuse, and those whose sacrificed their lives for his sake are the most triumphant.

Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah was ALLAH's Messenger to the people in the midsummer of life. What mystery was available to him that made him a man to honor among human beings! And what grand hands did he extend towards heaven to let all the gates of mercy, blessing,and guidance open widely! What faith, what chastity, and what purity! What modesty, what love and what loyalty! What devotion and truth and what reverence to life and the living?

ALLAH bestowed upon him the amount of blessing to qualify him to carry His standard and speak for Him, and made him capable of being the last of His Messengers. Therefore, ALLAH's bounty towards him was great. But however the brains, inspiration, and pens compete to talk about him or to sing hymns of praise to reveal his greatness, they all seem insignificant due to his superior traits.

This was the main objective, no more. It is to perceive in the light of one of his beams some of the traits of his rare eminence that brought about the believers' loyalty and made them perceive in him the goal and the way, the teacher and the friend.

What made the nobles of his people hasten to his words and his religion! Abu Bakr, Talhah, Az-Zubair, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, 'Abd ArRahman ibn awf, and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, all abandoned in haste the wealth and glory of their community which surrounded them, receiving at the same time heavy burdens in life, full of cares, troubles, and conflict.

What made the weak of his community seek his protection, hasten to his standard and his call, when they saw him without wealth or weapon, with harm inflicted upon him and evil following him in terrifying way without his being able to avoid it!

What made the pre-Islamic tyrant 'Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, who went to cut off his noble head with his sword, return to cut off with the same sword-made sharper through faith-the heads of the Prophet's enemies and his persecutors!

What made the city's elite and noble men go to him and promise to be his companions, voluntarily embracing a set of trouble and terror, knowing that the struggle between them and the Quraish would be more horrifying than terror itself.

What made them believe that the world would open its countries to them and that their feet would be wading in the gold and crowns of the world! And that the Qur'an they were reciting in secret would reverberate in strong tones and ringing voice, not only in their generations or in their own peninsula but throughout the ages and everywhere.

What made them believe the prophecy told them by the Messenger, though when they turned right and left they found nothing except heat, barren land, and stones emitting boiling vapor, their pointed heads looking like evils' heads!.

What filled their hearts with certainty and will-power!

It was Ibn 'Abdullah, who else could have done that!

They saw themselves with their own eyes all hi virtues and all that distinguished him. They saw his chastity, his purity, his honesty, his straightforwardness, and his courage. They saw his superiority and his compassion. They saw his intellect and his eloquence. They saw the sun shining the way his truth and eminence shone.

They heard the growth of life running in his veins when Muhammad started to bestow upon them his daily revelation and his past contemplation. They saw all these and more, not through a mask but face to face and in practice, through their own vision and perception.

This, we believe, was the attitude of the early believers towards ALLAH's Messenger (PBUH), the Muhaajiruun as well as those who sheltered and supported him.

It was a firm and swift attitude that did not leave any lace for hesitation or idleness. A man who had such a pure and enlightened life could not play false with ALLAH. With such sharp insight, the believers saw the light of ALLAH and they followed.

Men Around Messenger: Khalid Muhammed Khalid

Alhamdulillah.......