Did you know?

God Almighty said, “And We have not sent you but as a mercy to the worlds”

Chapter 21:107 Quran

The Prophet Muhammad, (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent to us by God as a mercy to mankind; believers, non-believers, hypocrites, men, women, children, animals and all of His creation. There are numerous stories and examples in history of his love and kindness, justice and compassion, honesty and the infusion of dignity to people around him.  I truly wish that he was an entity known by all today. He not only showed his mercy to the people of his time but he often cried for the people that were to come after him. His love for humanity extended through time and he prayed to God for our salvation.

In the early years of his Prophethood, Muhammad (pbuh) was severely persecuted and treated with cruelty by his opponents in Mecca. This never diminished his resolve or his compassion towards the ignorant men of his time.  His companions felt for him and asked the Prophet (pbuh) to curse the enemies at hand but the Prophet (pbuh) never cursed them. Infact, he would do the opposite and always pray for their guidance. Once when the Prophet (pbuh) was in the city of Taif to call people to Islam, his opponents had brutally stoned him to the point that he was bleeding and in great pain. At this point the angel Gabriel had asked the Prophet (pbuh) for whatever he wished for and they said that if he wanted they could crush the area between the two mountains and finish off those people. The Prophet in his infinite wisdom instead asked for no such revenge but prayed. “Oh my Lord, guide my people along the true path as they are ignorant about the truth.” He knew that maybe one day true believers would come out of this very town that had abused him and he did not want to hurt them. How merciful and forward thinking was he?

Muhammad’s (pbuh) mission was to bring people in touch with the reality that all men and women, be they from different race, creed, caste, or culture etc. were actually like each other’s blood brothers. He said, “You are all Adam’s offspring and Adam was born of clay.” His vision and hope for us was to see people as our spiritual brothers and sisters which in turn would promote love, peace and tolerance between one another in order to establish a peaceful world.

My hope is that we will read about the life of this beautiful man and how he spread love and fought for what is right and established a nation that believed in one God in a matter of 23 years. Today we have over a billion and half Muslims because of the sacrifices of this one merciful man. Lets share his mercy!

http://asadullahali.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the_quran.pdf

We need to Wake Up!

My wonderful friend Yasemin sent me a link to a life enhancing discussion on Oprah Winfrey’s Show hosted in Canada on “gratitude”. Every aspect of that show paralleled the teachings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He brought us the same message of ‘gratitude to God for every state we are in’ about 1433 years ago. Our Faith taught us this and it is a shame that 1433 years later us Muslims have not passed this down to our fellow human race. Why was there not a single Muslim on the panel of experts that talked about gratitude that my Faith teaches me? I couldn’t help but feel sad. I can think of so many experts that I could have recommended for this show but why doesn’t anyone know about them. I felt like my faith was highjacked. Why were we not in the lime-light? Isn’t this the subject that is so near and dear to our heart yet Oprah could not think of a single Muslim expert to invite for her show?

The problem is that we are not truly grateful and we need to be grateful and share that gratitude that God sent to us so long ago. We are the pioneers of these teachings, we as Muslims have been gifted with the knowledge of having ‘gratitude’ and how it can open up God’s abundant blessings for us. Why are we not sharing this with our fellow human race? We know it, we see it and we’ve share it within ourselves but why are we not sharing our heritage with all.

We need to speak up and do our part. We owe it to our Prophet (pbuh) and we owe it to ourselves. We the Muslims have to share the great knowledge that we have been entrusted with and open the doors of communication. We live in the era of virtual information. We need to share. We need to be known and we need to engage into mainstream society and share it before its too late and our belief is taken away from us. We need to wake up!

Here is a picture of 'The Kaaba' in Mecca were Muslims congregate for their Pilgrimage once in their lifetime when they can afford it. Muslims are not just Arabs but come from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. The beauty of this is that you will see people from every race, age and origin. You will not be able to tell the difference between the affluent or the underprivileged person. All men dress in two simple white sheets while all the women cover up in simple clothing. The unity and equality is breathtaking in this picture!

Why was the Prophet (pbuh) sent as a mercy to all mankind?

Why was Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent as a mercy to all mankind? God could have sent angels to this world to tell us about His existence but then we as humans would not know how to live and work in society in the right way.  Who would be our example and who would show us the straight path? God is all knowing and all merciful and Mercy is one of His best traits. He sent the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh)to us so we as humans would have a living example of a human showing us how to live.  Muhammad (pbuh) was the most tolerant and compassionate and loving of all human beings. Because of his beautiful relationship with God, he aspired with tremendous efforts to make sure that everyone that he encountered or came across was met with the best courtesy and respect. If you had the honor and pleasure of being in his company he would make you feel as if you were the most important person in the world.

Muhammad (pbuh) was given the most difficult task about 1400 hundred years ago and that was to share with humanity the oneness of God. It was a time in Arabia when there was heedlessness, ignorance, debauchery and corruption and too much time had passed since Jesus(pbuh) had sent his message and people were morally at an all time low. At that time God sent Muhammad (pbuh) as His mercy to mankind to show us how to live mercifully with compassion and love. His life’s mission was to make sure that we were told the truth so that we were not led astray. He endured almost every kind of difficulty that a man can go through just to get the Word to us and to save our souls from following the wrong. He lived his life in accordance to God’s will to teach us and share with us everything he knew. His days and nights were spent worrying and praying for his people. Will we give thanks? Will we try to get to know him better? Will we aspire to be more like him? Will we share his story to others? Do we know anyone who sacrifices his whole life for others?......will be sharing more examples of his life…..stay tuned…

We should all know the truth

Why I chose to write this blog is because I want you, the reader to be informed. I am a Muslim and a believer in One God and all of the messengers that God has sent to help spread His Word.  From Adam, Noah, David, Abraham, Moses, Jesus(peace be upon them) and many in between them to finally Muhammad(peace be upon him) who was the last messenger of His Divine Message. Most of these messengers were basically all given the same message about spreading the fact that there is only One God and that there are no partners associated with Him. God is ‘Allah’ in Arabic. It is the same God that Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus(pbut) believed in. If you believe in any of the above prophets then we all share the same belief that there is only One God and one message. Where we may differ is that the last and final messenger was Muhammad (pbuh) as mentioned in the passages of the Quran. He came to all of mankind as the final messenger and was not created for only the Muslims. He was sent to spread God’s message to all of mankind and yes that includes you too!

 How do I know this? Well if you know anything about Islam, then you would know that the Quran which is the Muslim’s Holy book is a book that has been revealed from God through Angel Gabriel, the same angel who brought the Psalms, Torah and Gospel. This time Angel Gabriel revealed the message to Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) with God’s permission. The Miracle of the Quran is that it was revealed about 1433 years ago and to this day not a single verse has been changed or omitted. It has been memorized by many people ever since it was last revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). God mentions that the message has always been the same from the beginning of time and how mankind has abrogated and changed the message to suit themselves in previous times. God in the Quran, completes the previous messages and perfects it for all of mankind in order to unite us all under One God one belief and one way. God promises us in the Quran that He will preserve the actual Quran in its original form till the end of Times. You will find every Quran in Arabic to be exactly the same and unadulterated. That is the biggest proof of its Divinity and originality. Check out the link below for a good translation of the entire book in easy English.

I would love for you to get to know more about this great man Muhammad(pbuh), the more you would learn the more you would fall in love with him. He truly is a 'Mercy to all of Mankind' as God mentions in the Quran in chapter 21:107

“We sent thee not, but as a Mercy (Arabic: Rahmat) for all creatures”

Quran link:

http://asadullahali.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/the_quran.pdf