Yearning for The Prophet (sw)

Subhan Allah


I’ve had the good fortune to receive an email about the arrival of a sacred cup to Chechnya: the cup of The Prophet (sw).  I’ll copy and paste the brief article summarizing this event as well as the YouTube video clip documenting the auspicious, majestic occasion.  But first, some reflections after watching the clip:


I felt as if the entire city was at a standstill upon the arrival of the cup.  It was a scene you’d imagine or have witnessed only on TV: like the hero, or a savior, or an object of tremendous power being heralded about.  It’s powerful, moving.  The cup was being paraded around in a Bentley.  Initially, I think I both grimaced and almost chuckled when I saw the cup being transported via a Bentley thinking to myself, The Prophet (sw) was not about flashy cars!  But then I realized that if we lived in the time of The Prophet (sw), how would we greet him (sw)?  Would it not be with our best?  So a Bentley from that respect is perhaps but a good start.

What amazes me to the point of speechlessness is how we are so moved by the possessions of The Prophet (sw).  Just the possessions themselves hold so much value.  What, then, about the value of the one who possessed them (sw)?  Subhan Allah.  You cannot escape the thought of asking yourself, What if I was in his (sw) blessed presence?  I recall the words from the Urdu poem and naat that state:

Khuda ki azmatain kya hay, Muhammad Mustafa jaanay,

Maqaam-e-mustafa kya hay, Muhammad ka Khuda jaanay.

No wonder that even after The Prophet’s (sw) passing, our next most righteous people, the Sahaba, still emulated every physical motion of The Prophet (sw).  If memory serves me correctly, was it not Hazrat Umar (R) who would move his horse or walk the exact same steps of The Prophet (sw) even when it didn’t make “sense” to do so?  Hazrat Umar (R) was in the physical and spiritual presence of the Best of Creation and you could see how apparent his love of The Prophet (Sw) was with such a magnified sense of respect.  So perhaps the baraqa of these artifacts is that it brings us closer to the Beloved Prophet (sw).

Sacred artifacts of The Prophet (sw) should rightfully always deserve our attention, desire, and respect.  I’m reminded now about the tremendous honor my cousin here in CT has.  He was asked some time ago to keep a hair of The Prophet (sw) at his home by a family who had the hair in their family for generations.  My cousin then built and customized an entire room in his house for the purpose of being “good enough” to hold the hair of The Prophet (sw).  It is by far the best part of his house.  Peaceful and serene and surrounded by books of our faith.  Subhan Allah.  Maybe moving forward I should call it his Bentley Room?

You may begin to wonder if I’m overdoing it.  “It’s just a cup.”  But I cannot look it at that way.  Recently, I read one of the great scholars from Deoband, Hadrat Maulana Rashid Ahmed Gangohi (rh), say, “It is enough for us that this cloth felt the breeze of Madinah” in response to one of his students questioning the value of clothes from Madinah.  In this light, limiting the cup to just a cup would be disrespectful in my eyes.

We feel the closeness and are engulfed and consumed by it.  If this is not love, then I don’t know what is.  There is no one else that can bring about such a change in our hearts… be it a temporary feeling or something (insha Allah) that impacts us for a lifetime.  It is uniquely a power that belonged uniquely to The Prophet (sw).

Ya Allah. You honored us with The Prophet (sw).

Us, and we are but Your slaves who are most undeserving and sinful.

We beg for even a chance to get a glimpse of the path that He (sw) walked on; a path that leads to endless Bliss with You (Swt).

We beg for that comforting breeze of Madinah.

We beg for your pardon for we know that we are undeserving to even ask, but we are hopeful and in need, so we ask that through Thy Mercy you grant it to us nonetheless.

Ya Allah.  You have blessed us with knowledge of knowing who The Prophet (sw) is.  With love for The Prophet (sw), so we ask that we do not take that for granted.  Guide us on the right path, Ya Allah!

Ya Allah, how can we even begin to fathom Your Mercy upon us; You who sent The Mercy to All Worlds to us; You, Oh Creator of Our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (sw)!  Forgive us for our sins and open our hearts to be in unison with the heartbeat the of The Prophet (sw); to have each beat and every breath filled with Thy rememberance.  Aameen!

I’ll warn you now: you may need to watch the clip when you’re alone or not afraid to tear up.  The love of The Holy Prophet (sw) is tremendous and I can only hope I cried enough tears:

The Holy Prophet's Relic Brought To Chechnya

By
AFP

Published Thursday, September 22, 2011

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (right) escorts the Prophet Muhammad's cup
and carpets in a Rolls Royce Car from an airport to Grozny central
mosque on Thursday (AFP)

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov broke into floods of tears as he unveiled
a purported relic of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) at a
ceremony, reports said on Thursday.
The government of the majority Muslim Russian Northern Caucasus region,
raised the 1,400-year-old cup which is believed to belonged to the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The cup had earlier been flown into the Chechen capital Grozny from
London where it was kept by unnamed descendants of Prophet Muhammad's
(PBUH) cousin and fourth Caliph Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
Kadyrov triumphantly carried the boxed relic straight off the plane at
the airport to the ceremony on Wednesday.
The flag-waving delegation then arrived to Grozny's central Mosque
greeted by a crowd of singing and clapping people.
The Chechen leader then proceeded to take the jade-coloured bowl out of
bubble wrapping, and broke down in uncontrollable tears after kissing
the object, covering his reddening face and shaking violently.
The Chechen government said in a statement on its website that "the cup
was used by Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), passing to his cousin
Ali Ibn Abi Talib."
Anyone will be able to drink water from it on the day of Prophet
Muhammad's (PBUH) birthday, the Chechen government said.
Kadyrov, who has ruled the region since 2007 and was reappointed earlier
this year, has overseen several grandiose projects and events in Grozny.
He has also encouraged the revival of Islam in the region, inaugurating
in 2008 the "Heart of Chechnya" mosque, said to be the biggest in
Europe.

Here is the Video Clip of the Event
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZi8ZnGIcTo&feature=share

Allah huma Salli Allah Muhammad