Seeratul Mustafa

‘Abdul Muttalib His name was Shaybatul Hamd and he was incredibly handsome. A poet describes his beauty thus: على شيبة الحمد الذي كان وجهه يضيئ ظلام الليل كالقمر البدري “Like the luminance of the fourteenth moon, Shaybatul Hamd’s face brightens the darkness of the night.” ‘Abdul Muttalib literally means “the …

Haashim (continued) During the days of Haj, Haashim would feed all the hujjaaj (pilgrims) with meat, bread, saweeq and dates and would also provide them with Zam Zam water. He would make similar provisions for them at Mina, Muzdalifah and ‘Arafaat. Umayyah bin ‘Abdu Shams was very upset over Haashim’s …

Haashim (continued) Haashim was the first to initiate the custom of sending off two trade caravans a year; one to Syria in summer and another to Yemen in winter. According to this unvarying custom, a caravan would set out in every season of the year. These caravans would travel in …

Haashim Imaam Maalik (rahimahullah) and Imaam Shaafi‘ee (rahimahullah) say that Haashim’s actual name was ‘Amr. There was once a severe drought in Makkah during which Haashim fed the people bread crushed into gravy. This is why he was given the title “Haashim” (The one who crushes). As a poet says: …

Ka‘b In the pre-Islamic era, Ka‘b bin Luwayy would, on a weekly basis, gather all the people on the day of Friday. After all the people had assembled, he would deliver a sermon which he would commence by praising Allah Ta‘ala and explaining that Allah Ta‘ala had created the skies, …

Ilyaas His name conformed to the name of the Nabi of Allah Ta‘ala, Hazrat Ilyaas (‘alaihis salaam). The Sunnah (tradition) of herding the Hadi (sacrificial) animals towards Baytullah (in Makkah) was commenced by Ilyaas bin Mudhar. It has been reported that Ilyaas bin Mudhar would often hear the Talbiyah of …

‘Adnaan He was from the progeny of Qaydar bin Ismaa‘eel. Ma‘ad Ma‘ad was an extraordinarily strong and gallant warrior. He spent his entire life fighting against the Banu Israa’eel and was triumphant in all his battles. His appellation was Abu Nazar. (“Appellation” refers to a name by which the father …

Allah Ta’ala has mentioned in the Qur’aan Kareem: لَقَد جاءَكُم رَسولٌ مِن أَنفَسِكُم “Verily a messenger has come to you from the best amongst yourselves….” Hazrat Anas (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) recited the above verse with a Fat-hah on the فاء of the word أنفسكم. In other words, verily …

On the eve of the birth of Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), an earthquake shook the palace of Kisra, the Persian King, causing fourteen towers of the palace to collapse. The fire in the temple of Persia, which had been burning continuously for a thousand years was suddenly extinguished and Lake …

At the break of dawn on Monday the 8th of Rabi Ul-Awwal, corresponding to April 570 A.D., in the Holy city of Makkah Mukarramah, in the house of Abu Taalib, the greatest of mankind, the leader of the progeny of Aadam, Muhammad Mustafa (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) entered this world. It …