Fifteen hundred years ago today, Prophet Muhammad was born. Allahumma Salle Ala Muhammad. God’s peace and blessings be upon the Prophet.
This 1,500 hundredth year of the Prophet’s birth comes as a genocidal Israeli blockade of Gaza has created famine.
Makkah’s oppressors also imposed a three-year blockade on the Prophet and his Companions, forcing them into a narrow secluded valley. They endured severe starvation, to the point where they were forced to eat leaves from trees.
They faced it with Sabr (patience) and Salat (prayer).
We believe in him. He guides us to believe in One God for all humanity, all Messengers of God, and books sent by God, Allah, Glorified be His Majesty.
At least 17 times each day, we ask God to “Direct us to the straight path, the path of those You have blessed.” Who is more blessed than the blessed Prophet? And whose path is more blessed than his path?
Today is the 12th of “Rabi ul Awwal,” the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Our Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace be upon him, was born today.
All around the world today, Muslims are marking this month with songs, salams, celebrations, and parades. Some go a bit too far in this loving commemoration, so much so that Islamic scholars advise them to do otherwise.
Allah, the Exalted, has told us to follow the Prophet. God tells us that the Prophet is "an excellent model" of the Straight Path.
These talking points and thinking points are written with a commitment that we will continue to follow the Straight Path on which our beloved Syedana Muhammad, led us to.
Talking Points
Unfortunately, not many outside our Masjids are talking about the Prophet. He was not just sent to Muslims. He was sent to all of humanity as a blessing to the Worlds.
- Islam is the original path given to humanity by God Himself for us to be successful in this world and in the Everlasting life.
- God sent His messengers who reminded us and reaffirmed that Islam is the straight path throughout human history.
- Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, was chosen by God as His last messenger to all of humanity not limited to a particular group of people.
- God has required us to believe in all of His messengers and all of his books, but to follow the Quran as He has protected it from any human-inserted changes.
- Obeying God Almighty in following the Straight Path taught to us by the Prophet is the blessed path to salvation.
- We must strive and pray to be successful in this temporary life and to ensure God’s blessing to enter unimaginable Gardens in the Akhirah, the eternal life after death.
May Allah continue to bless us with the Straight Path, not the path of those who have evoked God’s anger or of those who are astray.
Thinking Points
Why did Allah send the Prophet? What was the Prophet’s mission? God Almighty tells us in the Quran:
“We sent Our messengers with clear signs, the Scripture and the Balance, so that people could uphold justice…” (Quran 57:25).
After the last messenger, it became the responsibility of the believers to carry out this prophetic mission.
- Do you understand the Prophetic mission?
- What is your mission in life?
- How did the Prophet become so successful?
- How close is our Masjid to the Prophet’s masjid?
- What did the Prophet assign to us in his last sermon?
- Have you developed a personal plan to live a purposeful life to be successful?
- We have more Muslims in America than 30 years ago, more Masjids, more Huffaz (memorizers of the Quran), more Imams, more millionaires, and more wealth, but is our impact on society higher? Are we stronger in our impact?
- Six things you can do in 2025.
In Our Families
- Overall, we need to recommit to living a purposeful life that upholds our values as Muslims and reflects the Prophetic character. He was the best to his family. Starting today, reassess how you relate to and treat your family. Then, be ready to make the changes necessary to reflect the Prophet’s character in this aspect of your life. That can mean cutting back on other responsibilities so that you have more time to focus on building in time with our spouse and children; or it can simply mean committing to eating dinner at least once a week together.
- Keep Learning:
- You may or may not have read a book about the Prophet.
- How many books on the Prophet do you have in your library?
- Can you increase your collection?
- Can all the books on the Prophet be on one shelf in your home?
- Can you start a weekly family circle just around the Prophet’s life?
- Some learn through online lectures. Perhaps you can decide to watch a series of lectures on the Prophet.
- Text Seerah Tidbits: Text a relevant factoid about the Prophet to your family members. It could be a Dua he said before undertaking a difficult task (ideal to send during final exam time), or it could simply be one of his habits on Fridays (e.g. cutting his nails). The point is to make his life, the big and small things, come alive and be applicable to your family’s daily life.
- Commit to living a less materialistic life by consuming less and sharing more. Become more thoughtful about what you and your family purchase, where your money and investments are going, and whether they reflect Prophetic practices that commit to living an ethical life that does not harm others directly or indirectly.
- Can this year each family member focus on one Sunnah per day?
In Our Masjids
Many masjids are already organizing programs on the Prophet. However, our request is that each masjid develops a yearlong program extended to the Masjid neighborhood beyond the masjid
- Adopt Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, as the focus of all your programming this year.
- Purchase in wholesale discount hundreds of books on the Prophet.
- Share those as a gift to your interfaith leaders.
- Pass on that discount to your community members so they can give out a book about the Prophet to their neighbors
- Get this exhibit for your Masjid. This is a series of banners that can be set up like an exhibition, sharing the story of the life of the Prophet. You can order it here.
- Seerah reading program: Encourage adults and children to read at least one book of Seerah this year.
- Organize a series of service projects honoring the Prophet’s example to his community.
In Our Public Libraries
- Find out if you can use our Seerah exhibit here as well.
- Organize one story time a week, focusing on different incidents reflecting how the Prophet treated children. Make sure to add an arts and crafts element to the program
- Ask if the librarians can have a “books of the week” focusing on those that talk about the life of the Prophet. Make sure, though, that you carefully vet the books.
In Our Interfaith Groups
- Tell your interfaith partners that this year marks 1,500 years of the Prophet's birth. Can they help their congregants learn about Prophet Muhammad, God’s peace and blessings upon him?
- Give each of them a gift of a book on the Prophet's life.
- Have a session focused on the Prophet’s biography and what it means to you as a Muslim. Make it deep, make it personal.
- Talk about the constitution of Madinah, a historic document that showed how the Prophet incorporated non-Muslims into his first community in Madinah.
Humming Our Love of the Prophet:
I hope you find these talking points and thinking points helpful. Please share with others if you like.
May Allah keep us all on the Straight Path. May He bless us to follow the mission of the Prophet, who was the best role model for success in this world and in the eternal life after death.
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