Seminar: Our Beloved Mustafa

MasyaAllah, truy an enlightening one indeed. the event kicked off with beautiful Qasidah recited by Ustaz Umar Mawlana's group, Qaafilah Zikrullah. I can tell you that from the very beginning, the qasidah was captivating! Accompanied by rhythmic gendang beats, it was so full of energy and very alive. Excellent performance!

Then somewhere in the niddle of the qasidah, the entire room stood up for the arrival of Mawlana Shaykh Afeefuddin Jailani. This is good adab for a qualified guide, we ought to be seeing more of these.

Anyways, an array of speakers touched on issues close to heart about the Holy Prophet, upon whom be peace and salutations of God aplenty. All of us were exhorted to emulate the noble, exalted and transcendant character of Sayyidina Muhammad, alaihi afdhala salatu wassalam, for he was sent for the purpose of perfection of character, for makarimal akhlaq. And to love him, with all our heart...and to show the whole world what a figure of mercy and compassion is the Prophet!

There was this blind old man who sat at the end of an alley, every morning when the Prophet saw passed by the alley, he saw would make a point to feed the blind old man, in the most gentle of ways, he would soften or crush the bread first. The old, blind man then also took pleasure in confiding, complaining to the Holy Prophet about how evil was this man whom he got to know as Muhamamad. He would say things like 'Muhammad is a magician!A troublemaker!'. All these while not realising that the one feeding him, showing compassion to him was Muhamamad saw.

After The Prophet's death, his friend, Abu Bakar, continued with this practice of feeding the same old blind man. But the old blind man refused to be fed this time, for he knew that the previous feeder was kind and gentle with his ways and he told Abu Bakar " You are not the one who used to feed me,"

Abu Bakar could only afford to say as such "Of course I am not, and I can never be like him in his exalted character, for the one who had been feeding you all these while was MUHAMMAD, the Messenger of God!"

Asyhadu allaailahaillah, wa asyhaduanna muhammadar rasulullah!

and then there was the recitation of the burdah. The burdah is truly is a masterpiece in its poetry and literature. Consisting of 10 chapters and 160 verses, all of which end with mim, it is a truly moving piece. Though, to be honest, i am not a person of literature, the immense love for the Prophet in the burdah is simpy overwhelming. All these years most of us recite the burdah almost artificially, without thorough consideration of its meanings. But yesterday was different, the brief commentary on the burdah was enough to make one appreciate Imam Busairi's immense love for the Beloved saw. Almost like a romance novel...marvellous...

to end the day, we had diba'i led by Shaykh Zakaria Bagharib who was, as usual, super passionate about the maulid haha. and then the last 2 speeches. a blessed and worthwhile gathering indeed!

Sallallahu alaika wa sallam, Yaa RasulAllah, fii kulli lamhatin wa nafasin 'adada maa wa si'ahu 'ilmullah...