13JMT1432 | Who is Raslullah?

(The
Mawlid Address)
Bismillahi r-Ramni r-Ram wa -altu wa salm al Raslihi l-Karm:
We give thanks to Allah and we greet all Muslims wherever they may be, and we also
greet all creatures because Allah createdSayyidin Raslullah to be a mercy to
all of creation.
And we have not sent you except as a Mercy to the entirety of creation.
| Qurn 21:107
In fact, the Universe is composed of all that exists except Allah Himself. This ayah
is part of the evidence showing thatSayyidin Raslullah is not only the Best of
creation, but also the first because one cannot show mercy to something that is not
within its time nor realm. In other words,Sayyidin Raslullah even preceded his
predecessors as he was a mercy for them, as well. Thus, to gather to celebrate the
Mawlid al-Nab amounts to gathering to rememberSayyidin Raslullah and to
rejoice in the Divine Mercy of Allah .Allah says:
Say, In the Bounty of Allah and in His Mercy, let them rejoice therein.
That is better than what they amass. | Qurn 10:58
If we have reason to rejoice, let us revel in the benefits of Allahs mercy. This is a
better reason than any other matter or cause for gathering.
So we gather to celebrate the birth of the Seal of Humanity,Sayyidin Raslullah ,
the man whose birth was a catalyst for the release of the slave of Ab Lahab, the
Prophets uncle, whom Allah curses for criticising the Revelation:
Perish the hands of Ab Lahab! Perish! | Qurn 111:1
Suhaybah, Ab Lahabs slave, was the one who informed him ofSayyidin Raslullahs
birth. Out of sheer joy, he granted her emancipation. After Ab Lahab died,
Abbs saw him in a dream and inquired about the condition in the Hereafter. He
replied that every Monday he is taken out of the Fire and favoured with suckling milk

from middle finger as a reward for the joy and good he expressed on the day of the
Prophets birth.
One scholar put forth this argument, As it was that this disbeliever was a
source of unmitigated distress, him and his hands will be destroyed in
Jam for eternity. Yet every Monday, he is singled out and given relief
from his punishment, out of the elation he expressed for Amad .So
what do you think the reward would be of the slave who delights in the
Prophet all their life, and strives to affirm the Divine Unity in their
belief and actions?
This is an illustration to show that the Mawlid may very well be a source for obtaining
forgiveness from Allah . Shaykh Ibrhm Nisse said that the Mawlid (Wolof colloq.
Gamou) is clearly endorsed and necessitated in the Qurn. He argues that Allah
says in the Book toSayyidin Raslullah :
And all that We relate to you of the news of the Messengers is so that by
them We may make strong and firm your heart by them | Qurn 11:20
Shaykh Ibrhm said that if the Best of Prophets can strengthen his faith from
some references in the lives of those who preceded him, it is obvious that we can
cultivate our faith from some of the passages in the life of the Best of
Prophets,Sayyidin Raslullah.
The Mawlid is nothing more than an opportunity to learn about the path ofSayyidin
Raslullah and extoll praises on him as the believers have been commanded to do.
So I hope that no one is ignorant enough to suggest that learning is not a duty.
DespiteSayyidin Raslullahs comprehensive and balanced knowledge of the
outward and inward matters, Allah still addresses him in the Qurn and says:
And say, My Lord! Increase me in knowledge! | Qurn 20:114
We acknowledge this momentous occasion and to learn aboutSayyidin Raslullah ,
whom Allah has showered with praise and special favour, and to improve our
knowledge of His Dn. Shaykh Ibrhm said, The Prophet received his first
praise from Allah , so we are not wrong if we imitate Allah in this
action. Likewise, we commemorate the Mawlid to give mutual respect to one
another [ziyr] with the intention of seeking Divine blessings andrevitalising our
friendships.

Allah praises the character and behaviour of the Prophet where He says:
And assuredly you are upon immense character. | Qurn 68:4
He even praisesSayyidin Raslullahs eyes during the Night Journey and
Ascension:
His sight did not waver nor exceed limits. | Qurn 53:17
This is to say that even when beholding all the Signs and wonders of the heavens and
seeing His Lord, he did not even blink. Allah has exalted his heart, saying that he
did not reject the Reality of the journey:
Nor did the heart deny what it saw. | Qurn 53:11
He even assigns His own Names toSayyidin Raslullah when describing his
inward disposition:
Indeed a Messenger has come from amongst yourselves;It grieves him
that any injury or difficulty should befall you. He is eager for you; for the
believers [he is] full of pity, kind, and merciful. | Qurn 9:129
Allah givesSayyidin Raslullah two of His Most Beautiful Names, al-Raf and
al-Ram. Although He created him , he attaches great importance to him and
never abases him .

According to Shaykh Ibrhm Nisse, this reverence towards the Prophet of Allah
is a sign showing us the way in which we must behave towards him at al times. In
his poem He The Prophetic Seal, found inMajmu al-qasid al-mawlid al-nabaw, the
Shaykh wrote:
He who sealed the Prophets | Led all of them by the letter Y
Never in the entirety of the Qurn does Allah directly addressSayyidin Raslullah
with YMuammad, as he does with other prophets. He only addresses him
as Y ayyuha n-Nab or Y ayyuha r-Rasli.
Sayyidin Muammad is called by name only four times in the Qurn:
And Muammad is but a messenger | Qurn 3:144
Muammad is the Messenger of Allah | Qurn 48:29
and those who believe in what was revealed to Muammad | Qurn
47:2

Nor is Muammad the father of any of you | Qurn 33:40

I must reiterate that if Allah the Creator respects the Prophet so much that he
does not hail him by name, it is a subtle invitation to us to love an respect him in
like fashion. Shaykh Ibrhm added:
If the people knew the meaning of Muammad | Knowing the Reality
they would honour and glorify him.
As for us, we gather to understand this dimension of the Prophet because to know
the true immensity of him will cause us to love him totally. When we love him ,
we will certainly follow him . Following him grants us forgiveness from Allah
. However, none of the disciples [muridn] will benefit from salvation except the
ones that followSayyidin Raslullah . Shaykh Ibrhm Nisse, in his lessons during
the Mawlid, said that he read the Qurn from beginning to end and has noted seven
groups of disciples who followed their masters well. But the only group that benefitted
from the salvation of Allah is the group that followedSayyidin Raslullah .
Say: Indeed if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you and
forgive you your wrongdoings. | Qurn 3:31
Allah calls those who followed their own instincts deeply regretful, as was the
case with the brothers Abel and Cain, the sons of Adam:
Then he persuaded himself to kill his brother; so he then killed and
realised he was of the losers. | Qurn 5:30
Following Ibls and the shayn also leads to Hellfire and eternal contrition:
As for My slave, you will have no authority over them except for the one
who follows you from the evil-doers. | Qurn 15:42
Regarding those who give in to whims and desires, Allah says that their actions are
carnally canine:
he followed his base desires; so his similitude likens to that of a dog,
whose tongue lolls out when attacked or left alone | Qurn 7:176

And after them came the unworthy successors who abandoned prayer
and pursued their own wants; they will soon come to know the Ghay (the
deepest level of Hell). | Qurn 19:59
Those who submitted to Pharaoh did not receive positive benefit from their guidance,
either:
But they followed the command of Firawn, and the command of
Firawn was not [at all] discerning. | Qurn 11:97
Then would those who are followed distance themselves of those who
followed (them); they would see the penalty, and all relations between
them would be cut off.Those who followed will say, If only we had
another turn so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have
disassociated themselves from us. Thus will Allah show them their
deeds as regrets upon them. And they are never to emerge from the
Fire. |Qurn 2:166-167
All in all, the only group that has benefitted from Divine salvation is the one who
followedSayyidin Raslullah . Then the primary indication that proves our love for
something is the dedication we show in following it. Such were the teachings of Shaykh
Ibrhm at the Mawlid.

Indeed, Shaykh Ibrhm Nisse was not only one to call and point people towards
Allah , but he was also a teacher who gained and mastered guidance from Allah
, and then reciprocated it to his disciples. When discussing the theme of love for the
Prophet , he said in a poem:
When the Best of Creation is walking, I am stepping behind him so
closely | As soon as he stops, I stop.
Such a walk will never cease because the Prophet is ever en route returning to Allah
. Any way that is not of the Prophet , Baye Nisse regards it as stagnant water.
How unhappy the one will be who, when faced with an ocean is concerned with a
stale puddle! Baye Nisse said:
O you! Go and drink at the ocean | and turn away from the stagnant
water that cannot satisfy your thirst.

Anything which is of consequence after the arrival ofSayyidin Raslullah owe its
importance to the latter. I present the lessons of Shaykh Ibrhm Baye Nisse as the
reasons we are gathered here together from all different backgrounds and walks of
life. Even if we confine ourselves only to mutual respects, there is good in such
because we gain from learning and helping each other. Moreover, Baye exhorts us to
glorifySayyidin Raslullah , to send copious amounts of alawt upon him , and
spend out of our wealth and provision for him . Baye said, For all I know, I do
not see anything more important than working with an open heart
forSayyidin Raslullah on the night of the Mawlid, and relating his
noble habits to the believers for them to emulate and remain
steadfast in.
Shaykh Muammad al-Mh bin Sayyid Al Ciss
-Saliou Niang (trans. WOL-FRA-ENG) [2010 Medina Baye - Kaolack, SN]