On the anniversary of our Prophet’s (PBUH) birth
On this blessed day marking the birth of our Prophet (PBUH), I wanted to reflect once more on what loving him should mean in our lives.
“If I had lived in the time of our Prophet (PBUH), I would have believed immediately.”
We may say this sincerely.
But in truth, we do not know.
The truth before the people of that time had not yet been made clear by history as it has for us today. It stood before them as a choice. And that choice had a price.
This reflection brings me face to face with the following question:
“What would you have done then?”
It is:
“What are you doing today in the face of the truth before you?”
1. It is easier to accept the truth when it belongs to the past
It is easy to love Moses today.
We know that Pharaoh was Pharaoh.
It is easy to love Abraham.
We know who was in the right before the fire.
It is easy to love Noah.
We know how the flood ended.
But the people living at that time did not know the outcome.
Perhaps this is where one of the most important aspects of the test of faith and character begins:
To stand by what you believe to be right before you have seen the outcome.
Loving our Prophet (PBUH) is not merely to long for the time in which he lived. It is to carry his truthfulness, mercy, justice and faithfulness to every trust into the choices we make today.
2. The hardest test of sincerity
The hardest test of sincerity begins when the truth goes against us.
If evidence is against me, can I accept it with the same sense of justice?
Can I recognise the fault of someone I love?
Can I acknowledge the right of someone I do not love?
When my own side is wrong, can I say, “This is wrong”?
When the other side does what is right, can I say, “This is right”?
It is here that the Qur’an’s measure of justice touches the human ego:
“O you who believe! Stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah, even if it is against yourselves, your parents or your close relatives.”
(An-Nisa, 135)
A person may love their own side.
That is natural.
The Name Al-Haqq reminds me of this measure:
“Love the truth before you love your side.”
For one day, our own side may also do wrong.
That is when the real test begins.
3. Here, we should also understand an important warning
No person or group can say:
“We are on Allah’s side; therefore everything we do is right.”
Such an understanding would be very dangerous.
Perhaps we should first direct the measure towards ourselves.
Before asking:
“Is Allah on my side?”
we should ask:
“Am I on the side of the truth, justice and morality commanded by Allah?”
Instead of placing Allah behind our own cause, we must submit ourselves to Allah’s standards.
The sentence I wish to preserve from this section is:
Standing with the truth does not always mean achieving an immediate victory. It means remaining faithful to the evidence, not departing from justice, being able to turn back when we recognise our own mistake, fulfilling our duty, and entrusting the outcome to Allah.
4. Justice does not mean giving everyone the same thing
عَدْل — ‘adl — carries the meanings of uprightness, balance, fairness and putting something in its proper place.
Its opposite is ظُلْم — zulm, injustice.
One important meaning of zulm is to put something where it does not belong and to withhold what is rightfully due.
For this reason, justice does not simply mean:
“Giving everyone the same thing.”
Justice means:
Giving every rightful claimant what is due to them.
Equality means identical treatment; justice means equitable treatment.
People do not face the same conditions in their tests. One person may be tested through health and another through illness; one through abundance and another through hardship; one in safety and another under fear and pressure.
We cannot say of every event, “This is certainly the wisdom behind it.”
But Allah knows completely what His servant knows and does not know, what opportunities they possess, what pressure they are under, and their intention, strength and weakness.
Al-‘Alim knows.
Al-Khabir knows the innermost reality of every matter.
Ash-Shahid witnesses all things.
Therefore, no evidence is missing from divine justice.
“Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity.”
(Al-Baqarah, 286)
“We never punish until We have sent a messenger.”
(Al-Isra, 15)
Allah does not judge a person while disregarding the conditions they were given.
5. Justice is to put everything in its proper place
As I try to understand justice, one of the simplest definitions that guides me is:
To put everything in its proper place.
Injustice often begins by moving something out of its rightful place.
A person puts themselves in the place of Allah.
A ruler places themselves above the law.
Money ceases to be a means and becomes an end.
Office ceases to be service and becomes privilege.
Loyalty to a group is placed before the truth.
In the end, the whole order is disturbed.
Tawhid teaches us to restore all of these things to their proper place.
6. Power magnifies what is already within a person
Power in itself is neither good nor evil. What defines it is a person’s character in relation to power.
The real question is:
Do you possess power, or does power possess you?
Power does not always corrupt a person.
But it can magnify what is already within them.
If there is pride, it becomes more visible.
If there is mercy, it can reach more people.
If there is justice, justice can be established across a wider field.
If there is oppression, more people can be harmed.
For this reason, power is both a great blessing and a great test.
The Qur’an says to David:
فَاحْكُم بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَىٰ
“Judge between people with truth and do not follow desire.”
(Sad, 26)
It then explains why desire must not be followed:
فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ
“For it will lead you away from the path of Allah.”
(Sad, 26)
Departing from justice is not merely a wrong committed against other people. It is a matter of straying from the path of Allah.
As I try to understand the Qur’an, I see that justice cannot be considered separately from worship.
To judge justly is itself part of servitude to Allah.
7. Knowing the truth is not enough
The Qur’an teaches us not only to learn the truth, but also to remain faithful to it:
“Do not mix truth with falsehood or knowingly conceal the truth.”
(Al-Baqarah, 42)
This means that a person may know the truth and yet conceal it.
The Name Al-Haqq reminds me of this moral responsibility:
Knowing the truth is not enough; the truth requires loyalty.
News reaches us.
We share it immediately.
We hear a claim.
We believe it immediately.
Someone is being discussed.
We pass judgement immediately.
But the Qur’an says:
“Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart — each of these will be called to account.”
(Al-Isra, 36)
I believe this verse carries a powerful warning that deserves our careful reflection today.
To be able to say “I do not know” when we do not know is not a defect in knowledge; it is the morality of knowledge.
8. Is it not enough that your Lord knows?
At the end of Surah Fussilat, Allah says:
أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ
“Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things?”
(Fussilat, 53)
One expression here makes me reflect in particular:
أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ — “Is it not enough?”
Does everyone have to know?
Does everyone have to understand you?
Must every truth be revealed today?
Is it not enough that your Lord knows and bears witness?
This is not an easy station for the heart to reach.
But it carries an immense freedom.
The fact that the truth is not immediately visible does not mean that falsehood has become truth.
People’s acceptance cannot change the essential nature of a thing.
Falsehood does not become truth in the sight of Allah.
9. Who truly sustains me?
I do not command my heart, “Beat.”
I do not control my breathing while I sleep.
I do not renew my own cells.
I do not know everything that will happen to me tomorrow.
And yet, sometimes a person takes the burden of their entire life upon their shoulders:
“I must control everything.”
Moses does not say:
“I know how the sea will part.”
He does not know.
But he knows his Lord.
This distinction is one of the principles I am trying to understand through this study:
Not knowing the way is one thing; knowing the One who shows the way is another.
The Name Al-Qayyum offers me another way of looking at the human fear of the future.
It transforms the question:
“What will I do if the thing that keeps me standing disappears?”
into:
“Who is it that truly keeps me standing?”
This does not mean that the things we lose are unimportant.
Allah created the world through causes. We make use of those causes. But as we do so, we know that the cause itself is also in need of Allah.
I turn to the means, but I do not take the means as my Lord.
10. The true test of a blessing
A person cannot understand their standing before Allah merely by looking at the blessings they have received.
We cannot say:
“I have been given much, so Allah must be pleased with me.”
Nor can we say:
“I have been given little, so Allah does not love me.”
The real question is:
What has what I was given transformed me into?
Have I become more generous?
Have I become more merciful?
Have I become more just?
Or have my possessions become my identity?
Solomon possessed a kingdom.
Pharaoh also possessed a kingdom.
In one:
Possession → gratitude → servitude.
In the other:
Possession → pride → a claim to divinity.
The same world.
Two completely different hearts.
A poor person may also be enslaved by the world.
A very wealthy person may carry the world as a trust.
The measure is not the size of one’s bank account.
The measure is what the heart is attached to.
The Qur’an’s concern is not that a person possesses the world; it is that the world possesses the person’s heart.
11. There will be a final account
The reward for some good deeds is not given in this world.
The reckoning for some evil deeds is not completed in this world either.
If death were the end of everything, what would become of these unfinished accounts?
The Qur’an tells us that the unfinished account will be completed:
There is a Day of Reckoning.
The account will be completed.
“Should We treat those who believe and do righteous deeds like those who spread corruption on earth? Or should We treat the God-conscious like the wicked?”
(Sad, 28)
If good and evil ultimately lead to exactly the same end, where is justice?
The Name Al-‘Adl also reminds me that no good or evil will ultimately remain without its due.
The Heart Key
What loving our Prophet (PBUH) means in our hearts should not be limited to mentioning his name.
We should bring his truthfulness into our own words,
his justice into our own judgements,
his mercy into our own conduct,
his faithfulness to every trust into our own responsibilities,
and his reliance upon Allah into our own fears.
Today’s Heart Key is this:
Standing by the truth does not always mean winning immediately; it means remaining faithful to the evidence, never departing from justice, turning back when you recognise your own mistake, fulfilling your duty and leaving the outcome to Allah.
Prayer
O Allah,
Do not let our love for our Prophet (PBUH) remain only in our words.
Grant our hearts a share of his truthfulness, mercy, justice and beautiful character.
Make us not among those who place their own side before the truth, but among those who can place the truth before their own selves.
Grant us the strength to remain faithful to the evidence, whether it is for us or against us.
Grant us the humility to say “I do not know” where we do not know,
the sincerity to turn back when we are wrong,
the character never to depart from justice when we possess power,
and the trust in You never to take the means as our Lord when we are afraid.
Keep our faith, our character, our hope and our reason standing firm.
Protect us from becoming proud when blessings come,
from falling into despair when hardship comes,
and from concealing the truth even when we know it.
Make this blessed day marking the birth of our Prophet (PBUH) a new beginning in which we understand him more deeply and carry more of his beautiful character into our lives.
Amin.