An Unexpected guest

Envisage waking up in the morning to the sound of perpetual knocks on your front door. As you casually make your way to the entrance, you try recalling any appointment that you had made for this hour of day, but you are almost certain that none were made. Your door is gently knocked again. You quietly peek through the key hole just in case you find an unwanted visitor but, as you stare, it seems that your eyes are playing tricks on you.

You pull back, wipe the sleep away from your eyes and hesitantly take a second glance, a prolonged blink-less glance. At this point your heart skips a beat. Every milligram of moisture within your throat dries out, your eyes grow wild, your skin turns pale, you lose your words and your feet struggle to carry you.

“Am I dreaming?” You ask yourself. “This cannot be real.”

Your guest this morning is not the post man, a family friend or a celebrity. 

Your guest this morning is the greatest creation to ever walk this earth, the greatest that has ever been buried within it and the greatest that will emerge from it on the Day of Resurrection.

Your guest this morning is Prophet Muḥammad (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam).

You have recognised him by his wavy black hair which drops below his earlobe, by the magnificently wide openings of his eyes, by his finely arched eyebrows, by the purity of his skin’s texture, by the magnificent scents that are now creeping into your home, as he stands ahead of his three companions, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān, who have lowered their heads in awe of him, stationed in serenity.

Ask yourself with honesty:

Would you be happy for him to enter your home? Would you be proud of what he would see on your walls, tables and shelves? What you keep the pack of cigarettes lying there in front of him or would you frantically throw them out of sight? Would you hand over your phone to him if he requested to look over your conversations? Would you keep your Facebook page signed in? Would you - my sister – keep on the same Ḥijāb which you go out in? Or would it dramatically change? Would the makeup and perfume remain or...?

Would the Prophet (PBUH) be proud to meet you? Would he say, “This is another sweet fruit of my 23 years’ worth of Da’wah, of sacrifice, bloodshed and throbbing limbs”?

Or would his heart totally break following his first glance and subsequent conversation with you?

A companion by the name of Saʿīd b. Yazīd once said to the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam), “Advise me.” He responded with words that bring tears to the eyes of the honest, words which, if implemented, would bring about your happiness in this life and the next.

He said:

أوصيكَ أنْ تستحي منَ اللهِ تعالى كما تستحي منَ الرجلِ الصالحِ منْ قومِك

“I advise you to be shy of Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) the same way you are shy from the righteous man from your community.”

Ponder over our nervousness when a scholarly figure casts a glance at us, our sense of shame when a God-fearing individual spots our behaviour in the public or private domain.

Ponder over our utmost shyness and self-consciousness in the presence of the Messenger (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam).

Dearest reader...

Is Allāh, The King, the One free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Overseer, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme, the One who is praised and glorified by everything within the heavens and earth, not worthier of that shyness?