#SgSohbah: Celebrating ‘The Walking Qur’an’ ﷺ 

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In Loving Memory of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan

Here is a summary of two Sohbahs given by Almarhum Sheikh Abdul Sattar Khan on 17 & 18 October 2021:

Once the noble wife of The Beloved ﷺ, Sayyidatina ‘Aisha RadiAllahu Ta’ala anha was asked,

“O Mother of the believers, tell me about the nature of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.”

Sayyidatina ‘Aisha said, “Have you not read the Qur’an?”

The sahabah replied, “Of course.”

Then she continued, “Verily, the nature of the Prophet of Allah was the Qur’an.”

(Sahih Muslim 746)

The character of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was summarised by his ﷺ wifeر to be the embodiment of the Holy Word of God.

He ﷺ was The Walking Qur’an.

Sayyidina Ali RadiAllahu anhu said, “All secrets of Allah ﷻ are in Divine Books [the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur, and the Scrolls of Ibrahim]; and the contents of all those Divine Books are found in the Qur’an; and what is found in the Qur’an is condensed in Surah Al-Fatihah, and what is in Al-Fatihah is gathered in Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem..”

Most Muslims are taught from childhood to begin everything with ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’, In the Name of Allah The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

This oft-uttered phrase amongst Muslims is in reality, our Holy Prophet ﷺ.

He is the embodiment of ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim’, and for those who understand the heavenly language of Qur’anic Arabic,

 بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ, 

‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’ is linguistically an incomplete, open-ended sentence. 

It becomes complete when an action follows it, and what deed can be better than emulating the perfect ways of The Walking Qur’an ﷺ.

It is the secret to all adab, the refinement of mannerisms and cannot follow with something displeasing to Allah ﷻ.

The journey that follows ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem’ is in following the Ways of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. He ﷺ is the bridge to complete all deeds to perfection and the only doorway to attain the Pleasure of Allah Almighty.

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If you ˹sincerely˺ love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

(Surah Al-Imran 3: Verse 31)

A mureed must desire to follow the Walking Qur’an ﷺ to perfection by obeying and following the advice of the Murshid. There must be a longing to seek closeness to Allah ﷻ through this Golden chain of Spiritual Connection.

Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق said,

“Endless longing is what sets Man apart from other creatures. Other creatures have not been given the spiritual power of mankind. Their desires are confined to the realities of their bodily needs. But Man, endless longing comes from the eternal and limitless spirit within him, the Power which his Creator has endowed him that he may attain knowledge of Allah Almighty.”

Allah ﷻ explains the honour given to mankind in the Holy Qur’an,

وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلْنَـٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَـٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَفَضَّلْنَـٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًا

“And We have certainly honoured the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.”

(Surah Al-Isra 17: Verse 70)

Hajjah Aminah Adilق wrote in her book, Muhammad ﷺ, that when Sayyidina Adam Alayhi Salam was heavily burdened by the guilt of ‘original sin’, he beseeched Allah Most Forgiving to pardon him by pleading, “for the sake of Muhammad ﷺ, forgive me”.

Sayyidina Adam Alayhi Salam knew that this blessed name written next to Allah ﷻ on every heavenly leaf must be His ﷻ Beloved and therefore asked to be interceded through the Holy Prophet’s ﷺ name.

‘La Ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasullallah’, is written in the Heavens and for those who understand the beauty of Qur’anic Arabic, it is grammatically incorrect and the word ‘و’/‘and’, must be inserted to correct it. 

Therefore, it would be grammatically correct for the Shahadah to be, ‘La Ilaha illallah Wa Muhammadur Rasullallah’, ‘There is no God except God And Muhammad is His Messenger’ but, by the Wisdom of Allah ﷻ, this is not the case.

By studying the absence of the word ‘و’/‘and’, we find the secret to the absolute intimacy and unique highness Allah Almighty Himself bestowed upon Prophet ﷺ.

It is as if for one to discover that there is no barrier, not even by a grammatical ruling, between Rasulullah ﷺ and his Lord Most High.

Mawlanaق said, 

“Holy Prophet’s ﷺ beautiful manners and character are given by Allāh ﷻ.

“أدبني ربي فأحسن تأديبي”

“Addabanī Rabbī fa-aḥsana ta’dībi”

“My Lord perfected my good manners.”

He ﷺ says, “Allāh ‘Azza wa Jalla taught me Adab”.  Allah ﷻ taught him the best.

People need a good example. And that is our Holy Prophet ﷺ.”

His ﷺ exclusive rank in the Sight of Allah ﷻ was envied by the one with the worst behaviour, Iblis alayhi laqnat. The devil made it his life’s mission, to see that mankind will heed his treacherous advice, follow his ways and suffer like he will.

As this life is one of tests and trials, many fail to realise that the difficulties they face are indeed life lessons to progress towards attaining a perfectly sound heart, Qalbun Saleem and ultimately, the Pleasure of Allah ﷻ. 

“Indeed amazing are the affairs of a believer! They are all for his benefit. If he is granted ease of living he is thankful and this is best for him. And if he is afflicted with hardship, he perseveres [with patience]; and this is best for him.”

(Sahih Muslim)

Life’s sufferings are greatly rewarded for a believer who follows the Adab of our Holy Prophet ﷺ and reject any vile satanic advice when dealing with hardship.

“The amount of reward is in accordance with the amount of suffering. When Allah loves some people, He tries them (with affliction). He who then is content (with Allah’s decree) has achieved the Acceptance (of Allah), and he who is dissatisfied (with Allah’s decree) will attain the Anger (of Allah).”

(At-Tirmidhi)

There is no one who suffered more than our Holy Prophet ﷺ and his sufferings are indeed lessons of refinement in mannerism from Allah Almighty Himself.

“Everything he ﷺ did was perfect. The best, the rightest, the most beautiful in everything was done by our Holy Prophet ﷺ.”

– Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Adil Ar-Rabbaniق

No one can do what our Holy Prophet ﷺ did.

No one can carry the sufferings he ﷺ did.

And in him ﷺ, we will find Uswatun Hasana, the most perfect example to follow.

Hence, wise ones remain patient in adversity, are sincerely thankful to be from the Nation of The Beloved ﷺ, striving to learn and emulate his ﷺ blessed life and become as he ﷺ was, The Walking Qur’an ﷺ.

May Allah ﷻ grant our hearts to be filled only with sincere love for Rasulullah ﷺ and to be in the company of The Beloved ﷺ for eternity.

• Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan

17 & 18 October 2021/ 10 & 11 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1443

Reflect and benefit from the complete Sohbahs below:

Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023. 

May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime. 

May he be placed among those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.

Al-Fatiha for Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan.