The radiance of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)

The month of Rab’ee Ul Awwal is the month in which our Beloved Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was born.  Allah Most High has made His birth distinguished.  To express the towering status and grandeur of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), Allah Most High sent down innumerable blessings and caused such a glad atmosphere that the year of the Prophet’s birth is remembered as the year of joy and delight.

 

There is a verse in the Holy Quran:

 

I swear by this city (Mecca).  Surah Balad (90:01)

 

In this verse of the Holy Quran, Almighty Allah swears by Makkah.

 

Now, somebody might think that Almighty Allah did so because Makkah is one of the greatest centers of spirituality.  It is such a city that great signs of Allah’s power are present there.  The Ka’aba is in that city, the heavenly black stone Hajr Aswad, is there, the Hateem and Meezaab-e-Rahmat are in that city, the Maqam Ibraheem is there.  Indeed, Makkah has all these distinctions.  But Almighty Allah doesn’t swear by Makkah for these reasons and distinctions.  When the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was born and He made Makkah His residence, then Almighty Allah swears by Makkah for this reason.  Thus, Almighty Allah says:

 

I swear by this city (Mecca),

 

(O My Esteemed Beloved,) because you are residing in it.  Surah Balad (90:1, 2)

 

Let us see what wonderful signs were revealed by Allah on this birth which the Lord swears by.

 

There is a Hadith in Jame’ Tirmidhi:

 

Translation: Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) narrates that the Companions entreated the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam):  O Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)!  When did Prophethood become compulsory for you?  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  (I was a Prophet) when Adam (May peace be upon him) was yet between soul and body.  (Jame’ Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3968)

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) came last among all the Prophets (May peace be upon them), but His radiance (Noor) was created before the universe itself.

 

As the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:

 

Translation: The first thing that Allah created was my radiance.

 

The great scholar of Islam, Hadhrat Shah Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlwi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) had declared this Hadith rigorously-authenticated (Sahih) in Madarij Un Nubuwwa, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 2

There is a Hadith in Musannad Abdur Razzaq, Mawahib Ladunniya and Seerat Halabiyya:

 Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Jabir bin ‘Abdullah Ansari (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says:  I asked the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam):  O Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)! May my mother and father be sacrificed for you!  Tell me what did Allah Most High create first of all?  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  O Jabir!  Verily Allah Most High created the radiance of your Prophet before anything else.  Then by the will of Allah, that radiance would travel wherever it wanted.  At that time, there was neither the Protected Tablet (Lauh) nor hell; neither the heavens nor the earth; neither the moon nor the sun neither genies.  (Al Mawahib Al Ladunniya Ma’a Haashiya Zurqani, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 89; As Seeratul Halabiyya, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 31)