Chapter 1:
She sat erect on the floor, cognizant of her heart which had
already ceased all motion. An elderly Black woman at this
point, her tears streamed behind her veil through the crevices
of her face. In front of her sat the two most important
men of the time. They came to mimic the memory of their
mutual Master a when he came to visit his “mother.” The
two contracted her sorrow and wept softly. They thought
they shared tears over the loss of a mutual beloved and
hoped to console her. Rather, Baraka said, “I only cry over
the end of heavenly revelation.” She had begun her life a
single cereal grain in an Abyssinian field. But soon after,
she would witness incredible events and form a bond that
would draw the new khalifah and his successor to her side
(i.e. Abu Bakr and ‘Umar k). The story, however, started
long before her.
The Creation (al-Khalq)
With absolutely nothing else in existence, Allah, the Glorious
and Exalted, was alone. He glanced upon creation
bringing something other than Himself into existence as a
supreme favor to it, an act of love and mercy. An act of selfless
love because He gained nothing by making it be, but
His creation gained everything by it. He wished a requited
love, even if minuscule in comparison, to complement His
own. Within the unending expanses of Space, He added an
inconsequential speck of dust that would become the stage
for His greatest mercy. He casted the sun’s yellow upon it
and poured the water’s blue into it. Among its lush green
and soil brown, He planted some creatures and animated
others. Soon, Allah would fashion a type of creation with
the potential to be the best of creation and also the worst. A
type of creation that would be able to voluntarily recognize
and acknowledge that divine love or reject it. Thus,
He created Adam e and his progeny, creatures of earthly
shades, intellectual contrasts, and spiritual hues, with His
own Hands.
The Signs (al-Ayat)
Allah’s love is vast. It is as if He created the distant galaxies
in all their complexity and grandeur to appear simply as a
twinkle in the sky for people of contemplation. Whether
they looked up at the sky, out toward the horizon, down at
the earth, or into themselves, all of it pointed towards their
Maker. Like an anonymous admirer who leaves a rose to
garner recognition, Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, created
the micro and macro spaces and granted the faculties by
which we could recognize Him. “They remember Allah
while standing, sitting, and on their sides. They contemplate
over the creation of the heavens and earth saying,
‘Our Lord, you did not create this uselessly. Glorious are
You!’”
Despite that, there would unfortunately be some of us, too
indulged in the pleasures to have contemplated.
The Glad Tidings (al-Bishara)
Allah’s love is vaster still, and so, He did not give up on us.
One by one, He sent over 124,000 of His chosen slaves to
warn and awaken us. Like beads on a misbah, they remembered
the Creator and reminded others, one after another.
As divine mouthpieces, they spoke to their communities in
a language the signs could not speak in. They were examples
to be emulated. They were lovers of Allah, the Glorious
and Exalted, that exuded a divinely intoxicating fragrance.
And we, our being, soaks in their scent, simultaneously
intoxicated and intoxicating others.
Knowing that their message would be rejected by most,
each was commanded to relate the prophesy about the last
Messenger a to whomever would listen. He would be the
highest ranking of the prophets; a glad tiding and a fail-safe
for anyone seeking the Truth. After Isa ibn Maryam e was
lifted from this earthly abode, corruption spread into the
beliefs and lives of people and further into the lands: the
Byzantines and Persians in their oppression and decadence,
the Hindus in their caste bigotry and degeneration,
the Europeans in a squalor of physical and intellectual filth,
and the Arabs in the spiritual darkness of polytheism. Yet,
in this blackness, a favored few among those who held onto
the teachings of the prophets carried lanterns of hope as
they traversed far distances and longingly waited generation
after generation for the promised Messenger a. These
Seerah
THE PRELUDE
by Maulana Dr. Mateen Khan
18 September – October 2021 | AL-MADINAH