Let us begin by asking a question, this question can be applied to everyone, whether you are males or females, students or working professionals, young or old. The question is- If you were to die today and leave this world, how will you be remembered by your neighbors, your coworkers, fellow students, your spouse and children? What type of impact are you going to leave behind? If you were to disappear today what type of legacy would you leave? Allah (swt) says,

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ

"Every soul of this earth will taste death" {Quran 3: 185}

 If we look at the life of our blessed Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)...He left an incredible impact that can be measured in many different ways.

First, his impact on the Community

Allah(swt) is the best of witnesses and He bears witness to the effect the Prophet had on his local community in Surat Al-Imran...

إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاء فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا

"Indeed, they were enemies and Allah joined their hearts in love with the message and the light of the Prophet, so that by His Grace, they united in brotherhood" {3:103}

Let us look at the actual statements from the community of the Prophet. The greatest museeba (trial) to ever befall the Ummah was the death of the Prophet. It was too overwhelming for the Muslims to comprehend that the revelation had truly been stopped and the connection between them and the heavens had ceased forever. The Prophet himself reminded his Ummah in a Hadith, "Whenever you are inflicted with a tribulation indeed remember the affliction of my death and you will find that that infliction is nothing compared to my death."

Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, detailed the time of his death, it was on a Monday and he was buried on Wednesday after Isha`a prayer. The death of the Prophet had not hit them until that night after prayer, as Umm Salama described "We heard the sounds of shovels outside and we began to weep and shriek because then we realized that the Prophet was gone... and the masjid of the Prophet began to weep and all of Medina began to shake with convulsions out of the intense sadness and grief at the loss of the Prophet." His burial came after prayer- Can you imagine being in the shoes of Omar ibn Khattaab or Aisha when the time of Fajr prayer came after the burial? Belal stood for the athan and when he came to pronounce the name of the Prophet, he could not continue and he weeped instead. Um Salama says that at that moment of the athan, Medina began to convulse again. The effect of his prophetic light can be seen on the community from their reaction to his death. This is the impact of the Prophet on his community.

His impact on his family

Who was the first person to visit the Prophet's grave-? It was not Abu Bakr or Omar or Ali, may Allah bless them all - but it was his daughter, Fatima, to visit his grave first. Do we have this connection with our daughters like that the prophet built with his daughter? When Fatima arrived at the grave and saw men putting dirt on it, she asked Anas ibn Malik how he could throw dirt upon the grave of the Prophet? At her father's grave, Fatima lamented, "Indeed, patience is noteworthy in every situation except with death of you because at your death patience is extinguished." After the death of the Prophet, Fatima was never seen smiling again until her own death. What type of effect do we have on our children? When we get old will we be surprised that the connection with our children is not there when we need them most? Parents, we must get involved with our children's lives -ask how their day was, see what type of friends they have, take them to the masjid and tell them you are passing on the waseeya (legacy) of the Prophet. 

Next, how did the wives of the Prophet remember him?

It is said that "the reflection of man is his wife and the reflection of a woman is her husband" Just one statement tells all- Umm Salama said that "After the death of the Prophet, whenever any hardship would befall me I would remember the absence of the Prophet and that would completely overshadow any difficulty that I ever faced in my life." Maybe some of us ask how can we put the death of the Prophet into a trans-modern reality? Ask yourself when was the last time you read a book of hadith or on the seerah of the Prophet's life? So if your not connected to the Prophet it as though he is dead in our life - do we feel the same sadness?

Third, his impact on his friends

The best friend of the Prophet was not Abu Bakr, but first it was Allah(swt) and then Abu Bakr(raa). It is well-known that Abu Bakr, at the time of the Prophet's death, had great composure and exhibited great leadership although he was still overcome with sadness. On that day, Abu Bakr described, "The eyes are crying but it does not bother me and the right of this weeping belongs to Al-Sayed (Prophet Muhammad), the possessor of great blessings and wonderful ahkhlaq(behavior), fidelity, and high morals, the one who at the moment of severe tests will be there for you." This was how Abu Bakr remembered his dear friend of more than 20 years. How will our friends remember us? Will they remember us for our walks in the mall, smoking, backbiting...? SubhanAllah, the scary thing is that we think of these people as our friends, but undeniably they will be witnesses against us not for us on the Day of Judgment for those same things they remembered us for. The Prophet (pbuh) says in a Hadith "The man is on the religion of his friends"

Fourth, his impact on his enemies

Abu Sufian became a Muslim on the day Medina was conquered - but before that he was someone who used to plot to kill the Prophet(pbuh) and his wife was the woman who maligned the body of Hamzah(raa). However, they later made severe penitence and were granted forgiveness from Allah(swt). Abu Sufian, once a true enemy of the Prophet, at his death said something remarkable: "This Prophet, he removed doubts from us by what was revealed to him by Allah(swt) and he guided us, so do not fear we will every be astray and the Prophet is with us as a guide."

Today, Muslims face a new difficulty in the criticism from our antagonists, leave the political commentary behind but now our ethics, the essence of Muslim morality, is being condemned. In my hometown, one night a lady saw a car blocking her driveway and immediately, she went to the nearby masjid to find its owner. When she arrived, she complained that she knew exactly where to go when she saw the inconsiderate parking. This lady will be a witness on the Day of Judgment against our community, and maybe if she never becomes a Muslim, she will point to such behavior. The Prophet(pbuh) was never criticized for his ethics or his morality. Abu Bukhari narrated that when Abu Sufian, in his days before Islam, was asked by a Roman king if the Prophet was truthful, and he replied, "Yes, he is truthful and keeps his word," even though he had intense hate for him at the time. This is a new era in which Muslims are allowing themselves, because of their own shortcomings, to be criticized in areas of morality. Ignorant peoples called the Prophet(pbuh) a crazy man, a poet, a magician - but never was he called a person with no morals.

The Prophet's Ummah is known for its akhlaq and so many people enter into Islam because of the actions of Muslims they know. The Sunnah is divided into three important parts- the statements of the Prophet, the actions of the Prophet and the silent approvals of the Prophet. Number one in quantity and significance are the actions. About the Prophet(pbuh), Abu Sufian said "We never saw anyone like the Prophet living ever nor anyone after his death who is equal to him." This is a statement from someone who once was the enemy of the Prophet, but was transformed by the noor of Allah's Messenger. The great poet, Shawky wrote in a description of the Prophet: "Your brother Issa called the dead to stand for him but, you, Oh Muhammad, brought generations from Abu Sufian to Malcolm X into Islam with the light of your message." After seeing the effect of the Prophet's life upon his community, his family, his friends, and his enemies... Now, how can we leave such an impact? How can we actualize this impact when we leave this world? As the Prophet(pbuh) says in a Hadith, " Of three things in this world , two leave a person immediately when they die- their money and their family. The one that stays is their good actions or the waseeya that he leaves behind." What can we do to achieve this?

Understand the major goal of Islam  

If we have the sound understanding of Islam, Allah(swt) will only help us to increase our knowledge. In a story about Abu Hanifa (ra), one day he was sitting with Al-Aamush, a muhadith who recited hadiths, and a man asked the muhadith for a fatwa(Islamic decree).However, he could not give him the fatwa, and Abu Hanifa instead gave the man a ruling on his question. After the man left, the muhadith asked Abu Hanifa where he found his answer from, and he replied that he had recognized the fatwa from a hadith the muhadith had just recited. Although Al-Aamush had the ahadith memorized, he could not understand them like Abu Hanifa could. There is a difference between understanding and knowing. We must know that the highest goals in Islamic Sharia`ah is to bring benefit to the people and prevent harm. A great scholar once said look at all the verses in the Qur`an that begin with "Oh ye who believe" are always followed by advice that will bring you benefit or keep you from harm, as proof that the major goal in Islam is to prevent harm from reaching people and to bring them goodness and blessings and allow them to achieve taqwa

ا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

"Oh ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint {2:183}

How can I actualize this goal?  

The ways and means of good are many ...

مَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ

"Whoever does an atom weight of good is any type of good"{99:7}

Work as ONE Ummah and strive for unity

The type of unity that we talk about is to allow ourselves to differ in the branches of Islam in issues that are furua`a - branches of faith- not from the foundations of the faith. The one qa`ida "golden principle" we should follow is what we agree on we work on and where we differ we excuse each other .Try to sit with your sisters, brothers, on campus, at home, in your community, and in your families, and with the will of Allah (swt) develop that sense of unity.

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By: Imam Suhaib Webb

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