27th Rajab: Yaum ul-Besat

Address of Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadhlullah (Lebanon)
In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful.
Peace and Blessings be on our Master Muhammad, his progeny, and his chosen companions and all of Allah's messengers.
The 27th of Rajab is the anniversary of the beginning of Muhammad’s message, as well as that of Israa and Mi’raaj (the night journey and the ascendancyof the Prophet).
In this spiritual atmosphere we would like to recall the image of the earlyIslam, when Allah revealed to His Messenger(p) that he was to begin his mission, having prepared him both mentally and practically as well as spiritually. The Prophet thus began his mission relying on the reputation he built within his community that used to view him as their advisor when they needed to decide upon any significant problem.
They also used to call him the honest and the truthful, for he never said a lie or failed to return something trusted to him.
So, when he began to tell them about his mission and about Islam, they were listening to someone whom they ought to believe considering what they knew about him.
Allah has told us about his first task when He said:"When He raised among them an apostle from among themselves reciting to them His Ayahs and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although before they were surely in manifest error".(3:164)
His first task was to recite to them the Quranic verses so that the people would listen to them, be effected by their charisma, start to contemplate in their meanings and then the verses would enter their hearts and minds. The infidels of Quraysh were astonished to find out that they too were affected by the magic of these verses and could only stop one another from listening to them. They even used to make a lot of noise so that no one could hear, for they knew that whoever listens to the Quran with an open mind and heart will believe in God right away... Thus, when people came to the Prophet, he needed only to recite the Quran to gain followers. We also notice that much of the Quran was revealed in Mecca, because its task was to shock the virginity of their ideas.
The Messenger(p) used to purify and develop them, so that their minds should grow on the right direction, their hearts be filled with love and good and their actions with justice. That is why we find that the Prophet had several ways of dealing with those whom he lived with, rational proof for those who looked for reason to believe, and emotions with those whose personality was lead by emotions. But all the time he used to be the role model that embodied all the values he preached for.
That is why Allah ordered the believers that: "Whatever the Apostle gives you, accept it, and from whatever he forbids you, keep away".(59:7)
and told the people to follow his example: "Certainly you have in the Apostle of Allah an excellent exemplar for him who hopes in Allah and the latter day and remembers Allah in abundance".(33:21) His ethics won the hearts of the people. He was described by the Quran as;
"A sublime morality and a Mercy from Allah". He was of a kind heart that hated no one and never said anything cruel to anyone. And this is how all the callers to God are. The Messenger addresses his message to human being, and human being is a mind, a heart and feelings. If you want some one to believe in an idea; if you want an idea to enter his mind, it should enter his heart. You yourself should dig into your heart and make them love you. But if you have a black heart full of malice and hatred, nobody will love you and this what the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali bin Abi Talib(as), who has one of the
great hearts in history, meant when he said: "Take out evil from the hearts of others by taking it from your own hearts".
There is a tradition that says: "A good word is a form of charity". It is a gift that you present to others, because it shows that you love and respect them. The Messenger(p) had such a good heart that loved all people.
He even used to feel sad for those who did not believe. He did not exploit people to turn them into blind followers, but rather he wanted their own good as their belief will save them in both worlds. With such attributes the Messenger(p), began his call and entered their hearts and minds. But the arrogant and the rich were afraid that they will loose their privileges as a result of this call brought by this poor orphan who refused all what they had promised him, by saying to his uncle AbuTalib: "By Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I will not leave this matter until Allah makes it prevail or until I die for its cause".
The Messenger(p) confronted all challenges and threats. He was even called a mad man, but his resolve or belief did not lessen. Instead he was instructed by Allah to teach them how to think. Say: "I exhort you to one thing, that rise up for Allah's sake in pairs or alone,then ponder: there is no madness in your fellow-citizen; he is sent forth to warn you against a dreadful scourge".(34:46)
We ought to study this methodology and adopt it, especially that there are among us who do not mind to say any irresponsible words to describe the reformers, the religious scholars and the Mujahideen. Therefore we ought to ask ourselves when we face such accusations: Does what they say conform with what we know about the man, his stands and the actions he has taken all his life?
Thus we find that the Messenger(p) wanted the Message to enter the minds of people without any show-off of muscles or any intimidation, as we see nowadays when we find some people claiming that they met with Imam Mahdi(as), or that they know what will happen in the future. The Prophet himself was portrayed in the Quran as an ordinary human being whom Allah
reveals onto, "Say: I do not tell you that I posses the treasures of Allah, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel; I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me.....".(6:50) "Say: I am no prodigy among the apostles; nor do I know what will be done with me or with you: I do not follow anything but that which is revealed to me, and I am nothing but a plain warner."(46:9)
This is the prophet, a modest person who is considered as one of the prophets although he is their master. The one whodoes not know from the hidden except what Allah told him. The one who does not have a fortune to give, but tells the people that Allah has given you your mind , to use. Use it and you will believe. And do not believe in anything unless you have thought about it. Do not give your mind a vacation no matter how short it is. Use it, for we in the East usually follow others driven by our emotions and instincts and do notfollow our firm rational conviction, although we are going to be asked by Allah about the reasons that made as take each and every stand we had taken.
If you want to be a follower of Muhammad, Ali and the Imams(as) whose minds are an extension of that of the prophet, our minds have to be responsible so that we will be able to answer our Lord in the hereafter: O you who believe! be careful of your duty to Allah, and let every soul consider what he has sent on for the morrow and be careful of it Surely Allah is aware of what you do.(59:18)