The depth of Muslim love for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has always puzzled those on the outside — and Sheikh Bilal Assad addresses this directly in a Q&A session that goes well beyond piety into the lived reality of the Prophet’s character. A man who refused wealth when it was offered, who turned down kingship, who endured persecution and yet returned nothing but mercy — this was not a political or tribal figure, but a human being whose every sacrifice was motivated by sincere care for those around him and for those who would follow centuries later. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala encapsulates his mission in a single, sweeping verse: “And We have sent you not but as a mercy for the Aalameen — mankind, jinns, and all that exists” (Al-Anbiya 21:107). The scholars of tafseer — among them Ibn Abbas, Ibn Katheer, and Ibn Hajar al-Haytami — explain that this mercy was universal: believers gained divine guidance and the path to Paradise, while even disbelievers were spared the immediate punishments that fell upon earlier nations who rejected their messengers. He was not sent to a tribe, a nation, or an era — he was sent to all of humanity, and his mercy was designed to reach across every boundary that divides us.
A Mercy That Chose Hope Over Vengeance
“Rather I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins people who will worship Allah alone, not associating anything with Him.” — Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, at the moment when the Angel of the Mountains offered to crush the people of Ta’if between the mountains for the harm they had inflicted on him
The story of Ta’if — narrated by both Bukhari and Muslim — is one of the most revealing moments in prophetic history. Driven out, mocked, and bleeding, the Prophet ﷺ was offered divine retribution. He declined it. When Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked whether any day had been worse than the Battle of Uhud, he replied that what he suffered at Ta’if was far more severe — yet at the very moment of potential revenge, his answer was a prayer for the future generations of his enemies. This is the prophetic mercy the Quran speaks of: not a passive tolerance, but an active and costly investment in the long-term good of human beings who did not yet believe. Sheikh Bilal Assad draws a parallel to the Prophet’s final sermon, delivered three months before his death, in which he counselled the believers against hatred, envy, and the severing of family ties — the same compassion for human flourishing that had defined his entire mission. The scholars note that this universal mercy is not contradicted by the prescription of jihad; fighting those who sought to extinguish the light of faith was itself an act of mercy — bringing people from the darkness of ignorance into the clarity of divine guidance, as Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet ﷺ: “Our Lord is amazed at a people who are led into Paradise in chains.”
- The Prophet ﷺ was sent as a mercy to all of creation — believers received guidance and the path to Paradise, while even disbelievers were protected from the swift divine punishments that befell nations who rejected earlier prophets
- At Ta’if, at his lowest moment, he prayed for his enemies’ descendants rather than seeking justice against them — a defining example of Islamic spirituality rooted in hope rather than retaliation
- His final sermon reinforced mercy in every relationship: between spouses, between relatives, between neighbours — guidance from a man who knew he was about to leave this world
- Unlike all previous prophets who were sent specifically to their own people and tribes, Muhammad ﷺ was sent to all of mankind and jinn, with the Quran as the final, universal revelation
- His humanity was deliberate: Allah made him an orphan, illiterate, without sons, subject to illness and death — so that no person could say “I cannot follow an angel,” and every excuse for not imitating him would be removed
The Prophet Who Pleaded for His Ummah Before All Others
“O my Lord, the only thing that I want is for You to save my ummah from hardship in this life and in the Hereafter, and to not let any enemy overcome them, and to not destroy them with any natural disaster.” — Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, when granted the divine opportunity to wish for anything he desired, as every prophet before him had been
When every prophet was given a special wish — Solomon asked for a kingdom none would share, Moses prayed for his nation — the Prophet ﷺ did not ask for wealth, power, or personal glory. His only wish was for his ummah: the billions of believers who would come after him, in every age and every land, including those he would never meet in this life. Sheikh Bilal Assad highlights the profound hadith in which, shortly before his death, the Prophet ﷺ visited the graves of his companions and made du’a for them. When asked who the “brethren” were that he so longed to meet, he replied: “You are my companions. They are the ones who believed in me but never had the chance to meet me or see me.” On the Day of Judgment, he promised to recognise these future followers at the fountain of Al-Kawthar by the noor radiating from their faces, arms, and legs — the light of wudu and faithful prayer. On that Day, the Quran tells us, brothers will flee from brothers, parents from children, every soul consumed by its own reckoning. Yet the Prophet ﷺ — uniquely among all the prophets, who will each say “I am only concerned with myself” — will rise and say: “My ummah, my ummah.” This is a distinction that non-Muslim historian Michael Hart himself acknowledged when placing Muhammad ﷺ first among the most influential people in history: he was a married man, a father, a statesman, and a commander — providing a complete model for every dimension of human life that no other prophetic figure covered in full.
Q&A Wisdom: Faith, Accountability, and Living with Integrity
- On the hadith of women being “like a rib”: The Prophet ﷺ opened this hadith with “Be patient with women and treat them kindly.” The “crookedness” of the rib is not deficiency — it is a description of the physiological and emotional depth that makes women uniquely compassionate as mothers and caregivers. The Quran itself praises four women by name and commands believing men to take them as examples. To demand that women be identical to men in every duty is not equality — it is oppression that ignores the unique trials they carry
- On divine decree and human accountability: Allah’s complete foreknowledge does not mean compulsion. He gave human beings reason, free will, and guidance — and on the Day of Judgment, every person will themselves be convinced of the justice of their outcome, as a teacher who foresees a student’s result still administers the exam so the student may witness their own choices
- On judging others in Islam: Internal assumptions cannot always be prevented, but making open judgments about another person’s faith or character is haram without solid proof — and even then must serve a legitimate purpose. A student of Islamic knowledge who once judged a man for shaving his mustache later discovered the man had a medical condition; the teacher’s lesson was simple: you do not know what you do not know
- On carrying the Prophet’s name: Bearing a name like Muhammad, Fatima, or Ali is an honour that carries responsibility — the Prophet’s name should orient its bearer toward his sunnah, not merely decorate it. The concern is not the name itself but whether what is inside matches what is declared on the outside
- On defending the Prophet’s honour: Defence of the Prophet ﷺ begins with the self. The reason the Muslim world lacks the unified authority to respond meaningfully to insult is that the ummah has drifted from embodying what he stood for. Outward loyalty without inner transformation is hollow; the most powerful defence of his legacy is to live as he lived
What emerges from this session is a challenge that is as personal as it is spiritual. The love Muslims carry for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ cannot remain a passive feeling — it must become a direction of travel. He chose each of us before we were born, calling future believers his brethren, waiting at Al-Kawthar, and asking nothing from Allah except our wellbeing in this life and the next. Every act of patience we exercise, every time we choose mercy when anger is easier, every wudu made in the quiet of the night — these are the marks by which he will know us on the Day of Judgment. Sheikh Bilal Assad’s closing message is simple and demanding in equal measure: let the outer reflect the inner, let the Sunnah shape the character before it shapes the appearance, and let no person bearing the name of faith be satisfied with less. He was made human so that no excuse would remain. The path he walked is one we can follow. The question faith places before every believer is simply this — will we?
