Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem, Assalamu Alaikum.

The prophets achieve qualities from Allah in a perfect way and because of this their Himma in the universe is reflected in an absolute manner by the Mala’ikah so when you connect to them spiritually you receive from something that is perfect in every respect, this is within reason as prophets make mistakes, this is also how prophets surpassed each other in various subjects, it was in relation to their perfection in it.

Rasul Allah (saws) surpassed all prophets (as) and so Allah forgave Him all of his future and past mistakes because Allah would use His (saws) Himma as Rahmatan Lil Alamin, as a spiritual Maqam that the entire universe can connect to at any point in time.

The Prophets are Human just like us, this is why other Humans who work at approaching Allah can achieve the same as them, the prophets where the first of mankind to achieve what was achieved and so they became messengers for the rest of mankind. The prophets (as) are the discoverers and the Awliyah copy them but it is in a less perfect way than the prophets, Awliyah can make mistakes and they can sin.

It is the same reason why the prophets and Mala’ikah repeatedly over the years, after achieving something, have said to me I am on the same heart as Sayyidinah Ibrahim (as), other Awliyah are on the same Heart as Sayyidinah Isa (as), or Dawwud (as) or Musa (as), the prophets are Imams to the Awliyah so their hearts are raised to achieve the same, this is only possible because the prophets Baraka is spread through the universe as a result of their lives.

The Prophets are Imams to the Mala’ikah of their time, who witness and mimic them and in doing so are able to spread their light in every later generation of Mankind.

Allah showed us the proof of the Baraka of the prophets in the universe when we learned to write the prophet Ibrahim’s name in Arabic, upon this one of the Mala’ikah came and elevated us in rank, we asked why He replied simply you have learned how the prophets name is spelt (in Arabic), when one of the Angels sees you do something related to one of the prophets of Allah they will come and reward you, we call the effects of this Baraka.

This is the Baraka attached with the prophets, it is the reason why people have a picture of the prophets sandals in their home, why the companions used to rush to collect the prophets hair, because Allah attached baraka with it that could change people’s lives and the Mala’ikah are charged with acting upon what they witness from people:

  • Imam Bukhari narrates in his Sahih in the Book of Clothing, under the chapter entitled “What is mentioned about gray hair,” that `Usman ibn `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said: “My family sent me to Umm Salama with a cup of water. Umm Salama brought out a silver bottle which contained one of the hairs of the Prophet, and it used to be that if anyone came under the evil eye or ill health they used to send her a cup of water through which she would pass this hair (for drinking). We used to look into the silver bottle: I saw some reddish hairs.”
  • Anas said: “When the Prophet shaved his head (after pilgrimage), Abu Talha was the first one to take of his hair.” Bukhari.
  • Anas also said: “The Prophet threw stones at al-Jamra, then sacrificed, then told the barber to shave his head right side first, then began to give the hair away to the people.” Muslim.
  • He said: “Talha was the one distributing it.” Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud.
  • He also said: “When the Prophet shaved his head in Mina, he gave me the hair from the right side and he said: Anas! take it to Umm Sulaym [his mother]. When the Companions saw what the Prophet gave us, they began to compete to take the hair from the left side, and everyone was getting a share from that.” Ahmad narrated it.
  • Ibn al-Sakan narrated through Safwan ibn Hubayra from the latter’s father: Thabit al-Bunani said: Anas ibn Malik said to me (on his death-bed): “This is one of the hairs of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings and peace upon him. I want you to place it under my tongue.” Thabit continued: I placed it under his tongue, and he was buried with it under his tongue.”
  • Abu Bakr said: “I saw Khalid [ibn Walid] asking for the Prophet’s forelock and he received it. He used to put it over his eyes and then kiss it.” It is known that he then placed it in his qalansuwa (head cover around which the turban is tied) and never faced battle again except he won. al-Waqidi (Maghazi), Ibn Hajar (Isaba). Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani relates that Imam Malik said: “Khalid ibn al-Walid owned a qalansiyya which contained some of the Prophet’s hair, and that is the one he wore the day of the battle of Yarmuk.
  • Ibn Sirin (one of the tabi`in) said: “One hair of the Prophet in my possession is more precious to me than silver and gold and everything that is on the earth and everything that is inside it.” Bukhari, Bayhaqi (Sunan kubra), and Ahmad.
  • In Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 784: `Uthman bin `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said, “My people sent me with a bowl of water to Umm Salama.” Isra’il approximated three fingers indicating the small size of the container in which there was some hair of the Prophet. `Uthman added, “If any person suffered from evil eye or some other disease, he would send a vessel (containing water) to Umm Salama (and she would dip the Prophet’s hair into it and it would be drunk). I looked into the container (that held the hair of the Prophet) and saw a few reddish hairs in it.”
  • Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari, Volume 10, page 353, said: “They used to call the silver bottle in which the hair of the Prophet was kept jiljalan and that bottle was in the home of Umm Salama.” Hafiz al-`Ayni said in `Umdat al-Qari, Volume 18, page 79: “Umm Salama had some of the hairs of the Prophet in a silver bottle. When some people got ill, they would go and obtain blessings from these hairs and they would be healed by means of their blessings. If a person were struck by the evil eye or any sickness, he would send his wife to Umm Salama with a mikhdaba or water-pail, and she would pass the hair through that water and then drink the water and he would be healed, after which they would return the hair to the jiljal.”
  • Imam Ahmad narrates in his Musnad (4:42) from `Abd Allah ibn Zayd ibn `Abd Rabbih with a sound (sahih) chain as stated by Haythami in Majma` al-zawa’id (3:19) that the Prophet clipped his nails and distributed them among the people.

“Blessed is He in Whose Hand is the dominion, and He is Able to do all things.” (67:1) Blessings are in the hands of the one who controls the Universe and He is able to give it to whomever He wants.

Shaykh Rami Al Rifai.