• The Messenger is not the Father of any Man

• He is the Last of the Prophets

• The Virtue of remembering Allah much

• The Meaning of Salah

Allah Aza-Wajal states:

مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍ مّن رِّجَالِكُمْ

(Muhammad is not the father of any of your men,) After this it was not permitted to say Zayd bin Muhammad, i.e., he was not his father even though he had adopted him. No male child of the Prophet lived until puberty. Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, bore him Al-Qasim, At-Tayyib and At-Tahir, but they died in childhood. Mariyah Al-Qibtiyyah bore him Ibrahim, but he also died in infancy. He also had four daughters from Khadijah: Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with them all. Three of them died during his lifetime, Fatimah lived long enough to be bereaved of him, then she died six months later.

وَلَـكِن رَّسُولَ اللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيماً

(but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the Prophets. And Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything.)

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ اذْكُرُواْ اللَّهَ ذِكْراً كَثِيراً – وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلاً – هُوَ الَّذِى يُصَلِّى عَلَيْكُمْ

وَمَلَـئِكَتُهُ لِيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيماً – تَحِيَّتُهُمْ يَوْمَ يَلْقَوْنَهُ سَلَـمٌ

وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ أَجْراً كَرِيماً

(41. O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance.) (42. And glorify His praises morning and Asila.) (43. He it is Who sends Salah on you, and His angels too, that He may bring you out from darkness into light. And He is Ever Most Merciful to the believers.) (44. Their greeting on the Day they shall meet Him will be “Salam (Peace!)” And He has prepared for them a generous reward.)

وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلاً

(And glorify His praises morning and Asila.) If you do this, He and His angels will send blessings upon you.” There are very many Ayat, Hadiths and reports which encourage the remembrance of Allah, and this Ayah urges us to remember Him much. People such as An-Nasa’i and Al-Ma`mari and others have written books about the Adhkar to be recited at different times of the night and day.

هُوَ الَّذِى يُصَلِّى عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَـئِكَتُهُ

(He it is Who sends Salah on you, and His angels too,)

لِيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

(that He may bring you out from darkness into light. ) means, by means of His mercy towards you, His praise of you and the supplication of His angels for you, He brings you forth from the darkness of ignorance and misguidance into the light of guidance and certain faith.

وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيماً

(And He is Ever Most Merciful to the believers.) means, in this world and in the Hereafter: in this world He guides them to the truth of which others are ignorant, and He shows them the path from which others have gone astray, those who call for disbelief and innovation, and their followers among the wrongdoers. His mercy towards them in the Hereafter means that He will save them from the greater terror (of the Day of Resurrection) and will command His angels to greet them with the glad tidings of Paradise and salvation from the Fire, which will only be because of His love for them and His kindness towards them.