Umm Salama says that the Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa salam, died on Monday; that he was buried on Wednesday. And she says, "The death of the Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa salam, had not hit us until Wednesday night. After Isha, we started to hear the sound of shovels." Subhanallah, imagine if you are in the shoes of Umar, if you are in the shoes of Abu Bakr, or Aisha, or Fatima, or Zaynab, or Khalid bin Walid, and you're hearing the sounds of the shovels which are digging the grave of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa salam. Can you fathom this? Can you fathom how much they must have been overcome? Umm Salama says that "when we heard the sound of these shovels, we began to weep," meaning the household of the Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa salam. "We began to mourn, we began to cry, we began to wail," and then she says the entire city of Medina began to shake with tears at the loss of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa salam. The city itself, the community, is shaking out of the loss of rasulullahi, salallahu alayhi wa salam -- the loss of al-habib, alayhi salatu wa salam.

Now, the Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wa salam, was buried after salatu Isha on Wednesday night. That means the first prayer that came after the burial of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, would have been salatu Fajr. Umm Salama says that Bilal, radhi allahu anhu, he arose to give the call of prayer, and when he came to one part in the adhan the entire city of Medina began to weep again. She said, "We went into convulsions from crying at the loss of al-habib, salallahu alayhi wa salam."

Imagine now, brother and sister, imagine that you're there on that night, that fajr, sitting in the place of Umm Salama, or Umar, and suddenly you hear Bilal, who had that sweet voice, say:

"Ashadu anna Muhammad ar-rasulullah ... ashadu anna Muhammad ar-rasulullah ..."

- Suhaib Webb, from The Prophetic Legacy.

Labels: daily reads