Throughout the course of recorded history, billions of people have come into this world and gone only to be relegated to the graveyards. If they were people who made a change in the world, then perhaps they would be recorded in libraries, however, most often, they are completely forgotten as time goes on.

From all of Allah’s messengers, one stands out as being ‘alive’ even after his ‘death.’ Out of the 124,000 prophets and messengers sent for humanity, there is one who is remembered over 20 times per day by his followers - Muhammad al-Mustafa (peace be upon him and his family). Perhaps this is what Allah meant and promised when He proclaimed in Suratul Inshirah (94:4) that, “And did We not exalt your name?”

When we study the sunnah or example of the Prophet – which we need to understand when marking his birth and death – we see that his life was normal, yet extraordinary. The message of the Prophet needs to be understood in the context of the society from which he was raised and the time in which he was living in – however this does not mean that Islam is a religion of 1,400 years ago. Rather, the same things that were carried out during the pre-Islamic era are, more or less, being repeated in today’s day and age. One of the things which the Prophet stood up and fought against was the killing of baby girls, a practice which a few of the tribes used to carry out and, just as the Quran states in Surah 81, verses 8 and 9: “And when the girl buried-alive will be asked for what sin she was killed …”

As we mark the death anniversary of the last and undoubtedly greatest of Allah’s Messengers, we close with one tradition which marks his way of life. Truly, if the Muslims were to practice just this one saying, how much of an impact would it have on their lives and those around them.

In the book Kashf al-Riba of Shaheed al-Thani it has been narrated from Husain ibn Zayd who said: “I said to Ja’far ibn Muhammad : ‘May I be your ransom! Did the Noble Prophet have a sense of humor?’ He said: ‘Allah described him as having sublime morals, and Allah sent the prophets and they had seriousness about themselves. He sent Muhammad with kindness and mercy, and out of his mercy was humor and jesting with the people so that they may not feel that he is so great that they do not look at him (or approach him).’”

Then he said: “Abi Muhammad narrated to me from his father (Imam) Ali (Zainul Abideen) from his father (Imam) al-Husain from his father Imam Ali who said: ‘When the Noble Prophet saw any of his companions sad, he would cheer him up with humor and he would say: ‘Allah dislikes the one who frowns at his brothers.’”