Cover Me Up - Embrace Me!

AssalaamuAlaikumWaRahmatullahiWaBarakaat­huhu

Dear brothers and sisters, this is your brother Omar Suleiman 

You know, when the Prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings be upon him) received his first revelation, he was concerned. He didn't understand whether this was something that was coming from God or whether this was something that was coming from...from some other source or whether this was something,that was some supernatural experience. And he was concerned and, it was at that moment that he truly needed a form of reassurance. And he knew the right person to go to because he ran to his wife, Khadeejah (may God be pleased with her). And he said to her the famous words

'Cover me up, embrace me - cover me up, embrace me'

And before that incident took place where the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) received the first revelation from God, his wife Aieeshah(peace be upon her), may Allah be pleased with her says that he developed a love for being alone, he developed a love for seclusion. So he used to go to the cave of Hira' and he used to meditate and contemplate for weeks and sometimes months, trying to find peace, trying to find answers, trying to find that connection with God. And then finally when the revelation came to him, it was so powerful that he truly did not know how to handle it. Then came Khadeejah (may God be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) who was there to reassure him. Now the words that Khadeejah said to the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) were that...

Which means, 'God will never disgrace you.' 'God will never disgrace you.'

Now, she then proceeds to give the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the reasons why God would never disgrace him. And I want you to think about this for a moment. When you think about religion, when you think about worship, and when you think of the effects of worship, why would God not disgrace you? She said God would never disgraced you because you uphold the ties of kinship, because you were generous to the needy, because you...you...you take care of the poor and the orphan. So she started to mention some of his good to society, his character (peace be upon him). And in essence this was the call of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), when he says that, 'I was only sent to perfect good character.' And in truth his call to Islam, his call to God started before even he realized that his call to God was starting as one of the famous Imams, Al Muzainy(may God be pleased with him) said that,'his da'wah(his call) started with good manners before he even realized that his call started.' It was with that love that he showed to people. The nicknames that he gained as 'as saadiq al amin', the trustworthy, the honest, the one who was beloved, the one who could always reconcile between people, the one who would always go out of his way to take care of the orphans. And so it was only befitting now that he found a woman of good faith and good character that truly understood that, and truly had that insight and could come to him from that direction and could say to him, 'O Prophet of God, God is not disgracing you. This is God honoring you. This is God giving you virtue. This is God elevating your status because of all of the people that you have been elevating your entire life.'

So we ask God to give us that same exalted character. Jazakumullahukhairan

WassalaamuAlaikumWaRahmatullahiWaBarakaa­thuhu