Disrespecting Prophet Muhammad,
Peace Be Upon Him*
* Means Sallallahu Alayhi was salam
Note: This is a letter from Sheik Yusuf Estes to all believers everywhere, regarding the need for proper respect to our prophet, peace be upon him, in conveying the message of true Islam on the Internet, emails, text messages SMS.
Islam Newsroom is just publishing it as an article.
Please leave comments to him at bottom of page.
Bismillah Rahman Raheem, was salam alaykum to all our brothers and sisters in Islam,
First of all, I must tell you I love you for the sake of Allah Subhannah wa Ta'ala and I pray for you to be successful on the Day of Judgment and to enter the Paradise of Firdous Al Ala with our prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
Second, I would like to mention something very disturbing to me since first using the Internet back in the mid 1990's. I am talking about a very serious bad habit, even used by some scholars of translating something very important to English, and then hiding the meaning by just using the first letters of the words, as if this was something our religion approves of in delivering the message of Islam.
Consider when we talk about our Creator and Sustainer, the Rabb (Lord) of the Alameen (Worlds) our One and Only God: Allah, Subhannah wa Ta'ala.
Dear brothers and sisters, you draw closer to Allah through athkar (thikr or remembrance of Allah). Don't miss this chance by taking a 'shayton short cut'.
This is the way we say it out loud and inshallah, we get big rewards for this and make people understand the way we respect and honor our belief in Allah Ta'ala. We do say it that way.
But then look how the shayton plays with us when we go to the keyboard of our computer or touch pad on our cell phones. Shayton knows how we are so lazy, we only type out the first letters: SWT (this seems to a non-Muslim as though you are abbreviating the word "SWAT" (hit or crush something) or maybe you mean a SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) TEAM?
In every case, it really looks cheap and unattractive when Muslims try to short cut on the way we are supposed to talk about Allah Ta'ala. As a matter of fact, what if you shorten "Allah Ta'ala" as A.T.?
Would someone just be so lazy to type "Laa Elaha illa Allah" (none is worthy of worship except Allah) as "L.E.I.A."
Also, look how shayton makes us loose big rewards and maybe even offend our prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Consider how many of us do not want to take the time to type out "Peace be upon him" or "sallalahu alayhi was salam" after our prophet's (sallalahu alayhi was salam) name. When someone shortens it to SAW - it really is very sad looking, embarrassing to me and gives the wrong meaning to the non-Muslims. Some have thought it meant we have a prophet named "Saw".
Think about how it looks: "The Prophet SAW said..." It doesn't matter if you capitalize all the letters or not, nor does it matter if you use English for "Peace be upon him" as [PBUH]. That looks so gross and does not give any reward for giving our prophet, peace be upon him, his rights.
Also, putting a star or asterisk after it (like this:*) and then going to the bottom of the page to see how you shortcut our prophet's rights, does not make up for the fact that - You did shortcut his rights.
Remember, the one who is saying "sallalahu alayhi was salam" after his name is going to receive back from him. Do we want a "SAW" back on us?
Or a "PBUH"?
Please, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, when you mention our prophet's name or refer to him, take a moment to get the huge reward of prophet, peace be upon him, making dua for and getting ten times the Rahmah of Allah Subhannah wa Ta'ala. Either type in "peace be upon him" or "sallalahu alayhi was salam" or similar after his name - or don't type anything at all.
Just a brotherly reminder to me and all of us.
Jazakallah khair was salam alaykum,
Yusuf Estes
P.S. would you like to read my books (free online) about:
"Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the Bible"? [click here]
and also:
"That Prophet" (peace be upon him) [click here]
Dear respected brothers and sisters - Would you like to reply to brother Yusuf Estes?
You are most welcome to answer or comment as you like
You Type it - We Print it
(after review)
Comments
thank you shaikh Yusuf about such good articles.
you are my favorite shaikh
w jazaka Allahu khairan
May Allah bless you Ameen
you are truly an inspiration
Jazakallah
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