In April 2007, Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi, may Allah preserve him, delivered a four-day intensive course in Birmingham, UK, reading from al-Shama’il al-Muhammadiyyah, the well-known collection of Prophetic narrations describing the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. By the grace of Allah most High, the Arabic text was taught in its entirety, accompanied by English translation and commentary. The event had an unprecedented attendance, as thousands of students gathered for a spiritual journey led by one of the grandsons and heirs of the Prophet.

Sacred Knowledge is pleased to announce an online course of al-Shama’il, consisting of video selections from the programme in 2007. All the video clips will be available free of charge to view and no registration is required. We hope to upload 20 minute video clips every 2 weeks (subject to change). The Arabic reading of the text has been omitted.

We would recommend that viewers read the biography of Imam al-Tirmidhi and the article “Importance of Studying al-Shama’il”, as well as obtaining a copy of the book. The book has already been translated into English, and a new translation is due to be published by Fons Vitae.

You have not lost the chance to hear his description

Islands are known for their greens, gazebos, warm winds caressing the cheeks and languid days. The island of New York is known for its grays, garages, cold winds biting the cheeks, and its blustery hustle and bustle. If nothing else could bring warmth into this maze of a city, hearing hadith from a monumental man, Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, raised the heat up to island level. For the fifth consecutive Ramadhan, New York City, the metropolis, earth’s most intricate maze for hunting and gathering great wares became for the muslims, a great hunt for knowledge as Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, the knight of Knowledge and Gnosis, hailing from Syria, arrived, setting the moon over Manhattan.

By day, the subject was the Prophet Muhammad, the Preferred, peace be upon him, at the Islamic Center of New York, on Riverside Dr. By nightfall Sheikh Muhammad headed for the Jami’ masjid on 96th St., just after iftar and the maghrib prayer. He commented on the Surah Yasin, recited in the morn by the dutiful. In addition, each evening he elaborated on the 99 names of Allah. The Manhattan air was filled with breathings of remembrance, bringing us closer to our beloved, insha Allah, as our Lord exhorts, reminders benefit the hearts. These were the days to live it up on the infamous island, tilting the jealousy to those dwelling on the mainland, who desired, even if only in Ramadhan, that they had not migrated over the bridge into suburbia.

Fourteen years and fourteen centuries have passed seemingly separating us from the best of all who traversed this earth, the mercy to all the worlds. Yet this distance, by His permission, is always erased when sitting beneath the shade of our consummate teacher, Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, scholar and sage, austere guide, great Friend of Allah, blessed to be linked to the Prophet, peace be upon him, by blood and by breath, as a descendant and as a deputy of the sunnah, may our Lord preserve him.

The years between us and the Noblest of creation, our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, were almost entirely removed while we sat and listened to our instructor’s impeccable recitation and commentary on the Shama’il of Imam Tirmidhi [d.279 h] which includes over 400 hadiths, narrations transmitted by the most pious ones, the best of the ummah by virtue of seeing and being seen by our Prophet, peace be upon him, his noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all.

Listening to Sheikh Muhammad speak about our Master Muhammad, peace be upon him, invariably and inevitably brings forth an overflowing love for him, the Seal of prophethood, peace be upon him. This is the secret of sitting beneath the awe of an authentic scholar, the transmission affects the heart and reverberates in the soul. For students of Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, there are additional bounties. His ancestry to the Prophet, peace be upon him, makes him the thirty fourth grandson in the link by blood. In his connection by breath to the Prophet, peace be upon him, i.e., his link through the teachers of sacred knowledge, the ropes of verifiable trustworthy scholars, each sitting and learning from his/her teacher with the final teacher a companion who sat with the Prophet, peace be upon him, himself, Sheikh Muhammad’s are the highest isnads in the world. His teachers and his teachers’ teachers, and so on along the isnads, were the eldest elite of the ‘ulema in each of their respective generations, such a link is priceless to the one who knows its value. The teachers that connect us to the Prophet, peace be upon him, through Sheikh Muhammad, make up the shortest chain on earth. This is one of the secrets behind the awestruck feeling one gets sitting in his class, the closeness to the Prophet, peace be upon him, is felt to the bone.

It is incumbent on the seeker to take care wherefrom he attains his knowledge, thus verifying the authenticity of his teacher is paramount. Sheikh Muhammad is one of the handful few in the world who not only transmits authentic knowledge about every subject under the sacred sciences, but transmits knowledge about the teachers in each of the fourteen centuries of generations of scholars, which is as rare to find in a scholar as red sulphur. Sheikh Muhammad is a delight to other scholars around the world when he travels, as he is a punctilious reference on each scholar’s relation to another through their chains of knowledge. Like every diligent son, he knows his family tree, but in addition, he knows his teacher tree and knows about others’ trees as well, all of them leading to the one who is the source of knowledge and light to the world, the one who passed the Lote tree of the furthest knowledge, our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Remarkably, Sheikh Muhammad’s location on these legacies of knowledge is invariably in line with two generations above a contemporary scholar because of his dear father’s wisdom in taking him to meet the eldest scholars and taking their ijaza and narrating from them, all of this, while sheikh Muhammad was still a young boy. This makes sheikh Muhammad a grand uncle or a great grand uncle to most other scholars in the knowledge tree, which defies his age. To highlight by example, a couple of young students, who are in their early twenties, recently attended Sheikh Muhammad’s lectures. They turned out to be the great grandchildren of one of sheikh Muhammad’s foremost teachers, May Allah be pleased with him. How could this be? Because Sheikh Ibrahim, sheikh Muhammad’s father, teacher, and guide, May Allah be pleased with him, began teaching sheikh Muhammad at the tender age of five, such that he was well on his way to becoming a great scholar of Sacred Knowledge (a catchphrase he coined to represent the apex of epistemology) by the age of eleven. With high aspiration and the hallowed men of Allah around us as His agents, the reason for existence may be reached, Knowing Allah and emulating the way of His beloved, peace be upon him.

Perfunctory New York was transformed into a palisade of praises on our Prophet Muhammad, the Preferred, peace be upon him, as we heard from the mouth of one of the most meticulous muhaddiths of our times, covering the text of Imam Tirmidhi’s (d. 279 h) “Shama’il Muhammadiya.” The class sessions included the following topics: the Prophet’s physical appearance and demeanor, his decorum and his dress, character and characteristics, peace be upon him. We listened to everything from the description of the seal of prophethood, located on his back between the shoulders, to his glistening dark hair and his gleaming dark eyes. Indeed, the first few sections of the book about his physical characteristics transported the listener into a state of adoration of the most beautiful human being. His beauty eclipsed all other beauties, befittingly, the moon is the preferred metaphor for our Prophet, because its illumination is salient when the firmament is dark while all else is covered by the black robe of night, just as he, salla Allah alayhi was salaam was a pillar standing erect two thirds of the opaque hours, illuminating the world with his devotions, while most others lay reclined in the repose of night.

Sheikh Muhammad demonstrated the walk of the Prophet, peace be upon him, which was fast paced, as though he was walking downhill. He also simulated the narration which describes how the Prophet, peace be upon him, ate with the middle finger, index finger and the thumb. Sheikh Muhammad often emphasizes the fact that if one wishes to follow the Prophet’s sunnah it is not enough to read about it in texts. It is imperative to live with the heirs of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and see their way, in order to practice the sunnah precisely. He added that it would be better to eat with a fork if one does not learn the truly elegant way in which the Prophet ate with his fingers. In addition, his posture as he ate, was the most humble as he sat with the right leg folded, knee upward and the left leg folded to the side and his frame leaning forward, this is the figure of the most Beloved of all mankind. All of these characteristics affirm his lofty rank and engrave his position as the paladin of chivalry, peace be upon him.

The descriptions continued with our Prophet's possessions, wherein we learned that he, the Master of Creation had only one of each item he owned, from his cloak to his shoes (a unique style with two crisscrossed straps topped with a circular cover) his ring (silver) to his pillow which he would offer to his guest in his unmatched hospitality. We heard about his chain mail and his mail hood, his turban and his helmet, his sarong and his sword.

All of his traits are arrows pointing to the simplicity in his sublunary life and the sublimity in matters related to the target of this life, the eternal Other.

We continued, hearing about his choice of food and drink, (simple and not steady, he ate and drank what was available) his scent and his speech (clear and succinct) his laugh (a smile) and his cry: sight sans sound, i.e., only tears, except when praying, the sound was emitted not from his blessed mouth but from his treasure chest "like a boiling pot.” Indeed, hearing the commentary from a great man of Allah and a great savant, sheikh Muhammad, made the distance from our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, another form of presence.

Just as Imam Tirmidhi begins his book with the Prophet's outward characteristics making the reader stunned by his physical beauty, the closing chapters detail his character, with anecdotal evidence pointing to the internal springs that emanated on his form, such as humility, modesty, compassion, and magnanimity, leaving the reader by the end, speechless. This class imbibed in us a heightened understanding of the true eminence of the Prophet, peace be upon him, leaving our hearts in full acquiescence in acknowledging his rank as the best of creation. When a sincere lover speaks about his beloved, the love spreads like contagion to listeners and to those in his proximity, and all the more so with the most pristine love, loving the Master of mankind, peace be upon him. As we heard Sheikh Muhammad speak about the Prophet, peace be upon him, and recite his words, the hadith, verbatim, we could not help but fall deeper and deeper in love with him, peace be upon him, cling to him, and cry in longing for him. This class brought his presence, peace be upon him, vividly into our lives, and one who has his beloved with him, has no woe as the presence of his beloved is his balm. When true love is found, the lover always laments, “I knew you before I found you.” Indeed, this is more so for the truest love of all in the created realm, as our Lord states in the Quran: The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves. [33:6]

The Prophet sallah Allah alayhi was sallam use to request his companions, after the fajr prayer, to reveal their dreams, since oftentimes they would contain portents for the ummah, for instance, the call to prayer came to us through a dream of one of the companions. Furthermore, he, peace be upon him, said that a good dream is one part of forty six parts of prophethood. Indeed, it imports fresh news from the heavens.

Students attending classes of hadith often report the ecstatic Elysium of having dreams of the Prophet, sallah Allah alayhi was sallam, towards the conclusion of class. One sister had the double bounty of a dream with the Prophet, peace be upon him, and Sheikh Muhammad. She documented the dream just a few days after we completed the “Shama’il.” She saw the Prophet, peace be upon him, putting his hand on the chest of Sheikh Muhammad, and saying “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Great) three times, followed by, “Allahu Shafi” (Allah is the Healer) once, then, “Yaa Wajhun Nur” (O Face of Light), three times, sealing the supplication with the Ayat al Kursi, the Verse of the Throne. Finally, the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave Sheikh Muhammad a prescription: to take some dates with Zam Zam water. Two days later she dreamt that the Prophet offered him the dates and Zam Zam water.

Most students are not aware that Sheikh Muhammad has chronic asthma, such that in between long stretches of teaching, his lungs are inflamed, yet he continues teaching with élan for the sake of Allah and His Messenger and the seekers of Truth. Students who have heard his tireless breath linger for hours, elaborating on hadith, reciting the Quran, or commenting on various texts, are, of course, agape in amazement at his fervor, may Allah elongate his life. To hear someone recite the Fatiha twice in one breath is almost an inconceivable feat, but to hear Sheikh Muhammad do so, realizing the condition of his lungs, yet still delivering a euphonious elocution, is to submit to the miracles bestowed on him by our Lord, Glorious is He. During the course of the month, Sheikh Muhammad’s lungs were tried severely with his teeming schedule and his continuous serenades. Just after Eid time, (in synchrony with the sister’s dream), Sheikh Muhammad entered a serene state of succor as those around him noted. Such a heavy schedule would wreak havoc on the body but for Sheikh Muhammad, may Allah preserve him, it seemed only to wreak heaven. Such dreams tip a bucket of heaven on earth, this one pouring refreshing news about a charismatic man of Allah, confirming that he is under the watchful eye of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The radiant address, “O Face of Light” announces Sheikh Muhammad as an honorable heir to the throne of the sunnah, prayers and blessings on our Prophet, the height of humanity, as long as his blessed name is etched on the 'Arsh.