The second lecture of Day 2 at AL-RIHLA 2026 continued directly from the morning session at the University of Nottingham, where Shaykh Hammad Mustafa al-Madani al-Qadri had explored the beginning of Revelation and the historic testimony of Sayyidatunā Khadījah al-Kubrā رضي الله عنها concerning the character of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The morning lecture had concluded with her testimony that the Holy Prophet ﷺ maintained ties of kinship, spoke the truth, carried the burdens of others, provided for those in need, honoured guests and supported those afflicted by hardship. The evening lecture took those characteristics forward into the public mission of Prophethood, examining how the Holy Prophet ﷺ transformed individuals and society through mercy, moral character, daʿwah and the movement of humanity from darkness into light.

Participants were also joined by international guests from the United States, Norway and Denmark, alongside senior scholars, executives and representatives of Minhaj-ul-Quran International. Among those acknowledged were guests from Dallas, Texas, senior MQI scholars and representatives from across the organisation, together with Minhaj Welfare Foundation and the teams supporting the residential, production and international broadcast.

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPHETIC MISSION:

Shaykh Hammad began by returning to the Qur’anic foundations of Prophethood.

Allah ﷻ says in Sūrah al-Jumuʿah 62:2 that the Messenger ﷺ was sent from among the people themselves:

يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ

The four purposes were explained in their Qur’anic order:

1. Reciting the verses of Allah

2. Purifying people

3. Teaching the Book

4. Imparting wisdom

The sequence itself carries an important lesson. Revelation is first heard, but before knowledge can settle properly within a person, the inner self requires purification. Once the heart becomes fertile ground, learning can take root and wisdom can grow from it.

Lesson: Purification must accompany learning

Knowledge alone does not necessarily transform a person.

A heart affected by arrogance, lower desires, hatred, dishonesty or other spiritual diseases can receive information without receiving wisdom.

The Prophetic method therefore combines knowledge with tazkiyah, purification of the inner self.

FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT:

The wider purpose of the Prophetic mission was then presented through Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:1:

لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

“So that you may bring humanity out of darkness into light.”

The Holy Prophet ﷺ was not sent simply to communicate information. His mission was transformational.

Humanity was to be moved from the darkness of ignorance, immorality, injustice, falsehood and uncontrolled desire into the light of Divine guidance.

This was reinforced through Sūrah al-Aḥzāb 33:45-46, where the Holy Prophet ﷺ is described as:

• A witness

• A bearer of glad tidings

• A warner

• A caller towards Allah

وَسِرَاجًا مُّنِيرً

“An illuminating lamp.”

Lesson: The Sīrah is a journey from darkness into light

The purpose of studying the Holy Prophet ﷺ is not merely to admire what happened fourteen centuries ago.

The same Sīrah must expose the darkness that remains within our own habits, attitudes and conduct, and provide the route towards reform.

WHEN WAS THE HOLY PROPHET ﷺ A PROPHET?:

A question arising from the previous lecture was then addressed.

If the Holy Prophet ﷺ already possessed complete purity and Prophetic qualities before the first Revelation, when did Prophethood actually begin?

Shaykh Hammad cited narrations transmitted by Imām Aḥmad and Imām al-Ḥākim in which the Companions asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ when Prophethood had been confirmed for him.

He ﷺ replied:

وَآدَمُ بَيْنَ الرُّوحِ وَالْجَسَدِ

“When Adam was between his spirit and his body.”

A further narration was presented in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that he was already recorded with Allah in Umm al-Kitāb, the Mother of the Book, as the Seal of the Prophets.

The point emphasised was that the public proclamation of Prophethood occurred at forty, but the Prophetic reality was not created at the moment of the first Revelation.

Lesson: Revelation announced a mission already divinely chosen

The encounter at Ghār Ḥirāʾ marked the beginning of the public mission of Revelation.

It did not represent the beginning of Allah’s choosing of His Beloved ﷺ.

MERCY WHEN PERSONALLY WRONGED:

Returning to the final characteristic identified by Sayyidatunā Khadījah رضي الله عنها, that the Holy Prophet ﷺ supported those affected by hardship, Shaykh Hammad presented a striking account involving a Bedouin.

A report transmitted through Abū Dāwūd describes a man pulling the coarse Yemeni cloak of the Holy Prophet ﷺ so violently that it left a mark upon his blessed neck.

The man then demanded that two camels be loaded with provisions.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ responded:

لَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ

“No, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness.”

When the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked him to acknowledge what he had done, the man refused.

The Companions were naturally ready to intervene, but the Holy Prophet ﷺ restrained them.

Rather than retaliating, he ordered that one camel be loaded with barley and the other with dates and allowed the man to leave.

The specific chain of this report was noted as weak, while the wider pattern of Prophetic leniency and generosity is established through stronger agreed-upon narrations.

Lesson: Do not become like the person who harms you

• The ordinary instinct is to answer harshness with harshness.

• The Prophetic standard is higher.

• When someone harms you, do not automatically harm them in return. When someone behaves harshly, do not allow their harshness to dictate your own character.

• Mercy should remain mercy even under pressure.

THE STRANGER WHO INTERRUPTED THE SERMON:

A further example was presented from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

Sayyidunā Abū Rifāʿah رضي الله عنه entered while the Holy Prophet ﷺ was delivering a formal sermon.

Unfamiliar with the etiquette of the gathering, he interrupted and said that he was a stranger who did not understand his religion and had come seeking knowledge.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ did not humiliate him.

He did not tell him to sit down and wait.

Instead, he stopped the sermon, descended from the minbar, had a chair brought, sat with the stranger and answered his questions.

Only when the man’s need had been met did the Holy Prophet ﷺ return and complete the sermon.

Lesson: Never make someone feel like an inconvenience

The Holy Prophet ﷺ was addressing an entire gathering, yet one confused person mattered.

True leadership does not hide behind importance.

It gives people time, attention and access.

THE BEDOUIN IN THE MOSQUE:

The same principle of mercy was illustrated through the famous narration in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

A Bedouin entered the mosque and, unfamiliar with its sanctity and customs, began to urinate in one corner.

The Companions immediately moved to stop him.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ instructed:

“Leave him.”

He allowed the man to finish and then instructed that a bucket of water be poured over the area.

Only afterwards did he gently explain the sanctity of the mosque.

The Prophetic principle was summarised:

إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُمْ مُيَسِّرِينَ وَلَمْ تُبْعَثُوا مُعَسِّرِينَ

“You have only been sent to make things easy; you have not been sent to make things hard.”

Lesson: Correct people without humiliating them

People come from different backgrounds, levels of knowledge and cultural experiences.

Correction should therefore reform rather than embarrass.

No shouting. No public humiliation. No unnecessary harshness.

Teach in a way that allows the person to leave better than they arrived.

DAʿWAH BEGINS WITH THE NEAREST OF KIN:

The lecture then moved into the public phase of the Meccan mission.

Allah ﷻ commanded:

وَأَنذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الْأَقْرَبِينَ

“Warn your tribe, the nearest of kin.”

Sūrah al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:214

The first expanded audience for the message was therefore family.

Lesson: Reform begins at home

The first people who should experience the effect of our faith are those who live closest to us.

Our parents, spouses, children, siblings and relatives should encounter Prophetic character before wider society hears our words.

THE ADDRESS FROM ṢAFĀ:

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī records that the Holy Prophet ﷺ gathered the clans of Quraysh at Mount Ṣafā.

He asked them:

“If I told you cavalry were waiting behind this valley to attack you, would you believe me?”

They answered:

مَا جَرَّبْنَا عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا صِدْقً

“We have experienced nothing from you except truth.”

This statement came from people who had not yet accepted his message.

They could dispute his proclamation, but they could not dispute the character they had witnessed throughout his life.

Only after they themselves had confirmed his truthfulness did the Holy Prophet ﷺ warn them of what lay ahead.

Lesson: Let people establish what they already know

The Holy Prophet ﷺ did not begin with argument.

He asked Quraysh to testify to the truth they had already witnessed.

Character had already created the evidence.

When Abū Lahab reacted with hostility and cursed the Holy Prophet ﷺ, Allah ﷻ responded on behalf of His Beloved through Sūrah al-Masad.

THE FIRST MIGRATION: WHY ABYSSINIA?:

As persecution intensified in Makkah, the Holy Prophet ﷺ directed some of the most exposed Muslims to migrate.

The chosen destination was Abyssinia.

The reason was expressed simply:

مَلِكًا لَا يُظْلَمُ عِنْدَهُ أَحَدٌ

“There is a king in whose presence no one is wronged.”

The criterion was justice.

The ruler was Christian, yet the Holy Prophet ﷺ identified his land as a place of security because injustice would not be tolerated there.

Lesson: Justice is a foundation for coexistence

The first destination of Muslim migration was not selected on the basis of the ruler sharing the same faith.

It was selected because he was just.

This became an important Prophetic precedent for coexistence, interfaith engagement and recognising justice wherever it exists.

THE HOLY PROPHET ﷺ REMAINED AT THE POINT OF GREATEST RISK:

Among those sent to Abyssinia were members of the Prophet’s ﷺ own family and some of the most vulnerable believers.

His blessed daughter migrated together with Sayyidunā ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنه.

Sayyidunā Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه was appointed as the principal spokesman.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ himself remained in Makkah.

Lesson: Leadership protects others before itself

The most vulnerable were moved towards safety.

The leader remained at the point of greatest exposure.

THE QURAYSH DELEGATION:

Quraysh did not accept the Muslims finding security abroad.

They sent ʿAbdullāh ibn Rabīʿah and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ as representatives, carrying gifts to influence the political establishment of Abyssinia.

They portrayed the Muslim emigrants as young people who had abandoned the religion of their forefathers without embracing Christianity.

Their objective was for the Muslims to be returned to Makkah.

The Negus, Najāshī, refused to rule on the matter without hearing the Muslims themselves.

Lesson: Justice hears both sides

Power does not make judgement fair.

The Negus demonstrated justice by refusing to decide until those being accused had been heard.

JAʿFAR رضي الله عنه BEFORE THE NEGUS:

Sayyidunā Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه then delivered one of the great speeches of the early Islamic period.

He began not by attacking Quraysh, but by acknowledging the condition from which the Muslims themselves had come.

“O King, we were a people of jāhiliyyah. We worshipped idols, ate carrion, committed shameful deeds, severed ties of kinship, mistreated neighbours, and the strong among us devoured the weak.”

This opening carried immense credibility.

He did not romanticise his community’s past.

He testified against it.

Lesson: Honest reform begins with honest diagnosis

A person who refuses to recognise the disease cannot meaningfully pursue the cure.

Jāhiliyyah was not simply something that belonged to seventh-century Arabia.

Its patterns can return whenever ego replaces Allah, families are severed, neighbours are ignored, lower desires dominate and the strong exploit the weak.

THE MESSENGER ﷺ THEY ALREADY KNEW:

Sayyidunā Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه explained that Allah had then sent a Messenger from amongst them whose character was already known:

نَعْرِفُ نَسَبَهُ وَصِدْقَهُ وَأَمَانَتَهُ وَعَفَافَهُ

“We knew his lineage, his truthfulness, his trustworthiness and his chastity.”

These were not qualities claimed only by his followers.

They had been publicly established before the proclamation of Prophethood.

• Nasab: noble lineage

• Ṣidq: truthfulness

• Amānah: trustworthiness

• ʿAfāf: chastity and purity

Lesson: Character gave credibility to the call

The mission did not begin with an unknown man asking Makkah to trust him.

Forty years of life had already established the character of the Messenger ﷺ.

THE 14-POINT MORAL CONSTITUTION:

Sayyidunā Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه then described what the Holy Prophet ﷺ had commanded the Muslims to practise.

The lecture identified fourteen principles:

1. Truthfulness of speech

2. Rendering trusts and protecting what has been entrusted

3. Maintaining ties of kinship

4. Excellence towards the neighbour

5. Restraining oneself from what Allah has prohibited

6. Restraining from bloodshed

7. Avoiding shameful deeds

8. Avoiding false speech

9. Not consuming the wealth of the orphan

10. Not slandering chaste women

11. Worshipping Allah alone

12. Establishing Ṣalāh

13. Giving Zakāh

14. Fasting

A striking observation followed.

Eleven of the fourteen relate principally to how human beings conduct themselves with one another.

Only three concern ritual worship directly.

Lesson: Islam is not ritual without character

Prayer, fasting and Zakāh are central acts of worship.

But the same Prophetic mission also demands truthfulness, trustworthiness, family responsibility, neighbourliness, restraint and protection of the vulnerable.

Faith must appear in relationships.

THE PLEDGE TO TRUTHFULNESS:

The audience was encouraged to make the first principle personal.

Whenever speaking, messaging, posting online, conducting business or making a commitment, truthfulness must remain the standard.

• No manipulation.

• No exaggeration.

• No deceit.

• No convenient falsehood.

Lesson: Become known by your truthfulness

The Holy Prophet ﷺ was known as al-Amīn before his public mission began.

Our own reputations should similarly make people feel safe trusting our words and dealings.

THE PLEDGE TO PROTECT TRUSTS:

Amānah encompasses much more than physical possessions.

• A confidence is an amānah.

• A private conversation can be an amānah.

• Money can be an amānah.

• An organisational responsibility can be an amānah.

• A person’s vulnerability can be an amānah.

Lesson: Protect what others place in your hands

Trust takes years to build and moments to destroy.

THE PLEDGE TO REPAIR FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS:

Participants were encouraged to become the first person to repair damaged family relationships, even where they felt someone else had acted wrongly.

Lesson: Take the first step

The Prophetic standard is not to wait indefinitely for the other person to apologise.

Where reconciliation is possible and appropriate, become the person who initiates it.

THE RIGHTS OF THE NEIGHBOUR:

The fourth principle was ihsān towards neighbours.

Modern urban life can mean living beside someone for years without knowing their name.

The Prophetic standard requires more.

A greeting, kindness, food, sharing during Ramadan or Eid and simple concern can transform neighbourhood relationships.

Lesson: Your faith should reach next door

The neighbour should experience goodness because a Muslim lives beside them.

RESTRAINING LOWER DESIRES:

The fifth principle concerned restraint from the forbidden.

Shaykh Hammad connected this directly to the modern flood of inappropriate content through phones, social media, artificial intelligence platforms and constant exposure.

The metaphor used was that of a dam resisting a flood.

Lesson: Build a dam against harmful desire

The believer does not simply follow every impulse of the eye, body, mind or heart.

Self-control is itself part of freedom.

The audience pledged to strive against unlawful desires rather than surrender to them.

SALĀH: THE MEETING WITH ALLAH:

The twelfth principle received particular emphasis.

Ṣalāh was described not merely as an obligation, but as a scheduled meeting with Allah ﷻ.

Five times each day, the believer is invited away from the world and towards their Lord.

The audience was encouraged to make a collective commitment to protect the five daily prayers to the best of their ability.

Lesson: Do not abandon the appointment with Allah

• If closeness to Allah is truly desired, Ṣalāh cannot remain peripheral.

• The invitation has already been given.

• Our responsibility is to attend.

Night prayer was also encouraged for those able to establish it: finding a quiet period when the household sleeps, standing before Allah and seeking forgiveness, nearness and guidance.

ZAKĀH AND DETACHMENT FROM THE DUNYĀ:

The thirteenth principle concerned Zakāh.

• Wealth itself was not condemned.

• The danger is becoming possessed by what we possess.

Lesson: Earn without becoming owned by what you earn

The world can remain in the hand without being allowed to occupy the heart.

FASTING BEYOND FOOD:

The fourteenth principle concerned fasting.

• The concept was expanded beyond abstention from food and drink.

• There is also a fasting of the lower self, the mind and the spirit.

Lesson: Restrain more than the stomach

True fasting teaches the whole person to live under discipline.

SŪRAT MARYAM BEFORE THE NEGUS:

The Negus then asked what Islam taught concerning the people revered within his own Christian faith.

Sayyidunā Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه responded by reciting from Sūrat Maryam.

The selection was profound.

He recited the Qur’anic account concerning Sayyidatunā Maryam عليها السلام and Sayyidunā ʿĪsā عليه السلام without changing the message to suit the political audience.

The Negus wept until his beard was wet with tears.

His bishops also wept.

He declared:

لِيَخْرُجْ مِنْ مِشْكَاةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ

“This and what Mūsā brought come from one and the same niche of light.”

The Muslims were granted protection and remained in Abyssinia until a secure Muslim society had been established in Madinah.

Lesson: Speak truth respectfully without diluting it

Sayyidunā Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه did not insult the faith of the king.

Nor did he compromise the Qur’anic message.

His method combined confidence, truth and respect.

TRANSFORMING ʿĀDA INTO ʿIBĀDA:

The lecture then moved into one of its most practical themes.

The goal of the believer is to transform ʿāda, ordinary habit, into ʿibāda, worship.

The difference can begin with intention.

A person working from nine to five may outwardly appear to be performing a professional task.

But if the intention is to earn lawful provision, support a family, act honestly and benefit people, the working day itself can become worship.

• The same applies to study.

• The same applies to travelling.

• The same applies to service.

• The same applies to volunteering.

Lesson: Intention can transform the ordinary

Life does not need to be divided into “religious time” and “ordinary time”.

The believer can bring Allah into the purpose behind both.

SERVICE OF THE DĪN AS WORSHIP:

Particular emphasis was placed on service.

A person setting up chairs, cleaning tables, operating cameras, driving between cities, attending organisational meetings, preparing events, distributing materials or supporting participants may not appear to be performing a traditional devotional act.

But when done sincerely for Allah and to enable others to learn and worship, those efforts themselves become ʿibāda.

The act can extend its benefit far beyond the individual.

Lesson: Do not only attend, but also contribute

AL-RIHLA should not become an annual gathering which is consumed and then forgotten.

The aim is to return home asking:

How can my time, profession, knowledge, network and skills help the Dīn?

THE NEIGHBOUR’S INVITATION:

A narration from Ṣaḥīḥayn concerning a Persian neighbour demonstrated another dimension of Prophetic sensitivity.

The neighbour prepared an excellent broth and invited the Holy Prophet ﷺ.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ asked whether Sayyidatunā ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها was also invited.

The answer was no.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ declined.

The invitation came again.

Again he asked whether she was included.

Again the answer was no, and again he declined.

Only on the third invitation, when Sayyidatunā ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها was included, did the Holy Prophet ﷺ accept.

The broader importance of the neighbour was reinforced through the famous teaching:

حَتَّى ظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُ سَيُوَرِّثُهُ

“Jibrīl continued to advise me concerning the neighbour until I thought he would make the neighbour an heir.”

Lesson: Do not enjoy inclusion through another person’s exclusion

Consider how the people closest to you may feel before accepting something for yourself.

THE DELEGATION OF ʿABD AL-QAYS:

The final case study concerned the delegation of ʿAbd al-Qays and its leader, al-Mundhir ibn ʿĀ’idh, known as al-Ashajj.

He carried a prominent facial scar following an accident involving a donkey, something which could easily have become a source of mockery.

When he came before the Holy Prophet ﷺ, his nickname was not used to diminish him.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ transformed it into a source of honour.

He recognised his leadership, treated him with respect, sat upright when he approached and asked about the towns and localities from which the delegation had travelled.

The visitors were hosted by the Anṣār, and the following morning the Holy Prophet ﷺ checked that they had been properly honoured.

He then said to al-Ashajj:

إِنَّ فِيكَ خَصْلَتَيْنِ يُحِبُّهُمَا اللَّهُ: الْحِلْمُ وَالْأَنَاةُ

“In you are two qualities that Allah loves: forbearance and deliberateness.”

Lesson: Turn another person’s sensitivity into dignity

Do not use someone’s weakness, appearance, history or insecurity as material for humour.

The Prophetic method uplifts people.

THE COLLECTIVE PLEDGES:

Throughout the session, participants were encouraged not merely to listen, but to commit themselves to action. Among the collective pledges made were:

• To strive to practise the fourteen principles presented by Sayyidunā Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه

• To protect Ṣalāh and not abandon the five daily prayers to the best of one’s ability

• To restrain unlawful desires and build discipline against harmful influences

• To become the first person to repair broken family relations wherever reconciliation is possible

• To transform ordinary work, study and service into worship through sincere intention

• To become people known by truthfulness, trustworthiness and concern for others

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT:

The session brought the Day 2 journey full circle.

The morning lecture had presented Sayyidatunā Khadījah’s رضي الله عنها testimony to the character already manifest in the Holy Prophet ﷺ before the public mission.

The evening lecture showed that same character moving beyond the home and into society.

• Mercy towards the rude.

• Time for the stranger.

• Gentleness with the uninformed.

• Truthfulness before opponents.

• Justice across faiths.

• Protection of the vulnerable.

• Respect for neighbours.

• Discipline over desires.

• Honouring prayer.

• Service to humanity.

• These were not secondary elements of Islam.

They were among the very qualities through which the Holy Prophet ﷺ moved people from ẓulumāt into nūr.

The challenge of AL-RIHLA remains the same:

Can the Sīrah we have heard begin to appear in the way we live?

NEXT LECTURE:

The final lecture of AL-RIHLA 2026 will continue the blessed journey through some of the most defining events of the Prophetic mission.

Shaykh Hammad Mustafa al-Madani al-Qadri will move into the Year of Sorrow, the events of Tā’if and the extraordinary patience of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, before tracing the Hijrah to Madinah, the establishment of the Medinan society, the Constitution of Madinah and selected lessons from the later Prophetic period.

The three-day journey will then conclude by approaching the final days and blessed departure of the Holy Prophet ﷺ from this temporal world.

From the darkness of Makkah to the illuminated society of Madinah, the final session will bring together the transformation that the Sīrah created in individuals, families, communities and civilisation.

The journey continues from knowing the Sīrah to living the Sīrah.