Praise The Prophet Poetry Competition

[Darqawi]

1st Annual International Praise the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) Poetry Competition (Submission Deadline is August 31st, 2006)

 

In light of recent conscious acts of denigration and subsequent reactions we, at IslamicPoetry.org, would like to invite Muslims and non-Muslims of all ages to take part in a contest of English poetry in praise of the most praiseworthy creation, the beloved of God Almighty, His messenger and prophet, Muhammad, Allah bless him and given him peace.

 

Another reason behind this is that we hope to encourage people to address themselves to an aspect of Islamic literature, which has to a degree been neglected in the West. We all know that poems in praise of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, are found in abundance in the lands of Islam: in Urdu, Malay, Senegalese, Dari, Pashto, Chinese, Arabic, Punjabi, Turkish, and many more.

 

It is our intention to help spark a conscious effort to promote this tradition in the English language and therefore pray that you will join us in this effort.

 

For more information, please visit http://praisetheprophet.islamicpoetry.org/index.php

[Thierry.]

Brother did this competition used to take place during the days of the companions or even the era of Muhamed SAW

 

If yes

Please present the Sahih hadiths and the Quaran to support this (and we will write poems to the best of our ability)

 

If no

Then it must be bidha in which case you want us to do an act that the best of genereations did not do.

[Khayr]

Originally posted by Ibn Abbas:

Brother did this competition used to take place during the days of the companions or even the era of Muhamed SAW

 

If yes

Please present the Sahih hadiths and the Quaran to support this (and we will write poems to the best of our ability)

 

If no

Then it must be bidha in which case you want us to do an act that the best of genereations did not do.

Saxib,

 

Maybe this can be of some help to you

 

There were some very fine poets among the Prophet’s companions, the most famous of whom were Hassan ibn Thabit and Abdullah ibn Rawahah. He encouraged them to use their talent to refute the unbelievers’ accusations leveled at him, his companions and Islam. They were more than a match to the idolater poets who resorted to lies, abuse and false accusations.

 

But the Prophet also appreciated poetry that often expressed human wisdom, even when such poetry was by a non-Muslim poet. Amr ibn Al-Sharid mentions a report by his father who says: “I was riding behind the Prophet on the same mount when the Prophet asked me: ‘Do you memorize any poetry by Umayyah ibn Abi Al-Salt?’ When I answered in the affirmative, he asked me to recite. I quoted one line, and he asked for more. He kept asking for more until I had recited one hundred lines.†(Related by Muslim, Ahmad, Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad.)

 

It should be mentioned that Umayyah ibn Abi Al-Salt was a pre-Islamic poet who included much wisdom in his poetry. Much of what he said is universally acceptable as he extolled moral values and enshrined ideals of justice, freedom, courage and truth.

 

When the Prophet’s companions were doing together something of importance, or facing danger, they might chant some poetry to express their unity of purpose. This is something common to all people, as we see the fans chanting support to their team during a match. One of the more difficult times the Prophet’s companions went through was when the Arab unbelievers colluded with the Jews and marched toward Madinah, pledged to annihilate Islam altogether.

The Prophet ordered a moat to be dug outside Madinah, to deny the attacking army easy entry. The Prophet shared in digging it like everyone else, because the digging had to be completed within a short period of time. As they were engaged in this great effort, the Prophet’s companions chanted a rhyme saying: “Had it not been for God’s grace, we would not have known His guidance, and we would have neither given charity nor prayed. Our Lord! Grant us serenity in this difficult time, and steady our footsteps should we engage our enemy in battle. It is the other party that is the aggressor; but we will never yield to their persecution.†As they repeated this rhyme, the Prophet would raise his voice twice repeating its last word, abayna, which means “we will never yield.â€

 

But this was not the only rhyme the Prophet’s companions chanted as they were digging the moat. Another one repeated particularly by the Ansar may be translated as follows: “We are the ones who have given firm pledges to Muhammad that we will strive for God’s cause as long as we live.†The Prophet answered them with rhyming phrases, but not in prose, saying: “The only true life is that of the hereafter. My Lord, grant your bounty to the Ansar and the Muhajireen.†(Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad.)

 

 

Source

[Nur]

.

 

There is no doubt that Prophet Muhammad SAWS deserves praise and love, the love of the prophet SAWS is love of Allah swt, and the love of Allah SWT is conditional to the following of the Sunnah of the Prophet SAWS..

 

Allah SWT says in Quraan:

 

" (O Muahammad) say to people, if you indeed love Allah, then follow me ( Sunnah) Allah wil love you and forgive you your sins."

 

The above clearly ties the love of Alllah to the following of Prophets Sunnah. No one in his lifetime or in the Sahaabah time arranged such a competition for the Prophets praise, they were busy as the article says digging the ground to instill Islam for generations to come. To chant while working for Islam is not only permissible, its highly honorable, but WORK for Islam, we must not forget.

 

But today, what we lack most is a thorough knowledge of the Prophets lifestyle ( Sunnah) therefore, we need a different competition to determine who among us knows the Sunnah of the prophet SAWS the most, and to vote for who among present schoalrs or leaders applies the most Sunnah in their lives.

 

Poetry is good when it is backing the Sunnah, because Prophet Muhammad SAWS is living among us today through His Character reflected in the Sunnah way of life which he taught.

 

We need a competition of ideas of how to reestablish Islam again in the world, a competition of peaceful methods of protesting the injustice that befell the ummah, a competition of inventing technologies to alliviate the plight of the poor, such as water and sanitation. A competition of leadership and vision, a competition in debating Islam's adversaries with reason not revenge, a competition of ideas for social change, safe streets, good neighborliness, fair business, healthy living and family values.

 

 

Nur