The mind often holds strongly onto what it believes in, as a person lost at sea holds onto the plank of wood keeping him afloat. Like the latter, the former does it for security and some sense of control.
What then happens when the mind is forced to abandon a reality it has built for decades and adopt truer realities?
For the person who studies the biography of the Prophet ﷺ, every event is experienced in high definition; the heart roams and takes along with it, the mind. Imaginations, colored vividly by emotions, feel more like memories. The Battle of Badr was lived; the angels were seen, as was az-Zubayr’s yellow turban. The mind has created and saved an image of everything. The mind was confident and proud of its image.
Madina is the city of the Prophet ﷺ; it was the city of Abubakar, Umar, Uthman and Ali; it was the city of our mothers; it was the city of the Muhajirun and the Ansar.
The seerah enthusiast visiting Madina for the first time might go into a confusional state for a while. After living with the ahlus suffah in the modestly built mosque of the Prophet ﷺ for years, they will be introduced to a reality of a mosque that has glamorous canopies, magnificent pillars and not a single eyesore. The muslim society built upon finding beauty and contentment in simplicity was replaced by a hub of hotels and shops, and the traces left of it are the ones that exist in the heart.
It takes some hours to align the knowledge of the Prophetic Mosque as understood from the seerah with the experienced Prophetic Mosque. It takes some time to accept that the eyes will not be blessed by the sight of his ﷺ face, and neither Abubakar nor Umar will be met. The gatherings of ibn Mas’ud are too far from reach, and the recitation of Ubayy will be missed.
It is only then that the seerah enthusiast fully internalizes the gravity of what has been lost, and of what might be lost without belief, repentance, and sincere obedience. The excruciating possibility of losing his ﷺ companionship in both worlds is realized.
If we did not get the joy of experiencing Madina as it was in this lifetime, may Allah ﷻ, out of His Encompassing Mercy not deny us of the joy of experiencing it in the next life.
SubhanAllāh, how beautiful this is.
When I visited the museum of the Masjid in Madinah, after going through the history of the blessed city, the first thing I did when I came out was look around my surroundings and I felt a deep loss, I didn't get to witness madinah as it was during the time of Rasullullah.
Amiin amiin, May Allāh unite us with His beloved Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wa sallam in Jannah.
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