Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi
Once in a while you meet someone you know you will never forget. There is something about being in their presence that draws you into their world. For the moments spent in their company, you begin to see the world through their eyes.
Their passion for what they believe is manifest in the aura that surrounds them and their sincerity conveyed in words that linger in your thoughts for days on end.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi is one of those rare people. For a man who is uncomfortable with praise, I struggle to convey what it meant to have received the gift of sacred knowledge from such a worthy possessor. Only those who are blessed by his company will know what, out of respect for his humility, has to remain unsaid.
Descending from a scholarly Syrian family whose lineage goes back to the Holy Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi is not the most obvious of teachers for your average Western student.
Son of the late Shaykh Ibrahim al-Ya'qoubi, former Imam of the Grand Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi's Islamic education began in early childhood. I asked him to tell me more about his background, but he politely replied by saying it is not one of his favourite subjects.
"I fear being trapped in a state of showing off" he said, leaving me amazed that even a man of such humility fears his own ego. "We all experience success and failure in our lives, but we tend to highlight the ups and avert the downs" he continued, claiming that feeling pride at one's achievements is intrinsic in human nature. "But Islam purifies the heart from such whims by training us through acts of worship" he added.
Hesitantly he answered my question, informing me about his father of whom he speaks with the utmost love and respect. "Under the grace of Allah, I was fortunate to be the son of one of the greatest Ulema and friends of Allah in this century. My father was not only a great scholar of Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, Arabic and the sciences related to them but also a great gnostic and ascetic who combined knowledge and practice; his life was a living example of the great Salaf of whom we read in history."
The huge impact of his father's presence on Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi's life soon became apparent. He told me that one of the most amazing things that struck him in his early childhood was his father's immense love for the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and his Sunnah. Testimony of that fact is evident in his life-long commitment to preserving the example of the Holy Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Even today, Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qoubi's possession of that inherited treasure leaves a lasting impression on anyone honoured enough to spend a few blessed moments in his company.
My short but memorable time as his student bestowed upon me the honour of hearing the Shaykh relate Ahadith about the appearance and character of the Holy Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
He would sit tirelessly for hours on end telling us Hadith after Hadith, barely pausing for breath in between. Not only would he rigorously explain to us their meaning in English but he would first relate them in Arabic in order to give us the baraka of the original words even though many of us did not understand them.
When telling us how the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam sat or how he licked his fingers after eating, the Shaykh would unreservedly demonstrate the actions, driven to detailed emulation out of his love for Allah's Messenger sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
Whenever he mentioned the name of Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, his face would reflect his internal state of deep reverence. It was one of the few times I ever saw someone's face illuminate with overwhelming love for the person they were describing.
I dared to ask the Shaykh to disclose his secret, posing to him the golden question of 'what it means to love the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.' Anticipating his response, I wondered how anyone could possibly answer such a question.
But for the one who truly knows and loves the beloved of Allah, the answer is simple. "To love the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam means to obey him" replied the Shaykh. "Love without following is meaningless," he said. "It is an easy thing to claim but difficult to prove because real love manifests itself in actions, not in words."