The Origins of Nasheeds
After accepting Islam, the famous companion Sayyidunā Ḥassān ibn Thābit, may Allāh be pleased with him, wrote poetry to praise and defend the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet ﷺ ordered for a minbar (pulpit) to be constructed for him in Masjid Al-Nabawi to stand on and recite from, and prayed for him:
"O Hassaan! Reply on behalf
of Allah's Messenger. O Allāh! Help him
with the Rūh Al-Qudus (Angel Jibrīl)."
When the Prophet ﷺ entered Al-Madinah, the Ansār collectively recited what is arguably one of the most famous nasheeds of all time - 'Tala'al Badru 'Alayna' (the full moon rose over us).
The name “Muḥammad” itself means often praised and “Aḥmad” means deserving of praise. The Prophet ﷺ commanded us not to exaggerate in divinely, as this is worthy for God alone, hence the great poet, Imām Al-Buṣīrī Al-Shādhilī, in his magnificent poem Qaṣidah Al-Burdah, said:
دَعْ مَا ادَّعَتْهُ النَّصَارَى فِي نَبِيِّهِمِ
وَاحْكُمْ بِمَا شِئْتَ مَدْحًا فِيهِ وَاحْتَكِمِ
"Leave what the Christians
have claimed about their Prophet,
Beyond that you may say
whatever you wish in praise of him ﷺ"
Hence, throughout the centuries, in almost every language, poets have kept up with these traditions and tried to describe and praise the Prophet, peace be upon him, with the utmost eloquence. They tried to describe their love for him, his rank, his description, his favours upon humanity and mich more. One line of poetry from Ḥassān ibn Thābit suffices in describing this noble act, where he said:
مَا إِنْ مَدَحْتُ مُحَمَّدًا بِمَقالَتِي
لَكِنْ مَدَحْتُ مَقالَتِي بِمُحَمَّدِ
"I am not praising Muhammad by my poetry,
rather my poetry is praised
by the mention of Muhammad [in it]".
In our nasheed courses, we aim to bring this instil and kindle this love of Allāh and the Prophet, peace be upon him, into the hearts of our students with the greatest care and etiquette, in a fun environment. Course booklets and audios are provided to help them learn in the easiest way. Our syllabus contains poems in Arabic, English and Urdu (na'ts). The course ends with a graduation assembly, where students perform and certificates are awarded. Click here for more details.
A section of our course booket
Hounslow
Graduation ceremonies from previous courses