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- 460 - The position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam – 2
Allahﷻ declared that Muhammadﷺ is His Messengerﷺ and the last of them and the Seal of the Prophets and that after him there is no other.
مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمًا
Ahzab 33: 40 Muḥammad is not the father of any of your men but is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the prophets. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.
The first thing to remember about Rasoolullahﷺ and our relationship with him is that we are required to believe IN him. Not just to believe the message, but to believe that he, Muhammadﷺ, was the messenger of Allahﷻ. To believe in Rasoolullahﷺ as the messenger of Allahﷻ is essential because the message is about Al-Ghayb, the Unperceivable. Iman-bil-Ghayb is the fundamental element of our Creed. Everything depends on that. We believe in it because Rasoolullahﷺ said so. We believe him because we believe IN him and believe that he was completely truthful and so if he said that Allahﷻ said such and such, then we believe it. His word is the evidence, Daleel. This is the basic principle of authentication of Ahadith. The Muhadditheen check to see if Rasoolullahﷺ said it. If he did, they don’t go further to see if it can be proven scientifically or in any other way. If it is verified that he said it, we believe it. The reality is that our science doesn’t go far enough to look into the future or to tell us what happens after death or anything of Al-Ghayb. We believe in Al-Ghayb simply because Rasoolullahﷺ informed us about it. If you think about it, this makes the entire Qur’an also a Hadith of Rasoolullahﷺ. We believe that Alhamdulillahi Rabbil A’alameen is an Ayah only because Rasoolullahﷺ told us that it is an Ayah. It could just as easily have been something that Rasoolullahﷺ said, because if you wanted to say, ‘All praise and thanks are for Allahﷻ, the Rabb of the Worlds’, that is how you would say it in Arabic. This is what Abu Bakr As-Siddique (R) said when they told him that Rasoolullahﷺ had said that he had travelled from Makkah to Jerusalem and then into the heavens to meet Allahﷻ. He said, “If he said it, I believe it.” That became the fundamental principle of authenticating Ahadith. That is why it is critical to believe IN Muhammadﷺ, as the Rasool of Allahﷻ because the truth of his message is based on his position as the Messengerﷺ. Allahﷻ ordered him to announce to the world:
قُلْ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا ٱلَّذِى لَهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ يُحْىِۦ وَيُمِيتُ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ٱلنَّبِىِّ ٱلْأُمِّىِّ ٱلَّذِى يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَـٰتِهِۦ وَٱتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
A’araf 7: 158 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O humanity! I am Allah’s Messenger to you all. To Him ˹alone˺ belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. He gives life and causes death.” So, believe in Allah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His revelations. And follow him, so you may be ˹rightly˺ guided.
Allahﷻ reiterated and emphasized this relationship and commanded:
لِّتُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَتُعَزِّرُوهُ وَتُوَقِّرُوهُ وَتُسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
Fath 48: 9 So that you ˹believers˺ may have faith in Allah and His Messenger, support and honor him, and glorify Allah morning and evening.
The distinction of Rasoolullahﷺ is that though he is called a messenger, he is in fact a teacher. Unlike a postman who carries a bag of letters, which he has nothing to do with.Sun, 05 May 2024 - 22min - 459 - Position of Rasoolullahﷺ in Islam
The opposite of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge. Ignorance which is recognized is a blessing because the person then seeks to dispel it by learning. But the illusion of knowledge produces arrogance which shuts the door to learning and greases the slide into Jahannam. As happened for the first time when Iblis, blinded by his own faulty logic based on his illusion of knowledge decided to defy Allahﷻ’s command. Imam Shaf’ee (RA) said, ‘It is possible to convince 70 scholars with one Daleel (piece of evidence) but you can’t convince one ignorant person even with 70 Dala’il (pl. Daleel). May Allahﷻ make us humble and be willing to accept the truth when evidence is presented to us and remember that is it not about winning arguments but of standing for the truth.
Allahﷻ in His infinite Mercy, sent for us a way of life called Islam. This came in the form of His Revelation and its meaning and demonstration through its teacher, our Beloved Prophet Muhammad. A Book of Commands – the Qur’an and its Field book, the Sunnah of Rasoolullah. Allahﷻ promised to protect His Word (text, meaning, context, implementation) and said:
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَـٰفِظُونَ
Hijr 15: 9 It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and it is certainly We Who will preserve it.
The easiest way to understand this is to consider that Allahﷻ commanded us to pray. But didn’t explain the method of Salah in the Qur’an. Instead, He taught it to His Messenger who taught it to us and said, ‘Pray as you have seen me pray.’ Interestingly this is what Allahﷻ did with all the pillars of Islam to make the position of the Messenger abundantly clear. Allahﷻ said that Islam is the only way to salvation on the Day of Judgement and said:
وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ
A’al Imraan 3: 85 Whoever seeks a way other than Islam, it will never be accepted from them, and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers.
But Allahﷻ didn’t tell us how to enter Islam. It was Rasoolullah who was instructed about how people could enter Islam and it is from Him that we have the Shahada. In Hadith Jibreel we have the words of the Shahada:
On the authority of Omar ibn Al-Khattab (R) who said, “While we were one day sitting with Rasoolullah there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of travel were visible on him, and none of us knew him. He sat down close by Rasoolullah rested his knees against the knees of Rasoolullah and placed his palms over his thighs and said, “O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam.” Rasoolullah replied, “Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allahﷻ and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should establish Salah, pay Zakah, fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj to the House (Ka’aba), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it)." He said, “You have spoken the truth.”
The method of praying and all the rules related to it, the rules related to Zakat, fasting and Hajj, all come from Rasoolullah and not from the Qur’an directly. Without the guidance of Rasoolullah it is impossible to live Islam.
To help us understand the relationship between the Book of Allahﷻ and its explanation, the Sunnah of Rasoolullah, Allahﷻ said:
وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْىٌ يُوحَىٰ
Najm 53: 3-4 Nor does he speak of his own volition.Sun, 28 Apr 2024 - 16min - 458 - Remember the Standard
There are two ways to lead our lives. The way we want and the way Allahﷻ wants for us. Whichever way we choose, we will be held accountable for it when we die. The issue with living the way we want is that our knowledge is limited, and our desires rule us. The benefit of living the way Allahﷻ wants us to live is that He knows what is best for us and guides us to that and since the accounting is with Him, if we live by His way, that day will be a day of rejoicing. I remind you and myself that to live is not merely to draw breath. That is the way animals live. They are the slaves of their drives, they follow their desires, and one day they die, and the story is over. Humans on the other hand have the option of living like animals, fulfilling every desire. Or of living a life of purpose and leaving behind a legacy of honor. That is the choice which we must make.
To underline this and set the standard, Allahﷻ said:
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ ٱلنَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ
Aal Imraan 3: 185 Every soul will taste death. And you will only receive your full reward on the Day of Judgment. Whoever is spared from the Fire and is admitted into Jannah will ˹indeed˺ triumph, whereas the life of this world is no more than the delusion of enjoyment.
Let’s give this some thought and ask how our lives compare to this standard. Success and failure in life are products of the choices we make. The Qur’an and Sunnah guide us to the best of them, the path of those who Allahﷻ rewarded and not those who angered Him.
In this Ayat-ul-Kareema, Allahﷻ mentioned four critical things that we must always keep in mind. They are:
* We will die
* We will be called to account and be rewarded or punished
* Freedom from the Fire and entry into Jannah is final success
* The life of this world is deception
There is a saying in English, ‘Forewarned is forearmed.’ This means that if you have early warning about a forthcoming event, especially a danger, then you can be prepared to face it and succeed. That is the reason Rasoolullahﷺ said:
أبو سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه ، فجاء فتى من الأنصار فسلم على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثم جلس ، فقال : يا رسول الله أي المؤمنين أفضل ؟ قال : أحسنهم خلقا قال : فأي المؤمنين أكيس ؟ قال : أكثرهم للموت ذكرا وأحسنهم له استعدادا قبل أن ينزل بهم أولئك من الأكياس ثم سكت الفتى
Abu Saeed Al-Khudri (R) narrated, “Then a youth from the Ansar came and greeted Rasoolullahﷺ then he sat down and said: Ya Rasoolullahﷺ which of the believers is best? He (Rasoolullahﷺ) said: The best of them in character. The boy asked: Which of the believers is wisest? He (Rasoolullahﷺ) said: The ones who remember death the most and are the best prepared for it before those people take them down from the bags.
We see from this Hadith that it is a sign of intelligence to be prepared for death. There are numerous Ayaat where Allahﷻ mentioned death and the need to be prepared for it. Allahﷻ said about those who continue to live a life of heedlessness, denying the meeting with Allahﷻ on the Day of Judgement:
وَقَالُوٓا۟ أَءِذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَءِنَّا لَفِى خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍۭ بَلْ هُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّهِمْ كَـٰفِرُونَ
قُلْ يَتَوَفَّىٰكُم مَّلَكُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ٱلَّذِى وُكِّلَ بِكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ
وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذِ ٱلْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُوا۟ رُءُوسِهِمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ رَبَّنَآ أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا فَٱرْجِع...Mon, 22 Apr 2024 - 17min - 457 - Build the Relationship
Every relationship in the world has two things associated with it; a benefit that we derive from it and a responsibility that we owe to it. Any relationship that does not benefit ceases to exist even if it began and carried on for a while. Very soon any intelligent person will realize that they are gaining nothing from the relationship and will move away from it. On the contrary, a relationship that is beneficial will attract you to itself, will be constantly strengthened and you happily invest in it continuously because you realize how you are gaining from it. Needless to say the benefit or gain can be material (money, friends, fame, happiness) or non-material (spiritual peace, enlightenment, commitment to a cause or ideology, converts).
Let us see some examples from our lives.
Parents – Children: Parents gain from the love of their children; both being loved by them and being able to love them. They believe that they gain so much in fact that they are able to make little of all kinds of sacrifices for their children to bring them up. Sadly many grown up children don’t see the same level of benefit from continuing the relationship so they need to be motivated either by the promise of reward or the fear of punishment, to do even a fraction of what their parents did for them as they were growing up. There is of course a biological explanation for this relating to the continuation of the species and the discarding of those who have reached their productive end. But I remind myself that to transcend biology is the meaning of being civilized. To act for reasons other than species survival is to prove the existence of reason itself. For it is reason that distinguishes us from animals.
To pay for this gain, there are responsibilities that each must fulfill. Parents, the responsibility of Tarbiyya (proper upbringing) and children the responsibility of Khidmat (service to the parents).
Employer – Employee: This is a very easy one to understand where the employer gains from our work and we get paid. We continue to work happily as long as we feel the equation to be in our favor or at least fair. The employer will continue to employ us for the same reason, as long as he feels that the equation is in his favor or fair to both parties. As soon as this equation is seen as one sided, the relationship ends. To pay for the benefit of employment, the employee has to fulfill his responsibility of being productive and loyal. The employer, to pay for the gain of having the employee work must fulfill his responsibility of paying him and taking care of him and providing him with an environment in which he can be productive.
Husband – Wife: Once again this relationship is formed on the basis of mutual benefit and breaks when one or both see that they are not gaining from it. For the benefit of having a home which is a place of mutual love, respect, harmony and pleasure, the husband must fulfill the responsibility of proving for it materially. In order to be free from the problem of earning a living and to benefit from being cared for the wife must fulfill her responsibility of creating a home that is a joy for the husband to return to. Both must fulfill the responsibility of mutual good treatment.
Citizen – Country: The country provides the benefits of affiliation, opportunity, safety and guarantees certain rights. The citizen pays taxes, follows the law and is obliged to fight if necessary to protect his country against outsiders. Failure to fulfill his responsibility to his country can be very costly for the citizen.
I am sure you can think of many other relationships...Sat, 06 Apr 2024 - 32min - 456 - Spirit of Ramadan – Part 4
Ramadan comes to help us to become Muttaqoon and become eligible for all the promises of Allahﷻ. That process begins with Istighfaar and Tawba.
فَٱسْتَغْفِرُوهُ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ رَبِّى قَرِيبٌ مُّجِيبٌ
Hud 11: 61 So seek His forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. Surely my Rabb is Ever Near, All-Responsive ˹to prayers˺.”
Seeking forgiveness must be followed up with turning away from sin. We must change the basis of our choices keeping the Ridha (Pleasure) of Allahﷻ as the criterion of decisions. If it pleases Allahﷻ, we do it. If not, we don’t.
Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem begins with a reminder about Taqwa. Sura Al-Fatiha reminds us about the Glory and Majesty of Allahﷻ, our Rabb, Creator, Sustainer, Maintainer, Protector and defines our connection with Him. It reminds all humankind that we have a Creator, who is interested enough to teach us a way of life, which if we lead it, will result in a society based on justice and compassion. And reminds us that one day we will all return to Him. Just as we had no choice about coming into this world, so also, we will not have a choice about leaving it and meeting Allahﷻ. But Allahﷻ gave us the choice to make that meeting the best meeting of our existence because unlike this life, what will come after that meeting is forever. That way is called Al-Islam. Al-Fatiha is the Sura of Khashiya (Awe) of Allahﷻ. It is the Sura of Shukr (thankfulness) and the Sura of Tawba (return) to Allahﷻ. Al-Fatiha is the Sura of dua for guidance to the path of the prophets that leads to Jannah. The people to whom this will be granted are the Muttaqoon – those whose single criterion for all decisions is – does it please Allahﷻ? Taqwa is the fear of displeasing the One we love the most. Only for such people, Allahﷻ promised guidance.
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
Baqara 2: 2 This is the Book! In which there is no doubt. A guide for the Muttaqoon
To help us to become Muttaqoon – People of Taqwa – Allahﷻ prescribed fasting and sends Ramadan.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
Baqara 2: 183 O believers! Fasting is prescribed for you—as it was for those before you—so perhaps you will become mindful ˹of Allah˺.
Fasting helps us to inculcate Taqwa by emphasizing the fact that when in this month we could stay away from even the Halaal, only because Allahﷻ commanded us, how much more important it is to continue to obey Allahﷻ’s commands about His prohibitions throughout our lives. The reason Muslims fast is because Allahﷻ commanded it. Therefore, everything a Muslim does in his/her life must also be for the same reason; because Allahﷻ commanded it. We know Allahﷻ, we love Allahﷻ and we know that to Him is our return. So, we do only what pleases Him. This is the basis of our existence as Muslims. This is the basis of all virtue and leads to Jannah.
Taqwa is critical because it is the first right of Allahﷻ. It is His right that His creatures recognize Him, obey Him, and worship Him alone. He declared:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِۦ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ
A’al Imraan 3: 102 O believers! Have Taqwa of Allah in the way He deserves, and do not die except in ˹a state of full˺ submission ˹to Him˺.
What therefore are the signs of Taqwa? How do I know if I have it and how strong it is? Allahﷻ gave us a gauge to measure Taqwa which i...Fri, 29 Mar 2024 - 20min - 455 - Spirit of Ramadan – part 3
The purpose of fasting is not to fast but to transform our lives and put ourselves on the path of success in this world and the next. Ramadan comes to reset our standard, the criterion of what has value and what doesn’t. When we stay away from even the Halaal during the hours of daylight we are emphasizing for ourselves that what makes something good and valuable is not the thing itself but whether it pleases Allahﷻ or not. That is the meaning of Uboodiyah. The slave has no will of his own. His will is the Will of his Creator, Allahﷻ. He wants whatever Allahﷻ wants for him and not only accepts it but is pleased with it. This is the essence of Ridha bil Qadha – to be pleased with the destiny that Allahﷻ wrote for us. That is the first lesson.
Obedience is the essence of Islam. When Allahﷻ revealed:
لِّلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِن تُبْدُوا۟ مَا فِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ ٱللَّهُ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Baqara 2: 284 To Allah ˹alone˺ belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Whether you reveal what is in your hearts or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. He forgives whoever He wills and punishes whoever He wills. And Allah is Most Capable of everything.
When this Ayah was revealed, the Sahaba went to Rasoolullahﷺ and knelt before him and said, ‘Ya Rasoolullahﷺ, Allahﷻ has said that He will hold us accountable for our thoughts, desires, and emotions. We have control over our speech and actions. But we have no control over our thoughts and desires. If Allahﷻ punishes us for that, we will be destroyed.’ Ask yourself if this doesn’t sound like a reasonable plea. But see the response of Rasoolullahﷺ to this. His blessed face became red with anger. He asked them, ‘Will you be like those who when they received a command of Allahﷻ would say, ‘We hear but we will not obey.’ Say, ‘We hear and we obey. Forgive us, Our Rabb. To You is our return.’ The Sahaba didn’t argue. They didn’t make excuses. They didn’t even hesitate. They obeyed him instantly.
Ask what happened then? Nothing happened. Nothing happened for one year. For 12 months, the Muslims lived with the knowledge and belief that Allahﷻ would hold them accountable even for their thoughts and desires. That was the toughest training imaginable to inculcate the fundamental and greatest of all virtues, obedience to Allahﷻ in the way of Rasoolullahﷺ. Then after 12 months, Allahﷻ revealed:
ءَامَنَ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِۦ وَقَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
Baqara 2: 285 The Messenger ˹firmly˺ believes in what has been revealed to him from his Rabb, and so do the believers. They ˹all˺ believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. ˹They proclaim,˺ “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and obey. ˹We seek˺ Your forgiveness, our Rabb! And to you ˹alone˺ is the final return.”
The reward of obedience is sweet and honorable. When they obeyed Him, Allahﷻ honored them by repeating the words of Rasoolullahﷺ and the Sahaba as His Word, to be recited in Salah until the end of time. Allahﷻ gave the Sahaba relief and honored them by teaching them this beautiful dua. Let’s reflect on the value of dua that is taught by the One who will accept it.
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَ...Sun, 24 Mar 2024 - 28min - 454 - Spirit of Ramadan – part 2
Ramadan is the month of self-reflection and introspection with the intention of getting our lives back on track. Our life is a journey which we hope will end in Jannah. Our parents Adam (AS) and Hawwa (AS) came from Jannah and when Allahﷻ sent them to the earth, He gave them the key to return home - Istighfaar. They said to Allahﷻ:
قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَآ أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ
A’araf 7: 23 They said, “Our Rabb! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be losers.”
To make Istighfaar and Tawba is to acknowledge that we have a Creator, our Rabb and to accept that we need Him to be pleased with us in all matters and therefore to humble ourselves before Him and seek his pardon. This is the key to Jannah because Istighfaar and Tawba is the first step to develop Taqwa. The mistake that our parents Adam (AS) and Hawwa (AS) made was to give precedence to their desire over the Will of Allahﷻ. They didn’t deny Allahﷻ but in that one instance they denied the superiority of Allahﷻ’s Will over their own desire. To give Allahﷻ’s Will its due place as being superior to anything and everything that we may wish for, is the essence of Taqwa. A single instance of neglect caused our parents to lose Jannah. But Allahﷻ gave them the key to return, which is Istighfaar. I begin with this primordial and fundamental incident because it is such a powerful message for us about where we need to start, to return to Allahﷻ. It is never too soon or too late.
I remind myself and you to identify the things in our lives that must change and to change them and turn to Allahﷻ and seek His Forgiveness. Change precedes and is evidence of the sincerity of seeking forgiveness.
قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Zumar 39: 53 Say, ˹O Prophet, that Allah says,˺ “O My slaves who have transgressed against their souls! Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy, for Allah certainly forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Anas bin Malik (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ said, ‘Allahﷻ said: 'O son of Adam, I forgive you if you worship Me (alone) and hope for My forgiveness, whatever sins you have committed. O son of Adam, I do not care if your sins reach the height of the heavens, then you ask for my forgiveness, I will forgive you. O son of Adam, if you come to Me with an earth load of sins, and meet Me associating nothing to Me, I will match it with an earth load of forgiveness.' [Tirmidhi]
Alhamdulillah, we have a Merciful and Forgiving Rabb. Let us return to Him. The blessing of Ramadan is to help us to develop Taqwa which is the secret to solve all our worldly problems and becoming deserving of Allahﷻ’s forgiveness. Allahﷻ declared the benefit of Taqwa and said:
وَمَن يَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ مَخْرَجًا وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ
Talaq 65: 2-3 And whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, and provide for them from sources they could never imagine.
Not only did Allahﷻ promise to help the Muttaqi but said that He would help him in ways that he couldn’t imagine. Imagine Ibrahim (AS) sitting in the cup of the trebuchet, trussed up in ropes, about to be flung into a huge fire. Ask why he showed no signs of fear or worry? That is the meaning of Taqwa. When a person has Taqwa, he has no will of his own. His will is the Will of Allahﷻ. He wants whatever his Rabb wants for him.Sat, 16 Mar 2024 - 28min - 453 - Spirit of Ramadan
My brothers and sisters, in another day or two we will enter Ramadan. The question I ask myself and you is, will we enter Ramadan or will we allow Ramadan to enter us? If we enter Ramadan then on the 1st of Shawwal, we will exit Ramadan. But if we allow the spirit of Ramadan, the spirit of absolute obedience to Allahﷻ in the way of Rasoolullahﷺ and concern for the Pleasure of Allahﷻ in all matters to enter our hearts and lives, then we can hope that this will transform us and make us true Muttaqoon for whom Allahﷻ promised Jannah. Abu Hurairah (R) reported from Rasoolullahﷺ:
قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَمَضَانُ شَهْرٌ مُبَارَكٌ افْتَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ صِيَامَهُ تُفْتَحُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَنَّةِ وَيُغْلَقُ فِيهِ أَبْوَابُ الْجَحِيمِ وَتُغَلُّ فِيهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ فِيهِ لَيْلَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ مَنْ حُرِمَ خَيْرَهَا قَدْ حُرِمَ
“There has come to you Ramadan, a blessed month, in which Allahﷻ has enjoined you to fast. In it the gates of Jannah are opened, and the gates of Jahannam are shut, and every devil is chained up. In it Allahﷻ has a night which is better than a thousand months; whoever is deprived of its goodness is indeed deprived”. [Nasa’i]
I ask Allahﷻ to grant us all, Ramadan with strong Iman, good health and free time and the guidance (Tawfeeq) to do our utmost to earn His Pleasure. My brothers and sisters, I remind myself and you that all the promises of Allahﷻ in the Qur’an are for the Muttaqoon – people of Taqwa. Not for the Muslimoon. Becoming Muslim is only the entry point, a boundary condition. Without that you are not even in the fold. But to attain levels with Allahﷻ we must make effort; to enter that blessed group of people who will be honored and granted entry into Jannah. Allahﷻ ordered us to have His Taqwa – to fear His displeasure and be aware of His presence – and said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ
A’al Imraan 3:102. O you who believe! Have Taqwa of Allah as it is His right that you should have Taqwa. And do not die except in a state of Islâm (as Muslims)
Allahﷻ ordered the Muslims to develop a state of mind and heart where they fear to displease Him as it is His right that people should fear to displease Him. And He told the Muslims to make sure that they don’t die except in a state of complete submission to Him. Then Allahﷻ showed us how to develop Taqwa and gave us the means to do it. He made fasting Fardh (compulsory) upon us so that we could develop Taqwa. He said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
Al Baqarah 2:83. O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become Al-Muttaqoon
Islam means submission. To obey without question. It is not obedience without understanding but because we understand who Allahﷻ is. Allahﷻ gave us the example of Ibrahim (AS) and his willing submission to Him.
إِذْ قَالَ لَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥٓ أَسْلِمْ قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
Baqara 2: 131 When his Rabb ordered him, “Submit ˹to My Will˺,” he responded, “I submit to the Rabb of all worlds.”
Ramadan comes to emphasize the fact that the Muslim obeys because Allahﷻ commanded it; and that makes ‘sense’ to him, even if he doesn’t always understand why Allahﷻ commanded it. This is an indication of his trust in Allahﷻ which comes from his love for Allahﷻ and his experience of the Glory and Magnificense of Allahﷻ.Sat, 09 Mar 2024 - 26min - 452 - Justice and Ihsaan
We hear this Ayah in every Jumu’ah Khutba in practically every masjid on the face of the earth. Let us focus on just two words in it – Al Adl wal Ihsaan.
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Nahl 16: 90 Indeed, Allah commands justice, and excellence (mercy, forgiveness) and courtesy to close relatives. He forbids indecency, wickedness, and aggression. He instructs you so perhaps you will be mindful.
Al-Adl is justice. Justice is not natural. Justice is a choice. It is a decision that we take to establish it, even if we stand alone. Especially if we stand alone, because we ask ourselves, ‘If not me, then who?’ That is why Allahﷻ commanded it. It won’t just happen. It happens only when there is an intention followed by firm, sustained, consistent action. There is no justice in nature. Lions don’t say, ‘Only one of us must hunt one antelope. We must be just.’ Three lionesses will go for the herd of Impala and stampede it into a shallow ravine in which the other four are waiting. As the Impala stampede down the ravine, they attack them in the most energy-efficient way possible and one or two of the Impala die, only because they were on the outer edge of the group. The zebra calf at birth imprints the stripe pattern on the hind quarters of his mother not because he loves abstract art, but because if he can’t find his mother in the herd of a million migrating animals, no other zebra mother will nurse him, even though she may be nursing her own calf. If he can’t find his mother, he will die. Justice is not natural. But justice is the single, most prominent sign of civilization. That is why Islam is all about justice.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture, and she said, ‘When I discovered a skeleton with a fractured femur which had healed. I could see where the broken bone had healed and fused back.’ They asked her why. She replied, ‘In nature, when an animal breaks a femur, it is a death warrant. It can’t run. It can’t hunt or escape hunters. It dies. A broken femur that healed means that there was someone who took care of that individual until it healed. That was the beginning of civilization.’
I wept when I read that, as I weep now because it reminds me of how barbaric we have become. It reminds me that all the veneer of education and sophistication is just that. A veneer. Beneath it, lies the barbarian, the unjust, the real savage, who will kill children who are not his own. Who will rape and plunder if he can do it with impunity. Who needs force to render him harmless. So, are we truly civilized?
To be civilized is to be self-regulated. To be civilized is to care for others, who don’t matter to us in any material urgent way. To be civilized is to do what is right, not because it is convenient, or profitable, or safe. But because it is right. To be civilized is not to eat well but to ensure that nobody goes to bed hungry. To be civilized is not to wear good clothes and live in palaces but to ensure that nobody is naked and living on the street. The principle on which this self-regulation is based is called ‘justice’. Justice is not natural. It is an active choice. Justice is the basis of being civilized. Because to be civilized is not natural. It is a reflection of the Divine, because the source of justice is Allahﷻ. Justice is evidence that we have a Creator who loves us and is concerned for us and so taught us how to self-regulate our natural desires in a way that results in safety and caring for all of us. Justice is the criterion on which we will be judged when at the end of our lives,Sat, 02 Mar 2024 - 22min - 451 - Become a Standard Bearer – Part 2
Allahﷻ gave us a purpose of existence which is given to the highest in any society – to guide and show the way. This is the purpose that we inherited by being the followers of Rasoolullahﷺ – to give to the world. To give mankind a standard by which to live. To give it by living it ourselves and demonstrating it as Rasoolullahﷺ did.
A ‘Standard’ is something to aspire to, to aim to reach, to benchmark and measure yourself against. A ‘Standard’ is a flag, high and alone on its staff, establishing its presence, a symbol of great thoughts and ideas, a guide to the lost. A ‘Standard’ is the flag which represents its nation, a symbol of respect. A ‘Standard’ is called a standard because it stands out. A flag drying on a clothesline is laundry. A flag flying high on its staff is saluted. A ‘Standard Bearer’ is the one who carries the flag. In the days of medieval warfare, the Standard Bearer carried the battle standard around which the troops rally. As long as they saw their flag flying their morale remained high. If the flag fell it demoralized the soldiers. The Standard Bearer would not be armed. His only job was to keep the flag flying as the battle wore on. His comrades surrounded him and protected him from the enemy. On the other hand, the Standard Bearer was the focus of attack of the enemy because if they could cut him down it would have a far bigger effect than the death of any other soldier and would be a great victory for the enemy. The Standard Bearer was the rallying point of the army, the symbol of the nation. The Standard Bearer was not an ordinary soldier.
To relate this to our lives today as Muslims, living in a world that seems to be hurtling towards moral and ethical destruction, the term ‘Standard Bearer’ has special relevance. A Standard Bearer of Islam is the embodiment of the Islamic Way. This person is a walking, talking, living model of the beauty of Islam; completely obedient to Allahﷻ and a follower of the Sunnah of Rasoolullahﷺ. A Standard Bearer of Islam is someone who you would point to if someone asked you, ‘Who is a Muslim?’ A Standard Bearer of Islam is confident, not apologetic; stands out from the crowd, does not blend in; is proud of his/her Islam and practices it joyously as a matter of choice. Islam to the Standard Bearer is the primary focus, the criterion for every decision, the basis of their identity. A Standard Bearer differentiates based on Islam and Islam is their ‘Brand’ and their ‘Signature’.
A Standard Bearer of Islam is someone who considers their Islam to be the greatest gift from Allahﷻ and considers it a privilege to be its Standard Bearer which they would not exchange for all the gold in the world. A Standard Bearer of Islam understands that being a Standard Bearer is sometimes a lonely job and is ready for it and is proud of it. After all it is the ideology behind the flag that converts a piece of cloth into a symbol that is saluted.
What does it take to become a Standard Bearer of Islam? Allahﷻ said about the first Standard Bearer of Islam:
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
Al Ahzab 33:21 Indeed in the Messenger of Allâh (Muhammadﷺ) you have a good example to follow for the one who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allâh and the Last Day and remembers Allâh a great deal.
Allahﷻ sent Muhammadﷺ to be a living model of His Message, to demonstrate Islam in practice in every aspect of life and therefore Allahﷻ quoted the whole life of Rasoolullahﷺ as an example for us to follow and related it to our meeting with Him on the Day of Judgment. A Standard is meant to be followed and to be handed down from generation to generation.Sun, 11 Feb 2024 - 26min - 450 - Become a Standard Bearer
“Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings to the strangers.”
Saheeh Hadeeth [Ibn Maajah, Kitaab al fitan 3986
Like most thinking Muslims of our time, over the last few years, I have also been thinking about the sad state that the Muslim Ummah finds itself in. Like lost sheep we are large in number but distracted, disconnected, and dispersed, prey to every passing wolf. All the power, authority, wealth and influence seems to be in the hands of those who are arrayed against us, leaving us with little choice if any, even with respect to the wealth which is apparently in our hands. It is they who dispose of it at will even though on the face of it, we are its owners. Like most people I too complained, defined our ‘problem’ and re-defined it; discussed it, debated it and agonized over it until I came to the conclusion that none of this was getting me any closer to a solution. And frankly that is all that matters.
I read the Qur’an and the Seerah of Rasoolullahﷺ and our history, both ancient and modern because history has the potential to teach us lessons. I spoke to people wiser and more learned than I am and listened carefully to what they had to say; Ulama and others in several countries. I prayed and asked for the help of Allahﷻ to understand our situation and devise a way out of it. As I thought about these times, I couldn’t help but see many similarities between the situation today and the situation as it existed in the time of Rasoolullahﷺ and his Sahaba during the major part of his life in Makkah. They too had almost no influence, power, or wealth. They were the victims of all kinds of persecution and deprivation. They were evicted from their homes, boycotted, and embargoed, tortured and some were killed. Yet in one generation, in less than 20 years, the situation completely transformed and Muhammadﷺ and his followers became the leaders of Arabia and the known world.
The big question is, ‘HOW DID IT HAPPEN? HOW DID THEY DO IT?’
The answer is very simple – this happened simply by Muhammadﷺ and his followers living Islam. All that they did was to be Muslims. They were living models of Islam, Standard Bearers of Islam. They did not spend time in giving speeches about Islam or holding seminars and symposia about points of Fiqh. They did not write momentous treatises on the hidden aspects of this Ayât or that. They lived the Qur’an. They did not lecture others about the importance of the Sunnah. They followed the Sunnah in every single aspect of their lives. They did not debate and create nomenclature to distinguish between what is Haraam and what is Makrooh and within Makrooh what is Tanzeehi and what is Tahreemi. They did not get stuck in minor matters of religious observance, thereby creating divisions. They simply did not do anything that was displeasing to Allahﷻ and His Messengerﷺ. They did not ask which sin was big and which was small. They avoided sin because in their mind it was not the quantum or nature of the disobedience but who was being disobeyed, that was important. And that is why when Allahﷻ used the word ‘Believers’ He meant the Sahaba. So, there it was the answer to my question, ‘What should we do to help ourselves?’ The solution was clear as daylight:
‘Be Muslims as the Sahaba were Muslim.
Become Standard Bearers of Islam.’
I realized that it was necessary for us to go back to the basics and see how Rasoolullahﷺ and his Sahaba practiced Islam and do the same with the hope that Allahﷻ would then change our condition when He saw that we were ready to do His work and to give it precedence over our own desires and pursuits. It is really quite simple. We are the ones who complicate it for ourselves and then suffer.Sun, 04 Feb 2024 - 29min - 449 - Winning is about staying in the race
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Jabir (R) reported: Rasoolullahﷺ said, “The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people.”
I am not against happiness, and neither was Emerson. But happiness can be the result of very selfish and toxic behavior. People engaging in substance abuse or in backbiting or slandering, and other negative activities can be very happy in their toxicity. That is why the importance of focusing on meaningful, honorable, compassionate action. The root cause of our problems as a society globally is that we have lost our ethical and moral compass. We have made the single-minded pursuit of profit our life’s objective. That is why we have a world that is full of war and violence. This is not sustainable and must change.
People are not equal. Not in this life. Not before Allahﷻ. Our job is to become winners and raise winners. Losing is the default. That's the Law of Entropy. Everything goes downhill unless you stop it. A garden untended grows weeds, not roses. A house left unattended doesn't clean itself. A car not maintained breaks down. A body not exercised loses muscle and strength. Not the other way round. So, you must decide what you want from life and then go and get it. The only thing that comes just by waiting, is death.
Everything else needs back-breaking effort because results are proportionate to effort. You won’t make that effort unless you enjoy it and that is where a belief in yourself and your mission makes all the difference.
To be - You must do. To do - You don't have to be.
But unless you do - You will never be
My favorite coach is Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers. He won five NFL championships, including Super Bowls I and II. He said: “Defeat is worse than death because you have to live with defeat. Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
If you want to know whether you are a winner or loser, check if you made your bed this morning. Check what your car looks like, outside, and inside. Do you return a shopping cart to where it is supposed to be after unloading your shopping? Everything matters. All your attitudes and actions indicate your mindset. Winning is important because only winners matter.
In 2021, Georgia Tech coach Lewis Caralla asked his football team a question: Are you willing to sprint when the distance is unknown? That will happen only if you have a deep belief in yourself and in your goal. One without the other won’t work. You need both. That is why passion is so important.
In WW2 Japan was all but destroyed with the two atomic bombs that America dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What followed was not one or two people but the whole nation sprinting without a finish line in sight. Despite the unbelievable loss of life and destruction of infrastructure and society there was neither despair, nor an exodus of Japanese towards the West, nor any hatred for Americans who had destroyed their country. Instead using the strength of their Bushido tradition, there began a reconstruction that in 2 generations made Japan an industrial powerhouse. Japan not only excelled in manufacturing products but also innovated production practices and quality standards that became a byword in industry worldwide.Sun, 28 Jan 2024 - 25min - 448 - Problems and Solutions
بَدَأَ الإِسْلاَمُ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ
Abu Huraira (R) reported: Rasoolullahﷺ said, “Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.” Ibn Majah (Kitab Al-Fitan)
In a world based on oppression, courage is strange. In a world based on amassing personal wealth, charity is strange. In a world where net worth means dollars, net worth meaning character is strange. In a world ruled by merchants of death, saving lives is strange. In a world where making money is the goal, the means be damned; virtue is strange. Therefore, blessed are the strangers because they struggle for a world where charity, character, courage, virtue, and kindness will be the standard. This is Islam.
We Muslims are like those on a sailing ship, caught in a storm. As the captain of such a ship, there are two paradoxical things that you must be able to do well. Be aware of the forces that are trying to sink you as well as be disconnected enough from them to be able to focus on the best way to navigate your way out of the storm. If you ignore the forces around you to focus, they will sink you. If you get distracted by what the forces throw at you, and lose focus on the goal, that will sink you just as fast. Time is of the essence and urgency is a competitive advantage. That is the difficulty – how to be aware, yet emotionally disconnected. Emotional reactions, no matter how justified, always lead to bad decisions. Seerah is the answer. Suleh Hudaybiyya is Rasoolullahﷺ’s Master Class in dealing with this dichotomy.
First a quick essential history lesson. The proliferation of nation states started after WW2. That is a reference point for us to understand that the Nation State is still very much a WIP project and is by no means complete. https://madsciblog.tradoc.army.mil/180-the-evolution-of-nation-states-and-their-role-in-the-future/
Add to this the complexity of the MNC some of which are wealthier than many Nation States – Amazon at $1 trillion (in 2018) would be #17 in rank if it were a country – and therefore what such companies and those who own them can do to impact global politics is a very important aspect to consider. Given the increasingly important and powerful role of online technology including AI and the enormous resources that these companies wield, it would be extremely naïve to imagine that they wouldn’t want to influence present and future markets. This will lead to a new form of colonialism which will be far more pervasive, insidious, and powerful than anything we have seen in the past. Here people’s minds will be the playgrounds and we will voluntarily allow them to use ours to make profit for their owners. FB and Insta members are already doing it. More will follow.
The Nation State idea differs from empires principally because for the first time common people were given a voice in law making. Like all WIP projects it is far from perfect but from our perspective as common people it is a very big step in our development which must be cherished and supported. The alternative is dictatorship. The biggest strength in times like this is to have a historical perspective and as clear an idea as possible about the best way forward. To do that effectively we must be prepared to face facts squarely without any sugar coating. If you can’t diagnose the disease, you can’t prescribe or implement the cure. You can’t diagnose with your eyes blindfolded. So, here’s a no-praise-no-blame view as I interpret the history of our people. You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you. It’s your choice.Sat, 20 Jan 2024 - 26min - 447 - The Way Forward – Summary
This Khutba is a summation of the 7 Khutab titled ‘The Way Forward’. Here, I am going to highlight the action points only. I will begin with my gift to you, which is my own motto: “I will not allow what is not in my control to prevent me from doing what is in my control.” This is based on the reality that when we stand before Allahﷻ, we will not be asked, ‘What happened?’ But we will be asked, ‘What did you do?’ Get ready for the long haul.This is a generational project so the sooner we start the better. Never give up because the balance will tip.It just requires sustained effort.
Work only for the pleasure of Allahﷻ. For any building to take shape, first, you need rocks who are willing to go into the foundation and be buried, never to be seen again, known only to the builder but nobody else. We must be ready to be those rocks so that the Muslim Ummah may be reconstructed. Let us remember that victory and defeat is only decided at the end and is not decided by who is left standing, but by which side you stood on. All great successes are built on skin in the game; what you do yourself and take the pain that comes with it. Excellence is the capacity to take pain. Legends are not defined by their successes but by how they bounce back from their failures. If ever there was a legend in the truest and most noble sense of the term, it was Rasoolullahﷺ. Nothing illustrates these principles better than his journey to At-Ta’aif. In the 10th year of Revelation, Rasoolullahﷺ decided to go to At-Ta’aif, to present Islam to the Banu Thaqeef. At that time, many of the biggest names among the Sahaba had already accepted Islam. Abu Bakr, Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib, Omar ibn Al Khattab, Othman ibn Affan, Ali bin Abi Talib (RA) and others were all Muslim and would have given anything to be entrusted with the job of taking the message of Islam to the Banu Thaqeef. But Rasoolullahﷺ didn’t give it to any of them but went himself, with just one companion, Zaib bin Haritha (R). We all know the story of the journey and all that happened during it, but if we talk about personal commitment to the cause demonstrated by action, there’s no finer example. As for resilience, Rasoolullahﷺ’s dua after leaving At-Ta’aif is testimony to his faith and Tawakkul on Allahﷻ. This is the very essence of Islam and the standard which we must compare ourselves to. After all it is the same Allahﷻ that we worship. But we have changed.
He begins with: O Allah! To You alone I complain of my helplessness, the scarcity of my resources and my insignificance before mankind. You are the most Merciful of the merciful. You are the Rabb of the helpless and the weak, O Rabb of mine! And he ends his dua with: May it never be that I should incur Your anger, or that You should be angry with me. And there is no power nor resource, but Yours alone.
This is the essence and the most beautiful example of Taqwa and Tawakkul that I can imagine. To always be focused on the pleasure of Allahﷻ alone. Imagine his situation. He had been walking for about three days to At-Ta’aif. There he and Zaid bin Haritha (R) had been attacked and reviled because of which both had been injured and were bleeding profusely. His emotional injuries were clearly much worse. He was a scion of the most honorable tribe in the Hijaz and descendent of its most honorable chief – Abdul Muttalib. He was famous and honored among all people before he announced Islam. He was a brave warrior, the Messengerﷺ of Allahﷻ who was on a mission as directed by His Rabb to invite people to Islam. He had a right to expect Allahﷻ’s help and protection. Yet when he reached At-Ta’aif, he didn’t see the help of Allahﷻ or His protection. He was insulted, reviled in public, attacked, and was injured and had to flee his persecutors. He knew that His Rabb was witness to what was happening and had the power to stop it and to punish the attackers.Sat, 06 Jan 2024 - 29min - 446 - The Way Forward – Part 7
What distinguishes people who never experienced subjugation from those with a collective memory of empire and subjugation, is their willingness to speak up, fight for their rights and to pay for what they enjoy, while the others only complain but do nothing to change the situation. This is the ‘learned helplessness’ of people whose bodies are free, but minds remain enslaved. To own responsibility for our destiny, and work and pay for what is important is a sign of a free mind and emotional maturity. The solution to the copout of globalizing is to localize. If you can’t feed a hundred, feed one. Ask, ‘What can I do?’ And then, do it. Because when we meet Allahﷻ, we will not be asked, ‘What happened?’ We will be asked, ‘What did you do?’
The Arabs of the Hijaz in the 7th century were not subjugated to any empire. They had no king. Their millionaires used to meet in a hall called An-Nadwa to decide on emergent issues. They didn’t have a codified law or judicial system. They had no rulers and bowed to no man. That is why it was easy for them to accept responsibility for taking Islam to the ends of the earth.
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ ordered us to act to stop injustice. Change it or speak out. The third ‘option’ is a reprimand.
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيّ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ وَذَلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الْإِيمَانِ
“Whoever among you sees evil, let him change it with his hand. If he cannot do so, then with his tongue. If he cannot do so, then with his heart, which is the weakest level of faith.”
This was the speech of a man free in body, mind, and spirit. A man who was subjugated to nobody but Allahﷻ. And he told us to take charge of our lives, stop blaming others, and work to make things better. Today our biggest challenge is to reboot our mindsets and learn to think about the community as one and work together to change our lives and destiny. Each of us must learn to pull his weight and not wait for someone else to bleed for us. Muslims are 1.1% of the population in this country. There is no way that any Muslim can ever get elected to the Congress or Senate unless others vote for them. The only way for that to happen is by winning hearts. Our isolationist way of life is suicide. But what do we do about winning hearts? If we want to be taken seriously, we must stand for elected office at the local, state, and national level. Ask how many Muslims are Mayors, Aldermen, State Senators, and on School Boards? Yet we complain that nobody cares about us. Are you surprised? We must encourage our youngsters to make career choices that are different from what they do today. We don’t need more Muslim doctors and engineers. We need more Muslim Senators and Reps. The two paths are different. We must support our youth by working with them to build credibility. And by setting up an endowment fund to support their choice of career. We must accept that only we can save ourselves.
But sadly, we hate anyone who tries to awaken us from our stupor. We will not invest what is necessary to change our situation and are satisfied with ‘doing at least something’. Sorry to disappoint you. ‘At least something’, is not from the Qur’an. It is not Sunnah. It is not what the Sahaba did. It is not only useless, but worse than useless because it gives a false impression of action and success. It takes the edge off the pain which is necessary to motivate us to do more than usual. It will never take us to the tipping point and so the scale will never tip for us. We must check what is necessary and do that. If you need to clear a 10-foot trench, you must leap 10.5 feet. If you leap 9.5 feet and say,Sat, 30 Dec 2023 - 27min - 445 - The Way Forward – Part 6
Most of us are historically illiterate and our cherry-picking approach to history ensures illiteracy. However, our lives won’t change until we learn lessons from history and break out of the vicious cycles that we are caught up in. We don’t learn the lessons because we can’t differentiate between critiquing and critical analysis and criticizing. We have no capacity to objectively analyze incidents in history without either hero-worshiping those involved or trashing them. People who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. That is what we are doing today, both globally and locally in our organizations. We do the same with each other and have this insane, unspoken rule – For me to love you and be your friend, you must agree with everything I say. We must develop the capacity to not only accept dissent but to encourage it and learn to disagree without being disagreeable. We must not only accept those who disagree with us, but value them, because they help us to look at another side of our pet theory. Without that it is very easy to blind ourselves to reality until we meet it face to face and realize that it is the face of Malakul Mawth.
Here's a short history lesson. Since the late 7th century, Muslims have lived in empires and have imbibed the culture of feudal subjugation. First the Banu Umayya (661-750). Then the Banu Abbas (750-1258). After that arose three great Muslim empires, the Safavid (1736), the Mughals (1857), and the Ottomans (1927). Today most Muslims live in democratic non-Muslim countries. The dynamics of society, opportunities for development, citizen’s rights, and obligations, have all changed. If we still want to live in the fantasy of empire, we will be discarded. It is time to wake up and face the reality of our existence today that we are far better off than we were under empires.
Let me share my perception through the lenses of political science, and psychology. Emotional maturity is the process of changing our mindset from – Others are responsible for me – to – I am responsible for myself and others. So, are we adults or still children? In (Transactional Analysis) Eric Berne calls it the Parent-Child Ego State. The Parent is ‘authority’, and the Child feels powerless and blames authority for whatever happens to him. It is always someone else’s fault. To mature emotionally is to break out of this cycle and become Adults. Most people are physically adults but emotionally still Children looking to the Parent, to solve their problems. Let’s do a self-check. What is your greatest, most urgent desire? Job? Car? House? Marriage? Holiday? Umrah? What is it? Things for ourselves or for the Ummah? That’s why they say, ‘The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.’ The sign of emotional maturity is to think of others. The finest examples of this were the Anbiya. At the end of his life when Rasoolullahﷺ was passing away, Jibreel (AS) came to inform him that Allahﷻ wanted to meet him. Rasoolullahﷺ didn’t ask about the future of his family. He asked Jibreel (AS), ‘What will happen to my Ummah?’ Concern for others is the sign that we have matured. Concern means action. Without action it is only words; useless, powerless, and worthless.
So, the next question is, ‘If you claim to be concerned about the Ummah, what are you doing about it?’ We had a self-test last week, the 25-mile march for Ceasefire in Palestine. It was an opportunity to see our faces in the mirror. You know if you participated or not. You know why and why not. However, let me remind you that the march was organized by Jewish Voices for Peace under the leadership of a college student, Molly Aronson. Ask why? In material terms what happens in Palestine makes no difference to her. And doing this resulted in paying a very heavy price. Yet she did it knowingly. So, on the Day of Judgment when she and we will be asked,Fri, 22 Dec 2023 - 25min - 444 - The way forward – part 5
My brothers and sisters, in these series of my 7 – Khutab called, ‘The way forward’, I will try to define for you the problem that we Muslims face globally and to suggest the way forward to a solution. There are two critical things which you must remember as you listen to me. One, that we didn’t reach this state of being overnight. And therefore, neither is the solution going to work overnight. It is not magic. Second, the only way for the solution to work is if all of us commit to working with total sincerity and enthusiasm to create the solution and continue to work even though many of us will not see any change. It is the theory of the tipping point to which I will return in my 7th Khutba. I just want to highlight this now and ask you to make dua that Allahﷻ gives us the Istiqama (perseverance) to succeed.
We are living in a revolution, but it is perhaps not what you may think. Let me explain. We are living today in times that I call, ‘Forks in history’. Forking times in history are characterized by turmoil. Epidemics, wars, economic collapse, political instability, civil war and so on. But it is precisely for that reason that the foundations of the structures of society are shaken, and for a short time, it is given into the hands of ordinary people to change the path of destiny. The Industrial Revolution (1760-1840), the War of Independence in India (1857), the American Civil War (1861-65), the 1st and 2nd World Wars, the Great Depression of 1930 which ended with WW2 in 1939 which shows that endings are not always happy. All these are markers in history of changes in paths of destiny. There were others but this list will suffice for us to see how the decisions of people of the time, leaders, and followers, changed the path of destiny for others. We don’t have the time to do an analysis of each of these events to point out what the decisions were. But we must do it because today as I mentioned, we are living in another revolution and what we choose to do or not to do, will define the path of destiny for coming generations. Believe me, our destiny is in our hands. In the hands of adults. Not in the hands of children or the youth. It is we adults who created this society and we adults who can act to change it. That is why Rasoolullahﷺ focused on teaching adults. Children learn from adults, be those parents, teachers, or others. What they learn, they teach their children. So, be careful about what you teach your children. Children listen with their eyes. They don’t care what you say until they see what you do.
We Muslims globally are like a ship caught in a storm. Battered by winds and ocean currents, striving to drive it onto rocks. As captains of such a ship, we must do two paradoxical things simultaneously. Be aware of the hostile forces that surround us, yet not allow them to distract us from our goal of navigating the ship safely out of the storm. The good news is that all storms end. The bad news is that any storm can sink a ship where the captain has no idea about the destination or how to get there. Navigation, whether it is of ships or of life, must be learnt. This means that in order to learn, we must spend time and effort with teachers who know what to teach and how. It is not instant coffee and won’t happen in your spare time. This is the choice that each one of us must make. Because it is we who will have to live our lives. If you think learning takes too long and is too expensive, try ignorance.
Our biggest problem today is the absence of viable alternatives to leadership. Our challenge is to produce ethical, moral, global leaders. Without that the world is doomed. It is as simple as that. We are fed and most of us believe and have internalized the myth that technology and wealth can solve all our problems. But both are value neutral tools. Neither good nor evil. It is the mind that decides how to use them and so it is the ...Sat, 16 Dec 2023 - 29min - 443 - In the Dhikr of Allah is peace
If I must die,you must liveto tell my storyto sell my thingsto buy a piece of clothand some strings,(make it white with a long tail)so that a child, somewhere in Gazawhile looking heaven in the eyeawaiting his dad who left in a blaze–and bid no one farewellnot even to his fleshnot even to himself–sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up aboveand thinks for a moment an angel is therebringing back loveIf I must dielet it bring hopelet it be a taleLast poem of Refaat Alareer, academic, writer, poet, and the voice of Gaza for the English-speaking world. He died with his family yesterday.
We live in troubled times, a huge sign of which is the very sharp increase in mental illness of different kinds. Ranging from anxiety to much more serious ailments, resulting at the extreme in despair and suicide. In 2021, 48,183Americans died by suicide and there were 1.7 million suicide attempts. An estimated 49,449 people died by suicide in 2022. The rate of suicide is highest in middle-aged white men, the most privileged section of the population who accounted for 69.68% of suicide deaths in 2021. The strange thing is that this is happening in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world. While in Palestine there are no suicides. Not one. People are being massacred but they have set such an example of Ridha bil Qadha and Shukr that it has become the reason for a lot of people converting to Islam. We don’t know what Allahﷻ has decreed for Palestine and Palestinians, but if we look beyond the material visible world, we will be able to see the gates of Jannah open above Gaza and the angels escorting the souls of the Shuhada into everlasting grace and beauty. We will be able to smell the perfume of the most beautiful musk as the curtains between the A’alam ush Shahada and A'alam ul Ghayb are parted for those who Allahﷻ chose to honor. Like it happened with the Mongols, who destroyed Baghdad and the Abbasi Khilafa and then became Muslim and became the defenders of Islam, the West which is blindly supporting genocide will wake up as it sees the true strength and power of the human being, which is not in weapons or money but in heart and spirit. As someone said, ‘Courage is made in Palestine.’
Our Palestinian brothers and sisters are demonstrating a level of this, which I am not sure, has ever been seen in the history of humankind. To mention just one clip I saw, a journalist asks a Palestinian man, ‘You have no bread, no water, no electricity. How will you live?’ The man smiles, looks up at the heavens, raises his index finger and says, ‘But we have Allahﷻ.’ You can see the wonder on the face of the journalist. The reality is that you can’t kill someone who refuses to die. Because death is not the death of the body but the death of the heart and spirit. The body will perish, no matter where we live. But the heart and spirit live and die by different rules. They live when they are connected to Allahﷻ and a weakness in that connection makes them sick and a break, kills them. The response of the Palestinian brother points to the meaning of real wealth. Truly Rasoolullahﷺ would have been proud of these people. I remember the Hadith of Rasoolullahﷺ in Musnad Ahmed.
عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَدِدْتُ أَنِّي لَقِيتُ إِخْوَانِي قَالَ فَقَالَ أَصْحَابُ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَوَلَيْسَ نَحْنُ إِخْوَانَكَ قَالَ أَنْتُمْ أَصْحَابِي وَلَكِنْ إِخْوَانِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِي وَلَمْ يَرَوْنِي
Anas ibn Malik (R) reported: Rasoolullahﷺ said, “I wish I could meet my brothers.” The Sahaba said, “Are we not your brothers?” Rasoolullahﷺ said, “You are my Sahaba, but my brothers are those who have faith in me, yet they never saw me.” Wallahi, this Hadith belongs to the Palestinians in Gaza In-sha-Allah.
Sat, 09 Dec 2023 - 30min - 442 - The way forward – Part 4
History teaches one critical lesson: Only those who contribute are valued. Only they have leverage, are influential, and have power. Their religion or ethnicity doesn’t matter. What matters is their contribution to society on a local or global scale. The world works on one overarching principle: What’s in it for me? WiiFM. That’s how it was and that’s how it is. Our belief and personal acts of worship add value to us individually because if we work for the pleasure of Allahﷻ, He will reward us in the Aakhira and put Baraka in our work in this life. But as far as the world is concerned, it doesn’t matter what you believe. If you contribute to society, you are valued. When you stop contributing, it doesn't matter what you did in the past, you are discarded. Allahﷻ told us about our role in society. He said:
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ
A’al Imraan 3: 110 You are the best community ever raised for humanity—you encourage good, forbid evil, and believe in Allah.
Allahﷻ is not talking about ethnicity. He is talking about action. We are the best if we do what we were created for. To help us understand, let me ask you to list the top three universities, hospitals, libraries, research laboratories, factories, or things you use daily and without which life would be impossible or terribly inconvenient. You may like to start with your cell phone. Then ask, “Which of these is made by a Muslim company or is in a Muslim country?” My question is, “If the world wakes up tomorrow and all Muslims and signs of Muslims and Islam including all contributions of present-day Muslims have vanished from the earth, what will be lost for the others?’ Who will mourn our passing? Will anyone shout, “Bring back the Muslims?” What is our contribution to the world today?
We are net consumers. Not contributors in any field. Contributors are valued. Consumers are used. That is why nobody cares about us.
In 1631 the foundation of a building was laid in India. It was completed in 1653. In 1636 the foundation of another building was laid in America. Both buildings exist. The first building was built by a man whose personal wealth was equal to 25% of world GDP of the time. The second building was founded by a Puritan priest. The first one has two occupants. Both dead. The second one continues to contribute leaders to every walk of life in the world and to influence society in profound and lasting ways. It has an endowment of $50.7 and the biggest library in the world. That’s the story of the Taj Mahal and Harvard University. There is a difference between building structures and building people. Impact on society and life comes only from people. Not from structures.
That is why I want us to think about the way forward. What must change with us? What must we focus on from today? The Abbasi Khilafa ended in 1258 and the Umayyad Khilafa in Al-Andalus ended in 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella expelled Muslims from Spain. After that there were three great Muslim empires in India, Iran, and Europe – Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman. But apart from building magnificent palaces, masajid and forts, and supporting art and music, and fighting wars they left no mark of their passing except ruins. This is why others have the world and we have the tombs. Allahﷻ told us what to do.
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ كَمَا ٱسْتَخْلَفَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى ٱرْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِى لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِى شَيْـًٔا وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَSat, 02 Dec 2023 - 30min - 441 - The Way Forward – Part 3
Think long term. It is not about winning one conflict. It is about becoming influential and creating a situation where there are no more conflicts. It is about becoming influential where you can initiate and direct local and national policy. It is about being in positions where the decisions you take will positively impact people across the globe and become Sadaqa Jaariya for you. Let me mention for you just two such decisions the effects of which the world is feeling to this day. One was the Sykes–Picot Agreement, of 1916 (Nov 23, 1915 – Jan 3, 1916); a secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France, with assent from the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, to define their mutually agreed spheres of influence and control in an eventual carving up of the Ottoman Empire. The British and French diplomats, Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot drafted the agreement which was ratified by their respective governments on 9 and 16 May 1916. The second was theBalfour Declaration (1917) which was a letter from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, which was an Ottoman region with a small Jewish population.
The big lesson to learn is that what matters even more than who you are, is where you are. Environment dictates effectiveness. A fish can’t even breathe on land but in the water, it is the epitome of speed and grace. Today we have as many capable people as anyone else, but they are not in the right places. That must be our goal, right person in the right place. To change anything, you must own it first. You can’t change what you don’t own. Your country is America. Not Syria or Pakistan or Iraq or Lebanon. It is America. You are a citizen. Not a visitor waiting to go home. The truth is that this is already the case with your children. Not one of them is capable of returning to your country of origin and living there. This is critical because only when you think of America as your own country can you work to make it beneficial for the world. If you read history, you will see that in every age there has always been some empire or nation which dominated. In this post WW2 age, it is America. Given that China or Russia are the other options, I am thankful for this. The citizens of this country have the opportunity to make that a blessing for the world. Only you can do this. Not outsiders. Therefore, you have two choices: to complain about what’s happening or to change it.
Allahﷻ encourages us to become powerful and establish justice on earth.
إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ ٱلْأَشْهَـٰدُ
Ghafir 40: 51 We certainly help Our messengers and the believers, ˹both˺ in this worldly life and on the Day the witnesses will stand forth
وَأُخْرَىٰ تُحِبُّونَهَا نَصْرٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Saff 61: 13 ˹He will also give you˺ another favor that you long for - help from Allah and imminent victory. ˹So˺ give good news ˹O Prophet˺ to the believers.
To create change we need people in four critical areas. Legislature, Judiciary, Executive, and Media. Lawmaking, interpreting the law, administration, and mind-steering. That means we need attorneys, judges, politicians, administrators, journalists and media specialists, professors of political science and sociology, and financial experts. We have enough doctors, engineers, MBAs,Sun, 26 Nov 2023 - 24min - 440 - The Way Forward – Part 2
In Sura Isra Allahﷻ mentioned two historic events.
وَقَضَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَتُفْسِدُنَّ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَرَّتَيْنِ وَلَتَعْلُنَّ عُلُوًّا كَبِيرًا
فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولَىٰهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًا لَّنَآ أُو۟لِى بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ فَجَاسُوا۟ خِلَـٰلَ ٱلدِّيَارِ وَكَانَ وَعْدًا مَّفْعُولًا
ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ ٱلْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَـٰكُم بِأَمْوَٰلٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَـٰكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيرًا
إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لِيَسُـۥٓـُٔوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا۟ مَا عَلَوْا۟ تَتْبِيرًا
عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يَرْحَمَكُمْ وَإِنْ عُدتُّمْ عُدْنَا وَجَعَلْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَـٰفِرِينَ حَصِيرًا
Isra 17: 4- 8 And We warned the Children of Israeel in the Scripture, “You will certainly cause corruption in the land twice, and you will become extremely arrogant. “When the first of the two warnings would come to pass, We would send against you some of Our slaves of great might, who would ravage your homes. This would be a warning fulfilled. Then ˹after your repentance˺ We would give you the upper hand over them and aid you with wealth and offspring, causing you to outnumber them. If you act rightly, it is for your own good, but if you do wrong, it is your own loss. “And when the second warning would come to pass, your enemies would ˹be left to˺ totally disgrace you and enter the Temple ˹of Jerusalem˺ as they entered it the first time, and utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands. Perhaps your Rabb will have mercy on you ˹if you repent˺, but if you return ˹to sin˺, We will return ˹to punishment˺. And We have made Hell a ˹permanent˺ confinement for the disbelievers.”
In the first instance, in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonians besieged Jerusalem which fell after a 30-month siege, following which the Babylonians systematically destroyed the city and the First Temple. The Kingdom of Judah was dissolved and many of its inhabitants were taken as slaves to Babylon. The second siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), in which the Roman army led by future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, and following a five-month siege, the Romans destroyed the city and the Second Jewish Temple and enslaved and deported the survivors. There were no Jews left in Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was thoroughly sacked by the Romans. Buildings, homes, and walls were torn down, leaving the city in ruins. The level of devastation was such that Josephus claimed that those who visited the city after its destruction could scarcely believe it had ever been inhabited.
In this period mentioned in the Qur’an, it was the Bani Israeel who were the Khair Ummah of the time. Allahﷻ said that they were living lives of disobedience and refused to repent, so Allahﷻ allowed His warlike slaves to enter the holy city and destroy it and enslave the Muslims. Allahﷻ didn’t say that this was because of what the people in Jerusalem were doing, but because of what the Bani Israeel where doing generally wherever they lived. That is why many scholars have quoted these Ayaat and said that Jerusalem is a meter to check the health of the Muslim Ummah. This is also what Sayyidina Omar ibn Al-Khattab (R) mentioned in his letter. Today as we see what is happening in Filastine we must reflect on how we may be the reason it is happening. Like excess cholesterol harms the heart, not the mouth or stomach, our actions can cause results elsewhere.
To understand this logic let us look at another famous incident, the disobedience of the archers in Uhud.Sat, 18 Nov 2023 - 27min - 439 - The Way Forward – Part 1
I have a principle in life. “I will not allow what is not in my control to prevent me from doing what is in my control.” That is based on the reality that when we stand before Allahﷻ, we will not be asked, ‘What happened?’ But we will be asked, ‘What did you do?’ That means accepting that the only one in my control is myself. Nobody else. So, that is who I must focus on. Do what is in my control and not allow circumstances, media, people, or even my own feelings, to distract or discourage me from doing whatever I can to make a positive impact. Some of the most common doubts and thoughts that interfere with action are based around the question, ‘What difference can I, as an individual, make?’ Remember and remind others that all great change, all revolutions, all re-writing of history begins with one person. Allahﷻ sent one Nabi, one Rasool, not a committee or team, to create change in an entire nation. So, my first message today to myself and you is, to focus on ourselves. Do what you must and Allahﷻ will create the effect.
Today as we look at what is happening to Muslims worldwide, we seem to be without solutions. But Allahﷻ told us the solution to our problems:
مَنْ عَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُۥ حَيَوٰةً طَيِّبَةً وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُم بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
Nahl 16: 97 Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will surely bless them with a good life, and We will certainly reward them according to the best of their deeds.
The formula is very simple and straightforward; it’s literally only two things. Faith and righteous deeds. If I, as an individual, return to Allahﷻ, then my dua can change my life, my circumstances, and with the Will of Allahﷻ, my world. I always remind myself of what the famous author, Loren Eiseley wrote about his learning about the power of one person to make an impact. I am paraphrasing as I see it happening in my mind. Eiseley was walking on the beach early one morning. The previous night there had been a huge storm, and the beach was littered with debris. In that were hundreds of starfish. As he walked, Eiseley saw someone in the distance, picking up something from the beach and throwing it into the waves. When he got close to the person, he saw that it was a boy throwing starfish into the sea. Eiseley asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ The boy replied, ‘Throwing the stars into the sea so that they don’t die. If they remain on the sand, they will dry and die.’ Eiseley swept his open palm at the uncountable starfish on the beach and asked, ‘Do you have any idea how many starfish are on this beach alone? Then think of the number of starfish that get thrown up on all the beaches in the world. You are one kid, on this beach. What difference can you make?”
The boy looked at Eiseley, then he looked at the starfish that he was holding, threw it far into the waves and said, ‘It made a difference to that one.’ It is a common copout that we use by globalizing a problem and then feeling helpless to solve it, which we feel justifies our inaction. Instead, when we are faced with a problem, if we ask, ‘What can I do about this?’ we will find a solution that we can implement. Take global hunger as an example. Either you can complain about it, or you can feed one person. Ditto with any problem which we see as ‘global’. There is always a solution if we localize it to ourselves and ask, ‘What can I do about this?’ Today when you go to a protest or sit-in or whatever, never forget that you are making a difference. You are not allowing what is not in your power i.e., change the situation in the ME, to prevent you from doing what is in your control i.e., to raise your voice against it. That is the game changer in life. Just do it.
Mon, 13 Nov 2023 - 29min - 438 - Difference between sight and insight
But We see with our eyes, but we understand with our hearts. That's called insight. That's why Allahﷻ said: Indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the chests that grow blind. Structures of this life don't show what's behind them in the Will of Allahﷻ. Like the story of Musa (AS) and Abdullah bin Zubair (RA). Or like the three stories of Musa and Khidhr (AS) that Allahﷻ told us about in Surah Al-Kahf. All of these as well as many others are apparently negative situations without hope of success but Allahﷻ shows us that His help starts where our minds and material means end. As Muslims therefore, we never lose hope nor despair.
The lesson we learn from all these and other such stories in the Qur’an and Sunnah and the history of our Salaf-us-Saliheen is, not to get distracted or frustrated and lose hope because of what we may be seeing. Winners are decided only at the finish line which is the Aakhira. Tawakkul is to trust Allahﷻ even when our experience and everyone around us tells us that there is no hope of success. This is what differentiates us as Muslims.
Allahﷻ said والعاقبة للمتقين
Lessons from the stories:
* Allahﷻ’s help comes only when all worldly resources are cut off.
* Allahﷻ’s help may not always come in the way you want it.
* Focus on the Ridha of Allahﷻ until it is achieved by obeying Allahﷻ in all things, no matter how attractive the alternative looks.
We are seeing what's happening in Gaza daily. So, what must we do?Before I go further, a word about what is of no benefit and so we must stop doing it. Stop watching every WhatsApp forward and continuous news broadcasts. Protect your hearts because the hearts are injured by what our eyes see and what we hear. What we see or listen to either strengthens the heart or weakens and injures it. If you continue to listen to and watch bad news and tragic scenes, at first you get sad, then angry, then frustrated, and then you get immune. After a while they don't move you to tears and you don't lose sleep over them. Instead, they become topics of conversation and debate and argument which strain your relationships. So, focus on what is in your control. Not on what's not in your control. What is in our control is to turn to Allahﷻ and beg Him for His help. What's not in our control are the spiders and their webs. If only we think about what we say and do. What do we call the internet? How does any internet address begin? WWW... Worldwide web. Your place in this web is called your website. What's a web? The house of a spider. Think about what the narrative today is about Filastin and Gaza. Who are we told is powerful and who is helpless? We watch TV all day and take classes from WhatsApp University and believe this false narrative. But what did Allahﷻ say about seeking the protection of spiders?
مَثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْلِيَآءَ كَمَثَلِ ٱلْعَنكَبُوتِ ٱتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًا ۖ وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ ٱلْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ ٱلْعَنكَبُوتِ ۖ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ
Ankabut 29: 41 The example of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of a spider spinning a shelter. And the flimsiest of all shelters is certainly that of a spider, if only they knew.
Focus on the best speech, the Word of Allahﷻ because only that is the truth. Then focus on petitioning the only one who can do anything because only He has power. Use all material means at your disposal but remember that the only One who can change anything is Allahﷻ. Nobody else. Make our effort for إتمام الحجه to complete the argument that we did our part physically. But don't place your trust and hope on the spiders who built the web in the first place.Sat, 04 Nov 2023 - 44min - 437 - What to do about what happened
I remind you and myself that a fire can’t be extinguished by another fire but by pouring water over it. Violence does not end violence. It only increases it. As Muslims we are against all violence, no matter who does it. We condemn the actions of Hamas and all calls to violence. We follow the Qur’an which clearly advocates against violence and murder and says:
مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنَّهُۥ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَآ أَحْيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا
Ma’aida 5: 32 That is why We ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever takes a life—unless as a punishment for murder or mischief in the land—it will be as if they killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity.
The example of Rasoolullahﷺ is the best example for us to follow. In Makkah where heﷺ and those with him were subjected to the greatest persecution including when some of his Sahaba, like Sumaiyya bint Khayyat(RA) and her husband, Yasir bin Amir (R), the parents of Ammar bin Yasir (R), were being tortured and were eventually murdered by Abu Jahal, Rasoolullahﷺ advised them and Ammar bin Yasir (R) to be patient; to have Sabr. He didn’t tell them to retaliate or fight the oppressor. This was not pacifism. This was guidance from Allahﷻ because whatever Rasoolullahﷺ said or did, was because of Wahi from Allahﷻ.
Then when Rasoolullahﷺ had been given victory over his enemies who had persecuted him and his family, killed his daughter, killed many of his Sahaba who he loved more than we love our own children, he forgave them all. He didn’t extract revenge though it was in his power to do so, and he would have been justified if he had done so. He did not do that because there is only one way to stop the cycle of violence and that is to break the cycle. The truth about any conflict without exception, be it between individuals, groups, or nations, is that it can only be resolved by all parties sitting together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and arrive at an agreement which is just and fair for all. No matter how difficult this may seem to be or how long it takes, this is the only way to resolve any conflict. There is no other way. The sooner all parties wake up to this and come together to speak, the sooner the conflict will end. This is what we must pray for. For Sabr, for the ability to get over the pain, for the wisdom to forgive and to go forward.
I advise you and myself, that we must repair our relationship with Allahﷻ and beg for His Forgiveness and ask Him for His help. That's the only way to change the terrible situation that we find ourselves in. I therefore want to begin by asking Allahﷻ for His Mercy and Forgiveness and for His Protection from all evil; what is visible and known and what is invisible and hidden. Justice is only with Allahﷻ and will happen only when Allahﷻ Wills it. Allahﷻ’s Will depends on our actions and so we need to correct our actions. Our situation will not change until we change ourselves.
Islam demands complete submission and obedience as a condition of faith. A Muslim is one who has submitted. Not someone sitting on the fence and trying to find a desire-compatible version of Islam. Islam didn’t come in different flavors and amounts of caffeine or sugar. Islam came as one complete truth, needing no additions, subtractions, good for all time, needing no alterations or corrections. Allahﷻ commanded us and said:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ فِى ٱلسِّلْمِ كَآفَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
Sat, 14 Oct 2023 - 26min - 436 - Focus on the Fundamentals – Part 4
My brothers and sisters, the default setting for the Muslim is that he/she is a Wali of Allahﷻ. This is not my imagination but Allahﷻ stated that clearly in His Book and said:
أَلَآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ يَتَّقُونَ
لَهُمُ ٱلْبُشْرَىٰ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِكَلِمَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
Yunus 10: 62-64 There will certainly be no fear for the Awlia (slaves who Allahﷻ loves) of Allah, nor will they grieve. ˹They are˺ those who are faithful and are mindful ˹of Him˺ For them is good news in this worldly life and the Hereafter. There is no change in the promise of Allah. That is ˹truly˺ the ultimate triumph
Allahﷻ, in His Infinite Mercy didn’t specify the level of Iman or Taqwa. Allahﷻ went even further and mentioned His special favor on us:
ٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ
Baqara 2: 257 Allah is the Guardian of the Believers—He brings them out of darkness and into light.
About our last moments which we must always think about, Allahﷻ described a situation that I ask Allahﷻ for all of us, where we will be given the good news of Jannah before we leave this life. He said:
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوا۟ رَبُّنَا ٱللَّهُ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَقَـٰمُوا۟ تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا۟ وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا۟ وَأَبْشِرُوا۟ بِٱلْجَنَّةِ ٱلَّتِى كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ
نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَآؤُكُمْ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِىٓ أَنفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ
نُزُلًا مِّنْ غَفُورٍ رَّحِيمٍ
Fussilat 41:30-32 Surely those who say, “Our Rabb is Allah,” and then remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, ˹saying,˺ “Do not fear, nor grieve. Rather, rejoice in the good news of Jannah, which you have been promised. We are your supporters in this worldly life and in the Hereafter. There you will have whatever your souls desire, and there you will have whatever you ask for: a welcome from the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful ˹Rabb˺.”
As I have said many times before, there are only two things that are critical needs for the human being – Dharooriyaat. Hidaya (guidance) in life and Maghfirah (Allahﷻ’s forgiveness) after death. Nothing else is Dharoori – critical. I remember and remind you that these last moments on earth are the time when everyone is afraid. Without exception everyone is fearful about a world we have not seen and in which we will not have any power to change our situation. At that time, Allahﷻ will send His Angels to comfort us and to promise to be with us in the journey and convey to us, Allahﷻ’s promise of forgiveness. Nuzul is a welcome gesture (like a drink of cold water or juice) for a thirsty traveler which is a precursor and promise of what is to follow. In this case it is the announcement of Jannah for the Wali of Allahﷻ, even before his soul leaves his body.
So, In-sha-Allahﷻ all Muslims are the Awlia of Allahﷻ. As long as we don’t commit Shirk or Kufr and we try our best to fulfill our duties, we can hope for Allahﷻ’s Forgiveness. What sense does it make to ruin this by taking interest-based loans and thereby removing ourselves from the list of Awlia of Allahﷻ and entering our names in the list of enemies of Allahﷻ? Especially because whatever we take the loan for, will remain here when we die while our action of challenging Allahﷻ and accepting the declaration of war from Him, will go with us into the Aakhira.Sat, 07 Oct 2023 - 37min - 435 - Focus on the Fundamentals – Part 3
Islam is a belief system. You enter Islam by believing and declaring that belief. It is equally simple to leave Islam. That is why it is essential to ensure that we never say or do anything that contradicts or denies our belief. That is why knowledge is important and it begins with fundamentals. Which is why systematic study of Islam is so important. Learning Islam is not about randomly reading this or that book, including the Qur’an but about studying the Usool (Principles) of Deen and then the Usool of whichever discipline of Deen you are studying before touching any of the books. Only then can one expect to understand Islam in any depth. Needless to say, a thorough knowledge of classical Arabic is critical to understanding the texts that no translation in any language can do justice to. Then, like in any practice, be it martial arts, medicine, or flying a plane, it is living Islam under the supervision of a teacher which is the foundation of all knowledge. True knowledge comes only and only from practice. Not from reading theory. Anyone who truly wants to learn Islam in depth, must go the whole way starting with becoming proficient in Arabic at a native speaker level and then seeking teachers to learn and practice under, until he or she is certified as being competent to teach or give their opinion on matters. This is the famous system of Ijaaza – on which our modern-day university education and the awarding of degrees is based. It is taken from Islamic scholarly tradition.
To illustrate the matter of entering or leaving Islam with a simple example; Salah is a fundamental principle and one of the five pillars of Islam. If someone doesn’t pray, he is committing a major sin for which he must seek forgiveness. But if a person prays but says that prayer is not Fardh (compulsory) but optional and one can pray or not depending on his wish, that person has left Islam, even though he may pray himself. The same thing applies to everything that Allahﷻ commanded or prohibited. If a Muslim believes and speaks contrary to that, he risks leaving the fold of Islam. It is not just a matter of opinion. If the opinion of a Muslim contradicts or denies what Allahﷻ ordered or His Messengerﷺ taught, it takes the person out of Islam. He will then have to repent, seek Allahﷻ’s forgiveness and re-enter Islam. If not, and he dies, he would have died without Islam, even if he had been doing other prescribed things. Allahﷻ made it clear that selective obedience is disobedience.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ فِى ٱلسِّلْمِ كَآفَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
Baqara 2: 208 O Believers! Enter Islam completely and do not follow Shaytan’s footsteps. Surely, he is your sworn enemy.
The Ayah is addressed to the Believers who already believe, showing that merely saying that we believe is not enough. Belief must be demonstrated in all aspects of life and not as a matter of personal choice. The word ‘Muslim’ is a verb. It describes someone who is doing something. Someone who has submitted to Allahﷻ. Not someone who knows about Islam no matter how much. A Haaji is someone who has done Hajj, not the bus driver for Hujjaj. A Sa’aim is one who fasting. Not one who knows about fasting. A Musalli is one who is praying. Not someone who knows how to pray but doesn’t pray himself. About selective obedience, Allahﷻ declared very clearly:
أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَآءُ مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْىٌ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَشَدِّ ٱلْعَذَابِ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
Baqara 2: 85 Do you believe in some of the Scripture and reject the rest?Sat, 30 Sep 2023 - 26min - 434 - Muhammadﷺ- An example for all people of all times
They say that reading biographies is perhaps the best way to learn real life lessons. That is because a biography is a record of practice. Of what worked and what didn’t. The life of Muhammadﷺ is perhaps one of the most well documented in human history. Having said that, one may ask why his life and all the details are important at all? I am not speaking from the perspective of a Muslim for whom to study the life of Muhammadﷺ and to live his life in accordance with it, is a religious requirement. I am asking this from the perspective of a neutral reader, Muslim or not, who is looking for biographies to read. The answer lies in the facts related to the life of Muhammadﷺ which are public knowledge. Here was someone who in a period of 23 years, took his people from being the weakest, most despised and oppressed in their community to being the leaders and role models in the same community. And he did all that without lies, cheating, corruption, violence, or bloodshed. My question is, ‘Would you like to know how to do that? Would you like to know how to bring about not incremental but transformational change in your society? Then study the life of Muhammadﷺ.’
In the words of J. Krishnamurty, ‘It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.’ I don’t think there is anyone, including the 1% who appear to have it all who will disagree that we are very sick. Humanity is sick. The earth is sick. We are all very sick. This is no longer an academic issue for people to write scholarly papers about. It is something that we, the people of the world, need to address, recognizing it as the dire emergency that it is. If we don’t, the clock would be ticking backwards for us and fast. And the time is very close where we would have to make our own position as the inhabitants of this earth; not its owners as we like to believe; completely untenable. We need action. And we need it now. Call it a strange coincidence but 7th Century Makkah was a microcosm of our global capitalist, pluralist, multicultural, multiracial society. Let me describe the Makkah that Muhammadﷺ was born into, grew up and lived in, until the age of 50. That is a long time for someone to spend in one town but that was what Muhammadﷺ did.
Makkah was a town with one single claim to fame – the Ka’aba. This is the House of Allahﷻ built by Ibrahim (AS) and was a place of pilgrimage from time immemorial. Access to the Ka’aba was open to anyone who wanted to come. The environs of the Ka’aba were declared a sanctuary with all killing, hunting, and fighting banned within that sanctuary. This was the main reason why Makkah developed as a town because it was a safe haven for everyone from any of the many frequently warring tribes. Another similarity that 7th century Makkah had with our modern society is that it was a world of business. Businessmen were its leaders, and they ran the town. Acquisition of wealth was the primary concern. Makkan society was materialistic based on a free-market economy and markets were not regulated by any central authority. Traders charged the best price they could get, hoarded in times of scarcity, and sold at great profit and bought goods from as far afield as Syria and Yemen to sell in Makkah. Makkah being a sort of an aggregator of people from all of Arabia, was a great seller’s market where high prices could be commanded as goods sold in Makkah were simply not available in any other part of Arabia. That is how Makkan traders became extremely wealthy and became its nobility and created a sort of oligarchy. You can draw similarities with our capitalist society today and see how close 7th century Arabia was to most of our 21st century world.
Makkah was also a multicultural and pluralistic place as all centers of trade tend to be. That is because if you want to promote trade you must make it easy and safe for peo...Fri, 22 Sep 2023 - 27min - 433 - Focus on the Fundamentals – Part 2
It is one of the articles of our faith to believe in Divine Destiny and to be pleased with it. Ridha bil Qadha is proof of our Imaan and a sign of Tawakkul. Islamic understanding about destiny is that we have been given limited choice in our lives. Some things have been written for us and can’t be changed. In others, we have the freedom to choose what we want for ourselves. For example, we are free to eat whatever we want but what that food will do to us physically and spiritually in not in our control. The best way to understand what matters we have choice in, is to look at the questions that we will be asked in the Aakhira. We will be questioned only in matters where we have the freedom to choose. That is justice and Allah is Al-A’adil, The Just. Those are the matters we must be concerned about exclusively.
عَنِ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ"، لاَ تَزُولُ قَدَمَا ابْنِ آدَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّهِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ خَمْسٍ عَنْ عُمْرِهِ فِيمَا أَفْنَاهُ وَعَنْ شَبَابِهِ فِيمَا أَبْلاَهُ وَمَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ وَمَاذَا عَمِلَ فِيمَا عَلِمَ"
Ibn Mas'ud (R) narrated that Rasoolullah said: "The feet of the son of Adam shall not move from before his Rabb on the Day of Judgement, until he is asked about five things: About his life and what he did with it, about his youth and what he wore it out in, about his wealth and how he earned it, and what he spent it upon, and what he did with what he knew (knowledge)."
We understand from this that the quantum of what we can get in this life is fixed. But we have the choice of how to get it. And that is what we will be questioned about. Rasoolullah explained this in the following Hadith.
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ: "كُنْت خَلْفَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَوْمًا، فَقَالَ: يَا غُلَامِ! إنِّي أُعَلِّمُك كَلِمَاتٍ: احْفَظْ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْك، احْفَظْ اللَّهَ تَجِدْهُ تُجَاهَك، إذَا سَأَلْت فَاسْأَلْ اللَّهَ، وَإِذَا اسْتَعَنْت فَاسْتَعِنْ بِاَللَّهِ، وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ لَوْ اجْتَمَعَتْ عَلَى أَنْ يَنْفَعُوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَنْفَعُوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَك، وَإِنْ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى أَنْ يَضُرُّوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَضُرُّوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْك؛ رُفِعَتْ الْأَقْلَامُ، وَجَفَّتْ الصُّحُفُ.
On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas (RA) who said: One day I was behind Rasoolullah [riding on the same mount] and he said, “O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask Allah [alone]; and if you need help, seek help from Allah [alone]. And know that if the nations were to gather to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah has already prescribed for you. And if they were to gather to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allah has already prescribed against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” (Tirmidhi)
The deception of Shaytaan is that he convinces us to worry about what is not in our control and already written and about which we will not be questioned, i.e., amount of wealth, material, power, knowledge, influence, and all such things. And to not worry about the things that we will be questioned about, i.e., how we acquired all these things. The antidote to this deception is to leave the ‘What’ to Allah and focus on the ‘How’. If we do the ‘How’, right, Allah will put Baraka (blessing) in all that He gave us and fill our lives with the sweetness and light of His Mercy and Pleasure. If instead of this, we use wrong means to get our material wants in this life,Sat, 16 Sep 2023 - 36min - 432 - Focus on the Fundamentals – Part 1
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا۟ بِٱلْأَزْلَـٰمِ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَٱخْشَوْنِ ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًا فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Ma’aida 5: 3 Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, and swine; what is slaughtered in the name of any other than Allah; what is killed by strangling, beating, a fall, or by being gored to death; what is partly eaten by a predator unless you slaughter it; and what is sacrificed on altars. You are also forbidden to draw lots for decisions. This is all evil. Today the disbelievers have given up all hope of ˹undermining˺ your faith. So do not fear them; fear Me! Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen Islam as your way. But whoever is compelled by extreme hunger—not intending to sin—then surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
I have a friend who used to train pilots of fighter jets. I asked him what happens when a pilot has serious engine or other problems in flight. He said, ‘We tell them to go back to the Manual.’ I asked, ‘You mean while he is in a tailspin, he is going to read the flight manual?’ He replied, ‘No. Go back to the manual means go to the basic instructions which begin with an instrument check. Very often you find a solution when you go back to the basics.’ In business consulting we give the same advice when we diagnose a problem with a business and are looking to solve it. We use a tool called ‘Root-Cause Analysis’. We ask, ‘Why’, 5 – times. Say, there has been a drop in sales. We ask, ‘Why?’ Because we have too few salespeople. Why? Because they leave. Why? Because they are dissatisfied with the job. Why? Because they are not paid according to merit. Why? Because our managers don’t go to the market and so don’t know what the salespeople must face. Try this with any problem that you face, and you will get to the root cause.
Today we are living in a society which is in a tailspin, headed for a major catastrophe. The magnitude of our crisis can be seen in what we are most famous for. In what we spend the most money, time, energy, technology, effort, brainpower, and mindshare on. And that is in building ever more powerful weapons of mass destruction. As a society, our maximum investment in every way is in massive death. Not in life. Our markers and symbols are ICBMs, highly sophisticated planes, and ships to carry highly complex scientific marvels created for the sole purpose of destroying life in the most massive way possible. Imagine how the world would look if instead, we spent the same, or even half that amount, on providing free education, free health care, cancer research, poverty eradication, housing for the homeless, clean water supply, and to fight global warming and climate change. I can add to this list, but this will suffice. People in the future will marvel and say, ‘They had all that knowledge, all that wealth and yet they did nothing to solve real problems of their society, but instead spent it on creating ways of killing each other. What kind of people were they?’ That is how sick we are. Alhamdulillah for Islam because that is the marker of the Muslims. Not the scientific discoveries and inventions and whatnot. But the ideology of Tawheed and focus on the Aakhira. That is the solution. So, my topic today and for a couple of weeks is Focus on the Fundamentals.
Islam is a religion based on a Book, the Qur’an,Fri, 08 Sep 2023 - 28min - 431 - Khashiyar Rahman
قال الله - وَخَشِىَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ فَبَشِّرْهُ بِمَغْفِرَةٍ وَأَجْرٍ كَرِيمٍ لِمَاذَا خَشْيَةُ اَلرَّحْمَنِ عِنْدَمَا يَكُونُ اَللَّهُ هُوَ اَلرَّحْمَنُ؟ تَتِمُّ تَرْجَمَةُ خَشْيَةِ اَللَّهِ بِخَوْفِ اَللَّهِ، اَلْخَوْفُ هُوَ عَاطِفَةٌ سَلْبِيَّةٌ، نَحْنُ نَكْرَهُ مَا نَخَافُهُ، وَلَكِنَّ اَللَّهَ قَالَ: إِنَّ اَلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُحِبُّونَهُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ آخَرَ. اَللَّهُ ذَكَرَ صِفَةً اَلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَقَالَ - وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِكَيْفَ نَفْهَمُ اَلْعَلَاقَةَ بَيْنَ اَلْخَشْيَةِ وَالْحُبِّ؟ لَيْسَ خَوْفُ اَللَّهِ بَلْ هُوَ خَوْفُ إِغْضَابِ مِنْ نُحِبُّ أَكْثَرَ - فَكُلَّمَا أَحْبَبْنَا اَللَّهَ زَادَ خَوْفُنَا مِنْ غَضَبِهِ وَزَادَتْ خَشْيَتُنَا – وَاَللَّهُ اَلرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ، رَحْمَتُهُ لَا تَنْقَطِعُ أَبَدًا، هُوَ اَلْأَكْثَرُ تَسَامُحًا وَغُفْرَانُهُ لَا يَنْقُصُ أَبَدًا. كَيْفَ نَزِيدُ حُبُّنَا لِلَّهِ؟ نَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ بِالتَّفَكُّرِ في نِعَمِهْ. دَعَوْنَا نَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ اَلْآنْ، لِنُفَكِّرْ بِصَمْتٍ فِي ثَلَاثِ نِعَمٍ مِنَ اَللَّهِ وَنَشْكُرُهُ عَلَيْهِمْ، اَلطَّرِيقَةُ هِيَ اَلتَّفْكِيرُ فِي كُلِّ نِعْمَةٍ وَالتَّفْكِيرُ فِي اَلْكَيْفِيَّةِ اَلَّتِي سَتَكُونُ عَلَيْهَا إِذَا فَقَدْنَا تِلْكَ اَلنِّعْمَةْ - قَالَ اَللَّهُ:
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ
دَعُونَا نَجْعَلُ هَذِهِ عَادَةً وَنَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ فَكِّرُوا بِثَلَاثِ نَعَمٍ مِنْ نِعَمِ اَللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَتَخَيَّلُوا اَلْحَيَاةَ بِدُونِهِمْ وَاحْمَدُو اَللَّهَ عَلَى كُلٍّ مِنْهُمْ بِالِاسْمِ، عِنْدَمَا تَفْعَلُ هَذَا سَتَجِدُ أَنَّ قَلْبَكَ يَمْتَلِئُ بِالِامْتِنَانِ وَالسَّعَادَةِ لِمَا أَعْطَاكَ اَللَّهُ، وَسَتَحْصُلُ عَلَى أَعْظَمِ ثَرْوَةٍ وَهِيَ اَلْقَنَاعَةُ، هَذَا هُوَ سِرُّ اَلسَّعَادَةِ، اَلسَّعَادَةُ لَيْسَتْ حِيَازَةَ اَلذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ أَوْ اَلدُّولَارِ أَوْ اَلدِّينَارِ أَوْ اَلسَّيَّارَاتِ أَوْ اَلْمَنَازِلِ أَوْ اَلْمُمْتَلَكَاتِ، اَلنَّاسُ اَلَّذِينَ لَدَيْهِمْ كُلُّ ذَلِكَ ومَا زَالُوا يَنْتَحِرُونَ، ولَكِنَّ صَحَابَةَ رَسُولِ اَللَّهِ صَلَّى اَللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَدَيْهِمْ مِنْ هَذَا وَلَكِنْ كَانَ لَدَيْهِمُ اَلْقَنَاعَةُ، كَانُوا سُعَدَاءَ وَسَاعَدُوا اَلْآخَرِينَ عَنْ أبي الْعَلَاءِ الحضرمي قَالَ - قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ اللهَ يَبْتَلِي عَبْدَهُ بِمَا أَعْطَاهُ فَمَنْ رَضِيَ بِمَا قَسَمَ اللهُ لَهُ بَارَكَ اللهُ لَهُ فِيهِ وَوَسَّعَهُ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَرْضَ لَمْ يُبَارِكْ لَهُ ]مسند أحمد بن حنبل[
كُلُّ مَا يُعْطينا اللَّهُ تَعَالَى هوَ اخْتِبارٌ يَجِبُ أَنْ نَرُدَّ عَلَيْهُ بِالصَّبْرِ أَوْ الشُّكْرِ وَفِي الحَالَتَيْنِ نَسْعَدُ بِمَا قَضَى، لِأَنَّ قَضَاؤَهُ دَليلٌ عَلَى أَنَّهُ اخْتَارَ لَنَا ذَلِكَ. مَاذَا يُمْكِنُنَا أَنْ نَقولَ عِنْدَمَا يَخْتارُ الرَّحْمَنُ شَيْئًا خِصِّيصًا لَنَا؟ وَلَكِنْ تَعَلَّمْنَا مِنْ ثَقَافَةِ اَلْيَوْمِ أَنَّ اَلسَّعَادَةَ تَكْمُنُ فِي اِمْتِلَاكِ اَلْأَشْيَاءِ. لَكِنَّ اَلسَّعَادَةَ فِي إِعْطَاءِ اَلْأَشْيَاءِ وَلَيْسَ فِي اِمْتِلَاكِهَا، اَلسَّعَادَةُ فِي مُسَاعَدَةِ اَلْآخَرِينَ، وَ فِي اَلنَّفَقَةِ فِي سَبِيلِ اَللَّهِ.
تُخْبِرُنَا ثَقَافَةُ اَلشَّيْطَانِ اَلْيَوْمَ أَنَّنَا إِذَا أَعْطَيْنَا، فَإِنَّنَا نَخْسَرُ، وَلَكِنَّ اَللَّهَ يُخْبِرُنَا أَنَّنَا إِنْ أَعْطَيْنَاهَا يَرُدُّهَا إِلَيْنَا وَيُعْطِينَا أَجْرًا - اَلسُّؤَالُ بِالنِّسْبَةِ لَنَا هُوَ مَنْ نُصَدِّقُ؟ عِنْدَمَا نَعْتَادُ أَنْ نَشْكُرَهُ وَنُنْفِقُ فِي سَبِيلِه، فَإِنَّ اَللَّهَ يَمْلَأُ قُلُوبَنَا بِالْقَنَاعَةِ، يُزِيلُ كُلَّ اَلْخَوْفِ مِنْ اَلدُّنْيَا وَالْمَخْلُوقَاتِ نُورُ اَللَّهِ يُنِيرُ قُلُوبَنَا، وَيَخْتَفِي كُلُّ ظَلَامِ اَلْحُزْنِ وَالْهَمِّ - قَالَ اَللَّهُ عَنْ هَؤُلَاءِ اَلَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ اَللَّهُ وَيَشْكُرُونَهُ وَيُطِيعُونَهُ عند موتهم
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوا۟ رَبُّنَا ٱللَّهُ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَقَـٰمُوا۟ تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا۟ وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا۟ وَأَبْشِرُوا۟ بِٱلْجَنَّةِ ٱلَّتِى كُنتُمْ تُو...Sat, 26 Aug 2023 - 34min - 430 - ٱلْوَٰرِثُونَ
قَالَ الله تَعَالَى عَنْ وَرَثَةِ الفِرْدَوسْ:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى صَلَاتِهِمْ خَـٰشِعُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ ٱللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَوٰةِ فَـٰعِلُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَـٰفِظُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَـٰنَـٰتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَٰعُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَوَٰتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْوَٰرِثُونَ
ٱلَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ ٱلْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ
سُؤَالٌ لِي وَلَكُمْ - مَا مَعْنَى وَارِثْ؟ مَنْ هُوَ الْوَارِثْ؟
الوَرِيثُ يَمْلِكُ الشَّيْءَ. لاَ شَكَّ فِي حَقِّهِ فِي الشَّيْء.
فِي هَذِهِ الآيَاتِ الكَرِيمَةْ، وَصَفَ اللهُ صِفَاتَ وَرَثَةِ جَنَّةِ الفِرْدَوسْ - مِنَ المُهِمِّ بِالنِّسْبَةِ لَنَا التَّرْكِيزُ عَلىَ الآيَاتِ وَالبَحْثَ فِي قُلُوبِنَا، فِي حَيَاتِنَا، فِي أَخْلَاقِنَا، فِي ثَقَافَتِنَا وَنَسْأَلْ. هَلْ فِينَا أَيٌ مِنْ هَذِهِ الصِّفَاتْ؟ واستغفر والرجوع إِلَى الله بِالتَّوبَةِ الصَّادِقَةِ قَبَلَ اليَوْمِ الذِي نَقِفُ أَمَامَ اللهِ لِلْحِسَابْ.
تحريم ط:٦٦ :٨ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِىَّ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَآ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ - اللّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مَعَهُمْ
إِخْوَانِي وَأَخَوَاتِي الأَعِزَّاءْ، أُذَكِّرُكُمْ وَنَفْسِي أَنَّ هَذِهِ الدُّنْيا مَكَانُ جِهَادٍ. نَحْنُ نَحْصُلُ فَقَطْ عَلَى مَا نَعْمَلُ مِنْ أَجْلِهْ.
قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ العَزِيزْ:
النجم ٥٣: ٣٩ -٤٠ وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ
وَأَنَّ سَعْيَهُۥ سَوْفَ يُرَىٰ
كَمَا قُلْتُ مِن قَبلْ، أَعْلَنَ الله تَعَالَى:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ صِفَاتَ المُؤْمِنِينَ النَّاجِحِينْ.
فِي هَذَا ذَكَرَ اللهُ عِبَادَةً وَاحِدَةً مَعَ مَسْأَلَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ مُهِمَّةٍ مِنَ الأَخْلَاقْ. قَالَ الله تَعَالَى:
ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى صَلَاتِهِمْ خَـٰشِعُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ ٱللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ
وَأَهَمُّهَا الخُشُوعُ فِي الصَّلاةْ، وَاجْتِنَابُ كُلِّ مَعْصِيَةٍ وَمَا لَا فَائِدَةَ مِنْهْ. مِنَ المُهِمِّ أَنْ نَسْأَلَ أَنْفُسَنَا الآنَ كَيْفَ هُوَ حَالُنَا مَعَ صَلَاتِنَا؟ وَمَا مشغوليتنا فِي وَقْتِ الفَرَاغْ؟
الغَرَضُ مِنْ نُزُولِ القُرَآنِ أَنْ نُفَكِّرَ فِيهِ وَأَنْ نَتَدَبَّرَ أُمُورَهُ وَ أَنْ نَعْمَلَ بِأَحْكَامِهْ.
وَبَعْدَ ذَلِكَ قَالَ الله:
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَوٰةِ فَـٰعِلُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَـٰفِظُونَ
العِبَادَةُ مَعَ الأَخْلَاقْ.
الإِسْلَامُ هُوَ دِينُ العَمَلْ. لَيْسَ اسْمُ الأَيْدْيُولُوجِيَا أَوْ اسْمُ خَيَالٍ اوْ فَلْسَفَةٍ وَهَكَذَا.
الأَجْرُ فِي الإِسْلَامِ لِلْعَمَلِ لَا لِلْعِلْمِ فَقَطْ.
نَحْصُلُ عَلَى أَجْرِ الصَّلَاةِ بَعْدَ انْتِهَاءِ الصَّلَاةْ، لَيْسَ فَقَطْ لِمَعْرِفَةِ الصَّلَاةْ، نَفْسُ الشَّيءِ مَعَ كُلِّ الأُمُورِ فِي الإِسْلَامْ، الْأَجْرُ بَعْدَ الْعَمَلْ.Tue, 15 Aug 2023 - 15min - 429 - Connect to Allahﷻ with gratitude
بَدَأَ اللَّهُ كِتَابَهُ بِإِظْهَارِ كَيْفَ نَبْدَأُ كُلَّ أَيَّامِنَا، وكُلَّ لَيَالِينَا، وَكَيْفَ نُوَاجِهُ كُلَّ مَوْقِفٍ فِي حَيَاتِنَا، سَواءٌ كَانَ ذَلِكَ سَهْلََا أَوْ صَعْباََ.
لَقَدْ عَلَّمْنا أَنْ نُرَكِّزَ عَلَيْهِ، وَأَنْ نَشْكُرَهُ عَلَى كُلِّ مَا أَعْطَانَا إِيَّاهُ وَأَنْ نَتَذَكَّرَ أَنَّ كُلَّ مَا نَعْرِفُهُ، بِمَا فِي ذَلِكَ أَنْفُسَنَا، يَنْتَمِي إِلَيْهِ.
إِعْتَادَ رَسولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ يَقُولَ مَا يَلِي عِنْدَمَا يَسْتَيْقِظُ عَلَى تَّهَجُّدٍ
ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذَا قَامَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ يَتَهَجَّدُ قَالَ " اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ أَنْتَ قَيُّومُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ، لَكَ مُلْكُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ، أَنْتَ نُورُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ، أَنْتَ الْحَقُّ، وَوَعْدُكَ حَقُّ، وَلِقَاؤُكَ حَقٌّ، وَقَوْلُكَ حَقٌّ، وَالْجَنَّةُ حَقٌّ، وَالنَّارُ حَقٌّ، وَالنَّبِيُّونَ حَقٌّ، وَمُحَمَّدٌ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَقٌّ، وَالسَّاعَةُ حَقٌّ، اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ أَسْلَمْتُ، وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ وَعَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْتُ، وَإِلَيْكَ أَنَبْتُ، وَبِكَ خَاصَمْتُ، وَإِلَيْكَ حَاكَمْتُ، فَاغْفِرْ لِي مَا قَدَّمْتُ وَمَا أَخَّرْتُ، وَمَا أَسْرَرْتُ وَمَا أَعْلَنْتُ، أَنْتَ الْمُقَدِّمُ وَأَنْتَ الْمُؤَخِّرُ، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ." (رواه بخاري)
Allahﷻ began His Book by showing us how to begin each day, each night, and how to face every situation in life, be it one of ease or difficulty. He taught us to focus on Him, to thank Him for all that He gave us and to remember that everything we know, including ourselves, belongs to Him. Rasoolullah used to say the following when he would awake for Tahajjud:
Ibn Abbas (RA) narrated that when Rasoolullah used to awake for Tahajjud he would say: O Allah! All praise and all thanks for you, You are the Establisher of the Heavens and the Earth, And whatever is in them. All praises for You; You have the possession of the Heavens and the Earth And whatever is in them. All praises for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. And all praises for You; You are the Truth. And Your Promise is the Truth, And the meeting with You is True. Your Word is the Truth, And Jannah is True, And the Fire is True. And all the Prophets (Peace be upon them) are True and Muhammad is True. And the Day of Resurrection is True. O Allah! I surrender (my will) to You; I believe in You and depend on You. And repent to You, And with Your help I argue (with my opponents). And I take You as a judge (to judge between us). Please forgive my previous and future sins; And whatever I concealed or revealed. And you are the One who raises some people to stations of honor and lower others. There is none to be worshiped but You. [Bukhari]
Rasoolullah taught us to say this (4 times) when we awake every morning.
O Allah! As morning dawns upon me, I bear witness before You and before the angels who carry Your Throne and all Your angels and all of Your creation that truly, You are Allah, there is no God but You, The One and Only God without any partner, and that truly, Muhammad is Your slave and Your Prophetic Messenger.
وَلَقَدْ عَلَّمْنا رَسولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهُ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ نَقولَ هَذَا (4 مَرَّاتٍ) عِنْدَمَا نَسْتَيْقِظُ كُلَّ صَباحٍ – قَالَ أنَسُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ أَنَّ رَسُول الله قال- مَنْ قَالَ حِينَ يُصْبِحُ أَوْ يُمْسِي: الَّلهُمَّ إِنِّي أَصْبَحْتُ أُشْهِدُكْ، وَأُشْهِدُ حَمَلَةَ عَرْشِكَ، وَمَلَائِكَتَكَ، وَجَمِيعَ خَلْقِكَ، أَنَّكَ أَنْتَ اللهُ، لَا إِلَه إِلَا أَنْتَ وَحْدَكَ لَا شَرِيكَ لَكَ، وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُكَ وَرَسُولُكْ- وَمَنْ قَالَ ذَلِكَ أَرْبَعَ مَرَّاتٍ أَعْتَقَهُ اللهُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى مِنَ النَّارْ
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 - 30min - 428 - المقصد لحياتنا عرفان بالله
قَالَ اللهُ عَنْ سَبَبِ خَلْقِنَا
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
الْعِبَادَةُ يَعْنِي أَنَّ تَعَرُّفَ - كَيْفَ نُعَبِّدُ مِنْ لَا نَعْرُفُ ؟ اللهﷻ هُوَ الْحَيُّ وَ الْقَيُّومُ وَ كِلَاَمُهُ هُوَ الْحَيُّ أَيْضًا لأن كلام الله ليس مخلوق
وَلَكِنَّ هِي مِنْ صفات لله
اللهﷻ مُخَاطِبٌ عَلَيْنَا بِكِلَاَمِهِ وهو يسأل علينا أسْئِلَةٌ مهمة
مِنَ الْمُهِمِّ جِدًّا بِالنِّسْبَةِ لَنَا التَّفْكِيرُ فِي هَذِهِ الْأسْئِلَةِ وَالْإِجَابَةِ عَلَيْهَا
لُغَةَ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ مُهِمٌّ جِدًّا فِي هَذِهِ الْأَمْرِ لِتَفْهَمُ الْكَلَاَمَ اللهﷻ
الُ كَلَاَمُ اللهِ هِي وَسِيلَةُ الْأفْضَلِ وأَكْبَرَ مِنْ وَسَائِلِ لِلتَّقَرُّبَ مِنَ اللهِ
نَعْرُفَ اللهَ بِالتَّفَكُّرِ فِي جَلَاَلِهِ وَعَظْمَتِهِ وبِشُكْرِهِ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ - لَا يمكن تُفَكِّرُ بالله وبِالْقُرْآنِ بِدُونِ لُغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ - مَثَلًا قَدَمَ اللهُ نَفْسَهُ –
الرَّحْمَٰنُ ﴿١﴾ عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ ﴿٢﴾ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ ﴿٣﴾ عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ ﴿٤﴾ الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ ﴿٥﴾ وَالنَّجْمُ وَالشَّجَرُ يَسْجُدَانِ ﴿٦﴾ وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ ﴿٧﴾ أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ ﴿٨﴾ وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ ﴿٩﴾ وَالْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَامِ ﴿١٠﴾ فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ ﴿١١﴾ وَالْحَبُّ ذُو الْعَصْفِ وَالرَّيْحَانُ ﴿١٢﴾ فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ ﴿١٣﴾
تخيلوا كيف ستكون حياتنا بدون تلاوة القرآن وبلا قانون قائم على الحق لا الرغبات البشرية. قانون صالح لجميع الأوقات ولا يتغير مع الحكومات - هذا أكابر من نعمات الله - واجب علينا نشكر الله
عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ: خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلَى أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَرَأَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُورَةَ "الرَّحْمَنِ" مِنْ أَوَّلِهَا إِلَى آخِرِهَا، فَسَكَتُوا فَقَالَ: "لَقَدْ قَرَأْتُهَا عَلَى الْجِنِّ لَيْلَةَ الْجِنِّ، فَكَانُوا أَحْسَنَ مَرْدُودًا مِنْكُمْ، كُنْتُ كُلَّمَا أَتَيْتُ عَلَى قَوْلِهِ: ﴿فَبِأَيِّ آلاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ﴾، قَالُوا: لَا بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ نِعَمِكَ رَبَّنَا-نُكَذِّبُ، فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ
القرآن هو الخطاب الحي من الإله الحي - نقرأ القرآنَ للثواب، ولكن نحتاج إلى قراءتِه للهداية، نحتاج أن نقرأَه لِنعرِفَ الله، نحتاج أن نقرأَه لِنَمْلَأَ قلوبَنا بنورِ الله، الأجرُ لازمٌ ولكنّه ليس هو المقصدُ الوحي أو الأهم من المقاصد نزول القرآن - غَيِّرِ النيّةَ تَتَغَيَّرِ النتيجةُ كما أخبرنا رسول اللهﷺ في الحديث مشهور
عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ لِدُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إلَيْهِ
يجب علينا تغييرُ طريقةِ تدريسِ القرآن، اليوم نحن نُرَكِّزُ فقط على القواعدِ والتجويدِ وأصولِ القراءات حسَبَ حفصِ و ورش وغير ذلك، يجب أن نُرَكِّزُ على أثرِ القرآن على القلب، كما أمرنا الله في سورة الأنفال، فقال: إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَـٰنًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
أولئك الذين يقرؤون القرآن أولاً يعني أصحاب رسول اللهﷺ يفكرون في تأثير كلام الله على قلوبهم غيَّر الله حياتهم وعالمهم. عندما فتحت أبواب قلوبهم لنور الله، فتح الله لهم أبواب العالم. اليوم نحن نقرأ القرآن، ولكن أبواب قلبنا مغلق. فقلوبنا مملوءة بظلمة وخوف من غير الله ورجاء من غير الله. وهذا شرك لأن الاعتماد على الأسباب هو أنواع الشرك بالله
اللهم احفظنا من الشرك ومن كل ما لا يرضيك
دعانا الله فهل قبلنا الدعوة؟ أمرنا الله أن نتكلم مع...Fri, 28 Jul 2023 - 18min - 427 - ابحث عن نفسك في القرآن
قال الله تعالى أنه ذكرنا في القرآن – فهؤ قال: لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَـٰبًا فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
أين تلك الإشارة ؟ لم يذكر الله أسمائنا بل ذكر أنواع الناس وصفاتهم وأخبرنا عن نهايتهم - مهم جدا بالنسبة لنا أن نسأل حل يمكن هل نحن فيما بينهم ؟ فقال الله تعالى عن نوع واحد من الناس:
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ ءَامَنَّا بِٱللَّهِ وَبِٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَمَا هُم بِمُؤْمِنِينَ
يُخَـٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ
فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ مَرَضًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْذِبُونَ
لازم علينا سنتفكر هل يمكن نحن معهم ؟
أسأل نفسي هل أقول إني أؤمن باللهﷻ ويوم القيامة، ولكن في قلبي مختلف؟ حل يمكن انا أقول إني أحب الله أكثر من أي شخص أو أي شيء آخر ولكن في قلبي حب الدنيا ؤ حب المال وكل أنواع الرغبات التي هي أكثر من حبي لله.
أَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ أَفَأَنتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلًا
ما معنى إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ
يعاني الناس يطيعون شهواتهم بدلاً من طاعة الله - دعاها الله عبادة إله غير الله - أخبرنا الله سبب وأخبرنا عن نهاية هؤلاء الناس -
يُخَـٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ
فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ مَرَضًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْذِبُونَ
عَنْ أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم - لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يَكُونَ هَوَاهُ تَبَعًا لِمَا جِئْتُ بِهِ
وهذا تذكير لنفسي لاختبار كل عمل إذا كان يرضي الله أو يرضي
عن الجماعة أخرى حدثنا الله عنها:
إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَـٰنًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
ٱلَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا لَّهُمْ دَرَجَـٰتٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ
ذكر الله خمسة صفات هؤلاء الناس - ثلاثة بالداخل ولا يعلمها إلا الله واثنان ظاهرن - من المهم جدًا مراقبة قلوبنا وأفعالنا للتأكد من أن لدينا هذه الصفات –
ثلاثة بالداخل - ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَـٰنًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
سؤال لنا ما هي حالة قلوبنا. نحن متخوف من الحالة الجسدية للقلب ولكن ماذا عن الحالة الروحية للقلب؟ القلب مُستقبل تجليات الله هل يقدر على استقبالها أم مغلفاً بالذنوب أنه يموت روحياً أو ميتاً؟ والتوكل أجر القلب الذي يستجيب لله - والخوف من الدنيا عذاب قلب ميت على كلام الله - أفعالنا تدل على حالة قلوبنا ، وهذان الفعلان اللذان ذكرهما الله
ٱلَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
عن هؤلاء الناس قال الله تعالى
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا لَّهُمْ دَرَجَـٰتٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ
هذه نهايتهم والله شهادتهم يجب أن نقرر بأنفسنا
Search for yourself in the Qur'an
Allahﷻ said that He mentioned us in the Qur'an – Heﷻ saidWe have revealed ...Sun, 23 Jul 2023 - 18min - 426 - Three Voices – Part 3
We continue with our topic of the three voices that speak to us and what to do about them. Over the last two weeks I spoke about the first of them which was Shaytaan. Today we will speak about the second voice which is even more dangerous and that is the voice of our own Nafs (desire). And about the third voice which if we heed and obey, then we can never go wrong.
Nafs (نَفْس) is an Arabic word occurring in the Qur’an, literally meaning ‘self’, and has been translated as ‘psyche’, ‘ego’, ‘soul’, ‘desire’, and ‘breath’. In the context of this Khutba we will take the meaning as ‘desire’.
Abdullah ibn Amr (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ said, “None of you (can) have faith until his desires comply with what I have brought.” (Nawawi 40 Ahadith)
Anas bin Malik (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ said, “The son of Adam grows old, but two (desires) in him remain young: desire for wealth and desire for life.” (Muslim)
Islam is the name of a practice, not a theory. The one who practices Islam is a Muslim, not the one who only knows about Islam but doesn’t practice. Our eternal fate will be decided on the Day of Judgment based on what we did, not on what we knew. It is important to know because without correct knowledge, we can’t practice Islam correctly. The purpose of acquiring knowledge is not for its own sake but so that we can practice our religion. Practice starts with wanting to practice and that is why the right desire to please Allahﷻ by following the Sunnah of Rasoolullahﷺ is so important. It is essential for us to recognize our desire and see what it is trying to lead us towards and to correct that focus so that we can hope for Allahﷻ’s forgiveness and Jannah.
It is the nature of the self (Nafs) to lead towards sin. Allahﷻ told us:
وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Yusuf 12: 53 And I do not seek to free myself from blame, for indeed the Self is ever inclined to evil, except those shown mercy by my Rabb. Surely my Rabb is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Anyone who thinks it can’t happen to him must remember that this is Yusuf (AS) speaking. If he says this about his Nafs, there is nobody living today who can say that he is more pious, stronger, or more blessed and protected than was the Nabi of Allahﷻ, Yusuf (AS). If he saw his Nafs as a danger, what must we do? This is the Law of Entropy in a manner of speaking. To be stronger, faster, more physically and mentally agile, to gain knowledge or skills, to have a good marriage or children, in short, to have anything of value, we need to make effort. If we do nothing, we just get weaker, slower, more disconnected with the world, more stupid and so on. Our nature is to regress, to slide down the slope. To be inclined to sin doesn’t mean that it is good. It is what will happen if we don’t take steps to prevent it. The good news is that it is all preventable. To prevent us from slipping, Allahﷻ sent His Book and His Messengerﷺ and commanded us to obey him and follow him in all aspects of life. We spoke about Shaytaan’s deception and that Allahﷻ told us that Shaytaan has no power us. He can only whisper and tempt but he can’t force us to disobey Allahﷻ. The Nafs, however, is a part of us. In Ramadan Shayateen are chained but the Nafs is free. The Nafs does whatever we have trained it to do. That is why childhood conditioning is so important. A child is never too young to learn. Children learn from the time they open their eyes. We fool ourselves that children don’t understand. Then we are horrified at what we taught them, even if inadvertently. If we have been trained to be obedient to Allahﷻ, the Nafs will be inclined to obedience.Sat, 17 Jun 2023 - 27min - 425 - Three Voices – Part 2
We continue with our topic of the three voices that speak to us and what to do about them. Last week I spoke about the first of them which was Shaytaan. To complete that discussion, Shaytaan misguides and when the person accepts that misguidance, Shaytaan washes his hands of the responsibility. Allahﷻ told us about this and warned us against it.
كَمَثَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ إِذْ قَالَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ ٱكْفُرْ فَلَمَّا كَفَرَ قَالَ إِنِّى بَرِىٓءٌ مِّنكَ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
Hashr 59: 16 ˹They are˺ like Satan when he lures someone to disbelieve. Then after they have done so, he will say ˹on Judgment Day˺, “I have absolutely nothing to do with you. I truly fear Allah—the Rabb of all the worlds.”
Shaytaan works through fear. The most common form of that is fear of financial loss and poverty. Using this fear Shaytaan urges us to use all kinds of Haraam means to earn and safeguard wealth, like dealing in interest, buying and selling Haraam products, stinginess, and so on. Allahﷻ promised us His Bounty and Forgiveness if we resist Shaytaan’s deviation and stay away from what Allahﷻ prohibited.
ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ يَعِدُكُمُ ٱلْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱللَّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلًا وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Baqara 2: 268 Shaytaan threatens you with ˹the prospect of˺ poverty and bids you to do shameful deeds while Allah promises you forgiveness and ˹great˺ bounties from Him. And Allah is All-Bountiful, All-Knowing.
About our provision, Allahﷻ assured us clearly many times:
وَفِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ
فَوَرَبِّ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُۥ لَحَقٌّ مِّثْلَ مَآ أَنَّكُمْ تَنطِقُونَ
Zariyaat 51: 22-23 In the heavens is your sustenance and whatever you are promised. Then by the Rabb of heavens and earth! ˹All˺ this is certainly as true as ˹the fact that˺ you can speak!
قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّى يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُۥ وَمَآ أَنفَقْتُم مِّن شَىْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُۥ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ ٱلرَّٰزِقِينَ
Saba 34: 39 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Surely ˹it is˺ my Rabb ˹Who˺ gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills of His slaves. And whatever you spend in charity, He will compensate ˹you˺ for it. For He is the Best Provider.”
قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّى يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Sabaa 34: 36 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Surely ˹it is˺ my Rabb ˹Who˺ gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills. But most people do not know.”
On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas (R) who said: One day I was behind Rasoolullahﷺ [riding on the same mount] and he said, “O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be mindful of Allahﷻ and Allahﷻ will protect you. Be mindful of Allahﷻ and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, then ask Allahﷻ [alone]; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allahﷻ [alone]. And know that if the nations were to gather to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allahﷻ has already prescribed for you. And if they were to gather to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allahﷻ has already prescribed against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” It was related by at-Tirmidhi, who said it was a good and sound hadeeth. Another narration, other than that of Tirmidhi, reads: Be mindful of Allahﷻ and you will find Him in front of you. Recognize and acknowledge Allahﷻ in times of ease and prosperity...Fri, 09 Jun 2023 - 26min - 424 - Juma Khutba – 3 Voices
Allahﷻ created us and sent us into this world for a short period of time. During this time, He promised to take care of all our affairs in return for which He gave us the honor of establishing His Deen on the earth.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
مَآ أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلرَّزَّاقُ ذُو ٱلْقُوَّةِ ٱلْمَتِينُ
Zariyaat 51: 56-58 I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me. I seek no provision from them, nor do I need them to feed Me. Indeed, Allah ˹alone˺ is the Supreme Provider—Lord of all Power, Ever Mighty.
Allahﷻ created us to know Him and to worship Him and to enable us to do that not only did He take care of all our needs, but He also gave us a system, the Deen of Islam, whereby every action of ours becomes an act of worship if it is done with the right intention and in the right way. Both intension and method are important, and one doesn’t nullify the need for the other. Allahﷻ sent us His Messengerﷺ to teach us by word and action how to apply Islam in our lives. That is the Sunnah of Rasoolullahﷺ which is the Field Book of the Qur’an. The orders are in the Qur’an. How to carry them out, we learn from the blessed life of Rasoolullahﷺ. If we do this, then every action of ours, from eating, to sleeping, to working, to studying, to marrying, to raising children; in short, every action that we do for our own benefit will be rewarded by Allahﷻ. We do the action to fulfill our need, but if we do it in keeping with the Sunnah, we will be rewarded for it.
It was narrated from Abu Dharr (R) that some people from among the Sahaba of Rasoolullahﷺ said to him, “Ya Rasoolullahﷺ, the rich people will get more reward. They pray as we pray, and they fast as we fast, but they give in charity from their excess wealth.” Heﷺ said, “Has not Allah given you things with which you can give charity? Every Tasbih (Subhaan Allah) is charity. Every Takbeer (Allahu Akbar) is charity. Every Tahmeed (Al-hamdu-Lillaah) is charity. Every Tahleel (Laa ilaaha ill-Allah) is a charity. Enjoining good is charity. Forbidding evil is charity. Having intercourse (with one’s wife) is charity.” They asked, “Ya Rasoolullahﷺ, if one of us fulfils his desire, is there reward in that?” He said, “Do you not see that if he does it in a Haraam way he will have the burden of sin? So, if he does it in a Halaal way, he will have a reward for that.” (Muslim).
What more can we ask for? Live your life normally. Do whatever you like. Enjoy yourself. Set great financial, political, educational, family or community goals and achieve them. Become rich, famous, successful, and powerful. But do it as Allahﷻ ordered and as Rasoolullahﷺ showed us. And we can have all we desire in this life and Jannah when we meet Allahﷻ. Rasoolullahﷺ was all these things and more. In a purely worldly context, Rasoolullahﷺ was the most successful human being ever. He took his people from being the weakest, least influential, most oppressed, and persecuted to becoming role models and undisputed leaders of their land in just 23 years. He inspired the creation of great empires which ruled the world for over a thousand years. His message permeated the psyche of the world and founded universities and educational institutions, spanning boundaries of time and geography. His model of life is a model of success for anyone who wants to use it, Muslim or not. And for the Muslim it is the ticket to Jannah. The biggest fact to note is that unlike the so-called ‘greats’ of the world, he did all this without wars, bloodshed, or oppression. He won hearts and minds over by his unbending commitment to truth and reason and his beautiful manners. In a world which is characterized by compromising tru...Tue, 06 Jun 2023 - 19min - 423 - Feel Allahﷻ in our hearts – #2
We were talking about what built a man like Ibrahim (AS) who Allahﷻ loved and called him His Khaleel. It was this connection with Allahﷻ that built the man Ibrahim (AS) who when he was in his 80’s Allahﷻ blessed with a son, Ismail (AS). Then when Ismail (AS) was still nursing Allahﷻ ordered Ibrahim (AS) to take him and his mother Hajar (AS) and leave them in the barren valley of Bakka. Plot this route from Palestine to Makkah. Ibrahim (AS), and our mother Hajar (AS) walked that route. Who guided them? What route map did they follow? How did Ibrahim (AS) know that he had reached his destination? The stories of the Qur’an are meant for us to reflect on. To put ourselves in that place and ask, ‘What would I have done?’ The answer depends on my connection with Allahﷻ. On my Tawakkul on Him. My trust in Him. Real trust. Not a claim of trust. He left them. No explanation because that was part of the instruction. It was a test for both. She called out to him. ‘Where are you going, leaving us here?’ No response. ‘Did your Rabb order you to do this?’ He nods his head. ‘Then go. He will not allow us to perish.’ Ya Allahﷻ, Ya Kareem, where does this come from? This complete faith in You. Ya Rabb have mercy on us. This is a very tough standard to be compared to. Please cover us with your Grace and forgive us.
When he reached a place where his wife couldn’t see him, he stops and says:
رَّبَّنَآ إِنِّىٓ أَسْكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّيَّتِى بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِى زَرْعٍ عِندَ بَيْتِكَ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱجْعَلْ أَفْـِٔدَةً مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ تَهْوِىٓ إِلَيْهِمْ وَٱرْزُقْهُم مِّنَ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ
Ibrahim 14: 37 O our Rabb! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an uncultivable valley by Your Sacred House (The Ka'bah); in order, O our Rabb, that they may establish As-Salat, so fill some hearts among people with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks.
Let us put ourselves in the place of Ibrahim (AS). Assuming we even get to where he is at, at this juncture, what is the dua we would make? The first thing that I would ask for would be safety for my family so that they can survive and not become a meal for the first predator that comes along. Then I would ask for food for them and shelter, so that they can continue to survive. But what is Ibrahim (AS) asking for? The totally amazing thing is that Ibrahim (AS) is not even asking for safety. What does he understand that I don’t? He knows, not just as information, but deep down in his being, that if Allahﷻ ordered him to do this, the safety of his family is a given. To ask for that would really mean that he didn’t understand who Allahﷻ is and would in a way be a lack of Adab. It would be like you leaving your child with me while you have to go away for a weekend and saying, ‘Yawar Bhai, please make sure that he is safe and cared for.’ I would consider that an insult and would hand your child back to you and say, ‘Please leave him with whoever you don’t need to say this to.’
Why is Allahﷻ telling us this story? What we wish for depends on our position and our knowledge. When I board a plane, I think about my seat, inflight service, a nice meal and then a nice snooze. The pilot also boards the same plane with me. What is he thinking? Seat, food, and snooze? Why is he thinking differently from me? Because he is the pilot. His job is not to ride in the plane but to fly it. His priorities are different because of his role and his knowledge. What is our role as Muslims? What did Allahﷻ send us to do? But what are we doing?
In Ibrahim (AS)’s language, first and foremost, note the Adab. He takes the responsibility for the predicament of leaving his wife and baby in a dangerous place, totally alone and defenseless.Fri, 26 May 2023 - 29min - 422 - Feel Allahﷻ in our hearts
We just finished Ramadan which Allahﷻ sent us to make us Muttaqoon. I remind myself and you that all the promises of Allahﷻ are for Muttaqoon. So, it is worth the effort to become a Muttaqi and benefit. In Ramadan we reminded ourselves that we are Muslim. That we have submitted our will to the Will of Allahﷻ, by following the order of Allahﷻ, we held ourselves back during the specified hours from things which are otherwise Halaal. This reinforces the meaning of being a Muslim – someone who submits to Allahﷻ. This is the secret to the greatest wealth – Ta’alluq Ma’Allahﷻ. It is this connection that Allahﷻ told us about in the story of His Khaleel, Ibrahim (AS). I want you watch this happen. Allahﷻ said:
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِى كَيْفَ تُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَـٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِى قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ ٱجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ٱدْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا وَٱعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
Baqara 2: 260 And (remember) when Ibrahim said, My Rabb! Show me how You give life to the dead. He (Allah) said: Do you not believe? He [Ibrahim] said: Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in Faith.He said: Take four birds, then cause them to incline towards you (then slaughter them, cut them into pieces), and then put a portion of them on every hill, and call them, they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.
What always strikes me in this Ayah is how natural this conversation is. What does it say about the sense of Allahﷻ’s presence that Ibrahim (AS) must have felt that he simply asked a question. This is not a formal dua in Salah. It is just a natural conversation between two who know each other very well. It shows such a level of comfort that I can only marvel at it. Ibrahim (AS) must have been a young boy when he asked this question. Allahﷻ loved that so much that He answered him in such an affectionate way – ‘Don’t you believe?’ Ibrahim (AS) replied, ‘He [Ibrahim] said: Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in Faith.’ That is why Rasoolullahﷺ said about this response, ‘If Ibrahim could say this, then we have an even greater right to say it.’ So, Allahﷻ gave Ibrahim (AS) a whole project to answer his question. Take four birds of four different species. He is not asking him to get domestic birds, chickens, ducks, geese. Four wild birds. Then tame them so that they come to him when he calls them. Not put them in cages. Free flying birds. I always wonder why we don’t do this as a class project when teaching the Tafsir of this Ayah. To return to the story, this means that young Ibrahim (AS) must find the nests of four birds, learn about their lifecycle. Wait for their eggs to hatch and for the fledglings to be of exactly the right age. Too young and they will die. Too old and he will not be able to catch or train them. He must learn about what they eat. And he must do that for four different species. All this takes time. When it is done, he must slaughter the birds, chop them up, mix it all together, separate the mince into many piles and put one pile on each hill. Then he must return to the center and call them. Put yourself in his place and feel what he must have felt when he saw those birds come to him as if nothing had happened to them. Just thinking about it makes my skin tingle with excitement and awe. Imagine Ibrahim (AS) to whom it happened. This is the meaning of connecting to Allahﷻ. Feel Allahﷻ in your heart.
Think about this. Ibrahim (AS) was not the only one who asked this question. Allahﷻ told us about another man who asked the same question, but in a different tone, and how he was answered. Allahﷻ said:
أَوْ كَٱلَّذِى مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا ق...Sat, 20 May 2023 - 29min
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