Some Reflections for us, we have to become more aware of our own invisible wounds. We sometimes cause and we have to become more aware of the invisible wounds that we so often ignore Okay, in other people around us.
To cause oppression as far worse than to be oppressed, because to be oppressed is to suffer in this world, to oppress someone else is to suffer in the Hereafter, to face the punishment for that in the Hereafter.
Don’t be the one that causes the harm, to think very deeply in the midst of our stress, in the midst of our anger, in the midst of our own uncertainty, in the midst of our own wounds, whether we are saying things to the people that are close to us that are harming them in ways that could really damage them.
Barakah, Umm Ayman (ra) is a woman that is unlike any other woman, in fact unlike any other human being is that and that she was literally with the prophet salallahu alaihe wasalam from the moment that he was born until the moment that he died. There is no one else that could actually claim that distinction.
She was from Abyssinia and she actually was a slave from Abyssinia. She’s one of three women who would nurse the prophet salallahu alaihe wasalam, that is authentically narrated, it of course. This is the mother of the prophet (saw) Aminah bint Wahb and Baraka Um Ayman and thirdly Halima saida (ra).
At the age of 25, the Prophet became married to Khadijah. He said to her:
“This is Barakah, she is my mother after my mother”.
The second woman to believe in the prophet.Salallahu alaihe wasalam was this woman Umm Ayman (Ra). The prophet (saw) asked her how are you. Listen to the answer that she gave. She said as long as Islam is good, I’m good.
She was the person who would make the prophet (saw) Laugh.
Ask yourself that question, when we do work for this higher purpose of Deen, right? And someone asks you how are you and you are what……, what her answer was; I’m good, as long as Islam is good. Meaning, you know for the cause that I’m dedicated to, I’m okay. – Shaykh Omar Suleiman
6:39 in the town of Amwas, Caliph Omar Ibn Khattab (ra), the Muslims had just entered into Jerusalem. And suddenly this plague breaks out, taeun breaks out.
This one taeun (plague) Amwas was not nearly as significant as that except that it took hundreds of sahaba, thousands of TABAYYUN.
Umar ibn khattab (ra) was the khalifa’. He heard about it. Umar ibn khattab (Ra) decided to make his way over to al-Sham to be with his people. Umar (ra) was a man who if the people were suffering he wanted to suffer with them. As he was about to enter, some of the sahaba came to meet him to sort of inform him about the situation as is taking place.
Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (Ra) who was of course the leader at that time. He came out to Umar (ra) and Umar (ra) asked him about the situation. Abu Ubaidah (ra) said we are falling like sheep. People are dying right and left. So Umar (Ra) started to take shura (consultation) from the people started to consult from them about what his next step should be. Most of the people told Umar (ra) it’s important for you to go back to medina And even if you survive this then you might take some of its effects back to Medina and imagine this spreading through Medina as well.
So, Umar (ra) listened to the to them and when the stakes were not just his health, but the stakes were the entire ummah that this means that Medina could suffer that the khilafah could fall apart that so much could happen… Umar (ra) obviously thinking about the survival of Islam. He’s not thinking about himself. So Umar (ra) said if that’s the case, then we should go back. Abu Ubaidah (ra) says a very famous statement to him. He says, yeah, Amir al-Mu’minin Oh commander of the Believers. Are you running away from the decree of Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala?
The most famous moments of Umar (Ra) entering into Jerusalem we are people who Allah honoured through Islam. if we seek it through other than Islam Allah will humiliate us.
Umar (ra) said we are fleeing from the decree of Allah To the decree of Allah. , tawakkul, trust in Allah is not foolishness. Trust in Allah is to do your part and then put your trust in Allah (swt) To intentionally Put Yourself In Harm’s Way, or to not take harm seriously because you say it’s okay. Allah will take care of it. It’s all right, that’s not courage. That’s not trust in Allah (swt). Allah tells us to do our part to protect ourselves and to do what’s best to avoid harm.
Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf(ra) approached the Gathering. Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf (ra) said I have some knowledge of this from the prophet salallahu alaihe Salam. He said I heard the prophet (saw) says if you hear about that plague has strucka land then do not enter into that land and if it strikes a place and you are in it then do not leave that place.
That’s the key word right, quarantine right, this idea of trying to contain the harm in one place as much as possible. Be patient seek, the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala and everything will proceed as he decrees.
This is pretty much what the prophet (saw) the hikmah, the wisdom of the prophet (saw), the mercy of the prophet (saw) in the way He’s teaching us to keep things contained into areas as much as possible.
when something similar struck Medina Umar (ra) went out of his way to suffer the worst of what the people suffered, So Umar (ra) almost died in the the drought that would strike Medina. In fact, subhanAllah has a beautiful statement from Umar (ra) that once he was sitting was so hungry. Death was so imminent. He hadn’t eaten for so long that his stomach was making noises. Omar (ra) he’s tapped his stomach and he said you could growl or not growl. I swear you will not be filled until the Muslims eat.
The prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that be frequent in remembering the destroyer of pleasures “death”. he said sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam and this is a hadith from Ibn Omar (Ra) that a man came to the prophet (saw), he said which of that a man came to the prophet (saw), he said which of who’s the best of the believers? He said the one who has the best character and then he said in which of them is the wisest the prophet (saw) said that the wisest amongst them are those that remember death frequently and are the best at preparing for it.
They put death in front of them and they craft their life accordingly. They don’t get deflated; depressed by it, manage it unhealthily. They used that thought of the janazah and they craft their entire life in accordance with that janazah. How do I want to meet my lord? Everything goes from that.
Remember the most important relationship is your relationship with your Lord and you have to ask yourself which you’ve prepared for your meeting with him.
That’s what made Muhammad Ali so great (rah) the greatest athlete and one of the greatest people that this country knew. He said God doesn’t care if I beat Joe Frazier. God wants to see if what I’m going to do in this life to get to heaven. That’s what God cares about.
So what’s your own legacy? What’s your own book look like? What will you leave for people to pray for you in this life? What will you take with you for Allah and the Angels to pray upon you in the hereafter……….
Don’t say things today that you’re gonna have to apologize for tomorrow. You know on all the tributes pouring out after the death of Kobe Bryant and people talking about. Death can snatch you away from people just [a snap] like that do you really want the last thing to be between you and someone that’s beloved to you and important to you a fight or a feud? Squash those grudges.
Finally the prophet (saw) said, don’t long for what other people possess.
What are we doing with our own priorities? What are we really longing for? What are we aiming for? That’s a lesson for all of us to take.
We ask Allah subhana WA Ta’ala to make the end of our lives the best of them. We ask Allah subhana WA Ta’ala grant us a good ending, a good death.
It is definitely an uncomfortable reality but nevertheless it is the truth. This is in reference to the reality which states that not all people who will meet Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala on the day of reckoning with iman, with faith will be granted instant access to paradise. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There are certain deficiencies in Eman, ie in our Eman which may mean that some people will not experience paradise as the very first destination.
Therefore it’s for this exact reason that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) out of his love and mercy towards us strong with all what he possessed to guide us to certain characteristics and traits and behaviors to raise our Eman to high levels to ensure that we never need to feel the fire of hell before paradise which will raise us to the highest levels in Jannah.
I want to give you one such example of a hadith that does this. This is the famous hadith which Bukhari and Muslim narrate on the authority of Ans (Ra) where the messenger (saw) said none of you truly believed until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.
This is one of the fundamental narrations of the religion of Islam. The completion of your Eman, your faith depends upon the likes of this narration.
This is the first reason your Eman depends upon it. Number two: being shielded against the fire of hell depends upon this hadith.
Salvation, success, protection in the hereafter is hinged on to two principles: correcting your affair with Allah, your relationship with Allah, tawhid in Islam and then correcting your relationship with people.
So, reality of faith depends upon it, entry to jannah depends upon it. Protection from the Hellfire depends upon it look at number four: how Allah almighty treats you in this world and in the hereafter depends upon this hadith.
Why is it so easy to speak about this principle but in the lives of many people it’s so hard to apply? The answer is because it boils down to an illness deep inside and illness within the heart. A heart that convinces you that the losses of other people, somehow means that you’ve now automatically progressed in life is a terribly ill and a severely mistaken Heart.
The benefits of living by this principle loving for him what you love for yourself and this is part of completion of Eman and the benefit of this is not limited to the hereafter, the benefits extend to this world Allah is so generous.
By remembering that there is enough to go around, be at the service of others. There for those people who serve with sincerity, wanting for others what they want for themselves Allah does not them down in both of the worlds. Strive to leave a legacy behind you footprints that are not erased till the day you meet Allah. Please plan a project…. Shaykh Ali Hammuda
I’m not going to share with you examples of love in those times of comfort. That’s easy to claim love. I would like to share with you perhaps four examples during times of difficulty. During times of war for example is when you see the true love that a person has for another, when it’s either your life or his.
When A woman from the tribe of dinah was given the news that her husband, brother and father had been killed after uhud, she said what happened to the prophet of Allah (ﷺ).They said Alhumdillah, he (ﷺ) is well. No, point him (ﷺ)out to me so that I can see him (ﷺ)with my own eyes. When she saw him (ﷺ) she said every calamity in life is small so long as you (ﷺ) are okay.
Why all of this love now we ask, what was it that they saw in him(ﷺ) that call was this obsession dear brothers and sisters? what did they see? what did they hear?
They saw in him (ﷺ) a human being who was a perfect embodiment of all of the values that he (ﷺ) called towards and invited them to be good people then they saw in him (ﷺ) the best of them all.
He (ﷺ) commanded them to be generous. They saw in him (ﷺ) the most generous of Allah’s creation describing him (ﷺ) like the wind that blows and scatters money… he (ﷺ) commanded the Muslims to be compassionate and gentle. you look at him (ﷺ)and you would think Allah had sent him (ﷺ) for no other purpose other than to pass a gentle caring hand over the head of the orphan and to support the widow to give encouraging advice to those who were let down, to respond to the invitations of the downtrodden in society and to eat from their food even if it was about to go off, he (ﷺ) would not break their hearts and visit those who were handicapped and disabled you would think Allah had sent him(ﷺ) for no other reason other than to be compassionate and kind. ~Shaykh Ali Hammuda Shaykh Ali Hammuda
What a shame, what sadness what grief, overwhelms a person like the prophet (saw) when he sees his own uncles, when he sees people that have loved him his entire life and people that he loved his entire life and he’s not able to get them. Every single person that flees from his hand, sallallahu awaliy salam he wants so bad to help them.
He does not comfort himself sallallahu wasallam by looking at the wins to say the losses no longer matter but he rededicates himself to the possibility of converting those losses to wins of bringing them too. so the joy of the prophet (saw) when he sees these large groups of people was not that he could be complacent now but that it gave him hope that he could continue and that more people would come InshaAllah Ta’ala on that more people would follow, right and so in many ways.
You see an example from the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam of that same empathy that he had where he could not turn his face away from a child that was in poverty, that same empathy being reflected in everything else that he had. That’s part of Rahmatan Lil ‘Alamin. That’s part of him being a mercy to the world and that’s why on the day of judgement when the prophet sallallaahu alayhi wasalam has the one dua.
Waraqa Ibn Nawfal (Ra) looked at as the knowledgeable man, the one who understands scriptures. He’s the nobleman of the family. His interaction with khadiza (ra) and propthet (Saw) really predates, the incidents that we all know of, at that point Ayesa (Ra), she says in the hadith in which she mentions or where she gives some context about whom waraqa (ra) was. She says he was a man who became a Christian in the days of ignorant.
So he used to write from the Gospels in Hebrew and he would write as long as a Allah (Swt) allowed him to write. So she says and then he became an old man and helost his sight so Waraqa (Ra) became blind towards the end of his life.
When the prophet (saw) had come to him at that point he was already blind, he was in his 90s and he was already blind, okay. And this is where we have the famous incident that takes place, right .where Khadijah (ra) would take the prophet (saw) Waraqa (ra) to contextualize what had happened in hera, it was common for the people to go to Hera Cave and Khadijah (ra) has a particular relationship, the prophet (saw)has a particular relationship. and he understands especially understands what it… is what it is that would denote prophethood or denote something that is special.
Tell me what you have seen, so at that point the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam tells him everything that he saw in the cave of Hera.
So this is Namus that Allah has sent to musa (a.s) the word Namus means the one who bears secrets and he’s referring to gibreel alehissalaam that this is gibreel alayhis-salam the same angel that Allah sent to Moosa (A.s). He actually confirms to the prophet (Saw). You are the prophet of this people.. Like i knew it was coming. You are the nabi.
Waraqa (ra) can see he knows the way that this has gone down for all of the prophets that came before including the one whom he follows Issa (a.s), jesus peace be upon he knows how this goes.
literally the last mention of Iesa (A.s) on Islam and the Quran is very beautiful. Iesa (A.s) is telling his people about the coming of the Prophet (saw).
How beautiful is it that the first person to confirm the prophethood of the prophet (ﷺ) is the last follower of Isea (A.s) in Mecca subhanAllah. The first person to tell him you are a prophet. You’re the one is following the Bushra of Issa (A.s); the glad tidings of Jesus peace be upon him and handing that off to the prophet (ﷺ).- Shaykh Omar Suleiman
If you want to be helped help others. The hadeeth I mentioned the almighty tells us through the Blessed lips of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that Allah almighty continues to be in the assistance of those who continue to assist others.
It actually is the blessing within your life, the blessing, the Baraka, the contentment and over and above that on the Day of Judgment when you see the reward of it. It’s tremendous, it’s great, and you will never regret it. Charities have never depleted wealth. I have given someone from what the Almighty has given me and because I’ve decided it’s going to happen regularly. The Almighty has written their sustenance somewhere within mine.
A man comes to the messenger peace be upon him complaining about his brother.
We have in our families. We have brothers and so on the wives come in mashallah, all of them are lovely but you must remember each one has had a different upbringing. If brother and sister cannot see eye to eye what do you expect when the in-laws come in and so many.
So the brother comes and he says o Messenger my brother’s doing nothing. I’m spending on him. I’m giving him money. I’m giving him his monthly expense and I’m actually taking care of him and now I’m tired of this and I don’t know how long this is going to carry on and so on.
Doesn’t this happen in some of our families I mean you know in the extended families?
Sometimes in some homes the wife comes in and she says hey are you gonna keep on giving this guy, you know, subhanAllah? And that’s where the brother has to chip in and say hey that’s my brother, leave me alone. She might argue and say well you know fifty percent of everything you have you know is arguably mine? subhanAllah so I have a 50% say.
It does happen that we tend to get irritated even on our own sometimes. Do you know what? The prophet (saw) responded to this man guess what he said? Powerful words: perhaps you are getting money because you’re spending on him la ilaha ilallah.
But Allah (swt) warns us about spending in a foolish way even if it is a charity. allah tells us you know don’t be miserly and don’t even give so much that you’re giving necessity that’s yours. you need to strike a middle path. – Mufti Menk
The All-Loving 