Abdullah Hakim Quick – New Muslim Corner – Hajj And Eid
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Showered upon our beloved prophet Muhammad,
the master of the first and the last,
and his family, his companions, and all those
who call to his way and establish his
sunnah
to the day of judgment.
As to what follows, my beloved brothers and
sisters, to our viewers, our friends, assalamu alaikum,
Alhamdulillah.
This is another opportunity for us,
to reflect in our new Muslim Corner.
And
this time of year,
is
another very important time,
for those who have
recently entered Islam.
It is also interesting for those who may
be interested in Islam
and those who are comparing Islam,
with other ways of life.
Because this now is the last
month in the lunar calendar.
And it takes us to
one of the important foundations,
within Islamic lifestyle,
and that is the performance
of Hajj.
We recognized,
from the beginning
that when prophet Muhammad was asked to describe,
Islam,
he basically said
that Islam is to bear witness in the
oneness of Allah
and,
that,
Muhammad is his messenger
and to perform the prayers
to pay the zakat,
give charity and the poor do, to fasten
the month of Ramadan,
and to perform the pilgrimage
if you are able to do so.
So these five actions
really
formed the basis of
Islamic lifestyle.
They shaped the Islamic personality,
and
some of them are constant.
The
pillar of shahada,
that is the beginning of the road
that we say the kalimah,
bearing witness to the oneness of Allah and
finality of prophethood.
And hopefully, it's the end of the road
because Muslims hope that their last words,
would be
these,
this kalimah.
So therefore, all throughout the life of a
Muslim,
we're constantly bearing witness
with our words, with our thoughts, with our
actions,
in the oneness of Allah.
And we do that in the light of
the sunnah,
in the light of the way of the
messenger, peace be upon him. So this is
a consistent thing all the way through.
The salat
is an act is actions
establishing prayer
is making that direct connection with the creator
constantly.
And so we are praying
at 5 different times during the day.
And that goes on,
throughout the lifetime. And there are also special
prayers,
that are said at different points,
you know, in the life of a Muslim.
So this is a constant action, but there
would be certain times during the day
that you wouldn't necessarily be making salat.
Okay. Zakat,
paying
the 2 a half percent the poor do,
taking from your wealth,
and giving to the poor and the needy.
This is an action
that needs to be done
at least
once per year.
And the idea of zakat,
the spirit of zakat
is something that stays with
the Muslim
constantly
because we're constantly ready to give of our
wealth, give of our time,
our thoughts, and our abilities. But
it is restricted. The zakat itself does come
in,
once the wealth
has reached a certain level,
once a year.
Fasting in Ramadan
is done in the month of Ramadan, which
is the 9th month,
on on the lunar calendar.
And Ramadan comes in yearly. So every year,
Ramadan is gonna come in.
So it is constant,
but it's only 1 month during the year.
So you can see that some of the
actions,
are always with us.
Some of them have
time,
a time basis
in order for them to be practiced.
Hajj, the performance of pilgrimage,
is
required
once in a lifetime.
We have to try to make this pilgrimage
if we are able to do so.
And this ability, azadwarahila,
which means that you have the the the
money to pay for the trip,
to take care of your family or your
whatever it is,
and you have you can travel there.
Okay. So you go to the pilgrimage,
once in a lifetime. And
during the year, the pilgrimage only comes in
at one point during the year.
So there are specific days
when the pilgrimage is performed.
And there is a specific 7 days,
in it that the pilgrims
are there. They are specified. They are there
in our calendar.
So it is also time sensitive.
And we have come to this point,
in our, lunar year.
We have come to the point where we
have reached
the 12th month,
in the lunar calendar.
And if you look at your months,
and again, the lunar calendar rotates.
So this is not similar to the solar
calendar
where every December,
it's cold in Canada.
Okay. And then you have your solstice at
different times.
This is lunar. So lunar rotates,
and they'll it'll shift.
And basically,
the 12 months, you have Muharram
as the beginning, Safa rabi'il Awil rabi'athani,
Jamada Ulla, Jamada Uqra,
Rajab, Shaaban, Ramadan.
Right? That's your fasting month, number 9.
And then Shawwal,
and then Dhulqada.
And we have just come out of Dhulqada,
and we have entered Dhul Hijjah.
So we are in the month of
the pilgrimage.
We've entered the 12th month
in the lunar calendar.
And again, so so the time sensitivity,
comes in with this month.
And the first 10 days
in the month of
Duhija
are sacred days.
Alhamdulillah,
we have entered Duhija today. So we're actually
in the first,
of Duhija.
And the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, there is no day more honorable
in Allah's sight
and no acts more more beloved therein to
Allah than those that are done in these,
10 days.
Say tahleel
la ilaha illallah.
So he should say that.
Say takbir,
Allahu Akbar.
Say tahmid,
alhamdulillah.
He said, say it often.
So during these 10 days, we should be
constantly remembering
Allah
Also during the 10 days, and there's a
number of traditions,
surrounding this,
But in this 10 days, we also,
do good deeds,
which could include fasting as well,
fasting on any of the days. We normally
don't fast on Jummah,
but other than that, we try to fast
as much as possible,
especially on Mondays Thursdays,
to give charity,
call to the good, forbid evil,
whatever you can possibly do in,
these 10 days,
has great reward.
And so we've entered the 10 days,
of the Uhidja.
This is not compulsory.
By the way, these acts are not compulsory.
The only thing that comes
becomes very important
to a Muslim,
right you could say it's compulsory
if you're and that is to make Hajj.
If you have the ability to make it,
and there's nothing stopping you from making it,
then you should
give everything,
to make that pilgrimage
once in a lifetime.
K? And
so these are the dates. And again for
our new Muslim Corner,
the intention of our class is just to
make things clear and easy,
for us. So,
June 7th,
right, the month has begun.
Okay? And then we're going through,
the 10 days. And so
next Friday,
that is when the actual pilgrimage
in Mecca itself begins.
It would be next Friday.
Doesn't begin for us because we're not there,
you know, in Mecca.
You know, we're not in the sites, but
it begins,
then. And then the 15th is Arafat
Day, that is, next Saturday,
and 16th,
which would be the Sunday,
that is Eid al Adha.
So this is another important
extremely important time because the Eid, these are
the two most
important days of celebration and gathering,
in the Muslim calendar.
This is the Eid al Adha.
And for people who are not living in
the area of Mecca
or who are not in a Muslim community
with a lot of people who are
going back and forth to Mecca, this Eid
can sort of, like, surprise you.
It sort of catches up on you.
Ramadan is clear because we're we're suffering for
29 days.
So by when Eid ul Fitr comes, it's
release. You are released.
So everybody is waiting for the Eid.
It's a climax.
But this one,
although it's extremely important,
it'll sort of catch us by surprise
unless we're,
very much tied in with the lunar calendar.
Okay? So keep that in mind and try
to get a calendar. You can get them
in most of the masjids
here. Get a calendar or have it there,
you know, on your cell phone that gives
you constantly,
you know, your Gregorian's
solar date and your lunar date.
So you can constantly follow,
those dates.
So the day of of of Arafa,
which will be coming,
next week, not tomorrow, but the following
Saturday.
So this is, important. And the prophet
said fasting on the day of Arafa
is kafara,
is an expiation for 2 years.
The years preceding it
and the year
following it.
So it is
a release of the sins, a forgiveness of
sins,
for the preceding year and for the following
year,
when
the person fast
on this day of Arafa. That's how important
it is.
And the fasting on Ashura,
and that is in the month of Muharram,
that is the 10th of Muharram.
So fasting on that date, which will be
coming next month.
Right? You gotta you have to finish this
month, and then that is an expiation,
for the year preceding it.
So the year before it,
that is an expiation,
you know, for the sin. So that is,
out of our,
day,
and, we are moving toward that time.
Okay? So I wanna open up the floor
now
for any questions, immediate questions. This because this
is a workshop.
Okay? So we've we're in the month of
Duhija.
It's a shock for a lot of people.
You might come to Jummah. You might hear
people say, oh, Hajj is coming and it's
Duhija and whatever. It's come up so it
is upon us now.
Okay? So this is the 10 days of
the month of Duhija.
K? So the floor is open for any
questions. Question.
For
when you said that if you fast,
then it
it for your reasons for the previous year
and the bump the upcoming year,
what
exactly does that mean? Because obviously, like, you
don't you can't just go around saying, oh,
I have a free pass. I can do
whatever I want for the next year. So,
like,
what
what does this You know? And and and
these sins have been clarified. They're minor sins.
Yeah. You know? And
it it is like a blessing. It's it's
an added reward and blessing incentive,
you know, for the person, but it does
not give the person that ability to do
this sin
because they think they're being freed from it.
No.
But it it's just like an incentive,
you know, to show the blessings,
you know, in in this month
of Arafat.
But, you know, it it it could be
taken the wrong way. Question. So,
in terms of the day of our when
the day comes in, it's it's after the
mother prayer. Right?
So when Arafat comes now,
and that will be next,
Saturday, but it would start on Friday night,
it's similar to Ramadan.
You remember that the Ramadan starts
your fasting, you know, when after Maghrib, you
have entered the the day.
So after Maghrib is when Arafat comes and
then you're fasting. So the same way like
before, you would get up for suhoor,
before Fajr,
and you you take your your your morning
meal,
and then you would fast next Saturday
with the same basic rules,
as you'd follow in the month of Ramadan,
except there is no taweeh prayers
being done,
in the evening. And if for some reason
the person
couldn't, make it
or what you know, didn't make the fast,
it's not a sin.
So it's not like you didn't do wrong.
You just missed out on some serious blessings.
Okay? But it's not Like, if you miss
Ramadan, you've done something
wrong. But that not with, Arafat.
Question.
So the question is, is it a must
to fast on the 10 days
of Duhijja? No. It is not. It is
not like Ramadan at all. These are just
blessed days,
and you have your choice to fast or
not fast.
How whatever good deeds that you can do,
you do it, during these 10 days.
The important day is Arafat Day, which is
next Saturday.
So that that is the one that's you
really try,
you know, to make that. But the other
days, you don't have to. Although it is
good, it is much better. You get great
rewards,
for fasting, but it is not compulsory
and and should not be considered to be
compulsory on people,
to do the fast during these days.
Yeah. Do you have any insight on why
doing Hajj is so expensive? Like, I hear
some crazy numbers.
Okay. Question is about Hajj. Now this is
a, you know, very,
up to date question.
In terms of,
making the Hajj,
prices go up and they go down.
But basically,
what it says,
in terms of our our faith is that,
you know,
So the prophet said, you make Hajj if
you are able to make it.
So if you have
the ability to make it there
and you have enough
to take care of your family, your home,
whatever,
then you can make it. So that ability,
you know, does have something to do with
the time and space that you're in.
For some people, making Hajj may be very
simple because they live right next door to
Saudi Arabia,
or maybe they live inside of Saudi Arabia.
Okay? For other people, it's a little more
expensive.
If you're in a war zone,
then it's gonna be really hard,
you know, to to to to to do
anything.
And so it it's it's the ta'a
is basically,
your ability to make it.
And
it should be made easier by,
the Hajj authorities.
But unfortunately,
sometimes people take advantage,
you know, of that. I'm not involved
in organizing the actual
trips themselves,
but prices have gone up in terms of
airfare
and hotel fares
and whatnot. So the person who gives you
a package
has to include all of those, you know,
different things, and then whatever tax the Saudi
Arabian government gives.
All of this comes in the ability. So
if a person, you know, couldn't afford it,
then they don't fall in the category of
people who can make it.
They don't fall in that category.
Although some people,
based upon the culture that they live in,
they are so determined to make Hajj
that they go through
a lot. And I know of stories. I
met a person,
when I was living in Medina. He came
from the country of Mauritania,
and that is in
West Africa.
And he set out
on foot.
He didn't take Saudi Airlines,
from he walked.
And he went through and every place he
went, he worked a little bit. He was
not a rich man. And after a couple
years,
he made it across
to Saudi Arabia and then he made as
Hajj. He was determined to make it.
Okay? He didn't
base it upon the money to pay for,
you know, a ticket or a tour because
he wanted to make it.
So but basically speaking, you know, the religion
is not to be made difficult on people.
It's based upon the ability
of the individual
to make the Hajj.
Question online.
What makes Arafadeh good from the other days
during these 10 days?
Arafat Day is different because prophet Muhammad has
said it is different,
that it is a blessed day.
And,
it is considered to be when the pilgrims
are on Hajj. And next week inshallah, we're
gonna go through the Hajj with you.
So you'll see every step of it.
And
when they on 9th day when they reach,
Arafa,
and when they go on the Mount of
Arafa,
in the afternoon,
and this is when the prophet, salaam, and
his companions were praying to Allah, that is
considered to be
the best possible time to make dua
to Allah is in Arafat on that mountain.
It is considered to be, you know, the
best time of of prayer,
that a person can have.
And so even for the peep for the
people who are who can't be there,
then we fast.
So so it it is a sacred time,
it you know, within
the Hajj itself. And one time the prophet,
peace be upon him, even said, al Hajj
Arafa.
He said the essence of Hajj is Arafat.
That's basically
the essence of the whole Hajj.
Because the essence is the connection with the
creator
and, you know, making that prayer.
That is the pinnacle of the Hajj
itself. So outside,
we can't make it there,
so we fast,
during that time to get as as much
of the blessings as we possibly,
can get.
K? Online,
any other questions or anybody has
online?
So
basically,
the Hajj itself
is the 5th
pillar,
and it combines
all of the pillars.
And that's also another observation
that's important about the Hajj because
it combines
the shahada,
you're constantly bearing witness to the oneness of
Allah.
It has prayer within it.
It has fasting
because if a person breaks certain aspects of
the
Hajj itself, then they have to fast in
order to,
make up for it.
You know, it it has giving,
You know, you're also giving, you're sacrificing.
And so it combines all of the pillars.
And if the person
does the Hajj
properly, then it is considered to be Hajj
Ma'bruh,
and that person is like a child.
No sins.
All sins are forgiven
for that person.
So this is something that
we want to to experience,
in our life. And most people when they
think about
Hajj
or even non Muslims when they're taught about
it,
This is Saudi Arabia, it's Arabs,
and whatever.
And it's surprising
when people find out
that the actual Hajj itself,
the rituals,
the actions that we are doing
are not based upon
the actions of prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings
be upon him. There's actions before his actions.
So it was established,
certain things were established, and then with the
guidance of Allah, he was show shown how
to put it into a package.
So it becomes a package that we all
can experience.
But the person who is
critical
and central
to the Hajj itself is prophet Ibrahim alayhis
salam.
And that's again an important understanding,
especially for those
of the people of the book,
the Christians and the Jews and other people
who consider,
Abraham
to be an important person.
Historians have even looked into,
Abraham's life and, you know, he was such
an important person
in terms of what was established,
during his time and establishing the house
that,
people some historians even say that he influenced
people all the way to India.
That the Brahmins themselves, that the name of
the Brahim, the the the Brahmins
were considered to be the highest cast in
Hinduism.
You know, that their concept of the, of
the creator and relating to the creator also
came from this name,
of Ibrahim,
alaihis salam. So he is a central
figure.
A central figure in understanding Islam
and also connecting,
Muslims to other faiths
around the world.
And so we we need to just
walk through the story again.
The more you go through the story
of Ibrahim alaihis salam,
is the more we can understand what we
are doing.
Because,
again, it's important for Muslims,
especially those who
are have entered into Islam,
to be practicing Islam based upon knowledge,
basira.
You're not just following somebody else.
Okay? But but but you base it upon
sound knowledge. So Ibrahim alaihis salam, as we
found out,
lived in what is now Iraq,
in the area of Chaldea and Ur,
and this is in Tigris Euphrates region.
Okay? And
very intelligent young man,
with a strong belief in the creator,
naturally within himself
from the beginning of his life.
His father, unfortunately, was an idol
maker,
not just an idol worshiper,
but he used to make the idols.
So he's a very important person,
there. And although
this area of Iraq,
you know, had
great prophets who came,
in this area, and the message had been
around them.
They forgot the message, and they were reduced,
to idol worship.
And these are some of the idols. These
this particular shot of idols I I I
took because
the one in the middle,
the big one there with the beard,
that one there is a classical type of
idol that you'd find in Iraq.
Dating back to ancient Mesopotamia,
and Ur and Khaldea.
So this is how they would make it
in these forms and in other forms.
And Ibrahim's father was an idol maker, but
Ibrahim alayhi salaam,
he rejected this.
And
he looked at the stars and the sun
and the moon.
He he asked he literally spoke.
Are you, my lord, did not
he rejected all of this. And he broke
the idols
one time in the area that his father
had set up and put the stick in
the hands of the big idol.
When the people came back
and they asked who did this,
and they saw Ibrahim, he said, ask your
idol.
Because if that's your lord,
the idol's gonna tell you.
And it couldn't respond,
and they turned on him.
And they lit a fire,
took him to the town square,
and they threw him in a blazing
fire.
This is a horrible way to execute somebody.
They put him in a blazing fire, but
Allah Azzawajal,
made
this fire
a place of coolness and peace for Ibrahim.
And when the fire went down,
they expected only to see ashes,
but Ibrahim was there.
And so they were afraid. He's a magician
or something, and they left him alone. He
realized he had to leave,
and he made his way out.
And some say the king at the time
was Nimrod.
There's different understandings if you go back in
the history of that region.
There may be understandings,
slightly different, but Nimrod is one of the
names that comes up. In any event, Ibrahim
alaihis salaam,
married Sarah.
And from there,
they traveled across,
Iraq, the northern way, which would go into
sections of
lower part of, of Turkiye
and Syria,
right, and then down into Palestine.
And so this is important to understand that
Ibrahim
was a person who came from Tigris, Euphrates.
He did not speak Arabic.
He did not speak Hebrew.
He was not Jewish.
He was not an Arab,
so he came from this area of Iraq.
And
his wife also came from that area.
And they managed to travel all the way
over to Egypt,
and there they were given,
a servant.
And some say that
she was a princess
because the Egypt had been conquered by a
group called the Hyksos, who are from Iraq.
And they captured the princess
they gave to Ibrahim. He's one of their
countrymen.
They liked him somehow,
and, they gave him
this princess,
Egyptian African woman,
as a handmaiden.
And later on,
you know, when,
his wife Sarah, it appeared that she wasn't
gonna have children.
She said,
take Haja
as your wife.
And she took Haja as a wife. Now
this is my favorite chart,
again,
that we like to go over because there's
so much inside of this this chart itself.
Because you're looking at the two sides
of the family of Ibrahim,
and you see Sarah on one side,
and then you see Hajar.
Okay? And then there's your verse in the
so called what's left of the Bible, Genesis
16:3.
Okay? So this is where
even the Bible is saying
that,
Sarah said take Hajar as your wife.
And you can see in Genesis 1616
that
Hajar had a child called
Ishmael
Alaihisra, Ishmael.
So the first son
of Ibrahim
was
Ishmael.
Okay? So this is very important
chronologically.
And it wasn't till later on,
it wasn't till later
that Sarah did have
a child,
and you'll see that in Genesis again.
Genesis in,
21 5.
She bore a son.
She was up in age
somewhere between 85
90 years old.
People were different in those days.
Barahim must be around a 100 years old.
So people were different in those days, not
like us. We get tired easy, and
we have a lot of problems.
She had the child
It's Haq, Isaac. Right?
But on the other side of the family,
okay, this is where
our Hajj story actually starts to begin.
And and most people, the people in the
Western world are not aware of this.
They are not aware of what actually went
on
on the other side. And it would be
it's a shock for a lot of
evangelistic Christians in the churches
in Texas.
If if they could have this chart put
in front of them, they'd be in shock
Because they have no clue
of this even though their own Bible is
saying
that that was his wife.
Okay?
Now
he returned to the area of Palestine
and made a base for his homes,
and Sarah stayed in that base.
And then with the guidance of Allah, he
went south
into a desolate valley. He found this desolate
valley.
And this valley is called Becca.
In the Quran, it's called Becca to Mubadaka,
blessed Becca.
And in Psalms, again, we're looking at what's
left of the Bible,
846,
it says, who passing through the valley of
Becca,
make it a well,
The rain also filleth the pools.
So even in what's left of the Bible,
it's talking about this area,
there's water in this area.
So periodically,
water would appear inside of this area.
And this is really important,
because you'll see how important the water is,
as the story
goes on. But this is something which is
in
the Bible. Now, this is surprising because a
Christian might say to you, okay, where is
your Hajj?
Where is your your your your your story
in my book?
Okay. That's one of the stories that you
can show them.
Okay. That Becca,
which is still used as Mecca in our
own traditions,
became Mecca.
It's
there. Okay. So now
Becca,
which later is pronounced Mecca,
Ibrahim alaihis salaam is guided,
to be inside of this area.
But then he also gets a commandment from
the creator
that he has to leave.
So he leaves
his wife Hajjah
and his son Ishmael,
may Allah be pleased with them, in a
desolate
valley.
This is difficult.
And she couldn't believe it. She said, are
you really leaving us?
And he said, I have to leave you.
But she was a resolute believer as well.
And she accepted the fact
that this was a commandment of God. And
as Ibrahim left,
and it is said that when he reached
the mountains there's mountains around Mecca. When he
reached the high mountain and you're sort of
looking
down, then he prayed to Allah. You know,
that I'm leaving my family in this desolate
valley.
You know, please protect them and,
you know, accept us. So this was very
difficult for him to do,
but he was commanded to do it.
And
down in the valley,
after a short period of time,
they became thirsty because Mecca is a hot
place.
And those who have been in Mecca, our
brother here just came from Mecca,
Mecca is hot.
Even in the what so called winter.
Right? It's still hot. In Mecca, in the
summer, it is blazing
hot, and there's not a lot of greenery,
you know, around like you have in Canada
and in other places.
So
she was distraught, and
she wanted she needed to get water or
something. So she went to this
mountain of Safa,
and she ran to another mountain, Marwa,
to find water, to look, couldn't find anything,
and she ran in between
these two mountains of Safa and Marwa.
She ran in between them.
And,
it is recorded that,
when she
finally reached, you know, 7th, when she found
she saw that there was an angel,
that was digging in the ground,
you know, and,
water started to come up.
And she went to that area.
The water was coming up. The spring was
coming, and she made a little,
type of tub,
a basin,
you know, to catch the water.
Okay? And so this became
the well of Zamzam.
This is the well of Zamzam.
And that water,
again, this is what the Psalms was talking
about,
Becca,
The pools of water that can possibly come,
you know, out of this area.
And so what she did was,
and you'll see it in your Hajj,
what she did was
looking for water. She ran it between
the two mountains
7 times.
Okay?
So this is not a action of prophet
Muhammad, peace and blessings. He didn't make this
up.
This goes back
to the time of Ibrahim alaihis salam, and
you're talking, you know, way back in 1,500
BC.
So so you're going back,
in time.
And the valley
became very fertile.
Water is now flowing. And the local Arab
tribes,
who would which moving along,
they were able to detect with birds
that there's water
in this valley. It wasn't known for water,
but the birds were flying toward the valley.
So they went
there, and they settled, in the valley,
itself. These are Arabs
who came from the south from Jordan.
K? And,
Ibrahim,
alaihis salam,
after a period of time, he came back.
So he he returned,
and,
he had another
he had a vision.
And in this vision,
he was shown
that he was sacrificing his son.
He had to sacrifice his son.
Now this is something
for the average person, this is,
not possible.
Okay. But he was
direct believer
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
and he informed, Ismail, who was young man
now,
what had happened. Ishmael
was really strong,
and he said, carry it out.
So they went toward the mount of Arafat.
That's what's left
of Arafat. If you go to Mecca,
the white the little dots are like pilgrims
that are dressed in white that are on
the mount of Arafat.
Okay. So they went there,
in this area, this high area, it's all
based on his dream, and shaytan came to
him.
So the devil came. And shaytan being jinni.
Right? The jinn can take forms of human
beings.
So the jinni could took a form of
a man
and then tempted Ibrahim.
Why you have to do this?
Are you insane?
That's what we'd say today.
But he tempted him. You gotta sacrifice your
son?
That's not possible.
Ibrahim,
you know, to deal with this shaytan, took
stones,
and he stoned
the devil.
So this happened three times.
He was seriously tempted. Now this is interesting
too because those who come out of the
Christian tradition,
also know that Jesus was tempted by Satan
as well.
And that's something that if you're not in
the Christian tradition, you won't know,
that this type of thing. But this,
type of temptation comes
to many other prophets,
direct temptations.
Okay? So
Ibrahim
stoned,
the devil,
at 3 different places.
Okay?
Now
he was ready to sacrifice his son.
And some reports even give detail and say
that he actually the son was so brave
that he even said to his father, tie
me down
so my body does not move.
And and and you can't do it right.
And then even some detail said,
let me face backwards.
So when you sacrifice,
it's kinda gruesome looking.
You sack my back is here, and you
sacrifice like this. Because if I'm looking at
you, you're gonna lose your your strength.
Okay? So he was in position to do
this.
The tool is in his hand.
Right? And he's about to make the sacrifice.
And then,
miraculously,
when he's about to do that, then Ishmael
is is is taken out of the place,
and a sheep is there, and he ends
up sacrificing a sheep.
So he was he was carrying this thing
out.
And Ishmael
was sacrificing
himself.
That's also a great thing.
It's not just taking the life, but giving
your life.
So Ishmael was sacrificing,
you know, himself, and they passed the test,
and they became the closest friends,
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And their practices,
what they went through,
becomes the basis of monotheistic
religions
from their time immemorial.
The sacrifice of the animals. Even if you
look at,
the children of Israel
and you look at some of the Jewish
practices
coming from Moses
and and Jesus, and they also have a
sacrifice,
you know, they you know, these are become
basis,
the basis of monotheistic practices.
Okay? And this is a picture of present
day Mina.
So this is in Saudi Arabia today. Of
course, the white is now tents and
overpasses and, you know, whatever. And Mina is
the place right outside of Mecca.
Next week, inshallah, we're gonna go through,
the Hajj with you,
you know, step by step. But today, we
want to learn about the spirit of the
Hajj.
What is actually in back of the Hajj
itself?
Okay. What is it based upon?
And this gives you,
your basis.
And
so these are the different places,
there. We're gonna look in in in in
in more details next week,
you know, at it because now you have
where the the the Haram is. That's Mecca.
Right?
And so from there, you can go,
your numbers are saying number 2.
You would go to Mina.
Okay. That's outside.
And then number 3,
you'd walk along and you go to the
plain of Arafa.
Okay. And then from there,
on your way back to Mecca, and we'll
go to this next week inshallah, to Muzdalifa,
and then you return to Mecca.
So these are like your movements
that that that you make,
during the actual Hajj pilgrimage itself.
People walk. People ride.
It's it's it's something which
will stay with you for the rest of
your life. It's an experience that everybody
should have, and
we are actually encouraged strongly,
to do it.
K?
So and and Mecca, of course, this is,
you know, a shot of what Mecca
would have looked like
way back in the ancient time. Very simple,
you know, humble town that is there in
the valley.
And Ibrahim alaihis salaam,
of course, built the Kaaba.
Okay? So it was basically a house of
worship,
that is there, and now it is the
the the direction of our prayers.
Okay? And this is the well of Zamzam
that is still there today. It is now
organized
and mechanized,
but before, it was just a well.
Okay?
So
I want to leave you, there with this.
This is the spirit of the Hajj.
This is the spirit of what we are
going through,
and we are in the the the 10
days of,
Duhidja,
trying to do as much good as we
possibly can do and
moving toward next weekend.
And, inshallah, next Friday, we'll be able to
talk in more details
because it'll be right before Arafat Day,
that we'll have, you know, the class,
you know, and then,
go into
some discussion about the Eid,
Insha'Allah next week. So I wanna open up
the floor for any general questions,
that anybody has
concerning the spirit of the Hajj,
and what is going on during this time.
Floor is open.
Sheikh, I have a question. Okay.
Okay. It says, Assalamu alaikum. My question is,
I'm living with my mother who doesn't believe
in Allah.
She now has a small block in her
house. And this is me. The angels will
not enter my home or accompany me in
prayer.
Okay.
May Allah, you know, guide the question is
that, you know, her mother doesn't believe in
Allah and she's trying to give Dawah and
the mother has a dog.
So, what does this mean in terms of
the house? It is, we we we pray
that Allah would guide your mother, inshallah, into
a state of Islam.
Reality is that angels will not enter a
house that where dogs are inside.
That is the reality.
In terms of living with a dog,
Muslims have dogs.
In some cultures, people are Muslims are, like,
afraid of dogs. They run away from dogs.
But actually, that's not origin that's not Islamic.
Muslims have dogs,
and you'll see within our traditions
that the dogs, especially with, with flocks,
with sheep and goats, as a shepherd, you
have dogs who protect.
You also have hunting dogs.
And there are you know, you you shoot,
you know, a bird, and the dog, you
know, secures, you know, the bird for you.
And there's even discussions if the dog comes,
you know, what do you do? So we
have hunting dogs.
We have dogs to protect,
you know, our homes,
to protect our businesses.
But the difference is we don't have dogs
living in our house.
We don't have dogs like children
who inherit our wealth and who sleep in
our bed.
We don't.
And part of that is, of course, the
angels.
But another thing is the fact that the
dog itself,
you know, is
dogs have very good qualities. Dogs are very
loyal. They're more loyal than some people too.
So dogs are very loyal.
But the reality is
that the dog
certain dogs, especially the black one with the
white spot,
an evil
djinni, a demon can come inside the dog.
Okay? So dogs
can
evil can inhabit the dogs.
Secondly,
the tongue of the dog
is considered to be impure,
negeus.
It is the tongue.
And if you look at a dog that
is panting,
the dog is panting,
the we sweat, and through our sweat,
impurities are released
from our bodies.
The dog's impurities
come out of the saliva of the mouth.
So literally,
the dog's
impurity is there in the lips.
And also, it's a little graphic, but it's
the reality.
The dogs also lick their private pots
constantly.
Okay? So that if you,
are if the dogs lick in your face,
right, you got a problem.
Okay? That's not clean.
Even logically, it's not clean.
Okay? That me that does not mean the
dog is evil.
But you have to learn how to deal
with the dog, and dog's intelligent enough to
know
that if they they don't if if for
a Muslim dog,
you know, it doesn't lick everybody and jump
on top of everybody.
Right? It is taken care of. It is
loved,
but it has a certain duty that it
does.
Right? And it lives its lifestyle.
So that's the difference
in our lifestyle
in terms of dogs. And we can only
pray, you know, that Allah, you know, would,
you know, bless the sisters,
you know, mother,
you know, with Islam,
at some point in her life. Question.
Floor is open. What is significance of Arafat,
and why is missing it important?
What is the significance of Arafah? This is
the most important time of the year. It's
the essence of the pilgrimage itself.
And the prophet
said, Al Hajj Arafah, that the essence of
pilgrimage is Arafat.
And on that mountain, 9th day, that is
the closest to Allah
that people can be in terms of their
prayers being answered.
That's why that's why we wanna go to
Arafat too because you wanna be in that
valley
on that 9th day to have your you
know, to make your prayers
for your family, for your friends, for yourself,
for anything in your life. You wanna be
able to do that,
at least once in a lifetime.
So it is a sacred time,
you know, for us. And, you know, we
we we fast if we can't make it
there. But if you don't do it, it's
not a sin.
If you don't do it, you just missed,
some great blessings.
K?
Floor is open for any questions.
Was it Ismael alaihi salaam who was kicking
the sand and sending water came out or
an angel that You know, there there's different
reports. You know, the boy is digging in
the ground,
kicking the sand. There's reports saying that the
angel,
you know, kicked in the sand. There's different
reports,
that you'll get,
about, you know, how the
the water actually came. Allah knows best. The
child is there. The angel is there.
Allah knows best.
Floor is open. Does the word for Hajj
come from Hajj?
No.
Hajj
is Hajja
Hajja.
So it's it's comes from that verb,
and Hajja is Hajja Ra.
So it's coming from a a 3,
leaded verb. It's different. So it's not the
same verb.
No. Floor is open,
for any questions. Yes.
2 questions. 1, are there any other animals
that are known to inhabit genes of dogs?
The question is, you know, do the jinn
demon spirits inhabit other animals as well?
There are other animals possibly,
that it can inhabit,
like the the the scorpion.
It can it can inhabit the the scorpion
and also snakes.
So if the snake is inside of your
house,
and then also there's certain lizards
that that this that it it can inhabit.
It's mentioned in the text about the wazakh,
this wazakh, lizard.
Allah knows that that's the only one.
But this lizard, if it comes if it's
outside, it's alright. But if the lizard's in
your house,
then you have a problem. And I lived
in Medina,
and so we actually had Wazak that came
in the house.
And it makes a noise
makes a noise like that.
Caribbean people,
you know, we have lizards that are there.
If you live in tropical climates, you have
lizards. West Africa has lizards.
And the lizard is a creation of Allah.
But if it comes in your house
or if a snake comes in your house,
then you should say to it,
leave.
You should make it leave.
Okay? And let it leave.
This is a good practice with all animals
to to take a stance because
animals have sense, and you don't know what's
inside the animal.
I recently moved into a new house,
and there's a ravine in back of our
house, and I was taking out, you know,
you know, my my garbage and left the
door open
and then came back into the main room.
And I heard this noise. I had just
been in the house for 2 weeks. Right?
And I heard this noise, and I turned
on the light. And there was a raccoon
in my house, this big,
this big.
And it was climbing up the curtain. Right?
You know? And I came inside,
and I looked at I looked at the
raccoon. And probably she she looked at me.
You know, we looked at each other as
man versus beast. Right?
You know, and so I said, okay. Fear
Allah. You know, you're teaching all these people
about.
Right? Fear Allah.
Okay? So I so I thought about what
I used to do with this wazak. Right?
This is an animal. It's a creation of
Allah. Don't get scared. Right?
Okay. So I oh, I I I moved
toward it because my door was on the
side. So I moved toward,
and the raccoon posed for fighting.
And I opened up the door, and I
went over to the side,
turned off the light in back of me.
And I looked at the raccoon, and I
said, leave.
Leave. Doesn't like that. Raccoons watching me. Right?
So I said, like, leave. Right?
So the raccoon said, okay. And and the
raccoon just put its tail between its legs,
and it walked out the door.
And I and I shut the door.
Then I fainted. You know?
You know, but, you know, again, if the
creature's in your house,
right,
talk to it
first.
And then if it's the Wazakh,
you have to get it out. But I
would not advise
using a I would not advise fighting a
raccoon.
Right? Let it find its way out because
raccoons are extremely intention,
intelligent, especially Canadian raccoons.
Canadian raccoons have rights according to the law,
and I think they know that. Right?
And where I live in Scarborough by the
ravine,
that used to be the raccoon's property. Right?
And we moved into its territory.
So we're actually living in its land.
Okay? So you gotta have respect,
you know, for the creation of Allah.
Now floor is open for any other general
questions. Yeah.
My other question,
what are the benefits of having angels in
your home?
The benefits, of course,
this is something which is unseen,
but angels can protect.
Angels,
you know, are forces,
and you don't know when an angel can
come to protect you.
Maybe an angel helped me with that that
raccoon.
You don't know. So it's better to,
you know,
have that, you know, blessing from Allah, you
know, to be around us. But angels are
unseen, so we don't really know.
But it's always good to have that extra
blessing that is there. Now
What are the benefits of Samsung water? Is
it being sold
in in supermarkets
and stuff?
So so the the Zamzam and we'll talk
about Zamzam a little bit more next week,
but the prophet said, you know, Zamzam is
will give is is is is for the
one who who takes it.
So you actually can make a dua
and and get good blessings from this,
drinking Zamzam and making a prayer. It can
be answered by Allah.
So the person gets Zamzam water. Normally, when
we drink water, we're supposed to sit down.
The sunnah is the way of the prophet
is do not eat and drink standing.
Right? You eat and drink sitting.
Okay. But when you zamzamwada,
the sunnah is to stand
and face
Mecca.
And you take a cup of it, and
you drink it in one gulp.
Normally, the sunnah way to drink out of
a cup would be 3 3 gulps and,
sitting down.
But in this case, you stand facing Mecca
and you drink 1 gulp.
And there are great blessings,
you know, in this your prayers can be
answered.
So so Zamzam water, it's a pure type
of water,
there.
Some people use it for other things. Allah
knows best.
I've never heard any authentic tradition say that
it has healing qualities in it. You know,
but it is a purified water,
you know, to take, especially somebody who's very
sick. You know, it's good to to drink
this water and to make prayers,
you know, with the water.
Thumbs up.
What should you do if you would make
a mistake while you're praying? Should you just,
like, correct yourself and continue, or should you
just stop and then restart the prayer? Yeah.
So so this goes this is a question
about prayer. If you make a mistake while
you're praying,
there's some details in that
that, if if you make a small mistake,
you know, in the prayer that is not
one of your major
actions.
Like your major action,
of, you know, missing a whole,
your rakat.
If you do something small,
you can continue.
Like for instance, you you may have forgot
to read,
you know, a chapter with the open with
the fatiha. You may have forgotten that.
Or you may have forgotten to say when
you're sitting
certain part of your,
you know, your your dua
and sitting,
you just continue.
But if you miss a whole rakat, a
whole section,
then in that case, you need to
stand up and make the rakat over. And
then you make 2 extra prostrations,
you know, at the
end, because of the mistake.
Okay? So it's it's it's it's a little
complicated. You have to go to a salat
book to know which one. But as long
as it's not a major
section of your prayers,
then, you know, you don't have to do
the prayer over again. You can continue.
When you're in Musa Dali Fuq. Okay. Next
week, we're gonna look at it in more
detail. But when you're in the place where
they stone the shaitan,
then, you know, it's Bismillah Allahu Akbar.
So it's basically
Bismillah
Allahu Akbar, and then you stop.
And
next week, we'll look at that with a
little more details,
you know, there in the actual performance,
you know, of how to do the Hajj
itself.
K?
Any other any any other general questions, we
have
concerning, the spirit of of the pilgrimage,
and
what is coming?
Nothing online?
Does Sanzam water mean stop stop?
Does it mean stop stop? Does sense on
water mean stop stop?
I'm I'm not sure. It is a good
question.
I don't
from my understanding, Allah knows best what it
actually means linguistically.
I'm I'm not actually sure. I'll I'll I'll
look that up for you, what it actually
means.
Lana's best.
So inshallah, we will we'll continue on. Our
question? Yeah.
My parents
have coal,
and I used to before. Like, it was
mine.
But I don't wear it anymore, but I
have to pay for it. Or
They have what is it? Gold.
Oh, gold. I don't wear it anymore, and
it's still with them. But,
like, how would I go about it? But
the gold is your property
or their property?
It's in the stage of handing off right
now. So But but it's but it's their
it's their property? I think it might be
theirs. Well, then it's not yours. Okay. But
if it were mine, it would be 2
and a half percent? If if it's yours
then you would pay, you know, on that.
Yeah. Once you had it for a year.
Okay.
Yeah.
So we'll we'll close the general class, you
know, now, and inshallah, we will continue on,
you know, for our class next week. In
any event,
if we're able to come together or not,
remember next Saturday is the fast. Right? That
that's the important time. But inshallah, we'll come
together next Friday and go through the pilgrimage
itself
with more details.