Aqeel Mahmood – Famous in the Heavens
AI: Summary ©
The importance of acknowledging individuals' actions on social media is discussed, including the need for individuals to be recognized and not wanting to be recognized for their actions. The confusion surrounding Islam's deeds is discussed, including examples of famous individuals who have not been recognized. The importance of staying clean and pure in one's life is emphasized, along with the importance of not envy anyone. The leaders of Muslims are also addressed, including Omar Omar and Omar Uwei, who discuss the importance of doing things in private and the importance of the message of Islam.
AI: Summary ©
Nowadays,
many of us are connected to
social media
where
we, on numerous occasions,
see others whom Allah has
blessed to be able to do
good deeds, righteous deeds
that
they benefit from
as a result of others
viewing them,
seeing them,
watching
their videos,
and sharing their posts.
And sometimes you'll see individuals
Allah has blessed
with
the ability to be able to post
and
to make videos
and
to write things on social media,
and their messages are are shared.
And
when we see this it encourages us.
When we see this we start to think
to ourselves,
I wish
that I was given that same recognition.
And sometimes
we start to post,
and we start to do things
even if it's not based on social media.
Maybe we do things in our own communities,
in our own centers, our own masajid.
We do some things
for the sake of da'wah, for the sake
of Allah.
And
when we post or when we do those
things that
we see others doing and we want that
same recognition,
sometimes we don't get that same recognition.
Sometimes
our posts and our
activities
and our efforts
aren't shared or viewed as much as the
efforts of other people.
And when this happens,
it can sometimes dishearten us.
We can become disappointed.
We can become disheartened. We start to think
to ourselves,
why is it that others can post and
do things
and immediately they'll get that recognition?
Their things, their messages will start to be
shared left, right, and center.
But when I don't when I do those
same things,
I'm not doing anything different.
Those things that I'm doing aren't getting the
same recognition.
When we reflect, brothers and sisters,
on
this dilemma that sometimes we fall into,
we have to remember that
sometimes Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala blesses us
with the opportunity
of being able to do righteous and good
deeds
that nobody else knows about.
And in fact, it may be the case
that our deeds,
that the acts of righteousness that we do
are more beloved to Allah
than possibly those
individuals who do righteous deeds and good deeds
in public.
Our deeds which are done privately could be
more beloved to Allah,
even though maybe we're disappointed about the recognition
that we're getting from others.
The messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he
told us about those who are most beloved
to Allah.
And he said, in
the the most beloved slave to Allah,
is the one who is pious. He's righteous.
He's self sufficient.
He's hidden away from the people.
He's a private person.
Because when a person does deeds in private,
his sincerity
isn't going to be called into question as
much as somebody who does riotous deeds in
public.
When everyone is watching,
when everyone is listening, when everyone is viewing,
and his deeds are being shared.
Because his deeds
could at one point not be shared. And
then he may start to question and start
to think,
why aren't people accepting
whatever it is that I'm doing?
Whereas the person who does things in private,
his sincerity
is clearer.
It could be purer
for his heart and for his ikhlas.
And even though others don't recognize
the actions that he's doing,
even though others don't recognize the good deeds
that he's doing,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recognizes them.
And
that's why
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about those
who give charity in the Quran,
and the different types of people who give
charity. Allah says
Those who openly give charity,
publicly give charity, and that's a good thing
because it encourages other people.
But if you hide it
and you give to the poor and the
needy, then that is something which is better
for you.
And as a result, he will remove and
expiate your sins and wipe away your sins.
And Allah
is all aware of what you do.
If others aren't aware of what you do,
if you don't get the recognition
from others
regarding the righteous deeds that you're doing and
the efforts that you're making, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will know. And this is why in
the hadith of the messenger of Allah when
he talked about the one who gives sadaqah,
being from those who will be in the
shade of Allah.
The man who gives charity
and he hides it.
To the extent that his left doesn't know
what his right is giving. People don't know
how much he's giving, how often he's giving,
what he's giving.
Because it's something which is private between him
and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But nowadays when we live in this age
of technology and social media
and
wanting recognition from others, even related to our
acts of worship,
and wanting this publicity,
wanting to be popular.
When a person falls into this trap of
wanting to be popular and getting recognition of
his good deeds,
when he doesn't get that recognition,
maybe he'll stop doing those good deeds.
Maybe he won't continue them.
Because in his eyes,
if people aren't accepting his good deeds, if
people aren't recognizing and praising him for his
righteous deeds, then maybe Allah
maybe isn't accepting them.
Or even worse, his sincerity isn't there in
the 1st place.
Maybe he wasn't doing it for the sake
of Allah.
And so that's why the most beloved people
to Allah are those who do things in
private,
Because
their sincerity is purer.
Their ikhlas
is there purely to please Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And there are many examples in the past
of individuals
who
we didn't know about,
and we only know about them
because of the righteous deeds that they did.
They weren't famous people or popular people. They
never changed the face of history or they
never changed the course of history or, you
know, affected
100 and thousands of people's lives.
But simply because of some good deeds that
they did, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessed them.
Even the messengers
that we know of are just a small
amount of the messengers that Allah
has told us about in the Quran.
Allah says,
messengers that we haven't even told you about.
There are messengers we don't even know about.
We don't know who they were, yet they
were messengers of Allah.
When they would call people to the worship
of Allah, nobody would follow them. But they
were persistent and they continued
to call people to the worship of Allah.
Not because of the recognition they may be
given, because there was no recognition given to
them.
But because of their and their sincerity, and
the obedience to Allah.
So much so that on the day of
judgement,
some messengers will be raised up with no
one behind them, no one following them because
nobody listened to their message,
but they were messengers.
There are even individuals
who we would consider today to be disgraced,
dishonored people.
People who we wouldn't even respect
because of their professions.
The hadith of the messenger of Allah, alaihi,
alaihi, alaihi, alaihi, alaihi wasalam,
when he talked about
the woman who was a prostitute.
The messenger of Allah, alayhis salatu,
he told us,
there was a prostitute
who had been forgiven by Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
She was walking and she saw a dog
that was thirsty, and the dog was dying
of thirst
by a well.
And so she went down the well, took
out some water and gave it to this
dog. And as a result of this, Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgave her for that.
For her profession, because of the things that
she would do. She wasn't somebody who was
well known
in the right kind of way. She wasn't
praised, she wasn't respected, she wasn't honored.
But Allah
honored her because of the righteous deed that
she did purely as a result of her
sincerity.
There are these kinds of individuals, brothers and
sisters,
who are
are They're unknown to the people on earth,
but they're famous with those who are in
the heavens,
with Allah
and the angels.
The case of Musa alaihi salaam when he
was asked by his people Bani Israel, when
when he was teaching them as messengers do,
when they asked him who is the most
knowledgeable person on earth?
Because they were amazed by him. He was
their messenger.
And so he replied, I am.
Because
as far as he knew,
he was the most knowledgeable person because he
was the messenger of Allah.
And so Allah
revealed to him there is somebody who is
even more knowledgeable than you,
Khadir.
So go and seek him out.
And Musa alaihi salaam
never
gave up until he met Khadir.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala talks about Khadir,
and he says,
Musa found a slave from one of our
slaves.
He doesn't even call him a prophet or
a messenger by any other name. A slave
from one of our slaves.
We gave him mercy from ourselves.
And we gave him knowledge. We taught him
knowledge from ourselves.
So Musa alayhi salaam, one of the greatest
messengers who ever lived,
is
going and learning from an individual that nobody
nobody knew about. He wasn't somebody who was
well known or famous.
He was somebody who was a worshipper of
Allah, a slave of Allah
And this shows us brothers and sisters
that individuals like this,
they're unknown to us on earth, but they
could be famous with those in the heavens.
The messenger of Allah
he said, If Allah loves a person, he
tells Jibreel alaihis salam,
Allah
loves this person so love him.
And so Jibreel alaihis salam would tell the
rest of those inhabitants of paradise and those
in the heavens from the angels,
Allah loves so and so, so love him.
And so everyone in the heavens would end
up loving this individual.
There are other individuals, other people that I
mentioned
from
individuals who lived in the past,
who weren't known to the people on earth,
but they were famous
to those in the heavens.
We have the story
of
Abdullah ibn Amr Radiallahu An, one of the
companions of the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam. He said we were in the
Masjid with the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam
when he told us,
A man is going to come into the
Masjid right now
from the people of paradise.
He's going to be a man from the
men of paradise.
And so
they were waiting,
and they were thinking who is it going
to be?
Who is this man who is guaranteed paradise?
And you would think you would be someone
known to them.
Abu Bakr and Uthman Aileen, someone else
And so Abdullah ibn Amer, he says a
man entered and his beard was all scruffy
because he had just done wudu.
His beard was a mess, and he had
sandals under his armpit.
And he came and he offered the salah,
and then he left. He gave salam and
he left.
The next day the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam said the same thing, and
the same man entered and did the same
thing. The 3rd day he came in and
did the same thing.
So Absalai bin Amr followed him,
and he said to him, when he catch
up with caught up with him, he said,
I have had a dispute with my father,
and his father wasn't a Muslim at the
time, Amr ibn Aas.
So can I stay with you for for
a number of days, for 3 days? And
the man agreed.
So Abdu'lai ibn Amr, he said I stayed
with him to see what is it that
he does that makes him from the people
of paradise.
And in the daytime, he would go about
his day doing whatever a man does around
the house and
bits and bobs here and there.
Nothing noteworthy.
Nothing special in terms of acts of worship
or deeds
of righteousness.
When night time came,
Abdullah ibn Amr forced himself to stay awake.
To see maybe
he prays during the night.
This is probably what he does.
This is how he has been given the
status of being from the people of paradise.
But when night time came, he slept the
whole night.
He didn't even wake up 4 PM
until the fajr prayer came.
Then after the fajid prayer, he went on
his normal day.
The second day, the same thing occurred. Until
nighttime came, Abdulai bin Amr thought to himself,
he's gonna wake up tonight.
He's gonna do something tonight.
The same thing occurred, he slept throughout the
whole night, waking up only for Fajr. The
3rd day, the same thing.
Abdullah ibn Amr after 3 days,
he went to the man and he said
to him,
I haven't had a dispute with my father.
The only reason I came
is because
the messenger of Allah, alaihis salatu wa salam,
said to us that a man will come
into the messengers from the people of paradise,
and you came in.
And on the 2nd day, the same thing
happened and you entered.
And the same thing happened on the 3rd
day.
And I've been with you for these 3
days, and I haven't noticed anything that anything
special that you've done.
So tell me, what is it that you
do?
And so the man replied and said, I
am as you have seen.
This is what I do.
This is my routine. This is my this
is what I do on a on a
day to day basis.
And so Abdullah ibn Amr confused, he's walking
away,
and he calls him back.
And he says,
I am as you have seen. This is
what I do on a day to day
basis, except for one thing.
I never have any dishonesty
in my heart towards another Muslim,
And I
never envy anyone
who has been given something good
by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
I never have envy or hatred or animosity
or jealousy in my heart,
as a result of something good which Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has given.
And so Abdullah ibn Amr, he replied and
he said,
this is the thing that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has given you that you're able to
do that others aren't able to do.
To be able to sleep with a clean
and pure heart.
No hatred or animosity towards any individual.
We want to be like the example of
Ubayy ibn Uqab,
the companion of the messenger of Allah
who was approached by the messenger of Allah
one
day,
and he approached Ubayb Nukab,
and he
said,
Verily Allah has ordered me
to recite to you, oh, Ubayy
ibn Kabharu, this Surah.
The messenger of Allah is reciting to.
A surah from the Quran which he has
been given by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
He said,
did he mention me by name?
Wasamani
and the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
he said yes. He mentioned you by name.
And so Ubayy ibn al Qab started to
cry and started to weep.
These are individuals, brothers and sisters,
who Allah
gave them recognition before anyone else gave them
recognition on earth.
There's a story
of Umar Radiallahu An
who
when he was a leader of the Muslims,
every Hajj season,
he will stand up asking the people of
Yemen if a man by the name of
Uweis Al Qarni was with them. Each year
they would say no.
Until eventually, they
said he has come, but he's not performing
Hajj.
He's just taking care of our animals and
our camels as we're doing Hajj.
So Omar
went to him, and he was a small
thin man, weak.
He never had expensive garments. In fact, they
say he was wearing a cloak,
and that was his only piece of clothing.
And he was praying under the shade of
a tree with camels around him grazing.
Nothing special about this individual.
And so Umrad yallahu an, he asked him,
are you Uwais ul Karne?
He said yes. He said, I heard the
messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam say,
verily,
the greatest from the Tabi'in
is a man by the name of Uwais
ul Karne.
Every time
he would make an oath by Allah that
something would happen, it would happen. Allah would
make it happen.
And if you ever see this person,
ask him to ask Allah to forgive you.
So make dua to Allah that Allah forgives
me. This is Umar radiAllahu and the leader
of the Muslims asking somebody nobody knew about.
And so he made dua for him.
Umar radiAllahu and asked him,
if he needed anything, if there's anything he
wanted,
anything you need, I'll give it to you.
He said that nobody knows about me, no
one knows who I am.
And up till today, there are only 3
or 4 or 5 hadith,
only 2 or 3 of them in fact
authentic,
that we know of about Uyse al Qarni.
And even with regards to his death, we
don't know exactly when he died or where
he died. They say he was a shahid
in one of the battles,
but we don't know his state or his
situation.
Umrah radiallahu an also in another instant instance,
he was standing outside of Madinah
waiting for news about a battle that the
Muslims had participated in.
The battle of Naha Wand.
And a messenger finally came racing towards him
on his horse,
and he told him the Muslims have been
victorious.
And so Umar
asked him who passed away, who was killed,
Who was a shayid in battle? And he
mentioned names, he gave him names. Such and
such person passed away. This person passed away.
That person passed away.
And then others passed away, min Af Nadine
Nas, from the unknown people. You don't know
who they were.
So Umar Radhiallahu Anhu replied and he
said,
And how did it harm them? What harm
did it do them that Amirul Mumineen didn't
know who they were?
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knew them, Allah
knew who they were.
Allah honored them by them being shuhada,
being martyrs.
And how would he have benefited them if
Umar
knew them?
The story of
the scholars of the past also tell us
about how
they would try their best to make sure
that they would do righteous deeds in private,
not in public.
Even though they were known, they would try
their best to make sure they did deeds
that people didn't know about.
There are stories of some scholars who would
sleep,
and they would cry on their pillows
until the pillows became wet out of the
fear of Allah, and their wives wouldn't even
know that was happening
because they kept it secret.
A scholar by the name of Dawud ibn
Abi Hind,
he fasted for 40 years without his family
even knowing he was fasting,
for a period of 40 years.
They would give him food in the morning.
He would take the food with him when
he would go out, And he would just
give it to the poor people.
And he would come back in the evening,
and he would eat with his family. Unbeknownst
to them that he was fasting.
These are examples, brothers and sisters,
of the importance
of recognizing
and understanding
how valuable
deeds in private actually are.
And how in fact it's a blessing from
Allah when a person is given
this privacy
and not being known by the people.
So that when he does righteous deeds,
maybe his deeds are accepted by Allah because
he has more sincerity.
One of the men he mentioned a story
about
how
he had heard about somebody who was
in need,
a very poor person.
And so he made his way to that
individual's house,
and he knocked on the door, and he
opened the door, and he said to him
that I have heard that you're somebody in
need. I want to help you. Anything you
need.
And the man replied and he said,
and this is recently,
he said I have no need for anything
now.
Everything's been sorted out. And he said, what
do you mean? He said, somebody comes
during the night time when I'm asleep, I
don't know who it is, and he leaves
something by the door.
He leaves things by the door for me,
food and things for the household, appliances or,
you know, accessories for the house.
And every time in the morning I open
the door, I see some some things that
that he's left for me, and so I
don't need anything anymore.
And so he was asked, who was this
who is this person?
He said, I don't know who it is.
And so this man who had this intention
of helping this individual, he thought to himself,
I'm gonna stay, and this was in Saudi
Arabia, I'm going to stay
outside his house
and wait and see who it is. So
he waited the whole day. No one came.
At nighttime, in the last part of the
night, an old man came in a car
and left some bags at the front of
his house.
This man, when he left his car and
walked past, he noticed it was one of
the scholars of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulah al
Jibrin, one of the famous scholars of Saudi
Arabia.
Even though they reached the level that they
reached,
they understood the importance of doing deeds in
private, because it may be the case that
those individuals
who are popular,
their messages and posts and videos and pictures
are getting shared numerous times online,
and they've been given this recognition.
It may be the case that their sincerity
has been tainted.
And so
these scholars understood the importance of doing things
in private
because their sincerity
won't be called into question as much.
The hadith which I mentioned earlier
about
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loving individuals and mentioning
that to the angels, and the angels
loving that person as a result of Allah
loving them, this hadith it continues.
It continues
by the messenger of Allah saying,
all the dwellers of the heavens end up
loving that person.
And then he is granted the pleasure
and the love of the people on the
earth.
Meaning when a person does righteous deeds, when
a person is obedient to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala,
then and only then will a person be
given that gratitude, that recognition, that acceptance, that
love by the people on earth.
But when a person tries to chase the
dunya,
then the dunya will just flee.
But when you flee from the dunya, the
dunya will try to chase you as the
scholar said. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that he gives us the ability to be
able to do righteous deeds in in private
so that Allah
will accept our deeds out of result as
as a result of our sincerity.