Ebrahim Bham – Hope in the face of despair
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AI: Transcript ©
My dear respected scholars, ulema, elders, brothers, I'm
not sure if the ladies are listening, the
ladies, I mean mothers and sisters.
We begin by praising Almighty Allah, sending salutations
upon our beloved Nabi Kareem sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam.
The topic that has been given to me
today is hope in the face of despair
and this is a very pertinent topic, especially
given the fact that what we are facing
in the world today, we don't need to
elaborate on the reasons to feel somewhat despondent
given the situation of the ummah, both individually
and collectively.
However, we are a nation of hope, we
never despair, we never become despondent.
In fact, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
said, it is only the disbeliever who loses
hope in the mercy of Allah ta'ala.
It is not becoming of a mu'min and
a believer ever to become despondent.
In fact, ulema have written that the word
Iblis, one meaning of the word Iblis comes
from the word balas, which means despair and
nothing gives shaitan and the satanic forces more
pleasure than to see Muslims in despair.
It is amongst the traits of shaitan and
never the trait of a believer.
Now, one of the things that people will
say that what is the point of, you
know, what are the points of hope?
And I think this maybe briefly we will
make mention of that, but of course, we
also need to understand there's always been two
ways of looking at things, a positive way
and a negative way, always been two ways.
And we all know the cliche, you know,
a glass half full or half empty, it
depends upon how you look at it.
For the way someone had said, an optimist
will always see a challenge in every difficulty,
while a pessimist, even in a good situation
will find some point of despair.
Another way of looking at it, an optimist
will look at the donut and see that
there's something to eat.
And a pessimist will see a hole in
the donut and they say there's nothing to
eat in the hole.
So there is always this type two ways
of looking at things.
I read somewhere, you know, the Tafseer with
regard to the ayat, that Dawood, peace be
upon him, killed Jalut.
So when the Bani Israel, that time, of
course, the Bani Israel were the favorite and
the chosen servants of Allah.
We gave you superiority upon the world at
that time.
Obviously, we know from the Quran that they
did not live up to that what Allah
Ta'ala had granted them.
So Dawood, peace be upon him, saw Jalut,
you know, the Bani Israel saw Jalut.
So someone said, he is so big.
How are we going to fight with him?
How are we going to confront him?
And Dawood, peace be upon him, said, he
is so big.
How can I mess him?
He's so big.
How can I mess him?
And of course, Dawood, peace be upon him,
was known for using the cataphract.
And Allah Ta'ala says, look at the
different ways of looking at things.
One said, he's so big, we can't confront
him.
Another one said, he's so big, I can't
mess him.
SubhanAllah.
So one of the ways we look at
hope is we are futuristic.
We always have a futuristic vision of things.
So we look at things also from the
scope and the lens of Akhirat.
We don't only look at things in Dunya.
Sometimes Nabi Kareem Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has said
in a hadith, which comes in all the
books of hadith, sometimes a Nabi will come
in front of Allah Ta'ala on the
day of Qiyamah, he will have no followers.
Someone will have one follower, someone will have
two followers.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about Hazrat
Nuh, peace be upon him, after so many
years, only a few people accepted him.
After 950 years, Mufassirin said 80 people accepted
him.
But that doesn't make them Aliyahubillah unsuccessful or
failures because you look at it in the
lens of the Akhirat, they are successful.
People who are Shaheed, they are successful.
Even if you look at it from a
worldly perspective, you see that, no, they were
killed and a miserable came and knocked them
in the place where they were, they were
staying.
But wallahi al-azim, in the eyes of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they are successful.
It comes in a hadith that there is
only one group of people who will actually
yearn to come back in the world.
And one of them is the Shaheed.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says the Shaheed
before the blood reaches the ground, Allah Ta
'ala has forgiven him.
And on the day of Qiyamah, Allah will
tell everyone, what do you want?
And the Shaheed will say, Ya Allah, send
me back in the world and the pleasure
I had in sacrificing my life for you,
send me back to attain the sweetness of
that very same pleasure.
Can you imagine?
So when we look at people who have
passed on from Gaza, we look at it,
for example, in our worldly point of view,
look at it from the futuristic point of
view.
And that is why it comes in one
hadith that Nabiya Kareem sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said, this world's difficulties and challenges and the
pleasure are so fleeting.
In one hadith, Nabiya Kareem sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said about the day of Qiyamah and
Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam gave an example
and put an example and said, just take
for example, if a person were to have
lived an entire life only of difficulty and
challenges, never had any happiness, now that normally
doesn't happen, everyone does have his fair share
of happiness.
But for example, say that a person does
this and on the day of Qiyamah, Allah
will dip him into Jannah, not even put
him, dip him, take him out.
Oh my bondsman, did you ever see difficulty
in your life?
A little bit time if he's in Jannah,
never ever saw difficulty.
And if a person lives a life only
full of pleasure, full of happiness, that also
doesn't happen in this world.
But Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam gave an
example.
So he lived only happiness.
If Allah on the day of Qiyamah will
dip him in Jahannam, take him out, not
even put him, dip him, take him out.
Oh my bondsman, you ever saw any comfort
in your life?
We'll see Allah never ever saw any comfort.
So one way that of our hope is
we remain steadfast because of the futuristic vision
we have.
And that vision is permanent, not temporary, the
way the worldly vision is.
The second thing Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
had said, ajabal li amri mu'min, amazing is
the affairs of the mu'min, that everything is
only good for him.
If anything pleasant happened to him, he thanks
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he makes shukr,
he gets reward from Almighty Allah.
And when any challenging situation comes upon him,
he makes shukr for Almighty Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and he still gets rewarded.
This only happens for the believer.
Only happens for the believer.
Every aspect of his is khair.
So this is something that we find amazing,
only the believer.
Obviously, we never ask for difficulty.
Nabiya Karim sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told Hazrat
Abbas, his uncle, always ask Allah for afiat.
Because there is nothing greater to ask of
from Allah than afiat.
And afiat means well-being and ease.
We don't ask Allah ta'ala for difficulty.
We are not people who show bravery in
front of Allah ta'ala, no.
You always ask Allah, give grant us ease.
But this is what Nabiya Karim sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam has said, the believer all the
time, he's in khair.
The second thing is Nabiya Karim sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said, tafa'al al khair tajidhu,
look for something to be positive about, you
will find it.
Look for something to be positive about, you
will find it.
There is always a silver lining in every
cloud, the way we will say.
So the third reason why we become positive,
and of course, I can give elaboration on
it, but I'm just going to be short.
We try to keep it 10-15 minutes.
So Nabiya Karim sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
tafa'al al khair tajidhu, look for something
to be positive about, you will find it.
So look at the situation, don't look at
the negative, try and look at the positive.
Be a bearer of good news.
Fourth thing, Nabiya Karim sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
told us to be a bearer of good
news.
Give people glad tidings, don't make them frightened
for deen.
Make things easy, don't make things difficult.
It is a rahmat of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam was kind and compassionate upon him.
If he was harsh and vulgar, the people
would not have surrounded him the way they
surrounded and love him because of his kindness.
Look at the verse, it is Allah's rahmat
that he was kind.
If he was harsh and vulgar, the people
would not have surrounded him and loved him
the way they would loved him because of
his kindness and compassion.
And who are the people who would not
have surrounded him?
They would not have surrounded him if he
was harsh.
How do you expect people to come to
you when you are harsh and vulgar?
How do you expect people to love you
if you are harsh and vulgar?
And therefore, I always say kindness brings people
together.
Harshness takes away people.
This will happen in every family, every community.
In your family, if you are harsh and
you are vulgar and you are always stern,
you will break the family.
But if you are kind and compassionate, you
will bring the family together.
This is a verse of the Holy Quran
and the verse of the Holy Quran can't
be wrong.
And that is why it's so important for
us to bring families and communities together by,
not by harshness, but kindness and compassion.
So these are, the Prophet ﷺ has told
us to be productive till the end of
our life.
If the time of Qiyamah comes and you
are busy planting a seedling, then don't say,
what is the use of planting the seedling?
Qiyamah is going to come, this is going
to be destroyed.
Nabi ﷺ said, go and plant that seedling.
Just go and do it.
Go and just go and do it.
The Prophet ﷺ was always looking for opportunities
to do good.
I always give this example of Khalid bin
Walid ﷺ.
Khalid bin Walid ﷺ was the one who
created the circumstances for the setback in Uhad,
main person.
Now someone who was something that caused such
great difficulty and challenges for the Nabi of
Allah and for the Ummah, the Prophet ﷺ
cried so much when he saw the mutilated
body of Hazrat Hamza ﷺ that all the
Sahaba started crying with him.
But yet when he came to Umratul Qadha,
he asked Khalid bin Walid's brother Walid, Oh
Walid, where is your brother Khalid?
Where is Khalid?
Walid, you know, diplomatically said, Ya Rasulullah, he
couldn't even bear your coming to Mecca.
He fled.
He couldn't even see you in Mecca.
He went away.
What did Nabi ﷺ tell Walid?
Walid, go and tell your brother, an intelligent
person like him cannot be oblivious of the
beauty of Islam.
Tell him to come towards us.
We will deal with him in such a
manner that we will fulfill his potential.
We will give rise to his potential and
we will value and appreciate his potential.
So Walid bin Walid wrote a letter to
Khalid, left it to someone in Mecca.
Khalid comes back, reads the letter and Walid
said, Walid, Khalid, you are running away from
the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.
He was thinking about you.
He was thinking about you and he was
saying that you are full of potential.
We will value your potential and appreciate your
potential.
Khalid started thinking over the letter.
That night he saw a dream.
He was in a barren desert and he's
moving towards an oasis full of greenery and
water and he made his decision to come
and accept Islam.
But can you know, the Prophet ﷺ was
never pessimistic about even the worst of enemies.
The people who are opposing Nabi ﷺ, he
always had hope that they will come and
they will accept Islam.
He always had hope and he was always
giving them, you know, Dawah.
So Umar r.a sometimes think about this.
Just ever think about this.
Sometimes when you feel down or you feel
disappointment about someone from your family or in
your community doing something that you're not happy
about, think about Umar r.a. He set
out to assassinate the Nabi of Allah.
He set out to assassinate the Nabi of
Allah.
Today he is sleeping next to the Nabi
of Allah.
Set out to assassinate the Nabi of Allah.
Today he is sleeping next to the Nabi
of Allah and there is no mu'min that
can take the word of Umar but a
sense of awe and respect comes within him
just by making mention of Umar.
And not only us, Nabi ﷺ told him,
when you take a road, even shaitan takes
another road.
So this is a sense of awe and
respect.
The one who differentiated.
So we always are optimistic and of course
many people will say, what do we do
with regard to our present situation?
While the people of Gaza have been just
amazing.
I mean no one can think about how
they have been going through.
Sometimes we can't see what is happening towards
them.
They are living it.
But yet after one year, they still sometimes
when I read the newspapers and I read
the media that there was a situation where
there was an offer of peace that was
not honorable.
Even in this situation, they did not accept
it.
They said we are not prepared to accept
it because it's not honorable.
Just think about this when you feel a
little bit down.
In 1967, they destroyed all the Arab countries,
air force and army in six days.
And after one year, they have not been
able to complete and destroy Hamas.
In six days, they completely destroyed all the
Arab armies in 1967.
Today after one year, they have not been
able to achieve their objectives.
I'm not saying it's easy, but I'm saying
just look at the situation and this is
an amazing, this comes from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So all in all, I just feel that
we must never become despondent.
The mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is very abundant.
The greatness of Almighty Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is ever ever with us.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is someone, we
must do whatever we need to do.
You know, the Quran and the hadith tells
us to rely upon Almighty Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
But reliance of Almighty Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala always comes after the end of Asghar.
Make mashura in your office, consult in your
office, decide on a strategy, decide on a
way individually, collectively, what I'm going to do
to better my life, what I'm going to
do for my community.
We are here today for the same reason,
for our community, for the education of our
community.
Make all your affairs correctly, adopt all the
meals.
Without Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala system of
giving us is through meals, not through Allah's
Qudrat.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's Qudrat, he can
destroy the entire enemies of Islam in one
day, in half a second.
It's not the sunnat of Allah.
The sunnat of Allah is separate and the
Qudrat of Allah is separate.
For example, I give this example, the Qudrat
of Allah, he created Adam alayhi salatu wassalam
without parents, without mother and father.
He created Isa alayhi salatu wassalam without the
agency of a male, without father.
Hazrat Hawa, without any female.
It happened three times.
It's the Qudrat of Allah.
But today, if a person, even if he
reads whole night the hajjut, every day, every
day he reads the hajjut and he makes
dua till the whole month.
Ya Allah, give me pious children, give me
pious children.
Wallahi lazim, Allah is not going to give
you.
Where is your pious children going to come
from?
From your stomach or you have to go
and first get married, be intimate and then
Allah ta'ala will give you.
So first we do adopt the meals.
Tahirul Kamil and then you rely on Almighty
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So we adopt our meals to the best
of our ability.
Faidh azabt, his made mention about one great
scholar and I will conclude with this that,
you know, he was in prison.
He was in prison and every Jummah, he
used to prepare himself according to his, I
think it was Imam Muznir Rahmatul Ali.
So he used to prepare himself to the
best of his ability, wear the best clothes,
go to where he was allowed to go
to in the prison.
And then the prison authorities used to say,
you can't go further, you are in prison.
And he used to lift up his hands
in dua and said, Ya Allah, you told
us that when the call comes for Jummah
Salah, then hasten towards it.
I have done whatever I needed to do.
Now they're not allowing me to do anything
further.
Let us go and do whatever we need
to do.
But be optimistic, never lose hope, never become
despondent because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
said despondency is a plate of kufr.
We are given a token of understanding.
Allahumma taqabbal minna innaka anta as-samee'ul
alim wa tub'alina innaka anta at-tawwabul
raheem Ya Allah, we are your bondsmen, Ya
Allah, we are your bondsmen who believe in
you.
Ya Allah, we are weak, Ya Allah, we
have committed sins, Ya Allah.
We have not lived up to your expectation
and we are not lived up according to
your commands.
Forgive us for the shortcomings.
Our sins are many, but your forgiveness is
even greater than that.
Allahumma maghfiratuka awsa'u min dhunumina.
Your maghfirat is far more greater than our
sins.
Deal with us in accordance with your maghfirat
and your rahm and your mercy, not according
to our status, which is worthless.
And Ya Allah, we are weak, but wallahi
lazim, Ya Allah, every one of us in
this gathering, in our innermost recesses of our
hearts, we love you, and we love your
beloved Habib, and we love your beloved Deen.
We love you, Ya Allah.
We are satisfied with you as our Rabb,
with your beloved Prophet as our Prophet, and
Islam as our Deen.
Ya Allah, on that basis, Ya Allah, forgive
us and make our affairs right in this
world, Ya Allah.
Ya Allah, grant us unity of purpose to
be able to face the challenges educationally and
otherwise, Ya Allah.
Make it easy for all the Muslims who
are oppressed in the world, wherever they have
been oppressed.
Ya Allah, you know your wisdom with regard
to why this is happening.
We cannot fathom it, we cannot understand it,
but you have your wisdom.
But Ya Allah, grant.
Ya Rabbi Muhammad, unsur ummata Muhammad.
Make things easy for us, and Ya Allah,
give us the collective wisdom to be able
to face our challenges, both individually and collectively.
And always help us and assist us, both
in this world and the hereafter.
And make all the affairs of the hereafter
easy for us.
And Ya Allah, we always ask Ya Allah,
never leave us, even for a moment, without
your assistance, without your guide, and without your
protection.