Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #106 The Most Beloved of Actions to Allah The Company You Keep High Aspirations for the Afte
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The importance of honoring the prophet's teachings and the holy Bible is emphasized, along with the need for love for Allah's creation and hate towards his actions. The importance of finding a close friend in one's life is also emphasized, as it is crucial for a Muslim person to have a broad circle of acquaintances. The importance of finding beneficial companies for one's life is also emphasized, and the need for gratitude and a focus on empowering individuals to fulfill their dreams is emphasized. The conversation ends with a call to contribute to monthly donations for the speaker's organization.
AI: Summary ©
You're listening to the Roha, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Rasro Beni.
Muhammad. Welcome to our daily Roha
in which
we try to
connect on a regular basis with
guidance of our beloved messenger
and with
guidance for seekers
of knowledge, those seeking,
to pursue the prophetic path
of
gaining beneficial knowledge
and acting on that knowledge in order to
draw closer
to Allah.
So we look daily
at hadiths from
a collection of 40 hadiths on
loving for the sake of Allah
compiled by Sheikh Yousaf Nabihaani. And you can
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And this takes place daily here for from
Mondays to Thursdays at 7 PM from Seekers
Hub, Toronto.
We reached hadith number 19
of the hadith on loving for the sake
of Allah.
The messenger
came out one day,
yeah, from
his from his house. The
were gathered presumably.
And he asked them,
do you know
which
act which of the actions which action
is most beloved to Allah Most High?
And this is one of the things that
you see from
the sunnah of the prophet
that the prophet
not only conveyed guidance
but he instilled
guidance
in
his companions.
Right? He empowered them
with guidance.
And one of the ways of that empowering
is that he when he conveyed the guidance
to them, he explained
not only what the guidance was, but why
was it the way it was,
its underlying principles,
its purpose.
So this gave the companions
both
clarity
and confidence,
and it resulted in certitude.
And this is something that is from the
sunnah of conveying guidance.
That when we convey guidance, we convey it
in a manner that
tells what
people should do, but also
why they do it.
What are the underlying principles?
What is the
ultimate
purpose?
So that
we and others can can can pursue it
with clarity,
with confidence, and this bequeaths
certitude
in matters of religion. And one of the
ways practically the prophet
would do this is by asking questions of
guidance
and making the Sahaba
think about this. And as parents,
as teachers,
as those
conveying this deen, this is one of the
ways that
we should adopt from the sunnah of the
prophet
Do you know which of the actions are
most beloved to Allah? The prophet of course
also engage in
participatory
modes of learning. He asked this haba questions
because this engage them with the learning.
It
caught their attention. And one of the beautiful,
examples
of looking at the ways the prophet conveyed
guidance
can be seen in number of the chapters
of Imam al Bukhari's
Sahih in the book of knowledge.
There's a number of chapters related to
one people asking questions, which the prophet encouraged,
but for a teacher
to ask question of those questions of those
they address. And of course, we have now
in English,
a
translation of Sahih al Bukhari with commentary
by
the Toronto based scholar, Sheikh Omar Subedar.
And we have a an on demand course
that we'll be offering soon on
the book of knowledge
from, Imam Ras alaihis Sahih, which we look
at this. So the prophet asked us, do
you know which of the actions which action
is most beloved to Allah most high?
Was zakah.
One person
spoke up and said, prayer and zakat.
And someone else said, jihad. And each of
these would have
reasons.
Why would prayer be the best of actions?
Because
it's a means to be connected consistently with
Allah.
Why else?
Because Allah has tell us, we have not
created nor men
except to worship me. What is the obligatory
act of worship itself?
The prayer.
Right? Right?
The fundamental
regular act of worship is the prayer.
Right? So that's and that there's a that's
why because
the justification of you know, there's 5 pillars.
The justification of faith
is
a profession.
Right? You affirm it,
but then it's there.
Hajj is only
once in a lifetime.
Fasting
is 1 month in the year.
Zakat is once in the year if you
are obligated.
Right? The only
act of worship
that is obligatory
and ongoing, meaning that's something that you engage
with daily, is the prayer. That's it.
That's from Allah's mercy. He created us only
to worship him, but the only worship that
you really have to do is the prayer.
The whole point of your life is this.
Right? So that's the case. Why would zakat
be the best of actions?
That there's a case why zakat would be
better than prayer
from one perspective. What would that be?
Yeah. Because it that which benefits others
is greater in reward than that which benefits
oneself.
However, there's
other considerations with respect to prayer. The overwhelming
majority of the scholars would say if you
look at the Quran and the sunnah,
while both are tremendous in reward and that
this way come together many times
frequently.
However, prayer is greater in reward than zakat.
Though there's difference opinion.
Others said,
Jahad.
Why? Because
Jihad protects
the community of faith itself.
Right?
It safeguards
the existence of faith
in humanity.
Right? But the prophet
said,
The prophet said, truly,
the most beloved of actions to Allah Most
High
is love
for Allah
and hate for Allah.
Is to love Allah
and love
for the sake of Allah. And to love
that which is beloved to Allah for the
sake of Allah. And hating
that which is hated by Allah
for the sake of Allah.
Right?
In a manner beloved to Allah. And and
that's critical. Right? So love for Allah is
to love Allah and to love what is
beloved to Allah in a manner beloved to
Allah.
And hate for the sake of Allah,
which is an expression of love for the
sake of Allah, is
to hate that which is hated by Allah
of disbelief, corruption, sing sin,
and injustice
for the sake of Allah in a manner
beloved
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Right? One does
not hate in hateful ways.
And we do not hate
Allah's creation.
We hate
acts
that are hateful.
As for people,
there we have no enmity
to any person.
Right?
And you see the beautiful evidence of that
in the life of the prophet
Right?
That when
the prophet prayed for his enemies even in
battle,
Allah, guide my people for they know not.
How can and as he wiped the blood
off his own noble face,
he prayed for them.
That how can
how can the people attain eternal success?
When they make the face of their prophet
flow with blood.
Well, he is just calling them to paradise
in battle. Right? Likewise, how he entered Mecca
victorious.
How
when Abu Sufyan became Muslim. After 2 decades
of being in the leadership
of opposition to the prophet, it was nothing
personal.
Right? He was accepted without conditions.
Right? The justice of the prophet
was not punitive justice.
Right? It was merciful,
restorative
justice.
Right?
It was justice
enveloped in mercy.
That's how he entered Mecca
No one.
Right? It was not punitive there was no
punitive justice. No courts were established
that this is what you did. This is
what you did. This is what you did.
It was unconditional mercy. Right? Why? Because nothing
personal.
They surrender. They they they gave up their
enmity,
and that's it. Right? Because there's nothing
personal in it. And this is a very
high standard, but it is the standard of
our prophet
and that if we claim to be under
his standard, then we must
uphold his standards.
If you follow him,
you shall be guided. Hadith number 20
The messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said, a person is on
the religion
of their
close
companions.
So let each of you look
carefully
as to whose close company
they keep.
Right?
And
the khalil
is not just the sadeek.
Right? Because the sadeek, the friend, is someone
who you are true to.
Right? Who you truly care for.
Right? It's someone you care for and they
care for you.
Right? They have
towards one another. They're true to one another.
So a friend, a true friend
is much more than an acquaintance.
K.
A friend
a friend is only a friend if they're
true. Right? That's where the word in Arabic
comes from, sadeek. And the fa'il
in Arabic,
like, sadeek
is someone who has deep
the the fail pattern in the Arabic conveys
the meaning of the fail and the mafruul.
There's someone who's true to you
and you're true to them.
Right?
True in what? In care and concern.
Right? They have deep mercy for one another
as Allah describes the believers.
So friendship is a high station. They said
it's rare to find a real friend.
And Imam Al Ghazali,
in
the beginning of
in the beginning of guidance, which is a
marvelous book, in the end, when he talks
about the adab,
adab with creation.
Right? He talks about the characteristics of the
the friends and he I think he talks
about 5 qualities
that one should look for in a friend.
But that's a friend.
But then there
is one's close
companion,
and it's a sunnah to have close companions.
Right?
Broadly,
one should have a wide circle of acquaintances
of people
that one knows
and who know one.
Right?
And this is by greeting these are people
if they're sick, one would visit them, etcetera.
Right? These are a broad circle of acquaintances.
Right?
And one should be acquainted with those that
one comes in contact with.
At work, in one's neighborhood,
in the in the broader family, etcetera. We
we may not be close, but if there's
there's the and that's what and that's this
broad sphere
is the the broad sphere
of where you give
people their their their rights, because their opportunities.
The rights of a of a of a
Muslim on a Muslim are 5.
Right? And this
broad circle,
right, these are opportunities of doing good
and the believer is not passive.
But that's the broad circle. Then from that
one has friends.
These are those one chooses
to have
closer
company with.
Right?
Whom one visits and who visit 1. And
the the prophet
said there
that
do not keep
the regular company of other than a true
believer.
And let your food only be eaten by
the pious. Meaning these these are the people
who are, you know, on a weekly basis,
multiple times a week, these are the people
you hang out with.
K?
But even beyond that,
it's a sunnah,
and you see it from
the prophet himself.
Right? 1 one the human being needs to
have close friends.
And the close friend from the sadeek, you
have the
Khalil.
Right? And these were beef very few. But
the halil,
right, it's you know what? In wudu, when
you
after you wash your limbs, you make halal.
Right? You interlace your fingers.
Right? And a khalil is someone you're so
close to that your affairs are intertwined.
The khalil is the person
who they come to your house, they go
into the kitchen, and they open up the
fridge, and they take whatever they want. They
don't they don't ask you, do is there
anything to eat? This is
k?
So I got a halibi friend,
whose whole family's business was blown up. They've
had it for 100 of years or, like,
it's generations,
like, over a 100 years.
He used to come back from school.
Or sad story because he used to live
with some westerners,
and they'd always ask him, would you like
to have lunch with us?
And being an Arab, you don't say yes.
So he'd end up going to his own
house and the food that he contributed to,
he'd almost never be able to have it
for lunch. Because they'd always ask him, would
you like to have it?
And dignified Rashein said, I'm I'm fine. So
he used to come down the hill to
my house.
And he said, Rambani,
tell Omar to clear the way so it
should go to go to the kitchen. So,
okay, what what's what's in the fridge today?
Just bring food.
So how do you know we haven't cooked?
Yeah.
And and one needs to have people one
is close to. Right?
And the prophet
said,
and in some nations,
a person is on
the religion.
And
and refers to religion but also refers to
the way of life.
Right?
You can refer to religion or the religious
ways
or just
on the way.
Right? And this and that usage has come.
As you are, social you find.
A person is on
the way,
religious and other,
of their
close friends.
Each of you look carefully.
And look here meaning consider carefully,
whom do they keep
close company with?
Of course, there and
we have, as the olema in our times
tell us, there's a physical company, but also
the virtual company.
Right?
That for many of us, we are closer
to our social media accounts than we are
to any human being, even our own spouses.
Yeah. People spend more on average, you know,
a large percentage of people who are married
spend more time on Facebook than they do
face to face with their own spouse.
K?
So this is
and that's a type of company too. But
then if you are spending that much time
on
virtual company,
then what is the nature of the company
that you keep with them?
Right.
Seek beneficial company because that's how you will
find benefit in your life.
And that's why they used to say when
it came to marriage,
So don't ask don't ask about how a
person is, but rather ask about their close
friends. Well, the person will be on the
way of their close friends.
And there's a strong case that can be
made. I'd heard it from uncles before. I
didn't believe it till I sort of reached
unkledom
that
it's largely irrelevant
how if if you're if someone wants to
marry somebody,
it's largely irrelevant
to, you know, to meet and talk with
the person.
I mean,
it doesn't hurt, but it's largely irrelevant because
no one's gonna say, you know what? I'm
a total loser and I have a bad
temper. And,
like,
Abu Talib al Mekki mentioned that sometimes too
much honesty is
bad.
So this man used
to had struggled to get married, but when
he'd introduce himself, he used to warn, said,
I'd like to marry your daughter. However,
please note that I'm I'm I have terrible
character, and I have a bad temper, and
I'm a miser, and I'm I'm excessively jealous,
and I'm stingy, and this and this and
this. And one one man said to him,
enough.
Said wallahi, if Shaipan had a daughter and
I found out that you're going to propose
to Shaipan's daughter, I'd warn the Shaipan against
you.
And that but most people
don't have radical honesty. They have radical dishonesty.
Right? They put on put on their best
face. But if you want to know how
a person is, look at
yeah. It doesn't hurt to
find out about them, whatever they'll tell you
about themselves, but but you find out what
is their close company.
And
if someone doesn't have close friends,
that itself is a worrying sign that what
kind of
how can you expect that they have good
character? They don't deal with human beings.
They're not able to sustain human relationships.
Then on what basis do you think they'll
be able to sustain a relationship with you?
That's number 1. Number 2,
what
in our times especially,
what virtue what
what do they spend their time
with?
Right? Because people spend a lot of time
in virtual
company
between those who are infatuated with
TV shows
when we're in an age of everyone's watching
something.
At the very least, are they you know,
because
what
what you what you watch, what you read,
what you listen to,
the values of that
necessarily
permeate and color how you are.
Right? And that
that person is on the ways of
their close companions. Right? And this applies to
the to the human and it applies to
the virtual.
And the hadith that we refer to comes
next and it thematically connected so we look
at that.
And Abu Saeed Abu Saeed Al Khudri relates
to the messenger of Allah
said, do not keep the in the close
company of other than a true believer
and let only the pious be your eating
companions.
And this does not mean do not keep
the company. There's different between let us have,
which you don't keep the company of.
Tusahib,
right, this is from
tafaa from mufa'ala,
right, of mutuality.
Do not keep the close
ongoing
company. Right? These are your close companions.
Right? The believer keeps good company with all
of Allah's creation. Right? There's a circle of
acquaintance.
It should be vast.
People want invites over
special occasions.
Like now it's barbecue season, for example, here
in Canada. Right? Gonna have a barbecue
for
by traditional values, it's considered
abhorrent
that you make you do a barbecue and
people who are immediately around you can smell
it strongly, they don't share some of the
food with them.
Consider it like
like social
corruption.
It's not social corruption, but it's considered unimaginable
that your neighbors could smell your food and
you didn't share some of it. Ajib.
And these are sunnah values.
Right? But that's
you know, one has them over whether
it be be through work, through neighborhood,
the broader family, etcetera. But then there is
the discretionary
company.
Right? That's where this Musahaba,
keep the close company.
And the close company, the believer keeps the
company of those
through whose company one's is striving
to benefit
in one's
state with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Right?
This is a Sahih Hadith related by Abu
Dawood
and the Tirmidhi.
And then we're going to look at
expressing one's love for others
and related hadiths
tomorrow.
We also look in our
sessions at,
Ayyuh al Walad, a letter to a disciple
by Imam Al Ghazali, which is advice for
those seeking
to to act on beneficial knowledge.
And Imam Al Ghazali
in
his counsel
said that
your
he quoted
the words of imam of Sayidna Ubakir Sadiq
that truly these bodies
are either
a cage for birds
or
a stable
for animals.
Right?
A cage for birds
because the bird aspires
to high matters.
Cattle,
all
their aspiration is merely
the
the worldly.
Right?
Right. As Amir said, they can have the
earth, the pile of dirt, but the bird
says the sky is mine. K?
So he says, imam says, reflect regarding yourself.
Which of the 2 are you? Are are
you like the bird in a cage
yearning
for its eternal homeland?
Or are you
like cattle
content
with a little
hay that will?
That itself is perishing.
Says
He said, if you are,
meaning if you're striving to be of the
the
the celestial birds,
yeah, the birds
striving for the celestial,
Right? Then when you hear the drum roll
of the divine call,
the divine address to the soul,
return to your Lord.
Oh soul,
that is at rest. Oh restful
soul.
Return to your Lord. When you hear that
call,
you fly
ascending
till you are seated
in the highest
towers
of paradise.
You fly with what?
With your aspiration.
In the hadith related by Bukhar e Muslim,
the messenger of Allah
said, the throne of the all merciful
shook
due to the death
of Sa'd ibn Mu'ad.
Right?
You know, you you're this is not your
homeland. Right? You have a resting place
in paradise.
Paradise has been prepared
for the righteous
servants
of
Allah Then he says
and we seek
complete
protection from Allah, lest you be of the
cattle.
As Allah most high says, they are like
the cattle.
But rather they
are truly misguided
because cattle
fulfill their existential purpose. They were created
for this world
to to
to graze and eat and procreate
and sleep,
and that's what they do. They're fulfilling their
purpose. But you are created
for paradise.
Right? And if you're not aspiring for it,
you are the one lost, not the animals.
And if this is your aspiration,
then don't feel safe.
That
of
with respect to going from the corner of
your house
till
the the deepest corner
of the eternal fire.
Because you're not fulfilling your purpose in this
life. You're you're in danger.
It's related
regarding
of the foremost of the generation
of followers. Those who came after the companions
of the prophet
that he was given
a drink of cold water. When he took
the bowl,
he lost consciousness.
He fainted,
and the and the bowl fell from his
hands.
When he regained consciousness,
Al Hassan was asked,
what what happened to you?
Oh Abu Saeed, which is his.
He
said,
says he said I remembered
the
the wish
of the people of hellfire
when they say to the people of paradise
and
that
pour to
us something
of water. Pour to us
a little water
or something of what Allah has granted you.
Right? And this is,
you know, this
is related by Abu
Nuaim similarly in.
Right?
And this is to have spiritual consciousness. Right?
That what?
Be aware of the that this life has
a purpose and there's consequence. Of course, there's
another way of looking at blessings.
Right?
One looks at blessings with the sense of
one there's accountability,
but also there's opportunity.
So
and the opportunity
as,
yes, Imam
Abu Hasan al Shaddali to tell people,
when you get a chance, drink cold water.
And
and people were surprised by that. He said,
why? Because when you drink cold water and
in the old days it was difficult to
drink cold water because there's no refrigeration.
So finding water that was kept
cool and protected such that it
was
was cold
was rare. You you you came to to
a
to a to a
a stream in spring
where there's melt water, for example. Right?
Take the opportunity to enjoy these blessings
out of gratitude to Allah Subha'ala.
But do so, he said,
such
that your entirety
should be expressive of gratitude to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Because that's that's what these things are. They
are blessings.
Right? They are
blessings.
Right? And in and in a time where
we are surrounded by blessings, we should not
be like cattle with those blessings. That we
just be mere consumers.
The human being as a consuming animal
is worth less than cattle.
Right?
It's worse than cattle by divine testament.
Human being as
homo economicus
as the the the economic animal
is a wild beast.
Right?
Whereas
the human being as a grateful
servant of God is someone who's in the
footsteps of the prophet
Right? That if the blessings are facilitated,
right, direct those blessings towards the the pleasure
of Allah. Right? Gratitude is
Gratitude is for the servant to direct all
that Allah has blessed them with towards what
Allah created it for, which is
that you you use it
to be ready to meet your lord.
And so we ask Allah
to be of such people. And what is
seeking knowledge?
Seeking knowledge is to learn how to direct
what Allah has blessed you with
to
towards turning to Allah That is beneficial knowledge.
Beneficial knowledge is knowledge
that
enables you to be a truly grateful servant
of Allah.
Right.
Right.
Should I not be a servant who is
truly grateful?
Right? And
and that should be one of our governing
intentions
in seeking knowledge. How can we as
the way of saying Ibrahim
And Allah has
commanded us to follow the Abrahamic way. Say
that Ibrahim
proclaimed in the Quran
and he's told to proclaim.
He's commanded by his lord to proclaim
truly my prayer
and all my devotions.
And my living.
And my dying
are for Allah, the lord of the worlds.
K. And this is
and this is gratitude
and that's what we should strive to uphold
with all the blessings that Allah Subha'ala
has facilitated
for us.
Thank you for listening to the daily guidance
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