Hosam Helal – Saviours of Islamic Spirit Episode 10 ‘Ataa’ bin Abi Rabah
AI: Summary ©
The "monster" of Islamic history is discussed, including his name, his life and legacy, and his transformation into a black slave. He taught men to be careful of their time and to not waste it, and reminded them to be proud of their accomplishments. He also spoke about a barber who helped a woman get comfortable during a hip appointment, and how he taught men to be careful of their time and not waste it. The segment emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and not being "monster" of others.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa
salatu salam ala Mabrouk Rahmatullah Alameen As salam o
alaikum. And welcome back to another episode of saviors of
Islam every night at 30 PM. We look at the life and the lessons
from the life of one of the icons that changed Islamic history left
a beautiful legacy behind. Tonight we look at one of the most humble
icons in Islamic history. Yemeni by Origin, black slave was sold
into slavery, an orphan lost his parents at a young age. His mother
was a humble Nubian basket weaver. And his father was a dark skinned
man, that wasn't the most richest of people. The individual that
we're looking at became one of the icons in Islamic knowledge. You
can pick up a book of Tafseer Quranic commentary, a book of
fiqh, jurisprudence, a book of Hadith, Islamic traditions, going
back to the actions and the sayings of Rasulullah Salam.
Without noticing this man's name. I thought even a bit about this
individual, again, changed the fabric of Mecca, change the
society of Mecca, and became the Mufti of Mecca, despite being
stuck into slavery for a long time. So what is your story? This
individual, as I mentioned, was orphaned at a young age, and he
had a difficult life growing up, and he was sold into slavery. And
he spent a long time as a slave owned by a woman master, he was
serving a woman from the people of Mexico. Eventually, she noticed
that he was working really, really hard. And she noticed that he was
dividing his time into three. So he would be finishing whatever
assignments he had to finish whatever tasks he had to Finish,
finish them very quickly. And then he would spend only a third of the
time getting that work done quickly. And then the second third
of the time he would spend praying to Allah Subhana Allah, standing
in prayer to Allah Subhana Allah. And then the third part of his day
he would spend seeking knowledge give us ask her for permission,
would you please allow me to go listen in the masjid, attend the
Juma prayer, attend a little Halaqa that is happening, of
course. But did you finish your work? Yes, I did. See would rush
his work. Imagine as a slave, Rush his work, finish it quickly, to go
and sit in the Halacha and come back and repeat everything that he
understood or heard. And he would try to rehearse and he would try
to stand up in prayer and connect with Allah subhanaw taala in that
way. So the master that owns him, imagine as a slave looks at the
potential in this individual and decides to set him free. And
because of all the hard work that he did as a slave, he had a limp.
He had a limp, and he lost eyesight in one of his eyes, and
some narrations say, too,
but then that stopped him. And he began seeking knowledge at a later
parts in his life, not in his teens, not in his childhood, but
later on in his life. But he spent 20 years going from place to place
in Mecca from Scarlet to scholar learning from a binaural model,
learning from other tambourine and other companions of Rasulullah
Salah he says I witnessed 200 companions of Rasulullah
sallallahu sallam, and I learned from as many of them as I could
and he spent time with during the Khilafah verse man he was born
during the Caliph of Earth man to spend time with those that were
born in that era. Before and during mathematic naffaa
Abdullah Rama when he went to Mecca, some people flocked towards
him and said, We are here to ask you questions. How dare you ask me
a question? When I thought it naraba is here, go and ask I
thought he officially became the Mufti of Mecca, the Mufti of
Mecca. And when so they met him and Abdulmalik came listen to this
carefully. And so they met about the money came with his two sons,
the Khalifa came to Mecca to do hydrogen. He went straight to
outer Nebula, and he asked him the questions they had about Hajj, all
the whole effect that came to perform their hydro to perform
their Amara, when they did come to Mecca, they would honor Him and
they will go to him. And one of his most beautiful, you know,
beautiful, beautiful things the standout about, Robert, is the
fact that he transformed the fabric of Mecca. He transformed
the society. How did he do that? Three things that we want to
remember. Number one, he taught people the importance of time and
time management,
time management, he taught them the importance of being concise
and careful and critical of what they say. And he taught them the
importance of humility and remembering Allah subhanaw taala
and he spread the knowledge to as many people as possible. So so
that made it not the medic history. You know, his sons saw
how humble he was in the way that he treated our thought and said
Why are you shooting this man with so much human respect and humanity
we don't see you that way with others. He's you don't know the
worth and the value of this map and the knowledge that this man
has, and the number of companions that have honored this man
Subhanallah imagine one Imam Abu Hanifa made his way to do hij. And
this was early on in his development, you know, we know and
I'm funny for was a businessman, as we mentioned, and he started to
pick up the Islamic Sciences at the 20 years and 20 So after 20
years of his of his life, so he went and he did the Hajj in Mecca.
And when he's doing after he finishes high, he goes to one of
the barbers to get his haircuts.
And he the first question, they asked him, I want to make sure
that I'm able to afford this one, like, what's the cost? What's the
cost? So the barber says, There is no dispute when it comes to this.
Don't do unless you pay whatever you can. Then he sat, the barber
told him to sit towards the fibula. So he faced the table.
Then he gave him his left side and He forgave the left says Don't
give me your right side. Then he stayed silent. Well, honey, the
state says no, you should be doing tech beer during this time. And
then finally when he finished he started to walk away and he
started to you know, get on with his you know, journey away from
the cafes, nor you have to prepare to rock as so Abu Hanifa looked at
him says you're you're a barber. But you know so much about the
deen so much about the rituals, all these five little details of
Hajj and the sequence and we should be doing Where did you
learn all of that from? He says the barbers is our PA if not be a
robber has taught us the details of our deen. He made time to teach
every individual he could in the community made himself accessible.
He raised the standard of education in the community. So the
barber knew the basics and the advance and the details of the
deen the the engineer knew what needs to be understood in order to
perform his function or her function, that the medical expert
knew what they had to do related to that field. So one of the
blessings and the legacies of alpha is he made sure that he
equipped the people in his society with knowledge that was relevant
to their areas. So he raised the standard of knowledge in the
community, Allahu Akbar, he was known, as I mentioned, for being
very, very careful with his time. So he would remind people to be
concise in a beautiful and respectful way. He would remind
people to be careful of the time not to waste it. For example, he
once saw a bunch of young people having conversations and you know,
often it ends up being about something that's not important or
something that's trivial or something that is not beneficial.
So he reminded them he told them remember Allah subhanaw taala
reminds us in the Quran, in Nadi, Kamala Harris, Helene Killam, and
ketamine. And he reminded them on an Emmy, and he went on his show
manual, if you have angels recording, on your right
witnessing, on your left, you have angels that are protecting you,
but also writing everything you do down. Are you happy with these
words being read in front of Allah subhana Dawn, I'm not saying don't
have time, have time, have fun, enjoy your life. But be cautious
and critical not to say that which is untrue, not to exaggerate that
which is being mentioned, to be cautious not to back by not to
waste your time, and to have purpose and function. And to
remind young people in the most beautiful of ways, cannot have
ambition, have ambition. Don't waste your time.
But at the same time, when he dealt with people, he would be he
would have that kindness and respect in giving everybody the
right that they deserve. So for example, he was often he was often
known for sitting down and listening to people say the hadith
of Rasulullah sallallahu. Or students say sharing some of the
reflections, even though he's heard it before even though he's
memorized that even though he's an expert, he would listen to their
complete reflection without interrupting, because he consider
that to be beneficial. So I'm gonna you know, so there's a big
difference between being you know, kind with your time, and being
rude with other people being being being firm with your time managing
your time well, but letting that lead you to becoming rude with
people, we had an open heart open mind, as long as we're doing
something beneficial. You have my presence, I'll be fully present.
But let's not waste time.
So he was known that he would only spend his time or odd Hadith,
teaching knowledge, learning, removing harm, benefiting
commanding the good or enjoying time in constructive and beautiful
ways. Other than that, he would get up and he would say a lot of
words you but I have to go. I have I have, you know, forgive me, but
I have other commitments that I've made.
70 years he spent 70 years he spent, and every year he performed
Hajj, and he was known to stand in prayer for a long time and recite
200 ayat of surah Al Baqarah. Even though he became an old man, he
passed away at eight years of age. And even though till the end of
his life, he continued to stand in prayer and stand for a long time
and the whole effect when they would come to
to meet him, they would have to sometimes wait for a while before
he finishes his soul. And he would say, I cannot give anybody the
rights. If I don't give Allah Subhana Allah his right, how am I
fair and genuine and honest, if I don't give ALLAH SubhanA data, his
rights, Allahu Akbar, once he wrote another thing that he was
known for, although I've never heard back, he rode all the way to
Damascus to Dinesh to give advice to share with Abdul Malik the
Khalifa at the time. So imagine he didn't take anybody with him,
didn't take an entourage or bodyguards. He took his his his
his his donkey his ride. He took His cloth that while he was
wearing enough food for the ride, or enough food for the journey,
and went and when he got to Damascus, he asked around, where's
the show with the medic? How can I book an appointment with him,
eventually made it into a shipment, not the medics. And of
course not everybody could do that. But because he's the tepee
of Mecca, the Mufti of Mecca, the person who's responsible for the
religious opinions of mica, they open the doors for him. And he
walked in and he said, Yeah, he should
look at the humility, humbling he shall, yeah, he shall know that
you will meet Allah alone. And you will be asked alone. And you will
have to stand in front of Allah subhanaw taala alone and answer
alone and you will die alone and you will be in the grave alone. So
don't let the excitement and the people's respect in the eyes of
the people towards you, convince you that you're other than what
you really genuinely are, be honest with yourself. These are
powerful words, say to a Khalifa. And he says I've come to advocate
on the people of Mecca, treat them kindly and fairly. I've come to
advocate on this on behalf of the slaves be fair to them, have come
to advocate on behalf of the the early Zina the minorities that are
not even Muslim. In Mecca, the Jews and the Christians treat them
fairly. Don't expect more than what they can bear be fair and be
just and every single time we give them advice, a Sherman Abdul Malik
would say, I accept I accept I accept I accept. I will I will I
will and he wrote changes that yes, we will change the policy XYZ
as you've requested. And not many people could do that not many
people would have that level of impact on Hmm, not the money, but
you share my burden Melek humbles himself to our thought, because of
the way that he carried himself. And because of the eloquence of
his words and because of the kindness and the demeanor and the
justice and the fairness and the transparency. Finally as he
started to appreciate your time I've come to have achieved what
I've come for and I'm going to go back to my can you share with
abdomen so you've advocated on everybody, everybody on behalf of
everybody else, but what about you? What can I do for you? He
recited the law as a locum when I look at him in agile in Algeria.
Illa Allah, Allah Allah me I've come not to ask you for anything
in return, not to ask you for compensation. My compensation is
with Allah subhanaw taala the idea from the Quran and another version
of the story. He says I am not the type to ask any human being for
anything. Allahu Akbar. Remember my brothers and my sisters? *
yes. Still we live in a Munna
your Fila who Lavina am and when como la nina who to the element
Rajat can the one who know the one who knows, can that person be
equal to the one who doesn't? Allah will raise those who are
believers and those who know I had 1102 They're the ones who seek
knowledge, Allah will raise them. So if we're going to take some
lessons from the the beautiful life of utter ignorance available,
focus on knowledge. Be careful with your time, manage your time
well, don't waste it have purpose, have gold, have desire.
And be accessible to people and don't be stingy when it comes to
giving advice, give advice, but lead by example. Finally, Elijah I
mentioned to us Matt Alba ignorable robber, your alma mater,
wahoo, out of the blue, all the indigenous. When Arthur in the
bureau passed away, he was the most beloved to the people. At
that time, people loved him. People loved him, despite again,
being born or being limited by slavery, despite having to serve.
He made the time to learn his energy and readiness to serve
ALLAH SubhanA died and his sincerity eventually was noticed
by the master who set him free. And he spent the years of his life
serving the people around him advocating on behalf of
minorities, advocating in the name of justice, standing up and making
his way all the way by himself sitting by himself to the Khalifa
and advising and advocating and leaving a beautiful legacy behind
in knowledge and in the Islamic sciences. My brothers and my
sisters, do not let your limitations wherever they are,
continue to limit you.
Do the best that you can. Some of us are born
run into, you know, maybe slavery is no longer as as rampant as it
was, but there are minor forms of slavery and discrimination and
injustice, it still exists. But this man is, you know, being
black. Right. And and of course, this is again for the autumns, who
dealt with in the Gehenna. Yet, there was a lot of racism for the
Mufti of Mecca, who served for many years, you know, passing away
at eight years of age, to be black, to be of color and to be
respected. That is in itself a testament to the legacy of
Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam May Allah Subhana Allah Allah allow us
to be from those who are fair from those who are just from those who
learn. Seek knowledge benefit others with the knowledge be from
those who are careful with how they spend their time, and from
those who leave a beautiful legacy behind my final remark, do not
waste your time. Every minute counts. You are just a bunch of
days, and every minute that passes is a part of your life that's
gone. Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh and see you every
night inshallah at 8:30pm