Hosam Helal – Saviours of Islamic Spirit Episode 8 Imam Malik
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Smilla Rahmanir Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu
salam ala remember with Rama tenella Let me say you know Milena
Muhammad Ali who are early he have little Salah with him with the
slim. Welcome back to another episode of our evening discussion
saviors of Islam. We're looking at individuals that changed Islamic
history, through their efforts and through the legacies that they've
left behind. Tonight Inshallah, we're going to look at an icon
when it comes to knowledge, respecting knowledge, sharing
knowledge, having zeal and a desire to learn, to challenge
himself to grow, to challenge some of the assumptions. And to be
quick to admit, when a mistake was made, rectify quickly and accept
the better opinion when the knowledge and the evidence is
presented to him. This is an Imam Malik. What's his story? First,
Imam Malik was known as Imam Donald Ijarah, the Imam of the
abode of migration meaning the Imam of Medina, and Imam Shafi and
others and many of his students and many of his peers some of the
greatest scholars of Islam, called him hood, gentle Allah, the
evidence the proof that Allah has placed upon Earth, what a title
imagine being called. And that's an amazing title. Subhanallah
people used to flock from all over to study with Imam Malik people
used to take pride in saying I sat and I learned with Imam Malik.
Others used to say even if I have to be beat for every Hadith that I
can learn from Imam Malik, I don't mind managing going to that
extent. He comes from a family of scholars, his father, uncles,
brothers, so he grows up from very early on any community and in a
family that appreciates knowledge. But here's the catch. He wasn't
the most competitive in seeking knowledge. Until one day his
father caught him playing with the pigeons. He was just having fun as
a child playing with the pigeons just having fun. And he asked him
and his brother a question his brother was able to answer. And
they were of the same age group. So his father teased him and said,
Your brother was able to answer because he's spending more time
studying and you're spending more time just kind of, you know,
passively spending your time. So the mathematic took that moment on
us. And you know what, I'm not going to miss an opportunity to
seek knowledge to seek knowledge. And this goes to show you that a
little bit of competition at a young age can go a long way
healthy competition, or fanatic affiliate and after
cinematography, soon in the homecare who said, We're gonna
feel hierarchy, a little bit of healthy competition can go a long
way. Don't become complacent. If you surround yourself with people
that will not challenge you, you will become complacent, very few
people are driven, internally intrinsically motivated. So when
you have the added pressure of people, they're going to hold you
accountable and motivate you and encourage you to be the better
version of yourself. Choose your friends carefully. Choose the
people that you spend time with carefully, because as they say, a
saw he will say the friend has a gravitational pull, you will
incline as an abusive Selim says, Be careful because you will take
from the people that you spend your time with. And he gives us
many analogies and examples of imagine someone who's spending
time with someone who's selling perfume versus someone who's
spending time with someone who works at a you know Smith shop or
at a Smith shop. You even if even if you're not affected by you
know, your your your your clothes getting burnt or any of that the
Smiths shop, you will still have an odor that will stay with you.
And that's the way the Prophet Muhammad said I'm taught us to be
selective of who we choose out as our, as our colleagues, and a
medic admits that being in the environment really motivated him
to be a better version of himself. But here's the catch.
There's always an element of Tofik from Allah, there's always an
element of blessing from Allah subhanaw taala. Not everybody is
capable. Not everybody has the same capacity. Imagine in my medic
himself, his own family, he had a son, and a daughter, his daughter
was so involved in seeking knowledge that she would sit by
the door. And when a mistake in the in the brothers section, when
a mistake is made by the reader, she would be quick to notice and
she would knock on the door to indicate to the reader to correct
the mistake. Whereas the son of Imam Malik early on, he was busy
just having fun and playing and when people asked him your
daughter and your son is so different, he says her the double
law. I want you to listen carefully to that. It is apparent
can only do so much. It is the Edom of Allah. Allah Subhana Allah
selects Allah has, you know, cultivated and nurtured that in
her and place that desire for knowledge in her and almost having
us placed another curiosity and another excitement and potential
in my son. So you recognize the difference recognize the
potential, didn't expect someone to be more than they can and groom
these children also to achieve that potential.
Love Akbar. So what's what's his What's his story? And he met
manic. He, from a very early age started seeking knowledge. And he
actually went to some of the greatest teachers went to a zoo
every he went to Arabia, and there'll be I was one of his
greatest teachers when he came to visit. And so when he would come
from outside from the Shem, and the Levant region, and he will
bring a lot of, you know, food with him and money to spread
around to people in Medina, you know, when you're coming back from
travel, you want to give gifts to people. So it would bring a lot of
gifts for the students as motivation, he would ask a
question, and the students who would answer he would give them
that gift. So he was sitting in a headlock on Amazon, he got excited
once. So he shared 43 Hadith. And then he paused he says, You know
what? I have Sure so many a hadith, so many sayings of the
Prophet Muhammad Salam, I don't think I should share more, because
I don't think any of you are going to remember 43, a hadith. And I'll
be I looked at him and said, You know what, I have one of my
students, who is so in love with seeking knowledge and has a
beautiful memory. Remember, tofi? From Allah, Allah Subhan. Allah
has given it's a gift. It's a divine gift. Allah gave him
exceptional memory. He said, My student medic, even Anna's most
likely has all 43 Hadith memorized. You heard them only
once, try him. So he tests him. And he gets each and every one of
them right. In the misery is so shocked. He gives them a lot of
gifts. I didn't know this level of commitment to memory and focus is
still alive in this day and age.
How are you using your talent? How are you using your potential? Once
again, Imam Malik decided at that young age, I want to commit as
much time as possible to Zuri I want to sit with him and I want to
learn from him. So he would go to his ovary. And he would tell them
teach me teach me teach me so once has already taught him 13 long
Hadith. He said, Give me more. Give me more. I'm ready to learn
more. So just take it easy, one step at a time. Now I have the
zeal, I have the desire I can handle I want to go more. I want
to go faster. So remember last night, we're talking about steady
and slow and steady. Yes. But some people have the capacity to go
fast. Don't hold them back. You know yourself. You know your
capacity. As an Imam Ali limitada says, There are days where you
have the motivation, you have the energy of the zeal, ride the wave
of motivation. And some days you don't have to say, take it easy,
slow down. So you know yourself, you know the capacity, you want to
achieve a level of self awareness, where you're challenging yourself
to the max as Allah subhanaw taala says, bear in insane, either Neff,
Siebel, sera, whatever, the idea that the human being is the best
judge of his or her own reality. Even if you were to throw the
excuses around when you're talking to people, oh, you know, they
don't get it. Don't make excuses. Don't know, hold yourself to the
highest level of accountability be the best critic of yourself as an
Imam Malik was and work towards getting the best out of yourself.
Now, here's a little bit of a challenge that happened in Imam
Malik. And this is life. Even though his father was a teacher
and his uncle was and many people from his family were teachers, his
father passed away at a young age.
He was raised by a single mother and his mother. You know, this is
a message to my sisters who are single mothers, it's a challenge.
It's difficult to Allah here is a challenge. And may Allah reward
you for all that you do. And motherhood is not appreciated as
it shouldn't be in this day and age. It's it's 10 full time jobs
and it should be respected and admired. And sisters should not
feel less. You know, I shouldn't feel less worthy or valuable
because I'm involved in taking care of a family where someone
else is working her way, you know, after Korea shooting comparisons,
and not only what you're doing is amazing, what you're doing is one
of the gates or one of the keys to eight of the gates of Jannah as
the hadith of Rasulullah. Selim implies and indicates now when his
mother when his mother, you know, lost her husband when a man medic
and as his father passed away, may Allah Subhana Allah give all of
our disease gentlemen for those setup, I mean, he did not let that
limit him. His mom told him, I want you to go to the Halacha in
the masjid. And I don't want you to come back until you're the
master of the Halacha Allahu Akbar, I don't want you to come
back and tell you the Master of the Halacha look at that level of
motivation. I want you to go and as you become a student, I want
you to be the best. So she's putting that pressure on him
because she knows he can handle it. And here's a reminder from my
brothers and my sisters as parents don't put more pressure than
needed. But don't leave your kids without constructive pressure. You
know, your children some grow in moments of challenge some like to
be challenged, and others the you know, they develop at their own
pace and they have their own strength. For know your children.
She knew her son and wanted him to be the best. At the age of 17. He
was selected to give fatwa, Allahu Akbar 17 years of age to become a
Mufti in Medina, the city of the Prophet Muhammad salah.
So one of the young people asked him when he became a nifty 17. Did
you just do it yourself? Or like, who? How did that happen? Did you
get the consultation to be consult with other scholars? Of course, I
am Beverly rogering ner UNEF. So annually, Shane had The SLM and
who animun. He says it's not befitting for someone to assume
that he or she is capable of something unless they get the
experts in the field to say that you're capable. You don't just say
oh, I'm a scholar. I've read a few books. I've read a few Wikipedia
entries. Mashallah, congratulations. You're ready.
When people who are experts in the field look at you say, you know,
enter Muslim we had we had the the Messiah, you have gathered the
depth of the field and you really understand what you're talking
about. So he got that permission from 70 scholars 70 of the
greatest scholars in Medina and outside of Medina said, You are
ready at 17 years of age, to stay in the masjid in another way, and
to give fatwa and to give Halaqaat Allahu Akbar, that's encouraging.
That's inspiring. Our tradition is full of young people who changed
history.
Imam Malik, he was asked, How did you get to this level? He said,
Allah subhana, Allah gave me the ability to focus and lower my
gaze. What does that mean? Lower My gaze, meaning not looking at
anything that's going to distract me. So people are not my business,
I have a, I have a plan. I'm not going to be distracted by the
lusts and the desires, I'm not going to be distracted by this or
that I have a plan and I will focus on that plan, you know,
complete sharp vision, total focus is Allah subhanaw. Taala gave me
that from a young age, Allahu Akbar.
And he, when he started to look and collect, you know, he wrote
the first book of Hadith that collected all of the Hadith of the
Prophet Muhammad Salam together. And he spent 40 years working on
this book,
narrating from 900 different scholars sitting with 900
different scholars to learn from them. Look at the effort that you
put in Allahu Akbar. And what he would do is you would first
monitor the character of the people that he's narrating from.
So he says, I'm not going to take the Hadith, the word of somebody
who doesn't pray with conscious mindfulness, awareness of Allah
subhanaw taala
measures, someone who's distracted prays too quickly, first thing
that I'm going to notice I'm going to watch that person pray. One of
the other criteria that he had for selection, he would not narrate
from someone who was known to talk a lot, he would say the one who
talks a lot will be likely to make more mistakes. So I want someone
who's calculated, who's very self aware, critical of how much is
being said, Allahu Akbar. And not only that, he was known again, the
love of knowledge, the zeal, he was known for having the golden
chain in Hadith studies. The Golden Chain is when you have
Matic enough it and ignore them up. So the Golden Chain went
through Him meaning the most authentic chains of narration went
through him and the names of those that we just mentioned. One of the
look of the love that you had for the Quran and the Sunnah and
knowledge as a whole. One of the and the Quran specifically and the
headed the word of Rasul Allah said, I'm in the word of Allah,
one young child comes to him, little kid having fun. And now you
sitting down in the helicopter relaxing and having a good, you
know, good time with the with the with the students, and this was
right before medical. So you told him a little kid having fun to
Hey, share, why don't you Why don't you bowing? Why don't you
bowing? Meaning Why don't you bowing? So he got up, and he
prayed to him, because people told him, it's just a child, why are
you praying to Allah cause and it's before method. Usually,
that's a time in which we don't pray. He says, Well, first of all,
it's my crew. Not it's not haram. Right. And that was the opinion in
the metal hub. But in addition to that, so it's dislike but not
forbidden. But what he didn't want to be categorized in front of
Allah as he said, I remember the area will either be left home or
broken your
own. When they're told to bow. They didn't bow. He said, I don't
want to be from those who heard the command bow, and they didn't
bow. So imagine the love of the eye. He He remembered the eye and
didn't want the IRA to categorically define him, even
though came from a child, Allah but imagine having that level of
mindfulness, that level of awareness. He was known to be very
committed to the truth. He would change his fatwa based on the
knowledge that was comes in. For example, he was of the opinion
first that if you're washing when you're making will do and you
know, washing in between your knuckles and watching in between
your fingers and toes, it was a little bit too much. That was when
he was acid. I think it's too much. Then one of your students
came to visit actually heard from the above Reuters Hadith, the
interview seller encouraged the companions to wash in between
their fingers when they're making mobile. So he got the next the
next time that he met with the Halacha. He said is everybody here
that was yesterday present
Yes, everybody's here. I stand to be corrected, I heard an authentic
narration, which is very clear that the Prophet said and actually
encouraged the washing in between the fingers. So I take it back
Maddock has made a mistake, and then run me and Iran from a
completely different area, coming to my American Medina to ask him,
I have 42 questions that my people need answers to. I find that he
found you please help me with the questions. What are the Imam Malik
answers only a few and 38 questions? He says, I don't know.
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
The Masters. I came all the way What am I supposed to tell my
people tell them Malik doesn't know
the humidity. And he says saying half of saying I don't know is the
first step to get a knowledge. Don't claim that what you don't
know. Well, I telco for my name is Ella KBN. In the center our basato
kulula Cannot Missoula don't say or claim that what you don't know.
And out of respect for Rasulillah Salam Alaikum wa sallahu wa sallim
wa barik ala Nabina Muhammad, he would not walk bare feet in
Medina, he would not ride a horse in Medina. And he would not
narrate the Hadith while walking or writing all out of respect for
the city that does the touch the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam
sweet and he said I would not ride a horse into the city knowing that
the Prophet Muhammad said his body is buried here. We add to the
respect for knowledge, the respect for authority, the respect for the
texts. Haroon Rashid sent him a message saying, I want you to come
give me advice, private advice, as the Khalifa is knowledge is not
supposed to travel to you. You're supposed to travel to knowledge,
I'm not going to come to you come to me. So it's not out of
arrogance. It's just out of respect in knowledge. So, okay,
I'll come to you. But when I do come to you and sit in your head,
aka, right I want if I'm going to come to you, I want to attend your
public lessons I want to learn, but give me a private seat at the
front. It is why do I distinguish you?
You're one of you one of the many when it comes to knowledge, we all
humble ourselves for knowledge, I'm not going to make an exclusive
seat for you, you sit with everybody else. And how old was
you how long the machine came. And he was, he was made to sit in the
end at the end of the Halacha to remind him that knowledge is
supposed to humble you. Not the other way around.
Now, finally, his hearts love for knowledge love for and for, for
the text, that's a medical He's known for his wisdom as well, but
also his forgiveness and His beautiful heart. You know, there's
a bit of a, you know, a bit of a disagreement between him and the
Khalifa and monsoon. And the festival monsoon, he asked him, so
if if people give by Atomy Am I not entitled to rule and he said
the Hadith about if somebody is forced to give divorce, that
divorce is not valid. So he's implying that if you're putting
pressure on the subject to give you the oath of allegiance, your
your rule is not going to be valid. So he was beat, he was
beat, you know, he was stripped out of his garment and beat, you
know, lashed for this whipped for this. And when he told me you
know, when he's sharing this incident, he said, every whip that
came immediately after I forgave the Khalifa
after every whip why, number one, because he was close to the
Prophet Mohammed Salah Salem in lineage and he was doing what he
thought was best.
I leave you with this, my brothers and my sisters to highlight the
wisdom of Imam Malik. When he when he was asked, yeah, imam who are
the people of sunnah. Who are they? He responded, they are the
ones that don't accept for themselves. Any other titles,
those who say I am simply Muslim. This is the word of the madman.
And he was known for breaking that tension and division between the
community and unite in the community and bringing the
community together. We Allah subhanaw taala make us true
Muslims. This is the life of our beautiful Imam Malik the Imam of
Medina twinjet Allah Imam dal Hijrah and of course, a man who
truly loved and abuse Allah's Allah. May Allah make us from
multiple love Rasulullah saw Selim love knowledge seek it in the best
of ways, humble ourselves and seeking it and spread it in a way
that has beneficial Amenia or banana images that are more hidden
for tuning in, keep us in your DUA and we hope to see you around the
sha Allah for the next 20 or so nights as we finish the 28th
saviors of Islam Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi overcap