Mirza Yawar Baig – Brotherhood of Faith #02
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses various Hadiths and their implications, including reconciling between Muslims and non- Muslims, using evidence and listening to others, and being objective. They stress the importance of humility, listening, and being an active listener. The speaker believes that Islam is like a legal system and requires forgiveness in any relationship, including those with multiple members. They emphasize the need for forgiveness in any relationship, including those with multiple members.
AI: Summary ©
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of
the worlds.
And peace and blessings be upon the most
honored of the Prophets and Messengers, Muhammad, the
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon
him and his family and his companions.
Many, many blessings be upon him.
And then, my brothers and sisters, the Messenger
of Allah told us that reconciling between people
is better than voluntary fais, nafil fais, nafil
salah, and nafil charity.
It is narrated in the Hadith in Abi
Dawood and Tirmidhi that Abu Darda al-Ansari,
he said that Rasulullah said, shall I not
tell you something that is better than the
status of nafil, voluntary prayers, fasting, and charity?
And they said, Ya Rasulullah, please tell us.
He said, reconciling in a case of discord,
for the evil of discord is the shaver.
And he said, I don't mean that it
shaves hair, it shaves Iman, it shaves religious
commitment.
In another Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim, Mutafakun
alayh, it is narrated that Abu Huraira said,
that Rasulullah said, do not hate one another.
Do not envy one another.
Do not turn away from one another.
Be, O slaves of Allah, brothers.
It is not permissible for a Muslim to
leave his brother Muslim for more than three
days.
In another Hadith in Abi Dawood, Abu Huraira
r.a. narrates that Rasulullah said, it is
not lawful for a Muslim to forsake his
brother, turn away, not speak to him and
so on, beyond three days.
And whosoever does so for more than three
days and dies in that state will certainly
enter Jahannam.
And there are many other Hadiths in the
text, you will get all of them.
Now, brothers and sisters, it is essential, therefore,
if we want to do this, and that's
the solution, to develop four qualities in ourselves.
First one is humility.
Be humble.
And really, I should not even say humble,
as I be realistic, because nobody's getting Wahi.
If anybody thinks that he's getting Wahi, then
I have nothing more to say.
No one is getting Wahi.
Nobody has an absolute hold on the truth.
Allah doesn't talk to you, Allah doesn't talk
to me.
So let's understand that.
So whatever we understand is our understanding of
the truth.
So let us get humble, first and foremost.
Get off the high chairs.
Second thing is apply the fundamental principle of
the Sharia of all our Imams.
And that principle is, I believe that I
am right.
And if I am right, not just because
I feel so, with my Dalail, with my
evidences, with my proofs.
There is no feeling.
I believe this, I feel that, no feeling,
no belief.
Islam is like a legal system.
There has to be evidence, and the evidence
is from the Quran and the Sunnah.
So the principle is, I am right based
on my evidence, with the possibility of being
wrong.
And my brother, meaning the person who has
a different opinion, I believe he is wrong
with the possibility of being right.
Now it's not a play on words.
What does it mean?
It means that when I am talking to
somebody else about a different opinion, first of
all, I will go there with my evidences.
I won't go there because I feel so
and I believe so.
No, no, no.
What is my evidence?
Number one.
Number two, when that person is talking to
me, they will speak on the basis of
their evidence, and I will, to the extent
of possible, keep my mind open to being
convinced by the other person.
As I mentioned to you, the beauty of
this is, if the person is right, you
come on the truth.
If you cannot convince each other, alhamdulillah, then
you are right, because you know that your
evidence is solid.
So be very clear that we need to
develop some humility.
Number two, listening.
Be an active listener.
First seek to understand before you seek to
answer.
The problem with a lot of us, and
we do this as an exercise in listening
skills, the minute a person says a trigger
word, instantly the mind, you stop hearing completely.
Physically, you do not hear anymore.
Your mind is now manufacturing responses.
Nothing will happen.
Nothing good can come out of that.
So you need to listen.
Number three, become objective.
Separate the argument from the person.
When we are discussing a point, we are
talking about that point of view, that argument,
that principle.
It's not me versus you.
It is me and you together versus the
problem that we are talking about, versus the
situation or the question that we are talking
about.
So alhamdulillah, it's not a prize fight.
It's not my job to knock you out.
It's not your job to knock me out.
Two of us together are working to find
a solution.
You have a different view.
I have a different view.
Alhamdulillah.
That's how it should be.
If all of us are in agreement on
something, then there is nothing to talk about.
What?
For example, alhamdulillah, ash-shadu allah illa illallah,
there is no one worthy of worship except
Allah.
No difference of opinion.
All Muslims agree on this.
Somebody says, let's discuss this.
What is there to discuss?
You're talking about things where people have different
opinions, and as I said, your opinion by
itself has zero value in Islam.
My opinion by itself has zero value in
Islam.
It's opinions based on dalail, on evidence.
And that is one reason why a lot
of religious matters of a certain level, ordinary
people like me have no right to talk
about that.
Because we do not have the structure, understanding
and learning and knowledge of Islam to discuss
that.
We can raise questions, and you should raise
questions.
But unless you have the training, unless you
have the knowledge base, don't jump into that.
Number three, objectivity, as I mentioned.
And in that objectivity, do not allow emotions
to get into the act.
Because when you have emotions, you can't think
straight.
You have to keep emotions out of it.
So no anger and no feeling offended, none
of that.
Be very polite and kind to each other
and talk.
And anytime you feel that now the anger
is getting too much, walk away.
So let's take a break.
Let's meet again.
Not at that time.
And number four, forgiveness.
Forgiveness because this is absolutely critical and essential
in building brotherhood.
There is no relationship in the world, including
our relationship with Allah, which can survive without
forgiveness.
What do we ask Allah for?
Forgiveness.
If Allah does not forgive us, what happens?
Same thing in any relationship, relationship with our
spouses, with our children, with our friends, with
our colleagues or whoever.
Without forgiveness, there is no relationship on the
face of this earth which can survive.
So we need to forgive.
We need to forgive because Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala said that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala forgives those who forgive others.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned this ayat
in Surah An-Nur.
Wa la ya'tali ulul fadli minkum wa sa
'ati an yu'tu ulil qurba wal masakina wal
muhajireena fi sabeeli Allahi wal ya'fu wal
yasfahu ala tuhibbuna an yaghfirallahu lakum wallahu wafuru
raheem Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, do
not let the people of virtue and affluence,
good people who have virtue, Allah is saying
these are the virtuous people, and affluence among
you, to swear to suspend donations to their
relatives, the needy and the muhajireen, the emigrants
in the cause of Allah.
Let them pardon and forgive.
Pardon is to forgive the thing and hafu
is to even forget it.
And Allah said, do not love to be
forgiven by Allah, and Allah is all forgiving,
most merciful.
This ayah came because Abu Bakr as-Siddiq
radiyallahu anhu, after the muhtan, the ifq, after
the slander on our mother, Sayyidah Aisha as
-Siddiq radiyallahu anha, one of his relatives called
Mistah, he indulged in the slander, and he
used to get a support, financial support from
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu.
Sayyidah Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu said,
well, I'm not going to give him any
financial support because this man is slandering my
daughter.
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la revealed
the Quran, and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
-A'la, the reference of person of virtue
and affluence is to Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu.
And Allah said, don't you want Allah to
forgive him?
And second thing Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
-A'la said, listen, don't let one wrong
thing that somebody does wipe out all the
good that it is.
Mistah is a muhajir, and with Allah, this
has value.
Now think about this whole thing.
What do we do?
A person can do good all their lives.
One mistake he makes, you trash the whole
person, okay?
It's not only about this incident, this is
the Al-Bab-ul-Muzul of the Ayah,
but it applies to us.
Don't we find ourselves doing that?
One mistake is enough, finished, gone.
Whole relationship, all the good the person does,
trashed.
Inna lillahi wa inna lillahi.
I remind myself when you, please, don't carry
grudges.
Do not carry grudges.
Carrying a grudge, carrying a bad feeling about
somebody is like holding a live coal, a
burning coal in your hand.
It only burns you.
The other person who you are slandering and
backbiting does not even know, but all your
good deeds are getting transferred into his account.
Don't do that.
I ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la to heal our hearts and to fill
them with His love and glory and majesty
and to free us from the shackles of
hatred, discrimination, distance, and arrogance.
I ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la to bless all of us and bless
the Ummah of Muhammadur Rasulullah Sallallahu alayhi wa
ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.