The Secret Of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

Sounds like everybody

Smilla hamdulillah salatu salam ala Rasulillah Allah Allah He or SOFIA Germain we get the name of Allah Allah Praise and Glory be to Allah. And mais find his peace and blessings be upon His messenger Muhammad and his family and his companions and all those who adhere to his guidance. May Allah azza wa jal honor us and privilege us with being of the Best of those who adhere to his guidance until we read our last Allah whom I mean.

So I was asked to speak about the historic renewer of faith a person who reinvigorated and replenished the faith of the masses. And in particular, Al Imam Muhammad, even humble one of the greatest jurists in Islamic history and the founder and namesake of one of the four major schools of Islamic legal interpretation or Islamic law.

And it's not because we speak enough about

the legacy of Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah or the legacies of the great figures of our history, but it's because we don't speak enough about the particular angle I wanted to take, which is the personal and most private and spiritual life of Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah.

that I wanted to make at the angle of my talk in sha Allah Allah.

In fact, as I was reflecting on how I would lead off on this subject, I thought of another scholar from that school, which was abdomen saw Al Baghdadi, a great well known figure in the Hanbali School of Law.

It was said about him after a great life of scholarship and piety.

That's after he died, some people saw him in a vision in their dreams. And they asked him What did Allah do with you?

And He said to them, Allah forgive me, and admitted me into paradise.

Be tallien Me Asli be an al Fatiha by teaching for the sake of because I taught young children Surah Fatiha

this great scholar whose students go far and wide. Perhaps the reason he made it in the hereafter was actually because of something that was overlooked. Some days that he sat doing something that isn't in our eyes, or maybe even in his eyes, very notable or consequential, teaching young Muslim children, how to pray for a lifetime how to recite al Fatiha for a lifetime.

You know, someone can misunderstand what I mean by this anecdote. You think, Wait a minute, you know, this great scholar became a great scholar, but it wasn't his knowledge. So knowledge isn't important. No, that's not exactly. But what I want you to think about in light of incidents like these, and they are many actually, is that so often, we don't get to decide what our legacy will be for the remainder of this earth.

So an intelligent person, the prudent Muslim, will decide to prioritize their profile in front of the one who decides what your legacy is going to be, because it's usually not you.

And this is how I get into now thinking about aneema Muhammad, Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah for those who study his biography, like so many of our leading scholars, and leading luminaries in Islamic history, they seem to have never lost sight

of the fact that it was their profile, how they looked in Allah's eyes that mattered most

that their most precious asset was not people's opinion of them, but the opinion of the one that truly mattered.

And you can look at this from so many different ways. Like you read about Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah, he was so consistent, not in never stuttering, not in never ever making a mistake, right? He was so consistent in resisting self promotion. You know, we're in an age now where everyone's promoting the self, so much so that we don't even consider it. Narcissism anymore. We don't even consider it an illness anymore. Due to how pervasive it's become. Everyone's branding themselves. Everyone's asking others to like and subscribe, whether in that wording or otherwise, right. Some of us are better at hiding it than others, just in terms of our social intelligence. We get to fake humility a little

better than the next guy. And he man Muhammad truly was bent on

Not wanting to push himself forward in telling the world about the other scholars, you know when they were sitting there in the presence of Imam Muhammad and they praised another scholar whose name was merciful, carefree Rahim Allah one person said, Yeah, but he's, you know, not someone that knows as much as the next guy like Imam Muhammad, for instance. That's what he intended. He doesn't know that much. He's not that knowledgeable. He said to them, but my rueful karate even if he hasn't studied as much as us, he reached everything we desire from everything we study, he has the core of all knowledge, he has the fear of Allah. His son would even hear him in private, praying in his

night prayers Institute for Imam Shafi.

A competitor Imam fuel even though he was his teacher, and and he came a bit before him, though they met Of course, he said to him, why do you mention chef very so much even in your supplications in private?

He says, a chef hurry, as Chef very was like the sun is for this world, and like good health is for humanity. Can we ever survive? Can we ever sustain ourselves without these to the world can't be sustained without people like a chef very.

I remember the son of he met Muhammad after he met Muhammad died. One of the great scholars of Hadith epizoda Arrazi said to the son of Imam Muhammad, you know your father new 1000 1000 Hadith.

Like a million Hadith, but the word million doesn't exist in a traditional classical Arabic.

And you may think there aren't a million a hadith and this is part of the beauty of it, there aren't they used to memorize the weak ahaadeeth more often than the authentic hadith so that nobody could sort of cause them to infiltrate our sacred texts, so they could identify them and prove them as unqualified they would memorize them with their chains. But like even his son said, What do you mean a million? How do you How would you even know that my father knew a million Hadith if I don't even know that as his son? He even hit this stuff from his own family. He said, How did you How do you know such a thing? And so he says Abu Zahra, this great scholar said to me, Abdullah, the son of

Imam Muhammad, he used to review them with me on the side we used to review together, he had no choice but to rehearse with someone and so he used to rehearse with me.

In fact, Imam Ahmed entrusted people to burn his fat was at the end of his life, to burn his religious edicts at the end of his life. You know why? Because Imam Muhammad was the last of the four Imams chronologically speaking historically. And he saw how people had become too bigoted and prejudice and stubborn with the fatawa of the previous great Imams. So he didn't want people to sort of take his words and crowd with them the words of Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, or universe universalize them the way the words of Allah and His messenger can be universalized and applied in all these different contexts. And because of that, perhaps, that he

didn't want to be the by all end all that Allah chose him for this great legacy of Imam just like all the others, by the way, I will Hanifa Rahim Allah died from medical complications due to being mistreated due to going to prison because he refused to be the supreme court justice.

To stay out of the limelight. May Allah forgive us, right? He went through what he went through. And so Allah immortalized his name. Imam Malik Rahim, Allah, they said, let's standardize your book. Everywhere in Muslim lands, the government told him this. He said, No, don't do that. The Sahaba the companions of the Prophet SAW Salem, a few generations prior they traveled in different places. The knowledge of prophecy is scattered, let every scholar understand what he understands and apply what he can. Some people even said to him, why even put a book together? If you're not gonna insist that it get pushed out there? He said if it's for Allah, it will remain. That was their secret. Right?

Imam Shafi Rahim Allah said, I never debated with anyone, except that I wish that Allah who would sort of cause the truth to surface on his son, and used to say, I wish I can teach the people everything I've been privileged to learn in my life, without any letter of it being credited back to me. Those were their secrets.

And also the goodwill in the heart of Imam Muhammad was something that just glowed in his biography.

You know, his son used to also hear him at the end of his life after he emerged from the persecution and the prison that he went through.

Heard him always praying for Abu Haytham at Tayyar. And he's like, like that who's I will hate them like he's not a scholar. He's who's this guy? He says who unless he said Bettany.

That's the guy who kept me firm in prison.

He was my inspiration.

You see Muhammad Rahim Allah when he stood his ground during the more more desolate Inquisition, long story. He stood his ground, the word of Allah is eternal, not created. He was not killable he had too much status with the people late in life, that they couldn't just kill him like other scholars who were in fact executed. And so they would make an example out of him. They bring him out. He's 70 years old, and they would lash him dozens of times. You know, when you gather all the testimony, some of those who wept him said every time I whipped him, I said, this time the whip is going to emerge from his mouth. Like his body was falling apart from how hard they were hitting him.

One narrator says we struck him once, and his whole back sort of had blood clots. We struck him a second time those blood clots rupture. And we struck him dozens of times each day.

A narration mentions that when his blood clots would rupture on his back, another guy would come and take salt and stick it in his wounds.

So that he set his body on fire. And every day he would think he was gonna die. And that's why he would fast so that it would meet Allah fasting, Rahimullah, and every day he would almost break and say, Okay, bring me the water. Then they bring him the water. Then he says, no, no, no, you just hold off for a few more seconds in that atmosphere. Abu Haytham comes to me in my Muhammad says

and says to him, oh, Imam, stand firm. If you live you're going to live glorified, you're going to be a hero. And if you die you die Shaheed you die martyr, what's the big deal? He's saying, oh, Imam, if you go to the state records, you're gonna see that I was whipped 18 times 18,000 times. I let the free like if you add it all up 18,000 times in my life, for the sake of shaytaan he was like a mini thief, not enough to get himself amputated with like, you know, petty larceny. So they always get caught and beat and caught and beat and caught and beat. He said I've been beaten 18,000 times

for the sake of shaitan. So now you can't crumble for the sake of Allah.

And so Imam Muhammad Ali came out of prison. He just kept praying that ALLAH forgive this man, Allah, you know, put his past behind him and reward him because he kept me firm. Allah sent that man to have Imam Muhammad hear those words, because of a secret perhaps that Allah knew about his hearts. That's what kept his legacy alive.

You know, even part of the goodwill of Imam Muhammad was the fact that he didn't want to buckle, not out of humiliation, but out of fear for misguiding the people when the scholars would visit him in prison. Yeah, had been in Marion Rahim Allah, his lifelong friend and partner in Hadith. He would tell him, Hey, man, listen, it's halal. Your life's on the line. You could just say anything to get out of the hot seat. Just say it. And

so

he said to him one day, go look out the window of the prison cell goes and looks he says what do you see?

He sees an ocean of people.

They say one of the greatest geneticists when he eventually died Rahima hola in Islamic history was that of Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah, it was innumerable. You couldn't count the amount of people that are coming from every direction to preach and as on this man, but at that time again, oceans of people all with their pens and papers and stuff, like waiting to see what's Mr. Muhammad gonna say?

And so he said to your heavenly Marine, how do I meet Allah after misguiding all these people

for selfish interests. And there are a whole bunch of different kinds of selfish interests. Think about it. Nowadays, our families, our communities could be on the brink of falling apart. And it's all about me, myself and I, right. He put himself through what he put himself through, not for reputation, but for the religions preservation.

You know, and of what is mentioned is that later on in life, time will not permit for me to mention it in detail. He had this spot left in his back after everything healed. There used to be a doctor known as the doctor of the destitute, he would just for Allah walk around Baghdad, his city, and heal people who couldn't afford medical treatment. So one day he sort of stumbled on him and Muhammad and he found them like in anguish from his back, he said, what's going on? He said on 100 Allah everything's fine. He's okay. Everything's fine. But what's going on? He said, everything my back went through healed eventually, except this one spot right here.

And I couldn't figure out why and nor can anybody figure out why. This doctor says so I made it my mission. I went back

To the prisoner email, Muhammad was the dungeons. And I went and I spoke to all the inmates. And I said to them, you guys, any of you around and Mama hunters here, they say that, you know, something happened with his back. And do you know who treated him? So one of them says, yeah, he was treated by a tailor, like a guy, that SOS and he left something inside his back that he shouldn't have left in there.

And so he goes back to the Imam, he's like bad news. There's something in there, that if it sort of gets into your bloodstream, you're gonna die. It's gonna get to your heart and you're finished. I have to remove it. So Imam Muhammad goes into his house and comes back. This is authentically report that Biden had done about him a whole lot with two pillows, one for the doctor, so thoughtful, and one for himself. And he leans on it with a towel sort of over his shoulders.

He says, I lift, the doctor says, I lift the towel. And I say to him, you know, where is it exactly? Said you point I'll let you know. He said here, he says, Yes. And Hamdulillah He said, You sure here? He says, yes. Alhamdulillah. He never stopped saying and hamdulillah every time the doctor poked him. And he said here here, he said, Yes. Alhamdulillah. No complaints. What? Yeah, right there. He says. So I took out the scalpel and I began to cut.

And he kept saying, Yeah, Allah forgiven mortal sin. Yeah, Allah forgiven mortal sin. And Monica same was the president. At the time when he met Muhammad was going through all he went through his by his instructions, under his watch by his approval. And so he said to him, you're supposed to make dua against people who mutilated you in this way? Why are you making dua for them? He said to him, I think about the day of judgment, and this man is a cousin of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam.

And so I don't want to show up on that day, having a dispute with anyone remotely related to our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.

You see, it was something in here, right? How vivid and clear and certain reckoning was for him.

One time, I will hammer that whole carne Rahim Allah

speaking of the subject of how vivid his faith was regarding the hereafter, he recited very basic words of poetry but very profound. Or in a poet said either Paul le Robbie, and Mr. Haitao Seanie. Was to feed them but unhealthy while Bill cin Tini.

It's as if Allah azza wa jal is saying

to a servant,

did you have no shame on that day when you defied me?

The poet says, recall when you My Lord says to me, Have you no shame on the day when you defied me and you hate the sin from my creation. And with that sin you confronted me?

You were ashamed of my entire creation with you or the shamed of me with your sins in private. He said he met Muhammad said repeat that. And so I repeated it one more time. And so Imam Muhammad went into his house repeating it, and I walked up to his door after him. And I heard him having a meltdown repeating these words. What's it going to be like when my lord finally says to me, had you no shame and you disobeyed me? And you hit that sin from all of my creation? And with that sin you confronted me?

So mmm as your pain was very real, you recall that very much. Maybe the last anecdote I will share with for you is the son of Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah

He narrates that on my father's deathbed, he kept falling in and out of consciousness.

And every time he would come to a little bit, he would say, lace about lace about Not yet Not yet.

And so we kept saying, Not yet what not yet what like if our father the most righteous man we could ever imagine, is saying Not yet. He's regretting at the brink of death, his life and like, what do we do? Right? So we finally settled not yet what not yet what?

Even you feel like you're not ready to meet Allah. And then he said to us, no, no, no. shaytaan came to me. And he said to me, You slipped from my hands. Oh, ama you slipped from my hands. Oh, Ahmed. And I was telling him, not yet. Not yet. You see, he understood. He understood that even if you're Imam Muhammad, even if that's the life that you live, if you don't seal it, right, nothing matters.

We ask Allah azza wa jal that he helped us recognize

Eyes, where legacy really comes from. Recognize that every moment in our lives counts, and that every second we spend here will echo forever there. Allahumma Amin and we ask Allah to better our legacy in the heavens. And always remember that that is where it matters most and grant us a good stay in this world and allow us a good positive stamp on it before we go. And may He allow for us to find his forgiveness and His pleasure at the end of our journeys. Allahumma Amin does like a little later on also Allahu salovaara Khanna Vienna, Muhammad Ali, he was mine