Mufti Menk – Tough times, difficulty and the Prophetic Path

			Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim al hamdu Lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah Allah, Allah, he was
happy he has remained My beloved brothers and sisters, the world is going through a lot. We know
that there are challenging times people are struggling. While there are a few who are actually doing
very, very well. But this is the plan of Allah subhanho wa Taala he will keep testing us from the
point of birth to the point of death, it's us being tested, our parents, our siblings, or people
around us, etc. That's part of the plan of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Now, one thing we need to
realize is that whenever we have hardship and difficulty, the only way to navigate through these
		

			hardships is to look at Revelation and what Allah has given us. So he has given us the Quran and the
Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, he has given us a lot of beautiful scholars who have from
the very beginning, been teaching us the goodness. And when I say the very beginning, I'm talking
about the scholars from among the Sahaba of the Allahu anhu coming down to those who followed them
and those who followed them etcetera, etcetera. So my brothers and sisters, if you have issues and
difficulties and if you are facing hardship, and if you are looking at the challenges of today,
there is no better way than to connect with Allah. And in order to connect with Allah, you need to
		

			connect with the word of Allah, which is revelation, which is the origin. If you have a connection
with the Quran, you will automatically have the ease the contentment, the goodness, and it's the
beginning of the path towards understanding the plan of Allah appreciating it and enjoying it, even
if it is through hardship and difficulty. And when we look at the Quran, Allah Allah when he was
asked about how was the Prophet peace be upon him in terms of his character, she said, kinda Hello
COVID or on his character was basically the foreign whatever you see enshrined in the Koran was
embodied by the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam within him as a person, everything he did
		

			reflected the Quran, the Quranic teachings, the values and so on. Now, if he was a walking or moving
on, as we would say, as per this hadith of eyeshadow viola, and then what we need to realize is, the
Quran should lead us to the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, where Allah has said
in so many different places in the Quran, that we should take what the prophet has instructed us, we
should follow what the prophet has said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, we should ensure that we take
seriously what has been said by the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So following his example
will only be possible if we learnt it if we made an effort to try and see what it was all about.
		

			Hence, every year, people get together in order to highlight the importance of following the Sunnah
of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, there are some who don't believe in it at all. There are some who
discard it and who degraded or consider it not important. We are from among those who believe in it.
And we believe success lies in following the Quran. Plus the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam
as it was taught to us by the scholars who have come through the generations to teach us this
beautiful goodness. So my brothers and sisters, take a look at the challenges Allah mentions the
previous prophets and the challenges they went through and how they dealt with it and what Allah did
		

			for them and what Allah Almighty did, as a result of the doings of the people, of those messengers,
the good and the bad, and so on. But when it comes to the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, he
went through a lot challenge upon challenge, if there was value to the worldly items and possessions
that we have today, that equated the weight of the wing of a fly, you know, in the Arabic language,
they say, yes, wha Jana Hubba Oh, boy, that which is equivalent to the weight of the wing of a fly.
		

			If any of these material things was worth the weight of the wing of a fly in the eyes of Allah, it
would have been given to Muhammad Salallahu salam, but it's not worth that even. So Allah subhanho
wa Taala decided to put the best of creation and the most noble of all prophets in a time where
there was no technology there was no running water from taps. There was no electricity, there were
no motor vehicles yet. Allah says diabolical Edie insha
		

			Allah Allah kaffee wrong
		

			mean mallikarjun
		

			If Allah had willed, glory be to Him. If Allah had willed he would have for you, he would have
placed for you, he would have created for you much better than that much better than all the
possessions that these people have materialism have a load of created gardens, and the verses
continue. But the point here is, if Allah wanted, he could have done that for the Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu wasallam but
		

			there was no value of it. Or for it in the eyes of Allah. So Allah Almighty created Muhammad
Sallallahu Sallam placed him at a time where
		

			there was nothing, nothing much hot desert, at times, no food, at times, no clothing. Look at the
Hadith of the Prophet sallahu wa salam, how did he navigate through challenging times, with a lot of
two things. sub sub means he was patient. Allah Almighty says in the Quran in many places, praising
those who bear patients in different ways. One of them is in Allah hamara saw meaning allies with
those who bet patients you bet patients Allah is with you. So bear patients, Bella, does be over the
devil. So many times Allah says if you bear suffer, and you have some tequila, if you bear summer
will grant you this if you bear suffer, and you you take it in your stride and so on. Subhan Allah,
		

			the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him had a lot of patience, he was always patient. He used to
thank Allah. When the people did what they did to him into if he thanked Allah.
		

			He thanked Allah and he actually complained about his weakness yet he was not weak.
		

			And he did not make a do against these people. Imagine how patient he was. Over and above that
patients the other quality is to thank Allah shook. They say a Sabra or Shoko
		

			to bear patients and to be thankful, show gratitude. When you have a problem, look at those who have
worse. So going back, I shall the Allah Allah says, In Quran, Allah Muhammad in even though we were
the family of the Prophet himself, so Allah Salaam, we used to see the moon, and there was no food
or drink, and the next moon, and the next moon, and we only consumed dates and water
		

			for three whole months, yet we were the family of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.
		

			That's what we consumed, which goes to show that he had challenges there were times when there was
no food. There's stories of when there was not much clothing either. They will, they were great
difficulties. They were periods of time when there was a lot of hardship. But Subhanallah he never
complained, not at all. He was patient. And he always thanked Allah for whatever for whatever he
had.
		

			And this is why Allah Almighty tells us that if you thank Allah, if you're thankful, you will
definitely have increase and alleviation alleviation from the hardship is considered increase in
goodness and over and above that he will grant you increase in figures and numbers.
		

			So panela so here goes a lot of mighty says
		

			what is that Lana? beaucoup la? Chicago Toma as he then Kampala cafo Tony in other IB English ad,
indeed the announcement, you know, Allah has declared, if you were to be thankful, we will grant you
increase. And if you are ungrateful, then indeed, my punishment is very severe. That's what Allah
says. Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam went through hardship. He went through difficulty he went through
times that you would not imagine. I sit and I think to myself of this hadith of Ayesha or the Allah
and her way, she says, even though we were the family of the Prophet Muhammad, Salah Salem, we went
through so much of difficulty,
		

			always with gratitude. You can those who have less than you, so that it will be of greater benefit
to you. It will make you more appreciative of what you have Subhanallah and I think to myself,
imagine today, if we had someone who was known as the best of creation, one would expect them to
have a lot in terms of this worldly life. Did you know The majority of those who have a luxurious
life or not that close to Allah, sad to say, and it is effect and those who have less
		

			perhaps
		

			Allah has tested them in different ways.
		

			In order for them to be closer to Allah, sometimes if Allah has taken away from a person, that
person can turn away from Allah and sometimes when Allah gives a person, the person would turn away
from Allah. It's more when Allah has given you that you turn away, then when he takes away from you
that you turn away, that one is more than this.
		

			And the reason is people start forgetting they're drowning in luxury, they're enjoying the world so
much. They're enjoying the world so much that they forget Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah May Allah
forgive us, May He grant us goodness, look at the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, seeking the
forgiveness of Allah up to 100 times a day, yet he did not need it. And here we are, we spend a
lifetime with no seeking forgiveness. Shouldn't we be seeking the forgiveness of Allah every day,
repeatedly, in order to elevate your status and mine, in order to become more conscious of the
connection with Allah that we're supposed to be having? That's how it should be my brothers, my
		

			sisters, here we are blessed to be able to look into some aspects of the teachings of Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam some aspects of his lifetime, how we can implement that in order to
achieve the alleviation of today's suffering and in order to achieve guidance for to the current
times and the current situation
		

			Subhan Allah, we need to be focused, dedicated and this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala says,
		

			Yeah, I you
		

			know, Allah come
		

			full circle.
		

			Bala, either the engine or you who believe the conscious or you who believe you need to concentrate
on yourselves, concentrate on your weaknesses, concentrate on yourselves. Because those who are a
stray will not be able to harm you, if you yourself are rightly guided, if you are rightly guided,
those who are astray won't harm you. But when you are not concentrating on yourself and pointing at
this one and that one, you begin to lose the path. You focus on something else, the entire life
should be focused on Allah and His Messenger sallallahu Sallam because of the path that he had shown
us to Allah.
		

			So here is this messenger. People went to war with him, people accused him. People said nasty things
about him. To this day, people are saying crazy things about him yet, he is by far the most
successful human being to exist, even according to those who don't believe in his message. Subhana
Allah, they say the most influential human being of all time, is actually Muhammad Sallallahu
sallam. This is the witness of those who disliked him and those who don't follow him. A bear witness
		

			Subhan Allah are behind me imagine what power and when you want alleviation from your suffering, you
must read the Sierra, you must go through pages of the Sierra, the Sierra meaning the life of the
Prophet sallallahu sallam, his biography, if you look through the pages and see the hardship he went
through, you will definitely achieve comfort because you realize I didn't go through all this.
Imagine for three years, they were surrounded at a place Subhanallah she'd be falling in Makkah,
just on the outskirts of Mecca. for three whole years. Then, too, they suffered with food and drink.
Without it.
		

			They had to make do with
		

			whatever they had
		

			Subhanallah they were sucking the roots of the trees in order to derive that little liquid or to
extract that water.
		

			Have you ever done that?
		

			Not at all. The other day, I was speaking to some of the brothers and sisters and I was saying who
is ready to try to be on dates and water for three whole months? Nobody, not one from amongst us.
Why? Because we will say well, you know that's a little bit far fetched. And we don't need to do
that. It's true. But the thought of it already makes you want to refuse and reject it. May Allah
forgive us yet the best of creation went through all of that.
		

			Like I said earlier, he faced accusation, all sorts of things.
		

			They said things about him. They didn't listen not only that they went to war with him. They wanted
to harm him in person so many times. He continued to pray for these people and he couldn't
		

			To try with these people and guess what he succeeded today?
		

			How many Muslims are there across the globe? How many people are turning to Islam at a time like
this when it is not easy to be Muslim?
		

			That's because the blessings of the prophets are seldom given by Allah subhanho wa Taala his path.
		

			His way, everything to do with his life is important. The way he breathed the way he ate and spoke
the way everything the way he relieved himself. And there is a lot of detail in every aspect of his
life, because it's an act of worship, not only to learn it, but to put it into practice as best as
you can. May Allah grant us goodness, we want to see success. Well, here it is. This is just an
introduction to the topic. You need to make the effort you need to undertake that I'm going to go
back I'm going to buy a book or get hold of a book that will teach me the details Siraj of the
Prophet Muhammad, Salah salam, and I'm going to go through page by page, read it and check what
		

			hardship and what difficulty he went through, and how he dealt with each item on each one.
		

			SubhanAllah he made peace treaties, at times,
		

			he had to send an invoice or invoice
		

			to different parts of the world. So panela at a time when
		

			transport was not how it is today, a few hours a few hours ago, I was somewhere else in the world in
a different continent. Now I'm in a different continent, and after a few hours, I'm going to be in
another continent. But at that time, they were on horseback. They took a long time to go and deliver
messages. But we know about those messages today.
		

			So my brothers and sisters, thank Allah that you are part of this oma, bless it oma, we are honored
to be studying this Syrah, to be looking into the aspects of the serum. And we ask Allah Almighty to
accept it from all of us. So these are the few words that I thought perhaps I would share with you.
I'm noticing that I've already covered up almost 18 to 19 minutes. And I think that we, we must
thank the organizers, Imam Qasim and the others
		

			to having meaning having made this a reality by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala. For the love
that we have of the Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam and the love of Rasulullah sallallahu
Sallam is manifest in our lives, the minute a person sees us, he would be able to tell this man
loves the Prophet, Mohammed Salah because of just how you look, that's it. And then it carries on
from there. How you look, would be the first point of understanding of who you are. Because you've
chosen to look in a way that had you been in the company of Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam you would
have fitted in completely. That's a good one.
		

			My brothers and sisters,
		

			if you were in the presence of the most beloved, the one who is going to be the first to enter
Jannah Muhammad Salah Salaam, the one who is going to have the intercession on that day of judgment,
if you were in his company, would you be embarrassed? Because of the way you've chosen? To dress
perhaps? Or to look? If the answer is yes, perhaps it's time to do something about that. If really,
you love the messenger, peace be upon him, you should want to fit in with whatever he has taught,
and how he how he taught us to dress and to look, people find loopholes, you will find every
loophole in the world because there are people who are sitting there looking for loopholes, they're
		

			gonna find them. They're gonna create them out of nothing.
		

			But to be honest with you, if you're a genuine person, rather than looking for loopholes, do the
right thing just follow the example and inshallah we take it from there. May Allah bless you all.
akuto Cali ha that was Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato was sallallahu wasallam Island,
Amina Muhammad