Muiz Bukhary – The Powerful Significance of Ashura – What Every Muslim Should Know
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All praise is due to Allah, the Lord
of all worlds, the most merciful,
the most compassionate.
We extol his magnificence. We glorify has
granted
us
life.
He's
the
one
who has granted us life.
He's the one who sustains us. He has
blessed us in so many ways.
We ask him to send his choices to
blessings and salutations
upon the final messenger, our beloved prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, his family members, his
companions, and every single individual
who wholeheartedly
and sincerely
embraces the prophetic teachings, the prophetic path with
the class with sincerity until the end of
time.
I start off by reminding myself and then
all of you all gathered here for salatul
jum'ah
to adopt a life of tapwa, and that
is to bring in the consciousness of your
maker where you are aware of him, where
you acknowledge that he is aware
of of every action of yours,
every statement of yours,
every fleeting
thought
that crosses your mind,
every glance of yours,
he is aware of everything.
Not a single
dry leaf falls to the ground except that
it is in the knowledge of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. So instill this
into your hearts,
into your lives.
Oh, my dear congregation,
my dear brothers and sisters, if you wish
to attain victory and success in this world
as well as the hereafter, may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala make us all from the people
of Tapuah, and may he make us from
the victorious and successful ones. Amen.
He, Azzavajal,
has blessed us
with the opportunity
to witness the dawn
of a new Islamic
year,
and he has blessed us to witness the
arrival
of the sacred month of Muharram.
Shahru maha il muharram,
the sacred month of Muharram.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help
us to make the most out of this
brand new year, to make the most out
of it in terms of being productive
towards this worldly life as well as the
hereafter Amin.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, out of his infinite mercy,
he has ordained
certain passages of time
to be more special than other passages of
time.
Certain
seasons, certain months,
certain days,
certain nights.
And this is from his blessing.
This is from his boons that he keeps
sending forth these seasons,
these times,
these passages of time, so that we may
make the most out of these passages of
time. We so that we may seize these
passages of time to renew our intentions,
to strengthen our resolve,
to
turn over new leaves,
to turn to Allah
seeking his forgiveness,
to mend our ways,
to attain the forgiveness of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, and to draw nearer to our creator.
This month, my dear brothers and sisters, the
month of Muharram,
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is recorded.
We have said along the lines of these
words
that after the month of Ramadan,
fasting is so much emphasized
during shahrullahiilmuharam.
The month of Allah which is
There's a lot of virtue. There is a
lot of goodness attached to this month.
This month
indicates the beginning of a new year, Islamic
New Year,
and it is after
the month of Hajj,
where it is almost as if a new
chapter is beginning.
Allah is giving you a brand new slate,
brand new opportunities
to do good deeds, to mend your ways,
to turn over new leaves,
to get closer to him as a wajal.
And during this month,
there is a powerful
and special day
known as Ashura,
known as Ashura.
Now, what does Ashura mean?
Ashura stems from
the Arabic language,
Ashur
or Ashur, which means the tent.
So Ashura is the tent of Muharram.
We are a few days away from Ashura.
We are a few days from the 10th
of Muharram,
and this day has a lot of significance.
It is an extremely powerful day.
The books of history mentioned
that it was on this day, on 10th
of Muharram, that Musa alaihis salatu wassalam was
saved from Firaun, from the clutches of Firaun,
from the oppression of Firaun. Musa alaihis salatu
wassalam
oppression of Firaoun, Musa alaihis salatu wassalam and
the followers of Musa alaihis salatu wassalam.
Likewise, we read that Nuh alaihi
salatu wasalam, the prophet Noah,
his ship
was caused to land on the Mount
Judi on the 10th of Muharram,
on Ashura.
Again, another another symbol of salvation.
Another very powerful,
event. So if you look through the annals
of history, you see significance attached to this
day
during the time of Musa alaihis salatu wasalam,
during the time of Nuh alaihis salatu wasalam.
So throughout the annals of history, there's so
much of significance attached to this day.
And for those of you who are not
familiar or not aware,
fasting on 10th of Muharram
was mandatory,
was obligatory
prior to Ramadan
being made mandatory.
Prior to the month of Ramadan being made
mandatory
for us believers to fast, fasting on 10th
was mandatory.
So after Ramadan was made obligatory,
the following year,
the obligation to fast on the 10th of
Muharram
was dropped
was dropped to being highly recommended.
So the obligation was abrogated
and the recommendation by the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, a high and strong recommendation
was put into place. In terms of rewards,
by fasting the tenth of Ashura, one day,
the minor sins of the previous year are
forgiven by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So my
reminder today, my dear brothers and sisters in
Islam,
for this year, at the beginning of the
year, the inception of the year, do not
lose sight
of the small things.
Do not lose sight of the small things.
Do not trivialize
the small things.
At times, our focus is on the big
things.
It's not bad. It's good to hide have
high aspirations,
big dreams.
But in the process,
don't lose sight of the small deeds,
don't lose sight of the small things, don't
trivialize
the small things.
I want to share a story.
Some of you might have heard of this
scholar.
Imam al Abazali rahi mahuallahi passes away
and now,
a student of his,
a follower of his,
again another very righteous individual,
a scholar perhaps in his own right
sees Imam al Ghazali in a dream.
And Imam al Ghazali,
he looks happy,
He looks
content.
So, he asks Imam Al Hazali,
oh my teacher, oh sheikh,
oh imam,
how did you fare with Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala?
Is that not the pertinent question?
Is that not the pertinent question? Think of
it. If you are to stand in front
of a supreme court, in front of a
judge,
a worldly verdict,
There's a lot of importance attached to it.
Here you are standing in the court of
Allah.
The Lord of all worlds.
So how did you fare with Allah?
So, Imam al Abazali responds,
he forgave me
and
admitted me into his gardens.
So now the student
asks,
oh, Imam,
Was it
because of all your good deeds?
Was it because of your discourses?
Was it because of your sermons?
Was it because of your lectures?
Was it because of the books that you
have compiled,
that you have authored?
He has compiled many books. So, is it
because of all of that?
All of this, you know, amount of good
deeds, obviously. Yeah. You are a legend.
Was it because of all of that?
Imam Al Abazali
looks down and he responds, Allah. No.
No.
But on the other hand,
one night,
I was writing.
I was writing.
He was basically writing.
And, I mean, unlike today, I mean, they
didn't obviously have iPads and word processors and
whatnot, MacBooks and
computers.
It was the old fashioned
ink pot where you have to dip the
the quill into it and write.
And, obviously, the the ink of those days
were, I would say,
not
made
of harsh and strong chemicals like they are
today.
They were made of, you know,
ingredients derived from plants and water and, obviously,
a lot less harmful.
So he says, I was dipping the feather,
the quill into the ink pot and I
was writing. And, whilst I was writing,
a fly, zubab,
a fly
comes and lands
on
the quill
as I was writing.
And, it started it started to make its
way towards the moisture,
towards the ink.
And, I paused my writing
and I remained motionless
because I felt this little bit of mercy
towards the fly
thinking that perhaps it is thirsty,
let it quench its thirst.
That's it.
That's
it. When I stood in front of Allah,
I was overwhelmed
with awe.
Overwhelmed with awe. Think about it. When you
are in front of an important personality,
you're filled with awe.
Here you are in front of Allah, technically.
That should be a believers awe filled moment.
So, he says, I was filled with awe
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he asks me,
what about your actions?
I was filled with awe. I could not
respond.
Then Allah aasub ajal, he says,
do you remember, oh my slave, on this
night,
a fly came and landed on your quill.
And there was this little
mercy because of that mercy that you showed,
I forgive you of all of your sins,
and I accept
all of your good deeds,
and I will admit you into my garden.
Allahu Akbar.
Again, hadith is recorded in the book of
Imam al Bukhari, imam Muslim
Rahim. Many of you are familiar with the
hadith. A prostitute
a prostitute
whose job is her career is prostitution.
She
comes across a dog
panting,
lolling its tongue out.
What does she do? She feels sorry for
the dog.
She shows mercy to the dog, Allahu
Akbar.
By doing what? By quenching the thirst of
that dog. And what does the messenger sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam tell us? Because of that
deed,
she's going to be forgiven. She's inshallah going
to go to Jannah.
At times, our focus is on lofty deeds.
I'm not undermining the deeds. Strive as much
as you can. But in the process,
don't lose sight of the small deeds.
The small deeds that are between you and
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Between you and Allah. Ikhlas,
purity,
sincerity,
and that perhaps maybe the deed that you
will see when you stand in front of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You know, all your and all your charity
and all of that may be hinged
onto that tiny small deed, the acceptance of
that deed. Just like in the story of
Muhammad Al Ghazali. Because of the mercy that
he showed to the fly, all of his
deeds were accepted by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So, my dear
brothers and sisters in Islam,
let us strive
to seize these small deeds like fasting on
10th of Muharram.
Your sins are forgiven. Your minor sins are
forgiven. Let us strive on that day. It
is a special day. The prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam, he goes to Madinah.
He sees the Jews fasting on on
10th of Muharram.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam asks them
why. And they say because this day is
special to us with regards to Musa alaihi
wa sallam. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
then
emphasizes,
we have more rights over Moses than you
do.
And he instructs the Sahaba
to fast. He fasted and he went on
to say, if I were to live
the following year,
I would fast the 9th as well. The
messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam did
not live to see the next year, but
he indicated that if I were to live,
I would fast the 9th as well, 9th
10th. And this is why it is highly
recommended based on the indication by the messenger
of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to fast
on 9th
10th
or 10th
11th or the bare minimum, just 10th. So
in terms of recommendation, try to pair the
10th. Either you fast 9th 10th. If you
miss the 9th, then you fast 10th 11th.
Or if it is difficult for you to
fast 2 days, then focus on just one
day and fast on 10th because that is
the most important day.
Before I conclude, I also want to mention
something because people tend to have or ask
this question often. It is important to note
that the 10th of Muharram
also
coincides with
a very tragic event in Islamic history,
and that is the massacre of Hussain Radiallahuan,
the beloved grandson of Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam. Now, obviously, whilst this tragedy
is,
significant and sorrowful event,
it is important to understand as believers, as
followers of Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam, that
this event
is not related to the sanctity of the
day of Ashura itself.
It is not related or connected That
is part of
that is part of Islamic history.
It occurred,
coincidentally,
on 10th of Ashura,
But it has nothing to do with the
significance of Ashura. As you can see, it
goes back to the time of Musa alayhi
salatu wasalam and even the time of Nuh
alayhi salatu,
was salam. And we as believers,
we do not look let me repeat. We
do not look at the 10th of Muharram
as a day of mourning. Rather,
we look at the tent of Muharram
as a day of Ibadah,
as a day of worship,
as was
instructed to us by our messenger, Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
So for us believers, it is not a
day of mourning, rather it is a day
of a
day of worship through which we get closer
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So my dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
as I conclude,
I sincerely pray unto Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that he helps each and every one of
us to make the most out of this
brand new year. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
help us all to make the most
out of the month of Muharram.
And whilst we are engaging in these good
deeds, whilst we raise our hands, we also
make dua for our brethren in Palestine. We
make dua for our brethren in Uzza who
are suffering
who are suffering. We sincerely pray that Allah
eases their affairs. The children there, they're saying
that we pray 6 times a day.
Not 5 times, 6 times a day.
Every single day.
Every single day.
So we sincerely pray
because of the atrocities and oppression that they
are undergoing. That Allah eases their affairs. That
Allah accepts their martyrs. That Allah raise their
ranks. And that Allah fills
their hearts with patience. And may Allah give
them lofty ranks in Jannah for everything that
they're going through. And, likewise, just as how
he united us here in this masjid, may
he unite us in the beautiful and lofty
gardens of Jannah, in the companionship of our
beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Ameen
Amin