Omar Suleiman – Earning Jannah While Watching A Genocide
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AI: Transcript ©
I actually wanna start not from the 30
,000 level, but an amazing hadith from the
Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic narration,
that the Ahlul Jannah, that the people of
Jannah, are عشرون ومائة صف.
They are a hundred and twenty rows.
How long are those rows?
Subhanallah, only Allah knows.
But they are a hundred and twenty rows,
the people of paradise as a whole.
And he ﷺ said, 80 of them are
from my ummah, and 40 are from the
rest of the ummah.
80 rows are from the ummah of Muhammad
ﷺ, and 40 rows are from the ummah,
from the nations that came before.
Now obviously you could use a scientific explanation
and you could talk about the length of
the life of the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ,
with him being the last prophet.
The length of the existence of this ummah
as it undergoes test after test, trial after
trial, and we're still here almost 1500 years
later, and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala knows
best how much longer we will be here.
You could explain it that way, but you
could look at it from the perspective that
the Prophet ﷺ is giving us that Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala indeed loves the ummah
of Muhammad ﷺ.
That this is a beloved nation to Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala make
us from this ummah.
Allahumma ameen.
Now what I want you to think about
for the next half an hour as we
get started with the conference today, if there
are 80 rows, and I don't know how
many rows are in the conference room today,
but if there are 80 rows, what row
do you think you're in?
And how do you get up to the
next row, and the next row, and the
next row, and the next row?
Because the arrangement of those rows are not
random.
And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, ثُلَّةٌ
مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ That it's a
large group from the sabiqun, from the forerunners,
from the early ones, and a small group
from the later ones.
And we know, subhanAllah, that when we look
at the state of our ummah as a
whole, that our Prophet ﷺ mentioned that the
best generation of my ummah is my generation.
And then those that come after, and then
those that come after, and then those that
come after.
And it continues in terms of righteousness and
virtue, from beginning to the end with a
decrease with every generation.
But, there's always a but.
فِي كُلِّ قَرْنٍ مِّنْ أُمَّتِي سَابِقُونَ In every
generation of my ummah, there are forerunners.
But the Prophet ﷺ said that, if you
were to spend Uhud in gold, you would
not reach even close to the rank of
the first generation of the sahaba.
But the Prophet ﷺ mentioned at the same
time that my ummah is like the rain,
I don't know where the most benefit is
in, the first drops or the last drops.
But there is no one greater than those
that were with the Prophet ﷺ in Badr,
and then in Uhud, and then in Khandaq,
and then in Bay'at al-Ridwan.
But the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the generation that's
with Isa ﷺ at the very end of
this ummah with Jesus ﷺ, as Allah sends
him back to this earth to establish tawheed,
to establish justice once again.
And the Prophet ﷺ mentions that they are
the best of this nation, of the best
of this ummah.
The point is that you can always find
the Prophet ﷺ praising the earliest generation of
this ummah, while at the same time giving
us the hope that perhaps you can be
amongst those people from the later parts of
the ummah, that you could be amongst those
forerunners from the later parts of the ummah.
And that Allah ﷻ has opened up to
you by virtue of the same virtues that
were manifested by that earliest generation, a position
next to them.
Should you strive the way that they strove,
should you love them, and in the process
of loving them, want to be like them,
and in the process of wanting to be
like them, affect on this earth to a
degree that earns you by virtue of the
mercy of Allah ﷻ, a position next to
them in the heavens.
Allah ﷻ keeps giving us hope.
The Prophet ﷺ keeps giving us hope that
you have these 80 rows to work with.
And row 79 is not like row 80.
And row 60 is not like row 70.
Standing outside of the gates of Jannah, you
will want to be in the very first
row.
May Allah ﷻ make us amongst them.
Allahumma ameen.
The second row is not like the first
row.
You want to be in the very first
row.
And the placement of people in accordance with
their rank is sometimes brought upon them through
a circumstance that Allah ﷻ gives them in
this dunya by which He elevates them to
that rank.
The majority of the people of Jannah are
al-mustad'afeen.
They're weak people.
They're the downtrodden on this earth.
They are the people that had the most
difficult lives, and so they have the easiest
entrance to paradise.
But it's not because of their poverty that
they're entering into paradise.
It is as Ibn al-Qayyim says, the
fact that poverty is less distracting to a
person in their pursuit of paradise.
So it's not that the circumstance itself is
the reason why they're entering into paradise.
It's that that circumstance was the most favorable
to them to get them to that front
row of Jannah.
And may Allah ﷻ protect us from al
-ghurur, from delusion.
Allahumma ameen.
And the Prophet ﷺ said that the poor
and the downtrodden will enter into al-Jannah
500 years before those who are prosperous.
Why?
بكثرة الحساب May Allah ﷻ protect us because
of the abundance of questioning, the asks, the
accountability for the blessings that have been given
to us.
May Allah ﷻ allow us to use those
blessings in ways that are pleasing to Him.
And may Allah ﷻ allow those blessings to
become eternal blessings because they have been used
for His cause.
Allahumma ameen.
So sometimes it's a circumstance that allows a
person to wake up to the reality that
they are in and the reality that they
want to be in on the Day of
Judgment.
And to help them inch closer and closer
and closer to nudge themselves between the rows.
And how beautiful and sweet would it be
to find yourself on the Day of Judgment
in that first row.
And looking to your right and to your
left and seeing the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
and his companions.
What an incredible and lofty goal.
Where am I in the rows?
Where do I fit in the big picture
of the ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
as it arrives on the Day of Judgment
for that glorious entrance into the eternal abode?
Where am I, ya Allah?
Am I even in the 80 rows?
One of the most terrifying thoughts is that
you lose faith when it counts most at
the time of your death.
And so we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala to preserve us upon it until the
very moment that we leave.
But despite that thought that causes us to
do our due diligence to make sure that
we don't lose our faith, we're still taught
to have hope.
أنت مع من أحببت.
You are with those that you love.
You love the Prophets of Allah.
You love Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
You love Isa Alayhi Salaam, Jesus peace be
upon him.
You love Musa Alayhi Salaam, Moses peace be
upon him.
You will be with them.
You love Yusuf Alayhi Salaam and you feel
a deep sense of empathy even though the
story of Yusuf Alayhi Salaam did not play
out on your screen.
You didn't see the images of his brothers
throwing him into the well.
You didn't see the slander or the injustice.
You didn't see him in prison in that
state.
You didn't see it all play out.
And what an epic movie it would be.
But you love him because you've read about
him and you identified yourself with that plight.
And you felt an attachment not just to
his plight but to his principles and to
his morals despite his plight.
You look to your right and to your
left.
You find yourself next to Yusuf Alayhi Salaam.
You love the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam, the best of this ummah.
You look to your right and to your
left.
You find yourself with the companions of the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Hope is always there.
But don't settle for row 80.
Don't settle for the back row.
Seek to be in the very front row.
And do not have a low expectation of
your Lord.
Instead push yourself to your highest potential while
having the best assumption of Him subhanahu wa
ta'ala that He can move you through
those rows as He pleases because not a
single person in those 120 rows enters Jannah
except by the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Not even you, O Messenger of Allah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
Not even me.
Until Allah embraces me in His mercy.
May Allah Azawajal make us from the very
first row.
Say it from your heart.
May Allah make us from the very first
row.
Ameen.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us
to be from As-Sabiqoon Al-Awwaloon.
From the very first people to enter into
Jannah.
Say, Ameen.
Now let's come back to 30,000 feet.
And let's come back to where we are
right now.
As an ummah.
When the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam speaks about
this ummah and he speaks about the fears
that he has for this ummah, of the
profundity of how the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam warns us is that the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam always warns us by pointing
to the nations that came before us.
In one narration the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
says, سَيُصِيبُ أُمَّتِي دَاءُ الْأُمَمِ Just look at
the wording.
My nation will be struck by the diseases
of all nations.
My ummah will be struck by the diseases
of the ummah.
And the companions say to the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam, what is da'ul ummah?
What are the diseases of the ummah?
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam goes on
to explain.
Al-Ashar, Al-Batar, says Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
a person who denies their blessings.
And in the process of that becomes batar,
they become arrogant and they use those blessings
in terrible ways.
If you don't know the source of your
blessings, then your blessings will inherently be a
curse upon you and upon those who interact
with you because you will use those blessings
in all the wrong ways.
And he said, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, التكاثر في
المال, الهاكم التكاثر, the abundance of wealth and
people competing over wealth.
And as a result of that comes التشاحن,
that hatred.
Because people start to hate each other and
fight over wealth.
And as a result of that comes التبارض,
you'd want people to lose their blessings.
You want people to fall out of good
so that you can occupy what you think
is their position of good.
So instead of competing over the front lines
of al-jannah, you're competing over the loftiness
of this world.
And in the process you lose yourself, you
lose your morals, you lose your principles.
And trying to bring someone else down, what
تحاسد.
And so you start to envy one another.
And you don't envy one another on behalf
or on the part of that person's excelling
in the sight of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala with the virtuous things that have been
manifested by the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
But you envy one another over material things.
Become so superficial.
And then comes البغي, then comes oppression.
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, والهرج,
until it comes to killing.
People start to murder each other over this
stuff.
At the end of the day, the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is telling us in brief
that what is striking you as an ummah
is not unique to you as an ummah.
Nor are you immune from what has struck
the ummah that came before you.
You know, we always talk about this, that
when you mention Canadian Muslims, or you mention
American Muslims, or you mention a Muslim minority,
the biggest mistake of that minority is to
assume that it is immune to the same
problems that strike the majority.
We make that mistake, we put our blinders
on, we start to think we're not affected
by our environment.
We can build our bubble.
And in the process of that, we are
immune.
While every study will show us that we're
not immune.
And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying
that's not just true in the present sense.
That's true when you look to the past
nations that came before you.
سَيُصِيبُ أُمَّةِ دَاءُ الْأُمَمِ You're struck by the
same diseases that struck them.
The same things that brought them down.
That's why Allah tells you about them.
In the Quran.
Not so that you can mock them, so
that you can heed the lessons by which
they became a mockable ummah.
So that you don't become like them.
So that you don't fall off the way
that they fell off.
Everything the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions about
corruption.
There was corruption before, corruption in theology, corrupt
preachers, corrupt tyrants, corrupt kings that became tyrants,
corruption at every level, the loss of trust.
All of that already showed itself to you
in the previous ummah.
So don't crawl into the lizard's hole behind
them.
And adopt that corruption in your theology and
in your principles and in your morals.
So we're not unique in terms of the
challenges.
The challenges are all there.
But what makes us different in that regard
is that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will
indeed test this ummah more severely in this
world.
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions that my ummah
is marhumah.
Ummatan marhumah.
It's an ummah that has upon it the
mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Why?
عذابها في الدنيا Its hardship is found in
this world.
Through the earthquakes, through the tests, through the
trials, through the poverty, through the difficulties that
we face.
Its عذاب, its hardship is found in this
dunya.
Just like when we say that Allah tests
those whom He loves at an individual level.
Likewise, Allah tests this ummah.
And this is a beloved ummah to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
It is tested.
And in the process of that test, people
are woken up to a greater reality.
Not one that just became a reality, but
one that they just became aware of by
virtue of the difficulty that came to them.
People are woken up to the lofty cause
and rank that they are to aspire to
as the ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Because it's not just كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ
لِلنَّاسِ You're the best nation that was produced
for the people.
There are clauses there.
You are a rectifying ummah.
You are a correcting ummah.
You are an ummah that is meant to
bring about a certain change that affects humanity.
You're not just an ummah that's here to
exist.
You have a corrective role.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was sent, and
part of his mission was to be a
corrective alayhis salatu wassalam, to the deviant narratives
that had overtaken society in regards to theology,
and to the complete indulgence and all that
which was displeasing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala.
But he was a corrective Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And his ummah is an ummah that corrects,
that enjoins good and that forbids evil, that
believes in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And on the day of judgment, it's an
ummah that is there to bear witness to
that which is truth.
When Noah stands in front of his people,
when Nuh Alayhis Salaam stands in his people,
you are brought in as witnesses for Nuh
Alayhis Salaam, for Noah, and for all of
the prophets.
It's a corrective ummah, and a correcting ummah,
that has a lofty job.
So the diseases that we suffer from are
not unique to us.
The tests that we endure as an ummah
collectively are indeed more difficult.
And so when you look at this ummah
and you say, why does the ummah of
Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam suffer so much?
Two answers that seem contradictory can actually both
be correct.
You know what those two answers are?
Why does the ummah suffer so much?
Because we have diseases that we need to
rectify amongst ourselves.
At an individual level, we need to purify
ourselves.
As a community, we need to purify ourselves.
We need to remove the barriers between us
and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that serve
as spiritual barriers, barriers to our success in
this life and barriers to our success in
the next.
That's true.
Allah does not change the condition of a
people until they change that which is of
themselves.
اِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَى يُغَيِّرُ
مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ That's true.
And equally true is that this is an
ummah that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tests
with difficulty.
And it's an excessive amount of difficulty.
And in that process, brings about the most
beautiful gems, the awe of the people, the
awe of humanity.
الَفْلَامِينَ أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا
وَهُمْ لَا يَفْتَنُونَ وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ
فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ لَذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ The
people think they're not tested.
The people think they just say we believe
and they're not going to be tested.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, we have
tested those who came before you.
And in that process, we will make known
those who are truthful and we will make
known those who are liars.
Allah Azawajal already knows the truthful from the
liars.
We will make known are the people of
Gaza, are the people of Gaza just becoming
known to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala or
are they just becoming known to us?
Through that plight and through that circumstance, that
difficulty that they face.
Is it that that faith was garnered overnight
or is it that it was being beautifully
cultivated under a difficult siege that people have
ignored for so many years?
And now you're seeing it breathe in its
most beautiful way.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, we will
make known those who are truthful.
ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ It's a
large group of people in the beginning.
The best of this ummah already passed.
But some of the best of this ummah
lives amongst us today and are still to
come.
And we ask Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
to make us from the best of this
ummah.
Allahumma ameen.
You no longer have to just read about
people.
Now you can see people.
And they are challenging you just like they
are challenging humanity.
We speak about it from a perspective of
policy that they are challenging the hypocrisy of
the West without pause.
They are challenging every so-called international structure
of accountability and human rights.
They are challenging every so-called free nation.
They are challenging every so-called leader of
the free world.
They are challenging the men in suits in
their palaces.
While they are under the bombardment of those
men amidst the rubble, they are challenging every
value system, every claim to morality that has
been made in our lifetime.
But they are also challenging us with their
resilience, with their spirituality, with their trust in
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.
It's as if they are saying, look, ya
ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, we are
doing the heavy lifting.
Just carry a bit in the back.
We are taking the greater share of the
burden.
Just carry a bit from the back.
You know, subhanAllah, I remember, and I don't
know why this thought comes to my mind,
but subhanAllah, there is a brother in my
community who anytime there was a janazah, he
would insist that he would be there to
carry the body.
MashaAllah, he was a strong brother.
And the one time that he wasn't there,
the body, even though it was of a
lighter person, almost collapsed everyone's shoulders because we
were so used to that brother up front,
every single janazah.
The one janazah he missed, the body became
heavier.
This ummah's burden is being disproportionately carried right
now by Ahl al-Ghaza, by the people
of Gaza.
And they're just saying to us, do your
part.
Lift a little bit on your end.
We're making it easier for you because we're
taking the brunt of this.
Hence that hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, that
there will always remain a group from my
ummah.
Remember the 80 rows of the 120?
There will always remain a group from my
ummah.
Always a group from my nation.
ظاهرين على الحق لعدوهم قاهرين لا يضرهم من
خذلهم ولا من خالفهم That are upon the
truth, victorious, clear.
They have clarity, hence they have victory.
They are a thorn in the side of
their enemies.
They are not harmed or deterred by those
who betray them and those who oppose them.
And they will be in that state.
حتى يأتي عمر الله وهم كذلك Until the
very end of time.
We're watching them right now.
Do you love them?
Subhanallah.
That du'a, Allahumma an yas'aluka fa
'alil khairat wa tarqil munkarat, hubbil masakeen.
Oh Allah, I ask you for the ability
to do good, for the ability to leave
off evil, and for the love of the
poor.
The people of Gaza are not masakeen.
It's hard to call them masakeen because they're
so rich in their faith even though they
don't have anything to put in their stomachs.
But if you love them, it may be
that you also find yourself in a row
with them because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
praised them as being of the best of
this ummah until the very end of times.
But we all have to lift our share.
We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
allow us to be in the first row
that enters into Jannah.
May Allah Azawajal make us from as-sabiqun
al-awwalun.
May Allah Azawajal make us from the forerunners,
from the first.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us
to enter into Jannah alongside the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam and his companions.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant the
people of Gaza shahada and grant them the
highest entry into al-Jannah.
And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant
them victory in this life.
And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow
us to stand with them then and stand
with them now.
Allahumma ameen.
Wa salli alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Nabiyuna Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma
'in.
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.