Omar Suleiman – The Virtues Of Jerusalem Ep. 1 Al-Aqsa Series
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The importance of praying in the presence of the Prophet sallam and the use of words to describe events is discussed, as well as the confusion surrounding the names of Islam and the loss of the book of Islam if the person is not able to see the writing. The holy land and holy water are also discussed, along with the holy man's role as the creator of the holy place. The return of the Iranian President to the United States and the return of the Iranian President to the United States are highlighted, along with the return of the Iranian President to the United States.
AI: Summary ©
As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
A'ūdhu bi-Llāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r
-rajīm.
Bismi-Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm.
Al-ḥamdu li-Llāhi Rabbil-ʿālamīn, wa-l
-ʿadwāni illa ʿalá al-ḍālimīn, wa-l-ʿāqībatu
li-l-mu'taqīn.
Allāhumma ṣalli wa-sallamu ʿabarak ʿalá ʿabdika wa
-rasūlikā Muḥammadin ﷺ wa-ʿalá ʾālihi wa-ṣaḥbihi
wa-sallam tasliman kathīrā.
Firstly, I want to thank the Minarat-e
-Tayn Center for hosting this lecture series.
May Allah ﷻ bless it and bless all
of you.
May Allah ﷻ enable you and us and
everyone who will be tuning into this virtually
and everyone whose heart is connected to Masjid
al-Aqsa and the people who have been
barred from it despite being its neighbors.
May Allah ﷻ grant us all a prayer
in it while it is liberated.
And may Allah ﷻ allow us to be
a part of its liberation.
Allāhumma ʿamīn.
I want to take you to the year
614.
The year 614.
It's exactly 1410 years ago.
And I want you to imagine that you
are one of the first Muslims waking up
to a reality of persecution in Mecca.
It's the last third of the night in
Mecca.
And you're one of those handful of people
that have embraced the message of the Prophet
ﷺ.
And the Prophet ﷺ and our mother Khadija
r.a. wake up to pray Qiyām al
-Layl.
And at the same time, Ali r.a.
and Fatima al-Zahra r.a. wake up,
though they were not married yet, to pray
Qiyām al-Layl.
And Abu Bakr as-Siddiq r.a. along
with his Muslim family wake up to pray
at that same time.
And the list goes on and on of
that early batch of Muslims.
Bilal and Khabbab, in wherever they were, wake
up to pray their Qiyām al-Layl.
And as they begin their salah, they ponder
upon the ayahs, يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُسْزَمِّنِ قُمِ اللَّيْلَ
إِلَّا قَلِيلًا نَصْفَهُ أَوِنْ قُسْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا أَوْ
زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا Where Allah ﷻ
commands them to pray Qiyām al-Layl before
the five prayers were legislated.
And just as we are accustomed to be
in these places where we have to find
where the qiblah is, as they wake up
in their rooms, they recognize that no one
can pray in the Ka'bah, or in
the vicinity of the Ka'bah because it
has been desecrated by the idols within and
without, and is under the occupation of the
mushrikeen.
And just as we look to the ceiling
and we try to calculate where Makkah is,
all of them in their rooms in Makkah
are turning their hearts and their minds towards
the first qiblah of Jerusalem.
It's a powerful visual when you think about
what's being embedded in their hearts.
Many of us have had the opportunity to
visit Makkah for the first time after having
prayed towards it for our entire lives.
And for those who have not yet had
that opportunity, may Allah ﷻ facilitate it for
you soon.
And the sentiment that you would often get
when you step into Makkah for the very
first time after having prayed towards it is
like you're stepping into a picture.
It doesn't feel real initially because of how
deeply it has been embedded in your heart.
For all of those names that I mentioned
from the early Muslims in Makkah that are
standing up at the same time of the
night to find their place of prayer, to
find their direction of prayer towards Jerusalem, none
of them had had the blessing of ever
seeing al-Aqsa before or ever having entered
into al-Aqsa before.
But it was deeply embedded in their hearts
as those few blessed homes lit up every
single night when qiyam al-layn was fard,
when the night prayer was fard upon the
Muslims as they turned towards al-Aqsa in
their liturgy.
If you met Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta
'ala anhum, and this lecture is going to
require a lot of visualization.
You're in Medina and you're meeting the last
major sahabi who's still giving his durs, giving
his lectures in the masjid.
He's over a hundred years old.
And you walk up to Anas ibn Malik
radiAllahu ta'ala anhum.
And you ask him to introduce himself or
reflect upon his existence.
He would say about himself, لا يبقى ممن
صلى القبلتين غيري.
No one on the face of the earth
exists today that had the honor of praying
towards the first and the second qibla.
Had the honor of praying towards al-Quds
and towards Mecca.
He could have introduced himself in a thousand
different ways.
But the greatest honor that he mentioned, that
distinguished him, that no one was alive on
the face of the earth.
Can you imagine?
Except for one man that lived at a
time when they still prayed facing towards Jerusalem.
It was solidified in their hearts.
There was a time when the early Muslims
wondered, what was greater, Jerusalem or Mecca?
Al-Masjid al-Aqsa or al-Masjid al
-Haram?
Jabir ibn Abdullah radiAllahu ta'ala anhum narrates
that a man stood up on the day
of Fatih Mecca.
Think about the day of the conquest of
Mecca.
And how momentous that occasion is.
We've been barred from al-Masjid al-Haram
all of these years.
And here we are now, praying inside the
vicinity of the Ka'bah.
And a man stood up.
And he said, Ya Rasulullah, inni nathartu lillahi
in fatahallahu alayka makka anhu sallia fil bayti
al-maqdisi raq'atin.
O Messenger of Allah, I made an oath
that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opened
Mecca for you and I, for this community,
that I would pray two rak'ahs in
al-bayti al-maqdisi, in Jerusalem.
That's where his heart was.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
Salliha huna.
Pray here.
This is too great of a burden.
Don't put this on yourself.
And he repeated the oath, inni nathartu lillahi
in fatahallahu alayka makka.
That if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opens
Mecca for you, that I will pray two
rak'ahs in masjid al-Aqsa.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Salliha
huna.
Just pray here.
And he insisted once again.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
Sha' makka idham.
In that case, this is your burden.
You have to fulfill this oath.
I tried to give you a way out,
but this is your burden.
But think about how deeply seared masjid al
-Aqsa was in his heart that even in
the moment of opening Mecca, of the most
glorious moment in the seerah of the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the heart and the
mind of this companion was there.
People used to wonder, what is greater, al
-Masjid al-Aqsa or Masjid al-Nabi sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, Jerusalem or Medina?
And there are several narrations in this regard.
Ibn Abbas radiallahu ta'ala says, that there
was a woman who fell ill in al
-Medina.
And she made this oath.
She said, In shafanillah la akhrujanna fala usalliyanna
fee bayt al-maqdis.
If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cures me
from this illness, because it was one that
she did not know that she would be
cured from, then surely I will go to
Jerusalem and I will pray my two rak
'ahs.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cured her from
what she thought might have been a terminal
disease.
And as she was cured, Ibn Abbas radiallahu
ta'ala said, she went and she packed
her bags.
Subhanallah, think about this woman.
She went and she packed her bags.
She went and she got her camel ready.
She set the scene to make her way
to Jerusalem.
And then on her way out to al
-Aqsa, not knowing what the political circumstances of
al-Aqsa was.
She goes to Maimuna, the wife of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Maimuna radiallahu anha,
Umm al-Mu'mineen.
And she says to Maimuna radiallahu anha, that
I intend to go out to pray in
masjid al-Aqsa.
Not knowing what's gonna happen to her on
the way, but this was an oath that
I took with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If I was going to be cured from
this, think of a person who wants to
be cured from cancer or something that seems
terminal.
I'm gonna pray in Jerusalem.
And Maimuna radiallahu anha says this to the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, tell her to
go home and to eat from what Allah
has provided for her and to pray in
this masjid.
صلات فيه أفضل من ألف صلاة فيما سواه
من المساجد إلا مسجد الكعبة Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam said, to pray in this masjid
of mine, in masjid nabi sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, is like praying a thousand prayers elsewhere
except for masjid al-Kaaba, which is one
of the acceptable ways to refer to it
in Mecca.
That is greater in virtue.
But what was in her heart that when
she was ill, this is what she was
thinking about.
The sahaba would wonder amongst themselves.
Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu says, تذاكرنا
ونحن عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
أيهما أفضل That we were sitting with the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and we were
having a discussion amongst ourselves and we wondered
which of them is greater, masjid rasool Allah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam or masjid bayt al
-maqdis.
Is it the masjid of the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam or is it the masjid
of bayt al-maqdis?
فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم صلاة في مسجدي
هذا أفضل من أربع صلوات فيه That to
pray in this masjid of mine is four
times more rewardable than praying in that masjid,
in masjid al-Aqsa.
I'm gonna pause in the hadith here.
How much is it worth to pray in
masjid nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?
This is where I start asking you questions
by the way.
So I'm gonna actually expect answers.
All ten weeks by the way.
How much is it to pray in the
masjid of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?
How many salawat?
One thousand, right?
So one fourth of one thousand is two
hundred and fifty.
But then there's another narration that's very famous
where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam alludes
to it being worth five hundred to pray
in masjid al-Aqsa and then a thousand
to pray in masjid nabi sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam and then a hundred thousand to pray
in masjid al-Hara.
So how do we reconcile between the seeming
discrepancy here in the virtues?
And the scholars say a few things.
Some of them simply said that the hadith
about five hundred is not authentic.
Others mention that perhaps this is the fard
versus the sunnah.
Could be that this is an obligatory prayer
versus a voluntary prayer.
Some of them said perhaps it's jama'ah
praying in jama'ah and may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala allow us to pray in
jama'ah in masjid al-Aqsa.
Some of them say it's jama'ah versus
praying alone and some of them say that
the virtue may have been increased over time
and others say that perhaps an initial number
was given to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam that was lower and then Allah increased
the number over time which is done as
when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that this number
of your ummah this percentage of your ummah
will enter into jama'ah and Allah keeps
increasing it as it's revealed to the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
In any case, it's highly virtuous.
Another side note which is extremely important that
some of us read this hadith and we
go, okay, a hundred thousand in masjid al
-Haram five hundred maximum in masjid al-Aqsa.
Now, do you really think that your comfortable
five-star hotel in a tower right next
to masjid al-Haram which is perfectly air
-conditioned and you have all your restaurants and
conveniences and buffets available to you while you
walk to it is greater in the entire
picture than that person that has to climb
over occupation soldiers and every single barrier and
wait hours and hours under oppression to pray
in masjid al-Aqsa?
Maybe the salah itself indeed could have that
virtue.
وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَةُ Allah Azawajal has given
everyone their reward.
We don't have to diminish from the reward
of a hundred thousand in masjid al-Haram,
may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala grant that
to us while still appreciating that certainly those
people that have to climb these barriers, that
have to overcome all of these disasters in
order to pray salah al-fajr in masjid
al-Aqsa will be rewarded for that struggle
in its entirety which is why the Prophet
ﷺ did not stop there.
He could have just said, look a prayer
in masjid al-Nabawi is four times greater
than a prayer in masjid al-Aqsa.
Conversation stops.
But this hadith which is authentic in al
-Hakim the Prophet ﷺ continues قَالَ وَلَنِعْمَ الْمُصَلَّةُ
He said, what a beautiful and blessed musallah
it is.
قَالَ وَلَيُشِكَنَّ أَنْ لَا يَكُونَ لِلْرَجُرِ مِثْلُ شَطَنِ
فَرَسِهِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ حَيْثُ يَرَى مِنْهُ بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ
خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا فِيهَا He said,
there will come a time that what will
be more beloved to a person that there
will be nothing more beloved to a person
than having a space the size of a
horse's saddle where he could simply see Masjid
Al-Aqsa that sight that ability to occupy
a land subhanAllah, this hadith is so deep
because it recognizes the occupation of Al-Aqsa,
the longing of the believers for it and
the shrinking of the land around it that
if a person just had a tiny horse's
saddle where they could just see Bayt Al
-Maqdis, imagine a view of Bayt Al-Maqdis
right now what's more precious to you?
Your hotel room from which you can see
the Ka'bah without taking from any of
the Jalal of the Ka'bah or a
room that we will occupy around Masjid Al
-Aqsa where the believers will visit from around
the world, the Muslims that live there hosting
the Muslims that come and visit with a
view of Masjid Al-Aqsa Prophet ﷺ said
there will come a time where just having
a horses, you could be in a one
star hotel, you could be in no hotel
at all, if you're just in a tight
land and you can see Masjid Al-Aqsa
that is more beloved to you than the
dunya and everything that is inside of it
I want you to continue along this journey
with me because what I'm trying to do
is I want you to think about what's
familiar to you of Mecca and Medina and
to place Jerusalem in its ranks and to
think about how it gets seared and embedded
into our hearts in the narration of Maymunah
bin Sa'd not Maymunah, the wife of the
Prophet ﷺ but another Maymunah may Allah be
pleased with her very famous narration where there's
much debate over its change where the Prophet
ﷺ says to her that go ahead and
pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa go and pray
in Masjid Al-Aqsa go and pray in
Masjid Al-Aqsa and if you're unable to
go go and pray in Masjid Al-Aqsa
then at least send some oil to be
used in its lamps to be used in
its lamps and subhanAllah the last lecture that
we gave in the firsts where we take
a break for a few months inshaAllah ta
'ala to focus on the first Qibla we
talked about Tamim Al-Dari al-Palestini as
Imam Al-Zahabi referred to him the Palestinian
Sahabi who came to the Prophet ﷺ from
Palestine as a Christian and became a notable
companion of the Prophet ﷺ and as Abu
Sa'id radiAllahu anhu says the first one
to put lamps in the Masjid of the
Prophet ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ is telling
the Muslims in Medina that if the only
thing you can do is to send some
oil to put in its lamps then do
so if that's the extent of your material
connection and you need to have a material
connection because just like salah is a material
and physical exercise that emanates from the heart
and encompasses all of our limbs, our attachment
to Al-Aqsa cannot be some ambiguous philosophical
picture that resides in our head alone if
the only thing you have is to fund
some of the oil in its lamps then
do so what then as Ibn Jawzi rahim
Allah says that this narration is not just
speaking about the oil in the lamps but
certainly is speaking about anything that is spent
for the repairs of Masjid Al-Aqsa, for
the constructions of Masjid Al-Aqsa or to
spend on the people around Al-Aqsa what
then of boycotting the lamps of the oppressors
and not consuming the oil of the oppressors
as you look at this beautiful place in
this terrible situation I also want you to
think about Teen is of course the fig
what is the fig referring to?
many of the say that this is referring
to the mountain of Al-Judi which is
where the Safin of Nuh the ark of
Noah settled as he was commanded to leave
his people somewhere in the area of Al
-Sham or what would exist today between Turkey
and Al-Sham because there is a prominence
of fig teen there, some of them say
this too is referring to Palestine to Palestine
as well Zaytoon Allah refers to Jerusalem Palestine
and its surrounding lands as Zaytoon, the land
of the olives as this was the place
of Isa at the mountain of olives and
the place of many of the Anbiya where
Musa Alayhi Salaam longed for where Isa Alayhi
Salaam preached from what teen was Zaytoon what
teen was Zaytoon and of course Sinai which
refers to Musa Alayhi Salaam and the desert
of Sinai refers to Mecca and this place
of Mecca encompasses the greatest messengers and their
places from Nuh Alayhi Salaam to Ibrahim Alayhi
Salaam to Musa Alayhi Salaam to Isa Alayhi
Salaam to Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam and the
places that they encompassed as well as where
they received the Wahy from Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala initially where the point of revelation
started for them or at some point descended
upon them I want you to think when
Allah refers to it as as Zaytoon for
how many years have we become accustomed to
large military equipment uprooting the olive fields and
stealing the olives of the Palestinian people and
for years we've digested this and we've become
okay with it but Allah Azawajal chose to
refer to this place as Zaytoon, the place
of olives and subhanAllah this is one of
the things by the way that Ibn Jawzi
Rahim Allah when he talks about and we
will get to this in lecture number two,
all of the different dimensions of Barakna Fihi
a place of Baraka a place of blessing,
is that this is a land that is
rich with resources and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala purposely or one of the wisdoms of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala making Mecca a
barren desert is that no one would want
any resources from Mecca, there's nothing you get
from Mecca except for the Kaaba, you're not
going for any of the Zira' for any
of the you know the agriculture or the
crops of Mecca you're going only for the
Kaaba you're going only for Al-Masjid Al
-Haram whereas Jerusalem is meant to be a
contested place until the end of times and
Allah Azawajal made it a place rich of
resources, of fig, of olives, of trees, of
blessing, as if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
is describing the very lands that would become
from the Baraka of Isa Alayhi Salam from
the blessing of Isa Alayhi Salam where the
fruits and the different vegetation will come sprouting
so beautiful and so natural may Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala allow us to eat its
fruits here before the fruits of Al-Jannah
So Allah Azawajal swears by the place, He
swears by its resources and that's why when
some people then come back and say but
what's the big deal about Jerusalem why Palestine
why the emphasis on this land why the
emphasis of Al-Aqsa SubhanAllah we went from
a place where people who lived around the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Mecca and Medina
wondered if Jerusalem was a greater plight was
a more sacred place than the sacred places
that they lived to a time where Muslims
will say Palestine but and I don't say
this to diminish the cause of anyone else
Alhamdulillah Dr. Basira blessed to have you here
our brothers and sisters in Bosnia who have
been our sisters in the struggle our brothers
in the struggle and they know what genocide
looks like and we're seeing what solidarity looks
like we have some of the children of
the revolution of Asham of Syria that are
here they know that struggle for liberation I'm
not saying diminish those causes at all but
I'm saying that there is something wrong with
the heart that even finds in itself the
ability to ask that question and say yeah
Al-Aqsa is bad but Palestine is bad
but because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ يُذْكَرَ
فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَىٰ فِي خَرَابِهَا Who is more
of an oppressor than the one who forbids
people from glorifying the name of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala in his masajid and who
plots and strives to ruin them and most
of the mufassareen say this is referring to
primarily masjid Al-Aqsa that it starts with
the Babylonian destruction of Al-Aqsa it starts
with that sacred masjid but Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala uses masjid in the general sense
because it refers to by extension the other
masajid as well but the primary masjid that's
being referred to here is indeed Al-Masjid
Al-Aqsa وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ أَيْ لَا أَحَدَ أَظْلَمُ
No one is more oppressive than a person
who strives to corrupt and destroy a place
like this and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says أُولَٰئِ كَمَا كَانَ لَهُمْ أَن يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا
خَائِفِينَ People like that should never feel safety
when they enter into our holy lands they
should never feel safety or security when they
enter into those places when they march even
under the apparatus of the Zionist occupation with
all of the weaponry and the military aid
and all of the so called security of
their ministers walking through and performing their rituals
on our land then know that in their
hearts there is always a fear as emboldened
as they seem to be outwardly أُولَٰئِ كَمَا
كَانَ لَهُمْ أَن يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا خَائِفِينَ لَهُمْ فِي
الدُّنْيَا فِزْيٌّ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says that they will
have disgrace in this world and a greater
punishment that awaits them in the hereafter so
instead you actually start from this place if
you don't care about masjid al-aqsa as
a primary function of your iman, as a
primary function of your belief, how can you
claim to care about any other masjid if
you don't care about the cause of the
people of al-aqsa, how can you claim
to care about the cause of anybody else
then we come to hadith Abu Dharr radiallahu
ta'ala and I want you if you
can to pay attention to the narrators of
these hadith because now we're going to reflect
inshallah on just some of these angles from
these hadith Abu Dharr al-Ghifari radiallahu ta
'ala who's the same companion that we already
narrated that says that we were disputing amongst
ourselves in the presence of the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wa sallam which is greater masjid rasool
Allah or masjid al-aqsa, he is the
one who asked the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam which masjid was built on the earth
first al-masjid al-haram and then which
one, al-masjid al-aqsa the fact that
the second masjid on earth is this masjid
means that Allah's name has been glorified in
that place through generations for thousands and thousands
and thousands of years ...
...
for how many generations and thousands of years
has the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala been mentioned and glorified in that place
and the scholars mentioned that of the greatest
reasons that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made
this the first qibla Allah could have simply
made Mecca the first qibla, but of the
greatest reasons that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
made this our first qibla is to embed
it in the hearts of the Muslims forever
as Ibn al-Jawzi rahim Allah said so
that it gets to the point that separating
al-aqsa from being a Muslim is as
grievous as separating a Muslim from Mecca can
you imagine Islam without the Kaaba can you
imagine Islam without salah, so why doesn't it
enrage you and inflame you to see al
-aqsa under occupation in the same way that
it would to see the Kaaba under occupation
I guarantee you if Mecca was under occupation
if Al-Masjid al-Haram was under occupation,
you would have not a single Muslim, except
for maybe a few that would say yeah,
Mecca's bad, but can you imagine people saying
that?
I mean when COVID hit and there weren't
people doing tawaf around the Haram, you had
all these people talking about a sign of
the end of times and the day of
judgment is that sight more painful to you
than the sight of the occupation at al
-aqsa and that which is happening around al
-aqsa so you'd have to separate a Muslim
from al-aqsa the way you'd have to
separate a Muslim from salah that is the
gravity of it in al-iman, in regards
to our faith which brings you to a
genre of literature to love what Allah loves
is a sign of iman to have an
apathy towards what Allah loves is a sign
of the lack of faith to hate what
Allah loves is a sign of hypocrisy or
even disbelief to love what Allah loves is
a sign of faith, meaning what?
the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ahibbullah love
Allah lima yaghdukum min ni'mihi for the blessings
that he provides for you and love me
ahibbuni why?
love me lihubbillah, for the love of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for me and love
al-bayt al-nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam the
family of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam lihubbi,
for the love of the prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam for them a sign of faith is
to love what Allah loves to love who
Allah loves Allah man yas'alaka hubbak wa
hubba man yuhibbuk oh Allah I ask for
your love and the love of those that
are beloved to you and the love of
every deed kulli amalin yukarribuni ila hubbik of
every deed, of everything that brings me closer
to your love hubbul ansar minal iman to
love the ansar is a sign of faith
to love the family of the prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam is a sign of faith to
love the companions is a sign of faith
because you love what Allah loves to love
the kaaba is a sign of faith to
love masjid al-aqsa is a sign of
faith and the lack of that is a
loss of iman and can even become a
sign of hypocrisy, of nifaat so when someone
says what's the point of creating a longing
for masjid al-aqsa it starts with that,
that it is as fundamental to your faith
as loving anything else that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has mentioned that he loves I
was looking at the famous hadith of Musa
alayhi wasallam in sahih al-bukhari and I
want you to pay attention to the chapter
that al-bukhari puts this hadith under, the
name of the chapter is baab man ahabba
dafna fil ardil muqaddasati aw nahwiha the chapter
is called whoever loves to be buried in
the holy land or around the holy land,
for the one who loves to be buried
in the holy land or around the holy
land and by the way subhanallah a comparison
to this is the hadith of the prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam man istata'a minkum an
yamuta fil madinati fal yafa'al that whoever
amongst you can die in madinah let them
do so, because the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
will intercede on behalf of the one who
dies in madinah so the chapter of a
person who loves to die in the holy
land or around it, and when al-bukhari
writes a chapter there is an indication in
that, that there is a ruling, that it
is natural it is fitri for a muslim
to love to die in that land to
want to die in that land may allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to die
there, without becoming deceived by our deeds, because
at the end of the day, innal ardu
laa tukhaddisu ahadah the earth does not make
anyone holy, but there is holy land but
he brings in the last request of musa
alayhi wasallam annahu sa'ala allaha an yudniyahu
minal ardi al muqaddasati ramyatan bi hajah the
hadith from abu hurayra radiya allahu ta'ala
anhu, that when musa alayhi wasallam was dying
and he was forbidden from entering into jerusalem
he asked allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
die, just a stone's throw away from the
holy land now subhanallah a few things let
me ask you all a question did musa
alayhi wasallam ever go to meccan?
i'm going to take hands now, how many
of you believe musa alayhi wasallam went to
umrah or hajj went to meccan, ok all
of you are wrong the prophet salallahu alayhi
wasallam actually narrated authentically that musa alayhi wasallam
made pilgrimage to mecca at some point that
he had actually been to mecca at some
point and this is part of the bringing
it all together by the way, that ibrahim
alayhi wasallam built it, musa alayhi wasallam has
already visited it isa alayhi wasallam will visit
it before he dies, because he has not
died saying the prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam revived
it this is a place where the prophets
have built and the prophets have visited so
musa alayhi wasallam has been to mecca and
he's asking allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
die a stone's throw from jerusalem to have
that opportunity and according to the bible of
course it's mount nebo but the prophet salallahu
alayhi wasallam mentioned under the red dune which
would seem to confirm that idea that it's
literally right outside of jerusalem now i want
you to think about this al hafidh mentions
that dying a stone's throw away means he
died right at the border at the time
that the soldiers of the enemy would have
been right in front of him at the
time can you imagine the pain of musa
alayhi wasallam for 40 years being right at
the border while it is under occupation and
knowing that he could not enter not because
of a lack of resources not because of
a lack of divine imperative but because of
the cowardice and the refusal that was found
amongst his men that that deprivation came as
a result of something within if you ask
the people of palestine and you ask the
people of gaza what's happening right now they're
not talking about their enemy they're saying where
in the world are all these muslims that
we hear about on our borders and beyond
where are you people where is this ummah
of muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam this billion plus
strong ummah while a group of us can
be massacred and genocided for everyone to see
in this small strip of land if you
were to talk to a person who lived
in gaza before october 7th and i'm not
making this up nor am i saying that
this is unusual it is very usual to
meet someone who was born and raised in
palestine 70, 80 years old and has never
prayed in masjid al aqsa it's actually the
norm can you imagine the pain of being
right there 40 years like musa alayhi salam,
50 years, 60 years and i can't pray
there and this is what bukhari puts under
the chapter of a person who longs so
much for that place because longing for it
is iman that they would love to die
there and they would love to be buried
there and subhanallah one of the things that
amazes me about these hadith of the prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam is that the prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam spoke about the land of palestine
as if it was already under islam before
it was under islam and then he spoke
about its subsequent occupation and he spoke about
the victory at the end of time sallallahu
alayhi wasallam, he spoke about the people and
the land as if he was a contemporary
to what it would become after him alayhi
salatu wasallam and he tended to bring these
out i want you to think about a
time where you were in a really difficult
situation and you had someone in a ditch
with you or you had someone that was
with you you know in a difficult time
and they said some really powerful words to
you sometimes when these hadith come from the
prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam are almost as relevant
as the actual words that he's saying and
so i'll share with you a hadith that
you might have heard but maybe you lost
the context says that i came to the
prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in the battle of
tabuk and i entered into his tent he
describes it as being a dark dusty tent
meaning we're in the midst of the pang
of war usually when you're in the midst
of the pangs of war you don't have
time to think about anything but the battle
ahead right you're not talking about anything else
you're not thinking about anything else you're in
the middle of war but the prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam says to us and i want
you to put yourself in that tent the
battle is ahead of you and he says
sallallahu alayhi wasallam count six things before the
day of judgments listen to me and count
six things before the day of judgment qala
sallallahu alayhi wasallam my death subhanallah there is
a great deal of self awareness of the
prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that when allah says
that no soul knows what will happen tomorrow
or on what place of the earth it
will die this prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam who
was given prophecy after prophecy after prophecy was
not given the time of his death sallallahu
alayhi wasallam or the exact circumstance of his
death and when he approached badr and uhud
and khandaq and tabuq he was expecting a
shahada sallallahu alayhi wasallam himself he expected it
at any moment and so there is a
self awareness and a calmness and a tranquility
count six things before the day of judgment
will come to you and the very first
thing he says is my death mawti and
then the conquest of jerusalem then the prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam said he said then a
plague that will take you the way that
herds are killed and subhanallah many of those
companions died in the very plague that the
prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was speaking about so
many of them participated in fatah bayt al
makhdus in the conquest of jerusalem under and
many of them died in the plague of
amwas shortly thereafter and the prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam said afterwards the
prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that there would
come a time that wealth will be increased
on my ummah to the point that every
or not everyone but that a person would
be given a hundred dinars meaning a large
amount of money but they're not satisfied so
you go from the fitna of hardship to
the fitna of wealth and indeed we see
that as well that there's a fitna of
wealth in the ummah that the wealth comforts
and the wealth distracts from that which is
to come and then the prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam mentioned thumma fitnatun la yafqa baytun min
al-arabi illa dakhalatun and then a fitna
that not a single Arab house would escape
thumma hutnatun takoonu baynakum wa bayna ban al
-asfari fayakhdirun he said and then there will
be a fitna between you and ban al
-asfar which could refer to the byzantines or
the romans or their descendants or whatever it
could be there's a long discourse on this
that I don't care to get too far
into just now but that you would have
a truce with them and then they would
betray you fayatunakum tahta thamaneena ghaya tahta kulli
ghaya ithna asra alfa the prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam said and then that army would turn
against you after a truce and they would
come under 80 flags under each flag there
would be about 12,000 soldiers killing the
muslims subhanallah you may have heard this hadith
before but doesn't it sound a little bit
different when you think about when the prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam said it like we're in
a tent and a battle is right in
front of us and the prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam is saying listen this is what is
still to come for this ummah and this
is what has been promised for you ahead
and so it was Mecca it was Medina
it was Jerusalem and this concert of connection
to the sacred places remains so deeply embedded
in the hearts of the believers and I
want to go through some of the definitions
bismillah ta'ala first and foremost another connection
it is called baytul maqdis right baytul maqdis
which means the house of purity baytul maqdis
means the house of purity what is one
of the names of the Kaaba al baytul
we already covered al haram anyone else have
another name it's in the Quran it's not
that late where y'all are that sleeping
right baytul atiq it's a house of freedom
freedom from what when you go to do
umrah or hajj you hope that if you
have hajj mabroor an accepted hajj that you
have freedom from hellfire right that you're freed
from your sins which means you're freed from
the hellfire as well so there's a connection
al baytul atiq baytul maqdis the house of
purity and al baytul maqdis is a place
that people will strive to free from oppression
and people also go to hoping to be
freed from their sins so there's a connection
between baytul maqdis and baytul atiq there's a
connection between medina and jerusalem I want you
to take into consideration when you walk into
jerusalem as abu hurayra radiallahu ta'ala says
there isn't a spot I'm sorry in medina
there isn't a spot in medina except that
the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam stood under
that tree or prayed under that tree or
sat under that tree so every part of
medina you are living in the footsteps of
the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and his
companions it is one of the things that
makes medina so serene is the athar the
effect of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
he's still there it's so deeply felt and
that's why when you take a muslim to
medina they feel like it's home so quickly
it's like this is a place that I've
never been to, this is a place unfamiliar
but I never want to leave medina why?
because every step that you take rasulullah salallahu
alayhi wa sallam, abu bakr, umar, usman, ali
all of them took their steps there some
of the ahadith that you grew up reading
you're in the place that it happened in
that moment not recognizing, you feel it and
then you go and you say salam to
the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam what an
amazing feeling it is right abdullah ibn abbas
salallahu alayhi wa sallam and in jerusalem there's
not a single hand span of al bayt
al maqdis except that a prophet has prayed
there or an angel has stood there so
the impact on the land of the collective
presence of blessed souls is what makes medina
what it is to us it's not the
structure of mazda nabawi it's not the hotels
it's not the cooling tiles and the cool
umbrellas it's the blessing of the people that
once stood there and when you go to
jerusalem there isn't a single spot that you're
stepping except that this is where isa alayhi
salam was, this is where yusuf alayhi salam
was, this is where this person was and
if it wasn't a prophet that you know
then it was an angel that you don't
know, that was in that very same spot
that you are at and so there's a
connection to it, like a connection that you'd
feel to al medina and the prophet salallahu
alayhi wa sallam said of course arrihalu ila
thalathati masajid that travel is only undertaken for
three masjids, meaning in search of virtue some
people take this hadith way too literally and
they would tell you you can't go to
minaretain to attend a lecture because you have
a masjid around the corner arrihalu ila thalathati
masajid alright, it's not that but you don't
go to a masjid based on it's virtue
except for these three masjids you don't undertake
a journey except for these three masajid al
imam ibn al jawzi rahimahullah says that one
of the reasons why it's called al muqaddasa
is also because as ibn abbas sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam said it is al mutahira that
you are purified from your dhunub you are
purified from your sins when you pray in
that masjid and he says it's also purified
from ash shirk, meaning what that this is
the land of the prophets and Allah will
never allow shirk to settle in that land
that shirk and it's people will not be
allowed full settlement in that land that shirk
will be uprooted from that land he also
says muqaddasa ay mubarakan it is blessed in
every way in terms of dunya and in
deen and it is of course the place
where truth will prevail as this is the
place where Isa alayhis salam will end al
masih al dajjal and so the fitna of
al dajjal and the fitna that preceded al
dajjal will end as well with al masih
al dajjal so it's a holy land because
it's a purifying land and in another authentic
hadith again the companion is abu dhar al
ghafari radi allahu ta'ala on him, the
prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was with abu dhar
radi allahu ta'ala on him, this is
muslim imam ahmed, abu dhar says, ash sham
ardu al hijra wa ardu al mahshar wa
ardu al anbiya, ash sham may allah subhana
wa ta'ala bless it all is the
place of hijra the original land of hijra
as al tabari calls it is ash sham,
that's where the prophets always end up fleeing
to is ash sham so it's the original
land of hijra wa ardu al mahshar, and
it is the land of the assembly on
the day of judgment the land where everyone
will be gathered once again, wa ardu al
anbiya and the land of the prophets fa
aqarrahu al nabiyu salallahu alayhi wasalam and the
prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam confirmed what abu dhar
was saying radi allahu ta'ala on him,
now what about al aqsa specifically there's something
very beautiful that i want you to pay
attention to in the hadith that i already
referenced briefly, prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was asked
by abu dhar radi allahu anhu which masjid
was built first he said al masjid al
haram, he said then what he said al
masjid al aqsa i asked the prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam how many years between the construction
of masjid al haram and masjid al aqsa
how many years was it 40 years now
this hadith, the scholars say it could be
referring to two constructions it could be referring
to the first construction because who built the
kaaba before ibrahim in the time of adam
alayhi wasalam allah azawajal allah subhana wa ta
'ala sent the angels and the kaaba was
constructed in one manifestation so the first masjid
built on earth was al masjid al haram
in the exact way that you see it
now, no but the first, because it's not
about the construction, it's about the place it's
not about the specifications of the construction, it's
about the place the first masjid that was
built was al masjid al haram, so if
you're talking about the first bina, the first
construction this is in the time of adam
alayhi wasalam 40 years after the scholars who
hold that opinion from the sahaba by the
way that this is referring to the first
bina say that just as allah subhana wa
ta'ala built for adam alayhi wasalam through
the angels, al masjid al haram allah azawajal
built al masjid al aqsa just 40 years
afterwards, so we're talking about the beginning of
earth and it was done at the hands
of who?
does anyone know?
this gets really interesting by the way sheith,
who is sheith?
sheith alayhi wasalam is the son of adam
alayhi wasalam and he's very interesting by the
way because sheith was a son that allah
gave to adam alayhi wasalam after, according to
many of them after the murder of habil
and so his name actually means a gift
from allah subhana wa ta'ala so they
lost a son to murder and allah gifted
them with another righteous son in sheith alayhi
wasalam and so subhanallah how beautiful in sahih
al qawm that if this is it, how
beautiful that that's the son that allah subhana
wa ta'ala would carry out the construction,
the first construction of al masjid al aqsa
a gift that was given after oppression which
is the story of al aqsa to come
so if we're talking about the first bina
this is what we're speaking about, the second
building the second construction if the hadith is
speaking about that is referring to the raising
of the house the raising of the house
which was done by ibrahim alayhi wasalam al
khalil alayhi wasalam and he of course settled
both his child ismail alayhi wasalam in mecca
as well as what he constructed in al
bayt al maqdis in jerusalem, what he was
able to establish in jerusalem and in this
situation of course if you think about this
subhanallah one of the blessings here is that
ibrahim alayhi wasalam constructed two of the three
holy places raised two of the three holy
places one of them maintained by his son
ishaq the other one maintained by his son
ismail this is not just an honor for
ibrahim alayhi wasalam but it's a sign of
the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam being the seal
of the prophets of all of mankind, so
when someone says what was the point of
half of the seerah praying towards jerusalem and
the other half praying towards mecca many of
those who were acclaimed descendants of ishaq, either
in descent or theology denied the prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam authority because he was not from
the children of ishaq, and so making the
qibla of jerusalem first affirms that he is
imam al mursaleen salallahu alayhi wasalam, he is
the imam of the prophets, and the leader
of both of the nations that culminate from
his father ibrahim alayhi wasalam, and so the
prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is not just the
prophet of the arabs, he's not just the
prophet of the children of ismail of banu
ismail, but he is the final prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam of both banu israil being banu
ishaq as well as banu ismail, and so
allah azawajal gave him both qiblas as a
sign that he brought that all together for
this prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and he is
indeed the ultimate fulfillment of the dream of
ibrahim alayhi wasalam al masjid al aqsa of
course being the culmination of the masjid in
this regard, and al masjid al aqsa means
al abad as the scholars say, the furthest
away so between these two masjids there was
no greater distance in their construction between mecca
as well as jerusalem now i'm going to
come to a conclusion inshallah ta'ala here,
and there's so much subhanallah to cover but
that's why we have 10 lectures walhamdulillah rabbil
alameen to actually break this down in the
deepest sense and i pray that you'll pay
attention you'll take notes inshallah, and it'll all
come together by the time we get to
the 10th lecture something from the first lecture
will pop inshallah ta'ala about the virtues
of this place and you'll start having your
own reflections ibn allahi ta'ala, because that
is also what pondering on the quran and
the sunnah is meant to do imam bin
ashur rahimahullah says that the ayah that we
recite in the beginning of surah al isra,
subhanalladhi asra bi abidihi laylan min al masjid
al harami ila al masjid al aqsa where
allah azawajal mentions that glory be to him
who took his slave from al masjid al
haram ila al masjid al aqsa, he says
that in that was a bushra was a
glad tidings of masjid al nabi salallahu alayhi
wa sallam because on that night allah says
ila al masjid al aqsa between the two
masjids he took him on a journey between
the two masjids because on that night the
prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam stopped in medina
as well so it was a bushra, a
glad tidings of masjid al nabi salallahu alayhi
wa sallam and in that single night journey
all three of the masjids were given to
the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in the
spiritual sense, in the sense that the ground
work was laid for all three of those
places for the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
in a single night journey and that's why
for us we can undertake a journey or
one of the connections when we undertake a
journey to any one of those three masjids
we are in ceremony of one of the
stops of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
on laylat al isra wal mi'raj, on
the night of the three masjids but in
one of the constructions abdullah bin abbas salallahu
alayhi wa sallam says that sulayman alayhi wa
sallam constructed over 40 masjids and that's why
by the way like ibn taymiyyah rahimallah for
example, he quotes a saying from the scholars
that al-aqsa would refer to in the
broadest sense everything that sulayman built, all 40
masjids so don't just think of we're gonna
talk about this by the way, this image
no one watches the lecture everyone gets mad
about which dome you chose to put in
alright we'll talk about the boundaries and we'll
talk about that next lecture inshallah ta'ala
but he says that this was the desire
of sulayman alayhi wa sallam that what he
constructed of a place of sujood would all
count within masjid al-aqsa but what the
prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam says is that
when sulayman alayhi wa sallam built masjid al
-aqsa he asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for three things and it's really beautiful because
sulayman is a man of ihsan, like he's
a man of excellence so his du'as
are incredible like you gotta think here, when
Allah talks about the hikmah, the wisdom he
gave to sulayman surely that's gonna materialize like
in his du'as his du'as were
very wise his du'as were very wise
so what's the first thing he asked for?
a wisdom that would agree with the judgment
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala yusadifu hukmahu
it would agree with the judgment of Allah
azawajal or no one else would be given
his sound judgment or his wisdom so sulayman
alayhi wa sallam asked Allah for supreme judgment,
for supreme wisdom and Allah praises him for
his hikmah, okay?
so that's the first thing wa mulkan la
yanbaghi li ahadin min ba'di and a customized
kingdom that no one after him would have
the first du'a by the way, if
you wanna reflect on it judgment is for
adl, for justice he asked Allah for sound
judgment, for adl and there's the famous story
of sulayman alayhi wa sallam that's quoted in
the sharh of this hadith between him and
dawud alayhi wa sallam that two women came
to sulayman alayhi wa sallam claiming the same
child and sulayman's hikmah, his wisdom, his judgment
surpassed his father because sulayman said, alright, they're
both claiming the child let's cut the child
in half and just give them each a
half and then one woman said, no, no,
no, it's her child and sulayman alayhi wa
sallam said, it's in fact your child because
the real mother would not have allowed for
that baby to be cut in two hikmah,
wisdom, his wisdom surpassed everyone, so there's wisdom
in his du'a, so his first du
'a is for adl for justice, his second
du'a is for da'wa for da
'wa to preach, to spread the mission of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala why does he
want mulkan la yam baghiri ahad min ba'di
so that he can walk into his palace
and say mashallah, amazing I love this gold
pillar, or this incredible bed that I never
even sleep in or these incredible horses or
these incredible servants, is that what sulayman wanted?
No he wanted a kingdom to spread the
word of Allah azawajal, he wanted glory for
the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to pass that, to be a source of
da'wa, and he used it as such
I mean the stories of the Qur'an
are incredible in that regard and the third
one qala wa alla yatiya hadhal masjid ahadun
la yuridu illa salata fihi illa kharaja min
dhunubihi kayyami waladatuhum he said that no one
will come to this masjid wanting nothing but
two rak'as for the sake of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala except that they would
leave from here as purified from their sins
as the day their mother gave birth to
them baytul maqdis and baytul atiq a similar
reward to hajj and umrah that no one
comes here praying two rak'as only seeking
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's virtue, except that
they would leave completely purified for their sins,
so in that regard his first du'a
was for adl was for justice, his second
du'a was for da'wa his third
du'a was for fadl was for virtue,
extra blessings and this is ihsan and du
'a, excellence in du'a fas'aloo allahu
akthar ask, Allah is more, keep asking so
the audacity to ask for more and I
want to focus inshallah ta'ala and end
with this for tonight imam bint ameer rahimallah
says wali hadha kana bin umar yati ilayhi
fayu salli fihi wala yashrabu fihi ma li
susibuhu da'watu sulaiman that abdullah bin umar
radiallahu ta'ala would go and visit masjid
al aqsa ibn umar, from mecca the beckon
child whose father is buried next to the
prophet so I some imagine he used to
go in medina assalamu alayka ya rasulallah assalamu
alayka ya abu bakr assalamu alayka ya abi
who gets to do that that's how he
would greet when he would walk past the
prophet may Allah be pleased with him and
he would go to al aqsa and he
would refuse even a sip of water while
he went to al aqsa li tusibuhu da
'watu sulaiman alayhi salam so that the du
'a of sulaiman would touch him this is
so important because you know, when I take
groups for hajj may Allah azzawajal facilitate hajj
magroor for all of us you ask someone
what's the reward of hajj they say jannah,
you're free from all of your sins actually
the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said al
hajj al magroor it's not just hajj it's
an accepted hajj and abdullah bin umar was
so afraid of missing out on the virtue
of that du'a of sulaiman alayhi salam
when entering into maz al aqsa that he
wouldn't even drink water when he would go
there so that was sincerely and only for
the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
what's an analogy that we should have for
ourselves let your activism for palestine be as
sincere as ibn umar with that sip of
water let your activism for al aqsa your
activism for al ghazal be as sincere as
ibn umar when he entered into al aqsa
I want you to think about this that
there will come a time where it's not
popular anymore you can already see it dimming,
don't you?
it's not popular anymore people are tired, people
have moved on and so add the palestinians
into the bucket of oppressed peoples that we've
forgotten about let's go back to sleep on
al aqsa while our enemy continues to plot
and plan against it and excavate every single
part of it and remove the people and
the landmarks from that land does it work
that way?
sincerity shows when other people move on like
ibn umar radiallahu anhuma was thinking about that
small detail that I won't even take a
sip of water I also say this to
the people that have been blessed with maybe
going to visit al aqsa even in this
situation and I know there's a whole realm
of disagreement amongst the scholars count me, not
amongst the scholars amongst the students of knowledge
or the students of the students of knowledge
amongst those that agree with the scholars that
say as many people that can go and
visit right now, visit right now just don't
whitewash or normalize the occupation while you're there,
because the occupation clearly doesn't want people to
visit but look at where you're buying your
stuff from and look at what you're doing
over there don't sit there and do things
that would contradict and undermine the cause while
you're there and don't stop working for the
time that you don't have to enter through
the occupation's port in order to get there
this is the purity of going there, it's
not tourism it's not for something that you
just put out there and then you move
on from it's greater than that and subhanallah
in that the scholars mentioned that the ayah,
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he
mentions men who are not distracted by their
trade or by their wealth from the remembrance
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in establishing
the prayer, many of the say this is
referring to al-bayt al-maqdis as well
that primarily this is referring to masjid al
-aqsa, and I want you to think about
the people that have to go and pray
in masjid al-aqsa right now, they're not
just overcoming the distraction of dunya, they're also
trying to overcome the oppression of the zalimeen,
every single time they try to go, it
has been made so difficult and they are
in ribat, they are in fortifying that place
when they insist upon fighting through those checkpoints
and that humiliation to get to that place
I'll end with one more story for you
inshallah it's a beautiful story that brings us
all together there's a man by the name
of dhunoon al-misri rahimahullah ta'ala he's
a great sage, al-imam al-ghazali rahimahullah,
tells a story about him in masjid al
-aqsa, and the reason why his name is
dhunoon al-misri which is similar to yunus
alayhi salam or he was nicknamed with that
is the story is that he was on
a ship and that someone had lost their
jewelry and that they accused him of stealing
that jewelry and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
caused that as he made dua to Allah
to vindicate him from that accusation that some
of the fish in the sea rose up
and they had that jewelry in their mouths,
the same pearls in their mouths and he
was able to pick one and give it
back dhunoon al-misri imam al-ghazali rahimahullah
recounts a story that he came to visit
al-masjid al-aqsa and he was a
Nubian man from Africa and as he came
to enter into Jerusalem some of the people
said to him the guard, not the Israeli
guard they weren't around back then alright, but
the person that was there said to him
where are you from?
and he said I'm from those people tatajafa
junubuhum anil madaji'i yad'uuna rabbahum khaufan
wa tama'a wa mimma razakhnahum yunfiqoon those
people who fight their beds at night calling
upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in fear
and in hope and he said, and who
are you going to?
qala ila rijalin la tulihihim tijaratun wa la
bay'un an zikrillahi wa iqam as-salah
I'm going to be with people who are
not distracted by their trade by their wealth,
from the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala and from establishing the prayer may Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those
people who are counted both in terms of
the quality of those people as well as
in the love of that cause and counted
amongst those who are physically present and spiritually
present and whose hearts are connected to Al
-Aqsa even as it's under occupation and whose
hearts are dedicated to its liberation even when
other people move on.
Allahumma ameen.
hadha wa sallallahu wa sallim wa barak al
nabiyyina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma
'in.
Insha'Allah ta'ala we will continue next
week.
Jazakumullahu khair wa assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa
barakatuh