Strangers

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah was early he will be he will Manuela Allahu Allah. Allah Allah Allah Allah tena in until Alleman Hakeem Allahumma eliminate Mayan pharaoh now on fatten me my lamp tena was it in Elmira, Bella Alameen Allahumma Arendelle haka headquarters okra Teva oriental bow. Tila bow Tila was organized Steena was salam or aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.

My dear brothers and sisters, today I want to speak to you about a hadith that you may have heard before. But you may have underestimated how integral this hadith this narration this statement of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not only to our iman to our faith, but to the preservation and the continuation of our faith in challenging and difficult times. This is the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in Al Islam arriba that certainly Islam started as something that is strange was a Urdu hurry, but kama Bada and it will go back to being estranged. Just like it started. Fefu Bonilla Hora about so glad

tidings be for those who are the strangers. This hadith has three main components, three areas that we can focus on. Number one, this hadith is a history lesson. This hadith tells us of the history of our faith, the history of our deen that our history is a history in which the companions of the Prophet sallallahu I think he was sending them along with the prophets I send them faced very difficult times. So this is a message to you and me to remember our past. Remember our history. Remember the very beginning of this Deen Islam Abba arriba. Islam started as being strange. When Islam came about people in society. They looked at Islam, and they said this is not something that

we recognize. This is not something that we see to be normal. This is not what we are used to. This is not how our society functions. This is not our morality. This is not our right and wrong. This is something new that you have brought up Muhammad sal Allahu Allah, he was sending them. Islam started as being strange, was they are oh, do hurry but come up. But number two, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is informing us of a time to come. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling us of a difficult, dare I even say a traumatic time that will come upon his ummah, once again, a time in which we as the followers of Muhammad Sallallahu, Allah he was sending them, we as

Muslims, we as believers will once again be looked on, as being strange, as being different, as being those who are not going with the flow. Those who are not going with what is considered to be mainstream, it is almost as if it is a return to the beginning. It is almost as if the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying that a time will come where a generation will face challenges, like the challenges of the Sahaba the best generation that has ever come. So this is for Us a Reminder from the Prophet civili sending them a warning, a heads up, we could say that another time will come you may be witness to a time where you will look be looked at as being strange. And the

third component of this hadith is glad tidings is a promise of reward from Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala that oh believer, oh Muslim, if you're able to hold on, if you're able to hold firm in those times where you were, you are looked upon as a stranger, that know that there is reward in store for you. And this is in line with a very important principle we have in our faith, and that is that as we sacrifice for the sake of Allah, as we are faced with difficulties and challenges, our status is raised by Allah Who Subhan Allah to Allah, as the prophets of Allah who I knew he was sending them said month Allah Allah Rafa that the one who humbles themselves before Allah, Allah Who raised them,

even if society has made you low, even if society has ostracized you even if society has discarded you and put you aside and told you that you have no value you have no worth.

Allahu subhanho wa Taala will raise you and true honor you

belongs to Allah Who Subhan Allah to Allah. So the question we ask ourselves is, do we seek honor from society and people and what is considered normal around us? Or do we seek honor? From Allah? Who Subhan Allah to Allah? Do we seek honor from the one who honored the prophets and the messengers? Do we seek honor from the one who honored the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? Or do we seek honor from people? People who are fickle people who are changing people who live in a society that is constantly changing its definition of what is considered right? And what is considered wrong? Who do we seek that honor from? Do we seek it from Allah? Or do we seek it from

the people? And so the question must be asked if we want to be considered, amongst the hoorah amongst the strangers who are the strangers. You see, a lot of times people focus on this hadith, but they'll focus on a minor or a lesser issue in this hadith, we will focus on visuals. People will say, You know what I walk out in society. And because of the way I dress, or the way I look, I feel like a stranger. You have to remember my brothers and sisters, that the first part of this hadith in which the Prophet sallallahu sallam said that this faith it started as being strange, you have to ask yourself, what made the Sahaba strange? Was it the way they looked? Was it the way they dressed,

because I got news for you, the Sahaba pretty much dressed the way non Muslims at that time dressed, the companions of the prophets, I send them looked very similar to the way the coloration was stricken amongst the coloration, the way they looked. As a matter of fact, if I were to put you in a time machine right now, and send you back to that time, you may come upon that society and you may have a little bit of a hard time figuring out who the Muslims are, and who the mushy Kuhn are, who the non Muslims are. So it wasn't about visuals. The horrible what made them strangers was their morality. What made them strangers was their athlete was their faith. What made them strangers, was

that all of society was telling them to believe one thing? And they said, No, we take guidance from Allah, Allah subhanho wa taala. We take guidance from Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, what made them strangers? Was their aqidah. And their faith? What made them strangers, is that they were willing to stand up for what is right. Even if all of society told them that that is not right. What made them strangers, was to take a stance that is much larger than just visually appearing to be different. And yes, of course, part of our submission to Allah, we may visually appear to be different as well. But don't lose the bigger picture here. The bigger picture is how do we stand?

Are we firm in the face of what is considered normal? What gets normalized in society to date? And so my my brothers and sisters, this hadith is telling us that this time will come. This time will come upon us. The only question we ask ourselves is, are we going to be on the right side of history? Are we going to be those who stood up for the truth, those who stood up for what is right, even though society was telling us otherwise? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam actually clearly told us this. He said, Let us know if atonement Murthy he said there will always be a group of people from my ummah, VA here in our al Haq, who will stand firm upon the truth.

The question is, are we part of that section of the Society of Muhammad Sallallahu ala he was sending them? Are we part of that group of people who claim to be followers of Muhammad Sallallahu Allah he was sending them that stood firm, because in society we will see that there are those who claim to be Muslim those who identify with Islam. But when challenges come upon them, when challenges come upon their belief system, when challenges come upon their morality, that they may be swayed very easily. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam reminded us of this when he said take care of your heart. He said methanol CALB can Mathari Risha, he said the example of the heart is

like a feather that is blown in the wind. Meaning as the wind blows in one direction, it goes in one direction and as the wind blows in the other direction, it goes in the other direction. So we have to ask ourselves, what is anchoring My heart is

Is approval from people, the anchor of my heart, because once again, if it's approval from society, if it's if it's seeking value from people and wanting to be liked by the people around us that in and then is that truly a real anchor for us, if we leave our self worth, if we leave our value in the hands of people, what is going to happen today, they may like us, but what's going to happen tomorrow, and we see this society that we live in, we are constantly being told that your value lies in how much people like you. We see this with social media. And even before social media, social media is just another way in this that this is manifest. But the reality is that it is part of our

humanity that we want to be liked by others, we want to be accepted by others, we want to feel like we are part of the group. And so sometimes we fall prey, we fall victim to this idea that if people just liked me, that I would feel valuable, that I would feel like I am important that I would feel like there is something to my existence. But our faith teaches us that our value comes from submission to our Lord and our Creator. Our value comes from our spiritual connection with Allah Who Subhan Allah to Allah, because that is something that cannot be broken. Regardless of what is happening in society. As long as we are seeking the approval of Allahu subhanaw taala then we cannot

be shaken. You can they can put us in chains. They can imprison us, they can do whatever they want to us. But if our faith is intact, then our value will be intact. And my brothers and sisters, we see this example in this very day today. Because there are brothers and sisters of ours today who are in shackles, people who are oppressed, people who are wronged people who are living in war torn countries, and their lives from the outside seem to be destroyed. And you would think to yourself, what do they have to live for?

And the answer to that is their Iman, it is their faith is their connection with Allah Who Subhan Allah Allah, that my brothers and sisters is the source of their strength. And that is why the Muslim spirit cannot be broken, as long as we are true to Allah subhanaw taala as long as we are true to the message of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam they cannot break us. This is what this hadith is telling us. This is the glad tidings that Allah Subhana Allah Allah has given through the prophets, I send them to us as believers, the glad tidings of it doesn't matter if you're strange. It doesn't matter what they do to your reputation. It doesn't matter what they do to you physically,

they can harm you as the Sahaba as the Companions were physically harmed, as their reputations were ruined. As they were attacked. And as they were oppressed, it didn't matter. Why didn't it matter to them, because they live their life for a much higher purpose. And that is submission to Allahu Allah subhanho wa taala. So my brothers and sisters, when things are volatile around us, when society seems to be volatile, and when we seem to be pulled in every direction, we have to ask ourselves, What is my true identity? What makes me what I am, what gives me value? And the answer, once again, has to be if we're going to remain strong, if we're going to remain firm, if we're going to remain

united, my brothers and sisters, it has to be our identity as Muslims. You know, there's a lot of talk about unity, and how Muslims should unite and we're going to be strong if we unite. And yes, there is truth to that. But the question must be asked, What do we unite upon? We can just say, hey, just unite just come together. But if we don't, if we're not uniting upon the source of our strength, what is this unity worth? So we have to say to ourselves, we have to remind ourselves that we don't just unite. We're not just a GEMA we're not just a congregation. We are a congregation. That is a congregation that has congregated upon the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu

alayhi wa sallam a hello so naughty. Well, Gemma, we are the people of congregation. We are people who come together we are people who strengthen one another. We are a people who support one another

to live our lives upon the Sunnah of Muhammad Sallallahu ala he was sending them and so yes, our faith is important to us. Yes, congregation is important to us. And we need one another if we're going to be able to weather this storm, if we're going to be a

able to continue if we truly deserve we want the title of Hora Abba, we are going to need one another and we're going to need guidance. We're going to need knowledge as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the messengers the prophets, they did not leave behind any wealth to give to you. They left behind knowledge. Well, Allah, what are the two Ambia? The scholars are the inheritors of the prophets. What did they inherit?

Not just titles, not just a status in society, what they inherit is knowledge. So in troubling times, my brothers and sisters, we must anchor ourselves in our faith, and how do we access our faith, we access our faith to the rich tradition of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa send them that has been passed down from generation to generation to generation. And as I mentioned earlier, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam promised us that this ummah will always have a group of people, a va hit ina al Haq, that will stand firm upon the truth. So look around you, and ask yourself who are the scholars who are not swayed by the opinions of society? Who are the

scholars who stand firm? Regardless of what is happening around them, we have to ask ourselves, Am I following a scholar?

Or am I following a politician? Because politicians, their job is to please people. And so they may be swayed easily left and right. They need they need to be popular. That is how they get into power. That is how they get position.

A scholar,

their job, their goal is to please Allah subhanho wa Taala the true servants of Allah, the true scholars of Allah who Subhan Allah to Allah, the true inheritors of the prophets. Their goal is not to please society. Their goal is not even to please me in you. Their goal is to please Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala like Imam Malik Rahim, Allah Allahu Allah, Allah said that when someone would come ask me a question, I would view myself standing between heaven and hell. Meaning that is how seriously I took it when someone asked me a question about the deen of Allah subhanho wa Taala that if I give the wrong answer, perhaps this will take me to the Hellfire if I give the right answer,

yes, this can be a path to Jannah we have to seek out those who are God fearing in this way. Those whose goal once again is not to please society, those whose goal is to please the Lord of society. Allahu Subhan, Allah to Allah. And that is why my brothers and sisters, we cannot follow the nor just the norms of society because it is popular. As a matter of fact, even when it comes to individuals, we do not follow individuals. We follow the truth we follow those individuals who are upon the truth. And there is a distinction, you may not be able to see it sometimes. But there is a distinction between following the truth and following individuals. We don't follow people because of

who they are. We follow them for what they represent, and what they hold to be sacred. So if someone strays from that path, then it is not about that individual, it is about the truth. And so once again, we say to ourselves, follow those who are struggling and striving to be upon the truth and 100 inner Allah has left us Allah has given us a legacy in which we can say yes, we have those in our Ummah, who are upon the truth. And we ask Allah Who Subhana wa Taala to give us the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong. We ask Allah Who Subhan Allah to Allah, to give us the ability to recognize truth, as truth and goodness as goodness and falsehood as falsehood. One of the

biggest trials as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us that will come upon this nation that will come upon this ummah, that will come upon this people, is the inability to tell the difference between right and wrong. And so I leave you with this question. Are you preparing yourself

to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong?

Is your generation prepared? Are you preparing the next generation? And as we see, yes, times get confusing, and information gets spread so quickly, misinformation gets spread so quickly. Do we think that that will not affect the deen of Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala Of course it will. But once again, we have to empower ourselves with the knowledge of Allah subhanho wa Taala we have to empower ourselves with the Sunnah of the Prophet

Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and I'll leave you with this. In one narration, the Sahaba asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, man whom Allahu Allah rasool Allah, who are the strangers or messenger of Allah who Subhan Allah to Allah and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Aloha Raba Alladhina use the Hoonah either faster than us. The horrible are those who will bring about goodness, who will encourage goodness in piety when people become ruined. And so we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to make us that source of goodness and piety. hada Allahu Allah, Allah Subhana Allah Allah behenic A shadow Allah in stark Furukawa to Lake wa Salaam Alaikum

Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh