Sikander Hashmi – Eid alAdha & Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
The Hujah ob session is a busy holiday season that focuses on celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hujah ob session. The holy month is a significant holiday season for the holy season, as it is linked to the holy season. The importance of following the command of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is emphasized, and the use of stones and faith in Islam is emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the need for a clear understanding of the principles of Islam and the importance of not being caught in actions of Sayna Pfizer. The holy month is a busy holiday season for the holy season, as it is linked to the holy season.
AI: Summary ©
My dear brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
my dear elders,
we begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
the Lord of the universe,
our designer, our creator,
our sustainer, our protector,
and we begin by sending peace and salutations
upon his beloved and final messenger,
Muhammad, the son of Abdullah
I'd like to start off also by wishing
each and every one of you,
my brothers and sisters.
Today,
for the first time,
in,
I guess, a year because we haven't prayed,
Eid al Fitrah together.
We got to offer Eid al Assalat alay
together, alhamdulillah.
And, what I was most happy and excited
about,
was the fact that my, many of my
young friends,
and their mothers,
fathers,
were able to join us also for the
first time. As you know, we have ongoing,
or most masjid have ongoing restrictions with regards
to age, but for we
decided,
that we were, able to
safely offer,
arrangements,
enough arrangements for almost everyone. I know there
were people who likely were not able to
register, unfortunately,
and we would have loved to have you
all. But, unfortunately, we are constrained by the
restrictions,
which are there, of course, for good reason
during this pandemic. So we miss those who
are not able to join us, but but
also very happy about those who are able
to join us, especially my young friends,
after a very long time.
So warm welcome to to everyone and, very,
very,
heartfelt,
8 greetings, to each and every one of
you. May Allah
bless you all. May Allah
protect you always. May Allah continue to strengthen
you and shower His mercy and forgiveness upon
you. Yesterday,
of course, was the day of Arafat.
The pilgrims, the Hujaj
gathered
in
Arafat for the climax of the Hajj
in what was the smallest Hajj gathering in
decades,
if not centuries.
Today today, we gather in what is what
we gathered in likely what was the smallest
prayer that we have ever taken part of.
I can't remember,
you know,
participating in that aid prayer,
with only a 100 people.
Yet my brothers and sisters, it's important to,
remember
that this day is just as blessed as
it was last year
and every year before that. Because the prophet
said that
that the greatest day in Allah's sight is
the day of sacrifice
and next, the day of tar or qil,
the day of rest, which is the 11th
of the Hijjah. So today is 10th.
The 11th of the Hijjah, the day when
the pilgrims, the Hijjah, finally got a chance
to rest. So the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that the greatest day
in Allah's sight is the day of sacrifice,
which is today
and the following day.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
also said
that
that they are the days,
referring to these days, they are the days
of eating, drinking, and remembering Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So regardless, my brothers and sisters, of how
small or limited
our gatherings may be due to the current
circumstances and, of course, for a good reason,
No matter which restrictions are placed upon us,
let us, inshallah, celebrate,
by eating and drinking that which is halal,
of course, in moderation
and remembering Allah
Today, we worship and thank Allah
at the end of the 10 most blessed
days of the year, and these these are
the first 10 days of the month of
Hajj, the Hijjah in which, of course, we
are in right now. And we honor and
we remember the and learn lessons from our
grandfather in faith,
prophet Sayidna Ibrahim alayhis salam and his and
his son, Isma'il alayhis salam.
Now that begs the question,
because, you know, we we do this every
single year. Every year, we have a Eid
ul Adha.
Every year, we talk about Sayidna Ibrahim alayhis
salam. So So that begs the question, what
was about them? What was so special?
That here we are, you know, a 1000
of years later, reenacting their actions and remembering
them. Now Sayidna Ibrahim alayhi salaam, Ismail alayhi
salaam, his mother Haja,
there were just 3 people. Just 3
alone. So what was it that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala what was it that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala,
or what was what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
likes so much that he has commanded us
to celebrate and remember them? Right? Because this
is remarkable. Like, you have millions of people,
you know, every single year, you know, or
a couple of million people every year perform
the Hajj. Of course, this year is very
different as we discussed already previously.
Millions of peoples have offered the sacrifice and
this all has to do with Sayyidina Ibrahim
alayhis salaam and especially the incident to the
story, of course, which we will talk about.
So what was so special about them? What
was so special especially about Ibrahim alayhi salaam?
The Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has given him
such a a special place that even in
our prayer, we remember him in our salah.
So this question is what was special about
Sayidina Ibrahim alaihi wa sallam and what we
find
foremost
was the willingness of Sayidina Ibrahim alaihi salam
to sacrifice for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
it's,
symbolic. Right? Like, it's linked to the
the fact that we are offering the sacrifice
today as well is linked just to this
whole concept of sacrificing
for
Allah.
So Sayna Ibrahim alayhi salam had a very
special relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He had a very special relationship with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. So special
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had given him
the title, the very special title of friend,
someone that he loves, someone that
he admires. So why was this so?
Why was this so that Allah gave
Ibrahim alayhi salam that very special title of
Khalil that no one else had? Ibrahim Khalilullah.
Right? It's a very, very special place that
say, Ibrahim alayhi salam had in the sight
of Allah
Why was this so? Because Ibrahim alaihis salam
was ready to sacrifice everything for Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala,
and he was ready to submit to his
will.
He was thrown in the fire.
He was thrown
into a huge fire
due to the stand for the oneness of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Like, your your belief
has to be extremely firm. You know, can
you imagine that a person being threatened
with this massive fire and saying that, you
know, you're gonna be thrown into this fire
if you don't give up your your belief
in the oneness of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
But Sayna Ibrahim alayhi wasalam was firm. He
was firm in his belief in Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and the oneness of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And because he was his close friend, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala who is the master, the
controller of all things, ordered the fire
to not to burn him. Right? Because this
characteristic, this quality of burning
that the fire has, this is something which
Allah
has put into it. This is something that
Allah
has put into the fire. The fire itself
by itself does not burn. It burns by
the command of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala by
the fact that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has
designed it in this way.
You can just sit on the green line
to chill. So wherever there's a green spot,
you can just come forward and chill.
So the fire burns because Allah
has given it that quality, that ability. So
Allah,
the controller of all things, commanded the fire
to become cool.
Oh, fire.
Coolness for Sayedna Ibrahim alaihi salam. The total
opposite. Why? Because it is subject to the
command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is
subject to the will of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala like all things. Then he was told
to leave his beloved family. You know, can
you imagine?
Young son,
his wife, Ajar, alone
in not just any place, not just at
home. You know, sometimes leave your family at
home, feel a bit nervous. You know, maybe
the family doesn't feel comfortable. Your wife doesn't
feel comfortable. Kids will miss you. But this
was not even at home. This was in
right? The valley of
no vegetation or valley where there's no vegetation.
There's nothing there. All alone upon the command
of Allah
Right? And everyone understood.
Even his wife, Hajar, understood that, you know,
when Ibrahim alaihi was walking away and he's
leaving
and she's not getting, okay, why is he
leaving us here? And then she asked, is
the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And
when when she understood that it was the
command of Allah, then even
she accepted it and
took Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala as the protector.
And
he left them with the faith that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will not command anything that
will cause harm. And this is a very
important point,
That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not command
anything which will cause harm. So even though,
you know,
apparent right? Apparently, when you look at the
situation, it seems like a very dangerous situation.
It seems like the situation that actually sort
of doesn't really make sense.
But
because it is the command of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala,
right, that Ibrahim alaihis salam therefore had complete
faith and conviction that no harm is gonna
come out of this. Or whatever is gonna
come out of this is going to be
for the better because why? Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is the one who has commanded it.
And the most remarkable of tests by Ibrahim
alaihi salam passed
was when, of course, he was commanded to
sacrifice his beloved son,
who had been gifted to him after many
years in old age by Allah.
You know, it's one thing to have, you
know, many children.
Okay. Of course, you still love all your
children,
but, you know, there's a difference between having,
you know, many children
and having a child that you, that you
get after many, many years. Right? Especially in
old age. So here is Sayid Ibrahim alaihi
salam
with, you know, a, his, son
who was,
gifted to him after many, many years in
old age.
And Ibrahim alaihis salam asked Isma'il alaihis salam.
He asked him.
You can come over here inshallah, in this
room.
So you can just go.
So Ibrahim alayhi salaam asked to say, Naysma'il
alayhi salaam,
Now what do you think about this? You
know, tell me, what is your opinion about
this?
About this command that I have been given
by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Let's say, nice smile.
So notable thing here as well is probably
what is something just, you know, grab a
smile and say, okay. Come on. Let's go.
Come with me. Let's you know, I have
to sacrifice you. You gotta do what I
what I tell you. You know, this is
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and that's it. No.
He didn't do that. Right? He asked him.
He asked for his opinion. He said, look,
this is what Allah is telling me. What
do you think about this? What should I
do about it? And Sayedna Ismail alaihi sallam,
he gives the best of of answers.
Oh, my dear father. Oh, my father. Do
as you have been commanded.
Do what you have been commanded because, again,
it is in front of the command of
Allah
In front of the command of Allah,
there's no other there's no other choice. It's
the command of Allah
Right? You will find me insha'allah.
The word insha'allah is in there.
Insha'allah.
You will find me inshallah as one who
is patient. You will find me for amongst
the patient.
So
the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
not always be easy.
Sayna
also knew this was not gonna be easy
even for himself
as a subject of or the object of
the sacrifice.
But he says,
you will find me by the will of
Allah,
as the one who is patient. So command
following the commands of Allah
will require patience at times. It will be
difficult at times. It will be challenging at
times, but no harm is gonna come out
of following the command of Allah
Even the harm that may come is just
perceived harm.
It's not real harm. It's perceived harm because
nobody can lose by following the command of
Allah
Ultimately, you're going to win if you follow
the command of Allah
So the father and the son both understood
and they internalized
the idea that in front of Allah,
his command,
his wish,
nothing else matters.
In front of the command of Allah
in front of the wish of Allah
in front of the will of Allah, nothing
else matters.
And Saied Ibrahim alaihi wasalam was so firm
in his adherence to Allah's command that shaitan
tried to reason with him.
Get him to have second thoughts, but to
no avail.
When you are determined to follow the will
the command of Allah
there will be instances when
Shaitan will come in different forms and try
to place doubts
upon your decision. Place doubts in your heart,
in your mind about
your your resolve. Right? Try to weaken your
resolve to follow the command of Allah Subhanahu
Wa
Ta'ala. And And he tried very hard even
with Ibrahim alayhi salaam. He didn't give up.
Even with Sayedna Ibrahim alayhi salaam. Right? Perhaps
this was the fear. Who knows? What he
believes was thinking. But maybe this was the
fear that if he goes ahead and does
this, this was so set a beautiful example
of submission to Allah, which perhaps will be
an example for the rest of humanity for
the rest of time. And this is, of
course, Shaitan. He's afraid of that. He doesn't
want that. K? So he tried to stop
it at the source. He tried to stop
Sayid Ibrahim alayhi salaam before he actually went
ahead and did this, right, or was prepared
to do this.
But Saied Ibrahim alaihis salam instead he threw
stones at him in rejection of his evil
web strings. And this is why right now
as we speak,
people are throwing stones. Most likely, it's a
much smaller crowd of persons here this this
time. So, you know, maybe not during the
night anymore. But normally, people will be throwing
stones at the same spot in the city
of Mina. In the same spot, Hassid Ibrahim
alaihi salam had threw the pebbles
at Shaytan.
The people, the Muslims who are doing the
pilgrimage, the Hajj, they will also be doing
the same at this time in those same
places. Of course, before the marker used to
be a thin post,
a thin, pillar.
Because there's so many people now, it says
the wall has been expanding feet,
80 feet long or 80 feet wide.
Which I thought has gotten bigger.
So people go they got really angry. There's
still stones. I remember I went. I saw
some sandals flying over.
Yeah. Well, angry at their people, their anger
for Shaytan inside, and they unleash it in
in
in Mina, doing the Hajj.
But that is not the way, of course,
to do it because the way the prophet
taught us is that you pick the stones,
the pebbles, small pebbles from Muzalipa when you
stay there overnight after Arafat, and then you
use those pebbles and you count them 7
times each,
at the 3 spots.
And, Shailan didn't get bigger, but, of course,
because there were so many people, they expanded
it. They made the wall larger wider so
that people can safely perform this ritual.
Then came the same the the key part.
So actually, if you go for Umrah, you
go for Hajj, you take a tour. You
see these spots. Right? You see the place,
where, you know, the the the rammy happened
where, Sayed Ibrahim alayhis time blew the stones,
and there's even a marker,
you know, in,
between essentially between,
Mina and Musalifa, between Mina and Arafat. In
that area on the mountain, a small, you
know, structure where it is said that Sayid
Ibrahim alaihis salam had taken Ismail alaihis salam
there to offer the sacrifice.
Knows best as to how accurate that is,
but that is what we hear when we
go there.
So then there came the key part.
So the father, with all the love in
his heart,
with all the love in his heart for
his beloved child who came after so many
years,
and the son who submitted to the will
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he put his head down
for the sacrifice to be performed. And he
just tried to visualize that for a moment.
Imagine how heart wrenching that decision must be.
Now you think of a child if you
have been blessed by children. Think of a
child, any child of yours, and imagine you
had to actually sacrifice your child.
A test which
most of us would fail if it were
given to us.
Most of us would fail. We would try
to rationalize. We'll try to come up with
some sort of, you know, work around, some
sort of excuse, some, you know, okay. Maybe
I won't do it and I'll make dawba
afterwards or I'll offer something else in in
in place of that. But, Syed Ibrahim alayhis
salam,
you know, he was ready to do it.
Most of us would fail, but he was
ready to do it. No questions asked, no
complaints.
No clarifications,
no questions, no
complaints even, you know, no. Okay. Did you
mean this? Can I do that instead? None
of that.
Nothing.
Complete submission to Allah
Yet, Ibrahim alaihi salam, after all, was a
human being as well. He had feelings. He
had emotions, especially love. You know, this beloved
child is so so dear to him.
And it is said by some of the
commentators that, you know, his age was approximately
maybe 13 years old. You know? So just
approximately. Right? Could have been a little bit
younger.
But essentially, you know, at the age where
he is starting to
at the age where he's not able to
help his father. Or even if a child
is very young, the parents are taking care
of the child. Right? You're taking diapers, you're
pulling up the, you know, the the puke
and this and that reading. K. You're feeding
the baby, you know. So you're taking care
of the child. Right? So finally now, the
child has grown up and the point where
now he actually able to benefit his father
and actually help out, right, and give company
to him. And now is the time when
he's being able when he's being told to
sacrifice him.
So he's so dear to him, and now
he is doing something seemingly irrational and incomprehensible
with his own hands
just because
Allah said so, and the son is willingly
accepting it. Then,
Allah calls out. Ibrahim.
Yeah, Ibrahim.
Allah says, we called out to him. Oh,
Ibrahim.
Ibrahim.
You have fulfilled the vision.
Really, this was obviously a trial, a test.
This was obviously a trial, a test.
This was a test. Allah actually didn't want
you to sacrifice your son, but he wanted
to see if you are going to be
willing to do so or not. And, of
course, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then sent a
ram to be sacrificed
instead. Now this act of utmost submission to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala where he is willing
to let go of what he loves most
dearly
for for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is what
is loved so dearly by Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
To let go to be willing to let
go of that which he loves so much
that he loves most dearly
only for Allah
This is what was loved by Allah
That he actually made it mandatory for us
to perform the Hajj, which is made up
of rituals that we enact these events. And
he gave us the celebration of Eid ul
Adha. And today, millions of people across the
globe,
right across the globe, are offering
the sacrifice
of an animal and giving away 1 third
or even all of the meat away in
charity. And they are following the sunnah of
our prophet Ibrahim alaihi sallam. Because the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam was asked,
what is this, you know, sacrifice? And he
says, sunnah to Abiq of Ibrahim. He says
the tradition, the sunnah of your of your
father, Ibrahim alaihis salam.
So this is an act which is very
dear to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, on these
very special days, and for which there is
no substitute, there is no equivalent.
Right? Yes. You can give charity. You can
do other things, but there's no equivalent. There's
no substitute. Just like there was no substitute
for Sayid Ibrahim, alaihis salaam, in sacrificing his
son, there is no substitute or equivalent to
doing the the
actual sacrifice.
My brothers and sisters, and these are actions
that unite Muslims all around the world in
the worship of Allah regardless
of their ethnic background. Wherever you go, anywhere
you go in the world today or tomorrow,
next few days, wherever people are celebrating
everywhere people will be offering the sacrifice.
It doesn't matter who you are. Doesn't matter
where you're from.
All around the world, this act will be
happening because this is something which is
beloved
and something that is legislated for us. And
this is how, my brothers and sisters, the
actions
of 2
people
affect 3 people affect the actions of 100
of millions of believers today.
Now the fact that Allah has made all
of this an annual event, not a one
time event, an annual event,
clearly means that Allah
wants us to remember, to ponder, to reflect,
to think. Because if you think about it,
if it was a one time event,
if it was a one time event, you
do it once.
Okay? Like the Hajj. K. The Hajj will
be a one time event. You do it
once, and that's it.
You forget about it. You go on with
your life.
But the fact that Allah
has made
for those who are not performing Hajj,
annual,
it tells us that
Allah wants us to think about this, to
reflect, to ponder every single year to get
this boost just like we got a boost
in Ramadan, to get a boost every single
year. It's like a recurring prescription.
We need this reminder.
We need this reminder about submission to Allah
We need this reminder about sacrifice so that
it keeps us going for the rest of
the year until the next time it comes
around.
Now today, my brothers and sisters, we live
in an age of knowledge, of information, of
advancement.
We live in an age of knowledge and
advancement.
K.
Well, of course, we live in a tech
park. Right? This is where we are here.
So much research happening, you know, so much,
technology.
So humanity has likely never advanced so much
in such a short span of time. Right?
If you look at history, in such a
short span of time, we've never had this
level of advancement
of, of so called progress.
Yet one thing we must always remember, my
brothers and sisters, is that no matter how
advanced and how knowledgeable we may become,
we will never
we will never, as individuals and as a
humanity as a whole, we will never be
able to match the knowledge and wisdom of
Allah
Allah is Al Hakim, the most wise, Al
Aleem, all knowing, Al Khabeer, all aware.
And nothing can match that.
No level of coming together of humanity,
intellect,
you know, knowledge,
advancement,
AI, whatever you think about. It can it
can never never come
anywhere close to the knowledge and the wisdom
of Allah and the awareness of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Therefore, we must understand
that there will always be
beliefs, commands, obligations, prohibitions, practices
that we will not be able to fully
understand and comprehend.
There will always be things we will never
be able to fully understand and comprehend.
Divine wisdom is complete and perfect.
The wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
complete and perfect.
Is way beyond the reach of the limited
human intellect.
We can try, of course, to search for
answers and meanings based on what our creator
has told us, what has what his messengers
have brought to us, and what our creator
enables us to discover through our,
our,
intellect and through our senses,
but know that our understanding
will never be fully complete.
And what
the actions of Sayna Ibrahim alayhi salam remind
us though is that our understanding.
Our understanding or lack thereof
should not dictate our adherence to Allah's guidance.
Our understanding or lack thereof
should not dictate or should not be the
basis for our adherence to Allah's guidance.
Because otherwise, it goes about intellect.
Sayyidina Ibrahim alaihis salam had no rational reason,
to sacrifice his son other than the command
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Can you imagine
if Sayedid Ibrahim had said, no. Let me
use my intellect. This doesn't make sense. You
know, why would Allah tell me? Maybe it's
some supposed to be something else. No. But
Allah wouldn't do this to me. No. But,
you know
but that that's the whole point, you know,
That our
our understanding or lack thereof should not be
dictating our adherence to the guidance of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Now we give the example of someone who
is totally unaware of medical practices.
Someone who is totally unaware of medical practices
is likely to see open heart surgery as
what?
As an act of murder.
And the surgeons as
criminals.
Someone who has never seen open heart surgery
before.
What does it look like? It looks
like a criminal act. It's murder. They're cutting
open a person's chest.
You see their heart beating, sometimes even taking
out their heart.
You're killing a person.
Right? That's what a person will think. But
in reality, the doctors are not criminals.
They are we know that we are trying
to help the patient. They're trying to cure
the patient, not hurt them. Similarly, the guidance
of Allah subhaata'ala is for our benefit
and not harm.
So the full wisdom behind it may not
always be apparent, and in such cases, the
acts of Sayyidina Ibrahim Ismail alaihimus salam guide
us to accept and submit with faith, with
trust, and with hope. And know my brothers
and sisters that Allah's guidance is filled with
benefit and wisdom.
So try to take out some time to
learn and explore with sincerity and humility
and from the people of knowledge and piety
what your lord and your creator
wants
from you. We are not here aimlessly in
this world. We have a solid purpose in
life.
We are not lost people who don't know
what we're supposed to be doing here. We
have a very, very clear purpose
and a clear path illuminated for us straight
from here to Jannah. All we need to
do is follow it.
There is much to learn, and the more
you learn, the more you should realize how
little
you know and how vast the ocean of
divine knowledge is. Most importantly, it should make
us a better companion to those who are
around us and a better servant to Allah.
Ask Allah
to increase us in beneficial knowledge and to
perfect and strengthen our iman. Ask Allah
to make us true believers and submitters. We
ask him to beautify our actions so that
he is pleased with us, and those around
us find peace with our presence. Ameen.
May Allah bless you all, grant you peace,
ease, health, and love, and iman in this
world and the next.
Oh,
Allah, please grant your grant your forgiveness. Shower
your forgiveness and mercy upon all of us.
Oh, Allah, please bless this ummah. Oh, Allah,
please forgive this ummah and this blessed day.
Oh, Allah, please cure all of our brothers
and sisters who are ill. Oh,
Allah, those who are in pain. Oh, Allah,
those who are in stress and anxiety. Oh,
Allah, those who are suffering and who are
ill on this blessed day. Oh, Allah, through
your mercy. Oh, Allah, please grant them recovery,
healthy a full recovery. Oh, Allah, please grant
them health and ease. Oh, Allah, please grant
them peace in their hearts. Oh, Allah, please
remove all hardships and difficulties from them, You
Rabbil Alameen. Oh, Allah, those who are suffering
in hospital right now. Oh, Allah, with cancer,
other illnesses, oh, Allah, COVID 19, oh, Allah,
so many other illnesses that exist. Oh, Allah,
you are the creator. Oh, Allah, you are
the cure. Oh, Allah, please grant them cure.
Oh,
Allah, please grant forgiveness to all of our
brothers and sisters who have passed away.
Brothers and sisters at home, please go ahead
and have a 4 o'clock of the heart
prayer. Those who have registered for Friday prayer,
please join us at your allotted