Sikander Hashmi – Faithful Reflections on Rain KMA Friday Message
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AI: Transcript ©
Respected elders, dear brothers and sisters, my young
friends, Assalamu alaikum
We can see
that there is a tremendous amount of rain
occurring today, and this is,
you know, not the type of weather that
we usually hope for. And actually,
before I continue, if you can please ask
the brothers to move forward and fill in
the gaps because today,
our brothers and sisters will not be able
to pray outside in the rain. Well, it'll
be difficult to pray in the rain perhaps.
So let's try to make as much space
as we can, Insha'Allah.
Try to squeeze in so that there is
space here for them to join us inside.
So the rain is not the type of
weather, the type of forecast that we hope
for,
especially in the summertime. Why? Because we have
plans.
Perhaps you had a barbecue or picnic plan
over the weekend. Perhaps you had, you know,
some other activity you had planned with your
family.
So plans get canceled.
Outdoor activities and events,
you know, get canceled or get delayed or
postponed.
And
normally, my brothers and sisters,
our interest, our focus on the rain is
limited to weather forecasts. Right? We check our
app. We check the weather forecast
to see how it's going to be, how
it is expected to be. But let's take
a few moments today to
reflect a little bit more deeply
upon this phenomena
of rain.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us in the
Quran,
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, it is Allah
who sends the winds
and they stir the clouds and spread them
in the sky,
however he wills, and he makes them fragments
so you see the rain emerge from within
them. And when we think of weather,
we think of,
you know, the whole
climate and how it operates.
Right? And we think of wind. Right? If
you think about it, where first of all,
wind is something you cannot see.
Nobody has ever seen wind. You see the
effects of wind, but you do not see
wind. So wind is something that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has created,
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forms and the
Quran tells us very clearly
that it is indeed from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and the plan of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala as we discussed last week. So, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala sends the wind and that
stirs the clouds and spreads them
throughout. And so these, you know, low pressure
systems, high pressure system, these terms we hear,
you know, in weather forecasts, right, where are
these coming from? How are these occurring? Right?
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was managing all
of it all. Allah also says
and of his signs is that you see
the earth inactive.
You see the earth inactive and
we we have a a we are in
a great place to see that because we
see how the earth dies in the winter
time. Right? How there's no vegetation, nothing is
growing except for, you know, the pine trees
except for the evergreens, but there's no fruits,
there's no vegetables, there's no flowers, there's nothing
that's happening in the cold.
And then
But when we sat down upon it rain,
it is stirred to life and growth.
And if you have a garden at home,
if you don't, maybe I encourage you to.
Even if you live, you know, in a
condo or apartment,
get a get a pot was a bit
late now. But, you know, next year, get
a pot, plant some seeds, get a plant,
and see, observe it growing, you know, tomatoes
even. You know, I'm very bad at growing
vegetables by the way.
This year, the tomatoes are there. I don't
want to put you know, you know, upon
it but for the first time in my
life and actually my father
preserve him. He used to do a lot
of gardening but I've been terrible at it.
Only once I did it, the plant died,
some squirrel came, ate the tomatoes,
was finished. You know, but this time
it's looking good. So, may Allah
you know, protect
all of our
the the the efforts of our of of
all of our toils. But
point being my brothers and sisters that you
know Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala stirs the life
out of the earth, stirs the earth to
life, and brings about growth. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala says, indeed He who has given it
life is the giver of life to the
dead. Indeed He is overall things competent. Right?
So little things we pay attention to sometimes,
we participate in. They give us great insights
and they give us moments of reflection
to think, to reflect, and to make the
connection to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. So rain of course is needed
to maintain life. Right? If this dream did
not happen
and subhanallah, it's the balance that Allah has
created. Right? If there's 2 less of it,
we have a problem. If there's too much
of it, there is a problem. So, the
balance that Allah has created,
right? It is a perfect balance. When there's
too much, too less of something
and many times it is due to our
own actions, and we'll talk about that in
a moment, then things go out of balance.
So the rain is needed to maintain life,
and such weather events actually
are a test of faith as well.
They are a type of test of faith
as well. So you may think how is
this a type of test? No. A faith
is raining outside.
But Zayd Muqaddi Al Juhani radiAllahu anhu relates
that the prophet
led us the fajr prayer at Hudaybiyyah
after a rainy night.
So the as you know, probably the the
large group of, companions of the prophet
and the prophet himself who, you know, who
had to camp at Hodaybiyah because they were
not allowed to enter Mecca by the polytheists.
And,
so the prophet
led us in fajr prayer, the morning prayer,
the dawn prayer at Hudaybiyah after a rainy
night. When completion of the prayer, he faced
the people and he said,
do you know what your lord has said?
Meaning, what your lord has revealed?
And the people replied This
was a standard reply from the companions of
the prophet you know,
and he they were asked about something
and they wanted to know what the answer
was. Right? They didn't necessarily try to take
guesses. They just said Allah and his messenger
know best. So,
the the prophet
said, That Allah said that in this morning,
some of my servants remained as true believers
and some became
disbelievers,
non believers.
Whoever said that the rain
was due to the blessings and the mercy
of Allah
had belief in me. So whoever attributed the
rain to the mercy and blessings of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala had belief
in me, and he disbelieves in the stars.
And whoever said that it rained because of
a particular star, right? Believers in astrology, right?
Because of the moments of the star, said
that rain because of a particular star had
no belief in me but believes in that
star.
Right? So what we learn my brothers and
sisters is that the true causes of rain
and snow and storms is Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Right? The one who decides this. You
know, people used to attribute it. Right? And
what the prophet was referring to is people
attributing
rain, which was, of course,
a blessing even nowadays in in hot desert
climates.
A blessing but they would attribute it to
certain, you know, things other than Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
And we learned that it should always be
linked to Allah
Even when there is cloud seeding. Right? Because
I'm sure there's someone here who's thinking, well,
what about cloud seeding nowadays? You know, they
send airplanes into the clouds and they try
to seed them so that they rain and
so on. It relies
on existing clouds being
tricked,
you could say, into producing rain.
Right? So you think of or being induced
to cause rain. So think of it like
fertilizer or cross pollination for clouds.
But even that is dependent upon nature, which
is
Allah's creation and will. Right? When we say,
oh, this was, you
know, caused by nature, this is what happens
in nature, what we're actually saying is that
this is how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has
designed it to be. This is how Allah
has made it to be. This was how
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decided it to be.
So even with cloud seeding, you can't do
cloud seeding if there's no clouds. The clouds
have to be there. But once the clouds
are there, then there's some effort made. In
some case, there's even research about how, know,
how effective it is or how
ineffective it is. But even if it is
effective, right, you need the cat clouds to
be there and you cannot create clouds out
of thin air.
When we start seeing an increase, my brothers
and sisters, in calamities
and difficulties,
including those which could be associated with weather,
this is a call for us
to once again reestablish our connection with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah tells us
in
the
Quran,
That calamities
or corruption or spoilage, you can translate facade
in different ways.
Arabic is a very deep language. So calamities
or corruption, spoilage
have appeared
on land and sea
because of what the hands of the people
have earned. So that he, Allah makes them
taste some of what they did in order
that they may return to the right way.
Subhanallah. So when we see arise in extreme
weather events,
you know, as we are seeing today, subhanAllah,
the amount of forest fires, the amount of,
you know, tornadoes,
storms,
you know, hurricanes,
all of these weather events which have occurred
over time. But when we see a rise,
it should cause us to pause and reflect
on our habits, our consumption,
our attitudes towards waste,
our attitude towards the environment, and towards climate
because, you know, these things happen through the
will and the power of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
But it could also be a consequence
of our actions. It could be a consequence
of our habits,
of our choices, of our decisions.
You see, there's places where for example, there
is great flooding,
and there's destruction of homes and communities which
is tragic.
But then we find out that the homes
have been built upon flood plains,
they've been built upon places where they used
to be rivers or lakes,
and they were drained and filled in,
and then the water comes back from time
to time, and the houses get destroyed. Right?
So there's a lesson there and there's a
question there. Well, first of all, why were
the homes why was nature tampered with, and
homes built in that area where Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has made it to be a
place of water? Right? So this is just
a small example, but we should think about
what is happening and what
which
decisions of ours
and actions of ours could be
contributors
to this phenomenon. Now if the rain fell,
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to make
a dua.
He used to may supplicate and he used
to say,
Oh Allah, make it pouring and beneficent.
Make it pouring and beneficent. So yes, we
want, especially again in the dry climate of
the Middle East, you know, you want rain,
but you also want it to be beneficial.
There was a time when there was
a famine, and people asked the Prophet salallahu
alaihi wa sallam to make du'a for rain
because they needed water for their crops, for
their animals,
for survival. So the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa
sallam made du'a.
And then
it started raining, and it kept raining, it
kept raining, it kept raining to the point
where it became destructive.
So then, they came and said,
oh prophet of Allah, you know, there's flooding,
how homes are getting damaged, you know, fields,
crops are getting damaged. So the prophet
made
the after that,
O Allah around us and not upon us.
Right? So if there is a deluge of
rain, if there's too much water,
then this is the dua. So once it
starts raining,
O
Allah make it pouring and beneficial. If it
becomes too much, then
Allahum Allah around us and not upon us.
Aisha radiAllahu anha relates that when the wind
blew, which was a prelude to rain, prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would make dua also.
Allah becoming
Oh Allah, I seek you I ask you
rather of its good.
The good that it contains, and the good
that with that with which it has been
sent. And I seek refuge in you from
its evil, the evil that it contains, and
the evil with which it has been sent.
Because as we discussed,
too less, we have a problem, too much,
we have a problem. So we ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for all the good in
which that he sends, and if there's any
evil in it, we ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala for protection against that. The
prophet
also told us that 2 duas or 2
timings of 2 2 types of duas, meaning
at certain times
will not be rejected. He said the supplication
after the adhan, after the call for prayer,
and at the time of rain.
So when it's raining, it is an opportune
time to make dua to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala and especially
as our ummah bleeds and so many of
our brothers and sisters suffer especially in Uzza,
Farsilin, and around in Sudan and around the
world. We ask Allah
to grant relief to them and all of
those who are suffering around the world. Ask
Allah
to remove the oppression
there and wherever exists in the world. Ask
Allah
to grant peace and contentment
and health and safety
to all of our brothers and sisters in
faith and in humanity around the world. There's
also one other thing, and that is that
it is actually desirable to feel the rain.
So normally, what happens when it rains, we
stay inside our cars, we come out, we
run to get inside the building, we make
sure we have an umbrella. Yes. And there's
nothing wrong with doing that. Of course, we
don't wanna get soaked. But
reported that it rained upon us as we
were with the messenger of Allah
The messenger of Allah
removed his cloth, meaning from a part of
his body till rain fell upon it.
And we said
that
that oh messenger of Allah, why did you
do this? You know, why did you remove
some clothing from your body and let your
let the rain touch you?
So, the prophet
said
the
prophet
said, because it the rainfall has just come
from the exalted lord. It is something which
is blessed, has come from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Of course, metaphorically,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has sent it. It's
a blessing from Allah and therefore, the prophet
wanted it to touch his body. Finally, my
brothers and sisters, I wanna share an example
that the prophet
gave relating to rain. Right? Not exactly about
rain but relating to rain. So the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, The guidance
and knowledge
with which Allah has sent me are like
abundant rain which fell on a land.
The knowledge and guidance
that Allah
has sent me with are like
abundant rain which fell on a land.
A fertile part of it absorb the water
and brought forth profuse herbage and pasture. Okay.
So a part of the land,
it's like absorb the water and gave great
benefits. Right? So there was lots of vegetation,
and fruits, and pastures where animals could eat
and graze,
and solid ground patches which retain the water
by which Allah has benefited people who drank
from it, irrigated their crops, and sold their
seeds. Right? So rain fell, part of it
was absorbed by the ground which gave benefits,
Part of it was kept
for the people to use and for animals
to use.
And another sandy
plain which could neither and the opposite. The
other example is that of a sandy plain
which could neither retain the water nor produce
herbage. So a sandy area, there's nothing growing
there. The water just, you know, absorb it
absorbed the water. The water went through. There's
nothing that came out of it. It was
not able to hold any water. There was
no benefit to people that came from that.
Prophet said that such is the similitude of
the person who becomes well worst in the
religion of Allah and receives benefit
from the message entrusted to me by Allah.
So he himself has learned
and
taught it to others.
And on the other hand, such is also
the similitude of the person who has stubbornly
and ignorantly rejected Allah's guidance with which I
have been sent. So a person who rejects
the guidance of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
the teachings of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa
sallam is like that sandy plain which just
absorbs the water, there's no vegetation, there's no
growth, there's no benefit from the rain. It
does not hold any water for anyone to
use. On the other hand, you know, the
person who receives benefit from the guidance of
Allah and his messenger salallahu alayhi wasallam teaches
it to others. You know, he himself has
learned and practices it and teaches it to
others. It is like that beneficial piece of
ground that has taken the water and has
given benefits
to the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So brothers and sisters, you know, this community,
this masjid of ours, this we wanted to
be like the first example. Yes? We want
to be one that preserves the knowledge of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That has that fertile ground that there is
good that comes out of this knowledge that
has come, this guidance that has come so
that it grows and we see the community
benefiting the community growing
and also a, a place which
sends people out and make becomes a means
of growing more.
Growing more to benefit more people, to benefit
ourselves and to benefit others, and also one
that preserves it, that holds it so so
that people can come and take from it
inshallah. So this is what our intention is.
This is what we want to be like.
We ask Allah to
make us
such. We ask Allah
to make us our community and a masjid.
You know, of this first type, a place
of preserving the deen of Allah
and of propagating it to others. We ask
Allah
to make this rain beneficial for us. We
ask Allah
to accept all of our supplications and prayers
for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters
for the and in the especially
during this reign.
To
make it beneficial for us and to protect
us from any of the harms that may
have come with.
Shall I take a quick break, and we
will continue.