Sikander Hashmi – Prophetic Impact KMA Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
The situation
in Mecca is getting bad for the few
Muslims who have accepted Islam.
It is a small number, and they are
being persecuted,
partially.
They are being tortured.
They are being discriminated against.
They cannot worship
in safety.
A small group of them
gets permission from the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
to do Hijra to migrate
to to the kingdom
of Aksum,
a Christian state
in Africa.
The Quraysh are livid
at the fact that a group of these
people who they consider to be rebels
have escaped
and now are taking the matter to another
kingdom,
and they are hoping to seek refuge there
and perhaps set up base there. So they
send a delegation to try to convince
the Christian king by the title of Najashi
to
give
to to give them over. And they go
and they give gifts,
with this delegation takes gifts, and they try
to win him over saying that these people
are heretics.
These people are rebels. They are causing disorder
in our society.
They are going against
the teachings
and, and beliefs of our ancestors.
Therefore, please do not give them refuge and
send them back with us.
The cousin of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
Ja'far the son
of Abu Talib radiAllahu anhu addresses
the king and he says,
o king
we were a people in a state
of ignorance
and immorality,
worshiping idols
and eating the flesh of dead animals, meaning
eating carrion,
committing all sorts of abominations
and shameful deeds,
breaking the ties of kinship.
We were treating
guests
badly,
and the strong among us
exploited
the weak.
We remained in this state
until
Allah sent us a prophet, one of our
own people whose lineage,
truthfulness,
trustworthiness,
and integrity
were well known to us. He called us
to worship Allah alone
and to renounce
the stones and the idols which we and
our ancestors used to worship besides Allah.
He commanded us to speak the truth,
to honor our promises,
to be kind to our relations,
to be helpful
to our neighbors,
to seize all forbidden acts, to abstain from
bloodshed,
to avoid
obscenities
and fall with false witness,
to not appropriate an orphan's property
nor slander
chaste woman.
He ordered us to worship Allah alone and
not to associate
anything with him, to uphold prayer,
to give charity,
and to fast in the month of Ramadan.
We believed in him and what he brought
to us from Allah, and we follow him
in what he has asked us to do,
and we keep away from what he forbade
us from doing.
Thereupon, o king,
our people attacked us,
visited
the severest punishment on us to make us
renounce
our religion
and take us back to the days or
to the old immorality
and the worship of idols.
They oppressed us, made life intolerable for us,
and obstructed us from observing
our religion.
So we left
for your country,
choosing you before anyone else,
desiring your protection, and hoping to live in
justice
and peace in your midst. My brothers and
sisters,
Jafar gives a poignant description
of what the days of Jahiliyyah,
the days of ignorance look like in Arabia
and especially in in the honored city of
Mecca.
These
were the very
same people
who were drowning in ignorance,
and
they were pulled
out of the depths of darkness
and turned into the best of people.
And the entire society was transformed in just
over 20 years. And not just transformed,
but given something so powerful
that it altered the course of history.
So powerful
that they surprised these very same people, surprised
the established dynasties
and the great empires of the day.
Within about 70 years
of the passing of the prophet
they established rule over 11,000,000
square kilometers,
ruling from Spain in the west
to
the modern day Pakistan in the east, the
Caucasus to the north, and Yemen to the
south, making it the largest empire the world
had yet seen and the 6th largest
empire the world had yet seen and the
6th largest ever to exist in history.
And today, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
inspires close to 2,000,000,000
people with a b, about 1 in 4
people on earth today.
My brothers and sisters,
we are living
in a time of failed leadership.
We see challenges
and problems
all around us.
The municipal election is on Monday. There are
a number of issues
facing
the city and its residents,
policing, transit, taxes, security, and so on.
In the province, in the country around the
world,
we find
a host of challenges
in every society, in every country. Anywhere you
look, you will find that there are challenges.
On top of that, we find polarization.
We find divisions. We find animosity
and failing leadership.
And on the other hand, we have the
most remarkable example of leadership
in the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
His entire life,
the entire seerah
is a textbook
that we can take lessons from.
But what are the seams what are some
of the key takeaways
regarding
leadership?
This is important
for each of us. So we want to
look at what were some of the ingredients
of
this phenomenal success
in terms of leadership,
in terms
of transformation,
in terms
of reformation
that we can take lessons from, that we
can apply as each of us is a
leader in our own capacity.
My brothers and sisters, what we see
is is that it starts from ourselves.
If we do not rectify
ourselves
first,
we cannot be effective leaders,
whether it is in the workplace,
whether it is in politics, whether it is
in the home
or in the community
or wherever
it may be.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was recognized
by everyone,
even
the worst of his opponents
as a person of integrity,
as a person of honesty
and trustworthiness.
He was known as as Sadiq
and Al Amin. This was
way before
prophethood.
This is what
defined
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
So in order to have effective leadership,
there must be honesty
and trustworthiness.
It doesn't mean
that leaders,
we,
every single one of us, that we cannot
make mistakes.
We will by nature make mistakes because Allah
has made us an
which comes from.
We are bound to be forgetful. We are
bound to make mistakes.
So we will forget and we will make
make mistakes even as leaders.
But the key is how we respond
to when we make a mistake.
How do we respond
when we
and we slip?
So first, rectifying ourselves
and ensuring
that we are people of integrity,
of honesty, and of trustworthiness.
Secondly, my brothers and sisters,
we know that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was sent
as a rahmatullillahalameen
as a mercy
for the worlds,
for all of creation.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also tells us in
Surah Tawbah at the end near the end,
Allah
says, there has certainly come to you a
messenger from among yourselves.
He is concerned by your suffering,
anxious for your well-being,
and gracious
and merciful
to the believers.
So we understand
that in order to have effective leadership,
we must be
merciful,
compassionate,
and have empathy
for those we are leading.
It is not possible
to have effective leadership,
long lasting,
powerful, impactful
leadership,
transformative leadership
without
empathy and compassion.
You may get some results with an iron
fist,
but will they be long lasting?
Will they be meaningful?
No. It will just be a cover on
the surface,
and inside,
the anger,
the hate, the animosity,
the rebellion
will be festering.
So effective leadership
must
start
from a place of compassion,
empathy, and mercy.
Thirdly, we learned, my brothers
and sisters, that in order to be an
effective leader,
we need to be from among
the people that we are leading, or at
least consider ourselves
to be as such so that we can
relate and we can be relatable.
You see, Allah
has certain
criterias,
certain
conditions with regards to
the sending of the prophet salayahu alayhi wasalam.
So for example, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells
us in Surat Ibrahim,
We have not sent a messenger
except in the language
of his people
to clarify the message
for them.
We also learn,
from amongst the people that they were sent
to.
Now, of course, the message of Islam is
universal.
We know that. But the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
was sent
at a specific time
to a specific
location
with the message,
which was the right place and the right
time
in the knowledge and wisdom of Allah
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was from amongst
the people
in his community. He was not an outsider.
He was from amongst them.
So
that makes
us relatable as leaders
and allows us to relate
to the people
we have been
entrusted
with. Fourthly, we learn my brothers and sisters
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in
the continuation of
that verse where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
that he has done indeed he has done
a great favor for the believers.
Indeed Allah has done the believers a great
favor
by raising a messenger from among them. Allah
goes on and says,
What was
the approach
of the messenger?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us
that the approach
he had given,
he had instructed
his messenger
to take
was
reciting
to them his, meaning Allah's revelations,
purifying them, teaching them the book and wisdom.
Allah
says,
for indeed they had previously
been clearly
astray.
So we learn here,
my brothers and sisters,
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was a great favor, a great gift
to this ummah.
And it is a gift and a blessing
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose us to
be from amongst his ummah.
And his teachings,
his love, his dua
were for us,
and this indeed is a great blessing from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a great favor from
Allah.
In terms of lessons,
we understand that he was tasked with he
was instructed to recite
the verses.
To recite
the verses.
And what are the verses? These are
the ayat, the signs of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So the message of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
was a logical message.
It was a message
with evidence
and proof,
logically appealing arguments,
of course, which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
had sent.
So from have effective leadership,
there must be a logical position.
There must be
a logical underpinning
to the platform,
to the position, and to the message.
Secondly, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us
purifying them,
paying attention
to their manners. Right? We're talking about spiritual
purification. We're talking about purification
in terms
of behavior
and character
and the heart, the inside.
Right? The outside as well, of course, in
terms of tahara,
but
referring to purification on the inside. So paying
attention
to their manners
and the character
and behavior
of the people,
building conscience and building spirituality.
So not just a message
that sounds nice,
that appeals to the heart,
and that,
you know, looks good on paper, that is
appealing to people,
but rather one
which is meaningful.
It should be all of those things also,
but not empty on the inside.
A message that is meaningful
and while being logical also touches
people's hearts
and inspires them to become
better people.
And finally, allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us
To teach them.
So we understand
that leadership
includes
teaching,
and the way of prophetic teaching was with
kindness.
So to teach with kindness and what did
he teach? Al Kitab, the book of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala,
which means that as leaders,
we need to have
some sort of reference.
We need to have some sort of manual,
a guidebook
that we refer to. And in this case,
and of course for us as believers,
it is the most powerful book of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And finally, to teach them wisdom.
Right? Which is what? It is the practical
implementation of the teachings. So not just theory,
not just instructions,
but showing
what
the execution and the implementation of the teachings
looks like.
How to deal with situations
in the most appropriate
and optimal
manner.
So the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam
is al Hikma.
It is the wisdom
that he was there to teach.
The wisdom is found in his sunnah. So
if you follow the sunnah, if you learn
from the sunnah,
you will become
a wise person by the mercy of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Insha'Allah.
My brothers and sisters,
these are golden
leadership lessons from the example of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And indeed, there are
many others.
Ultimately,
the impact of the prophet on
society at his time
and until now
is enough
to make a fair minded person
or a fair minded observer realize
that there is something
incredibly unique and special about him and his
message
because
this
example
is not found
anywhere else in history.
Nothing like this
has ever occurred
with such
tremendous
and long lasting
impact.
Of course, we
know it was because the prophet
was divinely inspired and guided.
We know that, and we believe that. And
that explains
this profound and tremendous impact,
this long lasting positive impact.
But even for someone who is not yet
convinced,
just looking objectively
at the example and the impact
should make
the observer realize
that there is something
special
here. My brothers and sisters, if this was
the tremendous impact on society
and indeed
the entire world
of
the prophet
and the message that he brought from Allah
how great of an impact
can the book of Allah
and his messengers
have on you and me?
And our minds and our hearts
if
we make an effort to let them in.
If
society can be rid of
its evils,
if such transformative
change can come to a people who were
drowning in the depths of ignorance,
that it pulls them out of that and
makes them the best of people ever
and leaves such a lasting legacy
impacting
positively impacting
couple of 1000000000 people in the world.
If we were to embrace
properly and sincerely
the message
and the teachings,
what impact could it have on us?
So my brothers and sisters, let us recognize
the value of the great blessing from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala in the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his beautiful teachings.
Value him and his teachings
and love him and his teachings.
Secondly, let us develop a yearning
to learn more of his teachings
and his life
and to implement it in our lives on
a practical level.
And it's one of those areas where no
one can say that I know enough
of the life of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam.
I have learned enough.
I have practiced enough. I don't need to
learn anymore. I don't need to practice anymore.
This is a delusion my brothers and sisters.
Every single one of us is perpetually in
need of the guidance of Allah and his
messenger
Every single one of us continuously
has a need to rectify ourselves
and to improve our lives and to get
closer to Allah
and his messenger So we are curious about
what is the personal impact of the prophet
on your life. So for that, tonight, we'll
be having a special gathering to hear from
you. You don't have to give a lecture,
just a couple of minutes from,
from each participant, inshallah, whoever is willing to
speak, to share how the prophet
has impacted
your life. And the reason we want to
do this is because sometimes when you hear
from one another,
it inspires
us when we share,
and we see different perspectives,
and we learn from each other. So that
is the objective insha'allah. You'll also have some
poetry and some
that will refresh our love for the prophet
Everyone is welcome. So this will be tonight
at 7:45.
We ask Allah
to increase us in our love for the
prophet
and his sunnah. We ask Allah
to make us those who value him in
his teachings
and those who follow it at every step
of their lives.
We will take a few moments
to offer
prayers if you like, and then we will
continue.