Sikander Hashmi – Trusting Allahs Plan KMA Friday Message
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AI: Transcript ©
Respected elders,
dear brothers and sisters,
dear guests, my young friends,
It is the 6th year after the Hijra.
Since the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
and his supporters
have left the beloved and blessed city of
Makkatul Mukarrama
and have migrated to Yathbib which has been
renamed Al Madinatul Munawwara.
It has been 6 years since they have
been missing
that blessed city and especially
Baytullah,
the house of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And
they are just itching
to have an opportunity
to once again lay their sights upon the
blessed house of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
to perform tawaf and circumambulation
around the Kaaba. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
sees a dream.
And this is significant because they have not
been able to go back in these 6
years because
the mushrikeen, the polytheists of Mecca will not
allow them to come back. There have been
skirmishes. There have been battles,
and they are essentially enemies in the city
of Mecca.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam sees a
dream, and he sees that he and his
followers
are entering Makkatul Makarama
and are performing tawaf around the Kaaba. Now
when the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallahu alaihi wasallahu
alaihi wasallam saw dreams,
it is significant because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives them revelation through dreams. Not us, of
course, but for the prophet salayahu alayhi wasalam.
So the prophet salayhi wasalam sees that he
is in Makkah, and he is making tawaf
of the Kaaba,
and his followers are there with him. So
this is taken as a good sign,
and hence he declares his plan to visit
Mecca to perform umrah.
The Muslims are excited. The Sahaba are,
are exuberant
because finally they'll get a chance to go
back, especially the ones who migrated and have
not been able to go back and have
left everything behind.
Now they're able to go back. They're gonna
have a chance to go back and perform
umrah, go back to their hometown and see
the Kaaba. So over 1400
Muslims.
How many? Over 1400
Muslims put on Ihram
with him, with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
from Madina.
And they take they're so excited. They're so
happy. They take 70 camels.
70. 70 camels
with them for sacrifice. So it's a large
group, if you think, of 1400 people who
are walking, who are traveling,
and they are going together, a huge caravan.
Right? You think of our prayer. So for
those who were there for Eid ul Adha
prayer, let's say, you know, about 50% of
the crowd or 60% of the crowd. That's
how many people who are going together to
perform Umrah. And they're traveling from Madinah,
from Madinah to Manuwara to Makkah to Nuqad
rama. Now as per the established practice,
the Meccans are supposed to let them in.
They're they're supposed to allow
pilgrims coming in without arms to perform Umrah.
Right? It's sort of like a convention. Just
like, you know, how the United Nations,
when they have, you know, their their general
assembly, they have a special gathering,
and all world leaders are arriving in New
York City.
Even the ones that the US doesn't have
diplomatic relations with, even the ones they may
be at war with, yet they are allowed
to come and to visit
the United Nations, right, because of a special
status. So you could say in a similar
fashion, the people of Mecca would allow
others to come in without arms
to visit the Kaaba to perform
the pilgrimage,
but
they're alarmed.
They're alarmed by the huge Muslim presence.
And the leaders of the Quraysh, the leaders
of Mecca decide
not to allow them to enter the city.
They send Khared bin Walid, who had not
yet accepted Islam, with 200 fighters
to stop
the Muslims from entering,
thus defying the centuries old Arab tradition.
Now the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was not
looking for a confrontation,
so he changes his route. The prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam changes his route to avoid confrontation
and stops
at a lesser known place, which then was
not well known called Hudaybiyyah,
on the western edge of the city.
Now there's a stalemate
for some time.
Emotions are running high.
There are some bad rumors
about, you know,
messengers
getting killed,
being kidnapped.
And eventually,
after some time, an agreement is signed.
And the agreement appears to be very unfavorable
for the Muslims.
Not just a little bit unfavorable. Right? I
mean, normally, when you go into a negotiation,
you want
a fair deal.
Right? Most people will go in wanting the
upper hand. Right? Wanting to get away with
a deal that favors them. If you can't
get that, then you say okay, at least
you'll get a fair deal. But nobody wants
to walk away feeling like
they they got a raw deal.
Companions
are shocked,
and they feel dejected.
They had come prepared
with their ihram on.
K. So once a person has put on
their ihram, it means they have the intention
of visiting Mecca for Umrah, for Hajj, and
they're expected. They're expecting that they're gonna go,
they're gonna perform the rites, and then they're
gonna cut their hair, and they're gonna take
off their Haram, and get out of the
state of the Haram.
But they're not able to do that.
They're expecting to finally visit the Kaaba,
and finally perform Umrah.
And now they're being told that they have
to go back without doing so.
Can you imagine their disappointment?
Can you imagine
their frustration?
And they are to return the following year
to visit the Kaaba
as per the agreement. So not this year.
They have to go back. They came all
the way. 400 odd kilometers.
Not like today driving to Toronto where you
get there in 3 and a half, 4
hours.
3 and a half if you're really driving
fast, but, you know, 4 4 and a
half hours.
Okay? It's not like that. Right? They made
a long journey.
When you go between Mecca and Medina, you
look out the window if you're on the
train or, you know, in a car or
bus, whatever it is, or even if you're
flying, you look down, you look at the
terrain.
Right? That was a hard journey.
That was a tough journey, and it was
hot.
So now they're being told they have to
go back, and they're gonna come back the
next year.
And plus some of them are thinking, aren't
we upon the truth?
Aren't we following the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam and the true deen of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
Then why are we, the Muslims, having to
accept
such an unfavorable
agreement?
Yes, my brothers and sisters, was the Treaty
of Hudaybiyyah,
which turned out to be a major
a major turning point in the history of
Islam.
Couldn't have imagined at that time
what effect it would actually have that led
to the conquest of Mecca,
and led to the Kaaba being purified of
the idols that were there, and
brought back to its original
state as the center of tawheed and the
worship of the oneness of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
My brothers and sisters, there's a good chance
that you also made some plans at some
point that fought.
As we know, especially after living through the
pandemic,
not everything that we wish for
or that we even pray for happens exactly
the way we want it to happen.
Every single person probably has faced some sort
of disappointment
with regard to some plans they had made
at some point.
The reality is my brothers and sisters
that Allah
has a plan for every single one of
us. What does Allah
have? Allah has a plan
for every
single one of us,
and that plan that Allah has for us
takes into account
our free will
and the choices that Allah allows us to
make.
Allah
gives us permission
to make some choices in some matters,
but Allah's permission
allowing us the ability to make choices
does not mean that he is necessarily
pleased
with every choice that we make.
He wants us to make the choice that
is going to be more pleasing to him,
and sometimes he allows people to make choices
that he dislikes,
that he does not want people to make,
but that's the test. And Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala still allows people to make those choices
even when
he
is displeased with those choices.
Since Allah
is all knowing,
he knows
what each person will choose and decide
into the future. And sometimes people have trouble
grasping this concept.
Even in other religions, I had, you know,
I was at a synagogue once for a
presentation. A woman emailed me afterwards and said,
you know, I have this question. I've been
trying to figure out asking Jewish leaders, asking
Christian leaders. I wanna ask a Muslim leader
as well. You know, how do you make
sense of this? Okay?
So
because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is all knowing,
there's nothing missing in his knowledge.
There cannot be anything that is missing from
the knowledge of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah
knows absolutely everything,
past, future,
hidden, unseen,
visible, whatever the case may be. K.
Knows absolutely everything.
So he knows what choices each person will
make. He knows what decisions you are going
to make in the matters in which he
has given you some room to choose.
But the choice is ours to make.
People think that because Allah knows what we're
gonna choose in the future,
it means that he's forcing us to make
those choices. He's not.
Those choices are gonna be made
by us
making that choice, because Allah has allowed us
free will in those matters to make choices.
Yet, because Allah's knowledge is limitless,
he already knows what choices we're going to
make before they have been made, but that
doesn't mean that he's forcing us to make
those choices.
What happens after we make our choices
is not in our control. So he gives
us authority sometimes to make the choice,
but what happens as a consequence or as
a result of our choices is not in
our control. It is in his control
for all matters.
And if people if believers, especially can understand
this understand this, you've actually grasped a major
part of our apeeda,
and you've actually
unburdened yourself from a lot of worries and
a lot of unnecessary concerns and anxiety.
Allah allows us in some matters to make
choices,
but that is where our control
limited control ends.
Because what happens after we make our choices
is not in our control, it is in
Allah's control.
We make the move and the effort
supported by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, of course,
because we can't do anything on our own.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala delivers the results.
The results are never in our hands.
Never be mistaken.
Never be fooled by this idea that the
results are in your hands,
that you can do something.
You'll make the effort. I make the effort.
Allah
is the one who delivers the results.
Many aspects of our lives are decided for
us. Actually, most aspects of our lives are
decided for us. We just don't realize it.
We just don't realize it.
Right? It's like if you take a little
ant and put it in a container with
some soil,
it's probably thinks that it's a world. It
doesn't realize this is actually
constrained inside of that jar,
inside of the container. Right? It thinks this
is it. Like, this is oh, I can
move around. I have free choice. I can
dig a little tunnel. You know, I can
do whatever. The ant's happy.
Right?
But reality is you just picked it up
and dropped it into a container.
Okay? So many aspects of our lives are
decided for us. Birth, nobody asks you where
you're gonna be born.
Anybody asks you where do you wanna be
born? Who do you want your parents to
be? What date of birth do you want?
Do you want to be a male or
female? Anybody asks you? Nobody asks anyone.
Okay?
Similarly,
our time and place of death, method of
death, illnesses,
our sustenance,
our successes, our failures, all these things are
determined by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Right? Some are based on our choices.
Others are put upon us regardless of our
choices. K? So sometimes you make the right
choices, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will give you
a certain result.
Other times, you make the right choices or
seemingly right choices, but you still don't get
the result. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives you
a different result than what you were expecting
or what you wanted.
When our plan matches Allah's plan, things happen,
and we appear to be successful.
When our plan
matches with the master plan, which is Allah
Subhanu wa Ta'ala's plan,
things happen, and we appear to be successful.
When our plan doesn't match with Allah's plan,
we appear to fail.
Simple as that.
What we need to remember though, my brothers
and sisters, is this, that Allah's plan is
always better for us.
Allah's plan is
always
better for us.
Our job is to respond in the best
manner possible
at any given moment
and try our level best to do what
appears to be most correct and best. Because
we don't know the future. Allah knows the
future. We don't. So we just go based
on what's apparent, what we understand,
make dua'at to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, and
do what appears to be most correct
and most reasonable.
At times, what we want will happen.
What we want will happen at times, but
it may actually not be good for us.
Right? People make dua, oh, I wanna marry
such and such person.
You Allah, please
please make it happen. It seems impossible. You
Allah, please make it happen.
But they don't realize that that person may
not be the best person for them.
Right?
Or, you know, they wanna get a certain
job, a certain position, or they want really
wanna do something. They wanna go on a
trip or move somewhere. They're they're really desiring
it, and they're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to make it happen
without asking Allah,
you Allah, you know, is this actually right
for me or not? Is this good for
me or not? Oh, Allah, please make it
happen if it is good for me. Right?
And we'll talk about this likhara in a
moment.
At times, what we want may not happen,
and that may be good for us.
And at times, what we don't want may
also happen
and might also be good for us in
some ways.
Right? So a person loses a job, the
moment when you get that call, that email,
or when you called into the office and
you're told you're being let go,
that's a low point in a person's life.
That's the time when
a person feels really down
with a lot of anxiety,
a lot of concern,
a lot of uncertainty.
But that may be the best thing that
actually happened to you because perhaps there's another
opportunity that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has written
for you that you're not aware of at
this point. Or a sudden calamity comes around,
and it's tragic, and it's difficult in that
moment.
And it may very well be,
and it's hard, and there's nothing wrong with
admitting that it was hard or that it
is hard.
But there may be some chide in there
that you have not noticed or you're not
aware of. Why does this happen, my brothers
and sisters? Because our knowledge is of no
match to the knowledge of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Allah tells us in Surah Al Baqarah,
Perhaps you dislike something,
which is good for you.
And perhaps you like something which is
bad for you, Allah knows,
and you do not know. And this is
beautifully demonstrated
in the story of Sayed Musa alaihis salam
in Khadid in Suratul Kahf, which we are
encouraged to recite on Fridays, of
course, in which al Khadir did acts which
were apparently seemingly wrong and unjust,
but there was a reason for each one,
and it had to do with the future
which only Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala knows by
the way. If anybody tells you they can
tell you with certainty what is in the
future.
K. If somebody predicts the future,
fortune tellers,
you know, palm readers,
horoscopes,
these are all forbidden in our religion.
Because only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has access
to the knowledge of the unseen and the
future. K. Just as a side note.
So
there are reasons for each action that
Al Khadr did. We tried to do with
the future which only Allah knows except in
that case.
Allah
had given him the knowledge
about the future, about each case, and commanded
him to do those things, to teach a
lesson to say the Musa, alayhis salaam, and
to
us. So before we embark on doing something,
my brothers and sisters, we should seek the
guidance of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and weigh it carefully, especially if it's something
major as we know, like marriage or a
new job, a major purchase, a move, any
major decision. But the sahaba radiAllahu anhu actually
would do and seek the guidance of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala even in seemingly minor matters,
things that we would consider to be minor.
They would still seek the guidance of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Always turning to Allah, knowing
that only Allah knows what is good for
them and what is bad for them in
the future.
Jabir ibn Abdullah radiAllahu anhu relates the prophet
used to teach us the way of doing
istikhara,
meaning to ask Allah
to guide a person
to the right sort of action concerning any
action or any deed.
He says he used to teach us the
way of doing istikhara in all matters
as he taught us the surahs of the
Quran.
That is how much emphasis the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam put on learning the method, the
dua of istikhara.
He said that if anyone of you thinks
of taking on any matter,
you should offer or she should offer 2
rakas of prayer
other than the compulsory ones and say after
the prayers. So make the dua of Istikhara.
Oh, Allah, I ask guidance from your knowledge
and power from your might, and I ask
for your great blessings.
You are capable, and I am not. What
are you doing? You're surrendering in front of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. In front of the
knowledge of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Surrendering in front of the wisdom of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. You are capable and I
am not. You know and I do not.
And you know the unseen. Oh, Allah. If
you know that this matter is good
for me,
make it easy,
for for me, it's good for my religion
and my subsistence
and in my hereafter,
then you ordain it for me and make
it easy for me to get,
and then bless me in it. And if
you know that this matter is harmful to
me in my religion and subsistence and in
the hereafter,
then keep it away from me, and let
me be away from it, and ordain for
me whatever is good for me and make
me satisfied with it.
SubhanAllah. It's such a comprehensive dua that you're
asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for what is
good for you in every way. Asking Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to keep you away from
that which is harmful in any way. And
asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to grant you
what is better and what is good and
to make you satisfied with what he grants
you.
What more could you ask for?
What more could you ask for from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala?
So this, my brothers and sisters, is what
you wanna be asking for as opposed to
someone or something
specific because you are surrendering in front of
Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, and you're admitting that you don't know
what is actually good for you in a
complete sense. And only Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
knows, and you're asking Allah for what is
best for you. The prophet salallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, whoever seeks the counsel of the
creator,
whoever seeks the counsel of the creator will
not regret it. And whoever seeks the advice
of the believers will feel confident
about their decisions.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Quran,
and consult them in the affair. Then when
you have taken a decision, put your trust
in
Allah loves those who place their trust in
him. If things work out, we should be
grateful
and ascribe our success to Allah
and continue to ask for guidance.
If things don't go our way, because this
happens sometimes. Person says, okay.
I tried. I thought this was good. Everything
seemed to be going okay, and then it
didn't work out. If things don't work out
our way,
see it as an opportunity.
Is there a hidden blessing in this? Is
there a lesson to be learned perhaps?
Is there another opportunity that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is directing you towards?
It is so important, my brothers and sisters,
that during challenges
and what appear to be failures,
we keep our eyes,
we keep our mind,
our hearts
open
for opportunities
to learn and to bring positive change, to
grow, to go into new areas and new
things perhaps we haven't tried or considered yet.
Of course,
that they must be permissible. But, you know,
it basically think that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
may be redirecting you in a new direction
that you haven't thought about yet. Consider that
Allah maybe doesn't want you doing this at
this time. Perhaps it's gonna be good for
you later and not right now, or perhaps
not at all.
Perhaps there's some hidden wisdom,
a blessing in disguise.
So seek those wisdoms and those blessings in
every situation,
especially when facing challenges
and facing apparent failure.
Believe and place your trust in Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Believe truly that he will always guide you
to what is best.
Expect from him.
Expect the best from him and be grateful.
As the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has told
us,
yakurullahhu
ta'ala
ana indazani
abdi bi. Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
I am just as my slave, as my
servant perceives me to be.
Meaning towards the individual.
And I am with him if he remembers
me.
If he remembers me in himself,
I too remember him in myself.
And
if he remembers me in a group of
people,
I remember him in a group that is
better
than him.
So always have good expectations from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
always looking out for you. Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will never put something in your plan
that is going to be harmful for you,
that it's going to be bad for you.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will always plan that
which is best for you because even regarding
the evil doers who made evil plots, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, wamakarullah, wala wala
wakarullah, wala wakarul makareen
that they planned,
they planned, they plotted, and Allah also planned,
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the best
of planners. No one
can outdo the plan of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
No one can run away from the plan
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So embrace Allah's
plan in your life.
Be positive towards Allah's plan even if it
doesn't match with your plan, and always ask
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to guide us to what is best and
to protect us from that which is harmful
for us. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant
us the very best in this world and
the hereafter. May Allah
protect us from all harms and all types
of evils in this world and the hereafter.