Suleiman Hani – Trust in Allah – The Key to Overcoming Hardship
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Today our topic is the topic of tawakkul,
trust in Allah
And it's a topic that, of course, we
hear about it our entire lives, we don't
really run out of the need for the
reminder, especially
when there's a hardship and a calamity like
we are seeing today.
Hardships that we all experience on the personal
level as well. Tawakkul is sometimes misunderstood.
And I want to start with a story,
an example, a hypothetical.
I want you to imagine Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
came to you and he said let's go
somewhere,
and he does not tell you where you're
headed.
Would you worry as a Muslim who knows
prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, would you worry that
he's going to try to harm you,
hurt you? Yes or no? Why not?
Because he's the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam. What
else?
You trust him. You trust him. You know
he's not trying to hurt you even if
you don't know where he's taking you. The
wisdom of this little trip that you're going
on, you have no idea.
But you trust the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. It starts with knowledge of the entity,
knowledge that this is a person that I
trust, that is reliable,
that is compassionate towards me. This is a
person that I will not think negatively about.
So if you trust the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam, why would you worry? If you trust
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam you would not
worry even if you had no knowledge
of the situation, no knowledge of where He
is taking you. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells
us on a much greater level.
Whoever puts their trust in Allah, fahuwahasbu
Allah is sufficient for that person,
Allah will suffice you,
Allah will take care of you. So what
is tawakkul? Let's let's define it very quickly.
Tawakkul
is to trust in Allah.
It is to rely on Allah in terms
of handing over your affairs to Him. Tawakkul
is to trust in Allah,
to hand over your affairs to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
It is also for you to be optimistic
or content with the results
even if you don't understand them, any situation.
Whether or not you understand its wisdoms or
it's what you wanted or prayed for, tawakul
includes
that part of the experience that you are
still holding on to your trust in Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And of course as a
result of more tawakkul, more trust in Allah,
you have less worries about future
uncertainties.
The future is unknown to all of us.
But you have reliance upon upon Al Aaleem,
the one who knows everything, Al Hakim, the
all wise,
Ar Raheem, the ever merciful, the one that
you know is all loving towards you, Al
Wadud.
So as you trust in Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, you're reading this throughout the Quran.
In fact the word tawakul itself in different
forms in the Quran is found 42 times,
it's a it's a common reference.
So the believers, those who trust, they put
their trust in Allah
I want you to think the example of
a child
and this child is
crying for whatever reason
you comfort the child and you say everything
will be okay. And it's let's say it's
your son or your daughter and they're 2
or 3 years old.
You comfort your son. You comfort your daughter.
And they may have no understanding whatsoever of
even the words that you're using, that everything
will be okay. But they know you. They
love you. They trust you. They're relying on
you. And it's because of that love, that
connection, that trust that you are their mother,
their father, they understand
to an extent, they understand that things will
will be okay somehow. They don't understand
how somehow
because they trust you. Because there's love, because
there's support, because there's reliance. Now as we
grow older, we're no longer those 3 4
year old children.
We ourselves know that the reality of a
dunya is that trials
of ease and difficulty come our way and
they're both a test. If you have wealth,
it's a test. If you have poverty, it's
a test. May Allah protect us.
So when these tests come your way, you
will never be given a test that you
cannot handle.
This is a fact, and it it destroys
a lot of assumptions people have. So pay
very close attention
to the words that people use when they
talk about tragedy, when they talk about calamity,
when they talk about hardship and suffering, not
just individually, but globally.
There are assumptions that we have
that need to be shattered today, that need
to be explored. And, of course, these are
a reminder. I know we are all aware
of these things. It is therefore
the responsibility
for every Muslim
to know the foundations
of who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is so
that they are protected
in times of hardship, so that they can
help others in times of hardship. Because today,
we are seeing with a globalized world, an
interconnected world, with the instant news through social
media and chat and everything else, that you
are not just exposed to all the goodness
of the world but also all the evil
and injustice. And because you're exposed to a
lot of that and it's very, very painful
to watch, Every other video you watch of
a Palestinian child or a parent or something
happened, lights so heavy to the extent that
many people told us. I'm literally crying and
I cannot continue watching. I'm crying and I
feel devastated. I'm crying and I don't know
what to do.
And so with these realities we have to
explore these foundations very quickly InshaAllah Ta'ala. Tawakkul
to trust in Allah, let's use that translation,
to trust in Allah. It is linked with
so many facets of our psychological
makeup.
It's linked to a number of thoughts and
emotions that we process and how we process
them and channel them into different directions. Tawakkul,
so so many scholars have stated, is tied
to your iman. So when your iman is
strong, your trust in Allah is strong. And
this protects you from a number of different
things,
but at the at the beginner level, we
say this. Ibn Al Qayim, he
says that tawakkul is one of the greatest
wajibat.
So it is a requirement for the one
who believes in Allah, the one who says
I'm Muslim, I submit to Allah, to also
trust in Allah. But the way that we
get to this place of trust requires us
to also see the opposite, the assumptions that
sometimes we may have or fall into or
a trap of shaytan or things that people
say online or in person. That there are
assumptions that come about so we'll cover just
3 three different things and we'll take a
case study inshallah. Three points so that we
can remember this inshallah and then a case
study first
to shatter the all the the false assumptions
that come to mind or people think about
or share,
we have to know who Allah is.
We cannot start anywhere else. Because if you
say trust in Allah, somebody may ask, why?
Who is Allah? I need to first know
what you're talking about. If you say trust
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, an anon Muslim
may say how do you know that there's
nothing that he's gonna do to harm you?
How do you have like
just zero doubts
that He's not going to hurt you? You're
like, because I know who the Prophet is
sallallahu alaihi wasallam, so you know.
You can't have possibly known this without information
to know who Allah is.
Allah
gives us the examples of the people of
the past not for the sake of storytelling
and entertainment and sleep, for sake of lessons.
So many powerful lessons that help us be
guided in times of difficulty and pain. So
when we're looking at the news and watching
what's happening in any country around the world,
not just in Palestine but now and in
the future, when we see what's happening around
the world that we are able to relate
to these human experiences and amongst them of
course, the stories of the prophets. So the
most common and famous example of a prophet
that persevered so much, he went through so
many hardships, he had to have so much
tawakkul that he was given a high status
and nicknamed Khalilulrahman
Khalilulrah and it is prophet
Ibrahim alaihis salam Ibrahim alaihis salam went through
so much you know his stories but they're
just that one story that we always share
especially with our children.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala referenced how Ibrahim
was destroying the idols, he gave them dawah
by the way for a long time before
this happened. So some people use this in
the wrong way.
They said burn him.
They started talking to each other. Who destroyed
these idols? It was Ibrahim alayhi salam. So
they said burn him. Kill him basically with
fire. In order to avenge your god, you
have to act.
So the process now is a process of
of killing, a process
of revenge,
so they created this massive massive fire as
you know and then something very interesting happened.
Allah tells us
build basically,
a furnace in a in a way, build
a furnace from it, cast him into the
blazing fire.
And here we want to pause before the
next aya and share a hadith reported by
Bukhari from Ibn Abbas
He said
This powerful phrase,
Allah is sufficient for us
and He's the best disposer of affairs. We
always translate and people say what does that
even mean? Allah is the best person to
take care of you. Allah is the best
person who can manage your affairs. There's no
one better than Allah of course.
When you say it and you believe it
and you think it and you feel it
your iman starts to rise.
Waniamalwakeel
So he says, ibn Abbas radiAllaman, hasbunallah waniamalwakeel
qalahebrahima
alayhi salam He said it as he was
being thrown into the fire. Waqalaha Muhammadan Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
Hayna Qalu and the Messenger
said it when the people said and he
referenced an ayah of the Quran, Inna Nasa
Qadija Jama'u lakum fakhshahuum
fazadahum imana waqalu
hasmunAllahu
aneemalwakeer
So he said and Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said these words when the hypocrites
said there's a great army that is gathering
against you, fear them.
Fear them so they are trying to say
what?
Be afraid the the hypocrites are trying to
cause problems from within but it only increased
them in Iman and they said, Hasbullullah.
Allah is sufficient for us. Allah will take
care. I don't need anyone else. Allah will
take care of this. So what happens here?
When we say Allah will take care of
us or or this situation,
of course, the miraculous took place, Eimu 'ajiza,
the one who created the laws of nature,
the one who created the laws of chemistry
that we study and we spend decades studying
and specializing in. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in
that moment decided to change
the law. An exception here and this is
what a marajah is, it is an exception
tied to a miracle directly or indirectly from
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala gave the command, we
ordered, oh fire, be cool and safe for
Ibrahim alaihi sallam. It's interesting about the word
safe.
The fire, if it's cool, you know it's
not hot so it's not burning. But when
you think about chemistry and chemicals in the
place that you're in, it's also not just
about the temperature.
It's not just about the temperature. So the
fire became safe for Ibrahim alaihis salam, it's
a reminder for us Allah is bigger than
your problems, Allah is greater than your opponents,
Allah is greater than your
uncertainties, your anxieties, your worry about the future,
what's going to happen to me next? Allah
is greater than all of that. If the
whole world is gathering against you and Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is with you, you are
safe.
And when you say Allahu Akbar every time
you say it, make sure your heart is
present and mindful.
Sometimes after salah people very quick,
What's the point of that? When your heart
is present, you've reached another level of zikr
and du'a. When you're present,
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. You make
the Adhan and the Iqamah, even if you're
praying at home, even if you're praying at
home, the Adhan and the Iqamah, Allahu Akbar,
Allahu Akbar in the prayer itself, allahu akbar,
Allah is greater than your distractions, your worries,
the worldly things, allahu akbar is greater than
all of the enemies of the world if
they were to gather against you. Have no
fear, Allah is with you. So this is
the first point.
When we say
to trust in Allah you need to know
Allah, with it we can also say study
the names and attributes of Allah learn the
asma the lifaat of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
it will empower you in so many ways
the one who studies and knows who Allah
is cannot help but fall in love with
him as Al Hassan Al Basri rahimullah said
so one part of this is also Al
Hakim the all wise how is this tied
to tawakkul?
So we all say to our families you
know trust in Allah trust in Allah trust
in Allah we remind our brothers and our
sisters as these tragedies are happening trust in
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So one component, one attribute to really emphasize
is that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the
All Wise. So you trust Him because you
know He's perfect.
We have flaws, we make mistakes, even the
best of human beings can make mistakes.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is perfect. When you
say subhanAllah,
you're saying Allah is perfect,
far from any kind of flaw, any kind
of mistake, any kind of shortcoming. Allah is
perfect in every sense of the word. So
every time you think of a tragedy, a
hardship and you're thinking of trusting Allah, you
trust in Allah because he plans
and allows and permits things to happen.
And as these things are happening, even the
painful things in this world, there is a
wisdom behind the pain. And Allah may allow
certain things to happen in this world that
he does not like. You may think this
is a contradiction but no. Al Hakim, the
All Wise, allows certain things to happen. For
example,
some people will choose in this life to
reject the truth, kufr. Does Allah want them
to choose Kufr? No. Does He allow it?
Yes. Why?
Well, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, Walla
yarbaali rabadhiil kufr does not plea He's not
pleased with his servant's choosing disbelief.
Allah tells
us, Do not oppress one another.
Does Allah love for humans to hurt each
other, to occupy, to invade, to kill? Of
course not. Does He permit it? Meaning it's
allowed to happen in the laws of the
universe that he created. Yes. The question of
why is another question that goes back to
his wisdom, that goes back to the purpose
of life, that goes back to the afterlife,
what's waiting on the other side when your
soul leaves your body and you move on,
like many of our brothers and sisters who
are shuhada, may Allah accept them as so
Allahumma ameen. So when you know Allah is
Al Hakim and He's perfect
and decree is perfect, it's not about the
act itself, some people misunderstand.
Somebody asked me the other day, What do
you mean? We're supposed to just be content
with people killing? Allah tells us not to
kill. Yes, you misunderstood.
Contentment is not with an act of evil
that someone has done.
Contentment in the sense that I cannot change
what has happened. But if there is evil
and injustice, we are also simultaneously
commanded. Stop it.
Remove it. Eliminate it as much as you
possibly can. To remove hardship and and and,
evil in this world is an act of
worship we all know of. Not just the
concept of justice but literally your brother, your
sister tells you they're going through hardship for
you to go and help them take care
of a hardship to alleviate their affairs is
better for you than iatikaf in the masjid
of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam. In other words, we know
that's an act of worship. So these are
not mutually exclusive.
The more you know who Allah is,
the more you start to wear that lens
of optimism,
contentment with life even if it's a very
difficult experience.
We're not talking here about accepting injustice. We're
talking here about accepting qadr, decree. And those
are 2 separate things.
So when you start to see the silver
lining, it's like the example of someone wearing
glasses. If all human beings could see through
the same lenses and they were all optimistic,
we'd all respond in a similar manner. But
the reality is it's a spectrum.
That sometimes you're optimistic, other times pessimistic, and
sometimes people are, changing, fluctuating. Sometimes people are
always pessimistic. They're always complaining. They're always whining,
they're always thinking they're the victims in the
world, everybody else is better, and they're thinking
that everything bad happens to them and everything
good happens to everyone else. You know what
I mean? It's a common example. And they
feel like they are entitled to something of
a dunya as though it is Jannah, as
though they were born and their parents said,
you will never face any hardship in this
world. And of course, we don't want hardship.
May Allah protect us and our families.
But at the same time, we know it's
an expectation, a premise that comes with a
dunya. May Allah protect us and our brothers
and sisters. Of course, there are many examples
of this. I gave this example before before,
because, some young brother shared it. They're driving
to, college. They got onto a really, really
bad car accident.
Really bad car accident. The car was totaled,
by the way. They both get out of
the car. Very, very, very minor, like, pain,
things like this, at least initially. The car
was completely totaled. They were both completely fine.
They get out of the car and one
of them is like alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, like he's
over okay. He's looking at the car, oh
my god, alhamdulillah, we're okay. And the other
friend,
dropping f bombs and cussing and profanity,
so angry why do why do bad things
happen to good people, I'm a Muslim why
is So he's complaining,
venting, in fact, cursing.
So I'm not comparing this to, you know,
judge that brother or to, you know, insult,
but the reality of how 2 people respond
to the same situation.
Question is how do we respond? In your
own family, in our families, we know when
something happens, you're driving on the highway, you
miss your exit,
people respond in different ways. Some people become
upset, they become really
And if you miss this exit, you're gonna
be driving for at least another, like, you
know, 5, 10 miles, that kind of exit.
So subhanallah, at least that's what he thought.
He got very upset.
Obviously, when I say 15, 20 years ago,
this means he was using an Atlas. He
wasn't using GPS.
So there was the exit. He started blaming
his wife. Right? And the wife, of course,
is blaming the husband. That's besides the point.
Long story short, they go all the way
down, they come all the way back around.
As they're trying to get to the place
they were going to, they stopped at a
gas station near the exit,
and they saw that there was a semi
truck
that had crashed into a vehicle and the
cars right behind it all started as a
pile of crash, all started crashing into one
another. There were a number of fatalities, the
same exit that he was planning to take.
And his wife said, are you still blaming
me or are you thanking me now?
SubhanAllah.
The reality of of the lens that you
wear, you already missed the exit, who knows
why?
Now if there's a shortcoming, if you're talking
about a business, are we saying if somebody's
incompetent, they're lazy, they're missing their deadlines,
happened, you're just a really bad employee.
That's not what we're saying.
We're talking here about something that has passed
that you cannot change.
If there's something you can learn from it,
you learn from it for sure. And so
now you're using GPS, now you're being a
little more cautious, now you're not blaming the
passenger.
But the lenses
say a lot about us. It goes back
to the topic of iman, it comes to
this topic of tawakul.
How do you think of Allah when things
don't go your way?
This is when you know how much you
know Allah.
When things don't go your way, this is
when you're really tested with how much you
think you know
Allah. May Allah protect us from these trials
because it exposes some things,
hardship exposes some things about our beliefs. So
if you find a shortcoming in your reaction,
then this is a time for reflection, a
time for growth, a time to learn. You
know what? I do need to work on
how I react to situations.
And some people react when their families have
shortcomings
because there's resentment and build up and all
of this. But a friend, a stranger, a
non Muslim, somebody who's even, like, opposing them
makes the same mistake, let them off the
hook.
You'll be a little more easygoing and have
the lens of
contentment. Again, we're not talking about things that
you can learn from. That's a separate matter.
We're not talking about somebody, you know, maliciously
hurting you, separate matter. But we're talking about
the idea that when something has happened outside
of your control to you, how you respond
is a lot about how you think of
Allah and the nature of a dunya. So
the action item is very clear and very
practical.
To go through a book or a video
series, to go through the names and attributes
of Allah as a family, with friends, or
individually
because we are so quote unquote lucky, blessed
to be able to study
and know who Allah is. We're so lucky
that we can study and find out who
our Lord is and get closer to him
and become stronger and better human beings as
well. And Allah tells us in Allah, yurhibun
mutawakareen, Allah loves
those who put their trust in him. Why?
We we always talk about the categories that
Allah loves but sometimes we don't ask why
that group? Why that person?
Why does Allah love the one who the
ones who put their trust in him? It's
because they've recognized the reality. They know who
Allah is. They don't have the wrong assumption
of Allah. So when you trust in Allah,
it means you know the truth. And when
you lose trust in Allah, it means that
you fall into some false assumption, some idea
about God that is not real. And that's
what leads a lot of people away from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the wrong notion of
who Allah is.
So tawakkul,
it requires this is point number 2. Point
number 1 again, knowing who Allah is. Point
number 2, tawakkul requires action from us. There
are many people who look at the state
of the ummah or their own states, say
I can't change the world, I can't do
anything. They're just criticizing, whining, complaining,
venting, and they do nothing at all.
But what can you do? Look at the
things you can do even if they don't
lead to direct change. It's indirect. Look at
the things you can possibly do. And the
obvious example we always give, anyone who's ever
taken a university exam,
and there's no I don't think I've ever
run into somebody, except maybe once, I remember
an undergrad. Generally, you don't run into people
who say, I'm not gonna study at all
for any exams and I think I'm gonna
pass every exam. Generally, that's not the case
unless you've already, like, learned about this topic,
somehow you and you knew that questions or
somebody's cheating. Generally speaking,
you tie your camel. You do your part.
You go into dangerous really, really dangerous places
and everyone tells you be cautious of this,
be cautious of that, don't drink this water,
don't park your car there, don't go to
that neighborhood. We had a friend who told
us he drove in a certain area, a
certain neighborhood in Michigan.
He's like he was a cop. He's like,
you cannot stop at a red light at
night over here. He's like, somebody will just
run up to your car, steal your tires
as you're at the red light. I'm like,
oh, it's that bad. He's like, I literally
stopped at a red light and somebody tried
to carjack me and I'm a cop.
So when you when you see these
situations you don't think to yourself let me
throw myself in harm's way or go without
any preparation and that I have tawakkul.
That's why the example that people always give,
if you're just sitting in the masjid all
day making dua
for rizq but you don't go and try
to find rizq, you're not trying to work,
you're not trying to make money, you're not
trying to apply for jobs, you're not asking,
you know, for help and resources. This takes
you away from tawakkul into something very different
which is the wrong idea of your responsibilities.
We know this. So this is a side
point, a very quick one. And of course
even the animals have trust in their creator.
Even the bird has trust in Allah. Leaves
its nest in the morning looking for food
and it has trust in Allah, tawakkul, and
it comes back with a full belly as
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us. This
bird, in other words,
it's not panicking,
it's not venting, it's not complaining, it's going
out and trying to find its rizq, whether
it's a worm in the ground or something
else, but it's doing its part and this
is a bird. Now, of course, we were
given intellect, this is the second point.
Do everything you possibly can do. If you're
going to complain about the state of the
ummah, if you're going to complain about the
tragedy in Philistine or anywhere else, do everything
you can possibly do. Meaning everything that is
permissible, wise, strategic within your capacity.
And this brings us to the 3rd point
and then the case study inshallah.
The third point is the most emotional
which is tawatkul in a time of pain.
Tawatkul when you're going through severe hardship.
Someone can tell us, inshaAllah,
where does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us,
in which Surah?
Surah Talaq,
so Surah Talaq, the Surah of Divorce,
just 2 pages in the Madani Mus'af.
An example here, the scholars of tafsif say
is Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is linking tawakul
and taqwa to a situation that usually as
a human experience, it's not an easy situation
for many people. Most times,
unfortunately, divorce is not an easy process. People
go through a lot of pain, a lot
of memories, a lot of things are happening.
That's if even if the divorce is not
bad in terms of people being unjust to
each other because sometimes divorce gets extremely dirty
and that's why Allah emphasizes taqwa and good
character
and remembrance of Allah
during that time because that's when some people
become really, really ugly in their character. That's
when some people become really arrogant. They transgress
the rights of the other person, the rights
that Allah has revealed. So the example of
divorce is a human experience
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala references tawakkul with
in this surah in particular.
Whoever has taqwa of Allah will give them
a way out. We'll
provide for them. People worry about money in
times of divorce.
Provide for them from sources they did not
expect. Wallahi, we cannot count the number of
times people in our community and around the
world have told us about divorces that they've
gone through,
completely uncertain about how they will survive literally
the next month, and Allah blessed them and
protected them and aided in ways they did
not imagine.
And then
Why? Because if you want to think of
Tawakkul,
trusting Allah, you should not always be thinking
of tawakkul
that applies to the easiest situations in life.
What does that mean?
Here's a silly example.
If you like a particular restaurant or food
or, I don't know, home cooked meal, okay,
and you always order from the same restaurant
or it's your favorite place to go and
you decide, you know what? Next week, I'm
gonna go there with my wife or with
my children,
with my friends. You go to this restaurant
and you're like, yeah, I'll get the regular.
The guy looks at it. So sorry, Ahmed.
Today, we are out of the Mensaf.
We are out of burgers. We're out of
whatever you like, Biryani.
And you break down in tears and you
start crying and your friend tells you have
trust in Allah
this sounds like a bizarre situation. Right? I
I hope and I assume that's never happened
before unless you needed that food, like, to
survive for some reason, like, there's something special
about this situation. That that doesn't happen.
So why am I giving a silly example?
Because that's an easy thing for you to
say, okay, that's fine. You might be annoyed
or whatever. I'll order something else. That's fine.
You have food.
So your reaction
to a difficult situation, a painful situation, an
experience that many people say is painful, the
the experience of divorce.
And it's not painful just in the moment
of divorce like divorce is one instant. No.
Divorce is an ongoing thing that for many
years people are thinking about or its effects
follow them for a decade or 2 or
3 or for the rest of their lives.
Allah is telling you,
be patient, have tawakkul
especially in times of pain.
When you go through a hardship, many people
ask this question.
What about a hardship that is not one
time, in one second, in one minute, like
the example we gave of car accident? What
if it's an ongoing war?
An occupation?
What happened in Syria for many years? People
would ask this question,
when is the victory of Allah coming? When
is the relief coming? How much longer do
we have to pass this test? In Gaza,
the blockade that has been going on for
over a decade, in Palestine,
75 years of an occupation.
Is this not a legitimate question once for
someone to ask to learn? To learn not
to challenge?
How does it work in Islam? How do
we understand the wisdom of Allah? Because the
test that is just in the moment, you
can say that sabr, perseverance,
is at the first strike of calamity as
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says in
the hadith of Imam Muslim
and the Sabmatil Ula So your reaction in
that first moment of calamity, that's one type
of
test. But there is the other kind of
test that many people go through that is
extended
for a month,
a year, 10 years,
or a 100 years.
That's a much greater test.
And everyone has their decree, their share of
different types of tests in this world.
You're living in the United States of America.
You're living in Canada. You're living in Palestine.
You're living in Pakistan, you're living in
Japan, you're living in East Turkestan, wherever you're
living, there is some type of tests,
a a a number of tests, a package
of experiences
that comes your way that you cannot control
or see.
And we don't choose the tests
but we know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
Al Hakim and and
Allah that these attributes are not going to
disappear because there is a test. He's still
the All Wise, He's still the Ever Merciful
and He will reward people based on the
test that they have gone through and passed,
the test of ease and difficulty. So if
you have freedom of religion, there's a test
for you that many people fail in this
country. If you have wealth, it's a test
that wallahi. We know so many people fail.
May Allah protect us from ever being attached
or distracted by wealth. This last week, this
last week in particular,
so many people have been talking about how
grateful they are for a morsel of food,
how grateful they are just for safety, shelter,
family, a house,
that you're looking at people, 1,000,000, over 1,000,000,
displaced from their homes seemingly overnight, told to
leave and then bombed in the streets as
they evacuate.
Collective punishment, war crime upon war crime, injustice
upon injustice.
And as this is happening,
people here are saying, I feel like I
need to be a little more grateful.
The reality is, well, I we're in need
of a lot more gratitude.
We are in need of a lot more
gratitude. You have a son or a daughter?
Yes. Sometimes they're acting up. You want them
to be better. You have a son or
daughter that is not being butchered in front
of you. You have parents? Alhamdulillah, you have
parents. You have family? Alhamdulillah, you have family.
We have many brothers and sisters in this
community whose relatives have already passed away.
Others who are starving, struggling, their houses have
already been bombed.
The oppression is ongoing. So here's the question.
How do we respond
when someone asks,
what about a test that is prolonged?
A prolonged test,
obviously, is subjective, 1 year, 10 years, 50
years. A prolonged test really, really tests a
person's iman.
And the stronger and the harder the test,
the more severe the test, the much higher
the ranks in paradise.
The stronger the test, the much more pleased
Allah is with the servants of His who
hold on to their faith.
Because wallahi that is not an easy test.
There are people in this country that give
up on their faith for very minor inconveniences.
And brothers and sisters in Gaza, in Syria,
in many other places are praying their 5
prayers, are taking care of the the ibadah
that they are required to without any hesitation.
So when you go through a prolonged test,
what comes out is number 1, the first
thing we talked about. Who is Allah to
you? Who is your Lord? And Allah tells
us, ana'aindalvaniyahabdi
bi.
I am as my servants think of me,
meaning you will experience in your heart as
well, one facet of this hadith,
you will experience
a type of emotional,
psychological,
spiritual
reaction based on how you perceive Allah.
If you want to label your experience as
a negative one, I don't mean injustice, I
don't mean people being evil, but if you
want to label qadr
or think negatively of God, you will start
to amplify
the hardship that you are going through. It's
not like it solves the problem.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is still Ar Rahim
in times of pain, in times of hardship.
He is still close, Qarieb,
in terms of responding to your du'a.
Tawakkur
is tested most severely
when it comes to the matters that are
prolonged.
And we ask Allah to protect us from
those kinds of trials. The Muslim never looks
for hardship. The Muslim never asks for hardship.
Just because we say it purifies you of
sins or elevates your ranks in jannah does
not mean does not mean you should ask
for it. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
asked for the opposite, for well-being,
for aafiyah in this life and in the
next life as well. Ibrahim O Allah, the
famous scholar, Ibrahim Alhambili, he says the fruit
of tawakkul,
the crux of it, the best part of
it, the most important thing about Tawakkul is
the acceptance of Allah's decree,
to accept what's happened after the fact.
Now so many people will now ask another
type of question.
What about the dua that we're making?
Where is the support of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala if we're making dua for our brothers
and sisters?
Not just in these few obligatory prayers but
for 75 years, people have been making dua.
If we're making dua,
how do we understand
why the hardship is not just removed like
that?
Because we're making a lot of du'a and
there are so many of us and we
can assume
optimistically that we're being sincere in our dua
for relief. So why isn't it instant? Why
doesn't it change? Why is this why is
there still hardship in other words?
This is where we move to a case
study.
We have 3 points that we talked about
and now we wanna apply it to a
case study inshallah.
The first again, the first point is to
remind us who is Allah. Know who Allah
is so that you can increase your tawakkal,
your trust in him. Number 2, do everything
you can. If you have a problem with
an injustice in the world, do everything you
can do. Strategize, work with people, volunteer. Alhamdulillah
today I heard that many people were, at
a local, protest. Alhamdulillah, this is one of
many things by the way. Sometimes people criticize
and say what's the point of a protest?
Don't criticize if you don't agree with it,
if there's some good in it, collective,
presence and effort. There is it's proven that
sometimes there's benefit in that. No. Don't criticize.
Rather, all the different strategies that can be
taken should be taken. All the permissible, wise
strategies, of course. The third point we said
is what tawakkul in a time of pain
is the most rewarding and the most difficult.
So this brings us to the case study
in the last 7 minutes here inshaAllah, the
Battle of Badr.
We all generally know, to summarize, the Battle
of Badr is the first and most decisive
battle
in Islamic history. Once the Muslims migrated to
Madinah, they went through persecution for over a
decade.
They were tortured, they were kicked out of
their homes, they were beaten. Sumayyah radiAllahu anha
was killed and nobody could stop those who
were killing.
This was happening to Muslims for 10 years,
the boycott that cut them off from all
food, drink and socializing with them, No trade
whatsoever. Don't give them anything at all. And
they starved during those years.
The attacks on the Muslims.
Now they're in Madinah. Now they are allowed
to respond. Now they are allowed to fight
back, those who are coming to harm them.
So they are in the Battle of Badim,
313
believers and over a thousand of the Qurayshi
pagans.
Over a thousand.
Pause for a moment to think about how
many times people have said, Oh man, what
are you talking about? That army, that military,
that group, those nations?
There are too many in number, they're too
large, they're too advanced.
How many examples do we have from the
Quran and the Sunnah from history
that this is not always the case, that
it's about your numbers or your quantity. So
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would make
dua, the sahaba would make dua, the battle
of Badr was very decisive, very difficult. If
you were amongst the people who participated,
you're thinking what?
3 to 1?
300 people against a 1,000? And the 300,
by the way, don't all have horses and
spears and swords, those are very, very, very
basic things.
And those who are coming to attack are
advanced in their military.
O Allah, should this group be defeated today,
you will no longer be worshipped.
If our group, meaning the people at the
Battle of Badr, if we are all killed
today,
like how is Islam going to spread? This
was basically the Battle of Badr. So to
summarize,
Allah protected the believers, a duel took place,
1 on 1 duel, 3 of them took
place before the battle actually
started and Allah subhanahu wa'anhu gave permission for
the first time for the believers to fight
back. Now, they are allowed to fight back
in this situation. This took place during which
month?
Ramadan. Imagine, Ramadan. By the way, some scholars
say there there were many people who were
fasting. When you think of fasting
and a battle, people tell you like, oh,
I've got to go to work and school,
am I required to fast? Bro, they went
to a battle and they were fasting. Do
you know why? Because when you fast, your
du'a is more accepted. And when you fast,
there's more barak in your actions. When you
fast, there's more tranquility descending upon you. When
you fast, there's barakah blessings in a way
that you cannot possibly do. So Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala sent down His sakinah,
He sent down the slumber, the sleep that
they experienced, the sahabah, the night of the
battle of Badr, that they slept peacefully. Who
sleeps peacefully before a battle?
Usually you're terrified, you're worried, you're nervous, what's
gonna happen tomorrow? People are nervous about worldly
things. People are nervous about a job interview,
work, school, whatever it may be. So in
this case, Allah Subhana reminds them of His
favors upon them and then when the battle
begins
and it starts to intensify,
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala mentions not just malaika
that are going to support angels.
Bala
intasbihu
watattaqul, this is what it starts with, your
action first.
Your action first. If you believers
have firmness,
if you have steadfastness, if you have patience,
meaning what? You have to go through the
physical motions.
Watataqqul,
you have God Consciousness, don't commit sin, stay
away from haram, do everything Allah commanded.
That if you do this and the enemy
launches a sudden attack on you, Allah will
reinforce you with 5,000 angels designated for this
battle. Allahu Akbar. 5,000 angels,
5,000 angels. Now notice this point, this is
my point.
Allah
could have simply sent his malaika
to destroy these people and the Muslims would
not have to get up for a battle.
That's possible. Allah
could have sent a natural disaster to destroy
all 1,000 of them. That did not happen.
So when you study these stories, you'll find
there is an effort,
there's a perseverance, wal yumahisallahu
ladheenaamanu.
There's a purification
that humans, believers go through when they put
in the effort, they persevere, they put their
trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so in
his wisdom. He decreed that this life, a
dunya,
very different than Jannah, that in this life,
we are to take all measures. Leave the
results to Allah
but you have to do the work, you
have to persevere,
you have to have taqwa, you have to
have sabr.
And those who die in the Battle of
Badr, did they lose?
No. They're shuhada.
Did they lose? They are shuhada. Those who
died in the battle of Uhr, did they
lose? They are shuhada, they are martyrs. Those
who are killed innocently today for being Muslim,
they are shuhada, they are martyrs. They have
not lost anything, they are in the highest
ranks of Jannah. Those children that are killed,
over 1,000 children in a week, they are
shuhada.
Assume optimistically of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala sent them malaika and
tells the believers and tells us so we
learn.
Allah ordained
these angels, this reinforcement
only as good news and reassurance for your
hearts.
And the scholars say this was an example
of a situation where it was known that
malaika came down even if nobody could see
the malaika.
So what does this mean?
That in later generations,
malaika could absolutely and are absolutely supporting the
believers even if you don't see them. We
don't have revelation to tell us anymore but
we know malaika are supporting, protecting
the believers. And in fact everyone has guardian
angels so long as you are not committing
sins and you're upon dhikr and du'a, the
guardian angels are always around you. And Allah
foretold this victory, and the Muslims were victorious
and the truth spread.
You know the story of Tawut and Jalut,
you know the story of, in English, the
story of David and Goliath, the small army,
the large army, it's not about the numbers
at the end of the day. So So
the lessons from the battle of Badr taken
from this topic of tawakkul, let's summarize. Number
1, turn to Allah.
Turn to Allah and be firm. When you
say turn to Allah, it means that you
are doing everything you are required to. A
Muslim victory, and I'm not talking about a
situation in particular in the world today, in
general,
a Muslim victory
is not just about numbers.
It's not about numbers at all. It's not
just about the strength or the advancement of
a technology.
It starts with our reliance upon Allah
We have to trust this reality. Yes. We
have to strategize. It's a separate matter. But
don't say because a number is less or
more, this person, that more. That's not the
point. All believers
O
believers, they're about to be attacked
by the pagans. When you face an enemy,
stand firm and remember Allah often. So you
have to do dhikr now, you have to
remember Allah why so your heart doesn't become
weak, so you don't lose trust, so you're
not distracted by their numbers
and remember Allah often so that you may
triumph and then the command is very clear.
Obey
the command of Allah and the Messenger sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
Do not dispute with one another
If you do that, if you divide because
of your dispute you'll become discouraged, you'll lose
your spirit, you'll become weakened
wasbiroo
a very clear command, persevere.
Allah is with those who persevere. Some people
will live and they will have a victory,
some people will die and they will have
a victory. They will be shuhada.
The point is to be strong and to
trust in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Another of
the lessons from the Battle of Badib is
how the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasall exemplified that
trust. He knew, he knew with no doubt
whatsoever and he made so much dua, Abu
Bakr
had to actually pull his arms and say
you've prayed and you're supplicate enough as it
is You Rasulullah will give us victory.
This is a Muwekul reminding the Prophet who's
making so much extra du'a.
Another lesson is of course the power of
du'a. Sometimes we complain about the state of
the world
and our,
mastery of dua is very
weak. We are really not utilizing dua as
it should be and I don't mean quantity
but quality. We all know this and it's
a reminder for myself and everyone here that
dua is the essence of worship, it is
the weapon of the believer. And sometimes it
is as simple as making the most heartfelt
du'a you can make for those who are
suffering that will change their situation in a
way you will never know, in a way
you can never find out about, or it'll
protect other people, or it'll alleviate the discomfort
of that young child that was just found
in the rubble. The power of dua and
the power of fasting.
Some people ask this question on a side
note, are you allowed to do a global
day of fasting for Palestine, for Khazza, for
Syria? I think tomorrow some people said there's
like a global day of fasting and they're
sharing this in many of the organizations and
groups. Alhamdulillah, this is a good thing. The
only thing that matters here is the framing,
the wording. If you say this is fasting
for Palestine that doesn't make any sense. No
it's fasting for the sake of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. Why? Because when you fast for
the sake of Allah there's acceptance of your
dua, there's good acts of worship, you're staying
away from haram, so you emphasize this in
the wording and you make sure that people
are not misunderstanding those who don't know, that
they may think oh fasting for anything becomes
like a social justice thing rather than what?
No we are not fasting for social justice
we're fasting so that we are closer to
Allah so that when we are closer to
Allah, du'a is more accepted, there's more barakah
for the ummah. And this is something the
Sahaba did in the battle of Badr, they
were fasting.
Another lesson from the battle of Badr, Do
not ever fear your enemies. Do not ever
fear your enemies no matter how many they
are.
If you fear your enemies,
it's as though, again, the assumptions we talked
about and an assumption has to be shattered.
It means you think
that Allah is not capable of giving you
victory over them. This is the logical conclusion,
it sounds very harsh. If you are fearing
your enemy, it's as though you don't think
Allah is protecting you.
And there's something that goes back to point
number 1, who is Allah? Allah is protecting
you. Hasbun Allah, unaabamewakeer.
Hasbun Allah, unaabamewakeer. We teach our children this
every single day. You take all measures, you
take all actions
but you have to believe and trust in
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala that if the entire
world gathered against you to harm you and
Allah did not want you to be harmed,
it was not written for you meaning, He
did not decree for you, nobody can harm
you as in the famous hadith. And then
another and the last point here we'll say
about the Barab Badr. The concept of unity.
Do not divide, do not divide, do not
divide.
Why? What happens when you start disputing, fighting,
dividing? The conflict
prevents you from progressing, from efficiency.
Our ummah today is divided as it is.
Divided in the most bizarre ways from an
Islamic perspective, like geographic
nation states that don't make any sense that
some people maybe even drunk started to draw
up between the Muslims in the Middle East.
This is the reality. As you know, the
lines are very
arbitrary between the French and the British and
others. Where is this division?
When we hear people saying, oh, she's from
that country, he's from that country, I won't
accept this, I won't accept. Where is Islam
in all of this? It's very nationalistic, and
nationalism, when it's implemented like this, is actually
problematic.
Very very problematic.
We throw these things out the window and
say no. Law is what unites us. This
does not mean we will agree on everything.
The Sahaba did not agree on everything, but
guess what? Many times they put aside
their their dispute, their difference of opinion in
public for the sake of keeping the Muslims
united. This is something we learn from.
Do not divide.
So again, this question keeps coming up and
I'll wrap up with this.
What about du'a that does not seem to
be accepted in Palestine?
Because if du'a is accepted, this person is
telling you my assumption.
If my du'a is accepted and the people
of Palestine, their du'a is accepted, then the
occupation, the invasion, the terrorism, the killing innocent
children has to stop immediately.
So why is there a prolonged dua?
Why do we go back to the topic
of assumptions?
It's as though there is an assumption that
there's constant ease in this world for all
the believers,
As long as you make dua, you will
never go through any hardship. But the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam made dua for all
23 years of those years and went through
a lot of pain so that we learn.
That's not telling of where you stand with
Allah, that's not telling of your piety.
It's not like anyone told us or Allah
told us that, hey, if you just make
dua, there will never be oppression or occupation
or evil in the world. Allah tells us
the opposite, you make dua, you persevere. Wasbiro.
Persevere, hold on.
The last time of Surat Al Imran. So
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not telling us
that just because you made dua instantaneously,
all the hardship and evil of other people
is going to disappear. Why do we think?
Why do we see? The afterlife is constantly
linked with injustice
So the people recognize it's not just injustice
or justice now. It's about what will happen
when you die as well. Why do we
see that the good is multiplied then but
the people of evil will have exactly what
they earn? The punishment that is very fair.
So somebody says, again, I don't understand. Why
is the dua not answered? The short answer
is this, who told you it's not answered?
Who told you dua is not answered?
That is an assumption.
Let's shatter that assumption by going back to
the source, the Quran and the sunnah. Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, udu'uni astajiblakum,
call upon me, I will respond to you,
wallahi, every sincere dua for our brothers and
sisters in Palestine and every sincere dua in
lands and places in which people have been
hurt and occupied, every sincere dua you've made
in your life or or anybody who's ever
been bullied or even anyone who's been oppressed,
every sincere dua,
as long as you're not asking for something
haram, your dua is accepted.
The question of how is a very different
question. And that takes us to the sunnah
where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us
that dua is sometimes accepted in the way
you asked for.
It could be accepted in the moment and
we have seen this happen by the way.
You have seen this in your life perhaps.
You asked for a job, certain marriage, you
asked for a career, an educational path and
it worked out.
But there's some types of dua that they're
being answered in a manner that protects you
from some kind of calamity and it could
be a calamity for your faith, for your
health, for somebody else. It's just a calamity.
You're protected from it. Another type of dua
that's accept another form of acceptance is that
it will be saved for you as a
reward on the day day of judgement. What
does that mean? There are some people in
this Ummah. There are people in Palestine, in
Syria, in East Turkestan, in India. There are
people here and all around the world.
Because of the test that they have gone
through and because they've held on to their
faith and because they continue to call upon
Allah with no doubts that their du'a is
being answered, they will have some of the
greatest rewards on the Day of Judgment.
And when people experience those rewards and are
elevated not 1 or 2 but to the
highest ranks of paradise to alfirdaus
in an in a home that is eternal
you're not in any neighborhood where you can
just buy a house and sell a house
and like I'll move to somewhere better, you
are in al Firdaus
forever.
Do you think anyone who enters al Firdaus
amongst our brothers and sisters who've suffered for
so long
will say on the day of judgement, I
wish I could go back to al Dunya
and give up al Firdaus and just have
some ease for this 50 years. It's not
to justify the pain at all. It's not
to say there is no pain. Every single
one of us, if we've seen a single
video or picture of any child in the
last few days, it's so painful.
But this is one of many ways Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala reminds the believers that every
du'a is answered.
Do not underestimate your du'a. And of course,
we have to remind not just those who
are in a safe place but those who
are struggling here and around the world, for
those who are oppressed,
remember that this is the test of life.
Hold on to your faith.
For our brothers and sisters around the world,
in many ways we feel as an ummah
because of our shortcomings that we failed them,
because of our shortcomings that we have failed
them in many ways
and we have a lot of room for
improvement. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive us.
For many of our brothers and sisters in
different lands and places who feel collective pain,
collective suffering at what's happening, it's a time
for us to revive the traits that revive
the ummah. It's a time for us to
go back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. It's
a time for us to return back to
du'a. It's time for us to strategize. It's
a time for us to go back
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, a matter of
repentance that protects us from ever going back
to those sins again. If there was any
human being who deserved not to be in
this world going through any hardship whatsoever, it
would be the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and
the companions.
But that's not the reality of a dunya,
that's the sunnah of Allah that there's some
hardship in this world but there are many
wisdoms and Allah does not wrong his creation
so when people were oppressed he made dua
in every prayer He tried to,
succeed. He tried to, be victorious in the
battles that they had sallallahu alaihi wasalam. It
reminds us also when we say take all
measures,
strategize,
build
politically,
economically, in media, in journalism. We have many
Muslims who are doctors at hamdulillah.
We have many Muslims who are engineers and
IT alhamdulillah.
We don't have as many Muslims in politics.
We don't have as many Muslims in economics.
We don't have as many Muslims in very
strategic positions that will benefit society, help society,
reform society for the better.
Because we might not see it as a
lucrative
career for our children.
We're long
way past saying like we need all Muslims
to be 1 or 2 or 3 fields.
Alhamdulillah we have a lot of people in
different fields we need Muslims to start to
focus on the structures of the world the
things that affect large segments of society
And this includes journalism, this includes media, this
includes politics. It's not an easy path as
we all know, and it will require having
religious guidance as a person pursues it, but
it is one of the things that can
help society for the better, decrease suffering in
the world. Also, what can you do? Give
in charity. Give generously to the organizations that
are doing this work, like the civil rights
organizations,
like AMP and others. You can also talk
about giving charity directly humanitarian aid. This is
one act of worship. What can you do
as well? To summarize, be righteous. Be righteous.
Be righteous. Have taqwa.
Raise righteous children.
Be a source of righteousness for others and
spread righteousness in the world. These these are
absolute least things that we can do. And
if we work more and more and more
as a united body, putting aside some of
our ego and our differences, we will start
to see very soon inshaAllah ta'ala. Like the
example of the battle of Badri, we will
start to see soon many situations like this
very soon inshaAllah ta'ala. I want to end
with
a kind of like spoken word kind of
poetry and I'll end on this note inshallah.
I'm not going to mention who wrote this
but I will try to read this as
smoothly as possible inshallah.
O you who experiences
pain in this world, remember.
Remember, the one who created your body and
ruh, your soul. The one who carried the
ark of Nuh, alayhis salaam.
The one who, for Musa, split the sea
and punished those who opposed the truth,
the one who brought Yusuf back to his
father. He saved him from the well and
released him from jail and saved Yunus alaihis
salam from the belly of the whale.
He returned baby Musa
back to his mother and strengthened his resolve
with the help of his brother.
The one who saved, Risa alaihi salam, Jesus,
peace be upon him, with ascension to the
heavens, pay attention as Allah knows your every
prayer and intention.
He blessed us and saved the final messenger
Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who
brings down his support,
his blessings, his angels, his trust is your
fort. He liberated Al Aqsa through Umar radiAllahu
an with peace.
Later again all of Philistine was freed with
salahadeen and today its people are oppressed
occupied as they bleed but they trust in
Allah distressed but freed from loving too much
of this world as they see death that
is decreed.
Blessed are the people of Al Aqsa who
hold on to their creed. Blessed are the
people of Philistine.
Blessed is the child who knows the meaning
of shahid. Blessed is the parent
whose pain
turns to good deeds to make du'a
In times of hardship, in times of pain,
indeed,
success
is nearby.
By divine design, oh people of Palestine, Allah
says call upon me. I will respond to
you.
Call upon him with hope and believe in
the response for the promise of Allah is
always true.
May Allah
alleviate the affairs of our brothers and sisters
in Al Ghazza and Philistine and all around
the world. May Allah
protect them and aid them and bring down
his angels. May Allah
support them with a support from him. May
Allah destroy all of those who spread oppression
and injustice and killing and evil in the
world. May Allah
protect us all around the world from all
types of evil and oppression. May Allah make
us a people of justice and a source
of justice and peace in the world. May
Allah accept the deceased Ashuhada.
May Allah grant sabr, patience, and resolve for
their families who have survived. May Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala grant them reunion in the highest
levels of Jannah with the prophets and the
messengers, alayhim, salam. May Allah make us a
means of guidance and optimism in the world.
May Allah grant us tawakkul, true trust and
reliance upon Him in times of pain and
times of ease. May
Allah protect our hearts from being attached to
this life. May Allah
make our hearts attached to Him and to
the afterlife.
And may Allah allow us to live and
die upon Islam and iman.