Tahir Anwar – Was A Mercy To Mankind
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, who is the Messenger of Islam. The Prophet's actions and intentions for the future relate to his actions and intentions for the future, and he is used as an example for the success of the world. The speakers stress the importance of avoiding false accusations, showing gratitude and weaknesses in order to be a complete believer, and listening to one's parents' teachings to avoid damaging relationships. They also discuss challenges of family life, including personal lives, struggles with job responsibilities, and personal lives. The speakers stress the importance of protecting families and building financial independence through various projects.
AI: Summary ©
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
Allah is the Greatest.
Allah is the Greatest.
There is none worthy of worship except
Allah.
There is no one more impactful that has
come to this earth than the Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
There is no one who has moved more
lives than the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
There is no one whose day to day
movements, every single one of them, there is
no one on this earth who has come
whose movements have made an impact like that
of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Historically when we look upon an individual, when
we imitate an individual, when we look up
to an individual, we look at them for
some of their talents, some of their talents,
not all of them.
We look at how they speak, we look
at how they write, we look at how
they sing, we look at how they play
sports.
Those are the qualities we imitate, we look
up to certain qualities of human beings.
But there is no one on this earth
whom people look up to for all of
his qualities.
And that's why Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
-A'la mentions in the Qur'an, وَمَا
يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى إِنْهُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُحَى that
every action, every word of the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam happens to be a revelation revealed
by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
And so if you want to look up
to someone in your moments of happiness, the
Nabi Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
In your moments of grief, the Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
While you are traveling, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
While you're at home, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
While you're young, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
As you get older, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
You're a female, the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
You get what I'm trying to say.
In every moment, in every moment of ours,
we can look up to the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam and we can turn to his
seerah.
We can turn to his seerah.
And it is that seerah of the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that continues to keep the
ummah alive today.
In moments of extreme grief, in moments of
extreme grief, we still look up to the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
We don't lose our faith.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the Qur'an
is filled with verses around the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
The best example we find is in that
of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And the example that we find are not
just for this dunya.
We have to understand that the examples that
we find are examples that lead us into
the akhirah, that take us into the akhirah.
The real salvation, the real success is not
that of this world, is that of the
akhirah, is that of the hereafter.
And so when people grieve, when people become
sad, when people become upset, people do all
kinds of things.
And in addition to taking the means that
we need to in this dunya, we turn
to the seerah of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
It's very simple.
And a simple example that has been so
real for us, for the last so many
decades, but for people who have not been
alive for the last so many decades, definitely
the last year, are our brothers and sisters
in Gaza.
Despite all the odds being against them, every
single odd being against them, having had to
forcefully give up everything that they had, including
many their own lives, there is not a
single person that you will come across who
has deviated from their faith.
I want people to think about this.
You have all these groups, we're finding this
in today's day and age, we have all
these groups of individuals who say they consider
themselves to be ex-Muslim.
People who say, well, I was born Muslim.
People who say my parents are Muslim.
People who say I go to pray because
everyone prays, but I don't know if I
believe in Islam anymore.
I really don't know if there happens to
be a God out there anymore.
How can the God of the Muslims be
so non-merciful?
These are very real questions.
This is a very common question amongst young
individuals.
How can Allah allow for this to happen?
The very people that are suffering are not
making these statements.
The very people that are suffering are not
making these statements.
The very people who are carrying the limbs
of their young children in bags are not
making these statements.
Yet when you ask them, they say, حَسْبُنَا
اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيمِ حَسْبُنَا Allah will suffice for
us.
Why?
Because they didn't just read the seerah.
They didn't just study the seerah as something
meant to be studied and researched.
They allowed for that seerah to penetrate into
their hearts.
They allowed for that seerah to penetrate into
their hearts.
And while the seerah contains, the seerah reminds
us of how to live in this world.
More importantly, the seerah also reminds them of
the akhira and the hereafter.
Reminds them of the hereafter.
And so they know that for all their...
They won't ask and say, Why will Allah
allow this?
They truly believe that the reward is with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the hereafter.
We have these golden...
You know, subhanAllah, we're alive.
We're well.
We have the ability to read.
We have the ability to study.
We have the ability to listen.
We have the ability to host events and
conferences that are around the Nabi sallallahu alaihi
wasallam without any permission from anyone.
You know, we take, as Muslims in America,
we take so many things for granted.
We take so much for granted.
And then when little things happen, we begin
to complain.
The reality is that the freedoms that the
Muslims in America have are unfound in other
parts of the world.
A very dear friend of mine has dedicated
the last few decades of his life translating
works, Islamic works, into the Chinese language.
Corporate America took early retirement, is living off
of his retirement for the last two decades.
And he recently told me that he wanted
10 copies of a certain book to be
brought into Taiwan through mail.
No, just being mailed.
A book, 10 copies of a book being
mailed from the United States into Taiwan.
And he needed government permission to import 10
books on Islam.
By the way, they were all one book.
It was just 10 copies of one book
into Taiwan.
The permissions that are needed, the freedoms that
we have as Muslims in America, don't take
them lightly, brothers and sisters.
When we are given this opportunity to discuss
the Battle of Badr, the Battle of Uhud,
the migration of the Prophet ﷺ, the lessons
that we take away from them, the ability
to practice Islam, the ability to dress in
whatever way we want, the ability to congregate
freely.
These are all freedoms that you and I
have been given, that people actually fought for,
by the way.
Now, don't get me wrong.
You want to talk about many of the
freedoms that we are being stripped of, that's
an entirely different lecture.
But we have the ability to stand up
for our rights.
And so while there are many, many faults
we find in this land that we call
home, the rights that our First Amendment gives
to us should not be taken lightly.
And as a result of that, we have
every reason to not just study our faith,
but to be in gatherings that will allow
for our hearts to become munawwar, to allow
our hearts to be enlightened.
This is very real.
And Allah ﷻ reminds us in the Qur
'an, وَأَطِعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ Obey
Allah and His Messenger.
Obey Allah and His Messenger.
And that's what people who are going through
grief in other parts of the world are
doing.
They are simply obeying Allah ﷻ, and His
Messenger against all odds.
And they say, سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا We have heard
and we have obeyed.
We have heard and we have obeyed.
They don't ask questions.
But it takes a lot.
It's not just about information.
The information highway is very, very real.
People know a lot more than what people
knew in the past.
There's no doubt about that.
But it hasn't penetrated into the hearts.
In fact, in Surah Al-Imran, the verse
that I recited, وَأَطِعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِعُوا الرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ
تُرْحَمُونَ The verse right after that is, وَسَارِعُوا
إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرَضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ
أُعِدَّتِ الْمُتَّقِينَ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ
وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ
الْمُحْسِنِينَ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ When we
talk about seerah, people say, I know exactly
what's happening.
I don't need to be told.
Simple qualities of the Messenger ﷺ.
Simple reminders of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
in the Quran.
وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala explains
two qualities that the believers need to have
in order for you to be a complete
believer.
كَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ Those who withhold
their anger.
It is a prophetic quality to withhold our
anger.
Some would say, suck it up.
But it's a prophetic quality to withhold our
anger.
That's when you know you've become a good
Muslim.
وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ And forgiving people.
Learning to forgive.
Simply say that I have forgiven you until
the day of judgment.
And my reward in أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّهِ
My reward is with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala.
That's really what being a Muslim is.
It's very very simple.
That's really what following the seerah is.
You know people say I need to fight
for my rights.
Absolutely we need to fight for our rights.
But there are times when we come into
situations where forgiveness is far better than fighting
for our rights.
I'm not alluding to the current political situation
by the way.
I'm talking about our family matters.
Right, family matters.
How was the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam?
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam when Aisha Radiallahu
Anha was asked How was the Nabi Muhammad?
How do you define his character?
She said كان خلقه القرآن His character was
the Qur'an.
When Aisha Radiallahu Anha was asked How is
he at home?
The Nabi Alaihi Salatu Wasalam says خِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ
لِأَهْلِهِ The best of you are those who
are best to their families.
We simply cannot.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot change the ummah.
We cannot bring change to the ummah.
Unless we bring an internal change to ourselves.
Really, that's the greatest challenge that we have.
People talk about all these great challenges.
The simplest challenge is simply going home after
work, after the masjid and being kind to
your family members.
Giving time to your family.
Brothers and sisters, however, whoever.
This is for everyone, myself included.
That we're not hanging out with our friends
far more than we're hanging out with our
own families.
That when we go home, we're not screaming
all the time.
When we go home, we are kind to
our parents.
خِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ When we go home, we
are kind to our parents.
When we go home, we are kind.
We have good words for our spouses.
If something has or has not been done
at home, we simply don't lose our cool
and end up becoming a monster.
Why?
خِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ Because the best of you
are those who are best to their families.
Spending time with those around you.
Why?
Because خِيَارُكُمْ خِيَارُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ Giving people their due
rights.
You owe people money.
Pay your debts.
You've been unkind to one of your brothers
or sisters.
Be kind to them.
The seerah reminds us the Prophet ﷺ says
that whoever is kind to their kith and
kin, to their blood relatives, the Nabi ﷺ
says you have two benefits.
The Nabi ﷺ says, your age is increased.
If you are kind to your blood relatives,
this is the Nabi ﷺ, your age is
increased.
The Nabi ﷺ says if you're kind to
your kith and kin, your wealth, your rizq
is increased.
Your rizq is increased.
I have a very dear friend, very briefly,
he says I've been struggling to get a
job for the longest time.
He says I heard this in a khutbah.
I got in my car and I came
to realize that I have a sister who
I disagreed with.
And as a result of my disagreement, I
had not necessarily cut ties with her, but
we wouldn't call each other.
We wouldn't speak to each other as we
would in the past.
And he says, I sucked it up.
I picked up the phone and called my
sister.
And I asked her for forgiveness.
He says despite my sister being in the
wrong.
He said I asked her for forgiveness.
I said let bygones be bygones.
Let's move ahead in life.
He says I put the phone down.
The next phone call I got before I
even got home was a job offer.
And I've been struggling to get a job
for 10 months.
Why?
By the way, very highly accomplished, PhD.
In any case, why?
The Nabi ﷺ makes us this promise.
Brothers and sisters, the seerah is awesome to
say the least.
The seerah is awesome.
But it's all about listening to it.
It's all about implementing it.
The more we listen, the more we will
have the ability to implement.
We haven't been sent into this world to
simply make money and just have fun.
There's a lot more that needs to be
done.
And Allah ﷻ, for Muslims in America specifically,
Allah has given us this ability to have
the freedom where we can congregate in our
mosques and ask any one of us to
be able to speak and listen to them.
You don't need approvals from some authority, some
worldly authority in order for you to be
able to listen to a lecture on seerah
or for that matter anything else by anyone
that you wish and desire to do so.
This is a great opportunity.
But like I said earlier, we've been taking
this for granted.
And as a result of our taking this
for granted, we simply think, oh, it's just
another event.
It's simply just happening.
Who cares?
Let's move on.
Any gathering in which Allah and His Messenger
are mentioned are also gatherings of dhikr.
We tend to forget that.
We come from certain kinds of backgrounds and
ideologies where we think that the only form
of dhikr is reciting the Qur'an.
The only form of dhikr is attending some
sort of a dhikr gathering.
That the only good that we can do
in our lives is doing certain types of
activities or reading certain types of books.
The reality is that for us to be
able to say, I am Muslim, to go
into the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, to go into any gathering where Allah
and His Messenger are mentioned are all gatherings
of dhikr.
Don't take these lightly.
And I say this especially to the young
parents.
And I want to close.
I say this especially to the young parents.
If you are concerned about raising your children
wholesome, holistic, Muslim, if this matters to you,
you are going to have to give up
your weekend parties and going out all the
time.
I'm not saying don't do them.
But you're really going to have to make
a conscious choice of these gatherings and the
house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being
a very, very important part of your life.
And being there with them.
You know I say to parents at Sunday
school, don't be the parent that simply leaves
the child outside and picks them up outside.
Be the parent that walks in with them.
Be the parent that prays dhuhr next to
them before you take them home.
That's how we're going to raise children.
And if we truly want the seerah to
be implemented in the lives of our children,
we simply can't teach them the seerah.
We have to implement the seerah in our
lives.
We have to implement this.
It's hard work.
And we're not doing this just for the
sake of the dunya.
We are also doing this and more importantly
doing this for the sake of the akhira.
Don't forget that.
We're always worried about what's happening to us
in the dunya, but it's all about the
akhira.
May Allah bless us all.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward us
all.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow
us to truly love Him subhanahu wa ta
'ala and His messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam.
Barak Allah, barak Allah lana wa lakum fil
quran al azim wa nafa'ana wa iyaakum
bil ayati wal dhikr al hakeem innahu ta
'ala jawadun kareemun malikum barr al ra'uf
al raheem fastaghfiruhu innahu huwa al ghafoor al
raheem alhamdulillahi
rabbil alameen wassalatu wassalamu ala sayyidina muhammad wa
ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man tabi'ahum
bi ihsan ila yawm al deen amma ba'd
We talk about the Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam and his seerah, and I want to
close with something very, very simple.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam also told
us how to live in this world, how
to be financially competent in this world.
And we Muslims have a method of being
financially competent called waqf.
This is just something which is very, very
near and dear to my heart.
And I only say this as a matter
of fact and information.
I sit on the Prophet of about half
a dozen non-profit boards.
And every single one of them has a
waqf in the millions of dollars.
Whether that project is small or large, I'm
a true believer in waqf.
And I could speak about this forever, but
if you go to certain Muslim countries, no
matter how hard you try, you cannot donate
and contribute to your local masjid.
You can't because these are run by awqaf.
And the reason I shared this and I
decided to talk about this right now is
as I drove in, and I can see
from here that your masjid has a waqf
project that no masjid in this country has.
Mubarak.
Mubarak to all of you and to your
entire community for thinking of the future of
this ummah.
Where we can go to putting our funds
in far more places.
Let me tell you something.
Let me tell you a secret.
Fundraising will never stop.
It's an opportunity to give to the house
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's not a bad thing.
But if you have your awqaf, you know
you can run your schools and your masjid.
I say schools first.
We're living in interesting times.
And so mubarak to you and your community
for this amazing project that you are doing.
And I can tell you for a fact,
and I know all of you know this.
There's not a single community in the entire
United States that has been this visionary as
your community to build this project.
And I've been told that the theme for
it is united we build.
And inshallah united we will build.
And this is also part of the seerah
of the nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
Where we become financially independent.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward us
all.
May Allah facilitate khair for every single one
of us.
May Allah protect us from all forms of
harm and evil.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continue
to bless us and our families.
Those who are ill in our families, may
Allah grant them shifa.
Those who have passed away, may Allah grant
them maghfirah.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us
a means of halal rizq.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make our
means of rizq easy for us.
May Allah put increase in barakah in our
rizq.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect our
children and our progenies.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala facilitate
khair and blessings for all of us in
this dunya and the hereafter.
May we and our progenies until the day
of judgment be amongst those who love Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Who truly love the nabi Muhammad sallallahu alayhi
wasallam.
And become proud of obeying Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and his nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
And may Allah never ever take this blessing
of iman away from us and our progenies
until the day of judgment.
Ameen.
Al-Fatiha.