Yaser Birjas – Aspiring For High Level Of Good Deeds

AI: Summary ©
The history of the Middle East is discussed, including the use of trees and the historical significance of a door being the key to accessing a trade route. The speaker describes the fortification of mountains and fortresses, as well as the difficulty of breaking through a battle and the importance of the Prophet's seal of approval. The speaker gives a brief history of the Khaybar and its popular nightly celebrations, including the use of a banner to someone who loves Allah and Jesus.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Baraka nabiyyin wa muhammadin wa ala alihi wa
sahbihi wa salam wa tasliman kathira thumma ma
ba'd.
We're still reading from the chapter of al
-mubadira bi khairat.
Hastening and rushing to do good deeds.
From Riyad al-Saliheen, Imam al-Nawawi, rahimahullah
wa ta'ala, mentions in hadith number 94,
qala wa an abi hurairat radiallahu anhu, anna
rasulallah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa qala yawma
khaybar, la aqiyanna hadhi ra'ayata rajran yuhibbu
allaha wa rasulah, yaftahullahu ala aday.
In this hadith, the messenger of Allah, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, said, actually huraira he says,
on the day of the battle of khaybar,
on the day of the battle of khaybar,
the messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
said, I shall hand over this flag to
one who loves Allah and his messenger, and
Allah will give us victory through him.
So first of all, let's talk about, the
hadith still continues, but khaybar, what's the significance
of the battle of khaybar over here?
So if you remember, the battle of khaybar
happened after the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
he secured a treaty with the people of
Mecca, in what we know as al-Hudaibiyah.
So after six years of war, five years
of war, with the people of Mecca, and
after they were defeated in the battle of
the trench, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
the following year, he went to Mecca for
Umrah.
He was banned from going through.
And eventually that ended with a treaty.
Part of the provision of that treaty is
that war will pause or stop for ten
years.
So there will be truce for ten years.
So now the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
secured the southern border of Medina, and the
Meccans, the same thing, they now secured the
northern border, so they can go right now
and trade with the Sham, after they've not
been able to do that for years.
So now the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
he finds himself free to deal with the
northern threat.
And there are two threats coming from the
north.
Number one, khaybar, and number two, the northern
Arab Christians of the north, which is closer
to the allies of the Byzantines.
So with the Byzantines, he sent an army
of 3,000.
We know of the Battle of Mu'tah.
The Battle of Mu'tah, in which three of
the leaders were killed, Zayd, Abdullah ibn al
-Rawah, and Jafar ibn al-Bitalib, r.a.,
and then they selected Khalid, who brought them
back again to Medina safely.
The other threat was khaybar.
Khaybar is...
I don't know how many of you have
been to khaybar, but if you've been to
the city of khaybar, it's a small town
still in Saudi Arabia right now, north of
Medina.
There's the old town, the old town, still
probably as it was maybe 1,400 years
ago.
You still have the same orchard, the same
forests of palm trees, and then the old
fortresses.
One of the very famous fortresses was the
fortress of Marhab.
Marhab was one of the leaders in that
area.
So khaybar was predominantly owned by the Jewish
community.
When the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam expelled
Banu Qaynuqa'a, Banu Nadir, from Medina, they
went to khaybar.
And khaybar already had its own people there.
Khaybar was known to be on the trade
route to Ash-Sham, so therefore it was
a good business center as well, too.
And subhanallah, the land in khaybar was so
fertile that the trees, the palm trees grow
there everywhere, and the size of the dates
that comes from khaybar is significantly larger than
usual.
Like there's so much barakah, subhanallah, that even
at the time of the Prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam, when he received, one day he
received from the dates of khaybar, came to
him, Bilal brought to the Prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam from the dates of khaybar.
And when the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam
grabbed the dates of khaybar, he was surprised
and shocked how big, mashallah, it was.
He said, I eat dates of khaybar like
this?
All the dates come from khaybar like this?
He said, no, ya Rasulallah, that's not the
case.
But we trade.
We trade the not-so-good quality, this
much of it with this little much of
that good date.
And the Prophet said, no, no, no, this
is riba.
You can't do this.
But the significance of the story here is
the quality of the khaybar dates.
And I remember visiting khaybar with the Sheikh
Safiur Rahman Mubarak Furi, rahimahullah ta'ala, the
author of the rahiq al-maktum, the sealed
nectar, himself.
We took him with us on a, I
could say, a road trip so he can
show us, you know, the entire story of
khaybar visually from that area.
And it was such a beautiful experience to
be with the Sheikh.
I don't know if I explained to you
the situation, the circumstances there, subhanallah.
But I remember that the dates of khaybar,
even that, this maybe was about 25 years
ago, probably, or so.
I can tell you that the dates from
khaybar in that time, 30 years ago, it
was so significantly large, like it's like a
small burrito, mashallah.
Literally, like one date is so big, tawarak
al-rahman.
You know, you read the majdool date that
comes from California.
Imagine this, maybe, I don't want to say
double the size, but almost double the size.
This is how good it was.
And he didn't even have to throw anything
at the tree.
It's so heavy that it falls on the
ground.
You pick it from the ground, subhanallah.
It was so amazing.
So khaybar, it was known for this.
So when the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
he wanted to eliminate that northern threat that
was coming from khaybar.
And now that they secured the south, he
now took an army to go to khaybar
to just finish it once and for all.
We're done.
Because if you guys remember, the reason why
the Meccans brought their allies, 10,000 of
them around Medina for the Battle of the
Trench, was because Huyay ibn Akhtab, one of
the leaders of the Jewish community in that
area, was expelled from Medina.
He went to the people in Mecca and
kind of like kept inciting them and kept
provoking them and encouraging them to fight against
the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
So the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he
just said, you know what, once and for
all we're going to eliminate that threat.
So they went there.
And it was not an easy battle.
It took them about four months.
Four months the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
was going through one fortress to the other,
one fortress to the other, and everyone just
like, it was not that easy.
Because the area is really fortified with mountains
and fortresses, just like unbelievable terrain.
And Marhab's fortress is on the top of
a hill.
It's very steep.
So even if you try to climb up,
you can easily be a target.
So it was like, it was really a
battle.
So after some time, after all these months,
and it was so hard to break through,
the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, then he
said, He said, that's it, we're done.
Allah is going to give us victory tomorrow.
But I'm going to give this banner, this
banner right now, this flag, the flag of
the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, to lead
the army, to basically to be on the
battlefield.
I'm going to give it to someone who,
that he loves Allah and His Messenger, and
Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, will give him
victory.
Umar, radiyallahu anhu, he heard that from the
Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
He said, He goes, I never loved, I
never longed for leadership, but that day.
Why?
Because the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he
said two things about this person.
What are they, Jamal?
Number one, a testimony from the Prophet, salallahu
alayhi wa sallam, that this person, he truly
loves Allah and His Messenger.
What a great testimony.
That the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he
gives his seal of approval.
That this person, he loves Allah and His
Messenger.
Genuinely.
He's not a hypocrite, he's not lying about
it.
No, he truly loves Allah and His Messenger.
I mean, I know most of us, if
not all of us, would say, alhamdulillah, I
love Allah and His Messenger.
Right?
But how many of us can claim we're
truthful about it?
But here's the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
saying, this man is truthful about his love
for Allah and His Messenger.
And then he says, and Allah is going
to give him victory.
So Omar says, I never wished to be
a leader or take that position, except on
that day.
Because the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he
said he loves Allah and His Messenger, and
second, Allah will give him victory.
So Omar, in this hadith, he was rushing
for a good deed, to be that person.
And everybody among the Sahaba, especially the leaders
and the warriors, everybody was kind of stretching
their neck, kind of showing their head to
the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, to be
chosen.
Then, the next day the Prophet, can you
imagine the Prophet says, tomorrow I'm going to
give it to somebody, right?
So how are they going to spend their
night?
Who's going to sleep?
Like, everybody's just like, my God, who's that?
Who is it?
Everybody would be wondering, even dreaming about themselves.
And when they go to sleep, maybe now
fantasizing, it would be me probably, right?
And the next day the Prophet, salallahu alayhi
wa sallam, when he called everybody, he said,
I was hoping, I would be called, and
I was expecting to be called for it.
Then, the next day the Prophet, salallahu alayhi
wa sallam, says, when he was looking at
the people, and everybody's trying to show themselves
to the Prophet, he didn't find the man
he was looking for.
So the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, says,
where is Ali?
Where is Ali?
And they start looking around.
The Hadith, he doesn't show the story, he's
complaining about his eyes.
Why is that?
He had allergies.
And I don't know how many of you
know, but Medina, in comparison to Mecca, is
an agrarian society, so there's a lot of
pollens, a lot of coarse vegetation, so there's
a lot of chance for allergies.
Khaybar is double that.
This is how much trees it has.
So therefore, when Ali went there, he got
allergies, and he couldn't even open his eyes.
They brought him, they dragged him to the
Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
He was led to the Prophet, salallahu alayhi
wa sallam, meaning he couldn't see his way.
They had to grab him and lead him
to the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
So when the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
he saw him, he made dua for him,
and he blew into his eyes, and his
eyes came clear.
Then the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, gives
him the banner.
He goes, take it.
The Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, gave it
to him, and he says, go forth, and
do not turn around until Allah, subhanahu wa
ta'ala, bestows victory upon you.
Very simple instruction.
Here you go.
Keep moving forward.
Don't turn around until you bring victory back
with you.
Very simple instruction.
So Ali, radiallahu anhu, he started marching, and
then he stopped.
And because the instruction was so clear, don't
turn around, he did not even turn around,
radiallahu anhu.
He stopped.
Without turning around, he starts calling the Prophet,
salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
He started yelling and screaming, because he knew
that if he's speaking in that direction, it's
not going to be loud enough.
So he had to raise his voice as
loud as possible.
He said, O Messenger of Allah, why should
I fight people?
What am I fighting them for?
What's the fight for?
The Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, Fight
them until they bear witness that there is
no god but Allah.
Make sure that we beat, so that they
say, there is no god but Allah, no
god worthy of worship but Allah, and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
If they do so, which means they give
the testimony, then you cannot hurt them.
You can't take any of their properties, don't
touch their money, don't hurt them at all.
And Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, will be
the one that they will be answered for.
Like this is it.
If they give their shahada, they will secure
themselves from you.
So that was a very simple message the
Prophet gave Ali, radiyallahu ta'ala, and indeed,
Ali was the one who fought Marhab, and
he finished him and conquered the last of
the strongholds that they had in Khaybar.
It took, again, about four months before they
were able to secure the area, and they
divided the entire Khaybar between the warriors, and
the Prophet, salallahu alaihi wa sallam, he got
an area called Fadak, which used to bring
good dates every year for the Prophet, salallahu
alaihi wa sallam, Ali.
So the hadith, basically, the area where people
need to rush for the khair, Omar, radiyallahu
alaihi wa sallam, when he heard an announcement
for a good opportunity, even though it's in
the matter of leadership, which you're not supposed
to be looking for it, he says, this
one, I'll fight for it.
So if there is khair, look for it,
inshallah, to barak for them, pursue it.
May Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, make us
among those always for that which is khair
in the dunya, ya rabbal alameen, wallahu alameen.
Any questions, jama'at?
Subhanak, Allahumma bihamdik, ash-shara la'ilat, astaghfirullah,
wa atubu ilaih.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.