Yasir Qadhi – A Simple Formula for Muslim Victory
AI: Summary ©
The Surah of the Bible provides seven lessons for victory, including trusting Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's plan and not giving up on one's plans. The importance of showing support and unity in battle is emphasized, as it is crucial for building a stronger foundation. The speaker also provides insight into specific verses and lessons from the Bible, including the importance of achieving peace and rest, and emphasizes the need to put in the best plan leaving the rest to Allah.AI: Transcript ©
Dear Muslims,
the very first battle that took place in
the Sirah, the Battle of Badr,
because of it, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed
an entire Surah in the Quran.
Surah 2 Al Anfal.
And when ibn Abbas was asked about this
surah, he said, Yes, that is surah 2
Al Badr. He calls Suratul Anfa Suratul Badr
to indicate
the entire surah is about the Battle of
Badr.
And the Battle of Badr, as we know,
was the most decisive battle
in early Islam. In fact, Allah calls it
yawmul
furqaan,
the day of clarification,
the day of criterion,
the day that truth was separated from falsehood.
Today, insha Allah, in my Khudba,
I will extract from Surat Al Anfal
7 lessons that we can learn for victory.
How do Muslims attain victory?
Surat Al Anfal
was revealed
right when the Muslims
saw the victory firsthand.
They were not expecting that victory. In fact,
the battle was not even planned. The battle
of Badr wasn't a planned battle, but it
just so happened the circumstance was created, and
the Muslims found themselves
ill equipped,
unprepared,
facing an enemy far more powerful than them,
prepared enemy. The Muslims didn't come to battle.
The Muslims came to take the the ghanimah
of Abu Sufyan, but that was not meant
to be planned. So let us read that
surah. And obviously, in a short khutba, only
so much can be done. And I encourage
you after the khutba to read the entire
surah on your own with a tafsir. We
can only give some basic benefits so that
insha Allahu ta'ala we are inspired in our
daily life and struggle.
Seven lessons for victory from Surat Al Anfal.
And by the way, this type of tafsir
in light of the seerah, it combines between
the Quran and the seerah together. And this
is one of the most powerful mechanisms
to learn the seerah. Look at the seerah
through the lens of the Quran, and look
at the Quran through the lens of the
Sira. And that's what we're gonna do today
inshaAllahu ta'ala. The first lesson, right at the
beginning of the Surah, when Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala mentions right at the beginning,
waydathuliatalihimayaattuhuzadatumimana
waala rabbihimya tawakaloon.
The very second verse, Allah describes the believers,
innamal mumminoon.
The true believers
are those who, when Allah's name is mentioned,
when they hear the remembrance of Allah,
their hearts tremble in fear. Wajilatquluubuhum.
And when the Quran is recited to them,
their iman goes up and they put their
trust in Allah.
Now,
this Surah came down
to talk about the victory of the battle
of Badr,
and Allah begins the Surah
describing who the real believers are,
describing the strength of iman,
describing their fear of Allah,
describing their love of Allah, describing them listening
to the Quran and increasing their iman, describing
their tawakkul in Allah. Is this a coincidence?
Of course not.
Victory is given to those who meet this
description.
You want Allah's victory? Read the Surah from
the beginning. The very second ayah tells you
who victory will be given to. Innamal mumminoonal
ladheena idadukirAllahuwajlatulupum
You want Allah's nazar to come? 1st and
foremost,
have your khashiya of Allah, your tawakkud in
Allah, your trembling of Allah, your iman in
Allah, you're listening to the tilawah of the
Quran of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
Do all of these
characteristics,
and then Allah's Nasr will come. Taste the
sweetness of imaan.
Understand that victory is given to those who
earn and deserve it, and that earning and
deserving comes before the victory. The victory will
come. You must put in the preparation for
it. This is the first lesson. Meet the
characteristics of the muminoon as Allah describes in
Surat Al Anfal.
The second wisdom we learn,
a constant theme of the surah, multiple ayaat.
And again, I give the disclaimer. This is
a very short tafsir.
Multiple ayaats mention that look, you can plan
as much as you want, but Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala will plan separate from you. And
the plan of Allah is better than your
plan. Sometimes what Allah plans, you don't like
it. You weren't expecting it, but you must
trust that Allah's plan is better than your
plan. This is a constant theme of Surat
Al Anfal. So for example, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala says, wa idyaidukumAllahu
iddhaqaifaitani
annahalakum
Allah promised you you would get one of
the 2 caravans.
Watawadunah
annagayradati
shawkatitakululakum
You wanted the easier one. You wanted Abu
Sufyan's. You wanted the caravan that was coming
from Makkah, laden with goods, but Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala wanted something else.
And Allah, Azzawajal, wanted to sift the truth
from the falsehood.
So what this ayah tells us, of course,
you make your plan. Of course, you have
a khitta, you have an entire model. Of
course, you do that. But realize sometimes
your khitta, your plan doesn't go according to
your plan. You still have to continue and
put your trust that Allah's plan will be
better than your plan. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
said, you wanted the one that was easy,
but Allah wanted the one that will separate
truth from falsehood. You wanted a swift victory,
but Allah wanted the long term victory, and
that's gonna come at a cost. So we
learn from Surat Al Anfal, also in another
ayah, that Allah says, walota wa atum laktalaftum
filmi adi walakaliyahdiyallahuamrankana
mafroolah Allah says, even if the 2 of
you had agreed
when and where to fight, you wouldn't have
agreed. You wouldn't have had that meeting, but
Allah wanted His command to be fulfilled. Even
if you had planned exactly what had happened,
it wouldn't have happened. But Allah had planned
it. And because Allah had planned it, it
did happen. What we learned from this is
that you, of course, have your plan. You,
of course, have a victory in mind. You,
of course, have an entire strategy. But understand,
sometimes
things are gonna happen that you didn't expect.
You must persevere. You must continue
and put your trust in Allah that even
if in the short term, because when the
Muslims saw the entire army, there was an
element of demoralization.
There was an element of doubt. What's happening?
We didn't expect this. And Allah said, watawadduona
annagairadati
shawqatita
You wish the other plan had happened. And
Allah says, wayuridullahu
and your ikhalhaqqah
Allah wanted the truth to be manifest. You
have to put your trust in Allah that
sometimes
your plan doesn't work out, but you still
did good because your niyyah was right and
your methodology was right, and Allah's plan will
be better than your plan. This is the
second thing we learn from Surat Al Anfal
and from the Battle of Badr. The third
thing that we learn,
and in fact, in the whole Surah, perhaps
the most explicit verse in the in that
Surah about advice to those who were in
the Battle of Badr, advice to those who
were in the thick and thin of that
battle. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives them, and
through them, he gives everybody who wants victory
a similar type of advice. Verses 454647,
read them after the khutba. Go and open
up Quran and read them. Right in the
middle of the Surah, verses 45 onwards, Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, You ayyuhallatheenaamanoo
O you who believe, idadakheetum
fee atan. If you meet a contingent, if
you meet the other side, if you meet
the other side, by the way, there is
a type of indirect reference here, it that
you should not be eager to begin. It
should not primarily be your job. And this
is, of course, the overall methodology of the
Quran and of our Sirah and of the
Sharia is that you give the enemy the
opportunity
to have a peace treaty, agree to the
conditions. But if you are forced to, then
of course, if you have to fight for
your freedoms, then you fight for your freedoms
as the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam did
against the Quraysh. So there is this notion,
and this is explicit in the Sirah, by
the way, in the hadith in Sahih Bukhari.
In the battle of Badr, the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam
addressed the army right before the battle of
Badr. And he said to them, O you
who believe, latatamanno
liqaal a'du. Don't desire that you're gonna engage
in battle. We are not a bloodthirsty religion.
We are not a religion that wants war.
We don't want violence. We want peace. We
want everybody to be in peace. That is
the default of our sharia. La tatamannno lika
al aaduz hadithas in bukhari for for the
battle of Badr. Don't desire to meet the
enemy. It should not be that, oh, we
just wanna fight, fight, fight. But sometimes you
have to. And so if it happens and
if they're going to attack you, fa idhaalakheetum
If you meet them, fathbutu,
then be firm. Don't give up, don't waver,
don't be cowards, don't run away. And this
is explicit in the Surah as well. In
another verse, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, when
you meet them, don't turn your back and
run away in fear. Whoever does so will
meet Allah's punishment. That's not the way of
the believer. So Allah says, idadakheetumfi
atan fathbutu
When you meet the contingent, then be firm.
We learn over here. Don't give up. Don't
falter. Don't waver. Whatever is your plan, whatever
is your vision, whatever is your agenda, continue
and persevere.
Even if you personally fail, the army is
gonna succeed. You might not get to the
end, but if you collectively
push together, you will get to the end.
Do not take your personal failure as the
failure of the entire army. You might not
see the victory, but you must continue to
persist and persevere. You do your job and
leave the rest to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
This is a direct commandment, fathbuthu,
remain firm. Whatever is your agenda and plot,
whatever is your entire khitha or your methodology,
persevere in that and don't give up. Fathbuthu.
The next point, wathkurollahakathiran
laallakumtufliroon.
Even as you're engaged in your methodology,
even as you're doing what you need to
do, don't forget help comes from Allah. So
make sure your tongue is constantly moving with
the dhikr of Allah. In fact, during the
thick and thin, when you are physically engaged,
Allah is saying, wathkullaha
kathiran.
Imagine, this is in the battle of Badr.
Imagine, they're literally fighting the army of the
Quraysh, and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is telling
them, even in the thick of the battle,
don't forget to remember Allah frequently if you
want to be successful. Success comes when you
put in the effort. Again, fathbuthu.
Again, this is the dual combination. You do
your effort, and then you put your trust
in Allah. You exert your utmost. You don't
give up. And as you do, the utmost
you can do, turn to Allah for help.
Wathbutoo,
wathkurullah
hakatheeran la'allakum tuflioon. You want fala? You want
success? The 2 combination of your physical effort
along with your turning to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Also,
we learned from this as well, the notion
of turning to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
helping. And this is a constant theme of
the Surah as well. Ittastaghithoonarabbakum
This is in the Surah Al Anfal as
well. Remember when you were making du'a to
Allah that help us, oh Allah. Istighatha means,
oh Allah, we need your help. Istastaghithoonarabakumfastajabalakum
When you were constantly making du'a to Allah,
then Allah responded to your du'a. Notice, it's
a conditional clause.
Only when you continue to turn to Allah
and you continue to beg Allah for victory,
Allah then gave you
Sirah and especially the battle of Badr. We
learned one of the most iconic moments in
the Battle of Badr, the night before, when
all of the sahaba were getting ready, and
they were mentally preparing, and they had to
also physically prepare. And so they forced themselves
to go to sleep because they have to
be physically fit. Awakarasudiq
woke up before Fajr to pray tahajjud, and
he walked outside, and he saw the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with his hands raised high,
having spent the entire night in tahajjud. He
didn't sleep the night before the battle of
Badr. Why? Because he was preparing a different
battle. His battle was the battle of du'a.
The entire night, he was begging Allah, and
Abu Bakr as Siddiq heard him say, You
Allah, if you don't help us tomorrow, you
will not be worshiped on this earth anymore.
You Allah, we need your help. You Allah,
help us against the qaumal kafireen, the qaumal
zalimeen, the qaumal fasakeen.
And he had kept on raising his hands
until his shawl had fallen and his upper
body had no upper garment on it. And
Abu Bakr as Siddiq felt so much pity,
so much mercy. He leaned down, he picked
up the shawl, he put it over the
body of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, and
he gently pushed his hands down. And he
said, Enough You RasulAllah,
Have mercy on yourself. Your Lord has heard
your prayer, and your Lord will answer your
dua. Abu Bakr as Siddiq felt so much
compassion, shafaqa, mercy, that he said, enough You
Rasulullah, get some rest before the battle. Allah
has heard your dua. But what does this
show? It shows us you have to beg
Allah, plead Allah, turn to Allah. Ittastareethoonarabbakum
When you were begging Allah for help, fastajabalakum
animumitukumbi
alfiminamla akatimunzileen
I promised you I will send a 1,000
angels to help you. Allah's miracle will come.
Allah's help will come, but you have to
turn to him and ask him and know
that help comes from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Also in the same verse 45, 46, Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says, walati'ullahha
walati'ullahawarrasula
la'allakum tufli'oon
Obey Allah and his messenger if you want
to be successful. Once again notice in the
thick of the battle and Allah is saying,
you want Allah's help? Make sure your lifestyle
is in accordance with the Quran and sunnah.
Make sure you're obeying Allah and the messenger.
Make sure that you're not following your desires.
Make sure that the haram is haram and
the halal is halal. Make sure that your
life is in conformity with t with the
sharia, and not they're tripping and choosing what
is convenient for the sharia in your life.
So you want success right in the thick
of the battle. Allah reminds them, waati'u allaha
warrasoolala
allakum tufli'oon.
Obey Allah and his messenger if you want
to be successful. Also in Surat Al Anfal,
one of the powerful verses Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala says, You ayyualatheenaamanoo
O you who believe, istajeebu
lillahi walirasuli
idhaada'akumlimayyaykum
Hearken to the call of Allah and his
messenger when they're calling you to that which
will give you your life, obey the command
of Allah and his messenger. When they call
you, what do they call you to? Anything.
Whatever they call you to do, listen to
that call. Obey that call. Respond to that
call. In responding to that call is your
own life. Istajebu lillahi walirasooliidhadaaakum Respond to the
call of Allah, and the call of his
messenger when they call you to
and the call of his messenger when they
call you to that which will give you
your own life back. Your life is meaningless
without obedience to Allah. Your life is spiritually
dead without servitude to Allah. You want to
feel spiritually
alive, you want to feel
the power of iman, then turn to Allah
and his messenger, and you will find that
hayah. Also, verse number 46, walatanazahu
fatafshaloowatadhabariyyookum.
And do not differ amongst yourselves.
Do not fight amongst yourselves.
If you do so, you're gonna lose hope.
You're gonna get discouraged, and your riyyah, your
optimism
will go away. This is a powerful, powerful
message because in the battle of Badr,
like in any circumstance, this is how weak
we are as human beings. A small issue
became bigger and bigger, and it was possible
for them to start bickering over each other.
But Alhamdulillah,
they managed to come together. And so Allah
reminded them, do not differ amongst yourselves.
If you do so, fatafshaloo,
you're gonna feel despair. You're gonna be divided.
Watardhabareehukum.
You know, the spirit, the rear, literally, you
know, they say in English, the sail in
your, the the the wind in your sails.
Literally, your optimism is gonna become deflated if
you start bickering amongst yourselves. And one of
the biggest problems we have today is we
are constantly fighting amongst ourselves. We are constantly
divided. We have no unity. We take each
others as enemies. And what is the saddest
thing is that this animosity
is the most amongst the religious folks. We
differ amongst the most petty issues amongst how
you pray or what you believe about this
aspect or some tiny aspect of theology or
fit or methodology.
And instead of understanding we're all on the
same team, we start hating one another. Oh,
this guy's a deviant. This guy's a kafir.
This guy's a muqtadir. This guy's a reformist.
This guy's this and that. La hawoola walaqoo
it's allabbillah. Don't you understand this disunity?
Not only are you causing chaos amongst ourselves,
you are benefiting the enemies of Islam. Oh,
Muslims fear Allah and listen to the Quran.
Walatanazaoo
Don't differ amongst yourselves. In this battle right
now, there's only 2 teams. There's the team
of Allah and his messenger, and there's the
team of Abu Jahal and the and the
Quraysh, the Kuffar, those that are fighting Allah
and his messenger. There's only 2 teams. Choose
your team, and then ally with those on
your team. It's that simple. How can you
possibly be in in disagreement in this regard?
Do not differ over the most petty of
issues. Do not start double guessing and doubting
your Muslim brothers and sisters. Walatanaza'oo.
Do not differ amongst yourselves. If you do
so, fatafshaloo,
you're gonna feel despair. Watadhabarihukum
Your optimism is gonna become deflated. You wanna
win? You have to be optimistic. You have
to have the best thoughts. In order to
do so, you must show a united front.
This is so important,
especially in the world we live in. This
aya was revealed when the Prophet, salallahu alayhi
wa sallam was alive and they had him
in their midst. How much more so when
he's not here, then we have to try
our best to come come together and be
united as it as it one team. And
then the final point of Qudbun, again, so
much can be said, but time is limited.
Wasbiroo
inna Allahama
asabi. The final advice we give, wasbiroo.
Be patient and Allah is with those who
are patient. Now, this is an interesting verse
because
patience implies
things happen that you didn't want to happen.
Patience implies you weren't given victory.
Patience implies you have to keep on pushing,
pushing, pushing.
Which means
victory will not come immediately.
Which means you have to keep on persevering
and do not give up. Wasbiru
innallaha ma'asabeen
Allah explicitly says, you're not gonna be given
victory at the first beginning of the battle.
You're gonna have to keep on, keep on,
keep on. And eventually,
those that are patient, they will taste victory.
These are but some of the many, many
blessings that we learn from the seerah and
from the Quran. And in the second khutba,
I will talk about some generic spiritual blessings
we can learn from Surat Al Anfal. May
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala bless me and you
with and through the Quran, and may he
make us of those who is verses they
understand and applies halal and atharam through our
other lifespan. Ask Allah's forgiveness. You as well
ask him for his Dhighfar and the Rahman.
Surat Al Anfal also has some spiritually
motivating lessons.
Surat Al Anfal teaches us so much about
our own attitude towards success, towards failure, towards
trust in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, towards the
reality of the battle between good and evil.
Of the verses that are so powerful in
this Surah, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, thalikum
wa annallaha
moo hinu kaidil kafireen.
Know for sure, oh believers, that Allah will
always weaken the plot of the enemies. Wa
annallaha muhinu kaidil kafireen
The enemies might have so much power in
your mind. The illusion of power might be
there. You might think they control the media.
You might think they control superpowers.
You might think they have so much, but
Allah is on your side, and Allah works
in ways you don't understand, and Allah will
debilitate, and Allah will weaken their ranks from
within their own ranks. Thalikum
wa annallaha
moohinuqaidil
kafireen
If you live up to your expectations,
Allah will work miracles on the other side,
and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will bring about
an implosion in their own infrastructure,
which is exactly what happened in Badr and
in every single battle. Also, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala reminds us that walan Allah reminds us
to to, of the reality of strength and
of numbers. Allah
says,
all of
your wealth and power and all of your
numbers will not benefit you no matter how
many you are. Walantugniyaan
kumfiadukumshayanwalawkathurat.
Even if you're katheer,
it doesn't matter. Allahu Akbar and Allahu Akhtar
and Allah Azawajal doesn't care how many you
are. So, O Muslim,
do not be dissuaded. Do not be frightened
by the quantity
because Allah Sub Anahu Wa Ta'ala has said,
it doesn't matter how much they are, I
will help the believers.
And Allah Sub Anahu Wa Ta'ala reminds us
in the Quran, walayah sabannaladeena
kafaroo sabaku innahum laha yurajizoon
Never ever think
those who have rejected Allah that you will
win.
Allah
will always destroy your plot. Wallayasabanladeena
kafaroosabahu
Those who reject Allah will never win. Allah
Azawajal will always
call them to task. Also, we learned from
the Surah that the goal is to achieve
peace. The goal is to have an amicable
solution. The goal is not bloodshed. The goal
is not violence. In Surat Al Anfal Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, wa injana hoolisallmi
fajanahllahha
If they ask you for peace, then you
as well give them peace. If they bring
an end to hostilities,
then you as well bring an end to
hostilities.
And Allah reminds us, you continue to give
dawah to them, continue to negotiate. We are
not a religion of bloodshed. We are not
a religion of war. We simply want peace
for everybody as the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
wanted in the battle of Badr and with
the Quraysh. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
kulllilladiina
kafarooinyantahu
yookfar Allahhummaqadisalaf
Tell the people who rejected you, tell the
kuffar.
If they stop these hostilities,
if they allow you to live in peace,
then all they have done in the past
shall be forgiven.
All shall be forgiven. Inyantahu
ya'ufer lahu maqadsalaf
wa inyaoodu
But if they persevere, but if they persist,
faqadammadat
sunnatulawaleen
Show them what happened to the people in
the past. Show them the power of Allah.
Show them the lessons of history. This is
our methodology, oh believers. We learn from the
Sira. We learn from the Quran. We learn
from the teachings of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi
Wasallam. And Allah Sub Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala reminds
us constantly in the Quran, kataballahu
laaghlibannaana
anawarussoodi
Allah has decreed,
I shall always
Allah is the protector of those who believes.
Allah says in the Quran, Inna Allahha yudafiroo
aniladheenaamanoo
Allah will defend against those who believe. This
is the constant theme. Do not be dissuaded
by the illusion of power on the other
side. Do not be dazzled by the illusion
of what they have on the other side.
Musa and Firaun, there was no competition in
power. The prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam in
the Quraysh, there was no competition and power,
but the one side had Allah and the
other side did not have Allah. And the
side of Allah will always win. Alaa inna
hisbalahihumulqhaliboon
Verily the side of Allah will always win.
This is the incontrovertible
rule. There are no exceptions to this rule.
You have to be on the side of
Allah. You have to do the best that
you can. You have to be the most
muttaqih, the most pious. You have to put
in the best plan. You have to put
in the best agenda. You have to have
the best goal, follow with the best methodology,
and then leave the rest to Allah. And
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will eventually,
always,
inevitably
give victory to the righteous and pious.
I'm making dua, make dua along
lataanafihadyomidhambanillaghafartawalahhammanillaghfarajta
waladaynanillaghqabayta
walamareedanillashafaita walaasiranillaghawalayna
Ibadullahinna
Allah ta'alaya murbuladliwalasaniwaita
idulkurba
wayanhaalfakshaywulmunkariwalbaghiyahdukum
Related Episodes
- Assim Al-Hakeem – An Ideal Muslim Home
- Muslims respond to Donald Trump & Ben Carson’s Attack
- Nadim Bashir – Hadith of the Day #20 – The 2 Things that Will Intercede for You on the DoJ
- Yasir Qadhi – The Unacceptable Symbol of Islam For Islamophobes
- Mufti Menk – Perhaps You May Achieve Righteous
- Omar Suleiman – Why Palestine is the Holy Land?
- Yasmin Mogahed – Where Did I Go Wrong