Zakariyya Harnekar – Naseehah Hadith contagion and pandemics 28th March 2021
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Once again,
to those that joined us as well.
I was going to move on to another
compilation of a hadith. Right?
The 2
that are most salient in my mind
are, hadith and the virtues of the Quran,
and the hadith
of imam and Naomi, Al Arbaoun and Naomi.
Right? But I thought that
I was gonna skip over the last chapter
of this book,
because, you know, I thought it's the contents
of these hadith are obvious and unknown.
But that then I you know, you thought,
and I thought that's a bad assumption to
have. Now we must read the words of
Rasool
And, though the nature of these Hadith are
less technical
than what is needed,
in the hadith of this book or the
discussions around those hadith,
this is equally important.
This is equally important.
Hadith and patience in affliction.
How does the Muslim
deal with affliction?
How does the Muslim not and how does
he deal with affliction?
Not on the level of
not on the level of
of, you know, physical reaction or physical
response.
But how does the Muslim how does the
believer deal with affliction internally,
based on his theology?
And
that's something that's extremely important. It may actually
be more important.
I shouldn't say it's more important than anything
else, but it's equally important.
Right. What about when
when we find ourselves in trying times?
I have taken precautions. I've understood
directly what my responsibility is.
I have,
physically, I've done my part, and then I
made dua to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. As
we spoke last week about dua, I mean,
you know, taking a spiritual means, how
I made my dua,
and I asked Allah to protect me. I
asked Allah to cure those around me.
But despite that,
the outcome
is not the one that I asked for.
I'm still afflicted by sickness. May Allah protect
us from sickness.
I'm my,
you know, somebody close to me
still passes on.
Allah protect,
and give long life to those that are
beloved to us.
Or some other
affliction still befalls me.
How should I think of that affliction?
And, you know,
one of the reasons why I I feel
this is important,
though it's less technical,
and I I could probably make it technical,
is that
in our
modern and postmodern world,
One of the strongest
arguments
or the most appealing I shouldn't say strongest.
It's not strong at all. But one of
the most appealing arguments presented
by atheists
is the problem of evil,
back of the Odyssey,
that they say,
well, there's so much bad in the world.
There's so much calamity.
So since there's so much bad, how can
there be a god?
We say, no. No, my friend.
You are
going down the completely wrong line.
Logically,
your argument doesn't make sense.
The fact that there's bad in the world
doesn't, in any way, imply that there's no
God.
It would just imply that the God wanted
that
to be there.
And in fact, it's in that belief in
the God that we take solace,
that this life is not a life of
perfection.
It's not a life of,
it's not a life of true and complete
justice.
We strive for it to the best of
our ability, but we know that it will
never be attained.
However,
there is a day of reckoning,
wherein all debts will be settled,
wherein all dues will be paid, and wherein
Allah
will reward.
And that's actually what gives us the strength
and the worldview
to
pay the afflictions of this world.
And so,
you know, to look at this in in
in good light, to understand how we view
affliction,
It does a lot to fortify and give
us appreciation of our faith.
To fortify and to give us appreciation of
our belief in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Right?
So it is important. And I just want
to simply we're gonna read a few hadith,
right, and then derive lessons from,
him as a as a
So the first hadith is Anil,
Jalal
Anil?
Right?
If a slave has
a station that's preordained by Allah, meaning if
Allah
decreed the slave of mine, he will reach
the rank of a great Wali.
He has a high station
that's ordained by Allah. Allah wants good for
this person. On account of whatever reason, maybe
there is something that came from that person
that Allah saw,
that Allah recognized in his heart
that this person is very sincere.
Allah says that if a slave of mine
has this preordained
high station,
That his deeds are not sufficient to take
him to. He hasn't read enough Quran to
be like the people on that station. He
hasn't fasted like the people on that level
fast.
He hasn't prayed
like the people on that level have prayed.
Then what does what does he say?
Allah gives him tests in his body.
Meaning,
there may be sickness, or he may have
some,
you know, problem with some part of his
body. You know, some of them, obviously, may
be lost.
Or in his wealth, he may suffer loss
in wealth.
He may suffer,
you know, bad business.
Or in his children, he may have some
affliction there regarding his children. Maybe he loses
a child or something like that.
That's where his child placed him into some
test.
What's it? How do you say?
How do we view view affliction?
We view affliction, whatever it may be, whether
it be in body, wealth, progeny.
We view that affliction
as an opportunity to reach a higher rank.
How is that how is that affliction an
opportunity?
The opportunity the affliction is an opportunity when
it's met with someone.
When it's met with? With someone.
But,
you know,
that's on one level. On another level, you
see, we may look at it as an
opportunity.
But how do we understand it
as something that comes from this loving God?
This loving Allah. This Allah that's ar Rahman.
This Allah that's arheem.
How do we understand affliction,
in light of that?
We understand affliction in light of that, is
that Allah is not giving it to me
as long as I'm sincere,
and as long as I'm turning to him.
Then Allah is not giving me this affliction
as a punishment.
Allah is giving me this affliction as a
means of raising me.
Right?
As untechnical as that may be,
that's a very profound thing
to shape better people.
And that's why I couldn't skip over these
hadith.
The next hadith we have here, Ansuhaeibina radiAllahu
anhu.
He said that the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wasallam said, oh, this is one of
my favorite hadith that I'm sure I must
have mentioned many times before.
How amazing are the affairs of a believer?
How amazing or wonderful
is the affairs of a believer? The situation
of a believer.
Indeed, all of his affairs, all of his
matters
are good.
Some people speak of toxic positivity.
Some people, you know, this word is is
common in our time, toxic.
We speak about toxic positivity. You can't always
be positive.
It's bad to be like that.
No. No.
We say,
We say how amazing are the affairs of
a believer.
Indeed, all of these affairs are good for
him.
That is not except for the believer. The
one that doesn't have and this is not.
This is decisuous here. The person that doesn't
have belief, doesn't have that virtue. He doesn't
have that,
that same virtue, that all of his affairs
are good for him.
How does Rasoolullah Sallallahu Alaihi wa'alehi explain this?
In If
good times come his way, if affluence comes
his way,
he is grateful.
He shows thanks.
And then that is good for him.
And if hardship befalls him,
if affliction comes his way, if bad times
come his way,
he is patient.
Then that is good, and that is good
for him. What is good for him? His
sugar. What is good for him? His sugar.
What was the means to have that sugar?
It was good times. What was the means
to have the sugar? It was bad times.
Every moment is either good times or bad
times. If it's better with sugar or supper
in the appropriate place, then every moment of
the life of a believer is good for
him.
Again, what does this teach us?
Every opportunity,
every situation,
whether it be superficially good or superficially bad,
is an opportunity
for us from Allah to express either shukr
or sabr.
And our expression of shukr or sabr in
the right places is what will bring us
what is truly good for us.
That will bring us what is truly good
for us. The pleasure of Allah, Jannah.
Bless you in the next life. In a
life that is everlasting.
In a life that is,
infinitely better
in,
in quality
than this life.
Says that the messenger of Allah, sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, saying, whoever, whomsoever Allah wants good
for,
you'll see
he afflicts that person.
He gives that person tests,
that
whoever Allah wants good for, he gives that
person tests. Why?
The test is something that comes upon you.
All that you have to do is patient.
Be patient.
And in that patience, Allah
raises you in the ranks
greatly. Again, this hadith is teaching us that
the believer views affliction as just another state
from the states that Allah bestows upon him.
Right? In therein is an opportunity.
Therein is an opportunity, and an opportunity with
less responsibility.
There's an opportunity in affluence as well.
There is an opportunity in affluence. If you
have a lot of money, you can give
a lot of charity.
If you have
ease and free time, you can do a
lot for other people.
But to be given
that favor,
and then spend the favor in the path
of Allah
is oftentimes harder than to be faced by
an affliction,
and do nothing but pay that with patience.
To be given money,
and then to be deluded by that money
is very easy.
But the nature of affliction
is that it actually shows you your need
and makes you turn to Allah.
So it's as if Allah puts you in
a situation where you to turn to him,
and then when you turn to him, he
rewards you for that.
This is how we, as believers, conceive of
Allah's mercy.
K? And what is it that Allah cause
causes us to be afflicted by? Life, the
loss of things, wealth, whatever it may be.
The reality is all of those things were
returning to Allah anyways. They were going to
go at some point.
When when you are afflicted by it in
some way,
then it's just that Allah's giving you that
as an opportunity to turn back to him.
And Abu Sayy, 2 different Sahaba. May Allah
be pleased with both of them. They narrate
from
that he said,
No believer
is afflicted
by any
pain.
No any tiredness or fatigue.
No any worry or grief.
No any sadness.
No any
also means harm, but it means like a
small
thing.
Like
yeah. So no any
harm, as in you can you can say
sadness or depression also.
No any small
also means yeah.
Actually, no. Yeah. Let's try to say this.
Let's translate it as as a sadness or
sorrow.
Means we translate as depression.
Slight
harm. Right? So so no no
pain,
no
no tiredness, no ham,
no worry,
no
no sadness.
Sadness can is of various levels. Right? So
they can be a sadness that's also slightly,
like a level of depression.
Harm no depression.
Is a a thorn.
Not even or tell the extent of a
thorn
him.
To the extent
of a thorn
that pricks.
Except that Allah expediates his errors. Allah expediates
his sins.
Alright. So what's all I'll say?
If if Allah afflicts you with some difficulty,
Allah wipes away your sins.
Right? And that's why,
you know, we would have come across this
before. When we visit somebody that's sick, we
say There
is no problem with this.
This. It is a purification for you insha'allah,
if Allah loves.
Meaning, you seek now that Allah is actually
purifying you from your spiritual impurities.
So so see that.
Right?
When I test
my believing slave,
and he doesn't complain
about me
to his visitors, to those people that come
to him. He doesn't come he doesn't
speak ill of me to anyone that comes
to visit him.
You
know?
It
speaks of captivity.
It
always says,
I set him free
from my captivity,
from my,
you know, from being,
kept captured by me or being,
incarcerated here, is the word due to this
transformation.
I set him free from captivity.
And then I replace his flesh with a
flesh that is better than his.
And I replace his blood with bitter blood.
Then he begins his deeds all over again.
Then he begins his deeds all over again.
What is this referring to?
This is referring to the fact that Allah
Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
will you can understand it as in the
in
as in the next life, or you can
understand actually, you you should understand that about
about this life, because the verse, Hadid says,
then he he begins acting again. Allah Subhanahu
wa'ala is saying is that every affliction that
you undergo,
and you don't complain about that friction, it's
as if Allah's giving you a new lease
on life. Allah's giving you a clean slate.
Not just as you're wiping away your sins,
it's as if Allah's giving you a clean
slate.
He gives you a skin that's better than
your skin, and blood that's better than your
blood.
But you understand how it may this you
know, that's that could be understood as figuratively.
We can understand it that, you know, on
account of you being,
you not complaining in the face of affliction,
Allah will make you literally more beautiful.
Right?
We cannot understand it as, you know, spiritually,
Allah will give you better skin. We can
also understand that Allah will enhance you in
every way.
That
that's,
physically and spiritually.
Allah will give you that clean
from
the next Babu
and Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
said,
that this is this guy tiding specifically in
relation to people passing away.
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi wa Salam said that the
true hada are of 5 types.
Martyrs are 5 types. There's other hadith that
mentioned more.
But, yeah, he just mentioned 5 people are
are martyrs.
People that die from a plague.
Right? Some some scholars would say that it
only refers to the
the bubonic plague
The bubonic plague. Or or, you know, they're
called that's called black death.
Others would say, it extends
it extends to other pandemics as well.
Those who die from a stomach illness or
some sickness in it, some element in the
stomach.
Person that,
dies on account of drowning.
A person that,
that dies under
a collapsed building. Some something, basically,
falls on you.
And the person that actually went out, you
know, fighting in the path of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala, and they were killed over the
so
what are we learning from this hadith?
Being afflicted by a plague is a calamity,
but there's also an opportunity in that. An
opportunity that most of us would never be
able to reach. There's no there's only fighting
in the possible physically in our time.
Right? There is an army that you can
go join to, you know, to play catch
you hard.
Right?
So
there is an opportunity in that for people
to reach a rank that they would otherwise
never have been able to reach.
In in what are those afflictions?
The plague
switch you. You don't go out seeking it,
because then you're going against Allah
commands for you to take precautions.
I think it afflicts you.
Then, then
it can potentially be a source of shahada.
The same goes for all of these other
things. Stomach ailments,
drowning,
something falling upon you, or physically dying in
the possible
law Why I felt not to skip over
this hadith, as I mentioned before, is because
it teaches us how to deal with affliction.
How to not just deal with affliction, but
how to view affliction.
Right? How to view affliction. And that means
that this affliction
doesn't come from a side of Allah, you
know, a vengeful side. No.
This affliction
comes
from this affliction comes from that same merciful
Allah that gives you affluence and ease.
Question.
Is this hadith only valid for believers? Yes.
Yes.
It must the the person, you know, if
they are,
that must be accompanied with belief in Allah.
They may have been not the best of
believers.
You know, they might not have had the
most rewards. But if they had these difficulties
or these afflictions,
then the virtue is for them. And
Allah, you
know,
make us people well, we ask Allah for
Afiyyah.
We ask Allah for Afiyyah that Allah doesn't
put us into affliction.
That as Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us
in all of those hadith where they lost
me.
Allah, give us Afiyyah.
But
if
we ever find ourselves in a situation of
affliction,
then may
Allah make us of those who view it
as Allah wants us to view it.
May Allah
allow us to,
you know, to help others through their affliction
by connecting them to Allah
And this is extremely important. You know, these
ideas, these are hadith, for those that want
to look at it in a more technical
way, you can think of this in light
of the problem of theodicy.
But we can speak about that at another
time
In there for now.
Are there any questions before
we end?
Alright. We're in there for breaks in inshallah.
Next week we're off, and I'll see you
guys the week thereafter meeting.