The Bee, the Ant, and the Date Palm | Isha Khatirah | Dr. AbdulRazzak Junaid

The Bee, the Ant, and the Date Palm

All praise is due to Allah, who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not, and peace and blessings be upon the best of creation, our Prophet, our Master, and our Beloved Muhammad, and upon his family and companions. Peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.

Alhamdulillah, it's Thursday night, take this as an opportunity to send lots and lots of salawat upon your Beloved Messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallim. And to recite as well Suratul Kahf. We recited though Suratul Jumu'ah. A Jumu'ah, a Suratul Jumu'ah that reminds us to pause the dunya just for a moment, to refresh ourselves, to recalibrate ourselves. That's why Jumu'ah is there.

In Suratul Jumu'ah where we read the theme is to be a person that has zuhud from the dunya, even if it's just for a moment. Leave off transaction, leave off your business, leave off your work just for a moment. And then turn to the Salatul Jumu'ah and the Khutbah of Jumu'ah. And when you're done with Salat:

Go, go, go, go into the earth. Go to your jobs, go back to whatever responsibilities you have. وَابْتَغُوا And seek from what? Your effort? وَابْتَغُوا مِن تَعَبِكِ وَجُهْدِكِ Seek from your effort? No. Seek from? وَابْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ Meaning, whatever we do, no matter how much effort we put, and we think we're earning, but it's actually Allah, He is the one who is Ar-Razzaq. وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ Literally, the end of the surah, وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ He is the one who is giving everything to us.

May Allah give us all rizq, Ya Rabbal Alameen.

Three Lessons for Happiness

Three things. إِذَا أَرَدْتَ السَّعَادَةَ فَكُونْ كَالنَّحْلَةِ وَالنَّمْلَةِ وَالنَّخْلَةِ If you want happiness, then take lessons from these three creations of Allah. Be like the bee, the ant, and the date palm tree. Be like those three. And I'm going to go into one, each by one, inshallah.

When, you know, especially in life, where there's troubles, there's trials, there's problems that arise, and some people, may Allah protect them, Ya Rabbal Alameen, but they get double trouble, in the bad way though. And they might ask them, they might think, my relationships aren't working out, my work isn't working out, nothing is working out, where is the rizq of Allah? And they start to have issues with understanding who Allah is as a Razzaq, and then even having a true and proper understanding of what tawakkul is.

What we need to realize first, rizq is not always just money. لَيْسَ شَرْطًا أَنْ يَكُونَ الرِّزْقُ مَالًا قَدْ يَكُونَ الرِّزْقُ خُلُقًا وَجَمَالًا قَدْ يَكُونَ الرِّزْقُ زَوْجًا صَالِحًا قَدْ يَكُونَ الرِّزْقُ عِلْمًا نَافِعًا Rizq does not always have to be money. Rizq can be your family, Rizq can be patience, Rizq can be your knowledge, Rizq can be living close to VRSC, Rizq is all of this, whatever Allah blesses you with. Rizq can also be knowing where to go and how to navigate through life, and this is the first lesson, to be like the bee.

First Lesson: Be Like the Bee

To be like the bee. My sheikh, Sheikh Hamad Akram Bukhari, used to always tell us as students to be like the bee, and I'm going to mention some of the gems that he used to share with us in his lessons, Sheikh Hamad Akram Bukhari.

كُنْ كَالنَّحْلَةِ Be like the bee. Does the bee sit around, lounge around? Does it wait for the opportunities to come to it? The bee goes around, and what does it do? It goes to the flowers, it takes the pollen, and then what does it make from that pollen? Honey. It makes honey.

The fly also goes around. But what does it take? يَنْقُلُ الأَذَى وَيَنْشُرُ القَذَى It goes to the trash, and it spreads the trash. You know why the Arabs, they joke around, they say it's called ذُبَاب. ذُبَاب, why? كُلَّمَا ذُبَّ Every time you say, go, go away, go away, go away, آبَ, it returns back to you. ذُبَّ آبَ It goes, it comes back, goes, it comes back.

And some of the righteous, they used to say that the reason Allah, maybe the hikmah of Allah, He created the fly, is to humiliate those people that are arrogant. Those people that are arrogant, لِتُذَلَّ بِهِ الْجَبَابِرَةُ Every time those people that think so high and mighty on themselves, this little fly comes around, and reminds them how little they really are.

But the bee is not like that. It goes around. What does Allah say? Surah Al-Nahl Imagine a whole surah. Surah Al-Nahl is the surah of what? The blessings of Allah.

Eat from all of the plants, all of the flowers, all of the fruits. كُلِي مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ Eat from all of it. And then Allah says, after you diversify, after you go to all of them, فَاسْلُكِي سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلًا يَخْرُجُ مِن بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ That sweet drink, that drink of different, different colors. And you know honey comes of different colors and different types. فِيهِ شِفَاءٌ لِّلنَّاسِ After mentioning, before mentioning that the honey is a cure, what does Allah mention? That the bee goes around all over.

And just like that, for us as human beings, we need to learn from everything. We need to diversify our own education. We need to not just limit ourselves and close our minds, but expand our horizon as Allah has made the earth so vast for us. And this is why Sheikh Hamad Akram used to always tell us, خُذْ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَيْئًا وَمِن شَيْءٍ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ Take everything, take something from everything. This applies to the students of knowledge and applies to everyone within your own fields. Take something from everything. And from something, take everything, specialize in.

Meaning that as a student of knowledge, you're going to specialize in whatever field you're going to specialize in, whether it be fiqh or Quran or this or that. But that doesn't mean you neglect aqeedah, you neglect this, you neglect seerah, you neglect aqeedah, you neglect that science. You don't neglect it, you take something from everything. And then when you as a human being have experienced so many different things, you know what's out there, you know what exists, and then you see where does your heart lie. Where are your passions? Where do you find true happiness? Where do you find your purpose? Is it in engineering? Is it in being a doctor? Is it in doing this? Whatever it is. Is it in being a salesperson? I don't know. That's your decision. When you have that passion and then you see the community need, then you specialize in that thing.

Anyone ever hear of the commentary called Fath al-Bari? Fath al-Bari is a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari. Who is the author? Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar. Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar, everyone knows him for his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari. Bukhari is what? Hadith, right guys? So people imagine him and think of him to be a hadith scholar, a muhaddith. But not many people know that Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar was a hafidh of Quran before the age of 10. Many people don't know that by the age of 12 he was leading taraweeh in al-Masjid al-Haram. Many people don't know that he memorized shatabiyyah and the qiraat before even reaching puberty. Many people don't know that he recited to Ibrahim al-Tanukhi.

People know Hafidh ibn Hajar, the muhaddith, but they don't know Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar, the qari, the one of Quran. Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar, they know him as the muhaddith. They don't know that he studied and memorized mulhat al-i'arab in lughah. They don't know that he memorized al-fiyyah ibn Malik, a thousand-line poem on Arabic nahu and grammar. And then he traveled to Sana'a, he traveled to Yemen to then go to study the al-fiyyah, to study the Arabic with al-Fayruz al-Zabadi, the author of al-Qamusa al-Muhit, that great scholar of language.

They know Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar, the muhaddith. They don't know Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar, the linguist. They don't know Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar. Not only was he a linguist, not only was he a person of Quran, not only was he a person of hadith, but he was also Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar, the faqih, the Shafi'i faqih that memorized the minhaj of Imam al-Nawawi.

So subhanAllah, we saw the honey of Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar. We saw his commentary, Fath al-Bari, but did we see all of the flowers that he ate from? Did we see everywhere that he benefited from? So I have to ask you, where are our flowers? And what is the honey that we're producing so that the ummah can benefit from? Because the honey is what has the cure. What is our honey to provide for the people? And where are the flowers that we are benefiting from?

Not just Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar. In fact, many of the great scholars. Anyone ever hear of Sir A'lam an-Nubla? The encyclopedic biography of all the scholars? Imam al-Dhahabi. Imam al-Dhahabi, people know him for that. The muhaddith, mu'arrikh, specialist in hadith, specialist in history. They don't know that Al-Hafidh ibn Hajar was one of the great giants also in the Shafi'i madhhab. They don't know Imam al-Dhahabi was also not only that, but he was one of the top students of Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah. They don't know Imam al-Dhahabi was also a qari of Quran. When he traveled all the way to Egypt to read to his Shaykh, he read bil-ifrad. He read each riwayah one by one by one. He did 40 khatmas to his Shaykh. What do you say about a student who reads the Quran 40 times cover to cover ijazah style to his Shaykh? A person of Quran, yes or no?

Again, we saw the honey that they produced, these great scholars. But what were the flowers that they all took from? Again, the question is for us, what are the flowers? What are the things that we're benefiting from? The scholars, the books, the writings, the papers, whatever it is. Not to be the fly that endlessly scrolls and picks up the trash, but to be using even the phone or whatever resources we have to be like the bee.

(Musnad Ahmad)

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "The example of a believer is like the example of a bee. It eats good, whatever it consumes is good, and then it produces what is pure." May Allah make us مِنَ الطَّيِّبِينَ May Allah make us from those that consume good and then they also produce good. So be like the bee, كُنْ كَالنَّحْلَةِ

Second Lesson: Be Like the Ant

The second one, be like the ant. How can you be like the ant? Well, the ant, you'll find that if it has its goal towards something, doesn't matter how many paths it has to go. It'll go this way, doesn't work, goes this way, doesn't work, goes this way, doesn't work, goes that way, doesn't work.

Many times we'll face challenges in life. An opportunity arises and we fail to be able to complete it. It's okay. Failure is just a lesson if you look at it from the right way. Doesn't mean that I tried this, it didn't work for me, now I'm just going to lounge around. Does the ant just sit? Why do we just sit? The ant then tries another way, tries another way, tries another way. So just like that as human beings, if one thing doesn't work out, try again and try again. Learn from your mistake and try again and keep trying. Have that persistence, have the ability to work hard.

As Allah Azza wa Jal says, فَانتَشِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ

That line of Imam Shafi'i. He said:

سَافِرْ تَجِدْ عِوَضًا عَمَّن تُفَارِقُهُ
وَانْصَبْ فَإِنَّ لَذِيذَ الْعَيْشِ فِي النَّصَبِ

He says, travel, travel and you'll find a replacement from those that you were once so close with. وَانْصَبْ and climb, climb, increase in life because the beauty of life is when you increase, when you learn, when you study, when you travel, and when you work hard.

إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ وُقُوفَ الْمَاءِ يُفْسِدُهُ
وَإِنْ سَاحَ طَابَ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَجْرِ لَمْ يَطِبْ

When water flows, is it gonna get dirty, is it gonna get algae? No. But what if it's stagnant? It's gonna get algae, it's gonna get dirty, it's gonna get all of that. So be like the flowing water.

وَالْأُسْدُ لَوْلَا فِرَاقُ الْأَرْضِ مَا افْتَرَسَتْ
وَالسَّهْمُ لَوْلَا فِرَاقُ الْقَوْسِ لَمْ يُصِبْ

If the lion doesn't go out to hunt, will it get its dinner? It has to go. What about the arrow?

The Wisdom of Creation: Three Lessons from the Quran

The arrow is only, the only value of the arrow is when it leaves the bow. And so just like that, work hard and go out and strive وَابْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ.

The Wisdom of the Ant

What did the ant say? In Surah An-Naml, again, all of these three examples that I give, they're all in the Quran.

When Sulayman and his army, what was his army? What did it include?

From the jinn, from the mankind, when the ant was there and they came in the valley of the ant, what did the ant say?

SubhanAllah, look how Allah puts in the Quran and expresses what the ant was communicating to all of the other ants. And Imam As-Suyuti in his Itqan, he mentions that there are 11 different ways and different styles of speech in this. Meaning look at how, look at how much the ant was trying. 11 different forms of speech.

قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا نَادَتْ The ant called out.

يَا أَيُّهَا وَنَبَّهَتْ هَاءُ التَّنبِيهِ Wake up, wake up, it's calling out.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمَلُ وَسَمَّتْ O ants, اُدُخُلُوا وَأَمَرَتْ Commanded. اُدُخُلُوا Enter. مَسَاكِنَكُمْ Telling us the story. قَصَّتْ Imagine and it's addressing the other ants as though they're like subhanAllah beings of intellect ادخلوا مساكنكم Enter into your homes enter into back to where you're your home ادخلوا مساكنكم where you live لا يحطمنكم حذرت و أكدت It warned and it also was giving like emphasis لا يحطمنكم Don't let Suleyman and his junood step all over you سليمان خصصت The ant mentioned Suleyman by name و جنوده و عمّمت And all of his army from all of the different types و هم لا يشعرون و عذرت And gave an excuse because he's a prophet of Allah. And not that they know when they're doing it. But they do it and they don't feel it و هم لا يشعرون.

SubhanAllah look at the speech of the ant and how many different forms of Arabic speech is just within that statement that Allah mentions in the Quran. Look at the power and the beauty of القرآن الكريم.

So again be like the ant. Be persistent, be diligent. Never give up.

The Character of the Date Palm Tree

The third one: Be like the date palm tree. The date palm tree is very tall. The date palm tree is very tall. Just like that be tall. Don't get into the problems of the people. Don't get into other people's business. And what happens when you take a rock and you throw it at the date palm tree? It's going to throw back at you. What is it going to give you instead? It's going to give you fruits, it's going to give you dates.

It's going to give you fresh dates. And just like that when you are in life and challenges come about your way, people say things towards you that you don't like. Have تغافل, look over their faults. And when they throw insults towards you and when they're treating you bad, show your beautiful character. When life presents you with challenges, show life what you're made of. Show life that beautiful character.

As Imam Al-Shafi'i he says:

When a foolish man speaks to me I don't like to reply. Just go toward him, leave him alone وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ. Leave them alone, don't talk to them. Don't engage with them. Just like عود, what happens when you burn the عود? It smells so beautiful. And just like that, someone tries to burn you, someone tries to dig at you, someone says something insulting towards you. Don't respond, don't let them think that you're getting impacted. Be like that tall date palm tree and ignore and just show your beauty to the world.

Conclusion

So again ya jama'ah, be like the bee, be like the ant, and be like the date palm tree.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to guide us to the best of character ya rabb al alameen.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله