Dr Hamid Ghazali 10 18 24

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Lessons from the Battle of Mu'tah: Never Lose Hope

Dear brothers and sisters, these few minutes I would like to share with you how difficult it was for the Prophet ﷺ to achieve success as well as the prophets before him and the believers before him. And how through patience and hope, was able to achieve the victory. My key points here is the hope. Regardless of the difficulties that we face, we see leadership in the Muslim world are assassinated, are killed.

We see thousands and thousands killed in Gaza, 40 plus, 42 plus. And we see every day hundreds are losing their lives. And that is very sad. That is very, makes you feel disappointed, makes you feel that you're helpless. But at the end, we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant them victory and grant them success and stop the heinous wars that are going in different parts of the Muslim world and grant them success in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Sudan, in other parts where Muslims suffering, as well as other people who suffer all over the world. We pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant them patience and endurance and ability to cope with the difficulties they face.

Perhaps we're sitting here comfortably. There are thousands and millions of Muslims who are not able to sit as we're sitting over here enjoying ourselves. When the Muslims, at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, in the eighth year when the Muslims made the conquest of Mecca, we also, there was a battle known as the Battle of Mu'tah.

The Battle of Mu'tah

Where the Prophet ﷺ sent messengers, and normally the messengers go with the message of Islam, inviting them to Islam, calling them, telling them. Just a messenger. So there were the tribes there that were under the Romans, and they have loyalty with the Romans. They killed the messenger. And the norm is, and the tradition, never ever kill a messenger. A messenger is coming with a message like the postman or the delivery man coming to you. He doesn't have, you don't have to punish him for the message that he's carrying. But they killed him.

So the Prophet ﷺ sent to them an army of 3,000, which was a lot at that time. And it was the biggest army that the Prophet ﷺ sent outside Mecca to fight for the sake of that man that was killed. See how valuable the human soul to the Prophet ﷺ could not tolerate the death of one person unjustly.

So he sent the army and said to them, if Zayd is killed, then Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. And if Ja'far is killed, then Abdullah ibn Rawaha. As if the Prophet ﷺ was predicting that the leadership, one will go after the other, after the other.

And in fact, when they went to Mu'tah, and they started to face the enemy, was a big surprise for the Muslims. Muslims were 3,000. The Romans and the tribes with them were 200,000. 200,000. So many foes, the power of the Muslims. But yet, the Muslims consulted with each other, and they started, actually, the attack. They were the ones who took the offensive and started to attack the Romans and those tribes who were with them.

And somehow, the Muslims were able to gain some success. But the overwhelming power that was there was too much for the Muslims. And the Amir was killed. And then Ja'far was also killed. And the third person, Abdullah ibn Rawaha, was also killed. So the leadership was gone, one after the other. And they all were facing the enemy. They all were not retreating. They were all holding their swords, fighting. That's how they died. And that's how they faced Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Khalid ibn Walid Takes Command

So then there was no leader. And the Muslims consulted with each other, and they finally settled on Khalid ibn Walid. Khalid was just a Muslim. He became a Muslim just a few months before that. But he was known to be سيف الله المسلول, the sword of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as his nickname indicates. And he was given the leadership.

So he started to come up with a plan. And his plan was to scare the Romans. And he actually did. And they were very scared. And he managed to retreat, take his army, the 3,000 with him, and go back to a safe place, and then waited for the instructions of the Prophet, and then took back the rest of the army safely to Medina. The end result were 12 of the Muslims lost their lives, and 3,000 plus, 3,200, as the books of Sira tell us, of the Romans lost their lives.

You can think now the ratio, 12 versus 3,000 plus, that's very unusual. But the point here is to see how confidence, when you have a cause, when you really die for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you do your best, and you leave the rest to Allah. Actually, Abdullah ibn Rawaha, his wife was telling him that, I pray that you come back safe to us. Said, I pray that I don't come back to you. Meaning, he gets the shahadah, and die for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, while there, instead of dying in the Medina for natural causes and things like that. The Muslims never lost hope.

Lessons from the Quran: Stories of Hope

And that's something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala taught us in the Quran. When the Prophet ﷺ was in the utmost peak of the suffering, in the 10th year in Mecca, 11th, 13th, look into the models that Allah was sending to the Prophet ﷺ to teach him and teach all of us, never lose hope, regardless of the circumstances you are in. And tells them the story of Ashab ul-Ukhdud, and how many of them lost their lives.

And how the boy who managed, in the story of Ashab ul-Ukhdud, the king was not able to kill him. Until he instructed him how to kill him. And then the people woke up after he followed the instructions of the boy, and then he managed to kill the boy, the people woke up. And then thousands and thousands of them lost their lives, but they woke up. They became different people. They were not oppressed anymore. And they managed after that to run their lives in a different way.

When the Prophet ﷺ was in that peak of the suffering, an example was Surah Yusuf, where Allah tells the Prophet ﷺ, not ever lose hope, as Yusuf alayhi wa salam never lost hope. As Yaqub, the father of Yusuf alayhi wa salam, they look into what he was telling his children after almost 30 years of losing Yusuf. 30 years. But yet he never lost hope. And all indications say that he's gone. Maybe you can be patient for one year, two year, five year, seven years, 10 years, but he never lost hope.

O my children, go, find Yusuf. Don't ever lose hope. Only the ones who don't believe in Allah are the ones who lose hope. What a mentality. They have a full trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Never lost hope during these 30 years, or 25, 30 years, I made an estimate, 25, 30 years passed. And it's just amazing how he had this hope.

The Cave of Thawr: Allah is the Third

And that's what the Prophet ﷺ was calming Abu Bakr, radiallahu anhu, when they left from Mecca to Medina in like two, three years after the revelation of Surah Yusuf and other surahs that really wanted him to be patient. The Prophet ﷺ is there, and Abu Bakr with him in the cave. And you think that there is no way out. The mushrik's on the door. And if they look, they'll catch them, they'll see them.

And then Abu Bakr shows his worry, that he was worried because of the life of the Prophet ﷺ, not for himself, but for the life of the Prophet. Abu Bakr was very good and caring for others. And he says in one instance, when they were migrating, and Abu Bakr was with him, he said we were so thirsty. And then the Prophet ﷺ drank first, hold the drink, and started to drink the water before him. Look into what Abu Bakr said. فشرب حتى ارتويت. The Prophet ﷺ drank until I felt full. He didn't taste the water. But because the Prophet ﷺ drank, he said, I felt full. That's Abu Bakr, so he was never afraid for himself.

But yet, the Prophet ﷺ calmed him and said to him, ما ظنك باثنين الله ثالثهما. What do you think of two, Allah is the third. What a way to look and never lose hope. There will always be hope, and there will always come the victory.

We'll bring victory to our messengers and the followers, and this life, and in the hereafter. No doubt about that. But sometimes it's delayed. Sometimes we get tested. Sometimes Allah wants to purify us. The test may take longer and longer. It's our job to never ever to lose hope.

Musa and Bani Israel at the Sea

When Yusuf, sorry, when Musa alayhi salam was there, and Bani Israel was with him, the pharaoh behind him, the sea is in front of him. So if you think of it, there's no way out. No way out. Either you're killed by the pharaoh and his soldiers, or you drown. You don't have any other option. And that's what his followers, some of his followers expressed it, and said, Indeed, we got caught. No way out. So Musa alayhi salam in return said to them, كلا, no way. كلا. No way. Indeed, I have my Lord. He'll guide me out of this. What a confidence. Regardless of the circumstances that you have.

Look at the 3,000 who went and faced 200,000. You think that no way they're gonna gain victory. But ultimately, they did. Ultimately, the Prophet ﷺ did, and won. And ultimately, the believers will win.

The Victory of the Romans

When the Muslims were looking at the Romans, who were people of the book, and they lost the battle against the Persians. And Allah revealed to the Prophet ﷺ Surah al-Rum. And where Allah said, Surah al-Rum. The Quran predicted that the Romans who lost, that the believers, they will win. And nobody thought that they would win. But ultimately, they did.

May Allah bring this comfort to us. Bring this hope to us and keep us always hopeful and put our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Conclusion: Dreams of Today, Realities of Tomorrow

Dear brothers and sisters, always as Imam al-Banna said, the dreams of yesterday are the realities of today. And the dreams of today will be the realities of tomorrow, provided that we put our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Don't ever think that Allah will break his promise to those who follow his messengers and those who walk with the messengers. May Allah grant us this hopeful nature and may Allah grant our brothers and sisters in different parts of the Muslim world who are suffering victory, inshallah.