Steadfastness in Times of Difficulty

Opening Supplications

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ، بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally praised except Allah. And we bear witness that Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final and last messenger.

And we ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his companions and those that follow him to the end of times. We ask Allah to cure those that are sick amongst us, be it physical or spiritual. And we ask Allah to envelope all of the Muslims that have transitioned to the barzakh with his infinite mercy.

We ask Allah to forgive us, our mothers, our fathers, our grandmothers, our grandfathers, up until the first one of them in Islam. We ask Allah to provide the couples that are looking to have children with healthy, religious, obedient children. We ask Allah for the parents struggling to raise their children in the current climate to make it easy for them.

We ask Allah to protect our children from leaving Islam, from a sudden death, from illness, from bad friends, from the evil eye. We ask Allah for the children struggling to see the blessing of one parent, yet alone two, that Allah inspire them to be grateful to their parents. We ask Allah to never take our souls suddenly except that He is pleased with us after a long, healthy life upon His obedience.

And finally, we ask Allah — who raised the sky without columns — to give victory to our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

Measuring Success on the Right Scale

The Palestinians have a relationship with Allah. And we should never weigh the success of a people on the scale of material things. We should never weigh the success of a people on what they are going through. Rather, we weigh people on the scales of how they go through the things that they are going through. The people of Gaza are going through a situation and Allah is with them.

Imam Al-Shafi'i mentions:

The one who knows Allah and does not think that Allah suffices him is truly the miserable one. What will a man do with honor — honor of might, honor of power — when all of the power belongs to Allah? The Palestinians know who Allah is, and Allah has already given them victory.

Victory Through the Weak and Oppressed

Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentions in an authentic hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2896)

Allah gives victory to this ummah through the weak ones, through the oppressed ones, through the overlooked ones — regardless of their GDP or their military ability. By what means? By the means of their du'a, by the means of their prayer, by the means of their sincerity.

Regardless of our spiritual state currently, we should make a lot of du'a for our Palestinian brothers and sisters and all of the Muslim brothers and sisters that are oppressed around the world. And if we're not making du'a for them after every single prayer, or in the middle of the night, then we need to reassess our situation. How can we grieve? How can we be grieved by a situation and tell people about grief if we are not grieving? If we are not waking up in the middle of the night and calling upon Allah to remove oppression from this land.

The Divine Wisdom Behind the Trial

Someone may say: Brother Mustafa, what victory are you talking about? They are oppressed and people are depriving them from basic needs.

Allah mentioned the success in Surah Muhammad. Allah says:

Had Allah willed, He Himself could have inflicted punishment upon them. If Allah wanted to, He would destroy the enemies of Islam and their supporters. If Allah wanted to, He would have given the leaders of the Muslim world a backbone — to not give in to the pressures of America and its allies, and to support the Palestinians. But He didn't.

And what did Allah say next?

Rather, Allah has let the situation stay as it is for a reason — and that reason is to test some of you by means of others. To test some of you by means of others.

The Rank of the Martyrs

When the Palestinian brother or sister is killed in defense of their religion, they are a shaheed. When the Palestinian brother or sister is killed in self-defense, they are a shaheed. Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: when the Palestinian brother or sister is killed because of their property, they are a shaheed. When they are killed because of their religion, because of their family, they are a shaheed.

And then Allah says:

These individuals that die for the sake of Allah — their deeds are not void. They have a price to them. They have a weight in the sight of Allah. Allah says:

Those deeds are not void — Allah is guiding them to the reward. And Allah improves their condition. He takes them from an open-air prison of 75 years to their souls being green birds flying wherever they want in Jannah. And then they come to lamps that are resting right below the Throne of Allah.

The Conversation of the Martyrs with Allah

And then Allah tells us about a conversation that takes place between the martyrs and Allah Himself. Allah asks these shuhada who are flying around in Jannah: "Ask Me for whatever you want."

And they respond and say: "Allah, we can fly wherever we want in paradise. They limited our movement in Gaza — they told us to go from north Gaza to south Gaza and on the way they killed us. Now we are in Jannah. We fly wherever we want to fly. And anyone from our family that was destined for the fire, we make shafa'a for 70 of them."

And then they read the room — Allah is insisting on an answer:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 4651)

They sense the room — Allah wants an answer. "Tell Me something that you want." So what did they say? They said: "Put our souls back in our bodies so we can go back to Gaza and we'll be killed for Your sake."

These people want to come back, live, and be killed for Islam. And me and you are striving to follow every new trend.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 4651)

When the shuhada showed ambitions that met the expectations Allah had written for them, Allah let them be. Allah is not allowing them to sell themselves short even in Jannah.

When the blood fell from one of the shuhada, the first thing that took place is all of his sins were forgiven. Then he saw his place in Jannah. And then Allah blessed him and gave him something that everyone in this audience is running after — and Allah told him: on the Day of Judgment, you have nothing to fear. When everyone is running away from their mother and their father and wondering if their deeds were sincere or not, he is saved from the fear of that day.

Our Role in the West

My question, brothers and sisters: if the Palestinians have a relationship with Allah and they are martyrs, what is my job? How did the Palestinians even get to this level of iman? What is our role here in the West? How do we live and die as Muslims for the sake of Allah?

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَسَائِرَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

The Living Miracles of Palestine

The Palestinian brothers and sisters are going through miracles as we speak. And when that day comes and they are moved away from these walls, we will see their scholars — proud like true men — and they will share with us and the world what it means to live up to the Qur'an.

We recite Qur'an with tajweed and makhaarij and sifaat. But the sifaat are in the people of Palestine. The true characteristics of the Qur'an are in the people of Palestine. They are people that have Allah with them. These people are fearless, and that's what makes their enemies afraid. How is a four-year-old girl kicking the boot of a soldier, telling him to get out of her country? Her courage is electrifying — and our four-year-old children are striving to grab the latest electronics.

Why are the people of Palestine the pride of the whole Muslim ummah? Why are the Palestinians our pride? Why are they our strength? Because they showed us for more than 75 years what it means to hold on to your Islam even though all odds are against you. They are holding on to the words of Allah.

Allah's Call to the Believers

When Allah said He is going to enter them into Jannah — He didn't wait one page, He didn't wait one juz, He didn't wait ten juz. The very next verse He started to speak to me and you. And what did He say?

The individuals whose hearts are alive — I am going to give you an option. If you are not one of those people that died in Palestine, that died in Iraq, that died in Afghanistan, I am going to give you an option.

If you wear Islam on your sleeves anywhere you go — how does the Sharia want me to eat? How does the Sharia want me to make money? How does the Sharia want me to drive? How does the Sharia want me to interact with the opposite gender? How does the Sharia want me to dress? How does the Sharia want me to talk? How does the Sharia want me to use social media? How does the Sharia want me to treat my wife? How does the Sharia want me to treat my husband? What are the laws of property? What are the laws of trade? What is it, Allah, that You want me to do?

When we abide by the Sharia — regardless of our situations, regardless of our circumstances — victory and steadfastness is around the corner. He will make us firm in our Islam the same way He did for the Palestinians, whether in times of difficulty or times of ease. We need to be firm and steadfast in our religion. The Palestinian brothers showed us what it means to be steadfast in times of difficulty. They died for their Islam. We ought to live for it.

How Did the Palestinians Achieve Such Steadfastness?

The Palestinians did not become steadfast overnight. They were patient in worshipping Allah day in and day out despite the difficulty. They were patient in staying away from the haram day in and day out. They were patient with the decree of Allah.

You get a toothache, you sit in traffic, you don't get what you want — and Allahu A'lam what type of person you truly are. These people are losing their family members day in and day out and they are still praying in their thousands in Jabalia. And we are in bliss.

Steadfastness Is Our Success

Brothers and sisters, I conclude with the following statement: if the people of the world continue to be blind in recognizing the atrocities of the Zionist entity in Israel, then at least let us look at what is happening in this country. Out of hate, a six-year-old boy here in America was martyred.

Even though we are enraged — and our rage and our reaction may be something that goes against the Sharia — our being steadfast in our Sharia is our success. The Sharia has guided us and channeled our energy so that we never cross the limits of Allah.

If you want to see the steadfastness of the Palestinians then ask yourself one question. For the working men: how many days have you been on time for work? And how many days have you been on time for Fajr? If you have been a good employee and you have shown up to work on time more than you have shown up on time for Fajr, then it is a problem. Don't expect steadfastness to come to you.

Ask yourself: how are you treating your spouse? How are you treating your family members? These individuals saw difficult times and Allah supported them. We are living in ease — is Allah supporting us?

The Power and Knowledge of Allah

I ask Allah — and I only ask Him, I do not ask anyone else but Him — the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling us about the power of Allah so we do not become deluded about how powerful Allah is. In Sahih Muslim, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tells us:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 46, Hadith 2653)

50,000 years before Allah created planet Earth, He had written the decrees of all of creation. He knew which rubber would be on which tire, and which highway the rubber would shred on. Allah knows what is going on right now. He knows which one of us is sincere — who is making du'a, praying on time, and would do anything to support our Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine.

You have to ask yourself before you are asked.

Closing Du'a and Salah upon the Prophet

I ask Allah to protect us, to make us people of steadfastness in times of ease and times of difficulty.

وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ

And establish the prayer. Indeed, the prayer has been enjoined upon the believers at fixed times.