History Was Made on This Day | Ashurah

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He leaves astray, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that there is none worthy of worship except Him.

And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and that he is pure, and that he is chosen from among his creation and his companions. He conveyed the message, and fulfilled the trust, and advised the ummah, and Allah removed the darkness from it, and left it on the white carpet. Its night is like its day. None can escape it except the one who has perished. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master, our Prophet, our Beloved, and the pleasure of our eyes, Muhammad. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

My brothers in Allah, the Lord of Glory says in His Glorious Qur'an:

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

All gratitude belongs to Allah. We thank Him, we seek His forgiveness, and we seek His help. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whoever is led astray due to their own intentions, none can guide but Allah. I testify that there is none worthy of my devotion, my worship, my love, my ultimate submission but Allah, and that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His last and His final Messenger.

The Days of Allah — Ayyam Allah

History has had so many moments. Moments that changed the course of time. If you ask somebody today, what were the five or six moments in the history of humanity that changed the course of everything that was to happen? Somebody might tell you the Industrial Revolution. Somebody might tell you 9-11. Somebody might tell you when the Berlin Wall fell. But if you really ask the question — what were the moments that really changed the course of humanity? — Allah asks us to think about these days and these moments in the Qur'an. Because these moments serve as reminders for us and they give hope to us today as we stand where we stand.

One day, in this very month — the month of Muharram — 1400 years ago, the most beautiful and beloved man on this earth, the Prophet ﷺ, he looks at his companions and he says to them: fast the 10th day of Muharram, because this is one of the days of Allah. What does that mean, one of the days of Allah? This is one of the days in which the course of history completely changed.

What happened on that day? Why does he fast on this day? Why does he remember this day and commemorate this day? What's so special about it? It's coming up in a few days. It's the moment for us to really think about what happened on that day.

This is the day in which Allah saved Musa from the tyrant Fir'awn. This is the day when a man with a stick was able to split the sea and cross. This is the day when hundreds and thousands of oppressed people waited for centuries under enslavement — when their women were violated, their children were slaughtered. They waited and waited for this day. This is the day that reminds us that there is always hope. This is the day that reminds us that as we watch the news and as we lose hope, there's always hope to come.

Allah reminds us about this day when He says:

Remember, O Muhammad ﷺ, when I sent Musa with My miracles, and I told him: take your people out of darkness into light, and remind them of the moments — the events that are most important to Allah. Musa is reminding his people. He's saying to Banu Isra'il — people who have lost complete hope — hundreds of years we've been in enslavement, how are you going to save us with a stick? And Allah commands him: remind them, O Musa, did Allah not remove Ibrahim from the fire? And did Yunus not find his way out of the whale? If Allah could save them, so too He can save you.

Two Qualities That Carry Us Through Every Trial

Allah in this ayah is describing two character traits that will get us through every difficulty. In the last one year, the last five years, we have seen COVID, economic recession, elections, global turmoil, the events of Gaza, earthquakes, floods. How much resilience? Allah is testing us to see how much resilience we have.

But Allah says: if you want to surf the waves and get through all the things I throw at you, you just need two qualities:

There are signs in these past events for people who have patience and gratitude. When I throw a curveball at you and I give you difficulty, how patient will you be? And when I give you good times, how grateful will you be? It is between these two traits — patience and gratitude — that we are able to take anything Allah throws at us.

The Story of 'Ashura — Musa and Fir'awn

And now, Musa alayhis salam — for a moment, let us spend a moment with this day and with this moment. Musa alayhis salam has been sweating and working hard with his people, training them, developing them, teaching them, getting them to forget the paganism that they were seeing, getting them to forget the slavery that they were experiencing, getting them to forget the baggage that they had for hundreds of years as Banu Isra'il were trampled on by the rest of society.

And now, in the darkness of the night, Musa alayhis salam is revealed to by Allah. And he is told:

Go out at night in secrecy — you will definitely be followed. And as he slips out in the night, with the silent footsteps of hundreds of thousands of people, and as they get as far as they can, the news of this reaches the army of Fir'awn — that pharaoh, that tyrant — and there exists one in every place and in every time. And he sends his army after them.

Now imagine this moment. Musa alayhis salam stood in front of the sea, behind him an entire nation of Banu Isra'il, and they are stuck between a sea and an army that has never been seen before. They look in front of them — they're going to drown. They look behind them — they hear the movement of horses, the clashing of swords, the storming of men. Where will we turn? Where will we go?

It is at this point in time that they are pushed to their limits and they give up:

O Musa, we saw your miracles, we saw your staff, we know you're a prophet — but you know what, even you can't get us out of this sticky situation. We're finished.

Everybody has their boiling point. Everybody has a point after which they crack. Every material — could be metal, could be plastic, could be marble, could be granite — everything melts at some point of temperature. And every human being at some point cracks and gives up. And Banu Isra'il gave up at this point.

But it is at this point that the test comes. Are you going to give up, or are you going to remain hopeful that Allah is going to get you across? It is at this point that Musa alayhis salam states the most famous words:

No. All is not lost, all is not forgotten. Allah is with me, and He will show me the way.

Musa's Memory — A Life Built on the Promise of Allah

In Musa's memory, as he stands in front of the sea — does he not remember a time before when he stood in front of the sea as a baby? His mother stood in front of the River Nile and she threw him into the river. With what hope? With the promise of Allah:

Allah promised her: I will send him back to you. I will give you a return on your investment. And she throws her baby into a river. This is a woman who trusts Allah.

And he stood now in front of the sea. He remembers the river. He remembers the palace. He remembers the fight. He remembers the exit — the lonely walk to Madyan. He remembers his return from Madyan. He remembers the burning bush. In every moment of his life — in every moment of your life — if you look back, people came and they went. Family came and they disappeared. People lived and died. But Allah was always there. And Musa remembers this:

Allah will show me the way. When he shows his commitment to Allah, Allah shows His commitment to Musa.

I revealed to Musa: use your staff to strike the sea. It split until the sea was as tall as a mountain — the two parts of the sea. And just like that, defying the laws of physics, he marches through the sea. Like he's marching across a red carpet that has been laid out for him by Allah.

Nobody imagined this outcome. Nobody thought it was possible. All the institutions said, no way. The statistics stood against him. The resources stood against him. The armies of the world stood against him.

But the 10th of Muharram is a celebration and a remembrance — a moment of memory of the collective memory of the human race — to remember: every tyrant must fall. Every pharaoh must die. It doesn't matter where they're sitting. It doesn't matter what their ethnicity. It doesn't matter who they're oppressing. Every tyrant will crumble, and their empire will fall, and they will be destroyed. And what will be left will be the believers who are triumphant, as Allah promised us in the Qur'an — the end is for the righteous.

Muharram — A Month of Hope and New Beginnings

Muharram is a month of hope — not least because it is a remembrance of when Allah saved the oppressed people from the greatest oppressor of all time, but also because it marks the start of a new Hijri year, a new year in the Islamic calendar.

On the 1st of January every year, every gym across the country is very happy. Because they see a 400% increase in gym subscriptions on December 31st, just before midnight. What's happening? Half of the country is deciding, just before New Year's Eve, that next year I'm going to get fit. New Year's Resolutions, they call it. And within three months the vast majority of them no longer are in the gym.

As much as this anecdote reminds us of ourselves — the decisions we make, the New Year's promises we tell ourselves — as we start the new Hijri year, the year of Muharram, it is a moment of new beginnings for us. And it is a moment of repentance for us. And it is a moment to decide: in this year, I will have hope in Allah. In this year, I will have hope in myself and I will work on myself.

How Do We Make Lasting Change?

As we enter this new month and as we enter this new year, we need to understand how to make a resolution and how to make a decision to change. Why is it that all those people who subscribe to so many gyms on December 31st — why don't they last? Because there's no real realization deep down of the effect of their actions. It's an impulse. It's a sudden emotional decision. And so it doesn't last more than ten minutes, or two days, or two weeks, or one month.

But how do we change as believers? And how do we have sustained and consistent change? Nothing will change in our body and our limbs and our habits until first, what is in our heart changes. As Allah reminds us about this in the Qur'an:

Allah will not change your state until you change what is within your heart. Let's look for one moment inside our hearts. Take a magnifying glass, take a telescope. What's inside? We see a heart that is blackened and caked with sins. From every angle — from what we see, to what we speak, to how we behave — we know that no real change can come until we first make a sincere tawbah, a sincere repentance, and an honest conversation with Allah and with ourselves.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

O believers, return back to Allah with a sincere repentance.

The Story of Ka'b al-Ansari — A New Page

I want to end this khutbah with a story of new beginnings, because Muharram is a reminder that everybody can start a new page — just as Musa alayhis salam did as he crossed the sea, so can we.

A young man comes to the Prophet ﷺ — Ka'b al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him. This young man was walking in the marketplace, and he saw one day as he walked in the marketplace a pretty lady. And this lady happened to be selling dates. And he thought to himself: what if I told this lady that the lady herself is more beautiful than the dates? And he started talking to her, and they both disappeared. And in his own words: we did everything except zina, except intercourse.

This is a companion of the Prophet ﷺ. In the life of the Prophet ﷺ, he realizes his mistake and he runs. He runs straight to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. He says: O Abu Bakr, I fell for this lady and I have done everything with her except zina. What do I do? Is there any hope? Abu Bakr says: go away and keep it to yourself. You don't have to tell other people about this — seek Allah's forgiveness.

He goes to Umar — same story. Go away, keep it to yourself. He eventually comes to the Prophet ﷺ: O Prophet of Allah, I committed this mistake with this woman. I fell for this woman. I gave in to my desires. Where do I go from here? The Prophet ﷺ turns away and he walks away.

And then Allah reveals Qur'an. And the Prophet ﷺ calls this young man and he says: come back. Do you know that Allah revealed Qur'an just for your question? He said: for me? He said: for you and for the whole Ummah. What did Allah reveal?

Allah says: pray salah. Establish your connection with Allah in day and night. Your good deeds will wipe away all the bad stuff you did. That's a reminder for those who remember.

The Prophet ﷺ turns to this man and he says: Allah said — everything you did with that lady, if you just keep up with your salah, it will be forgotten. He said: is that just for me? Like a special offer? Exclusive? No, it's not just for you, Ka'b. It's for the entire Ummah.

We all have skeletons in our closet. We all have crimes we've committed. We all have mistakes. We're all held back by our laziness, by our desires, by our family, by our relatives, by our communities, by our environments — we're all held back. But you may be a million steps from Allah — it only takes one step and one word to return back to Him. And the secret — just as you're not talking to a relative and you pick up the phone to call them after so many years — all it takes is to lift your hands and say اللهُ أَكْبَر, and your merciful Lord will welcome you back.

Come back. It doesn't matter how far you went. You can always open a new page, start a new chapter, have hope — because Muharram is the month that reminds us that just as Musa alayhis salam did the impossible, so can we.