Muadh ibn Jabal R.A | 40 Ahadith of Sahabah | Imam Nadim Bashir | EPIC Masjid

Muadh ibn Jabal: The Scholar of Halal and Haram

As we do every single week, we start off with a hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ related to the Sahaba of the day. So, the Sahabi that we're talking about today, he narrates a story that he was with Rasulullah ﷺ. He says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5967)

"I was sitting behind Rasulullah ﷺ on a donkey, who was called Ufayr."

And before I begin and go any further, this is something that we learn with many Sahabi radiyallahu anhum, especially young Sahabi, that often they will learn from the Prophet ﷺ while sitting with the Prophet ﷺ. Whether they were sitting in the masjid with the Prophet ﷺ, or they might be traveling somewhere and they're sitting on the same animal. And whenever that opportunity would present itself, Rasulullah ﷺ would capitalize on those occasions and he would always teach the Sahabi something interesting.

The Rights of Allah and the Rights of the Servants

So, he says that I was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ, and he says, the Sahabi, he says:

"Do you know Allah's right upon the slaves? And the rights of the slaves upon Allah?" So there are rights of the people upon Allah, and there are rights of Allah upon us.

So he says:

He, like all the Sahabi, they would always do when the Prophet ﷺ would ask a question, they said that Allah and His Rasul knows best.

So then he says:

"The rights of Allah upon us and upon His slaves is that they should worship only Allah and they do not commit any shirk with Allah. They do not associate partners with Allah. And the rights of the human being or the people upon Allah is that He will not punish anyone who does not associate partners with Allah."

So then he says:

"Should I not go and tell people about this glad tidings?" And the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Do not inform people about this. Do not give them the glad tidings about this. Because then they will become complacent." And once again the Prophet ﷺ what he meant by that is that if you just simply tell people that they do not commit shirk with Allah and they will go into Jannah, then they will not do anything afterwards. So that is why he said this to Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu.

The Early Life of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

So Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu was someone who converted to Islam after. This is before the hijrah of the Prophet ﷺ. But the person who was in Medina teaching and preaching was who? So I'm gonna ask you this question now. Who was preaching and teaching in Medina prior to the arrival of the Prophet ﷺ? Mus'ab ibn Umayr radiyallahu anhu. So he converted to Islam on the hands of Mus'ab ibn Umayr. And then he is also one of those people who accompanied the Muslims in the second pledge of Al-'Aqaba. This is when they went to Mecca. This is where they met the Prophet ﷺ at his home. And then they met the Prophet ﷺ in the valley of Mina. And that is where again they reinforced their commitment to the Prophet ﷺ family, his uncle, that they will take care of the Prophet ﷺ. So he was part of this group.

Before even coming to the fold of Islam, it is mentioned about Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu that he was a handsome man. He was a very eloquent man. He was extremely intelligent. Someone who loved to write. Someone who was very intellectual. In fact there were times where even the Prophet ﷺ would come to him and tell him that he wanted him to learn the languages of others. Because whenever he needed a translator, then the Prophet ﷺ, he would come to him and he would learn the languages of other people in order to translate them to the Prophet ﷺ.

The Scholar of Halal and Haram

Something else that we learn is that after the Prophet ﷺ, he came back. He came, I mean this time, when he after he came back, but the Prophet ﷺ has migrated to Medina. He was one of the very closest companions to the Prophet ﷺ. In fact, every single opportunity that he had, he would sit with the Prophet ﷺ and learn everything. Not just the Qur'an, he would learn the halal and the haram. And that is why Rasulullah ﷺ, he says in a very well-known hadith that:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3790)

"The person who knows the most about al-halal and al-haram, it is Mu'adh ibn Jabal."

Mu'adh ibn Jabal was also one of the six people in Medina who knew the most amount of Qur'an. And that is why it is mentioned that Mu'adh ibn Jabal spent a good portion of his life teaching people who have just converted into Islam, to teach them the Qur'an. He dedicated a lot of years behind this.

Lessons from the Battle of Tabuk

It is also mentioned that while he was there with the Prophet ﷺ in the battle of Badr, in the battle of Uhud, and all the other battles, the one battle that really stands out in terms of him sitting down and learning from the Prophet ﷺ was Tabuk. And in Tabuk, that he was with the Prophet ﷺ, and I don't want to go to the... I don't want to go through the entire hadith at this point right now because of time. But there's something interesting that we learn from that story.

And that is that one time Mu'adh ibn Jabal says that as it is usual that the greatest Shaykh whoever is there, people like to go to a Shaykh and ask him questions. And more importantly, someone, if they found their favorite Shaykh alone, there is no one around them, they would feel like that, you know what, now is the time that I can ask any questions. So Mu'adh ibn Jabal says that while everyone was tired, they were exhausted due to Tabuk, I saw Rasulullah ﷺ that no one was around him. So I decided to go and ask him some questions.

And at that time, once again the hadith is long, but one important point to be learned from this is, he says that I asked Rasulullah ﷺ a very interesting question. And the Prophet ﷺ responded to that by saying, بَخٍ بَخٍ. He used this expression meaning that, "Wow! Mu'adh, what an amazing question you have asked."

And the reason why I share this is because many of us, even especially in our youth and our young brothers and young sisters to listen to this very carefully. Many times there are questions that are asked which are absolutely irrelevant. For example, just recently I had a young guy came to me. He says, "Sheikh, I understand about Salat, but how do you pray Salat on Mars?" So I told him that if the day ever comes that mashallah, you are that intellectual and you travel to Mars, meet me here inshallah, you know where my office is, meet me here before you leave inshallah. And I'll give you a full guideline on how you pray on Mars. But this is something that I've seen very common with many youth. You understand?

One thing, and by the way, Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu, how old was he at this particular time in the life of the Prophet ﷺ? He was extremely young. Because if you do the simple math, just a simple math, Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu accepted Islam approximately at the age of 17 or 18 years old. And now you're talking about how old is he now? Approximately 27 years old. So he's a young man. You understand? So now, even before this, whenever he would learn from the Prophet ﷺ, he knew the questions to ask.

So that is why to my young brothers and young sisters, even if you have a question that you want to ask, what we learn from the Sahaba radiyallahu anhum is that they will always ask relevant questions. You understand? And if you have an irrelevant question, inshallah, you know, you can ask, okay, the Shaykh, and the Shaykh may give you an answer or not, or so forth. Some Shaykh will give you an answer, some Shaykh will just simply ignore. But the point is that always try to ask the right questions, okay? This is very important for our young brothers and our young sisters.

The Mission to Yemen

Now, one thing that we learn is that after Fath al-Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ, he realized that now since Makkah is under the control of Muslims, he needs to put someone in Makkah so that they can teach everyone else the Qur'an. So he told Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu that you stay here in Makkah. And while the majority of the Sahaba went back to Medina, he stayed behind as per the instructions of the Prophet ﷺ, and he taught Qur'an.

Now, at that particular time, there was a message that came from the people of Yemen. And the people of Yemen said that, "Ya Rasulullah, many people here have converted to Islam, please send us an amazing teacher. Send us a great Shaykh." And at that time, once again, Mu'adh ibn Jabal was not just a great Qari, he was not just a great scholar of the Qur'an, a great hafidh of the Qur'an himself. But he was once again a Shaykh also, he knew jurisprudence, he knew Qur'an and hadith, and he knew how to derive matters from the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. So when this request came from the people of Yemen, he thought that there's no one better to send to Yemen than Mu'adh ibn Jabal radiyallahu anhu.

The Saddest Farewell

But this is where you find one of the saddest moments, wallahi one of the saddest moments in history. And before I talk about this saddest moment perhaps in history, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the Sahaba radiyallahu anhu. One of the greatest tragedies that the Sahaba had to overcome was the death of Rasulullah ﷺ. Think about your life, everything that you have and you believe in. Anytime you came to Medina, the only thing you will look forward to is Rasulullah ﷺ. This was the case with the Sahaba radiyallahu anhu.

And subhanAllah, for those of us who have been to Medina, you have the same kind of feeling. As soon as you land in the airport in Medina, you cannot wait just to go and see Masjid al-Nabawi. This is wallahi a reality. And anyone who has gone to Medina, they will tell you, the serenity, the peace that you feel in Masjid al-Nabawi, wallahi you don't feel that anywhere else on the face of this earth. So, this is who the Sahaba were. And I want you to understand how much they loved Rasulullah ﷺ.

Now, Mu'adh ibn Jabal says that when that message came and the Prophet ﷺ had decided to send me away to Yemen. He says that, and as he's taking Mu'adh radiyallahu anhu, Mu'adh radiyallahu anhu is sitting on the animal and the reins of the animal are in the hands of the Prophet ﷺ. So, the Prophet is walking and Mu'adh is sitting on the animal.

And now, I want you to think about this. Imagine if you had a very sick parent, a sick mother, a sick father, and they tell you that, you know what, like you came, you know, this happens a lot. People go from here, they might go overseas if their parents are overseas, and they meet with their parents, and the parents might tell them that, look, the situation is that it's really bad. Anytime I could pass away, if you come back, you know, or you might have been on the other side of the world, I may pass away. Wallahi, as for your love, as your love for your father or your love for your mother, of course you will cry. You understand?

Now, I want you to think about Mu'adh radiyallahu anhu. The Prophet ﷺ says, "Ya Mu'adh, first of all he says, إِنِّي أُحِبُّكَ. I love you very much." I mean, what an honor, Wallahi, what an honor that the Prophet ﷺ is telling you, this person, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, "I love you."

And then he says:

He says, "Do not ever forget to say after every single salat, this du'a." And once again, we should all memorize this du'a. What is it?

"O Allah, help me in remembering You, thanking You, and worshipping You in the best manner." Repeat after me.

The Prophet ﷺ says, recite this after every single salat. And by the way, if you notice, if every single time I finish my salat, I recite this also. And I recite it a little out loud so that all of you can recite it too. Because by the way, side note, Rasulullah ﷺ is mentioned by many of the Sahaba that after the Prophet ﷺ, we could hear him reciting duas. What does that tell you? The Prophet ﷺ will recite these duas a little out loud so that it can be a teaching opportunity for all the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم.

So this is one thing that first of all, the Prophet ﷺ says. The next thing he said is that when you go to Yemen, these are people who have just converted to Islam. So he says, بِمَا تَحْكُمُ How are you going to make a judgment regarding their matters? So Mu'adh رضي الله عنه said that through the Qur'an, through the book of Allah عز و جل. And he says that what if you don't find a matter over there? He says, I will then turn to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. And then he says that what if you don't find anything over there? And that is when he says that I will exercise my opinion and my ijtihad.

Now once again, this is Mu'adh رضي الله عنه we're talking about, you understand? Not just any random person. A person who is very well versed when it comes to halal and haram and the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. For this kind of person to say that I will exercise ijtihad, he has a right to do so. Not anyone else. Because a lot of times people will say that Mu'adh رضي الله عنه he says to the Prophet ﷺ, I can do the same thing also. No, you have to have a lot of academic background. You have to have studied under shuyukh not just for one session, not for one semester, no, for years before you can even get to this level. But then he says, I will exercise ijtihad and the Prophet ﷺ was pleased and he praised Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى at that. And once again, this teaches us that shuyukh at this level they can do ijtihad.

But then here comes the major point. He says that Mu'adh رضي الله عنه said earlier he was sitting on the camel and he says, Ya Mu'adh, إِنَّكَ عَسَىٰ أَلَّا تَلْقَانِي بَعْدَ عَامِي هَذَا He goes, Mu'adh, listen to me very carefully. He goes, next time you come to Medina, you probably won't find me. You think about this for a moment. The person that you love the most, the person who has told you that he loves you so much, for him to tell you, Ya Mu'adh, you come back next time, you will not see me. How can... Like, you think about the emotional state of a sahabi, he begins to cry. And the Prophet ﷺ is consoling him. And he's telling him, don't cry Mu'adh. But how can Mu'adh not cry? Like to know that I will come back to Medina and the Prophet ﷺ is not going to be there anymore? Like, how is that possible? So Mu'adh began to cry. The Prophet ﷺ, he consoled him. And he said that, when you come, you will see my grave and you will see my masjid. This is what the Prophet ﷺ said.

Now of course, Mu'adh رضي الله عنه going there, of course, he's going to be in a state of distraught. But of course, at the end of the day, this was the instruction of the Prophet ﷺ. And the one thing that we learn about the sahaba was that, no matter how much they love Rasulullah ﷺ, if they were told to go and leave Medina because of the instruction of the Prophet ﷺ, they would never argue with the Prophet ﷺ. They would never say, Ya Rasulullah, I want to stay here in Medina. I want to pray salat behind you. Of course, which sahabi would not want to pray behind the Prophet ﷺ? People would die. The sahaba would give everything to pray salat behind Rasulullah ﷺ. But when the Prophet ﷺ says, you go to Yemen, he's not going to question, he's not going to argue, he went to Yemen.

Also it is mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ, he also told Mu'adh رضي الله عنه that verily you are coming to people amongst the people of the book. These are the people of the book. They're not idol worshippers. So they have a concept of prayer, of zakat and so forth. So he says, you call them to believe in one Allah ﷻ and that I am the Messenger of Allah. And then he says, if they accept that, then tell them that Allah ﷻ has made the five prayers obligatory upon them day and night. If they accept that, then teach them that Allah ﷻ has made obligatory upon them charity to be taken from the rich and given to the poor. And if they accept that, beware that do not take the best of their wealth. And then he says, be on guard for the supplication of the oppressed. He says, اتقي دعوة المظلوم فإنه ليس بينها وبين الله حجاب That in this process of you disseminating responsibilities or you fulfilling your responsibilities, make sure that no one, you don't violate anyone else's rights. Because if there's anyone who is مظلوم as a result of your ظلم and they make du'a, there is nothing between, there is no hijab and no barrier between their du'a and Allah ﷻ.

So also, there's another beautiful hadith of Prophet ﷺ that I have mentioned this before in one of my lectures and my khutbahs also, that when it comes to giving your children advice, especially when they go to school, when they go far away, if they're coming for long weekends and they're going to go back to school and they may come after a semester, always give this advice to your children as Rasulullah ﷺ, he gave this advice to Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه which is what?

He says, number one, اتق الله حيث ما كنت Wherever you are, be cautious of the fact that Allah ﷻ is watching you. Number two is, anytime you do something that is wrong, back it up with something that is good. وَاتَّبْعِ السَّيِّئَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُوهَا And number three is, وَخَالِقِ النَّاسَ بِخُلُقٍ حَسَنٍ Always treat people with good akhlaq. So this is, once again, this is a very tough separation between Rasulullah ﷺ and Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه.

Now, when it comes to the Khilafah Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه. Again, he was pretty much in Yemen. And at that time, he stayed there, he kept on teaching Qur'an. A lot of people convert to Islam on the hands of Mu'adh ibn Jabal. But then in the time of Umar ibn Khattab رضي الله عنه he was asked to go to Ashsham. Now remember, in a lot of books, when they say the word Ashsham, Ashsham consisted of four countries. So it's Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. So once again, when you see the word Sham, do not understand that we're talking about current day Syria, you understand? This entire region was known as Ashsham.

But nonetheless, in this place of Ashsham, there was a plague that broke out which was called the plague of Amwas. And during this plague, once again, Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه was asked to go to this area because again, people convert to Islam. And he was sent there by Umar ibn Khattab رضي الله عنه to teach. However, during this plague, not only did he lose his life in this plague, but his entire family died. His entire family, his wife, his kids, they all died as a result of this plague. At the very end, because once again, his family died before him. So while he was on his deathbed, he made this dua to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى that, ya Allah, you know, I do not love this dunya for the flowing rivers or the planting trees, but for enduring thirst while fasting. He says, the only reason I love this dunya is because I get to endure the thirst while in the state of fasting. I get to stand at night in salah and I get to sit in the gatherings of dhikr. This is the only reason why this dunya is good. But then he made dua to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى and Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى took his life and he died.

Now once again, you talk about the life of Mu'adh ibn Jabal. You probably think that, oh, he probably died in his 50s or 60s. Mu'adh رضي الله عنه died around the age of between 33 and 35 years old. That's how young he was, subhanAllah. Between 33 and 35 years old, this is the life of Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه.

Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, he says in a very beautiful hadith, خذوا القرآن من أربعة. If there is anyone you want to learn the Qur'an from, take it from four people. Number one, who are the four people? Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. Number two is Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Number three is the Sahabi of today, Mu'adh ibn Jabal. And the last one is Salim. He was a freed slave of Hudhayfah. So these are four people who were very well versed in the Qur'an. The Prophet ﷺ says, if you want to take the Qur'an from anyone, take it from one of these kind of people, take it from these four people.

And once again the Prophet ﷺ also mentions in a hadith that the most knowledgeable of my ummah regarding what is halal and haram is Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه. And he also says the Mu'adh رضي الله عنه will come on the Day of Judgment ahead of, listen to this, ahead of all the ulama by a step. Meaning that when all the ulama are raised on the Day of Judgment, Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه he would have superiority over all of them because he had the knowledge of halal and haram and he was very knowledgeable in the time of the Prophet ﷺ and even during his entire life people would continue to learn from him.

So we will finish on this inshaAllah. May Allah ﷻ grant all of us tawfiq. Once again, the key thing that we learn from Mu'adh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه is his keen desire to learn and to learn. And not only that but to teach Qur'an. Many times today, we feel that it is something small to teach the Qur'an. For a sahabi to teach the Qur'an in Medina, then he went to Mecca and taught the Qur'an over there, then he went to Yemen to teach the Qur'an over there, then he got transferred over to Sham to teach the Qur'an over there. Once again, this is something that if we all know how to read the Qur'an, we make sure that we teach it to others. May Allah ﷻ grant all of us tawfiq inshaAllah.

Wa jazakumullah khair. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.