Navigating Life's Trials With A Positive Mindset And Moral Excellence

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and the Messengers. And upon his family and his companions, the good and the pure. And whoever follows them with good and calls upon their support until the Day of Recompense. My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Tests and Trials: The Believer's Positive Mindset

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in our lives brings different forms of tests and trials. And sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests us through good conditions, and sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests us through difficult conditions.

Allah ta'ala says:

Allah ta'ala is the one who brings such conditions that will make you laugh. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who brings such conditions that will make you cry. And in both of these conditions, the believer is the one who has a positive mindset — always looking at the positive side.

Looking at the positive side when things are going well is easy, it's more intuitive — a person enjoys the blessings and does shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But looking at the positive side when things are going against a person is more challenging. The believer is the one who is always looking at the positive side.

We have the proverbial example of the glass: when a person looks at it, somebody who is optimistic will say that this glass is half full, and the one who has a negative perception of all things will say that oh, this is half empty. So with respect to negative things, there are so many different negative conditions that may come upon us in our life — some natural disasters, financial hardship, and loss of loved ones.

But one particular form of a negative experience is our mutual interactions. If someone has been harsh to us, if someone has been mean to us, if someone has cheated us, betrayed us, hurt us physically, financially, verbally, emotionally in any shape or form — then how do we react to this given situation? This is a test from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Just like how do we react when someone is loving and caring and kind and generous — how do we react to that situation?

So we have the noble example of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the noble examples of the Sahaba Ridwanullah alayhim ajma'in. Whenever they were hurt by their enemies in different shapes and forms, how they reacted in such a positive manner.

The Moral Excellence of the Prophet ﷺ

My dear respected brothers and sisters, truly Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was a manifestation of the ultimate pinnacle in moral excellence. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has sworn by the pen that has written the destiny of all creation and by the tablet in which it was written:

No — how dare they say that you are crazy. I swear by the blessings of your Rabb, you are not majnoon. You are not crazy, you are not insane. وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ — Verily you are the manifestation of the ultimate pinnacle of moral excellence, khuluqin azeem.

The Incident of Ifk — The Slander Against Aisha

Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was not only physically attacked and verbally assaulted, but where would potentially — from a human perspective — hurt the most for a person who has honor and ghayrah is at his family level. When it comes to his own noble wife, Ummul Mu'mineen, Aisha Siddiqa radiyallahu ta'ala anha, we cannot imagine how much pain it must have caused him when her integrity was not only doubted or questioned, but was attacked and detailed slander was made against the noble wife of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

On the way back from the Ghazwa Banu Mustaliq, the hypocrites made this slanderous allegation against the noble mother — our mother — Ummul Mu'mineen Aisha Siddiqa radiyallahu ta'ala anha, that she intentionally planned a rendezvous, a private meeting, with Safwan ibn Mu'attal radiyallahu ta'ala anhu.

This is illogical on so many different levels. Why in the world would she need to look anywhere else when her husband is the most beautiful creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? How does it even make sense? Leaving her taqwa aside, leaving her integrity and chastity aside — if you forget about her for a second, just look at who her husband is. He has perfection in his kamal, in his jamal, in his nawal, in every single attribute. SubhanAllah, he is the definition of beauty. He defines beauty.

As Aisha Siddiqa radiyallahu ta'ala anha herself on one occasion said: "I have a shining sun, and the sky — oh sky, you also have a sun, but my sun is more bright than you. You illuminate half the world; my sun illuminates the entire Alameen."

In any case, it was a very simple mistake that happened. She was very young and light, and the khuddaam — the servants — when they picked up her hawdaj, which was a covered canopy, and placed it on her camel, her weight was so little that the difference was negligible. They didn't realize that she was not in there. She had gone out to look for a lost necklace that she had dropped in a secluded area far from where the Sahaba had camped for the night in the middle of the desert on the return back to Madinatul Munawwara.

When she had gone to relieve herself far away in privacy and then came back as the caravan was getting ready to move on, she realized her necklace was missing. So she went back to find it. That is when the caravan was getting ready to deploy and move on. The khuddaam picked up her hawdaj and put it on her camel, made the camel rise, and they continued on.

When she came back, she realized everyone was gone. She sat down there. She was intelligent enough to know that it would be risking her life to try to run and catch up with them. She knew they would realize sooner or later that she was not there and would come back and find her.

Safwan ibn Mu'attal was a rear guard appointed by Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for multiple functions — one was to remain as a spy from the back in case of a rear attack, to bring that to the attention of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam; and also because when a caravan is traveling, sometimes things may fall off or be left behind, and he could pick those things up and bring them.

So it comes in the hadith that as he was coming, he just saw that there was a body lying there. While she was waiting, she had fallen asleep. When he came there, he was shocked. And that was it — he did not utter a single word of communication. He did not ask: how did it happen? How did you get left behind? How can I help you? Not a single question — because he felt all of that would be irrelevant. It was quite obvious that he needed to get her back to the caravan. So why ask? He just made his camel sit down, she came on top, and he continued running rapidly. Within half a day, he rejoined the camp.

This opportunity was exploited by the hypocrites. And na'udhu billah, they said what they said — that which does not need to be repeated. This is known as the incident of ifk. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — ifkun mubeen — a grave slander and accusation. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed several ayat in the Qur'an declaring the purity of Aisha Siddiqa radiyallahu ta'ala anha.

The Purity of the Prophets' Households

Not only Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as Sayyid al-awwaleen, Sayyid al-akhireen, but all of the anbiya of the past — from the time of Adam and Hawa and Nuh alayhi salam, Sheetha alayhi salam and their wives, till Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It is possible that some of the anbiya's wives remained mushrik. Even that is possible, as happened with the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut.

The wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut alayhi salam — they were married to righteous servants of Allah, Prophets of Allah. But they did not listen to their own husbands. So it is possible for the wife of a Nabi to be a mushrik and die as a mushrik in the punishment of Allah ta'ala. The wife of Nuh alayhi salam drowned in the flood. The wife of Lut alayhi salam was destroyed along with the people of Sodom. That is even possible.

But it is not possible for any Nabi's wife to betray him when it comes to the fidelity of marriage. Why is that not possible? Because her shirk is between her and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And her infidelity to her husband may be perceived as a weakness in that husband — that he was not able to keep the loyalty of his wife. And all of the Anbiya alayhi salam are pure from such blemishes. No one can ever say to any Nabi: "What kind of a husband are you, that even your wife betrayed you?" All of the Prophets prior to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had wives and children — the only exceptions were Yahya alayhi salam and Isa alayhi salam — and all of their wives were faithful and loyal.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed His ayat. We can imagine how much pain was in the heart of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

The Prophet's ﷺ Forgiveness of Abdullah Ibn Ubayy

Yet what do we see? How did he behave — not only with those who cast this allegation, but the ringleader. And who identified him as the ringleader? Allah did, in Surah An-Nur. Allah said: this group that have brought this allegation against your noble wife, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — do not think that is bad for you. It is actually good for you. Allah has given this opportunity to declare your purity in the Qur'an. And among these enemies, there is one who has taken the biggest share in this whole scandal — his punishment is going to be dreadful.

His name of course was Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salool — the leader of the hypocrites. And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not only forgive him. What is truly mind-boggling is that there had already been so many evidences from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an about this enemy of Allah. Yet like a drowning man clutching at any straw, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was actively looking for and searching for any evidence he could find to lead his Salatul Janazah and make dua for him when he died.

First of all, he died his natural death. Many of the Sahaba wanted to defend Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's honor and kill him — frankly, assassinate him. This is just one thing. He had planned multiple assassination plots against Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. On multiple occasions he tried to kill Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who protected Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, informed him of these plots, and saved him. Otherwise, Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would have been killed by Abdullah Ibn Ubayy.

And he had outwardly accepted Islam. He wasn't like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab who were bold enough to declare their kufr and died as kafirs. He was a munafiq — a hypocrite. He had outwardly accepted Islam but was hiding the kufr in his heart.

These hypocrites come to you and say: "We testify, we swear, that you are the Messenger of Allah." And Allah ta'ala truly knows that you are His Messenger. But Allah ta'ala testifies that these hypocrites are lying when they say they believe you are the Prophet of Allah.

I will give them double the punishment. They will be in the lowest level of Jahannam. So subhanAllah, the munafiqun were among the companions from the worldly perspective — not companions in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says that the hardest salah for the munafiqun to attend was the Fajr and Isha Jama'ah. What does that mean? They were attending the Fajr and Isha Jama'ah — it was just hard for them. The reason it's hard for them is because the entire thing is an act.

When they come to pray, they perform the salah in a lazy manner. They are praying to show others. They do not remember Allah in the least. This connects to:

Destruction on those who are musallin, who pray — huwayl lil musallin. Destruction on those who pray? Those who are praying just to show others and are forgetting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Janazah of Abdullah Ibn Ubayy

So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: I don't want it to be said among the qaba'il al-arab — the Arab tribes:

Look at this man, Muhammad — he kills his own companions.

Because he was a "companion" per se, quote-unquote. So he let him live. And then when he died, his son — who was a Sahabi — came and asked Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: "Can you perform the Salatul Janazah of my father?" He could have said: "How dare you even ask me such a question?" But instead Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Yes, I will."

Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu — there are 14 occasions mentioned where man kana ra'yuhum muwafiqan bilwahi walkitab, that he gave an opinion and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed an ayah confirming what he had proposed. One of those is this very occasion, where he told Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: "Ya Rasulullah, I do not think this is a good idea. It's not about you forgiving him for your own sake. It is because the ayah is clear:"

These hypocrites — if you ask Allah to forgive them or you don't ask Allah to forgive them, it doesn't make a difference. Because if you ask Allah to forgive them 70 times, Allah will never forgive them. And 70 in the Arabic language is just like in English we say "100" for kathra — many, many times. So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam understood this ayah, and that is what I said a few moments ago — that he was really struggling to come up with some excuse to seek Allah's forgiveness for his sworn enemy. So he told Umar radiyallahu anhu: "Allah ta'ala said that even if you seek forgiveness 70 times He will never forgive. I will seek Allah's forgiveness for this enemy 71 times or more."

And he did not just perform the janazah and leave. What did he do? He performed the janazah and he took his own noble qamees mubarak — his own shirt — and gave it to his son to use as a kafan. Khalid ibn Walid radiyallahu anhu treasured his honor so greatly — he had one hair of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam which he kept in his turban in battle and was buried with. This enemy got the entire qamees of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as his kafan. Not only did Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam lead his janazah and give his qamees — he went down into the grave. He went down into the grave and put the body of this enemy — this khabees, and we can call him khabees with no hesitation based on what Allah has said — he put his body in the grave. Then he came back out and made so much dua.

Afterward, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed the final, definitive prohibition:

Do not ever perform Salatul Janazah for these hypocrites. Never dare to stand by the grave and make dua for them. They are denying Allah and His Messenger. You may forgive them for your own part, but they are denying Allah. When they died in a state of disobedience to Me, I prohibit you without any ambiguity — you cannot make dua for them.

Then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: okay, I will stop. This is sufficient. Whether Allah will make tawbah for them or not — this is the example of forgiving the one who has hurt you.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us tawfiq — that these small differences we have with one another, where we feel offended that "how dare they not invite us to the waleema, I'm never going to talk to them again" — are you serious? They have so many people, maybe they just forgot. And now you're going to cut off from them? May Allah have mercy on us and guide us.

Quranic Exhortation to Forgive

The Prophet's ﷺ Words on the Day of the Conquest of Makkah

The Prophet ﷺ said to his polytheist enemies on the Day of the Conquest of Makkah: "I say to you nothing except what Yusuf ibn Ya'qub said to his brothers: There is no blame upon you today. May Allah forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy." (Referenced in Sirah literature and Tafsir of Quran 12:92)

Second Khutbah

Announcements

A few announcements inshallah. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that words of calamity draw the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The sadaqa given on the day of Jumu'ah is more rewarding. Please pass the donation boxes. It's an opportunity to give sadaqa on Jumu'ah and there are also kiosks in the lobby.

We also have our one-year intensive program for ages 17 and up, and the integrated high school program for boys and girls ages 14 to 16. Both programs are beginning inshallah on August 11th. Please apply now. For further details, visit the website.

We have our weekly programs — a quick review:

• Surah An-Nazi'at Tafsir — continuing on Tuesday nights after Maghrib salah.
• Thursday night Salawat and Urdu Seerah program — after Maghrib salah.
• Saturday: The Beauty of the Divine Names of Allah ta'ala and sisters' programs.
• Bi-weekly Seerah and Salawat program by Alimah Khadija Laki.

Lastly, we continue our request for dua for brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Lebanon, Syria, Burma, and the entire Muslim Ummah. At this point it is reaching famine — not only the attacks and the bombings that have been continuing for years, but man-made famine. People dying from starvation that is completely man-made — the food is not far away. It's just a few miles away; the food is literally right there, but people are being deprived and are being shot as they go to seek food. The level of the tragedy is just getting worse and worse. Let us not become desensitized because of the overexposure or the long duration, such that our hearts become hard. We have to cry for our brothers and sisters and make dua to Allah ta'ala.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept their shuhada, grant sabr to those who remain, and grant them victory insha'Allah.

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.