Cultivating Compassion And Avoiding Malice Among Fellow Believers

Opening

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا وَحَبِيبِنَا وَسَنَدِنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

Allah said in the Glorious Qur'an — أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ، بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ:

And on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6219)

Dear brothers and sisters, respected friends and elders, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

The Essence of Submission to Allah

The Qur'an and the Sunnah are the lanterns through which mankind can tread the path to perfection. This path leading towards perfection lies in the submission to Allah. Now when we think of submission to Allah, the first thing that comes to our mind is that of physical action — that I will display my submission to Allah by, for example, performing two raka'at of salah, or giving such and such amount in sadaqah, or reading this amount of Qur'an.

However, submission to Allah — the essence of submission to Allah — lies in a combination of actions and qualities. The true submission is in displaying qualities and also displaying actions. There are certain actions which bring the love of Allah, and likewise there are certain qualities which bring the love of Allah.

Actions That Bring the Love of Allah: The Cave Story

For example, we know the hadith which Nabi ﷺ related on behalf of three individuals who were trapped in a cave. A boulder came and covered their way out, and they were stuck. Each individual came and presented an action which he did solely for Allah.

The boulder moved slowly and slowly until the third individual mentioned his action. And that action happened to be that he had certain laborers, and each laborer he gave his due wage. But one laborer left after completing his task, and the man was not able to give him his wage. So what he did was, he invested that wage. Time passed — maybe months, years. And now all of the returns of that investment, he returned it back to his laborer. He said, "Your wage was X amount, I invested it — now all this cattle, all these fields, this all belongs to you now." This was an action which Allah loved.

Qualities That Bring the Love of Allah: Al-Ashaj and the Tribe of Abdul Qais

When the caravan of the tribe of Abdul Qais came to Nabi ﷺ, they had certain questions which they wanted to inquire about. There was one individual known as Al-Ashaj. He took his time before coming in front of Nabi ﷺ. Everyone rushed to the majlis of Nabi ﷺ, but he took his time, he prepared himself, and then he met Nabi ﷺ.

Nabi ﷺ informed Ashaj that he had two qualities which Allah and His Messenger love:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 25)

That Allah and His Messenger love these two qualities — al-hilm (forbearance) and al-ana' (deliberateness). These are two qualities which Allah loves. So this is an example where we see qualities bringing the love of Allah. Similarly, there are actions and likewise qualities which incur the displeasure of Allah.

The Virtue of Compassion and the Vice of Hatred

When we look at qualities and actions, we can see they are either associated with Allah and His rights, or the creation and their rights. This unveils our topic for today: the virtue of compassion and mercy for our fellow believers, and the vice of hatred and jealousy towards them.

As believers, the followers of the Muhammadan way, we have certain civilizational traits which have been laid out for us in the Qur'an. One such trait is that of displaying probity, honesty, and keeping a soft spot for all believers.

Allah describes the Sahabah and praises them in many ways in the Qur'an. One such way comes at the end of Surah al-Fath, where Allah says:

Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah, and all those who are with him — they are very firm and strong against the disbelievers, however they are compassionate and they display mercy amongst one another. This was not something found only in Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, or in the Khulafa Rashidun, or in the Ashara Mubashara, or only in the Muhajireen. Rather, this was a quality which was general amongst all the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them all, and this is something which they held with them — and not only that, they passed it down to the generations to come.

The Three Categories of Believers: Zayn al-Abideen's Lesson

A story comes to mind of Zayn al-Abideen Ali ibn al-Husayn, may Allah have mercy on him. A man came to him — another narration mentions a group of individuals — and they started speaking about the politics and specifically the situation of Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him.

When he heard this, he said: "Ya akhi — oh my brother, are you from that group of people which Allah describes as the ones who left everything, the Muhajireen, they left their towns?"

They were dispelled and taken out from their homes, they left all their wealth and all their assets, and they were the ones seeking the pleasure of Allah. "Are you from this group?" The man said no.

So then Zayn al-Abideen said: "Okay, if you are not from this group, then you must be from this next group" — the next ayah in Surah al-Hashr:

This ayah describes the Ansar — those who had given up their homes as a means of refuge. "So if you're not from the Muhajireen, then you must be from the Ansar." The man said no, he was not from this group either.

So then Zayn al-Abideen, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "By Allah, if you are not from this last ayah, then you have left the fold of Islam."

Which ayah is this? And now this is a time for us to really analyze ourselves and see — do we fall into this category?

Then there is a group of individuals that have come after the Muhajireen, they have come after the Ansar — what do they do? They make du'a to Allah: "Oh Allah, forgive us and forgive those of us who have already passed, the Muslims which have passed before us, who brought iman before us. And do not allow for hatred and malice and rancor to seep into our hearts for all other believers. Oh Allah, You are the compassionate, You are the all merciful."

Meaning — you are either from the Muhajireen, you are either from the Ansar, or you are from those who have love for the Muhajireen, love for the Ansar, and love for all Muslims — that there are no feelings of hatred towards other believers in the hearts of Muslims.

And Zayn al-Abideen, may Allah have mercy on him, is very clear when he says that this is a civilizational trait of the believers. And if you don't have this quality, if you do not cleanse these feelings from you, then don't you dare call yourself a Muslim.

Mercy Brings the Mercy of Allah

Nowadays we live in a world where everyone claims that the path to success lies in cheating everyone else, deceiving your business partners, backdooring the guy next to you, lying to your friends and family. "Only worry about yourself — because if you start to worry about others, then you will see your progress deteriorate." But that is completely contrary to the teachings of Islam. In fact, the deen teaches us to display rahmah, to display mercy to those who are around us, to take care of our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, to look after one another.

And in fact this display of mercy, this display of compassion is something which brings the rahmah of Allah. For example, there is a hadith narrated on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, in which Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 43, Hadith 4941; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Book 27, Hadith 1924)

The ones who display mercy, the ones who are merciful on this earth — then al-Rahman, Allah, He will shower His mercy upon them. "Display mercy, show mercy, be merciful to others — that the One who is in the heavens, the One whose mercy is in the heavens, He will shower His mercy upon you."

The 15th Night of Sha'ban and Barriers to Allah's Mercy

We see that the 15th night of Sha'ban lies waiting for us — in fact, tomorrow night is that night. This is a night in which Nabi ﷺ mentioned that the mercy of Allah is such that He will forgive all of His creation. This narration comes in Sunan Ibn Majah. However, there are exclusions from this rule — certain qualities incur the displeasure of Allah and can bar an individual from the mercy of Allah.

When His mercy is so vast on this night that the hadith mentions He will forgive everyone — there are certain qualities so detested by Allah that they will bar His mercy on the very night of His mercy. Different narrations mention different qualities, but the narration of Ibn Majah mentions: one, the murderer; another, the one who commits shirk; and lastly, al-mushahi — the one who holds feelings of hatred towards his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters.

Preparing for Ramadan: The Way of the Sahabah

Nowadays we are all prepping for Ramadan. We are all putting the tilawat of the Qur'an in our schedules, fasting every now and then, giving sadaqah, giving a certain amount daily. We have a schedule in which we are preparing for Ramadan. But let us look at how the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them all, prepared for Ramadan.

There is a certain excerpt of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, which I would like to mention. He was asked:

"How would you meet Ramadan? What state were you in before Ramadan comes?" So he said:

"None of us would dare to meet the moon of Ramadan" — meaning before Ramadan had even come in — "with even the smallest amount of hatred towards our fellow Muslims."

Often times we think, "Once Ramadan comes in, I will do X, Y and Z things." But before Ramadan had even come in, the Sahabah wouldn't even dare to have the smallest amount of hatred towards their fellow Muslims.

Cures for Spiritual Maladies

So now let's say we may have these ill feelings within us — how can we cleanse ourselves of these spiritual maladies before the 15th night of Sha'ban, before Ramadan comes?

Mawlana Masihullah Khan, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned regarding jealousy — if someone feels jealousy, how can you cleanse yourself from it? He mentioned: to praise the individual towards whom the jealousy is directed. No matter how difficult this may seem — this is not an easy process — but to excessively praise that individual in order to remove this feeling of jealousy.

If one has malice, how can we cure ourselves of it? It is to overlook the fault of the one towards whom we feel this malice, and to start associating ourselves with that individual more. It may be difficult, but in order to remove this detestable quality — which can bar one from the mercy of Allah — we must take these steps.

And if one feels pride, how can we remove it? To remove pride is by reflecting on the mercy, the splendor, the grand nature of Allah, on the greatness of Allah — and realizing that all the qualities which we are prideful over are much less and are insignificant in front of Allah. And also to humble ourselves in the presence of those whom we may feel are inferior to us — if we feel an individual is inferior to us, then we display humility in front of them.

And lastly, of course, is to never forget our fellow Muslims in our du'as. Mention all of our fellow Muslims by name in our du'as — especially those towards whom we may have ill feelings.

Closing Du'a

May Allah protect us from ever incurring, from ever having these qualities within ourselves. And may He allow us to properly prepare for Ramadan — in the 15th night of Sha'ban before it comes — so that we may reap maximum benefit.

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah.

Please do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or the Swift Highway. We do have additional parking spaces in the used car lot. Please also do not park in the condo's parking lot.

The 15th Night of Sha'ban — Attaining Allah's Mercy — will be Saturday, February 24th, which is tomorrow, after 'Isha prayer, with Mawlana Ahsan Sayyid.

Our Road to Ramadan series is coming up with Mawlana Asifuddin: "A Guide to a Healthy and Balanced Fast" on March 1st, after 'Isha prayer (a Friday).

We have a Fiqh of Ramadan program coming up with Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed on Friday, March 8th, after 'Isha prayer.

Weekly programs include: Team Fajr, which continues tomorrow — Fajr Iqamah is at 6 AM. Our Tuesday Night Tafsir continues after 'Isha at 7:30 PM, and we will be continuing Surah al-Tahrim. We have a weekly Salawat and Khatira every Thursday after 'Isha prayer.

For the sisters: there is an online weekly Tafsir in Urdu every Thursday from 12 to 1 PM — you can register on the website.

There is a new masjid in Addison — Masjid Isa — which will be having an inauguration event next Sunday, March 3rd. Please pick up a flyer on your way out.

There are dates available for sale — please contact the food stall, which is right outside the archway entrance.

And there is a request of du'a which we are constantly hearing — please make du'a for the Muslims of Palestine.