The Prophetic Example: Ibrahim's Du'a For Lasting Muslim Identity

Opening Du'a

Beloved brothers and sisters, youngsters and elders, esteemed and honorable guests of the house of Allah — السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

The Blessing of Guidance Through the Prophets

Throughout time, mankind has been blessed by Allah that mankind has been blessed with guides to teach them how to live their life, how to thrive as human beings, and how to live their lives with purpose, and how to ensure that when they pass away, they have a very praiseworthy outcome. Allah has done this by sending messengers throughout time, the last of them being our beloved Habib Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم. Allah mentions this in the Qur'an:

These are the ones whom Allah has guided — so take lesson from their guidance, live your lives as they have lived theirs. When we look at the Qur'an, then we see various different stories of the different Anbiya عليهم السلام. We see different incidents pertaining to their lives, and how they would carry themselves, how they would deal with various different situations.

And one unique aspect of the Qur'an is that Allah has also preserved within it the different du'as that the Anbiya عليهم السلام would make, to show you what's truly worth making du'a for. And if we look at the du'as of the Anbiya عليهم السلام, one which particularly stands out is the du'a of Ibrahim عليه السلام, which is also reflected by Yusuf عليه السلام, Ya'qub عليه السلام, and you'll find many of those who were considered Awliya of Allah. Even the Sahirun — the magicians in the time of Musa — after accepting faith, they also too made a similar du'a.

The Du'a of Ibrahim After Building the Ka'bah

What was this du'a? Ibrahim عليه السلام in Surah al-Baqarah, after building the Ka'bah, after completing such a wonderful task — the Baytullah, the house of Allah, which he was informed that all of mankind was then going to revolve around, was going to come and visit as a means of worship. He could have asked for various different things, but if you look at the du'a that he made in Surah al-Baqarah, he starts:

O Allah, accept what we have done.

He made du'a: O Allah, make us true Muslims. Make myself and my son true Muslims. And he didn't just stop there — and from our progeny — he made du'a for you and I. From our progeny, those who are going to come, make them such a nation that they are also Muslims.

Now, being a Muslim means various things, but when you and I hear the word, then we understand two main aspects to it. Number one: they are a Muslim in the sense that they are a mu'min, they are a believer, as opposed to a Nasrani, a Christian, or any other religion. But that's not the only part of the word.

Additionally, Muslim means someone who submits before the decree of Allah. Someone who acts and abides by all of the various different injunctions, the instructions, prohibitions of Allah. And that is how he lives his life.

So this was such a beloved, precious thing to Ibrahim عليه السلام that he actually made du'a — even though he was already a Muslim. But he said: وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ يَا اللَّهُ — Keep us as true Muslims our entire lives. وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ — And from our progeny, make such a nation come out that they are also subservient to You. وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا — And show us our rituals, show us how to truly live our lives as Muslims. وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا — And forgive us for our shortcomings. إِنَّكَ أَنتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

And then he continues and makes du'a for Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم:

The Du'a of Yusuf — A Man Who Had It All

If you look at Yusuf عليه السلام, he was a man who had it all. What didn't he have towards the end of his life? He had name, he had fame, he had knowledge, he had the love of his family, he had riches beyond your imagination. He had everything. So what does a man who has it all still make du'a for?

If we look towards the end of his life, the end of the story of Yusuf:

Ya Allah, You have granted me everything. You have granted me knowledge, You have granted me wealth. He praises Allah, the originator of the heavens and the earth. You are my guardian, my friend in this world and also in the next. And then he made the du'a — after praising Allah, after professing all the different bounties Allah had showered upon him his entire life — Ya Allah, grant me death as a Muslim. Grant me death as someone who is subservient. وَأَلْحِقْنِي بِالصَّالِحِينَ — And join me, keep me with the righteous.

The Advice of Ya'qub and the Du'a of the Magicians of Musa

If you look at the advice that Ya'qub عليه السلام also gave to his sons:

He said: ensure whatever happens, that when your death comes, you only die as someone who is subservient to Allah.

If you look at the stories of the Awliya of the time of Musa عليه السلام — the Sahirun, the magicians who accepted the faith of Musa عليه السلام — what did they say?

Addressing Fir'awn and his people: the only reason that you are exacting your vengeance against us, that you are persecuting us, you are taking our lives, is because when the proof came to us, we believed in Allah, we believed in the verses of our creator and the signs of our creator. And then they made du'a to Allah at that time of difficulty: O Allah, grant us patience to deal with this, and ensure that when You take our lives, You take our lives as Muslims.

Islam — The Greatest Blessing

This is one of the greatest blessings — in fact, it is the greatest blessing that you and I have. وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْدُ — That Allah has guided us and has granted us the deen of Islam. This is such a blessing that even in Jannah, we will continuously profess and thank Allah for. We will say:

All praise belongs to Allah who has guided us towards this. We would have never been guided had Allah not guided us. This is the greatest blessing.

On one hand, because of the fact that a person who has Islam — irrespective of whatever happens in his life — he is guaranteed a life of eternal pleasure in the hereafter. No matter what difficulty he went through in this life, he is promised, this is guaranteed, this is a promise of Allah:

That person will perpetually be enjoying the bounties and the pleasures of Jannah forever and ever and ever. But that person who had everything — he may have had everything in this world — but if he passes away without iman, then he will have perpetual torment in the hereafter. So on one hand, it has to deal with our salvation, our eternal salvation.

But not only that — as we hear time and again — our success, my success, your success, the success of all of mankind lies in following the commandments of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. The commandments of Allah taught to us by Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. It provides purpose in this life.

You can ask yourselves: what does Islam not provide? SubhanAllah, we are so blessed, we are so fortunate that if we are abiding by the rulings of Allah taught to us by Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, you have comfort in every facet of your life. Every single aspect of your life is covered. Every aspect, A to Z. Guidance and advice on how to live your life, how to deal with every single situation is laid out, for your ease and for my ease. This is what was expected. This is what Allah has provided mankind throughout time. But alhamdulillah, thumma alhamdulillah, we are the ones who are blessed with this great bounty.

The Prophetic Warning: Protect Your Faith

But we see that slowly, slowly, they are becoming fewer of such individuals. People are leaving the fold of Islam without people even understanding what is happening. This is something that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم prophesized before. He said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 213 — reported by Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه)

In a narration reported by Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه, Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Rush towards doing good deeds before a time comes where you will be faced with various different trials, each one becoming more difficult than the other, like the ever-darkening night — wherein a person will be a believer in the morning, but by the evening he will have left the fold of Islam. And a person will be a believer in the afternoon, but by the morning he will have left the fold of Islam.

Allah has told us:

This is the greatest bounty, but it is also the greatest responsibility. Anything that a person values, they protect. So we ought to ask ourselves: what are we doing — number one — to protect and value this blessing that we have? How does a person increase this blessing?

We look at the Anbiya عليهم السلام, and they showed us that this is something to actually make du'a for. Who was closer to Allah than them? Who was nearer to Allah? They saw the angels, they received divine revelation — yet these great Anbiya عليهم السلام are making du'a: Ya Allah, keep us as Muslims and ensure that we die as Muslims.

When was the last time that you and I appreciated this blessing, and actually thanked Allah for it, and then made du'a that Allah prolongs this bounty over us, and allows us to continue living and allows us to die as such? So this is something that if the Anbiya عليهم السلام would regularly make du'a for, this is something that we should also regularly make du'a for.

Similarly, Allah tells us in the Qur'an:

By appreciating Allah for such a bounty, Allah will continuously grant that to you. So this is something to appreciate, something to make du'a for, something that we should preserve and protect.

How Do You Protect Your Iman?

How do you preserve and protect your iman and your faith? Like you preserve and protect everything else. If you understand that you're going to be traveling through a very dangerous area, then you do not flaunt your wealth, you do not show the cash that you have, you do not carry the jewelry that you normally wear, or the nice fancy watch which you normally wear, because you understand this is a place where you can get mugged. So you protect your belongings, you safeguard them, you hide them, you conceal them. If you're staying in a certain place overseas, then what do we see in all the various different hotels that we stay at? We'll find that there are safes within the hotel rooms, so that no one — even if they're coming to clean — perchance they don't accidentally take it.

So we protect our belongings. Similarly we ought to ask ourselves: how much do we protect our faith? When we know that visiting certain areas, or attending certain gatherings, or befriending certain individuals could compromise our faith — are we particular about that? Or do we not care? We don't even bat an eyelid. If you know that certain haram is going to be taking place in a certain area, does that even perturb us? Does that even bother us? Do we take the necessary precautionary measures to ensure that our children are protected from such areas?

If you value something — if you value the ability to defend yourself — then you will send your child to taekwondo classes, to various different martial arts classes. If you value academic excellence, you value the ability to do very well in secular studies, then you send your children to various different programs, whether it be Kumon, after-school tutoring, irrespective — whatever it may be. If you value it, then you put in the effort, you sacrifice the resources, you invest.

So then we ought to ask ourselves: how much have we invested in our deen? How much have we invested in our Islam? How much have we invested in our children's Islam, in our children's faith? We see sadly and unfortunately, everything else must be met and attended to. You must get your money's worth for every single class that you pay for. If you're paying a monthly subscription for a particular class, then you're going to ensure that you maximize. But when it comes to the deen, that's the very first thing. "Yeah, it's okay — it's just a maktab class, just a Qur'an class, it's okay." We don't care. Because we don't value it. But this is something that we ought to value more than anything else.

The Hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: Safeguard Your Salah

Similarly, when we see the hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, there is a very wonderful hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه, wherein he gives advice on how to protect your faith and how to meet Allah in such a condition where you are a Muslim. He mentions:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 1374 — reported by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه)

Also Allah tells us:

Every person should be worried about what they are going to present in the court of Allah, how they're going to fare in the court of Allah.

Whoever wants to meet Allah as a believer — then such an individual should ensure that he safeguards his salah in that very area where the salahs are being called out to. That is none other than the masajid of Allah, the houses of Allah. This is your cave, this is my cave, this is our kahf. This is the place where we can go to protect our faith, to learn the injunctions of our deen, to live our lives as Muslims and to inshallah die as Muslims.

Because Allah has given the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم various different ways of guidance. And certainly these are from them. Performing the salah is a way to attain the proximity of Allah, to ensure that you have a praiseworthy death, to live as a Muslim and to die as a Muslim.

And if you were to perform salah in your homes — like a person who prays at home — you would abandon the way of your Prophet. And if you are going to abandon the way of your Prophet, you are going to go far astray.

And Ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه says, reminiscing about the time with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: I remember there was such a time when no one would ever stay behind. In fact, when you read the seerah, when you read the hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, even the munafiqun attended the salah — SubhanAllah — they were so scared that if they don't attend it, they will be picked out as non-Muslims. He mentions: I remember a time where no one would stay behind. To this extent, that even a crippled man, he would be being dragged between two individuals, yet they would still bring him to the masjid.

This is such an amazing hadith — SubhanAllah — with such a powerful lesson. And we are so fortunate, so blessed in this area, the Chicagoland area, that we have so many masajid. We enjoy such bounties that the majority of people throughout the world honestly do not enjoy. Not only do we enjoy masajid in abundance, but we enjoy madaris in abundance. This is such a thing that we need to protect ourselves from taking for granted — that Allah has placed us in such an area with an abundance of masajid.

Let us do our best to perform salah in the masajid. And Allah has also blessed us with such a land which is full of madaris as well. Dini institutions left and right. Within 15 minutes of one another, you have three different major institutions that are teaching and creating ulama. You have hundreds of different institutions which are teaching children. How unfortunate would it be if we lose out from all of this and we do not invest our own lives, our own wealth, and our own children.

Closing Du'a

May Allah grant us all the ability to truly value this faith, this deen of Islam. May Allah protect us, preserve our iman, and grant us the ability to live as true Muslims.

Announcements

All the brothers can inshallah stand up and slowly fill in all of the gaps before you perform your sunnah. Please ensure that all the gaps in front of you are filled before starting your sunnah. Please continue moving forward until all the gaps are filled.

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Please join us for our 7th Annual Winter Intensive — Harmony Within: Cultivating Love and Unity in the Modern Muslim Household. This will take place from December 21st to December 23rd at Masjid Darussalam. Key sessions include, for brothers and sisters:

• Beyond the Spectrum: Upholding Marriage and Morals in an Evolving World — with Dr. Shadi al-Misri
• Heart to Heart — with Dr. Humaan and Mufti Azimuddin hafizahumullah
• Safeguarding Marital Bonds — by Mufti bin Haj hafizahullah

There will also be a simultaneous winter intensive for the sisters, led by esteemed female scholars and professionals inshallah. Register online at masjidds.org/winter.

ICW Masjid is having an annual fundraiser dinner on December 8th to build a youth center. Dr. Yasir Qadhi, Sheikh Ibrahim Bakir, Sheikh Hassan Saleh and others will be there. Please purchase a ticket on your way out and support the neighboring masjid.

We also have our weekly programs:

• Team Fajr — tomorrow after Fajr Salah at 6:15
• Tuesday Tafsir — continuing after Isha Salah with Surah Fussilat
• Weekly Urdu Seerah Program — every Thursday after Isha Salah

If we are not attending any of these lectures, then we should make it a point to inshallah at least commit to one program a week. May Allah grant us all tawfiq.

Du'a Requests

Let us also make du'a for all of our Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine, Lebanon, and all throughout the world. May Allah grant them ease. May Allah grant them sabr. May Allah alleviate them of their difficulties and reward them immensely for all of their sacrifices.

Additionally, we have a du'a request for Uwais Kareem Qazi who is going through cancer treatment. May Allah grant him — as well as all of the Muslims who are suffering throughout the world — complete shifa.

Muhammad Sa'eeduddin passed away in India. May Allah make his complete maghfirah. May Allah forgive all of those who have passed away.