Following The Sunnah To Attain Allah's Love And Mercy

Opening

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَبَارِكْ وَسَلِّمْ

Amma ba'd. Allah says:

The Levels of Allah's Mercy

There are different levels of the mercy of Allah, there are different categories of creation which these levels apply to. At the broadest level you have the mercies that are universal — they're shared by every creation or many creations of Allah, whether they be human or not. You have the mercy of Allah simply creating and sustaining that individual, or that being, or that beast even, or that object or thing. How Allah keeps everything in control, in stable equilibrium — the ability to breathe, the ability to walk, the ability to be healthy. These are blessings shared by many different creations of Allah and they're not specific to a group of people.

But then you have a level of mercy that is specific to the believers. These believers enjoy mercy such as being able to pray, being able to fast, being able to do good deeds, being able to stay away from sin, and ultimately gaining the pleasure of Allah and entering Jannatul Firdaus. This is a higher level of mercy, and these are the highest levels of goals that we strive to achieve.

However, there is an even more specific application of the mercy of Allah, and this isn't for every believer. Rather it's for those who specifically try and strive to follow the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ — those who don't just accept the message of Islam but rather follow it to the T, or as much as they possibly can. They follow the teachings and the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ as best as they can. And this extends to every single good deed that we do, meaning every single deed has a level of sunnah associated with it, and if we practice upon those sunnah, then inshallah we can reap the rewards and the mercies that are associated with those sunnah for those deeds.

The Example of Salah

I'll give you an example. A person starts praying salah — there are two broad levels. One is a person who just rushes through the salah. He treats it like a checkmark on his to-do list for the day; salah just happens to be one of those checkmarks, and then he checks it off after he prays. But then you have the level of the person who inculcates everything that Rasulullah ﷺ taught us. He's not just fulfilling an obligation upon him. Rather, he's making sure he reads all his duas, all his ayahs. He has khushu in his salah, he contemplates over the verses, he reads every single verse with concentration. He completes all of the arkaan — whether it's qiyam, julus, sujood — all of these different arkaan he completes them perfectly. And so the second person is drawing a mercy of Allah that the first person simply does not have.

And we see this for ourselves when we, at least when we try to have khushu in our salah — then we feel a source of contentment, a type of contentment and peace that we simply do not achieve when a person prays salah while rushing, while not concentrating.

And the sahaba and the pious predecessors and the Salaf al-Salihun, they understood this. And so they strove to achieve the sunnah in every single action — let alone good deeds — in every single mundane action, whether it be eating, whether it be dressing, putting on their clothes. Every single mundane action, they would strive to achieve whatever the sunnah was for that action.

The Divine Equation: Follow the Sunnah, Earn Allah's Love

And so the question comes: why is it that the sunnah is given such a high pedestal? Obviously we know Rasulullah ﷺ is the final messenger and his way is the best. But Allah clearly explains in the Quran — He gives a very simple equation. He says:

He says: "Say" — قُلْ — say O Nabi ﷺ — إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ — if you people truly claim to love Allah — فَاتَّبِعُونِي — then follow me. And this is general. فَاتَّبِعُونِي in everything — in my qualities, in my attributes, in my actions, in my ways, in my sunnah. As a result — يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ — Allah Himself will love you. وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ — and Allah is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.

That is the simple equation that Allah has outlined in the Quran for us — that all you need to do to achieve the love and mercy of Allah is follow the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ as best as you can.

The Story of Abu Mahzura

This is something that we absolutely see in the lives of the sahaba رضي الله تعالى عنهم أجمعين. There was a sahabi by the name of Abu Mahzura رضي الله عنه. Many of us may know about him. He was one of the mu'adhinun of Rasulullah ﷺ — he would give the adhan. And his story is actually very peculiar, it's very interesting.

He was a young boy at the time of Nabi ﷺ. The story goes that he was once with his friends, just passing along, and he heard the adhan at one point. And at this point he was not a Muslim. So this group of friends heard the adhan, and kids being kids, they do what kids do — he started mocking the adhan, copying it in a mocking way.

What had happened was that Rasulullah ﷺ heard him saying this, and so after the adhan he told the sahaba to bring these boys to him. Then he asked them: which one of you was saying the adhan, which one of you was copying the mu'adhin? They all pointed at Abu Mahzura. So Rasulullah ﷺ let the rest of them go and kept Abu Mahzura رضي الله عنه.

He said: stand and start giving the adhan. He began teaching Abu Mahzura the adhan, word by word. And when he got to the shahadatayn, he asked him to repeat it again:

And so what this did was it created a powerful effect that struck his heart — it caused iman to enter his heart. And by the time he finished the adhan, he had become Muslim. And he didn't just become Muslim — he became the mu'adhin of Rasulullah ﷺ, and he eventually became the mu'adhin of Makkah as well.

But the special thing about Abu Mahzura رضي الله عنه and his adhan was that when he would give the adhan, he would give it in the exact method in which Rasulullah ﷺ taught him. Meaning after the shahadatayn, he would say أَشْهَدُ أَن لَّا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ loudly, and then quietly to himself he would repeat أَشْهَدُ أَن لَّا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. And then again, أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ, and then أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ quietly.

Word by word, he was trying to follow the exact words that Rasulullah ﷺ taught him — even though customarily we know that most mu'adhinun don't recite the shahadatayn quietly to themselves. But this was purely because of the love of Rasulullah ﷺ. Whatever came out of his blessed mouth, the sahaba held on to that. They clasped on to it, they did not let it go, and they inculcated it in every single one of their actions.

And so this is what you call perfection in following the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. And the sahaba understood this, and that is how they were able to capitalize on the equation we mentioned:

How to Inculcate the Sunnah in Our Lives

So how can we also practice upon the message and the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ? How can we also inculcate the sunnah in our lives? Well, broadly speaking, the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ splits into two: you have the physical characteristics and qualities, and then you also have the internal qualities and internal characteristics.

Physical Characteristics

The physical qualities include how Rasulullah ﷺ would present himself, how he would dress, how he would act in front of other people, how he would be a public figure. From the way he tied his turban or covered his hair at all times, from the way he neatly wore his clothing, from the way he groomed his beard, groomed his hair, from the way he simply even had his clothes up down to his shin, the way he put on his shoes — his right foot first and then left, and when he took off his shoes, his left foot came off first and then his right. Rasulullah ﷺ laid the way for the sahaba, and the sahaba followed this to the T, from head to toe.

Internal Characteristics

But then you have the internal qualities, the internal characteristics of Rasulullah ﷺ, and these are arguably even more important. While the first category is equally important — that we try to look like Rasulullah ﷺ in terms of our physical appearance — obviously that's up to the creation of Allah, that's how Allah chooses to create us, and we all look different. But what we can copy from Rasulullah ﷺ are our internal attributes and characteristics — our qualities and how we act with each other, how we deal with each other, how we respond to circumstances. A person who is following that — that is what the true sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ is.

And he manifested this in so many ways. If you just open any book of Shama'il, you'll find many beautiful passages about Rasulullah ﷺ's character. As this is, obviously, the main message that Rasulullah ﷺ came with. He said:

(Al-Muwatta, Imam Malik, Book 47, Hadith 8; also reported in Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 8952)

"I have only been sent to perfect character."

And so we see that when Rasulullah ﷺ would speak to someone, he wouldn't just turn his head to them — he would turn his entire body to them. He would devote his full, complete attention to them. He would give them their due importance, he would make them feel like he loved them more than anyone else. That is exactly what the sahaba felt when they spoke to him.

When he would shake their hands, he would be the one to keep shaking — they would be the one to pull their hand away, out of perhaps causing discomfort to Rasulullah ﷺ. That's how much humility he had. He would devote whatever attention he had, whatever he could do for them, he would do for them.

It didn't matter who it was. It could be the smallest little girl — she would have a need, all she would have to do is grab the blessed hand of Rasulullah ﷺ, take him to a private corner, and speak to him about her needs: "I have this problem, I need this help." And Rasulullah ﷺ, being the man that he was, despite having all these responsibilities, he would give her his time. So that shows how the humility and the characteristics of Rasulullah ﷺ shine through in every single interaction of his.

And that is why everyone who interacted with him, they thought — and they truly believed — that he loved them more than he loved anyone else.

The Sunnah is Leaving the Hearts of the Ummah

However, nowadays we find that this love for the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ seems to be leaving the hearts of the ummah. In the past, people would strive to achieve the sunnah, and even if they didn't, they still had that goal. They were still aiming for that target. But nowadays we find that some people are throwing away the sunnah just so that other people can accept them. And this is 100% counterintuitive.

The sahaba رضي الله عنهم أجمعين only achieved what they achieved because of their adherence to the sunnah. Allah never degraded them because of their adherence to the sunnah. Rather, He elevated their status, He elevated their ranks. The reason they were able to do what they did — even in this dunya, all of their conquests, all their victories, their expansion of the Muslim world — is because they followed the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ to the T, and Allah gave them that victory and that success.

And so it becomes that much more important upon us to follow the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, when it is slowly leaving the practice of the ummah as a whole.

The Hadith of the Burning Coal

And Rasulullah ﷺ himself recognized this. He recognized that this was going to happen in the later stages of the ummah. He told the sahaba that you are in a stage, you are in a condition where if you were to leave out just 10% of what I have taught you, you will be destroyed. However, there will come a time, at the end of times, where if a person simply practices upon 10% of what I've taught them — and obviously this is paraphrasing the hadith — then they would be successful. SubhanAllah.

And obviously this doesn't mean that we calculate 10% of the teachings and only practice upon that. Rather, this is talking about Allah looking at our efforts. Allah rewards us based on our efforts. And the difficulty that it will be at the time — in these final moments of the ummah, towards the stage of Qiyamah — it will be so difficult to practice upon the teachings of Rasulullah ﷺ, that if a person tried as much as they could and were only able to achieve 10% of what the sahaba did, then Allah looks at their efforts, Allah looks at their circumstances, and because of that striving, Allah grants them success. Allah grants them eternal salvation.

But we're all at different points in our stages of spirituality. Allah knows what each and every one of our capacities are. He knows what we can do, but He also knows how much we strive. And so that is what Allah is looking for. And it becomes increasingly incumbent to make an effort, as Nabi ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2260)

That there will come a time in the ummah where it will be so difficult to practice, to hold on to the teachings of the deen, that for a person it will be like holding on to a piece of burning coal — burning their hands — that's how difficult it will be to practice and hold steadfast to the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

And so it becomes that much more incumbent upon us to make an effort, to strive and show our love to Allah and for the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

A Prime Opportunity: The Seerah Conference

Alhamdulillah, we have a prime opportunity before us right now. And that opportunity is the Seerah Conference that starts from tonight. Inshallah, we will be having many beautiful programs where we will be talking about the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ and how we can bring it and inculcate it into our lives.

And this is a prime opportunity to show Allah that: Ya Allah, I may not have the amal that the sahaba رضي الله عنهم أجمعين had, I may not have the sohbah that they had with Rasulullah, but whatever opportunity I do have, I am taking advantage of it.

And so it's a responsibility for each and every single one of us to preserve not only our own iman, not only our own deen and our own practice of the sunnah, but also our families as well. We should ensure that all of us and our families come to these events, benefit, and inculcate the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ as much as we possibly can.

I ask Allah that He grants us the true love of Rasulullah ﷺ and allows us to benefit. Ameen. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes left to right. Nabi ﷺ said: charity given during the day of Jumu'ah is greater in reward than any other day. And Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. There is also a kiosk in the lobby if you want to donate.

From today after Maghrib to tomorrow after Isha, this year our conference will explore how Rasulullah ﷺ exemplified compassion, wisdom, and justice in his dealings with people from all walks of life — from his interactions with youth and elders, to his approach towards men, women, the wealthy, the poor, family members, and those of different faiths and social standings. The conference will delve into timeless lessons on building harmonious relationships and fostering inclusivity. Separate sisters and youth and kids sessions include arts and crafts, open gym, and lectures catering to their age. Everyone is requested to join — it's a program for the entire family, and highly beneficial.

A couple of this week's programs: dive deep into the Tafsir of Surah Al-Infitar and uncover its timeless wisdom at our Tuesday Tafsir. Every Tuesday we have a Tafsir program. Additionally, our new Thursday program of Imam Tirmidhi's Al-Shama'il Al-Muhammadiyyah — the Shama'il of Rasulullah ﷺ — is after Maghrib Salah for both brothers and sisters. And please join us for our weekly Saturday Fajr program: The Lives of the Companions.

We have a sisters' part-time program with a variety of offerings. There is Riyad al-Salihin online on Wednesdays, a part-time Hifz program, and you can register for all these programs at masjid.org/seminary/sisters-part-time. There is also a Sisters' Urdu Tafsir on Wednesdays, also online.

Du'a Requests

Please make du'a for shifa for the father of Dr. Mateen, who is on a ventilator. Please make du'a for shifa for Muhammad Hamid Hanifa, father of Muhyiddin Hanifa — our volunteer — who is extremely ill in India. May Allah grant him shifa. Please make du'a for Ammar Agha, who is in a coma — for a speedy recovery and complete shifa. And please make du'a for maghfirah for Sister Farzah Ihsan, who passed away in Pakistan after battling cancer.

And last but not least, please make du'a for our sisters and brothers in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Myanmar, and all the Muslim Ummah.

Jazakumullah Khairan.