The Believer as a Date Palm: Firm Roots, Constant Fruit

The Believer and the Date Palm

اللَّهُمَّ عَلِّمْنَا مَا يَنْفَعُنَا وَزِدْنَا عِلْمًا

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَبَارِكْ وَسَلِّمْ

رَبَّنَا آتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا

One time the Prophet ﷺ was sitting with his companions. This is a hadith reported by Imam Bukhari in many different places in his book. Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه, the great companion, reports:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 61, 72, 131, and others)

So the companions were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ, and he said, "Tell me about a tree that resembles a Muslim." And then the Prophet ﷺ went on to say that its leaves never fall — in another narration: وَلَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا — and it always bears fruit. It's never in season or out of season. It's always in season: تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ.

So then Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه, who was just a child at the time, said:

"I realized that this is probably a date palm that the Prophet ﷺ was talking about." Then he looked around and saw that no one else was saying anything:

He saw his father Umar ibn al-Khattab, the great companion Abu Bakr, and everyone else — they weren't saying anything. So since he was just a child at the time, he felt too shy to say anything, and so he stayed quiet.

After the Prophet ﷺ saw that no one was saying anything, he said: هِيَ النَّخْلَةُ — "This tree that resembles a Muslim is actually a date palm."

Afterwards, Ibn Umar رضي الله عنه told his father: "By Allah, O my father — وَاللَّهِ يَا أَبَتَاهُ، لَقَدْ وَقَعَ فِي نَفْسِي أَنَّهَا النَّخْلَةُ — before the Prophet ﷺ said it, I knew that it was a date palm as well." So Sayyiduna Umar said, "So why didn't you say anything?" He replied that he saw that his father, Abu Bakr, and the other companions weren't saying anything, so he didn't want to say anything. So Sayyiduna Umar said, "I would have been so happy if you had said something."

So the Prophet ﷺ drew a comparison between a believer and a date palm. I wanted to take the next few minutes to explore some of the routes of comparison. There are many — we'll just talk about four.

The Four Connections Between a Believer and a Date Palm

First Connection: Firmly Rooted

The first thing — how is a date palm like a Muslim? Allah says in Surah Ibrahim:

"Do you not see how Allah sets forth a parable? A good word is like a good tree — its root is firmly fixed, and its branches reach the sky." So a date palm is firmly rooted. This is like a believer as well. Let's understand this in the light of another hadith. There is a hadith in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 186)

"Race to do good deeds before such trials and difficulties come — and they will be like pieces of the dark night. A person will start out the morning as a believer, then by nighttime he'll already be a disbeliever. A believer at nighttime, a disbeliever by the morning."

Sounds scary. What type of trials were these? The Prophet ﷺ described them as كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ — like pieces of the dark night. If anybody has ever gone on an interstate long drive at night with no lights on the streets, you can't see anything in front of you. You might even be hunched over your steering wheel just to see a little bit in front of you. If you were to step out of your car with no headlights, it would be completely dark. There might be a turn coming and you don't even see it, because it's so dark. The darkness obscures our sense of perception.

Similarly, the Prophet ﷺ was talking about how these fitan, these difficulties, are like pieces of the dark night. He was foretelling such fitan, such difficulties that would arise, that would obscure our sense of perception. Just like darkness obscures our sense of direction, similarly with these fitan we won't know where to go — not in terms of direction, but in terms of right and wrong. Such trials will come that our sense of right and wrong will be obscured. And these are so dangerous to our faith that, may Allah protect us, by succumbing to them we'll actually lose our faith.

For example, the Quran unequivocally talks about how marriage is between a man and a woman. The Quran addresses the matter of same-gender relations:

But nowadays people might say, "Well, what's so bad about it? It's consensual. They're not harming anyone." It sounds like it makes sense. That's exactly what the Prophet ﷺ was foretelling — that such fitan will arise, such trials, that they'll obscure our sense of right and wrong, like pieces of the dark night. We won't know right from wrong anymore. And these are so dangerous that succumbing to them can take a person out of faith.

So just to recap the first point: a date palm is firmly rooted — أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ. Similarly, a Muslim is firmly rooted. When such trials come up that obscure a person's sense of right and wrong like the dark night, a Muslim is going to be firmly rooted from a theological standpoint, and not succumb to any of these. That's the first connection.

Second Connection: Leaves That Never Fall

The Prophet ﷺ said لَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا — its leaves never fall. Right now it's winter — you can look outside and there's no tree that has leaves, because all the leaves have fallen. When the different seasons come, leaves fall in the autumn; in winter they won't have any leaves. A believer undergoes seasons as well. Allah says:

Allah says that He will undoubtedly test us with different forms of tests — fear, loss of life, loss of wealth, decrease in provision and sustenance. Allah will undoubtedly test us with all of these things. Then He says, "Give glad tidings to those who are patient" — those who, when a calamity strikes (not if, but when, so we are psychologically prepared for it), simply say: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ.

Just like the trees outside, when different seasons come their leaves fall — similarly, a Muslim will undergo different seasons, sometimes happy and easy times, sometimes difficult times. But our leaves don't fall. In other words, we always maintain our composure. We never succumb to the trials and forget to abide with patience. Rather, a Muslim is always strong in that sense.

There is a hadith in Sahih Ibn Hibban:

(Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 2908)

"Sometimes Allah decrees a very high station for a believer — it is even higher than his actions, and he doesn't reach it with his actions. So then Allah continues to subject the person to difficulties such that the person's status is elevated through those difficulties, and he reaches that high status that Allah has decreed for him."

So the second connection of how a believer is like a date palm is لَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا — its leaves don't fall. Similarly, a believer undergoes seasons — sometimes easy times, sometimes difficult times — but our leaves don't fall. We don't succumb to the difficulty. We always maintain our trust in Allah and our رِضَا بِالْقَضَاءِ. That's number two.

Third Connection: Always Bearing Fruit

The hadith goes on to describe تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ — that this tree always gives fruit. If we've ever gone for Umrah or Hajj, may Allah take us again and again, there's never a time that we go there and they say, "Sorry, there's no dates — they're out of season." They're always there. Dates are always in season. The date palm is always benefiting those around it by providing this very sweet, nutritious fruit.

Similarly, a believer is always benefiting those around him. There is a hadith in Bukhari and Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2442; Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6258)

"Whoever is striving to fulfill the needs of his brother, his fellow Muslim, Allah will fulfill his needs." And another hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6250)

"If you make things easy for someone in difficulty — in this case, you let their debt go or give them more time — Allah will make things easy for you." So in other words, a believer is always trying to help those around them — be it physical help, spiritual, emotional, psychological help, whatever it is. A Muslim can't help but help others. Just like a date palm is always providing that fruit: أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ — at all times it's providing that fruit. Even when maybe the season is not the most favorable, maybe it's really hot, maybe the date palm is being pelted by hot winds and sand — even then it doesn't decrease the amount of fruit it provides. Just like that, a believer, in spite of what they're going through, always tries to do what they can to help others.

Fourth Connection: Full of Substance Within

And very quickly, the last point. One of the versions of the hadith I mentioned at the beginning says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 72)

"We were with the Prophet ﷺ while he was eating something called jummār" — what we know as heart of palm. There is a substance inside a date palm that is actually edible. This is something that even we can find in grocery stores — it comes canned, called "heart of palm." So the Prophet ﷺ was eating this, and then based on that he started asking, "What is a tree that is like a Muslim?" — and he posed this question to the people around him.

So just like a date palm gives fruit on the outside, it is also full of substance on the inside. Similarly, a Muslim is always striving to help those around them — physically, spiritually, emotionally, however it is. But similarly, a Muslim must be full of substance on the inside. If we strive to help others but we're hollow on the inside, then our help is going to be void of any substance.

Rather, may Allah give all of us the tawfiq, myself first and foremost — a Muslim is someone who is striving to connect with Allah, recite Quran in the hours of the night, make du'a for long periods of time, give charity, say salawat on the Prophet ﷺ, make istighfar, whatever it is. In doing this, we fill ourselves with substance. And in doing so, we will be much more helpful and much more beneficial to others in the fruit that we provide.

Just to end with this — there is an ayah that probably all of us are familiar with. Allah says in Surah Fussilat:

"Indeed, those who say 'Our Lord is Allah' and then remain steadfast — the angels will descend upon them." And then: "Who could be better in speech than the one who calls to Allah and does good deeds?"

This is stated right after something that seemingly starts a very different discussion. Allah first talks about people who proclaim that their Lord is Allah, who are steadfast, and the rewards that they receive. May Allah make us of them. Then Allah seemingly shifts the discussion to those who call others to Allah. One of the scholars of tafsir, Imam al-Biqa'i, said:

"The secret in this is that a person will not be able to really help others and call them to good in the most effective manner until they first work on themselves." So similarly, just like a date palm gives fruit on the outside and is full of substance on the inside — this جُمَّارُ النَّخْلِ, this heart of palm — a believer must also cultivate that inner substance.

Summary

Just to recap: there is a hadith in Bukhari, in many different places, where the Prophet ﷺ likened a believer to a date palm. We talked about four connections:

First — أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ — a date palm is firmly rooted. There are many theological trials that come up and threaten a person's faith — كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ — they obscure our sense of right and wrong like the dark night. A believer remains firm in the face of all of those.

Second — لَا يَسْقُطُ وَرَقُهَا — a believer also goes through personal circumstances, different seasons of life, but a believer's faith in Allah never wavers.

Third — تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ — a date palm is always giving out fruit no matter what the season. Similarly, a believer is always striving to help those around them.

Fourth — a date palm is full of this heart of palm, this جُمَّارُ النَّخْلِ. Similarly, a believer strives to fill themselves with substance — and that substance is connection to Allah.

We ask that Allah grant us tawfiq. And may the blessings of Allah be upon the noble Prophet.

Second Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon His Trustworthy Messenger. Allah Almighty said:

O Allah, support Islam and Muslims. O Allah, help those who support the religion of Muhammad ﷺ and make us of them. And forsake those who forsake the religion of Muhammad ﷺ and do not make us of them. O Allah, help the weak among Muslims everywhere, especially in Palestine and everywhere. O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant us to follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us to avoid it.

O servants of Allah — Allah commands justice and kindness, and giving to those who are near, and He forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. He warns you, so that you may remember.

Remember Allah and He will remember you, and His call will respond to you.

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