The Prophet's Sacred Trust: Preserving and Explaining Revelation

The Preservation of the Qur'an and the Role of the Prophet ﷺ

In some narrations, the Sahabi, Zayd ibn Thabit رضي الله عنه mentions that he was with the Prophet ﷺ when revelation started to come down — the Prophet's ﷺ thigh or his leg fell upon his, and the weight of it was so much that he felt his bone would break. So it wasn't an easy experience.

But Allah Ta'ala preserved the Qur'an in the heart of the Prophet ﷺ. He commanded the Prophet ﷺ that when revelation comes to you, listen carefully. Listen to the revelation.

Initially, when the revelation would come down, Rasulullah ﷺ, out of fear that maybe he would forget, would start to recite immediately. Allah Ta'ala commanded him: No. Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it. Indeed, it is upon Us to collect it and recite it. So when We have recited it, then follow its recitation.

"We are taking the responsibility of preserving the Qur'an in your heart, and explaining the Qur'an to you. It's Our revelation — the revelation of Allah. We will take the responsibility. It will be preserved in your heart. And its explanation will also be given to you."

So when We recite it to you, recite. Just follow the recitation. Listen carefully. Then, from there, the Prophet ﷺ taught this revelation to the Sahaba.

So that you could explain to them, you can clarify to them, what has been revealed to them. So you have both things. Allah Ta'ala calls the Qur'an the dhikr — that's your instruction, that's your reminder. And with the dhikr, you have this Prophet that's there for bayan. Not only is his bayan coming with his qawl — not only is his bayan coming from his verbal explanation — but it's also coming through his actions.

For example, when the ayah comes down in the Qur'an: أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ — How do you pray salah? Here Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 631)

"Watch me pray. Look at how I pray and follow me in that."

And where did he learn the prayer from? It comes in the hadith that Jibreel ﷺ himself came down and taught the prayer to the Prophet ﷺ. He came down at five different times on one day. Then the next day, at other times, showing: these are the times for the prayer. This is how the prayer is done. And then when it came to the Sahaba, Nabi ﷺ simply said: "Watch me pray. Look at how I pray. And then pray just like that."

Our Salvation Lies in Following the Prophet ﷺ

Our salvation, our سَعَادَةُ الدَّارَيْنِ — happiness, bliss, whether it's related to this life or the next — is all contingent upon us following the Prophet ﷺ.

In the past, when Allah sent down anbiya, they had their suhuf. There were anbiya who had their instruction manuals. There were people who rejected the anbiya and rejected the manual as well. You see many of the nations of the past — Qawm Aad, Qawm Thamud, Qawm Nuh ﷺ — rejected both the teachings as well as the Prophet who was there as an embodiment of that instruction that came down for them.

There were those who rejected the messenger himself. You take for example the Yahud. They rejected the messenger. When the command came down to go and fight, they said what?

"You and your Lord, go fight. We are sitting here. We're not going."

They went to such an extreme that they would kill the anbiya — whenever a nabi would come and go against what their desires were, they killed them.

There were among them those who killed, who killed the nabi. They rejected the nabi.

Then there were those who took the message maybe, but they forgot the teachings of the message, the instructions. And they took the nabi and put him at a pedestal, or at a maqam that the nabi never had. For example, the Christians, who take Isa ﷺ — a creation of Allah Ta'ala, a slave of Allah Ta'ala:

And yet they attribute divinity to him.

Kalamullah and Rijalullah — You Cannot Separate the Two

This ummah was taught that here you have the dhikr:

Here you have the dhikr. And here you have the nabi, to explain to you how that dhikr is supposed to be embodied in your life. As Aisha رضي الله عنها says, that the character of the Prophet ﷺ:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 139)

You want to see the Qur'an being implemented? You want to see the Qur'an in its living form? Here you have Rasulullah ﷺ. You cannot separate the two. Where you have kalamullah, you will also have rijalullah. Where you have the Book of Allah, you will also have the men of Allah. You cannot separate the two.

And anytime this ummah tried to separate the two, they went astray. Anytime they said, "We're gonna stick to the Qur'an. We don't need the hadith" — whatever their explanation was, whatever their excuses were, they failed. They went astray. Because the explanation of the Qur'an cannot come from anyone other than the Prophet ﷺ. Who's gonna lay out the foundation and the framework to understand the Qur'an? It's going to be the one who received the revelation of the Qur'an.

And those who took the messenger but forgot about the Qur'an and the instructions of the Qur'an — they also went astray. They would hold the Prophet ﷺ in a maqam, or they would hold individuals within this ummah, the shakhsiyyat of this ummah, and give them positions that Allah didn't give them. They would take, for example, certain Sahaba and say, "Perhaps this Sahabi was the one who was supposed to be the Prophet of Allah." There are people who say this — that Ali رضي الله عنه should have been the Prophet. There are some groups that went to that extent. Or their following of an individual becomes to such a degree where whatever the instructions within the Qur'an are, they put it to the side.

This ummah will find salvation when they have not only Rijalullah but Kalamullah — both together. Both together.

The Sahaba's Example: Immediate Obedience

The Sahaba رضي الله عنهم understood this. That's why whenever Rasulullah ﷺ commanded them something, whenever the Qur'an told them something, immediately they followed it.

I'll give one example. It's actually a very difficult situation, if you think about it. During the time of the Prophet ﷺ, many of us may have known that there was a small period of time when some of the munafiqeen took an incident that happened and through that they slandered Ummahatul Mu'mineen, Aisha رضي الله عنها. The hadith that comes in Bukhari is probably among the longest narrations — the hadith of Ifk — where Aisha رضي الله عنها narrates her account of what happened, the emotional difficulty that she felt, but her trust in Allah.

Now, during that time, there was an individual who was from the family of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه — a Muhajir who had migrated from Makkah to Madinah and was poor. Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه used to financially support him and he was a sincere believer. Unfortunately, he got caught up in this turmoil and unfortunately also started saying what the munafiqeen were saying.

Allah revealed ayat declaring the innocence of Aisha رضي الله عنها. From the heavens, the ayat came down declaring her innocence and chastity. When these ayat came down, Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه said, "I'm no longer supporting this individual." He took an oath. Rightfully so — you're talking about a person's own daughter. He accused, he violated the status of not just any woman, but the Ummahatul Mu'mineen. The mother of the believers. It's not something small, it's something serious.

Then ayat came down. Allah Ta'ala holds people at a high standard. He expects a high standard. He says:

Don't stop. Those of you who have wealth, those of you whom Allah has given honor, dignity, and virtues to — don't stop providing for those who are close relatives. Don't stop providing for those who are poor, who migrated for the sake of Allah. Forgive and forget. "Don't you wish that Allah forgive you? Don't you like that Allah forgive you?"

As soon as Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه heard this, he said: "I love that Allah forgive me. I want Allah to forgive me." And he started to provide for him again.

The Gold Ring

Countless examples we find in the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. It comes in one of the chapters — Kitab al-Libas, Kitab al-Khatam — that one time, one of the Sahaba was wearing a gold ring. When Rasulullah ﷺ saw it, Nabi ﷺ showed karaha — he showed dislike — and mentioned that this is not something appropriate for men to wear. It is not allowed for men of this ummah to wear gold, nor is it allowed for them to wear silk.

When he saw the Prophet ﷺ's dislike, immediately he took it off and threw it. Someone said to him, "Why don't you pick it up? You could take it, benefit from it, sell it in the market, get money from it, give it to someone." But the Prophet ﷺ had said, to the effect, that this is like a piece of burning ember.

So you know what his response was? "You want me to pick up a piece of burning ember?" This was his reaction. The hukum came from the Prophet ﷺ — that was it. When Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned that this is a piece of burning ember, that this could be a source of Jahannam? "No, I can't do that."

It was the recognition that they had within them that the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ, the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, hold the key to our salvation. He is the explanation of the Qur'an. He is the embodiment of the Qur'an. Him ordering us something, or him prohibiting something, there is some betterment for us — whether I understand it or I don't understand it.

Many of the Tabi'een, when they narrate a hadith from some of the Sahaba, they'll ask, "Why are you doing this?" And the answer would be: "I saw Rasulullah ﷺ do it. I saw Rasulullah ﷺ say this — that's why I did it." That's the kind of mentality that the ummah has to bring. That the ummah has to have.

Following the Sunnah — Regardless of Our Desires

Our salvation lies in following the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, irrespective of whether that conforms with my desires or it doesn't. Irrespective of that.

Say: If you love Allah, if you truly love Allah, then follow me. Allah will love you. And He will forgive you.

Now how do you know? How do you find out? You have to learn. You have to learn the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. It's not just going to miraculously come down to us one day. That's why ta'aleem — education — has been something that was principal, something foundational in this ummah. Learning the ta'aleem of Qur'an and sunnah. It's not about a person becoming an alim doing a seven-year or eight-year course. It's the basics.

How do I pray salah? We all know we have to pray salah. How many of us know how to pray salah? How many of us know what are the things that break the wudu? If we don't know these things, how is our salah going to be valid?

Qur'an. We all know we have to recite Qur'an. How many of us know how to recite Qur'an? How many of us take out the time to learn to recite the Qur'an? So on and so forth.

If we want to gain the pleasure of Allah, we're going to have to learn these things. When we learn these things, then we will know: this is what breaks my prayer, this is what makes my prayer valid. Your prayer will now be in accordance to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. It will be in accordance with the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala. It will be acceptable by Allah Ta'ala.

Whatever it is — whether it's ibadat, whether it's mu'amalat, mu'asharat, whatever it may be — adab, akhlaq — all of them must conform to the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ as represented to us by the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.

May Allah Ta'ala grant us tawfiq, allow us to understand how truly important it is to follow the Prophet ﷺ.

First Khutbah — Arabic

الحمد لله، نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ونؤمن به ونتوكل عليه، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهده الله فلا مضل له ومن يضلل فلا هادي له. نشهد أن لا إله إلا الله ونشهد أن سيدنا ومولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله.

يا أحباب الكرام، أوصيكم بتقوى الله، فإن الله تبارك وتعالى قال:

ويا أحباب الكرام، أوصيكم بمحبة سنة رسول الله ﷺ، فإن في اتباع السنة سعادة الدارين، وإن الله تبارك وتعالى جعل النبي ﷺ أسوةً قدوةً حسنة، وقال:

Second Khutbah — Salawat and Du'a

عباد الله رحمكم الله، إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عن الفحشاء والمنكر والبغي يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون. اذكروا الله العلي العظيم يذكركم، وادعوه يستجب لكم، ولذكر الله تعالى أكبر، والله يعلم ما تصنعون.

Announcements

I request everyone to move forward. If there are any gaps in front of you, please fill that gap. There are many brothers standing in the back. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right. Donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah.

We are inviting all high school and college students to join us for our Youth Night on Friday, tonight, September 16th, insha'Allah. We will have guests — Qari Noman from IFS and Sheikh Ridwan from CPSA. There will be a panel including Mufti Azimuddin, our teacher here, where whatever difficulties and challenges that students have to face in high schools and colleges — all of those topics will be discussed. If there are any questions, they can ask them as well. This is a very, very beneficial program. I highly encourage it. I know probably there are not many here right now who are in high school and college — they're probably at school — but the parents that are here, I highly encourage you to bring your children. Have them come, listen to this program. It will be very, very beneficial, insha'Allah.

We are also excited to announce our Annual Qur'an Night and Benefit Dinner. This will be held on September 24th, insha'Allah. We will be welcoming Sheikh Hamza Wardak and Qari Abdul Basit Qazi, insha'Allah.

We are also hiring female HIFS teachers and hiring male math and science teachers for middle school and high school students.

We have our weekly programs that are continuing. We have the Bukhari Dars, which is on Mondays with Mufti Minhaj after Isha. And we have the Tuesday Tafsir program after Isha. Coming Tuesday will be the khatam of Surah Taha — the last ayat of Surah Taha will be covered. We also have our Saturday team Fajr. Tomorrow, Fajr Iqamah is at 6 a.m. Community breakfast will be served afterward.

There is also one request for du'a from one of our students for his father. May Allah Ta'ala give him shifa — Muhammad Asad Babur. May Allah Ta'ala grant him shifa kamila, 'ajila, da'ima, mustaqima.