Leaving a Legacy | Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed

Leaving a Legacy

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. We praise Him and bless His noble Messenger.

Allah, the Exalted, said in the Book of the Exalted in Might, after seeking refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan:

Indeed, it is We who give life to the dead and record what they have sent ahead and their traces, and all things We have enumerated in a clear record.

Allah, the Exalted, said in another place:

Say: Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.

First of all, I think it's a bad idea to make me speak at this time, because we may go to Isha, and instead of getting reward, we'll get sins for delaying Maghrib Salah. And Hasan Sulayman said the same thing, but I will try to conclude by 9:50.

Brothers and sisters, we've heard so many speeches throughout the last 24 hours. One of the things that are difficult about going at the end is that people already take all your topics. My brothers always put me towards the end because they know that I do everything off the cuff, so I can change everything as things go on.

So I was listening to the YouTube sessions yesterday, and I was like, oh, I was going to talk about that. Then I was going to talk about this, and Mufti Baha'u'llah spoke about what I was going to talk about. Then I came today, the YouTube link was not live throughout the day. So I sat next to somebody over there, and he had the notes from all the lectures. I'm reading them and I was like, oh, I was going to talk about that. So now I had to change everything up and start talking about something completely different.

But whatever Allah puts in my heart, I will share with all of you.

The Beginning: A Personal Reflection

Brothers and sisters, on October 7th, when I first walked into the room where my brother's body was resting in Iona — it was the first time seeing him since October 5th, two days had gone by — I remembered our teachers and reading in books: imagine yourself laying down in a casket, and people are around you. What would you want them to be saying about you? How would you want to be remembered? And then work towards that. Work towards that. Because it is true — the angels are giving these souls the message of what is being said.

So when I stood there, and then I sat down and started reciting Surah Yasin and Surah Rahman, and I sat there for an hour, an hour and a half, before we took his body to the janaza — these thoughts were crossing my mind. Imagine if it was me over there. And we all will be there one day. Not just the fact that it's difficult emotionally, but you have to take this in and then try to draw lessons from it.

My brother Muhammad Aziz, a few weeks later, told me, "You know, you love talking about legacy, so now you have more to talk about. You like talking about this topic, so now you have more things to say and share." And I said, you know what, I'm never going to talk about this topic again, because it will be too difficult for me to talk about it. And then they gave it to me this time again.

Three Things That Define a Legacy

I will share three things with all of you. If we have these three things that we find in the life of Ibrahim AS, we will leave this world in a manner in which people after us will remember us in a good way. Now, to be remembered by everyone is not the condition. To be remembered by Allah is the condition. That's what we want. Not everyone is going to be as popular as Imam Bukhari rahimahullah. This is not what we're trying to reach. We're trying to just be uplifted in the eyes of Allah. That's it. So don't sit here thinking, oh, I have to do such a big and grand thing. No. You and your family, your children, yourself — you can make an impact and leave a legacy among them.

My brother, Shaykh Abdul Rahim rahimahullah — he never heard me say "Shaykh" to him in his life, because he had just graduated and come back. But I said it once; he heard me say it in a khutbah. But for the rest of my life, I'll be saying Shaykh Abdul Rahim rahimahullah — with a Shaykh before his name and Rahimahullah after his name.

Whether you like it or not, you're going to leave a legacy. The only question is: are you going to be intentional about it? We're all leaving traces behind. The one who's walking on the beach looks back — there are footprints. Now, whether you're going to be intentional about it or not, whether you're going to plan for it or not, whether you're going to leave traces of good deeds or bad deeds — that's what we have to decide today. We will definitely leave a legacy.

Allah says: We will write down what they have sent forth, and We will also write down what they have left behind. If you're talented, if we have a gift — and every single one of us has a gift that Allah has given us — don't be sad or confused. Don't look at your weaknesses in the mirror of other people's strengths. "This person is a better speaker, so I can't do anything in life." Don't do that. Rather, you have something that I don't have, and he has something that you don't have, and she has something that I don't have. This is how Allah has gifted all of us. And all of us can have an impact.

The First Thing: Curiosity

The first thing was: he was very curious. What was he? Curious. Einstein once said, "I don't have any supernatural powers; I'm just passionately curious." If we're all passionately curious — sitting here thinking, what is the purpose of my life? How can I have an impact? What can I do? — and we're passionately curious, not just thinking about things and moving on, but truly driven by that curiosity.

When Ibrahim AS was first told by his mother to sell these idols in the marketplace, it comes in tafsir that he was selling these idols with this statement: "Who will buy these idols from me — such idols that do not harm nor benefit?" Because he had seen them; they don't benefit nor harm. So now he's curious. He starts looking at the stars: is this my Rabb? He starts looking at the moon: is this my Rabb? He looks at the sun: is this my Rabb? And his curiosity pushes him to a point where he says:

Indeed, I have turned my face toward He who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward truth, and I am not of those who associate others with Allah.

After looking at everything, that passionate curiosity. And Allah says:

We had granted Ibrahim guidance and intellect before.

A poet says: when you're passionate about something and you want to get to the bottom of it, it will teach you the nuances of it. Allah will give you the wisdom. Allah will tell you what to do with your life. If you really are passionate about doing something — what can I do to serve Allah? Are you really passionate about that? Allah will then teach you what you can do and help you throughout your life.

So after all that, he says: I know for a fact that nothing in this world can benefit me nor harm me except Allah, and I have turned my entire existence to Allah. You've seen a merry-go-round — you're going around and around. That centermost point of our life, if we want to leave a legacy behind us, cannot be wealth, cannot be materialism, cannot be resources. It has to be Allah. Has to be Allah. And the one who does that, then Allah uplifts him or her in this world and in the Hereafter. That's the first thing.

Khawaja Majzoob rahimahullah said this poem, and for the last two weeks they have been echoing in my mind. Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi rahimahullah said about this poem, he said this poem is worth more than the entire world and whatever it contains. He says:

Khawaja Sahib is saying: ہر تمنّا دل سے رخصت ہو گئی — Oh Allah, I have no interest left in my heart. Nothing, it's done. اب تو آجا — Now come inside, because I know You're not going to come into my heart if it has other things. I know that; I've been told that. Just like facing the Qibla with your body is important in Salah, facing the Qibla with your heart is also important in Salah. It's not just your body.

He says: اب تو خلوت ہو گئی — Now I am isolated. Now a person thinks: let me do عُزلة and خَلوة, sit in the corner, do dhikr. That's true, that's one type of khalwa. But the true khalwa, the true isolation is when your heart is completely empty of everything else.

ایک تم سے کیا محبت ہو گئی — Oh Allah, I love You now. I love You. That's it. ساری دنیا سے عداوت ہو گئی — Nothing in this world appeals to me anymore. Then he says: عشق میں ذلت بھی عزت ہو گئی — In Your love, even if someone criticizes me, it is still dignity, it is still respect, because they're criticizing me because of my love for You and my obedience toward You. He says: in Your love, even being poor is being a king, because I have Your treasures with me.

Junaid Jamshid rahmatullahi alayh — what a legacy he left behind. The first poem he recited after coming onto the right track, he says:

He says: the first thing afterwards is that I have decided to give my entire existence to Allah — before making that decision, when my love for Allah made me do this, my love did not think about what the final outcome would be. Ibrahim AS did not think, when he finally decided to break those idols and go against his whole community, that he would be thrown into that fire. But after every fall there is a rise. He was thrown into that fire, and then he became Ibrahim AS. Yusuf AS was thrown into that well, and he became Yusuf AS afterwards. He wasn't thinking that he was going to get burnt or be thrown into the fire. But Allah saved him. He was ready for any outcome — whatever he had to face, the love for Allah was going to be enough for that.

So the first thing, if you want to leave a legacy: our curiosity should push us to make a decision. I can't tell every single one of you sitting here right now what you can do to leave a legacy. But that curiosity should drive us, and the merry-go-round in the middle has to be Allah and the love for Allah.

The Second Thing: Leaving Something for the Sake of Allah

The second thing is where everyone has a problem nowadays. Majority of us have a problem with the second thing. And without this, it is impossible to live a life today that will have an impact tomorrow. You have to go through the second process.

To explain what the second thing is, I'll just tell you a small incident that took place in England. Sometimes you get wisdom from the most unexpected places. I have a very infamous brother-in-law who I love very much. He is one of the most unexpected places you can get wisdom from. And after getting wisdom from him, I have concluded that you can get wisdom from anywhere.

After my brother passed away, rahmatullahi alayh, we were driving, and he came and was taking care of us. One day he said to me, when I was crying — he has weird ways of talking, very strange ways — he said to me: "Allah has given you more than He has taken from you." Really? Allah has given all of us more than what He has taken from us. SubhanAllah, that uplifted me at that time. That's true. He said: look, you have three other brothers, your mother and your father are still alive, you have so much else. Allah has given you more. Allah will always give you more than what He takes. For sure.

So this — another unexpected place of wisdom — was from this Punjabi man in England. He was coming every single day for Salah: Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha. Even if it was cold, even if it was flooding, it didn't matter what happened, he was coming. So one day it was freezing cold and he was walking to the masjid. The person asked him: "Man, how do you do this? How do you come even though the circumstances are so difficult?" And he said something in Punjabi:

"توہاڈا کچھ لگایا ہی نہیں، ساڈا کچھ بچایا ہی نہیں۔"

He said: "You have not given anything, and I have not left anything at home. I have given up everything I have, and you have given nothing towards this." Because this person was a convert — a Sikh convert. His family, his kids, everything — he had to leave everything. And he says: because I had to leave everything, that's why I have value and respect for this. And you haven't given anything.

Brothers and sisters, there was a great scholar by the name of Qadi Abu Bakr rahimahullah. He says himself: once I was in Mecca and I was very hungry. I was staying in Mecca after Hajj. I had no food, nothing. So one day, in extreme hunger, I walk outside, and I see a luqta — something on the floor. It was a pouch made out of silk, so I picked it up. I brought it back home, I opened it up — it was a necklace of pearls and rubies. So I left it there, and then I went back outside. When I went back outside, I saw somebody saying: "Has anyone seen this pouch? Whoever finds this pouch, I'll give him 500 dinar." So I look at him, and to test him — to see if he knows what was in it — I said, okay, if it's yours, come inside the house.

He comes inside. He says, okay, what kind of bag was it? He identifies the color. He says, what was in the bag? He identifies the necklace. He says, how many pearls were on the thread? He identifies the amount of pearls. What kind of thread was it? He identifies the thread. He goes through all the different rulings of a luqta — what to do with a lost item. And finally, he concludes that this bag does belong to him. So he hands it over to him. And that person hands over 500 dinar. He says, nope, I can't take it. He says, no, you have to. He says, no, this wasn't mine. This was yours. It was yours in the first place. I found it, it's yours. I can't take it. He tried so much, but he refused. He left.

Afterwards, he had to leave Mecca. He was hungry, he had nothing to do in Mecca. So he boarded a ship to go somewhere else. While he was traveling, there was a shipwreck. Everyone died on the ship except for him, as he was floating on a plank of wood. And he arrived at an island. The people over there were illiterate — they could not read, they could not write. And this man is a Qadi in Hanbali fiqh. So the people told him, can you start teaching us how to read? So he starts teaching them how to read. And for his teaching, they were paying him and taking care of him. Then they realize he knows how to write. So they say, can you teach us how to write? So he starts teaching them how to write. After a little while, they start loving this person because he's the only literate person on the island.

Then they offer a yatima — an orphan girl from that island whose father had passed away — to him in marriage. He said, no, I'm not here for this. I did not come for this. You took care of me; I don't want to marry her. They said, please. Please, marry her. It will be better for her, better for our generations, and it will be another incentive for you to stay here. So he said, okay, no problem. He married her. They did the nikah. And the family was there. And as soon as he saw her, his eyes were fixated in one place. She had a necklace on. And he kept on looking at it. The people around said, oh Shaykh, you've hurt her feelings — you're not looking at her, you're looking directly at her necklace. And he said, let me tell you the story about this necklace. It was the same necklace he had found in Makkah. The same necklace. He never took a penny for it.

He told the whole story. As soon as he told that story, everyone screamed, Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! He said, what happened? The people in the community said: when this girl's father came back after losing that necklace, he used to make this du'a at every Salah: "Oh Allah, unite me with the one who found this necklace, and make him marry my daughter. Unite me with him." He passed away, and Allah has united you with his daughter.

After that, he had two children with her. She passed away. The necklace was inherited by those two children. The first child passed away. And the second child passed away. Burying your children is very difficult. But it is sometimes a condition for Allah to elevate your status. Sometimes if Allah wants to elevate your status, and the only way that's possible is through continued tests — no shoulder is strong enough to carry their own son's body to the grave. But this has been happening ever since the beginning of mankind. So he buried both of his children. Now the necklace comes to him. And he sells this necklace for 100,000 dinar.

You know what he says after? He said: I left those 500 dinar for the sake of Allah. Allah gave me 100,000.

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 23074; also reported in various other collections)

Whoever leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah will give them far better in return.

Ibrahim AS left his town, left his friends, left his community. Allah gave him Makkah. Allah gave him Hajar and Sarah. Allah gave him Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, and every prophet after him from his lineage. This is the condition. In Surah Maryam:

And I will leave you and what you call upon besides Allah comes first. And We granted them of Our mercy, and We made for them a mention of high honor comes second. First, he had to leave them. And then Allah made his legacy shine.

Today, we want to follow the deen without leaving anything. "I'm still gonna watch all my Netflix shows. I'm still gonna play all my video games. I'm still gonna make sure I do all these things. And at the same time, I'll do this." This is impossible. We have to leave things for the sake of Allah. Businessmen will have to leave money on the table for the sake of Allah. They will have to leave it. We will have to leave halal interests. There's nothing wrong with it — it's halal, you can do it. But you will have to leave it because there is a greater purpose in life. And to achieve that greater purpose, you will have to leave this inferior thing that is permissible. You may have to go on vacation four times instead of six times a year so you can pay for a family in Palestine or in Syria for their upbringing. Your two vacations have to go. We have to be willing to sacrifice.

Today we cannot leave our beds for Salah. Today we cannot leave our joysticks for our parents. We will have to leave things in order for us to leave a legacy.

The Third Thing: Ihsan — Excellence and Giving

The third thing, which Ibrahim AS had in him, is this beautiful, beautiful methodology of life. I could talk about this for three hours.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 21, Hadith 4810)

Allah has written ihsan — beautification, perfection — upon everything in this world. Allah loves this. Leave this world in a better state than you found it. Leave your community, leave your spouse, leave your children, everything around you — leave it in a better way. We always leave our room dirtier than we found it. We leave the masjid dirtier than we found it. Leave it better.

When Ibrahim AS came to Makkah, there was nothing there — there was a desert. But he left it with the Ka'bah. He left it with Zamzam. He made du'a:

And provide its people with fruits — everyone who comes here, keep feeding them.

Brothers and sisters, today the disease that's plaguing us is self-service, self-interest. We just care about ourselves. "If I'm okay, everything is okay." This is not the purpose of our life. I am here to serve my Allah. And I will serve people because it will be a means of fulfilling the purpose of my life, which is serving Allah. We are not here to take; we are here to give. We are not here to protect our backs from marks.

Ali ibn Husayn rahimahullah — when he passed away and they were doing ghusl of his body, they saw bruises and black marks on his back. And they didn't know why these marks were on his back. The next morning they found out that so many families in Madinah were being fed at night:

They used to live off of these provisions. They had no idea where this was coming from. But there was this person from the Ahlul Bayt, from great lineage, carrying sacks on his back and dropping them off in front of people's homes — not keeping it, but giving it, without them even knowing about it. Because he was a person of ihsan.

Ihsan means you give more than what you should be giving, and you take less than what you deserve. If we become people like that, then no one will have any problems. Nobody. Because we will always strive to give more.

When you go to a restaurant with a generous person, giving your credit card to pay for the bill is like a drug deal — we do everything — because you are two people competing to be generous. I was in Pakistan, and I was sitting at a restaurant. I always want to be the person who pays for the meal. The person next to me, I know he's generous too — he's a muhsin, always competing. So I said to him, give me some tafsir. And as he got up to get it, in the meantime I called for the bill. The waiter said, oh, it's already been paid for. I said, that's impossible. He said, it's already paid for. SubhanAllah — this person had come to this restaurant the night before and left his card, knowing we were going to come the next day.

Now imagine two people who are generous competing with each other. Allah is Al-Jawad — the Most Generous. He says: you can't out-generous Me. You will never be able to out-generous Allah. He will always give you more than what you give. So keep giving. Don't be a receiver; be a giver. Don't keep for yourself.

We look back — at the time of Salahuddin Ayyubi rahimahullah when he liberated Palestine, there were three dynasties. If I ask everyone in this room to name one of those kings, we wouldn't know them. Because those were people who kept, who built palaces. And Salahuddin Ayyubi came and gave everything he had. So we say his name. Imam Bukhari rahimahullah — at that time there were emperors and kings. We don't know who they are. They came, they took, they built, they grew. Nobody knows who they are. But not a single speech is given anywhere in the world without Imam Bukhari's name being mentioned. Because he came and gave.

Conclusion

Give the world something. Don't take your talents to your grave — they won't do you any benefit. Give the gifts that Allah has given you, and the talents that Allah has given you. Give them to others. Spend on others.

And lower your wing to the believers — just keep spreading yourself out for others. It doesn't matter how much they hurt you, how much they bother you, it doesn't matter how much it takes. If you do this and follow these three conditions, this is a recipe for living a good life and leaving a legacy — that is what Allah has put in my heart.

Allah make us among those who truly act upon whatever was said. My father says:

Everyone can leave me, oh Allah — but You don't leave me. Because if You don't leave me, then even if nobody knows me right now, people will remember me after I leave this world.