Where Sacrifice Meets Sincerity | Hidden Treasures Episode 27 | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Where Sacrifice Meets Sincerity

Imam al-Muhasibi rahimullah was asked: what is the quickest way — asra — what is the fastest way to Allah's rida? What is the fastest way to earn His pleasure? He responded in two ways. One is through our ibadah, such as tahajjud, and the other is through the service of His slaves — huquq al-ibad — taking care of the beloveds of Allah. All of us — an-nasu ayyarullah — all of us are the servants, the slaves, and the beloveds of Allah.

Taking care of one another is actually a form of earning Allah's pleasure and earning Allah's rida. So one of the hidden treasures of the companions was not that they would only be praying tahajjud — they would actually be serving people, and they would fight to serve people. They would inconvenience themselves at times to make sure that other people's needs were fulfilled.

The Story of the Ansari and the Prophet's Guest

There is the story of the man: the Prophet ﷺ was in the masjid and said, "There is someone here who is seeking support — is there anyone that can take them home at night and provide food and shelter?" No one stood up. Then one companion said, "I can take care of him, O Rasulullah ﷺ." He took him home, and when he reached his house, he told his wife: "I am bringing the Prophet's guest." She said, "With what food are we supposed to feed him? We have nothing in the house." He said, "There must be something." She said, "All I have in the house is enough food to serve our kids, and I haven't eaten all day. How can I let my kids go to sleep hungry?"

The husband responded: "Just allilihim — act like you are cooking — and whilst they are waiting for the food, they will fall asleep. Then we can serve the guest."

One may look at the story and say, "What kind of thinking is this? Why would he let his kids go to sleep hungry?" But his heart was saying: it is okay if I am inconvenienced for one day for someone else's benefit. If I always want to help people without being inconvenienced, that is very limited — and the help of Allah in that case will also be limited. When it hurts and it helps others, that is where Allah's help comes for us as well.

He does not let the children disturb the guest. He dims the lights and the whole family sits with this person — but with the lights dimmed, the man cannot even tell that they are not eating. The next day, the Prophet ﷺ asks, "What happened with my guest?" And Allah had already revealed to him. The Prophet ﷺ said: Allah revealed to me about these people — these are people who prefer others over themselves, even though they themselves are in need.

"And they prefer others over themselves, even though they are in need. And whoever is saved from the greed of his own soul — it is those who are the successful."

Serving Others in Ramadan

The Prophet ﷺ said that helping someone break their fast — even if it is with one date, wa law bi shaqqi tamra, even if it is with a piece of a date — carries immense reward.

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 807)

Ramadan is also a month of finding Allah through serving His creation — through serving our neighbors, through serving the people in the masjid, through volunteering to do whatever we can to uplift others. Through that, Allah will also uplift us.

It is not enough to say that we are simply doing iftar for people of our own community. No. We go to places that no one serves — the inner cities, the parts of our community that people avoid — and we go there and serve them, so that their Ramadan can also be made beautiful through our blessings. This is the part of giving back in the month of Ramadan.