Assistance from Allah-Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Ammā baʿd. Respected elders, brothers, mothers and sisters, students. As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Allah Azza wa Jal, our creator, master, to whom we shall return one day. Allah Azza wa Jal has made promises in the Qur'an. And there are warnings as well.

Allah's Promises and Warnings

Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala has wa'ad and wa'id. Allah Azza wa Jal has made promises to grant us certain blessings and rewards in return for the good deeds that humanity does. And at the same time, Allah has also warned of punishments that will strike people if they disobey Allah Azza wa Jal.

So that's called wa'id, warnings. And wa'ad are those promises that He has shared with us that we will achieve blessings and rewards of all sorts when we do good deeds. But Allah Azza wa Jal, what He does is when it comes to promises, He will never ever go against them.

There is no possibility that Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala's promise will ever be broken. That is something which Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala will never do.

Allah Azza wa Jal, la khulfu'l mi'ad. He will not break His promise. When He says, I'm gonna give you this level of paradise for this reward, for this good deed.

When He says, I will give you barakah and blessing and sustenance when you be good to your parents. When He promises that when you give sadaqah, you will get ten times the return. When He promises that by sadaqah, Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala will remove obstacles and difficulties that were headed towards our life.

When He promises that a person who performs salatul ishraq in the morning, after fajr salah and sits in the dhikr of Allah, that Allah Azza wa Jal will fulfill all his needs of that day or her needs of that day. When Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala promises us that a person who will be walking to the house of Allah in the hours of night, meaning fajr and isha, that on the day of judgment, Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala will give him nur and light. And the list goes on.

The one who returns from hajj with sincerity, Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala allow him to come back as a newborn child whose sins have all been forgiven. The one who recites the Qur'an, memorizes it, practices it, not only will be allowed to enter paradise, but he will be told to recite. And he will be allowed to keep on getting upgrades into jannah till the very last ayah that he or she recites.

And that his parents will be blessed with a crown and so forth. All of those promises, it is not possible, it is not possible, impossible. Subhanallah, the sun may rise today in the east and rise in the west tomorrow, but one thing that cannot happen is Allah subhānahu wa ta'ala will go back on his words.

Allah azzawajal will never go back on his words.

And on the other hand, the warnings that Allah azzawajal has said, that if you do this sin, this is the punishment for it, this sin, this is the punishment for it. The sin for lying, the sin for drinking, the sin for fornication, the sin for deception, the sin for missing one's prayers.

Those warnings are there, but Allah azzawajal may out of his infinite mercy choose not to follow through those warnings. And on the day of judgment at that time, he may just simply say, I have forgiven you, go and enter and enjoy the blessings of paradise. As the Prophet a.s. says, that on the day of judgment a certain individual will be brought, and his book of deeds will be weighed, and there will be nothing there besides sins on one side and just one kalima on one end, good deeds.

Sins and then one good deed of the kalima. But Allah, he will say, what is the point of getting this weighed anyway? It's so obvious that my sins outweigh my good deeds. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, there's something he likes about that individual.

He says, well today this kalima that I'm putting is being placed over here, since it was recited with sincerity, since it was recited at the right time, something about that kalima that Allah azzawajal liked about it. When he places that there, that will outweigh the loads and mountains worth of sins that he had come with. Because why? The one who actually puts the price on these things is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

He may add, he may choose as he wishes. He's the one who measures the scale, who sets the scale as he likes. And there's another instance where the Prophet a.s. says, a person will be brought forth in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with tons of sins.

And Allah azzawajal will bring him close in a manner that there will be no one besides him. No one will hear the conversation that Allah is having with him. And Allah azzawajal will say, do you remember such and such sin? And he will say, yes, Allah most definitely remember it.

How about this one? Yes, ya Allah, I remember that one as well. How about that night, that day, this person, that person? And one by one this person will end up acknowledging every single thing that he or she had done. And then now he will be adamant, he will be sure, there will be absolutely no ambiguity or any doubt that his destination is the hellfire.

He'll be waiting to be cast in. And Allah azzawajal will look at him and he will say that, just like I had covered up your faults in the world, look at what's happening now. No one knows about this conversation except for you and I. No one is aware of what you just acknowledged.

And I would like to tell you that now I have decided to completely forgive what you have done and grant you entrance into paradise. So Allah azzawajal, although he has warned us of so many things, the punishments that come, the Qur'an talks about it. But when he doesn't fulfill that punishment, that is out of Allah's mercy.

Look at, subhanAllah, the system of Allah. When he comes to giving us something, he will never turn back on his words. But when it comes to punishments, he may definitely decide to forgive us.

Allah's Promise of Assistance to the Believers

So from amongst those promises that Allah azzawajal has said he'll give us, he says,

It is a right upon us. It is something that has been decided by Allah azzawajal to help the believers. To assist the believers, Allah says, this is something I'm going to do.

Allah azzawajal says,

The promise of Allah will make, it will happen, it will come to take place. It will come to fruition. There is no possibility that when Allah gives you his word,

When Allah subhanAllah gives you his word that I will bring about an era of peace. I will bring about an era where you will have authority. And you will be able to establish prayer. Not only pray yourself, but you will be able to create an environment where everyone else is conscious of Allah.

When Allah says,

Allah gives you a promise to the believers. Allah gives you a promise to the believers and those who do good deeds. That I'm gonna give you that level of authority. I'm gonna give you that level of comfort in this world. The level of peace. He says, I'm gonna change the tide from difficulty to ease.

From fear to peace. From fear to hope. And you will see that the absence of peace will be replaced with a peaceful life on earth.

Allah azzawajal, He says,

This is a promise from me. If you assist me, if you assist my religion, He says, I will assist you. And I will make sure that your feet remain firm in front of anyone who opposes you. You won't lose your ground.

إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ O believers, if you assist Allah, Allah will assist you. And will ensure that your feet remain firm.

The Qur'an promises us so many places of assistance. Allah azzawajal says,

Allah is a caretaker of the believers. Allah is a friend of the believers. Allah says,

What a beautiful friend. What a beautiful assistant you can find. There is no assistant and friend besides Allah azzawajal that you can have to turn to. Allah azzawajal says,

That there is no place to hide, no place to run from Allah by going back to Allah azzawajal. My brothers, my sisters, my dear listeners, the Qur'an is replete with promises. And we know this is our aqeedah 100%.

Allah will never break His promise. So then we see then what is happening today. We see that subhanAllah, the Muslims are going through a very difficult time.

And the Muslims are going through frustration, deprivation, abuse, poverty, and of all sorts. SubhanAllah. And then of course with new and recent release of news bits and recent happenings in the Muslim world, of course the Muslims are even feeling even more defeated internally.

And feel that they have lost everything, they don't understand why this happening. Is Allah not with us? Is He not watching what's going on? My brothers and sisters, we have to remind ourselves, is that,

The way we deal with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that is how we're gonna get dealt with. He has made it very clear as a very famous statement is,

(This statement is widely attributed in Islamic tradition)

The way your actions are, so shall be your leaders. What goes up shall come down. What actions go up will bring about the decisions of Allah azzawajal that are relevant and that are related and that are congruent with those type of actions. Good actions sent to Allah will bring about good conditions.

Evil actions sent up to Allah azzawajal will bring about difficult conditions and situations for the ummah. Nabi alaihissalam, every aspect of his life is a means of guidance for us. There are times we learn, as tomorrow inshallah we'll be covering the paragon of perfection, the many roles of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.

The Trials of the Prophet Muhammad

Well, one of the aspects of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's seerah are the difficult times he had. Allah Akbar, why is Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam gone through so much difficulty? And the fact if we focus on his being born as an orphan and just reading through the seerah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, there is so much to take from, so much hope to gain from, that if the best of the best was put through all of these trials, where does my individual trial compare to the trials of our beloved Habib sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, who is not Habib-un-Nas only, who is not only beloved to the people, but most importantly Habib-ur-Rabbil-Alamin, the beloved of the Lord of the worlds. If Allah decided to put him through these trials, most definitely this doesn't mean, this definitely doesn't mean that those who are put through trials are disliked by Allah.

Instead the most chosen one,

(This statement is referenced in Islamic tradition regarding the Prophet's trials)

I have been put through difficulty and terrorized for the sake of Allah that no one else has been terrorized like this. I have been put through difficulty and I put through tests and trials, he says in the near meaning of hadith, that no other person has gone through this. So we look at Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in one of the most difficult years of his life, known as the

عَامُ الْحَزَنِ

In our books of seerah, we usually refer to that as that. And Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has lost his biggest companion, biggest sources of help. He had already lost his mother long ago, he lost his father before birth, he lost his grandfather long ago.

Now when things were, you know, running in his prophethood era 10 years, and he's not getting much support and lift from the community, Allah azza wa jal decides to test him further. If you wanna say he's got two crutches that you're leaning on, your feet are already broken, you're going through so much difficulty, you've got two crutches, and imagine someone just pulls that away from you. What are you left with? In the midst of nowhere, where no one wants to look at you, people are mocking at you, people are laughing at you.

And you need those two crutches, and all of a sudden, those are two pulled away from you. Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his wife Khadijah, رضي الله عنها وأرضاه, and his uncle Abu Talib, who were the greatest helpers to him, even though one was not a Muslim, but nonetheless gave moral support, and was a means of pushing away his greatest enemies. Because he stood by his side and he said, don't touch him, I don't believe in his message, but he's honorable to me, he's my nephew, I don't want you to do anything to him.

And of course his wife was everything. She was there from day one, giving him all the support he needed. And Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam decides to test him by taking these two supports away in one year.

And then he decides to, after he realized that Mecca, I've tried this for 10 years long enough, let me go to Ta'if. And he visits Ta'if, at 80 kilometers away. 80 kilometers away, goes to see if he's got any better luck over there.

And we all know the story, that Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam unfortunately did not receive any type of good reception over there. Instead it was worse than what he had in Mecca. People mocked at him, people ridiculed him, and people did not want to listen to him.

And if that was bad enough, what happened? That they sent out after him the children of the community, the gangsters of the community, out after him, to pelt him with stones, until they kicked him out, and they pushed him away from the town. And Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is now of course broken hearted, with so much grief of losing to the two closest people in his life in that same year. And not driving, but walking or traveling by an animal, by a conveyance to 80 kilometers with some great hope that these people will get guidance.

He didn't go there for a business deal. He didn't go there to start up a new store. There was absolutely no ulterior motive. There was no marketing intended. There was no materialistic motives. It was how can these people be safe from the fire of Jahannam? How can these people and their progeny enter paradise? That was the goal of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.

But those people didn't understand that. They were merciless. They were merciless. And they insulted him, and they abused him physically, emotionally. Every sense, in every way possible, they try to break his spirit. Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam sits at a side, away out of that town, Ta'if, and turns to Allah azza wa jal.

The Lessons from the Prophet's Trials

Why did this story happen? For you and I to focus on this story, and this hadith, and this dua, in our most difficult of times. Whether you're going through a difficulty in your personal life, or the ummah, reflecting the ummah's difficulties, and you feel like it's over. As they say, we've crossed the red line.

Now what? Now what? Nothing happened, right? Crossed the red line, now what? Nothing happens. When a person feels like, what's gonna happen? Now this is crazy, I can't believe I'm watching this happening in my life to the ummah. This type of Hawan, this type of Dhul, this type of disgrace, where you have to reflect on Nabi alaihi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.

What is the value of 1.6 billion Muslims? Then we know how weak we are, and the value of our dear Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. If Allah azza wa jal were to treat people, and treat this world as the beginning of all, and the end of all, where justice is met, don't you think it would be sufficient? A sufficient reason for the world to be destroyed, when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's feet bled profusely? And when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam's blood fell to the ground, don't you think that would be a sufficient reason for the earth to split open, and the people of Taif, and the people of Mecca to be buried in? Don't you think that is a sufficient reason for the mountains to fall over? Don't you think that is a sufficient reason for the angels to say, Ya Allah, enough is enough! We can't take this anymore. How dare the Habib of the world, the Habib of the angels, the Habib of Rabbul Alameen, can be put through such type of trial and test.

But Allah azza wa jal has another plan. And Allah azza wa jal's plan is that this whole entire dunya. And on and on.

Where Allah azza wa jal, He says that this dunya is a place of trial, of imtihan. This is not a place where I ensure that everyone gets their fair share of justice. Absolutely not.

If that was the case, then the world would not have to watch. And the angels would not have to watch in horror as the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was abused. And the ground, that poor ground that had to absorb the blood of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would never want to do that.

Would never want to absorb the blood of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And the tears and the sweat of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam as he is being abused by these people. But the earth was told to do it.

The angels were told to hold back. The mountains were told to hold back. Everyone was told that, watch, just stay, just hold your ground. Hold your ground. This is not a place of acting on emotions. Until I don't give you the go ahead, you can't do anything.

And this is a place where the test, this is all a test. We'll see to what extent will these disbelievers push my buttons. To what extent do these disbelievers wish that they can continue on their tirade of tyranny. And their tirade of oppression. And their tirade of asserting power. And putting people into difficulty. And worry. Allah azza wa jal has a different place for that. That's called yawm al-deen.

That's called yawm al-taghabul. That's called yawm al-hasra. That's called yawm al-qiyamah. That's called yawm al-hashr. That's called yawm al-tanadi. Yawm al-azifa. That's another place where Allah azza wa jal will settle everyone. Everyone will get what they deserve. To the extent of one horned animal or goat that had went out of its way to hit another poor animal that was next to it.

That didn't have those horns. Allah azza wa jal will say, in order to show that I am the most just, today I will bring them both back to life. And I will give the one who did not have horns in this dunya, I'll give him horns. And I'll say, this is your chance to retaliate. And after it retaliates, they will be made to dust. End of story.

Why did that happen? What was the purpose of that exercise? It is to show the believers and the disbelievers that nothing escapes my eye. Nothing escapes my eye.

Whoever does an iota of good, will see the reward of it. Whoever does an iota of evil, shall see the punishment of it. Look, I brought these two animals back to life. I made sure they're equal, and then I sent them back to dust. Just to show the message that today, you're not escaping the grip of Allah.

Allah Azawajal gives respite to the oppressors. Allah gives respite. But then that day when He chooses to strike on them, the hadith says, He doesn't let them go. He doesn't let the noose go loose. Once the noose is pulled in, it's over.

But there's a time, a set time for that. It may be in this world, or it may be in the hereafter. We are shared with this. All the story happened with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam for you and I to reflect. And let us quickly go over in the next few minutes this dua of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, where he says, turns to Allah at that time of difficulty.

The Prophet's Du'a During Difficulty

And he says,

O Allah, as narrated by Tabarani, he says, O Allah, I turn to You. I complain to You of my weakness. I complain to You of my weakness and strength. And O Allah, I complain to You of my limited ability. He blames himself for it.

Ya Allah, I didn't do a better job.

O Allah, I complain to You of my own weakness.

And my limited ability. And then what else?

And O Allah, I complain to You about the contempt and the humiliation of the people upon me. The humiliation that I have to face at the hands of these people. It was not stones only. It was spit. It was saliva. It was mud. It was all sorts of stuff that they threw on upon the Prophet ﷺ.

O Allah, the most merciful of those who show mercy. I'm not turning to just any random person. I am turning to the source of our mercy, the creator of the concept of mercy.

You are definitely the most merciful of those who show mercy.

O Allah, under whose care shall you leave me?

O Allah, under whose care do you leave me? He says, O Allah,

O Allah, are you leaving me to the care of an enemy? An enemy who continues and wishes to continue to oppress me?

Or are you turning me over to a friend you have given control over my affairs of? O Allah, he says,

O Allah, if you are not angry at me, then I do not mind. Meaning, if this whole exercise of Ta'if and losing my wife and my uncle, the biggest two supporters, all together in a small short frame, if this is not meant as a punishment for something I have done to upset you, then I don't mind. If this makes you happy to see me go through this test, to sit there and cry over the loss of my two most beloved people, and to sit there and shed blood at the hands of such oppressors, if this is part of your plan, and if this is part of what you wish to see because it has some hidden secret and wisdom behind it,

Then O Allah, I don't mind.

However, O Allah, I must say, your blessings and the given gift from you of well-being is vastly appreciated by me. I truly appreciate if you could grant me protection. I would really appreciate if you could grant me protection from these type of difficulties. Then the Prophet ﷺ says, continues,

O Allah, I seek refuge in you. I seek refuge in the nur of your countenance, the blessed light of your countenance,

because of which all layers of darkness are removed.

And because of which all the affairs of this world and the next come right.

I seek refuge in you from your anger descending upon me. The biggest problem is not the suffering I'm going through. No, no. The biggest problem is the fear that you're angry at me.

Did you hear that, my brothers? The biggest problem is not our material loss, the loss of life and health, the loss of honor, the loss of property. That's not the biggest fear. And the biggest fear is that what if behind all of this is the anger of Allah? What if behind all of this is the anger of Allah? And we know definitely for Rasulullah ﷺ that was definitely not the case.

But he's teaching us. Teaching us why don't we reflect instead of getting upset at the angry dogs of the world. Think have we angered the master of those dogs who has released them upon the ummah.

Because there's no point to pick a fight with a dog. His leash is in the hands of someone. You don't pick a fight with the owner, you'll be in good shape. Because this is a moment's notice, the dog will come right and will be under the control of its owner again. The only reason he's attacking is because he's been allowed to. Ask ourselves, what have we done with the Lord of the world? What is our relationship with that? Nabi ﷺ, what is he saying? Ya Allah, if it isn't, I'm seeking refuge in the nur of your continents that brightens up the whole world.

From your anger descending upon me. Or,

O Allah, I turn to you as a supplication until you are pleased. And there's no control or power in the world to achieve anything except through you. That is the very just translation. We can spend hours on this, of course. And dissecting every aspect of this beautiful prophetic dua.

Learning from the Prophet's Example

But the most important thing is, learn how Allah Azza wa Jal taught us through this story, that even in the most difficult times, the only one that can rise you up is Allah. The one who took you there is the only one who can get you out of that mess. The one who allowed us to be in the situation we are in, ask ourselves, why did this happen? Unless and until we don't start reflecting at a personal level.

Then at a collective level, at what mistakes have I made? How many mistakes have I made within our life because of which we may be going through this difficulty today? Nothing's gonna change. Change must begin at home. Change must begin with our children, with our spouses.

Whether it's coming to the masjid on a regular basis. Whether it's having a halaqa of Qur'an at home. Whether it's reading through the stories of the Prophet and the stories of the companions at home. Creating an atmosphere of sunnah within home. My brothers and sisters, how ironic it is, how ironic it is at what's going on right now. And Umar al-Khattab r.a, how in his hands, when the keys of Jerusalem were given, Quds was given to him, and someone asked him, you know the famous story, someone just suggested that he should dress in a certain different manner.

Because he was meeting the heads of state. He was meeting certain very influential people who were about to hand him over the keys of Jerusalem without a single drop of blood. And they just suggested that he should change his appearance because he had come from a very far distant journey from Medina. Traveled days and days. And his statement to his top general of the army. He says,

(This statement is referenced in Islamic tradition regarding Umar al-Khattab)

We were the most despicable of people. And Allah honored us with Islam.

And as long and whenever we choose to find honor in anything besides the religion and the deen of Allah, that Allah that brought us from disgrace to respect will once again throw us down. Back into the absence of disgrace, humility, oppression.

It is Allah who lifted us, and it is at a moment's notice He can take us down. Who is the one we need to turn to at this time and at all times? It's to Allah عز و جل. Don't search for honor, respect and approval from anyone besides Allah سبحانه وتعالى.

It is definitely a moment of reflection for all of us here. Have hope for the future because Allah's promises will definitely be fulfilled. Definitely be fulfilled. But we need to ensure that we do our end. Fulfill our end of the deal. And insha'Allah most definitely Allah will fulfill His end of the deal.

Closing Du'a

I ask almighty Allah عز و جل that He inspires us with these teachings of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. Allows us to reflect on different aspects of his life. Build a connection with the seerah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Make every one of us a student of the seerah so that we read it through our lives on a daily basis. That is that biography that needs to be on our table, you know, every single day before we go to bed and we wake up, we'll be reading every single year a different book of seerah reflecting on the lessons that are there.

As Allah Himself says, indeed you have a beautiful example in the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله. Kindly stand up insha'Allah and perform the sunnah salah. Fill up the rows first before you begin the sunnah.