Lessons from the Life of Ibrahim (AS) | Mufti Azeemuddin

Opening

Respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters and dear listeners, alhamdulillah we completed Surah al-Fil last week. And so now we have one week — this is the week of Eid, the week of Dhul Hijjah. But instead of starting a new surah, how about we discuss some aspects of the Qur'an related to what we are witnessing right now. This was a suggestion of some of my colleagues and I thought, mashAllah, what a great moment to speak about some aspects of the life of Ibrahim alayhis salam. So much to speak about and we're not going to have time obviously, but we'll speak for however long Allah wills for us. And we're going to cover some ayat from Surah al-Saffat, starting from Ayah 99.

The Fire and the Power of Allah

One of the key ayat Allah mentions in Surah al-Anbiya regarding Ibrahim's story is of course when he was thrown into the fire. The intention of Namrud and the king was that he burns to death — and he made it a means for everyone to watch and see him burn to death. And Allah mentions a simple one line which is so important. We understand this from the Qur'an that the story itself — like we talked about last week on Surah al-Fil — the story itself is not the maqsad, not the purpose. It's the lessons behind it. And if a story is in the Qur'an then 100% that means there's something Allah wants you to look at and focus on and implement in your own life. Otherwise it wouldn't be there. There are millions of things that have happened — important, amazing, great things. Allah chose very few things to be there. So if it's there, it means within it lies some amazing secrets. Look again and again. And that is the tawfiq that Allah gives to someone — that he is able to study the Qur'an with that focus, with that lens: how can he benefit? And hopefully that's what we're all doing right now, this week, as we increase and ramp up our recitation of the Qur'an.

So Allah Jalla Jalaluhu simply says — and this is the part of the story of Ibrahim which is really important, that's why I'm sharing this even though this is not from Surah al-Saffat, this is from Surah al-Anbiya, Ayah 69 — Allah says:

"We said: O fire, become cool and a source of calm and peace for Ibrahim."

Really, really important fundamental ayah here. What did we learn from here? We learned that Allah is in control of every single affair of ours. And no matter what type of difficulty you are involved in, Allah Jalla Jalaluhu has it covered from all angles.

We talked last week — when a person, any person in this world, even the highest ranking, powerful official, president, prime minister — you go to him for something, what will he tell you? He'll say, okay I'll help you, let me pick up the phone and make a call, let me sign this document, let me text someone, call someone. That's what he's going to say. Because as powerful as he is, he still has to reach out to someone else. He most definitely is not capable of doing everything. Only a millionth of whatever the affairs are there — they have to have cabinet members, viziers, ministers, congressmen, senators, secretaries, undersecretaries, billions and thousands of different people and positions. So much red tape. And on top of that, still, after you get through that, he still needs the help of others.

But for Allah there is no red tape and there is no involvement of anyone. You simply need to convince one being. And when that's done, then Allah Jalla Jalaluhu immediately gets everything in place. What did we say?

"O the One whose command is between the Kaaf and the Noon."

Which Kaaf and Noon are we speaking about? كُنْ فَيَكُونُ. So it is not after كُن — no, it's between the Kaaf and the Noon. That's how quick it is. And He doesn't even need to say it:

"His affair is only that when He intends something, He says to it 'Be,' and it is."

He doesn't even have to say it — this is for you and I to simply understand how quickly things happen. That's why we say: Allah's mere will equals existence. His mere willing that something should be like this — bam, it happens. So powerful.

So here, Allah Jalla Jalaluhu is directly — He's not calling the birds to extinguish the fire. He sent Ababil against Abraha's army. He didn't send the clouds. He could have done any of these things and it would still be amazing — that all of a sudden from out of nowhere clouds are coming with rain, or some animals are coming with water in their beaks and pouring it. That would all have been amazing, spectacular. But Allah takes it to another notch here. Allah Jalla Jalaluhu speaks directly to the fire. He says:

"I want you to be just like that. I want you not to be extinguished. I want you to do what you're doing. But I'm going to take out one of your most fundamental physical properties. You're going to be there, you're going to crackle, you're going to do everything — but you're not going to burn him. Selectively I want you to just leave him out. And on top of that, I want you to change your internal property of heat with coolness — and not too cold that he needs a blanket. Salaam. Peaceful. Let him just enjoy it."

There's no power in the world you can imagine that can do something like that. You're going right into the DNA, into the chemical makeup of it, keeping everything as is and just adjusting a few things here and there. And look at the power — Allah says يَا نَارُ! Oh fire, I'm talking to you. Who besides Rabbul Alamin can do that? Who can do that? You can speak to people. You can speak to humans. You can even speak to an animal. How do you speak to a creation like fire? None besides Allah can do that.

Mu'jizat and Karamat: Miracles for Prophets and Saints

And those who follow the commands of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and submit themselves to Allah — Allah also allows them to do amazing things, through His will of course. So when Allah makes a miracle happen for a prophet, what is that called? A Mu'jizah. And when Allah makes a miracle happen for a non-prophet — like a Wali, a friend of His — that is called a Karamah. Karamatul Awliya.

In South Africa, there's a term they use for the graves of the pious people there — they call them Karamat. Any of you who have visited Cape Town may have heard this word. They call the graves of the pious people — the Awliya — Karamat. Like we say in Urdu, Dargah, they call them Karamat there. Because they feel like these are the people at whose hands Allah brought Karamats. And where does a Karamah come from? It doesn't come because of anything we are. It's simply about how much we submit to Allah's will. The more Allah becomes pleased with us, then Allah Jalla Jalaluhu — for our assistance — makes Karamat happen.

So Allah here is making a miracle happen, and He is speaking to the fire. Just understand the might and the power. People all the time say, make du'a for me, I have a deposition, I have a court case. The judge — he can't blink without Allah's will. He can't digest last night's food or this morning's breakfast without Allah's will. So in front of Ahkamul Hakimin, who is he? If you ask Allah, you convince Allah — your affairs are done. Allah most definitely can manipulate the judge as He wishes. If He can speak to fire, what is a judge?

But I was saying this is not something that Allah keeps for Himself. He gives His ijazah sometimes to His servants. And I'm mentioning the story of Tamim al-Dari radiyallahu anhu — the Sahabi who saw Dajjal on the island. During the time of the Khilafah of Umar radiyallahu anhu, there was a fire or a volcano eruption that took place, and Madinah was shaking. Fire was coming. People came and told the Amir ul-Mu'mineen.

Umar radiyallahu anhu doesn't pick up a phone and say, hey, send the fire brigade. He looks at the Sahabi, Tamim al-Dari, and says: "I want you to go push the fire back into the mountain." What? "I want you to go push the fire back into the mountain." How am I supposed to do that? I'm very weak, I can't do that. He said, "I'm telling you — go tell the fire: the Amir ul-Mu'mineen, Umar, told me you've got to go back inside." That makes no sense. Sami'na wa ata'na — if the Amir said it, I've got to do it. He goes, takes his staff, and starts speaking to the fire. He says, "The Amir told me — you have to go back." And literally he started signaling it to push back. And lo and behold, the amr of Allah is such — the fire started going back, until he pushed it right back into the mountain, into the cave where it came from. Because Amir ul-Mu'mineen Umar established the orders of Allah on earth, Allah made the creation subservient to him. This is a Karamah.

That Karamah is not specific to prophets — a Mu'jizah is for prophets, but the same level of power is found in a Karamah when Allah allows it to happen for non-prophets. Are you following? So when you and I — the doors of prophethood are closed, but the doors of Wilayah and closeness to Allah — are they closed? No. Any one of you sitting here could be a Wali or a Waliyyah. Any one of us can be right now, or in the future.

Allah made the fire subservient to Tamim al-Dari because he was listening to Amir ul-Mu'mineen Umar ibn al-Khattab, because he was obeying Allah and His Rasul ﷺ.

Safina — the freed slave of the Prophet ﷺ — was travelling in the northern jungles of Africa on an expedition, years after the Prophet ﷺ had passed away. They needed to camp out and spend the night, but the companions said this place is filled with predators and animals of the jungle. How are we going to sleep here at night? So he stands up and makes an announcement: "We are the messengers of the Messenger of Allah who have come to Africa. We didn't come here for money, we didn't come here for business. We came to establish the law of Allah on this land. So I order you — all you animals in this area, leave now, because we are camping here tonight." And the companions say: rows and rows and lines of animals — tigers, lions, whatever was in that jungle — began dispersing, and the whole area became free for the Sahabah to camp out.

And there is another companion going on an expedition to Bahrain — as he comes to cross over the sea, he says: what should we do? The enemies are on the other end. There's a huge sea in between. What do we do? He turns to his companions: "Are all of you performing the Sunnahs? Are all of you free from major sins? Any taubah you've got to make — right now, this is your time. Because we're going to do something, and if anything we're messing up it's going to mess things up for us." Alhamdulillah, everyone's set. "Alright, let's go. Let's put our animals, our horses, into the sea." And the enemy is watching — imagine you see an entire army just walking over the sea. You're going to forget about everything. You're going to say, what is this? These are not humans. They ran. And the entire army crossed over the sea without even the hooves of the animals becoming wet.

Imam al-Bayhaqi — if I'm not mistaken — he collected all of these stories in a book called Dala'il al-Nubuwwah, The Proofs of Prophethood. And many of them are found in Hayatus Sahabah of Mawlana Yusuf Kandhlawi — many of you have this book or know about it, but it's usually taken from Dala'il al-Nubuwwah.

There are many amazing stories like this, and they all have one thread, one common denominator: the companions of the Prophet ﷺ following the Sunnah, establishing Allah's order on the land, and Allah made the forces of nature subservient to them — be it the wind, be it the fire, be it the animals of the jungle, be it the earth, even in earthquakes.

Amazing things can most definitely happen till today as well, because the doors of Wilayah are open. If we establish the laws of Allah on our own six-foot bodies, amazing things will happen in front of us. Before we try to worry about the whole world, we start from ourselves. Fulfill the commands of Allah in our body, and you'll see how Allah will start making things happen.

I speak for myself — I am in need of most of what I'm saying. The pious of the past, when they would see their wife not listening to them, husband not listening, children not listening, camel, donkey, horse acting up — immediately the first thing they would do is look at their own selves and say: which Sunnah did I leave out today? Which mustahab action did I leave out today? That I am getting a taste of my own medicine — when our people who report to us start becoming disobedient and disrespectful, including animals, we've been taught to start looking within ourselves. The problem lies within me. That's why people are not listening to me. SubhanAllah.

If us fathers sitting here started focusing on this — how our lives would change. If each father would start thinking: the problem is in myself. Each husband would be thinking: the problem is within me. Each son thinking: the problem is within me. How many orders of Allah have I broken? If my son breaks one today, so what? I've broken a thousand of my Lord's commands. If my wife doesn't respect me for one thing — so what? I have disrespected the Sunnah of Rasul ﷺ thousands of times. If my car breaks down, if my appliances at home break down — so what? How many times have I broken the laws of Allah and the Sunnah of Rasul ﷺ? It's a moment of reflection, my friends. What goes around comes around. This is the reality.

May Allah allow you and I to understand, and make it easy for me and all of us to practice on this — that the blame game should not be played. We need to focus. I need to focus on my own self. Improve my own self.

The Lesson: No Problem Is Too Big for Allah

So here we see a miracle happening in the story of Ibrahim alayhis salam. قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا — Oh fire, become cool. So Allah shares with us this one statement to tell us that Allah is around. Ibrahim alayhis salam is gone, prophethood has ended, but Allah is around. Anyone of us faced with difficulty — remember that Allah can easily speak to that problem. Speak to that wall, speak to that obstacle — be it a mountain, be it an ocean. Whatever it is. We believe in Karamat, we believe in miracles, we believe that if Allah wills, and you're a pious person — there is nothing stopping Allah for one of us to walk outside the masjid and find ourselves in Makkah al-Mukarramah right now. Yes, it can happen if Allah wills. Does that usually happen? No, it doesn't. But if Allah wants to make it happen, most definitely it can happen. His creation called the jinn — how long does it take for them? Seconds, like energy, from here to there.

So there's no end to that. But now, what is قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا telling us? It's telling us that whenever you have a situation, do not ever think this is too big, too big of an issue to get solved. Allah does not need to speak to people. Allah will speak to the problem itself. Allah doesn't need to get the help, permissions, or signatures of anyone. He'll go directly to the problem and solve it.

And we find this in Surah al-Talaq — beautiful ayat:

"And whoever fears Allah — He will make for him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah — then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a decreed extent."

Whoever fears Allah, Allah will create for him a makhraj. You know, like you see exit signs written there — in the Arab world, in Saudi or the Middle East, instead of "Exit" you'll see مَخْرَج written there. مَخْرَج is also the place from where letters are pronounced in tajweed, right? That's what مَخْرَج is. Allah says He will create for you a مَخْرَج if you fear Him. What does that mean? Meaning when all the roads are closed, when the streets are closed, when all the windows are closed, when all the lines are busy, when everyone's giving you a cold shoulder, when there seems to be no way you're going to get out of this problem — Allah Jalla Jalaluhu is saying: I'll get you out of there.

I remember — since it's the days of Hajj, let's talk about stories of Hajj. Some years ago I was at Mina, the 12th or 13th of Dhul Hijjah. Final pelting done. I had an early flight out — one of the earliest flights out — and I needed to leave Makkah within the next couple of hours to go to Jeddah and out. And I'm sitting in Mina thinking: I just finished pelting, how am I ever going to get to Makkah al-Mukarramah? There are no taxis on that day right now, it's full jam-packed. It'll take me until Fajr by the time I get there. So I hailed a motorcycle guy — I saw some motorcycles. I told him: take me to the Haram. He charged me whatever, 200 Riyals. I said, whatever, I need to catch a flight.

My dear friends, I promise you — had I somehow paid a thousand Riyals and got a taxi, it would have taken me, bila shubha, at least nine hours. We've done this many times. Nine hours to get there. This motorcycle guy — we went the entire time opposite of traffic, weaving through buses, trucks, cars, everything. Just against traffic. And within about less than 15 minutes — maybe 12 to 13 minutes — I'm sitting in front of the hotel in Makkah.

That's what you call Makhraj. That's what Makhraj is. Allah did that. Allah provided that. You're sitting there thinking: how in the world am I going to get to my place? And you see a guy who says, yeah, you want a ride? Give me 100 Riyals, I'll take you. And there's no way anyone could have thought you would have gotten somewhere like that.

When all the roads are closed — I'm talking about in a figurative sense — Allah will get you out of that mess. That's what you and I have to learn in these days of Hajj. Learn from the story of Ibrahim alayhis salam. No matter how big the situation is — learn from the Prophets — the solution is only a few inches away. Raise your hands and your solution is done. That's it. Pick up your hands — a few inches — and your solution is in your hands.

The Du'a of Yunus (AS) and the Promise to Believers

Nabi Yunus alayhis salam — what happened when he was swallowed by the great whale? Allah says that Nabi Yunus alayhis salam called out to Allah in the layers of darkness — in the darkness of the ocean, darkness of the clouds, darkness of the dark night. Some brothers just went scuba diving recently and they were telling me amazing things, and thoughts come to mind so I'll share it with you. They said the ayat of Surah al-Nur — how Allah describes how a disbeliever leads his life, how it is like layers of darkness in a very deep dark sea, one wave upon another wave, layers of darkness upon one another, until if you were to take out your hand you would not be able to see it.

So this brother went scuba diving down south in the Gulf of Mexico, and he went 120 feet down. For the first 50 feet, it's light — you can see everything. He showed me video of it on his phone, the camera attached to the equipment — you can see things. Then he went through about 25 or 30 feet of this fog-like material — pitch dark. You can see it. All of a sudden, the lights — nothing works, 100% dark. And he said: literally I could not see my hand. The lights are on, and you can't see anything. And he said, I remembered that ayah at that time. And he went through that fog-like material — some sulfur or whatever it was — and then as soon as he got out of that layer, bam, again the light is on and you can see crystal clear below. Ajeeb Nizam. And then he showed me a video where when they arrived there, there was an entire small island with a tree growing from it, surrounded by these white clouds — it was basically an island from hundreds of years ago that had fallen and sunk all the way to the bottom. Ajeeb Nizam of Allah. It's crazy.

So this is what Allah is saying. Yunus alayhis salam was sitting at the bottom — we don't know how many feet below the sea this huge animal was — and he is sitting inside there, calling out to Allah:

"There is none worthy of worship besides You. Glory be to You. Indeed I am from amongst the wrongdoers."

That's the way to go. We talked about this in another dars — the quickest way to get to Allah is through the door of inkisar — brokenness and humility. The quickest door. You humble yourself in front of Allah. There's nothing that gets you to Allah quicker than humility. Just lay it down. Say, Allah, khalas. Hands up. I surrender. That is the best way to de-escalate the situation. Don't run away from Allah. Don't run away from Allah. Just say: hands up, I'm sorry — finish. And you'll see that's the quickest way to de-escalate the situation.

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4250)

"The one who has repented from a sin is like the one who has never committed a sin in the first place."

This is what you call inkisar. So what does Allah say?

"So We responded to him and saved him from his worry and sorrow. And in this very same manner, We will save the believers."

We will save the believers from their depression. We will save the believers from their worry. We will save the believers from their situations. SubhanAllah. So every single Quranic story is for you and I. There are lessons in here. And similarly, this is the lesson we learned from قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا.

A Spiritual Remedy from This Ayah

I want to add a slightly different aspect to this ayah as well. This is based on the experience of the scholars — take it based on experience. The Qur'an, my brothers — no matter how much you sit with it, you will always be able to extract new lessons.

You should come visit the Islamic library downstairs. Even with however much we have there — it's still a millionth or thousandth of what's out there. Each scholar has written twenty or thirty volumes of tafsir, and hundreds and thousands of scholars continue writing till today. So you're thinking — don't you think that if this is the word of Allah, that it has power? All the electricity in the world, a stick — these are all creations. The Qur'an is not the creation of Allah. The Qur'an is the spoken word of Allah. It has more power than any other creation. So don't you think your headache can go away by the Qur'an? Don't you think your situation can get solved by the Qur'an? Of course it can.

So I'm going to share with you a little treatment here — medication. The scholars and ulama have said this ayah is very effective for someone who is suffering from the fire of lust. Fire of lust. And you can also say fire of anger — but we have another ayah for fire of anger, which is:

That's clear — Rasul ﷺ said: if you are feeling angry, then say أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ, and whatever is causing you anger will go away from you.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6115; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2610)

But what I'm sharing with you now regarding the fire of lust — that is not a hadith. It is a statement and the experience of scholars. They say: a person puts their hand on their heart, or focuses on their heart, and the method would be to recite Durood Sharif — recite Salat 'ala al-Nabi ﷺ three times, five times, seven times, an odd number of times — and then recite this ayah, Ayah 69 of Surah al-Anbiya, the one we have been discussing:

You read it an odd number of times — 9, 11, 21 times — and then you end with Durood Sharif. I promise you, sitting in the masjid, not lying — if you recite this with yaqeen and conviction, inshAllah, any Shaytanic attack inciting you toward lust will be controlled. I have shared this and people have come back to me and said: thank you, this was a game changer for us. Every time Shaytan comes to us, alhamdulillah, we recite this.

What is the secret ingredient? Yaqeen. Yaqeen, inshAllah. And share this with people. Again, as I said — it's not a hadith. It is a statement and a practice of scholars, their experience of it. Alhamdulillah, my own experience of giving this to people has shown me, mashAllah, that people have found it to be very beneficial — of course contingent on their yaqeen. If you have yaqeen, it will be solved.

Surah al-Saffat: Ibrahim's Migration to Allah

Now going back to the actual ayat we are discussing from Surah al-Saffat. This is so powerful. Allah speaks about in Surah al-Saffat when Ibrahim alayhis salam spoke to Azar and to the nation, and they said no, we're not interested in listening. And that whole story happened. Allah says:

"They intended to plot against him, so We made them the lowest."

And from Surah Fatir, there is this verse:

"Evil plotting does not harm anyone but its own people."

Meaning — you dig a hole for your brother, you fall in it yourself. Those who plot evil — whether someone else gets hurt or not is a different thing — but definitely the plotter will fall in it. Whoever plots and connives will definitely pay the price, sooner or later. Pakki baat. And this is what Allah says.

They intended to harm Ibrahim alayhis salam, We destroyed them. Then what was the response of Ibrahim to his people? He tried to give them Dawah. He tried to give Dawah to his father. It wasn't working. What did he say?

"And he said: Indeed I am going to my Lord. He will guide me."

He said: I am going to Allah. Allah, I am going to my Lord. Open the way for me. That's what he said. إِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ — Indeed I am going to my Lord, He will soon guide me.

What does this mean for you and I? When you're faced with difficulty, you and I need to say the same thing. Someone tells me their wife — he's been trying to convince her to wear hijab for ten years and she doesn't want to. Someone says they're trying to get their sons to listen, to read Qur'an, to pray Salah, not happening. What are you going to do? This is what you've got to say: I'm going to Allah. I'm going to turn to Allah. I've said as much as I could say. Same story with Ibrahim alayhis salam — he loves his father, he tried and tried and tried. Didn't work. And then instead of cursing him, he said okay, and he said: I'm going to go to Allah.

So what does going to Allah mean? Going to your basement, quietly, putting the musalla out and praying. Going to your back office, your private office, to go pray. Sitting in your car coming to your local masjid to pray. Sitting in your parking lot, coming out of a meeting frustrated, sitting in your car, opening up the Qur'an and reading. That's your dhahab ila Rabb. That's what it means — going towards Allah. Finding your spot.

Some have said dhahib ila Rabbi means going for Hajj or Umrah — going to Makkah al-Mukarramah. Definitely. Now make this intention — all of us have the means. When you have the ability, when you have the means, go. Jump on a flight, go for Umrah. Not for a vacation. You don't even need a hotel if you're really going to solve business. You spend the three days in the Haram, in and out. You're going for a business trip — a very important business trip to England — you're not going to sit there and tour London. You go there for a purpose. Sign the deal, try to get back on the next day flight. You're going to Makkah, Madinah — not for shopping or hotels. You're going there to go get business done.

One of my teachers — the principal of our madrasa back in South Africa — there was a duration of time where Allah opened up ways for him and he was going through some conditions. You guys know geography — where Johannesburg is, where Jeddah is. Direct non-stop flight is about eight and a half hours. He would teach Monday through Friday and Saturday. Saturday morning class until 10 a.m. — Bukhari class — then jump on a flight, go to Makkah, do Umrah, go to Madinah, do Ziyarah of the Prophet ﷺ, come back to Makkah, do another Umrah, fly back, and be in class Monday morning. Months in a row, I'm told — months in a row he did this. MashAllah, he's still alive, alhamdulillah — give him a long life and health. And months he did this in a row. That's what you call Karamah. Don't you think so? Never missing class, teaching till the last minute, and Monday you're thinking, he's not going to show — there he is, on time before all the students. That's Karamah.

On the topic of Karamat — he was in Dubai in transit, apparently with an 18-hour layover, and he's sitting there thinking: what should I do? 18 hours is a long time. He went to the counter, purchased a ticket to Jeddah, flew to Jeddah, hailed a taxi, went to Makkah, did Umrah, then told the taxi driver: you wait here. No hotel of course. Then went to Madinah, did Ziyarah of the Prophet ﷺ for half an hour to two hours, told the driver: take me back to Makkah. The driver said: I'm too tired to drive. He said: you sit, I'll drive. He arrives to Makkah, does another Umrah, goes to Jeddah, flies back to Dubai to catch his flight. Two Umrahs and Ziyarah of the Prophet ﷺ — during an 18-hour transit. That's what you call Karamah, seriously. Alhamdulillah.

This past Hajj — those of you who might be listening who were with me in Hajj — we had the honor of hosting my Ustad, the same teacher, in our hotel room. It was awesome. The group loved it. We were able to sit with him every single night. He did a majlis of dhikr and bayan every night, for four or five nights he was staying in our hotel. And people were just shocked. This is your Ustad — and they were actually able to witness these Karamat I'm talking about. And I enjoy speaking about stories like this because, as they say, iman taza hota hai — your iman gets rejuvenated. These people — they're not just walking with people of the past, ye abhi bhi zinda hain aise log — there are people like that today. What's the common denominator? What did we say? What did they do to get Karamah? Submit to Allah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. That's it. You have that ingredient, and you will see — Allah will make things happen.

I can speak till Isha on this. Me going with him — everything is closed. He wakes me up: bhai Azeem, chalna hai, Fajr ke liye, Tahajjud ke liye. Ji Hazrat, chalenge. Let's go. He holds my hand, walking. Hazrat, sare darwaze band — everything is closed. Ne ne ne, Maulvi Azeem, don't worry, we'll get in. Hazrat, how are we going to get in? Everything is closed. Maulvi Azeem, don't worry. Wallahi, my brothers, I'm telling you — not once, not twice — every single time I went with him, this ayah: whoever fears Allah, Allah opens up ways for him. And he's an elderly person, he was suffering from stage 3 cancer, chemotherapy, everything — lost his beard, color changed, was on the verge of death, Allah gave him shifa, he lost like 60 or 70 pounds. MashAllah, in his mid-60s, with all sorts of other conditions, walking with his cane — and I'm barely trying to keep up with him. Within two to three minutes, we're sitting inside the mataf. We're sitting inside. How did you just pull that off? Like, what did you just pull off? Every single time I've walked with him — mashAllah — and it's not once, many Umrahs and Hajjs, alhamdulillah, I've been blessed to be with him. And may Allah allow us to be in the company of such people again and again. Say ameen.

But I've seen this — this is what you call Karamah. This is what I mean. And it's inspiring that you and I can become like that. I can become like that. You can become like that. All of us can become like that. And I'm saying I have none of this reality in my heart — but may Allah make me, and make you and I, like that. That we really become the people of Allah, and Allah becomes ours. So what does it mean — jumping on the flight? Not necessarily. What does it mean? Finding your spot, your corner, to go cry to Allah. That's what we all need to do. When you have issues at home, whatever it is, turn to Allah Jalla Jalaluhu and say a deen — Allah will inshAllah guide you through whatever the situation may be.

The Du'a for a Righteous Child

Then the next ayah — Ibrahim alayhis salam says:

"My Lord, grant me a child from among the righteous."

This is very important, brothers. He says: I am going to my Lord. He says: O Allah, please grant me a pious person, a pious child. Now this is an important discussion for us. He's asking for a pious child. He has no kids right now. But he's not just saying, Ya Allah, give me a son, give me a daughter. He's saying: Ya Allah, give me someone naik, righteous. That's what I need. It's not about having 10 or 20, boys or girls — it's about having pious children. Yes, healthy of course. But without pious children, what does that mean, my brothers?

Billah, there is no greater asset than having a righteous, pious child. No greater asset. Your Lamborghini, your Ferrari, your yacht, your mansion — everything will come to an end the day you and I leave this world. We know that. But the thing that will not end is the one who will come with our janazah after us, help us get buried, read the duas and the ayat of the Qur'an at our grave — and then walk away and say: now it's time for me to work for my father. Now it's time for me to dedicate my life. He's resting. Now let me work for him. He worked a lot for me — now it's time for me to work for him. The real work starts after the father is gone.

One of my classmates from South Africa — his father passed away yesterday. He posted on a group: my father passed away, my best friend passed away. And he mentioned some qualities of his father — someone who would never scream and yell at him, but always was there to put him straight. As a maulana himself, he said: no one could speak to me and tell me straight besides my dad. He would tell me, no matter who you are: hey, you're my son, you've got to straighten up — and be my friend at the same time. Always comical. Would solve difficult things through soft, nice words. Was a rock for the whole family. Now — he has a masjid to lead, classes to teach — and he realized his real work starts now. I'm going to continue preaching and teaching people, and hopefully this reward will go to my dad.

That's what you and I all need to desire and wish. We want a really cash cow, right? A cash cow is not some rental property in downtown Chicago — that's going to end when you and I die. A cash cow is righteous children that will continue our legacy and even go beyond that, after we're dead.

So Ibrahim alayhis salam is asking: Ya Allah, give me a righteous child — a salih — that he will be a means of bringing righteousness in the world. My dear brothers and sisters, the ulama say: if you have a righteous child, be naik yourself, and value it. And I see parents come to me — there are so many parents crying about sons and daughters who have become disobedient to Allah and to them. They're saying: can you please come to my house, can you enroll him in your summer program, can you give him a volunteer job, whatever — just keep him here. And then you have these other parents whose kids are so righteous, so pious, God-fearing people — in my eyes — and who want to come study in the summer, come and do the one-year program, come and do the Alim course, and the dad says no, the mom says no. And the kid is begging. And literally, they speak to me as though they're doing a favor to me that they have allowed their son — filled with fervor, wanting to study deen — to come study. I'm talked down to like that: "We're allowing him to study with you."

And I feel like: I just wish I could put you into another person's house, who, wallahi, would sell his house — I promise you, who would sell his house and live in an apartment, and give you that money to bring these qualities of your son into his own son. Do you understand what I'm saying here? If we have a righteous child — be it son or daughter — value them. Thank Allah for that. Don't take them for granted. Because anything can happen at any time, and Allah could switch us with someone else. I'm blessed with children too, and so this is advice to me first and to all of us. They may not be perfect — who's perfect? — it frustrates us. I'm sure I'm a source of frustration for my own parents, with the things I do wrong. And my kids become a frustration for me. But let it not become blinding from the fact of the beautiful, beautiful qualities that they do have.

They're not perfect. But I'm sure all of our kids here have some beautiful qualities. None of you have a child that is pure evil. Not possible. They've got beautiful qualities. Let's be aware of those qualities, highlight those qualities, keep on focusing on those qualities — and even if we see something wrong, say: mashAllah, you've got these amazing nine qualities. That one quality that's not so good — don't you think these nine should overtake that one small one? Every time, just focus on one weaker quality. What Shaytan does — and Allah forgive me, this happens to me as a father — we get blinded from the beautiful qualities and only see the nine wrong things. No — he's got nine beautiful things and one wrong thing. And if you do see more than one issue to work on, don't focus on more than one at any given time. Talk about the nine already there — positive reinforcement. MashAllah, you can do it, let's just get this one other thing taken care of too. And the next time it becomes: these ten are already there, let's just take care of this eleventh one that's a little bit weak.

A saleh, pious child in this zamana — biggest blessing. What else do we understand from here, my brothers and sisters? Our focus has to be on the tarbiyah of our children. People put so much effort into making their son a doctor, engineer, or lawyer. I'm not saying don't do that — definitely, if my son wants to do that, alhamdulillah, no problem. But neki, taqwa, taharat, piety — please, we have to focus on that. What's the point of all these professional careers if he doesn't have the fear of Allah? That money he's going to be earning — five, six, seven hundred K, a million, two million — after you die, if he starts spending it on haram, who is going to get the sin for that? Think about that. Who is going to get the sin for trips to Las Vegas, trips to Miami? Where are today's young professionals with tons of money — what are they doing? Real stories: in the month of Ramadan, during the last ten nights, "Brother, where are you going?" "I'm going to Mexico." "What are you doing in Mexico? This is Laylatul Qadr, man." "I'm in Las Vegas." Just because you have money, you're going to do that? Most parents taught them how to earn, but didn't teach them how to earn Allah's pleasure. Didn't teach them how to handle the money. They just taught them how to make it. That's the lesson we've got to teach our own kids. I have to teach it, you have to teach it.

Fear of Allah, piety, good character — no school can teach this the way you and your wife can teach it, the way you and your husband can teach it. Piety and righteousness — we have to ask Allah. Notice he's asking this before he even had a child. So dua for the kids starts before you even have a baby. Imagine how much dua we have to be making after we have the baby, and as they're growing up.

Hilm: The Forbearing Son

So what does Allah say? We listened to his dua and We gave him a forbearing boy. Forbearing. My dear brothers, what is forbearing? This is the best of all character. May Allah grant us this. Sabr, patience, forbearance. It's been mentioned in one of the statements: forbearance is the leader of all character. A forbearing person is almost a prophet. This is a sign of prophethood.

You've all heard this from the Seerah — a Bedouin wanted to test the Prophet ﷺ. He yanked him, jerked at the shawl around the Prophet's ﷺ neck, spoke very harshly to him. And when the Prophet ﷺ remained calm, the Bedouin took the shahada and said: I wanted to test you because I heard that prophets are forbearing, and I wanted to see if you're a prophet or not. That's why I pushed you to the human limit. And you responded to me with such kindness and calmness — you have to be a prophet.

Let's ask ourselves: do we have that in ourselves? If we don't have it, how are our kids going to get it? Where does forbearance come from? Forbearance is connected to iman. How so? Iman tells us that whatever is happening, it is happening by Allah's command. Whatever Allah willed will happen, whatever Allah did not will cannot happen — no matter how difficult or unpleasant that situation may be for me. It happened because Allah wanted it to happen. That's iman, isn't it?

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22705)

"No servant has reached the reality of iman until he knows that whatever struck him was never going to miss him, and whatever missed him was never going to reach him."

Whatever he received and achieved, he was never going to miss it. Whatever he missed out on, he was never going to get — be it marriage, child, business contract, whatever you want to call it. You have to have that. You can never become a true believer until you believe in this. So a forbearing person, when faced with difficulty, says: I guess Allah wanted you to act like that with me. Alright. It's not your fault. If I get upset at you, I'm in reality getting upset at Allah's decree. So I'll take it. Whatever Allah wishes, I'm happy with that. That's iman.

Someone was asked: how does the world run? He said: according to my wishes. What? How does it run according to your wishes? He said: because I made my wish subservient to Allah's wish. And whatever is happening is according to Allah's wish — so the world's running according to my wish. That's what we're speaking about here.

Hilm. How did Ismail alayhis salam have this hilm? Because of his iman. No matter what comes his way — okay, this is what Allah wills. May Allah grant us the iman that will make us amongst those who are forbearing in any situation.

Investing in Righteous Children and the Ummah

Now, talking about pious children — the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1631)

"When a human being dies, all his deeds come to an end except from three things: a charity that will continuously give him benefits once he is gone; knowledge that people can benefit from; and a pious child that can pray and supplicate for him."

So we have to make effort on our own children so that they become pious. Number two: invest in children who are already becoming pious. What do I mean? Will my sons or daughters become graduates as huffaz and ulama? I wish they do. Will that happen? I don't know. I wish. But the students who are studying here — they have already been chosen by Allah to be from those who are going to serve the deen. By us spending our wealth on them and basically in our minds adopting them — saying, I'm taking care of this son or daughter of the Ummah, their expenses and needs — so even if my own child doesn't become an alim, or Allah forbid someone doesn't have kids, or they're not righteous unfortunately, or whatever the situation may be — this is the investment. When you, mashAllah, donate to the masjid and madrasa, make this intention: I'm donating so that I can help raise one son here, one daughter here. I have adopted this and presented it to Allah.

Some brothers have told me: we want to pay the tuition of one scholar, one student, for seven years in a row. I don't know if my kids will become ulama, but at least in my mind, I know I have actually helped produce one alim, full seven years. And inshAllah, Allah will give me the reward for the rest of his life — for whatever that scholar does. Think about that. Something as simple as that. And if we don't have the money for it, you can collect the money for it, ask people for it, make it a project: I want to sponsor a student, I want to take care of a classroom or a library.

But I want to broaden the horizon. Someone might say: oh my god, I've got to go home with my kid and say, wake up for Tahajjud. That's not how it works. That's the wrong approach. There are so many different ways. You have to practice through action, with softness, and turn to Allah and beg. And in the meantime, support. You want your son to be a hafiz? Support an orphan. Not only at Dar al-Salam — anywhere. Pay for a child's tuition while they're doing their hifz. There are thousands and millions of them in the world. And say: Allah, I'm hoping that through this effort of mine, You will make my own son a hafiz, or my own daughter a hafizah, or an alim or alimah. That's what we're speaking about here.

The Great Trial: Ibrahim and Ismail's Submission

"And when he reached the age of running with him…"

He grew up — now he's the age of running with his father. What does running mean? Some people say it means he was running with his dad doing effort of Dawah — going to people's houses, inviting them to the deen. Or it means he was just running around the house at six or seven years old. They're so lovable at that age. They actually help you — helping you fix the car, fix dinner, fix the barbecue. They're not old enough to give you the kind of problems that come later. They're young enough to be helpful. And even if you get angry with them, by nighttime everything is over. That's what I love about kids that age. I get upset at them, but subhanAllah — may Allah give us such clean hearts as our young kids. When you walk back home: "Baba, I want to hug you." I just yelled at you pretty bad like an hour ago — what happened? They forget. Ctrl+Alt+Delete, just like that. They don't keep grudges. Little kids don't keep grudges. And we need that — that's what hilm is. Just give up, forgive, forget. It's such a beautiful quality that little kids have before they become polluted by society.

So he's in this phase, running around with his dad. And you and I probably have our heart-to-heart conversations with our kids — and if we don't, we need to start having them. Usually my kids beg me for a story at bedtime. But sometimes — based on some advice I heard — sometimes they say, Baba, can I share a story with you? And I say: yes, great. So he told me some story from a cartoon or a book he was reading. But the thing is — that's the conversation that needs to happen. "Baba, do you know this?" You're building rapport with your kids. They say: okay, Baba knows this and that. So he is having this beautiful conversation, and one day he speaks to his son:

"He said: O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering you. So look, what do you think? He said: O my father, do as you have been commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, to be among the patient."

Imagine — you're gardening outside with your son, going to pick up some bagels and coffee, having the conversation you'd have every day — and you say: son. He says: ji Baba. And you say: I saw in a dream that I was slaughtering you. And not just that — you're asking your son: what do you think about this? And the son doesn't say a word about himself. He says: my beloved father, do as you've been ordered. Do as you've been commanded. I know it's going to be hard for you — he's not talking about himself — indeed you will find me to be among the patient. I'm not going to squeal, I'm not going to make a noise. I'll make it easy for you.

He's not just a child. And after receiving this gift after 100 years of age, this halim son — he is going to become a prophet. The greatest qualities you can ever imagine. And now he's being asked by Allah to sacrifice the most beloved thing. This is why I'm speaking about this right now — because we are three days away from Eid.

"And when they had both submitted and he placed him face down…"

Allah says: when father and son both submitted — this is the key point. They both submitted. Anyone know another word that resembles this? Another word we always use that comes from the same root? Aslama — س، ل، م — and what else? Muslim. Muslim is from the exact same root word. Muslim is the one who submits. Aslama is the verb, Muslim is the noun. When you're a Muslim, think about that. Are you and I doing Aslama?

My brothers and sisters, my dear listeners — not every command you are going to understand the wisdom behind it. The scholars say: the four schools of thought for the past 1400 years said something is not permissible. Then you will find someone who says: no, no, I found an opinion that says it's permissible. What will happen? That will become trending on Twitter. That will become suggested by YouTube. And then everyone will say: mashAllah! This is how it should be. Why is our local imam not like this? That's what people call farsightedness, wisdom, enlightened thinking. But what is that really? That's finding a way to make halal what the whole Ummah said is haram. Why? Because it appeals to the nafs? If you're in construction and I say something complicated about engineering — and you say, yeah, that makes sense to me — aren't you going to say: what are you talking about? What makes sense to you? You don't even know what you're talking about. You're comparing two types of engineering designs and I have no background in this. How can I just say: yeah, that makes sense to me? Well, that's what's happening today with the deen. Anything that makes it easy for the nafs — yes, great fatwa. This is what you're talking about here.

What Nabi Ibrahim alayhis salam is being asked to do — you're going to have a very hard time making it logical. You're going to have a very hard time trying to show any type of mercy and love and compassion in this command. Other ayat, other objectives — like zakat, saman mein aata hai, you've got to take care of the poor, purify your wealth — they make sense. But sacrificing your own son? And that's why unfortunately some Christians and Jews, and even those within the modernist Muslim camp who are trying to reconfigure the whole deen — they have made blasphemous statements regarding Ibrahim alayhis salam and this entire story. There is no doubt that is kufr. That's what's going to happen if you follow the religion of pure logic.

Look at Hajj itself. What aspect of Hajj — going around a cube, counterclockwise, seven times — how does that make logical sense? Why are you walking and running around in two pieces of white cloth from one mountain to the other? Why are you leaving Makkah and going to Mina in the middle of a desert? Why are the Hujjaj going tomorrow to Mina — sitting there when there was a comfortable hotel in Makkah? On the day of Arafah, on Thursday, the Kaaba's ghilaf is going to get changed. If someone says: I've got to see that, and leaves Arafat — does that make sense? It's not allowed. But logically the nafs says: come on, I want to see it. So the whole of Hajj teaches us that deen is not about what makes sense to you and what doesn't make sense to you. Deen is what Allah wants, and that's it. If you can understand the wisdom, mashAllah, great — that will help you teach people. But you're not going to say: if it doesn't make sense to me, I'm not going to do it.

Today the educated crowd — which is pretty much all of our well-read youth — they all get stuck here. Because they're well-read about everything, mostly useless things. So when it comes to the matters of deen, they're like: that doesn't make sense to me. What's the hikmah? And when people start asking me this, I get very scared. It's like a car that's almost out of fuel — maybe a mile or two more and it's done. That's a very bad sign. When you keep on asking: but why? But why? Even with your kids when they ask you at home — give them an answer if you know it, or find out. But also say: that's actually the wrong question. Your reward doesn't come after understanding. The thawab comes in aslama. If Allah said it, khalas, it's done. Whether it makes sense to me or not doesn't make a difference.

Ali radiyallahu anhu said — if you've heard this before — if deen were to be followed based on logic, then what would happen? He said: in wudu, when you make masah on your leather socks, you would wipe the bottom instead of the top. Why are you wiping the top of your feet? If any dirt was there, it would be at the bottom. But why do we do that? Because that's what the deen taught us. We don't wipe the bottom, we wipe the top. That's the command, period. Same goes for people who say: I don't understand why interest should be haram, this doesn't make sense, we can't thrive without it. But hey — it doesn't make a difference. The point is: there are certain commands mentioned with their wisdom, like fasting to create taqwa, zakat to purify your wealth, Salah to remember Allah. But for some commands, no reason has been mentioned. And that's where you really understand iman.

My brothers and sisters, this also applies to us. Many times in our lives we will be faced with difficult choices. One choice is what the nafs wants. The other is the command of Allah — it doesn't make sense to us, doesn't make sense to our spouse, doesn't make sense to our kids, but you deep down know that is the command of Allah. At that juncture, remember: if you want to succeed, you sometimes only get one chance. If you prove to Allah that you are willing to submit, close your eyes, and trust Him — amazing things will start happening. And if you cannot trust Him, think about it this way — you go to a martial arts instructor or a jujitsu trainer, and he does some crazy moves. You get scared. If you say, I don't trust you, he's going to say: get out. I'm not going to waste my time teaching you. If you can't trust me, I'm not here to kill you. But you have to trust me and do it. Whether you're learning fencing, Brazilian jujitsu, or anything else — you have to listen to your trainer and mentor. Once you start learning to trust me, I'll teach you. Same thing with Allah.

The ulama say: when you start doing an action, even without understanding the wisdom of it — because you know it's proven from Shari'ah — Allah will gift you with something. What? He will give you the understanding of the hikmah of that. You'll understand why you had to do that. You won't find it in a book, maybe no mufti around even knows it, because those are things not written in books. But you just close your eyes and do it — a year later, two years later, you turn back and say: oh my god. Can you not all think of this in your own life? When you closed your eyes and you knew what was right, you did it, even though it didn't make sense to you. Now you turn back — hindsight, 20/20 vision — and you say: achha, that was the wisdom. If I had not practiced this aspect of the deen, I would not be in this favorable condition. Submit. Submit. Submit. If it makes sense or if it doesn't — doesn't make a difference. Now I'm not saying deen is against logic. Whatever wisdom has been mentioned, accept it. But if no wisdom is mentioned, don't refuse to practice until you understand the reasoning.

You all drive cars here. How many of you know exactly how the engine and every part of the car works? I don't necessarily know all the aspects of the car. But alhamdulillah, I can still drive at 80 miles an hour. I can still enjoy the AC. I may not know how the heated seat works, or how the acceleration works, or how the fog light works — but I'm still able to benefit. What does that tell you? In order to benefit from something, you do not need to know all the details of it. The deen is there for our benefit, even if we don't understand all the hikmah. So you have to tell yourself: if someone spends eight or nine years studying and then slowly starts getting into the wisdom of certain things — that's good, that's what you call moving from an abid to an alim, from a worshipper to a scholar. And of course the reward is more at that level, because now you can also teach people.

The Completion of the Trial

What does Allah say? He submitted, both submitted to Allah. He put him face down — he can't see him. Most definitely all of us fathers can say: we'd rather take the bullet than have to do that to our own son. They say the heaviest janazah — the heaviest thing in the world — is for a father to lift the janazah of his own son. SubhanAllah. May Allah give patience to the fathers and mothers who are tested like that. SubhanAllah.

"And We called out to him: O Ibrahim! You have fulfilled the dream. Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good. Indeed, this was the clear trial. And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice."

And as soon as he began to do that, immediately We called out to him. We said: O Ibrahim — that's all. Bas, khalas. We don't want torture. We don't want heartlessness. No, no, no. If you are raheem, your son is haleem — I am Arhamur Rahimeen. Why would I want that from you? I'm just testing the limits to see to what degree you and your son are willing to submit. This is the training that's going on. Training.

"You have proved your dream, you have proved yourself, and you have shown that you are worthy of being Khalilullah and your son being called Dhabihullah — the one who was presented for sacrifice for Allah."

إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ — In this manner we will reward not just you and your son, but anyone who does good, we will reward him like this. وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ — And we ransomed him and switched him with a very great sacrificial animal. إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ الْبَلَاءُ الْمُبِينُ — Indeed this was a very clear test. And you succeeded.

My dear brothers and sisters, my dear listeners — I'm going through a test, you're going through a test — in deen and in dunya, in terms of our spouses, our children, our health, our education, our finances, whatever the situation may be — the story of Ibrahim alayhis salam is filled with wisdom from all aspects of it. And that's who we are commemorating within these days of Dhul Hijjah. And it is to revive that same beautiful Sunnah that on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday you're encouraged to go slaughter an animal.

Besides the feeding that you're going to do overseas, go yourself and slaughter an animal. There's no way we can match this sacrifice. But think of this story when you go. Encourage other people as well — people are 40, 50 years old and have never sacrificed an animal. At least we can do this, come on. We dirty our hands with meat every day with our steaks and all sorts of stuff. Why not at least for the sake of Allah? Donate it all, give it in the path of Allah, no problem — donate it to the needy. But go and sacrifice an animal to revive the Sunnah, and to think about what SubhanAllah Nabi Ibrahim and Nabi Ismail alayhimas salam went through.

Du'a and Closing

I ask Allah to enable myself and all of us who are listening here to practice on all the amazing points that were shared today from the Qur'an, and allow us to revive the Sunnah of Ibrahim Khalilullah and Ismail Dhabihullah.

May Allah make all of us follow the footsteps of Ibrahim alayhis salam. May Allah make our sons follow the footsteps of Ismail alayhis salam. May Allah make our wives and daughters follow the footsteps of Sayyidah Sarah and Sayyidah Hajar — the whole family was an amazing model for our wives, daughters, sons, and ourselves. May Allah grant us the ability to make the tarbiyah of our children properly. May Allah make all of our children salih, pious and righteous. May Allah make us righteous as well.

May Allah allow us to benefit tremendously from the remaining days of Dhul Hijjah. May Allah grant us accepted ibadah of fasting, of Tahajjud, and accepted duas of Yawm al-Arafah. May Allah accept the Hajj of the Hujjaj, and may Allah grant all of us accepted Hajj and Umrah in the very near future. May Allah remove the fitna of coronavirus from the entire Ummah, and may Allah bring shifa to all those who are sick, and grant Jannah to those who have passed away.