Surah Mumtahinah - Ep.1 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening & Intentions

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. Insha'Allah, please come closer, sit as close as possible. And let's renew our intentions.

We're here to please Allah. We're here to find solutions to our problems in the Qur'an. We're here to find solace and comfort in the Qur'an. We're here to be able to find answers to many of the things that are bothering us, both in relation to our deen, in relation to our dunya. We're here to get sukoon in our heart from listening to the Qur'an and the meanings of the Qur'an. We're here to build our relationship with Allah through His kalam.

And every one of us should make good, beautiful, lofty intentions that, ya Allah, whatever are my needs, allow my needs to get fulfilled through this dars — my spiritual needs, my educational, emotional needs, and so forth. The higher the intentions we have, my beloved brothers and sisters, the more Allah will grant us. I want all of you to ask Allah at this moment as we begin our new surah after Ramadan, that, ya Allah, whatever issues I'm going through, allow all my problems — insha'Allah — allow me to find answers for that in this dars.

And alhamdulillah, a brother bought these as a gift — these beautiful notebooks. Jazahullah khayran. Anyone who would like to get one of these, this is a gift from one of our brothers — he said for you to take notes since we are beginning a new surah. Hopefully we will be consistent and also take notes. So you can just pick up a pen and a notebook, anyone who would like to, come grab one. And some brothers in the back wanted one as well. And also we have downstairs our Darus Salaam journals as well. Those are beautiful as well. So if anyone would like to get one of those from the bookstore downstairs, you can also insha'Allah go ahead and ask for that.

Introduction to Surah Al-Mumtahinah

Allah, the Exalted, said — after seeking refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful:

Allah Almighty has spoken the truth. Surah Al-Mumtahinah. This is the surah that comes after Surah Al-Hashr in the 28th juz of the Qur'an. Two rukus. And this is the 60th surah of the Qur'an. Not too long — about 4 pages approximately. And it's something that maybe most of us have actually never heard this surah. Probably never attended a tafsir of this surah either. Some of the more famous ones we've done in the past weeks, or the past months. So there's a lot that we can benefit from. And so I request everyone insha'Allah to sincerely make du'a that we're able to open up this surah in a manner that is absolutely beneficial and relevant to the life we're going through right now. I think there's so much, so much for us to reflect on in this surah. SubhanAllah.

Islam Governs Every Aspect of Life

Beloved brothers and sisters, as an introduction: every aspect of our life is supposed to be 100% in line with the teachings of our deen. Every aspect. That's what separates a true believer from anyone else. We don't have a selective on-off button for following Islam. We don't have that. Whether you're in the masjid, you're outside, wherever you are, whatever part of life you are in — always Islam is our dastur. Islam is our constitution. Islam is what keeps us moving.

In all of our relationships, in all of our interactions, Islam is our driving force. What drives you, what moves you at work — you might be working in corporate, you might be working in your own private business, you might be an entrepreneur, you might be a professional, you might be in the service sector — it doesn't make a difference. Your driving force and my driving force has to be Islam. The way you conduct yourself has to be based on Islam. Every aspect is based on Islam.

And one of the many things that Islam dictates: one is transactions. One is of course our aqeedah and belief. One is of course our ibadah and our acts of worship. But also one of those things is the actions of the heart. What does the heart — what is it allowed to do and not allowed to do? That is also what Islam dictates.

It's a very private thing. If Islam dictates iman and absence of kufr, iman and absence of nifaq, ikhlas and absence of riya — if that's what we allow Islam and Allah and His Rasul to dictate over our heart on these issues — we don't stop there. It also dictates who you are allowed to like and dislike.

You know how kids get angry — "Dad, mom, man, you're like so controlling. Not only do I gotta do my homework, I gotta do my chores, but now you wanna know who my friends are? And you wanna choose who my friends are and who's not?" It's not your parents — it's actually Allah. If you're a true believer, you've given your heart over to Allah. Ya Allah, You choose for me whom I'm allowed to be friends with and whom I'm not allowed to be friends with. It's a very private thing.

Nowadays people have made this so open — that you're allowed to love anyone. Even someone from your own gender, someone much younger than you in a different haram way, multiple partners — all kinds of things, it's endless. Because we have now begun to worship the nafs. When you worship the nafs, then there are no rules. You break down all the rules. And you say, my nafs will dictate my private matter.

My dear friends, love is not a private matter. Hate is not a private matter. What you do with your heart is not your private matter — just like what you do with your eyes is not your private matter, what you do with your hands is not a private matter, what you do with your private parts is not your private matter. It is 100% dictated by what Allah says.

So this is something that — I promise you, this group of people including myself — as we move through this surah, you'll realize we are very far away from where we need to be. Very far away. As I was just preparing, I started feeling uncomfortable. I promise you. Because I'm born and raised here, went to school here. I'm just like you — a product of this country, of this culture. And so many things we have literally messed up on when it comes to our heart. What are the things that we have gotten accustomed to falling in love with? And what are the things that we have not gotten accustomed to disliking?

Al-Hubb Fillah wal-Bughd Fillah — Loving and Hating for the Sake of Allah

So what we learn from here is that Islam dictates what happens in your heart. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4599; classified as sahih)

From amongst the most beloved actions in the eyes of Allah is to love for the sake of Allah and to hate for the sake of Allah. As soon as you say that, everyone's hands go up — "Brother, brother, I thought there's no hate in Islam! I thought it's all about compassion. It's all about love." That's the type of deen that is being promoted all over on social media. The deen is all about hearts and love. It's Valentine's every day for everyone. SubhanAllah.

And no — the Prophet ﷺ did not stop there. He said whoever has four qualities, his iman is complete. What are the four qualities?

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4681; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 14895)

Whoever gives for the sake of Allah, and holds back for the sake of Allah — what? I thought you're supposed to always give, give. Nope, you're not supposed to always give, give. You're not supposed to always love, love. There are times when you're supposed to love, and there's times when you're supposed to hate. There's times when you give, and there's times when you hold back. And loves for the sake of Allah, and hates for the sake of Allah — his iman is complete.

So this right here is a big change of perspective for most of us. Because we think it's:

It's اللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ — Allah is forgiving, merciful. I remember when I was in Pakistan studying one year, we'd go on jawla and go out to invite people to the masjid for salah. And the simple answer I always heard was — "Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is forgiving, merciful, don't worry, move on." Where do you get this from? Why are you selective? The same verse that has غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ — I swear, on the same page, wherever you find غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ, you'll also find شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ. You'll also find عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ. You'll also find other descriptions of hellfire. Why are you being selective?

Allah who is merciful and caring also says:

None can punish the way I can and the way I will. And none can bind you the way I will. And what does Allah say?

غَافِرِ الذَّنبِ — the One who forgives sins. وَقَابِلِ التَّوْبِ — the One who accepts your repentance. Immediately — not even the next verse, the same verse — شَدِيدِ الْعِقَابِ: the One who is very severe in His punishment, and the One who has a full grasp on everything.

Dear brothers, you speak about the rahmah of Allah — people love that talk. Anytime you speak a little about Jahannam, "Brother Mufti Sahib, you didn't get enough chai today, huh? What happened? You had an argument at home? What's going on?" Anytime you speak about punishment, this is a rebellion. We're not allowed to. It's always a pat on the back — everyone is doing fine, whatever you do, you're doing fine. The crowd loves that. That's how you get all the likes. But anytime you say, "Brother, this is wrong. Are you gonna get in trouble for this?" — that's when people don't like to hear it.

We have become weaklings. We can't handle tough love. We can't handle someone correcting us. We can't handle the truth. We are not perfect — we're not meant to be perfect. And as long as you're open to correction and open to constructive criticism, you and I will grow. But as soon as we start thinking ourselves to be angels, that's when we become Shaytan. Remember that. As soon as we think we're angels, we become Shaytan. Because Shaytan thought he could never be corrected — that he's never wrong. The only people who are ma'sum are angels. They don't have an urge to sin; they can't sin even if they want to. We're not like that.

Al-Wala' wal-Bara' — Loyalty and Disavowal

So the heart — the emotions of love and hatred — they are governed by Allah. It's governed so much that the Prophet ﷺ, having multiple wives, said to Allah: "Ya Allah, I have distributed my time and my resources equally amongst my wives. I have done what I am capable of doing."

"So please do not hold me accountable in that which I have no control over." What is that? Love — the heart. My heart, if it's inclined towards one or the other, what am I supposed to do? I have no control over that. But when it comes to external things, you're not gonna find me doing injustice — I'm gonna divide every single thing equally.

When a person begins to follow this external part — what do I mean by love? Love dictates actions. When I say love and hatred are in the hands of Allah, it means the result and consequence of love and hatred. You may internally feel... honestly, you have a person who's got two children — one is a very disobedient servant of Allah, or not even a Muslim, but he's very handsome and very successful in his business. And the other one — he's a failure materialistically. He never got good grades, he's not handsome, he can't keep a job. But he's a dutiful servant of Allah. So the heart may naturally feel like, "I wanna show off with this kid — this guy is my prize kid." You might feel like that as a dad. But the actions have to speak louder. The action has to be: this is a true servant of Allah, and I have to make sure I honor him in a manner that befits him. And for this other person, I gotta make du'a for his hidayah.

So the actions of the heart — sometimes you may feel you have no control over them. But it's not just love or hate — it's the result of that love or hate. What are you doing with that love or hate? That has to be in accordance with what Allah wants.

So there is a concept in Islam that we don't speak about much anymore — at all. And that concept is called al-wala' wal-bara'. Have any of you heard of this before? Al-wala' wal-bara' is not a concept relegated to the extremist or a certain section of the community. This is part of our deen.

Wala' means loyalty and love. Bara' means to distance yourself from someone. أَنَا بَرِيءٌ — I am free of... I absolve myself from XYZ. Al-wala' wal-bara' is an important concept of Islam. This surah is teaching us the psychosocial environment of a Muslim — of a Muslim community. How is your social environment and your psychological understanding of that social environment connected to Islam?

As a community, we have to — like we have our five times daily salah set, zakat set, hajj set — we have to know as a community: we do everything together. We are one identity. We stand together and we fall together. That's what it's supposed to mean. Our relationships amongst ourselves are supposed to be so strong that no one from outside is ever supposed to be able to come and mess around. We're not there. We're so, so, so far away from this reality.

Wala' is telling us that you and I have to love anyone that Allah has asked us to love, collectively. And we have to distance ourselves from anyone who shows enmity to Allah, enmity to Islam, enmity to the Prophet ﷺ, enmity to the Qur'an, enmity to the Muslims — no matter how much financial benefit we get from them, no matter how much emotionally we're involved through a relationship with them. It doesn't make a difference. Because I am, number one, a Muslim — and then after that, everything else.

Before I become a wife, before I become a husband, before I become a dad, before I become a mom, before I become a business partner — I am a Muslim. So my relationships, my connection, my commitment is going to be based on the teachings of Islam. Whoever Allah wants me to be committed to — even though I don't like how they look, I don't like their breath, I don't like their demeanor — but if they are a believer, then my heart has to be with them.

On the flip side — someone I stand to benefit tremendously from because of financial contracts, someone I stand to benefit from because of the way they help me get into a certain job or a certain college or a certain lucrative contract — but if they are not only not committed to Allah and His Rasul, but they actually disbelieve in it, they make fun of it — then I cannot allow myself to be connected. One is business dealings — buying and selling for the sake of business, that's fine. But beyond that, I cannot have my heart connected. My heart has to be connected with Muslims. Not just any Muslim — Muslims who are following the deen properly.

The Effect of Company on the Heart

My dear brothers, the more you spend time with people, the type of people you spend time with — they have a very strong effect on your perspective. If you sit with people who are more intelligent, more hardworking, more ambitious — naturally, that's what you start going towards. You sit with people who waste time, who drop out, who just smoke and sit around all day — then you'll lose all your ambition. You'll become like that. And you'll start becoming sympathetic towards them: "Ah man, why do we have to all work hard? Come on, just sit outside and smoke away — that's a life too." We become sympathetic.

When a person begins to spend time with either people who don't believe in Allah and His Rasul, or people who claim to be Muslim but whose principles are completely off track — then practicing al-wala' wal-bara' becomes hard. Because why? You're emotionally attached to your group of friends. And those group of friends don't follow the sunnah. I see this every day. Every day.

The Sahaba's Example of Wala' wal-Bara'

Al-wala' wal-bara' — we had a whole after-Asr session on this. It was a love they had for the Prophet ﷺ. I give example upon example about how the sahaba — Abu Bakr, Umar, and others, radiyallahu anhum — literally their commitment was with Allah and His Rasul, and that's it.

A son of Abu Bakr — after he becomes a Muslim — says: "My dear father, in the battle of Badr, I saw you, you kept coming into my view, but I let you go. I was like, how can I shoot my father? How can I throw an arrow or a spear at my dad?" He's telling his father. And Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu responds: "Oh my dear son, let me just tell you — it's good for you. But if I had seen you, I would have never let you go. I would have never let you go. I'll take you out. Because what's the point? You're not on the opposite side of me — I can let you go for that. You're on the opposite side of Allah and His Rasul. And if you're on the opposite side of Allah and His Rasul, I absolutely cannot take that."

Even to the extent of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul — Ra'is al-Munafiqeen, the leader of the hypocrites. Eventually, when his hypocrisy became so apparent and he started making fun of the deen, he said:

"When we go back to Medina, the mightier will expel the more lowly" — referring to expelling the Prophet ﷺ. The long story comes in Surah Al-Munafiqoon. Eventually, what happened? His son said: "Listen — if he ever comes in battle, I request you all, please keep your hands off of him. If I have to kill my dad, I'll do it myself. I don't want other people to kill my dad, because then what's going to happen? I'm going to feel resentment — 'why did you kill my dad?' I'd rather take on my father myself. I know it's got to be done." Allah willed that he didn't die like that, but he said it. He said, "I want to take out my father myself."

I mean, if we start speaking about this — the stories of the sahaba — half of the masjid will leave after Jumu'ah. I'm telling you. It's so unsettling. We're so far away from this. So far away. This is not extremism. If you think the sahaba are extremists, then where's your Islam? Where's your deen? If the sahaba are extremists, what deen are you following?

How many verses of the Qur'an speak to this? The last verse of Surah Al-Mujadalah:

You will not find a group of true Muslims who believe in Allah — if they truly believe in Allah, they're not going to do the following: يُوَادُّونَ مَنْ حَادَّ اللَّهَ — to love the one who opposes Allah. وَلَوْ كَانُوا آبَاءَهُمْ — even if it means it's your father, or your son, or your brothers, or your family. You cannot love someone — if you believe in Allah — who has chosen to go to war with Allah.

What did the mother of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas say? "O Sa'd, if you don't leave Islam, I'm going to go on a hunger strike. I'm not going to eat." Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas — the first one who threw an arrow, about whom the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2905; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2412)

"May my mother and father be sacrificed for you" — he said this to Sa'd. And Sa'd says: "My mom goes on a hunger strike. She said, if you don't leave Islam, I'm going to die. I love you, mother. But I'm sorry, I love my Islam more. Even if you had a hundred lives, and one after the other you died, I can't give up my faith." That's what faith is. When it comes into you, you literally become a submitter. You submit your heart to Allah.

People give their heart to a girl, and they do all kinds of crazy things after that. When you say you've given your heart to Allah — what is that supposed to mean? It means all my relationships will be dictated by this. This concept of wala' and bara' is part of our faith. You cannot be a true Muslim until you and I believe in this.

Tafsir of the Opening Ayah: Lā Tattakhidhu 'Aduwwī wa 'Aduwwakum Awliyā'

Now, Allah has mentioned in this verse:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — O Believers! We know that when Allah speaks to humanity, He speaks about fundamental issues, usool. But when He speaks to believers — like we covered in the يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا tafsir sessions — Allah addresses the Muslims with more specific, ancillary issues.

Allah says, "O believers" — meaning: you are already a believer, you are already chosen, you are already on My side, you already enjoy My mercy, you already enjoy My attention. You are one of the people who are worthy of My rahmah. So of course you're going to listen to Me, aren't you? You're a good person. That's how you're supposed to speak to someone, by the way. If you want to bring about change in someone — don't say, "You've got nine horrible things, and now you're doing this." Those guys say, "If I already do nine horrible things, I might as well just make it ten." Instead, say, "MashaAllah, you do nine good things. If you just do this one tenth thing, you've got ten good things." This is the etiquette of bringing change within someone — highlight all the good points first, win over their confidence, make them realize you appreciate the good they do. Then they'll be more willing to do what you're asking of them.

So Allah now says — you're already people of iman, now listen: لَا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ. You shall never, ever take My enemy — and your enemy — as allies. You can't.

Now it's not just about "My enemy" — it's about the fact that they are also your enemy. Two things we learn from here:

Number one: Whoever is Allah's enemy is also our enemy. Otherwise you cannot be a Muslim. Allah has an enemy, but you regard him as your friend? If your mother and father say, "This person is our sworn enemy," and you say, "No, I want to become best friends with them" — they will disown you. They'll say, "What is wrong with you? How dare you show love to someone who has hurt us, who hates us, who is trying to destroy us?" This is Allah. He says, "This is عَدُوُّ اللَّهِ — he's My enemy. And you dare show love to him?" The friend of My enemy is My enemy. So if we choose to show friendship to Allah's enemies, we become Allah's enemy.

Number two: Our enmity should only be with those people who are enemies of Allah. We should never dislike anyone who Allah does not dislike. Meaning, anyone who is a true believer — we should not harbor grudges against them. This is a big musibah. How many grudges are we harboring against one another — against an uncle, an aunt, an ex-wife, an ex-husband — all sorts of people. They are not the enemies of Allah. But we sometimes say, "Oh, you're the enemy of Allah" — we're kind of playing God. Basically, if I don't get along with you, automatically you become عَدُوُّ اللَّهِ. Isn't that the case? يَا عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ — how often people say this to each other. How are we acting like we are God?

We need to especially make sure that we do not harbor grudges and hatred against the awliya and the ulama. A person may have had a bad experience with a bad doctor, a bad lawyer, a bad scholar — it can happen. But to make a generalizing statement that "all imams are like this, all ulama are like this, all students of knowledge are like this" — we are putting our faith into jeopardy. Those people who dedicate their lives to قَالَ اللَّهُ وَقَالَ رَسُولُهُ — and we stand up and say, "These scholars are the worst thing to come on this earth. This is why the world is falling apart — because of scholars." I've heard this myself so many times.

The Prophet ﷺ said in one narration — the gist of one athar — either become a scholar, a student of knowledge, someone who listens attentively, or someone who loves the scholars.

(Reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman; also referenced in al-Darimi, Introduction)

Don't become from the fifth category — otherwise you will be destroyed. What's the fifth category? To harbor a grudge against scholars and knowledge. You'll be destroyed. This is a horrible thing to do.

Two Key Principles from This Ayah

So we learn from لَا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ:

Number one: As believers, in all of our relationships, we are — number one, before American, before Indian, before Pakistani, before college student, before doctor, before your occupation — number one identity is: I am a Muslim. That's it. So our relationships have to be based on that.

Number two: We do not differentiate amongst the nations. We do not differentiate based on color. We don't differentiate based on socioeconomic status. There are only two types of people — either a believer or a disbeliever. That's it:

Allah created you — some of you are believers, some of you are disbelievers. Two categories. So when it comes to our love and dislike relationships, that's what it comes down to.

The Story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah — Background to the Surah

Now, what is the background of this? After the battle of Badr, after some years, a lady by the name Sarah came to Medina. She was a singer — she used to sing in Mecca and people used to hire her to sing at their parties. She came to Medina. The Prophet ﷺ welcomed her. He said, "Oh mashaAllah, you made hijrah to Medina?" She said, "No, I didn't make hijrah." "You accepted Islam?" "I didn't accept Islam." "Okay, then what are you doing here in Medina? Why did you come from Mecca?" She said, "Well, I lost my job." "What do you mean you lost your job?" She said, "Ever since you all became victorious in Badr, things have changed in Mecca. There are no more parties, and no one is hiring me to sing for them. So I've lost my income." And: "I'm here asking for money. Can you help me out?"

Imagine this happening. She's run out of business — the haram business of singing at parties — because the Quraysh were so demoralized after Badr. So the Prophet ﷺ said, "What about all those young people of Quraysh who used to throw money at you?" "They're either dead or their life has changed after their loved ones got killed in Badr. The mood is somber in Mecca." So the Prophet ﷺ asked Banu Abd al-Muttalib to give her money, give her clothes, and give her things. So they gave her all of that. She stayed for some time and then eventually said, "I'm going back to Mecca."

Now, the battle — the sulh of Hudaybiyyah, the treaty we spoke about in the tafsir of Surah Al-Fath — there was an agreed-upon truce, with very clear terms that the Quraysh themselves had stipulated. But the Quraysh themselves went against those terms — they broke the truce themselves. So the Prophet ﷺ decided to now advance on Mecca. He made a du'a and said: "Ya Allah, I ask You — do not allow my news and my plans to spread to the disbelievers. Make them blind from my plans." The Prophet ﷺ intentionally used deceptive methods of making it seem like he was going in one direction, then changing course, so that even the spies and hypocrites in Medina would give wrong intelligence to their handlers in Mecca.

Now, the Meccans had a way of putting pressure on the Muslims — and history repeats itself; what I'm saying now, you're going to see it happening, has been happening, is happening as we speak right now. They would torture the Muslims who remained in Mecca. And those Muslims who had migrated from Mecca to Medina — whoever their family was still in Mecca — those family members would also become subjects of torture. The only people who got saved were those from larger families, whose tribe would stand up and say: "Don't mess with us." And as part of the stipulation of Hudaybiyyah — if someone became Muslim in Mecca, he could not go to Medina; even if he came, the Prophet ﷺ had to send him back.

There was one companion who had migrated from Yemen to Mecca and from Mecca became a Muslim and migrated to Medina. His name was Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah radiyallahu anhu. Hatib did not have a large tribe in Mecca because he was originally from Yemen. He saw that his family was already probably under a lot of torture. And he feared that when the Muslims advance towards Mecca, the Quraysh — as many do when their city faces a siege — would take innocent people hostage, especially relatives of the attacking Muslim army, and use them as bargaining chips or simply kill them.

So he was scared: "My family in Mecca is going to die and I don't have anyone to defend them. The Prophet ﷺ is going to be victorious regardless — he's the Prophet of Allah. So let me try to do a favor to the people of Mecca so they feel indebted to me, and hopefully they will keep their hands off of my family." So he wrote a letter. And he needed to send it.

Sarah happened to be going back to Mecca. So he gave it to her — that singing lady — and said, "Deliver this message to some of the chieftains of Mecca." She said okay.

Now, Allah accepted the du'a of the Prophet ﷺ where he said, "Ya Allah, make the Meccans blind from my plans." So Allah then revealed to the Prophet ﷺ: "O Rasulullah, go and send someone. There is a lady..." It's amazing — Allah knows everything. Allah could have said this anytime. But Allah made it such that the lady had already left, traveled quite some distance — then the revelation came: "There is a lady traveling on a camel. She has arrived at Rawdat al-Khakh. Send someone to go and take the letter from her."

The Prophet ﷺ sent Ali radiyallahu anhu, al-Zubayr radiyallahu anhu, and in some narrations Abu Marsad radiyallahu anhu. He said: "Go and get the letter." So they got on their horses and galloped all the way to Rawdat al-Khakh to intercept her. When they arrived — sure enough, she was there. In the middle of the desert. This is the conviction. This is 1,400 years ago. No one is asking, "Where did you get this intelligence?" If the Prophet ﷺ said it, it's more truthful than what my eyes can see. Let's go.

They said: "Give us that letter. You know why we came here." She said: "No, I don't have anything. What are you talking about?" They kept pressing her. Eventually they had to say: "We are going to conduct a full body search. Because we are 100% convinced that you have it. We came in the middle of the night to the desert — you think we're going to believe you that you don't have this letter?" When she saw they were really serious, she pulled it out from underneath her clothes and gave it to them.

The letter stated:

From Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah to the leaders of Quraysh — the Prophet ﷺ is coming to Mecca. Watch out. That was the essence of it. He wanted to get their appreciation, so that when they began taking hostages or attacking civilians, they would at least spare his family.

The Prophet's ﷺ Response: Hearing Both Sides

This letter was brought back to the Prophet ﷺ. He read it. Very clear from who it was from. He called Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah. As soon as Hatib came, Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu — the one who had immense ghayrah for the deen — said:

"Ya Rasulullah, please give me permission. Let me decapitate this hypocrite." And this is exactly how you treat traitors — any country would do that. There is no sentence for a traitor except death in a moment like this. So he said what you would expect: "Ya Rasulullah, please give me permission. We cannot allow this munafiq to live."

The Prophet's ﷺ response was very different. Before jumping to say "go ahead," the Prophet ﷺ asked him:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3007; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2494)

"What made you do what you did?" My dear friends, this is literally the greatest war crime against the Prophet ﷺ — you leaked the secret that he's coming to Mecca, the one and only time he would go to conquer it. And you dare send a message like this? How is this not punishable by anything but death? But the Prophet ﷺ kept his cool and calm, and said: "Let me hear your side of the story."

Reflect on this at home. When your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, your parents, your neighbor, your business partner does something — how quick are we to jump? How quick are we to attack? How quick are we to pass final judgment? "I can't believe it. Done. You're blacklisted. Khalas. Get out of here." Brother, let the person speak. Ask the question. Then you can decide. But we don't do that.

If there was anyone who should have passed immediate judgment, it should have been the Prophet ﷺ. But he simply said, "I want to hear your side of the story." This is the way we are supposed to act as believers — no matter how bad the situation may seem, and how strong the circumstantial evidence may seem, do not pass judgment until you hear the other side of the story.

I've learned this from counseling as well. You cannot believe the level of deception you see in quarreling couples. I thought you had to go buy tears from a store. I never knew something called crocodile tears — how people have an on-off button on these glands — it shocks me. Crying, making a big scene, almost fainting — complete fake. The ones who cry the most are sometimes the biggest liars. The ones who make the biggest scene, with the saddest story, are sometimes the actual real oppressors. Did you not see what happened? You all saw it in the news — where leaders who are bombing and killing are showing up at Iftars and claiming to be peacemakers. And the Qur'an says:

When they are told, "Do not commit chaos on the earth," they say, "What chaos? We are the peacemakers." مُصْلِح means the one who is a peacemaker. Allah says: "Indeed, they are not peacemakers — they are the biggest causers of chaos in the world. But little do they realize." They literally deceive themselves. They deceive the world. So if the biggest propaganda is happening in front of our screens right now, don't think that you cannot be deceived by a crying husband or wife, or a crying business partner. You have to listen to both sides of the story and investigate.

Hatib's Response and the Prophet's Judgment

So the Prophet ﷺ asked him what caused him to do this. Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah gave his answer and said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3007)

"I did not become a disbeliever. I have not become an apostate. But I just wanted to protect my family and my property in Mecca through this." The Prophet's ﷺ response was:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3007)

"I believe him. You all need to believe him. And don't say anything but good about him." Umar radiyallahu anhu still couldn't understand and again said, "Ya Rasulullah, give me permission to kill this munafiq." The Prophet ﷺ responded with something even stronger. He said: "How do you know?"

"How do you know? It's very possible that Allah looked at the people of Badr and said, 'Do as you like — I have already forgiven you.'" Because Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah is a Badri sahabi. And اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ doesn't mean all haram has become halal for them. It means the level of sacrifice they have shown for Islam — like Abu Bakr saying "had I seen you, I wouldn't let you go" — all of the sahaba were ready. They were all ready. Iman is thicker than blood. That's it.

Umar radiyallahu anhu, upon hearing this, started crying. He said, "Allah and His Rasul know best. I was just trying to do what I thought was right. But now that you have said that — that Allah has looked at them and said, 'do whatever you want, it's not going to harm you, I have forgiven you' — I have no knowledge of that."

What we learn from here is not only to listen to the other side of the story, but also to appreciate precedent — what people have done. We have to appreciate the sacrifices of people. We have to appreciate years of service. All of us are sinners. Someone attributed this to Mufti Ashraf Usmani — he said: "Don't be so religious that the one in front of you will think you are a saint, while you start looking at him as a sinner." Become pious, become righteous — but don't become so righteous that everyone else starts looking like a sinner to you. If you start looking at other people and regarding them all as sinners, I'm sorry — this is not piety. This is ujub, this is kibr. May Allah forgive us.

Just because you start coming to the masjid, you start bringing change in your life, you become regular in salah with jama'ah after Ramadan especially, you gave up your haram — and now you start looking at your old friends like, "Ah, these guys..." No. What are you talking about? We are not here to judge and pass comments. We hate the sin. We never hate the sinner.

Every sinner has a capacity to become close to Allah by seeking forgiveness or Allah forgiving them. And every practicing Muslim has a capacity to go back to sin, or — Allah forbid — even lose his faith. The sahaba radiyallahu anhum wa radu an are mentioned in the Qur'an multiple times — Allah is pleased with them, and they will be pleased with Allah. Done. That's not about you and I. None of us can ever get this title. You can say it as a du'a — "radiyallahu anhu" for someone, as a prayer: "May Allah be pleased with him." That's different. But you cannot say it as a statement — that Allah is already definitively pleased with him. One is making du'a for someone — that's fine. But what the Qur'an uses it as — a definitive statement — is reserved for the sahaba.

So anyone can still leave Islam today. So we have no right to look down upon anyone. What happens is sometimes we forget 30 years, 40 years of service because of one slip. You cannot throw away decades of righteous work because of one mistake — no matter how bad it is. You're not God. Stop acting like it. Allah Himself is:

He is the One who passes judgments. Don't mess your akhirah by passing judgments on other people. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned a hadith: there were two friends, one kept telling the other, "Stop it — repent!" And the other friend was unfortunately not listening and kept sinning. One day this friend lost his temper and said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4901; also in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2621)

"Wallahi, Allah will never forgive you." Allah responded:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4901)

"Who is there challenging My position? Who is playing God?" Then Allah announced: "O sinner — due to this oppression done against you, I have decided to forgive all of your sins, and your book of deeds starts fresh. And O the one who was correcting him — due to this statement of arrogance, I have nullified all your good deeds of your past life. You are back at zero." All your salah — done. Fasting — done. Sadaqah — done. Zero. Because this man decided to play God. We can't do that.

Our Internal Crisis: Where Is the Wala'?

That's what the social media world has become. We attack people on WhatsApp, online, collectively — a collective court system with no evidence, where a person doesn't get a chance to defend himself. Whatever the non-Muslims are doing to us, I promise you we are doing it to ourselves. When non-Muslims do it to us, we get so mad — "How is a Muslim guilty until proven innocent?!" Well, that's what Muslims do to each other. Whether it's a divorce case, whether it's a supposed case of sexual abuse, whether it's a supposed case of money laundering or stealing from an institution — we don't give a chance for someone to respond. If someone's name gets tarnished, that's it. Forty years of reputation goes down in forty seconds. And no one wants to say: "Hold on. Stop forwarding this. Let's go speak to the person."

You saw that video of a fight in a masjid in Chicago — you don't even know what happened. People sitting there, discussing it. And the Islamophobes took that video and posted it with the caption: "Muslim youngster got caught eating in Ramadan in a bathroom and was beaten." And it spreads like wildfire on all the Islamophobic websites. As bad as that is, how are we any better? We sat there and spoke about that community, that masjid. What is your status in that situation? Can you please get along with your wife first? How many of you have fought with your wife this week? How many of you are not talking to your sons? And who is giving you the authority to sit there and say, "This masjid is like this, that masjid is like that, this country is like this"? Sort out your own house first. We cannot sort out our own house. Most of us have fires in our homes. And then we are so quick to pass judgments about other people and other communities.

If you want to solve an issue, go to the masjid or go to that person, talk to him quietly, call him, meet him in his house, and say, "Brother, what's going on? I'm here to defend your honor. What's the situation?" Whatever the non-Muslims are doing to us, we do twice of that to ourselves.

Wala' wal-bara' — we have no wala'. Forget about bara'. We don't have love for each other. We are the first ones to pick up the phone and call 911. Any issue in the house — 911. Any issue in the masjid — 911. Why? Why are you bringing a third party in? You know that out there there is no love. You think there is love? What these past six months should have shown you — there is no love out there. Why are we always involving the courts? "I'm gonna see you in court." Why are we putting our family issues, our business issues, our divorce issues in the hands of others? Why isn't it that we come to the deen, come to the masjid, come to the ulama, and say, "You know what, we have this problem, we need it sorted out"?

There is no genuine love and appreciation of Muslim scholarship or Muslims in general. How many masajid, madrasahs, Islamic schools have been reported and shut down? I know one madrasah in Canada — someone was telling me, they had extra food from a Saturday event, served it Sunday or Monday. One mother found out, she called a governmental body, they came, found a pot of food, asked when it was delivered — "Saturday" — and they were serving it Monday? They shut down the whole madrasah. Done. How many times has this happened? One issue in an Islamic school, one issue in a maktab, one issue in a masjid — and instead of going to solve it internally, someone calls a governmental body and gets the school or masjid shut down.

This is what we love to do in our community. That's why I'm telling you — we are so far away from iman. Where is our faith? We have so much more trust in a non-Muslim system than a Muslim one. We have so much more confidence in a non-Muslim system over a Muslim system. And that's how we threaten each other — instead of saying, "We're gonna sort it out inside the house." That's how real men do. That's how real Muslims do. That we have our problems — who said we don't? But we don't need to go outside. What are you proving? You're proving you're a bunch of imbeciles. That we are so helpless, so orphaned, so uneducated, that we need outsiders to come save our house.

How many masajid in our city, so sad to say, have had their entire leadership and paperwork handed over to a non-Muslim court? Multiple masajid across the country. And we've seen the video — the judge is just chuckling: "You guys are crazy. Why are you sitting here fighting with me? Don't you have your own scholars? Why are you bringing this to me?" We have become the laughing stock of the world because of our own choices.

Look, learn the good from the Jewish community. Al-wala' wal-bara' — talk about it. Learn it from the Hindu community. Who do you buy from? People from your own faith. Who do you give jobs to? Who do you give positions to? It's all about helping each other. Where is that? Find a Muslim working in a high-tech company — you try to put your resume in, you will not even get it. Most of the time. But our Muslim in that position, to prove his loyalty — instead of naturally helping a fellow Muslim who is equally or more qualified — will hold back. No, I'm not saying take someone who is failing and put him at the top. But if you have equal choices, why not? If he's a true Muslim, he's not only going to serve himself — he's going to serve the world way better, because he follows the akhlaq of the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ did not teach us to just look after each other — we look after the animals, the plants, the earth, everyone.

We see the complete opposite of wala'. We will try to give love to anyone on top, and the one who's from our own background — if he says assalamu alaikum — we're scared to respond. How many times have you heard a brother named Muhammad who calls himself "Mo," and when you say salam to him, he's scared to say it back? Because you wonder: if 1.2 billion Muslims and all these Muslim countries — where are they for Palestine? You know where we are? If you can't say waalaikum assalam to a customer at a store because you're so weak inside that you're scared the manager will hear you and know you're a Muslim and you'll lose your $15-an-hour job — how do you expect the leaders sitting on 50 billion and fighter jets to do any differently? They are a hundred times more afraid than you are.

If you are a person of iman, when you see a Muslim, you say assalamu alaikum — you're the one who should be saying it first. That excitement when people see their own people. Why isn't that excitement within us when you see someone of your background and faith — that you say, "I'm here to help, what can I do?" Such a dedication amongst other communities to their own people — and that's hats off to them. We are supposed to be even more so, because we have a shared aqidah.

But so many people say, "I enjoy doing business with non-Muslims. I'll never hire a Muslim builder. I'll never hire a Muslim caterer. I'll never hire a Muslim landscaper." Do you understand what this statement means? When you say "I'll never do business with a Muslim again" — you have actually stated that Islam is what you hate. A'udhu billahi min al-shaytan al-rajim. Everyone says that. The builder says, "I'll never have a Muslim customer." The customer says, "I'll never hire a Muslim builder." Both hating each other. This is what I'm trying to say — we have to look internally.

The reason why we're suffering at a global level is because we're suffering at a community level — where the love for Islam has fallen apart. I remember when I was in Palestine in 2011 — right in front of Masjid Al-Aqsa — they made it very clear: make sure you buy from Muslims on these cobbled streets. And what do we do? Everyone goes to the biggest stores that are actively, actively donating tons of profit towards the persecution and killing of Muslims — but they have a sale. You save two bucks on flour, three bucks on oil, and our ummah is packing those stores. I must give credit where credit is due.

I met a brother from our community who had a bunch of expensive, expensive clothes to give away. I asked him why. He said: "I made a commitment that I will always purchase from Muslims. I placed an order of 150 women's dresses to be tailored. But after the order was placed, I found out the workers were not Muslim. I didn't want to cancel the order — it would hurt the Muslim owner and send the wrong message to the employees. So I paid it. But I made a dedication that I'll never sell in my store anything besides what comes from Muslim hands. So I'm giving it all for free." SubhanAllah. That's what you call a man of principles.

If you imagine all of us becoming men and women of principles in business dealings and everything else — saying, "We're going to ensure our money works within our community." Do we not have problems with each other? Yes. Let's bring them out. Let's discuss them. Let's talk to people. And if someone does wrong and does not repent — then you give them a chance first: "Brother, I'm letting you know, you cheated me. You have a chance to repent. I hope you do, for your own akhirah. Whether it's 100,000 or 200,000 — I'll forget about it. But if you don't, then I will let people know, so that others don't fall into the same trap."

There are people running Ponzi schemes within the Muslim community. We should highlight those people if they don't repent. And I'm asking all of you sitting here listening — if you know anyone investing cash with no paper trail, please stop them. Don't be investing cash with anyone without a contract. When someone says, "Just give me cash and I'll invest it for you" — stop. Someone who doesn't want to write a contract, doesn't want a lawyer involved, doesn't want witnesses — stop. The deen teaches us to have everything written down.

But the first thing before you expose people is to give them an opportunity to repent. Because at the end of the day — this is the ummah of the Prophet ﷺ. There was a case when a thief stole during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. The case was brought to him. The Prophet ﷺ tried to divert it — but eventually it was brought formally to him, so the judgment had to be passed:

The thief — his hand is to be cut. But the Prophet ﷺ, who is the Nabi of Allah and there is no one more focused on ensuring the ahkam of Allah are followed — he starts crying. He says: "Why is the hand of my ummah being cut?" But then he explained: "Once it's come to me, I have no choice. I have to follow justice. I have to follow the rule of law because you brought it to me. But if you hadn't brought it to me and sorted it out amongst yourselves, I would not have to do what I'm forced to do now."

That was the rahmah of the Prophet ﷺ. We have to have that same love for one another. We should never be happy when a Muslim is exposed or caught. Instead we should say: "Why did he not repent? Why didn't someone go knock some sense into him before it got to this?" When a Muslim appears on the front page for cheating — we should not be happy about it. We should feel sad. Why is our dirty laundry being aired out there? Do we not already have enough problems?

So my dear brothers and sisters — number one: don't become the means of our dirty laundry going out. Number two: don't just sit on your dirty laundry — wash it. We have to come up with ways of bringing these issues to people of ilm and trying to sort them out. Once something cannot be sorted internally, then within our own community we warn people: "Be careful about doing business with this person." These are the things we learn from the story — that the Prophet ﷺ accepted Hatib's explanation and said, "Don't say anything to him." And the army went forward and the conquest of Mecca took place.

Yet — yet — Allah set the record straight: what Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah did — was it right or wrong? Wrong. Allah says: Do not take My enemy. I don't care that you were scared about your money or your family. What you did was wrong. The Prophet ﷺ forgiving him? No problem. He's a Badri sahabi? No problem. But what he did — this has to be the rule of law forever for humanity.

Closing Reflections

Now look at what's happening in the news — who's helping who in this war, who's shooting down whose drones, who's shooting down whose missiles. It's right there. That's what I'm trying to say. These ayahs are very deep. What we're studying — and what we're going to be studying for the next few weeks — is 100% applicable to what we're dealing with right now. It's something to think about.

And it's not at an international level — it starts at the individual level. Internationally, we are all a composite of individuals. We individually have become so weak that the word "hate" is banned from our dictionary. The word "dislike" is banned for the sake of Allah. It's all about love and compassion — no talks about correcting our children, no talks about doing nahi al-munkar. It's always just "Allah is Ghafoor Rahim" — and that's what people want to hear.

We have to change our perspective on what is expected from us. The deen has got hot and cold — both. Inviting towards good and forbidding from evil. Loving and hating. Going back to where we started our discussion: loving whom Allah has asked us to love, and disliking whom Allah has asked us to dislike.

I ask Allah in the upcoming weeks to allow me and all of us here to continue on this journey of truly unpacking what we are going through in our lives — collectively and individually — and hoping to bring a massive recalibration of our compass. So that we become exactly what the sahaba were, and we have their sifat, attributes, and qualities within our lives.

Because we are now at the time for Maghrib and Isha, we won't have time for Q&A. If Allah gives us time insha'Allah, next week. Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Announcements

For those who are listening online — insha'Allah, we have a very important program this weekend with Sheikh Tamim Ahmadi from California. It's called Reviving Islamic Literacy — a two-day workshop. Sheikh Tamim has been a regular at Darus Salam. He is an expert on Sufism, spirituality, guiding people towards righteousness, and helping people overcome their own ills. I encourage all of you to please join Mufti Ibn Hajj, Sheikh Tamim, Sheikh Kawthar, and Dr. Salim Niazi this weekend. He'll be here for Jumu'ah, leading the first Jumu'ah at Darus Salam, with a talk after Maghrib and Isha, then Saturday Fajr and Saturday night. All these scholars will be joining us insha'Allah. It is a free event open to men, women, and youth. Please register online and join us Friday for Jumu'ah and through the rest of the weekend.

Additionally, every Thursday we have our Mini Muslims insha'Allah from 10 AM to 11 AM in the Sisters' Banquet Hall for moms and their kids.

And our annual retreat is just three weeks away — Islam and Artificial Intelligence. It's a free program for the entire family. We have male and female speakers, international scholars, academics, and industry experts in artificial intelligence joining us. Please come with the entire family to this free event on May 10th, insha'Allah.