Team Fajr with Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 5 Advices Part 5

The Rights of a Believer Towards His Fellow Muslim

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad and his family.

My Lord, open my heart.

In the last few weeks, just going through this hadith, we learned from here that it is a right of a believer in our deen — a right of a believer — that he tries his best to not only strive for the goodness and happiness of his fellow Muslim, but also to defend his honor, defend his wealth, defend his land, defend his name, defend everything. And a believer is someone who actually is so close to his fellow believer — no matter their ethnicity, no matter their color, no matter their socioeconomic status, no matter what part of the world they're in — but is so close to them that anything that they go through, he feels the pain.

This is very deep. For a person to be so close to someone that you actually go through the pain of that someone — say, who is their own blood brother — may not go through that pain. Because they don't share the common faith.

The Love of Abu Bakr for the Prophet

Abu Bakr Siddiq's love for Rasulullah ﷺ is such — there are so many different narrations about that — but the Prophet ﷺ says that no one's wealth has assisted me in my deen, in his efforts, in the deeni efforts, the way Abu Bakr's wealth has benefited me. And he said: I have rewarded everyone for their sacrifice and their kindness towards me. I've rewarded all of them. Except for Abu Bakr — only Allah will be able to do that. So you have these statements by the Prophet ﷺ regarding Abu Bakr Siddiq.

But then, on the other side, let's look at Abu Bakr's love for the Prophet ﷺ. On the journey of hijrah, when there was a lot of hunger, a lot of thirst, eventually they came across an old lady who had her goat — very old and did not have any milk in its udders. And through the miraculous nature of the Prophet ﷺ and his blessed hands, Allah brought milk to this animal, by which afterwards they milked the goat and they drank from it. So when the bowl was filled up with milk, Abu Bakr Siddiq gave to the Prophet ﷺ the bowl, and he began to drink.

This is the narration that Abu Bakr Siddiq himself narrates. He said: the Prophet ﷺ drank and drank and drank and drank until I was filled. Until I was filled. The Prophet's ﷺ drinking and quenching his thirst and removing his hunger and filling his belly with milk was something — the beauty of it, the coolness of it — I was feeling in my own body. He doesn't say "his stomach was full." He said my stomach was full. He said: to the most extent that I wanted.

This is what you call muhabba. This is what you call love. That when a person is enjoying something or going through something good, you actually feel it in your own body. So the companions were like this with the Prophet ﷺ, and this is how a person is supposed to be with each other as well. Along with the Prophet ﷺ, a person is supposed to feel the enjoyment of one another, is supposed to be happy with one another, and is supposed to also be sad when they go through things. This is a lost trait. This is why it's so important to speak about this topic.

Because if we have 1.8 billion Muslims — if we even have 1 billion of them, or 800 million — thinking in this manner, the world would be a very different place. The world would be a very different place if believers had this type of love for one another the way we are supposed to have.

Quranic Foundations of Brotherhood

Allah says:

Fear Allah and rectify your affairs amongst yourselves. Rectify, take care of the affairs amongst yourselves. Obey Allah and His Messenger if you are believers. So three things have been mentioned in this verse: number one, fear Allah; number two, take care of your affairs amongst yourselves; and number three, obey Allah and His Prophet if you are believers.

In another place, in Surah Hujurat, Allah says:

That indeed the believers are brothers. A very general ayah but very comprehensive. It's a foundational verse of the Quran. Brothers, indeed Muslims are brothers.

Allah says in Surah Tawbah:

Believing men and women are caretakers for one another, well-wishers for one another, friends of one another. How are they caretakers? They command each other to do good. They prohibit each other from doing evil. They establish prayer. They give their alms. And they obey Allah and His Rasul.

You notice here, in this ayah, Allah speaks about the aspect of believing men and women being each other's Wali — being each other's caretaker, each other's friend, each other's assistant. And how do you assist your Muslim brother? If you see something good, encourage them to do it. That's part of your friendship. That's part of your relationship. Prohibit each other from evil. Again, this is something that we're losing. When we see our own Muslim brother or sister falling behind in something, how often are we motivated to go and encourage them? How often are we motivated to go and push them towards something beneficial? Even though it has nothing to do with us. But it's our love for their Akhirah — that we want a beautiful Akhirah and we want them to have a beautiful Akhirah. So let me give them a nudge. If you see them falling into some sin, how often are we going to go out of our way to say: you know what, I've seen you falling behind in something, and although no one asked me, yes, but you are like a brother to me. So you're falling behind in something, it hurts me. I want to see all of my Muslim brothers excelling in Deen and in Dunya. So that is part of our faith — a very fundamental part of our faith.

Encouraging each other to do good, forbidding each other from evil — and where does that come from? Does it come from thinking of ourselves as superior to others? It comes from the aspect of brotherhood. That brotherhood dictates that a person looks out for the benefit of his fellow Muslim.

Allah mentions the complete opposite of the hypocrites:

The hypocrites work together — they are part of one party. But what are the parameters of this party? They encourage each other to do what's wrong, and they prohibit each other from doing what's right. Meaning if one of them wants to change, they grab their hands and say, no, you can't. Don't do that. If someone is indulging in sin, they keep pushing him. Come on. Or if he's not, they get him involved in some sin. SubhanAllah.

Think about what happens today when you have gangs. Or political parties too. There are certain people who say, we have to stop making the country suffer — just because you have this policy, you want all of us to follow this policy, it's actually very harmful for the citizens. I'm going to speak the truth. What will happen? As a whole block, they will attack that person and make sure he doesn't win the next election. Because this doesn't go along with their agenda of prohibiting goodness and encouraging evil. Unfortunately, that happens across the globe. So these are pacts that people make. But on the other hand, believers are supposed to have a pact where they are looking out for each other's deen as well as their dunya.

The Hadith of the Body

Nu'man ibn Bashir رضي الله عنه mentions in a very famous, powerful hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6011; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2586)

The example of the believers in their love for one another, and in their attachment with one another, and in their mercy with one another, is the example of a body — that when a portion of the body is in pain, the rest of the body cannot fall asleep. The rest of the body stays awake with fever. And sahar means to stay awake.

It's true, right? When an infection happens — you have a finger that got jammed or got cut and Allah forbid it gets infected — what happens? The infection is in a portion of the body, but the fever doesn't happen in that finger. The fever happens to the entire body. So there is a problem in one portion of the body, and the entire body gets into action in trying to help cure that area and ward off the attacks on that portion. This is the way the body physically works. The Prophet ﷺ wants us to emotionally, spiritually, and mentally also become like this — that when any portion of the ummah is going through difficulty, the rest of the ummah is awake, alert, staying awake in du'a, and feeling the pain. This is how it's supposed to be.

Meaning, there shouldn't be a night or a day where we don't stay awake making du'a for the ummah. Because which day is there in which there is peace in the ummah? Everywhere, every day you look, there are so many problems. When we spoke about what was happening in India some weeks ago, a brother who had just come from overseas said: what you're saying is on point. The amount of oppression that the Muslims are going through is just beyond description. People till today — every day — especially young Muslims are being targeted, are being killed, are being arrested for no reason, are being tortured in jails and prisons. Houses being demolished, businesses being demolished, masjids being demolished, libraries being burnt.

A lot of this is happening. And SubhanAllah, the oppressor is apparently becoming stronger. But the sad part he told me was: you're speaking about this thousands of miles away in this masjid, while where I'm coming from in India right now, there's no discussion about it. He said, Alhamdulillah, we come from such a wealthy background that my family overseas, my in-laws are paying for my mortgage over here, buying out the whole house for me. He said, we come from a very wealthy background, and there are so many Muslims like that. But he said there might be du'a after salah once in a while, or after Jumu'ah, for what's happening in their own country, but in the weddings and in the chit-chat at home and the dinner talk, there's no discussion. Everyone is just so content with their lives — either worried about their next meal or just enjoying and relaxing — that they don't have time to think that if that fitna is not happening in my street, I'm safe. If it's not happening in my village, I'm safe.

SubhanAllah, this is crazy, right? But the apathy — everyone is in nafsi nafsi. Everyone is worried about just themselves. No one is thinking about what is happening right next door. And if you don't care about each other, at least care about yourself — why would you not think that this fitna is not going to come towards you? Divide and conquer. Slowly but surely you get through each region of the country. So when this type of attitude of nafsi nafsi comes into us, where a person is only worried about himself, it's just a matter of time before everything will fall apart.

May Allah allow all of us to wake up and allow all of us to get out of our sleep of heedlessness. May He alert us and awaken us from our slumber and allow us to see what people are going through across the globe. Although we may not be able to physically do much, if we stay awake making du'a for them — if a million people, or 10 million people, or 100 million people, were to dedicate themselves to making du'a and prayer — the world would definitely change. Because when you stay awake making du'a, then you're going to also spend your money on it. You're going to also spend your time on it. Naturally. Because when you're invested in something, du'a is a sign of investment. Du'a is a sign of investment. You're emotionally invested in something. When you're emotionally invested in something, then it becomes easy to sacrifice your time and your wealth for the betterment of that cause.

The Rights of a Muslim Upon Another

The Prophet ﷺ mentioned another hadith, related by Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

Do not have jealousy for one another. Do not have hatred for each other. Do not turn your backs upon one another. Then he said: if someone is already in a transaction, do not outbid the other. The transaction is done. If someone is selling something and you have an opportunity to bid on it, that's fine — you can outbid that person. But once the transaction is complete, we should not go and tell a person, I'll give you extra. You've signed the contract, you're about to hand it over — and you say, no, I'll give you extra. That is not permissible. It is not in the right interest of our community.

وَكُونُوا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ إِخْوَانًا — And then become brothers for one another. Become, number one, servants of Allah, and brothers for one another. What does it mean to be a true servant of Allah and brother for one another? He explains:

اَلْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ لَا يَظْلِمُهُ — He does not oppress him. A believer does not oppress another one. وَلَا يَخْذُلُهُ — He does not forsake him. So if someone is expecting your assistance, don't let him down. وَلَا يَكْذِبُهُ — Do not belie him. If he's saying something, don't say you're a liar. Obviously if he has a habit of lying and through context it seems he's not speaking the truth, then maybe you can question him. But generally speaking, a person should have the faith that our Muslim brother will not be lying. وَلَا يَحْقِرُهُ — And then the Prophet ﷺ said: do not look down upon your brother.

Why should we not look down upon our brother? Because Allah says in Surah Hujurat:

Don't make fun of one another, lest the one you're making fun of is actually better than you. You don't know. Usually people make fun of one another because they think they are superior to the other person. But here we realize we don't know who is superior to who. Only Allah knows that. So it is not appropriate, it is not befitting, that a person sits there and looks down upon his fellow Muslim brother or sister.

Interestingly, this is one of the verses of the Quran where Allah addresses men and women separately. O believers, do not make fun of one another — O believing men, lest the believing men you're making fun of are superior to you. And O believing women, do not make fun of each other, lest the believing women you're making fun of be better than you. The ulema explain that women have been mentioned separately here — even though wherever men are mentioned, women are understood to be part of that injunction — and one of the reasons is because this unfortunate sin is very common amongst them as well.

Specifically, there's been a mention of looking down upon one another. It's a really common thing. You speak to sisters, they'll tell you — ask them how common it is for women to mistreat one another, to look down upon one another, to speak ill about one another, just on the type of clothing they're wearing, or the type of scarf they have, or the type of language they're using. It's a very horrible problem. Bullying amongst girls in high school, college — major issues everywhere, whether it's Islamic schools, public schools, madrasas — you name it. Bullying is a big problem amongst girls as well, if not a larger problem, at least an equal one. So this has been mentioned in the Quran separately. Control your tongue. Be careful. Do not poke fun at one another thinking you have a right to do so, because the person you're poking fun of may actually be light years ahead of you on the Day of Judgment. It will become apparent.

Taqwa is in the Heart

So the Prophet ﷺ, after explaining how we cannot oppress one another, we cannot forsake one another, we should not belie one another, we should not look down upon one another — then he pointed towards his chest three times and said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

Taqwa is over here — three times the Prophet ﷺ pointed towards his chest. Why did Rasulullah ﷺ mention that? There could be many reasons. But one reason here is that when you look down upon someone, when you speak ill about someone, when you oppress someone, you don't know who you're dealing with. That this person may be a man of taqwa or a lady of taqwa. And if you oppress them, or speak ill to them, or make fun of them, or debase them, then you're messing with a muttaqi. And that's not good. Because you're thinking that this person has no support, no one to stand up for them. But if they're muttaqi:

Allah loves the people of taqwa. Allah is the caretaker, Allah is the assistant of those who have taqwa. So what goes around comes around. If a person oppresses someone — anyone — but on top of that a person who has taqwa, think about what's going to happen.

Think about it like this: when a person picks a fight with someone on the street nowadays, what happens? You don't know who's carrying a gun. You don't know who's got concealed carry. Any small altercation, any small issue could land a person into death, into murder. Simple as that. That's a horrible analogy, but I want you to compare it: when you're dealing with someone, you don't know how much taqwa that person has. That's their concealed carry. And you're thinking, oh, I can push around this person. But if he's got taqwa in his heart, that's going to come back to bite you. Allah's assistance will be there.

As the Prophet ﷺ has said that Allah will go to war with someone who chooses to mess with His friend. If Allah has a wali — a friend — and someone tries to harm that friend, then you are going to elicit and bring about a response from Allah the way a person gets up and defends his beloved. Allah will be defending His beloved, this muttaqi individual.

التَّقْوَى هَاهُنَا — Taqwa is here, in the heart. You don't know. Taqwa is not apparent on the face — many times. We have to understand these hadith, brothers. Because for one thing, we should be careful of how we treat one another — you don't know who's ahead of who. And another thing is that just because someone looks like a muttaqi does not mean they have taqwa. Taqwa is in the heart. Yes, taqwa has manifestations on the outside. But sometimes you can have the manifestation without the taqwa inside. You just grab a wig, put on a beard, put on a turban, put on a thobe — how long does that take? Very little time. A minute, two minutes. Similarly, a person can wear a jilbab and a hijab or niqab. This is what we usually think is the science of taqwa. But sometimes it's not.

And the reason I'm sharing this with you is that many times people get burnt by people who are religious-looking, who apparently have taqwa. But they are what we call a wolf in sheep's clothing. And that happens every day, doesn't it? Let's be honest. It happens. But if that happens to you — if you get burnt by someone — you cannot allow that trauma to make you hate deen. You cannot allow that trauma to make you hate anyone who actually is following through the injunctions of deen.

Do Not Lose Faith Because of People's Faults

Yesterday I had an opportunity to speak at an inaugural Jumu'ah at a nearby college. We had an hour session after Jumu'ah on college life and how to remain successful. And the first thing I mentioned was how all the pitfalls come when your relationship with Allah is weak. When our personal relationship with Allah is weak, then any small thing can push us over the bridge — can push us away from the deen.

When someone says — and nowadays I hear this a lot — "I am burnt from Islam, I'm done with it, I have suffered trauma." But what happened? What trauma are you suffering? My father used to hit me when I was young. My Islamic school teacher wasn't the best. My heart goes out to you if you actually didn't deserve what you got. We all went through difficulties like that. But this aspect of taking what you went through — say something beyond that. Say you had a practicing Muslim uncle who abused you, or who backstabbed your dad, backstabbed your mom, and you lost so much money. And so you're done with Islam. This is something I hear all the time — not only in the younger generation, you hear this in the adults as well.

I read an article about a book that came out recently about why over 40 million people have left the church, synagogues, mosques, masjids in the past four decades. Over 40 million. America was very religious compared to Europe and other parts of the globe. This is a place where Christianity and religion was front and center — everywhere, including in politics, in schools, everywhere. And now we're on a retreat. This is not surprising to you or me.

The New York Times had an article about this book. It was the most expensive and exhaustive research into why church membership is diminishing and more and more people are saying they don't follow any specific religion or don't identify themselves as any faith group. But look what they're saying. The gist of that book and the gist of that article is: it's not that people have lost faith in God. It's that people have lost faith in the people who claim to be people of God. That was the gist of it. The scandals of the church and the actions of certain people pushed them over the brink, and they said we want nothing to do with them.

Are there not scandals in masjids or in Islamic institutions? Yes, there are. There are all kinds of bad apples everywhere. We are dealing with nafs and shaytan. Where are you sleeping? Nafs and shaytan are the biggest enemies. We've been told to protect ourselves from them. But if your relationship with Allah is strong, you will be able to handle anything that comes your way. You will not give up on Allah.

Such an important point to teach our kids. Tell them from beforehand: this world is a crazy place. You will see very weird things happening. But you cannot allow those weird incidents to become a representation of Allah. Because they're not. No one is. Your Nabi was, and that's it. And the companions — whom Allah says in the Quran today's Fajr Salah reminded us — Allah is pleased with them and they are going to be pleased with what Allah is preparing for them.

Besides that, don't idealize someone. Today many people say, "I got burnt by a scholar." There are many articles online. So and so, this scandal of money, this scandal of abuse, they used their power differential to get married — all those types of things are mentioned everywhere. How do we interpret all those things? You look at that and you say: well, this is solid proof of what Allah and His Rasul have already warned us — that there is something called nafs and shaytan. This is it. You could be 85 years old. You could be 90 years old. You could be teaching Hadith for 40 years. You could be teaching Tafsir for 40 years. Your great-grandfather could be a scholar and your great-grandson a scholar. It doesn't make a difference. Nafs and shaytan are not dead. For anyone.

The Statement of Abu Hurairah Regarding Iblis

There is one narration of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه — the most prolific narrator of Hadith. He's an old man, a great, great Sahabi. And he's sitting there asking Allah for protection from the fitna of zina and the fitna of women. His students around him say: Shaykh Abu Hurairah, why is a man like you at this age, at this status, with all of this, seeking refuge in Allah from this fitna? And then he said an amazing answer that all of us should write down and remember:

What can give me any sense of comfort while I know Iblis is alive? As long as I know Iblis is alive, I have to be wary and I have to be worried that I could slip today. I didn't slip yesterday — but guess what, today you can slip. If you wake up tomorrow thinking nothing is going to happen, that's when all hell breaks loose. This is such a powerful statement of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه. No matter how old you are, no matter how pious you are — who's going to claim any similarity between us and Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه? Allahu Akbar. But that great Sahabi is saying it is a dangerous game. You have to be worried about what shaytan may do to any one of us.

So when our children and ourselves know this story well, then Allah forbid, if they get tested by people who seem righteous and pious on the outside but then backstab you, or hurt you, or do something completely un-Islamic — please do not lose hope in Islam. From the very get-go, none of us are ambassadors of Islam. We are simply trying to practice the deen.

That's why people say — and you hear statements like this — "I'd rather do business with non-Muslims than Muslims." These type of statements are not good. There are irreligious, non-God-fearing, horrible people on both sides of the aisle. What kind of statement is this? Instead of saying that, why don't you say you want to do business with a principled individual — regardless of faith. The one who's got morals, ethics, and values, you want to do business with them. But sometimes, because you had a bad contractor for your house who happened to be Muslim, or a bad mechanic who happened to be Muslim — that's all it is. He happened to be Muslim. Just like we say the hijackers and the terrorists have hijacked our Islam, similarly, people who backstab you have hijacked Islam. They are not a representation of what true Islam is.

And so that's why, next time some scandal happens anywhere, let's tell our children: please do not make this a means of losing your faith. But rather — I told you from beforehand — anyone can fall. I can fall. You can fall. Just because some big person fell today does not mean you're not going to fall tomorrow, or that I won't fall. Anyone of us can fall. We simply should heed and take a lesson from what we see, and then say: okay, I need to ensure I don't fall into this type of deception and don't do this type of horrible sin. That's what it's supposed to be.

Because we've had people who've actually said their faith has shaken to the core. "I don't think I can be a Muslim anymore. Why? Because a sheikh has done X, Y, Z." I'm telling all of you right now: you have to train yourself. Anyone can do anything. We don't worship people. We worship Allah. We follow the Prophet ﷺ. That's why the scholars of the past said, and the earliest generations would say:

Follow those who have already passed away. For indeed, the one who is alive — you never know when he can fall into fitna. So don't idolize anyone.

We talked about in tafsir this past week about celebrity sheikh culture and how it's harming us. Remember this: no one should be a celebrity for us. Even our asatidha, our shuyukh. I remember when I went to start the khidmah of my ustad, and I offered myself to be in his service — and I made istikharah, I did salatul hajah, and one of the things I made du'a for, I'll be honest, I'm telling all of you this. I said: Ya Allah, I want to serve my ustad, and I want to learn from him, and I truly believe him to be a great individual. But Ya Allah, whatever faults he may have, keep them away from me. I don't want to see any faults. And allow me to get corrected in his company. And subhanAllah — I spent four years in and out of the house every day — and I can tell you, subhanAllah, there was really nothing, not even once, that I felt uncomfortable about. Rather, every single day brought me even more appreciation of the personality Allah has given him. May Allah give him long life and health, and allow us all to one day visit him and host him here, insha'Allah.

But the idea is — anyone you're dealing with — no one is above nafs and shaytan. Go in saying everyone has mistakes. I have students sitting here. I am filled with flaws. All of your teachers will always be filled with flaws. The question is: is the khair and the good more than the flaws? Because if you're a human being, you have to be flawed. It's not possible to be a human being and not be flawed. But what type of flaw is it? That's the thing. So as a student too, if you say my teacher cannot have any mistake, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Keep it open. And as students, make du'a to Allah: Ya Allah, keep the faults and weaknesses of my asatidha away from me. And make du'a that Allah grant all of your teachers the ability to excel, improve, and get rid of any deficiencies they may have in their life. That's the way we're supposed to make. Not to say, if you see something wrong, I am leaving the masjid.

So, after the Prophet ﷺ mentioned all the rights of a believer, he connected this with taqwa. And one reason I shared with you is that taqwa is hidden in the heart. You don't know who you're dealing with. Don't oppress anyone, lest they may be much more muttaqi than you. And also, don't be fooled by someone's appearance. Because taqwa is not on the face, it's in the heart. Be careful when you're doing business or doing anything else — ask Allah that He allows you the company of the muttaqeen.

The Three Beautiful Qualities of Ibn Abbas

Let us move to one statement of Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه, which is beautiful. Talking about not only not harming one another and not hating one another, but genuinely being happy for any Muslim and for whatever good fortune they have. This is the sifah — an attribute of a believer.

It is mentioned about Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه that he said three things. He said the gist of it is: I am such an individual that I get happy when someone else is being blessed by Allah. He gave three examples — three instances where he feels happy regardless of whether he has any share in that or not.

The first: whenever he sees a Muslim's plantation, garden, or land being irrigated or enjoying rain, even though he has no investment in that land and doesn't own any of that crop nor any livestock on that farm — whenever he sees rain clouds and can see that rain is happening somewhere, it makes him happy. Why? Because he knows a farmer today, a landowner today, is so thankful that he's gotten rain for his farm. He has no investment. He doesn't even know who owns that land. But I can see rain cloud from a distance. I can see rain pouring down. So I get happy that today some landowner comes out of his house and says Alhamdulillah, I was so worried about my crops, so worried about my plants, and now mashallah my plantation is getting rain.

The second: whenever he hears of a just judge — a judge who listens to those who come before him with all honesty and tries to make a proper, right decision — he makes du'a for that judge and for that case, even though he has no case in his court. He is happy that there is a just judge. And he makes du'a that Allah allows this just judge to meet good people, meaning that justice is met. That if someone is suffering and is oppressed, they will have an opportunity to avenge themselves, that their money or their land will be returned. He has no share in the money being returned, no share in the land being returned, no share in this deal. But it doesn't make a difference. Some Muslim family is going to be happy today. So he makes du'a to Allah for this judge.

And the third: وَلَا عَرَفْتُ آيَةً مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا وَدِدْتُ أَنَّ النَّاسَ يَعْرِفُونَ مِنْهَا مَا أَعْرِفُ — If there is any ayah of the book of Allah, he has this desire and wish that people should know about this Quranic verse as much as he does. And we know Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه was the greatest Mufassir. Rasulullah ﷺ made lots of du'a for him for his knowledge of Tafsir. Yet he says: whenever I come across an ayah of the book of Allah, I have this desire and wish that people should know about this Quranic verse as much as I do. I don't want to necessarily be the most knowledgeable. Everyone the knowledge I have, I wish everyone else has.

Think about that. Who has that? Knowledge is power. Everyone wants to have the most of it. And of course:

We're supposed to ask Allah for more and more. But what we're learning from here is: Alhamdulillah, I'm enjoying so much knowledge, but I want others to also have this knowledge. I don't need to rub it into people's faces that I know more than you. But rather we're all on the same page. We're all students of knowledge and I desire that you know as much as I do.

Brothers, who has this type of well-wishing? These three things really set the tone. To be such a well-wisher for one another. What did Nabi ﷺ say? Love for your brother what you love for yourself — then you'll be a believer:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 13; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 45)

You love knowledge for yourself. You love rain over your farm and your grass. You love that if you ever have a court case or some issue, the arbitrator should be just. So then love this for your friend.

So you say your son and daughter are not getting married right now — you're looking for a spouse for them — but someone else's son or daughter got married. Be happy. Force yourself to be happy. Don't be grumpy. Don't say, oh, good for them — what about my daughter? This is not the time about your daughter and your son. This is the time to rejoice over their achievement, to rejoice over their gift. Why are you bringing in your sad story now? This is a problem — maybe things are not happening well in your life because you don't have a good, clean heart. When you look at someone else's blessings, you should rejoice and thank Allah. Alhamdulillah. Ya Allah, I'm happy for him. And then: Ya Allah, the way You blessed him, kindly bless me as well. Instead of saying, I'm going to be grumpy and angry and I can't even smile today because you are enjoying life.

This is the problem with our community. Not only are we going through difficulty, but when we see someone who doesn't have that difficulty, we get even more angry and more sour. How come they don't suffer the way we're doing? How come their children came out right? My son is giving me a hard time, my daughter is giving me a hard time, while their son and daughter seem to be very dutiful. By making shukr, thank Allah, and then say: Ya Allah, the way You blessed them, bless me. This is a big sign of a good heart — that we rejoice over other people's blessings and hope that Allah also blesses us in that same manner. We should not be so constricted in our heart that we cannot see success in other people's lives. This is not a good sign. This is hasad — this is jealousy — and this will destroy.

You thought your life was bad? Just wait. If you keep on having tons and tons of hasad, you will definitely burn inside. As Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4903)

Jealousy will burn away your good deeds the way fire burns away firewood. And he also said hasad is haliqa — meaning it shaves. Not your head — it shaves your good deeds. Jealousy shaves your good deeds. So ask Allah protection from this horrible evil trait every single day. Ya Allah, save me from becoming stingy with Your blessings — not my blessings, Your blessings. This is stinginess. Save me from jealousy. Save me from not being able to rejoice over other people's blessings.

This is where we're stuck. We're stuck on Alif Ba right now. Where are we supposed to be? We're supposed to be at the level where anywhere in the world a Muslim is suffering, we stay awake at night making du'a for them. How are we going to get there if we can't do this right now — which is simply to smile when you see other people having a good day? Or you hear about it — when you get a text message, a WhatsApp message about someone's son graduating from medical school, or landing a good job, or a daughter getting a good husband. Alhamdulillah. This is a blessing of Allah. Ya Allah, grant me the same and better. Why not? That is exactly how a believer is supposed to be leading his life.

A Story of Barakah and a Beautiful Heart

I ask Allah to accept whatever khair and good we said, and may He save us from making these words a proof against us, but rather a proof for us on the Day of Judgment.

There are many beautiful people. One local restaurant owner I spoke to yesterday — mashallah, he inspired me so much. I asked him: such and such place you had served some food — what was that dish? Because I wanted to order it for another event. And he said: I have no idea. I said: no, just go check your orders — I can even give you the date. He said: what do you mean? I've deleted it. I said: why did you delete it? You must have written it somewhere. He said: no, any order after I fulfill it, I delete. I said: I don't understand — who does that? Why would you delete it? He said: from the very get-go when I take the order, I've already made the intention that if this customer forgets to pay me or doesn't pay me, I've already forgiven him for the sake of Allah. And so I don't want to even have that order written there, lest I keep on remembering — oh, this person ordered six pans of biryani, four pans of chicken, and he still didn't pay for it. He said: I don't even know who ordered what. As soon as the order is made, I delete the message.

Allahu Akbar. I said: brother, where did you come from, seriously? He said: mashallah, I'm a madrasa graduate. I went from Madrasa Ashrafiyya back in India. He said: that's my well — the spring where I've taken from. These are sifat and attributes and qualities I picked up as a child growing up.

I was just so touched by that. I said: may Allah make us like this. Really — to have such a beautiful heart that, you know what, sometimes people forget, maybe they don't have the means, whatever the case may be. Khalas — from the very get-go, I forgive you. And Allah will reward you. And what's the result? His business has barakah. Barakah, that's what it's called. We believe in barakah — it's not lip service. We have to genuinely believe in something called barakah, in blessing. When you have this relationship with each other, don't you think Allah will put barakah in it? Of course He does.

Du'a

Ya Allah, all of those across the globe — Ya Allah, in this country especially — whose marriages are in danger of falling apart, Ya Allah, whether they've been recently married or been married for a long time — Ya Allah, we ask You, do not allow the nafs and shaytan to come between us and our spouses. O Allah, please inspire us to treat our children and raise our children properly. O Allah, save us from oppressing them in any way, shape, or form. O Allah, allow us to customize the tarbiyah for each of our children in the way that would work with them, Ya Allah.

O Allah, we are not able to make our own tarbiyah, much less make the tarbiyah of our children. O Allah, we ask You — make our tarbiyah and the tarbiyah of our kids, Ya Allah. Inspire us with the very best methods and the very best way of going about raising our children, Ya Allah. O Allah, we ask You to protect all our boys and girls from the evils of high school, public school, private school, junior high school, college, dorms — wherever they may be. O Allah, we ask You to grant us parents the ability to make the right decisions when it comes to the education of our children. And O Allah, allow our children to be protected wherever they may be from all the fitan, Ya Allah — that which is apparent and that which is hidden.

Ya Allah, we ask You to protect the youth of the ummah from falling into sin, from falling into temptation, or from being confused about their deen. O Allah, we ask You, Ya Allah — to all those sons and daughters of this ummah who are looking to get married — O Allah, facilitate it for them. Every single person who is trying to remain chaste, O Allah, make it easier for them to remain chaste, Ya Allah.

O Allah, reward our hosts of today, Ya Allah, immensely for all the khair and barakah they brought — all those who cooked early in the morning and late night, Ya Allah, and all those who brought the food, who prepared the tea, who paid for it — O Allah, any way, shape, or form, anyone who assisted in this breakfast, O Allah, we ask You to grant them the ajr of all of us who are listening to this program. O Allah, grant them the ajr of the efforts of all the musallis and the students, Ya Allah.

O Allah, protect Dar-us-Salam — the madrasa, the masjid, the seminary, the community center — O Allah, from all sorts of evil, hasad, nazar, sihr, ayn. O Allah, from every sort — internally, externally, Ya Allah — from every fitna, we ask You to protect this institution. And all those affiliated with this institution, Ya Allah, we ask You to protect every single one of them.

O Allah, whatever khair and good the Prophet ﷺ had asked You of, grant us that khair and good. Whatever evil the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge in You from, grant us refuge from all of that evil.

Ameen, Rabbil 'Alamin.

Announcements

Insha'Allah we will perform salatul ishraq — two and two rak'ahs — and Allah will give us the reward of an accepted Hajj and Umrah, and the needs of the day will be fulfilled. And then we can head to the side prayer hall here on your left-hand side, insha'Allah, for breakfast.

Just to mention what other programs we have coming up: insha'Allah, we have our Ta'lim program starting at 10 AM. Alhamdulillah, it's only been one week since the classes began. Classes are 10 to 1. Mufti Nu'man is teaching today and Mawlana Farhan Sharif teaching tomorrow. You have introduction to fiqh, you've got seerah, you've got diseases of the heart and the remedies — Imam Ghazali's book, Al-Arba'een Fi Usul al-Din. We have, Alhamdulillah, six classes taught to men and women online and on-site. Sunday, there are still some seats available. If it works for you, please consider coming 10 AM to 1 PM, or even take one class on Sunday.

Additionally, Sunday school will be starting very soon, in two weeks' time. We take ages 6 to 16. You can drop your children here in Sunday school and, as a mother or father, participate in the Ta'lim program and enjoy the sohbah and companionship of the ulama for three hours a week. Spread the word for the Ta'lim program. Every single high school and college student out there, I encourage them to get enrolled. I encourage the parents, for the sake of the sohbah and the companionship of the masjid and the angels in the masjid, to push their children to attend the weekend program.

Additionally, we have the evening maktab class from 5 to 7 PM — after-school Quran and Islamic studies. There is a huge benefit in studying the Quran in the masjid. All day they're coming from public school, or even Islamic school, where the environment definitely is not like that of a madrasa. So we need daily one-hour detox for our children in the madrasa setting.

Additionally, we'll have our weekly Saturday morning program. Alhamdulillah, today we have a breakfast as well — we started breakfast from today. So keep our host in your du'a. May Allah elevate their status and reward them.

There is a sign-up sheet outside by the office. If you would like to be a sponsor for one of the Fajr programs, please write your name and your number over there. Being a host for the Team Fajr program is not about simply paying for it, but it's about inviting your family and friends — men and women — to this program.

Tuesday nights is our Tafsir from Maghrib to Isha. We will be starting the third session on Surah Furqan. And we have Mufti Ibrahim Pandor, insha'Allah — the senior khalifa and attendant of Mufti Mahmood al-Hassan rahimahullah of Darul Ulum Deoband, who was a mufti and teacher of hadith for 50 years and passed away in the 90s. His senior student, who served him for decades, will insha'Allah be coming in the next few weeks for one night from South Africa. That is going to be, I think, the September 17th weekend — on a Saturday night. So make sure we are here with our family to meet him and spend some time in his company, insha'Allah.

Those of you who missed the curriculum night last night — the recording will be available online. It was very detailed, from Asr till after Isha, covering about two and a half hours on major aspects of the Tanweer, Takmeel, Tadris program — the spiritual dimensions, student life, etc. Even if your children are not studying, I highly encourage you to listen to it, insha'Allah.