Understanding Of Deen - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

Respected elders, mothers, brothers, students, listeners, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ — we are indebted to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ and overwhelmed with debt to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ for all the blessings that we enjoy in the past, present and the future. Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ is the ultimate creator, maker and breaker of everything and the ultimate sustainer and provider for all of us what we see and what we don't see. Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ is the one who has blessed us with the desire and the blessings of Īmān. He is the one who has allowed us to come here this blessed Jumuah and sit and listen to the talk of Deen. It is only Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ who has granted us the physical ability and the spiritual ability to come towards Deen.

The Gift of Understanding Deen

The understanding of Deen is a great gift of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ. Many times when we are discussing the Qurʾān with children or young adults and we speak about the different aspects of the Qurʾān or we speak about the different aspects of the greatness of Allah, the oneness of Allah and the belief in Allah, things seem so apparent to ourselves and our children — الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ — they seem so obvious that a person may react and say "Why is it that others don't understand this? I cannot fathom, I can't wrap around the idea that there are people who do not believe in this message of the Qurʾān which is so obvious and clear?"

Yesterday during lunch time here, Dhuhr time, a revert brother came in and he was full of excitement. He gave me a big hug and emotionally gave me a hug and said, "I just want to tell you that I was going through some issues. I came to the masjid" — he comes here for Dhuhr Salāh — "and I was going through some serious doubts about something. And he says, well then the way I read the Qurʾān," and he said, "I just take the book and open it." So he said, "I took the Mus'haf and I just opened it to whatever was there and started reading and reading the translation. And he said, 'How can someone not believe that this is the word of Allah when every single thing that I had come to the masjid with — the doubts, the issues — every single one of them was answered as I read that passage? Whatever issues I had come with, Allah answered that in a matter of minutes as I opened the Qurʾān.'"

This, my brothers and sisters, is guidance from Allah — a gift that is second to nothing. There is nothing that can come close to this beautiful gift of Allah. So we may sometimes wonder how come people don't understand the beauty of Islām, the beauty of our Prophet, the beauty of the teachings of Islām. It is not about how come people don't understand. It's the fact that we should just have our head bowed down in front of Allah, thanking Him and appreciating that how He has made something which is difficult for others to comprehend — He has made it obvious for us. He has made it our nature that we feel Islām and the teachings of Islām are very natural, are what we are born with or what we have accepted, but something that goes with the fitra.

Understanding of Deen as Divine Tawfīq

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 71)

That's why the Prophet said: "When Allah intends to do good with someone, when Allah intends well with someone, then He grants him the understanding of Deen." The absence or the presence of health and wealth — these are not the criteria of Allah's love for a person. But when a person just starts getting it and said, "Islām makes sense to me, Islām is something dear to me," there's a conviction there that nothing can move. No matter what happens in the world — up and down — it makes no difference. "I am convinced that this is the Deen of Allah."

Seeing the Hand of Allah in All Circumstances

This is the beauty of a Muʾmin — that he sees Allah's hand in everything. Someone going through a divorce, he sees Allah's hand in that. Someone had a miscarriage, seeing Allah's hand in that. Someone is having a happy moment of Aqīqah and a new child born in a family, healthy, seeing Allah's hand in that. Someone who's lost his job, seeing Allah's hand in that. That is the training that we have to go through — to start seeing that not every single love of Allah comes in the manner that you perceive it to be.

Just like our children do not see the love of the parents in the manners that they want to or that they think that they will see it. It's not always hugs and kisses. It's not always congratulations and "great job!" There are definitely tough moments as well where there is rectification, reprimanding, and so forth. And what motivates that? The very same thing that motivates a hug. The very same thing that motivates a high-five. A very same thing that motivates a gift is the same thing that motivates a father or a mother to sit all night, worried about what's happening to their son or daughter, and having a one-on-one talk with them, speaking to a counselor, and cutting down their freedoms on certain issues or whatnot.

What motivates a mom and dad to lose their sleep, to tear up and to worry about — it's a very same love that made them want to give him a gift, made them want to hug her. The very same things — that same love and emotion is here, but it comes out in a different manner. The child, children, may not understand at a young age, but most definitely when they grow older, and most definitely when they become parents, they understand that those emotions and those things that I felt from my parents were not motivated by hate, were not motivated by anger, were not motivated by anything else besides love, besides genuine care for me.

So Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ has His very interesting ways of dealing with us. Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ has very interesting ways of raising us, training us, forgiving us, granting us. And it is our responsibility to be able to be far-sighted enough, to be deep thinkers enough, to be what we call, you know, مُتَوَسِّمٌ, مُتَوَسِّمٌ, مُتَفَكِّرٌ — to be able to see the signs of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ:

That is mentioned in Surah Al-Hijr. Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ, after speaking about the destruction of Lut (A.S.)'s nation and destruction of Shuʿayb or Ashāb Al-Aykah — the nation that was or the villages that were near Madyan — Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ says: "There is amazing science in here, but not everyone is going to get it — آيَاتٍ لِّلْمُتَوَسِّمِينَ — those who have the ability, who've been gifted with far-sightedness, who've been gifted with insight, who've been gifted to be able to search and seek out answers and solutions. Those are the people who, when they see incidents happening around them, they will learn a lesson."

Learning From the Conditions Around Us

My brothers and sisters, we are constantly surrounded in our life — personal life — with issues, emotions. We have many du'a requests that come through throughout the week, and then on this blessed Friday as well, and you get to hear what people are going through in their lives, what issues they're going through. We need to understand that these conditions — whether they are at a personal level or an entire collective level — these conditions come from none other than Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.

That Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ has granted you and I thousands of days of healthy days where we are able to eat and drink as we wish and we don't have to worry about what we're ingesting, what's happening there. There are once in a while some days where we have an upset stomach. And just those, like, 999 days of health came from Allah. That one day of sickness also comes from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ. It balances us out properly. It makes us appreciate those 999 days.

The Value and Appreciation of Blessings

What good is a blessing if it is not appreciated? What good is a blessing if someone Allah blessed him with a car and he says, "No, I don't want to drive it"? He leaves it and he walks ten to fifteen miles to work, for example. What good is that blessing of a car when he doesn't use it? Someone Allah has gifted with shoes, all of us — الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ — and imagine if a person says, "No, in this heat or in the cold, in the winter, that I'm going to walk home barefoot." What use is the blessings? That's why Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ says:

"Proclaim the blessings of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ that you're enjoying." So a blessing if not valued is of no benefit. So the blessing of health, the blessing of wealth, the blessing of Īmān, the blessing of family, blessing of loving spouse and kids — these are blessings of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ that we must value. Otherwise, we're not really getting its potential. We're not fulfilling anything. And Allah forbid it may happen that Allah chooses to test us, to take it away from us, once in a while, so that we begin to realize what we had all along.

The Lesson of Perspective in Hajj

Once in a while, when we were in Hajj — now I remember there were times in the tent, people would say, "It's getting really hot in the tent in Mina." So what we used to tell them was, "What do you think? I said I mean you can't change the AC, so he said, 'Why don't you just go for a walk outside? Go for a walk. Go to the bathroom. Just go outside. Just make a little walk. Five minute walk and come back.'" Five, ten minutes later, that brother would come back and say, "Oh Masha'Allah! It's so cool here. It's so cool. It's so nice. I can go to sleep right now." What happened? They put themselves in a situation where even that little AC or a lot of AC — whatever it may be — that they had is taken away. All of a sudden, they understand the value of what they had. And nothing has changed. It's a perception in the body, in the mind, that has changed. It's the glass being half full or half empty, being optimistic or pessimistic. All of a sudden, the mind and the body said, "Well, actually, you know what? I should be grateful to this."

And I may add, beyond the body's adaptation to the temperature, something that you see when you leave your tent is thousands and thousands of people who don't have a tent who are in 116, 118 degree temperature without any shade. When you look at that, how can that not affect a person? And a person feels that سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ: "How blessed and lucky I am that I have this beautiful tent over me, a nice cold water, juice, and AC and whatnot. These are the blessings of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ."

Life: The Ultimate Blessing to Practice Deen

So my brothers, one of the ultimate blessings that we have, of course besides Īmān, is the fact that we have life to practice on — the day that dictates of this Īmān. If this life is not present with us, we would never been able to praise or appreciate, thank, and make ʿIbādah of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ. That's why the Prophet alayhi salātu wa salām, he mentioned in a hadith that the best of people — the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam said — is the one whose life is long, the one who is blessed with a long life. He is the best of people. But he did not stop there:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4302)

"...and his deeds are good, his deeds are good." So the ability to do good — Tawfīq from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ — is an amazing blessing of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ. But beyond that, it's not sufficient. A person needs time to do it. If a person dies young, then they will not get the opportunity to do that. They will not get an opportunity, as much as they would like to, to worship Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ.

The Hijri Calendar and Its Purpose

So الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, as we welcome the new Hijri year today, being Muharram the first, it is a reminder of so many things. This Hijri year, my brothers, people have asked about "happy new year" — these type of exchanges — should we make or what not? Is this Sunnah? Is this part of Sunnah? Most definitely, it's not. Most definitely, it's not part of Sunnah. And this 1439 years ago, a great incident took place called Hijrah — that's why it's called عَامُ الْهِجْرَةِ — the Hijri year. And this type of calendar, of course, came afterwards, after the demise of the Prophet, about sixteen or seventeen years later, during the time of ʿUmar Al-Khattāb.

There was an issue with two individuals. One of them owed money to the other, and he said, "When did he owe you that money?" He said, "Shaʿbān." He said, "Shaʿbān of which year?" And that's where the problem arose. "Which year are we talking about? This year or are we talking about next year or last year?" So then ʿUmar Al-Khattāb, as mentioned by Ibn Kathīr رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ in Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya, he called the people. He called the companions, and he made Mashura from them and asked their opinion about what to do.

So this took place either in the sixteenth or seventeenth year after Hijrah — meaning five to six or to seven years after the demise of the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam. So he asked them their opinion about how to set up a calendar or a method whereby people would know when did they owe each other money. سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ! The purpose of the calendar came about — what? For the fulfillment of each other's rights! The fulfillment of each other's rights when it comes to financial transactions. That is such an important aspect of our Deen that we know that the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam — how he would refuse to lead the Salāt al-Janāzah of someone whose debts hadn't been taken care of until someone would come up forward and say, "I am ready to take care of their debts." And then the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam would lead the Janāzah Salāh.

This tells us how grave a crime this is — to think that we can assert people's money or assert people's rights and not worry about it. This is massive. The greatest تَعْزِيرٌ you can imagine. The greatest warning and chastisement you can imagine — that it's Madīnah, the Prophet is alive, and he says the Janāzah comes forward. The dead body comes forward. He says, "I am not going to lead this prayer." What could be a graver, harsher chastisement than this? For whom? For the person who says — the person who did not pay their debts.

Rights of Others in Our Deen

So that's what our Deen teaches us when it comes to the rights of others. This is a very serious issue. It is not that my rights between me and my Allah — "it's fine, people tell us that, don't worry about it, it's between me and Allah." That's not it. That's great. What happens between you and Allah is true. It's between you and Allah. But we have to ensure that Allah has asked us to take care of the rest of the people as well — our spouses, our children, our neighbors, our parents, our co-workers, our plants, animals, everything that's around us. They all have rights upon us. And we will be questioned about these things by Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ.

So the background of the Hijri year, as I just said here, is that there was a person who owed another person money, and they had a difference of opinion of which year it was owed and which month of which year. They knew it was the month, but they couldn't agree on the year. So ʿUmar al-Khattāb رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, he made Mashura. So one person said, "Why don't we use the calendar that the Persians use?" So Umar asked, "Is there anything else? I don't like that. Someone other said, 'Let's use a Roman calendar.'" And ʿUmar al-Khattāb رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ said, "No." So then someone said, "How about we do it بِمَوْلِدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ — by the birth of the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam?" Another one said, "بَلْ بِبِعْثَتِهِ — How about we do it from the day or from the time he received prophethood?" And someone said, "بَلْ بِهِجْرَتِهِ — How about we do it from the day he left Mecca to Medina?" And someone said, "بَلْ بِوَفَاتِهِ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ — How about we start the calendar from the time he passed away?"

ʿUmar رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, then, took the opinion of Hijrah for its visibility and for its notability. ʿUmar رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ then chose the opinion of Hijrah because of the fact that it was very apparent and it is well known. And the rest of the companions then agreed with him on this. So Imām Ibn Kathīr الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَيْهِ mentions this background of the Hijri calendar.

The Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs

So our calendar at this moment is a time for us, on this day of Muharram first, to reflect on the background of this calendar and to reflect on the fact that one interesting point is that when we talk about Sunnah, many of us make it very constricted to the actions done by the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, and we don't realize that the rightly guided companions and the Khulafāʾ ur-Rashidīn are just as worthy of emulation because they emulated the Prophet alayhi salātu wa salām.

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 42; Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4606)

The Prophet alayhi salātu wa salām said: "Hold on to my way of life, my Sunnah, and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs, the rightly guided Khulafāʾ that will come after me. Hold on to it. Make sure you hold on to it by your back teeth. Hold on to it, even though it may be that people may be trying to snatch it away from you. Hold on to it tight when you clench your teeth."

Why would you need to clench it? The only reason you need to clench it hard and tight is because someone is trying to grab it away from you. If no one was gonna grab it, you would just simply hold it in your hand or hold it in your mouth. The reason why you talk about clenching the teeth here and your back teeth is because to show the struggle — there's gonna be a struggle. There's gonna be people trying to push you away from the Sunnah, pull the Sunnah away from you, push the community away from Sunnah — Sunnah of the Prophet alayhi salātu wa salām and the Sunnah of the Khulafāʾ.

Notice the Hijri calendar here as well: as we're all different backgrounds, we understand the Hijri calendar, we abide by it, we align ourselves with it. But this was not something that was started with the time of the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam. This was started under the leadership of ʿUmar al-Khattāb رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ in the presence of the Sahābah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ. That tells us that even our own calendar is based on the Sunnah of the Sahābah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ.

So many other matters of our Deen — we may sometimes find that there are strong narrations of the companions practicing on something. We should be rest assured that this is Deen. This is Sunnah. This is not contrary to our Deen, contrary to the Sunnah. If you have proper evidence that the scholars share with you on a certain issue — that the companions of the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam did something — that is something sufficient.

Examples: The Two Adhans

Something as simple as the two adhans that we do here and in other masajid — where we have one adhan at the beginning at one o'clock and then another adhan before we ascend the pulpit. This is something that was done during the time of ʿUthmān رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ onwards. Yes, previously was one adhan, but at the time of ʿUthmān رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, it became two because people needed time to prepare. An adhan would be given much earlier for people to leave their work and start coming to the masjid, and then another adhan would be given right before the khutbah.

So this is sufficient for us when we see that the Sahābah did something in the presence of other companions and they agreed upon it. That becomes a matter of Deen for us. That is not something that we take lightly. But it is the source of our Deen that we see the rightly guided Khulafāʾ along with the companions of the Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam — other companions doing these type of things.

New Years: Reflection and Preparation

So we are speaking about the aspect of new years. For us, a new year — it's arbitrary. There's no doubt about it. It's arbitrary. So there's nothing specific, auspicious about any new year. It is simply a source of us reflecting on the past and preparing for the future. If we can do that, then most definitely it's auspicious. But if we can't do that, and if we're not doing that, then really there's nothing auspicious about it in itself, in its nature. The auspicious comes about when we reflect on the lessons of Hijrah and the sacrifices of Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam and His companions — of leaving their homeland to a place where they're able to practice their Deen.

The Evolution of Hijrah: From Obligation to Spiritual Principle

So all the way till now, we have this concept of Hijrah. And the Prophet alayhi salātu wa salām, he mentioned a Sahābī came to him, and he said — narrated by Ibn Hibban — he says:

(Sunan Ibn Hibban)

This person, Fudayk, came and he said, "Oh Messenger of Allah, people are saying that the one who doesn't migrate, who did not migrate, will be ruined." So the Messenger of Allah said: "Oh Fudayk, listen. Establish your prayer and pay your alms and leave and avoid sin and live with your people wherever you may be. You'll be counted as a migrant, as a مُهَاجِرٌ."

Because the key point at that time, when Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam was making Hijrah, it was Fard — everyone must leave. At that time. But this doesn't mean that after that incident, if a person doesn't leave his area, that he will be dying a wrong death or that his actions will not be accepted. The key point is: what are we doing in the place where we are at? It's not about the merit. The merit comes from practicing the Deen. The purpose of Hijrah was to be able to practice it in a more conducive environment where previously you were not able to profess your faith. That's a key thing.

Gratitude for Religious Freedom

So right now, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, we have the ability to profess our faith, and we have the ability to do things. Just last week there was a protest and a rally for our dear brothers and sisters who are brutally being murdered and assaulted in Burma in Chicago. There was a rally for them last Saturday, and this Saturday as well, there's a rally. So I was mentioning to some of my colleagues while we were there last Friday, last Saturday after Dhuhr. I said, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, "We're sitting here openly speaking right in front of the buildings of downtown Chicago." I said, "You know how many, unfortunately, Muslim-populated countries there are in the world? We would never be able to do this. We would never be able to, as Muslims, citizens of a Muslim country, be able to protest, be able to stand up in a rally about anything. Instead, it's very commonly seen that when someone speaks out, things horrendous things happen."

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ, Allah has blessed us with so many freedoms and so many opportunities in this country to practice our Deen freely, profess it openly. We have to utilize that. We have to utilize. We don't have to look further. There are other places where repressive regimes have come, and what type of things have happened.

Hijrah: Leaving Behind Sin and Returning to Allah

So the Hijrah over here for us now is that a person — الْمُهَاجِرُ مَنْ هَجَرَ مَا نَهَىٰ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ — the true Muhājir and the true significance of a Hijrah will come when a person leaves behind what Allah and His Rasūl have asked him not to do. So the sins and the transgressions — leave behind sin. We should, today, on this first of Muharram of 1439, make a declaration with Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ.

I would like to become a Muhājir. Say, إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ, a Muhājir. What sense of Muhājir? We're not saying pack your bags and leave. We're saying let us leave the baggage of sin. Let us use this moment of reflection and say: whatever sins I have been doing for the past year — old ones, new ones — let me start cutting them out of my life. Whether it is sins against mankind, whether it's sins against the Lord Almighty Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ, whether it's oppression against our dear Prophet ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, whatever they may be, whatever type it may be — let us use this Muharram, first, Hijri year, beginning to start reflecting on that, to bring a change into our lives, and making an effort, إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ, that this coming year we don't know whether it will be our last or what not.

Live Each Day As If It Were Your Last

Let us make an intention that this coming year, we will definitely try to act as though and prepare as though it may be our last. What would happen if you know this was your last year? What would happen if you know that this was your last day? It would have been definitely a different way of approaching it. We really don't know. We really don't know how much time we've got left. Let us, إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ:

(Musnad Ahmad, from ʿUmar ibn Al-Khattab)

Take an accounting of yourself before you're taken to account. Weigh your deeds before they get weighed and weigh your deeds before they get weighed and take task of yourself before you're taken to task — taken to task on the day of judgment.

I pray to Almighty Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ that He brings the blessings of this next twelve months for us, إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ, and He allows myself and all of us to reflect on our past years and to sincerely repent from the major and minor sins.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَىٰ نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ