Humility And Equality: Lessons From Mahmood And Ayaz

Opening Praises and Blessings

All praise is due to Allah, the Creator of existence from non-existence, the Maker of light from darkness, and the Bringer of patience from pain. We thank Him for our misfortunes as we thank Him for His blessings. We pray and send salutations upon His noble Messenger — the one with the greatest honour, the most perfect light, the perfection of the Prophets, and the perfect Book — the master of the children of Adam, whom Jesus, son of Mary, gave glad tidings of, and for whose sending Ibrahim, peace be upon him, made du'a when he was raising the foundations of the Sacred House of Allah. And through whom Allah blessed all of mankind, the Arabs and the non-Arabs alike. Glory be to Him who did not take a son, who did not have a partner in the kingdom, and who did not have a guardian from humiliation. And glorify Him greatly.

All praise is due to Allah, who sent down to His servant the Book and did not make it crooked — straight, that He may warn of a severe punishment from Himself, and give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward in which they will remain forever, and to warn those who say, "Allah has taken a son."

Allah the Exalted says in His Book, after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan:

And he, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

Or as he said, peace and blessings be upon him.

The Story of Mahmood al-Ghaznavi and Ayaz: Remembering One's Humble Origins

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, I would like to start off with an example of Mahmood al-Ghaznavi rahimahullah. Mahmood al-Ghaznavi rahimahullah was one of the greatest kings of his time and he happened to have a servant by the name of Ayaz, and both of them shared a unique relationship.

Allama Iqbal rahimahullah mentions their example in one of his shi'ars when he says:

That when during the time of war, in the times of difficulty, when the time of salah would arrive, the entire nation — the people of Hijaz — all of them would fall down in prostration in front of Allah. And then he says that Mahmood, who was the king, the greatest king of his time, and his slave Ayaz, both of them would stand in one row in front of Allah — equal, shoulder to shoulder, no differentiation whatsoever, even though one of them was the greatest king of his time and the other was a slave.

There is a famous incident which is mentioned about Ayaz, the slave. He was someone who came from a very low background and he entered the court of the king as a slave, and then gradually he began to rise in the ranks and ended up becoming the treasurer of Mahmood al-Ghaznavi rahimahullah. And naturally, when you come from down there and then you rise up the ranks based on the fact that you are qualified to do so, you usually have a lot of hasidin — people who are jealous of your position. So the people would frequently talk badly about Ayaz in the company of Mahmood.

On one occasion, someone said to the king: "We have seen Ayaz, who is the treasurer. Multiple times during the day he leaves the vault where all the treasures are — because back in the days there was no concept of banking, everything was in physical and solid form of gold and silver — and then he heads towards his private quarters. We believe that he is hoarding money for himself; he is stealing from the treasury of the king."

So the king summoned Ayaz and demanded an explanation. And Ayaz said: "I go three times during the day to my quarters. In my quarters I have a closet. In there I have the remains of when I initially joined the court of the king — I have a kurta of mine, and I also have a pair of shoes, and I have a topi of mine — which I keep in there. Three times I go there and look at them to remind myself of my humble beginnings."

The Origin of Man: A Reminder from the Quran

Allah mentions the aspect of the human being in the Quran — where this human being comes from. Today we find ourselves in positions of respect, being called "Mister" or "Sir" or whatever names of respect that we give to each other, but remember: there was a day when there was no existence of you whatsoever on the face of this earth. That was yesterday. And tomorrow, a day will come once again that there will be no mention of you on this earth anymore. And even the people who might remember or vaguely remember your name are also gradually going to fade away, and there will be no mention of you whatsoever.

Allah mentions:

Allah created him from a dirty, polluted water. And Hasan al-Basri rahimahullah mentions in the tafsir of this ayah that they used to come into the company of Rasulullah ﷺ with brittle bones that they had dug up from the graves of the people, and they used to say:

"O Muhammad! How do you claim that there is any such thing as resurrection? We do not believe in it whatsoever, because once our bones — the very structure of this human being — turns to dust, how is it possible that we will be resurrected?"

Allah mentions:

"We have verily created you from that very dust — the dust that you are bringing before Rasulullah ﷺ. We created you from that very dust. A day will come when you will turn once again to that very same dust. And then in the future, on the Day of Qiyamah, Allah will resurrect you once again from that very dust."

The Humility of Rasulullah ﷺ

They used to come to Rasulullah ﷺ and say these things, and he would say to them: "Hawin 'alayka nafsak" — "Lighten yourself." And he would say:

"Verily I am the son of a common lady from Quraysh who used to eat dried meat. She was a common individual from amongst the inhabitants of the city of Makkah al-Mukarramah."

This is Rasulullah ﷺ — the best of creation — and he says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3148; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4308)

"I am the master of the children of Adam and I am not arrogant about it." This is the aspect of his humbleness when it comes to dealing with the creation of Allah.

The Ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ, on the other hand — and we ourselves — are on an opposite track. The moment we gain a little bit of influence, the moment we gain a little bit of power, we go around imposing that on the backs of the people.

The Hadith of the Two Men: Wealth Versus Iman

Let us take heed from one of the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ which was recited after Salatul Fajr this morning. A man passed by in front of Rasulullah ﷺ, so Rasulullah ﷺ asked the person sitting next to him: "What is your opinion about this individual?" The Sahabi replied: "He is a very qualified and very influential individual. If he were to go and seek the hand of someone's daughter in marriage, they would immediately hand it over to him. And if he were to speak, everyone would quiet down and listen to him."

Rasulullah ﷺ remained quiet. Then another individual passed by in front of Rasulullah ﷺ. Rasulullah ﷺ asked the very same individual: "What is your opinion about this person?" The Sahabi replied: "O Rasulullah! This is a common person from amongst the Muslims of Madinah. If he were to seek someone's hand in marriage, he would not be granted that marriage. And if he were to try to speak, nobody would pay heed or listen to what he has to say."

Rasulullah ﷺ replied:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5091; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2283)

"If the entire earth were to be filled with the first individual — who may have a lot of wealth, who may belong to a high family and high status — but if he has no iman and is not close to Allah, then this second individual, who has nothing in this worldly life but whose name is mentioned on the Throne of Allah, is much, much better than him." But according to the standards that we have set for ourselves in this worldly life, we tend to have a different opinion.

Hajjatul Wida': The Farewell Sermon of Rasulullah ﷺ

Let us time travel and go back to the time of Rasulullah ﷺ. At the time of Hajjatul Wida' — the Farewell Hajj of Rasulullah ﷺ — Islam had reached its height and power in the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. The very people who had forced him into exile were forced to accept him back with open arms.

Look at the scene: Rasulullah ﷺ is standing within the Hatim, standing on the back of his camel. Normally, the people of Arabia who had a little bit of wealth would ride a horse, but Rasulullah ﷺ in his entire life rode either a mule or a camel. The scenario we should imagine is not the modern-day scenario of the Mataf full of tiles — there was just dust at that time, dust and rocks — and Rasulullah ﷺ, with disheveled hair and dust everywhere, is talking to an entire congregation of people who have just accepted Islam.

Look at the message he is giving. He is saying: "No Arab has superiority over an Ajam." The Arabs of that time would consider themselves to be a superior race — they would say, "We are the superior race and the superior people." And Rasulullah ﷺ is giving them the teaching of Islam, erasing the tradition of Jahiliyya — the tradition of ignorance. He says: "No Arab has any superiority over an Ajam." He also says: "Listen and obey even if your leader, your commander, your Amir is someone whose head is like that of a raisin, or even if he is an African slave." And at that time, there was no tradition whatsoever of a leader who belonged to an African tribe or to the African race.

The second example that Rasulullah ﷺ set on that day was that he ordered Bilal radiyallahu anhu — Bilal radiyallahu anhu who was the muezzin of Rasulullah ﷺ, who was an African slave — to give the adhan. The message was clear: that the closest to Allah and the one who has superiority will have it based on the level of taqwa and the level of closeness he has to Allah. Otherwise, there is no other criteria of superiority.

The Two Mu'addhins: Bilal and Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum

One last example I would like to mention before I conclude. It is the example of Rasulullah ﷺ — when Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum, who was handicapped, came to him. There were two mu'addhins of Rasulullah ﷺ throughout his entire life. One of them was Bilal radiyallahu anhu, who would always be with Rasulullah ﷺ — فِي سَفَرِهِ وَفِي حَضَرِهِ — when Rasulullah ﷺ was at home in his locality and when he travelled, at all times Bilal radiyallahu anhu would be with him. It is the highest possible position that a person can have in the company of Rasulullah ﷺ.

The second mu'addhin of Rasulullah ﷺ was Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum, who was handicapped — he was blind. Once Rasulullah ﷺ was sitting in the company of some of the greatest chiefs of Quraysh, giving them da'wah and calling them towards Allah. And Allah mentioned that aspect of Rasulullah ﷺ as well in the Quran:

That he very much wants the guidance of mankind — he would spend time with each and every single individual calling them towards Allah. He is the one who taught us that each and every single individual is precious.

So he was sitting in the company of the chiefs of Quraysh and trying very hard to convince them to accept Islam. And Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum radiyallahu anhu came to the company of Rasulullah ﷺ and, due to being blind, he couldn't see. So he came and stood at the head of the gathering and kept on insisting:

"O Rasulullah! Teach me from what Allah has taught you." It happened the first time, the second time, the third time. And Rasulullah ﷺ did not say anything to him — just the facial expressions on his face changed a little bit, because Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum kept on insisting while Rasulullah was speaking to someone else.

Allah immediately revealed verses in the Quran:

"O Muhammad ﷺ, Allah noticed a change in your facial expressions. And what do you know, O Rasulullah ﷺ, that the purity of this person and the level of iman that this blind individual has is much, much better than those people who have nothing on board and all of whom will end up in the fire of Hell?"

And Allah mentions:

The example of all those people of high status who never accepted Islam — they were blind in this world, and on the Day of Qiyamah, on the Day of Judgment, they will be raised and resurrected once again blind. And they will complain to Allah:

"O Allah, why have you resurrected me blind when I was from amongst the seeing ones in the world?" Allah would say:

"My ayat and different proofs about the existence of Allah were revealed down upon you, but you turned a blind eye to them. Today, you will be resurrected blind and with a low status." Just like the way we try to put people down when we don't find status in them.

Closing: True Honour Belongs to the Most God-Conscious

May Allah give us the understanding that respect in the eyes of Allah is commanded through taqwa:

"Indeed, the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you."

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا

Second Khutbah

Allah the Exalted has commanded you to do a great thing. He began with Himself and ended with His angels, exalting Him in His holiness. And He made you, O believers, from among His jinn and human beings, and He said:

O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad, Your servant and Messenger, and send blessings upon the believers and the Muslims, and send blessings upon Muhammad and his wives and his progeny.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "My Ummah — the most merciful to my Ummah is Abu Bakr, and the most severe in the command of Allah is Umar, and the most truthful in modesty is Uthman, and their judge is Ali, and Fatimah is the lady of the women of the people of Jannah, and Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn are the masters of the youth of the people of Jannah, and Hamzah is the lion of Allah and the lion of His Messenger." May Allah's pleasure be upon them all.

O Allah, we ask You for the best of what Your servant and Your Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked You for, and we seek refuge in You from the evil of what Your servant and Your Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sought refuge from. You are the One sought refuge in, and it is upon You to convey. There is no power or strength except with Allah. O Allah, You are Forgiving and Generous — You love forgiveness, so forgive us. O Allah, we ask You for Jannah and we seek refuge in You from the Fire.

O servants of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you. Be mindful of Allah. Allah commands justice and good and giving to those who are near, and forbids immorality and evil and transgression. He warns you so that you may remember.

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