Striving for Excellence: The Ideal Believer | Mufti Hassan Shaikh | 12/15

Opening Praise and Salutations

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الْخَالِقِ الْوُجُودَ مِنَ الْعَدَمِ، وَجَاعِلِ النُّورِ مِنَ الظُّلَامِ، وَمُخْرِجِ الصَّبْرِ مِنَ الْأَلَمِ، وَمُلْقِي التَّوْبَةِ عَلَى النَّدَمِ، فَنَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى الْمَصَائِبِ كَمَا نَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى النِّعَمِ، وَنُصَلِّي وَنُسَلِّمُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْأَكْرَمِ، ذِي الشَّرَفِ الْأَسَمِّ، وَالنُّورِ الْأَتَمِّ، وَكَمَالِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُحْكَمِ، سَيِّدِي وُلْدِ آدَمَ، الَّذِي بَشَّرَ بِهِ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ، وَدَعَا لِبِعْثَتِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ حِينَ كَانَ يَرْفَعُ قَوَاعِدَ بَيْتِ اللهِ الْمُحَرَّمِ، وَالَّذِي بَارَكَ اللهُ بِهِ كَافَّةَ النَّاسِ عَرَبِهِمْ وَعَجَمِهِمْ، فَسُبْحَانَ الَّذِي لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَداً وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ وَلِيٌّ مِنَ الذُّلِّ وَكَبِّرْهُ تَكْبِيراً، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجاً.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ — Allah says in His noble Book, after seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan:

And Allah also says:

And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه said:

(Reported by Ibn 'Abd al-Barr in Jāmi' Bayān al-'Ilm wa Fadlihi)

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters and honorable esteemed guests — let us start off with the glorification of Allah, as any khutbah, any talk devoid of the mention of the greatness of Allah remains incomplete.

O Allah, the eyes cannot see You, wa laa tukhalifuhu al-dhunoon — the thoughts cannot fathom You, and anyone attempting to give an accurate description of Allah is unable to do so. He knows the weight of the weightiest mountains and the depths of the deepest oceans. Nothing can remain hidden from the sight, the vision, and the hearing of Allah. He is all-seeing and all-hearing and capable of keeping all His 'ibad — all His slaves — under a watchful eye.

Who Is the Ideal Believer?

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters — many a time we ask ourselves as to what the ideal Muslim and what the ideal believer is. And anyone who is able to find the secret to who or what the ideal Muslim or the ideal believer is could be considered a successful individual in both worlds — in this world and the life hereafter — as Allah says:

One who believes in Allah and then does everything that he is under obligation to do, Allah gives him a very good, beautiful life in this world — فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً — and then He has a similar reward and recompense in store for him in the Hereafter.

The Best of Generations

So beloved audience, when we ask ourselves who do we take as a role model — because when you look at the believers, we know the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ:

That the best of the people are the ones that are closest to the timeline of Rasulullah ﷺ — which happens to be the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ — and as we go further and further away from the timeline or from the times of Rasulullah ﷺ, people continue to get worse. So each and every single day, hour, minute, second that takes us away from the time of Rasulullah ﷺ becomes more and more devoid of the khayr and barakat of nubuwwah — the prophethood of Rasulullah ﷺ.

The Definition of the Companions — Ibn Mas'ud's Words

How do you define the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ? No better definition to take than the definition of the companions or the Sahabah themselves. As I mentioned, the statement of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه, in which he gives a definition of the people who are close to Rasulullah ﷺ. And before he starts, he says that one who intends to follow the footsteps of someone — and that teaches us that our salvation is by following the footsteps of the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ.

So he starts off by saying: مَنْ أَرَادَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَكُونَ مُسْتَنًّا فَلْيَسْتَنَّ بِمَنْ قَدْ مَاتَ — that whoever wants to follow the path of someone, whoever wants to take a role model, someone to look up to — and normally everyone in their life has a role model. Even the older people who may be present here may have had someone at one point in their life who shaped their entire lives. And specifically the younger generation — we could discuss the fact that a lot of times we're not taking the best of role models in this current day and age.

But here Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه says that whoever wants to take a role model that's going to shape his life in the future, he says: مَنْ أَرَادَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَكُونَ مُسْتَنًّا فَلْيَسْتَنَّ بِمَنْ قَدْ مَاتَ. It's a very beautiful point he makes here — he says you should follow the footsteps of an individual who has already passed away, one who has died.

Now that may not make sense to us. How is it possible for us to follow the footsteps of someone who may not be here? If you go to a non-Muslim or a disbeliever and you mention this fact or phenomenon in front of him, he would say "What nonsense, what are you talking about?" But for us, each and every single detail about the life of Rasulullah and his beloved companions has been recorded.

So he says فَلْيَسْتَنَّ بِمَنْ قَدْ مَاتَ — one who has died — and then he provides a clarification: فَإِنَّ الْمَيِّتَ لَا يُخَافُ عَلَيْهِ الْفِتْنَةُ — for verily, whoever has passed away has indeed preserved his iman; you do not fear fitna over someone who has passed away.

And it sheds light on how a believer is in constant difficulty. Yes, you may be a believer today, but there is no guarantee whatsoever that this is a permanent state. As I have mentioned previously — the famous incident of a tabi'i who came across a dog on a makeshift bridge. The dog was trying to cross the bridge and he was on the other side, so he left that makeshift bridge and went down into the ditch. The people who were with him were surprised and said, "This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever — that you left your path for a dog." And he said that he has no idea of the future, because there may be potentially in the future that his death may come to him in a state in which he is not in a state of iman — he may not die as a believer — and so hence this dog would be better than him. And if he dies in a state of iman, then the story is very much different. But it shows that even they were not confident in their faith itself — and that's why we always ask Allah to grant us istiqamah in the state of iman that we are in.

The Qualities of the Companions

Going back to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه and his words, he says: فَإِنَّ الْمَيِّتَ لَا يُخَافُ عَلَيْهِ الْفِتْنَةُ — for verily you do not fear any fitna over those who have passed away. Hopefully, inshallah, they have passed away in a state of iman.

And then he says that they are the companions: أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ — they are the beloved companions of Rasulullah ﷺ. كَانُوا أَفْضَلَ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ — they were the best portion of this Ummah. And that sheds light on what Rasulullah also mentioned — خَيْرُ أُمَّتِي قَرْنِي — that the best of the people will be the ones who are closer to the times of the Prophet ﷺ.

So he says: كَانُوا أَفْضَلَ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ — the best portion of this Ummah. أَبَرُّهَا قُلُوبًا — the cleanest of the hearts. They held no grudges, they had no diseases on the inside, no diseases of the heart. And أَعْمَقُهَا عِلْمًا — they were the ones with the deepest knowledge.

Currently it's something that all of us complain about — that the current generation does not go deep. They only look at things at surface level. Whatever they see apparently, whatever is being portrayed, whatever is being said from the media — people believe in it. Why? Because we don't go deep, and we don't search deeper. So he says that these people were أَعْمَقُهَا عِلْمًا — very, very deep in their knowledge.

And أَقَلُّهَا تَكَلُّفًا — they had no artificialness in their life. They were real people. اخْتَارَهُمُ اللهُ لِصُحْبَةِ نَبِيِّهِ — they were handpicked and chosen to be the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ. It's not something that can be given to any person, any common individual out in the street — for that they needed special forbearance. So اخْتَارَهُمُ اللهُ لِصُحْبَةِ نَبِيِّهِ وَلِإِقَامَةِ دِينِهِ — and they were also chosen to be the pillars of the deen, of the religion of Islam. فَاعْرِفُوا لَهُمْ فَضْلَهُمْ وَاتَّبِعُوهُمْ عَلَى أَثَرِهِمْ — so recognize their greatness so that you may follow them in each and every single detail of their life. They were a people who were given a special status by Allah, as was mentioned in the Qur'an as well:

The very first people who accepted Islam, the ones who presented themselves in the court of Rasulullah ﷺ in times when things were very, very difficult — when everyone wanted to turn their head away, when there was severe persecution going on, and anyone who would express their religion or their faith would be persecuted and tortured. As Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه mentioned:

(Quran 40:28 — the words of the believer from Pharaoh's family, referenced in this context)

People were thirsty for their blood — just because they would say that our Lord and our Rabb is Allah. They were the very first people who accepted Islam and presented themselves for the service of Islam, from amongst the Muhajireen and from amongst the Ansar, and they presented themselves for the service of Allah.

A Closer Look: The Life of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Beloved audience, the question that we raised in the beginning — how can you be an ideal believer? — let us take a deeper dive into the life of one of the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ, which will give us some perspective on their devotion and service of the deen of Allah. And that companion happens to be Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه.

He was a companion who was very, very close to Rasulullah ﷺ. He narrates his incident himself — that he was a young man who was far away from all the troubles that were going on in the city of Mecca. When Rasulullah ﷺ started to call people towards Islam, there was a great hue and cry and everyone was up in arms against Rasulullah ﷺ. He said he was away from all of that noise — why? Because he was a shepherd. As a shepherd he would leave the city in the morning and come back late into the evening when everyone would have gone to sleep, so he had no idea whatsoever what was going on in their own city.

He says: once he was on the outskirts of town and he saw two people approaching. They looked very different from the common individual. They approached him and asked him for some milk, and he refused. And this shows the character of the companion — he's not yet a Muslim, but it shows their side of the character, the noble character that they had. He said: "I cannot give you the drink of milk." They said: "Why?" He said: "I am not the owner of these goats and sheep — I cannot give you that."

So one of the individuals pointed towards a small goat — a small goat which had not yet given milk. He said: "If you can bring this closer to me." So he brought it closer to him, and he put his hand on the head of that goat, and that goat which had never given milk before started to give milk. He said: "I realized at that time that these people are different — they're not like the common individuals that I see."

He said: "I started to follow them and I realized they were on their path to hijrah." This was the journey that Rasulullah ﷺ took from Mecca to Medina, and he happened to see them at that time. He said: "I followed them and I ended up in the city of Madinah al-Munawwarah, and I accepted Islam at the hands of Rasulullah ﷺ — because that individual who put his hand on the goat was Rasulullah ﷺ himself."

And then he said that he became like a shadow to Rasulullah ﷺ — he would never leave his side, he would be there with him at all times, in times of ease and difficulty. As we know the Sahabah pledged to Rasulullah ﷺ:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7199; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1709)

That they gave the pledge to Rasulullah ﷺ to be at his side at all times — not just when it's convenient. A lot of times when things are in our favor, we like to step out as Muslims as well, and we like to tell the whole world about it. Whenever something good happens, or something in favor of the Muslims happens, or anything that makes us look good, we like to step out as Muslims. But the moment something negative happens — what do we do? We start to hide our faith. And this is contrary to the quality of the companions, who pledged that they would be with Rasulullah ﷺ in times of ease, adversity, and difficulty, and that they would not mind any kind of burden placed on their shoulders in the service of the deen of Allah.

Ibn Mas'ud's Recitation of the Qur'an

And it's mentioned in a famous narration that once Rasulullah ﷺ was with Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and they were passing by the masjid. In a corner — a dark corner — Umar رضي الله عنه, who was narrating the incident, says that they couldn't tell that there was someone in the corner, but they could hear the recitation of the Qur'an. And he said that Rasulullah ﷺ started to get closer and closer until they realized that it was Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه who was reciting the Qur'an. And then Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 138; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 3781)

One who intends to recite the Qur'an fresh, just as it has been revealed — at this very moment — should recite it in the recitation of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه.

Following Their Footsteps

So when we ask ourselves who is the ideal believer and how can we be the ideal believers and serve the deen of Allah, we have these examples before us — provided we're willing to find out more about them. At times you come across certain factions of the Ummah that may not even know who Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه is. I myself was in a youth gathering where I asked a youngster who Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه was, and he was unable to answer. So how will we be able to emulate the example of these great individuals if we do not know anything about them?

So it's very, very important for us as Muslims to find out more and try to follow their footsteps in the minutest detail. May Allah grant us that necessary love for the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ and for Rasulullah ﷺ himself.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَٰذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah — Quranic Recitation

Allah says in Surah al-Munafiqun:

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