Hidden In The Heart - Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Indeed our beloved Rasul صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was gifted with many unique virtues and singular features that were not given to anyone else. As he himself mentioned few of them in one hadith, he said, أُفُضِّلْتُ عَلَى الْأَنْبِيَاءِ بِسِتٍّ، أُعِطِيتُ جَوَامِعَ الْكَلِمِ، وَنُصِرْتُ بِالرُّعْبِ، وَأُحِلَّتْ لِيَ الْغَنَائِمُ، وَجُعِلَتْ لِيَ الْأَرْضُ مَسْجِدًا وَطَهُورًا، وَأُرْسِلْتُ إِلَىٰ الْخَلْقِ كَافَّةً، وَخُتِمَ بِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ.

Hukuman qala sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. That I have been given special distinction and virtue over all of my fellow anbiya and other prophets of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ through six blessings, which none of the other prophets shared. Number one, he said, أُعِطِيتُ جَوَامِعَ الْكَلِمِ.

I was given the ability to speak such comprehensive words of wisdom, قَلِيلٌ الْمُبَانِي كَثِيرُ الْمَعَانِي. The words are very few, but the meanings are very deep. And the shurah of a hadith, the commentators of a hadith, the scholars, they take the one statement of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and they derive so many beautiful pearls and gems from those words of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

They write volumes explaining few statements of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. So Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ mentioned this under his khasa'is, the special blessings that he has been granted and no one else has. Jawami al-kalim.

And he says, وَنُصِرْتُ بِالرُّعْبِ. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ has helped me by putting fear into the hearts of my enemies. Such a fear that a person who had an evil intention against Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, then one month journey away from Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, the haybah and the fear of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ would overcome his heart.

He would feel apprehension. Who is he facing? Who is he going out against? وَنُصِرْتُ بِالرُّعْبِ. And the spoils of war have been made halal for this ummah, whereas they were haram for the previous nations.

Anything that they procured during battle, during jihad with the mushrikeen of their times, had to be given away to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ, whereas the spoils of war are permissible for this ummah. And he mentions, وَجُعِلَتْ لِيَ الْأَرْضُ مَسْجِدًا وَطَهُورًا. The whole earth, it is permissible for this ummah to perform salah anywhere as a masjid, whereas the previous nations, they could only perform salah in houses which were demarcated, which were specified for ibadah, houses of worship.

وَجَعَلُوا بُيُوتَكُمْ قِبْلَةً وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ. They only could pray inside the masjids of their times. But this ummah, we can perform salah anywhere, the whole earth.

وَطَهُورًا, and when we do not have water, then we can even purify ourselves from the earth, anywhere we are traveling. وَأُرْسِلْتُ إِلَىٰ الْخَلْقِ كَافَّةً, and I have been sent to the entire mankind, whereas the previous prophets were sent to limited nations, limited areas, limited geographic areas, for limited periods of time. I have been sent to the entire mankind till the Day of Judgment.

وَخُتِمَ بِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ, and I am the seal of the prophets. So one of the beautiful attributes of Rasulullah s.a.w., which no other prophet shares, is that he was granted جَوَامِعُ الْكَلِمِ, ability to speak such words of wisdom, which are very brief, but contain a lot of lessons for us to benefit from. And one of such of these جَوَامِعُ الْكَلِمِ, we would like to share today, insha'Allah, and benefit from.

That Abu Qadada radiallahu ta'ala, on whom he narrates, that Rasulullah s.a.w. on one occasion was sitting, مُرَّ عَلَيْهِ بِجِنَازَةٍ. One funeral procession passed by, and then Rasulullah s.a.w. made a remark, very brief remark, that's the whole point of جَوَامِعُ الْكَلِمِ, means the words are brief, but the meanings are deep. He just said, مُسْتَرِيحٌ أَو مُسْتَرَاحٌ مِّنْهُ.

And he said, he is either relieved, مُسْتَرِيحٌ, he has gotten raaha, he is relieved, or مُسْتَرَاحٌ مِّنْهُ, or others are relieved from him. He is either relieved, or others are relieved from him. So the sahaba radiallahu ta'ala on whom, were very surprised by this remark of Rasulullah s.a.w. And so they inquired, ya Rasulullah s.a.w., مَا الْمُسْتَرِيحُ أَو الْمُسْتَرَاحُ مِّنْهُ.

One is the active participle, مُسْتَرِيحٌ, the one who gains relief. And one is the passive participle, the ismafuroor, the one from whom relief is granted. What do you mean ya Rasulullah, the one who is relieved, or others are relieved by him? What do you mean by these words? Then Rasulullah s.a.w. said, الْعَبْدُ الْمُؤْمِنُ يَسْتَرِيحُ مِن نَّصَبِ الدُّنْيَا وَأَذَاهَا إِلَىٰ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَىٰ.

The believing slave, the الْعَبْدُ الْمُؤْمِنُ, the believing slave, may Allah make us all amongst them, say ameen, inshallah. The believing slave is the one who is relieved مِن نَّصَبِ الدُّنْيَا, from all the troubles of this worldly life. وَأَذَاهَا, and all the harms of this worldly life.

He is finally relieved of them. And he passes on to إِلَىٰ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ, to the mercy of Allah s.a.w. So he is the مُسْتَرِيحٌ, the one who is receiving relief, granted relief. On the other hand, you have الْعَبْدُ الْفَاجِرُ, the transgressing person, the sinner.

What is his condition? His condition is such, يَسْتَرِيحُ مِنْهُ الْعِبَادُ وَالْبِلَادُ وَالشَّجَرُ وَالدَّوَابّ. That the transgressing person, we find all the servants of Allah, even the land, and the trees, and the animals, they all are granted relief from him, that they are now free from this burden, and this pain that they had been tolerating during his existence on this earthly life. Subhanallah.

So there are many many points that we can learn from this hadith. The first thing here we see, is that Rasulullah s.a.w. as a master teacher, إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ مُعَلِّمًا, verily I have been sent as a teacher for mankind. He did not allow any sin to pass by, any condition, without deriving some lesson, and a reminder for the ummah.

To the extent that something which is so disgusting, and so horrific as the carcass, and decaying, smelling, foul smelling, decaying carcass of a donkey. That is something that you run away from. It's mayta, it's haram, and it's a donkey, and it's a decaying, decomposing, foul smelling carcass, dead body lying there.

And if he passed by such a scene, he also pointed it out, and he said that, this is an example of the dunya. الدُّنْيَا جِيفَةٌ تَالِبُهَا كِلَابٌ. That the dunya is like the dead carrion, the dead meat, only the dog, they would fight with each other to eat it.

So Rasulullah s.a.w. he had that vision, that he would always find ibrah in a lesson, from every experience. And when the zinaza is passing by, he made this comment as a lesson for all of us. Second thing we notice is that Rasulullah s.a.w. does lesson number one.

Lesson number two, is that Rasulullah s.a.w. did not pass any final judgment. Despite being the messenger of Allah. He did not pass a final judgment regarding this person.

He said, مُسْتَرِيحٌ أَو مُسْتَرَاحٌ مِّنْهُ. Either he is relieved, or others are gaining relief from him. So he did not make the judgment, he did not make the call.

What does that tell us? That we are not in any position to pass a judgment regarding anyone. We cannot judge between anyone. Who is the judge? There is only one judge, he is the مَالِكُ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

In the surah Fatiha that we recite, it's مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ. It has a kasra, that's a different reason. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Sifat of Allah majroor, so it's مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ. But otherwise you will say he is the مَالِكُ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ. He is the master of the day of judgment.

So there is a يَوْمُ الدِّينِ, there is a day of judgment. And that is not in this dunya. الْيَوْمَ عَمَلٌ وَلَا حِسَابَ وَغَدًا حِسَابٌ وَلَا عَمَلَ.

Today is the time to make amal, and there is no hisab, there is no taking account. On the day of judgment, Allah will take account, and there will be no time to make amal. So Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ is the best judge.

And he is the only one who has the right to judge. That is why, even when we praise someone after they pass away, and it is permissible to praise people for their good works, and say that mashaAllah he was a good person, he did so much. But always, at the end we have to make the disclaimer.

And what is the disclaimer? لَا نُزَكِّي عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا. We do not have the right, and we say that above and beyond Allah's knowledge, we do not have the right to declare someone pure, and he is muzakka, and his heart is pure. What are the intentions? We do not know.

نَحْكُمُ عَلَى الظَّوَاهِرِ وَالسَّرَائِرُ إِلَىٰ اللَّهِ. As Umar ibn al-Khattab mentioned in one longer story, at the end he said, we pass the rulings based on the external conditions. And what is hidden in the hearts, we leave that to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ.

We do not know the intentions of anyone. That is beyond us. So لَا نُزَكِّي عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا.

We do not declare anyone to be pure, including ourselves. In fact, starting with ourselves. أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يُزَكُّونَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ بَلِ اللَّهُ يُزَكِّي مَن يَشَاءُ.

Do you not see the people who declare themselves to be pure, I am muzakka, I am the purest person. فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَىٰ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَىٰ.

Allah has said in Surah Najm, He has complete knowledge about all your affairs, all your conditions, those that are apparent, those that are hidden, those that you show other people, that which is the actual reality. And He says that, before your conception, before you were born, He knows about you. وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ.

When you were a fetus developing in the womb of your mother, He knew about you. وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ. جَنِينٌ is the fetus in the womb of the mother.

أَجِنَّةٌ is a plural of جَنِينٌ. When you were fetuses in the wombs of your mothers. فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ.

In the womb of your mother. He knew about you at that point. فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ.

Don't come in front of me and praise yourself and declare yourself to be pure. هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَىٰ. He has the knowledge.

Who has taqwa and who does not have taqwa. So we find in the seerah of Rasulallah s.a.w. on different occasions, people pass judgments. 100% judgment regarding someone that like in the battle, that there was one mujahid on the Muslim side who was advancing against the opponents and against the foes and anyone who came in his path was being cut down and he was showing the greatest heroism and valor on that day.

And someone praised him and said, He is the greatest champion and the greatest warrior of the day. He should receive the prize. Rasulallah s.a.w. said, He is in the fire.

When he looked and found him, that eventually he got wounded and instead of waiting for shahada, he ended up killing himself and committed suicide. So we do not know. عَلِي الْعِبْرَةُ بِالْخَاتِمَةِ.

What counts is the end. And the ending is unknown. So that is why we cannot pass any judgment.

Even Rasulallah s.a.w. did not pass a judgment here. And the third lesson is that there are two types of people. One is the مُسْتَرِيحٌ.

The one, Rasulallah s.a.w. said, is getting relief. Relief مِن نَّصَبِ الدُّنْيَا وَأَذَاهَا. From the troubles and harms of this worldly life.

So this is a great bashara and a glad tiding for us. And a reminder for us. That all the pain in this life, all the suffering in this life that a person might be facing, whatever grief a person might be going through, this is all temporary.

For a believer, he can rejoice in the fact that insha'Allah when he returns to Allah s.w.t, that will be the end of all of his pain. That will be the end of all of the difficulty. In Jannah, the believers will say, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ.

All praise and thanks to that Allah who forever, for eternity, has removed all grief from us. أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ. There is no grief anymore.

إِنَّ رَبَّنَا لَغَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ. He is the one who forgave us and He is so grateful. He accepted our ibadah.

And at the time of death, the angels, they will come and this is the beautiful bashara and glad tidings they will give the believer. إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ. Those who say, Our Rabb is Allah and then they remain steadfast.

The angels will come upon them at the time of their death and they will say, لَا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا. Do not have any fear regarding the future.

Do not have any grief regarding what you are living in the past. لَا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا. Do not have any fear and apprehension regarding the future stages of the hereafter.

Do not have any grief regarding the dunya you are living behind. Take the glad tidings. وَبَشِّرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ.

Take the glad tidings of Jannah. So, every pain for a believer is temporary. That is why if we go over the stories of the mu'minoon, the mukhrisoon, the salihoon, the salaf, from Rasulullah S.A.W. to the sahaba, to the tabi'oon, to the tabi'een, all of them in the past, and look at their condition at the time of their death, they were very, very happy.

They were smiling. A poem just comes to mind. In the Farsi language, as it is mentioned, آلاَمَتَا مَرْگِ مُؤْمِنِ بَتُو گُويَمْ چُو مَرْگِ آيَس تَبَسُّمْ بَرْ لَبَايْ اُسْت.

That should I not tell you, آلاَمَتَا مَرْگِ مُؤْمِنِ, should I not inform you what is the sign of مَرْگِ مُؤْمِنِ, the death of a believer? What is the sign? آلاَمَتَا مَرْگِ مُؤْمِنِ, the sign of the death of a believer. چُو مَرْگِ آيَس, when the death comes upon him, تَبَسُّمْ بَرْ لَبَايْ اُسْت. Then there will be a smile on his lips.

He will be smiling at the time of his death. And this is what Rasulullah S.A.W. himself said, الْمَوْتُ هِبَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ. Death is the greatest gift for the believer.

Greatest gift for a believer. يُسَرِّ الْحَبِيبَ إِلَىٰ الْحَبِيبِ. It allows the lover to meet his beloved.

So the person is looking forward to meet Allah S.W.T, is looking forward, excited to meet Allah S.W.T, and finally he gets to meet Him. He is striving his entire life for the hereafter, and now finally he is getting his reward. He is getting the result for which he was working hard for.

One very beautiful and also scary hadith at the same time, both sides, is the hadith of Rasulullah S.A.W. مَن أَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ وَمَن كَرِهَ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ كَرِهَ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ. That whoever is excited and looking forward to meet Allah, this is the time for us to question ourselves.

I need to question my heart. You should look into your heart. Are you looking forward to meet Allah? Rasulullah S.A.W. said, مَن أَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ.

Whoever is looking forward to meet Allah, then Allah is also looking forward to meet that slave. What could be more beautiful than that? You are looking forward to meet Allah. If that is the case, subhanAllah, say alhamdulillah, then Allah is also looking forward to meet you.

But na'udhu billah, na'udhu billah, na'udhu billah. وَمَن كَرِهَ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ كَرِهَ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ. Whoever is displeased, is afraid, and does not want to meet Allah, then Allah also does not want to meet that one.

Allah doesn't want to meet that slave either. So the believer is the one looking forward to meet Allah, and that is why at the time of death they were very happy. Rasulullah s.a.w. was very happy at the time of his death.

Yes, there was سَكْرَةٌ, there was the pain of the death. إِنَّ لِلْمَوْتِ سَكْرَةٌ. Verily, death has pangs, he said.

But afterward at the end he said, اللَّهُمَّ الرَّفِيقَ الْأَعْلَىٰ. Oh Allah, I choose the companionship of my dear friend Allah, the most high companion, الرَّفِيقَ الْأَعْلَىٰ. Those were his last words as he passed away.

And the sahaba were the same condition. Bilal ibn Rabah radiallahu ta'ala anhu, the muezzin of Rasulullah s.a.w. when he was on his deathbed, his wife was sitting next to him, and she loved him dearly, devoted wife. And out of the grief to see her husband in his final moments, she said, وَكَرَابَهْ وَكَرَابَهْ.

How great a grief, how great a misery. So then he turned and replied, No, no, no. وَطَرَابَهْ وَطَرَابَهْ.

How enjoyment, how great happiness. غَدًا أَلْقَى الْأَحِبَّةَ مُحَمَّدًا وَحِزْبَهْ. Tomorrow I will meet my friends, Muhammad and his companions. غَدًا أَلْقَى الْأَحِبَّةَ, tomorrow I will meet my beloved ones, مُحَمَّدًا وَحِزْبَهْ, Muhammad s.a.w. and his companions.

He was very excited. So this is the condition that our life should be. That when we are leaving this world, we are مُسْتَرِيحٌ, we are gaining relief from the troubles of this world, and getting إِلَىٰ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ, getting the mercy of Allah s.w.t. As in the poem of Sayyidina Ali r.a, he mentioned that when you came into this world, you were crying, and all the people around you were laughing, at the birth of a child.

It's a boy or it's a girl, and everyone was very happy and laughing and smiling, but you were crying. Make sure you lead your life, make sure you lead your life in such a manner, that when you die, everyone around you is crying, and you are laughing, you are smiling. It should not be the reverse, that you are crying, and everyone is happy, everyone is happy that he is gone.

This is mentioned in the Quran, Surah al-Dukhan. فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ When Fir'aun died, neither the heavens nor the earth shed a tear. Nearly a tear were shed, right? فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ Neither the heavens nor the earth shed a tear.

Everyone was relieved. This is the time is up, and we have to come to the second one, مُسْتَرَاحٌ مِّنْهُ The one that everyone is relieved of, that's Fir'aun right there. He is the best example, or any of the enemies of Allah, may Allah protect us from being amongst them, that everyone is relieved, everyone is happy, that this burden, we are relieved of this burden.

This burden is now gone. Thank God he died. مُسْتَرَاحٌ مِّنْهُ He is not going to gain any comfort.

He is going to have عَذَابٌ upon عَذَابٌ, and difficulty upon difficulty. His مُهْلَةٌ and his time, his رُخْصَةٌ that was given by Allah, is now come to an end, and the punishment will begin for him. The respite Allah had given him, وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Allah had given him chance upon chance, now Allah Ta'ala has caught him.

And Allah Ta'ala will fully punish this person. So he is in trouble, but everyone else is happy. And what is noteworthy is, يَسْتَرِيحُ مِنْهُ الْعِبَادُ وَالْبِلَادُ وَالشَّجَرُ وَالدَّوَابّ The slaves of Allah are happy, عِبَادٌ, and بِلَادٌ, the land, the countries, the cities, even شَجَرٌ وَالدَّوَابّ, the trees and the animals.

Allahu Akbar. The trees and the animals are happy. Why are the trees and animals happy? This tells us something that a sinning person, a فَاسِقٌ person, a كَافِرٌ person, a disbelieving person, he has such an evil effect that even the شَجَرٌ وَالدَّوَابّ, trees and animals, they are affected by this evil person.

How are they affected? One very obvious effect is the mercy of Allah Ta'ala is taken away. For example, what do trees need? What do animals need? First thing comes in our mind, water, rain. So, there are droughts that come because of the sins of عِبَادٌ, the sins of these sinners.

These فَسَقَةٌ and فُجَّارٌ, these كُفَّارٌ, their evil actions are such that different عَذَابٌ of Allah is coming upon the creation. Even the animals are suffering, the trees are suffering. Animal kingdom, plant kingdom, they are suffering.

So when this enemy of Allah is gone, the animals are rejoicing, the plants are rejoicing. Because the mercy of Allah will return, the rains will come. We do not want to be such an evil person.

We want to be insha'Allah the مُسْتَرِيحٌ, the one who dies, he is gaining comfort, he returns to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ, and he is happy at the time of death. To ensure that during our life, we have to worship Allah, obey Allah, fulfill the commandments of Allah, follow the sunnah of Rasulullah عليه الصلاة والسلام, be loyal to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ, and insha'Allah, we can hope to be among those who die in a happy condition. May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ give all of us, grant all of us خَاتِمَةً بِالْخَيْرِ.