Ibrahim (AS) and Hajj Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Ibrahim (AS) and Hajj

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger and Seal of the Prophets. And upon his good people, pure, and those who follow them with good until the Day of Judgment and after. My dear respected brothers and sisters, respected elders, and dear young students and friends. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Honoring the Great: Time, Place, and Divine Selection

Indeed, this is one of the practices of people of all times — that those individuals that they look up to, they respect, they admire for their services, for their contributions to society, and what they have done for the general welfare — those people are remembered. Those individuals are celebrated. And the way the respect is shown to them is either by dedicating certain monuments, certain statues, certain places. The name is given to the airport, the name is given to the harbor, to the street. Different places are dedicated for their memory. A park is dedicated in the memory of so and so generous donor. A plaque is put on the wall to remember the contributions of so and so in donating towards the establishment of this ward in the hospital.

So either there is takhsīs of makān — different places are selected to remember those individuals — or there is takhsīs of zamān, meaning the day. This is Martin Luther King's Day. This is Columbus Day, October 12th. This is Memorial Day, to remember the veterans who gave their lives in defending the nation, etc. So there are different days which are allotted to remember those individuals, or different places which are specified to remember those individuals.

What does Allah say? Allah is the creator of time, and Allah is the creator of space, and Allah is the one who chooses and selects. This is permissible with respect to our worldly acknowledgements. But with respect to the hereafter, Allah says He is the one who selects certain days over other days, certain nights over other nights, certain months over other months — gives them added virtue. Certain places over other places — grants them extra virtue. No one else besides Allah has the right to declare that this particular day is more sacred.

Among the days of the week:

Verily, Friday is the leader of all the days of the week.

And then Allah has given extra virtue:

Allah has given virtue to ten days. Allah has given virtue to Muharram, to the 10th of Muharram — Ashura — and to the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah — Yawmul Arafah. These days have been declared sacred. Of course:

The month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed. And then within it:

The night better than a thousand months, and so on and so forth.

So likewise, we are now fast approaching a time which is declared special by Allah, and we have been ordered to go and visit a place. The time has been declared a special time, and the place where we have all been ordered to go and visit is a very special place. Allah has made it fard on every single member of the Ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ who has the ability to do so — to go and visit that place. To go and remember a very, very special, very beloved slave of Allah.

And we should never get tired of hearing about him, because Allah does not tire of speaking of him. And I am referring to none other than Khalilullah — the friend of Allah — Ibrahim (AS).

The Beloved of Allah: Ibrahim (AS)

Imagine how beloved this slave of Allah must be, that Allah has mandated for this Ummah to follow his footsteps. First, let us examine how beloved he was. Allah speaks about him in such glowing terms, in such madh — such praise — Allah grants him in the Quran.

In one place Allah says:

Remember my slave Ibrahim, who was loyal to Me. Who proved himself to be loyal. Such a beautiful word. No matter how difficult the times were, no matter how many tests I placed upon him, he passed all those tests.

Allah says in a second place:

Remember when Allah tested Ibrahim (AS). And amongst all the sifāt and attributes of Allah, He chose the word Rabb here — to show that these tests were part of the Tarbiyah. رَبُّهُ — the Rabb. He did not say مَالِكُهُ. That mālik would give the impression that because He has the authority, He can test if He wants and make life difficult, because He is the master. No. These tests were not an expression of the mulk of Allah, but rather a manifestation of His Tarbiyah. Not as a master, but as one who is trying to nurture and bring up Ibrahim (AS).

Allah tested him بِكَلِمَاتٍ — with several tests. And then Allah grants him the certificate: فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ — he successfully passed all the tests with flying colors.

The Four Great Tests of Ibrahim (AS)

First: Do you love your father, your mother, your homeland — your watan — more, or do you love Allah?

He made hijrah for the sake of Allah. Tark al-watan — he gave up his homeland for the sake of Allah.

Second: Do you love your wife more, or do you love Allah? He abandoned her in the valley without a blade of grass, without questioning how she would survive.

Third: Do you love your son more, or do you love Allah? He put the knife to the throat of his son. Easy for you to hear. Very easy for me to say this. And even easier for you to hear it. At least I am moving my tongue — you are just listening with your ears. It is passive action. So easy to hear. But imagine how hard it would be to actually do. To put the knife on the throat of your own child. That child —

Allah says, when he reached the age of working alongside him. He did not have 50 children, or 10 sons, or 3 sons, or 2 sons — just one son at that advanced age, and then after that Ishaq (AS). That is it. But he was ready to sacrifice for the sake of Allah.

Fourth: Your own person. Do you love yourself more, or do you love Allah? We all have this innate sense of self-preservation. We love everyone, but we love ourselves the most — from the creation. Otherwise we are supposed to love who? Allah more than ourselves. And we are supposed to love — who do we love more than ourselves, even from the creation? Even Rasulullah ﷺ.

Just as we love Allah more than ourselves, we are supposed to love Rasulullah ﷺ more than ourselves. The scholars of Tafsir say that this is a requirement for Iman — that we love Rasulullah ﷺ more than ourselves. The right of Rasulullah ﷺ is greater upon us than our own right. To the extent that if there was an opportunity to put one's life on the line to defend Rasulullah ﷺ, the one who hesitates is not a mu'min, because there is no hesitation for a believer.

And Rasulullah ﷺ made nafī of Iman — he negated Iman:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 15; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 69)

None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his parents, his children, and all of mankind.

So, do you love yourself more than Allah? Ibrahim (AS) proved it not through words, but through actions. He threw himself into the fire of Nimrod, not worrying about protecting his own self. And Allah directly intervened. He could have turned off the fire, allowed it to be extinguished — or allowed Ibrahim (AS), when he was thrown from the catapult, to land outside. But Allah did not do that. He directly intervened and changed the laws of nature — the physical laws of nature which He is in control of:

O fire, become cool and peaceful for Ibrahim (AS).

The Station of Ibrahim (AS) Among the Prophets

So this is no normal individual. Many great believers have passed, many great disbelievers have passed. But Ibrahim (AS) is not just any mu'min. He is not only a nabi. He is not only a rasul. He is among the Ulul 'Azm min al-Rusul — the top-ranking messengers of Allah.

There are mu'minūn. Then Allah selects from the mu'minūn the anbiyā — 124,000 of them. Allah then selects from them the rusul — 313. And from the 313, Allah selected the Ulul 'Azm — those with the highest rank and determination. The ones that Allah orders Rasulullah ﷺ himself:

Be patient and persevere in the face of the opposition of the mushrikeen of Quraysh — like the messengers of determination before you were patient. He is one of them: Khalilullah Ibrahim (AS).

The Du'a of Ibrahim (AS): To Be Remembered for Righteousness

Allah says: فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ — he passed all the tasks. And Ibrahim (AS) had made du'a to Allah:

O Allah, make it so that the people who come after me speak of me in good terms. This is a very important point. A small person might misinterpret this ayah and think it refers to kibr — arrogance. That you want to have a good name. He is saying, O Allah, give me a good name.

No. What he meant is: O Allah, make me righteous. And make me an example — a qudwa — a model for others to follow. So people speak about my good actions and get inspired and try to follow You and come closer to You. There is a fine line there. So Allah does not teach us in the Quran and Sunnah to make du'a only that we become pious and no one knows about it. That is fine — you might say that is ikhlas. But beyond that, what is even higher is that if your righteousness becomes an example for others to follow:

It does not just say, "O Allah, make us among the muttaqeen." It says, "Make us the imām of the muttaqeen." Why do you want to just be a muttaqī? A mu'min has higher aspirations. He wants not only to be good, he wants to be an agent of good, a force of good, a positive example for others to follow. Whoever has done good deeds will get the reward of good deeds. And whoever invites toward good deeds and becomes a means for others to follow, will also receive that reward:

Whoever invites toward any khayr will receive the reward of whoever follows afterwards.

So Ibrahim (AS) said: O Allah, make the people who come after me remember. And we not only remember because we love to remember — we have been ordered by Allah to remember. In every salah we recite:

If Muhammad ﷺ is the father of our Ummah, then Ibrahim (AS) is our grandfather. How can we forget our grandfather?

Likewise Allah said:

Allah is the one who made Ibrahim His friend, His dear friend.

The Central Theme: Islam and Submission

But the one aspect that we see in the life of Ibrahim (AS) that repeatedly comes — repeatedly we find these words repeated in different ways — the same word keeps on coming back, keeps on striking the heart and mind of the listener and the reciter of the Quran — is the word of Islam: submission.

Allah says, Ibrahim (AS) is making du'a:

O Allah, make me and my son Ismail, while we are building the Ka'bah, true Muslims. And from our progeny, a Muslim Ummah. This is something we take for granted. We believe we are Muslim, we believe we are mu'min, we believe we are muhsin — we are at the highest level. Jannah is guaranteed for us, we have confirmed booking in Jannah. Whereas Ibrahim (AS), while building the Ka'bah, having passed so many tests in his life, is making du'a: O Allah, make me a true Muslim.

What does Muslim mean? To submit to the will of Allah — in every circumstance in one's life, in every condition in one's life. We have a Nikah after Jumu'ah. At the time of Nikah, the Nikah parties submit to the will of Allah. After you leave the Masjid — in the Masjid you submit to the will of Allah. Then when you go to the hall, do you disobey the will of Allah or do you submit to the will of Allah? Submission to the will of Allah is not limited to the house of Allah — it extends to the banquet hall, to the hotel, to the Shahrul Asl — the honeymoon.

Someone asked Ali (RA), what is Nikah? He said: سُرُورُ شَهْرٍ — one month of happiness. Then he was asked, what after that? He said: لُزُومُ مَهْرٍ — you have to give the mahr. Then what? He said: غُمُومُ دَهْرٍ — then all the grief of the world in time comes upon one. Then what? He said: كُسُورُ ظَهْرٍ — then your back will break. I do not want to be despondent for the Nikah parties — perhaps they arrived late, hopefully they did not hear that.

In any case, submission to the will of Allah in every part of one's life — that is what Islam is.

Then Allah Ta'ala says further:

Remember when your Lord told Ibrahim (AS): أَسْلِمْ — Submit to me. Now the scholars of Tafsir say the natural response would have been: أَسْلَمْتُ لَكَ — O Allah, I submit to You. Allah said submit to Me, so he should say I submit to You. But he did not say that. He changed it. This is called iltifāt. Instead of using the form of mukhatab — instead of saying I submit to You — he used ghayb. He said: أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ — I submit to the Lord of the worlds.

What does that indicate? It indicates that it is not only me that needs to submit. I am submitting to the being who is رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ — Lord of the worlds. And what is ālam? الْعَالَمُ كُلُّ مَا سِوَى اللَّهِ — everything in existence besides Allah is the ālam. Allah is the sole mālik and everything else is His mamlūk. So therefore we all need to submit to Him. He is giving an indication: everyone else in the ālam — you need to submit to Him too.

Who Truly Follows Ibrahim (AS)?

Allah says that all the people were claiming that Ibrahim (AS) is their leader. The Jews said we follow Musa (AS), who is from the progeny of Ibrahim through Ishaq ibn Ibrahim — he is our leader. The Christians said he is our leader. And even the mushrikeen said he is our forefather — the Arab mushrikeen said we are the children of Ismail ibn Ibrahim. Allah makes the decision final:

Ibrahim was not a Jew, and he was not a Christian in the sense of the Christians at the time of Rasulullah ﷺ. What was he? He was a true Muslim — hanīf, separating from all the other bātil adyān. And of course, he was not a mushrik. He was the father of Tawheed. Allah says: he was a true Muslim.

Then Allah asks us also to follow his footsteps — and uses very, very strong wording. He does not say, "Follow the footsteps of Ibrahim, it is a good idea, and if you do, you will be rewarded." He says:

Who is there — it is an istifhām inkārī, a rhetorical negative question — who can turn away from the way of Ibrahim except for the one who is a complete fool? It is strong negative language, but it is used by Allah. سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ — it is foolishness if you do not follow the footsteps of Ibrahim (AS). That is the only way for your salvation.

Striving in the Path of Allah: The Way of Ibrahim (AS)

Allah says:

Strive in the path of Allah — not how much you feel like, whenever you have time off, whenever you are relaxed, after doing everything else. No. He qualified this command: حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ — the way that is the right of Allah.

And the normal pattern of Allah is that whenever He gives any command which outwardly seems very difficult, then immediately in the same ayah He makes it easy for you. He tells you it is not too difficult. Take fasting for example:

Fasting has been prescribed upon you, as it was prescribed upon those before you, so that you may acquire taqwa. The Arabs say: الْبَلَاءُ إِذَا عَمَّ خَفَّ — when calamity becomes general, it becomes easier to bear. If a tornado came and landed only on your house while everyone else in the block is safe, it would be hard to bear. But when Hurricane Katrina comes and the whole city is destroyed, it is easier — because you look around and the entire city is devastated. So there is ta'mīm and there is takhfīf.

So over here, Allah is saying: fasting, you think it is hard? Guess what — people prior to you fasted as well. Then what is the benefit? You are going to acquire taqwa. And how long? أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ — a few countable days. He did not say 30 days — He just said you can count it, you can count it very quickly, it will pass. What if I am sick? فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ — make it up later. So Allah makes it easy.

Likewise here, after commanding striving in the path of Allah the way it is His right, Allah says: you are selected to do that. I have chosen you, you have it in you:

He has selected you. And Allah says: وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ — the purpose of the deen is not to make your life difficult. There will be some initial sacrifice, afterwards it will become easy for you. Apply yourself — you can do it.

And third: مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ — this is the way of your forefather Ibrahim. As if you are encouraging a person to spend in the path of Allah by saying, أَنْفِقْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ أَبَاكَ كَانَ جَوَادًا — spend in the path of Allah, your father was a very generous man. That inspires him — oh wow, my father spent so much when he was alive, I should follow him. Or you say, تَقَدَّمْ فِي الْقِتَالِ فَإِنَّ أَبَاكَ كَانَ بَطَلًا شُجَاعًا — go forward in battle, your father was a great warrior. This encourages the son to follow.

Likewise, Allah is saying — with respect to the Arabs in nasab and in deen, you are all the progeny of Ibrahim (AS). Your father was a great Muslim. It is in your blood — you can do it. You are the son of a great Muslim. مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ — this is the way of your forefather Ibrahim. He was a Muslim, he submitted — why can you not submit?

And then Allah says — if someone is still not convinced, look at your very name:

He is the one who gave you the name of Muslim — in the previous scriptures it is mentioned, and in this book it is also mentioned. Allah has mentioned the du'a of Ibrahim (AS):

From our progeny, an Ummah which is a Muslim Ummah — submitted to You.

Hajj: Following the Footsteps Literally and Figuratively

We have few minutes left. The summary of what Hajj is about. Those who are going — may Allah accept them. Those who are being left behind — we are still in the Muslim Ummah. All of us have to become inspired by Ibrahim (AS) and develop the spirit of Ibrahim: submission to the will of Allah.

Allah says:

Follow the way of your forefather Ibrahim. It is a command. Follow his footsteps.

When you say "follow the footsteps of Ibrahim," this sentence has a haqīqī meaning and a majāzī meaning. It has a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. Normally when you say follow the footsteps — if I tell you, your teacher was a great scholar, follow his footsteps — it does not mean you go out with a magnifying lens like Sherlock Holmes, find the actual footsteps and follow them. No. Follow the footsteps means: behave the way he behaved, study the way he studied, practice the way he practiced, be good like he was good. That is what it means — the figurative sense.

But over here, both are applicable. In the figurative sense, Allah is saying follow the footsteps of Ibrahim — the way he submitted, you should submit. But it does not end there. In the literal sense — exactly where he placed his foot, you have been ordered:

Where he stepped, you have to step. Not only where he stepped — where his wife Hajar (AS) stepped, where his son Ismail (AS) stepped. Follow their footsteps in the physical sense too. Retrace their steps. This has been made obligatory upon the Ummah.

And what is even more amazing beyond that — when you go there, Allah Ta'ala says, why do you go?

Go and see with your eyes things which will benefit you. See with your eyes the signs. Like you go to a museum and things are preserved of your forefathers. There are certain people — for example, they do not want you to forget about the Holocaust, so they have the Holocaust museum. Pictures, so you go and see. So that this type of zulm never occurs again, you never forget.

Allah is saying: this Hajj is like that — go and see. لِيَشْهَدُوا — go and see. مَنَافِعَ لَهُمْ — things that will benefit you. When you will go by the Ka'bah, what will you see?

Therein there are clear signs — if you have eyes to see, a heart to understand, a mind to understand. What is the clear sign mentioned? Maqamu Ibrahim — the footstep of Ibrahim. The footstep of Ibrahim is preserved. Not the mark of his hand, even though he built the Ka'bah with his hands:

Remember when Ibrahim and Ismail were elevating the foundation of the Ka'bah. They built it with their hands. But the footstep is preserved — so you go there and you see it. There is a stone in which there is an impression of the foot of Ibrahim (AS), and molten silver has been poured over it so that you can see the depression of the feet of Ibrahim (AS).

You see, this is the foot of Ibrahim (AS). I have been commanded to follow his footsteps. He was a true Muslim. You see the Hajar al-Aswad — this came at the time of Ibrahim (AS) to help build the Ka'bah. You see the Ka'bah was built by Ibrahim (AS). You go from Safa to Marwa, you are following the footsteps of his wife Hajar (AS). You drink the Zamzam — this is the water that came for Ismail (AS). You go and make the Ramī of the Shaytan — you are remembering: رِضًا لِلرَّحْمَن وَرَجْمًا لِلشَّيْطَان — pleasing the Most Merciful and stoning the Shaytan. That Shaytan came to misguide Ibrahim (AS), Hajar (AS), and Ismail (AS). The big one, the medium one, and the small one — all sizes. Just like you go to the drive-thru and you see large, medium, and small — Shaytan is also large, medium, and small. All sizes and shapes. You pelt the big one, the middle one, the small one — they came to misguide Ibrahim (AS), Hajar (AS), and Ismail (AS).

Then you make the Dhabīhah — Allahu Akbar! He was ready to make dhabīhah of his son. We make it of the camels and goats and sheep and cows. And we eat the meat ourselves. This is our commemoration of the beautiful sacrifices of this first family of Islam — the father, the wife, and the son.

Conclusion: Becoming a True Muslim

So it behooves us, it befits us, that we actually think about these points. And we try to imbibe within us the true spirit of Ibrahim (AS) — whether we are blessed to follow his footsteps physically or not. In the figurative sense, we all have to become true Muslims.

May Allah accept the du'a of Ibrahim (AS) in our favor, when he said:

From our progeny, make a true Ummah which will be submitted unto You. May we be that Ummah — Ummatan Muslimah. And may we, inshallah, be resurrected not only with Khalilullah, but also with Habibullah ﷺ — and the Nabiyyīn, Siddīqīn, Shuhadā', and Sālihīn:

And how excellent are those as companions.

Aqulu qawlī hādhā wa astaghfirullāh. Inshallah, let us perform our Sunnah.