Opportunities In Life - Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

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 Master of the Messengers, and the Seal of the Prophets, and upon his good and pure family, and upon those who follow them with good till the Day of Recompense, and after.

And Allah, the Exalted, said in the decisive revelation, after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

And Allah, the Exalted, said in another place,

Say, Is it equal to those who know and those who do not know? Only those who understand will be reminded.

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, The grace of knowledge upon the worshipper is like the grace upon your children. And as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, Allah, the Exalted, has spoken the truth. And His Messenger, the Noble Prophet, has spoken the truth.

And we are among the witnesses of this. And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. My dear respected brothers and elders, respected sisters in Islam, Peace and blessings be upon you.

The Obligation of Seeking Knowledge

It is amongst the obligations of our deen that Allah, the Exalted, has made it incumbent upon each and every one of us that we acquire that knowledge of deen, the knowledge of that which will please Allah, the Exalted. Allah, the Exalted, has made the acquisition of knowledge an obligation. As Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, has said,

(At-Tirmidhi, Hadith 74)

That seeking knowledge of deen is an obligation on every male and female Muslim.

Every Muslim and Muslimah must make efforts to acquire the knowledge of deen. And what is the definition of knowledge of deen? What is the ilm of deen? The ilm of deen is that knowledge whereby which a person will learn what will please Allah, the Exalted. And recognition of Allah, the Exalted, is to obtain مَعْرِفَةُ ذَاتِ اللَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ The being of Allah.

Who is Allah? What are His attributes? What are His sifat? And what are His awamir? What are His injunctions? What are the commandments of Allah, the Exalted? In any given moment of our life, what is the order of Allah, the Exalted, that focus towards me at this particular moment? Whether it comes to time of ibadah, how to worship Allah, the Exalted, that is ilm. When it comes time to go for hajj, how to perform the hajj, that is ilm. When it's the month of Ramadan, how to be fast, that is ilm.

When we have to discharge our zakat, time to perform salah, how to fulfill these obligations, the knowledge regarding that is known as ilm. But it is not by any means limited to our ibadah. It includes our mu'amalat, our dealings.

Such that when it is time for us to get married, what are the commandments of Allah pertaining to marriage? What are the commandments of Allah pertaining to divorce? What are the commandments of Allah pertaining to having children, having a family, earning our livelihood? Every single aspect of our life in short. There are different commandments of Allah. There is a sunnah of Rasulullah that is associated with all of these various facets of our life.

And as a reciter of the Kalima لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ, as the one who has pledged allegiance to Allah, as a believing Muslim, each one of us, it is our incumbent duty to learn the knowledge regarding these injunctions. If you look into our lives, then we have spent so many years, and we continue to spend many years, those of us who are students, acquiring the knowledge of our worldly existence, just to be able to fulfill our worldly needs. This is by no means something impermissible or wrong, or looked down upon in our deen.

But at the same time, we have to put into proper perspective that earning our livelihood is not the primary objective of our life. It is definitely a necessity of our life, and it is also an obligation upon us to provide for our wives and children, to provide for our family members and those who are needy in the community, and extended families. And we will be rewarded for this khidmah and service to humanity, by earning and providing, by earning and supporting, and helping others in need.

But this is all our dhurura. Dhurura means a necessity. The actual objective of our life is supposed to be, and we have to recalibrate our compass and make it, inshallah, the actual purpose of our life is the abodeeah, to show our servitude to Allah, to express our obedience to Allah, and submit our will to the will of Allah.

I have not created human beings, nor have I created jinn, but for my ibadah, for my worship. If we feel that, does this mean that we have to always be in salah, in the masjid, our entire life, we don't do anything else? That means we have a misconstrued and incorrect understanding of what is ibadah. Ibadah is not only limited to our salah, but all our aspects of our life, when it's done in accordance with the will of Allah, and it is done according to the sunnah of Rasulullah, and it is done with the correct intention and niyah, and it is done according to the adab and etiquettes, then our entire life can become ibadah.

Knowledge Based on Divine Revelation

And how to lead our life in such a manner pleasing to Allah? The knowledge which is based on yaqeen, based on conviction, based on certainty, based on divine revelation, not based on experience, not based on what is being tested in the lab, could be proven today, disproven tomorrow, not based on changing science, but based on divine revelation of Allah, which right from the beginning Allah made it clear,

This is the book in which there can be no doubt. The knowledge which is based on such a solid foundation, which is eternally relevant, and it is eternally according to the need of the time, it is always up to date, it does not need to be updated. That knowledge is known as the ilm of nubuwwah, the knowledge of prophethood, the ilm of the deen, the ilm of shariah.

Say, can those who have the knowledge of deen, and those who do not have the knowledge of deen, ever be equal in the eyes of Allah? They can never be equal. So we are all been asked by Allah in the Quran, to seek this knowledge, to make dua to Allah to increase us in knowledge. Allah instructs Rasulullah in the Quran, and say to the Prophet,

O my Lord, increase me in knowledge.

This is the dua taught to Rasulullah. This ilm that Allah is talking about is that ilm which creates khashiyah in the heart. It creates fear of Allah in the heart. It creates a sense of awareness of the Day of Judgment. It creates a sense of accountability within a person. This is the same knowledge Allah says,

Verily, those who have the true knowledge of Allah in His genuine form, in His sincere form, not those who are just learning the words but are devoid of the spirit and meaning of those words, but those who genuinely acquire the knowledge through the proper sources, in the proper manner, and strive to acquire this knowledge, what is their condition? They are those who truly fear Allah. They fulfill the rights of Allah. What is the status of such people?

Allah elevates the status of those who have knowledge on the Day of Judgment. Allah will elevate their status. Allah will elevate their status on the Day of Judgment, you will see the honor that Allah will bestow them. This is an honor reserved for those who carry this beautiful knowledge in their chest and they manifest it through their actions and through their interactions with others and through their character, through their aamaan, through their akhlaq.

Fard Al-Ain and Fard Al-Kifayah

So one is that level of knowledge which is followed by every single individual to acquire. This is known as fard al-'ain. Every single individual has a personal obligation to acquire that level of knowledge. And then there is a second level of knowledge which is known as fard al-kifaya, which is obligation on certain members of each community to acquire.

Just like the common example is given of salah, salah that we perform five times a day, this is fard al-'ain. Every individual has to perform his own salah. You cannot say to your son, okay I'm tired today, can you perform the salah on my behalf? Or ask your beloved friend to perform your salah on your behalf. You have to perform your own salah, your friend and your son have to perform their own salah. One person's salah will not come to avail and help or benefit the other person, everyone has to perform their individual salah. This is fard al-'ain.

And on the other hand, there is another obligation which is a communal obligation, fard al-'kifaya. And this is, for example, the salah al-janazah. It is not sunnah to perform salah al-janazah, the funeral prayer. It is not nafal mustahab, it is not something desirable, commendable, rewardable only, but rather it is an obligation. If no one performs the salah al-janazah, and the body of the Muslim person is waiting and eventually is buried without the janazah being performed, then the entire community would be equally sinful for missing a fard obligation. Everyone would be sinful.

But on the other hand, if certain individuals rise up and fulfill this task, this ibadah, this obligation, then inshallah it will be uplifted from everyone else. Those who perform the salah al-janazah will receive great reward. Those who participate all the way to the grave and bury the dead body, they will receive qintar, a mountain of reward. But those who do not participate, however the salah al-janazah is performed by others, they will also not be sinful.

So when it comes to knowledge of deen, at an individual level, each one of us, it is an obligation to acquire the knowledge of halal and haram. To know what is right and wrong, what is haq and batil. To have the knowledge of our basic aqidah and belief, to know what we need to believe in as a Muslim. And to be able to worship Allah in a manner pleasing to Allah. And whatever particular job we are involved in, whatever particular businesses we might be engaged in, then to learn the rulings pertaining to that. This is an obligation at an individual level. No one is exempted from that. It's followed on every single Muslim.

If you're getting married, then to know the rights of the husband and wife, it is an obligation upon us. And it is the lack of taking time to learn the knowledge of deen that is leading to so many problems in the ummah that we are facing.

The Fard Al-Kifayah: Scholars of Deen

On the other hand, to dedicate oneself fully for the sacred sciences and spend years and years together to gain resoukh and depth of knowledge, to be able to understand all of the ayahs of the Qur'an to the best human capacity and capability, what are the meanings of these ayahs, and what are the references for these ayahs, what is the conditions that led to the revelation of these ayahs and how they are linked to each other, and what are the beautiful meanings that can be derived from that, what are the injunctions that we can learn from the Qur'an, what are the pearls of the Qur'an to dive into the ocean and take those pearls out and extract them and share them with the ummah.

Likewise learning the hadith of Rasulullah, to learn about the chains of narrators and to learn the text of those hadiths, what they mean, and what are the conditions that led to Rasulullah saying different things in different occasions, and if there are apparent contradictions between the hadiths, how we can resolve that, how we make tatbeeq between muta'arid nasoos, between apparently contradicting narrations, and to study the fiqh and the derivation of the scholars and jurists, and what are the details and their evidences from the primary sources, and if there are differences of opinion, what are the basis of those differences of opinion, and what are the answers from one group to the other group, and how they respond back, and what are the ways that the different scholars have deduced those, what are the principles of jurisprudence, likewise moving on in tajweed, learning the different qirat and the different modes of recitation of the Qur'an, learning how to divide the inheritance, and all the possible scenarios that would occur when a person passes away, leaving behind different heirs, what would the different shares be, for example, faraid, ilmul faraid, all of these subjects, learning the intricacies of aqeedah and belief in the different deviant sects that have arose in different eras, and how they went wrong in their deviant beliefs, and what are the correct beliefs, and what are the evidences and proofs of those correct beliefs from the Qur'an and sunnah, and ilmul kalam, all of these subjects, and more, and much more, studying this, and teaching this, this is farad kifaya on the ummah, this is an obligation on every community that there must be certain individuals who dedicate themselves wholly and fully to acquire this knowledge, these knowledges, these sciences, master them, and then transmit it to the next generation, this is an obligation on the ummah as a whole, not on every single individual.

The Campaign of Tabuk and the Verse of Knowledge

When in the battle of tabuk, Allah revealed the ayah of the Qur'an, that all those who believe, whether you are heavy or light, whether you are ready or not ready, whether you are prepared or not prepared, it doesn't matter, every condition, you must go out in this campaign, striving the path of Allah with your life and your wealth. This is a command that made it an obligation on every single ummati of Rasulullah to participate in that campaign, known as the Jaysh al-Usra, the campaign of difficulty, it was a hard time, it was the heat of the summer, it was a famine, it was a drought, and finally the fruits were ready to be harvested, the journey was very far, they had to go against the Roman Empire, the enemy was very strong, it was the supreme power of the time, and at that time every single person, able-bodied man, his participation had been obligated by Allah.

In the entire ummah of Rasulullah, of Medina, Munawwara, and the surrounding areas, they did respond, with the exception of only three sahabah. Ka'ab ibn Malik, Hilal ibn Umayyah, Murad ibn Rabee'. And Allah did give them some form of chastisement, and eventually Allah forgave them, revealed their forgiveness in the Qur'an.

So at that time, it became known to the sahabah that if there is a campaign, every single person must participate, every single person must go, otherwise we will be in great trouble. They saw how these three people, they were boycotted for up to 40 days, an additional 10 days, 50 days, there was a complete ban of speaking to them, interacting with them, talking to them, dealing with them. Social boycott was put in place by Allah Himself, and Rasulullah had conveyed it. So they saw this great, great punishment, and they were now ready, anytime the call would come to participate.

And no one would be left behind to study the knowledge of deen. So at this occasion, Allah clarified it, and said,

That, don't take it literally, moving forward, in every single campaign, everyone leaves, and no one stays behind to study the knowledge of deen. Whenever people go out to spread the deen of Allah in different campaigns, different expeditions, different da'wah missions, then طَائِفَةٌ, one group, they should remain behind.

لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ So that they can gain deep understanding of the deen. Fiqh is الْفَهْمُ الدَّقِيقُ الْعَمِيقُ, deep understanding.

لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ So that they can gain deep understanding of the deen.

وَلِيُنذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ Then when the rest of the people come back, they will be in a position to warn them, to instruct them, to teach them, to guide them. Because they have now dedicated themselves, they are full-time students of deen. So Rasulullah, not only Rasulullah but Allah Himself in the Qur'an here in this ayah we see, He mentions two groups.

One is a general ummah and one is a طَائِفَةٌ. One special group who dedicate themselves to طَلَبُ الْفِقْهِ فِي الدِّينِ. This is deep understanding of the deen.

Abu Hurairah and the Sahabah as Scholars

So among the sahaba, we see Abu Hurairah, he gives the example. This one hadith is a beautiful example, it illustrates that. He says, my muhajir brothers were busy doing business in the marketplace. Is that haram? Absolutely not. They were fulfilling the order of Allah, doing business in the correct manner in the marketplace. And my ansar brothers, they were busy with their plantations and their orchards, and taking care of the trees and harvesting the dates.

So one group was busy in business, one group is busy in agriculture. And he said, I was busy in neither. I was amongst the Ashab of Sufah, the people who had dedicated themselves fully to acquiring the knowledge of deen. And I was sitting and memorizing hadith of Rasulullah. So he is from the Ashab of Sufah. And the Sufah being the madrasah of Rasulullah, the school of Islamic sciences founded by Rasulullah right in the masjid of the nabawi.

And that is why when you open the books of hadith, majority of the time you will find, or many times you will find that it starts off by saying,

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 99)

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah that he says, I heard Rasulullah saying such and such. Then after that the next hadith will just say, and from him it is narrated. It is narrated from him, the same one, same narrator. Then after that and from him, and from him, and from him. The same one, same narrator. They don't have to even repeat the name. And it is narrated from him further, it is narrated from him further. Even though if you look at it, he is not from the earliest predecessors. He did not accept Islam in the early Meccan era, in the middle Meccan era, late Meccan era. No, not even early Madinan era, middle Madinan era. Rather right towards the end of the Madinan era of Rasulullah. Right before he passed away by two and a half years or so, that's when he accepted Islam.

But because he exerted himself so much in acquiring the knowledge of deen, Allah elevated him so much. Elevated his status. So, this distinction is there. Not all of us can become ulema nor is that the obligation upon us all.

The Heirs of the Prophets

طَائِفَةٌ One group has to make tafakku fi deen. And this group Allah has promised them so many rewards and has granted them so much honor. Insha'Allah in the dunya and the akhirah provided they are sincere, provided they practice what they preach. Of course that condition always is there.

(Sunan ad-Darimi, Hadith 628)

From every generation, Rasulullah prophesized they will be adul. The most honorable people, most worthy people. They will acquire the knowledge from the previous generation. They will remove from it the misunderstandings, the misinterpretations of those who are deviant. And they will purify it, and ensure that it is pure from any additives, any innovations, and they will transmit it to the next generation. Who are these people?

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 3641)

They are the heirs of the prophets. They took the legacy of the prophets. What did the prophets leave behind?

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2682)

That the ulema, the anbiya, the prophets, they left behind the knowledge of deen. This is the inheritance of the prophets. They did not leave behind gold or silver. There was a land of Fadak that Rasulullah had in his control. Then when Abu Bakr Siddiq became the khalifa, Fatimah came, she said that this is the land of my father, Rasulullah, what is my share from that? Then Abu Bakr Siddiq explained to her that O bint Rasul, O daughter of Rasulullah, as we know Zainab the eldest daughter, what happened to her? She was attacked during hijrah and from the wound she passed away. Shaheed.

Then Ruqiyah and Kulthum. Two daughters married to Uthman ibn Affan, one after the other, they died from sickness. And Ibrahim ibn Rasul. He also died in childhood. And previously we had Qasim, Abdullah, Tayyib, Tahir, they all died.

So the only child that was left alive when Rasulullah left this world was Fatimah. So she asked for her share. Then Abu Bakr Siddiq narrated this hadith to her and explained to her, The Anbiya, they don't leave behind inheritance of gold and silver, land and trees and orchards. Their inheritance is the ilm. And she accepted that. She now objected to it as others who speak on her behalf later on are objecting against Abu Bakr Siddiq. But she accepted that and she went back.

And then there's a word in Sahih Bukhari that is misinterpreted. When it comes that, that she did not speak to Abu Bakr Siddiq after that. Some people misinterpret that and say that she became angry and upset. She didn't talk to him ever again. Ever again lasts six months long. Only six months afterwards she passed away herself. And this was prophesied by Rasulullah. One day he was sitting with all his wives and Fatimah came. He called her close, said something in her ear, she started crying. Then to console her he said something else in her ear, she started laughing. Later on Aisha Siddiq asked her, that I know that there was a secret Rasulullah shared with you, but as your mother or stepmother, I'm asking you with my right, please tell me what did he tell you.

So then she admitted afterwards, after Rasulullah left this world, that Rasulullah told me that my time is very near, I will be leaving soon. So I burst out crying. My mother Khadijah had passed away, my sisters had passed away, my brothers passed away, and now my father is going to leave me behind. So that is why I was very sad and burst out crying. Then he told me that from my entire family you will be the first one to join me. So then I became happy. Or he said in a narration, Oh Fatima, are you pleased that you will be the queen of the women of Jannah, and you will join me fast. So then she only lived six months. And she wasn't on regularly talking basis of Abu Bakr to begin with, always talking with him. She was not going to be chatting with him. He was a Khalifa of Muslims, she was married to Ali. They were not cousins or brothers. But besides that, the meaning of the Hadith is, she did not object. She did not appeal his decision. She did not go back and argue with him. That is what the Hadith is saying.

But the enemies of the Khalifa and the enemies of Abu Bakr and Umar, they say, Oh look, he took away her right, and that is why she was upset, and she never even spoke to him after that. Like she vowed that I am never going to speak to this man because he took away my right. I seek refuge with Allah, that is a misinterpretation of the words of Hadith that took place between Fatima and Abu Bakr Siddiq. In any case, the inheritance of the Anbiya is knowledge.

Making a Choice: Knowledge as Our Priority

So now is the time for us to ponder over ourselves. Are we among those who are going for the Fard Kifai level? Or are we among those who are going for the Fard Ain level? There are only two options, there is no third option. There is no third option whatsoever.

Either we become full-time students of Deen, and become scholars of Deen, or we become part-time students of Deen, and we continue with our worldly occupations. But we have no choice not to learn the Ilm of Deen. We have no choice that we can continue to learn the Ilm of the Dunya, the knowledge of worldly life, and remain ignorant when it comes to the Umur of Akhirah, when it comes to matters of the Hereafter.

Who is Hereafter? Our Hereafter. When it comes to matters of our own grave, our day of judgment, we remain ignorant regarding that. When it comes to what Allah wants from us, we remain ignorant regarding that. When it comes to what the boss wants from us, what our work wants from us, then we are completely on top of our game. So we have to wake up to this reality. We have to make the effort of Deen, make the knowledge of Deen, acquiring the knowledge of Deen, a primary focus, and give it the due priority it deserves.

Four Questions on the Day of Judgment

There is a Hadith that Rasulullah said,

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2417)

No one will be allowed to move from their place on the Day of Judgment. Move their feet. Until they answer four questions. How did you spend your life? How did you spend your youth? In particular, the youth is asked, this is a specific restriction of a general rule, right? Specifically, the youth is being asked about, even though it's already included in the life. Because this is the time when your physical capabilities and your mental capabilities are all at its peak. What did you do with that peak time of your life? How much knowledge of Deen did you acquire? And how much of that knowledge you acquired did you practice upon? And where did you acquire your wealth? And how did you spend your wealth?

So these questions we are all going to be asked. How much knowledge of Deen did we acquire? Did we acquire that which was فَرَضُ عَيْنٌ or did we acquire that which was فَرَضُ كِفَايَةٌ And anything less than that is not acceptable.

Four Categories of People Regarding Knowledge

Rasulullah said,

(Majma' al-Zawaid, Hadith 2191)

That Rasulullah said, give us few options, four options. He said, Become a scholar yourself if you can. If that's not possible, Become a full-time student of knowledge. If that's not possible, Become a part-time student of knowledge. One who listens attentively whenever he gets a chance. If that is not possible, Become a patron, supporter of those who are studying the knowledge of deen. But don't be in any fifth group. And the fifth group is that you despise and have hatred for the students of knowledge and the possessors of knowledge.

That should be not the category we fall into. Rather we have the option of falling into the previous categories. May Allah make us among those who acquire the knowledge of deen. Such knowledge that we'll be able to put into practice and implement in our lives, transmitted to others insha'Allah, fulfill its rights and obligations. So it'd be a hujjah for us, حُجَّةً لَنَا لَا عَلَيْنَا A proof and evidence in our favor not against us on the day of judgment.

May Allah awaken us to this reality and allow us to benefit from all the opportunities we have. People who are living in far-off states, in places where there are very few Muslims, they don't have the opportunities that we have. They do not have access to scholars and to dhurus and lessons where they could learn the knowledge of deen. But for us, alhamdulillah, we have many options. So this is up to us if we avail of these opportunities or we allow them to pass without benefiting. May Allah ta'ala give us tawfiq.