Virtues of Muharram by Sh. Hafeezullah Khan

Khutbah: Virtues of Muharram

Opening — Khutbatul Hajah

The Sacred Months

Allah says:

Brothers and sisters, Allah says the number of months in the sight of Allah are twelve in a year, so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth. Of them four are sacred — that is the right religion, so wrong not yourself therein. The four months, according to authentic hadith, are the month of Dhul Qa'dah, Dhul Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab.

Brothers and sisters, in relation to these months, Allah has specifically mentioned that we must especially avoid doing sinful acts in them, otherwise the wrongdoer may be dealt with a more severe punishment compared to the other months.

Brothers and sisters, in relation to deeds and actions, Allah has given more importance to some places over other places, to some days over others, and some months over other months. This means that there is a difference in reward and punishment in accordance with the place, time, and people. For example, praying in the Haram — one salah is rewarded the same as one hundred thousand prayers. But then punishment for sins is also very extreme at this place, as Allah says: whoever oppresses himself by committing a sin within the boundaries of the Haram, then We will give him severe punishment.

The same is with individuals. For example, swearing at a Muslim is a sinful thing as stated in the hadith, but the same swear at one's parents brings the curse of Allah upon the person — and Allah's curse means that person will enter the hellfire. In the same way, days and months have importance — for example, the month of Ramadan, and these four months in the Islamic calendar that are better than other months in relation to deeds and actions.

The Month of Muharram and the Day of Ashura

One of these sacred months is the month of Muharram, which we entered last week with the new Islamic calendar. About this month, the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 202)

"The best of fasts beside the month of Ramadan is the fasting during the month of Allah — Al-Muharram. And the best of prayers besides the obligatory prayers is the Tahajjud prayer — the night prayers."

The tenth day of Muharram, known as the Day of Ashura, is a very significant day in this month. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) has encouraged the Ummah to fast on this day. He is reported to have said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 197)

"Fasting the day of Ashura — I hope that Allah will accept it as expiation for the minor sins of the previous year."

So whoever fasts on the tenth of Muharram can hope from Allah that He will forgive his previous year's sins. But there are conditions for having our minor sins forgiven — and that is to refrain and stay away from major sins. As Allah says:

"If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden to do, We shall expiate from you your small sins and admit you to a noble entrance."

Major sins are those which are said to bring the curse and anger of Allah upon the person, and those which lead you to the hellfire — such as associating partners with Allah in worship, adultery, disobedience of parents, breaking kinship, taking the wealth of orphans, and backbiting, etc.

Warning Against Misguided Practices in Muharram

These are some of the importances of this month — the month of Muharram. But sadly, a particular group of Muslims welcome this month in a totally un-Islamic manner. They show great sadness by beating themselves and causing harm to their bodies. What is even more concerning is that those who claim to be the followers of the Sunnah — who say about themselves that they are from the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah — are also misled by this particular group and hold such gatherings to mark this month with sorrow.

This particular group goes even further, especially in this month, by making accusations about the Prophet's companions — about the Sahabah — and humiliating them in their gatherings and in their speeches. Remember that these are the companions who passed on the Quran and Sunnah to us. By creating doubts about them, we are in fact doubting our own Islamic beliefs and teachings. The companions were the generation of people who were the most pious of this Ummah, the most learned, most foremost in their simplicity, and most firm on the guided path. Allah selected them for the companionship of His beloved Prophet Muhammad.

The Status of the Companions (Sahabah)

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says about them:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3673; Sahih Muslim, Book 44, Hadith 221)

"Do not humiliate or say bad about my companions" — and he repeated that twice — "By Allah in Whose hands is my soul, if anyone of you spends gold to the size of Mount Uhud, it will not be even half a mudd compared to what the companions achieved." As you know, a mudd is said to be approximately half a kilo in weight.

There is also another hadith in which the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3862)

"Fear Allah with regards to my companions. Do not make them targets of your criticism. Anyone who loves them, it means that he loves me. Anyone who shows hatred towards them, it means that he hates me. And he who harmed them has harmed me."

That is why the famous hadith scholar Ibn Salah says that it is important to believe that the companions — the Sahabah — were just, because it is that generation which conveyed the Deen to us. If we doubt them in any way, then the whole Deen, including the Quran and the Sunnah, will become doubtful.

And the prominent scholar Abu Zur'ah al-Razi says: "When you see that someone is humiliating or saying something bad about the companions of the Prophet, you can believe that he is a shaitan — he is a zindiq. Because the Prophet was the truth, the Quran is the truth, and those who conveyed this truth to us are the companions. Such people are trying to damage the Quran and hadith, and because they are not able to do so directly, they try through humiliating those who conveyed this Deen to us."

The Companions as Our Criterion

There is another important point: Allah has made the companions — the Sahabah — a criterion for us to judge ourselves — are we on the straight path or not? Allah has ordered us to follow them. As Allah says:

"If these people become believers like you are, then they are on the right path." And in another place, Allah says:

Brothers and sisters, if we want to know whether we are on the straight path, we need to compare our faith and our practice with that of the companions. If it tallies with the companions, then we are on the straight path. If not, then we need to correct ourselves. Rather than arguing among each other, we just need to tally our aqeedah, our iman, and our actions with those of the companions.

In a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2641)

"When the days of trials and fitna come and this Ummah will be divided into 73 different groups," — and when asked which group is on the straight path — he said: "They are those who are on my path and my companions' path." So we can save ourselves from the hellfire by making the companions our criterion to follow in everything that we do.

The Companions' Dedication to Preserving the Sunnah

The companions were the generation that preserved every action of the Prophet. They gave many sacrifices for this. They had the firm belief that Allah's pleasure and forgiveness can only be achieved by following the Prophet's teaching. Allah says:

"Say, O Muhammad, to the people: If you love Allah, then follow me — Allah will love you and forgive your sins."

They were so keen to learn every action of the Prophet and preserve it. There are many examples. For example, Umar ibn al-Khattab says about himself: "My neighbour and I took it in turns to spend our time with the Prophet to learn the Sunnah, to learn his teachings and see his actions, and then come and tell each other. That way, we learnt the Sunnah."

Brothers and sisters, today we have the technology that gives us easy access to the sahih Sunnah of the Prophet, but we lack the dedication and will to learn it. Ibn Abbas says about himself in a sahih narration that after the death of the Prophet, he said to a friend: "Now the Prophet has passed away and we must learn the Sunnah from the companions. Shall we go?" His friend took no interest, but Ibn Abbas used to follow the companions and even waited outside their doorsteps so he could learn the ahadith and Sunnah of the Prophet.

We know about Abu Hurairah, who narrated more than 7,000 ahadith of the Prophet. Although he embraced Islam in the 7th year of Hijrah, he said: "People used to be busy in their business, but I used to follow the Prophet day and night to capture his every action and follow what he said and did — and that is how I gathered these ahadith."

And there is the example of 'Uqbah ibn al-Harith, when a woman came to him after he got married and said that she had breastfed both him and his wife. He said: "When I heard this, I was in Makkah, and I wanted to know what is halal and what is haram, so I travelled to Madinah to ask the Prophet about this matter." The Prophet told him that he needed to separate from his wife. The point is that just to seek guidance in one matter, 'Uqbah travelled approximately 500 km from Makkah to Madinah — and today we see many of our brothers who pronounce divorce to their wives, then make up, divorce again, then make up several times, but they don't bother to seek correct guidance on this sensitive matter and may be living a haram life.

Following the Sunnah Without Questioning

It was the quality of the companions that they used to follow the Prophet in every action without questioning the reason behind it. It is reported in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that when Umar ibn al-Khattab kissed the Black Stone after the death of the Prophet, he said:

"You are only a stone. You can neither harm nor benefit me. The only reason I am kissing you is because I saw the Prophet kissing you. That is the only reason. If I had not seen the Prophet kiss you, I would never have done so."

Likewise in Sahih al-Bukhari, it is reported that Umar ibn al-Khattab also once said while doing Tawaf that the Prophet ordered us to do the Ramal — the brisk walking during Tawaf — to show the Mushrikeen our power and strength. He then reflected: now that the whole Arabian lands are Muslims and powerful, why do we still need to do the Ramal? Then he said: "Because we saw the Prophet doing this, so we will continue it. We don't need to find any other reason."

And the Prophet once took off his shoes in prayer while he was leading it and placed them to his left. So the companions, when they saw that, also took off their shoes. After the prayer, the Prophet asked them: "Why did you all do this?" They replied: "We saw you and so we followed." He explained: "During the prayer, the angel came to me and said my shoes had dirt on them, so I took them off."

Correcting Innovations in Acts of Worship

Brothers and sisters, the companions would not tolerate anyone going against the Sunnah of the Prophet. A person sneezed in the presence of Ibn Umar, and after sneezing, said: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ. Ibn Umar said to him: "I too say these words — الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ — but not after sneezing, because that is not what the Prophet taught us."

So brothers and sisters, we see these qualities of the companions: they kept the Sunnah alive and acted upon it exactly as it was, without any changes to it. They did not like anyone opposing the Sunnah, and so they kept the true Deen alive.

Conclusion

We too need to adopt these qualities and strengthen our links with the companions — to make ourselves firm on the straight path, to gain the love and forgiveness of Allah, and to keep the Sunnah of the Prophet alive in its true form. By this way, we can defeat the groups who are trying to damage the personalities of the companions.

Brothers and sisters, if we want to preserve the Sunnah, then strengthen your relationship with the companions. Study their lives. Teach your children. Know their lives. Learn their sacrifices. So that we can preserve this religion from our side as well.

May Allah guide us all. Ameen.

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