The Most Beloved People To Allah Are Those Beneficial To Others

The Most Beloved People to Allah

There are the basics — salah, siyam, zakah, hajj, bir al-walidayn — all those acts that are very, very great, that help us obtain Jannah. But then there are also acts of ibadah that are unique, that not many people do.

And amongst them is the ibadah that the Prophet ﷺ describes as one of the most beloved acts to Allah. And the people that do it are the most beloved people to Allah. When a man came to the Prophet ﷺ — in the hadith of Ibn Umar رضي الله تعالى عنهم — and said:

O Prophet of Allah, who are the most beloved people to Allah? — (Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani, Hadith 5787)

And the Prophet's ﷺ response was so unique. He said:

The most beloved people to Allah are those who are most beneficial to mankind. — (Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani, Hadith 5787)

Now I want us to think and reflect on this hadith for a second. Of why the Prophet ﷺ would mention this. And how is that unique — when we would naturally think that the most beloved people to Allah would be, for instance, those who pray five times a day and then pray tahajjud and qiyam all year long, or those who are very obedient to their parents. You would think of all those aspects. But subhanAllah, the Prophet ﷺ says: أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ.

In a different narration: أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِعِبَادِي. In a third narration: أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِخَلْقِي. Being beneficial to mankind — and what that means.

Living for Others: The Words of Ibn Taymiyyah

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله comments in a very beautiful quote:

He who lives his life constantly worrying about himself, and only cares about himself — that person will live small and unknown, and die small and unknown.

A prime example of what that means: how many times have you gone to a janazah prayer that you heard about in your local community or a nearby masjid, and you went to go for the reward — the qiratan — and you prayed the janazah, and you went all the way to the cemetery, and the person may have been from the same area as you, and you have no idea who was the person in that coffin? Sometimes it might be from your own community, and you don't know who they are. They lived small and unknown, and died that way.

وَمَنْ عَاشَ لِغَيْرِهِ فَقَدْ يَتْعَبُ — the one who lives his life constantly worrying about others, naf' al-nas: How can I help? What can I do? It's honestly exhausting. قَدْ يَتْعَبُ — it's exhausting physically, mentally, emotionally, all of it. وَلَكِنَّهُ يَعِيشُ كَبِيرًا — Allah insists to elevate your status in this dunya. وَيَمُوتُ كَبِيرًا — and you will die big, subhanAllah.

The Ummah Still Has Khayr

SubhanAllah, we are in an era today, in a time where — if anything showed us in the last two years — for me personally, with what's been going on in Gaza and what's been happening in Sudan, the biggest takeaway that I've taken, alhamdulillah, is that it showed us that the ummah still has khayr. That the ummah is still united. That the ummah still hurts when other parts of it hurt. That the ummah still strives to figure out how they can help, and what they can do — and they actually fight for their freedom.

It is an act of khayr that Allah has still allowed this ummah to have. And it should be an act that we should constantly do.

I know psychologically, as a community of your magnitude, you have seen and will continue to see many different causes and many different organizations that will come and stand in front of you and talk about a cause — the urgency of it, the need for your support — and asking you to give. And naturally, we have this fatigue moment, a donor fatigue moment, where you're exhausted. The masjid needs our donations, the school needs our donations, the students of knowledge need our donations, Gaza, Sudan, Pakistan, this and that. We naturally do get overwhelmed.

But what makes you different from others is when every time that opportunity presents itself, your first response is: How can I help? What can I do? That, my brothers and sisters, is what makes you unique in the eyes of Allah, and what makes you amongst those whom Allah loves the most.

The Crisis in Sudan

How often have we lost sleep, or even lost an appetite while eating, thinking about our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Sudan — who cannot eat, who are literally eating grass as we speak? We are fasting, and not a single one of us here has a shred of concern about how or where we will break our iftar tonight. If it's not at home, it might be at the masjid or any other masjid. None of us have a concern about where we will sleep tonight.

For the most of us — subhanAllah — even those who are struggling, even those living paycheck to paycheck, that paycheck is sustaining them from now until the end of the month. When we think about all the ni'mah that Allah has given us — reflect on this moment for a second — and then imagine yourself at a moment in time where you have everything around you: a nice home, a car, food, anything that you want, family and kids. And literally overnight, all of that is gone.

I am visiting today with Sudan Relief USA, and I am also a Sudanese citizen who grew up here in the US, alhamdulillah. But I have lost, in the last three years, over 200 family members in Sudan. The genocide that has been going on in Sudan — a lot of people have not had any idea what's going on because there wasn't media coverage. And subhanAllah, I have been traveling the nation for the last three years, every single Friday, trying to raise awareness and raise funds for those in Sudan.

The biggest challenge I faced was figuring out how I could draw the picture in people's heads of what's actually going on there — because of the lack of media coverage. Until subhanAllah, just three months ago in October — 953 days after the war began — the world was finally able to see what has been going on in a small portion of Sudan, in al-Fashr. Where a million people have been displaced and fled al-Fashr. Just al-Fashr alone.

Sudan once had 50 million citizens. Today, 23 million of them have been displaced and lost their homes. Imagine being in that scenario — you have everything, and then overnight you are in the streets fleeing for your life.

Historically in Sudan, what happened in previous revolutions and wars is that they would last three to four days. People would flee and come back a week later at the absolute most. But we have seen parents who fled with their five or six children, living in the streets for days and weeks and months. Their children — who the night before were sleeping in the comfort of their homes — are repeatedly asking their parents: "Baba, Mama, when are we going back home?" And these parents kept telling them — because they don't know — the only thing they could do is provide hope. They kept saying: "We'll be back home soon. We'll be back home soon." And here they are, three years later, trying to maintain that hope in their children's hearts.

The death toll has surpassed 700,000 people in Sudan in the last three years. 85% of the hospitals across the entire nation — not just a strip, not just a city or a state, but the entire nation — have been destroyed by what the RSF has done, destroying the core hospitals and medical systems.

I have a three-year-old daughter, subhanAllah, alhamdulillah. Every time my daughter wakes up sick, hungry, or afraid, she comes to me and says, "Daddy, hold me" or "Daddy, I'm hungry" or "Daddy, I'm hurt." When I hold her — subhanAllah — before I can even do anything, sometimes I'll just kiss wherever she's hurt, and she will tell me, "Daddy, I'm all good now," and she'll go back running — and the blood is still on her arms.

There are over 300,000 orphans in Sudan that don't even have a father or a mother to give them that comfort day in and day out. There is no orphanage system in Sudan for kids to go and find food.

SubhanAllah, Sudan Relief is providing soup kitchens and central kitchens in different cities and states in Sudan — in about 19 states right now — along with mobile clinics for those who need urgent medical care, and food and water for families that have not had food for months.

Literally in Sudan today, every nine minutes a child dies due to hypothermia. You know those little baby warmers they put newborns in the minute they're born? They don't have that. In Sudan, it costs $900. And that $900 baby warmer would literally decrease the rate from a child dying every nine minutes to every 42 minutes. Look at the gap that difference makes — for the most basic of basic life necessities that the people of Sudan do not have.

The Obligation to Give — Loving for Your Brother What You Love for Yourself

Yes, today it may be Sudan, and tomorrow it may be Gaza. I urge this community, and every community: anytime an organization or a cause that you are aware of is calling you for support, do not hesitate.

Naturally, the act of sadaqah, the act of giving, is by far one of the most difficult acts of ibadah upon our nafs. It's how Allah created us — we naturally do not like to give what we worked hard for. Which, ironically, happens to be the very act of ibadah that every one of us, when we are laying on our deathbed and we see the Angel of Death, Malak al-Maut, descending to take our soul, Allah mentions that every one of us will make the very same du'a:

"O my Lord, if only You would delay me for a little while, so I may give charity and be among the righteous."

We have all heard the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:

None of you will truly believe until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. — (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 13; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 45)

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله mentions that loving for your brother what you love for yourself comes in three different stages.

Stage one: when you are asked, you give immediately. That is the first stage of loving for your brother what you love for yourself.

Stage two is higher. He says you give before you are even asked. And wallahi, if there is a nation that I am proud to be amongst and that I would describe this way — Allah describes them in the Quran:

"They do not beg of people with importunity."

They will never come and ask. Amongst them is the nation of Sudan. You will never find them on media extending their hands and asking people — because of their dignity and self-respect. But look at the honor: Allah in the Quran asks on behalf of individuals like them, and people in Gaza, and people around us even here locally, who have so much dignity and pride and self-respect that they will never come and ask. Allah asked on their behalf.

Stage three — the highest level — is when you give even when you need it the most. That last bread. That last dollar in your account. You need it even more, but you give it to them.

A Call to Support Sudan Relief

Brothers and sisters, we would like to be able to help and support those orphans and widows in Sudan — to provide food and water. I kindly ask you, inshallah ta'ala, to give us exactly two minutes after the salah to remain seated. Jazakumullah khairan. Please support this cause generously. May Allah accept from us. Jazakumullah khairan.