“Be in this world as if you were a stranger” - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

"Be in This World as if You Were a Stranger"

As for what follows — the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. The worst of affairs are innovations, and every innovation is a newly invented matter, and every newly invented matter is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

Islam Began as Something Strange

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

This hadith is an amazing hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — concise and succinct in its words, but amazing and deep in its meaning. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is comparing two times in this ummah, and two groups of people from amongst the people of this ummah. And even though the distance or the time that elapses between those two groups of people may well be centuries, may well be a great deal of time, there is an overlap between them in terms of the situation that they face. Both of those groups of people are strangers amongst their people.

In the beginning of Islam, in the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Islam was seen as something strange. You would have the odd person in a family being a Muslim. You had the odd person in a tribe or a clan being a Muslim. You had the odd person in a community or a city accepting Islam. Those people — they were strangers. Because what they stood up for and what they upheld and what they believed in was something that the vast majority of people didn't accept, didn't like. It wasn't the popular opinion. It wasn't the mainstream or the norm of those communities and those societies.

And that is why Allah tells us that all of the Prophets of Allah, when they would come to their people and they would call them to the Tawheed of Allah, from amongst the most common responses that they would receive was:

"This isn't something that we've heard before from our forefathers. This is something weird, something strange, something that we don't accept." That is how Islam began. And for those people at that time to hold on to their religion, to be steadfast upon it, to persevere and have the discipline and the strength and the courage to believe in Allah and to worship Him required a great deal from them. And that is why Allah honors and blesses those people that we call the companions of our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — وَرَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ.

Islam Will Return to Being Strange

But then, towards the end of time, Islam becomes strange again — not necessarily this time because the Muslims are few and far between, not necessarily because there's only one Muslim in a family or in a community or in a country, but because the correct understanding of Islam and holding on to the Quran and the teachings of the Sunnah becomes strange. Even amongst the Muslims, as the scholars of the Salaf used to mention, a person wants to stand up and hold on to the Sunnah. They want to abide by the commands of Allah. They want to live their life in accordance to the revelation that Allah gave. But even amongst the Muslims, that becomes strange because the people have become distant from Allah. Their Iman has become weak. Their understanding of the religion is not the same way as the companions and the Tabi'een understood this religion.

So the Muslim, even at that time, becomes strange even amongst the Muslims. They look at him and he's someone who wants to uphold the Sunnah. They consider that to be strange because the way that they want to practice Islam isn't necessarily according to the Quran and to the Sunnah. You have the person who's invited to the wedding, but the wedding is full of music, full of free mixing. That person wants to stay away from that wedding because they want to uphold in their life the laws of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — but his own family, her own friends, her own relatives are going to speak against them. Why? Because that person is trying to hold on to the Sunnah, and so they are like strangers in that time.

Who Are the Strangers?

And that is why in the narration of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه — the hadith with which I began this khutbah — there is a continuation. The companions said:

"Who are these strangers that you're speaking about, that you gave to them this amazing reward, glad tidings?" Some of the scholars said ṭūbā means every goodness, every reward is for those people. And others said it is from the names of Jannah — that those people will have Jannah. Another said it is the name of a tree of Jannah, a tree by the name of ṭūbā. Allah will give to those people their reward. They said, "Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, peace and blessings be upon him:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 3784; also reported by al-Tabarani)

"Those people who want to stay upright when others are committing mistakes and errors." Just because the people don't know their Tawheed, they don't know the Sunnah, they don't know what the companions were upon — that doesn't mean that the one who is standing up for that, defending it, acting upon it, is the peculiar or strange one. He is strange in the sense that the people don't understand it anymore. But it is not strange in the sight of Allah. That person, even by himself, is the one who can uphold the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. And for those people there is an amazing reward.

Because one of the things that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prophesized and told us — one of the principles we learn in our religion — is that as time passes by, it becomes more and more difficult to be steadfast upon your religion. More and more difficult to learn your religion, to seek knowledge. More and more difficult to understand your religion and to apply it in the correct way. More and more difficult to understand the true context in which the issues of the Sharī'ah should be understood. It is difficult. It requires discipline, it requires time, it requires effort, it requires a great deal of juhd and ijtihad from you.

The Brothers of the Prophet

And that is when the hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه, also in Sahih Muslim, becomes relevant. He said that they once went with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and they entered into the graveyard. And he gave salams to the inhabitants of the graveyard — this is the Sunnah:

He gave salams to the deceased of the graveyard. And then he said, peace and blessings be upon him, to those companions who were with him:

"I wish that I could meet our brothers." The companions were taken aback and they said, "O Messenger of Allah —

"Are we not your brothers?" He said, peace and blessings be upon him:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 249)

"You are my companions. My brothers are those people who have yet to come" — meaning those believers who will come after his death, peace and blessings be upon him. In another wording of the same hadith, he said: "There are those who will come after me, who never saw me nor met me, but they will still believe in me and follow me." That is the definition of being a brother to the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. May Allah make us from amongst those people.

They said, "O Messenger of Allah, how will you recognize your brothers when you never met them?" He said, peace and blessings be upon him: "If one of you was to have a horse that had streaks of white on its legs and he was in a paddock with horses that are all one single color, wouldn't that horse that is streaked with white stand out?" They said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "Likewise, the people of my ummah — they will be streaked with light on Yawm al-Qiyamah from the remnants, from the signs of wudu that they used to make on their arms, on their feet. Those signs of wudu will be prominent on that day."

And then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "And I will meet you on my hawd, my pond. But as I stand on my pond, there will be people that will come and they will be pushed away by the angels the way that the stray camel is pushed away. And I will say, 'Let them come, let them come.' And they will say to me, 'You don't know how they changed your religion after you.' So I will say, 'Then take them away from me, take them away from me.'"

This is what it means to be a غَرِيب, a stranger. To hold on to something when people are altering it. To hold on to something that people are changing. To hold on to something that people are trying to water down. Because your belief and my belief is in Allah — that there is no good, nothing that is beneficial, nothing that will bring you success and salvation in this life and the next except that Allah gave it to us in the Quran and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned it to us in his authentic Sunnah. And therefore, to hold on to that — understanding it correctly, in its correct context, applying it in the correct way — that is our religion.

The Hadith of Ibn Omar: Be a Stranger in This World

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to prepare his companions for that time — the mindset of the believer, the way that you have to think and sometimes behave, especially when the people who are closest to you: your family, your friends, your neighbors, your relatives, are the ones who are saying that you're not doing a good job or you're not on the correct path. And it's because of their ignorance, because of their lack of knowledge — not necessarily because you are making a mistake.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, narrated the hadith of Abdullah ibn Omar رضي الله عنهما in Sahih al-Bukhari. He said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, held me by my shoulders and said:

"O Ibn Omar, be in this life, in this world, as if you are a stranger or a traveler." Because the stranger, the traveler — you're going to settle in a place in a certain way, as opposed to the one who is a resident, or the one who thinks they will live forever, or the one who has no intention of moving on from that place. There are two different ways of looking at something.

The believer knows that this dunya is temporary, that this life is temporary, it's finite. Even if you live for a hundred years, it is like the blink of an eye. And so the believer is the one who is غَرِيب — a stranger. They behave like a stranger; their mindset is a stranger's mindset. And the word غُرْبَة here, in the text of the Quran and the Sunnah, does not mean that you're doing things that are weird, crazy, or extreme. No. You are غَرِيب in the sense that you're trying to hold on to the Quran and the Sunnah at a time when people don't necessarily understand or recognize what that means. That is what غُرْبَة is. That is what it means to be strange.

Holding onto a Red Hot Coal

In the hadith of Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani رضي الله عنه, collected in Jami' al-Tirmidhi, he said that the Prophet told us, peace and blessings be upon him:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3058)

"Indeed, ahead of you are days — the one who is steadfast in those days will be like the one who holds onto a red hot coal." Meaning: the one who understands their religion, holds onto it, and applies it to the best of their human ability will be like someone who has been given a red hot coal in their hands. Why? Because if you were to put that into someone's hand, your immediate reaction is to let go — because it is painful and it is difficult and it is hard. But he holds onto it, knowing that this is the religion of Allah.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us that the reward of one of those people is like the reward of fifty from amongst the companions — speaking to the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. And that is because those people are striving and working hard to try to understand their religion and to worship Allah, to live their lives in accordance to the teachings of the Quran and the authentic Sunnah of our Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.

To be from those people is something extremely rewarding. And we live in times that are difficult. Sometimes it is not easy to hold onto your religion. Sometimes it is not easy to stand up and be confident and proud in what you believe in, even though you know that it is the truth and from Allah. And so these hadiths, these rewards, these reminders from our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — I hope that they serve by way of inspiration and motivation to keep us steadfast. May Allah make us from amongst those people to whom He gives thabāt — steadfastness — certainty, strength in their Iman, and makes them from amongst those people to whom Allah gives His ma'iyyah — that He is with them with His Divine care and His Divine protection.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Two points that I want to leave you with in light of what we are discussing — the hadith of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that I began this khutbah with: that indeed this religion began as something strange and it will return to being strange, so glad tidings for the strangers.

The hadith has a number of wordings, and from amongst those wordings, when they said, "O Messenger of Allah, describe those people to us," he said, peace and blessings be upon him:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 3784)

"They are those people who increase when the people decrease" — meaning that when the people are decreasing in terms of their Iman and their faith, in terms of their piety, in terms of their awareness and consciousness of Allah, in terms of their ibadah, in terms of their knowledge and understanding of the Quran and the Sunnah — these are the people who increase. They do more, they learn more, they strive more, and they seek to worship Allah more, and they seek to abide by the teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah more.

First Point: Patience and Steadfastness

It is from the greatest of Allah's blessings that He gives to a person thabāt — steadfastness. And that is why when Umm Salamah رضي الله عنها was asked what was the most frequent du'a she heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, make, she said: "I used to often hear him make the du'a:

"O Turner of the hearts, keep my heart firm upon Your religion." He used to ask Allah to keep him steadfast, to keep him patient, to give him the strength to be able to stay firmly upon this religion.

Second Point: Seeking Knowledge

The second thing: in order for you to abide by this, to uphold it, to be from amongst these people who are the غُرَبَاء — the strangers — then you have to learn your religion. You have to seek knowledge. How can you distinguish between what is Tawheed and shirk, what is Sunnah and bid'ah, what is correct or incorrect, if you don't know your religion? If you haven't sought the knowledge of your religion, you don't know what's correct and incorrect because you haven't taken the time or made the effort to learn.

And that is when you get things in the correct context. That is when you understand the rulings of the Sharī'ah the way that they are meant to be understood. That is when Allah, by His will, safeguards you through that knowledge from going to extremes and doing things that are not sanctioned by Allah or legislated in this religion. To seek knowledge is one of the greatest ways that Allah fortifies a person's will.

And that is why those people who will be taken away from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, on Yawm al-Qiyamah — it is because of their lack of knowledge. When they started to innovate in their religion and change the religion of Allah, it was because they didn't learn the Quran, they didn't know the Sunnah, they didn't know what the companions were upon, رضي الله عنهم.

So we ask Allah by His most beautiful names and lofty attributes that He endows us all with beneficial knowledge and with righteous action. And that Allah makes us from amongst those people who, when we hear the admonitions of the Quran and the Sunnah, we follow them in the most correct and best of ways. We ask Allah that He keeps us safe — us and our families — that Allah showers His mercy and forgiveness upon us, and that Allah safeguards us from the whisperings of Shaytan and from the allies of Shaytan.