Certainty in Faith - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Certainty in Faith

Indeed, the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guide is the guide of Muhammad ﷺ. And the worst of things are newly invented matters, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Command to Be Patient and Certain

The second part of the verse is a prohibition — it is something that you shouldn't do. It is the opposite of the way that you should think and behave and act. Allah instructs our Messenger ﷺ, and then by extension the Muslims — me and you — and He says:

Be patient, for indeed the promise of Allah is true, and do not be discouraged by those who lack certainty. The first portion of this verse tells us how the believer should think and behave. And in the second portion, we are told that we shouldn't be like those who have a lack of certainty.

Two Types of People in Times of Trial

When a person is going through difficulty, challenge, and trial, it is very easy to allow Shaitan to overcome you — to be overcome by a sense of despondency and despair. There are people who see, as we are seeing now — and it has been some three months since the events of Gaza started — the difficulty, the oppression that those people are facing, the many, many deaths that they have had to endure, the destruction that we see on a mass scale. And we ask Allah on this day, this blessed day of Friday, that Allah brings relief to them, that Allah protects them and their families and their land and their wealth and their property.

When you see something like this, there are two types of people in the way that they respond. Those who lack certainty in the promise of Allah — either because they have no iman or because their iman is weak — and so they are people who become depressed, people who are overcome by despondency. Not only in themselves, because they feel a sense of helplessness, which is natural, but also amongst the community and amongst other people.

They look at everyone around them and at the Muslims in general, and they say that this is our state and this is our affair. And if that spurred them into some positive action, then maybe perhaps you could say that there's some benefit in it. But when it only increases and snowballs into that effect, then it only becomes worse and worse for everybody around them. You see no hope wherever you look. You see no relief wherever you look. And that is not the mindset of the Muslim.

That is the mindset of those people who lack certainty in the promise of Allah. They don't have true iman in the words of Allah. Whereas for those people who do, they know that the words of Allah are true. They know that when Allah makes a promise, that promise must come to pass. They know that what Allah has legislated will take place and will happen. And there is nothing that can stop it from taking place.

Those people do not allow despondency to overcome them. They don't lack certainty in the promises of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ described the first group in a hadith — the hadith of Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 47, Hadith 2623)

If someone says about the people that they are destroyed, then he is the most destroyed from amongst them. Because that is not how the believer looks at other people. It is not the way that the believer should think when it comes to those types of issues. But rather the believer should be the one who has certainty in the promises of Allah — certainty in what Allah has told us in the Quran, what His Prophet ﷺ promised us in his Sunnah — certainty in what Allah tells us will take place in this dunya and in the akhirah.

And why wouldn't you have certainty? If you believe in Allah, that Allah is your Lord, that Allah is the Creator, that Allah is the Provider and the Sustainer, that Allah controls everything in the heavens and the earth, that He is the Master of the universe, that what Allah says and promises must come to pass — what Allah decrees must happen. But it may happen at a time and a place of Allah's choosing, by His wisdom and by His knowledge. But if you have that certainty in your Lord and your Creator, then why would you doubt the promises of Allah? Why would you doubt the words of Allah in the Quran?

And if you believe in the akhirah, and you believe in Yawm al-Qiyamah, and you believe in the judgment and the reckoning that will take place on that day, you believe in paradise and hellfire — then why would you doubt the words of Allah? Why wouldn't you have certainty? Why wouldn't you have a strength of iman that even in the most difficult of situations, when no one else sees any hope, you have hope in Allah? When people just see calamity all around them, the strength of your iman, and your tawakkul in Allah, and your yaqeen in Allah, makes you such that you see Allah's mercy even when other people don't.

The Prophets as Examples of Yaqeen

That is the way of the prophets of Allah, peace and blessings be upon them all. Ibrahim (عليه السلام), when he was thrown into the fire, he knew the certainty of Allah's promise. And so Allah saved him from the punishment of the fire that his people threw him into.

Musa (عليه السلام), when he saw before him the sea, and behind him the armies of Pharaoh — and the people around him, who had accepted Musa as a prophet and a messenger, people who were upon his religion — they said:

"We have been caught up to." He said, "No, never! For my Lord is with me and He will guide me."

The Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr, when they were in the cave, and Abu Bakr said, "O Messenger of Allah, one of those people only has to look down towards his feet and he will see the mouth of the cave and us within it." And the Prophet ﷺ responded:

"Don't despair, for Allah is with us." When no one else sees hope, they see hope. When no one else sees any exit or any solution, they know that Allah's promise is true. And that is what yaqeen brings.

Ask Allah for Yaqeen

And that is why, in the hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad and others — the hadith of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه — the Prophet ﷺ told us that you should ask for yaqeen. Ask Allah for yaqeen and certainty. Ask Allah for safety. Because yaqeen and certainty is one of the greatest acts of worship — one of the greatest actions of the heart that you can have.

When you have true yaqeen in Allah, in the words of Allah, in the promises of Allah, in the sharia of Allah, it doesn't mean that it's just a verbal utterance that you say — not words that are empty — but it is translated into your deeds and your actions. In the way that you behave, in the way that you think, in your character, in your worship of Allah.

Many of us claim to have yaqeen, but when it comes to practice and action, we are the furthest people away from reading the Quran. The furthest people away from doing good deeds. The furthest people away from fulfilling the obligations that Allah placed upon us. The furthest people away from having good character and manners and dealings.

None of us here, sitting here, no matter who you are or what your situation, underwent the types of trials and challenges that our Prophet ﷺ went through. He went through so many calamities — but give me just one example, just one instance in his lifetime ﷺ, when he then didn't uphold the sharia of Allah, when he didn't fulfill the obligations of Allah, when his manners, the way that he spoke, the way that he dealt with people, the way that he behaved, was anything below what is expected of a believer. Even the words of the Prophet ﷺ, even his expression, even the way that he would address people and the names that he would use to call them — they were of the greatest example of character from him ﷺ.

Because that is what yaqeen means. Yaqeen means that you don't just have the words or make the claim, but it is seen in your ibadah, in your worship, in the way that you behave, in the dealings that you have — not only with the people that are closest to you, but more importantly, even those people that are far away from you. Even the enemies of the Prophet ﷺ attested to his good character. They attested to his truthfulness, his honesty, and his integrity.

We see the oppression that some Muslims are going through, and we think that that's an excuse then to oppress others in return. We think that that's strength. We think that that's yaqeen. But that's not the yaqeen that the Prophet ﷺ displayed. How can your certainty in Allah make you a worse Muslim, a worse believer, take you further away from Allah — and then you call that yaqeen?

The Hadith of Abu Huraira and the Glad Tidings of Jannah

And that is why we have those ahadith that show to us that if you have true yaqeen, Allah will bless you in this life and the next. And Allah will give you the greatest of reward. But in the same ahadith, the Prophet ﷺ was reluctant that those ahadith should be spread amongst many people, because most people misunderstand them. They don't understand them in the correct context.

Like the hadith of Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه in Sahih Muslim, when Abu Huraira came upon the Prophet ﷺ in an enclosed garden. The Prophet ﷺ gave to Abu Huraira his sandals and said, "Take my sandals. These sandals are a sign that whoever you see knows that you came from me. The words that you speak are my words. And whoever you meet outside of this garden, tell them: if they testify to the shahada:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 31)

— and they have yaqeen in their hearts in that statement, then give them the glad tidings of Jannah." Abu Huraira left the garden. The first person he came across was Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه. He said, "O Umar, have the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that whoever says لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ with yaqeen — certainty in the heart — then they will have Jannah."

Umar heard this and he struck Abu Huraira so hard that he fell down and began to cry. He said, "Abu Huraira, go back from where you came." So Abu Huraira came to the Prophet ﷺ in tears, and Umar was behind him. The Messenger ﷺ said, "O Abu Huraira, what happened?" He said, "O Messenger of Allah, I did as you instructed and said as you told me to say, and this is how Umar responded." "Umar, why did you do this? What is your reason?" He said, "O Messenger of Allah, did you command him to say this?" He said, "Yes." He said, "O Messenger of Allah, do not do so. Because if you do so, the people will become lazy. The people will become dependent upon this. The people won't do anything because they will take the headline but forget the condition that you placed upon them."

The headline: say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. That's what most of us take from the hadith. And it is true — whoever says لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ and dies upon that will go into Jannah. But there are numerous ahadith that also say that if you sin, you don't fulfill your obligations, you commit haram — even if you have tawheed — Allah may choose to punish you. And people forget that part.

They don't have that level of yaqeen, because yaqeen means what? That you wouldn't do the haram to the best of your ability. And even if you fell into the haram, you would turn to Allah and make tawbah. Yaqeen means that your character, your dealings, your words, your actions — everything — is in accordance with what Allah is pleased with, what His Messenger ﷺ instructed. That's the thing that people forget.

And so the Prophet ﷺ, when he heard this from Umar, said, "In that case, don't tell anyone." The Prophet ﷺ is agreeing with this. And this is the generation of the companions. Umar isn't saying this about me and you and other people of our time. He is saying this in the generation of the companions, رضي الله عنهم أجمعين.

The Hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

Similar to this is the hadith of Mu'adh رضي الله عنه. The Prophet ﷺ called upon Mu'adh three times and Mu'adh responded each time:

"I am here responding, O Messenger of Allah." Three times he called him. And then he said to him:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 128; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 32)

"No one makes the shahada of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ with sincerity from their heart except that Allah will make the fire haram upon them." And then Mu'adh said, "O Messenger of Allah, should I not give this glad tiding to the people? Should I not tell them that this is what you've said?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "No."

"Because if you do so, the people will rely only upon this hadith. They will forget the many other verses and the many other ahadith." Whereas the believer takes all of that into context, takes it all together. And the hadith says that Mu'adh only narrated this hadith at the time of his death because he feared sin upon himself for withholding knowledge.

These ahadith show us the importance of certainty and what it truly means. It is not just a claim. But when you have that level of certainty, then Allah makes things easy for you. Allah will bring to you relief, will bring to you ease. Even when others are going through difficulty, you will see the hope that Allah gives to the believers. You will see the signs of good.

And we have a great deal of good within our communities. The fact that this masjid is full. The fact that people come and pray. The fact that people are reciting Quran and learning their knowledge. The fact that our youngsters are learning the Quran and memorizing it. The fact that people are giving sadaqah in great amounts. These are signs of good, signs of hope from Allah.

So the believer should be someone who is positive, knowing that the promise of Allah is true, certain in the commands of Allah and what Allah has promised. And as a result, they should act accordingly — in accordance with that which Allah has legislated, that which His Prophet ﷺ taught us.

We ask Allah that He gives us that level of yaqeen and that level of tawakkul in Him and in His words and in His promises.

Second Khutbah: The Du'a of the Prophet ﷺ for Yaqeen

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن والاه وسلم تسليمًا كثيرًا، أما بعد

In the hadith of Ibn Umar رضي الله عنه collected in the Jami' of Imam al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Umar says that the Prophet ﷺ would rarely conclude a gathering of people except that at the conclusion of that gathering he would end by saying these du'as — these supplications, these words. It is a du'a that you will be familiar with because it is a du'a that is often made by the Imam in Ramadan, in the witr prayer. But Ibn Umar mentions it in this context — that the Prophet ﷺ wouldn't just make it in Salah, but he would often end his gatherings, his meetings, his lessons with this du'a. And from that du'a — and it is a long du'a — but from it are his words ﷺ:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3502)

He used to say ﷺ: "O Allah, grant to us enough fear of You — enough taqwa, enough piety, enough khashiyah, enough fear of You — O Allah, that it will become a barricade between us and Your punishment, between us and the Fire. And grant us enough of Your obedience that it will allow us to enter into Jannah. And grant us enough yaqeen and certainty that it will make the trials and challenges of the dunya easy for us to bear."

This is what the Prophet ﷺ used to make du'a for. And he shows you one of the greatest benefits of having that type of yaqeen — that level of yaqeen that is not only yaqeen in the heart but yaqeen then in the actions, in the way that you behave, in your dealings, in your character — that certainty in the promise of Allah, such that no matter what anyone throws your way, whatever challenge or difficulty you face, whether it is something to do with you personally or something that affects people at large, you will know how to traverse that trial, that challenge, that difficulty because of your yaqeen in Allah.

And that is why the Prophet ﷺ used to say, as is mentioned in the hadith in al-Tirmidhi:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3479)

"When you make du'a, have yaqeen that Allah will respond." That's yaqeen. That level of yaqeen is so great that everything else becomes easy after it.

And that is why, as I began this khutbah today, that verse in Surah al-Rum — the final verse — Allah gave this instruction to the Prophet ﷺ because the Muslims were going through difficulty, the companions were facing one challenge after another. They would overcome one trial and another one would come. And that was their whole lifetime in the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. So Allah instructed us: be patient, knowing that the promise of Allah is true. And as for the other people who lack that certainty — do not be discouraged by them.

If you lack certainty, then you need to study more of the Quran. You need to study more of the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. You need to learn more about your tawheed and the names of Allah and His attributes. You need to learn about Qiyamah and what will happen on Yawm al-Qiyamah and in the hereafter. You need to learn and find acts of worship that will strengthen your yaqeen. Because when you have that level of yaqeen, it is from the greatest blessings and gifts that Allah can bestow upon any person.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah that He grants us that level of yaqeen. And that Allah on this day — which is the blessed day of Friday — grants us taqwa that will keep us safe from His punishment, and obedience that will allow us to enter into His Jannah, and yaqeen and certainty that will make easy for us the trials of the dunya.

We ask Allah that He brings relief to all of those who are oppressed in this world. And that Allah protects them and their lives and their property and their wealth. And we ask Allah that He showers His mercy and forgiveness and blessings upon us. Because from the greatest blessings of Allah is that you enjoy safety while other people don't. And that Allah blesses you with a level of comfort when other people are going through hardship. That is from the greatest blessings of Allah.

So we ask Allah that He allows us to praise Him and thank Him in the way that He deserves for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us, and that He relieves the suffering of those who are suffering. We ask Allah that He keeps us steadfast upon this religion, that He gives us life upon Islam and death upon Iman. And that Allah resurrects us in the highest levels of Jannah, with the people of Jannah.