True Victory & Success - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

True Victory & Success

All of us are subject to the environment that we live in, the culture that we come from, what we're exposed to, what we see, what we hear. That's just human nature, that you will be influenced by those things. So the Shari'ah, the Qur'an and the Sunnah, it gives you concepts and it tells you this is the way that you should understand them.

And if what you have, your understanding currently conforms with that, then alhamdulillah. And if not, then you correct your understanding to conform with the Qur'an and the Sunnah. For example, the concept of beauty.

We're told to understand beauty in a certain way in terms of what we're exposed to, in terms of our culture, in terms of the environment that we live in. But the Prophet told us, صلى الله عليه وسلم, in the hadith, that Allah does not look at your physical appearances nor does He look at your bodies. Rather, Allah looks at your actions, He looks at your hearts, He looks at the taqwa that you have for Him.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

That's a correction of a concept that most of us sometimes fall foul of in terms of our understanding. You can say the same about power, you can say the same about wealth, you can say the same about happiness. And one of those concepts that is also mentioned in the Qur'an and the Sunnah that we also need to understand in its correct context is the concept of victory and success.

Because victory and success is measured by different people in different ways. Some people measure it in terms of finance and money and wealth. Other people measure it in terms of power and prestige and status. Some people measure it in terms of happiness and joy and the level of contentment that they feel.

The Qur'anic Definition of Success

But Allah in Surah al-Buruj in the Qur'an, Allah tells the believers, the Muslims, how they should understand the concept of success. He says:

Indeed, those who have iman, they live a life upon iman, belief in Allah. And then they do righteous deeds, a life of good deeds and actions and worship of Allah. For them will be gardens beneath which rivers flow — that is the greatest of all success.

Now what is interesting about this verse in Surah al-Buruj is that it is mentioned in the context of a story about the people who were burnt in a ditch. Trenches were dug for them and fire was placed in those trenches, and those believers in Allah were placed within those trenches and they were burnt alive.

In the Qur'an, when Allah speaks about victory and success, He speaks about it in a couple of different ways, gives different examples of it. From them is that Allah saves the mu'mineen in the dunya, and Allah punishes their enemies in the dunya, as is mentioned in a number of the stories of the prophets — the story of Hud, the story of Salih, the story of Shu'ayb, peace be upon them, and others.

Allah says that He saved the believers with those prophets and Allah destroyed their enemies. But in this surah, in Surah al-Buruj, those people weren't saved from the punishment of the dunya. Those people succumbed — they were tortured and they were killed in the dunya. But Allah still calls them people of success.

Why? Because the true understanding of success is that a person dies upon iman, a person dies upon the worship of Allah, a person dies in a way that is pleasing to Allah, as the Prophet told us, صلى الله عليه وسلم, that indeed if Allah loves someone, اسْتَعْمَلَهُ — He uses them, is the wording. They said, O Messenger of Allah, how does He use them? How does Allah use someone? He said, صلى الله عليه وسلم, He gives them the ability to do righteous actions before their death. That is the true concept of success.

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 17330; also referenced in Sahih al-Bukhari)

The Story of the People of the Trench

In the story in Surah al-Buruj, Allah speaks about these people and He says:

Cursed are the people who killed others in the trenches that they dug. Allah curses them because when they dug those trenches:

They placed within them fire — flames that wouldn't abate. They continued to stoke those flames so that when those people were thrown in, they would be burnt in one of the most grievous ways that a person can be punished.

Those people of the ditch, of the trench, the scholars of tafsir differed as to who it's referring to. And one of those positions amongst the Salaf, and it is a good position, is that Allah isn't referring to a single group of people or a single incident, but that there were a number of people that were punished in that way, that had to undergo that type of oppression because of their belief in Allah.

From those people is what is mentioned in the Sunnah, in the hadith of Suhayb, رضي الله عنه, in Sahih Muslim — the famous story of the king and the sorcerer and the boy. It is a long narration, but to summarize it: there was a king who used to believe in magic, so he would have a sorcerer. And when the sorcerer became old, the sorcerer asked for an apprentice, so a boy was appointed to him, to be his apprentice.

But the boy, when he would go towards the sorcerer, on the way he would pass by a monk — a person of iman, a person of belief in Allah, a person who understood that what this king was doing with the sorcerer was haram. He taught this boy to believe in Allah. And as that boy becomes a believer, increases in knowledge, increases in his station and closeness to Allah, Allah gave him the ability to do certain things. And from that which he could do, by the permission of Allah, is that he could cure sickness — cure the illnesses and the ailments of people.

So when the people began to hear this, and they learnt of this, they would come to him. Such as the advisor of the king — he comes to him and he's blind. And he says to him, I hear that you cure people. He said, no, it is Allah who cures. And if you believe in Allah, and you worship Allah, and you have iman in Allah, and you make du'a to Allah, then Allah may cure you as well. So the man believes, and he makes du'a for him, and Allah returns to him his sight.

When the king sees this advisor and says, you used to be blind — who gave back your eyesight? He said, my Lord. So he asked him, and do you have a lord other than me? He said, my lord and your lord is Allah. So the king becomes angry and incensed. He finds out who the boy is and who the monk is, and he starts to torture them and kill them, because they refused to leave their religion.

But with the boy, he is unable to kill him, despite trying a number of times, until the boy says that the only way that you can kill me is that you gather all of the people together, and then you crucify me — place me on a tree or on a pole. And then you take an arrow, and before you shoot it, you say the name of Allah, invoke Allah's name: By the Lord of the boy — and then you kill me. And so that's what the king does.

And when the people hear the statement that this man could only be killed by Allah's permission, most of those people believe in Allah. They accept Islam. The advisor of the king says, the very thing that you feared has now happened. You are trying to torture those people and persecute them so they don't believe in Allah — now all of them believe in Allah.

So he orders that these trenches are dug, that fire is placed within them, and that those people are burned alive. In some of those wordings, it is said that from those people going towards the ditch, the trench, because of their belief, was a woman carrying a child in her arms. And as she comes towards the edge of the ditch, she hesitates. So the child says to her, my mother, you are upon the truth, so don't hesitate. And she also falls within that trench.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 3005)

Lessons from Surah al-Buruj

First Lesson: True Success is in the Akhirah

Allah mentions to us in these verses, in Surah al-Buruj, a number of important lessons. And the first of them is the one that I began with — that true success is not measured in terms of the dunya, but it is measured in terms of the akhira. True success is as Allah mentions in Surah al-Buruj. No matter what takes place in the dunya, what happens to you, what difficulties you have to suffer, what ending you may have — if you are upon iman and righteous deeds, Allah says:

That is the greatest of all success.

Second Lesson: Allah is Witness Over All Things

Allah when He speaks about those people and how they were being tortured in Surah al-Buruj, He says:

And they were witnesses over the oppression that they committed upon those believers. Those people that they tortured, those people that they killed unjustly — they were witnesses over them. Three times in this surah, or four times, Allah mentions this word of being witness, of testimony, of testification.

Allah takes an oath at the beginning of the surah and He says:

By the witness and that which is witnessed. Allah takes an oath by these two things. And the scholars of tafsir have a number of different statements as to what it's referring to. But all of them, if you were to bring them together, all of them say that Allah will have many different things that will be a witness on Yawm al-Qiyamah. The earth is a witness. The days are a witness. The angels are a witness. The people who do evil are a witness. And me and you — all of us, our bodies are witnesses upon us. And Allah will bring forth the testimony of all of those things.

In the tafsir of Mujahid, رحمه الله تعالى, the famous scholar of tafsir, the Imam of the Tabi'een, the student of Ibn Abbas, رضي الله عنهما — he says, Allah says in the Qur'an:

That they would bring out their couches and their recliners, and they would sit upon them as they were watching the oppression being committed upon the people of the trench. They dug them, then they sat back and they enjoyed the spectacle that was taking place. This is the tafsir of Mujahid and some of the scholars of tafsir.

Allah says, they are witnesses to what took place. And then Allah says, in the greatest witness:

And Allah is a witness over all things.

Third Lesson: The Names Al-Aziz and Al-Hamid

Allah also gives us another lesson — He says concerning these people:

And the only reason for their oppression and for their torture was their belief in Allah. And then Allah mentions two of His names — Al-Aziz and Al-Hamid. That Allah is Almighty, All-Powerful.

From the benefits of mentioning this name here — and Allah knows best — is that Allah wants to impress upon each and every single one of us: it is one of the tenets of our iman, our aqeedah, our belief in Allah, that Allah has power over everything. If He willed, there would be no oppression upon the believers. And if He willed, Allah could remove harm from anyone He so wished.

If He willed, all of those stories in the Qur'an that we have of the prophets that came, and what we know from the Sunnah and the Seerah of our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — the many hardships that he had to endure, the many difficulties and trials that the companions went through — had Allah willed, none of it would have taken place. Because Allah is Al-Aziz. Allah does as He pleases. Allah is all-powerful, all-mighty. And from the attributes that is mentioned towards the end of the surah concerning our Lord is that He is:

He does as He pleases — for a knowledge and wisdom that He alone knows. It is not my place or your place to question Allah's decree. It's not my place or your place to object to Allah's knowledge or His wisdom. But it is our place to understand the lessons that Allah gives us.

So when Allah allowed for certain harm to come upon the companions or the believers or a group of Muslims, or whatever oppression occurs across the world in many different ways and forms — Allah allows that. And there is knowledge and wisdom within allowing that from Allah. But also Allah says that He is Al-Hameed — the one worthy of all praise — to show that even in that difficult situation that those people of the trench were in, what does the believer do in all times and in all places? They are people of Hamd, people who praise Allah. They turn to Allah even in those most difficult of times and places and situations, they make du'a to Allah. They praise Allah. They thank Allah. They continue to worship Him.

If someone was to look at that story and those verses, you would think that from all of the names that Allah could have chosen, He would have perhaps chosen a different one. But Allah chose this name Al-Hameed. Because that is how the believer is — in times of ease, in times of difficulty, in times that are good, in times that are bad. The believer is the one who turns to Allah. They praise Him, they thank Him, and they continue to worship Him.

Fourth Lesson: Allah Will Hold the Oppressors to Account

Allah, from the lessons that He gives to us in this, is that He will hold to account those people who commit evil and do oppression. If they don't make tawbah, they don't turn back to Allah, they don't change their ways, Allah will hold them to account:

Those who try and test the believing men and the believing women, and then they don't make tawbah, they don't turn back to Allah — for them will be the punishment of the fire, for them will be the punishment of the blazing flames. Allah will hold them to account. And Allah is the most just of all judges. And Allah will bring all of us together on Yawm al-Qiyamah, and hold each and every single one of us to account for that which we do.

It is on that day, those who pass that test — they are the ones who are truly successful. And those who fail, despite what they may have had in the dunya, despite all of the treasures that they may have had, those are the people of true loss.

Those who are the people of iman, the people of righteous deeds, for them will be gardens under which rivers flow. That is the greatest of all success. We ask Allah that He grants us that success, that He makes us people of iman and righteous deeds, people who trust in Him and have yaqeen — certainty — in His promises.

Second Khutbah: The Severity of Allah's Punishment and His Forgiveness

Towards the end of Surah al-Buruj, Allah mentions two verses that I want to mention to you in conclusion. One concerning those who do evil, who harm others and commit oppression, and the other for the believers — the people of iman, the people who in this life try their utmost to follow the teachings of Allah and the teachings of His Messenger, صلى الله عليه وسلم.

In the first verse, Allah says as a warning to those people who do evil and commit oppression:

Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is severe. The punishment of Allah is far graver than any punishment of the dunya. The Prophet told us, صلى الله عليه وسلم, in a hadith that Allah, the fire that we have in the dunya is one part of the 70 that Allah has placed in the fire of hell.

In one wording, one of the companions said, O Messenger of Allah, that one is sufficient. That one — that fire that we have in the dunya, with all that it can do and all of the harm and all of the destruction that it can cause — it is enough, O Messenger of Allah. The Prophet said, صلى الله عليه وسلم, it is — but Allah will include it with the 70.

Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is extremely severe. But at the same time, for those who turn to Allah, they make tawbah, despite all of the difficulties and hardships that they face. They are people who follow the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. They are steadfast in terms of their Iman, in terms of their Salah, in terms of their Qur'an, in terms of all of those other responsibilities that Allah has placed upon them. Then Allah for them is:

He is the most forgiving, the one who is all-loving. Allah forgives them and Allah showers His mercy upon them. And they love Allah even in the most difficult of times. And Allah loves them. So Allah will honor them in this dunya and in the akhirah.

So those people who stay steadfast in the path of Allah, especially in times of difficulty, especially in times of test and trial — those are the people that Allah, by His permission, forgives. Those are the people that He has chosen. Those are the people who are of success.

Du'a