The Weight of Hidden Worship | Hidden Treasures Episode 11 | Shaykh Abdullah Waheed

The Weight of Hidden Worship

Once our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ attended a funeral prayer of one of his companions who had passed away. And as the Prophet ﷺ advances to lead the prayer in the front and the body is placed in front of him, he raises his hands to honor this deceased with his prayer. Before he could do this, the Prophet ﷺ was interrupted respectfully by one of his noble companions — Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه.

And he says:

Umar ibn al-Khattab said something very bold. He said: "O Prophet of Allah, do not honor this person with your supplications and your blessings and your prayers. Do not pray upon him the funeral prayer — because this person was known to be someone who did not have righteous practice, or was not known to be a very righteous person in public."

Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه is no ordinary person. He is a companion, and he is Umar ibn al-Khattab. Everything he says has weight.

The Prophet ﷺ said about Umar ibn al-Khattab:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 2962; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

"Truth flows from the tongue of Umar ibn al-Khattab." His words are taken in deep consideration.

The Prophet ﷺ looked at Umar ibn al-Khattab and then he turned his face in the direction of everyone that was attending the funeral, and he asked them a very interesting question. He looked at everyone that was there from the Sahaba. The Prophet ﷺ, who is mercy to mankind, wanted this opportunity for the forgiveness of his companion — not for this person to miss out on the opportunity of the Prophet's prayer. So he wanted to prove to Umar ibn al-Khattab something.

The Prophet's Question to the Community

And he asks the community, he inquires from the people:

"Has anyone who is attending the funeral of this person who is being buried right now ever witnessed him do an act of worship or service that comes under the banner of Islam? عَمَلَ الْإِسْلَامِ — it doesn't have to be salah or charity, but an act that we can all say this was an act of goodness that is rewarding in Islam. عَمَلَ الْإِسْلَامِ — helping someone, removing someone's difficulty, serving someone."

And this question was posed — and one man, not known to the public, stood up. His name is not even mentioned in this hadith in al-Bayhaqi.

One man stands up. The name of this Sahabi is not even mentioned in the hadith. Imagine who Umar is — and then this unknown member of the community is standing against the voice of Umar.

The Secret Act That Changed Everything

And he says:

(Reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)

"O Messenger of Allah, I remember — in secret — he stood guard one night in the path of Allah." Meaning he stood watch to protect the groups of the Sahaba who were serving the path of Allah. The warriors of God who were serving the path of Allah.

A great, noble act. But it was a secret act that nobody knew about — neither did he ever talk about it. It was something between him and Allah. And one person witnessed his contribution to the message and the beauty of Islam.

The Prophet's ﷺ Response

What does the Prophet ﷺ do? This is where it gets interesting.

The Prophet ﷺ prayed the funeral prayer upon this person. He led the prayer and prayed for him. And then the Prophet ﷺ blessed this deceased by burying him into the earth with his blessed hands — pouring the soil over his body with his blessed hands. This is such a privilege.

And then the Prophet ﷺ says something which is the highlight of this narration:

Addressing the person that was just buried into the earth, he said: "Your companions assume — your companions think that you are a person that deserves the fire of Hell, that you are eligible for God's punishment. And I — the Messenger of God — I testify: you are eligible for paradise. You are worthy of Jannah. You are heading towards paradise."

This is the Prophet's testimony. And everyone else's thought and assumption of this person was that maybe he wasn't a righteous person.

The Lesson: The Value of Private Worship

Brothers and sisters and friends — sometimes there are some pious people, or people of the community, whom we don't see to be publicly active in service and worship. They have their own private life. They forgive people. They do things that no one knows about.

And those are the things that we should search for. Those are the acts that will come to most benefit to us on the Day of Judgment — because those acts have the most sincerity. Less praise. No one notices and recognizes.

And these are the days of Ramadan and these special days — we should increase our acts that we do in privacy. Because many times, these are the acts that will cause us salvation and freedom from the fire of Jahannam. Because of those simple, sincere acts that no one saw except Allah.