The People of the Trench - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Importance of Perspective from the Quran and Sunnah

When we look and analyze the stories that Allah has given to us in the Quran and also those stories that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ mentioned within his authentic sunnah — whether those ahadith in the sunnah, those stories are explanations of what is mentioned in the Quran, or there are stories that the Prophet told us himself without references from the Quran — we find that there are many, many benefits and wisdoms from those stories. The Quran and the sunnah, both of those stories hold many benefits. But from amongst those greatest of benefits is the benefit of perspective.

The Quran and the sunnah, when we look at those stories and what those past nations and peoples and prophets went through, it puts our own situation and our own era in perspective. We are going through a time of trial. We see the situation of Muslims across the world in places like Aleppo and Syria and Burma and other places across the world, and then we look at our situation and the rise of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments across the western world. We are going through a time of trial. But when we look at our trial — and even though those trials are difficult and they may be severe upon us — when you analyze and you compare them to the stories of the Quran and what the Prophet told us in his sunnah, it gives you a sense of perspective.

Despite how difficult times may be, despite how difficult our situation may appear to be, there were many nations who came before us and there were many people who came before us — even the companions, رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ — and the time of the Prophet — they went through many greater trials and they suffered oppression and persecution far greater than any or most of us or all of us have ever seen or tasted. So the Quran and the sunnah gives you perspective.

That is something which the companions themselves learnt. Because when they were going through the trials that they were going through — and we all know of the situation of the companions, especially in the early Meccan days of Islam: the way that Bilal رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ was oppressed, the way that Yasir and Sumayya were killed, the way that even our own Prophet would be harmed almost on a daily basis either physically or verbally or psychologically, how the Muslims at a time in Mecca were boycotted financially and they weren't able to buy or sell or trade or do commerce — Muslims went through many things.

The Hadith of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt

But in the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, when some of those early Muslims came to the Prophet — as is in the hadith of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ — they came complaining to the Prophet of their situation, because for them it was severe and it was difficult. The Prophet was leaning in the shade of the Kaaba and they came to him and they said: "O Messenger of Allah, you see what we're going through — the difficulty, the oppression, the persecution, the torture — you know what we're going through. So why don't you make du'a for us? Why don't you ask Allah to give us His aid and His help?"

The Prophet was leaning on the Kaaba; he sat up and his face became red, and he spoke to those companions and he put their issues in perspective — gave them perspective. He said to those companions that before you, from those people who came before you, a man would be brought and a hole would be dug in the earth and he would be placed in that hole, and then a sword would be placed on the top of his head and he would be sawn in half, but that wouldn't make him return from his religion. And a man would be brought and he would be placed in that hole and then they would bring a comb of iron, of metal, and they would comb off his meat, they'd comb off his flesh and his blood from his bones and from his limbs, but that wouldn't turn him away from his religion. "But you are a people who are hasty."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3852)

So the Prophet took the affairs of the Muslims of his time and he gave them perspective — gave them perspective. Yes, you're going through difficult times, but there are people who came before you that went through harsher and more difficult times, but they remained patient and they stuck to their religion and they continued to worship Allah, and they had certainty in the promise of Allah.

So likewise for us, it is important that we remind ourselves from time to time using those same stories of the Quran, those same stories that our Prophet told us and narrated to us, of the situation of those people who came before us so we can put our own situation in perspective. Not only the issue of perspective, but also then how to overcome those trials.

Something that you find — that goes across, runs through all of those stories in the Quran and the Sunnah — is that the path to success is when you stand up for what you believe in; you stick to your ideals and to your principles. That is the measure of true success. Allah doesn't measure our success through our wealth, nor through power, nor through leadership or fame. Allah doesn't look at numbers or quantity, but what Allah looks for is piety and action — a person's iman and how strongly they remain steadfast upon their religion.

Surah al-Buruj and the People of the Trench

So Allah in those early Meccan days revealed to the Muslims a story that we're all familiar with, in a surah that we're all familiar with — Surah al-Buruj — and He mentioned therein a story of a group of people who went through persecution and torture for the beliefs that they stood up in, the beliefs that they held, and the principles that they stood for, but they remained firm and steadfast upon them.

Allah, when He speaks about this story in the Quran, and the Prophet — it is one of the stories of the Quran that he explained in detail. Allah references it in the Quran but its details are mentioned in the Sunnah of the Prophet.

Allah, at the beginning of this surah, Surah al-Buruj, to show us the importance of this surah and to show us the importance of the story that will be mentioned therein, Allah takes a number of oaths. Allah takes an oath by the heavens and the stars and the amazing stars that it contains — to show you that it is something important, it's important for us to pay attention to. And Allah takes an oath by the Day of Judgment, and Allah takes an oath by the witness and that which will be witnessed.

The scholars of tafsir differed over this — what is the witnessed, what is the witness and what will be witnessed. Some of them said that the witness is our Prophet and he will be a witness over his ummah. Others said that it refers to Allah Himself and that the creation of Allah will be a witness over His creation. Others said that it is the Friday prayer — this is Yawm al-Jum'ah, this prayer — that is the witness, and whoever attends and prays the Salatul Jum'ah, the salah will be a witness for them. Other scholars said, combining and bringing all of those different opinions together — all of which have a basis in the Quran — they said that it refers to every witness that will bear witness over something else. Allah takes an oath by them because every time a trial comes across, or a trial takes place, or we come across a trial, there will be witnesses and there will be people who will be witnessed upon.

So Allah takes this oath — three oaths: the heavens, the Day of Judgment, the witness and the witnesses — and then Allah says:

"The people of the trench were massacred — they were killed — by fire that was fueled and burned, whilst the people who burnt them were watching and they were sitting nearby, and those people were witnesses as to the punishment that they dealt upon those people."

The Story of the Boy, the King, and the Sorcerer

The story that Allah is referring to is mentioned in detail in Sahih Muslim in the hadith of Suhayb al-Rumi رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ — that great, illustrious companion, one of the earliest people to accept Islam. He said that the Prophet told us, in the explanation of the story that became known as the story of the people of the ditch or the people of the trench:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 3005)

That there used to be a king who lived before us — a king. And he had a sorcerer. The sorcerer would use his magic to help the king and to keep his hold upon his kingdom. But when the sorcerer became old — became old and frail — he said to the king: "Why don't you find for me a young boy that I can teach my trade to, that he can learn from me and he can help me after my death?"

So the king sought for him a boy that was intelligent and smart and he gave him to the sorcerer. But the boy, every morning as he would walk from home and go to the palace to learn from the sorcerer, he would pass by a rahib — a scholar, a monk — someone who believed in Allah and he feared Him. This monk would speak and he would address the people. So when the boy would walk past him, he would hear his words and he would be amazed, and he would sit and he would learn. But that would result in him being late for his lessons, so when he would come to the sorcerer, the sorcerer would beat him because of his lateness.

So he went to the rahib — to the monk, the scholar — one day and he complained: "I like what you say and I love to listen and benefit from you, love to learn from your knowledge, but when I go to the sorcerer he beats me." So the rahib, the monk, the scholar said to him: "If you go to the sorcerer and you're late, say to them that my family delayed me; and if you go to your family and you're late on the way back because you were sitting with me, say to them that the sorcerer delayed me."

So he would go and he would learn from him and he would seek knowledge. And that is the first way that you overcome trial — in times of trial, you learn your religion, you come closer to Allah, you learn what Allah wants you to do in your religion, you learn to worship Allah in the way that Allah has legislated.

So the boy would do this every morning and evening — he would sit and he would learn — until one day, as he was walking towards the monk going on towards his lesson, he found that the people had all gathered in a place and they had stopped on the road because there was an animal, a predator on the way that had blocked them. In some narrations it is said that it was a lion.

So when the boy saw this he said to himself: "Today I will know which one of the two is more beloved to Allah — the scholar who teaches people to worship Allah, to turn to Allah, or the sorcerer who teaches magic and sorcery." So he picked up a stone and he said: "O Allah, if the affair of the scholar is more beloved to You" — and he started with the scholar because his heart was leaning towards him anyway — "if the affair of the scholar is more beloved to You, O Allah, over the affair of the sorcerer, then use the stone to remove this harm." And then he threw the stone — the animal died and the people passed.

The boy went to the scholar and he told him what happened. The scholar said to him: "Today you are better than me — you have surpassed me. And because of this you will be tried." When you come closer to Allah, when you turn to Allah, when you hold on to the religion of Allah — what happens? You will be tried. "But when you are tried and that time comes upon you, then don't tell the people about me, don't tell them who taught you."

So the boy went on his way and, by the permission of Allah, he began to cure the leper and the blind, and the people would come with their ailments and their sicknesses and he would cure them by the permission of Allah — calling to Allah, making du'a to Allah alone — using the skills that he had, the knowledge that he learnt, to do good and to benefit the people. Not looking for harm, not looking for fitna or trial, not looking to cause trouble, but to benefit the people.

So one of the close advisors of the king was blind. He heard of this boy and what he did, so he took to him wealth and gifts and he said to him: "If you cure me I will give you all of this wealth, I will give you all of these gifts." The boy — not calling to himself but calling to Allah — said: "I don't cure anyone. I don't cure anyone. It is Allah who cures. So if you believe in Allah and we make du'a to Allah, then Allah will cure you." So the man believed in Allah and the boy made du'a for him and he received his eyesight back.

The next day, as that man was sitting with the king, the king saw that the man could see. He said to him: "What happened? Who cured you?" The man replied: "My Lord." The king said to him: "Do you have a lord other than me? Do you have a lord other than me?" The man replied: "My Lord and your Lord is Allah alone." So he took the man — the king took the man — and he began to punish him until he told him about the boy.

So the boy was brought and the king said to the boy — the king knows the boy, this is the apprentice who is going to become the sorcerer — "Your knowledge that you've learned, your trade that you've learned, has given you much power to the extent that you can cure the blind." The boy said: "I don't cure anyone. It is Allah who cures." So the king took him and he punished him until he told him about the scholar, the monk. So he brought the monk and the king said to him: "Either you turn away from your religion or I will kill you." The man refused — standing firm upon his religion, upon his principles, in his belief in Allah. So he ordered that a hole be dug and he be placed within it and be sawn in half — just as the Prophet told us in the hadith of Khabbab رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ — killed in this manner.

The confidant, the advisor of the king, was brought; the same thing: "Turn away or you'll be killed." He refused — sawn in half. But the boy was brought in, because he is the one who is teaching, he is the one who is calling, he is the one who by the permission of Allah is curing. The king said: "As for this one, take him to the highest mountain, and if he doesn't turn away from his religion, throw him off the mountain."

So the soldiers took him to the highest peak of the mountain — this boy; and the wording of the hadith is ghulam, a boy. This boy goes, but he has his belief in Allah, his certainty in Allah. He reaches the top of the mountain and he says: "O Allah, save me from these people." So the mountain trembles and those soldiers fall off the mountain — they die — and the boy survives. He walks off the mountain and he comes back and stands in front of the king. The king says: "What happened?" The boy says: "Allah saved me. Allah saved me."

So he brought some other soldiers and said to them: "Take him in a boat in the middle of the ocean and drown him — if he doesn't turn away from his religion, drown him." So they took him to the middle of the ocean and he made the same du'a: "O Allah, save me." So the boat capsized and everyone drowned except the boy. The boy came back to the king and the king said: "What happened?" The boy said: "Allah saved me. Allah saved me."

So the king said: "How can I kill you?" The boy replied: "You can't kill me unless you do as I say — that you take my body and you string me up to a tree, and then you take an arrow from my quiver, you attach it to the bow, and you say Bismillah, in the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy, and then you shoot me. That's how I will die."

So the king gathered the people; he did as the boy asked. He said: "In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy," and he killed him — killed him by the permission of Allah. When the people saw this, all of them said: "We believe in the Lord of the boy! We believe in Allah!" So all of those people believed in Allah.

So the king became upset and he became afraid, so he ordered that trenches be dug — trenches across the whole city — be dug and filled with fire, and if those people don't leave their religion, they be thrown in the fire and killed. So all of them were killed.

The Prophet said, concluding this hadith, that from amongst those people was a woman who was holding a baby, and when she came towards the fire she became hesitant — fearing for her life and the life of her baby. But the baby, Allah gave it permission to speak, and the baby said: "O my mother, be patient, for you are upon the truth." And they fell within the fire.

And those people — those people that were thrown in the fire and burnt alive because of their belief in Allah — those are the people that Allah refers to in the Quran as Ashab al-Ukhdud, the People of the Trench, who, because of their belief in Allah — simply wanting to worship Allah — they were punished and tried in this most difficult way.

The True Meaning of Victory

Allah says:

"Those people were not punished or harmed except because they believed in Allah alone." That's the only reason that they were harmed. But they stayed steadfast upon their religion, and that is the way that you overcome trials.

So when Allah concludes the story in Surah al-Buruj and speaks about those people, He describes them in a unique way:

"Indeed those who believed and they did righteous deeds, for them there will be gardens under which rivers flow. That is the greatest victory."

The scholars of tafsir said that usually in the Quran, when Allah speaks about the believers, they are victorious in this life — they are not wiped out and killed, all of them — they are victorious and Allah describes them as victorious. But this is the only time in the Quran when this nation was wiped out — all of them were killed — but Allah still described them as being victorious. Which shows through the Quran that one of the greatest principles in overcoming trials is when you stand by your religion, when you stand up for your beliefs and you stick to your principles.

Because true victory and success is not the victory and success of the dunya — whether you have leadership, whether you have fame, whether you have power or wealth — that is not the measure of success in our religion. But the measure of success and victory in this religion is when Allah is pleased with you, when Allah rewards you, when you are given Jannah and you are given paradise. That is the way that Allah measures success and shows success.

So Allah describes in the Quran those people who stand up for their beliefs, those people who remain steadfast upon their religion — meaning what? Meaning they follow the teachings of the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet. They don't let their emotions overcome them. They are not people who, just because the Muslims are having a hard time, will do haram and commit haram and cause havoc and destruction because they think that it is a path to good — no! They will stick to the teachings of the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet. They will stand up for their religion in the way that Allah has allowed them to do so, and thus they will have success.

So the companions of the Prophet — from those early days of Islam when they were being persecuted and they were being tortured — would often come out of their houses and they would see that the Prophet is being tortured and persecuted himself, but none of them has the strength or the ability to defend him, none of them can stand and come to his aid because of how weak they are. To the extent that we know that the Prophet one day, as he was praying and he went into sajdah, into prostration in his salah, praying by the Kaaba — they came, the Quraysh came, with the entrails of camels, the insides of the camels, and they placed it upon him, and so heavy was it that the Prophet wasn't able to come out of sajdah, couldn't sit up from the sajdah position. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ said: "No one on that day was able to come to the aid of the Prophet, everyone was fearful for their own situation" — until his daughter Fatima رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا came, and she was the one who pushed off those entrails from the back of the Prophet.

Everyone was afraid. But the Muslims learned from those experiences. They learned from the stories that Allah gave to them in the Quran. They had perspective that yes, we're going through difficult times, but Allah gave trials to people who came before us that were much more severe, yet those people remained steadfast, they continued to worship Allah, they learned about their religion, they continued to please Allah, they did good for their communities, and Allah ultimately gave them success — not the success that we may have within our minds and the way that we think of success, but the success that matters: the success of the next life, of the Akhirah.

So the companions learned and they benefited from this. So they would go from trial to trial, from one challenge to the next challenge. If you were to analyze those 23 years of prophethood that our Prophet lived as a messenger of Allah, you will find that it is trial after trial, challenge after challenge — rarely is there a period of time where the Muslims just sat back and relaxed and nothing took place. The Prophet has personal trials: his children die, his wife dies, Khadijah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا; people who are close to him, his companions have been killed; the Muslims are being persecuted. The Ummah is going through trials; companions, as families, as individuals, are going through trials that pertain to themselves and their families. But they learned from these principles that Allah gave to them in the Quran. They didn't become people who lost hope in Allah, or who thought that there is no hope in the promise of Allah. But through their knowledge and through their ibadah, through their worship of Allah, they continued to become stronger and stronger, until Allah gave them the victory that they desired.

Second Part of the Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا أَمَّا بَعْدُ

Our Prophet told us that on the Day of Judgment a prophet will come and he will only have three followers, and a prophet of Allah will come and he will only have two followers, and a prophet of Allah will come on Yawm al-Qiyamah with only a single follower, and a prophet of Allah will come on that day and no one will have followed him. Yet even though that prophet of Allah only has three, or two, or a single follower, or some prophets of Allah will have no one that accepted their message — no one who followed them, no one who believed in them — they are still called the prophets of Allah, and in the sight of Allah they are still prophets of Allah, and their status and honor in this religion is still the status and honor of the prophets of Allah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5752; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 220)

Allah doesn't measure success the way that we measure success. Our religion doesn't teach us to look at materialism and those things that we can count and quantify as means of success. But rather, Allah tells us that success is through taqwa — through your belief in Allah, your piety of Allah — and then what that belief and piety leads you to do in terms of action: how you follow the Quran and how you follow the sunnah of the Prophet. That will be your measure of success.

So just as that boy did in the story of the People of the Trench — he learned his religion, he came closer to Allah through worship, he used his knowledge to benefit the people — that is what Allah wants. And if that is your way, then when trials come upon you, they won't affect you.

Strengthening Our Foundation of Iman

So the scholars of the past used to say: whoever has a strong foundation of iman and righteous deeds, even the strongest of winds can't blow them away. But if a person has just the appearance of a Muslim — they look like a Muslim, they talk like a Muslim — but within them they don't have that solid foundation of iman and of taqwa, they don't worship Allah, they don't know what it means to follow the Quran and the sunnah — then even the slightest breeze will knock them aside, because there is nothing within you that will keep you steadfast.

The companions learned their religion and they made their hearts strong. They fortified their connection with Allah, and then Allah gave them challenge upon challenge during the life of the Prophet and after his death, and they were able to overcome each and every single one of those. And those scholars who followed them in their footsteps were able to do likewise.

So for me and for you and for our children especially, the thing that we need to focus on is strengthening our relationship with Allah. When you have that strong relationship with Allah, then Allah safeguards you from every harm and every trial.

When the Prophet told the companions about the trial of the Dajjal — that he himself described as the single greatest trial that will affect mankind from the time of Adam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ until the Day of Judgment — he told them about the Dajjal and everything that would take place. The companions, understanding the principle that I just mentioned, the question that they asked the Prophet was: "O Messenger of Allah, how should we pray on those days? How do we offer salah?" Because the Prophet told us the length of some of those days will be the equivalent of years — "How do we offer salah on those days?" Not: "How do we fight the Dajjal? How do we overcome the Dajjal? How do we kill him?" No — "How do we offer salah on those days?" Because they understood that if they have that strong relationship with Allah — their iman is strong, they worship Allah — not even the Dajjal can harm them, by the permission of Allah. Whereas they can have every other type of knowledge, but if their connection with Allah is fragile, it is weak, it is feeble, then even the smallest trial will knock them away.

Conclusion and Advice

So my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the lesson from this khutbah and the message from today's khutbah is that we need to learn our religion and we need to work on our iman and our relationship with Allah. And as we bring up our children and teach them what it means to be Muslim, we must also focus on these aspects for them, because perhaps the trials that they face will be greater than the trials that we are now facing.

We ask Allah that He keeps us safe — us and our families — from every trial, and that Allah makes us from amongst those people that He keeps steadfast upon His religion, that Allah gives us an understanding of the Quran and the sunnah and allows us to put it into practice and implement it, and that we be from amongst those people who show wisdom when they call others to the religion of Islam.