Be Like This Old Woman | Jumuah Khutbah | Ustad Mohamad Baajour | EPIC Masjid

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

My dear, beloved, respected brothers and sisters, I ask Allah عز و جل who gathered us in this masjid to gather us يوم القيامة with سيد المرسلين محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم آمين يا رب العالمين.

The Story of the Bedouin and the Old Woman

Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم once visited a bedouin in his place outside Medina, and this bedouin honored Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم and was a great host. So before Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم wanted to leave, he said ائتنا - when you are in Medina, stop by.

After a short period of time, the man went to Medina and he went to Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم. Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم reciprocated the hospitality and more. Then before the bedouin wanted to leave, Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم told him two words that are the dream of every Muslim. He said سَلْ حَاجَتَكَ - what do you want? Ask, what do you want?

So the man, the bedouin, said نَاقَةٌ نَرْكَبُهَا وَأَعْنُزٌ يَحْلِبُهَا أَهْلِي - I just need a camel to ride and some goats for my family to milk.

He said سَلْ حَاجَتَكَ يَا أَعْرَابِي - he repeated the question. Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم: what do you want, O Bedouin? He said نَاقَةٌ نَرْكَبُهَا وَأَعْنُزٌ يَحْلِبُهَا أَهْلِي - he repeated the same request: a camel for myself and some goats for my family to milk.

So Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم told him أَعَجِزْتَ أَن تَكُونَ مِثْلَ عَجُوزِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلِ - was it hard for you to be like the old woman from Bani Israel?

So the Sahaba said: Ya Rasool Allah, what is the story? Who is that woman from Bani Israel? Who is that old woman?

So Rasool Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: When Musa عليه السلام migrated from Egypt, they got lost. And the scholars of Bani Israel at that time told their prophet Musa عليه السلام - they said the only reason we got lost is because we promised Yusuf عليه السلام - our ancestors promised Yusuf عليه السلام that they will not leave Egypt without taking his body with them, and we did not fulfill that. That's why we are lost.

So Musa عليه السلام said: Okay, who knows where my brother Yusuf is buried? So everybody said no one knows except an old woman from Bani Israel.

So Musa عليه السلام said: Go get that woman. So the woman came, and Musa عليه السلام said: Can you please tell us where is the body of my brother Yusuf so we can move forward?

She said: Wallahi, I will not tell you until you fulfill my wish. He said: What's your wish? She said: I want مُرَافَقَتَكَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ - I want to be your companion, your neighbor with you, ya Musa, in Jannah.

Musa عليه السلام did not like this because Jannah is not in his hands. Allah revealed to Musa عليه السلام: Give her her wish. So Musa عليه السلام said: Okay, where is the body? You got your wish.

So she took them to a pond. She told them to take the water out of the pond. She pointed at the grave. Long story short, they took the body of Yusuf عليه السلام, and subhanAllah, immediately all the path was shining like daylight where they were supposed to go. And Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم ended the story here.

Lessons from the Story

My brothers and sisters, one of the greatest methods of teaching is narrating stories, and that is very well known in the Quran and in the sunnah of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. There are many lessons in this story. Let me see how many I can cover today, insha'Allah.

Lesson #1: Aim High

Number one and the most important lesson - and because I know today that there will be many of my young brothers and sisters out of school - the first lesson is: aim high. Aim high, raise the bar.

Allah عز و جل, after He swore by the night and the day and the creation of the male and the female, He said إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّىٰ - your aims, your goals are diverse.

This Bedouin - his goal was a sheep and a camel and some goats. That was his goal, that is his aim. While the old woman from Bani Israel, her goal was very, very high. She did not want Jannah - she wanted the company of the Prophet in Jannah, the company of Musa عليه السلام in Jannah, because she knows that the Prophets and the Messengers are in the highest place in Jannah.

Look how smart is that old woman! And that's why Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم told the Sahaba: You should be like that woman.

And when you answer such a question, your answer depends on who's asking. If a young kid, a young normal man asks me "what do you want," my response will be different. If a king asks me "what do you want" - how about the best man that ever walked this earth is asking you "what do you want?" How dare you? How could you think and ask about a dunya matter?

The Story of Rabia

Somebody might say: "Oh, this is an old woman, she has a lot of experience." Okay, let's discuss the story of Rabia رضي الله عنه. He was 11-12 years old, and he used to hang out at the door of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم at night and have some water ready for wudu, just in case Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم woke up and wanted wudu. Rabia wanted to be there to serve him.

So Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم opened the door and saw Rabia. "Ya Rabia, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He said: "Ya Rasool Allah, I was thinking - what if you get up in the middle of the night and you want water? It's not like us here - you just open the tap and you get cold and hot. Maybe you need water, and maybe at that time it was cold, so he was warming it up for Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. We all know the cold weather of Medina.

So I said: Ya Rasool Allah, maybe you need something, so I want to be here to serve you.

So Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم told Rabia - 11, 12 years old - if you ask a 12-year-old right now "what do you want?" - iPad, iPhone, I this, I that, right? What did Rabia ask for?

"Ya Rabia, what do you want?" Ya Rabia, he said: "Ya Rasool Allah, I want your company in Jannah." Allahu Akbar! 11 years old! Look at the Sahaba, subhanAllah - from that age they're aiming high!

(Ahmad and others)

So he said the famous statement: أَعِنِّي عَلَى ذَلِكَ بِكَثْرَةِ السُّجُودِ - "Ya Rabia, you want that goal? So help me help you by making a lot of salat."

(Sahih Muslim, Book 46, Hadith 8)

And Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم himself told us in another hadith: احْرِصْ عَلَى مَا يَنْفَعُكَ وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا تَعْجَزْ - be keen on what benefits you, and seek help from Allah, and don't ever give up.

SubhanAllah, now we go to all kinds of seminars and motivational speakers to tell us words that our teacher told us 1400 years ago: Don't ever give up. Do not feel helpless.

So my brothers and sisters, do not just be a doctor - be the best doctor. Be the best engineer. Be the best accountant. Be the best businessman. Aim high! Aim high! This is the main lesson from Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم in this story.

Muawiyah once said to Amr ibn al-As - listen carefully, subhanAllah - he said: A person who seeks something great must risk something significant.

Tools to Help Us Aim High

What are some of the tools that will help me in raising or aiming high, raising the bar?

Number One: Knowledge of the Goal

Knowledge of the goal. When I know that what Allah promised to the believer is جَنَّاتٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ, مَا لَا عَيْنٌ رَأَتْ وَلَا أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ وَلَا خَطَرَ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ - Allah the Creator, describing Jannah, He said: No eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard what's in Jannah, and no mind can perceive what's in Jannah.

So if you think about it and you dream it, and if all the Hollywood directors gathered to make a movie about Jannah with all their resources and their money - that's not it. It's better! So when I know the goal, when I know the gift, when I know the prize, that will help me raise the bar and work hard, because it is worth it. The One who designed Jannah is Al-Jameel Himself, is Al-Kareem Himself, is Al-Ghani Himself.

Number Two: Read the Biographies of Great Men

The second tool: Read the biography of the great men like Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم and whoever came after him. That will inspire us to aim high.

Listen to this story: A man was building a fence between his bustan and his neighbor's bustan - between his garden and his neighbor's garden. As he's building the fence, it hit a palm tree, so he told the neighbor: "Give me the palm tree so I can finish, so I can make it mine and include it in my bustan." He said no.

He said: "Ya akhi, please give me the palm tree." He said no.

So the man went to Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم and said: "Ya Rasool Allah, I'm building a fence and a palm tree stopped me, and I told my neighbor to give it to me and he refused."

So Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم asked for the other man to come, and he said: أَعْطِ النَّخْلَةَ لِأَخِيكَ - "Give the palm tree to your brother." The man said no to Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم!

He said: أَعْطِهِ النَّخْلَةَ وَلَكَ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْجَنَّةِ - look at this offer! He said: "Give him the palm tree and you get a palm tree in Jannah." The man said no!

Who was in the crowd? A man that aims high! He went after the man who owns the palm tree. He said: "Listen, I have a bustan that has 600 palm trees. It's all yours - just give me that palm tree." Who would refuse such a deal? The man said: "The bustan is yours." The man said: "The palm tree is yours."

Immediately, Abu Dahdah ran back to Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, and the man was still there. He said: "The palm tree is yours - I just bought it and I gave it to you. Ya Rasool Allah, do I have a palm tree in Jannah now?"

(Ahmad and others)

كَمْ مِنْ عِذْقٍ رَدَاحٍ لِأَبِي الدَّحْدَاحِ فِي الْجَنَّةِ - "How many palm trees full of fruits for Abu Dahdah in Jannah!"

Look at this businessman! Because he knows: if I have a tree in Jannah, what does that mean? I am in Jannah! I have a tree in Jannah and I'm not in Jannah? I'm in Jannah! Look at this business! 600 - you know what 600 palm trees mean? 600 businesses! Each tree is a business!

So when you read the life and the biography of these men, it will inspire you to aim high.

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رضي الله عنه used to say: "I have an ambitious soul. I wanted to become the amir - I became the amir, the governor. Then I wanted to be the khalifa, and I became the khalifa" - not because he wanted fame, because he wanted justice. "And then now my nafs is looking for Jannah, and I beg Allah to make me from the people of Jannah." I beg that Allah will make us all from the people of Jannah.

Number Three: Remember Death

Third, ya ikhwan, third tool that will make me aim high is remembering death - remembering that the time is limited.

My young brothers and sisters, tomorrow, after tomorrow - yalla, I will start. No! Do not keep delaying, procrastinating. We just buried our brother Ahmad Nawfal, 29 years old. May Allah have mercy on him and give his family patience. He left behind a wife with a 6-month-old baby. He slept and never woke up. He did something that we all do every single night - he slept and never woke up.

So what are we waiting for in order to come close to Allah? Don't be fooled that you're young, you're strong, you're healthy, you're wealthy. Wallahi, he had so many goals. Remembering death will make me know that it's very short period of time. Yalla, let me do as much as I can. Let me get as close as possible to Allah. Let me spend as much as I can. We always hesitate to spend for the cause of Allah and we leave this money behind that it might be used in haram while I'm still above the ground.

Invest, ya akhi, with Allah. Invest in masajid, in orphanages, in widows. Remembering death will make me aim high and work hard because every breath that I take is one step closer to my grave. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves the people who aim high.

And if you notice in the Quran, always Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is using سَارِعُوا - rush, سَابِقُوا - race, وَفِي ذَٰلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ - compete, فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ - always rush, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us to be successful, وَأَنتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَ - to be the superior.

Fifth, ask Allah azza wa jal to aim high. Ask Allah azza wa jal to give you the energy. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم used to seek refuge from كَسَل - from laziness. He used to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect him from laziness.

And he used to tell us: when you ask Allah - if you ask Allah for Jannah, then ask Him the highest paradise. When you ask Allah for Jannah - because sometimes you hear, especially the youth, "I just want to crawl into Jannah." No, my dear, why do you want to crawl into Jannah?

Would you like to live here in just a cave?

Would you like to live here in just a cave and eat kibza and olives? No, you want the best in dunya. Why don't you want the best in akhira? Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam himself told us: when you ask, ask for the highest paradise. Aim high!

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Number six - subhanallah, one of the great things that will make us aim high: surround yourself with optimistic people, with positive people. Not "Oh, you failed..." How many times we learned so much from our failure! It's okay if you fail, it's okay. Get up and keep going, no problem. Surround yourself by people who are positive that will encourage you when you are doing something right and they will stop you and warn you when you are doing something haram.

The Power of Parents in Shaping Children

And also parents can play a huge role for making the children aim high. We all know the story of Muhammad al-Fatih. Everyday - can you imagine? Look at this mother. Everyday his mother take him at salat al-fajr, she take him on the top of a mountain or a high place and she tell him: "You see this Constantinople? You will be the one who's gonna conquer it because your name is the same name that is mentioned in the hadith." Since he was a kid. And he did, and he did.

The father of Salah al-Din - he used to see Salah al-Din playing with the kids. He used to take him out, he said: "I did not bring you to this life to sit down and play. I want you to liberate the Aqsa." From seven years old!

The mother of Sufyan al-Thawri: "Go and seek knowledge and I will suffice you with knitting. Just go and become an alim." He became the best alim ever.

And when you tell your child "You're an idiot, you're a loser, you're not gonna make it" - wallahi, he will only become a loser. You can play a huge role in your son or daughter's success.

Lessons from the Story

That was just the first lesson: aim high. Second lesson from the story - a quick one - is that the anbiya, the messengers, do not know the ghayb. They do not know the unseen. Otherwise Musa alayhi salam, he does not have to wait for someone to tell him where is the grave of Yusuf alayhi salam.

Check Your Promise to the Prophet

Third: when we encounter blocks in our life, when we encounter hardships in our life, obstacles in our life, check that you did not follow the promise that you gave to Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam. The people were lost, they were lost because they did not follow the promise they gave Yusuf alayhi salam.

When I and you we said لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله - when we said this statement, we have promised Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam to do our best to stay on tawheed and to follow his sunnah.

We see our brothers and sisters that are praying five times a day, sometimes in the first row, and they still - their lifestyle has nothing to do with the deen. Fasting, salat, zakat - and when you come to their businesses, it's all haram. When you come to their weddings, it's all haram. When you come to their funerals, it's all bid'ah.

Ya akhi, what did that salat do to you? What did that siyam do to you? You think Allah prescribed salat just for us to exercise? And He prescribed siyam for us to get hungry?

Those ibadah that Allah prescribed - لعلكم تتقون - every ibadah whether it's hajj, umrah, Quran, whatever it is, every ibadah is supposed to lead me to taqwa. Every salat I pray is supposed to make me feel I'm closer to Allah. Is that the case, ya akhi?

Our Distracted Hearts

Sometimes we have no clue what I, myself recited in the first rakah because I am so worried to go back to the dunya matters. We have people - as I'm giving the khutbah - they cannot stop texting and checking their social media. They cannot look at this!

Allah azza wa jal from the whole week, He told us: "Take half an hour only, half an hour off from dunya." And I can't! I'm addicted to dunya, I can't. While the sheikh is talking, I have to text, I have to check my messages. لا إله إلا الله, إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون.

Ya akhi, you cannot wait? The Jews had the whole Saturday. We have half an hour - half an hour!

The Solution to Our Blocks

So anytime you see a block in your life, check your ibadat. Check your ibadat. Check if you are committing major sins and stop them, and you will see immediately the result.

I ask Allah azza wa jal to make us from the people who listen and apply. Our Lord, don't break our hearts after you guided us and give us mercy from You. You are the One who gives.

Du'a for Our Ummah

Help our brothers in Gaza and our brothers in Yemen and our brothers in Syria and our brothers in Iraq and our brothers in Pakistan and our brothers in Bangladesh and India and our brothers in Afghanistan and our brothers in Sudan and in Somalia and everywhere, O Lord of the worlds. And peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and companions.

Go to your prayer. Ameen. Astaghfirullah. Ameen.

A New Sister Joins Islam

Is the sister for the shahada ready? We have a sister that would like to join our family. Yes ustad, she's ready. What's your name sister? You can go in the front. Ustad, give me one minute please.

Remember, do not interact with those people standing outside. Subhanallah, whatever they are doing, we still have people coming to the deen afwajah, alhamdulillah. Our deen is beautiful as is, subhanallah.

What's your name? Azmeed? Ok, alhamdulillah. Repeat after me. We're going to say it in Arabic first and then we will do the English:

"I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad peace be upon him is his final messenger."

Welcome to Islam

My dear sister, welcome to Islam. Literally, literally, you are better than all of us because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala promised in the Quran:

Whoever repent and come to the deen - Allah not only He forgives the previous sins, He will switch every evil deed you've done in the past. Allah will switch it into a good deed. So literally you are in the positive.

So we ask Allah to keep you steadfast and make you a reason for others to join this deen. Jazakallah khair for choosing EPIC. Salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.