Don't Take Afiyah for Granted

Don't Take 'Afiyah for Granted

فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَإِنَّ شَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ. أما بعد.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, today I'd like to dedicate my khutbah to a concept in Islam that was near and dear to the heart of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and this particular concept is what we call عَافِيَة. What I'd like to do today is first of all help you understand what عَافِيَة is, and then help you appreciate the fact that we are immersed in عَافِيَة — especially as American Muslims — and the responsibility we have not to waste it, because the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ by and large is not in a state of عَافِيَة right now. So we ask Allah to grant relief to our brothers and sisters all over the world. آمين يا رب العالمين.

What is 'Afiyah?

Let us begin by defining what عَافِيَة is. عَافِيَة comes with another word that's paired in the Arabic language, and that is عَفْو. عَفْو and عَافِيَة — you'll hear them together a lot. For those of you who do your morning adhkars, hopefully you're accustomed to saying:

What does it mean? عَفْو actually means protection of sorts — in the Islamic spiritual terminology, عَفْو is when you seek Allah's protection from the consequences of your sins, which is why عَفْو is also translated as forgiveness. But for our purpose right now, عَفْو is protection from the consequences of your sins. Then what is عَافِيَة? عَافِيَة is you asking Allah for protection from the trials of life. Combined: عَفْو protects you in the hereafter, عَافِيَة protects you in this world. And this is why these two terms come together a lot.

For instance, Abu al-'Aliyah, one of the تابعون, says that I used to attend the khutbas of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, and how often —

(Reported by Abu al-'Aliyah regarding 'Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه)

How often I would hear 'Umar رضي الله عنه say: "Ya Allah, grant us عَافِيَة and grant us عَفْو."

The Prophet's ﷺ Advice to Ibn 'Abbas رضي الله عنه

In a famous narration in Tirmidhi, 'Abbas رضي الله عنه, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, came to the Prophet ﷺ and said:

"Ya Rasulullah, teach me something that I can ask Allah for" — and this is him asking for a prophetic du'a. And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3514)

"If you're going to ask Allah for anything, ask Allah for عَافِيَة" — this well-being, this protective shield that will take care of you from the crippling difficulties of life. So 'Abbas رضي الله عنه took this du'a, and a few days later he came back to the Prophet ﷺ again asking for a du'a — it seems to suggest, the wording seems to suggest, that perhaps it didn't register with 'Abbas رضي الله عنه the importance of this du'a. So the Prophet ﷺ this time put his hands on his shoulders and said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3514)

"O uncle of the Messenger of Allah, ask Allah to give you عَافِيَة in this world and the next."

Why this du'a, my dear brothers and sisters? Because your Prophet ﷺ is described in the Quran as:

Your Prophet ﷺ is obsessed with bringing you goodness, and what distresses you overwhelms him. So of course, out of his love and protective care for the Ummah, he wants to teach us the best du'a — and that's why he's teaching us عَافِيَة.

Ask for 'Afiyah Between the Adhan and Iqamah

Anas رضي الله عنه says: we were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ and the Prophet ﷺ taught us that du'a is not rejected between the adhan and iqamah — a famous narration, a great window of opportunity to aim for. So the Sahabah said: "Ya Rasulullah, what should we ask Allah for?" And once again:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3594)

Once again he's teaching them and coaching them: ask Allah to give you عَافِيَة.

Our scholars — like al-Zamakhshari رحمه الله — say: عَفْو is Allah overlooking your sins; عَافِيَة is Allah taking it easy upon you when it comes to the crippling difficulties of life. And as American Muslims, I think you'd agree with me when I say that our tolerance for pain and discomfort is not what's happening in Gaza right now. So if anybody needs عَافِيَة, it's us, my dear brothers and sisters. And the Prophet ﷺ wanted his Ummah to have this blessing in abundance.

When we think about Muslims living in America — and I know people have their own difficulties, and I don't mean to, astaghfirullah, be insensitive towards the excruciating pain and disabilities that people go through — lack of عَافِيَة is disability, loss of a loved one, excruciating pain, your source of livelihood being taken from you. You can imagine what lack of عَافِيَة can look like — what afflictions look like. But by and large, average speaking, I think you would agree with me that us Muslims living in America — the level of عَافِيَة we live in, the access to well-being we have — is not what other people have.

I was reading somewhere that if you make about $80,000 to $90,000 a year, you live in the top 10% of the world globally — because an average non-American makes about $4,000 to $9,000 a year. So if you're at $90,000, you're in the top 10%. My dear brothers and sisters, we have 18-foot ceiling homes, access to healthcare, clean roads. You and I don't have to worry about something called load shedding. I don't know if you all know what load shedding is — we don't even know what it is. But I grew up in Pakistan for a portion of my life. Load shedding is when electricity goes out for hours — unannounced, unprompted. There's no natural disaster, there's no thunderstorm — it just goes. Factories cannot plan their production schedules. Families living in 100-degree Fahrenheit temperature and all of a sudden electricity will be gone for hours. This is something by and large you and I don't have to worry about.

Our Responsibility in a State of 'Afiyah

My dear brothers and sisters, when we are living in relative عَافِيَة compared to others, what is our responsibility exactly? What I'd like to do for the rest of my khutbah is highlight two to three responsibilities we have because Allah has blessed us. Wallahi, with a stroke of قَدَر, you and I could have been born overseas in a war zone — yet it so occurred that we were given circumstances where we're here, subhanAllah, sitting comfortably right now. Those of you who are sitting in front of me right now, sitting painlessly — just imagine if you had excruciating back pain. If you don't have that, you're in عَافِيَة. And that's a mindset you and I have to appreciate.

Responsibility #1: Fight Hedonic Adaptation

The first responsibility we have if we have this ni'mah is that we have to make sure we are actively fighting against what is known as hedonic adaptation. What is hedonic adaptation? It's a fancy psychological term to explain this phenomenon where human beings get used to their circumstances and adapt to them, and it becomes their norm. So if you're born in luxury, very quickly that luxury becomes your baseline — that is your norm. And after a while, it doesn't really strike you as anything out of the ordinary. Because it doesn't stand out, there's really no contrast. After a while you take it for granted, and your gratitude levels go down because you're used to it. It's your norm. And the same thing by the way occurs in hardship — people get used to their hardships as well.

You and I have a responsibility to make sure that we don't let the state of عَافِيَة become something that we become numb to. Our scholars say: al-'afiyatu mawjudatun majhulatun, wal-'afiyatu ma'dumatun ma'rufah — when عَافِيَة is here, it's not really noticed, but if it's gone, that's all you can think about. Kind of like oxygen in this room — it's here, it's at optimal levels, you're not thinking about it. But if it's gone, that's all that your mind will think about. And عَافِيَة works in this manner.

So how do you fight this hedonic adaptation — where we don't take our circumstances for granted? Ibrahim ibn Adham رحمه الله gives you an amazing tip. He says: when you are enjoying a moment of عَافِيَة, imagine that moment — and let your imagination go wild and creative here — imagine that moment and what that moment would look like if عَافِيَة was missing in it. And now come back to the status quo, and you'll be appreciative and grateful for what you have.

So, back to the example I gave earlier: you're sitting in front of me right now, not experiencing sciatic pain that sears and pierces through your body — you've never had to worry about this, or any type of arthritis, you can sit comfortably without having to worry about your bladder. These are things — this is عَافِيَة that is embedded into your life — that you would only appreciate if you contrast in and out, zoom in and out, where you constantly reframe. You're enjoying an amazing moment — imagine you're just sipping your latte at your favorite café — and you have to realize the layers of عَافِيَة that are in place for you to enjoy that blessing: the fact that your throat muscles are working so that you can swallow things, the fact that the city is doing its job and the electricity is functioning. We are trapped in layers upon layers of it, my dear brothers and sisters. The ability to contrast and see what life could be if this well-being wasn't there — and then coming back to where you are right now — all of a sudden you're like, "Alhamdulillah," and it comes from the depth of your heart. It's not something you just regurgitate.

The Story of Abu Khaythamah and Ghazwat Tabuk

Something akin to this occurred to one of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ — his name was Abu Khaythamah. Abu Khaythamah was someone who was supposed to join the Prophet ﷺ in the last battle of his life — and of course I'm referring to Ghazwat Tabuk. If you know Ghazwat Tabuk, this was supposed to be an all-out mobilization where every able-bodied man had to go, and pretty much everyone had gone. The day had now come for the army to leave, and the army marches on — and who's left behind? A handful of companions, amongst them is Abu Khaythamah. Perhaps because he was putting it off, perhaps he got distracted — he wasn't able to leave with the Prophet ﷺ. But now the army, the jaish, has left.

Allah tells you in the Quran the state — the dire circumstances of this army. He says سَاعَةَ الْعُسْرَةِ — the situation was so tough for the companions. First and foremost, they're leaving in a season where their crops are just ripening — finally, it's time to take a return on their investment — and now they've got to leave all that behind and march. On top of that, sweltering temperatures — Arabia is already hot, but this was an extra hot season. Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه says: we are with the Prophet ﷺ and the thirst was so intense we felt that our throats were getting stabbed. In one narration we're told some of the companions started sacrificing their camels just so they could take whatever water is in the humps — and that's how they're surviving. The Prophet ﷺ is in these scorching temperatures, marching with the rest of the Muslim army.

In this moment of difficulty, Abu Khaythamah is still in Medina. In fact, we're told in a narration that Abu Khaythamah comes home and his wife has prepared a little hut for him in the orchard they have. On top of that, she has sprinkled a little bit of water so that it's a bit cooler. Food is prepared. And now Abu Khaythamah comes home — he's standing at the mouth of this hut — and then, subhanAllah, it hits him like a ton of bricks. He has this spiritual opening and he says:

(Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah; also referenced in Tafsir Ibn Kathir under Surah al-Tawbah)

He says: "The Prophet ﷺ is burning under the temperatures of Arabia in these bleak circumstances, and Abu Khaythamah sits in shade with food prepared, with his family — wallahi, that's not fair!" He got up, mounted a fast horse, and joined the army of the Prophet ﷺ as fast as he could.

My dear brothers and sisters, that's not what's demanded of us — we don't have to transport ourselves right now to the trenches of Gaza, although we pray for them and support them and do whatever is humanly possible. But here's the responsibility that we do have in light of the عَافِيَة we have.

We know, my dear brothers and sisters, that for the last several months there is no food allowed into Gaza. No aid, no food — not even baby formula can get in. They are starving for months. And then you zoom into our place and our circumstances and we see water bottles half-drunk and thrown away, half-eaten pieces of bread, half-chewed pieces of meat thrown away and discarded.

Wallahi ma hadha bi-insaf — that's not fair. We have to match, to some degree, the hardship and suffering of the Ummah — perhaps not 100%, but our lifestyle has to reflect the عَافِيَة we have and the lack thereof they have, and meet somewhere.

My dear brothers and sisters, they cannot sleep at night. We also have doctors in our community — Dr. Azizur Rahman came back after serving as a doctor over there. He said every three hours, if not more frequently, a drone strike occurs — even at night. People can't sleep because of the sounds of the explosions. Babies waking up frightened. Family members waking up in fear because that strike could have claimed the life of someone they love. People can't sleep at night, they're not getting rest.

And then we come to our setting — and there are people missing Fajr. Not because they were tired from work, but because they were watching Netflix late into the night and then ended up missing Fajr on their comfortable bed. Wallahi ma hadha bi-insaf — that's not fair. We have to take a hard look: how is my عَافِيَة being put to use?

My dear brothers and sisters, there are no homes left, there are no mosques left, there are no hospitals left. And once again — contrast — that's what I'm trying to teach you. Develop this muscle of contrast. You come to your circumstances: what are we complaining about? That the WiFi is too slow? That your backsplash and your countertops are not fancy enough? That's the full picture you have to keep in front of you — and then you appreciate the status quo that Allah has blessed you with.

And this is where you start to understand — when you understand hedonic adaptation, that people get used to their circumstances — this is where you realize that these people over there, with everything that they're going through, when they're on camera they're still smiling. How do they do that, subhanAllah? People adapt to their circumstances, in the negative and in the positive. And we ask Allah that He allows us to appreciate the blessings that we're surrounded and immersed in.

Second Khutbah

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه وموالاه.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam — for those of you who are joining us late today — I wanted to dedicate my khutbah today to this beautiful idea of عَافِيَة that our religion teaches. It's a du'a we make, it's something the Prophet ﷺ wanted his Ummah to have. In summary, عَافِيَة is a state of well-being where Allah shields you — or minimizes for you — the trials of life.

My dear brothers and sisters, it's hard to swallow our عَافِيَة when we keep seeing what's happening overseas. And the point I was trying to make earlier is: how do we become more sensitive? How do we make pivots and adjustments so that our lifestyle reflects the fact that we are one body? You know the famous hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6011; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2586)

The believers are like one body — when one part hurts, the rest of the body reverberates with pain. Does our lifestyle reflect that?

Because our Prophet ﷺ — a hadith comes in Sahih Muslim — he couldn't sleep at night worrying about his Ummah. One narration tells us that the Prophet ﷺ is crying all night long, so much that Allah had to send Jibreel to comfort him. Jibreel comes down and says:

"What makes you cry, ya Rasulullah?" And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 202)

"My Ummah, my Ummah." Perhaps Allah allowed him to see the genocide that would take place in his Ummah. Perhaps Allah allowed him to see the Mongol invasion. Perhaps Allah allowed him to see what would happen to Hussain رضي الله عنه in Karbala — which occurred in this month of Muharram. The Prophet ﷺ kept crying, and then Jibreel had to go up. And Allah told the Prophet ﷺ: We will not abandon your Ummah. A group in your Ummah will always be upon the straight path. The Ummah will continue to make U-turns, will continue to have comebacks.

The Example of Nuruddin Zengi

My dear brothers and sisters, Nuruddin Zengi — he is a mentor of Salahuddin — he lives at a time when crusaders have laid siege to the Muslim lands. We're told in a narration in al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah by Ibn Kathir رحمه الله that Nuruddin Zengi was sitting with some of his colleagues, some students of knowledge, and they're doing hadith together. One hadith they came across requires for you to smile — because it is connected to the tradition of the hadith: you say the hadith and you smile, and it goes all the way back to the companions. What we call musalsal — it goes all the way back to the Prophet ﷺ. So these students of knowledge recite the hadith and they're smiling, and they ask Nuruddin now to smile as well. And he says no. They said: "Smile — this goes all the way back!" He said no. He says: "I am embarrassed in front of Allah that I sit here and smile while the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ is under siege." And he refused to smile — because that was his way of capturing what's happening there.

And such is the case for you and I, my dear brothers and sisters. Where can we look? Where can we adjust? Where can we tweak? So we have some face-saving excuse in front of Allah: "Ya Allah, through word and deed, through feelings and through actions, I reflected the state of the Ummah — the pain of the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ."

Responsibility #2: Channel 'Afiyah into Good Deeds

Which leads me to the second tip, my dear brothers and sisters — our responsibility towards عَافِيَة. The first tip, if you remember, was: fight the hedonic adaptation. Don't let this become a norm — make sure your gratitude levels are high.

The second tip: at the very least, my dear brothers and sisters, we cannot use our عَافِيَة to commit sins. And we have to channel this عَافِيَة into maximizing our good deeds.

Let me go back to the first point — not using عَافِيَة to commit sins. Understand, my dear brothers and sisters, that one of the side effects of wealth is that wealth gives you access to sins that are not available to poor people. For instance, gambling — I know a poor person may gamble, maybe some are, but by and large it is the sport — or the hobby, I should say — of the rich. Wealth and عَافِيَة will give you free time, perhaps free disposable resources to channel into an array of entertainment options and distractions. So you and I have to figure out: where is my عَافِيَة being channeled into?

Sahabah, my dear brothers and sisters — I don't know if you know this — when they started seeing a lot of عَافِيَة in their lives, things going pretty well, business booming, health fine, kids growing up great — they would get worried. Why would they get worried? They used to think that too much عَافِيَة meant Allah is giving them the reward of their good deeds here — in this life — and they would worry.

This is what happened to Abdurrahman ibn 'Auf رضي الله عنه. He's breaking his fast — long after the Prophet ﷺ — multiple trays of fruit, multiple trays of food are in front of him, and all of a sudden it hits him like a ton of bricks — just like Abu Khaythamah. He said: "Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr was better than me." And he began to cry. He's like: "He lived a life where he did not get to taste an iota of this world. When we were burying him, we didn't have enough of a shroud to cover his body. And now fast forward to our time — multi-course meals." He began to cry: "He was better than me. I worry that the reward of my efforts are being given to me here." And he couldn't eat, and he got up.

عَافِيَة made them worry — not because they were negative and paranoid, but because they worried: is the quality of my good deeds not high enough that Allah is just giving it to me here, and the paycheck is coming here?

And another thing they would worry about: the Sahabah were in a constant competition. They understood: if you're in عَافِيَة, there's another category of people called ahl al-bala' — people who are going through the crippling afflictions of life. So you have ahl al-bala' and ahl al-'afiyah. The Sahabah knew from the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ that on the Day of Judgment, ahl al-bala' will come and Allah will give them such a royal and handsome reward and treatment that the people of عَافِيَة will look at these people of trials and all the incredible treatment they're getting — and they will say to Allah: "Ya Allah, send us back to this world so that we are skinned alive, cut with scissors" — that's what the narration says — "so that we can get the reward they're getting right now."

Sahabah understood: being in عَافِيَة means my reward counter is at a standstill. In bala', your reward counter is running. So they understood: if you're in عَافِيَة, you have an extra pressure to do good deeds. If you're sleeping comfortably in your mattress with optimal air-conditioned temperatures, you have an extra pressure to wake up for Tahajjud — because you have the luxury. And that عَافِيَة must be channeled in that direction.

We ask Allah that He makes us people who appreciate the blessings that we have.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ. وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ.