EPIC Masjid, Imam from Mckinney, Wisdom of Allah (swt)

The Hasty Heart: Trusting Allah's Timing

All of what I have just said existed, and worse than that, the Rasul ﷺ himself was spit at, cursed, lied about, rumored about, shunned by, and everything that you can imagine. Imagine the anxiety, the pressure, the emotions.

And one of those days, one of the Sahaba came to the Rasul ﷺ — Khabbab ibn al-Aratt — and he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3612)

He came to the Rasul ﷺ and said, "Ya Rasulullah, make du'a for us. Ask Allah to bring down the victory. Wallahi, one of us cannot answer the call of nature without a weapon in his hand."

This is a man who was extremely tortured to a degree that has never been seen before. They would boil the charcoals and lay him on them until his flesh would extinguish them. And all he was asking for was du'a — the basic necessities of a Muslim. All he was wishing for was victory, the dream of every Muslim.

The Rasul ﷺ was leaning, then he stood up. And you could see in his face disappointment — a dislike of the approach of Khabbab, a disapproval of what he just did. But what did he do? He asked for du'a. It wasn't that — it was the motivation behind it. The demeanor of the Rasul ﷺ showed his disapproval. He said, "You are people who are hasty."

"In the nations before, a man would be brought, put in a ditch, cut in half — he would not give up his faith. But you are a nation that is hasty. You are people who are hasty. You are in a rush."

It wasn't the concept of du'a that disappointed him. It was that Khabbab had lost hope. Lost patience. Wanted that victory to come quicker. He forgot that Allah calculates everything and brings it at its time. Everything that Allah does is precise and for the best.

The Story of Bani Isra'il and Fir'awn

There has never been a nation that has been tortured and abused more than Bani Isra'il. Imagine: their children were killed at birth, their women were taken for pleasure, and whatever man was alive was enslaved. And it wasn't for one generation or two — it was for generations. And by whom? There has never been a greater or more abusive government than the governments of the Pharaohs.

Allah says: indeed Fir'awn was the extremist of all dictators. When the Rasul ﷺ wanted to describe Awf ibn Hisham during the Battle of Badr, he said, "That is the Fir'awn of this place, of this world" — because he is the ideal example of the worst of the worst. There is no one who has claimed to be the Lord himself except him:

It went to such an extent that the people of Bani Isra'il thought torture to be the natural means of their life. That's what they said to Musa:

"Women tortured throughout — and nothing new is what you're telling us right now." Prior to the birth of Musa, Allah said and explained His will vividly:

"And We want to bring Our minna — Our gifts, Our bounties — to those who have been oppressed by them. And We will have them inherit the land. And We will empower them." That is Allah's will, and there is nothing that can stand in His way:

"Indeed, if We will something, then all We need to say is 'Be,' and it is." Nothing can stand in front of it or between it.

In the moment that Allah said that, what would you assume? That immediately Bani Isra'il would be empowered, they would inherit the land, and they would show Fir'awn and his people what they had been subjected to. But it didn't happen like that.

After Allah said this, He said to the mother of Musa:

"Breastfeed him, and if you fear for his life, let him go — let him go in the river." And he went, and left, and was raised by his archenemy, Fir'awn. And after that, Musa fled Egypt, went to Madyan, came back, and struggled against Fir'awn — throughout all those years, forty years — before Fir'awn saw his fate.

After Allah had said وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ — forty years passed. It didn't happen immediately, or overnight, or in a year. And before they inherited the land — not the land of Egypt, but the land from Syria onward — it took them another forty years plus, and they were lost in the desert:

Eighty years — from the moment that Allah said وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ.

Why Does Allah Delay the Answer?

At a time when we see a lot of calamities and tragedies, we see a lot of massacres and bloodshed — and many of us, if not all of us, wonder why Allah is just sitting there and not doing anything. We see masajid throughout the world, their imams, their congregations, their musallees raising their hands to the sky: "Ya Allah, show us Your power over Your enemies, and bring down the victory."

And some of us wonder: what happened? Where is that victory? Why has Allah not responded to our du'a? Because He does it in His own time. He does not rush because you are in a hurry. He does not become hasty because you have no patience. He will do what He needs to do at His time — for reasons He only knows, and for reasons that we have witnessed throughout the history of life.

The Lesson of Uhud and What We Almost Lost

Let me give you a small example. After the Battle of Uhud, seventy of the Sahaba were killed in that battle. Amongst them, Hamzah, Abu Talha, Abdullah ibn Haram, and many others. And the Rasul ﷺ was hurt, and there was grief amongst many. The Rasul ﷺ was so hurt that in his sujood he was making du'a:

He was making du'a against them. And individuals called the defeat of the Muslims a musibah. Allah Himself named that battle a musibah:

Now imagine — if Allah had answered that du'a, and his du'a was never to be rejected, what would you and I have lost? Men like Khalid ibn al-Walid, who became Sayfullah — the Sword of Allah. Men like 'Amr ibn al-'As, who carried Islam to Egypt, which we know today, and to Palestine. You don't know what is behind the scenes, or what tomorrow brings.

The Mongols massacred Muslims throughout their way, all the way beyond Afghanistan, until they came to Egypt. Then they went back and carried Islam to the nations — many of the Muslims I see in this masjid today who come from the subcontinent. If they had been completely destroyed, where would you have been today? Those who are from Iraq or Iran — it was Khalid who brought Islam to that part of the world. We would have lost so much because of moments of pain. Allah does not function like that.

Allah says:

Allah wants to take people to account because of what they have done — none would have survived. None, including you and I.

So look at 'Amr ibn al-'As — he walked out of his home with his sword, willing to kill the Muslims so that they would become his followers. He deserved that moment, that moment where he wished to be killed instead. He became one of the greatest that we have known in our history. That's how life works.

Trials as Filters and Reminders

Your pain is felt. What we witness today in Syria, in the chaos in the streets of Egypt — these are matters that have to happen for change to come. And it's not a "watch and see" that Allah does. But it is like those eighty years it took for Bani Isra'il to eventually inhabit the land — even though the only ones who truly deserved it were a few of them. They were equivalent in number to the Sahaba during the Battle of Badr. And when they walked out of Egypt, there were more than 650,000.

One of the wisdoms of Allah in delaying the answer is that He filters our communities, filters our society, filters our ummah — brings out, and brushes out, and weeds out those who do not deserve to see the victory with their eyes or feel it with their hearts. Because they were never part of it in the first place. Everybody claims victory when things are at ease. But when things are trembling and the waves are coming from every side, everybody says, "Ya Allah!" — then they walk away.

When things become easy and they see all the joys of the world, then they fight for the dunya — إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مَعَكُمْ — "We are with you." SubhanAllah.

One of the things that Allah does through the trials of the night is He filters our communities. We have seen this in small portions and in a bigger capacity. In small communities, they fight at times where there is no reason to fight — but Allah created that atmosphere to filter our lives. During the Battle of Uhud, if it were not for that musibah, the Sahaba would not have known who Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul was — and one third of the army retreated and left the Rasul ﷺ and his Sahaba at the mountain. That is just a means of filtering.

And it is a blessing for you and I. Wallahi, it's a blessing. It keeps you connected to Allah. It keeps you intact. Trials in your life are to keep you alert that you need Allah. It's natural in a human being — when you are in fear, when there is some kind of unease in your life, you are more in tune to say, "Ya Allah." And when you think things are going your way, all of a sudden you assume it was because of what you did. And you say what Qarun said:

"I was given it because of my own knowledge and effort."

The Man Who Asked for Wealth

A man came to the Rasul ﷺ and said, "Ya Rasulullah, make du'a that Allah makes me rich." The Rasul ﷺ said, "You're good — you are okay where you are at." But he insisted. So Allah blessed him with wealth. And he became one of the richest men. When asked to give his zakah, he said, "Why would I give my money to those who did not earn it? I worked extremely hard for this. It's mine — why would I give it away?"

When you have a child in your life who is sick, you make du'a and you come to the masjid: "Imam, please make du'a — my child is sick, my mother and father are sick." And once everyone in your family is okay, you don't even come for salah. You wake up at night for a test you are taking to get your board or your medical license or just to pass high school — and you don't wake up at night for the test that Allah will ask you about, alone, while you are standing alone: "What have you done?"

So part of the message is that Allah keeps us alert and attached to Him, so we do not all of a sudden forget and become dependent on ourselves — when in reality we are weak.

The Status of 'Abdullah — The Servant of Allah

The greatest level of ibadah, the greatest profession you can have and the greatest status you can claim, is that you are Abdullah — the servant of Allah. The Rasul ﷺ has never been praised more greatly than when Allah acknowledges him as His servant. And it is those trials and tragedies that elevated the Rasul ﷺ so greatly. He was offered to become a king, to become rich. He said, "I would rather be a servant — a Muslim. I eat one day and I do not another. He is thankful when he eats; he is patient when he is not."

Even the Rasul ﷺ — that was his wish. He would never forget. He would never have a lapse of mind.

'Abdurrahman ibn 'Awf and the Weight of Wealth

Aisha said one day about 'Abdurrahman ibn 'Awf: "I heard the Rasul ﷺ say that 'Abdurrahman ibn 'Awf would be among the last of the Sahaba to enter Jannah." He heard it. He said, "Why is that?" Because of the great wealth he had — he would have to answer for all of it. So immediately he said, "I am donating half of my wealth for the sake of Allah. Since that is the cause of my delay, I give it up."

The Rasul ﷺ did not fear for this ummah when it was tested. By Allah, we get stronger, we get united when we are tested. But he feared for this ummah prosperity — which many of us think is the measure of acceptance by Allah. He said:

"I do not fear poverty for you — but I fear for you the dunya, prosperity. Then you will compete in it, and it will destroy you as it destroyed the nations before you."

Never Lose Hope — A Muslim Always Builds

What is happening around the world in our countries — we are saddened by it. And we should never stop making du'a, and we should never stop hoping. By Allah, Allah will take care of our brothers and sisters in Syria if we take care of what we need to do. He will unite our brothers if we do — if we start within ourselves and show our unity with them. He will bring the best to the people of Yemen, and Tunisia, and Libya, and now Iraq. He will make better nations of Pakistan, and a unity between the subcontinent peoples. And who knows — maybe victory is closer than you and I think today.

All we need to do is trust that the One who controls has not forgotten.

The most beautiful hadith that I have read in my life — it is where the Rasul ﷺ says: if the Day of Judgment was to be tomorrow — the end of mankind and the universe, the end of this world — and there is in your hand a plant, a seed. There is not even enough time for it to grow. You know that tomorrow the angel will blow the horn and everything is done. The mountains will not be settled. But you still plant that seed.

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 12902; also narrated in Al-Adab al-Mufrad, Al-Bukhari)

Because a Muslim never stops, never gives up, and never loses hope. A Muslim is always a builder — a provider, a source of energy, a source of giving, not just taking. A Muslim vibrates everything around him. That is why they used to say it is like the rain: wherever it drops, it benefits. So we never stop. And we are not consumed by our losses to forget what we are to build for tomorrow. So as we lose, we build.

After Uhud: Marching with Wounds

During the Battle of Uhud, when the Rasul ﷺ and the Muslims returned to Medina with their injuries and wounds, the angel Jibril came to the Rasul ﷺ and said, "You have put down your shield? For the angels have not." He stood up and called only those who had attended the Battle of Uhud — with all of their injuries and wounds — and they marched after the Quraysh all the way to Hamra' al-Asad. And they tasted the victory there. Because wounds and injuries do not allow us to give up.

One of the men who was fighting during the Battle of Uhud — the Rasul ﷺ said to the Sahaba about him, after they praised him: "He is in the Fire." Because he gave up. When he got injured, he could not bear the pain — so he stabbed himself to death. We do not give up. Our ummah always builds.

Our Brothers in Allen — A Call to Support

When our community thinks that it has exhausted its resources, we see another community stand up to build again — and it will succeed. Our brothers in the Allen area understand that the communities around the DFW area, in the minds of some, have exhausted all of their resources. But the faith that they have in their hearts told them that they still need to build. And they will build their own masjid. They bought the land, and they have finished breaking ground. In the next phase, they are already on their way.

You can say here in EPIC, "We've exhausted everything we have." And likewise they'll say in Irving, or Arlington, or Fort Worth. But throughout the years I've been in the DFW area, we've never exhausted the resources of the One who owns all the treasures of the world. Because His resources never exhaust. If every human being were to ask for his wish, it would not be equivalent to a needle being dipped in the ocean and then brought out — what would that needle carry out from the ocean?

So our brothers in Allen trust that there is much that they can have and find in our community. On February the 23rd — they will have their major fundraising dinner. All of you are invited. We're not doing a fundraiser today — but they are inviting you to come to their fundraiser. Whether you give or you're just there, just show up. February the 23rd at the hotel MC Weitz in Frisco. Mark on your calendar that you will show support for our brothers and sisters in Allen.

Whether you give or not, His resources will finish the project — I promise you that. But it will be a great sadaqa on your part if you come and say, "I had something to do with this." It will be truly on your side of benefit that you come and say, "I partnered in building a masjid — and where is my mansion? Where is my castle?" You promised a mansion and a castle for one who partnered in building a masjid. You can claim it by attending, insha'Allah, on February the 23rd at MC Weitz in Frisco.

Closing Du'a

O Allah, do not take us to account for our sins except by Your mercy. We have no strength except by Your mercy. We have no sufficiency except by Your justice.