Giving Up Things For The Sake Of Allah

Giving Up Things For The Sake Of Allah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His assistance. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil within ourselves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Yet whomever He allows to go astray, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah alone. He has no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger.

O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except in the state of Islam.

O you who believe, fear Allah and speak the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive your sins. And whomsoever obeys Allah and His messenger, he has indeed achieved a great achievement.

فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today our khutbah is about giving up things for the sake of Allah and the fruits thereof.

The Foundational Hadith

We have a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad rahimahullah from the hadith of Abu Qatada and Abu al-Dahma. He said: We came to a man from the people of Badiyah and asked, "Did you hear anything from the Messenger of Allah?" Both of them approached a man and asked him, "Did you hear anything from the Prophet?" He said, I heard him say:

(Musnad Ahmad, narrated by Abu Qatada and Abu al-Dahma)

"You will not leave anything for the sake of Allah except that Allah will replace you — because of what you left — with something better for you than that thing."

Three Key Points from This Hadith

The scholars say to note in the wording of the hadith a number of things.

The first: The Prophet said لَنْ تَدَعَ شَيْئًا — "You will not leave anything." So they said, شَيْئًا is a general and all-encompassing term, which means you can give up anything for the sake of Allah.

The second: لِلَّهِ — that when you leave something, make sure it's for the sake of Allah and to earn the pleasure of Allah, not out of fear of people or being shy of them. Even if it's a good reason why you're leaving it, make sure you make it first for Allah. If you quit smoking — many people quit smoking, and when you ask them why they quit, they say because of health, because of my lungs. First do it for Allah and then make it a second intention for your lungs. But you were for years disobeying Allah and smoking, and now when you quit it's for the sake of your health, not once is it going to be for Allah. So make sure you do it for Allah. If you stop watching television, not for the sake of making use of your time — first make it for the sake of Allah, then make it for making benefit of your time.

We have a hadith indicating that when you leave something, it has to be for the sake of Allah. Narrated by Abu Huraira radiallahu anhu, that the Prophet narrated from Allah. So it is a Qudsi hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6491; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 233)

Allah is telling the angels: "If My servant wants to do something, do not write it against him — meaning it is a sin — do not write it against him until he does it. If he does it, write it as is; don't multiply it. If he does a sin, write it as it is. And if he leaves it for My sake — that is the condition — then write it as a good deed. And if he wants to do a good deed and he doesn't do it, then write it down as a good deed. And if he does it, then write it down as 10 times the reward, up to 700 times in reward."

So we see from this hadith that when you give up something, it has to be — number one — for the sake of Allah. The other thing the scholars mentioned: when you don't do a bad deed, you get reward when you don't do it out of fear of Allah, not out of inability. Someone wants to get in his car and go do something haram. He starts his car, and then he turns it off. He feels ashamed in front of Allah and he goes back in his house. What stopped him from committing the sin is the fear of Allah. Whereas another person gets in his car to go do something haram — the car won't start. So he goes back home. This person gets no reward. What stopped him was his inability, not the fear of Allah.

And then the third thing — if you fulfill that condition, the hadith then says:

Allah will replace you with something better than that which you left. The scholars say it could be something similar, or it could be something entirely different — such as your heart becoming content, or Allah giving you peace of mind, and your love of Allah increasing. And it could be in this world, or it could be in the next.

Examples from the Qur'an and History

The Example of Prophet Sulayman

We see many examples in the Qur'an. Allah mentions in Surah Sad:

"And We gave Dawood, Sulaiman. Most excellent servant is he, and surely he is awwab, always returning to Allah in tawbah. When they brought to him in the evening horses that are safinat — still while standing, obedient — and jiyad — fast and swift when running. He said: I preferred the good things to the remembrance of my Lord, until the sun set." So he is talking about how he missed Asr. The sun set, and he preferred the love of these things over the remembrance of his Lord. He said: "Bring them back to me," and then he began to slash their legs and their necks. Some scholars mentioned that that was allowed in his shari'ah.

Then Allah, two to three verses later, says:

So he gave that up for the sake of Allah, and Allah says: then We made the wind subservient to him. He could command the wind to go anywhere he wanted. His command could make it run gently wherever he desired.

The Companions Who Left Mecca

Other examples — we find the companions of the Prophet ﷺ who left their wealth, their homes, and their families in Mecca. So Allah gave them the world because they left that for the sake of Allah, and Allah let them run the majority of the world. It was narrated by Ibn Kathir that when the companions of the Prophet ﷺ would pass away later on during the reign of Umar, they would have to cut out the gold and silver they left behind with an axe — that is how much wealth came to them. Because they left the beginning for the sake of Allah, and Allah replaced them with better.

The Story of Suhayb al-Rumi

An example of that is Suhayb al-Rumi, radiallahu anhu. Narrated by Ikrimah: when Suhayb left Mecca to immigrate to Medina, the people of Mecca followed him. So he climbed on a small hill, فَنَثَلَ كِنَانَتَهُ فَأَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعِينَ سَهْمًا — he took out his quiver and took 40 arrows out in his hand. And he said, "You will not reach me until I put an arrow in each one of you. You know I am one of the best shots. And when I run out of arrows, I will use my sword." He is telling them: what benefit will you have when so many men die just to get one person? And then he made them an offer — he led them in detail to all his wealth, where it was buried, who had it — all of the wealth he left behind in Mecca. He gave them detailed directions, and they could keep all his wealth.

When he did that, Allah revealed to the Prophet ﷺ in Surah Al-Baqarah:

"And amongst men is he who sells himself to seek the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is merciful to the servants."

So when Suhayb al-Rumi made it to Medina, the Prophet ﷺ told him: رَبِحَ الْبَيْعُ يَا أَبَا يَحْيَى — "What a prosperous sale, O Abu Yahya!" — and then he recited the verse to him. You give up something for the sake of Allah, and Allah will replace you with better.

Hadith: Containing One's Anger

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith narrated by Ibn Majah:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4186)

"Whoever contains his anger while he is able to let it out — Allah will call him on the Day of Judgment in front of everyone, to get first pick from the women of Jannah."

Because when you are rewarded in front of people, the reward becomes greater — and that is why we have award ceremonies. If your boss pulls you into a dark room and tells you to take this and don't tell anyone, is that more of an honor than awarding you in front of people? So this person is rewarded in front of Allah because he left retaliating, and he left it for the sake of Allah. So Allah replaces him with better.

As you are sitting here, examine your life. What can you give up for the sake of Allah? Is it smoking? Is it looking at haram images? Is it music? Is it business transactions that are not halal?

The Story of Al-Mubarak — Father of Abdullah ibn Mubarak

We have the story of Al-Mubarak — this is the father of the great and famous scholar Abdullah ibn Mubarak rahimahullah. Al-Mubarak used to work in a meadow that belonged to someone. One day the owner came with his friends and told Al-Mubarak: "Cut us some sweet pomegranates." So he brought them a bunch of pomegranates and they opened them and they were all sour. The owner of the meadow got upset with him. He told him, "Don't you know the difference between sweet and sour pomegranates?" He said, "No, because I have never tasted it." He said, "You have been working here for years and never once have you tasted the pomegranates?" He said, "Wallahi, not one seed."

So the man, wanting to benefit from him, asked: "Let me ask you — what should people look for when they marry a woman?" He told him: "Some people seek out wealth. Others seek out beauty. But the Muslim, the righteous believer, seeks out deen. So see which group you pertain to and act accordingly." So the man told him: "No one is better than you," and he gave him his daughter to marry. And eventually even that same meadow became his — because he feared Allah.

The Story of Abdullah ibn Umar and the Shepherd

Another example: Abdullah ibn Umar radiallahu anhuma was with some of his friends and saw a shepherd. He told him, "Sell one of the sheep to us." The man told him, "It is not mine." So Ibn Umar wanted to test this man. He told him, "But how will the owner know? Tell him the wolf ate it." And the man, the shepherd, said, فَأَيْنَ اللَّهُ؟ فَأَيْنَ اللَّهُ؟ — "So then what about Allah? Where is Allah?" — and then he walked away, continuing to say, فَأَيْنَ اللَّهُ؟

So Abdullah ibn Umar then went and found this man's master, bought him, and set him free. And bought all the goats and gave them to him. Then he told him: "Your statement — فَأَيْنَ اللَّهُ — your statement freed you. And I ask Allah to free you with it from the Hellfire in the next life."

The Story of Abu Ghiyath — As Told by Imam al-Tabari

Another amazing story is an incident that happened in the year 240 after the Hijrah in the city of Mecca, to a man by the name of Abu Ghiyath. The eyewitness to this story who tells it to us in detail is none other than the famous and great scholar of Islam, Imam al-Tabari, rahimahullah.

He says: I was in Mecca and it was Hajj season. And I saw a man from Khurasan — and Khurasan is an area which would be today like northeastern Iran and also southern Turkmenistan and northwestern Afghanistan, that region. He says: I saw a man from Khurasan calling out, يَا مَعْشَرَ الْحُجَّاجِ — "O people of Mecca, from those who are residents and those who are visitors, I lost a bag and in it are 1,000 gold dinars, 1,000 gold coins."

فَمَنْ رَدَّهُ إِلَيَّ جَزَاهُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا، وَأَعْتَقَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ، وَلَهُ الْأَجْرُ وَالثَّوَابُ يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ — "Whoever gives it back to me, may Allah reward him with good and give him reward on the Day of Judgment."

Imam al-Tabari says: an old man got up and said to him: "O man from Khurasan, the state of our land is poor. The days of Hajj are few and its seasons are limited. Sometimes when people come to our city, it is very few. The doors of provision are closed, and perhaps this wealth fell into the hands of a believer who is poor and old. He is hopeful to get something from it if he returns it to you — that you may give him a little something in halal wealth." So the man from Khurasan said, "What is this reward? How much does he want?" The old man said, "He would want a tenth — 100 dinars, a tenth of a thousand."

So the man from Khurasan would not accept. He said, لَا أَفْعَلُ، وَلَكِنِّي أُفَوِّضُ أَمْرِي إِلَى اللَّهِ — "I will not accept. I will return this affair to Allah. And I will complain to Allah the day I meet Him. And He is more sufficient and the best to put your trust upon."

So Imam al-Tabari says: I got the feeling that this old man was very poor, and he had found the bag with the gold coins and was just hopeful to get a little bit of it. So I followed him until his house, and it was exactly as I expected — he was a poor man. And I heard him calling out to his wife: يَا لُبَابَةُ. She said, لَبَّيْكَ يَا أَبَا غِيَاثٍ — "At your service, Abu Ghiyath."

He tells her — and Imam al-Tabari can hear this from outside — "I found the owner of the dinars calling out, and he doesn't want to give anything to the finder. So I said to him, give us 100 dinars from it, and he refused and returned his affair to Allah. So what should I do, ya Lubaba? I must return it. I fear my Lord and I fear my sin will be multiplied." And to explain: in Mecca, you are not supposed to take the luqata — whatever people lose in Mecca, you are not supposed to pick it up or take it from its spot. And he had taken it. And in Mecca, the sins are doubled. So he says, "I fear my sins will be multiplied."

So his wife told him — and look at her response and see if it encourages him to have fear of Allah or not — she says: يَا رَجُلُ، نَحْنُ نُقَاسِي الْفَقْرَ مَعَكَ مُنْذُ خَمْسِينَ سَنَةً — "We have been struggling against this intense poverty with you for over 50 years. And you have 4 daughters and 2 sisters living with us, and me and my mother — and you are the ninth one. We don't have a goat and we don't have any livestock. Take all of the wealth and let us eat from it and benefit from it. Perhaps Allah will enrich you — you'll become rich after that. Just make business and you'll return it easily in the future." Shaytanic type of thinking.

And then he tells her: يَا لُبَابَةُ، أَآكُلُ حَرَامًا بَعْدَ سِتٍّ وَثَمَانِينَ عَامًا بَلَغَهَا عُمْرِي؟ — "You want me to eat haram after 86 years of my life? And you want me to burn myself in the Hellfire after I have been patient upon all this poverty? And then I earn the anger of Allah while I am close to my grave? La wallahi, I will not do that."

So Imam al-Tabari says: I left while bewildered by his situation and his wife. And the next day at noon, I heard the owner of the money calling out again: "O people of Mecca, O gathering of pilgrims, O delegation of Allah, residents and visitors — whoever found a bag with 1,000 dinars, let him return it to me, and he will have the reward with Allah." So the old man got up and said: "Ya Khurasani, I told you yesterday and I advised you. Our land has little vegetation and livestock. Give the one who finds the money something so he doesn't go against the shari'ah. I told you to give the one who finds it 100 dinars and you refused. Perhaps your wealth fell in the hands of someone who fears Allah. So won't you give him just 10 dinars instead of 100? It will be a source of security and prevent them from asking and stealing, and increase them in honesty."

So the Khurasani man said, لَا أَفْعَلُ وَأَحْتَسِبُ مَا لِي عِنْدَ اللَّهِ — "I am not going to do that. And I am going to seek the recompense with Allah. And I will complain to Him when I meet Allah." And then the people dispersed.

And then the next day during one of the hours of the afternoon, I heard the owner of the dinars calling out the exact same thing. And the old man got up and said: "Ya Khurasani, I told you two days ago — let him have 100 dinars and you refused. And then 10 dinars and you refused. What if you give the one who finds it just one dinar? He will buy some food with half of it, and with the other half he will buy a goat and milk it. فَيَسْقِي النَّاسَ وَيَكْتَسِبُ وَيُطْعِمُ أَوْلَادَهُ وَيَحْتَسِبُ — so he will give people and earn a living from selling that milk, and he will give his children as well."

So the Khurasani says: "I will do no such thing. But I leave him to Allah. And I will complain in front of Allah when we meet Him." So the old man then pulled him towards him and said, "Come and take your dinars and let me be able to sleep. I have not been able to relax since I found this money." So he went with the owner of the money and I went with them — Imam al-Tabari is now a young man who just couldn't let go; he had to find out what was going on. He had nothing to do with it, but he went with them.

Until the old man went into his home and started digging in the ground and said, "Take your wealth. And I ask Allah to pardon me and to provide for me from His bounties." So the Khurasani took it and was about to leave. And then when he got to the door, he turned and said: "Ya Shaykh, old man — my father died, rahimahullah, and left me 3,000 dinars. He said, take one third out and distribute it to the poorest of the people. So I put it in this bag so I can distribute it to those who deserve. And wallahi, since I left Khorasan until I got here, I have not seen anyone more deserving of it than you." He told him, "Take it. May Allah put barakah in it for you. May Allah reward you for your honesty and for your patience upon your poverty." And then he walked out and left the money behind.

So Imam al-Tabari says: I walked out behind the Khurasani — I found the end of the story and I left. But Abu Ghiyath, the old man, caught up with me and brought me back. He said, "Sit. I had seen you following me on the first day." So he was aware of him the whole time and never once said, "Get out of here — what is your business?" He just left this young man alone. He said: "I had seen you following me on the first day, and you know our story from yesterday and today as well."

Then he told him a hadith. He said that Abdullah ibn Umar said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say to Umar, my father, and Ali:

"If Allah brings you a gift without you asking for it and humiliating yourself, accept it and do not turn it back." Because then you would be turning away something from Allah.

So he told him this hadith first, and he told him: this is a gift for you and for everyone in the house. Then the old man called out: يَا لُبَابَةُ, his wife, and his daughters and sisters and his wife's mother — he called them all and sat down and made me sit down. So we became ten in total. He said, "Spread out your garments" — so they spread their garments. And those who didn't have a garment to spread put their hands out. This shows you the poverty they had — some of them didn't have garments, they just put their hands out. And it tells you the detail of the story that Imam al-Tabari is telling us. And he began to put a dinar in everyone's hand going in a circle until he finished the whole bag. So he gave Imam al-Tabari 100 dinars.

He says: happiness entered my heart due to their becoming wealthy, even more than the happiness of my own 100 dinars. So I wanted to leave, and he said to me: "Young man, you are blessed — and I am giving you advice because it is halal wealth, so hold on to it. And know that I used to get up and pray Fajr in this same old torn garment of mine. And then I would take it off and my daughters would pray one by one. Then I would go to work from between Dhuhr and Asr. Then I come at the end of the afternoon with whatever Allah blessed me from dates and bread. And then I would take off my garment and they would all pray Dhuhr and Asr. And the same thing for Maghrib and Isha. And we never imagined to see money like this. So may Allah benefit them with what they were given. And may Allah benefit me and you with what we were given. And may Allah have mercy on the owner of the money in his grave — meaning the father of the man. And multiply the reward for his son and may Allah accept from him."

Ibn Jarir says: so I bade him farewell and I took the 100 dinars and spent them on my studies and learning for two years. I used to buy books and paper and pay rent. And after 16 years I went to Mecca and I asked about the old man. And I was told that he died a few months after getting that money. And later on his wife and her sister and the mother died, and the man's two sisters. And no one remained except his daughters. So I asked about them and found out that they had gotten married to kings and amirs — and that was due to the news of their father's righteousness spreading in the land. And I used to go visit their husbands and sit with them and converse with them. And they used to be hospitable to me until they passed away. فَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ فِيمَا صَارُوا إِلَيْهِ.

The Promise of Allah in the Qur'an

Allah tells us in Surah At-Talaq:

"Whoever fears Allah, Allah will find him a way out and give him provision from where he least expected."

Ask Allah for His forgiveness. Surely those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

Second Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْأَمِينِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Just two points before we end.

Number one: you don't have to follow the example of Sulayman alayhissalam, which was only some of the mufassirin's explanation — that he killed the horses that distracted him from worshipping Allah. So you don't have to destroy your possessions if you feel they have taken you away from Allah. A true story: a young man came to me and he said, "I had a laptop — it was brand new and I loved it so much — and I felt it was competing with my love of Allah, so I took it out and smashed it with my boots." Even if you love it, it wouldn't match the love of Allah. Next time you want to destroy an item, just give it to me!

The last thing: giving something up for the sake of Allah is not just giving up the haram things. When you fast, you leave halal desires and you leave halal food for the sake of Allah. And in the hadith Allah says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1894; Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 2564)

"He leaves his desire — halal with his wife — and his food — halal — for My sake."

So you can give up something halal. Someone can give up television — even if it's halal — just to put more of his time into Qur'an and learning his religion. But make sure you do it for the sake of Allah. And we have other examples in the Qur'an of people leaving halal things for the sake of Allah, and Allah rewarding them with much better.

Conclusion

In conclusion we say: everyone these days is big on self-improvement and self-help. This is self-help right here. This is how to improve your life, increase your iman, bring peace of mind to yourself. This is how to get closer to Allah. Examine your life — and only you can do this. Find an area, find something that you can give up for the sake of Allah, and you will see how your life will improve, insha'Allah.