It is Prophetic Community

Opening

We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and by declaring that there is no one worthy of worship other than He subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bring His peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his family, and upon his companions, and upon those that follow him in his way and his tradition, up until Yawm al-Qiyamah.

And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us among them. Allahumma ameen.

A Student's Unexpected Background

I teach students, alhamdulillah. And one of my students — I was looking at him, and he looked, I've never seen his complexion before. So I asked him, where is your father from, where is your mother from? It was beautiful. And he said to me, well, my father is Pakistani. Alhamdulillah, I grew up in Dallas. I think I know what a Pakistani looks like. And he says, my mother is from Russia.

I said, wow. A Pakistani and a Russian together. I would never have imagined that. And to me that strikes so interesting. Because I've never seen that combination. Yet we had a sister from Russia, and we had a brother from Pakistan. And it was in Allah's plan and decree that they got together and they got married, and now one of them is their son, and he is one of my students.

We Were Created to Know One Another

And when I was reflecting upon that moment, I was reminded of the verse that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Al-Hujurat. Such a beautiful verse that when someone really looks into this verse and really tries to understand it, his perspective and the way he looks at brothers and sisters and the people around him in general — it changes.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Al-Hujurat:

That we have surely made mankind — every single one of you — from a male and a female, from Adam and Eve. وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا And we have made you into different tribes and nations — so what? So that you may get to know one another in a beautiful way.

And as I was thinking upon that — لِتَعَارَفُوا — the fact and the notion and the action of understanding, what is the benefit in that? What do we learn when we learn more about each other? What do we discover when we discover more about each other? We learn how to love each other better. We learn how to love each other better.

The Prophet's Way of Fostering Love

And when I learned and reflected upon that, I was reminded of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — that there was no one that loved better than he ﷺ. That there was no one that fostered love better than he did ﷺ. There are testimonies in the seerah, and there are different incidents in the seerah that attest to the fact and explain more clearly that the love of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — the way he did it, the way he had patience, the way he built, and the way that was his emphasis and his focus — love and community, to foster that within his community, is something that we can emulate. But not only emulate — we can understand as well.

The Verse of Surah Al-Ahzab: Patience in Love

One of the most beautiful incidents of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was if you read the reason for revelation — the asbab al-nuzul — for verse number 53 of Surah Al-Ahzab:

The story behind this verse is that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ got married. And he was having some people over — a celebratory dinner, as you do when you get married. And because these companions, they love Prophet Muhammad ﷺ so much, they overstayed their welcome in a way. You know when someone comes over and it's getting past 11:30 and you feel like you want to tell him to go home but it's not nice — you just let them stay, and you say, Ya Allah, help me. They're staying for too long.

So the Prophet ﷺ, he had that shyness with his companions because he loved them so much — that he didn't want to tell them, you know, I got married, I want to spend some time with my family. None of that. He just let them carry on. And if we were in the same exact place of those companions, we'd probably be doing the same thing. We'd be staying our welcome, soaking up every minute and every moment with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

And he ﷺ had that shyness. So Allah had to intervene. When you're with the Prophet ﷺ, when you're done eating — وَلَا مُسْتَأْنِسِينَ لِحَدِيثٍ — you've got to go. Don't overstay your welcome.

But the point I wanted to make was that the Prophet ﷺ had the patience to deal with that inconvenience because he loved them. And when we think about our communities and we think about ourselves — how long is our fuse? How long is our threshold with people? Is it just one mistake in one moment and we say, I don't want to deal with them anymore? Whereas the Prophet ﷺ had the longest of thresholds with people. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Making Everyone Feel the Most Beloved

It was another example of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that whenever he used to talk with people, people used to think that they were the most beloved to him. That he or she was the most beloved to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. So we know the incident — and I don't want to go into full detail because of the time — but we know the incident of Abdullah ibn Umar, when he asked the Prophet ﷺ confidently. He said, Ya Rasulullah, who's the most beloved to you? And we know the Prophet ﷺ said, Aisha. And then he said Abu Bakr al-Siddiq radhiallahu anhu. And then he said Umar. And the list goes on.

But why did Abdullah ibn Umar ask that? Because he felt so confident — the way Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made him feel — that surely he was the most beloved to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The Prophetic Advice Upon Arriving in Madinah

Abdullah ibn Salam radhiallahu anhu narrated that when the Prophet ﷺ first arrived in Madinah — this is him ﷺ teaching us how to establish this kind of prophetic love and unity within our community. When he first came down, the first thing that Abdullah ibn Salam radhiallahu anhu first heard from the Prophet ﷺ were these words, were these advices. And if we are to emulate that, copy that, apply and implement that into our communities today — individually and collectively as a whole — we can see the prophetic results as well. Because this is a prophetic advice.

Abdullah ibn Salam narrates that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, when he first arrived in Madinah from Makkah, advised the people:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2485; also recorded in Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3251)

You see how short it was, how brief it was, how easy it was to remember, how easy it is to say — but with so much meaning.

First: Spread the Peace — أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ

The Prophet ﷺ says, أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ — spread the peace. And obviously there are two meanings to this. أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ means: say salamu alaykum the right way. Meaning don't be selective. You know, nowadays salam is selective. My mother used to always, always, always chide me on this. You know, in our language — Indonesian — a little boy is called adik. And she used to say, "Adik, you're not saying salam to everyone — you're just saying salam to your friends, your homeboys." I said, "Mama, I don't know them." The Prophet ﷺ would never have established community if he said salam only to those that he knew.

أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ — so say salam to those that you know and those you don't know. And we say salam with ihsan. Sometimes the brothers and sisters don't hear you because the way we say our salam is not with ihsan. So that's the first meaning — we spread the salam.

But the second meaning is that we spread peace. That we are the first ones to be quick to solutions. And we are the first ones to spread the peace between the brothers, between the sisters, between people where you feel there is tension. This is the advice of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ — spread peace. Be someone who is at peace.

And a good practice of being someone who spreads peace is to let grudges go. We cannot allow our hearts to be festered with things that happened a long time ago. And this is a general advice — obviously we have specific situations that require more. But generally you need to let your grudges go. Don't let that negativity fester inside you. Because as we've talked about before, whatever is inside of you affects the outer as well.

Second: Feed the People — أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ

The second statement the Prophet ﷺ advised us with is أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ — feed people. Obviously there are two meanings to this as well. The first meaning is: yes, we have to feed the poor. We feed those that don't have as much as us. We feed those that need it more than us.

Another meaning is: what is a good way to establish communication, to establish good connections with people among you? As-salamu alaykum leads to what? "Me and you, brother — let's grab some coffee later on. Come to my house for dinner. We'll have lunch or dinner and food together. You can meet my family, my family can meet yours." أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ — you know, the best way to make sure that you and your brother or you and your sister are going to have a long relationship is to break some bread with them. To just share some food with them. And be easy when someone says, "Let's have some tea, let's have some food together." أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ.

Third: Keep Family Ties — وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ

وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ — keep the ties of family together. Keep the ties of kinship. Obviously family is very loaded and it comes with a lot of emotions. Sometimes the hardest people to deal with is our own family. But the Prophet ﷺ says, وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ — the family is a key to making the community at large better. When a community is filled with strong families that are dedicated to the cause and the religion of Allah, it is easier for that community to grow.

Fourth: Pray at Night — وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ

وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ — and you pray at night when everyone else is sleeping. There are two meanings to this as well. Obviously we pray at night and we ask Allah when no one else is watching us. This is a private deed done between you and Allah. No one else knows about it. And the Prophet ﷺ is teaching us here that in order for us to be successful in dealing with the people, we have to be patient. And in order for us to increase in that patience, only Allah can give that. So we ask Allah to give us the patience to deal with the people around us — so that it becomes easy for us to be forgiving, easy for us to let go of the inconveniences caused by other people.

The other meaning is: when is the last time that you made du'a for your brother and sister in the middle of the night? When you wake up for tahajjud, is it that you're only making du'a for your own safety, and your own family's safety, and the betterment of your own self? Or is it that you remember your brother and sister in your du'a? That's how you truly love someone. When you remember them in the most private of times. When you love your brother or sister, you love for them what you love for yourself. This time between you and Allah is special. But when you include your brother and your sister in that, imagine the amount of love you feel for that brother or sister you made du'a for.

In tahajjud time we're barely awake. If someone remembers my name in du'a, I'm more than happy. Imagine the bond and the love that will emit from that.

The Goal: Entering Jannah Together

وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامًا — if you can do all these, the Prophet ﷺ says:

That's one way to take it to Jannah. تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلَامٍ — you will enter Jannah easily. Easily and with peace.

What is the Prophet ﷺ teaching us from these beautiful advices? That in order for us to foster community, we have to do certain things that will foster love and unity first and foremost. And the end product of love and unity within a community done for the sake of Allah — what is the end goal? تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلَامٍ — that we enter His paradise together, peacefully. And this is the goal.

So when you see your brother and sister and you come into Jumu'ah, you may come as strangers — but don't leave as strangers. I did not choose to be Indonesian. My student did not choose to be from Russia and Pakistan. My brother, you did not choose to be from Africa or from Bangladesh. And sister, you did not choose to be from India. Rather it is Allah that chose that for you. And there is goodness in that if we لِتَعَارَفُوا.

What is the good way to لِتَعَارَفُوا?

• أَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ — spread the peace, say salamu alaykum
• أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ — feed the people, break bread together
• وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ — keep your family ties tight
• وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ — pray in the night when no one is watching, and make du'a for your brother and sister when they don't even know

تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلَامٍ — inshallah, with Allah's will, you enter Jannatul Firdaws Al-A'la with ease and with peace.

Closing

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ