New Year New Perspective

New Year, New Perspective

Rabī' ibn Ka'b al-Aslamī رضي الله عنه was a companion from أهل الصُّفَّة. Ahl al-Suffah were known to be the companions in Medina who were without stable income, without a job, without family — and so they lived in the back of the masjid. The back of Masjid al-Nabawi was actually the home of about 70 companions who were, as a group, known as أهل الصُّفَّة.

Rabī' ibn Ka'b رضي الله عنه was one of them, and so he would spend his time serving the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم day and night. He says that he would serve him throughout the day, and after Isha he would wait outside of his doorstep, sitting at the front of his door, thinking that in case something of need came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the middle of the night, he would be there to answer it. So he says sometimes he would hear him say:

This is after Isha, when he goes home, and Rabī' is sitting at his doorstep. And then he would think that nothing's going to happen and he would go and rest in the back of the masjid — or sometimes right there at the doorstep, his eyes would overcome him and he would fall asleep lying down right in front of the door of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم.

The Blank Check

He says about himself that one time he was serving the Messenger of Allah and he was asked a question:

"O Rabī', why don't you get married?"

So he responded:

He says: "O Messenger of Allah, I don't want to get married, for I do not have that which could support my wife if I were to get married — I don't have the financial means to take care of my wife. And O Messenger of Allah, I don't want anything to distract me from serving you."

But here is the honest assessment from the man himself, from his own words: I don't have that which would take care of my wife. And so the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, seeing his service day after day, night after night — you know when someone does you a favor, you feel like you have an obligation to return the favor — seeing the service of Rabī' رضي الله عنه, he tells him one day: "O Rabī', ask me whatever you want, I will give you. You've been serving me all this time, now allow me to serve you."

I want you to imagine for a second: you are Rabī'. A man without a home, without a job, without a wife or kids, with no food security — maybe you're surviving off of a quarter of a cup of milk or a date for the day. And now you have the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم himself giving you a blank check: ask me whatever you want.

When Salmān al-Fārisī went to the Messenger of Allah seeking his freedom — Salmān was a slave, and the price that had been put upon him was 300 date palms that he had to plant and grow and allow to bear fruit, and 40 ounces of gold — this massive sum of wealth — where was he supposed to come up with that when he was a slave? And the Messenger of Allah, when he was told this price, asked the companions to all come together, and sure enough, 300 date palms were given, 40 ounces of gold were given, and Salmān was freed.

Rabī' has been given a blank check from the Messenger of Allah: ask whatever you want, I will give you. And so he says:

"O Messenger of Allah, let me think about it, and then I'll get back to you."

Moments of Reflection

There are moments in our lives where this happens to us — be it the new year, be it your birthday, be it the loss of a loved one, be it success in something — where you pause, look back at your life and look at what's to come. How did I get here? What have I accomplished? A fork in the road: where should I go? What should I do? These are moments that we should have in our lives. The new year is a common time where people take account: what did I do in the last year? What is coming in the coming year?

And now you get the perspective of a companion of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم who has no wealth to his name. This is what he says:

He says: "I began to think about my affair, and I came to the conclusion — I realized — that this dunya, it will end eventually. It will end, and it's going to pass." And he says: "And in this dunya I have rizq that which suffices me. Maybe it's a date, but it suffices me — I'm still alive, I made it this far, and it's sufficient for me."

And so, realizing that, and realizing also who is the one asking him this question — it's the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, the one who is in the position with Allah that he is in — he says: "I thought to myself, and I realized what I need to ask." And so he goes back to the Messenger of Allah.

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم asked him:

"O Rabī', what have you decided?"

He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I've decided. My ask of you is:"

"O Messenger of Allah, my ask of you is that you intercede to Allah on my behalf so that I am freed from Hellfire." That's his request.

And the Prophet asked him a question — he actually asked him: "Who told you to say that? Did someone — did Abu Bakr, Umar — who told you to ask me this?" And he said: "O Messenger of Allah, exactly what I told you — I thought about it. No one told me. I thought about this dunya, and I thought about you and your standing with Allah." And so the Prophet said: "Then remain quiet for a moment." And then he told him: "O Rabī', then help me help yourself to that station — by making a lot of sujood."

And in another narration in Sahih Muslim, a narration that perhaps many of you have heard — when the Messenger of Allah asked him the same question, he said: "O Messenger of Allah, I just want to be your companion in Paradise." And the Prophet responded with the same answer: then make a lot of sujood.

Lessons from Gaza

I was in Umrah — and many of you as well were in Umrah just in Thanksgiving, Shaykh Yasir just came back again now for New Year's — and when I was in Umrah, I had something very interesting happen. One of the brothers from Gaza, his name is Azzeddin. He runs the morgue at Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza as a volunteer — as are all those brothers and sisters who wash the bodies and bury the dead.

The week before — not even the week before, five days before — one of the brothers of the morgue, Abu Ali, was martyred. He was an elderly man, full white beard, always smiling. We sat and had iftar together. We sat and talked together. He would joke about how the food there needs spice. And he, his two wives, and his children were all in their home — and they were struck, and all of them were martyred.

And I want you to imagine the mindset. Your closest friend — someone you probably spent more time with than you spent with your own family. Azzeddin has spent more time with him every single day throughout this genocide, for over 400 days. They have been volunteering at the hospital, at the morgue, washing the bodies. They are seeing every single blown-up child. They are seeing every single ripped-apart limb. And every single — the worst scenes that we've seen — you can multiply that by 10, because those who are there aren't able to post the most gruesome pictures and the most gruesome videos, but they're the ones preparing those bodies. This is what he has lived through for over a year.

And when I was leaving Gaza he gave me a gift — a backpack. And so I took that backpack to Umrah and sent him a picture with me in ihram with that backpack, showing him that his backpack made it to the Haram. And so when he knew I was about to make Umrah, he sent me a voice note asking for du'a. And this is someone who has lived through this for over 400 days, whose closest friend and his whole family have just been wiped out 5 days ago. The winter is coming. We know children are freezing to death. We know they haven't eaten meat, chicken, fish — they haven't eaten it in months. They can't leave — the day they stayed to have iftar with me, they told me that normally they don't stay past Maghrib because it's dangerous to move after Maghrib, but they stayed so they could have iftar.

He is now sending me a voice note asking for du'a. And I want you to imagine: what would his du'a be?

His du'a was not for safety for himself or his family. His du'a was not safety for his children. It wasn't warmth for the cold winter that is now here upon them. It wasn't to replace their home, or to give them a stable income, or for food. He literally asked for three things:

He said: "Make du'a that Allah opens my heart and guides my heart to that which is correct — that whenever I do anything in life, I am guided by Allah to do that which is correct."

And his second du'a:

"And that Allah removes the love of this dunya from my heart and makes my goal, my focus, my target — the Hereafter."

And finally:

"And that Allah guides me always to obey Him, and to worship Him, and to draw close to Him."

That's his du'a. That's what he asked — someone who is now at the Haram, about to perform Umrah on his behalf. And it wasn't anything about this world. It wasn't anything about safety or family. And he has every right to ask for those things.

The PhD Completed in the Midst of War

Just two weeks ago, another brother — who is involved in the morgue at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, who has also seen scenes which we cannot describe — at Nasser Hospital, over 350 people were massacred and buried in a mass grave right outside the hospital, where IVs were still in their arms and casts were still on their legs. And two weeks ago, two Fridays ago, he just finished his PhD in Islamic Studies. He defended his thesis and was awarded his PhD.

So I asked him: "In what world — you are living through what you are living through, you have seen what you have seen, you don't know if tomorrow is guaranteed for you — what drove you to continue your studies and finish your PhD?"

And he said two things. He said: "Of course, tawfiq from Allah. But he said it was my promise to my parents that I would complete my studies. My parents both passed away, but it was an amanah upon me — I promised them to do so, so I will do so. And so I did."

But he said the second thing — he cited the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 12902; also reported in al-Adab al-Mufrad of al-Bukhari)

If the Day of Judgment were to be established — start right now, the stars are falling from the sky, the mountains are crumbling, and the seas are bursting into flames — and in your hand you have a seed, and if you have the opportunity, the chance to plant that seed before it all goes to waste, before the whole earth ends and the Day of Judgment begins, then do so.

He says: "Yes, we're in a war. Yes, I don't know if I'm going to survive till tomorrow. But this is what Allah asks of me — that I will continue to strive and struggle." And he says: "Living for the sake of Allah is harder than dying for the sake of Allah." Meaning: once you're dead, you're dead — خلاص — your deeds are written with Allah. But living every single day in this war, in this season, continuing to strive and struggle no matter the circumstance, no matter what faces you — to finish your PhD. And he says: "It wasn't my goal, nor was it a priority for me, but Allah gave me tawfiq." And he received the highest level given to students.

Recalibrating Our Internal Compass

SubhanAllah. The new year is upon us. It's a time for us to reflect, but it's also a time for us to recalibrate our internal compass. Where are we moving towards? What's our ultimate goal? And have our lives up until this moment been something in line with what we say our goals are?

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in a hadith:

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4105; also in Musnad Ahmad — graded sahih)

He says: whoever's desire is this world — whoever's focus is this world — Allah will confound his affairs, and make him fear poverty constantly. And nothing from this dunya will reach him except for what was already written for him to get. We strive so much — we maybe cheat, we falsely bill, we do this, we do that to increase our rizq — striving, striving in the rat race. But ultimately when we die, we'll get what was written for us.

But he says: whoever's focus is the Hereafter, Allah will settle his affairs for him and make his heart content with what he has. And his provision and worldly gains will undoubtedly come to him.

And so, as we embark upon a new year — and we've seen what we've seen this past year from the people of Gaza — and we take account for what we have done, I hope there's something that's changed. Because if nothing's changed, our hearts are dead. If we continue on the path that we've been on for years and years and years, our hearts are dead. If we continue to waste away our lives, our hearts are dead.

The akhirah is coming. Our time is coming. The ummah is moving on, the ummah is coming alive. There are people who are awakening, who are striving to serve this religion. There are people who are trying to make a difference. We saw what happened in the land of Syria, Sham — may Allah preserve them and protect them. And we ask Allah that we be a part of the victory of the Muslims, that we be given tawfiq to use our time.

No matter the circumstances — no matter if there's a genocide and a war — the brother continued and finished his PhD in Islamic Studies. Whatever it is: just yesterday night I got a message from my brother, 25 years old, whose younger brother was martyred back in October 2024. He was a teenager who had interviewed me for Al-Jazeera actually, when I was in northern Gaza back in Ramadan. And his brother was blown to pieces — literally what was left of him was the scalp of his head. That's it. Just his curly hair.

And he sent me a book that he has written about his brother — full of poetry from the classical poetry of the scholars, and full of ayat and ahadith. It's 84 pages long, that he wrote about his brother who is a shaheed. And I asked him: how in the world did he do that? In three months — from October to January 3rd. He didn't publish it just now, it's already been released. And within a short time: 84-page book, full of poetry, ahadith, and Quran. Where does he get these citations from? In the middle of a genocide.

But you see, the spirit of the people of Gaza is remarkable, unbelievable. It continues and continues, and the accomplishments they make despite the lack of resources is incredible. And so you and I are given an opportunity in the land that we live in — to do the best that we can, to serve the religion of Allah. May Allah give us tawfiq.