The Strong Believer: Prepared to Serve

Khutbah Opening

All praise and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him and we thank Him. We seek His assistance and we seek His forgiveness. We take refuge and protection in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the sinfulness of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. I bear witness that there is none worth worshipping but Allah, alone, with no partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ is his final messenger and his servant.

Allah reminds us in Surah Āl-'Imrān, He says:

O you who believe, have taqwa of your Lord with the taqwa that is due to Him, and don't die except in a state of Islam, except in a state of submission to Him.

And He also tells us in Surah An-Nisā':

O people, have taqwa of your Lord who created you from a single soul, and created from it its mate, and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And have taqwa of your Lord through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. No doubt Allah is ever over you, an observer.

The Prophet's Physical Strength

SubhanAllah, in the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, there was a very well-known wrestler called Rukānah. And Rukānah wasn't a believer at the time, but he was known for his physical feats of strength, of conditioning, of technique. No one could drop Rukānah — after all, he was never beaten. And when the Prophet ﷺ came to him — and this is mentioned in the books of Sīra, like Ibn Isḥāq — came to him and challenged him and told him, "Won't you believe in Allah? Won't you believe that there's none worth worshipping but Allah, and that I'm the Messenger of Allah? Won't you believe in the Day of Judgment, in the Last Day?" He told him, "I don't believe." He said, "Let's wrestle. Let me engage you, let me show you that there are limitations for you. You have maybe been deluded by your strength and your success and your confidence, but Allahu Akbar."

And so the narrations say that they start wrestling, and almost immediately he drops him to the floor. And Rukānah gets up almost immediately and he says, "Whoa, what just happened here? Hold on, I've never been beat in my life, and you just dropped me to the floor. Let's do it again." And some narrations say as many as three times, while the Nabī ﷺ continued to say, "Bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." There are different narrations — one that he went back to his qawm, his people, and told them about what happened, others that he later became a Muslim.

Although these narrations come from Sīra, which is a lower gradient than Hadith, we do have one hadith that is mentioned in multiple narrations, including in al-Tirmidhī, that is Ḥasan Gharīb. So it is not authentic to the level of Ṣaḥīḥ Hadith, meaning the likelihood is less. But still we know from the Nabī ﷺ that he was powerful in terms of physical strength.

We know that during the Battle of the Trench, when the Ṣaḥābah were digging and were low on food, and the Nabī ﷺ at the time had a rock wrapped around his stomach because he hadn't eaten in three days — what did they do when they came across that big boulder? They knew who to call. They said, "Yā Rasulullāh ﷺ, we've come across this rock, we can't remove it." And he hops down ﷺ and with his spade, he hits it and it becomes dust because of his strength. And we know also other narrations in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī about the Battle of the Trench say he was digging so much and carrying all of this weight from the trenches until his chest became dusty ﷺ.

We know that the Nabī ﷺ, when they were in Medina and a loud sound was heard, who was the first one who hopped on a horse bareback and didn't even have time to put the sword around his waist but threw it over his neck? It was the Nabī ﷺ, with his speed and his agility, being so nimble on his feet.

And we know that even when he used to go into battle, he used to wear armor ﷺ. As a brother pointed out to me recently, we have these weighted vests these days that people say are such an amazing exercise — walk and put five or ten pounds on your chest and carry — he also used to do that ﷺ.

Ṭālūt and the Virtue of Physical Strength in Leadership

Just to mention one example in terms of the importance of physical strength: we have the story of Ṭālūt in Surah Al-Baqarah. When he is chosen by the Nabī of their time — after Sayyidunā Mūsā ﷺ — when Banī Isrā'īl is told, "Your leader, the one who is going to defend you and help you, is Ṭālūt," and they object to that, what does their Nabī say?

That Allah has — first of all — chosen him from amongst you (اصطفاه), and He has increased him in what? Knowledge, and جِسْم — which literally means the body. And Imām al-Qurṭubī in his tafsīr says that what جِسْم here means is that he was physically strong. He was physically strong, and so that gave him qualifications to be a leader as well.

The Hadith of the Strong Believer

We also know the famous hadith that many of us have memorized, narrated in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Book 46, Hadith 2664)

That the strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, but there is khayr in both of them.

And so Imām al-Nawawī, raḥimahullāh, when he is explaining this hadith in his sharḥ of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, he gives many different examples of what this means in terms of strength. And this hadith is not only talking about physical strength, but the first example he gives — he says if Muslims are approached by an enemy, then the strong believer is the first and foremost to go out and say, "I'm going to face the enemy." That is the one with bravery, with physical strength. But he also gives examples in terms of worship.

When it's time for supererogatory, extra nāfil fasts, the strong believer is the one who says, "I'm going to fast that Monday and Thursday, I'm going to fast those three white days, I'm going to fast those days of Shawwāl and those first days of Dhul-Ḥijjah, I'm going to fast the day of 'Āshūrā'." When it comes to ṣalāh and extra ṣalāh, the strong believer also has that capacity. It is as if to relate the two — that physical strength and capacity gives one the opportunity to increase in individual ibādāt and acts of worship.

Physical Strength and Worship Today

Now we might ask ourselves the question today: alright, I understand there's this benefit of being a strong believer, but all these examples you've given are completely irrelevant to today. We're not in a state of warfare, alḥamdulillāh, we don't want to be attacked right now, we don't want bombs falling on us or bullets going through the windows — may Allah protect us and protect all the believers everywhere, yā Rabb al-'Ālamīn, Allāhumma āmīn.

However, there are still lessons in there. Going back to that individual worship — many of our brothers and sisters, including some even in the jamā'ah today, have returned from Ḥajj. How difficult is it to perform Ḥajj on the body? How difficult is it to come to the masjid every single night in Tarāwīḥ when it comes to Ramaḍān? It takes physical strength to stay standing in prayer. How about Tahajjud, when the Nabī's ﷺ feet used to become inflamed from all the blood rushing down there, when he used to spend hours ﷺ in prayer — that takes physical strength and stamina and resilience as well.

Having that physical strength enables you to better worship Allah. Being in a better physical state allows you to fast, allows you, and opens up those doors of barakah as well.

When we lost power earlier this week — we know what happened with the construction — everyone, mashAllah, the community came together. Who were the people who were able to say, "Brother or sister, I'm going to put out the mats, I'm going to bring the speaker, I'm going to carry this, I'm going to do that"? Those who were most foremost in terms of physical strength went and took the opportunity.

So Imām al-Nawawī, raḥimahullāh, says that the reason the strong believer is better is because they have a higher capacity to serve the ummah. They are more prepared to help other people.

Serving Through Physical Fitness: Practical Opportunities

In terms of the security team — mashAllah, we saw in Ramaḍān how many brothers and sisters volunteered and said, "I want to go through the training, Level 1, 2, and 3. I want to understand this." Why? Because I want to be one of the people whose eyes are protecting the believers as they're praying. This is another opportunity.

And volunteer help in general — we know brother Ṭāriq in the community, before or after an event, he says, "Can people come and lift this up or take this?" If we have that ability — where we're not completely exhausted after work, unable to lift our heads, unable to be present with our families, unable to have the emotional energy and the physical energy to just be present with our families — then how are we going to do these extra things as well?

Addressing Common Objections

Now we might have some objections to this. "Okay, this is a khutbah about working out and lifting weights and exercising and running. I already work out. I'm already set, mashAllah, I have my routine and I'm doing it." And I want to challenge the brothers and sisters who say that. Because we have many examples of people who, mashAllah, can lift heavy weights, but when you ask them to run after a quarter mile, a half mile, suddenly they start huffing and puffing. Are you able to run 4, 5, 6, 7 miles in a row? Or those of us who, mashAllah, are runners in the community — we have many runners, mashAllah, in our community, brothers and sisters who can do a half marathon or a marathon — but when it comes time to lift something, we suddenly get exhausted because the physical strength is not there.

So really think about strength and physical fitness not only in terms of brute strength like powerlifting or conditioning like running, but also in terms of strength endurance. Are you able to continue that exercise repeatedly? In terms of mobility, especially when you hit 30 and older, are you able to stretch and keep yourself healthy so that when you're walking to the masjid — which is one of the sunan of Rasūlullāh ﷺ — you don't suddenly fall down, God forbid, on the steps?

Another objection: "I don't want to be muscular. I don't want to do that because I don't want to be all big and buff." Just know that that is a direct consequence more of diet rather than the type of exercise, although that plays a role as well. Look at some of the strongest physical people in the world — they tend to come from mountainous nations. Look at northern Pakistan and Afghanistan — mashAllah, very strong people in general. Look at Yemen. Look at Chechnya and Dagestan — many strong people. They live in mountains and only until recently still have roads, so they are carrying heavy things, carrying this goat, carrying this bag of rice, going up inclines and declines. What does that do to the body? It is constantly tested, and so suddenly they have that strength. And we have to think about ways to replicate that in this day and age.

No One Is Too Young or Too Old

The Nine-Year-Old Hero of Oklahoma

Someone else might object — some of the younger brothers and sisters: "I'm just a kid. What can I do?" And I want to remind you: about six weeks ago, when we had those tornadoes, a tornado hit southern Oklahoma, not too far from here. And it was so severe that a nine-year-old boy with his two parents were in their pickup truck driving, the tornado came, lifted up this truck and threw it into the trees. It was almost completely ruined.

Well, this brave young boy — may Allah grant him hidāyah, yā Rabb al-'Ālamīn, him and his family — he told his parents, "Please don't die. I'll be back." And during the thunderstorm, he ran one mile in about ten minutes or less, they estimate. As he was running, there were downed power lines and he was jumping over them, running in between them. It was pitch black, in a rural area. How was he able to see? He waited for the lightning strikes. He said, "I waited — when the lightning struck, I saw a little bit, and then I ran in that direction." Until he got to a neighbor's house and told them, "My mom and my dad are in critical condition, come and help them." They ended up in the ICU with a broken back, broken ribs, broken neck, broken arms, his father lost a piece of a finger. They would have died if it weren't for his bravery.

So never think this is some outlandish, far-away thing. We need in our Muslim ummah people who are physically strong — to serve the ummah, to serve yourself, to serve your family, to serve your community. This is a community need.

'Ammār ibn Yāsir and the Elders of the Ṣaḥābah

Some of us might object and say, "I'm too old, brother. I'm too old. I'm an uncle, an auntie, I'm a grandfather, a grandmother. This doesn't apply to me." And I want to remind us of one of the most prominent Ṣaḥābah, 'Ammār ibn Yāsir raḍiyallāhu 'anhu, who was 78 years old when he was wielding the spear in the Battle of Ṣiffīn. And that is where he died as a shahīd, raḍiyallāhu 'anhu — 78 years old and he still had that strength. And even Abū Sufyān raḍiyallāhu 'anhu, who was in his 60s in the Battle of Ḥunayn — they were constantly active, constantly active.

Muḥammad Rafīq: A Modern-Day Example

And need I mention a modern-day example? Just a few years ago in 2019, after the unfortunate Christchurch massacre that happened to our brothers and sisters in New Zealand, copycats started to say they also wanted to assault and kill Muslims. Well, in Norway, one of these potential active shooters entered a mosque fully armed. And who was the one who jumped on him and tackled him? It was a 65-year-old uncle — perhaps a grandfather — Muḥammad Rafīq, who was formerly in the Pakistani military. He was the one who saved the day and not a single soul was lost. Imagine how many lives he saved — 65 years old — because he was physically fit, because he was brave as well.

Changing Your Intention: Exercise as an Act of Worship

These are not outlandish things that we need to think about. These are things that are happening now and here. And we need to ask ourselves: how am I, through my physical strength, going to serve the community? How am I going to take this exercise — instead of just saying, "Okay, I'm lifting this heavy weight and putting it down, and I'm on this treadmill, and I'm walking around the masjid, which is a great exercise" — change your intention and make it a spiritual exercise. Say, "Yā Allāh, I want to be strong so that I can help other people. I want to be strong for the sake of khidmah — of my community, of the Muslim ummah. I want to be there so when there's a critical time — may Allah protect us — I'm going to be the one to do it."

A personal anecdote: a few years ago I was in a mall in Plano and my son, subhanAllah, fell down. The way he fell, subhanAllah, it was an accident — he split open his forehead. At the time I was shocked, I didn't know what to do. So I quickly wrapped him with my outer garment, my outer shirt, tightened it as much as I could, carried him, and ran to the car and then to the ER. But I was thinking later — at the time, if I didn't have at least the physical fitness to carry a child and run through the mall and run to the parking lot and quickly drive, and as I'm doing it I'm trying to think where's the closest hospital, looking it up on Google Maps and taking it there — alḥamdulillāh, it wasn't anything serious, just some stitches and he's fine, alḥamdulillāh. But these are things that happen. We could be hiking a mile away from our car and suddenly something happens and someone needs critical medical attention. Are we going to be the person who's able to lift, who's able to carry, who has that stamina? Or are we going to be the person who says, "Guys, I can't do it. My knees, my muscles, I'm huffing and puffing, I can't do it."

Don't let another day pass without making that intention: "Yā Allāh, I'm going to take care of this body. I'm going to challenge myself, I'm going to devote myself to a routine." And if you're already in a routine, try other things — obstacle courses, obstacle course races, jumping over walls, rope climbing, different feats of strength where you're carrying a sandbag, walking around, hiking. Why? For the sake of Allah, because you want to serve the community.

The Objection of Time

And lastly, one of the objections we have is, "I don't have time. It sounds great, but I don't have time for this. I'm way too busy." And I want to remind everybody, including myself, that the Ṣaḥābah had the same 24 hours that we have today. We just seem to be a little bit more distracted with our doom scrolling, with our social media. And even though we have appliances and technology that make our lives so much easier, subhanAllah, oftentimes what do we do? We waste it.

When you look at time like money — if you have money, a lot of money, you invest that money, and you can increase it — similarly with time. If you take some of that time and you invest it in your physical fitness, you're going to feel more energy, you're going to be in a better mood, your family will be happier to be around you, and you'll be able to handle the challenges of life more easily. Why? Because you invested that time.

How much time? The American Heart Association says 150 minutes a week. Meaning if you walk — just to start out — walk five times a week for 30 minutes. After one of the prayers you can walk around the masjid indoors, on a treadmill, go to a mall, it's an opportunity to walk around for 30 minutes. Or vigorous exercise for 75 minutes a week, or both — meaning 25 minutes three times a week. It doesn't have to be a big thing.

And for our children — I see so many children — it's 60 minutes a day. One hour a day where you're running around. Go to the trampoline park, go outside, try to do something physical and get away from those screens for a little bit. It's so important for us to build our muscles, to build our bones, to build our endurance and our cardiovascular system. Why? For the sake of Allah. Because this body is not ours. This whole theologically fallacious statement of "my body, my choice, I can do what I want" — no! This body is from Allah, and to Him it is going to return. This body is an amānah from Allah, so let us take care of it.

Our Brothers and Sisters in Palestine

I don't want a khutbah to go by without mentioning our brothers and sisters in Palestine in general, and Gaza in particular. When it comes to physical strength, when it comes to standing up for duty, subhanAllah, we have not seen people like them. Where Allah has placed someone — just a few situations, a few anecdotes — where a father is unemployed, has no income for his family, and he is there in the hospital morning till evening. "What are you doing, brother?" "What am I to do? Let me help some other people who are critically injured. Let me go out there, let me do something for the ummah." Where children are helping other children — a child who is 12 is helping a child who is 8, both orphans. Why? "Because I'm responsible for him. So I'm going to spend some of my waking day, some of my limited energy, some of my limited food to help my brother or sister in need."

Take advantage of it. Get moving, get active, bi-idhni Allāhi ta'ālā. May Allah grant us physical strength and spiritual strength, and all types of strength bi-idhni Allāhi ta'ālā, and allow us to seize this opportunity to make critical changes in our lives. Alḥamdulillāhi Rabb al-'Ālamīn.