"The Exodus: When The Sea Split" - Ustadh Hisham Abu Yusuf

The Exodus: When The Sea Split

Ustadh Hisham Abu Yusuf

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and ask His help and ask His forgiveness. And we believe in Him and put our trust in Him.

And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whom He misguides, none can guide him.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. Alone with Him is no partner. And I bear witness that our Master and our Prophet is Muhammad, His servant and Messenger. He conveyed the message and fulfilled the trust and advised the Ummah. And Allah removed the darkness with it. And He left it on the white pilgrimage — its night is like its day. Nothing departs from it except to destruction.

All gratitude belongs to Allah. We thank Him, we seek His help, we seek His forgiveness. Whomever Allah guides, none can lead astray. Whoever is led astray because of their own intentions, none can guide back but Allah. I testify that there is none worthy of my worship, my sacrifice, my life or my death save Allah. And that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His last and His final Messenger.

Allah reminds us in the Quran: Believers, be conscious of Allah as He deserves, and do not die except upon submission to Him.

The Day of Ashura

Today is one of the greatest days in the history of humanity. One of the greatest days since Allah created this earth. It is a day that all of us — many of us — celebrate by fasting. And that the people before us used to celebrate by fasting.

As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is narrated to have said:

"The day of Ashura — this day, the 10th of Muharram — was fasted by all the Prophets before you, so you fast this day as well."

(Musnad Baqi ibn Makhlad)

But what happened? There are so many days that people commemorate and celebrate. From Father's Day to Mother's Day to Vegetarian Day — the list is endless. But the days worth celebrating, worth fasting and remembering for us as Muslims, this is one of those days.

What makes this day special? That the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he came to Medina, he found that the Jews would be fasting on this day. And they said that this is the day that Allah saved Musa — the Prophet Moses, Musa, peace be upon him — from Fir'aun. Moses was saved from the Pharaoh. And so they would fast in order to thank Allah for this day.

And so the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

"We are closer to Moses than you." So we will fast this day and a day after it or a day before it.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3943; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1130)

What is it about the story of Musa that makes it the most frequently repeated story in the Holy Qur'an? Even the name of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was mentioned less than the name of the Prophet Musa in the Qur'an. How many times and how many different ways, from how many different angles his story was taken, narrated and told to us in the Qur'an?

In the brief minutes that we have, I just want to share three key lessons that we should remember on this day and we should share with our neighbors, with our children, with our families.

Lesson One: Difficulty Shapes the Greatest of People

The first: Musa, peace be upon him, this great Prophet of Allah, he does not grow up in a life of luxury. He does not grow up in a life of ease. His journey starts as a baby being thrown into a river, being picked up by somebody and being put in the palace of a tyrant — the greatest tyrant of his times. He grows up witnessing his people, Banu Israel, being subjected to oppression every single day. This was his life.

The greatest of people were shaped by difficulty and hardship, not by ease. If Allah was to give anybody ease and luxury, He should have given it to the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Then why is it that the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, grew up as an orphan — passed from his mother to his grandparents, from his grandparents to his uncle — looking after sheep in the wilderness of Mecca? Why did he grow up with this difficult life? Because the difficult life is what breeds the leaders. Difficulty is what breeds the heroes. Difficulty is what breeds the prophets.

As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us:

"When Allah loves somebody, He puts them through tests" — because it refines them, it shapes them.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2396)

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says:

"The people with the hardest tests are the Prophets, then the best of people, then the next best." The best of people get the hardest of tests.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2398; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4023)

This is the first part of the lesson of Musa, peace be upon him. We have a lot of ease, a lot of luxury, a lot of things that are easy for us that were hard for our parents and our grandparents. And we get spoiled because of this. But something that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to tell the Sahabah: "Roughen yourselves up, pull up your sleeves. Work hard. Face difficulty." Because this is what shapes the greatest of people.

Allah says in the Quran:

"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits. But give good tidings to the patient — those who, when disaster strikes them, say: Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return."

They say we belong to Allah. He can do whatever He wants to us. And whatever we are patient with, we will see our reward when we go back to Him in the afterlife.

As Allah gives us fitna, He gives us tests and trials in this life — it is really for our betterment. If you want the purest of gold, the purest of silver, you have to put it in 1000 degrees Celsius of burning heat to remove all of the dirt, all of the filth, all of the impurities. When you're washing dishes, if you have hot water, the dirt and the leftovers will clean off the dish much quicker. This is the idea. The more difficulty we go through, the more we are shaped, the more we are shined, the more we are refined — until the day we meet Allah.

Lesson Two: Patience When Allah's Help Is Delayed

The second lesson we have to take from the life of Musa, peace be upon him: Musa, peace be upon him, is one man against an army. One man against the most powerful man that ever existed in that time. Today, when we look at the Muslim world, so many of us come from countries where Muslims are weak, Muslims are oppressed. And we hope and we pray to Allah and we wonder — when is this oppression going to lift? Musa's story is exactly this story. The story of the oppressed group of believers who were saved by Allah.

As Allah says in the Quran:

"And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a Day when eyes will stare in horror." Don't think just because it's taking a long time, that Allah does not know what's happening to the Muslims being oppressed by their oppressors. Allah is just delaying their punishment until the day in which the eyeballs will tremble in their heads.

Allah has sunan — He has ways in which He runs this earth. For centuries sometimes Muslims are oppressed, and then for centuries they are the leaders and they are the supreme. This is the Sunnah of Allah. And when we are at the bottom of the pile, we have to show patience to Allah. And when we are on top, it's a completely different test. The test of luxury and power is a different test. We have to show Allah we still fear Him.

This is the exact test Allah puts Banu Israel through. For centuries they are oppressed in Egypt, and then they become the leaders, and Allah sees — what do they do with their leadership? This is the test of Allah.

In this entire test, the people of Banu Israel became impatient. "We want change now." We hear this call in so many corners of the earth. We want change to happen right now, yesterday. We are the generation of fast food. We are the generation of instant coffee. We are the generation of 5-second videos. We want everything now and we want it yesterday.

And when Banu Israel complained to Musa, peace be upon him:

"Before you came, we were suffering. Now you came, we are still suffering." Where is the change? We want something to happen. Musa, peace be upon him, responds:

"My people, seek Allah's help and be patient. This land is Allah's and He gives the power to whom He wants." Right now Allah wants you to be the weak group. Be patient until it's your turn. Wait. Don't think because Allah isn't helping you, that Allah is powerless. No. It's a question of timing. It's a question of when. And it is a question of the Most Wise — He knows the right time to give the blessing and He knows the right time to take the blessing away. Patience.

Lesson Three: Complete Trust in Allah — Tawakkul

The third and last lesson to learn from the life of Musa, peace be upon him — and perhaps the lesson we see throughout his entire life — is that he trusted Allah completely, that the outcome of everything would be in the hands of Allah. And this trust carried him from his birth to his death.

Imagine: Musa, peace be upon him, and his people as they stand in front of the sea. Behind them, the army of the Pharaoh. Clouds of sand the size of mountains. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers marching towards them. And they stand between an army and the deep ocean. Nowhere to look. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. They are completely helpless in this moment.

And the people standing behind Musa, peace be upon him, give up: "O Musa, we are finished." This is the test. When all the odds are stacked up against you and there is nowhere to turn. You are stuck in the corner. There is no one to help you. You are helpless. You are powerless. This is the moment in which our connection with Allah is tested.

Musa, peace be upon him, has no army, no weapons, no help — nothing. He has a stick in his hand. What benefit is that going to give him? It is at this moment that Musa, peace be upon him, declares to his people: "No, you are all wrong. Every single one of you is wrong. We are not lost. We should not give up. We are not alone."

"My Lord is with me. He never abandoned me when I was in the river of Egypt. He never abandoned me in the palace of Fir'aun. He never abandoned me when I was in Madyan, far from my family. He never abandoned me. This whole journey Allah did not leave me. You think He is going to leave me now? He is going to show me the way. He brought me all this way to the cusp of this ocean — you think He is not going to get me past this ocean?"

This trust in Allah, this tawakkul, is the superpower, the battery, the fuel of every Muslim. To trust: I have put in the effort. I have put in the hard work. And even if the whole world stands against me, Allah is with me. This is what got Musa, peace be upon him, across the sea. If he relied on his own powers, on his own tools — all he has is a stick, it can do nothing. But when he relied upon Allah and he called out to Allah, this stick could split the sea into two.

When we rely just on what is within our hands, we become powerless. But when we put it in the hands of Allah, we have to realize He is the All-Powerful.

Allah says in the Quran:

"And put your trust in the Ever-Living who never dies." If you're going to trust someone, trust the One who is never going to let you down. He is alive and He never dies.

You know when you put your trust sometimes in a travel agency — you want them to book your tickets for your flight, next week they stop replying to your messages, they let you down. You ask somebody: "Can you watch my car while I'm on holiday, watch my house?" The next week your house gets burgled — they weren't paying attention. We so often put our trust in the hands of people, in the hands of processes, of companies, and we leave it to them, not knowing that every single one of them can let us down. But there is One whom, if we put our trust in His hands, He can never let us down.

This is how the prophets were. They had nobody, but they had Allah. And if they had everything but they don't have Allah, then they have nothing.

Seventeen times a day we say:

"O Allah, we ask for Your help." But so often we feel we are independent. We like to be independent. "I make my own money, I do my own jobs, I DIY, I don't need anybody's help. I'm my own man." That's how we like to feel, like to think, like to operate.

The greatest of Allah's slaves is the one who knows he needs Allah more than he needs anything else. The one who breaks down in front of Allah in the most helpless of manners. As Allah says in the Quran:

"O people, you are the ones in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy." But Allah — He has no need. And He has all the wealth, all the power, all the ability, and He is the Most Praiseworthy.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah for His blessings, and thanks is due to Him for His bounty and grace. Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah in exaltation of His majesty. And may Allah send blessings, peace, and salutations upon Muhammad, upon his family, his companions, abundantly until the Day of Judgment.

From the greatest lessons from the life of Musa, peace be upon him — we said the first is his patience in times of difficulty. The second, his patience when Allah's help did not come in the time his people expected. The third — his tawakkul, his trust and his utmost neediness in front of Allah.

In every stage of the life of Musa, peace be upon him, he is talking to Allah. He's making du'a.

When he leaves Egypt, when he becomes wanted, blacklisted, and he's running away from Egypt, he says:

"O Allah, please save me from these oppressive people." (Quran 28:21)

When he reaches Madyan — this land — he has no idea, no family, no connections, and he lands there:

"O Allah, I am in need of whatever good You send down to me." (Quran 28:24)

Every moment of his life, Musa, peace be upon him, is talking to Allah. Whether he's in the river, whether he's in front of the ocean, whether he's in front of Fir'aun, whether he's in Madyan, whether he's in Egypt — he is talking to Allah.

The greatest expression of our trust in Allah is how often do we converse, how often do we talk to Him. Any relationship — whether it's a father and son, mother and daughter, two friends — the quality of the relationship is known by one thing: how often do you communicate? Sometimes you call an old friend — "Oh I miss you" — well, if you miss me, why didn't you call me more often? You call your parent — "Oh I've been missing you" — well, if you miss me, why didn't you speak to me more often? People know: if you don't talk to me often enough, do you really care? Do you really miss me? Do you really love me?

What about our Lord? To speak to Allah, you don't need to speak to Him in a specific language. You don't need to speak to Allah in Arabic — you can speak to Him in any language. To speak to Allah, you don't need a specific time, place, setting, or wudu — you don't need anything. You just need to speak to Him.

As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, tells us:

"Du'a is worship."

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2969; Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1479)

What helped Musa, peace be upon him, in every moment of his life were the secret conversations, the whispers that he would make to his Creator.

May Allah make us of those who follow the story, the lessons and the life of Musa, peace be upon him. We thank Him for His salvation, for His power, for His help on this day where He saved Musa from Fir'aun.

"O Allah, forgive the Muslim men and women, the believing men and women, the living and the dead — indeed You are our Lord, the All-Hearing, the Near, the Answerer of supplications. O Allah, grant victory to the weak and oppressed Muslims. O Allah, grant victory to the oppressed in every place. O Allah, be with them — indeed You are the Strong, the Almighty. O Allah, have mercy on our parents as they raised us when we were small. O Allah, You are the Compeller, the Irresistible, the Hearer of du'a, the Knower of the seen and unseen — You know the treachery of the eyes and what the hearts conceal. Guide us to the best of character, for none can guide to its best except You, and turn away from us its worst, for none can turn away its worst except You. O Allah, ameen, O Lord of all the worlds."

And stand to your prayer — may Allah have mercy on you.