Jump to:
Khutbahs
Earning Jannah While Watching a Genocide | Khutbah
Dr. Omar Suleiman describes a Hadith about the People of Jannah, who will be divided into 120 rows. Of those 120 Rows, 80 are from the Ummah of Muhammad (SAWS). We need to strive to be among the highest rank of these rows in our Duas and Actions, and in how we respond to tests and trials.
The current trials of the Ummah, especially what we are seeing from our brothers and sisters in Gaza, serve as a test and reminder of the resilience and spiritual strength required to be on the path of Islam and carry this burden. We should all strive and aspire to be among the first to enter Jannah.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
I actually want to start not from the 30,000 level, but an amazing hadith from the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said in an authentic narration
that Ahlul Jannah, that the people of Jannah are 200 saf. They are 120 rows. How long are
those rows? Subhanallah, only Allah knows. But they are 120 rows, the people of Paradise as a whole. And he said Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, 80 of them are from my Ummah and
40 are from the rest of the Ummah. 80 rows are from the Ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam and 40 rows are from the Ummah, from the nations that came before. Now obviously you could use a scientific explanation and you could talk about the length of the life
of the Ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with him being the last Prophet. The length of the existence of this Ummah as it undergoes test after test, trial after
trial and we're still here almost 1500 years later and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala knows best how much longer we will be here. You could explain it that way but you could look
at it from the perspective that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is giving us that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala indeed loves the Ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
That this is a beloved nation to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us from this Ummah. Allahumma ameen. Now what I want you to think about for the
next half an hour as we get started with the conference today, if there are 80 rows and I don't know how many rows are in the conference room today but if there are 80
rows, what row do you think you're in? And how do you get up to the next row and the next row and the next row and the next row? Because the arrangement of those rows are
not random. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, that it is a large group from the sabiqoon,
from the forerunners, from the early ones and a small group from the later ones. And we know Subhanallah that when we look at the state of our Ummah as a whole, that our Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned that the best generation of my Ummah is my generation. And then those that come after and then those that come after and then those that come after.
And it continues in terms of righteousness and virtue from beginning to the end with a decrease with every generation. But there's always a but. In every generation of my Ummah
there are forerunners. But the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that if you were to spend
Uhud in gold, you would not reach even close to the rank of the first generation of the Sahaba. But the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned at the same time that my
Ummah is like the rain. I don't know where the most benefit is in, the first drops or the last drops. But there is no one greater than those that were with the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam in Badr and then in Uhud and then in Khandaq and then in Baitul Ridwan. But the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned the generation that's with Isa
Alaihi Salam at the very end of this Ummah with Jesus peace be upon him. As Allah sends him back to this earth to establish Tawheed, to establish justice once again. And the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions that they are the best of this nation, of the best of this Ummah. The point is, is that you can always find the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam praising the earliest generation of this Ummah while at the same time giving us the hope that perhaps you can be amongst those people from the later parts of the Ummah.
That you could be amongst those forerunners from the later parts of the Ummah. And that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has opened up to you by virtue of the same virtues that were
manifested by that earliest generation, a position next to them. Should you strive the way that they strove? Should you love them and in the process of loving them, want to
be like them? And in the process of wanting to be like them, affect on this earth to a degree that earns you by virtue of the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala a position next
to them in the heavens. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala keeps giving us hope, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam keeps giving us hope that you have these 80 rows to work with. And row
79 is not like row 80. And row 60 is not like row 70. Standing outside of the gates of Jannah,
you will want to be in the very first row. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us amongst them. Allahuma Ameen. The second row is not like the first row. You want to be in the
very first row and the placement of people in accordance with their rank is sometimes brought upon them through a circumstance that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives them in this
dunya by which he elevates them to that rank. The majority of the people of Jannah are al-musta'afeen.
They're weak people. They're the downtrodden on this earth. They are the people that had the most difficult lives and so they have the easiest entrance to paradise. But it's
not because of their poverty that they're entering into paradise. It is as Ibn Al-Qayyim Rahimahullah says, the fact that poverty is less distracting to a person in their pursuit
of paradise. So it's not that the circumstance itself is the reason why they're entering into paradise. It's that that circumstance was the most favorable to them to get them
into that front row of Jannah. And may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala protect us from al-ghurur, from delusion. Allahuma Ameen. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that the poor
and the downtrodden will enter into al-Jannah 500 years before those who are prosperous. Why? Bikathrat al-hisab. May Allah Azawajal protect us because of the abundance of questioning,
the asks, the accountability for the blessings that have been given to us. May Allah Azawajal allow us to use those blessings in ways that are pleasing to Him. And may Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala allow those blessings to become eternal blessings because they have been used for His cause. Allahuma Ameen. So sometimes it's a circumstance that allows a person to
wake up to the reality that they are in and the reality that they want to be in on the day of judgment. And to help them inch closer and closer and closer to nudge themselves
between the rows. And how beautiful and sweet would it be to find yourself on the day of judgment in that first row and looking to your right and to your left and seeing the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and his companions. What an incredible and lofty goal. Where am I in the rows? Where do I fit in the big picture of the Ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam as it arrives on the day of judgment for that glorious entrance into the eternal abode? Where am I, Ya Allah? Am I even in the 80 rows? One of the most terrifying
thoughts is that you lose faith when it counts most at the time of your death. And so we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to preserve us upon it until the very moment that we leave.
But despite that thought that causes us to do our due diligence to make sure that we don't lose our faith, we're still taught to have hope. Anta ma'man ahbabt. You are with
those that you love. You love the Prophets of Allah. You love Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. You love Isa Alayhi Salam, Jesus Peace Be Upon Him. You love Musa Alayhi Salam,
Moses Peace Be Upon Him. You will be with them. You love Yusuf Alayhi Salam and you feel a deep sense of empathy even though the story of Yusuf Alayhi Salam did not play
out on your screen. You didn't see the images of his brothers throwing him into the well. You didn't see the slander or the injustice. You didn't see him in prison in that state.
You didn't see it all play out. And what an epic movie it would be. But you love him because you've read about him and you identified yourself with that plight. And you felt an attachment
not just to his plight but to his principles and to his morals despite his plight. You look to your right and to your left, you find yourself next to Yusuf Alayhi Salam. You
love the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the best of this ummah. You look to your right and to your left. You find yourself with the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Hope is always there. But don't settle for row 80. Don't
settle for the back row. Seek to be in the very front row. And do not have a low expectation of your Lord. Instead push yourself to your highest potential while having the best assumption
of Him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that He can move you through those rows as He pleases because not a single person in those 120 rows enters Jannah except by the mercy of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Not even you O Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Not even me. Until Allah embraces me in His mercy. May Allah Azawajal make us from the very first row.
Say it from your heart. May Allah make us from the very first row. Ameen. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to be from As-Sabiqoon Al-Awwaloon. From the very first people to
enter into Jannah. Say Ameen. Now let's come back to 30,000 feet and then let's come back
to where we are right now. As an ummah. When the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam speaks about this ummah and he speaks about the fears that he has for this ummah, of the profundity
of how the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam warns us is that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam always warns us by pointing to the nations that came before us. In one
narration the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, Sayusibu ummati da'ul umam. Just look at the wording. My nation will be struck by the diseases of all nations. My ummah will
be struck by the diseases of the ummam. And the companions say to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, what is da'ul umam? What are the diseases of the ummam? And the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam goes on to explain. Al-Ashar, Al-Batar, says Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam a person who denies their blessings. And in the process of that becomes batar,
they become arrogant and they use those blessings in terrible ways. If you don't know the source of your blessings, then your blessings will inherently be a curse upon you and upon those
who interact with you because you will use those blessings in all the wrong ways. And he said Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, At-Takathur, Fil-Mal, Al-Hakum At-Takathur, the abundance
of wealth and people competing over wealth. And as a result of that comes At-Tashahun, that hatred. Because people start to hate each other and fight over wealth. And as a
result of that comes At-Tabaghud, you'd want people to lose their blessings. You want people to fall out of good so that you can occupy what you think is their position of good.
So instead of competing over the front lines of Al-Jannah, you're competing over the loftiness of this world and in the process you lose yourself, you lose your morals, you lose your
principles in trying to bring someone else down, what tahasud. And so you start to envy one another. And you don't envy one another on behalf or on the part of that person's
excelling in the sight of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala with the virtuous things that have been manifested by the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But you envy over one another
or you envy one another over material things. It becomes so superficial. And then comes Al-Baghi, then comes oppression. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, walharj,
until it comes to killing. People start to murder each other over this stuff. At the end of the day, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is telling us in brief that what
is striking you as an ummah is not unique to you as an ummah. Nor are you immune from
what has struck the ummam that came before you. You know we always talk about this, that when you mention Canadian Muslims or you mention American Muslims or you mention a Muslim minority,
the biggest mistake of that minority is to assume that it is immune to the same problems that strike the majority. We make that mistake, we put our blinders on, we start to think
we're not affected by our environment. We can build our bubble. And in the process of that we are immune. While every study will show us that we're not immune. And the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying that's not just true in the present sense. That's true when you look to the past nations that came before you. Sayyuslibu ummati da'ul umam. They were struck by the same diseases that struck them. The same things that brought
them down. That's why Allah tells you about them in the Quran. Not so that you can mock them, so that you can heed the lessons by which they became a mockable ummah. So that
you don't become like them. So that you don't fall off the way that they fell off. Everything the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions about corruption. There was corruption before.
Corruption in theology. Corrupt preachers. Corrupt tyrants. Corrupt kings that became tyrants. Corruption at every level. The loss of trust. All of that already showed itself
to you in the previous ummam. So don't crawl into the lizard's hole behind them and adopt that corruption in your theology and in your principles and in your morals. So we're not
unique in terms of the challenges. The challenges are all there. But what makes us different in that regard is that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will indeed test this ummah more severely
in this world. Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions that my ummah is marhumah. Ummatan
marhumah. It's an ummah that has upon it the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Why?
Its hardship is found in this world. Through the earthquakes, through the tests, through the trials, through the poverty, through the difficulties that we face. Its a'zab, its
hardship is found in this dunya. Just like when we say that Allah tests those whom he loves at an individual level. Likewise, Allah tests this ummah and this is a beloved ummah
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. It is tested. And in the process of that test, people are woken up to a greater reality. Not one that just became a reality but one that they just
became aware of by virtue of the difficulty that came to them. People are woken up to the lofty cause and rank that they are to aspire to as the ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam because its not just kuntum khayru ummatin ukhrijat lil nas. You're the best nation that was produced for the people. There are clauses there. You are a rectifying
ummah. You are a correcting ummah. You are an ummah that is meant to bring about a certain change that affects humanity. You're not just an ummah that's here to exist. You have a
corrective role. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was sent and part of his mission was to be a corrective alayhis salatu was salam to the deviant narratives that had overtaken
society in regards to theology and to the complete indulgence in all that which was displeasing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. But he was a corrective Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam. And his ummah is an ummah that corrects, that enjoins good and that forbids evil, that believes in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. On the day of judgment, it's an ummah that is
there to bear witness to that which is truth. When Noah stands in front of his people, when Noah Alayhis Salam stands in his people, you are brought in as witnesses for Noah Alayhis
Salam, for Noah and for all of the prophets. It's a corrective ummah and a correcting ummah that has a lofty job. So the diseases that we suffer from are not unique to us. The tests
that we endure as an ummah collectively are indeed more difficult. And so when you look at this ummah and you say, why does the ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam suffer
so much? Two answers that seem contradictory can actually both be correct. You know what those two answers are? Why does the ummah suffer so much? Because we have diseases that
we need to rectify amongst ourselves. At an individual level, we need to purify ourselves. As a community, we need to purify ourselves. We need to remove the barriers between us
and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that serve as spiritual barriers, barriers to our success in this life and barriers to our success in the next. That's true. Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change that which is of themselves.
That's true. And equally true is that this is an ummah that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
tests with difficulty. And it's an excessive amount of difficulty. And in that process
brings about the most beautiful gems. The awe of the people. The awe of humanity.
Do people think they're not tested? Do people think they just say we believe and they're not going to be tested? Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, we have tested those who came
before you. And in that process, we will make known those who are truthful and we will make known those who are liars. Allah Azawajal already knows the truthful from the liars.
We will make known. Are the people of Gaza, are the people of Gaza just becoming known to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala or are they just becoming known to us? Through that plight
and through that circumstance, that difficulty that they face. Is it that that faith was garnered overnight or is it that it was being beautifully cultivated under a difficult condition
under a difficult siege that people have ignored for so many years and now you're seeing it breathe in its most beautiful way. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, we will make known those who
are truthful. It's a large group of people in the beginning. The best of this Ummah already
passed. But some of the best of this Ummah lives amongst us today and are still to come and we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to make us from the best of this Ummah. Allahuma Ameen.
You no longer have to just read about people. Now you can see people and they are challenging
you just like they are challenging humanity. We speak about it from a perspective of policy that they are challenging the hypocrisy of the West without pause. They are challenging
every so-called international structure of accountability and human rights. They are challenging every so-called free nation. They are challenging every so-called leader of
the free world. They are challenging the men in suits in their palaces while they are under the bombardment of those men amidst the rubble. They are challenging every value system, every
claim to morality that has been made in our lifetime. But they are also challenging us
with their resilience, with their spirituality, with their trust in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. It's as if they are saying, look, Ya Ummah of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, we
are doing the heavy lifting. Just carry a bit in the back. We are taking a bit in the back. We are taking the greater share of the burden. Just carry a bit from the back. You
know, SubhanAllah, I remember, and I don't know why this thought comes to my mind, but SubhanAllah, there is a brother in my community who anytime there was a janazah, he would
insist that he would be there to carry the body. MashaAllah, he was a strong brother. And the one time that he wasn't there, the body, even though it was of a lighter person,
almost collapsed everyone's shoulders because we were so used to that brother up front. Every single janazah, the one janazah he missed, the body became heavier. This Ummah's burden
is being disproportionately carried right now by Ahlul Ghazza, by the people of Ghazza. And they are just saying to us, just do your part. Lift a little bit on your end. We are
making it easier for you because we are taking the brunt of this. Hence that hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. That there will always remain a group from my Ummah.
Remember the 80 rows of the 120? There will always remain a group from my Ummah. Always a group from my nation. Zahireena alal haqq bi aduwihim qahireen la yadurruhum man khalalahum wala man khalafahum
That are upon the truth, victorious, clear. They have clarity, hence they have victory.
They are a thorn in the side of their enemies. They are not harmed or deterred by those who betray them and those who oppose them. And they will be in that state. Hatta ya'ti amrullah
wa hum kadhalik. Until the very end of time. We are watching them right now. Do you love them? Subhanallah. That du'a, Allahumma inniya as'aluka fa'alil khairat wa tarka almunkarat
hubb almasakin. Oh Allah I ask you for the ability to do good, for the ability to leave off evil and for the love of the poor. The people of Gaza are not masakin. It's hard
to call them masakin because they're so rich in their faith even though they don't have anything to put in their stomachs. But if you love them, it may be that you also find
yourself in a row with them because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam praised them as being of the best of this ummah until the very end of times. But we all have to lift
our share. We ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to allow us to be in the first row that enters into Jannah. May Allah Azawajal make us from as-sabiqun al-awwalun. May Allah Azawajal make
us from the forerunners, from the first. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to enter into Jannah alongside the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and his companions. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant the people of Gaza shahada and grant them the highest entry
into Jannah. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant them victory in this life and may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to stand with them then and stand with them now.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us victory in this life and may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us victory in this life and may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us to stand with
them then and stand with them now.
