Khutbahs
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Inscribed on the Sword of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ | Khutbah
A powerful narration from Ali Ibn Abi Talib (ra) about what he found on the Prophet's sword that takes all of us to task with the loftiest attributes we must constantly pursue.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, Allah says, وَلَقَدْ كُذِّبَتْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَصَبَرُوا عَلَىٰ مَا كُذِّبُوا وَأُوذُوا حَتَّىٰ أَتَاهُمْ نَصْرُنَا وَلَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَرِمَاتِ اللَّهِ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكَ مِنْ نَبَأِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ Allah says to the messengers, salallahu alayhi wasalam, and certainly prophets and messengers came before you. And those prophets and messengers were called liars, they were denied. But they were patient over the name calling, they were patient over the denial. And they were harmed, persecuted, hurt, until our help came to them. And no one can alter the promise of Allah. And there has certainly come to you some of the tidings of the prophets and messengers before. When we talk about the messengers, salallahu alayhi wasalam, and I'm going to get to the actual meat of the khutbah, if you will, or the most fascinating elements of this khutbah. I'm going to get to it shortly, but when we talk about the prophets of Allah, and we talk about the prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, we look at the prophets and messengers that came before the prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, and they were amongst the best of mankind, and they were a source of inspiration and patience to our prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, throughout his entire prophethood. And so you find hadith after hadith, narration after narration, رحم الله أخي موسى, may Allah have mercy on my brother Moses, peace and blessings be upon him, قد أذى بأكثر من هذا وصبر, he was harmed with something greater than this, and he was patient. The prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, when he would talk about his brother Yusuf, alayhi wasalam. So many different hadith where he talked about prophets and messengers that came before, and how their example inspired the prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, through some of his difficult moments.
And there's this narration from Ibn Mas'ud, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, where he speaks about the prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, reflecting on a prophet of old. So he says, كأني أنظر إلى رسول الله, صلى الله عليه وسلم, يحكي نبياً من أنبياء، ضربه قومه، وهو يمسح الدمع عن وجهه، ويقول رب اغفر لقومي فإنهم لا يعلمون. Ibn Mas'ud was speaking to a later generation, and he said, it's as if I'm looking at the prophet of God, speaking about a prophet that came before him, and he said that there was a prophet that came before, as he was wiping the blood from his face, that was caused by what? By his people trying to kill him. As he was wiping the blood from his face, he said, Oh Allah, Oh my Lord, forgive my people, they don't know any better. Now Ibn Hajar, rahimahullah, and other scholars, they commented on this, so it's a very interesting hadith, because when the prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, used to speak about the prophets of old, he would praise them, so he named them. May Allah have mercy on my father, Abraham, Ibrahim alayhi wasalam, my brother, Musa alayhi wasalam. But here he said, a prophet that came before. And some of the scholars said he was talking about Nuh alayhi wasalam, Noah, peace and blessings be upon him, because we know in the Quran, that Nuh alayhi wasalam endured hundreds of years of increasing persecution and mockery. Some of the scholars said he's talking about Isa alayhi wasalam, Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, because there are other narrations to the effect, praising the forbearance of Isa alayhi wasalam. Some of the scholars say he's actually talking about himself, which is why he said a prophet of the prophets. Why? Because it was indeed in the battle of Uhud, that Sahl ibn Sa'd radiyaAllahu ta'ala says, لما شح وجهه That when the prophet's face was split, his teeth were literally knocked out, his helmet drilled into his face,
his uncle and some of his closest companions massacred and mutilated. The prophet's with his back into a ditch, and many of the companions fearing that he is going to die, at that moment the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam said, اللهم اغفر لقومي فإنهم لا يعلمون What he brought himself to say was what? Oh Allah forgive my people, they just don't know any better. Oh Allah forgive my people, they don't know any better. He wasn't talking about his ashab, his companions, he was talking about the people on the other side, that were literally trying to kill him and that succeeded, at killing many of his companions sallallahu alayhi wasalam. وما ارسلناك إلا رحمة للعالمين And we have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds. And that's why the scholars say, when you look at the messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasalam, in battle, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam was at every part of the battlefield. He was in the front, he was on the right, he was on the left, he was in the middle. The narration of Ali radiyallahu ta'ala anhu and also from Umar radiyallahu anhu, when it became extremely hot and difficult in the battlefield, people could hide behind the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam, because of his courage, as he was in the midst of battle. He was in every portion of the battle, and you see narration after narration about his courage, like in the battle of Hunayn, when it's just a few people left, he was always there, didn't flee the battlefield sallallahu alayhi wasalam. But with all of that, he only slayed one person with his hand. One person in the course of battle was killed by him sallallahu alayhi wasalam. He would knock down people's swords, he would fight, but he wouldn't kill with his hand in the battlefield. Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam said, the worst of people on the day of judgment, a person, qatala nabi, who killed a prophet or was killed by his prophet. Prophets are sent to guide people to one God.
They're all sent with that same message, and in that is a mercy. And the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam is distinguished by his mercy. How horrible of a human being do you have to be to kill a prophet of God or to be killed by a prophet who was sent as a mercy to you and to guide you. It's only one man, and his name was Ubay ibn Khalaf. Ubay would fantasize about murdering the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam. In Mecca, before the hijrah, before the migration, you know what he'd tell the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam? He'd tell him, I have a special horse and a special sword for the day that I kill you. I swear by Allah I'm going to kill you. Save the horse for you, save the sword for you. I mean, this is when the persecution is ongoing in Mecca in the early days. That one day the time is going to come where you're going to be killed and it's going to be my hand, my horse, my sword. And there he was on the day of Uhud, coming at the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam, charging towards him when he was wounded. And the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam picked up a spear and he threw it towards him, and it hit the side of his neck and he died. And that's when the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam made that remark. What a horrible fate. What a horrible fate to be killed by the mercy to the worlds. So all of this is an introduction to a very interesting narration I came across. It's an authentic narration. And I want to put you in the mindset of this narration. Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu says, لمّا ضمّمت إلى سلاح رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وجدت في قائم سيف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم رقعة فيها He said, when I held the weapons or the shield, the armor, the sword of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam, and he is Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he would pick them up and hold them.
He said, I noticed an inscription on the sword of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam. It's an authentic hadith. Now before I even say what the inscription on the sword of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam is, what do you think an inscription on a sword would look like? What do people listen to when they're in the gym? Something to get them into the mood of exercising. What are you going to have on your weapons for battle and war? Something to do with war, right? Something about fighting and something about courage, something about bravery. What do you think is going to be inscribed on the sword of a man in battle? And this hadith blows my mind. Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says that I looked at the sword of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam and what was inscribed on his sword? ارفع عمن ظلمك وصل من قطعك واحسن إلى من أساء إليك وقل الحق ولو على نفسك This is what's inscribed on the sword of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam. Forgive those who have wronged you. ارفع عمن ظلمك. Forgive those who have wronged you. This is what the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam is looking at when he holds his sword. Forgive those who have wronged you. Reconcile with those who have cut you off. Show excellence to those who have shown you evil and speak the truth even if it is against yourself. Would anybody, anybody, guess that that would be what was inscribed on the sword of a man in battle? Forgive those who have wronged you. Reconcile with those who have cut you off. Show excellence to those who have shown you evil and speak the truth even if it's against yourself. This is what was inscribed on the sword of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam. That in and of itself subhanallah could give us enough to ponder upon for a very long time. We're talking about the blessing of this light that was brought to a world of darkness.
To be the last brick of a home built of the bricks of prophets all calling towards the worship of one God and submission to that one God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. A mercy to the worlds. And here he is, and this is what's written on his sword. We're talking about the most challenging aspects of faith. You know when you talk about the most challenging aspects of the sunnah because the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam brought us a message and that message has consequences and it has something for us to follow. It's consequential, the truth is consequential. It means that you have to adapt your lifestyle, you have to abide by certain commandments. And yes there's the fiqh, the jurisprudence, there's the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the core of the message of monotheism, of tawheed. There is the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam, the traditions of the messenger aleyhis salatu wasalam, those that are observable and those that are not. All of these things. But where your faith really comes into play, where whether or not you are really absorbing the message of this man aleyhis salatu wasalam comes into play, is how you're going to act with these things. That's what's inscribed on his sword. Imagine what was embedded in his heart sallallahu alayhi wasalam. And what should be embedded in ours. Some of the scholars when they talk about this hadith, they talk about the generality of it or some of the, you know, the message, the very obvious messages that could come out of that. The prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam saying, المجاهد من جاهد نفسه في الله Authentic hadith in the Tirmidhi, that a mujahid, the one who truly strives, is the one who strives against himself for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And there's of course a weak hadith that is attributed to the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasalam, but it is authentically attributed to Ibrahim ibn Abi Alqama rahimahullah ta'ala from Hafidh ibn Rajab, that on the way back from a military expedition, he says قَدْ جِئْتُمْ مِنَ الْجِهَادِ الْأَصْخَرِ فَمَا فَاعَلْتُمْ فِي الْجِهَادِ الْأَكْبَرِ You've come back from the lesser struggle. What have you done with the greater struggle?
And they said, what is that? He said it's the جِهَادُ القَلْبِ or النَّفْسِ To strive against yourself, that you battle your ego, because ego is what got Iblis out of paradise. It's what got the devil to fall out of paradise. Ego is what prohibits people from accepting the truth. Ego is what causes people to ruin their relationship with God and with people. Ego is always a barrier. It's the حِجَاب, the veil between a person and Allah as Imam Al-Shafi'i said. That's what the Prophet ﷺ is looking at. And that's why, subhanAllah, you see, when we talk about how we relate to the Prophet ﷺ, in pain and in patience, you know, there are disasters and tragedies that struck the Prophet ﷺ that none of us will ever have to endure and none of us could imagine. Burying six of your seven children, right? Family members being mutilated, and you having to clean up those bodies. Persecution, betrayal, all of those things, right? These are things that are so distant. Such hard difficulties that he faced ﷺ, and indeed the Prophets and the Messengers were tested. And they were tested with the most severe of tests. But this test of character, ultimately, إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ يُؤْتَمِّي مَكَارِ مَنْ أَخْلَاقٍ The Prophet ﷺ said, I was sent to perfect your character. This test of character is a severe test. And you want to know who's closest to the Prophet ﷺ on the Day of Judgment? You want to know who the Prophet ﷺ will be next to? Those that are closest to him in character. Those that have the best أخلاق, the best characteristics, the best traits. When you look at how the Prophet ﷺ applied these words in his life, I don't know how he sat in front of Hind,
after she cut the chest of Hamza ﷺ and chewed his liver and spit it out. How does he not hold a grudge against them? How does he not exact vengeance against these people in Mecca when he comes back? How does he show them so much grace? Not only does he forgive them, he leaves them in their positions of leadership, as a means of uniting the community. How does he do that ﷺ? How does he not lose sleep over the things that they have said and done? How does he manage to keep that ﷺ? And that's where the scholars mention that it's because he had a greater goal. His goal was not vengeance. His goal was not domination. His goal was not power. His goal was not winning in the sense of a victory in battle. His goal was not some sort of tribal revenge, my tribe against yours. His goal was not a banner being raised. His goal was the pleasure of Allah. Hence there is this connection between wanting the pleasure of Allah and being able to lower the lowest part of the self to where it belongs. There is a connection between wanting the pleasure of Allah so bad that your character is refined accordingly. When you talk about husnul khuluq, good character, you cannot disconnect that idea of wanting the pleasure of Allah so much more. We talk about the Prophet ﷺ sacrificing sleep. Why? He loved his Lord, standing up that night in prayer. He loved Allah. It was his pleasure to stand up that night in prayer. So it had that immediate implication with his worship. But that immediate implication with character. He loved Allah. He wanted the pleasure of his Lord. And so everything that was lowly was not befitting to a person who is in pursuit of Allah's pleasure. And that has an implication with your character.
And the Prophet ﷺ was sent not just to teach us to worship one God, but to pursue the pleasure of that Lord to where it transforms our relationship with Him and our relationship with everything and anything around us. So dear brothers and sisters, when we talk about the Prophet ﷺ saying these things, and I want you to remember them, inscribed on the sword of the Prophet ﷺ, u'fu amman dhalamak. Forgive those who have wronged you. wasil man qata'ak. Reconcile with those who have cut you off. ahsin ila man asaa ilayk. Show excellence to those who have shown evil to you. waqulil haq walaw ala nafsik. Speak the truth even if it's going to mean that you're speaking against yourself. The Prophet ﷺ freed his heart from all of those things that would get in the way of filling it with the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why the saying from a shafi'i, rahimahullah ta'ala, he said, lamma afawtu walam ahqid ala ahadin, arahtu nafsia min hammi al-adawat. When I learned to forgive, al-afu, what do you ask Allah for? al-afu. Allahumma innaka afuwan tuhibbu al-afu fa'afu anni. That forgiveness imparted. When I was able to let go of the grudges in my heart, once I learned to forgive, once I learned to let go of grudges, I relieved my soul of the burden of enmity. My soul felt relief. I felt relief from the burden of enmity. Because holding a grudge can end up hurting you as much as the person who inspired it, if not more. And subhanAllah, a lot of times people say, wait a minute, does that mean letting go? Does that mean the injustice is accepted? And I want you to remember this, that letting go of it doesn't mean accepting the injustice that was done to you, but refusing to let it inhibit your growth and happiness. That's what letting go means.
The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam did not accept this as a reality for the world around him, alayhi salatu was salam. But the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam also did not allow it to penetrate his heart to where he could not grow and grow, be guided and guide, be rectified and rectify. You've got to have that pursuit of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so when we talk about following the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam, this is how we follow the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in creed and in character. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those that love him, that love the Prophets and Messengers, that love the one who sent them, and whose hearts are filled with that love and whose characters are refined in accordance with the pursuit of that love. Allahuma ameen. Arabic Arabic Arabic
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