Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. And bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. My dear respected brothers and sisters, when we talk about the lives that we live, and the unique ways in which Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has granted us the circumstances that he has. Allah is the one without whom a leaf of a tree would not fall until he gives it permission. And so every single thing that you have encountered, every single person that you have met, every single coin that you have earned, every single trial that you have endured, every single piece of food and sip of water that you have put in your mouth has been by the precise permission and decree of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. There is no such thing as anything that is random. And when you see your life and you see the life of someone else, know that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has put you here for a very specific purpose, and has given you a customized path to attain not just Jannah, not just Paradise, but to attain the highest level of Paradise no matter what your circumstances are. Some people will enter into Jannah and enter into the highest level of Paradise because they were generous with their wealth. Allah bestowed much wealth upon them and they were generous with it.
And some people will enter into Paradise, into the highest levels, and they did not experience any of the wealth of this world because they were patient and they were grateful with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Some people will enter Paradise barely scratched. They came into this life and they live very comfortable lives. And some people will enter into Paradise with wounds all over them, the difficulties of this life scarring every part of their body. Some people will enter Paradise and will be prominent in Paradise and they were prominent in this world. But the majority of the people of Paradise are those that were unknown in this world, those that were left out in this world, those that were looked down upon in this world or not even given a second glance. And I want you to think for a moment about this, dear brothers and sisters. There was a quote of sorts that resonated with me some time ago, that as human beings we fear living an ordinary life. You know, everything in the advent of media gives us this idea that unless you live an extraordinary life, an extraordinary life, it doesn't necessarily mean a life of riches or glamour, an extraordinary life, then your life does not have the same amount of value as someone else. And so the majority of people are like those that are sitting outside of a house looking through the window and seeing people feast and seeing people enjoy. And that can lead you to think, what's my purpose here on earth? Why am I living this ordinary life if my entire life is just trying to survive? And the reality of the world is that most people pass through this life just trying to live, to a point that it can feel like you're living life to live, just earning for your daily life, just getting by.
And that's the majority of people. And so you might think, why? What's my role then? How do I ascend? And dear brothers and sisters, in that is one of the most profound ways to connect to Rasulullah ﷺ. Oftentimes when we talk about connecting to the Prophet ﷺ, we talk about him in the capacity of how he dealt with extraordinary difficulty. He buried six of his seven children ﷺ. He was an orphan before he was even born. His mother died when he was six. His grandfather died when he was nine. Everyone that took care of him and that loved him passed away. He was left out of every conversation because of his circumstances. There is not a single difficulty that you can have in your life and then go talk to the Prophet ﷺ about, and he would not understand because he has been through the most extraordinary difficulties known to man. But that's the extraordinary. What about the ordinary side of Rasulullah ﷺ? What do I mean by that? The Prophet ﷺ was a man who prior to receiving prophethood lived a very ordinary life. In what sense? Rasulullah ﷺ says, bu'itha Musa wa huwa ra'i ghanam. Musa ﷺ, the most spoken about person in the Qur'an. Musa was sent and when he received prophethood he was a shepherd of sheep. Musa ﷺ was a man on the outside that people would walk by that would be simply tending to his sheep. Little did he know this man who people would not speak to, they would look past him, look away from him, not really give him any position.
This would become kalimullah, the one who Allah spoke to directly and the most spoken about man in the Qur'an. Allahu Akbar. Think about that. huwa ra'i ghanam, and he was just an ordinary shepherd of sheep. wa bu'itha Dawood ﷺ wa huwa ra'im, and David, King David, Dawood ﷺ was sent and David, Dawood was a shepherd. wa bu'ithtu wa ana ar'a ghanaman li ahli bi ajyad, and I was sent. And I, Muhammad ﷺ, was just a shepherd. I used to shepherd the sheep in ajyad. If you go towards Mecca, if you go to the Ka'bah, may Allah ﷻ grant us all the opportunity to visit in Umrah and Hajj multiple times, you'll see the area of ajyad. Rasulullah ﷺ said, I remember, it's like I'm looking at myself, you know when you grow older and you see a younger version of yourself? I remember when I used to go there and shepherd sheep for the qarari, for the pennies, the small coins of the people of Mecca. That was my life, an ordinary life. And despite an ordinary life, he ascended in this life by extraordinary character, not extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary character. As-sadiq al-ameen. Honest, trustworthy. He didn't have a huge bank account. Before Khadijah ﷺ, he didn't tend to huge amounts of inventory. He didn't wear fancy clothes. He didn't live in a big house. He didn't speak from a position of power. But as-sadiq al-ameen. When he speaks, we know he's going to speak the truth. And when he is entrusted, we know that we will be able to trust him. Extraordinary character, not extraordinary circumstances.
Very ordinary life. What does this have to do with my subject today? When the Prophet ﷺ talks about the people of paradise, the majority of the people of paradise are al-musta'afeen al-fuqara. They're poor people, they're downtrodden people, they're people that have been looked down upon. They're people that live difficulty. The tables turn. The haves and the have-nots, the majority of the have-nots in this life become the haves in the hereafter. And vice versa. But then, there's a level with the Prophet ﷺ. Which is what? Something that Abu Bakr, radhiAllahu anhu, despite being someone who had much wealth, and Bilal, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, despite being someone who did not have anything at all, become both the surrounding of the Prophet ﷺ in al-firdaws al-a'la. Why? Because of their extraordinary character that transcends all circumstances. Qala alayhi salatu was salam, inna min ahabikum ilayya wa aqrabikum minni majlisan yawm al-qiyama. The most beloved of you to me. May Allah make us the beloved of the beloved ﷺ. Allahuma ameen. Wa aqrabikum minni and the closest of you to me on the day of judgments. Ahsanakum akhlaqa are the people who had the best character. You want to be close to Rasulullah ﷺ? You want to have an extraordinary jannah? Have extraordinary character with an ordinary life. Extraordinary character and you will be next to him ﷺ. And specifically, what are the two traits of his character that we're known by? As-sadiq al-ameen. Remember this. Truthful, trustworthy. The two most beautiful characteristics that he had ﷺ. Truthful, trustworthy.
And subhanAllah, those two traits are harder to show when you're in difficult circumstances. Because the temptation to abandon truth and trustworthiness is more when you need, or you can make a reasonable justification within yourself to do so. How many times in the life of the Prophet ﷺ did he have an opportunity to cheat someone? SubhanAllah, you look at even the hijrah, the migration. The same people that were trying to kill him ﷺ, plotting day and night to kill him, had their most precious belongings with him ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ proved to be beyond their expectations. If I'm Abu Jahl and I have a watch with the Prophet ﷺ and I'm trying to kill the man, I'm going to say, you know, I'm going to pretend the watch is gone, right? Rasulullah ﷺ leaves behind Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu when he makes the hijrah, and says, go and take the amanat, the trust of the people back to them. Never betrayed them. Never deceived them. And there is no distance greater from the Prophet ﷺ. In this life or the next than that of a deceiver. من غش فليس منا Whoever deceives is not one of us. Not worthy of being from the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Not in this life or in the next. Anas radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu says, ما خطبنا رسول الله ﷺ إلا قال لا إيمان لمن لا أمانة له ولا دين لمن لا عهد له That every time the Prophet ﷺ would give us a khutbah, when he'd give us a sermon, he would say, there is no faith for the one who does not speak truth, who cannot be trusted. And there is no religion for the one who cannot uphold the covenants.
The furthest from the Prophet ﷺ you get in this life or the next is when you betray his two most prominent characteristics. Truthful, trustworthy. الصادق الأمين You can't be from the ummah of الصادق الأمين and then be known for everything but صدق الأمانة. Cheating the people. For what? An extra coin? An extra position? Cheating the people when you own a palace because the betrayal of أمانة comes at leadership. Your bank account already has hundreds of millions of dollars and you go and you cheat the people and you take hundreds and millions more. Why? What do you gain from Allah ﷻ? How are you from the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ? How can you claim to be from the ummah of الصادق الأمين and cheat the people in whatever position you are in? The highest or the lowest? How? And subhanAllah, I give you this hadith which wallahi is one of the most hopeful ahadith. In my opinion, one of the most hopeful ahadith in all of the body of hadith literature. You know what it is? Abu Sa'id al-Khudri رضي الله عنه He said, Rasulullah ﷺ said, التاجر الأمين الصدق A merchant, a person who is going about earning their day to day, which is the majority of people, earning their day to day living, who is truthful and who is trustworthy. They speak the truth, they don't lie about what they're selling, they don't speak untruths about their product to get a better deal. الأمين, they can be entrusted, they don't deceive. التاجر الصدق الأمين مع النبيين والصديقين والشهداء
The Prophet ﷺ said that on the day of judgment, that honest, truthful, trustworthy merchant is going to be in Jannah with the prophets, with the prophets and the martyrs and the truthful people, الصديقين. Allahu Akbar! You imagine when we're all in Jannah, may Allah ﷻ, as He gathered us here in His masjid on the day of Jum'ah, may He gather us in Al-Firdaws Al-'A'la, in the highest level of Jannah. Allahumma ameen. When you're going around in Jannah and you're meeting the people in that highest level, Muhammad ﷺ and Musa ﷺ and Dawood ﷺ and Ibrahim ﷺ, and then from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman and Ali, and then from the shuhada, the martyrs, Hamza ﷺ, Mus'ab ﷺ, you're meeting these amazing human beings, and amongst them, average, ordinary people, with extraordinary character. May Allah ﷻ make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Arabic Dear brothers and sisters, these are the people that become so close and so near to our Messenger ﷺ. JazakAllah khair. These are the people who become so close to our Messenger ﷺ on the day of judgment, despite not having anything extraordinary in this life.
And I want you to look at your own life, and there are two lessons that we learn in this regard, subhanAllah. As we try to ascend just with our basic day-to-day, when the Prophet ﷺ says, لا تحكيرا من المعروف شيئا, do not belittle a small good deed. Do you know how Allah looks at you when you go about your day-to-day life, and you do so with honesty and dignity and integrity because you want to be with a sadiq al-ameen? Do you know how proud Rasulullah ﷺ will be of you on the day of judgment, when you meet the Prophet ﷺ, and he knows that you upheld that high character? The barrier of entry into that highest level of paradise is not like the barriers of this life. SubhanAllah, with something so small, you can mean so much to Allah ﷻ. You can become so near to the Prophet ﷺ. And sometimes we might feel ourselves to be unworthy. We're unworthy. How can we be in the league of Muhammad ﷺ and Musa ﷺ and Dawood ﷺ, and these companions and these great human beings? How can we be in their league? Because we look at our own lives, and it's not like we're doing such amazing things. But Jannah is for people of iman, people of faith, and people of character. So long as you're able to hold on to that, watch what Allah ﷻ gives to you as a reward. And subhanAllah, to merge the two in conclusion. Because sometimes you'll be going about living your ordinary life, and then an extraordinary difficulty will hit you, and you will wish for the life you used to have. Right?
You complain about life today, and then something happens to you or your family, and then tomorrow, your Jannah on earth would be the life that you had yesterday. If only I could go back to that. I wasn't happy when I was there, but if only I could go back to that. And then Allah ﷻ takes something from you. And we were taught by the Messenger ﷺ, Allahumma jurni fee musibati, wa khlufli khayran minha. Allahumma jurni fee musibati, wa khlufli khayran minha. Oh Allah, compensate me for my trial, and give me what is better than that. This is when the extraordinary happens to you, when the difficulty happens to you, when the circumstance hits you, you put your trust in Allah ﷻ for an extraordinary reward, and you just say, give me better than it. You don't ask Allah to give it to you in this dunya. You don't ask Allah to not give it to you in this dunya. You don't quantify what you're asking Allah. You just say, Oh Allah, I lost something. Oh Allah, give me something better. And in that process, what Allah will give you is so much greater, because you dealt with an extraordinary loss with patience. And so you ask for khayran minha, something that is better than it. And then you have the intentional day-to-day. Man taraka shay'an lillah, awwadahu Allahu khayran minha. Whoever leaves something for Allah, Allah will give something that is much better in return. Whoever leaves something for Allah. This is really applicable to the day-to-day of what we do. You know what? It's not worth this extra amount to cheat someone and get a better deal in this dunya. It's not worth the lie. It's not worth the oath. It's not worth the sweeter vacation or something I can now put on my house or put on my car.
It's not worth any comfort in this life. I'll leave it. And subhanAllah, you are dealing with a Rabb, you're dealing with a Lord who rewards sadaqah, charity. And most people give charity from their extra. They give charity from what they have of extra. Who rewards charity by up to 700 and more and more and more. Ad'aaf, multiplies charity. You give Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in charity. This much, Allah turns it into mountains of gold on the day of judgment. And the only difficulty you have to face when you're giving charity is... in that moment is what? The forsaking of usually what is disposable. Usually something that is extra. But when it comes to your day-to-day dealings, where your sadaqah and your amanah will be tested, where your trustworthiness, your truthfulness will be tested, in your family or your community or your employment. And that moment you forgo not even a dollar, less than a dollar. Something that cannot even be quantified financially, something that if put on the scale would be 0.00001. Imagine what Allah will turn that into of extraordinary reward on his mizan, on his scale on the day of judgment. Because you have combined al-iman, the belief in Allah. InnaAllaha huwa al-razaq, dhul quwwatin al-mateen. Allah is the one who provides. I know that in my heart, that's tawheed, monotheism, aqeedah. I know Allah is the one who provides. So I'll never cheat Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the provider, trying to provide for myself. And then you combine that with being like the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, al-sadiq al-amin. Who used to just trade and shepherd for a few coins on the outskirts of ajyads, on the outskirts of Mecca over there. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us a people that always seek what is better and that always do what is better.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never allow us to trade of the akhira and purchase what is of this dunya. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the best of this life and the best of the hereafter and protect us from the fire of hell. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us not just jannah but al-firdaws al-a'la, the highest level. Not because we deserve it but because it is befitting to his generosity that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would take people like us and put us in a league, in a level with the prophets and the siddiqun and the shuhada. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us that rank. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us that position. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the best of this life and the best of the hereafter and protect us from the fire of hell. May Allah forgive the believers and the Muslims, the living and the dead. You are the one who hears, who is near, who answers to the invitations. May Allah forgive us and have mercy on us and forgive us and not punish us. May Allah forgive us and have mercy on us and not punish us. Allahumma innaka afuwwun kareemun tuhibbu al-afwa fa'fu anna. Allahumma khafir liwalidina. Rabb irhamhuma kama rabbuna sigara. Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhuriyatina qurra ta'ayun. Wa ja'anna lilmuttaqina imama. Allahumma ansur ikhwan al-mustad'afina fee masharik al-ardi wa magharibiha. Allahumma izzal islama wa al-muslimin. Wa adhilla shirk wa al-kathibin. Wa damr a'daa al-deen. Allahumma ahlik al-zalimina bil-zalimin. Wa akhrijna wa ikhwanna min baynihim salimim. Ibadallahumma allaha ya'urubil adli wal-ihsan wa ita'idil qurba. Wa yanha'an alfahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghi. Ya'idukum la'alakum tadhakkaroon. Fathkuru Allah yadhkurukum. Washkuruhu alani'ma yazid lakum. Waladhikru Allahi akbar. Wallahu ya'alumum yata'sna'oon.
Wa aqeem al-salam.
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