Deeds to Habit
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Cherish the Simple and Mundane
We all set ambitious goals, but we often struggle to meet them. Dr. Mohamed Abu Taleb reflects on how we can be more like Uwais al-Qarni, who was considered the very best of his generation for his devotion to Allah through simple deeds.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Bismillah walhamdulillahi wassalamu ala rasulillahi wa ba'd. I'm your brother Muhammad Abu Talib. You know, so many of our days will start with huge ambitions, great goals, things that we'd love to get done. But then when the day passes and you're looking back at the end of the day you say, where did the hours go? Between the commute, work, exams, if you have young children, preparing food, and the never-ending to-do list, you just can't get enough checks in and you can't seem to get to those goals. That's why today's habit is one that many people don't think of. It's to cherish the simple and mundane. One of the representatives of this habit was a man that was forecast by the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam in his hadith. In the hadith he says, Inna khayrat tabi'ina rajulun yuqalu lahu uwais. That the best of the generation of the successors, the tabi'in, those that would come after the companions of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, is a man named Uwais. The Prophet alaihi salatu wasalam connected the generation of the companions with him because he salallahu alaihi wasalam would die before they would meet him. He would tell people like Abu Huraira, the narrator of the hadith, and Umar and Abu Bakr, many companions heard of him. And the hadith continues, Walahu walida wakana bihi bayad. He gave some marks by which you would know him. He says he has a mother, but there is an intricacy here in the hadith. The indication is that his relationship with his mother, his service of his mother is so special that you can know him by that mark. And he used to have a skin disease, but he made dua to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and it was cured except for a very small part that remained an indication of this great blessing of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. Then the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam says,
famuroohoo fal yastaghfir lakum. If you're to meet him, then ask him to make istighfar, to ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala's forgiveness on your behalf. This is so incredible. Who is a person that is so special that the likes of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the likes of Abu Huraira would be asked if you see him, ask him to make istighfar for you. Well, Uwais al-Qarnayn actually could have been a companion because he lived during the lifetime of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam. Had he traveled to al-Madinah, he may have met him, but a duty kept him back in his native land of Yemen, in his tribe named the tribe of Qarn. And that duty was serving his elderly blind mother. Uwais al-Qarnayn accepted Islam when a number of companions came to the land of Yemen, making da'wah. And had he traveled then, he would have caught the last years of al-Madinah. But he understood that his responsibility to his mother was sacred and special and cherished by Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. He would go to the market, tend to her needs, make sure that she had what she needed around the house, see to her food and the other things that we do, taking care of especially the most vulnerable in our families, such as young children or the honor of caring for our elderly parents. He was a person that never had much wealth, but he worshipped Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala devoutly, made sincere dua, was very regular in his worship, and he wasn't attached to this dunya. He didn't covet or desire what was in people's hands. What's amazing is that not a historian, not a great scholar, but in fact the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam himself, none less, is the one who says that he is the best of this incredible generation. A generation that had the likes of Imam al-Hassan al-Basri, Imam Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyib, Abu Hanifa
rahimahullah, and Najashi, great scholars, great theologians, great statesmen, great politicians, great leaders, but all of them in this generation were outclassed by a simple man named Uwais al-Qarnay, who Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala said was the very best of that generation. Years later the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would pass away and Uwais never got to meet him in this dunya. Then Abu Bakr came and after some years he passed away as well. The companions would ask about him during the season of Al-Hajj and one time they found a group from Al-Yaman that knew of a person but they were surprised that they were asking about him, just a simple person that wasn't known, but he wasn't at Hajj that year. Why? Because his mother was still alive and duty still called him. But the years would pass and eventually the mother of Uwais al-Qarnay passed away and it was then that on a Hajj that he would meet Umar ibn al-Khattab and some of the luminary companions and imagine they're asking him please make istighfar for us and Uwais al-Qarnay has never heard of this hadith. Why would someone like Umar, like these companions, people that are known in the eastern and western reaches of the lands, ask for istighfar for a simple poor man from the tribe of Qarn. Imagine the feeling in his heart when he would know that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam foretold of his coming and mentioned his special status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Uwais al-Qarnay was offered a stipend, offered to live among the luminary companions but he preferred a simple life and in that simple life unknown amongst people he was a superstar in the heavens. He was an incredibly special person to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and a special status. My brothers and sisters, the habit that we can build in our lives
to be more like Uwais al-Qarnay is to cherish the simple and mundane. We look at that to-do list and we see it as an impediment, a blockage for us to get to our goals but can we flip it on its head? Can we look at those as the opportunities to rush towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? The priorities that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us in our lives. Those people that he's placed in our lives for us to serve and care for. Perhaps you have the blessing of giving a little back to elderly parents that are in your care or you have young ones that brighten your day and your home or you are blessed with a person of Jannah if you have a person with special needs in your care, in your household or under your stewardship and care. These things are often unappreciated by people. They're not written in the history books. They're often not noticed and yet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala al-shakur can elevate through these deeds what a person would not attain with famous speeches, with fame, with cameras, with mention on the tongues of people. So look for the opportunities in your everyday moments. Use your niyyah to magnify the simple deeds and as the scholars mentioned there is a small deed that could be magnified with a great intention and there is a great deed that could be made very small by a lacking intention. So whether it's preparing food for your loved ones or going about the daily hustle and bustle of life or taking that path seeking knowledge or earning an honest livelihood for your family. Make those paths paths to Jannah. Make those doors the doors that you knock on because you don't know which one Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could open for you. Not just a door to Jannah but perhaps a door to al-Firdaws al-Aala and the highest levels by the simple and mundane
moments, by the everyday opportunities to draw closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the next time our eyes look outside imagine what we could be doing instead or if only I didn't have this to do then I would be doing this goal and that. Take a moment and reach into the future. Wrestle your dreams out of the future to the present where they belong and make your goals come to life in your simple everyday moments today. Set that intention, make du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to facilitate those moments of nearness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for you and I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that you would find the heights through these simple moments like Uwais al-Qarnayi found before us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
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