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Do Not Wish to Meet Your Enemy in Battle | Daily Reminders
Sh. Omar Suleiman reflects on the idea that while Allah may test us with hardships, He does not ask us to put ourselves in harm’s way to prove our loyalty to Him. At the same time, when Allah does test us, He has given us the tools to handle the test and gain reward from it.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. So welcome back and again I apologize for starting a little later tonight. So the topic is connected to what we left off on a few nights ago and inshallah ta'ala we'll connect to a consistent theme over the next couple of nights as well when we talk about the reflection and what our religion calls us to and I want you to see if you can find a connection between this hadith and some of the things that we've already spoken about especially in the discussion about plague and about how to deal with a global pandemic and some of the hardships that we're facing right now and of course we know that hardships are of different types. There are spiritual hardships, there are physical hardships, there are emotional hardships, and there is a consistent methodology from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam on how to deal with those hardships. So the hadith that we're going to talk about the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, O people, la tamannu liqaa al-adu. Do not wish to meet your enemy. Wa salallahu al-afiyah. And ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for security. Fa iza laqeetumumhum fasbiru wa'lamu anna aljannata tahta dhilal asyoof. But if you have to meet your enemy, so don't wish to meet your enemy, and ask Allah for protection. But if you meet your enemy, then know that paradise is under the shade of those swords. Okay, so if you end up meeting your enemy, if you end up in the battlefield, know that paradise is going to be under the shade of those swords. So this hadith speaks about, number one, from an ideological perspective, you know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the Quran to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Kutiba alikum al-qital wa huwa qurhun lakum. That fighting was prescribed upon you. At some point, fighting was allowed to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam as a rukhsah, as a permission, and it is hated to you. And what that means is that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is not one who liked war.
He did not like battle. He resisted having to take up arms against those who were aggressive towards him for over a decade, right? So this is, you know, speaking within the same vein, that you hate to fight, you hate battle, you hate war. So la tamanna liqaa al-'adu, do not wish to meet your enemy. So no one should wish to be in the battlefield. But if you end up in that situation, again, then know that paradise is under the shade of your swords. Now let's, under the shade of those swords. Let's connect this to another hadith. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned that if al-Masih al-Dajjal, if the Antichrist were to arise in your time, and you heard that he was in a place, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, do not go to him to challenge him. Instead, flee away from him, right? Flee from a land that you hear that he's gone to. Don't go to him to try to challenge him. All right? However, we also know from a hadith that there will be a young man that will challenge Dajjal and will expose his deception, and that person will be greatly rewarded, okay? That someone is going to expose his deception at some point. But the chances of you being that person, don't bank on being that person. Instead, be a person who does not put their faith at risk. At the same time, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam gave us a prescription to read the first 10 ayat, to memorize the first 10 ayat of Surah Al-Kahf. And he also, in another narration, salallahu alayhi wa sallam said to memorize the last 10 ayat of Surah Al-Kahf. So there's a prescription on how to deal with al-Dajjal if you see him. And obviously, belief would expose the disbelief that would be written on his forehead. But don't go look for him, and you would still have the reward insha'Allah ta'ala of having been one who resisted his call. You don't have to prove your faith by going to him and letting him challenge your faith with all that he has. The same thing again is true with the
battlefield, okay? Have this sense that Islam, your faith is worth more to you than your life, right? And if you were challenged and you had to be put in a situation where you had to sacrifice even your life, where you had to be killed and persecuted, your religion is that important to you, right? And so if a person was thrust in that situation, then your faith will shine, and let your faith shine. But don't go look for that test. The same thing is true with the plague, right? You can see the consistency. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said that if it arises in the land that you're in, stay in that land. If it's not in the land that you're in, don't go to the land that you've heard of that plague arising in. Don't go put your faith to the test. And the famous discussion between Umar bin Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah where Abu Ubaidah radiyaAllahu anhu said to him, Atathiru min qadri la? Are you running away from the decree of Allah? He said, I'm fleeing from the decree of God to the decree of God, right? Because I'm taking my precautions, okay? What do we take from all of this inshaAllah ta'ala in terms of our understanding of Allah, our understanding of God, and what the consistent message is here. The consistent message here is that Allah in his mercy is not one that requires of you pain, requires of you to put yourself to the test in some effort to prove your loyalty to the worship of him and to prove your servitude to him subhanahu wa ta'ala. But at the same time, if Allah decides to test you, then Allah has given you the equipment, the tools, the spiritual reservoir, the mechanism to be able to overcome that test and know that there will be a great reward in that test. So you don't go thrust yourself into test as a means of trying to prove yourself to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because innamal a'malu biniyat, actions are by intention. So the intention that, you know, I will be sincere to Allah, no matter what happens to me, no matter what trial comes my way, whether it's in the form of a person or in the form of an illness, I will remain faithful, okay? That intention is enough to realize the reward of whatever it is that you're seeking. But if Allah sends the test to you, indeed sends to you the test that requires the action on your part, then know that the reward is going to even be greater. You'll have the reward for the intention and the reward for the action of staying firm, staying put, staying committed to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and faithful no matter what happens to you, okay? So don't wish to meet your enemy, whether it's in the form of a person or in the form of a disease or in the form of a trial. Don't test Allah. Allah will test you. And when Allah tests you, know that Allah is testing you to bring about a greater reward from you. And know that when Allah spares you, Allah is sparing you, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's excluding you from the reward. And this is all part of the mercy of who he is subhanahu wa ta'ala and how we interact with him, with all of our deeds and with all of our intentions and with everything that comes our way. You don't have to thrust yourself into hardship, but react when hardship comes connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And alhamdulillah, we have a Lord that does not test us beyond our scope. And inshaAllah ta'ala we'll kind of reflect on some different aspects of this in the coming nights bi'lillahi ta'ala as well. So again, the test is not needed for you to realize the reward of that test. The intention is sufficient that I will respond with faith if the test comes to me, but I will not go put myself in that test. By the way, the last thing I'll say on this, this is also true with some of the stuff that you interact with online. Putting layers of
protection between you and things that could possibly pollute and corrupt your iman is actually a good thing. That's a means of sincerity. That's a means of proving your sincerity to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So don't go and gauge things online that are going to potentially compromise your iman just in some pursuit of showing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala something about yourself. Safety is part of iman. Putting barriers between you and things that could potentially harm your faith is actually part of faith itself as well. And so it goes back to that. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make our intentions sincere and to not test us beyond our scope. And that if we are to be tested, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the proper response, that Allah inspires us with the proper response, that we may realize the maximum reward as well. Allahuma Ameen. Jazakum Allah khayran. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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