Taraweeh Reflections (2024)
3 / 12
Eating Iftar While Gaza Starves | Taraweeh Reflections
Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on how we can process our feeling of guilt over the suffering in Gaza while we enjoy the blessings of Ramadan.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. I would be blessed to marry a woman of shaytan, in the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa la'udhu wana illa a'ala al-dhalimeen. Wa la'aqeebatu lilmuttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathiran. I wanted to actually address, subhanAllah, a sentiment that I think many of us are feeling this year. And I actually want to ask you, how many of you feel a sense of guilt when you're having iftar, when you see what happens to the people in Gaza this year? Pretty much everyone, I'm sure. Those that didn't raise their hands feel the exact same way. Wallahi, it's a strange year to be witnessing this genocide in real time, and to see people die from hunger. And then subhanAllah, we break our fast. And I know that it's a strange sentiment. And I actually wanted to address this from a perspective of the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the way that the companions would act in such a situation. Now I want to preface this by saying, that if you feel guilty when you are having your iftar, because you know the blessings that are available to you that you take for granted, and you see the hunger of the people of Gaza, then that is a sign of iman, that's a sign of faith. You should feel guilty. I should feel guilty. We should feel a sense of lowliness, that our brothers and sisters subhanAllah cannot find even a piece of bread, while we have food that we can toss to the side. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala nourish them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sustain them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala pour tranquility upon them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make them steadfast. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala open the doors of all of his sustenance to them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant them victory over their vicious oppressor.
Allahumma ameen. So what do we do with this guilt? And I wanted to go to a few hadith, or a few things that happened with the companions, particularly when they thought of the hunger of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, because there is an impact that it then has on how you act with food. How you act with food. In one narration, Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he passed by a group of people, anahu marra bi qawm, so he was passing by a group of people after the death of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and they had a roasted lamb. And they invited him to join, and he couldn't bring himself to join them. fa aba an ya'kul, he refused to eat with them. Wa qala radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, kharaja Rasulullahi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam minad dunya, walam yashba' minal khubzi sha'ir. He said the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam left this world, and the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was not even able to eat barley bread. And so that memory of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, stopped him from being able to enjoy a meal that he was invited to. Of course closer than Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was his own family. And we read in the Shama'il, a very famous narration from Masrooq, who says that, I went to visit Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and she asked for food to be brought for me. And then as the food was brought, she said, ma ashba'u min ta'amin fa asha'u an abki illa bakit. That I never have my fill from a meal, except that I want to cry and then I cry. And I said to my mother, our mother, why is it, oh mother of the believers, that you cry?
And she said, adhkurul hala lati faraqa alayha Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam al-dunya. I remember the state in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam left this world. And she said, wallahi ma shabi'a min khubzin wa lahmin marwatayni fee yawm. SubhanAllah. What a man, alayhi sallatu wasallam. The most powerful man in the world. And she says, I swear by Allah, that he never had his fill from bread or meat twice in a day. Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam never had two full meals a day. The most powerful man in the world. Rahmatan lil'alameen. And so I start with this to say, dear brothers and sisters, that there is a sense of not being able to enjoy the food that's in front of you because you know that someone better than you has been deprived. And there's no one better than the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And even if he passed away without us having met him, alayhi sallatu wasallam, we still love him, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And so that same sentiment, I want to remind you, before we even talk about the people of Gaza, that same sentiment sometimes should strike you as well, as a muhibb, as someone who loves the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. That the extravagance that we have and that we enjoy, we remember that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam didn't enjoy that extravagance in this life. And that should cause us some discomfort. And so there is an effect of knowing that someone better than you did not have what you feel like you don't deserve. And then there's something else. There's proximity. To where even if the person is not necessarily of a virtuous state, the fact that you know of their state of hunger and that you've been exposed to it should disrupt your conscience when food is presented to you. Hence the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's famous hadith
where he said, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, لَيْسَ الْمُؤْمِنُ الَّذِي يَشْبَعُ وَجَارُهُ جَائِعٌ He is not a believer who eats to his fill while his neighbor is hungry. I realize that when we talk about neighbors, that's a very foreign concept to us today, but you've got to think about how neighbors were back then. Right? You knew what your neighbor was going through. You knew what your neighbor was afflicted with. You had an idea of whether or not they were in a good financial circumstance. And the ulama comment on that hadith in two ways. They say, number one, there is the idea of greed. Right? That your neighbor would be affected while you have that food in your house and it doesn't take much for you to let something, some water extend, a little bit of extra sugar, a little bit of extra bread, something to go over to your neighbor, a little bit of extra meat. Subhanallah, in the narration of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As صلى الله تعالى عنهما With a Jewish neighbor, when the meat came to his house, he immediately said, take some of that over and he quotes the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. So it's not even about who the person is, it's about the fact that there is a human being that is next door to you and you have extra. And so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, شبعان Right? When you eat to your fill, meaning by necessity there is an implication of excess. You have extra. And your neighbor goes to sleep hungry. And so the first two narrations speak to the virtue of the person who is starving. The second set of narrations speak to the proximity that you have to the starving person. And these days, subhanallah, we're in a two-way dilemma because we see the most blessed people on earth starving on our screens. And you know what's sad, subhanallah? They see us in our Ramadan festivities. Wallahi, it's a strange world when you think about it.
Can you imagine? And I was actually speaking to one of the brothers, subhanallah, that's one of the journalists there. And he was talking about, subhanallah, their extreme food habits. He's on Instagram. I mean, he's in Rafah on Instagram. And he has nothing to eat. And he's watching other Muslims celebrating their iftars and talking about what they're doing and all types of stuff. So it's a two-way thing. We're exposed to them and they're exposed to us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for our incapacity. Allahumma ameen. If that makes you a little sick in your stomach, it should. It should make all of us a little sick in our stomach. Now, we spoke about before Ramadan the crime of starvation. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala punish those who are starving our brothers and sisters. The outward enemies and the hypocrites from within this ummah as well. Because the responsibility for their starvation is not just on one party. It's from multiple directions unfortunately. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala hold them accountable for what they're doing to our brothers and sisters. And may Allah forgive us for not being able to do more for them. Allahumma ameen. What do we do with these feelings? And this is what I want to come to inshallah ta'ala and give you a little bit. Number one, should it have some sort of a consequence on how we carry ourselves this Ramadan? Yes. Make your iftars a little less extravagant. Don't do the big parties this year. Try to limit a little bit more. And actually, especially when you're having iftar with your family, talk about why you're doing that, right? Let's bring it down a notch this year when it comes to the festivities of food, the festivities of iftar. Let's bring it down a notch inshallah ta'ala and let's remind ourselves of what's there. That's number one. Number two, make du'a at the time of iftar with your family for those that are starving. Remind them of the blessing that's in front of them. And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned an accepted du'a
للمؤمن حين يفطر. For the believer at the time that they break their fast. And this is a time of accepted du'a. Make du'a collectively as a family before you're breaking of the fast. And specifically mention hunger. You know, when you make du'a, you mention the favors that Allah has given to you. And then you ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for specific things. So specifically mention the blessing of food that you have and make du'a that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala provides for our brothers and sisters over there. Bring it front and center to your conscience. Number four, if you can donate to your brothers and sisters, trustworthy organizations, and I'm not going to get started as to which organizations are trustworthy. Yes, by the way, anyone that's fundraising for Gaza right now, ask questions. Right, do your homework. Look at the reputation of the organization. Ask questions about how they're getting food into Gaza right now. There are some that are getting food into Gaza, alhamdulillah. There are some that will be very transparent and say that they're storing at Rafah for the moment, and this is the intention, this is the future plan, alhamdulillah, khair. But donate to trustworthy organizations inshallah ta'ala and do your homework, do your homework. And by the way, if you do your homework and you give money to a Gaza effort, and it turns out that they completely, you know, misappropriate that money, your du'a inshallah ta'ala, your intention is sound. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la accept it from you. Do your homework inshallah ta'ala and definitely give. Number six, remember the people that are hungry that are not in Gaza, and you can reach them. From your ummah, dear brothers and sisters, there are people in the Horn of Africa, there are people in Yemen, there are people in different parts of the world that are starving from your ummah, and you can reach them with your charity. Let this also be a time that you give to them bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. And then even in your own neighborhoods, even here in Dallas, wherever you are, there are people hungry,
Muslims and non-Muslims. Reach out to them inshallah ta'ala, participate. Let this truly be a month of appreciating the blessing of food and exerting ourselves in regards to the blessing of food bi'idhnillahi ta'ala. And the last thing, dear brothers and sisters, commit yourself still to the cause inshallah ta'ala. Whatever you were doing before Ramadan, keep on doing it bi'idhnillahi ta'ala, and do it even more inshallah ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala use us for our brothers and sisters in Gaza and all over the world, in Palestine, in Syria, in Somalia, in Yemen, the Rohingya, wherever they are, in Sudan. Ya Allah, allow us to benefit them, allow us to do that which is going to be beneficial for them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala use us and not replace us. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never let us be from the heedless. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for our shortcomings. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala overcome the oppressors, wherever they are and whoever they are. Allahumma ameen. BarakAllahu feekum. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
1 items
1 items
1 items
25 items
50 items
9 items
