Deeds to Habit
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Extending Salaam
Faduma Warsame reflects on a beautiful hadith of the Prophet on the importance of extending salaam as well as its benefits and reward.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi ta'ala wabarakatuhu. Bismillah walhamdulillah wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Welcome to another episode of Deed to Habit. I'd like to start off today's episode by asking you a few questions. Have you ever found yourself in a position where you had to travel from one city to another, perhaps moving to a new country, a new town, a new state? Did you transfer from one school to another or perhaps maybe start a new job? I want you to think about how you felt on that very first day at your new school, that very first day at your new job, or the interactions you might have had in that new community of yours. When the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam and his sahaba made the hijrah from Mecca to Medina, it was one that was a sacrifice of a physical nature, but also a sacrifice that they made that impacted them emotionally and mentally as well. Many of the sahaba, including the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam, had to leave so many things behind. There were people who left families behind, friends behind, businesses behind, homes behind, to start afresh and start new in this new city that is to be known as Medina. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam encouraged the sahaba to do one deed, and that is the deed that we'll be speaking about today, to inshallah help the muhajireen and the ansar who are living in Medina become closer and establish a community. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam says in a narration,
afshu salam wa at'im al ta'am wasila al arham wa sallu bil layli wal nasu niyam tathukhulu al jannata bil salam. Afshu salam, spread the salam, right? Extend the salam. Wa at'im al ta'am and feed those who are hungry. Wasila al arham and maintain good relationships, you know, good ties with family. Wa sallu bil layli wal nasu niyam and pray at night while people are sleeping. You do these four things and the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam ends by saying, tathukhulu al jannata bil salam. You will then enter jannah bil salam peacefully, right? By way of peace. And it's beautiful that the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam connected the first thing he mentioned, which was afshu salam, spread the salam, with the last thing he mentioned, which is tathukhulu al jannata bil salam. That you will enter paradise bil salam in peace. And it's also beautiful to note that that is the greeting towards the inhabitants of paradise. Udkhuluha bil salam. You will enter into it or enter into it bil salam by way of peace. Salamun alaikum. Right? That is the greeting that they will be given, the inhabitants of paradise. It's very important to note that this was the advice of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasalam given to the ansar as well as the muhajireen to establish a community because responding to a salam, that's very easy. But initiating the salam is something that can be very difficult at times. Especially in our time today where, you know, social awkwardness is kind of something that is very common in communities and we might be really hesitant to initiate the salam. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam also mentions to the sahaba a narration where he says
that you will not enter paradise until you believe. And you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not tell you of a deed that if, to tell you of an action that if you do it, you will come to love one another? The sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them all, were very, you know, aware and very curious when the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam would make statements like these and would jump on the opportunity to ask the question. So they said, Ya Rasulullah, tell us, right? And the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam responds that by saying that the deed that will make you all love one another is spreading salam between one another. You don't spread salam to those only that you know. You spread salam to everyone, right? Full stop. Even if it is an awkward thing, even if it is something that maybe you do all the time, it is something, there is something to be said about initiating the salam. And our scholars of the past and our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam would encourage, you do that by extending your hand, saying the salam or just extending the salam and also doing it with a smile, right? The cherry on top is a smile that you do it with. So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to extend the greetings of salam to one another to increase that love that we have for our community, for our Muslim family. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be among those who enter Jannah with salam. Jazakumullah khair, wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi ta'ala wa barakatuh.
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