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Hadith #16: A Show of Strength

October 10, 2017Dr. Omar Suleiman

The Prophet Muhammad taught that we should seek to avoid all vulnerabilities as individuals and a community. We should show strength even when we’re suffering.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
This next halaqa is going to be building off of what we talked about last week. And it deals with this notion of strength. Now I know that it's been, you know, it seems like an eternity since we covered the hadith on seeking leadership and seeking power and what that means. But particularly this idea of showing strength, displaying strength even when you're vulnerable. Displaying strength, showing strength as a community and seeking strength even when you are vulnerable. Actually covering up your vulnerabilities and insisting on strength, insisting on power. Now what do I mean by that? There's a very famous hadith where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he said that the strong believer is more beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala than the weak believer. So there is a concept of strength being preferred. There is also the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, al-yadu al-ilya khayrun min al-yadu as-sufla. The upper hand is better than the lower hand. al-yadu al-ilya al-munfiqa. The upper hand is the giving hand. And al-yadu as-sufla, the lower hand is the receiving hand. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam giving preference to the upper hand, to the higher hand, to the giving hand. This idea of seeking out financial strength, physical strength. Al-mu'minun al-qawiyy, there is a physical strength to that. There is also an emotional and mental strength to that. If you think about what it took to push the sahaba through all of the years of disappointment that they faced, through all of the hardships that they faced, through the persecution. How does a man like Ammar ibn Yasir radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, who watched both of his parents slaughtered in front of him, rise up and remain motivated despite what he has seen. So there is a strength that displays itself in renewed motivation, not refusing to despair. There is strength in influence. I don't know if any of you remember the khutba I gave after the passing of Muhammad Ali wa'himahu allah ta'ala,
where I mentioned that some of the mashaikh, some of the scholars said that salat al-ghaib, that there should be janazahs prayed for him all over the Muslim world. There were scholars in the Muslim world that were saying this. And some people said, well why, because there are scholars that passed away that are more religious, in the sense that they are people of knowledge and things of that sort. But the only person the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam ever prayed salat al-ghaib for, janazah prayer for, without being present, was Najashi, was the ruler of Abyssinia. Even though the biography of Najashi suggests that he was a barely practicing Muslim. But the influence and the good he brought to Islam with his strength, made him so beloved that Jibreel came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam the day that Najashi died, thousands of miles away, and said that you should gather and you should pray janazah for him, even though he is not present amongst you. So Muhammad Ali wa'himahu allah, for example, what was he able to do for Islam? What was he able to do for the Muslims with his strength and with his influence? One sentence from Muhammad Ali is more effective than a thousand manbars, than a thousand pulpits of imams, imam speaking. So there's the strength of influence. So this idea of strength and displaying strength, displaying resilience, and not showing your vulnerabilities. So recognizing that people respect a sense of strength and a sense of resilience. So which hadith are we covering here to really start off this discussion? It's actually a very famous hadith and it comes in two narrations. One is Allahumma a'izzal Islam bi ahadil umarain. Oh Allah, give victory to Islam for one of the two umars. The other one is Allahumma a'izzal Islam bi ahabbil umarain ilayk. Oh Allah, give victory to Islam to the more beloved of the two umars, to you.
This hadith, you've heard it many times probably, because we speak about a very famous man through this hadith, and that is Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhum. Who's the other Umar here? Abu Jahl, Amir ibn Hisham. Now why did the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam make dua for one of these two people to become Muslim? And he made dua for this when the Muslims were oppressed. He made dua for this when Muslims were unable to proclaim their Islam publicly. And he made dua for two of the most hostile people to Islam. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam asked Allah to guide the more beloved of them, the more beloved of them to him. Now obviously this is after they accept deen, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sees khair, some goodness in some people. So even while they're in a state of rebellion, Allah knows what they're capable of and that their ending will be good. And that's why the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, though sometimes he cursed people, sometimes he invoked curses on people, for the most part the habit of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was to pray for guidance rather than to pray for destruction. Because there's still a potential of good. But why these two men? Why them in particular? Now a lot of times people confuse Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl. Who was closer to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Abu Lahab or Abu Jahl? Abu Lahab. Abu Lahab was his uncle. Abu Lahab slaughtered animals to celebrate his birth. Abu Lahab, two of the sons of Abu Lahab were engaged to two daughters of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Abu Lahab was his neighbor. Abu Lahab was far closer to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, more beloved to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam than Abu Jahl or Umar ibn al-Khattab. But the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he was a man of influence, he was a man of great strength and influence,
but the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam saw something very particular about Amir ibn Hisham and Umar ibn al-Khattab. That there is something about those two men that their qualities could be used for the sake of Islam. So let's start with Abu Jahl. Abu Jahl, by the way, a lot of people don't know this, his sister was the mother of Umar ibn al-Khattab. So Abu Jahl is actually Umar's khal, his maternal uncle. He was about the age of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Umar radiyaAllahu anhu was in his 20s when he accepted Islam. So that whole famous story of the people gathering behind Umar was 25 or 26 years old. Young man. Abu Jahl on the other hand was senior. He was closer to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in age, maybe a year or two younger than him. And he's Umar's uncle. Abu Jahl comes from a famous tribe and it was a tribe that would compete with Banu Hashim and that was Banu Mahzum. Banu Mahzum. So Banu Mahzum and Banu Hashim were always in competition for the royalty or for the elite status of Mecca. Umar radiyaAllahu anhu, his father was from Banu Adi, but of course he has affiliation to Banu Mahzum because his mother is the sister of Abu Jahl. So there's possibly that, to bring someone from the opposing tribe that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam wishes to show that this is not a religion of Banu Hashim. This is not a religion of Banu Abdul Minar. This is a religion of all people. And so the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam wished for someone powerful from another tribe, particularly a competing tribe, to accept Islam because that would automatically dispel what was common to the Arabs that religion and practice and culture and superiority were all based upon one's tribe. And Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam wanted to shed that. And you don't need to look further than the fact that the first false prophet was Musaylimah al-Kaddhab.
Musaylimah the liar, the first false messenger to arrive in this ummah, who caused great trauma and fitna to the ummah. And what was his call? His singular call was that I'm from Banu Hanifa, they're from Banu Hashim. So there is a point to this, that there is something good about wanting someone from an opposing tribe, a rival tribe of influence to come to Islam, which would unite the people and bring them together and show that Islam is not constricted to any tribe. Abu Jahl's nickname before Abu Jahl was also what? Does anyone know? Abu al-Hakam, the father of wisdom. He was a man who was extremely wise, he was a man of poetry, he was a man that was learned, that was literate. He was a man who had many skills and qualities. So he's a learned man. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam liked that about Abu Jahl. And that was unique for that time. However, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said that it's a sin to call him Abu al-Hakam. He said whoever calls him Abu al-Hakam, should seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because there is no wisdom and there is no knowledge in the way that he reacted to the message of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So there is that concept, the father of wisdom. He was strong, he was the same stature as Umar, a huge, huge, huge man. In the battle of Badr when he died, Abdullah bin Mas'ud literally had to climb up Abu Jahl. Like stand on his chest. And Abu Jahl said, لقد ارتقيت مرتقا صعبا يا رويع الغنب You're climbing a huge mountain, you shepherd of sheep. He was prideful even as he was laying down. Huge stature. So he's strong mentally. He's a learned man. He's a person from an opposing or the rival tribe. He's a person of influence. He's a person of physical strength.
He's someone who takes great pride in his people. He's also the greatest threat to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Hence he earns the distinction, the Fir'aun of this Ummah. He is the Pharaoh of this Ummah. That's, you know, if you think about all the characters that existed from the enemies of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam to get the title, the Pharaoh of the Ummah, that says something about you. But think about it. He murdered the first Muslims. He was the first one to actually murder people that accepted Islam and he murdered them in the most horrific way. So he was the first person to murder the Muslims for saying, He was the one that imposed the boycott on Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib. So he had the power to impose the boycott on the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and his families which led to the death of Khadija radiallahu anha and Abu Talib and the suffering of the Muslims. And he was the one who plotted the assassination of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. There was a lot of evil under his belt. He's the one who riled up the troops for Badr and he had the audacity when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was making du'a on the day of Badr, Abu Jahl made a counter du'a. He mocked the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So this is a man who contains many strong qualities. He's a great threat. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam sees that this is a man that if he was to become Muslim, imagine what he could do. Look at some of the peers of Abu Jahl. Khalid ibn al-Walid, when he became Muslim, look what he did. Look at Amr ibn al-As radiallahu anhu, what he did. Look at Ikramah, his son, what he did. All of them fought and strove for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and went on to do amazing things. So Abu Jahl had qualities. Had he used them for good, he would have been an amazing Muslim.
And it shows you the heart of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, by the way. That the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam did not let the hatred that was being shown to him by Abu Jahl stop him from making dua for his guidance. Because he still saw at the end of the day this would be beneficial to the public and to society and to the deen if he was to come and become a Muslim. So he didn't let that hostility that was being shown to him by Abu Jahl stop him. Amr ibn al-Khattab radiallahu anhu, similar, right? Very smart, very wise, very learned, physically very strong. He was a little bit more raw than Abu Jahl because he was younger than Abu Jahl. But because of his strength and because of his pride, because of his skill, he ascended the ranks very quickly. But Amr radiallahu anhu has a lot of these qualities as well. He's the flag bearer of Banu Adi and his mother is from Banu Mahzum. And he's someone that everybody feared. So Amr radiallahu anhu was a feared man. And what happened the day that he became Muslim? The day he became Muslim, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiallahu anhu said that the Islam of Amr was a'izzah. It was honor, it was victory, it was dignity. Why? The Muslims used to be holed up in these little houses, you know, trying to, you know, these weak people that were slaves and former slaves and people without tribe and people that belonged to the lowest class. And Amr radiallahu anhu comes in, he becomes Muslim, he says, all of you get behind me. They walk out proclaiming la ilaha illallah, Muhammadun Rasulullah. He goes to Abu Jahl's house, knocks on the door and says, hey, I want to let you know I've become Muslim. And fights people. And Ibn Mas'ud describes that day, the first day that Amr became Muslim. He said that we went out before, like shortly after sunrise. And he said that the people jumped on Amr radiallahu anhu and he laid them all out by maghrib.
Like he fought them alone, one by one, threw them all over the place, knocked them out. I mean, at the end of it, it was Amr standing and a bunch of people laying down and a bunch of people that ran away. That's a'izzah, that's strength, that's honor, that's Amr radiallahu anhu, right? A man of that strength meant something to Islam. It only took one. It only took one. Subhanallah, his awakening, it meant something to the weak, to the poor, to those that didn't have tribes, that didn't have the status of Amr, that they could literally hide behind him. They could literally hide behind him and Amr radiallahu anhu would take care of the people that would stomp on them and burn them and whip them. They stood behind Amr. But Amr's strength after Islam was combined with humility that was unprecedented. So for example, this proud, strong man, what did he used to call Bilal radiallahu anhu? He used to humble himself to Bilal and he used to say, our master who was freed by our master. Bilal was our master who was freed by our master. Because Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu freed him. He would humble himself to Ibn Mas'ud. He would literally have to get on his knees to be face to face, to be eye to eye with some of these people. But subhanallah, the humility of Amr tamed his power. It tamed his strength. So he only exerted it for good. But the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam making dua for that shows you something. It tells you something about how the messenger alayhi salatu was salam views strength. And what was Amr's motto? You know, Amr radiallahu anhu, when he came in to Islam, he said, wait a minute, aren't we on truth? What are we hiding for? Right? And sometimes that led him to mistakes as well. Because on the treaty of Hudaibiyah, Amr radiallahu anhu said,
we're on the truth, they're on falsehood, let's go fight. But the point is that Amr radiallahu anhu always saw this, he had this great sense of pride. We're on the truth, we don't have anything to shy away from. And there is a dua that Amr radiallahu anhu made, and it's a very, very, very powerful dua. It's actually really hard to translate. But he said, Allahumma inni ashku ilayka ajza thiqa wa jaldat al fajr. Allahumma inni ashku ilayka ajza thiqa wa jaldat al fajr. Which means, and it's a hard thing to translate. I know we've got some people that would make an attempt. But it means, oh Allah, I complain to you of the incompetence or the weakness of the trustworthy people, of people that are people of thiqa, people of truth. I complain to you of their incompetence or their weakness. Jaldat al fajr is the strength of the wicked. That a wicked person is proud, and a person upon truth is either weak or incompetent and incapable. Ajz is of course a sense of being incapable. So Amr radiallahu anhu did not feel like we should ever feel weak or we should ever feel incapable, no matter what our circumstances are. And he wanted that to show itself in every context. And he himself is the greatest embodiment of that. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam saw a great good in the coming to Islam of Amr radiallahu anhu. So the appearance of strength, showing strength, showing power. There are many different examples of this. You know in the battle of Uhud, Abu Dujana radiallahu anhu, he came out and he was strutting. He was strutting, he was showing off his moves. And the Sahaba felt like it was arrogance, it was boasting.
A lot of people were looking at Abu Dujana like the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam can't be happy with this. He had his red bandana on, he was out there showing off, taunting the enemy. He literally was strutting. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that Allah loads, Allah hates this type of strutting, except in these circumstances. So right now it's all good. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not like this type of behavior, that type of showing off in a way and taunting and boasting, except in these circumstances. That Abu Dujana was basically showing the enemy, we're not afraid, we're not scared of you. And that's something that, you know Zaid you do a lot of that, a lot of strutting, you got to calm down with the strutting. But that's something that's very powerful, that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam appreciated that. And there is a Qur'anic precedent to that as well. What does Allah say? وَأَعِدُوا لَهُم مَا اصْطَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ That doesn't mean fight them, it means أَعِدُوا لَهُم مَّا اصْطَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ strike fear by showing strength. He's talking about in the context of battle, show them your power, show them your strength, show them that you're not afraid, line up in a way that would intimidate them. It literally means intimidate them. And in these situations, obviously in battle, you don't want to be weak, so as humble, these Muslims who were standing up at night, making du'a, asking Allah for victory, that were so humble, and some of them had these excuses for swords to fight with, but when they stood in battle, they stood with their best clothes, they stood with pride, they looked like they were ready, and they were completely unafraid. And that was something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala praised. There's one incident that took place, I actually was going to do a lecture at IKNA on this, changed my mind, now I have to change my speech for IKNA, just because I felt like this was such, subhanAllah,
a powerful incident that took place. In the battle of Qadisiyyah, which was the battle of the Persians, the Persian empire used to employ elephants in battle, so they literally would bring forth these elephants, that would stomp on the opposing army. Okay? And subhanAllah, you can just imagine the scene at that time, how do we deal with elephants that are trained to go mow down an army? So, while the Muslims were trying to figure out their plan to deal with the elephants, Al-Qaqa'a, radiyallahu anhu, Al-Qaqa'a ibn Amr, a great companion, a man who was a very strong man, he came up with this idea. He said, you know what? They have elephants, we need to figure out a way to make elephants. They're like, what are you talking about? So, he took the camels, and he did something with the camels and dressed them with something, put some kind of structure, the hawj on top of them, was the hut that used to carry people, and put some sort of cloth on top of it, and he made the camels look huge. And so, when the camels came forth, the elephants turned around and ran away because they didn't know what those things were. So, they were terrified of these beasts, because we've never seen any beasts like this before, and it worked in battle. So, this is what it is. Just like they have elephants, we need to make elephants. If as Muslims we're feeling disadvantaged, and the irony is not lost on the Republican and Democrat symbols here, but we need to come up with, we need to show an appearance of strength. And that's a methodology. It worked. They said, you know what, we just got to figure out a way to turn them away, to show that we're not intimidated. So, that
appearance of strength also showed itself most predominantly there in battle. So, strength is something that, as we mentioned, has to be governed with strength first and foremost against yourself, to make sure that you yourself do not become unjust. That was the beauty of Omar, that his strength did not lead him to a place of arrogance, but instead it led him to humility, and he knew when to exert that power and exert that strength. And showing that strength and displaying a lack of vulnerability is a manhaj, it's a methodology. What are some other contexts? Imam Malik, he talked about thiyab al shuhra. Thiyab al shuhra, translation of thiyab al shuhra would be flashy clothes, I guess, or the clothes of fame, the clothes of power. Okay? So, a person wears distinguishing clothes. And Imam Malik, rahimallah, used to wear the best clothes. And he wanted imams as well, and this was also the way that Imam Abu Hanifa, rahimallah, Imam Abu Hanifa not only used to wear the best clothes, Imam Abu Hanifa would buy clothes for his students. He'd buy their shoes, he'd buy their clothes. I'm not Imam Abu Hanifa, not in ilm, nor will I buy you any shoes, alright, just to make that very clear. But he used to buy clothes, he used to buy shoes, he used to spend on his students, because he had that much money because he was a merchant, before he took the journey of knowledge and after. So, Imam Malik, rahimallah, was asked about thiyab al shuhra, the look that he had, the wearing of certain clothes that indicated status. And he saw that it was important for the scholars to be respected. So, to him, he saw that it was important for the scholars to be revered and to wear something that would distinguish
them. Of course, that didn't mean that they were to be arrogant, that this has to come with modesty, this doesn't justify extravagance, but it means something. Umar, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, raised the salaries of all government workers when he became the khalifa and the scholars because he did not want them to have to be, I don't know if bribeable is a word, but he didn't want people to bribe them, so he wanted them to be well off and self-sufficient so that they could display a sense of dignity. When the scholars are beggars, it's going to lead to an opposite extreme. And we see the effects of that, by the way. SubhanAllah, I'm not going to talk about which Muslim countries, but I've been to many Muslim countries where because the imams and because the scholars are so low in terms of their salary and their pay, they can be bought. They're forced in a position of compromise. So the Prophet Salah al-Islam wanted scholars and he wanted imams and he wanted people that had responsibility to be able to display some sort of izzah, some sort of self-sufficiency. Not to become extravagant, not to become businessmen, but to be independent. And that that was an important part of the way that these people used to think. And you know, you think about, and this is actually something very powerful, Abdullah ibn Mubarak, rahimahullah, who was a great scholar, one of the greatest of the generations following the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and he was extremely wealthy because of what he used to do before he became a scholar. And he continued being a merchant even after he became a scholar, and because of that, you have Sufyan ibn Uyayna, Sufyan al-Thawri, Hamad ibn Salama, Hamad ibn Zayt, al-Fudayl ibn Uyayyad, Ismail ibn Ulayya. These are people that are of the greatest
scholars of the ummah. He used to spend on them. So basically he used to give them all their money so that they didn't have to worry about that, so that they could worry about doing the work of izzah. And he used to say that, lawla ha'ulaa maa taj'at. He said, if it wasn't for these six people, I would not work anymore. But I do it so that these people can focus and that they can be dignified and that they can be strong and they can be independent and they can be respected in society. Likewise, on a community level, on a societal level, and I think I mentioned this already, but just because it fits with the topic, with Umar ibn Abdulaziz rahimahullah ta'ala, when Umar ibn Abdulaziz assumed the khilafah and he wanted to strip the masjid, the masajid of all of the ornaments and all of the different structures and things that were there. And some of the scholars told Umar ibn Abdulaziz, it's important for us to be on par with the churches and the other places of worship that we're interacting with. So we don't have to be extravagant. We don't have to get a chandelier from Turkey that has to be hand-delivered or carpet that's made in muscat to cover the entire masjid and there are no spaces. We're okay. But at the same time, this idea of having a place that looks respectable, having a place that shows strength, that shows dignity, that means something. And that's why the Muslims took their architecture very serious in history. And the scholars encouraged that, that the Muslims were pioneers. They were architects of architecture. They showed the beauty of architecture with Islamic themes because they understood this notion. How does this play out in many different contexts? The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, some of the scholars mentioned in this idea of displaying strength and making use of strength no matter what, that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he had the swords that were made in Rome and Persia. So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
only had the best swords. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam made sure that he equipped himself with whatever was at his disposal and that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had the best of everything. So prestige can be harmful. Strength can be harmful. Power can be harmful. All of these things can be harmful. But it is not for the Muslims to put themselves in positions of vulnerability or to display weakness and vulnerability. You know I go back to Muhammad Ali, Rahimullah, I think the most beautiful and dignified moment of Muhammad Ali. It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. It's when he's standing and this is during the anti-war stance that he took when he refused to be drafted. And he responded back and he said, you're my opposer when I want freedom. You're my enemy when I want freedom. And he just completely shot it down. And here's this man that's bankrupt, that had his titles taken away from him, that was being denigrated in the media, that was about to go to prison and you would not know it. He showed strength. He showed that he was unfazed. Now his family knew that he was very hurt by everything that was going on. He was feeling very vulnerable. But he continued to display that strength. And as Muslims we should always, we should try to display that strength for the sake of those that are even more vulnerable than us and try to uplift those that are vulnerable. And we should always seek the means of strength and the means that would allow us to be in a position of influence and a position of power where we can better adjust policies, where we can better move society. So I'm not sure if that was all coherent or not. I hope it was. But this is the concept of Izzah, the concept of dignity and honor that we find from the Hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Allahumma Izzah al-Islam, Bi-Habbal Umarain Ilayk. Oh Allah,
give victory to Islam, honor to Islam with the more beloved of the two Umars to you. Yeah. Yeah. So the idea that Omar killed his daughter is a fabrication. And it's a very famous fabrication. And it's one that a lot of people will say. It's one that I used to say as well, just because you hear it in so many...
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